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July 25, 2006
thank you.
i think last night was possibly one of the hardest moments i've had in jet.
i had to say goodbye to susie.
she's boarding a plane as i write this, and i can't help but feel a part of me is gone with her. i mean saying `goodbye` to my friends back home is not as hard, because i know i'll see them again when i go home. and to that extent it's made this one far more difficult then i ever could have imagined.
let alone, i'm horrible at coming up with the right words to express myself.
and to be honest, i don't know when the next time i'll see her again is. and that truly does leave me rather hollow inside.
the list of things that we have been through and the things that we've seen in the last year of time seem like they're from another lifetime. from hokkaido to taiwan and back again, from cooking at my place to eating out at the local shops that we've become so fond of. and it all came flooding back to me as i rode the bus to work today to the lyrics `...and afterall, you're my wonderwall.`
susie, i don't know if you'll ever read this, but i don't think you really understand the extent to which you've made the last year incredibly enjoyable for me.
even if it sometimes involved a glass (or two, or three...) of wine.
and the truly sad thing is that it probably won't hit me until i catch myself pulling up to your apartment on my bike, and realizing that no one is home...
i hope that you find what you're looking for, and occasionally remember this fool who's stuck in japan and send him the occasional email inquiring how this fool is doing. and remember that one day we will meet again, in another time, another place.
i can only hope that it's sooner than we think it will be.
Posted by Jeff at 12:23 PM | Comments (1)
July 21, 2006
i lol'd part 2
so it's summer vacation again (as of two days ago) and nothing much going on. i finished bono's book, `bono on bono,` and am reading `the tipping point.` also started working on an art project, though i probably should have thought more on my subject though...
i'm drawing the flag raising at iwojima.
good night everybody!
but anyways, i have a student of mine, 三年生, going to australia for a home-stay (and for the love of crap i can't think of what we call that in english). anyways, she's asking me to help her with her english, which i'm all up for doing, and i'm just trying to teach her a few set phrases to work with when she's abroad and a few manners to be aware of that western/english speaking countries do differently than japanese.
anyways, today i gave her 5 set phrases, and asked her to write 3 examples in japanese and then we'd translate them together into english. her friend (also one of my students last year, rika, came to listen cause she had to do some make-up work) so we were doing ~,でも~ and...:
me: じゃ、次。
naomi: りかはきれいじゃない、でも私はきれい。。。
rika: 死ね！！！！！
in a nut shell:
me: alright, next.
naomi: rika isn't pretty, but i a...
rika: DIE!!!
hmm, i guess you had to be there. imagine this cute little girl, with all the rage in the world (a split after we all registered what naomi said) just yells out DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!
i knew you'd all get it ^^.
...
...
or not ;P
Posted by Jeff at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
kodak moment!
i think a few days ago i went to a combini where i think i had one of the highlights of my day.
the owner had two of her (grand?)children there and they started asking me why i was so tall, and their introduction was something along the lines of the little brother saying (not looking at me btw) `i'm... i'm... [crapforgothisname]` and the older brother said `MY NAME IS [crapforgothisnametoo]!`
and as i was walking out the door, i hear this little voice go `ganbatte!!`
Posted by Jeff at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2006
i lol'd
so in fujinomiya, kyoko's friend is taking greg's job, and kyoko asked if i can help out her friend in settling in cause she's coming all the way from gunma. and she seems pretty cool for the most part:
yumi: where are you going?
me: phuket
m: (and you can imagine the jokes that follow)
y: ahaha
y: are you going to bangkok? (more jokes to follow)
m: (hahahahahahaha)
welcome to shizuoka : )
Posted by Jeff at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2006
nagoya
well i know it's a bit late, but i figured i'd update you all with some nagoya antics. in case you guys aren't aware of it, on the 8th of this month i made my first solo trip to nagoya to visit my japanese teacher, itou sensei, from ucsd. it was something we had planned a year ago when i was first app-ing towards jet and she wrote me a letter of rec.
she helped me probably more than anybody (except for bill clauby) in preparation for jet, and also encouraged me throughout the application process till i finally got to tell her that i got in.
that, and she put up with my stupid japanese questions during her office hours.
and there were a lot of those times.
sorry sensei ^^;;.
so anyways, we get there without a hitch, and visited places like nagoya castle, a famous temple (which we didn't go inside... cause none of us wanted to hahaha), a famous shopping district, nagoya tower, etc.
nothing really happened till we had lunch that first day, in which we entered a shopping mall in hopes to find a restaurant. unfortunately as we wandered around we couldn't find a directory for each floor, so i suggested the elevator. and as we step into the elevator...
itou sensei: um, there aren't any restaurants here chu-san.
me: mmm /presses third floor.
i: why'd you do that?
m: to stop us, because if we pressed 2, we should have taken the stairs.
i: no i meant... /door opens.
elevator attendant: third floor, womans lingerie, womans clothing.
/everyoneintheelevatorlooksatme.
i: ...that.
m: ...
and then when we were sitting around in nagoya castle:
m: you remember when you taught me a way to say ざんねん, but told me it was only use for a series of unfortunate events?
i: yeaop.
m: but you told me i should use a nother one that meant only one bad thing has happened to you...
i: let me see...
/5seconds
i: shimata!!! (haha, this is like saying `OH SHIT!!!`)
m: no... not quite...
and, for the moment, when we went to the aquarium in nagoya... that cost 20 bucks to get in:
m: wow this is really nice!
i: yes... but is it 20 dollars nice?
m: ...
and
m: we should sit here and enjoy the view for awhile neh?
i: yeah, let's try for 20 dollars worth.
m: ...
haha fun times :D
Posted by Jeff at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
/cough
from two minutes ago:
bekk: horace will soon be able to say that i gave him syphillis.
/cough.
Posted by Jeff at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2006
so it's 1, 2, 3 strikes you're out in the old...
ball, GAMMME!!
just came back from my school's baseball game, which went 0-6 in the first four innings... and scoreless in the fifth, but in the top of the sixth, we had bases loaded, one out, and managed to make it 2-6 with the tying runner at bat.
sadly in the end, and the end means 7 innings, we lost 2-9, but gave a valient effort! it was just really cool to see my school get together and cheer together with a pretty strong spirit.
and then of course there's me.
screaming my lungs off, and trying to motivate my kids to cheer harder! and as i type this, i think i lost my voice haha.
anyways, got a few good pictures, tired, and will keep you guys updated soon.
Posted by Jeff at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
more finals antics
it just never ends!!!
1. today is very hot.
2. tomorrow is going to be hot.
3. yesterday was very hot.
4. the day after tomorrow is very hot.
5. the day before yesterday was very hot.
so tell me how you really feel.
Posted by Jeff at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
and now... /drumroll
O, T
X, F
and now...
we have `E`.
what does that mean??!!!
Posted by Jeff at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
more finals antics...
ok, here's my final:
1. multiple choice
2. short answer
3. fill in the blank
4. true and false
now... for true and false, you can write T = O = true, and F = X = false.
my student chose to write `N`.
...
...
...
what does that mean???!!
Posted by Jeff at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
hahaha
i think it just had to be quoted:
me: heya
mike: hows it going man
mt: grading
mt: haha is that pretty fun
mt: i always felt that's gotta be kinda enjoyable
mt: as long as there arent too many things to grad
mt: haha especially tests and stuff
mt: to see how each of ur students did
m: 243 tests, 1.5 days = a bit tiring my friend
mt: HAHAHA
mt: holy schnikeys
mt: yea that aint so great
couldn't have put it better myself :P.
Posted by Jeff at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
it's that time of the year again...
finals!
and once again, i have a bonus section.
this quarter it's about the date:
1. today is ______________
2. tomorrow is ____________
3. yesterday was __________
4. the day after tomorrow is ________
5. the day before yesterday was ________
and once again, i love my kids' responses, the best so far has to be:
1. today is happy.
2. tomorrow is not happy.
3. yesterday was happy.
4. the day after tomorrow is play soccer.
wonder what happens between tomorrow and the day after tomorrow...
Posted by Jeff at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2006
well i'm off!
here goes my first solo mission in japan:
i'm off to nagoya to find ito sensei (my japanese teacher from college:D). wish me luck!
Posted by Jeff at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2006
haha this made me laugh
my kids are taking finals, and i just finished 250 interviews of the same questions... most interesting student was born in brazil - so i threw out the entire exam for her and just wanted to ask her questions about brazil and growing up heh.
i gave her full credit as if it was an exam though : ).
anyways, so i send a message to my cousin who's also in jet in nigata prefecture:
me: ahhh finals
aeon: that`s good for you i guess...more free time
a: off to junior high.
a: if your supervisor is reading this..
a: jeffrey is a good teacher. let him use the internet all day.
haha.
Posted by Jeff at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)