There comes a point in any ALT's career when you just wish for something exciting to happen. Days upon days of sitting at a desk can be really boring, and although the occasional class provides some excitement, it's seldom that anyone says or does anything remotely interesting. During cleaning, I try to talk to the students, but all I can usually squeak out is the old standby "I'm fine, and you?" As I sit at my desk twirling my hair, I find myself imagining what it would be like to be an ALT in one of the so-called "bad" schools, where the students ask you about penises and sex and boobies.

And then it happened: in my last 1-1 class of the year, we were playing a game where each student has a letter, and we ask them to spell out different words. Before the game started, a particularly outgoing boy had found himself the letters S-E-X and was holding them up proudly. I wanted to laugh so bad, but looking at my stern JTE's face told me that if I did, I'd get in trouble.

So I laughed inside, and continue to pray for moments like this.

In other news, the Japanese Alps are gorgeous, and snowboarding was ace: