I got up this morning after 7:00. My eyes were quite heavy, but I tried my best to become alert. I went to the window and pulled back the curtains and opened the window. Outside was quite bright and the air was clear. It was a rough night of sleep as I simply took a really long time to fall asleep, after going to be nearly midnight. My body was full of aches and pains and it seemed no position in bed brought me the comfort I sought. I eventually fell asleep. The command of the Lord remains towards the people’s of the earth. “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” Jeremiah 7:23 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jer.7.23.KJV. I finished my devotions at 8:33, being spiritually lifted. My body however still needed to be lifted.
I returned home from the supermarket a few minutes before 10:00. I had ridden my bicycle and I felt that short ride affecting my breathing. My body was still fatigued, so I needed to proceed with caution. I made my smoothie and realised I wasn’t relaxed while having it, so I put it down for a little bit. I then realised there was a missed call from one of my companies for the new intense lessons I was going to start today with medical professionals. I took a few minutes to look at the notes that had been sent by post for today’s lesson and realised that I didn’t like the structure very much. Maybe it was just the bleh black and white print or the size and style of the font. Whatever it was, I was a bit put off by it.
I decided to have a warm bath at a few minutes to 11:00. I had been desperately craving such a warm bath and I finally decided to ignore everything else and do it. I stayed in for about 15 minutes, not as long as I’d like, because I had to ensure I got out with enough time to eat and make my way to my 13:00 class. I was going to be teaching at the hospital again as I’d done last year. It would however be a different set of students and my lessons also of a different structure. I went back and forth in my mind about whether or not to take the bus or ride my bike. I think I was convinced after my warm bath and self massage that I could make the 20 minute ride. I left home at 12:00 so I could pace myself.
I narrowly missed being hit, again, from my bike. I’ve never had so many near misses walking, as I’ve had since biking in Japan in the last year and a half. I’ve heard the statistics of cyclist accidents have been enormous, especially in my city. Since then, they’ve had to introduce mandatory bicycle insurance. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you would have read about my police encounters regarding the wearing of headphones or earphones. They are becoming more and more strict. In this month, I recently heard about the implementation of helmet wearing, but they have not yet made it mandatory. I do have a helmet, but hardly ever wear it. The apparent incidents and insurance claims involving cyclists have spurred these increased changes. When I got to the bicycle parking area, I pushed my bicycle in far enough to collect the ticket and then found a parking close to the entrance exit. I was ten minutes ahead of schedule and so I took an earlier train. This proved not to be the best thing as I was a bit earlier than necessary for the lesson set to start in the next 20 minutes. This meant being taken to a room before the classroom. But that was fine with me, because I was introduced to the organizer of the classes and I was also able to catch up with a former student from last year. They were doing some promotions as they explained, but I forgot about exactly what. The long and short however is that they wanted permission to take my picture while teaching the medical learners, to which I agreed. I had on a nice top for my first class, fortunately.
I had a great first lesson with all my students together, though my pacing was a bit off. I saw the two students that I had taught online and an additional three students. It was an interesting, but intense three hours and I tried to sit from time to time, while writing on the board and checking students writings. I wasted no time in leaving, once the class ended and so I managed to catch the 16:10 subway. Once I got off the subway at my station, I made a quick stop at the bathroom and took off my work top to reveal my black undershirt. I then made my way to the bicycle parking lot. It was very conveniently located beside the subway. Even though it is paid parking, it only cost 100 yen or 99 yen, if you used your train pass to make the payment. I got home by 16:40 after making the 20 minute bike ride from the station. The timing was t bad at all. When I got home I wasn’t hungry per say, but I felt for something nice. Besides that, I was quite hot and sweaty and so decided to have a quick shower.
I had a deep desire for beer, so deep that I got on my bike and headed to the supermarket. It had been for quite some time now that I had been feeling for beer. LOL. Before that however, I dropped off my empty glass bottles at the recycle area and paid my gas bill at the convenience store. When I got to the supermarket, I bought two cans of beer, some apples on sale and a pack of shredded vegetables. I tried to find the beer that one of my students had recommended, but there were so many types of the one thought was suggested. I was looking specifically for cotton balls at the supermarket as well, but I didn’t see any. I however stumbled upon covid19 antigen rapid tests and pulse oximeters, much to my surprise. And they were both each ¥970 plus tax.
I finished the Kirin can of beer at almost 18:30 and I wondered how I was supposed to feel after that 5% alcohol intake. I had class online at 19:00, so I hoped to be alright. It turns out I was quite fine, but very sleepy. I’m not sure if that was the beer or just my prolonged tired state. My student had forgotten our class and so didn’t join until about 19:20. I was struggling to keep myself awake in the class, but the student didn’t know that, of course. I was a bit concerned about my students level placement as I didn’t think it matched him at all. He seemed to be having a hard time and so I tried to slow him down. But he kept trying to move at a much faster pace than he could manage. I tried to encourage him where I could and praise him from time to time for his efforts. The class finally ended and I was thrilled to say the least.
After unwinding for the night, I was able to lay in bed at minutes to 22:00. Why I opted to study Japanese kanji in those ten minutes before bed, is beyond me. I ended the night singing, “After you’ve done all you can, you just stand”.
Thank you for journeying with me on today’s entry. Please support by leaving a comment below or sharing this with someone who might enjoy the journey. Follow my blog at stacypersonallyapeaking.wordpress.com to get posts directly in your inbox. You can also watch me on my YouTube channel Stacy Personally Speaking to see me in person. 19:25