Bipolar

I guess I am at the stage in which I should be missing home. It's hard to say though, my correspondence with Minnesota is hugely bipolar. I can talk with my dear friends, and my close family, and I instantly want to be home with all of you. But then a creeping cesspool of anger can still reach its slippery tentacles from Minnesota. Enough to make me glad I am far away. 

I suppose you get your good days and bad days anywhere, right? No matter if you are the "happiest" you have been in a long time. Its bound to sneak up on you occasionally. 

I had a lesson yesterday, in which I was catching a sixth grade class up to another. The class that was ahead had a game day. I had them in pairs making human shaped alphabet letters. That was possibly the single most hilarious thing I have ever seen. Lord I don't think I will forget the letter "F" for a long time. A particularly fat kid had his friend on his shoulders, his friend stuck out his arms, while the chubby guy stuck out his. It was perfect. I couldn't imagine a better F.

Which reminds me. Every day on my ride in to my schools I take the same highway. And everyday I see this massive man on a Scooter making his way in my direction. It never fails, rain or shine, this fat man is riding his scooter down highway 54, towards Hiroshima. I eagerly anticipate this passing. He looks like he is very comfortable with his appearance. I can get behind that. He wears this little helmet, and sticks his legs so far out on each side of that scooter, he looks a bit like a penis. I laugh every time he goes past me. I saw him on Friday, in pouring rain, looking positively miserable on that ride. But he still brightened my day. I hope to meet this man someday. 

This is a confusing country, full of confusing people. Both local and Gaijin alike. 

I am lucky in that I seem to be able to get away with murder as far as the language is concerned. I don't know as much Japanese as some of my friends here, I am learning but it is slow. However, most of my schools and teachers are alright with my lack of knowledge. In fact, I would argue that they think it is charming. At least so far. It certainly wouldn't hurt to learn more though. 

Every spring the schools have a Sports Day. They practice their asses off, and spend a day on a weekend playing games in front of the parents. I cant begin to describe how much fun these days are. Imagine the old elementary activity day, where we had track and field, relays, long jump, etc. Except here the sports are things like pushing giant balls around, or chasing after your English teacher who is wearing a laundry bin on his back and throwing balls in it. Or singing chants at the other half of the school. I wish I knew what these chants meant, I assume they are insightful, but just watching them changed my life.  I am so thankful for those little smiling faces. They bring a steady warmth to this often ridiculously dramatic world.