I'm hot...

...and I don't mean that in the conceited, full of myself way. I mean, I'm hot...like, I didn't know I could sweat this much hot. I was warned about this, and I thought I could handle it. But, I think other times that I've been in humidity, I had the luxury of a car to get around and I didn't necessarily have to walk around in it.

I decided to walk to ASIJ to see what route I'd take on my bike. I left the house at 11 AM and decided to walk there leisurely. I was feeling a little sweaty by the time I crossed the railroad tracks (about 3 minutes into the walk). But, still okay. Then I crossed the street, took the shortcut down a residential neighborhood and thought it wasn't too bad. I got to the hill near the park. It's downhill, so yay for that. I saw someone who looked like she might work at ASIJ too (and hearing her say that she was only in town for 5 weeks confirmed it!). I introduced myself. She's the nurse for the Day Camp so we walked the rest of the way together. I must have looked awful because she brought out the washcloth she carried with her to show me how she uses it to mop her face at times like this. Yeah, that bad...and I'd only walked 20 minutes. So, I grabbed my bandanna from the backpack and mopped my face too. We got to the security gate and gave our names. We were given the okay to go to the library where the Summer Day Camp director had set up shop. Talk about extreme temperature changes! In the library, the A/C was on, so my sweat soaked clothes quickly cooled off and I was chilly...weird. Thankfully, I had brought a jacket to layer.

I talked to Tim and told him that I had just met Jane. They caught up a bit and then he said we both needed money. He gave me a number, handed me an envelope, then asked me to sign. Sounded good to me! I changed $100 into yen at the SFO airport, but after the bus ride from the airport and the trip to the grocery store, I was down to just yen that were coins! I put the money in my backpack and didn't really think twice about it....just glad to have money without having to stop by the ATM. I stopped by another part of the library and introduced myself to Jo (director), and she stopped for a second and looked a little stunned. Then she said, "you look nothing like Leslie! I thought you were someone Jane brought by!" I got my ID badge and then went on my way. As a side note, I thought it was hilarious that Tim, when I first met him, asked me if I go by Tami. I said no, I go by Tamiko, yet he keeps calling me Tami. Strange to be in Japan (of all places) and be called Tami...and he speaks Japanese. Odd.

I was taken to the elementary school room where the director of the English teachers was. I met her, and her daughter, then got to look around at the kinds of materials available. There's tons of stuff. She was planning an orientation for new English teachers at 1:30, so I realized that I had some time to kill, and there wasn't much going on at the school. I walked back to the house and I was miserable. The "yay for downhill" hill from before was not so much fun on the way back! My capris were sticking to me and sweat was just dripping off my arms. Ick! I got into the house, turned on the A/C and stripped right in the kitchen. I ate a snack and then geared up for the bike ride back to the school. I changed into a quickdri shirt and hoped that the cruisin' on the bike was going to keep me cooler than walking. I was running late, so I didn't change the seat level of the bike and it wasn't the most comfortable ride, but MUCH faster than walking.

I went to the orientation and met a few of the other teachers who are new like me. I look forward to tomorrow when I meet the other 4th grade teachers. I'm a little bummed because the campers are broken into groups and given animal names. You're supposed to decorate the door/room with their animal names because they are identified by that name for the two weeks they are in camp. Well, I heard other groups getting their names...bears and monkeys (aw!), raccoons and turtles...and then I got my group names...Pigeons and Canaries. WHAT?! Pigeons? Canaries? For the person who REALLY doesn't like birds?! GREAT! Add to that the fact that none of the books really has cute PIGEONS as part of their phonics or cute art work. Needless to say, I'll be doing some clip art searches tonight to find cutesy pictures of pigeons (ICK!) and canaries.

While in the orientation, the skies opened up and it started to POUR. Funny how I had remembered the umbrella on the walk to school, but didn't bring it when I biked. I waited it out at the school, and then tried to rush back amid the thunder when it wasn't pouring anymore. The plus side was that I looked wet from the rain, and not from sweating! :) I got back, started cooking rice for dinner, (realizing that I actually don't know how to work the stovetop) and am cooling off in my shorts and tank top in the house. Oh, and I went through the money after I relaxed a bit and realized how much I was actually given...100,000 yen (approximately $945!) So, yes, I took most of that out of my wallet!

After I eat, I'm going to attempt to figure out how to use the burners on the stovetop, because most of the food I bought for dinners would involve using it!