Where do You Stand?
If you're like me, then you're in your mid 20's fumbling about the world trying to find a spot. You do not easily forget the cliche "home is where you find it." My interpretation is, wherever you are, that's where you find yourself, but that's cliche too. However, Yahoo News today reports Randy Moss is headed to the Oakland Raiders, which means the world is still spinning in sensible dirrections. In news from Aspen, Colorado, Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide this week. Dare I say, that too makes sense in a very twisted way? Didn't John Lewis have a story about arm wrestling the guy at a bar in Divide, Colorado?
Chinook winds blew through Fujiyoshida yesterday as a full moon climbed slowly over the icy silouhette of Mt. Fuji. Sometimes movements are so smooth they are hardly noticed. I notice. The same day I completed 5 classes in a row of speaking tests, which means I examined the English of 175 students. They're OK and Japan is OK, I report. Please, there is no need to worry. I understand this place and I am going to tell you how to understand it too, but only if you read between the lines.
The obvious to some is what I call my secrets, and I am easily read under the gaze of local eyes. To wake up late, take long steamy showers, throw on smoky smelling wrinkled hooded black sweatshirts, brush back wet hair, head out the door, and run into another American on the way to an untimed train is coincidence. More, it is coincidence to depart the train station unplanned, walking heel toe this foggy morning to my car, left unmaned after a night of drinking, and arive at school 5 minutes late in the middle of the morning meeting, recieving smiles from the same 7 staff members. If you use your head, the world is a beautifully simple place. If that head happens to be hung over, simple coincidences may seem serendipitous.
Police stopping drunk test station. Flashing blinkers and uniforms do not deter the movements of determined individuals, as long as there is help. As long as someone's cell phone number who is not under the influence is accesible to call at 1 in the morning while stumbling in the cold air, you can get home without being hauled off to prison. The Police are not omnipresent, but they can smell whiskey if they sniff long enough, be warned. Up to a 500,000yen fine for drinking and driving may be thrown at you if you didn't heed all the warnings. Even worse is that being caught by the police is embarassing to your superiours, which is as about as bad as it can get. Had I decided to drive I might have found myself back in America sooner than expected.
I hope you all don't mind that I am going to Nagano this weekend for some snowboarding. I got a new board from Devin in Snowmass middlemanning for High Society Freeride Company. It has a nice Japanese style design. I always wanted to be a skater when I was little, but I wasn't cool enough. I wish I had put more effort in to bruising and cutting myself up, but then again I did have that one stupid skiing accident that crippled my stride for several months. Anyway, just let go and surf the snow, it feels amazing. I have nice new boots too, which scares me because owning nice things makes one want to settle down and find a big house in which to display all one's fabulous trappings and in so doing build their own jail...shudder. I am already really comfortable in my apartment. The thought of packing up and leaving has been on my mind since I got here and this, concurrently, is the reason that having things scares me and settling in is difficult.
Side note: I hate being showy, I like old, ragged, used, meaningful things. I only bought that new Mac because I really needed it. I took the idea of buying it through at least one year of rigorous interviews and exams. It passed and is now doing its job well. Nothing is more frustrating than a slow Microsoft equipped computer. I am Andy's upset stomach waiting for Windows to load.
Marriage means accepting the fact that you owe the world everything. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Can I get to the point yet? School is good, take a look. I need some more pictures of the students, because they are the reason I am here, but pulling out a camera in the middle of class is distracing and hard to explain.
Asumi Junior High School.
Haruka, Andy, and Yuka Sensei(s).
Haruka and Yuka are what I call "nakama" which means friends or members of the same gang, like school classmates. They are fun to work with and help keep me sane when trouble strikes at school. I imagine I help them too, not just with English pronounciation and such, but also with classroom drama. The other day two kids got in a fight in class, which escalated far enough to require me to force them apart. Am I really that tall?
Spring is coming soon, but not too soon. Come back again for a post about this coming weekend's trip to Nagano. Take care.
Chinook winds blew through Fujiyoshida yesterday as a full moon climbed slowly over the icy silouhette of Mt. Fuji. Sometimes movements are so smooth they are hardly noticed. I notice. The same day I completed 5 classes in a row of speaking tests, which means I examined the English of 175 students. They're OK and Japan is OK, I report. Please, there is no need to worry. I understand this place and I am going to tell you how to understand it too, but only if you read between the lines.
The obvious to some is what I call my secrets, and I am easily read under the gaze of local eyes. To wake up late, take long steamy showers, throw on smoky smelling wrinkled hooded black sweatshirts, brush back wet hair, head out the door, and run into another American on the way to an untimed train is coincidence. More, it is coincidence to depart the train station unplanned, walking heel toe this foggy morning to my car, left unmaned after a night of drinking, and arive at school 5 minutes late in the middle of the morning meeting, recieving smiles from the same 7 staff members. If you use your head, the world is a beautifully simple place. If that head happens to be hung over, simple coincidences may seem serendipitous.
Police stopping drunk test station. Flashing blinkers and uniforms do not deter the movements of determined individuals, as long as there is help. As long as someone's cell phone number who is not under the influence is accesible to call at 1 in the morning while stumbling in the cold air, you can get home without being hauled off to prison. The Police are not omnipresent, but they can smell whiskey if they sniff long enough, be warned. Up to a 500,000yen fine for drinking and driving may be thrown at you if you didn't heed all the warnings. Even worse is that being caught by the police is embarassing to your superiours, which is as about as bad as it can get. Had I decided to drive I might have found myself back in America sooner than expected.
I hope you all don't mind that I am going to Nagano this weekend for some snowboarding. I got a new board from Devin in Snowmass middlemanning for High Society Freeride Company. It has a nice Japanese style design. I always wanted to be a skater when I was little, but I wasn't cool enough. I wish I had put more effort in to bruising and cutting myself up, but then again I did have that one stupid skiing accident that crippled my stride for several months. Anyway, just let go and surf the snow, it feels amazing. I have nice new boots too, which scares me because owning nice things makes one want to settle down and find a big house in which to display all one's fabulous trappings and in so doing build their own jail...shudder. I am already really comfortable in my apartment. The thought of packing up and leaving has been on my mind since I got here and this, concurrently, is the reason that having things scares me and settling in is difficult.
Side note: I hate being showy, I like old, ragged, used, meaningful things. I only bought that new Mac because I really needed it. I took the idea of buying it through at least one year of rigorous interviews and exams. It passed and is now doing its job well. Nothing is more frustrating than a slow Microsoft equipped computer. I am Andy's upset stomach waiting for Windows to load.
Marriage means accepting the fact that you owe the world everything. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Can I get to the point yet? School is good, take a look. I need some more pictures of the students, because they are the reason I am here, but pulling out a camera in the middle of class is distracing and hard to explain.
Asumi Junior High School.
Haruka, Andy, and Yuka Sensei(s).
Haruka and Yuka are what I call "nakama" which means friends or members of the same gang, like school classmates. They are fun to work with and help keep me sane when trouble strikes at school. I imagine I help them too, not just with English pronounciation and such, but also with classroom drama. The other day two kids got in a fight in class, which escalated far enough to require me to force them apart. Am I really that tall?
Spring is coming soon, but not too soon. Come back again for a post about this coming weekend's trip to Nagano. Take care.
posted by smithamcd at 4:18 PM
1 Comments:
John, actually I have very little time to teach like you said, the computer stuff keeps me looking busy and sane. We have a joke: How many ALTs (that's me, Assistant Language Teacher) does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer: 10, 1 to screw in the light bulb and 9 to complain about how little work there is to do.
JOHN LEWIS wrote:
WOW that's a lot of shit! Do you have time to teach or do you just do computer-stuff?
I arm-wrestled H. Thompson at the Woody Creek Tavern near Aspen-- the tavern was "his" venue. Chicks would come up to him and drape their lovely bods on him, saying,"Take me home, Hunter baby...."
All were pretty stoned, but I, of course was only drinking beer! And no chicks came up to me-- go figure!
(I tried to post this on the blog site, and don't want to go through signing up for a blogger name, hence this e-mail.)
your squeeze is decently cute!
keep smilin', boardin', lovin', and workin' !
john
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