Day 28

7-10-08

Four weeks down. Oh dang.

So, since all I do these days is go to school, I figured I'd enlighten you all about my classes. That is, what each class is, and what I actually do in said class (because there is usually some disparity there).

Homeroom, Fukushima-sensei. (Monday) Honestly, I have no idea what is acheived in this class, as I can't understand what they're talking about. Good time to start my newest book.

Yoko bue (Japanese flute), Nakamura-sensei. (Monday, Wednesday) Am thriving in this class, despite my complete lack of practicing. And yay, a class I actually participate in.

Private Japanese Lessons, Sakaguchi/Yano/Tsuru/Matsumoto/Koide-sensei. (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) Really depends on the teacher, but this class does always involve me actually doing something, which is excellent. Sakaguchi-sensei is my favorite. She's always the most prepared, speaks the best English and the easiest-to-understand Japanese, and wears brightly colored clothes and bindis. Tsuru-sensei is my least favorite, simply because he thinks I speak more Japanese than I do and occasionally calls me out in English class, asks me questions I can't answer and then pokes fun at me for being shy. However, he was the one to suggest reading Japanese children's books to practice Japanese, so he gets points for that.

Classical Japanese, Nakamura-sensei. (Thursday-Friday) Oh, I don't even understand regular Japanese. Time for cryptograms.

8th/9th Grade English, Hormozd-sensei. (Wednesday) I used to browse the internet during this class, but I can't get on anymore so I'm stuck with my book and occasionally reading things out loud so the students can pronounce things properly.

Japanese Culture, Taniguchi-sensei. (Monday) So far, I've done origami, calligraphy and Japanese string games. No books here.

7th Grade English, Kariya-sensei/Orla-sensei. (Monday,Wednesday-Friday) 7th graders are so cute. I'm like a rare zoo animal in these classes. Kariya-sensei is one of my favorite teachers; short, balding, chronically late to his own classes, and very friendly. (Plus, his English is fantastic.) Orla-sensei is an native of Ireland, of all places (I have yet to figure out how she ended up teaching in Japan). It's really nice to be able to speak colloquial English with someone.

Chemistry, Fukushima-sensei. (Wednesday) Come back to me when I've studied chem in English. I'm just gonna write in my journal now.

Cooking/Homemaking, (Tuesday). We made pizza. It was tasty.

Math, Taniguchi. (Tuesday, Saturday). I love this class because I can ace tests and I understand everything. For some reason, I still end up with my nose buried in a book, though. Maybe it's because I sit in the back of the class.

English, Nagamatsu-sensei, Tsuru-sensei.. (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday). Nagamatsu-sensei tells the class off for being childish. I hide in my book. Tsuru-sensei doesn't understand why anyone would enjoy puzzles. I hide and try to avoid being called on.

P.E. Furuma-sensei. (Wednesday-Saturday) Wow everyone with amazing volleyball skills. The unthinkable has happened: devoid of my ability to be the intelligent, bookish type, I have become a jock.

Selfstudy, Me-sensei. (Monday-Thursday, Saturday) I'm honest not sure what I'm supposed to be studying, seeing as how I never do anything in class and never get homework. My favorite thing is that this is the only "class" where I don't feel bad about listening to my headphones.