Dragon Boats

Yesterday I did dragon boats. Today, I woke up sore. ;)

Here is why I can't move:















Dragon Boats are an excuse to get really hot and sweaty near the end of summer. We were at a river near Kubota, and we had to meet at around 9 in the morning. We had two teams, Gaijin A and Gaijin B, and the heats started at around 10:30 (I believe).

Gaijin A went out for the first heat, and everyone tried very hard, and... failed horribly. The boat's oars looked like a crazed centipede, and the boat's sense of direction as good as a drunken horse. It was a great strategic strategy, for they never expected Gaijin B, where we learned how dragon boat racing was Serious and Not to be Taken Lightly.















We got 6th place, out of 50. We deserved to lose to the top five teams, though, because they were the Police Team, and the Military Men team, and the We-Work-At-Ramen-Shops-So-We-Can-Row-On-The-Weekends team. They were freaking crazy.

I couldn't walk properly for three days after.



*pictures courtesy Angela, since I was in the boats, not taking pictures.

Teaching on Aug 26

Facebook:
"You know you're a dork when: Your student makes a mistake with a postnominal reflex, and you 1.) know what it is, and 2.) it makes you giggle happily for 10 minutes, and then you write yourself a note about it."

Small grammar lesson: postnominal reflexes don't exist in English, though they do in other languages. They look something like this: "I know the man you talked to _him_."
The error my student make probably isn't a postnominal reflex, because I don't think Japanese actually has it. (I was grasping at straws. Being able to remember something, anything, from my grammar classes made me giddy.)

Anyway,
I'M IN JAPAN! School has started!
Seiryo Junior High School students apparently don't understand the concept of "Summer Vacation." Classes don't official start until September 1st, but already I've taught 4 self-introduction lessons, with many more to come. And I've made 80 COPIES of my FIRST WORKSHEET. IT WAS AMAZING! And my school has a paper cutter that uses lasers! I'm tempted to peek, but then my eyes might bleed out. I was also introduced to the industrial-strength shredder, which rocked my socks. I'll only feed it with my left hand, 'cause if my if my hand gets ripped off I want to still be able to draw. :)

I'm officially a real teacher.
A real dorky teacher.