Since I haven't posted a lot this month...
Friday, February 27, 2004
12:21 p.m.
I'll take some time today to let everyone know the news that's been going on around Matsuyama. Well, first of all, Niihama city was pretty fun, I think. The school is a bit smaller than our school, and they have more kids classes, so I got to teach lots of kids last weekend. The students in Niihama were really nice, too and the other teachers and staff at the school were a lot of fun. All in all, it was a bit relaxing in Niihama, except that I had a bit of a cold, and the second day of work, I couldn't find the shopping center where the school was... so I was a minute or two late. It's not my fault, I think, because nobody ever gave me a map of how to get from the apartment that I stayed at to the school, so I was on my own for the whole weekend. One of the other teachers showed me the way from the school to the apartment after I finished my first day, but I made one mistake the next morning, and poof, I'm out in the middle of Nowhere, Niihama, and don't know where to go from there.
Well, ranting aside, getting back to Matsuyama felt good. It's just the nice feeling of being back home in a familiar town with some familiar people. Also, this month has gone by really quickly, but I've already broken my end-of-the-month budget. Spending that time in Niihama helped my budget a little, but coming back to Matsuyama broke it in two when I met my friends for drinking and a few games of pool...
Well, time to get to work and start my day. See you all soon.
-GTM
News in brief...
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
10:53 a.m.
Lord of the Rings finally came out to theatres in Japan just this past Saturday. I still haven't seen it yet, though, as I'm expecing a huge croud at all three theatres in the city for the next week. I might get a chance to see it this weekend or next week, though. For the moment, I'm content to continue renting movies, though, since it's a hella lot cheaper than going to the theatre. The other day, my roommate rented The Boondock Saints. If you like LockStock or Snatch, I highly recommend this movie.
On Saturday, though, I head up to Niihama to work this weekend. Niihama is a mid-sized city on the North side of Ehime, and their Nova school needs teachers this week and next. Since Matsuyama school is the biggest school in the area, we've been sending a few teachers over to help cover their open shifts.
*So Pat, tell the man what he's won*
*Bob, he's just won a weekend trip for one to beautiful Niihama for four glorious days and three wonderful nights*
*AUDIENCE APPLAUSE*
Actually, my roommate went last weekend, and it sounds like it's a really nice school, so I'm looking forward to Niihama. And the best part, is that Nova has to pay for my tickets, AND they have to give me free classes to allow for the travel time going to and coming back.
I may have found a place where I can hook up my broken laptop and send pictures back home, so I might stop by later today and sign up, but probably nobody will be online, and my computer's monitor is broken, so I'll see what I can rig up for next week.
That's all the news from here (well, most of it, anyway).
I don't care... it's still chocolate
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
12:41 p.m.
So, in Japan on Valentine's day, girls have to give chocolate to all their guy friends. People who are just friends get cheap obligation (義理チョコ) chocolate, and boyfriends get expensive or homemade (手作りチョコ) chocolate. So when I invited one of my friends over to my house to help with her English, she brought a huge bag of cheap chocolate. I don't care! It's still chocolate. Some of my students and friends think that I'll be getting a lot of chocolate this weekend, but I'm not so optimistic; I'll settle for one ton rather than two.
Joking aside, I'm so glad that today is part of my weekend. I made it safely through the 13 days straight work, with a little help at the end from a few bars that I went to. One of our teachers quit this past week, so we had a going-away party with 飲み放題 (all you can drink); much drunkenness was had, and there was much rejoicing.
Today is my brother's birthday, so Happy B-Day little bro. And yesterday was my sister's and grandfather's birthdays, so Happy birthday to you guys, too!
So here's to Birthdays, Valentine's and weekends!
