Have you spent any quality time with peanut m&m's recently? I sure haven't. I am eating a nice yellow bag of m&m's (eating the m&m's, not the bag, of course) for the first time in months and months. They are positively, out of this world, delicious!! Really, really good.

Ok, I guess that isn't all I have to report today, but it sure is close. Today the students have tests all day long, so I have no classes. Yesterday, my class (only one!) was canceled for last minute test prep. The day before that, I only had one class because the other one was canceled. I must admit, I am kind of bored (I can hear a friend's voice: "Only boring people get bored."). What makes it more painfully akward is the fact that everyone else is totally stressed out busy. I ask and I ask, but no one can use the help of the foreigner. I wish that they would get over that and realize I am a body with a brain that processes enough Japanese to follow simple instructions (sometimes even complicated ones!) and WORK! Oh well, so far these moments have been the hallmark of both my post-college jobs. I suppose (hope, even) one day I will be moaning about being overloaded. Today, though, I am pretty bored and have given up trying to hide it.

Yesterday I actually spent the day at the elementary school, "helping" Jaclyn with her classes. The sixth graders were learning about Junior High in America, in preparation for their own move up to my school (the school year starts over at the beginning of April in Japan). So it was a good day for me to be there (and I was happy to spend one less day soaking in the Internet). Her kids are just adorable. Many of them were simply stunned to see another foreigner hanging out at their school... and of course it added to the weirdness that we share the same name! I had a great day and even got to go home early, which is always a bonus.

After school we headed to the 100yen store in our town. All I really wanted was a trash can for my bedroom... but somehow managed to spend 1400 yen. You know, a bowl here, a notebook there... it adds up! We finished the day with 2 hours of Shodo (Japanese caligraphy), our Wednesday routine. Most of the others in the class are Junior High Students. They all took the day off to cram for today's tests.. so Jaclyn and I were two/thirds of the class. We got lots of personal attention and laughter at our new 100yen Shodo sets!!