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Saturday, September 27, 2003
america america
today was a major gaijin-fest, my first one in a loooong time. i actually managed to go running this morning, and man, am i going to be in trouble come oct 4 at the terry fox run. i cannot be a disgrace to my nation, the nation of terry!!! but it felt nice to be able to run and breathe in sorta fresh air, a welcome change after horridly smuggy sessions earlier in the month. i also managed to vacuum, do the dishes and sort out laundry all before my aunties came over... i think i am starting to love vacuuming. what is going on??????? but that sweeping motion of cleanliness, purging surfaces and corners of dirtiness... hoooha! cleeeeean... goooooood....
afterwards, i went to shinsaibashi to meet up with matt, and then we went to amerimura. i was quite happy that i was actually able to find the place (thanks uegaki sensei!!) and on the way there, we saw a protest, and i was so surprised that people were protesting the american occupation of iraq... quite surprised, but it buoyed my perception of japanese involvement in global affairs. when i was taking a picture of the protesters, kano sensei came out of the group and said hello! wow, so random! but so cool!!! peace peace! it reminded me a bit of the demonstrations in TO, and i was really glad they were doing this so far after the fact.... good stuff.
amerimura was well, amerimura. gangstarr and nelly blasting out from random stores, a HUGE fubu store, and various black guys loitering around, paid to make certain establishments look more authentically American... only in Japan. we actually had mexican food for dinner since matt remembered this taco stand he passed by, and it was good eats. then onto namba where i found...
POPCORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and not that horrific shoyu and butter crap...
REAL AMERICAN MICROWAVE POPCORN WITH ARTIFICIAL BUTTER FLAVOURING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i could cry tears of joy. i have gone so long without popcorn, it is quite disturbing... but now, well now, i can do anything with a bag of popcorn by my side! wooohooooooooooooooo!!! and i am not sharing!!
anyways we went to Seattle`s Best for coffee, and i got some overpriced fruity thing.. sigh, reminds me of hours at second cup. they even had the same tables that the second cup on spadina has! *tear* =)
it was a good day my friends, pop-er-iffic if you will.
today was a major gaijin-fest, my first one in a loooong time. i actually managed to go running this morning, and man, am i going to be in trouble come oct 4 at the terry fox run. i cannot be a disgrace to my nation, the nation of terry!!! but it felt nice to be able to run and breathe in sorta fresh air, a welcome change after horridly smuggy sessions earlier in the month. i also managed to vacuum, do the dishes and sort out laundry all before my aunties came over... i think i am starting to love vacuuming. what is going on??????? but that sweeping motion of cleanliness, purging surfaces and corners of dirtiness... hoooha! cleeeeean... goooooood....
afterwards, i went to shinsaibashi to meet up with matt, and then we went to amerimura. i was quite happy that i was actually able to find the place (thanks uegaki sensei!!) and on the way there, we saw a protest, and i was so surprised that people were protesting the american occupation of iraq... quite surprised, but it buoyed my perception of japanese involvement in global affairs. when i was taking a picture of the protesters, kano sensei came out of the group and said hello! wow, so random! but so cool!!! peace peace! it reminded me a bit of the demonstrations in TO, and i was really glad they were doing this so far after the fact.... good stuff.
amerimura was well, amerimura. gangstarr and nelly blasting out from random stores, a HUGE fubu store, and various black guys loitering around, paid to make certain establishments look more authentically American... only in Japan. we actually had mexican food for dinner since matt remembered this taco stand he passed by, and it was good eats. then onto namba where i found...
POPCORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and not that horrific shoyu and butter crap...
REAL AMERICAN MICROWAVE POPCORN WITH ARTIFICIAL BUTTER FLAVOURING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i could cry tears of joy. i have gone so long without popcorn, it is quite disturbing... but now, well now, i can do anything with a bag of popcorn by my side! wooohooooooooooooooo!!! and i am not sharing!!
anyways we went to Seattle`s Best for coffee, and i got some overpriced fruity thing.. sigh, reminds me of hours at second cup. they even had the same tables that the second cup on spadina has! *tear* =)
it was a good day my friends, pop-er-iffic if you will.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
campbell soup cans
I think my father was in some way meant to be a junior high/senior high school teacher, in Japan. He always talks about do-overs, but only in terms of his education. To paraphrase, if he was a native speaker, he would not have gone into computers, but something that had to do more with people, i.e. a job that would allow for constant human interaction. So here, in staffrooms, habituated by men who remind me of him, in their gruff geniality, explosive voices ignited in anger over disobedience and in impatience, I think he would really like it here. He could have intimate access to the educational system that he believes in so much, coach a sport, and luxuriate in the respect associated with sensei. It`s funny to realize what else my dad would be good at, to imagine him in variations: Fumio, Warhol-style.
I am genuinely surprised at the frequency of my parents` calls and the degree of their worry... I never expected it, and I think I already take it for granted, especially when Uncle Yukio makes fun of his big bro by making boo-hoo sounds everytime he tells me my dad called.. =) sigh. but yeah, it`s cool, and I miss them.
I actually stayed late at work today, until about 5 to 6, and honestly I didn`t really mind once I started typing stuff... it makes me feel like I`ve actually accomplished something, rather than being the lil rat that skips out early at 4:30. am i pulling a sipowicz, just being all about the job? ugh, what does that say about me????? geeeeez... what should I have for dinner...
I think my father was in some way meant to be a junior high/senior high school teacher, in Japan. He always talks about do-overs, but only in terms of his education. To paraphrase, if he was a native speaker, he would not have gone into computers, but something that had to do more with people, i.e. a job that would allow for constant human interaction. So here, in staffrooms, habituated by men who remind me of him, in their gruff geniality, explosive voices ignited in anger over disobedience and in impatience, I think he would really like it here. He could have intimate access to the educational system that he believes in so much, coach a sport, and luxuriate in the respect associated with sensei. It`s funny to realize what else my dad would be good at, to imagine him in variations: Fumio, Warhol-style.
I am genuinely surprised at the frequency of my parents` calls and the degree of their worry... I never expected it, and I think I already take it for granted, especially when Uncle Yukio makes fun of his big bro by making boo-hoo sounds everytime he tells me my dad called.. =) sigh. but yeah, it`s cool, and I miss them.
I actually stayed late at work today, until about 5 to 6, and honestly I didn`t really mind once I started typing stuff... it makes me feel like I`ve actually accomplished something, rather than being the lil rat that skips out early at 4:30. am i pulling a sipowicz, just being all about the job? ugh, what does that say about me????? geeeeez... what should I have for dinner...
Monday, September 22, 2003
observations
some more random observations about japan, because i can`t focus to write a proper blog... (whatever that means in my case)
1. i think they have japan-ized a version of the mullet... my cousin has one... eeee.... but it looks kind of cool, esp with the thin razored ends
2. apparently japanese pigeons like to come back and lay MORE eggs on one`s balcony... argh!
3. undokais are some kind of militant exercise leftover from the 50s, complete with Mao-like warm-ups
4. desserts are waaaaaaay overpriced
5. my JTE from nankominami is kind of scary when she gets mad... that is why i can never be absent for work at that school, never ever ever ever
.....
to be honest i think i am distracted because i read leo chan`s blog... and most of his recent entries were about eric. i didn`t really know him, but what leo wrote was so moving, i feel like i can`t describe it, because by doing so, i would taint the purity of emotion, since i have a tendency to wrap everything in bright and shiny bubbly plastic when i write about things. but i could feel his grief... though my capacity to feel what he feels is horribly inadequate. loss is always something that puts me on edge... when i was smaller, and sometimes even when i wasn`t, whenever my parents were significantly late, i imagined them in some kind of horrible accident or something, victim to my overactive (and slightly morbid) imagination. but nothing ever happened, it was always the Ishiguro tardy gene kicking into gear. but to think, if i lost them, anyone, i don`t know what i do. i don`t deal well with being wrenched from people i love/care for prematurely. i am a dweller i.e. it takes me a while to get over things, and to live, acutely aware with the knowledge that this person will never be seen again, no matter how much you want to see them, talk to them? i feel so weak at times like these, because I don`t think I could deal with the pain (Miah was hard enough) of losing a person i loved. i know my faith sustains me, and maybe it is okay to be weak like this, but the initial moment of loss...
thus, Dear Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for the moments of joy I have felt-viscerally-in my life. They are life to me.
some more random observations about japan, because i can`t focus to write a proper blog... (whatever that means in my case)
1. i think they have japan-ized a version of the mullet... my cousin has one... eeee.... but it looks kind of cool, esp with the thin razored ends
2. apparently japanese pigeons like to come back and lay MORE eggs on one`s balcony... argh!
3. undokais are some kind of militant exercise leftover from the 50s, complete with Mao-like warm-ups
4. desserts are waaaaaaay overpriced
5. my JTE from nankominami is kind of scary when she gets mad... that is why i can never be absent for work at that school, never ever ever ever
.....
to be honest i think i am distracted because i read leo chan`s blog... and most of his recent entries were about eric. i didn`t really know him, but what leo wrote was so moving, i feel like i can`t describe it, because by doing so, i would taint the purity of emotion, since i have a tendency to wrap everything in bright and shiny bubbly plastic when i write about things. but i could feel his grief... though my capacity to feel what he feels is horribly inadequate. loss is always something that puts me on edge... when i was smaller, and sometimes even when i wasn`t, whenever my parents were significantly late, i imagined them in some kind of horrible accident or something, victim to my overactive (and slightly morbid) imagination. but nothing ever happened, it was always the Ishiguro tardy gene kicking into gear. but to think, if i lost them, anyone, i don`t know what i do. i don`t deal well with being wrenched from people i love/care for prematurely. i am a dweller i.e. it takes me a while to get over things, and to live, acutely aware with the knowledge that this person will never be seen again, no matter how much you want to see them, talk to them? i feel so weak at times like these, because I don`t think I could deal with the pain (Miah was hard enough) of losing a person i loved. i know my faith sustains me, and maybe it is okay to be weak like this, but the initial moment of loss...
thus, Dear Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for the moments of joy I have felt-viscerally-in my life. They are life to me.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
island life
first off, i would just like to say i have totally maximized my time at the net cafe... i got a lot of stuff done, including researching into how to silkscreen t-shirts....muahahaha. so i went to ehime (insert laughter/uttered disbelief) this weekend to visit shaun, in his town... well, let`s be realistic, his hamlet of nishiumi. it was like, super gorgeous. it`s funny how tangible God`s architecture can feel in places like that... i must have sounded like an idiot, exclaiming `i can`t beeleeeeeeeeeeeve you live here!!!` over and over again, but i mean, how many people get to live at the base of the mountain, steps from the ocean, wake up to misty mornings, massive islands looming in the hazy distance. i mean to realize the enormity of Creation was a bit overwhelming... but then i got over it when i heard the monkeys will body slam you. it was just a really freeing weekend, being out in the fresh air, realizing whose world this really was, being able to raid convenience stores without any guilt (ihateallprocessedpotatoproducts), and managing to navigate my way to uwajima despite 5 train transfers... thank you God, you really take care of me. oh yeah, and shaun`s not too bad of a host... he offers a stupendous selection of instant noodles, like the 4-star, 80 yen spaghetti =)
things i realized this weekend:
1. i am, like, so not deep
2. kimchi is no longer scary!!! stink on sister, stink on
3. i am a t-shirt slogan making machine
4. some people get waaay too excited about x-men, to the point they can`t even follow sunny road properly! nerd-fest!!!!! =)
5. i look retarded when i sleep on the train (or maybe when i sleep period??)
6. rohinton mistry`s Family Matters is pretty good... a lot easier than A Fine Balance
7. liz never picks up the phone when i call
8. when i pulled into osaka station, i was v.aware of feeling of home... weird???
9. i am full of joy when i am at Joyfull
10. this is just so i have an even ten items... inspiring no?
but i can`t believe chishima-ers went to a festival this weekend! =(
and i got my books yesterday! woooohooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
first off, i would just like to say i have totally maximized my time at the net cafe... i got a lot of stuff done, including researching into how to silkscreen t-shirts....muahahaha. so i went to ehime (insert laughter/uttered disbelief) this weekend to visit shaun, in his town... well, let`s be realistic, his hamlet of nishiumi. it was like, super gorgeous. it`s funny how tangible God`s architecture can feel in places like that... i must have sounded like an idiot, exclaiming `i can`t beeleeeeeeeeeeeve you live here!!!` over and over again, but i mean, how many people get to live at the base of the mountain, steps from the ocean, wake up to misty mornings, massive islands looming in the hazy distance. i mean to realize the enormity of Creation was a bit overwhelming... but then i got over it when i heard the monkeys will body slam you. it was just a really freeing weekend, being out in the fresh air, realizing whose world this really was, being able to raid convenience stores without any guilt (ihateallprocessedpotatoproducts), and managing to navigate my way to uwajima despite 5 train transfers... thank you God, you really take care of me. oh yeah, and shaun`s not too bad of a host... he offers a stupendous selection of instant noodles, like the 4-star, 80 yen spaghetti =)
things i realized this weekend:
1. i am, like, so not deep
2. kimchi is no longer scary!!! stink on sister, stink on
3. i am a t-shirt slogan making machine
4. some people get waaay too excited about x-men, to the point they can`t even follow sunny road properly! nerd-fest!!!!! =)
5. i look retarded when i sleep on the train (or maybe when i sleep period??)
6. rohinton mistry`s Family Matters is pretty good... a lot easier than A Fine Balance
7. liz never picks up the phone when i call
8. when i pulled into osaka station, i was v.aware of feeling of home... weird???
9. i am full of joy when i am at Joyfull
10. this is just so i have an even ten items... inspiring no?
but i can`t believe chishima-ers went to a festival this weekend! =(
and i got my books yesterday! woooohooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
me from CA-NA-DA...
so today i went to shikitsu elementary, which meant i have visited all of my schools. the developments in my newly minted work life have been super interesting... first off, i would like to say that yes, i have become an air con junkie. never has air con been more desired, lusted after than this past week when it BROKE on me... sorry piece of machinery!!! i have been forced to breathe gulpfuls of musty, muggy, stale HOT air in my apartment, with the insufficient help of a small fan. so everytime i enter the teacher`s room/principal`s office, it is SUZUSHIIIIIIIIIIII times a billion. i can`t get enough of air conditioning... and a/c is probably one of the main reasons for global warming ( i think)... nevertheless, i am addicted! enough of this sweating when i`m sleeping garbage! fix my air con!!
rage rage
=?
anyways, so i thought that life at nankominami would be less than peachy after a day of sitting at my desk, not talking to anyone, falling asleep for a few seconds sporadically b/c of boredom (and being groggy after lunch), and having kimoto sensei pull frequent houdini acts on me... but then there was the softball/enkai yesterday. softball was pretty fun but i pulled a diva move and made angry when i couldn`t hit the ball in practice... that was a big HELLO??!! to let me know i was way too arrogant about my (hah) skills... and i was saved from further embarrassment when i didn`t have to play (phew). the enkai was pretty fun, i still don`t know everyone`s name, but at least i chilled with the teachers, and they are all pretty cool! the funny thing is that when we were ordering drinks, i was the 3rd person to order, so i immediately thought okay, alcohol since the 2 before me ordered beer straightaway, so i ordered some lychee/oj cocktail thing, but then the other teachers at my table ordered...CALPIS SODA AND OOLOONGCHA....
what tha haycke??!!!
i felt silly, esp when i sat at the other table and found some teachers drinking ORANGE JUICE... STRAIGHT....
either one of two things happened:
a) it was a Monday night, so granted tuesday am hangovers are not encouraged
b) reports of drunken japanese enkais have been highly exaggerated
the jury is still out on these two options...
so today tuesday, i went to shikitsu, and i was really looking forward to it. it was SO awesome!!! eeeeeehhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! i love that school... first off the principal is super nice. he should run disneyland. or at least tokyo disneyland. i was introduced to everyone, including the cafeteria cooks, janitorial assistants and the school nurse. there are only 100 kids in the whole school, so i am teaching all of the students in combined classes. the teachers seem really nice, just a bit weak on the whole english thing. it is an interesting situation. since i already love the school to bits, i am totally willing to teach by myself, making lesson plans and everything, basically reignite my Masters of English skills (wha..? lesson plans???), even though ALTs have been told explicitly that we don`t teach by ourselves. maybe i will talk to mr okada about it... just to let him know i guess. sigh. so anyways, after lunch, i wandered outside and played with the 1/2 graders... they are so genki, so awesome. in my perfect world, i would be hired at shikitsu as their full time english teacher..!..! God is so good! woooooooo hoooooooooooooooo!! and a sort of funny thing happened, when i was leaving some of the 1st grade boyos saw me and one of them followed me out of the school, with his little yellow hat and black bag on and everything. i was freaking out because i didn`t want him to be abducted or anything.. i must have looked mighty weird on the video phone (yes they have a video phone thingy to ID people at the front gate... kakkoiiiiii)
do i want to be an ECE teacher?????????????????????????????? dousuru...
and i found a camera today, that i shall get tomorrow!
and i bought new mascara!
and MOSQUITO SPRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my legs have been a popular feeding ground for the little buggers... but i missed the run today... maybe i will run with jolene on thursday. hah, i saw some huge dude with a judo 2003 shirt stuck to him like a second skin... i was tempted to take a picture of him and run away and send it to seiji. but i didn`t since that would be super nerdy. oh! kosei inoue shaved his head! hmmmmmmmmmmm =)
shoot, nypd blue is on soon, gotta get home!! hoi hooooiiiii!
so today i went to shikitsu elementary, which meant i have visited all of my schools. the developments in my newly minted work life have been super interesting... first off, i would like to say that yes, i have become an air con junkie. never has air con been more desired, lusted after than this past week when it BROKE on me... sorry piece of machinery!!! i have been forced to breathe gulpfuls of musty, muggy, stale HOT air in my apartment, with the insufficient help of a small fan. so everytime i enter the teacher`s room/principal`s office, it is SUZUSHIIIIIIIIIIII times a billion. i can`t get enough of air conditioning... and a/c is probably one of the main reasons for global warming ( i think)... nevertheless, i am addicted! enough of this sweating when i`m sleeping garbage! fix my air con!!
rage rage
=?
anyways, so i thought that life at nankominami would be less than peachy after a day of sitting at my desk, not talking to anyone, falling asleep for a few seconds sporadically b/c of boredom (and being groggy after lunch), and having kimoto sensei pull frequent houdini acts on me... but then there was the softball/enkai yesterday. softball was pretty fun but i pulled a diva move and made angry when i couldn`t hit the ball in practice... that was a big HELLO??!! to let me know i was way too arrogant about my (hah) skills... and i was saved from further embarrassment when i didn`t have to play (phew). the enkai was pretty fun, i still don`t know everyone`s name, but at least i chilled with the teachers, and they are all pretty cool! the funny thing is that when we were ordering drinks, i was the 3rd person to order, so i immediately thought okay, alcohol since the 2 before me ordered beer straightaway, so i ordered some lychee/oj cocktail thing, but then the other teachers at my table ordered...CALPIS SODA AND OOLOONGCHA....
what tha haycke??!!!
i felt silly, esp when i sat at the other table and found some teachers drinking ORANGE JUICE... STRAIGHT....
either one of two things happened:
a) it was a Monday night, so granted tuesday am hangovers are not encouraged
b) reports of drunken japanese enkais have been highly exaggerated
the jury is still out on these two options...
so today tuesday, i went to shikitsu, and i was really looking forward to it. it was SO awesome!!! eeeeeehhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! i love that school... first off the principal is super nice. he should run disneyland. or at least tokyo disneyland. i was introduced to everyone, including the cafeteria cooks, janitorial assistants and the school nurse. there are only 100 kids in the whole school, so i am teaching all of the students in combined classes. the teachers seem really nice, just a bit weak on the whole english thing. it is an interesting situation. since i already love the school to bits, i am totally willing to teach by myself, making lesson plans and everything, basically reignite my Masters of English skills (wha..? lesson plans???), even though ALTs have been told explicitly that we don`t teach by ourselves. maybe i will talk to mr okada about it... just to let him know i guess. sigh. so anyways, after lunch, i wandered outside and played with the 1/2 graders... they are so genki, so awesome. in my perfect world, i would be hired at shikitsu as their full time english teacher..!..! God is so good! woooooooo hoooooooooooooooo!! and a sort of funny thing happened, when i was leaving some of the 1st grade boyos saw me and one of them followed me out of the school, with his little yellow hat and black bag on and everything. i was freaking out because i didn`t want him to be abducted or anything.. i must have looked mighty weird on the video phone (yes they have a video phone thingy to ID people at the front gate... kakkoiiiiii)
do i want to be an ECE teacher?????????????????????????????? dousuru...
and i found a camera today, that i shall get tomorrow!
and i bought new mascara!
and MOSQUITO SPRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my legs have been a popular feeding ground for the little buggers... but i missed the run today... maybe i will run with jolene on thursday. hah, i saw some huge dude with a judo 2003 shirt stuck to him like a second skin... i was tempted to take a picture of him and run away and send it to seiji. but i didn`t since that would be super nerdy. oh! kosei inoue shaved his head! hmmmmmmmmmmm =)
shoot, nypd blue is on soon, gotta get home!! hoi hooooiiiii!
