Feb. update!

I’m done with elementary school for the week, and sometimes that is a good thing. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to teach English to kids who just want to play all day and haven’t mastered their own language yet. Today most of the last class was spent asking me if I like some sexual Japanese word that I can’t remember. Even the teacher thought it was quite funny!
My Japanese is nowhere near as good as I hoped it would be, but I am improving. I returned to Japan with a newfound motivation for studying! I have done better and hope that I can keep learning. I am at the stage where I can communicate, and it helps to see tangible results from studying. It helps living in Toei, where I have to speak to talk to just about anyone! I did have a good conversation with the man who owns the small gas station that I like to go to. He pumps my gas for me in my scooter and we talked about how Americans use cash instead of credit cards (he had heard that on TV and promptly warned me about the dangers of credit cards and debt) and how most all gas stations in America were self-service. It was only until after I left that I realized that we had this entire conversation in Japanese and I understood most of it. I try to listen as much as I can and remember what the kids teach me. Sometimes it is stuff that I can never use, or Japanese that just isn’t useful.
I had a meeting last weekend in Nagoya and our regional boss talked about how the worldwide recession was even going to affect English teachers here in Japan, and Michi’s teachers have told her the same thing. Of course we still have jobs, but raises aren’t being handed out like they used to be. It’s amazing how small the world is today. A Wall Street crash can affect life here in Toei, Japan. Everything is connected.
This weekend Michi is going to Kyoto with the teachers from her school and I have plans to hang out with Nate in Tahara. I hope we get to relax, I have been traveling the last few weekends, and will keep traveling in the next few! We are going snowboarding the 14th, maybe to Ise on the 21st, and to Takayama on the 28th. After that March is here and hopefully a friend or two coming to visit!
I think now I am finally settled into my apartment and I am getting it set up the way I like it. It actually is a pretty comfy place in the mountains; the only thing that I need is some friends around to enjoy it with! Hopefully the warmer weather will mean more people can come and visit me!
I heard all about the bad weather at home and hope all of you get power back soon! Of course, I guess if you are reading this, then you must have power☺ It’s crazy the amount of damage that the snow and ice can do when the conditions are right…
On a different note, when I moved into my apartment, there were three plants already there. One is a cactus, and now it is blooming, and has been getting ready to bloom since November. It is quite possibly the most beautiful flower that I have ever seen. I’ll try to put a picture on here soon….
Hope all of you are doing well….