Yoko's computer is still all fucked up, but I bought an upgrade and I think it will solve the problem. Also, having a laptop is nice because I can hang out wherever and type. Now even, in McDonald's. Say what you will, but if you get a Big Mac meal with the salad option and a Diet Coke, it's well under 700 kCal.
Some kids had to introduce themselves to me in class the other day and the teacher wrote a couple of model sentences up on the board. One was, "I want to be X in the future." Kids were answering, "I want to be a doctor," or "I want to be a Pharmacist" although I wasn't quite sure about that one.. One of the kids said, "I want to be happy in the future." This blew me away for a couple of reasons. First, Japanese high school kids do a really poor job of thinking outside of the box. This isn't always a bad thing, but usually if I say I like music, then about 60% of the class will say, I like music. Second, this answer to the question was gold. I mean, what does it matter what job you do. Who cares. If you're happy shoveling elephant poop, by all means, do it. All the lawyers and doctors and pharmacists can try to climb up the social ladder or whatever, but I'm with the kid who wants to be happy. That's awesome.
I love teaching English. I hate my job sometimes, and I hate the places that I have to teach sometimes (although those places are almost entirely gone), but I love teaching. And maybe next year I won't and that's cool too. But for now, I have the best job in the world for me and my little family. And that realization is great.
Also, I had a teacher tell me that he was interested in making ships of aircraft carriers from WWII and not from the allied side, of course. Given my current troubles with Japanese history, I was a little wary when he said that, although he quickly said, But I hate war.