child devil of tuna

I had my first meeting with the English teachers from my schools. I wasn't too terribly nervous about teaching at first, since it seemed it was such a long way away. It's not such a long way away anymore. I will go into class on Monday, September 1 to participate in my first school's opening ceremony where I will have to give a little speech to the entire student body and staff. That won't be so bad. No one there will speak English well enough so that I have to be afraid of making little mistakes here and there. What really scares me is classroom teaching. I will have to give a self-introduction to each class. I'm supposed to make a poster with pictures of myself, my hometown, landmarks near where I live, etc etc... and talk for 15-20 minutes about all that good stuff. And I got off lucky. Some of my other coworkers have to talk for 30 minutes or for the entire class period, which is 50 minutes. Now that the hard part of the JET program is finally upon me, I'm getting pretty nervous. Wish me luck everyone!

And since I will no longer be coming into the office and will start going to my schools, I think that my internet usage my be cut off until I can get DSL in my apartment. Maybe I'll go try out those internet cafe thingies that I keep hearing about...

posted by Grace @ 8/27/2003 12:03:00 AM 0 comments

And so begins another week of (no) work. However, this week promises to actually be exciting! On Wednesday, we all finally get to meet the teachers we will be working with and on Thursday and Friday, we will be touring our schools. But most exciting of all, I will finally get a keitai (cell phone) this week. Seeing all of the other JETs with their fancy-schmancy phones, I can't help but to suffer intense phone envy. The free phones here beat the pants off of any phone you can buy in the U.S. They all come with built-in digital cameras that can take photos AND videos with sound. They all have color displays. You can check and send email with your phone, including sending the photos you've taken. There's a camera out there that takes 1 megapixel photos. And to put icing on the already decadent cake, I'm going to have to find a fun keitai dangly charm to hang from my new flashy phone.

This past weekend, Ruth and I headed off to Ueno-shi (the home of the ninja) for another JET's birthday party. We had an awesome dinner of yaki-niku (meat kebobs) and in the typical Japanese fashion, we all trekked over to a karaoke bar afterwards. For the first time in my life, I found myself singing BY MYSELF, since no one wanted to sing Tom Jones' "Hooked on a Feeling" with me. It was a really interesting experience. I was really lucky in that "Hooked on a Feeling" is a really short song that is not too difficult to sing. I guess it made it easier that my audience was mostly drunk they probably didn't notice that I can't really sing all that well. We spent the night in Ueno-shi and the next day, we did some fun exploration of the city itself and checked out the festival that was going on. I swear, in Japan, on any given day, there is a festival celebrating SOMEthing. I have no idea what the point of the Ueno-shi's festival was, but it was great fun and I ate fun food until I was ready to die.

Ruth and I went also visited Nagoya on Sunday (and we found out there was a festival going on that evening, too. See? Every single day). We met up with two other JETs. For my female friends out there who love to shop: I WILL TAKE YOU TO NAGOYA if you come visit me! It's only a 20-minutes train ride away! Lots of fun things to see in Nagoya. I'm going to have to go back again sometime really soon!

Lewis got bored of being around me and Ruth so much (he says we're too girly or something. But I hate to break it to him, Ruth and I really aren't that bad...) and he headed out to Osaka with a bunch of guys. Osaka is my next weekend stop. We're heading over there on Friday after work (hopefully, with a cool new keitai in hand). I can't wait. Apparently Osaka is a really fun place to visit with oodles of things to do. And it's all just a short train ride away!

posted by Grace @ 8/24/2003 10:16:00 PM 0 comments

Today's Topic: British Slang

Why, you may ask, am I devoting a post entirely to British slang? I have made two very good friends here: my coworkers Ruth from Scotland and Lewis from England. Needless to say that over the last couple of weeks, I have come across some terms that are used differently in the U.K. than in the U.S. And then there are those words that don't even exist in American English. So that you can all avoid scratching your heads in confusion then next time you find yourself in the U.K. and some bloke is asking you if there is a queue for the loo, I have graciously put together a small dictionary of some of the terms found in British slang.

British English will be in BOLD CAPS. Normal text is the American English equivalent/definition (to the best of my limited knowledge).

BIRDS - (noun) girls.
BLOKES - (noun) guys.
MATE - (noun) friend.
BRILLIANT - (adj) awesome, cool, exciting, etc etc... (Can be used sarcastically as well. Like if you were to spill your drink on yourself: Well, that's just bloody brilliant!)
DINKY - (adj) cute, small and dainty. (Example: What a dinky purse! Translation: What a cute wallet! Does NOT mean your wallet is stupidly under-sized.)
FIT - (adj) hot, fine, good-looking. (Example: The birds in [the TV show] Charmed are quite fit. Translation: The girls from [the TV show] Charmed are pretty hot.)
KNACKERED - (adj) tired, pooped. (Example: I'm feeling a bit knackered today. Translation: I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. OR: I'm really tired today.)
MOBILE - (noun) cell phone.
PURSE - (noun) wallet.
HANDBAG - (noun) purse.
PANTS - (noun) underwear.
TROUSERS - (noun) pants.
QUID - (noun) pounds. Not like weight pounds. Like their monetary unit pounds. Kind of like how we call our dollars "bucks." Strangely, this word is both singular and plural unlike "bucks." I have 1 buck. I have 5 bucks. In the U.K., you can have 1 quid or 10 quid. You don't ever have 10 quids. That just sounds dumb.
RUBBISH - (noun) trash, garbage. (adj) bad. unskilled. (Example: I am rubbish at it. Translation: I am bad at it.)
BIN - (noun) container, can. (Example: rubbish bin. Translation: Trash can.)
UNI - (noun) short for university. (Prounounced "yoo-nee." NOT "oo-nee.")
TEA - (noun) a beverage brewed from tea leaves. Duh. The better definition is: a meal traditionally taken between the hours of 4pm and 8pm. (Example: Tea time! Translation: Dinner time!)
QUEUE - (noun) line. Not one that you can draw. One that people wait in.
LOO - (noun) bathroom. (Example: Is there a queue for the loo? Translation: Is there a line for the bathroom?)
FOOTBALL - (noun) soccer.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL - (noun) that sport that Americans play that in no way resmebles the football of every other nation in the world.
PLASTERS - (noun) band-aids.
STODGY - (adj) very filling. Usually in reference to food.
DODGY - (adj) sketchy, shady. (Example: a dodgy neighborhood. Translation: Oakland or Southcentral L.A.)
COR - (adverb, I think) an exclamation or expression of great magnitude or something. I'm still really unsure of how this word actually works. (Example taken from Lews' blog: Cor blimey it's hot here. Translation: Damn, it's hot here!)
WOOD LOUSE - (noun) roly poly or pill bug. (this one took us several days to sort out.)
YANKS - (noun) this one shouldn't be tough. You all fall under this category. Often used in conjuction with the word "damn." (Example: Damn Yanks! Translation: Stupid Americans!)

There you have it. If I come across more, I wil post them here. So the next time a crazy Brit says, "Excuse me, your pants are showing." Don't say, "Duh, of course they're showing." Say, "Thanks. Don't mind me while I tuck them away under my trousers, mate."

posted by Grace @ 8/20/2003 06:28:00 PM 0 comments

I went on my first weekend-long excursion. My coworkers and I headed to the southern regions of Mie-ken to a small town called Kumano for what was supposedly the "best" fireworks festival in all of Japan. I must say, that after watching the fireworks, I was thoroughly impressed. They did some crazy things like shoot fireworks off of two boats that are speeding towards each other and light a giant firework that nearly filled the entire Kumano bay. Very cool. Beats the pants off of those Magic Mountain fireworks that I was forced to watch every single day two summers in a row.

We stayed with another JET in Kumano... a friend of a coworker. We also met up with a lot of local JETs as well and there was much BBQing and drinking. All in all, I think everyone involved had a great time and this has sparked an interest in making many small trips on the weekends. I will discuss this in more detail later, as I have little time left here at work.

Lessons learned this weekend: Karaoking is only possible when drunk. However, I should never drink half a bottle of gin. Local trains cost less but are a pain in the ass to take (since they take FOREVER to get where you need to go). Pizza in Japan is not good.

Next weekend's excursion: Nagoya.

Peace out.

posted by Grace @ 8/19/2003 07:19:00 PM 0 comments

VICTORY IS MINE!! MUAHAHAHA!

I bug-bombed my apartment yesterday and that cockroach is DEAD! I found his lifeless body on my kitchen floor when I returned from work. Dead as a doornail. As if doornails were ever alive... I wonder where that expression comes from...

posted by Grace @ 8/12/2003 07:28:00 PM 0 comments

(Apostrophes courtesy of my coworker's AMERICAN Mac)

I've decided (for now anyway. This opinion is subject to change) that Japan might be a better place for me to visit but not necessarily to live. Life here is very different from the U.S., California in particular. I'm finding it kind of difficult to adjust to the weather and little things like finding a grocery store has become something of a challenge. The biggest thing is that I am having trouble adjusting to living alone. I guess living alone wouldn't be so bad if I was living in the U.S., it's just that hardly anyone in Japan speaks English. And you all know that my conversational Japanese is lacking at best. I guess it's safe to say that I'm getting a little homesick. I didn't think it could happen to me. Hopefully, this feeling will pass, especially seeing how I still have to spend more than 50 weeks here.

I like being at work--depsite having nothing much to do yet since it's still summer break here--and my coworkers are really nice. It's pretty fun to go out with them, have dinner and the like. It's just that at the end of the day, we all go our separate ways and I return to my apartment that feels like it's located in the ass-end of Kuwana. It's really not the ass-end, it just feels like it right now since I don't know quite how to get around.

And there are two more JETs that I haven't met yet. They're returning english teachers so they're both on vacation right now. Luckily for me, they both live in my apartment complex. Unluckily for me, they don't get back until the end of the month, so I'm pretty much on my own. Oh wait, I DO have a new roommate. He's the giant flying cockroach the size of Montana that I found sitting on my kitchen floor a few days ago. I freaked out and I looked around briefly looking for something with which I could kill it and that bastard scurried off somewhere. I haven't seen him since, but I have a feeling he's still around. I swear to God, he's the size of my index finger. I hope he decided that my aparment isn't filthy enough for him and he found his way outside. If I see him again, I don't know if I'd have the nerve to squish something so unnaturally large.

And if isolation from real people wasn't enough, my phone is seriously gimpy and I cannot make phone calls. I can receive calls, but I can't make them. The other day I had to find a payphone so that I could call my parents. I haven't talked to them since the first day that I arrived in Tokyo. Needless to say, they were pretty worried.

I work Monday - Friday from (including commuting time) around 7:30AM - 5:30PM. To convert from California time to Japanese time, add four hours to California time and switch the AM and the PM. Example: 5AM California time = 9PM Japan time. My phone number is: 0594-22-8660. I'm fucking lonely, so if you have the time and don't mind paying an arm and a leg for a phone call to Japan, give me a ring. I'd really like to hear a familiar voice.

posted by Grace @ 8/11/2003 07:12:00 PM 0 comments

Update #2 from Japan.

Freaking Japanese computers dont have apostrophes. I will just have to refrain from using contractions and possessives. No quotation marks, either!! Argh!! I will have to convert to the Japanese way and use these brackets.

Moving on to the actual update. The Tokyo Orientation was a whirlwind of seminars, workshops, info sessions, prefectural meetings, wild karaoke-ing, and receptions. I was only one of 1,300 JETs taking over over the fabulous Keio Plaza Hotel in the Shinjuku region of Tokyo. We had some time in the evenings to wander the streets of Tokyo and I can sum up the discoveries of my wanderings in six words:

I WANT COOL JAPANESE ELECTRONIC GADJETS.

All cell phones have built-in cameras and some even have real-time video conferencing options. The laptops here look like they belong in the not-too-distant future. I never really had any interest in owning an mp3 player before, but lets(apostrophe)s just say that they make the iPod look not too special. All I need now is my first paycheck and then I can feed into my newfound obsession with cool Japanese electronic gadgets.

I arrived in Mie-ken yesterday and I moved into my apartment late in the afternoon. I am on my own until the other JETs in my apartment complex get back from vacation sometime in late August. Getting to work today was intereseting. I had to take the train to work (it was a 40 minute commute) and it was a scary scary trip. I have never taking the train here before and I can safely say that my Japanese reading skills--thanks to the overwhelming numbers of kanji being used--are crappy at best. I had to take three different trains involving two transfers. I just guessed, hopped on the train, asked for directions twice (in JAPANESE! wahoo!), and I actuallly made it to work on time. Now there is that little problem of how to get back...

My apartment is pretty nice. It was a lot bigger than I expected, anyway. My predecessor has left me notes warning me of cockroaches coming up through the sink drains into my apartment and giant red biting centipedes. I am a little worried and I hope that I do not come across any of these many-legged creepy-crawlies. There will be no one to hear my screams. Oh, and I was misinformed about my city. Kuwana is hardly rural. It has the biggest shopping center in all of Mie.

I was feeling really really lonely last night, but I think that I may be OK now. I had trouble sleeping and I was not able to eat anything. And it is certainly not helping that I have no phone and no internet back at my place. I am actually using a coworker(apostrophe)s computer. But in any case, I think I am going to head back home now. A nap sounds good.

So yeah, I just wanted to let you all know what I am almost settled in my new place. I will try to update this blog as often as possible and once I get cable or DSL in my apartment, I will include photos, too. EMAIL ME!So I will say bye for now and unless some giant red biting centipede comes and attacks me during the night, I will try my best to respond to emails and such.

posted by Grace @ 8/07/2003 01:59:00 AM 0 comments

I have 10 minutes of internet usage, therefore, I will be VERY brief. I arrived in Tokyo yesterday and due to the messing up of my sleep schedule during four years of college, I am glad to report that I have no signs of jet lag. woohoo! I have met many many other JETS, some who will also be teaching near me. Everyone is very friendly and very nice. The JET people have done a really good job finding all of the most optimistic, motivated, and people-friendly people in the Bay Area. This is all very exciting.

Apparently, Mie-ken, where I will be teaching (specifically, in Kuwana city) is kind of rural, so I am a little apprehensive. Orientations start in about two hours and I must say that I am already feeling pretty overwhelmed.

Tokyo is pretty exciting. I only had a couple of hours to wander around last night but I was pretty impressed. Tonight, I think I am tagging along with some other JETS to wander around the streets of Tokyo. I promise not to get into too much trouble! =P

Once I get more substantial internet time, I will email you all! Just wanted to check in and let you know that I am doing well! Bye for now!

posted by Grace @ 8/03/2003 03:28:00 PM 0 comments