oh students...

while there are bunch of things my kids do that amuse/annoy the crap out of me, the latest and greatest one is how whenever kids are copying down stuff word for word from the blackboard, they still manage to make spelling errors. like today. my kids were making xmas cards, and i myself wrote on the board what to write on the inside (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year), and as i went by each student and pointed out where their errors were, immediately, they would look at the blackboard, then look at what they wrote, then say, "Oh! You're right."

dude.... who do you think wrote the example on the board? i'm telling you directly that this is wrong.... dont you think i'm telling you the truth?.... would i lie when i'm the expert English speaker in the room? *shrug*

and in other news, while this isn't exactly something annoying, i think it's adorable... one of my junior high schools had a "spelling contest" for the 2nd years (8th graders). while my image of a spelling contest is a spelling bee, where people take turns spelling words out loud, my teacher's idea of a spelling contest is to give students a list of 100 words, and whoever spells out (writes out) the most amount of correct words is the winner.

some of my favorite mistakes from correcting all 70 or so odd papers were:
- liver, which was supposed to be "river"
- buring, which was supposed to be "bring"
- kids being able to spell "brought", but not "bring"
and
- hore, which was supposed to be "hour"

life is the same as always... school everyday and it's freezing cold (roughly 50F wherever you go... even your own bedroom as you wake up in the morning). compared to last year, i've finally wised up and started to double layer my jackets. last year, all throughout winter (it feels like winter through march), i wore only my traditional t-shirt, fleece jacket, and 1 pair of pants... this year, i feel all the shivering i suffered last year can be prevented, which is why i now wear 2 pairs of pants everyday, 2 jackets, and a t-shirt. i suffer far fewer shivering spells now =D

probably one of the biggest changes in lifestyle now compared to a month ago is that my japanese test is FINALLY over. yay!! whereas before i was studying day in and day out, i now have resigned to reading manga, watching movies everyday, and toying with the idea of making everything i see a new hobby. in my post JLPT days, i've now fulfilled some dreams of mine including FINALLY finishing my 28-volume manga (｢天は赤い河のほとり」, which i started over a year ago, but stopped reading in September in order to study for my test), and finally getting to make peanut butter cookies! not to toot my own horn or anything, but i thought my PB cookies rocked. you know how store-bought PB cookies are always really hard and crumbly? well, i like softer, sweeter cookies, so i didn't bake them as long, and they came out heavenly. and when your "oven" can only fit a pan big enough for 5 cookies, it takes a LOT of patience to make 4 dozen cookies.

i have one more day of real school left, then a joke day of just end-of-term ceremonies, and on saturday, i'm officially on winter break! next monday, me, aaron, and master lees head out to okinawa to enjoy a little bit of warmth before the bitter winter sets in. should be a blast! it was a headache to plan (4 hours of my life sacrificed to the travel agency between 2 afternoons.... talk about decidedly UNHAPPY times), but i think it'll be worth it.

hope all of you back home are doing well... enjoy your christmas and new years!!!