Another Day on the Job

Alarm rings. 5:30 A.M.

Climb down the ladder from my loft.

Shower. Shave. Get dressed. Out the door at 6:30.

And so my day begins.

Today was a big day for Muroran. The Diamond Princess, a passenger cruise ship, arrived at Sakimori Port this morning at 6 A.M. Some of Starfish High's students, along with myself, were volunteered by our principal to help out with translation, directions, and other various things that 1000 foreign tourists might need during a 12-hour stopover in our lovely town. After leaving my apartment, I picked up one of my school's exchange students and headed out to the port.

The Diamond Princess is one BIG ship. While the photo may not do it justice, it was a big boat.

I had about an hour before the next thing I had to go to (see below), so I helped a couple families work out an agreement over renting a taxi for a few hours. Not the cheapest of ways to go, but more reliable than our local buses. A bit of negotiating back and forth, and both families were satisfied with the deal we worked out. 8 AM. Time to go.

Today was also English Day at one of the other high schools in Muroran, Pure Water Hill High. PWHH is Starfish High's competition in regards to recruiting students. They have an English Department at their school (which is much bigger and newer that Starfish High), so there's a lot of appeal for students who want to study English. PWHH's English Day is a chance for the English Department to toot its own...umm, I mean, show the results of the education available in their program. (C'mon folks, it's a joke. All in good fun.) It was a very impressive event. A short play (Snow White - The Reader's Digest version), a presentation on their school trip to Alaska (never have I wanted to change schools more), a short concert of Bolivian music (how cool is that?), and pizza for lunch. The only downer was the pizza. I had to split after lunch, because I was scheduled to help translate for our many numerous guests in the afternoon. Apparently the afternoon portion of the program blew the morning portion straight out of the water. It was a bit daunting, but I got some good ideas out of it, and a bit of friendly competition is just the recipe to get the brain juices flowing and get more ideas rolling. Good to see what other schools are doing.

After splitting from Pure Water Hill, I headed out to Etomo Park. Four hours standing around outside in cloudy weather and strong winds, translating/giving directions/generally assisting folks with whatever. I think it took its toll. I came back home at 5:30, not feeling so hip. By this time, twelve hours up and about.

Relax for thirty minutes, and back out. This time, it's a farewell/thank you party for Starfish High's founder, who retired after 45 years of service to the school.

"No thanks, no beer for me. Not feeling so great tonight. Could I get another cup of tea?" Pretty much all I said all night.

But now, it's all over. Just another day on the job.