child devil of tuna

Part I: Apocalypse Now

The gods of natural disasters seem to be having a field day with Japan. There were 10 major typhoons that hit Japan this year, the latest of which killed about 70 people (check out the second photo) and yet another one brewing down south, ready to make its way here (impending doom?). Last weekend, two large earthquakes shook Niigata-ken (6.8 and 6.0) and the death count is now over 30. Of course there were the two quakes near Mie-ken a couple of months ago and the 8-point-something doosie that hit Hokkaido earlier this year. As if things didn't look bad enough already, my students have to worry about their midterm grades. Luckily for me, I was in Korea during the typhoon from hell, Mie-ken is too far from Niigata-ken to have suffered any ill-effects from the quakes, and I am not bound to the world of exams and grades. Yet... Which brings me to:

Part II: Back To Square One

I have decided to jump back into the whirlwind of applications, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and head-splitting stress with hopes that they will result in that precious "Congratulations, Ms. Lee" acceptance letter. It's been difficult for me to muster up enough motivation to get going, especially because my brain's been more or less on vacation for the last 17 months. I'm setting a goal for mid-December send-off. There, I have now pushed some of my responsiblity onto you and you should all feel obligated to (forcibly if you must) remind me of that deadline, especially since you all probably now about my procrastinatory tendencies. And with that, I bring you:

Part III: Will I Ever Learn To Do Things Ahead of Time?

The likely answer: NO. Kim and I were recently talking about this. Can we ever change our behavioral quirks? It's possible in some cases, but I feel that procrastinating is deeply rooted in the dark recesses of my brain and there is no cure. I remember the very first time I ever procrastinated knowing full well that I would pay for it later. Let's flashback to me in the 7th grade at Arroyo Seco Jr. High. For homework, I was supposed to finish coloring and labeling a map for Mr. Moore's world history class but I decided I could do it during lunch the next day instead. Yes, it was a tight squeeze, but I mangaged it with no repercussions and discovered the glorious world "do tomorrow what you can do today!" On an unrelated note, I now move onto:

Part IV: The Aftermath of My Brush with Death

My finger no longer throbs and as you can tell by this hideously long blog entry (and long over-due responses to various emails! Check your inboxes!), I have regained most of my typing capabilities. My nail is now completely black and blood has oozed into the areas surrounding the nail as well. I will spare you the gory photo. Unless, of course, you really want to see it!

Just Finished: J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Currently Playing: my headache

posted by Grace @ 10/27/2004 06:20:00 PM 0 comments

My Brush with Death: Part II



My poor left middle finger. I can't not look at it. And I can't not poke it, which actually really hurts. You'd think that I learned my lesson after the first 14 times, but I didn't.

Tomorrow I go to the Big K--the motherland--with my mom. Haven't been back in 18 years. All I remember are spicy rice cakes, sweet yougurt drinks, and bratty neighborhood kids who made fun of me because I was some weird Americanized excuse for a Korean kid. Let's see how much it's changed since 1986.

Currently reading: J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Currently playing: Hedwig and the Angry Inch - The Origin of Love

posted by Grace @ 10/15/2004 05:44:00 AM 0 comments

Just when I thought that life in Japan was getting quiet and boring...

I got hit by a car today as I was riding my bike to school in the morning. Well, it is actually more accurate to say that my bike was hit by a car and I must have done an amazing somersault over said bike because I found myself lying on the street on my back with my head pointing the wrong way for me to have merely fallen off.

But no worries. Went to the hospital for a quick check-up and an x-ray of my poor mangled left hand and I was found to have no broken bones, or concussions, or anything serious. The nail on my left middle finger will probably fall off due to the copious amount of blood that is now pooling under the nail and my typing capabilities are severely limited (I can only really use my left pinky, so please overlook the typos) but I must say that I am really fortunate that I didn't end up breaking my neck or something.

posted by Grace @ 10/13/2004 09:20:00 PM 0 comments

To my States-side readers: I bring you another lesson in Japanese-style English.

A Trip To Mongolia

An ocean of grasslands is around Ulaanbaatar. In Ulaanbaatar modern life and traditional life come together. I saw a cloud of dust. It was the dust of a hundred sheep. A young boy was guiding them. His name was Boldoo. "You ride well," I said. "Thank you," he said. "I like my horse, but I want a motorbike too." Boldoo and I became friends.

I visited Boldoo's family. They live in a ger, a Mongolian house. When I went in, Boldoo said, "Be careful. Watch your head." His mother made me some dishes. They were new to me.

At night Boldoo played the batokin. The sound was sad and sweet. They sky was wide and deep. I almost touched the stars.

* * *

My 2nd year students can now say "I almost touched the stars" but they're still struggling with "good afternoon" because it's not in their textbooks. I guess that's where I come in, with my expertise in practical every-day English!

Currently reading: Orson Scott Card - Shadow Puppets (I really should stop reading such garbage)
Currently playing: School chime. Classes are OVER for the day. Sweet.

posted by Grace @ 10/06/2004 09:54:00 PM 0 comments

Dave, a little patience please.

My parents are currently in Japan and the last two weeks or so have been a crazy mish-mosh of frantic cleaning, elementary school visits, sports festivals, and unofficial tour-guide duties. I'm pooped and this whirlwind doesn't show any signs of letting up; I'm trying to organize a weekend trip to Kyushu with my parents but I just got word that a typhoon has plans to visit Kyushu this weekend as well.

But despite wanting to bash my head against a wall in hopes that it will knock me out and leave me in the peaceful state of unconsciousness, I take time out of my whacked-out schedule to bring you photos from Seitoku Junior High School's annual sports festival (actually, the English teacher called in sick today and my classes got cancelled, so I'm caught at work with nothing productive to do). Brace yourselves...


The 1st year boys' 400m relay. Yes, they are running barefoot. Yes, that is a serious breech in practically every safety code of any American school. Yes, those boys ended up with band-aid covered feet.


Reminds you of Braveheart, no? In this game, they put 5-foot long metal poles in the center of the field and the teams line up at the endfield. When the gun goes off everyone runs like mad to try and grab a pole and carry back to their side of the field. If you're fast enough, you can snatch one before anyone else can, otherwise, you have to play tug-of-war in hopes of dragging the pole (along with members of the opposing team) back to your side like this:




The students aren't allowed to wear sunglasses. So they hijacked mine (on the right) instead.


"Bread Relay." They have to grab a bread roll with their teeth and carry it across the finish line.


The winner of the Bread Relay.


Tug-of-war in which homeroom classes are pitted against each other. It's kind of funny to watch 60 kids go at it all at once.


All-class jump rope competition. Again with the homeroom class teams. The winning class managed to jump over 60 times without messing up.


Some of my 2nd year students. "Chee-zu!"

Currently reading: Frank McCourt - 'Tis
Currently playing: Dance Hall Crashers - Whiskey & Gin

posted by Grace @ 10/05/2004 06:24:00 PM 0 comments