Home Sick

I am not sick for home, but I am home sick. I hate being sick. I know that probably surprises most people because I know everybody loves to be sick. (Being Sarcastic) I would way rather be at work. Of course, I do love my job. I haven't been able to say that for a really long time. The last job I had that I really loved was teaching in Japan. It was a very busy and hectic lifestyle. I would take the train from location to location where I would teach. Many times I would teach the same lesson eigteen times a week to eighteen different classes. The hardest part was keeping the lessons fresh every time I taught it. It was a new lesson for the kids, but for me it kind of got boring. Since I have been home in the States, I refuse to play Uno or any other of the games I played over and over and over and over and then one more time in Japan. The fun part about being there was that everyone was always so glad to see me. My classes were glad to see me, and my family was really glad to see me when I came home to visit. It kind of felt like I was a star. I couldn't go anywear without coming across someone who recognized me. Even when I traveled out of the country, I ran into different students at international airports across the globe. People gave me gifts all the time, took me out to dinner and treated me special.

Of course the money wasn't too bad either. I got paid in cash every month. I budgeted by laying the money in piles. I had a pile for electric, phone, and other monthly expences. There was a pile of money to send home and then the pile left over was my fun money. If I was going out on the town, I would grab a bill equal to about a hundred U.S. dollars and spend almost all of it that night. When I think of that now, I cannot believe how much money I spent on having fun. I wouldn't even dream of that now. Well I guess I would dream of it, but I wouldn't do it. That was back in the day when a flight for a thousand dollars seemed cheap and something I didn't want to pass up. I didn't think anything of hopping a train to Tokyo to visit some friends and travel around. Eating out every meal seemed pretty normal, and I didn't have much groceries in the house. If I did, they rotted very quickly anyway.

So, now I do love my job. I don't feel so much like a star anymore, but my neice Grace makes me feel pretty special. She pretty much jumps for joy every time she sees me. Even though she is a walking germ factory, I am glad to see her too. Kids her age are so brutely honest that I know she really thinks I am a great being. The other morning I was laughing and tickeling her in my bed. She got a whiff of my breath and said, "That Stinks!". She plugged her nose and tried to get away from the offencive smell. I love her.