I've been meaning to post all week, but December proves to be just as crazy in Japan as it is in the States. I had a pile of Challenge Kids tests to grade, contracts to check up on, baking to do, Intensive Week lessons to plan, coloring to do, and general all-around work stuff. Maybe it's because of the end of the year, and everything is wanting to be done before the new year arrives. I've noticed that a lot of my students have also been way busier than usual.
Surprisingly, I have had relatively few homesick moments. There have been a few, mostly when I think about all the baking that's done around Christmas (how I miss peanut butter balls and red velvet cake!), but these moments are usually fleeting and pass quickly. Just thinking about the happy memories is enough for me, keeping them in mind and not letting go of them. I've also been doing some thinking about all that's happened this past year, and it's amazing what changes a person can go through. Most of it was for the better.
On the plus side, I had the most excellent Friday ever. It was crazy busy (as usual), but everyone was in a really awesome mood. The kids were great, and most of them were really happy with their Challenge Kids test scores (which is only right, because all of them did fantastically well, and there were even a couple perfect scores). Plans for the kids' party are going well, even if we are going to have about half the number of students we had last time. But all of my favorite students are coming, so yay! (Yes, I have kid students that I like to have around - did I mention I'm becoming a pod person?) I have a new student in one of my Sprint classes, and he fit in well with the other students and seemed to enjoy himself. And now I am home baking cookies for the kids' Christmas party and considering making persimmon bread for tomorrow's nabe party.
Life? It's totally good.
Oh, and to all of the awesome people who work with my Mom: thank you for the Christmas card! I love it! And I'm very happy that you're enjoying my little piece of the internet here! I'll try to keep up with eevrything that's going on here! Thank you!
In closing, here's something that one of my students brought for me from her trip to Tokyo Disney. (sorry about the formatting, but I'm in a hurry and fixing it would require me to go and figure out how to do it) It's for the New Year, and it was filled with green tea truffles! Yummy! I'm now using the tin at home to hold my jewelry, wallet, and keys, to keep them a little organized. So nice!
3 comments:
Ohhhh, I LOVE the tin!!! =D
See you NEXT WEEK!!
Peanut Butter Balls require no baking - what's the hold up?
Sarah: I knew you'd like the tin! hehe Only 7 days to go!
Meredith: Chocolate is easy to get, but I have nothing to harden it with! (no wax, no shortening) And no room to do it. Oh, and peanut butter isn't quite the same here - it's very sweet and not so creamy and REALLY REALLY expensive. Take a regular jar of Peter Pan and pay the same price for 1/3 of it! Yowch!
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