MOVE
The moment that you all have been waiting for has finally arrived. I received my new car yesterday. But before, I go too much into it, let me recount the events of the past 2 days. When I say it like that it almost sounds exciting. It wasn’t. Monday was payday. So, I picked up my stipend from the town hall and walked it over to the post office across the street to deposit it.
Tuesday, I went to Uchinoura Junior High like I usually do. Some of the students are already finished with their term-end exams. Therefore, they are split into classes that can review (a.k.a. play games) and classes that still have to cram. I participated in the class that can play games. I tried to introduce a new one that Cristina told me worked very well in her class – Pictionary. I cannot say that it went down the same way in my classroom. First, I had 4 different categories with different point values – person, place, thing, challenge. The kids didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves because many just picked up the piece of chalk and stared at the blackboard for the minute. It was very frustrating. I even showed them an example. It didn’t seem to work. Finally, some of them got into it. This one girl who is really good at English, but never speaks to me really got into it. I guess it was her moment to shine because all she had to do was say the answer. But still, she was the only one who could think of the answer in English. Still, her team lost.
Tuesday night, we saw the new episodes of 24 and Alias.
Wednesday, I went to Kishira Elementary. It was fun as always, and I enjoy being able to play with them. It is always so great to go there because they make the time there so enjoyable for me (and I know ALL their names!). During recess, we all went to the reflection pool. They were excited to show me the tadpoles and all the frog eggs that were in there. They saw how curious I was when I saw them in one of their observatory tanks in the lab. I had never seen a frog egg before and had no idea that you could actually see the stage of the tadpole in the egg. In any case, it grossed me out to see all of them handling big sticky groups of eggs with their hands. My favorite part was when they would fish out tadpoles with their hands and say ‘KAWAI’ (cute) as the water on their hands drained and the tadpole fell in the grass or on a rock and died. I guess the trick is to not be a cute tadpole. Perhaps that’s why frogs don’t evolve into cuter animals, because all the cute tadpoles are killed by ‘innocent’ children who like to play God during recess.
Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my new car. It’s not new, it’s used. However, I am very happy with it. It’s a Daihatsu Move. It’s a K-Car, so it’s cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than other vehicles in Japan. It’s white. It’s also pretty tall. Probably the best vehicle I have ever owned. I am so excited to be driving it. It’s really appropriately named. Every time I turn it on and step on the accelerator, it decides to MOVE.
Wednesday night, Cristina went to her dance practice. She has been going to it every night this week. On Sunday, she will perform Higashi-Kushira’s ‘stick’ dance that has been performed for hundreds of years in the town festival. Apparently she will be doing this continuously from 7 AM to 4 PM. Gambatte! She’s really excited about it. It should look great. Obviously I will be there for support and picture taking and for the drinking party afterward. After her practice, I picked her up with my Move and we went to the Katos’ for dinner. Tomomi, the middle daughter, is here from Nagasaki with her 3-year-old daughter Nozomi. Nozomi is very cute and knows some English.
Today, it’s off to Uchinoura Junior High for some more Pictionary and fun. The days are wet and cold. However, I do sense Spring lurking around the corner. We have been seeing the arrival of different and new animals like tadpoles and Tanukis. Tanukis are a cross between a badger and a raccoon with the coloring of a Siamese cat (perhaps a bit darker). We have already seen two -- one on the road to Uchinoura last night, and the other outside of Cristina’s house.
Tuesday, I went to Uchinoura Junior High like I usually do. Some of the students are already finished with their term-end exams. Therefore, they are split into classes that can review (a.k.a. play games) and classes that still have to cram. I participated in the class that can play games. I tried to introduce a new one that Cristina told me worked very well in her class – Pictionary. I cannot say that it went down the same way in my classroom. First, I had 4 different categories with different point values – person, place, thing, challenge. The kids didn’t seem to be enjoying themselves because many just picked up the piece of chalk and stared at the blackboard for the minute. It was very frustrating. I even showed them an example. It didn’t seem to work. Finally, some of them got into it. This one girl who is really good at English, but never speaks to me really got into it. I guess it was her moment to shine because all she had to do was say the answer. But still, she was the only one who could think of the answer in English. Still, her team lost.
Tuesday night, we saw the new episodes of 24 and Alias.
Wednesday, I went to Kishira Elementary. It was fun as always, and I enjoy being able to play with them. It is always so great to go there because they make the time there so enjoyable for me (and I know ALL their names!). During recess, we all went to the reflection pool. They were excited to show me the tadpoles and all the frog eggs that were in there. They saw how curious I was when I saw them in one of their observatory tanks in the lab. I had never seen a frog egg before and had no idea that you could actually see the stage of the tadpole in the egg. In any case, it grossed me out to see all of them handling big sticky groups of eggs with their hands. My favorite part was when they would fish out tadpoles with their hands and say ‘KAWAI’ (cute) as the water on their hands drained and the tadpole fell in the grass or on a rock and died. I guess the trick is to not be a cute tadpole. Perhaps that’s why frogs don’t evolve into cuter animals, because all the cute tadpoles are killed by ‘innocent’ children who like to play God during recess.
Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my new car. It’s not new, it’s used. However, I am very happy with it. It’s a Daihatsu Move. It’s a K-Car, so it’s cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than other vehicles in Japan. It’s white. It’s also pretty tall. Probably the best vehicle I have ever owned. I am so excited to be driving it. It’s really appropriately named. Every time I turn it on and step on the accelerator, it decides to MOVE.
Wednesday night, Cristina went to her dance practice. She has been going to it every night this week. On Sunday, she will perform Higashi-Kushira’s ‘stick’ dance that has been performed for hundreds of years in the town festival. Apparently she will be doing this continuously from 7 AM to 4 PM. Gambatte! She’s really excited about it. It should look great. Obviously I will be there for support and picture taking and for the drinking party afterward. After her practice, I picked her up with my Move and we went to the Katos’ for dinner. Tomomi, the middle daughter, is here from Nagasaki with her 3-year-old daughter Nozomi. Nozomi is very cute and knows some English.
Today, it’s off to Uchinoura Junior High for some more Pictionary and fun. The days are wet and cold. However, I do sense Spring lurking around the corner. We have been seeing the arrival of different and new animals like tadpoles and Tanukis. Tanukis are a cross between a badger and a raccoon with the coloring of a Siamese cat (perhaps a bit darker). We have already seen two -- one on the road to Uchinoura last night, and the other outside of Cristina’s house.
posted by Jesse Montano at
9:13 AM
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