Firstly, I don't think I would be a Kiwi without a nod to the toe-clenching World Cup final. Looks like Auckland is a pretty exciting place to be tonight!! Wish we could be there!
However, for those suprised that I watched a rugby game (two actually, because I watched the NZ vs Aus one last week), I have decided to try to stay off facebook for a couple of days so I don't feel too bombarded by rugbyness. It must be so crazy in NZ!
I thought of another couple of examples of Japanese randomness, or rather the randomness of living in Japan when you're not Japanese:
* There is a road I drive home via on Tuesdays. It's so narrow that for much of the way my tiny little Dihatsu Mira can't pass similarly sized cars and someone is required to back up a bit. It used to scare the shit out of me, but I've worked out that by driving really slowly, I can compensate for those drivers who come racing round the corner too fast to stop if I was close or moving at a similar speed. By driving like a nana, I have reduced my heart-palpitating moments to only around twice each time I do the road (for anyone who thinks this is clearly an indication that I am a nervous driver, unused to anything but main roads, you clearly haven't driven my parents driveway). However, I was blown away last time I drove it to find I was travelling behind a bus. Here I am, in my suitcase-sized car, squashing to the side every time another car comes and there is bus taking the same road! I was curious to watch how that was going to work, but the bus pulled into the first passing bay and waved me on by. I was disappointed to lose my bus-sized driving shield!
* I think I mentioned last entry how sick I get of being asked if I have kids and if not, when? This time students were so concerned I was misunderstanding the message that they put a basketball up their shirt so I could NOT miss that they were asking me about any impending pregnancies. At first I was alarmed, thinking they were suggesting I looked pregnant now (I get very, very self-concious round the stick insects that call themselves Japanese women!), but I'm fairly sure they just meant when would I have a baby. I told them I was too young for kids and maybe when I was older. As 16 yr olds, they were understandably confused by the ANCIENT teacher saying she was too young for kids, especially as I'm getting old for reproduction by Japanese standards, but they didn't have the English to push the issue any further!
Ah... good times living in a most foreign of foreign cultures. Speaking of which... on Tuesday we have English club again with the oldies who got me so rilled up about whaling last time we met. I'm a little nervous about it. I don't regret standing up for what I believe in, but I always feel a little foolish after getting so worked up about something.
In other news... at 3:30 today we got a surprise Skype from Harry. It was about 2:30am her time (eg. North Carolina time) and she had just got in from clubbing. She gave us the laptop tour of her bedroom (super nice furniture!), bathroom and adjoining lounge/kitchen area. It all looks great - she should have a really good year. We chatted for about an hour, talking about her new job compared to my au pairing experience (I'm trying to learnt about hers so I stop imagining her in my old job!), food strategies (attempts to NOT gain the traditional 10kg in America...) and her social life (she is lucky, as the old au pair is round for a few weeks to show her the ropes and introduce her to people). Although I've had one sad email from her, for the most part it seems like she will have an easy transition and I think she is coping with everything much better than I did. Or maybe it's just that looking back nine years later, it's the hard bits and sad times that I remember. Not that I didn't enjoy the job - I know I did - but I recollect crying LOTS that year. On the plane to America, my first phone call home, when I flew back from hanging out with Kate and Mum in Kentucky, when I saw a driver in CT who looked like Kate, every time Hallelujah played on the Shrek CD...
Of course, my recollection of my first summer in Japan involves a fair amount of tears, too. I probably wasn't as bad as I remember (I hope, Jeff...?? Tell me I wasn't TOO bad...??), but I had bad culture shock and really struggled to adjusting to having no control over my life. No language, no bank account, no job and no f*$king air conditioning! That was a really hard summer!
Now life is much, much easier. I've learnt that sign language is international, I have a bank account for 'Dorepa Shyaroto', I love my job and my town apartment has air con! That's not to say life doesn't hit you with a big slap of Difficult fairly regularly, but we are getting much better at going with the flow here. We now know there is no doctor-patient confidentiality code, so we should see medical professionals in other towns for anything embaressing, we have a special rubbish bag that we dump at the convenience store which has everything we can't work out which rubbish collection it belongs in and we have got into the habit of getting out cash on Fridays because the ATMs close for the weekend. We are getting good at this Japan thing!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Random times in Japan...
Hehe, I keep giggling over the facebook post of one of the other ALTs. She came over with her girlfriend and they are both working through JET, so the locals don't necessarily know they are anything more than friends. She said they went to dinner with a bunch of old ladies and they were thoroughly quizzed on whether they had boyfriends and what type of blokes they liked. I keep laughing over the awkwardness of that conversation. Next time I feel sorry for myself getting the 'do you have children/why not/when' questions, I'm going to be grateful I'm not them!!
Yeah... I've had a few random situations lately. Driving to work yesterday, in stop-go rush hour traffic, the bloke behind me made the most of the opportunity to do a full personal grooming session. Including trimming his nose hairs with scissors. He had to hit the brakes quite hard at one point because he hadn't noticed I had stopped again. Slamming on the brakes when you have scissors up your nostrils doesn't seem the safest...
I had finally got used to all the girls (well, mainly the girls!) pulling out their brushes and mirrors to brush their hair during class when I got a new one. Making the most of the minute before the bell rang, a girl sitting against the wall had her hair straightener plugged in and was attacking her roadkill-flat hair. Is it just me or is that really odd??
I thoroughly surpised a teacher during a food lesson when I assured him that we don't eat salad for breakfast in Western/English-speaking countries. Not even in America. He was so taken aback - I'm not sure he really believed me!
I have also noticed students struggling with asking what is meant to be 'do you have a boyfriend?' Here 'boyfriend' has different connotations, so I am regularly asked 'do you have a... a... darling? A... a lover?' I'm getting better at not cringing when 16 yr olds ask me if I have a lover, but a 'darling' just makes me think of Peter Pan.
Having said that, however they ask it's great they are trying out their English on me - lots of students now know the word 'husband'! Most of my informal chats with students lately have happened while I attempt to infiltrate their sports clubs :D On Monday I had my first Kendo lesson - I was handed a bamboo sword, was made to hit a student over the head and was asked 'is it fun?' Actually I felt really mean - I wasn't wearing any protective clothing so they couldn't retaliate in any way. It was entirely one-sided abuse! One of the boys was busting a gut trying to translate things for me and I was really impressed. Then, today (Thursday) I recognised him in one of my classes. In class he is really quiet, so I had no impression of him, good or otherwise. Most of the students spend class time pretending they know nothing, but when they need to use it, eg. when trying to instruct Kendo in English, suddenly they have a great vocab!
The other group I have accidentally joined is a gym session with what turns out to be the girls basketball team on Fridays. That was random - I just happened to be using the weights room when they came in and got excited to see me there. They asked me to join them, so I promised to be there the next week. It's good, similar to a hockey fitness session with different stations and group ass-kicking moves... in fact they're only missing a Sandra!
Now I'm working on organising one other sport to fit in... probably tennis or volleyball. Tennis would be good - I figure I make an ass of myself all the time in Japan, so it's a good chance to learn tennis without having anyone call my sports ability retarded. Not in a language I understand, anyway! However, if that turns out to be too hard (the 'soft tennis' coach said they are training for a competition atm and the 'hard tennis' (what we know as tennis) coach keeps changing her mind about what day I can join in. I think she wants to roll out the red carpet and really look after me, even though I find the kids look after me perfectly well and I feel guilty making a teacher try to look after the girl with little Japanese and less tennis ability!)... Anyway, if it turns out to be too hard, I'm just going to join the volleyball team. The teacher in charge is the lovely Nakamura-sensei; young, enthusiastic and with really good English!
So... long story short... I'm finally getting my shit together and sorting out my Life. In that strange way that motivating yourself in one area often flows into others, shortly after I started making time for exercising, I also started studying Japanese again. Not a lot - I need to make that clear - but a little every few days. In fact - don't laugh - around that time I also started straightening my hair, too. All summer it's been fluffy pony tails, but now the weather has cooled down, I always 'mean to' get up early and straighten it. Of course, no telling how long this will last for, but at the moment I'm enjoying looking in the mirror and getting a fright when I see smooth, glossy, straight hair. It's never what I expect! Now, the remaining question is... when will my new-found willpower extend to not eating junk food? That's what I want to know!
Yeah... I've had a few random situations lately. Driving to work yesterday, in stop-go rush hour traffic, the bloke behind me made the most of the opportunity to do a full personal grooming session. Including trimming his nose hairs with scissors. He had to hit the brakes quite hard at one point because he hadn't noticed I had stopped again. Slamming on the brakes when you have scissors up your nostrils doesn't seem the safest...
I had finally got used to all the girls (well, mainly the girls!) pulling out their brushes and mirrors to brush their hair during class when I got a new one. Making the most of the minute before the bell rang, a girl sitting against the wall had her hair straightener plugged in and was attacking her roadkill-flat hair. Is it just me or is that really odd??
I thoroughly surpised a teacher during a food lesson when I assured him that we don't eat salad for breakfast in Western/English-speaking countries. Not even in America. He was so taken aback - I'm not sure he really believed me!
I have also noticed students struggling with asking what is meant to be 'do you have a boyfriend?' Here 'boyfriend' has different connotations, so I am regularly asked 'do you have a... a... darling? A... a lover?' I'm getting better at not cringing when 16 yr olds ask me if I have a lover, but a 'darling' just makes me think of Peter Pan.
Having said that, however they ask it's great they are trying out their English on me - lots of students now know the word 'husband'! Most of my informal chats with students lately have happened while I attempt to infiltrate their sports clubs :D On Monday I had my first Kendo lesson - I was handed a bamboo sword, was made to hit a student over the head and was asked 'is it fun?' Actually I felt really mean - I wasn't wearing any protective clothing so they couldn't retaliate in any way. It was entirely one-sided abuse! One of the boys was busting a gut trying to translate things for me and I was really impressed. Then, today (Thursday) I recognised him in one of my classes. In class he is really quiet, so I had no impression of him, good or otherwise. Most of the students spend class time pretending they know nothing, but when they need to use it, eg. when trying to instruct Kendo in English, suddenly they have a great vocab!
The other group I have accidentally joined is a gym session with what turns out to be the girls basketball team on Fridays. That was random - I just happened to be using the weights room when they came in and got excited to see me there. They asked me to join them, so I promised to be there the next week. It's good, similar to a hockey fitness session with different stations and group ass-kicking moves... in fact they're only missing a Sandra!
Now I'm working on organising one other sport to fit in... probably tennis or volleyball. Tennis would be good - I figure I make an ass of myself all the time in Japan, so it's a good chance to learn tennis without having anyone call my sports ability retarded. Not in a language I understand, anyway! However, if that turns out to be too hard (the 'soft tennis' coach said they are training for a competition atm and the 'hard tennis' (what we know as tennis) coach keeps changing her mind about what day I can join in. I think she wants to roll out the red carpet and really look after me, even though I find the kids look after me perfectly well and I feel guilty making a teacher try to look after the girl with little Japanese and less tennis ability!)... Anyway, if it turns out to be too hard, I'm just going to join the volleyball team. The teacher in charge is the lovely Nakamura-sensei; young, enthusiastic and with really good English!
So... long story short... I'm finally getting my shit together and sorting out my Life. In that strange way that motivating yourself in one area often flows into others, shortly after I started making time for exercising, I also started studying Japanese again. Not a lot - I need to make that clear - but a little every few days. In fact - don't laugh - around that time I also started straightening my hair, too. All summer it's been fluffy pony tails, but now the weather has cooled down, I always 'mean to' get up early and straighten it. Of course, no telling how long this will last for, but at the moment I'm enjoying looking in the mirror and getting a fright when I see smooth, glossy, straight hair. It's never what I expect! Now, the remaining question is... when will my new-found willpower extend to not eating junk food? That's what I want to know!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Snow White and the ten dwarves
Well, as you can see by the title of today's post, we watched a Japanese production of Snow White in the weekend. Our 'local' (half an hour away - as local as it gets out here) friend Emma was playing the part of the Queen when she is dressed as a witch, off to kill SnowWhite (in an effort to include everyone who auditioned, they had two entirely different casts and most of the leads were played by two different people!). The first half was odd, as we tried to follow along with the three mirrors, weight-lifting queen and ten dwarves, but we were thoroughly rewarded by Emma doing an awesome turn as the witch. Apparently she had spent hours and hours getting her Japanese lines down and it showed. The only one to rival her for stage charisma was the totally off time but enthusiastic smallest dwarf. Go Emma!
In other news... we bought a camera! Yay! Very exciting! It's an 'entry level' Nikon SLR that came with two different lenses and a Mickey Mouse camera bag. And... being Japan... we also got 'service' - eg. freebies. In this case, two Adidas bags and two dinner plates, one of which is also Mickey themed. Foolish Jeff looked SURPRISED at receiving free dinner plates with his camera. Myself, I laughed at his naivety. Over a year living in Japan and he still expected the freebies would be relevant???
Now we are super excited for November - Jeff's mate Steve will visit from NZ and we will go to Kyoto. Autumn in Kyoto... is there a better time to have a new camera? I think not!
Actually, talking about people visiting, when I called home in the weekend (to wish Harry a good flight as she embarks for America!), Mum said, "What's this I hear that you may not be staying in Japan a third year? We are planning to come visit you again so you can't leave!" I was all, "What...??" First off, who told my Mum we had made any decisions?? Those don't come until February (Feb 10th to be exact, when we have to resign by)! Second, a second visit?? This is unheard of! (hmm... please don't hold the excessive punctuation in this paragraph against me!) She has already spent a month here and she is, apparently, serious about returning. I was so surprised. I knew my parents loved it here, but I assumed it was because they don't get out much and they were just enjoying not being in NZ. I didn't realise that it was Japan in particular that they were so crazy about.
So far we have already had Kate, Geoff & Sandra and my parents visit. Now we have Steve coming next month and it sounds like my parents will return! They never visited this much when I lived in Hamilton... But in all seriousness... if there was an award for the JETs doing the most for Japanese tourism, I think we would have it in the bag. Now I'm waiting on Megan, Yi-leen, Heather, Rikki, Chris & Gemma, Hannah, Sam and anyone else who expressed an interest in Japan/likes to travel to visit us! I'm still working on Laura, too - I think Mum and Dad should fund her a trip here (as of the end of the week she will be the only chick still in the Draper nest!). The only problem is trying to get her to fit Japan into her schedule :S
Hope everyone is doing well,
Charly
In other news... we bought a camera! Yay! Very exciting! It's an 'entry level' Nikon SLR that came with two different lenses and a Mickey Mouse camera bag. And... being Japan... we also got 'service' - eg. freebies. In this case, two Adidas bags and two dinner plates, one of which is also Mickey themed. Foolish Jeff looked SURPRISED at receiving free dinner plates with his camera. Myself, I laughed at his naivety. Over a year living in Japan and he still expected the freebies would be relevant???
Now we are super excited for November - Jeff's mate Steve will visit from NZ and we will go to Kyoto. Autumn in Kyoto... is there a better time to have a new camera? I think not!
Actually, talking about people visiting, when I called home in the weekend (to wish Harry a good flight as she embarks for America!), Mum said, "What's this I hear that you may not be staying in Japan a third year? We are planning to come visit you again so you can't leave!" I was all, "What...??" First off, who told my Mum we had made any decisions?? Those don't come until February (Feb 10th to be exact, when we have to resign by)! Second, a second visit?? This is unheard of! (hmm... please don't hold the excessive punctuation in this paragraph against me!) She has already spent a month here and she is, apparently, serious about returning. I was so surprised. I knew my parents loved it here, but I assumed it was because they don't get out much and they were just enjoying not being in NZ. I didn't realise that it was Japan in particular that they were so crazy about.
So far we have already had Kate, Geoff & Sandra and my parents visit. Now we have Steve coming next month and it sounds like my parents will return! They never visited this much when I lived in Hamilton... But in all seriousness... if there was an award for the JETs doing the most for Japanese tourism, I think we would have it in the bag. Now I'm waiting on Megan, Yi-leen, Heather, Rikki, Chris & Gemma, Hannah, Sam and anyone else who expressed an interest in Japan/likes to travel to visit us! I'm still working on Laura, too - I think Mum and Dad should fund her a trip here (as of the end of the week she will be the only chick still in the Draper nest!). The only problem is trying to get her to fit Japan into her schedule :S
Hope everyone is doing well,
Charly
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Friday
Hey there,
Wow... Jeff and I have been keeping up with the Rena disaster online. It sounds really dreadful :( Wish I could fly home and help!!
Here things are pretty quiet. We are trying to have a 'savings month' so we have a bit of spare cash when Steve (Jeff's uni buddy) comes to visit in November. We are planning to do a weekend in Kyoto, so that will be awesome. We have been looking forward to Kyoto since we arrived last year!
This weekend we have a busy schedule of online rugby games and... er... watching the children's play Snow White performed in Japanese. Our friend plays the evil witch, so we are heading along to watch. Should be amusing!
What else? Oh, we have bought our flights to Singapore and Malaysia for our holiday over New Year's. We are really excited - 11 nights spent bumping around Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang (where Yi-leen's parents are gonna show us the sights!). We are also starting to research our flights home to NZ, having given up on getting a Japanese credit card and therefore no longer waiting on that process.
On Wednesday I was asked to help out with a second year English class, as they had requested me (I don't teach the second years, not sure why...). I did an NZ quiz with them and in one of the question answers I taught them 'kia ora'. Then yesterday, when I was stepping out of my office, a boy gave me a big grin, a wave and a 'kia ora!' I was so stoked! We will have them ready to visit NZ in no time!!
Keep me updated...
Charly
P.S. Harry leaves for America on Monday the 17th and Kate flies out on the 20th! I'm not even home and it freaks me out that everyone is finally leaving! In other travel news, Jeff's parents are on an amazing two week ticki/ticky tour around Europe and Canada (cos those two always go together..) and I'm SUPER jealous! Bring on Malaysia!
Wow... Jeff and I have been keeping up with the Rena disaster online. It sounds really dreadful :( Wish I could fly home and help!!
Here things are pretty quiet. We are trying to have a 'savings month' so we have a bit of spare cash when Steve (Jeff's uni buddy) comes to visit in November. We are planning to do a weekend in Kyoto, so that will be awesome. We have been looking forward to Kyoto since we arrived last year!
This weekend we have a busy schedule of online rugby games and... er... watching the children's play Snow White performed in Japanese. Our friend plays the evil witch, so we are heading along to watch. Should be amusing!
What else? Oh, we have bought our flights to Singapore and Malaysia for our holiday over New Year's. We are really excited - 11 nights spent bumping around Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang (where Yi-leen's parents are gonna show us the sights!). We are also starting to research our flights home to NZ, having given up on getting a Japanese credit card and therefore no longer waiting on that process.
On Wednesday I was asked to help out with a second year English class, as they had requested me (I don't teach the second years, not sure why...). I did an NZ quiz with them and in one of the question answers I taught them 'kia ora'. Then yesterday, when I was stepping out of my office, a boy gave me a big grin, a wave and a 'kia ora!' I was so stoked! We will have them ready to visit NZ in no time!!
Keep me updated...
Charly
P.S. Harry leaves for America on Monday the 17th and Kate flies out on the 20th! I'm not even home and it freaks me out that everyone is finally leaving! In other travel news, Jeff's parents are on an amazing two week ticki/ticky tour around Europe and Canada (cos those two always go together..) and I'm SUPER jealous! Bring on Malaysia!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thoughts on travel
Today I've been pondering the million dollar question... why do I love travel?
The thing is, whenever I live overseas I miss NZ. I miss it so badly and have such fond, rose-tinted memories of home that it's a wonder I ever leave again. But, when I get back and settle in, it just seems boring and I want to leave again. It's like... NZ is utopia (for me, anyway. I know not everyone is in my educated, financially secure position. I'm not forgetting how hard life is for many NZ families). But perfect and easy get boring.
So I come overseas. I put myself in these mentally and emotionally challenging circumstances... and then feel sorry for myself when I get homesick. I guess it's a little like post-workout sore muscles. They are painful, but they remind you of what you've achieved and you wouldn't actually wish yourself back to how you were yesterday.
Because Jeff is doing his second year in his (fairly undemanding) job, he is feeling rather like moving on. But I am only just starting my (much more busy) job, so had been talking about how much easier it would be doing this for a second year (lesson plans already done etc!). These discussions got me homesick and got me to thinking about all that we were missing in NZ. However, I just realised something... all the things that make me homesick when I think about them are (with the exception of Trudi's photos of Mission Bay on a lovely sunny day) to do with convenience. It's the ease of replacing clothes, asking for directions and reading the fine print at the bank that I miss.
And then... when I look on facebook and experience photo-envy, it's always from travel pictures. Again, with the exception of Trudi's pics, it's everyone's travel photos that get me really jealous and wanting to plan to get there asap. So... why am I even bothering to indulge in missing NZ when all I REALLY want is to see the other 179 countries in the world? (Man... that's a lot. It's going to keep me busy!)
Hope things are going well for you all - wherever in the world you call home!
The thing is, whenever I live overseas I miss NZ. I miss it so badly and have such fond, rose-tinted memories of home that it's a wonder I ever leave again. But, when I get back and settle in, it just seems boring and I want to leave again. It's like... NZ is utopia (for me, anyway. I know not everyone is in my educated, financially secure position. I'm not forgetting how hard life is for many NZ families). But perfect and easy get boring.
So I come overseas. I put myself in these mentally and emotionally challenging circumstances... and then feel sorry for myself when I get homesick. I guess it's a little like post-workout sore muscles. They are painful, but they remind you of what you've achieved and you wouldn't actually wish yourself back to how you were yesterday.
Because Jeff is doing his second year in his (fairly undemanding) job, he is feeling rather like moving on. But I am only just starting my (much more busy) job, so had been talking about how much easier it would be doing this for a second year (lesson plans already done etc!). These discussions got me homesick and got me to thinking about all that we were missing in NZ. However, I just realised something... all the things that make me homesick when I think about them are (with the exception of Trudi's photos of Mission Bay on a lovely sunny day) to do with convenience. It's the ease of replacing clothes, asking for directions and reading the fine print at the bank that I miss.
And then... when I look on facebook and experience photo-envy, it's always from travel pictures. Again, with the exception of Trudi's pics, it's everyone's travel photos that get me really jealous and wanting to plan to get there asap. So... why am I even bothering to indulge in missing NZ when all I REALLY want is to see the other 179 countries in the world? (Man... that's a lot. It's going to keep me busy!)
Hope things are going well for you all - wherever in the world you call home!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Cheese sensei
It is now exams week. Which sounds like a big deal, but for me it's really not. For me it just means no classes until Friday. Luckily I worked at the Tode High School Open Day on Saturday, so I get tomorrow off work instead. That leaves me with only three days of sitting at my desk doing nothing. Of course, when I say doing nothing, I SHOULD be planning lessons and studying Japanese, but I'll probably be on facebook and having big email conversations with my sister, who works just as hard as me ;)
It's exciting times for my sisters atm. Kate is leaving the country around the 17th of October, heading off for a big holiday in America and South America. Harry is leaving on the 17th to spend a year as an au pair in America (aww... taking after her big sis!!). Beth is (according to my inside source, eg. Kate) looking at leaving the country with Kate in March 2012 to work in Europe somewhere (probably London, of course). Kate has promised me that she will try to stay in NZ long enough for me to see her when I come home for Holly's wedding and hopefully Beth will be round too. Would be strange visiting 'the family' in NZ and having only the parents and Laura at home! Not much of a family visit.
In a change of topic, I was talking to one of the English teachers this morning as we walked to the morning meeting. Well, I walked, she limped. She explained to me that over the weekend she had joined a march from Onomichi on Honshu island (just round the corner), over the Shimanami bridges, to Shikoku island, a distance of 80km. Participants are given three days to do it, but she couldn't take the Friday off work (a Japanese person take time off? Not done!!), so her, her sister and her father covered the 80km in two days. Hence she is limping today.
Of course, as soon as I heard about this, a plan began forming. I may have promised my husband, my father and my feet that I will never do the Oxfam Trailwalker again, but I never promised not to walk 80km of bridges in a weekend! Hah! So if we stick around for a third year, then on this day in a year's time you'll be hearing all about it!
Man, my stomach is so rumbly today! I know that's nothing new for me, but it's EXTRA rumbly this morning. I got to work at 8am and it was already growling. I had a macha latte but that only shut it up for an hour or so and now I'm rumbling again. Luckily the teacher next to me hasn't noticed yet. At least I'm not teaching - it's super awkward when the students laugh at my rumbly tummy!
Speaking of students and food, just call me Cheese sensei - the students do! It's a Tode High thing, just my last class of the day. The teacher asked me in front of the class what I had done in the weekend. The real answer was pretty much nothing, but I needed to give them something, so I said I went shopping at the Fuji Grand mall (making it sound like a day out rather than a mission to get something to put in the fridge). The teacher asked what I had bought and, feeling slightly foolish, I told him 'cheese'. This was not the answer the students expected and the name has stuck. Cheese-sensei it is, then!
It's exciting times for my sisters atm. Kate is leaving the country around the 17th of October, heading off for a big holiday in America and South America. Harry is leaving on the 17th to spend a year as an au pair in America (aww... taking after her big sis!!). Beth is (according to my inside source, eg. Kate) looking at leaving the country with Kate in March 2012 to work in Europe somewhere (probably London, of course). Kate has promised me that she will try to stay in NZ long enough for me to see her when I come home for Holly's wedding and hopefully Beth will be round too. Would be strange visiting 'the family' in NZ and having only the parents and Laura at home! Not much of a family visit.
In a change of topic, I was talking to one of the English teachers this morning as we walked to the morning meeting. Well, I walked, she limped. She explained to me that over the weekend she had joined a march from Onomichi on Honshu island (just round the corner), over the Shimanami bridges, to Shikoku island, a distance of 80km. Participants are given three days to do it, but she couldn't take the Friday off work (a Japanese person take time off? Not done!!), so her, her sister and her father covered the 80km in two days. Hence she is limping today.
Of course, as soon as I heard about this, a plan began forming. I may have promised my husband, my father and my feet that I will never do the Oxfam Trailwalker again, but I never promised not to walk 80km of bridges in a weekend! Hah! So if we stick around for a third year, then on this day in a year's time you'll be hearing all about it!
Man, my stomach is so rumbly today! I know that's nothing new for me, but it's EXTRA rumbly this morning. I got to work at 8am and it was already growling. I had a macha latte but that only shut it up for an hour or so and now I'm rumbling again. Luckily the teacher next to me hasn't noticed yet. At least I'm not teaching - it's super awkward when the students laugh at my rumbly tummy!
Speaking of students and food, just call me Cheese sensei - the students do! It's a Tode High thing, just my last class of the day. The teacher asked me in front of the class what I had done in the weekend. The real answer was pretty much nothing, but I needed to give them something, so I said I went shopping at the Fuji Grand mall (making it sound like a day out rather than a mission to get something to put in the fridge). The teacher asked what I had bought and, feeling slightly foolish, I told him 'cheese'. This was not the answer the students expected and the name has stuck. Cheese-sensei it is, then!
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