Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Substituting at a School in Chichibu


Pet Peeve:  When people who drive everywhere give me public transit info.  It’s almost always wrong because, they just get info from an app.  Granted, I sometimes get info about buses and trains from apps, but, because I’m a regular rider, I know which info is exact and which is an estimate.  
***
Half-way through first period my phone alarm went off.  It was 9 am, which is the time I’ve been waking up since schools closed for the pandemic.  I had a long commute, so I had to get up at 5:30, walked 30 minutes from the station, and then stood four periods straight.  My feet hurt, and I was so hungry.  And my bladder didn’t appreciate not being emptied on demand. 
***
Teaching class while wearing a mask is hard.  I can’t project because my voice is muffled, and students can’t see my mouth to get clues about enunciation. 
***
After one class ended, a tall boy came to me while I straightened up the tables and said, “Beautiful!”  His friend giggled and slapped him on the arm. 
***
It’s so nice to be back to teaching.  I missed it. 
***
As suspected, there’s no social distancing going on in school.  And some students have their noses hanging out of their masks, while a few others aren’t wearing them at all.
***
I found myself being extra keen to please and be liked.  Despite the warm reception I received at Schools A and B, the evil ones at School C took their toll, apparently.  Being hated from the moment I arrived, before I even had a chance to do anything wrong affected me.  Of course, with tatemae, you can never really know what they’re thinking.  At the very least, they were civil because what’s the point of being mean to someone who is temporary?  Then, again, that’s exactly why some people would want to attack.  Whatever.  Not going to overthink things. I had a good day.

No comments:

Post a Comment