Elementary School Update

I'm just about to start teaching at the town Elementary school, but I thought I'd update the old blog in the couple of minutes I have before class starts. Today it's 1st and 2nd Grade -- I wish I wasn't so tired still!

I've been trying to put myself to be early, but it hasn't happened for the most part. Two weekends of musicalling (one more to go!) is very energy depleting. Don't worry mom and dad! I'll be genki when you get here! Although I have no idea what we'll be doing in Hokkaido... shhh! Don't tell!

In one week from today, my parents will be making the trek up to Hokkaido to visit me. I'm excited and a little nervous. I hope they have a really good trip. I want to show off the place I've been living for the past 10 months (has it been so long?) and will be for at least another 14.

I'm really busy with HAJET at the moment. The author of a previous book has made a distribution deal with someone else, who is telling people that we are no longer printing said book. Which is incorrect. I just printed (hopefully) the last run of that title. We are trying to translate this book in time for sale at the big Newcomers Orientation in Tokyo at the end of July. And none of us really knows what Japanese law says about all of it. So tonight I get to curl up with a translation of Japanese copyright law, so we can figure out who has rights to what. Woo! What a party!

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I was surprised this morning when I talked to Takahata-san, my contact at the Elementary school. He tells me my schedule for the day and lets me know which class I'll be eating lunch with.

I'll be on Honshu the week after next for JET "training" and some sightseeing with the parents, so I'll be missing my regular class here. We arranged for a make-up time, and then looked at the rest of the schedule.

"Maryna-san, summer after wa?"
"I don't know, summer vacation?"
"Maryna wa stay here?"
"Oh! Of course! Didn't anyone tell you? I'll be here at least mo ichi nen!"

Cue much happiness on the part of the Elementary School support staff. I can't believe there are still people who don't know I'm staying! They knew all of the people in the area who were leaving, but not about what their own ALT was doing. Maybe they didn't want to jinx it?