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Livin’ on 東京 Times

I had meant to mention this on Wednesday. But I didn’t. Out of the blue, I decided to take a lot of 年休 *nenkyuu-> paid yearly leave*.

And then I ran away to Tokyo.

But I’ll be coming back to the land of mentaiko, tonkotsu ramen and bijin tomorrow *yeah, go Fukuoka…I feel fatter already*. The 年休 won’t stop there, though. I’ll have a visitor for the first week and a half of August, and will just go on continuing my 年休 until he leaves for his visit home to Canada on the ninth.

Anyways, yeah. One of the reasons for visiting Tokyo last minute was to meet up with one of my good friends who has just arrived in Tokyo for the new JET orientation seminar before being shipped off to Okinawa. We had a good time eating, drinking, and being merry. Throw in a shirtless man from another table and an opossum hand puppet (bought earlier that day) trying to get to the beer in Ian’s giant jokki *beer mug* (one of the waitresses had to turn away to hide her attempts at not laughing directly at my puppeteering mastery), and it was fun times.

I bought several shirts here, too. Now I am just too fashionable.

And now I will go back to enjoying Tokyo. Later.

*Scream!* Driver’s License Horror!

I just realized that I don’t have until August to get my Japanese license.  I have until the 29th of July (permit is from July 30th 2006 until then)…which means the 27th of July (the last weekday), which means THIS FRIDAY!!!

Is there any way I will be able to pass the test in only two attempts???

Only time will tell (I’ll have to weasel a little insider info from Kristen when she finishes her first attempt today).  If I don’t pass it by Friday, I’ll just have to sweet-talk my Canadian visitor (who only has to get his license converted…no driving test for him!) to drive me to the testing center.

Yes, if you haven’t heard, it’s…err…tricky passing the driver’s test (so the word on the street is…and the US of A is one of the sucker countries that has to take the driving test).  A lot of details.  A lot of stupid: walking around your car, looking under it, checking the engine, adjusting mirrors that don’t need adjusting.  I’ll need to check up on the specifics again.  I hear that it’s easier if you’re pretty.  Hmm.

Did I put this off too long?  Of course!  Is anyone who knows me surprised?  Never!

I’ll update you on my progress (or lack thereof).

“If Teachers are Prisoners, Then School is the _____”

It’s the first real day of Summer Vacation, and already I can feel its oppressive crush begin to envelop me in hopeless deep despair.  Perhaps I’m sounding too emo.  Let me try again.

It’s the first real day of Summer Vacation, and already the teachers have tried rigging up the TV to play something, anything from the outside world that is starting to become a dim memory…a time of unhindered joy, all skipping through fields and comparing who found the cooler bug.  I stare out through the windows of the school,my self-imposed prison.  Hmm…once more.

It’s the first real day of Summer Vacation, and already I’m debating how to properly smuggle my pet turtle back with me when I get the hell out of here and take the next non-return flight to the Americas.

Seriously though?  I think this is the general thought process of at least 90% of the teachers…those that haven’t given up already.  That lovely, “god, there has to be something to do around here!”.

No, I don’t really need any of your suggestions as to what to do to keep my Summer entertaining and productive.  I know them already.

I just need to wallow a bit more.

One of the teachers wore jeans today.  Two are wearing shorts.  One looked like a boy scout ready for a hike.  It’s all very cute.  And I’m sure the warde…err, I mean principle, will get around to commenting on my far too casual clothing when I start wearing what the other teachers are…whenever he gets around to checking in on us (is he even here?).  Not that I care.  I don’t take well to double standards.

A Pleasant Wake-Up Call

Well, I got the call today at 10:15AM (admittedly I was still asleep).  I had started answering the phone with a “hello?” because Japanese people just hadn’t been calling my keitai all that much.  But this time was different.  In Japanese, I got a lady who said to me, “Hi, is this Charity?  Your copy of the last Harry Potter book is reserved and waiting for you at the Kinokuniya bookstore in Kurume.”  “Oh!  Thank you!” I said.  “Please come pick it up at Counter B.”  “Thanks!”, I said as I hopped out of bed.  No sleeping in for me.  The last book awaits!

Oh, and if you spoil the ending for me or anyone else through the comment section, I will have to practice unholy magic on you…which mainly consists of no competition prizes…and a more serious goodbye to my site (I know, horrible things).  I will be swift in my fury.  Do not invoke this wrath.

Now I’m off to Kurume (the closest big city, forty minutes away)!  Wee!!!

I Am Just Sooo Hip

One of the girls during souji *cleaning* time asked me if I knew who Beyonce was.  Yes.  Of course I do.  “Do you know Destiny’s Child?  I love them!”, she said.  I mentioned a song or two that I liked.  “I like ‘Say My Name’!” she exclaimed.  She didn’t really know what the song’s meaning was, so I explained it as best as I could.  She then asked if I knew who Bow Wow was.  Yes.  I did.  She was all, “ooh, I really like him!”.  I said that I knew who he was when he was just “Li’l Bow Wow”.  And that reminded me of something.  “You know Snoop Dogg?  Bow Wow is his nephew.”  Since nephew isn’t a word they knew, I went on to explain it as “he’s Snoop Dogg’s kyoudai no *sibling’s* (they’re definitely not going to know ‘sibling’) child.”  It didn’t help that I didn’t know the Japanese word for “nephew” (though now that I think about it…I did know the word for uncle…oh well…the more English they have to suffer through, the better).  Recognition was beginning to dawn on them.  “He’s his cousin??”  They said.  No, that’s not it.  Then they said a word I wasn’t sure about (probably “nephew” in Japanese), so I drew a little family tree on the board.  The girl all but freaked to know this information.  I guess I had just assumed this information was as commonplace as it was back in the US.  “Yeah, both their names have to do with dogs”, I finished.

As souji was now over, and she was putting up the roller-tape broom thingy she had been half-heartedly toying with through the entire souji period, I passed her and decided to impart more of my mystical gossipy knowledge to her.

“Do you know Jay-Z?”  I asked.  “Yes!”, she said.  “Jay-Z and Beyonce are a couple.”  *insert OMG freaking-out student here*  Wow.  I am just too hip and cool for these students.

Just showin’ my awesome, one day at a time!

Yamakasa Preview

Because I didn’t want to keep you guys waiting, even when it may take me a minute more (or never) to post the full typhoony, evil old lady, boy-chased, pants-less men, shoyu ramen, karaoked story down…here is my favorite pic, taken by my keitai.

Behold!

Pants-less men!

There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them.

Of course, I only took pics from the back to protect their identity.  I’m a kind soul like that.

Last Day of School Before Summer Vacation

Ok, so, “Summer Vacation” is a strong word.  It should sound more like “Summer Not-so-much-homework-as-usual-but-still-go-to-club-constantly Rest Break Time”.  And don’t forget that the new school year begins in April (or March, depending) here, so there’s no graduation to deal with yet, and a month and a half of sitting at my desk, writing the Great American Novel, and attending club everyday.  I will discover my inner (hopefully not outer) geek, and lots of creativity will spring forth from my fingertips.

All of the elementary school teachers kept asking me, as I was going to the last visits before break, where I was going for vacation.  I would say, “I’m going to Yoshii Middle School everyday!”.  They would freeze, as if processing this information again in case they misunderstood my Japanese, then start laughing, saying, “Me too!  I’ll also be here (in whichever elementary school I was in at that time) everyday!”  Good times.

Basically what I meant to say is that today was the last day of classes, and now begins, until September third, the period of kids having fun, and teachers trying to stay awake at their desks.  If I remember from the first month I arrived here, the teachers all became rather chummy with everyone.  Much loud guffaw-ing ensued (or am I thinking of Winter Break, which was also pretty loud…and then there was the loud guffaw-ing between myself and one of the temp English teachers from last year that had all of the other teachers staring in bewilderment a couple of times). But I digress. A month and a half of slacking off without guilt of being a slug is ahead of me. Maybe I’ll do some crazy Super ALT planning before classes start up again. Or not. Either way, it’s up to me, and no external force, as to what I shall do with my time.

Maybe I’ll use the time to plan the entire next year’s worth of 英会話 *English Conversation Class*. Yeah, that’s a nice, fanciful, thought. I’ll probably think about that for as long as it takes for me to load the newest Penny Arcade webcomic.

No, I haven’t forgotten about the pants-less men festival (sorry to all my stalkers).  I haven’t posted on it yet because it turned out that about all of my pictures came out blurry (damn you, insufficient lighting!!!), so I’m going to have to “borrow” video and pics from my friends, youtube’ers etc. etc.

I’m sure you can’t wait for the visuals, can you?

Now, Where Was I?

It’s good to see that people really take notice when I basically disappear from the face of the blogging world.  I’ve been keeping myself busy.  I have stories to tell (go, pants-less man festival! *I took pictures*), but…yeah.  For some reason, I haven’t been able to find the USB cord that connects my camera to my computer for weeks, and that really halts such fun posts that really need images to be properly appreciated.

…

Holy crap!

I just found the camera cord!  Well!  There you have it.

Now I have to blog about those men (and the, ah, festival they were in).

One Day is Much Like the Other, and So On and So Forth

It’s not that I hate posting these days.

My apathy level is just super high.

I want to snap out of it and go back to writing, but…at the same time I don’t care (apathy and all, you know).

Perhaps this is a direct result of me having recently shut my brain off.  To keep the stupid surrounding me from really taking its toll.  Survival instinct, or something.

I’m not saying that I hate my job.  I just hate the stupid.  The inane.  The pointless.

I’m going through the work day in a haze; just going through the motions and all.  A teacher came up to me and mentioned that we’d be doing the same lesson as last time, but asked if I could come up with half an hour of filler for this one…in under an hour (technically shouldn’t be that hard, but geez, couldn’t this have been mentioned yesterday?).  What Foggy Mind wanted to say was, “no, I can’t”, though a little voice struggled through to keep me from saying that.  Instead I settled with a “I’m not sure I can, but I’ll see what I can do”.  Still a “don’t get your hopes up” message, but there’s an inkling of a try.

And an inkling is pretty good for Foggy Mind me.

But man!  Thirteen more months of this?  I hope I snap out of this apathy before I decide to break contract and leave.  ‘Cause I’m no contract breaker (sorry to all those JET ’07 Alternatives waiting for this very situation to happen so you’re plus one person closer to Japan).

I’m going to end this on a happy note:

Japan’s lovely.  Work is not.  It slowly paralyzes me with its “ridiculous” factor.

And my buzz-cut, drill sergeant of an…erm…higher-up that I strongly dislike wears pastel ties.  Pink is my favorite so far, though the mint green one is a close second.  It keeps me from really getting mad at him.  Instead I laugh on the inside.  …Part of me says not to post this.  The apathy, however, says, “ehh, I wouldn’t if I actually cared”.

Cause I don’t anymore.  Care, that is.  At least not to the extent I used to.

I’ll try dealing with this issue tonight.  I’ll…get back to you as to how successful I am.

A Future Contest

I’m slowly starting to formulate a contest for my site.

With good prizes.

Well, so long as you have a Nintendo DS (they’re region-free, you know).

Or if you like obnoxious things.

Anyways, I’ll soon make a separate page to display the prizes for the contest.  It’ll probably not be for another month or so, but I thought I’d give you a heads up.

‘Cause it’s been on my mind.