Long Days...
Another week has started and I at yet another junior high school. And I really don’t like this one. Out of the five that I have I think this one ranks at the very bottom. Not because the kids aren’t well behaved, or they don’t have adequate materials to work with, but the English teacher at this school. I almost feel sorry for the kids. It just so happens that out of all the schools this one might have the highest enthusiasm but the teacher is always there to take that motivation away. ALL HIS CLASSES ARE BORING!! He just stands up there and makes the kids read the same passage over and over again. I heard that repetition is the “Mother of Skill” but this is getting out of hand.
It’s the first day and only today did I get my schedule for the week. And do you want to guess what the bastard said as soon as I came in? “Today we have third and fourth period, do you have game?” I hate this request than anything Japanese society has thrown at me since the time I arrived. What the hell is up with that?! Why is that he doesn’t use an ounce of creativity on his normal classes and can’t spare anything to even come up with a SUGGESTION of what he wants to do while I’m here. First of all I have no materials, there is no computer with internet that I can even look for things to do, and half the time the dude’s not even in the staff room. How can I wok like this? Anyway I racked my brain for an hour and a half and came up with a game for the second years but ran out of time for the third graders, which he then told me that it was ok because they were just going to read from the book. The poor third graders. They’re also one of the better third year classes in all my schools. But then I just used one of my games from ES, and they were all so excited to play!! What a relief. How does a teacher like HIM become a teacher and stay a teacher without no drive to make learning “fun”? It boggles my mind.
This past weekend we Krystal and I went to Osaka for a friend’s birthday party. It started out being a really good weekend since we woke up at 12:30. I called home, Jake, and Krystal’s family just to see how things were going back home. I tried to convince Krystal about going to Osaka for a day trip. We live like 45 minutes away from the second or third largest city in Japan but for some reason we don’t go as often as we should. So I gave some suggestions like going to the Osaka Castle Park, Expoland, (An amusement park) or just wandering the streets of Osaka. We called Kevin and Val to see if they wanted to go and cruise Osaka before we had to meet at the FABULOUS Mexican restaurant EL PANCHO.
So the four of us got on a train and went to Hep Five mall. It’s one of the many attractions that the Osaka has to offer. It’s basically a mall with tons of floors but their main attraction is a huge Ferris Wheel that gives a nice view of Osaka. It was about 5 dollars for a ride and we found ourselves looking at the beautiful city lights of Osaka. We also decided to stop by a place called Joypolis. Its kind of like an arcade place where they even have some interactive walk through type attractions that are meant to entertain you. We saw Water Rapids, Jurassic Park, Murder Lodge, Treasure Hunters, and there were a few others. Its basically a walk through mini-haunted house set up. We decided to give the Treasure Hunters a try but it was really lame. They had a rubber mummy guy that vibrated when it talked and some simple air blasts. The main thing was to find a bag of “money” that weighed exactly as much as the one in the entrance to find the “real treasure”. So you look and try your luck with the hundred bags they laid out for you and if you matched the bags you could get an official “Treasure Hunters License” that could be used all of the world! Well that’s how they were trying to sell it. Anyways it reminded me of the Kiwanis Haunted House we did a couple of years ago at the Aiea Shopping Center. It could scare you but fell a little short. The Treasure Hunter attraction was our first one and it basically did it for the rest of the stuff there. We did get to play some Time Crisis 3, Mario Kart arcade version, and some Taiko.
After that we went to go check out the Apple Store in Osaka. And it was pretty impressive. I’m not an apple user but being in that store really makes you want to be one. Aside from all the iPod stuff you can get, all the power books, crazy looking monitors, and apple accessories it was like a Nerds Heaven. They even had this really cool thing like a mixing table where you can hook up two iPods and they have that balance changer thing and you can go between two different songs playing on two different iPods simultaneously. Shortly after we left the store with about an hour before we were going to have our much needed Mexican feast, I started to get cramps. All jokes aside they hurt so bad that at one point I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t think of anything that would have made the cramps come. I had eaten the same things as everyone else, I didn’t have gas, and I wasn’t hungry. It got so bad that I decided maybe if I sat on a toilet everything would just correct itself. Then like a massive tsunami I had the urge to go to the bathroom. I got so desperate I went in to lady’s bathroom. It was empty so no harm. I was trying to get my jacket, scarf, and gloves off but by the time I sat down… nothing came out. No solids, liquids, or gas. Nothing. So I was just about to get up when I heard someone come in and use the stall next to me. I was a little freaked out at first but being in Japan they try to make everything as “un-humiliating” as possible. As I was about to get up the stall started to make “fake flushing sounds.” I guess its so Japanese girls don’t get embarrassed when they let a really nasty smelling or sounding one. All you hear is the soothing sound of toilet flush-age. That was pretty cool to experience. Anyway by the time I got back to the group was time to go into the restaurant.
I was really afraid to eat because I wasn’t sure which end the food might come out. And with a 45 minutes train ride in our near future I didn’t wan to take any chances. I was going to pass on the Mexican feast when one of the girls had some ibuprofen. Hey of it works for “girls’ cramps” it should work for mysterious stomach cramps too, right? Well it did because although the cramps didn’t stop the pain severity went down significantly. I was able to enjoy the meal and have a good time with me buddies.
Sunday was another sleep in day. We started again at about 1 in the afternoon and relaxed. But our friend told us about a sale at the local electronics store and the sale included computer hardware and software. We decided to check it out and came out with 2, 250 Gig external hard drives. One hard drive was only $150. Pretty good deal huh? My downloading days have just begun.
Lisa also called on Sunday. She had been trying really hard to get in contact about us because she was having seconds thoughts of ending her contract with JET program. Bottom line was that she had come up with off the wall justifications because she was afraid of going in to the real world and starting her career when JET was over. This is completely understandable since I feel the same way sometimes. But days like today don’t help with my arguments to stay in Japan another year.
That’s pretty much what’s been happening since last week. For the upcoming annual Sports Super Show the SUPER BOWL ….. GO SEAHAWKS!!! Bring the Lombardi trophy for the NFC!!
It’s the first day and only today did I get my schedule for the week. And do you want to guess what the bastard said as soon as I came in? “Today we have third and fourth period, do you have game?” I hate this request than anything Japanese society has thrown at me since the time I arrived. What the hell is up with that?! Why is that he doesn’t use an ounce of creativity on his normal classes and can’t spare anything to even come up with a SUGGESTION of what he wants to do while I’m here. First of all I have no materials, there is no computer with internet that I can even look for things to do, and half the time the dude’s not even in the staff room. How can I wok like this? Anyway I racked my brain for an hour and a half and came up with a game for the second years but ran out of time for the third graders, which he then told me that it was ok because they were just going to read from the book. The poor third graders. They’re also one of the better third year classes in all my schools. But then I just used one of my games from ES, and they were all so excited to play!! What a relief. How does a teacher like HIM become a teacher and stay a teacher without no drive to make learning “fun”? It boggles my mind.
This past weekend we Krystal and I went to Osaka for a friend’s birthday party. It started out being a really good weekend since we woke up at 12:30. I called home, Jake, and Krystal’s family just to see how things were going back home. I tried to convince Krystal about going to Osaka for a day trip. We live like 45 minutes away from the second or third largest city in Japan but for some reason we don’t go as often as we should. So I gave some suggestions like going to the Osaka Castle Park, Expoland, (An amusement park) or just wandering the streets of Osaka. We called Kevin and Val to see if they wanted to go and cruise Osaka before we had to meet at the FABULOUS Mexican restaurant EL PANCHO.
So the four of us got on a train and went to Hep Five mall. It’s one of the many attractions that the Osaka has to offer. It’s basically a mall with tons of floors but their main attraction is a huge Ferris Wheel that gives a nice view of Osaka. It was about 5 dollars for a ride and we found ourselves looking at the beautiful city lights of Osaka. We also decided to stop by a place called Joypolis. Its kind of like an arcade place where they even have some interactive walk through type attractions that are meant to entertain you. We saw Water Rapids, Jurassic Park, Murder Lodge, Treasure Hunters, and there were a few others. Its basically a walk through mini-haunted house set up. We decided to give the Treasure Hunters a try but it was really lame. They had a rubber mummy guy that vibrated when it talked and some simple air blasts. The main thing was to find a bag of “money” that weighed exactly as much as the one in the entrance to find the “real treasure”. So you look and try your luck with the hundred bags they laid out for you and if you matched the bags you could get an official “Treasure Hunters License” that could be used all of the world! Well that’s how they were trying to sell it. Anyways it reminded me of the Kiwanis Haunted House we did a couple of years ago at the Aiea Shopping Center. It could scare you but fell a little short. The Treasure Hunter attraction was our first one and it basically did it for the rest of the stuff there. We did get to play some Time Crisis 3, Mario Kart arcade version, and some Taiko.
After that we went to go check out the Apple Store in Osaka. And it was pretty impressive. I’m not an apple user but being in that store really makes you want to be one. Aside from all the iPod stuff you can get, all the power books, crazy looking monitors, and apple accessories it was like a Nerds Heaven. They even had this really cool thing like a mixing table where you can hook up two iPods and they have that balance changer thing and you can go between two different songs playing on two different iPods simultaneously. Shortly after we left the store with about an hour before we were going to have our much needed Mexican feast, I started to get cramps. All jokes aside they hurt so bad that at one point I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t think of anything that would have made the cramps come. I had eaten the same things as everyone else, I didn’t have gas, and I wasn’t hungry. It got so bad that I decided maybe if I sat on a toilet everything would just correct itself. Then like a massive tsunami I had the urge to go to the bathroom. I got so desperate I went in to lady’s bathroom. It was empty so no harm. I was trying to get my jacket, scarf, and gloves off but by the time I sat down… nothing came out. No solids, liquids, or gas. Nothing. So I was just about to get up when I heard someone come in and use the stall next to me. I was a little freaked out at first but being in Japan they try to make everything as “un-humiliating” as possible. As I was about to get up the stall started to make “fake flushing sounds.” I guess its so Japanese girls don’t get embarrassed when they let a really nasty smelling or sounding one. All you hear is the soothing sound of toilet flush-age. That was pretty cool to experience. Anyway by the time I got back to the group was time to go into the restaurant.
I was really afraid to eat because I wasn’t sure which end the food might come out. And with a 45 minutes train ride in our near future I didn’t wan to take any chances. I was going to pass on the Mexican feast when one of the girls had some ibuprofen. Hey of it works for “girls’ cramps” it should work for mysterious stomach cramps too, right? Well it did because although the cramps didn’t stop the pain severity went down significantly. I was able to enjoy the meal and have a good time with me buddies.
Sunday was another sleep in day. We started again at about 1 in the afternoon and relaxed. But our friend told us about a sale at the local electronics store and the sale included computer hardware and software. We decided to check it out and came out with 2, 250 Gig external hard drives. One hard drive was only $150. Pretty good deal huh? My downloading days have just begun.
Lisa also called on Sunday. She had been trying really hard to get in contact about us because she was having seconds thoughts of ending her contract with JET program. Bottom line was that she had come up with off the wall justifications because she was afraid of going in to the real world and starting her career when JET was over. This is completely understandable since I feel the same way sometimes. But days like today don’t help with my arguments to stay in Japan another year.
That’s pretty much what’s been happening since last week. For the upcoming annual Sports Super Show the SUPER BOWL ….. GO SEAHAWKS!!! Bring the Lombardi trophy for the NFC!!
posted by Chris at 11:55 PM
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