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I like updates and I cannot lie … October 11, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Cultural Exchange, FC Bayern Munich, Gym Adventures, Julie Gets Philosophical, Just Bizarre, Lessons Learned.
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So we have, as usual, a lot of content and not a lot of time for me to write about it this morning. There’s one specific incident that I want to linger on, so let’s briefly touch on the other Events of Note:

1) The Car Accident
I’d intended to write a longer post about this, but perhaps its better not to dwell on Unfortunate Events. To make a long story short, as I was waiting to merge into traffic after getting off of the expressway last Tuesday, somebody hit me from behind. Luckily, nobody was hurt. In addition, the police and insurance companies have determined that it was entirely the other person’s fault and he is supposed to pay to have my car fixed. I suspect, however, that the cost of repairing my car is going to be more than the car is actually worth, so I’ll probably just get money to buy another (not very good and slightly unsafe) automobile. I was initially emotionally distraught at the thought of losing my car (and still am to a certain degree), but things could be a lot worse and I’m willing to be flexible at this point.

2) Field Trips!
Thursday was entertaining because I got to go to a small theme park outside of Nagoya city with my first year JHS students. It’s called Little World, and it’s set up so that visitors can explore what houses, food, and clothing are like in other parts of the world. I’ve been to this theme park many times (about once a year for the last four years), so I wasn’t anticipating finding anything new to be excited about. However, on the way to the park I was perusing the map and I discovered that the area of the part of the park dedicated to Germany is actually dedicated to Bayern. This information did something strange to me, because as soon as we got to Little World I dashed to the German section (all the way at the back of the park) and made my students take an absurd number of pictures of me pointing to signs that had “Bayern” written on them. Still, I’ve never claimed to be sophisticated or not easily excited/amused.

3) Friday it Rained. I skipped the gym, came home, and had a four-hour conversation with my father.

4) Saturday it also Rained. So much that I normally would not have gone out except that The Japanese Best Friend and I had one of our International Dinner Nights planned. We had a lot of fun, and I got to watch The Haunted Mansion, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. OH, ALSO, GERMANY WON ITS SOCCER GAME AGAINST TURKEY.

5) Sunday morning The Super Young Guy and I drove each other to hysterics (think: mass giggle fit) while goofing off during my workout. For somebody who has been chastised for talking to me too much, he doesn’t seem to be all that fazed.

6) Monday was the Most Ridiculous Workout Ever (and the main event I want to highlight)
So, Monday was a national holiday in Japan and I had the day off. In addition, the gym organized a special series of lessons meant to tempt their customs away from revelry and games of all sorts. I was a little curious about a special event that they were holding at 7 in the evening. It was advertised as 90 minutes of the three most intense classes that the gym has to offer (one is body shape/muscle toning and the other two are combination martial arts/aerobics lessons). It sounded interesting, so after running some errands I made my way to the gym by 6:30 and got ready for the lesson.

The lesson was entertaining if only because the gym staff made a huge event of it. They had special shirts and pants,  they played special music, and one of the trainers dressed up as a Power Ranger. The first lesson (one of the aerobic martial arts ones) was a little rough for me because it was conducted by none other than TGTIDNLBIDLHE who, not surprisingly, has kind of a sadistic “OF COURSE EVERYBODY CAN DO FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO SQUATS IN A ROW” attitude. This was the lesson where I had to keep reasoning with myself as to why throwing up in the gym studio would be a bad idea.

The second lesson was also a little rough because it was the strength training portion and I was feeling drained. This is where things got very interesting, though, because to my utter shock TGTIDNLBIDLHE took up a position behind me and, well, became my buddy. You see, we had about seven of the gym trainers spread around the room, helping out the different participants and just generally offering encouragement. After he’d finished his class, TGTIDNLBIDLHE was free to offer support and he spent about 95% of the lesson doing that for me. He checked my posture, suggested alternatives when I found something to be a little too difficult, and offered constant encouragement and what I would guess to be about two hundred high-fives. This was all spectacularly fun during the third lesson, when my energy returned with a vengeance and we were both feeling really silly and full of endorphins:

 

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWERRR!!!!!!

 

Still, you have to remember that TGTIDNLBIDLHE has been so aptly named because since the day I got to the gym he has been nothing but Snarky and Not Nice. On more than one occasion I’ve considered asking him to stop greeting me when I come into the gym just because he sounds so insincere when he does it and it makes me feel bad. I cannot for the life of me fathom what inspired this change in attitude, although I’m certainly happy that it’s happened. I’m not sure if it’s a change that will last outside of this class, but the genuine and not-superficial smile that he gave me after the class finished leads me to believe that some kind of truce has been called. I’m not saying that we’re going to become BFF, but at least I don’t have to worry about him hating me. So, this is a good thing.

Therefore, I do believe another name change is in order. Henceforth, TGTIDNLBIDLHE will now be known as “The Masked Man.” I say this because he was wearing a mask throughout most of yesterday’s workout (it might have been what gave him the courage to show me such kindness) and because it’s so hard for me to figure out what he’s all about. He is a mystery.

Code Monkey get up, get coffee
Code Monkey go to job

Social Calls and Kevin Bacon September 21, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Cultural Exchange, Gym Adventures, Japanese GET, Just Bizarre.
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First, before we get to today’s memory worthy of future nostalgia, I want to let you all know that I reorganized the Cast of Characters section of the blog. I noticed that we were getting so many groups and individuals that even I was having problems finding people to remember what their nicknames were. Some of the information was also embarrassingly out of date, so that has also been corrected. Please enjoy browsing through the pages and (re)familiarizing yourself with individuals that you are separated from by a mere two degrees!**

I have to get up early to watch Bayern Munich play 1899 Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim is currently holding 2nd place in the Bundesliga (one of the most important association football leagues in Germany). This is a very important game, and missing it is out of the question. Lucky for me, I only have two classes on Wednesday and then Thursday is a holiday. Thus, there will be ample opportunity to sleep later – when my favorite team in the world is not battling for much-needed goals and Bundesliga points.

Today was a day where I feel as though I spent most of my time reinforcing and strengthening social connections. I took my car in for an oil change this morning, and had a nice chat with the mechanic. He’s a very sweet man who speaks a significant amount of English and always gives me discounts and sound advice.

After the much-needed car checkup, I went to my regular gas station and stumbled into a hilarious conversation with the Mom and Pop that run the stand. Their son is a college student who is back in town to do a month of teacher training at Thursday’s elementary school. He’s shadowing the fifth year class, so I’ve worked with him a lot over the last two weeks. Most of this morning’s conversation involved my diligent attempts to sneak out of some rather ardent matchmaking attempts on their part. I was flattered that they consider me a viable candidate for the position of future daughter-in-law, but it’s probably not what needs to happen at this point in my stay in Japan.

The afternoon saw me reconnect with one of my regular restaurants, and then of course I was at the gym this evening. I joined the hip hop class, which was particularly enjoyable because we’re learning a slightly modified version of the dance from Michael Jackson’s Bad. Many of us would have preferred Thriller, seeing as we’re going into the Halloween season, but the class was still a lot of fun. The Super Young Guy, TGTIDNLBIDLHE, The Guy Who Looks Like Hugh Jackman, The Lady Who Will Hurt You, and The Amazing Purple Pants Guy were all present and accounted for. I was particularly happy because the ladies in the locker room all pulled me into a conversation about the dance class right as I was finishing for the night. It felt nice to leave the gym with the lighthearted banter still ringing in my ears. Even though I’ve said this before (and you’re undoubtedly sick of this sentiment), I cannot stress enough that there is nothing quite so pleasing as, when living in a very group-minded culture, to become part of a group. Goodness knows there are still days when I’m on the outside looking in.

Today, though, I was in the middle of it. And that’s a memory that’s worth holding on to.

And with that recap, I’m off for a short nap before the game. The Offside: Bayern Munich website predicts a victory for Bayern with a score of 2:1. I’m hoping for about the same myself.

Por amarte juntaria la lluvia
Con el fuego
Por amarte daria la vida
Solo por besarte

**Also, just so you know: Julie saw Josh Groban in concert, who used to date January Jones who is in X-Men: First Class with KEVIN BACON.

You’re welcome.

Thoughts Before Bedtime September 20, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Culinary Pursuits, Cultural Exchange, Gym Adventures, Japanese GET, Just Bizarre, sports festival, Student Moments, Taking Initiative, Weekend Recap.
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Who needs clever titles? Not this Dragonette. I simply call it like it is.

So, given the rather volatile (read: packed like sardines) nature of my schedule, I think that you can probably anticipate updates on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and the occasional Saturday. Thursdays are rough because I usually spend the early evening feverishly writing letters to my Friday elementary school students. Late evening is reserved for band practice. Fridays are also a bit troublesome because I go to the gym right from work and don’t get back home until 10 o’clock. By that point, I’m barely awake enough to find my toothbrush, much less write a coherent and even remotely entertaining blog post about the day’s activities.

So, thereyago. Monday – Wednesday and quite possibly a day on the weekend. Perhaps even two if I am feeling particularly inspired. Consider this my promise to you.

So, it’s Monday, and we have serious recapping to do.

Thursday
There are two new students at Thursday’s elementary school. They’re brothers, with one in the third grade and the other in the sixth. For some mysterious reason I have made it my mission in life to get the third grader to laugh by whatever means I deem necessary. It’s still early in the term and he’s having some problems adjusting and making friends. He and I also did not get off to the best start because my English class is a lot more advanced than anything he’s ever experienced before and he was super lost when we had our first lesson a couple of weeks ago. Since that (slightly unfortunate) experience, however, I do believe he’s begun to warm up to me. I find that saying really random and absurd things works well with him, because it gives him something to react to and then I can challenge his reaction.

Observe:

Me: Hey. Do you know why the swings at this school are so great?

Him: No…?

Me: Because the ones at the other elementary school are too small for my butt. But the swings here are just the right size!

Him: O_o I can’t believe you just said that.

Me: Why not?

Him: Nobody says that kind of stuff.

Me: But I just did.

Him: But, your butt isn’t big.

Me: Really? Why, thank you! You’re so nice! But, that makes me wonder: how big does a butt have to be to be a big butt?

…Etcetera.

This isn’t exactly the conversation for the intellectual elite, and perhaps it does cross into the realm of vast absurdity, but it gets him talking and laughing, which is the whole point. I suppose we should go ahead and give him a name, since I feel that he will come up again in future posts. I think we’ll call him Joey, since he was also a New Kid on the Block.

(Don’t judge. All girls have their boy bands and that one was mine.)

(Even though I was only five.)

(Shall we move on?)

Friday
Friday was a day that will go down in the annals of my time in Japan. It was a day that I experienced an event so momentous, so significant, and so utterly unbelievable that even as I type these words I have to remind myself that it wasn’t a dream.

On Friday, September 17th, 2010, after over four years working in my town, I was invited to an elementary school enkai.

For those who don’t remember, an enkai is a dinner held by a group of people (usually office workers or people who do some kind of extracurricular activity together). There is often a significant amount of celebration (think alcohol and karaoke) associated with these events, and although I regularly attend these functions with my middle school, the Board of Education, the dance troupe, The Band, or the gym group, I have never (NOT ONCE) been invited to one at either of my elementary schools. It has been a point of frustration and depression for me over the last four years.

But no longer!

This enkai will take place next Saturday which, fittingly enough, will be the day of my 17th and final sports festival in Japan. I suspect that I’m going to be feeling rather sentimental and emotional, so it’s nice that I’ll have the opportunity to mark the occasion in a special way. The whole day will be a mark of achievement for me and I’m really looking forward to it.

BREAKING NEWS: I have spoken with this school and we have come to an understanding. This understanding being that this year I do not have to participate in the mukade championship relay race. Imagine being told that you have to subject yourself to joint injury, unwanted and uncomfortable bodily contact with your teammates in front of parents and students, and public humiliation for the fifth year in a row. Now imagine that you don’t. That is my world right now, and what a wonderful one it is.

Saturday
I had a sports festival on Sunday and so I chose to go to the gym on Saturday so I wouldn’t miss the entire weekend. I’ve never been on a Saturday night before, and I was pleasantly surprised to find both The Super Young Guy and The Guy That I Like A Lot both working. In addition, TGTIDNLBIDLHE was nowhere in sight, and so that helped me to relax. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he and I are Having Issues, but I won’t say that we’re not having issues. He still greets me with a tone that is more appropriate for the phrase: “Please go away!” as opposed to “Welcome! Please enjoy your stay!” This is of course assuming that he greets me at all, which he often doesn’t do.

Ah, international relations. How I love you. How you love me. How much we love each other.

Moving on.

Anyway, I spent the evening working out and chatting with my favorite trainers, as well as some other gym personas that showed up for the evening aerobics classes. It was fun. The Super Young Guy tried to convince me to stay until the gym closed, but I had to get back home to bake dessert for Sunday’s festival and watch the FC Bayern Munich VS FC Köln game. It was, unfortunately, not the glorious display of Bayern glory that Wednesday’s game was, but at least we didn’t lose. I will take a tie versus a defeat any day of the week and twice on Saturdays.

Sunday
The day of my second to last sports festival. To be honest, this was a very low-key day for me. I went, I took over 400 pictures, I talked with everyone from students to parents and I lent my strength to the after-festival cleanup. The weather was gorgeous – sunny with a slight breeze – and everything went off without any problems whatsoever. I’m going to risk sounding cliché and say that I feel that this day will remain in my mind forever as a snapshot of perfection. I understood everything that went on around me and (dare I say it?) I felt a part of it all.

Monday
Today is a national holiday in Japan, and so I didn’t have to go into work. Thanks to Sunday’s sports festival, I also don’t have to go in on Tuesday and so I am relishing the prospect of a very easy week. Next week will be a different story, but let’s stay focused on the present.

So, today was kind of interesting because I tried a class at the gym that I’ve been thinking about joining for a while. The class is called “Beyond Marshal,” and it’s a combination kickboxing/karate/aerobics class. Normally, TGTIDNLBIDLHE is the instructor for this class and so my fear (disdain?) has kept me away despite my interest. Tonight though, another (kindler, gentler) trainer was in charge and so I decided to give it a try.

Now, going into this class after already having worked out for two hours with weights and a cross trainer was probably not one of the most intelligent things that I’ve ever done. This goes to show you that endorphins can be nasty, tricky, and deceitful little beasts.

After my thirty minutes on the cross trainer, they were the ones saying, "GO FOR IT! WE CAN DO IT! WE AAAAAAAAAAARE POOOOOOOOOOOWEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!"

I’m happy to say that despite the less than accurate ability of my endorphins to judge how much energy I honestly have left in my body, I think I did well with the lesson. After class, the trainer told me that starting in October she’ll be running this class every Saturday night. Since now we now know that Saturday is a time when I can see lots of people that I like, I think that this class will fit in to my schedule quite nicely.

That brings us to now, which is truly the time right before bedtime. The last five days have been rather busy (when it is not?), but now with David Bowie on iTunes and a nice breeze coming in from my balcony, I think that it’s time to rest.

And The Countdown? Yes, well, we have 190 days to go.

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go



My Gym World July 29, 2010

Posted by Earthdragonette in Gym Adventures.
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So, we seem to be moving along at a merry pace.  It’s kind of amazing what effect summer vacation (and the absence of lesson planning) has on my ability to consistently update this blog. It’s also kind of amazing how listening to the Brobdingnagian Bards in fact has the opposite effect.  I think it’s because all of their songs are more like little stories and I can’t listen to stories and write at the same time.

So … let’s talk about the gym. Because now that it’s summer I go there four nights a week.

First, I feel that we need to update our character list. If you recall, these are the individuals that I introduced to you last June:

The Girl Who Helped Me Sign Up, The Girl Who Showed Me the Ropes, The Guy I Don’t Like, The Guy That I Like A Lot, The Amazing Purple Pants Guy, and The Lady Who Will Hurt You.

I have a few changes/extra bits of information to share about a few of these individuals.

First, The Guy I Don’t Like is now more like The Guy That I Don’t NOT Like but I Don’t Like Him Either (TGTIDNLBIDLHE for short). He moved into a better state of grace with me when I saw him directing an aerobics class about a month ago. I was impressed with how well he taught and how he did a lot to support the people in his class. So, even though our own interactions are frigid, I can’t look upon him with complete disdain since it seems as though he has some empathic ability. It’s just never directed towards me.

Secondly, The Guy That I Like A Lot will still keep this title but I almost want to amend it to The Guy That I Adore. He’s continued to be incredibly helpful and focused on my training.  We often meet at the end of my workout sessions and he gives me advice, teaches me new stretches, or just offers me a few words of encouragement. Thank God for people like him.

Thirdly, The Amazing Purple Pants Guy is still wearing these amazing purple pants.

MC Hammer wants these pants.

And fourthly, I joined the gym’s hip hop class about a month ago and so I’ve had the opportunity to interact with The Lady Who Will Hurt You. She is actually very nice and, having accepted me into the gym community, has become incredibly interested in my workout schedule, if and when I’m going to a particular class, and whether I prefer Japanese men or American men. This just goes to show that in the countryside of Japan, the topic will always, without fail, return to one’s love life.

To this list of Usual Suspects, I’d like to add The Super Young Guy and The Guy Who Looks Like Hugh Jackman. I should probably add that the following descriptions are more or less lifted from an email that I sent to Jyona33. Why rewrite something that was done well enough the first time around? ^__^

The Super Young Guy
I wouldn’t say that he’s as young as my supermarket clerk, but I would guess that he’s 25 or younger. Up until last week, I didn’t really have that much contact with him. He would always say hello to me, and then he’d occasionally stop by and give me some advice. Generally speaking though, that was about it. A little over a week ago, as I was stretching out at the end of my workout, I noticed that he was circling me. It got to be kind of distracting so the next time he did a flyby I turned off my iPod and looked at him expectantly. It was funny, because he didn’t say anything for about ten seconds and seemed to be debating with himself. Then, rather abruptly, he started a conversation in English.

My guess is that he’s wanted to talk to me in English for awhile, but feeling shy about it he’d taken to circling me while trying to gather his nerves.  I find this both funny and very cute. Anyway, we ended up talking for about a half an hour or so. His English is slow, although grammatically correct (if quite simple). It reminds me of talking to one of my JHS students. Still, he understands a lot of what I say, and I can always use Japanese if it looks like he’s confused. When we parted ways, it was obvious that he was proud of himself for coming over and talking to me. I’ve seen him about three times since this event, and each time he’s come right up to me and started a conversation in English. There are some circumstances under which I would find this kind of behavior troublesome, but he’s so nice and sweet about the way he interacts with me that this is one instance where I don’t mind at all.


The Guy Who Looks like Hugh Jackman
So, this is one of the muscle heads nice young gentlemen that I like to ogle draw inspiration from when I work out. He’s significantly older than I am (I would guess somewhere around 45), and I swear that he looks like Hugh Jackman. He’s super muscled and super tanned and he spends hours lifting heavy things.

Anyway, I was at a coffee shop the other day and I saw him come in, order something, and leave. I think he saw me, too, but we didn’t acknowledge each other or anything. I didn’t think much of it, but fast forward to about a day later when I ran into him on the stairway in the gym. He stopped in front of me and asked in remarkably clear and fluid English, “Excuse me, are you an American?” I said that I was and we had a bit of a chat. It turns out that he lived in Texas for five years, and his wife was from there as well. Anyway, he asked for my name, gave me his own, and said it was nice to meet me.

I found the encounter to be entertaining because he’s one of the last people in the world that I would’ve pegged as having fluency in the English language. This just goes to show that one really can’t judge others based on appearances. One would think that I should have learned this lesson by now. Oh, irony.

And this pretty much brings us up to date on the atmosphere and events surrounding the gym. I tend to see one of my favorite trainers whenever I go, and so I have plenty of people keeping an eye on me and encouraging me. It’s nice that it’s becoming a place that I feel comfortable going to, and I have a feeling that we’ll all be better for the association when all is said and done. In this way, it’s a shame that I only have eight months left here.

Before I wrap this post up, here’s a video for you. It’s Avril Lavigne covering Greenday’s Basket Case, and the new song that the band and I are working on. They’re happy because the instruments are fast, loud, and bombastic. I’m happy because the vocals aren’t difficult. So we’re all very, very happy.

Just with a dream
Just with a dream and with a song