英語を母語としている僕は、さすがに日本語で書くのが得意じゃないから、めったにこ
んな風に書きません。しかし、いい練習になるから、これから頑張ります。もし日本語文に変なところ、分か
らないところがあったら、英語力のある人、英訳を参照にしてください。
Being that English is my native language, writing in Japanese isn't exactly one of my strengths, so I rarely ever write like this. But since it's good practice, I'll give it a shot. If there's anything strange or hard to understand in the Japanese, those of you who know English, please refer to the English translation.
一昨日、小学校のグラウンドを囲んでいる桜の下で生徒達と一緒に給食を食べました。その時、そよ風が吹いて花びらを散らしました。桜の吹雪の中で食べている子供達の姿を見ていたら、後ろから女の子に声をかけられました。
The other day, I had lunch with my students under the sakura trees
surrounding the elementary school ground. At the time, a slight breeze
blew and scattered the petals. As I was watching the kids eat in the
midst of the "sakura blizzard," I heard a girl's voice call my name
from behind.
「フランズ先生！ほら、スープに入った！」
"Franz! Look, it fell in my soup!"
後ろに向くと3年生の1人の杏莉ちゃんがいました。彼女はスープに落ちた桜の花びらを指していました。
I looked over and saw one of the 3rd graders, Anri-chan, pointing at the sakura petals that fell in her soup.
「食べる！」と、杏莉ちゃん。
"I'm gonna eat it!" she said.
スープと一緒に花びらを掬ってそのまま食べました。彼女は僕を見てにっこりしました。僕は笑い返しました。
She scooped up the petals with her soup and ate it. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.
日本に来て花見が好きになりました。
Since coming to Japan I have grown fond of hanami.
花見って年に1週間以内でしかできない娯楽だからみんな毎年楽しみにします。日本に来る前に、花(特にピンクの)が別に好きじゃない僕は、何で日本人がそんなに楽しみにするんだろうかと思いました。
Because hanami is a pastime that can only be enjoyed for 1 week out
of the year, everyone looks forward to it each year. I don't really
care for flowers (especially pink ones), so before I came to Japan, I
wondered why the Japanese made such a big deal about it.
でも実際に経験すると、やっと分かってきました。
But after having actually experienced it, I finally realize why.
この間の日曜、近くにある公園で友達と一緒に
花見をしていたら、これが一生最後の花見かもしれないだろうと思ってちょっと落ち込みました。確かに
アメリカでも桜があるけど、その木が少ないし、満開になってもだれも気にしません。アメリカでは、「花見」という
習慣がないので、桜は向こうではただの木
です。だからカリフォルニア州へ帰ったら、桜が見えても、「花見」の気持ちがないでしょう。花見とは、桜を見ることだけじゃなくて、自分が大切に思う人達
と一緒に過ごしたり、その人達と一緒に桜の美しさを鑑賞したりする活動だと思います。その雰囲気がないと、花見のように感じないでしょう。
This past Sunday, while viewing the sakura with my friends at a
nearby park, I thought to myself that this might be the last chance for
hanami for the rest of my life. I felt a little down at the thought.
Although there are sakura trees even in America, there aren't very many
of them, and when they're in full bloom, no one really takes notice. In
America there is no "hanami" tradition, so the sakura is just another tree there.
When I go back to California, even if I could view sakura, there would
be no feeling of "hanami." Hanami isn't just looking at cherry
blossoms, it's spending time with those you hold dear, and appreciating
the beauty of the cherry blossoms with those people. Without that
atmosphere, it wouldn't feel like hanami.
今年は僕が日本にいる最後の年となっています。まだいるうちに日本でしか経験できない事をやりたいです。この2年間はいい思い出ばかりで、これからも友
達と一緒に思い出を作っていきたいと思います。
This year is the last year I'll be in Japan. While I'm still here
I'd like to do things that can only be experienced in Japan. These past
two years have been nothing but good memories, and from here on out I'd
like to create more memories with my friends.
A little skill I picked up in the Land of the Rising Sun...
I owe this to my rocker friend and ninja mentor Chris, both for teaching me the ways of the nunchaku and for introducing me to YouTube, in Chris's'z words "the best thing to happen to the Internet since porn." If you think that video is cool, you should check out Chris'z'p'x moves. C'mon Smart Bad, put up a vid of yourself. Don't be shy.
Yet another sporadic post from me. What can I say? I've been too busy to log on to Xanga to read blogs, let alone post any of my own. I think last time we left off, way back in March, my town was in a state of chaos and in the process of being devoured by a bigger city. Well, that has long since happened, and the ninja people of Kamiishizu and I are still alright, doing our ninja thang. Other than the fact that I'm now employed by the Ogaki Board of Education (as opposed to the Kamiishizu BOE) and now have a new supervisor, work hasn't changed much. I do miss my former supervisor though. She kicked ass. Oh, and I also started working at a second junior high school, Seibu Chuugakkou. As a result, I now have the distinction of teaching at both the smallest junior high school (165 students) and the largest junior high school (900+ students) in Ogaki City.
Lately I've been studying for Level 1 of the JLPT, so it has consumed much of the little free time I have. It's insane. The grammar and kanji knowledge required to pass Level 1 isn't used even by most Japanese people. It's kind of a waste because I'm putting all of this knowledge into my head, and after the test I'll never have a chance to use most of it in normal conversation. But at least I'll be able to read even the most torturously, eye-bleedingly boring novels like 細雪 (Sasame Yuki), in Japanese. In case you're curious, it's known to non-ninjas as The Makioka Sisters, by esteemed boring-novel writer 谷崎潤一郎 (Junichiro Tanizaki).
Personally, I prefer more light-hearted reading like Yoshimoto Banana. By all means, check out her work. But you know, reading a novel in Japanese is like reading a magical scroll. If you transcribe a scroll containing a magic spell from its original arcane glyphs into your native tongue, the spell loses its effect. Without the glyphs, it's just words that carry no power. On that same note, you must read a Japanese novel in the original Japanese kanji or the story won't have an effect on you (same goes for manga...none of that "scanlated" nonsense).
What else...in the time since my last post, Leina came to visit me for a little over a month, which was a really nice break in the long spell of her absence. On June 10th, we were afforded the very rare opportunity to personally bear witness to a Buddhist-style wedding between my friends Keith and Yumiko. This was an especially rare occasion for two reasons. The first reason is that when Japanese couples choose not to go with the trendy Western chapel-style wedding and opt for a more traditional Japanese-style wedding, they have a Shinto ceremony instead of a Buddhist one. The second reason is that whether Shinto or Buddhist, usually only family have the honor of witnessing such a spectacle. I think I have some pics of it on my hard drive. Let's see what I can dig up...ah, here we are. Pics.
It was a very poignant ceremony
Note that neither of them wears the pants in the relationship
In other news, I climbed that bastard Mt. Fuji last month with Xiao Yan and Yumiko. I've seen Fuji in passing several times on my Shinkansen (bullet train) trips back and forth to Tokyo. Every time I gazed upon that giant, solemn, black monolith of a volcano looming in the distance, I always wanted to experience it up close. Long story short: there's nothing glamourous about climbing Fuji. The entire time I was on the slope, I was cursing the mountain gods, wondering what the hell I was doing up there and when the ordeal would be over. It was physically the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. Yumiko threw up twice in a physiological homeostatic attempt to maintain her body's pH. The lactic acid builds up so fast in the muscles that the body undergoes metabolic and respiratory alkalosis by getting rid of gastric juices (hydrochloric acid) and carbon dioxide (in the body, a precursor to carbonic acid), leading to a lot of vomiting, hyperventilating, and even burping (in Xiao Yan's case). I ended up carrying Yumiko's backpack because she was in danger of hypoxia. It soo was not fun. There's a saying about Fuji-san: "Climb it once, and you are a wise man. Climb it twice, and you are a fool."
Needless to say, Yumiko and I want to do it again.
Xiao Yan's gone back to the States, and no one else wants to attempt the climb with us. At least one of us can walk away from this experience a "wise man." I hope we can find some more people by next summer.
Embarkation, July 21st, 11:45pm
Even in the summer, the temperature was 0 degrees Celsius near the summit
I don't know about you, but I notice a recurring theme here
This battle ended when I decided to throw Yumiko off the mountain and jump on her. What? She started it!
Xiao Yan and Yumiko like to fight with sacred temples and spectacular views as the backdrop
It was a contest of "who can make the gayer pose?"
I don't know what else to write about at the moment. Since the kiddiewinks are on summer vacation, there are no classes until the beginning of September. Nevertheless, I have to "work." For me, that means countless hours sitting at my desk studying Japanese all day, or just hanging out with my students during their summer club activities. Good fun!
As of tomorrow, March 27th, 2006, the town where I live (Kamiishizu-cho) will cease to exist. No, it won't be leveled by a tsunami, nor will it be destroyed by an alien invasion, but it will be swallowed by the neighoring big city, Ogaki-shi. Kamiishizu-cho and another nearby town, Sunomata-cho, will be unified and incorporated into Ogaki-shi, and although I won't be moving to a new house, my address will change.
As a result of the unification, the Kamiishizu Board of Education, where I'm currently employed, will be no more, and starting tomorrow I will be employed at the Ogaki Board of Education. However, I haven't been contacted by my new supervisor and the work schedule I receive from my supervisor every month only goes up to Friday, March 24th. In other words, I have no idea where I'm supposed to report to work tomorrow morning. I've asked many people about my schedule several times, and the best answer they could give me was "Sorry, nobody knows yet. But as soon as we find out, we'll let you know, or someone will contact you." I was always under the assumption that they would let me know sometime before the unification occurred, but I guess I assumed wrong. I don't have a contact number for my new supervisor, and my (now former) supervisor, Ono-san, has changed jobs and is now working in taxes somewhere in Ogaki-shi, so she can't help me anymore.
I guess I'll show up at the junior high school tomorrow and see what happens. Although since I'm not scheduled to go to the junior high, I could just skip work and no one would even care since all the students are on spring break, all the teachers have taken paid leave to go somewhere for the break, and both my kyoto-sensei (school vice-principal) and kocho-sensei (principal) have retired.
I wonder if this has ever happened to any other JETs before. As of now, I'm an ALT without a kocho-sensei, kyoto-sensei, or a supervisor to answer to. I don't have a work schedule to follow.
I told my friends here (fellow ALTs) about it, and they're telling me "Just don't go to work! If no one knows and no one cares, fuck it!" or "Franz, I've got three words for you: VAY-KAY-SHUN!" I actually like the idea, and I'm very tempted, but I don't know...I really should try to do something about this. I'm going to go to the junior high school tomorrow and check things out. If I still can't get an answer there, I'll drive out to the Ogaki Board of Education, introduce myself as the new ALT and try to meet my new supervisor.
In other news, since the JLPT ended last December (I passed, yay!) I've been really slacking off in my Japanese studies, and I've been needing something to keep me in check, like an actual class. When I set out to find a suitable Japanese course, I was disappointed to learn that all the available courses in my area were for beginners and lower-intermediate students. I thought, "why not an advanced course?" and called my former Japanese teacher who I took lessons from when I first arrived in Japan. I've been coordinating with her for the past month and a half to get an advanced Japanese class started in my area. After countless e-mails, phone calls and cafe meetings, it's finally going to happen. The first class starts on April 3rd!
At first it was going to be a combined class geared towards prepping students for JLPT Levels 1 and 2, but when I put up a post on a JET forum containing information on the course, the response was overwhelming (relatively...out of 500+ people who frequent the forum, 20 people responded, 7 of whom decided later that the course was over their head). I say "overwhelming" because the class capacity is 11 students. With 13 people interested, we had to split the course into two separate classes, one dedicated to Level 1, and the other dedicated to Level 2 students. Ironically, there are more people in the Level 1 class (8) than in the Level 2 class (5).
Well, enough geeking out about Japanese. There's more nerdy stuff I want to get off my chest, but I'll save that for another post. Gotta go to sleep and then in the morning figure out if I'm going to get a free spring break without having to take paid leave!
nce again, rocker ninja Smart_Bad has released yet another bad-ass article for The Smart_Bad Newsletter. This article features real-ass ninjas and meticulously details our deadly battle with the Shirtless Ninja Boss. Okay, I lied. We didn't engage in ninja combat with him. If we did, we probably wouldn't be around to tell the story. So if you're craving more excitement than this blog currently has to offer, mosey on over to Smart_Bad's realm for ninja madness!
Speaking of ninjas, today I taught my 3rd-year junior high school boys a special "ninja technique." I showed them how to do that thing where you shove one arm into the sleeve of your other arm, then retract your other arm and place it over your chest (under your shirt). You move the first arm up and down, while at the same time punching outwards with the hand that you have over your chest. It creates the effect that your heart is trying to jump out of your thoracic cavity. Is there a name for that move in the US?
Here in Japan, my students call it "心臓遊び" ("shinzou-asobi," Japanese for "super-ultra-real-ultimate-ninja-heart punch"). I like to take the first syllable and the last two syllables and shorten it to shinobi, but my abbreviation doesn't really fly with the kids. Meh, whatever. Shinobi doesn't really mean anything in Japanese anyway. I had done shinzou-asobi many times in the past at the behest of my elementary school students (who, by the way, still haven't figured out how I do it...they think it's some kind of ninja magi--I mean, yeah, they're amazed by my ninja magic). Even if I taught them how to do it, they wouldn't be able to because in Japanese elementary schools, the hardy children wear short-sleeved shirts even when it's snowing. It had never even occured to me to attempt this move at the JHS before. But apparently, it's a freakin' hit. One of my 3rd-year boys was about to try to tackle me in the hallway, but when I turned to face him and executed shinzou-asobi, it was a finishing move. Before even laying a hand on me, he fell to the ground in laughter screaming "Sugee...SUGEE!" (Japanese for "I give up, I give up!"). I, on the other hand, was unscathed. After that, he begged me to teach him the technique. I figured that if I was going to pass down one of my ancient secrets, it would be this one. It uses very little chakra/MP (if any at all), and is relatively easy for 下忍 (genin, or novice ninjas) to learn.
Soon I had a small circle of disciples devoted to learning the ancient art of shinzou-asobi. With my back to a wall, five boys made a semi-circle around me, closing the semi-circle enough so that none of the meddling 3rd-year girls and 2nd- and 1st-year students could peek. They learned the technique quickly. I was pleased. One guy was going to use his newly-acquired skill in front of the girl that he liked. Pretty cheesy, but at least he was using his power to express his feelings of affection, which equates to using the power for good. Three of the other boys had more combative applications of the shinzou-asobi technique in mind, and began using it to punch each other with their "hearts." It escalated into a heart-punching rough-and-tumble fest, and they ran down the halls punching each other and laughing on their way to class.
But then there was the one...
As in any small elite group of warriors who possess the knowledge of a clandestine technique (such as the Uchiha Clan's very own Itachi, or the Jedi's "What-Have-I-Done???" Anakin Skywalker), there will invariably be a dark soul, one who would rise to become the greatest warrior, but would also use his powers for evil. My disciple Yuuto, always the pervert, put his "heart hand" under his PE sweatpants over his crotch instead, and proceeded to execute his own, tainted version of my otherwise benign technique. I had inadvertently, yet effectively, added another weapon to the repertoire of Yuuto, Kamiishizu Junior High School's most perverted 3rd-year boy.
Go forth, my elite shinzou-asobi warriors. Dominate the evil and protect the weak. And for god's sake, Yuuto, don't get caught using the dark side of the shinzou-asobi technique. But if you do get caught, then I never saw you, and I never taught you no steenking techniques.
Yep. I'm an English teacher.
On that note, I'm definitely not a Japanese teacher. Do not, I repeat, do NOT believe anything I said on this post about the meanings of any of the Japanese words.
A little skill I picked up in the Land of the Rising Sun...
hanges...
message to my 3rd-year students who graduated last Friday: 
nce again, rocker ninja 