Another Friday

So its Friday aain. Today was boring. I helped with several classes. Read a few words for BINGO that is. And Did Head, shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Again... The teacher right next to me here does not speak with me anymore. I think she is mad I won't come up with lessons for her as it is not my job and she's trying to dump work on me. AND because I won't stay for unpaid overtime everyday. Oh well. I always have my 12 yr old friends here! During my presentations today the kids of one class clapped when I came in and the teacher said they were excited as he said it is boring teacher grammar by himself and that I make them laugh. So that was good. I don't make an idiot of myself for nothing. Shinji sat in front making a ball-cupping motion and smashing my barefoot when I wasn't looking. A lil distracting but none the less.

yesterday I went to our ALT meeting with other English teachers in the building. Some I had never seen before as they have never left there room or are always with there families I guess. It was about 1.5 hours and was a bitch fest about STUPID things. Like trash, people smoking on their balconies, bikes parked wrong, etc. Waste of time, then everyone ran home and no one did anything after together. Everyone in the building has there own things to do I guess. Some play videogames all day, some have kids or a wife, some work other jobs, etc.

I then made tofu, huge sweet potato, 2 eggs, rice, a big carrot, and mixed it all together for a gourmet meal. Then cereal for desert!

So I one visitor who was going to come from the US is not coming so I am going to make travel plans for myself. On my list is Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, and Osaka. After that I am good. tokyo is really expensive and I'm sure I'd just get lost!

There are some festivals coming up I am going to try and go to so that will be OK. I also signed up for Tai-Chi at the gym and Yoga, doesn't look fun but I would like to try it.

I'm going with Eric to Osaka tomorrow night to a club called Pier 31. It's 3500 yen all you can drink. I usually would not be excited to go and stay up till the trains begin again at 6am but he's moving soon and may not get to go again. Plus we have a whole scheme to cheat the train system and get there for 2$ instead of 22$. I'll let you know if it works! He's quiting as his job sucks too. They dick him around and treat him bad too. Except he's not just gonna quit...he's just gonna stop going on certain days. Like turn every weekend into a 3 day weekend until they finally just fire him. I think it's pretty funny. I'm curious to see how long it will last!

Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes

Today I probably did a combined 2 hours of "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". It actually wore me out. I was fun for a while then got old. It was better than sitting there though. I then read words or BINGO. AND I got to read the names of animals and the kids would then repeat. I liked Gorilla, which was then "Go-rirra" Whenever I am annoyed I get everyone here back by WEARING MY INDOOR SHOES IN THE BATHROOM!! Ha hahahahahaha! Got them! My refusal to wear my bathroom shoes is a direct slap in the face at the "man."

PS The eastern style of toilets here are kinda hard to use. The stall is very small and so you smash your face into the wall practically. It's like I am camping or something. I drank 8 glasses of tea so far today to stay awake and it is working for now. Some kids asked for my email address and I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not. e could probably create some virus and send to me. Also, I just was in the class with the ONE minority in the school. The white/Japanese kid. He looks like any kid in America but can't speak any English. I almost think he's faking it. I did find out his dad lives in Boston. His name is Samuel so I call him Samuel-San. He's cute. I taught the kids to to the knuckle pound, as I don't want to shake hands with 100 kids but also they think its cool. Anyhow, I have been given about 350 journals to read and grade, so at least they are using me to do the work they don't want to do.

PPS IT is like perfect weather out and I am looking out the window and would LOVE to be outside right now enjoying it! 77 degrees and sunny!


OK so I forgot to write some more updates I just thought of tonight:

So Shibata emailed me tonight and here is all he wrote:

"Please register e-mail address. May I tell more friend alone an address?
Did you have Shinji more be wrong?"
(・。・)"

I just copied and pasted that out of his email address. What he was talking about I have no clue! Shinji is the kid I call an "aho" everyday which means idiot in Japanese cuz he smacks at my junk. And I think register email address means write it down or something. I know his dad is an engineer for Panasonic so maybe I can get a free appliance or something.

Oh and I forgot to mention the tattle tellers. Is that a word? Any how, during cleaning time they are like hall monitors and carry a sheet and pen and if anyone talks during cleaning, they right there names down. It's funny because I always talk to them and get them to laugh and then I tell them to mark themselves on the list of talkers. Ok just wanted to share that lil' piece of info!

Ahhhh

Today I was annoyed. The lady who sits next to me who used to keep me somewhat informed of what is going on has stopped doing so. Maybe it's because I told her that I am not going to stay past the time stated in my contract and she can't understand why. Oh well. She did find time to pull me aside and tell me that it is inappropriate to drink from my SEALED Nalgene bottle of water during the 3 straight hours of class. Dh...I should've known. So after that I went back to doing my reading of words aloud to the class in my annoying TV announcer voice. The kids find humor in it I think too. I had this one creeper who sits in the front row STARE at me the ENTIRE class. Not occasionally look at me . BUTT STARE! I went to sit in the back of the class and his head swiveled right around to me! One kid slept the whole class and did NOTHING. No teacher told him to do his work. I was jealous as that is what I wanted to be doing. The teachers sleep at their desk in the teachers room and the principals sleep sitting up. Its kinda funny actually.
Then the teachers ask me what method I teach students the idea of plural and singular. I told them, " I have no clue." I'm an ASSISTANT English teacher. They are the teacher. I said I would think about it but not so much thinking is going on. I know what they are talking about but I truly have no clue how to teach it. I then stayed after and watch soft-tennis and baseball practice for about 1 hour. Got bored sitting there so I went to MaxValue for some more veggies in the old section!! Half off! woo-hoo! 2 ears of amazing corn for 50 cents!!

Then I went to "The Mall" as it is named and it was REALLY lame. Then I peddled to UNI_QLO. It's like the gap and I got 4 cool shirts. Most are California surfing shirts and an American University in Washington shirt. I also got an IPOD running carrying case for 1.50$ and a pair of flip flops for 190 yen Summer clothes are ALL on sale. I got 4 T's, 1 polo, ipod case, and flip flops for 2000yen! I have an eye for bargains what can I say! PS I wear a large here and even that's a little tight!

Oral hygiene or lack thereof

Could people's breath be any worse? It smells like a dog crawled inside and went the bathroom in some a many people's mouths and went the bathroom. It's AWFUL! The worst is when they are trying to have a conversation with you in your face and it is just putrid! I'm writing this because I just had one such conversation but it happens everyday. I know many people in America sink too but that;s a different story. The gym is the worst. I want to beg some men to stop blowing air out and killing me with their workout. I really do get lightheaded. Teeth are like in England. VERY bad! Braces are not common but buckteeth and fangs are. I really think it might be something with genetics or at least that's what someone told me, but they were drunk at a bar so may not be true. Teeth are really stained, probably from all the tea and coffee I guess.

Also, one good thing is no matter how much you think you smell (BO or otherwise) someone aliways worse so no need to worry. STuck in the trains or bus is the worst! Deodorant must not be very strong here. I Def have had my share of times when I'm sure people in here looked at me a lil funny on the train. Maybe after a big meal of veggies perhaps. I'm a foreigner so I'm allowed to get away with it! :)

SkOoL

School
Im sitting here right now killing time as I have about 6 hours to kill. My ass hurts from sitting so much this week. It gives me lots of time to observe the inner-workings of the Japanese school system, well that and veg out and daydream. I have organized my laptop, looked through all my photos, labeled all my 2500 songs on my ipod, as well as plan out the rest of my life. And I still need to find stuff to do. Do I think they want me on my laptop? Probably not, but its pointless to stare off in space when they don’t have anything for me to do. The Japanese seem to be very unconfrontational. For example, our janitor at my apato saw my NAU banner in my room and thought it was a poster. We cant put tacks or nails in the wall so he called my boss. Instead of calling me he called my neighbor who came over to ask me if I was using tacks. Seems like a lot of steps instead of just asking me.

As Eric, a current English teacher in my building taught me, do what you want. Basically, don’t be uncomfortable for their sake. So for example, the Japanese teachers will stand for 4 hours straight. I on the other hand want to cry like a baby after standing with my shoes off for 20 minutes. So instead of enduring this torture I now just grab a chair. F im really bored with nothing to do, instead of going to ask 5 different people if its ok if I walked around campus, I just go. Much easier this way and makes school somewhat more enjoyable.
An average day I get up at 530, walk around the block to wake up, shower, get ready, eat, check my email real quick, and head-off to school arriving just after 730. I then find my seat and begin filling it or the day. As I walk up to the school, all teachers have to stand at the entrance and say good morning to every student as they enter. It’s a lil intimidating seeing ALL teachers staring at you and whispering as you walk up but I just smile and say, O haio, go zai I mas" back to them. It means good morning. I then park the Silver Bullet, also known as my rusty noisy trash bike and head to the entrance. Their I find my indoor shoe locker and place my shoes in there and get out my Teva sandals which are my shoe of choice at school. Comfy yet airy. I began the first day wearing black dress pants, a white longsleeve button-up collared shirt and black tie.

This was only for my first introduction to the school at a ceremony hey held welcoming students back. I then began to wear khaki pants and a polo shirt everyday. However, after sweating out of every orifice possible due to the humid as hell weather and the vice-principals refusal to turn the AC on. I switched to what almost all male teachers wear: track pants and a t-shirt or polo, ladies dress a lil nicer. So I have been wearing my warm-ups track pants and my Stay-
dri or Under Armour t-shirts as they are somewhat comfortable in this swamp feeling teachers room/ The Principal and his sidekick, I mean the Vice principal, where dress pants, white short sleeve collared button up and slippers. I think they are stingy with the AC as every time he leaves the room, one of the teachers will hurry over and turn down the AC. When the Vice comes back in he will raise it right back up. Not caring that everyone in here, including myself, is using there lil handfans to keep from dying.

Then they have a morning teachers meeting where they go over all the events for the day then each grades team leader breaks down what is going on in each grade level for the day. Total time is usually 20 minutes. I used to just sit there with a lost/look on my face as I know they know I have NO clue what anyone is saying yet don’t bother to have anything explained to me. Now I just pull out a book and read. I’ll stop if the principal is talking very briefly then go back to what was doing. I allow them to interrupt my reading once in a while.. They don’t seem to mind me doing other things during these meetings so I don’t either
.
The I usually "help" with anywhere between 1-4 classes a day.. I mostly sit there but yesterday he had me read the words for English word BINGO. Exciting I know. But at least it was something to do. They don’t want you speaking to the students in Japanese as they say it doesn’t help them.

The students actually do like the stickers I brought. Most are bands from America, such as 50 Cent, Good Charlotte, Weezer, Starting Line, etc. They have no clue who they are but compared to the "nice Job" stickers that are the size of a dime they get from the other teachers, they are kinda cool. I’m gonna run out soon so I better get some more sent over here or I will be out of items to bribe their responses with.

The students don’t know much English at all. Most can say. "Hello, my name is yoko ono. I like basuball." Then you say nice to meet you and they say, "nice to meet you too." IF you say anything else they don’t know it and will just smile. I would do the same so I cant say anything about that. Some cant speak anything and a handful can say more than this simple phrase, however none speak sentences or anything.
They all wear uniforms. Different colors for different grades. Boys always stick with boys, and the girls with the girls. Rows are divided by sexes but classes are co-ed. I haven’t seen any boys talking to girls yet..


Discipline:
The students have more respect than in the US, that or they are just scared shiteless of what will happen to them if they talk back. Outside of class in assemblies or anything being around a teacher they know they are not to goof around. Many wont even speak. They bow and are very respectful to all teachers. Yet to some of the "nice" teachers, I sit there while kids talk over t hem the whole time and ignore there pleas to stop. It gets pretty bad sometimes and I just want to tell the to shut up. I then start talking to the class and they keep talking. I raise my vice thinking that will help and just end up talking really loud over an even louder class. They do march in order into the assembly hall and stand and bow and say something before they leave class everyday.

I have noticed some teachers really rip into these kids verbally. One young lady teacher, who mind you is about 4' 5'’ and 90 pounds soaking wet, likes to get the kids to cry by standing 3 inches from there face like she was a drill sergeant and making them feel dumb. I also saw her smack a kid who had his head down while a speaker was talking pretty good on the back of the head. The same teacher saw a student wasn’t straight enough as the line leader and kicked him in the shins. Many of the guy teachers act just like a drill sergeant, screaming at the kids. They intimidate me just listening to them and I don’t know what they are even saying.


The Kids
Some of the kids are really cool. Everyone who I say hello or konichiwa with ALWAYS says it back. My first day, a lil punk named Shinji came by and was poking my shoulder and bugging me. He always acts like he’s punching me in the face. At first I was like, "What’s this hoodlums deal?", but know I just mess with him. When I see him scrubbing floors during cleaning time, I walk up and point to the floor and "say you missed a spot" and laugh at him. I call him Yakuza and e laughs too. He’s actually a funny kid.
Kids are quite nice though. They always say "Hellooo, Mr. Daniel". And ask "how are you?" They just like to show off that they know English I think. After you answer how you are they cant say anything else so the conversation ends. But they are still very cute and I thought all junior high kids were sent from ell. At least my experiences in AZ taught me that. I know none of the names except for maybe two or three. Everyone else’s name is quite long and all sound the same so its quite hard to remember. I know Kiche, Yakuza, and Sam. An American kid who lives with his dad, but cant speak any English. He looks like even other kid in the US so you want to say Hello and such but he just looks confused.

Mondays suck No matter what country you are in!

So its Monday and I'm sittign at my lil desk. I actually wish I had a cubicle right now. This chair is the HARDEST chair ever. And the back support left it about 23 years ago. Today I helped with two regular classes and a handicapped class. The regular classes I just read sentences aloud again, read the words for bingo and asked students how they were doing. Then I read the numbers 1 - 50 out loud and had them repeat them back to me after each one. After nodding off sitting in the corner while the teacher taught and having kids say "Don-yell are you shreepy?". Then I tried to teach a lesson while half the class talked over me and Shinji-san put the drapes over his head and talked to himself the whole time I was teaching. We have been told to not try and discipline anyone so I just keep talking. That kid is weird though and I cant walk past his desk without him trying to stick his fingers up my ass. The teacher DEF saw him and laughed. I just smack him in his head now. Like I said he's a weird kid, and I don't know how he plays baseball cause he can't even answer any questions in class. He has to get all F's.

Then I was told to help the handicapped class everyweek. Wow! Imagine me and 4 severely handicapped kids trying to learn English. One has down Syndrome (he's really cute though), one won't look at me and I don't know what's wrong with her, one has severe autism bubt it smart (she spells every word i say in the air), and another boy who they pretty much don't even try to get him to learn. I held up cards of a dog for example and they had to say the words of what was on the card. Some would yell out weird words but sometimes they would get it. Then we sangs songs. I.ee Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Head, Shoulders, Knees , and Toes. Except one boy like head, shoulders, and crotch grabbing better. I laughed but the other teacher didn't think it was so funny. It was actually fun but interesting trying to teach them. I was impressed they can speak English if only a few words. Only 4 Handicap kids in the whole school though and they all work in one classroom.

Then I had a teachers meeting with the other 4 English teachers. After sitting down they asked me what ideas I had. I said "Well nothing." As I have NO cluewhat we are going to teach or what they have learned. So aside from that...Pretty boring so far today. A big spider just crawled across my desk. The weather is AMAZING. Maybe 70 degrees, sunny and cool at night. I sleep with the door open at night. I do get woken up by teenagers who ride past the building at night and rev their motorcycles but not to bad. Ok that's all....

HAnko

Hanko (not to be confused with the kncho) is the stamp that is basically your signature. Now this totally doesn't make sense to me. You use it hear or anything that would require your signature in the US. To open my bank account, I needed my hanko, to sign up for my gym I needed it. To get internet or sign into work everyday you need your hanko. What if you lost it and someone decided to get crazy and open all kinds of accounts in your name. They don’t ask for ID, just a stupid stamp. I have a feeling this is one of those things that has carried on for many years and is still in existence just "because." I wish I knew someone who was cool here at school and could just stamp me as present and I could have extra vacation days, but what can you do...?

All that is greaet is Ipod

IPOD
I’m soo glad I bought an IPOD to take with me. I love it and am never outside my room without it. I have a ton of great listening things on it. In addition to the tons I music I have, I am actually learning while I listen. I have quite an eclectic mix of material on there. I realized what and how cool Podcasts are. I have everything from: how to speak Japanese CDS to NPR daily shows. ESPN daily sports talk to Real Time with Bill Maehr (so funny!), I have Business Week stories, World News, NBC Nightly news, Josh inJapann ( a blog of a foreigner living inJapann), up and coming music, ABC Night-line, Kinky Sex radio, Diane Rhehm Show, NBC Today. I even have Berkeley professors and other universities who pt there daily history class lectures online for me to listen to. I just don’t do the homework obviously.
AND if that’s not enough, since I don’t have TV I have filled it with daily Video Podcasts. These are podcasts but with video since I have the Video IPOD. I watch CNN student news daily as well as the AC nightly news. CBS news with Katie Couric, MTV News, VH1 Best Week Ever, Hawaii Surfing, and a learning Japanese daily video. Sometimes while I’m out shopping I don’t always pay attention to what im listening to but I still remember things I heard somehow. Also, it’s a great way to not have to listen to awful J-Pop music they play while I workout. Anyhow, although expensive ($300)....I love my Ipod!

Mt. Shosha

Today I went to Mt. Shosha with a girl me and Eric met at Club Roxy named Manami. Very nce lady. We biked about 15 min from my apt to the mt Then took a cable car to the top. About 500Yen up. Then we walked all around it. Monks walking around, temples and shrines everywhere. To become holy or something, older Japanese people have to visit 33 of the selected shrines. This is one of them and draws a nice crowd. Lots of interesting Buddhist statues. Manami didn't know the significance behind them either. I wish I did. She said the younger gen here doesn't care for religion. Its mostly the older folks and younger gen are atheists. I found a temple where there was a Buddhist service going on. Monks were walking slowly in a circling chanting something. Manami said she couldn't understand it as it was she thought Chinese. Makes sense as Buddhsism came to Japan from china. Kinda creepy listening to them chant though. We wondered around for a few hors. Kinda weird seeing things built in the 900's and still standing. It was nice to go with her as she explained things and translated signs and such. A good person to chat with as she is quite worldly and older. Divorced de to a abusive husband she has traveled to the US many times, favoring Vancouver and Seattle. She is very interested in things such as politics, diversity issues, human rights and such. Her English is quite good, so we had some good conversations. They weather was ABSOLUTELY beautiful! What a great day to be outside.
I then went to MaxVal and spent too much money on groceries. I bought a NUMBER of sweets. Im addicted. I like trying new things. I was told Natto was REALLY good. So I bought some and ea...Not true. I bought a BIG sushi roll and it was also AWFUL! Full of wasabi and I hate wasabi. I then found a fruit which I had no clue what it was. I figure it must be good for 1400 yen! Turns out I asked someone when I got home. IT was a coconut still in its shell.(not the fuzzy kind) I couldn’t eat anything and ended up paying $1400 yen for a glass of coconut juice! Whatever. I bought corn on the cob again and its AMAZING! I really like it.


In case you are wondering how does a thrifty and handsome gentlemen like myself survive in one of the most expensive countries. Here’s my tips: Look through the ads, and look for the stickers on the produce. Going to the store after 4pm you can get all your sushi 20% off as they have to throw it out otherwise. Breads go down to 50% off. All veggies and fruits get pt into a small basket in the corner. That is where you’ll find me. I get a head of spinach for 60 cents, ear of corn for 60 cents, expensive nectarine for only a dollar. Some must be eaten that day but it still tastes good!

Another Week Down

So yesterday I went to school and I was glad it was Friday. School wasn’t too bad. I got to help out two classes today. So what I did was just read sentences about 2 times over and hey would all repeat them back to me as a class. For example: "The ball is red. I like this ball." Hey I never said it was exciting. Then I was asked to read the words for word Bingo. Such as Ball, or dog. I then walk around and ask the students questions such as , "Hello. How are you?" They then say, "Fine, sank you. And you?"
All can say that exact sentence but no variations so don’t even think of saying anything except for fine. I bribe some into speaking with my stickers I brought of US rock bands. Some say "F@$K" or other inappropriate things. Bt I figure no foul as kids cant read anyway. Kids really think the stickers are cool. Also these lucky kids got to take 45min out of their school days to wax the floor of the school. . Oh and 3 kids face planted into the floor standing during some assembly where they had to stand. Made me wonder if they are worked to hard?....
The last two days at work the teachers who I last taught with have asked me to eat with there class. Each class eats in their classroom with there home room teacher. I’m pretty much amusement for the kids. They all laugh at my meals and gather around to see what I will eat next. Apparently the fact that I cant cook is humorous to some people. The teachers seem to get a good laugh out of it too. Everyday for lunch I bring rice with soy sauce (called shohu here), peanuts, and sometimes a banana or tuna. One teacher said after WWII many peopdidn'tdnt have much else to eat but rice and she called me that word. WhateverKidsids give me parts of their lunches to try so the jokes on them! Ha!
Then I decided to grom some balls and tell the grumpy kocho-sensei (vice Prin) that I want to leave when it says I can on my contract. He looked at me like I was nts. How dare me not work overtime for free! I told him I have classes I need to attend. After giving me crap he said I could most days! Most days! Ha, whatever! I will now be home and hour earlier a day at least! Works for me!
After a workout at Konami gym, and my daily dinner of a veggie, 2 eggs, a block of tofu and soy sauce, and rice, and a bowl of cereal I went to the Tiger Bar with Eric. He LOVES the locals and we went to meet some girl he wanted to. He left me alone with 4 Japanese people faboutbot 30 min. I struggles to communicate until he returned but conversed with them despite it all. Took a few shots of god’s awful and cheap creation called Shochu before we rode to the bars. Then I decided to buy a few 500yen beers. Heinekens or coronas are 800 yen!!! Ouch! Shochu is 1000yen a gallon! Now you know why I like it. He hit on girls for a while. I talked to some locals and after he was really wasted we rode around the streets yelling konichiwa to people. WE always find someone who can spEnglishlish back or at least we go and watch the street performers play. About 65 degrees riding home at 2am so the whether was getting niThat'shats all tonight!

KOBE

KOBE
So today I went to Kobe. I felt like I just wanted to get out of this city. I had my backpack all packed with my handy Lonely Planet guide, Dictionary, water, and all the other essentials for a day trip. I was a little more tired than I wanted to be as the night before I went to the Tiger Pub with Eric who works there. He just wants to go to try and pick up on the locals. A usually crowded night at the main foreigners bar found us sitting with the owner and the other bartender who was now off work. I talked to the other bartender who also teaches English to people who pay him 30$ and hour at Starbucks here to have English conversation with him. He is leaving soon to go on a tour throughout ALL of southeast Asia except Myanmar and Burma and wind up in Australia. Crazy but Im sure he’ll have fun! Anyhow, they wanted to go hit on girls who hang out around the downtown train station. Basically it’s the only place besides bars young people hang out here. Eric and he both speak some Japanese so they hit on, what looked liked to me some high schoolers, playing drinking games right outside the 7-11. No one seems to care as I don’t think alcohol is a big deal here. Then we wondered some more and saw the local hooligans. They are soo funny to watch. The cruise the main street on gopeds revving the engine as thought they were Harleys.. As the guy with us said, "Oh yea thats intimidating....Two guys doubled up on a moped, who have hair like Bon-Jovi in the 80's and all bleached to some horrible not-natural color, wearing what looks like my sisters clothes." Very accurate description of them actually. The most trouble they do is rev there engines and yell. They yell, "Big penis?!" to Americans who walk by them at night. But kids in the middle school think its funny to ask this too. Then we watched some streets musicians. They don’t want money. They just sit outside to play as they all live at home and can’t go anywhere to practice. They weren’t very good but one guy was playing the blues and did a hatchet job to Eric Clapton’s Heaven. After that I went to bed at 1:30.
And on to Kobe....I made my way to the station and none of the words on the ticket seller ting were in English. I did a lil’ more guessing and got my ticket then followed the signs. I actually got a seat and was able to sit the whole way. The trains say it will be arriving at "1:03" and they REALLY do show up at exactly that time. I wasn’t sure what they were saying over the speaker and didn’t want to get off at the wrong stop so I asked the guy next to me, and he let me know when I got there.
I made my way to Harbor land. It’s a amusement park next to the bay. REALLY big Ferris Wheel and a roller coaster. Next door is a place called MOSAIC. REALLY nice outdoor mall and many nice restaurants that look out onto the bay. This section does not look like a port at all. I found a ALL YO CAN EAT fishmarket!! I was in heaven! First all you can eat place I have seen! IT was only 1690 yen, which was good for how much I ate.
I then walked all around the famous port tower. IT was very cool. It was 600 yen to goto the top but I just went to the 4th floor of the mall an had a great shot of the bay. They had a monument to the 5,000 who died in 1995 in the Earthquake. It was just nice to sit and relax by the water on a nice cool day.
I then walked to the Motomachi neighborhood where I believe 5,000 Chinese live. It basically is Chinatown. Lots of Mao things for sale and LOTS of Chinese food stands. All very clean though. I walked trough about a mile long mall. I bought MANY sweets! I like the balls of rice, I think they are called mochi. I also bought dried pineapple, and a bun with beans in it. They are really sweet Japanese beans. Not sure the name and it doesn’t sound good but it’s a healthy and good dessert. I was soo full but it was all good! They had many nice and expensive stores. This city is 1.5 million or so. About 3 times Himeji and was a lot cooler. Many malls and bars and such. I bought some gifts and then went to a store called UNI-Qlo. Its like the GAP for Japan and they have good sales. I bought a tank top for 390 yen. I found an Abercrombie and Fitch and T-shirts were 39-59 $!!!! Way expensive! But it was a nice city and I would recommend it. Not overwhelming like a Tokyo or anything.
Its only a 40 min ride and cost 10$ each way so I will go again. I watched the news and listened to NPR the whole way. IT went by fast. Others just slept. The girl next to me kept laying her head on me and I would have to shove her over to the other side a few times. And My feet were VERY tired when I got home but it was neat to see another city and now at least I know I can navigate the subway. Only bad thing was that my Camelback in my backpack leak all over me and down my pants. It look like I was either really sweating or I peed myself. Next time...no Camel Pack.

For pics visit http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mv2nau2000/album?.dir=/10dcscd&.src=ph&.tok=phFVphFBEgRuE08B

My new Kimono!

Today we finally did something with our others who live in the building. Only some showed up as many do their own thing. It was at the community center and we all welcomed ourselves to the crowd of about 5 Japanese retired people who had nothing better to do that day. We had some retired people do a traditional Japanese dance as well as play the electric koto for us. THEN the best part... we got our very own kimono!! When will I ever wear this? Probably never but I don’t care. At least I now have a kimono!!!!

Golfing

Friday night we went to a 24 hours golfing place. It was interesting as we were driving the balls of the 3rd floor. I had never done this before and I was prety bad but it was fun! It was about 10 min drive from us and was about 2000 yen for 200 balls. Only 1 of the girls spoke english, and eric met them at the Roxy bar the weekend before when I was there with him Very nice girls though. One of them said " You have a keen sense of sports." So whatever that means...

Ahh Yes...The Infamous Koncho

Koncho!!!!So what does it mean to be Koncho-ed? Well I had the pleasure of finding that out today. I was hanging out with the baseball team asking them about baseball and Bsing with them. I always mess with this one little kid who is going to be a gangster when he’s older. His name is Shinji but I call him Stinji just for my own fun. In mid sentence I suddenly have 2 fingers jammed UP my ass! One’s first reaction is to close the backdoor and jerk forward, as soon as I did that I had my bait and tackle yanked.

Which THEN makes you go backwards were the two fingers are waiting. After 2 rounds of this I realized this was no good. I didn’t know whether to kick his ass or file police reports. Apparently most of the boys do this to each other. Another teacher here, Mac, said "Oh you mean you got koncho-ed, happens all the time at work for me. I just smack them and call them idiots. Was a little surprising the first time." I guess they do it to the young English teachers too. They get it from the comics and anime here and think its funny. Kind of like the wedgie or something in America. While I couldn’t picture doing that to a new teacher when Iwas in school...at least I can say I have been Koncho-ed!


This is an add-on. Bobby wrote me with this soltion to solve this problem and I'm really considering it. It cracked me up!!!!

"Itold Tanya and she thought it was hilarious. I toldher that I would have buried their noses in myunderwear and showed them the game of Inhale theVolcano as it erupts violently causing severe nose andlung irritation, and then I would have wrapped theirunderwear around their quaking skulls at least threetimes as they urinated all over the new carpet of theschool.:) Then I would have said "Who is going to gettheir fingers near my Jewels and Cornho again?" as Iclasped my hands and bowed in traditional Japanesefashion. Remember that. That could shorten your trip,but it could be very educational, and cement greatintercultural relations. Talk to you later."

Bobby

Sports day!

So today was finally the big day, what we have been practicing for the last week every single day. I was honestly glad it was held. They said they would reschedule and do it on our holiday day off if it rained. I woke up the night before at about 2:30 to a REALLY loud noise. It was this little river that was like the raging rapids outside my door since I have been sleeping with it open. I thought that for sure we would still have to work and then just reschedule it on our day off. However when I woke up for school several hours later the sun was out. The teacher told me to be there by 7 as that is "when al of us have to be here." I showed up at 7:20 since I’m not "one of them" and my contract doesn’t say I have to. After setting up I had seen this all done 100 times but since they locked the teachers room I found a seat. After struggling to stay awake I went over to take pictures of the kids since they asked me to take lots of pictures so they could use them in their newsletter. All the kids LOVE when I want to take a picture and all want to get in it. They were all having fun when one of the teachers came and tried to lecture me with mostly gestures and about 4 words on how I shouldn’t work the kids up, that they should be sitting straight up. Geez! Sometimes I think these teachers need to pull the sticks out of their asses and loosen up. These are kids ya know! So I took my bitter self and went and chatted with the school nurse who is my age. She doesn’t speak English so its always fun to try.
I then walked around and said "Hello" about 1000000 times. Thats all most kids know but they all say it. I sound like a parrot repeating myself. There funny though.
I was then ready for my big race. I was in a teacher’s relay against the 7th graders. I ran 1 lap sprinting and almost had a heart attack. I havened used my "sprinting" muscles or something in a while! Then they signed me up for some game where me and 2 other teachers had to wear a box on our back and try and escape the PTA parents. Whoever had the least amounts of balls I the box at the end one.
Finally, rain was sent from the heavens.... WE had to clean up still but it ended a little early. Cancel the boring rest??? Of course not...they reschedule it of course for the next day! Blah! Other interesting things for me....I ate a $1050 yen bento lunch. It had squid (good), lotus root (not so good), and they have really HUGE pears shaped like apples. She said they are called 21st century pear. Never heard of them but they are much better than America’s I only had 5 hours of sleep from the night before so I came home. That plus I wasn’t going to pay 60000 yen, yes 60000 yen to go to dinner with the teachers that night. I’m gonna use that to goto Kobe on Tuesday! Oh and I got Konchoed again...I figured they would keep doing this so I explained the wedgie to the kids. They then began to give each other wedgies. I love exporting the great American traditions!

Is it really Friday?

So today was Friday but here is a boring recap of my day:

I worked all day. By worked I mean I sat. They had sports practice again!! It's Like the 10th day in a row of practice. These teachers are REALLY perfectionist. The PE was crying yesterday cuz they couldn't get the routine right. The other teachers just RIP into any student not paying attention. The mean teacher walked up to a student who had his head hung low and not looking at the speaker and grab him by the hair and straightened him up! Ouch! I decided I had seen enough of the same thing over and over so I went inside and checked my email. Then we had EXTENDED cleaning time. I rake pointlessly for like 50 minutes. I felt like a gardener. I then had to have a meeting with 3 of the teachers I will start with in October at 3 separate elementary schools in neighboring towns. They spoke no English so one teacher from my current school translated.
It will take me about 45 minutes on the bus to get there I found out and the worst part is its 710 yen for the fare. Which isn't HORRIBLE except that the fare EACH way! Sucks, I know! Then she said I cant leave work there till around 5 which means I will get home late again! I hate getting home so late! But luckily I have my Ipod for the bus ride everyday!
Throughout the last like 10 minutes of the meeting, we had so many awkward silences it was awful. I think everyone KNEW we were done but no one wanted to say anything. I was rustling my papers which to me is the, "Let's go people we are done here", sign. But no, they wanted to sit in silence.

Then I killed time till time to leave! IT was payday! First one! I rode to the ATM on the way to the gym. Someone lied and said the ATM had an English option...Which was a lie. I literally pushed buttons and got lucky. I typed in my pin on some screen then found a button after a while which I typed in how many Yen I wanted. You cant use a debit card at stores here. Weird, so technologically savvy but still a cash based society.
After a brief workout at the gym, I headed to the market since I am out of food entirely. I got all the essentials and then did a lil' sampling of some foods I had know idea of what they were. I was being brave.
While shopping a store clerk walked up and asked me if I was finding everything ok. At first I thought he thought I was stealing as I had my HUGE backpack filled. Turns out he wanted to practice English. He said he teachers Japanese and gave me his card and said to call him. He then told me to please come back the the store and talk to him next time. Very friendly of him I thought!

After that I went to the 7-11 to pay my electric bill. Only was for 1 week so it was only 1081 yen. Nice that you can just do that at any conveinance store. However, on my way home I had all my groceries hanging on my bar handles and tried braking to hard. The silver Bullet couldn't handle all that action and one of my brakes snapped. I now have one working brake. Im not gonna get it fixed as I KNOW its worth more than that rusty piece is....

Alright...8hours of more practice tomorrow so up at 530 on a Saturday morning. :( Goodnight all!

A Tour of the Other side of the tracks

So this isn't like a cool posting about the "Wrong side of the tracks" or nothing. I just happened to goto the other side of the train tracks I hadn't been to yet. Eric came by and wanted to goto Uni-Qlo. He said it was down the road, yet it took us 40 min to get there. On the way he showed me many interesting shops. First was KFC, then Yoshinoya, which is similar to American fast-food but is Japanese. It looked really good, but everything does when you're starving. So we made it to Uni-Qlo and it was worth it It was just like the GAP or Old Navy and had great deals. Everything in Japan is for small men. Like the waist in the men's jeans starts at like 26! And everything is slim fit. You don't see any Big and Tall stores here that's for sure. Then we went to a 3-story arcade. t has games that won't be out in America for years! The guy said one game alone there, costs them 25,000$. I saw it and believe it. Has a 20 Ft long flat screen for a horseracing game. People also gamble tokens for prizes. Like poker, blackjack, etc but not for money or Pachinko balls. It was fun, I don't have any money so I obviously didn't play anything but I want to go back just to say I played a game. Then on the way home Eric wanted to stop buy a porn shop. (I swear it was his idea, but I didn't say no :) I didn't think they had those there as I know porn is illegal. Well they have everything except there's a blur mark on the goodies. Eric said people will buy it and a descramber illegally to remove the blur and there you go. Interesting though. Then we passed a "Love Hotel". These are funny as they DEF stand out yet cater to discreet couples looking for an hour of "alone" time. You rent buy the hour and drive in a covered entrance. From there you hand your money into a machine which tells you what rooms are available and for how long. Once you pay the key pops out. The rooms are different. Some with large showers, jungle themes, Betty Boop themed, mirrors everywhere, etc. However, I hear they are a good place to stay after 10pm when you can rent it for the night for cheaper than a business hotel. Good tip to remember in case you are traveling in Nippon!

The Gymnasium

So this is about the gym here. I decided on the nicest one in town. It:s called Konami Sports Club. Konami also owns the video game company and many other companies here \apparently too. The gym is 9200 yen per month or about 85$. You would expect alot for that huh? But unfortunately it:s a four story gym with equipment you had in your high school gym. The equipment is very limited. Japanese people are not so much into weihts. All the cardio classes are always full and they have two rooms just for that. I think the weigths machines are made for Japanese people too. Everything is smaller and I bang my knees on a lot of the equipment. Most of the I rack out as they don:t go as heavy as in the US. I get some weird looks doing so but that:s ok. It cracks me up watching the jpn men working out. I don:t think they have ANY idea what they are doing. They just move weights around and think that will do something. One guy acts like he`s banging a drun for his workout. One guy moves the bar exactly 1^inch off tthe rack to his schest. It does absolutely nothing, but he puts a lot of weight on it so it looks cool for him I guess. They also wear like spandex from the 80`s and it looks quite funny. Also I have to complain about the breath. People are brething hard on the cardio equipment and sometimes it hits you like a ton of bricks. You can:t have gum as I have been told numerous times so they should make everyone brush their teeth before working out. Oh and one more complaint.....Taking your shoes off in the gym. So I have to wear a pair of shoes there. Leave those in a locker as \i enter. Then put on my indoor shows. Then take those off as NO shoes are allowed in locker rooms. then proceed to workout and put on my workout shoes. I have to bring about 4 pairs to the gym everyday. I forgot and was walking around the locker room once. I got a lot of stairs but no one says anything to me. Oh well..And last it is neat that the lady at the front bows and accepts my card everyday with both hands like I`m someone important. Oh and since Konami owns it they make equipment for like the treadmills so they are liek a videogame and while you run the screen in front of you has obstacles and characters you must beat. Kinda fun i guess. I also enjoy the view. From the second floor of the gym where I workout, it looks out onto the lake and castle so at least the scenery is nice while I workout. I`m just glad I have my Ipod otherwise that J-pop they play would kill my workouts. ...

Cleaning Time....

So this is one of the few good things about working. I get to participate in cleaning time everyday! I think it's so funny. So at the same time everyday, all students jump out of there chairs and run to their assigned jobs. And I'm not just talking about wiping the blackboards...No they rake, pull weeds, wipe the windowsill, EVERYTHING! EVERYONE has a job - even the teachers. :( Absolutely no students stand around or even talk. . The funny part is they pipe this really funny like patriotic music throughout the whole school the entire time as if to persuade the students this is a patriotic duty. I cant understand anything they say so it very well may be. I kinda stand around and look busy. Kids are on their knees with toothbrushes wiping the floors. No thanks...I don't get paid enough. But I do like the idea. Who wants to make a mess if you and your friends probably will be cleaning it. Anyhow...That's my story for the day...