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The Macarena

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 15:31:02 GMT

So there are always a lot of things that go through my head before I go to bed (especially on a Sunday night-preparing for the next week) and after I laid in bed for 1 hour trying to get to sleep and going through everything that was on my mind, I finally came around to Friday. Friday is my last day at the Yougo Gakko and I am expected to do a morning "show-and-tell". After much deliberation, Ana suggested that I teach them the Macarena. Brilliant idea! well in my thoughts tonight, I kept wondering how exactly I would do that. Of course first I would have to show them the moves and then we would practice. After that, we would get to dance with the music. So that got me thinking, I haven't danced with the music in a while, I might need to practice. And as I can't sleep right now, when would be a better time? SO, I got out of bed (with more energy then I have had all day) and danced to the Macarena (more then once, to work out the kinks) at midnight. And now I can't sleep. Son of a Bitch. I can't believe I just did the Macarena.

Would you rather have to dance the Macarena for 24 hours straight or line dance for 24 hours straight?

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no airconditioning...ugh

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:08:00 GMT

Oh what a good weekend and a good start to my week. On Friday, Zara, Ana, Bam, and I all met in Isahaya and took a trip to ZenZero in Nagayo (about a 45 minutes drive). On the way home we filled the car with random strange noises due to lack of stereo in her car. It was a great time, and definitly on my top ten strangest things I have done (maybe..haha). Saturday was a busy full day! I picked up Ana in Isahaya and drove to Omura. There, we met up with Zara and Bam and drove to the waterfall in Zara's car and swam in the (not at all) warm water. After that we went to Shu-Shu (AKA the best icecream around these parts) and followed that by eating at late lunch (4pm) at Agri a macrobiotic resaurant. Whew! THEN, we drove back to Zara's, picked up my car, did puri kura at Daiso (1st one of the day) and stopped by Tully's to see Zara's friend Yukari (who I finally met). It was already past 5 so we headed down to Nagasaki (and I drove there for the first time-not on the express way). Parked at AMU plaza and did 2 more rounds of puri kura! Took a taxi to UmenoHana(tofu restaurant) from a stupic taxi driver). Then we ate a 2 hour dinner that had its ups and downs (Ana fell over again, what is new?) and then we went BACK to AMU and did a final (4th) round of puri kura. WE took the express back to Isahaya to get Bam and Zara there just in time to catch the last train home. I was pretty delirious when I got home, I was so tired! But it was fantastic. I just relaxed all day Sunday.

Today was a nice day. It stormed a bit (and hell of a lot last night, geez that was the loudest thunder ever!). Apparently (and I don't know EXACTLY what happened) but the Shimatetsu was down for some time because of a mudslide (so Nohara sensei claimed) and even in the evening only some of the trains were running. Although it stormed, it was still humid as hell and I had giant sweat rings under my arms all day because they won't turn on the airconditioning until next monday (cheap bastards). BUT in our tiny little copy room there is an airconditioner and that WAS on! Nohara sensei and I had beeen talking about how nice it felt. Then she looks at me and says, "I MUST make copies next period" and I said to her, "You are so lucky." and then she says to me, "I don't think I can do it alone, would you like to help me?" and I said "Of course!" HAHA! So we spent all 6th period chatting and copying (and I made a scrabble board) in the copy room so we could stay cool. It was a great time.

On my way to ekaiwa (class I teach) tonight, I stopped by to pay for my car. This couple is a riot. Every time I come in there is some random customer or friend there, and we talk about me a lot and about when my family came, it is always the same, just a new person! This lady who was there gave me some Japanese thong slippers that her 94 year old grandmother made. It was really funny. The woman who I pay my car too is so cute and she is one of the only Japanese people I know who hugs a lot (maybe it is just me, but she always hugs me and says "Lub, Lub" when I come to see her) they are great and I will miss them! Ekaiwa was good tonight too, another new guy came and we played scrabble. Good times!

Would you rather have a foot long eyelash you can never pluck or an earlobe the size of a basketball?

Grade A driver

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 03:38:19 GMT

So last night I drove ALL the way out to Omura (ha ha). I parked my car at Zara's house and then something AMAZING happened. We left to go eat some sushi and instead of hopping in my car, we hopped in ZARA'S NEW CAR! Please check out dursula's page to lear more about it. It was great riding with her, as she is a GRADE A driver (the Japanese don't even have that on their scale, they stop at C). It was a great time. We each ate at least 6 pieces of agari? salmon sushi which was amazing, and we followed that with PURI KURA (print club). Then we went to THE SPOT to eat some Pizza and meet some American Teachers that were in Omura on a program to learn about the Japanese education sysyem. It was interesting to get their perspective, and they also had lots of questions for us. The best was their facination with our keitai straps (they all took a picture of mine) it was SO funny. So over all a great night! Today I am at Yougo Gakko and I brought my camera, after this I only have one time left =..0(. I will miss them greatly. Tonight I am going to ZEN ZERO pizza with dursula, bein_free and Bam (Zara's friend) so that should be a great time!

Would you rather be a rice field worker in Japan or work at a smoke filled Pachinko parlor in Japan?

dvds serve multiple purposes

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 12:50:13 GMT

So as you know my TV has been freaking out for a long time. But, sometimes if I hit it on the side, the problem is temporarily fixed. But recently I have been getting lazy. Who wants to sit right next to the TV and hit it every few seconds? So I started throwing my knitting needle at it and that seemed to work. But as it got worse the needle wasn't heavy enough so I have started throwing these $1 DVDs at it that my mom sent me a long time ago (Singing with Popeye!). It works wonders. And eventually the screen stays normal for a whole movie! This is probably a sign I should stop watching the TV, but I will not concede.

a good day for jokes

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:52:56 GMT

Had a pretty good day, classes went well and I was busy and productive. I played Jeopardy with my favorite class and it proved to be awesome! They did a great job answering the questions and they got really competitive (and when I say competitive I mean they were pushing each other off chairs and slapping each other) but it was a riot and everyone had a good time. The teacher in the room two classrooms down said she could hear us, as well as Nohara sensei who was in the teachers office (our classroom is above it). After that class I got to go outside to the garden for cleaning time, where my ichi nensei (1st grade) girl students proceeded to try and pull each others skirts up. So, following suit, I raised my skirt to reveal the "must have" shorts I was wearing underneath. HAHA! Then I put my skirt down (I only flashed a small part of my leg) and said "It's a secret" implying what was under my skirt. Another girl said "me too, secret" and the last girl raised her skirt and said "OPEN!" HAHA. Really mature high schoolers huh? It was a good day, but I have a bad headache from my sinuses being plugged up. So, now instead of would you rather I am going to let you enjoy some cheesy tasteful jokes that Kenny shared with me!

a polar bear walks into a bar and says to the bartender "can i get a gin.................... and tonic" the bartender asks "what's with the big pause?" the polar bear responded "i'm a polar bear. duh!"

Q:How do you make a Honeymoon Salad. A: Lettuce alone with no dressing. (HAHA)

Q:Why couldn't the bicycle stand on it's own? A: Because it was too (two) tired!

Q: Why do seagulls live by the sea? A: Because if they live by the bay they would be called baygulls (bagels)!

Q: Why did the boy eat his homework? A: Because his teacher told him it was a piece of cake.

Q: Why is 6 afraid of 7? A: Because 7 8 9.

Q: What do you call cheese that is not yours? A: Na--cho Cheese! (say it like this Not-----yo' cheese)!

goodtimes.

packing up and saying goodbye

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 09:44:39 GMT

It has been a nice weekend. I spent Friday night packing up everything I own into 3 suitcases. It was a nice laidback evening complete with good music and some much needed one on one time with myself.

Saturday I met up with the wonderful girls bein_free and dursula to head to Kate's house for a fantastic BBQ. The food was great as was the company. It was really great and a good opportunity to see some of the other ALT's at least one last time. We BBQ'd on the deck and allowed the smoke to fill the apartment which was annoying and made for some crappy pictures

But all in all it was an awesome time. On the way to the BBQ and the way home, we made pitstops at numerous convenient stores to find more POGS with the World Cup teams, for the two of them. We were almost successful but have yet to find Argentina.

I was pretty tired last night and passed out early and woke up late today. Nohara sensei and I had a nice lunch at a restaurant called "plant lotus root" it was really delicious. I had minced meat stuffed green peppers and delicious breads. Tomorrow or Tuesday we are going to go to Sasebo Burger (apparently there is one in Isahaya), so I can't wait.

Would you rather: do puri kura for an hour or play taiko drum game for an hour(or dance dance revolution).

English camp, GOAL, breaking wind...oh my

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 08:14:05 GMT

So it has been a semi-eventful week, but I am too lazy to write much.

Tuesday and Wednesday got to relax and have a good time at the overnight camp, that was fun. The only story was that apparently it is a tradition to go to the "party room" and drink with the ALT's and teachers after the kids go to sleep. But unfourtunatly when we headed there, the kids weren't asleep yet, and Andy and Aaron (even after I warned them) walked out into the halls with beers in their hands. A bunch of kids saw us and I was pretty embarrassed. Apaarently I was the only one, everyone else didn't seem to care.

Thrusday evening I enjoyed dinner and a movie with bein_free and dursula in Nagasaki. we watched GOAL (not all of it although we predicted the flashback/faulting/victory ending that was inevidable) which got us psyched to watch real soccer and we returned home to watch Ecuador squash Costa Rica (dursula's homeland). It was an enjoyable evening.

Today I was yet again at Yougo Gakko which always ends in a day with at least one interesting story. During homeroom at the end of the day, one of my students (who doesn't realy walk or talk well, or even know what is going on the whole time) let out an extremely long and loud fart (the kind that sound like a jet engine...or something like that) and everyone had a good laugh before continuing on (the kid was totally oblivious to the situation). It made for a great ending to my day. I was talked to a lot by all the teachers about the fact that I only have 2 visits left there, and that made me sad. But then I think about the reasons I am going home, and I know that I will be able to help kids like them better in my own language. One of my girl students (who is shy but seems to be in a state of euphoria all the time) was told about me leaving and she screamed and made motions on her face for tears, but the the next second she was happy. She was only acting, but I was glad to know that she understood the situation.

Tonight I will packing some more. Time is going to go too fast...

Would you rather: swim in a pool of country gravy or a pool of jello?

pogs and the evolution of dance

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 03:31:34 GMT

So yesterday Zara and I took a trip to my favorite convenience store, Lawson. I don't want to retell the story so I will just direct you to dursula's page. Read the section called "Ecuador". It was a good time. I should add while we were there (coke bottles strewn across the floor, straining to see the ones in the back), a woman that works there who usually tries talking to me, came up to us with her son (she seemed to have the day off) and asked us who we were trying to to find. We also got a few other strange looks and one woman laughed at us. But, I would do it again no doubt.

So I was sent this video by an old friend and I LOVE it, so I thought I would share it. There are only a few of the dances that I do not have the honor of claiming that I have done. Let me take you back to high school mixers... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg).

A date proposal

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 14:58:22 GMT

So my morning yesterday started off with me seeing a guy riding his bike wearing bright pink shoes...only in Japan really. This was on the way to the Yougo Gakko (Special Education School) that I teach at. I had no idea that I was in store for such an eventful day.

At the Yougo Gakko it is protocol that every friday morning we have "show and tell" which usually consists of the teachers dressing up and doing something to make the kids laugh. Yesterday was no exception. Three female teachers dressed up in huge bright bows around their necks and stick on fake mustaches. The did magic tricks keeping us all thoroughly entertained. A good start to the school day. But it was about to go down hill from there.

Before 1st period my JTE came up to me in a kind of hesitant manner. she began her talk by saying, "I am sorry, but this might be a little strange" then she preceded to tell me the the special eduaction's physical therapist (who had "helped my neck and back problems" last week by giving me a massage at school in the middle of the gym while we practiced for sports day) was wondering if I wanted to go bowling with him on friday night (that night at the time). She was obviously extremely uncomfortable as was I, and thank goodness she realized (before she talked with me) that there was no possible way I would ever go out with this obnoxious guy. It was AWFUL and SO uncomfortable. She advised me to tell her to tell him (because he was not there at the time, he chickened out and made my JTE ask me) that I was busy tonight. Then I told her to tell him I had a BF (which obviously I do and he will kick that guys ass later I am sure) and that would solve any problems. I hope not to run into him again! AGH!

My 3rd period was interesting too. I have 3no 1, which is like 9th grade normal kids at the special ed school (so the have depression and ADHD type problems) . So there is this one student in the class (who just joined last week) and he REFUSES to study English and math. So another teacher (the laid back P.E. teacher) comes in and sits with him and trys to get him involved. It is funny cause the teacher has a good time and learns a lot. Anyway, this teacher is totally chill and not usually violent, but this kid is real awful and he must have been really awful cause right near the end of class the helping teacher got realy angry at the student and while my JTE and I pretended like nothing was going on he grabbed the kid by his hair and yanked his head. Then he pushed the kids wheel chair (the kid just had surgery on both his legs) and then started to kick his wheel chair (a few time). Really the kid must have said something extreme. This kid ,usually when we address him, turns his head and totally ignored us. Anyway, we kept pretending nothing was happening and finally the teacher smacked the kid hard with his sweat towel and walked out (right at the end of class). It was crazy and soon afterwords he said sorry to me the teacher, but I really had no idea what happened.... It was a crazy few hours.

So today has been a pretty chill day, jusr organizing the photo album and surfing the net. Tomorrow should be the same. that is about it.

Would you rather enjoy icecream made by haggen daaz (sp?) or Ben and Jerrys?

Acup-a-ti

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:43:42 GMT

What a nice day I had. A busy day, but really I prefer it that way...my back and neck hurt less when I am not stuck all day at my desk (however hovering over this keyboard, I am beginning to feel pain in my neck and back that I avoided all day). My morning was pretty boring until right near the end of first period. Nishida sensei (who prefers being called Mr. Westfield) rushes into the staff room and comes to a halt at my desk. Breathless he asks me, "Excuse me, can you come with me please?" So I follow him down the hall to class 3-1. On the way he explains to me what he has been teaching. He has been teaching the students natural english phrases, such as how good evening is not "Goodo Eveningu" but that we native speakers say Goo-ri-vning, or "talk about it "is actually "Talkabout-t" and so on. So apparently the students didn't believe him, so he wanted to prove it by bringing me in. So in I went to speak at a natural speed (that is REALLY tough for most Japanese to understand) and AMAZE the students. After my shpiel, the students just looked at me like I was from another world (I am) and it was fun. However, for the rest of the day, the smart ass boy students would shout out everytime they saw me "Acup-a -ti" (A cup of tea). The first time I heard it it was SO out of context I had no idea what he was saying!

My shining moment of the day came when I was in 6th period. So I am a decent speller, but by no means the best (besides, why learn how to spell when I have spell checker? J/K). Needless to say, I can't spell RESTAURANT, never really bothered to note the correct spelling. My lesson for the day: making a reservation. So in big letters I spelled RESTARAUNT on the board, knowing I was probably wrong. My teachers looked at me funny and then started to make fun of me. so I said, "I know I am wrong I can't spell it right" so then he tried to correct me but I was flustered and spelled it RESTAUNANT and he just kept laughing. Finally I made him spell it for me and the boy in the front row shouts out "Kawaii (cute)" which I don't really get from boys, and we all had a good laugh. This is the same boy who upon seen the number "15" said five-teen, so I would say we are even. Also later on in this same class (by far my most fun class), I was explaining to the students that they had to MEMORIZE a script (I used gestures and pointed to my brain to drive the point home(memory, you know). Apparently my finger was to close to my eye and the same boy said "memori"? Or something like that, which I later learned was some kind of disease of the eyelid) and my teacher was laughing so hard I thought he was going to fall over. It was a good time all around. Next class we are going to send one student into the next room (my teacher's office) and have another student in the classroom, and they have to call each other (there are phones in both rooms) and recite the memorized "making a reservation" script. I anticipate it will turn into comedy hour!

Tonight I went to Rokusaburo (traditional Japanese) with Nohara Sensei (3rd dinner together this week). We had a good time and she told me (for the first time) about her plans to hopefully study abroad next year in Victoria, Canada. I am SO happy for her. She just needs permission from the Nagasaki Board of Education and then she can go. I hope she can. She said her parents think she should go because she has had a tough year at school. What a good opportunity...then she could come visit me! Dinner was amazing (especially when I told her about how my shoulders crack all the time on their own--and I attempted to show her by waving my arms in the air and nothing happened except for she laughed at me)- and dessert was a ripened melon (like melon juice) on top of milk pudding with sherbet! YUM! I guess I didn't realize that the melon stuff was pure melon, and upon eating it I proclaimed "It tastes like melon!" and Nohara Sensei said "yes" and laughed at me again.

So over all an enjoyable day. And tomorrow will be great too because I am going to the yougo Gakko (Special Education School!)

Would you rather: talk like Yoda or breath like Darth Vader for the rest of your life?

Jumping on the bandwagon

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:16:28 GMT

Well hello beautiful people. You might be asking yourselves, "Could it be? Has Jaime finally become a LJ junkie?" Well that is yet to be determined. But, it seemed like so much fun (and I don't like to not be part of the fun), so yes, I have slowly climbed aboard the bandwagon and plan to drive forward at full speed. I like to think of myself as a determined and motivated person, in getting things started at least (continuing is another story as we have all observed my lack of going to the gym that I was SO excited about). Either way, I plan to try my hardest to keep an ongoing and entertaining live journal (although I am not sure I will ever rival dursula as I only have my rare glimpses of REALLY GOOD stories and my fair share of "and then I found ten dollars" stories). So here is to plenty of mediocre stories that will hopefully keep you coming back for more.

MOS Burger. What a wonderful place. M standing for mountain, O-ocean, and S-sun (how this relates to fast-food I am not entirely sure). Tonight Nohara sensei and I ventured not too far to the heavenly sanctuary of MOS burger. Our mission: to try the new big size wasabi burger (with avocado!). Before receiving the burger we were given an instruction card on how to enjoy the wasabi to its fullest, and you better believe that Nohara sensei made sure we followed the rules, first putting a little on the avacado and tasting it, then putting some on the meat and cutting a small piece of meat to taste what she described as the "tight" taste of the wasabi, and finally putting it all over the burger to enjoy the bitterness of Wasabi. It was delicious, along with the iced cocoa and too salty fries I ordered. During the meal we were both eying the ice cake bars and later decided to order ALL 4 for dessert and we split all 4 bars of deliciousness.

On the way home we stopped by the 7-11 to grab some vegetable juice but we ended up spending the most time in a convenience store that I have ever spent and we both spent over 1500 yen on random ass crap from the man who comes to our school and sells food at lunch, who laughed when he saw us there, together, buying crap.

And now, I have created a live journal.

So in the tradition of starting something I might not finish, I am going to TRY and finish each live journal with a WOULD YOU RATHER... to ponder, because they are fun, and awful at the same time. Until next time...keep on truckin'

WOULD YOU RATHER: have glow sticks as fingers or pom-poms as hands?