Commuting to Toyotama

Meanwhile, my smaller high school, Toyotama, went right into business as usual. The four-person third-year composition class is going great. One of the girls, Misa, is easily the best English student I've found at the school, and the format of the class suits her brilliantly so far. The other girl, Erika, is good as well, and what she lacks in English knowledge she makes up for in diligence and enthusiasm. One of the boys, Koji, is a lot of fun, and his English is pretty good, but he's lazy. The other boy, Takashi, isn't a very good student, but I can't figure whether it has more to do with a lack of knowledge or a lack of motivation. Despite being the worst in the class, he's still better than most of my other students.

The second-year students are fun just like they were last year. One group of first-year students is just fine, with enough English superstars to keep things afloat. The other group, though, is abysmal. There isn't a single enthusiastic, knowledgeable student in the class. They're all nice, but they completely shut down when class starts.

I also started commuting to Toyotama, which runs about an hour each way. The road is only two lanes the whole way, with the occasional turnout or passing lane. The top speed limit is 50, and I quickly learned that going 70 is the norm. It took me a few days to actually stop and think about it: I'm going 43.5 miles per hour, when the highest speed limit on the island is 31 miles per hour. That sort of takes the thrill out of commuting. The drive is beautiful, though, with plenty of wildflowers and birds. My car gets a full 40 miles per gallon with this "highway" driving, which isn't bad, considering it's 15 years old. I have to fill up every two weeks or so, and gas has shot up from ￥160 ($1.48) per liter to ￥220 ($2.04). In gallons, though, that's $5.50 to $7.75. The school reimburses me, though, so it all works out.