３月２０日: 今日は。。。

今日はよかったの日だよ。

朝の仕事はとても忙しかったよ。だけど、楽しかったよ。

最初のレッスンは７時に始めた。今朝６のレッスンがあった。僕の生徒はほとんど ビジネスマンだよ。いろいろなレベルよ。何人かビギナーズよ。何人か上級よ。

仕事の後で早く帰りた。二つの日本語のレッスンがあった。１２時から午後の２時までだよ。

家に帰る途中コンビニでコーヒーを買うのを立ち寄った。

今日の日本語のレッスンはすごく面白かっただよ。二人の先生は親切で優しいだよ。

だっから日本語のべんきょうをするは楽しかったよ。

夜は仕事があった。午後の６時から１０時までだよ。夜は５人の生徒はいった。

今日は忙しかったけど嬉しかっただよ。(•‿•)

What a Friday...

The gods smiled on me today.

As much as I love Google Maps and I won't survive without it, Google Maps almost cost me everything I had worked hard for when it told me to remain onboard the train.

I felt myself go cold when the train went the other way. My biggest fear was confirmed when the announcement came that the next station was a differen tone.

In the end, I was blessed to have everything work out well.

As my best friend Tey said to me in a message, "Just believe the universe will work out for you."

Nihongo teacher shopping...

I've been doing a different kind of shopping lately.

Because I'd like to really improve my Japanese, I've been doing some Skype lessons recently. At the moment, I'm doing three face-to-face lessons a week. One lesson is with a private tutor but it's only 40 minutes. The other two lessons are a group lesson.

The lessons, particularly the private lesson, have been most helpful. However, when I'm thrown in the outside world, I don't feel like I've improved.

I still have trouble expressing myself. I hate it that I can't make long sentences. There's some kind of disconnect between what I learn in the classroom and what is really used in the real world.

So, I've been trying lessons with a few teachers.

I dunno if I'm a difficult client (maybe I am) or because my standards are just too high. I have to remind myself that I'm not really paying a lot so I shouldn't expect too much. LOL!

So far, I've tried lessons with more than 10 teachers. Hehe!

I've had several lessons with one sensei. He's really good because he can explain things well. He also gives assignments which are really helpful. I've made some requests how to handle the lesson but I don't think it's his style so I decided to go look for another instructor.

There's another instructor I tried but it was too easy. I tried a lesson with another instructor based in another country. He was okay, I guess, but I found him to be rude and unprofessional so sayounara, sensei. There was another instructor but that was also terrible so again, sayounara, sensei.

Today, I had two lessons with new instructors. Both are Japanese but based outside Tokyo.

I really loved their teaching style and I think it'll work for me. I hope they plan to teach for a loooong time because it's difficult to go shopping for teachers. Lol!

Tomorrow, I have another trial lesson with another teacher. I hope she's also good.

Rewrite the stars...

So, I went to the movies last night.

I was debating whether to see The Greatest Showman in the cinema or online. Thanks to Jon, I decided to see it in the cinema.

Super awesome decision!

I'm in love with the movie, particularly this scene.

Random stuff...

In The September Issue, Grace Coddington tells Edward "Don't be too nice... even to me... otherwise, you'll lose." It's a completely different situation but I guess it somehow applies to many situations.

Sometimes, I think I'm too nice. And I let other people walk all over me. This year, my resolution was to stand up to others but I can already recall a few situations where I didn't do anything and I felt terrible after.

Tonight, I had another similar situation. Long story short, a person I consider as my friend told another friend that I'm angry with someone. It's funny because the person I'm supposedly angry with is someone I've never met.

I was completely caught off guard when people started asking me why are you angry with this person. I was like, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Things became clear when they said, "Well, this person said you're angry."

I was completely floored. It made me wonder why some people would do that. If I were indeed angry, that should come from me. I don't think this person was in any position to speak on my behalf.

So I was left wondering what this person's reason for doing such a thing was. Oh well.

Another lesson learned.

Mother Teresa said, "Some people come into your life as blessings. Others come into your life as lessons."

Well, I hope God will stop sending lessons my way. Hehe!

Relaxing Sunday...

What a really nice day Sunday turned out to be.

First of all, I had six or seven hours of sleep. Hehe.

In the morning, I did some preparation for work. After that, I attended the 7AM Mass at St. Ignatius.

I was extra excited about today because the weather forecast was between 20 and 12 degrees. Hooray!

Given this temp forecast, I had a plan in mind last night.

Around 10AM, I carried on with my plan.

I changed into my running attire and walked to the Imperial Palace for an easy 5K run around the palace. It was really relaxing and it was also enjoyable to see several runners enjoying the sunny weather. Can't wait to do more runs in the next few weeks. I think spring is coming soon.

In the afternoon, I headed to Shinjuku. I wanted to get more uniforms (read: black polo shirts) but I dunno why Muji doesn't have em.

Anyway, after enjoying walking around Nishi Shinjuku and Shinjuku Sanchome, I just headed back home and had a quiet dinner. Hehe!

Going to bed early. Hehe!

Rainy day Thursday...

It's my fake day off today.

Fake day off because I still work in the morning. Haha! However, I only have one lesson this morning. I decided to give up the other lesson as I wanted to do some other stuff.

I'm kinda dreading this day. It's raining and I'm hoping that's not an ominous sign of how this day will turn out. Lol!

This morning, I'm going to the tax office to file my taxes. As a freelancer, I have to do it myself.

Last year, I dragged Take to come with me and even then, he was just as confused.

Not really looking forward to it.