Sorry for the Absence..I didn't have internet for 2 weeks!

So it is funny that this day and age one cannot live without Internet. I don't know how we used to live. I couldn't check sports scores, facebook or call anybody using Skype. Anyways, I am back, and I have some fun stories and good news.

So first, I have a new Foreign Coworker, she is from Toronto and her name is Jeannie. She is really cool and she is interested in the outdoors as much as I am. The first weekend she was here, we climbed the local mountain together. It is more fun to share nature with someone who gets excited about the ocean and mountains like me.
This past weekend, we woke up on Sunday, and we went to the local store so I could buy a bike. I gave her my old bike because it was really small and my knees kept hitting the handle bars. So I bought this sweet new ride that is much bigger and it has gears, so I can cruise super fast! After we got my new bike, we headed for the sand dunes. I also realized that after biking around for 4 months I am in excellent cycling shape. Jeannie could not keep up, so I had to bike at about 2/10s the pace. We got to the trail and hiked to the sand dunes, the non tourist area. The sand was so warm and nice and the ocean view was spectacular as usual. We chilled for a bit then jumped into the ocean and swam for about 30 minutes. I forgot how much I love swimming in the ocean, the waves were pretty big and the temperature was nice. The view was also breath taking, you have the dunes, the mountains, and the ocean, the trifecta! Overall a great weekend of chillin, swimming, and cycling.

For the past month I have been volunteering at the Sakura Day Care Center for special needs kids. It is a lot of fun, only two of the kids attempt to speak any English, so I speak in Japanese most of the time. It is still fun because they are all super excited to see me each week and when I leave they all gather around the door and say, "bai-bai" for like 5 minutes. The kids are great, they all seem really happy and enjoy life. This one girl named Mana, has never said one word to me, but she always smiles and laughs when I make jokes in Japanese or if I make my father's patented water drop noise with my mouth. It is a nice change from the structure arena of teaching that I do every day, I can relax and not worry about anything.

At school I have had less classes lately, so it has been nice to be able to think about my classes. My manager thinks I am god right now because I got the school a new student by speaking Japanese on the phone to a prospective student. It was weird being placed into that situation where I had to be on top of my Japanese game on a seconds notice. My students are all pretty good, I have a new class on Wednesday full of hell raisers, but other than that, I have a good time teaching because I have some really smart students.
Masayoshi, is awesome, he is the kid I have been calling Yoshi in my previous posts. His full name is Masayoshi. He is so smart and witty. The other day I asked what does he always do? His answer (with a smirk on his face) "I ALWAYS breath air!" So smart and so funny every week. He comes up with the funniest little comments and questions, for example, we read about a woman named Virginia, he looks at me and asks, "John Sensei, are you a Virgin?" I just look at him and laugh, he begs for me to tell him, but all I say is that I am waiting till marriage. The kid is too funny.

Mikiko is another smart student, she is Masayoshi's older cousin. She is 17 and is close to being fluent. We don't even use the textbook half the time, we just sit and chat. She wants to be a doctor like her father, but she wants to work in Africa and help children dying of AIDS. After getting to know her, she will definitely succeed. She is one of the smartest and most interesting students/people I have ever met. She is the captain of the Kendo team and gets straight A's. Another great student.

I have a student who is 8 years old named Koki. I call him Koki Cola and everyone laughs, including him. He is so bright and fun, every class he comes with a new word that he learned and he uses it in a sentence. I asked him, How are you? Koki responds with, "I am doing well, although I jammed my finger playing baseball." I mean the kid is 8 years old! It is kids like this that keep me sane at work.

Teaching little kids is not really teaching, it is more like baby sitting, that is why when my older students come, ages 8-18 I get really excited because I actually teach.

So other than that, I have been doing the usual, work, teach, eat, sleep, climb a mountain, take a train there, go to Mitsue's for a Japanese lesson, and then volunteer at Sakura. So now that I have internet once again I will post once a week.
Miss you all and send me a facebook message or something!