Summer School Hell – Layer V – Realm Of Reprieve And Surprise

After 22 lessons and 50 plus kids in four days I arrived at my next school to begin it all anew to find that I would only have two lessons, something I already knew, and in those two lessons I would only have three students, something I did not already know. One class would only have one kid. This break was most welcome. After the running and the jumping and the ball crunching dodging I am feeling as though I could sleep for a good seven years. With only one kid to prepare items for in my first lesson I had a lot more time to customize and craft and I think the lesson was better for it. I didn’t have to worry about a classroom full and was able to work one on one with the student and her mother. Being able to devote such attention ensured the student maintained more. This girl is one of my more silent of youngsters and she was shy at first but soon opened up when she saw me in my goofy outfit waving my puppet around. The first time I met her many months ago she cried when she saw me and raced down the steps and back to her mother’s bicycle. The mother gazed at me as I tried to tell her to go and get her child who was now near traffic. Today the girl was all smiles and the lesson went smoothly. It was very different not having such a large audience to perform to but also a comfort to my body that I could ease up a little bit. The mother did cart along a baby and a younger brother but for the most part they didn’t disrupt anything because the mother, unlike some of the others, kept him under control so I could teach her daughter.

When last I spoke of this school I was writing about an angry doctor and his complaints about the noise levels from our classroom being above his clinic. When I arrived in the classroom today I did what I always have done these last few weeks when I first step in. I made a dash to the air conditioner. It’s bloody hot out. On my way I tripped. I’ve never tripped before. I managed to catch myself before I spiraled into a table and as I righted myself I realized there was something drastically different about the classroom. The floor was now green. Not only was the floor now green but it was padded carpeting. Not only was the floor now green with padded carpeting but it was also elevated about two inches off the ground. Wow, this was impressive. My complaining and my worries about safety due to Dr. Giggles down there had paid off in new floors. Though I still believe moving the school might have been the better option this is a close second. It looks as though it will be durable enough to process some of the jumping and running shockwaves and though I will still do my best to keep the kids quiet during clinic hours it is nice to know I have a bit of leeway with the new floor.

Waiting for me that morning was a FAX, a nice bold printed FAX, so big and black and bold that I could read the word TYPHOON on it from across the room. Yes, another big storm is heading our way and when you think about the warnings of the last big storm which turned out to be a night of rain and a slight step above a small breeze I am not exceptionally worried. The Company, however, is and they are considering canceling classes the day we are supposed to be hit. Of course, just as before, I still have to make my way to the classroom to find out that classes have been canceled because of the archaic way the Company communicates with it’s employees. I figure if it is really windy out this time I can just ride myself a cow to class and save money on train fair. I can’t find any warnings online about this storm as of yet so this might be an overreaction. Though I am not racing for my Panic Room (read: a closet full of Doritos) I will keep my ears open for quick passing moos.

During the middle of my first lesson with the mother, her daughter and the siblings a knock came at the door. My heart froze for a moment as I was sure it was going to be the clinic downstairs again and this time the doc would be wielding a scalpel. I braced myself and headed to the door. On the other side wasn’t a doctor. It was a cop. A female cop, to be exact, which I hear is a rare breed in Japan. She was slightly overweight, her uniform puffing out around the stomach, and her police hat was just a touch too small for her head. She spoke almost perfect English. I wondered if the clinic below decided to call the police due to my virtually non-existent noise. Were the floors not enough for them? What did they want, rubber? The cop clicked her pen and pulled out some papers, introducing herself. She said she was checking business in the area for safety concerns and wanted to know if I had an issues or complaints? Hummm, there was that one kid that likes to throw blocks at me. I wondered if I could get him locked up. She asked me a few questions about the Company, what I did and such, again stressing that this was a routine checkup for emergency concerns. She wanted contact numbers and handed me papers that were all in Japanese. I explained I couldn’t read these papers and that I would hand them in to the higher ups at the end of the day. She apologized for interrupting my lesson and left. After my two classes I contacted the office, faxed them the papers and asked what all this was about. I was put on the line with the Japanese area manager who had no idea what this was about and couldn’t enlighten me any further. It seems evident that it doesn’t have anything to do with me personally but I wanted to be sure. I am still not certain as the Company wasn’t able to provide me with any answers. I left the papers for the Japanese teacher to deal with. I got us a new floor, damn it, she can deal with the cops.

And in other news it appears as though my wonderful…ahhh, screw it, I don’t want to be sarcastic…it appears as though my bitchy, panties in a wad, bee up her ass, petty, back-stabbing, two-faced…no, two faces are not enough, this bitch is six faced, Japanese teacher is at it again dolling out yet another complaint about me to the office. To quote my supervisor: “Same old shit.” I was not supposed to find out about this but overheard him through a poorly muffled phone asking if he was able to let me in on it. He was told he wasn’t. Keeping me in the dark while simultaneously tossing me a flashlight. After falsifying an excuse to step away from some chasm-like ears around him, he told me that they may be moving me because of continuing issues with these teachers. I will speak more on this later as I have enough on my plate to consume right now then to try to force down more of this foul tasting crap but I did tell him I was now extremely tired of consistently having to deal with this. I have been very passive on this matter and I was now going to go on the offensive. I have been more then lenient in my dealings with these teachers and my attempts to get into their good graces are over. It is obvious what their intentions are and I am not prepared to go quietly. I have a few complaints of my own, my dears. But enough about them for now. This marathon is nearing the end. Tomorrow will be another nice three kid, two lesson, hopefully no cops break. Standing here on the fifth level looking up I can see the finish line in the distance.