A new job and other carryings on

Well, I've just finished the first week of a new job, and it was great fun.

Late last year, with an eye on the future, I decided to quietly scale back our own business and look to introduce supplementary work so that when the time comes for us to return home to my own country there will be fewer loose ends to tie up.

So this week I started a new job, going to four different elementary schools as an assistant language teacher, meaning that I entertain classes of Japanese school kids in English all day and hope that something sticks. In most cases I also have to come up with the curriculum, so over the course of the year we'll be covering ABCs as well as things like animals, numbers, food, colours, shapes, places around town, occupations, etc.

I'd not really taught large groups of students very much at all (I'm used to smaller classes of 1-6 students), so this week has been quite a change, but a very pleasant one. I didn't realise how much like minor royalty foreign teachers are treated in country area schools. The kids all know your name before you even arrive, want to shake your hand, give you a high five, shout hello or otherwise show their interest in the foreigner.

It does mean that I'm working more hours in the day (I leave home at seven, return at three or four, and then teach classes at our own school until nine), but there's a bit of extra money coming in and, as they say, a change can be as good as a holiday.

Anyway, to celebrate a good week, I've ordered in a final 60 or so figures to properly finish off my Roman Civil War project and am returning to plans I have of sending a batch of Greeks and Macedonians off to Sri Lanka.

But in the meantime, I must stop and pop into class for another lesson!