Writing the dates of the past 2 days in the american style gives 03/13/23 for monday, and 03/14 (pi day) for yesterday. just wanted to share those 2 bits of trivia to start this post off.

today is my second replacement rest day. i kind of like having a break in the middle of the week; 2 X 2 days seems more manageable than 5 (or even 4) consecutive days. i was starting to feel a little exhausted, but i think that the rest days on monday and today should boost me back to normal levels. just in the nick of time too! and i guess it helps that the school term is almost ending, and the content is covered in class at a more leisurely/casual pace now.

after i made my decision to quit the science video thing, i felt like a great weight had been lifted off me. odd thing is, i didn't even realize the weight was there! guess it built up over time. it's taught me a valuable lesson - that i really don't want to do easy but boring/tedious things. this includes teaching, too. i mean, i'd be happy to help my cousins' or friends' kids with short-term tutoring close to exam season or something like that, but career teaching is definitely off the table for me. the JET experience has also confirmed that.

i couldn't remember what my contract said about early termination, so i read through it again. always important to keep a copy of all paperwork. anyway, it said that either party could provide a month's written notice. but somewhere else in the document, i saw that it was only effective for a year, and it's due to expire at the end of next month. so rather than rock the boat by quitting, i'm just going to opt not to renew it, and let it expire. it's a softer approach, i guess? well, whatever it is, the outcome will be the same. plus, the additional duration gives time for my payment to be processed!

one more reason why it's important to keep records of your conversations is to ensure that you didn't pass on the wrong info. my predecessor said that he'd be staying in kochi until thursday, and he wanted to attend the primary school kids' graduation ceremony. thing is, the ceremony is next thursday, ie. a week away from tomorrow. since he was so specific about staying until thursday (i assume this thursday), i started to panic because i thought i might have given him the wrong date! can you imagine, if he'd planned his stay around my information and ended up not being able to fulfill one of his main objectives for coming!? but the relief is that i wrote the correct date clearly in the email, so it's on him if he misread it. of course, the best-case scenario would be if he planned to stay until next thursday and got to attend the ceremony.

puma (the shoe brand) recently launched a line of shoes and clothes in collaboration with final fantasy. in particular, there's a pair of black and purple sneakers which i kind of like. they cost 17050 yen though. since it's limited edition, stocks are flying off the virtual shelves. i think most of the popular sizes were sold out within half an hour of the launch. just went to check, and they're now out of my preferred size too. good in a way that i'm now unable to buy them. moreover, i'm not in need of shoes now; my former lab shoes (now work shoes) and running shoes are more than enough. in fact, i asked my friend to bring my formal office shoes back to singapore, simply because i never used them at all! since shoes have to be interchanged so frequently (to indoor slippers, toilet slippers, going barefoot, etc.), the japanese have a custom of judging your attire only until your ankles. so i've never needed the super formal shoes. wish i'd known that before coming!

the lesson? message? takeaway? here is that i should be less impulsive as far as bigger purchases go. also, the whole wants and needs thing again. i might need new shoes in the future when the ones i have need to be replaced, but for now, they appear to be holding up fine. one less thing to take up space when i move, too.

like i mentioned before, the term is ending soon. next friday, to be precise. after that, there are about 2 weeks of school holiday (deskwarming for me) before the new school year begins on 7 april. i just realized that i'll have to come up with a leave plan, as well as confirm the number of leave days i'll be getting in august. i think they should give me the full 20, but i'm not going to bank on it just yet. other stray thoughts include transitioning to a "last" mindset, getting another piece of luggage for the move back, and initiating contact with australia. will blog about those at more appropriate times.

-random thought of the day: Fried rice plans aren't working out!-