there is nothing i love more than when i ask the kids a question, and they shout out bizarro answers. this week's winners:
me: "what does the A in ALT stand for?" (they'd already deduced Language and Teacher)
rando: "AMERIKA!"
me: "nope. there are ALTs from other countries, too."
rando: "AFRICA!"
me: "....really?"
rando: "ALL OVER ZA WORLD"
me: "ooo, nice!"
rando: "ADVENTURE!!!"
me, teaching slang: "okay. what does 'hot' mean?"
rando: "ATSUI" (means temperature hot in japanese)
me: "right, but...okay, for example, i think matthew is very HOT."
rando: "I LOVE YOU!!!"
rando: "COOL BOY"
rando: "BOYFRIEND"
also, last week, i was teaching the second year international course. the teacher wanted students to read a passage aloud. when they finished, they would raise their hand. i would be reading simultaneously, and if a student beat me, i would have to give him/her a hug.
LOL, well, the idea was that obviously a student couldn't beat me. but one did. and as i meandered over to his desk, the class erupted in yelps of disbelief and utter shock. he turned purple, shakily stood up, and i held out my arms. "MAJIDE?!" (seriously?!) he stage-whispered. then i quickly hugged him, the pat-pat on the back kind, and was deafened by the roar of all the other students' screams. he sat down, looking discombobulated yet pleased, and everyone was in complete hysterics.
after, the teacher revealed that i would be leaving this summer, so the rest of the students would have to work hard to get a hug in before my departure (LOL). the boy i hugged meekly asked in japanese, "will you come back to japan?"
then another kid yelled in english, "NO, NEVAAAA!!!"
this is why i absolutely love teaching the cheeksters!
one more cheeky story. day before yesterday, we were having graduation ceremony practice in the gym. some of the second year students, whom i taught last year, were sitting diagonally maybe 20 feet away from me. i kept catching their eyes, then glancing away. finally, i looked over, and all three of them were frozen in the exact same stiff posture, enormous clown-like grins plastered on their faces, eyes bulging at me. it took everything i had not to laugh out loud, and they themselves began to titter knowing their evil plan to make me craq was working!
can't get enough of the antics. i'll miss this silly kiddos!
mischief managed,
riri
Friday, March 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
shoutouts!
i almost forgot! february was truly a red-letter month, seeing as i got cards from the following lovies:
grammy, aunt fran, aunt laura & uncle JJ (AND just got the lent book yesterday, thank you!!), mawmmy and poppy, julz, mashuu, and kendra & ryan & blake.
as my students would say - SANK YOU, EBERYWAN!
love,
riri
grammy, aunt fran, aunt laura & uncle JJ (AND just got the lent book yesterday, thank you!!), mawmmy and poppy, julz, mashuu, and kendra & ryan & blake.
as my students would say - SANK YOU, EBERYWAN!
love,
riri
Monday, February 27, 2012
feb recap!
haddo! as promised, here's a rather frothy, perfunctory account of this past month. i know i haven't been good about updating regularly, but i kind of like the abbreviated, date-by-date format. hope it's to your fancy, too!
february 6 - jessica alba sensei is sick with a sore throat, lolling around and moaning in his chair. i decide to give him my american "throat coat" tea, which apparently worked like a charm, seeing as that afternoon he was on his feet, happily screaming at the top of his lungs to surrounding teachers about gyoza dumplings and tonkatsu ramen.
feb 8 - got my evaluation results for my midyear presentation. was relieved to see i got lovely reviews from my dear friends who attended. pretty sure they were just being kind on the evaluation.
feb 10 - nothing to do in school, so i took a bunch of practice AP tests online in various subjects. use it or lose it, baby! that night, i made a huge pot of thai curry, and jordy drove up from miyakonojo to partake. trots came too, and we cracked open the champagne and chowed down on my spicy, messy curry. love girls' nights!
feb 11 - unceremoniously booted jordy outta my house (after making her a romantic breakfast of eggy mcmuffin and coffee), then hit the road with trotsky and our friend abe-chan to go to a ceramics class up in the mountains of mukabaki, a town north of nobeoka.
we arrived at the little shack-like studio, and a man and his assistant greeted us. it was so cold, so we were glad to hustle into the dusty workroom, which had a few wooden tables and benches, shelves full of pottery of all kinds, and a few wheels. the man very deliberately and gracefully showed us how to make our mugs, step by step, and i enjoyed working in the peaceful silence. it was so isolated up there in the woodsy mountains, the air was smoky and cool, and it was very serene yet fun.
after our mugs were finished, we got to watch the artist at his wheel. he made two perfectly balanced, beautifully simple bowls in less than 2 minutes. makes me wonder...what am i doing with my life?! and why don't i got no skills?!
the lovely artisan pair bowed us out of the joint about a million times, then tracey and i headed down to miyakonojo with a coupla other peeps for PROM!
the night was good. at the first place, the music was poppin' and i was guzzling wine, so i was having a dandy time! at the second place, however, there were a bunch of sketchy japanese dudes who were really irritating me with their shenanigans, and finally at about 2:30 tracey and i peaced out to our hotel, and proceeded to eat onigiri out of a trash can. ~classy~
feb 13 - sick. everyone babies me at school when i'm under the weather, and i soak it up like a sponge.
feb 14 - valentine's day! i brought a bowl of chocolates in an effort to win "miss foreign popularity," and i won bigtime!
feb 15 - lady teachers' night out! one of the sensei is pregnant, so it was kind of a farewell dinner for her maternity leave. we went to a lovely chinese restaurant in town, drank a lot, ate a veritable truckload, and gossiped like fiends.
feb 17 - my valentine's package from mattsy arrived! complete with tons of candy, brit glamour mag, and kitteh card. i was shrieking with glee! then tracey came over for our traditional "bootleg pasta" night, a night in which i make whole wheat spaghetti with pesto. supreme noms!
feb 18 - leisurely saturday. did laundry, ran 4 miles, and watched movies.
feb 19 - oita trip!
feb 20 - went out to a new indian restaurant with a buncha ALT lady friends. it was so scarfalicious, i downed a humongous nan with multiple curries, drank some mango lassi, and chatted it up with the great gals of nobeoka. unfortunately, i slept terribly, constantly waking up with severe stomach pains that ended up lasting the entire week. BISHNU, THIS IS OVER.
feb 21 - stomach knotted beyond belief. couldn't eat. worst fat tuesday OF ALL TIME.
feb 22 - stomach still contorted in pain. easiest ash wednesday fast OF ALL TIME.
also, my office friend imamura-san came to tell me how much she loves swiss miss hot chocolate. we began to talk about desserts, and she told me how much she loved the ritter chocolate i gave her for valentine's day. she then asked me how many calories a bar had. when i told her, "about 500?" her eyes bugged out. i asked, "did you eat the whole thing?! i usually eat like 4 squares," and she whispers frantically, "I ATE TWO ENTIRE BARS!!!" i DIED laughing!
i updated my "international blackboard" to write about ash wednesday. i wrote some kanji translations, since the english was tough, and multiple teachers walking by tried to help me write the correct japanese. i always crack up when i walk by my board and see that someone has kindly erased my abysmal kanji and rewritten it correctly for me!
feb 23 - tutored my friend satomi for her english literature assignment. she has to analyze a passage from "hamlet" and an excerpt from "the wasteland." we went to joyfull, a diner-type restaurant, to soak up the drink bar (all you can drink of sodas and coffees for 300 yen) while we worked. i was so absorbed in it that i didn't notice we were there for an hour and a half! it was such a welcome, rewarding change to be able to teach some interesting english to a super smart and motivated "student"! after, we went to an okonomiyaki restaurant and made absolutely BOMB cheese&mochi okonomiyaki, then yakisoba. feast!
and then, this past weekend, we had our english department trip to fukuoka. but you'll have to stay tuned, it's coming in the next post!
but before i go, please allow me to leave you with this gem. it encapsulates so much of what we ALTs experience here in japan:
(email exchange)
me: "i want to create a secret nook at my school that i can sleep in."
anonymous ALT: "i already did that, it's called the backseat of my car."
working hard, hardly working,
lilly
february 6 - jessica alba sensei is sick with a sore throat, lolling around and moaning in his chair. i decide to give him my american "throat coat" tea, which apparently worked like a charm, seeing as that afternoon he was on his feet, happily screaming at the top of his lungs to surrounding teachers about gyoza dumplings and tonkatsu ramen.
feb 8 - got my evaluation results for my midyear presentation. was relieved to see i got lovely reviews from my dear friends who attended. pretty sure they were just being kind on the evaluation.
feb 10 - nothing to do in school, so i took a bunch of practice AP tests online in various subjects. use it or lose it, baby! that night, i made a huge pot of thai curry, and jordy drove up from miyakonojo to partake. trots came too, and we cracked open the champagne and chowed down on my spicy, messy curry. love girls' nights!
feb 11 - unceremoniously booted jordy outta my house (after making her a romantic breakfast of eggy mcmuffin and coffee), then hit the road with trotsky and our friend abe-chan to go to a ceramics class up in the mountains of mukabaki, a town north of nobeoka.
we arrived at the little shack-like studio, and a man and his assistant greeted us. it was so cold, so we were glad to hustle into the dusty workroom, which had a few wooden tables and benches, shelves full of pottery of all kinds, and a few wheels. the man very deliberately and gracefully showed us how to make our mugs, step by step, and i enjoyed working in the peaceful silence. it was so isolated up there in the woodsy mountains, the air was smoky and cool, and it was very serene yet fun.
after our mugs were finished, we got to watch the artist at his wheel. he made two perfectly balanced, beautifully simple bowls in less than 2 minutes. makes me wonder...what am i doing with my life?! and why don't i got no skills?!
the lovely artisan pair bowed us out of the joint about a million times, then tracey and i headed down to miyakonojo with a coupla other peeps for PROM!
the night was good. at the first place, the music was poppin' and i was guzzling wine, so i was having a dandy time! at the second place, however, there were a bunch of sketchy japanese dudes who were really irritating me with their shenanigans, and finally at about 2:30 tracey and i peaced out to our hotel, and proceeded to eat onigiri out of a trash can. ~classy~
feb 13 - sick. everyone babies me at school when i'm under the weather, and i soak it up like a sponge.
feb 14 - valentine's day! i brought a bowl of chocolates in an effort to win "miss foreign popularity," and i won bigtime!
feb 15 - lady teachers' night out! one of the sensei is pregnant, so it was kind of a farewell dinner for her maternity leave. we went to a lovely chinese restaurant in town, drank a lot, ate a veritable truckload, and gossiped like fiends.
feb 17 - my valentine's package from mattsy arrived! complete with tons of candy, brit glamour mag, and kitteh card. i was shrieking with glee! then tracey came over for our traditional "bootleg pasta" night, a night in which i make whole wheat spaghetti with pesto. supreme noms!
feb 18 - leisurely saturday. did laundry, ran 4 miles, and watched movies.
feb 19 - oita trip!
feb 20 - went out to a new indian restaurant with a buncha ALT lady friends. it was so scarfalicious, i downed a humongous nan with multiple curries, drank some mango lassi, and chatted it up with the great gals of nobeoka. unfortunately, i slept terribly, constantly waking up with severe stomach pains that ended up lasting the entire week. BISHNU, THIS IS OVER.
feb 21 - stomach knotted beyond belief. couldn't eat. worst fat tuesday OF ALL TIME.
feb 22 - stomach still contorted in pain. easiest ash wednesday fast OF ALL TIME.
also, my office friend imamura-san came to tell me how much she loves swiss miss hot chocolate. we began to talk about desserts, and she told me how much she loved the ritter chocolate i gave her for valentine's day. she then asked me how many calories a bar had. when i told her, "about 500?" her eyes bugged out. i asked, "did you eat the whole thing?! i usually eat like 4 squares," and she whispers frantically, "I ATE TWO ENTIRE BARS!!!" i DIED laughing!
i updated my "international blackboard" to write about ash wednesday. i wrote some kanji translations, since the english was tough, and multiple teachers walking by tried to help me write the correct japanese. i always crack up when i walk by my board and see that someone has kindly erased my abysmal kanji and rewritten it correctly for me!
feb 23 - tutored my friend satomi for her english literature assignment. she has to analyze a passage from "hamlet" and an excerpt from "the wasteland." we went to joyfull, a diner-type restaurant, to soak up the drink bar (all you can drink of sodas and coffees for 300 yen) while we worked. i was so absorbed in it that i didn't notice we were there for an hour and a half! it was such a welcome, rewarding change to be able to teach some interesting english to a super smart and motivated "student"! after, we went to an okonomiyaki restaurant and made absolutely BOMB cheese&mochi okonomiyaki, then yakisoba. feast!
and then, this past weekend, we had our english department trip to fukuoka. but you'll have to stay tuned, it's coming in the next post!
but before i go, please allow me to leave you with this gem. it encapsulates so much of what we ALTs experience here in japan:
(email exchange)
me: "i want to create a secret nook at my school that i can sleep in."
anonymous ALT: "i already did that, it's called the backseat of my car."
working hard, hardly working,
lilly
oita escape
oooo, long time no see, ne? it's been a few weeks since i last posted, so for today i will regale you with my travelin' tales of my special oita weekend, and in my next post i'll fill in about february's nitty-gritty. okay desu ka? yoshhhhhhh!
where to start! well, i had been invited by my darling japanese mama to come with her to oita, the prefecture north of miyazaki, for a day of spa relaxation and possible fugu (poisonous blowfish) sampling. i didn't know exactly what the plan was, only that we would probably be going to some co-ed hot pools (she told me to bring a swimsuit. when i asked if a bikini was okay, she laughed uneasily, paused, and finally assented. my life = jokes).
i was surprised but pleased when she, her husband, and their son morito rolled up to my apartment on the morning of feb 18th. i wasn't at full genki capacity, seeing as it was 8am on a sunday morning, but i was excited for a day full of authentic japanese adventures!
things got off to a peachy start. we cruised along the winding road to oita, with ryoko showing me pictures in the backseat of her travels. she's been everywhere; this past year she went to germany, spain, france, las vegas, san francisco, korea, and more!
i was loving the photos, but as we drew closer and closer to our destination, i began to feel nauseous. not just a bit carsick, but the mouth-uncontrollably-filling-up-with-spit kind of nauseous where all you want is to take a gulp of fresh air and blow fatty chunks. unfortunately, since we were in the primo lexus, i daredn't. instead i forced myself to breathe and look out the window.
when we were about 15 minutes away from our first stop, i belched a little. mom, you'll be happy to know my lips were clossssseddddd. however, it made a noise, so i apologized. just as my mama was excusing me, it happened. i began to gag, and a river of vomit came up my throat and into my mouth. ryoko saw, and began screaming in japanese to her husband to stop the car (we were on the highway, LOL). in retrospect the entire thing was hilarious! i struggled to suppress my vom as mama frantically tried to make papa pull over. papa turned around and told me stoically, in japanese, "you must wait." HAHA! i love him.
anyway, like a boss, i didn't toss my cookies. once we parked at our destination and stepped into the freezing air, i felt infinitely better. as we walked toward a very verdant mountain, called "takasakiyama," i asked what we were doing. MONKEY WATCHIN!
the mountain is home to 4 colonies of monkeys. each colony has several THOUSAND monkeys. the best part was that there were no barriers between the saru and us. you can get really close, with no glass or metal separating you from MONKEH. and they were everywhere. big ones, little ones, mama ones, baby ones, lazy ones, crazy ones!
i was a little bit frightened when we came to the feeding area, to see so many at once, with no barrier! if they chose to attack, we'd all be goners. luckily, they were too busy with their monkey business. mama caught me staring at a monkey sucking on its own extremely long and grotesque nipple with a look of utter revulsion on my face. she just laughed at me.
groom meh
as close as i dared!
after the monkey extravaganza, we headed to the next tourist hot-spot: the temple of the great white snake! i had no idea what was going on. we walked up, and saw a tank filled with formaldehyde, holding a humongous dead snake. there was more within! (but no pictures allowed)
the temple
some sort of snake charmer/monk sat on the tatami mats with an appallingly huge snake coiling around him. a small semi-circle of parents and kids watched as he blithely moved it around. we inched in closer as he explained about the snake's history and importance in japanese. then, it was time for the snake blessing--the monk would put the snake around a guest's head, scream in japanese, then take it off. it only lasted a second.
as soon as he began, japanese papa BOLTED in terror. it made me crack up because it was something my papa insalata would do! but ryoko and i got our snake blessing. all the kids were screaming and crying throughout the entire thing, haha!
after, it was time for a quick lunch. so we headed to an italian joint up in the mountains. motto bene!
then more! off to jigoku, aka "hell," or a bunch of boiling hot pools of water and sulfur. they were beautiful, but stank to high heaven (or high hell). beppu's a hotbed, literally, of boiling springs. as you drive through the city, plumes of steam rise from all directions.
enveloped in rancid steam
appropriately enough, there was a shrine at "hell"
and a greenhouse!
so after that, we headed off to see some famous buddha statues. some were discovered very recently, in the past 100 years or so. some are over 1,000 years old! it was way out in the countryside, and very peaceful.
BAMBOOzled
next on the agenda was yufuin, a very quaint old town with preserved homes and buildings from mukashi (a long time ago). it, too, was quite serene and charming.
handmade paper dolls
shochu storage jugs. as you can see, these are from 1987? are you seeing this, papa?
we went all over yufuin, through the old cobblestone streets, to a few museums, to mom&pop specialty food shops, and a samurai house. i felt so lucky to see these tucked away sights, which i never would have discovered on my own.
however, as the afternoon wore on, i wore out. before too long it was time for dinner, and i could not have been more ready to try FUGU!
a stunning plate of fugu sashimi awaited me when i entered our tatami dining room, after going to wash up in the bathroom. i couldn't believe how beautifully thinly it was sliced, so transparent!
a work of fugu art.
there was a method to eating it. first, you had to take a blob of that whitish stuff ("fish foie gras" ryoko called it, aka raw fish liver), smear it on a piece of sashimi, then add a long green onion, then wrap it up like a taco with your chopsticks! in a bowl of soy sauce, the chives, and the red paste, we dipped our fugu tacos. it was delectable!
i had thought that the sashimi would be it. i hadn't realized we'd be eating fugu in about 5 different ways. more below!
fugu tempura and a glass of hot sake, which had the fugu fin boiled in it. papa ordered it specially for me. i tried a sip and felt ill. i announced, "it's delicious!" and drank it all. it tasted like like urine from a dead person.
then the nabe (stew) ingredients were brought out. those are fugu lips. i couldn't handle it, LOL. i begged mama not to make me eat them, and she laughed and graciously acquiesced.
makin' nabe!
the fugu feast went on and on. i was sporting a pretty impressive food baby by the time we rolled outta there. i'd say i looked about 6 months preggo with my poison fish demon baby!
all of us were comatose in the car ride home. ryoko was driving, i was in the front seat, the men in the back. we didn't talk the entire time, all of us were basking in our own happy blowfish glow.
once we got back to nobeoka, i thanked my japanese family for such a wonderful experience, then slogged up my stairs to pass out and pray that the fugu chef knew what he was doing! and to feel so grateful for my amazingly kind and generous japanese family.
mushy, fishy, unpoisoned,
lilly
where to start! well, i had been invited by my darling japanese mama to come with her to oita, the prefecture north of miyazaki, for a day of spa relaxation and possible fugu (poisonous blowfish) sampling. i didn't know exactly what the plan was, only that we would probably be going to some co-ed hot pools (she told me to bring a swimsuit. when i asked if a bikini was okay, she laughed uneasily, paused, and finally assented. my life = jokes).
i was surprised but pleased when she, her husband, and their son morito rolled up to my apartment on the morning of feb 18th. i wasn't at full genki capacity, seeing as it was 8am on a sunday morning, but i was excited for a day full of authentic japanese adventures!
things got off to a peachy start. we cruised along the winding road to oita, with ryoko showing me pictures in the backseat of her travels. she's been everywhere; this past year she went to germany, spain, france, las vegas, san francisco, korea, and more!
i was loving the photos, but as we drew closer and closer to our destination, i began to feel nauseous. not just a bit carsick, but the mouth-uncontrollably-filling-up-with-spit kind of nauseous where all you want is to take a gulp of fresh air and blow fatty chunks. unfortunately, since we were in the primo lexus, i daredn't. instead i forced myself to breathe and look out the window.
when we were about 15 minutes away from our first stop, i belched a little. mom, you'll be happy to know my lips were clossssseddddd. however, it made a noise, so i apologized. just as my mama was excusing me, it happened. i began to gag, and a river of vomit came up my throat and into my mouth. ryoko saw, and began screaming in japanese to her husband to stop the car (we were on the highway, LOL). in retrospect the entire thing was hilarious! i struggled to suppress my vom as mama frantically tried to make papa pull over. papa turned around and told me stoically, in japanese, "you must wait." HAHA! i love him.
anyway, like a boss, i didn't toss my cookies. once we parked at our destination and stepped into the freezing air, i felt infinitely better. as we walked toward a very verdant mountain, called "takasakiyama," i asked what we were doing. MONKEY WATCHIN!
the mountain is home to 4 colonies of monkeys. each colony has several THOUSAND monkeys. the best part was that there were no barriers between the saru and us. you can get really close, with no glass or metal separating you from MONKEH. and they were everywhere. big ones, little ones, mama ones, baby ones, lazy ones, crazy ones!
i was a little bit frightened when we came to the feeding area, to see so many at once, with no barrier! if they chose to attack, we'd all be goners. luckily, they were too busy with their monkey business. mama caught me staring at a monkey sucking on its own extremely long and grotesque nipple with a look of utter revulsion on my face. she just laughed at me.
groom meh
as close as i dared!after the monkey extravaganza, we headed to the next tourist hot-spot: the temple of the great white snake! i had no idea what was going on. we walked up, and saw a tank filled with formaldehyde, holding a humongous dead snake. there was more within! (but no pictures allowed)
the templesome sort of snake charmer/monk sat on the tatami mats with an appallingly huge snake coiling around him. a small semi-circle of parents and kids watched as he blithely moved it around. we inched in closer as he explained about the snake's history and importance in japanese. then, it was time for the snake blessing--the monk would put the snake around a guest's head, scream in japanese, then take it off. it only lasted a second.
as soon as he began, japanese papa BOLTED in terror. it made me crack up because it was something my papa insalata would do! but ryoko and i got our snake blessing. all the kids were screaming and crying throughout the entire thing, haha!
after, it was time for a quick lunch. so we headed to an italian joint up in the mountains. motto bene!
then more! off to jigoku, aka "hell," or a bunch of boiling hot pools of water and sulfur. they were beautiful, but stank to high heaven (or high hell). beppu's a hotbed, literally, of boiling springs. as you drive through the city, plumes of steam rise from all directions.
enveloped in rancid steam
appropriately enough, there was a shrine at "hell"
and a greenhouse!so after that, we headed off to see some famous buddha statues. some were discovered very recently, in the past 100 years or so. some are over 1,000 years old! it was way out in the countryside, and very peaceful.
BAMBOOzled
next on the agenda was yufuin, a very quaint old town with preserved homes and buildings from mukashi (a long time ago). it, too, was quite serene and charming.
handmade paper dolls
shochu storage jugs. as you can see, these are from 1987? are you seeing this, papa?we went all over yufuin, through the old cobblestone streets, to a few museums, to mom&pop specialty food shops, and a samurai house. i felt so lucky to see these tucked away sights, which i never would have discovered on my own.
however, as the afternoon wore on, i wore out. before too long it was time for dinner, and i could not have been more ready to try FUGU!
a stunning plate of fugu sashimi awaited me when i entered our tatami dining room, after going to wash up in the bathroom. i couldn't believe how beautifully thinly it was sliced, so transparent!
a work of fugu art.there was a method to eating it. first, you had to take a blob of that whitish stuff ("fish foie gras" ryoko called it, aka raw fish liver), smear it on a piece of sashimi, then add a long green onion, then wrap it up like a taco with your chopsticks! in a bowl of soy sauce, the chives, and the red paste, we dipped our fugu tacos. it was delectable!
i had thought that the sashimi would be it. i hadn't realized we'd be eating fugu in about 5 different ways. more below!
fugu tempura and a glass of hot sake, which had the fugu fin boiled in it. papa ordered it specially for me. i tried a sip and felt ill. i announced, "it's delicious!" and drank it all. it tasted like like urine from a dead person.
then the nabe (stew) ingredients were brought out. those are fugu lips. i couldn't handle it, LOL. i begged mama not to make me eat them, and she laughed and graciously acquiesced.
makin' nabe!the fugu feast went on and on. i was sporting a pretty impressive food baby by the time we rolled outta there. i'd say i looked about 6 months preggo with my poison fish demon baby!
all of us were comatose in the car ride home. ryoko was driving, i was in the front seat, the men in the back. we didn't talk the entire time, all of us were basking in our own happy blowfish glow.
once we got back to nobeoka, i thanked my japanese family for such a wonderful experience, then slogged up my stairs to pass out and pray that the fugu chef knew what he was doing! and to feel so grateful for my amazingly kind and generous japanese family.
mushy, fishy, unpoisoned,
lilly
Saturday, February 4, 2012
hilarious flashback
i never posted about english camp, but there was one moment that was so funny i almost peed my professional pants. and whenever i think about it i cannot stop a smile from creepin' up ma face!
one of the students spoke english perfectly fluently, and with an american accent, because he had lived in america for like 8 years or something. naturally, when his group gave their presentation on saving energy (in english), he did a lot of the talking. it was fast-paced and quite technical. after, there was time for questions. i think the fluent kid's name was kai, so we'll go with that:
rando student: "mr. kai...your english...NUMBA ONE."
kai: "thanks"
rando student: "can't understand kai english. too difficult!"
kai: "well that's why i put pictures on the..."
rando, interrupting: "HAI, DOOOMMMOOOOO!!!" (yes, thank youuu!!!)
omg, i feel like this does not do the scene justice at all, but everyone there erupted into hysterical laughter. i guess you had to be there.
inside jokily,
riri
one of the students spoke english perfectly fluently, and with an american accent, because he had lived in america for like 8 years or something. naturally, when his group gave their presentation on saving energy (in english), he did a lot of the talking. it was fast-paced and quite technical. after, there was time for questions. i think the fluent kid's name was kai, so we'll go with that:
rando student: "mr. kai...your english...NUMBA ONE."
kai: "thanks"
rando student: "can't understand kai english. too difficult!"
kai: "well that's why i put pictures on the..."
rando, interrupting: "HAI, DOOOMMMOOOOO!!!" (yes, thank youuu!!!)
omg, i feel like this does not do the scene justice at all, but everyone there erupted into hysterical laughter. i guess you had to be there.
inside jokily,
riri
Thursday, February 2, 2012
winter winds
brrrrrr...oh hello there! i was just trying to make myself into a human ball to conserve warmth. it is frigid today. i was walking to the post office after work, and the wind was so bitterly icy, so piercing despite the clear sky and sun, that i began to uncontrollably moan as i willed myself forward. ohhhhh the brutality! the only thing worse is when i have to wash my hands, and the water feels like liquid nitrogen against my brittle skin. no hot taps in japanese boonies!
but in cheerier news, it's been a lovely week since my last blobbin'. last week, i had my evaluation with my principal. last year, the veepee came too, and translated. this year, i was on my own. so i had to mosey down to the principal's office, meekly poke my head in, and ask my darling kocho if he could plz evalu8 mea.
i love my kocho. he is genteel and shy and all smiles. he invited me to sit on the big squashy sofa, and proceeded to give me about 5 minutes' worth of feedback, entirely in japanese. the only things i managed to understand were a bunch of subarashiis (wonderful), #1 ALT, thanks for helping during cleaning time (haha), and questions about what i would do upon returning to amerika (besides question my existence). i then learned that my sweet kocho is transferring schools in march, which makes me so sad that i can't stand it. moving on!
the next day, friday, was the ALT leadership development conference in the big fat city of miyazaki. trots, keith and i drove down that morning, and joined our fellow bootleg english teachers for a day of profesh-ness. it was really informative and quite interesting, though i was very nervous during my presentation and i think came off as being slightly hysterical. oh, well! everyone was nice about it.
after the conf, it was ZOMMMBIIEEE PROOOM. before getting ready, we wolfed down some delish burgers, then headed back to our hotel to beautify and horrify. i decided to go as "bait," because i really couldn't be bothered with full-face undeadening. nevertheless, our group gave japanese people on the street quite a shock as we headed to the venue.
and then, it was drinking and dancing all night! and i made fer some quality bait.
oh yes...on the way home, we saw a japanese woman crouched on the street, surrounded by a pool of her own vomit. lovely! and the next morning, several people were sleeping on benches. the local sights are strange and wondrous. almost as great as when irish john slept near-naked on the beach with a water bottle as a pillow.
but i digress! trots and keith and i shopped at the MAWL that afternoon (where tracey bought a hot dress and i bought some cutesy shoes), then headed back to nobeokely dokely.
THIS WEEK:
monday i went to japanese mama's house for dinner, which of course was rich and varied as usual. she and her husband realized i've never had fugu, aka blowfish sashimi (the poisonous kind), so next time that's on the agenda! they seriously spoil me.
yesterday was the kiddles' marathon. saito sensei, who sits across from me in the office and is always really friendly and warm despite not speaking a wink of english, invited me to run with her and the students. i agreed, since the girls were only doing a 5k. i knew it would be hilarious. we were the only two teachers running. a few of the other young teachers were supervising while cycling on bicycles, but we were deep in the throng! all the students were amazed, and cheered us on very happily. i loved it! plus, for lunch a bunch of school moms made pork and veg soup in humongous cauldrons outside.
oh yes, and earlier in the morning, i was fiddling around at my desk. my office friend, imamura-san, came up to say hello. here's how our conversation went (though it was all in japanese, i'll type it in english for convenience's sake)
imamura, tugging at my turtleneck: "cute!"
me: "thanks!"
imamura: "where's it from?"
me: "ahhh, it's from an american store. but they have one in fukuoka! it's called 'banana republic'"
imamura, her face suddenly blank: "ba..nah...nah?"
yessirree! aaand what happened today? welp, besides having a hilarious class in which i demonstrated a british accent to raucous applause and screams, i had to walk to the post office (like i said in the beginning of this post. see, it's all circular or whatever. literary GOLD). gaggles of schoolkids were walking home from school, and they all poked and prodded each other, giggling wildly, as i'd greet them. they all politely greeted me back, then would shriek in delight.
then, i realized two wee ones were following me. i figured they were probably on their way home, and trying to get a better look at the foreign weirdo as they walked. but then, once i reached an intersection, i heard a soft, "sumimassseeeeeen!"
i turned around to see two little girls standing expectantly, one holding a pen and paper. she very sweetly asked me to sign the paper, and i laughed and agreed. i introduced myself, and wrote my name in english and japanese, and asked their names. they very shyly introduced themselves, then sort of skittered away, all smiles. so cute!
and then i came home to a lovely note from auntie fran. thank you, fran!!
...and now i will clutch my hot water bottle like a rat until it's time to fall asleep.
yes, this is my life,
riri
but in cheerier news, it's been a lovely week since my last blobbin'. last week, i had my evaluation with my principal. last year, the veepee came too, and translated. this year, i was on my own. so i had to mosey down to the principal's office, meekly poke my head in, and ask my darling kocho if he could plz evalu8 mea.
i love my kocho. he is genteel and shy and all smiles. he invited me to sit on the big squashy sofa, and proceeded to give me about 5 minutes' worth of feedback, entirely in japanese. the only things i managed to understand were a bunch of subarashiis (wonderful), #1 ALT, thanks for helping during cleaning time (haha), and questions about what i would do upon returning to amerika (besides question my existence). i then learned that my sweet kocho is transferring schools in march, which makes me so sad that i can't stand it. moving on!
the next day, friday, was the ALT leadership development conference in the big fat city of miyazaki. trots, keith and i drove down that morning, and joined our fellow bootleg english teachers for a day of profesh-ness. it was really informative and quite interesting, though i was very nervous during my presentation and i think came off as being slightly hysterical. oh, well! everyone was nice about it.
after the conf, it was ZOMMMBIIEEE PROOOM. before getting ready, we wolfed down some delish burgers, then headed back to our hotel to beautify and horrify. i decided to go as "bait," because i really couldn't be bothered with full-face undeadening. nevertheless, our group gave japanese people on the street quite a shock as we headed to the venue.
and then, it was drinking and dancing all night! and i made fer some quality bait.
oh yes...on the way home, we saw a japanese woman crouched on the street, surrounded by a pool of her own vomit. lovely! and the next morning, several people were sleeping on benches. the local sights are strange and wondrous. almost as great as when irish john slept near-naked on the beach with a water bottle as a pillow.
but i digress! trots and keith and i shopped at the MAWL that afternoon (where tracey bought a hot dress and i bought some cutesy shoes), then headed back to nobeokely dokely.
THIS WEEK:
monday i went to japanese mama's house for dinner, which of course was rich and varied as usual. she and her husband realized i've never had fugu, aka blowfish sashimi (the poisonous kind), so next time that's on the agenda! they seriously spoil me.
yesterday was the kiddles' marathon. saito sensei, who sits across from me in the office and is always really friendly and warm despite not speaking a wink of english, invited me to run with her and the students. i agreed, since the girls were only doing a 5k. i knew it would be hilarious. we were the only two teachers running. a few of the other young teachers were supervising while cycling on bicycles, but we were deep in the throng! all the students were amazed, and cheered us on very happily. i loved it! plus, for lunch a bunch of school moms made pork and veg soup in humongous cauldrons outside.
oh yes, and earlier in the morning, i was fiddling around at my desk. my office friend, imamura-san, came up to say hello. here's how our conversation went (though it was all in japanese, i'll type it in english for convenience's sake)
imamura, tugging at my turtleneck: "cute!"
me: "thanks!"
imamura: "where's it from?"
me: "ahhh, it's from an american store. but they have one in fukuoka! it's called 'banana republic'"
imamura, her face suddenly blank: "ba..nah...nah?"
yessirree! aaand what happened today? welp, besides having a hilarious class in which i demonstrated a british accent to raucous applause and screams, i had to walk to the post office (like i said in the beginning of this post. see, it's all circular or whatever. literary GOLD). gaggles of schoolkids were walking home from school, and they all poked and prodded each other, giggling wildly, as i'd greet them. they all politely greeted me back, then would shriek in delight.
then, i realized two wee ones were following me. i figured they were probably on their way home, and trying to get a better look at the foreign weirdo as they walked. but then, once i reached an intersection, i heard a soft, "sumimassseeeeeen!"
i turned around to see two little girls standing expectantly, one holding a pen and paper. she very sweetly asked me to sign the paper, and i laughed and agreed. i introduced myself, and wrote my name in english and japanese, and asked their names. they very shyly introduced themselves, then sort of skittered away, all smiles. so cute!
and then i came home to a lovely note from auntie fran. thank you, fran!!
...and now i will clutch my hot water bottle like a rat until it's time to fall asleep.
yes, this is my life,
riri
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
shady's back
ahoy hoy! what have we here? riri's burogu (blog) is BACK IN BIZZNAZZ! release the hounds! --i mean...confetti!
my darlings, it has been over a month since my last update, and i should apologize! i've been traversing the globe, whizzing back and forth between nihon and amerika. and what a lovely time it was...i spent time with family, showed mattsy all around california, ate pizza and hamburglars more times than i could count, and was surrounded with english---glorious, glorious english!
however, i've been back in j-land for a few weeks now, so i suppose i should tell you about its happenings. here goes! a calendarific bird's-eye view of ma life.
jan 8: arrive in tokyo, hungry&cold&tired. singapore airlines has lost my baggage, whoopsies. (they were kind enough to deliver it to my door a few days later, which was great since i didn't have to lug it myself!)
jan 9: fly back to miyazaki. burst into my dusty little apartment, which had been neglected for two weeks. it did and did not feel like home.
jan 10: back 2 skool. no classes, which meant i was plopped at my desk with eff-all to do. began looking at jobs, and subscribed to several websites that send me career email updates. soul crushing.
jan 14: miyakonojo world festa, aka a smattering of ALTs' respective countries' booths, some fabulous performances, and lots of "internationalization," a word which, for me, lost all meaning a long time ago.
after, jordy and a kagoshima/los angeles ALT named justin and i went to get miyakonojo's famous tomato ramen. i would marry tomato ramen if i could, it is culinary perfection. also, like a total fruit, justin was going to study at the liberry that affo, but we completely wrecked his plans (purposefully).
that night, we and many others hit up "old earth," a hotspot for foreign faces (aka a bar). it was nomihoudai, but usually with "all you can drink," there's a catch. for example, at some places, beer is not included. however, for this nomihoudai, all the available alcohol was simply on a table outside (it was so cold that the drinks were nicly cooled). i had two asahi beers. buck wild.
jan 17: went for a run. the usual...flocks of junior high kids biking home, gawping at me. usually when i say "konnichiwa" they all politely respond, then once they've biked a safe distance, i hear a lone, warbling, "haaaddddooooo," and lots of giggling.
jan 19: i write an email containing the words "all i want is to crawl back into bed like a worm." pretty much sums it up. the cold is demotivating, to say the least! ...but i perked back up when my english teachers invited me to their fukuoka trip in late february. we're gonna see cirque du soleil! and we're staying in the hilton?! LOL these ain't like the teachers from murica, i know that much.
came home and ate a loose percy pig that i had found among my pillows.
jan 20: ramen dinner at tatsuya's shop with trots. blissssss. both of us are always bursting with the oily broth after, but it's too good!
jan 21: reserved flights to korea with my one and only matthew! march 31-april 7! bi bim bap me. oh yes, also went shopping with tracey to help pick out her zombie costume for this week's zombie prom. ultimate success! now we just have to figure out how to make fake blood...
jan 23: played badminton at the gym with a group of japanese people + tracey. fun! it was all very organized and polite, and of course i was terrible. HA, and i got a stray birdie right to the eyeball! after i let out a strangled scream of pain/shock, i gingerly opened my bungled eye to see tracey on the ground, laughing at me till she cried. bloppa. (australian word we made up(?) meaning "idiot")
and today: i showed my kiddos "the fresh prince of bel-air" theme song. beforehand, i explained the title, prompting a girl to shriek, "MASHUU?" LOL, he wishes he was the fresh prince! anyway, the kids were clearly bamboozled by the video, and gave me a roomful of blank stares, standard.
and i signed my contract papers. i'm going home in july.
not thinking about it,
riri
my darlings, it has been over a month since my last update, and i should apologize! i've been traversing the globe, whizzing back and forth between nihon and amerika. and what a lovely time it was...i spent time with family, showed mattsy all around california, ate pizza and hamburglars more times than i could count, and was surrounded with english---glorious, glorious english!
however, i've been back in j-land for a few weeks now, so i suppose i should tell you about its happenings. here goes! a calendarific bird's-eye view of ma life.
jan 8: arrive in tokyo, hungry&cold&tired. singapore airlines has lost my baggage, whoopsies. (they were kind enough to deliver it to my door a few days later, which was great since i didn't have to lug it myself!)
jan 9: fly back to miyazaki. burst into my dusty little apartment, which had been neglected for two weeks. it did and did not feel like home.
jan 10: back 2 skool. no classes, which meant i was plopped at my desk with eff-all to do. began looking at jobs, and subscribed to several websites that send me career email updates. soul crushing.
jan 14: miyakonojo world festa, aka a smattering of ALTs' respective countries' booths, some fabulous performances, and lots of "internationalization," a word which, for me, lost all meaning a long time ago.
after, jordy and a kagoshima/los angeles ALT named justin and i went to get miyakonojo's famous tomato ramen. i would marry tomato ramen if i could, it is culinary perfection. also, like a total fruit, justin was going to study at the liberry that affo, but we completely wrecked his plans (purposefully).
that night, we and many others hit up "old earth," a hotspot for foreign faces (aka a bar). it was nomihoudai, but usually with "all you can drink," there's a catch. for example, at some places, beer is not included. however, for this nomihoudai, all the available alcohol was simply on a table outside (it was so cold that the drinks were nicly cooled). i had two asahi beers. buck wild.
jan 17: went for a run. the usual...flocks of junior high kids biking home, gawping at me. usually when i say "konnichiwa" they all politely respond, then once they've biked a safe distance, i hear a lone, warbling, "haaaddddooooo," and lots of giggling.
jan 19: i write an email containing the words "all i want is to crawl back into bed like a worm." pretty much sums it up. the cold is demotivating, to say the least! ...but i perked back up when my english teachers invited me to their fukuoka trip in late february. we're gonna see cirque du soleil! and we're staying in the hilton?! LOL these ain't like the teachers from murica, i know that much.
came home and ate a loose percy pig that i had found among my pillows.
jan 20: ramen dinner at tatsuya's shop with trots. blissssss. both of us are always bursting with the oily broth after, but it's too good!
jan 21: reserved flights to korea with my one and only matthew! march 31-april 7! bi bim bap me. oh yes, also went shopping with tracey to help pick out her zombie costume for this week's zombie prom. ultimate success! now we just have to figure out how to make fake blood...
jan 23: played badminton at the gym with a group of japanese people + tracey. fun! it was all very organized and polite, and of course i was terrible. HA, and i got a stray birdie right to the eyeball! after i let out a strangled scream of pain/shock, i gingerly opened my bungled eye to see tracey on the ground, laughing at me till she cried. bloppa. (australian word we made up(?) meaning "idiot")
and today: i showed my kiddos "the fresh prince of bel-air" theme song. beforehand, i explained the title, prompting a girl to shriek, "MASHUU?" LOL, he wishes he was the fresh prince! anyway, the kids were clearly bamboozled by the video, and gave me a roomful of blank stares, standard.
and i signed my contract papers. i'm going home in july.
not thinking about it,
riri
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