Internets

I just got internet access at my apartment. When I got home earlier today, there was a non-delivery notice in my mailbox because I wasn't at home when they came by to deliver the modem/router thing, I don't know what it is. So, I expected somebody to come by tonight and drop it off because delivery service is just that good here. It happened to me earlier with a package from home. If only America were that cool.

No complaints with setup or anything. There was a CD that came with the thing for setting up the connection for Vista, I think, but the Mac just figured out that it was an ethernet connection and did it when I opened the right menu. So, that's cool. Now, if only I can get used to having the apostrophe in the right place again.

Anyway, I've been going to schools this week, and haven't had internet access until now, so I didn't update, obviously. School is very awesome. Most of my job is playing with kids, who generally think that I am the bees' knees and are fascinated with my foreign ability to grow a beard. They spend tons of time touching my beard and then saying cute Japanese things that describe the sound/feel of a beard. They also hold my hands and pull me all over to look at the various bugs, fish, hamsters, rabbits, and chickens that they raise as part of their classes. Japanese elementary school is surreal.

The little kids are surprisingly good at English, too. They can't actually speak it, or read it, or write it, but they do know some phrases, like "I like" and they generally have down colors or numbers or animals or some combination of them. Generally nobody in a grade lower than, say, fifth, can find America on a world map, though. The teachers have all been super helpful and friendly. Mostly they do all the setup, and I just have to introduce myself with pictures and stuff, and then play games and pronounce stuff, which is particularly difficult for Japanese learners of English, but the kids are actually pretty good at distinguishing l's and r's and all that because their brains haven't been entirely molded yet.

That's all for now, I have eikaiwa soon.