O "Chaaa" !

A month or so ago, I was taken to a local Acupuncturist in Kurashiki and had my first taste of Eastern Medicine. Mostly, I was intrigued by the prospects of a new experience; a Chinese acupuncturist practicing  his craft in Japan. I would never trust an acupuncturist outside of Asia for some reason as it seems to be a craft the requires instinct, experience, and precision. A Chinese guy in Asia...my thinking was that it probably fits the bill.

I felt that I was a little by fatigued from work but overall, I felt fine. I was taken to the clinic, filled out some paperwork, and was promptly examined by Ken-Sensei who happens to be quite an amicable man. After feeling the pulse on my wrist for a few seconds, I was told that my liver was chopped, my stomach had no mac, my kidneys had grown tired of processing intoxicating liquids, and worst of all, that my body was cold! GULP...what in the world did that mean? My temperature hadn't even been taken. I could have a cold. I could have cancer. I could have a lack of vitamin C. I could have the Bubonic plague...endless possibilities. It's such a vague, feng shui-sun-Tzu-Jackie Chan-Master Splinter sort of diagnosis.

Before long, I was asked to lay on a medical bed and told to say "Ittai!" if I felt any amount of pain. Needles were placed along my stomach, my arms, my hands, and my feet. Once or twice, the previously mentioned word was used but otherwise there wasn't a slither of pain. Oh, and then he burned some strange smelling candles on my stomach...you know, to warm up my body temperature. Shortly thereafter, I was told to go home and avoid cold liquids as much as I could. Why I followed the Chinese man's advice I'll never know...but here I am drinking a nice cup of Green Tea.

Something I've never really liked is now something I'm totally addicted to. Refreshing, tasty, and wonderfully healthy are all things I'd use to describe green tea, or better known as Ocha in this part of the world. It also has a nice color, which is always a plus in my book. It's going to be a staple of my diet for the rest of my life.

More important than green tea, money, health, travel, shelter, air conditioning and anything else I can think of is Natalie. She is the greatest ever and I love her more than anything...Happy 4 year anniversary my love!

Things That Japanese Children Like

Throughout my past year in Japan, I have found that the following things seem to be quite amusing for children in this country.

• Sound Effects: "CHAAAA" - in a high pitched voice is number 1. Works on ages 0 through 80. Battle Tested. Any sound that one can possibly think of and in combination with a well timed high five. Any high pitched voice.
• High Five routines: especially High Five, Down Low, In the middle...TOO SLOW. Courtesy of Natalie.
• Kancho - the ritualistic application of one's index fingers into another's butt hole. Should be done fully clothed. Similar to Korea's Dong Chim. Do not attempt on anyone of non-Japanese descendants. Maybe get punched. Will definitely get shot if done in many neighborhood's in America, like Oakland. Will probably not get shot if done across the river in Oakland's happier neighbor, San Francisco.
• Front Kancho - no explanation needed. Sometimes cleverly disguised as a crotch grab. Uncomfortable, to say the least. 
• Ninjas - Ninja punch, Ninja Shuriken, Ninja Kancho, Ninja Front Kancho
• The word "Pants". Sounds suspiciously like the Japanese word for underwear; Pan-tsu!
• Beards: always a fun prop to bring into the classroom. Touch and fondle friendly. They feel foreign and proper beards are virtually non-existent in Japan.

Feel free to add your own. List will be updated as updates come.

One Down, Fifty-Two to Go (And Possibly More)

After a fun weekend in Okayama where I finally saw Natalie after 10,080 dreadfully long days apart (whoops...I mean minutes), I'm sitting here trying to reflect upon how my first week teaching at my new school went. It was kind of a blur in all honesty. I taught 34 classes, which is quite a high number. 34 classes requires quite a bit of energy and to top it all off, 34 classes with all new students and in a new school requires an unusually high amount of energy. So, would you like the good news or the bad news first?

The good news is that out of the 34 classes that I taught, I feel that 32 of them went better than average to excellent. A 94% success rate is nothing to sneeze at considering that children are unpredictable time bombs ready to explode at any moment. One of my my classes that went badly was as expected. My school is located right in the middle of downtown Hiroshima and as a result, it's jam packed with filthy rich families lead by young mothers who have no idea how to raise a child and can probably only spell one word in English; S-P-O-I-L. Spoiled children are the bane of any teacher's life and my schedule is bursting at the seams with children who have mastered the art of getting spoiled. And I guess that's the bad news; I teach a lot of rich, spoiled brats. And spoiled brats always seem to have a high proportion of BUS cases. That is to say Bad Ugly Stupid children. I know it sounds mean but there actually are children with no redeeming qualities. I'm hoping that my classes continue to go as well as they have gone so far.

My manager has also been quite nice to me. That was unexpected considering the horror stories that I've heard about her. I guess my students have enjoyed my classes and none of them seem ready to quit. For someone who only cares about the numbers, retaining students is outright amazing to her. Cool Biz starts next week so that's going to be cool. Cool Biz is kind of a national program where companies are allowed to dress down in order to conserve energy. I really enjoy being able to wear a T-shirt instead of a ridiculous suit in middle of summer. I don't understand why we wear suits. I'm assuming that it's to retain an aura of professionalism but I don't think that it's particularly inviting for Children.

BAH. ENOUGH ABOUT WORK. MY LOVE IS MOVING TO HIROSHIMA AND IT'S GOING TO BE GLORIOUS. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!exclamation point attack!!!!!