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?
Friday, January 27, 2006
Welcome to Yabuchuu!
So, today I had class 2-5, the worst class in school. This is mainly due to Yoshiki, who is the biggest punk-ass bitch EVER. Yes, I’m a good teacher ;) Anyway, he gets suspended all of the time for doing stupid shit (he comes and goes as he pleases during class, never listens, rips papers up for fun, runs around the class, yells, and talks about sex all of the time. He also thinks he’s really funny and original when he does the same things over and over. And he’s the only “cool” kid who is not justifiably cool…he is nowhere near attractive (ask Cindy!), and he REALLY needs to stop plucking his eyebrows, HOLIE!). However, for how much shit he does, he doesn’t get punished much at all. This is because his dad is soooooooooooooooooooooo in the yakuza and everyone is too afraid to fuck with him. Anyway! So, he had been getting better in the last month, which kinda freaked me out. I think Nacchan and her mom pulled some strings for me, as I wasn’t aware they were family friends when I was bitching about him (hmm, how do you say “foot in mouth” in Japanese?).
Well, today Yoshiki made up for the month of semi-goodness. I kinda pissed him off at the beginning of class by noting that his face was really freaking red for no reason, and by asking if he went to Okinawa. I guess he can’t handle being commented on, even tho he always comments on everyone else, hehe. Like I said, I’m a good teacher! Anyway, I could tell he was already in a bad mood, tho, for whatever reason. Then when we were starting bingo he started yelling at people randomly, but I tried to ignore him…there was definitely tension in the class, but I couldn’t tell why. Some of the girls were getting really defensive and yelling back at him. Then all of a sudden he started yelling at Ms. Kimura. I turned to see how the rest of the class was doing when I heard three huge crashes, which were the result of him kicking his desk as hard as he could onto the ground, then through the walkway between desks. It was sooooooooo loud, he was fucking angry! Another teacher came in and thankfully got rid of him for the rest of the class.
What was all of this drama about, you ask? Well, it appears as though someone had the nerve to STEAL his pencil case! DUM DUM DUM! Um, yeah. (note to American readers: Asians LOVE pencil cases. Apparently a desk is not a proper place to keep one’s pencils and pens (of which they have an amazing amount), so they need a $10 pencil case with their favorite character on it to do the job) All of the yelling was him accusing various people near his desk of stealing his pencil case, followed by them denying any knowledge of what happened.
All of this drama totally fucked up the first half of the class, as everyone was distracted, but it turned out okay in the end, because at least he wasn’t there for most of the class. Hehe.
Thus concludes Jeff’s Michelle Pfeiffer story of the day.
Well, today Yoshiki made up for the month of semi-goodness. I kinda pissed him off at the beginning of class by noting that his face was really freaking red for no reason, and by asking if he went to Okinawa. I guess he can’t handle being commented on, even tho he always comments on everyone else, hehe. Like I said, I’m a good teacher! Anyway, I could tell he was already in a bad mood, tho, for whatever reason. Then when we were starting bingo he started yelling at people randomly, but I tried to ignore him…there was definitely tension in the class, but I couldn’t tell why. Some of the girls were getting really defensive and yelling back at him. Then all of a sudden he started yelling at Ms. Kimura. I turned to see how the rest of the class was doing when I heard three huge crashes, which were the result of him kicking his desk as hard as he could onto the ground, then through the walkway between desks. It was sooooooooo loud, he was fucking angry! Another teacher came in and thankfully got rid of him for the rest of the class.
What was all of this drama about, you ask? Well, it appears as though someone had the nerve to STEAL his pencil case! DUM DUM DUM! Um, yeah. (note to American readers: Asians LOVE pencil cases. Apparently a desk is not a proper place to keep one’s pencils and pens (of which they have an amazing amount), so they need a $10 pencil case with their favorite character on it to do the job) All of the yelling was him accusing various people near his desk of stealing his pencil case, followed by them denying any knowledge of what happened.
All of this drama totally fucked up the first half of the class, as everyone was distracted, but it turned out okay in the end, because at least he wasn’t there for most of the class. Hehe.
Thus concludes Jeff’s Michelle Pfeiffer story of the day.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Let’s move to OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb!
K, this is nerdy, but it's interesting-ish. Might want to work on the name, tho.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Just another day in GHETTO Yabu
Oh my god….so, I am sitting in the staffroom during my break period and I hear this repeated noise that sounds like someone behind me is breaking sticks or doing something constructive. I ignored it for a couple minutes, thinking someone was making something. After it continues for a while, I finally look around to discover that this Sensei is fucking barefoot, clipping his god damn toenails in the middle of the staffroom!!!!!! Um, EWWW. In WHAT kind of ghetto-ass culture is that okay?
This is the Sensei who literally has nothing to do….I have NO clue what he teaches, but he isn’t old enough to be a “he came with the building, we’ll pay him to wander the halls” type of sensei. So, instead he just spends all day long looking at Yahoo auctions. And apparently clips his toenails when he is bored with that.
Did I mention ewww?
This is the Sensei who literally has nothing to do….I have NO clue what he teaches, but he isn’t old enough to be a “he came with the building, we’ll pay him to wander the halls” type of sensei. So, instead he just spends all day long looking at Yahoo auctions. And apparently clips his toenails when he is bored with that.
Did I mention ewww?
Monday, January 23, 2006
Every day is an adventure
I woke up this morning and was getting ready to go to work and I noticed it was REALLY cold in the house....I am used to it being cold in the mornings, but today was particularly cold. I checked the weather and it was -3, which backed up my theory. I glanced out the window and the sun wasn't out at all, so I figured that was the reason.
Anyway, I am all ready and I get my stuff and head out the door, prepared for a cold bike ride, only to be greeted by a freaking SNOW STORM happening outside!!!!!!!!! Not only was it snowing really hard, but there was Gunma wind on top of it!!!! Eek! It was QUITE the adventure on the way to school, as I was going against the wind and I literally could barely see anything with the snow being blown into my eyes! Too bad it's not Oregon, as school def. would have been cancelled! :)
Anyway, the snow has of course stopped now that I'm warm inside the staffroom.....crazy weather!
Anyway, I am all ready and I get my stuff and head out the door, prepared for a cold bike ride, only to be greeted by a freaking SNOW STORM happening outside!!!!!!!!! Not only was it snowing really hard, but there was Gunma wind on top of it!!!! Eek! It was QUITE the adventure on the way to school, as I was going against the wind and I literally could barely see anything with the snow being blown into my eyes! Too bad it's not Oregon, as school def. would have been cancelled! :)
Anyway, the snow has of course stopped now that I'm warm inside the staffroom.....crazy weather!
Another Lazy Weekend
I am fucking ADDICTED to lazy weekends now. Expect to never see me outside of Ota borders from now on! Well, not really, but I am definitely enjoying hibernating, or at least staying as close to home as possible.
Friday night I went to yummy sushi in Ota with Cindy, Jenny, Sean and Emily…I was very disappointed in us, as it was kaiten, and none of us managed more than like 6-7 plates?! What’s wrong with us?! Tsk tsk tsk. I guess we made up for it, tho, by going to dessert afterwards at Fujiya (where we met up with Tim). Fujiya in Ota did NOT live up to my expectations; what’s up with that? Hrm. Disappointing.
After dessert, we went to a bar where we paid to get lung cancer. It was a teeny bar with NO ventilation and LOTS of cigarettes. It was fucking nasty, and I was even less amused because I was wearing a sweater I had JUST had dry-cleaned. Smoking bitches! Meh. We quickly fled from there and went to another bar at the end of the strip, where Sean accidentally ordered the girliest drink in history. I was muy amused. Then I had to leave for the damn last train, which I am officially tired of, yo. Fucking Japan! (I am bitter today, so expect a bitter post :)
Friday night I miraculously got an AMAZING amount of sleep….I woke up at fucking 11:30! That hasn’t happened in forever….mmmm, it was amazing. Cindy and I did a walking/shopping tour of Ota and realized that shops and restaurants aren’t nearly as far as we thought they were. We need to be less lazy from now on and our list of walkable restaurants will grow substantially.
On our walking trip, we went to Barikiya, a ramen shop that we had been to before. I was excited, as I hadn’t had ramen in months, but little did I know that two orders of ATTEMPTED MURDER were in our future!!!!
So, while looking at the menu, Cindy and I noticed that they had both “spicy” ramen and “particularly spicy” ramen, which, it was noted, is for “challengers.” This is pretty much our conversation while looking at the menu:
“Should we do spicy or extra spicy?”
“Well, it probably isn’t that spicy, we’re in Japan!”
“Yeah, it probably isn’t even spicy in American standards. Let’s do extra spicy!”
“Hmm, it says it’s for ‘challengers.’ Oh, well, I’m sure it’s fine!”
Um, yes, it was very much NOT FINE! It was pretty much a big bowl of stomachache-causing FIRE. It was the most embarrassing and least enjoyable lunch ever. Not only were we sweating, snotty, and crying, but we had to find sneaky ways to somehow make it less spicy. After adding every single sauce possible at the table (which, those of you who have been to a Japanese ramen bar know, is quite a lot), we resorted to sneakily adding entire glasses of iced tea in order to water down the spicy demon known as ramen broth. Because it was the broth that was spicy, it immediately went through our systems and gave us stomachaches WHILE eating! NOT a good sign!!!!
This really begs the question: why would they have that on the menu in Japan? This is a country in which the “Mexican” restaurant at Disney Sea had to ask every single customer that ordered the lunch special, “The jalapeno sauce is a little bit spicy, is that okay, or do you want to change your order?” (BTW, after tasting the sauce, even Japanese people said it was sweet, and not spicy at all. I believe they used one jalapeno in the entire pot of sauce). How could something that could kill me and Cindy be acceptable at all in Japanese terms?! Damn ramen bar!
After feeling beyond disgusting and on the brink of death, we continued our walking tour, and I finally got an external hard drive for my computer (about eight months after I intended to). Yay nerdy toys.
Saturday night consisted of yummy dinner at Nacchan’s, some wine, and movies. Yes, very stressful.
Sunday I talked to Eduardo for like three hours! It was great, and made for a muy happy Jeff! I also talked to my parents, and watched an unhealthy amount of TV, which I won’t divulge, for fear of judgment.
All in all, a very good weekend!
Friday night I went to yummy sushi in Ota with Cindy, Jenny, Sean and Emily…I was very disappointed in us, as it was kaiten, and none of us managed more than like 6-7 plates?! What’s wrong with us?! Tsk tsk tsk. I guess we made up for it, tho, by going to dessert afterwards at Fujiya (where we met up with Tim). Fujiya in Ota did NOT live up to my expectations; what’s up with that? Hrm. Disappointing.
After dessert, we went to a bar where we paid to get lung cancer. It was a teeny bar with NO ventilation and LOTS of cigarettes. It was fucking nasty, and I was even less amused because I was wearing a sweater I had JUST had dry-cleaned. Smoking bitches! Meh. We quickly fled from there and went to another bar at the end of the strip, where Sean accidentally ordered the girliest drink in history. I was muy amused. Then I had to leave for the damn last train, which I am officially tired of, yo. Fucking Japan! (I am bitter today, so expect a bitter post :)
Friday night I miraculously got an AMAZING amount of sleep….I woke up at fucking 11:30! That hasn’t happened in forever….mmmm, it was amazing. Cindy and I did a walking/shopping tour of Ota and realized that shops and restaurants aren’t nearly as far as we thought they were. We need to be less lazy from now on and our list of walkable restaurants will grow substantially.
On our walking trip, we went to Barikiya, a ramen shop that we had been to before. I was excited, as I hadn’t had ramen in months, but little did I know that two orders of ATTEMPTED MURDER were in our future!!!!
So, while looking at the menu, Cindy and I noticed that they had both “spicy” ramen and “particularly spicy” ramen, which, it was noted, is for “challengers.” This is pretty much our conversation while looking at the menu:
“Should we do spicy or extra spicy?”
“Well, it probably isn’t that spicy, we’re in Japan!”
“Yeah, it probably isn’t even spicy in American standards. Let’s do extra spicy!”
“Hmm, it says it’s for ‘challengers.’ Oh, well, I’m sure it’s fine!”
Um, yes, it was very much NOT FINE! It was pretty much a big bowl of stomachache-causing FIRE. It was the most embarrassing and least enjoyable lunch ever. Not only were we sweating, snotty, and crying, but we had to find sneaky ways to somehow make it less spicy. After adding every single sauce possible at the table (which, those of you who have been to a Japanese ramen bar know, is quite a lot), we resorted to sneakily adding entire glasses of iced tea in order to water down the spicy demon known as ramen broth. Because it was the broth that was spicy, it immediately went through our systems and gave us stomachaches WHILE eating! NOT a good sign!!!!
This really begs the question: why would they have that on the menu in Japan? This is a country in which the “Mexican” restaurant at Disney Sea had to ask every single customer that ordered the lunch special, “The jalapeno sauce is a little bit spicy, is that okay, or do you want to change your order?” (BTW, after tasting the sauce, even Japanese people said it was sweet, and not spicy at all. I believe they used one jalapeno in the entire pot of sauce). How could something that could kill me and Cindy be acceptable at all in Japanese terms?! Damn ramen bar!
After feeling beyond disgusting and on the brink of death, we continued our walking tour, and I finally got an external hard drive for my computer (about eight months after I intended to). Yay nerdy toys.
Saturday night consisted of yummy dinner at Nacchan’s, some wine, and movies. Yes, very stressful.
Sunday I talked to Eduardo for like three hours! It was great, and made for a muy happy Jeff! I also talked to my parents, and watched an unhealthy amount of TV, which I won’t divulge, for fear of judgment.
All in all, a very good weekend!
Battleship Blunders
(Disclaimer for non-JETs reading this to say that this is referring to Battleship using grammar and stuff, not just shit like “A4,” “Hit!” kind of shit. I’m not THAT bad of a teacher!)
K, so what is with Japanese kids NOT being good at Battleship whatsoever?! First of all, they always seem to be surprised at the violence of it (which I guess makes sense…”Let’s make a game of destroying battleships! Great for kids of all ages!”), but they really don’t seem to understand the game whatsoever.
I was explaining the rules to my 3nensei the other day, who I KNOW have played it countless times, and when I was telling them the response to say if their battleship gets hit, they were like “Huh? But then your partner knows there’s a ship there!” Um……..yes, that’s kind of the point!
There’s usually an odd number of kids in the classroom, so I have to play with one of the students, and apparently they don’t understand battleship strategy, either, because they’ll hit a ship, then go on the complete other side of the board and not try to sink said ship? Hmm.
This is all extremely surprising because, last time I checked my history textbook, Japanese people are really good at hitting and sinking battleships….what has happened in the last 60 years?!
Hee hee, I am such a bitch. I wonder how long it will be after posting this that I suddenly get deported.
K, so what is with Japanese kids NOT being good at Battleship whatsoever?! First of all, they always seem to be surprised at the violence of it (which I guess makes sense…”Let’s make a game of destroying battleships! Great for kids of all ages!”), but they really don’t seem to understand the game whatsoever.
I was explaining the rules to my 3nensei the other day, who I KNOW have played it countless times, and when I was telling them the response to say if their battleship gets hit, they were like “Huh? But then your partner knows there’s a ship there!” Um……..yes, that’s kind of the point!
There’s usually an odd number of kids in the classroom, so I have to play with one of the students, and apparently they don’t understand battleship strategy, either, because they’ll hit a ship, then go on the complete other side of the board and not try to sink said ship? Hmm.
This is all extremely surprising because, last time I checked my history textbook, Japanese people are really good at hitting and sinking battleships….what has happened in the last 60 years?!
Hee hee, I am such a bitch. I wonder how long it will be after posting this that I suddenly get deported.
Friday, January 20, 2006
An Apple a day….
I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned the electronic orgasm known as the MacBook Pro. Feel free to buy me one if you wish. DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
Okay by me in America
So, last night, I finally was forced to do presentation on America/Oregon that I was literally booked to do AT LEAST four months ago. Crazy Japanese people. For those of you who don’t remember every minute detail of my life (how dare you!), I had to give a presentation for 60-90 minutes in Japanese about home to whoever showed up at the Yabuzuka naninaninani place. Like, learning/meeting place. I dunno what you’d call it in English.
Needless to say, I choreographed an elaborate song and dance number in which I did my best Chita Rivera impression and argued the merits of America with a bunch of strapping young Puerto Rican men. Or I made a Powerpoint presentation. Either one. Anyway, I made a slideshow with pics of Oregon/various trips around America (NYC, Grand Canyon, SF, etc.), my high school, U of O, etc. to show various aspects of life in America. However, that is all of the preparation I did for it….I believe it may have shown ;)
I went there last night hoping that the only people there would be those I knew were coming (Jenny (bless her heart, and also, kawaisou), Nacchan, and Atsuko), but like 15 people showed up?! Surprising…I’m not exactly sure why they came! Of course, just like in the States, the only people to show up to free things put on by the town were all over the age of 70, hee hee. Oh, except for one of my shougakkou kids, who I feared may commit suicide out of pure boredom during the presentation. There are some tense issues in that sentence, but I can’t fix them. Deal with my broken English, muahahaha!
Anyway. Um. Oh, yeah, presentation. So, the pictures took about a half hour, and then I took questions from the audience about whatever. I guess it went pretty well? It was hard to talk about in Japanese because I haven’t talked about anything deep or complicated in Japanese for a long time. Regular conversations don’t compare to “Well, in Japan, you only have entrance exams to college (I don’t even know if that is correct), but in America, it is a combination of SAT scores, your grades, and activities outside of school. Even with those, it is possible you won’t be able to get into the school that you want to. It all just depends,” and so forth. Needless to say, many of my sentences ended halfway through! Hee hee. I also was scared (with good reason) because ojiichan and obaachan’s Japanese is hard to fucking understand! Even young Japanese people can’t understand what the hell they’re saying! I did pretty well, but totally didn’t understand one question. Oops! :) But I guess it went fine, who knows!
In the end it lasted about 70 minutes….I wanted to hang around and talk to people (or at least to my friends), but my ride (a guy from the kouminkan) literally had his car outside the door, ready to pick me up about TEN SECONDS after the speech was done. You would have thought he had planted bombs in the place set to explode at 8:42, he was in such a hurry to get the hell outta there.
It was worth doing, tho, if only because afterwards Nacchan and Atsuko stopped by with a gift of wine, chips, chocolate, crackers, and Coke for me! Awwww, how sweet! It was a “gokuorousama” present. Yay!
Needless to say, I choreographed an elaborate song and dance number in which I did my best Chita Rivera impression and argued the merits of America with a bunch of strapping young Puerto Rican men. Or I made a Powerpoint presentation. Either one. Anyway, I made a slideshow with pics of Oregon/various trips around America (NYC, Grand Canyon, SF, etc.), my high school, U of O, etc. to show various aspects of life in America. However, that is all of the preparation I did for it….I believe it may have shown ;)
I went there last night hoping that the only people there would be those I knew were coming (Jenny (bless her heart, and also, kawaisou), Nacchan, and Atsuko), but like 15 people showed up?! Surprising…I’m not exactly sure why they came! Of course, just like in the States, the only people to show up to free things put on by the town were all over the age of 70, hee hee. Oh, except for one of my shougakkou kids, who I feared may commit suicide out of pure boredom during the presentation. There are some tense issues in that sentence, but I can’t fix them. Deal with my broken English, muahahaha!
Anyway. Um. Oh, yeah, presentation. So, the pictures took about a half hour, and then I took questions from the audience about whatever. I guess it went pretty well? It was hard to talk about in Japanese because I haven’t talked about anything deep or complicated in Japanese for a long time. Regular conversations don’t compare to “Well, in Japan, you only have entrance exams to college (I don’t even know if that is correct), but in America, it is a combination of SAT scores, your grades, and activities outside of school. Even with those, it is possible you won’t be able to get into the school that you want to. It all just depends,” and so forth. Needless to say, many of my sentences ended halfway through! Hee hee. I also was scared (with good reason) because ojiichan and obaachan’s Japanese is hard to fucking understand! Even young Japanese people can’t understand what the hell they’re saying! I did pretty well, but totally didn’t understand one question. Oops! :) But I guess it went fine, who knows!
In the end it lasted about 70 minutes….I wanted to hang around and talk to people (or at least to my friends), but my ride (a guy from the kouminkan) literally had his car outside the door, ready to pick me up about TEN SECONDS after the speech was done. You would have thought he had planted bombs in the place set to explode at 8:42, he was in such a hurry to get the hell outta there.
It was worth doing, tho, if only because afterwards Nacchan and Atsuko stopped by with a gift of wine, chips, chocolate, crackers, and Coke for me! Awwww, how sweet! It was a “gokuorousama” present. Yay!
You know it’s bad when Mexicans are teaching me English
K, my English is OFFICIALLY fucked up, yo. I don’t get how….it’s not like I’m never around gaijin! Nevertheless, it is beyond repair at the moment! Maybe it is because I am used to dumbing it down for school kids? Who knows. All I know is, sometimes my students know the correct answers to English questions before I do!
Last night I was talking to Eduardo online for a minute before he went to work, and I was wishing him a great day (you know, because I’m an amazingly sweet boyfriend like that). I had had a long Thursday, so I told him, “I hope your day is less long than mine!!!” to which he responded, “less long or shorter?” It literally took me like two minutes to realize what he was talking about. SAD! Hello, I shouldn’t have to be taught English by a Mexican! This is a sad state of the union, my friends! (I don’t know why it is the state of the union…I have been reading too much Sarah Vowell)
Oh, well, at least I know Cindy’s English sucks at the moment, too, muahahaha! However, that does make sense, as we are the same person….
Last night I was talking to Eduardo online for a minute before he went to work, and I was wishing him a great day (you know, because I’m an amazingly sweet boyfriend like that). I had had a long Thursday, so I told him, “I hope your day is less long than mine!!!” to which he responded, “less long or shorter?” It literally took me like two minutes to realize what he was talking about. SAD! Hello, I shouldn’t have to be taught English by a Mexican! This is a sad state of the union, my friends! (I don’t know why it is the state of the union…I have been reading too much Sarah Vowell)
Oh, well, at least I know Cindy’s English sucks at the moment, too, muahahaha! However, that does make sense, as we are the same person….
Let’s Being Possibly Racist!
K, so it is so cold that in the last 12 hours, my hands have been cut and started bleeding for like no reason. Hello, I put moisturizer on my hands twice a day, how can they be that dry?! Yes, gross, but that brings up the topic of this post!
Last night it happened and I was like “What the fuck?!” I was holding a piece of paper at the time, so I told the Japanese people, “Oh, maybe I got a papercut,” to which they responded (in a state of shock), “……….cut by paper? Your skin must be weak!” Now, this begs the question, do Japanese people NOT get papercuts?! Is their skin thicker than ours? This sounds like a fake question, but it is possible! Somehow they have the magical ability to hold so-hot-they-could-be-radioactive things in their hands and not really notice, so maybe my poor Whitey McWhiterson skin doesn’t compare to the People of the Sun? I’m not sure.
Perhaps this could inspire a science test. Go up to Japanese people at random and try to cut them with a combination of blunt and sharp things and see what the results are. Report back here immediately!
Last night it happened and I was like “What the fuck?!” I was holding a piece of paper at the time, so I told the Japanese people, “Oh, maybe I got a papercut,” to which they responded (in a state of shock), “……….cut by paper? Your skin must be weak!” Now, this begs the question, do Japanese people NOT get papercuts?! Is their skin thicker than ours? This sounds like a fake question, but it is possible! Somehow they have the magical ability to hold so-hot-they-could-be-radioactive things in their hands and not really notice, so maybe my poor Whitey McWhiterson skin doesn’t compare to the People of the Sun? I’m not sure.
Perhaps this could inspire a science test. Go up to Japanese people at random and try to cut them with a combination of blunt and sharp things and see what the results are. Report back here immediately!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Silly Kids
Today I had 3-5, which is the creepiest, quietest class in the entire world. Like, they would be eerily quiet in any school, let alone Yabuchuu, where I am used to items being thrown about while I am talking. We had a talking activity today, which worried me, as they NEVER make a sound, even if I ask them to. They were surprisingly talkative, though, which was nice.
Anyway, the activity was using “I can ______.” I was walking around when I heard this one boy saying “I can speak Parseltongue!” I was very amused by the completely random Harry Potter reference, and the fact that he knew that word (and said it in good English!), so I started laughing. He then proceeded to pretend to talk to his friends in Parseltongue for literally at least five minutes.
It sounds really nerdy on paper, but he is kind of a “cool” kid, so it was funny. Crazy Asians and their love for Harry Potter!
Anyway, the activity was using “I can ______.” I was walking around when I heard this one boy saying “I can speak Parseltongue!” I was very amused by the completely random Harry Potter reference, and the fact that he knew that word (and said it in good English!), so I started laughing. He then proceeded to pretend to talk to his friends in Parseltongue for literally at least five minutes.
It sounds really nerdy on paper, but he is kind of a “cool” kid, so it was funny. Crazy Asians and their love for Harry Potter!
Fucking Culture Board!
So, yesterday was the crappiest day at shougakkou EVER! I was feeling like crap from being sick and not getting enough sleep, so I barely made it through my five classes…..then, after that, instead of having my usual period off before going home, I had to start work on my culture board. Every ALT in Ota has to make a culture board with their shougakkou that shows the culture of their home country/state/whatever. I had my kids draw pictures for me, so I thought it would be easy to put together….um, yeah, not so much. Don’t even ask how, but the damn board took more than TWO HOURS to put together, including one hour of overtime! WTF! Not acceptable, least of all at shougakkou! Let’s just say, never let perfectionist Japanese people in on any artwork-related activities. Actually, any activities at all, really! The only reason I stayed late doing it was because it was due next week and I wouldn’t be back there for two weeks.
After that, I biked straight to Fujimart and allowed myself to buy anything that looked good….a true sign of a bad day. So, Jeff had a good, big-ass dinner, with one a half Chuhi (girly drinks) by himself. Yay, Jeff the alcoholic.
One good thing about the shitty tiring day is that I was so damn tired that I miraculously fell asleep at 9:30. I don’t think that has happened since like 6th grade! 9 1/2 hours of sleep felt AMAZING!!!
I came to work this morning and got a call from my shougakkou advisor lady saying that she had just talked to Mr. Onda (the Ota ALT “supervisor”), and he informed her that since other ALTs have been behind on their culture boards, the fucking deadline has been changed to MARCH. And since I have extra time, I am supposed to add things (writings? I’m confused) to the fucking board! FUCK THAT SHIT! Bah!!!!!!!!
After that, I biked straight to Fujimart and allowed myself to buy anything that looked good….a true sign of a bad day. So, Jeff had a good, big-ass dinner, with one a half Chuhi (girly drinks) by himself. Yay, Jeff the alcoholic.
One good thing about the shitty tiring day is that I was so damn tired that I miraculously fell asleep at 9:30. I don’t think that has happened since like 6th grade! 9 1/2 hours of sleep felt AMAZING!!!
I came to work this morning and got a call from my shougakkou advisor lady saying that she had just talked to Mr. Onda (the Ota ALT “supervisor”), and he informed her that since other ALTs have been behind on their culture boards, the fucking deadline has been changed to MARCH. And since I have extra time, I am supposed to add things (writings? I’m confused) to the fucking board! FUCK THAT SHIT! Bah!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
They grow up so fast, sniff sniff
Am I the only one noticing my students getting hella taller and older all of a sudden?! Like, during winter break, and a little before that? The 1nensei look like 2nensei! The 2nensei look like 3nensei! And the 3nensei are becoming hot high school boys! Not that I’d ever think of them that way ;)
Help Wanted
Looking for a personal assistant. Job duties include, but are not restricted to: making lesson plans, making photocopies, teaching at shougakkou, cooking, doing laundry, cleaning apartment.
Salary: No money, per se, but you will get my EXTREME gratitude!
Now taking applicants. Arigats!
Salary: No money, per se, but you will get my EXTREME gratitude!
Now taking applicants. Arigats!
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