End of the School Year

I know I am not supposed to have favorite classes, but I do. Does that make me a bad teacher?

2008-2009 HR 23 and I just clicked. We were able to have lots of fun in class and still get a lot done. They made my classroom atmosphere so much fun and Mondays didn't seem so treacherous since I would see them 3rd period. I will miss them this new school year.

Here we are doing the "Daigo Pose". Daigo is a Japanese pop-star/TV guest star whose only reason for being famous is that his grandfather was a former Prime Minister. Daigo makes a trademark pose that looks like Sign for "I love you" but reversed with both hands crossed. Kinda cool looking. By the way, I am in the middle.

And then we had the "Baka-Kao" pose. Baka in Japanese means "stupid" and kao is "face". I have this picture on my desk at school and it gives me a good laugh in the morning as I start my day.

Thank you HR 23 for making my first year so great!

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 5

So what would a vacation be without a sweet photo of the view from my Sapporo Sheraton room?

There is a family-fun area on the outskirts of Sapporo called Tsudome. I tubed down the second-from-the-right slot. I think I squealed the entire way down too.

I think James, Rae, and I waited a good 1 hour for 10 seconds of fun.

Totally worth it says I.

And the famous Ramen Street in Japan.


Butter-corn Ramen. Why are the Japanese obsessed with corn?

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 4

The Snow Festival is the IT winter event in Japan. Here I am standing in front of the Tokyo Disney Castle (not quite to scale). The kanji to the left of me is yume which means "dream".

And accompanying Disney characters. Sorry, Donald got cut off a bit.

Honoring Kousuke Kitajima, gold medal winner of the breast stroke and thus Japanese hero.

Half-snow and half-ice sculpture with interior lights. SUGOI!!!!

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 3

Rae and I toured Sapporo Tower after our meat coma.

And here is the view by night. Sweet huh?

View of Odori Park, place of the snow sculptures.

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 2

So what does it mean "Genghis Khan Feast"? It means 2.5 hours of all you can eat grilled lamb and veggies and drink bar. Seriously, it was A-MA-ZING!!!

It's so beautiful!!! *shiny anime eyes*

This is HALF the group that went to the Yuki Matsuri.

The other half is sitting behind me. I am such a cheese... Oh, and the bib is a must. And I did NOT drink beer. Ew. Gross. I drank Coca-cola.

Back from the Grave - Yuki Matsuri Part 1

Hokkaido is known for its white chocolate so my friends and I went to the factory. Outside there was a tube snow slide. Rae is having a good time.

Inside, I definitely felt like I should be singing songs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Thankfully, neither myself or my friends came close to temptation by our greed.

At the top of the factory was a cafe. We had hot chocolate and dessert during afternoon tea while a blizzard stormed outside. It was totally white!!

My strawberry tart was even tastier than it looks in this photo. Be jealous.

Misuse of the ALT

JTE: Jill-san... uh... would you be so kind to help me with something?

Me: *in the midst of grading essays about eco-friendliness and final exams* Certainly. What kind of help do you need?

JTE: Ah. I am so glad you said you would help. I need you to help me with a test.

Me: Oh, like recording?

JTE: *starts to look nervous* No... uh... I need you to... to... well... *hands me books and some papers* ...Here are the test materials for tomorrow. Please make a test for me and leave a copy on my desk before you go home.

Me: Uh... (Teacher's name)... why is it that you need me to make this test?

JTE: Oh, well.... *a lot of deep-breathing through the teeth* Well we do not, uh, have classes today.... so.... I am taking nenkyu to go home early.

Me: (Teacher's Name) ... let me make sure I understand what it is you need "help" with. You need ME... to do YOUR work... so you can go home EARLY? *gestures to the piles of papers on her desk*

JTE: *pause* I see. Well... thank you for your help. I will see you tomorrow.

If this JTE really is going to be my Supervisor next year, I might try to catch a deadly disease.