YEAR END TEACHER DINNER

Just the other day we had our year end teacher dinner. This year we had 4 teachers leaving. Mrs. Yamamoto and Mrs. Ueda, two super nice teachers who love gardening, cooking, and pretty much anything homemaking are retiring. They worked with the special education kids and were always sweet and kind, i will miss them. Then also leaving is Mr. Morikage, he is about my age and a pretty cool guy even though we didnt talk much, nice guy, he had just one student. What kinda teacher is that? Well its Japan and for those special cases were the student is too shy to attend regular class, they get to attend a special class. Back home i guess we would whack the kid, but here its common to see this shy behavior. But no problem as long as the kid is trying to come to school so that is good. Then last to leave was Osaka sensei aka Kyotoo sensei, or what we would say Vice Principal. He was also the PE teacher and the one i would ask for my vacations. He was always nice about it, even though throughout school he would have a stern look all the time, looking all tough. But i knew everytime when he laughed he was a nice guy deep down. He cared about the students alot and the teachers too, i could notice that when he was talking to the teachers, giving them advice on what they should do to be better, even though he was a bit drunk. A great guy, a bit suprising he was leaving only after a couple years. Oh i will miss him, its a bummer he cant be there at school when i leave, seems like all the cool important top people who helped me out all moved. Superintendant Wada, Principal, supervisor Shinomoto, and VP now. Dang. Oh well ....

PLUM BLOSSOMS

Usually its the cherry blossoms that get all the hype, but recently i discovered how beautiful the plum blossoms are too. The plums bloom a bit earlier than the cherry trees and are almost as nice. So i took the time to venture out to Mitsu where they have the famous, (well i didnt know about it till this year) world plum tree park. Always find something new every year. The park is on top of a nice mountain overlooking the ocean and the neighboring cities of Taishi and Himeji. A pretty cool site from above, and also a nice place to take some pics and relax.

UPDATES ARE COMING ...

what we got on the chopping block ... graduation , sumo , and a bunch of other random things .. stay tuned ... its spring break and i got time !

FINALLY A THIN PHONE

Japan is the leader of phone technology, i will give it to them for that. But for small portable phones forget it. Phones in Japan have everything from video, camera, internet, mail, video games, mp3 players, etc. built in them. A good ploy by the companies to get those extra dollars or yen. So every phone has to be somewhat big in size to do all these functions. There isnt really a phone that is just a phone, its gotta be a utility weapon able to do everything. So over the years i have been missing the slim and small portable phones from back home. A phone where you can put it in your pocket and it wont bother you. But here phones are so big and bulky that sometimes i feel like someone is going to ask me, "is that a banana in your pocket?, no sorry its just a cell phone". So as of yesterday, I have been waiting for 3 years for a thin phone, and just the other day it finally came. So i had to grab one! So gathered up my electronic dictionary and my guts as my japanese still sucks and headed to the Vodafone store in town. I was determined to get this new Samsung phone which pretty much looks like the Motorola Razor, a bad ass machine. Its the gadgets i cant refuse em. Well anyways about 90 or so minutes later and a lot of guessing i finally came out a new owner of a pimpin new orange phone. aka ketai


fits in the palm of your hand and also in the pocket too


side by side, new orange phone and old ghetto blue phone

RUMBLE RUMBLE

Today there was a slight rumble rumble, with a earthquake rolling through, always a bit scary, but luckily this was just a little one. Or maybe it was the aftershock of the Huskies falling out of the NCAA tourney in overtime to UConn. Damn, the zags and now the huskies. Reminds me, i gotta make a earthquake kit, even though its um like 3 years late.

SUNNY DAY

The last day of school for the school year, which in Japan ends in March and starts again in April. Oh but what a nice sunny day it was! Until i watched the final score of the NCAA tourney, UCLA Gonzaga game. Damn lost it in the final minute. Better luck next year, bummer.

COMPLAINT GONE

Asked the teachers again about taking pics with the kids, and they said it was OK. Yipee! So sunday gotta take pics with the kids. Yeah, i guessed the teachers were just busy getting the kids in order for graduation. Asked Ueo sensei how it was going, and she said they couldnt sing, they were too quiet. Guess its singing practice. Ueo sensei was even nice enough to help translate my speech i had to do at the Kamae Center today. It was closing ceremony for the little ones. So yeah amazing, i think i only got about 5 months left, wow! And the questions are pouring in, "when you leaving?, can you stay longer? are you going to return back to America? do you like Japan? what are you going to do?" ... yeah time flies!! Just the other day i got here, and that was about 3 years ago, wow ... and in another 5 months i will be done ... its kinda like college, your a freshman, everything is new, and by the time you know it you are a senior and your graduating and your moving onto another stage of your life ... so whats that next stage? mmm .. not sure yet, will see whats out there ...

MINOR COMPLAINT

Sometimes teachers gotta loosen up, they are pretty cool most of the times, then sometimes they gotta be stiff. Asked my teachers if i could get a pic with their homeroom before they graduate next monday. And the magic answer??? No, they are too busy, ... geezzz .. OMG ... it only takes like 5 minutes. I am sure they will change their mind later, but it seems such a quick and simple thing, all they are doing all week is learning how to march into the gym and sit down and stand up. Kids dont need all week to practice how to sit down and stand up ... geezzzz, give me my 5 minute pic, how lame and this is my last year

FLYING A KITE

A couple weeks back was cruising around town with the neighbors and stumbled upon this little shop which turned out to be a mini fleamarket in a big old warehouse. Inside found this really cool kite shop. After living here all these years never even knew it was here. In Japan you can walk by something a million times and never even realize its there. There is always something new to see everyday, even in the old neighborhood. Enjoy the kites, this guy was awesome, some of these kites i would guess be from 5 to 7 feet tall, props to the artist ...

REALLY OLD SKOOL

Just was cruising the internet and saw this article on "a brief history of handheld video games" by engadget ... and i was like "hey!!" i used to play that game! i wonder if i still have it ... mmmm ... damn i was good at that football game - engadget.com

ITS HAMMER TIME!!

Eventually it had to happen, Hammer's back, and he's online! and he's bloggin! mchammer.blogspot.com

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY COME AGAIN SOME OTHER DAY

Damn, it rained all day, non-stop which isnt too usual, but just made things for a bummer day. Lucky the happy kids at Issai Nishi Elementary school brightened things up. Mmmm .. so whats better than rain? Snow of course! How about some pics from a freak snowstorm about a month ago, that is much cooler than rain pics, look at how handy those umbrellas come in use... どうぞ

FINALLY BACK ONLINE

Well i guess thats what happens when you dont pay your YahooBB bill for a couple months, ha ha ha. So it was no internet for a couple days, but it sure was more relaxing and even got more studying done, now back to internet nerd world.

THINGS TO DO

Got a whole list of things that need finishing up, finding a job, resume, printing pics, planning lessons, etc, but damn, think the lazy bug has struck again.....

ITS NOT CHRISTMAS

But who cares! I was gonna treat the kids for all their hard work. Today was a day of relaxing for the 11 or so English high school course wannabe students. Yesterday, for Valentine's day my kids wrapped up their english interviews and paper tests at Aioi and Taishi high school. What a bummer to take a test on V day. The past two weeks me and the English teachers were busy prepping them up to pass the test. Everyone had some basic interview questions asked them such as, "What's the name of your school? What's your favorite food? What time do you wake up? How do you come to school?" and so on. Talking to the kids after the test today the Aioi kids said the teachers interviewing them were rapid fire, just shooting out high speed questions, a bit difficult. This into contrast where the Taishi kids said that they got super easy questions. This could also be the space in the course, Taishi had 40/47 and Aioi had a whopping 40/61. For Aioi bout a 66% chance to get in, bummer. Then the 2nd part of the interview varied, for Aioi the kids had to read a story passage then answers questions. Before they had pictures, but not this year, so the kids said it was hard, geeez i hope they passed. The Taishi kids had a picture of a anime character such as "chibi maruko chan" and pop singers "SMAP" and had to make a one minute speech.




Damn its hard enough in your own language non less in another language. Worked really hard in prepping them in this one, as the other teachers didnt really know how to tackle this one. So made a series of hints, such as intro, description, color, clothes, where from, make a story, i want, i think, when i was young, what, when, where, who, ... etc. At first it was really tough because they were just reading stories but couldnt put anything together, but later got them to 30 seconds, then 40 seconds, and then finally over a minute. Yippee! Some were super awesome! Ayaka, Noriko, and sometimes the others had great speeches. Pretty cool to see them all do well, i hope they passed!!!!

Anyways so there was no snow and it wasn't Christmas, but it was time for the famous "White Elephant" game. The other day went and scooped up the kids favorites, elmo, cookie monster, sponge bob, bracelets, and other goodies. Overall it was a fun day with the kids! GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!

from back row ... kinue (habatan), mao, aki, ayaka, chika, aki, misaki, noriko, misato, ?, kenshi, hisonori, ogawa sensei, me

NEW HAIR CUT?

The other day a bunch of kids were asking "new cuto?, wax? new hair?, etc", basically if i got a new hair cut. But nah i didnt, didnt have one for awhile, just put my hair down instead of spiking it up. Just kinda interesting how kids notice things.

SCHOOL MEETINGS

Once in awhile we have some special school meetings with all the students, some of the unique ones this year have been ... students riding their bikes recklessly, where one of the jr high students was riding their bike and playing on their cell phone and ran into a group 1st grade elementary students, boy did they all get a bitching ... then there was the other time when one of the students mother who was accused of murder and it was all over the local paper and maybe on tv i think, poor student, so it was nice of the principal to go out and tell the students to leave the student alone and dont talk about the incident ... dang that really sucks to have your mom on the front page for whacking someone to death with a golf club ... mmm

MAID SERVICE IN JAPAN?

Well its interesting how CNN and all the news picks up things about Japan, but its pretty much just stuff coming out of Tokyo. So the article went on about how the nerd world up in Tokyo has gotten new ideas, and shops such as coffee joints, hair salons, etc have been popping up where the workers dress up as maids to give the "i serve you master feel" to the nerds and other people who come in. So the maids go out of their way by bowing, grooming, and even spoon feeding among other things, geeezzz. I dont see any maid service around these neck of the woods, well not the boonies, but i mean in the bigger cities of Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. Its one of those only in Tokyo. Anyways thought it was a interesting read, check it out, might even be funny to check out one of these places for reals.

SUPER BLOW

Dang, endured the whole day trying to not know the outcome. Even got the mini super bowl party going on with Shu san coming over to chomp down some tight Chicago pizza. If ordering the pizza wasnt hard enough, it was harder to watch the seahawks miss field goals, get shitty calls, and fuck up the clock. Damn better luck next year boys! It was a nice run. Guess i knew it was bad when i was at school and all of a sudden one of my teachers shouted out to me, "super bowl, finished! Steelers!" as i quickly closed my ears and told him i didnt want to hear it, because i had to watch it tonite. Oh well! In compensation of the loss though, i found this really cool football game, where no man cries, and everyone is a winner, check it out! the Lingerie Bowl

GO HAWKS!!

Soon SUPER BOWL XL will play, Seahawks vs Steelers. But damn! Once again the only time they make it is when i am in Japan, and to make things worse time zones!! Damn kickoff time is at 830am over here on a monday. Yeah and i start work at 830 and have full classes all day! Was thinking to call in sick, but nah, i be good and just go to work. Luckily there is replay of it at 730pm. So will not try to check any internet or talk to anyone, i dont want to know the score, just gonna watch it on the tube. So neighbor Shu is gonna come over and we gonna make a good ole boys Japan style Super Bowl style party. Pizza and beer is the treat of the day. GO HAWKS!!!

JOB HUNTING

Yup, looking for a new job, almost after 3 years its almost time to move on. How sad to leave such a cool job. How could you not like long vacations every 3 months or so. I dont know of any other job like that. Anyways at the Kobe conference they mentioned it was only about 6 months to go until July, and i never thought of it that way til now. Damn how time flies, time to get together that resume soon. Looked at jobs online but no go there yet, there are tons of jobs out there as the school year starts in april/march here. But damn on the JET program its July for us, so its kinda screwy cuz it doesnt really match up. MMmmm what to do. Hopefully later on some more jobs will pop up for a August start or something. Crossing those fingers, otherwise gonna chill and take it easy and enjoy my last couple months in Tatsuno. Its a nice little city with nice people, when i get the chance gonna take a walk around and do a nice photo shoot, nice and peaceful and relaxing.

IT WAS THE WEEKEND

The GOOD, got a bunch of errands done, picked up my BOA laces for my boots, changed the car oil which is always an adventure with nice work by neighbor Shu, then picked up the Minna No Nihongo II book which i should have had a long time ago, then ate some good ass yakiniku for dinner with Mike, Nikki, and Ayame and even had room to polish it off with some McDonalds, and called mom.
Then the BAD, the special yakiniku sauce i supposed was spiced up with mad MSG and it gave me a killer headache the next day, that lasted the whole day. It even got the peeps with some bladder problems. So stayed in couldnt go watch the kids play bball, didnt go to the gym. Ah skipped out on two snowboarding trips, damn. Promised myself to rest up this weekend otherwise i would have a nervous breakdown. Oh well just rested up, so no loss there.

4 SEASONS

Summer hate it too damn humid and hot, spring is perfect, fall is perfect, and there is old man winter. I dont mind it much as long as i got my heater going on in my apt. Then there is also the snowboard factor, love it, and this season is great! The difference with the cold is that when you go out places you are in the elements, either via bicycle, shopping, or waiting for the train. Ya are out and about, for a long time and it gets damn cold, so its not like home where u run into ur car turn it on and you are warm, or you just run from your car into your mall and its all good. Anyways that was a pretty pointless blog, but nonless it was just a thought on my mind. Go Seahawks! Don't let those bias sports writers put you down. Go kick Pitts ass!

OPEN WINDOWS?

Went to elementary today, forgot how cold it is, some classes have the window wide open, there is no heater, its about 45 degrees, kids are in shorts, and girls in skirts and the teacher is in a big jacket. And you wonder why all the kids are all sick. Its because its damn cold!! Get a heater or close those windows. Geezzz they love to make their kids tough in japan. I must remember to wear more clothes next time.

THE KIDS

The kids at school are always interesting, here is a summary of some of the things going on.

layers - The kids gotta wear their uniforms, no extra jackets or anything over their uniforms, i thought damn u guys gotta be freezing (classes have no heater) so i decided to ask how many layers u got under there? So i asked mr. yuya and ayaka. Yuya reported 5 layers and Ayaka with 6 , damn, thats alot of layers. Maybe they are alright.

speaking - I help teach a special education class, and in there is a girl named Saki. She is the quietest thing and somedays doesnt even say a word. But like a miracle over the new year she began smiling and talking with a big loud voice!! I was like wow!! Something must have happened over the new year, mmm, but i am happy for it.

1st grade kids - Fresh out of elementary school, i was doing a photo slide about my singapore trip last year and showed em my two cars, yeah my ferrari and lamborghini. Told the kids that it was mine, and they were like "oh really??", then they would ask questions like "where is it now?" .. still in singapore i would say .. "who is driving it?" .. my friend ... "how much is it?" ... its a secret ... "can i drive it?" ... sorry you cant drive, you arent old enough ... ha ha ha .. funny kids, so now i have a band of them following me around the halls saying "ferrari, ferrari"

SUN AND SNOW

A perfect mix for a great day on the slopes at hachi kogen.

LISTENING TO THE RADIO

Then i heard the "nutcracker" song, geez usually its a christmas song, and its not christmas, its january 30th, go figure. Well i guess thats not so suprising since they play the "ole new year" song at every store during closing time.

WAN WAN

That's bow wow in japanese, happy chinese new year everyone! Its the year of the dog, "wan wan". The japanese know about the year of the dog, but dont really do the new year thing on the lunar calendar, they pretty much just do their thing on the 1st of january. Don't even see a hint of it even at the stores or anywhere. Anyways happy new year to u all.

SUPER BOWL BABY!

Holy smokes, i never thought the hawks could make it, it took 30 years, and a 34-14 win over the Carolina Panthers, but they are going to Detroit to face Pitt for Super Bowl XL ... the xtra large of super bowls. Damn and now i am in japan, guess i can root for them from here too, GO HAWKS!

ONCE AGAIN...

Up late, trying to put together a damn lesson for "blue monday" the fuckin monday where i got 5 classes and no breaks, what a shit on. They gonna have to change that for next year. This shit stresses me out, i hate mondays, then i gotta skip the kids basketball to get a sanity check, then have my adult classes on monday night, and people say i dont do anything.

damn shopping impulse

I AM LOVIN IT

Well i love mc donalds, and i even love a great deal even more. I always miss those great xmas sales from back home, the gap, banana, jcrew, jeeezz ... always like 30-70% off! In japan, there arent that many great sales like that, well u gotta find em. So the great shopping memories came to reality where the GAP had a super sale and i couldnt resist and scooped up 2 jackets, one was even about 75% off .. then rolled down to Uniqlo and got another jacket there for 10 bucks, what a deal! Ahhh .. horrible consumerism, 2 days, 4 jackets ... mmm ... but damn its warm!

BACK FROM THE CONFERENCE

Thursday and Friday we had our mid year conference, usually we have it around november, but this year it was in january. Usually its pretty boring, but honestly it was a bit better this year, the guest speaker Nakai sensei from Nara Ten.. university was pretty amusing, he did a great job as first of all he had to speak all in english, he was good , then also he had to talk for 90 minutes, that is quite a task for anyone here in japan or even back home. But it was nice to hear him, brought back memories of college and my favorite prof and their lectures. Always interesting to hear funny lectures. Makes me want to go to university and teach there. Anyways at the conf. it was the usual round abouts of all the jets from hyogo ken, also partnered with the japanese english teacher. Got to get some ideas together from other teachers and let my teachers kinda know what ideas other Alts have to. Overall it was alright, nice break from just teaching at school.

a quick stop in the philippines

me and uncle oud in front of my grandpa's old dentist clinic

my grandpas old dental chair

uncle oud taking up the dental business

temple "wat" is just across the street

the workspace

here is my uncle oud and his daughter, i forgot her name, but i just call her "chubbs" she is a cutie

chilling in the patient waiting room

always riding the bike in the house

YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY

Yeah thats why i like living in japan, its always new everyday. I was walking in the halls with my hands in my pockets, because i usually always do it, i am a hand pocket man and plus my hands were cold, but then my teacher went by me and said that its not good? I said "really? why?" Then he told me that it gives a bad impression to do that. Mmm .. i guess so, never heard of it before, but i can understand, maybe its like the young cool punks or the old geezers that do it. Guess i wont be doing that at school anymore, but i cant resist to do it out in public, i am a pocket person.

Then i was talking to my principal and vice principal at elementary school, they are funny guys, somehow the topic got onto gay guys, and vp used elton john as a example. He said in japanese they call it "homo tomodachi ホモ友達" or in other words, homo friend. Very interesting put, then i was like he i took pictures from my thailand trip, and i forgot that the she/man pics were on there. At first they were like oh baby, then i told them they are guys, and they were like whao! I was like homo tomodachi, but they said oh no, its like "new man" .. ha ha ha .. then they saw my pics with the dancers, and i think they thought i swung the other way .. ha ha ha .. how embarassing, even the girl teacher said they were very cute, oh my!

SEAHAWKS WIN!

Finally! Won a playoff game! beat those damn redskins, even after alexander got knocked out, one more then after that its the super bowl baby! pumped up now, go hawks!

HELLO 2006!

Well almost as soon as i get over this nasty japanese cold i got right when i got back to japan. Damn, got rid of the dizzness, headaches, backaches, sweating, and other shit, but always the damn nasty dry cough is last to go ... anyways the brain is clearing so i will be back to post up more details of the trip! In the meanwhile enjoy the drinks and the univ girls.

even thailand has caught japan fever much like many of the other asian countries, seems to be everywhere i go its all about japan, and even more so this year in thailand as i spotted tons of green tea drinks from where else but japan

for those kitty chan lovers, thailand's got your drink too

representing the homeland with some fresh brewery called Beer Lao, actually doesnt taste too bad either!

for my elements buddy, just representing!

ok for all you boys bothering me about not taking thai girl pics, and taking more of the more manly girl pics, here is one of the few, sorry and its not the best, but these are university students who looked like they were hungry for a little rotiboy bread, as you can see they gotta wear nice little tight black mini skirt uniforms and nice little white shirts, how boo hoo ...

YOU LIKE CALYPSO ?

Here are some pics from a Calypso show i went to in Bangkok, pretty cool! ( photos from calypso on flickr )

OH SHIT!

Just got back to japan, and i think i caught another cold, fuck. Coughing, headache, achy back, just great!

SOME THAILAND PICS

Here are some pics from thailand , i will post more directly on blogger later, but now, i am kinda lazy .. so check out these first .. ( photos from thailand on flickr )

BACK IN JAPAN!

Late plane, late train, oh well as long as i make it home. Welcome back to cold ass japan, going from 80 degrees to 30-40 degrees! But also going from smoggy ass polluted brown air, to nice fresh clean air in japan. I would say i prefer coming back to japan, i would like to breathe every now and then, plus snowboard! Much updating to do, but in the meanwhile you can check out some pics from Laos i have posted on my Flickr site. ( photos from Laos )

TODAY'S HO HO HO COUNT

Counted 15 couples. Nasty! All in different sizes, large, fat, ugly, nasty... make me wanna barf!

HO HO HO

And it aint santa claus who is doing the ho ... ing ... will write more soon ...

I AM THAI!

Well guess the japanese phase is over, or maybe i have changed my shopping areas to more of the thai areas than the tourist traps. People talking to me in Thai thinking that i am thai. They are doing it to Susanne too. Guess i like it because i feel like blending in is much better, and stealthy.

TUK TUK

What is a tuk tuk? Its a transportation special in countries like Thailand and Laos. Imagine half motorcycle and two wheels in the back with a seat. Heck, just like a big ass tricycle that can fit people in the back. Anyways these marvels of transport can easily wisp you in and out of traffic, and also as quickly wisp your nerves and ur money, here are the good and the bad ...

GOOD
- EXCITMENT it provides as you whizz in and out of traffic, as you tightly grasp the handles and pray, things get tight as you can pretty much touch the car or bus next to you
- FAST you get there really fast because they will sacrifice you by driving down the street in the opposite direction or even turning in front of big buses and cars
- NEED SOMETHING? one day i was walking by one by myself and usually they ask if u want a ride, but he said something different ... "hey, you want some happy? you know marijuana? or you want some "don" "don"? I thought to myself what is "don"? Then he started gesturing with his fingers going into a hole and said girls ... ewww .. no thank you i said .. so i guess you can get more than just a ride down the street

BAD
- EXPENSIVE they know you are a tourist, and heck even the locals, they love to rip you off, charge you up to 4x the price of a taxi
- WHERE AM I? ah yeah they can take you to the wrong place, waste your time, and even just ditch you
- ASSHOLE sometimes they are just jerks

RECOMMENDATION
Just take a taxi and tell em to turn on the meter, but then again thats not totally safe either, but then again thats another story from bangkok

HELLA COMMERCIALS, BOWING, THEN MOVIE

Decided to hit the theatre today, hell yeah i gonna watch a movie on vacation, sure beats paying almost $20 a person in Japan, heck in Thailand it was a whopping 240 baht for two people, or $6 usa, what a deal. Decided to watch "Narina" recommended by Ben. Asian style of course, got to pick the seats! Theatre was huge, very cool and seats were like airplane lounge chairs, very cool, u could almost sleep in em. Didnt even bother the people in the back. Then there was the begining, a long ass one it was, about 30 minutes! and i thought 10 minutes back home was long, in that time i could have watched another movie. Then the kicker, at the end of the long ass commercials the screen popped up with the Thai king on it, and a message read please stand up to pay respects to the king. So everyone in the theatre stood up for about a minute as beautiful thai music played and pics of the king from boy to manhood flashed across the screen. Quite interesting then quite again, bit monarchy, but anyways whatever floats your boat, i heard about this type of tribute, but guess i got to experience it first hand. Ah and for the movie, it was awesome! Probably one of the few movies i watch on the big screen, if u havent seen it , go and watch it. Plus yeah, it was cheap!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Alright, bit late, but just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year! in Thai ... "Sawade be mai" ... in Japanese ... "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu" have a good one everyone, miss ya all ...