First day of school take 2!

FIRST:  everyone gets to learn two words in Japanese!  Principal is kocho-sensei and Vice Principal is kyoto-sensei.  Everyone got those straight?  Good, because I still mix them up.  Why am I teaching you these words?  Because in the interest of me NOT confusing the two, I will be typing them in Japanese in any posts from now on instead of in English.  I wanted to make sure everyone would know who is who (hah!)

Aaaaanyway.....

Today was my first official day of school, like, at my school.  I woke up extremely early, as in 2 whole hours before my alarm and I could not get back to sleep, so I ran through my self-introduction and ate breakfast.  It was pouring when I got up, so it was actually cold in my apartment.  Not just comfortable, but, like, needed a sweatshirt cold.  Crazy, right!  I did not need the fan at all, which I suppose is a good thing.

Anyway, my school is really chill (haha, no pun intended after the talk about the cold weather).  All the teachers wear watches, and they have not said anything about my various piercings (when I was at ni-chuu, I was told to take care of them and "mind my appearance").  Also, the female teachers here who wear skirts do not have pantyhose on.  I had heard that it was unacceptable, but, again, my school seems to be pretty chill, so no pantyhose here.  I may brave up and wear a skirt tomorrow, just to see what happens!  Alright, back to my day, I get there at 8:05 (I am supposed to arrive at 8:15) so I walk in early and say my "ohayo gozaimasu"s to everyone I pass, including some students who just look at me and then giggle.  Oh well.  At 8:20 the meeting started in the teachers' room, and I completely embarassed myself here.  I was told that the kocho-sensei would introduce me, and he stood up and said something about Lynsay left and I am the new AET and this is Elissa.  Then he looked at me, and I thought he was done, so I started my little intro, and then the kyoto-sensei who speaks English was like, "wait! He is not done!"  So I turn beet red, everyone laughed (including the kocho-sensei, thank goodness) and I apologized like 17 times with a full 90-degree bow, and then he continues.  He talked for like 3 more minutes about where I am from, and that I can speak English (duh) and French, and some random facts about Virginia.  He did his research.  So then he stops and looks at me again, and I waited a minute, just to be sure, and he nodded, so I did my short intro.  I essentially said my name, where I am from, something like "I am looking forward to working with all of you as a teacher in your school."  and "nice to meet you."  and then all the teachers clapped. 

Next part of my day:  Introduction for the WHOLE SCHOOL!  I had to get up to the podium with  a microphone and introduce myself.  I started in English and then I said the same things in Japanese.  I had tons of help with my Japanese part (thanks, Sarah!) and as a result, I think the teachers have the impression that I speak Japanese better than I do.  Oops.  I told them at lunch that I am studying, and doing my best.  They told me I use chopsticks very well.  It was a high quality conversation.

I actually did not have any classes today, so I sort of sat in the teachers' room and played online.  I made some worksheets for classes that I may or may not use, but I wanted to look like I was being productive.  I also studied Japanese for a bit and then managed to give my omiyage (souvenir/present) to the vice principal.  It is probably a faux pas to give omiyage to the kyoto-sense before the kocho-sensei, but the timing was right so I just did it.  I will give the kocho-sensei his tomorrow or sometime this week and hope that it goes ok.  He is more difficult to pin down, and his office is across the hall.  The kyoto-sensei is in with the teachers.  Also, my kyoto-sensei lives right next door to me.  Or rather, he has the apartment next door to me, but his family lives in Nagano city, so he stays there most of the time.  He did give me some cucumbers when I first moved in, becuase I happened to run into him outside.

So that was my first day.  Only one major gaffe and everything else was fine.  Tomorrow I have two classes, so I will post about them at some point in the future!