I am substitute teaching 4 more shifts, this week and next. I still have a hard time remembering which class is which. I can't imagine that I will ever be a real teacher, since I have trouble remembering 4 student's names, let alone 25 or 30.

Today I have a class that I taught last week for the first time. The one boy in the class is kind of a smart-ass, until he discovered that I speak Japanese. I have to be careful not to let him know that if he speaks at native speed/vernacular, I probably won't understand him.

I awoke last night and had to close the patio door, as it was cool and rainy, just like it's supposed to be for the next few days. It's not yet autumn here, the leaves haven't really turned colors yet. In Japanese, autumn leaves are called "紅葉", kouyou; lit. "red leaves". There are many fall-related words in Japanese, such as:

秋気-shouki-the fall air

小夜時雨-sayoushigure-a light shower on a late fall night.

秋風 -akikaze-fall breeze.

秋日和-akibiyori-clear fall day

Autumn is my favorite season. I haven't lived anywhere that I didn't like it's autumn.

So I sorted some more clothes, threw out some trash. More preparations to leave. I found a coffee shop to study at, only about 600 feet from my uncle's apartment. They have oolong, sencha tea and coffee, which is about 73% of my diet.

I am having these minor panic attacks. I impatiently wait for this date, at the same time I covet every minute here with my girlfriend, my classmates, my friends.

I am off now to google "miso ramen chicago".

蛤の
ふたみにわかれ
行秋ぞ

How can I suck every last minute out of my time here? I am stressed with school, but I am about to let it go. School is important, but my friends here are more important. School is for personal gain. These people I will never see again. To waste these last minutes I am here would be a terrible loss.

I added "life in America" to my list of categories. Do I over-prepare or what?

I have been doing some lyric translating for a Japanese metal band, and wasn't surprised to find out that the guy I was working with was the bass player. I'm a bass player too, and I used to take on all kinds of projects in the bands I was in. I think it's because I always felt like I had to be the one to get things done.

I find that similarity with lots of other bass players. Hard working, smart, maybe a little less confident than guitarists and singers. But at least we aren't drummers:)

We finally made it through this chapter, where we diverged from the book and had to write 8 versions of basically the same composition. I still have to write the last one.

A school where I substitute taught at a few months ago called me yesterday and offered me about 8 days of work, which basically solves my money problems. Now unless something terrible happens, I should have a few hundred in the bank when I get back to the states. And now I can have my morning coffee at the cafe near school, as opposed to a handful of free public restroom toilet water.

I can walk to work from my house, which is basically unimaginable for most Tokyo dwellers. The teaching is easy work and the people are nice. What a relief and a pleasant surprise.

That's what we are doing in class. Reading and explaining graphs. Pretty dry. For some reason though, I kind of like it. Maybe because I have a "GOOD ATTITUDE®". Not really. It's good to learn things other than the basic conversation. On a bulletin board, someone once said, "Unless you can tell me how to tie my shoes, you aren't bilingual". I think the same could be said for explaining a bar graph.

Yesterday's Search Terms:

"means yesterday in japanese" - Kino or more formal, Sakujitsu. Same Kanji:昨日

On the basic wordpress.com dashboard, I can see the search keywords people used to get here. I'll try to post the answers, if I can. Even though people might not bother coming back, it's good practice for me. Yesterday, for example:

"Japanese word for night" - that's easy. 夜-Yoru. Late at night is usually "深夜"-Shinya.

The next one was not so easy:

"Every Japanese word and what they mean"

Might I suggest Jim Breen's online Dictionary. Sounds like someone has a very demanding teacher.

I wake up, exercise, meditate, write in my journal, go to work, come home and write some more or make music. I  am a vegetarian, but I also can smoke 2 cigarettes a week, and not crave anymore than that. My apartment has no AC, because I don't like it, and it is furnished with a futon, desk with a small laptop, and a dresser. Other than a few books, I have no other possessions. The kitchen has a rice cooker and hot water pot for tea and coffee and a hot plate.