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Tour of My House
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Jump to January:
    Week 1:   1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th  
    Week 2:   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th  
    Week 3:   16th   17th   18th   19th   20th   21st   22nd   23rd  
    Week 4:   24th   25th   26th   27th   28th   29th   30th   31st  
Image Jump:
  • Barbecued Boar
  • Uncooked and Ready to Eat
  • Links To Dead Pig Pics
  • The Stages of a Bonfire
  • Drinking Sake Out of Bamboo
  • A Big Spider
  • Snow!
  • My Car in the Snow
  • Takano Snowball Fight
  • Week 4

    Saturday, Jan 24

      IN A NUTSHELL: No Hot Water

      Pancakes As I turned on my tap this morning and attempted to do my dishes, I realized they turned off the hot water as well. Brrr. If it gets down to desperation, I will wash them in the ice water. We'll have to see how many dishes I use in the next five days. I made pancakes - I love how their pancake mix comes in individually wrapped servings so I don't have to measure - and used the last of my maple syrup, the expensive imported Canadian brand; yes I'm serious about my maple syrup. I'm trying to see just HOW long I can go without driving to Miyoshi to shop, but it's getting near Time. I'm so glad I got that extra milk from the school. With all the hot chocolate I've been downing, using milk instead of water, my milk supply is dwindling fast and Sakugi stores are closed on Sunday usually. Oh, and THANK YOU to whomever got me the super mega Mrs. Fields container of Hot Chocolate. (It was in one of my Christmas boxes) I'm just loving it! Especially now that I've run out of anything else chocolate in my house.

      Hmmm I was talking my mom the nurse about this recurring stomach ache I'm having (like the food poisoning isn't going away or something) and she theorized it might be an ulcer. Ye, gads. I told her about the septic tank and she wondered if Sakugi got its water from a well. I had no idea. I just use my taps like normal. However, if it does turn out to be from a well, I think I will start using that Brita filter my predecessor left me. In the meantime, I'm trying to remember if I've ever seen anyone drink tap water. The Japanese just don't drink nearly the volume of water that I do so it is hard to tell.

      To Pin-pon or Not to Pin-pon I made good on Odagawa-san's offer to use her shower and walked over to what I was pretty sure was her house. I would have called first except I could not find her phone number either among my things, on my phone, in the phone book (which only lists public places apparently, even in the white pages), the guy at the bunka center didn't know and Maruyama-san wasn't home. I rang the bell of the giant house. No answer. The name plate on the door did not look like "Odagawa" in the sense that I assume "gawa" is river and river, a very simple kanji, was not the one on the name plate. However, the small white truck in the driveway really looked like the same one she picked me up in. Then again, everyone and their brother has one of those little white pickups. I rang the bell again, but no answer. I walked back home and about an hour later, Odagawa-san comes to MY door to invite me over to use her bath. As we were walking back to her house, I told her that I must have made a mistake when I looked for her house before. However, she walked to the very same house! Eh? Maybe her pin-pon doorbell is broken. Anyway, I used her shower (she was actually drawing me a bath in her very nice tub before I stopped her... the Japanese are really into their baths, but I just wanted to be clean fast) and loved how the steam was so thick it obscured everything. Why is her steam thicker than my steam? Anyway afterward, she fed me and fed me and fed me and talked about the times that my predecessor used to come over to talk. It was very nice. I learned about a nifty instant soup mix that I think I will use instead of miso mix. She sent me home with some.

      Well! I asked Odagawa-san about the water source and she told me that Sakugi had its own water source from the farmland area. So does that mean we DO use the well? If I'm drinking unpurified water, that might explain all these problems I'm having. Time to switch to the Brita filter!

    Sunday, Jan 25

      IN A NUTSHELL: Still No Hot Water

      Time to Clean I caught up on all my sleep for the past month, then I (finally) cleaned my house. Everything but my dishes. Although I'm sure I can get them almost as clean with cold water, I just don't want to numb my hands in the process. Brrr.

    Monday, Jan 26

      IN A NUTSHELL: Jazz Chants and Serious Expressions

      Got a Lift! I am quite glad I woke up early this morning in preparation to walk to school (still not quite feeling comfortable driving in the narrow, snowy roads) because just as I was about ready to set off, Odagawa-san dropped by to pick me up! If I had planned to drive, she would have caught me in my PJs and had to wait ten minutes. I wonder if her little teeny mini white pickup is actually better in the snow than my car.

      It's a Snap! I read about this idea for teaching phonics in one of the JET activity books. It was such a short section, I never quite understood it, but this week I decided to give it a go anyway. The activity is called Jazz Chants. My version basically had three groups of students each repeatedly chanting something to four beats, like so:

      (beats:)    .     .     .     .    

        1        a          at
        2   b b b b b b bat
        3               c   cat

      I had each group stand up and practice separately, then I'd start one and slowly add the others. It was way fun and a much better way to learn phonics than just going through the alphabet. If they taught phonics AT ALL at my Jr. High, I'd have felt more compelled to try it at the Jr. High level, but there is so much katakana-English there, I'm not sure what to do about it. I suspect that the reason Tomomi-sensei uses so much katakana is that he wanted it when he was a student. Tomomi's accent is not too bad so maybe he knows something I don't. Well, either way, since the jazz chants were so fun, I'll definitely do them again and maybe I'll work on Tomomi about phonics.

      Board of Education Stuff I was unable to get to the post office, again, to pay for my Hokkaido trip because it is impossible to walk there and back and not miss any classes or lunch. But tomorrow is the deadline - the real deadline (he already extended it.) It's tomorrow or bust. Anyway, I got the December Sakugi magazine and was disappointed to note that they did not correct the apostrophes. All my apostrophes looked like little Japanese kana and I did not correct it in the rough version, assuming it was an obvious mistake. I guess they thought I really wanted all my apostrophes to look like little "yu". Next time, I will type it in Japanese Word. Also on my desk was my own, personal copy of the staff picture taken at the town hall on the day we had bento lunches. Not only did everyone have a serious expression, they were REALLY serious expressions and I am very glad I chose a closed-mouthed smile for most of the shots. Did I miss the call for a serious expression? I mean, what is the opposite of "Cheese"? Do the Japanese just know instinctively when to NOT smile?

      I Love When Random People Appear At Just The Right Moment Odagawa-san, my shower lady, was nowhere to be found so I drove over to the culture center to try to use their shower. Last time I tried, no hot water came out so I made sure Maruyama-san came up with me. She had the same problem as me (a blinking "11") but a passing woman noticed that the gas switch on the actual pipe was not on and that is why no hot water was coming through. Whew, good timing. As I was walking out afterward, I saw a small group playing volleyball and they invited me to join them! Yay! Well, almost yay except that my hair was wet and I had no indoor gym shoes. I promised to come next Monday because it sounded like a blast! Note to self: buy indoor gym shoes. Also a snow scraper. And a flashlight since my old one refuses to work even with new batteries.

      Tatami Timeshare I received the women's version of Tatami Timeshare in the mail. (Tatami timeshare is basically a list of JETs who are willing to put you up if you're traveling.) I'm the only one in my prefecture. I'm so special.

    Tuesday, Jan 27

      IN A NUTSHELL: Adventures in Sakugi

      Come ON, Post Office Guy I was wiped today after only getting about 4 hours sleep, which did not help when Tomomi called on me to do a last minute activity that we never ended up using. We did, though, use the fun activity where everyone got in groups and figured out who was "tallest," had the "longest fingers" and so forth. I also finished up my Book 2 test for my Japanese Language Correspondence course (that one is due Wednesday.) I am all about "sunawachi" ("in other words") now. Anyway, I went to the post office to send in my Hokkaido money (and mail my test.) I wanted to send a message with my postal transfer because I figure if I am going to transfer $800, I want the recipient to know what it is for! And I just had a feeling I should anyway. Yuji-san, who is a sweet guy and always comes to my eikaiwa classes, told me it was cheaper to use the ATM machine and even offered to walk me through it. I said, "but I want to send a message." He said the machine lets you. I believed him, though I never recalled ever being able to do such a thing. So he goes through it step by step. He did give me one important piece of info - that since the postal machine takes from my account, I have to DEPOSIT the money first, which was very important since I did not have that much money already in my account. So I deposited it and moved along. He even did it in English and... no message. Sigh. He was super apologetic, obviously feeling pretty stupid, but I told him not to worry and will just hope that the recipient knows what it's for.

      Random Other Stuff I Did Today I snuck a read in of the Asahi Shimbun (one of four English newspapers in Japan - the vice principal reads it regularly and said a long time ago that I was free to read if I wanted.) Oddly, just today I was thinking about how long it had been since I had read Dave Barry (and imagined all the funny stuff I had missed) and lo and behold, there was Dave Barry! In Asahi Shimbun! Cool! Tomomi went snowboarding again, it turns out, and is sore again, silly boy. Almost all the 7th graders got a perfect on the quiz. I said that he was a "Good Teacher" and he laughed. I think the five minutes of study time he gave them beforehand might have been the cause of high grades, too. When I walked out to my car, I saw that someone had put my windshield wipers up for me since I had not! It had not been necessary, but it was cute.

      Can't Find UFO I drove right to Miyoshi after school so I could squeeze in a UFO shopping spree before Japanese class. Only I could not find UFO and ended up turning onto a street FAR too narrow for two cars, so of course another car came along. We both nearly ended up in the gutter. I would not have had this problem if I could tell my left from my right and knew which side of the road UFO was on. I finally found it (it's PAST the Karaoke place) and had a relatively successful spree! Even found some mini-snow boots for $10 and a nice scraper. I ran into Kate (she has Japanese class before me) and even she is using "Honma" so I made definite sure to get that confirmed. Turns out, I was right. My tutor confirmed that it means "Honto" ("really") and is not only Hiroshima, but also Osaka dialect (and the whole Kansai area, apparently.) Ever since that one night, I hear "honma" ALL the time. I can't believe it isn't in the dictionary.

      Messages from God After class, I went food shopping at Fresta (the only food store open past 8pm.) I had not been shopping in so long that my bill came to over $100. The biggest purchases on my receipt? Disposable Camera, Imported Canadian Maple Syrup, and my Five Boxes of Cereal. All worth it. Really. No syrup comments allowed. I was driving out of Miyoshi when I saw that, on the mountain ahead in lights, it said "I Love You" (the "Love" actually being a heart.) It was odd because I could only see the top half of the letters and wondered if the letter shapes were a coincidence. I looked up a second time and that heart HAD to be a heart - no coincidence. But when I looked up a third time at the traffic light, the entire message was gone as if it had not been there. I did not see it again. Hmm. When I got home, I looked up at the sky and the clouds had parted just enough to reveal my favorite constellation, Orion, above. Second message? Happy me! However, I'm getting ahead of myself. The most interesting thing of the night happened between those two messages during my drive home...

      Adventures in Sakugi Just before the turnoff toward the tunnel that leads to Sakugi, I noticed a dark bulge ahead of me in the road. Unable to make out what it was, I slowed. Then my headlights hit it. A car had overturned on its side! I immediately pulled over, since it seemed no one else had yet. Well, I attempted to pull over. There's really no place to, especially with snow banked on either side of the road, so I just stopped in the middle of the lane, as I accuse oh-so-many people of doing too much, and put on my blinkers. Leaving my headlights on and car running, I got out, kind of wondering how much help a bumbling foreigner could possibly be. But my rampant curios... err, sense of duty would not allow me to leave without checking at least. There were about 5 people standing around outside in the cold, but it appeared no one was hurt at all, even though it looked like getting out of the sideways van would have been quite the chore. Three older people, a younger man and a younger woman about my age were there. I thought I had arrived before the police, but apparently they had not called anyone, not even a tow truck. The girl was on the phone with a friend. After a little while, the guy asked if I could help in the attempt to push the narrow small van-car back upright. I said OK, despite that if it had been me, I would have waited for professionals. We tried, but I wasn't coordinating with the hurried "Sei no"s and we could barely budge it (though it could not have been that heavy - it isn't a full sized car.) So instead we hung out and waited. I talked to the older lady who, it turns out, also lives in Sakugi (and graduated at Sakugi Jr. High which was apparently in the same building as today and this woman had to be in her late 60s.) She was very nice and surprised to hear that I was Sakugi's English teacher. As we stood around chatting, I seemed to be shivering the most although I was the most bundled up of anyone. Hmm. Finally a car stopped, perhaps the acquaintance they called? The five of us (not including the older woman) heaved and hoed and managed to push the van back upright without having it tip over in the other direction, which it nearly did. Then, they put in the key and it actually started! Some metal panel above the bumper was about to fall off, but they just rammed it back in. Then, they got in, turned around, and went on their merry way! They did not go toward Sakugi, but the older couple, who had just stopped to help, did go that way. Hmm. I'm not sure I'd trust myself driving a car that had just spent some time sideways. But I was glad I could do my part for bumbling foreigners.

      Bad Battery Karma? I was starving when I made it back home and actually felt kind of sick when I finally did eat. Bleah. To distract myself, I read the news and immediately started doing a "President Dean, President Clark, President Kerry" mantra so at least ONE of them would make it. So I tried out my new flashlight. I put in the batteries as directed. Nothing. I double and triple checked the placement, the size, how tightly I was closing it, etc, etc. Nothing. No light from this brand new flashlight. I now have two flashlights that don't work when I put new batteries in them. Huh? Am I missing something?

    Wednesday, Jan 28

      IN A NUTSHELL: Peter Pan Wouldn't Have Been This Stupid

      * * STUPID THINGS OF THE DAY * * Today deserves a list. Firstly, I did not remember when the 9th grade tests were, so I walked right into the Jr. High staff room this morning, totally interrupting the morning meeting, bugged Tomomi, and all for no reason since the tests were not until the next day anyway. Then I was a little late to the board of education because of it. That's not all. I went to get gas and she was nearly finished pumping when I realized the biggest bill in my wallet was an 1,000 yen (about $10) and gas usually costs triple that. I stopped her immediately because in Japan, there is no "let's use the credit card" option. I went through my purse and am glad I haven't cleaned out the change in awhile because I found enough change to pay the 2,640 yen bill. Whew on that one. What else did I do stupid? I totally hogged the color printer when Yamane-sensei was trying to get a few last minute items printed before the big afternoon teacher meeting. When he finally did get what he wanted, I found out that I had accidentally taken one of his prints in between mine because I was trying to be subtle by quickly putting my prints on my desk (I was printing out movie posters, but it was for my English Conversation Class! It's Work!) If I had just waited until the meeting started, I would have had the entire staff room all to myself for an hour and a half, but I forgot it was Wednesday.

      Peter Pan Despite being utterly exhausted, I dragged myself to the nursery school, realized I was too tight for my jeans (when did that happen?!) so sort of wore them unsnapped with two giant sweaters covering it, hoping that was enough, even for jumpy, crazy kids. Turns out, I did not need to worry. Today was a special event at the nursery school - a birthday party, apparently for January birthdays? - and so they were watching Peter Pan (the Disney version) dubbed. I never realized how flirty Peter Pan is with all the cartoon girls. No wonder Wendy gets short with him. The kids loved the alligator scenes (and also enjoyed sitting on my lap and toppling me.) I thought it slightly disturbing that Captain "Hook" was transliterated as "Fu-kku." Then again, I might not have noticed it had the rest of the dub not been so hard to understand. Anyway for lunch, because of the special day, we had little rice balls shaped like rabbits. Long, sliced potatoes were the ears and two bits of umeboshi (pickled plum) were the eyes. It was adorable! But it also meant that I had jumped out of bed this morning at 6:30am to start rice... for no reason. I also, after lunch, walked right on out without my backpack and did not realize it until I had already made it back to the Jr. High. Really, how do I not notice that I left my life in the other building?

      Funny Coincidence I was reading the news online tonight and I came across an article called "The boy who won't grow up turns 100" where it specifically talked about Peter Pan and its author because it is the 100th anniversary of the story. I learned that the author adopted a lot of kids and that the name "Wendy" came from one of them who had a lisp and said "fwendy" instead of "friendy." Random. (I learned later that Wendy was not even a name until this book came out.)

      Give the Green Light to a Black Sheep Once in a Blue Moon My Eikaiwa class tonight went great! The color printouts of the Academy Award nominees were a big hit. Three of the films were related to Japan: The Last Samurai, Lost in Translation, and Twilight Samurai. I think Twilight Samurai was the movie I saw right here at the bunka center all those months ago. That makes it one of the only movies on the list that I've been able to see. (Let me take a moment to lament that the closest movie theatre is TWO HOURS AWAY. Okay, moment over.) I then segued from Academy Awards into Red Carpet and Green Lighting a Movie, then to color idioms. This was fun. I found out Maruyama is afraid of spiders. I told her I was, too, and that I needed a husband to kill them for me. We both looked at postal worker guy but he said he was afriad of spiders, too. (Poor guy - the example sentence he gave for an idiom was, 'I have a girlfriend once in a blue moon.') I ditched exercise because I was still feeling really sore for some reason. I suspect it is from sitting under my kotatsu for hours and hours at a time on my computer, which is not ergonomically placed. Instead, I made a bag of shower stuff and walked over to Odagawa-san's house.

      All the Way From Home Odagawa-san was home (!) and explained to me that her doorbell did not work (even though I clearly heard it ding) and she could not hear it from the heated kitchen area of the house. So I asked for her phone number instead. We had a fun conversation and after my shower, she made me dinner again. This time, ramen and karatsu (?) which is a breaded potato thing. With it we had Italian wine and afterwards had... CELESTIAL SEASONINGS SLEEPYTIME TEA!!! Yay! Natsukashii! It came all the way from home to Japan so I could drink it. It was really yummy. Next time I go home, I am bringing back Sleepytime with me.

      Things My Predecessor Should Have Told Me I found out from Odagawa-san that my predecessor GOT SICK FROM THE WATER, too! (much more dramatically than I did, but sick nonetheless.) I suppose the Brita filter might have been a clue but a heads-up ("Don't drink the water!") might have been nice. I think I know why I'm sick now, though my predecessor had more skin type problems. Since was also my predecessor who left the Celestial Seasonings, I can't be too irritated. I wonder if that means the miso mix is okay after all. Anyway, it turns out Odagawa-san is a pretty nifty person. She listens to the radio (and doesn't even have a TV) in her huge house and I found out that her job is making school lunches for the elementary and Jr. High! I've been eating her cooking for months without knowing it!

      High Tech Japanese Stuff: Mr. Hot Am I behind in technology? Odagawa-san asked me if I was taking "hokka-hokka" or something to Hokkaido. I asked, "What?" She left and returned with a thin, plastic package. She opened it, stuck a large white patch on the back of my shirt and, within minutes, it warmed of its own accord! Like a portable electric blanket on my back! A very strange sensation indeed. She asked me if I was taking these to Hokkaido and I was like, "Hell yeah, I am now!" The plastic package said "Mr. Hot" and they have ones to warm up hands and feet, too. Why have I never heard of these before?

    Thursday, Jan 29

      IN A NUTSHELL: Clock Batteries of Doom

      Is My Clock Wrong? I got going at a normal time, but when I got in my car, it seemed like it was 10 minutes later than it should have been. No, it must be me, taking so darn long to get ready in the morning, making sure I don't forget anything.

      Testing Time During first period, there were tests for the third years. I've actually spent time worrying I am either speaking too fast for them to understand or too slow for them to get used to that speed for future tests. No worrying this time, but I could not help but notice that how fast I spoke seemed to be directly correlate with whether or not I saw the students in the first row write an answer down.

      Lots of Ceremonies Tomomi told me about all the ceremonies and meetings happening in March at the end of the term... RIGHT when I want to go to China to visit my friend. It's meeting after meeting. Closing ceremonies for the elementary, the Jr. High, the nursery school and (sniff) Sakugi! The Bye Bye Sakugi Village Party (okay, I'm sure there is a fancy kanji title) is the 14th. I'm not sure when I can squeeze in a vacation.

      My Clock IS Wrong! I had my koto lesson today. I thought I did pretty well with the song this time around - I've been practicing! I also learned today how to place the little plastic things under the strings to make a key (of A, G, C, whatever.) I winched my fingers a lot, but was really happy to learn something new. I went home at a reasonable hour and then I napped all evening, because I've been so tired lately. I never take naps. I woke up somewhere around 10 and I stayed up until 2am reading email which completely wasted the nap and got my body out of sync. Do'h. As I was about to head to bed, I looked at my kitchen clock. It was 45 minutes behind! My clock's batteries WERE running out and just did so at a cruel rate this morning.

    Friday, Jan 30

      IN A NUTSHELL: Mystery 8th Grade Issue

      Stupid, Stupid Nap Then nap I took last night messed me up like jetlag would. I was tired and had a nasty headache most of the day (and was late, despite my fixed clock.) I completely missed that there was a first period class despite it having been written on the board and Tomomi coming over to tell me the plan five minutes previous. It may have been a change. Since the Japanese teacher is taking health/maternity leave, they are shifting her classes. Well, I had to make copies at the last second, which I felt doubly stupid about. I don't remember the class, but afterward, I couldn't think, I couldn't work, I couldn't get anything done. I also had not had any caffeine, which combined with the kerosene fumes and other woman problems, did not help.

      Indian Food We had meat curry and nan for lunch! Although it was delicious, I could not finish it because I didn't feel good. I always know I'm not doing well when I can't finish food. I forced myself to take a walk outside and I think the fresh air did me good but A: I wish people did not think I was leaving and B: I would like to be given a key so I do not have to walk through half the school to get from the unlocked Main Entrance to the locked Shoe Entrance.

      Still A Mystery Our 8th grade English class was cancelled suddenly today. Tomomi told me that their homeroom teacher was having a talk with them about something that had happened and it would take our class period as well as his. A lot of times today, Moriguchi-sensei was the only staff member in the room and other times, I would see groups of teachers having Instant Meetings, standing in a circle near the heater. It all seemed very serious, but I was not sure if it was appropriate or my business to ask what was going on. I'd feel more comfortable asking if I was fluent in Japanese and I could "casually ask" and work my way around the subject. I can't do that yet in Japanese. I'm surprised anything happened with the 8th graders because, despite being mostly boys, they seem pretty good-natured and well-behaved. However, I remember my small Catholic schools having their share of class Issues when something small gets out of hand and goes from sort-of-mischievous to really-bad due to peer pressure or the momentum or whatever. Hmm...

      Snowballs and Chocolate When Tomomi asked what I was doing this weekend and I told him I might go up to Takano to root for my friends on the snowball fight team, he told me HE was on a team! Cool! Speaking of cool, there is a nice stock of chocolate in the staff room - hibernation instinct, I think.

    Saturday, Jan 31