Korea some more hamnida!

On Monday morning Cindy and I got up earlier than the others, so we decided to get yummy Korean donuts and try Korean Starbucks. Little did we know that Korean Starbucks is for freaking MILLIONAIRES! I got a grande frappuccino (I don’t know why, I so didn’t need grande, but oh well) and it was $6.50!!! That is crazy! However, it was worth it, as they have white chocolate mocha frappuccinos (I don’t know if they have those in the States now, but they don’t have them in Japan) and it was sooooooooooooooooooo good. But still, that is way too much money! A tumbler there was $40! Um, okay?!

After getting ripped off by corporate America, all of us went to a palace in Seoul that was purty, tho like every temple-type area in Japan/Korea/Asia. Hehe. It was nice to do some obligatory touristy stuff, though. For lunch we found out there was a Chili’s in Seoul, and us being the sad American-food-depraved JETs that we are decided to be losers and go there. IT WAS GOOD! Mmmm, chips and salsa! And I got quesadillas and a huge margarita. MMMMM! Good stuff!

After lunch we did some shopping, then in the evening Sean, Tim, Cindy and I went to Seoul Tower, where we could see a smoggy view of the city, as well as a pretty sunset. Cindy and I only wanted to go there because it was on our favorite Korean drama! Actually everything we did in Korea was based on our Korean drama, hahahaha. Oh, on the way down from the tower I gathered some apparent stalkers! I was standing with the others, waiting for the cable car, when I realized this Korean girl was standing next to me and her friend was “sneakily” taking our picture?! I was like, um, okay…..then they continued to do it with like their five other friends, one-by-one! They were the least sneaky people EVER! Finally I ended up posing with them because I couldn’t ignore them. What can I say, I am incredibly sexy in Korea ;)

After that we went to a university area that was VERY cool and fun! I wish we would have found it sooner in the trip! We tried Haagen Dazs’ AMAZING ice cream fondue, which I must say was life-altering. You will have to see the pics later! MMMMM. Then we got a HUGE dinner and wanted to die. After that we got some beers and watched some more World Cup before going back to the hotel.

On Tuesday we had to get up far too early to go to the airport, then we nearly died on the flight back to Japan. Well, not really, but Sean and I were NOT amused with the horrible amount of turbulence throughout the flight. Let’s just say I was thinking of who would be most nutritious were we to land on a deserted island!

After finally landing safely, we made our way back to Gunma, which always takes far too long.

And yeah, that was the trip! It was very fun, and I spent less money than I expected, so that was good! The bad thing is I gained SO MUCH WEIGHT in three days, I didn’t even know it was possible! I am on a detox diet right now as I feel nasty nasty nasty! Bah! But yes, it was fun :)

P.S. Rain is fucking HOT.

Korea!

K, I was going to do a highlights of Korea thing, but decided my parents would want more details than that, so I wrote a long-ass description of the trip. I will break it in two, but it is long, so don’t read it if you don’t want to. I don’t think I would want to! Hehe.

So, Saturday morning I woke up wayyyyy too early (for a Saturday) and caught the train to Narita. About halfway there I met up with Cindy, Tim and Sean, then we met up with Ann and Emily on another train. We got there, checked in with the tour place, then had some lunch before heading off to Seoul! Unfortunately, the damn plane didn’t move until an HOUR after our scheduled departure! BAH! Not amusing. We got to the airport at about 4:30, then met up with our small tour group that took us into the city. It is funny because I listened to more Japanese in Korea than I do in Japan! Hahaha. The tour was meant for Japanese people (I booked it through a Japanese site because it was the cheapest), so the lady talked non-stop for an hour in the bus. Eventually we got to the hotel, which was better than I expected for the price we were paying! It had its ghetto moments, but it was good for the most part. It was also in a great area, as it was very central, so we could get anywhere really easily!

That night we went out for yakiniku (Korean barbecue) and it was very yummy!!! We ate WAY too much, which was the theme of the trip, sadly. After that we were complete losers and went to see X-Men 3, as it doesn’t come out until September in Japan, and I couldn’t wait that long! But it turns out I could have waited longer than that, because the movie SUCKED! It was soooooooooooooo bad! Not cool at all! Hrm.

After that, Cindy and I wandered around Seoul for an hour to burn off some of the dinner, then we slept!

Everyone but Cindy and I were very motivated and got up early for a tour of the North Korean border in the morning, but Cindy and I were too lazy and cheap to do so, so we slept in a bit, then went to a big market. We ended up buying Korean jerseys to cheer on the soccer team in the World Cup, as Koreans are BEYOND CRAZY cheerleaders. The whole country was red for the game, it was crazy! They sold stuff EVERYWHERE, and everyone was covered in jerseys, flags, etc. I can’t even describe it!

After that we got a GOOD (but huge) lunch, then shopped in a more western area, where we both bought a pair of shoes. I bought these cool green and yellow funky Pumas (U of O colors!) that I had been eyeing for like six months….it’s a much easier decision to buy something when on vacation ;) We also bought a DVD set of Rain (a Korean popstar) in concert…..HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. Rain is SO FUCKING HOT. He is seriously SEX. ROWR! Sigh.

After that, we met up with the others and went out to dinner part one, hehe. We wanted to watch the Japan vs. Croatia World Cup game that night, so we decided to have a “small” dinner in the evening, and then another “small” dinner late at night while watching the game. Well, of course both meals ended up being huge feasts! Hrm. We got REALLY good street vendor food in the evening, then wandered around Seoul for a while before going to another yakiniku place for some beers, TOO MUCH FREAKING FOOD, and the game. It was fun, tho. We were very vocal, and the people kept laughing at us while we yelled at the TV, hehe. Stupid Japan should have won!

To be continued...

New Guilty Pleasure

I have found a new guilty pleasure website....Dlisted. Thanks to it, I have found this awful, awful, awful, terrifying pic of white trash Britney (you really need to click on it and see the large version to believe it). WTF!

Dude, I am SO into sports

I am watching the big Japan vs. Australia game of the World Cup tonight, if only so that I can talk to everyone about it tomorrow at work. Cindy and I are watching for the same reasons....a mix of boredom, and (more importantly) to look for hot guys! Things that go through Jeff's head during soccer, as E-Mailed to Cindy earlier:

Dude, why is the Japanese national anthem SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boring and anti-climactic?! Hello, have some exciting ending, please! Bah, it figgers. It also sounds like Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote it.....while asleep.

Ooo, a Japanese guy just had his ass in the air.

Nakata is hot at times....he seems like a TOTAL bitch, tho.

There is another hot player on the Japan team, hmm! Must research later.

I don't like how they keep taking kids out with them at the beginning. it is creepy. Why are kids there?!

The Australian team is not attractive, except for one guy who is okay. Sad!

Ooo, they are huddling. Asses!

What time does school start?

My 3nensei are doing a writing assignment in which they introduce their school (talking about club activities, what subjects they study, etc.). One of the (I thought) easiest questions is “What time does your school begin and end every day?” However, it is sad because NO ONE knows the answer! Everyone has a different time written down! It officially starts at 8:30, as that is when they have their morning meeting, followed by cleaning. However, the first class starts at 9:00, so some people put that. On the other hand, a lot of kids have to be at school FAR too early for club activities (who wants to play baseball at 7 in the morning?!).

Even I don’t know what time school ends! The last class ends at 3:40, but then they have the afternoon meeting that can last a little while, then they have club activities again until 6:30 (after which many kids go to juku (cram school) to study even more….poor kids). So, not only does everyone have a different answer to the question, but some people have sentences like “School begins at 7:00 and ends at 6:30.” Um, that is not natural! Flee, kids, FLEE!

One year ago I became an “adult”….

One year ago I graduated from college! Hmm, weird. It does feel like a year, I think, since I am like a bazillion miles away and have been “working” and stuff. But…I dunno, it’s weird! The wonder of the JET Program is that you feel like you are still in college, but with more money and travel opportunities! Remembering that I graduated reminds me that I have to enter the dreaded real world in the not-too-distant future….hmm, fuck that! Maybe I’ll become a life-long ALT! Hahahahaha. Gross.

Rento!

Thanks to Cindy actually watching Japanese TV (unlike me), I found out yesterday that Rent is coming here in November! Wooooooooooooooooooot! However, I also found out that because of the movie (I assume), people actually know what Rent is now, and tickets are selling like hotcakes (which is strange, since the movie was in like 20 theatres in the whole country)! Not cool! So, after not being able to sleep from excitement (God, I'm such a loser), I woke up early and went to Family Mart today and bought tickets! Woot de woot woot! I am seeing it twice, 'cause I need a double-dose of crack! I'm going on 11/23 by myself (sniff) and then I'm taking Cindy and Ann (Rent virgins!) on the 25th. Yayyyyyyyyyyy! I don't care if it is fake Rent, I need my crack fix, dammit! Woot woot woot!

Apparenly I'm a cokehead and don't know it!

So, Holly ran into a not-friend from high school (hehe) at Starbucks a while ago and ended up having a what-I-bet was an awkward "catching up" conversation. The girl she was talking to was heading to the Peace Corps, to which Holly replied, wow, Jeff is teaching in Japan. And then the girl mentions my apparent DRUG PROBLEM?! Someone had told her group of friends that I am addicted to coke! Hahahahahahaha. WTF! I don't even drink coke the drink, let alone do coke the drug!

Hahaha, that is soooooooooo fucked up. Hmm, I wonder how many people know of this rumor! Very intriguing. But yeah, it's totally fucked-up and.....oh, shit, I forgot, there's a hooker laying in my bed with coke lines waiting for me on her naked body. Fuck! I'll finish this post later! SNIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFF!

Mou Hajimattazo

Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it is getting hot!!!! It is slowly turning from the sneaky, why-am-I-sweaty? hot to the actual, fuck it’s hot, hot! Nooooooooo!

Yesterday I was like, “I thought it would be hot today, but it’s actually a nice day!” Then I went to a class 5th period and the classroom was like seven MILLION degrees for no reason! The kids were like all walking zombies, and NOTHING got done because it was so hot. Dude, why don’t we start summer vacation now? I sense nothing will get done in the next six weeks with this going on! Oh, for those who don’t know, Japanese schools don’t have air conditioning. But yeah, it was the most unproductive class ever, as about 1/3 of the students involuntarily fell asleep on their desks to forget their pain.

However, I don’t understand one thing…why the hell are half of the kids still wearing their sweatshirts?! They were complaining about the heat, so I told them to just take off their sweaters, and they all answerede that either they didn’t want to, or they didn’t have a t-shirt on underneath. Who would even want to wear a sweatshirt in June?! Then I thought they would learn their lesson and wear their t-shirts today…but they didn’t? Hmm. Clazy kids.

Anyway, it’s hot. This will be the theme of my blog for the next three months. Coming in five months: Fuck, It’s Cold.

Let’s Missing Work As Much As Possible!

Today is the first day of June, which happens to be a muy easy month for Jeffu! Woot! On Monday, all re-contracting JETs in the eastern half of Japan are meeting up in Tokyo for a 3-day recontracting conference. Well, not really 3 days, as it is like 2 hours on Monday and a couple hours on Wednesday, as well (with a full Tuesday). The best part is, the hotel, transportation and most of the food is paid for! Hell, yeah! Of course, I have all of my Tokyo eating planned already (Mexican food and pho, here we come!), but it should be fun in ways other than food (pshaw, as if that is possible!).

On the 16th, all Gunma JETs have an orientation in Maebashi that is only from 1:30-3, but gets us out of the whole day of work! Hell, yeah! It takes for bloody ever to get to Maebashi, plus walking to the kencho, plus eating lunch, plus sleeping in a bit…hello, that takes all day! Hehe.

Then me, Cindy, Ann, Sean, Tim, and Emily are all going to Korea from the 17th-20th! Shopping, eating and relaxing in store for us, oh fo sho.

On top of this, the 3nensei are doing their obligatory “We’re Japanese and must go to Osaka, Kyoto and Nara” trip, as well as 2nensei doing job shadowing. It’s like an early summer vacation, and I am NOT complaining!

Times when Jeff bites his lip and pretends nothing is funny

-So, I was playing Battleship with a 2nensei on Tuesday, who apparently missed the million times we played Battleship last year, as he had no idea what he was doing. He would hit my Battleship, then not write it down, then go to a whole different place on the board? Poor guy. Anyway, he also apparently didn’t feel like reading the people’s entire names, because EVERY TIME he would ask about Harry Potter, he would say, “Was Happy Potty __________?” Er, no, Happy Potty was not eating lunch.

-There is this (boring) activity in the textbook where I read the description of a pictured room in the textbook, then I read how the room appears now, and the kids have to draw what I say in the semi-blank picture. There were three balls, but it changes to two balls. While going over the answers, I had to repeatedly ask, “Where are the balls? How many balls are there? Are there three balls or two balls? Where ARE the balls? Are there any balls in the room?” Sadly, I was far too amused by this.

Moral of the story is: Jeff is more immature than his students.

Party like it’s 1994

Dude, Stussy has suddenly become really cool and fashionable in Japan. It had been kinda underground before, but lately it is all over the place! I’m sorry, but that company canNOT become popular again….how does it even exist still? Dude, that is like SO the 6th year of the Emperor, what are these Japanese people thinking? ;)

Let’s praying that No Fear and Mossimo shirts don’t start popping up next….

A Summary of My Winter

Wow, two blog entries about weather in a row, I am really turning Japanese.

Anyway, I am reading Bridget Jones’s Diary for the first time (yes, ten years too late) and am thoroughly enjoying it. I found a paragraph that describes ALTs’ winters perfectly:

“Very much enjoying the Winter Wonderland and reminder that we are at the mercy of the elements, and should not concentrate so hard on being sophisticated and hardworking but on staying warm and watching the telly.”

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

Changing Tenki

(Yes, Cindy wrote like the exact same thing on her blog, but ours are already the same, so why change?)

So, apparently summer is knocking on the door, but I refuse to answer, dammit! It has slowly been getting warmer, and last week it suddenly became muggy, bah! However, it’s weird, because it doesn’t really FEEL muggy, but I’ll get to work and be sweaty and gross, and just be confused as to why I am sweating.

I hate the damn cold here, but I also hate the damn heat! If it was just hot, I could handle, but the mugginess is enough to do me in. Me no wanty sweat!!! Also, why do Japanese people not sweat? Is it because they don’t drink any water, so they don’t have any liquid to release? Or do they not need water because they don’t sweat? Hmm. Also, doesn’t that mean they just keep all of their toxins in them? Ewwww.

Anyway, summer is upon us, and it doesn’t even feel like we got a spring. It wasn’t freezing, but it wasn’t nice spring weather for like more than a week, either. Sigh. Crazy Japan and its crazy weather!

Let’s Sex More Often

From a Japan Times article on marriage and relationships:

Even today, when 88.6 percent of marriages are love marriages (prewar, some 70 percent of marriages were arranged), conjugal bliss, if measured in terms of the frequency of marital sex, is more elusive here than elsewhere. A 2005 survey by the condom maker Durex showed a Japanese average of 45 times a year, far behind the world average of 103 times.

Don't mess with our food!

So, I haven’t really blogged that much lately, and since I am sure EVERYONE wants to know what I have been up to, I’ll write about my weekend! On Friday night, a few of us decided to meet up for sushi at our favorite place in Ota. We usually train to Ota, then walk 30 minutes to the sushi place. However, we decided to be healthy and exercise-y and bike to the place! Normally I would NEVER consider biking to Ota proper, as Yabu is way north of it, but I have to take advantage of the not-really-humid weather while I can!
I went down the 78, looking for a fork at which I was supposed to turn right. However, lots of drama and construction was in the way and got me WAY out of the right direction…I finally figured out where I was an hour into the ride, when I saw Joyful Honda. Um, that only takes 30 minutes to get to! Who knows what happened. Anyway, eventually I ended up at sushi, which was yummy, as always. After dessert at an Italian place, we all biked home…by the end of the day, I had biked over 25 kilometers! Go, Jeff!

Sean had organized a baseball trip to Tokyo for Saturday (thanks for organizing, Sean!) evening, but Shinders and I of course wanted to go on an eating adventure, so we headed down to Tokyo early for lunch. At first we wanted to do pho at an apparently-amazing place, but we looked it up online and they don’t serve lunch on Saturdays, meh. So, we decided to go to the yummy Indian place in Harajuku. We trained to Harajuku just for it, with the assurance from their business card that they didn’t close after lunch….only to find that they closed after lunch (which was like TWO minutes before we arrived!). Um, we were NOT amused. Do not get in the way of us and food!!!! We wandered around Harajuku, desperately searching for somewhere to eat…I swear Tokyo is the shittiest big city for food in the world. Hello, there should be good restaurants everywhere. Meh. Anyway, we eventually decided to try Yao, a brunch place that had a good menu and wasn’t too expensive.

When we got into Yao, I was surprised that it wasn’t very expensive, as it was very posh and pretentious-looking. Also, the waitress gave us a bell (like, a real bell) to ring if we needed help. Um, that is never a sign of UNpretentiousness! So, when we got our food, we discovered why it was cheap…..they give you like a bit of food for 1500 yen! NOT ACCEPTABLE WHEN ONE IS HUNGRY!!!!! We got this pate thing which was pretty much fruit spread on a piece of Spam (but HIGH CLASS spam!) for 1100 yen. Then we got this curry and a pork thing, both of which were good, but were appetizers at the very most. So, after spending 4000 yen, we went to fucking Freshness Burger to fill up. Sad. Needless to say, we were not amused.

After that we met up with a buncha ALTs at the baseball game. We didn’t see the Giants, as they are famous and expensive, so we saw the Swallows? Ahahahaha. Yes, the team name was the highlight of the game for me. We were in the fan section, which meant all of the crowd was super genki, singing, screaming, and standing up the whole time. We decided that baseball games are where Japanese people allow themselves to be real human beings! Anyway, I didn’t care enough about the game, so I just sat down and talked to people, meaning I didn’t watch any of the game. But it was fun anyway :)

After much convincing, and Cindy and I being drama queens, we eventually got persuaded to stay out all night and go clubbing with everyone. We went to Shibuya for a late dinner, then did an hour of karaoke, then ended up at Club Asia. A recommendation for anyone ever in Tokyo: DON’T EVER GO TO CLUB ASIA. Holy shit, it was the shittiest club ever. It was “house night,” so they played house ALL NIGHT LONG. Um, house is meant for the background of restaurants and bars, not the foreground! You can’t dance to that shit! We decided to make our own fun out of it, but that only lasted for so long, so we left earlier than expected, then waited for the first train (5 am for Yabbers). I got home at 8, assed out, had no Sunday, then worked on Monday. Hehe.

Anyway, despite food and dance drama, it was a fun weekend.

Sooooooo sick the The DaVinci Code

I don’t give a shit about whether The DaVinci Code movie is good or not (apparently it is not, according to all of the reviews)…however, I am very glad I read the NY Times review, if only for a few choice sentences:

“The DaVinci Code, Ron Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence, arrives trailing more than its share of theological and historical disputation.

"The Da Vinci Code," which opened the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, is one of the few screen versions of a book that may take longer to watch than to read.

Hahaha. Shitty writing, indeed. Got to wonder about a book in which a “chapter” is ONE FUCKING PAGE.

Anyway, I recommend reading the review for plenty of more pretentious, queeny humor (and really, is there any better kind?).

El updato de la photos

I have finally added Spring Break and Mexico pictures to my photos page. I will try to get off my ass and post the dame Judi Dench photos on my blog by next week.

Ahahaha, that makes it sound like I'm actually posting photos of Judi Dench.

Jefu the Judge

My favorite pastime when bored at my desk is judging other teachers by their strange actions…it is the best way to pass the time, especially now that I have the best people-watching desk in the staffroom! Some observations from bored Jeff:

-The choir/band teacher is ALWAYS running around the school as if there is a choir-related emergency just around the corner. She seriously runs everywhere she goes. I really don’t know why she is always in such a hurry, but because of this constant exercise, her calves are HUGE! They like the size of my torso! Eek! Don’t get in a kickboxing fight with the choir teacher, yo!

-There is a new 1nensei P.E. teacher who has a permaconfused look on his face. At first I thought it was just because he was new and he didn’t know where he was going around the school, but apparently he is still lost 2 months later. Poor guy.

-The new female P.E. teacher has the most unfortunate fashion sense ever! She wears her track pants up to her boobs, and she isn’t even that old! Maybe late 30’s? Hello, it’s okay to wear your pants at your waist! Whenever she comes into the staffroom and is standing around between classes, she hikes up her pants as far as they go, even though they were plenty high as they were! To add to this extremely hot look, she has recently donned a most heinous and ENORMOUS visor to protect her from the sun while P.E.-ing. Yes, it is probably good for your skin, but sometimes fashion must take priority over health, I am afraid. There is no reason to wear a visor the size of Greece on your damn head when it isn’t even that sunny, woman!

Yes, I am going to hell, but at least I’m having a fun ride on the way there.

Dammit!

Photos and video of the penis festival that we sadly missed. Man, MUST go next year! Too amusing.