------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Draw-strings are a leading cause of fashion-related injuries.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.19.03):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 991
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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...
Daily excerpt from The Paranoid's Pocket Guide:
Draw-strings are a leading cause of fashion-related injuries.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fantasy Basketball Update (as of 10.19.03):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Book Status:
Cryptonomicon: page 991
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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...
This entry was posted by kaz, on
月曜日, 10月 20, 2003.
You can leave your response.
