May 2nd to May 16th Faceplanting Onto Aforementioned Limits in 2017

The remainder of that week was rather dull. To be honest, things all kind of blended together and I don’t really remember a great deal of specifics. To give you an idea of how much it all blended together, I thought that I’d stopped writing one week ago as opposed to two.

I finished the 2nd at Miyachu, and then Golden Week started. All of my plans of things to accomplish fell apart in an orgy of bad sleep schedule and not eating right. The whole week is an unpleasant blur of just kind of feeling shitty. Add to this back trouble, and life was kind of a mess.
Over the weekend, I had a voice lesson with Yuko Sensei’s teacher, which was enlightening. My throat has been bad, and remains bad (as of writing today on the 16th). But, he was somewhat helpful. My shattered technique is getting vaguely better, but I wish that I’d had more lesson time and/or that I had another month before the performance. I’m actually a bit nervous, and that doesn’t happen to me about performing.
The 8th was Miyachu, but then the students went on their work days, where they shadow workers in various jobs. Most seem to end up at various Family Marts. This may or may not be a metaphor for life in Kagoshima.
The 9th I was at Eishin, and it was a 5-6 day, which was rough. The 5th and 6th grade hallways are across the building from each other, and there’s no 3rd floor connector, so, you have to go down, across the building, then back up. Anyway, I held up relatively well. I may have begun water walking around this time. It was a thing that happened a few times that week.
The 10th was a BOE day. I ended up getting the afternoon off because Kumei is amazing. Also because I was in some obvious pain. Also because they knew that Eshin had been brutal and that the 11th was Yamasaki.
The 11th was Yamasaki, and it was fun enough. The unpleasant kids seem to get better as they get older, and the pleasant kids seem to stay the same. So, while I had been worried about losing my favorite class (the outgoing 6th graders), I was very happy with the new 5th and 6th graders whom I’ve got.
The 12th finished me off at Miyachu. Migraine was pretty bad. The weather that week had been kind of nuts, going up and down. My teacher for the day was Inori, but, she only had one class (the special class). And, while I love teaching that class (probably my favorite at Miyachu), I hate having a day of only one class. Especially when I can’t play a game. Oh! I need to address that point later. Anyway, I asked to leave, got permission, then decided to suck it up. It was a Friday afternoon. Too suspicious.
Saturday the 13th I didn’t do much. D&D in the morning, and I feel like I did something in the evening, but I can’t remember what it was. Possibly rehearsal?
Sunday the 14th was definitely rehearsal (I swung by Rara first). I drove around for 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. Then, when I finally stopped to call my teacher (I’d gotten there 20 minutes early, so, I thought that maybe somebody would be leaving) she said that they’d all parked someplace else. And that nobody had told me. She figured that I’d just call. Well, she couldn’t explain the place, and I think I ended up going to a place WAY the hell away from where I was supposed to be. But I did rehearsal. I just can’t seem to get my voice where I want it to be. Which is worrisome.
Monday the 15th I was at Miyachu with two and a half classes with Kubo. My goodness he’s good! He’s so good at fixing the kids’ pronunciation! It’s amazing! Halfway through 5th period, I left for Eikaiwa. I went to the Himawarikan, but, then realized that it was at the Bunka Center. Thankfully, I always leave early, so I made it to the Bunka Center with a bit of time to spare. Hooray! It was fun. In it, I talked a lot to the ladies. I felt sad about how I feel like there’s a limit to Satsuma. It’s just not a place where I think that I can stay. It’s the kind of place that I could imagine being in forever. But . . . that’s what makes it frightening as well. I’ll never be more than what I am if I stay. But . . . right now . . . I like how things are. How things are vs. what I am.
I went home and then went to Kitchen Inoue for dinner. Then home and a bath. Then some singing practice (didn’t go well) and reading before bed. I slept surprisingly well, putzed about in the morning for a bit too long, and made it to school a mere twenty minutes early instead of thirty. I’ve got 1 class with Inori and 3 with Tateishi, so I’m a bit worried as tomorrow is an Eshin day. We’ll see how this all goes.

Miscellaneous orders of business:

I am getting increasingly worried about my throat. For the past six years, or so, I’ve been losing vocal range and the like. I am not sure what to do. I went to the throat doctor last week, and got some relief, but it’s still not near where it was even back a few months ago. I really don’t know what to do, and I’m getting worried. I’m going back to the doctor today.
Eric, the Muscleman, is an ALT in Sendai (really Imuta) who is a certified trainer, and he’s also certified in the training of people with injuries like mine. He says that he’ll give me some exercises and exercise advice for free. I think that I’d rather just see him weekly and pay him.
Video Games at some point in time, probably golden week, I took to playing Civ again, at which point my life fell off of a cliff. I think it’s really, REALLY, interesting how quickly my life goes to shit when I play video games. Thankfully, I ended up finishing the binge earlier than some. But enough damage had been done. I don’t understand why I get so hooked. I think it’s because the game is a Skinner Box? But other Skinner Boxes never really appealed to me? No idea. Anyway, it was a disaster and I shouldn’t play that fucking game.
I haven’t seen any big spiders since that one I killed, and I’ve only seen one mid sized one since then. I am now sleeping with a light on because I’m terrified that there MUST be a spider.

I am currently sitting with a certain horror. My back feels “loose” which is a dangerous thing indeed. I don’t know what to do about it, and that’s concerning.