Sniffle Sniffle...

Still tired from the camp thing we had this past weekend. I feel like I’m dragging my ass everywhere. I think steps are the hardest things for me at the moment. Jus trying to stay awake is a close second.

I’m at my Tuesday school and feeling a little sad. I totally forgot that this week was the last time I teach the sixth graders. Unlike other schools I have the sixth graders here are very good and semi-enthusiastic about English. The teachers all asked me to end the lesson a little earlier than usual because they made something for me. Each class made me a card, sang me a song, and wrote a little speech about how they enjoyed English. One class even took out their recorders and totally played a song for me on the spot. I’ve noticed that the Japanese school system doesn’t really mess around with the recorder. The kids were totally awesome.

I heard one of the kids whisper, “Do you think he’s going to cry?” At some points I felt like I wanted to cry but then I would just be the wussy FLT that they had. I just hoe that when they go off to junior high they take English more seriously and actually try to learn the language.

The cards that they all wrote were pretty nice too. Some just said Thank You for teaching us English on them but I could really tell that some of them put thought into the messages. I wonder how I’ll be when I actually don’t come here anymore. The Japanese new school year starts in April and as of this April Kyoto is going to implement a new education system so everyone is going to move schools. So when I leave this April I wonder if it’s the last time I’ll get to see my kids again.

Broke down emotiomally….

IRASHAI IRASHAI!

That was the team spirited cry of team GREEN! We tied our green bandanas on our heads and people said it looked like the old ladies that run the ramen shops, so our battle cry was born. This past week Krystal and I went to volunteer at a youth hostel. And what a “hostel” experience it was. We got invited with one of our Brit friends here in Kyoto to help him staff a weekend kids’ camp. It sounded like fun so we decided to go.

We left home early Saturday morning to go to the northern part of Kyoto City. It s was a 40 minute bus ride and we ended being 20 late. We will forever be in Hawaiian time. Anyway kids started coming around 1 and they were the coolest kids on Earth! Where were these kids when I need them in my classroom? You had your cute little third graders and you’re sassy sixth graders, all playing together and living in harmony with a couple foreign camp leaders.

Right off the bat I tried to get to know all the kids, because I know the secret to reach kids… make them your friends and everyone else’s enemy. For example you befriend the sassiest girl, most athletic boy, cutest kid, and one smart kid. And then you have the makings of the highest honor amongst all kids… “Cool guy.” We had a lot of fun this weekend. We played dodge ball, sick ball, capture the flag, Coalditz, Twister, and even danced the hula. Coalditz is a really cool game where you set up a room completely dark and have a small maze/obstacle course. Then you have a guy that plays the watch tower who gets a flashlight that can spot sneaky people. By doing so you get the kids out. The kids in turn have to sneak around you and get a set of keys that sits helplessly underneath your chair. The kids and staff loved that game! In one of those assessment surveys the kids rated that game really high. Some kids even made higher scores than we provided.

By the time Sunday afternoon came I was starting to miss those kids. At the very end they had an exchange of message cards and the cards I got were so touching. You know you made an impact when they say that it was best thing to meet you. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me want to be a teacher because everyone once in a while a child will say something so cool because you made an impact in their life, even if the smallest impact. Even Krystal was a little sad that the weekend was coming to an end. She was so proud of the kids when they all learned the hula dance she was teaching them. All in all the weekend was cool.

Kudos to all the people that went skiing this past weekend. It sounded like so much fun. I’m still debating whether or not to go this weekend. It would be nice to play in the snow one more time. But we are moving this month and already the budget for the month is super tight. We’ll see …

Still tired from the weekend but I think I can make it through the day... just four more days until the weekend…

Break it down!

Last Stretch of the Week

I had a really bad day again with the sixth graders here at my Friday school. I feel so bad for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders because I have so much hatred and animosity towards this school just because of one grade level. Teachers are also really cool and very helpful. Why are these kids so awful? “Bad neighborhood, bad family situations, bad lives,” I can’t give them that excuse no more. If in fact these were very true of all the schools around this area than why aren’t the other grades messed up. Anyway enough about them already, I have for too long bitched about them in this blog too often. At least the next time I do see them, it will be the last.

Nothing much happening the last few days just work and sleep. Well the other day Krystal was working on the Kyoto-City JETs newsletter and finished around 9:30. Because it was so late we decided to go grab something in our area. That little dinner outing turned into a trip to Wonder Tower (crane games) and an intimate karaoke session. So weird huh? Krystal and I have gone karaoke (just the two of us) once before and that was back home during the Chris Lee Presidency of Circle K, I think it was after a meeting or something and we just decided to go. Such was the case Wednesday night. Just decided to go to the karaoke place and sing to our heart’s content.

Yesterday we had our bi-weekly elementary school meeting. As usual it was a cruise day for us. We go to wake up late (the observation school is only 1 minute by bike), watch a lesson at a kick ass school, and have a nice “long” break. It was also the observation lesson of our “fellow” Hawaiian JET participant.
So here we are, finally made it to Friday and what’s on the agenda for this weekend? We’re volunteering for a youth camp so that means two days of kids right up in your grill. Should be fun… except for all the generic “Hawaiiana” going down on the second day. But the way I look at it is, two days of expense free fun! Just to give you guys a taste I need to teach the boys in the group a Samoan Slap Dance! If you guys know what that is than you can see why it’s going to be hilarious!

Break it down!

It's Only Tuesday!

Ok so other than that huge blog perviously, nothing really happened this weekend. Krystal and I were both sick so staying home was our only option. The fact that we have no money aided us in staying in. But we did manage some money to go to the ever popular sushi place everyone in Kyoto must try.

The sushi there is awesome! Forget that the stuff you find in the combinis. And the price isn't that bad considering the sushi is really good. Krystal and I were good and kept it under 50 bucks I think...

I just remembered we had a cmap meeting on Saturday. We volunteered for this youth camp thing this weekend and me predicts its gonna be fun! Well I'm not that enthusiastic but I am looking forward to going.

Krystal bought me chocolates! The girls have to buy the guys chocolate here! Isn't that cool. I don't think I got chocolates as a gift, ever... Well maybe I have but not recently.

On a completely different note, MY SPACE is crazy! I'm so addicted in finding people! Haven't made it back to elementary school days but intermidiate co-students are definitely on there. I saw just sign up get a username and look for people. It keeps you busy at work, good filler for those just before bed online checks, etc...

I just recieved a card from a third grade class. Today was my last lesson for that particular class and they played me a little something on their recorders and tamborines. And I get a card.... these moments are what keeps US teachers going... sniff sniff

Break it down

Evil Zombie Mannequins...

Ok so somehow I was 8 or so. I was in a random place during a random time of the year. I went to a friend’s house to spend the day. It was weird since I had no idea who my friend’s were in my dream. They were random people I think I would hang out with at that age.

Anyway I go over to their house and they want to play some kind of Harry Potter game where we get to be wizards and practice spells and what not. We’re wearing hooded black-greenish costumes and fake wands shouting out spells when my friend’s older brother comes out. He asks us what we’re doing and kind of rags on us for playing such a stupid game. He then tells us that he would help us to play by setting up some kind of wizard’s obstacle course. We get out of the garage to wait in the house as the brother sets up the yard, garage, and spaces around the house.

He finally calls to us that it’s ready. We go outside and we have to dodge fake fire, snakes, and spikes. A first it was really fun and we were really having a good time. Then the game started to get a little weird. He had these mannequins that would be the “bad people” and would kind pop-up to scare us. Kind of like cardboard cut ups that pop up when you’re practicing your shooting skills. Anyway the mannequins would be carrying guns or knives and would kind of pop up anywhere within my friend’s property. ]

Then the mannequins started to get scary looking. Some were in full gimp gear, bloody wounds, decapitated zombies-esque, or just weird stuff you would find in a sci-fi horror movie. Then after a while I noticed that the mannequins were alive! I would see their eyes following me or I’ll see them sneer, or something. Naturally these horrific images would scare the crap out of me now, so you can imagine me at age 8. I started screaming and retreated into the house.

It had gotten dark and I was still very paranoid about the mannequins coming to life. But my friend and his brother insisted that I was making it up. Anyway it got real late and I wanted to go home but because it was late my friend told his mom that I was going to sleepover. Of course I didn’t want to with the psycho-killer mannequin zombies walking around outside but they insisted. So the rest of the night was ok except that I had a weird feeling that the mannequins were waiting for me.

So its time to got o sleep and guess where I get to sleep? The living room couch. So as I’m trying to go to sleep, I see the shadows of the mannequins walking around outside. Then more and more shadows started appearing. They were on the ceiling and walls. So I got up, packed my things, and I was literally out of there. I was running down the street screaming for anyone to wake up and help me but no one even noticed. I was screaming at the top of my lungs but no porch lights went on and no one came outside to see what was the matter.

I knew I needed to get home but being 8 how else are you supposed to get around? Just then a cat came around and it looked as if it wanted me to follow it. So I followed it down alleys, people’s backyards, and garages. The cat led me to a wall and then in one jump went over. When I climbed to the top of the wall I saw a bus stop and I saw my way home.

It was cold and dark. One light post right above the bus stop was the only light for a long while. Every once in a while I would see a car go but I guess the drivers didn’t think it was weird to see an 8 year old boy at the bus stop in the middle of the night. Just when I started to worry a car pulls up and rolls the window down. I slowly walk over and it’s my dad. Grateful to see familiar face I jump in fasten my seat belt. In the car I was debating whether or not to tell him about the mannequins and my day with my friend. But the car was silent, no sound except for the road and low hum of the engine. I thought it was weird that he was there to pick me up in the middle of the night and didn’t ask any questions. I turned my head to ask him… and then I woke up.

Weird huh? Kind of spooky too…


Break it down

Brownish-green phlegm...

Is what I seem to be coughing up the past two days. Didn't go to work yesterday and today. I actually I feel a lot better today but I'll have a coughing fit and then my sinus headache comes back. The last couple of days were pretty bad because I couldn't use my voice at all. I sounded horrible. I never got sick where I lost my voice like laryngitist (?) but that's how bad it sounded. At times my voice was a loud whisper that no one could really understand except Krystal. But I think she's really good at that because I talk to her in different accents, voices, and tones just to change things up once in a while.

So I'm home right now doing nothing... its kind of boring. You know when you're at work and you want to go home or have some excuse to go home like being sick? But when you are at home actually sick the feeling sucks. Krystal was sick for a good four days and only went to school today. Worst part is that I might get over this thing until Sunday which would make lose my whole weekend. There's also lots of pressure at school since the year is coming to an end we all need to get our final classes and lessons done. For example I have an observation lesson in March that I needed to introduce lats week but because I couldn't the lesson is pushed one week, meaning that I need to be teaching all the way to the last day of instruction.

Crap being sick sucks...

break it down...

Random Thoughts...

- My throat is sore…
- It doesn’t seem like no one is online today…
- No more ice tea left…
- I can here them talking about me…
- I wonder if I can go home early…
- All my lessons are done, no classes left…
- Too rainy and wet to play with the kids…
- Why shouldn’t I get to go home early…
- If I could only have the guts to get my stamp and leave…
- I wonder what Krystal is doing…
- I hope she ate something…
- But not the Snickers…
- I wonder if its ok to drink tonight…
- Staying home for a couple of days would help me to skip my Friday class again…
- I think this Friday is when I have all sixth graders…
- That would be nice…
- Am I mean for not wanting to see them even as the end of the year gets closer…
- Nah…
- When I push down on the bridge of my nose, it hurts, is this a sinus problem…
- OK, I’m gonna ask if I can leave early…
- Should be ok right…
- Ok Ok Ok Ok… here I go…

No more singing, talking, ZIP!

What do you call it when you’re sick but don’t really have any of the symptoms. For example my head doesn’t ache, no fever, no sneezing, no running nose, no stuffed nose, no chills, and cold sweats. The only thing I do have is a sore throat from forcing me to cough up the phlegm I feel I have. But because of this, I think I’m losing my voice. I had to ask the homeroom teacher to take over because none of the students understood what I was saying, what the hell is up with that? Hello… he’s been making me do all the talking the whole time and when he has to take over the class he seems to be doing it perfectly.

Anyway Krystal is at home again. Poor thing looks so lively in the afternoon but when its morning she looks pretty bad. She’s been taking medicine but it doesn’t seem to be working. I’m guessing she has some sort of flu thing but the doctor felt she didn’t have that so gave weird medicine. Well I can’t really say since I’m not a doctor but I do know Krystal and the medicine don’t seem to be helping.

Tonight is Helen’s birthday party at the beef place. I hope Krystal gets to go. I think the only human contact she’s had were the doctors and nurses when she went to the clinic 2 days ago. I hope she gets better soon; unhappy and sick Krystal is an unhappy and sick Chris.

I’m debating if I should go to the doctors myself. If I can’t speak what’s the sense of me going to school to teach English Communication? Are there medicines I can take to get my voice back to normal? I dunno… I always thought that if you lose your voice you just need to wait until it comes back. Maybe I can get a few days off from work…

Broke my voice down…

The day after...

February 15th the not so popular day in the month has come and what are we to show of it? Nothing extravagant but at least Krystal is getting her rest at home. Actually I really enjoyed our Valentine’s Day. It was intimate and very personal, no not like that! Krystal hasn’t been feeling well lately so last night instead of going to get Kyoto’s famous sushi we had the food brought to us. The Dominos man came around 7:30 with half garlic master and half spicy Italian pizza with the quarto-chicken side. We fired up the kotatsu and watched CHICAGO. The night was nice and quiet.

There isn’t anything special happening today…work work work. Actually I do feel a little under the weather, and it just so happens that I have to teach three lessons of Fishy Fishy. Hope my body holds out for the rest of the day. Maybe if I don’t feel well I can go home early. It would be nice to have a nap in the afternoon and rest up for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Helen’s birthday party. I think we’re planning on going to an all you can eat Shabu-Shabu place. It seems like everyone is talking about this place and how it’s the best place in Kyoto take get Shabu Shabu but at the same time no one knows where it is. They all say, “I heard there’s this really good place to eat Shabu Shabu and the best part is, it’s all you can eat.” THEN WHERE IS IT!? Nah I shouldn’t say that… just getting a little anxious about the all you can eat beef.

Anyway, there seems to be a teacher who keeps waking by and I think that means he needs to use the computer. So until next time, “If you wanna be cool, stay in school.”

Break it Down

Happy Valentine's Day my Bing-a-Ling!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I guess you can be either happy, depressed, or lying to yourself that your not depressed. Nah just joke to the people pf the latter two points. Anyway Valentine’s Day is here and it has been a very casual day here. I did get a few questions if I received any chocolates but I never really expected them. In Japan, Valentine’s Day is for the girls to get the boys something. Then in March the boys get something for the girls on White Day. But the twist is that on White Day the boys give gifts that are both white and three times as much as the Valentine’s gift they received. So I believe that the White Day tradition was a compromise but a rule made by women.

Poor thing, my Valentine is at home sick. This morning she had a fever and didn’t sound very good. On the bright side she had a four-day weekend when everyone else had three. I hope she feels better… this is where I come in and ooze the charm…

Nothing really special planed for today, maybe just dinner but seeing how sick Krystal looked this morning, I wouldn’t mind just getting a movie and watching it at home. We did get to go to a Valentine’s Day chocolate fair that was at the local department store. They had over 50 different chocolate stores selling their product promising to bring the women a man. I really wanted to go to look at the Godiva stuff. GOOD LUCK GODIVA KAHALA!! TODAY IS GONNA BE A HELL OF A DAY! Supposedly busier than the actually day, I can just imagine, Lynn running around made, either Sean or Jolene or both glues to the dipper, churning out strawberries by the tens, Ashley and other veterans at the registers and Chris relaxing in front of the computer in Japan. Minna Gambatte!!

Break it Down.

The Weekend that Never Ended...

Yes, yes, yes this weekend has been one of those weekends when you don't know where you are or what day it is. Well we did have a three day weekend but we went out on Thursday night. It wasn't your regular Thursday night outing. We went to Osaka and pulled an all nighter. We went to a drum and bass club to regain our youth and the perception that we are not getting old.

We got to Osaka around 9 and decided to chill and grab a bite to eat at Wendy’s. Doesn’t sound all too great but they had coke and we had Jack Daniels. Our all-nighter guide Matthew Konopka, being more experienced in the all night party scene advised that club drinks would be too expensive especially if we stay there for 5 hours or so. So we decided to get the alcohol flowing before we got there. After several tall cups of Jack and Coke we headed for the club.

The place we went to was called the UnderGround. It was a nice and decent looking club that had many bars, waiters, and acid-trippin’ people. It was a nice place, reminded me of the Wave if they cleaned the place up a little like Zanzabar. Anyway we found a both to take over for the whole night and decided to get our one drink per entry. At the bar we found out that the drinks were only 500 yen! That meant that we could drink the whole night away and it would just be like drinking back home at the club.

The night after that was a usual club night, people taking respective breaks from dancing, checking out girls that were scantily clad, acid trippin’ people, and yelling into each others’ ears. They even had a DJ named Marco Bailey. Supposedly he’s a popular DJ. I think he was the only Caucasian dude there next to our friend Konopka. And then the downfall of Chris began…

I felt really sick and there are a few reasons that I would like to blame for my stomach doing flips that night after 3…

1- Not eating dinner/starchy foods before a night of alcohol.
2- Not being able to take a nap before an all nighter.
3- Drinking beer on a train on an empty stomach.
4- When given a choice to eat dinner, I decided to eat Wendy’s ultra greasy bacon cheeseburger meal with chili cheese fries.
5- After the initial beer beverage drinking Jack and Coke. “Beer before liquor never sicker, liquor before beer all in the clear.
6- Drinking an uncountable number of gin and tonics.

So naturally the next thing to do is throw up, your only choice to feeling better. So everyone was getting a little bored with the club so we decided to go to a bar a chill until the first train was available. On the way there, I threw up in a storm drain. Don’t you think its weird that the whole time you’re drinking you don’t want to throw up but when you do you ask yourself why you hadn’t done that earlier? After wandering around the shady back streets of Osaka we get to a bar called Nudic. I personally thought it was a nice cozy bar where the bartender spoke English and was very friendly. Krystal on the other hand thought the bar was just a sleazy as the streets due to the secret room people kept going in and out of and a lady bartender that decided to where garters with her shorts and knee high socks.

Naturally around 5-5:30 people started to get cranky. We left the bar and headed to the station to start out long trip back home. By the time we got home it was about 7 and only thing I had strength for was a shower. And we crashed….

When we woke up it was about 4:30 in the afternoon and vegged the rest of the night. We made beef stew and mac salad which was really good. It reminded me of home, even if it were only for a little while. That night we watched Master and Commander, the one with Russell Crowe. And went to sleep again…

When we woke up Saturday morning we thought to ourselves that the weekend is still here and that we should not take it for granted. Saturday day, we meet up with Krystal’s cousin Makoto and went to lunch. We went to a restaurant that had a Japanese garden with very teishokus. Krystal’s cousin never having gone around Kyoto wanted to see more gardens so we went to Nijo Castle. It wasn’t as great as the first time we went in the Fall because of the leaves and they seemed to have blocked off a lot of paths that were available to walk through last time. But Makoto seemed to enjoy it nevertheless and we had salvaged our afternoon doing something physical.

But the day was not over yet. We got a call to go to Karaoke with our friend Pat, William, Michiyo, Kieran, and Konopka. It’s always entertaining with Konopka singing Starship, Journey, Huey Lewis, and Foreigner. Man was born to be a lounge singer. But we turned down the invitation to go party at the Kebab place and headed home.

So its Sunday, the weekend that had no end is starting to coming back to reality. Tomorrow is work and a new week, a full week. I guess every now and then you need to break out and remind yourself to party. And we all know that regular weekends are too short to really party so KUDOS to all who took advantage of the long ass weekend and lived it up.

BROKE IT DOWN… HARD!

Dynasty? Pfff...

I didn't want to say anything until I knew that most people saw the SuperBowl but yeah the Patriots won. Actually I had a weird feeling that they would because we all know that no matter how good the Eagles are under pressure. Or shall I say Donovan McNabb.

My comments on the game...

The game was ok. The Eagles put up a good fight but what happened? Well there was enough footbal drama. The interceptions, the challenges, and fumbles. If McNabb was on his game (like he was all season) then maybe the Eagles could have done away with the "dynasty". McNabb threw like crap the whole game. The real props shouldn't go to the Pats Defense but the recievers for the Eagles. All game the passes were in the dirt or behind them. I surprised that the score was so close. So the passing game wasn't happening, what do you think they should of done? Maybe run the ball? Westbroook was a little shakey in the start of the game but seemed to be doing well in the latter.

The Pats on the other hand were decent. This is where I quote my friend Steve, "I can't stand the Patriots being considered a dynasty. They always seem to win by three points AND after the fact that the opponents have 3-4 turnovers. That's not good football, that's being lucky." Which is very believable. I never really paid any attention to the Pats but it seems this is true. Brady is considered one of the best under pressure quaterbacks in the league being 9-0 in the post season but the game was not won on offense but on defense. And a quote of Kevin, "They maybe winning by three points but you need to give credit to the defense for causing/retrieving all the turnovers." Which I also agree with. Real football fans say that the DEFENSE is what makes a team great aka The Bucs. But unlike the BUCS the Pats seem to be getting a lot of publicity on their offense, especailly in the quaterback position. Let's face it something is wrong with the BUCS offense but they don't get the credit, the Defense does. Completely oppossite with the Pats.

Final thoughts... the SuperBowl was very entertaining to watch. I don't like the Eagles, never did. And them losing 3 NFC championship games as well as the SuperBowl, doesn't flatter them at all. I feel sorry for the Eagles actually. So much pressure on McNabb, so much money, only to take the team to the last stretch and trip before the goal line. I don't like the Patriots, never did. Winning three out of the last 4 Superbowls, looks good on paper but not in the game. Give props to their Defense and they should be glorified rather than the Karismatic Brady. Both teams not my favorite but someone had to win...

So anyways feeling really forgetful recently. I seem to be leaving things and forgetting where I put them. For instance yesterday I lost my bike keys, scarf, and official Board of Education name tag. Bike keys I eventually found but the name tag and scarf are missing. I have some clue to where the name tag is... on the train platform. Yesterday the name tag got tangled with my earphones and I remember unknotting them and then rushing onto the train. So the name tag might be lost forever. I guess I could ask for a new one...

The scarf is still a mystery. I can barely remember the last time I wore it. I believe it was last Wednesday. It was the day that it was snowing like crazy. After that I don't recall wearing it. I think I'm losing my mind.

One more thing, I forgot how cool the movie Gladiator was. We watched it last night and it is a really badass movie. Everything except the whole sister-complex thing. That gives me the willies. But the battles, figthing, blood, swords, and spears nothing makes a better movie. Maybe sex scene or something but if the only sex scene that was possible in the story was the brother - sister thing then, I'll pass. Watch the movie again and you'll be chanting MAXIMUS in no time. Oh yeah how can you have a name like Maximus and not do what he did? Honestly, conquer armies for Rome, become a Gladiator, and kill the Caesar is not for a person named Bob or Harry, unless it was Harry Potter (he seems to get out of anything). But yeah what a name to live up to... Maximus...

Break It down break it down break it down

Another Glorious Monday...

MAKES ME SICK! It’s another Monday that means another week of work, although this week seems to be a little more promising than other weeks. For one thing the Super Bowl will be on tonight! We will be catching the action at Kevin and Val’s place. I’m assuming that Amie and Steve will be there and maybe the Titus-es. (I don’t know the plural for Titus). Eagles and Patriots tonight… not a fan of any of the two… some people say that if your team doesn’t make it to the Super Bowl you root for your division. The thing is I never liked the Eagles. I think I consider them my arch-nemesis along with Carolina and Atlanta. But on the other hand I can’t stand the Patriots. Something about a team being too good that bothers me. A similar feeling was felt during the Cowboys dynasty at the Super Bowl. I guess I’m just watching football for the sake of football. That I can enjoy. I usually look forward to the commercials but I’m not sure if Japanese TV will play American commercials. Anyway GO BOWS!!

Hahahaha… Another reason why this week is better than any other week is that Friday is a holiday. We haven’t had a three-day weekend in awhile. How are we going to spend it? I’m glad you asked. We’re going to go clubbing in OSAKA! Well I’m not sure if it’s a 100% go but that’s the plan so far. Well the reason why it’s a big event is that if we do go to Osaka on Thursday that means we need to stay up all night. The last train usual leaves around 12, so that means we need to find a place to party all night long. That should be fun… only thing is Krystal might not last. Need to get her some crack…

So it seems this week isn’t too bad, but it is a Mondays and no one like a Monday unless it’s a holiday.

The rain is coming down too. Crap I rode my bike… this should be fun….
Break it down…

It's Oh So Quiet..

It's oh so still... Sitting in front of my Friday school's computer. Guess what? The sixth graders went on a field trip. Although I'm very jealous since they went on a snowboarding trip, the school that is left behind is very nice and peaceful. I noticed that the hallways are a little quieter, playground is a little less hectic, and there are no 6th graders being irritating. What a nice day to be here. Also the Vice Principal and Prinicipal have gone so I might be able to go home early. I have three 5th grade classes and one 4th grade class. For the fifth graders we played Fishy Fishy. I think some of you guys might know it as Red Rover or Octopus. I used Fishy Fishy so I can make a small Hawaii lesson out of it. The fourth graders have occupations today. That seems like its gonna be fun. Just a few more hours and its time to ringin the weekend.

Last night we went to Setsubun. Kind of like a Japanese/Chinese New year celebration. Everyone is supposed to go to a shrine and pray for good luck and the children get to throw beans at ogres/evil spirits to ward them off for the year. Krystal and I went to Yoshida Shrine, a shrine in Kyoto that's supposed to be famous for Setsubun. We caught a bus and at first then we got kind of lost and started doubting if would ever find the shrine. We asked a few people for directions and we were right there! It was awesome. We were really lucky that we started at the top of the shrine. It was a long walk down especially through all the crowds.

There were tons of people there and tons of food! It felt like a carnival back home. Tents with people cookng the food rigth in front of you. There were yakisoba, takoyaki, soba, udon, ramen, candied apples, candied madarin oranges, candied grapes, candied strawberries, fried chiken, hot dog on a stick, (not the real hot dog on a stick but a frank on a skewer), okonomiyaki, Chigimi, azuki bean cake things, sake, tsukemono, steak, fish, maguro steak, and cotton candy. I think that was eveything but I could be forgetting something. Not to mention carnival games, toys, fishing, and raffles. It was fun to go just walk around and eat. I bought a box of sake, it came in a little box you drink out of. It was a cool rememberance item. After that we went home to watch King Arthur. I had rented it a few days ago and thought that the return date was the fifth but it was actually the 3. It was a pretty good movie, Kiera Knightly was in it. She played Gwenivere, and not the damsel in distress Gwenivere but the kick ass I can use a bow and arrow Gwenivere. There was an unnecessary sex scene but when is a sex scene unnecessary?

Now the only thing keeping me sane these few hours is that we get to eat Sushi TONIGHT!! We were denied last week since the restaurant was over booked but not today. Man I can't wait for sushi and beer. One more period of occupations and its SUSHI TIME!!

Bureku iito dauunu!

His space, her space, who's space? MY SPACE

Ok, so weird thing happened yesterday… the internet was down. Actually its been down for a good three days and I didn’t know what the hell was going on. Anyway Krystal with her awesome Japanese, called the Yahoo BB people and tried to figure out what was wrong. It turns out that nothing was wrong and I did have a connection. The thing was that the Norton’s Anti-virus program I was running was so strong that it blocked all web sites. Crazy huh?

Ok back to real stuff. I was at school and in between classes I got really interested in finding and recognizing friends off My Space. I was replying to someone who wanted me as a friend when I recognized someone from intermediate school. Weird! I haven’t seen or talked to that person in over 10 years and here was their picture. So I go to her page and look at her friend’s and then it was all over. I got hooked. I was looking up weird people, people I recognized, names that I thought were familiar, and etc. I got so addicted that as soon as I went home (after the internet was fixed) I went on My Space to find more people… and I did.

The depressing thing about it is that all the people or groups I used to hang out with, are still together. I saw the person I hung out with intermediate school, went to his friend list and saw basically everyone else. This actually happened each time I looked someone up. Then I started to get a little depressed and upset. Why are they still together and not me? I even saw the merging of two groups. (Actually “groups” sounds weird form now on it will be “cliques”.) Anyway I didn’t have the courage to send a message saying “hey its me, don’t you remember Chris, Chris Lee from Kalani or Niu Valley?” Well I did send some really vague messages to 2 people. But yeah why is it they stayed in touch and I haven’t?

For those who know me post High School, I wasn’t always the way I am now. Loud, obnoxious, friendly, and goofy were all traits I picked up after graduating high school. Almost as if in High school, I was fitted for only one type of “mold” (homework copied, picked on, never heard, outside member of a “clique”) but when you get to college all that goes out the window. I’ve made tons of new friends and I appreciate all of you who are “Chris” supporters, but something inside, a high school personality trait of being accepted, seem to be peaking out again. For instance I had a friend named Shaun in intermediate. We were good friend since we went to the same high school afterwards. When we got to high school we got accepted into a new clique. And after high school since I moved on I assumed so did he. But after My Space, I notice that he still hangs out with everyone. His page is covered with group pics at Ocean’s, D&B, and etc. People have moved on with their lives, beyond the beaches of Hawaii yet on My Space the connection between friendships are not severed. Why have mine?

Have I been the one to turn my back on everyone? Would everyone still be accepting if I were to try and re-kindle the friendships lost? Why is this bothering me so? I have made new friends and lasting memories but why does not being in a clique bother me so much? Am I already in a clique and don’t know it? Weird feeling this thing….I look at their blogs and pictures and think… I was a part of this clique, what happened?

breaking down... mentally

Snow Trekkie

“When I was your age I had to walk 40 minutes in the snow to get to school. You should be grateful for what you have now…” Wow I can actually say that to my children and grandchildren. Actually the truth is a little skewed since I was walking to school to go to work. But even having the chance to say that from a boy that grew up in Hawaii, that’s awesome.

So YES, it was snowing like crazy today. It was snowing just like this past winter break’s trip to the ski slopes. Krystal was debating whether or not to ride her bike to school; I told her that it was cold so maybe the bus would be a better idea. I left before she made her decision but as soon as I stepped outside I knew. I’m assuming even Kyoto residence would be surprised with the 8 inches of snow outside. It was kind of cool walking in the snow amongst all the businessmen and women going towards the train station.

I didn’t even think about what the kid would be doing. I guess the kids here are not as used to the snow as I thought that they would be. When I got to school I was bombarded with snowballs. It must have been planned… I will get my revenge…

Snowballs really hurt. I think the kids were using old snow off the ground because when they hit me it felt like ice balls rather than snowballs. But as a teacher I knew that I couldn’t just go in there and start whipping balls at them…or could I? Anyway as soon as I walked in the office all the teachers were asking if I was ok. They were all very curious to how I got to school. It wasn’t too bad. All you need is some warm clothes and an umbrella and it’s just like any other day. But I guess it’s more difficult for the teachers coming by scooters or cars since the roads are really bad. Come to think of it I did a few slides just walking here. So the snow caused everyone to be late so I overheard the principal say that the first period was going to be a break. Half the teachers are not eve here yet and the time is 9:21.

I’m kind of getting worried since I have 5th graders today and the English teacher is somewhere stuck in traffic. The V.P. asked me if I knew the schedule but internet has been down at home for some reason and the school computers all have blockers on them. My English teacher usually emails me with the lesson schedule. Hopefully the class is cancelled.

SHOUTOUTS!!
GOOD LUCK TO THE STAFF AT GODIVA!! They’re in the middle of the Valentine’s Week rush and they have the all important annual store visit. Good luck guys and I hope you get a get a Platinum Visit!

ALSO…
J-BOB has made it to ASS-MAN!! That’s right folks our very own Jacob Nakasone is the current assistant manager for Pizza Hut Kahala, home to rare and dying breed of DINE IN Pizza hut restaurants. Jacob had started there almost 7 years ago and is still going strong. Originally starting out as a cook he slaved in the dungeons of the kitchen. And through determination, dedication, diligence, seniority, and Pizza Hut’s high turnover rate, he climbed that corporate ladder all the way to shift manager. At this position he forfeited his life. Late night closings, incompetent cooks, sloppy clean-ups, irritating customers, holidays, and over bearing managers were just the few of the many troubles of Shift Manager J-Bob. But true as time, J-Bob the Knight slayed his last victim in the epic battle of the “buffet night”. Beaten and bruised he clawed his way through and which no one can comprehend the sense of victory when he reached the summit. The cool refreshing breeze of success was in the air and J-Bob shall forever bask in it… until a new battle approaches. So open a nice, cold, crisp bottle of BUD LITE o’ Prince of the Pie, ‘cause remember without you, a pizza without “attitude” is not a pizza at all.　

Real Shopping Mall Heroes.

To Jake - - congratulations from your friends in Japan. Hope you had a laugh and thanks for all the pizzas. I think this counts as a real job (?) LoL