Water Balloon Incident
So, I accidently got 3 kids in trouble. They rigged the door with a water balloon and said (in English), "Beckie, come in." Obediently, I did. (Hey, they said it in English.)
A water balloon, not very big, came down on me. I really didn`t get that wet at all, but I told them they needed to clean up the mess. I thought it was rather funny. Mistakenly, I told the tennis coach (a force to be reckoned with as he is a gym teacher and constantly harrasses me in English for various things) thinking it would be a funny story. Oops.
I just saw one of the kids and he was upset and I asked one of the English teachers why. She didn`t know the reason but he was going to be scolded. So I asked the kid directly what the matter was. Well, it was the water balloon incident. DOH!! I told him that I was really sorry and he mentioned (in Japanese so I`m not exactly sure) about me squealing on him. I am a teacher afterall, but the kids don`t really think of me as one often times. I said I was sorry and he was upset that he and his 2 buddies were gonna get scolded. (Might I add that same night one of the buddies was caught smoking which usually gets you 3 days of suspension.) That`s where they are right now....
I told my English teacher it was my fault, and she said that I should be in there getting scolded instead. LOL. She`s quite the joker. But, I don`t really feel like they should get into trouble over it.
Sorry, boys!
(BTW, I guess I`m not entirely brain damaged. It`s hotter than a motherfucker. I`m beginning to ooze again. Gross.)
Super Sized Fatigue
Yeah, 17 classes of watching part of "Super Size Me" and it was so popular that we`re gonna watch more. That`s another 14 classes of the same movie....Somebody put a bullet in me. My English room has no a.c. and I`m gonna be bored to tears. One of the student teachers came to my class yesterday and slept through part of my lesson. That`s not a good sign (^.^;) Oh well, he had already seen it 4 times, what can you expect?
It`s hot, but not as hot as I remember it being last summer when I first arrived. So, either 1. I`m accustomed to the heat 2. it`s not as hot 3. I`ve been badly brain damaged by said heat and just don`t know what`s going on. I`m guessing the latter.
I`ve been whiling away the days by lesson planning, going to J class, drinking with my friends (especially the ones who are returning home for good very soon), and trying to avoid the rain. The good news: it`s almost summer vacation. It`ll be nice to not do anything for awhile, well, unless I want to.
Really, the lesson plans have been killing me lately. Writer`s block from hell. I`m always trying to make it fun, not too hard, not too easy, and practical. Balance. Something I`ve never been great at anyways. I say all or nothing, baby! But, that doesn`t work with the students too well.
Back to the word doc....
Go Hanshin Tigers!
Yeah, I managed to score free tickets to a Hanshin Tigers game this past Monday night. I've never been to a pro sports game of any kind before. I've won tix to the T-Wolves and maybe the Wild, but I always gave that shit away. Oh well. The Tigers rocked.
When we got there, I bought a hat--wanted one anyways--and mini plastic baseball bats that look like numchucks. You gotta cheer, cheer, CHEER!!! Unlike the states where you jeer the opposing team....
Bought some beers, cheered (or tried to learn the Japanese cheers), made some friends with the locals, and let our balloons off in the 7th inning (a Tigers? tradition). It was a lot of fun. I wanna go again.
Oh, we won. 5 to 2 versus Nippon Ham Fighters. (What kind of fuckin' name is that anyways?)
Now to learn this in Japanese:
The Wind of Mount Rokko
(The official English version, but not a direct translation.)
Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko
Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky
Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor's grace
The name that shines in glory "Hanshin Tigers"
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!
Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times
Trained with every discipline here at Koshien
Crowned with constant victory glorious, matchless feat
Always proud, invincible "Hanshin Tigers"
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!
I`ve been doing a lot of thinking about this
And these are the reasons I hate JR!!!! (That`s the national railway company.) Here`s why:
1. it`s so ghetto compared to my usual train line (I`m being a bit snotty, I know)
2. it`s confusing (6 different destinations on the same platform??? Or, my favorite, if you`re on one particular train, at some point 5 cars go to one destination and 3 go to another! Watch out for which car you board!)
3. you pay extra to take the express
4. the local trains aren`t very comfortable
5. I got kicked out of the "reserved seat" area (not even close to full) on the express train only to go to another car that was virtually the same in terms of comfort and class
6. if you can`t read kanji, then it`s hard to find you`re destination (because often there isn`t any hiragana or romaji either). then you GET to play either guess the kanji reading (from kanji into romaji), guess the kanji characters (from romaji into kanji), or match the kanji.
7. the toilets are often not good...I`ll leave out the details....
8. the JR trains sway more than my usual train line. this especially matters when you are standing because they are no seats. it`s hard to balance.
9. sometimes the names of the JR lines have a second secret name, so if you don`t know the real name and the nickname, it`s hard to find which line you should be on.
That`s all for now. These aren`t in any particular order either. Just oozing from my brain in whatever sequence.
Only 4790 to go...
So, if I want to take 2 kyuu this year (2nd highest level of Japanese proficiency test), I need to know about 4790 words. Okay, so I don`t really have 4790 to go, I know some of the words already. SOME.
I did a bit of math and assuming that I don`t know any of them, I would have to learn (and remember) about 26 a day. (^_^;) Not happening. I guess I`ll focus on that vocab list, but learn the grammar for 3 kyuu. Wow! I really don`t know how many words I know, but it isn`t even near 5000. I can read about 500 kanji (I even checked my approximate level on line), but I can`t write that many.
Better start cramming. Only about 6 months until the test....
11 years and counting...
It was 11 years ago today that I graduated from high school. Yeah, I feel old. It probably doesn't help that I'm teaching high school kids. I realize that I'm almost twice their age....Oi vay. The good news is that I remember some of my high school graduation, well before and after more than during the actual ceremony.
It was a beautiful morning. I slept at my best friends house the night before. I had to be let into her house at like 3 am when I was drunk off my ass on JD. Yeah, why wasn't she drunk with me? I'm not really sure. I woke up to her saying "You smell like whiskey and cigarettes." Nice. I managed to write some crap on my grad cap which I got a lot of shit for from my other classmates. They didn't understand 'cause they're stupid fuckers. Anyways, I made it. Not hung over. Listening to my headphones. I don't remember really much more except some photos afterwards. I hate ceremonies. Pretty much of every kind. So, why would I remember my graduation? I've been to so many that they're not memorable.
It seems like a million years ago. At least 4 lifetimes ago. I don't really feel like that butterfly collar wearing punk any more. Well, mostly.
So, why I am bothering to think about this event? I guess maybe because you never know where life will take you. I never expected to live in Japan. And when I was 8 years old, I thought I'd die of heart attack at 35 from working too much. Maybe that's why I have such a slacker job now...(+_<)
I'm gonna see what life still has in store for me. I get sick of the mundane. It's so...um, mundane. Yeah, I just need to get the balls, motivation, or something and get off my ass and start living life. がんばります！
