Grrrr.....

Well, the story of my life continues unabated - even though it's a new year. I was scheduled at Shikaoi Elementary school today, but, again, I was the last to know that there would be no actual classes today. The only thing going on was just random New Year's activities with the kids; house keeping kind of stuff. I made the best of it, as is my motto: "Salvage Whatever" and participated in the formal New Year's Welcoming Ceremony. (Interesting, but I unterstood little.) This to had its quirks; Kyoto-sensei, the vice principle, put me on the spot, asking me (in front of all the kids) to do an aisatsu, a formal greeting. What else was I suppose to do but comply? At least I was able to get a laugh out of the students so it was worth it. My job was made easier by the fact that the students were actually in amazingly high spirits today, having just finishing their New Year's holidays. I also stuck around the morning, playing a grade two kanji game - learning lots in the process - and getting my picture taken. All in all, the morning was not a wash despite not going how I thought it was going to go, now I am back at the office, just about to study my kanji and then lunch. Very windy today, but if you can find a sheltered spot in the sun, it can actually be quite warm. My knee started to hurt 35 minutes into my run yesterday so I stopped. It was the first time that ever happened but I think I know the cause (going in one direction around the track, which I normally try to mitigate). I think I will pass on a run tonight, deferring it to tomorrow, and catch up on dishes instead.