June 28, 2006
My vacation has begun; I started with a light head cold (I think). Yesterday was my last day of work; I had a cluster teacher’s schedule (just a few pre-k and kindergarten classes). This last month turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. It was still stressful, but it was not as stressful. Since I started taking my teaching materials home a little at a time, I did not have much to do in terms of packing up. You know, I forgot to take a photo of my makeshift teacher’s desk in the teacher’s lounge. In Japan, I would always take a photo of my desk in each school I went to. Although in this case, my desk was really a table in the corner of the teacher’s lounge.

Not much to write about beyond the last day. In my shoebox, I was planning to go to the store for sherbet yesterday evening, but there was some kind of argument outside the building, which later escalated into a fight on the street near my building. I did not know how bad the argument would escalate, so I stayed in my shoebox. I don’t think I’ve attached a photo of my neighborhood, so I will attach one now. The first photo is of the building I live in, and the other photo is of the neighborhood.

This morning, I was awaken by the yelling of a young lady to her son in an apartment across the alleyway. From the dialog I could hear, she was yelling at a 5 year old (with a younger child [I could hear in the background]). She mentioned the graduation toy he wouldn’t get now, telling the child to stand in the corner because she was tired of looking at his “f**king face”, and the crying “mommy, mommy” told me the child’s age. The only graduation that would make sense would be a pre-k or kindergarten (5 year old). I don’t think a 5th or 6th grade child would have been crying the way the child was crying. The young lady was cursing at her son like he was her boyfriend (or another person her age); she used the “F” word 10 or 15 times…at least. I believe she use that “F” word in every way grammatically possible. Luckily (with all that yelling), the young lady only slapped the child once. Did I say luckily?

And finally, inside the shoebox, the trash was finally dumped by Mr. 40+, he also mopped the kitchen floor.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:22pm.