i keep finding peanuts in my pockets!!!

wow - it's been such a long time since I logged onto my own blog, I could barely remember the password!

life has been... busy busy busy. I have been working as an elementary school teacher - and due to the changing nature of english education in Japan, the board of education has decided to make english conversation classes mandatory in elementary school from next year. And now, all the poor teachers are freaking out a tad - imagine you were just told that you have to teach a new language. whew man.

anyway, so I have been prancing around the city visiting a bundle of elementary schools for two days - every two days, a new school. And snakes alive, am i EXHAUSTED. 7 year olds are insanely cute, but where the heck does the energy COME FROM? and is there not some way we can channel it into providing the city with an alternative energy source?

I basically leave home around 6h45 , sometimes 7h15 on lucky days. And i am in bed, asleep, dead to the world by around 20h00. And I wouldn't change a thing ;)
Last week, on the 3rd of February, it was Setsubun - a Japanese festival that marks the beginning of Spring (ahahahaaaa. its -6 degrees today. Spring?!) and is celebrated by the expulsion of evil and the renewal of the spirit! How is this done? I am so glad you asked - well, what happens is, one person dons a mask of the devil / ogre called an 'Oni' and everyone else prances about chucking peanuts at him! And so, I had the great pleasure of being in a class of 8 year olds when their homeroom teacher put on his devil mask that he had bought at the grocery store and we all ran around the school pelting him with peanuts.


by far, one of the most random and best days of my life.

And now, I keep finding peanuts in the oddest of places. And they are delicious!