Internet

All:

So on Monday, we finally, at long last, should have Internet access at home. Many things move very slow here. It's like living in the South again. So once its installed, we'll be updating this blog daily. Maybe even hourly. I'm sure the demand for news about us must be that high.

Jonas is adjusting to daycare fairly well, and Tricia and I are going to all of our schools and teaching classes. So far, so good. All the kids are pretty excited to have us in class, and Jonas is definitely a curiousity for them. It's interesting. For years, the Japanese have focused mainly on learning to read and write English, while focusing less on speaking. So they can read fairly complex paragraphs, but are petrified to ask the most basic of questions.

On Friday, I was paired with the head of the English department, who is less than a year from retirement. He's a funny guy, but barely speaks any English himself. In Japan, the students stay in the same classroom all day, and its the teachers who rotate from class to class. So I was waiting for him to come get me for our sixth period, and he never showed up. I sat there, and sat there. Then finally I checked the lounge area, and there he was, asleep in one of the leather recliners. I thought about waking him up, but instead, decided to find the classroom and start on my own. When I found the class, I asked, Sasaki sensei des ka? A student in the front row replied, "Coming sooooooon," and everyone laughed. He showed up about 20 minutes later, and I told him everything was fine. It was pretty funny. He thought it was hilarious.