Halloween- Sweatin it Out

Of all the years I've spent in the States, I can't remember ever going to a Halloween Party. It took me to come to Japan to do so. Go figure.

This past weekend I went to the biggest club in Japan. There are also stories about it being the biggest in East Asia, but I wouldn't have the slightest clue and it doesn't really matter to me whether it is or not. It's called Ageha and my friends and I got there at the perfect time! We probably only waited 10 minutes in line to get in, which by the way was free if you dressed up! On the otherhand, another group of our friends had to wait for an hour and a half to get in when they only arrived 20 minutes after we did. That's a bit crazy if you ask me. Of course one would expect crazy costumes and the like and that's exactly what we got. It was so much fun. I think there were about four rooms playing different music: trance, reggae, R&B, and House. This might be a bit ignorant, but can anyone tell me the difference between House and Trance. They sound just about the same to me. The reggae room also opened up to a pool side on a deck outside facing a pond of some sort. It was raining and people were avoiding the area near the pool because of this. Yet, despite this, my friends and I were the first to let go of our inhibitions and just dance in the rain. It was a grand feeling- letting the rain fall upon one's face and forgetting about one's surroundings, all the while enjoying the languid movement of one's body.

There was dancing all night long! I danced until I could no longer move an inch, until my feet screamed for mercy. I will have to say, in general, the Japanese have more rhythm than the average caucasian. A surprising discovery. At one point I was dancing with two Japanese guys to some "Shawn Paul-like-music" and it was the most fun I have ever had dancing in Japan. Those boys could really move and I was able to really let go and express myself through one of my most favorite venues. This is an opportunity rarely found as many times it's either that the music is bad, or the dj is horrible or your partner isn't that good of a dancer. But, last night, all of those elements came together and gave me an experience in Japan I won't soon forget. Thank you boys! I took pictures, but you'll have to wait a couple of days for me to put them up on my site. I'll let you know when I've done so. Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed inside the club so the only pics I have are those taken before we partied it up. :)

As you all can see by the time in which this post has been uploaded, I now have connected all of the essentials in their appropriate locations and am now able to write at home.

At long last....

It Has Arrived! Yes! Yes! I`m Doing the Victory Dance...

This past Friday both my internet connection was checked for access and my modem arrived. So that means I`ll finally be able to connect at home and have more time to write! I`ll also be able to call you guys because it`s so much cheaper to do on the net!!!! I can`t wait! I haven`t been able to hook up everything yet because I was out for half of the weekend and then fell deathly sick on Sunday afternoon. It was not cool. I spent the whole afternoon, evening and night just tossing in my bed, back and forth moaning from the pain. I think it was food poisoning from something I ate that morning at a convenience store, but one of my supervisors doubt that. She says that the food they have there are fresh so maybe it was a virus. I don`t know.... I was totally fine before I ate that stuff. Plus, I had bought it on Friday night and wasn`t able to eat it then, so I put it in the refrigerator and had it on Sunday morning instead. It`s possible it could have gone bad by that time in the fridge. It`s either that or my refrigerator is crap. I have an inkling that it might have been a little bit of both. Thus, I will not buy more than I can eat at a konbini (convenience store) and I have also decreased the temperature in my fridge to make it colder. Almost to the highest it can go without screwing it`s wires up. It`s either that or get a new fridge! And that`s way too much mula for now....

I Can Feel it Approaching!

It has started getting cold already and I do NOT like it!!!! I know for sure now, after having lived in upstate New York for four years, that my body just isn`t made for the winter. My peeps are from the Caribbean and we need heat all year round. This snow business just isn`t going to cut it!

Returning to My Motherland!

I found a ticket to the States at a resonable price! I`ll be heading back home for the holidays! I`m so happy. I paid for my ticket today so it`s settled. All I need to do now is get my butt on that plan.

Thank God it worked out! I`m so happy :)

Thinking of How to Get My Students to Just Speak English, ANY English!

In planning and carrying out lessons this week, I`ve learned a LOT about the actual level of my students English capabilities. And I must say that if these students are considered the middle of the pack, I feel EXTREMELY sorry for the kids at the bottom. But hey, maybe for them in life, English won`t be all that important. But, I don`t really think of it as them just learning English. I also think of their attitudes in class as an indication of their attitudes towards everything/life. If they do things halfassssparagus in class, then I kind of consider that as their way of life. And then I think, what a freakin waste!!!! People with the possibilities of doing anything just doing nothing. In the end, I guess it doesn`t really matter if everyone in the world had the same opportunities.　 Ｉt only matters if people are motivated to take those opportunities. Do you think you`re motivated? Do you take advantage of the opportunities that are afforded to you or do you dish out excuses because of laziness? I must say that at times I fall in the second category and it doesn`t make me happy when I think about it now.

Anyway, moving on to how this past lesson brought me down. In the end, I think I just expect too much out of these kids. When I got here I realized that the Japanese are rarely afforded the opportunity to speak English. I hear this so often even from themselves as well. Thus, my main focus have been to give it to them. But, it`s like pulling the teeth out of a baby`s mouth. What would you say is something that you could definitely talk about? Wouldn`t it be yourself? Say, things that you like to do or whatnot, right? Apparently, I`m told, the Japanese have no interests. So, this one subject in which I thought the students could write plenty of turned out to be a dud. On top of that, the majority of them couldn`t even form a proper sentence even if it were to save their lives. It`s so frustrating. My job is to get them to speak and use English, Oral Communications. Yet, how can I do that when they don`t even know the basic grammar structure of the language. When I`m told they can`t do this or they can`t do that, I think, then what are you freakin people teaching them in their other English classes! They have another English class that`s supposed to focus on grammar, but it doesn`t seem as if these kids are learning anything.

On top of that, this system is so lax on the students. Grades here are basically non-existent, no really. All that matters is whether or not they completed the assignment or how much effort they put into the work. Even copying here is okay. And they do this constantly, even right in front of the teachers! Students here seem to be catered to like crazy. "Oh, you didn`t finish that?" (Even while you just sat there the whole class and talked with your friends for the whole period)..."Why don`t you just turn it in to me later?" Can you even imagine that happening in the States? If it was time to turn it in and you had done nothing the entire class period but amuse yourself with your friends, you could dang well believe that your grade for that assignment would reflect your stupidity. That just isn`t the case here and it`s HARD! to get accustomed to the laziness and the lack of motivation from my students. Since their actions don`t really affect their grades (or whatever they might call it here because that`s kinda nonexistent), they don`t care.

Maybe I`m just too much of a go-getter? I just need to let this stuff go. If they don`t do it, then they don`t do it. If they don`t care, then they just don`t care. Why should I? If I followed this, I would definitely be going through less stress. But, it just feels SO wrong to me!

Christmas!

I so want to go home for Christmas, but guess what!!!!!! The ticket is an arm and a leg. What shall I do? Shall I abandon any attempts of fun from here on out and bite the gun and buy that extremely expensive ticket or just not go and what until a down time early next year? :(

Committing a "No-No" Unawares

Apparently, I committed a no-no today. I wanted to talk about it only because it`s something I`m already supposed to know. Yet this custom is so intricate that it was imperceptible today.

Okay, so today I taught a class that went over adjectives. I assumed that the students had already touched upon the subject so this was basically going to be an overview. I put up a couple of examples on the board and picked out students to choose the word signifying the adjective. By the way, this process in Japan is so tedious. It takes forever for students to open up their mouths and talk. They`re SOOO slow in responding, it`s excruciating at times. Even if they know the answer they`ll just sit there at their desk and say nothing. Sometimes they`ll even have a discussion with students around them in search for the answer. Uh, sometimes I just want to pull my hair while waiting.

Anyway, today one student only half answered the questioned. I then asked if there were any other adjectives in the sentence and she said no. So I then asked other students if she was correct. Are there no other adjectives in this sentence. Apparently, I was being rude. I should not have asked if the one student was wrong as this was socially a no-no, she would lose face. Pointing out her mistake was a no-no and the students refused to answer the question on this basis. So without realizing it I just asked: "Are there any other adjectives in this sentence?" Finally an answer came forth and the lesson continued.

Later on I was stopped by the teacher I was teaching with who explained to me that in "our society" you don`t really want to say that someone is incorrect. It would be better for you to just state if the object itself is correct. Do not mention whether or not someone was wrong in regards to their response to the statement. When she told me that, I felt like hitting myself in the head bc I had studied this "way" of thinking. But I hadn`t realized that it was this deeply entrenched. I wasn`t attentive of this fact and I paid for it in that lesson.

Poll

Okay, I`ve heard it enough times since I`ve been here.

I want to ask people back in America what they think of my face. Is it really that small? No matter where I go, when I meet new people I am always told that my face is so small. I don`t know whether to take this as a compliment or what. It`s kind of getting annoying if you ask me. I`m tired of it already.

So what do you think? Do I have a really small face?