Ari, aka hiking man, and my soccer buddy, have fun in south america!

oh brian and my waltzing buddy carla, farewell my dears

DONT DRINK THE WATER

Was riding my bike home and i saw two little kids up ahead, they were pretty small but maybe one of my 1st or 2nd or 3rd grade kids. As i approached i was correct, as one greeted me by saying my name, "makan". Then as i looked at the other one his greeting technique was more visual, as he was nicely peeing with his pants down for the world to see. It was as if he was watering the rice, aiming right into the irrigation canal ... ewwwwww. Well that was an interesting greeting to end my work day. Guess i cant say anything because i used to pee all around when i was little, but usually not in front of my teacher.

YUKATA AND SOMEN NOODLES

On thursday i headed to my special elementary school class. Today's special event was for the kids to enjoy an old folktale which included a god and a mortal in the sky that every year on July, 7th the lovers would come together. A nice old story from China. Anyways besides the story it was an opportunity to have fun. The kids wrote wishes on to some paper and put it up on a bamboo tree, as i did myself. Then they made wierd animal creations from veggies, still not sure of the reason, but it was interesting on how many toothpicks that could go into an eggplant. Then it was eating time, where everyone lined up near a long bamboo pipe which water ran down. With a bowl and sauce in it, and chopsticks in another hand it was your goal to swoop up as much noodles as you could from the flowing water and put it in your bowl. Of course there was a slight advantage being near the begining, those poor kids at the end, i think they were starving. Some of the vulture kids at the top quickly kept on keeping their bowls full, but one was kind enough to scoop me some too! It was fun and the somen noodles was so soft and yum! In the end i also got some new gifts from the center, todays item was a geta sandal and a sash to go along with my yukata from last year. Oh boy looking more Japanese everyday now. Cool sandals, i can see more now.

wierd veggie creatures

nice thongs

get your noodles

kids putting up their wishes

writing my wish

TEACHING = STRESS

Its wierd, or maybe sometimes i dont know it, recently in the past year or two since i have been in Japan i have had my bouts of stress. Or that is what my doctor diagnosed. Well i think its correct because when i take those little pills she gave me it makes me feel all better. Anyways, was teaching class today, and the class was kinda shitty, and the teacher i teach with is i would say kinda passive, not sure what the deal is but he wasnt like that last year and it seems to be getting more worse and worse. Not sure if he is too busy, or maybe cuz these are kids he doesnt know, fuck i dont know, its like a mystery i try to figure out everyday. I finally solved one last year, and it was going great but now i dont teach with her, so shit. Then the other teacher which i was bored as hell with, is pretty cool this year as i get to be more a part of the class, and those classes are awesome! Then my other teacher is cool, she is full of ideas, and she doesnt do much, but we work like clockwork, so its all good. But that still doesnt solve my mystery. So in class today, kids were getting restless cuz its so fucking slow, cant call on a kid, dont have the seating chart in a language i know, cant run out and pick kids, cuz takes too much time, then the other teacher is too hesistant. Damn so in class when i was getting aggrevated, i could feel my stomach acting up, and it wasnt the ole stomache, it was stomach pain. Fuck i am glad school is getting over, and if my BOE guy gives me more shit about it and how great Japan is for my health, i will tell him to go shove it. Alright, time to sleep ... well after school it was all good.

BUSY AS A BEE

Well it was a pretty busy day, went to elementary school, taught 5 classes (sweating in all of them), escaped some crazy kids chasing me home, then went to junior high to coach basketball, then went to the gym, then had ramen for dinner, and when i got home it was like 10pm. Dang, tired yo. But yo know what, it was a good day. I had fun, and that is a big thing to say from my job. I dont really remember having fun at any of my prior jobs or even have the feeling of accomplishing anything or even being worthy (except when i worked at the Boys and Girls club and NIA Center). Its all about the kids, i love hanging out with them, being crazy and all, its fun. Of course there are ups and downs, but i tell ya there are more ups and it sure beats sitting in a cubicle all day.

Anyways brought my camera to elementary school, so thought i would give you all an inside look of a japanese elementary school. Cute kids.

forget the nasty soap dish, one of the best creations here is the good ole soap bag, cleans your hands good, and the soap doesnt get all watery

cleaning time

the kids at lunch time, his name was Mario and his buddy was Luigi, and across was Yoshi, sounds like a video game to me

todays lunch ... bread, milk, mabo tofu, shuimai, and bean sprouts with little fishes ... mixed taste results

new kiddie signs

brush your teeth

paper animal creations

hangin around

swingin high