I was itching all night last night, so I got fed up and found a doctor in the neighborhood to go visit. I’m not a big fan of Japanese medicine, but enough was enough and I wanted anything that would get me a full night’s sleep.

As usual the doctor took the approach of listening to what I complained about, and then he asked me some questions until he found something that might be the cause. Then he prescribed a bunch of medicine and sent me on my way. One cool thing about doctors in Japan is that most of them speak pretty good English. Apparently the medical system has a lot of English integrated in it. I chatted a little with him in English, and then went across the street to buy medicine at a pharmacy.

They warned me that one of the pills might make me sleepy, and it did – right away. I had trouble getting through the day of classes without falling asleep. The good news was the itchiness stopped, and I’m feeling much better.

My young students today were leaning more and more towards open rebellion. At first they were doing what I wanted them to, but they are pushing more and more to try to see what they can get away with. I think now the only thing I can do is become super-strict teacher. Next week I’ll lay out some rules with some consequences (no snacks if you don’t participate). No more Mr. Nice Guy for these kids.

Kuniko got home super late because of some bullying problems at her school that she had to address. He had a late dinner of udon noodles, and then I went right to bed. I blame the weird drugs.

Monday was pretty exhausting. First I couldn’t sleep very well Sunday night – I kept waking up scratching itches all over my body. Couldn’t find any bugs, though. I wonder what it was?

Then I was able to get just about an hour of work on my paper before I had to leave early for work. It was the first day of our new textbooks, so there was a lot of support work that I had to do behind the scenes to prepare. After three classes I walked over to Yuka’s house and did a one hour lesson there, and finally came home.

During Yuka’s lesson we talked about her stay at her school’s English camp. They had an all-English rule, so if somebody spoke Japanese a teacher would punch a card with their name on it. People with lots of punches on their card were responsible for cleaning the bathrooms at the end of camp. That’s some serious punishment.

Kuniko had a delicious dinner waiting for me when I got home, and then we did a little bit of shopping over at Jusco before coming home and going to bed. It wasn’t really a wild night – we were both tired from a busy day. The rest of the week should gradually get easier for both of us, and hopefully we can coast into the weekend with some energy to spare.

Last night we met up with Inoguchi sensei and his wife for dinner in Kobe. Inoguchi sensei had made reservations at a swanky Chinese restaurant south of the station, in the upscale neighborhood around the Diamaru department store. It has been a long time since we had seen his wife – she is really nice and has a great sense of humor. When you combine her with him, they tend to set each other up for jokes and lots of dry humor.

The restaurant was underground in a mini-plaza underneath an office building, and was decorated more in a European style than Chinese. The appetizer was also a little more French than Chinese, but all the dishes after that were more in line with what I’d expect to eat at a Chinese restaurant. In my part of Japan, Chinese food is considered slightly upscale, with a few notable exceptions (ramen, gyoza, fried rice).

My favorite dish of the night was a pork dish with hot peppers and eggplant. I like the spicy dishes. Inoguchi sensei was a little bummed because the menu had changed for the new month, and they didn’t have frog on the special menu. He related a story of when he went to China and had eaten frog – it was the best dish he had on the whole trip.

Dinner was a little pricey (about 6000 yen a head) because two people split a carafe of wine, but I thought it was a really good place. Somewhere you’d take someone if you wanted to impress them – not exactly a family style noodles and rice kind of place.

We talked about our winter plans over dinner, and it sounds like we’ve got similar ideas. They are going to be in Singapore, and we are talking Viet Nam. Maybe there is a way we can combine trips just a little bit and spend some time in Singapore with them. Not sure how it’ll work out, but they know the country pretty well, so that would be a big advantage for us.

After dinner we sat around a table at Starbucks and had coffee, and then headed back to the train station. We promised to invite them over for tacos in the future – hopefully in October sometime. It was a fun night and I hope to see them again soon.

Hello? Anyone still there?

I’m back, and now that I finished one of the two papers that were due, I should have more time to type away and update things. So let’s get caught up…

After getting back from Hawaii I had to get right down to writing papers. Things were a little hairy at first because although I had applied for extensions to my two assignments, I had only heard back from one of the instructors. That meant that I had to work my ass off to get the other one done on time. After a week of solid paper writing I was ready to turn in what I had, but on the due date the instructor granted me a two week extension and I could breathe a little bit and focus on the other paper.

I have a good mental approach to these two papers – I fully expect them to suck. In fact, if they didn’t I’d be a little worried. I’m hoping that in marking them the instructors will give me some wisdom and future papers will improve.

So life hasn’t been really exciting since I’ve been in solitary confinement in front of my computer writing sentences like:

“The Fundamental Difference Hypothesis states that the UG doesn’t play a role in the process of learning a second language, and it cites several key differences that show that the learning processes are quite different between L1 and L2. “

Thrilling stuff. During the evenings I’ve been teaching lessons and revising drafts before and after class. The students were happy to have me back and overall were happy with the souvenirs that I brought. A couple of kids complained about their free gifts, but that just shows what age level (and maturity level) I’m dealing with.

One great highlight in an otherwise boring couple of weeks was when I met up with Brian Haven’s girlfriend Kerry in Kyoto last Sunday. She was in Japan on business doing some consulting in Osaka and Tokyo, and we arranged to meet up in Kyoto because she had some extra time.

I had never met her before, but I wasn’t surprised that she was a really cool person. Anyone that hangs out with Haven that much must be cool. We caught lunch (with some beers) and then went to Sanjusangendo, one of my favorite “off-the-beaten-track” Kyoto sights. Earlier Kerry had seen a lot of the biggies in Kyoto, so we concentrated on beating the heat by seeing just a little bit and drinking cold beers and chatting.

After walking around Kyoto a while we decided to take the train back to Akashi so that we could meet up with Kuniko and have dinner. I had hoped to take her to the underground sushi place, but he was closed for one reason or another and we ended up eating yakiniku in a restaurant near the station. Kuniko really liked Kerry, and it was a great way to end the day.

What else? The weather has been hot and humid, and I’m looking forward to autumn. The stores are selling autumn beers now, which is the first indicator that the next season is coming. Soon persimmons will be on sale and the weather will cool off. I can’t wait.

We found out that the grocery store across the street, Jusco, will be closing in a few weeks. That makes shopping more of a pain for us – we’ve been lucky enough to literally live right across from a grocery store for the last three years. There is a big shopping center next to the train station, so it’ll be a ten minute walk to get groceries – not a big deal, really. Still, I’ll kind of miss the old Jusco. It looks like a Midwestern skating rink from the outside, and even though it is small I occasionally find interesting items that come and go. Goodbye Jusco!

Tonight Kuniko and I are going to meet Inoguchi sensei and his wife for dinner. He always takes us to interesting Japanese and Chinese restaurants. He has an unusual taste in food, and I enjoy trying new things with him. He warned us that they may have eel and frog on the menu tonight, so more experimental foods… can’t wait! Inoguchi sensei is completely different from most Japanese guys I know. He doesn’t work while his wife does, and he isn’t really looking for work. He’s really interested in European and Western literature, and knows several languages. I get the impression he doesn’t have many friends, but he really is a nice guy. We met back at Takasago Minami, but I’m glad that we’ve kept in touch.

Next week I’ll be finishing the second paper and catching up on my readings, and teaching lessons from new textbooks for my students. I’ll try to keep writing here daily, so keep watching! I still have to recap the Hawaii trip, talk about Nishinomiya (and a possible return there), talk about our winter plans (Asia?) and more. Stay tuned…

Still alive, and doing my best to stay afloat. I knew going into the trip that I’d have to work my butt off to get my assignments in for my classes, but I didn’t expect to be spending as much time as I have on them. The assignments keep me busy during the day and then I march off to work and come home late at night. No indication that things will let up anytime soon. My first paper is due next Friday, and the second one on the Friday after that. Research has been time consuming, but mostly it is just getting accustomed to writing in an academic style again.

I’ll try to write more either this weekend or next week as things get back under control!

I’m back in Japan, and super busy racing to get everything unpacked, get the new computer running before the old one croaks, and getting ready to teach lots of classes this week.

I’ll update when I can, but the trip to Hawaii was great! Kuniko and I are both charged up and ready for work…

My students have some extra time at the end of their “term” at the school where I teach so I’ve been doing a “smells” segment in my lessons. I teach them how to say “It smells good” and “It smells bad”. Then we smell an assortment of aromas that I have captured inside plastic bottles. It is a blind test and they really like smelling things and freaking out based on what they smell.

One thing I’ve noticed that is interesting is that when the first student smells a bottle that has yet to be smelled by the group, their reaction will largely determine the reaction of the group – even if it is unusual. For example, in one bottle I have some vanilla extract. Most students say “It smells good”, but occasionally a student will (for whatever reason) say “It smells bad”. Then the next student will smell the same bottle and usually say whatever the other student said.

Maybe it is just kids trying to fit in, but to me it has a little bit of cultural context – the Japanese idea of being one with the group runs strong even at this age. It would be fun to change the bottles around and do it again in a different order and see if their opinions are the same.

Today I had the day to myself, but mostly I spent it organizing things and getting ready for the trip. I had to spend about an hour printing out stuff to take with me to study while I’m in Hawaii. It won’t be all fun and games and tropical drinks – I’ve got a lot of reading to do while I’m there. The week after I return I have two papers due, so I wrote today to the instructors requesting an extension because of my travel situation. I hope they approve.

My classes today went really well. My first class had just two students out of five. The two students were fun – Riko and Kako – and we just relaxed and played games. I really like Riko because she’s fearless and tries hard to speak English, even if she doesn’t know exactly what is going on. Kako is a little more tentative. Before class started Riko and I talked (in Japanese) about the bridge disaster in the United States. She had seen it on the news (she’s only 9 years old and watching the news!) and wanted to get my reaction. It was fun talking current events with the youngsters.

The rest of the classes went smoothly with no big incidents to report. I played a game of Zelda on the DS with some students after our last class – they are Nintendo addicts. The mothers were waiting for us to finish our game so I had to wrap it up quickly. The mothers don’t seem to mind too much, I guess as long as I’m speaking lots of English with their kids.

On my way home I had to go buy a new electric razor because mine broke this morning. The little attachment that does sideburns stopped working suddenly, and then the piece fell right off. So I had to buy a new one right before the trip. At least I’ll be clean-shaven on the islands.

Tomorrow I have my tough class – the young kids. After that the rest of the day should be pretty easy, and it is my last day of work before vacation so that will keep me going. Just a little bit more to go before Hawaii…

On Saturday Kuniko had to go off to work, but I had the day off to relax and do almost nothing all day long. Actually, I did have to do laundry, preliminary packing, and shopping. I was busy most of the day, and then I caught a train into Kobe to meet up with Kuniko to see the fireworks show.

As it turned out there were a lot of people doing the same thing. I managed to snag a seat, but just barely. The air conditioning on the train was a lifesaver – it felt so good.

I did a little bit of shopping in Kobe first, then got some burgers to go and began the long walk up the hill to Kuniko’s school. I arrived just as she was finishing up work, and we retired to the air conditioning of her car to cool off. The burgers were excellent, and after we finished dinner we walked around and behind the school to reach the school grounds to watch the fireworks.

The school is built on the side and top of a mountain, so sometimes you are climbing stairs and walking up and down hills to get to the next building. The grounds were higher up on the hill and they had a beautiful view of the city of Kobe at night. The school grounds had a big set of bleachers to sit on, so we set up shop and took in a great fireworks show. The fireworks were being launched a ways away over the Mosaic harbor, but our seats were great.

We were the only ones for a while watching, but soon the principal of the school came with his family, and we said hello to them. The size of the grounds was like a football field, so they set up on the other side and that was the last we heard of them.

The show went on for about an hour, and it was pretty impressive. There are lots of new and interesting fireworks in Japan, and the presentation is a little more orchestrated than what I’m used to.

Afterwards we drove back home, and Kuniko spent the evening packing for her summer camp trip. I won’t see her until the night before we fly to Hawaii, so I’ll need to stay out of the trouble the next couple of nights…

Thursday we had a typhoon warning, but it wasn’t such a bad one. It passed to the south of us, so the most we got Thursday night and Friday morning was strong gusts of wind.

Friday I had a relatively light study day at home. I stayed inside while the winds blew outside, occasionally watching people walk by struggling with their umbrellas. The Mazda people came and dropped off Kuniko’s car, and it looks as good as new. In the late afternoon I packed up my gear and went to work.

I tried a new strategy with my hyper Friday kids – I decided to make the lesson much more active. We played a lot of games involving moving around, but it just seemed to rev them up even more. I don’t know why, but the girls especially get all excited during class and feel the need to either hit me or attack me. This must be one of those areas where boys are more mature. Or I bring out a violent nature in women. Who knows?

Kuniko met me at Jusco after work, and we decided to make sandwiches in an effort to get rid of stuff in the fridge that won’t last during our trip. They turned out pretty good, and I washed them down with a couple of cold beers that helped beat the heat.

We did a short shopping trip to get a present for one of Kuniko’s coworkers, then we came back, turned on the air conditioning and went to bed. Kuniko had to come up with some lesson ideas for her next study camp – she’ll be out of town again for a couple of days. It might be my big chance to go see Transformers….

Wednesday night after work I met up with Kuniko at Hoden station and then walked over to her parents’ house to meet up. They invited us over for dinner, and I was really surprised to see giant bowls of pasta salad waiting to be eaten. This was a serious amount of pasta. It was also a rare night when Kuniko could drink alcohol – usually she drives us there.

They had a few questions about what to expect on the upcoming trip, so we talked with them about that over dinner and beer and sake. I think they were reassured. They also sent us back with lots of veggies and fruit to try and eat before we leave for Hawaii. I think we’ll give some to Nozaki sensei to help spread things out.

Kuniko’s dad drove us back to Hoden station, and then we caught a train from there back to Okubo and had an easy walk home. It really isn’t that far by train to their place – and as long as you aren’t walking from the station in the daytime heat it isn’t that tough.

The trip to Hawaii is coming up fast. Kuniko (as usual) has lots of school-related events leading right up to the day we leave. I won’t see much of her until the trip, but it should give me plenty of time to study and pack.

Catching up a little bit… I’ve been busy cranking through papers and readings for school and I haven’t been posting.

Monday was pretty normal, with the exception that I did make it to Denya for a some yakitori and beer to chat with the master. It has been a long time since I’ve been there. Originally I had hoped to meet up with Jane, but as it turned out she had moved out the day before, so I guess I missed her. She’s going to be staying with her grandparents in Takatsuki for about a month before heading home.

The master was doing well and we had a little bit of a chance to talk. The other customers kept him busy, and a guy that I’ve seen there a couple times kept me busy asking me lots of questions. It was a great workout for my Japanese. After a while I said my goodbyes and headed back to Tsuchiyama station to catch a train home. A 20 minute walk after eating yakitori is a good thing.

Tuesday I had the whole day off. Nozaki sensei has set up the schedule so that each weekday has the same amount of classes over the course of the year. Sometimes there are days that she uses for adjustment, and Tuesday was one of those.

I said goodbye to Kuniko in the morning and then did a little bit of exercise before settling down to study. I’ve had a lot of reading to do, but the topics are pretty interesting. The slowest going are the technical readings and papers. I’m starting to pick up on some of the lingo, though.

During the day as a study break I took a hike (in the heat) to the shopping center north of us to do some shopping at the home center, the 100 yen shop, and the electronics store. I got what I needed and came back to the relatively cool apartment to finish up my studies.

In the late evening I did some gardening out on the patio. I really like sitting out there with a cold beer right after the sun sets – it’s a good time to enjoy the partial outdoors and relax.

Due to a miscommunication on my part I ate dinner without waiting for Kuniko. She had told me that she would be home for dinner but I was still working on old information saying that she would be eating at the airport after saying goodbye to Hinzy. Anyway, I had to deal with a hungry and mad wife when she got home. Oops.

It looks like another hot day tomorrow, and I’ll be going to work again. Kuniko and I are going to meet at Hoden station after I get off work to have dinner with her folks. It has been a while since we’ve seen them so I’m looking forward to it.

Sunday Antoine and I met up in the morning and then walked up to Kuniko’s school to teach an open school lesson. The school’s usual teacher was away on summer vacation, so Kuniko asked us to teach a lesson each to try to get students to come to her school when the new year starts next April.

Walking up the hill in the morning in our nice clothes and ties was probably a bad idea. We were sweating like crazy upon reaching the top, and I’m sure the people working there weren’t too impressed with two wet guys showing up out of the blue.

We got inside and Kuniko met us there. Luckily our classrooms were air conditioned, so we had some time to cool down and get our sweat under control. How come Japanese people weren’t sweating like we us? Mysterious.

As we walked around the school before the lesson we got a chance to say hello to a lot of students and staff, and even watch some of the opening presentation – Hinzy and her fellow students in cheerleader outfits doing a dance routine. They did a pretty good job, and I was able to congratulate Hinzy afterwards.

We finally headed back down to our classrooms to do our lessons. Antoine’s lessons were aimed at elementary school students, and mine were targeted towards junior high school. Not only did we teach with a Yamate English teacher, but we also had a small group of Yamate students who helped out. That was a big advantage – the students that came to see the class were a little more comfortable with older students around.

The classes were kind of come and go as you please, so for the first 20 minutes or so we didn’t have any students at all. I chatted with the older Yamate students for a while, and then we had a few students show up.

We did about a 40 minute lesson with about six or seven students, and they seemed to enjoy it. They were really nice and not so shy. It was the first time in a long time that I had a chance to teach with Kuniko, and it reminded me about teaching with her way back when in Takanan.

Antoine’s class went much the same as mine, and we wrapped up and sent the students off to lunch. We got some free lunch out of it, and even some shaved ice – nice! Then we picked up a small envelope full of money and walked down the hill.

Kuniko had invited us to a party with the teachers that evening, but it was only about one in the afternoon so we had lots of time to kill. With the best of intentions we went to the Belgian beer place for a couple of cold, cold beers. That really hit the spot.

We ended up walking all over Kobe, but since it was so hot out, we mostly ended up in air conditioned bars staying cool and drinking cold beer. We had a taco at the taco stand near the station, served up by a heavily tattooed Japanese girl. We had bar hopped all over Kobe by the time we heard from Kuniko in the evening, but it sounded like we weren’t invited after all. I guess she had invited us to the second party, but not the first (with dinner). Bummer. We ended up going for one last drink, and then heading home early. The trains were massively delayed due to someone jumping in front of one (perhaps a losing politician?) and so it took a while for me to get back home.

It was a fun day, and I’ll be able to sleep a little bit of this off tomorrow since my classes don’t start until later. I’m considering a stop at the Denya yakitori on the way home, but we’ll see if it happens…

Not much exciting to report today. The heat was oppressive, and after spending my work day in an air conditioned classroom the feeling upon walking into our house is something akin to shock. The sweat starts pouring forth as I fire up the air conditioner and crack open a cold beer. It usually takes about 15 minutes to get things to a comfortable temperature after I get home – and it’s a very sweaty 15 minutes.

I had takoyaki for dinner tonight from Vivre. That takoyaki is damn good. I had a seasonal flavor which I had to try – Salsa Mayonnaise with onions. It tasted a lot better than it sounds, but there was a lot more mayonnaise than salsa.

My friend Corey has been blogging now and then on his journey home the long way, and it has been very interesting for me to follow. I was disappointed to hear that he is going to have to abandon his plan to get from Japan to Vancouver, Canada without using an airplane. Apparently he is running out of money in Europe, so the transatlantic boat ride followed by the train across Canada is not going to happen. Bummer, but he did make a good go of it.

Kuniko and I can attest to the high prices in Europe. Lodging for us wasn’t so bad, but drinks (especially non-alcoholic) were really expensive and during a hot summer it is hard not to want to drink something all the time.