stuffs

Ok....long time no blog...sorry for the delay, anyhoo, let`s see.. Here's a basic highlight reel, feel free to ask for more details on anything, just post a comment asking for more info and I'll post more........


Well the third grade class got to ask me questions and tell me something about themselves a while ago, and to help them remember how to say certain things in English they wrote down hints and pronunciation and words on their hands so they`d start talking w/ their hand held out as if they were holding a slip of paper, but lo and behold they were reading off of their hand lol.  One kid actually had a slip of paper and a few kids were brave enough to not write anything down, but the majority of them had stuff written on their hands (and one kid had stuff that extended onto his arm a bit lol)

Oddly enough it seems that people in Japan understand that syrup goes on pancakes, yet the ratio of available pancake mixes to syrup is way off balance, there is a lot, a whole lot of pancake mixes (a good chunk of them like Bisquick that can be used for other things too) but very little pancake syrup, and the syrup usually comes in very tiny bottles that are expensive....just something that makes me wonder as to why it's so off balanced when they seem to agree that syrup on pancakes is a given and you can find it in restaurants but not stores -.-......

One of the elementary school got two sheep to take care of. They are young sheep, brother and sister, and just old enough to strike out on their own....they were kind of terrified at first, though who wouldn't be after going on their first truck ride and then the first contact w/ a lot of people were 1st-3rd graders that were squealing with glee and making a lot of noise and quick movements.....but the sheep have since calmed down and seem to enjoy the kids, especially at recess where a bunch of them clean out their pen and gather food for them to eat and there's always a group that goes hunting for the specific tree leaves that the sheep really like to eat lol.  And if I am out there with them a few of the kids start singing ``Mary had a little lamb`` in japanese lol.

The soccer tournament I played at was a lot of fun, I ended up playing in 7 or 8 45min games (half field), though the last one was shortened to 30 min (thankfully b/c everyone was exhausted by that point). The ride down was long but a lot of fun, we sang disney songs and had fun in conversations and ran around a sports store and such.....and on the way back we were all groaning and moaning every time we had to get in and out of the car b/c we were all so sore lol ^^. 

Had Sport`s Day at one of the Kindergartens which was fun, I got to participate in tug-of-war with the parents and grandparents, as well as a relay race :).  The students were very happy to have me there and it was a lot of fun to watch, and it was great how they had activities for the parents/grandparents/siblings that way the kindergartners could cheer on their family while they took a break^^.

I got to make a recording for a test w/ my JTEs (Japanese teachers of English), which was interesting and I only messed up once lol, though it was with the one teacher that I tend to mess up more around, but oh well, if I started out too gracefully they`d get surprised when I flubbed up, so at least this way I can be amazing for not messing up ^^....but in all sense it wasn`t a big flub...the 1st JTE had me repeat the # of the question before saying the question a second time, and the 2nd one didn`t want me to but I did on one of the questions, so not a huge mistake lol, but enough of one to where we had to re-do it and such. One of the other mess-ups that I have had with the 2nd teacher was in class where he asked me to tell the students to clear their desk so that we could start the lesson in the textbook....a simple enough command ``clear your desk`` but what tripped me up for some reason was that their textbooks were on their desk and he just wanted the worksheet to be put away, and when I said put away the worksheet I got confused looks b/c that wasn`t something they`ve heard...and so the JTE told me ``no, tell them to clear their desk, like I always do``, which added to the confusion b/c he doesn`t say that that often and I couldn`t remember when he gave an order to put the worksheet away but didn`t use the phrase ``put your ws away`` and used ``clear`` instead of ``put`` but doing that doesn`t make any sense b/c ``clear your ws`` would mean to erase the stuff on it and wouldn`t really translate to ``put it away``......anyhoo all of this was running through my head while I gave him a confused look and he kinda sighed annoyingly and said, ``ok, clear the worksheet`` and they put their worksheet away  -.-, which still leaves me at odds with that phrase, it doesn`t make much sense to me, but it`s the one that gets the students to put their worksheets away so I guess it works?? idk I`m still kinda confused by the whole thing, b/c you`d think he would have been ok w/ me saying ``put your ws away``....anyhoo so that was a rather odd and confusing mess up, but like I said, at least it now gives me a bit of room to where he doesn`t expect perfection of me lol.

I went to the Culture Festival at one of the elementary schools (I was unfortunately informed after the fact that the other elem. had one the same day -.-), and that was fun, I got to meet some parents and see some of the student`s art projects and see a comedian they invited in.....though the other school`s students just used the next time that I taught there to show me stuff that they had displayed at the festival, so at least I got to see some of the stuff from both schools ^^..........let`s see what else......the Junior High`s culture festival is this weekend, as well as an outing with the teachers at a restaurant....so that should be fun......and that`s going to be it for now, I`m tired of sitting around :p so off to do something else, prob go get some food to cook for dinner.......  

So quiet in the peanut gallery ;)

.I'm kind of surprised you've all been quietly waiting >.> I kinda took a while to post again.....anyhoo ^^.....Ok....let's see what all has gone down since my last post .....I bought some flowers b/c the yard is rather bare, though it still is since the flowers are on my little stoop and not in the yard....but that is beside the point, they still help add color to the front of the house^^.  Umm, I ran into some of my elementary school students while I was shopping, it was very amusing. They were with their parents and when they saw me their jaws dropped and had a "holy crap it's my teacher, but outside of school" look of disbelief on their face lol.  But after that initial shock of running into their teacher outside of the school they cheered up and gave me huge smiles and said hello :).  There was a beach BBQ party the other day which was pretty fun. It was nice to meet up with people and just relax on the beach ^^.  After the party two people crashed at my place, Phylicia and Cat, and then we went to Murakami to see the Castle ruins, which were on top of a small mountain and you had to walk up...which wasn't too bad, but once you reach the top there's a sign that basically says "congrats you reached the start of ruins and you have a lot more hiking up and down and around the mountain if you want to see them all.  Since it was really hot and humid and tired (and Cat and Phylicia wanted to head out to a festival in Niigata) we decided the bits of the ruin at the start were good for now and that we'll go there again later.  After they headed off to the city I went back home and then ventured to the small town just north of mine to take some cool pics of the sunset :), pictures can be found on facebook and I'll load them to flickr later (but flickr is being difficult so idk when that'll be).

Ummm....what else.....not really too much that I can think of...I tried to find some soccer shoes but to no avail, one store told me they can order some (only two brands in their catalog went to me size) but it was going to cost like $100 something so I told them I'll keep trying.....I was told to check out a bigger city, but I might try amazon and another website first....Ummm, oh there was an earthquake drill at one of the Elementary schools while I was there. Basically the alarm sounds they hide under their desks and then once it's clear they go to the gym and do role call and that was it  for the drill, but they also had an earthquake simulator outside.  The simulator is like the size of a small moving truck, where the back part is rigged to shake around, and the students get into the special section and sit at some chairs by a table and then it shakes like an earthquake and then that's it.  They all seemed to really enjoy it, and hte teachers kept trying to get me to go do it too, but we literally ate lunch 20 minutes or so before this happened and I wasn't about to loose my lunch. The teachers all had a good laugh when I told them "No earthquakes after lunch", but they agreed that yeah, it wasn't the best time to be rattled around in an earthquake simulation thing lol.  But yeah, the kids had a blast and it was fun to watch^^.  Oh and my Junior High kids had a good laugh at my expense...one day I was just not with it (most likely b/c it was a late night and I was woken up in the middle of the night by a cat yowling outside of my window -.-).  I went to go to class ahead of the teacher b/c he forgot something so I started to go to the 3rd floor...but the 3rd year students are on the 1st floor, I remembered this halfway up the first flight and turned around....and then I couldn't remember whether it was class A or B, and both classes didn't have a teacher in them yet, so I walked into class A.  After me standing there for a few seconds and saying hi to them one student says "This isn't English class".  So I hang my head and reply "Really" and then dramatically slump toward the door to play up the moment (I figured I should at least get a good laugh/story out of this) but then perked up just before the door and cheerfully went back to the front of the class saying "Naah, It's English class now, you're stuck with me." Which they all cheered (this made me feel loved ^^), but then I told them that sadly I couldn't change their class around like that and went to my real class.  Walk into my class and the teacher is already there and gave me really confused look, so I told him (loud enough for the students to hear) how I went upstairs, to take the senic route, then to the wrong class and such...which got everyone giggling but as far as I can tell no one thinks less of me for doing this.....and I'm glad that I did this toward the start of the year rather than in the middle b/c then I wouldn't have much of an excuse lol. ......anyhoodle that's all that I can think of for now, so adios. ^^

Sports Day

Ok, so for Sports Day the entire school is split up onto either the Red Team or the Blue Team.....which immediately brought Red vs. Blue to mind and thus I had quotes from the show constantly popping up in my head....not that that's a bad thing lol.   Ok, so most of the events are relay-race based where the kids have to do things like walk on balance beams then grab a bag off of a string with their mouth and spin around w/ their head on a baseball bat, and such things....or the handing off of a baton to the next runner....or a combination of everything.  I got to participate in a short relay race of teachers vs students...but I think the teachers didn't finish the race and only ran most of it to get the kids riled up?....I'm really not entirely sure what went on with that >.>.   Most of the time I was just a spectator sitting by myself, so I felt like a bit of a third wheel since all of the other teachers had something to do, but I didn't want to ask for stuff to do because they were all really busy and since no one is fluent in English it would take up time they didn't really have to explain things to me. So I sat there and watched.  A college student (from Sanpoku) came over to say hi to me and she spoke English very well, so I asked her about the different things on sports day and about Sanpoku and such...but I had to shoo her away because she was sitting in the teacher's tent with me which is, for teachers.  I was a little sad about that...but they were afraid that other people would flock to the tent (where it was nicely shaded) to get into the shade and use talking to me as a cover-up. Which is understandable that they would worry about such things, but other than her and the occasional teacher or student and one of the special guests, no one really said anything to me. It was really hot that day, but overall I enjoyed myself. I'd say that my three favorite events of the day were: 1. a game where groups of three students held up and carried another student wearing a hat, and the various groups tried to steal the hat of the guy being carried in the other groups.  2. a game where the family members had to throw in beanbag things into a basket on the backs of some students while the students tried to run away and prevent the beanbags from getting into their basket. 3. a duel nicely synced up to some music where two students pretended to have one of those standoff sword duels where they eventually both charge and pause then one of them falls over...when the one fell over the fireworks went off which added a nice dramatic flair to the whole thing lol^^. 
      As fun as sports fay was I was glad when it was over, it had been a long week of introducing myself over and over and trying to figure out what all of my duties are, and I was ready for some R&R. The enkai, or office/teacher party was a lot of fun, and right after sports day.  I almost missed the bus because not all of the teachers were taking one, and I was under the impression that everyone was riding the bus...and the bus was more of a giant van and didn't look much like a bus, so when they said the bus will be here I was looking out for an actual bus.  Needless to say one of the teachers luckily asked me just in time if I was riding the bus, and yelled out the window and told them to wait for me.  Once we finally got to where we were going it was a nice restaurant/onsen thing.  For those of you who don't know what an Onsen is, it's like a giant heated pool area, this one had an inside and an outside section...the outside section was built to make it look like you were in an actual hot spring w/ rocks and a mini waterfall and all. First you shower and wash up, and then you go sit naked in the giant heated pool/hot tub thing....same gender of course.  It was really relaxing and very nice and I kind of wanted to soak a bit longer since it was such a nice night out, but we couldn't stay in long because our food was waiting.  The restaurant part was more traditional styled where you sit on flat cushions on the floor, with a lazy-Susan in the middle of the table and the food is placed on the lazy-Susan for people to spin around and get their food. It was more Chinese styled food, served in smaller portions so there was a lot of selection. There were chicken based dishes, some hot some cold, some shrimp, spicy curry, and other stuff that I have no clue what it was.  And at an Enkai it's all you can drink beer, and people refill your cup before it gets empty, so if you're not careful one can get drunk rather easily.  Luckily I ordered something other than beer, and had a glass of beer that I took very small sips from, and water...so drinking 3 different things (one of which you have to re-order from the server when you want more so it can't be tipped off) made it so that I could keep a better eye on how much of what I drank....and having three things meant that taking small sips from all three equals the drinks not getting topped off as much and having water as a selection meant I could toast with it and drink as much as I wanted without worry lol....plus drinking water when drinking anything alcoholic is always a good idea.  Anyhoo, all in all  it was a nice way to wrap up a sort of exhausting and long week :).

A Promised Post.....about teachings....

Ok.....so here's another post as promised....umm so yeah teaching, just to let you all know I'm not allowed to take pictures of my students or school events and such w/out going through a lot of hoops and getting permission and all that, so you prob won't really ever see too many...if any...pics of school life. 

That aside I can talk about it^^.   Ok...so I think I posted this before...maybe not...either way, the principal at the Junior High is super awesome, he's like a real-life version of Monk Gyatso from Avatar the Last Airbender!!! He's just so chill, yet has that devious smile, and probably says some quirky/funny things b/c everyone always laughs a lot when he gives morning announcements...but alas I cannot understand him...but yeah^^ he is super awesome!  He ate lunch with us today and we chatted a bit and he wished me luck when I left to go to the kindergarten....and it turns out that in the mornings he watches the road in front of the school and makes sure that kids cross safely...I wonder if kids in Japan know how lucky there are to have a principal that makes sure they cross the street and get to school safely.  

Ok, So I got to introduce myself to the JR high kids via a short speech and a quick Bingo game that was based off of my speech....two of the Bingo games went really well....a few didn't go as well, it seems that they partly didn't understand, and were partly unsure of what to do b/c the main teacher wasn't teaching, b/c they obviously understood what I was saying and responded, but if I asked for them to raise their hands to answer a question like "who likes to play soccer" they looked at their teacher w/ this look of "is it ok for me to raise my hand?, why aren't you asking us questions too?" ....but they were all pretty sweet.  The 2nd years in one of the classes really had fun asking me questions (partly b/c they got to form groups and think of 3 questions) so in other words they had time to scheme and people to scheme with....The only personal question that I got was if I had a boyfriend....but I found out after class (when we collected the sheets that had their questions on them) that I dodged the question "what was your first love like"....though sadly I also missed "if the world ended what would you do".....but yeah^^ they had a lot of fun and got really excited about asking me stuff. In one of the other classes there was a group of kids, all sitting next to each other, and they kept telling me that there name was something else completely...like a famous rock star, or a piece of fruit, etc etc....they did this b/c they knew I couldn't really speak or read Japanese and b/c I didn't know their names since that's why they had to introduce themselves.....But yeah, over all it was fun and the kids seem rather nice, and a lot of them happily greet me when they see me in the hall^^.  I can't wait to get a better handle on Japanese though b/c I feel that a lot of the teachers and students are reluctant to say anything to me b/c they know that I can't really understand and they can't speak English. .....Oh and I got to explain DQ ice cream cakes to a class yesterday, they all seemed very impressed to hear that there are cakes made solely of ice cream lol^^....though with all do respect ice cream cakes are rather amazing. 

Ok, so I went to the Kindergarten today....all of the little kids stared at me wide-eyed like they were at the zoo or something...or like their favorite cartoon character or celebrity just walked into their school. So that in and of itself was amusing^^.....then a lot of the kids kept jumping up trying to jump higher than I was tall....sadly none of the the teachers really speak any English so I played the guessing game of I will do my best to correctly guess at what you are saying...I'm seem to be rather decent at that game and I am very grateful for it!! But the kids had a small relay race outside where they ran while jump roping around the track....everyone cheered very loudly....oh and the kindergarten has a pool that the kids get to swim in.....and the kindergartens are set up differently class wise, they don't have the kids sit down as much as a lot of American Kindergartens do....they have the kids sit for a short story, then go to the gym and do a structured dance routine thing, then go back to the classroom to sing, potty break, then go outside to play a game, then back inside to do a sitting activity for a bit and then back to the gym to stretch and dance a bit before taking another potty break and then out to go swim.......it was very structured, like American kindergarten classes, but they had the kids do a lot more active learning, which the kids really seemed to enjoy.....let's see what else.....oh one of the kids high-fived  my boob...he was running down the hall and jumped near me (I thought he was trying to jump higher than I was tall, since that's what everyone was doing) but nope, he quickly darted out his hand hit my boob and ran into the classroom -.- *face palm*....but aside from that none of the other kids were handsy, which I was kind of surprised about b/c sometimes you hear stories (especially about the really little kids) about how they'll come up and grab your butt or boob or whatever....http://www.lifeaftertheboe.com/2010/10/16/touching/   and http://www.lifeaftertheboe.com/2009/10/04/bum-touching/  .....Anyhoo^^, the teachers were all super nice and friendly and the kids were fun too.

  Later on in the day I went to one of the Elementary schools to meet people and they all took turns (I sat in the principals office) coming in one at a time to talk to me and ask me questions and see if I had any questions and such.  They were all super nice and it was great to meet everyone! I found out that I'll be giving yet another "infront of the whole school" intro speech, and then have to have a short introduction and games prepared for all of the grade levels :p....so it'll be interesting once I have to go through all of that next week. Wish me luck lol^^.  .....meh that's gonna be it for the day, I have to get up early to take the trash out to the collection place and then go to the school Sports Day events.........so more later.....maybe on Monday if I'm up to it^^.... Oh and if there's anything specific you want me to talk about or have questions please feel free to post stuff in the comment boxes :). 

Festivals, "teaching"s, and whatsits

Ok, so new post....yeah......ok first off let's start with my adventure of: The Sekikawa Snake Festival



*anticipation*

*exhilaration*

*contemplation*

*guessed what I'm referencing yet-ation?*

*quit being a dork and just tell us about the story* >.>.....yeah ok, I'm done.........anyhoo, on with the narration ^^''''.....:   **warning I didn't proof read this**

Ok, so I went to go take part in the Sekikawa Snake Festival...for some clips of the festival follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjD1owRY2k&feature=BFa&list=PL609F365F31779939   (the videos are a tad of of order).....Ok, so I was interested in going to this festival...little did I know that the snake I was going to help carry weighs over 2 tons or so -.-....very heavy and my shoulder is still recovering....but it was fun^^. 

Ok, so I got up at 5, so I could leave by 6, get to a place to take a bus (I found out about the bus later) by 8:15 and arrive at the festival @ 8:30-9.....I drank a lot of water the day before and in the morning b/c it was crazy hot and even crazier humid....it was around the upper 80s with a humidity in the 70-80s as well....So needless to say after driving past the place where I was supposed to catch a bus like 6 times -.-....I was told to meet by the police station, but it was actually a bit down from the police station....and I thought that I was meeting at the start of the parade so I was looking for this big crowd and giant snake but it was like a ghost town w/ few people around.....so yeah I would drive past it in one direction, stop and ask for directions and head back the way I just came from, ask for directions and head back the way I just came from...I actually stopped at the right place once but this older guy (who was going to help carry the snake too) told me to go further down the road....he was trying to tell me to go to where the snake was, and seeing as I wasn't aware that I was supposed to take a bus there I drove back the way I just came from and stopped for directions was pointed back to where I was just at....but this time there were more people so I decided that it was the right spot and waited there to meet up w/ someone...who I was told could speak English...who would help me get to the parade.  So I was confused b/c there was no snake and I thought I was at the start of the parade...and on top of that I had been driving for two hours after drinking a lot of water so I had to pee. But of course the building that we were meeting at was closed so I walked next door and I saw some people outside of the house...seeing as how that was the first group of non-parade affiliated people that I saw during the past half hour of driving in and out of that part of town, I decided that they were my best bet at getting to a bathroom. So I asked them in broken Japanese and apologized and thanked them profusely and they were nice enough to let me into their house to use the bathroom...an older lady, I'm guessing the little boys' grandmother, showed me to the bathroom and showed me how to use their toilet....it was one of the weird ones that has a sink attached to the top of it and the sink turns on when you flush the toilet....I guess that way you can't forget to wash your hands?.....Anyhoo, the super nice family let me use their bathroom and seemed to enjoy having a gaijin stumbling up to them asking to use a bathroom lol.  So after that I went back to the place where the parade people were..or at least that's who I was hoping they were.....and the one person's friend still wasn't there to meet me, and a lot of Junior High and High School kids showed up, and they kept looking at me and whispering amongst themselves, some would smile and wave back, but most of them got this look of "oh crap she knows we're talking about her" look on their face if I acknowledged them lol. 
   

        Ok, so the person's friend shows up w/ her kids and she can't really speak English but she was super friendly^^....and I think she assumed that I spoke some Japanese b/c she kept talking to me and asking me questions which I did a rather good job at guessing what she asked b/c I'd answer and she seemed happy w/ what I said and kept talking.   Two buses showed up and the other parade people pretty much filled up the buses and they seemed a little annoyed that the person's friend, her kids and I wanted to ride the bus too.  But they let us on, I had to ride in a different bus than the lady and her kids b/c there wasn't enough for me too.....so I got to sit awkwardly between some Jr/Sr High school boys who seemed a little weirded out by me sitting there....and that in itself was rather amusing^^. So we got to the place where the parade started and a bunch of cars were parking in a nearby lot which made me wonder why the original person who told me to meet people by the police station didn't just have me drive another 5-10 minutes past the police station to get to where the parking lot by the start of the festival -.-....but I figured he must have had a reason so Ilet it go.  So I'm finally where I was trying to get to, and met the guy and his wife and kids (his wife is from Arizona) and they were happy that I found my way there and that I was helping out with the parade. They were really nice people, but were heavily involved with the parade so they couldn't really talk....and the other lady had to look after her kids, so after the one guy showed me to the person who I'd be standing next to while I carried the snake, he left it at that and went back to help his wife and the others get everything together.   The person that I was carrying the snake with was either in his last year of junior high, or freshman in high school...but he was nice and his name as Kiyoto....I  said his name more like Kyoto (the city) which made a lot of people laugh and then he emphasized that it was Kiiiiyoto and not Kyoto.  His dad and friends were there and they were a nice bunch, they kept trying to ask me things in broken English or very simple Japanese...and I tried to answer as best I could.  Oh and I got to meet the mayor of the city, he was a pretty awesome old guy who proudly introduced himself to me (in English) as the "Head Man of the town" ^^.  Then some people came out to play drums and then there was a Kampai! and then the parade began....oh and they were dishing out free sake and beer all throughout the parade to the people who helped carry the snake...and aside from the small shot of sake for the kampai I didn't drink any b/c I didn't want to get dehydrated. 

   The parade involved a lot of people carrying a giant snake that weighed 2+ tons about 4-5miles through the city....and we didn't just carry it in a straight line, we made it slither like a real snake...so, being in the middle I was naturally swayed (flailed) back and forth along the street as we carried this giant snake.  It was really hard on my shoulder b/c I was taller than the guy helping me carry that segment of the snake so more of the weight was on me than him...but later on a taller guy switched out w/ Kiyoto and I noticed a huge difference in how much weight was no longer directly on my shoulder...though by that point my shoulder was really sore from carrying it for a good 2+ miles so I switched with someone to let them take over and used that opportunity to take some pictures and relax a bit.   We took 5-10 minute breaks about every mile, and there were tables w/ people serving out water, sports drinks and beer to the people carrying the snake....at about the halfway point they also had watermelon and cucumbers and some other things like that for us to munch on.  I'd say I carried the snake about 3 miles before I stopped....I would've switched with some to get back in, but my shoe was starting to fall off after getting flat-tired, so I switched out to fix it and got stuck behind a bunch of people who were following the snake carriers. I stayed toward the back end of the snake since I couldn't maneuver my way back up to my spot, but seeing as the back was lighter no one really needed or wanted to switch out.  So after the next break I moved further up but on the opposite side...Kiyoto's dad and friends asked what happened to me and I told them my shoe almost fell off and then I got stuck behind a lot of people and couldn't get back to my spot which made them laugh and then the break was up, but I was on the opposite side of my spot and there weren't any empty spots on that side so I was kinda stuck....it was close to the end by that point....I stayed on the side opposite of my original spot that way if someone wanted me to take there spot then I could carry it on my shoulder that didn't hurt...but it was near the end so no one really wanted to switch out....but I was ok with that b/c I really didn't want both of my shoulders to really hurt. .....oh and the little kids got to pull a mini-version of the big snake (theirs was on wheels >.> lucky little kids) behind us.....oh and while trying to sway around a corner of the street (b/c we had to violently slither around corners....so much so that people were running trying to keep the snake together as it swung around)....it was kind of fun, and kind of "Oh my god why are we running w/ a 2+ ton snake around corners where we are all really close to each other and step on each other while walking so now  we're going to run and try not to trip o.0?!?" But we never tripped....though one section swayed too wide and got stuck in a street sign lol ^^.....oh and there was an older lady w/ a giant fan that would walk along the snake fanning us, it was pretty awesome b/c it was sooo hot. 

So the parade ending....luckily I wasn't carrying the snake at the end b/c they were running really fast and slithering back and forth really fast and lifting it up and down at the end....one girl did trip and fall but luckily she was toward the back and the people by her managed to stumble around her without tripping.....but yeah it was crazy and I was really tired and sun burnt and sore by that point, so watching was definitely much nicer than carrying it....plus I got to take videos and pictures that way^^.  A few different groups came up and did a dance of played the drums and there was some food for sale and such....and after the other groups performed the people went and got the snake again (I missed out of the finally of carrying the snake b/c I was trying to buy some more water when they gathered up...but again, I was pretty worn out and dehydrated and super crispy by that point that I was happy w/ watching.....but it still looked like fun....so maybe next summer I can help out again....and remember sunscreen!!!.....and help carry the snake at the end of the festival^^. 
     
         Oh, and several people came up to me to try to talk to me, ask me if I was from America and such, and upon me telling them that I was a teacher they pulled their kid or grandkid out from hiding behind them and tried to get them to say hi to me, and the parent or grandparent was so happy to hear I was a teacher and they acted like it was the best news they heard all day lol.  I also ran into a fellow gaijin, he was from the US as well, he was here through a different program to teach English at schools, but was good friends with a lot of JETs.....he was really happy to see me, he said he always gets excited to see fellow foreigners, especially if they're from the US too lol.  He was super nice, and I was really happy to see him b/c I had no clue how I was going to get back to my car.  The guy and his wife left after the main part of the festival was over b/c they had to get their kids home, so he just came up to me and thanked me for coming and told me to ride one of the buses to get to where I needed to go...he said he was pretty sure they'd take me back, and then he left.......And no one was really getting on the buses even though he said they'd start making rounds to take people back soon, and I asked the lady who rode the bus w/ me if she was taking the bus back and she said no (I later found out that she also tried to tell me that her parents were going to drive us back-.-).....but I just understood that she wasn't taking the buses back.....so then the fellow gaijin found me so I asked him to help me out, so he brought over his fellow English-speaking Japanese friends and we were trying to sort it out when one of the ladies kids came over and told me to come with her to leave.....so I looked confused at the others and said "I guess they're taking me back?....if not then I can just ask them too later."  The others made sure that I was ok w/ asking the lady for a ride and then I followed the little girl to her mom and grandparents and we left.....and luckily I guessed correctly and the ladies parents were driving us back to where my car was ^0^....talk about a sigh of relief lol^^....they were super nice and they gave me some mochi-cakes that they got at the festival and her kids and parents kept asking me questions that I managed to luckily guess and figure out what they were asking even though most of the questions were in Japanese....they could understand English better than they could speak it so luckily I could answer mostly in English and they'd understand most of what I said if I kept the sentences simple......and luckily a lot of people ask the same questions over and over so I can recognize a few key words here and there lol^^....but yeah they dropped me off, I drove 2hrs back to the house and showered and prepared for work the next day...oh and skyped with mom and dad^^......so it was a really fun day^^, kind of stumbled through parts of it, but I'd do it again^^....except w/ sunscreen next time >.< I can't believe I forgot to put it on, I even left it out, but I guess waking up at 5 and trying to rush out the door so I'd have enough time to try to figure out where I was going, I just spaced out and forgot it -.-....oh well.....but yeah that was my weekend......I'll try to post again in the near future (as in tomorrow) about school and my neighbors^^.  So feel free to harass me if I don't get another post up tomorrow.....and tomorrow as in Friday, for those of you who are state side and are just getting up on Thursday morning and might think that I posted this on Wednesday :p........ok g'night.....hmmm I need a catchy signature to sign out with......hmmmmm >.>................................I'll try to think of one later so you'll have to do with:   Meh :p

Oba-san ninjas!!!

Ok, for those of you who don't know, Oba-san refers to old ladies.....and there's one that looks like a ninja o.O.  She has a hood kind of like this....and I would have taken a picture but I figured that would've been rather rude, so I did not... so, instead you get this image found via google:  Ok, the lady I saw was more hunched over, so I'm guessing older, and pushing a small cart in front of her. Her hood was more box-shaped and didn't poof out as much from her head and it was dark blue just like her clothes....so w/ the face mask she was sorta like an old lady version of Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat...here is Sub-Zero:

So yeah just picture an old lady in a hood colored like this ->
and dark matching clothes similar to this as well, minus the obvious shin guards and front flap thing and stuff...but anyhoo, I am convinced she is a ninja and has been henceforth dubbed Ninja-oba-tono.











All of that aside, things are still pretty hunky dory^^. The one English teacher doesn't like sweets so I get all of the stuff he's given :D, and I finally met all of the teachers today ^0^ they all seem to warm up to me ok, especial the one group of teachers who were impressed that I like manga, especially Kenshin.  And speaking of Kenshin, but I found out that the manga-ka of Kenshin, as well as several other well known manga-kas (manga authors) live and grew up in Niigata :D, so whoot for being in the prefecture of great manga-kas!!! There's a street called Furumachi Manga Street, that has some statues of some manga characters, such as Tetsugoro Iwata, from the baseball manga Yakyukyo no Uta (A poem for baseball freaks). ^^ I'm definitely going to explore this area in the near future.

Sad to say I haven't been to a shrine yet....I think there's one really close to the house I'm in, but it was getting dark and there was a guy trimming bushes along the road up to where I think the shrine is so I didn't head up that way, but I might venture there tomorrow...after asking and making sure that's what it is, since all of the houses are more traditionally fashioned looking, I'd hate to sneak up on someone's house....especially if it's Ninja-oba-tono lol.

Also, there are crows everywhere, which makes me think of Princess Tu-tu....but seriously they really are everywhere, here's a pic:

It's hard to tell b/c they were off in the distance, but every black speck is a crow, and this is actually not the most I've seen gathered on the telephone wires 0.o. I feel kinda bad for the farmers since they have a crap ton of crows and monkeys to fend off of their crops :p.





Umm let's see.....my neighbor brought me some McDonalds the other day, I guess they went into town (b/c there isn't one close by, the closest one is like an hour away) and were kind enough to being me back a double cheeseburger and fries :). I was also given an English/Japanese (it has both languages in it) manga of Doraemon ^^, cookies and sweets were passed around the office, two big tomatoes which I made spaghetti sauce out of, and my first pay day is tomorrow ^0^. Ummm let's see anything else exciting....Ninja-Oba-tono was the highlight of the early morning...umm I cleaned a lot, and tried to get most of the cobwebs down, there are still a few that evaded me...a spider came out of nowhere this morning and was promptly squished by the broom thing in the bathroom...Umm aside from that nothing too exciting, work from 8-4 and then cleaning, shopping and such.....though speaking of shopping when I was scouting out some manga and video games I was getting lots of looks, especial by the guys when I went to the "guy" manga section looking for stuff and when I was looking at the games lol.  Oh and later I'll post about my super nice neighbors (the ones who brought me McDonalds) ^^. Oh and a found an adorable tiny tree frog while helping the Vice-principal and his wife water the flowers at the school ^0^....and watering w/ them was in and of itself rather fun^^. They are a cute older couple, she's really sweet and the vp is always super busy and running around trying to make sure stuff's in order, but he'll take breaks here and there before rushing around again. But yeah they are a cute older couple, I met her b/c she had the VP's lunch and so we picked her up at the train station and ate lunch together and she brought awesome cream puff things and the Principal stopped in to drop off tasty pudding things and slushy things, and it was a nice tasty lunch^^. Ok, well that's enough for now :p, more later. Adios^^

Quick tiddlybit of whatnot

Ok.....so as a lot of people assume, Japan is a strange place where everything is tiny except Godzilla, Mothera and that group of monsters.....well I'd like to introduce a souped up Japanese minivan :D.









I came across this in a parking lot at an Onsen. I didn't go to an onsen, I just pulled into the parking lot to ask someone for direction to the Noh performance. Luckily as I was asking for directions...and was given directions in complete Japanese-.-....two ladies who could speak English and were also stopping in to ask for directions to the Noh performance swooped in and saved the day!! ^0^.  The two women were actually good friends with some JETs in other areas and could speak very fluently in English and they were super nice!! Talk about a huge life saver ^^. Anyhoo, for those of you who don't know what Noh is, here's a link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh

It was a fun show...I have no clue what they were saying, and since it's spoken in an older form of Japanese a lot of Japanese people don't know what's being said either....but they give out a pamphlet, in Japanese that explains the main plot and such.....so it's like watching a ballet, in the sense of you may not know what is being said through the special body movements, but you know the gist of the story.^^.....but I can't read kanji so I have no clue what the plot was exactly, but I can venture a possibly outlandish guess....the first, more comedic performance was about betrayal and I think sake drinking....Two guys tied up one guy, then one of the two tied up the other....then I think the two tied up guys got into the other guys sake and drank stuff and started chanting and then got yelled at and escorted out when the non-tied up guy came back into the room....the other one was more court life style thing and was longer and more serious, and involved a guy w/ a girls mask on dancing and a samurai fighting the main court group while they were in a boat.....I'll post pics to the flickr site later. Now I have to get ready to run and figure out where I have to drop my trash off at b/c they don't collect it here, you have to take it and sort it out at a special place....anyhoo adios for now ^^. and here's a sneak peak pick of the Noh performance: