too little free time

I love my job. I never thought I'd say these words, but I really like teaching, and I think I'm kinda good at it. It's a bit like performance art. I sometimes even refer to it as Miss Koco's English Show, which I sing like it's the last line of my opening theme song. I present it with a little dance as if I'm the TAH-DAH girl at the end of an magic trick. My students are smart, and cute, and funny, and all female. So, it's just as much tea time with the girls--talking about Thursday's episode of Last Friends (an intense drama with domestic violence and a hopeless lesbian love), fashion, and food--as it is English class.

But with the long hours, and a commute from hell, I have NO time to do the millions of things I want to do in Japan--like take endless pictures of funny signs:

Or eat ALL DAY.

Or go to one art show after the next.

Or watch Last Friends to see what the hoopla is all about.

Or update my blog. In a way though, I feel that I'm getting a very true version of what it's like to live and work in Japan. I can see why someone might want a housewife to make lunch, be home to sign for packages, and do the dishes so you don't have to worry about housekeeping. I have a sneaky plan and a quiet prayer I say in hopes of getting a seat on the train. I have so many aspirations to do certain activities and pursue subjects I want to know more about, but have to cram it all into short hours on the way to work or coming home, the thirty minutes or so after I eat and before I pass out, or into that fleeting time we call the weekend. I cherish my weekends like they are made of gold, a gift directly from the heavens. I'm not complaining so much about my lack of free time, it's good for me to have something constructive to do. I make better use of the moments that belong to me, and I do my best to enjoy the ones I'm selling to "make a living." But... I still think I'd do a lot of good things for the world if I had an adoring benefactor who spoiled me by giving me the means to explore, experiment, create, and document to my heart's content. I'm accepting applications on a rolling basis.