well, the kiddles got back from their respective trips--to hokkaido, singapore, and australia--which means that i have the pleasure (not being sarcastic) of reading their travel essays. the gems:
I want to marry foreigner.
It was tire for me to eat the chinese food. It is not taste. This is not food! And juice is bat smell.
(bad smell)
Jingisukan is too smelly a ship of meat fo me to ate.
(Genghis Khan sheep meat (lamb) was too smelly for me to eat.)
Jingisukan is sheep meat. It is stink for me to eat. Also Hokkaido is famous for potato. However I didn't feel potato delicious. Potato is normal. I want to go there someday.
Singapole people are not friendly. I was very sad. I felt different Japan. I want to go to Singapole again.
And the winner...
I can't eat food.
Not good. Really not good.
I have never eat it.
Looks is grotesk.
I scream "Oh, my got!" all food.
Japanese food good teast.
I'm happy come from Japan.
Because of reasons lost -4 kilogram ♥
Thanks you Singapore!!
cracking up,
riri sensei
p.s. - four days till my foreign buttcheeks are jiggling in the US of A. prepare yourselves!!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
batshiz crazy
fancy seeing you here! after a rather lackadaisical recess on my part...sorry! i've been busy these past few weeks, and haven't blobbed appropriately. but seeing as i'm sitting at my desk at work, with no classes and nothing to do, now is the perfect time to dish.
i honestly don't know where to start! i had entirely skipped posting about my trip to fukuoka, so i'd best tell ya'll about it (and put up some pics!)
mori-sensei, a history teacher at my school, had invited me to come to fukuoka with him and a few other teachers to see kabuki. and since i could bring friends, naturally i invited tracey and keith. so on the morning of november 12, the three of us waited outside my apartment as shudo-sensei, the biology teacher, cruised up in his pimped out mini-van. we picked up mori sensei and yanagisawa sensei, too (an english teacher), and headed west for fook!
stopped for lunch at a hilarious ramen place, in which each person sat in their own wooden cubicle to slurp their ramen in solitude. the ramen was so spicy i was afraid my hanamizu (lit: nose water, aka snot) would plop into my broth. snifffff
we got into fukuoka in the early affo, and after hitting up a famous shrine (name forgotten, obviously), headed straight to kabuki. but first we snapped a few shashin:
there was a monkey.
chrysanthemumz + me
after kabook, we were ravenous, so we smooshed into a street food tent to eat some grilled meats, fish, and veg. i unknowingly ate cow tongue. ew. we then moved to another place, drank, ate oysters (i fought to keep it down) and delicious gyoza (dumplings), then i broke off from the group and went to bed. i was tired!
next day featured much shopping and faffing. then we came home, the end.
short summariessss! get ready, i'm about to kick it up a notch.
november 17: special bento lunch day for the lady teachers. for some reason, japanese fancy bento isn't really my jam. some of it was okay, but there was an entire boiled shrimp (head, eyes, all) that i clumsily covered with a lettuce leaf so i wouldn't have to eat it. i also tried a very bitter/spicy black jellied square that was quickly followed by a swig of green tea. i hid the rest with some seaweed.
after lunch, it was teacher sports day. i challenged my principal to badminton, not knowing that he's an excellent player. i'm pretty good myself, though i can't serve underhand. he decided to teach me (mistake).
after i failed a few times, he told me to hit shikkari (firmly), so i steadied myself and prepared to hit as hard as i could. i swung--and WHOOOOOSH, then--WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP--my racket flew out of my hand and across the gym, causing screams of terror. then my supervisor laughed so hard she almost peed her pants.
nov 18: karaoke with tracey, keith, and a few others. some japanese songs were featured--we're learning!!
nov 20: i took a walk in the local rice paddies, when i spotted a large hawk swooping around. then i realized it was chasing a small finchy bird. i watched in semi-horror as they flew in front of me, and the hawk CAUGHT the wee bird in its talons with a POOSH! and zoomed away.
nov 24: thanksgiving. tried to skype with my family silently at work, which largely failed since i was sniggering into my hands and couldn't talk. felt quite homesick!
nov 26: pizza lunch with carmen and carl, then to jusco (biggest dept store in nobeoka) for christmas shopping. some of my students saw me, ran up to me to shout HADDO RIRI, then stood awkwardly as they couldn't think of anything else to say. i turned red and could only laugh!
nov 28: i see there is a mini-concert at lunch featuring a "kurappingu ansamburu" (japanese english for what i thought was "crapping ensemble." i kept staring at it in disbelief until i realized it was a clapping ensemble.)
nov 29: english camp meeting in miyazaki city. on the very crowded, old train on the way back. typical afternoon weekday trains are stuffed with people, mostly high school students on their commute home. most of them sleep with their heads hanging down, or would-be-discreetly stare at foreigners and whisper to their friends, haha.
i also kept catching this mean old lady's eye, and thought to myself, "why is she glaring at me?" then, when the seat next to her freed up, she beckoned me over to take it. she then spoke to me for a few minutes, asking where i was from, etc,and was sweet as could be. just goes to show...that i'm a judgy wudgy fool.
had to go to tracey's after to pick up some junk, and as we were walking up her stairwell, she let out a gasp and began scurrying backwards. "what's wrong?!" i asked in a panic.
"BATS, BATS!"
...bats. in the stairwell. we were freaked! and as i walked back to my place, my heart ached in sympathy for tracey. "so awful," i thought, plodding up to my place.
and then i saw it. above my door. BAT BALL!!!! i was sure it would fly into my apartment once i opened the door, so i noisily shuffled my bags at it. it didn't move. i finally mustered up all my courage and slipped into my apartment, trembling! BAT BALL stayed for another day or so, then was gone.
nov 30: my celine dion debut at school. i was roped into performing at a lunchtime concert in seiun's music room, and here's a wee clip of my singing. it really wasn't my best. i got quite nervous and sang kinda poorly, but oh well. the boys in the front row kept whispering "kawaaaiiii" to each other, so it wasn't a total loss. HA! watch the vid below to see the carnnnnaaaage! jokes.
after, i was munching an apple at my desk, when my office friend imamura-san came in. upon seeing me crunch, she stopped in her tracks, and with a contented-with-life-all-is-right-in-the-world smile, she happily sighed, "aaaaa...american."
and a few minutes later, jessica-alba sensei (the one who thinks i look like jessica alba and has a mad crush on me) ambled over to congratulate me on my performance. he spluttered, "YOU...ARE-U...SEIUN...JULIETTO!"
dec 2: my supervisor, who is in charge of the brass band, invited me to come to their performance at a nursery school down the street from me. it was also the first night of "illumination," aka christmas lights!! i bundled myself up and braved the freezing rain (for a two-minute walk).
first, the preschoolers sang christmas songs (in english!), and it was so cute i might have teared up a little. DONT JUDGE ME. then the band played some songs, we were served cups of hot purple bean and mochi soup (om nom nom), and i felt full of kurisumasu spirit!
dec 3: drove with tracey down to nichinan, where kiwi tiff lives. spent a lovely evening with other JETs in her apartment, drinking beer and talking to tiff's new zealander friends on skype.
dec 5: visited one of my fellow english teachers in the hospital. he's been having liver problems, so he's on bed rest. it was my first time being inside a japanese hospital bedroom, and it really shocked me. it was a shared room for two people--two beds, two wardrobes, two tvs. that's all--low ceilings, white walls, and standing room only. i don't know the last time a room depressed me, but this room took the sad cake.
dec 6: mawmmy's birthday. happy birthdaaaay! also, i had a fun lesson with the second years (they were my students last year, but now i never teach them), telling them about my travels this past year. obviously, mattsy was heavily featured in the presentation. during Q&A, students wanted to know all about him. including, "will...you...wedding?" i sort of fudged an answer and blushed.
then a very boisterous boy raised his hand and asked, "by the way...how about marry with me?" i joked, "maybe!" and everyone went buck wild.
dec 7: christmas lesson with the first years. as we were playing a game, one of the loud boys wasn't getting called on, even though he kept jumping out of his seat and shouting, "HAI HAI!" every question.
finally, my fellow teacher called on him just as he was springing out of his seat. the boy wildly flailed his arms and legs as he jumped, toppling over his entire desk as he fell on top of it, and his seat flew to the side. the class exploded in screams and laughs, and i positively cried as he scrambled to pick his desk back up, bowing over and over and shrieking, "SUMIMASEN, SUMIMASEN!!!" (SORRY SORRY!) it was the funniest thing i have ever seen in the classroom!
i'm still snickering thinking about it! ...and on that note, perhaps i should leave you for today. long post! i'll try to post again this week about english camp, but no promises..you know how i be!
bat girl,
riri
i honestly don't know where to start! i had entirely skipped posting about my trip to fukuoka, so i'd best tell ya'll about it (and put up some pics!)
mori-sensei, a history teacher at my school, had invited me to come to fukuoka with him and a few other teachers to see kabuki. and since i could bring friends, naturally i invited tracey and keith. so on the morning of november 12, the three of us waited outside my apartment as shudo-sensei, the biology teacher, cruised up in his pimped out mini-van. we picked up mori sensei and yanagisawa sensei, too (an english teacher), and headed west for fook!
stopped for lunch at a hilarious ramen place, in which each person sat in their own wooden cubicle to slurp their ramen in solitude. the ramen was so spicy i was afraid my hanamizu (lit: nose water, aka snot) would plop into my broth. snifffff
we got into fukuoka in the early affo, and after hitting up a famous shrine (name forgotten, obviously), headed straight to kabuki. but first we snapped a few shashin:
mount aso; grandma statue
sweet potato snackin' in the car
there was a monkey.
chrysanthemumz + me
shrinin'
anywho, kabuki was in a large theater bursting with people. there were three different plays, each about an hour long. it was really fascinating to watch. kabuki casts are all-male, and the portrayals of the women were--interesting, to say the least. they screeched and whined a lot. but the costumes and staging were quite beautiful, and we luckily had english summaries of the plots, so we could understand what was going on. i surprised myself by how much i liked it--we had heard that it would be rather erudite and boring!after kabook, we were ravenous, so we smooshed into a street food tent to eat some grilled meats, fish, and veg. i unknowingly ate cow tongue. ew. we then moved to another place, drank, ate oysters (i fought to keep it down) and delicious gyoza (dumplings), then i broke off from the group and went to bed. i was tired!
next day featured much shopping and faffing. then we came home, the end.
short summariessss! get ready, i'm about to kick it up a notch.
november 17: special bento lunch day for the lady teachers. for some reason, japanese fancy bento isn't really my jam. some of it was okay, but there was an entire boiled shrimp (head, eyes, all) that i clumsily covered with a lettuce leaf so i wouldn't have to eat it. i also tried a very bitter/spicy black jellied square that was quickly followed by a swig of green tea. i hid the rest with some seaweed.
after lunch, it was teacher sports day. i challenged my principal to badminton, not knowing that he's an excellent player. i'm pretty good myself, though i can't serve underhand. he decided to teach me (mistake).
after i failed a few times, he told me to hit shikkari (firmly), so i steadied myself and prepared to hit as hard as i could. i swung--and WHOOOOOSH, then--WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP--my racket flew out of my hand and across the gym, causing screams of terror. then my supervisor laughed so hard she almost peed her pants.
nov 18: karaoke with tracey, keith, and a few others. some japanese songs were featured--we're learning!!
nov 20: i took a walk in the local rice paddies, when i spotted a large hawk swooping around. then i realized it was chasing a small finchy bird. i watched in semi-horror as they flew in front of me, and the hawk CAUGHT the wee bird in its talons with a POOSH! and zoomed away.
nov 24: thanksgiving. tried to skype with my family silently at work, which largely failed since i was sniggering into my hands and couldn't talk. felt quite homesick!
nov 26: pizza lunch with carmen and carl, then to jusco (biggest dept store in nobeoka) for christmas shopping. some of my students saw me, ran up to me to shout HADDO RIRI, then stood awkwardly as they couldn't think of anything else to say. i turned red and could only laugh!
nov 28: i see there is a mini-concert at lunch featuring a "kurappingu ansamburu" (japanese english for what i thought was "crapping ensemble." i kept staring at it in disbelief until i realized it was a clapping ensemble.)
nov 29: english camp meeting in miyazaki city. on the very crowded, old train on the way back. typical afternoon weekday trains are stuffed with people, mostly high school students on their commute home. most of them sleep with their heads hanging down, or would-be-discreetly stare at foreigners and whisper to their friends, haha.
i also kept catching this mean old lady's eye, and thought to myself, "why is she glaring at me?" then, when the seat next to her freed up, she beckoned me over to take it. she then spoke to me for a few minutes, asking where i was from, etc,and was sweet as could be. just goes to show...that i'm a judgy wudgy fool.
had to go to tracey's after to pick up some junk, and as we were walking up her stairwell, she let out a gasp and began scurrying backwards. "what's wrong?!" i asked in a panic.
"BATS, BATS!"
...bats. in the stairwell. we were freaked! and as i walked back to my place, my heart ached in sympathy for tracey. "so awful," i thought, plodding up to my place.
and then i saw it. above my door. BAT BALL!!!! i was sure it would fly into my apartment once i opened the door, so i noisily shuffled my bags at it. it didn't move. i finally mustered up all my courage and slipped into my apartment, trembling! BAT BALL stayed for another day or so, then was gone.
nov 30: my celine dion debut at school. i was roped into performing at a lunchtime concert in seiun's music room, and here's a wee clip of my singing. it really wasn't my best. i got quite nervous and sang kinda poorly, but oh well. the boys in the front row kept whispering "kawaaaiiii" to each other, so it wasn't a total loss. HA! watch the vid below to see the carnnnnaaaage! jokes.
after, i was munching an apple at my desk, when my office friend imamura-san came in. upon seeing me crunch, she stopped in her tracks, and with a contented-with-life-all-is-right-in-the-world smile, she happily sighed, "aaaaa...american."
and a few minutes later, jessica-alba sensei (the one who thinks i look like jessica alba and has a mad crush on me) ambled over to congratulate me on my performance. he spluttered, "YOU...ARE-U...SEIUN...JULIETTO!"
dec 2: my supervisor, who is in charge of the brass band, invited me to come to their performance at a nursery school down the street from me. it was also the first night of "illumination," aka christmas lights!! i bundled myself up and braved the freezing rain (for a two-minute walk).
first, the preschoolers sang christmas songs (in english!), and it was so cute i might have teared up a little. DONT JUDGE ME. then the band played some songs, we were served cups of hot purple bean and mochi soup (om nom nom), and i felt full of kurisumasu spirit!
dec 3: drove with tracey down to nichinan, where kiwi tiff lives. spent a lovely evening with other JETs in her apartment, drinking beer and talking to tiff's new zealander friends on skype.
dec 5: visited one of my fellow english teachers in the hospital. he's been having liver problems, so he's on bed rest. it was my first time being inside a japanese hospital bedroom, and it really shocked me. it was a shared room for two people--two beds, two wardrobes, two tvs. that's all--low ceilings, white walls, and standing room only. i don't know the last time a room depressed me, but this room took the sad cake.
dec 6: mawmmy's birthday. happy birthdaaaay! also, i had a fun lesson with the second years (they were my students last year, but now i never teach them), telling them about my travels this past year. obviously, mattsy was heavily featured in the presentation. during Q&A, students wanted to know all about him. including, "will...you...wedding?" i sort of fudged an answer and blushed.
then a very boisterous boy raised his hand and asked, "by the way...how about marry with me?" i joked, "maybe!" and everyone went buck wild.
dec 7: christmas lesson with the first years. as we were playing a game, one of the loud boys wasn't getting called on, even though he kept jumping out of his seat and shouting, "HAI HAI!" every question.
finally, my fellow teacher called on him just as he was springing out of his seat. the boy wildly flailed his arms and legs as he jumped, toppling over his entire desk as he fell on top of it, and his seat flew to the side. the class exploded in screams and laughs, and i positively cried as he scrambled to pick his desk back up, bowing over and over and shrieking, "SUMIMASEN, SUMIMASEN!!!" (SORRY SORRY!) it was the funniest thing i have ever seen in the classroom!
i'm still snickering thinking about it! ...and on that note, perhaps i should leave you for today. long post! i'll try to post again this week about english camp, but no promises..you know how i be!
bat girl,
riri
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