more exhaustion.

i'm back to being my exhausted self. i worked saturday at the school's open house (for prospective students) and then had a parent teacher dinner which lasted 4 hours, too much beer for some (not me) and lots of pretending to be having a great time. i got home and, leaving my clothes exactly where they hit the floor, i crashed. i did nothing yesterday. well, as long as nothing means idle around the internet, watch tv, fall asleep on the couch and in the end wander to the grocery store for food for dinner. i did cook dinner. and then i watched more tv. and then i was in bed by 11pm. with any luck, tonight will be even earlier.

today i was dragging at work. it MIGHT have been the 4 hours listening to middle schoolers' english speeches, which were of 3 varieties: monotone, practically whispered, or pronounced with such a strong japanese accent i wasn't sure what they were saying. or some combination of the three. the last one is somewhat forgivable (though completely disheartening as i begin to wonder what i've even spent the last 2+ years actually DOING) but the first two together are deadly. actually, the first years memorized a simple children's story in english and recited it in pairs, and most of them did fine. but you can only listen to (for example) the three little pigs so many times before you want to punch the cute little pigs AND the wolf.

granted i could be overworked and frantically trying to meet deadlines and impress supervisors, but sometimes too much down time is a deadly thing. actually, for me, it almost always is. too much time on my hands equals too much thinking and too much thinking equals wallowing. and wallowing leads to feeling tired and drained and downright yucky. it's a vicious circle but i just don't quite know how to get out of it. the recent cold weather isn't helping either. i just want to stay under the covers all day. the saving grace of winters in tokyo: the amazing blue sky and occasionally seeing mt fuji from the train on my way to work. i'm hanging on for those...