Jeff, With a Side of Beans: 2006-11-12

Friday, November 17, 2006

I'm back in bloody middle school!

K, I have decided that I am living in junior high again, and I really have no desire to do so, as it wasn’t even fun the first time! I used to think that my kids were retarded (I mean that in the best way possible!) kids who didn’t really notice anything. However, I have come to realize that they are like queeny gay men, observing one’s characteristics and (most importantly) personal flaws, just in case they are needed for a cat fight in the future! Today my special needs kids were doing impressions of various teachers and they were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good at it (and fucking hilarious), it was ridiculous!!! They totally notice the….how do you say komakai tokoro? Like, details. It is really crazy!

Anyway, you can totally notice the kids judging you when you walk by them or when you are teaching. Not necessarily because they are bitches (tho some of them are), but because they are teenagers and that is what they do! It’s especially sad, as I realized that I worrat they think. They totally know that I have like three pairs of work pants that I rotate on a regular basis. They also affect what I wear! I don’t want to wear something too often or they will be like, "Oh, you’re wearing THAT shirt again!" Hahaha. Not that they would say it (probably), but you know they are thinking it!

So yeah, sad, I am totally a 13 year-old again. Bah!

So for my 2nensei class I am having them do a dialogue in which one person is going to Tokyo and doesn’t know where to go, and the other (who goes to Tokyo all the time) is suggesting good places to go. It has a basic set thingy and the kids insert certain words and places themselves (which I am italicizing here). Today two of my best students had funny ones that I had to share. Plus it is in good English!!!

A: You look very tired.

B: Yes. I am going to Tokyo on Friday! I want to go sightseeing, but I don’t know much about Tokyo.

A: Oh, really? I love Tokyo! I go there every week with my
girlfriends.

B: Really? Will you please tell me good places to go sightseeing?

A: Why don’t you go to Kabukicho? It is very fun. You can meet many kids of women there.

B: That sounds great! Thank you!

A: Have fun in Tokyo!

K, that is only fun if you know about Kabuki-cho, but it is funny, dammit ;)

And one other:

A: You look very angry.

B: Yes. I am going to Tokyo on Friday! I want to go sightseeing, but I don't know much about Tokyo.

A: Oh, really? I love Tokyo! I go there every day with my
three thousand dogs.

B: Really? Will you please tell me good places to go sightseeing?

A: Why don’t you give up going to Tokyo? It is very dangerous. You can not do anything there.

B: That sounds great! Thank you!

A: Have fun in Tokyo! (and he wrote in (?) here, hehe)

K, so maybe these don’t seem funny to anyone but me, but you have to be an ALT here to understand! They actually thought outside of the box!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Takasaki AEON!

On Saturday Cindy and I went a pretty-much-ridiculous distance to check out the new Takasaki AEON. It is either the biggest AEON in western Japan or all of Japan, I am not sure which...either way it is damn big, yo! It is three floors and has tons of stores and food and shit! It was really crowded but it is big so it wasn't overwhelming. Of course Cindy and I mainly got excited over the food places that they don't have at our AEON. Apparently the other people were equally excited, as there were HUGE lines for all of the dessert places! It looked like fucking Tokyo Disneyland (where more people wait for food than for rides)! Anyway, here are a few keitai pics from the trip:

They had a VERY dorky exhibit of replicas of costumes from a Power Rangers-ish show (I forget what it is called). There were tons of costumes, tho! Needless to say, a buncha little boys (and scary otaku) were very excited about it.

The MOST exciting news of the month...Starbucks has SEASONAL DRINKS this year!!!!! That's right, I finally finally finally get to have a damn gingerbread latte, my favorite drink EVER. And they have toffeenut lattes (woot!) and chocolate mint mochas. Um, you had better believe I am going to Starbucks as many times as possible in the next two months! It IS Christmas!