The Cold Manifesto

In Okinawa, it's 20 C, or for the people in America, 68 F. People are wearing long pants, jackets, and talking about how cold it is.

Right now in Tokyo, it's about 8 C, or 46 F. People are wearing long pants, jackets, and talking about how cold it is.

Well, with both temperatures being above freezing and having a difference of about 20 degrees, I've decided that not only is Okinawa NOT cold, but neither is Tokyo. Sorry.

I think about an English teacher here who is from Alaska. She told me how at her university, the heaters would stop working at -10 F. She said it would suck cause it would be too cold to think, and you couldn't do your homework. That's cold.

So I have come up with one rule for determining if it is cold or not. If this rule does not apply, you are not allow to say it is cold. The rule is: the temperature has to be at or below freezing.

Just because the sun is behind a cloud doesn't mean it's cold...Okinawa people.

My Okinawan kids know this. They know the words hot, warm, cool, and cold. But they are most familiar with hot and cold. Everyday I ask, "How is the weather?" Everyday (even this month), they responded, "It's hot!". And they're saying this while wearing Florida winter clothes: jacket, shorts, and sandals.

Just because you want to wear a jacket doesn't mean it's cold...Tokyo people.

If it's COOL enough to wear a jacket, but I'm sweating after walking a block, then it's not cold. And what's with blasting the heater on the trains and in the stores? People are coming from outside wearing jackets, hats, and gloves, and then they end up sweating like a pig after standing inside for 5 minutes.

Cold weather was last night when it was -3 C and raining. When I couldn't warm myself up by walking. I met a man from Singapore named Sean (who introduced himself as Sean Connery) at my hostel. I told him it was 20 C in Okinawa and he asked me if he could fly there for under $500. He just wanted out of the weather. I told him Okinawans find 20 C cold and he told me they're crazy.

****

Tokyo has been a blast. After my first day of confusion, I quickly readjusted to a non-rural life. Been hanging out with people who went to UF and have made some new friends. I've decided that if you are a lone tourist, there really aren't that many interesting attractions. The fun has been in the abundance of places to go to to socialize.

My mom and sister arrive this afternoon. We'll take it easy this evening and begin our tourist adventures tomorrow, starting with the Tsukiji fish market!

1st Day

It's kind of funny that the thought of going to Tokyo a year ago would have felt like the biggest trip in the world, and now it's only a 2 hour flight away (and I get to stay in the same time zone!). However, landing in Tokyo this time gave me a different impression of the city from the last time I was here 4 months ago. The first time was filled with wonder and thank-God-we-finally-landed. This time, I felt a little like Gong Li in The Story of Qiu Ju, the country-bumpkin who travels to the big city. First thing I noticed was the smog. When I arrived in Shibuya, I was dumbfounded by all the people.

I looked the complete tourist, too. Had a small suitcase and a 40 L backpack, plus a map telling me how to get to my hostel. Add in the deer-in-the-headlights look, and there you go. The great thing about my journey to the hostel is the help I got from the locals. I asked one guy for which train I should take and he looked it up on the internet with his phone and told me. Then as I am wandering around Asakusa, I was approached TWO different times from people, who asked me in English, "Can I help you?" I must have looked really lost. The last person was actually a group of three people, and they walked me to the hostel. I told this to some Tokyo friends later and they were all surprised because people from Tokyo have the reputation of being mean.

I brought a large sack of shekwasas with me. I've been handing them out randomly in the holiday spirit. I was about to give one to a homeless man, but I was stopped by my friend. He told me he's seen that guy before running around in circles spitting. No shekwasa for you if you can't behave.

Fire Drill

Had a fire drill in the afternoon! Exciting enough for a blog post! I was given a little notice as to what was expected from me. My job: grab a fire extinguisher and mime releasing the trigger and spraying.

In America, we are given no advance warning on a fire drill. Just that loud alarm and you run for the hills with the teachers...while the school burns.

What happens in Okinawa is the kids run away, and the teacher's fight the fire. I'm assuming to buy time until the real fire fighters show up. The fire department was actually there with a smoke machine, to simulate the school burning. Some teachers grabbed long hoses and pretended to spray at the fire, while me, the tea lady, and the vice-principal saved the kitchen. All in a day's work.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Tokyo. Will be returning to Okinawa on January 6th! May get to blog while on the trip. If not, また来年！

Wrapping Up

The semester is wrapping up, but this is the first time I am not thinking, 'the semester is FINALLY wrapping up'. Being a teacher is definitely the way to go. Hard to believe it's been 4 months already.

I teach until next Wednesday and then the next day I am off to 'Real Japan'! I'll be hanging with old exchange students and Jclub members. It'll be a blast. On the 24th, my mom and sister arrive, and we began our trek through the south-eastern portion of Japan. I have spent the past week figuring out where to stay and making the reservations. This is Japan's busiest time of the year (isn't it everywhere?) so finding hotels with availability, that were still cheap, was difficult. But the hotels are set, now I just need to research the train schedules.

We will be going to:
Tokyo - Japan's capital
Fuji Go-ko - Fuji Five Lakes, a town with good views of Mt. Fuji
Nagoya - has a big (replica) castle and mandatory shrines
Kyoto - ex-capital, foreigner haven, geishas, will be here 2 nights
Kumamoto - another big (replica) castle
Fukuoka - parent meeting time

All by train. I cannot wait. What am I looking forward to the most? The food. In Japan, each prefecture is known for a certain dish. In Fukuoka, it's ramen. In Okinawa, it's champuru. And it can move down the hierarchy with cities and villages being known for producing a specific vegetable, fruit, etc. For example, Ogimi (my village) is known for the shekwasha.

I come back on Jan. 6, so I will be away for 2.5 weeks! I plan to post blog entries and pictures as the trip unfolds.

Hear about the Heisman? Seems some Gator won it... Go Tebow!

JLPT

Sunday was the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, or JLPT. There are four levels (kyu), with 4-kyu being the easiest and 1-kyu being the hardest. I took 3-kyu and am uncertain if I passed it. The test is divided in three parts: kanji/vocab, listening, and grammar/reading. I rocked the kanji and I think I did really well on the grammar. But I bombed the listening. I do not use the word 'bomb' lightly. Out of the 23 questions, I think I got 1 right. That's okay though, because I need a possible sum of 240 points out of the 400 to pass, regardless where the points come from.

The listening section was lame. Each dialogue ran for about a minute, and you only got to hear it once. I would be following along okay, then a trick would be thrown in, and I was lost. It was the listening-equivalent of that cup game, where they put a ball under one of three cups and you have to keep track of it.

An example dialogue:
Male: That town over there is famous for ships and fishing.
Female: What about this town?
Male: I don't know, but pig is my favorite food.
Female: What? Why did you say that?
Male: No reason. This town is famous for beef and milk.

Question: What color shirt is the man wearing?

So regardless if I pass or fail, I feel I'm ready for 2-kyu. Ready to start studying for it, that is. Will I be ready by next December? We'll see. Let me put into perspective the jump from 3-kyu to 2-kyu.

Total vocab:
4-kyu: ~700 words, ~100 kanji
3-kyu: an additional ~700 words, ~200 kanji

Here comes the fun part:

2-kyu: an additional ~4000 words, ~600 kanji

The jump from 3-kyu to 2-kyu is huge. So I started studying the day after I took the test. I'm looking at about 20 words a day for the next year, which gives me weekends for review and time to be finished two months before the test.

I've been told that fluency in a language is knowing 14,000 words. By 3-kyu standards, I am 11% fluent. In a year, I will be 40%. Bell curve, yea!

Yesterday was kindergarten again. Have them once a week and hate teaching them. Individually, they are cute. But as a group, they merge into an evil-Voltron intent on destroying me. We were playing musical chairs, which I have learned is the best game to do with them. They behave and they don't have to speak English. But it's English cause the music is in English, see... So a kid sits down, another kid wants the seat and pushes the kid out of the seat. The other kid gets up and knocks the other kid in the jaw. Not some baby push or girl slap, either, but a fist. Kid starts wailing, and that kid gets scolded for pushing the kid out of the chair in the first place. Kid who punched him was allowed to keep playing.

I only mention this because I didn't blink an eye. This kind of stuff has become normal to me. I just thought, "Silly kids..." and in the back of my mind, "Nice punch...". What's happening to me?

Fukuoka

Last week, I realized it was Thanksgiving when Vaughn asked me, "Are you doing a Thanksgiving lesson tomorrow?". The answer was "no" because it had completely slipped my mind. I was leaving Thursday night for Fukuoka, cause it was a three day weekend. Friday was 'Work Gratitude Day' in Japan, or Labor Thanksgiving.

Got into Fukuoka City around 10:00 p.m. and met some of Yuka's work friends. Afterwards, we stayed at one of her friend's apartment and played Wii Tennis and Monopoly. The evil American capitalist (me) played until he owned every piece of property, which took until 5 am. Found out later they thought it was funny how into it I was. We'll see who's laughing when I increase your interest 5%...

Friday we shopped around a little bit for...my new hard drive! All 160 GB of it. Then we took the hour and half train ride to see Yuka's family. I feel more and more nervous every time I meet them because I feel they are expecting more out of me language wise. Her mom is fine and I can kind of talk to her, but her dad is a brick wall. He likes taking me out to dinner and randomly giving me his old clothes, but most of the time we just sit in awkward silences.

In a bit of irony, found out that he knows the superintendent in Kurume, the town I wanted to be placed in for JET. Had I asked him to say something, I apparently would have gotten my request. I think the Theory of JET Placement proves this wrong, however. I asked if he could mention my transfer request to Kurume, but since he doesn't work there anymore, he can't ask for a favor.

Saturday I had a 'job interview' for a kindergarten in Kurume. The owner is the brother of one of Yuka's friends (I love connections). The kindergarten is a rich-kid's kindergarten, where doctors and the like send their kids to learn English. Job pays $600 less a month than JET, but the work week is 23 hours. It also has a end-of-contract bonus of $1200. I'll take it. Problem is, Japanese schools start in April, to coincide with the coming of spring. So I would begin April 2009. My JET contract will end August 2008. If I get my JET transfer approved, then I won't worry about it, but if I don't...I'll think about that later.

Saturday night, I met up with Josh, the JET from UF who requested Osaka but got the place I wanted. It was nice to FINALLY talk NCAAF to someone. For those who don't keep track, UF demolished FSU last Saturday in what looked like a Div I vs Div III match up. And Tenn winning the SEC East? They are ranked lower than UGA and UF!

This Sunday is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. The once a year test that foreigners have to take so they can get a job where Japanese is required. There are 4 levels, with 4-kyu being the easiest and 1-kyu being the hardest. Most jobs require a 1-kyu certificate, but the other levels are there to help pace people working their way up (or down depending on how you look at the numbers). I will be taking 3-kyu, with plans to take 2-kyu next year and 1-kyu the year after. Am I ready? Ehh...

China`s Next Recall...

...my Macbook harddrive. I was working on lesson plans and my program froze. This has happened about twice since I got my computer, so I forced-restarted it and I get a blank grey screen with clicking noises coming from the Macbook. Clicking noises = death of harddrive. I immediately jump on Apple`s support page and see TONS of complainsts from people who have had this happen to them in the past week. It`s all from people who bought the first generation of Macbooks. After a little more searching, I found the problem is the Seagate harddrive manufactured in China.

I had my harddrive crash (not fail) three times in college, and I always say a good data loss is good for the mind. Get to clear things out and start anew, like drawing on a fresh piece of white paper. It`s the existential crisis of the modern age, and you either move on or you don`t. Since I have no money for another 2 weeks, I am computer-less for that time also. I will now sit in my room with an Orion, stare at the ceiling, and contemplate the meaning of life.

That said, I am NOT happy with Apple. I don`t care if it is a Seagate problem. Apple only allows its operating system to run on Apple hardware. The argument for this to allow greater quality in it`s products. But some people are saying it is not just the Seagate drives with the 7.01 firmware. What if it`s some flaw with the Macbooks? Am I suppose to expect a crashing one a year?

Luckily a new drive is cheap. I will be getting a $100 160GB drive and go ahead and get Leopard. So if this does happen again, I`ll have Time Machine running.

Anyone interested in buying a Macbook?