Is this a trap?

One of my English teachers came up to me just a few minutes ago to confirm lesson plans for our class, and inform me of a slight schedule change. Due to the schedule change, she will be unable to come to class, and therefore would like me to teach the class by myself. This has happened before, and while it is a little nerve-wracking I've gotten by.

Then she says, "I haven't taught them the meaning of the target sentences in Japanese. Is it okay if you do it?"

Sooooo.............ummmm. That's a compliment, right?

Kinda shakin' in my knickers over here.

Rock my Osaka

Just returned to work from a whirlwind three-day weekend in Osaka, and just so y'all know I can in fact shop for three days straight. I know you were worried about that, but it's okay. It all worked out. I was even under budget! (note: setting your budget at a really high number, say for example more than you make in a paycheck, means you are ALWAYS under budget. Everybody wins!)

I went to a concert for a Japanese idol group with tens of thousands of Japanese people, and I was one of three males there. Whatever, those guys are nice looking. And when they first appeared on stage, each of them was wearing a sequined jacket that looked like a cross between a marching band drum major jacket and a pimp coat. They were each wearing a different color coat and the colors represented were red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and pink. Together they made a pretty rainbow, so I feel like I have a shot with at least one of them.

I also went to a small Mexican fiesta that was being put on at the Umeda Sky Building. Turns out there was actually a Michael Jackson Neverland exhibit there too, and people were saying to me "Oh! You must be here to see the Michael Jackson exhibition!" And I was all, "Nope, I'm here for the tacos." Then the sounds of mariachis echoed around the plaza, and I disengaged with "Excuse me, but I think I hear my heritage calling. I'm going to have to take this." There were tacos, and they were goooooood. There were allegedly real Mexicans too, and they were asking confused Japanese people if they wanted "uno taco o dos tacos?" I got all up in that and practically yelled "CATORCE. DAME CATORCE TACOS POR FAVOR!" (excuse the omitted accent marks). The Japanese people gracefully looked away from me and my crazy taco face.

It was a fun weekend, and I was rather surprised to find myself at work this morning. Also, even though there is now occaisionally torrential rain, it's still really hot. The seasons are a bit confused here. We broke the world. :-/

On a happier note, Thursday is another holiday so I have the day off. Thanks, Autumnal Equinox!

Whatever works

I just realized last night that I have inadvertanly memorized all of the train stops between my city and the next city over. Sometimes, I say them in order over and over again as a kind of mantra. I like to think of it as a way to focus my mind, or steady me after a rough day, or even as a charm to improve my luck for a short time. Not sure how it's really working out, but if belief is power...

Tottori
Koyama
Tottoridaigakumae
Suetsune
Hogi
Hamamura
Aoya
Tomari
Matsuzaki
Kurayoshi

P.S. We had a typhoon today. It wasn't bad enough to cancel school. Boooooo.

A smattering of update

I have a feeling that this update will turn out a bit disjointed, and I'm okay with that.

♠ I am still not a morning person. Jetlag is the only way I can make it to work on-time without rushing. Apparently.

♠ I really want a mocha right now. (It's morning-time in Japan, and I'm feeling a bit sluggish)

♠ A friend and I broke up with our Japanese teacher. She raised the cost of our lessons for no particular reason, so we told her we wanted to see other people. She may backpedal and lower the price again, in which case I may consider going back to her.

♠ Following the break-up and because we were irritated at the sudden increase of price, we went in search of other activities to do in our city. Consequently, I will be joining a hip-hop locking class on Sunday evening with my friend and the Chinese ALT that works at my school. Pop, drop, and lock it.

♠ I have a student that I call Hip-hop Boy because he listens to a lot of hip-hop in English. He sometimes shouts out in the middle of class "Put yo hands up!" and other charming things.

♠ Hip-hop Boy is recently mispronouncing many English swear words. I assume he learned them from that American hip-hop the kids are all into these days and he most certainly won't be getting a CD with more hip-hop on it from me sometime later this week. What. Don't look at me like that. Anyway, I made a deal with him that if he got a high score on his next English test in my class, I would teach him the correct pronunciation. Currently, he is walking around saying "You sick!" and "Sick my dick!"

♠ Yesterday, one of my students told me that he was a Viking King. Last Friday, one of my students told me that she is in love with my 50 year old married Japanese English teacher because he looks like Buddha. And I also learned from a couple of the baseball players that you can slangily refer to breasts as "poing!"

♠ Still waiting for that mocha.