Since I spent the entirety of Thanksgiving in bed with a terrible cold, I poured every last bit of yuletide energy into prepping for Christmas. I decorated my tiny faux Christmas tree, hung stockings, and displayed last year’s Christmas cards while dancing to the cheesiest Christmas music in existence.
I knew that I could not expect too much of the hyped-up holiday from my schools, but I made the most of it by teaching my 6th grade students the song, “Mi Burrito Sabanero,” a staple Venezuelan Christmas song in Miami. At first, I thought the students hated the song despite its cute hook but when I cut the music short, they protested and asked to sing the song until the very end. Success!
I knew that I could not expect too much of the hyped-up holiday from my schools, but I made the most of it by teaching my 6th grade students the song, “Mi Burrito Sabanero,” a staple Venezuelan Christmas song in Miami. At first, I thought the students hated the song despite its cute hook but when I cut the music short, they protested and asked to sing the song until the very end. Success!
As Christmas approached, my stress levels were through the roof with bad news, personal drama, end of the year festivites, and a winter vacation that would involve traveling to three countries in nine days.
The bad news came in the form of two coworkers announcing their resignation. One coworker, you all know as my pervy coworker from this post, announced that he would leave in April for the police academy in Tokyo! What! The other was my work spouse at my Tuesday/Wednesday school who would leave the school system all together to work at his father's flower nursery. The worst part was that his resignation and departure were both on a Friday, and I wasn’t told about it until end-of-the-year party when my principal pulled me aside to explain. Luckily, we were both friends on Facebook, so I swiftly and playfully cursed him out in Japanese for not saying goodbye.
Eventually life stress, late-night school parties, and the terrible decision to run a 5k in the dead cold without proper gear caused the most aggressive cold to date. My cold was so bad that I was sent home after lunch for two days and, when it worsened, called in sick the following two days. I was given medicine at the local clinic but my symptoms worsened, so I stopped the treatment in favor for some good ol’ fashioned Vitamin C. I felt well enough to attend work on Christmas, but afterwards I went straight home and continued to rest.
Thus, I spent the entirety of Christmas, yet another holiday, in bed with a terrible cold. Maybe my Easter will be better? 頑張ります～！
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| My button says, "Be naughty! Save Santa the trip!" Thanks for the button, MOM! (lol) |
Sorry to hear that! The transience of Japanese teachers' postings can be a real bummer, though in the case of the second one I guess resignations happen in any field. =/
ReplyDeleteThe holidays can be a tough time in Japan, and being sick must make it that much worse. I guess the upside is that winter is a good time to sit inside and hibernate anyway. =P
Although in Okinawa I guess it doesn't get super cold...
DeleteSo true! And hibernate I did!
DeleteOkinawa doesn't get Hokkaido cold, but it does it down to the 40s with 15 mph winds. For me, that's freezing! However, it's starting to warm up again! Woot!
Oh wow - colder than I would have thought!
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