One boared dog...

Happy to Report

2006-10-23T06:39:38Z

...that the musical has a topic and a director! Had the first meeting of the year yesterday, and Pinocchio was chosen from a larger than expected list of shows. Some of the others were Grease, Oklahoma, Sleeping Beauty, Aesop's Fables, and even a musical Star Wars.

Found a director too! Joey, a new ALT out in Kamikatsu (Matt's successor) will take the role. So our head team of director, producer, and writer gained a "y" and an "st" from last year to this. Check out the creepy similarities:

Peter Pan:
Director: Joe Addleman
Producer: Jordan Svien
Writer: Chris Riedl

Pinocchio
Director: Joey Staddleman
Producer: Jordan Svien
Writer: Chris Riedl

In other news, sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't been doing too much of interest really - just going over to Saori's house and playing her DS too much. Finished the new Mario and Mario Kart. Last friday there was a mega-mario kart battle as Julie, Nate, and Brian came over with their games and played four way with me and Saori, and Kumi too. Saori managed to win a battle mode game once, so she was happy.

And then there was the "mid year seminar" on Saturday, which was a cleverly disguised "Kita High School's Newly Mandatory English Day". Basically it involved getting every ALT to go to Kita High to teach high schoolers - with no JTE and only a bunch of ALTs in each class. This makes no sense because:

-We always teach with a JTE (or most of us at least...myself not included)
-We never teach with other ALTs
-Most of us had never taught high schoolers and never will again

Even with all of that though, it was a good time. The lesson was fun, and I got to lead one of the classes. George W Bush survived the jump from the balloon three times though, so it wasn't all good. But the kids did have good reasons to spare his neck.

Now my ribs ache. I have a shippu patch that Saori put on. I smell like root beer and mint, and it smells good.

About Sumo! And Eikaiwa!

2006-09-26T05:21:04Z

I think sumo tournaments that fall on taikusai / speech contest practice weeks are just not fair. 'Twas a struggle to get home every day before six, and even then I could only watch the final bouts of the day. Only last Wednesday did I get to watch as much as I pleased, but by then the victor was almost already known. The Yokozuna wins again! But Ama and Aminishiki had a spectacular basho, both winning prizes. And Asofuji (Aminishiki's brother) in the lower ranks will make it up to the high levels next tournament, so that Ajigawa-beya will have three guys in Kyuushu in November. Sadly, everyone but Kisenosato who had a 7-7 record on the final day lost! That includes Takamisakari, Homasho, and Asasekiryu, three guys I was pulling for.

That's all about that!

I need an eikaiwa plan tonight for my kids. Something that has nothing to do with numbers. In fact, I wanna take it in a bit of a different direction. I don't know what direction that is, but the planning stage looks something like this: (copied from my "work" file from my computer at work)

-Phonics work - continue
-Enough of numbers! Time for something else!
-Could do greetings - good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night, hello, good-bye, thank you, you're welcome (though the last is hard and not used much in japanese...maybe an easier one...no worries? no problem? don't mention it? yikes, that last one is harder still.)
-Prepare a bunch-a-flashcards for the words, then practice by saying it's such and such o'clock, and the kids tell me good afternoon or good night or whatever. Wonder if the kids have different bedtimes.
-This is a way to review numbers and What time is it? Play a game with this...how? Something with a time limit as the day passes. Or mini cards that I can hide, with pictures on each one that represent the different phrases. Wonder if I can find those. Man, that involves two sets of google crawling for images, laminating, and cutting. But I got time to kill.
-What if you still have extra time? Do the phonics work next. If you finish that, then play another game, like teh four corners or teh mister wolf to review numbers again.
-Next week, sports, and then the week after you go on to "Do you like?"...just the way Genki English wants you to. Robot.

Guess it's not in much of a different direction after all. In fact, it looks like it's still in the same direction. Week to week.

Utterly Speechless

2006-09-22T02:17:14Z

I'm speechless. I have no speech.

That's because my girl didn't win the Miyoshi-gun speech contest, but it was just fine. She gambare-ed really hard, and in the end she seemed to enjoy herself, glad that she did the speech after all. For the first three weeks getting her to practice was like pulling teeth, but the last few days she tried her best to improve, which she did noticeably. Kirsten said Manami (girl's name) was on her list of second place candidates, meaning she was in the top half of the contest. I told Manami that, and it made her really happy, so I was glad. Manami had said she didn't want to win (meaning she would have to practice more), just to be among the top half. She wins!

The winning girl was Andrew's kid, the same girl who tried last year. She by far had the clearest voice and the strongest command of English. She could work on a couple pronunciation and eye contact points, but there was little doubt she would advance. Second place went to Nishi-Iya's Iwasaki-kun, who I was really happy to see win. His speech was quite good (translated by Joe!), and he had a lot of confidence on the stand. He needs to work on making his speech less rehearsed and more natural, but his voice and pronunciation were all very good. Everyone was surprised that he took second because there were so many good speeches this year, but he was one of them and I think he deserves it.

Saori's birthday was three days long! There was the Sunday we spent together, her actual birthday Monday, and an ALT party for her on Tuesday! I thought it was ironic that the only day she didn't do something special to celebrate her birthday was Monday, her actual birthday day. We played Settlers on Tuesday, along with a fierce Crazy 8 Countdown battle, of which I took home the crown. Good thing Joe wasn't there or my face would still be healing from face full of playing cards.

I got Saori a Nintendo DS for her birthday which she really liked, but it's hard to stop playing it once you start. I find myself saying things like, "Can you come over tonight? Good! Bring your DS!"

Tomorrow is the weekend. And tonight I go to Tokushima airport to pick up Deborah the Dalmatian. She joins Banana the Boston Terrier as the new Miki dogs.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-15T08:57:57Z

Kisenosato just beat Asashoryu, and now Ama is alone in first at 6-0!!!

I'm Typing This ... At Home!

2006-09-11T13:51:13Z

The fact that I'm currently sitting at home and typing this entry may not mean anything to some, but should mean a lot to others (Joe, Lindz, and Ellie)...because for some reason my spacebar is working again! Working like it was never broken. For an entire year my computer was on the fritz because the space key was broken - not spacing when I pressed it and spacing randomly and wildly for no reason when I was nowhere near it. It made viewing the web a huge pain, because space scrolls the page down, so I would have to fight with my own computer to actually read anything online.

And then one day it just starts working again. Much like how it broke for no reason in the first place. I think it just wanted a year off.

Saori had her birthday yesterday and today (the celebration yesterday, the actual day today). Will post about it soon!

word guessing

2006-09-07T11:11:01Z

I'm hungry. There's a ramen truck rolling along outside, playing its song. You know the one. I wish I could eat that burger in the corner all over again.

Do you ever sit back and reflect after you say something, thinking "If I was to go back to ten seconds ago, what do you think the next words that I will say will be?" I like to play this game sometimes, but usually I think of it afterwards.

For example, at my enkai last Friday, I was quiet for a good chunk of time, maybe ten minutes or so. There was conversation flying around the room, and I was listening to half of it or so, before my next words, which were...

"Beta-carotene"

Which immediately made me laugh, thinking of what the chances were that I could predict that the next thing I'd say before I said beta-carotene would be beta-carotene. I think people were talking about carrots. That was before they moved on to underwear.

Yeps! I wanna eat and play poker. It's been a week. For poker. Eating was an amount of hours ago.

What happen!

2006-09-05T02:12:16Z

Oh yeah, now I remember. Sort of. I remember there was a beach party, and a lot of driving to and fro, through the wild wilderness of Kochi's backroads. Friday night is still gone from my memory, and I'll let you know if I can recover it.

Upon hearing rumors that last year's beach party was cuh-razy, I went expecting the unexpected, and ready to be disappointed if things I was not expecting to happen actually did not come to pass, eagerly looking around for things that I would be unprepared for. In the end, there were plenty of good times, though not as crazy as the year before. I think a smaller crowd played a part in this, as many were off cavorting on their own adventures, but we still had a good turnout (maybe 25). Neither of the Mikis made the trip, as the younger was off in Okayama watching volleyball and the engaged one was taking care of her poor Chris who messed up his knee...the good one! Hope he gets better soon.

There was plenty of roasting meat, though it all had to be done on one tiny grill that Tracy had the forsight to bring. There was music, including a dance of Night of Fire. There was also much inebriating liquid, but I steered clear of it for the night. Just wasn't in a drinking mood, I suppose, and I wanted to drive back to Bessie's that night instead of camp out in a tent and battle the mosquitoes. Speaking of the mozzies, my "spray once and it'll be okay" plan crashed, as even with the death gas permeating my legs I managed to collect about ten or fifteen bites, the worst of which under my ankle. Today I'm not wearing socks in the office, which is a first!

But the beach was the beach, with some crazy swimming involved. The nudity element was there at times, but it was on a very conservative scale, and there was nothing to be seen. Which is fine. But the water was warm, and the swimming was good, though my head was filled with sand by the end. Managed to steal a shower. Literally. It's in my apartment now.

There was a fire with some foolish yet admittedly cool fire jumping, of which Kirsten managed to get the best camera shots. Had a good chat with Kirsten in general about life and romance, and man and woman's shortcomings and triumphs in both. And also trying to keep her from feeling bored, because she is not boring. Then she did a cartwheel for the hell of it, which was a good thing.

Ah! Remembered Friday night! But more on that later.

The periods before and after the beach were full of driving and more driving. With Ashley as co-pilot, we navigated a loop around Eastern Shikoku, doing the Tokushima city and down route on the way there and the down and across the Kochi mountains and up on the way back. Managed to get back just in time to see Brazil crush Japan at volleyball, which was just great. Saori was at the game, and she was hardcore rooting for Brazil. But now the only way Japan advances into the final round is if America loses, so I hope they do, because I do want to keep watching the games on TV.

Thursday was poker night at my house! Good times with good people, and good winnings too. Jurie lost big money to me on a big bluff, but I applaud her taking the chance. If I hadn't gotten a straight right off the bat I might have folded, but with the cards I had I knew there was no way she had anything. Almost won a gigantic pot on the very first hand, but Brian beat my full house with a better one and took about 1500. Was kind of glad he won actually, because he was nervous about playing, and what better way to shake that then to take down a big win with his first hand (and how heel-ish of me would it have been to have taken that away). Good thing three nines and a pair of threes beats three threes and a pair of jacks.

And...

My life here is so separated between school and personal that when the two somehow mix, it's like wires are crossing and exploding in my head. I couldn't for the life of me remember what happened Friday night because that is usually my time to do whatever I like, usually eating out with Saori and her dad. But this time I had an enkai with my school at Medaka in Ikeda. The idea of being in a school mode during a Friday is crazy. What makes it weirder is that I knew I stayed at Saori's that night, and I was trying to figure out how in the world I got there. Saori came and got me after the enkai was what happened.

Void

2006-09-05T01:30:05Z

What did I do this weekend? I forget.

Kitty Corner!

2006-08-28T02:20:26Z

The last week was the slowest I've ever had at school. I've been here for two summers already, but I was never in the office because I was either in the states or give ridiculous amounts of days off (my first summer after arriving). Last Thursday there was just me, my JTE (Mr. Fujimoto), and the vice principal for a few minutes. There was no work to be done beyond speech contest practice. Then the speech girl calls in sick. Then there was no work to be done beyond...nothing. Getting a massage. Talking to Brian, Nate, and Saori online. Playing clandestine games on the computer when Mr. Fuj wasn't looking, and I doubt if he'd really care anyways.

http://effects.if.tv/gm/tama/tamaswf.html is the infuriating game in case you want to play.

Was a much quieter weekend this time, but it was well appreciated. Next weekend is the back to school beach party which I will not miss this time, so it was good to have time to relax. Though there were hamburgu eatings at lemon grass and karaoke sung at Prison, the weekend was most characterized by the great Cat-Search for Brian, who wants a little kitty cat to go with his house. We trained, organized, and blazed the path on Saturday, stopping for a pre-cat lunch at Woody Rest, meeting Justin and Nate as well. Enjoyed curry while listening to Setsuko's Destiny's Child CD for the jillionth time. Then it was time to get a cat, so we made our way around Ikeda's backroads to the pet shelter...only to find they were catless! No stray cats had been picked up recently. Not to be deterred, we smashed our way through some taiko game drums and some air hockey (of which Nate is still champion) and made our way to Kawanoe. The stop was Time, which has a pet store selling dogs, cats, bunnies, gerbils, and birds, but not bees, like the one currently hovering around my desk. Yikes. Go away.

But upon arrival, there was only one cat! And it cost 78000 yen, which Brian couldn't afford, even though it was the cutest. So we left catless and late, though not without donuts and shakes and a Mister Donut apron that Brian won by collecting Mr. Donut points. He was determined.

Sunday was another big relax day, making a trip to Iya Onsen with Saori. It was only my second time there, and probably my last, just because there are the two nicer ones closer and less expensive. Though Hiromi was working there, and by a wink and a nod got both of us in for free. We protested, but there was nothing we could do but walk in without paying. Fortunately, the yakiniku later that night cost exactly 3000 yen, so we made up for it with small chunks of cooked meat, soup, and rice. Twas good!

Oh, and I called a guy who has a cat, so the search may be over soon. Will keep you posted!

Ditches, Dancing, and Dogs

2006-08-21T04:24:05Z

In what I hope will be a trend of this year's JET community, this weekend was a busy one. Busy in a good way of going in, getting out, and not overdoing it. Except it almost became a terrible one, but thankfully the car was not destroyed.

Friday night saw me ducking out from work a half day early to go with Saori to a hospital visit. She's fine, but I thought I'd come along with her just for moral support. Got called "interesting, interesting!" by the doctor for speaking and goofing up Japanese, including one time when the doctor said Saori was "hageshi", and I thought she called her "hage", which means bald. Forget what "hageshi" really means.

Twas a shindig going on at Brian's (new Andy) house, so around 8 o'clock, right after coming back from the coin laundry where Saori had done my heaps upon heaps of dirty laundry (I have no pride), I left to get to Brian's place in Mino. The only problem was I didn't know where it was. After crossing the bridge from Mikamo to Mino, I called Kirsten and asked for directions. She came back with "hmmm. Near a bridge. Also a shogakkou. Maybe next to the rugby fields?" No problem, thought I. Drove to the rugby fields, failing to notice that I was actually in Mima by the time I got to them. Called her again, saying "I don't see any shogakkou." She told me to be on the lookout for one somewhere around there. So as I meandered back, I was looking for shogakkou signs on the right. Suddenly I found one, took a hard turn right and looked up and down the road. It was really dark, but even so I knew there was no gakk in sight. Having to turn around, I took a right down a little side road, opting to wander my way along this road until it widened instead of doing the smart thing and backing up then and there.

So down this little road I went, noticing that it seemed to get smaller and smaller the further I went, and that the ditches to each side, which were non-existant when I turned on it, where getting larger and larger. Then the road curved left and back right a bit, and at one point I remember thinking "oh man, I hope I don't get stuck!" I actually had to stop the car, open the door, size up the space between my tire and the ditch, and slowly take the curve with the door open. Success! I fell just a bit into the rice field part of the road on the left, but avoided the yawning ditch to the right. Hit the gas to get out of the field and went on my way down the road.

...which was even worse than before. The road was so small that my car barely fit on it, and the ditch to the right was almost a meter wide. The left ditch had also opened up. Fortunately, there was a crossroads in front of me that led right back out onto the 12, but my car was so big that I couldn't actually turn it onto that road. Stopped in the middle of the "intersection", I got out of my car and looked around to see if there was any way out of my predicament. Going straight just followed the tiny road up to a point where it died, which means I would have to back out. And I couldn't back up from where I was at, because that would mean going backwards over that curve in pitch darkness. I started to panic a bit, and my phone was almost out of juice as well. I kept inching the car back and forth, going past the perpendicular road and seeing if I could back up and turn on to it, and backing up behind it, and seeing if I could go straight and turn on to it. Neither worked. I kept getting out of the car to see how much space was left between my wheels and the ditch, and on one such ill-fated check, it was me who went right into the ditch instead. As I started to go in, I thought to myself "Here I am falling into the ditch." Because I knew what was happening I was able to leap out almost the instant I fell in, so that though my left foot, sock, shoe, and pants leg were covered with muck, my right was virtually unscathed, even though it went in as well. Didn't hurt myself either!

Soon after, a car pulled up from the wider road, and I ran at it with arms flailing, yelling for help. Two bewildered ladies got out and took a look at my situation, and declared it "muzukashii." They knocked on the door of the closest house, and an old dude got out to see what he could do. He didn't talk much as I blabbered how sorry I was, and after going all around the car he told me, "get out, and I'll drive." So he did, and with the two ladies and I looking on, he somehow managed to turn the car ever so slightly at a time, sometimes with the tire riding on the ditch at times, and go the car to turn left. I was free! After turning the car around, I was able to drive out safely.

Called Kirsten, and she told me to meet her at Sunkus, but we got crossed on which Sunkus she meant. So I then drove 15 minutes to the Mima Sunkus, called her a half hour later, and then drove 15 minutes back to the Mino Sunkus, where Kirsten and three other first year JETs all lined up outside Sunkus and applauded at my arrival. Kirsten felt bad, but it wasn't really her fault, and I should have been more careful with where I was going on roads I had never driven on before in the dark!

But Brian's party was actually a lot of fun, and Kirsten and I shared a bottle of vodka to make times good. Talked to a lot of good people, had a lengthy conversation with Justin about the snowball fight, which he is already pumped for, and just enjoyed good vibes. And then, tried something different, which is leaving a party early! I always feel like I'm the last to leave a place, but I don't feel like I gotta be the guy always hanging around until the end anymore this year, so when Christine and Christine said they were heading out, I asked them to take me to Mikamo. Felt good leaving right when things were a lot of fun, because I know I got the best out of what was there. Weird, I know, but good.

Saturday was not quite as adventurous, and involved a lot of hanging around and sleeping at Saori's. They had just gotten a new dog, Buutarou, a little shiatsu who was only two months old. After playing with him all morning, I went to get my car which was still in Mino, and by the time we got back Saori's dad had given him away!

Saturday night was a new JET gathering at P's, which involved a lot of crazy dancing. The new kids like to dance, which is great, though it made me miss everyone else who is already gone. Danced a slow version of Night of Fire to disco music, and it worked. At one point there were some first year girls dancing opposite me, Christine, and Chris doing Night of Fire in what looked very dance-battlish. Then Christine and I did Burning Love, including falling on the floor for big fish, little fish, cardboard box. The follow up at Ingrid's was not as good, and I spent more time in the corner or outside than I did actually singing or doing anything social. Chris and I ducked out early, and after some hot dogs at Root Down we went back to his place for various card-like activities. Missed our third player, though.

Nuttin exciting happened on Sunday. Except had a discussion on what the next Miki dog is going to be, a Boston Terrier or a Dalmatian, or both.

The office is quiet today. Just me and the two secretaries right now, though some others are floating around somewhere. Might be a TV on somewhere.

Keeping up in Tokushima

2006-08-17T05:51:13Z

Today is the first day back at school since the new JET year started. It's quiet as a mouse in here now, with only three other teachers around, all sitting and typing away at their computers or reading some papers.

I haven't used this journal much at all in the past year, mostly because I enjoyed reading everyone else's entries more than I did writing my own. Because I was always doing something with someone else anyways, I could just read about it on their blog instead of having to post about it myself.

But!

From one year and a bit ago, when Sarah, Hez, Lindz, Ellie, and Joe all had or started these journals and were all writing about their lives in Japan, I'm the only one left here! That's a sad thought in itself, but because I am the last one still around (Nate is here too but not everyone knows him), I feel responsible for telling the stories that come out of Japan to everyone for one more year! I can't rely on Joe's or Lindsay's or Ellie's journals anymore to talk about the things we do together. I'll still always treasure those memories, but it's sorta up to me to make sure that the new ones are there for everyone to read about.

Okay, that's all for now, and I'm sure I will write all about the adventures that come out of Tokushima for one more year! At least I better...!

Ankle Socks

2006-07-18T23:41:57Z

We're in the middle of a discussion this morning at my school. The topic is what to do about ankle socks.

Last year at the general assembly before summer vacation, the school allowed students to choose what type of sock they can wear - regular long white socks or short "ankle socks" - ones that cover your foot but stop at the ankle. Students were supposed to be able to freely choose which type of sock they wore to school.

But!

Ankle socks were quickly adapted as a fashion symbol by the upper class girls. Because each student wears the same uniform, tiny variations to it constitute fashion statements. Therefore, something new and cute such as ankle socks was quickly snapped up by the third grade girls. They decided that second and first grade girls are not allowed to wear them, even if they really want to. Because the sempai/kouhai relationship is so strong in Japanese schools, all the lower class girls obey this rule. So even in the hot summer they have to wear the longer, hotter socks. Once they become third graders themselves, then they will be able to wear the fashionable, shorter socks. What was originally a way to make students' lives more fun at school turned into a new way to put the younger students in their place.

When the second graders went on their school trip last month to Kyuushu, the girls wore ankle socks! Their sempai were not around to bully them, so they could get away with wearing whatever they liked, including the cute socks. When they got back to school, however, it was back to the long ones.

And one more crazy thing is that the boys can wear ankle socks too - and with them nobody cares at all who wears them! First through third graders can all freely choose what sock to wear. To them, socks constitue no fashion choice, so there is no patrolling of what kind the kids wear. No doubt however there is some sort of uniform alteration among boys that the lower classmen are not allowed to wear!

What exactly would happen if a first or second grade girl came to school wearing ankle socks? This is the question I'd like to know. I imagined she'd get a very stern warning from her sempai and be forced to change socks. I don't know if the kids would warn her verbally or physically, but I hope it would just be a verbal warning. And I really hope no abuse of any kind is involved. I'll try to ask another teacher what they think would happen.

Asked the Japanese teacher, and this is what she had to say. There wouldn't likely be any physical punishment to the girls, but the third grade girls would think she was extremely conceited to challenge their authority. They might start spreading rumors about her, spreading bad things about her around the school. This would probably make her life extremely miserable, even if people knew it wasn't true. My teacher says because of that, the first and second graders are too scared to even try to wear them. From a cultural standpoint, it'd be interesting to see what exactly would happen and what kind of rumors would be spread, but that won't happen (and I hope not either - I really like the first and second graders...a lot more than the third graders!). But then by it not happening I guess the system is perpetuated, just like the third graders want.

chopsticks

2006-05-30T06:12:32Z

I've been living here for two years, and I believe I just got my first "jouzu" while using chopsticks! The part time home-ec teacher who sits beside me was here for lunch for the first time. She's quite polite and quiet, though she's still in her early thirties. I saw her watching me eat for a bit, and then she held up her chopsticks and clicked them twice. I thought "oh no, here it comes!", so I held mine up and clicked them twice back at her, trying to disuade her from saying something. But then it came "hashi wa jouzu desu ne." And I said something. It might of just been "oh."

I always felt special that nobody had ever commented on my chopstick usage before. Oh well, once in two years ain't bad!

Hand Strength

2006-04-27T04:00:02Z

Gotta start this back up somewhere. Might as well be about how hand strong I am!

Apparently, I'm not. Somebody brought a strength-of-grip device into the staff room today. The ladies were all getting around 25 (whatever that means!), and then they asked me to do it. I scored around 40. Thinking I was strong, I started to smirk my way back to my desk, when everyone said "wait, there must be something wrong!" Because the mid 40's guy got around 52. So they had me try it again, and I again got 40. And then people were sorta like "uh, what's wrong with you?" So I slunk rather than smirked away.

Sounds like I better do 100 chin ups to increase my grip strength.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-25T23:11:11Z

A merry Merry Christmas to all of you in your respective places in the world! I got a bunch of clothes and books, so I'll be warm and occupied for long times to come.

Sending love to each and every one of you!

I saw doggie kissing Santa Claus...

2005-12-21T00:35:19Z

The Seattle Times has had a wealth of adorable Christmas animal photos recently. Santa pig and cat was my favorite, but this ranked number two...

After all, the more dog pictures on my blog the better!

Everyone loves letters!

2005-12-15T04:27:56Z

Today my second graders wrote letters to their old JTE. Their letters ranged from the very well done...

Dear Ms. Uchida. Thank you for teaching English in our class last year. Your class was very fun. I don't pride English. But, I am working hard. I wish you success your research a class. Thank you for a year, and see you again!

Dear Ms. Uchida. Thank you for coming to our class last week. How many students are there in your school? Mr. Fujimoto gives us a lot of homework. Do you understand me? Did you sleep well at night? Do you believe in ghosts? I want you to study. Thank you very much for your kindness.

...to the very ridiculous.

Dear Ms. Uchida. Thank you for coming to our class last week. How long is that bridge? Jeff became a football player. Which do you like better tea or coffee? Did Ms. Uhida druien into the wall? You'll be sorry. My back tickles!

The last one is followed by a hand with six fingers, the fourth one huge and extended.

Rummy Tum-Tums

2005-12-15T04:04:10Z

I just have to share.

Unfrozen!

2005-12-01T06:52:55Z

*Dusts off the old livejournal*

Yay!

These things are easy to let slip! But I'm promising a comeback!

A quick anecdote - I was sitting at an elementary school today (one of the stuffier ones of the nine), and as usual, the principal nervously asks me to sit down at the table. He sits too and nervously looks around and says some pleasnetries. Another man sits across the room quietly. After about three minutes I notice I haven't been offered tea, which always happens. Then I realize it's because only men are in the room, and they need a woman to arrive so she can serve tea. Finally, the principal gets up, finds one of the female teachers, and has her serve me and him tea. Unreal!

I also did a thank you card lesson with my 3-nen's, where they were to thank somebody that did something special for them. Luckilly, a couple kids chose me! Here's a smattering what I got...

"Dear Mr. Jordan, Thank you for teaching me English when I was studying English. I enjoyed talking many interesting things. For example, I talked baseball talk. It was very intersesting. I like "Chiba Lotte" but I like "Hanshin Tigers" better than "Chiha Lotte"!! I thing that "Hanshin Tigers" is the strongest team in Japan next year!! How about you? Thank you Jordan!!"

Awwww...

One more (I actually only got two, if you don't count Atsushi, who just copied my sample letter word for word)

"Dear Jordan and Mr. Fujimoto, Thank you for teaching me English! So I like English very much. Your class is very good. I learned many things in your class. Your speak English is very good and well. So You shoud proud of your English. Thank you for teaching! Jordan and Mr. Fujimoto"

Which was followed by a picture of my and Mr. Fujimoto's faces. My eyes are closed like you see in manga a lot, but I look like I'm 50 years old.

In other news, I'll be going home on the 22nd and back on the 30th. Saori's got her coming of age ceremony (the one for new 20 year olds...though she's been 20 for three months) soon after I get back.

Happy to hear from everyone! Especially Miss Poole, who is my MIA partner! But if she posts, then I can't get away with not posting! Hehehehehe.

The (non) haps

2005-09-29T01:52:22Z

I haven't posted in a really long time. Wanted to say that cancelled class days are long, Lost in Translation is a good movie, and Giant Squids are awesome.

Sharply Dressed People

2005-09-15T05:56:24Z

In an entire pack of peanut M&Ms you get here in Japan there are only 5 M&Ms. And one of them is pink.

Here are the wedding pictures!

This was the order we lined up in the wedding and later during the dinner and cake. Notice how I got all the ladies on my side. Jessica and Tim are getting married. Jen is standing next to me.

Now, everyone actually brought shades to the wedding...except me. I had to run and borrow them from somebody, Jessica's dad I believe. That flask though is the real thing, my present from the couple.

The dancing afterwards was pretty intense. There were all ages involved, from little ten year olds, to improperly dressed 15 year olds, to twenty-something ex-college students, to parents and grandparents. And lots and lots of wine.

Cheering Red Madness

2005-09-14T00:54:35Z

Ow. My throat feels scabby. I hope I don't try to spit out my entire throat like I tried to during Christmas Carols last year. That was nuts, but it was worth the pain.

Last Monday was a one-day-rain-postponed Sports Festival Day, an event filled with fun and goofiness. The students really get to let loose and go all out in preparing for the day. Only in Japan will you see kids seriously practicing the three legged race over and over again for weeks. Or the mukade hustle, where ten kids all have their legs tied together in a long line like a centipede, and they all have to run together at the same pace. If one falls, they all fall. They're ridiculous and fun to watch, and the kids really enjoy them, but all the same they seriously practice them with much time and energy. I helped supervise the first grade's Minna De Jampu! game where a line of kids have to all jump one big rope at the same time.

I was on the red team, called the Red Stars. Each of the four teams puts on a little performance for the big-shots of the town, like the town office people. Usually the performances are good, like this year when the yellow team danced to Matsuken Samba and dressed their leader up in a yellow-gold samurai suit. The blue team did a kumitaiso, where they form a human pyramid. Dunno why, but the red team didn't bother to try hard this year, only forming a star and saying "we are the champions!" They took last in that event. And sadly, though I cheered my heart out for these red boys and girls, we lost. But the funny thing was that we were in third place most of the time, out by 65-75 points. We ended in last place, but only behind by 45 points! The leaders (blue) took a huge dive at the very end, getting last place in the last three events, but it was just enough to scrape by with a ten point win over yellow. And green overtook us on the last event, beating red by ten, putting us in last place but not far behind. I got to wave a flag during the tug-of-war, throw some balls into a tall basket, and run in a teacher relay where we were horribly slower than the students.

I just got pictures of the wedding, so I'll post them soon!

Mmmmmmmmm...

2005-08-29T07:24:05Z

My school decided to that they need a brand new honkin' laptop to do their daily e-mail checking, so they gave me the old computer! Now I have it all to myself on my desk! Oh boy!

The school yard is in shambles. Somebody decided making a giant hole and piling up the dirt was a good idea.

Also, this, by the way, is a picture of Heaven.

Sugar and Whiskey Rays

2005-08-29T02:11:41Z

Man it's hot. First day back at work here in Yamashiro. Speech contest: off the ground! Now I need to make good on my promises and help clean up this speech.

So there I was, red tie, white shirt, tan slacks, looking like a superstar. Or at least like a VIP. If you've never had a chance to be a VIP, I suggest you do so. It's fun. Not only did I get to walk down the aisle with my college friend Jen, but I got to stand in the wedding, be looked at (and while sharply dressed as well) by everyone, and stand with Jessica and Tim as they got married. That's not all -- got to sit at the head table, eat dinner first, and share the big cake. And I was announced. Announced! Like all the nobles in Anna Karenina - "Jordan is now making his way to the table everybody."

The ceremony itself was really short, only 20 minutes or so. The music selection was all over the place, from classical to sugar ray. After the ceremony the party started, with food, lots of dancing, and lots more drinking than I could have imagined. Wine, beer, champagne, and the secret whiskey flask, all there ready for consumption. It was consumed, but not in a overdose get sick sort of way (my apologies to those who got sick, I was almost right there with you!) I was probably at about the same level as the Sayonara Party. I believe at one point I mixed beer with whiskey for reasons unknown. There was also pulling random older women from their seats to dance, just because I could (wearing that red tie and all), plus I think Alina said she'd give me five bucks if I did. Two more crazy people Cyrus and Breanna came by, both of whom I hadn't seen in three years, but both of whom I lived with in Freshman year. That brought the total number of us who lived together to eight! Weird how that happens, like we can't ever get away from each other. And I'm living in Japan to boot!

Haven't danced that hard in a long time. Even Jen did, and she never used to dance. And somehow more bottles of wine found their way to the dance floor (the whole thing was outdoors, by the way), so there was much bottle sharing while dancing. Miraculously, I didn't spill a single drop of food or alcohol on my shirt! Must've been the tie protecting it. This was compared to sitting down with an in-n-out burger a couple days before and becoming filthy within the first five minutes. All in all, a good time and good memory. Now, back to that speech!

3 Bridesmaids and 1 Bridesman

2005-08-24T07:28:39Z

Last week I happened to find myself in a wedding between good college friends. Leaving on Wednesday and returning on Sunday, the week had a little of everything in it, most of it good and some of it great. An example of great: In-N-Out Burgers. Oh man. I took a picture of the heaven that is these cheeseburgers. Double Double Animal Style Combo Meal. Yes, extra sauce please. Two of them.

For the first two nights I stayed at the future bride and groom's apartment, otherwise known as Tim and Jessica's place. Jen was there too, and Matt swung by on Thursday night. So there you have it, four of my best friends from college, all in one place! Throw in a little hyperactive dog and a clandestine cat who remembered me from a year ago and you have the makings of a good trip. Thursday was mainly a movie day until the evening, when Tim had some friends over and we played poker, FOR REAL MONEY! 500 yen it'd be in evetyone's terms. I placed second, starting off weak but picking up big steam in the middle and coming down to a final showdown with Tim. I held A9 while he had QJ, and he came up victorious on a pair of Jacks. But that's okay, I tried my best. And kept my money too. Then there was much wading, swimming, and carousing over barbecues and pools and jacuzzis outside. Except they didn't swim or wade in the barbecue...just caroused over it.

Pretty much the entire weekend was caroused. Friday meant moving the operation into a hotel. We reserved the suite, which was a big room with a bed, fold out cot, couch, and kitchen/bar. It was a good thing it was big, because we hadn't any idea how many people were gonna stay the night in it. The girls (4) had an adjacent room, which made the place even bigger. We did the wedding rehearsal and then ate dinner where Jessica works, taking bets on when the food from the 8:00 reservation would actually come (I came in second with a guess of 9:30...9:42 in actuality) We had rented out half of the restaurant, and our party had probably 40 people. Or more. Including a guy with viral meningitis, as he found out in the hospital the next morning. I, as usual, found myself with the girls a lot more than with the other guys. You see, Tim's a great guy, but he was also in a fraternity, and most of the other males at the restaurant were loud frat brothers, with whom I can't really relate. Man. With these guys, if one person says something, they all have to repeat it. And because they all lived together for a number of years, they have a million inside jokes that they repeat again and again. Now, they're not bad people in the slightest, just not my type of crowd. So I stuck close to the girls like I did in college, and it suited me nicely. Got to talk to and get to know Alina, Jess's high school friend. Noticed that six of us in the room all lived together in the freshman honor's dorm back at UOP, including me and Tim and Jessica. Weird how that hall made us stick together. So it was Alina, Sarah, Jen, and me, which turns out was also our formation in the bride's party. As I was closer to Jess than to Tim, Jessica wanted me to be in her wedding...but on her side. So I was to stand with the bridesmaids as a bridesman, while the rest of the guys were groomsmen on Tim's side. But since Jessica was the one getting married, I happily agreed. After all, she had assured me I wouldn't be wearing a dress, and instead wear what all the other guys were wearing, so it was fine.

Also we got our presents...and I got a new flask with my name on it, filled with whiskey. Oh boy! It was much needed the next day during the proceedings...

But I'll leave the wedding for next time. So currently in the story, I'm trying to fall asleep after another night of drinking and card playing, listening to the jokes of nine frat guys, the drunkest of which is yelling at full volume next to my ear. I almost succeeded too, until somebody farted, which made the room explode with noise again...