Work, work, work

So yesterday I had a meeting with Suraj's assistant. We had to go over to a student's house for a trial lesson. I'd go and they'd watch me tutor the student and then they decide whether or not they want to keep me. I meet with Naomi and we head over to the student's house. The student, this 15 year old Japanese girl, and her mother live in this awesome apartment. The building is gorgeous and then when you get into their actual apartment, that's just beyond amazing. It was almost wall to wall dark cherry wood and had this amazing view of the surrounding area. It's the kinda place I'd love to live in in any language. So after my initial awe of the apartment, we got down to business. Naomi and the mom spoke to each other and it was such a different experience for me. They were speaking Japanese and I had no clue what they were saying. Then Naomi wanted to get an idea of what kind of help the student (whose name I can't remember) wanted. This is when I got a big time shock. This girl wanted help with her math homework. Well I'm no mathematician but I'm not completely out of it either. However, I don't feel incredibly comfortable tutoring a student in math. I'm an ESL teacher, what are they thinking? So I told them how I felt and that I could do the best I can to help her understand the questions, but I wasn't very skilled in math and the two of us would be flying blind on the whole scene. Anyway, after that me and the student had some time to chat and get to know each other. I asked her what Tokyo was like and how she was enjoying China. Then the mother and Naomi talked for a while and basically confirmed that her math homework was where she needed the most help due to the fact that she didn't understand when the teacher spoke. After a while of sitting and listening to them speak Japanese, I guess they figured it was enough torture for me and that Naomi or Suraj will call me later and the mom and Naomi will talk for a bit longer. Today I got an email from Suraj saying that he was sorry that I was "surprised" with the math lesson but he was hoping that maybe I could still do the lesson, if not, there were some other lessons that he may be able to arrange for me. We'll see how it goes. Next trial lesson is on Saturday.
In other news, I'm coming down with a slight cold and it's becoming to be a pain in the ass. The timing couldn't be worse (but then again, when is a good time to get a cold?). I'm trying to get this extra work and I can't let this slow me down. I'm gonna take a few shots of Nyquil and hope for the best.

TTFN