Under the Weather Again

Just as I thought I've already caught every bug in Kantou region, it looks like I'm under the weather again >_<

Woke up at 0700 and went back to sleep till 1145, which is very good news. Recent bout of insomnia is taking a toll on my immune system, I think.

Went to Tairaya to pick up some drinks and snacks, then went to Keiko's place again. Wiser from last week's mistake, I arrived an hour late; but was still the first to arrive.

Turns out it's a bad week for everyone. Two of the Japanese ladies from Boeing couldn't come due to serious personal crisis, like death of a family member and hospitalization. Giny also hurt her back, but she was kind enough to come anyway. Eriko was the last to arrive, because she has to come all the way from Koganei. She could have came by car, but she took the train and bus, just so she can toast to my good journey (preferably without turbulance.) She even brought a bottle of ice wine, which she knows is my favorite. She does spoil me, that Eriko! But my mind's in HK already; so I wasn't the most sociable guest. I could be the clown and live-blood of any party if I feel up to it, but today, I was rather subdue. Or rather, I made very little effort to speak in Japanese, or to speak in English slowly enough for the Japanese girls to follow. That was rather rude, since Eriko came a long way to see me off, and Keiko had spent a lot of time organizing the party. But speaking English at full speed is like eating chocolate when you're down... it's one of those comforting things that everybody needs a dose from time to time to retain sanity. And once you realize how good it feels, you just don't want to stop talking.

When I got home I was fine. But a few hrs later, I'm coming down with a sore throat, irritated sinus, and runny nose. Mucus's got blood in it. Gosh, please no, not again. I'd rather be punished with 100 push-up's and then run up that hill by Darren's house. It's my last week in Japan, please, don't make me teach with a sore throat, again.

The Cow who runs Itobunka Kindergarten

Finally gave up trying to read Murakami Haruki and Natsume Soseki. It still irks me though...

The principal of Itobuka Kindergarten is such a cow. I don't mind if she wants to terminate the contract with my company, it's not like I have a raging sense of loyalty towards my company. I've heard some rumors about the Itobunka Kindy being run by an elderly nutjob couple; I wouldn't know at first, since most Japanese social behaviors are strange by my standard anyway. But her demands are getting increasingly KY. First, she asked me to give free private lessons out of my free time; then she asks me to give flyers of competing companies to my students; and barged in on me towards the end of my lesson and ordered my students to pull out the letter from their bags to confirm that I have indeed passed on the offensive flyer.

She is completely incapable of understanding the two-letters English word, "no." She is my company's client, and as I'm paid to do a job, I try to be polite and agreeable, but where do you draw the line?

Japan is famous for her well-mannered citizens. But honestly, rude people will be rude even if they use honorifics, bow to you, and remember to say their "thank yous" and "sorry's."

What's Yours Like?

I was supposed to meet my friends at Keiko's at 1230 this morning. When I got there at 1245, I felt all guilty that I was late and all, turns out nobody (except for keiko, of course) was there =_=;;; Keiko was still making spring rolls so I just helped set up.

Turns out it's a chocolate fondue party... why am I always the last to know? No matter; I bought cake and ice cream with me, so it was fitting.

After lunch, we fixed Keiko's speakers, but turns out her DVD player can't play North American (Zone 1) DVD's. So we tried her pc, same thing. Why are they so proprietary about their DVD players anyway? Grr. Was seriously annoyed, tried to download and use VLC player, but didn't work. So we ended up watching a funny vid on the Internet about "Japanese tradition."

Giny was not impressed with the vid. She thinks all her American friends would believe all the things in the said vid and will be scared to come to Japan. All the Japanese girls (Madoka, Keiko and Manami) thought it was rather funny though.

Since we tried and failed again and again to play the DVD (The Phantom of the Opera), we finally gave up and decided we would try out my new game set, "What's Yours Like."

The categories were arbitrary enough, but if you play the game a few times it becomes too easy to guess. Anyway, my team (me and manami) won ... it wasn't really fair though, since I am the only language school teacher in the group and I play games like this for a living :p~

Brrrr, I still haven't finish packing. I've better move my lazy arse and get on with the schedule...