I just read Britteney's latest post and am disturbed. more on this later. He is at

http://nooit-bru.blogspot.com/

PS- I was not the fastest car on the block, however on my drag-race through the teen culture straightaway...

A Lawn, Lawn time Ago...

There is no grass at schools in Japan. Across the street from my school is a park. There is no grass in the park, either. In Japan, I have never seen a lawnmower or any similar piece of lawn-mowing equipment. The green in Japan is confined to rice fields, farms, temples and shrines. I am grateful for such places, but I want to know the mentality of being som completely anti-grass and anti-lawn.

Excuses so far that people have given me is that Grass is expensive!!!
My answer: So are are the unnecessary airports and expressways that Japan is building. Also, grass is free if donated, and care can be done via a push mower and many eager students.

What IS expensive is all the students having to have their clothes washed after playing in the "yard," the giant dirt and sand area outside every Japanese school. The dust and sand gets everywhere, and if something is dropped on the floor in the teachers room you can pretty much expect a layer of sand/grime/dust mix to adhere itself to the surface of the dropped item. Think about all the electricity, water, detergent used because students must get dusty and dirty on a daily basis. Plus, grass would reduce the harsh glare the "yard" creates and soften the landscape by providing something green.

Movie title themes in Nayr76's past week:

Girl Looking at a Pearl Earing: Returned from a jaunt to Mie Prefecture, maybe 100 miles east of my hovel in Kobe. Toured the pearl farming area of Ago Bay, which produces some great grey, white, and black pearls.
The cells which the oyster coats with its silica apparently come from the Mississippi River. Not exactly buying locally, but then neither are all the imported snacks I tend to ingest here, either.

Is Nothing Sacred?: Well actually, yes. One place in Japan that has been spared paving is the beautiful Ise Jingu. A Shinto shrine that has become sacred and sports guards from the Imperial Agency, Ise Jungu is unique in two ways. first, the main shrine is rebuilt every 20 years. There are several large sites with gravel, and while one temple stands, its replacement is being built. Surrounding the grounds are cedars probably more than 500 years old, as well as a nice stream and many sub-shrines paying homage to various gods, such as wind, animals and other nature dieties.

Mission: Typhoon Hysteria: A typhoon is crossing Shikoku and headed across the main japanese Island of Honshu. Now no group of people get caught up on weather like the Japanese. They can even talk about weather minus a water cooler and a styrofoam coffee cup. Until I see a spotted cow flying around in a funnel cloud, I am not going to become victim to fear's unrelenting icy grip.

Let's Pig!

or more accurately, Wild Boar.

S and I ran into a large specimin of Japanese wild boar last saturday night. It was rooting around a construction site near our apartment. maybe it was trying to bum a few ciggies off the sketchy constuction crew workers. Such people are usually in possession of limited*

1. Limited driving skills
2. Limited ability to not chainsmoke
3. limited ability not to be drinking by early afternoon
4. limited ability to not bang the combini door into Nayr on their midafternoon alcohol run.

On a much more positive side they do have giant baggy pants, Bon Jovi-era haircuts and burnt sienna skin.

Book first sentences spoilers, By Genre:

Mystery: Mr. X is really Joe Smith; he lives at 123 1st street and drives a 1959 red Mustang.

Romance: She felt his warm hands massage her tense shoulders, and then she realized the HE was actually her St. Bernard, Barky.

Thriller: The runaway jury has been found, as they were accidentally sequestered to a nearby Waffle House.

Sports: Interviewer: "Pete, its been 10 years...did you bet against Cincinnati?" Pete Rose: " in no uncertain terms, of course I did. A brutha has to make his bling bling, yo..."

Human Psychology Journal: After a grueling 5 years of field study, I have concluded that (amazonian Pygmy) girls just wanna have fun.

The fine folks at the NRA must be incontinent with glee, as the 10 year assault weapons ban has expired. I am not one to say all guns are bad, but in this nation hosting a dangerous level of antidepressants intake, is it really a good idea to make Uzis, AK-47's and other such guns EASIER to get a hold of? Indeed the NRA vote is important in an election year, but not reinstating this public safety law makes it seem like Columbine has been forgotten.

politically, it seems the American-Israeli partnership is as strong as ever...Uzi is an Israeli company, if you didn't know. Is the weapons trade really worth all the pain, anguish and death it causes? I guess that depends on your definition of justice and morality.

Some fun things I found at the Yuzawaya crafts store in Kobe: 1. A stamp with a smiling winged heart that is saying "fight!" 2. A sheet of stickers whose character is "Nyanko (cat) Burger." There are regular fast-food items such as a burger, shake, etc., but with the addition of a head, and sometimes body, of a cute, furry feline. 3. A sticker book. Here is what is printed on it: "A strawberry and an apple are liked to profit."

Grape World:

Just got back from the town of Miki, home to a grape farm. These purple beauties make themselves available to hungry-eyed tourists en masse, at the minimal price of $5 or so.

Basically, you get a few mats, scissors and a washing bucket. Then you are directed to a section of the vinyard and you eat as many grapes as common sense dictates. we ate enough to pay for the admission. The unique experience of being surrounded by grapes and other grape-devouring otherlings was, as you may guess, free of charge.

next on my fruit touring circuit shall be Mikan, or Japanese mandarin oranges. Those beauties, known as the cheapest fruit crop in Japan, are due to ripen in late November...

A fellow JET and I went on a great ramble in Shiga Prefecture last weekend. The name of the place is Yatsubachinotake, which translates to something like 8 waterfalls. It had rained the day before so the falls were at pretty high levels. It was the coolest hike I have done so far in Japan, but then I love a good waterfall hiking course. My hiking friend forgot his lunch, and we ran out of water. Both, I promise won't happen again.

An old gem from the archives...

This came from my old boss in Korea.

Dear Foreign teachers,

greeting with the second semester, we're glad to know you are teaching students with enthusiasm. Yesterday vice principal visited our office during his regular inspection of classrooms. He talked about two things. First, he said that teachers must be punctual about starting and finishing classes to make students study hard. Of course this is applied to all teachers including Korean teachers in this school. He wants teachers and students to be more serious about their duties, teaching and studying very hard now that we finished fantastic school festivals and enjoyable Chosok holidays. Especially, now is the important time for the third graders who are stressful but attentive on preparing for the College Scholastic Aptitude test which is just around the corner. So all the people in our school must try to help the third grade students pay more attention to their final preparations by making our school a good place for study hard. let's be more punctual on our teaching. Second, he said that teachers should be bore careful about turning off the electric fans in conversation rooms just before they go out of the rooms after class. It's also applied to all teachers in this school. So dont forget to control the fans in your rooms with more attention. good luck to all teachers.

From Mr. Kim.
-------------------

Important facts about this helpful motivational sheet which I recieved:

the "Assistant Principal." was actually an old, weak man who, after being surrounded by foreign teachers for 19 years, in fact speaks no English whatsoever. he does, however have a big black limosine and an old security guard who opens the said limosine's door for him.

We were not trained on how to watch the classroom fans with incresing attention, thus the need for this note.

The teacher who wrote this is called "The Dragonfly" By his adoring students.

This same teacher has never been out of Korea, thus he has not picked up on the concept of tact.

Well, anyway there you go, annals from my days at "the best" high school in South Korea.

Spent a long weekend in Korea and this was the highlight.
A group of us were having a BBQ meal next to some railroad tracks and a cross-dressing taffy seller came around. Playing bad music and sporting both a 5 O'clock shadow and a belly, he (she?) was quite a sight. Alot of us bought the taffy, it is pretty good stuff.

Other than that Seoul hasn't changed that much since I left Korea back in December 2003.