it's DARK!

8:11am. december 02. on the way to work this morning i felt as though it were about 5am. it's so dark out today! and cooooold. it's friday which means another elementary school day for me. i don't think they have the heat on in the teacher's room. i'm still wearing my scarf and my fingers are having trouble typing these words as they are sticks of icicles.
this is i think my favourite shogakkou because the teacher's are so friendly. they always seem to be laid back, and in a good mood, and very friendly with each other. they all eat lunch together at a table on one side of the teacher's room, and afterwards we all have tea together. the students (especially the older ones) can be quite rowdy, but overall they are alright. today i'm doing a christmas lesson (one which i didn't plan). we will be singing 'jingle bells'..."oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open slay..." (how the hell are they going to learn that when they struggle with the 'hello song'? also i'll be teaching the vocabulary of 'paper, hold, line, scissors, cut, open, star, tree, snowman' to make paper shapes.
no play rehearsal this weekend, which i am thankful for. however i will be going to the niigata women's college for their twice anual 'english day'. i meet with small groups of students, do a presentation, and they will interview me.
tomo-chan's back from the states and my studying with her has resumed. (photos below).