Monday, October 31, 2005
lesson 14: dead man's food.
ooooohhhhhhh...ooooooohhhhhh...thats me bein a ghost.
happy halloween!
yes, its that time again where i hav to try and make halloween interestin for my little buggers. i wasnt lookin forward to it cos, bein ingerlish, i associate halloween with eggs and flour more than i do trick or treat. i was nicely surprised tho when my 'superstitions' section brought out some interestin outcomes. basically i showed em a load of superstitions like, 'dont walk under ladders', 'dont spill salt', 'smash a mirror and u get 7 years bad luck', blah, blah. then they told me Japanese ones.
there were some really cool ones so i wrote em down but left the bloomin bit of paper at work! i'll try and remember em and any ones that r good that i 4got i will let u know next time.
ok, memory dont fail me now, here goes...
'dont whistle at night cos it brings out snakes'
'sneeze 3 times means some1, somewhere is talkin about u'
'4 is an unlucky number cos, in Japanese, the word for 4 is also the word for death'
'9 is an unlucky number cos, in Japanese, the word for 9 is also the word for hurt'
'when passin food wit ure chopsticks dont let em touch (somethin to do with bones) cos its bad luck'
'its good luck if ure tealeaf stands up in ure tea'
and my personal favourite;
'its bad luck to put ure chopstick upright in ure bowl of rice cos it means ure eatin dead mans food'
ace!
any other peaches i'll post later.
sambo out.
oh, and the pic doesnt hav anythin to do with anythin, i just c it on my way to work everyday thought it was funny : )
Sunday, October 30, 2005
lesson 13: pop art and arty pop.
another saturday spent up in Nagoya. it was the last weekend of an exhibition on Pop Art and i wanted to check it out. so i did.
it was good. som interestin stuff to make the mind go "hmmm" and "errr" and "oh".
there was a cool sculpture of a rabbit in the park where the gallery was situated so i took a picture of it to show u all. rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit...
today i hav been lazin around, ive been well tired this week. too many late nights i think. also ive been workin a lot on the label, research and the lik so its all caught up on me, like a sneaky pickpocket! robbed of my energy i hav.
oh well...
and i smashed my teapot! not in a rage of anger ; ) it was in the sink so at least i didnt get glass all over the floor.
hey ho, lesson plans ahoy, byebye.
monkey love.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
lesson 12: killer bees from outside my window.
i seem to hav some new friends and they come in the form of 2 inch long "bees". i am informed that they are "bees" by my students, but i would call they more like "wasps", big "wasps" which, also accordin to my students, are "killers". hmmm...
thats right, i hear u all shouting! can ure illiterate narrator truly b in fateful danger????? has mr. sam finally met his match in Japan????? well, maybe.
currently they r only appearing at a certain time of the day. this time always seems to coincide with me teachin a class, so i am under the assumption that they r "killer bees" that want to learn english. either that or they want to get inside my classroom and massacre my students.
whatever their quest may b, sinister or otherwise, they r staying firmly outside my window. they can bang all they like. they aint comin in!
so u can all breathe a big sigh of relief, i am safe for the time being...
oh and its my mum's birthday today, so happy birthday mum x
monkey out.
i seem to hav some new friends and they come in the form of 2 inch long "bees". i am informed that they are "bees" by my students, but i would call they more like "wasps", big "wasps" which, also accordin to my students, are "killers". hmmm...
thats right, i hear u all shouting! can ure illiterate narrator truly b in fateful danger????? has mr. sam finally met his match in Japan????? well, maybe.
currently they r only appearing at a certain time of the day. this time always seems to coincide with me teachin a class, so i am under the assumption that they r "killer bees" that want to learn english. either that or they want to get inside my classroom and massacre my students.
whatever their quest may b, sinister or otherwise, they r staying firmly outside my window. they can bang all they like. they aint comin in!
so u can all breathe a big sigh of relief, i am safe for the time being...
oh and its my mum's birthday today, so happy birthday mum x
monkey out.
Monday, October 24, 2005
lesson 11: the penguins and the party.
the weekend was good.
went to see this amazin little documentary about penguins. its called 'la marche de l'empereur' in french which i guess means something lik 'the march of the emperors' in english. its just a guess tho...
it was all in japanese, but it did matter, those penguins looked so great, the colours and the way they were so unsteady on their feet on the ice. they kept fallin over as well. very funny, hehe. and the litwl fwuffy baby ones...aaawwwwwwww, soooooo cute! hmm.
so that was fun. it was being shown in this really small old cinema that sat about 100 people at the most, so it was a nice personal kind of atmosphere in there. i dont think there were more than 10 people including us watchin it tho. but i enjoyed it.
then it was off to a teacher friends for dinners. oh yeah, mexican style beans, rice, salad, nachos, dip, the business. nice chatting, a bit of beer, some yoga, then some vodka, then some limbo dancing????? whoops. i'll leave it there. let ure imaginations run wild.
go imaginations, go, run like the wind.
hehe.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
lesson 10: mmm nice.
no crazy stroies of japanese madness, no meeting famous dj's, no encouters that have been lost in translation, just a steady week with some beautiful sunsets...one of which i managed to catch.
yay.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
lesson 9: the people i hav to work with...
me and my work hommie were talking about sending our boss emails.
our idea was to make up strange things about each other that we could (hyperthetically) send to our boss to freak her out.
this is what was written about me:
"In light of your enquiry regarding my colleague Sam, I felt it my duty to bring to your notice some rather odd and disturbing behaviour of his. I don't know if you are aware of the 'fluffies' phenomenon? I believe it to be a fetishistic group of people who gain pleasure from dressing up in animal suits (rabbits, mice, badgers...), stroking each other and simulating sexual acts. Sam's interest in this practice would be of no interest to me (consenting adults can do whatever they feel inclined to in the privacy of their own homes), however, I understand that Samuel may be using his office here on campus as a kind of 'headquarters' of a local fluffies group. I also suspect he may be actively recruiting his students. He is apparently holding auditions in his office. One student tells me he calls the sofa in his room his 'casting couch' and utilises some free space at the back of the office for 'dance auditions' (the mind boggles). He has also recently made some uncomfortable remarks to me such as 'your hands remind me of paws' and 'have you ever considered wearing rabbit ears?' As you know, I am a vulnerable and delicate young woman, if this harassment continues, I feel I may be unable to come to work."
make of it what u will, u out there who know me know the truth!
now where did i put those rabbit ears?
me and my work hommie were talking about sending our boss emails.
our idea was to make up strange things about each other that we could (hyperthetically) send to our boss to freak her out.
this is what was written about me:
"In light of your enquiry regarding my colleague Sam, I felt it my duty to bring to your notice some rather odd and disturbing behaviour of his. I don't know if you are aware of the 'fluffies' phenomenon? I believe it to be a fetishistic group of people who gain pleasure from dressing up in animal suits (rabbits, mice, badgers...), stroking each other and simulating sexual acts. Sam's interest in this practice would be of no interest to me (consenting adults can do whatever they feel inclined to in the privacy of their own homes), however, I understand that Samuel may be using his office here on campus as a kind of 'headquarters' of a local fluffies group. I also suspect he may be actively recruiting his students. He is apparently holding auditions in his office. One student tells me he calls the sofa in his room his 'casting couch' and utilises some free space at the back of the office for 'dance auditions' (the mind boggles). He has also recently made some uncomfortable remarks to me such as 'your hands remind me of paws' and 'have you ever considered wearing rabbit ears?' As you know, I am a vulnerable and delicate young woman, if this harassment continues, I feel I may be unable to come to work."
make of it what u will, u out there who know me know the truth!
now where did i put those rabbit ears?
Sunday, October 16, 2005
lesson 8: you cant keep a good son of sam down.
guess who's back...back again...oh yeah. he's back. the omnipotence of my ISP have given me my internet connection back and im rockin on da bloggin!!!!!
ok, so check this...the reason i lost my connection is that i got busted by the Japanese cyber police for peer to peer file sharing!!!!! eeeeeee! but seriously, for legal reasons i do believe i wasnt file sharing, but it was just a case of mistaken identity ; )
so, a word of warnin to those out there who do file share, its not somethin i condone at all, but there was a load of Buck 65 b-sides and rarities that would sound great in my collection...
the bit i love the most is that instead of being dragged down to the local cyber authorities and havin the indignity of my hard drive picked over with a fine tooth comb while having been hand-cuffed to a radiator with a bright light shone in my face, i just had to promise i wouldnt do it again : )
an offer i accepted graciously, my bloggin is far too important to lose! what would u people do if i was gone 4 too long? how would u cope without your Japanese updates? hmmm...i guess you'd cope.
until next time, happy sam out.
Friday, October 14, 2005
lesson 7: the a ki ba kei.
one of my students who isnt a student of the university but a dental nurse (she only comes for English class) came sneakin into class the other day with an even sneakier look on her face. now this student is a bit quirky and always comes out with some well funny things, and her English is pretty good.
so she asks me what train station i use to get to uni in the morning, which immediately makes me suspicious of her questioning. "why?" i reply in a long drawn out tone.
it seems one of the people she works with at the dental clinic had seen a "very strange man" with an 'a ki ba kei' bag waitin at the barrier for a train to pass, u know, like in oulton broad.
'a ki ba kei' kinda means 'geek' or 'nerd' in japanese and i hav a bag that i carry my books to work in with this written on it. my student instantly assumed this is me and the person she works with drew a picture of the "very strange man" to see if it was.
the chances of two "very strange" men...both with 'a ki ba kei' bags...i'll let u decide.
sambo.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
lesson 6: taiko in the rain.
so, this weekend has passed and it was a goodun!
friday, i was glad to have finished work for the week, i was tired. it had been the first full week back so i was feeling the effects a little. friday night i was asleep by 10pm.
saturday i was off to the city with new teaching friend in tow ready to show her the delights of the big smoke...only its absolutly pissing down with rain!!! we trudge around for a while getting wet and then decide to abandon the tour and head straight to another teacher friends for beer and crisps.
we had arranged to head off to a free open air music festival to celebrate the full moon. so we do. we get more beer and use the bags to sit our bumbums on. now, a word of advice, plastic bags dont keep ure arse dry, not only do they not keep it dry, they dont add so much comfort to a cold slab of stone! if u have no other option then plastic bags r great, but if u do then use it. seriously.
so the first act is nepalese drummers, flutes and a mandalin. very nice. next, a japanese acoustic guitarist who detuned an awful lot, but it sounded great! then the taiko drummers... they pounded the shit out of these drums. they were amazin!! so powerful, but their timing and professionalism was incredible! i was blown away.
the rain had stopped so we went into the city and hit some bars until about 7am where i found myself behind a really natty mixer with loads of weird effects.
the train home was a snooze fest.
luckily i had yesterday off due to happy monday law. i love that happy monday law. just think japanese bank holiday monday.
sam out.
so, this weekend has passed and it was a goodun!
friday, i was glad to have finished work for the week, i was tired. it had been the first full week back so i was feeling the effects a little. friday night i was asleep by 10pm.
saturday i was off to the city with new teaching friend in tow ready to show her the delights of the big smoke...only its absolutly pissing down with rain!!! we trudge around for a while getting wet and then decide to abandon the tour and head straight to another teacher friends for beer and crisps.
we had arranged to head off to a free open air music festival to celebrate the full moon. so we do. we get more beer and use the bags to sit our bumbums on. now, a word of advice, plastic bags dont keep ure arse dry, not only do they not keep it dry, they dont add so much comfort to a cold slab of stone! if u have no other option then plastic bags r great, but if u do then use it. seriously.
so the first act is nepalese drummers, flutes and a mandalin. very nice. next, a japanese acoustic guitarist who detuned an awful lot, but it sounded great! then the taiko drummers... they pounded the shit out of these drums. they were amazin!! so powerful, but their timing and professionalism was incredible! i was blown away.
the rain had stopped so we went into the city and hit some bars until about 7am where i found myself behind a really natty mixer with loads of weird effects.
the train home was a snooze fest.
luckily i had yesterday off due to happy monday law. i love that happy monday law. just think japanese bank holiday monday.
sam out.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
lesson 5: i love high wycombe.
ok, first i wanted to hav a picture to go with this blog, but as my unhelpful internet box is still being very unhelpful, u will have to use the power of your minds.
most of you crazy bunch may be aware of a tshirt i own with the slogan 'i love high wycombe' upon it. i purchased this bad boy when i was at university in, u guessed it, high wycombe.
now any of u unfortunate enough to have been to this shitty little town will understand the irony of this slogan and over the years i have found that it gets quite a response. in fact i cant remember a time that i havent been questioned over this tshirt, albeit at music festivals and other larger gatherings of people. on 3 or 4 occasions at glastonbury i have had complete strangers approach me and demand to know where i had got it from. i remember the look on their faces as i told them they are available at the tourist information centre in the high street. others have just called out 'i love high wycombe?! u cant love high wycombe! high wycombe is a dump!' where i respond...'yes'.
but the occasion that has most surprised me was last weekend in nagoya, the city closest to where i work.
i was out drinking with a couple of other teachers in this really cool bar. the bar was underground and very small, but the entire back wall was rammed full of vinyl and the bar owner would select a record and stick it on. he was playin mostly old stuff, bowie, beatles, love, but it was a realy chilled atmosphere. as we were leavin a dude turned to me and kinda repelled in shock slightly at the sight of my tshirt. 'ive just moved to high wycombe,' he stammered, 'where abouts man?' i asked. 'hazelmere', he said, which is where i used to live also. 'most people have stupid things written on their tshirts, but when i saw that i could believe it!'
i wasnt sure i understood this comment so we left.
another weird coincidence is that my new teachin friend here is the sister of a girl i took over from teachin in china!!!!!! of all the arse end of nowhere school i end up...its a small world aint it?
ok, first i wanted to hav a picture to go with this blog, but as my unhelpful internet box is still being very unhelpful, u will have to use the power of your minds.
most of you crazy bunch may be aware of a tshirt i own with the slogan 'i love high wycombe' upon it. i purchased this bad boy when i was at university in, u guessed it, high wycombe.
now any of u unfortunate enough to have been to this shitty little town will understand the irony of this slogan and over the years i have found that it gets quite a response. in fact i cant remember a time that i havent been questioned over this tshirt, albeit at music festivals and other larger gatherings of people. on 3 or 4 occasions at glastonbury i have had complete strangers approach me and demand to know where i had got it from. i remember the look on their faces as i told them they are available at the tourist information centre in the high street. others have just called out 'i love high wycombe?! u cant love high wycombe! high wycombe is a dump!' where i respond...'yes'.
but the occasion that has most surprised me was last weekend in nagoya, the city closest to where i work.
i was out drinking with a couple of other teachers in this really cool bar. the bar was underground and very small, but the entire back wall was rammed full of vinyl and the bar owner would select a record and stick it on. he was playin mostly old stuff, bowie, beatles, love, but it was a realy chilled atmosphere. as we were leavin a dude turned to me and kinda repelled in shock slightly at the sight of my tshirt. 'ive just moved to high wycombe,' he stammered, 'where abouts man?' i asked. 'hazelmere', he said, which is where i used to live also. 'most people have stupid things written on their tshirts, but when i saw that i could believe it!'
i wasnt sure i understood this comment so we left.
another weird coincidence is that my new teachin friend here is the sister of a girl i took over from teachin in china!!!!!! of all the arse end of nowhere school i end up...its a small world aint it?
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
lesson 4: how to get annoyed in english at a japanese machine that wont let u use the internet.
thats right folks, the internet in my apartment has gone. just gone. all those plans i had for blogs with beautiful photos of this weird and wonderful land have a been cut down in their prime!
well for the time being anyhoo.
the damn machine that lets me connect to the damn internet has died a very horrible death and, damn it! im upset. hopefully it'll get sorted, but maybe not.
oh well, where there's a will there's a way and i will continue to blog from work, until i am either found and and told t0 stop, or i am found out and sacked!
so, it is early today and not too much has happened, although the good thing about losing the internet is that i am watchin a lot more japanese tv.
last night i was watching a game show where, in one of the rounds, women would basically line up while these 4 guys would guess whether their breasts were real or balloons! oh yes, the beautiful simplicity of japanese tv. so these women would come onto the stage in different costumes and states of undress. some would b wearing kimonos, some school girl outfits, some airhostess uniforms and some just a towel. the guys would then ask them some questions, or make them jump up and down, while they tried very hard stop themselves from drooling. then they would guess whether the girl's breasts were real or not. after they gave their answer, the girl would reveal the correct answer to them or just pop their ballons.
the winner? well, me.
thats right folks, the internet in my apartment has gone. just gone. all those plans i had for blogs with beautiful photos of this weird and wonderful land have a been cut down in their prime!
well for the time being anyhoo.
the damn machine that lets me connect to the damn internet has died a very horrible death and, damn it! im upset. hopefully it'll get sorted, but maybe not.
oh well, where there's a will there's a way and i will continue to blog from work, until i am either found and and told t0 stop, or i am found out and sacked!
so, it is early today and not too much has happened, although the good thing about losing the internet is that i am watchin a lot more japanese tv.
last night i was watching a game show where, in one of the rounds, women would basically line up while these 4 guys would guess whether their breasts were real or balloons! oh yes, the beautiful simplicity of japanese tv. so these women would come onto the stage in different costumes and states of undress. some would b wearing kimonos, some school girl outfits, some airhostess uniforms and some just a towel. the guys would then ask them some questions, or make them jump up and down, while they tried very hard stop themselves from drooling. then they would guess whether the girl's breasts were real or not. after they gave their answer, the girl would reveal the correct answer to them or just pop their ballons.
the winner? well, me.
