All kinds of people

Sometimes I wonder about humans.

What can be said about this? I mean, I cannot even understand that guy's thought processes, that he could believe such a thing.

It's supposed to be spring, damnit!

It started snowing just as we left to go out to lunch. What's with that?

Lunch was nice. We went to a restaurant in Nikaho I hadn't been to before. The decor was nice, with ornate high-backed chairs, red (fake) velvet hanging from the ceiling and lovely lamp shades. But the effect was slightly ruined by the fact that the pictures hanging on the walls were kids jigsaw puzzles that had been glued onto card and then framed. Anyway, the lunch was a chicken thing, and it was good.

The conversation over lunch started with gossip about the male teachers, and then moved to which teachers at which schools are moving to which other schools. But the conversation quickly changed to the topic that it always turns to when both Hiroko-sensei and Hosoya-san the office lady are present: Korean dramas. Korean dramas are popular with most Japanese women over the age of 40 or so. They seem convinced that Korean men are kinder / more handsome than Japanese men. First they talked about a recent plotline, and what I understood did not convince me to try watching Korean dramas. (A love letter written to one woman, but there is this other woman with the same name, and somone's mother read the letter, and there was confusion. Bleh!) Then they were all talking about how Korean men all treat their wives so well, and are always so polite and such. I thought to myself that the problem is more like Japanese men over a certain age treat their wives badly, but I did not say so.

I haven't read yet today. Well, not Gaiman anyway. Instead, I decided to go looking for a blog that I found a month ago and then Mozilla lost the bookmark for. It is a blog of a woman living in Russia teaching English. Take a look. It has lots of beautiful pictures.

While I was looking at that blog, I found a link from it to another interesting page by another woman who was teaching English in Russia. This page is in comic format, so of course I had to read all the comics. And that is what I have been doing today.

Bored

Still no access to the staff room, and I am bored. Bored, bored, bored. I will be going out to lunch again today. The female teachers have decided that we are going to have a womens lunch today. We usually get food delivered to us over the holidays, while the men teachers go out and eat ramen or yakiniku or something. They have decided enough is enough. We will have fun too. So there.

I have already prepared for this evenings Eikaiwa (English conversation class) and it is still morning. I will have no more work until next week's class. Ah, Spring vacation. I guess I will read today. I am in the middle of 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. It is a really good book and is highly recommended.

If it wasn't such a bizarre thing to do, I would bring Sumiko's Playstation 2 (which I am currently borrowing) with me to school, hook it up to the TV in the library and play FFXII. But I really shouldn't do that.

The weather is really bad today. Yesterday was sunny, but after the sun went down, a big storm came through. There was lightning (which I was out in because I had Yosakoi practice) and now it is cold, rainy and blowing a gale. I heard that the rain may turn into snow. It had better not. Not at this time of year!

Sorry, sorry. I have resorted to talking about the weather again. I will go read or practice Yosakoi or something.

Continue

Sorry about that. That is something that happens a lot here in Japan. I am sitting there blissfully unaware that something is about to happen, and get caught out. Yesterday, I didn't know the furniture in the staff room was scheduled to be moved until someone came along and unplugged the notebook I was writing the last post on. I looked up and saw that everyone was making preparations to move the desks, and one desk was already pulled out into the middle of the room. I had to quickly quit blogging so I could help.

Anyway. It is Spring vacation at the moment. I thought that there would be no kids at school because it is, well, the holidays. But they are all here. They are all members of clubs, and almost all of the clubs are practicing for about three hours every day. I thought I would have space to practice the dance for the yosakoi dance club I am a member of, but at any one time the sports gym and both sides of the field are in use by (in rotation) the soccer team, the baseball team, the volleyball team, the softball team, the judo club and the kendo club. I found a little space in a corner behind the gym to practice in yesterday, but it was embarrassing because the volleyball girls were hanging out the gym windows yelling "Berry Gooodo!" at me, and Yama-chan the Kendo club captain kept passing me as he ran circuits around the school building.

Last week I spent a lot of time reading books. I probably should have spent more time studying, because I had a Japanese test due to be sent to Tokyo today. I have spent all of today up until now (minus an hour when I went to lunch with Hiroko-sensei the Japanese teacher) finishing that test. I ran down to the post box a short while ago. Mission complete!

Last friday we had a party for the three teachers who will be leaving at the end of this week to go to other schools. Two of the teachers I did not really know. One of them was a student teacher who was only at school for three half days a week, so I hardly ever saw him. The other was one of the maths teachers, a reclusive anti-social fellow that no one really knew although he had been working at the school for three years. The other person who will be leaving is the school nurse, and I will be sorry to see her go. Yumi-sensei is a very kind, eternally happy and energetic woman who has helped me out a lot while I have been here. No one wants her to go, and she does not want to go either. She has spent the last week or so crying at the drop of a hat. Poor thing.

Last friday morning I went to see the new school I will be visiting. Because my town merged with two others late last year, from April I will be taking over a school from another ALT. I will be going to the new school once a week. It is called Kamagadai Shochugakkou. It is a combined Elementary/Jr. High School that has 35 pupils all up. There are 9 Jr. High kids, one 1st grader, seven 2nd graders and one 3rd grader. The reason there are so few pupils is that Kamagadai is way up in the mountains attached to the north slope of Mount Chokai. It is not a very hospitable place. I mean, it's spring here now, but up in Kamagadai there was still far more snow than we had down here by the ocean even in the middle of winter. I saw two cars abandoned in the middle of a field, and the snow was up to their windows. Kamagadai will be a good place to visit in summer, but apparently in winter there is three metres of snow. Despite this, I am looking forward to visiting the new school. I will be able to work closer with the students. Also, as I discovered on Friday, the view from the road up the mountain is divine. I was able to look down on Konoura, Nikaho and the ocean and see them rather like they would be seen from a plane because the mountains pretty much go straight up, almost like a huge cliff (that's a wee bit of an exaggeration, by the way).

I did nothing on the weekend but play Playstation. Just thought I would record that.

From next week there will be new students at the Jr. High and the Elementary, but of course to me they are not new students because I taught them all at the Elementary and the Kindergarten respectively. My desk has been moved over to the 1st grader group which, since Hiroko-sensei has become the dean of 1st graders this year, means I will get to work with her like I did in my first year. This is a good thing, because she is the teacher who invites me to do things, such as eat lunch in the classrooms rather than in the staff room, which the teachers I have been working with for the past year never did. (I can't just go and eat in a classroom whenever I want to, because extra food and an extra seat have to be sorted out before hand).

I was also happy to discover that my new desk position has me facing away from the windows, meaning I don't have to be bothered by afternoon sunlight shining right into my eyes anymore.

Today workers are installing an air conditioning system in the staff room, so we are not allowed in there. This has resulted in all the teachers moving their stuff to various parts of the school. Two teachers have apparently moved all their belongings into the computer room. It looks as if they want to stay here for good. I mean, how much stuff do you need to use in one day? They don't need to teach. One of them is reading a newspaper at the moment. Surely he does not need a stack of folders and several boxes of stationery in order to do that? The other computer-room teacher has brought a filled book shelf with him. Other teachers have taken with them just their notebook computers and a folder or two. Togashi-sensei the English teacher does not use a notebook but a desktop computer, so he has hauled his whole computer into the councillor's office (which is currently vacant because our councillor retired last year and was not replaced). All the tea-making supplies are in that room too. There are all sorts of stacks and boxes of teacers' belongs lying about in the strangest places, too. It amazes me. One of the more amusing finds of the day for me was the photocopier in a stairwell and the school principal standing there photocopying all sorts of stuff. In the stairwell? We have empty rooms, plenty of them. I can't fathom it.

Long time, no post

Since I bought FFXII (see last post) I haven't been using my computer (hence the long break). At the moment I am at work. It is the change-over period between two school years at the moment, so I was finally able to get my hands on a BOE computer. I can now use the internet from work. Unfortunately, I have to keep the big huge notebook on my desk, otherwise someone else will take it and it will be back to internet-less days of loneliness.

FFXII update:
I have got a handle on the new battle system now. I have decided I like it. I was never a big user of magic in FF games, so battles for me were always a case of repeatedly pressing the X button (or the O button while in Japan). Attack (X) the monster (X) attack (X) the monster (X) ad infinity. My right thumb would get so sore. Now battles are a time to rest my thumb as my characters automatically take care of everything for me. A time or two I even walked away from the game and got a drink in mid-battle certain that when I came back everyone would be alive and healthy.

I'm having trouble understanding the story line. There is an awful lot of talking, much more than there was in FFX or FFX2. It is very complicated and fast. Well beyond my Japanese abilities. I understand enough about the characters to see that a few of them break out of the standars FF character moulds.

Ah! Desks have suddenly started being moved about. I'll have to continue this later.

Final Fantasy XII

Wah! I wish I could read Japanese! The battle system of FFXII is so different to previous games that it took ages for me to figure out. It would be so much easier if I could read the instruction booklet.

The intro video is so much better than FFX's was. It's about five minutes long and tells the story of the previous two or so years, everything leading up to the beginning of the game. It really hooks you, too. Not just some people sitting around a campfire looking sad. There is a wedding, a war, and a funeral. The graphics are great! The people at SquareEnix have obviously taken inspiration from both the Star Wars and LOTR movie franchises. There were flying carrier-type vehicles in the opening movie that reminded me of the droid carriers in The Phantom Menace. Then there was a night battle scene which reminded me of Helm's Deep. This is not a bad thing at all. Both of those movies had atmospheres that fit the Final Fantasy series very well.

It still seems very strange to me not to have separate battles. The surprise of random encounters and the victory fanfare when you win a battle is what I have come to expect from FF games. But FFXII plays more like Diablo. (I think: I never actually played Diablo or Diablo II). I'm not quite sure yet if I like the new battle style. Will report on that later.

One thing I know I don't like: the main character Van looks like an idiot. He seriously makes Tidus look like an adult in comparison. And he has funny shiny patches on his cheeks and nose as if he has greased his face. Weird. I only have two people in my party so far. Can't wait until I find more people.

Games

Last night some of my friends tried to teach me Mah Jongg. It's difficult! Before I could start learning the game, I had to have a Chinese lesson. Luckily, I can read most of the kanji on Mah Jongg tiles, and the pronunciations of those kanji in Chinese are not too different from Japanese. I had trouble remembering 'North' (which is nothing like Japanese) until it was pointed out to me that it is the 'pei' from 'Beijing' (the correct pronunciation being somewhere between a 'p' and a 'b'). So after about half an hour of "what's this one?" "pa man!" we started playing the game.

I don't quite get it yet. It's kind of like poker, but about ten or twenty times more difficult. That's about all I can say. I can see why it's addictive, though. It was fun, and challenging. Oh, and I won. A combination of beginner's luck, and the advice I was receiving from everyone on which tile to throw away. I ended up with nearly half the money sticks after three games, although there were four of us. That was because I won the first two rounds, and was the father. (Don't ask me what that means, I'm not quite sure. Something like being the President in a game of Scum).

Before we played Mah Jongg, we went shopping. On that shopping trip I bought, amongst other things, Final Fantasy XII. Hah, hah, hah!!!! I LOVE living in Japan! Right, I'm going to go start FFXII right now!

Graduation

Yesterday was the graduation ceremony for the 3rd grade students of Konoura Jr. High.

Ah! I can't believe they're going! I love those kids. For my first two terms in Konoura, they were my favourite students. Last years 3rd graders were a bit dull, and last years 1st graders (this years 2nd graders) are alternately dull and troublesome. But the 2nd graders were great kids, and continued to be so when they became 3rd graders. I've known them for two years now and have really got to know them. Konoura chuugakkou will not be the same without them. I cried during the ceremony.

Then we had a party, teachers and one parent of each graduating kid all together (unless one parent was on the PTA, then both parents received tickets). Random people kept coming over to talk to me. Sometimes it was easy to see which kid they were the parent of, but usually I could not tell because the kid took after the absent parent, and I couldn't read the name badges either. So I did a lot of talking to people and wondering who they were.

One man imparted several bits of drinking party folklore to me. First bit of folklore: if you put an umeboshi in your sake, the alcohol does not go to your head. Second bit of folklore: if you eat octopus or squid while drinking, it will be easier for your liver to process the alcohol. So, there you go.

Shortly after, I was accosted by some fellow who obviously thinks he is quite a catch. He said a couple of times (in English) "I want to spend my life with you!" before finally conceding he is married. He then, as a consolation, offered to introduce me to his 24-year-old son. Usually, '24-year-old son' is a phrase that catches my attention, but how unfair would that be on the younger son, having his brother set up with his English teacher? Ew, gross; for me too.

The most bizarre thing happened right at the end of the party. A fellow came over and introduced himself. He looked like a rather boring middle-aged man, but a man who had drunk a lot of alcohol recently. He told me which kid was his son (he was the only person to do so that I can remember). This guy was the father of The Poor Misled Boy Who Has A Crush On Catherine Sensei. Drunk man immediately asked me how old I am. I had been drinking too, and had forgotten about politeness. I gave him what I am sure was a very suspicious look and then answered his question in a suspicious voice. Then the man said "Zuibun wakai sensei desu ne. Doki-doki shiteiru" (Such a young teacher. My heart is pounding) and walked off. Eww! Any way I interpret that, it is disturbing!

Not again!

It is SNOWING again! Everything outside is white . . .

Or this . . .

You Are 70% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right? But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

Knew this, too. Except, I don't think I'm normal.

Check this out:

You Should Learn Japanese

You're cutting edge, and you are ready to delve into wacky Japanese culture. From Engrish to eating contests, you're born to be a crazy gaijin. Saiko!

What Language Should You Learn?

Well, that just goes to show that I made the right choice in life, doesn't it?

Presents

On Wednesday, I taught English to the five-year-olds at the kindergarten. It was the last time I would be teaching them there (although I will see them at the elementary school come April) so the teachers had made all the kids draw pictures of me, which were then presented to me in book form. Here are a selection of pictures. (They are badly scanned because they are large and did not fit into my scanning tray properly).

The girl who drew this picture remembered one of the games I played with them. Aw, I do make a difference!

Eleven kids drew me with a kid's hairstyle. Ten of those drew me with pig-tails (like below), and one girl drew me with a top-knot.

No less than 35 out of the 49 kids drew me with huge red juu-juu lips.

This one is probably my favourite. I look cute! (But I'm not too sure what that black thing between my legs is supposed to be . . . )

Some kids are better at drawing than others.

Seven kids drew me holding a flower or next to a flower. This is a mystery to me.

Eight kids drew me wearing a crucifix necklace (seven right-way-up crucifi and one upside-down crucifix). I do not own a crucifix-shaped necklace, or a crucifix-shaped anything for that matter.

Oh, and I may as well take this opportunity to point out that kids in Japan draw the Sun red, not yellow.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Okay, so a Jehovah's Witness just came to my door. She was a well dressed woman in a brown suede overcoat and lots of makeup, so it took me a long few moments to figure out why she was at my door. But then she started trying to give me pamphlets and stuff. I pulled the 'I don't speak Japanese' routine in the hopes she would go away, but unfortunately for me the woman's English was very good.

It was very hard for me to be rude to her, because my time in Japan has made me more polite. But I did my best.

"Do you want to communicate with friends better, or find a good job?"

"I have a good job."

"Do you own a copy of the Bible?"

"No. I'm not Christian."

"Ah."

Then the woman giggled nervously, expressed her wish to meet me again (which was a pleasantry of sorts; at least I hope it was), and then left.

Work-a-holics

It is Saturday afternoon. It is raining. Yet the street echoes with the sounds of hammers. The builders in question started work on the new house on Monday, yet the house is over half finished.

One of the things I was very surprised about when I came to Japan was how hard-working the builders are. Now, I come from a country where a builder's day starts at 9.30am, stops at 11am for a two hour lunch break, and then finishes at 3pm. Assuming the weather is sunny; if it is rainy or even cloudy, then the weather is too bad and the builders refuse to work. Houses typically take four months to be built. But here in Japan a builder's day starts at 7am, stops at 12pm for a one hour lunch break, and finishes at 6pm. Six days a week, or seven if the building is behind schedule. And they will work in rain or shine, hail storm or typhoon. Houses here usually go up in a couple of weeks.

Something cute for Saturday morning viewing

Take a look at this!



The rooster's name (in katakana) is Kokko (translates to English as 'Cock' maybe?) The cats's name is Kome (rice?) In the first half, Kome is 3 months old, and in the second half he is 6 months old. The Japanese audience are laughing about how he is still trying to fit under Kokko.

It is not easy for me to understand what the strange-voiced narrator is saying, but I picked up a few bits and pieces. The farm is in Kagoshima Prefecture, right down the south of Japan (if you exclude Okinawa). The first half of the video was shot in July, the second half three months later. Kome was compared to a ninja as he entered the hutch at 2 in the morning. While Kome was jumping all over Kokko, the narrator was saying "Hey, let's play, let's play!" She(?) also said that Kome likes eating leaves (looked to me more like he was playing).

Family Photos

The other day I was looking at scans of family pictures I have on my computer, and I came across a few disturbing photos. Firstly, I cannot believe my mother let me dress myself at such a young age. She actually let me out of the house dressed like this!


What's more disturbing is that she let me near my baby siblings.


But then again, maybe they were capable of looking out for themselves.