Well, I often try to make posts short and easily consumable and somehow they EXPLODE into semi rants. Such is my mental process. Oh well. I'll try again today as yesterdays short blog attempt was so fail.
The reason I am blogging is nothing more than I am completely bored. And it seems like no one else is blogging. I often try and find things to do in my school to keep me occupied. But really with no classes going on there is little I can do. I made an listening test, wrote out the questions, laid it out, made more questions, made a script, recorded it, drew some maps all sorts of things. But really, it did not take so much time doing all of these things.
I find no matter what I need to do, it seems to only take me maybe a few minutes or perhaps an hour to breeze through it. Then I am bored, forced to find something new. It may be due to the fact, I don't like doing things slow. I want things done...not now, but 5 minutes ago. It takes awhile to get it done keep in mind due to the fact I am inherently lazy, and a big procrastinator. Knowing things can be done so quickly, I figure, why start now. I like when the pressures on a bit.
Well anyhow, this post is merely to comment on how today is bowing ceremony. It means that all of us "teachers" must get together in front of some big-wigs of the ken (prefecture/state) and bow. Its a affair where I should dress to impress, thus I searched for my summer suit. The suit I came to Japan a little over a year ago. Alas I could not find it, I could only find my winter suit, which has a double layer in the suit to keep me warm. That is something I DO NOT WANT! So, time was of the essences and I did not want to be late, so instead of looking moar, I just got out my scissors turned the pants inside out and cut out the lining. GO ME! I figure I have 3 winter pants suits, 2 winter skirts (such a Japanese thing) and 5 winter suit jackets, I can bust up one or two.
So, now that this is done I am back on my hunt for things to do. I should be studying Japanese, I should be reading...but some how thats just so fail...... Any other suggestions?
2007年8月24日金曜日
2007年8月23日木曜日
It takes a Village....
For about two weeks my school has been having sports day practices. Sports day are basically "fun" distractions for kids. I use the word fun loosely since really its not studying but it's basically standing out in the BLAZING DEATH hot sun for hours on end, staying up all night preparing, making costumes, and doing a lot of work.....so I suppose a very Japanese High School notion of fun.
The track team has a meet on the day of the festival, but this being Japan, they can not simply stand to the sides going "Nah, Nah, Nah, boo, boo I don't have to do that~" Instead they smooth the field with brushes (when I say field I mean giant sand box) draw the lines into said field (as the "track", baseball field and any other sport held in my school is basically held in a giant field of sand, and all measurements and tracks and lines must be drawn in by said students)or even pick up the large rocks that have some how migrated into this field of sand.....
Well, the past few days there have been MASSIVE storms, thus all the lines the track and field kids have spent hours drawing in had faded away. So they broke out their 400 ++ meter long measuring tapes and measured the fields out. At the end of the day the wheel to wind up the massively long measuring tape had a piece break off. It was the handle to wind up the said tape. So cue in 2 students, and 3 teachers all trying to get this thing to wind up. It is a big deal, as its about 400 meters laid out in a tangle (thats 1/4 mile worth of tape)and they are doing all sorts of things to wind it up. At first they try to just use the nub to wind it up, then someone brings a hammer and they hit it a bit...which obviously does little, finally they use a nail and with the power of hammer jam said nail into the existing nub. Problem solved right? Now only 2 teachesr and two students needed to stand there untangling the mess while one girl winded it up... all was good and fine till the nub broke off (I guess pounding it with the hammer sure didn't help)
So once again all 5 were fiddling with it, the teachers soon realizes well the kids just gotta wind it by hand. And so this is what the two students did, they jammed their tiny hands into the spool and slowly, painfully slowly were winding it. Did I mention on the side of this wheel were holes, holes were you could probably stick the nail in to and use it to wind up said tape....well there was. And I stood there looking at them, thinking how long will it take them to figure this out. Well about 15 minutes into the whole mess, and about 5 minutes of the girl winding it by hand. I came in grabbed the nail told the girl to stop and showed them the way. They were amazed...and I was stunned.
Granted, this seems like common sense to perhaps people in the west. But, what is common sense? Common sense is just what people around you would most likely do or know. To Japanese, instead of sitting there by yourself figuring it out (which is what an American would do), common sense is to get into a group and discuss it. This is what kids do in class (gasp I've been asked a question in English...CONFERENCE!) and it is also common sense to them to not think outside of the box but to use things for their intended purpose. A NAIL....AS A HANDLE!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO!
This makes it sound like I'm criticizing but in a way I'm not. In some situations this would be a great idea. As a group some things just get done faster and more heads together is better than one. The west conception of doing it yourself and reaping all the rewards makes people pompous and pig headed, not wanting to ask for help. Also when you fuck up since it's all on you, your more inclined to hid it.
Still, it was measuring tape and it tooke 6 people to wind it.....holy shit! I guess it was a nice excuse to sit under the shade out of the blazing death sun...so perhaps thats the real reason...
The track team has a meet on the day of the festival, but this being Japan, they can not simply stand to the sides going "Nah, Nah, Nah, boo, boo I don't have to do that~" Instead they smooth the field with brushes (when I say field I mean giant sand box) draw the lines into said field (as the "track", baseball field and any other sport held in my school is basically held in a giant field of sand, and all measurements and tracks and lines must be drawn in by said students)or even pick up the large rocks that have some how migrated into this field of sand.....
Well, the past few days there have been MASSIVE storms, thus all the lines the track and field kids have spent hours drawing in had faded away. So they broke out their 400 ++ meter long measuring tapes and measured the fields out. At the end of the day the wheel to wind up the massively long measuring tape had a piece break off. It was the handle to wind up the said tape. So cue in 2 students, and 3 teachers all trying to get this thing to wind up. It is a big deal, as its about 400 meters laid out in a tangle (thats 1/4 mile worth of tape)and they are doing all sorts of things to wind it up. At first they try to just use the nub to wind it up, then someone brings a hammer and they hit it a bit...which obviously does little, finally they use a nail and with the power of hammer jam said nail into the existing nub. Problem solved right? Now only 2 teachesr and two students needed to stand there untangling the mess while one girl winded it up... all was good and fine till the nub broke off (I guess pounding it with the hammer sure didn't help)
So once again all 5 were fiddling with it, the teachers soon realizes well the kids just gotta wind it by hand. And so this is what the two students did, they jammed their tiny hands into the spool and slowly, painfully slowly were winding it. Did I mention on the side of this wheel were holes, holes were you could probably stick the nail in to and use it to wind up said tape....well there was. And I stood there looking at them, thinking how long will it take them to figure this out. Well about 15 minutes into the whole mess, and about 5 minutes of the girl winding it by hand. I came in grabbed the nail told the girl to stop and showed them the way. They were amazed...and I was stunned.
Granted, this seems like common sense to perhaps people in the west. But, what is common sense? Common sense is just what people around you would most likely do or know. To Japanese, instead of sitting there by yourself figuring it out (which is what an American would do), common sense is to get into a group and discuss it. This is what kids do in class (gasp I've been asked a question in English...CONFERENCE!) and it is also common sense to them to not think outside of the box but to use things for their intended purpose. A NAIL....AS A HANDLE!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO!
This makes it sound like I'm criticizing but in a way I'm not. In some situations this would be a great idea. As a group some things just get done faster and more heads together is better than one. The west conception of doing it yourself and reaping all the rewards makes people pompous and pig headed, not wanting to ask for help. Also when you fuck up since it's all on you, your more inclined to hid it.
Still, it was measuring tape and it tooke 6 people to wind it.....holy shit! I guess it was a nice excuse to sit under the shade out of the blazing death sun...so perhaps thats the real reason...
2007年8月8日水曜日
One years past..................No, I do mean past, not passed.
Well then, honesty time. I did write past intending to write passed, but instantly noticed my mistake and thought this way made it sound more introspective, like looking at the past year vs simply saying a year has passed.
Anyhow on to the real post! It has been one year since I've been in Fukuoka. Theoretically I left Hawaii on the 6th, but I landed up in Tokyo and really I don't count that for much. Sure there was all the good-byes and such, but really only my dad went and he didn't even see me off, he kinda just unloaded my bags and drove off. =/
I really remember stepping off that plane into 35 (95) degree heat, to this day all sorts of in-between temperatures in my mind are in Fahrenheit but whenever I get to crazy extremes that we just about never experience in Hawaii it switches to Celsius. I find that amusing. I could not tell you how cold it gets in Fukuoka, at least not in Fahrenheit, because all I knew was the Celsius and since I never experience something analogous I can only think of what I experienced, which was Celsius.
Thats basically how Japan was for me this past year. So many things were new. Not just in the, wow it's Japan and so different! Its like a totally different thing! NO! It's basically Kristen has never experienced this before I only know of Japan version.
From living on my own, working a full time job, buying my own car insurance, planning my own international trips, etc. Everything is new to me, and in that way it's almost hard to explain my Japan experience because really it's more like explaining my life on my own, period.
I find a lot of JET's like to complain about certain aspects of Japan, like their home country is so much better, and the way they do things are wrong or stupid. But because I've barely experienced things other wise I keep a really open mind to almost everything that happens. Granted I DO find gross stupidity, but I can't fathom that NOT happening in America. I mean I'm from a land where a sizable percentage of people don't believe in Evolution, or global warming, they think the war in Iraq is justified due to Saddhams connections to Al Quida and WMD's (neither of which is true), and a place where is no universal health care. wow.
But, I suppose in that respect I can't judge them. I'm going on just assumptions (of how certain things would be like in America), and thats what I often do and I'm trying to change that. Still, I think bitching won't solve things and instead of changing things to meet your whims you just need to realize there are a lot of dumb things every country does and accept your a foreigner in a different land. You can protect your rights and keep your own culture but stepping all over another one simply because they do things the way your not used to?
I came to Japan to grow up and to better myself. Living in Hawaii all my life was really living in a bubble. I was protected by so many harsh things that exist almost everywhere else in the world. Not just weather extremes, but a job, surviving on my own, not having a swath of friends going back 3 connections deep "hooking" everything up. All these things are basically the easy way of getting out and it's simply not looked down upon in Hawaii. It's perfectly fine asking a friend to let you into a club, get you a job, live with your parents till you 30 and other things that just protect our citizens from realities of life.
Keeping that in mind, I posted in March about all the things I've accomplished and back then it seems like big deals, but thinking about it further, thinking on the goals I wanted to achieve when I first got here, I still have so much more to go.
I came here wanting to get fluent in Japanese, really fluent in Japanese. I really don't feel like I have been improving AT ALL, and in some ways I SWEAR I am getting worse. My grammar is just going down the tubes, because I don't feel the need to use perfect grammar to get my thought through. Also my kanji reading is just horrible at this point, I basically am not like how I was in Hawaii. Because Japanese reading material is EVERYWHERE, I don't feel the need to read, I feel like I get enough in the day to day life. But then there is so much I am missing out and/or forgetting. And I know the reason, I need to study. Just living here does not insure you get fluent, my base level was already high functioning and when I get to places where its a bit complicated most people either dumb it down or I just give up.
Also vegetable eating is pretty stagnant, I still really can't choke down much. And since I feel like I've come far enough I just kinda quit.....
And thats the major problem. I always feel like I need to do things, but once I get to a certain point of proficiency I quit. I not only get bored at it, but also mastering something, getting good at something takes a lot of effort and I still have a hard time pushing myself like that. I like being able to do things easily, with no effort, and I hate acknowledging that certain things are hard for me.
I rather just give up at those things than even start. And one year worth of my past, I look back and still see that pattern. Not just one year, but two, three, ten. I really need to push myself to the limit. And studying is one of them, but not just that everything. Push myself to do the things I KNOW I need to do, not get distracted by other things.
As a note though, seeing as Fukuoka is about 4 times larger than the entire island of Oahu and beyond that are about 5 prefectures all 4-5 times bigger than Oahu, while I do get massively lost I do try my best to look for things. And I've gotten ok at reading Maps. I really want to get better at directions, but good lord I still confuse left and right at times......BAH!
But that just about me, Japan and Fukuoka is wonderful. And my school, while I get sick of it and feel I don't make a difference I think I need to keep going on the way I've chosen. I used to want the students to realize English is fun, so I just played games really. And a lot of students did like me, but this year I make lessons based on content that often fail because even though I've been here for a year it's my first time making such lessons. Also because students aren't used to such lessons themselves. And bas relations and communications with my teachers, etc. I want them to speak English, so maybe games are the way. But, teacher's don't bring you to class if you just play games. I got to classes about twice as much as I did in the previous year, and while they tend to fail a lot more just listening to me just about every week is a help.
Also Fukuoka, oh Fukuoka. The fashion and the hair still shock me. Though it takes a lot to do it. Especially when it's one of my first year students and her dress hem is so high, the train master is looking up it, and yet cut so low when shes talking to you, you can see her BRIGHT PINK FLOWER bra every time she moves her head down more than 3 inches. BAH! But, I like living in a suburb of a metropolis. I like living in a polite society, while it can be over polite and I had sending letter of thanks for letter's of thanks, its really nice knowing when you drop your wallet 9/10 times some one will pick it up and give it to you.
And JET's, while some of us just bitch (myself included....another thing I REALLY need to cut down on) A lot of the people I met were wonderful. I never though I could meet so many different people and get along with them. That I think is the biggest difference from Hawaii. Meeting new people with new idea's, who are adventurous, not in the way that may kill me but in the way that makes me feel refreshed.
And that is for my new friends. I don't really have family here in Japan, and for me my friends have really become that support for me. I feel like I can be so harsh, and I still have a major attitude problem (and superiority complex..bah) So I feel like, I just give them the short end of the stick all the time, but I'm so happy they are here for me.
I'm kinda miffed at being block head, but I'm happy I can give them something back. I'm happy I can help some one else, like so many other have helped me. And I'm happy to be here, even though I am on try number three of the impossibly hard driving test of Japan. And even though my sister is here so I can't hang out with my friends as much. Even though I am so lazy, with so much to do, and still have so much more to go on improving myself, I am just so happy to be here.
Anyhow on to the real post! It has been one year since I've been in Fukuoka. Theoretically I left Hawaii on the 6th, but I landed up in Tokyo and really I don't count that for much. Sure there was all the good-byes and such, but really only my dad went and he didn't even see me off, he kinda just unloaded my bags and drove off. =/
I really remember stepping off that plane into 35 (95) degree heat, to this day all sorts of in-between temperatures in my mind are in Fahrenheit but whenever I get to crazy extremes that we just about never experience in Hawaii it switches to Celsius. I find that amusing. I could not tell you how cold it gets in Fukuoka, at least not in Fahrenheit, because all I knew was the Celsius and since I never experience something analogous I can only think of what I experienced, which was Celsius.
Thats basically how Japan was for me this past year. So many things were new. Not just in the, wow it's Japan and so different! Its like a totally different thing! NO! It's basically Kristen has never experienced this before I only know of Japan version.
From living on my own, working a full time job, buying my own car insurance, planning my own international trips, etc. Everything is new to me, and in that way it's almost hard to explain my Japan experience because really it's more like explaining my life on my own, period.
I find a lot of JET's like to complain about certain aspects of Japan, like their home country is so much better, and the way they do things are wrong or stupid. But because I've barely experienced things other wise I keep a really open mind to almost everything that happens. Granted I DO find gross stupidity, but I can't fathom that NOT happening in America. I mean I'm from a land where a sizable percentage of people don't believe in Evolution, or global warming, they think the war in Iraq is justified due to Saddhams connections to Al Quida and WMD's (neither of which is true), and a place where is no universal health care. wow.
But, I suppose in that respect I can't judge them. I'm going on just assumptions (of how certain things would be like in America), and thats what I often do and I'm trying to change that. Still, I think bitching won't solve things and instead of changing things to meet your whims you just need to realize there are a lot of dumb things every country does and accept your a foreigner in a different land. You can protect your rights and keep your own culture but stepping all over another one simply because they do things the way your not used to?
I came to Japan to grow up and to better myself. Living in Hawaii all my life was really living in a bubble. I was protected by so many harsh things that exist almost everywhere else in the world. Not just weather extremes, but a job, surviving on my own, not having a swath of friends going back 3 connections deep "hooking" everything up. All these things are basically the easy way of getting out and it's simply not looked down upon in Hawaii. It's perfectly fine asking a friend to let you into a club, get you a job, live with your parents till you 30 and other things that just protect our citizens from realities of life.
Keeping that in mind, I posted in March about all the things I've accomplished and back then it seems like big deals, but thinking about it further, thinking on the goals I wanted to achieve when I first got here, I still have so much more to go.
I came here wanting to get fluent in Japanese, really fluent in Japanese. I really don't feel like I have been improving AT ALL, and in some ways I SWEAR I am getting worse. My grammar is just going down the tubes, because I don't feel the need to use perfect grammar to get my thought through. Also my kanji reading is just horrible at this point, I basically am not like how I was in Hawaii. Because Japanese reading material is EVERYWHERE, I don't feel the need to read, I feel like I get enough in the day to day life. But then there is so much I am missing out and/or forgetting. And I know the reason, I need to study. Just living here does not insure you get fluent, my base level was already high functioning and when I get to places where its a bit complicated most people either dumb it down or I just give up.
Also vegetable eating is pretty stagnant, I still really can't choke down much. And since I feel like I've come far enough I just kinda quit.....
And thats the major problem. I always feel like I need to do things, but once I get to a certain point of proficiency I quit. I not only get bored at it, but also mastering something, getting good at something takes a lot of effort and I still have a hard time pushing myself like that. I like being able to do things easily, with no effort, and I hate acknowledging that certain things are hard for me.
I rather just give up at those things than even start. And one year worth of my past, I look back and still see that pattern. Not just one year, but two, three, ten. I really need to push myself to the limit. And studying is one of them, but not just that everything. Push myself to do the things I KNOW I need to do, not get distracted by other things.
As a note though, seeing as Fukuoka is about 4 times larger than the entire island of Oahu and beyond that are about 5 prefectures all 4-5 times bigger than Oahu, while I do get massively lost I do try my best to look for things. And I've gotten ok at reading Maps. I really want to get better at directions, but good lord I still confuse left and right at times......BAH!
But that just about me, Japan and Fukuoka is wonderful. And my school, while I get sick of it and feel I don't make a difference I think I need to keep going on the way I've chosen. I used to want the students to realize English is fun, so I just played games really. And a lot of students did like me, but this year I make lessons based on content that often fail because even though I've been here for a year it's my first time making such lessons. Also because students aren't used to such lessons themselves. And bas relations and communications with my teachers, etc. I want them to speak English, so maybe games are the way. But, teacher's don't bring you to class if you just play games. I got to classes about twice as much as I did in the previous year, and while they tend to fail a lot more just listening to me just about every week is a help.
Also Fukuoka, oh Fukuoka. The fashion and the hair still shock me. Though it takes a lot to do it. Especially when it's one of my first year students and her dress hem is so high, the train master is looking up it, and yet cut so low when shes talking to you, you can see her BRIGHT PINK FLOWER bra every time she moves her head down more than 3 inches. BAH! But, I like living in a suburb of a metropolis. I like living in a polite society, while it can be over polite and I had sending letter of thanks for letter's of thanks, its really nice knowing when you drop your wallet 9/10 times some one will pick it up and give it to you.
And JET's, while some of us just bitch (myself included....another thing I REALLY need to cut down on) A lot of the people I met were wonderful. I never though I could meet so many different people and get along with them. That I think is the biggest difference from Hawaii. Meeting new people with new idea's, who are adventurous, not in the way that may kill me but in the way that makes me feel refreshed.
And that is for my new friends. I don't really have family here in Japan, and for me my friends have really become that support for me. I feel like I can be so harsh, and I still have a major attitude problem (and superiority complex..bah) So I feel like, I just give them the short end of the stick all the time, but I'm so happy they are here for me.
I'm kinda miffed at being block head, but I'm happy I can give them something back. I'm happy I can help some one else, like so many other have helped me. And I'm happy to be here, even though I am on try number three of the impossibly hard driving test of Japan. And even though my sister is here so I can't hang out with my friends as much. Even though I am so lazy, with so much to do, and still have so much more to go on improving myself, I am just so happy to be here.
2007年8月1日水曜日
Quarantined.....LULz
So, I notice I start almost EVERY post with So...and today shall be no different. Anyway on to the POST!
Summer days have started and my school being the low-mid academic school it is, required all its students to come for about a week half of Houshu. This means optional mandatory lessons. School runs for half days for about two weeks, and seeing as about 80% of the school body is in a club a bunch of students go to club. (Which in Japan includes sports)
Third years aren't allowed to do clubs as they have COLLEGE ENTRANCE exams, which are not like SATs, they are intense crazy things and you have to take one for every school you apply to. So its really intense and they basically have to come to school everyday. I feel sorry for them, also their summer vacation is filled with Sports day planning. Since, the school has about an 80% participation rate in clubs you'd think we'd have a huge culture festival as well, but no. My school does have an 80% participation rate in clubs, but about 85% of that is in sports clubs. I'd say about 9% is band (which is just about the most successful club) and then 6% the rest. So basically so few people are in "culture" clubs, our school just does not have culture festival....sadness. So third years are also hard core training and planning for sports day, since it's the only thing we have.
Where does this lead me, well to boredom. I had some things to do, like making lesson plans, creating this listening test, working on my drivers license, getting a new car, and planning the presentation I'm set to give on the 20th to new ALT's. WELL! That stuff is not that hard to do. I spend about an hour doing each of those things. And my driver's license itself is a practical test which I must go to the center to do it (I've failed once so far, I'm praying it only takes me 3 times >.<)
So, I basically sit in the office DOING NOTHING! It's really bad, I planned to study, to read to do SOMETHING productive, but instead I just sit here doing nothing. Today is the first day that there is no houshu for second or first years, and the school should be alive with students training. But it's not really alive.
Second years were SUPPOSED to go on a training trip (it's basically like camp, but instead of fun it's full of studying) Unfortunately on the second day some students came down with a very high fever. They also found out 3 students who couldn't go due to getting sick were actually infected with the measles. Apparently, since measles has been all but wiped out in Japan, they no longer require students to take the vaccine shots. So, basically a bunch of them are infected little death traps.
They came back from their training/infectious doom trip, cut 2 days short, yesterday. They made the entire school clear out by 3 and hurdled them into the building. All the teacher left to help out, but honestly I've never caught the measles and the last time I got a measles shot was something like 15 years ago. I basically stayed at my desk till enough of them left school to the point where I felt safe.
Now I'm all paranoid, that I'm infected.......ew. This summer has just felt very uncomfortable. I don't get along well with any teacher and as always my conversations with all teachers feel strained and off. It's like I'm not sure what to say or how to react and when I do it naturally they get them same vibe. I am just not meshing well right now. But as today there is no houshu for first years most teachers are not here, and the second years are in quarantine, apparently it's a highy infectious disease something like 90% of those in contact with an infected person will catch it (baring they are not immune. I'm stuck with even less to do.
I should go and play sports with some students, all their sempai's are gone and I'm sure they are just bumming a bit. BUT, I went to the gym after a very long time and massively re-injured my left knee. Popping sounds abound, and its a bit painful to do.....well anything requiring my knee. Ahh, what a silly summer.
I really wish I could concentrate more, but I am just a lazy ass. I blame you internets. With your secret haxor web sites, and anonymous lulz. I did get to see the Simpsons movie and MAN was it AWSOME! It was a fan cam, but still great! I really hope it gets to Japan, I wouldn't mind at paying to see that....but enough of this rant on to MOAR rants....but less schizo.
Notes: AKA skip the rant read this!
Japanese students are really good at carpooling. All the second years came back from their trip and had to be quarantined. So their parents were set to pick them up, keep in mind this was at 3:30-4 in the afternoon so realistically some parents would have a very hard time doing this. So amazingly ton's of kids got rides from friends parents. Car were filled up with 3-4 people, in fact just about every one. And I thought aloud "So this is how car pooling is supposed to work" My old supervisor (who I got on with decently) said "isn't car pooling from America?" And I thought about it, and realized the movement was born in America and thus responded, "Yeah, but no one actually does it" GO AMERICA!
My SUP, wow! So as you know from previous posts, my sister and mom came to visit me. My mom stayed for two weeks and has already left (thanks to her my house is ALMOST clean, and with new and cool much needed stuff I was too cheap to buy), but my sister is here for another two weeks....and she invited one of her friends to stay in my house for a week. Yeah....WTF. Anyhow, this person wanted to play badminton, so my supervisor happens to be one of those teachers who head badminton. I asked him when they practice and if this person could come. He was jazzed and said that the students would be practicing from the morning. I reconfirmed it was at 8:30 because looking at the schedule he had in hand, that I was also looking at, it appeared to me that practice started at 1. He insisted it was at 8:30, so I figured I was just reading this paper wrong. So I show up the next day with said "friend" and lo and behold, their practice IS in the afternoon. Also he is taking vacation time today, so I can't even go ARGH to him. GO FIGURE! Sometimes I wonder if he is just fucking with me, or he is just really this out of it. I somehow lean toward to later, but maybe I just am hoping I'm not that disliked.
Friends: I wish I could go out with my friends when my sister or mom is here, but really they are semi hopeless and I have to cart them around everywhere. My sister was semi complaining about her friend saying, "How inconvenient, and rude it was for him to be coming for an ENTIRE WEEK! Man, should be more shameful about these things" When I said I knew the feeling she of course was highly insulted got angry and said things to the effect of going home etc. Of course shes still here, and of course it's because she's "Family" Family can be inconvenient and they can be irritating, and sometimes I hate to say I wonder why we have all these obligations, bah! Miss hanging out with Yamato, and Shinnae's just come into town but alas I'm stuck.
Car driving: I suck at it! Man I hope I can pass in three go's, cross your fingers and wish me luck!
DOOM: I have scary rashes and really bad skin lately I pray it's the heat...........I REALLY do not want measles.
Another note, I am getting a new car! w00t, it's supposedly all good to go, but I'm a bit sketchy I'll be picking it up this weekend, so need to cancel my insurance get new insurance and all sorts of ugh. Oh well, we'll see how it goes.
AND FINALLY FINALLY!!! I am horribly bored, and unproductive but through some magical bull shit, I am now Blockhead (co-chaired), AJET representative, and presenter at FUKUOKA HS JET orientation. Crazy times...
Summer days have started and my school being the low-mid academic school it is, required all its students to come for about a week half of Houshu. This means optional mandatory lessons. School runs for half days for about two weeks, and seeing as about 80% of the school body is in a club a bunch of students go to club. (Which in Japan includes sports)
Third years aren't allowed to do clubs as they have COLLEGE ENTRANCE exams, which are not like SATs, they are intense crazy things and you have to take one for every school you apply to. So its really intense and they basically have to come to school everyday. I feel sorry for them, also their summer vacation is filled with Sports day planning. Since, the school has about an 80% participation rate in clubs you'd think we'd have a huge culture festival as well, but no. My school does have an 80% participation rate in clubs, but about 85% of that is in sports clubs. I'd say about 9% is band (which is just about the most successful club) and then 6% the rest. So basically so few people are in "culture" clubs, our school just does not have culture festival....sadness. So third years are also hard core training and planning for sports day, since it's the only thing we have.
Where does this lead me, well to boredom. I had some things to do, like making lesson plans, creating this listening test, working on my drivers license, getting a new car, and planning the presentation I'm set to give on the 20th to new ALT's. WELL! That stuff is not that hard to do. I spend about an hour doing each of those things. And my driver's license itself is a practical test which I must go to the center to do it (I've failed once so far, I'm praying it only takes me 3 times >.<)
So, I basically sit in the office DOING NOTHING! It's really bad, I planned to study, to read to do SOMETHING productive, but instead I just sit here doing nothing. Today is the first day that there is no houshu for second or first years, and the school should be alive with students training. But it's not really alive.
Second years were SUPPOSED to go on a training trip (it's basically like camp, but instead of fun it's full of studying) Unfortunately on the second day some students came down with a very high fever. They also found out 3 students who couldn't go due to getting sick were actually infected with the measles. Apparently, since measles has been all but wiped out in Japan, they no longer require students to take the vaccine shots. So, basically a bunch of them are infected little death traps.
They came back from their training/infectious doom trip, cut 2 days short, yesterday. They made the entire school clear out by 3 and hurdled them into the building. All the teacher left to help out, but honestly I've never caught the measles and the last time I got a measles shot was something like 15 years ago. I basically stayed at my desk till enough of them left school to the point where I felt safe.
Now I'm all paranoid, that I'm infected.......ew. This summer has just felt very uncomfortable. I don't get along well with any teacher and as always my conversations with all teachers feel strained and off. It's like I'm not sure what to say or how to react and when I do it naturally they get them same vibe. I am just not meshing well right now. But as today there is no houshu for first years most teachers are not here, and the second years are in quarantine, apparently it's a highy infectious disease something like 90% of those in contact with an infected person will catch it (baring they are not immune. I'm stuck with even less to do.
I should go and play sports with some students, all their sempai's are gone and I'm sure they are just bumming a bit. BUT, I went to the gym after a very long time and massively re-injured my left knee. Popping sounds abound, and its a bit painful to do.....well anything requiring my knee. Ahh, what a silly summer.
I really wish I could concentrate more, but I am just a lazy ass. I blame you internets. With your secret haxor web sites, and anonymous lulz. I did get to see the Simpsons movie and MAN was it AWSOME! It was a fan cam, but still great! I really hope it gets to Japan, I wouldn't mind at paying to see that....but enough of this rant on to MOAR rants....but less schizo.
Notes: AKA skip the rant read this!
Japanese students are really good at carpooling. All the second years came back from their trip and had to be quarantined. So their parents were set to pick them up, keep in mind this was at 3:30-4 in the afternoon so realistically some parents would have a very hard time doing this. So amazingly ton's of kids got rides from friends parents. Car were filled up with 3-4 people, in fact just about every one. And I thought aloud "So this is how car pooling is supposed to work" My old supervisor (who I got on with decently) said "isn't car pooling from America?" And I thought about it, and realized the movement was born in America and thus responded, "Yeah, but no one actually does it" GO AMERICA!
My SUP, wow! So as you know from previous posts, my sister and mom came to visit me. My mom stayed for two weeks and has already left (thanks to her my house is ALMOST clean, and with new and cool much needed stuff I was too cheap to buy), but my sister is here for another two weeks....and she invited one of her friends to stay in my house for a week. Yeah....WTF. Anyhow, this person wanted to play badminton, so my supervisor happens to be one of those teachers who head badminton. I asked him when they practice and if this person could come. He was jazzed and said that the students would be practicing from the morning. I reconfirmed it was at 8:30 because looking at the schedule he had in hand, that I was also looking at, it appeared to me that practice started at 1. He insisted it was at 8:30, so I figured I was just reading this paper wrong. So I show up the next day with said "friend" and lo and behold, their practice IS in the afternoon. Also he is taking vacation time today, so I can't even go ARGH to him. GO FIGURE! Sometimes I wonder if he is just fucking with me, or he is just really this out of it. I somehow lean toward to later, but maybe I just am hoping I'm not that disliked.
Friends: I wish I could go out with my friends when my sister or mom is here, but really they are semi hopeless and I have to cart them around everywhere. My sister was semi complaining about her friend saying, "How inconvenient, and rude it was for him to be coming for an ENTIRE WEEK! Man, should be more shameful about these things" When I said I knew the feeling she of course was highly insulted got angry and said things to the effect of going home etc. Of course shes still here, and of course it's because she's "Family" Family can be inconvenient and they can be irritating, and sometimes I hate to say I wonder why we have all these obligations, bah! Miss hanging out with Yamato, and Shinnae's just come into town but alas I'm stuck.
Car driving: I suck at it! Man I hope I can pass in three go's, cross your fingers and wish me luck!
DOOM: I have scary rashes and really bad skin lately I pray it's the heat...........I REALLY do not want measles.
Another note, I am getting a new car! w00t, it's supposedly all good to go, but I'm a bit sketchy I'll be picking it up this weekend, so need to cancel my insurance get new insurance and all sorts of ugh. Oh well, we'll see how it goes.
AND FINALLY FINALLY!!! I am horribly bored, and unproductive but through some magical bull shit, I am now Blockhead (co-chaired), AJET representative, and presenter at FUKUOKA HS JET orientation. Crazy times...
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