I don’t know if that’s the case for everyone, but I’ve noticed something about my students.
They can all draw. And draw WELL.
It’s incredible! My san-nen-sei had comps due today, and they were putting the finishing touches on their final drafts and completing their accompanying pictures. I was walking down the rows in awe. Now I’m not total crap at drawing, but I certainly am out of practice. Plus, when it comes to drawing cartoons, I suck tons of ass, always have. What these kids draw, it’s freaking amazing! I swear, most, if not all of them, have their own chibis (cutsey cartoon version of themselves) and I swear that looking at these cartoons, I can know who’s who. Amazing.
I am also deeply, deeply jealous. Meh.
On a side note, January is almost over, and my posting for the month has been lacking, nearly non-existent. Not for lack of trying, but because I just thought everything I typed sounded so overly emo, I was ready to tear my eyes out and carve names into my arms with a razorblade while listening to My Chemical Romance. (Just poking fun here, I <3 that band).
Well, I am glad to say that while I still listen to MCR, as well as FOB’s latest album, I am decidedly un-emo now, back on track, being the cheery if slightly bored ALT of Minato JHS. Life is picking up the pace, the last few weeks were slightly fuller than the ones upon my return to Nippon land and coming up are a bunch of cool things that are bound to make life all the more enjoyable. Stix is opening up, mercifully, at the end of the week, Fall Out Boy’s concert is fast approaching, my folks have booked their ticket to here and I think I just thrilled my JTE by telling him we would ALL be coming to Minato’s closing ceremony on March 24th. Add up to that that my eikaiwa is definitely not as bad as I thought it would be, that the weather has suddenly decided to turn nice and that snow is melting (hopefully we won’t get any more… *crosses fingers*), life is lookin’ mighty fine at the mo’.
Cheers peeps, I’mma head home and watch some Dexter.
mardi 27 janvier 2009
lundi 12 janvier 2009
Oh, winter...
Well, I’ve been postponing writing here since the beginning of the year. I wanted the first post of 2009 to be merry, stating how much I had fun in Taiwan and how stuff is cool and blah and blah. Unfortunately, the New Year’s cheer has left me decidedly Emo. So apologies, my friends, if I sound like a whiny brat for the beginning of the year. My only hope is that my morose mood melts away, along with the damn snow, come springtime.
Taiwan was cool, if not overly planned. It was a nice change of scenery, a nice change of temperature too. Though I look enviously at the pictures of the peeps who went to Thailand – beaches, the sea and palm trees – I did have a nice time running around a Chinese New York with the Inaka King and Gunma Pimp.
And now it’s back to my freezing Inaka, to my boring ass job. Luckily, the partner in crime has returned from Amerika and will save me from the boredom of the first week of January.
Still… winter (pre and post Christmas) has never been my best season. It seems worse this year. Away from home, constantly cold, I keep thinking longingly of my basement, the fireplace, blankets, and my stack of Buffy DVDs. I’m back to making countdowns for stuff. Looking forward to things makes it easier to get through the days. I just wish I knew how much longer I have to hold out till spring.
Countdowns: Kobe conference: 2 days
Stix reopening: 17 days
Visit from the folks: 8-9 weeks
Montreal: 7 months
Taiwan was cool, if not overly planned. It was a nice change of scenery, a nice change of temperature too. Though I look enviously at the pictures of the peeps who went to Thailand – beaches, the sea and palm trees – I did have a nice time running around a Chinese New York with the Inaka King and Gunma Pimp.
And now it’s back to my freezing Inaka, to my boring ass job. Luckily, the partner in crime has returned from Amerika and will save me from the boredom of the first week of January.
Still… winter (pre and post Christmas) has never been my best season. It seems worse this year. Away from home, constantly cold, I keep thinking longingly of my basement, the fireplace, blankets, and my stack of Buffy DVDs. I’m back to making countdowns for stuff. Looking forward to things makes it easier to get through the days. I just wish I knew how much longer I have to hold out till spring.
Countdowns: Kobe conference: 2 days
Stix reopening: 17 days
Visit from the folks: 8-9 weeks
Montreal: 7 months
jeudi 18 décembre 2008
A Christmas Message for the people at home
Dear Mom and Dad, family and friends,
I am about to depart for Taiwan in a couple of days and am very excited about it! So far, this trip away from home hasn’t been all I expected it to be… sometimes it was much better, and other times it was slightly disappointing. But overall, I am very happy about my time here.
As many of you may already know, I decided not to recontract. The decision weighted on my mind for a bit, but as the November cold settled in, it dawned upon me how I missed you too much to be an expatriate for another year. I watch the Christmas lights twinkle in my Japanese countryside and think of you all. I miss you more than my words can ever truly express, and I wish you, from the bottom of my heart, a very merry Christmas and lots of joy in the New Year.
Yours truly shall be returning to her country of blue and white sometime in late August… Y’all better be ready for me.
Sincerely,
Inaka Princess V
Chere Mom, Cher Pops, chers famille et amis,
Je m’envole pour Taiwan dans quelques jours a peine et j’ai bien hate! Jusqu’a present, mon voyage ici se passe bien, meme si parfois tout n’est pas toujours tout a fait a la hauteur de mes attentes. Mais en regle generale, je suis tres heureuse de ma situation.
Comme plusieurs d’entre vous le savez déjà, j’ai decidé de ne pas renouveller mon contrat avec JET. J’ai sérieusement consideré avant de prendre une décision, mais alors qu Novembre arrivait avec le froid aussi, j’ai constaté que vous me manquiez tous beaucoup trop pour que je reste loin de vous une autre année. Je regarde les lumieres de Noel dans ma champagne perdue et je pense a vous. Vous me manquez énormémentt, et je vous souhaite a tous, du plus profond de mon coeur, un tres joyeux Noel et beaucoup de bonheur pour la nouvelle Année.
Je vous reviens au mois d’aout… et vous etes mieux de vouloir m’accompagner chez Cora et Nickels dans les jours suivants mon retour!
Sincerement,
Val –xxx-
I am about to depart for Taiwan in a couple of days and am very excited about it! So far, this trip away from home hasn’t been all I expected it to be… sometimes it was much better, and other times it was slightly disappointing. But overall, I am very happy about my time here.
As many of you may already know, I decided not to recontract. The decision weighted on my mind for a bit, but as the November cold settled in, it dawned upon me how I missed you too much to be an expatriate for another year. I watch the Christmas lights twinkle in my Japanese countryside and think of you all. I miss you more than my words can ever truly express, and I wish you, from the bottom of my heart, a very merry Christmas and lots of joy in the New Year.
Yours truly shall be returning to her country of blue and white sometime in late August… Y’all better be ready for me.
Sincerely,
Inaka Princess V
***
Chere Mom, Cher Pops, chers famille et amis,
Je m’envole pour Taiwan dans quelques jours a peine et j’ai bien hate! Jusqu’a present, mon voyage ici se passe bien, meme si parfois tout n’est pas toujours tout a fait a la hauteur de mes attentes. Mais en regle generale, je suis tres heureuse de ma situation.
Comme plusieurs d’entre vous le savez déjà, j’ai decidé de ne pas renouveller mon contrat avec JET. J’ai sérieusement consideré avant de prendre une décision, mais alors qu Novembre arrivait avec le froid aussi, j’ai constaté que vous me manquiez tous beaucoup trop pour que je reste loin de vous une autre année. Je regarde les lumieres de Noel dans ma champagne perdue et je pense a vous. Vous me manquez énormémentt, et je vous souhaite a tous, du plus profond de mon coeur, un tres joyeux Noel et beaucoup de bonheur pour la nouvelle Année.
Je vous reviens au mois d’aout… et vous etes mieux de vouloir m’accompagner chez Cora et Nickels dans les jours suivants mon retour!
Sincerement,
Val –xxx-
jeudi 4 décembre 2008
Are you smarter than a 5th grader?
I had elementary school yesterday and as usual, it was less awful than what I had anticipated. I don’t know why I am always paranoid about my elementary schools… It’s like I’m reading the crap all the other JETs have to endure and I interiorize their fears or whatnot that my day is gonna be a new form of torture. Though the predominance of the Fruits Basket game (and all its derivatives – animal basket, color basket, numbers basket) is still ever so painful, the truth is that for the most part, my day is quite bearable. Even sometimes… fun!
I believe I have Inaka King Luc to thank for that. As I step out of my house every elementary school day, feeling my stomach churn in unwanted anticipation, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and hear his voice in my head. “JUST LET GO!!!!!” And then I open my eyes and feel much better.
I get to school as early as they request, read whichever book someone generously lent me until it’s time for me to get to class. Then I go, practice the good morning greeting, and teach whichever boring topic they’ve asked me to teach for the lesson, turning to the homeroom teacher when my kids’ drooping eyelids and yawns tell me we’ve practiced enough and they’re bored with this crap. Usually, that’s the teacher’s cue to make me endure the Fruity torture of watching the kids run around, switching chairs with glee while I call out whatever three words are used in the game for that day.
However, sometimes the thought of over 25 minutes of Fruits Basket is unbearable even to the teacher. And so, yesterday, as my kids had recited animal names for the past 15 minutes, got them all down, plus pronunciation practice, I turned to the teacher. She looked at the clock, her expression clearly telling me to go on as it was “Too early for game yet”. I shrugged. And turned to the board. And before anyone could stop me, I wrote down: “My favorite animal is ________________.” And started teaching THAT, to the great distress of the teacher. And what a surprise, the kids ALL said it, nearly perfectly, with barely any prompting. I think I nearly gave her a heart attack when I substituted the word "animal" for "color" though.
Seriously, we wonder why these kids don’t know English… well if the homeroom teachers didn’t force us to drip-feed English to them, maybe they’d stand a better chance at learning it! But, heh, in a way, I can understand why the teachers do that… after all, you wouldn’t want a 5th grader to be better at something than you, now would you?
I believe I have Inaka King Luc to thank for that. As I step out of my house every elementary school day, feeling my stomach churn in unwanted anticipation, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and hear his voice in my head. “JUST LET GO!!!!!” And then I open my eyes and feel much better.
I get to school as early as they request, read whichever book someone generously lent me until it’s time for me to get to class. Then I go, practice the good morning greeting, and teach whichever boring topic they’ve asked me to teach for the lesson, turning to the homeroom teacher when my kids’ drooping eyelids and yawns tell me we’ve practiced enough and they’re bored with this crap. Usually, that’s the teacher’s cue to make me endure the Fruity torture of watching the kids run around, switching chairs with glee while I call out whatever three words are used in the game for that day.
However, sometimes the thought of over 25 minutes of Fruits Basket is unbearable even to the teacher. And so, yesterday, as my kids had recited animal names for the past 15 minutes, got them all down, plus pronunciation practice, I turned to the teacher. She looked at the clock, her expression clearly telling me to go on as it was “Too early for game yet”. I shrugged. And turned to the board. And before anyone could stop me, I wrote down: “My favorite animal is ________________.” And started teaching THAT, to the great distress of the teacher. And what a surprise, the kids ALL said it, nearly perfectly, with barely any prompting. I think I nearly gave her a heart attack when I substituted the word "animal" for "color" though.
Seriously, we wonder why these kids don’t know English… well if the homeroom teachers didn’t force us to drip-feed English to them, maybe they’d stand a better chance at learning it! But, heh, in a way, I can understand why the teachers do that… after all, you wouldn’t want a 5th grader to be better at something than you, now would you?
Countdowns
Bon ben… ça a l’air que j’ai hérité d’une plante verte… moi qui est pas capable de s’occuper de rien de vivant, j’ai bien hâte de voir combien de temps elle va tougher.
Elle est jolie par contre. C’est un cadeau de Nakata-sensei. Drôle de madame, Nakata-sensei… Elle travaille à l’école primaire où je vais 2 fois par mois. Elle est ben fine, des fois un peu trop, faudrait que je compte combien de fois par 5 minutes elle peut me dire « Arigato gozaimashita » quand elle me demande quelque chose, ouf, j’ai pas fini… Pis là, ben elle m’a donné une plante verte. Soit pour Noël, soit parce que c’est ma dernière visite de l’année à Koto…
Weird. De savoir que c’est ma dernière visite de l’année à Koto. On est déjà en Décembre, il reste 35 fins de semaines avant la fin de mon contrat avec JET. Je compte les weekends parce que ce sont les jours le fun. Je me suis dit que ça passerait plus vite et plus agréablement si je me concentrais sur ce qui est le fun et effectivement, ça améliore de beaucoup les choses. Je compte tout en terme de countdowns. 1 journée avant le party de Ed. 15 jours avant mon congé des Fêtes. 18 jours avant mon voyage à Taiwan. Entre 14 et 16 semaines avant que mes parents viennent me voir. Et 35 fins de semaines avant d’être libérée de mon contrat de JET.
Indicatif que je m’ennuie de Montréal? Peut-être. Sauf qu’en même temps, ça a l’avantage de me rappeler que mon temps ici est limité et que j’ai le devoir d’en profiter au maximum. Je fais de mon mieux, mais ya des soirs que c’est difficile de pas juste rester à vedger devant mon compu…. C’est facile vedger devant son compu! ….mais quand on fait déjà ça à la journée longue, ça devient long des fois. Anyways, j’ai encore 2 saisons de Dexter à me taper si je deviens désespérée. Mais bon… j’aimerais ça avoir de la compagnie plus que d’écouter des DVDs sur mon laptop. Sauf que je trouve ça un peu ardu, toujours essayer de me trouver de la compagnie… j’aimerais ça que du monde m’appelle parfois, pas que ce soit à moi de toujours faire les premiers pas avec le monde du coin. Je sais ben que c’est moi la nouvelle, donc que c’est un peu ma job, mais pourquoi ya jamais personne pour faire « Ok, je m’emmerde à soir… qu’est-ce que je ferais ben…? Ah ouais, yavait une nouvelle au party, je pourrais la caller et voir ce qu’elle fait? », han? Anyways…
Pis là j’ai une rage de fajitas. Oh well, 35 weekends avant que j’en remange! Clo, t’es mieux d’avoir des histoires à me conter pis du temps de libre au mois d’août!
Elle est jolie par contre. C’est un cadeau de Nakata-sensei. Drôle de madame, Nakata-sensei… Elle travaille à l’école primaire où je vais 2 fois par mois. Elle est ben fine, des fois un peu trop, faudrait que je compte combien de fois par 5 minutes elle peut me dire « Arigato gozaimashita » quand elle me demande quelque chose, ouf, j’ai pas fini… Pis là, ben elle m’a donné une plante verte. Soit pour Noël, soit parce que c’est ma dernière visite de l’année à Koto…
Weird. De savoir que c’est ma dernière visite de l’année à Koto. On est déjà en Décembre, il reste 35 fins de semaines avant la fin de mon contrat avec JET. Je compte les weekends parce que ce sont les jours le fun. Je me suis dit que ça passerait plus vite et plus agréablement si je me concentrais sur ce qui est le fun et effectivement, ça améliore de beaucoup les choses. Je compte tout en terme de countdowns. 1 journée avant le party de Ed. 15 jours avant mon congé des Fêtes. 18 jours avant mon voyage à Taiwan. Entre 14 et 16 semaines avant que mes parents viennent me voir. Et 35 fins de semaines avant d’être libérée de mon contrat de JET.
Indicatif que je m’ennuie de Montréal? Peut-être. Sauf qu’en même temps, ça a l’avantage de me rappeler que mon temps ici est limité et que j’ai le devoir d’en profiter au maximum. Je fais de mon mieux, mais ya des soirs que c’est difficile de pas juste rester à vedger devant mon compu…. C’est facile vedger devant son compu! ….mais quand on fait déjà ça à la journée longue, ça devient long des fois. Anyways, j’ai encore 2 saisons de Dexter à me taper si je deviens désespérée. Mais bon… j’aimerais ça avoir de la compagnie plus que d’écouter des DVDs sur mon laptop. Sauf que je trouve ça un peu ardu, toujours essayer de me trouver de la compagnie… j’aimerais ça que du monde m’appelle parfois, pas que ce soit à moi de toujours faire les premiers pas avec le monde du coin. Je sais ben que c’est moi la nouvelle, donc que c’est un peu ma job, mais pourquoi ya jamais personne pour faire « Ok, je m’emmerde à soir… qu’est-ce que je ferais ben…? Ah ouais, yavait une nouvelle au party, je pourrais la caller et voir ce qu’elle fait? », han? Anyways…
Pis là j’ai une rage de fajitas. Oh well, 35 weekends avant que j’en remange! Clo, t’es mieux d’avoir des histoires à me conter pis du temps de libre au mois d’août!
lundi 1 décembre 2008
To counter the emoness of the previous post...
Heh, we’re in December. I’ve survived thus far, happy to say!
Seriously though, I often think back on my arrival here in September and it already feels like a distant memory. I feel like I’ve been here a loooooong time, much longer than it has been, but really, I’m not tired of it quite yet. I’m enjoying life here, the bouts in between the mind-numbing boredom of the staffroom. But apart from the fact that my job sucks, really, life isn’t bad at all. I’m having all kinds of fun with the people from around here, road trippin’ and talking, hanging out… Still, sometimes, especially with X-mas coming on, nostalgia hits.
A partial list of stuff I miss from home:
Bookstores
My folks
Real pizza
Central heating
Eggs, bacon and little roasted potatoes for breakfast
REAL COFFEE
The buddies
Downtown Montreal
But there is stuff to counter balance.
A partial list of stuff that kicks ass here:
The Stix
The people
The pay
The scenery (don’t laugh, I still hold my breath when I see the mountains in the right light)
The parties
The stuff I do outside of school
The fact that, fuck man, I’m in JAPAN!!!!
Oh, and Taiwan will probably make that list too ;)
Seriously though, I often think back on my arrival here in September and it already feels like a distant memory. I feel like I’ve been here a loooooong time, much longer than it has been, but really, I’m not tired of it quite yet. I’m enjoying life here, the bouts in between the mind-numbing boredom of the staffroom. But apart from the fact that my job sucks, really, life isn’t bad at all. I’m having all kinds of fun with the people from around here, road trippin’ and talking, hanging out… Still, sometimes, especially with X-mas coming on, nostalgia hits.
A partial list of stuff I miss from home:
Bookstores
My folks
Real pizza
Central heating
Eggs, bacon and little roasted potatoes for breakfast
REAL COFFEE
The buddies
Downtown Montreal
But there is stuff to counter balance.
A partial list of stuff that kicks ass here:
The Stix
The people
The pay
The scenery (don’t laugh, I still hold my breath when I see the mountains in the right light)
The parties
The stuff I do outside of school
The fact that, fuck man, I’m in JAPAN!!!!
Oh, and Taiwan will probably make that list too ;)
mardi 25 novembre 2008
Decided, for now.
I won’t do two years.
Though I’ve had a blast these last two weekends, the monotony of school life is just hitting me hard. I won’t be able to make it that far, I won’t be able to tough out another winter (that hasn’t even started yet). Classes are a bore, mom’s right, it’s important to do what you want in life, the sucky thing is, I don’t know what I want to do in life, though this morning, I had a flash of pure clarity as I watched my kids mull over their English textbooks that I missed being a student. I miss learning things, I miss HAVING to do something (or having something to do?). I miss those intense discussions, those classes out of which I’d drag classmates out for coffee so that we could continue the class debate, I miss feeling intellectually challenged. This job is a bore, a joke, where they pay me almost 3000$ a month to sit on my ass and be a tape-recorder. I wish I could set out on my own to some intellectual pursuit, unfortunately, I’ve never been known as proactive… Probably why I want to go back to school because, hey! Throwing buckets of hard-earned cash into the pockets of the education moguls makes it so much easier for me to feel obligated to accomplish something (if only that could work for gym subscriptions too…)
I like Japan. I truly do. I’ve met some fantastic people here from all sides of the world. But I’ve just spent a weekend with my old life, and it made me realize how much I miss it, how good it will feel to go back to it. I think I’ve made up my mind, at least that’s what it feels like at the moment.
Live it up to the fullest. Then it’ll be time to go back to my beloved Montreal, my city, my people, my life… And as I think about this, I hear the Respectables playing in my head…
J’pourrai toujours ben revenir,
Faut pas partir dans cet esprit la,
Si ya des choses qui m’plaisent ici,
Elles s’ront plus belles vues de la bas…
They were right. Every little piece of my old life looks so shiny and bright, seen from so far away… It’s like looking at the stars.
Though I’ve had a blast these last two weekends, the monotony of school life is just hitting me hard. I won’t be able to make it that far, I won’t be able to tough out another winter (that hasn’t even started yet). Classes are a bore, mom’s right, it’s important to do what you want in life, the sucky thing is, I don’t know what I want to do in life, though this morning, I had a flash of pure clarity as I watched my kids mull over their English textbooks that I missed being a student. I miss learning things, I miss HAVING to do something (or having something to do?). I miss those intense discussions, those classes out of which I’d drag classmates out for coffee so that we could continue the class debate, I miss feeling intellectually challenged. This job is a bore, a joke, where they pay me almost 3000$ a month to sit on my ass and be a tape-recorder. I wish I could set out on my own to some intellectual pursuit, unfortunately, I’ve never been known as proactive… Probably why I want to go back to school because, hey! Throwing buckets of hard-earned cash into the pockets of the education moguls makes it so much easier for me to feel obligated to accomplish something (if only that could work for gym subscriptions too…)
I like Japan. I truly do. I’ve met some fantastic people here from all sides of the world. But I’ve just spent a weekend with my old life, and it made me realize how much I miss it, how good it will feel to go back to it. I think I’ve made up my mind, at least that’s what it feels like at the moment.
Live it up to the fullest. Then it’ll be time to go back to my beloved Montreal, my city, my people, my life… And as I think about this, I hear the Respectables playing in my head…
J’pourrai toujours ben revenir,
Faut pas partir dans cet esprit la,
Si ya des choses qui m’plaisent ici,
Elles s’ront plus belles vues de la bas…
They were right. Every little piece of my old life looks so shiny and bright, seen from so far away… It’s like looking at the stars.
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