- weird: going to Harajuku and marveling more at all the foreigners than all the Harajuku girls. Seriously. After two months, it is almost strange to be in a place that is (comparatively) ethnically diverse. But considering that Harajuku is one of the top 10 tourist recs...
- Tokyo is surreal, especially when compared to the rest of Japan. Spending a day/night/morning windowshopping and dancing (scandalously, aha) and dreaming only heightened that sense. Still, I`ve yet to find the right bartender; the restaurants` are fairly weak, and the bar we hit in Shinjuku`s ni-chome for my friend`s birthday mixed drinks that could peel paint off walls. Honest.far,
- mmm for banter with someone who I should stay far away from, but since when have I ever listened to my better nature when guys are concerned?
- teaching continues to be amazing and exhausting. Imperfect but better for its imperfections. The kids are cool beyond words, the teachers are mostly supportive, and the environment (when not in the midst of a typhoon, anyhow) has this quiet, green sort of beauty to it...
- I miss Bleach. (I miss having internet so as to watch Bleach.) But I am presently addicted to season one of Jack Bauer`s Worst Day Ever, so you know, life is good.
Take care, everyone, and lots of love.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
... I have a class of thirty sixteen-year-old guys and six girls. Someone figure out the math in that one? The classroom dynamics therein are interesting to say the least. And my methods of getting attention might have been better coming out of a shounen badass`s mouth, but I don`t think anyone was too scandalized... at least I hope not. One `oi!` should not be able to stop even the greatest slackers in their tracks but hey, I`m not complaining!
Regardless, even at three days of teaching in, I have such respect for my own teachers. Wow.
Still no Internet at home; this is woeful and verging on expensive, but getting out into the city is worth the journey.
Speaking of journeys, myself and a couple of other JETs climbed Fuji over Saturday night and Sunday morning; yes, that reads right. Deluded by the idea that seeing the sun rise from the top was a good idea, we ignored both sleep and shelter (and fifteen dollar aerosol bottles of oxygen!) to scramble over rocks and (politely; the Canadians made up the largest percentage of the climbers) Gaijin Smash our way past the hordes of people. (I mean hordes literally - standing in line behind a tour group of fifty to get up a mountain whilst five hours up said mountain is quite something; it`s another thing altogether to realize, seven hours in, that you have grown to like the lines because the breakneck pace otherwise is quite probably killing you.) Definitely an amazing experience, and, okay, the sunset, even from the tiny gap between my scarf and hood, was surreal and stunning; a neon-bright sun emerging from between clouds of pale slate; it looked as if it was literally rising from between the clouds.
Impossible, I know. And yet.
Cooking continues to be an adventure... I have learned the hard way to always read everything that I can, if only because what I thought was a ham and mozza panini turned out to be a ham and cream cheese panini, which, when microwaved... well, in my defense, I was hungry at the time? Haruka Shitow was right about mayonnaise and rice; it is surprisingly tasty, but there certainly have been some food combinations that perplex my Western palate.
But I have grown addicted to anpan and onigiri... oh, sometimes the simplest things are best. ^^
And I have an orchid; a yellow one this time, and not a Phalaenopsis; it is ruffly and lovely, and brightens up my room very well. (A home just isn`t a home without a flowering plant in it, I think...)
...and I am out of manga-kissaten-internet time. Take care, everyone, and keep in touch!
Regardless, even at three days of teaching in, I have such respect for my own teachers. Wow.
Still no Internet at home; this is woeful and verging on expensive, but getting out into the city is worth the journey.
Speaking of journeys, myself and a couple of other JETs climbed Fuji over Saturday night and Sunday morning; yes, that reads right. Deluded by the idea that seeing the sun rise from the top was a good idea, we ignored both sleep and shelter (and fifteen dollar aerosol bottles of oxygen!) to scramble over rocks and (politely; the Canadians made up the largest percentage of the climbers) Gaijin Smash our way past the hordes of people. (I mean hordes literally - standing in line behind a tour group of fifty to get up a mountain whilst five hours up said mountain is quite something; it`s another thing altogether to realize, seven hours in, that you have grown to like the lines because the breakneck pace otherwise is quite probably killing you.) Definitely an amazing experience, and, okay, the sunset, even from the tiny gap between my scarf and hood, was surreal and stunning; a neon-bright sun emerging from between clouds of pale slate; it looked as if it was literally rising from between the clouds.
Impossible, I know. And yet.
Cooking continues to be an adventure... I have learned the hard way to always read everything that I can, if only because what I thought was a ham and mozza panini turned out to be a ham and cream cheese panini, which, when microwaved... well, in my defense, I was hungry at the time? Haruka Shitow was right about mayonnaise and rice; it is surprisingly tasty, but there certainly have been some food combinations that perplex my Western palate.
But I have grown addicted to anpan and onigiri... oh, sometimes the simplest things are best. ^^
And I have an orchid; a yellow one this time, and not a Phalaenopsis; it is ruffly and lovely, and brightens up my room very well. (A home just isn`t a home without a flowering plant in it, I think...)
...and I am out of manga-kissaten-internet time. Take care, everyone, and keep in touch!
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