i had a lesson just down the street at 11:00 this morning with a new student. she's a fortune teller and is studying in preparation to better communicate with her soul mate whom she met in a dream - oh, and his name is michael too. when she first saw my name posted at the international center she thought i might be him, but then she called me and said that she didn't recognize my voice - so i must not be him. it was a good lesson (a christmas and new years dialog) and when i got home i saw that i had missed a package!
side note - why does eric clapton let these fucking white people CLAP ALONG to the blues.. what the fuck! really! can't he make them stop! i can't listen to that shit - it makes be homicidal.
the third box!! i had been really worried that the customs people might not have let it through or that it got lost or misdelivered. but it was here in okayama! i tried to find a number i might call - maybe i could just go pick it up at some post office? i was pissed that i missed it - i should have still been in my pajamas at 11 something.. i could have been eating mexican lunch! (dad, you gave the mexican food away, but it honestly only intensified my excitement!) i couldn't find out where to go and hiroshi and teresa were calling me out to eat homemade rice cakes and new years stuff for lunch. i hung out with them for a while and then popped back home to practice my bass! i was just working out some stage theatrics on "the midnight train" when the post man slid the door open with my package! he knows me because he delivers taku's lost and subsequently found cell phones every few weeks or so and he's dead friendly. anyway i had my box, but i had a lesson and then band practice, so i didn't actually get to it until tonight. when i finally broke it out i was cooking and eating in such an excited state that i managed to burn myself twice and got a fair amount of food on my shirt~
but OMG, it was AWESOME!! i just ate the end-all-be-all taco feast to-end-all taco feasts alone at 12:30 am on a thursday morning!! man, i'm still reeling. it had been so long since i had refried beans!! they knocked me out! i was spooning them from the can! i could have eaten the whole thing cold - i shit you not! i managed to restrain myself so that they can accompany tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, and dinner! what i hot christmas present!!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005
table setting party?
what's a table setting party? at first i assumed that table setting, much like making tea or arranging flowers, is considered an art form in japan and there is some strict set of traditional rules governing the "correct" way to set a table..
i recently started teaching a group of 8 year olds! their moms are all friends and rotate lesson hosting duties between their homes. it's good fun really - the kids are alright, and we keep it light. one of the moms studies table setting (?) and invited me to a party at her home after my lesson last friday evening. we did a christmas themed lesson (santa says, all i want for christmas, etc) and then joined a throng of 40 something ladies for evidently a potluck party with one impressive table setting~ it wasn't in fact any traditional art, but a series of creative martha stewart-esque tips and tricks put into practice for an attractive table. impress your friends with a festive holiday table arrangement and a invite a young foreign man! i was happy to go - the food was awesome - and we all exchanged recipes, of course. the kids all fell asleep watching kung-fu movies in the next room and all those ladies got smashed and rode home on their bicycles. unbelievable.
i recently started teaching a group of 8 year olds! their moms are all friends and rotate lesson hosting duties between their homes. it's good fun really - the kids are alright, and we keep it light. one of the moms studies table setting (?) and invited me to a party at her home after my lesson last friday evening. we did a christmas themed lesson (santa says, all i want for christmas, etc) and then joined a throng of 40 something ladies for evidently a potluck party with one impressive table setting~ it wasn't in fact any traditional art, but a series of creative martha stewart-esque tips and tricks put into practice for an attractive table. impress your friends with a festive holiday table arrangement and a invite a young foreign man! i was happy to go - the food was awesome - and we all exchanged recipes, of course. the kids all fell asleep watching kung-fu movies in the next room and all those ladies got smashed and rode home on their bicycles. unbelievable.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
another fast-food thanksgiving in japan.
the "turkey" was of course provided by the colonel as were the coleslaw and a biscuit for good measure. the mashed potatoes were homemade (and damn good, i might add). i couldn't for the life of me find a good pie.. i did find one $10 apple pie about the size of a cd at a posh cake shop - but opted for the mcdonalds variety and an ice cream bar from the conbini~ it may not have been an ideal thanksgiving dinner, but it was loads of food and was consumed with fork and knife!! pretty spot-on!
do you remember watching the parade on tv in grandma's basement? remember green carpet? remember thinking there was a different parade on every channel? remember the kid table and 2 the orange vegetables? remember mom's cranberry bread? remember looking up at orion in the driveway? remember the reflections of dashboard lights on the windows in the back seat and squinting at the lights of oncoming cars until they stretched out in parallel lines that reached up to the sky? remember dad carrying your sleeping sister in from the car? yes? well, then remember that we've got a lot to be thankful for.
do you remember watching the parade on tv in grandma's basement? remember green carpet? remember thinking there was a different parade on every channel? remember the kid table and 2 the orange vegetables? remember mom's cranberry bread? remember looking up at orion in the driveway? remember the reflections of dashboard lights on the windows in the back seat and squinting at the lights of oncoming cars until they stretched out in parallel lines that reached up to the sky? remember dad carrying your sleeping sister in from the car? yes? well, then remember that we've got a lot to be thankful for.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
getting back to basics
wait a second - i didn't come to japan to WORK!! i didn't move to japan to make money! why on earth did i want that crappy job anyway?! clearly money was not a motivating factor in my leaving my engineering job to teach english in japan. the whole bloody point was to get out there and see the world! live it! experience it! the whole point was to avoid wasting my youth stuck in a cubical! what made me think that i should spend the next few months working for Nova?!
i guess i got stuck in my new shoes - thinking that japan has a good economy on a global scale - that my japanese yen can carry me far in and around asia - that i should be saving it! but that's ignoring the fact that i am already living abroad and there's so much i haven't seen and done here. i guess i just got used to japan. i'm in the groove and i've sunk in deep enough that i'm no longer an awe-struck traveler. but that's all just a state of mind - it's time i used my time better and get out there and love it again!
you might even say that my current situation is optimal. if i'm making any more money than i absolutely need to support myself (and my rock&roll lifestyle) that's just evidence of time spent working that could have been better spent soaking up the experience~ teaching privates and odd gigs is great! i'm only really working a few hours a day and i have total control of my schedule!! how many people in japan can even say that?! i live in a culture where lifetime enslavement to one's work is the norm! even working conditions for foreigners isn't good by any american standard. i've found a loop-hole and i'm self-employed and i love it! sure, a little bit more cash would help me travel around a little bit more and go out more often (it's been a while since i treated myself to karaoke). but i'm the man - i can round up a little cash without working for someone else! of course, it will be difficult if i don't want to play FUCKING SANTA CLAUS!!!
~the kid's alright~
i guess i got stuck in my new shoes - thinking that japan has a good economy on a global scale - that my japanese yen can carry me far in and around asia - that i should be saving it! but that's ignoring the fact that i am already living abroad and there's so much i haven't seen and done here. i guess i just got used to japan. i'm in the groove and i've sunk in deep enough that i'm no longer an awe-struck traveler. but that's all just a state of mind - it's time i used my time better and get out there and love it again!
you might even say that my current situation is optimal. if i'm making any more money than i absolutely need to support myself (and my rock&roll lifestyle) that's just evidence of time spent working that could have been better spent soaking up the experience~ teaching privates and odd gigs is great! i'm only really working a few hours a day and i have total control of my schedule!! how many people in japan can even say that?! i live in a culture where lifetime enslavement to one's work is the norm! even working conditions for foreigners isn't good by any american standard. i've found a loop-hole and i'm self-employed and i love it! sure, a little bit more cash would help me travel around a little bit more and go out more often (it's been a while since i treated myself to karaoke). but i'm the man - i can round up a little cash without working for someone else! of course, it will be difficult if i don't want to play FUCKING SANTA CLAUS!!!
~the kid's alright~
Friday, November 18, 2005
to the free spirit, the future is his most coveted treasure - a beautiful and infinite sea of possibility! it's limitless and good, for he, the free at heart, is also helplessly optimistic. he gazes out over his endless realm of possibility with great satisfaction and spends his days contemplating what might be found just over the horizon.
free as he is, he boldly sails for grand horizons and foreign lands bearing riches beyond his wildest dreams! but to the helplessly optimistic each golden horizon is more grand and promising than the last. he bravely changes courses and chases dreams - he always will - until the day his future dries up and he finds that he hasn't actually gone anywhere at all.
free as he is, he boldly sails for grand horizons and foreign lands bearing riches beyond his wildest dreams! but to the helplessly optimistic each golden horizon is more grand and promising than the last. he bravely changes courses and chases dreams - he always will - until the day his future dries up and he finds that he hasn't actually gone anywhere at all.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
i can't even get a job at NOVA?! they are the absolute shit-ass, bottom-end of crappy big english schools!! they employ any degenerate looser ex-con with a mail order degree and they won't give me a fucking job? what's their problem?
well - fuck'em, i was gona' quit that shit after 6 months anyway.. still, i feel pretty pathetic - can't even get a job at the McDonalds of english schools.. man.
well - fuck'em, i was gona' quit that shit after 6 months anyway.. still, i feel pretty pathetic - can't even get a job at the McDonalds of english schools.. man.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
we can't see the sky for the clouds!
look at that fucking sky!! the sun is blasting trough fat, full lumps of solid cloud - mostly fair-weather white but a few dark grey, foreboding rain - and they go, they stretch across the sky in every direction, all the way from the himalayas to the dark heart of the pacific! i can't even take it all in! the world is in such full color and sharp contrast, i'm sure i will collide with it. but can you see this sky! i've got to cross the street just to get a better look at the place i was standing before! i have to jump, but the roofs of houses just keep pushing higher, closing in all around me. no one can see it but me, i'm sure - everyone else is rushing, rolling, in long coats and cold cars. can't they see this sky?! how can they be rushing off to work inside when heaven is directly above us at this very moment shining down with all the light of faith and God?! and more importantly, how can I? why am i to spend my life looking down or else buried under the shield we hold against heaven's judgment? we build, we tear down, we build higher, closer, bigger, stronger - human hands carry darkness higher, closing out the sky, power lines cutting it into pieces. we fear it's light, we dash about hiding from the looming truth, avoiding so much as a glance up at the gates of heaven and take safe refuge in our collective distraction until a time we feel it's safe to return home, the sun having set and the dark of night having closed heaven's eyes on us. at least for today..
Monday, November 14, 2005
guilt as inspiration - the pathetic return to blogging
-to those of you who requested it's return, i have already let you down.
i hate looking for jobs. what i really want is my old job back - the one i quit shortly after my last entry more that 6 pathetic months ago - but that is a contract i failed to sign and an unrequited love i've left behind. it was a sweet gig, though i didn't really realize it at the time. i've had my adventure in self-employment and now i just want someone else to pay me for my time and require nothing more than my physical presence in return. i'm looking for the lowest common denominator in english teaching jobs, something so mind-numbingly repetitive that i can do it in my sleep and forget the whole mess the second i walk out the door. yes, i will have to wear a tie for this sort of job, but now i can see it's advantages clearly. the goal is to make enough money to travel, though the specifics of what exactly that entails are unknown at the present time.
it's not that things didn't work out - if i wasn't so fickle and impatient, i could probably see this thing to some reasonable fruition and make a fair bankroll. but the sad fact of the matter is that i'm pretty pathetic when it comes to sticking to my guns. premature decisions when coupled with drastic life change can really restore that vital element of control over one's life. it's a double shot of adrenalin on the rocks - the sweet freedom of youth, the rush of new faces and places, and the euphoria of living in the present moment unhindered by the weight of all one's past and future.
so, i'm looking for a job.. man i hate looking for a jobs.
i hate looking for jobs. what i really want is my old job back - the one i quit shortly after my last entry more that 6 pathetic months ago - but that is a contract i failed to sign and an unrequited love i've left behind. it was a sweet gig, though i didn't really realize it at the time. i've had my adventure in self-employment and now i just want someone else to pay me for my time and require nothing more than my physical presence in return. i'm looking for the lowest common denominator in english teaching jobs, something so mind-numbingly repetitive that i can do it in my sleep and forget the whole mess the second i walk out the door. yes, i will have to wear a tie for this sort of job, but now i can see it's advantages clearly. the goal is to make enough money to travel, though the specifics of what exactly that entails are unknown at the present time.
it's not that things didn't work out - if i wasn't so fickle and impatient, i could probably see this thing to some reasonable fruition and make a fair bankroll. but the sad fact of the matter is that i'm pretty pathetic when it comes to sticking to my guns. premature decisions when coupled with drastic life change can really restore that vital element of control over one's life. it's a double shot of adrenalin on the rocks - the sweet freedom of youth, the rush of new faces and places, and the euphoria of living in the present moment unhindered by the weight of all one's past and future.
so, i'm looking for a job.. man i hate looking for a jobs.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
life update:
hey! sorry, it's been so long.. i've been busy. BIG news on the way! but first..
in about an hour the amazen hazen should be rolling into okayama on the hikari limited express! for those of you tragically unfamiliar with the man, he's a long-time friend and room mate from university. i'm guessing he's been traveling for 18 or so hours but, knowing the guy, he should still be up for a night on the town!
man, hazen's great - he's always into eating the weirdest possible shit and doing the craziest stupid shit even i've been too embarrassed to admit i want to do.. here's the list he sent me last week (he really wrote this):
- See Basho Sumo tournament in Osaka
- Visit Peace Park (park and museum showing the effects of the Atomic bomb) in Hiroshima
- Beach it, check out the tropical like setting of Okinawa
- Temples, Japanese Gardens, Cherry Blossom Trees, see the Geinra in Kyoto
- Lonely Planet recommends a JTB Sunrise Tour which has the same kind of reputation as the tour we went on back in Germany (remember Boris's tour?)
- Try a public bath house (sento or onsen)
- Stay at a capsule hotel. (* holy shiat! So it really is like sleeping in coffin?)
- Stay at a love hotel?
- Spend a .5 day at Mt. Fuji
- Go to electronic district in either Osaka (Den Den Town) or Tokyo (Akihabara)
- Ride a bullet train (shinkansen I believe it's called)
- Try a bunch of authentic food, meet some new ppl, drink a lot of beer
i love it! i couldn't have imagined a more hazen vacation!
he's hanging here this week so i've made a short list of okayama adventures and challenges to keep him busy while i'm at work.
next weekend alex and eric are landing in tokyo and we'll meet the 2 of them and taku for a 4 day japan adventure via rail! (thanks truly to my dear sweetheart manager for getting me some time off!) i'm totally geeked! i've been so lucky (taku says blessed) with visiters this year! i'll try to give you all the highlights! here we go!
in about an hour the amazen hazen should be rolling into okayama on the hikari limited express! for those of you tragically unfamiliar with the man, he's a long-time friend and room mate from university. i'm guessing he's been traveling for 18 or so hours but, knowing the guy, he should still be up for a night on the town!
man, hazen's great - he's always into eating the weirdest possible shit and doing the craziest stupid shit even i've been too embarrassed to admit i want to do.. here's the list he sent me last week (he really wrote this):
- See Basho Sumo tournament in Osaka
- Visit Peace Park (park and museum showing the effects of the Atomic bomb) in Hiroshima
- Beach it, check out the tropical like setting of Okinawa
- Temples, Japanese Gardens, Cherry Blossom Trees, see the Geinra in Kyoto
- Lonely Planet recommends a JTB Sunrise Tour which has the same kind of reputation as the tour we went on back in Germany (remember Boris's tour?)
- Try a public bath house (sento or onsen)
- Stay at a capsule hotel. (* holy shiat! So it really is like sleeping in coffin?)
- Stay at a love hotel?
- Spend a .5 day at Mt. Fuji
- Go to electronic district in either Osaka (Den Den Town) or Tokyo (Akihabara)
- Ride a bullet train (shinkansen I believe it's called)
- Try a bunch of authentic food, meet some new ppl, drink a lot of beer
i love it! i couldn't have imagined a more hazen vacation!
he's hanging here this week so i've made a short list of okayama adventures and challenges to keep him busy while i'm at work.
next weekend alex and eric are landing in tokyo and we'll meet the 2 of them and taku for a 4 day japan adventure via rail! (thanks truly to my dear sweetheart manager for getting me some time off!) i'm totally geeked! i've been so lucky (taku says blessed) with visiters this year! i'll try to give you all the highlights! here we go!
Monday, February 28, 2005
D: 4 days left says:
should i bring rollerblades?
-mike! says:
hell NO!!
-mike! says:
in fact, you should not own roller blades.. no one should
D: 4 days left says:
no one uses them?
-mike! says:
i've seen a skateboard with two wheels and a motor.. but rollerblades i have not, and will not see
D: 4 days left says:
weird
D: 4 days left says:
ok, thanks for the info
Sunday, February 27, 2005
singing
i can't see the source, even from my perch so high above the world, but have many times before. this is a common (popular?) form of public address in japan: announcement via van-top megaphone - a rather obnoxious and seemingly inefficient system given everything i've come to think i know about japan.
it's a child's voice, yes? a boy maybe 12 years old is singing short phrases of a traditional song or a prayer between more typical, official-sounding public reminders of some kind. i don't understand the purpose of the announcement - no one tells me anything - but can guess it has something to do with the small dolls and decorations that have been appearing in shop windows recently. i feel so alien sometimes, watching these strange communal creatures go about their observances of which i know almost nothing. the boy's song, watercolored in changing direction and doppler orientation, is pouring in through my window bringing with it the clear and the cold i was hoping to avoid by burying myself in some distraction of reading or watching - that is until hunger or the promise of social interaction (any excuse really) drives me from my home. fate, or chance&timing, whichever you prefer, will decide the shape of said distraction. they will call me. i will not call them. maybe i should call them.. (and when i say call, i mean email or "text". no one calls.. that's a lie - sometimes eri calls.)
liberty: "what's up?"
- always the same peace offering always cautious and unassuming. liberty's overflowing with social guilt again and attempts to give me a hurried once-over of email maintenance. i get this same "what's up?" every 2 weeks or so and always respond instantly and at length. i often invite her to join me for coffee or whatever debaucherous exploits may be planed for the coming weekend. she never responds - that is, not for another 2 weeks or so and at what point she simply resends the message seen above. oh, liberty, if you're not going to have a sense of social responsibility, why bother suffering under the weight of so much social guilt?
me: "yo!"
shortest. email. ever.. no response.. ehh - give'r 2 weeks.
i get impatient.. i email everyone i know. here's what comes back:
ayako (long lost street friend): "I am in okayama now! i want to meet with everyone!" (an informal version of "take care" in hirigana, this fat thumbs up man: (o^-' )b )
- she's super weird and that's good! i can't wait for spring to come so we can reclaim the streets!!
robin/lovin (in japanese and some scattered roman letters): "thanks for coming to the show and giving me your cd! this is your band, right? the optionals? (fireworks) are you playing bass or guitar?" (waggling red question mark, waving hand, happy purple winking face sticking out tongue)
- she's has an amazing voice and it's good to pop in and see some live music when i can, better if i know the performers. still, we have to communicate in my wretched japanese.. so..
aki (eri's friend, often served with coffee - bitter): "Hi, yes can be friend.but can't meet you without anothers.let's get together on friday.See you, A-ki"
- she's recently been downgraded to acquaintance by both eri and myself. we agree that she's beautiful, but obnoxiously typical. we will not see her friday.
eri (as usual, eri will be played by herself in un-adultered flowing Forwards): "Very agreeable! Aki and other friends invited me and I refused today. Do you have other friends, Mike? What will you do tonight?" .. "I am staying quiet and relaxed. Investigating by pc, fashion press and jarnalist recruits today. I was still confused myself yesterday with plural directions to consider and decide no regret. I want to pace myself and be clear satisfyingly on what I want to do now on and way to walk. I go out next weekend yo! I be back my world. Zoom zoom zizz! Eri"
- looks like i'm staying in. that's ok - i have a book!
it's a child's voice, yes? a boy maybe 12 years old is singing short phrases of a traditional song or a prayer between more typical, official-sounding public reminders of some kind. i don't understand the purpose of the announcement - no one tells me anything - but can guess it has something to do with the small dolls and decorations that have been appearing in shop windows recently. i feel so alien sometimes, watching these strange communal creatures go about their observances of which i know almost nothing. the boy's song, watercolored in changing direction and doppler orientation, is pouring in through my window bringing with it the clear and the cold i was hoping to avoid by burying myself in some distraction of reading or watching - that is until hunger or the promise of social interaction (any excuse really) drives me from my home. fate, or chance&timing, whichever you prefer, will decide the shape of said distraction. they will call me. i will not call them. maybe i should call them.. (and when i say call, i mean email or "text". no one calls.. that's a lie - sometimes eri calls.)
liberty: "what's up?"
- always the same peace offering always cautious and unassuming. liberty's overflowing with social guilt again and attempts to give me a hurried once-over of email maintenance. i get this same "what's up?" every 2 weeks or so and always respond instantly and at length. i often invite her to join me for coffee or whatever debaucherous exploits may be planed for the coming weekend. she never responds - that is, not for another 2 weeks or so and at what point she simply resends the message seen above. oh, liberty, if you're not going to have a sense of social responsibility, why bother suffering under the weight of so much social guilt?
me: "yo!"
shortest. email. ever.. no response.. ehh - give'r 2 weeks.
i get impatient.. i email everyone i know. here's what comes back:
ayako (long lost street friend): "I am in okayama now! i want to meet with everyone!" (an informal version of "take care" in hirigana, this fat thumbs up man: (o^-' )b )
- she's super weird and that's good! i can't wait for spring to come so we can reclaim the streets!!
robin/lovin (in japanese and some scattered roman letters): "thanks for coming to the show and giving me your cd! this is your band, right? the optionals? (fireworks) are you playing bass or guitar?" (waggling red question mark, waving hand, happy purple winking face sticking out tongue)
- she's has an amazing voice and it's good to pop in and see some live music when i can, better if i know the performers. still, we have to communicate in my wretched japanese.. so..
aki (eri's friend, often served with coffee - bitter): "Hi, yes can be friend.but can't meet you without anothers.let's get together on friday.See you, A-ki"
- she's recently been downgraded to acquaintance by both eri and myself. we agree that she's beautiful, but obnoxiously typical. we will not see her friday.
eri (as usual, eri will be played by herself in un-adultered flowing Forwards): "Very agreeable! Aki and other friends invited me and I refused today. Do you have other friends, Mike? What will you do tonight?" .. "I am staying quiet and relaxed. Investigating by pc, fashion press and jarnalist recruits today. I was still confused myself yesterday with plural directions to consider and decide no regret. I want to pace myself and be clear satisfyingly on what I want to do now on and way to walk. I go out next weekend yo! I be back my world. Zoom zoom zizz! Eri"
- looks like i'm staying in. that's ok - i have a book!
Sunday, February 20, 2005
the naked man festival!
okayama is home to one of the strangest festivals in japan, the hadaka matsuri! thousands of men from all over the country come to compete for fame and glory in nothing but their skin! how could i miss this!
when lola and i arrived at the saidaiji train station (beer in hand) we were greeted by a bronze statue commemorating the event. the upper-halves of several chiseled men erupting from a crowd - the highest one, held up by a comrade, is making a fingertip catch for the win - greatness all over his face! on this night, lanterns hang all around them and thousands of candles twinkle below, possibly commemorating those lives lost in the struggle throughout the years.
we were picked up by a student and a friend of ours, susumu the dentist, and wisked off to his beautiful home in his new RANGE ROVER!! (this car looks about 3 times bigger in japan than it does in the states - it was ludicrous). we enjoyed food and drinks at his place and schmoozed with friends. after a few hours, we all piled into cars and headed back into town! parking was a puddle after 2 straight days of rain and we joined the crowd on our way to the temple - and what a crowd!
walking through town was like edging through a carnival midway! there were lanterns and music, all the sizzling and smells of street vended delicacies. and then there were the naked men! we had to make way for rows of them jogging past. and, well, the truth is they weren't completely naked - they were each wearing a single white cloth wrapped and tied to cover only the most essentials (think sumo diaper).
they've come to march through the streets and drink mass quantities before congregating in a heap on the front steps of saidaiji temple were they will push and shout and squirm to get good position. at midnight all hell breaks lose!
someone, some lucky monk, maybe, throws a single baton into the man mass at exactly 12:00 AM and the crowd is left to it's own devices in deciding who will take the baton across town to the judges, tv cameras, and cash prize. there's a fair amount of naked violence involved in the struggle. most men have formed alliances with others from their local temple or university. some have formed huge teams and developed strategies!
were weren't close enough to see individual punches being thrown, but we could see the heaving waves of flailing men as the baton made its way down the steps and out of the temple. it was a little anticlimactic - like watching the start of a race - but it was worth seeing.
when lola and i arrived at the saidaiji train station (beer in hand) we were greeted by a bronze statue commemorating the event. the upper-halves of several chiseled men erupting from a crowd - the highest one, held up by a comrade, is making a fingertip catch for the win - greatness all over his face! on this night, lanterns hang all around them and thousands of candles twinkle below, possibly commemorating those lives lost in the struggle throughout the years.
we were picked up by a student and a friend of ours, susumu the dentist, and wisked off to his beautiful home in his new RANGE ROVER!! (this car looks about 3 times bigger in japan than it does in the states - it was ludicrous). we enjoyed food and drinks at his place and schmoozed with friends. after a few hours, we all piled into cars and headed back into town! parking was a puddle after 2 straight days of rain and we joined the crowd on our way to the temple - and what a crowd!
walking through town was like edging through a carnival midway! there were lanterns and music, all the sizzling and smells of street vended delicacies. and then there were the naked men! we had to make way for rows of them jogging past. and, well, the truth is they weren't completely naked - they were each wearing a single white cloth wrapped and tied to cover only the most essentials (think sumo diaper).
they've come to march through the streets and drink mass quantities before congregating in a heap on the front steps of saidaiji temple were they will push and shout and squirm to get good position. at midnight all hell breaks lose!
someone, some lucky monk, maybe, throws a single baton into the man mass at exactly 12:00 AM and the crowd is left to it's own devices in deciding who will take the baton across town to the judges, tv cameras, and cash prize. there's a fair amount of naked violence involved in the struggle. most men have formed alliances with others from their local temple or university. some have formed huge teams and developed strategies!
were weren't close enough to see individual punches being thrown, but we could see the heaving waves of flailing men as the baton made its way down the steps and out of the temple. it was a little anticlimactic - like watching the start of a race - but it was worth seeing.
Monday, February 14, 2005
clap my hands!
ahh..
saturday morning: a deep breath of winter air - crisp, sobering - complete and pure - it's my first breath. i step out into the sun. i've never been here before. God, it's so beautiful.. i'm surfacing after a long pull of cold lake michigan water. this is sun, this is air - feel the water run down my body taking with it the campfire, the red wine, the darkness of the night before, the sand, the sweat, the sun-baked tent and the thousands of tosses and turns, the open eyes of the many hours of morning. know and love these things. it's so bright.
pull, and pop! the ringing is gone. how long has that seed been in my teeth? that stone in my shoe? that water in my ear? i can hear everything - this is the first time. the clarity! these overtones! this is joy - and the world is snow melting on my tongue! how long have i been gone?!
i hear a symphony! i'm in the bright, shining world of the living and diana ross is here too! it's music in my head and it's finding it's way into my fingertips, into my soul, and out into the morning - i'm singing as i pedal toward work! hello, old lady! hello, little dog! hello, mitsubishi!
later i will have a joyful reunion with my inner-monologue! always crack'n wise and say'n all the shit i shouldn't. i'm so damn funny, and i've got so much to say - or, at least, i'm always talking. where have you been, friend? these are higher level brain functions! this is not only the automatic pilot that has somehow steered me through these last 2 weeks.. maybe i was worse off than i realized. i was afraid i had just learned to live with my demon as a survival mechanism, but now i know he's gone, destroyed in the fires of my courageous heart!
i'm healthy and i know it - clap my hands!
saturday morning: a deep breath of winter air - crisp, sobering - complete and pure - it's my first breath. i step out into the sun. i've never been here before. God, it's so beautiful.. i'm surfacing after a long pull of cold lake michigan water. this is sun, this is air - feel the water run down my body taking with it the campfire, the red wine, the darkness of the night before, the sand, the sweat, the sun-baked tent and the thousands of tosses and turns, the open eyes of the many hours of morning. know and love these things. it's so bright.
pull, and pop! the ringing is gone. how long has that seed been in my teeth? that stone in my shoe? that water in my ear? i can hear everything - this is the first time. the clarity! these overtones! this is joy - and the world is snow melting on my tongue! how long have i been gone?!
i hear a symphony! i'm in the bright, shining world of the living and diana ross is here too! it's music in my head and it's finding it's way into my fingertips, into my soul, and out into the morning - i'm singing as i pedal toward work! hello, old lady! hello, little dog! hello, mitsubishi!
later i will have a joyful reunion with my inner-monologue! always crack'n wise and say'n all the shit i shouldn't. i'm so damn funny, and i've got so much to say - or, at least, i'm always talking. where have you been, friend? these are higher level brain functions! this is not only the automatic pilot that has somehow steered me through these last 2 weeks.. maybe i was worse off than i realized. i was afraid i had just learned to live with my demon as a survival mechanism, but now i know he's gone, destroyed in the fires of my courageous heart!
i'm healthy and i know it - clap my hands!
Monday, February 07, 2005
it's incredible - the speed with which i am passed from one set of open arms to another. it's scary how totally unanchored my social life is right now.. i'm a feather in the fucking wind.
clearly - we've got a lot of catching up to do, and i apologize that it's been so long. i've come down with a case of the hong-kong-flu-y (illegally smuggled into japan by non-other than my fabulous friend of so many years, chiann)!
i wouldn't do to say, "i've been sick" - indeed, it's really more like "i've been possessed" - or that is, i've been exorcist-sick. my demon has rendered my physical self completely useless and imprisoned my mental self in a nightmare version of my job by day and a psychedelic fever dream state by night. for a week now these halves have shared equal portion as i've been sleeping for 12 hours a night as a countermeasure.
- i will wage war on you by night - fear my wrath!
- orange juice can bring you comfort by day but nothing can protect you in sleep.
- God can protect me.
- not if you doubt him.
- then you can not win.
"abunai yo!" - a warning - shattered against my clenched teeth and reverberating around inside my skull. above my moving bicycle i am my floating head, drifted as in a dream down to her - time is still slow but catching up. *crash!
"oh my God! are you ok?" i'm standing over hiromi - touching her face and hands. she unfolds in my arms, stretches as if waking there. so quiet, "ii - te," (mike, it hurts). i wince back. i look up at the taxi driver. sitting, he's smoking as if waiting for the light to change. he's scowling. he has so many faces.
eri is here now. "i'm fine, i'm ok" hiromi's eyes are open - a single mascara tear rolling from each. - her voice is so american. she sounds just like lola.
chiann and taku came to visit me in okayama! what a fabulous time we had! all together and happy - just like old times! saturday we all went drinking and dancing with eri and her friends (we all agreed that eri is the nazz). sunday we packed all the food and booze we would need and took a train way out into the countryside to stay at the villa in takebe! the villa was beautiful and right on the river - best of all, it had a hot spring! we took a dip after dark and then moved inside to cooperatively cook a giant dinner of yaki-soba and salad. we drank a jug of carlo, a milk carton of sake, and a 24 pack of malt-liquor-near-beer between us - 1020 would have been proud. we were still wearing our oh-so-japanese happi coats from our dip in the spring and it made for some great pictures. it was cold as hell. we all passed out and shivered through the night. chiann's ever-present death cough has been multiplied by her proximity to china and she shook our souls with it's depth. i blame the booze, the cold, and the chinamen for my contraction of the possession-flu.
- i don't think chinaman is the correct nomenclature
- you know in your heart that it is
scowling - he took his time. he was holding something. a clipboard. he spat and cursed. he walked around the cab and stood over hiromi, still propped up against his car. he pointed down at her with his crooked smoking fingers - many faces rolling over so many yellow teeth - he belched out some hateful accusation.
my fingers wrapped around the taped, familiar handle of the baseball bat i longed to find in my right hand. i wanted to scatter those broken, bleeding teeth all over the street.
he's asking for money. right here? now? snake. he's the one that will pay. eri, call the police.
- but you know that the light was red.
- i saw nothing. he will pay.
the police came and transformed from their blue suites into their space-man crime scene safety outfits: white helmets, silver reflective vests with red runner lights and illuminating hip packs. they took everyone's account of the situation and many measurements in the street. i was grateful that no one was interested in speaking to me - tough i've always preferred having the power of flight to the ability to disappear.
hiromi and eri were swept away by the taxi cab's insuranceman. a-ki and i were now alone. it was the first time i noticed her there, though she hadn't taken her eyes off me since the accident. we went out for coffee and and a kiss on the cheek. we were very happy.
here we are in takebe!
clearly - we've got a lot of catching up to do, and i apologize that it's been so long. i've come down with a case of the hong-kong-flu-y (illegally smuggled into japan by non-other than my fabulous friend of so many years, chiann)!
i wouldn't do to say, "i've been sick" - indeed, it's really more like "i've been possessed" - or that is, i've been exorcist-sick. my demon has rendered my physical self completely useless and imprisoned my mental self in a nightmare version of my job by day and a psychedelic fever dream state by night. for a week now these halves have shared equal portion as i've been sleeping for 12 hours a night as a countermeasure.
- i will wage war on you by night - fear my wrath!
- orange juice can bring you comfort by day but nothing can protect you in sleep.
- God can protect me.
- not if you doubt him.
- then you can not win.
"abunai yo!" - a warning - shattered against my clenched teeth and reverberating around inside my skull. above my moving bicycle i am my floating head, drifted as in a dream down to her - time is still slow but catching up. *crash!
"oh my God! are you ok?" i'm standing over hiromi - touching her face and hands. she unfolds in my arms, stretches as if waking there. so quiet, "ii - te," (mike, it hurts). i wince back. i look up at the taxi driver. sitting, he's smoking as if waiting for the light to change. he's scowling. he has so many faces.
eri is here now. "i'm fine, i'm ok" hiromi's eyes are open - a single mascara tear rolling from each. - her voice is so american. she sounds just like lola.
chiann and taku came to visit me in okayama! what a fabulous time we had! all together and happy - just like old times! saturday we all went drinking and dancing with eri and her friends (we all agreed that eri is the nazz). sunday we packed all the food and booze we would need and took a train way out into the countryside to stay at the villa in takebe! the villa was beautiful and right on the river - best of all, it had a hot spring! we took a dip after dark and then moved inside to cooperatively cook a giant dinner of yaki-soba and salad. we drank a jug of carlo, a milk carton of sake, and a 24 pack of malt-liquor-near-beer between us - 1020 would have been proud. we were still wearing our oh-so-japanese happi coats from our dip in the spring and it made for some great pictures. it was cold as hell. we all passed out and shivered through the night. chiann's ever-present death cough has been multiplied by her proximity to china and she shook our souls with it's depth. i blame the booze, the cold, and the chinamen for my contraction of the possession-flu.
- i don't think chinaman is the correct nomenclature
- you know in your heart that it is
scowling - he took his time. he was holding something. a clipboard. he spat and cursed. he walked around the cab and stood over hiromi, still propped up against his car. he pointed down at her with his crooked smoking fingers - many faces rolling over so many yellow teeth - he belched out some hateful accusation.
my fingers wrapped around the taped, familiar handle of the baseball bat i longed to find in my right hand. i wanted to scatter those broken, bleeding teeth all over the street.
he's asking for money. right here? now? snake. he's the one that will pay. eri, call the police.
- but you know that the light was red.
- i saw nothing. he will pay.
the police came and transformed from their blue suites into their space-man crime scene safety outfits: white helmets, silver reflective vests with red runner lights and illuminating hip packs. they took everyone's account of the situation and many measurements in the street. i was grateful that no one was interested in speaking to me - tough i've always preferred having the power of flight to the ability to disappear.
hiromi and eri were swept away by the taxi cab's insuranceman. a-ki and i were now alone. it was the first time i noticed her there, though she hadn't taken her eyes off me since the accident. we went out for coffee and and a kiss on the cheek. we were very happy.
here we are in takebe!
Sunday, January 23, 2005
the other half of a most amusing series of emails
Mike. :) I wakatted! I love the way you dance! It was like a commedy sketch we both each other, wasn't it!But you were skilled like a Charie Chapplin! How did you get your style? I act as I feel into rhythms and beats and developped my free style! Not minding how I look and judged by others. Actually, you were there and I could be spunky as I am. It was a fabious weekend! Waa! :o Eri
You too Mike! Definiately eye catching you were amongst everyones were dancing patterned! You have a lot of stories into music desne.:-> Found you the best dance mate for the first time! At first I didn't have brave to get minggled up with you and you gave an ice break by jumping at me! Haha! I used to have complex not being able to dance like other sexy women bouncing tits and blowing their long hair cool ways. I developped my original way to enjoy myself going many times! Recently I had been retired from club scenes getting tired with my patterns. You are certainly much more skilled and various than me thus I got stimulated to compete with you! I am happy that we could entertain people there I reckon! So you got here recently? Now happy with your new hair, Mike? I am visiting London in April and may call on into a club, Blue Note. I would enjoy dance the best if could find a funny dancer like you, Mike! So let's occupy dance stage for developping our next dance show too! Yeah! Bang! Bang! Eri
Why you hate your hair style? You got shaved it all? I think your curry hair was smart and fashionable enough for work and conferences! Who would your curry hair judge not tidy? I have short spiky hair by hair gum or wax and yesterday the hat made my hair style naff! So when the hat escaped I screamed! Kyaaaa! You were kind to my hat! Haha!
ENGENEERING '9-5'?YEARS?? MICHIGAN'S CAPITAL CITY IS DETROYD! SO YOU WERE A CAR ENGENEER!AND YOU WERE A MEMBER OF A ROCKE'N ROLL AMATURE BAND, MIKE?
So your days now ぼうけん and とてもたのしい？I am just back home. Been out since last evening staying at Aki's! You keep your self warm zipping up your jamper, Mike! Not opening jacket busy like last night! Haha! Hot bath for me! またね☆ Eri
You too Mike! Definiately eye catching you were amongst everyones were dancing patterned! You have a lot of stories into music desne.:-> Found you the best dance mate for the first time! At first I didn't have brave to get minggled up with you and you gave an ice break by jumping at me! Haha! I used to have complex not being able to dance like other sexy women bouncing tits and blowing their long hair cool ways. I developped my original way to enjoy myself going many times! Recently I had been retired from club scenes getting tired with my patterns. You are certainly much more skilled and various than me thus I got stimulated to compete with you! I am happy that we could entertain people there I reckon! So you got here recently? Now happy with your new hair, Mike? I am visiting London in April and may call on into a club, Blue Note. I would enjoy dance the best if could find a funny dancer like you, Mike! So let's occupy dance stage for developping our next dance show too! Yeah! Bang! Bang! Eri
Why you hate your hair style? You got shaved it all? I think your curry hair was smart and fashionable enough for work and conferences! Who would your curry hair judge not tidy? I have short spiky hair by hair gum or wax and yesterday the hat made my hair style naff! So when the hat escaped I screamed! Kyaaaa! You were kind to my hat! Haha!
ENGENEERING '9-5'?YEARS?? MICHIGAN'S CAPITAL CITY IS DETROYD! SO YOU WERE A CAR ENGENEER!AND YOU WERE A MEMBER OF A ROCKE'N ROLL AMATURE BAND, MIKE?
So your days now ぼうけん and とてもたのしい？I am just back home. Been out since last evening staying at Aki's! You keep your self warm zipping up your jamper, Mike! Not opening jacket busy like last night! Haha! Hot bath for me! またね☆ Eri
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
kids trainers SOS
The following is an actual email to my support staff in osaka:
[ dear kids trainers, it looks like i just wrote you a book - please consider my situation and offer me whatever support and advice you can. * first, on a business note, i have MK, A, B, and C level pre-lessons next week!! i have the materials you sent for A, and B, but was alerted today that MK (and maybe C) level pre-lessons are not standard issue. we've sold these classes and i'm expected to teach them. please save me! ]
i got a marvelous good look at my ass today as it was being handed to me on a silver platter by a room full of darling children..
i had my first kids lesson today and it was a triple-fat model-lesson with major sales potential. i had plenty of advanced notice and took special care to be as prepared as possible. i flipped through the KEW teacher's handbook this week as a review and committed my three lesson plans to memory. i had seen trainer john do something not unlike this a few weeks ago and it didn't look like anything i couldn't handle.
i arrived early and found my wonderful staff girls making the room ready - they had already pulled my materials and made photocopies for me (they are so great). my director asked me to entertain/distract the kids while she took their parents money and i cheerfully agreed.
my first lesson was an AL, just 2 kids - twins in fact, and identically dressed. they were shy in the lobby, but max helped break the ice a little bit. when we stepped into the room and got started, the girls would have nothing to do with me. thing 1 was totally lost in space, unreceptive to any outside stimulus. thing 2, bless her heart, had it in for me. throughout the hello song and head,shoulders,etc., she screamed and wiggled refusing to compromise my survival! mom and grandma did everything they could.. she wasn't going to have it. she finally brightened up at the prospect of throwing a giant die at me for 5 min, though touching her nose was clearly asking too much. she ran out of breath for teddy bear and fumed silently. thing 1 just lay there like a slug.
then the strangest thing happened.. the pair of them were completely captivated by the damn alpha mats. each paired with a guardian, they were touching, understanding, and saying the names of the letters as prompted. i couldn't believe it! things deteriorated again as i intro-ed the good bye song, the girls reverting to their stunned and militant prior states, respectively.
[thing 1 personality i can handle - she eventually snapped out of it and joined the class as i hoped she would. thing 2, however.. - i mean, what can you do when a toddler screams at you for 10 min? her mom's right there and can't stop it.. ]
so, things didn't go so well.. i just hope their mother understands.. i walked out to the lobby with them and grandma seemed to have things under control, allowing mom to talk business.
next was MK - i had 17 min. i quickly set to throwing my outline up on the board and switching tapes only to receive a stiff reminder that i was asked to watch the kids - now a lobby of nearly 6 of them. i walked around but only frightened the children that weren't already face-buried in their mothers. legos were everywhere thanks to my new best friend (and we all know him well), yusuke.
[ i now recognize the dire importance of warming up to the students in the lobby before class, but find i'm at a total loss for words when it comes to kid's lobby talk and mom-side manner. i got "what's your name/age?" - but i could use some pointers here. ]
my new class fell into their student rolls as i pre-taught "let's have fun". on my right, dream child - a fabulously bright and outgoing little girl - followed along and repeated everything i said with boisterous laughter! yusuke followed along to a degree, but made it clear that he would only do so if he could have free run of the room and was occasionally allowed to open and close the classroom sliding door. his mom seemed to agree to these conditions, but was rather red-faced that she couldn't control him in the least. next was a small round boy who preferred to be a permanent fixture on his mother's lap, teetering on the edge of sleep. finally was a hand puppet of 15 months.. clearly just there for the exposure.
things went.. ok. the kids weren't nearly as hypnotized by the video as they should have been (personalities carrying them as they had at the beginning of class). the parachute was a big hit. i struggled to include the guardians and the two children that resembled furniture, but was betrayed by obscured nametags.
i'm not sure what kind impression/sale i made. i did, however, keep the kids in my room for the 20 min interim period, as to give the staff a chance to make said sale. well, that is, i attempted to keep them in my room.. anyway, i was able to get my next lesson plan on the board under elephant fire (yusuke has at least learned the word "catch"), but wasn't allowed a lobby opportunity to warm up to the my next three AM's.
I started out AM breaking in 2 shy kids with some commando. a third lurked outside struggling to crawl back into his mother's whom. my 2 kids responded ok and i did eventually elicit 5 fruit names from each. the third eventually made it into the room but opted to spend his lesson in the corner with his face in a cushion. every time i so much as looked in his direction, he flinched as if from an incoming blow to the head. i offered him fruit, feely-bag, you name it. my efforts were hopeless, my attention just made it worse. when i pulled the table out, he did huddle up to check us out revealing a full-grown una-brow.. likely the cause of all his dramatic embarrassment.
[ in retrospect, i should have invited mom in to coddle lil' una-brow.. but things went ok with the other 2. i did botch the timing a little (due to a small class and failing interest) but extended color time and covered for it ok. ]
so, i had a talk with my staff. they seem to be a little let down that i'm not so naturally talented at teaching kids as i am at everything else (hehe). the worst part is: i think their perception of my performance came directly from parent perceptions - eek. i was able to explain to them why lobby time was proving to be technically difficult, as i do need some of that 20 min. to prepare.
i'm not happy with the way things went today. i clearly lack experience in teaching kids (and experience with kids in general). i'm sure i would improve over time, but my situation here in okayama does not permit such a luxury. i have pre-lessons next week and it's time for me to shine! i've got more model lessons coming up and it's imperative that i do an outstanding job and do my part to sell this program!
now that i've at least done these lessons once, i'm hoping to spend more of my available brain power on classroom management issues. i will read what we've got on this, though (and you know) it can be more difficult to implement these theories in the actual classroom. of course, the pre-lessons are all new to me and will require some working memory allocation to the task at hand, time management, etc.
thanks so much, kids trainers, for hanging with my situation here in okayama. if you were closer, i would have insisted we have this conversation over beers.. but an obscenely long email will have to do. please again * note my pre-lesson requirement stated at the beginning of this email. hear from you soon. -mike!
ECC岡山の Michael Josiah Solo
[ dear kids trainers, it looks like i just wrote you a book - please consider my situation and offer me whatever support and advice you can. * first, on a business note, i have MK, A, B, and C level pre-lessons next week!! i have the materials you sent for A, and B, but was alerted today that MK (and maybe C) level pre-lessons are not standard issue. we've sold these classes and i'm expected to teach them. please save me! ]
i got a marvelous good look at my ass today as it was being handed to me on a silver platter by a room full of darling children..
i had my first kids lesson today and it was a triple-fat model-lesson with major sales potential. i had plenty of advanced notice and took special care to be as prepared as possible. i flipped through the KEW teacher's handbook this week as a review and committed my three lesson plans to memory. i had seen trainer john do something not unlike this a few weeks ago and it didn't look like anything i couldn't handle.
i arrived early and found my wonderful staff girls making the room ready - they had already pulled my materials and made photocopies for me (they are so great). my director asked me to entertain/distract the kids while she took their parents money and i cheerfully agreed.
my first lesson was an AL, just 2 kids - twins in fact, and identically dressed. they were shy in the lobby, but max helped break the ice a little bit. when we stepped into the room and got started, the girls would have nothing to do with me. thing 1 was totally lost in space, unreceptive to any outside stimulus. thing 2, bless her heart, had it in for me. throughout the hello song and head,shoulders,etc., she screamed and wiggled refusing to compromise my survival! mom and grandma did everything they could.. she wasn't going to have it. she finally brightened up at the prospect of throwing a giant die at me for 5 min, though touching her nose was clearly asking too much. she ran out of breath for teddy bear and fumed silently. thing 1 just lay there like a slug.
then the strangest thing happened.. the pair of them were completely captivated by the damn alpha mats. each paired with a guardian, they were touching, understanding, and saying the names of the letters as prompted. i couldn't believe it! things deteriorated again as i intro-ed the good bye song, the girls reverting to their stunned and militant prior states, respectively.
[thing 1 personality i can handle - she eventually snapped out of it and joined the class as i hoped she would. thing 2, however.. - i mean, what can you do when a toddler screams at you for 10 min? her mom's right there and can't stop it.. ]
so, things didn't go so well.. i just hope their mother understands.. i walked out to the lobby with them and grandma seemed to have things under control, allowing mom to talk business.
next was MK - i had 17 min. i quickly set to throwing my outline up on the board and switching tapes only to receive a stiff reminder that i was asked to watch the kids - now a lobby of nearly 6 of them. i walked around but only frightened the children that weren't already face-buried in their mothers. legos were everywhere thanks to my new best friend (and we all know him well), yusuke.
[ i now recognize the dire importance of warming up to the students in the lobby before class, but find i'm at a total loss for words when it comes to kid's lobby talk and mom-side manner. i got "what's your name/age?" - but i could use some pointers here. ]
my new class fell into their student rolls as i pre-taught "let's have fun". on my right, dream child - a fabulously bright and outgoing little girl - followed along and repeated everything i said with boisterous laughter! yusuke followed along to a degree, but made it clear that he would only do so if he could have free run of the room and was occasionally allowed to open and close the classroom sliding door. his mom seemed to agree to these conditions, but was rather red-faced that she couldn't control him in the least. next was a small round boy who preferred to be a permanent fixture on his mother's lap, teetering on the edge of sleep. finally was a hand puppet of 15 months.. clearly just there for the exposure.
things went.. ok. the kids weren't nearly as hypnotized by the video as they should have been (personalities carrying them as they had at the beginning of class). the parachute was a big hit. i struggled to include the guardians and the two children that resembled furniture, but was betrayed by obscured nametags.
i'm not sure what kind impression/sale i made. i did, however, keep the kids in my room for the 20 min interim period, as to give the staff a chance to make said sale. well, that is, i attempted to keep them in my room.. anyway, i was able to get my next lesson plan on the board under elephant fire (yusuke has at least learned the word "catch"), but wasn't allowed a lobby opportunity to warm up to the my next three AM's.
I started out AM breaking in 2 shy kids with some commando. a third lurked outside struggling to crawl back into his mother's whom. my 2 kids responded ok and i did eventually elicit 5 fruit names from each. the third eventually made it into the room but opted to spend his lesson in the corner with his face in a cushion. every time i so much as looked in his direction, he flinched as if from an incoming blow to the head. i offered him fruit, feely-bag, you name it. my efforts were hopeless, my attention just made it worse. when i pulled the table out, he did huddle up to check us out revealing a full-grown una-brow.. likely the cause of all his dramatic embarrassment.
[ in retrospect, i should have invited mom in to coddle lil' una-brow.. but things went ok with the other 2. i did botch the timing a little (due to a small class and failing interest) but extended color time and covered for it ok. ]
so, i had a talk with my staff. they seem to be a little let down that i'm not so naturally talented at teaching kids as i am at everything else (hehe). the worst part is: i think their perception of my performance came directly from parent perceptions - eek. i was able to explain to them why lobby time was proving to be technically difficult, as i do need some of that 20 min. to prepare.
i'm not happy with the way things went today. i clearly lack experience in teaching kids (and experience with kids in general). i'm sure i would improve over time, but my situation here in okayama does not permit such a luxury. i have pre-lessons next week and it's time for me to shine! i've got more model lessons coming up and it's imperative that i do an outstanding job and do my part to sell this program!
now that i've at least done these lessons once, i'm hoping to spend more of my available brain power on classroom management issues. i will read what we've got on this, though (and you know) it can be more difficult to implement these theories in the actual classroom. of course, the pre-lessons are all new to me and will require some working memory allocation to the task at hand, time management, etc.
thanks so much, kids trainers, for hanging with my situation here in okayama. if you were closer, i would have insisted we have this conversation over beers.. but an obscenely long email will have to do. please again * note my pre-lesson requirement stated at the beginning of this email. hear from you soon. -mike!
ECC岡山の Michael Josiah Solo
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
frozen friends '05
i returned to okayama to find her streets empty – my friends driven inside by the biting cold. i was sure i would find megumi, still braving the bitterest in the shortest of skirts, but the post-card poet was nowhere to be found. i can't imagine what horrible cold finally broke her, but clearly no one dared stay in it after she'd gone.
my heater had also broken, and it had become too cold in my apartment to pretend otherwise. i spent my evenings camped-out in a coffee shop; lesson planning, pondering, and studying japanese - all undertakings newly motivated by "resolution list '05".
indeed, i was hitting the books. the structured learning was providing a much needed backbone for my otherwise protozoaic proficiency in the language. but then the weekend rolled round and i decided i deserved a break. with my usual avenues of social and solitary distraction frozen, i became reacquainted with an acquaintance of mine; miss america.
i met liberty on the first day of our japanese class. she had already been in okayama for several months but somehow hadn't sunk in any deeper than "air-i-gato" - her meek, questioning tone betraying her to her insecurities and fragile sense of self-worth. a week later i had advanced a level and she had given up, opting instead to spend her thursday noon’s enjoying the familiarity of flannel pajama pants and macaroni and cheese. i had seen her one time since then, walking the well worn path between mcdonald's and "the big daikon", huddled in the warmth and safety of her gaijin friends. i'm sure it was the riddling guilt that she had somehow hurt my feelings by not emailing me that brought her to emailing me. "wana try this new pizza place?"
despite liberty's shortcomings in matters of assimilation, she’s a lot of fun and has managed to fall in with a pretty great little crowd of japanese and foreigners that i am now fortunate enough to call friends. we're even tentatively planning a trip to a local ski hill!
***
now my heater's fixed and i'm warm and safe in a whole new social situation. in fact, i'm getting this warm and fuzzy, no-place-like-home feeling just being back in okayama and back at work. more than ever, i'm looking forward to the challenge and experience this year will bring!
my heater had also broken, and it had become too cold in my apartment to pretend otherwise. i spent my evenings camped-out in a coffee shop; lesson planning, pondering, and studying japanese - all undertakings newly motivated by "resolution list '05".
indeed, i was hitting the books. the structured learning was providing a much needed backbone for my otherwise protozoaic proficiency in the language. but then the weekend rolled round and i decided i deserved a break. with my usual avenues of social and solitary distraction frozen, i became reacquainted with an acquaintance of mine; miss america.
i met liberty on the first day of our japanese class. she had already been in okayama for several months but somehow hadn't sunk in any deeper than "air-i-gato" - her meek, questioning tone betraying her to her insecurities and fragile sense of self-worth. a week later i had advanced a level and she had given up, opting instead to spend her thursday noon’s enjoying the familiarity of flannel pajama pants and macaroni and cheese. i had seen her one time since then, walking the well worn path between mcdonald's and "the big daikon", huddled in the warmth and safety of her gaijin friends. i'm sure it was the riddling guilt that she had somehow hurt my feelings by not emailing me that brought her to emailing me. "wana try this new pizza place?"
despite liberty's shortcomings in matters of assimilation, she’s a lot of fun and has managed to fall in with a pretty great little crowd of japanese and foreigners that i am now fortunate enough to call friends. we're even tentatively planning a trip to a local ski hill!
***
now my heater's fixed and i'm warm and safe in a whole new social situation. in fact, i'm getting this warm and fuzzy, no-place-like-home feeling just being back in okayama and back at work. more than ever, i'm looking forward to the challenge and experience this year will bring!
Thursday, January 06, 2005
another epically long flight back to japan.. and only a week later. what day is this?
i was happy to see taku waiting for me at the airport! i could have navigated the trains through the greater tokyo metropolitan, but wasn't in any condition to do so smiling. when we got back to his place i pretty much just passed out - and right in the middle of the pride fight too!
on the first we got up and did a little bit of city exploring. we were both surprised to find most of the city on shut-down for the holiday. we did eventually find a crowd of people in harajuku and blindly followed them past the most amazing street food and right through the gates of the famous meiji shrine! we ended up there completely by mistake, but even i know that meiji shrine is the single most popular (and therefore best) place in japan to wish/pry for good luck on the first of the year! the long walk through the woods was serenely zen-ful despite our sharing it with a few million people. of course, i have no great understanding or faith in shinto practices, but i followed suite and threw 5 en just in case it brings me some luck this year. it couldn't hurt, right?
we got home around beer o'clock - and because taku's mom was regretfully away (helping her father at their family shrine) - the guys headed out in search of refreshment. we found an izakaiya near the train station that was open and we all shuffled in. taku's brother manned the touch-screen menu controller and dad paid for everything! the food was great and it became clear that taku's heart-and-soul appreciation/enjoyment of good food and drink runs in his bloodline! sadly this indulgence would be our undoing - taku and i drank too much and sang karaoke too long into the night. we managed to waste the 2nd and the 3rd due to hangovers that could not be cured with ramen alone.
when taku's mom returned, she was finally able to resurrect us with her fabulous omochi new-years cooking extravaganza! but by the time we were aliveist, it was time for me to head home. taku's mom is the sweetest lady to bless this half of the planet and was so sad to see me go. she gave me cute new year's good luck charms and even forced some cash on me with tears in her eyes.
i loved to spending time with the aihara's and had a very japanese new year. now i feel like I have a family here, and though they're still not close, they're closer.
i was happy to see taku waiting for me at the airport! i could have navigated the trains through the greater tokyo metropolitan, but wasn't in any condition to do so smiling. when we got back to his place i pretty much just passed out - and right in the middle of the pride fight too!
on the first we got up and did a little bit of city exploring. we were both surprised to find most of the city on shut-down for the holiday. we did eventually find a crowd of people in harajuku and blindly followed them past the most amazing street food and right through the gates of the famous meiji shrine! we ended up there completely by mistake, but even i know that meiji shrine is the single most popular (and therefore best) place in japan to wish/pry for good luck on the first of the year! the long walk through the woods was serenely zen-ful despite our sharing it with a few million people. of course, i have no great understanding or faith in shinto practices, but i followed suite and threw 5 en just in case it brings me some luck this year. it couldn't hurt, right?
we got home around beer o'clock - and because taku's mom was regretfully away (helping her father at their family shrine) - the guys headed out in search of refreshment. we found an izakaiya near the train station that was open and we all shuffled in. taku's brother manned the touch-screen menu controller and dad paid for everything! the food was great and it became clear that taku's heart-and-soul appreciation/enjoyment of good food and drink runs in his bloodline! sadly this indulgence would be our undoing - taku and i drank too much and sang karaoke too long into the night. we managed to waste the 2nd and the 3rd due to hangovers that could not be cured with ramen alone.
when taku's mom returned, she was finally able to resurrect us with her fabulous omochi new-years cooking extravaganza! but by the time we were aliveist, it was time for me to head home. taku's mom is the sweetest lady to bless this half of the planet and was so sad to see me go. she gave me cute new year's good luck charms and even forced some cash on me with tears in her eyes.
i loved to spending time with the aihara's and had a very japanese new year. now i feel like I have a family here, and though they're still not close, they're closer.
a week of record-setting rain appropriately set the stage for my week in los angeles. it wasn't bright smiling sunshine, but it still beat the hell out of a tsunami wiping the city off the face of the earth.
i was so happy to find my grandfather spirited and himself despite the clockwork of medication and hospitalization that has become his life. he even made a request for okonomiyaki, the cabbage pancake he had been eager to try since my blog description weeks ago. his positive attitude made my family forget every reason we had to be sad and we were able to relax and enjoy our time together - we even visited the happiest place on earth!
being back in america gave me a chance to catch up with some old friends - namely, "the burnt tortilla", "lucille's smokehouse bar.b.que", and "roscoe's house of chicken 'n waffles". i was happy to see them all again, but i seem to have lost my ability to disappear even a half-rack of beef ribs, well.. at least when their served with corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and fresh backed biscuits. oh yeah..
i spent the week weather-effected, jet-lagged, and food-coma-ed, still it was wonderful to see my family and see poppies smiling and himself!
here's a rare sight - a rainbow on cloudy hermosa beach:
i was so happy to find my grandfather spirited and himself despite the clockwork of medication and hospitalization that has become his life. he even made a request for okonomiyaki, the cabbage pancake he had been eager to try since my blog description weeks ago. his positive attitude made my family forget every reason we had to be sad and we were able to relax and enjoy our time together - we even visited the happiest place on earth!
being back in america gave me a chance to catch up with some old friends - namely, "the burnt tortilla", "lucille's smokehouse bar.b.que", and "roscoe's house of chicken 'n waffles". i was happy to see them all again, but i seem to have lost my ability to disappear even a half-rack of beef ribs, well.. at least when their served with corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and fresh backed biscuits. oh yeah..
i spent the week weather-effected, jet-lagged, and food-coma-ed, still it was wonderful to see my family and see poppies smiling and himself!
here's a rare sight - a rainbow on cloudy hermosa beach:
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