Movie night is a success! Or was it?!?!?!

So last Friday was the moment that I had been working for three weeks to prepare for. It was the night of my big movie night event at my school. A few weeks before I had tried a night using the Wii as a basis for having fun and learning some English. However the event didn't go as well as I had hoped, even though everyone had fun, and there was much concern about me doing another event that would be much harder than that one.

I decided that the night would be broken up into three parts. The first part would be a quick basic movie culture segment, where I could teach some words and talk about the differences of seeing a movie in Japan and America. This went OK, but the time wasn't there and I felt that it wasn't a good chance for English conversation. But I tried my best to get the students to talk.

The second activity was a bit of a experiment doing something I had done in my childhood, taking a movie without sound and putting a dub to it. This was done in groups, and surprisingly the groups did a good job. However the clip I had chosen was a bit too long so it was a difficult activity.

The final part was watching a short movie, an old Three Stooges short called "Malice in the Palace." I was nervous about my choice, and spent weeks coming up with it, but in the end it was a hit with a lot of laughs and the students enjoyed it.

At the end of the night I felt very good. I thought the students had fun, they enjoyed it and learned something from the night. It certainly was a major improvement over my Wii night event, and I think I proved that I could do it. At least thats how I felt at first. But since that night I have found the opinions of those that viewed the event from the school side were mixed. Mostly praise, but a lot of questions of why I did one thing over another. I haven't had a chance top get a full assessment of the night yet from my coordinator who viewed the entire event, but I hope to soon. But I also worry about it.

In other news, thankfully as of today I can finally put NOVA behind me once and for all, as the terrible G Com, a company I am still angry with to this day, finally responded to my e-mails and sent me my tax papers. So I no longer have to deal with them anymore. Thank goodness for that! I also last week received my Hamasaki Ayumi concert ticket in the mail. According to the seating chart, it looks like I got a nice seat too, so I am very happy. The concert is in two months and I cant wait for it!

The weather in the Kofu area is finally starting to get warmer. Its still pretty chilly at night, and the wind is as strong as ever, but the temperatures during the day are starting to get to Spring levels. As much as I like winter time, I am ready to say goodbye to this cold season.

Other than that, since I am saving money at the moment, I am spending lots of free time relaxing at home, playing some games and watching movies. But I'm thinking of taking some bike trips on the weekends once the weather gets warmer. I think that will be nice to do.