This week was very quiet due to the kids lessons on break. So what else is there to do with all this free time? It was back to good old Flier Dating. Dating was pretty unsuccessful again this week. The weird ones got weirder and the only "love at first sight" eye contact I was got was with the 80 year old blind woman who I managed to slip a pamphlet into her bag as she passed by. Just when I was ready to throw in the towel, a very friendly, young girl approached us and requested a pamphlet. I offered three more in hope she would bring friends, but one was better than none. Surprisingly, when we arrived back at the school, she was already having an interview with my manager. My manager asked me to step in and chat with her and... before I heard the rest of what she wanted me to do I was already in the room introducing myself with a wide grin. She ended up signing up that evening and came to class the next day.
The only downside to getting this new student was that now that flier dating posed "successful" in my manager's eyes, we were out there 2 more times for the rest of the week. This week however, we managed to somewhat strike gold on new students. We had 4 sign-ups in a 3 hour span one evening, totaling I believe 10+ for the month. Unfortunately, we didn't make our plan bonus for the month, but then again that bonus doesn't get shared with us anyway.
Saturday was officially the new semester for kids classes. All of the new kids classes and adult classes will start next week. Last semester was 4 consecutive kids classes on Saturday, but this time one of those classes was replaced with an adult class. The first kids class was a pair of 6 year olds, one boy and one girl, probably the cutest combination anyone could create. They held hands coming into class, and the little girl was hiding behind the boy when she saw me because she was too shy to introduce herself. Their memory was amazing; I made up a counting game for them with a rope and numbers 1-10 cards. They had to start on the rope that was laid down. On each side of the rope I placed a number card and set the timer for 30 seconds. Each time I said the number, they had to jump to that side. After each round, I added another number card to each side until they both had 5 number cards. The final three rounds, I turned all the number cards over so they couldn't see, and set the timer to 45 seconds. The kids did not miss a beat for 3 straight rounds, it was quite impressive. Not to mention it was really really motivating to see them get excited and into the games.
The next class was the super students and one class clown. Most of the kids were absent, but this class normally consists of 3 of my smartest students, one new student, and one, well not so normal student. Today was only one really smart girl and the class clown boy. Turned out to be a really easy and entertaining lesson because the girl just destroyed the class clown in every game they played.
The third class was a really great combination of students as well. It's a class of 6, 11 and 12 year old girls, 3 coming from the same class last semester, one girl moving up in age group, and two new girls.
So imagine 6 really energetic, talkative, giggly girls, and Mike. I decided to divide them a little bit by making two teams of 3 so they can focus on competing with each other, not me : ] . However, they saw through my plan from the start. Who would have thought that the girls would just befriend one another and form a team alliance to take me on.
The lesson was "I like _(name of a season)" and "I was born on ___(date)__." Talks of the alliance started when we played a variation of hot potato with a timer saying the season you liked. If you were left with the beanbag, then the other team scored a point. They were too shy to play without me, so I joined. Once they understood the concept of winning points, they found a loophole, just pass it to Mike. So I was getting a beanbag thrown at my every 2 seconds until the timer went off. I, being the proud man I try to be, was not going to let a bunch of allied 11 year olds conquer my territory. So I decided to declare war and created a Team Mike. The next few games were intense. They took the points systems into their own hands and in one game involving saying your birth date then taking a basketball shot, for some odd reason, my shots were worth less points and were about triple the distance of the Allied Forces'.
So, the class ended with the Allied Forces having a combined score of 25 points, and Team Mike having 2 points. Hanging my head in shame, the girls laughed at me and called me names in Japanese. Regardless, a very busy, but great Saturday schedule.
Now that Spring has officially began to settle in, the flowers are starting to bloom, especially the cherry blossoms, and it's time for Hanami parties. Hanami means flower viewing, hana is flower and mi is to look. People usually gather with friends or family and go to any local park that has flowers, cherry blossoms in particular. Cherry blossoms only have a short blooming life (about 3 weeks) so everyone wants to take advantage and appreciate the flower's beauty. In Japan public intoxication is totally legal, so everyone gathers with food and plenty of drinks and Hanami's it up. Last night I actually saw a group of people doing "Night Hanami" with a big blanket, small spot light, and alot of alcohol. It actually looked really fun because they were just singing and dancing and running around the trees in a drunken craze.
My coworkers were kind enough to invite me to their party on Sunday. We went to a popular park about an hour away from Sasebo. This park actually used to be the grounds of an old castle some time ago. It was cool to experience this event unique to Japanese culture. The park was packed with all ages of people, hanging out and enjoying themselves under the trees. My coworkers are more like a family to me so it's kind of like I'm their child they need to take care of. They were afraid their little foreigner child might get lost or confused or possibly lonely, so they offered me a bathroom buddy when needed or partner if I was going to leave the blanket for a little bit. I also had to call if I didn't return for more than 10 minutes and promise not to accept any sushi rolls from strangers' picnics. We ate, played badminton, played soccer, and drank tea then returned home that afternoon. That evening my friend, his girlfriend, and my other girl friend from the gym came over and we cooked together and watched videos. The one guy has a really funny sense of humor. It's like the same type of weird humor most people from Long Island have, and his girlfriend always has to keep him in line. They're a really good combination though, and extremely caring friends.
I didn't want to write about this in the blog, but I had to vent somewhere. The whole naked thing in the locker room is really starting to get weird. Ok, I understand the whole like comfort thing that it's cool to be naked around other guys because we're all guys or whatever. But I don't care what side of the planet you come from, it's offensive to just drop your drawers within clear sight of the guy next to you and bend into your bag to get your change of clothes. Yes, I'm sorry it's a little graphic, but that's just a crack of the damage my shattering eyes endure every morning when I step foot into that bloody locker room. Whether it's for 1 minute, or 5 minutes, it's unavoidable!
Well, that's all the news for this week. Some other little things are I finally got internet in the house, gambled with some guys at the soccer field for juice boxes, saw a Japanese version of Elvis in the arcade, and ate octopus for lunch. Have a great week talk to you soon!!! Don't forget to try something new this season!
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