Fun After Work

Yesterday, I made a new resolution: visiting new places every day such as museums, shrines and mountains.

Places that would be peaceful and serene which can clear and relax your mind.

I started this yesterday by going to the top of a mountain by car after work.

The sunset seen from the top was very beautiful.

One of my students has strongly recommended me to go there.

I didn't have to pay anything for this wonderful experience.

It was truly gratifying, just looking at God's wonderful creation for us to see and appreciate his gift to us for free.

There are many of these places where I have never been yet.

Visiting a new place after work can motivate me to finish my work earlier.

I am still thinking about the next place I will be visiting tonight.

Work Life Balance

It has passed more than half a year since I started to work for the school.
What I think these days is how I can shorten the time to spend for work.
My current job starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 4:15 p.m. and I cannot change the fixed time.
However, starting from next school year, I strongly hope to shorten the time for work.
Although incomes would decrease, increasing my free time is more important.
During the free time, I will study English and read books more.
Currently, no stamina is left after work and it is difficult to take enough time to study.
I am wondering how I should manage my time for work and personal life.

TOEFL

I took the TOEFL exam for the first time yesterday.
It was so grueling that I felt exhausted after completing the four and a half hour test.
The vocabulary used in the exam were not complicated but the amount of entries were more than I expected.
By the way, there were ten participants including myself and we all sat down in front of PCs and put on headsets.
All the instructions were provided individually and we chose the answers shown on the screen.
I didn’t do well at all so I need to study more to get a higher score on the exam.
At least it was good to find a new goal.

Model

I went to a shopping mall to see my student who had a photo shoot as a model.
He looked nervous but held his poses in front of the camera.
A hair stylist and clothes coordinator took good care of his appearance before the big moment.
He held various poses following instructions from his family and staff. 
I thought he seemed to be matured compared to being a student at school.
After his photo shoot, I talked with him and his family, and I left the venue.
Seeing different sides of my students made me think that I know nothing about them on a personal level. 

Fashion Show

One of the students in our class is going to participate as a male model in a fashion show event today.
It is going to be held in a big shopping mall in our city.
He seemed to be nervous at school yesterday.
I am going to see his big moment this afternoon.
We are both first timers for this event. 
He as a ramp model while I as a spectator for such events.
At school, the students have to wear the school uniform but he was given a school clearance to wear casuals today.
I am excited to see how he will be on and off the ramp.
Next week, I will tell my impression for his performance at school.

Phone Call

A friend called me at 10:30 p.m. last night while he was at school.
He's a high school teacher.
He complained about his job because he had to write a lot of reports about the training sessions he joined.
He'll have to come to school again at 7:00 a.m. the next day.
I cannot stand such an exhausting job but I admire him for his passion for teaching.
When we were still students, we often practiced English together to pass an English exam.
We both love speaking in English.
I hope he will keep a work-life balance.

Tour Guide

I passed an oral exam for tour guide in this prefecture.

The prefectural office sent me an e-mail to inform me the result yesterday.

In a few days, official documents are going to be delivered to my address.

Currently, I work for a junior high school so spending time for the job is difficult.

I may shift my main job from teaching to tour guide starting from next school year.

The details of the job are not released yet.

There are many questions I want to ask such as “How long do I have to work a day?” “How much money can I get?”

All I can do is to wait for the envelop which contains official documents.