Remember Me?

Conditions here the last week or so have dictated that no blogging be done, but for at least a night, I'm back in action here. Things are coming to a head with both the wedding and work. Tomorrow is the last day of classes, then I just have to file my grades and do a bit of paperwork to put this term in bag.



At this time next week, Chieko and I will be hanging in Tokyo with my family, which is very cool. We'll have a day in the city to cavort before the wedding goes down on Saturday. There's still a lot to do wedding-wise between now and Thursday morning, when we'll be heading out, but the majority if major stuff, thankfully, has been taken care of. I am sure there will be drama aplenty though before all is said and done, as that seems to be the way weddings go.



Chieko was in Tokyo last weekend, and I'm happy/relieved to report that while she was gone I was able to churn out what is, in my mind, a pretty cool song to sing during the wedding reception. At some point, way the hell after now, I'll get it recorded and posted at the site under the 'My Music' link to the right. There still needs to be some minor tweakage, and lots of practice, and while not the end of the world if it doesn't happen, I'd like to come up with a short chorus to break up the verses. But the heavy lifting in terms of writing the thing has been done.

Fall is in full swing here in Kanazawa now, evidenced by the blazing maple trees and the chilly nights. We've officially fired up the kerosene heaters here. In the past using kerosene has been a cheaper alternative to our other option, electric. All things fuel are slated to jump in price here soon, as they are doing every, so we'll see if kerosene continues to be worthwhile or not.

I've been walking by this maple tree at school all week meaning to take a picture. It was quite cool earlier in week because the bottom of the tree was still completely green, but the top was burning red. The bottom is starting to turn now but the contrast is still pretty drastic. Isn't that exciting?

Let's talk about teaching for a moment. As a profession, teaching is pretty great. It's a dynamic job that keeps me on my toes and requires me to use my brain, both good things. And as much as I teach, I also learn a fair bit as well. That's quite ideal. It's not always a walk in the park though. You get students who are pretty much bastards any way you cut it, and you have to figure out ways to deal with them that allow you to keep your job. But generally the positives outweigh the negatives, and once in a while you get one of those moments that make it all worth while, when you see that you ARE indeed making a difference, even if only to one person. I had one of those moments today.

In the last class of the term, I always ask students to fill out a brief survey so I can get an idea of what they thought of my class, and how I might be able to improve it the next time around. Apparently, I'm doing something very right, or very, very wrong.

OK, I'm about ready to pack it in here, but I hope to get back at least once more before we blast off to Tokyo for the main event. If for some reason I don't, look for the resumption of blogging sometime around the end of the month. I should have lots of fun wedding/family/naked karaoke pictures to showcase here. Good night.