« July 2006 | Main | September 2006 »
August 30, 2006
man
reading about don nelson's return to the warriors just reminds me of one thing:
the tim and chris burger.
or was it the chris and tim burger?
regardless, shit that sandwich was good.
Posted by Jeff at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2006
and this is just cool
c/o jared again.
Posted by Jeff at 10:05 AM | Comments (2)
anyone remember
when i said i always wanted to see someone burst out randomly into song and dance?
c/o jared.
Posted by Jeff at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
yeaop
...it's still summer... BUT not without a few summer antics :D
for example:
i had a few kids who were getting ready to go home after practicing basketball. and as usual as i walk by everyone starts laughing at me - still not sure if this is a good thing or bad - but regardless something that always interests my kids is if i can remember their name or not... and it's usually not. and if it is, there's always that one student whose name i can't remember for the life of me (they're not the real participating kind, or their not the real annoying kind). so in front of me are two students, behind them is a student at her locker, and behind her is one student sitting down and another talking to the one sitting down.
and then it starts with the short little loud one who comes out of nowhere and says:
unknown: sensei sensei, what's my name?
me: um...
u: /frustrated, ok ok well what's her name (points to one of the two in front of me)
m: haruka.
u: and hers? (points to the other one)
m: azu
u: and her? (the girl sitting down just smiling at me)
m: saki
u: and her? (the girl talking to saki)
m: miki.
u: and me??!!!
m: ...
i tried i really did.
u: ... I'M MIKI!!! why can't you remember my name but everyone elses?!!!
haruka: it's cause you're futoi (foo - toy)*.
everyone: hahahahahaha
*it means chunky...
Posted by Jeff at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2006
um...
last night the newbies and i went to go (ok well it was more me) to a sukiyaki restaurant that i've seen around town. so the newbies and i, in flip flops and shorts wandered into this restaurant that looked pretty high class; nice tables, chairs, marble floors, antiques displayed etc...
aine: hey, jeff, this um, aren't we a bit underdressed for this?
me: nah, this is a country that you can drink a beer anywhere at anytime and no one would care.
a: gotcha.
m: heh, it's not like you're going to pay 4ooo yen for this meal hahahahaha.
aine+jake+emily: hahahahahaha
/opensthemenu.
one setting at this restaurant: 3,675 yen per person.
daily dose of irony by chance: priceless.
for everything else, there's mastercard.
then i call the waitress over and try to get a better explanation. maybe it's a set meal for 4 people for 4ooo yen. maybe.
m: excuse me, um, can you clarify if this means for one person or one set?
waitress: well it's per person and - unknown japanese - is that ok?
m: ah... sorry i'm not japanese
w: yeah i got that.
m: ...
ouch :\
Posted by Jeff at 02:16 PM | Comments (1)
August 12, 2006
um, i am looking to purchase your couch!
now this is the other weird thing that happened to me yesterday.
lately i've been trying to find a trip to hk to visit a good friend of mines from uni. my obasan /cough. anyways, i'm calling around, trying to find the cheapest prices for flights and what not, and so far to no avail. after calling 5 agencies, i come across hit travel. please note this conversation was not edited in anyway that would change what transpired (this went on for at least 20 minutes):
me: hi, is english ok?
hit travel guy: yes! how can i help you?
m: i'm looking for a trip to hk on the 15th-18th in september. i saw you have a promotion for 25ooo yen.
h: yes we do, one second please.
m: k.
h: i'm sorry it's full.
m: oh, ok, well can you tell me the cheapest fare for those dates please?
h: yes. so what're you doing in japan anyways?
m: oh i'm an english teacher.
h: oh wow, that's so cool. i want to speak english, i practice english everyday. but if i studied english in japan i don't want to do it with your program or any other program. btw what program do you do it with?
m: jet.
h: oh you mean the rock band from australia? anyways i'd rather do it somewhere like new york, or london, or los angeles cause it's so much better than studying. and speaking nof which, what the heck is with japanese girls going to these areas and picking up any boy they want? am i right or am i right? they go somwhere and all of a sudden have 49 (not joking, he said all of this) boyfriends waiting for him. and me? i go, and nothing. absolutely nothing. but my english is good right? right? anyways one thing we do have an advantage with is romanian and russian chicks. they love us to bits and are so easy. in fact they're not even that expensive. am i right, or am i right? but why can't we go around getting the girls in london or new york or los angeles? what's the big deal? i'm a fairly attractive guy and i think i speak english very well. can you believe i've never been to any english speaking country or done anything like aeon or nova (competing teaching programs). isn't my english wonderful? of course it's wonderful because the japanese level of english sucks (no argument here). anyways what level of school do you teach?
m: um... high school?
h: omg high school girls are so nice to look at aren't they. i mean they're so young and, oh hey, so can you speak japanese?
m: a little...
h: you should do this in japanese! you're in japan, and you should practice, your japanese is probably terrible, but you need to try. that's what's important, trying, just like i try my english with you. in fact it's probably good that we're doing this conversation in english and that i get to practice more. probably better than your japanese. anyways let's try this in japanese...
i must go now...
Posted by Jeff at 03:43 AM | Comments (1)
what the f...?
ok, two really weird things just happened to me today. ok, well yesterday, but it's 3 am and i can't sleep cause it's about 85 degrees in my room + humidity. yes i have ac, and i only started using it. it's making me sleepy to be honest.
ok so first.
today i rode my bike to school for the first time. and for the most part it was uneventful but it proved that it's not as bad as i thought it was. so anyways, i get into school and i leave my sandals on the floor near my cubby and switch to my 'indoor' sandals. 'indoor' meaning i needed bigger sandals, couldn't find them in japan, and thus turned my really outdoor sandals into 'indoor' sandals. shh, don't tell anyone!
regardless, i didn't get a chance to make an obento for myself because i ate out last night, so i found myself getting ready to bike to the local conbini to find some perishables. except when i get to where i left my sandals, they aren't there. i looked through every cubby near mines and still no sandals. then i went to the school office and asked if they took my sandals. they came over and, once again, we looked through all the cubbies near mine and still nothing.
i didn't have the heart to tell them i already did that, but they seemed so into it ;P.
so we were all sitting around and trying to think of what ill twisted fate might have befallen my sandals when one of the school office members walks towards the door.
school employee: (this is in japanese btw) now, can you describe your sandals?
me: yeah, they look like the ones i'm wearing now, but with a toe tihng. black and kind of worn down on the soles.
s: hmm could they be these?
m: omg yes!
school employees: hahahahahahahahahahaha.
m: ....
they were in the trash can.
Posted by Jeff at 03:34 AM | Comments (1)
August 09, 2006
omgwtfbbq? 2
some conversations i just have to post:
anonymous: omg i got locked in the bathroom for 5 minutes!!!
a: after i went #2!!!
m: LOLOLOLOLOL
m: can i quote that :/
a: no :(
a: i'm so sad
m: whyyy
m: it was like when you gave yourself food poisoning <3
a: cuz it STANK!!!!
a: :(
m: and how'd you get locked in?
a: he door was broken
a: argh i have to go again!!!
m: awwww
m: go to the men's side?
a: huh?
a: i'm at home
m: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
m: hahahahaha
m: awwwwwwwwwwwww
a: my toilet broke :(
m: why don't you use another bathroom?
m: awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
a: so it was my roommate's
m: :[
m: awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
a: it's overflowing!!!
m: LOLOLOLOLOL
m: i'm sorry
m: do you have a plunger?
m: maybe you clogged it /cough...
a: T_T
haha i <3 anon!
and:
linda: konbanwa
m: konnichiwa!
l: ogenki desuka
m: maa maa, shigoto ga aru dakara sa
m: kimi wa?
l: tsukareta, atama ga itai
m: shigoto no sei ?
l: hai
l: hmm...shigoto no sei janai...vivian no sei desu...
m: koroshita houga ii jyan
l: eeto...wakaranai....
m: korosu = to kill
l: i should kill her?
m: houga ii = would be better to
m: jyan = jya nai ka
m: er
l: omg wtf bbq, WHY are all my friends telling me to be MEAN?
m: jyan = jyan nai da yo
m: LOL
m: i think i need to quote the omgwtfbbq ;P
m: hahahahahahha
l: my friends are supposed to CALM me down
l: NOT egg me on!!
l: i tell my friends and they're all like "doooo iiiit, dooooo iit"
m: lol
m: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
l: -_-
l: ::sigh::
m: AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA
m: i need to quote you...
m: in the journal
m: cause <3
l: hahahahahaha ok
l: i'm serious tho, i'm like "i feel like slapping her" and they go "you should do it"
haha <3 rinnie!
Posted by Jeff at 12:11 PM | Comments (1)
omgwtfbbq?
wow has it been awhile. so much has happened and only recently have i had a shot to catch my breath about it all. so let's get started:
thailand was so much fun; i think the highlight of the trip is that i can say i've been to bangkok, phuket, and pipi.
and perhaps nothing more needs to be said about that trip haha.
honestly though, it was a great final trip for ryan, brad, and me before brad headed home. just a chance to relax on the beach, go scuba diving for the first time, and learn that fish really like bread for some reason...
bangkok was even more ridiculous. we met up with ishya's (sister inlaw) aunt, pa jim, who showed us all around bangkok in about 36 hours. absolutely a whirlwind of epic proportions. the three of us agreed that she should start a tour company called `the bangkok quickie` haha.
some highlights of the trip were:
i think this was in phuket:
ryan: yeah that's totally frustrating, just like unrequited love.
brad and me: ...
r: isn't that right ryan?
r: that's right ryan.
r: ...yeah...
we're trying to parallel park, but the spot was too small:
pa jim: ok brad, go out and push.
brad: what?
p: push that car backwards.
brad, me, ryan: what?!!
p: fine, i'll do it myself!
p: /getsoutofthecarandpushestheothercar.
b,m,r: ...
ah good times.
a few days later brad had to head back to the states because his 3 year contract was up with jet. brad's seriously been one of my best friends like ryan and susie. it was pretty hard to say goodbye, but as ryan put it to me, it doesn't really feel like we said goodbye. almost as if next monday we'll meet again at chukate and everything will be back to normal.
thank you for everything brad.
and finally the new alts have finally come into town. i've spent the last four days showing them around and trying to help them settle into their new surroundings in the fuji city area. for the most part they're a pretty cool bunch with good attitudes and high spirits.
we'll see after a few months.
haha nah i'm just kidding. sort of...
oh yeah and aeon (my second cous) came down for a few days and we headed up to a fire festival in fujinomiya on saturday with the new alts. ok so the way it works is you have this float, an it has 3 long parallel wooden beams, and set in the middle is this wooden plank with a cauldren on top. in the cauldren is a barn fire with 4-6 japanese women standing around it while a bunch of guys hoist them up on their shoulders (with the 3 wooden beams).
anyways, tomoko finds one that she called `the gangster float` cause all the guys were drunk and had tatoos. they started talking to me:
gangster1: so where you from?
me: america
g2: you like japan?!
m: ... of course!
g2: thank you!
m: you like america?
g1 and g2: yes we do!
me and drunken japanese guys: yosh!!!
etc. etc. but then i asked if i could help, and the guy takes off his jacket, and said `present present!` so in a nut shell, jake and i got free jackets that say 頭火会 on the back, or `head fire group` and we got to hoist up the float with everyone, which was pretty crazy to say the least. the next day though, aeon had to take off, and i promised i'd find my way up to niigata one of these days...
and that should bring you all up to speed heh.
Posted by Jeff at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2006
one year
so it's finally come full circle.
at least the first year anyways. and i made it! i know i'm really bad with pictures, and keeping in touch, and not coming home, but it was something that i had to prove to myself and see if i could come out on top, or be swept beneath gasping for salvation.
all i can say is that the view from where i am right now (my desk at school) is amazing. haha, well you get the idea.
no i'm not gasping for salvation.
in this last year in japan i've done so much, seen so much, and experienced an unbeliveable amount. from sapporo to tokyo to osaka, to indonesia, singapore, taiwan, and thailand. i've met amazing japanese people who try so hard to internationalize themselves with outside culture and appreciate the effort that foreigners, like myself, try to do the same in japan. i've also met stubborn minds that refuse to give and compromise only to give birth to minor conflicts and unecessary bouts.
but that's to be expected. that's life, ups and downs.
i've come from 0 experience in teaching to 0.012 experience in teaching. well ok, it's been interesting to say the least, and it definitely didn't start off well. but i learned, i adapted, and it still doesn't start off well. haha no i'm only kidding. my kids are wonderful.
especially with those who find enjoyment in conversing with me in english:
example 1:
maki: yo!
me: sup!
ma: not much!
me and ma: yosh!
example 2 (this isn't really a conversation, but it makes me laugh):
yuki: hospital!
example 3:
hiroyo: give me chocolate and money!
m: ばかやろ！！！！
even in the never ending questions of me and my girlfriends... even if they are asked an hour apart, and even if i have said the same thing each time `no.` i can't help but smile each time.
so what does all of this mean to you (and i just mean travis, cause he's the only one reading this) back home?
are there good things in japan? of course. can certain things be improved? always. am i having fun? absolutely.
come on year two, i'm ready for you.
Posted by Jeff at 01:02 PM | Comments (2)