I lied. Evan had a cold and as a result I treated him to perhaps the most boring weekend in Tokyo/Kawagoe/Hidaka ever. On a positive note, my language partner seemed to enjoy meeting someone new and Evan and I ate ramen at my favorite ramen shop.
After his conference, he made his way back up to Hidaka just in time for our weekly mah jong night. I`m not sure if I`ve mentioned it before (and I`m far too lazy to check), but four of us in Hidaka have started playing mah jong every Wednesday night. By "playing" I mean stumbling through a game or two (we`re currently attempting to tackle the complexities of scoring).
Unfortunately for Evan, I had a plane to catch early on Friday morning, so I left him in my apartment (it would be cruel to make him also get up at 4). The 2-hr train ride to Haneda airport was surprisingly gorgeous (I got to see the sunrise over Tokyo). I made it through the airport with no difficulties (fyi, Skymark Airlines staff have remarkably good English skills), and promptly fell asleep for the entire duration of the flight.
Sapporo wasn`t as cold as I anticipated it to be, although I was shocked to find out it gets dark before 5 (I don`t know how people in Alaska can handle it. Yes, I`m referencing Melissa). The snow was fun and I managed to make it through the entire weekend without falling on my face (although there were a number of close calls). I met a bunch of Nick`s friends including a guy from Washington DC who I promised to take out clubbing with us in Tokyo sometime, and a Japanese guy who may be studying in Hawaii in the future.
Ironically, I didn`t do much in the way of "Sapporo stuff," but I did get to eat soup curry (basically exactly what it sounds like) and ramen with corn (apparently two of the things Hokkaido is known for). I was also introduced to Marimokkori, the mascot of Hokkaido. This little green figure represents the abundance of a certain seaweed found only in Hokkaido that is either known for making men fertile or making them larger and, as a result, has a rather prominent bulge. Marimokkori can be found in a number of different outfits and colors, but his most common incarnation is with a superhero cape.
Anyway, we wandered around Susukino (allegedly the AIDS capital of Japan). The area of the city was pretty quiet since it was early afternoon, but it was fascinating to see signs listing the names of the 20+ bars and clubs that were located in a single building that, to the unfamiliar eye, appeared to be a regular office building. We also visited Odori Park`s annual White Illumination display (basically like most Christmas lights displays except mostly white lights). At the center of the park was the German market. I found this fascinating because most of the booths were staffed by Germans. As the shopkeepers bustled about in their little lighted stalls and the Japanese shoppers peered into the stores, the market seemed almost zoo-like. Other highlights include the Sapporo Tower (which seems to be a knock-off of Tokyo Tower which is itself a knock-off of the Eiffel Tower) and a woman playing a synthesizer inside a giant bubble with giant speakers. As with any night out, we also went to an izakaya (restaurant where drinks take priority over food) and karaoke.
Nick is also getting sick. So is Dan. There is a good chance I will be getting sick this week.
I came home yesterday, had dinner with Dan, and watched the Sopranos. Today is Day 1 of final exams at my junior high school, so I have no classes. I taught for exactly 20 minutes on Thursday (and Friday was a holiday). However, my co-workers seemed to enjoy the cookies and corn-chocolate that I brought them, so the day is going well.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Hidaka city people festival and a teacher's trip to an onsen
My general habit with this blog is to post on Sundays. Unfortunately, I was so exhausted last Sunday that I neglected to update. Bad llama!
I'll start by sharing with you why I was so tired. Last weekend was the 日高市民祭り (Hidaka city people festival), and the office thought it was a good opportunity for us to teach the city about what an AET is (in JET lingo, my job is ALT - Assistant Language Teacher, in Hidaka, my job is AET - Assistant English Teacher). As a result, the six of us found ourselves spending most of the weekend at the Hidaka arena and making hand turkeys and snowflakes with children. Kaz did a lot of breakdancing, and I danced a little hula. A highlight of the weekend was dancing for the mayor who kept exclaiming "sugoi!" and insisting I teach the local hula group how to "do real hula."
*sidenote that has a related purpose*
At least four of us (maybe more, I'm not sure) take our dry cleaning to the same little shop near our apartments. She's super sweet, and recognizes all of us (not that hard, but still its nice that she asks us how teaching is going).
Anyway, she complimented Kaz's dancing by saying "黒人のおどりすごい！" which essentially translates to "the black person's dancing is awesome!" She previously said to another AET (in Japanese) that "your black friend has really good Japanese."
I also crashed my bike into a guardrail on the way to the arena. It hurt alot, and it was only a few days ago that I was able to sit on my bike with out pain. Sad, I know.
The smart thing to do after working from 8-4 when you know you have to do it all over again the next day is to go home and sleep. Dan and I went out instead. Our friend Albert hosted a party only four train stops away, so we really couldn't not go. Furthermore, he prepared Cuban food (black beans over rice), and I never had Cuban food before (it was pretty good!). To condense a long, awesome night into a short paragraph, we played a really fast game of "I never," had a mini-dance party, and took a ton of photos. One of my favorite moments of the night involved my friend Amy exclaiming "I've never felt pleasure like this before!" while I was giving her a back massage. The hilarity was further compounded when Albert, from whom Amy stole the massage by inserting herself between Albert and me, said "I want to feel pleasure too!" As expected, Dan and I (intentionally) missed the last train so the party turned into a big sleepover.
Unfortunately, the next morning, Dan and I had to go back to the festival. We left Albert's apartment at 6:30. It was painful for a number of reasons (not the least of which involved my bicycle and a guardrail).
Then I came home and slept.
You would think, since we worked the weekend, we would get Monday and Tuesday off. But no, instead we got two "substitute holidays" to be used for a day when we don't have class (in other words, the days we would be doing nothing in the 教育センター (education center). One of these days was used on Wednesday. I'm not really sure what the holiday was, but here are the facts I know: only people in Saitama get the holiday (therefore its not a national holiday), my VP told the other teachers that they had to take nenkyu (paid leave), and my co-teacher, when talking about the holiday, sang "Happy Birthday" to Saitama. Essentially, it seems as though its a birthday celebration for the prefecture, but they don't care enough to make it a real holiday.
Anyway, since we had Wednesday off, Dan, Zac, and I decided to go out and meet up with our friend Sabrina in her area of Saitama (for reference, Sabrina is the girl who missed her last train and ended up spending the night at my apartment). First stop was dinner at a restaurant that was half-restaurant, half-child's toy box, and half-greenhouse (it's like manbearpig. if you don't get the reference, don't ask). Next, we went bowling. Dan lost, and as a result, he lost a bet. In the interest of preserving your impression of my friends and I as responsible, mature people who are sane enough to work with children, I won't go into details except to say I will be surprised if we actually go through with the terms of the bet. After bowling was a bar where Zac could not keep his hands off a display of daikon (again, don't ask) and Dan and Sabrina were sure the waitstaff was laughing at them behind their backs. We missed the last train and spent the night at Sabrina's apartment.
Breakfast the next morning was at Denny's. As one of my TIUA students proudly said, "Denny's in Japan has rrrrrice!" (he was very proud of his ability to pronounce the letter"r"). We then watched Bourne Identity, and I felt sick from the shaky camera. Lunch/dinner was at an odd Chinese restaurant.
As with Sunday, after I returned home, I promptly fell asleep.
As if my life didn't sound crazy enough, the following Friday was my school's annual teacher's trip. We went to an onsen in "Tokyo" (actually far away from the city, but in the prefecture). It was absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of fun. The main downside was I was exhausted from listening to/speaking Japanese all day. The enkai (a work dinner party that is more about drinking and pouring drinks for others than the actual food) was a lot of fun and was followed by the best way I've seen to get people to sing karaoke. We played bingo (I had fun and made them call the numbers in English), and the winner was awarded a prize and forced to sing. I won a scarf and sang "Yesterday" with the art teacher who really likes English. The onsen was fun, and the water felt amazing (i think it was diverted from the nearby river). The next day we went up a mountain on a cable car and saw a temple. I'd write more about it, but that's about it.
I then hopped on a train and met my friend Evan (from Willamette). He has a conference in Tokyo this week, so he came up a couple of days early to visit. I'm not quite sure what we're going to do yet, but I'm near Tokyo, so I'm sure we'll find something interesting.
I'll start by sharing with you why I was so tired. Last weekend was the 日高市民祭り (Hidaka city people festival), and the office thought it was a good opportunity for us to teach the city about what an AET is (in JET lingo, my job is ALT - Assistant Language Teacher, in Hidaka, my job is AET - Assistant English Teacher). As a result, the six of us found ourselves spending most of the weekend at the Hidaka arena and making hand turkeys and snowflakes with children. Kaz did a lot of breakdancing, and I danced a little hula. A highlight of the weekend was dancing for the mayor who kept exclaiming "sugoi!" and insisting I teach the local hula group how to "do real hula."
*sidenote that has a related purpose*
At least four of us (maybe more, I'm not sure) take our dry cleaning to the same little shop near our apartments. She's super sweet, and recognizes all of us (not that hard, but still its nice that she asks us how teaching is going).
Anyway, she complimented Kaz's dancing by saying "黒人のおどりすごい！" which essentially translates to "the black person's dancing is awesome!" She previously said to another AET (in Japanese) that "your black friend has really good Japanese."
I also crashed my bike into a guardrail on the way to the arena. It hurt alot, and it was only a few days ago that I was able to sit on my bike with out pain. Sad, I know.
The smart thing to do after working from 8-4 when you know you have to do it all over again the next day is to go home and sleep. Dan and I went out instead. Our friend Albert hosted a party only four train stops away, so we really couldn't not go. Furthermore, he prepared Cuban food (black beans over rice), and I never had Cuban food before (it was pretty good!). To condense a long, awesome night into a short paragraph, we played a really fast game of "I never," had a mini-dance party, and took a ton of photos. One of my favorite moments of the night involved my friend Amy exclaiming "I've never felt pleasure like this before!" while I was giving her a back massage. The hilarity was further compounded when Albert, from whom Amy stole the massage by inserting herself between Albert and me, said "I want to feel pleasure too!" As expected, Dan and I (intentionally) missed the last train so the party turned into a big sleepover.
Unfortunately, the next morning, Dan and I had to go back to the festival. We left Albert's apartment at 6:30. It was painful for a number of reasons (not the least of which involved my bicycle and a guardrail).
Then I came home and slept.
You would think, since we worked the weekend, we would get Monday and Tuesday off. But no, instead we got two "substitute holidays" to be used for a day when we don't have class (in other words, the days we would be doing nothing in the 教育センター (education center). One of these days was used on Wednesday. I'm not really sure what the holiday was, but here are the facts I know: only people in Saitama get the holiday (therefore its not a national holiday), my VP told the other teachers that they had to take nenkyu (paid leave), and my co-teacher, when talking about the holiday, sang "Happy Birthday" to Saitama. Essentially, it seems as though its a birthday celebration for the prefecture, but they don't care enough to make it a real holiday.
Anyway, since we had Wednesday off, Dan, Zac, and I decided to go out and meet up with our friend Sabrina in her area of Saitama (for reference, Sabrina is the girl who missed her last train and ended up spending the night at my apartment). First stop was dinner at a restaurant that was half-restaurant, half-child's toy box, and half-greenhouse (it's like manbearpig. if you don't get the reference, don't ask). Next, we went bowling. Dan lost, and as a result, he lost a bet. In the interest of preserving your impression of my friends and I as responsible, mature people who are sane enough to work with children, I won't go into details except to say I will be surprised if we actually go through with the terms of the bet. After bowling was a bar where Zac could not keep his hands off a display of daikon (again, don't ask) and Dan and Sabrina were sure the waitstaff was laughing at them behind their backs. We missed the last train and spent the night at Sabrina's apartment.
Breakfast the next morning was at Denny's. As one of my TIUA students proudly said, "Denny's in Japan has rrrrrice!" (he was very proud of his ability to pronounce the letter"r"). We then watched Bourne Identity, and I felt sick from the shaky camera. Lunch/dinner was at an odd Chinese restaurant.
As with Sunday, after I returned home, I promptly fell asleep.
As if my life didn't sound crazy enough, the following Friday was my school's annual teacher's trip. We went to an onsen in "Tokyo" (actually far away from the city, but in the prefecture). It was absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of fun. The main downside was I was exhausted from listening to/speaking Japanese all day. The enkai (a work dinner party that is more about drinking and pouring drinks for others than the actual food) was a lot of fun and was followed by the best way I've seen to get people to sing karaoke. We played bingo (I had fun and made them call the numbers in English), and the winner was awarded a prize and forced to sing. I won a scarf and sang "Yesterday" with the art teacher who really likes English. The onsen was fun, and the water felt amazing (i think it was diverted from the nearby river). The next day we went up a mountain on a cable car and saw a temple. I'd write more about it, but that's about it.
I then hopped on a train and met my friend Evan (from Willamette). He has a conference in Tokyo this week, so he came up a couple of days early to visit. I'm not quite sure what we're going to do yet, but I'm near Tokyo, so I'm sure we'll find something interesting.
Monday, November 5, 2007
MYC and four days in Omiya
I attended Saitama prefecture's midyear conference last week Wednesday and Thursday. I will say this past week has been one of the most interesting weeks I've had since I've been here. On Tuesday I taught five classes (essentially by myself as always) at my elementary school. It was a weird day in that my emotions rollercoastered up and down all day. My vice-principal came up to me in the 2 minutes I was at the junior high school to make sure I was okay. He told me that if I wanted to go home, that would be okay. He was super sweet, and (embarrassingly) I cried. Then I had to teach three classes of 5th graders how to say "I have a pencil." I thought the day was going to be one of my hardest, but teaching really picks me up. The hardest parts of the day were the five minute breaks between classes since that's when I had my thoughts to myself. When I returned to my junior high school, my principal sat down next to me and started talking. His English is terrible, so we talked in Japanese. Long story short, he was also really supportive and told me I didn't have to go to work the next day if I didn't feel up for it.
However, the next day I had no choice but to go to the Saitama conference. The first day's speaker was interesting, but irrelevant. The second day's speaker was relevant, but boring. The highlight was the post-conference party and actually talking to the other Saitama ALTs. Again, long story short, Kristine and I had a minor disagreement that, in the end, solved an aggravating problem, Zac wandered away from the group, and everyone got home safely.
Fast forward to Friday night. I went out for the first time with a big bunch of people I didn't know that well without my security blanket of Hidaka AETS. It was awesome. Enough said.
Fast forward to Saturday night. I met up with essentially a smaller version of the same group from Friday night plus Shane and Ryohei. 8 hours of wine and 2 hours of karaoke later, and I can comfortably say I've made new friends in Saitama. There are facebook photos (and a video or two) to prove it.
It was a great weekend.
However, the next day I had no choice but to go to the Saitama conference. The first day's speaker was interesting, but irrelevant. The second day's speaker was relevant, but boring. The highlight was the post-conference party and actually talking to the other Saitama ALTs. Again, long story short, Kristine and I had a minor disagreement that, in the end, solved an aggravating problem, Zac wandered away from the group, and everyone got home safely.
Fast forward to Friday night. I went out for the first time with a big bunch of people I didn't know that well without my security blanket of Hidaka AETS. It was awesome. Enough said.
Fast forward to Saturday night. I met up with essentially a smaller version of the same group from Friday night plus Shane and Ryohei. 8 hours of wine and 2 hours of karaoke later, and I can comfortably say I've made new friends in Saitama. There are facebook photos (and a video or two) to prove it.
It was a great weekend.
Monday, October 29, 2007
October 26th
So... a lot has happened since I last posted. Where shall I begin...
I didn't teach a single class on Thursday. I didn't set foot into a classroom the entire day. A silly person would have sat at her desk and complained about not having anything to do. I took the opportunity to reorganize the 8 or so full binders of papers left behind by my predecessors. As a result, I had a lovely 1.5 hour long conversation/English lesson with some first year students.
As I was about to leave, my co-teacher came to me and asked if i wanted to take the class by myself the next day since he would be absent. Or, if I preferred, I could supervise while they did a worksheet. Guess what I chose...
Friday, October 26th: crazy super eventful day...
I taught the class by myself. It went swimmingly. The kids were great, and we ended up playing Halloween pictionary and charades. Just imagine a 7th grade Japanese kid trying to act out "zombie" or "Frankenstein." Since it went so well, my other co-teacher asked me to do the same activity with the other classes. As a result, I taught 5 classes (one alone, four with my co-teacher).
After work, I called Jen, my friend in Hawaii. Long story short, a close friend of mine from high school passed away two weeks ago.
As class correspondent, I facebook messaged everyone in the 2003 class group. A few people wrote back with thoughts and memories of their own. I later realized I should also write something in the bulletin, so here's a preview of the '03 notes for the spring bulletin.
I'll probably cut it down before submission, but this is where I am now.
On Saturday, I met up with an ex and a group of our friends from TIU/TIUA. Unfortunately, I was in a terrible mood, so I ended up going home early.
This week consists of elementary school, Halloween, two days of conference, and other such things. I'll keep you posted.
I didn't teach a single class on Thursday. I didn't set foot into a classroom the entire day. A silly person would have sat at her desk and complained about not having anything to do. I took the opportunity to reorganize the 8 or so full binders of papers left behind by my predecessors. As a result, I had a lovely 1.5 hour long conversation/English lesson with some first year students.
As I was about to leave, my co-teacher came to me and asked if i wanted to take the class by myself the next day since he would be absent. Or, if I preferred, I could supervise while they did a worksheet. Guess what I chose...
Friday, October 26th: crazy super eventful day...
I taught the class by myself. It went swimmingly. The kids were great, and we ended up playing Halloween pictionary and charades. Just imagine a 7th grade Japanese kid trying to act out "zombie" or "Frankenstein." Since it went so well, my other co-teacher asked me to do the same activity with the other classes. As a result, I taught 5 classes (one alone, four with my co-teacher).
After work, I called Jen, my friend in Hawaii. Long story short, a close friend of mine from high school passed away two weeks ago.
As class correspondent, I facebook messaged everyone in the 2003 class group. A few people wrote back with thoughts and memories of their own. I later realized I should also write something in the bulletin, so here's a preview of the '03 notes for the spring bulletin.
Classmate Todd Okubo passed away this August after a long illness. Todd is an indelible part of my Punahou experience, and I’m ashamed to say that I took it for granted that he would always be around. Todd attended UH, and a trip home always meant hanging out with him. He embodies so much of what home in
At Punahou, Todd inspired others through his role as Peer Helper. I’m sure many of you who attended camp (or worked it with him) remember his dedication to the program. He performed in the style of Riverdance at Variety Show, helped with food at Carnival, sang in choir, and danced (kinda) in Pops Assembly.
During high school, I often drove Todd around (since we both lived on the windward side). It worked out well because I had a car and Todd knew where we were going. He always had more faith in me then I did (which one time resulted in us going to
I'll probably cut it down before submission, but this is where I am now.
On Saturday, I met up with an ex and a group of our friends from TIU/TIUA. Unfortunately, I was in a terrible mood, so I ended up going home early.
This week consists of elementary school, Halloween, two days of conference, and other such things. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Kawagoe Matsuri and Tea Ceremony
Okay, it's official. I only do stuff of interest on the weekend (not that school isn't 100% fascinating, I just don't think you want to hear about my wonderful world of TF questions and pronunciation practice).
This past weekend was the Kawagoe Matsuri, a festival involving massively huge floats and smaller carried shrine-things (I learned what they were called, but I forgot). It was essentially the same as it was two years ago, except I was the only one who knew what was going on.
If you're reading this and you were with me at the matsuri two years ago (or the night before... for reference, Eric essentially dragged me to the train station then shoved me off at my stop), you probably remember what kind of mood I was in that night. Well, I was essentially just as cranky this past Saturday (and this time no one called me trash girl).
Anyway, on a related note, I saw the Willamette/TIUA fall delegation to TIU at the matsuri. Dean Long, Chaplain Charlie, VP Gunnar, Masaki, and Wayne. You would think the odds of running into them are crazy (since there are thousands of people at this festival), but they were pretty easy to spot (blue hapicoats and the fact that a group of white people walking around Kawagoe sticks out a little). I chatted a little with Wayne about the upcoming pre-departure meeting and how a lot of the current tutors are abandoning him next year.
I ended up leaving early (meaning I went to the bookstore for an hour before going home) because I didn't feel like being smushed.
On Sunday, Zac, Dan, and I went to Hanno (the city just south of Hidaka) to meet up with
Paulina(sp?) another AET. We went to her friend's house where she took the girls (Paulina and I) upstairs to dress us in kimono for a tea ceremony demonstration. Meanwhile, the boys chatted with her husband downstairs. The kimono I wore was definitely the most practical kimono I've worn (my fourth time: one, high school Japanese extra-credit; two, JSP closing ceremony; three, Saitama JET orientation; four, this Sunday). There was only one layer under the kimono, and the obi was tied into a simple square. I'll post photos when I get them from Dan/when I figure out how to post them. We endured through far too much seiza (proper Japanese sitting), but saw some pretty ikebana(flower arrangements), paintings, lamps, and other such crafty things that Japanese housewives do when their husbands are at work and their children are at school/out of the house.
Unfortunately, I had to leave early to meet up with Kinuko for her English conversation practice. We ended up wandering around the supermarket for vocabulary practice. It benefitted both of us because she learned new words and I learned which brands are better and what no additives looks like in kanji.
This past weekend was the Kawagoe Matsuri, a festival involving massively huge floats and smaller carried shrine-things (I learned what they were called, but I forgot). It was essentially the same as it was two years ago, except I was the only one who knew what was going on.
If you're reading this and you were with me at the matsuri two years ago (or the night before... for reference, Eric essentially dragged me to the train station then shoved me off at my stop), you probably remember what kind of mood I was in that night. Well, I was essentially just as cranky this past Saturday (and this time no one called me trash girl).
Anyway, on a related note, I saw the Willamette/TIUA fall delegation to TIU at the matsuri. Dean Long, Chaplain Charlie, VP Gunnar, Masaki, and Wayne. You would think the odds of running into them are crazy (since there are thousands of people at this festival), but they were pretty easy to spot (blue hapicoats and the fact that a group of white people walking around Kawagoe sticks out a little). I chatted a little with Wayne about the upcoming pre-departure meeting and how a lot of the current tutors are abandoning him next year.
I ended up leaving early (meaning I went to the bookstore for an hour before going home) because I didn't feel like being smushed.
On Sunday, Zac, Dan, and I went to Hanno (the city just south of Hidaka) to meet up with
Paulina(sp?) another AET. We went to her friend's house where she took the girls (Paulina and I) upstairs to dress us in kimono for a tea ceremony demonstration. Meanwhile, the boys chatted with her husband downstairs. The kimono I wore was definitely the most practical kimono I've worn (my fourth time: one, high school Japanese extra-credit; two, JSP closing ceremony; three, Saitama JET orientation; four, this Sunday). There was only one layer under the kimono, and the obi was tied into a simple square. I'll post photos when I get them from Dan/when I figure out how to post them. We endured through far too much seiza (proper Japanese sitting), but saw some pretty ikebana(flower arrangements), paintings, lamps, and other such crafty things that Japanese housewives do when their husbands are at work and their children are at school/out of the house.
Unfortunately, I had to leave early to meet up with Kinuko for her English conversation practice. We ended up wandering around the supermarket for vocabulary practice. It benefitted both of us because she learned new words and I learned which brands are better and what no additives looks like in kanji.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Weekend in
I recently noticed that I've been posting almost exclusively about my weekend *ahem* adventures, and I'm sure you're expecting another ridiculously long post re-capping yet another crazy weekend in Tokyo.
However, this post will be different. Mainly because I've been afflicted with "かぜ" which has severely restricted my social life. It's not a big deal (it's just a cold), but in an attempt to avoid having to take sick leave (and being worried over by my co-workers when I go back to school), I've essentially remained in my apartment for the entire weekend with the exception of Friday night and a quick trip to the library and grocery store.
Okay, so maybe I did go into Tokyo on Friday night. We went into Ebisu to celebrate Dan's birthday. It turned into a big headache for him because people started cancelling (4 people in 30mins) and we had reservations at a small Lebanese restaurant. Then we showed up late because people came late. Ultimately, the food was good, the company was random, and I left early (10:30) because I could feel the cold starting to hit me and I didn't think staying out all night was the best thing for my health.
So if you know me and my trends in health, I get really cranky right before I get sick. True to past experience, I've been in a terrible mood since Tuesday. Unfortunately, Dan has felt the heat of if because I complain to him when he comes over to use my computer/internet (I believe he tunes me out which is for the best).
Speaking of Dan, apparently one of my co-workers (and possibly the education center people) thinks we're dating. Amusing, yes, but not a rumor I want spreading around. It's just annoying that a guy and a girl can't be good friends without people thinking they're dating. (Ironically this happened the last time I was in Japan too.)
Anyway, on a completely unrelated note, a guy who works at city hall in the education department texted me yesterday asking if he could stop by my apartment and drop off presents for the AETs. Let me give you some background on this guy. He's a 40 year old married guy who looks like he's in his early thirties. He swims every morning with my friend from TIU (which is why we exchanged phone numbers). His favorite singer is Wada Akiko (who is also Dan's favorite). So, he rode up to my apartment building on his motorcycle, pulled out a pile of military olive green shirts with white kanji and a white and gold star and laurel design. He said something about accidentally ordering too many, so he thought he would give them to the AETs. I asked what they said, and the only words I understood were "日本(Japan)," ”アメリカ(America)," and "戦争(war)." He accompanied his explanation with the motion of holding (but not firing) a gun. He then pulled out a photo of about 10 guys standing on a ship. He pointed out one particularly intimidating man and said that he is the leader and he loves memorabilia from the war. Next he showed me a catalog with tons of WWII replicas of uniforms, mess kits, etc. I still don't know what the shirts mean, but I've decided never to wear mine out of the house.
However, this post will be different. Mainly because I've been afflicted with "かぜ" which has severely restricted my social life. It's not a big deal (it's just a cold), but in an attempt to avoid having to take sick leave (and being worried over by my co-workers when I go back to school), I've essentially remained in my apartment for the entire weekend with the exception of Friday night and a quick trip to the library and grocery store.
Okay, so maybe I did go into Tokyo on Friday night. We went into Ebisu to celebrate Dan's birthday. It turned into a big headache for him because people started cancelling (4 people in 30mins) and we had reservations at a small Lebanese restaurant. Then we showed up late because people came late. Ultimately, the food was good, the company was random, and I left early (10:30) because I could feel the cold starting to hit me and I didn't think staying out all night was the best thing for my health.
So if you know me and my trends in health, I get really cranky right before I get sick. True to past experience, I've been in a terrible mood since Tuesday. Unfortunately, Dan has felt the heat of if because I complain to him when he comes over to use my computer/internet (I believe he tunes me out which is for the best).
Speaking of Dan, apparently one of my co-workers (and possibly the education center people) thinks we're dating. Amusing, yes, but not a rumor I want spreading around. It's just annoying that a guy and a girl can't be good friends without people thinking they're dating. (Ironically this happened the last time I was in Japan too.)
Anyway, on a completely unrelated note, a guy who works at city hall in the education department texted me yesterday asking if he could stop by my apartment and drop off presents for the AETs. Let me give you some background on this guy. He's a 40 year old married guy who looks like he's in his early thirties. He swims every morning with my friend from TIU (which is why we exchanged phone numbers). His favorite singer is Wada Akiko (who is also Dan's favorite). So, he rode up to my apartment building on his motorcycle, pulled out a pile of military olive green shirts with white kanji and a white and gold star and laurel design. He said something about accidentally ordering too many, so he thought he would give them to the AETs. I asked what they said, and the only words I understood were "日本(Japan)," ”アメリカ(America)," and "戦争(war)." He accompanied his explanation with the motion of holding (but not firing) a gun. He then pulled out a photo of about 10 guys standing on a ship. He pointed out one particularly intimidating man and said that he is the leader and he loves memorabilia from the war. Next he showed me a catalog with tons of WWII replicas of uniforms, mess kits, etc. I still don't know what the shirts mean, but I've decided never to wear mine out of the house.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Contact Improvisation and Kawagoe
Last last week Thursday, I taught with Chikako, an English teacher who floats around the various Elementary schools. She invited me to join a yoga class with her. Since the class was only 100yen and I was free, I said okay.
While I don't regret saying yes, I will tell you firstly, that it was the weirdest class/workshop thing I've ever been to. We pulled out yoga mats, and individually stretched while the instructor told us to think about our five senses and about how we should experience all five senses in the class. She then asked us to go around the gym, open a window, and feel the senses. By the way, this is all in Japanese. Usually I can understand meaning and about 50% of the vocab, but she was using technical language so I only got about 25%. Luckily, there was a second grader who came with her mom, and the instructor would give out dumbed down instructions for her (and probably me). After "experiencing" the gym, we walked around in a square. It reminded me of that activity we did in Chemistry as a high schooler when everyone walked around the classroom slowly, then faster to represent the temperature rising. Next, we walked around the gym, and randomly lay down on the floor. Then stood up, and randomly lay down again in a different place.
We did two poses for a total of maybe 3 minutes.
Then came contact improvisation. The instructor explained to us that the goal of our next activity was to be in our partner's "inai" space. "Iru" is "to exist," "inai" is "to not exist." Basically, she said that we should be where our partner is not. Ultimately, we ended up doing an odd improvised dance type thing in a group of 5 people, one middle-aged house wife, the instructor's assistant, two (over 50) Japanese men who joked that they had no "inai" space, and the 22-year old who had no idea what was going on (me). Like I said, it was interesting (and no, we didn't taste anything).
I then met up with Dan for lunch where we discussed the common misconception that when two people of opposite genders hang out (especially without other people), they are dating. (In case you are curious, I'm not dating anyone.)
That night, Dan, Kaz, Zac, and I went out to Kawagoe where we met up with Pepe and Sabrina. Pepe is a guy we met last week Saturday night (see previous entry for details). He designs and makes leather accessories such as bracelets, wallets, etc. He's also a model/actor. Sabrina is a fellow JET participant in Saitama that is friends with Dan's friend from college (I'll talk more about Sabrina later).
It was a really fun night! We went to a yakiniku place for dinner, then followed it up by a visit to "Beer Saurus." We stumbled into this place, and were immediately attracted by the blue lights, large windows, and Tyrannasaurus(sp?) head. The guys at the table next to us made comments about the "gaijin" (foreigners), so Kaz went over to them and whispered to them that he understood Japanese and he would appreciate it if they stopped talking about us. They got super embarrassed and left soon thereafter. However, they came back about 10 minutes later and apologized profusely in Japanese. The guy who made the comments was extremely drunk, since he's getting married soon. A few minutes after they left the second time, we were informed by the server that they had bought us a round of Zimas as an apology. Around this time, Sabrina realized she had to leave to catch her train. I walked her to the station (since she had never been to Kawagoe before), and left when she went through the ticket gate. Unfortunately, she took the wrong train, and thus ended up spending the night in my apartment. If you've seen the photos of my place, you know its large enough where two people could each have their own room. We got along swimmingly, and I thought it was really funny since I literally met her six hours before she stayed overnight. She left early the next morning since she had plans to meet up with her boyfriend in Chiba, but after picking up some groceries, I promptly hopped back into bed and lazed around for the rest of the day.
Around 4:30, I met up with Kinuko, a housewife with two young children who studied English in London for 10 years. Her English skills are great, but she wants someone to speak to (other than her husband) to keep them strong. As a result, we met up through Kaz (she wanted a girl), and we made plans to meet every other week for about an hour and a half while her kids and husband are at golf.
So, that was 2/3rds of my weekend in a nutshell. Today is "taiiku no hi" (sports day), so its a national holiday. I'm thinking of heading into Tokyo for some shopping, but that requires changing out of pajamas.
While I don't regret saying yes, I will tell you firstly, that it was the weirdest class/workshop thing I've ever been to. We pulled out yoga mats, and individually stretched while the instructor told us to think about our five senses and about how we should experience all five senses in the class. She then asked us to go around the gym, open a window, and feel the senses. By the way, this is all in Japanese. Usually I can understand meaning and about 50% of the vocab, but she was using technical language so I only got about 25%. Luckily, there was a second grader who came with her mom, and the instructor would give out dumbed down instructions for her (and probably me). After "experiencing" the gym, we walked around in a square. It reminded me of that activity we did in Chemistry as a high schooler when everyone walked around the classroom slowly, then faster to represent the temperature rising. Next, we walked around the gym, and randomly lay down on the floor. Then stood up, and randomly lay down again in a different place.
We did two poses for a total of maybe 3 minutes.
Then came contact improvisation. The instructor explained to us that the goal of our next activity was to be in our partner's "inai" space. "Iru" is "to exist," "inai" is "to not exist." Basically, she said that we should be where our partner is not. Ultimately, we ended up doing an odd improvised dance type thing in a group of 5 people, one middle-aged house wife, the instructor's assistant, two (over 50) Japanese men who joked that they had no "inai" space, and the 22-year old who had no idea what was going on (me). Like I said, it was interesting (and no, we didn't taste anything).
I then met up with Dan for lunch where we discussed the common misconception that when two people of opposite genders hang out (especially without other people), they are dating. (In case you are curious, I'm not dating anyone.)
That night, Dan, Kaz, Zac, and I went out to Kawagoe where we met up with Pepe and Sabrina. Pepe is a guy we met last week Saturday night (see previous entry for details). He designs and makes leather accessories such as bracelets, wallets, etc. He's also a model/actor. Sabrina is a fellow JET participant in Saitama that is friends with Dan's friend from college (I'll talk more about Sabrina later).
It was a really fun night! We went to a yakiniku place for dinner, then followed it up by a visit to "Beer Saurus." We stumbled into this place, and were immediately attracted by the blue lights, large windows, and Tyrannasaurus(sp?) head. The guys at the table next to us made comments about the "gaijin" (foreigners), so Kaz went over to them and whispered to them that he understood Japanese and he would appreciate it if they stopped talking about us. They got super embarrassed and left soon thereafter. However, they came back about 10 minutes later and apologized profusely in Japanese. The guy who made the comments was extremely drunk, since he's getting married soon. A few minutes after they left the second time, we were informed by the server that they had bought us a round of Zimas as an apology. Around this time, Sabrina realized she had to leave to catch her train. I walked her to the station (since she had never been to Kawagoe before), and left when she went through the ticket gate. Unfortunately, she took the wrong train, and thus ended up spending the night in my apartment. If you've seen the photos of my place, you know its large enough where two people could each have their own room. We got along swimmingly, and I thought it was really funny since I literally met her six hours before she stayed overnight. She left early the next morning since she had plans to meet up with her boyfriend in Chiba, but after picking up some groceries, I promptly hopped back into bed and lazed around for the rest of the day.
Around 4:30, I met up with Kinuko, a housewife with two young children who studied English in London for 10 years. Her English skills are great, but she wants someone to speak to (other than her husband) to keep them strong. As a result, we met up through Kaz (she wanted a girl), and we made plans to meet every other week for about an hour and a half while her kids and husband are at golf.
So, that was 2/3rds of my weekend in a nutshell. Today is "taiiku no hi" (sports day), so its a national holiday. I'm thinking of heading into Tokyo for some shopping, but that requires changing out of pajamas.
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