虹

虹がかかっている。 A rainbow appeared.

チケンを食べるの説明書

the real way to eat chicken out of a bag

WENGER 時計

The Wenger Swiss Army watch that I have been looking for all over the Pacific NW has finally arrived, thanks Maria and Lucy! Love the style, reminds me of my old one. Oh, and thanks to the poker boys for the present.

DAMN STICKER

ts cool being a teacher, but then again you are in the spotlight. I don't mind the spotlight, but forgetting to take off the L size sticker off the back is embarrassing, and no one told me about the sticker until my 4th class at the end of the day!

冷蔵庫

My first fridge was really really small (waist high), so I had to borrow an extra one from Noriko, and my life has grown much happier as the 2nd fridge is now fully stocked with essential drinks.

メリクリ来た

Christmas came early as i got these 4 (80 photos) boxes of polaroid film for under 10 bucks or so. The regular price for the whole bunch would have been around 140 dollars. I couldn't read the Japanese really well, but I could read the 80% off, guess it was more like 99% off. The guy must have rang it up wrong but I didn't complain. Boy do I love buying expired film!

LIFE

Sometimes I think of life as increments, as steps, its kinda like 4 years high school, 5 years college, going on 5 years living in Japan! Yikes! Maybe my time is dwindling down here too, maybe its time for a change again. I've had alot of good times here, but maybe that time to move is coming soon. Funny how I have never wrote about my anniversary marks in Japan, I've always thought of them, but I have never wrote about them, maybe this is my first time to write my reflections down. It all started with Linda telling me about JET, then by the time I knew it I was off to Japan. I told everyone I would be back in a year. But then a year turned into two, then three, parents nagging and friends asking if I ever would come back, the clock quickly turned to four. I miss everyone back home and always think of family and friends back home, how time moves and the things I missed are always on my head. Its a trade off, but I know I can always go back home. I appreciate my friend and family and I am always happy to see em back in the summer. Maybe someday I will be back home.

SAYONARA DANIEL

Daniel, probably the most popular ALT guy in Japan. Nice guy, funny guy, fluent in Japanese and English, students and teachers alike adored him. Daniel finally left the other day back to Hawaii after 4 years on JET. Funny how time flies and things change. Me and Daniel came at the same time, but I always thought he would stay the longest. In our group I think there are only a handful left, me, Tisha, and Andrea up in Tokyo. Most of the others have packed up and gone there way back home, Kristine, Aaron, Nancy, Zainabu, the Nicks, and a bunch of other cool people. Gonna miss Daniel and his "Aloha", the taiko, the snowboarding, karaoke, the getting drunk in Sannomiya, and his crazy good bye leg gesture, and other adventures. Take care Daniel I will eat some ramen for ya, come back to Nippon anytime, your fan club is waiting for ya.

A GREAT BOOK!

Another book added to my collection. Silly, but damn useful and fun, I will have to rank it up there next to my Kansai-ben book. A nice buy at only 10 bucks USA. Starting back up into school was a bit of a drag as the kids weren't really quite into it yet, until I got to the 1-12 class and spiced up the daily questions a bit. Going from "How was your summer vacation?" to "What's 'Oshiri pen pen' in English" was quite funny for me and the kids. I love this book, its my new evil English tool to make kids sweat. What is "oshiri pen pen"? Try explaining how you get spanked by your mom when your bad in another language in front of the class. If ya can do it, you are good. And well, the student did a good job indeed, although it seems that the "butt, aka ass" is referred to the "hip" in the eyes of the Japanese. Maybe I will teach them the correct terminology next class.