Sleepless in Kobe...

Ah....Kevin's sleepless in Kobe! How sweet. Wait...no it isn't. He's sleepless in Kobe because he has a horrible cold and every time he lays down in bed, his lungs fill with goopy green crap and he starts coughing!!! Nothing romantic here at all. One of the downsides of being a teacher is that you're sick a lot. There are far more rewards than negatives, but it's true...you get sick a lot. More so here in Japan than in Canada and for a few reasons. I didn't get sick so much in Canada since my students weren't sick as often as the kids I teach now. Why? My students here are a lot younger. In Canada, I spent my time being ignored by 3rd and 6th graders. In Japan, it's senior kindergarten kids who choose to ignore me. Little people who's immune systems aren't fully developed therefore they often have colds. They also tend to sneeze, cough and generally drip fluids all over the place. I have taught them to cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze, but it's really just a drop in the bucket...a bucket filled with germs and other cooties!

So, long story short, I have another bad cold. What has been frustrating me so much this Fall/Winter is that I have been basically sick the entire time. Luckily and I mean VERY luckily I was healthy for both my wedding and my marathon, but those were basically about my only "ailment" free days of the entire season.

So, I'm sleepless in Kobe because I can't stop hacking and wheezing in my sleep. I was however able to go out for a nice little run this evening. I am running a 10k run on December 23rd (that's right...the Emperor's Birthday). The Kakugawa Marathon is about 30 minutes away by rapid train in....you guessed it, Kakugawa. I'll be there bright and early on the morning of the 23rd. The great thing about 10k is that I can run it in less than an hour and not be tired afterward. I think I'll even bring my camera along and take some footage for a video blog.

Ah well...back to writing my student reports. Now,since I feel like crap, I'll just write a few tonight and they'll be some of the better students in the class. those are always the easiest reports to write. The lazier kids or ones with behavior problems are always the tough reports to write.

Oh yeah...3 more days til my vacation starts. 3 weeks of work-free bliss. My plans...spend a lot of time studying Japanese (my Japanese class resumes on January 7th)since I have started to fall behind my studies because of my work schedule. Also..some hiking, a lot of running and maybe a few short trips.