Hello again

Well, I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't realize it would be so long. I feel like I've been in a sort of stasis lately. Nothing much has been happening since the last post, and it's not like I haven't had the time to post, but this place seems to have a way of draining any writing that I want to do.

I left off last time at schools and school sizes, eh... to sum it up, big classes are tough, small classes are better. This is the general rule, but of course, there are exceptions.
The way that Japan runs class is that for main classes (English, math, history, Japanese), teachers go to students, rather than vice-versa. I think they do that because it's convenient for the students to have everything in one room, and it also encourages them to not forget anything and to be on time. At most schools, if the students have something they forgot (wasuremono 忘れ物）, they have to skip recess and clean the halls with rags on their knees (which is pretty exhausting AND embarrassing).

In other news, I joined the town hall's baseball team this year. Its great to be out playing again, especially because I had once though that my baseball-playing would end with the end of high school before I came here. I practice every weekday with the team, but its been an interesting experience thus far trying to fit in with the team. On the outside, everyone is friendly, and encourages me to play different spots, and is amazed (and I mean like "Whoa!") that I can field a ground ball... but on the inside, besides not being able to speak with them real well (they speak in very thick Tsugaru dialect...more on that later), I'm not part of their group from work, so I'm 2x the foreigner. I still don't know my role on the team, but its fun, so I do it. It especially helps to play after a day at an elementary school, which is usually insanity.

I'll continue with elementary school vs. middle school next time. Also, be on the lookout for another screenname in IM shortly, if you read this. I need to get rid of the old one. Until then, peace.