Yabuchuu Rocks

I woke up really tired and wasn’t really in the mood to go to school, but it has turned out to be one of the best days I have had at school! All of my students worked their asses off in class today and were really well-behaved. The students were friendly in the hallways (tho they always are), AND I just came back from my last class to find a home-made sweet potato on my desk with a letter from one of my special needs kids that says (in Japanese):

Dear Jeff-Sensei,
Thank you for always teaching me English. I made sweet potatoes, so please eat one.
7kumi (class number) Onai Akihiro

Awww, so sweet! AND pictures of flags that I taught the class were drawn on the letter, too! I love Yabuchuu today!

Easy Day

Today I am at Yabushou (Yabuzuka Shougakkou) and it is officially the easiest shougakkou day EVER. So, every ALT in Ota who teaches at shougakkou is in charge of making a culture board reflecting their home country or state's culture. Basically a big piece of cardboard with pictures and stuff on them. You're supposed to do them with your students, and they will all be displayed somewhere in Ota. So, during the next three shougakkou visits I am going to be working on the culture board. I use the term "working" loosely, as I dont have to do ANYTHING for the board and it is wonderful. A culture board lesson consists of me telling the kids what we're doing, passing out some pictures of Oregon, and walking around and saying "good job" about 7 million times (didn't think my "good job!" quota could possibly increase, but I was proven wrong today). It's like I have my own Oregon memorabilia-producing sweat shop! I dont even need a vitamin drink for this! I wish every week was culture board week!

At first I had no idea what to use to represent Oregon....pictures of microbreweries and marijuana, perhaps? So I just printed out pics of nature and sports things and shit. The kids are SO good at drawing, it is ridiculous. If I got assigned to do this I would be pissed, but they are all really talented, and the biggest perfectionists ever. They only have a postcard-sized piece of paper and have 45 minutes to draw and color. I thought that would be too much time and was worried about what to do with them for the remainder of the 45 minutes, but it isn't enough? Hell, I would draw a piece of crap in 10 seconds and sit at my desk for the rest of the lesson! Crazy Japanese kids.

So, kids don't officially learn the alphabet 'til chuugakkou, so 6nensei kids have trouble writing using Roman letters (is that what we call it in English?). They also don't know how to spell, as true English class doesn't start 'til chuu, either. This one kid didn't know how to spell "beaver" and he wanted to label his drawing....he was smart and looked at the printed URL at the bottom of the page that ended in "beaver.jpg" However, he didn't know where the word ended...so, on top of his beaver drawing, in big letters, was "BEAVER.JPG" Hee hee hee. I didn't want to be mean about it or ruin his confidence, but the Sensei took care of that for me by laughing at him, hehehe. Poor kid!

I do need to print out more pictures, tho, as I have about 20 maps of Oregon, 30 Donald Ducks (they were amazed that he is our U of O mascot), 30 Mt. Hoods, etc. Um, if any Oregonians have suggestions of what to have them draw, feel free to comment!

I have decided after I am done being an ALT, I want to take the most natural career move and be a vice principal of a shougakkou. The kyoto sensei (VP) here literally has NOTHING to do. He answers the phones, but not many people call shougakkous, apparently. So, his day consists of talking to other bored coworkers in the staffroom, folding bits of paper out of boredom, or, failing that, staring. Seriously, he just stares at his desk for like 30 minutes at a time. Usually the principal is the one who gets to do nothing, but apparently at shougakkou it's both! Sweeto, indeed!

Rather than start a new post, I will post about last night in this one. Last night some of us went to Grow Up in Tatebayashi for dinner. Mmmm, I love me some Grow Up, and we've gots to take advantage of it before it closes! It was good times with good people and good food (did I mention it was good?). On the way back we took the Ryomo line (nice-as, spensive line) back by sneaking on and not paying, muahahaha. It was the best idea ever, as it meant I didn't have to wait at Ota station for an hour for the last train. I have got to remember to do that more often!

RENT RENT RENT REEEEEEEEEEEEENT RENT

Fuck yeah, bitches! So, I was planning on going to Taiwan to see Rent in February (the stage version….but the movie, too), but the plane tickets were expensive, and the tickets to the show were literally like $200. Um, hello, Jeff doesn’t pay more than $20 usually. Anyway, so I decided to scrap that…and today I woke up to the announcement that it’s coming to Tokyo! Fuck yeah! I am not sure when, but I am guessing somewhere between February and April. Anyone in Gunma, you should be aware that I will be dragging you there. If you are currently asking yourself what Rent is, then you have no business reading this blog.

By the way, the show will be in English with an “all-star cast.” Some of that is debatable (the Mark sucks!) but many of them are kick-ass! Plus my cute Angel is in it, aww! I am not so sure how I feel about Karen Mok (Asian celebrity) being Mimi (and also singing the Seasons of Love solo?), but oh well. I could go on about the cast for like 10 more paragraphs, but I will refrain.

Anyway, theatre tix are expensive in Tokyo, too, but at least this way I don’t have to pay for airfare, as well. Plus they will have semi-cheap rush, so YAY. PLUS that means that they are going to be releasing the movie here, despite them not having a release date yet. RENT!

Also, I know I have good friends when I E-Mailed them the following message this morning:

Subject: Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

RENT IS COMING TO TOKYO BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And received the following replies (and more) within no time:

“yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When are the dates? And how much are the tix?”

“Awesome! SO interested in going….”

“HOLLER, when and when do we buy our tickets?”

“Oh my god!!! When??? When??? That's awesome!!!! Screw Taiwan....Tokyo, here we come!!!!! Woohoo!!!!“

Awww, I love me some new and old Rentheads!

Yes, this is the dorkiest post ever, but fuck you, it’s my blog, bitches! Hmm, I am a hostile man.

Thoughts at School

-My 5th period class was cut so that the 3nensei could learn “about man and woman” (my JTE’s way of describing sex ed). I was bored at my desk, so I decided to check out Japanese sex ed and it was SO BORING! How can sex be so boring? They were also all about the Chlamydia for some reason. Hmm. I was hoping for a thrilling and humorous blog post out of that experience, but it was so uneventful that I really have nothing to say about it. Sad day.

-I think it is proof that I have adjusted to this job when I see the word “terchy” and know that it’s supposed to be “teacher” without a second thought. Hmm.

-Only in Japan can an 1nensei boy think he’s a bad-ass troublemakin’ rebel while proudly displaying his Stitch pencil case with keychains of Elmo, Hello Kitty and jewels on top of his desk.

-I laughed out loud when I walked into my 1nensei class today. They had just had art class and there was a video on the teacher’s desk of the hippie artist dude that is always on PBS! The one with all of the hair that paints “happy little trees.” Do you think they translate it as “ureshikute chiisai na ki?” Hmm, perhaps I should investigate this pressing matter.

My Weekuendo and Stuff

Hmm, I hope my coworkers don’t think I’m a big alcoholic. So, I use Purell (hand sanitizer, for you crazy non-germophobe non-Americans) a lot because 1) Japanese community soap is sketchy and 2) kids are gross and full of germs. Anyway, it totally makes me smell like vodka for like five minutes afterwards, so I hope the other teachers don’t think I’m like going to the bathroom to take a swig out of my flask every hour or something. Although they probably do the same thing, hehe. Anyway!

Hmm, I haven’t updated in a while. On Friday night Cindy, Jenny and I had a Country Ma’am dinner in Nitta. We have decided that we’re called the Country Ma’ams ‘cause 1) they are the most amazing cookies in the world and we devour them by the bag-full, 2) we are in the country and 3) we are ma’ams! I think we need to make t-shirts. Anyway, a Country Ma’am dinner consists of too much food, too much gossip, and too much dessert, and Friday most definitely didn’t disappoint! We tried this Italian place by Jenny’s house that was AMAZING. We had this set dinner thing that had a RIDICULOUS amount of food, and there was this amazing pumpkin cream sauce pasta (k, it sounds gross now that I think about it, but it ISN’T, dammit!) that was sooooo good. K, I will refrain from talking about food too much. Lalalala.

Anyway, after that we went back to Jenny’s and chilled and ate about 20 pounds of conbini desserts. Hehe. It was fun, but I felt like shit afterwards, even though I rode my bike for like 40 minutes uphill to get home. No more sugar! (I say this while drinking coffee and eating a Mr. Donuts). Oh, I’m officially Japanese because right now on top of Pringles they have a free saabisu that is a little Pringle guy in various Christmas poses/outfits. I got a reindeer one, and it is KAWAIIIIIIII (cuuuuuuuuuuute). I am sadly going to get all of them and put them on my desk. I don’t want the Pringles, though. Maybe I can just shoplift the saabisu. What is wrong with me? Oh, well, at least it will spice up my boring-as desk.

Anyhoo, on Saturday Jenny, Cindy, Ann, Anna and I went shopping in Takasaki. I love me some Vivre (a department store)! I sadly didn’t buy too much for myself, hrm. I was going to get warm, comfy Muji sheets, but I realized that I’m not sure if my bed is a double or a queen. I may have to change my pick-up line accordingly! I did get a comfy hoody for when I want to be boroboro at home, which is ALL the time.

Oh my God, there was the hottest hapa guy on the train on the way to Takasaki! He totally knew I was talking about him, but I don’t care. Sadly, my girlfriends don’t agree with my taste, hrm. He was hot, dammit! Nevermind that he was a high school student. At least I think he was a 3nensei, that makes it a LITTLE better ;)

Wow, this is rambly. Too much coffee. Anyway, Takasaki was fun. We were craving sushi, so we went to this place with a huge sushi sign above it, only to find an izakaya that barely had any sushi. We thought it was strange that they’d advertise themselves as a sushi place, then only have like three sushi-related items on the menu. As we left, Ann realized that we went to the restaurant NEXT to the sushi place. Hmm, that explains that one. Have I mentioned that we’re really smart?

Saturday night I chilled at home and watched me some Lilo and Stitch. I love me some Stitch!

Sunday I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and it was wonderful. I’ve only had a cold (well, probably various colds) for literally a month now, so I am trying to get rid of the fucker by resting. Meh. I watched the second half of Two Towers Special Edition(I had started it like three weeks ago) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I hadn’t seen it since the theatre….I knew that it was good, but I forgot how good it is. Damn, it’s a good movie! I love Charlie Kaufman. Hmm, I need to buy Adaptation.

This is a really boring entry, I apologize. Today has been a rare good Monday! This morning I kicked ass by planning two grades’ lessons, making the materials, and making photocopies within 30 minutes. Um, clazy! Also, all of the students are really genki today? I dunno why, but I’m not complaining! One more class, then I’m done for the day. Woot!