Goodbye, My little Schools...

As the new school year came, I had to leave three of my schools behind. I had taught there for two years and became quite attached. You see, I moved very far away and the stress of commuting for almost one and a half hours became too much. After Nolan's born, I'm gonna go back for visits!

Hirakata

Here's (L2R) Yoohwa - who shares the same birthday as me, Mihoko - who loved learning and using naughty words, and Nana - who was the most energetic staff member for kids! They're great!

Left (L2R): Tomoya (The Monkey), Taisuke (The Ladies' Man), Miku (The Brains), Riko (The Head-munching Queen) and Renya (The Helper) and their moms. They were my favorite 3-and-under class ever!
Right (L2R): Mayuka (The Energetic Angel), and Tai (The Brat). They came in halfway into the year from another class. They were a bit unruly, but cute when behaved.

Neyagawa

Here's Tammy - One of the most down-to-earth Japanese people I've met, and Smile - a great guy who lived up to such a demanding nickname!

Girls (L2R): Arisa, Aina, Mayuka, Alice, and Miho.
Boys (L2R): Haruto, Akira and Taiga.
They drove my ass frickin' BONKERS. EVERY WEEK! However, at the end, I found that I missed this class the most out of them all. I'm still very confused by this.

Yao

Left (L2R): Cathy - The very nice newby, Angie - The Original and now a teacher, and Eli - Another B-Type!
Right (L2R): Yuki (The Doll), and Yuhi (The Hidden) and their moms!

Left (L2R): Daichi (The Boy Wonder), Supika (The Supikachu), Sanami (The Salami), Maria (The Inner-Ear Destroyer), and Taichi (The Thinker)
Right (L2R): Ryoka (Back), Haruto and Miyabi (Middle), Akika, Mayuka, Honoka and Yurina (Front)

Movie Blitz!

I saw a bunch of movies recently. Some were new to me, some not so much.

Bourne Ultimatum
Here's another (and perhaps) the last in the series of movies anyway. You may think I'm starting off negatively, however, this couldn't be farther from the truth. The pace of this flick never slowed down. The espionage plot was a little more slow to reveal, and never revealed enough. Even at the end, there were some questions unanswered, luckily, they didn't have to be. Of course, the ending reminded me a bit of X-Men 2. And if you're wondering why, I'm saying 'Of course', you really haven't seen either of them, and you should. But the action sequences (which is why anyone REALLY watches this series) were sweet enough to keep my eyes hidden behind a pillow. Wow. I'm a pansy!

Sicko
As a friend of mine once said, I often find myself agreeing with Michael Moore's opinions, but find his style too one-sided and aggressive. His last, Fahrenheit 911 was perhaps the most anti-anyone-I-don't-like to date. His latest, however, didn't hit me so hard. Perhaps it was because he spent so much time throwing positive light onto Universal Health Care, and in the countries that use them. He actually made me want to move to France. I'm still thinking about it. Of course he attacked 'The Man' - The US government and the Insurance companies, but this is what I expected, and this time, there wasn't really anything I disagreed with. I'm sure he left out ALOT, whether on purpose or because he didn't do all the research, but it was still a pretty enlightening film.

The Good German
An interesting adaptation of the book by the same name. It's filmed as though it was actually a film from the 40s or early 50s. Same kind of camera work and lighting and directing. Brilliant stuff! It was filmed from the perspective of three different people who's crashing lives become intertwined over the mystery of a missing SS numbers man. It's very gritty, which took me by surprise. The language is a bit adult as well as the sex. Though, I felt as though it was necessary. It was as if it made all these old movies truer to themselves.

Lucky Number Slevin
Out of all these movies that were new to me, none were as good as this one. A seemingly unlucky man (Josh Hartnett) is thrust into the middle of two big-time gangsters'(Morgan Freeman and Sir Ben Kingsley) cold war. On top of that he's being hunted by a world-class assassin (Bruce Willis) who won't reveal why. He meets a very eager woman (Lucy Liu) who is very interested in getting to the bottom of this mystery. The direction was brilliant and the humor was very subtle before it hits you like a two-ton Mel Brooks doll. This movie made me want to figure everything out before anything was finished, but it kept stringing me along with it's perplexed characters.

Hello Kitty Parade!

A Friend of mine sent this to me. They're a Columbian Drug Lord's confiscated cocaine. No foolin', mister! Go read the story at Topless Robot

For some extra fun, check out the Hello Kitty guns at Raw Story. Real ones. Gosh, I'm being so honest here, really!

It has begun, again

I just finished my first kids day of the new school year here at glorious old ECC! This is one of the cushiest shifts with kids I've ever had.

THE BABIES
My first class has four kids, all around two years old. There are three little boys: one who showed no expression on his poor puss, on who was energetic, but quiet, and another who was scared by EVERYTHING that came near him. The green plastic balls were of particular horribleness. Then there was the one little girl. Now usually, when one kid is the odd one out, they're usually the shy ones. Not this one, she loved every minute of her English escapades! Score!


THE TODDLERS
This hearkens back to my first year teaching at the old ECC. A mixed bunch of energetic and shy kids who are difficult to control. All cute. All mind blowingly insane. We had a lot of fun, despite the occasional crying.


THE SURPRISING ONES
I have a third kids class of ten ten-year olds, all stuck in a room that barely contains them. I was dreading this class. Last time I had a group at this level, it nearly destroyed me. However, although maybe a bit shy, they were very smart, energetic, inclusive and not at all adverse to my being there! Glory and Honor is MINE! Hoorah!


THE HOUR-AND-FIFTEEN MINUTE BREAK
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...doody doody dooo...
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THE NOT BAD AT ALL BUSINESS LESSON
This was the first time I came to this teeny-tiny school. It was the first time teaching this kind of class. I had no training. I had no materials until that day. And the man was bloody brilliant. He's not the highest level student I've ever had, but he was a dream to teach. I have to get used to managing the class time-wise, but lordy lordy! Good times.

Will this fly?

As many people have noticed and commented on, Japan is a nation of interesting dualities. Specifically on the mixture of old and new, nature and concrete. Most, that I've ready anyway, have been all "Oh, it's so neat!"

One other duality that I've noticed in the J-Land is this:

The Respect versus Disrespect of the Aged

Yes, it seems that in Japan, that respect for the elderly seems high. That their wisdom is shared much more than in many other cultures. One reason may be this, that there are much more old people in this country than young. Another reason may be that culturally, children become responsible for their parents after retirement. Very often, there are two, three, or even four generations living together under one roof.

Another theory that I have is that the young respect the old simply because the old can continue to stand on their own. This isn't to say, the young are like, "Our healthy culture shows how strong our lives in Japan are." I think it's more like "Wow, granny, it's amazing you haven't keeled over yet."

It's especially hard for women over 25 years, because as well all know, here in Japan, once you're a lady of 26, you should retire to a nursing home. I mean, the general though, it seems is this, "Why should I want someone that old, when I can fantasize about the bikini-clad 12-year-old on the magazine cover."

This brings me to Harold and Maude a wonderful tale of a lonely and bored teenager of 'high-standings' finding his soul-mate in a poorer, but much happier, eccentric old woman. I can see this working with the older-woman crowd that are the ones who truly circulate around the theater scene here, but if this were to reach more of the general populace...what would their reactions be like? Especially the bedroom scene. If the Japanese weren't so apathetic, I suppose this play could change everything...

More Nolan Action!

Here are some pictures that are a little late. This is my baby Nolan at 21 weeks. I love these pictures because it looks like he's got some sort of plant growing out of him. Actually, it's a bit scary. No, cool. I don't know.

And here he is at a grand old 33 weeks. It's nearing the time that he's gonna pop out, and my wife is already missing him. Not the punching and kicking he does before she goes to sleep (which you can imagine would be painful with those white-hot knuckles he's got in the first shot), just him being inside her tumbly.