Days til I'm home!: 25

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Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Spontaneous human combustin is most likely to happen during a period of strong magnetic disturbance. No one knows how or why a person seemingly ignites without any external fuel, leaving behind little more than a heap of ashes, an uncharred limb, and a pungent blue smoke hanging in the air, but many victims were wearing slippers at the time.
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Woke up at: 0600
Mood: Koo chillin'
Listening to: The new Outkast album
Weather Report: Nice cool, sunny day
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: naikoteki = introverted
Japan News: HIROSHIMA - A U.S. Marine was shot and seriously injured early Sunday by an unidentified man in a car passing by as he was walking with two other Marines in downtown Hiroshima City, police said. The 21-year-old sergeant, whose name has not been released, and the two other servicemen are stationed at the U.S. base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and arrived in Hiroshima on Saturday evening for leisure. Iwakuni is near the prefectural border between Yamaguchi and Hiroshima in western Japan.
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.26.03):

Record: 4-2-1
Week 8 matchup: Jookies Cheddar (Jookie aka Jeff)
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Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.26.03):

Had the draft today. 1st pick. Click here to see the results.
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Current Book Status:

Cryptonomicon: page 1088
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News:

- CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MARLINS FOR WINNIN' THE WORLD SERIES! THE EVIL EMPIRE CHOKED!!!

- Here's an interesting link that Thuy sent me. Something for ya'll to read on your free time. It's filled with some pretty funny stuff. I especially like the hand-drawn pics.
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School, Ikko, Bazaar, International Festival, Kill Bill & NBA Fantasy Draft

10.24.03

Woke up at around 0630

Chatted with Russ and Tri for a little bit. Russ is goin' to Vegas for Derrick's bachelor party. Russ also told me that all his fish died! Right after he spend $130 on more fish!!! Ouch!
was giving Tri a hard time about Fantasy football and he was wondering if when I was going to be back so that we could have a QA dinner @ one of our favorite restaurants which is now in SF.

Was runnin' a little late, cuz I had take the trash out. Almost at Narita kaido, on my way to the school, I hear this soft voice sayin' something that resembles my name. The next thing I know, Mikie is pullin' up next to me on her bike. We have our greetings and at the same time, we both say that we're runnin' late. Upon reachin' MatsuKiyo, we went our separate ways.

Got to school in 2nd fastest time. A nice 3 min. My legs were about to go out when I was about 300m away. Luckily it's a slight downgrade. Got to school, found out our classes are only 45 min today. Takai and I taught the first class without the help of Takeuchi sensei. Unfortunately it was with 2-5, one of the worse classes which made it difficult to teach.

After school, headed to my dentist appointment. Had no idea it was just to check on my crown. The actual time in the chair was only like 2 minutes max! I ended payin' 150 yen.

Headed to the ATM to get some money to pay for my Yahoo!BB bill. Stopped over at Ikko for just one drink. Unfortunately the WHOLE crew was there: Shacho, Sensei, Otsuki, Yoko, Kita, Ezure, Mori, Kobi, Kohiyama and chi mama. Shacho wasn't kind to me. He kept refillin' my glass. Then Kohiyama san brought out some Chinese wine, which was pretty tasty. Then, Akastu san invited me to one of his local bars. I only went cuz I was concerned of his well-being. He was OVER. Met the mama san at the place and also met a Nanabayashi parent. His son goes to Nanabayashi elementary. Afterwards, headed to master san's bar. Met some new peeps and now I have my own sho chu bottle there. I was surprised to see Shacho and Mori san come through. Not sure how I went from only havin' one drink to ......????

I tried to catch Yu's crew performing on TV, but I didn't see them. I know I was watching the right channel and show, cuz it was a hip hop program. Oh wellz...shoganai


10.25.03

Woke up at around 0645 and worked out a little bit.

Headed to school. Today's the bazaar so there were tons of parents there settin' up. We had demonstration classes in the morning so some parents watched. 2-5 sucked as usual but 1-5 was kinda interesting because they made skits. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to screen the skits. One group, brought these toy guns in and acted out a bank robbery. Not too sure how the parents felt bout that. Oh well...shoganai

@ around 11:45, Takahashi sensei and I headed down to the bazaar. There were tons of stuff goin' on. All kinds of food: curry, yakitori, yakisoba, tonjiru, drinks, onigiri, crafts, clothes and tons of other stuff in the gym. Surprised to see Nakamura sensei come through. Mikie also came. But maybe was a bad idea, because ALL my students asked me if she was my kanojo (girlfriend). After a while, my reply came second nature...tomodachi da (friend). We had some tonjiru and yakitori. After that, we headed back to Takinoi and Mikie went to get her car so we can go to the multicultural fair @ Amanuma Koen which was sponsered by the International Relations dept. Saw my father's friends there. Had some grubbin' Chinese flat dumpling which tasted like gyoza. Saw some Chinese dancing as well as Capoeira. Mikie has never seen it before, so she really enjoyed it. After the fair ended, we headed to Makuhari cineplex to watch a movie. I recommended Kill Bill. I must say the movie is pretty dope. If ya'll haven't seen it yet, get yo self to the theater. It's a little gory for you weak hearted folks. I'm plannin' on watchin' it again. Came home, made some curry and called it an early night.

10.26.03

Got up pretty early, around 0600ish. Hopped online to do some last minute research for my NBA fantasy league draft. The draft went aite...I had the #1 pick, which I didn't want. Took KG. You can view the draft results here. Made some gyoza for lunch and headed out to Tsudanuma to look for books and pick up the new Outkast cd. While in Tsudanuma, headed to the new Jusco shopping center. Man, it's pretty dope! Found this store that specializes in foreign goods. I picked up: a bottle of Cabernet from Chili, spaghetti sauce, corn beef hash and maple/brown sugar oatmeal! I remember seein' this shoppin' center being built...but never thought it was goin' to be that gigantic! Anyhow, came home and made some dinner while bumpin' my new cd.

I have tomorrow off, so not sure what I'm plannin' on doin'. Maybe head to Akihabara to buy the iPod??? We shall see how I feel tomorrow morning.

Kaz out...

Can't believe I'm up @ 0600 on a Saturday!!! Argghhh....not I must get goin' to work. But today's the bazaar. Gots a long day ahead. Will update later, aite!?

Kaz out...

Days til I'm home!: 28

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Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
By the year 2010, each person is expected to generate 1,774 pounds of solid waster per year.
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Woke up at: 0600
Mood: Full and a little drunk
Listening to: Flow by Zion I feat. the Grouch and Goapele
Weather Report: Weather report said sunny, which it was for most of the day, but from out of nowhere came this phatty storm
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: tatoeba = for example
Japan News: CHIBA - The president of Ferrari S.p.A. said Thursday he prefers Japanese cars to be designed with uniquely Japanese features. "I appreciate Japanese car manufacturers when they do something in line with Japanese culture," Luca Cordero di Montezemolo told reporters at the 37th Tokyo Motor Show. He said he does not like Japanese cars featuring Italian or American designs because he cannot see much that is Japanese in them.

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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.23.03):
So I finally got a response from wholly sheet (Matt). The only words he had to say about talkin' all that shiet, was a personal email with only the BS in the body. Tsk tsk tsk...oh well...serves him right to talk shiet to me!!!
Record: 4-2-1
Not makin' any changes this week
Week 7 matchup: Jookies Cheddar (Jookie aka Jeff)
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Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.21.03):

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Current Book Status:

Cryptonomicon: page 1088
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News:

- NEW YORK - The families of two shooting victims have filed a damages suit against a Sony Corp U.S. subsidiary and others, claiming a popular videogame they marketed influenced the two teenage shooters to commit the crime. The $246 million lawsuit filed with a Tennessee court named Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc, Take-Two Interactive Software, Rockstar Games and Wal-Mart. The suit claims the game, "Grand Theft Auto III" inspired the perpetrators to shoot at cars and people, killing a man and seriously injuring a young woman.

- Sony, DoCoMo to ally for smart-card chip: The consumer electronics giant and the mobile communications company will team to develop smart-card chips that let consumers use their cell phones to pay for purchases, sources say. read more

- Nearly eight months after Google bought Blogger creator Pyra Labs, Williams is helping Google deploy the technology he built only as a side project in 1999--which is now part of a revolution in personal journaling. read more
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School, Yakiniku, School, Daisuke & Ikko

10.22.03

Found my hammatite ring in my sweats pocket! yatta!!!

Observed Takai's first class that she taught by herself. Even though it was her first class to lead, she still has a long way to go.

Made a cool spreadsheet for Takahashi sensei for the skit makin' exercise the student's are goin' to do this Saturday @ the bazaar.

For lunch, had some grubbin' fish, vegetables and miso soup. Sat next to Ha san and we chatted it up while Takahashi sensei thought there was an earthquake happening. He was the only one who felt it.

Met up with Suga san @ the Funabashi downtown intersection. We headed to the first yakiniku place that we went to. Miyazaki san and his kohai, Uenohara Takushi aka Takun came.
Surprised to understand a lot of the Japanese from most of the people. I still can only understand about half of what Suga's says. Anyhow, Miyazaki and Takun make a hilarious team. They complement each other well. Takun was keepin' me on my toes, by speakin' not only Japanese, but Korean and English. The conversation during dinner was very interesting. Just because we had Suji (a Korean girl from Pusan), 2 Japanese girls who are studyin' Korean, Suga and Takun's tri-lingual speakin', Maki's Japanese and good english, Miyazaki consulting his Korean dictionary while coming up with one liners directed towards Takun and my English and limited Japanese made for an interesting 4 hours of conversation. After wrappin' it up, Miyazaki and I headed home (he lives 5 stations from me on the Shin Keisei line)

10.23.03

Got to school at around 0715. Helped out Takai with the lesson plan. Today's first lesson went aite. Luckily it was with 2-2. They are one of the better classes.

What a great World Series game! I'm glad that the winner wasn't the evil empire! It's nice to see their hearts break. I just hope Florida has 2 more games in them.

Anyhow...almost finished with Crypto. It's gettin' more and more interesting. The ending better not be wack or I'm gonna be disappointed.

Oguro san came to me today and said that I had a guest. I wondered who the heck is visitin' me? It turned out to be Daisuke. He was one of the three students who went to Hayward to from Funabashi 2 years ago. It was good to catch up with him and since he was a Nanabayashi graduate, I took him on a tour of the school. A lot of things have changed since he was a student here. For example, there's a stage now in the gym and a cafeteria. Takeuchi sensei and Takahashi sensei chit-chatted with him about former teachers and stuff.

On my way home, went to MatsuKiyo for some groceries and went home for a little while. Then headed to Ikko for dinner. Mama hooked up a phatty feast for a measly 1000 yen (approx. $9). You can't beat that anywhere in Japan!!!

Well...i'm gonna call it a night. I'm pretty tired.

Kaz out...

Days til I'm home!: 30

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Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Last year, nearly 16,000 cheerleaders required emergency-room treatment for injuries, including sprains, torn knee ligaments, skull fractures, and even paralysis. One of the most dangerous routines - the Human Pyramid - has been banned in North Dakota and Minnesota schools.
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Woke up at: 0630
Mood: Kinda sore
Listening to: Joy by Talib Kweli feat. Mos Def
Weather Report: It was supposed to rain today but didn't.
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: zetai = absolutely
Japan News: TOKYO - North Korea fired a ground-to-ship missile with a range of 100 kilometers into the Sea of Japan on Tuesday morning, for a second straight day, Japan's Defense Agency sources said, citing unconfirmed U.S. intelligence. "We are aware of unconfirmed information of that nature. We are now trying to confirm it," said a spokesman for the Japan Defense Agency, referring to a report of a possible test-firing by Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) on its midday bulletin.
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.21.03):

Record: 4-2-1
Not makin' any changes this week
Week 7 matchup: Jookies Cheddar (Jookie aka Jeff)
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Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.21.03):

Dallas trades Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills to Boston for Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. This is goin' to be interesting to see how A.Walker fits in with Dallas.
Other than that, I've just been doin' research for the draft this Sunday.
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Current Book Status:

Cryptonomicon: page 1035
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News:

- Sony Electronics announced Monday two new rewritable DVD drives that can read and write to DVD+R media at 8X speeds. The drives support the DVD+RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW formats--the DVD+RW format includes support for DVD+R media. The $270 DRU-530A and the $350 DRX-530UL can fill an entire DVD+R disc in about 10 minutes, according to the company, and support DVD+RW and DVD-R recording at 4X speed as well as DVD-RW at 2X. The internal drive, the DRU-530A, will be available in December, and the external drive, the DRX-530UL, will be available in January.
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School, BBALL & TV

Got to school a little earlier than normal. Had my breakfast of 2 hard boiled eggs and chatted with Takahashi sensei about his wife's condition.

Mikami san is yet another person that told me that I look like this guy who plays the ukelele in this CM. Many students and teachers have told me this. It's now the main topic among the students. :( I'm still not sure if I've seen this CM or not.

I taught the ninensei today. Takai was caught off guard a little bit when Takeuchi sensei asked her to read aloud with us. She needed to read in a louder and clearer voice. In 2-1, I saw the students, well the ones who were payin' attention, start to grasp the concept. For some reason, the students always want to jump the gun in answering questions. When we had the words on cards with magnets on them, the students would have to put them in correct order, read it aloud, then explain the meaning. This one girl raised her hand before I even put the second card on the board! So I had some fun with her because she was got off guard. Luckily the sentence was a question so I had a question mark card which I put over her head when she was stumped. The students enjoyed it as much as I did. After school, went to play some ball for like an hour. 2 Nanabayashi graduates and 2 9th graders came to practice as well as the student teacher. After doin' the 1-on-1 drill, the boys' practice ended, but the we ended uplayin' 3-on-3; the grad students, 9th graders and teachers all split up. I was matched up with the student teacher, who, was drainin' 3s over me! I give her props and respect for that, BUT, when I got the ball, I had to get my dignity back even if it meant "breakin' ankles". Most of ya'll are gonna say (or said, Tri), "Hey! You hoopin' on a girl!" My response is, if you want to play with da boys, you're gonna be treated equally. Don't get me wrong, she has game, played a little college ball. For the most part, it was just good to play with people who have a concept of the game. But aside from all that, we had a good time and now I hope she has the same respect for me as I do for her.

When I got home, there was this interesting TV program on about this magician. He even showed us how he did some of his tricks. I must say, he was pretty darn good! The first of my TV programs started off by the hosts helpin' out people to find a new place and move. The one guy was able to wear a shirt with marijuana on it. In plain site and primetime! As for London Hearts, it was The Love Triangle show. Man...was this guy stressin'!!! Like I said in the past, London Beat never ceases to amaze me with what they come up with!

Aite, I'm outtie!

Kaz out...

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Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Draw-strings are a leading cause of fashion-related injuries.
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Woke up at: 0645
Mood: Full
Listening to: Work by Alicia Keys feat. Black Thought
Weather Report: Cloudy, then clear, then cloudy
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: yakusoku = promise
Japan News: TOKYO - Sony Corp has decided to slash 15,000 to 20,000 jobs groupwide, about 10% of its global workforce of 160,000, by the end of March 2006, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Monday. The major business daily said Sony also plans to cease domestic production of cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) for television sets by the end of next year. The electronics giant will announce structural reform plans featuring such measures on Oct 28.
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.20.03):
Record: 4-2-1
After all that sheet talkin', his words were meaningless
Week 7 matchup: wholly sheet (Matt) = 60
Me = 76
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Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.19.03):

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Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 991
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Kinshicho, Student Teachers, Basketball

10.19.03

Kinshicho performance
I kinda lagged in gettin' to Kinshicho, so I just missed Testuo's performance. As long as I didn't miss Hideki's performance, it was all good. Hideki performed another english song which was a little bit better than the other one he did a while back. On his last song, I noticed that he stopped playin' for a second and I wondered if he messed up. What happened was that one of his strings broke on his guitar, but he non chalantly removed the string and picked up right where he left off! I gotta give him some props for makin' the best of what he had. It started to get a little bit chilly, I was only in shorts and a t-shirt, but when the wind wasn't blowing, I was koo. The weather reminded me of your typical city weather back home. After Hideki's performance, Kaoru, Ikko and I went to the supermarket (which was in the basement of the shopping center; that's how many grocery stores are in Japan) for some juice. Had some freshly sqeezed apple juice, Ikko had strawberry and Kaoru had grape. While waiting for the drinks, I was checkin' out the food and ended up buyin' some fried chicken which was hella good! For the last performance, all the performers sang a song together. We (Kaoru, Ikko, Rika, Reina, Mai and I) headed to this one restaurant and had some drinks and food while we waited for Hideki and his manager, Akiko to come through. When we got to the restaurant, I found out that Hide was coming too. I haven't kicked it with that guy since we all went to Odawara. The food and drinks were good and it was koo to kick it with Hide when he's drunk. On his way the to the restaurant, he was all hyped cuz he saw Winds (an all female dance group) and made sure that everyone knew he caught a glimpse of them. The early part of the conversation was focused on Ikko and was not of the "clean" kind. Even though I could only understand about half of what was being said, based on the gestures & reactions, I was able to grasp all the good parts. Was totally surprised to find out how old Rika, Reina and Mai were. But Hide's reaction towards how old Reina and Mai were, was classic. Found out that Reina and Mai were, 19 and 20, respectively. The kicker for Hide was when I broke it down in terms of grade difference. That being, while we were a koko sannensei (senior in high school), Reina was 5th grader and Mai was a 6th grader! As for the food, this was probably the most dishes I've ever eaten at a restaurant. It ranged from: oshinko, karaage, eihire, maguro, daikon salad, tsunagimo, asparagus wrapped in pork, nagasaki yaki soba, tomato salad, cheese & crackers, and many more that I can't really remember. Talked with Mai a little bit and she asked me what state in America I'm from. Before I could answer, Akiko busts out that I'm from San Francisco. Mai then tells me that she went to San Francisco when she was in the junior high as part of an exchange program. As always, I had to explain my reason for coming to Japan, since everyone I meet asks me this question, it's gotten to the point where it's like a file on my "hard drive" that I can just bring up when the time arises. Talkin' some more with her, found out she's an engineering major. I was like, whoah, you must like math, huh? They also taught me how to make this bird out of a napkin. A little hard at first, but after a couple of attempts, I was able to make it. But Rika and Ikko were tellin' me that my bird's head was too long.

Hideki asked me all these questions about greetings and other common phrases which I had to update his vocabulary, because they were a tad bit old. Also during this time, Hideki was displaying his zippo tricks which were koo. It was funny to see Ikko and Mai try these. Akiko was surprisingly skilled at it This only my second time meeting Akiko, the first being Hide and Hirotaka's performance @ the Brave Bar. However this time, she drank a little bit
..well...more like a lot. It was funny to see the buzzed phase slowly turn into the drunken state. However, she was very friendly and I found out that she works for Seagate in Japan as a prime distribution executive. She then proceeded to talk about her life story in a nutshell which was quite interesting. When we finally left (we were at the restaurant for about 5 hours!), we had some trouble tryin' to figure out how to distribute the bill. For 5000 yen (about $43), takin' into consideration all the food, drink and great time I had, it was well worth it. After helpin' Akiko down the stairs, we all headed to the train station. Hideki, Akiko and I were takin' the train, while Ikko, Kaoru and Hide are riding the bus. We said our goodbyes (I taught them another farewell handshake) and Hide hopped on the local Sobu to Shinjuku, while Akiko and I took the rapid Sobu. She was headin' to Ofune (which is like an hour away on the rapid!) and I was headin' the other way to Tsudanuma. Headed home, checked some last minute football stuff and crashed out.


10.20.03

It's payday baby!!

This morning, like everyone morning for the past 2 weeks, some mothers are outside at the front gate, greetin' students and teachers. I've never seen anything like this back home...maybe they did it, but I don't think so. Got into the teacher's room and noticed 3 new faces in the room. Then I remembered that we're having another set of student teachers. When the teachers' meeting began, they had to do their introductions and I instantly saw this one girl who stuck out of the crowd...but wait...it's not the way you're thinkin'...hehe. This girl was kinda...ummm...how should I say...hefty? I instantly knew she was the P.E. student teacher. Is that a bad thing?
Had a couple of classes with Takahashi sensei. We went over some new sentence patterns and assigned them a skit project for this Saturday's demonstration classes for the parents. I like havin' 2nd period off, because it makes the day go back a lot faster. Takeuchi sensei introduced me to the English student teacher. She was surprised that I was the ALT for some reason. Her name is Sato Takai. Standin' in the lunch line today, some 9th grade girls were tryin' to compare their height to me. They keep on sayin' that my hair gives me more centimeters. When I got to the lunch room, I saw Takahashi sensei but was quickly intercepted by Sato san who wanted me to sit next to her. She of course, asked the usual questions but the funniest thing was I told her I was from one of Funabashi's sister cities, she thought I was from Odennse (the sister city in Denmark)!!! I hate to compare on a first impression, BUT, Rina's english was a lot better than Takai's. And also...Rina is a lot cuter! Went to bball practice but totally forgot that they have singin' practice. But the students told me that there's still practice. I got to put the Huaraches in for a test run. I tired out way too early today. I did the 2-man drill with the student teacher. She has some skills. I need to see her in game time action to make a final decision. I couldn't even finish the 3-man drill. I had Yumie-chan sub for me. Later on, we had 1-on-1 drills and in the final rotation, I went up against the assistant coach. He has some pretty good game and our matchup was pretty even. The practice was cut short a bit for some reason. We didn't even get to scrimmage! :( But I did get to shoot around with the student teacher. She has a wicked 2 hand set shot from deep. She was even usin' a guy's ball! It's gonna be fun playin' with her in the next 3 weeks. Afterwards, went back to the teachers' room and spoke with Takeuchi sensei about tomorrow's lesson. Then headed home and on the way, saw Takai and walked with her to Yakuendai eki. I accidently told her Yakuendai was closer than Narashino but oh wells. Talked to her for a good amount of time. Found out that she's itnterested in a private English teacher. After droppin' her off, headed to MatsuKiyo for some drinks and a finally broke down and bought a good knife. I must say it was a good investment. It makes cookin' a whole lot easier! Came home and cooked up some salmon and vegetables. Watchin' this TV program about money management...pretty interesting. Puts things in perspective especially if you have a family.

Wellz...I'm goin' to take a shower now. Here's a joke my mom sent me. Enjoy!

MIND OF CHINESE

A Chinese walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he is going to Taiwan on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the Chinese hands over the keys to a new Ferrari parked on the street in front of the bank. He produces the title and everything checks out. The loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the Chinese for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the Chinese returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, "Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multi-millionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The Chinese replies: "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Ah, the mind of the Chinese...


Kaz out...

Just got back from Kinshicho. Too tired to update. Ya'll gotta wait til tomorrow. I'm callin' it a night.

Kaz out...

Yanks LOSE!!!

The evil empire loses game 1.

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Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
While a person's happiness fluctuates, everyone has a naturally set level for happiness--much like body weight. So if you're generally an unhappy person, get used to it.
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Woke up at: 1030
Mood: Happy
Listening to: Art of Storytellin' by Outkast
Weather Report: Clear and warm
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: = the Japanese equivalent to the english: "un~", "non~", "de~" for anti
Japan News: CHIBA -- A policeman fired a shot at a knife-wielding boy in a police box Saturday afternoon after the teenager slashed the officer while trying to steal his gun, police said. Both were injured, but their wounds are not life-threatening, according to prefectural police. read more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.19.03):
Record: 3-2-1
Should be an interesting weekend
Week 7 matchup: wholly shet (Matt)
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Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.19.03):

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Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 991
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Sunset Cruise, Ikko

I had a lot of time to do stuff cuz my gas shut off suddenly. So I cleaned up my apartment. Got a lot done. Unfortunately, I had to take an cold shower which didn't help when it was 17 degrees in my apartment!

Around 3ish, went to go pick Kaoru up at Yakuendai eki. First time she's been to a place in Funabashi other than her uncle's house. My town is zenzen chigau (totally different) than Asakusa.

She brougth some anmitsu over which was pretty interesting. It was all separated by ingredient. After devouring that, we headed to JR Funabashi to go pick up Aki and head to Tajima's office. Since Aki had to wait a bit, she ended buyin' a purse @ Tobu. Met up with Tajima and then took a taxi to Funabashi harbor. Since Ikko couldn't come, Kaoru's father (Kazue's younger brother) came. After we waited for it to stop sprinklin', we all boarded the boat and headed out. There were about 60-70 ppl on the boat, all with grubbin' food and drink, and there was even a band that played. Tajima instantly brought out the champagne and Ando brought out the food. As part of the cruise fee, we all got some yakitori and beer. After the champagne was gone, Tajima brought out some cabernet but broke the bottle opener! @ around this time it started to rain again. Everyone brought out their umbrellas. We were around Makuhari at this time. We were supposed to make our way to Disneyland so that we could see the hanabi, but the weather wouldn't permit us. So, Ono san turned the boat around and put it into high gear. With everyone being sloshed at this point, this old man gets up and starts dancing to the music. The next thing I know, everyone is gettin' up to dance. Luckily I had my camera to capture the moment. When we got back to the harbor, we all headed to Tajima's house. It was very natsukashii for me cuz I haven't been there in a long time. About 30 min later, Setsu came back with Uro san. We chatted it a bit, but I kinda dozed off in Tajima's chair. Uro san then took me home (in her dope Prius) and I had her drop me off @ McDonalds cuz it's too tough to go to my apartment. Headed over to Ikko and the crew was there: Shacho, Kita, Sakamoto, Mori, Ezure & Noboru. They gave me a hard time for just drinkin' ocha, but I wasn't feelin' the alcohol anymore. Not sure if it's good to mix: champagne, wine, beer with sho chu. Ya'll feelin' me on this one? Mama hooked me up with oshinko and kaki. I then headed home and was about to go to sleep, but I ended up messin' around with iTunes for a while. I also downloaded this short film about The Matrix from Fanimatrix. I must say that it was pretty well done giving the resources that they had.

This morning, mailed Takahashi sensei about my apartment's gas problem. He walked me through the process of resettin' the gas. 3 min later, I'm cookin' up some gyoza on my range! No more cold showers! Wellz...bought to go get ready to head out to Tsudanuma to check out the book prices then go to Kinshicho to see Hideki and Tetsuo's performance.

Kaz out...

Aaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!! The gas is out in my area! I can't cook breakfast or even take a hot shower!!!

Just a reminder, if ya'll are interested in an guestbook, please leave feedback!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
A Harvard Medical School study suggests that women who drink at least two cups of coffee a day are less likely to commit suicide or get into fatal automobile accidents. Other studies indicate that CAFFEINE impairs a woman's fertility.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0645
Mood: Full
Listening to: Hip Hop Mix 2002 by Tweekstah
Weather Report: Nice clear and sunny day
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: hi~ = the Japanese equivalent to the english: "un~", "non~", "de~" for anti
Japan News: TOKYO - Tokyo stocks rose Friday, with the key Nikkei index ending at a 16-month high on buying of high-tech shares and companies with better earnings prospects. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average edged up 12.74 points, or 0.12%, to close at 11,037.89, its highest finish since June 13 last year. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) gained 3.74 points, or 0.34%, to 1,094.59, its highest close since June 11 last year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.17.03):
Record: 3-2-1
Should be an interesting weekend
Week 7 matchup: wholly shet (Matt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.17.03):
Gee finally signed up. So now we have a full league of 12 coaches!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 977
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School, Ikko, Toraimu, School, Ikko

10.16.03

Yesterday was a pretty busy day @ school. We played the telephone game with the 7th graders but in the 4th class, we returned their tests. A lot of teachers and students have nicknames, and in this class, we have two of the funniest. One boy looks like your typical local Hawaiian and the other looks like an eskimo. That's where their names: Hawaiian and Alaskan come from. Unfortunately they both did terrible on their tests. After school, I had an ALT meeting @ city hall. Ihato sensei want to touch upon things that we shouldn't say such as "stupid", "hanged" (as in hangman) or victim. Then we talked about other bad influences such as piercing and tattoos. This started this whole discussion about how Japan schools are very different than our home countries and how things need to change. Incidents such as an elementary school student wielding a 12" kitchen knife to teachers not smoking in designated areas. Luckily my boy Mark and Kareem spoke up, cuz I was gettin' fed up with all these stupid Brits & Australians bitchin' bout this and that. Do they realize that we're not home? We're in a foreign country and in foreign countries, peole do things differently. we're not there to discipline students, that's the teachers' job. We're only there to teach English. Our opinion will be heard, but don't get me wrong...our little opinion is not goin' to make a difference. Just deal with it!

Headed to MatsuKiyo for groceries and then headed home. Then I went to Ikko to chill, saw Kobiyama san, Hashimoto san and Chi Mama. Mama had the day off. Sensei came by later and we chatted it up. Afterwards, Hashimoto san and I went to Toraimu and I brought a bottle of wine for Yoko san and Georgia. Had a pretty deep conversation with Yoko san about Japan & America, their social and economic status, etc., while Georgia had no interest and Hashimoto san passed out at the bar.

10.17.03

Today, woke up, put my laundry outside to dry and got to school just in time. Found out that Takahashi sensei's wife, Masako, had to be taken to the hospital, so Takahashi sensei took nenkyu (vacation) so that he could take her to the hospital. They think that she has tonsillitis. She has to be in the hospital for a week. Anyhow...I had to teach the 7th grade, lower elective class by myself. I tried to do a review, but the kids were just not willin' to be quiet and participate. Luckily Takeuchi sensei saved the day for me. For 5th period, it was the 9th elective class that I was plannin' on teachin'...but my little siesta after lunch lasted a little too long and I scrambled to get to the class in time. To my surprise I saw Takahashi sensei there! I was like...ummm...what are you doin' here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital? He decided to come back to school cuz there wasn't much else he could do. For the class, we played the telephone game but used some interesting sentences rangin from: "I know a boy who is called Denchan" -> "Masako is at a hospital that is called Tokoshukai" -> "My uncle who killed a tiger is a very good hunter". For the most part, the student's did a pretty good job. In this particular class, we have many of the bukatsu (club activities) team captains: baseball, soccer, softball, orchestra, track and field, student association and there was another which I can't remember right now. After school, I had a dentist appointment. They put on a temporary cap for my tooth. Not sure how much longer I'm gonna have to keep going to them. It would normally be a hassle, but when the appointments only last 10-15 min., it barely takes me out of my schedule. Afterwards, headed home for a sec then went to Ikko for dinner. I was too tired to cook tonite. Saw Mori san there and he immediately informs me of two nights ago at the festival. He was breakin' it down to me about how Kobiyama san shouldn't have been talkin' way too much to Mikie and I while we were tryin' to watch the dancing while he was drunk! It wasn't as bad as he put it. Mama hooked up the dinner tonight: salmon, oshinko, gohan, her famous miso soup and some of this interesting new kind of sho chu. What she failed to tell me was that this particular sho chu is a little different. She then shows me the bottle...or should I say jar with about 50 wasps just chillin' in the bottom. I was a little shocked to see that however the flavor of the sho chu was aite but it was strong as hell! She also brought out some young pumpkin seeds which tasted like senbei. Afterwards, was a little tired, so I headed home. Found out that Yankees won, in 11 innings, by a first-pitch homerun by Aaron Boone! Man! The team that I despise most is now in the World Series! Baaahh!!! Played a little bit of Street and bouts to call it a night. Tomorrow, Kaoru and Ikko are comin' over before the cruise and Aki is gonna meet us @ JR Funabashi station. Wellz...gonna call it a night now. Peace!

Kaz out...

Just got in...however it's been a long night. Will update tomorrow, aite? Crashin' out!

Kaz out...

Just a reminder, if ya'll are interested in an guestbook, please leave feedback!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Each year, you face a 1 in 13 chance of suffering an accident in your home serious enough to require medical attention.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0545
Mood: Was tired but now feelin' content
Listening to: The Zephyr Song by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Weather Report: Nice and clear
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: odori = Japanese classical dance
Japan News: Japan will give 1.5 billion dollars (165 billion yen) to Iraq in 2004 to help rebuild the war-torn country, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda announced Wednesday. The chief government spokesman told a news conference that the money would be used to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure such as electricity and water supplies, as well as to restore basic services, including health care and education.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.15.03):
Record: 3-2-1
Should be an interesting weekend
Week 7 matchup: wholly shet (Matt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.15.03):

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 900
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Shikyoken & Jimei Jinja Matsuri

Takahashi sensei was goin' to pick me up @ 0700, so I had to get up really early. The vice principal was surprised to see me so early...I was the 4th teacher @ school this morning. Anyhow, we only had one class today because of the big chu kyo kyo or shikyoken @ Narashino dai chugakko. Takahashi sensei told me sit with him @ the chairman's table and we had to sit through a couple of presentations. The first one tried to be all nice and technical with video clips of their classes on DVDs, unfortunately they had tons of technical difficulties which made their presentation drag past the alloted 1 hour. Anyhow, after the first presentation, we had lunch. I went with my buddy Mark, another ALT, to the local bento shop which was hella cheap. I got a good sized katsudon for about $4! Mark, Sam, Takahashi sensei and I ate together in the gym while talkin' bout Japan's current events. The next presentation was much better but at times it was a little difficult to understand. Probably because the food coma was startin' to set in. From that point on I was strugglin' to keep awake while there were discussions about the presentations. What woke me up was this one teacher from Katsushika junior high. Not only did I notice her cuz she was really pretty, but when she gave her two sense, she said right off the bat, "Since there are many ALTs here, I'm goin' to speak in English!" I was like WHOAH! Easy rider! what's goin' on? After hearing her talk (in perfect west coast English) and catching all her little "whatever"s and her strong attitude towards the city's choice of english texts, she definitely had my attention. I'm 100% sure she studied on the west coast and about 90% sure it was in California. But since all the subsequent teachers spoke all in Japanese, I slowly went back into my food coma. When the 6 hour meeting finally ended, Takahashi sensei and I went to Cocos for a snack and of course their drink bar. No no no...no alcohol, but unlimited coffee, mochas, coke, calpis, tea, etc... We saw a lot of other teachers from the meeting there. The highlight of that time was when I was explaining to Takahashi sensei about these cushions I'm lookin' at gettin'. As I'm describing the dimensions in relation to the table, I suddenly see the table jump up and blop right back down, followed by massive side to side motions. It was an earthquake! Lasted a good minute or so. I was used to the side to side motion, but never once experienced the ground goin' up and then crashin' down like it did in the beginning. Hearin' the waitresses in the kitched scream hightened the overall effect.

Takahashi sensei dropped me off at the house and I was so tired from the meeting and wanted to take a nap. Right as I was about to go to sleep, I decided to text Mikie and ask her if she was interested in attending the local matsuri. when I tried to go back to sleep, my ketai rings and it's Suga san. He's tellin' me that Setsu has arrived in Japan...uh...I kinda forgot that she was coming today. Whoops! Anyhow, he reminds me about goin' to yakiniku next week and I swear this guy thinks I'm totally fluent in Japanese by talkin' to me HELLA fast. He expects me to remember the first time we went to yakiniku about 5 months ago. I was like...err...uh...no I don't remember where the heck that place is!!! He finally tells me to meet him at the main intersection in downtown Funabashi. The next thing he wanted to talk to me about was the International Relations department's Culture festival in Amanuma Koen on the 25th of this month. I told him that I was busy cuz I have my school's bazaar that day too. The times happen to be exactly the same! Doh!!! I'll get back to this later...

Right as I get off the phone with Suga, I get a text from Mikie. She says that she just got off of work and is down to go. Tells me to meet her @ Yakuendai eki @ 1840. Meet up with her and we head out to Jimei Jinja Matsuri. Most of the Ikko family was there. We got some takoyaki and walked to the dry cleaners' vendin' machines to get some drinks and we chilled on the bench. After we finished the takoyaki, we got some okonomiyaki and watched the people sing karaoke and some odori. Kobiyama san was there, drunk off his ass and started to talk to Mikie and me. Remember, this is the guy that I can maybe understand about 20% of what he says! He was babblin' off to Mikie bout something, but she did her best to be nice. She told me afterwards that she can't even understand him and she's Japanese! The next dance was done by Mama's odori teachers. One, dressed as a guy and the other a girl. Their dance was dope, funny and long. An interesting love story dance that involved a parasol and katana! During the lulls of the song, I could hear Takahashi's (Ikko family, not sensei) wife givin' her support by being the loudest one there! After the dance was over, she comes up to me, gives me a hug and tells me to go to Ikko and have a drink with the family...and bring your "friend". I had to tell her, "ummmm...maybe next time, Takahashi san", the last thing I need is to get Kobiyama san talkin' out of his @$$ to her again. As we walked back to the bench to rest, saw Otsuki san (one of Mama's odori teachers who just finished dancing) and she tells me that I'm lucky it rained yesterday, otherwise I would've been up on that stage dancin'! She also tells me that I have no excuse next year! That she would give me personal lessons as an incentive. Now I'm stuck!!! Couldn't say no to her. Afterwards, we just chilled while she taught me Japanese and I taught her English. I don't know what it is with Japanese people, but they always want to find a celebrity that you look like. She told me that I look like Matsuzaka Daisuke. This isn't the first time someone has told me that, so now I'm really startin' to believe it a little bit. Anyhow...I to respond by askin' her who people thinks she looks like. She said Ichiro, but only his eyes when he was young. She also said Musashimaru, a sumo, but again, only his eyes when he's squintin'. Yet another person she said that her friends think she looks like is Go Morita (a member of a Japanese pop band) but this time, only her hair when it was short. So I was like...how bout a famous girl? She thinks for a bit and remembers that her friends say that she kinda looks like Konishi Manami. She kinda does but she kinda doesn't. Guess that's the same how I feel about Matsuzaka Daisuke. Anyhow we headed out and called it a night.

Came home, checked my email and watched some ESPN Motion highlights (ya'll gotta get that add on, it's dope!).

Wellz...got a long day tomorrow, callin' it a night yo!

Kaz out...

Just a reminder, if ya'll are interested in an guestbook, please leave feedback!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Only a few years ago, cooking hamburders at 140 degrees Fahrenheit was enough to kill most harmful bacteria in the meat. But now burgers must be cooked at 155 degrees for at least 15 seconds to destroy Escherichia coli O157:H7, an emerging, deadly strain of bacteria.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0650
Mood: Anxious (to get tomorrow over with)
Listening to: Wheelz of Steel by Outkast
Weather Report: Rained all day
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: kuse = smells bad
Japan News: TOKYO - Domestic shipments of cell phones rose 24.5% in August from a year earlier to 4,148,000 units, extending a rising streak to 10 months, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said Tuesday. Shipments of cell phones excluding personal handy-phone system (PHS) handsets rose 22.4% to 3,988,000 units for the 11th straight monthly gain, the association said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.14.03):
Record: 3-2-1
Scruff had no chance!
Week 6 matchup: Scruffs Minions (Don) = 12pts
Me = 44pts
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.14.03):

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 900
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Misc News

Apple moves to support DVD + RW format:
After years of backing only one format in the recordable DVD format war, Apple Computer is adding limited support of a rival format into its operating system.

Sony's toddler robot makes strides:
It dances. It can hold a conversation. And in about a year, humanoid robot Qrio will be knocking on doors, if Sony's plans fall into place.

Bluetooth has security gaps:
A report released this week by digital security firm @Stake argues that devices that are equipped with the short-range wireless technology, Bluetooth, could be easily attacked. The report highlights experiments showing that devices boasting the technology can be detected easily and, in some cases, that personal data from the gadgets can be downloaded.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kawasaki

10.12.03

Had a little difficult time gettin' to Brian's station. But I finally go there after gettin' on the wrong train.

Got to his place, it's a 1K w/loft. Pretty cool layout and real cozy. Brian's buddy, Q, came through. Q(uentin) is a koo kat; born and raised in Detroit, Moorehouse educated, mathematics major, hip hop head, plays hoop and talks a lot of $H!t. Another ALT came, Ken, came through. Ike(moto) a.k.a. Mr. Random; JA, born and raised in Hawaii, UH educated, AA major, speaks pretty good Japanese and not too bad in Tekken.

We cooked up some lunch while we played Street and Tekken. I didn't fare too well in Street, so I had to redeem myself in Tekken. Went 20-1! At around 0000ish...B's friends came through but unfortunately he was already out when they got there! So Q, Ike and I had to be the host for these 4 girls. Teaching them some slang.

10.13.03

The next day, Q came by and I cooked some stir fry. We had to go to the supermarket to get the vegetables and meat. Unfortunately, it was pouring outside! By the time B and I got back, our shorts were soaked! Cooked up some eggplant, green peppers, onions, chicken, mushrooms and bean sprouts. Got Q's approval. After lunch, Q and B went to the video store to get some movies to watch. When they got back, Q was all pissed off. For some reason, on the way there, the road to the video store was flooded about a foot and a half. On their way back, not more than 10 min, the road was fine! Anyhow, we watched Daredevil and I Spy. What sucked was that B's VCR was trippin' out. He would have to rewind, frame forward to get the picture back. This always happened at the best scenes of the movie. As for Daredevil, I've already seen it but it's always nice to see Jennifer Garner lookin' beautiful! As for I Spy, we all agreed that Jamie Foxx would've made the character better than Eddie Murphy. All in all...the movie was kinda wack. Owen Wilson's witty humor was nothing short of what I expected from him, Eddie Murphy was ok and of course Famke Jennsen looked gorgeous. Afterwards, we went to Q's and Ken's apartments for dinner. Q made some bomb @$$ real American spaghetti and Ken made various kinds of garlic bread. Kickin' it with those guys totally made me feel like I was back home, hangin' out with the fellas. Since most of my friends here are Japanese, it's very rare that I get a chance to talk to other people in good 'ol American English, who are the same level. Finally got a chance to listen to the new Outkast and Gang Star, pretty dope I must say.

Afterwards, B escorted me to the station and I headed home. Found out an easier way to get to B's now. So much better than the way I came. Also found out that my train line has a new schedule out. There are now 3 trains leavin' Shin Tsudanuma after 0000! Now when I go to Tokyo, I can stay out a little bit longer. I finally got home around 0030 and quickly checked my email, chatted to some folks and called it a night.

10.14.03

Takahashi sensei and I returned the exams to the students today. Most of the students have digressed for some reason. Gonna have to take a different approach to teaching now. For the 9th grade elective class, we played this game where Takahashi sensei or I would write a topic, then the students would have to write a sentence describing the topic. I decided to split up the cliques in the class to make it a little more interesting. The topics we used were: Miyahara sensei (9th grade social studies teacher, soccer coach, very strict but popular), English, pets and places you wanted to go. We got some interesting sentences for each of the topics.

On my way home, stopped off @ MatsuKiyo for some groceries. Had some karaage and made sauteed potatos and onions. Just finished ironin' my shirt tomorrow. We got the big city junior high school English meeting. Well...gonna call it a night cuz I gots to get up pretty early cuz Takahashi sensei is pickin' me up @ 0700!

Kaz out...

Just got back from Kawasaki. Too tired to update, need to get to bed.

Kaz out...

Just a reminder, if ya'll are interested in a guestbook, please leave feedback!

----------------------------------------------------

I'm off to Kawasaki now. Will update ya'll when I get back tomorrow, aite? Peace!

Kaz out...

Just a reminder, if ya'll are interested in a guestbook, please leave feedback!

----------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Deadly new germs are emerging around the world at a startling rate. Equine morbilli virus, which causes a potentially fatal respiratory illness, was discovered in Australia in 1994; blood banks do not yet screen for recently discovered Hepatitis G.; and Bartonella, a bacteria discovered in 1990, can cause illnesses ranging from cat scratch fever to fatal heart-valve infections. Humans are exposed to this germ from cats carrying infected feces. Medical researchers are baffled and expect to see many more unknown mysterious diseases.
----------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0710
Mood: Tired
Listening to: Beautiful by Mary J. Blige feat. Blackstar
Weather Report: Cloudy then rained a little bit
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: =
Japan News: OSAKA - Osaka city officials have decided to temporarily add a sloped edge to Osaka's Ebisu Bridge to stop people walking sideways along it and leaping into the Dotonbori River after Japan Series baseball matches, it has been learned. The modification to the bridge is expected to be completed on Oct. 17, a day ahead of the start of the seven-game series on Oct. 18, officials said. Read more

Japan ties Romania in soccer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.11.03):
Record: 2-2-1
Scruff's made some last minute changes to his roster but he's still goin' down!
Week 6 matchup: Scruffs Minions (Don)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.10.03):
Nothin' new
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Natsuki-chan, Volleyball, SWAT, Dinner

woke up way too early today. While I was gettin' ready, I turned on the TV to see what was on. I flipped the channel to Sailor Moon. I remember Takahashi sensei tellin' me that one of the 7th graders is pursuing an actin' career. To my surprise, I saw her on Sailor Moon! I couldn't believe it, so I texted Takahashi sensei to turn to the channel 6. She's not a main character but nonetheless, she's on TV! Gonna have to tell her on Tuesday that I saw her.

Headed out to Makuhari, got picked up by Sho. Went to pick up Ami and headed to the gym. Most of Ami's team is injured, so there were only 4 girls. It's been a while since I played, so it took me a long, long, long time to get back in the rhythm. My diggin' really sucked along with my passing. Hittin' drills went on for days, but I regained my timin' so it was koo, definitely a step in the right direction. After the 4 hour practice, I was exhausted. I'm totally not in vball shape.

Afterwards, stopped by the local convenience store for a light lunch. Man, the convenience stores' food in Japan taste so much better and are healthy too. Went back to Ami & Sho's to eat and shower. Took a little nap, then headed to Makuhari Cineplex to go watch S.W.A.T.. It was a lot better than I expected. It wasn't bad. I always like seeing Michelle Rodriguez in a strong female role. ;b It was funny to read the Japanese subtitles for some of the lines that were used in the movie. Slang/Ebonics don't translate well. During the previews, got to see the LotR: RotK trailer. I must say that I was impressed. Hopefully when I go back home, I can get to see both LotR: RotK and Matrix Revolutions. Afterwards, we went to Ito Yokado to buy food for dinner. Ami's brother has moved back home from Aomori and got a new job and new notebook (to add to his 5 that he already has!) It's always koo to talk to Hide because he's a tech that loves gadgets. 7 computers, 4 PDAs, 3 digicams just to name the stuff he has. I have no idea why someone would need 7 computers, but hey, if you were makin' over 100k/year, it's all good, I guess. We had a phatty feast! Chuu Toro, various yakitori, yaki tamago, negi toro maki, roast beef, shrimp, meatballs, potato salad and washed it down with a couple of Chu His. Then the food coma hit and both Sho and I knocked out, him on the floor and me on the couch. Sho wanted to watch K1, so he told Ami to wake him up, but he was out like a light. They had some American movies on TV tonite. The first one was the Princess Diaries (in Japanese, it's called the Pretty Princess) and Shallow Hal. Ami took me back to the station and I went home.

On my way home, I saw Shachoo, Mori-san and Sakamoto-kun coming out of Ikko. Sakamoto-kun then drags me back into Ikko and the usual Saturday crew was there. Had some ocha w/Mama then headed home. Walked Kuro-chan home cuz he drank a little too much. 10 large Kirins! Fortunately, he lives in the general direction my apartment, but I was shocked to see that he only lives about a 30 sec walk from Ikko!

Well...bout to crash cuz I'm way tired! Headin' out to Kawasaki tomorrow.

Kaz out...

Aite...woke up before my alarm and couldn't go back to sleep.

Checked my email and Tri has made a comment about integrating a guestbook feature into my blog. He says that maybe some of you out there are reluctant to leave feedback because you feel that it's limited to just that post, for that day.

Before I do this...I'm goin' to take a feasibility study.

Are ya'll gonna actually use it? (end of feasibility study)

Leave feedback. I'll put this as a header to all of my posts for the next 2 weeks. If I get feedback from people other than: Tri, Thuy or Eric, I'll heavily consider putting up a guestbook, koo koo?

Aite...gotta get ready to go play volleyball.

Kaz out...

----------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Women are more than twice as likely to climax during intercourse if their partner has extremely symmetrical features. Men with extremely symmetrical features are less attentive to their partners and more inclined to cheat on them.
----------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0700
Mood: Tooth kinda buggin' me right now
Listening to: Revolution (B-Boy Anthem) by Zion I
Weather Report: Beautiful day
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: karaamai = spicy and sweet
Japan News: TOKYO - Combined shipments of beer and "happoshu" low-malt beer in September rose 2.5% from a year earlier for the first year-on-year gain in five months, according to data released Friday by Japan's five top brewers.

Beer and happoshu shipments by Kirin Brewery Co, Asahi Breweries Ltd, Sapporo Holdings Ltd, Suntory Ltd and Orion Breweries Ltd totaled 538,465 kiloliters in September.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.10.03):
Record: 2-2-1
Nothing new to report
Week 6 matchup: Scruffs Minions (Don)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.10.03):
We gots 11 peeps now!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Midterms, Dinner w/Junko & Natsuyo

Last day of midterms @ school today. Most of my friends' schools all have midterms next week.

Brought my notebook into work today. Got to put some descent time in on ver.2 of my metric program. Gotta keep practicing so I don't forget it.

Had Yakiniku bento for lunch today. Today it came in a container almost twice as big as before. Not sure if we actually got more though. Hmmm....

Read bout 100 pgs in Crypto. If I read that much, you know what I thought of it. (pg.770)

Went out to eat with Junko and Natsuyo. Went to Yumean, ate dinner and talked for about 4 hours. It was my Japanese lesson and their English lesson. Good times yo!

Well...gonna crash, gotta wake up early, can't be late meeting Ami & Sho @0845 to go play volleyball. She always gives me a hard time whenever I'm late.

Kaz out...

----------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
One in six adults has agreed to sex because they were just too embarassed to say no.
----------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0605
Mood: Chillin'
Listening to: Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru
Weather Report: Cold in the morning, then got crisp and clear
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: gogo = afternoon
Japan News: FUKUOKA - A counsel of 503 lawyers from across Japan has been formed to help a Fukuoka boy and his parents who filed a damages suit Wednesday against a teacher for allegedly telling him he should kill himself because his ancestor was American. On one occasion, the teacher, noting the child's great-grandfather was from the United States, told him, "You have filthy blood. Go jump off from your condo building and die," the suit says. read more here
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.09.03):
Record: 2-2-1
Nothing new to report
Week 6 matchup: Scruffs Minions (Don)
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Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.09.03):
Just signed up with some old co-workers and friends from Sac in a bball fl. Should be interesting.
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Midterms, Ikko, Torarimu

This mornin', was able to chat with Jim (worked with @ Prima) and we talkin' ffl trades. For some reason I offered him: Eddie George, Nate Burleson and Seattle Def for Tampa Bay Def. Hmmm...after doin' some research...I found out that Seattle D is just as good as TB's. I'm probably gonna reject the trade. Also found out that my buddies from Prima are goin' paintballin'. Damn...that's another thing I miss doin'!

Today was midterms in Industrial Sciences, English and kokugo (Japanese). We had a listening test for the 7th and 8th graders. For the 7th graders, Takahashi sensei read the question while I read the answers. There were only 4 problems but I made them very similar so that it would be hard to differentiate. What was funny when I finished the last question, Takahashi sensei and I both realized at the same time that the final question's answers didn't contain a correct one. More on how we fixed the problem later. For the 8th graders, Takeuchi sensei read all these dialogs and the students would have to choose from a set a pictures that described the dialog. I noticed that Takeuchi couldn't memorize the dialog so he had to look at the sheet when speakin' his lines. This resulted in his mouth being pointed away from the mic which we found out later that it was hard to hear what he was saying. Oh wellz... After the readings, Takahashi sensei and I went to each classroom to reread the saigo mondai (last problem).

Shiga sensei (9th grade Japanese teacher) asked me to help her with a recommendation letter for this one girl who's leaving next week to go to high school in Malaysia. Though she's learning English now @ NOVA, it was still a little tough to communicate with my broken Japanese and her broken English. But I finally understood what she was tryin' to say. Gotta find some of my old recommendation letters for review.

For lunch today, went to eat soba/udon with Ito sensei & Takahashi sensei to this place close to school. Found out some koo stuff bout Ito sensei. He's a black belt in Shaolin Kenpo! He has a hella clean TL equivalent Honda. I had Tempura Udon. Takahashi made sure that they didn't overcook our noodles this time. That's one of the worst things you can do to noodles. Hard noodles are so much better yo!

When we came back, I helpe Takahashi sensei correct the midterms. My girls: Ha san, Kinouchi san & Mikamiyama san disappointed me. I was expecting 100's from them but they made some stupid mistakes. I gave Ha san a sabisu (free) point on her spelling of favorite = favourite (which I think is from her British English). What was shocking is that the boys were the ones who got 100's. I did get to see how the students think by way of their notes. Also, some of their answers had Takahashi sensei and I rollin'! The best one was by Kiyoura Natsuki. The topic was "how many...?", "Is he/she...?", "There are...", etc... The sentence went like this: ___ ___ children do you have? Her answer was this: CD's Mr. children do you have? (Mr. Children is this music group)

Got some more readin' done in Crypto. This book gots me hooked yo! One of my next books was goin' to be Quicksilver, another Stephenson book but the majority of reviews has said that it sucks @$$!!! Hmmm...so what should be next? I'm probably gonna go with Snow Crash. But ya'll can browse my wishlist and send some comments this way of what book you think I should read next.

After gettin' 4 classes graded, Takahashi sensei said we should go home cuz he'll finish the rest @ home. When I looked at my watch it was almost 1700! The teachers are allowed to go home @ 1500! So I decided to have dinner at Ikko tonite. Had some salmon, genmai gohan, takuwan, nasu miso shiru and this other dish which I forget the name of. As always, it was grubbin'.

Got a text from Brian Sato, a guy a grew up with back in days. He's an ALT, in his 4th year, teachin' in Kawasaki. Supposed to kick it with him this weekend. We have another holiday this Monday, Taiiku no Hi Health Sports Day.

Went to Torarimu to give a bottle of wine to Yoko san, but unfortunately she wasn't there. However her mom and dad were there. At first it was kinda strange, but when I told them about myself and sat down to have a glass of Kubota, things got a lot more relaxed. I totally forgot that Yoko and Georgia were goin' to Thailand for vacation. They'll be back tomorrow. But it was good times talkin' to her parents and gettin' to know them. Afterwards, on my way home, I saw Kohiyama san and Kita san coming out of Ikko. They told me it was last call, but I was koo. I just talked with Mama a bit over some tea and she brought out some Murasaki imo (purple potato) chips and some other very old, not so famous snacks. She gave me the bag of murasaki imo chips and then I helped her close shop. Just got home a little while ago...might read some more Crypto before callin' it a night.


Misc. News:

- Chapter 10 of Ninjai came out. There was finally some action. Took them about 4 chapters of BS before they got to it though.

- WTF is goin' on back home? Arnold Schwarzenegger is now the Governor? I wish I was back home so I could vote for my dawg, Gary Coleman.

- A Californian company is applyin' an idea from Victorian enginnering to solving a ky stumbling block in the development of high-performance chips--how to cool them down. A pretty interesting article if you're interested in computers. Read more about it here.

- In Vietnam, a girl was burned when her Nokia phone exploded! Ouch!! All you Nokia users beware! Read more here.


Aite...gonna crash now.

Kaz out...

Woke up not too long ago...

Some things to note:

- DSL connection has been suckin' @$$ these past couple of days

- Don sent me his DVD list...does anybody out there have more 688 titles? More if you count all sets/series

- Jim offered a trade to me; Travis Henry for Tampa Bay Defense. As much as I would like to have TB Def, I can't party with my main dawg, yo! Plus I gots KC & Sea D


Kaz out...

----------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Nearly a third of all bottled drinking water purchased in the United States is contaminated with bacteria.
----------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0620
Mood: Koo koo
Listening to: Forever My Lady by Jodeci (Don't ask why I'm listening to all this sweet shiet lately)
Weather Report: San Francisco weather, cloudy and chilly
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: gozen = morning
Japan News: Casio Computer has become the first cellular telephone maker to announce a handset that can capture still images at 2-megapixel resolution. The announcement comes only been six months since the first cellular telephones to feature megapixel-class digital camera functions were unveiled and narrows the gap between cellular telephones and consumer digital still cameras. The phone is on show at the Ceatec Japan 2003 exhibition, which opened Tuesday just outside of Tokyo. The higher-quality image sensor on the phone means it can produce images of up to 1,600 pixels by 1,200 pixels resolution (UXGA), Casio said in a statement. That's higher resolution than the 1,280-pixel by 960-pixel (SVGA) managed by most of the latest models from competitors such as Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Electric, and Sony. In addition to the highest quality mode there are five additional picture-taking resolutions including a 320-pixel by 240-pixel (QVGA) mode to match that of most cellular telephone screens and a 1,280-pixel by 320-pixel resolution panorama mode. Other camera-like functions include auto focus, a digital 10X zoom, digital movie function, and a number of picture taking modes, such as "close-up," "evening," or "portrait." Images can be stored in the telephone, which has a 12.8MB memory area for users, or on a Secure Digital memory card. The built-in storage is enough space for 32 images taken at the highest resolution, said Casio. Images can be moved to PCs or other devices via a USB connection or the SD card. By moving to 2-megapixel resolution and with the addition functions, the phone is getting closer in specification terms to a conventional digital still camera, particularly lower-end models. For example, Casio's Exilim EX-S2 has a similar resolution image sensor but a 4X digital zoom. But some useful features are missing on the cellular telephone, such as a flash. Current top selling digital camera models generally have a higher resolution, between 3 megapixels and 5 megapixels, and have many more complex functions. That means the Casio phone, and other 2-megapixel handsets that might be launched in the future, won't replace your digital still camera but they can do a pretty good job as a substitute. Other features of the clamshell-style handset include a 2.2-inch main display with QVGA resolution and a 1.1-inch sub display. It measures 2 inches by 4 inches by 1 inch and weighs 4.2 ounces, said the statement. The A5403CA has been designed for use on KDDI's CDMA2000 1X network in Japan and is not compatible with other networks, either in Japan or overseas. It is expected to go on sale in Japan in early December for between $90 and $180 after a retailer subsidy. Ceatec 2003 takes place between October 7 and October 11 in Chiba, Japan.
Hmmm...I wonder if I can go to this. It's only 15 min away by train!
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.08.03):
Record: 2-2-1
Picked up Rod Smith again to fill my gap @ WR.
Week 6 matchup: Scruffs Minions (Don)
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Takahashi Sensei Wrecks Shop!!!

All I have to say is WHOAH!!! Today was the first day I saw Takahashi sensei blow up. Let's just say, if we were in America, he'd be in jail! Since the kids have their English midterm tomorrow, we made a review sheet for them today. Unfortunately the three kids in the back kept talkin' and joking around. At that time, Takahashi sensei just said to, "please be quiet and listen". So I then walk to the back of the class, to make known my presence. Since my position was in the far back, I was unable to see the faces of the students. Moments later...I see Takahashi sensei race his voice a little bit, then storms down the aisle to the three students. He begins with a little lecture, then raises his voice a little bit, (at this moment, they are all silent), then focuses his attention on this one girl. He asks her what is so funny. She quickly replies "sumimasen deshita"...but then Takahashi sensei mockingly mimicks her, "sumimasen deshita" (in a little girl's voice). Then the action starts! Takahashi sensei raises his voice pretty loud tellin' her if she wants to play, to go out to the the grand (the field) to go have fun and then proceeds to unleash a quick knee lift causing her desk to go up and then kicks her chair which makes it move about a foot. The next victim is the girl in front of her. He then lectures in her face, and then proceeds to grab her closest sleeve and jam it up to hear ear. Her upper torso was about to go horizontal but then this is what surprised me, she grabs his arm and makes a dirty face at Takahashi sensei! Inside, I was like, "oh no she didn't!" Lucky for her, there was still the boy left to be fffed with. Takahashi casually makes his way to his desk. Gets in his face, orders him to go run outside. Right after this, he pulls the chair out from under him causin' him to practically fall! Now the kid is standing, Takahashi continues with his lecture, then grabs his chin and pushes it away. Man, Takahashi sensei had me juiced from all this action! I guess ya'll had to have been there, I'm glad I had a front seat to this show! But lately, the kids have been acting up in all of the classes. The respect has gone down a bit and the students have been takin' advantage of the always nice and happy Takahashi sensei. Hopefully this sets the tone for the rest of the semester. They have now seen what Takahashi sensei can be like if you upset him. Just writing this review makes me a little jittery.

Since we finished the test...I had some free time today and was able to put some good time into Crypto! The story is gettin' better and better! I'm startin' to see the how Stephenson is tyin' the 2 main storylines together.

Chilled out on the balcony today with Takeuchi sensei and he told me the history of Honda Motor Co. A pretty interesting story about the founder and how he ran the company in a different way than most companies at the time. Maybe I'm totally outta the loop, but did ya'll know that Honda makes airplanes?

Let's take a moment of silence for all the bay area baseball teams that failed to advance. As well as the sorry @$$ football showing this past weekend.

Some other news I came across today:

-Valve was hacked and about 1/3 of Half Life 2's source code is now supposedly out on the net. Anybody try it out yet?

-Sony announces newer models of their ultra portable TR series notebooks. Still a little pricey, but it's a dope system.


Well...I'm gonna go read some more Crypto.

Kaz out...

----------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
If you sneeze to hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
----------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0645
Mood: tired
Listening to: Could This Be Love (Quiet Storm Mix) by Seduction
Weather Report: Cold in the morning, warm late morning then cold afternoon
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: wagaya = my home
Japan News: Playing with the future

Sony Corp unveils the new game machine "PSX", the next generation of PlayStation, during the CEATEC JAPAN 2003 technology trade exhibiton at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Sony said on Tuesday it would begin selling the "PSX", an all-in-one game console and entertainment system in Japan by year-end, in a bid to boost the company's sagging electronics sales.
This should be interesting
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.07.03):
Record: 2-2-1
Yeah, that's right, you saw it...a TIE!!! This isn't hockey or soccer, WTF!!!
Week 5 matchup:
Sakamoto Samurais 49:
japanimal: 49

Week 6 matchup: Scruffs Minions (Don)
I picked up Quincy Carter and dropped Jeff Blake but I still need to pick up another WR for next week. Any suggestions?
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School

I feel really bad today. After playin' ball yesterday and strippin' the ball away a little too far away from Aida kun, I find out today that his finger is in a splint!!! I wanted to find and apologize to Abiru sensei but he ended up findin' me first in the cafeteria. After he put up an angry front, he said it was all good and not to worry bout it cuz things like that happen. But I still feel bad. :(

At the morning teachers' meeting, found out that the 2 notorious girls (these 2 9th graders, who are always gettin' into trouble) got caught last night shoplifting about $160 worth of stuff! What the hell were they thinkin'? Another thing that I see different in the Japan school system compared with the school system back home is that the homeroom teachers are a lot closer to their students. The teachers in Japan are like 2nd parents to these kids. So the homeroom teacher of the girls took the whole day off to settle things with the principal, vice principal, 9th grade head teacher and the parents of the kids.

Was a little bit busy today, finishing up the listening part of the midterm. After that, Takahashi sensei and kicked it on the balcony while he taught me some new phrases and I taught him some slang and chat emotes. I still can't believe he got rofl, though I gave him some hints, he got it. Now I owe him a beer.

Since the weather was a little cold today, I decided to make sukiyaki. It was quite grubbin'.

On TV, there's this little documentary on about Pioneer Electronics. Showing their EL technology and how it's made. Pretty dope.

Well...I'm gonna crash now. Late!

Kaz out...

----------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Some 3.7 million Americans claim to have been abducted by aliens. Most found it a positive experience.
----------------------------------------------------
Woke up at: 0635
Mood: hara ippai (Stuffed) and kinda sore
Listening to: Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Weather Report: Pretty cold today. Rained a little bit
Japanese Word/Phrase/Food of the Day: aniki = older brother
Japan News: CHIBA: The Chiba District Court sentenced a 53-year-old man to the statutory maximum term of 15 years in prison on Monday for killing five pedestrians while he was driving drunk.

According to the ruling, Yutaka Wajima, who was intoxicated with alcohol, fell asleep at the wheel last Dec 9 and hit and killed the five pedestrians in the city of Matsudo in Chiba Prefecture. The prosecutors said Wajima's drunken driving was equivalent to reckless murder, while his lawyers argued that he has admitted to all charges and regretted his behavior.

Last time I checked...killin' 5 people has a sentence of more than 15 years!
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Fantasy Football Update (as of 10.02.03):
Record: 2-2
Goin' into MNF with a lead of 18 pts...but Ko still has Manning. He'll need to throw at least 2 TDs.
Week 5 matchup:
Sakamoto Samurais :
japanimal:
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BBQ, Ikko, Torarimu, School, BBall, Phatty dinner

On Sunday, headed out to Mizumoto Koen to kick it with Ko, Rieko, Marty and friends. Got to meet the new JET ALTS in Saitama. 2 new guys, one from London, the other from Ohio (Ohio is the sister state to Saitama Prefecture). Rupert is a total crackup. His british lingo kills me! We instantly saw eye to eye. Alex, the guy from Ohio, is your typical computer science geek, who has worked for PeopleSoft in Pleasanton for a couple of summers. He also noticed me reading Cryptonomicon, so he asks me, "So...are you in the tech field?" "Uhh...yeah man...I am. MIS, u?" "CS." Which was the start of your typical geeky computer conversation which involved programming, hardware, video games, etc. What was funny is was able to tell that I was California! Hmmm...do I look that californian?? I also got to see Yuriko again, she gave me this long 'ol explanation of how she was upset that I never emailed her back...but hey, she had the wrong email. This was the time when my Yahoo! account was buggy. She introduced to her friend Miho and we chatted for a bit. Sarah was there. She's from Australia, but her Japanese is chou pera pera (HELLA good yo!). I was introduced tone of her friends, Hide, who thought I was either from Hawaii or California. WTF! I guess I'm your typical looking Asian from the 2 most populated states! Also go to kick it with Hideki...man that guy is something. He says the off the wall things, ALL the time, drunk or sober! But I did find out from him that he traveled all through Cali & Nevada by car 2 years ago. Next thing he wants to do is take a motorcycle and travel across the whole U.S.! I give him props if he can do it. So it was a bbq right? The had some yaki niku, yaki soba, chicken, chicken nuggets, potatos, liver, pork...pretty much anything you can think of. Rupert, Ko, Marty and I played some football. Each takin' turns being the QB, WR and DB while one person would rest. After that, went back to chill and get a drink. Then I see Rupert rockin' out and then I notice Offspring playin'. This guy loves Offspring and Greenday. So I had to tell him that Greenday claims Berkeley, but they're really from Crockett. (Thanks Don & Tri!) We then headed out to play some frisbee. Ko and I were a little more advanced then the girls and guys, so we played away from the "rookies". We kept tryin' to catch the frisbee behind our back, under our legs, etc. It's been so long since I've played frisbee...chou natsukashii yo! Afterwards it got pretty dark, we all decided to head back.

I came straight back from Kanamachi eki while gettin' some good reading done on the train. Crypto is gettin' dope. For those of you who enjoy readin', like tech and WWII history, it's definitely a book to check out! I'm almost halfway through...pg. 455! Thanks again Tri for recommending the book!

Came back, decided to go to Ikko. Had some food, a little drink, then headed over to Torarimu (the name of the okonomiyaki and monjayaki restaurant that Hashimoto took me to last, last saturday) cuz I was craving my Kubota. Chilled and chatted with Yoko-san and Georgia and met Yoko-san's friend. Came home and crashed out!

This morning, got up, got dressed and headed out. I remembered to pack my bball clothes but totally forgot my breakfast!! Luckily it was a very light drizzle this morning and I was able to make it to school before it really started raining. Today's schedule was pretty crazy. Takahashi-sensei once again got mad at the students because lately, the classes have been more like a jungle. So in the first class, the students just weren't gettin' the point and he was gettin' frustrated. So he "tagged" me and I had to "jump into the ring" and try to explain to the students in a different way. With a little bit a Japanese and some weird looks, they finally got it! Yatta! I also got to teach with Takeuchi sensei. ninen nikumi (2-4; 2nd year, class 4) is always a pleasure to teach. They're fun, enthusiastic and always want to talk to me. Since this week is midterm week, students are not allowed in the teachers' room. After class, all the 7th, 8th & 9th grade teachers got together for their monthly meeting which lasted a couple of hours. However, I went to the gym to play bball! :) Only got to warmup a little bit before Nakayama kun tells me,"Kebin, reddo!" So the next thing I know, I'm playin' center and have to guard the biggest guy on the team. There are only 2 8th graders that I have their shiet together. The others...can't protect the ball and make some of the most terrible decisions I've ever seen! I try to help them, but they only retain half of what I say. Aso-san, he's the assistant coach jokes with me about how some of the kids are atama warui yo! (stupid, dumb) Anyhow, practice was cut short cuz the kids have to study...hehe, yeah right! Came back into the teacher's room and started plannin' the listening test for the 7th graders. Takahashi sensei came back from the meeting and we joked around a bit before I headed home. My back started to act up and my arm was still a little sore from throwing that darn football so much, I was way too tired to cook dinner. So...can you guess where I went??? Hmmm...that's a tough one, huh? Ikko of course.

Mama instantly knew that I was tired so she hooked up a feast for me. she started off with this new dish called sui ton (sp?) which is soup with these bread like pieces in it. GRUBBIN'. Next up was my favorite, natto tempura. GRUBBIN'. Next was saba yaki, ohitashi and miso shiru. GRUBBIN'. For dessert, it was oranges and kaki. GRUBBIN'. Hashimoto, Sensei, Kobiyama, Muraguchi and this guy (who's name i forget) who loves to fish. He wants to take me the next he goes. I was really tired after eat that meal, so I headed home. Took a shower, checked my Fantasy football league, caught up on some emails and bout to call it an early night. Aite ya'll...til next time.

Kaz out...