back...again

all week i was dreading my return to teaching. today is april 18th. i left for PNG march 18th. I HAVE HAD A WHOLE MONTH OFF SCHOOL. the dread to return was worse than the return itself. i came back to saruhashi to find i have a new supervisor there, who i can actually TALK TO. we bonded when she told me how nervous and horrified she feels about teaching here (she's new...) i consoled her, saying "don't worry, it's not just you. they are evil. EVIL". we taught an ichi-nensei class together today which actually was very successful, and the kids were even cute. there's hope afterall!
lindsay and i had an excellent time on our road trip. stopping in nagoya on the way there was the perfect thing to do. wednesday morning we drove to nara which is worth some raving. imagine all the amazingly beautiful things about kyoto (the temples, shrines, parks...) minus the big, modern & ugly buildings and 'big city feel' and you've got nara. without even realizing it we ended up bop in the middle of the cherry blossom season, and we saw them in full vigor. speaking of vigor, if there's any of you who don't know about the text Pimp Daddy sent lindsay then ask her. you'll be on the floor laughing for ages (although endearing as hell). the only thing funnier is that website jeff 'found'. should i post the link on my blog or do you think that's too dangerous? (comments, please).
as for osaka - fun city with crazy night-life but not for those who are a little bit short on coin. we did, however manage to run into a couple of interesting people who had a couple of interesting things to offer...
the drive back was loooooooooooong (10 hours) but the part between toyama and takayama is breathtaking and well worth it.