Livin' in the Inaka

I'm temporarily fleeing the country to regain my sanity. Not sure if China's the best place to do that, but it'll definitely be a welcome change. My nenkyuu's all hanko-ed, visa's approved, tickets in hand, hostels booked, now all alls left to do is get on the plane. Itinerary: 3/25 arrive Shanghai somewhere in between->Beijing->Nanjing->back to Shanghai 4/1 return to Toyama Finally gunna put some use to that Chinese minor of mine... zai jian (^-^)/~~~

Just got back from one of my elementary school's graduation ceremonies. It was pretty much identical to the junior high's ceremony (same formality, same program, same frigid gym) except for the fact that the students were still just kids rather than young adolescents. They played Vivaldi's "Spring" from The Four Seasons on a loop as the kids went up one-by-one to get their diplomas. Sure didn't feel like spring :P students wave goodbye to 6th graders from balcony, me being ambushed outside staff room door After seeing off the 6th graders in the hall all the families headed outside where I had my picture taken by every student and their mom (literally). For 1 hour there was a queue of students lining up to get their pic taken with me and get my autograph :P No place like a rural Japanese elementary school to make you feel like a rock star (even had the news cameras following me around for a time). Tomorrow's a national holiday (Spring Equinox) so there'...

My 3rd year students graduated from junior high school on Wednesday. ceremony in the cold cold gym. Sending off the 3rd years outside after the ceremony. I'm gunna miss 'em ;_; ... wish I got more pictures. School is still in session for the 1st and 2nd yrs until the 23rd, but 3yrs are all done. The day after graduation (yesterday) they all received their test results for the High School Entrance Examinations. All day long 3rd yr students were coming back to the school to tell the teachers they passed and what school they got into. A lot of my students will be going off to Tonami/Takaoka/or Fukuno High Schools, but it seems a majority will be headed off to Fukumitsu High School right nextdoor~ which hopefully means I'll get to see 'em a lot more frequently :D I got a visit from a few of my 3rd boys today and we juggled outside the gym for an hour during my free period (using the school soft baseballs, which are actually quite heavy). I'm hoping they'll continue...

the weather has decided its going to try to make up for 3 months of relatively snowless winter in 3 days. will spring ever come?? Will we ever be able to take the snow tires off fun chan?? And just this sunday after a gorgeous sunny afternoon spent picnicing on the river bank with bentos, ice cream and bicycles I said to Ivy- "I really think this is it! I don't think we'll be having any more see-your-breath cold days...maybe we can even put away the heaters soon." Only took 12 hours to prove me wrong. We're now on our 3rd day in of heavy nonstop snowfall with no end in site. I almost spun out twice trying to drive to my mountain elementary school yesterday where they don't plow. Hey, at least the ski season will be extended! Too bad I don't ski.