Cindy's Blogu: August 2006

I'm not ready!

Or should I say, my stomach isn't ready! I'm flying back to San Diego tomorrow and I don't think my stomach is prepared for the amount of abuse it will take while I'm back! I'm excited about all the food I will consume, but for the past few days, I've had problems digesting EVERY meal I've eaten! Saaad!! Oh well, where there's a will, there's a way. Muahahahaha.

This past week has zoomed by. From Monday thru Wednesday, I trained to Ota to take the free Japanese classes offered by JET. It's amazing how little Japanese one needs in order to get by here...and of course, SAD at the same time. I suck!

Sean came back to Ota for a few days from his month-long trip in SE Asia. On Wednesday night, Sean, a few of his friends, Jeff and I went to kaiten sushi for Sean's last dinner in Japan. Awww! Sean did good, as he had 10 plates AND Kodomo biiru (Children's beer). Yes, you read that correctly. Wtf, right? Yeah, sooo wrong. Anyway, we encouraged Sean to order it and when he did, the guy was like, "Which flavor do you want? We have apple, cola or gingerale." Hahahahahaa. We found that pretty amusing as we thought that it'd actually taste like beer, but w/o alchohol. The bottle and the frosted glass were labeled, "Kodomo biiru." Anyway, the apple biiru was like super-carbonated-sorta-bland apple cider. Not my cup of tea...or beer. Sooo wrong. Not as wrong as the new season of Survivor tho, where they are going to separate tribes by ethnicity!!! Now THAT is f***** up.

Today I went out to lunch with some of my teachers before the meeting for the Ota ALTs and Japanese teachers. It was cool to have lunch with my teachers, as we actually had conversations on topics OUTSIDE of school. Nice. The meeting, needless to say, was a total waste of our time. They hired this one gaijin from Ibaraki to teach us how to team teach effectively? It was SUCH a joke, as he was an idiot yet condescending at the same time. All of us ALTs were like, WHY do we have to sit thru this BS?! Anyway, at least we got paid for it. I will stop complaining...for now. ;-)

Thought of the day:

Why is reverse culture shock 10x worse than culture shock for me??

New Toy!

Jeff and I got new keitais at Yamada Denki tonight! I didn't realize how big and ugly my old keitai was until I finally got this new and sleek one! This model is called "Slimia!" Haha. It also has a 2 megapixel camera built in! Woot!!

Oh yeah, on top of the Value Pack and Happy Bonus plans I signed up for, we got the "Love Flat-Rate" plan (upgrade required to get a discount on our new keitais). So yeah, we get unlimited calls and text msgs to each other! That's unheard of in Japan and it only costs 300 yen a month!! Woot de woot!

That's not all! The lady gave us free gifts b/c we were waiting for a long time. I got a free aroma therapy candle with my keitai! Woohoo!

Here are some pictures of my new keitai! This shall keep me busy for an afternoon. Yaay new gadget!

Look at how much slimmer my new keitai is (to the left) compared to the old one!

Ooooooo

Ahhhhhhh

I wonder

How will life be when I'm 50? Will things just fall into place and suddenly everything will make sense? That's the case according to Oprah, anyway. Hehe. (Yes, Oprah ROCKS and if you disagree, well then, you're just in denial!)

I've always felt more comfortable talking to people twice my age rather than with people my own age. Maybe it's because I don't have to worry about the judgemental sizing up that goes on with people our age. You know what I'm talking about. Older people could care less. Tho, it's not even that. I think I've always liked conversing with older people because I feel as though they've lived life and there's always something to be learned from them. Well, not ALWAYS, but for the most part. I am sometimes also more at ease when around them, as I assume they'd think that I'm "just young" for any not-so-intelligent comments made. They just seem more forgiving to me. It's as if they've graduated from dwelling on the immaturities and pettiness that people my age marinate in, myself included.

However, with all things considered, I still think I'd be retarded at 50. Let's hope not.

Wet

Imagine heavy heavy rain, where you can barely see a few feet in front of you. Then imagine clazy thunder and lightning, as if the world was to end at any second.

Now imagine BIKING in that.

YAH. NOT amused.

Cricket

This article, about a disputed cricket match between England and Pakistan caught my attention. What I found particularly amusing...

"On Sunday, an umpire presiding at a high-profile game between England and Pakistan ruled that in his belief, Pakistani players had been tampering with the ball...By way of protest, the Pakistanis refused to leave their dressing room after a scheduled break for tea."

What sport has a scheduled break for tea?! Hahahahahaha. I will look into joining a cricket team, just for the tea break, of course. =)

"An outsider — someone from the moon, say, or the United States — might imagine that this was merely a folly of the silly season in a game followed only by erudite aficionados..."

Are Americans THAT out of the loop with the rest of the world?? Yes yes, I think we are! Saad!

In Less than a Week

I'll be back home! Woot! I'm getting more and more excited! It's a good way to mark the end of my first year here in Japan.

Oh yeah, here's what's been going on...

Last Saturday, Jeff, Ann and I went to Tokyo to see Movin' Out, the musical composed of Billy Joel's music. Let me tell you, his music is quite amazing. Seriously. I was surprised at how many of the songs I recognized! Anyway, Movin' Out is more of a modern ballet than a musical, as the cast dances to Billy Joel's songs, sung by a guy who plays the piano on the stage above. The guy who actually sang was the understudy, but I wouldn't have traded him for anyone else (other than Billy Joel, of course). He was fantastic, as his voice was soulful and moving.

After the show, we went to Yoyogi Koen to see Gay Pride. Um, it was the saddest parade I've EVER seen. It was weird to see just how organized and QUIET Pride was. Also, no pictures were allowed as people feared getting outted to their friends/familes?? UMMM. One shouldn't attend Pride if he/she's afraid of getting outted! What's the point?! Anyway, we went to Starbucks to kill time and judged pedestrians. After we returned to Pride, it was a lot better and we saw some interesting characters, indeed. That night, we had dinner at a Japanese/French restaurant called L'Artemis. It got a good review on The Japan Times, so we decided to give it a go. The meal was good, although we had the slowest service EVER. We suspected that they were slow so that we would order more drinks; we wouldn't budge. After eating more than should be legal, we trained home.

On Monday, I met up with Takaagi sensei to go the Ojima Neputa Matsuri (festival). I couldn't ride my bike while wearing my yukata (summer cotton kimono) to meet her so I asked to change at her house. She ended up taking me to her mother-in-law's home so that her mother-in-law could put it on properly? Whoa. Didn't think it was that big of a deal. After the transformation and half a dinner (yes, don't expect to go into a Japanese home and not be forced fed), we headed for the matsuri. It turns out Takaagi sensei knows everyone...and I mean everyone...at the matsuri! She's been living in Ojima for 20 years and her husband is a huge matsuri aficionado (he was one of the performers). So yes, we passed by tons of people and many knew who she was. It was sweet b/c I got to pretend to play the drums and took a picture with some random performers who knew Takaagi sensei. Yes, nice to have connections, indeed. We met up with Jeff, Mami and I got to meet one of the new JETs, Glenn, for the first time. It was fun. We did as you do at a matsuri and then headed home. It was nice to be Japanesey. Everyone was so friendly.

From Wednesday through Friday, I attended the Maebashi Orientation for new JETs as a volunteer. All in all, it was good times. I like the new bunch. They seem like a fun crowd. Sadly, there aren't many cute boys this year, but then again, they'd end up having Japanese girlfriends anyway. A few of us ended up at the hotel lobby seats both nights, looking like losers, but making some interesting observations. Yes yes, shall be an interesting year.

On Saturday, Jeff, Ann and I went to AEON to see Superman Returns. It was...eh. A bit slow for a superhero movie, in my opinion. Still better than X3, tho. I need to see a good movie soon, as most movies have been pretty disappointing lately. I need to catch up on some indie flicks!

I really can't believe I'm going home on Saturday. It still doesn't seem real to me. This year has gone by really quickly. I keep repeating myself. I feel like not much has changed, but then again, I think I'll be saying that for years to come. Hmm. What would really make me think that a lot has changed? Marriage, kids, perhaps? I dunno. That's something too far-fetched to fathom at this point. For now, I will just have to deal with the dilemma of which TV show to download next. Ah, the woes of being an ALT.

Thought of the day:

Who actually enjoys packing and cleaning? If you've answered yes to either jobs, I want to hire you.

Hehe

Hmm...not a bad way to go, if I do say so myself. Mmm...chocolate.

Random

Thoughts of the day:

I didn't know that shark fin in shark fin soup is tasteless! What's the point, then? Why bother?!

Billy Joel ROCKS. "She's Got A Way" is my new favorite song.

Entourage is a great show. Uh huh.

I'm curious.....

Questions of the day:

What motivates you?

What holds you together?

Do you tend to overanalyze things? - I certainly do.

By the way, I don't expect actual answers, but any would be much appreciated. Maybe I should to go to bed now.

The other side of judging

Last Saturday, I went to the Yabuzuka matsuri (festival) with Jeff. Being that Yabu is a small town and Jeff is the only ALT there (well, almost), many of his students and teachers were there. Dude, I don't think I've EVER been stared at THAT much in my life! If I got $1 for every time I heard the word "kanojyo" (girlfriend) during the matsuri, then I'd be able to purchase that Beemer I've always wanted. Seriously! Apparently, we're still the talk of the town. Hahaha. If they only knew. Oh yeah, the most random part was that one of his students asked if I was his sister!! Wtf?? We sure do look alike! Hahahhaa.

Thought of the day:

You don't know the meaning of having too much free time until you've spent a summer as an ALT in Japan. Seriously.

UNESCO English Camp

I was at the UNESCO English Camp in Ota from Wednesday thru Friday. It's essentially a camp where jr. high school kids (usually the ones good at English) go to interact with native English speakers (ALTs), speak English, play sports and games, and make and perform English skits. Woo...what fun right? Hehe. Well, it was! Haha. Come on, now. You KNOW these kids didn't go to this camp to speak English! Haha. It's more of an excuse to have a huge sleepover with their friends, minus the sleep part. Otherwise, they're there b/c their teachers forced them to go, as is the case with my kids. This year, there were 15 ALTs and 51 students, 13 of whom were mine! Clazy. I wonder how my teachers threatened them. Haha.

Anyway, regardless of the reasons for going, I had a lot of fun! I loved how we got to interact with the students outside of the classroom environment. I felt as though I got to know the students a lot better, especially b/c we (well, most of us anyway) had to stay overnight at the camp. The girl ALTs' room was combined with the 1nensei and 2nensei students', so it's as if we had a huge sleepover with our kids! It was fun chattin' with the girls, as I found out who's going out with whom, which teachers they like/dislike at school, and I also got a lot of feedback on which of my games are good/bad. It was awesome. I'm really glad I stayed overnight, as it was definitely the time when I bonded with the students.

For our skit groups, Jeff and I had 2nensei boys so we combined our groups to make one. We ended up doing a Harry Potter skit, and our boy, Yasufumi, TOTALLY looked like an Asian Harry Potter!! It was scary how fitting it was! The funniest part of preparing for the skit was the utter fascination one of our kids, Akihito, had with dressing up as Hermione. He was soo into the make-up and stuff, even more so than we had hoped for! It was quite amusing, indeed.

The whole camp was pretty chill, and we even had a water balloon fight on the second day! The only MAJOR complaint we had was the food. It was terrible!! I mean, seriously, the worst food I've EVER had in Japan. I felt soo nasty after eating all the fried stuff they served us. Ugh. But yeah, anyway, camp was fun! Yaay for cute kids!

Jeff and my skit group, composed of 2nensei boys. Aww...they're soo cute! Each with individual personalities! Amazing!

The girl ALTs' room was conjoined with the students'. Didn't sound appealing at first, but it turned out to be soo much fun!

Yasufumi is an AWESOME Harry Potter! Just look at him!

Akihito is a little TOO into dressing up as Hermione, don't cha think? Hehe.

Look, it's the cast of Harry Potter! Kawaiiiiii!

I'm telling you, Japanese boys LOVE cross-dressing!

The girl to the left, Sai, is Korean! No doubt I hounded her with questions about Sam Soon and Rain! Hahaha. I'm surprised she wasn't like, "Get away from me, weirdo!" Haha...maybe it's b/c she LOVES Sam Shik and Rain as well! Woot!

Aww...they're all soo darn cute! I just want to take them home with me! Well, not really, but yah!

Lalallalaa

So I should be packing for the UNESCO English camp I'm attending tmw, but I just want to procrastinate, as always.

I can't believe it's already August! Where did July go?! For some strange reason, it's not as hot as it should be in Ota. Thank goodness. It was actually cool today! It's really weird, but I'm enjoying this for as long as it lasts!

So, not much has been going on lately, just me trying to waste time at school or the BOE. Last Friday, I went out to lunch with the tea lady and the assistant math teacher, both of whom don't speak English. Let's just say it was an interesting lunch, indeed. Dude, it takes a lot of brain power trying to communicate in Japanese! Haha. Saad. Oh well, at least it's good practice. And yaay for discovering new restaurants!

On Saturday, I met up with Jeff, Ann and Mami for dinner at Moti. Mmm...kabli naan...how I miss thee. Afterward, Mami was kind enough take me and Jeff along with her to the Sano Outlet, where we roamed around and had Coldstone ice cream!! Whoa! It's been over a year since I've had it, and I don't think my Japanese stomach can handle it! I mean, it was really good, don't get me wrong, but it was HUGE! I'm scared of when I get back to the States...my brain is ready but my stomach might not be!

On Monday, I met Jeff at the BOE to "study Japanese." It just gives us a reason to go to the BOE instead of sitting at our desks at school by ourselves. Anyway, it was only semi-productive, as we were soo tired for no reason. We both had our bikes with us so we ventured out to Ajikura, this cute little Italian place nearby. Mmm...good stuff. We realize we need to get other ALTs to go to the BOE as well; we should have an ALT party at the BOE! Haha.

Thought of the day:

Maybe I should learn how to swim. Today I visited my kids at the pool at school. They wanted me to swim with them, but I told them no, and that I'd drown. Seriously. Swimming looks fun. Hmm. Thing is, if I learn how to swim, I'd lessen my chances of drowning in front of a hot lifeguard, who may end up being the man of my dreams. Dude, this is tough. Learn how to swim or risk not meeting my soul mate?