Today I had lunch with Ikeda sensei, for the second day in a row. Yesterday, we both had classes up until the official lunchbreak, so neither of us could sneak in to the cafeteria early before the students. I bought a bowl of katsudon for him, and we had lunch surrounded by crowds of screaming students.

This time it was much quieter. We got a chance to chat about what he’s going to do in the future, and it was fun talking with him. We speak only Japanese – he only knows a little bit of English. He sits only two desks away from me, and today he commented how tough it must be for me when the history teacher always comes and bothers me.

I thought it was interesting that someone else noticed that I’m constantly getting bugged by the history teacher, and I think Ikeda sensei also gets hassled a little bit. The history teacher enjoys using his seniority to sweat people lower on the totem pole, and poor Ikeda sensei is a prime target.

We compared stories, and it felt a little better knowing that someone else is being bugged all the time – it isn’t just me.

In the afternoon I did some decorating of my classroom in preparation for the big graduation party we’ll be having on Monday for the third year ESS students. Ms. Tsutsumi helped me out. She’s a third year teacher this year, and so she’ll be participating in the ceremony, just like Kuniko did last weekend. Ms. Tsutsumi is planning on wearing a kimono, which is a big deal to put on. She’s going to get up at 4:30 in the morning to start getting ready. Wow!

I got home this evening and spent a few hours doing laundry, practicing flashcards, and listening to music. Tomorrow I’m going to help Kuniko with some moving and also head over to her parents house for dinner. I’m becoming a regular over there.

I think Kuniko finally decided to move in with her folks until we get married, for a variety of reasons. I agree with her decision – although it was a tough one. It might mean that we won’t get to spend the night at my place anymore, but that’s one I’ll have to figure out. It’s a delicate topic, and so I’ll have to treat it carefully.

Off to bed – I’m going to be doing some serious lifting tomorrow I suspect.

My day was only mildly interesting today, but I’m not going to let that stop me from posting about it.

I had just two classes, so with a bit of studying, translations, and chit chat I managed to kill the whole day and still get paid. Tomorrow looks to be more of the same.

Maybe this is a good opportunity to talk about one thing that bugs me a little about Japan. It’s walking around. My legs are a little longer than your average Japanese pedestrian, and so when I’m walking in crowds (which happens fairly often) I have to slow my pace a little bit, or cut around people.

It’s something that you probably don’t think about in America – you walk around, and generally everybody is moving at pretty close to the same pace save the odd grandmother or toddler walking through the mall. I’ve noticed it only gradually here. At first I thought that everyone was just trying to walk into my path. I think what is happening is that they are misjudging how long it will take me to go by and ending up cutting me off.

It doesn’t both me so much – just an interesting thing that I’ve noticed. Will it be something that drives me crazy after ten years? Who knows.

Tonight I cooked up some udon soup for dinner, and spent lots of time working on flashcards on the computer. I got a chance to chat with Kuniko, and we’re starting to plan for this weekend. I’m going to help her move some stuff out of her place on Saturday, and then I’ll probably go over to give some gifts from my parents to her parents. Should be an interesting day.

In what could be some kind of cosmic karmic phenomenon, today the history teacher showed up with a giant pimple underneath his lower lip. If you missed yesterday’s entry, he made a big deal about a blemish I had on my forehead – asking if I was OK, and insisting that it was perfectly normal for people in Japan to comment on things like that.

He walked up today to ask me a question, and I couldn’t believe it. It was meant to happen! I said “Good morning! Is that a pimple underneath your lip? Are you OK?” He looked embarrassed but he knew he earned this one. I switched to Japanese just to make sure other people were understanding, and said what a shame to get a pimple, they are really no fun, etc. etc. I get the impression from his reaction that perhaps pimples are not really everyday conversation topics. He took it like a man, though.

In non-pimple news, I had only afternoon classes, so I could spend lots of time in the morning studying kanji. I wrote a listening test for next week, and just hung out and studied. Obara sensei, a part time teacher who is a friend of Kuniko’s came by and told me some bad news – our school isn’t picking up her contract for next year. That means that she needs to find a new job, and quick too. The new year is approaching fast. I get the impression that she didn’t have anyone to tell, so we talked about it in English. She is a really great person – I’m sure someone will pick up her contract.

In the afternoon I said goodbye to two more first year classes. Some students are confused when I say goodbye – a couple asked me when I leave for America – they assume that I’m not coming back.

After school two students were going through the boxes to see what grades I gave them on their homework. They both happened to get perfect scores, and they were really happy. Their homeroom teacher, Oki sensei, was looking on and he seemed really proud of them. Hopefully these students will take this encouragement with them to the next year and do well in second year English.

I had a lesson with Azusa this evening. She had spent three days in Korea, so she told me all about it. We also did a mini-debate, where I tried to get her to disagree, and I tried to disagree with her. Afterwards I explained what I was trying to do – there are a lot more vocabulary and expressions used in situations beyond what we normally do. Azusa brought me back some spicy Korean sauce, so I’m going to be in spicy rice heaven for the next week or two.

Finally, to top off my day I stopped in at Rikimaru, the kaitenzushi restaurant near my house. I ate nine plates of sushi and got out of there for just 1200 yen. What a deal! It’s not top quality sushi, but it does the trick.

OK, I’m off to bed. Tomorrow is another light day at work, and I’ve got to start thinking about packing for my trip soon. Kuniko messaged me and said she’s started her packing. Soon, we’ll be in the air headed to the USA!

The highlight of today was wrapping up my Tuesday classes for the year. The Tuesday classes were really challenging, because I had to come up with a new lesson every week for the entire three terms, and sometimes it was really tough to keep three classrooms of forty students busy every week. The teachers that I worked with helped a lot, though, and since I was helping fill a hole in their lecturing schedule, they were very appreciative.

I told the students today that all I wanted to do was relax and play games, and they were definitely up for that. We did a gigantic three stage gameshow type lesson. I had them make up groups of four, choose a name for their team (in English), and choose a leader. The names they came up with were great. Some like “Zousan” (Mr. Elephant), “Tomato”, “NHK”, and “E->Bayashi”.

Stage one was a trivia contest. I asked them about various facts from the year – mainly about me and my teaching partner. They huddled together and tried to figure out things like how many chocolates Mr. Kimura received, how tall Mr. Yamamoto was, and how old I was. I was surprised how much people got into it. I thought to myself during the lesson – hey, this is going great!

The last question was “What is Bryan’s favorite food?”. Two groups from two different classes submitted the same answer, “women”. Mr. Yamamoto got a kick out of that.

As each correct answer was revealed, the students erupted into screams, cheers, or groans, depending on their answer. People would jump up and down like Chris Rock’s audience at the Apollo.

Stage Two was a dictation contest. I dictated the sentence “On a rainy day I like to eat soup and sandwiches.” at full native speaker speed. I gave them a point for each correct word. You could hear a pin drop while everyone hung on my every word.

Finally, for the last stage they had to write down all the words they could think of that started with the letter “B”. They had 3 minutes, and everyone did a pretty good job. One group of girls came up with 211 words, but when we looked at their paper they apparently didn’t understand the begin with “B” part, and just had 211 words. They laughed and laughed when they realized what had happened.

At one point I got the giggles along with a couple of students in the front, and it took me a minute to get composed. It’s only the second time that I’ve cracked up in front of a class, and they loved it. Once you get the giggles, it’s hard to stop, but I was able to get it under control before it got stupid.

Mr. Yamamoto asked me to give some words of wisdom at the end, and I was surprised that everyone actually listened carefully to what I said. Mr. Yamamoto translated it for maximum effect, and I think some of them might take it to heart. Mr. Yamamoto certainly thought it was great – and he said that everyone afterwards told him that the lesson was the best one yet.

Just how much learning goes on during my lessons is not entirely clear. I concentrate on fun and actually using English, and if there are a few mistakes along the way that’s a small price to pay.

After school the history teacher came by and asked me if I was OK. I said sure, and he pointed at my forehead and said that I had a pimple. What a guy. I told him that I thought I might survive the pimple, but thanks for your concern. I explained that what he had just said would be considered very rude in America. He said it’s perfectly normal in Japan to use somebody’s facial blemishes as conversation starters, but today was the first time it has happened to me in almost two years of living in Japan. Can’t you tell I love my conversations with the history teacher?

After school I took off and bought some sushi on the way home. I’ve been spending the last two days trying to get a handle on a database program to help with memorization. Once you get past a thousand flashcards things get pretty unwieldy, and the web-based solutions I’ve been using aren’t so smart. I’ve found a couple of software solutions and I’m experimenting with some of these right now.

I’m off to bed, but not before I spend a few minutes of bliss with Vanilla Mint toothpaste. I’ve been looking forward to this all day!

A kind of strange day today at school. I took another route to school today to change my routine, but I couldn’t shake the history teacher. He rides a bike to school and he must patrol the streets looking for me. My spine stiffens when I hear the sound of his bike slowing down behind me. Yikes.

This week is the last week for my first year classes. It’s kind of sad – these students have never had another ALT and so I feel really close to them. We have interviews this week, and so at the end of the class I took a few minutes to say how much I’ve enjoyed teaching them. It’s a really great group of students, and I hope next year’s group is as much fun to teach.

Since this is the last week, everyone’s homework is due. Since today is Monday there were some people who forgot, so I made a deal that anyone that came up to me and asked me in English for a one day extension would get one. I had a line of ten students after class, and I listened to their plea and then gave them until tomorrow. The students did great on their interviews.

I keep coming back to why I like teaching – it’s the students. Lots of people talk about working conditions, salary, whether the rooms are heated or not, how much overtime you have to work. For me the thing that makes my job interesting is the students. They are, when taken separately, full of energy or completely drained. They respond to your teaching style, they complain, they laugh, they talk, and when taken collectively they form this mass that you communicate with. In my class the communication is more two way, and I find myself changing activities or pace based on how the class reacts.

It’s hard to describe but there is this element of unpredictability to every class I teach, from the moment the first student walks into my classroom. You have to relinquish control of your environment and give them some – that’s something that I’m not usually comfortable with. When it works and the things are clicking, there’s nothing like it.

Mr. Hayashi was pretty hungover today. He and Mr. Komuri went out with one of the office ladies to Kobe last night after the STEP test. I’m glad I missed it – it sounds like they really did some damage (to their livers). Mr. Komuri received a bunch of pictures from the group of people that we were drinking with during the sake party a while back. Mr. Hayashi was really enjoying that – he likes the idea that I might have picked up a girlfriend there. I can’t wait to tell these guys the truth and get them off my back.

In other amusing tales, Mr. Hayashi, Mr. Komuri, and Mr. Kimura were all telling me how expensive it is to get married in Japan. Mr. Hayashi was saying it costs 5 million yen. Even Mr. Kimura was telling me stories, and he’s never been married. I didn’t offer any evidence to the contrary, but it seems when you take out the glowing tower of chemicals and the bubble machines, the wedding can be a bit more affordable.

One of my ESS members brought me a homemade almond tart that she had cooked last weekend. It was a late Valentine’s present. It was really good – a very nice thing to do. I’ll have to bring back some great omiyage from America for everyone that took care of me on Valentine’s day.

After school I went over to Tsuji-san’s place for my Japanese lesson, and we spoke about her experiences working on the STEP test. She said that it was really interesting, and it sounds like she was a pretty strict interviewer. Next month she will start her new job, so I’m not sure we’ll be able to continue the lessons. I hope so!

Dinner tonight was carne asada tacos – yum. Sara sent me some salsa from New Mexico, so I used that on the tacos – it tasted really good. Nice fresh flavor.

Speaking of fresh flavor, have you tried the “Vanilla Mint” Colgate toothpaste flavor? Sara sent me a tube, and, wow. I never thought I’d live to see the day when toothpaste was revolutionized, but that day has come. I spent half the day today looking forward to brushing my teeth tonight. The space shuttle, impressive. The internet, impressive. Vanilla mint toothpaste? Mind-boggling. Anyway, check it out. You’ll feel guilty brushing your teeth because it tastes so good.

I just got back from a wonderful weekend with Kuniko. I took the train to Osaka late Friday night, and walked through the rain and wind to get to her apartment. Kuniko was busy writing letters to each of her graduating students. She was still writing them when I fell asleep sometime after midnight.

The next day Kuniko was at school all day for her graduation ceremony. She was really nervous on her way out the door. During graduation there is a point where she has to announce the names of all her students. From memory. Whoah.

For my part I spent a relaxing day at Kuniko’s place, studying Japanese hard and watching TV now and then to see how I could pick up spoken Japanese. I did better on the news and shopping shows, poorly on variety and comedy shows.

Kuniko came back that evening with armloads of flowers and presents from her students their parents. She got to work trying to put all the flowers into vases, but it was an impossible task – there just weren’t enough vases to do the job.

Saturday was also Kuniko’s birthday, and so we had a birthday present opening ceremony, which was a lot of fun. She got some good stuff from my folks, and I got her a couple of things I was hoping she would like.

Sunday we both slept in, and then we went into Umeda to do a little bit of shopping for the upcoming trip to America. For lunch we had Shabu Shabu, one of the Japanese dishes that I’ve always wanted to try, but never had the chance. It consists of a big bowl of boiling water. You add your choice of vegetables and noodles. You are served a big plate full of thinly sliced meat – I had beef and pork. Then you take a slice of meat in your chopsticks and swish it back and forth a few times in the boiling water, and action that explains the “shabu shabu” sound effect. The meat cooks quickly because it is so thin, and then you dip it in either a soy/vinegar sauce or a sesame sauce. Delicious. I had the big plate of meat, and it was awesome.

Kuniko and I parted ways after that. She’s getting a new cellphone, so hopefully it’ll be up and running when she gets back.

I came back home and spent time doing some preparations for lessons tomorrow. I cooked up some Chinese chili shrimp over rice for dinner, and it turned out really good. It’s just a flavor packet that I bought over at Ito Yokado, but at 120 yen it was a steal. Tomorrow it’s back to work!

Today, I was the history teacher. Mr. Urakami, the real history teacher, invited me to his class to teach a quick lesson on California history. I only spent about 10 minutes on California history, and spent the rest of my time talking about a day in the life of a high school student, and answering questions. It was a lot of fun, and the students were really into it. I don’t teach any of these students normally, so they really were savoring the time.

I had a couple of other fun classes, and also got to spend some time studying. We had a meeting after school but I left a little early to coach one of my ESS students because she is taking the STEP test interview for the first time on Sunday. I hope she does well.

At Ito Yokado I was there trying to see if I could get some presents wrapped for Kuniko’s birthday tomorrow. I asked the lady, and we had a long conversation. Actually, she did most of the talking, but I could follow what was going on. At one point, she apologized for not knowing more English. Here we are in Japan, and she’s apologizing for not knowing enough English to communicate to me. That gives you a good idea of how patient people are with me, and how great the service is at Ito Yokado.

Do you know the scene in the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark when Harrison Ford is teaching a class and some girl student in the front has a crush on him, and when she closes her eyes she was written “I Love You” on her eyelids? The previously fearless Indiana Jones finds himself stuttering and distracted. Today something like that happened to me.

One of the students in Mr. Hayashi’s class has taken a liking to me lately. She makes a point to say hello when she comes through the teacher’s room, and although she is shy she will always try to speak English. She has a small group of girlfriends and today they were sitting there analyzing my every move. I would see all four of them staring at me from my peripheral vision, and when I looked over they would all giggle and compare notes.

Whenever it was my turn to read passages they would watch me carefully, and I was starting to get distracted, much like Indiana Jones did. Mr. Hayashi was his normal self, and didn’t seem to notice.

I only had two classes today, and they went smoothly. The day was full of other fun experiences, though. The history teacher had to pay $850 to replace his windshield (that’s a lot pricier than in America!), and he’s trying to get me to go to another guilt-relief dinner for all the time that I’ve spent chatting with him.

Our ESS meeting was fun today. We had the whole gang show up, and we played Jenga, and did an inside-the-classroom hunting puzzle that two of the students had thought up. It’ll be our last meeting for a while, since next week is the week before finals, and no clubs are supposed to meet then.

After school I went over to Tsuji-san’s place for my lesson, and we talked about her upcoming stint as a STEP test interviewer. I think she’ll do fine, but she’s very nervous. She’s been practicing hard, and is taking it very seriously. It’ll be a good experience for her. She also gave me chocolates to share with Kuniko when I have a chance. She had some with her boyfriend and said that they were really good.

On the way home I got a cheap haircut, and the guy there remembered me from last time. We talked for a little while in Japanese, and it went really smoothly. It was a fun conversation – since we both were stuck at the barber’s chair, there was no reason to hurry it along.

This was a big contrast to the next conversation I had in Japanese. When I got home I had a package slip in my mailbox. I called the number hoping they could get the guy to come back out tonight. The conversation didn’t go nearly as well. The poor lady working there was in a hurry and spoke rapidfire Japanese. I did my best to figure out what she was saying, but by then she was already on to the next question. I think that the conversation ended with a promise to attempt a delivery tomorrow evening.

The whole time I could imagine what it would be like for me in America with some person on the phone that can only speak a few words of English. I would be really frustrated – this guy lives in my country and doesn’t speak the language? I ask the same question five ways and he still doesn’t get it? What is this country coming to?

I’ve got to say that everyone in Japan is really patient with foreigners – nobody gets upset (at least to my face), and that’s a relief.

I took the history teacher’s advice tonight and had a roast beef sandwich for dinner. Actually, his advice was to eat some meat, so this was the best non-greasy thing I could come up with. It was delicious. My appetite is slowly coming back, just in time for a trip to Mary’s Pizza in March.

I’m still less than a 100 percent health-wise, and people at work at kind enough to point it out to me, saying I look terrible, my eyes look tired, I look pale, etc. I don’t have a lot of energy, but overall I feel OK. I just had one afternoon class today, so I figured that if I could just sit back and relax during the day and get charged up for one class, I’ll be fine.

I love watching how people interact with each other. There is a different set of group dynamics for each of my classes, and this week we’ve combined two classes, so people I’m always fascinated how people can change with the addition of some new faces. I guess that’s why I like Survivor so much – the people are in as controlled environment as possible and you can see how they react to things.

My students reacted well to my lesson, and I had fun teaching it. I can do this thing where I project my voice and make it deep, and it gets everyone’s attention. It works great at first, but the effect diminishes over time. I save it for really special occasions.

After class I lingered around for about an hour and then took off early. I had a good excuse, since everyone seemed to think I was knocking on death’s door. Now I’m back at home and starting to think about an easy dinner. Maybe curry and rice… that sounds good.

So I came into work today after a good night’s rest and found a couple of bags full of chocolate on my desk. The day before was Valentine’s Day, and since I left early, a couple of people missed the chance to give me chocolate.

I didn’t really talk about how Valentine’s went at school yesterday – I got a package of chocolates from Mrs. Takeuchi (the librarian), and a small box of chocolates from a third year student. The chocolate today was from another third year student – the one that has a big crush on me. She’s the one who can’t wait to graduate so she can ask me out. Yikes! She wrote a note with the cookies – “I made these cookies with love for you. Please eat my cookies!”

There was also some Godiva chocolates on my desk, but no note on those, so I don’t know who they came from. Also, one of the ESS members had baked a chocolate cake for some of the teachers, and she had saved me a piece – it was delicious.

Four classes today, and I was exhausted at the end of them. Although I’m feeling much better I don’t have a lot of energy.

At lunchtime, some of the students from the class yesterday with Carol came up to me and asked me about her. They were a little frightened of her, and I think my stock went up a little with them. I think the low key approach is a little more effective with them.

For some reason I’ve been left off the list of interviewers for the next round of the STEP test. I’m not sure why, this is the second time it has happened. The good news is now I have an excuse to skip the big expensive dinner afterwards with Mr. Hayashi. He offered to pay for it for me, but I might skip it and try to meet up with Kuniko instead.

I’m getting ready to heat up some leftover nabe. I’m doing loads and loads of laundry, and it’s just starting to rain outside. It’s a good night to stay in and rest up.

I’m back from a busy weekend of rest, recovery, and recuperation. I went back to school today with a full slate of classes, and it was pretty tough to hang in there. I did OK, and got to leave early to spend some time with Kuniko before she had to head home to Osaka.

We had a guest speaker today at school, Mr. Hayashi’s friend Carol, who also helps out with the STEP test interviews. I guess there is some money in the budget for guest speakers during the year, and Mr. Hayashi likes to throw it her way to help buff up her resume.

I don’t think he told her much about what to do or bring, so she brought a lot of things. She helped us out in a couple of classes, but it didn’t go so well. She’s used to teaching at the college level, and even for high schools our students’ English level isn’t so high.

She couldn’t believe how Mr. Hayashi was letting them run out of control, something that I’m used to by now. She would say something in English, and Mr. Hayashi would translate it – there was no real effort to figure it out on their own. To me it was a waste of everyone’s time, but of course I didn’t mention it.

Carol also looked pretty uncomfortable up there, and looked like she was not happy doing what she was doing. Imagine doing that for fifteen years! Will I be burned out like that fifteen years from now? Yikes!

I cut out of school early and came home. Kuniko had the place cleaned up and looking great. We went over to Ito Yokado to do some shopping, and then we made some spaghetti carbonara and a caesar salad for dinner. Since it was Valentine’s Day we exchanged chocolates… she got me some really unusual ones with artwork on them. Really cool – I hate to eat them, but I will.

For dessert we had chocolate fondue – it was excellent. We dipped in pineapple, banana, strawberries, and melon bread (like a slightly melon flavored donut). I’m a big fan of fondue.

Kuniko just went back home, and now I’m getting ready for another busy day tomorrow. If I can squeak through tomorrow the rest of the week should be a piece of cake.

I’m feeling much better today. I’m getting ready to go to work. Kuniko is lucky and has the day off, so she’ll be here at my place relaxing and studying until I get home. We’re both looking forward to a nice Valentine’s evening tonight. More later!

I’ve had a rough couple of days. Thursday night I had a poker night at my place, and Struan and Antoine came over to play some cards. We ordered in a couple of pizzas. I had the beginnings of a cold, so I drank two glasses of wine, and then switched to water and orange juice. It wasn’t a good poker night for me, I only won two hands. Still, we had a good time, and around 11 p.m. Antoine and Struan headed back home.

I cleaned up just a little and then went to bed. Two hours later I woke up and got sick – and it lasted all night. I’d lay down, fall asleep, and then I’d be up and running to the bathroom. Ugh. At one point I was coming out of the bathroom into the kitchen, and my whole body started to feel cold. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor. I had passed out, and knocked a whole bunch of stuff off a cupboard as I fell. I decided it was better to stay in bed and rest, and by that time there was nothing left in my system.

The next day I stayed in bed all day with a pounding headache. I couldn’t keep any food down, but I managed to drink a glass of orange juice. I told Kuniko via a message how I was feeling, and she was a little worried.

In the afternoon the headache was really bad, and I was burning up. I was dying for something to drink, and my goal was to get up to get to the fridge, but I just couldn’t work up the energy. My whole body was sore from the tumble in the kitchen – I guess I caught the corner of the cupboard with my chest, so there’s a big sore spot.

Kuniko decided to come all the way from Osaka after work, and what a relief it was. She brought a big bottle of “Amino Suppli”, a sports drink. I sipped that and it really helped out my energy. She also cooked me dinner, some udon noodles. I was a little fuzzy about what was going on, but she stayed with me through a long restless night, and left early to go to work the next day.

She’s coming back tonight, but I’m starting to feel much better. I’m able to hold down soup without a problem, and I can drink Amino Suppli with no problem. I’ll just rest up today, and try to get better. What a miserable couple of days.

What are you doing November 20th? Anything? Is your schedule free? How about jumping on a plane and coming to Japan to see a bewildered foreigner getting married to a beautiful girl? Always wanted to try raw octopus on rice? See girls ride bicycles wearing a skirt? Eat sushi for a third of the price you pay in the states? Now’s your chance to come to Japan!

So Kuniko made the reservation last night, and it appears they have space, so we’re on.

This will be a real East meets West wedding, especially considering the differences in culture and expectations. Although the wedding will be “Western Style”, it’s still pretty different from any wedding you’ve seen in the states. No groom’s party, no bridesmaids – and that’s just the beginning. Two words – “Gold Tuxedo”.

I’m sure there will be a contingent of folks coming to Japan for the wedding, and so working out the logistics for that should be an adventure in itself. Still, if you were ever thinking about going to Japan, maybe it’s a good time to get serious. Horse sushi!

The countdown begins!

Anyway, my day was nothing to write home about, but that’s not stopping me. I did a jog around Ito Yokado this morning, and I enjoyed the thick fog layer that kept the temperatures up.

At school I just had one class, but Mr. Hayashi asked me to help with Ms. Miyake’s English lesson. Strangely enough, I ended up reading a Japanese article to her, and they told me that somehow it was helping her English. Oh, well – I need the practice.

After school we had a mandatory staff meeting. There was a big argument, which is really strange for a Japanese meeting. Usually all the sensitive points are dealt with before, and the meeting just serves to rubber stamp the decision. Today tempers were flaring over the school trip. Some teachers think it takes too much time from study and sports. Others think it’s just a way to subsidize Japan’s travel agent industry. I didn’t really have an opinion, but some people there did, and they let it loose. I ended up leaving at five o’clock, and they were still going. We should have some interesting fallout tomorrow.

I went to Azusa’s place for her lesson, and she was unusually animated today. She has finished up her college term and is enjoying two months without lessons – except for mine. She’s doing an internship with a local political group. One of the things she is working on is the upcoming Kyoto Treaty – it’s a big deal here, and right now lots of foreigners have come to Kyoto to have discussions about it. She spent yesterday showing around a couple of foreigners from Nepal and China. She got to speak a little English with them – and she said it went well. Very cool.

Anyway, her lesson went really well and we had lots of discussion time on topics ranging from the amount of homework teacher’s give, to gay marriage, and even the rights of Koreans born in Japan. It was interesting for both of us, and I left the place with more energy than I had going in.

I stopped on the way home at Carrefour to do some shopping for the poker party tomorrow. It looks to be a small group – only three people. That’ll make it tough for poker, but there is still an outside chance that one or two more people will come.

Kuniko called tonight and I spent some time with her. She had to make a tough decision tonight about her employment situation. She was kind of balancing job security with her own personal happiness. We talked it over, and I think she came to the right decision.

I had only three classes today, because one got cancelled. Actually, it got moved to tomorrow, so I’ll deal with it then. I did an extra study session with Mr. Hayashi, who seems to be really proud that I passed the exam. I think the result of the exam somehow makes him think that I’m more serious, and so he’s game for lots of Japanese study.

We were looking at the requirements for the next level, level 2. I just passed level 3, and they say that you should know 300 kanji and 1,500 words. Level 2 says that you should know 1,000 kanji and 6,000 words. Wow! That’s a big jump. I learn about 200 words a month at my current pace. In 10 months I will theoretically know 3,500 words, which is a lot less than what they expect. I guess I’ll just go at my own pace and take a crack at it in December. My goal is to pass it in Dec 2006. My overall goal is not just to pass a test, but to speak and understand Japanese well. That goal is a long way away.

My second year classes were really cool today. Our lesson today was loosely about comics, so I took some popular comics from Doraemon, a famous Japanese comic strip, and photocopied a page with the text cut out. Then I handed out the page to the students and asked them to fill in the text with English, based on what the situation seemed to be.

It was a big challenge for the students. The advanced class did really well and they were enthusiastic. The lower class had a harder time, but they still managed to do it. I asked them to hand them in to me afterwards, and I said that I’d award a prize next week for the best comic.

After school I read the comics and they were really, really funny. It’s not that the English was funny, although in some places it was, it was the student’s take on the situation. I’ll see if I can post some of them sometime. I was laughing out loud at what some of the students wrote.

The comic involved a lowly elementary school student (Nobita), his friend Shizu-chan (the love interest), and a villainous classmate (Suneo). There last frame was a scene involving a unicorn crapping on Suneo’s head. There was a strategically placed speech bubble right above the unicorn’s backside, and I learned today that the Japanese sound effect for that particular action is “Bu-ru Bu-ru Bu-ru”. Ha!

I’ve been relaxing at home tonight. I made spaghetti for the first time in a long time. The sauce was particularly decadent, a tomato base full of meat, garlic, green onions, wine, and two kinds of cheese melted in.

Tomorrow it’s just one class, so I’m going to have lots of free time. Should be a nice easy day!