My first two days back at school have reminded me that my kids are weird and funny! For 3nensei classes we did this writing practice where they answer the questions in the textbook. Here is the most amusing answer:
1. What would you like to do if you have enough time and money?
I want to go to heaven.
2. Why would you like to do that?
Because I want to die.
3. How long have you wanted to do that?
Since yesterday.
4. How will you feel when you do that?
I’ll be happy.
In the States that would be written by some scary goth person, but this was by a funny kid so it was okay!
And the answer that I most relate with is:
1. What would you like to do if you have enough time and money?
I want to eat until I am full.
2. Why would you like to do that?
Because eating is important.
Aww, a boy after my own heart! It is kinda sad what some of the kids would do with money, though. One person just wanted to go home so she could sleep? Hello, who doesn’t answer “travel around the world” to that question!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Thursday, September 07, 2006
From Oregon With Love
No, I am not a sentimental jackass, that is the title of a Japanese TV show (Oregon Kara Ai) from like 25 years ago that old people like to bring up when I say I am from there.
Anyway, highlights of my trip!
-So, I hate Northwest Airlines, but I have a shitload of miles on their alliance and it is the only direct flight from Narita to Portland, which makes it more than worth it. I REFUSE lay-overs because I am a bitch like that. So I was all happy to get to the States directly and stuff, but some motherfucking asshole decided to fuck it all up! About halfway through the flight a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board, which is never a good sign. It is even worse when they ask like ten times, as if a doctor will randomly appear out of the luggage hold or something. Might I mention that this is the second flight in a year in which they have asked that….I am cursed!
Anyway, this jackass got sick or some shit and we had to fucking stop in ALASKA to drop the bastard off! Normally I would be more sympathetic, but the bastard fucking WALKED off the plane!!! They were making a huge deal about it (they called the Neo Clinic (?) and the NWA center and stuff and no one knew what was wrong with him, so the flight was suggested to make an emergency landing. First of all, it was only supposed to take 30-40 minutes and it took nearly two hours! They sent in these huge firemen to help him out, so I was expecting them to carry the sick guy out….and he gets up and wanders off by himself! Um, if you are healthy enough to walk we are NOT stopping in fucking Alaska to drop you off, motherfucker! Then they had to search for his luggage because FAA makes you take your luggage off with you. THEN they brought on more food, refueled, and EMPTIED THE GARBAGE?!!!!! Um, just get me to Portland! On top of this, Alaska was 90 minutes out of the way, so it took for fucking ever to get home. Not amusing.
-I went to Eugene (where I went for uni) with Holly on Monday and it was so fun! Eugene is weird because when you live there you want to leave, and when you are gone you miss it! Strange, strange. We mainly went there to eat, and eat we did! I had Burrito Boy, the most amazing burrito place in the entire world! God, I missed the Boy. Holly watched me eat lunch there, then I watched her eat lunch at Glendwood. Hahaha. We missed our shit, yo! We went to my precious Eugene location of Trader Joe’s (no hot Kevin to be found, saaaaaaaaad!), where I was recognized by a worker, bad sign. Ah, TJ’s. Then we visited my old apartment and stuff and wandered around the U of O campus. Awww, it was nice to be back! Natsukashikatta!
After that we had an early happy hour and saw The Devil Wears Prada, which was really good! I recommend it, yo. Then we wandered a bit and had Ring of Fire, the best Thai restaurant in the world!!!!! MMMMMMMMMM. I had some rockin’ phad voon sen and then had their AMAZING tempura bananas with home-made coconut ice cream. Holly didn’t want any, so I ate the whole thing by myself! Hmm, I wonder how I got fat during the trip! FUCK, it was amazing. That was worth the $1200 flight right there!
-I caught up all kinds of movies! I watched Thank You for Smoking and…er…shit, I forget what on the plane. Something else I had wanted to see, I forget. Anyway, neither were amazing, sadly. I had high hopes for Thank You, but it wasn’t that great. Hrm. I also rented The Family Stone, Transamerica, and Spellbound. They were all fine but not amazing, either. I rented Capote but didn’t have time to watch it. Then Holly and I went to Quinceanera (yes, the n should have squiggly, Eduardo) and Little Miss Sunshine. Quinceanera is over-rated, in my opinion…it was fine, but also not amazing. LMS was funny, I liked it! Yay for catching up on stuff that will never come here!
-I got to see my little Samuel Clemens!!!!! (my dog, Sammy) She is soooooooooo cute, awwww, I missed her. She didn’t realize who I was for a minute, which is depressing, but she quickly remembered! Awwww, I want her here with me in Japan!!! She wouldn’t look at me on the day I left, she was pissed! I felt bad. Apparently she was pouting all day long, awwww! Little Samuel Clemens is clazy like that.
-Lots of shopping and eating were done! I have new clothes, TONS of products, and about 10 extra pounds on me! I also drank a shitload of alcohol and am currently making amends with my liver. He’s not talking to me right now, but I am sure he will cave in eventually.
-I went to Shanda’s wedding on the last Saturday, which was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun. It was weird to see (chubby!) GHS alum, but I am so glad I went! Shanda looked AMAZING and their ceremony was sweet! And short! YAY to non-Catholic weddings!!!!!! Aww, I may have gotten a little misty-eyed. Afterwards we danced our asses off and I burned off at least one meal from the vacation :) Aww, it was soooooooooo fun!
I did lots more stuff, but I am too lazy to write about it. I am really glad I went, though. I didn’t realize how much I missed places and my friends and family until I went (and came back to Japan). It was surprising! But it was fun fun fun, yies yies yies.
Now I am back in the land of everything-being-too-short, no car for Jefu, work and muggy weather, bah! But it’s all good, except for the work and weather part. I don’t wanna teach again, I like summer vacation! Also, because I got used to Oregon weather I am seriously sweating my ASS off and looking really embarrassing. I am just covered in sweat and everyone else is fine. Oy.
Anyway, yeah, America=fun, but Japan=fun, too! The end.
Anyway, highlights of my trip!
-So, I hate Northwest Airlines, but I have a shitload of miles on their alliance and it is the only direct flight from Narita to Portland, which makes it more than worth it. I REFUSE lay-overs because I am a bitch like that. So I was all happy to get to the States directly and stuff, but some motherfucking asshole decided to fuck it all up! About halfway through the flight a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board, which is never a good sign. It is even worse when they ask like ten times, as if a doctor will randomly appear out of the luggage hold or something. Might I mention that this is the second flight in a year in which they have asked that….I am cursed!
Anyway, this jackass got sick or some shit and we had to fucking stop in ALASKA to drop the bastard off! Normally I would be more sympathetic, but the bastard fucking WALKED off the plane!!! They were making a huge deal about it (they called the Neo Clinic (?) and the NWA center and stuff and no one knew what was wrong with him, so the flight was suggested to make an emergency landing. First of all, it was only supposed to take 30-40 minutes and it took nearly two hours! They sent in these huge firemen to help him out, so I was expecting them to carry the sick guy out….and he gets up and wanders off by himself! Um, if you are healthy enough to walk we are NOT stopping in fucking Alaska to drop you off, motherfucker! Then they had to search for his luggage because FAA makes you take your luggage off with you. THEN they brought on more food, refueled, and EMPTIED THE GARBAGE?!!!!! Um, just get me to Portland! On top of this, Alaska was 90 minutes out of the way, so it took for fucking ever to get home. Not amusing.
-I went to Eugene (where I went for uni) with Holly on Monday and it was so fun! Eugene is weird because when you live there you want to leave, and when you are gone you miss it! Strange, strange. We mainly went there to eat, and eat we did! I had Burrito Boy, the most amazing burrito place in the entire world! God, I missed the Boy. Holly watched me eat lunch there, then I watched her eat lunch at Glendwood. Hahaha. We missed our shit, yo! We went to my precious Eugene location of Trader Joe’s (no hot Kevin to be found, saaaaaaaaad!), where I was recognized by a worker, bad sign. Ah, TJ’s. Then we visited my old apartment and stuff and wandered around the U of O campus. Awww, it was nice to be back! Natsukashikatta!
After that we had an early happy hour and saw The Devil Wears Prada, which was really good! I recommend it, yo. Then we wandered a bit and had Ring of Fire, the best Thai restaurant in the world!!!!! MMMMMMMMMM. I had some rockin’ phad voon sen and then had their AMAZING tempura bananas with home-made coconut ice cream. Holly didn’t want any, so I ate the whole thing by myself! Hmm, I wonder how I got fat during the trip! FUCK, it was amazing. That was worth the $1200 flight right there!
-I caught up all kinds of movies! I watched Thank You for Smoking and…er…shit, I forget what on the plane. Something else I had wanted to see, I forget. Anyway, neither were amazing, sadly. I had high hopes for Thank You, but it wasn’t that great. Hrm. I also rented The Family Stone, Transamerica, and Spellbound. They were all fine but not amazing, either. I rented Capote but didn’t have time to watch it. Then Holly and I went to Quinceanera (yes, the n should have squiggly, Eduardo) and Little Miss Sunshine. Quinceanera is over-rated, in my opinion…it was fine, but also not amazing. LMS was funny, I liked it! Yay for catching up on stuff that will never come here!
-I got to see my little Samuel Clemens!!!!! (my dog, Sammy) She is soooooooooo cute, awwww, I missed her. She didn’t realize who I was for a minute, which is depressing, but she quickly remembered! Awwww, I want her here with me in Japan!!! She wouldn’t look at me on the day I left, she was pissed! I felt bad. Apparently she was pouting all day long, awwww! Little Samuel Clemens is clazy like that.
-Lots of shopping and eating were done! I have new clothes, TONS of products, and about 10 extra pounds on me! I also drank a shitload of alcohol and am currently making amends with my liver. He’s not talking to me right now, but I am sure he will cave in eventually.
-I went to Shanda’s wedding on the last Saturday, which was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun. It was weird to see (chubby!) GHS alum, but I am so glad I went! Shanda looked AMAZING and their ceremony was sweet! And short! YAY to non-Catholic weddings!!!!!! Aww, I may have gotten a little misty-eyed. Afterwards we danced our asses off and I burned off at least one meal from the vacation :) Aww, it was soooooooooo fun!
I did lots more stuff, but I am too lazy to write about it. I am really glad I went, though. I didn’t realize how much I missed places and my friends and family until I went (and came back to Japan). It was surprising! But it was fun fun fun, yies yies yies.
Now I am back in the land of everything-being-too-short, no car for Jefu, work and muggy weather, bah! But it’s all good, except for the work and weather part. I don’t wanna teach again, I like summer vacation! Also, because I got used to Oregon weather I am seriously sweating my ASS off and looking really embarrassing. I am just covered in sweat and everyone else is fine. Oy.
Anyway, yeah, America=fun, but Japan=fun, too! The end.
Do do do do America, do do do do America! Do do do do America, do do do do America!
Cant you tell from my subject that I am singing the song from West Side Story? Mmmmhmmmm. Anyway, I went back to the States for 10-ish days! I had a great time…..TONS of shopping, TONS of eating, and TONS of drinking! I gained approximately seven billion kilos over the course of ten days, and I am sure my liver is not amused with me, either, as I drank like 9 of the days! Bad news bears, but fun, so who cares!
Anyway, I will write about the trip later….I will just write random thoughts for now:
-Dude, I forgot what it felt like to live in a country that isn’t ridiculously humid!!! People were complaining about the heat and I was like, “you think this is hot?!” It was sooooooooooooo nice to not be sweating all of the time (and barely sweating at all ever!). However, I was a huge pussy when it came to the “cold,” as it got cool a couple of the nights and I was freezing my damn ass off!
-It wasn’t too weird to drive for the first time in 13 months, but I did have about five driving-on-the-left-side incidents. Fortunately most of them occurred when I was only the passenger!
-It is weird, because literally RIGHT when I get back to the States, I go back into American mode. The same thing happened last time I went back (after study abroad). Right when I get in the airport it feels like I haven’t spent however long in Japan and nothing is TOO strange and foreign. In fact, I had more reverse culture shock at Narita than in Oregon! But that was a pleasant surprise. Other than seriously staring at all of the faaaaaaaaaaaaaat people and freaking out about how tall everyone around me was, I didn’t have many issues.
-Because I was in American mode, it also didn’t seem like it had been 13 months since having good cheeses, good wine, prosciutto, cheap Mexican food, microbrews, gooooooood pizza, Thai food, good Chinese food, etc. Like, it was nice to have them, but it didn’t seem like I had been dreaming about them for 13 months (yes, I am a loser)! Strange.
-Service workers in the States aren’t as rude as I remember them, yo! I thought I would freak out that they didn’t have a Japanese way of service about them, but everyone was way nice! It was creepy! I did seem retarded half the time, though, because I don’t remember how to make stupid small talk and answer the random questions they ask at registers and stuff. I sounded like a foreign exchange student or something!
-Although I had English issues while there (dude, any optional vocab words have been completely erased from my mind), I didn’t have too many accidental Japanese moments! I nearly sumimasen-ed waiters for the first few days (the closest I came was opening my mouth to say it to an Asian-American waiter….sneaky non-Asian Asians! Hehehehe), but I did a lot better than I thought. However, a world without “abunai,” “deshou,” and “neeeeee!” is a world I don’t want to be a part of!
I am sure I have more shit to say, but this is boring so I will end it!
Anyway, I will write about the trip later….I will just write random thoughts for now:
-Dude, I forgot what it felt like to live in a country that isn’t ridiculously humid!!! People were complaining about the heat and I was like, “you think this is hot?!” It was sooooooooooooo nice to not be sweating all of the time (and barely sweating at all ever!). However, I was a huge pussy when it came to the “cold,” as it got cool a couple of the nights and I was freezing my damn ass off!
-It wasn’t too weird to drive for the first time in 13 months, but I did have about five driving-on-the-left-side incidents. Fortunately most of them occurred when I was only the passenger!
-It is weird, because literally RIGHT when I get back to the States, I go back into American mode. The same thing happened last time I went back (after study abroad). Right when I get in the airport it feels like I haven’t spent however long in Japan and nothing is TOO strange and foreign. In fact, I had more reverse culture shock at Narita than in Oregon! But that was a pleasant surprise. Other than seriously staring at all of the faaaaaaaaaaaaaat people and freaking out about how tall everyone around me was, I didn’t have many issues.
-Because I was in American mode, it also didn’t seem like it had been 13 months since having good cheeses, good wine, prosciutto, cheap Mexican food, microbrews, gooooooood pizza, Thai food, good Chinese food, etc. Like, it was nice to have them, but it didn’t seem like I had been dreaming about them for 13 months (yes, I am a loser)! Strange.
-Service workers in the States aren’t as rude as I remember them, yo! I thought I would freak out that they didn’t have a Japanese way of service about them, but everyone was way nice! It was creepy! I did seem retarded half the time, though, because I don’t remember how to make stupid small talk and answer the random questions they ask at registers and stuff. I sounded like a foreign exchange student or something!
-Although I had English issues while there (dude, any optional vocab words have been completely erased from my mind), I didn’t have too many accidental Japanese moments! I nearly sumimasen-ed waiters for the first few days (the closest I came was opening my mouth to say it to an Asian-American waiter….sneaky non-Asian Asians! Hehehehe), but I did a lot better than I thought. However, a world without “abunai,” “deshou,” and “neeeeee!” is a world I don’t want to be a part of!
I am sure I have more shit to say, but this is boring so I will end it!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
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)
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)
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
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 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!
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!
Monday, August 21, 2006
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.
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.
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.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Saturday in Toks
On Saturday, Ann, Cindy and I went down to Tokyo to see Movin’ Out, the Billy Joel musical (by the U.S. touring cast, not in Japanese). It was really good!!! It isn’t really a musical as much as a modern ballet. The whole show is danced, while a Billy Joel-ish guy sings all of the songs on a stage above them. The dancing was amazing! I can’t even imagine being able to do that once, let alone every day?! Fucking crazy, yo. The show tells the story of high school friends being sent to Vietnam, then the aftermath. It was really good and I’m very glad we went! I haven’t had enough theatre in Japan!
In Japan, theatre is way too expensive, and even though we had 8000 yen tickets, we were in the second-to-last row! Um, not acceptable for Jeff the Theatre Queen! Fortunately the show wasn’t sold out, so we moved down to the expensive seats for the second act!
After the show, we went to Yoyogi Koen for Tokyo Gay Pride. We arrived to the MOST depressing pride celebration I have ever seen! There were like five people there and it was silent! It turned out that the parade had just left, so we wandered around looking for it….only to find more silence! Dude, Japanese Pride parades are soooooo Japanese! They were all quiet and organized and shit! Hello, where are the noisy Dykes on Bikes and shit?! After being thoroughly disappointed, the girls and I went to Starbucks, where we got a great table to judge people on the street for an hour. We then returned to the Pride place in the park, and it was MUCH better than before. There were lots of guys and it was actually noisy! Yay. It was nice to see gay people actually existing in Japan. However, it totally felt like we live in Communist China or some shit, as you weren’t allowed to take people’s pictures without permission, ‘cause some people couldn’t be outed? Um, it’s fucking PRIDE, people, you can’t be like “I’m proud of being gay! But don’t take pictures of me, I don’t want people to KNOW I’m gay!” Bah. So they need to work on that, but at least there actually is Pride here, I guess.
In the evening we went to a Japanese-French restaurant that Cindy had read about in The Japan Times. It was good, but they took their sweet time with the food! We got a course set, and they totally were going purposely slow so that we could order a million expensive drinks in the meantime! We were stubborn gaijin, tho, and refused to get shitfaced (and poor), unlike SOME people in the restaurant! One table seriously drank at LEAST three bottles of wine, and there were only three people at the table! Anyway, the dinner was good, but way too filling, despite not being too much food. I am officially gonna die in the States.
The other good news about Saturday was that we got tons of flyers about musicals coming to Japan….including Tick Tick Boom! YAY!!!! TTB is a three-person show by Jonathan Larson, the writer of Rent. I have seen videos of it (perfectly legal, of course), but have yet to see the show in person. Anyway, there is a touring Japanese production of it in November, so Ann and I got tickets to see it! Woot!!! Sadly we didn’t know about it sooner, as we got tickets in the back of the theatre (WHAT Japanese people know of TTB?! Seriously), but at least we’re seeing it. And the guy playing Jonathan was Mark in the Japanese production of Rent! Appropriate! So I am seeing both TTB AND Rent in November….a Jonathan Larson-filled month! WOOOOOOOOOOOT!
In Japan, theatre is way too expensive, and even though we had 8000 yen tickets, we were in the second-to-last row! Um, not acceptable for Jeff the Theatre Queen! Fortunately the show wasn’t sold out, so we moved down to the expensive seats for the second act!
After the show, we went to Yoyogi Koen for Tokyo Gay Pride. We arrived to the MOST depressing pride celebration I have ever seen! There were like five people there and it was silent! It turned out that the parade had just left, so we wandered around looking for it….only to find more silence! Dude, Japanese Pride parades are soooooo Japanese! They were all quiet and organized and shit! Hello, where are the noisy Dykes on Bikes and shit?! After being thoroughly disappointed, the girls and I went to Starbucks, where we got a great table to judge people on the street for an hour. We then returned to the Pride place in the park, and it was MUCH better than before. There were lots of guys and it was actually noisy! Yay. It was nice to see gay people actually existing in Japan. However, it totally felt like we live in Communist China or some shit, as you weren’t allowed to take people’s pictures without permission, ‘cause some people couldn’t be outed? Um, it’s fucking PRIDE, people, you can’t be like “I’m proud of being gay! But don’t take pictures of me, I don’t want people to KNOW I’m gay!” Bah. So they need to work on that, but at least there actually is Pride here, I guess.
In the evening we went to a Japanese-French restaurant that Cindy had read about in The Japan Times. It was good, but they took their sweet time with the food! We got a course set, and they totally were going purposely slow so that we could order a million expensive drinks in the meantime! We were stubborn gaijin, tho, and refused to get shitfaced (and poor), unlike SOME people in the restaurant! One table seriously drank at LEAST three bottles of wine, and there were only three people at the table! Anyway, the dinner was good, but way too filling, despite not being too much food. I am officially gonna die in the States.
The other good news about Saturday was that we got tons of flyers about musicals coming to Japan….including Tick Tick Boom! YAY!!!! TTB is a three-person show by Jonathan Larson, the writer of Rent. I have seen videos of it (perfectly legal, of course), but have yet to see the show in person. Anyway, there is a touring Japanese production of it in November, so Ann and I got tickets to see it! Woot!!! Sadly we didn’t know about it sooner, as we got tickets in the back of the theatre (WHAT Japanese people know of TTB?! Seriously), but at least we’re seeing it. And the guy playing Jonathan was Mark in the Japanese production of Rent! Appropriate! So I am seeing both TTB AND Rent in November….a Jonathan Larson-filled month! WOOOOOOOOOOOT!
Shake your bon-bon
Today is the first day of obon (or “bon”) in Japan, which is the designated time that practically everyone in Japan goes back to their hometown to visit their family and worship their ancestors (K, there is a better way to put that, but I can’t think of it). Thank god I am not Japanese, because trains, planes, buses and roads are soooo crowded at this time of year with everyone going home! Tack on the new airport drama and it’s badness all around.
Anyway, it is interesting that they have obon, as the closest things for Americans would be like Thanksgiving or Christmas, I guess? That’s when you see your family, but we don’t ever give a shit about our ancestors, hehe (well, maybe Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day, but not really).
Being at school sucks even more during obon, as almost every single teacher is taking nenkyu and is on “vacation” (I don’t consider family and ancestor time to be vacation!). There are THREE teachers here today! Sooooooooooooooooooooo boring. C’mon, kyoto sensei, tell me I can go home!!!
Anyway, it is interesting that they have obon, as the closest things for Americans would be like Thanksgiving or Christmas, I guess? That’s when you see your family, but we don’t ever give a shit about our ancestors, hehe (well, maybe Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day, but not really).
Being at school sucks even more during obon, as almost every single teacher is taking nenkyu and is on “vacation” (I don’t consider family and ancestor time to be vacation!). There are THREE teachers here today! Sooooooooooooooooooooo boring. C’mon, kyoto sensei, tell me I can go home!!!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Naughty bits!
K, not really, but here are some either naughty or just plain random pics that didn't make it to the semi-family-friendly photo site...
The Country Ma'ams being "sexy" with Country Ma'ams! Mmmmhmmm!
In Korea, we all had the chance to marry Yon-sama! How exciting. Ann takes her turn...
Now Cindy....
Dude, Yon-sama is queenier than me, he should be in the damn bride's dress!
Dude, it's sad when you get excited at the thought of a vending machine with food in it! Vending machines are EVERYWHERE in Japan, but they only have drinks (well, there are also porn ones, battery ones, rice ones, condom ones.....everything but food!). Anyway, the ones in Korea had like big boxes of cookies and shit! Clazy.
Beer in Korea has odd names, yo. Sean's beer likes it could be "Shite" when it is turned properly....
This one looks like it could be "Ass."
And best of all, we have OB, which hopefully is NOT made by the tampon maker! Eww.
Japanese boys LOVE dressing like girls! Akihito got WAY into being Hermione in our skit!
Misaki, the stud of the camp, turned into one big-boobed girl in no time!!!
In Mexican churches, they have all kinds of creepy-ass religious mannequins all over the place. They are CREEPY. Eduardo and I found the treasure of all religious mannequins, tho......gay Jesus!
After leaving the church, Eduardo and I were talking about gay Jesus. We had different takes on it. Proper, polite Eduardo described Jesus as "being in a compromising position," while I said that it was Jesus taking it up the ass. Either way, Jesus is GAY, and a total nelly bottom, to boot!
And just for fun....me and Eduardo, awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
The Country Ma'ams being "sexy" with Country Ma'ams! Mmmmhmmm!
In Korea, we all had the chance to marry Yon-sama! How exciting. Ann takes her turn...
Now Cindy....
Dude, Yon-sama is queenier than me, he should be in the damn bride's dress!
Dude, it's sad when you get excited at the thought of a vending machine with food in it! Vending machines are EVERYWHERE in Japan, but they only have drinks (well, there are also porn ones, battery ones, rice ones, condom ones.....everything but food!). Anyway, the ones in Korea had like big boxes of cookies and shit! Clazy.
Beer in Korea has odd names, yo. Sean's beer likes it could be "Shite" when it is turned properly....
This one looks like it could be "Ass."
And best of all, we have OB, which hopefully is NOT made by the tampon maker! Eww.
Japanese boys LOVE dressing like girls! Akihito got WAY into being Hermione in our skit!
Misaki, the stud of the camp, turned into one big-boobed girl in no time!!!
In Mexican churches, they have all kinds of creepy-ass religious mannequins all over the place. They are CREEPY. Eduardo and I found the treasure of all religious mannequins, tho......gay Jesus!
After leaving the church, Eduardo and I were talking about gay Jesus. We had different takes on it. Proper, polite Eduardo described Jesus as "being in a compromising position," while I said that it was Jesus taking it up the ass. Either way, Jesus is GAY, and a total nelly bottom, to boot!
And just for fun....me and Eduardo, awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Picture Update, FINALLY
Yes, I added a shitload shitload shitload of pics to my photo site! Go there NOW, 'cause I did it for YOU and it was BORING! Bastards ;)
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Little Samuel Clemens!!!
Sammy is officially the cutest dog EVER!!!!! And I get to see her in 2 1/2 weeks! YAY!!!!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Yabuzuka Matsuri
On Saturday Cindy was nice enough to accompany me to the Yabuzuka matsuri (festival). I went by myself last year and it was soooooo boring and awkward, as I didn’t know anyone (it was a few days after coming here) and I just walked around for 3 hours by myself (sniff!).
Well, it was still kinda boring and awkard this year, but at least Cindy and I could talk shit about people! Hahahaha. Poor Cindy got judged by every single student that passed us (and the entire school was there), as all of my students were searching for gossip between us. I was asked if she was my wife, fiancé, girlfriend, friend, and, most surprisingly, SISTER?! Um, yes, there IS a very strong resemblance…..crazy students.
Anyway, apparently Shinders made a lasting impression, as I am at school today and they are all asking me about her again! Oy.
Well, it was still kinda boring and awkard this year, but at least Cindy and I could talk shit about people! Hahahaha. Poor Cindy got judged by every single student that passed us (and the entire school was there), as all of my students were searching for gossip between us. I was asked if she was my wife, fiancé, girlfriend, friend, and, most surprisingly, SISTER?! Um, yes, there IS a very strong resemblance…..crazy students.
Anyway, apparently Shinders made a lasting impression, as I am at school today and they are all asking me about her again! Oy.
UNESCO Kyanpu
Last week was a busy week (usually an oxymoron during the summer!) for ALTs, as we all had to go to the UNESCO English Camp from Wednesday through Friday. Each chuugakkou sends their English-y students, and they get to play games, speak English, do skits, etc. It is pretty much an excuse for everyone to get no sleep and have a big sleepover (don’t tell UNESCO that!). There were 15 ALTs (!!!) and 51 kids, so it was a lot of people. We all stayed the night there (well, most of us) Wednesday and Thursday night, so by the end of camp everyone was pretty much sleepwalking.
Each ALT got a group of about four people, and Cindy and I combined our 2nensei boys groups so that it was more fun and less awkward. We were in charge of doing a skit, and we ended up doing Harry Potter. Dude, Yasufumi (one of our boys) is totally an Asian Harry Potter, it was a bit freaky! It was actually a fun skit to prepare…I had forgotten the maturity level of 2nensei boys, as they attempted to incorporate as many fart jokes as possible within the five minutes. We also had the backbone of all skit humor….cross-dressing! We needed a Hermione, and since the group was all boys, we had Akihito dress in drag. Oh, it was amusing. He got wayyyy into it! He did his make-up over like three times! A bit worrisome!
Anyway, the camp was a lot of fun. It is nice to see the kids outside of the school setting, as you can actually see their real personalities….plus you can get all kinds of gossip out of them! Woot! I found out what they think of teachers, who is dating who (I know at least one of those should be “whom,” but whatever), etc! I need to hang out with my kids more often ;)
The only bad thing about the camp (other than getting NO sleep) was that the food was UNBELIEVABLY awful. Like, I have never had worse food in Japan EVER. Our first meal was curry, which is the basic “It’s cheap and you can’t fuck it up, so let’s have curry!” meal. Yet somehow they fucked up fucking curry. It was the saltiest shit EVER. It was like a salt lick with brown sauce over it. UGH. All of the meals were awful, and in the entire three days we had like one serving of vegetables. I felt sooooooooooo fat and malnutrition-ed on Friday that my dinner was just a shitload of vegetables. Fucking camp food! Ugh.
But anyway, the camp was way more fun than hanging out in the boring shokuinshitsu, plus I get 2 days of daikyu out of it! Yeeeea!
Each ALT got a group of about four people, and Cindy and I combined our 2nensei boys groups so that it was more fun and less awkward. We were in charge of doing a skit, and we ended up doing Harry Potter. Dude, Yasufumi (one of our boys) is totally an Asian Harry Potter, it was a bit freaky! It was actually a fun skit to prepare…I had forgotten the maturity level of 2nensei boys, as they attempted to incorporate as many fart jokes as possible within the five minutes. We also had the backbone of all skit humor….cross-dressing! We needed a Hermione, and since the group was all boys, we had Akihito dress in drag. Oh, it was amusing. He got wayyyy into it! He did his make-up over like three times! A bit worrisome!
Anyway, the camp was a lot of fun. It is nice to see the kids outside of the school setting, as you can actually see their real personalities….plus you can get all kinds of gossip out of them! Woot! I found out what they think of teachers, who is dating who (I know at least one of those should be “whom,” but whatever), etc! I need to hang out with my kids more often ;)
The only bad thing about the camp (other than getting NO sleep) was that the food was UNBELIEVABLY awful. Like, I have never had worse food in Japan EVER. Our first meal was curry, which is the basic “It’s cheap and you can’t fuck it up, so let’s have curry!” meal. Yet somehow they fucked up fucking curry. It was the saltiest shit EVER. It was like a salt lick with brown sauce over it. UGH. All of the meals were awful, and in the entire three days we had like one serving of vegetables. I felt sooooooooooo fat and malnutrition-ed on Friday that my dinner was just a shitload of vegetables. Fucking camp food! Ugh.
But anyway, the camp was way more fun than hanging out in the boring shokuinshitsu, plus I get 2 days of daikyu out of it! Yeeeea!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Munchers
McDonalds' new seasonal snack is the most lesbionic sounding thing I have ever heard of!!!
Yes, you can now go to McDonald's and order Munchers! They should have a campaign in which you get a free Melissa Etheridge with each Muncher purchased! Hrm, actually, I would totally buy Munchers then. Does that make me a lesbian?
Yes, you can now go to McDonald's and order Munchers! They should have a campaign in which you get a free Melissa Etheridge with each Muncher purchased! Hrm, actually, I would totally buy Munchers then. Does that make me a lesbian?
Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
I just deleted the phone numbers of all of my friends who left from my keitai! That makes their absence much more realistic! Mehhhhhhhhh! Me no rikey! Sniff, sniff.
Damn my Japanese stomach!
On Saturday I met up with Ann at AEON to see Gedo Senki, an anime movie by Hayao Miyazaki’s son. No, I am not a scary otaku, but I usually like Miyazaki’s movies. Well, the same can’t be applied to his son’s, apparently, as it was NOT ADD-friendly and was kinda weird and just annoyed me. Plus it was confusing and I didn’t follow all of it, plus I got sticky dango sauce all over my hands a half-hour into it, so I was just pissed off for like half of the movie, hehe. Oh, well.
After that we met up with Mami and Cindy to get Indian food at Moti in Ota. Sadly we were fucking senior citizens and ate dinner at 5:30?! Talk about the fucking Early Bird Special, yo! That is just creepy. So, that left us with PLENTY of free time afterwards and we had no idea what to do. Mami is awesome and has a car and was like, “Let’s go to Cold Stone in Sano!” Yay! Cold Stone semi-recently opened in the sorta-new part of the outlet mall over in Sano, and I hadn’t been, so that was exciting. We drove there, wandered around for a while, then got us some ice cream.
I hadn’t had Cold Stone since high school, but we all got smalls, and they were apparently smaller than the small size in the States. However, I couldn’t finish the damn thing, felt nasty, and could barely move afterwards! Ugh! This does not bode well for my trip back home. Hrm. It was yummy, but was just too much and too filling!
It was a fun night, though! Thanks for taking us around, Mami! Tanoshikattayo :)
After that we met up with Mami and Cindy to get Indian food at Moti in Ota. Sadly we were fucking senior citizens and ate dinner at 5:30?! Talk about the fucking Early Bird Special, yo! That is just creepy. So, that left us with PLENTY of free time afterwards and we had no idea what to do. Mami is awesome and has a car and was like, “Let’s go to Cold Stone in Sano!” Yay! Cold Stone semi-recently opened in the sorta-new part of the outlet mall over in Sano, and I hadn’t been, so that was exciting. We drove there, wandered around for a while, then got us some ice cream.
I hadn’t had Cold Stone since high school, but we all got smalls, and they were apparently smaller than the small size in the States. However, I couldn’t finish the damn thing, felt nasty, and could barely move afterwards! Ugh! This does not bode well for my trip back home. Hrm. It was yummy, but was just too much and too filling!
It was a fun night, though! Thanks for taking us around, Mami! Tanoshikattayo :)
Gokiburi game no more!
I can’t believe I forgot to blog about this story from a week ago! Too lazy to re-write, so I will paste from an E-Mail:
Oh! I don't think I told you about me nearly being killed by a COCKROACH IN MY APARTMENT! K, the cockroach’s version of the story may be along the lines of "Jeff chased me around the apartment as I tried to escape and he smashed me with his shoe," but I stand by my story, god dammit!
Every night I air out my apartment by opening the sliding doors and leaving the screens shut....however, Japanese bugs are sneaky and somehow break into the apartment anyway. Usually it's just mosquitoes and little things that aren't TOO bad (plus I have these amazing (I'm sure cancer-causing) plug-in things that keep mosquitoes away, so it has been better lately). Anyway, on Friday night I went into the kitchen and was washing my dishes when I saw something dark and HUGE move freaking FAST in the corner of my eye! NEVER A GOOD SIGN! It was on the wall but darted behind the refrigerator. I immediately freaked out and got a shoe to smash it with, but it was a sneaky bugger and wouldn't reveal itself! I kept shaking the refrigerator, but to no avail. I then proceeded to move the refrigerator that was heavy and hadn't been moved in probably about two years. When I finally managed to move it, I saw that there was a HUGE FREAKING COCKROACH on the damn wall! AAAAHHHHH! After throwing things at it, it darted across the kitchen with me and my shoe in hot pursuit. Holy crap, I had no idea that they were a) so huge, b) so fast, and c) have freaking WINGS?! What the hell! Finally after much yelling and swearing at it, I managed to introduce him to my friend Mister Shoe, and promptly called Cindy, who had previously had cockroach problems. After proudly proclaiming that I had smashed it, she informed me, "But you're not supposed to smash them, their eggs can fly all over the place!" Ack!!!!!!!! I then ran and got the vacuum and proceeded to vacuum my entire kitchen at 10 PM. Fun times! Gross gross gross! Not fun! So the next day I bought bug bombs and bombed my entire apartment. It still kinda smells funny. Yay, more cancer! So yes, that was my nice relaxing Friday night.
Oh! I don't think I told you about me nearly being killed by a COCKROACH IN MY APARTMENT! K, the cockroach’s version of the story may be along the lines of "Jeff chased me around the apartment as I tried to escape and he smashed me with his shoe," but I stand by my story, god dammit!
Every night I air out my apartment by opening the sliding doors and leaving the screens shut....however, Japanese bugs are sneaky and somehow break into the apartment anyway. Usually it's just mosquitoes and little things that aren't TOO bad (plus I have these amazing (I'm sure cancer-causing) plug-in things that keep mosquitoes away, so it has been better lately). Anyway, on Friday night I went into the kitchen and was washing my dishes when I saw something dark and HUGE move freaking FAST in the corner of my eye! NEVER A GOOD SIGN! It was on the wall but darted behind the refrigerator. I immediately freaked out and got a shoe to smash it with, but it was a sneaky bugger and wouldn't reveal itself! I kept shaking the refrigerator, but to no avail. I then proceeded to move the refrigerator that was heavy and hadn't been moved in probably about two years. When I finally managed to move it, I saw that there was a HUGE FREAKING COCKROACH on the damn wall! AAAAHHHHH! After throwing things at it, it darted across the kitchen with me and my shoe in hot pursuit. Holy crap, I had no idea that they were a) so huge, b) so fast, and c) have freaking WINGS?! What the hell! Finally after much yelling and swearing at it, I managed to introduce him to my friend Mister Shoe, and promptly called Cindy, who had previously had cockroach problems. After proudly proclaiming that I had smashed it, she informed me, "But you're not supposed to smash them, their eggs can fly all over the place!" Ack!!!!!!!! I then ran and got the vacuum and proceeded to vacuum my entire kitchen at 10 PM. Fun times! Gross gross gross! Not fun! So the next day I bought bug bombs and bombed my entire apartment. It still kinda smells funny. Yay, more cancer! So yes, that was my nice relaxing Friday night.
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