. . : : Japan takes the QUEEN : : . .

there's a lizard in the bathroom. that doesn't bother me so much. what bothers me is that there is no way for it to get out except crawling around the house to leave via one of the cracks it came in through. i have dealt with lizards in the house before, but in those places (Trinidad, Ghana, Nigeria, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.) the roof is raised and there is clearly and entry and exit point for the creepy crawlies. however, here I am in a regular ole house.

Today was a long day...we invited the young student that I met at my Eikaiwa to speak to the students. After arriving at school, I went to pick him up. It was really good having him talk to the students, for many reasons...but I don't feel like typing them up. So after talking and facilitating classes with him, I took him home. I grabbed some lunch, then went back to school. I talked with JTE2a about lessons for our ni nensei students, the one for a lesson plan competition that we are entering, and then talked about a lesson plan for when the sister-city school comes to visit. After that, I had English Club after school. Although I told all of the students to get there on time b/c I had some things I needed to do after school, most of them arrived between 4:15 to 4:30. On top of that, most of them did not read the recipe that I gave them in adavnce, so a 20-min prep time took us more than an hour. We wrapped up cooking [which tasted really good] at around 6:30p, but then I had an enkai tonight. So I left school at 6:45p and got to the enkai exactly at 7p...I just got home about 20 minutes ago...extra long enkai tonight. I was ready to go after about an hour, but it was the welcome enkai for the new English teachers, so I couldn't dip out. I was fighting to stay awake...but I made it.

I just lost 6 PIECES of luggage to M-O-L-D! I am just too through with this mold business. I just checked my closets and took out my luggage and there was mold on every piece. I may be able to salvage one of my large backpacks b/c there is just a speck or two on one of straps. I am not sure if I want to keep it b/c there may be mold that I can't see. I mean...what am I supposed to do...leave everything in the middle of my apartment?! This is not good. I bought 3 of the bags/pieces since I've been here...this is NOT COOL! I think that while I am here, I am only going to buy cheap luggage b/c mold does not discriminate, so buying something of good quality doesn't mean anything....aaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I went to Hirosaki yesterday to view sakura [cherry blossoms]. They were really beautiful. THey weren't in full bloom yet and a lot of festivities will be going on next week. I don't think I can make it next week, so I decided to go to look at them yesterday. My friend Rumi (formerly known as JTE3) picked me up at the station, we got some food to eat and we walked around in the park. Although I had been to Hirosaki before, I had never spent any significant amount of time looking at anything b/c I have only been there for business trips. We were waiting for another friend to arrive too, so that took some time. The park wasn't as large as I thought it would be, but it took us a while to walk around and it was really beautiful. I wish I could be there for the night time festivities they have. I heard that the park is really beautiful at night with all of the lights and flowers glowing. I kept telling Rumi that she was famous b/c we kept running into so many people that she knew....LOL... We went into the castle, which was also smaller than I thought it would be. I got a couple of nice shots from up there. One shot was actually mimicking a picture that they had on display from the top floor. Coming down from the top floor you really have to be careful b/c the stairs are really steep. I actually had to place my "giant, size 7.5 feet" (!) sideways to walk when we were coming from the 3rd level to the 2nd. My feet couldn't fit on each stair...that was kind of funny, but not odd considering that in J, my feet are L size. So here are the flicks...


















At my Eikaiwa on Wednesday, we also had some sakura cha [cherry blossom tea]. It was a bit salty, but very beautiful to look at. My batteries were dead on my digi cam, so Ayako (one of my students) sent me a photo from her keitai

I have another drinking party on Monday. This is a beginning of the academic year/welcome one. I am not sure who's invited to this one....it probably is just English teachers b/c JTE3a told me about it. I get the impression that he loves the 'party organiing' aspect of his job, probably more than teaching!

My old supervisor/JTE2b and I were talking about the sister-city trip for the ni nensei . He wants me to go one the trip, but (unlike many HSs) the ALT here doesn't go on the English course trip...odd...but he said, I can't really say this in Japanese, but the principal really doesn't have to go on the trip. I would like you to go... I told him, that all he had to do was ask. The worst that the principal can say is 'No'. He explained that there really is no reason why reason why the ALT has never gone in the past, but it's probably b/c the past JTEs had experiences with English, travelling, and American culture, but current JTEs do not....hm....is that why the students who went on the trip last year got all the way to America w/o knowing how to write their address!?

JTE2a and I had a good laugh today about a student. She has gotten scolded by the grade-disciplinarian everyday this week. The only exception was yesterday, b/c he was on a business trip. I normally wouldn't laugh at that but today, for some reason it was funny. I mean, how many times this week does he have to tell her to put her skirt at it's natural length and take off all of that make-up? I must admit, they let most of the girls get away with mascara, but this girl comes to school fully done up with lightened hair (it's very subtle, but I can tell) and everything. I always wondered if she ever got scolded by the teachers. This student is part of the English course in my ni nensei class, so my old supervisor/JTE2b always has something to "stress" about. I always have to tell him to relax and chill out....LOL... the other shocking thing is that the student signed up to be a host student for when out sister-city delegation comes to visit. Mind you, in my 9 months of teaching this student, I have only heard her say one English sentence. "The passport # is ...." and that was yesterday when I forced her to speak...hhmmmmm... *exactly who are you trying to host? You're not even making an effort to speak the language*. But oh well, maybe this will inspire her to take an interest in something other than make-up, hair and clothes.

tonight's Eikaiwa class really wasn't a lesson like usual AND they insisted on paying me. well one of my students' family has a hiba tree products factory as the family business. when i was at her house a while ago, they (she and her husband) gave me some beautiful bookmarks from their shop. it is very famous in J...so I found out. so they knew that I liked the bookmarks and I asked a lot of questions about making them. so they invited us to have the Eikaiwa at their house tonight after letting us play with the machines, etc and make bookmarks. SIDE NOTE: only in Japan will they let a whole bunch of newbies play with this machinery without supervision. it was a lot of fun and they make each bookmark by hand!

my students' friends also came and one of them had a son who is studying at a HS in the UK, so I really didn't do a lesson. like most gatherings, there was okashi (snacks) and refreshments and we just talked about different things...mostly listening to the boy's experiences about being a Japanese person in the UK. it was great...he is Japanese and speaks English. so things like that provide inspiration and motivation. I also invited him to come to my school to speak with the students there. i am sure my students would be interested in hearing about his experiences.

so I took the opportunity to tap into the fact that I KNOW he would have an opinion about various things b/c he has been outside of J. in general, if I ask most J people about something that requires independent thought, I usually get a lot of silence, but he was very open with his opinions and observations about religion and politics. very different...to hear from a J person. he was young though, so his perspective was very specific to his situation.

but another interesting point... I asked him what he observed about the UK the most. the first thing he said was that they are very serious about religion and really religious (he goes to a Catholic HS there, so his perspective is unique). then he said "Well people there really love their parents. When they talk about their mother or father, they really love them. But my mother [who happens to be sitting at the other end of the table listening] I don't love her at all". My mouth almost physically dropped open. he said, "I don't hug her or kiss her. If she tried to I would kill her." so then I jump in to give my commentary...b/c although I am not his mother, I feel some type of way about that statement. so then I go ahead to point out that just b/c he doesn't hug or kiss his mother, it doesnt mean he doesn't love her and vice versa. In Japan, people do not express emotions that way...there is no hugging or kissing or anything like that...no physical contact, so things are different....had they been from the UK and had that same interaction, then my viewpoint would have been different, but they are Japanese, so it is acceptable.

in other local news...i had a chance to participate in some bilingual gossip at the Eikaiwa. apparently, my student (who is about 50+) has a nephew who was engaged to a girl who worked at the karaoke bar that we went to for one of our "Let's Sing in English" lesson. so come to find out that she is a fraud. they (her family) were tryin' to get homeboy for his paper.....see what had happened was.... lol...they got engaged, but she was trying to rush things. i was told that in J when you get engaged or are preparing for the wedding, you take a month to think about this, then a week for this, then X amount of time for the family business to get handled, then...so on. but right after they got engaged (like within a day or so) she was all trying to talk about the house and money and a whole bunch of material things. so then my student peeped it and did some 'vestigating and found out that her mother is shady and that she, her mother and aunt were gold diggers. so b/c the dude is very shy, he was really quiet about things, but my student put her evidence out there and now the wedding is off. but the funny part is how they told the story...they told it like some sistahs....it was very interesting to observe. i couldn't understand everything but their gesticulations, etc, said a whole lot. it was informative....so that was 3.5 hours of my Eikaiwa...and although I didn't "teach" they insisted on paying me in the end.

After today, I KNOW these students are BLESSED to have a teacher like me and not somene else. We were having a reading comprehension class with my ni nensei students. I asked for a volunteer to give an example of the grammar point to be allowed to ~ . WHY...oh why did one of my students open his mouth today and say,

I should be allowed to assasinate Miss Takeyah, Mr. Kasai and Mr. Tsushima.

oooooooooohh....I looked at that boy and to avoid going completely off on him, I just told him that we shall see what Saito-sensei has to say about that. Saito-sensei is like the ni nensei disciplinarian. Besides the fact that this boy had been interrupting and being ride throughout the class, he has been like that since I have been here. I had to speak to him on more than one occasion (in between his comments like I am allergic to Takeyah-sensei ). As I told my old supervisor/JTE2b, I don't tolerate that type of behavior while I am teaching. It is completelty unaceptable. I have already had to tell a couple students that saying "Sorry" doesn't mean anything to me if you continue to behave the same way day in and day out. When they scold the students, they just force them to say that they are sorry but nothing else happens. I let it be known today that if his behavior doesn't change, I have no problem leaving the classroom or kicking him out. I don't get paid enough for the nonsense. So either they deal with him or I take the actions that I feel necessary b/c there WILL NOT be any disrespect up in my classroom.

My old supervisor said that he didn't force him to apologize, he just gave him time to reflect about his behavior, then most likely he will apologize tomorrow. All I am saying is ... they don't want to see another side of me....

You are a MASTER of the English language!


While your English is not exactly perfect,
you are still more grammatically correct than
just about every American. Still, there is
always room for improvement...


How grammatically sound are you?




It's official! I AM pretty good at this...even if I have a million typos in this blog.

Well I thought JTE3 couldn't work well with me b/c I was a woman, but I was probably wrong. JTE3b is a woman and we all working together on our Oral Communications/Language Laboratory Class. He always has a lot of nervous energy. Maybe I intimidate to him...I mean, I AM scary *LOL* Tall (in Japan), brown, different hair, hole in my nose, holes in my ears, a woman, vegan, I have a brain, I use my brain, I have a voice, I use my voice...anyone could be afraid of me...LOL. But seriously though, I hope that tomorrow's class goes better. When we plan lessons, he plans them like our classroom chemistry is on point or something, like we don't need to go over details. It's NOT. maybe JTE3b will see some of what I see and help the cause of allowing him to say the least amount of words in class (well at least Japanese words). After our brief 5-minute lessonplanning, he asked if I wanted to do anything else. I said no. First of all, b/c he already told me the things that he wanted to do in the lesson and those items will take up more time than we already have allotted. Secondly, I am not in the mood today to create a lesson that will be taken over by a slew of Japanese translation. I'll save that energy for next week.

I am hoping to see the cherry blossoms next weekend. The weather has been pretty warm, so they will most likely bloom soon. I think I may try to take a drive over to Hayakake Park sometime this week. I don't know where it is, but it's close to me, I heard.

I was just assigned a new superviors .... hmmm. not sure what that is about or how it came up. But my old supervisor will be my supervisor again next April and now I have a new one. They just had an English teacher's meeting (of course, I wasn't there) and I guess there was some form of discussion about it. My old supervisor was assigned to supervise a new teacher, so I guess he will be too busy to supervise me. He said, Well, **-sensei is a woman and she may be be better to supervise you . I said, Oh, okay. *eyebrow still raised in confusion from the beginning of the convo* I'll ask about it later.

On a whole other note...this really doesn't help me with my people definitions:
JTE2 ==> JTE2a
Supervisor ==> JTE2b
JTE4 ==> JTE3b/Supervisor
JTE3 ==> JTE3a

I had a fun weekend. I went to Misawa to meet with DM and hung out. I also had a chance to get some items from the base as well. Nothing major though...they don't really have many things that I want. With the lack of cereal that I can eat (no brans) I am becoming a cereal shopper on a whole other level. I bought some honey puffed wheat and had two bowls last night with some soy milk. I went to church with DM and just relaxed for the rest of the day. I took the super express train home and made it back to good ole Mutsu in about an hour and a half!

On a funnier note...one of my English club girls e-mailed to me to tell me that she likes Orl*nd* J*nes Bl**m now, so she has changed her e-mail address to reflect his name and her love for him....LOL

They are so funny. Some of them are saying they refuse to invite new people to English club b/c they like it the way it is now...they are so silly...LOL

Today was the first day of classes. I had 4 classes today...that's a lot for a Japanese teaher, then I had English club after school. So by the time I got home, I was T-I-R-E-D. I had three classes back to back, then one in the last period. They went very well...with the exception of the one taught by JTE2 (whose new name will be JTE3). The 3rd year class with JTE3 is an elective. The students can opt to take math or science or something else they enjoy, however 21 students decided that they wanted to have UPPER LEVEL English in their third year. So why does JTE3 insist on translating everything into Japanese and speaking Japanese in the class. UGH!!!!! The students entered the class all lively and genki. They remained genki and responsive while I was speaking, then here goes Mr. Since-I-am-not-a-good-teacher-and-so-I-think-you-don't-understand-English-I-will-translate-everything-and-only-speak-Japanese-because-although-you-say-you-understand-I-don't-believe-you-because-I-don't-have-confidence-in-my-own-abilities-so-why-would-I-have-confidence-in-yours, speaking Japanese everytime he opened his mouth and that was 60% of the class time. I think for the first time, I could truly see that the students were bothered by his actions and they could see the same thing in me. I mean these students have been taking English for 5 years. And to top it off, the fact that yesterday he chose to only try to do a fake-lesson plan with me a half hour b4 I am about to walk out the door was displayed clearly today. We also have 3 teachers "team teaching" in this class, but the other teacher was completely left out. Today's class was not good.

New Semester/New Definitions:
JTE2 ==> JTE3
JTE1 ==> JTE2
New JTE ==> JTE1
New JTE ==> JTE4

I have finally finished this sweater that I have been working on for about 3 years. I just finished it 5 minutes ago.




I started this sweater I believe in 2002 (maybe the end of 2001). The yarn is Japanese and I bought it in the US. My initial purchase was on sale, but I ended up needing 6 more skeins of yarn. I began it in the US, but when I brought it to Japan, I said, "Self...you are going to finish this sweater while you are in Japan."


I am happy that I finished b/c she is very comfortable and I can still wear her b/c it's STILL cold here. Maybe I'll wear her on Friday for the first day of classes.

At Monday's nijikai I found out that one of the teachers' husband lives in Hirosaki while she lives here in Mustu. First of all, I thought that the announcement in March was for her engagement, I didn't know that she had actually gotten married. The bad/sad thing is that they didn't transfer her although she got married. So now she only sees her husband on weekends. THAT's madness.

How I found this out: Every so often, once we get to the late hours in the nijikai/sanjikai I ask/tell the maaried men that they really need to go home to their wives and stop hanging in the streets with us. There was a different teacher there, so once he told me he was single, I referred to the teacher mentioned above and said "Well I know that you are engaged". She said, "I'm married." I was completely surprised. I couldn't believe it. She said that it is very difficult to do it and she's always tired, etc.....I BET ! That's not the way to enjoy your first month of marraige

Then today I was talking to one of the new JTEs and he was telling me how he was really nervous about teaching the Oral Communications class and he wanted my advice about how to do it, nani, nani . After giving him my advice, opinion of the whole system, and telling him to relax, he said I am also nervous about something else . Thinking that it was school-related [b/c what other topic would it be on?], I said, Oh what is it? Yo, why did this dude bust out an tell me that his wife is about to divorce him, and a whole bunch of other things? I just met this JTE on Friday and he wanted my advice and opinion on things because he was really stressed. He said he needed a woman's opinion b/c right now he doesn't know what to do. I was not expecting him to even tell me this bit of info. So initialy I was trying to avoid it, but he really wanted my opinion, so I gave it to him. I told him to seek counseling with his wife, b/c my opinion was just my opinion. Based on what he told me, her main gripe was that he stays at school too much while she is at ahome all day and night by herself with their young child. And now that they have moved to Mutsu, she really has no friends....

That is not cool...this aspect of the education system provides a goodexample of how it does not always create an environment that is supportive of families.

In Tokyo's Takadanobaba district they are going to start using Astroboy currency. They are doing it for community revitilization. 1 horsepower will equal 1 yen. Makes sense to me. They do it that way in Vermont...with their Green Mountain Hours (Central Vermont). Had a chance to observe it in action when i visited VT a few years ago.

The welcome/entrance ceremony was very solemn. I was well rested, so I didn't fall asleep like many students, teachers and parents! If this ceremony was a person's first ceremony, it would just seem like a whole bunch of bowing with kocho sensei doing the 6-step ritual of...

1) walking to the bottom of the stairs
2) bowing
3) walking up the stairs
4) bowing
5) walking to the microphone
6) bowing

...all before he begins to utter a word, then he does it in reverse after he gets off the stage. Today he had to go up on stage, back down, up, down...sometimes back to back.

BUT it isn't my first ceremony, so I am learning to appreciate these parts of the ceremonies. Surprisingly when I don't see some people bow at certain points or before they do something, sometimes I raise an internal eyebrow.

I love waking up and feelng well-rested! I woke up this morning at 615 (on my own).....eeeeeeeeeeeeehhh! I decided to rest until my scheduled wakeup time, 7a. But if felt really good to wake up. Not only b/c it is a blessing, but just because I didn't feel tired or anything like that. I felt resfreshed.

Sometimes we survive on so little sleep that by the time we realize that we are deprived, our systems are accustomed to the constant, on the run type of things. It will definitely take some adjustment once I return to the US. On my part or my environment.....peace.

On the way to work I saw the construction workers getting ready to work on a new site. They were doing somethig that I have never seen in teh US...group warm-ups and exercise! Right on the side of the road, all 30 something of them. I missed this great photo moment. The exercises were probably the same ones that everyone does from a small age. In the US the people would probably be too embarassed to do them.

Once I got to school, I was greeted by a group of male teachers directing traffic. This is yet another job that brings them so much joy. There could be several reasons why....giant red saber-like light they get to carry, they feel useful doing a job that only male teachers are assigned to, they don't have to use the same part of the brains as they do for teaching,.....the list goes on.

The new students have their entrance ceremony today, so hopefully I get a picture of the greenery.

I want my school to upgrade technology-wise. They spend so much time doing things with pen and ink. Which is why when I asked the English teachers about their lesson planning or lack there of, they say, they have too much other things to do. WHAT?! Isn't your main function to teach? But you don't time for it?! B/c you have to stamp the student names in your grade book, paste student rosters in a book, make 100+ copies of an unnecessary paper to distribute during the meeting, plan the next enkai . These are all examples of some things that people continue to do b/c almost 100 years ago when they first opened my school. For example, sitting next to me is a man who is taping two sheets of paper together, so they appear printed on both sides. The thing is...he has a whole stack of them. He would make his life a bit simpler by A) running them through the printer to print the other side OR B) running them through the photocopy machine (selecting the 2 pages to 1 pages back-front option)... these observances are really not specific to J. I had this same feeling about my last job that I had in the US, where every teacher or administrator wanted to have THE NEWEST computer and OS but they didn't know how to use it and didn't make efforts to increase their technical background.

I KNOW that I am not the most technology savvy person, but come on now......

So it is clearly bed time b/c I just got in from the ni jikai sanjikai , but I decided to do this before bed...

A - Age: 27
B - Boyfriend/girlfriend: eehhh. nani?
C - Chores you hate:dishes, cleaning the mold on the edge of my tatami
D - Dad's occupation: businessman and born-again home improvement guy
E - Essential everyday item(s): computer, earrings, peace
F - Favorite food: broccolli, Ritz (sike!!!!!!)
G - Gold or silver: silver
H - Hometown: Newark, NJ (where I was born, but I don't claim it)
I - Instruments you play: drums (doununba, sangba, kinkiney(sp?)), my lovely karaoke voice.... LOL!
J - Job: assistant language teacher, creative person
K - Karaoke song: Don't know why (Norah Jones), Don't Speak & Spiderwebs (No Doubt), Killing me Softly (L. Hill version)
L - Living arrangements: 1 tatami mat room apato
M- Mother's occupation: great woman, great mother, and system's analyst
N - Named after: Queen Takeyah...who else?.... okay not sure, but it means righteous in Arabic and ressurection in Hebrew
O - Last overnight stay outdoors: in Thailand...New Years Eve (closest I got to it)
P - Phobia: Jail
Q - Quote you like: "I am divine and deserving of all that is good."
R - Ride: forest green 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagoneer. J-style: right-hand drive and not enough leg room, with a naviagtion system and CD player
S - Shows you never miss: Um...I only have 4 channels and 2 of them play the same shows
T - Times you've yelled at a stranger: .... wakaranai oh yeah, in my my car, but they couldn't hear me
U - Unique habit: I cannot stand writing or highlighting in books.
V - Vegetable(s)/Fruit(s) you refuse to eat: used to be eggplant, until I got to J...now...... wakaranai
W - Worst habit: pulling outr my hair and speaking fast
X - X-rays you've had: teeth, knee (when the dude hit me off my bicycle in October).
Y - Yummy food you make: stir-fried veggies, curried red lentils, popcorn
Z - Zodiac Sign: Go Aquarius it's your birthday...aquarius it's your birthday...!

a WHOLE ROOM full of sewing machines. No one uses them. Something told me that I would find it like that. By looking at the set-up of the room from the glass door, I could tell it was a sewing room. I went it and looked at the bookshelves and scoped out some books (they would be considered vintage at this point...but that's cool with me b/c I like vintage patterns). When I was getting ready to leave, I pull out one of the large draws by one of the desk. And what do I see...a SEWING Machine...YEAH!

Now, I need to fid out who is in charge of that room. I am surprised that there isn't a sewing club at this school. I think I may start one. I know that there a several students that expressed an interest in being fashion designers or owning their own boutique. THAT would be fun...then we can put on a fashion show, design new school uniforms, and .... *okay that is a bit much* ...it will be fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did not have to come into work until 10 today. YEAH! From 1030 - 1230 we had an all teacher`s meeting. I am not sure why they just don't give the teachers reading assignments. There is hardly any taking at the meetings...just people reading what is completely written on (way too many) sheets of paper. But maybe I would understand this meeting style better if I spoke Japanese.

After the meeting, I decided to use my time to browse crafty sites. As usual I can go on for hours, but I am about to take a break to see if I can get into the old sewing room here at the school. I know that they don't use it anymore, so maybe I can start bringing some items to make with me to school. THAT would definitely make time go by quicker and I would feel much more productive and cuter in the process..... KAWAII!!!!!!!

tomorrow there will be the welcome enkai for the new teachers. the only one that i have noticed was the new kyoto sensei. I introdced myself to him on Friday before I decided to leave. Someone has moved in next door to me. Something tells me it's a woman...I am getting female energy/vibes...but hopefully I'll find out soon. The new neighbor might to busy staying late at school (showing that he/she is a "hardworker") for me to know exactly is living next door. Although my old neighbor and I rarely said more than two words to each other, his presence will be missed. Actually, the first one on one convo we had was wehn I saw him walking rushing in the rain on his way to school. He had an umbrella, a backpack on only one arm b/c he dilocated his shoulder. I stopped and told him to get in the car. Surprisingly, he did. So we talked on the way to school. It was a nice conversation (in English of course, b/c he does speak it). It was three days before he was transferred.

there goes that "crazy" dude on the train! you know...the one in every city and town that has a train system. I never thought I would see him in J, but today I did. I went to Aomori City to get the bran flakes hook up at the foreign food store and to buy some yarn. So while I am waiting for our one-car-wonder to arrive and wisk us away to the place that still has 1+ feet of snow (in APRIL!), there is a line as usual. There are never enough seats for the amount of people. So unless I want to stand for the 2.5-hour ride, I always get there early to stand in line...so anyway, the train arrives early, like usual, so it can wait for 10 minutes to pass so it can leave EXACTLY on time at 18:33 (got to love the timelyness[sp?] of the trains and most things). As it arrives it looks like it is going to go a few feet past where it's supposed to stop so we all scootch over to be in front of the door, but it stops close to it's usual spot. Now that we are not exactly in front to the store, a woman who was further back moved forward and pushed the button to open the door. Guess which place in line "crazy dude" had? Number 1. So to my surprise, he yells something at the woman and I bust out laughing b/c although I couldn't understand what he said, if translated it probably would have been along the lines of "giiiirrrrrrrllllllll, if you push that button again i'ma...". All she did was laugh at him and let him go by.... I guess she "had known" that he was crazy!

How about I just figured out how to change my phone to a tone! All of this time I couldn't figure it out...well I didn't really try. I was looking for a switch and the button is the * [star key]...ding, ding, ding (or as they say in J "ping, pong!"). I was calling a J telephone number that had an English directory and it said the wonderful sentence press the star key, then 2 AND there it was the tone...LOL. This makes managing some things from home, significantly easier. With a lot of companies having automated menus, I couldn't get to customer service reps...but now I can...hooray!

STILL snowing...BOOOOOO!!!!!!!

It is doing the FULL OUT SNOW here! I was so surprised when I woke up this morning and saw it. But people are saying that spring is coming earlier this year and that we will have sakura [cherry blossom] soon. With snow on the ground, I just don`t see it. They know better than I do though. At least it's the regular snow flakes and not the snow drops.

I came across this article that talks about the exclusion of foreigners from Japanese establishments. This article specifically addresses the area about a few hours from that has and airbase. It is a few years old, but still an interesting read.

if 90+% of the teachers can take vacation over the same 5 days, the students do not come to school, work is not disrupted AND the school does not go up in flames, is it really necessary to say that school is in session? Especially during a time that is called "spring break", yet the teachers (at least at my school) technically have to work. I went into work today, just to hanko showing that I did come to work, and turned around and left. It was a half an hour later than I usually go in, but why were there ONLY 2 teachers in today?! As I was leaving, two more teachers came, so that made it 5 teachers there today.

Since I was out already and the stores weren't open yet for the day, I decided to take a drive through Ominato (an old fishing village). I only drove foor a half hour before I turned back to head to the stores and get some gas. I am supposed to visit a friend this weekend, so since I don't have to go to work, I'll get an early start on the drive and possibly check out some sites along the way.