So I recently made a contest and asked that teachers and students submit (yes, I made an announcement during 朝打ち合わせ or the morning meeting in Japanese). The contest was to write your own dialogue/monologue in a Dilbert comic that I chose where I whited out the actual words. The contest ends tomorrow, and I have quite a bit of responses, although some only since Masuo-sensei made her students submit. The biggest misfortune is NO TEACHERS have done it. How disappointing is that? They are just either too shy, or have convinced themselves that they don't have five minutes to spare and try. This I find very disappointing. We talk about all the internationalizing and influence we're supposed to be providing, yet nobody even bothers to submit an entry into the simplest of contests.
Another thing which is bothersome is I asked that you think outside the box and write something humerous. The comic was Dilbert and the pointy triangle-haired lady talking over near the coffee machine. 85% of the responses I received were along the lines of "Do you want coffee. Yes. It's hot. Oh. Thankyou." Geesh, obviously if Dilbert actually was like that, there's no way it would be popular. That was uber disappointing.
In other news, the census is the census taking man can drink on the job. Allow me to explain. Last night the census man came over and crashed our dinner party. He had already included Ashley and Barbra (the other JETs in Tamano) on the census but still needed my entry. He, requiring much persuasion, finally sat down and ate dinner with us: Couscous with tofu/vegetables, hearty salad with eggs, cukes, tomatos, tuna, and apples, all over a bottle of wine. He was still under the clock, but only for another half-hour, so we convinced him it was acceptable. The night continued on after that even using up the party stock purchased for the Fuji trip (yeah, drinking courtesy of AJET, thanks), and some exciting, hold-the-camera-as-far-out-as-you-can-and-hope-everybody-gets-in-the-picture pictures were taken. Ahhh... priceless.
This morning though, after 3 classes at T.C.H.S. (Tamano Commercial High School), it's safe to say I am pretty tired. Next up for the afternoon is another bus reservation and getting a long awaited and needed haircut.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Sports Day and Interviews
First, a picture of the main page of our schools Sports Day Celebration. Note the curious English word used as the main theme for our Sports Day: "Desperately". Hmm..... that's not the word I would have chosen, but too late to change it as soon as I found out.
Then, here's a picture of correct procedure for interviews with regards to bowing, how and where to sit. All using fun and friendly stick figures, courtesy of Tamano Commercial Public High School 3rd year informatory pamphlet.
Then, here's a picture of correct procedure for interviews with regards to bowing, how and where to sit. All using fun and friendly stick figures, courtesy of Tamano Commercial Public High School 3rd year informatory pamphlet.
Busy for the weekend in Fukuoka
I have been super busy lately with not only school, extra-curricular, but also planning the frisbee trip this weekend to Fukuoka for the beach tournament. I am proud to say that I have organized nearly everything, from reserving the hotels and buses to paying the tournament fee by furikomi. Now all I can hope for is that the weather holds up and all goes smoothly. I have just printed out plenty of sheets with directions, maps, numbers, etc.
So let's roll on a couple of pictures: In Niimi, we visited Ikura Cave, as well as went on a bike trip to an Onsen north of the city. Here is a picture of the waterfall near the cave, the storefront, and then sunset on the return ride from the onsen...
So let's roll on a couple of pictures: In Niimi, we visited Ikura Cave, as well as went on a bike trip to an Onsen north of the city. Here is a picture of the waterfall near the cave, the storefront, and then sunset on the return ride from the onsen...
Sunday, September 25, 2005
North in Niimi
This past weekend I finally made the trip up Rt. 180 to Niimi. I left on Friday afternoon, although not early enough because the dark caught up to me right around Takahashi. Therefore, I decided it would be much smarter to ride the train the rest of the way. Upon buying my ticket and asking the person in the station if it was okay to ride the train with my bike (not bothing to take it apart since I figured the train would be empty and this is somewhat annoying). He assured me it was.
The train pulls in and the conductor will not let me on the train. In fact, as I attempt to get on anyways, two people come running out and hold me back. I was very angry, stating I had a cover and could disassemble the bike... but alas, too late. I was plumb out of luck, and my reasoning of "Do you want me to ride to Niimi without a light?" went unanswered.
I had to finish the rest of the 37km or so in the night, and that was not fun or safe.
In Niimi I stayed with Yarek (in Phil's old place, wow, what a tiny corner in the world). Good times were had, and the best moment of the weekend was the ride up 27km north to a really nice onsen where we washed up, then afterwards proceeded into the "relax room" and took a 2 and a half hour nap. It was without a doubt, completely relaxing. Luckily the return trip was clearly all downhill, taking half the amount of time!
John's replacement (the one who was arrested and finally fired) has also arrived. She is a Japanese/German (Japanese was her first language) from Seattle named Barbra. I believe she was hand-picked for this position for several reasons:
1. She speaks pretty much fluent Japanese, thus there are no communication problems with taxi drivers or anybody else for that matter.
2. She is a woman, and I believe the school wanted a women since generally speaking they do not drink as much as men and are generally speaking more mature.
3. She is half Japanese thus familiar with the culture and wouldn't get in any hairy sitations.
So yeah, a good fit. Although, to give you an idea of the ridiculousness of Japan, her school told her that "John had to go home all of a sudden..." not having decided on whether or not they would tell her what really happened. Did they really think that she would not find out? Wow, I found that lie outright pretty amazing.
Next up, beach tournament in Fukuoka. I am in charge of the team, so I have to do some booking for hotels, for overnight buses, and furikomi payment for the team. Wow, responsibility! Here's to not being a captain, talk about much easier to just go than actually organize!
The train pulls in and the conductor will not let me on the train. In fact, as I attempt to get on anyways, two people come running out and hold me back. I was very angry, stating I had a cover and could disassemble the bike... but alas, too late. I was plumb out of luck, and my reasoning of "Do you want me to ride to Niimi without a light?" went unanswered.
I had to finish the rest of the 37km or so in the night, and that was not fun or safe.
In Niimi I stayed with Yarek (in Phil's old place, wow, what a tiny corner in the world). Good times were had, and the best moment of the weekend was the ride up 27km north to a really nice onsen where we washed up, then afterwards proceeded into the "relax room" and took a 2 and a half hour nap. It was without a doubt, completely relaxing. Luckily the return trip was clearly all downhill, taking half the amount of time!
John's replacement (the one who was arrested and finally fired) has also arrived. She is a Japanese/German (Japanese was her first language) from Seattle named Barbra. I believe she was hand-picked for this position for several reasons:
1. She speaks pretty much fluent Japanese, thus there are no communication problems with taxi drivers or anybody else for that matter.
2. She is a woman, and I believe the school wanted a women since generally speaking they do not drink as much as men and are generally speaking more mature.
3. She is half Japanese thus familiar with the culture and wouldn't get in any hairy sitations.
So yeah, a good fit. Although, to give you an idea of the ridiculousness of Japan, her school told her that "John had to go home all of a sudden..." not having decided on whether or not they would tell her what really happened. Did they really think that she would not find out? Wow, I found that lie outright pretty amazing.
Next up, beach tournament in Fukuoka. I am in charge of the team, so I have to do some booking for hotels, for overnight buses, and furikomi payment for the team. Wow, responsibility! Here's to not being a captain, talk about much easier to just go than actually organize!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
AND FINALLY...
The first sliver of sun!!!!
And a little bit more...
Absolutely unreal and red.... makes me shiver just remembering it...
This is a really cool shot to give you an idea of the view with the people watching:
I was surprised at how quickly though the sun turned yellow, just as surprised as how red it was at first though. This was the last picture taken since it got bright very quickly, and even then, I photoshopped this picture so you could make out my face (before it was just an outline):
And a little bit more...
Absolutely unreal and red.... makes me shiver just remembering it...
This is a really cool shot to give you an idea of the view with the people watching:
I was surprised at how quickly though the sun turned yellow, just as surprised as how red it was at first though. This was the last picture taken since it got bright very quickly, and even then, I photoshopped this picture so you could make out my face (before it was just an outline):
Getting closer to heaven...
I know you had your hopes up, finally the sun.... but no! This is actually the moon! On one side there was the impending sunrise, and over the crater, just before it dipped below the other side, Ashley noted the really cool looking moon!
Night to Day shots cont.
It seems like each post has a limited amount of info, so I have to continue with pictures on a different post. Here are more shots of the approach of dawn:
The night is ending...
As I had said before, it was very cold on top of the mountain from about midnight to 5am. So cold in fact, that my 6 layers (an undershirt, two t-shirts, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece, and my jacket) were not enough and I was still cold. Luckily I was not the only person cold.
After climbing to the top and securing a seat, I realized that nobody had followed me and I had in fact lost the group. I began wandering alone. I finally ran into an equally worried and lost Wendy, and together we were able to reunite the climbing clan and create a 円陣 or huddle, as seen below (picture taken at 4:38am in the morning by a Japanese hiker):
Next up are going to be a whole slew of photos which I took while the sun was rising. This was a good 40 minute period where I was basically just snapping every minute or so. I took over 200 pictures, and over a 100 where in this period of time, so that averages about 2 a minute. Mount Fuji - High Exposure! Although, during this time period, I never checked the quality of the pictures, so less than a fourth of them actually turned out good. But that's the advantage of a digital camera: I had over 500 pictures available to shoot anyways, so who cares.
After climbing to the top and securing a seat, I realized that nobody had followed me and I had in fact lost the group. I began wandering alone. I finally ran into an equally worried and lost Wendy, and together we were able to reunite the climbing clan and create a 円陣 or huddle, as seen below (picture taken at 4:38am in the morning by a Japanese hiker):
Next up are going to be a whole slew of photos which I took while the sun was rising. This was a good 40 minute period where I was basically just snapping every minute or so. I took over 200 pictures, and over a 100 where in this period of time, so that averages about 2 a minute. Mount Fuji - High Exposure! Although, during this time period, I never checked the quality of the pictures, so less than a fourth of them actually turned out good. But that's the advantage of a digital camera: I had over 500 pictures available to shoot anyways, so who cares.
Night shots from the Mountain-side
Here are some shots from the Mountain at night. As you will see, the view was really cool.
And I forgot to add this picture before: This was dusk at the 5th station after the bus dropped us off. Pretty neat picture too:
And then also a little comprehensive map of our route and all the various stops and huts along the way. Since it is past hiking season for Fuji (technically just July and August, though May, June, and September are okay as well), most of these huts were closed.
And I forgot to add this picture before: This was dusk at the 5th station after the bus dropped us off. Pretty neat picture too:
And then also a little comprehensive map of our route and all the various stops and huts along the way. Since it is past hiking season for Fuji (technically just July and August, though May, June, and September are okay as well), most of these huts were closed.
Land of the Red Rising Sun
This past weekend, I had the opportunity (misfortune if you follow the quip: A wise man climbs Fuji once, only a fool climbs it twice) of climbing Mount Fuji again. Just like last year, Okayama AJET organized a trip to Fuji, only this time, I was in charge of the "night climb" or climbing starting at night with the hopes of reaching the summit for sunrise on top of Fuji, something that is supposed to be hair-raising and a the ultimate Fuji experience.
Here's the bus which road us up to the 5th station.
As you can see, it's a pretty bright moon. Yes, it was actually 月見 or moon-viewing night, thus a 満月 or full moon. So just as the near full moon for the half-dome hike, I also had a full moon and plenty of moonlight for this hike. With most of Mount Fuji being above treeline, it turned out to be a very lucky and welcome addition to the trip (flashlights were rarely used).
We started the climb VERY early actually, since gates closing down to the mountain from 8pm-3am prevented us from starting at what would have been a more reasonable hour. Here's some of the first views of the moon and mountain:
The walk up the mountain at night was fabulous for several reasons:
1. It was not hot at all, and actually not until near midnight quite a reasonable temperature. Midnight to 5am though was brutally cold.
2. The moonlight offered more than enough light to hike.
3. The view was amazing. Full moon, lights of the cities below making a glow-bright like image, and very few clouds. Absolutely fantastic and mystical.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Elementary School Surprise
Today I went to Tai Elementary School. I had the first three classes of the day (thus effectively a half day), where I taught each of the three classes of 1st graders. 1st graders are by far the coolest grade out of all 6 in elementary school, but usually they are the least shy and haven't yet become reclusive. It's awesome. Today the entire class came each time to the teacher's room to come get me, and they also aren't shy about being clingy: i.e. having about 20 kids all try and hold your hand as you walk down the corridor around the school back to their classroom.
Teaching isn't really all that difficult. Today was basically my self introduction, going over 5 animals names and 鳴き声 or sound, and then finally going over other animals names and sounds. All in all, it was pretty fun. The picture about was taken with the "Ro" class, and I told everybody to put your arms up and yell before the picture was taken.
Takamatsu; The Awakening
So I returned to Takamatsu last night, only this time with a completely different itinerary: Meeting up with Tetsunori for some English conversation, and then dinner with Shiho. Turns out the latter didn't happen since she couldn't get off work early enough and both of us were a little tired, but I still boarded the Berry for the chat with Testu.
Regardless, afterwards I did some walking around to find out where some of the famed places in Takamatsu actually are so that next time I could be somewhat helpful in finding them again. I did take some pictures.
I also found GoD. Yes, this was the name of the place. It was a classic gambling 3 player mahjong style parlour. It was sweet. It was over $100 dollars a game and the table fee per hour, so in other words, holy frijoles! No wonder Japanese people always give me a pretty cautious staredown when I say I like 三人打ちマージョン or 3 player mahjong. It is seriously expensive to play for real in mahjong parlours.
Here is a great little dive. Doesn't really make one think of Cancun.
Here's the classic Punch Drunkard. I wonder if this place is ever full though seeing it's out of the way location somewhat.
Here's a snack bar that I have no intentions of ever going into, but the name was really intriguing.
Ah, the one, the only, the Cludy. I wonder what the club Brilliant is like and if it's anything like Cludy.
Ah, it's not quite a bar, it is really a store full of chairs that resemble C cups multiplied by 10 that you can sit in. Jenglish error at its best.
And last but not least, a great shot of the main hotel at dusk in Takamatsu. I took a lot of these type pictures with the hopes of finding one that turned out pleasing to eye, and this one was it.
Regardless, afterwards I did some walking around to find out where some of the famed places in Takamatsu actually are so that next time I could be somewhat helpful in finding them again. I did take some pictures.
I also found GoD. Yes, this was the name of the place. It was a classic gambling 3 player mahjong style parlour. It was sweet. It was over $100 dollars a game and the table fee per hour, so in other words, holy frijoles! No wonder Japanese people always give me a pretty cautious staredown when I say I like 三人打ちマージョン or 3 player mahjong. It is seriously expensive to play for real in mahjong parlours.
Here is a great little dive. Doesn't really make one think of Cancun.
Here's the classic Punch Drunkard. I wonder if this place is ever full though seeing it's out of the way location somewhat.
Here's a snack bar that I have no intentions of ever going into, but the name was really intriguing.
Ah, the one, the only, the Cludy. I wonder what the club Brilliant is like and if it's anything like Cludy.
Ah, it's not quite a bar, it is really a store full of chairs that resemble C cups multiplied by 10 that you can sit in. Jenglish error at its best.
And last but not least, a great shot of the main hotel at dusk in Takamatsu. I took a lot of these type pictures with the hopes of finding one that turned out pleasing to eye, and this one was it.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Former Inhabitants
Since my external hard drive is plugged in, I figured I would extract from it a picture to post. I have chosen this priceless mugshot of two former inhabitants of Tamano: Jez and Ben. Taken of course in the wicked cool land of Takamatsu. Enjoy.
Personal Characteristic Traits
A couple of weeks ago, a former student here at Tamano Commercial Public H.S. came to visit her former teacher. After about a minute of conversation, the teacher commented to this 20 year old girl that she had ちょっと太った！ or gained some weight. To add insult upon insult, my JTE walks by her and makes the same comment! Wow, poor girl. This in the US would be very unPC.
I asked my JTE about this later. She said that in Japan it is perfectly acceptable as part of daily conversation to talk about one's and other's weight as small talk, just like Americans talk about the weather. She didn't believe that there were any repercussions to telling a young lady that she looked fatter lately. I replied to my JTE, "Okay, whatever you say, fatty." This got me a severe and unappreciative stare. "What? I thought you said it's okay to talk about weight?!" Put a check in the sarcasm retort column for the JET on that remark.
And my word of the day today has to do with the next brief scene. Eri, a favorite second year of mine, asks me if I just woke up. I looked at her confused and she said I have 寝癖 or morning hair. When your student asks you why your hair is so messy and all over the place, it's a sure sign that you need to get a haircut.
I asked my JTE about this later. She said that in Japan it is perfectly acceptable as part of daily conversation to talk about one's and other's weight as small talk, just like Americans talk about the weather. She didn't believe that there were any repercussions to telling a young lady that she looked fatter lately. I replied to my JTE, "Okay, whatever you say, fatty." This got me a severe and unappreciative stare. "What? I thought you said it's okay to talk about weight?!" Put a check in the sarcasm retort column for the JET on that remark.
And my word of the day today has to do with the next brief scene. Eri, a favorite second year of mine, asks me if I just woke up. I looked at her confused and she said I have 寝癖 or morning hair. When your student asks you why your hair is so messy and all over the place, it's a sure sign that you need to get a haircut.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Jokes created by JETs
So here are two jokes, one thought of by me, the other by my friend who's a 2nd year JET out on an island in Nagasaki.
1st, what you need to know for both of them:
新-しん-shin = kanji for new, or 新しい-あたらしい-atarashii
身体-しんたい-shintai = body
体育祭-たいいくさい-taiikusai = sports competition
臭い-くさい-kusai = smelly
論理-ろんり-ronri = logic
Okay. First off, mine:
Since sports day is taiikusai, then a new sports day would be shintaikusai.
Then my friends:
If you like logic too much, then you may get ronri.
I think this jokes also works when worded this way:
If you study logic a lot, you might get ronri.
And there you have it. JETs thriving and creating jokes that JTE's can finally understand!
1st, what you need to know for both of them:
新-しん-shin = kanji for new, or 新しい-あたらしい-atarashii
身体-しんたい-shintai = body
体育祭-たいいくさい-taiikusai = sports competition
臭い-くさい-kusai = smelly
論理-ろんり-ronri = logic
Okay. First off, mine:
Since sports day is taiikusai, then a new sports day would be shintaikusai.
Then my friends:
If you like logic too much, then you may get ronri.
I think this jokes also works when worded this way:
If you study logic a lot, you might get ronri.
And there you have it. JETs thriving and creating jokes that JTE's can finally understand!
Pictures from the camera...
Kokusai Undoo Taikai. Or National Sports Competition. This is the beach volleyball tournament that happened at Shibukawa Beach near Tamano. There was a "crowd" around this game because the guys in black are Okayama's Team. They didn't do too well though. There were basically few to nobody in attendance since the belief is that this is an event to celebrate sports and athletics, and that cheering for a team in particular or cheering would be picking sides and thus not celebrating the effort of sport but so much as the concept of winning, which goes against the ways of the Japanese in regards to this competition. So yes, be a good sportsman, and don't go watch ?!?!
Dinner prepared at the party in Tamano last weekend. Note the healthy salad with mustart chicken, mustard sauce, tomatos, avocado, and eggplant prepared by me!
1st graders at Hachihama Elementary School eating "kyuushoku" or school lunch. This is also the classic attire for all elementary schoolers during the serving period of lunch. Some schools or kids also keep them on while eating (some just keep them on for cleanliness during serving time).
This was at the same BBQ as the picture below. This is supposedly a traditional Japanese way of breaking open a watermelon. Everyone had a go until somebody finally (luckily) got the splitting blow. You can see one had glanced and taken out a chunk in the picture.
This garage reminds me of my grandparents garage with the scene painted on it.
Hachihama Elementary School. 1st graders preparing for sports day, which means how to line up, how to run to the start, and then what to do for the games. Big cloud. It was a great day.
This time around it's the nails. Ayaka had her nails polished with silver and red, and this is unacceptable. The teacher watches as she takes nail polish remover to her manicure.
This is interesting: A teach is taking a pair of scissors and cutting the bangs shorter on a second year student. Note the student holding the trashcan so the hair falls into it (easy cleaning). Turns out she didn't pass hair check, and didn't correct the situation herself, so the teacher took matters into her own "scissors".
At the night-time BBQ at Shibukawa Beach. Ashley on the far right (lives next to me in Tamano), and next to her Kanako. Don't remember the names of the other two.
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