Here is a video slide show that I have been working on. It has all the pictures that I took during the sports festival last week. It also includes the videos that I shot with my digital camera. I don't think it's that good, but hey try to enjoy it! haha
Wow! Thanks so much to everybody who has left me comments on the last post. It was really nice to get some feedback. I guess sometimes you just need a little encouragement. Keeping a blog is not so easy. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong. It's just that it's nice to know that some one else is enjoying it as well, or learning something, you know?
Special thanks to the blog reader "gabe" who left a comment. He said he is a loyal reader and I don't even know him! So thanks Gabe! ! :) I appreciate it! If you need any advice on the JET programme, let me know! That reminds me. I know some people are stumbling onto my blog looking for information about Japan or the JET programme. If you are one of those people, leave a comment and ask me some questions. I will do my best to answer any questions about the grueling application process. Or even simple tips that will help you succeed at the interview. Also if you are coming to Japan in the near future, it's best to start preparing now. So let me know if you need some advice. I will be more than happy to help! Once again, thanks everybody. I will be back soon with some new goodies, or lame stories, or something! haha Meanwhile, I have to get some sleep. I'm waking up at 4:00am to watch USA vs. England in Soccer(football)! Hell yeah! Take care everybody!
Well hello random people that read my blog, and regulars. Did you enjoy my previous post? The one that took me hours to do? Well I wouldn't know... anyway
The past few weeks have been really nice. I became an uncle, my brother and my mother both graduated from college. My cousin(more like sister) got a new job and my fathers car finally got painted. Ok, I know that these things haven't happened to me personally but I still feel quite happy about it.
Personally, my work has been quite good lately. I couldn't ask for better students or teachers. Well, I guess I could, but why?!?! haha The sports festival was excellent too. I've even managed to meet an amazing girl. Wow! :)
Have you been keeping up with Science and Astronomy news? Of course you haven't! Did you know that I am a big space freak? Well, just to let you know over the past 10 months, a probe has been flying 400 million miles to the beautiful red planet called Mars. This probe landed on Sunday May 25th 2008. It landed in the northern Arctic regions of Mars to study soil and water ice underneath the frosted soil. Damn, I hope they can find something! One day we will find something, I know it! Anyway, the probe has sent home some pictures from our lovely neighbor Mars!!! Would you like to see them? Then visit this website
It's quite amazing I think. And even if you aren't much of a space freak like me, you will find it remotely interesting. While you are at it, why don't you leave a comment on my blog? I'm losing interest in making this blog lately. Well, anyway take care all. Stay safe and if you have time at night give some love to the stars above your head. Don't forget they are there ok.
Well I have arrived home from today's sports festival. I can tell you that today had these things involved:
Sun Sun Burn Running Jumping Laughing Crying Friends Family Eating oh and sun BURN!! :D
and the most important thing that was present today was:
the love and heart of the students from Matsubara High School
Today was just very nice. Remember on the previous post I said that there really wasn't any real sports in sports festival? Well, there really wasn't many real sports. That didn't matter though, the games that the students played were very fun.
There were four teams, blue, red, yellow and green. Each group had the same amount of students and they were all mixed up with different grade levels. Each team had a mascot and a theme. The students worked so hard to create these mascots. They created everything for the sports festival, it's just amazing.
There were about 10 different events, a lunch break, class dances and final relay races. Some of the events involved
*giant jump ropes *throwing bean bags into a basket *two people tied at the legs relay race *club relays *large scale tug of war *scavenger hunt *obstacle course race
I ran in the Club relay race with the international club. It was really fun, and we won the race! :) Our shirts looked pretty cool too!
The end of the sports day all the students sat down in rows with their team. The leaders of the teams sat at the front of the rows. The leaders of the teams were all seniors. That meant that it was their last sports festival at Matsubara High School. ..
The winners were announced for various categories like *best dance routine *best mascot *best poster etc...
The students (leaders) that won were quite shaken up (crying) when they won. At first I thought it was a bit of an over reaction by the students. I will talk about this later...
The final award was for the most points. The winner was the Green team, second place was Blue, followed by Yellow and Red. The Green team was so happy, they all spread tears of joy and also sadness (for the seniors) because it was the final sports day for them in high school. All of the hard work, staying at school everyday until 8pm working on the sports festival paid off. They all worked so hard!
At the end, all the senior students lined up in a large row. While the younger students all sat down looking at them. This was a traditional way to end the sports festival. I thought it was pretty standard until the end. Each senior student yelled out messages to people. It's very difficult to explain here. Each student would step up and yell a message to someone. For example thanking a teacher for the 3 years, or saying I love you to his or her best friend. They relayed words of advice to the younger students and there was not a word being spoken. Complete silence, everybody was listening. I didn't understand everything exactly but just seeing the faces of each speaker was enough. They showed so much love, joy, pain, happiness, longing and heart. I remember I was watching one the members of the basketball club yelling a message to his friends. (they weren't using mics just their own voices) He said something like, "I'm going to miss my friends, but they will always be in my heart when I leave this school". After he said this he started to cry so hard. Just watching him, I felt so bad. If you could have only seen how much they really meant every word!!! It's so fucking hard to explain right here on this blog. All the senior students were so Happy to finish and do well in the the sports festival, but the heartbreak of realizing "this is it". It was just too much for them to bear, so they just had to cry. I found myself shedding a tear or two as well.
Today was a rush of emotions. I learned a lot about Japanese culture today. I might not be able to explain it very well, but I know deep inside me I have been changed somehow. Days like these make me realize why I came to this country. Some of my friends here in Japan say that they hate where they teach. They say that they have bad students and that they don't care about anything. DAMN, I must be so lucky. Because the students at my school are amazing. They have a lot of heart, and sometimes...that's all you really need.
peace
vince
p.s. i'm going to make a video slideshow with all the pictures ok. so be patient... in the mean time enjoy a few photos that i took.
p.s.s. oh and i took a few photos of ridiculous outfits and sportswear, so they will be in the slideshow ok :) don't worry hahaha :)
*****just to let you know that they students at matsubara high school have colors to differentiate grade. for example the seniors wear red, 2nd years are blue, and the 1st years are green. So that is why students have different colors of pants.*****
bean bag throwing game
two people three legs race
obstacle course race
good times
relay run
kickin' it in the sun
pre race festivities (well not really festivities)
(go vince go!) a dictionary was our baton! haha
the posters that the students created (the final score was what you see there)
Green are the champions
Green celebrates
Students Speech at the end (everybody is listening, some are crying)
Blood, Sweat, Tears (hey this really is sports)
this video is of the opening ceremony
the next video is of the ending when they are in line giving the messages if you want to see more videos click on "MENU" inside the video player and my other videos will appear on the right side. there are more sports festival videos, so please watch them
So Today is the day before "sports festival". All the students were practicing for the games tomorrow. As for me, the exchange students and I all made t-shirts for the relay race we will run. We decided to paint our countries flags on our shirts. On the back of the shirt we had our names in Japanese, the team name, our number and our made up sponsor! It was really fun to make. We named our team "the superbads". Of course, in reference to the hilarious 2007 Comedy movie called "superbad". We even drew a fake brand name on our shirts. My sponsor was "McLovin". There was also Mister Donut and McDonald's! We had a great time making these shirts. Afterwards we went to McDonald's!! Well tomorrow is the Sports Festival, so look forward to some good stuff soon. See you, and HAPPY 88Th BIRTHDAY GRANDPA (yes i called )!!!
Remember I told you that this Friday at my school is a sports festival? Well I was told today that I am going to run a relay with the "International Club". Which is the 3 foreign exchange students and me. We are going to make shirts with our countries flags on them and out "baton" will be an "English to Japanese Dictionary." hahah I think that will make everybody laugh. So definitely watch out for those pictures this weekend ok!
Since the sports festival is on Friday, there was practice today. So EVERY single student and teacher (except me) went outside and did... I have no idea what they practiced. It looked like a jumbled mess out there. And of course the teachers ALL had to change into their "sports clothes". Some of these dudes seriously looked like they were going to run a damn marathon or something. Every one running around like they are in a rush to do something (they aren't). I just sit on my desk and laugh. One lady walked into the teachers room. She had on one of the most RIDICULOUS hats that I have ever seen. It was like a fisherman's hat, except that the "bill of the cap" didn't even cover her face. I'm telling you it was soooooo ridiculous. She had sunglasses on and these sporty looking shoes on. All just to stand outside in the 75 degree weather. The damn hat was even bright white! Anyway, you can just imagine the types of clothes I saw. I should have taken a photo, but I will do that on Friday! :)
Sorry if it seems that I am complaining here. It's just that somethings are so over done here it's unnecessary. My week has actually been quite good. Life is going well. I hope your life is going well too, where ever you are. Oh on a random note, I was looking at my visitor map and I always see Virginia, Singapore and Thailand. Do I know some one there? If not say hi sometime! I would like to meet some people that stumble upon my blog. :) Well take care everybody!
peace
vince
p.s. i always see people (especially little girls) wearing PLAYBOY clothes. with the PLAYBOY bunny on it. i find it so hilarious...apparently word hasn't gotten around in Japan that PLAYBOY is a PORN MAGAZINE! haha
p.s.s. sorry for all my rants today :)
p.s.s.s. does any one that reads this play on Xbox LIVE? if so, let me know so we can play!
Hello all! Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Again it's been a slow week here in Japan. Many of the students are busy preparing for the big "Sports Day" next Friday. Sports day in high school here in Japan are very popular. I've heard that there really aren't any real sports played by the students. Just a bunch of obstacle courses to run through. I'm not too sure how this goes but next weekend expect some pictures and videos! It should be very interesting.
I went out last night to Namba and I went with a special friend of mine. We went to my favorite bar called Bamboo. The place is so small but the it is a very intimate place. I have made friends with the owner and we chat about life and just random things. Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of his bar ( he is from Israel by the way). He was receiving many bouquets of flowers from friends to celebrate. When I left the bar there was about 8 bouquets of flowers. I wonder how many he got throughout the night!! haha I had a great time last night, it was very simple and fun. I don't have any plans for the rest of the weekend, but I hope something will come up! I am watching the NBA playoffs right now on my computer for a little bit of home here in Japan. :) I'm doing some cleaning and washing today ( I know so exciting, but I gotta do it).
Well this blog post is quite useless but stay tuned because I will have a lot of content in the next week or so. Take care everybody!
peace
vince
p.s. my newborn nephew has a name now! his name is nathan, i can't wait to see you buddy!
*this is currently my favorite song from a great band City and Colour, the song is called "waiting" enjoy everybody!
Well, I`m an uncle now. My older brother and his family, welcomed a new baby into to this wonderful and sometimes harsh world. A baby boy! I don`t know the name yet though. Well today was a great day. Things are looking very positive.
First of all, I would like to congratulate my Mother and my younger Brother. They are graduating from college today in the USA. They are probably at the ceremony as I write this now! I just wanted to say that I am so proud of them. They both went through a lot of adversity during college, but managed to keep their head straight and finish it all! I love you!! I wish I could be there to see the ceremony, but I hope to see some pictures later!
Last night I went to my co-workers wedding party in Kyoto Japan. They are a unique couple because they are both teachers at my school. They are good friends of mine, and I was very happy to be invited to the party. The party was similar to an American wedding party. There was food, speeches, drinking, eating, laughing etc. I was the only foreigner there (like usual). Two things that were different from an American wedding party was that we had to pay 7,000 yen ($70 US). Also, we played BINGO. In Japan, they love BINGO for some reason. I have no clue what the reason is but we played BINGO. It was cool because we won prizes, but just kinda strange that the people throwing the wedding party had to give out gifts. Shouldn't it be the opposite? Anyway it was a good night. I hope today will be a good day too! (:D)
So today was definitely the first time I have become pissed off while teaching in Japan. I wasn't visibly mad of course, because I am good at hiding my feelings, but inside was an inferno. I have been here for approximately 10 months and this is the first time...so I would have to say that's pretty good.
The day was going quite well. My second class of freshman are very noisy and quite frankly obnoxious. This is mainly due to the lack of discipline in the Japanese Education system. Talking is deemed acceptable and so is sleeping... yeah....
My students were rather talkative today and I wasn't about to deal with the talking today. I had to move 3 students around the class, and one of them I made her sit outside. All the students were very surprised by this. Mainly because there is never any response to their talking in class at all. My teaching partner was supporting me in my discipline rules, so it was much easier. Anyway, one student was talking outlandishly in class. I finally just told him shut up. He said ok, then under his breath he said "fuck you". Obviously the other students didn't know what that meant because they just kept on blabbing away. Meanwhile, I stopped the class and asked the student "what did you say?". He said predictably "nothing". I walked up to him and told him that his not funny in Japanese. He stopped immediately, and we told him to stay after class. Let's just say, he was about to shit his pants. Especially since I walked up right in front of him. Needless to say all the other students got the vibe that something went down, so they changed into the innocent angel student.
After class all the students left, and the one kid stayed behind. I asked him why he said "fuck you". He basically said that he saw it in a movie and didn't think it was that bad to say. I told him exactly what it meant in English while my co-worker translated word for word. I told him that he is a smart kid, and to act smart. He agreed and we had a hand shake, and that was it. He now knows what "fuck you" means. He is just lucky that he was not in the America on the streets saying that. He would have had a surprising result.
Anyway, I was a bit steamed about that. Probably because I was so shocked that someone said that. I used to work in a middle school in El Paso and I never heard a student say that in class. Granted, the student didn't even really know the severity of his words. However, he knows that it is not good so I can't allow that excuse.
I have basketball practice soon and tomorrow is Friday. So things are looking up! Thanks for the comments everybody. Oh and if you leave a comment, leave a name too. Especially because it's hard to know who leaves a comment when it says anonymous. I'll be back soon!
So I have had an eventful past few days here in the land of the rising sun! Just in case you didn't know, that is Japan. I have been quite busy lately. Last week I would stay so late at work. Wednesday I didn't get home until about 8pm. This is all because of basketball practice.
Friday was the school "Enkai". This is basically a fancy party for the school to welcome the new teachers. This was my second Enkai. The prior Enkai was in December. It was held in Tennoji (area of Osaka), at a fancy hotel called Miyako Hotel. We all had to pay about $50 for the entry. As I looked at the hotel more, I realized why it was so damn expensive. Well we were fed some expensive, tasty and not so filling food. We listened to heartfelt speeches from outgoing teachers, and nerve filled speeches from the new teachers. I even had to say a small speech. Of course I wasn't told about this so I just said a few sentences in Japanese. I was quite surprised how I was able to do it with no preparation. After the 2 hour event, some of the young teachers (the happy time crew) all came together and we went to go drink and eat more. We had a really great time. I enjoy the company of those people very much. They are so kind to me, and I truly feel like a friend to them. Next week, we are all going to my friend/co-workers wedding party in Kyoto. I am so excited to go there. Next Saturday will be great!
Saturday was quite interesting. I decided that I really needed a haircut. So I found a good picture of my hair cut that I got when I was in the USA last month. I put it up on my laptop computer and walked to the local barber shop about 2 minutes away. I walked in and they were so surprised to see a foreigner. I showed them a picture of my hair and used my weak Japanese to explain that I wanted the "Onaji" same cut! The barber guy understood and proceeded to cut my hair. After about 1 hour, a head massage, all scissors, shampoo and tonic application I was done. Let's just say that was the best hair cut I have ever received. The guy didn't even use the oh so famous "buzzers" that are so well used in the states. I was damn impressed. It was about $35 but it was well worth it.
That night I went to meet a friend at an Izakaya "restaurant/bar" in Tennoji. She doesn't know so much English so our conversations were limited. However, we both had some laughs and smiles. I think it went well. I was still hungry after(like always) so before I went home I grabbed a double cheeseburger and McFlurry at Mc Donalds! haha :)
Today I went to the wonderful city of Kyoto(about 1 hour train ride from Osaka), with my co-worker Yamada Sensei. We went toured almost all the "popular" sites. We hiked up the marvelous Fushimi Inari Shrine. We ventured to the beautiful Kiyomizudera Shrine, with spectacular views of Kyoto. Overall, it was a nice day. It was quite hot and we became tired, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the day. I have many pictures and video to show you all.
Did you see all the videos on my viddler? If you click menu on the viddler box there are all my videos so you should re-check them. Anyway, I had a great weekend. I have the next two days off as well. This is all because of what they call "Golden Week" here in Japan. It is basically a series of holidays all jumbled into on week/weekend. Just another reason to have time off (I can't blame them). Well, I'm out, take care of yourself.
peace
vince
p.s. comments?
kyoto japan
kiyomizudera shrine
kimono girls :)
kiyomizudera shrine
kiyomizudera shrine
kiyomizudera shrine
fushimi inari shrine
apparently japan has "adopted" mothers day
on the subway back to my apartment in osaka
here is my viddler...remember after the video finishes click on menu and watch the other videos! :) there are many ok! :)
