Teeny Tiny Update

For not doing much at work, life has been surprisingly busy. I also lent my two-prong power adapter to another ALT for the night, so I'm losing juice. It's gotta be quick!

I've been hanging out with my fellow JETs at night and writing lesson plans that I'll likely never use during the day. I've seen the gaijin-trap (large shopping area) of Kyoto twice, wandered around Kameoka a little, eaten a lot of bento (pre-packaged lunch box. Everybody's doin' it), and am getting accustomed to being stared at. Let me amend—I do not enjoy it when my mere presence wipes the smiles from children's faces. Sunday afternoon I and three other JETs were sitting on the curb by the convenience store, eating ice cream bars, and we got honked at. Ice cream is the only food that the Japanese will eat while walking, so it wasn't because we were eating. Mayhap because it was the largest group of foreigners this town has seen sitting on a busy corner?

Schedule for the rest of the week:

• Today: Pretend to be engrossed in making a poster for my self-introduction
• Tonight: Homemade meal and movie night with other ALTs
  
• Tomorrow: Introduce myself to all the principals of the schools. I'm toast.
  
• Tomorrow afternoon and Thursday: Bemoan my horrendous self-introduction
  
• Thursday night: Watch fireworks display
• Friday: Introduce myself to the mayor/look like an idiot
  
• Friday night and Saturday: See Tomorrow afternoon.

I'll let you know how the jiko shokai's go. I'll likely insult someone's mother, or commit some other faux pas.

Final note: Japanese TV is hilarious for all the wrong reasons.