dirty cars everywhere!!

so i woke up this morning to find my car absolutely filthy. my neighbor came out and mentioned something about it and the reason why, but i didnt really understand what she was saying. on my way to school, i noticed all the cars were dirty. everyone had that same window shield look, dirty except for where the whipers can reach. finally found out the reason why. apparantly, the gobi desert on the western side of china, received absolutely no rain or snow this last winter (go figure, it's a desert) and every once in a while this phenomenon happens where the winds starts to pick up and actually carries the desert sand/dirt accross east asia and on to japan. the skies were all hazy today and its because of this desert sand thats being blown over from china. crazy huh? and get this, they think it will be like this for at least a few more weeks! yay, hazy skies and dirty cars ... sounds like fun huh?

today i took a walk around town and some of my kids, or old kids i should say (from the 2 schools i no longer go to), came running up to me to say hi and have small talk. its really nice when u go around and u see smiles on kids faces because they see u (or maybe i just look funny and thats why they are smiling :P) instead of tears. yesterday i had my first lesson with the new 1st years at one of my elementary schools. they were really genki (all 8 of them!) except for one student who started crying anytime i tried to get him to talk in front of everyone. :( but he did have fun as long as the activities were group centered. the cutest thing was when all the 2nd years (i teach them together) were being all supportive and helpful towards the new 1st years. kids are soooo cute sometimes!!!

i cant wait for things to turn green and for the cherry blossoms!!! everything is still so brown but hopefully that will all change within a couple of weeks.

also very jealous of everyone who's going to 06's graduation ~ i still cant believe u guys are going to graduate in a month!! its amazing how time flies. wish i could be there, but ill be there in spirit!