June 14, Day 77:
It’s time to re-do our bulletin boards. I was at work for almost 13 hours today. So hangry I didn’t even take a photo.
June 15, Day 78:
Haven’t been able to post much because things have been so crazy getting ready for Kids and Parents Day (June 19th). I’ll go more into detail about the event after it’s over.
June 16, Day 79:
I spent about 2 hours coiling paper for a three dimensional cloud I hung on my bulletin board last night. It looked very cool. This morning when I got to work, this is what I saw:
I didn’t even take a ‘before’ picture. Bummer.
June 17, Day 80: busy
June 18, Day 81: busy helping the other campus with their Kids and Parents Day. Getting lots of rest before the big day tomorrow…
June 19, Day 82: Kids and Parents Day #1
Kids and Parents Day is kind of like an open house, but the parents sit in on a 45 minute English lesson, a 20 minute Japanese lesson (with the Japanese teacher), and participate in playtime. Afterwards, the teachers served a barbecue lunch to the families (burgers, hot dogs, homemade yakisoba, cheesecake, cookies, and ice cream). This event occurs three times per year and today was the first. It was a whirlwind of stress, but it only lasted for a few hours. Imagine a room full of 32 parents, a couple grandparents and a couple siblings standing in the back, watching me teach. There were only a few meltdowns because my kindergartners were emotionally confused about having their mothers in the room but just out of reach… We had been practicing specific activities and lessons for today’s event and almost everything went according to plan. Some kids got a little nervous. I was nervous too. Loads of prep work went into today (hence the reason for my neglect towards this page), and I’m relieved it’s finally over. It was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever done… Being silently evaluated by 16 pairs of Japanese parents… I tried not to think about it too hard. Whew.
June 20, Day 83: Beach trip!
It’s Monday, but we have the day off since we worked Saturday and Sunday. After a slow morning of tea, french toast, and a phone call to my dad (since it’s still Father’s Day in the USA), I headed to the beach with Olivia. The ocean is about a 40 minute drive from my apartment and the weather was perfect. I found a whole sand dollar and a few pieces of sea glass. Olivia brought her ukelele and we sat in the sand watching the waves roll in and out. Another ‘living inside of a postcard’ moment. The cold water and gentle breeze felt a lot like the Oregon coast and hey, it was the same ocean. I’ll be back soon! 
So glad you were the first to wish me Happy Fathers Day!