Picture 1: Kazuhiko hiding, Yuto smiling... and Junpei with the umbrella! Yuto is my FAVE baseball boy... Shhh... I don't really have favorites! ;-)  

Here's a brother-sister portrait!! Haha! Goofballs... ne? 

Don't they look happy to be done for the day?? One more day buddies!!  

Getting Tougher!

This week is KILLING me! I'm not being used in class because of testing, but this is the second to last time I'll be at Tachikawa Junior high before I leave. It's killing me that I'm sitting at a desk being a deadhead!! Grrr...

And am I going to elementary school?? Oh no!! That would make sense. Grrrr... Oh well...

It doesn't help that all my kids are asking me when I'm leaving. And I tell them and they tell me they don't want me to leave... it's just getting tough. Talking all about it last night with my good friends the Ota's I almost started crying... and that was just talking about having to say goodbye.

Oh well... I'm going to make the most of my last weeks and just enjoy my students. Or something like that...

Anyway... I'm going to post some happy pics from today! I swear after testing is the best time to take pics of my students... they're in such a good mood because one day of testing is over. Heehee... sneaky me... that's when I get some great pics. Just look and see...

Latas...

English Camp!

This weekend I spent camping on a mountain with 32 high school girls, 8 other foreigners, and 4 other Japanese teachers! It was a blast!! I'm completely wrecked... but needless to say we had a great time. Lots of bonding with the girls... and lots of fun had by all... a sample of the pictures are to follow! Enjoy... I'm off to bed. :-) Night!

On the steps, English teachers and kids!! Great group! 

Now this time... just the kids! BANZAI in the back! 

All the teachers... say "ROBBIE!" 

Lauren with Shiho on her shoulders!! Light as a feather!! 

Lauren, Nao, Kaori and me... last day with the kids! These girls are 3nensei... and speak GREAT English! 

Yu didn't know I was taking this picture... smile?!? :-) 

What are older sisters good at....?

Answer: being nosy and giving our little brothers a hard time!! :-) And how does that translate to Japan... well, I have some boys that are in effect my little brothers. Hiroshi, Kazuki, Yuhei and Kazuho. Now the other day, on my way to the post office, I saw Kazuho waiting with Kazuki's girlfriend... which sent all sorts of bells off... who was HE waiting for?
So yesterday, like a good big sister, I gave him all sorts of trouble about it! He told me her last name... but that's it (Igarashi... very helpful Kazuho!)... but I then cornered him into pinky swearing to tell me today (as he was on his way to the doctor... I've been made to wait!).
I love this game!! This is more fun than harrassing my own brothers. :-) The main thing these kids are afraid of is that they'll be found out... because "dating" (in the cute junior high kind of way) is majorly ILLEGAL by school rules. Nuts, eh?

I'm off to study some Japanese... I have been REALLY bad lately. REALLY bad!! And I have my lesson tonight... :-)

Good byes...

I had another set of goodbyes today... this time it was really bad... cried for two of my four classes this morning. I've been teaching the 3rd graders for 3 years and remember all of them... and am going to miss their smiling faces... and unconditional loving!! :-( Seriously... am a sad bunny! But on the up side... I will get to see them one more time when I go to that school (my fave) one more time in July. Man, this is getting tough... though this time... my junior high boys didn't laugh when I told them... they actually seemed a bit sympathetic... *sigh*

Here's my buddy Yuto... I only got two pics of him... both with his catcher's mask on! He's number two on the all-region team... number one? Our pitcher! 

Kazuhiko... wow! Does he not look like a pro?? Holy cow!? And the biggest surprise for me... he's a lefty! :-)  

Kendo... not entirely sure who this is... it might be Tatsuma... man I love that kid!! 

Toshiki... my hurdler buddy! He's the one in the middle... this heat didn't go so well... but he still managed to win the final!  

Taikai - Day 2 and 3

So... the sports tournament was GREAT!! :-) Day 2 ended wonderfully...

I started the day watching my Tachikawa baseball team CREAM Lauren's baseball team (7-0, was called at the end of the 5th inning!). Bad for her team... but man, I loved watching those boys win by SO much. Then I watched a little bit of basketball... my Amarume boys were being beaten badly... so I went to kendo!

My Tachikawa girls won the tournament... and my Amarume boys took second to Lauren's boys. I didn't mind too much because my boys seriously weren't as strong as Fujishima. But they came REALLY close! Which made me super proud... especially of Saito Ken and Kitagawa Daichi... they both won their matches. :-) Plus, they're just nice kids! After the kendo, I headed to the track. Where I saw a bunch of my old students... met Lauren's old student council president (Takamine... freaked him out too, cuz I knew who he was!!)... and cheered for my kids.

There were 4 relays: the amateur and the pros! ;-) My girls took second in both. And my boys... they took first in both. I've never been more nervous for a 4x100m relay than I was before my pros ran! Toshiki, Daisuke, Shunsuke, and Koya... I was SO nervous for them!! I love those boys... so, it was crazy to watch... but they were AWESOME and tore up the track!! :-)

After that I watched my Amarume baseball team (who won their first game in a HUGE surprise win!!) lose to a Tsuruoka school.

Day 3 - BASEBALL!!

I watched the morning game for Tachikawa... they beat the team 1-0. It wasn't as close as the score would look... the kids had everything under control.

Then there was a couple hour gap before the championship game... so I went to the S-mall. Where I met my Chinese brother!! Ryusuke was there... I LOVE that kid! He can come live with me in Hawaii anytime. He rocks!! Then I met Lauren for lunch at Jusco before heading back for the 2 o'clock baseball game.

I got there and the game had already started!! BOOO!! Was so annoyed... but we were already a couple points up. It was awesome. Our pitcher didn't crack once... he got tired and threw a few more balls, but didn't crack. Katsuya, the center fielder, made the most beautiful catch I've ever seen! It was AWESOME. He also got named for the play of the game with that one. It was made on the final out as well.

HAIL the conquering heroes!! Onward and upward to the ken-taikai (all-state sports tourney)!!

Taikai - Day 1

Today was the first day of the big sports meet. In Japan they don't have sports seasons... instead ALL the teams prepare for a meet on one weekend in June. This weekend is the one!!
So, today... instead of choosing just ONE sport to watch I floated between 3 sports... kendo, track and gymnastics. Now, it was VERY easy to float between kendo and track... but for gymnastics I had to drive from Tsuruoka to Sakata. Which I decided was worth it because 4 of my FAVE students are gymnastics boys (forget the rhythmic gymnastics girls!! blah... give me tumbling any day!!).

The big hit on the day were my home-made spectator shirts!! I made one for Amarume and one for Tachikawa!! The one for Amarume had an inside joke in it... it has to do with how people say my last name in Japanese. My name in Japanese is "su-ma-i-su" which to some of my students sounds similar to " su-pa-i-su." So on the back of my Amarume shirt I put... Give me some SU-PA-I-SU (in Japanese!). My gymnastics boys were the ones who really got it... and had a good chuckle.

Anyway, it's bed time for bonzo as it's another big, busy day at the tournament tomorrow!

Here's Kazuki... the crazy seito-kaicho!! Every other pic I tried to take of him went awry... but this one... is the best!! This is the ultra-genki kid I love... but has been missing most of the week because he's been "nemui" 

Wataru... formerly Wataru of the ghetto hat picture... now apparently wants to be James Bond!! 

I LOVE this kid!! Ryuichiro is the younger son of one of my old teachers... he's SUCH a cutie!! 

First of many...

Today I had to say goodbye for the first time...

I went to one of my kindergartens for the last time this morning. Now it's not as if I go very often (about 6-7 times a year), but still it was a goodbye. You'd think that I'd be ok saying goodbye to 4-5 year olds that I hardly see... but, no I wasn't ok. In fact, when I was asked to say something... I got all worked up and only managed to blurt out something about having fun every time I came to play and then thank you. And then I cried... mopped up my face and was ok. A little later... a 4 year old girl told me that I shouldn't cry. That was precious... and by that time I'd gotten it all together.

GEESH... does this make me the biggest SAP ever?

chuckle of the week... so far...

Jeopardy question: This man comes from Texas. He lives in America. Many people around the world do not like him, but he is the president.

answer: Eminem*

Nearly fell over with that one!

OW!!!!

Last night I went to kendo with Kirsty. This week, in preparation for the big sports tournament at the weekend, there's no evening kendo! AAAAH! Knowing this I asked Kirsty to come with her. So, I headed over to hers after school yesterday and we headed to Shinjo for kendo.

Well, now that the weather is HOT kendo is getting a bit more intense... AND smelly! We had a really good practice that included some much needed combination practice. One combination was men/hiki-kote (head/hit the hand going backwards). OUCH!! Kirsty hit right on almost the whole time, but once she hit a little off the mark... and now I have a bruise on my hand. :-(
Which, when you think about it, is quite special!

Anyway... I'm supposed to teach the devil children today... just hope I don't kill any of them! Have a great day!

Kosuke... how many times do I have to tell you? You're NOT tough! No matter how hard you try to be...  

Why is there only ONE kid who likes having his picture taken? Just ONE!!! Once again... yay for my Chinese brother! 

Look how tough they are?? Funny, eh? Watch for the pinky patrol!! ;-) 

Kobe beef!

Now, I've never been one to advocate eating meat with a lot of fat in it... and the whole premise of Kobe beef is that it is marbled... so it's kind of pink in color because there's fat well mixed with the meat. I was always a bit like "ewww, gross!" Not anymore! I now know the merits of meat like that... it's DELICIOUS!!! WOW!!

I went to a barbeque last night and we had this kind of meat. It was the best meat I've ever tasted... no joke! Not only was the meat good but the sauce (REALLY REALLY garlicky!) was amazing as well. Just enhancing the eating experience. Now, thank GOODNESS that kind of meat is so expensive. Otherwise the temptation to eat it all the time would be very high!

Yeah... so... that's my meat blog!

the UN-genkis...

I knew something must be wrong today when I saw my buddy (and student council pres), Kazuki... usually this kid yells "Alisha!!!" as he holds up his hand for a big hi-five. He just looked at me and held up his hand... no hello, no Alisha... no nuthin'! And it didn't stop with him... oh no! It was all of my fave 3nensei boys!! They were all completely un-genki today. Now, I've heard of a case of the "mondays," but usually everyone I hang out with doesn't have them! *sigh*

Here's to hoping my boys go back to normal tomorrow. Kazuki has promised he'd be more genki tomorrow... but am not holding my breath! :-)

adventures in teaching...

Today I got to teach with Nishiwaki-sensei... notorious for not using ALTs, but one of the best teachers I've ever seen. The class was brilliant!! The hilight would have to be when a kid started getting a bloody nose... and instead of letting him mop up his nose... Nishiwaki-sensei walks over and sticks a piece of tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding! Just like the kid was out on the field and had gotten smashed in the nose or something!! It was hilarious. :-) Man, I love Japan!

This afternoon I finally got to see "Hitch"... I laughed SO hard!! SUCH a funny film... Kevin James rocked and I must say... Will Smith was hilarious as well.

After that I met one of my old students for coffee... Naoya is like a little brother. We just ramble on about ALL sorts of stuff. He's so funny! We just talked about all sorts of stuff... and I taught him the ever-so-useful term "indecisive" (優柔不断＝　yuujuufudan in Japanese). And the best thing... he can actually pronounce most of the funny words we talk about. I've decided that he has to come to Hawaii or Alaska to visit. He'd LOVE the adventure of it. :-) Yay for cool students!

I'm wrecked from not doing anything. Heading to bed soon... have a good one!

I have a place to LIVE!!!

A truly exciting thing happened yesterday... I checked my email and had an email from my dad indicating that Mom had found me a place to live... so, being very excited, I called home. Sure enough my mother (who is awesome at stuff like this!) had found me a place to live... 4 blocks from campus!! This is such good news... I've been so disgruntled and undecided about things because of the housing issue. Now, I can just relax and get finished with things here... and not worry TOO much!

In other, VERY EXCITING news... Our local Seattle's Best now has Macha Frappacino's!! Oh BABY!! Lauren and I are going to be going to Jusco that much more... :-)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Contrary to the tone of that earlier blog, I am NOT trying to depress myself. I'm actually really happy because even in a few or even 20 years... I'll not say that. Even if I'm never famous or never do anything particularly notable... I've lived. And not just in America and not just behind a picket fence...

So, no... was not trying to depress myself. ;-)

A great quote...

(something to fear...) that we'll reach a certain point in our lives, look around and realize that all the things we said we'd do and become will never come to be -- and that we're ordinary. - Anne Bancroft

I haven't seen a really great quote like this in awhile... makes a person think...

My Chinese brother...

So, I have a Chinese brother. :-) He's actually a 2nensei student in Tachikawa who only JUST came to Japan in March. This kid's amazing!! He's so happy and friendly, he makes my Tachikawa kids look downright docile (which is SO not the case!!).

The funniest thing is that he reminds me of my brother... even though he barely speaks English and speaks even less Japanese! He's just goofy and always joking around. Kind of like bro-bro! So, even though I miss my brothers... it's nice to have Ryusuke to fill in once in awhile. Makes me look forward to going home just a little bit. :-)

Those are my thoughts for the morning...

Cute things abut Japan...

One of the endearing things about Japanese gas stations (yes, I called gas stations endearing...) is that the little attendants who pump your gas (there are some self service stations, but I really don't like them...) stand in the middle of the road, sometimes stopping traffic, to make sure that you can safely continue on your merry way.

Well, today, I was making my way home from the grocery store right about the time my students were getting out of their after-school sports/clubs. I was tooly-ing down the road when I was stopped by the friendly gas station attendants... who, instead of helping their customer, were helping my kids get safely across the busy street near my house! How cute is that? That's not part of their job, but they did it anyway! Plus, they bowed and yoroshiku-onegaishimasu-ed a ton as well.

I LOVE JAPAN!

Oh... and later when I was eating... I talked to some of my kids... they're all starting to catch on that I'm leaving in August. This one boy says to me "when are you coming back?" Not "are you coming back?" not "will you be coming back?" but "WHEN are you coming back?" That left me with a warm fuzzy feeling as well. :-)

Hope your day's great!

Don't make me go!!

Last night I was sideswiped by weird/unexpected emotions! I was watching my Monday drama... where people were all saying goodbye to each other... which made me think of leaving my kids and the goodbyes that I'll soon be making... and the next thing I knew... I was bawling crying! I don't know what it's going to be like to say goodbye to my kids, my friends, etc... but I can only imagine the buckets of tears I'm going to shed in that process...

Yeah, so that's what's been on my mind lately...

Rockin' Good Times!

This weekend was great! Saturday I did some sports spectating... as I had kendo AND gymnastics to watch it was quite fun. (Though I did the Tsuruoka to Sakata shuffle! Eeek!) My kids were doing really well and I found out one of my old students was top 8 in the ken for kendo!! GO YUSUKE!!

After all the sports, Lauren and I headed to Sendai to have a night out. We started off with Indian curry... which we scarfed to avoid missing meeting up with friends! (Shouldn't have scarfed! But it was still good!) We met up with Raf and Andres and a collection of their friends to attend a birthday party. (We always seem to crash b-day parties when we're with those two!) Anyway... off we went to an izakaya... for all you can drink and eat (though since we were stuffed we just drank!). The highlight of that bit was the spontaneous karaoke session... we ended up singing the Backstreet Boys I want it that way... I can't explain the joy from that! There was no music, no mics... just a bunch of random people belting out the lyrics!! CLASSIC!

Then we headed out to Bar Isn't It? Lauren and I had made an earlier, pinky-swearing pact... and I'm pleased to report that the pact was fulfilled (for more info on the pact... just ask!). We danced and enjoyed ourselves... until about 3am... then we decided to enjoy ourselves right home for an uninterrupted 4 hours of sleep!! Haha...

Yesterday in Sendai, we had our hang-over cure lunch (without hash-browns we seem to make due with french fries A LOT!) and headed home.

I had dinner in Yuza... and managed (through no fault of my own) to get beer spilled ALL over me (thank you, Alex!) and finished off the meal in borrowed clothes. Fun fun... but had an AMAZING (as usual) dinner at Oi-san's before rolling into ed for a solid 8 hours of sleep.

Hope your weekend adventures were great! I'm outta stories!

Just so we all know... patronizing people make me want to scream!! I'm not bloody well three years old thank you very much. In case anyone was wondering... ARGH!! And I was having SUCH a good day too!

Scary or Reassuring...

Yesterday after soccer practice, I hung around chatting with some of my old students... currently 3rd years in high school (seniors!). We chatted about school and English and whether they were still studying English... etc. But eventually the talk came around to girls and who's the most sukebe (perverted) of the bunch, who's had the most girlfriends, and you can imagine what all else. WHY??? Why does it always come down to that with boys? Haha... am not sure whether it's reassuring to know that ALL boys at that age are the same!?! It was almost a relief... they're normal afterall.

ALSO, learned that there's an actual term for a girlie-man/manly girl... (most of the time I just say otoko-onna which means manly girl). If you think that's bizarre, then you'll think it's weirder that I know EXACTLY what that means!! The women's field hockey team for Japan was almost entirely composed of otoko-onna! That's just a funny side note.

So what's the verdict... is it reassuring to know that all high school boys are the same... or is it kind of scary!?

MY IPOD!!!

Yes, it's come. The era of the iPod for Alisha... I now own an iPod photo!!

I got home from school yesterday and I had a delivery slip in my mail-slot. I called the number and told the lady I'd arrived and that I'd be here all afternoon. And not an hour later, I was in possession of an iPod. I feel a bit bad because it distracted me from being sociable with my kendo boys... but they'll understand. :-)

That saved the day yesterday... I hope today's a bit better... and I don't feel like strangling 7 year olds. The only problem today is that I'm teaching my fave kids... minus my FAVORITE!! His dad's a policeman and got transferred... so Retsu-kun is no longer around... I almost cried last time I was there. Ganbatemasu!!

who knew!?!

If I had known that today was going to be such a bust... I probably wouldn't have gotten up this morning!! GEESH!! Talk about a discouraging day... I had a class full of 6 year olds that the teacher wouldn't help me control (I've never wanted to smack anyone that young before), but I rush back to a junior high lesson of kids that was uncooperative and boring to teach (no imagination on part of teacher and no prior notice as to what we were doing... leads to boring lessons!!).

Can I go to Tachikawa tomorrow?? PLEASE!!! No really... I'm serious... PLEASE!!!

Nothing Much

This weekend wasn't all that special...

Friday watched the season finale of One Tree Hill (10 cliff-hangers!!)...

Saturday went to the beach at Sanze... was pretty unspectacular, but hanging out was pretty fun.

Yesterday I read Harry Potter, did a bit of weeding, talked to some of my kendo boys... then Lauren and I met up with Kirsty, her mum and gran to visit Gyokusenji in Haguro. It's a temple with the most amazing garden!! Truly beautiful... and the koi were evening getting a bit excited. Haha.

Today I have a full day at school (have a class EVERY class period!)... should be good...

The middle boy is Ryohei... he almost lapped a kid in the boys 1000 meters!! Holy cow... it was AWESOME!! 

This is Chihiro... the younger brother of two of my fave elementary school students! He's 3... but is tall enough to be about 4-5! And MAN does he have ENERGY!!!

How many people are MISSING from this pic?? Haha... giving a camera to a 5th grader doesn't always result in great camera work!! ;-) 

Hiroto... after having finished the long jump! How cute is he??  

Another Invader... Takuro... started the hat trend! 

The Great Debate!

"We're thinking of getting pink hats," said the track captain at my junior high... this one statement sparked the great debate!

That day I tried to convince the guys (yes, you heard right - the boys!) that pink was a weak color... remember pink = fluffy bunnies, rainbows and unicorns...

Well, yesterday, the debate raged on... So, instead of me trying to convince the boys that pink is weak... we went for the polling method... all teachers and students (particularly boys) were subjected to the question "好きな色は何ですか？" (what color do you like?) and then "ピンクは好きですか?" (do you like pink?) It was great... the more I asked boys, the more weird "Of course I don't like pink" faces I got!! Until after about 10 minutes... when I asked the Assistant Kendo Captain... and Ken responded with a resounding "NO!!"

I wheeled around and yelled "ピンク負けた!!" Meaning... pink loses!! Which was still greeted with some objections... but HOLY COW was it funny!!

Anyway... it's been settled officially... but watch... I'll be harassed about pink again this coming week!!

I LOVE OUR NEW KOCHO!!!

I've just had the most encouraging "talk" with our new kocho-sensei (principal). He was walking past my desk and spur-of-the-moment like asked if I was busy. I said no and followed him to his office... wondering what this was all about.

He proceded to ask how many classes I have a week... and I said that today and yesterday I'll have 5. Was still unsure as to where the conversation was headed... turns out he things that I should be teaching a LOT more and he's going to talk to the English teachers about getting into more classes!! How COOL!! I came out of that impromptu meeting with the biggest grin you've ever seen!!

What a good day!?:^)

An Invader... surely shouldn't be this cute!!! Should he??? And he's wearing MY hat!  

INVASION!!!

Yesterday, after clubs were over, the expected shout of "ALISHA!!" came as per normal. This time there were more kids... and they INVADED!! While I was showing SOME of them my garden... 4 others were hiding in my genkan! Holy cow!! I opened the door... surprised the pants off them... and was then greeted with "ojamashimasu" (which is the typical thing Japanese people say when entering a house... means "sorry, I'm being a pain!") and off they went to inspect my house.

Well, just like curious kids... they went everywhere... even though I told them that my house was a MESS!! And it is... partly because I'm moving... and partly because I've been lazy.

Everything was "sugoi!" to them... I don't think they've ever seen the inside of a house that wasn't run in a Japanese manner. Obviously there were some things that were VERY Japanese, like the wa-fu rooms upstairs... but the fact that there were pictures on the walls and a computer (Yasushi LOVED that!!) just blew them away.

Man, I LOVE Japanese kids... I would LOVE for these guys to come visit my home in Alaska... it'd blow their minds!! Haha! I LOVE JAPAN!!

Sunny Days...

Today is going down as one of my BEST days in Japan ever!! Even though I didn't teach a single class!

Yesterday when I was at elementary school one of the kyoto's said there was sports day... fastforward to today around 2nd period. BORED!!! So, I walked home, got on my bike and headed for the festivities! How fun... the kids were going nuts... and I got to see all sorts of little kids doing track events... and even joined in the cheering (Ike, ike, ike, ike yon sho!!) and took loads of silly pics. Then I went home for lunch, but decided to come back for the last events... the tug-o-war and the relays. My fave sho (shhhh, don't tell!!), 4sho, won the tug of war... and two of the four relays! WAHOO!!

During that time I was majorly distracted by two of my fave kids younger brother. He's 3 and has more energy than any kid I've ever seen!! I didn't mind chasing after him at all... was a pleasure.

Then I came back to junior high to finish the day... with a warm welcome from my boys (the student council pres included!)... I got into a conversation with about 10 of my boys about the color pink. Now this all came about because my track and field captain said they might be getting hats that color before the big meet next month. I expressed some distress at that point and had to settle on telling them that pink is a weak color to convey my meaning (I couldn't translate that pink makes me think of rainbows, unicorns and fluffy bunnies!!).

All in all the sports day and the talking with my kids today just made the day worth it! Hope you had a great day too!

Averting boredom...

That's the goal for today... I don't have a single class today, but one of my kyoto-senseis told me about elementary school sports day that's going on today. I may have to make an appearance.
:-)
Then I have to try to find a place to live in Hawaii next year AND find some way of funding my stay in Hawaii as well. Wheee!! Wish me luck, things will come together but it'll take some serious planning!

A better ending...

So, yesterday I was bored out of my mind... but luckily the day ended on a good note!!

I got home yesterday, flopped down on my bed to relax and do a bit of reading... when all of a sudden I heard "ALISHA!!" I poked my head out my window and there were two first year kendo boys standing there. So, from my window we had a mini-conversation and then they decided they wanted to come IN my house... well, that's a no-go because it looks like a tornado has hit!

I rushed down the stairs and held them off... but then we got to chatting about random stuff: the English test today, English in general, girls, etc. It was very enlightening!! :-) They also thought my garden was something to be reckoned with... the enormous amount of mint that I have growing intrigued them (it was all my predecessor's doing!!) and Mizuki grabbed some to take home. Haha!

Anyway, after the incredibly BORING day I'd had... it was so much fun! Hope ya'll are having a great day. :-)

shoot me - please!

Today... this is a chronicle of what I've done...

- came to work to find my desk a complete MESS! cleaned desk (took 5 minutes or so)
- looked at schedule, which showed that there are two days this week in which I will have not one single class (today is one of those days)
- wish I were at Tachikawa this week
- stare into space
- find that the internet is up... check email and news (takes about 25 minutes)
- update cover letter to send to Interac
- look up housing options for Hawaii
- get bored and angry (angry because at least at Tachikawa I would be bored... but I'd also be in class!!)
- somewhere between the staring and anger was lunch
- more staring...
- a tiny bit of Japanese study
- and I'll have at least one more class period to TRY to figure out something to do (read: will continue to stare into space...)

DOOM!!! Death! Distruction!

Weekend Review!

This weekend was a good one... not overly busy, but not boring either.

Friday, I caught up on TV at Lauren's as kendo was cancelled that night we got an earlier start on it than usual.

Saturday, I got up at the buttcrack of dawn (which on a Saturday is around 7) to take my car for an oil and tire change. My car is very happy with me because both were LONG overdue. Then Lauren and I headed to Sakata for a MEGA kendo tournament. The Fujishima girls ended up in the final... losing to Yuza (my Tachikawa girls lost to Yuza in the previous round) and both our boys teams lost to Yuza as well (her boys in the semis and mine in the final). Both of us couldn't help thinking... DOWN WITH YUZA!!!! I also got the distinct pleasure of seeing A LOT of my former students play... Crazy Seiya was the lead off man for his school and almost the entire Sakata East high school team were former students of mine. Was really cool!
After kendo I was determined to get the CD player finally put in my car... and now I'm in love!! Why I didn't do it sooner you ask?? Because normal gas stations (that do oil changes and everything) won't actually put a stereo in a car. I've tried to get them... but to no avail.
Lauren and I went to Kim and Peter's for a little driving test meeting and then headed to karaoke...

Sunday, I watched baseball (my boys ROCK!!) and then went to a beautiful Japanese garden and sushi with the Ota's. Man, I LOVE sushi!! It was amazing... I just wish I had a sushi buddy...

There's the weekend... hope yours was good too!

BTW... I found out that I was accepted to the Univ. of Hawaii. Cross your fingers for a tuition waiver!

Coup d'etat!

All week I've been struggling with one thing: how can I save my kids from being turned off English because they're teacher is boring them to tears (among other things...)? Well, I figured it out... it's all about being a BOYSCOUT!! Always be prepared!! I came to school OVERLY prepared for school... and when it came to his plan, I just kept suggesting other (read: better) things to do in class. And for the first time this week... I've felt like I've scored a major victory. Now, if I can help keep this momentum up through the weeks when I'm the absentee teacher... (change back to my base school starting monday) Wish me tons of luck... I'm going to need it if I want to pull off another coup like I did today! :-)

STRESS... it's a killer!*

And don't I know that's the truth! Yesterday was probably one of my most stressful days in Japan yet! EEEEK! I taught a 3nensei class that was absolutely a BOMB. Oh man... and it wasn't my fault. My teacher (who will renamed un-named) took the text, flew over the bit that could have been interesting (speaking practice) and moved right into the boring grammar (for 25 minutes!!). While both Tomomi-sensei and I stod by in SHOCK! We couldn't believe what he'd just done...

At Hayashi's later in the afternoon, I prattled on about how I didn't know how to save English for my kids... because this teacher is killing it... and not in a nice quiet way, OH NO!, he's killing it by making it as boring as possible... and eventually it will just die. I'm freaking out because the kids that loved English last year are quickly losing any interest in the subject at all. We've fought to make the English program a good one... and now it's dying... anyway... I just needed a vent before I went in to wage war today! Have a good one.

*Lauren, where's the quote from??

HELP!!!

Am dying for ANY advice... I've gotten good advice so far, but I need a bit more. Here's the scenario: I have to work with a teacher who has two problems (big ones anyway) he patronizes his students and his students hate him... oh, and the fact that he has absolutely NO talent for teaching...

Now, I'm doing everything I can to try to reverse his effect on his students... but it only works about half the time. And I'm not at the school everyday... PROBLEM!! How can I combat his ability to KILL English for his students?? Any ideas?? Suggestions?? Anything!?!

And the Winner of the First Annual, Tachikawa SLANGfest is...

Today Tomomi and I were trying to figure out more interesting ways to say that you've had fun than "That was great!" or "I had fun!" And we decided that I should introduc basic slang... all with the meaning of having had fun.

We got to class and got started with a ROUSING game of shiritori (a game where you begin with a word and the last letter of tha word must begin the next word... etc etc etc) and then we started on the slang. Now... if you've ever been in a Japanese junior high classroom you know what I mean when I say that sometimes... kids lack enthusiasm... and at times it's even hard to get them to depart from monotone.

So, I'd had it... we were going to get this kids to put feeling into what they were saying if it's the last thing I did... so, row by row I made it a contest... the liveliest person in each row won the chance to get in front of the class and get judged by their peers. We had 3 boys and 2 girls... as an aside... one boy is actually a student from China, his mom is married to a Japanese man, and he has the best pronunciation of ANY of my students...

so it came down to the wire... TAKUYA is the winner, with "That's COOL!" I have to say I wasn't quite in agreement, mainly because Ryu (chinese kid) has better pronunciation, but I guess I'm the only one who can hear it! :-)

the weekend review...

After much anticipation... and more than one attempt to post this... here it is!

Friday: I had a great day! I was back at Tachikawa... that school is like my second home... being there just feels more natural than Amarume. Shhhhhh! It's a secret!
After school, I took a nap and got ready for kendo. But when I walked over there with all my gear... there was no kendo. Boo! Was quite bummed, but that did mean I got to spend some time getting ready for a party that a fellow teacher was having.
Lauren and I showed up sometime around 9:30... and left around 11. It wasn't that the party wasn't fun... it's that we've grown out of those kind of parties. Sitting around drinking and trying to make mindless conversation isn't as much fun as it once was. So... we ditched as soon as we could politely do so... and another girl ditched with us too... she needed to get home in the morning and my town has a station.

Saturday: Lauren and I got up around 9 to go watch basketball... there was a big practice tournament in my town. My team's pretty good and there were a bunch of teams from around Shonai and then there were teams from other places in northern Japan as well. My boys did fairly well... tying a team they should have beaten (grrrr.. they led th WHOLE game!!!). Then I saw my Tachikawa team... last week one of the boys told me that Tachikawa was a really weak team... but I only half believed him. Apparently he was right, because their team only came to help... to watch and to keep score!! Poor babies... gotta love that... how precious! Around 1 we left... because we had ALT sports day!

Saturday afternoon, in beautiful weather, we had an ALT sports day. Played ultimate and soccer. Now, I'm not a huge fan of ultimate... but I actually had fun. Soccer was fun as well... but I didn't get to play my position... bummer! After the soccer, we headed to an onsen (we were stinky... and sore! a nice hot bath will fix that!) and then on to the indoor events... pool and bowling. I was realy off on the pool... but I did manage to win one game. Ian shot the 8 ball in... and boy did I relish my victory... I jumped up and down and said "I won, I won!" I couldn't help myself. After that, Lauren and I had a date with Orlando... so cut out early.

If you get a chance, go see Kingdom of Heaven... I really enjoyed it, not just because there was beautiful scenery. It makes you think about things today... a little bit anyway.

After the movie we dropped in on the music party that was completely packed!! So we stayed for a little while (15 minutes or less!) and headed out again... only hitch... one of my shoes had managed to go missing. Now, this may sound crazy... but there were a LOT of shoes and we scoured them over and over... I seriously thought I was losing my mind... until someone came back inside... with MY SHOE!!! He'd worn two different shoes out... baka!! But at least I wasn't crazy. :-)

Sunday: I woke up early to head to a baseball game. My Tachikawa boys were playing baseball from 9 in the morning. So I headed up there... I got there a bit after 9. But was excited to see baseball still happening... I got to see about an innings worth of baseball and then it started to rain... first it was pretty light, but within minutes it turned into a MASSIVE downpour! Eeeek! After about 10 minutes of waiting for it to let up, the officials called the game! I was so bummed...grrrr... So I headed out to run some errands... and then headed to Lauren's to watch a bit of TV and then we headed to lunch.
We had lunch at the S-mall... where I managed to see TONS of my old students. One had a part-time job at one of the stores... I saw some of my old girls... and I saw Toshiaki!! Now, Toshiaki is special... last year, I played the Black Eyed Peas during class... and instead of just sitting and doing his work... he busted a move right in his seat!! It was hilarious. So, I caught up with him and it sounds like high school is going well for him! Yay!
After that, we had some time to kill before Lauren and I headed to dinner at Kim and Peter's. So, we karaoked!! We figure that if we do all the things we love enough times before we leave... we won't miss them aas much when we go home... or something like that. :-)

Anyway... there's the weekend!

best and worst

Yesterday I had the best afternoon... after running with my kendo first years for about 45 minutes... I decided to go "watch" the soccer kids for awhile... well, I ended up crashing practice. Man... was it ever fun!! I want to be an assistant coach... pretty please. Great time.

Today I had some really sad news. For the last few years, my fave kid from the 2nd elementary school area has been Inoue Retsu. He's such a cutie! I just love this kid. And I went looking for him Tuesday... and the kids said he wasn't there. I just thought he was absent... until today. The kids told me he's not here... because he's moved. His dad's a police officer and he got moved in April. It was all I could do to keep from crying in the middle of school, surrounded by 20-25 little kids. I had to stare at the ceiling and take deep breaths just to keep from crying. The goodbyes have begun... only I never got to say mine.

There's my best and worst for this week.

Best indirect compliment of the day...

So during cleaning time I was talking to some of my boys... the ones that are usually "bad" and don't clean, but talk to me instead! :-) Heehee... Well, one asked if I had a boyfriend... I said that indeed, I did not. And he and his friends all responded with "USO!!!" which basically means "you're lying!!" Now this may be a funny thing to take as a compliment, but man... if something thinks I'm lying about not having a boyfriend... then they obviously think that I should have one. Which means, that I'm NOT the leper that my mind's eye (along with the effects of three years in Japan) has turned me into!

A stretch maybe... but I did say it was indirect...

More from Tokyo...

So, I've been back for almost a week... but I figure I should finish my Tokyo adventures before expanding on anything else... so here goes... the abbreviated version...

Saturday: I got up early and went to class... it took me about 45 minutes to get from Kim's house to where I was taking class... it made me feel like I was an actual Tokyo commuter... the only difference?? Since all but one day was a national holiday... the trains weren't crowded. :-)

After class, I met up with Kim and Tatsuya and we headed out to Odaiba on the monorail. Odaiba is a giant, American-style shopping mall. There was EVEN a Cinnabon in the food court. I didn't get one because I had eaten a biggish lunch and wasn't hungry. :-( Next time... We had a great time playing in the Sony Plaza area... they had the best, blow-you-away surround system on display! It was so cool... we hit VenusFront after that... it's designed to feel like Italy, but to me it feels like Caesar's in Las Vegas.

The best thing from Saturday... after dinner we had the most amazing matcha soft serve ice cream! It was GREAT!!

Sunday: By this time I had the commute to class all sorted... even had my headphones and MD player out... like a true Japanese commuter! Our class was starting to move along and we had inside jokes starting and everything...

After class, Kevin and I went to Shkibuya. Basically, neither of us wanted to eat alone and look like the sad cases we actually are. Haha! So, we ended up in this nice-ish Italian place in Shibuya... and we chatted about all sorts of stuff... sports, politics, etc. Was just nice to talk to someone different and interesting.

After that we searched for and ATM (ran out of cash!!), then I headed home and he headed to his hotel.

Then Kim and I spent the evening watching American Wedding and she showed me a DVD a friend of hers (James) had made about leaving Japan. He'd been a JET for one year and had all the same experiences that I've had. I BAWLED!!! Facing leaving Japan has NOT been a happy prospect for me at all... I get choked up for no reason at all... and this DVD brought it all home. (If you're interested, you can find it at www.hindsightproject.com it's the video called "Statement of Agreement") Anyway... wow!

Monday: Class was CRAZY! We had to do all sorts of role-playing practice... and everyone got really into their roles. I got to play the tough Kocho-sensei, Kevin played the evil teacher (and landlord too!), Drew was our dad, Jackie was our mom and Anna was the nice lady at the reception desk at a gym. And the Oscar goes to... Kevin for his portrayal of a VERY strict teacher! hahaha...

After that I went in search of a big koi windsock! For Children's Day in Japan, people put up these HUGE carp windsocks up. And I wanted one... too bad I headed to Harajuku when I was tired-ish and HUNGRY! I couldn't be bothered to look for very long... so I headed back toward Kim's after picking up the nicest umeboshi/wasabi onigiri (haven't managed to find that kind again!). I was on my way there when I realized I could go out to the big shopping center out near Omiya (one stop before)... it has a Lush! So I headed out there... and ended up spending WAY too much! Got some stuff at Lush... but then found the COOLEST hat ever... and found the cute Lego shop... in under an hour... I spent around 6,000yen... I headed back to Kim's after that.
She was on her way out to meet James... and I just sat for a bit and then did some repacking. James and Kim returned. He's the nicest guy... it's amazing how easy conversation is when you've got cool/interesting people to converse with. Our plan was then to wait for Tatsuya and then go for yaki-niku at Gyu-Kaku... I couldn't wait because our local Gyu-Kaku had been closed a while ago.
So, my last night in Tokyo was perfect. Out with friends just having a laugh and some good food! Great time had by all.

Tuesday: Last class. It was hilarious! Had such a good time just joking around and learning of course. After it was all done, I was really glad I'd gone to it. :-) But leaving was bad because I learned that Kevin was headed out to a Mexican place! ARGH!!! I could't go because I had a train to catch. Bah!
The train ride was great... nice and smooth. Then I had an hour wait in Niigata. I was sitting on the platform when I realized that I was being watched. I looked up and there were three high school boys staring at me from the train on the opposite tracks from me. So, I looked up and smiled and waved. They laughed and waved back. Basically we had the grown-up version of peek-a-boo going on for about 45 minutes while I waited for my train and they waited for theirs to depart. We waved, gave thumbs-up, made faces at each other... and then when their train eventually left... I waved as if we were all old friends. Man, I LOVE JAPAN!! ;-)

Ok... so there's the end of my Golden Week adventures... sorry it took so long... yesterday, I lost this post and had to do it over again today... sorry for the delay!

TOKYO!!

Well, I'm in Tokyo... and there's loads to tell... Not sure where to begin... but I'll just go day by day...

Friday morning: I arrived in Shibuya around 6:30am, put my suitcase in a locker, then went looking for the Starbucks (I went out the wrong exit!). While waiting outside the Starbucks I was approached by two random foreign guys... turned out they were Marines. Haha... well, they provided me with far too much entertainment... on everything from the pros and cons of the Japanese dating scene to what not to say if you ever meet someone Russian (ummm... have forgotten already... therefore will never say it!)

After too much laughter, a piece of yummy caramel cake and a macha Frappacino... I headed off to class.

Turns out... there are 5 people in my class, two from Tokyo, one from Tottori-ken, one from Tochigi-ken and me. Three of us are fairly high ability and the two others are well, they need some work (but are coming along). There's Kevin, Drew, Jackie, Anna and I. Anyway...

After class I headed to Kim's out in Warabi and ended up chilling, having a shower, going for hiyashi-chuka and hitting the foreign food store all before going to bed.

For now... I'm tired of typing... so will finish my Tokyo narrative a bit later... :-)

How FAB is today??

I woke up today... and the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and I'm happily sore! What a great way to start the day. :-)

This week has been awesome! I'm at my FAVE junior high. I love Amarume, but I don't have the bond with my students like at Tachikawa. The difference is in the size... I have almost 600 students at Amarume, but only 199 at Tachikawa. So, this week has been like a massive homecoming! And my kids have been awesome.

The new 1st years are SO cute! There are some super tiny kids, but there's also some REALLY tall kids. I'll never be able to explain why I have kids that are nearly 6' tall at 12 and then some who barely hit 4'. Bizarreness, eh?

One short bit about yesterday...
I planned a kendo extravaganza for myself. As I'll be in Tokyo for awhile (starting Thurs.), I wanted to get a good bit of kendo in before I went away. So, I went to club practice after school yesterday. I LOVE going to Tachikawa practice. The kids are helpful, they're encouraging, and they like that I'm there! And yesterday was no different. I had a GREAT time! I got home just past 6... and had just a little over an hour to wait before I went to kendo with Amarume. And that was great too!! I felt like I got a really good workout... and at the end I was BEAT!! Totally and completely. Thus the soreness when I woke up this morning... :-)

YAY!!! Today's going to be GREAT!

It's MONDAY alright...

Have you ever noticed that no matter how well the day starts out... Mondays ALWAYS seem to drag?? This is coming from the person who had a GREAT morning... 2 classes and they both went really well... had a great time with the chiddlies!

But somehow.... the mondays always getcha! I've managed to do a bit of studying... interspersed with several bouts of staring at my keyboard without really knowing what to do with it...

BUT, instead of moaning about Mondays I'm going to talk about my weekend...

Friday was great... did a bit of kendo, did a lot of drinking and singing (izakaya and karaoke!!!) and then headed back to Lauren's. The original plan was to be able to get up to watch some morning kendo (there was a big kendo thing going on in Fujishima [Lauren's town] on Saturday...)... but as we didn't get rolling out of our futons until noon... there was barely enough time for breakfast and a shower before going over to Kim and Peter's.

Kim's birthday was yesterday... so as a birthday surprise Peter got Lauren and I to come watch Soren for the night while mom and dad got away. We had a great time with the baby and it sounded like they had a great time just the two of them. :-)

Then yesterday was the Sakura Marason! I did a 5k... which would have gone a bit better if I'd not been out until 4:15 on Friday night/Saturday morning. All in all it went alright and I'm getting geared up for the next one!

And now I've killed more Monday time... just a few minutes before play... erm... cleaning time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... part 2!

Yes, in Japan we all get 2 part birthdays because of the time difference. :-) Added perk of being away from friends and family on your birthday... you get TWO!!! So on this, my second birthday, I woke up to emails from a bunch of my friends at home who remembered that today was my birthday!! Thanks guys... I feel loved.

And an added bonus... I've already gotten to go to one class this morning! And it's only the second day of school... I've never gotten into the classroom this fast before. Boo... it would have to start right when I'm about to leave Japan, eh?? Why am I going home again?? Oh, yeah... I have to! ;-)

Anyway... tonight it's girl's night on the town... Lauren, Kirsty, Chisato (cool Japanese friend who's birthday is the 13th), and I are going out for drinks and karaoke. But first Kirsty and I are doing a bit of kendo... we have our priorities!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

Today's been GREAT!! I was woken up this morning with a phone call... it was Lauren saying, I'm downstairs - let me in!!! She came bearing presents and pancake mix. While I showered she cooked me breakfast! What a great friend. :-)

I've gotten well-wishes from all over... thanks guys, I'm having a GREAT day!!!

One step further...

So, the boredom factor is at a boiling point...

- arrived at school... feeling fairly genki and humming "No More Cry"
- made several of my students say "good morning" instead of "ohayogozaimasu"
- 9.30... was still feeling genki... until I realized that I had HOURS to go before lunch rolled around!
- was saved from boredom for about 30 minutes because I texted with Robbie
- then I decided, I should really study Japanese... so I did, and then I realized why I get frustrated with Kumon worksheets... when am I ever going to need to use the verb "suspicious"?? when!?!?!??
- for the last hour I've been thinking how amusing it would be to non-fatally hurt myself (sprain an ankle maybe...) and have to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance... then at least I wouldn't be bored anymore...
- argh! I am loving Japan right now... but that bit has little to do with work... cuz work is going to suck for AT LEAST one more day!

BORED, BORED, BORED!!!

Yeah, that sums things up today. I'm going out of my head with boredom! First, I worked onmy taxes this morning... then I studied some Japanese... then I ate lunch... now in between those "thens" I checked my email far too many times, read some random, not very interesting celebrity gossip, and generally stared into space for long periods of time.

And I'm sorry to say that my boredom will not be satiated until Thursday because all of my students have tests starting tomorrow and running through Wednesday. Can I shoot myself? PLEASE!!!

On the less bored front, I went and messed around with my kids during lunch break-time... and I got to terrorize some of my new 1st years. They all know the answer to the question "How are you??" but getting them to use it... hahaha! Poor dears, it all must be very overwhelming for them! ;-) Gotta love 'em though.

Am off to try to not be bored... not holding out much hope!

It's A Happy Day!!

Today is the first day of school. We've had the "meet the new teachers" assembly and the "pep talk from kocho and homeroom teacher announcement" assembly. Now the class groups are meeting together...

I was afraid that things would be really bad today. That the kids would not be as cool or chilled-out as my kids that just graduated... SILLY ME!!!

During cleaning time this morning I talked with loads of my kids just chatting... it's amazing what moving up a year will do for 3nensei kids. They're so nice now!?! (A lot of them were little shits last year!) YAY!!! Big relief... though, I'm afraid that leaving in a few months will only be made that much more difficult. Oh, well... I'll cross that bridge later.

BEST Week!!

Ok... so this is a bit delayed, but last week was the BEST week ever!! I got to play with SO many of my former students!! That sounds a bit weird, but really it was play. ;-)

Wed. - Toru and Yuta... we met and did purikura and then a massive karaoke session!! See these two constantly fight about who's the bigger loser when they're around me! They try to put each other down in English. It's HILARIOUS!! That hilarity is compounded by the fact that Toru loves hip-hop... and calls himself... DJ TORU!!! I LOVE this kid!! ;-) Great day. At the end, I was given a pack of 4 MDs... all hip-hop, both Japanese and American. And... DJ Toru?? He can be my DJ anytime!!

Thurs. - I met Mio... she is one of my old eikaiwa kids from a few years ago. She's now in OT school in Yamagata City and was up for part of Spring Break. She's SO much fun. We had a nice chat... we'd not seen each other for about 8 months or more. So, we had loads to catch up on... plus, I know all of her siblings... so we chatted about them a bit as well. Esp. her little brother whom I still teach. He CRACKS me up! Then we went and tok purikura... SO fun!! Just the two of us doing it... was really hilarious... we laughed so much!!
After that I headed to kendo.... 2000 strokes... it was amazing. If you want more details... let me know. All I can say is... kendo is amazingly mental!!

Friday - Low key day... but on my way back from Kirsty's I got a text from one of my old students... and he said "are you free tomorrow? we can meet up!!" Now, this is one of my FAVE students of all time!! He's so cool... isn't a great English student, but just a really great kid. So, I was stoked about that!!

Saturday - Did some gardening... did some running... got a call from Daisuke around 2 saying, club's over... I'll go home and change then we'll come to your house. 3... Daisuke, Hisashi and me head for karaoke!! SO funny!! These boys just crack me up. Daisuke loves this group called "yuzu" and so... ended up being the self-proclaimed "yuzu baka" for the day.
After 4 hours (nearly) of karaoke, I had to take them home because I was meeting Lauren at 8 to see Roman Holiday. I love AUDREY!!! ;-)

Sunday - Saturday afternoon I got a text from my FAVE Ama-chu grad from this year... Kohei. He said, sorry I couldn't meet and do purikura the other day, wanna meet tomorrow. So... Sunday afternoon, I met Kohei in Sakata to do purikura. He's such a cutie!! He was all... this is funny, you're an adult. But I think telling him that I'm really not... and I'm a friend helped a bit. Silly boys! So, we did a bit of purikura... and then I drove him home since he'd just gotten done with hurdle practice. But had a great talk about running and English and stuff on the way back. MAN... I love that kid!!

Last night... Lauren and I did something really stupid! She mentioned that the foreign foods store has Boone's. So, being REALLY smart, we hopped in my car and got 4 bottles of Boone's and headed back to hers. The final conclusion: how did we EVER drink that stuff?? HOW?? The sweetness alone made us feel ill!!!

So... there's the grand update... hope this finds you all well!! :-)