Last weekend: Tom and I sat outside on my concrete "porch" (more like a big back step) to work on my shoji screens. It was so sunny and spring-y warm that I took my socks and shoes off and was in jeans and a sweatshirt. I did laundry which I hung outside in the sun! My tulips have begun to come up.. I found inch high buds while poking around outside a few days ago. Today: I woke up to about a foot of snow and it is still coming down hard (currently noon here). The snow is insanely heavy and wet and is piling up all over the place. What a shock! This means only one thing: it is officially spring. ;)

I had two terrific classes today. It was my last class with 3rd grade class 5, (Thank God!) before they graduate in a week plus. I had them fill out sheets about themselves (they were really fun looking sheets designed choose-your-own-adventure style by some other more artistically talented JET). Then I gathered up the sheets and we played "How well do you know your friends & teachers?". In teams of 6, they could choose from two categories: teacher or student (I had interviewed a handful of teachers outside of class to prepare). Then I would start reading hints from the worksheets. The first team to guess correctly won points (appropriate to how many hints I'd given) and got to choose the next category. We had fun;it was easy and about them so they all participated.

After that, I ran down to the first floor where I had my last class with 1st grade class 3 (before they become 2nd graders). After warming up, we played a very, very lively game of English Pictionary using words I took from the entire text book as review. The best part is that I got to get back at two of the boys who have been pains in the butt since the begining of the year (their latest favorite: repeating every word I say to the class, in unison, little brother style). I made them both stand up and be examples in explaining how to play the game. Then later on, when it was their turn to draw, I had one draw a preposition phrase ("on the desk"). He just about died (other students had nouns like bus, computer, rice or verbs like ski). The other was the last student up and I handed him a card with the name of the other teacher, Ms. Kondo. She's a great teacher and is leaving at the end of the year. She's really strict but the kids all like her because she has a sense of humor, too. Anyway.. he freaked and wouldn't start drawing. The best was when she started trying to egg him on to get him to draw. We were almost out of time so everyone was pressuring him to draw something. He had drawn a smiley face and finally a kid just guessed it; the entire class just busted up. It was sweet. (Muhahahahahahaha!!) Everything in good fun... !

After school, if the trains are still running, I am heading south to Nagoya. Tom and I will stay there tonight then go to Kyoto tomorrow morning. He is running in the Kyoto City Half-Marathon and I will be cheering. I should be running, but I have had a very slacker start to my year and had to stop due to burn out and stress. It will really stink to have to stand and watch everyone run. Hopefully it will help me get back to it. Regardless, it should be a fun weekend! Hope everyone else had a good week... it has been a fast one, that is for sure.