crazy fun rabidds
you should watch the videos, looks great, wish i had a wii
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Talia, who i know from back in the day at Hampshire
asked
"ok so heres a cultural question. youre teaching younger kids, right, like elementary school? what are the school like over there? I taught K-6 here for a year and im curious to know...."
funny you ask, im in an after school type conversation school so its nothing like the real deal
but i am teaching an elementary school math teacher "english @ work" for school teachers
so i have a bit of an idea,
==========================================================================
disclaimer::: this is my opinion/what ive
figured out and may not be at all true or real
==========================================================================
first and maybe coolest, all the kids get colored hats, like yellow or green or pink or baby blue
it corresponds to their class and they wear them when they walk to and from school, its cute
especially when you see a huge group on the train, sometimes they say hello and giggle when
you respond, japanese kids = uber cute.
and as i learned most schools in japan have pools, they teach swimming in pe during the summer
how cool is that. the school day is pretty early and afterwards kids either have clubs (baseball drama soccer etc)
or goto JUKU (cram school) to prep for school exams which they take to get into the next level of schooling
basic subjects are math, history, home ec, japanese (sometimes Kanji, the cool characters that camefrom china, sometimes
writing/composition) english (focus on grammar and i think often memorizing, not speaking so much)
they have test weeks where everyday multiple subjects are testing and the kids work really really hard
some kids do real school then juku then english conversation then school clubs then home homework tv or games and bed
average up time that ive gathered from my students is 6 and bedtime is about 11, and its pretty go go go during the day
the school week is mon-fri but most kids have clubs juku or english on saturdays
they love their tests and even the youngsters come in to take the jr step, an english measure test
i know this seems like they are all work and no ply but that's far from the truth,
that being said, when you ride the train, adults and students alike are more often than not
passed out asleep, even when standing
back to schools, im terrible at remembering how its laid out but you've got
grades, and jr high, high school and then college/uni
the STEP test is huge here, it measures your ability with English
and step 2 is the big miilestone, there are 7 levels: 5,4,3,pre2,2,pre1,1
5 is the easiest and 1 is college/university level
at level 3, i think, there are 2 parts a written and an interview
its pretty intense
on the flip side there's my school, which is an english prep school
we specialize in conversation but do offer test prep etc
its basic, we do infant through anyone classes
at one point my youngest student was 2
and in december i will have a class of 4 1 somethings and their mothers
for adults we have 2 options, grammar or conversation
i teach 30/40/50 min lessons
today i talked about making complaints, asking where you are going, world religions
nuclear power and its place in the world, " if i were you i'd...", questions with do
and adverbs of frequency, expressing feelings and... that was it for today
youngest student was maybe 8 oldest maybe in their 40's/50's
im not sure if that helped or not, but i hope it did.
ask more questions and get more answers
this is kinda fun!!
asked
"ok so heres a cultural question. youre teaching younger kids, right, like elementary school? what are the school like over there? I taught K-6 here for a year and im curious to know...."
funny you ask, im in an after school type conversation school so its nothing like the real deal
but i am teaching an elementary school math teacher "english @ work" for school teachers
so i have a bit of an idea,
==========================================================================
disclaimer::: this is my opinion/what ive
figured out and may not be at all true or real
==========================================================================
first and maybe coolest, all the kids get colored hats, like yellow or green or pink or baby blue
it corresponds to their class and they wear them when they walk to and from school, its cute
especially when you see a huge group on the train, sometimes they say hello and giggle when
you respond, japanese kids = uber cute.
and as i learned most schools in japan have pools, they teach swimming in pe during the summer
how cool is that. the school day is pretty early and afterwards kids either have clubs (baseball drama soccer etc)
or goto JUKU (cram school) to prep for school exams which they take to get into the next level of schooling
basic subjects are math, history, home ec, japanese (sometimes Kanji, the cool characters that camefrom china, sometimes
writing/composition) english (focus on grammar and i think often memorizing, not speaking so much)
they have test weeks where everyday multiple subjects are testing and the kids work really really hard
some kids do real school then juku then english conversation then school clubs then home homework tv or games and bed
average up time that ive gathered from my students is 6 and bedtime is about 11, and its pretty go go go during the day
the school week is mon-fri but most kids have clubs juku or english on saturdays
they love their tests and even the youngsters come in to take the jr step, an english measure test
i know this seems like they are all work and no ply but that's far from the truth,
that being said, when you ride the train, adults and students alike are more often than not
passed out asleep, even when standing
back to schools, im terrible at remembering how its laid out but you've got
grades, and jr high, high school and then college/uni
the STEP test is huge here, it measures your ability with English
and step 2 is the big miilestone, there are 7 levels: 5,4,3,pre2,2,pre1,1
5 is the easiest and 1 is college/university level
at level 3, i think, there are 2 parts a written and an interview
its pretty intense
on the flip side there's my school, which is an english prep school
we specialize in conversation but do offer test prep etc
its basic, we do infant through anyone classes
at one point my youngest student was 2
and in december i will have a class of 4 1 somethings and their mothers
for adults we have 2 options, grammar or conversation
i teach 30/40/50 min lessons
today i talked about making complaints, asking where you are going, world religions
nuclear power and its place in the world, " if i were you i'd...", questions with do
and adverbs of frequency, expressing feelings and... that was it for today
youngest student was maybe 8 oldest maybe in their 40's/50's
im not sure if that helped or not, but i hope it did.
ask more questions and get more answers
this is kinda fun!!
Friday, November 17, 2006
say what?
so a certain Ms... wait a second, i do believe she's married now...
anyway a Mrs. Seidel, stated that she checks this ole blog out
fairly often,
well then, who else checks this thing?
ever hear of leaving comments???? well you should
in fact please leave questions for me about Japan
food, drink, clothes, karaoke, customs, language
ANYTHING, especially since no one's ever going to visit
leave question, its always good to hear from people
anyway a Mrs. Seidel, stated that she checks this ole blog out
fairly often,
well then, who else checks this thing?
ever hear of leaving comments???? well you should
in fact please leave questions for me about Japan
food, drink, clothes, karaoke, customs, language
ANYTHING, especially since no one's ever going to visit
leave question, its always good to hear from people
Thursday, November 16, 2006
dave = slacker
i know i know iknow,
its been ages since a post of any real quality
and it may be ages more
short: we went to osaka 2 weeks ago
it rocked, check joes blog for the skinny
and go here for my pictures
Osaka pictures
its been ages since a post of any real quality
and it may be ages more
short: we went to osaka 2 weeks ago
it rocked, check joes blog for the skinny
and go here for my pictures
Osaka pictures
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
2 words ON SEN
some of you may not know about the world of Japanese
ONSEN!
and its too bad. at the most basic level its like a bath house
but so much more.
On the last Saturday of each month some friends of ours who own a
Chinese restaurant throw a party and its always a great time.
At some point, i think around midnight the idea of going to an onsen
came up, and we piled into the car and off we went
it was great.
first i went into the sauna area that was furnishes with plush soft
carpet rugs and a massive plasma screen tv, i watched soccer, then i
went outside into the open air pools, there were hot, around 40c/100f
then i got up and went back inside and took a refreshing sit down in the
26c/78f pool before trying the 16c/60f and who could forget the room where i
almost passed out and took a nap. it was dark, nice traditional japanese music
a flat rock bed with a lump for your kneck that had warm water running under you
from head to toe
wow
after that i sat down at one of the washing stations and then headed out
where Satoshi and i got a beer from the vending machine and waited for everyone else to get out.
the onsen would have cost 750yen/$6.30 but one of the other guys bought us all tickets.
a great way to spend an evening
ONSEN!
and its too bad. at the most basic level its like a bath house
but so much more.
On the last Saturday of each month some friends of ours who own a
Chinese restaurant throw a party and its always a great time.
At some point, i think around midnight the idea of going to an onsen
came up, and we piled into the car and off we went
it was great.
first i went into the sauna area that was furnishes with plush soft
carpet rugs and a massive plasma screen tv, i watched soccer, then i
went outside into the open air pools, there were hot, around 40c/100f
then i got up and went back inside and took a refreshing sit down in the
26c/78f pool before trying the 16c/60f and who could forget the room where i
almost passed out and took a nap. it was dark, nice traditional japanese music
a flat rock bed with a lump for your kneck that had warm water running under you
from head to toe
wow
after that i sat down at one of the washing stations and then headed out
where Satoshi and i got a beer from the vending machine and waited for everyone else to get out.
the onsen would have cost 750yen/$6.30 but one of the other guys bought us all tickets.
a great way to spend an evening
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
toyota
work to do, halloween costumes to get ready,
so heres a quicklink to some of the photos from the visit to Toyota City
Toyota Pics
so heres a quicklink to some of the photos from the visit to Toyota City
Toyota Pics
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
spoonman or crazy men with nukes
one of those days really, i'm sick, busy, behind on all that i should be caught up with
have done a complete lack of a scrap of work tonight after work,
just dont want to give in to letting it rule my waking hours again.
the news isnt really comforting, North Korea is equipped to a certian exent and
will retaliate, how did they put it, with merciless blows. and since Japan just happens to
be one of the countries that is A) really close, B) imposing additional sanctions to that of
the UN. Just lets me sleep a little better i guess.
i'm sure itll all work out for the best and worst case, well not really worst case
becuase enough pop-culture knowledge mixed with science has led me to not
really look to the actual worst case. well a flight from NGO to chicago is only 2.5 grand
doubt itll come to that.
guess this is part of the fun, if the us would for some reason decide that it wasnt safe for americans here
then id most likely be the hell out, but i dont know if the irish would do similiar things, this is really just a
rant of the late night exhaustion.
in brighter news, tomorrow ill start my language partner exhange thing,
basically ill help someone with english and theyll help me with japanese
which should be good, im nervous because her English is well above that of my japanese
she's at the level where she can talk about most anything
whereas im limited to hobbies likes and oh wait i cant remember because i forgot everything i
might have learned so far!
hah!
good morning
have done a complete lack of a scrap of work tonight after work,
just dont want to give in to letting it rule my waking hours again.
the news isnt really comforting, North Korea is equipped to a certian exent and
will retaliate, how did they put it, with merciless blows. and since Japan just happens to
be one of the countries that is A) really close, B) imposing additional sanctions to that of
the UN. Just lets me sleep a little better i guess.
i'm sure itll all work out for the best and worst case, well not really worst case
becuase enough pop-culture knowledge mixed with science has led me to not
really look to the actual worst case. well a flight from NGO to chicago is only 2.5 grand
doubt itll come to that.
guess this is part of the fun, if the us would for some reason decide that it wasnt safe for americans here
then id most likely be the hell out, but i dont know if the irish would do similiar things, this is really just a
rant of the late night exhaustion.
in brighter news, tomorrow ill start my language partner exhange thing,
basically ill help someone with english and theyll help me with japanese
which should be good, im nervous because her English is well above that of my japanese
she's at the level where she can talk about most anything
whereas im limited to hobbies likes and oh wait i cant remember because i forgot everything i
might have learned so far!
hah!
good morning
Saturday, October 14, 2006
sickness
so the cold/allergies are still being obnoxious
but seem to be fading a bit
life her is the same old story for the most part,
starting next week weds ill be spending time after work
to work on my japanese in a language partner type thing
i help with english they help with japanese, should be fun, but im nervous because
i cant speak much japanese, especially conversationally
i can answer some choice questions, but not much for coffee talk etc
so that should be fun, there should be some pics coming up, one of students
is taking jo and i to Toyota city to the Toyota motor company factory where
we get to see where the magic happens, also get to see their robots and future
concepts, should be a good time
until then i urge evyone to go here and watch the videos
Wii videos
who's excited I am
who missed the first wave of pre-orders? i did
oh well, life goes on!
but seem to be fading a bit
life her is the same old story for the most part,
starting next week weds ill be spending time after work
to work on my japanese in a language partner type thing
i help with english they help with japanese, should be fun, but im nervous because
i cant speak much japanese, especially conversationally
i can answer some choice questions, but not much for coffee talk etc
so that should be fun, there should be some pics coming up, one of students
is taking jo and i to Toyota city to the Toyota motor company factory where
we get to see where the magic happens, also get to see their robots and future
concepts, should be a good time
until then i urge evyone to go here and watch the videos
Wii videos
who's excited I am
who missed the first wave of pre-orders? i did
oh well, life goes on!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
here's the deal
renewal has come and gone,
the verdict
four, more, months
and then i guess we'll see,
July it is.
lemme know what you think
the verdict
four, more, months
and then i guess we'll see,
July it is.
lemme know what you think
Monday, September 25, 2006
herecomesthefun
so,my_keyboard_is_broken,well_more_
specifically_the_space_bar,did_you_notice?
it's_a_huge_pain,obnoxious_hope_to_head_
to_the_applestore_in_Nagoya_this_week
and_see_what_my_options_are,not_cool.
on_an_up_note,went.to.Himeji,and.Kobe..today.Went>to.himeji>
Castle,the..onecastle,you,should..see.if.you.cometo.japan
apparently,don't,,worry,family,inuyama,is,a,national,
treause,and,,so,you..werent.cheated,,,toomuchcc
hahaha if i press really hard i get spaces,sweet
anyway,ill beworkingongettingthepictures up, guess its stilla little tricky.
moresoon,
did imention the Wii will launch with wii sports for $249.99, brilliant!
specifically_the_space_bar,did_you_notice?
it's_a_huge_pain,obnoxious_hope_to_head_
to_the_applestore_in_Nagoya_this_week
and_see_what_my_options_are,not_cool.
on_an_up_note,went.to.Himeji,and.Kobe..today.Went>to.himeji>
Castle,the..onecastle,you,should..see.if.you.cometo.japan
apparently,don't,,worry,family,inuyama,is,a,national,
treause,and,,so,you..werent.cheated,,,toomuchcc
hahaha if i press really hard i get spaces,sweet
anyway,ill beworkingongettingthepictures up, guess its stilla little tricky.
moresoon,
did imention the Wii will launch with wii sports for $249.99, brilliant!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
out of touch
so it's been a while, not much has been going on here though
apparently the typhoons have killed a handful of people down south
our weather here in the Nagoya area has been pretty mild
Jo and i have booked the first portion of our christmas vacation to Okinawa
Sony has messed up their production schedule on the ps3
Nintendo is still on track for the awesomeness that will be the Wii
oddly enough being released stateside weeks before in Japan
serves em right!
be sure to check out this article if you are interested, even you arent interested
Wii article
and also be sure to get teh skinny from Nintendo at Wii
this things is going to be cool.
aw heck, while im on the rant, other cool nintedo things
DS games not for the typical gamer:
Trauma Center
Cooking Mama
Brain Age
japanes English phrasebook
pretty cool really
anyway the point of this post was to say that i got a renewal offer today
so ther'll be some negotiating to see if the wedding plans fit, and then there'll be a decision
by Oct 3rd.
apparently the typhoons have killed a handful of people down south
our weather here in the Nagoya area has been pretty mild
Jo and i have booked the first portion of our christmas vacation to Okinawa
Sony has messed up their production schedule on the ps3
Nintendo is still on track for the awesomeness that will be the Wii
oddly enough being released stateside weeks before in Japan
serves em right!
be sure to check out this article if you are interested, even you arent interested
Wii article
and also be sure to get teh skinny from Nintendo at Wii
this things is going to be cool.
aw heck, while im on the rant, other cool nintedo things
DS games not for the typical gamer:
Trauma Center
Cooking Mama
Brain Age
japanes English phrasebook
pretty cool really
anyway the point of this post was to say that i got a renewal offer today
so ther'll be some negotiating to see if the wedding plans fit, and then there'll be a decision
by Oct 3rd.
out of touch
so it's been a while, not much has been going on here though
apparently the typhoons have killed a handful of people down south
our weather here in the Nagoya area has been pretty mild
Jo and i have booked the first portion of our christmas vacation to Okinawa
Sony has messed up their production schedule on the ps3
Nintendo is still on track for the awesomeness that will be the Wii
oddly enough being released stateside weeks before in Japan
serves em right!
be sure to check out this article if you are interested, even you arent interested
Wii article
and also be sure to get teh skinny from Nintendo at Wii
this things is going to be cool.
aw heck, while im on the rant, other cool nintedo things
DS games not for the typical gamer:
Trauma Center
Cooking Mama
Brain Age
japanes English phrasebook
pretty cool really
anyway the point of this post was to say that i got a renewal offer today
so ther'll be some negotiating to see if the wedding plans fit, and then there'll be a decision
by Oct 3rd.
apparently the typhoons have killed a handful of people down south
our weather here in the Nagoya area has been pretty mild
Jo and i have booked the first portion of our christmas vacation to Okinawa
Sony has messed up their production schedule on the ps3
Nintendo is still on track for the awesomeness that will be the Wii
oddly enough being released stateside weeks before in Japan
serves em right!
be sure to check out this article if you are interested, even you arent interested
Wii article
and also be sure to get teh skinny from Nintendo at Wii
this things is going to be cool.
aw heck, while im on the rant, other cool nintedo things
DS games not for the typical gamer:
Trauma Center
Cooking Mama
Brain Age
japanes English phrasebook
pretty cool really
anyway the point of this post was to say that i got a renewal offer today
so ther'll be some negotiating to see if the wedding plans fit, and then there'll be a decision
by Oct 3rd.
renewal
quick note to all you junkies readin at odd hours,
I got a contract renewal offer today...
one more year...?
I got a contract renewal offer today...
one more year...?
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
burrito
chilpotle, moes, bueno eat your heart out
i have black beans and cayenne peper
and i have tasty
to be honest, all of the above taste much better than mine right now,
but i dont care much about that
jo and i have booked the first part of our Dec/ jan trip, form Nagoya to Okinawa
should be fun once we get the rest of it taken care of
right now the plan is to fly into Naha kick it in okinawa city for a day and then head south ish to the smaller islands
see some jungle, some coolness and relax
maybe hole up in a beach hut and hopefully sip some form of fruity tropical alcohol
who knows.
in other news, renewal is coming up, and the closer it gets
the less i get more sure about a plan either way
@ work things are good, bar some issues that will go unmentioned here so i dont get canned
what else
i guess football is starting soonish
oh yeah, i found ultimate in the nagoya area i think, the website is old
and japanese juts for kicks
but ive emialed a few people about it
i found out by going to an Aeon bbq with jo,
i pulled out a disc to throw
and one of the students comes and asks me if i play ultimate
halelula lalalalala!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cool guy, hes a deep
we threw it was quite refreshing
just like riding a bike, throwing is
good deal nonetheless
well its on to a night of video games another burrito and some japanese study
"whoeveryouare" san, tanjobi wa itsu deska
peace
i have black beans and cayenne peper
and i have tasty
to be honest, all of the above taste much better than mine right now,
but i dont care much about that
jo and i have booked the first part of our Dec/ jan trip, form Nagoya to Okinawa
should be fun once we get the rest of it taken care of
right now the plan is to fly into Naha kick it in okinawa city for a day and then head south ish to the smaller islands
see some jungle, some coolness and relax
maybe hole up in a beach hut and hopefully sip some form of fruity tropical alcohol
who knows.
in other news, renewal is coming up, and the closer it gets
the less i get more sure about a plan either way
@ work things are good, bar some issues that will go unmentioned here so i dont get canned
what else
i guess football is starting soonish
oh yeah, i found ultimate in the nagoya area i think, the website is old
and japanese juts for kicks
but ive emialed a few people about it
i found out by going to an Aeon bbq with jo,
i pulled out a disc to throw
and one of the students comes and asks me if i play ultimate
halelula lalalalala!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cool guy, hes a deep
we threw it was quite refreshing
just like riding a bike, throwing is
good deal nonetheless
well its on to a night of video games another burrito and some japanese study
"whoeveryouare" san, tanjobi wa itsu deska
peace
Sunday, August 27, 2006
jet li
just finished watching a movie, so what you say
well it was in Chinese with only japanese subtitles as an option
no use
so it was fearless/ spirit
pretty cool, the only time i understood much was when the japanese guy was speaking japanese
fun time, its worth watching, once it comes out in the states
out
well it was in Chinese with only japanese subtitles as an option
no use
so it was fearless/ spirit
pretty cool, the only time i understood much was when the japanese guy was speaking japanese
fun time, its worth watching, once it comes out in the states
out
Monday, August 21, 2006
nifty radio thing
http://www.pandora.com/
tell it one song and it makes a playlist/radio station based on attributes from the song, pretty cool
here's some photos from the famikly visit as well
click me now
who hates the Yankees?
i do
tell it one song and it makes a playlist/radio station based on attributes from the song, pretty cool
here's some photos from the famikly visit as well
click me now
who hates the Yankees?
i do
Friday, August 18, 2006
not much to add
as i stated before Joanne has done a wonderful job of running down the events of the Bon
i think its safe to say that my family enjoyed themselves, as did Jo and I
every vacation has its moments of fatigue crank and apathy
and this one was no different, that said
i wouldnt have rather spent my vacation in any other way
which leads me to my next question
who's next?
im near Nagoya click the link to the right that says Map of japan to see my proximity to Tokyo
its about 2 hr on the shinkansen, and if you want to visit check the Japan rail pass and save money
if you plan to travel
I'm here till April 07 at least, i dont have anymore real vacation time, there is a chunk in DEC/JAN but
Jo and I our making our plans, but hey, my place is still open to friends, its a good base.
Japan rocks
come get some
i think its safe to say that my family enjoyed themselves, as did Jo and I
every vacation has its moments of fatigue crank and apathy
and this one was no different, that said
i wouldnt have rather spent my vacation in any other way
which leads me to my next question
who's next?
im near Nagoya click the link to the right that says Map of japan to see my proximity to Tokyo
its about 2 hr on the shinkansen, and if you want to visit check the Japan rail pass and save money
if you plan to travel
I'm here till April 07 at least, i dont have anymore real vacation time, there is a chunk in DEC/JAN but
Jo and I our making our plans, but hey, my place is still open to friends, its a good base.
Japan rocks
come get some
Thursday, August 17, 2006
jo goes again
so the thomson's came, saw and are now on their way back to the states,
hope all goes well on the crazy skies.
for a grea review of the times, please go here
CLICK ME, I'm COOL
i know. ill get to my own original posting
but now im beat, and its bed time
peace out
hope all goes well on the crazy skies.
for a grea review of the times, please go here
CLICK ME, I'm COOL
i know. ill get to my own original posting
but now im beat, and its bed time
peace out
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