Kamogawa Madness

The rains that had been promised came. It rained heavy all day yesterday. I left for work at about 6:30 this morning. As I crossed Sanjo Ohashi, on my way to Hankyu Kawaramachi, Kamogawa was flowing like the Yangtze in some documentary; it was nasty and brown and vicious. It is normally such a slight, shallow, peaceful river. I guess being in the valley between all of these mountains creates a violent reaction to the rain.

I started my new job today. It is so good to be back in an actual school. I have a desk in the office and the Judo Sensei already said I could come train with the team. He is old and smells like smoke and his teeth are rotting out. The kids were sweet. If you have ever taught in Japan, I already have the one boy who says, "I love you." repeatedly. All of the girls from the advanced class have made me swear that I won't forget their names. All I can remember is that one is named "Serika" like "Celica" and that she goes snow skiing all of the time. Not very Miyazaki.

Apparently the school is well known for it's strong clubs, the notables being kendo and track and field. It is a big school but, alas, no hot teachers. The lady who sits next to me, my supervisor, gave me a flyer for the Gion Matsuri and told me all about the events surrounding it and kept showing me a map of the various festivities. I kept saying, "I know. I live in Gion." (sort of) But it didn't stop her. She was very nice but...I live in Gion(sort of) for Christ's sake. If there is a giant, fuck-off float going down the street, chances are I will see it. She also told me, "Kyoto is very nice. It has lots of history." Really? I hadn't realized. I just kind of threw a dart at a map and ended up on Sanjo. It could have just as easily been Gunma.

Also, for those who have taught in Japan: I have looked at one page in the text book and it is already F'd up English. For example: What will you do in the summer vacation? Is that correct? I guess grammar wise it is feasible but.... Oh Japan....why don't they just allow foreigners to have actual careers in education and then we could get promoted up the ladder and cut this shit out. I will pause while you gaijin laugh at that bullshit.
My other new school starts tomorrow.