Big Update

Ok. So there is a huge new development in my life. Anyone reading this should probably brace themselves. 1.....2.....3.....Did you psyche yourself up for this big news? Here it goes. Wait...If I tell you the big news first, everything you read after will be super boring. Let me give you an update on my everyday life first.

I've kinda fallen into a routine so I haven't really had anything all that exciting to talk about. During the weekdays, I work, buy groceries, sleep, cook, watch movies, walk around, play soccer, and sleep some more. On the weekends I will go out or stay in. Sometimes I'll go shopping, sometimes I won't. You know...a routine.

Anyway, I've begun to get used to my new school, Nishi Junior High (西中学校) (junior high = chuugakkou [chu]) ). It's a bit further than my previous school and the weather is getting hotter, so I've become a bit of a sweat monster again, but hey, that's life. Nishi-chu is the smallest of Kitamoto's junior highs and is about half the size of my previous school. In one week, I can teach each class two times while at other schools I would teach each class once a week or less on average. That's good because I am able to interact the students on a regular basis and can get to know them better.

Along with my new middle school, I have two new elementary schools: Ishito Elementary (石戸小学校) and Sakae Elelmentary (栄小学校) (elementary school = shougakkou [sho]). Both are nice and both are small. Sakae-sho is actually the smallest elementary school in Kitamoto. It has a whopping total of nine classes. First through fifth grade all have two classes and sixth has one. To give you a comparison, my previous elementary schools had no fewer than three classes per grade and often had four classes per grade. In two visits I would generally teach two grades. By contrast, in two visits to Sakae-sho, I teach the whole school.

On a different subject, I had a recent breakthrough with my Japanese studies. I discovered a function on my computer that allows me to write kanji with my mouse. Then, the computer gives me various possibilities for the kanji I drew. I can then select the appropriate one and place it in a Japanese dictionary program I have and *PRESTO*...I've got a direct input kanji translator! Now I can read a bunch of things that I couldn't before which is super convenient.

Now things I've done...hmmm. The other day, Caroline and I cooked for the Yonedas, their daughter and her friends during Golden Week*. Caroline made a turkey with rosemary and stuffing and I made three cheese mashed potatoes and white wine gravy. The meal turned out pretty well and everyone enjoyed eating it...with chopsticks. I'm sure I've eaten turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing with chopsticks before, but Caroline got a real kick out of it.

In other food news, I've recently picked up the knowledge of beer battering, so I now enjoy such luxuries as beer battered fish and chips and fish tacos (with white sauce). Unfortunately for the tacos, I don't know how to make a good pepper sauce yet and I have to use the only corn tortillas that are availabe to me and...well...they're not anything like corn tortillas. They're more like really weird flour tortillas. But hey, who cares? I'm eating tacos!

I also went to Harajuku during Golden Week and...umm...it was crowded to say the least. It took me about 15 minutes to get out of the station after getting off the train. I was supposed to meet Jen and her friend Shingo there, but when I called her, I just got a message that the person I was calling was in an area with no service. I decided to walk about for a bit and enjoy the varous shops and sights.

After a while, Jen finally got a hold of me (her phone died so she had to charge it in some random outlet in a store) and I went to meet her. She and Shingo took me into Yoyogi Park and we started making fun of the various things going on. First there were the Japanese greasers dancing. Then there were various bands playing. Next, a freestyle rapper...who was soooooooooooooo bad I had to laugh. All of this was on the way to the park.

In the park there were all kinds of people. There were people playing soccer, people playing frisbee, people juggling, people doing hacky sack, people walking their pets, people playing music, people having drinking parties, people playing limbo and finally there were people riding their bikes...one of whom rod his bike into the lake...wha?

Anyway, Caroline came out to meet us and we walked to Shibuya to go eat. Shingo took us to a restaurant that was high up in a building and had an outside patio for dining. It was a bit cold and windy, but we had a nice little meal with a good view of the city. After the meal we broke off and went to our respective destinations.

Let's see...what else...I went to a concert last night at a skeezy hole in the wall punk club. The whole place reeked of cigarettes and the floor was so sticky that if you stood in one place for too long, you would have to pull reasonably hard to get your foot off the floor. Also, the club had a crazy owner who would just walk up to random people and kiss them on the lips. Luckly I was warned of this before meeting him and I was born with a strong neck because when I had my encounter with him I was fully prepared to escape...and fortunately did without incident. Phew! Anyway, the show was alright in a weird sort of 40 year old hardcore band followed by punk girl cover band sort of a way. My ears are still a bit messed up from the show.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for...without further ado, my big story...my huge, life-changing news. I FOUND A MASKED WRESTLER TOILET SEAT COVER AND FLOOR MAT!!!! How awesome is that? I've never been so sure about a purchase before. I mean, look at it (check the attachments for a picture)! How could I pass it up? The answer...I couldn't.

Not quite as exciting as the toilet seat cover/floor mat combo, but exciting none the less, is my new bike. I decided that it was time for me to get a normal, adult sized bike to ride. I still have the Captain Stag (how could I get rid of it?) and now I've added the "Explwora" to my happy bicycle family. I bought it because it was super cheap and the right size...the super awesome name was just an added bonus that was noticed after the purchase. I was always taught that Explwora was spelled Explorer. Oh well...seems like my education was a waste...or that fortune shines brightly on me for buying bikes with weird names.


*Golden Week is a time when Japan has around 4 national holidays within a very close span of time and everyone generally gets 4-5 days off work. It's a horrible time to travel because all the prices go up, the roads get crowded, and the banks close. But it's a nice time to sit about and relax.