Drama at Hong Kong Disney.
I E-Mailed this to Cindy (in a rare non-food-related E-Mail), and she commented with:
"Lesson of the day: Don't be messing w/ Chinese peeps and their love for Mickey!!
Hm...actually, this could've happened anywhere and them Chinese ppl still would've jumped the fences. Haha. Imagine if this happened in Tokyo Disney.....all the Japanese ppl would just be like, "Aww, that sucks." Then they'd go home. Hehe. Such a difference in culture."
It's very true! For two countries that many idiots confuse with each other all the time, you really couldn't find two vastly different cultures. They often close the park IMMEDIATELY after opening at Tokyo Disneyland if it is an extremely busy day, and Japanese people don't think twice about it, let alone hop fences.
Hmm, I thought I had deep stuff to say, but I just woke up, so you will just have to ponder more cultural issues on your own :)
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Friday, February 03, 2006
Keshigomu
If my six classes that earned me my AMAZING business minor have taught me anything (they haven’t), they taught me this (not really): invest in Japanese eraser companies! Yes, companies such as Sony and Toyota may be more exciting, but Japanese people seem to go through erasers more than rice and green tea combined.
For those of you who don’t know, Japanese people don’t use the erasers on their pencils. That would just be CRAZY and illogical. Instead, they use separate erasers like the pink ones we have (but never use) in the States. However, Japanese erasers are always white, which makes more sense when you think about it. Anyway! If you tell a Japanese student that something is wrong, it never crosses their mind to cross it out and write it somewhere else. They bust out their handy keshigomu from their kawaii fudebako (cute pencil case) and erase it with all their might. Even if they are changing “drank” to “drink” (which has happened approximately 300 times this week in my 1nensei classes), they will at least erase the “a;” many, however, will erase the entire word to change one letter. WTF? That is too much work, yo.
Also, if it’s a matter of making things attractive, perhaps some work on one’s penmanship would be more useful than constant erasing. With some of the boys’ papers, I’m like, “That ain’t gonna get any better-looking no matter how much you erase, honey, mmmkay?” (10 Jeff Blog points if you read that in the correct sassy voice!)
To add to the complete eraser fever in this country, my 1nensei have recently entered a phase in which they break up their eraser into small bits and throw them across the room at random students. I would say at least 10 students do this in every class, every single period of the day. That’s a lot of fucking erasers, yo. It’s also a lot of Jeff wanting to strangle many Japanese kids every day, but that’s beside the point.
So, yes, my dear readers, call up those stock brokers and make your investment now. Or regret the fact that you just took the time to read an entire blog entry on fucking erasers. Can you tell I am trying to waste the last ten minutes at work on a Friday?
For those of you who don’t know, Japanese people don’t use the erasers on their pencils. That would just be CRAZY and illogical. Instead, they use separate erasers like the pink ones we have (but never use) in the States. However, Japanese erasers are always white, which makes more sense when you think about it. Anyway! If you tell a Japanese student that something is wrong, it never crosses their mind to cross it out and write it somewhere else. They bust out their handy keshigomu from their kawaii fudebako (cute pencil case) and erase it with all their might. Even if they are changing “drank” to “drink” (which has happened approximately 300 times this week in my 1nensei classes), they will at least erase the “a;” many, however, will erase the entire word to change one letter. WTF? That is too much work, yo.
Also, if it’s a matter of making things attractive, perhaps some work on one’s penmanship would be more useful than constant erasing. With some of the boys’ papers, I’m like, “That ain’t gonna get any better-looking no matter how much you erase, honey, mmmkay?” (10 Jeff Blog points if you read that in the correct sassy voice!)
To add to the complete eraser fever in this country, my 1nensei have recently entered a phase in which they break up their eraser into small bits and throw them across the room at random students. I would say at least 10 students do this in every class, every single period of the day. That’s a lot of fucking erasers, yo. It’s also a lot of Jeff wanting to strangle many Japanese kids every day, but that’s beside the point.
So, yes, my dear readers, call up those stock brokers and make your investment now. Or regret the fact that you just took the time to read an entire blog entry on fucking erasers. Can you tell I am trying to waste the last ten minutes at work on a Friday?
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Further proof that Japanese people are muy loco
So, I arrived at school today ready for an easy Thursday, as all of my 3nensei classes are cut this week, and I usually have two on Thursday. However, I found the month’s schedule on my desk, which informed me that today’s (Thursday) schedule will be Friday’s schedule, and Friday’s schedule will be Thursday’s. Um. Okay. WHY?!
Next week I have Friday’s classes on Tuesday and Tuesday’s classes on Friday, then the week after, Thursday and Tuesday switch. Does this make any sense to anyone?! I don’t get it. If they’re going to be done, why can’t they be done on the right day? Am I the only one with a retarded school? Apparently next month is going to be similar…..I’m confoosed!
In the meantime, 7kumi (special needs) is going to have the crappiest class ever today because I didn’t know to bring my materials today, and I am far too lazy to go back and get them. Hmmm. This could be interesting. Or, more likely, extremely boring and awkward! I hope no acapella versions of Genki English songs are in my future…
Next week I have Friday’s classes on Tuesday and Tuesday’s classes on Friday, then the week after, Thursday and Tuesday switch. Does this make any sense to anyone?! I don’t get it. If they’re going to be done, why can’t they be done on the right day? Am I the only one with a retarded school? Apparently next month is going to be similar…..I’m confoosed!
In the meantime, 7kumi (special needs) is going to have the crappiest class ever today because I didn’t know to bring my materials today, and I am far too lazy to go back and get them. Hmmm. This could be interesting. Or, more likely, extremely boring and awkward! I hope no acapella versions of Genki English songs are in my future…
Infuruenza
I went to Minami Shougakkou yesterday, expecting a busy day filled with hyperactive children, only to be surprised by the fact that literally like half the school is sick with the flu. It is so serious that two entire classes were cut from my schedule (I usually teach multiple classes at once), and one entire grade was cut because so many kids had the flu. Seriously every other word said in the staffroom was “infuruenza.” Um, hello, this is not good news for a complete hypochondriac! I pretty much went around school like Rain Man the entire day, not touching anyone, and washing my hands ‘til my skin fell off, but so far I am feeling genki! Let’s knocking on wood!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
6 Months
As my mother pointed out to me this morning, today is the 6-month mark of me being in Japan. Crazy! I’m not sure if it has gone fast or slow. While it seems that I have been here longer than six months, it has also gone really fast at the same time….even though that doesn’t make sense. Hmm.
On an unrelated note, thank god Japan is a safe country. This morning marked the second day in a row when I left my apartment for work, only to find that I forgot to lock the door the day before. Hee hee. Yes, some day I will probably be murdered. Ah, well! Fortunately I didn’t repeat my accidental stepping-on-a-cat-at-my-front-door-with-my-heavy-work-shoes incident of yesterday! And fortunately for my sanity, it didn’t break into my house again this morning! Fucking scary cats!
On another random note, thank god for tatami being the best floor material in the entire world. Since moving here, I have probably spilled approximately 300 gallons of tea on my tatami, and they seem no worse for wear. I have also spilled bits of food, some miso soup, and god knows what else on there. This morning I topped that all by spilling a half a bowl of cereal (with milk, of course) on the damn tatami. Hmmm. Hopefully it doesn’t smell like rotten milk when I get home! Eww. Damn clumsy Jeff.
On an unrelated note, thank god Japan is a safe country. This morning marked the second day in a row when I left my apartment for work, only to find that I forgot to lock the door the day before. Hee hee. Yes, some day I will probably be murdered. Ah, well! Fortunately I didn’t repeat my accidental stepping-on-a-cat-at-my-front-door-with-my-heavy-work-shoes incident of yesterday! And fortunately for my sanity, it didn’t break into my house again this morning! Fucking scary cats!
On another random note, thank god for tatami being the best floor material in the entire world. Since moving here, I have probably spilled approximately 300 gallons of tea on my tatami, and they seem no worse for wear. I have also spilled bits of food, some miso soup, and god knows what else on there. This morning I topped that all by spilling a half a bowl of cereal (with milk, of course) on the damn tatami. Hmmm. Hopefully it doesn’t smell like rotten milk when I get home! Eww. Damn clumsy Jeff.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Nanananana Weekend! Nanananana Weekend! Weekend! Weekend! Weekend!
So, this subject is far more exciting than my weekend was! Hehe. Once again, I had a laidback weekend. ‘Cause, ya know, after sitting on my ass every night after work and watching countless hours of TV, I really needed to relax for two days straight and watch some more TV.
Friday night I met up with a buncha people in Takasaki to celebrate Teresa’s birthday. Happy birthday, Teresa!!! The ride there was, er, fun. Yes….”fun”…..So, because I am on the inaka train line, it’s sort of easier to ride my bike to Iwajuku then to head to Ota, then head to Isesaki, then go to Takasaki. The ride to Iwajuku sucks as it is uphill, but on Friday the (actually Thursday-Saturday) the damn Siberia/Gunma winds were fucking CRAZY! It is really ridiculous how much wind can affect the speed of biking. Anyway, after fighting against the winds and making up all kinds of new curse words, I got on the train and met up with Cindy, Sean and Jenny at the eki. We then thankfully got a ride to the restaurant. It was a good night! It was nice to see everyone, although I should have gotten up and talked to people at other tables. Too lazy. Before catching our train, Cindy, Jenny and I made the awful mistake of trying a choconuts man from Lawson…UGH! I thought it would be good like a Ministop chocoman (MMMM), but instead, it was fucking NASTY. Or “mingy,” as Jenny expertly described it. It was brown on the outside, but for some reason it was kind of pale? It did NOT look good. And it didn’t taste good! Of course this didn’t stop me from eating nearly the entire thing. Ugh, definitely regret that. Note to self: stick to Ministop!
On Saturday Shinders came over for a TV party. We watched the first two chapters of the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series, followed by Margaret Cho. Yes, those two go perfectly well together ;) Pride and Prejudice is good, but they all look really old? Also, Jane looks like a tranny. Then Nacchan picked us up and we met up with Sean and Jenny for Indian food at Moti in Ota. It was damn good, but damn filling! Stupid non-Japanese food is too filling! Mmm, but it was yummy.
Sunday consisted of doing nothing whatsoever. I talked to my parents, and also talked to Eduardo for about three hours, yay! Also watched me some Alias and Batman Begins. Batman Begins rocks, but I am still confused why the hell Katie Holmes is in it. Meh, she is annoying.
This morning was a typical Monday, as I woke up yelling at my alarm, wondering why it would want to wake me up at such an awful hour. BUT it is going to be a good week! Nazekatoiuto, ALL OF MY 3NENSEI CLASSES ARE KATTO (that is Japanese for cut! Hee hee). Woooooot! Yes, I love my 3nensei kids, but I love free time even more! Ms. Ito kept apologizing and feeling bad that I wouldn’t have any of her classes this week and I was like “um, it’s okay. I swear!” Hehehe. So, woot for some extra free time, yo. AND woot for it being sunny!!! Yesterday it was 9 degrees and I was acting like it was the freaking summer, it felt so warm. Let’s keeping it warm, eh?
Friday night I met up with a buncha people in Takasaki to celebrate Teresa’s birthday. Happy birthday, Teresa!!! The ride there was, er, fun. Yes….”fun”…..So, because I am on the inaka train line, it’s sort of easier to ride my bike to Iwajuku then to head to Ota, then head to Isesaki, then go to Takasaki. The ride to Iwajuku sucks as it is uphill, but on Friday the (actually Thursday-Saturday) the damn Siberia/Gunma winds were fucking CRAZY! It is really ridiculous how much wind can affect the speed of biking. Anyway, after fighting against the winds and making up all kinds of new curse words, I got on the train and met up with Cindy, Sean and Jenny at the eki. We then thankfully got a ride to the restaurant. It was a good night! It was nice to see everyone, although I should have gotten up and talked to people at other tables. Too lazy. Before catching our train, Cindy, Jenny and I made the awful mistake of trying a choconuts man from Lawson…UGH! I thought it would be good like a Ministop chocoman (MMMM), but instead, it was fucking NASTY. Or “mingy,” as Jenny expertly described it. It was brown on the outside, but for some reason it was kind of pale? It did NOT look good. And it didn’t taste good! Of course this didn’t stop me from eating nearly the entire thing. Ugh, definitely regret that. Note to self: stick to Ministop!
On Saturday Shinders came over for a TV party. We watched the first two chapters of the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series, followed by Margaret Cho. Yes, those two go perfectly well together ;) Pride and Prejudice is good, but they all look really old? Also, Jane looks like a tranny. Then Nacchan picked us up and we met up with Sean and Jenny for Indian food at Moti in Ota. It was damn good, but damn filling! Stupid non-Japanese food is too filling! Mmm, but it was yummy.
Sunday consisted of doing nothing whatsoever. I talked to my parents, and also talked to Eduardo for about three hours, yay! Also watched me some Alias and Batman Begins. Batman Begins rocks, but I am still confused why the hell Katie Holmes is in it. Meh, she is annoying.
This morning was a typical Monday, as I woke up yelling at my alarm, wondering why it would want to wake me up at such an awful hour. BUT it is going to be a good week! Nazekatoiuto, ALL OF MY 3NENSEI CLASSES ARE KATTO (that is Japanese for cut! Hee hee). Woooooot! Yes, I love my 3nensei kids, but I love free time even more! Ms. Ito kept apologizing and feeling bad that I wouldn’t have any of her classes this week and I was like “um, it’s okay. I swear!” Hehehe. So, woot for some extra free time, yo. AND woot for it being sunny!!! Yesterday it was 9 degrees and I was acting like it was the freaking summer, it felt so warm. Let’s keeping it warm, eh?
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