Feb 12 – Back in School at Last

Today Hirai Sensei took the morning off. This meant that I did not have to go to the Hoikuen. I still wanted to go, but figured that there is still plenty of time. Plus my legs really hurt from all the physical activity yesterday. Hirai sensei really gives a lot of freedom when it comes to going to school or not. It is all up to me whether or not I want to make good use of my time here or not. In any case, I spent the morning once again studying kanji and grammar. Hey at least I am getting work done here!

At around 1pm I got to go to the Gakuen and play with the kids there. We played with jump ropes, did some tumbling (cartwheels, sumersaults, etc.), worked on out dinosaurs, and made paper airplanes. The latter being the most fun. Eria sensei was amazed at how long my airplane could stay in the air. It is the one I have been making for as long as I can remember.

For dinner I went with my host father to the Nakabanashi residence. I had no idea what to expect. As soon as we entered the home, I entered “formal speech” mode. We had dinner with a bunch of my father’s friends who were obviously my superior. One of the other adults there was using really formal language, so I figured I should follow suit. Regardless of what they think, at least I try! After a few beers and some food, I was finally saved by little Ta-kun. He is one of the kids at the Hoikuen. As soon as he saw me, he blurted out “Jon sensei!!” and quickly invited me to play. Finally I could get to where I belong, with the kids. This led to me being called simple “sensei” for the rest of the night. I don’t know if nobody knew my name, or if they thought I should be held at a higher position than them. In any case, it was really weird.

We ended up braving the cold and going to a temple down the street with Ta-kun’s mother and some other people. It was really cold, but a good experience. I got to do all the rituals of praying and such, and got to do Omikuji as well. This time I got a super lucky fortune! Things must be looking up for the Niigata trip!

Back at the house, I was able to spend time with all the kids. There was one girl (Naimi I think her name was) who was very interested in speaking English with me. I guess they don’t call me “sensei” for nothing! This room was much less tense than the one with all the old men. I had a good time chatting with everyone until it was time to go. We had to be taken home by someone else because I cannot drive in Japan, and my host father had way too much to drink. Well you can’t win ‘em all.