Category Archives: Japan

Magic Blue and Magic Gray

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I have a pair of magic pencils. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

This started a few years back when I called for volunteers to do a classroom assignment and was met by crickets and groups of boys who averted their eyes in the hope it would make them invisible. I held up my pencil and said that that if there were no volunteers I’d let the magic blue pencil decide. I dropped it on my class roll sheet and announced the name of the person the magic blue pencil had chosen.

That would have been all of it except, a couple weeks later, I once again called for volunteers and my students instead requested that the magic blue pencil decide. After that, the transparent blue Pilot S3 mechanical pencil (similar to this black one) became a regular character in my class. The magic blue pencil always chose the person who secretly wanted to go next. When students protested I told them that the magic blue pencil was never wrong.

On a couple occasions I pretended to receive phone calls via the magic blue pencil. The phone call explained the students were about to do a large project. I pretended to protest and when students protested the assigment, I said they should blame the magic blue pencil. I had tried to defend them.

The Pilot S3 (top) and the UNI Kurutoga Roulette. That Kurutoga looks scary.

The Pilot S3 (top) and the UNI Kurutoga Roulette. That Kurutoga looks scary.

However, over time, the magic blue pencil got replace by a UNI Kurutoga Roulette in Gun Metal gray. The magic gray pencil looks scarier and more weapon like but is no less wise than the magic blue pencil. It always chooses the person who was supposed to go next. It’s also partly made of metal and makes a satisfying thump when it hits the roll sheet.

I recently, through a sale, acquired a Karas Kustom’s Bolt. It’s made of brass and feels heavy enough to be a weapon. It may, someday, replace the magic gray pencil.

Bolt-1

Until then, I’ll keep relying on the wisdom of the magic gray pencil. (Something like that.)

This is the Day You Knew Was Coming With a Vengeance

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In every class there’s a moment where your students find out you’re serious. In the case of first year high school students at the school where I work, after mocking any attempts to discipline or threats to fail them, they suddenly discover they are not in junior high school anymore.

Today was that day in two of my classes.

In all fairness, the classes went well right up until the moment they didn’t. When they didn’t go well the students were supposed to be rewriting and memorizing a conversation from the book. Instead, most of them chatted. In the first class when I asked for volunteers no one raised their hands so I chose a pair. One partner didn’t know what page they were on and the other hadn’t changed the conversation. This continued through a few more pairs, with one doing a passable job, until I gave them all a homework assignment. I can tell they didn’t take me seriously so I told them that anyone who hadn’t finished the homework would have to meet me after school or at lunch the day after the homework was due.

That was the first class of the day.

When I got to the last class, I warned them that their fellow students had earned homework and I’d be more than happy to give them homework. One student had failed to bring a textbook or a notebook and assured me his textbook and notebook were in his head. I told him to prove it by tearing out a sheet and giving it to me. (He didn’t, but it would have been really cool if he had.)

Once again, things went well right up until the final project. In the second class, guys were talking to people other than their partners forcing me to invoke Rule 13:

If you are talking to someone other than your partner, that means you are ready and must do your performance right away.

Four pairs ended up violating Rule 13, including the kid with no textbook. Once again, the first pairs weren’t ready and they got defiant and started reading from the text (neither had changed it as they were supposed to). I told them every time they looked at their book they lost a point. They ended up with 1 point out of 10 for the day.

The no textbook guy did badly, then he and his partner surprised me by asking for “revenge” or a chance to go again. They did much better the second time. A pair I chose at random didn’t know which parts they were reading. One of the partners got mad and didn’t understand why I was calling on him. (I told him it wasn’t me, it was the magic brown pencil. Long story.)

After he argued some more, I told him 1) he should go to an easier school or 2) he should save his textbook because he might need it again next year. He made a rude comment and I said I’d be happy to introduce him to the guys held back from previous year. They did badly.

In the end, though, enough did well to save the class and only three pairs got homework.

I can tell the guy who was rude doesn’t think I’ll actually keep him late or that he can actually fail. Poor fella. He doesn’t know me very well yet.

Let’s Go to the Mall, Today

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When I was growing up in Colorado, one of our favorite places to hang out, despite us not having much money, was a mall. Now that I’m older, malls are great places to distract the girls and pretend we actually did something when we didn’t.

Because it’s Golden Week and because She Who Must Be Obeyed worked Monday and Tuesday and because our oldest had club, we didn’t get a chance to go out until today. (I was babysitting our youngest/writing/playing World of Tanks.) Unfortunately, our oldest had her own plans to spend money so we sent her to the big city by herself whilst the rest of us went to the mall. More specifically, we went to a new mall called LaLaPort Fujimi, built just a short drive/train ride away.

The only problem with this was, because it’s Golden Week and because the mall is new, about 12 billion people (plus or minus a few hundred thousand) were going to be there. The mall actually has “heavy traffic expected” warnings on its website and the signs were not good.

We decided to take the train and then take a bus but as soon as we got to our station, there were people standing around and signs saying “Hell if we know when the next train leaves” at the front of the station after an apparent suicide somewhere down the tracks. Luckily we only had to wait 20 minutes and also luckily, the trains weren’t that crowded.

After we got to Tsuruse Station, it was such a nice day we decided to walk the 20 minutes to the mall. After we got there, there then ensued the “where should we eat/hell if I know because I’ve never been here before” discussion that usually occurs around lunch time when we’re out. (We ended up at J.S. Pancake Cafe, which turned out to be an excellent choice.)

Oddly, we ended up not buying anything other than lunch and a few things our youngest paid for with her allowance. She had fun but She Who Must Be Obeyed and I were underwhelmed. The LaLaPorts are a chain of malls around the Tokyo metro area and all the ones I’ve been to suffer from a certain sameness. They all have circular layouts designed to improve traffic flow and they all are well arranged through a complex scientific process involving a committee. (Not a joke, the committee was featured on local news/native advertising last week.)

The also have all the same stores.

We don’t have plans to go back, although it’s not that far away, even if we walk. There’s just nothing special about it.

Note: Fans of “How I Met Your Mother” will recognize the title of this post as a lyric from Canadian pop-tart Robin Sparkles epic “Let’s Go to the Mall” (Which manages to make fun of both Tiffany and Debbie Gibson.)

 

 

Kurotani Washi Notebook–Lost and Found Overview

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I apparently bought a notebook in the 1990’s that I forgot I had. Since I’ve been cleaning out the storage closet, I discovered it in a box.

Me being me, I immediately began testing fountain pens on it.

The notebook is a handmade washi notebook from Kurotani Washi. Kurotani Washi has been making paper by hand for around 800 years. The notebook is just larger than B5 sized and has 25 folded sheets and a handmade cover bound in Japanese stitching.

The signature at the "back." It says (top to bottom) Tan Ba Kuro Tani Wa Shi.

The signature at the “back.” It says (top to bottom) 丹波 TanBa 黒谷　KuroTani 和紙　WaShi.

The cover. Notice it opens from the left.

The cover. Notice it opens from the left.

I don’t remember buying it but I suspect I got it on a trip to Kyoto during the late 90’s. On one trip in particular, I visited several traditional shops and artisans that had been in business for hundreds of years. I used Diane Durston’s terrific Old Kyoto as my guide book and highly recommend it as an alternate way to tour Kyoto.

One of the shops I visited was Kyukyodo which was founded in 1663 and sold incense, paper and calligraphy supplies.

Because at the time I was studying Japanese calligraphy, I stocked up on brushes, ink sticks and random paraphernalia. I suspect I got the notebook at the same time. I almost certainly had some grand plan to write calligraphy and or poetry in it but it ended up in a box.

However, because I bought it, and because it was blank, I couldn’t just throw it out. Instead I broke out several fountain pens to see what would happen.

The inside cover and a few writing samples.

The inside cover and a few writing samples.

I was surprised at how smooth some of the pens felt and that the nibs didn’t become clogged with threads from the paper. It was a bit like writing on watercolor paper but most of the results looked pretty good.

A sloppy close up of the Aurora Blue. Note the feathering and bleed.

A sloppy close up of the Aurora Blue. Note the feathering and bleed but it doesn’t look too bad.

Washi typically has a smooth side and a rough side. As such, each page consists of a large sheet that’s been folded and bound. The folding prevents the brush ink from bleeding through to the next page. During my tests, I found that only a Noodler’s Konrad with a flex nib and Noodler’s Apache Sunset bled through both pages.

My Edison Glenmont separating the fold.

My Edison Glenmont separating the fold.

Now that the notebook’s been written in, I suspect I’ll use it for morning pages just to use it up. It works well with my TWSBI 580 and my new Nexus Minimal.

After that, I suspect I’ll just throw it out.

 

 

 

The Day Before the Day Before Vacation

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First a correction: In yesterday’s post I mistakenly called Showa Day by it’s old name Greenery Day. I’ve edited the post to correct that.

Although my students have a half day of classes before their holiday begins, most of them today acted like they were already on holiday.

I kind of joined them.

This coming week three Japanese national holidays collide in an event called Golden Week. They consist of Constitution Memorial Day on Sunday, Greenery Day on Monday, Children’s Day on Tuesday and “Crap, Constitution Day Fell on a Sunday So Let’s Give Everyone A Make Up Holiday On Wednesday” Day (not it’s real name).

Although the holidays are awesome, my students mentally enter holiday mode right after Showa Day. It’s even worse that this Golden Week this year is a five day weekend for me and a four day weekend for my students.

Today they were noisy and spent a lot of time talking in Japanese. Some of them didn’t bother doing the assignments and a couple of them tried to sleep. The worst were the high school 1st year students (10th graders), many of whom have never had me as a teacher before. As such, they are woefully unaware that 1) I really will give them homework over a major holiday and that this will happen because 2) I am a vindictive bastard.

This is especially true before a holiday. I get a break and I never have to actually read the assignment I give. I only have to collect it and mark is as “done” or “zero”.

Luckily, a few of my students had me as a teacher in junior high school and they let their new, naive friends know what things I am capable of. Also luckily for them, I couldn’t be bothered to think of a suitably cruel homework. (The worse ever: spell all the numbers from one to one-thousand).

Now I have to keep myself busy for the next few days. I could do a lot of writing, but I suspect I’ll just waste the time. I do this because June is coming. And June has no national holidays.

Out of a Closet and Onto the Floor

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Note: This post was edited to correct horrible mistakes.

Yesterday was Showa Day which is now officially named after the Japanese Emperor responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor but used to be disguised as Greenery Day in honor of his love of plants. Most importantly, it signals the start of “Golden Week” when three holidays and an “aw hell, let’s just give ’em another holiday here” holiday all collide in the same week.

Unfortunately for me, I’d scheduled dirty work for that Showa Day and have a bit more to do on Saturday.

Basically, at long last, I’m moving the “variety pile” and attacking the stuff inside the “variety closet” and the “variety room”. My goal was to throw away stuff I know I’ll never use and save stuff I’d like to have access to but don’t need to have out right now. I then wanted to move our earthquake kit from the floor and put it on top of the wardrobe allowing access to the rest of the kit on a bottom shelf. (Confused? You should actually see the mess and try to figure out the plan behind it.)

If I were smart, I’d basically chuck out every box I hadn’t opened in months without opening them. There are, however, a number of complications.

First, I’m not that smart.

Second, part of the reason the boxes haven’t been opened is that the “variety closet” is stuck behind the “variety pile”. This makes getting at a box a much more difficult chore than it should be.

Third, I have the hoarder’s desire to handle everything at least once before throwing it out. This triggers memories and rekindles the little spark that made me keep the item in the first place which makes me want to find a place for it or swap it out with something I don’t want to use for a while but don’t want to throw out. I did, however throw away a lot of stuff and have a bunch of stuff to donate or give away via Freecycle.

Fourth, even if I don’t experience a burst of nostalgia, I often think of a new way to use the item and justify keeping it.

Finally, there were several decisions I couldn’t make until She Who Must Be Obeyed came home. (She was working on the holiday.) I wasn’t able to finish and currently have a couple extra piles of stuff on the floor, including the trash I can’t throw away because this is Japan.

In some cases, though,  I’m actually (finally) putting the items to use. Mostly as fodder for this blog. (Pictures to follow I suspect.)

Stuffed Blind While Barely Drunk

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I’ve written before how I’ve learned to stop drinking after I’ve had too much to drink. What I haven’t learned to do, though, is stop eating after I’ve had too much to drink.

Today was the welcome party for the new teachers at the school where I work. After work I had a few hours to kill which involved me having coffee and a tiramisu at a coffee shop and doing some writing. After that it was shopping and after that a moment of ESP.

I went to a place I knew was open and stumbled across a couple colleagues. We had a couple beers and some food.

(Note: Japanese parties often have a lot of food, but that food often comes slowly. As such, I usually have a snack before I go to the party.)

Because it was “all you can drink” I set about trying various cocktails, including a fresh lemon sour (which required me to do work by squeezing the lemon and pouring it in the drink myself) and a “tomato hai” which is tomato juice and alcohol and which, thanks to soy sauce, lemon and some hot sauce I managed to turn it into something resembling a Bloody Mary. After that i switched to iced tea.

The problem was the food was surprisingly good. The restaurant’s specialty is various forms of chicken. There was chicken soup (with a creamy sauce) we had to cook ourselves and a plate of chicken bits with onion and some kind of salty black sauce.There was also an odd side trip to calamari and deep fried fish bones (which are kind of like salty crackers served with squeezed lemon).

The most addictive, though, were two dishes that resembled lemon pepper chicken which was one of my go to “I’ve been drinking” foods in Mississippi. To make matters worse, I’d had just enough alcohol to get the munchies. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that if I’d dropped some chicken down a crack in the table I’d have eaten the table to get at it. I’d normally have ordered French fries but I’d actually had those before I went to the party.

Then, right when I was full, they brought out noodles we were supposed to cook in the remaining soup. When that was gone they brought out a small dish of matcha ice cream.

Now, the funny part is, I actually feel kind of drunk, but mostly from overeating. Tomorrow I’ll regret it, but not as much as I’d regret the hang over.

Now You Don’t Need It Now You Do But Now You Don’t Remember

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Every now and then someone asks me how I teach a particular unit in the textbook. At first, I can usually only give them a blank stare and a couple semi-coherent grunts. By the time I think of the advice I should give, they’ve already dismissed me as brain damaged and/or insane.

Sometimes when I’m teaching a class, I suddenly remember how to teach the lesson and suddenly have to change plans on the fly.

Part of the problem is I suffer from an extreme case of what I call “Actor’s Memory”. Actors memorize a surprising amount of lines and blocking over the course of months in order to be able to do a few performances (in the case of plays). There’s constant repetition and review in order to make the blocking second nature and allow them to work on the emotion behind the lines.

When those plays are over, though, the lines go away. In my case, I remember performing in the plays, and I remember a lot of the problems involved with a couple of the plays, but I only remember a few lines despite spending two months saying them.

I suspect this stems from a kind of compartmentalization of memory. I needed the lines when I needed them and reserved a portion of my brain for them. Once they were no longer needed, I freed up that bit of memory for important stuff like Bloody Mary recipes and movie lines. In some cases I forgot the lines within days of the play finishing, even when I only had a few lines.

This also applies to computer related stuff and visa renewal tasks. I study how to do something and then spend time doing it but then a year later I’ve forgotten what I did and have to study it all again.

In the case of teaching, I try to remember what I did but it’s not until I’m actually up performing that my lines begin coming back to me. That happened this past week when I suddenly remembered the activity I’d done the year before and started doing it.

Granted, I’ve written all this stuff down but just staring at the script doesn’t bring back the blocking, so to speak.

Also, sometimes I just forget where I put the notebook.

 

Belated Popcorn and Half a Movie

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It was another one of those days, but in a good way.

Today our youngest insisted on going to a movie so she could use the discount coupons we’d received for some reason or the other. I used my powers of persuasion delay and whining (Example: “I went last time! I went last time! It’s your turn! It’s your turn!”) to convince She Who Must Be Obeyed to go. I pointed out that 1) the movie was in Japanese, 2) Someone would have to drive and 3) she could enjoy a nap as she traditionally falls asleep during movies (even those at home).

Oddly, this persuasion worked and She Who Must Be Obeyed took our youngest to the movie.

However, it turned out that they made it to the theater with just three minutes to spare and didn’t have time to get popcorn. (From my point of view, this means the movie sucks by default).

Later, they brought home Baskin Robbins ice cream, including the awesome (therefore doomed) German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream which gave me flashbacks of my default birthday cake when I was growing up. They also brought home the tale of woe about how they hadn’t had any popcorn and that meant the movie sucked. (Something like that.)

However, because they got back relatively late and because we’d had a hefty amount of ice cream, no one was hungry for supper. She Who Must Be Obeyed and I had a moment of ESP and we both said “popcorn” at pretty much the same time. This meant we got to eat popcorn for supper, which is one of my favorite suppers. (There was also leftover pizza, which is another favorite supper.)

We then sat down to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This time it was my job to sit with our youngest as this is a scary movie and I needed someone to comfort me. (Strike that. Reverse it.) She Who Must Be Obeyed finished her nap and we got to see half the movie before it was bath and bed time.

I’ll get to watch the rest another day, but probably without popcorn, which means the movie will suck.

 

The First Week Ain’t Nothing but Sore Feet and Attitude

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Today we finished our first week of the new school year. Now we need the weekend to recover.

The first week back after a break is weird. It’s been several weeks since we were in front of a class and we are suddenly back on our feet. In my case, I move around the classroom a lot and my feet are sore from all the sudden walking (in new shoes, no less). We also spend a lot of energy planning and having meetings and, for some of us, getting the new people up to speed.

It’s also hard to get back in the groove in front of the students. Teaching after a break is not like falling off a bicycle (something like that). Each class is different and the plan that worked well with one class got disrupted by a little jerk in another and by the teacher having too many carbs for lunch in yet another. In once class some of the students get the jokes, in others they weren’t listening closely enough to realize the teacher was speaking.

It’s also hard to get into the teaching rhythm early in the year as there are a few national holidays coming up (starting next week, actually). Breaks get filled up with busy work and our legs are still trying to find the path from one room to the other. In my case I’m doing boring stuff like talking about rules while at the same time trying to give the impression that English is interesting and fun to people who mumble in Japanese about how they can’t understand my English.

As I mentioned yesterday, in first year high school classes (10th grade) we are also dealing with students who haven’t had time to recover from junior high school anything goes mode.

That said, it’s good to be back in front of students. It’s also good knowing one week is already past.