School's Almost Out!

It's the last week of school!
I'm both relieved and sad. It's sad because I will have to change schools again. Tomorrow is my last day at this school.
I'm very relieved, because there will be no more classes for the summer (I still have to work, but it will mostly be at the air conditioned city hall). I still have a lot to do, but I won't have to get up quite so early (I'm hoping).
I'm very excited, because I have survived my first year in Japan! I really hope that this next year goes by quickly, too. I'm anxious to get a career started.
I'm very happy and thankful to have this opportunity here, but I am also more thankful of the opportunities (I hope) that I will have as a result of being in Japan.
It's on days like today, when I wish that I was back home. It is so hot and humid here! I still haven't figured out the hows or whys to operating the A/C here. There are times when it hasn't been this hot and the A/C has been on. It's so hot right now, and it's really hard to breathe because of the humidity. I'm not really sure why they won't turn on the A/C in the teacher's room.
It's another mystery of Japan. At least, I could spend sometime in a shop or at the mall in a cool area back home. Also, chances of working at an air conditioned place (that will actually USE it), would be pretty good.
I've been really tired already (I haven't been feeling well). It's the last week of school. I keep getting asked to do stuff. I have lots of lessons this week. And I have guests from out of town. I'm happy that they are here, but I feel bad because I can't spend any time with them yet. Late at night when they're home and want to watch a movie, I am too tired to make it through the movie. I feel bad for them, but I am also functioning on about 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. Add the heat and humidity to that and I'm already feeling worn out :+(
Oh well, this will change soon.
I think that the idea of no school is very nice. It will keep me going trough the rest of the week.

Since I Haven't Updated Lately

I had hoped and thought that the summer would be relatively quiet and slow paced, but I was wrong.
There's a little over a week left of school. I'm anxious for the classes to end, but I'm not anxious to leave this school. For the most part, everyone is laid back. It's a smaller school AND I have internet access here. I like it here. Some of the staff (my head English teacher and the vice principal included) told me today that I should come back for another term. That made me happy. It's always nice when people appreciate you.
In other news, I went to Osaka for a very short visit last weekend. I got to see my sister and I was able to stay and hang out with my friend. I really enjoyed last weekend! Everything about the weekend was great.
Also, I inherited a bed this week (thanks Nick!). One of my coworkers is going back to the States. He had two beds and offered one to me. Sure it's used, but it's pretty comfy. Especially when I've been sleeping on a futon for a year now.
The only problem, is that tonight I have an English lesson at my apartment. I currently have the bed and the couch in the same room, so it's very crowded. I have a second room, but I piled everything in there in order to get the bed in. I have had something going on every night this week, so I haven't had a chance to rearrange. I will have less than 30 minutes to clean and move things around this afternoon. I have a feeling that the bed and the couch will still be in the same room when they get there. (sigh)
I keep getting volunteered or appointed new tasks and I am about ready to collapse under pressure. It seems ridiculous that one person has to do the job of 5 for a month. Oh well, at least I'm employed right now.
I'm hoping that I will get some time to visit my friend in Nagoya for a few days.
Also, no matter how much I have to work, I am really looking forward to not having to eat the school lunches. It is enough to inspire me to try the Atkins Diet. Seriously, the lunches are loaded with carbs and little protein. The other day, we had rice, noodles, and potatoes in one lunch. Yesterday, we had potatoes and rice together. Today, we had noodles and bread. Every day, I feel like I'm going to be sick. I literally feel like my stomach will explode.
Only four more school lunches until September...

Exhausted

I'm feeling absolutely exhausted.
The heat and humidity are starting to kick in. Also, I've had an insane amount of elementary school visits. Sandwiched between the elementary visits lately, are no-class days at my junior high. This week, it's because of testing. There's always some excuse. I do get to visit one teacher's classes, but the other teacher is just really odd and only uses me to record tests. He did use me a few weeks ago when the board of education came to watch his lessons.
Anyway, I also teach language classes, so that's time-consuming. Recently, all I ever want to do is sleep. I thought that I would get to catch up on some sleep during the month of August, but I don't think that's going to happen. It looks like I will be the only ALT who is not going home for the summer. That means more work for me...woo hoo. Yes, I am being sarcastic.
It also seems that anytime it looks like I could possibly get a few spare hours in August, someone plans a meeting or schedules me to be somewhere without consulting me. Technically, I still have almost 2 weeks of vacation left. I had planned to visit my friends in Japan during that time. I also have a friend who will be visiting me. I thought that we would have a lot of time to do some sight-seeing and to hang out, but that's not looking so promising either.
Anyway, I'm exhausted mentally and physically right now.
One nice thing that will happen this weekend though, is that I will get to see my sister. I have to take the bullet train (shinkansen) for three hours, but it will be fun. I also get to stay with my friend, Claudia. I'm really looking forward to it ^_^
Maybe I can get some rest in a few years...ha ha.