10-21-01
I'll admit it. I suck. My apologies to anyone who actually looks at this site, for my poor performance thus far in getting updates up on a regular and reasonable basis. I've discovered that without my own digital camera, this is damn near impossible, since getting a hold of Fletcher (or even finding the time to try and get a hold of him) in order to borrow his camera is a futile effort. So I'm shopping around for a reasonable camera that'll get the job done at the moment for not too much cash, which shouldn't be too big of a problem since all the new-season models are coming out and dealers are trying to clear out their old ones. Sweet. So without making any more promises I can't make good on, I will simply say that I will post something "soon." Thanks for being patient and not sending me hate mail. ;)
Mini-Update
I just had to write a brief blurb about the class I just came from cause I'm still laughing about it. Today, we started by having the class break into groups. Then I would read a sentence along the lines of "This is something you use when..." or "This is somewhere you go when...", and they would then guess what I was talking about and write their answer in their space on the board. There was one group, good ol' group #6, which was comprised chiefly of amusing perverts who kept coming up with unexpected answers. When I said, "This is something you use when you take a picture," instead of answering 'camera' as I had hoped, they wrote 'woman'! I couldn't belive I was reading this answer to the class.
Now, in Japan, the jingle for 7-11 goes "Seven Eleven, ii-kibun (good feeling). So next I tell the class, "This is somewhere you go for ii-kibun," which amuses many of them because they figure out that it's a joke and write 7-11 on the board. All except group #6 that is, who's idea of the place to go for ii-kibun was "bed"!! Did I mention this was in a Jr. High English class?? Sadly, I was laughing too hard to scold them for what bad children they were. So much for being a responsible shaper of young minds.
Never a dull moment in Japan, folks.
October 10, 2001
Somebody kill me! The teacher I'm teaching with this week, had the brilliant idea of introducing an English song to the class for them to learn. Great idea actually. I mean, she passes out a lyric sheet, complete with a Japanese translation, read over it with the students, then have everybody sing along with it. But why, oh why, did it have to be the bloody Carpenters!??! I have to listen to the seething evil that is Top of the World at least six times a day!!
On the bright side, my musical luck seems to come in pairs. True, the whole Carpenters debacle at work sucks, BUT... just last week I was listening to the first Garbage album, thinking, "Damn, this is good," and wondering why they hadn't come out with anything in a while. I was just a little bit afraid that they had decided to call it quits, go their own ways and I just hadn't heard about it. But as soon as I go into the Virgin Megastore here in Fukuoka this weekend, I'm immediately greeted by a wall of Shirley Manson posters heralding the release of the new Garbage album, stacks of which are sitting on a shelf only a few feet away. The Flash wishes he could move as fast as I did when picking up a copy o' that, believe me you.
I only bring up this irrelavent post because I'm so freaking on top of the world (there, I said it. Happy?) after hearing this album that I felt I should tell someone. I've been strolling around school, humming all day and I wasn't even mad when I arrived at school sweaty from the usual uphill bike ride. One of the greatest pleasures I get out of life is when I hear a song for the first time, and find out that I'm so in tune with it (musically that is, not necessarily lyrically. And yes, the 'in tune' pun was intentional) that even though it's the first time I'm hearing it, it feels like I've heard it a hundred times before, like it's been my favorite song for years. And I love that certain bands, like Garbage, Underworld and Deep Forest, just to name a few, consistently have this ability to seemingly reintroduce my soul to music it's known all along. Sorry to be so poetic, but I had to get that off my chest. You might say, it was "the only explanation I can find." Okay enough quoting crappy music.
If you want to check out what the hell it is I'm yapping about you can check out samples of the tracks on the new album at Garbage's web site (in the Audio/Lyrics tab). Can't Cry These Tears is at the moment, the song that will not get out of my head. Dammit, I love this band. :D
In other news, there's an update coming this weekend that promises to be the first with an actual theme. And yes, it does have pictures. To whet your appetiet, it'll be a rousing update o' glee, centering on the daily bike ride that I make on the way to school.
October 3, 2001
Woo-Hoo, the first update!!! I finally made it!! And as promised, there are actually pictures this time around. Not good pictures, mind you, but at least it's something to look at. I don't have a well structured topic to follow this time, so it's going to be stream-of-thought-city for this update, kids.
As you'll notice, there's also a few new buttons thanks to some feedback from my dear Ma' who suggested that it would be nice to have a way to get back to the Home page. I actually had it set up so that the Hair Flap picture at the top of every page would take you back to home, but upon closer examination that doesn't seem to be a very intuitive way to do it. Jeez, has my experience with Apple taught me nothing!?!? I'm so ashamed. So there is now a home button, although the Hair Flap picture will continue to remain a link to the Home page so that those of you that actually managed to figure it out can continue to do it the 'old fashioned' way.
I added the Misc. button to house anything else I might want to share that doesn't directly relate to Japan. Most people will probably find it dumb. Feel free to ignore it, or to print out a picture of it, tear it up, burn the pieces and throw the ashes into a river then hurl the river into space. Either way is fine with me.
Last thing to mention is that I had the bright idea of starting a mailing list to notify y'all when I actually get around to updating the page, since I'm too lame to do it on a regular basis. If you're interested in joining the list, drop me a line or click the new link at the bottom of the page and I'll add you to the list. C'mon, you know you want to. You want to be cool, right? Your friends will think you're cool if you do it.
This weekend was insanely busy. It all started Friday when, immediately after school I had to bike back into town and meet, what seemed like, then entire Town Office staff and their families for.... are you ready for this....a jump rope competition. Each team had eight members from age 8 to 55, jumping a huge rope at the same time, trying to set a record for the most number of jumps before someone got tripped and died. As you can imagine, the carnage that resulted is hard to describe. Fletcher and I were at a loss as to how all these people could be taking this so seriously (and believe me, they were really getting into it), but at the same time it was kind of neat. I mean, how many city officials do you know of, that after 5pm, don their sweat suits and get down and dirty with some serious jump rope action?
Afterwards there was a speech followed
by, as always, a lot of eating and drinking. There was also a
soba(noodle)-eating competition that I got suckered into
participating in. It might have been okay had they not been cold
noodles soaked in green tea. The urge to vomit was only quelled
by the fact that there were 80 people right in front of me, cheering
me on. I figured it would probably disturb the 'wa'(group
harmony) if I returned their gracious enthusiasm by yaking
on them.
On Saturday, there was a Softball tournament between local Jr. High schools that was held at my school. It was kind of fun to get out and play since it's been probably about 10 years since I've touched a glove or bat. Problem was, I was playing that way too. At least two grounders rolled right past me, it was so lame. I think I saw the teachers on the bench burning effigies of me.
Everyone seemed to be having a really good time though, despite the fact that every time we got to bat we were shut down. Three up-Three down, every damn inning. Grrrrrrrrrr. But our teachers were laughing and cheering each other on way more than the other teams, so I guess we won the spirit competition. Yay.
The funniest moment, hands down, was when Sadasue-sensei got up to pitch and the bench started to cheer her on. Instead of saying things like, "Go for it!!" or "Hit a homer!!" all the other women started crying, "Kawaiiiiii!!!"(cute). By this point, they apparently had given up all hope of any display of athletic aptitude and instead opted to praise her for her stunning fashion sense and adorably feminine batting style.
As expected, she didn't clobber any pitches into the bleachers. :P
More Japan-alicious Action is on Page 2!! >>
