Tamahara elementary school (玉原小)... What's up?!

Okay, let's take a minute to say 'HI' to the people at Tamahara elementary school (玉原小), which I paid a visit to yesterday. Great school, terrific kids! And it's always fun to have lunch with 教頭先生 (head teacher/vice principal) and 野田先生 (I hope my kanji is correct here!) and other staff members.

I went 'fishing' after lunch with 野田先生 and the secretaries (sorry, I don't know your names, it's terrible! but I do appreciate your kindness!). Some of the students were having a contest, in which you use a stick with a string and magnet attached to catch beautifully-decorated paper fish with little metal paper clips attached to them -- super fun! I scored 41 points and can say I am fairly proud of my fishing ability!

Thanks to everyone at Tamahara for a great day. I think the kids all enjoyed the English classes, which were all wonderfully planned (not by me). And I really had a great time with all of the kids. GOOD JOB! See you all again next month.

If anyone from Tamahara is reading this, please tell any other people at the school about my blog, if you want to. Cheers! And feel free to comment or email me directly. See below this post.

I should also mention that I was at Shounai (荘内小) again on Wednesday and, as always, loved being there! I ate with 4年生 and played a little volleyball outside with a few of the girls. Of course, those crazy 1年生 kids were pretty excited to see me again and made it a little difficult to play with my volleyball friends, but we found a way to sort it out! Sorry girls. You were that age a few years ago and maybe can still understand how much energy (元気) kids have at that age, heh?

Hi again to 谷口先生, who is always taking care of me at Shounai.
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On another note, I want to buy a new pair of running shoes (for REAL running, not just for fashion) because the pair of Sauconys I've got have been my only pair for about - oh, I dunno - ten years?! And they look like it, too! It's not healthy for my body, especially my feet and knees, so it's time. Unfortunately, Okayama City (岡山市) doesn't have my shoe size in anything. Bummer, heh? Also, I really want a pair of New Balance shoes, since, I believe, they have the best technology for running shoes. So, to end this story, I think I will order a pair online from New Balance Japan, and cross my fingers and hope that it works out!

Speaking of running, I could tell you about Sports Day at the high school the other day, at which I had to be the anchor in the 100m teachers' relay, but I don't really want to talk about it. There isn't anything to say, from my perspective. I have other things to think about. Anyways, I'm a long-distance runner (1500 meters or more... usually 5K or 10K for training), so I never really wanted to do a sprint, but I do what I'm asked to do...

Long weekend (again!), so you'll hear more from me again soon!

I'm out...

p.s. - Mom, if you happen to read this, sorry I didn't catch you on Skype this a.m. Still trying to figure out the video stuff. Maybe tonight?... or soon.
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Played while I posted: Metric - Parkdale
via FoxyTunes