Friday, September 06, 2002

*... the good, the bad and the way totally ugly nasty gross ...*
More on the obento culinary adventures
THE GOOD - they give me lunch (free is always good!) and it usually has some sort of fish product in it, which means, of course, that I get my fill of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids; pretty much the only reason I ever eat fish anyway.
THE BAD - they seem to have a warped sense of what goes with what... for example, in my lunch today, i found a maraschino cherry atop a whipped looking substance. Upon further investigation, the whipped concoction was, in fact, potato salad. With a cherry on top. ?
THE UGLY - I apparently had my brave boots on today, b/c I received in my little combination a small container containing none other than the infamous natto. For those of you not in the know, this seems to be a little recipe the Japanese cooked up as a test for gaijin to see if they could really take the pressure or I don't even know. What it is is fermented beans. STICKY fermented beans. This stuff gets everywhere, even if you just pick up one bean, there are strings of it on your chopsticks, on your fingers, on your face, on the desk, on the floor, in your hair.... even if you had one bean 15 minutes ago. Its like a mysterious spiderweb that everytime you turn this way or that, it appears again. And fermented beans? Who was on crack when they thought of THAT? I mean i can understand something becomes fermented. BY WHY EAT IT? And then say, "OOH, try this!" to someone else??

ahh, culture...

Just so you know I am not starving, the breads and other baked goods are absolutely heavenly. I had a pb&j sandwich that was like heaven on earth, it was so good. All these carbos and no where to burn them... at least I brought a jump rope to school today for all the down time i have....
1:09 PM

Thursday, September 05, 2002

*... SLUUUUURRRP...*
The teacher's room is a cacophony of slurping and sucking during lunch hour. Between the sucking up of noodles or the inhaling of rice or the slurping down of tea, it gets pretty loud. As for me, I think I'm a bit more dainty than that... i hope so, at least. Lunch is an interesting time anyways with the obento they provide me. Imagine a little box about the length/width of a shoebox, the thickness of a good dictionary. Plus another little box with rice. Anyway, the big box has about 6 little compartments inside, each with a different dish. I can recognize what it is maybe 60% of the time. But I eat it anyway, and if its gross, then I don't eat the rest. So far it hasn't been too bad. But today there was this little dome like ball thing, brown and black speckled that I picked up and popped in my mouth. All going well till I hit something hard and had to take that part out. Now that's not unusual, since sometimes I'll hit bone or rind or something. But when I pulled this little hard thing out of my mouth, i discovered I was extracting a small, purplish tentacle. Aww yeah, that's what I call some CULTURE!

But at least to balance that out, I had a lovely little donut today from a small bakery that i discovered when I left school at about 10 am and started to wander around the neighborhood b/c I was so bored. And I finally got a hold of some okonomiyaki yesterday, which is this pancake/pizza concoction that you griddle on a little stove at your table and it's really really really good. REALLY.

When you come visit, we'll go get some, okay?
2:24 PM

Wednesday, September 04, 2002

*... bored outta my gourd ...*
So while the school gets ready for Sports Day this weekend (yes, tigre, it IS like UnOlympics... but more athletic), they don't teach classes, which means I don't teach, which means more sitting. And even more sitting after that. But I escape from the teacher's room whenever possible to hang out with the kids, especially during soji, when they clean the school. Quite a sight to see 600 j.h.s. kids grab brooms and washcloths and scrub the floors. EVERYDAY. TWICE.. Our collective language skills are enough to get the points across, dual mixes of Japanese and English from both sides. I say something in English, rephrase it if they don't understand, rephrase it again, then try with any Japanese substitutes that I can. It works. But I am also finding myself nihongo-izing English words when I speak to other English speakers or read. Like saying "Ah-may-ree-kan" "fhoo-toe--bah-roo" for American football. Err... hmm...
So the sensei in charge of me had me record a little bit about myself on a tape and also is having me do a weekly newsletter thing. Which is all fine and good, except they broadcast this self-description everyday over the loudspeakers, so I have all sorts of people (students AND teachers) coming up to me saying "I have 5 people in my family." and "I think Mexican food is my favorite." It's a little surreal.
Part of the little self-description intro of mine says I practice karate, but I want to try something like kendo. So I have a plethora of students run up to me and say "sensei! sensei! I am in the kendo club! (actually, ca-rub-bo)." So I checked it out today, and they almost passed out they were so excited to see me there. It's kinda nice to be a celebrity. Watching the kendo made me miss my dojo, especially since getting hit on the head is probably not what I should be exposing myself to (they just shuffled across the floor bashing each other over the head with sticks...), and also I think I just need to get active and do something. I can feel myself quickly going into some serious atrophy.
And by the way, I am a VERY happy camper, b/c yesterday during the 97 yen Tuesdays at one of the grocery stores, I snagged a couple of avocados for the equivalent of 81 cents. SCORE!! So I went home and whipped up a little guacamole and made some tortillas (Yes, Sensei Gomez, I can speak Spanish AND make my own handmade, homemade tortillas and guacamole. And they're damn good too. Are you impressed, or what??) It ain't no California burrito, but it was a little taste of home, at least.
4:47 PM

Monday, September 02, 2002

*... goooood mooooorning claaaaaass ...*
So today was my first day at Miyaura junior high school. I had to make a speech in Japanese in front of the school and the students. I think they were truly shocked that I was able to squeak out about 5 minutes of Japanese. I know I was shocked. I don't actually start teaching until next week sometime; I have no idea what they have planned for me in the meantime. Today I mostly sat at my desk and tried to look engaged in something. They have decided that I have an excellent voice (in addition to my excellent legs, D!) and are having me record 3 or 4 different things on to tapes so they can play them over the loud speaker once a week. One's a description of myself, but the others are Japanese folk tales translated into English. They want everyone to get used to the sound, I think.
I am pretty stoked that for this entire month, practically, I have 4 day work weeks. This week I have 5 days, but on Sunday they have "Sports Day" and they take Monday off to recover. Then next weekend we have Respect for the Aged Day... a national holiday so that means time off! And the weekend after that is the fall equinox... apparently ALSO a national holiday, so more time off!! Whee!! I'm going to use that time to either get down to Tokyo/Ibaraki and visit with some JETs I met at Orientation, or get over to Sado Island, the Island NW off of Niigata. Maybe both.
By the way, it's about 96 degrees and 80-90% humidity. And I get to walk home in it. Fun. I could have taken the bike, but I thought I'd swing by where I left the old bike and see if it was still there. That way, if anyone came to visit, they too could have a bike to ride! But, unfortunately, it was gone. Bummer. So I'm back to the Heel-Toe Express to get me and my pantyhose home. Mata ne!
3:44 PM

Sunday, September 01, 2002

*... ponder me this ...*
I would like you to please form small groups and discuss the following topics. Choose one representative from eacb group to email me the summary of what thoughts your group had on each of the subjects below:

1) Being that I am here to be an English teacher, is it my place to correct the Engrish of the country, especially when people walk by with made up words, such as "transquealy"? Why or why not?

2) In regards to facilitating eating with chopsticks, which do you think would be a more effective way of preparing food: cutting it into long thin strips or cutting it into small chunks? Justify your answer, with pictures as necessary.

3) What does the store "Book Off, Hard Off" sell? Would attaching the word "banana" alter the meaning?

4) Why does green mean go and red mean stop at a cross walk, but on a taxi green means taken and red means available?

5) Do blondes really have more fun? What about almost blondes? What about brunettes with blonde highlights? Please rank on a fun scale.

6) Do you sometimes wish that your cell phone took digital pictures and your TV was 3D? Do you also wish you could sleep on the floor? (if you answered 'yes' to all of these, why aren't you here??)

7) Do the pastries at the french pastry shops really call out my name, or is that just in my head? (Hint, they do call out with a french accent. Oui!)

8) Why haven't you called/emailed/written?
6:51 PM
*... I am *britto*, hear me roar ...*

RARR.

I have done it! I have laid foot in a foreign body of water that is not my bathtub! I found the Sea of Japan! And some shrine thingy, where I took pictures that I will get back and say to myself, "where the heck is this?" But I broke a promise to myself, and hopped on my bike this afternoon, and headed North this time and found Sekiya Beach. Whee! But now I am tired and must go home because although I would normally use the excuse that I have to work tomorrow, the truth is that the native beside me in the Internet Banana is not at all shy at lifting a leg and passing wind. Frequently. Geez, I thought the smoking was bad.

hehehe, bye.
1:51 PM