Wednesday

For the most part, today is a boring day at school. I have no classes scheduled until Friday afternoon, but I am still expected to show up and "work".
The students are testing this week and there are a lot of people in suits shadowing the teacher. I know that they're not from our city's board of education (BOE), but they might be from the prefectural BOE. I have no clue. I am just trying to stay out of everyone's way and blend as much as possible (I know, that was funny).
I brought my laptop to work with me today. It keeps me a little busy. I was able to prepare tonight's lesson for my adult class, I've read half of a book, and I've even done a spyware scan on my computer. All of that and it's barely 11 :+(
One cool thing has happened at my school that I forgot to mention in the last post. Our school has a counseling center. There are four students who belong there. They aren't the special students, but they are either bullied in class or have other problems that keep them from being a part of the norm in their classes. I visited them last week. They were shy, but were happy that I was there.
At first, they were a little uncomfortable (maybe they felt ashamed?), but they relaxed as we talked. I told them that I was nervous to be in there too. I explained that I can understand a lot of Japanese, but that I am nervous and bad about speaking it. I quickly found out that one of the students is actually the same at English. He understood a lot of what I was saying and would respond in Japanese. We quickly found a great way to communicate, so we all relaxed.
The teacher told me only a smidgen of why they were in this class. It was mostly because they don't fit in. So I explained that my family moved a lot when I was younger and that I went to a lot of schools. I mentioned that it was hard to change schools and sometimes hard to make friends.
Later that day, their teacher came to me and said that the students would like to have me back. I was surprised. I've also noticed that these students go out of their way to say hi to me now.
I know that there is nothing special on part that was done, but I am happy to know that I have at least had a tiny, positive effect on them. I really do remember how hard junior high school was. Not necessarily on an academic level, but how hard it was to navigate the social aspects of it.
Anyway, I am happy to have another class to go to . There are two English teachers here, but only one likes to use me. The other teacher is nice, but really odd. He is very insecure in his English, so he doesn't use me (this makes me sad). So my schedule is usually hit or miss.
I have felt like such a bum at this school. The teachers and the students really are wonderful, but I feel like I am often reading a book or writing e-mails or something. I don't want to be known as the lazy ALT. Whenever I can, I look for things to do. Usually, they don't let me do anything though.
Our lunch lady is recovering from a broken foot. She also does work in the office, so she lets me help her quite a bit. I enjoy that, but it doesn't usually take me long.
I think that because I don't speak much Japanese AND that I will leave this school in about 6 weeks, they are just not letting themselves get attached. That's fine.
The next session will be the long session, so I'm sure to have more opportunities to get involved there.
So all of that to say that I am really excited about having another opportunity to do something at this school. I'm more excited, because it's not necessarily an English class, but just a time to hang out. Hopefully, it's a chance to help bridge some cultural gaps. In any case, I am looking forward to getting to know them.