Minami Chu...see you!

Well, it finally happened. My last day at Minami Chugakko has come to an end. I had four classes, one of which was wonderful, three of which were pretty fun. Makie had a mini-meltdown because I gave a student she didn't like a sticker. But then we kissed and made up (not literally, although Miki, another English teacher, was having fun telling us we were lesbians). I got about ten "love letters" from the girl students who really liked me, three homeade keitai straps (if you are from Japan, you'll understand what those are), 2 friendship bracelets and a huge bouquet of beautiful sunflowers and bluebells. I have three thousand pictures on my camera of (some random, some not) students giving the peace sign and running away from me. I said "see you," "adios," and "goodbye" probably a grand total of 1000 times. I gave a short and sweet speech in bad Japanese (translated by Negishi san, the darling). After school, Makie, Miki, and two other teachers made me a delicious dinner of cabbage-wrapped hamburger, potatoes gratin, salad and fresh Japanese peaches. And my teachers are having a farewell party for me this Saturday (of course, they just told me today, but this is Minami chu, after all).

I do feel loved, and I'll miss this crazy place - for all the crap, Minami Chu will be in my heart forever. But through it all, I never once regretted not recontracting. It has been a crazy, wonderful, frustrating year, and I truly am a different person then I was when I hopped off the plane at Narita. But its time to go home.

Sayonara, Minami Chu. I'll never forget you.

Pooped!

Only one more day, four classes, and one speech in bad Japanese...

Today I had a four hour nap. Now I am watching Seinfeld instead of cleaning. Lily is parked on the couch. Last night she slept for an entire hour in her cat carrier with the top closed. Let's hope that she is just as sweet and relaxed in the airplane.

Night, night kids.

My adorable kids (from my second job)

Kawaii soo!

Clarification; or, getting wasted in Nozomi

Hi all, so for those of you who were confused about my last post, I was referring to my co-teacher Makie, she wanted to see if I wrote anything in my blog about her (which I had) and while I was showing it to her, I decided to memorialize her craziness in print. She is wonderful and truly a gem to work with...plus, the other day, she asked me out of the blue, "do you want some cock?" Of course, she meant "do you want some coke." But that didn't keep me from laughing for about twenty minutes while she looked at me queerly and said, "nani? nani?"

Anyway, I spent this weekend camping with Tomomi, Yoshi, Yoshi's friend Hishi Hishi, Kate and Ossian. Needless to say, fun was had by all. I drank a ridiculous amount - a bottle of wine, a bottle of plum wine, and a can of beer - and was thus completely ridiculous all night. We went to an onsen and had to change our clothes behind just a towel. I couldn't stand up straight and was thus rolling around the rocks stark naked in front of like thirty people (thank god it was dark). I also remember a certain incident where I had to pee outside the car while everyone laughed hysterically inside. Not exactly my best moment here in Japan. The best, though, was that I was feeling a bit "amorous," shall we say (in drunken people talk) and passed out on poor Hishi Hishi's shoulder (who was by the way, married and like 40) and at some point I woke up and I was holding his hand. I am officially a hand whore, and Gary is planning on dumping me within the week (gomen nasai, baby!). The next morning I woke up thankfully with no hangover but immensely embarassed - thankfully Hishi Hishi was a good sport and did not resent my drunken molestation.

Besides the completely embarassing drunkenness, it was such a fun night and spending time with Kate and Ossian for the last time was sad but, as usual, always fun. They have been such good friends here, and I will miss them (well, ok, I'll miss Kate, I can take or leave Ossian, he's a pip ;-).







Only two more weeks. Strange. Crazy. Sad. Wonderful. I'll update with more soon.

Makie is crazy

But I love her!!!!!

I am SO READY to leave Minami Chugakko

Ishimatsu sensei cancelled all of my classes this week. For the second week in a row.

Kanbe sensei teaches the advanced English class even though she is the worst English speaker here. Why, people, why?

I CAN'T WAIT to be challenged and intellectually stimulated again!!!!!!

The Jew in Gunma, Part 2; or, You can't go home again

So I found out who my successor is in little old Gunma-machi, and who would have guessed - its a Jew! Some might attribute that to chance, but after my dreidel party in December, I know the truth - Minami Chugakko loves them some Yehudas. I mean, with Christmas you get some big fat Santa in red, some red and green decorations, some bigs socks and chocolate chip cookies....but people, this is the land of Pachinko - they want gambling! And dreidel is the deadliest gambling game of all...insert dangerous yet nasal laugh here.

In all seriousness, my successor is really everything I hoped he would be. I may be a crap ALT but I love these crazy teachers and students (although I have no idea what their names are) and this ugly little town and my wonderful Tomoko and the nice people at the electronic store across the street who give me bags of corn when I come to visit...and its nice to know that they will have a good teacher, a respectful neighbor, and, most wonderful of all, a Japanese speaker in their midst. So Aaron, mazel tov on being the coolest new ALT in the Gunma gang, and take care of my (our!) people!

On a side note...I went to Tomomi's house tonight and we spent a few hours planning Hiroshima and Kyoto (I'm going to Hiroshima by myself and meeting up with her in Kyoto). I was thinking to myself, what will life be like in Buffalo without Tomomi - she has been the light in my life all year, not just because of her support but because, damn, the girl is hysterical and intelligent and witty and caring and overall just an amazing friend no matter what her nationality. I will miss her more than I can possibly conceive of right now. Too bad that she won't agree to leave Yoshi and come and live with me and Gary (I told her I could fit her in Lily's carrying case, but unfortunately she didn't believe me). What will "home" be like without my crazy "baka nihonjin"?

My toilet

So I have had some people ask me why I included a picture of my bathroom in my apartment pics. First of all, the toilet plugs in - there is a heated seat! Mine is actually pretty tame compared to most of the toilets here, which have a whole bidet on it that will make a flushing noise when you go to the bathroom (so no one can hear!) and a little squiggle of water that you can spray up your you-know-where for cleanliness. Plus, there is a sink attached to the top of the toilet. Either way, just for you dippy people out there, that's why. My toilet is the bomb! :-)

Life, stand still here

Watching fireflies dance in the dark amongst the trees...
Sitting in an onsen and watching the leaves of autumn fall around me...
Driving through towns whose houses are covered to the roof in pure white, glimmering snow...
Picnicing by the waterfall in Mitsudera Park as cherry blossoms fall...
Walking through the Nikko Matsuri as different tunes and colors clash against and with each other...
Camping by the fire as only a flashlight lights the dark...
Fishing for the giant orange fish that somehow always evades our pole...
Harvesting rice with a scythe, big rubber boots on my feet and rain in my face...

Some experiences can't ever be captured by a camera.