Went to school today and found that I missed a practice w/Sawada san. I feel so bad. Tomorrow I'll make it up to her.

Another day @ Ikko with da crew.

Gotta go to bed early tonite cuz I have to be at school @ 6:30am!!!

Well...gonna call it a night.

Kaz out...

Man...it's pretty hot right now, but I'm too cheap to turn on the AC. According to my thermostat, it says 33 C. For all you Fahrenheit peeps, it's about 91 F. Couple that with about 95% humidity and you can safely say that the weather sucks right now! I'd take Sacramento 110 right now over this muggy crap anyday!

Gonna go into the school and see what's happening over there. Need to pick up my schedule of speech practice.

Kaz out...

Was awoken by the super humid temps this morning. Doing laundry and chattin' to folks that I don't get to too often.

I need to buy another stylus for my PDA sometime soon. I also need a printer and memory stick. Hmmm...shall I go to Akihabara today??? If my stomach feels a little bit better...I might make the trip.

Well for the time being...gonna work on my website cuz I've been neglecting it for too long.

Kaz out...

Just got back from Ikko. Ikko no Mamma brought back some Kumamoto no Nihon shuu (japanese sake) which I drank tonite. I had a really good time @ Ikko tonite cuz all my buddies were there. Even sang to GLAY songs! Need to practice when I go out with my Tokyo friends!!!

Today I went to the denist...first time in a long time!! I can't even remember the last time I've been to the dendist!!! Anyhow...it was an interesting experience! Found out that I have to go through this long @$$ procedure about this one rotten tooth that I have. Alll I know is that it's goin' take like 2 hours to fix and that I have to go back like hella times! The cool thing is that the dendist had this RF camera which projected my teeth onto this little monitor on the chair.

So what is goin' on with ya'lll????

Kaz out...

Since I didn't come home last night, I was unable to update my blog.

Before I even got to the place, I got a little lost...but was able to find my way and was still on time. My speech went ok. The audience's level of english was a lot lower than my previous audience. Had to have Matsumoto san translate every 4-5 sentences. However I was surprised that this one older man knew about the Niseis, internment camps, 442nd, etc. Afterwards, they treated to me for some food and drinks afterwards.

I met up with Ami @ Kaihin Makuhari eki and we went to get some drinks and food. I can't believe how much this girl can drink! We had some good food and don't really remember how many drinks. @ around 9:30ish...Ami's husband, Sho came to join us. We then had more food and more drinks. We at the restaurant for about 4 hours! Since it was a little late, Sho and Ami let me crash at their house. Slept on an aero beds but my neck is a little sore from it. In the morning, Ami made me breakfast and then took me to the station. I was lucky that it started to rain when I as only about 5 min. away from my apt.

Got home today I did some much needed cleaning. Moved some stuff around to change things up a bit. It's almost 3 months now that I've been in my apt.!

Tomorrow is supposed to pour...maybe 2.5 cm (1 in). Probably go into work and drop off something for one of my students. Supposed to go to the dentist sometime this week. Will find out tomorrow.

Kaz out...

Yesterday just hung out at home and ended up going to see some live acoustic performances in Roppongi. Met up with Iko @ Hibiya sen (line), Ueno eki (station) and we took off for Roppongi. It was interesting to get to talk to Iko. Out of my friends from Tokyo, she was the one I talked to the least. But got to find out more about her and how she's taking classes on French cuisine. Now I know why Hirotaka's bday cake was so good! Also, Iko's nihongo is easy to understand because she talks very clearly and slowly. Whereas my other friends speak to thinking that I'm fluent in nihongo.

Since we were early, I wanted to go to an electronics shop so that I can buy a new stylus for my Clie cuz I lost it on Saturday! We were denied at the 2 places we went...so I guess I have to make another trip to Akihabara. As we were walkin' towards where the performance will be, we passed TGI Fridays! Iko has never been there, it was still early, we were a little hungry so we decided to go in. This was truly natsukashii for me because I haven't been to TGI's in such a long time, this being the first time while in Japan. I also got to have my first Guinness! I had to explain to Iko the whole story with me not liking beer and how Guinness started me liking beer. Aki then joined us for some drinks. I can't believe she biked all the way from Shinjuku! So after some Jack Daniels chicken strips, we headed to the Brave Bar. Man...this place was tiny! But it had a nice atmosphere and Glen Fiddich! So in honor of my dad, had to get some on rocks with a lemon twist (however explaining to the waiter what a lemon twist was a little tough). The first performance was this group called Stay Free. A 2 girl group, one played the guitar while the other one sang. The second performer was Hirotaka. As expected, his performance was crazy! From playin' the harmonica and kazoo while strumming the guitar is a site to see! The third performance was Komiyama Misa. She sang really nice and her voice seemed to put me in a trance (or should I say that I kinda fell asleep?). The final performer was Hideki. This guy has some skill! He even did a Bon Jovi cover in English! After his set, he did a duet with Hideki and after that, they did a triplet (is that what you call three people?) w/Misa. The whole acoustic performance was very chill and relaxing. Afterwards got to meet Hideki's manager who lived in Tacoma for 3-4 years. So her English wasn't too bad.

As we got on the subway home, Hirotaka didn't really have dinner, so I offered him some of Pocky. Just after devouring the 2 packs, the station where I need to transfer, Kayabacho, was coming up. Didn't realize it until I got to my Kita Narashino that it was the last train I could've taken!

Well...need to go get my speech ready and have some lunch.

Kaz out...

I LOVE JAPAN!!!

Today went well! First of all...I took a new way to Asakusa and got there a lot faster. I made it more difficult that it really was. When I got to Kaoru's, we had to wait because Aki is always late. Then we went to Iko's house. Man...Iko's house is phat! 4 stories, elevator and a 6 car garage! Well it's not the kind of 6 car garage ya'll are probably thinkin' of...but it's the kind that is 3 stories high and is fully automatic. Just input the car you want to get onto the control panel and it's brings your car to you! As a gift, Iko got me a male yukata! It's pretty koo....gray and blue, my favorite colors! So then we headed out to the place where the fireworks are best to look at. I was the only guy with 5 other girls. Hide's g/f was in town so he didn't come. We met up with Yoshi's sister and her husband. They had their place already scoped out...there was like 50 people. We had one of the best seats in da house!

Asakusa Sumidagawa Hanabi Tai Kai was a enormous festival. I can't tell you how many people (especially all the cute girls dressed up in yukatas!) there were! The hanabi (fireworks) where pretty impressive and it lasted for an hour! I saw some hanabi that I've never seen before. After grubbin' on some good food and drink, we watched the hanabi and afterwards headed back to Iko's to change. We decided to go to karaoke (pronounced "kah rah oh kay", not "ka ri oh key") but most of the places were packed because of the festival. We ended up going to this one place...pretty nice. Kaoru, Yoshi and Iko were jammin' on da mic! I was pretty hazukashii (shy) because they were so good! Most of their songs I knew, so it was nice to hear them sing it. Since most of the songs I sang were english, they really didn't know any of them. So...for the last song, I did a Japanese one. Glay's "Beloved" with the help of Kaoru and Yoshi tellin' me the kanji that I didn't know. When we paid, we got these free LED pens! Pretty dope yo!

Since I had to catch the last train (thanks to Yoshi and Iko's keitai which can find out all the times and how to get back to home), I was fortunate enough to get a ride to the station from Yoshi's sister and her husband. The train was mad packed. Was squished almost the whole way home. I then I had to catch a takushi (taxi) which I thought would be around $20, but ended up being only $11!

Tomorrow I'm supposed to kick it with Iko and Yoshi and go see Hideki and Hirotaka perform in Roppongi. I also might kick it with Brian Sato. Sometime tomorrow I need to put some final touches to my speech that I'm gonna give on Monday. Wish me luck! Well...it's a kinda late and I'm pretty exhausted! Callin' it a night...

Kaz out...

Aite....off to Asakusa for hanabi. Check ya'll later!

Kaz out...

eeeehhh...nanda kore??? ima wa, chotto yopparatta da yo ne! demo sa....ikko toki ni....nomisugi da yo! eeettooo....ashita wa Asakusa ni iku sore ni hanabi o miterru yo!

I just wanted to let ya'll know that my buddy Jason Okui had his baby on July 8th. It was a boy, Evan Seiji Okui. Cgrats!!!

So....I went to watch the Funabashi elementary and junior high school summer concert today. My school has the 2nd largest orchestra in the Funabashi. My school tore it up today....the did the score of Lord of the Rings! They definitely rocked da house yo!

Well...tomorrow I'm goin' to Asakusa to see hanabi (fireworks). So I need to rest.

Kaz out...

Just got through having a bomb @$$ dinner @ Takahashi sensei's house. We had sukiyaki w/Yamagata beef...the second best beef in Japan. Anyhow...I'm too full right now too do a complete blog...but will fill ya'll in later. Gotta get some sleep, need to wake up early for the concert tomorrow.

Kaz out...

Being in Japan for just about 4 months now, time sure has flown by. Though my speaking has improved only minimally, my reading and listening have progressed nicely. Finally living on my own, has made me grow both in mind and spirit. Experiencing life in another country is something that all of you must do so in your life. Moving away for college was one step...but moving to another country is a whole new world. I've been fortunate to be surrounded with a lot great people who are making my life in Japan a great experience. I have my father to thank for that.

I thank all of you who have kept in touch these past 4 months. It truly means a lot to me because I enjoy hearing what's goin' on back home. For those of you who haven't heard from me I haven't forgotten any of ya'll. Just been busy with lots of stuff but that should change because I'm on summer break. So please be patient.

---

• Our baseball team lost the championship game today. So no "state" championships.


• Finished the 7th grade dialog with Takahashi sensei but Takeuchi sensei said he wanted something more "dramatic". I want the dialog to be natural English...not something cheesy. Oh well...


• Mikami san gave me the extra bento for dinner tonite!


• Kitajima Kosuke almost broke the 200m breaststroke record...beat the rest of the pack by more than 1.5 sec!


• Soccer: Japan and Korea tied @ 1


• Takahashi sensei invited me over for dinner tomorrow night. We're having sukiyaki!


• Not sure what's up with this weather. It's still raining and it's almost August!!! I guess this is better than being super humid.

Alrite...gonna eat dinner now.

Kaz out...

NEWS FLASH: Kitajima Kosuke breaks the world record in the 100m breaststroke.

Had to buy a pump for my bike cuz my tires are pretty flat. Been really lazy bout it...but it's gotten a little more harder to peddle lately...so it's something I should've done weeks ago.

Today had practice with Sawada and Yamashita (8th and 9th grade, respectively). Kinda having some problems with Sawada but i think it will just take time. Yamashita did rather well, which I expected. Her pronunciation is really good.

For school sports, it's the semifinals for the city championships. Most of our teams didn't do too well. Our softball team lost in he last inning, vball team got swept, and some of our teams weren't even in the running. However, I think our girls bball team is going. After the speech practice, went to eat lunch with Yamazaki sensei (music teacher) and Takahashi sensei. Had some grubbin' ramen and then headed to Undo Koen for the baseball semifinals. I was surprised to of how much team spirit there was. Our side of the stadium was filled with parents, teachers and many students. We even had a little band that played while the girls cheered. A real koo experience that I was able to catch on video. The baseball team won and now will play in the championships tomorrow.

Today is Tuesday, so I have to update ya'll about my TV shows. Today's Oyako (mother/daughter) wasn't that great. Kinda boring. But B-Rap part of the show was pretty funny. They played the rhythm game which is too hard to explain with words. You really do have to see it.

London Hearts was really interesting. They did something I've never seen them do before. It was kinda like a dating show very similar to Elimidate with a Japanese twist. It was called "Survival". It started off with 4 guys & 4 girls. The hosts will then pick a ball, which will determine if a girl or guy is first to be eliminated. After some time socializing, the host will ask the girls (if a male ball was picked) or ask the guys (if a female ball was picked) to make their decisions by messaging the host by their cell phones. What was weird is that they would replace that person with a new one. So the group always stayed @ 8. Then at the end, the guys will have to choose one girl they would like to go out with. But the girl has the option of saying yes or no. The guys always come up with the craziest things to say.

Long day tomorrow...so...i'm gonna call it a night. I'm tired.

Kaz out...

Druken blog

I just thought i put my 2 sense in while I'm pretty much drunk off my @$$! I went to my local bar, Ikko, i got pretty faded. I sang like 5 karaoke songs!!! Even though they were pretty meesed up like myself...i sang a lot songs today. mostly grl songs....bt i don't hithk it reallly matered. I had a good tie tonite. I really can't stink stqraight right now. Don't know why i'm updating my blog rithgnow. but oh well.....it's all good. Id on't have to be at wrk til 10am tomorrow. so it's alllll good....

I aws able to kick it with Kitaguchi san and Takahashi san tnite

but otnite was very special becawse i got to meet Sakamoto ichiiban. So therewas 3 sakamoto's @ ikko tnite. Sakamoto ichiban (#1), Sakmott niban (#2) and me, Sakamotoo san ban (#3). I have pictres which I will upload ot my website tomorrwo.

i really don'tknw how I'm talkin' to Efqan right nowl....but I guess he's udnerstandin' me . I'm gnna call it anight....cuz i'm too fffffed to talk right now....sory yy if i offendedanybody. But oh well...deal wth it...rockl and roll!!!! (qu0te from Rules of atraction) okay....calilin' it anight.


Kazout......

Just wanted to let ya'll know that I have a link (My Pics) to my online photo album which will be constantly updated w/new photos. So feel free to check them out.

Kaz out...

Squash & Shabu Shabu

I'm pretty sore today from playin' like 5 games of squash and lifting yesterday. Man, that is one of the most intense activities I've ever done! Ami was tellin' me that it's one of the top sports to play to burn calories in a short amount of time. Both Ami and Sho beat me...but I attribute it to my lack of knowledge. After my 2 warmup games, I came back with a 3 game winning streak. This game is all about angles and the occasional lucky bounce. It's nothing like tennis! After our squash games, I was finally able to lift since leaving America. It feels good to have the "good" sore again.

Afterwards we went back to Ami and Sho's mansion (nice apartment) and then headed over to Ami's parent's house. This was my first time having shabu shabu in Japan. It was grubbin'...BUT I think my Mom's dao bin lo is better. It's always interesting during dinner time at this house, because everyone drinks. Ami can easily drink 7 beers, mama is about 5-6, and papa always mixes between sake, scotch, sho chu. Sho and I are probably the only mild drinkers...

Since Ami's older brother Hide was in town to see his g/f (who's 26 and pretty darn cute, is 12 years younger than him!) so when he got back home, Ami wanted me to speak to him in fast english. I didn't get a chance to talk to him that much when I first met him, but this time, we talked a lot of PDAs and other tech talk. His english is really good. I gave a watered down version of my speech and had him translate. I still can't believe Ami started to tear up when I was tellin' them bout my family history.

Since it was gettin' a little late, Ami and Sho, I thought, we're driving me to Makuhari Hongo eki, but drove me Keisei Tsudanuma eki (My connecting station). Sunday nights are always great at train stations cuz you'll always find a drunk either passed out or yellin' at the station employees. This time was the latter. So I had to quickly avoid the little altercation while I inserted my train pass and then proceeded to my train.

Today is a day off...so I'm just gonna chill. Was thinkin' bout goin' to Asakusa but...I'm kinda sore and it's raining. Just gonna clean up my place, watch some movies and work on my page. Aite...

Kaz out...

Today I'm gonna go play squash for the first time. I'll be sure to let ya'll know how that goes. I hope Ami doesn't kick my @$$!!!

Tomorrow is a holiday for all teachers. It's umi no hi (Day of the Sea) so I'm thinkin' bout heading to Tokyo to hang out and go exploring. Tsuyu (rainy season) is on the verge of ending which means the super hot and humidty season will be here. Yuck!

Anyhow...gonna go eat some lunch and get ready.

Kaz out....

So I decided to change up the look a little bit. Hope ya'll like it.

Ya'll wanted pictures, so here they are. For all those who are not members of Sony Imagestation, you will have to sign up, but it only takes less than a min.

Enjoy!


Last night's nomikai with the teachers

Nanabayashi

Asakusa Matsuri

Tokyo Flea Market

Heyan's Birthday

Disney Sea

Here's the Mother's Lullaby story for all of those who don't know it.

In the north city of Hiroshima, an old, tall tree stands by the roadside. It has seen many things around it.

One summer night the tree heard a lullaby. A mother was singing to her little girl under the tree. "They look really happy," it thought. "And the song sounds so sweet."

Then the tree remembered something very sad. "Yes, that was some fifty years ago. I heard a lullaby that night, too."

The morning before that night, a big bomb fell on the city of Hiroshima. A great many people lost their lives, and many others tried to get away. They had burns all over their bodies. I was very sad when I saw those people.

It was a very hot day. Some of the people stopped beside me. They could not even stand, and fell down. I said to the them, "Come and rest in my shade. You'll be all right soon."

Night came. Some people were already dead.

Then I heard a faint voice. It was a lullaby. A young girl was singing to a little boy.

"Mommy! Mommy!" the boy cried.

"Don't cry," the girl said. "Mommy is here." Then she began to sing again.

She was also weak, but she tried to be a mother to the poor boy. She held him like his real mother.

"Mommy," the boy was still crying. "Be a good boy," said the girl. "Listen to me, and you'll be all right." She held the boy in her arms and more tightly and began to sing again.

After a while the boy stopped crying and died. But the little mother did not stop singing. It was a sad lullaby. Then the girl's voice became weaker and weaker.

Morning came and the sun rose, but she did not move either.

Since I wasn't in the right state of mind yesterday...I'd thought I would post the stuff that I was plannin' to.

So yesterday at school was really fun. It was a pretty chillin' day and we had a nice ceremony in which the students received awards for the endeavors. Then we were able to sit down with all the 4 students who are in the english speech contest. So I've been pretty busy lately with the material. For the 7th graders, I'm writing up the whole converstation that they are going to do. The 8th grader and 9th grader are doing, Daruma-chan to Tengu-chan and A Mother's Lullaby, repectively. I will post the story to A Mother's Lullaby as a separate post.

For lunch, all the faculty got together and had this grubbin' sushi lunch. All the new teachers gave a little speech. Even I had to speak. However...I used English because I wanted to make sure they understood what I had to say...so Takahashi sensei translated.

Another funny thing yesterday is how Mitchell, (aka Yamazaki Micheru) the music teacher, is such a funny guy. He isn't the nicest of teachers and speaks very bluntly at the orchestra. Since the orchestra finished a little early, as the kids were goin' home. From the teacher's balcony, he yells at some of the girls to wait. I thought he had to tell them something. So as he's walkin' towards them, he has his bag which he extends to Chika. She then bows her head and he puts his bag over around her neck. He has her carry it all the way to the train station for him. He yells to us that he's comfortable now.

Before dinner, we had some time to kill, so Takahashi sensei took me to go play pachinko. Since I've never really played pachinko, it was something I wanted to try out despite all the bad things that I've heard about it. So as we sat down to play and put in our money Takahashi sensei's machine seemed like it wasn't working. I started to play while Takahashi sensei called an attendant over. What happened was Takahashi sensei put $5 into my machine and I put $5 into the lady's machine next to me!!! Anyways...pachinko is really stupid. I mean REALLY stupid. I don't see how people are addicted to it. But I guess if this and bettting on races is the only form of gambling...you take whatever you can get.

Not sure if they have this back home, but when you drink and are unable to drive (the penalty for DUI is somewhere around the vicinity of $5,000) you can call this service to drive you and your car home. It's also a little bit cheaper than a taxi. So that's how Takahashi sensei and I got back home.

Well...I'm gonna wrap this up. Got some other stuff to do.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation: Now!

Right now I'm drunk off my @$$! After school today.....most of the teachers went out for nomikai (Drinkin'). I can't even remember how much I had. I know that I had one beer, 3 Oolong Hi's and some Nihon Shuu (Sake). I can't really think straight...so this is a drunken blog, nee! Amyhow...this was probably one of the most memorable experiences so far in Japan. Being able to kick it with the teachers outside of school was mos definitely koo. I got drunk with all the other Senseis and somehow...when they're drunk...they start talkin' to me in English. An experience that I will cherish. All the teachers got up and talked 'bout their bukkatsu (Club activity). I was flattered by the way they spoke highly of me. I couldn't have asked for a better place to work. Nanabayashi Chuu has been a great experience for me. Even though I've only taught there for about 3 months! The faculty has accepted me as part of the family and I feel so comfortable being around them. Even though this is the first time drinkin' with them. I didn't feel so bad about being drunk and red faced because the kochosensei (Principal)was more red faced than I was!!!

This truly was one of the best experiences I've had so far. Being in a different environment from shcool this, experience will go down in the history books. I'm very yopparata! (drunk) right now...so I hope ya'll can understand what I'm saying.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for my fellow colleagues. They are koo at school but way more koo outside of the school environment. I'm happy that I was placed at such a good school . All the teachers are unique in their own little way. Uh......I can't really think anymore...so I'm gonna call it a night.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 1

So I kinda messed up with my countdown. This is my blog, so I don't care what ya'll think! For the record, tomorrow is my last day of classes. However I will be busy this summer preparing the 4 students for the English speech competition.

Today at school the was school club rally. A pretty interesting experience which I was able to capture on video. The orchestra was great...they played a lot of the score from The Lord of the Rings.

Tonite was Val's last night in Japan, so her host parents had this grubbin' dinner. Plus we had tons of drinks ranging from champagne, scotch, beer and sake. Learned a new Japanese game that's kinda similar to rummy. I forget the name of it though.

Well...I really need to get to school early tomorrow, so I'm callin' it a night. Big day tomorrow. Talk to ya'll later.

Kaz out...

Oh yeah...I almost forgot!

Happy 30th Birthday Tri!

You're an old man now!

Summer Vacation Countdown: 3

Kinda overslept today, so I was a little late getting to work. Really didn't matter cuz it's the last week of classes. In class today, Takahashi sensei and I tried doing some games which really didn't impress the kids that much. We played Black Magic but the students were very skeptical. Oh well...

For lunch today, had some grubbin' yaki niku. Pretty much inhaled it.

Got a call from my boss and he said that he will drop off a desk for me. So now I have a new (well new for me, but really second hand from city hall) steel desk which is much better than using my dining room table.

Went to Ikko tonite for dinner cuz I was too lazy to cook. Had some tonsoku (which means Pig's Socks, well that's what Kitaguchi-san told me) and it wasn't too bad. I also had some boiled daikon, sake (salmon) shioyaki, errakyo, miso shiru, 2 oolong hi's (Kohiyama-san treated me to my 3rd one) and had to buy another bottle of sho chu all for about $20! Can't beat that.

Well...gonna call it a night...have a meeting tomorrow and also it's Val's going away party.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 4

Today I had a chance to go around the whole school and document my school on video. I was able to shoot a lot and will get more as this weeks comes to an end. Pretty much everybody was willing to be on video. I will try to figure out a way for you guys to see some of the video.

Had a chance to play volleyball which I haven't done in over a month! Man...am I rusty! We had hitting drills and my timing was SSSOOOO off! For some reason, I was able to pound the 1's with ease, but everything else was pretty embarassing. There were 2 graduates of Nanabayashi there who are seniors in high school now. Got a chance to play with them as we scrimmaged the team. I don't even want to talk about how my setting was! A total disgrace. Being a teacher in Japan has it's little advantages. Everytime I walk into the gym, everyone stops what they are doin' for a quick second and acknowledges my arrival with Konnichiwa! Also, at the end of every practice with the vball team, the team always makes a semi-circle around me and bows while saying Domo Arigato Gozaimasu! Sayonara! Even the high schoolers came up after practice and did the same thing, however they attempted to in English...a pretty funny scene.

Another thing that I've noticed while at school, is how strong the Sempai/Kohai (Upper classman/lower classmen) relationship is. While eating lunch in the cafeteria, I usually sit with the 7th graders. So anytime an Sempai from the same team walks by, in chorus, you can hear Konnichiwa!. This might be hard for most of you to truly understand. Guess you'll just have to find out for yourself by coming to Japan.

It's Tuesday and that's means my favorite TV programs are on. Today's Oyako (Mother/daughter relationship) show's winner blew my mind. Probably one of the best moms that I've ever seen. Even though she was only 35, she truly looked younger than her daughter who was 18 years old! Even her style looked younger than her daughter's!!

Well...another week and my London Hearts aren't on!!! On the first part of the show, Sukebe, the guy today lasted the whole time! He only looked twice. The girl they used was really pretty and she was goin' way overboard on making him look. But the guy stayed strong probably because he was so into reading his magazine. I never seen anyone last the full time. He ended up getting about $2,500!

The second part of the show was Bl@ck Mail. The guy went from Yokohama all the way to meet this girl in Okinawa! This guy was a total softy! He let the girl draw on his arms, hands, neck and even face. She frickin' drew Doraemon on his neck! And even drew a mustache and eyes on his eyelids!! Yeah yeah yeah...some of you may see, "Hey Sakamoto, didn't that happen to you!?" My defense was that I was passed out!! So that doesn't even come to close to counting!!! So at the end of the show when the girlfriend surprised him, she would only forgive him if he let her push him into the pool.

Well...it's gettin' late and I have a long day ahead of me...

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 5

Other than the fact that it rained like crazy today, the day went well. At school, found out who the 8th grade representive was for the English competition next month. The story we're using is a famous children's story called Daruma-chan to Tengu-chan (Little Daruma and Little Tengu). The whole premise of this story is that the word hana means both flower and nose. Anyhow Sawada's pronunciation is all that great. She was the only one who volunteered for the competition. I made her a tape of me reading the story two different ways. The first being really slow and the second, normal speed. I feel more confident with the 7th graders that we chose. But it should be a good experience nonetheless.

Takeuchi sensei and I talked bout this and afterwards he asked me what my summer schedule was like. He invited me to go with his family for a week back to his hometown in Tojigi Prefecture. It takes about 6-7 hours by car. It's a place where you can ski in the summertime! It just so happens that it slightly conflicts with my trip to Nasu with my friends. But we'll see...I'm gonna try work something out. I really don't think I'll have an opportunity to go to Tojigi ever again.

For all of you who don't know what Takahashi sensei looks like (which is probably everybody except my parents), I took this pic of him.







Well...I'm off to bed.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 6

Kicked it with Val and her host sister and her host sister's husband today. Went to a Japanese Tea Garden in Makuhari and had tea ceremony green tea. The Japanese garden wasn't really all that. I think the Japanese gardens in Portland and Hayward are way better.

After that, went all around Tokyo. We went to Ometesando, a really nice shopping area. One of the Rodeo drives of Tokyo. After that, went to Harajuku. I think it's safe to say that it's the Tokyo Berkeley. Saw all these girls dressed up as dolls and a lot of other girls with their face painted and even some serious goth girls. They have some pretty interesting things there. There's this one perfume/cologne store that is really cheap. Probably 30% off from the prices back home. I also saw a lot of hip hop stores that might be future candidates of the Buddhapparel line. I need to talk to Yu first, to see what stores are actually legit enough to have our line.

After that we drove around Ginza and Ami was telling me that it's her favorite place! Ginza being one of the most expensive shopping areas in Tokyo, one can infer that she is kanemochi (rich). Her father is a dominant figure in the Democratic party in Japan. He's good buddies with Koizumi sori (The Prime Minister of Japan). Following the drive through Ginza, we headed back to Makuhari for some dinner. Went to this restaurant and had all kinds of food and drink. We all got pretty drunk...and can you guess what we did afterwards??? We went to the Sega arcade next door. So you know I had to represent. This is for Jookie, Spamajama & Pogiscruff..."You chose me, so represent the skills!" Yo!!! I wasted Sho, Ami's husband in racing then we went to this surfing game. Wasted him. Then I tried to play some Tetris....man...words of advice...Tetris is a pretty tough game when you're inebriated!!! Other than fact that Ami was throwing fruit flavored ice into my mouth while I was playing, I didn't get pass level 9!!! We then proceeded to the Purikura (Sticker pics) stands. It's a pretty interesting experience trying to take purikura with 4 drunk people. I'll try to post the pics shortly.

Anyhow...we finally called it a night and I hopped on the train back home. On the train ride back home, even in my drunken state, I noticed this old man who was drunk off his @$$!!! He was tryin' to change cars and literally fell on this couple and stayed on the ground for like 5 minutes!!! Everyone on the train was looking with disgust. The old man finally got his bearings and made his way to the seat however he didn't sit down for some reason. He was just swaying while holding on to one of the poles! I guess it's something ya'll have to experience. Since I never really rode BART all that much, I really have no basis to this situation.

Well...I think I've said enough. I got work tomorrow and need to get some rest.

Kaz out...

News Flash
Japan defeated Mexico 2-0 on Saturday to secure the final spot in the Women's World Cup soccer tournament this fall in the United States

My speech went a lot better than I expected. I totally forgot that my speech was to geared to Japanese people with a small to medium knowledge of English. What I thought would be only 10 min speech, ending up being around 20-25 min! When I first arrived, I observed part of their meeting and was very impressed at their level of English. They were debating about the Iraqi reconstruction process and how if affects Japan. After my speech, there was a Q&A session in which the members asked me questions on my speech as well as Japanese social issues which totally caught me off guard! It was a great experience and I hope to attend more meetings in the future...unfortunately they're Saturday nights! So I'm not sure how that's gonna work out... Other than it being a great experience, I got paid 6,000 yen (approx. $50).

Earlier today Takahashi sensei and his wife came by and dropped off a half pizza for me. Man, he is so koo. Has gone above and beyond to make sure that I'm ok. Anyhow...I really appreciate all that he does for me.

Well...callin' it a night.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 7

Got up at 7am, rather early for a Saturday morning. Was finally able to do some laundry and start workin' on my speech. Man...when I woke up, it was like san ju ichi do (31 degrees, for you celsius challenged, it's about 88 degrees!), so had to use my AC. I've been really good with limiting my use of the AC, but when it's that warm and the humidity is like @ 90%, you do whatcha gotta do!

While writing my speech, I had to ask one of my buddy's, WongE, what the English phrase for someone that doesn't fit. "Sticks out like a _____" Am I losing my English? Who knows...

Anyhow...I gotta get back to my speech.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 8

Well...I'm a little drunk right now...had a couple of oolong hi's and a beer that Kohiyama-san treated me to.

At school today, nothing out of the ordinary. Same ol same ol.

The weather is pretty strange here. Today, it was cloudy, then sunny, then cloudy, then sunny, then cloudy, then sunny, then it rained. I just don't get the tenki (weather) is Japan. I'm used to the Sacramento summers of 110 degrees, dry heat. Japan is mushiatsui (humid) so I'm not used to it. All other kinds of weather I can deal with. Snow, rain, hot (dry heat), cold, etc.... However, humid weather is the worst of all. I can easily handle the Sacramento 115 degrees dry heat. But in Japan, 70 degrees and 100% humidity is the worse of all.

I finished The Rules of Attraction today. I read like 150 pages! However...I'm not sure if I like the book as much as the movie now. The book and movie are zen zen chigau (totally different).

I have this darn speech tomorrow and I really haven't started it yet. I brainstormed, however considering the whole speech, I haven't really begun yet. I'm talkin' about growing up as JA. All I did today after I got home from work, was research. Research on growing up as a JA. Found a lot of interesting articles that will help me tomorrow. Well...wish me luck tomorrow.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 9

Today was a pretty interesting day at school. For the 5th and 6th periods, the 9th graders gave their group presentations on their 3 day field trip. They had all these pictures from what they experienced from: making sembei, honey, learning about the kappa (the mythical frogs) just to name a few. It was koo, because I don't usually get to hang out with the 9th graders. I've team taught with the 9th grade english teacher maybe 4 times since I've started. I feel bad because I really want to be there for the 9th graders but not sure what's up with the english teacher. Oh well...

Finished Taking the Red Pill and I must say that it was an enlightening book. Many different philosophical views which make you rethink life as a whole. Now I've been glued to The Rules of Attraction. Since I've seen the movie first, it kinda ruins the whole "reading the book" aspect. But it does shed a lot of light and gives tons of background to the story which makes me appreciate the movie even more. Not sure what's up...but I'm totally into this whole reading thing. I guess since I'm choosing the books that I want to read, it's more enjoyable. Some books that I want to start after The Rules of Attraction are: Simulacra and Simulation by Baudrillard, The Alchemist by Coelho, The Republic by Plato and maybe Neuromancer by Gibson.

I have this speech that I need to finish up for this Saturday night. Tryin' to find some inspiration...a little tough. My topic is growing up as a Japanese American. It's been a while since I gave a speech before. College speechs were easy, only had to talk for like 10 min or so. But on Saturday, it's gonna have to be around 30 min.!

Talked to Tomoyo today. She seems to be doing well. Working all the way out @ Narita must be hell of a commute. Let alone waking up @ 5:30 every morning! Anyhow, supposed to maybe get dinner next week sometime. I was planning on going to Japanese class that her mom teaches, but unfortunately she's not teaching tomorrow night. Guess there's always next week....

Well...I'm tired and need to take a shower.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 10

Well...I thought I was feeling better, but right now, I'm kinda in a little bit of pain. I have no frickin' idea what's wrong with me.

Took Kotaro out to dinner for his belated birthday. We went to this new restaurant near Funabashi station. It was pretty nice inside, however the food was aite. Found out that Ko's dad is a Urologist! So I'm gonna go see him sometime soon. Anyhow, it was koo kickin' it with Ko and reminisce on the old school Eden days. Got so caught up in talking, didn't realize we were at the restaurant almost 4 hours!!!

At school today, finished grading the 8th graders' on their reading. Ahhh...I almost forgot! Today's lunch was quite interesting. Since Takahashi sensei helps me pick my lunches (he translates what I can't read on the menu) he knows what I like and what I don't like. So today we picked the same lunch, lunch B. It was Yakisoba. Lunch A was curry rice. On lunch B, there was this side dish that looked like sweet and sour pork with potatoes. So I was stoked! However as we sat down next to some 7th graders, Takahashi sensei reveals to me that we should I have chose Lunch A! I replied, "Uh...why???" He then proceeds to tell me that the "pork" might actually be LIVER! So as he begins to eat one, he gives me the A OK sign, which I take as it's not liver. Boy was I wrong! I decided to eat it, but to my dismay, it was LIVER! YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!

I'd just thought I tell you about how convenient Japan is when it comes to paying bills. Back home, you have 2 options: mail in the payment or pay online. Here in Japan, you can go to most convenience stores such as: 7-11, Lawson, Daily Yamazaki, etc... It makes things so much easier for somebody who always waits to the last minute to pay the bill.

Well...I'm gonna call it a night....really tired and the pain in my back is starting to overwhelm me.

Kaz out...

Summer Vacation Countdown: 11

I'm feelin' a little bit better now. The pain has slowly shifted to my back now but there's still occasional pain in the front to the left of my stomach. Right now I'm ok, but earlier today, the pain would come and go. It's basically a mind over matter kind of thing. The vice principal today was insisting that I go see a specialist. I've noticed that anytime the Japanese get the slightest feeling of being sick, they must go see the Dr.! I just don't get it. I never went to the Dr. when I was a kid. The only time being when I was diagnosed with Kawasaki Syndrome. Mom taught me to just wait it out and if it's still around for a couple of days, then it's serious enough to go the Dr.!

So I'm a little upset that my TV program wasn't on today. Oh well...there's always next week I guess.

I was planning on goin' to see Yu perform tonite, unfortunately, I totally forgot about how Japanese clubs are. They stay open til 5am! Since the trains stop running @ around 1am-ish, most people wait til the first train in the morning to go back home. I wasn't about to try and do that! Oh well...guess I'll have to wait for another performance after next week!

Found out about this sunset boat cruise next month on my father's friend's boat. Should be pretty koo...gonna try to find out who else wants to go. It's only 3000 yen with a drink and a couple of appetizers!

Well...for practice I'll post another pic for ya'll!

This is a pic taken a couple weeks ago at my buddy's performance/ surprise birthday party in Roppongi!





Kaz out...

Just wanted to post a pic of this past Sunday's dinner when I treated my Japanese "parents" out for dinner @ Kaoru's Chinese restaurant.

Has anybody had kidney stones before? If so, can you please list all the possible symptoms. I'm not exactly sure what I have. Please email me @ kazuo5@yahoo.com or leave feedback here.

Kaz out...

Woke up today and was feelin' a little ill. There was this sharp pain, kinda like a cramp that didn't go away. Not sure exactly what it is. The teachers at school were concerned so I went to go see the nurse. She was asking me all these questions and wasn't too sure was exactly wrong with me. Then the Vice Principal comes down and is really concerned. Somehow he arranges for me to go to the hospital. I really didn't want to go to the hospital, but he insisted that I go.

So Takahashi sensei takes me to the hospital. After waiting a long time, I had to give a urine sample and have my temperature taken. Then had to wait some more and then saw a doctor. He thinks that I have constipation or some kind of intestine problem. He didn't seem to knowledgable. Well he directed me to get some x-rays done. After those, I had to get painkillers through and IV for 1 1/2 hours! It didn't even work!! I'm totally gratefuly for Takahashi sensei for stayin' at the hospital with me and put up with my snoring for about an hour as I layed on the guerny.

Well...my first impression of the Japanese health system wasn't that good.

Upon getting dropped off, Takahashi sensei comes back with a bento his wife made for me. It was pretty good and I even got some cookies and melon for dessert!

I'm really diggin' this DSL thing. Makes everything a whole lot easier.

Well...kinda tired, callin' it a night.

Kaz out...

I finally got my DSL hooked up! Woo Hoo!!!

Due to some technical difficulties, I was unable to post last night.

A pretty chillin' day yesterday...was able to do some laundry and put my futon out in the sun. Lately haven't really had a chance to because of the rain.

I went to school yesterday because there was a baseball and basketball tournament. Got to actually see other teams play for a change.

After that, I decided to just bike around my town to check out what's in the area. Discovered some new things and even saw, what looked to be like a military base. Guards in camo and everything.

I then decided to head over to Ikko for some drinks. To my surprise, the place was packed! Let me first explain that this place isn't too big to begin with. Two tables and a little bar with about 8 stools. Everyone that I know from the bar was there. Momma was there and even Chi Momma (Momma #2), there was even one of Momma's friend helping out. She's a good singer! Plus, I got to meet Shacho (company president) who was taking some of his workers out. He was always filling my glass with so much sho chu and even giving me food! It was a pretty koo experience, cuz he hooked up everyone in the bar! The group last night probably went through 20 or so bottles of beer and at least 5 bottles of sho chu. After all the festivities, I glanced at my watch and saw that it was 23:30!!! As I was getting ready to go, all the people were trying to get me to stay to play Mahjong with them! I was pretty tired, so I respectfully declined and staggered home.

Well...gotta go run some errands and then go take Tajima and Yanase out to dinner @ Kaoru's restaurant.

Kaz out...

Another humid day here in Japan. This darn rainy season is gonna be around for another 2 weeks! After that, it's just gonna be butt hot with crazy humidity.

At school today, continued to test the ninensei on their reading. We also had Show and Tell for the other sannensei class. They weren't even close to other class. After school, went to play bball for 3 hours. For some reason, didn't have full control of ball and also made some careless passes. But hey, it's been a week and I just came off from being sick. That's my excuse, deal with it.

Afterwards, stopped of @ MatsuKiyo for some groceries and then came home. Went to Val's homestay house for dinner and drinks and met Ami's english teacher. He's this 25 year old from England who's been in Japan for 3 years. It's a shame that his Nihongo sucks, I would expect a little bit of fluency after being here for even 2 years. Oh well...he's your typical guy from England.

Tomorrow's plan is to go see the bball tournament @ my school tomorrow. I finally get to see the girls and boys in action! Aite...kinda tired, gonna go take a bath.

Kaz out...

Today was a pretty tiring day. With 40 people from both the Funabashi and Chiba Prefecture Board of Education, we were constantly busy. From having to teach while being under the eye of at one time around 30 people can be pretty draining when you're not used to it. Afterwards, we met with one person from the
Chiba prefecture and one from Funabashi (which was my boss!). That meeting lasted over an hour of constructive critism from both of them of both Takeuchi sensei and Takahashi sensei, with a little bit about me thrown in as well.

Afterwards, we had this long 'ol meeting with all the teachers as well as most of the visitors. Since the weather was pretty warm and humid, it made falling asleep too easy. So I was in a constant struggle to stay awake. By the end of the day, I was pretty exhausted.

After a little snack and some oolong hi's at Ikko, came home and took a nap. Woke up and watched The Animatrix, which, for the most part was pretty impressive. Provides a lot of background story, so if you're a fan of the Matrix, you should definitely check it out! Also, any of you Alameda HS alums should check out Kid's Story, cuz they used your school as a reference.

Anyhow...gonna call it a night.

Kaz out...

Woke up feelin' pretty good today. Just a little sore throat and slight stuffy head. Found out at school today that it was a short day because of the Funabashi middle school meeting which I didn't even go to. Anyhow, I was able to go through the plan for tomorrow when 40 of the Funabashi Department of Education come to visit. That's pretty much kept up busy at school for the past week. We've been cleaning, cleaning & cleaning. We even put all these nice pretty flowers everywhere. Today's weather was pretty nice...so after finishing all the cleaning, Takahashi and I just sat on the balcony, choppin' it up.

Went to go meet Yu @ Tsudanuma eki. Didn't recognize him at first, cuz he kinda bulked up and got a little tan. But it was nice to see him, in his territory. Upon arriving @ Funabashi eki, we met up with his mom and transferred trains. When we got his station, we met up with his dad and went grocery shopping for dinner. The grocery store next to the station was pretty high tech. There were no paper price tags! All the price tags were electronic! I took a pic of it which I'll somehow show all of you shortly. Another thing about how Japanese supermarkets are more efficient than back home, you pack your own groceries at a separate place from where the register is. So you don't have to wait for the those slow @$$ people who have tons of groceries.

When we got back to Yu's house, his mom brought out all these snacks for us to eat while his dad prepared a spaghetti feast in a matter of minutes! He made some grubbin' Italian spaghetti...and I mean REAL spaghetti, the kind you normally get in Italy. It made me feel really natsukashii (warm and fuzzy inside from a past experience) of when I was in Italy.

Also got to play w/Yu's dog, Dabo (short for double bogey pronounced in Japanese). It's a Kiba, which is an endangered species! Really cute dog, but doesn't care too much for male strangers.

After a dinner, Masumi (Yu's brother) made a modified "digital archive" of The Matrix that we watched. It was a totally different movie after seeing Reloaded and reading many essays and other works about it. Yu also was able to give me my stuff that I requested him to bring back with him which included: Equilibrium and The Animatrix DVDs (Thanks E!), some Buddhapparel gear (Thanks Tony!) and most importantly...my stick deodorant (because they don't have stick deodorant in Japan!).

Well...gonna wrap this up, need to get up bright and early tomorrow.

Kaz out...

So I'm feeling a lot better right now. I was well enough to make it to school for a bit, but didn't feel that great while I was there. I think after having a good kyushoku, it made me feel a lot better.

Takahashi sensei helped me with this thing that I got in the mail from the Post Office. The thing about the Japanese postal service is that if you're not home, they'll leave a card for you to call them back. Then you can arrange a time for THEM to come back to drop off your package up until 9pm! From what Takahashi tells me, it's a normal service. I was expecting to have to go to the post office to pick it up. My package from Amazon arrived 2 weeks before the date that they told me! So now I get to start reading The Rules of Attraction.

So Tuesdays are the days of my favorite Japanese program, London Hearts. Today's show was The Black Mail. Some of you may ask the question, "So you like this show Kev, but how do you understand it?" Well...for this show, you really don't need to understand too much, because the actions of the hosts speak for themselves. And the Japanese people are very easy to read, just by looking at their facial reactions.

Another program that was on today was a show that has 2 teams that go around Tokyo and look for daughters whose mothers can pass as their friends. When the team has finally chosen their "finalists", the teams go to people in the street to ask how old the daughter's "friend" is. Most responses range from 20-26. After that, they go to this stage and have the audience judge to see which mother/daughter combo is best. But before that, as the mothers are standing with their backs to the camera (when the finalists are chosen from the interviews, the show covers their face so that you have to wait til the end of the show to see), the team brings someone from the audience to walk around to the front of the mother to get their reaction. As the audience member opens their eyes, they're totally shocked! I must say, mothers in Japan are doing something right...

Well after a full 4 days of using my phone it finally needs charging. I was always under the impression of having a color screen phone and also having 2 cameras, internet, moving pics and crazy melodies, that my battery would barely last a day. Now, I'm fully convinced that phones back home, SUCK!!!

Yu, my host brother for the past year, has finally returned to Japan. Now I'll be able to go check out his crew perform and see Yu in action. I gotta hurry up and get some shirts for him and his crew to rock.

That's pretty much what's on my mind at the moment.

Kaz out...