Week 16 & 17

July 12, Day 105:
Today a boy sneezed with a mouthful of rice. Rice everywhere.
Today a girl peed her pants twice in a ten minute span.
Today I had to be a mean teacher and take away a privilege from a student who really wanted it. He cried. I felt sad.

July 13, Day 106: Blue Day!
Today we celebrated the color blue. I wore a blue tutu, blue glitter on my eyes, blue eyeliner, stuck some blue sequins on my face, and of course, wound some blue pipe cleaners into my hair. We painted with blue watercolor, made blue sock puppets, sang our Blue song many times, and did show-and-tell with blue toys that students brought from home. We had planned on doing a blue body activity outside for water play, but the forecast forced us to rethink. It rained so much that I received 4 evacuation alerts on my phone throughout the day. Luckily, my house and work are on a hill, safe from danger, but there’s so much water! Thankful I don’t have to drive anywhere today. We ate our blue popsicles inside while listening to “On Top of the World” by The Carpenters as the rain came down.

July 14, Day 107:
Ever had your blood drawn for testing? Most people have by age 22, but today was my first time. Every staff member had to undergo a ‘health check’ today which included height, weight, eyesight test, hearing test, waist measurement, blood pressure, stethoscope action, blood withdrawal, and chest x-rays. The worst part was having to fast from 7:00am – 4:00pm. It’s hard to teach without fuel… Immediately after my health check, I had a ’90-day check-in’ meeting with the head of HR and the vice principal. I was reunited with my lunch box after the meeting and felt much better.

July 15, Day 108:
Exactly a year ago, I was interviewed for this position! It was a video call; 6:30pm my time and 10:30am Japan time. I spent HOURS preparing my desk space, background, lighting, and interview questions. Probably the most nervous I’ve ever been? I mean, I was interviewing for my dream job… Funny how I work right next to those people on the other end of that call now.

July 16, Day 109:
Woke up at 5am to watch my brother’s White Coat ceremony in Arizona! Feeling lucky they broadcasted it live online.
I went to a symphony this afternoon 🙂 Aaron Copeland focused. It was beautiful.

July 17, Day 110:
Today I went downtown by myself for the first time. Doesn’t sound very hard, but I got very lost. Sendai Station has many tunnels and platforms and different colored lines. Long story short, I got on the wrong train home and it took 6 stops before I realized I was headed east instead of south. When I finally figured out my train situation and arrived at the final train station, it was thundering and lightninging. The 25 minute walk home felt more like a 25 minute shower (fully clothed). It took a while to peel off my sopping wet clothes and dry out my backpack when I finally made it back to my apartment. What a day. I need a bigger umbrella!

July 18, Day 112:
Laundry, home goods store, grocery store, and letter writing. It’s National Marine Day, so we have the day off. Still recovering from my experience yesterday.

July 19, Day 113:
Today is the last day of school until summer school in two weeks. The students get a break, but the teachers have two weeks of work days to prepare for summer school/second trimester. We were supposed to have a closing ceremony in the big hall today, but many teachers and students tested positive for COVID over the weekend, so the ceremony was done over the classroom intercoms… disappointing. The rest of the day was a whirlwind; sending students home with EVERYTHING (art projects, smocks, caps, inside shoes, past worksheets, water bottles, calendars, newsletters, etc.), but luckily the only thing left behind was one cap. Whew.

July 20, Day 114:
Workday. Pay day. Find new pots for my plants day.

July 21, Day 115:
I went on a sunset walk today in my favorite park. I repotted all four of my plants. I cleaned the drains in my bathroom. All good things. Although cleaning drains is pretty disgusting.

July 22, Day 116:
We helped with K5’s summer camp today. Highlights: fireworks, watermelon popsicles, dodgeball, slap bracelets, curry for dinner, campfire songs. Too tired to type anything else.

July 23, Day 117:
Spent 12 hours at work yesterday (9:00am – 9:00pm) and arrived at work at 6:00am this morning. At least I didn’t have to spend the night on the gym floor though. Today was the second half of K5’s summer camp. We ate breakfast together, watched a movie, splashed around for water play (I supervised the water slide station which was SO FUN), ate some watermelon, and took class photos before they went home around noon. I did practically nothing for the remaining hours of the day.

July 24, Day 118:
Today was a 10/10 day for my stomach. I ate some of my favorite things at EACH MEAL. Used leftover avocado from a poke bowl for some avocado toast (with egg and red chili flakes yum) for breakfast. Met up with Olivia and Bella for lunch at Hey! cafe in downtown Sendai (I didn’t get lost this time). I was shocked to see burritos on the menu and of course, ordered one. We also got donuts which were delightful. Mine had matcha frosting and grapefruit filling. For dinner, I heated up a hum bao which reminded me of the bao I made from scratch with my mom at home! Happy happy happy.
Today I also bought a Shinkansen ticket for an upcoming trip in August! It was expensive, but it will be worth it.

July 25, Day 119: