Cindy is quicker than me at blogging!

So, the big news of the week (well, other than going home) is that Cindy and I got new keitais! Yeeeeea! I was bored as shit with my keitai and wanted a new one, plus all of the new JETs have shiny new phones and I was jealous! We got the same keitai as like every new JET, but I'll ignore that and pretend that we're both very original!

Anyway, Cindy is a big nerd with lots of free time (unlike me!) and blogged exactly what I was going to say, so go here and read it! NOW!

(oh, mine is a black version of her keitai)

Yet another bored staffroom observation

Japan is the home of CHEAP-AS eye glasses that are also really cool and hip. They are soooo much better than glasses in the States. Therefore it is even more surprising to see some of my teacher's choices of reading glasses. My tea lady has the CRAZIEST glasses I have ever seen. They are bright yellow plastic frames that seriously look like toy glasses you would get in a Happy Meal or something. I thought they were fake the first time I saw them, but I realized she doesn't really have that kind of sense of humor, plus she has used them since then. I want to take a sneaky picture!

I have one teacher who is a total man's man....he drinks beer and smokes like a chimney every day, and like refuses to eat vegetables and fruit? Whatever. Anyway, right now he is wearing glasses that seriously look like ones my grandma would wear! They are huge pink-ish/orange-ish frames that really CAN'T be men's glasses. WTF!

Dude, ALTs should start a makeover show for our teachers! That would be awesome! Away with these ugly glasses!

I can't think of a good title for this entry!

So last week was orientation for the new JETs, which is 3 days of info about contracts, team-teaching, housing, living in Japan, etc. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was one of the JETs taking notes on how to clean my apartment using weird Japanese cleaning supplies, or worrying about what my classes would be like. However, watching the presentations, it amazed me how much I have learned in the last year! It was funny to see the presentations for a second time, because I can't imagine NOT knowing the stuff that I have learned in the last year. Like, "Duh, of course we need dry pets in our apartment to suck up the humidity so the apartment doesn't mold!" or "Of course you have to be at work before the morning meeting, why would you ever think otherwise?!", etc etc. It was really weird to think about how much I just consider basic knowledge, when it really isn't when you think about it. It's cool, and makes me appreciate the opportunities that JET provides even more! <--man, does it sound like I am in a job interview or what?! But seriously, it does!

At the same time, it is weird to think of all of the pop culture stuff that I have missed in the last year! At karaoke, the new JETs were singing songs I had NEVER heard of but artists I had never heard of! Sad! It is weird to think that the world has been going on without me. Last year, Cindy and I couldn't believe that the 2nd year JETs didn't know Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" at karaoke, and now we are those clueless 2nd years!

I was also looking at movie listings for when I go home, as I want to catch up on independent movies that will never come here...and I didn't know like 2/3 of the movies that are showing!

I dunno, it is just weird to think about. I know I am gonna have some INTENSE reverse culture-shock when I get there, as Americans are rude-ass bitches, especially in stores and stuff. A couple times lately at my local Coop, the workers didn't immediately shriek "IRASSHAIMASEEEEEEE!" (welcome) when I came in and I was like, what the fuck is wrong with you bitches?! Man, I am in for a rude awakening!

8 years ago today....

I saw Rent for the first time!!!! Awwwwwwwwww, memories. I haven't seen it in over a year, but YAY for November! Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeent!

Dance, 1nensei, Dance!

Japanese “summer vacations” are the biggest joke of a vacation ever, as the kids still go to school and study just as much! The school year doesn’t end until March, so the kids have homework to do during their holidays, AND they have to come into school a few times in August for no apparent reason. I feel so bad for them! On top of that, the kids are doing bukatsu at school every day, and everyone goes to juku (cram school) even more than usual, especially 3nensei. Poor bastards!

Anyway, today I was doing my daily “Jeff is bored, let’s wander around the school grounds” walk when I heard lots of noise coming from the gym. I walked over there and found ALL of the 1nensei learning how to dance! Ahahahahaha, it was an amusing sight. Imagine tons of 1nensei boys and girls being forced to dance with each other, with painful grimaces on their faces while doing some sort of hybrid square dance type of thing. Hee hee! Sooooooooooooo amusing. They are going on a 3-day field trip in September to Mt. Akagi, and apparently they have to dance there? I’m not sure why, exactly, but I wish I could go just to see that! Hee hee.

Orientization

Wednesday was the first day of the new Gunma JET Orientation in Maebashi. Sadly, Cindy, Ann and I are losers and had been looking forward to it all summer! We have no lives. It was three days of intense orientation-izing, of which I skipped a lot of, muahahaha. It was sooooooooooo nice to be away from boring-as school, and it was nice to get to know some of the new JETs! I was a volunteer, which meant that I had one or two things to do all day, then just fuck around for the rest of the time! Yes, VERY stressful!

Wednesday after orientation, we had the big karaoke night, which was lots of sweaty fun. Holy shit, it was soooooooooooooooo hot in there, I had to take my shirt off at the end just to NOT die (I got judgmental stares from some guys, but fuck you, I was about to die it was so hot! I wasn’t trying to show off my incredibly muscular body, bitches!). Anyhoo, after that Ann, Cindy and I went to our favorite place in the world, the lobby of the hotel! We pretty much spent the whole orientation there so that we could spy on people. Hahahaha. Well, that wasn’t necessarily the purpose of sitting there, but it was a nice bonus! I got way drunk at karaoke, so it was fun night :)

Thursday everyone was tired and hungover, which was maybe not the best idea for orientation (karaoke is usually on Thursday), but oh well. That night we took some of the new JETs to the Indian restaurant to get some yummyyyyyyyyyy chocolate naan, which kicked ass! Mmmm! Plus, yay to hanging out with newbies!

Friday was the fun cultural day that GAJET organized. We all got to see a taiko drum performance, which was muy cool. And yeah! I dunno. Other shit happened, but I can’t remember anymore. It was fun times! I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better….too bad the “Welcome to Gunma” beer garden is the day I leave for the States, hrmph.