Night Bus to Kyoto!

Woke up at 7:10am, had cereal for breakfast, and some honey, because my throat is feeling a bit sore. Not sure if it’s from the heat (temperature change?) and aircon, cause yesterday my JTE was starting to lose her voice too, and she also said maybe because of the heat? Oh dear. Headed off to work, spent the morning burning DVDs and CDs for English broadcast. Class with 5-2 in period 2, and it was a good class, fairly standard, as it was mainly just textbook work (a lot of listening activities today). We also did some alphabet writing practice, and it was very cute how seriously they were taking the stroke order. Everyone was muttering to themselves, “1…2…3” as they were writing. Spent the 20 minute break in 5-1’s classroom with the kids, and they were writing English on the blackboard and having a lot of fun with it. Class with 5-1 in period 3, and everyone was very tired and spacing out a lot today. I don’t blame them though, the heat and stuffiness really wears you down. We had the fans on and windows open, but blowing hot air around doesn’t really help much. They still did all the listening activities, but you could just tell everyone wasn’t really “there”. I didn't mind too much, because when they still complete all the activities you planned, it’s still a successful lesson, for me at least. We ended the lesson a little early.

I ate lunch today with 6-2 because all the 6th grade teachers, and a lot of the teachers who help with 6th grade (e.g. science teacher, music teacher, etc.) were away, and they needed someone to watch over the kids. Surprise! I was called. I was actually quite happy about it, it’s always nice to be entrusted with responsibility at a new workplace. Lunchtime was really fun, the kids didn’t need any watching over really, they did everything fine by themselves. The vice principal stopped by to check everything was going ok, and the kids were saying to him that he should come eat together with them too haha. The kids were talking very freely today with me, and it was quite cute because the kids at the front kept pushing their desks further and further towards the front, until they were right in front of me. There was a lot of food leftover again today, so I got second helpings of everything! A kid from 6-1 came over to ask if anyone could help finish their leftover rice. I wish I could take the food home, it’s such a waste (especially since today was butter chicken rice). Spent the lunchtime inside 6-2’s classroom with the kids (yay for aircon) and had a good time just chatting with them. A lot of the girls were hanging around, asking me random English questions, and asking me to write random English words.

6-1 in period 5, while 6-2 watched the English DVD in their room. great lessons both periods. The kids worked really hard on the writing worksheets. 6-2 loved the alphabet charades game but it was too easy for them to guess. 6-1 listened to me really well even though I was completely on my own for the whole lesson. It felt good to almost be like a “real” teacher. Kids really respect the teachers here, it’s nice. They also liked the DVD, everyone was watching really attentively and laughing. Got off work at 16:00 and went home. Got some cash from the ATM on the way back, ready for a weekend trip in Kyoto! Went home to shower and pack, and then headed out again at 21:45 to Maebashi bus centre, where I parked and left my car, and then took the 22:20 night bus. It’s my first time riding one, and I have to say it was much more normal than I thought it would be. I had heard from other friends that the night buses were pretty cool, with curtains to pull around you, some even have hoods attached to the head of the seat, so you can pull that over as you sleep for more privacy. The night bus I rode was just a normal bus, seats arranged in 3 columns, and the seats still reclined back, but not much. It was enough though, and since it’s cheaper than train, I can’t complain much. It was still pretty expensive though - ¥9000 one way. I think I did something wrong when booking, and didn’t select the return route option.