Adventures at Shougakkou

Currently on lunch break at Minami Shougakkou. I love shougakkou 'cause they have what seems like a million recesses, and it makes the day go a lot faster. I *need* breaks after my horrible morning! Minami Shougakkou is like a 15-minute bike ride from my apartment, and I woke up early so Id get here on time. I got here before most teachers, and was starting to organize my materials when I realized I brought the completely wrong bag of stuff! I separated two bags last night of the materials I needed for today, and the stuff I didn't need at all. I am retarded and brought the fucking bag of shit I didn't need! Gah! So I had to bike back to my apartment, then back here before classes started, and I was sweaty and gross (it is hilly-ish. Not in a car, but on a bike, hehe). Fun times! I'm sure they think I'm retarded, too, as last time I had to do a buncha last-minute stuff before classes (because they changed my lessons after I had already planned them). Anyway, fun morning!

Anyway, I learned two lessons today: check any bags for the correct materials before biking to school, and screen any songs you plan on playing for the children!!!! For those of you that don't know what Genki English is, you are lucky. Go to www.genkienglish.com if you are overly curious. It is a good site for games and stuff in the classroom, but they have these CDs for shougakkou that are designed to make ALTs look even more childish and retarded than we already are. I know Cindy feels my pain! The lyrics to the songs are useful for the most part, as they have themes such as fruits, numbers, etc., but they are seriously the worst songs EVER. I hate the inventor 'cause he's rich as hell and did no work for it! Every shougakkou in Japan seems to own the CDs, but the songs were totally just made using the horrible built-in tunes on any standard cheap keyboard!

Anyway, today I was doing a lesson on vehicles for my 3nensei, and I forgot that I hadn't listened to the song before. I had read the lyrics, but that was it. So I turned the song on, and all of a sudden this fucking bad, hardcore dance remix comes on. I was hoping I had the wrong track, but no....it was seriously something you would hear at a horrible dance club. It felt like I should be high on meth and getting blown by a stranger while listening to it. And I was playing it for damn 3rd graders!!!

Might I mention that my students just came over at this moment to try to read what I am writing?

Anyway, I really don't understand why the song was a huge dance-y thing when the lyrics go something like, "How did you get here? How did you get here? I got here by bus, by bus, bus!" WTF???? I will try to upload it at some point, as I have to share this with the rest of the world.

So, yes, good times at shougakkou today! Anyway, back to work....