Tuesdays with Yamaarashi-chan
Sep. 2nd, 2003 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsIt has been an adventure of a day. After working my way through a relatively dull workday, I made my way through a series of buses that I don't usually take up to the West Seattle Junction and a seven-block walk to Yamaarashi-chan's new school. It's an older building, kinda run down and tired looking, but well-maintained. The place is crawling with parents and teachers and children of all ages, all of them huddling around a very smoky grill on which the almost canonical burgers, hot dogs, and vegetarian burgers are being burned at a furious rate.
I spot Yamaarashi-chan's mother there, along with Aurora, her middle daughter. But Yamaarashi-chan is nowhere to be found. I grab a burger and wander about, finally spotting her wandering off with her teacher to her new classroom. When I get there, her teacher is helping her fill out her name on a number of slips-- to her cubby hole, her sign-in spot, her job of the week.
I tried to talk to the teacher, but she seemed to be trying to keep so busy with the students that she's avoiding talking to the parents. I do finally manage to corner her toward the end of day and nail down the expected curriculum for the year. Apparently, it's encoded in a book called How is My First Grader Doing?, of which I have to get copy.
Lily shows up about then, and while Yamaarashi-chan is playing with her friends Aurora and Lily tell me their schedules for the year and the trials and tribulations of getting registered for classes. Lily's champing to get into a drama class and she despairs at the tiny size of the stage in Yamaarashi-chan's school.
On the way home, I saw a number of oddities. The first was an adult woman who, rather on the large size, who seemed more or less normal, conversing with her friend and being sociable... except that every second she wasn't talking, she was sucking her thumb, and apparently as a very serious habit for her comfort. She had to be in her mid-30's.
At the first transfer spot, I listened a fiery young lady bitching out her ex-boyfriend about harassing phone calls.
At the second transfer point, I watched two young men discussing "skanky" girls. Their ages clung to 15, but one of them had the nerve to ask me for a cigarette. I don't suppose it would have done any good to point out that such things do kill you. Eventually, a third showed up with cigarettes for the other two, and I had to wonder from where they acquired their cancer sticks. It's a hefty fine to sell to underages around here. They're impressed by the "boom box" in my computer and they're even more impressed when they realize I'm listening to Godsmack. They proceed to harass a few high-school girls at the opposite park and ride, engage in male-bonding games of pantsing and keep-away (mostly of the prize booty-- a bottle of beer, provided by the same high school girls), and other nonsense that's kinda fun to watch from this far away.
I wrote 1400 words today. I spent most of the morning editing; it's less stressful on the hands. I stopped when I felt the slightest twinge, and it's been quite a good day, pain-wise. Oh, yeah, and this post. 700 words. And the one I made this morning. And all the work in-between.
I spot Yamaarashi-chan's mother there, along with Aurora, her middle daughter. But Yamaarashi-chan is nowhere to be found. I grab a burger and wander about, finally spotting her wandering off with her teacher to her new classroom. When I get there, her teacher is helping her fill out her name on a number of slips-- to her cubby hole, her sign-in spot, her job of the week.
I tried to talk to the teacher, but she seemed to be trying to keep so busy with the students that she's avoiding talking to the parents. I do finally manage to corner her toward the end of day and nail down the expected curriculum for the year. Apparently, it's encoded in a book called How is My First Grader Doing?, of which I have to get copy.
Lily shows up about then, and while Yamaarashi-chan is playing with her friends Aurora and Lily tell me their schedules for the year and the trials and tribulations of getting registered for classes. Lily's champing to get into a drama class and she despairs at the tiny size of the stage in Yamaarashi-chan's school.
On the way home, I saw a number of oddities. The first was an adult woman who, rather on the large size, who seemed more or less normal, conversing with her friend and being sociable... except that every second she wasn't talking, she was sucking her thumb, and apparently as a very serious habit for her comfort. She had to be in her mid-30's.
At the first transfer spot, I listened a fiery young lady bitching out her ex-boyfriend about harassing phone calls.
At the second transfer point, I watched two young men discussing "skanky" girls. Their ages clung to 15, but one of them had the nerve to ask me for a cigarette. I don't suppose it would have done any good to point out that such things do kill you. Eventually, a third showed up with cigarettes for the other two, and I had to wonder from where they acquired their cancer sticks. It's a hefty fine to sell to underages around here. They're impressed by the "boom box" in my computer and they're even more impressed when they realize I'm listening to Godsmack. They proceed to harass a few high-school girls at the opposite park and ride, engage in male-bonding games of pantsing and keep-away (mostly of the prize booty-- a bottle of beer, provided by the same high school girls), and other nonsense that's kinda fun to watch from this far away.
I wrote 1400 words today. I spent most of the morning editing; it's less stressful on the hands. I stopped when I felt the slightest twinge, and it's been quite a good day, pain-wise. Oh, yeah, and this post. 700 words. And the one I made this morning. And all the work in-between.
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-03 05:16 am (UTC)Her mother's not a tall woman. That may have something to do with it.
thumb sucking
Date: 2003-09-03 02:24 pm (UTC)Maybe she recently quit, and the thumb-sucking helps.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-03 02:25 pm (UTC)Ooh, lucky you. The last time I got to see stuff like that was at the zoo! ;)
no subject
Date: 2003-09-04 01:28 am (UTC)I think the worst I've encounted was being
approched by a 12 year old boy asking for
cigarettes.