Kyoto And The Difference Between Schools

As Alex said, I've been SUPER busy last week. I've got a student who enjoys inviting himself over to play video games now, and this Sunday he proclaimed that he (and his younger brother, who I teach at elementary school) would be coming over every Sunday from now on. I was like, "Erm. I...might be busy...some weeks." Oi.

Last Tuesday and Thursday I went to Kyoto for an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher - basically we crazy foreigners teaching in Japan) conference with Ms. Matsuda, one of the English teachers here. We had a ton of fun - the conference was illuminating (though some of the speakers spoke TOO FAST for the Japanese teachers!! Holy cow, slow down!) and we got to hang out and shop in Kyoto after it was over.

Shijo-dori and Kawaramachi-dori, two of the huge shopping streets, are definitely places I want to take anyone who decides to visit us. The bus system of Kyoto is intensive as well, but you can get an all-day pass for 500 yen - a little more than five dollars. Kyoto is also one of the most historically significant cities in Japan, as it was the old capital before it was moved to Tokyo. So it has a ton of beautiful gardens and castles and pagodas. HINT HINT. COME VISIT US. I WILL SHOW YOU A GOOD TIME.

Also I found a shop that sells import goods, like.. (gasp) CHERRY COKE and tortillas!! I know tortillas are easy to make, but I haven't done it yet and when I saw them I freaked out. They also had feta there. I bought some for Alex. It was epic.

So on the train home I had Subway (another find -- I had a roasted chicken and avocado sub) and Cherry Coke for dinner. Mmmmmmm....I needed that.

Then, Thursday and Friday I had elementary school to go to. I go to the Angelic School every other Thursday and the Demonic School every Friday.

This particular Thursday and Friday I was given a very clear-cut example of the differences between the two schools. I was teaching both sets of students about Christmas. I'm not allowed to talk too much about Christian stuff, since they ARE public schools, but I focused on the family aspect of it instead of being like, "You get lots of cool stuff and it's awesome!"

Angelic School: A tiny first-grade girl approached me after the lesson and asked me in a sweet voice, "Natalie-sensei, do you know about Jesus? <3" I almost cried. It was the most precious thing in the world.

Somewhat Less Angelic School: The kids got into two seperate fistfights while making Christmas cards. Before lunch, a tiny first-grade girl approached me and asked me in a sweet voice, "Natalie-sensei, why are you so fat?"

Gotta love teaching.