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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Yeop
I was gonna do NaNoWriMo and bang out 50K words about My Tokyo Experience, but I got distracted. Here's what I came up with. Note that this completely unedited, and that names have been changed:
We are sitting, absolutely rapt, listening to his story.
“So I put my hand down there...” My friend Lee is telling the story, and as he says this, he gestures towards an invisible crotch, “...and there's something I didn't expect.”
“Tiny penis,” I say knowingly.
“Vagina?” asks my friend Drew.
Lee doesn't even blink. He has committed to telling this tale of woe. “No, I went to take down his Calvin Klein boxer briefs, and there's...a pad.”
We don't react. Finally, my friend Gemma asks, “a maxi pad?”
“Yeah.”
We don't react again for a few seconds, before breaking into cruel, helpless laughter.
“What did you do?”
“I don't know,” Lee admits sheepishly. “I was really drunk, so I just...I don't know, I gave him a handjob and went home. And now I can't go back to that bar again. Which sucks, 'cause it was a really nice bar.”
Welcome to love in Tokyo. The women are conniving and infantilized, the men have hugely overinflated senses of both entitlement and inferiority, and those who are looking for a meaningful connection often are left texting in tears on the subway platform. This is the kind of thing that we are now used to.
When I left Canada for Tokyo, I had never had a one-night stand, had never made the first move in my life, and didn't know how to do so. The usual yellow fever infecting most Asian transplants was not an issue for me; Japanese men looked like asexual vampires who had stuck their fingers in light sockets- a maximum weight of one hundred pounds, hair that rose in magnificent waves about a foot above their heads, and a fondness for plaid lumberjack shirts that had died elsewhere in the world about the time that Kurt Cobain embodied the phrase “nice shot.” I was beyond awkward.
It changed, and the first date process would often go something like this:
Shibuya is one of those places in Tokyo that is synonymous with, well, Tokyo. You can go down there any time and see hordes of people: street performers, drunk chicks, yamamba, salarymen, droves and droves of gap-jawed tourists- why on earth can't white people close their mouths when they walk around?- housewives, homeless people, gothic lolitas like eroticized cupcakes, and everything in between. It is a confusing hodge-podge of neon and voices and curry smells, where you can buy just about anything, drink in any kind of establishment (including, but not limited to, bars where they lock you in a jail cell and force you to stir your drink with cheerful glistening vibrators), and make passionate love in a dungeon, or a Hello Kitty nightmare, for a mere five thousand yen an hour.
I fucking hate Shibuya.
First of all, you can't walk anywhere. There are too many people. Try to take a man-sized step in any direction and you'll run up against some knob with a camera and likely bump your nose. If you're wearing high heels, it's almost a certainty that you'll get the heel stuck in the wheels of some businessman's rolling suitcase, or stub your toes against a crossdresser's cape. It might sound exciting to you, but trust me, it's a nuisance, and after a year in Tokyo I've completely lost my joy of context.
The second bad thing about Shibuya is looking at the other white people. Whenever I see a closely-huddled knot of lumpy, camera-toting people in “LOOKING FOR A JAPANESE GIRLFRIEND” t-shirts, I get this uncontrollable urge to vomit. Or cry. I try to avoid walking anywhere near them so that people don't assume I'm part of their group. I'm convinced that half of them don't even leave the station; they stand in front and snap pictures for hours whilst catching flies in their yawning, cavernous traps. Not that there are flies in Shibuya; it's too inorganic. They take pictures of the SHIBUYA 109 sign, the video billboards, and I'm sure they do their best to get a shot of Hachiko. Of course, Hachiko can never be seen for the piles of soused homeless people and bored-looking Japanese girls in three-inch skirts waiting for their emotionally-detached boyfriends with Flock of Seagulls hairdos that surround it. But the tourists try, they do.
The third thing I hate about Shibuya is that every time I go there, I get drunk, and then I go to Don Quijote and go shopping and buy loads of incredibly stupid things that I don't even half need. For example, my last intoxicated retail adventure netted me a twenty-dollar bottle of green nail polish (I already own six bottles of a similar shade), a packet of coconut incense (bad choice) and an oversized hot pink gangsta hoodie made of a fabric halfway between “towel” and “Muppet.” Not that it isn't a great little hoodie- warm as fuck!- but come on, self. Was that really necessary?
Therefore, I wasn't happy to be in Shibuya that Sunday night. I was stuffed into my First Date Jeans and my First Date Top- black, plunging neckline, long enough to hide my thighs- and a pair of First Date Shoes that were giving me a pair of wicked First Date Blisters. I had checked my makeup four times and even attempted to blow-dry my hair before giving up in abject, frustrated apathy. Despite these all being the same First Date Accoutrements that I had employed on the past eight unpleasant first dates I'd had this year, I had some inkling that they might work this time. Wishful thinking, I know.
His face was average, his body was average, he made the same amount of money I did, and within about three minutes I realized that we had the typical things in common: a fondness for shows like Family Guy, an enjoyment of Judd Apatow productions, and the stagnant commonality of all Tokyo denizens, a hatred for riding the trains. He took me to a typical bar: 300 yen per draft beer, stuffed to the gills with foreigners, that he bragged he had “discovered” months before and that I had been to no less than six times already.
Two beers down, he pops the typical question: “So...are you seeing anyone else?”
I eyed him suspiciously over the rim of my beer glass. “Well,” I said, praying that I wouldn't lose the bet I'd had with myself, “Not really, no. Why? Are you?”
He shuffled and smiled and his Adam's apple bobbed, and I mouthed the words into my beer as he said them out loud: “Um...kind of.”
Which kind of?
It came out, as many of these stoies do, in a semi-patronizing, dismissive tone, and it's difficult for me to remember which iteration of the tale was offered to me by this iteration of the man, so I offer you the following in lieu. Circle the options you find juiciest. “Yeah, she's Japanese. We've been together/ engaged/ sleeping together and seeing other people- well, I see other people, she doesn't/ married for (choose whatever length of time you like; I've heard them all). I mean, it's not a big deal or anything.”
Stupid me, I have to ask the question they expect. It's part of the dance. “Um, does she know?”
“Well...”
The women never know.
At this point in the conversation, I usually light a cigarette. If the guy doesn't smoke, it might drive him away. If he does, his wife or girlfriend or love slave probably doesn't, and he'll disapprove of me. All foreign men who date Japanese women develop a Madonna/Whore complex towards foreign women, with the gaijinettes making up ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the “whore” category. We're too difficult, too demanding, too selfish, too independent, and thoroughly too good at communicating our actual feelings.
I stubbed out my cigarette and looked into his mild, bland eyes. “So what are you doing here, exactly, then?”
There is no answer to this question. The best of the lot will shrug and say something like “I like you,” or “you're pretty,” or “I don't know, I just feel trapped”. These are the men who you can charmingly bid goodnight. A few will apologize later and you can be friends with them.
The worst of the lot, however, will immediately begin bitching and moaning about how their Japanese love interest wants commitment. Babies babies wedding babies wedding babies. Or “she's too busy and I never see her.” Or both.
(My favorite response, “fuck off, none of your business,” I got only once. I kissed him on the forehead before storming off. It was the most honest reply I had or still have ever received.)
So which one was this guy? “Well, you know, she works a lot...and sometimes it's hard because...like...she has all these expectations...but I'm just not ready for a commitment.”
It is here that I smiled prettily, made up a kindergarten teaching appointment for early the next morning, and left him standing at the train station after dodging an awkward attempt to take my hand.
On my way home, I don't read. My entertainment of choice is staring out the windows of the Yamanote while my iPod blasts Ani Difranco and death metal in equal quantities.
This is the Gaijin Love Connection. You want them. They want you. Somewhere along the line, though, normal behavior and typical connections from person to person get lost in a sea of neon and false eyelashes and crushing work schedules and inconvenient train lines. So we drift, a group of educated, fairly ballsy individuals, from chance to chance to fleeting hope. Usually, we fall.
We are sitting, absolutely rapt, listening to his story.
“So I put my hand down there...” My friend Lee is telling the story, and as he says this, he gestures towards an invisible crotch, “...and there's something I didn't expect.”
“Tiny penis,” I say knowingly.
“Vagina?” asks my friend Drew.
Lee doesn't even blink. He has committed to telling this tale of woe. “No, I went to take down his Calvin Klein boxer briefs, and there's...a pad.”
We don't react. Finally, my friend Gemma asks, “a maxi pad?”
“Yeah.”
We don't react again for a few seconds, before breaking into cruel, helpless laughter.
“What did you do?”
“I don't know,” Lee admits sheepishly. “I was really drunk, so I just...I don't know, I gave him a handjob and went home. And now I can't go back to that bar again. Which sucks, 'cause it was a really nice bar.”
Welcome to love in Tokyo. The women are conniving and infantilized, the men have hugely overinflated senses of both entitlement and inferiority, and those who are looking for a meaningful connection often are left texting in tears on the subway platform. This is the kind of thing that we are now used to.
When I left Canada for Tokyo, I had never had a one-night stand, had never made the first move in my life, and didn't know how to do so. The usual yellow fever infecting most Asian transplants was not an issue for me; Japanese men looked like asexual vampires who had stuck their fingers in light sockets- a maximum weight of one hundred pounds, hair that rose in magnificent waves about a foot above their heads, and a fondness for plaid lumberjack shirts that had died elsewhere in the world about the time that Kurt Cobain embodied the phrase “nice shot.” I was beyond awkward.
It changed, and the first date process would often go something like this:
Shibuya is one of those places in Tokyo that is synonymous with, well, Tokyo. You can go down there any time and see hordes of people: street performers, drunk chicks, yamamba, salarymen, droves and droves of gap-jawed tourists- why on earth can't white people close their mouths when they walk around?- housewives, homeless people, gothic lolitas like eroticized cupcakes, and everything in between. It is a confusing hodge-podge of neon and voices and curry smells, where you can buy just about anything, drink in any kind of establishment (including, but not limited to, bars where they lock you in a jail cell and force you to stir your drink with cheerful glistening vibrators), and make passionate love in a dungeon, or a Hello Kitty nightmare, for a mere five thousand yen an hour.
I fucking hate Shibuya.
First of all, you can't walk anywhere. There are too many people. Try to take a man-sized step in any direction and you'll run up against some knob with a camera and likely bump your nose. If you're wearing high heels, it's almost a certainty that you'll get the heel stuck in the wheels of some businessman's rolling suitcase, or stub your toes against a crossdresser's cape. It might sound exciting to you, but trust me, it's a nuisance, and after a year in Tokyo I've completely lost my joy of context.
The second bad thing about Shibuya is looking at the other white people. Whenever I see a closely-huddled knot of lumpy, camera-toting people in “LOOKING FOR A JAPANESE GIRLFRIEND” t-shirts, I get this uncontrollable urge to vomit. Or cry. I try to avoid walking anywhere near them so that people don't assume I'm part of their group. I'm convinced that half of them don't even leave the station; they stand in front and snap pictures for hours whilst catching flies in their yawning, cavernous traps. Not that there are flies in Shibuya; it's too inorganic. They take pictures of the SHIBUYA 109 sign, the video billboards, and I'm sure they do their best to get a shot of Hachiko. Of course, Hachiko can never be seen for the piles of soused homeless people and bored-looking Japanese girls in three-inch skirts waiting for their emotionally-detached boyfriends with Flock of Seagulls hairdos that surround it. But the tourists try, they do.
The third thing I hate about Shibuya is that every time I go there, I get drunk, and then I go to Don Quijote and go shopping and buy loads of incredibly stupid things that I don't even half need. For example, my last intoxicated retail adventure netted me a twenty-dollar bottle of green nail polish (I already own six bottles of a similar shade), a packet of coconut incense (bad choice) and an oversized hot pink gangsta hoodie made of a fabric halfway between “towel” and “Muppet.” Not that it isn't a great little hoodie- warm as fuck!- but come on, self. Was that really necessary?
Therefore, I wasn't happy to be in Shibuya that Sunday night. I was stuffed into my First Date Jeans and my First Date Top- black, plunging neckline, long enough to hide my thighs- and a pair of First Date Shoes that were giving me a pair of wicked First Date Blisters. I had checked my makeup four times and even attempted to blow-dry my hair before giving up in abject, frustrated apathy. Despite these all being the same First Date Accoutrements that I had employed on the past eight unpleasant first dates I'd had this year, I had some inkling that they might work this time. Wishful thinking, I know.
His face was average, his body was average, he made the same amount of money I did, and within about three minutes I realized that we had the typical things in common: a fondness for shows like Family Guy, an enjoyment of Judd Apatow productions, and the stagnant commonality of all Tokyo denizens, a hatred for riding the trains. He took me to a typical bar: 300 yen per draft beer, stuffed to the gills with foreigners, that he bragged he had “discovered” months before and that I had been to no less than six times already.
Two beers down, he pops the typical question: “So...are you seeing anyone else?”
I eyed him suspiciously over the rim of my beer glass. “Well,” I said, praying that I wouldn't lose the bet I'd had with myself, “Not really, no. Why? Are you?”
He shuffled and smiled and his Adam's apple bobbed, and I mouthed the words into my beer as he said them out loud: “Um...kind of.”
Which kind of?
It came out, as many of these stoies do, in a semi-patronizing, dismissive tone, and it's difficult for me to remember which iteration of the tale was offered to me by this iteration of the man, so I offer you the following in lieu. Circle the options you find juiciest. “Yeah, she's Japanese. We've been together/ engaged/ sleeping together and seeing other people- well, I see other people, she doesn't/ married for (choose whatever length of time you like; I've heard them all). I mean, it's not a big deal or anything.”
Stupid me, I have to ask the question they expect. It's part of the dance. “Um, does she know?”
“Well...”
The women never know.
At this point in the conversation, I usually light a cigarette. If the guy doesn't smoke, it might drive him away. If he does, his wife or girlfriend or love slave probably doesn't, and he'll disapprove of me. All foreign men who date Japanese women develop a Madonna/Whore complex towards foreign women, with the gaijinettes making up ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the “whore” category. We're too difficult, too demanding, too selfish, too independent, and thoroughly too good at communicating our actual feelings.
I stubbed out my cigarette and looked into his mild, bland eyes. “So what are you doing here, exactly, then?”
There is no answer to this question. The best of the lot will shrug and say something like “I like you,” or “you're pretty,” or “I don't know, I just feel trapped”. These are the men who you can charmingly bid goodnight. A few will apologize later and you can be friends with them.
The worst of the lot, however, will immediately begin bitching and moaning about how their Japanese love interest wants commitment. Babies babies wedding babies wedding babies. Or “she's too busy and I never see her.” Or both.
(My favorite response, “fuck off, none of your business,” I got only once. I kissed him on the forehead before storming off. It was the most honest reply I had or still have ever received.)
So which one was this guy? “Well, you know, she works a lot...and sometimes it's hard because...like...she has all these expectations...but I'm just not ready for a commitment.”
It is here that I smiled prettily, made up a kindergarten teaching appointment for early the next morning, and left him standing at the train station after dodging an awkward attempt to take my hand.
On my way home, I don't read. My entertainment of choice is staring out the windows of the Yamanote while my iPod blasts Ani Difranco and death metal in equal quantities.
This is the Gaijin Love Connection. You want them. They want you. Somewhere along the line, though, normal behavior and typical connections from person to person get lost in a sea of neon and false eyelashes and crushing work schedules and inconvenient train lines. So we drift, a group of educated, fairly ballsy individuals, from chance to chance to fleeting hope. Usually, we fall.
The infamous "Why I Hate Japan Right Now" post
Firts of all, I am stunned down to the bottoms of my 700 yen Seiyu zebra-print pajama bottoms that apparently that post is one of the top results for googling "I Hate Japan."
http://greatteacherannazuka.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-i-hate-japan-right-now.html
I just googled the phrase myself, and it does not appear on the first page of search results, so who knows?
Anyways, the post has apparently been adopted as a source of catharsis for some and a source of contention for others. I mean, sort of...but let's be honest, not that many people read this blog and five comments is well a big fuckin' deal for me.
I feel the need to do some damage control. Surprisingly, I understand, given the amount of bitching and hatred that seeps through my posts, but I feel like I need to make something clear once and for all:
I DO NOT HATE JAPAN.
I do not hate Japan I do not hate Japan I do I do I do believe in spooks, kind of.
Since the post is dividing the massive amout of internet readership I get (read: three of my friends IRL and the occasional Facebook sraggler), I have listed ten things I love and ten things I despise about this country. All of the forthcoming are 100% what I adore and what I dislike; you are welcome to draw your own goddamn conclusions based on what you consider to be depth and levity in the following:
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT JAPAN:
1. The scenery in Ishikawa prefecture.
2. Umeboshi
3. The fact that when you buy tampons, the drugstore employee wraps the box in a protective paper bag and then bungs it in a larger plastic sack, thereby preventing you from public shame and general uncomfortableness.
4. The Christmas lights.
5. My shower is a clothes dryer!
6. The inexplicable, yet very welcome popularity of otherwise largely-defunct iconic '60s designer Mary Quant.
7. Vending machines and conbini.
8. Kimono
9. 24 beer sources.
10. I bought a 3d T-Rex puzzle at Muji!
THINGS I CAN'T STAND ABOUT JAPAN:
1. Train people.
2. Being shoved for no reason and with no forthcoming apology.
3. Mayonnaise
4. Indirectness (I am blunt to a fault, you fat ugly stupid crotch pig).
5. Inflexibility
6. The inconsistency of how ones pays on public buses.
7. Going on a date with a foreign guy who is married to a Japanese girl, and NEVER TELLS YOU...well, not soon enough.
8. Every time I buy shoes, they die in about a week.
9. Japanese beer all tastes the same after a while.
10. Too many smokers.
As an anonymous (MAN THE FUCK UP PEOPLE; sign your goddamn names, eh?) commenter pointed out on the post in question, no country is perfect.
Japan is not my favourite country of residence, but it's the only one I got. So while I hate it sometimes, I also enjoy it sometimes. Keep that in mind in the future.
http://greatteacherannazuka.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-i-hate-japan-right-now.html
I just googled the phrase myself, and it does not appear on the first page of search results, so who knows?
Anyways, the post has apparently been adopted as a source of catharsis for some and a source of contention for others. I mean, sort of...but let's be honest, not that many people read this blog and five comments is well a big fuckin' deal for me.
I feel the need to do some damage control. Surprisingly, I understand, given the amount of bitching and hatred that seeps through my posts, but I feel like I need to make something clear once and for all:
I DO NOT HATE JAPAN.
I do not hate Japan I do not hate Japan I do I do I do believe in spooks, kind of.
Since the post is dividing the massive amout of internet readership I get (read: three of my friends IRL and the occasional Facebook sraggler), I have listed ten things I love and ten things I despise about this country. All of the forthcoming are 100% what I adore and what I dislike; you are welcome to draw your own goddamn conclusions based on what you consider to be depth and levity in the following:
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT JAPAN:
1. The scenery in Ishikawa prefecture.
2. Umeboshi
3. The fact that when you buy tampons, the drugstore employee wraps the box in a protective paper bag and then bungs it in a larger plastic sack, thereby preventing you from public shame and general uncomfortableness.
4. The Christmas lights.
5. My shower is a clothes dryer!
6. The inexplicable, yet very welcome popularity of otherwise largely-defunct iconic '60s designer Mary Quant.
7. Vending machines and conbini.
8. Kimono
9. 24 beer sources.
10. I bought a 3d T-Rex puzzle at Muji!
THINGS I CAN'T STAND ABOUT JAPAN:
1. Train people.
2. Being shoved for no reason and with no forthcoming apology.
3. Mayonnaise
4. Indirectness (I am blunt to a fault, you fat ugly stupid crotch pig).
5. Inflexibility
6. The inconsistency of how ones pays on public buses.
7. Going on a date with a foreign guy who is married to a Japanese girl, and NEVER TELLS YOU...well, not soon enough.
8. Every time I buy shoes, they die in about a week.
9. Japanese beer all tastes the same after a while.
10. Too many smokers.
As an anonymous (MAN THE FUCK UP PEOPLE; sign your goddamn names, eh?) commenter pointed out on the post in question, no country is perfect.
Japan is not my favourite country of residence, but it's the only one I got. So while I hate it sometimes, I also enjoy it sometimes. Keep that in mind in the future.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Feminism, Tokyo-Style
QUIET OLD MAN STUDENT:
"I think vegetarians are very peaceful people. My wife used to throw dishes at me every day, but now she is a vegetarian and much more quiet."
"Men in Japan are very weak and the women are very aggressive. They are becoming more like women from the West now because they have jobs, so they are becoming MORE aggressive."
"You are from America and you came to Japan, so of course you are too strong for Japanese men."
"I think vegetarians are very peaceful people. My wife used to throw dishes at me every day, but now she is a vegetarian and much more quiet."
"Men in Japan are very weak and the women are very aggressive. They are becoming more like women from the West now because they have jobs, so they are becoming MORE aggressive."
"You are from America and you came to Japan, so of course you are too strong for Japanese men."
Friday, November 20, 2009
You did not come from my womb
One of my troublesome 3-year-olds has started calling me "okaasan." Yes, this IS right before she grabs my tits.
1. Your mom is outside the classroom, staring daggers at me through the plate glass window. If you cannot tell which of us gave birth to you, please refer to the following checklist:
Does the woman have a mullet?
Is the woman Japanese?
Does the woman bear a strong resemblance to an angry hedgehog?
If you have checked "yes" to ay of these questions, congratulations! I am not your mom!
2. Dude, your twin sister doesn't have the same maternal identity issues.
3. ...okay, don't stop, it's cute.
1. Your mom is outside the classroom, staring daggers at me through the plate glass window. If you cannot tell which of us gave birth to you, please refer to the following checklist:
Does the woman have a mullet?
Is the woman Japanese?
Does the woman bear a strong resemblance to an angry hedgehog?
If you have checked "yes" to ay of these questions, congratulations! I am not your mom!
2. Dude, your twin sister doesn't have the same maternal identity issues.
3. ...okay, don't stop, it's cute.
Blood in the Boardroom
I told the kid that if he kept running, he would hurt himself.
He stuck his tongue out and kept running.
What do you know, he tripped and bumped his face and his nose started gushing blood!
Despite tissue packets being even more rampant than swine flu in Tokyo, guess what ended up staunching his sanguinous nostril waterfall?
If you guessed "GTA's nice sweater from Zara that was soooo not on sale," you're right.
He stuck his tongue out and kept running.
What do you know, he tripped and bumped his face and his nose started gushing blood!
Despite tissue packets being even more rampant than swine flu in Tokyo, guess what ended up staunching his sanguinous nostril waterfall?
If you guessed "GTA's nice sweater from Zara that was soooo not on sale," you're right.
A Serious Post
Guys, I have become mildly worried about some of the comments on this blog (for people reading this on Facebook, my "notes" are published from http://greatteacherannazuka.blogspot.com ).
Obviously, I understand the need for catharsis. Japan drives me batshit 99999.999999% of the time. Not always bad batshit, but it's easy to carry on a persistant, low-grade infection of frustration when you can't read what's written, can't understand what you hear, can't fit your tits in any top, and can't eat the food 80% of the time. That's one of the reason I started this blog, besides the fact that my kids are so cute that it hurts and I love mochi so much I want to marry it.
However, I would like to state that the staff here at Great Teacher Annazuka (myself, this can of beer, and Carl, this adorable stuffed penguin I bought at Daiso) neither support nor claim any responsibility for any and all comments left in response to posts on this blog.
gozaimaaaaaaaaaaassssu....
Obviously, I understand the need for catharsis. Japan drives me batshit 99999.999999% of the time. Not always bad batshit, but it's easy to carry on a persistant, low-grade infection of frustration when you can't read what's written, can't understand what you hear, can't fit your tits in any top, and can't eat the food 80% of the time. That's one of the reason I started this blog, besides the fact that my kids are so cute that it hurts and I love mochi so much I want to marry it.
However, I would like to state that the staff here at Great Teacher Annazuka (myself, this can of beer, and Carl, this adorable stuffed penguin I bought at Daiso) neither support nor claim any responsibility for any and all comments left in response to posts on this blog.
gozaimaaaaaaaaaaassssu....
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Best lesson ever?
GTA: "Okay, who knows what 'to dispose of' means?"
STUDENT 1: "I know. It's when you throw someone out."
GTA: "SomeONE?"
STUDENT 1: "Oh! Oh, no!" *laughs* "SomeTHING!"
STUDENT 2: "But if it is a dead body, then you are still correct."
STUDENT 1: "I know. It's when you throw someone out."
GTA: "SomeONE?"
STUDENT 1: "Oh! Oh, no!" *laughs* "SomeTHING!"
STUDENT 2: "But if it is a dead body, then you are still correct."
I guess I'm actually the pervert
In my 11/12-year olds class:
GIRL 1: NIPPLE!
GTA: What did you say?
GIRL 1: *points*
GTA: Oh...hippo. Not nippo, honey.
Two minutes later...
GIRL2: FUCK!!!!!!!!!
GTA: WHAT?!
GIRL2: Fokk?
GTA: Young lady--
GL2: *points*
GT: Oh. Fox. FOX.
I am mad, bad, and dangerous to know.
GIRL 1: NIPPLE!
GTA: What did you say?
GIRL 1: *points*
GTA: Oh...hippo. Not nippo, honey.
Two minutes later...
GIRL2: FUCK!!!!!!!!!
GTA: WHAT?!
GIRL2: Fokk?
GTA: Young lady--
GL2: *points*
GT: Oh. Fox. FOX.
I am mad, bad, and dangerous to know.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
SeXXXy
One of my four-year-olds is very taken with me. She always crawls into my lap and, when we play Color Touch, likes to stroke my hair and cry, "Yellow!"
(Maybe I should get a new colorist...)
Today, I learned just HOW taken she is with me. She slid on the floor into my lap and wrapped her arms around me with a giggle. "Awwww," I crooned, "I love you, too!"
As she looked into my face and smiled, she started patting my breasts.
"No, honey."
Thoughtfully, as I disengaged her little hands, she snaked her arm out suddenly, grabbed my left nipple, and yanked it.
That's right, a four-year-old Japanese girl gave me a titty twister.
She did not get any points.
(Maybe I should get a new colorist...)
Today, I learned just HOW taken she is with me. She slid on the floor into my lap and wrapped her arms around me with a giggle. "Awwww," I crooned, "I love you, too!"
As she looked into my face and smiled, she started patting my breasts.
"No, honey."
Thoughtfully, as I disengaged her little hands, she snaked her arm out suddenly, grabbed my left nipple, and yanked it.
That's right, a four-year-old Japanese girl gave me a titty twister.
She did not get any points.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Student Quotes
GTA: "My friend is having a baby!"
STUDENT: "What kind of baby is she going to have?"
GTA: "Errr...you mean, is it a boy or a girl?"
STUDENT: "No." *absolute silence*
...well, I guess it's one of the following, then:
1. Human
2. Caucasian
3. Made of delicious baby meats
4. Not on fire
STUDENT: "What kind of baby is she going to have?"
GTA: "Errr...you mean, is it a boy or a girl?"
STUDENT: "No." *absolute silence*
...well, I guess it's one of the following, then:
1. Human
2. Caucasian
3. Made of delicious baby meats
4. Not on fire
TYPHOON, MY ASS
This isn't the first time we've been told a typhoon was coming, and it's not the first time we've been told a typhoon was coming and then nothing bleeding happened.
I'm just the tiniest bit bitter (bit bitter! that's fun to say!) because I would have liked a day off to do crap. I have a friend visiting this weekend and piles of decorative stuff lying around that I haven't put up in my four months or so of living in this apartment.
But mostly, I'm sorry that I've lived here just shy of a year and I STILL can't say that I've been through a typhoon, dammit!
I'm just the tiniest bit bitter (bit bitter! that's fun to say!) because I would have liked a day off to do crap. I have a friend visiting this weekend and piles of decorative stuff lying around that I haven't put up in my four months or so of living in this apartment.
But mostly, I'm sorry that I've lived here just shy of a year and I STILL can't say that I've been through a typhoon, dammit!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Kitsune Udon
I love kitsune udon. It is delicious.
I'm too lazy to find a picture, but it is as such:
Udon noodles
Broth (I know this is probably fish dashi-based, but I try to close my eyes to it)
A big ol' sheet of aburage, which is that thin, sweet tofu you find surrounding the rice in inarizushi.
Typical Japanese noodle house toppings, like green onion, fishcake, seaweed, and occasionally a scattering of tempura batter- without the tofu, and just the tempura, it becomes tanuki udon, because nothing says "RACCOON DOG WITH GIANT MAGICAL BALLS" like pieces of fried batter.
So, okay, kitsune udon is a pretty normal thing. Most noodle houses have it. Sometimes izakaya have it. It is cheap, filling, and relatively vegetarian, and it tastes like awesomeness.
Japanese people like to talk about food. When I tell my students I've been travelling, they immediately ask, "How about the food?" immediately followed by "What did you eat?" It can be boring, but sometimes it sparks interesting discussions about the passage of culture between east and west, or changing tastes in the younger generation, or the popularity of certain cuisines and how it relates to social trends. Or they just sit there listing foods they like while the other students nod and smile, which at least kills time with boring fuckers.
Eventually, they ask me, "What's your favourite Japanese food?" I always answer, "kitsune udon." Their reaction never fails to surprise me.
They SHIT THEMSELVES LAUGHING. They clap their hands and lean back and their teeth positively glow with saliva (and the metal crap used to stick their teeth back in their heads). They tear up and giggle and go "EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?????" like it's going out of style.
Not once have I received an explanation for ths behaviour. One of my Japanese friends told me "well, kitsune udon is really inexpensive," and gave me a confused look.
Maybe I'm the asshole here.
I'm too lazy to find a picture, but it is as such:
Udon noodles
Broth (I know this is probably fish dashi-based, but I try to close my eyes to it)
A big ol' sheet of aburage, which is that thin, sweet tofu you find surrounding the rice in inarizushi.
Typical Japanese noodle house toppings, like green onion, fishcake, seaweed, and occasionally a scattering of tempura batter- without the tofu, and just the tempura, it becomes tanuki udon, because nothing says "RACCOON DOG WITH GIANT MAGICAL BALLS" like pieces of fried batter.
So, okay, kitsune udon is a pretty normal thing. Most noodle houses have it. Sometimes izakaya have it. It is cheap, filling, and relatively vegetarian, and it tastes like awesomeness.
Japanese people like to talk about food. When I tell my students I've been travelling, they immediately ask, "How about the food?" immediately followed by "What did you eat?" It can be boring, but sometimes it sparks interesting discussions about the passage of culture between east and west, or changing tastes in the younger generation, or the popularity of certain cuisines and how it relates to social trends. Or they just sit there listing foods they like while the other students nod and smile, which at least kills time with boring fuckers.
Eventually, they ask me, "What's your favourite Japanese food?" I always answer, "kitsune udon." Their reaction never fails to surprise me.
They SHIT THEMSELVES LAUGHING. They clap their hands and lean back and their teeth positively glow with saliva (and the metal crap used to stick their teeth back in their heads). They tear up and giggle and go "EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?????" like it's going out of style.
Not once have I received an explanation for ths behaviour. One of my Japanese friends told me "well, kitsune udon is really inexpensive," and gave me a confused look.
Maybe I'm the asshole here.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Again with this?
STUDENT: "Koreans are very resentful of the Japanese."
GTA: "Oh, because of the occupation?"
STUDENT: "No! No occupation...Japan and Korea were ONE."
GTA: .......
STUDENT: "Korea did not have any schools or any roads before Japan helped them! I don't understand why they aren't more grateful."
Welp...I have a clue....
GTA: "Oh, because of the occupation?"
STUDENT: "No! No occupation...Japan and Korea were ONE."
GTA: .......
STUDENT: "Korea did not have any schools or any roads before Japan helped them! I don't understand why they aren't more grateful."
Welp...I have a clue....
Fashion! Turrrrrrrrrrrrn to the reft!
A brief trip to the Omotesando Softbank yesterday inspired the following.
AN OPEN LETTER TO JAPANESE PEOPLE:
Congratulations! You are known worldwide for your fashion sense. The
innovative nature of Japanese sartorialism is globally lauded, often
copied by Western designers (only to ring particularly hollow), lusted
after by legions of fashionistas everywhere, and may have caused Gwen
Stefani to completely lose her fucking mind. This really is something
that you should be proud of, and, in my opinion, it is something you
rightly deserve.
For example, I went into a boutique in Shinjuku station a couple of
months ago and there was a woman with a tree on her head. Just an
ordinary saleswoman, walking around casually adjusting things and
yelling "IRASSHAIMASEEEEEEE" at inanimate objects, but she had a tree
on her head. A fairly large one. And I think it was made of Tinker
Toys. My point being, she actually looked GOOD. If I put a tree on my
head, I would look like a fluffypagan at Burning Man. (That would be
"not so good.")
Despite this, I think you need a few pointers. Bear with me, and think
about heeding the following advice:
1. If it it 95 degrees out (close to 40, that is), then you should not
be wearing a sweatshirt and Doc Martens.
2. Pockets hanging out from the legs of your hotpants do not look
good. Also- and I'm not sure- but I think it must make it really hard
to put shit in your pockets.
3. Those snap-closure elbow-to-wrist gauntlets do nothing for your
arms. Moreover, if you MUST, pick a fabric that does not look like
upholstery. Unless you are a superhero with couch powers or your name
is Ottoman Chesterfield, upholstery gauntlets are strange.
4. If you cannot lift your bag without your boyfriend lending you a
hand, you need a smaller bag. Possibly with fewer keychains on it.
5. You have a choice: either you can wear foot-tall spike heels, or
you can walk like a geisha. Doing both will result in a symptom I like
to call Velociraptor Legs, in which your knees lock and your thighs
eventually grow a horrible frontal curve. I am not kidding about this.
6. YOU ARE NOT FOUR YEARS OLD STOP DRESSING LIKE IT.
7. Attention J-trannies! If you weigh 300 pounds and cannot remove
your 5 o'clock shadow, please do not dress Gothic Lolita! You make
Sailor Bubba look demure and feminine.
8. Actually, if you weigh 300 pounds, don't dress gothloli regardless of gender.
9. WEAR SHOES THAT FUCKING FIT, YOU IDIOTS.
10. If you wear false eyelashes (and I would, if I didn't wear
glasses), please try not to glue them several millimeters above your
actual eyelashes. It is creepy.
11. You may not be a yamamba. Ever.
11a. No, I'm not kidding. For the love of christ, stop.
12. Another issue with hotpants: please don't wear them if your
individual thighs are three times wider that your torso. I am not
kidding. You look like that kangaroo chick from Titan A.E.
I seriously just made a Titan A.E. reference? I quit.
AN OPEN LETTER TO JAPANESE PEOPLE:
Congratulations! You are known worldwide for your fashion sense. The
innovative nature of Japanese sartorialism is globally lauded, often
copied by Western designers (only to ring particularly hollow), lusted
after by legions of fashionistas everywhere, and may have caused Gwen
Stefani to completely lose her fucking mind. This really is something
that you should be proud of, and, in my opinion, it is something you
rightly deserve.
For example, I went into a boutique in Shinjuku station a couple of
months ago and there was a woman with a tree on her head. Just an
ordinary saleswoman, walking around casually adjusting things and
yelling "IRASSHAIMASEEEEEEE" at inanimate objects, but she had a tree
on her head. A fairly large one. And I think it was made of Tinker
Toys. My point being, she actually looked GOOD. If I put a tree on my
head, I would look like a fluffypagan at Burning Man. (That would be
"not so good.")
Despite this, I think you need a few pointers. Bear with me, and think
about heeding the following advice:
1. If it it 95 degrees out (close to 40, that is), then you should not
be wearing a sweatshirt and Doc Martens.
2. Pockets hanging out from the legs of your hotpants do not look
good. Also- and I'm not sure- but I think it must make it really hard
to put shit in your pockets.
3. Those snap-closure elbow-to-wrist gauntlets do nothing for your
arms. Moreover, if you MUST, pick a fabric that does not look like
upholstery. Unless you are a superhero with couch powers or your name
is Ottoman Chesterfield, upholstery gauntlets are strange.
4. If you cannot lift your bag without your boyfriend lending you a
hand, you need a smaller bag. Possibly with fewer keychains on it.
5. You have a choice: either you can wear foot-tall spike heels, or
you can walk like a geisha. Doing both will result in a symptom I like
to call Velociraptor Legs, in which your knees lock and your thighs
eventually grow a horrible frontal curve. I am not kidding about this.
6. YOU ARE NOT FOUR YEARS OLD STOP DRESSING LIKE IT.
7. Attention J-trannies! If you weigh 300 pounds and cannot remove
your 5 o'clock shadow, please do not dress Gothic Lolita! You make
Sailor Bubba look demure and feminine.
8. Actually, if you weigh 300 pounds, don't dress gothloli regardless of gender.
9. WEAR SHOES THAT FUCKING FIT, YOU IDIOTS.
10. If you wear false eyelashes (and I would, if I didn't wear
glasses), please try not to glue them several millimeters above your
actual eyelashes. It is creepy.
11. You may not be a yamamba. Ever.
11a. No, I'm not kidding. For the love of christ, stop.
12. Another issue with hotpants: please don't wear them if your
individual thighs are three times wider that your torso. I am not
kidding. You look like that kangaroo chick from Titan A.E.
I seriously just made a Titan A.E. reference? I quit.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Hell no, we WILL go.
Company policy dictates that if we leave a school during our shift in order to get something to eat, we should ask the staff first.
It's never been a problem before today, but when we asked if we could make our habitual run to the konbini, we were shot down with the typical buck-toothed, two-faced "Ohhhh, so sorry..."
No.
FUCK no.
We're at the school with no lessons; I'm sure my coworkers who read this blog know the school in question.
DO NOT ACCEPT THIS. Fight the system.
It's never been a problem before today, but when we asked if we could make our habitual run to the konbini, we were shot down with the typical buck-toothed, two-faced "Ohhhh, so sorry..."
No.
FUCK no.
We're at the school with no lessons; I'm sure my coworkers who read this blog know the school in question.
DO NOT ACCEPT THIS. Fight the system.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Indeed.
As a synaesthete, I'm extremely sensitive to a lot of stimuli, particularly color. I was pretty excited when I learned that synaesthesia isn't just me being crazy, but a legitimate meical issue. Sadly, it's become as trendy as bisexuality and Asperger's, but fuck those people.
Today, one of my favourite kids curled up in the corner of our room with the saddest face I've ever seen. I was worried.
GTA: "Hey, 'Kengo', are you okay?"
KENGO: .......
GTA: "Kengo...how are you?"
KENGO: (looking up at me with a very miserable expression) Today, I no colors.
I get you, kid. I get you.
Today, one of my favourite kids curled up in the corner of our room with the saddest face I've ever seen. I was worried.
GTA: "Hey, 'Kengo', are you okay?"
KENGO: .......
GTA: "Kengo...how are you?"
KENGO: (looking up at me with a very miserable expression) Today, I no colors.
I get you, kid. I get you.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Some people just don't get it
STUDENT: "We had an exchange student once. He wasn't a normal American....he was kind of darker!"
Prepositions
I taught prepositions to SmartEvil Class last Saturday. They were far too easy- in, on, under- whereas my kids rolled their eyes and screamed, "IT'S TO LEFT OF WINDOW!" which I did my bets to correct. That's difficult, considering how advanced the little weirdos are.
I tried to play it up by placing our cushions in weird places. I plopped one on my head and asked, "Where's the cushion?"
My quietest student piped up with, "It's on the Anna-teacher!"
I gave her ten points for that. She responded by hopping around in a delighted circle.
My next rundown of prepositions involved the students, and shoving the cushion in their arms or under their butts. At one point, I shoved it onto Little H's head and asked him, "Hey, H----, where's the cushion?"
He proudly answered, "It's on the H----!"
Even though the grammar wasn't perfect, I went to give him extra points, but he stopped me by tugging on my skirt.
Screwing up his eyes in determination, he said, "Chigao...it's on the ME!"
He got extra stickers.
I tried to play it up by placing our cushions in weird places. I plopped one on my head and asked, "Where's the cushion?"
My quietest student piped up with, "It's on the Anna-teacher!"
I gave her ten points for that. She responded by hopping around in a delighted circle.
My next rundown of prepositions involved the students, and shoving the cushion in their arms or under their butts. At one point, I shoved it onto Little H's head and asked him, "Hey, H----, where's the cushion?"
He proudly answered, "It's on the H----!"
Even though the grammar wasn't perfect, I went to give him extra points, but he stopped me by tugging on my skirt.
Screwing up his eyes in determination, he said, "Chigao...it's on the ME!"
He got extra stickers.
Noun + Color
My smartest kids- who are, for the record, so wild that fellow teachers I've never met know who I am because my kids are a cautionary tale- had to learn color adjectives in conjunction with classroom nouns. I actually taught this lesson a week early because they are too fucking smart for the material I have to teach them, so last class I snuck in an extra review of previous material. Naturally, they blazed through it in a matter of seconds and then, as usual, demanded we play hangman. I allowed this because my company- and this is just my opinion- does not bother emphasizing spelling to the extent that I believe is necessary. And I am a fucking hardass. Especially with smart kids.
So, here we were:
"Blue crayon!"
"Green paper!"
"Yellow pencil!"
My kids being smarter than me, they came up with the following:
"Light orange and black eraser!"
"Chartreuse basket!"
"Black and white soccer ball!"
(after being shown a picture of a school building) "American school?" *raspberry*
The best, however, was yet to come.
One of my students in SmartEvil Class is not Japanese. I'm fairly certain that he has a Cambodian name, but I'm not positive. The kid and his parents speak fluent Japanese, so I never really thought about the issue. Sometimes the other kids give him minor amounts of shit- for example, screaming "KURO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" at him, or scrubbing his hands for him during cleanup time while everyone laugh hysterically as "H"'s hands don't get any less brown.
I love this kid because he is brilliant and because he is a spastic little weirdo. He likes to teach me karate moves and scream "NINJA TEACHAAAAAH!" He also likes it when I clock him in the head with my shoe.
Anyways, during the color + noun lesson, he skipped ahead of the others and identified me.
Pointing, Little H said, "WHITE TEACHER!"
I was laughing so hard, Little H's mother got worried.
Dear god.
White teacher.
I gave him five extra points for that.
Hell, he got the structure, didn't he?
So, here we were:
"Blue crayon!"
"Green paper!"
"Yellow pencil!"
My kids being smarter than me, they came up with the following:
"Light orange and black eraser!"
"Chartreuse basket!"
"Black and white soccer ball!"
(after being shown a picture of a school building) "American school?" *raspberry*
The best, however, was yet to come.
One of my students in SmartEvil Class is not Japanese. I'm fairly certain that he has a Cambodian name, but I'm not positive. The kid and his parents speak fluent Japanese, so I never really thought about the issue. Sometimes the other kids give him minor amounts of shit- for example, screaming "KURO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" at him, or scrubbing his hands for him during cleanup time while everyone laugh hysterically as "H"'s hands don't get any less brown.
I love this kid because he is brilliant and because he is a spastic little weirdo. He likes to teach me karate moves and scream "NINJA TEACHAAAAAH!" He also likes it when I clock him in the head with my shoe.
Anyways, during the color + noun lesson, he skipped ahead of the others and identified me.
Pointing, Little H said, "WHITE TEACHER!"
I was laughing so hard, Little H's mother got worried.
Dear god.
White teacher.
I gave him five extra points for that.
Hell, he got the structure, didn't he?
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