Saturday, January 25, 2003

*... well now, isn't THAT embarrassing!...*
So the bad thing about the Internet Banana (besides the Internet nazis, of course) is that it is merely a panel of computers in the middle of the train station waiting room. Combine that with the Japanese, who are the extremely, err, CURIOUS type (okay, so some are just damned nosy, like a certain supervisor of mine who will actually put her face up to the screen to see what exactly I am doing. NO concept of privacy.). The danger lies in surfing along the internet, la dee dah, when Whoops! you don't know what you hit, but all of a sudden the screen is filled with porn, and seeing as the Internet Banana is strange, they don't have the little "close" buttons on the browsers, nor are you allowed to right-click and do it that way. And in the meantime, you have about 25 people surfing with you over your shoulder. A female gaijin with a screen full of porn. Aww yeah.
1:28 PM

Friday, January 24, 2003

*... top 5 quotes to sum up the week...*
#5 "I'm bored."

#4 "This is 'English' class. Please use ENGLISH. If you don't use English, I will bop you on the head. ... Ooh, no, sorry, that's French. (thwack!)"

#3 "You look like anybody, I can't really tell. {embarrassed silence} Don't you ever think that all *Asian* people look the same?" (Ogura-sensei's response when I told her people have always said I look like my brother.)

#2 "Next time you are sleeping next to me I will speak to you in Japanese." (Inaba-sensei)

#1 "He's a guy, he doesn't have to deal with it. He just gets drunk and goes to stripclubs." (*NOTE* this quote has been modified to protect the identity of the speaker; even if that person would like to be credited with it, current situations dictate that it would be better for them to remain anonymous.)
8:58 AM

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

*... makes sense to me. but maybe that's just me ...*
* "Well, where I am from, 'Open 24 hours' doesn't mean you get to pick which 24 hours of the week you are open."

* "ATMs are for convenience, and would, conveniently, be accessible at times, say, before 9am or after 7pm."

* "Speaking of convenience, would it kill you to add a trashcan or two to the community?"

* "I understand you think that flavor tastes good. But 'curry' and 'doughnuts' do not belong together. Nor do 'banana' and 'toothpaste'."

* "No, all Americans do not drive sports cars. No, all Americans do not own a gun. No, all Americans between the ages of 16 and 25 do not develop interpersonal relations with their circle of friends, despite what you've seen on Beverly Hills, 90210."

* "Yes, I can use chopsticks. Yes, I eat sushi. Yes, I have had natto. Yes, there are 7-11s in California."

* "No, what you think is blonde is not blonde. What you think is ice cream is not ice cream. What you think is English is not English. I don't know what it is, but it isn't that."
1:50 PM

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

*... notes to self ...*
well, the gods were actually not smiling, they were beginning to laugh! in my face! bastards! it snowed so much last night and was so windy this morning, that i didn't even bother with an umbrella. You can't umbrell(?) sideways snow.

by the way, if you are ever walking down the street in subzero temperatures, it is probably not a good idea to sing to yourself outloud. The fog your breath creates is quite a hazard, and takes a while to clear enough to see where you are going.

by the way, also, try not to confuse spices too much, or at least pay attention when you reach for them... even if the bottle caps ARE the same color. When you accidentally spice up your broccoli beef with cinammon instead of ginger, it tastes like it should have come from a bakery. But not quite.

ps to kristy - all I will say is that it had something to do with CPR... I will also say that you need to get your butt out here b/c all of a sudden winter brought the cute Japanese boys out. I don't know how that happened. Maybe I am just noticing more since they all look so good in their sleek winter coats and leather gloves... I have said it before, and I will say it again: i am SUCH a sucker for a sharp dressed man! Yah!
3:37 PM

Monday, January 20, 2003

*... random and words ...*
the gods must be smiling on me. Or if not smiling, they at least have bemused smirks. I think they had a talk with the Powers-That-Be. As I was putting on my rain boots (which have absolutely NO traction. Really, they are just flat, rubber soles, not even a pretense of tread), I was thinking "I hope it only rains today (no snow!)". Well, as soon as I hauled my butt onto that bus, it started to snow, and stuff didn't stop falling from the sky till I left school. Thankfully, the rain melted the snow, and it stopped raining long enough for me to get to the bus stop and back home. And despite the thermometer saying 1 degree, I feel quite toasty. And no, I am not getting used enough to this to say I want to live in all snow, all the time. It's just surprising.

It's funny how keeping only 12yen (that's like 10cents) in your wallet for almost a week gives you a different perspective on things. Mostly the perspective of "Gee, I hope I packed my bus card, b/c I won't get very far on 12yen."

Today I had the wonderful opportunity thrust upon me as soon as I stepped onto school grounds to teach 3 classes solo, since the teacher that I should have been team-teaching with was out sick. No problem, tho technically (legally) I am not supposed to be heading up the class by myself. Liability? Fearful of my influence (hmm, maybe...) Oh well. They were 2 second-year classes and 1 third-year classes, so I played a pretty simple game with them. I put a word on the board, and they had to make as many words as they could out of it. Then i gave them 1 point for each word they had that other groups had, then 2/3/4/etc points for each letter of each word they had that was unique to their list. I also gave them 25 points if they had a word that I didn't have on my list. Despite the fact that I would come up with at least 45 words, and once 73(!) to their 10-15 words, I had to give out those 25 points from time to time. (take the word 'BREAKFAST' and see how many words YOU come up with in 3 minutes) I was really impressed by the kids, and it was funny how each time I would say "well, I got 56 words", they would be in awe ("whaaa...? Ah, su-GOI, sensei!" ... Umm yeah, I, the native speaker, say 'thanks.'). Course, I didn't tell them that my 2 favorite boardgames in the world are Boggle and Scrabble, and I am absolutely ruthless at them (as some of you have been the victim of, and if you haven't, well I challenge you, anytime, anyplace, sucka), so I am kind of used to making words up out of random letters. Didn't want them to feel bad, ya know?
5:35 PM