I figured I should update this journal before a whole year passes. Some randomness:
My vice-principal was totally talking about me on the phone and I wanna know why!
Sorry, Japan, squid is nasty, and processed school lunch squid is nastier.
I really wanna know who kidnapped Spring. 16c high today and cloudy, what the deuce?
Loverboy was very wise to observe that everybody is indeed working for the weekend.
I have 1 hour and 55 minutes until my weekend can start.
Holla if you want an animated Office theme, as there's been some icon-worthy moments recently and I'm thinking of reviving the project.
- Sitting somewhere in:school computer
- feeling:
bored
Now the point where I ask for help! See there's 132 LJ emotions, 65 Office episodes, like 18 regular cast members . . . the mind boggles. So, please post any and all suggestions for moods, especially scenes with the secondary characters. Here's a list of the 132 LJ emotions. Carpel Tunnel, here I come!
- feeling:
determined
All in all, a good year. (Check out my photos that I'm very slowly uploading at Flickr)
- feeling:
content
So this leads me to "Becoming Jane". The movie itself is a little all over the place and some things are never well explained. Like Jane saying she was raised by brothers, when we only ever see the one. I also never understood what was so bad about the guy that proposed to her. And who the hell was the deaf dude? One of the brothers? Some guy wandering on the set? Did he have a name?
One of the two good points of "Becoming Jane" is me being a big Anne Hathaway fan. I guess the choice for her to play Jane was criticized because she's not British and her accent's a little funky. How come there never any outrage when a British actor plays an American? I guess because they somehow get the accent so perfect, I don't know they're not American until I see them on the Tonight Show and say, "Holy Crap, that guy from 'House' has an accent!
So what's the other good point of "Becoming Jane"? Puffy shirts and frilly collars, of course!
That's right, James McAvoy is wearing a green velvet jacket over what I know is a puffy shirt. Fantastic.
So while I thought the movie was just okay, my love of the puffy shirt and frilly collar continues to grow. I also like the scenes where Tom appears at the ball, and his little candle-lit "Goodnight" tease, so I made icons of them.
Okay, I think I've exhibited enough embarrassing nerd-dom in this post, so I shall bid you adieu.
- feeling:
nerdy
I got sick for the 3rd time since I've been in Japan. How can I improve my immunity to Japanese bugs?
A 3rd grader at my elementary school drew a picture of me today, it's very cute, I'll post it sometime.
What did you do with your extra day?
- feeling:
a bit sick
- feeling:
lazy
I've re-contracted for another year with JET. Why? Good money and lack of a post-JET plan; the reasons they tell you NOT to re-contract, oops. :-P
It snowed in my town for the first time in 2 years on Wednesday. I was at an elementary school and the kids were over-joyed. We had a snowball fight, if you can call a ball that's 1 part snow and 3 parts dirt a "snowball" that is.
And after being here for 5 months I found out the ALT gets a cabinet full of supplies at one of my schools. Not that I make a lot of things for class, but way to keep me informed, JTEs.
- Sitting somewhere in:my cold japanese house
- feeling:
cold
Are you noticing a trend here? The last post was called “October in Japan”, now I’m writing a post called “November in Japan”. The creativity is just pouring out of me!
October 31 and November 1 was the Saitama JET Mid-Year conference. Now, if you were to ask me, “Lauren, when do you think the Mid-Year conference is?” I would answer, “Well, by virtue of it being called the ‘Mid Year’ conference, I would say it would be roughly 5 or 6 months after I get to Japan.” “Sorry, Lauren, it’s actually going to be 2 months after you get to Japan.” “Blerg!”
After I got over the fact that the Mid Year conference wasn’t mid year at all, I headed to Omiya and followed the trail of foreigners to Sonic City. We sat through an interesting but essentially useless lecture about using poetry in the class room. I say useless because I think native English speakers would have had trouble with the activity, much less Japanese junior high schoolers. After lunch, we had a workshop about the “expectations” and the “realities” of being an ALT in Japan. In other words, “Bitch Session.” I feel a little guilty, however, because compared to most of the other JETs I met, I have to say I have it pretty good. ALTs were telling stories about teachers not telling them when and where Sports Day or festivals were, about their kids reading and walking out of class, about teachers being mean to them, or not using them in the classroom at all. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there thinking, “I don’t have anything to complain about.”
At the end of Day 1, we went drinking at The Hub. It seems that whenever I go out with foreigners, I end up at the most Western-style place around. This particular bar was a “pub” that was airing a rugby game and having a Jack Daniel’s happy hour. The JTE from East Junior High, Mr. Aizawa, came with us, and he could not get over the fact that he was out drinking at a time when he would normally be at school. So we watched Rugby, I met some JETs that lived near me, it was good times.
Day 2, the day started off with another lecture about how to be a good ALT and how to be a bad one. Then a Japanese man who was a coordinator of something or another came in and said in the extremely solemn tone. “I guess you haven’t heard what happened, I will tell you.” We were all at the edge of our seat, waiting to hear about an accident or a train derailment or something. “10 ALTs check in this morning and . . .” The tension was thick, were they in a terrible accident, were they hospitalized? “. . . And then left.” Man, here we thought someone had died or something, and it turned out they just skipped out on a lecture. After a couple workshops, I went and had Okonomiyaki, which is awesome btw, and then I ended up at The Hub again! In Japan, whenever you enter any kind of shop, they shout, “Irashaimase!” which is just a set phrase meaning “welcome, coming in, please buy something”, so the Hub Worker was saying that to everyone, then saw me and said, “Irashaima–he-hey” like I was some kind of regular.
So I met a bunch of ALTs, and had good conversations with some of them. I feel the need to explain here that my romantic expectations here on JET are kind of low since I’ve been told repeatedly that Japanese guys are intimidated by foreign women, meanwhile, the foreign guys here are generally trying to hook up with Japanese girls. One of the best examples of this is one of the ALTs I met from Canada. He lives near me and and we had a pretty good conversation, then he saw some Japanese girls and hit me with this nugget: “Hey, looks like I have an opportunity to practice my Japanese, I’ll talk to you later.” Nice; subtle, really.
I hung out at The Hub for a while longer (with some rowdy ALTs, by the way) but it was a Thursday night so I headed home at about 10pm. It’s fun to travel to my town because the trains are pretty full when I get on in Omiya, then by the time it reaches my machi, it’s significantly lower. So I was sitting on the train with a little bit of a beer buzz when I looked up. This younger Japanese businessman (we’ll just call him a salaryman) with a pink tie was sitting across from me and he looked at me. I smiled since that’s just what my reaction is to anyone making eye contact with me, and went back to listening to my iPod in my beer haze.
We reached my machi and I walked along the platform to the escalator. The salaryman was in front of me, then turned around and smiled and said hi. I said hi back, and he told me his name was Takeshi. I told him that I don’t speak Japanese well, but he kept asking me questions and I attempted to answer in my broken Japanese. We walked through the gates and down the stairs to the street when he noticed it was raining outside and said to me “kasa ga nai?” (no umbrella?). I said I was okay, then he said “Isshou ni tabetai?” (want to eat together?). It took a few seconds for my tipsy brain to process that Takeshi the very cute salaryman was asking me out. But cute as he was, he had a pink tie on! And didn’t speak English, so I declined (which means I said “Daijoubu” a few times and walked to my bike).
There is more to tell about my November, but this post is way too long, so I think I’ll save it for “Part 2″. Stay tuned!
- feeling: lazy
I got sick, like wicked sick and was homebound for 2 weeks. I have this annoying tendency of getting only one symptom at a time when I get sick. So it's like 2 days of a runny nose, then 2 days with a sore throat, then 2 days of coughing. This means I'll be sick, but still functional. I would much rather get everything at once, spend my 2 days in bed, and have it be done. Anyway, I spent my birthday at home sucking on cough medicine and watching the Million Yen challenge.
My school had it's "Culture Festival" on Oct 27th. I don't know if I would call it a festival, it was more like a singing competition with a little mini-exhibition of art and science projects and things of that nature thrown in. Oh, and Mr. Donuts. The week before all the teachers were asking me, "Did you order your Mr. Donut Donuts? You know you have to get your Mr. Donut Donuts. They ran out last year, so order your Mr. Donut Donuts early!" Ah! Fine, I'll accept the sugar dough your pushing on me! I was fully expecting these donuts to change my life, the way everyone went on about them. Sadly, they didn't, but they were tasty.
Back to the singing competition. I didn't understand a word that was sung, but I still enjoyed myself. It made me think of the little quarter-long choir class I had to take in 7th grade and we had a little recital at the end of it. Very few of the kids in my class were destined to go on to sing in any capacity, so it was rather terrible sounding, but it was a lot of fun. Anyway, the kids in the school festival did pretty awesome, and the students did the conducting and the piano playing as well.
So the day after the festival was the teachers' trip to a hot springs in the Gunma prefecture. It's a strange irony that I was born in the mountains, I have lived all my life next to the mountains, then I come to a country that's 72% mountainous only to live in the largest flat area in the nation. Anyway, I was much too excited to see mountains as we drove to Gunma, and even more excited to see Mt Fuji off in the distance as we drove. I was like, "Is that Fuji-san?!" "Yeah, silly gaijin, it's Fuji-san."
Now while I was excited to visit the mountains, I have to say I'm kind of glad that I don't live in the mountains. There's no nice 4 lane highways to leisurely travel on, it's narrow roads and hairpin turns. Pair that with the teachers pushing beer on me at 11 in the morning and I was feeling a bit nauseous.
So we went to Kusatsu, which is a cute little onsen (hot springs) town. By little I mean there's plenty of giant hotels each boasting to have the freshest onsen water around, but it was charming none-the-less. It was funny because I told my mom that at an onsen, you don't wear anything. She basically gave me the whole, "Don't let them pressure you to do anything you don't wanna do, and if you wanna wear a suit, wear a suit!" I actually did bring my swimming suit with me, but when it came time to go to the onsen, I decided to tough it and do it Japanese style! Besides, it gives the little old ladies a story to tell (they pretty blatantly stared at my, ah-hem, assets).
In addition to the onsen we went to all these little sights. First a place called Onioshidashi Park which is a volcanic rock park that sits at the foot of a supposedly dormant volcano. I say supposedly because when we were there there was steam coming out of the top of the mountain, eek! But fortunately there were concrete shelters at the park just in case in the mountains blows whilst you're there. We also went to a place that was apparently very famous for bento (box lunch, except in this particular case there were no boxes involved) and then a place famous for udon. I guess in Japan when you are a place very famous for a certain food, you build a giant building that can accommodate dozens of large company parties, then have a big market devoted to selling your product so that people can make it at home.
The Tuesday after the teachers trip, I was asked to talk about Halloween to the kids at my junior. At first Yoshida-sensei (the JTE I taught with at my first junior high) asked me if I would wear a costume, leading me to think maybe it was optional. Then she pretty much told me I had to wear a costume despite me saying multiple times that I didn't have a costume, nor did I have any time to go get a costume! She then "gambatte"d me (fellow Japanese students, you know what I'm talking about), so I had to get something together. What I came up with was rather ingenious, if I may say. I bought some black socks at the kombini, cut them up and made cat ears with some foam and a stitching set at my house. Then I used eyeliner to draw whiskers on my face and a black belt for a tail. I supposedly out-did my predecessor, who only wore a sheet for his costume. Take that!
Okay, that's a long enough post for now and catches me up to Oct. 31. In the next segment, you'll hear about: Hanging out with foreigners in Omiya, going to a new school, getting pulled over by a cop, getting hit on by a Japanese businessman AND purposely missing my last train. It's gonna be big!
- feeling:
contemplative
I have been in Japan for 2 months now, and I thought I would share some random things I have observed from being here.
"Oh, so that's the American Style"
I've always heard Westerners are all about the individual while Asians are about the group, but I don't think I've really understood that concept until now. A day rarely goes by where I'm not asked a question like "What is this like in America?", "What do you do during such an such a time in America?" I feel like I have to answer carefully because after being raised all my life to not make generalizations, I suddenly am representing a country of 300 million very different people.
A teacher at my school asked me to draw a baseball on the board, so I drew one with curvy lines on the board. She was completely fascinated since apparently the only way a Japanese person would draw a baseball is with two perfect arcs inside a circle. "Is that the way Americans draw it?" she asks. "Um, it's the way I draw it," I reply. That was enough for her to have me draw a baseball in all the classes to illustrate the different between a "Japanese" baseball and an "American" baseball. I don't feel comfortable representing American baseballs, but by virtue of being an American in Japan, I just do.
You won't need this paper until the day you forget it at home
You know Murphy's law, the whole "If something is gonna go wrong it will" thing? In Japan, nothing fits Murphy's law better than the 65 thousand random pieces of paper you will get. If you think that piece of paper is absolutely insignificant, then leave it at home, I dare you. Because that likely will be the day you were suppose to bring it to wherever you were going.
Don't think you'll get sympathy for not being able to produce any particular piece of paper at any given time either. The day I got my cellphone I got chewed out for not having my electricity bill. I brought an official document to get my ID card, but it wasn't the official document I was suppose to have. My supervisor came to my school to ask if I had some insurance form, and was utterly befuddled when I tried to explain that I hadn't ever seen the form, but it was probably with the two dozen other forms I got at orientation. "So you don't have it now?" he said. The lesson? Take that piece of paper with both hand and bow, then make sure it never leaves your person for the duration of your stay in Japan.
Don't forget to bring a towel
I was warned about this before I came here, but it hasn't prevented me from forgetting on several occasions. Public bathrooms don't have towels. There's sinks, and soap, maybe a trashcan if you're lucky, but no towels to be found. The only towel you're going to find is in your bag in the form of a washcloth that you need to have with you at all times, also with those 65 thousand forms. Bring a towel or risk walking through the station with damp hands.
And now a Japanese lesson
Just some words that I barely remember from my school days, but hear all the time now that I'm here:
Narasu 慣らす: become accustom, get used to. I am asked all the time if I am used to the Japanese lifestyle. I think the fact I'm asked this a lot means that they don't really think I am use to it yet.
Mada まだ: yet, still, more, besides. The Japanese don't really like to say "no" which is where phrases like "chotto" and "mada" come in handy. When I haven't done something, I give them a "mada" and they seem to accept it. Totemo benri desu (very useful).
Sate さて: well, then. I hear the female teachers at my school say this all the time, generally when they are trying to think of the next thing they need to do.
Chanto ちゃんと: neatly, tidily, in good order. Another word I hear all the time at school.
That is all for this weeks Japan observations. Stay tuned, maybe I'll do this regularly?
- feeling:
curious
- feeling:
hungry
The first couple weeks were kind of awkward just because the kids were very quiet, either because I was new or they were still in "summer mode" or I don't know. Some classes were more active than others, but generally the 9th graders were the quietest. I also sang two Carpenters songs and a Monkees song every day for a month. Ack!
My 3rd week here I got to go to an elementary school with the other JET in town, Calum. We did a lesson for all the 3rd through 6th graders. After being around a bunch of awkward teenagers who are too self conscious about their English to talk in class, it was a treat to be around the younger kids. We pretty much conducted our lesson in Japanese (which means it was mostly Calum talking) but they were still so excited. He would ask them how old they thought he was, and pretend to collapse when they would say things like "36!" or sometimes even "100!". Also we would introduce our families, and he has a younger brother with glasses and all the kids would go "Harry Potter!" I printed out the one picture I had of my family from my graduation, and they would sometimes point to my gown and shout "Harry Potter!" But pictures of my cat Aiko were a big hit; they would shout "Kawaii!" (cute) and would rush up to look at pictures after class. I've discovered that the Japanese think it's really weird to name pets people names, so they either kind of giggle when I tell them her name is Aiko, or just furrow their brows and say "um, why?"
On one of the days, we played outside with them during recess, and I witnessed a Kancho. I don't know if you've heard of this, but Japanese boys like to lace their fingers together with the index finger still pointing out, go up to unsuspecting ALTs and poke those fingers in the ALTs butt. It was funny because this 4th grade boy tugs at my shirt to get my attention, puts his hands together, and I was like "What are you doing?" So he goes up behind Calum, and as he starts swinging his hands up, I realized what he was gonna do and was like "Nooooo!" But it was too late and Calum got Kancho'ed. The first time Calum was like "ha, ha, you got me kid" but the second time, he actually started to chase the boy around the field, threatening to Kancho him.
The Sport Festival at my junior high was a couple weeks ago. The classes competed against each other in some stuff that I recognized (like relays and dashes) and other that I didn't (there was one where the whole class would jump rope together, and another relay thing that involved a log, it's hard to explain . . .). One of the English teachers asked (read: told) me to do this traditional Japanese dance with the girls, and I think I finally won some of them over. While we were cleaning up, they were asking me questions in English. They were 9th grade girls too, who are by far the quietest in class. Calum warned me that questions would probably get inappropriate, and it almost got there when one girl was like "Do you love . . . . Uchiyama-sensei?" (whose the 9th grade English teacher, and while very nice, he's probably in his 40s
and has a family). I laughed just because I was so put off by the question, and they're kind of like "Oh, wow, you do!"
There's plenty more to tell you about, but I now need to head to my internet-less home. Maybe I'll type up more tonight as I watch yet another show about eating or some game show with this guy. Thus is my Japanese Life.
- feeling:
sleepy
So here I am in lovely Saitama Japan. A week ago I was boarding a place for Narita and now I’m here, it’s crazy!
I had a small goal to never met the Denver JET coordinator, and my goal was achieved as he called me on Monday to tell me our plane was leaving too flipping early to come met us. The plane left at 7am, and since it was technically an international flight I had to be there at 5, which means my mom and I had to leave the house at 3:30, yikes! So me and the other person from Denver, Brett, get to LAX at about 8am and got to sit around for a 1:20 flight to Narita. The plane ride was about 10 and a half hours, and finally I was in Japan!
We stayed at a super swanky hotel called Keio, and since it was Group C (i.e. all the rejects) there was about 90 of us. I’m glad, I couldn’t imagine there being ten times more people like there would have been in Group A and B. We only had one day of orientation instead of 2, but I also got to miss the prefectural (prefecture = state/provence) orientation.
On the 2nd and final night at Keio, I went out with a bunch of Australian to see the sites. If you don’t want to drink, or want to get home at a reasonable hour, I do not recommend going out with Australians. We went to some Irish Bar, then went to Karaoke for a couple hours. I headed back to the hotel at about midnight, but I guess they didn’t get back until 2am.
On Friday, the two other Saitama JETs and I headed to the prefectural offices in Urawa. My supervisor (who doesn’t speak English), an assisstant, and the other ALT in my town came to pick me up. I live in a pretty small town, but I have a nice big place and Tokyo is just over an hour away, I can’t complain.
Actually, I can because it is. really. hot and humid. I had heard of humidity, but being from Colorado, I don’t know if I ever really understood humidity. I do now. If I turn my fan on high at about 6pm in my room upstairs, it might be tolerable enough to sleep at about 10-11pm. My hair is also new to humidity.
I’m also trying to get use to all the thing I took for granted back home; like turning on the hot water heater when I want to take a shower, separating my garbage into burnable and non-burnable, and not having a dryer, garbage disposal, or dish washer. They really want you to make sure you turn everything off when you’re not using it. My landlord, who lives next door, came over to my place at about 8pm on Saturday to tell me my back door light was on.
I do have to say I think I lucked out on my placement. I have a huge house that’s going to be half as much as I thought it was going to be, my schools are nice and close so I don’t have to mess with a car (though I’m not sure about the rickety old bike I have), and the other JET, Calum, has told me this place is much more laid back than where he was last year. Oh, and I’m only an hour away from Tokyo! So, please come visit me, I have spare futon sets and everything.
Well, that’s the news from Saitama. When I get internet at my house, I’ll upload pictures and such. Ja mata ne!
- feeling: content
I've learned a lot more info about my upcoming JET adventure since the last time I posted
- I'm going to be in Kurihashi-machi in the Saitama prefecture, about 35 miles north of Tokyo.
- I'm teaching at two junior highs (not really the age I wanted, but whatever)
- Apparently I'm living in a house. And apparently I'm gonna be one of those unlucky JETs that's not getting their rent subsidized, 60,000 yen a month (am I getting hosed?)
- Not really info, but I'm less than impressed with the coordinator. Maybe when the main group is gone that will change.
That's about it, once again, any preparation advice is welcome.
- feeling:
okay
And I like making these little banners, hehe.
- feeling:
creative
The trip started out a little hectic: My mom and I agreed to leave the house at 7:30, but we both put off packing, both of us forgot to set alarms, and we woke up at 7:30! I never packed that fast ever, and I sped all the way to the airport. The rule use to be that you had to check in an hour before your flight. Our flight was at 10:25, and we decided I'd drop my mom off, then I'd park, walk in and hope for the best. Thankfully our flight was delayed 10 minutes AND the next cut-off time is 45 minutes before the flight. However, I didn't know the flight was delayed, and the security line was as long as I've ever seen it. We got through it, then took the train to the terminal, and our gate was in the very back corner. I saw the door was closed and I took off, jumped over a couple suitcases to the attendant and shouted "Is the door closed for Philly?!" She very calmly told me they hadn't even boarded yet. Then my mom laughed at me, not in a cruel maniacal way, more like a chuckle.
- feeling:
exhausted
- feeling:
productive
And I'm freaking out a bit. And by a bit I mean a lot!
You see, last Wednesday, I was getting so frustrated and crying and not understanding why I wasn't good enough for the JET program, and decided if they don't want me, I don't want them!
Then I go to a Native American store, and the girl working there had been living and teaching in Japan for 5 years first with AEON and then with a private company. Then yesterday, I got my FBI report back, only about 10 days after I sent in the request. I didn't care, because if JET didn't want me, I didn't want them!
So then today I get a call, and it was the JET coordinator, and I turned into a bumbling mess as he asked if I was still interested in going. The best answer I could manage was "I think so" (which I don't think he was terribly impressed with, oops).
Man, I have a lot of stuff to do O.o
- feeling:
anxious
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
mkesa 's suggestion, I've decided to make an animated mood theme. I'm making a Jim/Pam one first, then if my wrist allows it I'll make a general Office animated theme. Now since this a large undertaking, I would love a little help. These are the moods that I haven't made and/or haven't decided what scene to use yet for the Jim/Pam mood theme. I know this quite a few, and it mostly moods that I haven't given much thought to yet. The moods in bold are the ones I need the most help on. Please post suggestions, and check back to see my progress!current status: 82/132 (62%) complete
a preview:
- feeling:
working
- feeling:
artistic
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