I know that Ive probably mentioned this before, but Japan has a prolific number of bicycles. And in catering to that need, much in the same way of the U.S., Japan has built bike garages that charge you a fee to park your bike there. The fee is considerably lower than parking garages though, and if I could ever figure out how to buy a monthly pass, the price would be even better. But, alas, that is a topic for another blog. But one thing that these bike garages have in common with parking garages is that it is sometimes impossible to find where you parked your bike! This is especially true for me since I go there every day and dont usually log a distinct memory of where I parked my bike each day. It is far past time to bust out my OU bumper sticker and put it on my bike. I just need to figure out how to make it fit on there properly. But I took some pictures the other day to help better illustrate my problems.
June 2009
June 27, 2009
June 25, 2009
My Japanese teacher and I went to see Hiros play. It was great!
Jenny is great because she always is up for making goofy poses!
Hanging out with Jess and Ellen post-wedding. I love Olive Garden and catching up with old friends!
June 14, 2009
Just some of my old stuff. And by old stuff I mean two weeks ago. This arrangement featured one of my favorite flowers: alstroemeria. And thanks to Zelda for taking the pictures and sending them to me!
June 14, 2009
Well, I always just show you my finished project, but today I’ve included some shots of me in action. And I can tell you 100% for sure that the slightly confused/frustrated face is pretty much my perpetual face while I’m figuring out how to make my arrangement. I’ve been told that it’s my thinking face. It’s no wonder that I sometimes seem unapproachable!
June 14, 2009
Luckily because I was only in the States for five days and it was a pretty regimented, busy schedule, I haven’t really suffered the effects of jet lag now that I’m back in Japan. The only problem I had was two mornings after I came back. I woke up bright and early and ready for the day…at 5:45. Yep, I know. It was awful! But I kept hearing traffic outside, and when I glanced out the window, I was shocked to see the amount of traffic on our small road at 5:50 in the morning. **Please note that it was five minutes after I woke up because I spent that five minutes trying to convince myself that I really wanted to go back to sleep. It didn’t work out so well.**
But take a look at this traffic! And I took the photo at a time when the light on the next block was green, so traffic was moving and not all stopped up.
June 13, 2009
You know how some people have problems distinguishing their right from their left? Its not they don’t know the difference, but they always have to think and confirm that their right is their right and their left is their left. Well, I have the same problem with push and pull.
Seriously, whenever a sign says to push or pull, I always take a second to analyze and visualize the action in my mind, and then proceed, 90% of the time, to do the opposite action. I have no idea what my problem is, but sometimes it can be rather awkward as I fumble with the door.
And here’s the thing. I cant even blame my problem on the fact that I live in Japan because they put push and pull in English on all the doors!! Oh man! Of course that’s the time they’re completely English-friendly. Oh well, I guess its just my curse to never know what to do at any given public access door.
June 12, 2009
June 12, 2009
I really cant remember the last time that I was seriously embarrassed. Its not that I don’t get embarrassed ever or anything like that, but I’m just so laid-back that most things don’t really bother me and if they are embarrassing, I just shrug it off and move on.
But this past week in my class, I felt totally embarrassed, like we are talking I blushed and everything. But, don’t worry folks, it was a good kind of embarrassing and I laughed heartily through the entire thing.
So, heres what happened…
In my adult class, the theme of the lesson was Aches and Pains. So, I decided as a class to brainstorm various kinds of illnesses to help build vocabulary. All was going well. Then one of my students said diarrhea, which, in and of itself, is not embarrassing to me at all. Just after I had written diarrhea on the board, another student says What is diarrhea? And that is where the embarrassment comes in.
I started to explain in and got about five seconds into my explanation before I started seriously laughing! I couldnt believe that I actually had to talk about this in my class. Well, given my class dynamics and teaching style, I actually can fully believe that I would have to explain it. And let me tell you, it was just one of those moments where I wished that I could speak Japanese in class and just give the explanation. But I was just laughing too hard to manage any kind of a reasonable explanation. And by this point, thirty seconds to a minute into my laughing explanation, all the other students who know exactly what diarrhea is, are laughing along with me.
Finally, one of my students just takes pity on me and translates the word for the befuddled student, at which point he starts laughing too and apologizes for not knowing the word and making me explain it. And I admit, I did a poor job explaining it. I just, for the life of me, could not figure out an easy way to explain diarrhea.
Once I returned home, I related this whole story to Jen and asked her how she would have explained diarrhea. Without missing a beat, she utters two perfectly magical words that I doubt I will ever forget: water poop.
If only I had that weapon in my arsenal! I could have avoided the whole situation and blushing altogether! But, fear not future students, I know have that handy explanation tucked up my sleeve. That is one less thing to get embarrassed about. I have officially erased it from my ever-shortening list of embarrassing topics.
My challenge to all of you is to think of embarrassing vocabulary or ideas and try to think of a very simple way to explain them to non-native speakers. Its not as simple as you might think. Feel free to share some of your better ideas with me. Good luck!
June 4, 2009
Well, I was officially back in the states for all of five, maybe six days. It was wedding central, but really fun! If there was any possible way to condense a years worth of bridesmaids duties into four days, I certainly accomplished at least that much. But the best part of the whole trip is that fact that Kathy and Joseph are now married!! I promise to do my best to add some wedding photos later on today, but I must forewarn you that I absolutely suck at taking photos, so I might be stealing them from other sources.
Here is an abbreviated version of my agenda while I was back:
Wednesday Evening
Arrive in Columbus at 5:30 PM, Mexican with Kathy and Joe, Pick up wedding programs, Pick up welcome bag materials, Socialize at Josephs parents house
Thursday
Wake up at 8:00, Assemble wedding programs, Pick up cookies and more wedding programs, German dinner with the Thompsons and Joseph, Assemble welcome bags, Make table place cards, Go to bed at 2:00
Friday
Wake up at 8:00, Drop off reception stuff at the hotel, Mani/Pedis with the girls, Last minute shopping, Wedding rehearsal dinner, Watch about twenty minutes of You’ve Got Mail with Kathy before we both crashed around 12:30
Saturday
Wake up at 7:00, Wedding all day-need I say more?
Sunday
Wake up at 9:00, Shop til you drop with Jess, Make and eat awesome dip
Monday Morning
Wake up at 8:00, Quick trip to the post office, Start the long journey back home at 11:45
Tuesday Evening
Arrive back in Nagoya at 6:30 PM, Arrive home at 8:30, Shower and off to bed early
