Japanese Mysteries

On my way home from a kotatsu delivery yesterday, traffice slowed to an inexplicable pace nearing the high school. Slowly, we inched up the hill, all the while wondering what was going on? Must be a car accident with looky-loos unable to control themselves. Inching further forward, and no sign of flashing lights. Still wondering, still inching... And then, there it is. Hakusai!! (for those not aware, a kind of Chinese lettuce) Scattered all over the road. Smashed and smushed and half run over. And on the side of the road, a grandma with a basket darting in and out of traffic to try and rescue what she could.

***
At a school festival today, I watched small children perform bizarre little skits, forget lines, sing, dance and perform in the dark of the elementary school gym. Then, I caught a glimps of the toque the elderly fellow in front of me was wearing. "No, that can't be what it says. It's dark, he was moving -- I misread it." More singing, dancing, and still watching out of the corner of my eye to try and catch another glimpse of the patch on the front of his hat. "No!!! Seriously? That can't be right... No, it really does..."
What did it say? "Bitch Skateboards." Yeah baby, bring it.

***

Finally, at the same school festival was a young girl with these classic words emblazoned on her shirt, "Catch up with the man."

I wonder what she thinks you should do with the man after you catch up with him...

Mish Mash Splish Splash

On my way home from work today, I passed by one of my grade two students. She was 'skipping' along, but skipping feels like a word that is lacking in it's descriptive qualities. She was leaping from foot to foot, with her arms swinging out far and wide to the sides and over her head. Inhibitionless, that's the way to be.

First Days

Back at work and already wishing for a holiday. Not that I have long to wait, merely that patience is not my strong suit. And it isn't as if I am run off my feet this week, as both today and yesterday are at my smallest school -- an easy two classes a day. Tomorrow through Friday are all planned, and I only have to wonder and worry about January, however being out of it last week means I can push some lessons back into January and give myself some leeway. Maybe it is just because I am bored. I'd rather be skiing, cycling, walking, reading, listening to music, hanging out with friends, writing Christmas cards, packing, cooking, playing volleyball, playing badminton, enjoying some quality flirting, dancing, singing, playing drums, studying J-go, sleeping... Nearly anything, as vacation is so close I can nearly taste it, and there is no way work can compete right now.

Mumpalicious

Mumps-a-lot. Mumparooney. Mumps away. Mumples.

Laid down by the mumps for the last week and a half, I spent a lot of quality time being bored off my rocker. Other than the first day or two when I had a fever, it wasn't a particular bad experience. Sure, it hurt and I couldn't eat solid food for quite a while, and I have to admit the mumps definitely didn't suit my haircut, what with becoming quite the Heian beauty (the bottom half of your face is wider than the top), and I was constantly sucking back the ibuprofen for the pain, as well as trying to spend as much time as possible sleeping in the hopes that time would pass faster, but hey, other than that, I was in fine fettle. Hell, I even went to a couple of parties the day after my fever broke (and despite the schools' paranoia that kept me out of the classrooms all last week) nobody I was in contact with caught them from me.

Where did I get them? Ah, lucky me picked them up at work. One of my local schools has had the mumps running through it for a couple of weeks now, and lucky me got to take part. I think I am the only adult in the bunch to come down with it too. I've always been a very lucky girl, what can I say...

They are gone now, and I am back to solid foods, however my appetite is still missing -- crying shame when you consider the luscious feast that was laid out at Diane's yesterday. Curry, turkey, stuffed gyoza that wasn't gyoza, some fabulous melt in your mouth pork roast, gravy, potato salad, pasta salad, veggie and fruit salad, and even more all laid out for the taking, followed up by some chocolate cakes, brownies, doughnuts, and creme-filled pastries. Well, I have a week now to work myself up to a home cooked Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, so here's hoping I find my appetite in the midst of all those culinary delights.

Helter Skelter

... but without the summer swelter. With the winter freeze doesn't sound nearly as good though.

Once again, back to being wanted as a mail came hither today informing me that a neighboring town next to where I used to live is interested in having me work there. It's always nice when people give you good press.

Multiple nabe parties in the here and then, as three weeks straight have been occupied by parties devoted to this ubiquitous and comfort-food style dish, the most recent being Sunday night just past. After a semi-disastrous bowling outing -- no, I didn't accidentally toss the ball backwards like I have done in the past, I merely sucked horrendously in the first game (57!?!) but made up for it a bit by the second (102, not great but whatever), only to walk away with a set of garbage bags and a 500 yen certificate for anything I want. A crew of volleyballers primarily, we managed to make more than our share of gutterballs, single pin knockdowns and the occasional spares and even more elusive strikes. Followed by a quality meal at Tomato Onion, paid for by Niimi Wellness (I truly don't understand how they can afford to do this, as the whole day only cost me 500 yen, and I got my bowling paid for, a 500 yen set of trash bags, a 500 yen certificate, and a free lunch out of the deal), we headed back to Niimi for a nabe party at Datte's that night. Originally intended as a night out drinking, they shifted gears and decided to do nabe and beer instead when I informed them I was short of funding. Seriously, it is great when people love you. Especially when they go into the grocery store, and knowing that you don't drink beer, buy several of your faourite "Cocktail Partner" -- can you have a favourite cocktail partner? -- as well as one of every other flavour on the shelf. I would put money on one of these guys having a crush on me.

Conversation devolved into playing and drawing at the party as we all started messing around with Datte's 1 year old daughter's toys. It also lead into discussions of blood type's, which as we all know is used and believed in more than horoscopes and star signs are at home. Being a B myself, apparently quasi-rare in Japan, seems to mean that I am prone to being lost in myself, or self-centred if you want to go with the negative spin on it. I'm not sure how accurate I would say that is, however I seemed to prove their point when every once in a while when conversation flowed too rapidly or came from too many directions, I stopped paying attention. I tried to explain that it can make a person tired, focussing and thinking in another language constantly, but I don't think they believed me. Way to help perpetuate a stereotype, Nico. Or I just don't want to cop to it.

If you are curious, I get the feeling Type B is considered the worst to have. According to the Wiki (bow down before the all-knowing and sometimes erroneous Wiki!!), I am:

Best Traits: Creative and passionate. Animal loving. Optimistic and flexible. Individualist.
Worst Traits: Forgetful, irresponsible, and self-centered.

I will definitely give them the forgetful... The other ones, who knows.

And if this has whetted your curiosity, here is what the Wiki says about you...

Type A
Best Traits: Conservative, introverted, reserved, patient, punctual, and perfectionist.
Worst Traits: Obsessive, stubborn, self conscious, and uptight.

Type AB
Best Traits: Cool, controlled, rational. Sociable and popular. Empathic.
Worst Traits: Aloof, critical, indecisive and unforgiving.

Type O
Best Traits: Ambitious, athletic, robust and self-confident. Natural leaders
Worst Traits: Arrogant, vain and insensitive. Ruthless

Stressing and De-Stressing

Go to work. Laugh and joke with the staff. Bite my tongue at another school. Bring it home at the end of the day. Spend a couple of hours planning lessons for the next day, the next school. Sorting out supplies and materials. Look in my wallet, and decline the dinner and party invitations. Scrounge supplies and cook dinner with whatever I can find. Listen to some good music. Worry about studying, without actually doing it. Cook some dinner, wash some dishes. Find some time to do laundry. Talk to my neighbor and listen to her complain about work and life in Niimi. Go for a jog. Enjoy a hot shower. Try to avoid the assault of the kame-mushi which seem to be out in droves this year -- apparent predictors of heavy snowfall come winter. Get up early and race out to meet everyone for a volleyball tournament. Attempt not to laugh out loud during opening ceremony while Kishi-kun stands in front of me, sending sidelong glances and quietly laughing. Get scolded by a friend behind for the obvious repressed laughter that has my shoulders shaking. Win a couple volleyball games, lose a couple. Chatting with Tama-chan about last night's okonomiyaki, and how I should meet her parents. (I hope this isn't a reversion to people thinking I am gay again? Seriously, just cause someone doesn't date much...) Joining a 70 person long single line "wave" as everyone cheers for the most unsportsmanlike team who ends up winning the tournament. Line up, once again ending up behind Kishi-kun during closing ceremony, who makes me withhold my laughter once more, but this time my scolding friend behind joins in. Listen to stories in the car about poor Kuma-chan while trying to catch up on some sleep. Getting caught not sleeping when the conversation takes strange turns and I burst out laughing. Wedding and marriage discussions while someone listens intently without trying to seem so. A declaration from me that there is no way I am going back in a different car, as I don't even want to imagine what they will discuss if I am not here. A perverse keyboard that doesn't have a warm and friendly relationship with the letter "V." Volleyball practice that goes reasonably well. Getting better and feeling slightly more confident, but still don't know exactly where I am supposed to be and when. Plans made for a nabe party on upcoming culture day with the boys who make me laugh in return for the takoyaki fest of a few weeks ago. Cycles about town in an attempt to save on gas, get up off of my ass, and get a better look around. Halloween party preparation. Listening to hundreds of songs in an attempt to make a set that will keep me happy. Laundry -- when the hell am I going to get that done? Cleaning, sure, let me call my maid. And people wonder why I don't invite them oer more often. Snow tires and my lack thereof, accompanied by stories from all my schools about how impassable routes to 3 of my schools will become in a month or so. Chatting with missed friends in Yonago about weather, work and wellness. Partaking of some homemade 梅酒 acquired from a friendly teacher. Enjoying some gorgeous fresh veggies from someone's garden. Munching on some delicious Frankenstein-sized grapes, a 名物 of Niimi. Worrying about how I have been out of touch with people I love for far too long. Wishing I had more time to read, but getting home too tired to care. And now? Who knows...

So Very Hisashi...

In the past couple of weeks, I have been going out and about to a variety of schools, forgetting names, working too hard trying to make some decent supplies, playing volleyball, forgetting to study, making nice with the neighbour's kids, chasing random bugs and frogs out of my house, and not getting enough sleep.

So far, the schools are good -- I have enjoyed meeting the students and the staff for the most part. Although, yesterday, I almost got the feeling that one of the teachers at a very small school I visit (11 kids, 2 teachers) was angry at me because Niimi has decided to implement an English programme in all their schools either next year or the year after. She seemed to be complaining without complaining about how busy the teachers all are, and how the curriculum is no longer being followed in a lot of places, and how the curriculum they have is the one that was set out by the Ministry of Education (I would just like to point out that the curriculum is a suggestion, not required). All this in response to my asking what sentence we should use with vehicles for the 5th and 6th grade class. I thought that, "I'm going by --." would be good, provided it were logically following a class where the students covered something like, "I'm going to --." and suggested that perhaps the order could be adjusted a little, especially since the students will be studying directions in November...

This was taken as if I had intended it as a personal front, as well as being accompanied by her own belief that perhaps English, or things about English were too hard for kids. And her own daughter grew to hate English, as the teacher in her daughter's school went too fast through things without checking to see that the kids understood, nor did she translate anything into Japanese. Foolishly, I replied and said, "Well, I am a different person, and I do try and check every once in a while that the kids understand what it is I am going on about. But I also think that if you translate everything into Japanese, the kids will merely wait for that, rather than relying on their own abilities, and it is not necessarily a bad thing to use English in English class so that the kids can get used to it."

After my foolhardy response, she continued on about the fixation Niimi has with offering English in the schools, how there are only classes every 2 weeks at her school, and other things that I faded out on (I really do appreciate how I can just fade out og the J-go sometimes, although it isn't always by choice). I may have agreed to something inadvertently, but I don't know what it is...

Volleyball has been fun. I have only been twice so far, last week Friday being the first, and people seem pretty friendly, but they aren't nearly as easygoing and relaxed about it as was suggested to me originally. They were almost scary, which made me very very glad I had not agreed to join the serious team. Last night was slightly less scary, although I did make a block on a spike that felt like it could almost have broken my hand. It is however leading to a softball game Thursday night, provided it doesn't rain, and an enkai next Saturday with a bunch of other "circles." Looking forward to it...

Computers Anyone?

I wasn't planning on being here today, yet I am. In a fit of frustration I have realized that I need a computer if only to be able to do my job. 7 schools and 42 classes and all kinds of different curriculums are a little difficult to keep track of with only scraps and bits of papers floating around. Anyways, I ended up in the computer hiroba tonight as I needed to send some inquiries about supplies to the company and feel guilty doing it from the school, especially since I will only be there maybe 4 times a month. I don't want it to look like I am glued to the computer all the time...

Almost off Hiatus

But without regular and relaxed access to a computer -- at least not until I buy myself one -- the hiatus may continue in intermittent spurts or long pauses. Who knows...

Anyways, the new house is fabulous (again, excepting the toilet, but whatever as I got a toilet for my birthday from the fabulous Elle s'appelles and Cheap Haji which means no more squatting!! Woohoo! A bottle of wine was cracked in celebration and the toilet was soon christened), it's only the neighbours that could drive me to distraction. The bugs that find their way in and I have no idea how... I am actually sort of longing for the winter freeze which will force them into hibernation.

The new town (technically, it is a city, but who are they kidding??) is pretty good as well. I have been enjoying the air conditioning provided by my neighbouring river, as well as the cycling around and checking things out.

The job is the only thing I am not sure about yet -- 7 schools has me pausing. The teachers are fabulous however, going out of their way to talk to me or hunt me down some suitable olleyball teams to join -- one was found; a team of 20 - 30 year olds who like to drink and aren't too serious about the game, whom I shall meet as soon as I manage to hunt down the gym. And the kids I have met so far are lovely and eager and shy, so it will be interesting and challenging I think. Excited and experiencing a little trepidation...

Off to aisatsu the BOE now, so sayonara!

It's so Nice to be Wanted

The interview in Osaka a couple of weeks ago went so well that the guy offered me the first elementary school job he could find. And now I am mulling it over. The job is in Mie prefecture and would involve rotating between 5 different schools of varying sizes -- none as large as the one I currently work in. The paycheque would be decent and the work sounds reasonably challenging. Plus, the idea of moving is very appealing. I have my friends here whom I would miss, but I would trading that for new locations with a closer proximity to other, closer and larger locations such as Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara...

But, the thing is, I have an interview in Hiroshima tomorrow with a different company which has positions available in Okayama, Hiroshima, as well as Yonago. Also with reasonable paycheques (some better than others) and different trade-offs. I decide Monday which it will be.

It is so nice to know when people want you...

Life After JET

Who knows if it actually exists, but I will be finding out soon enough. I am just not certain that life after JET will be life after Japan. It is likely I may be around for a little while yet.

Last Saturday, I went to Osaka for a two and a half hour job interview. Fortunately it was a two and a half hour interview, as the bus ride one way is three and a half hours, and it really would have sucked had it been for a twenty minute interview. Although, that would have given me more time for shopping...

In the past 11 years, if not longer -- and I do think it is actually longer -- I have had 3 job interviews, including the one just past. I suppose it bodes well, as I got the job each time I interviewed, but I harbour a mild concern that the law of averages are gonna kick me in the teeth sometime soon. I have a suspicion life isn't supposed to go that smoothly all the time, and one of these is going to be a job I really want, and will fail miserably at the interview. However, that day has yet to come, so I will put off worrying for a while longer.

Failing Lunch

Eating lunch with one of the 4th year classes today, it was 2 boys, their teacher, and I making up the lunch group. And it was the first time I found out that lunch is actually a study period. It is structured similiarly to a class and as such, is considered 勉強. I didn't actually ask what would be required to fail lunch, but I am thinking I probably would as I always leave food behind, I am constantly playing with or talking to the kids, and I don't really help with the clean-up.

Could you imagine? "Yes, Mrs. Morita. We are very sorry but we are going to have to hold Wataru back a year. You see, he just isn't doing very well at lunch. We really don't feel that he understands the concept."

Spiderweb

Once again all wound up in music. Planning and plotting and dreaming about my next set at Hi! High? for the World Cup Party. Should prove a busy day, as I have to catch a 6:30am bus to Osaka for a 2 hour job interview at 11am. Arriving back in Yonago at 6:30, I rush straight off to Hi!High? to mess with the decks before going home to change and eat dinner. My 1am set will be followed by a PTA volleyball tournament the next morning. I seriously think the world is having me on right now. Maybe I can use the excuse of my messed up back to get out of it?? (My kids -- I love 'em, but the little bastards are trying to break me.)

Wednesday

I only just got back from 5 days off, and already I am wishing it was summer. Only Wednesday and praying for Friday. Actually, was already praying for Friday yesterday, which does not bode well for my mental state. I have all my classes prepared until next Monday, and it won't take much to make sure that is ready too, as I have only one class left to plan that day. I am just feeling very, very tired, and I am not sure why. Oh well, it will pass, as it always does.

Devil's Eyebrows

I have a 2nd year boy who has perfect devil's eyebrows. He does nothing to them, being too young to care, they just grow that way -- arching out into a point just enough outside of the centre to give him a constant appearance of mischieviousness. I can easily imagine him with horns and a tail, or even with a villian's curling, drooping handlebar moustache hiding his intentions, with a black top hat casting shadows over his eyes as he leers and laughs at the young heroine tied to the train tracks in front of him. All this, and he is only 6 years old.

Howler Monkeys

I have never actually encountered a howler monkey in real life, but I have a feeling I have heard what can be best described as a fairly accurate imitation of its call. A girl in one of my 6th grade classes can be heard on numerous occasions screeching around the school grounds. During class even, should she get a little too excited, she can be found trying to break glass using no tools other than her voice. And I think she believes I am joking when I start to cower and press my hands up against my ears.

Ain't too Proud to Beg, Sweet Darlin'

But I guess it all depends on what exactly I might be begging for. For my life, for my job, for my friends, for my family -- in a heartbeat. For good good lovin', for fabulous conversation, for a dance floor, for intellectually stimulating conversation -- why wouldn't I? For beautifully written and enthralling novels, for a fast car that handles like it's on rails (which will undoubtedly lead to me begging off of a speeding ticket or many), for satisfaction, for a good laugh that leaves you with your stomach muscles aching -- I would never even hesitate.

And if you are looking back at the first line, saying, "really? You would beg for your job?" the truth is I would and I sort of did today. I have an excellent job that I am good at (and want to be better at) and there exists the possibility that I will be able to keep it for one more year, and as such, I decided to ask for it. It is not just the job that I am begging for, but the life it allows me to lead -- I do beleive firmly that, as much as possible, I want to work to live, rather than vice versa. Having had one of those jobs that works the other way, I know a good thing when I see it and would be loathe to let it slip through my fingers without even making a try for it.

So now, the waiting. We'll see how it goes. I have a little bit of hope -- not a lot, since there are so many things in the mix that I have no control over -- as I know there are several people who have some say in the matter and are pushing for it to happen. Who knows, but at least I have done my part.

Pomp and Circumstance

It has been a week full of torturous graduation practices, held in an unheated and uninsulated school gym, standing in the back wearing a jacket while trying to keep my hands warm by drawing them as far up my sleeves as I possibly can. Why don't I just jam them in my pocket? I'm not allowed, nor are the students. And despite the cold the pervades your bones and makes your fingers hurt, I think I am the only person who has caught a cold from this.

Certainly is making me look forward to tomorrow, when no one will be allowed to bury themselves in their winter jacket. I especially pity the outgoing 6th graders, as they will all be dressed in their finest, which, if last year is anything to go by, doesn't include much in the way of sweaters or warm layers.

I have to admit to feeling a bit sad to see them go, as they will be my last graduating class, and over the past two years, I have gotten to know them all fairly well. I will be losing Dumpling, Anta Dare?, my fellow year long oni gokkou partners, my cohorts in bean fighting, as well as many others who could always make me laugh. But I can't help being happy for them, which seems to go against the whole mentality of graduation ceremonies here, where the main goal seems to be to try and make as many people as possible cry as often as possible. But then, I suppose I could be an aberration of sorts as I don't really remember being saddened by any of my graduations, rather delighted to be done with whatever it was and moving on to the next.