OMG--I'm About to Explode
So, I’m still full and I stopped eating lunch around 1 pm—that’s 5 hours of being full. I’m in a food coma. I’m about ready to pass out. I went to the school’s nearby grocery store for some take out sushi and after I ate it, a teacher invited me to eat with a group of teachers.
This was the second time that I was invited to this other teachers’ lounge for lunch and the third day in a row that I ate with some teachers. Usually, I just sit at my desk and sometimes brave the cafeteria. Today they made
okonomiyaki and I’m not sure what the other dish was. The second thing was batter with onions topped with kimchi. I ate and ate and ate. The iced tea kept flowing too. Some of the okonomiyaki had
natto .
I think that the teachers are beginning to realize two important things about me 1. I’ll eat just about anything (and usually like it) 2. I’m trying to learn Japanese. So, I think that they’re beginning to warm up to me a bit more. We had fun. They taught me some Japanese and they asked me questions about the U.S. and what I like to eat.
Whew! It was awesome! Onaka ga ippai desu nee.
Japanese Men
The Japanese men are really effeminate. My gay friends have the worst time being able to tell if the men are gay or not. And frankly, I wonder too. Here’s why: 1. many men spend more time on their hair than women 2. men wear bobby pins in their hair 3. straight men sit on each other’s laps 4. they’re often just prettier than the women 5. sometimes they hold hands with each other 6. not afraid to do “fruity” things.
I was watching tv tonight and saw men doing a synchronized swimming. First of all, this seems really girly anyway. But, at the end, they all got out of the water and did a cheer. A cheer like girls would do at a football game. It seemed, well, gay. It continues to baffle us here.
Anyway, something to ponder for all of us. Check your gay-dar. Mine’s busted here.
Two Months
It’s already been two months since I came to Japan. It’s crazy how fast time moves here. Well, unless it’s between the hours of 4 am and 6:30 am, waiting for the first train. Other than that, it goes fast.
The kids have tests this week, so I’ve been working on the tests and trying to plan upcoming lessons. Can you imagine having a three-day weekend and then having to test the week after? Shitty. The exchange student doesn’t have to take any of the tests because he already graduated from high school in AU. So, he has the next two weeks off. Lucky.
I still have to go to school even if there isn’t class. It’s only fair to the other teachers. I’ll probably just study Japanese because I really need to. I study usually every other day, but it’s really tough with only my own volition and no text to speak of. I’m waiting for my texts from when I actually took Japanese to arrive soon. Review. It’s good. The grammar is far too different to not study it. Otherwise, I’ll be napping on the leather chairs like all of the other teachers. Or in the library. On the tatami mats.
Currently, I’m in a food coma. I was too busy today to eat lunch and after skipping breakfast, I ate a lot at dinner. Umm, greasy fried Japanese food. And a beer. I’m almost passed out now and it’s only 9:30.
So, off to stare at the tv for a bit. G’nite.
No Pants!
You know that it’s starting to get cold when you have to start wearing pants again. In fact, when I slept on the hammock today, I even needed a ‘lil blanket and I was even wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt. Damn! It was about 26 degrees Celsius today—what’s that in Fahrenheit? According to the all-mighty net, that’s 78.8 degrees. Yeah, and I was chilly. That’s Osaka for ya.
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So, I finally bought another electronic dictionary. My last one’s screen was fizzled out a bit and not as cool as I would have liked. It’s pretty cool. You can do English-Japanese, vice-versa, it can tell you how to say kanji (either via hiragana or it will speak to you), and you can write the kanji on the screen if you’re trying to find it. I know, I’m probably geeking out on you, but it’s really nice. It’s hard to communicate without one often times.
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I’m so exhausted. Two days of my three day weekend have been spent sleeping or lying around. Saturday was kindof a marathon. The Osaka JET’s were invited to go to Nara to see some temples and we had to be in Nara around 10:30 am. In other words, no sleeping in.
Nara is really pretty. There are about 1200 deer that live in the city. They’re a bunch of beggars and aren’t afraid to go and nudge you for some food. You can buy them cookies and then they’ll follow you around until you don’t have any more cookies for them. At lunch, we saw a woman with her baby and husband trying to feed one. She freaked out. She was saying in Japanese “Scary! Scary!” The deer was barely coming near her and the woman started to run away on this steep slope. The woman totally ate it. I felt bad for her, but she was really unnecessarily scared of the deer.
The deer are really small too. A couple of guys wanted to ride them, but they’re way too small for that. I think the deer are maybe a little bit bigger than a golden retriever, maybe. Photos coming hopefully soon. Another snafu on that, but it should soon be rectified. Did I mention I hate computers?
After a long day of sight-seeing, I went to Namba as I thought a few of us would be going to dinner. Well, I guess I was wrong. I spent the next 4 or 5 hours shopping alone, hence the electronic dictionary. I bought a couple of other small items, but nothing much to mention here.
I had dinner, alone, around 9 pm at a Mexican restaurant! Oddly enough, it was only a couple of doors down from where I spent the first night here in Osaka at the Dontomburi Hotel. Hmm. I must still been jet-lagged. In fact, I know that I was still was. I had enchiladas. Yummy!
Met everyone by the river around 10 or 11. Danced until 4ish am, and passed out around 6:30 am. I’m surprised my legs aren’t bitching at me for what was probably about 15 hours or so of walking yesterday.
That was my weekend.
(Not in a van), Down by the River
At four am, waiting for the first train that really doesn’t come until 5:20, you start to think about various things. Well, unless you’re passed out on the stairs like my friends. As I looked around the usual meeting place, I realized that none of the usual lights were on. Usually, there’s so much light pollution that the sky looks purple at night. The hustle and bustle of Osaka was muffled under the semi-dark sky.
Oh, there were plenty of people there, just mostly asleep. As I stayed awake to ensure my friends’ safety, I noticed a J-man that seemed like he had been working at a hostess bar sitting on the stairs fishing, trying to stay awake. I thought he was going to crack his head on a corner of one of the stairs because he was so close to following over from his sitting position.
Other people were sleeping right next to the nasty river on the wooden planks. One man had his sheet of cardboard and his shoes off. He looked comfortable somehow in the corner, tucked out of the way.
So many people were sleeping. It was in some ways peaceful, but in other ways it bothered me. I guess what really bothered me was that the U.S. isn’t safe enough to even consider sleeping outside. I considered sleeping next to my friends, but I just wasn’t that drunk anyway. It feels good here in that way. People just don’t fuck with you like they would in the states. I see people sleeping in the train stations too. It’s just something that seems so natural before the first train comes.
Around 5 am, there is a shuffle of people slowly moving toward the entrance of the station if they weren’t already there. Hundreds of people trapped, miles from home, wanting to sleep, eventually descend down the stairs only to have to wait more.
Whew!
Well, I survived the first of two three-day weekends in a row. I didn’t go too wild or go too crazy. Friday night was mellow, I took the last train home. Saturday was more typical. I went shopping all day long and was completely dead around 11 pm or so. Everyone convinced me to go to a club, most everyone was planning to go to Sazae where it’s house. Not too into that, especially after the previous weekend’s Club Triangle. Plus, it would have been yet another subway. So, my group opted for the hip-hop club Azure. Amazingly, it was just us and a black girl, we didn’t know her, who were the only gaijin in the whole club. The price was decent—1500 yen with two drink tickets before midnight. It was well worth it. The music was great, the people were bumping, and we all had a good time. Of course, I took the first train home. Didn’t feel too bad about it.
Sunday we all slept in, or tried to. A few of us went shopping in my town Hirakata-shi. My friend actually bought a new couch for 15,000 yen—about $150! Can you believe it? It was usually 26,000 yen, but there was a 10% off sale, plus the color was a “summer” color and therefore on sale in addition to that. The delivery charge was only 500 yen. Cheap as hell. I finally had my first Mos burger. Mos is a Japanese fast food burger place. I choose the “fresh” burger which seemed like a Big Mac because of the sauce.
Today, we were all very unmotivated. I managed to get my ass to Namba to go to a bookstore (yeah books I can actually read!) and out to dinner. OMG. I’m tired and I haven’t done anything in two days. What is that about?
I’m gonna to bed soon. Night.
Kishiwada Festival--Thursday September 15
The Kishiwada Festival is two days every year—September 14 and 15. I was so dead on Wednesday as were all of my friends that I was intending on meeting that we went only on Thursday night. Apparently, someone dies at this festival every year. The deal is that they have these floats, in this festival they’re called danjiri, and they run with them. The floats take sharp right angled turns at full speed. The danjiri weigh 4 tons! Imagine that going super fast through crowded, narrow streets.
By the time we reached our destination, it was way past the time where they’re running through the streets. Mostly, everyone just really tanked at this point. The floats were cool. They looked like ships with a lot of lamps. I think everyone riding on the float was male, wearing a traditional (?) Japanese shirt (the type that is tied with a belt), white tights, and the weird Japanese shoes that separate the big toe from the other toes. (Look at the photos if what I’m describing doesn’t make sense.)
I also randomly found this other blog that talks about the festival
Undercover in Japan .
Men on the Danjiri
Lanterns at Kishiwada
Men in the Bottom of the Danjiri
Back of the Danjiri
Front of Another Danjiri
J-Man and the Danjiri
Men in White Tights
Engrish
Maybe you haven’t heard of
Engrish . Seriously, because Japanese people can’t hear the difference between an “l” and an “r,” they get mixed up all the time. I was watching baseball, a Hanshin Tigers game, and a banner said “2005 World Reague Champions.”
We all love it. It’s a total game. A lot of things are just sick and wrong, but what the hell, it’s Japan. Here are the two that I've bothered to photograph:
What the hell is that supposed to mean? I saw this outside somebody's house.
Who doesn't like a fucky lady?
My friend took this last one. Who doesn't eat a cock every now and then?
Nagao High School's Festival
Well folks, it's the time I've been waiting a long time for--photos! I finally got the internet today, so I can start showing you the shit that I find interesting.
This weekend was my high school's festival. The only thing that I think might come close in the U.S. is when you have a school carnival. Not quite the same. Here's the low down. 1st year students did the events--dancing and drumming mainly. The second year students sold things like curry, snacks, bracelets, and other miscellaneous crafts. The third year students performed plays. Each class (there are 7 in each grade) made a display, the third year’s were by far and away the best. Damn, these kids are really creative.
So, here are my favorites:
Third Year Class 6
Third Year Class 7
Comic Book Club
It’s great to feel like a celebrity. All of the kids yelling my name to come into their classroom to look at the stuff they’re selling or just to see the crazy displays. The exchange student said that they all love to yell his name too. One of my favorite things was his class dancing. Namely he’s about 6 feet tall or so and blond haired. He was in the middle of the entire routine. He sticks out so much that it’s just ridiculous
First Year Class 6 Dancing--with the AU Exchange Student
1-6 (A different dance)
It`s that Time Again--Yawn!
Yeah, 3 pm on a Friday afternoon. Except, I have the school festival this weekend, so it hardly seems like Friday. There aren`t many people in the office because they`re busy helping the students and I`m trying not to go into a carb coma. It does kindof remind me of the last job where everyone left the office around 2:30 or 3 every Friday. It`s usually not like that here. In fact, last Friday, I think I was the first one to leave around 4:30 or 5. Even the students were still here.
I`m slipping away, people. Too much rice for lunch. I`m drinking the (free) cold tea to try to stay awake. I don`t think it`s working. Another JET e-mailed me saying that they turned off the ac and she`s been sleeping with her eyes open. She was also doing the classic trick of sleeping with a book to make it look legit. I mentioned that the teachers here just sleep on the couches in the office and the students (as she already knows) sleep at their desks (and this is acceptable!). The exchange student told me that he sleeps in the library. (BTW it`s not okay in Australia to sleep at your desk as a student either.)
Hard Rock Cafe
Okay, I caved. A lot of other JET`s decided that they missed American cuisine and we all headed out to the Hard Rock Cafe for expensive drinks and burgers. Ummm, burgers.... I had two Long Island Iced Tea`s and a cheese burger. Pretty much everyone had a (bacon) cheeseburger. I`ve never been to a Hard Rock before, it always seemed ridiculously expensive and just retarded. Apparently, everyone that had actually been to a Hard Rock had only been in ones abroad. It must be a haven worldwide for gaijin.
Today, there aren`t any classes in prepartion for this weekend`s school festival. So, here I sit, hogging a computer (we have to share, not my favorite activity). I should be studying Japanese, but I will be soon....
I`ve been editing student`s short essays that are about Japanese culture. It`s pretty cool to read about facets of their culture that I`ve never considered. But it`s difficult to edit their work because I don`t know the culture and many of them literally translate from Japanese into English. Translating just doesn`t really work that well, I`ve done enough to want to go postal on people. The structure is too different to do it easily.
Well, it`s lunch time.
Pissed Off
Okay, I just spent a lot of time composing y`all a great composition, but then I hit a button and it disappeared. (Everything on the blog site is in fuckin` Japanese!!! AHHHHH)
I digress.
I was mentioning that I finally had the nerve yesterday to eat in the cafeteria with the students. The other teachers always eat at their desk, never with the students. I am planning to eat there every few days so the students can hang out with me. It`s kindof wild. There I am, wondering what the hell is going on, the menu is in Japanese (in a restaurant, I point to the photos of what I want or if I don`t give a fuck, point to the words), and I really don`t know the students yet (especially by name).
The students only have one English class a week, max. So, it`s a good idea to make myself seen as much as possible. Otherwise, I`ll be like the other teachers that hide in the office. (Note that it`s harder to hide here because unlike Corporate America, there aren`t any cubes.)
Exchange Student
Well, yesterday I finally met the infamous exchange student from Australia. And yesterday it was his 19th birthday. He`s the oldest student here and he`s actually in 1st year (10th grade). There`s a huge language barrier, so it only makes sense. He`s actually already graduated from high school in Australia, but again it`s a lot different here. In fact, I think he`s working on his college degree, but the Australian system is so much different than what I`m accustomed to that I`m not sure.
Anyway, as I was told by senior JET`s, use the exchange students to your advantage. They help bridge the gap between you and the other students. So, I think it`s a good opportunity for both of us.
He`s a nice guy, likes computers, which is sure to come in handy. (I hate computers and I need to learn how to burn dvd`s, so this will be very helpful.) I also get to sit in on his Japanese lesson if I have time. Score! It will be very helpful to study with someone else, I have a difficult time trying to focus otherwise.
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Typhoon.
Yes, it`s coming. I`m told that it`s worse than Katrina. But, it should only be rainy with (violent) winds. According to the forecast, it doesn`t look so bad, but I still have to be careful. That`s why today is the third day in a row that it`s raining.
Last night was actually nice. It`s usually hot and sticky when I sleep, at least enough to need a fan if not the ac. I left the sliding glass door open (with the screen of course) and actually needed a blanket to keep warm. Perfect sleeping weather....Ah, it was great until I had to get up for school.
That`s another thing I should mention. School here starts at 8:40 am. When I went to school, we started at 7:50. We had 7 periods, 4 before lunch, and lunch was around 11:30 or so. In Japan, there are 6 periods, 4 before lunch, and lunch starts at 12:35. I feel like LL Cool ____. "One o`clock!!!!!" It`s pretty late for lunch. When I was in school, I was hungry at 10. Anyway, 4th period is therefore going to be the most difficult for both me and the students. Ugg. (>_<")
The students also have class all 6 periods. Ie, no study hall. (Not that I ever took study hall. What a waste of time.) Also, the students stay in the same class all day, the teachers rotate. Apparently, there aren`t any electives.
That`s all for now. ((((((^_^;)
Rain, rain, rain
Okay, perhaps you are wondering what the hell I ended up doing on Saturday. Really, there aren`t a lot of juicy details from my end; however, there was a lot of craziness. Eventually, we met up at Shinsaibashi (near America-mura, aka America town). There were 5 of us. Soon this morphed into about 15 of us within about 15 minutes. Go team gaijin!
We all went to Club Triangle (my second time) because our JET advisor is friends with the DJ`s that were spinning. They were from London. So, he got all of us in for free. Well, free after you pay 500 yen, but you get a free drink ticket. (Yet again, everything is free, after you pay for it.)
The details would honestly bore you. Lots of JET`s started hooking up with other JET`s. So, people are quickly coupling off. Other than that, the music mostly sucked--way too much 80`s. I caught the first train home and got back around 6:30 am.
Actually, waiting in the train station for the trains to start was incredibly annoying. Usually, I have a pre-paid train card, but I used it all up earlier. So, like everyone else that was finished drinking, I had to wait for the ticket machine to open just to purchase a ticket. As I looked around, one JET was nearly passed out on the counter next to the ticket machine, the other on the floor limp, and a Japanese guy that actually looked quite comfortable and an expert at sleeping in a train station. He was also wearing a suit. Yada yada ya. After I was able to buy a ticket, then I had to wait for the gates to open up to get to the platform. Got that first train and had to wait for my transfer to a LOCAL train. (It`s the only thing that runs first thing in the morning. Locals stop at EVERY stop.)
So, yesterday, all it did was rain. Today, all it`s doing is raining. It`s the typhoon, it`s coming! Okay, so far, all this means to me is a lot of rain. It wasn`t so bad yesterday because my only plans included sleep. Not that I even did much of that. I only got 3 hours of sleep and maybe napped for an hour or two at most. Too much clubbing. The good news is that I didn`t have to ride on the back of anyone`s bike and as a result I didn`t get bruised this weekend. Also, no hangovers. So, I`m in much better shape today than I was after Club Pure.
(^o^)
(For you HereNT)
What the Hell?
Yep, still at Popeye`s typing away. Too much "me" time equals too much time to ponder my life.
Anyway, I`m meeting people for some grub, but that`s not until later. Apparently, we`re going to Club Azure. I`ll keep you posted, probably. If it gets too wild, you`ll here the edited version. (^0^)
So, random thoughts.
Here are some unofficial mottos:
"Team Gaijin"
"Gaijin Devil"
"Everything`s free, after you pay for it"
"Hangin` out--it`s what we do"
Submissions are welcome.
Thank you for your time.
Nasty River
So, I didn`t get myself into any trouble last night. I had dinner with some JET`s (and even one non-JET)--okinomiyaki and yakinikku. I had a chu-hi there. Later, we chilled by the river in Namba with some flashing drinks. Kindof like last Saturday.
As we were drinking the flashing chu-hi`s, we noticed how disgusting the river was. Momo had mentioned to me before that when the Hanshin Tigers (baseball team) lost, many people jumped into the river. I don`t think anyone died, but they got really sick because the water is that polluted. There were a lot of dead fish floating by, algae, other weird stuff. Not really any trash, which was surprising. When posed the question "What is that?," one guy said "severed gentials." And I said (this is not something I made up, I just remembered the famous Green Mill saying), "Cock and ball soup, Mother Fucker." Everybody died laughing. Apparently, none of them thought I was capable of such vulgar language. (I guess they don`t read my blog...or know me very well, yet.)
A little later, we all noticed that the river was flowing the other direction. Huh. A little while after that, suddenly there were`nt any dead fish or other nasty green stuff drifting by either. And again, the river changed direction.
Friday Afternoon
Yes, I`m definately in school again. It`s almost 3 pm on a Friday afternoon and I`m itching to get outta here. But, I need to be here until at least 4:30, it`s that whole pretending to work deal. Everyone else actually is busy with next weekend`s school festival. Yep, I have to be here on a Saturday and Sunday. At least I get the following Monday and Tuesday off.
Anyway, I`m not sure what`s cooking for tonight. It`s the first Friday of the month, so I think that movies are cheaper, but I don`t think that`s happening tonight. Usually, movies cost 1800 yen and tonight it should be 1000 yen. Every Wednesday is "ladies night" and is also cheaper for women. So, I probably won`t go to the movies for awhile because it`s too difficult to try to contact a group of people and figure everything out via e-mail.
On the other hand, it`s really cheap to rent dvd`s. I just (finally) watched "Supersize me" last night. It was because at work, we were discussing the differences in fastfood here and the U.S. For example, at KFC, there is always a statue of the Col. to welcome you into his store. I`ve never seen one in the states. I thought I had better watch the movie to better understand the deal-o. Maybe it`s just because I really don`t eat a lot of fastfood anyway, so the film just re-enforced what I already know--just don`t eat Maku-Doo (McDonald`s). Not that I have for four years, but never-the-less....
....But I digress....
Friday. It`s been a long week. I`m still tired from last weekend for gawd`s sake. I told all those 22 and 23 year olds that life starts going down hill after 23 and they believed me. So young and naive... Ha! I know now that it`s more like 28. My body isn`t as broken as it was last weekend, but most likely that will be remedied tonight. We`ll see what trouble lies ahead. Or maybe, everyone is tired like me. Ah, to be young again!
Lessons
Yep, I did it. My first lessons were yesterday, third year students (12th grade in the U.S.). Two classes yesterday and two today of 1st year students (10 grade). Pretty much all four classes were genki (energetic). A couple of cheeky boys in pretty much all of the classes, but I don`t mind because that`s kind of how I am.
The most cheeky of the students also seemed to be the best at English. As a whole, they`re not great at English, but they try, well mostly. I actually think the outspoken ones are pretty funny. We`ll see if I continue to feel that way.
I have to say that learning their names is going to be an absolute bitch. They all have black hair (they`re not allowed to bleach or color it), mostly wear uniforms, and more or less look very similiar. At least enough to not remember people specifically. Japanese people are pretty homogenous overall. Also, there are about 40 kids per class. Multiply that by, I think, 19 classes. Plus, I`m really because I am really bad at remembering Japanese names. Yes, I have them make name cards. I even have individual photos of a lot of them with their names in Romanji, but it only sort of helps.
Anyways, I`m having a lot of fun. The kids love to yell out my name, although I was getting called "Helen" a lot today because she was the JET here before me. (Interesting, she was half Chinese and half British, so it`s not as though we look anything alike.)
I`m glad that the students are so friendly and easy-going.
Goddamn Yahoo BB
Long story short, I`ve been waiting for Yahoo BB to send me a modem for a month now. Apparently, my predecessor didn`t complete her paperwork and therefore the phone line did not get put into my name until yesterday. So, I`ve been waiting and waiting for it to come in the mail. When three weeks passed (they told me it would take two), I had my vice-principal call Yahoo BB again.
I`m told today that it will be two weeks to get a letter that will tell me when I can expect the modem. Fuckin` A. Customer service here sucks. I was warned about Yahoo BB, but so far I`m the only one who seems to have had any problems. Another JET asked after my initial request and it was installed yesterday! Goddamn it! This always seems to happen to me.
So, no photos until then. They`re all on my computer which does me no good. So, that`s the deal in case you`re wondering.
