Say What Who?

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Once again I've waited too long to update my blog. So instead of going on with a long winded description of a single event, I'm going to write about a bunch (and I use the phrase loosely) of things that have happend starting from most recent to least recent and I'll put in extra details when I feel like it.

Cheers!

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As of this afternoon, I'll be completely done with teaching classes until September.

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I have this special thing with the students at Odochi where if they do something I think is special, I give them 1 or 2 Nina Dollars. They look like this:

For the most part, I don't think the students actually knew what they were for but I had in mind that I would hold an auction maybe every term (there are three total) and I would let them buy candy and maybe one really expensive but pretty cool American toy.

Well, when the Largo guys came, they left me with a bunch of really cool presents to give to people. The had so many donations for people in America (such as the devil rays, Eckerd college and Disney) that they had too much to give to people. So I got the leftovers. On top of all that really cool stuff, Adam decided that since he's leaving he needed to clean out his apartment and I got some more cool stuff!!!

So needless to say, when I held my auction yesterday, the kids got spoiled rotten.

However, the best prize out of all the prizes was an old nasty box of Jelly Belly Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. It was absolutely hilarious to see the students stick a bean in their mouth and cringe. After a while, I asked one girl if maybe it was just too sweet for her and that was why she was cringing. I thought maybe it was actually a good bean but the American flavor was just too much for her. She turned to me with the most disgusted face ever and said, "No. This is definitely NOT sweet". Hahaha, she was eating a grass flavored bean too.
HAHAHAHHAHA

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An earthquake hit on Monday. I didn't know about it. I didn't feel it. I've had at least 3 people email me about it. But no one seemed to notice the typhoon that directly hit my area. (Not that I expect anyone to!)

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Monday we had a holiday so that made it a three day weekend. I had some major plans to go camping with some friends but Saturday started out with the first typhoon of the season. It's pretty funny actually. Everyone was really sort of scared but from what I could tell, it was just a tiny thing. Nothing like what we get in Florida!

HA! I laugh in the face of a numbered typhoon. It is nothing like our hurricanes with human names!

At 9pm it was set to hit my town exactly and by 9:30 the rain stopped and suddenly....nothing. It just decided to die right then and there. And that was the end of it. Sunday was beautiful and that is the end of that disappointing story.

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I had originally planned to go camping with Nick and a girl named Son. She's a Korean CIR and came on JET in April. I first met her at the Sayonara Party. She was talking to a few people so I walked over to join the conversation. She was sitting down where as I was standing and she looked up with the most puppy dog eyes and fervently told me in Japanese, "I'm not Japanese. Everyone thinks I'm Japanese. I'm not. I'm Korean. I came in April," and then turned back to the other people and kept the conversation going.

Basically she could pass as being Japanese. Her Japanese is amazing. She doesn't know a lot of English but we still get along pretty well.

On Sunday the would-be-camping crew went out to Katsurahama (the beach) to see what had washed up on shore. But the conversations we were having must have looked so interesting! Nick (also a CIR) would be chatting away with Son in Japanese and I would pipe in with English and Son would understand enough to comment back in Japanese. It really is a very ethnic group! A Korean, American and Australian!

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This is how I've been feeling most of the time:


Completely smitten with life now that I have a car.

And btw, don't ask how that's going. On the 6th my license will expire. On the 7th, I'll be on my way home for 2 weeks. When I get back, I'll have a hellava time getting that damn Japanese license. Don't ask because I'm stressing as it is and I'll bite your head off with a whole explanation of what a bs system the Japanese have going here. And trust me, knowing the craptastic Japanese system should be on a need to know basis only and believe me when I tell you, you don't need to know!

It doesn't matter.

Whoo! I've got a car!!!!

Cars, Parties and Bottoms!

Sunday, July 1, 2007

This past weekend was the Sayonara Party for all the JETs that are leaving in July and August. It was on top of a hotel at a beer garden. The theme was Good vs. Evil and I have some excellent pictures that I'll post later. I went as an angel because I'm cheap and knew that I'd be staying sober. That's right folks, I bought my car from a leaving JET who was attending the party. She drove it in and I drove it out.

But before that, on my way to the actual party, dressed in said costume, about a 40 minute ride by train from home, I got a call from the Theif.

Theif: Nina, did you meet up with your supervisor?
Nina: .........no....why?
T: Because you're 20 minutes late and he was supposed to pick you up.
N:.... huh?
T: The party is tonight! You know, the drinking party that we have after doing something important. This time, it's to thank everyone for doing such a good job with the Largo Exchange. The principal really wants you to come!
N: ......
T: I guess Twitchy-sensei forgot to tell you.
N:Yeah I guess so.

I could kill. I'm talkin' first degree murder. They will see it coming and no one will be able to stop me. I even TALKED TO MY SUPERVISOR THAT SAME DAY about how I had this really cool Sayonara party to go to. Does anyone ANYONE mention a party for the Largo exchange? Not a one. Not a single fucking one. Out of 6 JTEs and a principal, vice principal, and office lady, whom I know all attended because they were all very involved, no one said a word.

whatever

Switching gears!

I got my car!!! And I'll post pictures later. For now, I'm too busy trying to figure out how to drive on the left side of the road. You'd think it would be easy enough to think left lane, left lane, left lane. But there's a whole lot more that goes into driving on the wrong side of the road. My entire car is mirrored! I tried to turn on the blinker and the windshield wipers go. I turn around to back up and I have to turn to my left, not my right. It's kind of a weird feeling to say the least. All my muscle memory is now wrong!

But I'm getting the hang of it I think.

I decided that I wanted to go and do things that I couldn't before I had a car so I took Erinn around to a few places. We went shopping at a great Jeans place, had dinner at an American style steak house called Bikuri Donkey (Surprise Donkey...as in Donkey Kong) which is only a chain in Japan but was cute anyway (^_~)v

She also had a coupon for a spa so we decided to go in and get a massage. Everything in the place was from Indonesia and they specialized in aroma therapy. I chose a scent called Power and smelled like citrus and sandalwood. Very nice. So I got the complete naked rub down which included my butt!!!! She asked if it was alright before we started but I was still surprised anyway. I walked home with sandalwood oil all over and it felt and smelled so nice (^^) I think I'll go back but...well, at $50 a pop, maybe not so often.

For now, I'll continue driving like a madwoman down the road at 30 miles an hour! (speed limit is 40 at the best of times. Whoo I'll be flyin!)

FLASH!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I get my car this Friday!!! Which kind of sucks but is really awesome nonetheless. See, this Friday is the Sayonara Party for all the leaving JETs and it will be held at a beer garden which means all you can eat and drink! But for the new DD, it'll just be eating for me (^^)

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In other news, here's a great post I got on the local mailing list that I thought you'd all find interesting. I love this country!!!

BEGIN EMAIL:

I was teaching a lesson today to some pretty high level students...I do teach occasionally! And one of my students came out with a pearler of a sentence:

"How much underwear have you been stolen from your balcony?"

Where else but in Japan would you hear that!! But I had no idea how to explain the grammatical error.

Why do we have to say 'have had stolen'? I couldn't work out for the life of me any way of having it make sense to them.

HELP! I look forward to your explanations

Cheers!

Hisashiburi!

Monday, June 25, 2007

I don't think I want to make a habit out of writing so little on this blog. Life has been both ridiculously busy and not as interesting and I think it should be to write about it.

But that's not true of course. Everything I do is interesting enough to write about!!!

So, let's see. Two weekends ago I went to Muroto where I spent Saturday snorkeling with about 20 other JETs. That evening we drove up into the mountains and had a Japanese style BBQ.

Mmmm meat.

That night, we all camped together in preprepared tents that fit about 6 people in each. It was quite cozy (^_~)v

The next morning, we woke up to some beautiful drizzly skies. But that didn't stop us from kayaking for a good hour or so! It wasn't exactly white water rafting, but we had loads of fun. With two per boat, people were all over the place! I eventually made it into the water when an ALT from another group jumped in and flipped the kayak. The water felt really warm because it was raining too, so it was all good!

That night, I was off with the Japanese fam again. And that was a great beginning for the week (^^)

Friday (3 days ago) I went out to a cafe where I saw Hercules (Dave) and the Kappa (Nick) play some tunes for about 40 or so people in candle light. Very romantic.

Saturday was the GEEK WEEKEND!!! (finally! Nick and I have only been planning it for two months!) We gathered some of the most geeky of JETs and spent an entire day and night playing video, card and mind games, watching DVDs, listening to geeky music and enjoying plenty of geeky conversation. It was jawesome!

Unfortunately, I had to duck out early on Sunday to catch the hour train home so I could be in time to meet up with the Japanese Fam. When I get my car this friday (holds breath) I don't think that will be a problem again (^u^)b

Largo

Monday, June 18, 2007

I wrote this at work last week and well...maybe I'll write a little later just how busy I've been (^^)v


I suppose I should take this lull to sit down and write about the Largo exchange.

It was quite eventful! The students that came over this time were the best I could have hoped for. They had a good attitude towards everything and they really followed all the rules! I was really impressed with everything they did (^^)

The students were also joined by Deborah (history teacher) and her husband, Guy. As well as the Principal of Largo, Mr. Haynes and his wife Alice.

So we last left off when I had come back to Tosayamada with the Largo kids in tow. It was awesome seeing my students so excited and nervous to meet them all. 5 minutes after getting off the train, everyone joined their host families and they were off! And I went home to relax in my apartment for a few minutes.

After about 5, I was off again to party with the Principals host family! This would be Thursday night. Friday was the welcome party. Saturday was the Lions club welcome party. Sunday was Nina day. Monday...is hazy. Tuesday was a bunch of meetings with the high ups in Kochi prefectural board of education and that night was another small party. Wednesday we went up to the mountains and cooked the famous Katsuo Tataki (only in Kochi prefecture). We cut it out, cleaned it, grilled it, and ate! mmmm it was good. Afterwards we all got nekkid in the onsen next door. That's right, I got nekkid with 7 high school girls, Deborah and April. I love Japan (^^)

That night I went to a goodbye party with the Lions club (those people really know how to drink!) The party started at 6 and I was drunk by 7 when I left to catch the train to another party that Nick was having for his parents. I got home around 11 and was out like a light.

Thursday, the principal and wife were off to Honduras. The rest of the students had a day packed with classes. Friday were more classes and one of the Largo kids got a stomach ache! oooo gas can be a problem. Whereas Deborah and I weren't too worried, everyone at Yamada insisted we take him to the hospital. I somehow convinced them that he was probably fine and just needed to rest. Thank god for that too. Can you imagine if we had taken him to the hospital? Gotten meds for an illness he didn't really have and then getting insurance involved and all that jazz. Bleh. No thank you.

That afternoon was the goodbye party from the students and Saturday morning they were off. There was much flirting and crying. Just the way it should be :) I think in the end everyone had a great time. I'd say out of the three experiences, this one was by far the best!

For now, I'm getting back to work, getting angry at the Thief over and over and over again. Still in the process of getting a car which I should have by the end of this month (holding breath) and tonight I'm off to go hang out with friends then tomorrow I'm snorkeling and kiaking and camping in the mountains of Muroto!

Life is good even if it is the rainy season!

Kobe, hospital visits and Largo

Sunday, June 3, 2007

This is a very long overdue post. I have so much to say and putting it off is just making the list longer and longer!!!

Sunday I spent with Nick and Company over in Katagawa for the first ever Australian Culture Festival!!! Complete with Lamb sausages and Kangaroo Burgers. Mmmm I'm sure they were delicious but I wouldn't know because I woke up with the most horrible stomach ache of my life. I tried to down play it as much as possible but in the end I had to sit out of a good chunk of the festivities even though I was supposed to be helping run the thing! (Despite being American. It's a minor detail that I'm sure all the Japanese didn't even notice)

That night I went home assuming it was just a bout of food poisoning and it'd be gone by the time I went to sleep.

The next morning I was off to Kobe for the recontracting conference! Just FYI people, if they tell you they're going to take attendance, they're fibbing!! They only took it twice on the same day and I made a serious effort to be at almost all the meetings!!! I rushed back from the hospital thinking they were going to report me to my supervisor!!!

That's right. By the middle of Monday afternoon, I was off to the hospital. I've heard so many horror stories of Japanese doctors that I was thoroughly freaked out. But in the end it was a very good experience. I had someone from CLAIR take me and the doctor was very good. He diagnosed me with an intestinal virus and sent me on my way with some medicine that was to keep me from feeling so nauseous but he wasn't going to give me anything for vomiting or diarrhea since that's the only real way to cure it. Up to that point I had had neither but I had the symptoms that led me to believe that my body was threatening me with them.

That night was the worst of my life here in Japan. I woke up multiple times to toss my cookies and the saying goes. It was actually to doctors meds that threw me over the edge I believe. But in the morning I was feeling better and by that night I was able to go out and eat some famous Kobe beef!!! At $1 a piece that stuff was gold! Delicious and highly recommended but I'll never eat it again at that price (^^)v

NEXT

I skipped out of Kobe early so I could meet up with the Largo kids in Tokyo. They had been there since Monday morning and had been touring around having a great time from what I hear. Who couldn't? It's Tokyo!!!

I stayed one night with them in a gorgeous hostel and in the morning we were on our way to Tosayamada. Since getting back it has been one party after another. It's great to see how these things work from the other side of the cultural exchange. And I feel like a god for being able to translate. I guess I really wasn't giving myself enough credit but I've really gotten pretty decent about learning the ropes of the Japanese language! It's a total ego boost (^u^)

For now, I'm off to some more parties!!! WHOO

A Friendly Lot

Sunday, May 20, 2007

I have this habit of cleaning only under specific conditions. It must be a weekend and I have to start right after I get out of bed. I can usually get some pretty extensive cleaning done too which is a must since I don't clean any other time of the week!

So I was going through my routine today and finally getting the grit from between the floor boards! I went out to hang my laundry for the first time since October when I hear below me "Good morning!" I look down and there on the street are two people staring up at me. I say Hello and continue on with what I was doing. It's not abnormal for random people to just greet you in English and go on their way. It was a beautiful morning and they were probably just taking a walk.

Then they waved at me and in their hand was Largo High School's 2001 yearbook. I smiled and tried not to imagine where the hell they had gotten that book or why they even had it. I really should have put it together by now but...ok, it's about 9:30 in the morning and I'm still in my slightly revealing PJs. I didn't think I would be seeing anyone until 4 and when I say that I need to start cleaning as soon as I get out of bed, I mean before I put on normal clothes, brush my teeth, or even eat breakfast.

So yeah. I eventually got the hint that they wanted to talk so I threw on some clothes and went down stairs. It turns out that they are the couple that will be host family for the Largo Principal and his wife. They were worried about what they should be doing in preparation and they knew that I lived in the area so they stopped by. I think it was just luck that I walked out onto the balcony just then. Lord knows how long they were hanging out there!

We talked about the different foods that the principal might want to eat and how exactly he wants to take a shower. See in Japan, it's a big deal to clean yourself. You can't just lazily walk into the shower in the morning like so many Americans. Instead, you specially heat the bathtub in preparation for the evening's bath and it's more of a ritual than just something you do to make yourself clean.

They went home feeling a lot more relief after our simple conversation of
meat = good
Fermented smelly soy beans = bad

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So remember that gorilla boy from way back when? Welp, I finally got my blind date with him. And it was just like every blind date known to men and women everywhere. It was awkward as hell and I'm just thankful that my friend Erinn and her boyfriend as well as another couple went with us. We had okonomiyaki which I have to admit I don't particularly like. And for the record, he doesn't look like a gorilla at all!!! But that still doesn't mean he was interesting or cute. I think we're all going to hang out some more for the new Pirates movie but after that...I don't see it going much further.

And I'm back where I started (^u^)v

Osaka and ATMs from hell

Friday, May 4, 2007

I went to Osaka this past week with Aozora. Long story short, I was a little less than impressed. The city was dirty and seemed needlessly large and busy. It probably would have been better to go during any other time other than Golden Week but...eh, what can I say.

I went to Universal Studios Japan where it thankfully rained all day. See, from what I hear, Universal is usually packed on a normal day but during GW you might as well not go because the lines will be anywhere from 2 to 3 hours long. And fast passes are $30 for 4 tickets! Ooo less than $10 each, that's a steal.

But because of the rain, we only had to wait 50 minutes at max which was quite nice. Incidently, all the rides that we went on were exactly like the ones back in Florida. However, most of the rides I went on in Osaka were new where as the ones in Florida are either super old or have been taken down by now. It was like walking into the past! I went on Terminator 3D the way it was way back when! (just in Japanese) I also went on E.T. and they actually said my name at the end! Not only did the one in Florida stop saying your name about 10 years ago, but they've also taken it down if I recall correctly! Other than that, it was nothing super special.

The next best thing was Spa World. It was a public bath (separated by genders) that was like a Love Hotel (from what people tell me. I don't know, I've never been to a Love Hotel...*bitter*) I really wanted to take pictures but since it was a bath....well, you understand.

They had Greek Gods poring water into a bath on top of a fish tank. They had hot baths, cold baths, saunas, and a cafe! As in, you would walk around naked, take a stop off at the cafe, get a drink and sit down at a table while soaking your feet in the pools underneath. There were about 10 baths all together and it was the most wonderful place I've been to yet. It's almost worth going back to Osaka for!

Almost

As for ATM hell... well....

Ok so we all know that Japanese ATMs are crap. They don't open until 10am and they close around 7 if your lucky. They close early on Fridays and weekends. On holidays, they are notoriously closed. In fact, it is a super common thing to be completely stranded during GW since it's an ENTIRE WEEK HOLIDAY!!!

Why the Japanese decide to close ATMs at all is completely beyond me. Maybe it's just to make me squirm.

Whatever, I've never gone on a vacation where I ran out of money but I guess I had to choose GW to start. Thank God for Visa!

Finally, Aozora and I wanted to kill some time in Osaka since we kind of ran out of things to do (running out of money will do that. And most places, even in a big city, don't actually take credit) so we decided to pop into an overpriced theater and check out Spider Man 3.

For anyone who hasn't seen this movie, I won't give any spoilers so read on!

There were parts of this movie that I'm sorry to say I ruined for some people in the theater because I started audibly giggling but at one point, I almost fell out of my chair and had to restrain my laughter or risk getting kicked out of the theater!

The joke, for anyone who knows it, was:

"I am a wise. Old. Dog. I have watched you two grow from baby horses into adult horse. I have watched you two grow from baby race horses into adult race horses. The best of race horses. I have watched you grow from baby friends into adult friends. The best of friends. You two became like two peas in a pod, two fish in the sea. You guys were like THIS! *tear* and I know that's hard for horses. Because I am a wise. Old. Dog."

Watch the movie and laugh. If you don't get the joke, get me seriously drunk and I might, might tell you. But remember, you asked for it!

It's only 9:30!

Monday, April 30, 2007

A few emails from Thursday of last week. I don't have time to write the whole thing out but I gotta post this before I go off to Osaka and forget everything!

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To mom:

So..... This day has gotten to an interesting start and it's only 9:30.

Today, Tegan, from high school is coming to visit me. She was studying in Tokyo and wanted to see Yamada now that her classes are done. She'll be here until Sunday. My Apartment is a mess. I've gotten into the habit of saying "I don't want to do it" so I don't. It's really easy to continue to be lazy once you start. So not cool.

I got into school today late.

English club will be early today because school will end early today because the X-ray bus is coming into town.

SAY WHAT?!

Yeah, every year the teachers have to get X-rayed to see if they have TB or something. I had to do this when I was in America, remember? Welp, I'm doin it again. This is total bs. I told them I didn't want to because taking too many x-rays is bad for you. Especially if it's needless like this is! They said, well everyones doing it.... peer pressure is a way of life here.

Then...at 9:02, I was talking to the thief about today's lesson when suddenly the ground started shaking and there was this rumbling sound all around. And then it got worse and the walls started shaking and the desks were swaying!

Mom, it was a category 4 or 5 (whatever that means) and I swear I thought I was going to die. My heart totally jumped into my throat and it hasn't moved! The thief said it was really rare. Something like that hadn't happened for 6 years now. But still!!!!

Tegan's coming later this afternoon and I'm going to leave school to get her things and then return here for the club.

Thank god for that break! (when it comes) Lord knows if I'll survive this day!

-Nina


~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, I emailed my PA to see if there was any way I could get out of doing the X-ray and not piss anyone off.


Hey Nina,

This has been a topic of conversation on the PA mailing list recently, so I am actually up to speed on this one! It seems that all public employees, including JETS, must have a yearly check up to ensure you don't have TB. Why the hell they are worried about TB I have no idea, but there you have it. So in effect, the X-Ray is compulsory. The only way out of it is to write a formal letter, and have another test that involving sputum and blood testing, but this does not necessarily yield a conclusive diagnosis, so your school may not accept it and force you to have one anyway - maybe at your expense that time.

So, you could always just try and whine your way out of it, but the official line is that it is compulsory for JETs along with all other employees. Sux. Plus I agree with you. I think that the risk of TB is minuscule compared to the increased risk of cancer from radiating EVERY public employee in the country. It is completely irrational. But since when does rationality win arguments here? This is how it is done, so that is how it will continue to be done.

Sorry to be so unhelpful

-Your Friendly PA


~~~~~~~~~~

I took the x-ray and bitched the entire way through. Curse that stupid machine!!

Genki: Pictures

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Pictures are up on my gallery

They are from our practices, tour weekends and after party. I'm kind of annoyed with my camera at the moment so I never brought it with me. All the pictures you see were taken by other people....about 5 to be exact ;)

Also, this is a band that was introduced to me on the tour weekend and I thought that it really represented our time together.

It was fun and now it's over!!!




Ok, so maybe the video doesn't really fit. But the inside jokes that none of you know fit completely!!! Regardless, the song is awesome (^u^)v

Genki: Kappa and Purple Panties

In the Genki play, there were quite a number of interesting characters. I was one of the sexy ones as I mentioned before. There were also towns people (whom I also played a part of) who just wore yakatta. There were the Henro who are pilgrims of Kochi and they wore all white with straw hats (you know the rice picker hats). The Neo, aka cyclops, who had the most elaborate masks! And finally, there was the Kappa.

A kappa is a Japanese mythical creature which is a cross between a frog and a turtle. He is a water spirit that, if you get on his good side by giving him a cucumber, will be very kind and help your crops grow. He was said to have taught the Japanese how to irrigate their fields. However, if you get on his bad side which seems easy to do, he'll steal your life essence through your ass.

I don't make this crap up folks!

So one of my favorite characters was the Kappa. Instead of stealing the life force of Hercules however, he decided to use the Kancho as his favorite attack.

Kancho is an old prank still used by elementary and middle school children to this day. Pretty much, they stick their fingers up their victims ass when he's not suspecting it.

ANYWAY to make a long story short, the dance and dialog were quite on the perverted side but since the game is actually played strictly by children (seeing as adults would have some serious legal problems if they chose to join in) it wasn't a major problem for children to watch!

The guy who played the Kappa, Nick, also decided that he wanted to the Kappa to have a little flare as well. He almost stole the show every time! (until I came out that is) It started with him just acting a bit on the flamboyant side but slowly he added more and more quirks to his character. First, got more and more into character making the Kappa seem a bit perverted himself. Then, Michelle taught him how to snap his fingers in a "talk to the hand" sort of way and on the last performance, he added purple panties to the costume!!!

The Kappa's costume was very elaborate like most of the other characters. But for some reason, he wore a really short green skirt. You could always see his underwear! So finally, he just borrowed a fellow cast members frilly purple panties. The costume was complete, and I almost pissed myself laughing!

Kitsune and the Shameless Flirt

Thursday, April 26, 2007

I have very little time before work to write this out but I won't have much time after this and well.....I lose all motivation to do anything when I go into work. Bleh

So, Kitsune is Japanese for fox. I played the part of a fox/muse that seduced Hercules so that we could take him back to our lair, have our way with him and never let him see the light of day again. Muahahahahahaha! In the story, we had already done this with the mayors daughter. Poor girl ;)

So yeah the costumes were kind of crap but in the end, with the lighting and our dance, we managed to make them pretty sexy! I was impressed every time I saw the pictures of us. I have yet to see our actual dance though. I'll post it if I get the option.

Anyway, the kitsune lure Hercules into their mitts and he ends up being surrounded by about 8 women hanging all over him. At his feet, arms, chest, back, side, everywhere! And somehow I managed to get the prime spot of his chest. Chest and face, that was my area!

As we kept doing the productions, I got more and more confident with my pawing and....well, as suggested by one of my students* I started rubbing his cheek and face and by the last one, I actually gave him a huge kiss with the reddest lipstick I could find! And that sucker didn't come off easily! Either that or Herc didn't want to wash it off ;) Whatever, his face smelled like sweat and makeup. Yummm

*My student didn't actually suggest anything. Almost none of my students came out cept for one awesome girl in the English club. The truth is that I was watching this one dude in my class. He's a Senior this year and I had him last year in my advanced English class. I don't know if he's dating this one girl in the class but he always pairs up with her and sleeps while she does the work. I've never seen him be anything more than quiet, shy and sleepy.

On the first day of class last week, since all the same students from last years Advanced English were in this years Advanced English, I went straight to work! No need for more introductions. I split them into groups and got them started on a project for the Largo students that will be here in a few weeks.

This one student sat around with his girl friend (just friends? I'll never know) and when I told him he needed to be in a bigger group they split up and she went into the all girl group and he went to the all boy group. Hey, I let them choose themselves, that's just the way Japanese teens are.

As the class continued I spotted something odd in the corner of my eye. Is that shy sleepy boy?
Is he playing with the hair of another male classmate? Is he toying with the guys side burns? HE IS!!!!

The guy was totally all over his teammate in the most flirtatious way I have ever seen a straight man flirt!!!! I have no doubt that these boys are straight and strictly friends! But...then again I've been in Japan way too long if I can tell that and he's still being more flirtatious than I have ever been with even my boyfriends!

I was telling Hercules (David) about this and he told me I should try it on him in the play. Ahhhh Dave you lucky duck you (^^)

And that's how I won the award for Shameless Flirt.

The Final Performance

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Genki Sei Nen Kai Tosa-ben musical

It's over now. It's nice to have time again to actually do things like clean and relax.* But I think I'm more sad that it's come to a close. I had a lot of fun getting to know all of the genki-ites.

See, normally, when a group of people get together every weekend for three months and then go touring for the last two weekends, there's usually a lot of drama that ensues. But with out group, we worked so well together that every time we got together we just grew closer and closer as friends. It was an amazing feeling!

And I know I'm not the only who's sad to see it end. Sure it's nice to have time again, but that also means we don't get to see each other as often. Some people came from all the way out in BFE like Nick and David who I got to know but live at least an hour away! I guess I'll just have to get a car soon! (>.<)

* So this whole idea of having more time is a total load of crap. Sure, I don't have genki anymore but....my next free weekend will be in about three weeks. And by that time, who knows what else I'll have planned. Perhaps the great charity race!

But back to genki, at first, we were a bit shaky with our lines but by the final performance we had it down! And we kept adding more and more to each one! Body language, tone of voice and purple panties all helped to built the experience. Maybe I'll tell more specific stories later but for now, I'm concentrating my efforts into getting everyones pictures and posting them on my gallery so you all can check it out.

Enjoy!

From one passionate person to the next

Monday, April 16, 2007

A Shaken Bottle of Coke

Friday, April 13, 2007

Coke as in Soda. We Floridians refer to all Soda Pop as Coke. Just fyi.

So, this is how I'm feeling at the moment and I'm writing this post because I need to vent. I have no other outlets.

I am so excited and so frustrated all at the same time! I'm excited because I have all of this energy to get things done and I can't accomplish anything is no one's around to help me!!

1. I just got the dates of the Largo students that are planning to come to Yamada. It's only a month and a half away! I need to plan lessons, trips, and events! But I can't do this is no one tells me if
a. the dates are ok
b. we have a budget to work with
c. What I am allowed to do and what is forbidden
d. other peoples ideas of how they except things to go and what exactly they expect from me

2. I am looking to take a Japanese language class. I first went to the technical college here in the area and it turns out they don't have any Japanese classes that are at night. Lucky for me I have a 8-4 job and that means, no day classes. The woman talked to me and said that the class might be too easy as well and I might want a harder course or just talk to friends. Yeah well firstly she's highly over estimating my ability and second, friends don't give me tests on vocabulary and kanji. I need tests, essays, speeches. I need a class!

So I was told that the international society in Kochi city gives lessons and they aren't just conversation classes but actually follow a book and are like real classes. Weather they have tests and such is still unknown but at least it's not just a conversation class. After teacher a number of those myself, I have to say, they've got to be the most useless thing unless they are accompanied by a grammar class using the same topics and vocabulary (incidentally, none of the classes that I have taught do this. Am I bitter?)

I emailed KIA (the international society of Kochi) and inquired about my class. When they heard how much schooling I had been through and that I ultimately wanted to pass the Level 2 JLPT they came back and said that they were flattered that I wanted to join the class but it might be too easy for me. *sigh* I fail again and proving just how poorly I speak and read and write Japanese.

Whatever the deal is, their classes start next month and are every Wednesday. Wednesday happens to be the same day as my official English conversation class. I am now hoping to get into the Japanese class not only to improve my Japanese but it also gives me the added bonus of having a legitimate reason for quitting my conversation class! I don't want to reschedule it for another day in the week either. I like the small private lessons that I give on Tuesday because I like those women and they don't force me to write lessons for a mixed level class.

See, the Wednesday conversation class has about 6 people at any given time. All of them are mixed levels. Some are really good, others are not so hot. The problem is, that they don't want to study outside of class, they don't remember what they learned the week before even though I review, they don't want to play games, they don't want to watch movies, and they usually don't like my lessons! They say they want conversation but if I pick a topic on something they understand, they get bored. If I pick something they don't understand, it all goes over their heads and they get irritated. They've been doing this for more than 15 years now. I can't teach them about anything they don't already know! And if they don't already know it, they don't want to learn it!!!

So whatever, I'm so over it. I don't want to teach that class anymore!

I just got an email saying that I got the last seat in the highest level class. I looked at the book and it really is the class I need. But because it's not the second level, the class how now moved from Wednesday night to Thursday. I don't care, I'm still canceling the class.

3. I have a new supervisor. He's....well.... ok, so the new year has begun and things are quite hectic around here. But it's already the 13th and I was promised my schedule last week! I don't have a schedule. Classes fully begin next week and I have no idea if I'm teaching any of them. My supervisor came up to me on Tuesday and asked if I was going to Odochi on Wednesday. I just stared at him and said, I don't know, you're the one who's supposed to tell me this!!! He said he would call. It took him all day to get back to me. How hard is it to call and tell me what they said?! I could have called myself in that amount of time!!!

I then asked him if he could find classes for me at Kokadai (this was before #2 happened) and he said he would. This was Tuesday. I finally got around to doing it myself on Thursday. Thanks buddy!

So now, I'm sitting at my desk doing nothing like I've been doing for the past three weeks and I still have yet to write a single lesson because I don't know who I'll be teaching and with which JTE!!!!

GAH! I need my PLANS!!!!


4. I just got my international drivers license in the mail. WHOO HOOO!!!! Originally, when I applied for it, I figured that I would try driving someone else's car and just kind of have the license for peace of mind. But after applying, my mind started working and between the time of sending in my application and getting it 2 weeks later, I am so buying a car!

The frustration comes in that I want to buy the car now, start driving now, figure out the rules of the road now, enjoy myself NOW! But I can't do that if no one replies to my emails about questions and cars. Taking the test is going to be really difficult and I'm really not looking forward to it. I've also decided that I'll take the test right before I leave to go to America. This is a problem because
1. every time I take the test I have to take one vacation day off of work. People are known to take the test more than 8 times, it's so difficult. If I take the test before I go to America, I might not have enough days left to actually go!
2. If I make plans to take the test before I go to America and fail and then leave for America, by the time I get back, my license won't be valid and then I'll really be screwed because I won't be able to drive to the DMV and I'll either have to get a ride with someone else or....walk....a really long way.

So with that said, I'm inwardly freaking out that I need to care of this ASAP but...in all honesty I have about three months and I need to just relax. It's just that everything is accumulating and I think I'm going to explode!!!

~~~~

And those are my issues right now. I want to accomplish everything and I can do absolutely nothing. I might just start running laps here in the teachers room just to let off this unused energy! That'll get peoples attention!

Birthday #23

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

So, I knew that people wouldn''t RSVP for our (three ppl total) birthday party but I didn't want to say that they had to because if I did,then the people who didn't RSVP would think they couldn't come. So in the end, about 23 people told us that they could come and so I was expecting about 30 people.

The party started at 7 and when I got there, there were only about 6 or 7 people. We all sat down and started to enjoy ourselves. As I have mentioned before, everyone here runs on gaijin time so I didn't do a head count until 7:45ish. They set aside about 50 seats for everyone and I was a little afraid that we wouldn't fill them but hey, better too many than too few. But in the end about 60ish people showed up all together. At the very least 10 people had to find seats away from our section. It was crazy!!!!

And though many of you may know this already, I myself am only learning it now. I get such a huge buzz off of large groups of friends. In fact, I could have had only juice and water and I would still have been acting more drunk from the atmosphere alone! Who needs alcohol when you have friends? 60 of them no less!!!

Afterwards, about 30 or so of us went out to Karaoke. And that was a site to see. Not everyone got there at the same time despite leaving at the same time but as gaijin go, we like to meander and talk while we walk so lots of dawdling took place. Once everyone did finally show up, we ended up with the biggest room in the place!

The gaijin looked like oil and the Japanese were our water. All the gaijin stuck to the center of the room where we pushed the seats out of the way and proceeded to dance and sing to every song that came up. The Japanese on the other hand stuck to the sides of the room and sang solos or made pleasant conversation about hobbies. We got a few Japanese friends into the center but for the most part, it was them watching us make fools of ourselves. It was the best time EVER! I almost lost my voice too. Good times!

However, when the karaoke came to an end, we had a nice little dilemma with the payment. Ultimately, with everyone paying $14 each for 2 hours plus their drinks...the whole thing came out to about $800. After collecting from everyone we were still $300 short. To make a long story short, there were some cheap skates, miscommunications, anger, indifference and finally we came to $800 and left never to return again.

The thing is though that this happens every time a big group of people get together to do karaoke. My Japanese friends were like, why didn't you just collect the money before you went in......duh

Well, knowing is half the battle.

Cherry Blossoms

Sunday, April 8, 2007

It is absolutely amazing how much dust I find in my snot on a regular basis. It's good to know that my nose is working properly but damn!!!

Maybe it's because this country is a giant concrete jungle....


Anyway, the cherry blossoms are in bloom!!! And that means that the trees on my street that look dead every day of the year except for three weeks are now covered in tufts of pink petals!! It's absolutely beautiful. I'll post more of my pics on my gallery...assuming I can get the link up and running.

The Genki Musical Production will finally commence next week. Today was out last rehearsal day and I've got to say, not only am I horrible at my lines but the costumes are the ugliest things ever!!!

See, I play two roles in the play. I am a towns person which puts me in my own yukatta which is gorgeous but a bit difficult to dance in, as I'm sure any yukatta is. And the second role is a kitsune. Aka muse, aka fox. We are supposed to be the sexiest things to walk the earth and our dance is quite hot as well! But how sexy can you really be in salmon pink long johns!?!?!?!?

I'll post pics when I get 'em.

Mixi and Hot Kisses

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Before I begin, I have to mention a few things I forgot about Tokyo. I bought a pink Nintendo DS and I don't know what I was thinking!! I have no time to play it! Also, we saw some para para dancers on the street in Shinjuku. Hate to say it, but it was right out of an ANIME!!!

(In case you don't know what Para Para is, it's a dance style where "cool" looking people stand in a formation, keep their feet on the ground, bounce a bit, and and move their hands all over the place....it's actually a really crappy style of dancing but the dancers take it really seriously)

OK

So, I've started reading a book called 電車男 aka Train man. I didn't realize it but a few years ago a couple of my otaku friends were talking about a forum online called 4chan and it turns out that 4chan is the English version of 2chan which is/was the most popular chatting forum in Japan. Well, there was a budding love story posted on it and someone decided to take the entire conversation, spanning over the course of a few months, and turn it into a book. I am now currently reading that book. It became so popular in Japan that not only did they translate it into an Australian/American ghetto slang style English, but they also made a tv series, movie, three manga, and companion guides to the book! I plan to see the movie or series when I finish the book. It's actually really cute.

So anyway, after going to Tokyo and after starting reading Train man, I decided that I too could chat online with the many interesting geeks of Japan! So I got on Mixi which is the Japanese equivalent of MySpace and decided that I would try and write a journal entry in Japanese at least once a day no matter how small. Three days later and I'm still going strong!!! But my Japanese is really crap. I know this will definitely help!

Which brings us to today's Mixi post. I had to get Erinn's help to translate this one but I wrote it nonetheless!

Hot Kiss

今日やさし男の先生が私の机の前にきました。彼はいつもわたしと英語ではなします。でもかれの英語はちょっとへんです。

先生：ニーナ先生,Hot kiss...can you...give me?
私: んん？
先生：Hot kiss, give me?
私：何?！
先生：Hot kiss, hot kiss ちょうだい？
私：？？？！？！
先生：この前！覚えてる？ニーナのHot kiss!
私：... ... ...　あっ！ほちきす！はい、どぞ！


とってもびっくりしました！
ほんとのしつもんしていましたか？ハハハ！

Translation:

Hot Kiss

Today, a very nice male teacher came up to my desk. He always speaks to me in English. But, his English is a little strange.

teacher: Nina-sensei, Hot kiss...can you...give me?
me: huh?
teacher: Hot kiss, give me?
me: Say what?!
teacher: Hot kiss, hot kiss, give me please!
me: ????!?!
teacher: From before! Don't you remember? Your hot kiss!
me:... ... ... OH! My stapler! Sure, here!

I was so surprised!
Was that really his questions? hahaha!

End

So yeah, in Japanese, stapler is hachikisu which sounds like hot kiss. I almost died laughing! I certainly won't forget that word either!

As a side note though, surprisingly, it comes off very rude when you directly translate the Japanese "give me" into English.

See, in Japanese, it's ok to use the word "give me" instead of lend me. Even when I hear it in Japanese I feel like the person is being a bit bold to be like, Nina give me your pencil, instead of Nina, please lend me your pencil. The meaning is the same in Japanese but they always say it really rudely in English. I've learned that their not being bossy or pushy or anything, it's just what they were taught. Just thought I would mention that tid bit :)

Tokyo is full of perverts

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

So, I went to Tokyo this past week.....hmmmm what to say, what to say....

This time around, as I have mentioned before, I didn't have someone showing me everything. This time, I chose what where I wanted to go. And this time, I chose to find the Tokyo that everyone always talks about. The Tokyo that never sleeps, that is full of every pleasure you could imagine of massage parlors, maid cafes, goth lollies and cosplay.

Welp, I found it.

In fact, I found it so easily, I wonder how I ever missed it before!!!

I went to Akihabara where there were more electronics than I could ever use in a lifetime plus more Otakus than I could count and the real deal maid parlors!! I went to Harajuku where I found fantastically cheap clothes. Ginza where the ritzy people go to spend their money. Shinjuku where I found all of the goths and cosplayers and finally Shibuya where all the massage parlors and strip clubs are.

For the last one though, we didn't make it there until 10am on the last day we were in town so....needless to say, there were no pimps wandering the streets ;)

I met up with my mother's friend's friend's son who is working on the Navy base just outside of Tokyo. What? Our families have so much drama between them we're practically siblings!!! I then took him out with a few of my Tokyo friends and I was pleasantly surprised to see how much my Japanese has improved :)

But as for the title....well, if you're squeamish...just slightly, don't read the next part. It's not so bad but...just be warned.

So I found a couple of things that I found quiiiiiite interesting.

1. Vibrators with the cutest prints on them such as hearts, penises and even the American flag!!!
2. Lots and LOTS of bondage porn.
3. Little girl blow up dolls (as in the sexual kind)
4. Porn on the train. You just have to be able to read it a little bit.
5. Porn in the news paper, don't need to read it to know those are scantly clad girls.
6. Ya know those duck lips at the OBGYN? Yeah, I found those as a sex toy.
7. I found the panties vending machine.

Maybe some of you don't understand that last bit completely. Urban myths are usually just that, a myth. Well, a well known urban myth in Japan is that they have vending machines for absolutely everything you could imagine and that includes girls panties. Welp, after much debate over the truth of the myth or not, I happened to find it. I rule!

In the end, my feet were killing me and I wanted to go home! But it was a little depressing to go from the epicenter of the world to my little hole in the wall in the countryside.

One thing though, in Tokyo, I don't stand out. I'm not special anymore. I'm just another person. I mean, Tokyo is just like New York and Chicago just with a Japanese flair to it. I was a little sad to know my status as cool gaijin was gone but as soon as I got home, without more than 24 hours under my belt, I was already being ogled and smiled at for no other reason than the way that I look.

Yup, it's good to be home :)

I'm so tired, I might as well have jet lag!

Sunday, April 1, 2007

This says "don't sit" and my face says "fu"