Coverage Days: Monday, August 30th - Thursday, September 2nd
Schools Visited: North JHS, North ES, North KS, Special Event
Entry #S03, Ep34
(before I begin with this entry (and I'm probably preaching to the chior), I would just like to say that the entries shouldnt' be judged by their titles. Picking entry titles is the hardest part of running this blog, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, the entry only applies to like 1 of the 5 or 6 mini-stories included within. To fully enjoy this blog SERIAL, you should be trying your best to keep up with all the entries, since, as the definition of the word implies, it's a continuing story... just like any anime. If you have requests for changes or things you'd like to know more (or less) about, just leave me a comment in the latest entry! Hope you stick around to enjoy the 2nd-semester of Season Three with me and the other "Xeeks" (haha, Jack's word for "xeno-geeks"))
The second semester is well under way at this point, and the first full week has brought me quite a series of ups and downs... not to mention has also brought me closer to my weekend away at Tokyo Disney!! ^____^
Monday August 30th: JHS
My week started off quite bitter. I've come to realize that my JTE has got be the rudest person I've ever worked with. She annoys me to know end. I really hate to get into it since I don't want to focus on so much of the negative stuff around me, but the bulk of it is that she simply just doesn't communicate with me. She never tells me what the plan for the day is, what news and events are happening around the school, or just simple chit-chat... things that would all come in useful for our lessons. Hell, she doesn't even say "hello" to me in the morning half the time.
To make things more aggravating for me, the first class of the week was the 9th-graders' lesson... but they weren't even having an actual class; they were just taking a test. And rather than letting me chill out in the teachers' room where I could get some REAL work done, I just paced around the perimeter of the students' seating arrangment for 50 minutes. Lame.
I thought I was free in the third-period as I sat at my computer to evaluate what projects I needed to focus on in the upcoming weeks, but I was interrupted soon enough by the JTE coming into the room to tell me that we were having class now. Ummm... yeah... that whole "communication" thing I mentioned... it's times like THIS where it helps to actually share important information.
Sigh... "I love my students, I love my students, I love my students"... I just need to keep repeating this over and over to get myself through my days. Ah well, at least the class went well. Apparently the two jokesters of this class are sitting in the front corner near where I usually stand, so throughout the period I was able to play around with them. One of them just randomly shot his arm up and pointed his finger at me. I know no idea what the meaning of this was, but I've learned over the years that the quickest way for school-room comedy is to just copy what I seee. By instant reflex, I shot my arm out, too, and pointed right back at him.
This amused him greatly.
He went on to doing it again to see if I would follow through. Seeing as I was, we both moved on to more creative ways of doing this. Double-finger points, behind-the-back points, surprise points... it's all good.
The 4th period wih the 7th-graders FINALLY reminded me of why I enjoyed junior high school teaching. We finally did an activity that didn't involve reading straight from the textbook or mindless chanting; a self-introduction of likes and dislikes. The students were working individually, but often enough were asking for assistance from their friends and neighbors, and of course, the teachers. I used this as a chance to be entertaining.
I had been walking around, checking on what the students had written down, searching for errors. When I got to one of the quieter girls sitting in the front corner, I threw in a little gag to liven things up: I started reading what she had written outloud. Doing this instantly caught the attention of the students sitting directly around us, so I gradually raised my volume to gain more and more of an audience. As my volume went up, so did the embarrassment of this poor 13 year-old.
Students learn quickly when it comes to avoiding embarrassment. The girl sitting behind her is one of the girls from the Tennis Club who, while also a quiet one, has been one I've been messing around with a bit lately, so she's become more and more of a xeno-fan in recent time. Instantly upon realizing I was coming in her direction, she threw her body down onto her desk and dove onto her paper effectively blocking my view of what she wrote. Heh heh... they learn so fast!
Of course, if you think I had let her get off so easily, then you must be a new reader to this blog serial, heh heh. I continued on making my rounds around the room to check on the other students, only when I made to the opposite of the room, I reversed my direction, meaning now I could approach my new target from behind. She was completely unsuspecting of what was awaiting her; I quietly went up to her without her detection and was successful in hovering above her for quite some time. I lowered my head down to peer over her shoulder where I saw she had drawn a little sketch of a cute little doggie. In a voice loud enough to be heard by those now awaiting this girl's imminent terror, I said "awwww, kawaii!!"
Loudest scream to date. Victory!
Of course, I'm not all games and fun... I actually DO teach. Poor Azure-chan really struggles in this class, mostly because she doesn't seem to have the ability to write clearly. I took it upon myself to write out what she wanted to put down on her paper, then had her trace it. Oh, wonderful idea!! I hope you were paying attention, Japan. I know you, for whatever reason, hate using American methods of teaching English, but someday you're going to have to admit that our methods work.
Tuesday August 31st: North ES, North KS
Elementary schools seem to always be a fun and happy place to work... or at least here anyway. I love starting my day surrounded by happy people. To begin this week's elementary-ness, I was instantly charged by a group of 1st-graders telling me that they would be swimming in the 3rd-period and wanted me to join them. Ahhh, sorry kids... I have to teach the 3rd-graders at that time. Believe me, no one is more disappointed about this than me.
The 1st- and 2nd-periods at the ES are typically quite boring. The students are all in intensive-study courses like Math or Japanese, so there is very rarely anything fun for me to join in on. Maybe this is why my ES-1 school in Okayama didn't require me to show up until 9:30am. Oh well, whatever. I did visit the 3rd-graders during my walk-arounds between periods, and during the morning recess. My new-of-the-week is taking Koneko-chan's upper-arms from behind, then having her stand on my feet as I walk. Heh heh, I was using her arms to smack the kids around us and trying to pick up objects. I was calling her a "puppet", but the kids here know it better as "marionette" (which is technically French, but we use it in the US, too). More amusing is that Koneko-chan's name can be easily morphed into "marionette" since they start with "Ma." The kids all found this amusing.
I wasn't able to tell what her amusement level with this gag was since I couldn't see her face, but everytime I let her go, she'd just grab my hands again and put herself back into place. I guess she likes it, haha. This is probably the one thing her aloofness is worthwhile for, since she just drops all her weight and control and let's me pretty much ... dammit... I can't think of a way of saying this without it sounding perverted, haha... she let's me use her body to do anything I want (haha, yeah, I KNOW what it sounds like, but get your mind out of the gutter! The other 3 ways I thought of saying it weren't any better).
As for the 3rd-grade English class in the 3rd-period, I was excited to be teaching this group again... and apparently so was their HRT. Ummm... a little too excited. So excited, in fact, that she insisted on standing besides me and "helping" me the entire time. Ugh... and you all know how much I hate it when the teachers insist on co-teaching. The very first thing I said to the class was "long time, no see." I wanted to see if any of the students could figure out the meaning, but the instant I asked if anyone knew, the HRT blurted out the answer.
Dammit... how would you like it if I went to your science class or Japanese class and shouted the answer for every question you asked? Yeah, it would get annoying really quick, wouldn't it? For someone who tells me that she can't understand English very well, she sure does like to do a lot of translating. I had to have a heart-to-heart with her later in the day and told her I had a "request" that we don't use Japanese in the classroom. I'm hoping this will stick in her mind.
Many interesting things occurred in the 4th-graders' lesson. First thing I noticed was that the two Neighbor-chans (Maburaho-chan and Onigakku-chan) weren't acknowledging me at all. Hmmm, and after playing together constantly throughout the summer? What gives? Oh well, at least a new Xeno Ranger has officially arisen; the girl who never once spoke to me before we started swimming together in the pool followed me around for a good portion of the time before class began. Unfortunately she was mumbling to me in Japanese, so I wasn't sure what she was trying to say, but at least it's cute that she's finally opened up.
This class also received a new student for the start of the 2nd-semester. It's a male student, and he seems like he could be a lot of fun. He's very genki and seems to know a good amount of English. Right from the start, he was raising his hand during our warm-up review. Not bad considering he wasn't here for the actual lesson we were covering.
For both the 3rd and 4th-grade classes, the new topic we're starting with is Colors and Shapes. I guess I didn't plan well enough because I had intended on playing Search Game for just the last 10 minutes of the class, but ended up finishing everything else with at least 20 minutes remaining. Oh well, at least it's one of those games I can extend for as long as I want... I was just hoping the kids weren't getting bored with it. To briefly explain, I just say a color or a shape, then have the students walk around the room and try to find something with that color or shape. Some of the kids get creative, like touching my hair for "brown", haha.
The afternoon was my long-awaited reunion with my precious kindergarten class... and they only proved themselves once again to be my awesomest class. They didn't forget anything! And even more so, they proved themselves capable of taking pieces from other lessons and putting them together to make new things. For example, our song for September is "Five Little Monkeys", and since they've learned words like "five" "little" "jump" and "mother" before, it was a cinch to understand.
This song seems to have goofy-voices, too, which will prove quite beneficial to me in the coming weeks when it comes times for random wackiness. For today, we just listened to the song while playing a game that they seemingly enjoy: Musical Chairs. And today we had a new addition... a high school student was doing her work-experience day today, so she was able to join in on the activities. Too bad it was just a temporary one-day visit. Brings me back to my days in Okayama when the JHS girls joined my KS classes (too bad those classes weren't little angels, haha).
On my way out, I discovered that the kindergarten will be having its undoukai (sports festival) later this month. Sweet, I didn't miss it!
My day concluded by playing with the 1st-graders in the after-school period. Nothing particularly interesting. Better was later on when I was home and my two neighbor-chans were standing below my apartment balcony screaming for me to come out and play with them. Haha, guess they're not avoiding me, afterall.
Wednesday, September 1st: JHS English Speech Contest
I should briefly mention that Futaba District had it's junior high school speech contest today. I haven't been talking much about the preparations leading up to this event mostly because it's just been all-business. Last year, the speech contest was incredible fun because I loved working with Tenisu-chan, DollDream-chan, StinkyBug-san, Alice-chan, and of course, Blue-chan. They loved English and communicating. My students this year (an 8th-grade boy and a 9th-grade girl) didn't seem too interested in having much fun. Well, the boy is friendly and often talks to me, but he's hardly an energetic student, haha.
As for the contest, it was a lot more formal than I had expected... even though I ended up being the only male there wearing a suit (WTF?). This contest was held in an actual auditorium, as opposed to just a large room like last year. And yes, xeno did work his powers-of-flirtation on the girls from other schools, haha. I did make a trio of girls swoon when I told them "ganbatte" as I heard them practicing in the lobby. I would have spoken more, but I wasn't feeling all that energetic today. Oh well.
My two students performed well, but unfortunately, other students performed better. Not too many crash-and-burns this year... only 2 students (out of 33) paused for a significant amount of time, and 2 others completely skipped parts of their speeches... probably the downside of giving copies to everyone in the audience; every student in the Okayama contest could have been skipping lines and no one would have ever known. Well, not MY students, of course... I trained them too hard, haha.
Thursday September 2nd: North JHS
Not much from today, but it's mostly because I'm feeling quite under-the-weather. I don't know what it is, but I've had a different kind of ailment plaguing me each day for the last week. Today, it's my throat; feels like it's completely closed in. I can't even swallow... and I ran out of Campbell's soup, haha. It also didn't help that today's lesson with the 9th-graders was absolutely B-O-R-I-N-G (no wonder the kids in this school hate English) and the 7th-graders just took a test... and then a nap.
ugh... whatever...
The 8th-graders had a mini-project for the day. They had to fill in lines from a textbook monologue using their own opinions and whatnot. For name, the JTE said the kids could pick whatever they wanted. This is where we get creative comedy:
"My name is banana."
"My name is baby."
"My name is Kentucky."
"My name is Luffy D. Monkey."
Haha, well, I get credit for some of those. The "baby" one comes from my walking around and seeing that one of the boys wrote that he was just "one year old." I laughed and said he was a baby, which prompted him to ask how to spell that so he could use it as his name. The "Kentucky" comes from my picking up a joke from the 1st-semester in which The Colonel's Japanese name sounds close to "Kentucky", which is what KFC is called in Japan. The kids around us laughed and told me it was a good joke.
It's not a joke!!! I want fried chicken and I want it now!!!!!
Have I mentioned that I'm going to Tokyo Disney soon?
Until next time... see you!
GTX 2-Year Anniversary Special!!
Did you see the news announcement on the front page earlier this week? Now that I've officially passed the two-year mark of being in Japan, I created a little celebration special to commemorate the event. The special includes some random thoughts of my first two years, a pros/cons list of life in Japan, some letters from my students, and best of all, a special presentation in which you'll finally get to learn the names of some of the Xeno Rangers!!!!!*
* heh heh, though you'll never know which is who... except Chizuru-burger... that one's a given
If you haven't seen it already, go check it out. And leave a comment!!! I loves me some comments!!!
Separated from the rest of the group, Saeko and Takashi manage to escape from the zombies when Takashi remembers the location of a motorcycle/random vehicle store near Takagi's house. They steal an ATV using its amphibious capabilities to escape to an island in the middle of the river where they wait for the zombies to disperse. Once they do, they make their move towards Takagi's house, tying up the vehicle and using the noise from it as a decoy. It's now Saeko's time to wail on some zombies with her bouken, as Takashi is reluctant to use his gun due to the noise it would make. Saeko steps into action and, once again, they animate her movement beautifully. She stops suddenly at the sight of two children and Takashi is forced to use the gun to blow them away before running away with a frozen Saeko in tow.
Taking refuge in a nearby temple, Takashi asks Saeko what happened. Saeko eventually admits that there's a part of her that thoroughly enjoys hurting people. She discovered this when she was attacked by a man and, instead of playing the victim, lured him in closer so that she could hurt him. She tells Takashi that seeing the zombie children reminded her that her twisted personality still hasn't changed. Managing to conceal his shock, Takashi holds her hand and...
...they fade to black so we are unaware whether they slept together in a figurative sense or not. I'm certain that this will be debated; however, it looks like they want us to assume that Takashi and Saeko slept together. As much as I don't like Takashi, this seems very contradictory to his character thus far.
The next morning, zombies begin to appear in droves at the temple, leading Takashi and Saeko to wonder why. (Because they're going through the motions of what they did in their daily lives, dumbass. It's only in every zombie movie.) Saeko is still hesitant to attack the zombies so Takashi "attacks" her, grabbing her left breast and squeezing it in what looks to be a very painful fashion. Seriously, it made me wince and cover my eyes for a moment. Apparently, this is just what Saeko needed, and she begins to wail on zombies once more, with all of the grace of a ballet dancer. While she's fighting, she screams out that she's "wet." Oo-kay... Whatever gets you off, I suppose. The two finally arrive at Takagi's mansion, and we hear Takashi's inner thoughts saying that he "accepted" Saeko because it was necessary for his survival.
I thought that they were trying to paint Takashi as a sympathetic and "too pure pure boy" type of character; however, in this episode, he comes across as a bit of a, for lack of a better term, douchebag. Specifically, the line at the end where he says that he accepted Saeko's flaws in order to survive. This could mean something as simple as, "I accepted her as a person because I had no other choice." It also could be taken as, "I'm using her for my own personal gain and therefore I accepted her." Neither of these sounds like the Takashi that they've been developing since the mopey-milquetoast-turned-badass characterization of day one. Then again, maybe he'll turn into a character like Makoto from School Days and try to sleep with everyone.
As for Saeko herself, I'd heard the rumblings of her sadistic personality from manga readers, so this "reveal" wasn't much of a surprise to me. I am shocked that during her weak moment she was shown as being submissive towards Takashi's advances, since this also seems at odds with her character.
...seriously, it's going to start to hurt and be supremely uncomfortable after a little while.
Our party has opted not to barter three sets of clothes to the Native American guide in exchange for safe river passage, and instead chosen to ford the river. Probably because if they traded what little clothes they had, then the girls would all be naked. By my exact estimates, it looks to be very deep and rather wide. Of course, none of this matters because they're in a military humvee. Keep this in mind for the latter part of the episode.
Alice-chan and Headshot-kun are quickly bonding by singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" together in both Japanese and English (if you call what Headshot-kun winds up screaming out "English.") This is to the annoyance of Takagi, who is the lookout while Takashi, Saeko, and Rei sleep inside the truck. I feel her pain. Just typing out the title of that song has now stuck it firmly in my brain on repeat for the foreseeable future. They finally reach the other side of the river and, following a quick changing scene as the girls put on various doctored sailor suit outfits, decide to head to Takagi's house first.
The closer they get to Takagi's house, the more and more zombies they begin to encounter. While wondering why, the end up at a "dead end" of sorts in front of a wire fence. That's right, a wire fence. Despite the fact that they're in a military-grade vehicle that can ford rivers, they apparently can't make it through a wire fence, which leads to all sorts of panic when Shizuka slams on the brakes in front of it, sending Rei flying onto the pavement. Guess she and Takashi shouldn't have been sitting on the roof chatting away.
This leads to a supremely awkward fanservice moment, where Takashi uses a gun while it is still strapped tightly around Rei's body. The camera slows down to show every ripple across Rei and Saeko's breasts while bullets pass by, nearly grazing them. It's a very odd directing choice, and I'm interested in how much of this was in the original manga and how much of it was the director's decision. Either way, it made me laugh. This is followed by a surprisingly cute scene where Takagi stands bravely in front of the stopped humvee, chanting that she's not a coward and trying valiantly to shoot the approaching hoard.
Beginning to panic, Takashi and Saeko make as much noise as possible in an attempt to drive the zombies away from the humvee. Unfortunately, this is the one time that the zombies don't follow their own predictable actions, and the two get separated from the main group. It doesn't help that Alice-chan starts screaming at the top of her lungs when Headshot-kun tells her to leave for her own safety. Things begin to look very dire when a legion of people in firefighter's uniforms arrive and rescue the group at the humvee. One of the firefighters removes their helmet to reveal that she's actually Takagi's mother. Takagi yells to the separated Saeko and Takashi that they'll be waiting at her house.
This show continues to be delightfully ridiculous, although admittedly there were a few parts of this episode that annoyed me. Particularly, the scene in front of the wire fence was very overwrought. I saw no reason why they couldn't have tried to bust through the fence, or at least help each other over it, like Headshot-kun begins to do with Alice-chan, and like they eventually end up doing when they're rescued by Takagi's mother. My suspension of disbelief can only go so far, and the drama that resulted from being "trapped" by this fence didn't resonate with me at all.
At the end of summer, during a time of new relationships and love, a young man meets a young girl. The fates, it seems, have brought them together. But it is not their time yet.
Thus begins the Sae Nakata arc of Amagami SS. With a playful narrator and a shy-girl-with-nice-body, this version of Junichi’s budding romance takes on both a lighthearted and fairy-tale-esque mood.
Viewers recall the fickle Haruka Morishima, the spunky Kaoru Tanamachi. Their personalities were quite different, but they had one thing in common: they talked a lot. Sae Nakata, on the other hand, can hardly look another person in the eye, let alone speak up. She’s just transferred from an all-girls school, so that may be part of the problem.
It’s now lunchtime, and Junichi’s friend wants some sandwiches. In this school, that means war. There are just too many people wanting the same types of bread. So Junichi departs on a sandwich mission to rescue the day.
On the way there, Junichi bumps into Haruka, which makes him drop his coin purse. He doesn’t realize that, probably because he’s too busy being in a stupor about how lovely Haruka is. The shy Sae picks it up, though she can’t call out to him.
What a disaster! She follows him into the cafeteria, where the Bread Battle ensues. (At this point, you may remember that this is how Junichi bumped into Sae during the Haruka arc.) Junichi has realized that he doesn’t have his purse. Luckily, Sae manages to find him and return it to him.
On the other hand, she doesn’t allow him to say, “Thank you.” Whether or not he’s being a pervert, Junichi decides that he has to thank her properly. Using descriptions that are not quite so flattering (but at least “she’s big where she counts!”), he asks his sister Miya, who is Sae’s classmate, if she knows the girl.
As luck would have it, Sae appears on the scene. She compliments his purse, and he thanks her. It seems that they have finally had their fated encounter.
Later, Junichi spots Sae. She can’t walk past a gate because she’s scared of a dog’s shadow. Junichi, trying to look cool, offers to go with her. But, of course, he doesn’t quite feel the same way. We find out that it was all for nothing. As a puppy barks friendly at her, Sae runs away.
They then go to Kaoru’s restaurant. Because Sae likes the restaurant’s uniforms, Junichi asks Kaoru if the restaurant is hiring.
“Always,” Kaoru replies. “But you have to pass an interview first. They just have to see if you can talk to customers and carry orders.”
Uh oh. We see where this is heading. Junichi claims that Sae needs some special training. (“Just call me Instructor Junichi.”) He takes her to his house, where he and Miya help her.
Junichi plays the role of vocal coach and teaches her a simple breathing exercise: expand, contract the stomach. It’s too bad that while showing her he ended up only breathing in.
Next is the carrying orders practice. Sae ends up spilling coffee on him, which leads to a very awkward scene with the sister.
After a good night, they decide to play Piggyback-rock-paper-scissors. The loser has to piggyback the winner, who says a word. The syllables in the word dictates how many steps the loser has to walk.
Well, Junichi loses, and Miya tells Sae to claim her reward. Hot mama! Junichi wants to lose again, and again. What word does she say? Well, they ended on “Gu,” so it has to be “g—” . Junichi suggests “glamorous body.” And say it loudly, Sae! Say it as loud as you can.
My thoughts:
This is probably my favorite beginning so far in Amagami SS. Both the dynamic and development of the two protagonists’ relationship are natural and smooth. I know I have a thing for shy girls, but this is the first time I found myself actually kind of rooting for the couple. Sae is cute and quiet, but she tries. Her honesty and innocence complement Junichi, whose only claim to fame are his weird likes and his wannabe manliness.
There also seems to be more substance. The Kaoru arc was rife with quotes of, “What’s our relationship like?” while viewers banged their heads and went, “We know what’s going to happen!” At least here, there’s something other than somewhat serious conversation to keep the anime going.
I also liked how little sister Miya has appeared much more in this arc already. In the Haruka arc, she was just kind of oblivious to everything. In the Kaoru arc, she witnessed something she shouldn’t have, and that was about it for her. At least now, she appears to be a major catalyst in her brother and Sae’s relationship.
Coverage Day: Friday, August 27th
Schools Visited: North ES
Entry #S03, Ep33
Oh, elementary school, it's been such a long time since I've seen you (well, the parts that aren't the pool-area, heh heh). It's apparent you've been long neglected, mostly by the overgrown grass and weeds out in the playground. I guess without the kids picking through you constantly throughout the week, things have gotten a little out of hand. Don't worry though, by the end of the month, you'll be trimmed down to a manageable size. Those kids are like goats... I just hope their not actually eating the grass.
Today was my first day back teaching at the elementary school; the start of the 2nd semester. The first semester went well. I got my evaluation back. My score was a lovely 97% in overall awesomeness!! I think the part that got me most was the comment left in the random notes section:
"Children are attached to ALT and they are looking forward his class every week."
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... couldn't ask for a nicer comment. I love my ES kids... so sweet. As for the JHS... well, they're fun, too, but the schedule there is terrible, meaning I barely ever get to spend any time with the students. Hence why there isn't much worth noting of my first two days back there. In fact, they just took tests. That's so cruel to do to a kid right after summer break. Oh well, because of the lack of cuteness and comedy there, let me tell you about my day returing to North ES.
1st Period: Preparation
Meh, I just laminated some flashcards. Only thing worth noting was that we apparently have two new teachers added to our staff. I guess I should have anticipated this, since I, too, was a 2nd-semester new-comer. Anyway, one of them is the new math teacher... and this guy definitely looks like a math teacher. Let's just say, I have no worries about him becoming more popular than me, haha. As for the other guy, I'm not sure what his role will be, but he could present a challenge for me. I'm pretty sure he's just a college intern though, so maybe he'll be gone within 3 weeks. I mean, I guess I shouldn't worry too much, since even with this new guy around, I still got plenty of attention from the students... more than usual, actually.
2nd-period: 3rd-grade Music Class
I was absolutely bored of doing prep-work in the morning, so once I finished most of it, I went out to explore what was going on around the school. I found the 3rd-graders having Music class. It wasn't my intention to disrupt the class too much, but you know ole' xeno... just being in the room is cause enough for excited commotion. The kids were listening to some dippy song about pumpkin pie or something. I was just going to stand in the doorway and watch for a little bit, but soon I was spotted by the kids in the back. Once I have an audience, I have to put on a performance, so I started dancing a little bit. Wasn't long before the whole class was turned to me, laughing at my wacky antics.
There was an empty seat in the back next to one of the more friendlier girls, though she doesn't have a nickname yet. She was amused by having me sitting with her... which I think only made the other students jealous, haha. Poor Shadow-chan. I know she wanted to interact. What had made a little surprised, however, is when I first appeared, everyone in the room started calling to Koneko-chan to look over at me. Haha, when did this girl become my official lead-follower? And why do all the other kids notice this?
Oh well, can't complain about that.
3rd-period: 5th/6th-grade Super Double English class
Because of a special weekend event, the students in the older classes needed to be free in the 4th-period, so to accomodate this, the teachers combined the two classes into one super class. By adding two decent-sized classes together, I was now facing the biggest crowd of students I've had to date; nearly 40 students!!! For most other ALTs, that's probably considered a "small" class, as Japan is famous for it's ridiculously-sized classes. For me, however, this was a new adventure.
Originally I was going to fill some of each class with textbook material, but with the two classes together using different textbooks, it wouldn't have worked too well. Instead, I used this opportunity to pit the two classes together in a game. I wish we were on a better topic, but being the start of the semester, I was limited in what games I could play. I chose "Nintendo Code Game" as a review from last July, which was fine since I could have 4 players up at a time. Plus, I didn't want to start with anything too difficult.
4th-period: SHOCKING EVENT!!!!!!!!!!
Teaching in Okayama, our summer vacation extended all the way into September, as it is insanely hot down there. Up in Fukushima, it's still very very hot. In fact, earlier this week we hit 100F (37C). But down in Okayama, I guess the Japanese figure "September =/= summer" and therefore there shouldn't be any swimming, despite the fact that it's still pretty hot in September. I assumed this would be the case again here up North, but imagine my surprise when the 3rd-graders found me in the hallway after 3rd-period telling me that they wanted me to join them in the pool!!!!
Pool!?!?! In the second-semester!?!?!? Quite an unexpected surprise, but hell yeah!!! Thank Haruhi-sama that my apartment is just a 3-minute walk away. After a quick change, I was standing at the doorway to the pool-area... with not only the 3rd-graders, but the 4th-graders, as well. Nice.
Being an actual P.E. class, there was less fun and more work... i.e., swimming laps, mostly, haha. So boring, but oh well. It was hot out and the water couldn't have been nicer. I volunteered my services to standing in the center of the intermediate-swimmers' area and be on collision patrol. Haha, and man, were my services needed. Kids can't swim a straight line if their lives depended on it.
Lunch
The second semester brought an interesting change to our lunchroom. In the first semester, all the students sat together by class, rotating amongst themselves every few weeks. I always sat with the 5th-graders, though each month there would be a different set of them in my area. Now for the 2nd-semester, the classes seem to have been mixed together. And not only will the students be on a rotation, but so will I.
For my first assignment, I sat next to the 3rd-grade girl who I also sat next to during Music class earlier in the day... and now that I think about it, she and I worked together a lot during the 4th-period swimtime (she was a free-ride moocher, haha... just wanted me to pull her through the water instead of actually swimming her laps). A 5th-grade boy sat across from me diagonally and a 2nd-grade boy sat on the other side of the girl. The seat across from me was empty, but that wouldn't last for long. Sitting next to the boy across from me was Koneko-chan... just out of arm's reach, haha. This is important since typically my lunchroom gags rely on being able to poke the kids in the opposite shoulder, then looking away as if nothing happened.
haha, actually, that worked quite well on the girl next to me (she needs a nickname!). I poked her once, and immediately her suspicions were raised, but she had no evidence, haha. I played this up by turning back in her direction and extending my arm behind her, but then doing things like prentending to stretch, wave to people across the room, or point at invisible bugs only I could see. She'd get so worked up everytime she thought she''d catch me, only to whine when I wasn't following through with what she was expecting.
Not one to miss out on a chance for fun with teh gaijin, I was pleased to see Koneko-chan race through finishing her lunch, then rush over to take the empty seat across from me. Haha, a huge no-no in this school, but I'll allow it since she's obviously doing it to soak up my awesomeness. Our game turned into the typical hand-slap game, but this time with an added twist: the condensation from my water bottle left a little puddle on the table between us. I sneakily tried to lure her into slapping her hand into it by holding my hand just above it... but she was too smart for that. She turned it into trying to push my hand into it, though in the end, she was the one who ended up getting into it.
5th-period: 1st-grade P.E.
All day long, the students in the 1st-grade class had been clamoring around me, begging me for various things. One of those things came from the unnamed girl who is constantly attached to me. What did she want? Pool time!! Yaaaay!! More pool-time!! When it came time to answer her question of whether or not I would be joining them, a small crowd had gathered. I told them that they had to ask their homeroom teacher. Haha, this set off a quick stampede out the door and to the hall where the poor woman was trying to wash something in the sink. Heh heh, well, permission granted! Off to the pool, we go.
Only, this time it wouldn't be as eventful. We were in the small pool with a group sizeably large, meaning there was little room for actual play. Being a P.E. class again, there were some P.E.-ish activities that needed to be done. Just your typical beginner stuff: practicing swimming straight across, practicing holding your breath underwater, a game where students compete to collect dive-ornaments, and walking around the perimeter together to make a giant whirlpool. I mainly just watched, though I did get to help with the dive-ornament activity by tossing in the ornaments.
As we were leaving, I saw the 5th and 6th-graders coming in. As much as I really would have loved to swim with this group (effectively meaning I had spent half my day poolside), I was feeling a little sore (I don't think my body has atuned to those ice-cold showers we have to take before and after using the pool). I did ask the teachers what activity was planned for the period, hoping for another chance at portball, but they were just having free-swim as a reward for working all around the campus in the hot sun all day.
6th-period: Outside playtime
As usual, the students in the lower classes were set free to randomly roam the outdoor area. Today the 1st-graders wanted to start with tag, but I really hate running such long distances. Soon enough the game changed to chasing me with this weird fuzzy flower-things that are hard to describe. They have long stems, but on the end is this weird like soft-brush kind of material. It's great for sneaking up on someone then using it to tickle their neck or cheek to freak them out, but with 5 or 6 kids rushing at you with them, the element of surprise is unsuprisingly lacking. Oh well, at least Tsundere-chan seemed happy with the game... until I acknowledged her existance by talking to her.
Dammit.. what does she want from me!?!?!?!?!?
After School
Only a matter of time, I suppose, that the inevitable happens. Seems like whenever things are running smoothly, at some point someone is going to approach you with a "suggestion" of how to change things. In this school, the 3rd-grade teacher is the ALT Supervisor, but I think to her, she thinks that this means she gets more say over how the English program is run. I don't mean to undermine her authority, but after teaching for two years and knowing what works and what doesn't work, I really don't want to have someone who's only job is to write my schedule down giving me advice on how to change things.
She's a very sweet young woman. She's always been very kind and friendly to me, though her English is quite lacking. She's been trying to get too involved in the lessons, which I guess doesn't matter all that much, but maybe she should know that it's alright if she just wants to sit back and watch from her desk... even go ahead and correct some papers or something. I don't need her help in running the lessons... and I especially don't need her help in deciding on the lesson plans...
... especially when the lesson plan she has for me absolutely sucks!! For example, she wants the ENTIRE MONTH of October dedicated solely to Halloween. And not only for her 3rd-grade class, but for the entire school!!! Same goes for Christmas in December. Other months aren't looking too great, either, as each month just has one topic, usually based on teaching sentences.
I think I made some good points about how elementary school needs to focus on vocabulary and not so much on teaching sentences, especially since a few of the lessons she had are things that are taught in the junior high school anyway. I explained to her that the lessonplan she had created would only teach the students a minimal amount of actually useful English, while the plan I had would have students graduating with a 600+ word vocabulary, all useful terms needed in the junior high school.
Plus, and I really don't want to have to say it, but the English level of the students in this school system is absolutely terrible. I don't care if they fire me, but I'll definitely stand up and tell them that I refuse to abide by a system that is obviously flawed. Besides, they were happy with my performance in the 1st-semester (I scored 100% with this school), so if they really want to fire someone who obviously knows his job and has the best interests of the students in mind, they'd have to live with knowing they only sabotaged their own success.
I was saved by another teacher, thankfully. The 3rd-grade teacher was having too much of a hard time trying to explain to me what she was proposing, so she nabbed the 5th-grade teacher as she was passing by. I can't speak much Japanese, but even I could tell that she was essentially saying "WTH?? Why would you try to change his schedule around? He obviously knows what he's doing, and the kids are not only enjoying his lessons, but actually learning, so just let him do his own thing!"
I should probably have a friend translate a message for her so she can fully understand why I prefer my method over hers. If she wants to get the best out of me, she needs to trust my judgement and let me run my classes the way I see fit. Too many teachers have too many different opinions that not everyone is ever going to agree, so the best solution is to let me work in the ways I've seen work best. As I said to her, in the first semester, maybe it's a little bit difficult for the students to accept the pace of the class, but by the 2nd-semester, they seem to catch on. By the 3rd-semester, they'll all be pro!
I should show her the video I have of the 3rd-graders' capstone lesson from last year. It'll probably blow her away, heh heh.
GTX 2-Year Anniversary Special!!
Did you see the news announcement on the front page earlier this week? Now that I've officially passed the two-year mark of being in Japan, I created a little celebration special to commemorate the event. The special includes some random thoughts of my first two years, a pros/cons list of life in Japan, some letters from my students, and best of all, a special presentation in which you'll finally get to learn the names of some of the Xeno Rangers!!!!!*
* heh heh, though you'll never know which is who... except Chizuru-burger... that one's a given
If you haven't seen it already, go check it out. And leave a comment!!! I loves me some comments!!!
PLEASE SEE: I've been trying to keep up the habit of adding many, many screenshots (the most I've had is 16 for Episode 7) to each blog post, but after next week's episode, I don't think I can put up quite as many. I'm going to start getting really busy with my non-anime life; but not to worry--there will still be pictures, though a lesser amount.
On still another note, thank you for reading! Sorry for keeping you.
Episode 8: “Progress”
(aka: the conclusion of the Kaoru Tanamachi arc)
As a fellow classmate waxes poetic about his ideal Christmas date to Junichi, Kaoru asks Keiko about whether or not to date the lucky guy on Christmas Eve. The topic, “What’s the deal with your relationship?” pops up again. Due to other reasons, Kaoru leaves.
Suddenly, Junichi’s guy friend goes blue: he’s gotten a papercut. Would his friend be a dear and get a Band-Aid for him in the nurse’s station? As Junichi exits the classroom, the two individuals who are left snicker about their sneaky goings on.
Oho. Who’s in the nurse’s office but Kaoru herself? Because her skirt ripped, she’s stuck in her restaurant uniform. She’ll have to wait for Keiko to fix her skirt up. So hello, Junichi.
After stumbling back a bit, the guy gets his Band-Aid. Kaoru ends up asking him out (be a man, Junichi!). Happy, he agrees.
Later that night, Little Sister Miya remarks about the troubling cost of Christmas dinners. Twice the price? Blasphemy! Junichi gets rattled for a bit, but that shouldn’t bother him, right?
Kaoru, on the other hand, is wondering whether or not she should get a new wardrobe just for a date.
On the promised day, Junichi decides to meet Kaoru at—wait for it—a park. She’s quite late. Ten, twenty minutes is the usual. But now it’s been over thirty.
Going emo, he starts arguing with himself on whether or not his date will actually come.
As if she wants to respond to this question and slap him in the face, the breathless Kaoru dashes into the scene. She wants to take him to a favorite place of hers.
It’s called Port Tower, and is quite high. Junichi doesn’t want to go up, and suggests they walk at a park first. Fine, fine. It’s not evening yet, but when the time comes, the couple goes back.
Now let’s take a breather and look at the clueless but hot Haruka in a Santa suit.
Okay, that’s good.
Against his will, Junichi is taken to the top of the tower. He can’t quite manage that height.
The next moment, the mood shifts. The two position themselves atop the window on the ground, and watch as the snow falls beneath them.
Cue “Silent Night,” then Kaoru’s confession.
You can only guess what Junichi’s answer is, considering Kaoru’s face.
Junichi takes Kaoru home. I assure you that nothing happens, though the two end up sleeping beside one another to the tune of seductive jazz. One can only wonder why since there are other available options, but my guess is that Kaoru is the dominant one in this relationship.
We also suffer a nice “PWNED” moment from Junichi’s sister, Miya. I realize that I always give out way too many spoilers, so if you’re interested in that, then see the episode for yourself.
Their relationship has both ended and begun. First, as friends—and now, something more? We’ll just have to see.
My thoughts:
Well, here it is. Kaoru and Junichi have finally become a couple, as we’ve all been expecting. Did I like it better than Haruka? Yes, and no.
The problem I had with the Haruka arc is that the female lead’s personality was completely diluted for the final episode, which resulted in a very unconvincing and unsatisfying conclusion. At least here, it’s more believable. Kaoru acts true to her personality: she takes initiative, she calls Junichi out on his pervertedness and utter knack at being a wimp. In this, she seems much more natural.
On the other hand, Junichi’s presence in this arc ended up plummeting. The thing is, he instead of Kaoru becomes more vulnerable this time around. This doesn’t help; even if there are those weird moments, but other than that, I don’t think he had anything memorable about him. At least last time he was the one doing the confessing, with Haruka just dallying about him.
I commend the variety, but I still think there should be some balance between the emphases on the male and female leads.
At this point in the manga, Daisuke Sato said to himself, "What am I missing to really capture the entirety of the otaku audience? Oh, I know, a little girl. They're irresistible!" And so, Alice-chan was introduced into the fold. She makes a spectacular entrance too, between watching her father get murdered to peeing on Takashi as he's attempting to rescue her from a zombie horde. The blatant pandering of this character introduction is balanced by a surprisingly touching scene between Saeko, Takashi, and Rei when the three of them formulate a plan to save her, effectively affirming their humanity in what has become, as Saeko points out, an inhumane environment. This is apparently made all the better by the fact that Saeko wears nothing but an apron and black underwear throughout the entire episode.
The fanservice is a bit more tolerable in this episode, mainly because of Kohta's firearms prowess along with some generally awesome zombie-crushing fight scenes. The series seems to be keeping up with the fanservice while also returning to the campy violence and over-the-top fight scenes, with a few serious and intelligent moments thrown in. It also helps that the fight scenes are well-animated. Saeko in particular is beautifully drawn and graceful in combat. There are a few awkward fanservice moments, like when Shizuka forgets to put on clothes, but for the most part it's gone back to generic crotch shots and breast-bouncing, which induces laughter more than disgust.
The plot is beginning to move a bit as our main cast, after rescuing Alice, escapes in a conveniently-placed Hummer at Shizuka-sensei's friend's apartment, along with her entire weapons stash. I'd like to slap Takashi for agreeing that Alice could bring along that stupid stray dog. Dogs make noise. Not a smart move to make when you've proven that the zombies are attracted to noise. I'm definitely interested to see exactly where this series is going. It's been seven episodes (out of thirteen) and there's still no real plot direction with the exception of the fact that they're heading out to find what's left of their families.
Lastly, is the use of "ruck" actually supposed to be the word "luck?" I'm all in for random rugby terms thrown in here and there, but it doesn't make a lot of sense in this context.
Ever wonder what Azunyan would be like if she were 3-D and in flesh and blood? Well, NIKUMANGUITAR is pretty damn close. She's a girl, plays the guitar and presumably in some high school club sipping tea with hilarious hi-jinks.
I see what you did there at 2:58
Yeah, Luka's here too
And she doesn't just do pop trance, she also covers metal legends. Like Rainbow. And Iron Maiden. And Ozzy. She covers Ozzy, dude.
Purgatory, Iron Maiden Cover
Kill the King
Okay, so I lied, K-ON's not real. Azunyan may be real but Yui's just a work of fiction. Girls like Yui don't make it past the age of 10 because they always follow that stranger to the van with the promise of candy. So I guess K-ON is a work of fiction after all.
The morning after “the incident,” Kaoru doesn’t show up for class. Junichi worries; could it be his fault? His fears are only augmented when Keiko tells him that she wasn’t able to speak to Kaoru last night, though that might only mean that his "bad friend" was working.
This leads to the question: “Is she just skipping class?” After a few appearances of the “other" girls (the class rep and Rihoko, the ditzy library girl, included), we find out that no, that can’t be the case. Kaoru never came home last night.
Losing all sense of rationality, Junichi bolts out, the dashing hero that he is. He realizes that just running around will get him nowhere. It apparently takes him a while to process it, however. In the next few minutes, he remembers snippets of his “bad friend” and himself. Kaoru liking the newer, seasonal sweets at the gas station. Kaoru mulling over the latest summer fashions. Kaoru beating him up at nine-ball.
Flash back to Kaoru, who’s moping on the beach near “that” park. We find out why she was so worried about her mother showing affection to a strange man. It’s not cheating; in fact, the mom is looking for someone to remarry. But Kaoru can’t accept it; she’s always believed that the two of them can stick together, forever. That’s why the girl works so hard, even though it causes big fights.
Junichi then arrives, but he’s just missed her. He’s still wondering why in the world he’s worrying about her so much. The two boys from the last episode think that Junichi’s made Kaoru upset, so apologize to that cool lady already, you bastard. (Not in those words, exactly.)
He runs over to the beach, but sees—nothing save for the red and gold of a setting sun. Wandering around again, he overhears a rather long conversation between Haruka and her best friend Hibiki. They’re talking about the Crab Gratin girl—aka Kaoru, because that’s what’s being served at the restaurant she works at.
So lover boy finally finds her. There's only one problem: he’s broke and can’t go in the restaurant. So instead of making a fool of himself by not having any money inside, he instead opts for the more rational method by making faces in the window and creeping around in an attempt to attract (and, at the same time, avoid) Kaoru’s attention.
Unfortunately for him, Kaoru spots him. She visits him on her break, and, after trying to act happy, tells him everything. Her mom, how hard she works. We run into more rather cheesy and cliche quotations, like, “If you want to cry, go ahead…” or “Crying isn’t a weakness.” This leads to a scene reminiscent of Fushigi Yuugi’s “Miaka!” “Tamahome!” “Miaka!” “Tamahome!” in terms of its drama. But we also get a wrestling tidbit, which makes everything A-OK.
Kaoru decides to call her mother, and everything ends well. Junichi has a wannabe cool moment, but then erases any “coolness factor” he ever gained at the end of the episode. He goes red in the bathtub and almost passes out, with what we can only interpret as a happy, perverted smile on his face.
The next morning, Kaoru’s in a back-slapping good mood. Quite possibly (and what a surprise that would be), she likes Junichi too. And the day goes on.
My thoughts:
What? No relationship yet? There might as well not be one, because it’s one of those grating “Oh, come on. You like each other already. Get it over with!” that’s only exacerbated by the addition of the cheesy dialogue in between. I’m not sure, though, how they will end it next episode. Is this one of those “understood” relationships where everything ends happily ever after? Will the creators surprise us with the revelation that the Kaoru arc will take another episode?
Kaoru is more fragile than Haruka. Her moods go up and down, up and down, whereas Haruka—save for the end—kept a smile on her face the entire time. Maybe it’s for the better, maybe for the worst. Whatever the case, I’m not sure whether Kaoru is as memorable as a female lead.
I think this anime needs Junichi pitted against some mindless zombie guts so that he can learn to man up and stop being such a wimp. (Wait—flashbacks of kindly Hirano turning into a maniacal nail-gunner.) I do like how he wasn’t portrayed as such a loser this time around, though. The fact that he was worrying about the girl’s wellbeing instead of dwelling over the kiss may have had something to do with it. As a result, I’ve gained more respect for the man. Heck, he even had a cool moment this episode, though he quickly bashed that down by announcing it to the world.
By this point, what Amagami SS has accomplished is an elevation of respect for the male protagonist. He actually worries about other people, even if he does have some weird moments. He’s not that much of a stalker, and he seems more laidback with Kaoru. It’s the usual conundrum, but luckily, he doesn’t have a choice. (Ichigo 100%, baby!)
Coverage Dates: July 27th - August 11th
Schools Visited: SUMMER VACATION
Entry #S03, Ep32
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... summertime! A great time of year. The three-month period in which many of us look forward to all year 'round. Sun, surf, sand, ice cream, butterflies, birds, driving with the windows down... and best of all, no work!!!!
Heh heh, well, that last one is really only true for ALTs, but in my case, I've been doing all I can to slip in some extra "volunteer" hours with my kids during the summer swim program. I mean, why not? I love spending time with my students, it gives me a chance to interact with them on a more social level, it entertains me during the day... and best of all, free use of a pool!! As inconvenient as it may be to live in the middle of nowhere, at least the local pool is just a 3-minute walk away.
It's been a while since I've blogged. There have been some pretty good moments I've experienced with a few key characters, but not much worthy of their own entry. What I present now is just a basic run-down of what I've been doing for the last two weeks or so with my first summer spent in Northern Japan... which isn't as hot as it is down South, but just as humid. -_______-;;;;;
Pool time is most weekdays. There is a morning session and an afternoon session, each 90 minutes long. A good number of students show up to each one. Luckily some of the regulars are some of the Xeno Rangers I've come to bond with... plus a few unknowns who have used this opportunity to make a name for themselves. I've been playing mostly with Shadow-chan, who makes it a point to glue herself to my side from the moment we set foot in the pool. As shy as she is during the schoolday, she's quite open and energetic during pooltime. Her favorite thing to do in the water is actually a classic American pool acitivity:
Maybe you've done this before if you grew up with a pool. It's this thing where I have the kids stand on my bended knee from somewhere in the middle of the pool, then we count to three, upon which I hoist whoever's up into the air. Shadow-chan's gotten so good at it with practice that now she gets about 3 feet above the surface of the water before she comes splashing down. She tells me that she wants to be thrown high enough to touch the ceiling.
... the ceiling.... which is about 20 feet in the air. Hey, sure, why not? Go for it!
We had done this for about two weeks, with plenty of other students wanting in on it. Unfortunately the 3rd-grade teacher put a stop to it, despite all the other teachers (and principals) in the school saying it was okay. Too bad, but oh well, we'll find other things to do.
Too bad especially since it was something easy for me to do, and it was something all the other students found interesting. I think overall about 20 kids have done it at least once, including many of the 3rd-grade girls and 4th-grade boys. Some of the 5th-grade girls had chances, too, including Chocolate-chan and her friend who only now started talking to me. The gag with these two is that they always scream as a natural reaction once they feel themselves being launched. This is an open-chance to tease them.
"1... 2... AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
heh heh, good to know that simple teasing mimicry is an easy enough joke in any language. Taking it a step further was...
"AHHHH... AHHHH... AHHHHHH!!!"
Usually the student I have on the "launch pad" is too busy laughing to even focus on the task at hand.
Well, dangerous or not, seems like I need to find a new game. Pulling the kids across the water is an easy thing, but it takes a lot of time and energy, since usually the kids want to be pulled the entire length of the pool. And not only that, but the ones I'm not pulling want to latch onto my arms and shoulders, giving me extra weight I have trudge across the water. Gahh... can't you kids understand physics? Can we make it a 1st-grade subject?
Another thing I think I can get away with is using the boogie boards as jet-skis. I have one of the kids (preferrably the lighter ones) sit on a boogie board I have in front of me, then lift them slightly above the surface of the water and run while pushing them forward. If I can do it right, we can go pretty fast. I like to bob it up and down like a real jet-ski and end it with a nice sharp curve. Bonus points if I send the rider flying off it, haha.
Also with the boogie boards, I use them as items to play "keep away" with. This is a good point that the kids can't understand physics much, because it's quite easy to skim it across the water super-fast just as they are about to grab hold of it. Usually there about 4-6 students involved, sometimes with multiple boards. When they do manage to take one from me, they usually lose it instantly when they try to pass it to one another by throwing it in the air.
... or, my favorite, when they hold it behind their heads to make the throw, I can simple snatch it from their grip. Being 50% taller than all of them has its advantages.
All that happens with the older kids in the big pool. I typically swim with that crowd during the morning session. The afternoon session usually gets devoted to the 1st- and 2nd-graders in the little pool. Inukami!-chan and InstantTears-chan have been dominating my time there, but Stratos3-chan has used this as an open opportunity, as well as some of the boys.
It's way too shallow, small, and crowded to be throwing the students, but they still try to get in such requests. The compromise mainly is that I'll hold them "princess style" above the water then simply drop them straight down. I drop down with them to catch them at the bottom of the pool so they don't get hurt. So far it's proven to work pretty well.
Less death-defying (and demanding of my energy) is to simply lean against the side of the pool with my arms and shoulders resting on the pool deck, then have the students swim under my back like I'm a tunnel. It's easy for me since I just have to sit there, and occassionally push their backs if they get stuck halfway. Some of them cheat, though, and grab my swimsuit to pull themselves through. I tell them to stop being sneaky cheaters, especially since they usually pinch me in the process. With Stratos3-chan being the best swimmer, I can sink lower and tell her it's a "challenge."
They also love being pulled in the water. It's a free ride, plus they can go super-fast. I can even do the jet-ski thing with the boogie boards, which works out much nicer since these kids are much much lighter. If I can go fast enough and keep them up above the surface at the right moment, I can even "beach" them at the edge of the pool, haha.
In non-pool news, I've been trying to explore the area more and meet new friends. I've been using many Facebook and Japan-guide to find local Japanese people to take me around. So far I've connected with...
* one girl + sister: we went bowling once, but that was it
* one girl + friend: we went on a scenic train-ride and to a matsuri in the city
* one boy in Tokyo: he's an otaku... I wanna see an AKB48 concert with him
* one girl in Tokyo: hopefully she'll be my "date" to Tokyo Disneyland
* one of my old SFC girls from Boston contacted me, hoping her and I can meet up at some point
There have been a few other emails exchanged with various individuals, but conversations seem to die out quickly. No idea why. People are just busy, I suppose. I did get a phone call from someone I knew in Okayama... an important key figure in my life: the kouchou-sensei of ES-1. He called to check up on me and ask me if I was coming to Okayama at some point. I don't know if he was using that as a way of inviting me to his place or not. He also said he wanted to come visit me in Fukushima, but I assured him that he'd be bored out of his mind coming to my village, haha. Oh well, at least it's nice to know he's still thinking of me.
That wasn't the only blast-from-the-past I've gotten lately, either. One little Miss Blue-chan also emailed me. She doesn't have a PC email, but like any Japanese teenager, she has a cell phone for text-messaging. Too bad it can't help her with her English.
Straight from the girl herself...
HER: I have not seen you for a long time
ME: Tomorrow I have elementary school, and then on Wednesday I will start summer vacation! I will go swimming many times with the students. I also have to help junior high school students practice for the speech contest. I think you and the other girls were better speakers, but my new students will fight hard!
What will you do for the summer?
HER: I play cheerleader
ME: oh, nice. Is it fun? Will you go on a trip?
HER: I not going to trip
ME: That's too bad. Traveling is fun. How is your family?
HER: My family is happy every day ^__^V How is (xeno)?
ME: I miss the (Blue-chan) family. Everyone was very kind to me.
I am okay. The elementary students and teachers here are very good to me. The junior high school is okay. The students cannot speak English very well, so it is difficult to talk to them. The English teacher is so-so. (A-sensei) was a great teacher, so it's hard to have a new teacher.
How is high school? Did you meet many new friends?
HER: yes.
ME: tell me about high school
HER: It is happy time ^___^V
ME: what is your favorite class? how are the teachers?
HER: It tender teacher
I sleep
goodby
ME: oyasuminasai!
I'm guessing she used a translator on that last one. "Tender" is not a word she should know, nor is it even used correctly, haha, but cute conversation. I miss that girl and her crazy antics. Who knows what kind of chaos she's raining down on that new school of hers. One of the things that really bites about being a teacher is that eventually someday you have to say "goodbye" (or, well, "sayonara") to those you grow close to. Oh well, friends for life despite distance I suppose is how it all works.
Speaking of life-long friendships, heh heh... I've been using my free-time this break to travel back to my childhood... the golden age of children's programming. I feel bad for those growing up today. Kids these days have no idea what GOOD kids' programming is all about... especially when it comes to animation. Maybe I'll sound like an old fogey, but back in the 90s, kids were blessed to have some really cool, wild and edgy stuff (not like the PC garbage shooting out of the toilet today). Back in the day, cartoons actually did have characters who developed and storylines that were not only comical, but serious and dramatic.
Maybe some of you were fortunate enough to grow up with the Disney Afternoon. Ducktales, Goof Troop, Darkwing Duck were all serious bad-ass. My favorite, however, was TaleSpin. Just watch the opening intro to get a sense of how kick-ass this show was...
Ironically enough, I have never seen the Jungle Book (the classic Disney animated film the characters come from), but I absolutely loved this show. The characters were awesome, the setting was amazing (1920's America!!!), and the stories were gripping. I loved the airplanes!! And pirates!!!!! Pirates who fly airplanes!!!!!!!! KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!
So anyway, that's how I've been spending my summer afternoons around lunch time. I've marathoned up to episode 21 by the time of this posting. The trip down memory lane has been endearing, but not only that, this show has proven to stand up to the test of time, even continuing to being amazing in my later years. I'll have to scoop up the DVD when I get back stateside. I know someday I'm going to want to show my own kids this show. Forget this "Hannah Montana" crap. PIRATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last item to share, it's been very shakey around here lately. I mean that literally, not figuratively. For about a three-day stretch, Northern Honshu had been rocked by a series of quakes. One was a 4.9 that woke me from my sleep, another was a 4.8 that hit when I was sitting at my computer. A bit rattling, but still exciting.
And before I go, I have a teaser of a big project in the works...
The 2-Year Anniversary of my time in Japan (and roughly this blog) will be coming soon. I have a nice presentation of goodies I've been working hard on, so please look forward to it. It will include:
1. A recap of my time in Okayama, my transition, and how things are for me now.
2. An update on the Fukushima Rangers (since keeping up with the new list of characters might be a reason some people are tuning out)
3. Japan's Pro/Con List... my list of what I like and don't like about Japan
4. Letters written by my 1st-grade students (people can practice their Japanese and be amsued.
5. SPECIAL BIG SURPRISE ITEM (teaser... you'll get to learn the names of some of the Rangers)
Gotta get to work on finishing all that up soon, so watch the front page for the release!!
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