AKB48 is the Devil

During lunch a male student asked me 'Do you like ABK48?' I said 'no' and shook my head. They thought their English was wrong so they asked about six more times, in as many different ways possible. Each time I said 'no'. They were shocked. They then asked 'What artist do you like?' I replied with 'Iron Maiden'. Confused looks plagued their faces. Then one student asked 'who is that?' I smiled but didn't bother giving them a music history lesson they won't understand. Instead, I said 'you will learn about them later.'

couch

Remember that old entry I did about a month ago about davenport? Well, I did an animation to it. Please Enjoy.

How to say 'snowman' in Japanese

It's winter

Which means the weather can get rough. Last night I was out on a walk and saw a car partly stuck in a ditch (it began snowing the other day). As I slowly walked past the car, the driver's side door opened up. Inside were a young couple, I asked in Japanese ''are you ok?'' They replied with ''Yes, we are, thank you''. Of course, in my mind, I knew they weren't. They're Japanese and burdening another person with ones own personal matters maybe be considered rude or めんづくさい. A large part of me felt sick walking home that evening. I felt like the rich man stepping over the poor in a parable Jesus once told. Me and the other fellow in the car could have easily pushed it free. It was a Kei-Car and needed only a few inches to be back on the road. I hope the tow truck didn't take long. Twenty-four hour service is standard in American, not so much in Japan. I have to continually remind myself that, I'm human and they are to, they need help them. And helping out with such a task shouldn't be a problem. I helped changing a young couples tire a few months back, what's it to me pushing out another couples car free from a ditch?

Nerdy Japan

A boy at school asked me if I played a 'TRPG' which means 'Table Role Playing Game'. I said ''You mean like Dungeons and Dragons?'' He didn't understand me so I drew dice on the chalkboard. Upon seeing the twenty sided die, he face lit up and excitedly said ''Yes! Yes!'' I told him I do but it's been a long time since I have played. Found out he likes to play as a Dwarf. He is probably going to practice English a lot more now so he can talk DnD with me. I don't think many other kids in Japan play those kinds of games.

Back on Japanese Soil - #42

Korea

New Years is approaching here in Korea and I will be here to welcome the new year. A lot has happened in the past year. My life has changed. It's always nice to look back and reflect on everything that has happened as well as start a new, with a fresh year ahead.

Next week I will have my feet on Japanese soil and will inform all of you on my short stay here in Korea.

On the KTX

Down to the Southern part of Korea. But stuck standing nearly the whole way. It's good and bad. My legs might be sore if I can't find a seat.

What happen to the sand in my hourglass?

While singing along to the 'Little Mermaid' soundtrack at lunch, amongst my JHS students (3rd year), I came to a gross realization. I'm getting old. Apart form myself and the teacher, no one in that classroom was a human when that film was released. Little Mermaid came out in 1989. None of the kids were walking, when my jaw dropped watching Woody meet Buzz. When they finally could walk, they didn't know Will Smith saved the world from aliens. Time flies.

The Golden Age of Animation

Highlight of today was one of my students asking me 'Do you know Tom and Jerry? I watch it on DVD.' It was all in Japanese but regardless touches my heart that some kids here have an appreciation for 'The Golden Age of Animation.' Japan has made huge strides in Animation. The past ten years have been a little lack luster. Regardless, their contribution to the medium deserves tremendous respect.

It's interesting to point out, that character designs like Asto Boy are copies of characters seen in American animation or design in the late 40's. Over the years, anime evolved into its own style. Surprisingly, American children growing up in the 80's and 90's became influenced by Anime and produced shows like Power Puff Girls which are direct attribution back to anime, which is also a attribution to American cartoon characters sixty some odd years ago.

Gymnastics.

Watching the news... It's talking about how gymnastics is important to physical education in Japan. I wish it wasn't considered 'gay' in American while I was growing up. I would have preferred to be a ninja over a dumb jock. Sadly, I was neither and ended up an 'art fag'.

Forgotten Words

The other day, I wanted to teach my students to say 'davenport' instead of 'couch' or 'sofa' but the Japanese English teacher wouldn't let me. That was a total bummer.

I think I spent too much time around old people as a child.

Whistling

Work was slow the other day. I had some downtime but didn't use it wisely. Instead I was starring around the teacher's room. Feeling like I had nothing better to do, I started to whistle. After about a second of that, my Japanese English teacher said something really funny. 'Don't do that, you will call snakes here'. She laughed, then told me that whistling indoors is considered rude. It's nice when the Japanese get straight to the point with cultural stuff. Usually they take the long way and you won't find out you've done something wrong until weeks later.