Interacting with Interac

I applied for a job with Interac, the biggest private organisation that puts ALTs into schools. The position I want is teaching at high schools in my area — a position that recently opened up when the previous ALT — who, along with his wife, is also a friend of ours — handed in his notice and relocated, soon to return to the US.

I am in the middle of the application process. I have had a phone interview, but tonight I have a face-to-face video interview. Last night, I made a teaching demonstration video to submit. I'll pop that up on the blog when I have the means.

So, it's all going ahead. Prayer and determination will see this through and me successfully welcomed into a position that is ideal.

We shifted house last weekend. We had a lot of help from Ps. Taniguchi and his wife, and Mika's dad. We got everything shifted over and the old house completely cleaned. It's been difficult to try and set everything up in the new house, but we are pacing ourselves as we try and unpack and sort through everything, and work out what to put where.

As yet, we haven't got an internet connection at home. That means I will be setting up at the old (empty) place tonight for my interview, since there is still both power and an active cable internet connection there. We are trying to get ADSL hitched up, but so far haven't even found out when that will be activated, or with whom.

As for cable TV; well, we are going to get cable installed (at a fairly large cost), but the installation won't take place until October. So until then, I guess we try and hook the TV up to a regular aerial. I dunno if that will do anything, as so far we haven't tried. Heck, I haven't even set up the home theatre system yet!

There was a farewell nomikai last week with the main office in K-town, which I attended. And there is a local welcoming/farewell one next month for the new ALT and myself to attend.

I filled out a survey for leaving JETs. Following are the comments I wrote at the end of the survey:

"Educate all shougakkou teachers a lot more about what JET and its ALTs represent and do. Instead of "omakase", they should be leading and participating in the ALT classes like the rest of their classes, without fear of not being able to use English.

"Offer more training that invokes team teaching and how an ALT can be effectively used at junior high school. We are not human tape recorders, and ALT lessons should not be grammar cramming time. If all JTEs knew how effective classes could be if they would just work with the ALT and find a good balance, then both parties - as well as students - will be much happier in the long run.

"Those are the two biggest issues I have. Because if primary school teachers have their foreign language class confidence boosted and junior high English teachers better understand team teaching, then there is more potential for JET ALTs to be involved with effective and ongoing lesson planning - and thus more for ALTs to actually do during non-class work hours, and more of an overall positive language and cultural effect on students across the board."

I really can't imagine things changing for the better anytime soon, but maybe one day this whole internationalisation thing will have a paradigm shift and we will see much more interactivity in the classroom and a lot more assessment and adjustment to teachers really utilising the human tools that they are being given.

I didn't have an altogether bad experience, as some of the schools I taught at gave me a very rewarding experience as an ALT. But, there are issues over homeroom teacher involvement and team teaching relationships that could be better addressed. Think of the kids!

That's all from me, for now. I really hope that we will get internet at home soon, as it is difficult to live without it (the things we have become accustomed to, eh). I also hope to be able to upload my teaching demo video here. Because it's all about enjoying yourself whatever you apply yourself to. :)

Edit: Here is the video!

Interac Teaching Demonstration from Tim Gough on Vimeo.

Peace.

Timotheos

Four Quizzes in a Month

I ran a quiz at Shouwa chuu, posting up results in Wordle format weekly. The students were very cooperative, and we ended up with some nicely stylised quiz results. Good stuff!

 

 

My time on JET is very close to finishing. Today I have my last classes at Shouwa JHS. We are playing Jeopardy with the kids, using the quiz questions that I made in the last month or so. Next week will be my final classes overall, so it's just over a week until my last appointment as an ALT for Shimanto primary and junior high schools.

I can only hope that both English Zone and English Corner will carry on with new ideas and a different kind of flair from my successor. And yes, I realise that I still have to put up my collection of photos from those projects!

What the future holds is anyone's guess, but I do have some prospects on the table. Teaching is likely still on the agenda, but I won't know for sure until possibly after my contract actually ends at the end of this month.

For Tokawa, I was submitting a monthly "short story". Even though my time there was cut short — I had my last class before the end of June — I still submitted a little editorial for the final month before natsu yasumi — summer holidays.

April 2011 - Anzac Day
In recent history, we have had two "World Wars". Many countries fought for what they believed in. Almost a hundred years ago, the 1st World War took the lives of many millions of people. Some of those people were New Zealanders and Australians: ANZACs.

ANZAC stands for “New Zealand and Australian Army Corps”. In 1915, thousands of these soldiers died on a beach in Turkey, called Gallipoli. But we remember those soldiers every year in commemoration of what they fought for. April 25th is Anzac Day.

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance. Many of the soldiers from the World Wars are dead now. But we still remember their sacrifice. We are reminded that war is terrible - but there will always be people who believe in freedom.

May 2011 - Golden Week
What did you do for Golden Week? Did you enjoy the time off? Did you travel? Did you see relatives?

This year, on the first day of Golden Week, my family and I travelled to Niihama, in Ehime prefecture. We visited the National Science Museum there. There was a lot to see and do.

The museum has a lot of hands-on (interactive) displays. There were many things that we could look at, play with and experience; a science show for children; craft that my daughter could make – she made a hovercraft; giant model dinosaurs that moved and growled; and a planetarium with a very cool astronomy display.

Even if you were unable to go anywhere for Golden Week, I hope that you had a good time. And I hope that you will have the chance one day to visit the museum in Ehime.

June 2011 - Four Seasons in One Day
Before we get the expected muggy, stiflingly hot weather that brings with it giant bugs and the desire to swim, here in Japan we have to experience heavy rainfall. Rainy season is as predictable as the mukade that try to creep into your house.

Rainy season is a strange concept to New Zealanders. The weather in New Zealand is so sporadic and unpredictable all year round, that people joke about there being “four seasons in one day”. In fact, there is even a famous song about it!

As with Japan, different areas of New Zealand experience the different seasons in different ways: It snows down south in winter, but throughout most of New Zealand we only experience cold wind and rain and the occasional frost. In summer it gets incredibly hot on the east coast and a lot more humid up north than anywhere else. My own city is fairly temperate: not too hot in summer, and seldom icy in winter.

I hope you enjoy rainy season and look forward to swimming in the river!

July 2011 - Goodbye Message
Dear students

My three years teaching in Shimanto have brought me through many experiences: from attending school sports days and graduation ceremonies, to getting married and raising a family. Part of me wishes that I had taken more advantage of my time as an ALT and done more – been more involved with the various schools that I teach at. But one can only be happy with as much as one actually does.

My time as an ALT may be at an end, but it is merely a change of season. I am not leaving Japan – and very much doubt that I will leave Shimanto any time soon. You could still see me around: at Sunshine, in Kochi city, at various festivals that we have. Please say “hi”, and know that I am always willing to say “hi” back!

I wish everyone at Tokawa chuu a bright future. Aim for the skies and keep your dreams alive. And never forget that English – no matter how frustrating to learn – opens up a whole new world of intrigue and diversity.

がんばります。

--

I will try and sort through my photos of both display walls to present those in a couple of slideshows, spanning the past year or so that I have been doing display projects at two of the three junior high schools I have been teaching at.

And even though I will no longer be on JET from next month, I will continue to update this blog. Because it is the Japan Journey; not the JET journey! There are many years ahead of me of discovery, experience and all-round continued Japanese immersion.

Peace.

Timotheos

Blooming Kochi

It's the end of the academic school year. Everyone moves up a grade or finishes school at the end of this month. I had my last chuugakkou classes today.

We had graduation on Saturday. I attended the one for Shouwa chuu. Now that I have no school, it will just be office work between now and when the new term starts.

On Sunday, we dedicated our daughters at church. It's always important to pray God's blessing on your children. Because Eddi had never been dedicated, we had her prayed for at the same time as baby Maya.

Dedication at church - 14 March 2010

To backtrack a bit, it was my birthday on the 28th of February. On the 27th, we went out for dinner to a steak restaurant with Mika's brother and his family. We went back to their place for cake.

30th Birthday Cake

The Cutting of the Cake

A couple of weeks ago, it was Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival. We also had cake for that and Mika's mum set up a doll display according to the tradition. Unfortunately, the photos we took have been lost, otherwise I would put something of ours here.

Hina Matsuri - The Doll Festival

Two weekends ago, Michael came for a visit. He and I watched a couple of movies and went to Yamagoya to eat. It was somewhat nostalgic (in a recent sense).

Now that spring is almost here, the sakura -- cherry blossoms -- have started coming out. The weather has struggled to warm up and we even had a smattering of snow this month. But it will get warmer, the blossoms will come out and we can enjoy new life among all of the changes that come with April.

Sakura - Cherry Blossoms; The First Sign of Spring

That's all for now. Sorry about the lack of updates. I had to cram a lot into one post. I'll try and be more diligent in posting blog entries throughout the rest of this year. ^^

Timotheos

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

Suffice to say, life has definitely been busy. Between school and family, I switched blog entry priority to low. Now that I have an hour left in the office this morning, it's high time I updated this thing. Life in Japan is hard... >.<

A few Saturdays ago, I had to go to K-town hospital to get the prescription for my second of three courses of antibiotics. Another half-day wasted, but it wasn't as bad as the previous time.

That week wore on, with chuugakkou classes pretty much as regular as usual, and some time spent in the office. The annual English speech competition is coming up, so I have had a small hand to play in preparation so far -- mostly just editing and proofreading stories and speeches.

On the technology front, I reinstalled Windows Vista on my laptop a couple of weeks ago. It more or less fixed the Internet connection issues I was having, but the connection is still not as consistent as I would like.

My wife and I were able to take a break two weeks ago. We had Eddi babysat and went out for dinner together, before taking a walk. How necessarily romantic. ;)

I've been doing a little Japanese study, on and off. My progress is still slow and I continue to struggle, but the more I do it, the more I will understand and remember, right?

The weekend before last was more or less relaxing. We went to a park on the Saturday, up in Ehime prefecture. It was also tsukimi, which means "moongazing", and we had a fun time of it that night, eating dango that Eddi and Mika made.

The week came and went, with me buying my wife a rose on Monday and receiving Eddi's set of bunks; starting a new series called FlashForward on Tuesday; having dinner at the in-laws on Wednesday night; going for a walk on Thursday evening; and getting our brand new double bed and table on Friday!

And I've got to say, it is wonderful to have a proper bed, and great to be able to eat at a table! Unfortunately, the table top is slightly cracked, so we are waiting for them to replace it.

On Friday we also dropped Eddi at her grandparents' to stay for the night. Turns out we didn't tutor Mei-chan that night either, so Mika and I watched a movie together. W00t.

Saturday was a lazy day. I even took a much needed nap in the afternoon. See, life in Japan really is hard. I had to sleep on our brand new soft mattress for a couple of hours, eat a yummy curry and play on my computer a bit. /yawn

Eddi's undoukai (sports day) was at her youchien (kindergarten) on Sunday morning, so we were unable to attend church. We managed to film everything that our daughter was involved with, which added up to an hour of footage. Perhaps I will sift through and edit it sometime.

After the undoukai, we ate leftover curry and packed up the car with all our camping gear. We headed out to a place called Kashiwajima. Shima/Jima means "island", but it was an island that is connected by a land bridge. The area is a hotspot for scuba diving and fishing, even though the shore is terribly polluted. I wouldn't recommend going there if you don't like the sight of garbage. They really should clean the place up, because it is a quaint little town and the surrounding area is incredibly beautiful (I have photos, but can't upload anything until I find my Micro-SD converter).

Camping was great. We weren't completely organised, but it all worked out anyway. The nights are getting colder, but with blankets we were quite comfortable in our tent together.

After a nice walk on Monday -- which was a public holiday, and hence why we were able to go out camping -- we drove to a cliff trail and walked up to have a look at the view. After that, we went to a nearby monkey park, and saw a whole lot of monkeys. There was also a great lookout on the promontory, which afforded us a view of the entire surrounding area, with islands dotting the sea and the sun glinting off the water. We could clearly make out the beach we had camped at overnight, too. The weather on Monday was perfect.

Lunch and icecreams on the way to Nakamura, and then in the city we visited the onsen, paying for a private family bath. We got 50% extra free (1 1/2 hours instead of just one), as it was our first visit. Even being naked can be enjoyable. Guess Japan really is changing me. :)

MacDonald's for dinner, a little shopping and then the drive back home via our regular route through Iejigawa. Tired? Yup, but Tuesday is always an early start, so no time to think about sleeping in.

That brings us to yesterday. I spent the entire day at Taisho chuu, as my classes were spread out to period 6. Kitazoe sensei was away. The students mostly did work out of their workbooks, which wasn't very fun at all. And the extra class I oversaw was disappointing, as the kids obviously didn't want to be there. Sometimes you just have bad days, and yesterday wasn't one of the better school days I've had. But you just move on, huh. Every day is a new and wonderful day that God has created!

Today, I finish at 11.30am. I am taking this afternoon off so that Mika and I can have lunch together and then visit K-town hospital. She has an OB appointment and I want to be there for once to see our baby on the monitor during the scan. We believe that today we will find out our child's gender, too! Exciting. ;)

Going out for dinner tonight, too, which will be great. So all in all, today is a huge step up from yesterday. We have been anticipating this Wednesday for quite a while.

Onward!

Timotheos

A Year In Review

My experience here in Japan seems to differ somewhat from other people's. Not only am I in a rather isolated place, but culture shock has never been an issue for me. Sure, I have been surprised at some of the things that I encountered here, but nothing really life-changing -- in the sense of cultural differences and adjustments -- has occurred. Getting married within a year of coming to Japan was pretty huge (and unexpected), but that's beside the point. :p

And in reverse, I really can't see myself having to readjust to life in New Zealand, if we move there in future. If culture shock was the boredom of not having a laptop on arrival or experiencing a very chilly Christmas, then reverse culture shock will be surprise at petrol costs or how cheap milk from Pak 'n Save is.

When I write a book about my experiences in Japan, I'll have to exaggerate everything, including my sudden plunge into Japanese society. But the truth is, I don't feel as if I interact with Japanese culture enough for it to really affect me. All of this bowing and being polite hasn't really rubbed off on me yet; and I have passed the one year mark.

Mind you, the language sure is taking its time to sink in. You'd think that after a year I would be highly motivated to dive into my books and really focus on shoving Japanese into my head so that I could communicate. But without the dire need to converse in Japanese, the motivation just hasn't come. But I'll get there -- I know I will...

So yes, it has been over a year. Which means that life will begin to repeat itself. This last week was Kochi's infamous Yosakoi festival again. I, however, didn't see any coverage of it. I did see some people practising when my family were here, though.

Then, of course, is the upcoming Ayu festival, which takes place around these parts. And then we will be graced with various summer fireworks displays. This year, we plan on seeing a bigger display than Nakamura can offer.

Mika and I still have two houses between us; we will hopefully be able to paint Mikey's old place next week. She is back at work on Monday so it might have to wait until the weekend. I just want to be done with this whole split between two houses arrangement that we have going on. We are both still paying rent plus all of the utilities that come with having a place -- twice. So, the sooner the better for us, both financially and as a family.

Yesterday, I had a migraine, so was resigned to take a day off and suffer in pain. My head actually started hurting on Wednesday afternoon, so I finished work an hour early and went home to bed. Mika was away for Tuesday and Wednesday nights, staying with her brother's family at their new house in K-city. I didn't eat between Tuesday and Wednesday lunchtimes, but after talking to my wife on the phone, she encouraged (read: ordered) me to go to her house and make something to eat. Which I did, despite the agonising pain in my head. It was also good to get out and about, and I was able to recover enough to not have to go back to bed after returning home.

It's no wonder I suffer like this, though, sitting for so long in front of a computer screen. I should be dividing my time between browsing, learning and preparing. It would actually be quite wise to get onto more preparation for the new term, as I may not have as much free time during the week to prepare shougakkou lessons. It seems that I have a more permanent schedule after summer, teaching at four shougakkou consistently and an extra chuugakkou (Taisho). Because now that Michael has gone, they need me to fill in at least some of the gap -- the new ALT is living in K-town, which makes teaching all the way out here too difficult, I guess.

On a final note, the weekend is upon us -- well, pretty much. Mika doesn't want to do any driving this weekend, after all the driving she has done this week. I am going to assume that that means no long-distance travelling, which puts the idea of looking for a bed and/or table out of the question; at least for now.

What's most important for us at this stage is getting the go ahead to paint up the place we are moving into so that we can begin moving our stuff in. My biggest issue is getting rid of these JCF library books. We are still looking for a replacement librarian. Hopefully it will be someone in this prefecture, as that would save a whole lot on courier fees (if I were able to take the boxes somewhere myself).

Here's to continued beautiful weather!

Peace.

Timotheos

Driving Me Wild

I have a car! Well, not exactly. But I bought a car. There is still some paperwork to get back from the police station and then send off to the car dealer from whom I purchased it. Change of ownership and all that. Then there will be the matter of insurance, which I will take care of when I pick it up from Kochi station in about a week.

Honda Torneo Sir-T 2.0L. Colour: white. Year: 1999. Distance: ～76,000 Km. Total cost: ¥410000 (NZ$6,514). Yes, I got a good deal. I pray that it runs well!

We went to Takamatsu on Saturday. Mika's brother Katsu and his family came over as well. He and I both test drove the car (funfun) and I decided then and there that I would buy it. As an answer to prayer, I paid exactly what I had brought with me. In the morning, I had withdrawn 400,000 and was carrying 10,000 already in my wallet. I told Mika that God would sort out the rest. And he did! It's fun to do things like that, where you listen to the voice of God and he works everything out. Because as it says in Romans 8:28: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." This includes, but is not limited to, listening to God's wee nudges and obeying them. Goodgood.

After forking over my entire bank account's contents, we tracked down an udon place for lunch. Kagawa prefecture is supposedly known for its variety and regular consumption of udon. We ate late because of all the car paperwork.

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping at an Aeon mall outside of the city, in a nearby town. We travelled back to Kochi and did a little grocery shopping before stopping in at Katsu's place to eat. Then, back to Taisho, where we arrived pretty late. But all in all, it was a good Saturday. I bought a car!

Aaanyway, we had a lunch on Sunday after church. Mika made Mexican food and I made a lolly cake. I ate way too much and was unable to eat dinner that night. We baked brownies in the afternoon with Mikey and he came around again for dinner -- which I couldn't eat.

It has been raining a bit. I guess we are getting into rainy season. At least it was fine on Monday. I had taught at Tokawa shougakkou. That and Shouwa are my regular places to teach. Guess I shou up there a lot. >.>

Yesterday was a normal day for me at Tokawa chuu. I was exhausted though, and went to bed after getting home. I couldn't even get up to eat later, and missed my usual Bible study. I'm not sure if it's because I stayed late at Mika's the night before or if my body just needed extra sleep.

Today, I had to get up early and head to Maruyama shougakkou. It is about 10 mins past K-town. Yet another small school. It was my first time there and I guess it went well enough. Nothing really exciting, but it wasn't bad or anything.

So now I wait to see when I will be getting my car. There is a lot I want to do to it, but there are more important things to spend my money on. For now, I'm broke. So I just have to bear with it until pay day, and do my best to conserve money for those important things.

Movies I want to watch:
Star Trek
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Transformers 2
Terminator Salvation

Peace.

Timotheos

The Legend of Pocky

My couch arrived today. Yay! My beautiful, black leather 3-seater. Mika and I are going to test it out later tonight (watching a movie, of course).

At Tokawa chuu on Tuesday, classes were as normal in the morning, but in the afternoon, the students from both chuugakkou and shougakkou cleaned the pool. I think I was supposed to join them but no one really communicated with me properly and I read a book in the office for a while...

On Wednesday, I was taken to Shiwa shougakkou, which is very small. The town itself is about 25 mins past K-town, and some of the road is very windy, downhill and narrow (ie. a normal Kochi mountain road). Shiwa is a coastal village and the area is quite beautiful. The classes themselves were fun. I stayed through lunch (with my obento) and took a combined class in the afternoon: of all eight students.

That night, I started working on a two-page Pocky comic strip. I finished it last night.

--Click to enlarge--

Page 001

Page 002

Who knows; it could turn into a regular thing. Imagine: a webcomic about a Pocky ninja (the Pocky Ninja). ^.^

Yesterday was just an average day at Shouwa chuu. I hadn't been there in three weeks, so it was good to see everyone. Nakaoka sensei and I refused to speak any Japanese in our ninensei class. It made things really interesting; especially since the girls were trying to trick me into speaking Japanese. >.<

This morning, I taught gonensei at K-town shou. Afterwards, I was able to do some quick shopping while in town before heading back. I'm going to make a lolly cake for Sunday. We have a lunch at church and Mika is making tacos. XD

Well, now that my couch is here, all that is left for me to get is my car. I am still unsure as to whether I will be going into Takamatsu tomorrow (the dealer won't transfer the car to Kochi, but it is still in the lot). We haven't heard back from Katsu to see if he is free to go there with us. I really need his expertise and input if I'm to make a decision regarding buying this Torneo. So yeah, it is still on the table. More time to pray about it, too. :)

Peace. (Eat Pocky).

Timotheos

Holy Birthday Barbecues Batman

On Friday, I spent most of the morning preparing for school in the afternoon. It went really well -- both preparation and classes. I actually made a whole lot of flags and cards with flags and country names on them. It allowed for a fun, card-exchange game with the kids that practised "I am from...", as well as a bit of geography.

Mika and I took Mei-chan for an English lesson (after okonomiyaki for dinner) on Friday night, and afterwards we did a whole lot of baking for Eddi's birthday. I made a chocolate fudge cake frosted with delicious chocolate icing, and Happy Birthday written with yellow white chocolate icing. The cup cakes turned out pretty nice, too. So much sugar!

On Saturday, I spent the morning doing my own thing (*cough*playing WoW*cough*), then Mika, Eddi and I went to K-town. We met Mika's brother and family, and some ex-neighbours of hers, and had a barbecue at the park. It was a beautiful day and was good fun.

Somehow, we managed to send Eddi off with her uncle to stay with her cousin for the night. So Mika and I were able to spend time together. XD We watched a movie at my place and just had a relaxing time.

Mother's Day
Sunday morning saw us head into K-city, to attend the pentecostal church there. We spent the afternoon child-free, which made it easy to go shopping. Furniture stores, Aeon mall and Starbucks were our main points of interest. All in all, it was a nice afternoon, and I know that Mika appreciated the break.

We had dinner with Katsuhiko -- Mika's brother -- and family, at a kaitenzushi restaurant. We left the city quite late, so weren't back in Taisho until late. What a weekend. :)

On Monday and Wednesday mornings I taught at K-town shougakkou, and on Wednesday afternoon it was Tokawa.

I was very tired on Tuesday. so it was good to have a bit of a break between my chuugakkou classes. That night, I just watched stuff and had my regular prayer group / Bible study meeting. Mika and I didn't see each other at all, for the first time in three weeks -- since we started going out. And I lived to tell about it! :p

Also on Monday and Wednesday, we went for our usual runs. It has been lovely weather all week and running feels so good (despite how hot it is getting). Oh, and I went to the dentist yesterday, for what has become my usual monthly checkup.

Today, Shouwa chuu have some sort of field trip for the students, so I have been in the office all day. Yet again, it is beautiful outside. Would be nice to go for a run, but I have my couch arriving after work, and I want another day of just staying at home, relaxing (after a hard day's thumb twiddling...).

Peace.

Timotheos

Enkai and Trifle

The new academic year started last week. We were introduced to new teachers at our respective schools. There are five new teachers at Tokawa chuu, and I'm not sure how many at Shouwa. But there is a new English teacher there, Nakaoka sensei.

So Tuesday was all about the start of the new year. There were no classes but I had to attend two assemblies. The one in the morning was more casual and was just an introduction of the new staff to existing students. In the afternoon, everyone wore formal attire (I'd worn a suit all day, actually), and we had an opening ceremony for the new first years -- of which there are a mere six.

Of course, Monday, Wednesday and Friday were all days spent in the office, "working". I always work hard when I have no school. >.>

Thursday saw classes at Shouwa chuu, but they were mostly introductions and questions. There are 11 new students there.

As an office, we had hanami on Friday. Hanami is having a picnic lunch beneath sakura trees. It was nice to sit outside and eat a prepared obento.

On Friday night I attended an enkai with Tokawa chuu teachers. We ate at a yaki-niku (Japanese barbecue) place. Afterwards was the obligatory karaoke. Good times.

On Saturday, Michael and I packed up our air pistols and corresponding gear and headed into the hills to do a bit of shooting practice. We continued on to Nakamura to do some shopping and he ordered a proper shoulder strap for his gun and extra clips. I got some groceries; including the necessities for making a trifle.

Back home, I made a trifle for our dessert evening that same night. Michael, Mika, Laurel, Narae and I ate at Yamagoya before heading to my place to watch Rat Race. Mika had to leave early so missed out on dessert, which we ate after the movie. It was mostly my trifle and some icecream that Mikey had brought.

I spent most of Sunday at home. Nothing productive.

Went to church last night with Mika and Eddie. Taniguchi sensei (our pastor) gave us each hard-boiled eggs with cute Easter labels. I ate mine at breakfast this morning.

After church, I grabbed the rest of my trifle and shared it with Eddi and Mika at their place. I chilled there until quite late. But it happens. ;)

Monday. Tired. Whole day to look forward to in the office. Some interesting activities coming up, though. Aside from school, of course.

Moti-va-tion!

Peace.

Timotheos