Oh man.  I’m doing it again.  My scavenger instincts are flaring up.  I can’t resist.  Today I  went through somebody’s garbage.  I know my neighbors would be absolutely horrified, but they’re probably horrified by me already.  I should say in my defense, it wasn’t just random trash.  Since trash bags are required to be clear, I could see that it contained clothing and some other moving-out type garbage and not rotting vegetables or anything.

Most of it is sadly and very obviously too small for me.  I didn’t even bother to try on the brown sparkly tube top that said “EARTH” in big gold letters and rhinestones.  But a few items are nearly my size and very decent finds.

1.  A white T-shirt with collar, rhinestone buttons going half way down in the shirt.  In big gold letters:

FIND      RIZE
ASK      SUN
LOVE    GLAD
CONTINUE

2.  A purposely threadbare longsleeved white shirt.  The brand is called “BLOW.”  There are rhinestone buttons on the shirt cuffs.  In silver sparkly letters:

        CZARINA
RIFIND SWEET, LIGHT
BROWN, HARD
TASTE, YOU
AS IF IN A
DREAM

Now, I think both these shirts are hilarious.  But I’m a little nervous about wearing them around where my neighbors can see.   Hanging them outside apartment window to dry after washing is completely out of the question.

It’s over two months into the Japanese school year. The ichinensei are still having trouble differentiating “Are you?” vs. “Is it?” and “I am.” vs “It is.”

When I ask, “Is this a pen?” They are more likely than not to respond, “Yes, I am.” (more…)

There are all these swallows that nest under the ledges of the schools. There are some nesting in the second floor walkway of my junior high school where I pass from the teachers’ room to classes. They cheer me a bit, huddled down in their mud-bowl nests. I can barely see their dark blue heads and red throats poking over the top, and their double pointed tails; they can never fit those in.
But everyday, I’ve been noticing mud crumbles on the walkway. The nests had been broken one by one, until all of my sweet little swallows were gone. After the first or second one, I figured that it was just the wind or that they had been constructed poorly. Oh silly swallows, this is natural selection at work! But when all the nests were all broken I knew for sure it was no accident.

(more…)

On my way biking through Isesaki I realized I was too tired for karaoke and turned back for home. I stopped twice at convenience stores to gorge myself on bento boxes. In the last part of the journey I tried to take a short cut and ended up missing my turn.

The night took on a surreal quality. I biked about a quarter mile down this road. There were grain fields on either side. The streetlights had abruptly ended and I could see the moon through a patchy gap in the clouds. The moon caused the irregular frame of the clouds to shine white along the edge. I didn’t know where I was but the humidity and the buzz of the cicadas made me think I must be somewhere in southeast US.

Engrish of the day:

Thought at that time is put

WRITE PHOTO

The result condition that really took picture entirely. $13.20
It tries this splandid technology

From a tan long sleeved shirt with dark brown writing. Size large.

The Japanese are very indirect. This leads to all sorts of gaijin paranoia about passive aggressive behavior and what every little potential message might mean. I’ve heard that you can tell how much a Japanese person likes you by how they serve you tea. If it is strong and hot, they like you. If it is cold and weak, it’s their way of saying they don’t like you.

I usually come into work later than everyone else. My contract says work begins for me at 8:30 am. Classes start around 9am, I think. I am expected to be at work no later than 10min early and even this is pushing it by Japanese culture. Most of the students are here before I get to work. Until today, there has been a cup of tea of my desk. I definitely appreciate it. Japanese tea may be horrid but I get served so much of it that I’m developing a caffeine habit. I NEED my shitty ass tea in the morning. Until today, there has been a cup of tea on my desk, albeit cold because I come in later than everyone else when the tea is served. When I started at this school I was told to bring in my own mug, and I did, a white mug with a blue Lily of the Valley image. Until this morning my tea has been served in this mug.

Today I came to work closer to the 8am side than the 8:30 side. I didn’t do it to join the Japanese solidarity of coming to work way before when is necessary. I did it because if I wait too much longer at my apartment, traffic gets really painful. I’d rather spend the extra time fucking off at my desk than on the commute. When I got here today, there was no mug of tea on my desk. In fact, my mug was on someone else’s desk. What was wrong? Were they pissed off that I was always coming to work later than them? Was it my turn to serve tea and I didn’t do it? Do we even take turns serving tea? Who serves the tea? I only teach at this junior high school three days a week. I figured that during my time away someone had adopted it and forgotten to wash it and just left it on the desk. Fine. Way to be polite community oriented Japanese, borrowing my cup and forgetting about it! I decided I would get up and while everyone was watching, quietly reclaim my lost cup, wash it, and pour myself tea.

Before I could do it, everyone disappeared. I went over to the mug to investigate. It was full of tea. I didn’t want to mess with someone else’s tea. I went over to the tea station, took a mug that someone had barely washed out, and dejectedly poured myself some last dregs of awful tea. What does all this mean? Maybe this is just a misunderstanding?

Engrish of the day:
Theme “the way of speaking doing some shopping will be known.”

From an old lesson plan found at the bottom of a drawer at one of my elementary schools.