Saturday, April 19, 2003

*... spring, unplugged ...*
Well, I did it. I finally took a huge leap of faith and unplugged my heated toilet seats. The weather has been so nice lately, let's hope it's not just a scam ; ) And this will at least save me from scorched thighs for a while when I would forget to turn it off sometimes....
It's the time of the year for "hanami" over here. This a very special and very specific time of the year to get out and about and view (mi) the cherry blossoms (hana) all over the place. The blossoms only adorn the trees for a week before they fall quite snow-like to the ground. I have seen the possibilities rush by the windows of the bus and was looking forward to this weekend so I could frolic under the big balls of cotton-candy looking trees. The weather all week has been absolutely gorgeous; warm and sunny with a light breeze coming off the sea. You couldn't paint a better picture... so this morning when I woke up to rain and clouds, I was quite distraught. (I was also a bit distracted, as I seemed to have woken up sans pants, although I did go to bed with pants on... hmm...). I ventured out into the inclement weather anyway, as it was necessary for me to get some more books. Sheer boredom and lack of things to do at school caused me to devour a 650 page novel in less than 2 days, so I thought it would be a good idea to come back to school armed on Monday. I should have brought my camera with me anyway (if that thing could survive the beating it got in Kyoto, it could definitely survive a view rain drops!) because in addition to the cherry blossoms, Niigata is covered with bright tulips, the city flower. Planter after planter of them line the streets and bridges. Few things in the world brighten my life more than flowers, so despite the dripdripdroplittleAprilshowers, I am happy with this thing they call "spring".
2:24 PM

Thursday, April 17, 2003

*... it's a small world after all. Or at least city ...*
A good thing about the first school I was at way-back-when (Miyaura JHS) is that all the students are required to carry the same backpack. Good thing for me b/c I can recognize the Miyaura kids when I'm dashing around the station area, and either say hi or run away from them. Now that the new year has started, all the junior highs have a new crop of ichi-nen-seis (first years) but at least at Miyaura frosh wear red ties (green for second years, blue for third) so I know not to say hi to them (they'd be confused). The problem with the whole uniform system they have going over here is that I recognize the kids when they are in their uniforms, but wouldn't be able to pick 'em out of a lineup when they're in their regular "street clothes" and I run into them on nights/weekends. The only way I know they were students of mine is when random kids start bowing to me on sidewalks, or they gasp and start to whisper to each other, eyes round, pointing. That gives me a good clue.... the new problem is the recently-graduated third year kids, now first-year high school students. They are in uniforms, but in entirely new uniforms, so it is hard to recognize them. Usually the hints mentioned help, but yesterday I knew for sure I had run into some former Miyaura girls when I heard "sensei! Nani cuppuh? nani cuppuh?" Oh, how I am haunted...

ps - my internet situation these days SUCKS, so I apologize about the severe behind-ness I am in in terms of emailing. I have a feeling that the suckiness is going to last through the semester, so bear with me, onegaishimasu!
6:02 PM

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

*... free thought ...*
My little pet project (trust me, I need the distraction) is to try to get the third years to be comfortable with the concept of "in my opinion" (gasp! horror! unheard of!!!) Since this is a country where it is best not to ripple, saying anything with "I think" in front of it is likely to cast you to the outer regions of society, and even there you would probably not be highly regarded... So I am starting small: "In my opinion, Choco-Banana Pocky should be considered a two-handed food, unless you enjoy the inherent risk of careening your granny-bike across 2 lanes of traffic." You know, stuff like that. Unfortunately this is also a test of me NOT expressing my opinions when the students quite seriously come up with themes like "I think we should have school on Saturday..." Yeah, well I think that opinion sucks.

I had quite the athletic day yesterday at Funaei JHS. During 5th period, all the second year kids got to play on the beach, and I got to "chaperone". Not too shabby of a job perk, I'd say, though I did feel slightly out of place in my 'office casual' attire on the beach. Not as awkward as Tamura-sensei, with his 3-piece suit, though. After I was finished playing, I went back to school and was spotted by the VERY LOUD (my mom sounds like she whispers compared to this lady) and VERY AGGRESSIVE track coach who still believes I will aide her in cultivating top hurdlers. She pulled me (literally) outside, and after several futile attempts on my part to hide behind the students, I soon found myself racing students over hurdles (despite the last time I remember doing that being at least 8 years ago... apparently not a strong argument). Again in my office casual. But oh no, she wasn't satisfied there, and I was suddenly pulled into a kind of track 'n' field circuit training, with relays, sprints, and culminating in the shot-put. All of this, of course, pitted against the students. Hopefully for the first and last time I put a 5 kilo shot 7 1/2 meters... I'm still trying to decide if I should be proud about that...(?)
5:24 PM

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

*... well, that's a good question ...*
Sairi-kun and Hikari-kun : "Britt-sensei, do you have a car?"
Me : "Yes, but not in Japan."
Sairi-kun and Hikari-kun : "Britt-sensei, what store do you like?"
Me : "Like clothing store?"
Sairi-kun and Hikari-kun : "Hai, hai"
Me : "hmm, I don't really buy clothes in Japan. I'm too big for that, see? ((pointing to hips, chest))"
Sairi-kun and Hikari-kun : "((giggling)) Ahh, wakatta (I understand). What TV show do you like?"
Me : "Well, I don't really watch too much TV, because I don't understand it."
Sairi-kun and Hikari-kun : "What manga (comic) do you like?"
Me : "I don't read manga."
Sairi-kun and Hikari-kun : "Ehtooooo (umm...), Britt-sensei, what do you do, not school??"
Me : "I... uhh... well?... ... ... ...shoot..."
4:54 PM

Monday, April 14, 2003

*... i still got it ...*
Kelly made my day yesterday, maybe even my year, with 4 little words: "you have an admirer." I will try to describe why this is an important sentiment without sounding too prettyprettyprincess-ish. One thing that I was not prepared for when I came to this country is their idea of an ideal woman being so very doll-like. Not only do their features need to be porcelain delicate and tiny, but their demeanor should be demure and especially passive when in compromising positions. This is so completely opposite from what I am used to that it is hard for me to witness and even harder for me to conform to. Because I (a) look so different (curves?! What the??) and (b) am a confident, independent woman, there is hardly a week that goes by without someone (quite deliberately) making me feel that I am freakishly abnormal if not downright hideous. Luckily for me I have a pretty hard shell and so the constant wearing is only producing tiny cracks of slight panic or the occasional glimpse in the mirror with slight loathing; I can't imagine the devastation that would occur if I were any less confident before I got here. This is a particularly difficult challenge for me to overcome since I have never before had to deal with seeing myself as not-in-the-norm. I dig my body, I dig my personality, but I am now faced with doubt in that confidence because I am subjected to criticism and scrutiny on a daily basis, and more importantly, do not have a support team to turn to to counteract any of that. So Kelly telling me that there is someone on this side of the Pacific that appreciates my looks and personality was the little reminder I needed to pull myself back in to the "real world" as I know it, and not the messed up "ideals" they have over here. Understand that this isn't an attempt to evoke sympathy in any way. Rather I just thought I would share with all y'all the biggest struggle I'm facing, and hopefully you all get some understanding of why I may be over-critical in the way women are treated over here.
((I promise, it�fs not just me: last night there was a TV program where they stopped (in my opinion perfectly normal, healthy looking) women on the street, and proceeded to tell them exactly where they should have plastic surgery and why. Too much muscle in the arm (WHAT?!), too puffy of a face, etc. Then to emphasize their diagnosis, they put these women on a rollercoaster with a camera zoomed in pointing at their face, and would freeze the picture in particularly ugly parts (like if the coaster was going upside down or really fast, and their faces were all distorted.) And they convinced these women (some were only 18 years old!) that they were fat and ugly and should get surgery. I'm sorry, but that is just sick. Put Cindy Crawford on a roller coaster, and I am sure she is going to have her flappy-faced moments too, sheesh!))

10:11 AM

Sunday, April 13, 2003

*... eeeyyyy battabattabatta, saWING batta ...*
I thought for the next 3-day weekend i get i might head down to the Tokyo Dome to catch a Giants game. These were the plans in the works, that is, until the team started getting smacked around a bit recently, especially by the Hanshin Tigers... last night's score at the top of the 5th was 0-8... ouch. If you were to suggest to me 7 months ago that i would be planning to travel quite a distance to catch a baseball game, i would probably given you the "you crazy." look. Trust me, you would have recognized the look. Baseball to me was about as interesting as watching people pick their noses on the bus. But, now i can say that I have had a slight change of heart, and this might even come as good news for some of the baseball lovin' fools I know at home: Katy, Cynthia, Robert, Poncho "I wish i were a baseball player" Gomez... now at least I won't look tortured when they suggest we catch a game.
4:26 PM