Udon Gets Owned

(I took this picture this morning, and it does absolutely no justice to the sky over Ena-san. Those are the flowers my landlord gave me from his garden. So cute!)

Today was cold enough for me to wear a sweater and feel chilly at times. And I didn’t sleep much last night so getting through some classes and the free time after lunch was a feat. At yasumi I made sure to head outside to play a little soccer (well, I play goalie so I can join in, but the kids can all together) to ease the pain.

The kids today were great, for the most part. I was in a couple ichinensei classes with the “fake” teacher, as he says, which are always crazy. He seems to have a rhythm now, and the kids really respond to his energy. The boys, at least. During first period I made a fruitful effort to get the girls to participate. After a few tries of encouraging them they caught on, and then it was my challenge to get the teacher to call on them. I can see how it’s easy to call on the boys. If you don’t know all the students’ names yet, chances are it’s the boys’ names you do know, as they are more vocal. And since you naturally tend to call on students whose names you know, the girls get left out. I was very pleased that the girls responded well to my encouragement. During the next class there was no problem with that, and equal participation was had by all.

Lunch was my yatta moment today. I was initially disappointed to see that it was udon, because we all know that it is my enemy. However, today I ate with a good group, entertained the kids a bit, and had my plan of attack down. Plus the big tempura thing was easier to handle this time what with my improved chopstick technique. Quarter by quarter the udon bag went down. After the first half it wasn’t about being hungry, it was about pride. Fortunately I had the stomach space and the time.

Abbey-sensei vs. The Udon
Udon 2 – Abbey-sensei 1

So, seeing as I’m not going to go running after school, the majority of my evening will be spent whiling away the hours until it’s a reasonable enough time to go to bed. Approximately a quarter of an hour or less of this time shall be devoted to eating, but it will most likely be consumed in front of the computer. Here are my options:

1.) Check to see if anyone has sent me an email (I’m guessing: Barnes and Noble and Hotmail will have sent me something)
2.) Surf the internet and see if any of the blogs and other sites I visit have been updated.
3.) I’m writing this posting at school, so all I have to do is post it from home.
4.) Watch Bleach and/or other anime.
5.) Read Cien anos de soledad – a dangerous endeavor as it would involve lying in bed, which can easily lead to wanting to sleep. Best carried out just before going to sleep.
6.) Find a new game from Yahoo Games to test drive (ie, install and play for an hour for free).
7.) Watch one of my three DVDs that I have. People at home: If you have any DVD’s that you want to send me, preferably something I haven’t seen before, I would not refuse them. I can’t rent or buy DVD’s here because they won’t play on my computer. Plus they’d cost me an arm and a leg to buy anyway. As would CD’s.
8.) If I had a TV I might watch some, but I don’t so I won’t.