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February 23, 2007
thank you
you never really fully understand how powerful those words can be since we all use it so much.
i just finished teaching my last class of the school year, 16 home room. and to be perfectly honest, they have been my favorite class to have taught in the last two years. in addition i'm glad to have stayed that second year to be able to teach 16 home room.
and as i closed up the final minutes of class today, i told them how i felt. and even before the jte (japanese teacher of english) translated what i said into japanese, they gave me an ovation and started to yell out `thank you.`
i don't think i've ever been this choked up before...
to my favorite class from the last two years...
thank you.
Posted by Jeff at 03:17 PM | Comments (1)
February 21, 2007
you ever see
that episode of bugs bunny and the scottish golfer, and he tries to talk him down of his score from 65 to 1?
well that didn't happen.
but this did:
akimoto sensei (my vice principal): so jeff, we have a meeting today.
me: /nod ok.
a: so, you're going at 4:10?
m: yeah i'll contact the office downstairs before i leave.
a: yeah someone will come for you at 4:15.
m: su... wait wh...
a: 4:20.
m: i...
a: 4:30, atta boy jeff hard worker!
...i did what now?
Posted by Jeff at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
pretty damn nifty looking
wouldn't you say?
Posted by Jeff at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2007
whoa
this has to be quite possibly one of the coolest things i've ever seen.
and i didn't even do it on purpose...
i was eating lunch today, and i have these big bowls that are, well, ridiculously large cereal bowls. i had one on the floor and one in my hand. i put my chopsticks on the one on top as i reached over to pause my mplayer to get more food in said bowl in hand.
at that moment, my left hand (one with the bowl) tilts and i see my chopsticks go over.
i catch one with my left thumb and then thought oh shit!
here's what happened:
the chopstick falls point first into the bowl.
at which time it follows the contour of the bottom of the bowl and then returns straight up into the air (like a pro skater in a halfpipe) point up. it proceeds to do a 360 (at least, think a wheel spinning) and then lands properly on the bowl on the floor, never touching the ground, and as if i had just set it there purposely from the start.
and i hate to steal a line from keanu reeves.
Posted by Jeff at 06:29 PM | Comments (1)
February 13, 2007
face wash? yes please!
get your minds out of the gutter...
so last friday (2/9) ryan, mel, tammy, and i headed up to sapporo (their first time, my second) for, once again, the yukimatsuri(or snow festival).
see my feb 13th 2006 entry.
anyways, the trip was great fun as usual. even got travis to come out of oma in aomori prefecture to join us in the festivities (unfortunately he was sick). but hey still good fun eh.
i'm really glad for a few things this trip:
1. buckets of snow
2. baileys in an ice bar
3. good friends
4. 3 hrs of karaoke with kitty chan
5. a sports bar with an owner named chuo (who flexes when you meet him) and his bartender alpha.
6. the world's greatest ramen
7. catching up with good friends
8. ridiculously long snowball fight at 5 am (absolutely the best, thanks aga, amy, and ryan for all the facefulls of snowballs and sprinting through the streets of sapporo)
9. the city of otaru (again).
10. onsening in the snow.
shoot me if i miss anything. as usual, sapporo remains my favorite place in japan. i will truly miss it.
thanks again guys, it was a blast!
oh hey and look, 300th entry. grats jetblog!
Posted by Jeff at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
this is why i teach
(slightly edited for content):
On that day, at that time, in that place if I had not seen him, my school trip would have been boring. I had no friends with me. When I walked alone, I was spoken to by some bold foreigner. I guessed he was French. He spoke some Japanese to me. I was happy to talk with him because I was lonely. When we parted I was sad. I took this picture of him. This picture is my memory of my trip.
this is an anonymous student's show and tell script.
a+ in my book.
Posted by Jeff at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2007
words of wisdom
ryan: if it snows, I will be happy. if it rains I will be...what's the opposite of happy?...ah yes, not happy.
btw, did i mention he got into university of wisconsin's graduate program in sociology? and that it's number one in the nation?
(grats again sir).
we would have also accepted `show.`
Posted by Jeff at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
what do you get
when you combine:
my kids + their english abilities + japanese hobbies + a show and tell presentation + my (and i know YOUR) dirty dirty minds?
well i don't know either but it involves chocolate and balls and collecting them haha.
different flavor balls that is...
peanut,
chocolate,
strawberry...
gotta catch'em all...
Posted by Jeff at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2007
my crappy shower
ok so not sure if many of you are aware of this fact, but my shower is quite possibly one of the poorest designed piece of shotty manufacturing that has ever graced this green earth of ours. quite literally:
it sucks.
now what exactly is it that is so horrible you ask (or not...)? well it's simple. it goes hot, to cold, to hot, to cold, to hot... in, give or take 5-7 min intervals. now first of all, i can shower pretty fast. i mean 5-7 minutes fast. but it doesn't help when the water startes turning to ice water right as i'm about to finish, thus extending my shower time almost 3 fold.
and you may think to yourself `well what's wrong with that?`
to which i will respond: ever live in a house/apt w/ 0 insulation?
to which i'll add: in winter and wet from head to toe?
exactly.
so where is this all going? well since my jp is fairly survivable, i go straight to the people in my school who are responsible for my apartment in hopes of getting a fix. this man, whom from now on will be known as akiyama san, is the person in charge of all jet/alt things both contract related and non-contract related.
needless to say he's a wiseguy to boot (don't get me wrong, he's funny as hell).
it's just always at my expense...
for example:
me: ugh, my shower, it goes hot, to cold, to hot, can i do anything about that?
akiyama san: wow... that sucks eh?
m: yes, yes it does.
/about5minutespasswithnothingsaid.
a: you're still here?
then the next time i went:
me: my shower is still going hot to cold and winter is coming. it'd be a bit hard to live through the winter, you know, without insulation, dripping cold, and waiting 5 minutes for the heater to kick in...
akiyama san: ah... well do you have a girlfriend?
m: no, but what does that have to do with anything?
a: you could go shower at her place!
m: ...oh
a: good luck!
and then there was the time after that:
me: ok so still going hot to cold, and i have friends coming over in a few weeks!
akiyama san: did you get a girlfriend yet?
m: ...no
a: well... why's that?
m: cause japanese girls don't like me?
a: what about the students? they seem to like you well enough.
m: but... they're 16...
a: all the better no?
m: i'm 24!
a: ah... well, what about the 3rd years?
m: NO!!!
a: have you tried asking them when they graduate? then it's only kind of illegal.
m: . . .
m: . . .
m: . . .
and then there's the time after that (which would be last week):
me: nope, still hot to cold hot to cold... this is really difficult cause, well, i like staying warm in the winter time, you know, dripping wet cold is not my idea of `enjoyable` :P.
akiyama san: well that's tough eh? i'll give them a call.
m: thank you! in the mean time what should i do?
a: have you tried [japanese i've never heard of]?
m: i don't understand...
a: ah, you know those zen monks who sit under icy waterfalls in winter time and pray /putshandstogetherandmumbles
m: ...
btw, this is when the ENTIRE office errupts in laughter.
and yes, at my expense...
m: ok, well if i can't?
a: well the 3rd years are about to graduate...
m: . . .
m: . . .
a: good luck!
why did i stay a second year again???!!!
Posted by Jeff at 11:17 AM | Comments (2)
February 06, 2007
the good ole days
just some fun conversations that have been going on:
mike: good to hear you're not getting stressed anymore
me: hah thanks
me: ever since nov, i finally understand it all
mike: haha yes
mike: finally
me: (11:44) only too a year and ahalf
mike: (11:44) it only took a year and a half
mike: lol
me: LOL
good job me!
linda: we decided that we need to be more strict w/ our business
linda: communism doesn't work.
and to think we had to fight a cold war for some countries to realize this lol. seriously though, miss you guys back home, and i hope all is going well : ).
Posted by Jeff at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)