ちょっとおそかった。

Thanks to the amazing party after a day of workshops put on by the Tokachi English teachers I have manage to really mess up my sleeping pattern. I slept in until ten and then, that night, could not fall asleep for the life of me. I made sure I didn't eat anything after eight. I read, I listened to my tunes, I tossed and turned, I read something I considered boring... Finally I got up and played a couple of hands of Gin Rummy on Yahoo games, just to pass the time. Anyways, I feel like a mess today, but my kids don't care.

There is nothing that makes one like Mondays more than knowing your students will be happy - thrilled - to see you. I had the perfect set of classes to wake me up; the grade one and twos. We are starting our year end reviews. The students swear they don't like Mondays. Things they do like: Dogs, Cats, Ducks, Soba, Horses, and Mushi King. (It's sort of beetle attack card game that some of the older students play, and for the record, completely beyond me.)

The organizers of the event took Kevin's advice and dinner was held at Daisougen, or "The Little House of the Prairie." It is known for it's all-you-can-eat-buffet. It consists of a good blend of Japanese food, and what would describe as Western food as interpreted by Japanese. It was all really good and I would like to go back again because I didn't get to try everything I wanted.

I had a slightly sad feeling all through supper because the place reminded me of my parents. I had never been there before but my parents had eaten there the previous summer. The same room even. It just made my thoughts constantly return to my family's particular connection to Shikaoi.

I was also surprised to get up this morning to snow. It's mostly gone now because the sun has come out. Both of which were not forecasted. Once you start paying attention to the weather forecasting here you realize how lousy it is. They barely hit 50-50. I don't know if it's because it just Hokkaido and no one lives here or if it's because of the mountains. In any case, spring is coming, and that is unlikely to be diminished by poor forecasting.

Tomorrow morning my grade sixes from Shikaoi Sho Gakko are graduating but unfortunately I will be unable to attend as I will be out at Sasagawa Sho Gakko. I would have loved to attend but it didn't work out that way.