羽之助の帝紀

お願い：谷口先生

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:35:00 +0000

谷口先生、お願いがあります。
香港大学で北京語を勉強するつもりですが、それからは就職についてちょっと心配しています。日本人の為の国際学校の英語の先生に成れると思いますか？それとも、香港で先生の免許を取る情報があれば、お願いご連絡下さい。

Last Post 最後の記事

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 02:21:00 +0000

This is probably be my last post on Blogger. To those of you who are in the know ... oh, God. They found me. I don't know how, but they found me. RUN FOR IT, MARTY!!!!
これはBloggerで多分僕の最後の記事だと思う。僕について知っている方々へ・・・くそ。僕を見つけた。どうやってしたか全く知らんが、彼らが僕を見つけた。速く逃げよ、マーティー！！！

But seriously, this blog has moved to : www.hanenosuke.com/blog
実は日記を移動しました！どうぞ上のリンクを。

I'll be taking this blog down in about a month to give everyone time to get used to the new address.
新しい住所に慣れる為に後一ヶ月ぐらい待つつもりだ。それからはこの住所の日記を消す。

See you there!
あっちで待っているよ！

Five Seconds of Shame, Half Hour of Warmth 五秒の恥、三十分の優しさ

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 09:40:00 +0000

I've got more on Hong Kong, but first, a word from our sponsor. Well, not really. But anyway, something happened in the shopping mall today.
香港についてもっとあるけど、まずはスポンサーから宣言を発表する。ま、実はそんなことないけど。とにかく、今日は広場で面白い事件が起こった。

I was on the second floor of the mall, going to buy some stationery for writing letters, when it happened.
手紙を書く為に二階の文房具の場所に行っていた時、ソレが起こった。

I walked by a family - mom, young son, young daughter. The kid saw me, and as I passed, The Words came forth ...
家族を過ごした。お母さん、娘、息子。息子が僕の顔を見た。隣に通って、コトバが出た・・・

"It's an outlander! Outlander! Gaijin datta! Gaijin!"
「外人だった！外人！」

I've been called a gaijin before. By drunk older women, usually, so I don't complain. Teachers slip and say it, even my supervisor from time to time. But to everyone, I'm Patorikku-sensei, or Patorikku, or that weird guy who tells jokes every second of the day. Sometimes, I am called outlander, but only by accident, and I think nothing of it.
もちろん外人と呼んだことがある。普通は酔っているお姉さん達にので別に文句は言わない。先生がたまに言っちゃう；時々主事にも呼ばれる。でも、いつも皆の心の底から僕はパトリック先生、それともパトリック、それともあの冗談をいつも言っている変な奴だ。時々だけ外人と言われるので普通はなにも考えない。

But the boy, in his innocence, said it. And meant it. Outlander.
しかし、純良な息子だったので、本当の意味が入っていた。外人。

What did his mother say afterward? I don't know. I was already on my way down the hall. Feeling shame.
お母さんはなにか言葉直しをした？僕は知らない。もう廊下を歩いていた。恥を感じていた。

Then I arrived at the register. I put the words out of my mind. I joked with the cashier, and she gave me a laugh, instead of the nervous expression that usually happens when an employee doesn't understand why a customer is talking to her like a person instead of a machine. I went to see one if one of the English-class women was working. Turns out she took the day off to help her son move, and I joked with the staff about how strong she was. I went to downstairs to the food section and bought some bean dango. I mentioned this to the cashier, and asked what the sesame dango tasted like. She exuberantly told me it was delicious and insisted I buy some next time. Then the cashier at the next cash came over and agreed, and we were all laughing, with broad smiles.
でも、すぐレジに着いた。あのコトバを無視してレジさんと笑話をした。どうして機械じゃなくて人間に話しているっぽいお客さんが店員に話しかける迷っている顔をするではなくて、レジさんが笑ってくれた。英語講座の女性生徒がいるかを探しにいった。息子の引越しを手伝うために休んでいるっていわれた。「ま、彼女は力持ちだから大丈夫だね」といって店員さんが笑った。下にいってあんこ団子を買った。買う時にこれをレジさんにこれを言って、ゴマ団子はどんな味だと尋ねた。輝いて「美味しい」といってすぐ買いなさいといわれた。それから、隣のレジさんも話に参加して同意して、美味しいって。皆がでかい笑顔と笑っていた。

It made me think. I criticize Japan because it needs to be criticized. But in the end, I still love this country. Five seconds of shame versus a half hour of hearty laughter.
なんか考えさせられた。批判されるはずだから僕はよく日本を批判するけど、結局、この邦を愛している。五秒の恥対三十分の大笑い。

Stopping by at Hong Kong U 香港大学へちょっと見に行く！

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 01:42:00 +0000

Since my next stop is China, I've been shopping around for possible institutions of learning where I might finally become fluent in Mandarin, and give me job skills for the Asian market. These days, it really isn't enough to be able to speak just two languages - three is what gives you an edge. So, since Jamie is enjoying Hong Kong very much, once my tour on JET is finished, I'll most likely head there. Hong Kong University has a nice 2-year certificate course in Mandarin, and since I'll be able to practice Mandarin with Jamie and Cantonese with regular Hong Kongers, perhaps I'll be able to add those to my repertoire. I bet Dad is thinking, "The kid can learn Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese, but he can't learn French?"

アジアの経済界で働ける為に仕事の能力を増えたいから、北京語で流暢に成る為に中国語が勉強できる学院を探している。現代は二つの言語で喋れる事ではなくて、三つのは必要だ。洁玫は香港の生活が大好きになったので日本で外国語指導助手の契約が終わってから僕は必ず香港で勉強しようと思っている。香港大学は良さそう二年間の北京語証書講座があるのでそこで勉強しようと思っている。洁玫と一緒に北京語が練習できるし、普通の香港人と広東語も練習できるからその二つの言語を僕の収集に入れられるかな。父上は多分「ガキは日本語やら北京語やら広東語やら勉強しているけど、なぜフランス語に興味ないの？」と考えていると思う。

Being an older institution, the interior of Hong Kong University was exquisite. I wish this woman was my Chinese professor. It took a while to get up there, as the school is situated in the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island.
やや古い学院だから、香港大学の校内は精巧だった。この嬢は僕の中国語教師ならいいな。香港大学は香港島の半山区にあるので行くのは時間がちょうどかかった。

Outside, what appear to be cast iron dogs scratch their ears. Very Chinese, but I'm not sure of the meaning.
校外で鉄の犬が耳を掻く。とっても中国風だけど、意味はあまり分からない。

More Hong Kong University scenery.
香港大学の景色。

The Mid-Levels as seen from Hong Kong University.
香港大学から見るの半山区。

Professor Yang. 楊教師。

Along the way, we found something that was entirely appropriate. As anyone who was on exchange with me knows, I am very good at making a wolf costume for Halloween. (Note: I think that this character was part of a larger poem drawn on the sidwalk).
とっても適当な字を見つけた。僕と留学した者が分かるように、ハロヰーンの時は狼の仮装を作るのは得意だ。この字はもっと長い詩の一文字だった。

Since it was Sunday, there were no tours and most doors were closed, but we wandered around anyway. This is one of the inner gardens.
日曜日だったので観光会はなかったし扉が殆ど閉めてあったが、それを無視して流れ歩いた。これは校内の園の一つ。

This was posted on a bulletin board. Funnily enough, despite what you'd read about in the papers, I would say that most Japanese people I work with know about it. Still, a translation for our Japanese readers follows.
これは掲示板で貼ってあった。新聞で読むかテレビで見る事の逆だけど、僕の隣にいる日本人が大体南京事件の事を知っている。では、我が日本人の読者の為の翻訳・・・
「天皇の名前で」
１９３７年に、皇軍が南京に侵入してから３０万人が殺されて、２万人の女性が強姦された。虐殺中でアメリカ人の宣教師に撮られた残酷ばかりな動画が軍人や生き残り者の面接や日記と合併される。軍人が遠慮なくて殺し、拷問、後は強姦について話す。「天皇の名前で」が戦争の恐れの基本的な哲学的と精神的と道徳的な質問を尋ねる。人間がどうやってサディスティックな自動人形になる質問を探検して、第二次世界大戦で世界の責任を見る。

A good idea, and probably necessary on any university campus. And you thought only Japan had chikan problems!
これはいい考えと思うし、多分どこでもの大学で必要なものでしょう。日本だけは痴漢の問題がある事ではないよ！

Hallowed halls of learning.
学習の聖廊下。

The front of the Main Building.
中館の前。

Wonderful architecture, isn't it. Looks to me like a good place to go. I feel like a bit of a shill for liking the place this much, but if the courses are as good as the exterior, I'm sold.
素敵な建築だろう！僕の意見だけどここで勉強すれば楽しいと思う。こんなに好きになっちゃってちょっとサクラみたいな感じだけど、講座は外見ほどよかったら、行くぜ！

Bright Day in Hong Kong 香港で晴れ

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 01:18:00 +0000

Saturday was a great, sunny day here in HK. Jamie and I decided to go to the nearby Lai Chi Kok park. On the way, I saw a touch of home ...
土曜日はこちらの香港で素敵だった。僕と洁玫が茘枝角（ライチーコック）公園に行こうと決めた。行きながらは故郷の懐かしい物を見た。

I have no idea what the relationship is, but apparently a LOT of Hong Kongers have ties with Canada. Could explain something, then.
この店のカナダと関係は全然分からないけど、なんかカナダと関係ある香港人は殆ど多いと聞いた。それは十分良い説明かな。

It may be a bit unfair since HK was a British colony and therefore it should be expected to have English-only schools, but I find it amusing that (still) English-obsessed Japan has, I believe, one school in the entire country that has English immersion, which is only half a day anyway.
香港は英国の植民地だったからちょっと不公平かもしれないけど、英語熱の有名な日本は全国で一軒だけの英語環境学校があると思う。そして、その学校は半日だけの英語環境；午後は普通の日本語で授業を教える。笑話ですね。

On the way, we ate at a nearby restaurant (pork and rice, yeah!), with Japan-inspired uniforms. Those hats look hot. Temperature hot.
途中で近所の飯店で御飯を食べた（豚肉と御飯、やった！）。制服は日本に影響されたでしょうね。帽子は暑そうと思う。

Already submitted it to Engrish.com. Found in a washroom in the park.
もうEngrish.comに申し出た。「無用の水」は書いてある。公衆便所で見つけた。

I was a bit confused when I first entered. No individual urinals (first time I have EVER used that word in print), just a stainless steel wall with water running down it.
入ってからちょっと迷っていた。一人ずつの為の小便所がなくて、水が流れている不銹鋼の壁だけ。

One section of the park was made out to be, well, a Chinese park. This is the entrance.
公園の一つの部分は、ま、中国風な公園のように建たれた。これは入り口だ。

Bad-ass or plump? You decide.
格好いいか丸い？汝們、お決めなさい。

Sweet as ever. いつものように～

New construction in Mei Foo.
メイフーで新しい建築だ。

A view of Mei Foo, straight down the middle.
真ん中のメイフーの風景だ。

Graduation + Back in Hong Kong 卒業＋また香港にいる～

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 01:44:00 +0000

My plan on Friday morning was to leave the apartment and bike to the school to attend the graduation ceremony, then leave at 11:30 and bike to the station to catch my Shinkansen to Tokyo. Unfortunately, when I woke up it was a FREAKING DOWNPOUR so I called a taxi ... which couldn't find my apartment building. So I was 30 minutes late to the school ... I still arrived in plenty of time, of course, but STILL.
金曜日の予定は早めにアパートから出掛けて自転車で学校に行くと卒業式に参加して、東京行きの新幹線に間に合う為に１１時半に学校を出てまた自転車で駅に行くと思ってた。しかし、起きる時はすげぇ雨が降っていた！！タクシーに電話したけど、僕のアパートの地が見つけられなかったので三十分遅れていた・・・卒業式に間に合ったけど、もう！！

Everyone was dressed up, but the women were wearing kimono and hakama. Damn, guess I should have gotten one ... guess I'll have to save up, sigh. Here, the vice-principal talks on the phone. Funny, I think she looks like Sakura ...
皆はすごい服を着ていたけど、女性が着物や袴も着ていた。僕も買うべきだったかな・・・さ、お金を貯めよう！こちらで教頭先生が電話で話している。なんかさくらみたいと思う・・・

Ok, so I guess not. But I like the pink.　まいや、そうではないね。でもそのピンクな服が好きだ。

Two women from the office were making special sakura-flavoured tea that is used for celebratory occasions. It's not really tea, as all they are doing is putting a sakura blossom and what appears to be a kind of paste into hot water, but the taste is ... odd but good, if salty.
職員室の女性の二人は特別な祝いの為の桜味のお茶を作っていた。ま、ただ桜花をお湯に入れるのでお茶ではないけど、味は・・・ちょっと変だけどいい。塩の味も出る。

The stage for the ceremony. For ceremonies, Japan really goes all out.
式の舞台。式なら日本は本当に目立つようになるね。
Since it took place in the unheated gym, they rolled out the superheaters which look like the Eye of Mordor. I'm not going to say which has already been said in many blogs, but it was true - the superheaters heat the room to make it unbearably hot, then are promptly turned off for the rest of the ceremony so everyone freezes. In Japanese, this is called 'efficiency'.
暖房なしの体育館で行ったので、サウロンの目みたいの大暖房を出した。もう色んな日本経験なブログで出たから繰り返しかもしれないけど、やっぱり大暖房で部屋がすごく暑くなると、すぐ消されたので部屋がすごく寒くなって皆が凍る。あ、日本の有名な効率だね。

The students are called by name and receive their certificate of graduation directly from the principal. They then announce their intention to be good middle school students, and pass authority to the fifth-graders. Interestingly, they also said they would renounce war and live in a peaceful society. I informed a Chinese friend of this, who responded "Oh, I don't believe them". Sigh, Japan, sometimes we just can't win!
生徒たちはそれから名前で呼ばれて校長先生から卒業書をもらう。いい中学生に成るの意志を言って、五年生に学校の責任を渡す。面白い所は、戦争を放棄して平和な社会で平和な生活をするって述べた。中国人の知り合いにこれを教えてから、「へー、信じにくいね」って答えた。ああ、我が日本、たまに我らが勝てないね！

I had to leave the ceremony early, but I did make it to the station on time. I was damn starving though, so I bought a beef and rice bento. And get this - it's self-heating! Pull the string ...
早く式を出なくちゃ成らなかったけど、駅に間に合った。腹はすごく減っていたけど・・・それで、前沢牛肉の弁当を買った！素晴らしい事は自動発熱！ただ線を引いて・・・

and it gets nice and hot! Lots of steam too!
暖かくなる！蒸気もいっぱい出る。

The heating blocks or whatever are kind of heavy and take up half the packaging, but hey. I wonder how it works ...
発熱のものとかはちょっと重くて弁当の大きさの半分ぐらい大きかったけどまいや！どうやって発熱するかな・・・

Oh yeah. On the way out at Narita I saw this poster reminding everyone that U.S. beef is still banned in Japan, so DON'T EAT ANY OR YOU WILL DIE!!!! They also include Canada in the smaller text even though we've been certified safe by J-land. Bastards!!!
あ、これ。成田空港でこのポスターを見た。米牛（？米国の牛肉かな）はまだ日本で輸入停止されているので、海外で食べたらアナタガスグ死ヌゾ！！！安全だと日本に認められたのにカナダも書いてある・・・あほら！

Going to HK. Bye. 香港へ行ってきます。

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:38:00 +0000

I'm going to Hong Kong tomorrow for about a week. Not really doing anything exciting but if I see anything I'll let everyone know.
明日は一週間ぐらい香港に行ってくる。あまり面白い物は見ないと思うけど、見たら皆に知らせする。

Oh by the way, I got interest on my bank account!
あ、銀行の口座に利息が掛かった！

Yeah, that's right! ONE YEN!!! WHOO! Every SIX MONTHS! For an average of 150 000 yen ($1500).
それはそうだ！壱円！！やった！！各六ヶ月！！１５万円の平均で！

For our Japanese readers, to compare, in Canada for example, the same amount would get me $18, or 1800 yen, in interest.
我が日本人の読者へ、カナダなら利息が同じ金額で千八百円になる。

And people wonder why I don't want to invest my money in Japan ...
どうして日本で投資したくないはわかるかな・・・

Expo Coincidence 万博の偶然

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:24:00 +0000

By utter coincidence, I got a letter from the Nara Hostel Lady (Queen Niceness) thanking us for the maple leaves and stuff we finally got around to sending her. Nice warm feeling~! And Chris finally finished Day One of our Japan trip from last May.

偶然だけど、先日は奈良のホステルの女の方（優しさの女王様）から手紙が届いた。ついに楓の葉っぱを集めて送ったのでなんか要らない恩返しだけど・・・手紙を読むととっても暖かくなった。そして、クリスがやっと五月の日本への旅行から第一日の動画の編集を終えた。

Ditches and Mail-Order Husbands 堀と郵便注文の夫

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:09:00 +0000

A lot of drainage in Japan isn't done through underground sewers - waste water is just shunted into ditches behind people's houses. Ostensibly this is for feeding the rice fields, which are smack dab in the middle of the city blocks. But I wonder - what kind of water goes into it? Like, the soapy water that runs from my shower after I'm done?
日本で排水は地下の水道だけではなくて、廃水は民の家の後ろに堀へ流れている。これは市内の田圃の為だとよく言われているけど、堀の水は本当にどんな水かな？家から出ているので、シャワー跡の石鹸が付いている水も入ってる？

Going shopping the other day I discovered random pants discarded near the bike parking area. No, I did not investigate further.
先日は買い物をしにいく時に捨てられたズボンを駐輪場の隣に見つけた。それ以上は掘り下げなかった。

Also, Japanese people don't know how to drive. Or park. Yes, especially park. This guy parked on the road near the entrance, essentially turning the two-lane road into a one-lane street. For over half an hour while he was inside shopping. It was still parked there when I left.
さらに、日本人はどうやって運転するか分からない。それとも駐車する。はい、特に駐車する事・・・この奴が入り口の近くに道で駐車して車線二つの道を車線一つの路に変えた。店内で買い物をして三十分以上このままで。僕が帰る時にもまだそこで駐車しておいてあった。

Saturday was a fun meet-up day with the JETs from the next two towns. I met Kira and we went to Book-Off and then we went to Mos Burger. Following Travelingrant's advice, I had the katsu burger, which wasn't bad. I was surprised that the bun was made from rice, but hey.
土曜日は楽しい日だった。隣の町のJETに会って（ま、別々だったけど）Book-OffとMos Burgerに行った。Travelingrantの提議でかつバーガーを食べたし別にまずくないと思っていた。変だったけどまずくなかった。御飯も使われてちょっとびっくりしたけどまいや。

We spent way too much money buying manga and music and whatever that day. In the evening we went to a kaiten-sushi restaurant and I proceeded to ask that the girls take the tuna off the belt and hand it to me at every opportunity.
その日は漫画や音楽をいっぱい買ったのでやっぱりお金を使いすぎた・・・夕御飯は回転寿司屋で食べた。僕が女性達にまぐろを渡すと頼んで。

The hand is quicker than the eye, or in this case my shutter speed.
「手は目より速い」、それともこの場合に僕のシャッターの速度より。

Since I really don't like anything other than tuna, I tried my hand at the natto maki. I think I've found a new favourite!
大体まぐろしか好きじゃないので、納豆巻きを食べてみた。新好評食を見つけたと思う！

At night we went back to the Abanzale bar, and we all ordered one drink. I ordered the gayest thing on the menu, a China Blue.
夜はまたAbanzaleに行った、そして皆が酒を一杯注文した。僕はメニューの一番ゲイな飲み物を頼んだーChina Blue.

We did get a special treat though - one of the guys who runs the turntables is also an amazing beatboxer. I mean really. Chris, you have a partner.
素晴らしい事を見たけど；turntablesの責任者は素敵なbeatboxerだ。本当に。クリス、相手を見つけたよ。

Anyway, the title of today's post refers to a discussion I was having, where mail-order brides are well-known, but do mail-order husband sites exist? And would they be referred to as male-orders, then? The answer is yes.
とにかく、今日の記事の話題は今朝の事務所内の話と関係ある。「郵便注文の妻」はもう結構有名だが、「郵便注文の夫」のサイトもある？ちょっと調べてからやっぱり答えは「はい」。

I've also been playing with Photoshop too much.
それ以上僕はPhotoshopと最近本当に遊びすぎる。

Journey to Hong Kong: Day Three, Crazy in Kowloon 香港への旅路：第三日、九龍で狂っている

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 06:17:00 +0000

... is now online.
・・・は今から上映している。

Advance the Cause of the Proletariat at the Ichinoseki Young Worker's Hall 下層階級の大義を一関勤労青少年ホームで進む

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:39:00 +0000

So the other morning I was riding to the office when I noticed that the guy who has a garden/farm by the creek had gathered all his brush together and set fire to it. Technically illegal, but as I was told by a Japanese teacher, if one person does it first then that OKs it for everyone else.
先日の朝に事務所に行きながら近所の小川の隣の庭・農場を所有している人が植物のゴミを集めて燃やしたと覗いた。実は違反だけど、日本人の先生に言われた通り、誰かが最初にすれば皆がしていいの許可になる。

This stream is kind of weird. Concreted into a channel, it feeds rice fields stretching back into the ... uh, fields. I think.
この小川はちょっと変だと思う。水路にコンクリートされて、奥の田圃から・・・他の田圃まで田圃に・・・水を持ってくる。（汗）

The Japanese countryside appears to be divided into blocks, perhaps as a remnant of feudal zoning laws. So in the middle of a landscape apparently divided into "rice field" and "house" from time to time there will be a block marked "forest".
日本の田舎は角に割られているそうだ。封建時代の目的別地域区分法の遺産かもしれないな。それで、風景が「田圃」か「家」の区分に割られているみたいし、たまに「林」に割られる。

Beside this forest-block was a ... KURA! YAY!! I wanted to ask the owner of the house the history of it, but they had a really big car and so I thought they might not appreciate it. Plus I couldn't find the front door.
この林区分の隣には・・・庫だった！やった！歴史について持ち主に聞きたかったけど、でかい車を持っているので多分尋ねされたくないと思っていた。そして玄関は見つけられなかった。

So I tramped into their backyard and took pictures from a closer angle.
だから庭に侵入してもっと近い場所から写真を撮った。

A few nights ago when it was really cold someone tied up their dog outside the grocery store while they went in to get donuts or whatever. Poor doggy! Ah well, I'm sure Tessa (my family's dog) had to endure worse during Canada's winters.
先日の寒い夜に誰かが八百屋の隣で、買い物をする前に犬を外で置いた。可哀想なワンちゃんだな！まいや、テッサ（自分の家族の犬）がカナダでもっと厳しい寒さを我慢しなくちゃならなかったな。

There's this ... place on the road to my office that offers "companions" for hire. The signs say, in succession, "We offer polite companions dressed in Western or Japanese clothing", "Recruiting Companions now, hourly wage from ￥2500", and "Same-day pay OK". So ... is it a prostitution escort service or a geisha-like escort service?
事務所行きにこの場所が「相手」を雇っている。では、これは・・・売春相手営業か芸者みたいな相手営業会社か？

I had to mail a package, and on the road I see the 〒 sign which denotes postal services. The sign on the building says they sell religious articles, but hey ... so I walk in and say "Hi, you have that sign that says postal services. Can you mail this package for me?" The girl says, "Postal services?" I say, "Yeah. You have the sign". The guy sitting at the desk then says "Not here. Go to Family Mart". Then, he switches to English, and says "Go straight, turn right!"
小包を郵便したかったので、同じ道の〒の看板がある店に行った。建物の看板は宗教な商品を売っているって書いてあったが・・・入ってみて「大変失礼いたしますが、外で郵便の看板がありますしこれを送りたいんですが・・・」って言った。女性の店員が「郵便？」と返事した。「ええ。看板がありますが・・・」。机で座っている男性の店員が「ここではない。ファミリーマートでー」と言ったが、英語に替わって「Go straight, turn right!」と言った！！

Cool.
すごい。

That's almost as weird as the time I was in My Favourite Liquor Store and a random postman came in and asked me, in English, where I was from. Without an accent.
変だったけど、僕の大好きな酒屋に居る時ある配達さんが入ってカタカナ発音で喋らなくて英語で僕はどっちの国から来たと聞いた時ほど変じゃないさ。

On Peng's request, I went back to the graveyard from a few days before to examine it in more detail. I noticed an overturned sake cup on the ground from a long-ago offering.
鵬さんのお願いで先日の墓場へ戻ってもっと詳しく調べた。昔の祈りから覆された酒のおちょこが土に置いていた。

All the headstones, fallen over and in a pile ...
墓石、落ちていると小山に置いてある・・・

This person died in 1830, the twelfth year of the Bunsei (文政) era. The writing down the middle is the person's posthumous Buddhist name (called a houmyou　法名), here "all heaven good snow truth", or maybe "true pleasant snow falls from under all heaven". One of the office girls told me that burning the dead didn't come into widespread use until after Meiji, so the bones of this person may still be resting under the earth here ...
或る事務所の女性員が明治時代まで火葬じゃなくて土葬の方は普通だったから、この人の骨がまだ土の下に休んでいるかもしれない・・・

Last night was a big party for the people working at the Young Worker's Hall, and I got invited because I'm the "English Teacher". I found out that the pottery class is held at a smaller hall up near where I live, so I asked if the English class could be moved to the Education-Exchange centre. Of course I was told that was impossible because all classes had to be done in the central location. What crap. The highlight of the evening was the attendance of the Chinese teacher, so I had a right old time speaking Mandarin (better than the last time which was in December, I might add). Her class starts in May; can't wait!
昨日の夜は勤労青少年ホームで働いている人達の為の宴会だった、そして僕は「英会話講座の教師」だから招待された。陶芸講座が僕の近くにある公民館で行うと知って英会話が学習交流館に移動できるかと聞いたが、勿論「できません」といわれた。中心なところで講座の全部をしなくちゃならないって。なんとか・・・まいや、夜の圧巻は中国語講座の教師の参加だった。教師とちょっと中国語が楽しく練習できた（１２月の時より喋れた）。講座は五月から；もう待てない！

So yeah, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a Potion. It tastes like ... any other Japanese energy drink, really, though I've yet to suffer any side effects. Yet. For 630 yen it's pretty damn steep for merchandising tie-in, but hey ...
うん、ポーションの便乗をした。味は・・・別に普通の日本の力飲だと思うけど、まだ副作用ないけど・・・まだ。６３０円で高い便乗だけど・・・

Finding a New Way Home うちへ戻る為の新しい道を探すようす

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 23:39:00 +0000

Since last week marked the start of my days in the office again instead of schools, I try to help out with whatever I can when I'm not doing self-improvement. One day, there was some kind of awards ceremony, so I went along to help move chairs from our office building to a building called the Ichinoseki Education and Exchange Hall.

もう先週から学校じゃなくて事務所に行くようになったので、自己改良をする時以外は何かと手伝ってあげてみる。或る日は授賞式みたいな集会があったので、自分の事務所から一関学習交流館という会館へ皆と一緒に椅子を移動した。

The building was awesome. Completely new, with a big gym and stage, plus a computer room and a meeting room with nice projection abilities. In other words, perfect to hold the evening English classes, because I require computers and projectors.
会館は素敵だった。真っ新しい、でかい体育館（舞台も含み）と電脳室と映写機能有り会室もある。即ち、僕なら電脳や映写機は夜の英語の授業にとって需要品だから完璧な会館だ。

Except it is the MIDDLE OF FREAKING NOWHERE. As you can see from the map it's on the edge of town, while the place I currently do the English at is in the centre and accessible to all.
しかし影も形もないの真ん中に在る！！地図を見るとすぐ市の端に在ると分かるでしょう。現在の夜の英語授業の場所は市内だから皆が来れる・・・

So anyway I was moving chairs and helping to set up. If you've ever been to the Japanese speech contest in Toronto, you may notice that they often have a huge banner displaying the name of whatever is going on. The stage had the bar all ready to attach the banner for this function, complete with winches for hoisting.

とにかく椅子とかを移動して色々な準備を手伝っていた。在トロントのオンタリオ州日本語弁論大会を見た事があれば、舞台の上に広い横看板があるも見たかもしれない。この舞台がもう集会を説明する横看板の鉄棒はもう付いていたし、揚げる為の巻き揚げ機もあった。

I also noticed that a handbag belonging to one of the women helping out was covered in English words with "le" in front to make it appear French. Ma abilite de la langue francais n'est pas bien, et l'Hanenosuke adult pense cet est tres imbecile, mais quand j'ai ete un enfant, j'ai pense le difference d'anglais et francais est le mot "le" - un example est le mot anglais de "toothpase" - j'ai pense le mot francais n'est pas "dentifrice" mais "le toothpaste". C'est le pense d'un enfant, non?
一人の手伝っている女の人の鞄がフランス語っぽくみる為に英語の言葉の前にフランス語の「le」が書いてあると気がついた。自分のフランス語能力は全然だめだと分かる。大人の羽之助がこれはバカだと考えているけど、子供の時もこのように考えていた。子供の時に。

Even the mayor, whom I met way back in August, was there. Even better was that Superteacher and Pond of Blood showed up, as Pond of Blood had won the Iwate prefectural English speech contest and was therefore entitled to an award. Good for her!!!
葉月会った市長さんも会館に居た。それより良い事は、「血の池」という少女が岩手県の英語弁論大会で優勝したので、受賞する。彼女とSuperteacherという中学校の先生も居た。おめでとう！！

So anyway, there's construction on one of the roads to go home, meaning that my chances of death by car have increased slightly. With that in mind, I decided to take some back roads and turn down strange intersections in hopes of finding a third, diagonal, way home. I knew that the gods of Japan approved of my choice because they gave me a new graveyard to photograph.
とにかく、僕が帰る時のよく使う道は工事中だから自分の車に轢死機会が少し増えたと思う。それを考えながら、小さな道を使って、不思議な交差点を折って対角な丙の道を探してみた。新しい墓場が撮影できたので日本の神々が僕の選択を議定したと知っている。

As I went through the new streets, I went through a brand-new subdivision! Nice roads, nice houses ... I wonder if they are connected to a sewer?
道を探検しながら、全く新しい町細別を通った！綺麗な道路、綺麗な家・・・下水道と接続されているかな？

After a few odd turns and riding through fallow rice fields (remember, I didn't know where I was going - just "diagonally"), I started to worry as to what I would do when I hit the highway. But lo and behold, an underpass! Well then I was more than halfway home ...
後少しだけの変な折りと休閑地の田圃で自転車に乗りながら（ただ対角に行っていたから）、高速道路に着いてからどうすると心配しはじめた。しかし、下道（地下道じゃないでしょう？ただの下道）が見えた！もう半分通ったな・・・

On the other side of this highway underpass lay more narrow roads and paths through rice fields, but I did eventually get home.
この高速道路の下道の向こう側で細い路と田圃の中の小路があったけどつに自宅に戻った。

That night, nearby JET Uri (whom I went to Paper Moon with the week before) had to give a farewell presentation for one of his classes the next day (having been notified just before he left his school ...). With our combined computer power we made an info presentation and some video.
同夜、近くに住んでいるウリという指導助手（先日Paper Moonと一緒に行ったの同じ人）が当日の明日の朝の為にさようならの提示を作らなくちゃならなかった（当日にお知らせをもらった）。我々の総合電脳の力で情報の提示と動画も作った。

On my last day at one of the schools, they had a Traditional Japanese Games day instead of, well, review or anything. One game that I actually enjoyed and had not done before was called Daruma-Otoshi (Falling Daruma). It's kind of like Jenga. You're only supposed to pile five blocks together, but of course we ignored that and tried to make it as high as possible before knocking the bottom pieces out.
在る学校で今学年の最後の日を過ごした。復習とかをするの代わりに「伝統的な日本の遊び」おした。一つの本当に好きだった遊びはダルマ落としという。なんかジェンガみたいと思う。部分は五階までするはずだけど、僕達は勿論それを無視して下の部分を撃つ前にできるだけ高くにしてみた。

I also happened to have a look at one of the other classrooms, and to my surprise discovered that they were having a regular English class there. The were playing an adaptation of the Japanese game of karuta, except using English words and cards. Nice.
休憩の瞬間で他の教室をちょっと覗いてびっくりした。普通の英語の授業が行っていた。カルタみたいな遊びをやっていたけど、英語の言葉で練習していた。すごいね。

Some kids - I think second graders - were also enjoying their typing class here. They were learning to use a the hiragana input method of the Japanese keyboard, and one poor girl's hands weren't big enough to place on the home row.
或る小学生（二年生かな？）が電脳授業を楽しめている。かな入力を練習していたが、一人の可哀想な少女の手は十分大きくなかったので、「は」（Ｆ）で指が二本合えたので大変タイプしにくかったそうだった。

And finally, on Saturday night fellow JET Liz and I went to downtown Ichinoseki bar Abanzale, for a DJ music party hosted by our friend Daisuke who also runs the weekend soccer club. We had a great time, especially when the bartender brought out the tequila shots.
そして最後にリズという仲間の指導助手が一関のアバンツァーレという市内バーに行った。大介というサッカー部の友達がその夜ＤＪをしていたので勿論行かなくちゃ行かなかったけど、音楽は最高だった。とっても楽しかった。特に酒仕えさんがテキーラを出す時・・・

EJC Post英日中の記事英日中的布告

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 01:19:00 +0000

This week was not interesting, so I'm going to write a post in easy Chinese. It's snowing today as well. Yesterday it was cold but there wasn't any snow. I thought spring had come but I was completely wrong!

今週は面白い事はなかったので、簡単な中国語で記事を書く。今日も雪が降っている。昨日は寒かったけど雪がなかった。朕は春が来たと思っていたけど全く違った！

现在的星期没有趣, 所以朕觉得写中文的容易布告. 今天也雪是在落下. 昨天冷了但是没有雪. 朕想春来了可是完全不对.

The new Chinese textbook I ordered arrived! I've been busy recently so I haven't had a look yet though. I want to study Chinese for an hour every day. However, do I have the time? Recently I've been talking with my Canadian friends on MSN. I like talking with my friends but I have to study!

朕が注文した中国語の教科書が届いた！最近はとても忙しいのでまだ読んでないけど・・・毎日中国語を一時間ぐらい練習したい。だが、時間はあるかな？最近はＭＳＮでカナダの友達と話している。友達と話しているのが好きだけど勉強しないと！！

朕定购的新中文的教科书来了！！因为最近朕很忙，朕未看。朕喜欢每天一个点中文练习。但是朕有没有时间？最近朕一起说加拿大的朋友们MSN上。朕喜欢说一起朕的朋友但是我要学习！！

Oh, I edited this picture. This is a Japanese wanted poster. These criminals are very dangerous, so be careful!

あ、朕がこの画を編集した。これは日本の指名手配広告だ。この犯罪者達は超危ないので、気をつけて！

啊，朕编辑这个画。这是在日本的通缉公告。小心，这个犯人很危险！

Arrest her! She looks Asian! 彼女はアジア人っぽい！逮捕しろ！

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:00:00 +0000

My ex-manager from the Falls is going to have a tough time visiting Japan next time. She could get arrested on the spot for looking Asian.
ナイアガラ瀧で働いていた時に朕の元マネージャーが日本に今度来ると大変になると思う。アジア人っぽいからすぐ逮捕される機会がある。

Police erroneously arrest 'Asian-looking' Japanese woman on immigration law breach

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 07:01 EST

SAITAMA — The Saitama prefectural police on Monday arrested a Japanese woman on suspicion of violating the immigration law but later released her after discovering that she was a Japanese national, police officials said.

The police had judged that the unemployed woman, 28, was not Japanese because she looked like a foreigner of Asian descent and that she carried an envelope written in Portuguese, the officials said. The woman was questioned by a policeman around 7:40 p.m. on Saturday in Kawaguchi. She told the officer that she was Japanese, but stopped answering further questions, the officials said. The woman's family said she is not good at speaking with strangers.

アジア系と間違え、埼玉県警が日本女性を誤認逮捕

　埼玉県警川口署は２７日、同県川口市の無職女性（２８）を東南アジア系外国人と間違え、入管法違反（旅券不携帯）容疑で誤認逮捕したと発表した。

　女性は、日本人とわかり、２６日未明の逮捕から約１４時間後に釈放された。

　同署によると、交番勤務の署員３人が２５日午後７時４０分ごろ、川口市上青木西の路上を歩いていた女性に職務質問。女性は「日本人です」としか話さず、身分を示すものも持っていなかった。署員が所持品に書かれていた母親の勤め先を訪ねたものの、身元は確認できず、２６日午前５時１５分ごろ逮捕したという。

　その後の取り調べで、女性が自分と家族の名前、生年月日を紙に書き、身元が判明。女性は午後７時２０分ごろ釈放された。

　女性の母親は、女性が普段から他人と話すのが苦手だとしているという。

　署員は「目が大きく、彫りが深かったため、外国人だと思い込んだ」という。

Isn't this an indication of the incredibly racist direction Japan is heading in? Soft racism, yes, but still, just arresting a person because they MIGHT be foreign? I mean, hey, the barber at the place I go to looks like Kim Jong Il, but there's no evidence to say that he's not Japanese. I think the police need to take a look at alllooksame.com.

これは日本が段々超差別社会の方へ進んでいるの表示ではない？やわらかい差別、確かに、だが外国人かもしれないダケで逮捕する？朕が行く床屋で或る人は金正日に似ているけど、日本人ではない証拠は全くない。日本の警察はalllooksame.comのアジア人の違いの試験を受けるべきだと思う。

Fun Times on Messenger/IRC英語のみ；勉強しなさい！

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 04:52:00 +0000

This happened when I logged on IRC for the first time in decades. Apparently I couldn't type the /nick command correctly.

* Your nick is now Hane-no-suke
-
* Your nick is now Hanenosuke
-
whatever you Erroneous Nickname
-
* Your nick is now whateveryouwant
-
HANENOSUKE Unknown command
-------------------------------------------------------------------

And this is the record of a horrible chat I was having with Kayumi/Madmartigan.

羽之助 - Whatever, you erroneous nickname! says:
ahaha 賢
Dark Schneider - Whatever, you erroneous nickname! says:
I can't see that.
Dark Schneider :It looks like a big black blob
羽之助: someone who is a slave to his crotch is about as INTELLIGENT as a shellfish.
羽之助: this is the original character for 'intelligent'
羽之助: but it carries another meaning as 'rock hard'
羽之助: so my mnemonic of "crotch-slave" still stands
羽之助: except that slave should really be minister (its true original meaning is downcast eyes), so I could have a Ministry of Crotches
Dark Schneider: Except it's only "slave" as a radical/primitive, where it can also/still be used as retainer, as well.
羽之助: Yeah. I just wish Heisig would keep the same meaning for everything.
Dark Schneider - ::you can pretty much dismiss what he uses as the meanings for the radicals if you like.
Dark Schneider: FOR EXAMPLE
Dark Schneider: he lists "Rice" as meaning USA as well in radical-form
Dark Schneider: And the only place I've seen that used in the book was in Astray
Dark Schneider: (rice, road)
Dark Schneider: where I have NO idea how to use USA
Dark Schneider: but I can use rice to say "leave a trail of rice so you won't go astray"
羽之助:Following the road of the USA will lead you astray.
Dark Schneider: mine's better
Dark Schneider: or for edge
Dark Schneider: I prefer "stand on the mountain's EDGE and it'll be so windy you need to comb your hair"
羽之助:端？
Dark Schneider: no
羽之助:it is so!
Dark Schneider: ...good christ I hate this font size
Dark Schneider: that does NOT look ANYTHING like that.
羽之助: hahaha
Dark Schneider: Seriously
Dark Schneider: What font size are you using?
羽之助: Mine is a ... 12.
Dark Schneider: Wow, even at 12 it's legible.
羽之助:12 is all you need. Unless your montior resolution is set to supershrunk
Dark Schneider: It kind of is.
Dark Schneider: 12 is retarded-big looking though
羽之助: then go for 11 or 10.5
羽之助: IF IT MAKES YOUUUU HAPPPYYYYYY
Dark Schneider: She's got breast cancer. That's Sheryl Crow, right?
羽之助: Does she?
羽之助: Yes.
羽之助: Huh. Too bad.
Dark Schneider: Yeah, announced today.
Dark Schneider: I wonder if it makes her happyyyyyyyyyy.
Dark Schneider: I guess she's finding that every day is a winding road.

An Interesting Night Out夜に出掛けると面白くなるよ

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 13:16:00 +0000

Yesterday was a blast! Delivered a short Hong Kong lecture because it was the last day at one of my classes, then went to the office to shock everyone with the beardless face. The evening was pretty good, as I went to the JTB office with friend Liz. We technically arrived after closing, but we gaijin smashed our way in and got her her tickets to Okinawa. After that, we walked to Strawberry Cones, which despite the name sells pizza. Good pizza, especially for Japan with its reputation for bad pizza. On the way there, I actually said "Let's Pizza" and was immediately kicked by Liz for it. Good. We ordered a large, took it back to my apartment and stuffed ourselves. After a few printing misadventures, Liz drove me downtown to the post office so I could meet Uri.

昨日は最高だった！或る学校の最後の日だったからちょっと香港について講義をして、事務所に行ってから皆を髭なしの顔で驚かせた。ははは！夕方も結構よかった。リズという友達と一緒にＪＴＢに行った。実はもう閉店してしまったけど、特別外国人攻撃をして入った。無事に沖縄の旅行の切符を買った。後、ストロベリーコーンズというピザ屋に行った。行きながら朕が「レッツ・ピザ」といってしまった・・・すぐにリズによく蹴られた。よかったね。大ピザを注文して自分のアパートに行ってよく食べた。印刷の冒険をしてからウリに会う為にリズが朕を郵便局まで連れて行ってくれた。

We headed to (where else?) Paper Moon, where I just drank coffee (because I was sleepy) and Uri just drank assorted fruit drinks (because he was driving). Mr. Watanabe provided the usual cool demeanour, and we chatted with him and co-bartender Keiko for a while about life in Japan and overseas.

相変わらずにペーパームーンに行った。朕は眠かったからコーヒーばかりを飲んだ、そしてウリは運転していたから色んな果物の飲み物を飲んでいた。渡辺さんが普通の格好良い性格をやっていた、そして副酒仕え（バーテンダー）のケイコさんと在日本と海外の生活について話していた。

Then, two men walked in. One was white, the other, Japanese. They were speaking English. At first, we were pretty cold to each other. Then I suggested to Uri that we switch our speaking language to French. The white guy, hearing this, switched to French and asked where we were from. It turns out that he was from Montreal, from the same neighbourhood as Uri, and was in Japan to do some filming. We talked until around 2 and then headed off to our respective apartments/hotels.

それで二人の男性が入ってきた。一人は白人、一人は日本人。英語で喋っていた。最初はお互いにちょっと冷たかった・・・それでウリにフランス語で喋ろうと提議した。白人がこれを聞くと、英語からフランス語に変わって朕們がどこから来たと尋ねた。彼はモントリオールからウリの同じ近所で育っていたし、映画を作る為に日本に来た。２時まで話した、そしてそれから適当なアパートとホテル部屋に戻った。

Today I watched a German movie about the end of the war and the fall of Berlin, called Der Untergang. Highly recommended.

今日も戦争の終わりとベルリンの陥落について「滅亡」というドイツの映画を見た。お勧めです。

Oh yeah, and in this story, Tottori Prefecture will soon ensure that violations against human rights will go unpunished.
----------------------------------------------

Tottori to halt human rights ordinance
Saturday, February 25, 2006 at 05:00 EST
TOTTORI — The Tottori prefectural government submitted a bill to the prefectural assembly on Friday to indefinitely suspend the enforcement of an ordinance aimed at protecting people from racial discrimination and other human rights violations, citing lack of support from legal circles. The bill is likely to be approved on March 24, the final day of the current assembly session, and the scheduled implementation of the ordinance on June 1 will be postponed indefinitely, prefectural officials said.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hurray for the Tottori Inhuman Rights Act of 2006!

そしてこの記事で、鳥取県がもうそろそろ「人間不権利方法」を作るね。

＜人権救済条例＞施行停止の条例案を提案　鳥取県知事

　表現の自由を侵すなどと批判を浴びた鳥取県人権救済条例について、片山知事は２４日開会の定例県議会に、条例の施行を無期限停止する条例案を提案した。主要会派が賛成、可決される見通し。同条例は県弁護士会が条例の運営にあたる県人権救済委員への弁護士派遣を拒否、片山知事が抜本的に見直す意向を示していた。

（毎日新聞） - 2月24日14時27分更新
---------------------------------------------------------------

And finally, I now have gold hair.
最後は、僕は金髪の獅王になった。

Snip チョキチョキ

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 11:21:00 +0000

Since I got these booklets from the kids at one of my schools, I went to a stationery store and picked up some special paper to write thank-you certificates. The principal of the school had told me where I could buy the paper, so I went into his office today to thank him.
或る学校で児童達から感想表をもらったので、文房具屋に行って感謝の為の特別紙を買ってきた。その紙はどこで買えるか校長先生に教えされてもらったので、彼に礼を言う為に校長室に勝手に入った。

It appears that when he leaves his office, he tapes a picture of himself to a stuffed bear and leaves it in his chair. God I love this guy.
なんか校長先生が事務所を出かけたら、縫い包みに自分の写真を付けて椅子で置いて行くそうだ。だから彼の事が大好きだ。

Today the fifth-years were making Brazilian food.
今日は五年生がブラジル料理を作っていた。

I forget what they're called but they were pretty good.
なんというか忘れてしまったが美味しかったよ。

I wonder if this is a company that makes food ingredients specifically for Brazilians in Japan?
これは在日ブラジル人の為の食材を作る会社の商標かな？

It was actually an extremely good day at that school. Sure, I had the Class from Hell, which is always a downer but oh well. The only one I really care about is a girl I call Satori-chan, or 'Miss Enlightenment' as she is one of maybe four people in the whole class who pays attention and doesn't try to assault other students. More info in English here.
実はとても良い日だった。「地獄の授業」に教えなくちゃならなかったけど、まいや。その授業の中に朕が気に入った生徒は悟ちゃんという愛称が付いている女子だ。彼女は、授業の全員から教師の言葉を注意して他の児童を強襲しないの四人の一人だ。

Oh yeah. I got my hair cut.
あ、そう、髪の毛を切ったよ。

And, the video of Day Two in Hong Kong is online.
そして「香港への旅路：第二日」は上載してある。

Warm!　あったかい！

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:23:00 +0000

I went biking this evening without my winter coat on - just the suit jacket - and I wasn't too cold! The snow's pretty much all melted too. Whoo! But, will it last?
夕方は冬コートを着ずに自転車に乗っていた（ただスーツのジャケット）があまり寒くなかった！雪がもう大体全部溶かした。やった！でも、この天気はいつまで頑張るか？？

The important question is, will the warmth stay long enough for me to decide to finally cut my hair?
大切な質問は、このあったかい天気は十分過ごして朕が毛を切ると決められる？

The Teach Yourself Chinese book has arrived. Looks thick and comprehensive! Goody!
「自分に中国語を教える」の教科書が届いた。厚くて包括的！よーし！

And, a link from Tvashtri ... what do you guys think about me?
そしてテュヴァシュテュリから・・・皆は朕の事について何を思っている？（下の連絡線は英語のみ）

kks's Johari Window

Valentine's Day in Japan 在日本のヴァレンタイン日

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 02:06:00 +0000

So I'll talk about the title of this post and then go back in time to talk about other stuff. Sound good? Okay. Now, shut up and read and behold the pretty pictures.
では、この記事の話題について話して、それから過去に時旅（タイムスリップ、時間旅行の略語ーまた新語を作った）して他の話題について話す。良いか？よし。じゃ、口を閉めて、記事を読んでそして綺麗な写真をご覧。

Valentine's Day in Japan basically means all the women have to hand out chocolate to all the men, which is known as "obligation chocolate". I almost thought the women in our office weren't going to do it, and I was quite happy because 70% of Japanese women hate the "tradition", but I got one anyway, in the shape of an amused monkey. While I appreciate the gift, and will have a White Day return present in the form of white alcohol (pina colada, anyone?), the choice of monkey is ironic in that a few JETs refer to themselves as "trained monkeys" - amusing people who speak English but are not to be taken seriously or thought of as more than a toy. Sometimes.

日本のヴァレンタイン日は、基本的に女性が男性の皆に「義理チョコ」を出すという事だ。朕の事務所の女性達がそうしないと思っていた。日本で女性の７０％が義理チョコの「習慣」が嫌いのでこっちの女性職員はしないと思っていたけど、やっとした。朕は笑っている猿のチョコをもらった。贈り物を頂くともちろん感謝するし、ワイトデー（ホワイトじゃないよ！hな音（ホ）は英語のwhiteに全然入ってない！）の白酒の様な恩返し（ピニャ・コラダは如何？）も準備するけど、猿が選ばれたのはとても諷刺っぽいだ。する人数はちょっと少ないと思うけど、外国語指導助手が時々自分を「調教された猿」と呼ぶ。なぜなら、我々は英語で喋っている者だが、真面目的に考えされてないし、おもちゃ以上の様に尊敬されていない。時々。

The office supervisor, of course, got entirely appropriate chocolates. I really want to know where the girls got these particular ones. The packaging reads as "girl's kisses".

事務所の担当者がもちろん適当なお菓子をもらった。女性達がどこでこれを買ったか本当に知りたい。

The shop where I bought stamps from the Angry Old Man and also purchased the Evil Potatoes is closed! One day I was going by it on my bike on my way back from the BofE, and it was shut with 'For Rent' signs on it! What the heck? I mean, I hated the shop but I'd at least like to what what happened.

Edit: I talked to the bike shop guy next door, and apparently the husband died, so the wife decided to close shop.

「怒りの爺」から切手を買って「悪じゃが芋」も買った店が閉店した！或る日朕は教育委員会から戻って隣の道に乗っていたが、閉店して「入居募集中」の看板が貼っていた！何これ？まいや、その店が大嫌いだったが、少なくても何が起こったか知りたい。

編集：隣の自転車屋さんと話して旦那が亡くなったので、奥さんが閉店すると決めた。

One of the schools I was at last week was having a day where the older students would go to the younger grade classes to dispense guidance and stuff like that. I remember doing the same thing in my elementary school. I hated it, as I recall.
或る学校で、先週ぐらいは高学年の生徒達が低学年の生徒達の教室とかに行って指導を施す等をやっていた。朕も小学生の頃そうやっていた。正しく思い出したら大嫌いだった。

At another school, I was browsing around the teacher's office when my eyes fell upon this incredibly disturbing picture. Kids have cooking classes, and this is a cooking textbook. She looks like she just dumped a bunch of arsenic in her baked goods.
他の学校の職員室でただ披見していたが、朕がこの大変掻き乱す本に目を掛けた。子供は料理授業があるのでこれは料理の教科書そうだ。彼女は中々焼いた物に砒素を入れ込んだみたい。

In accordance with my previous stance, if you're going to teach something, make an effort to teach it right. Subject-verb agreement, people! The only way this gets forgiveness is if it was actually written by an elementary or junior high student.
前言った立場通り、何かを教えるつもりなら、正しく教える努力を出しなさい。「主語・動詞合意」というよ！許す場合はこの看板は本当に小学生か中学生に書かれた。

Japan likes its tobacco, and the unscrupulous youth can easily buy cigarettes and alcohol from vending machines. This one, however, has a sign that says it will have an "adulthood verification function" device attached to it in 2008. A bit late, and I think the cigarette vending machines should be outlawed completely, but better than nothing.
日本はタバコが好きだ、そして非良心的な青年が簡単にタバコと酒を自動販売機から買える。この機は２００８年に「成人識別機能」が付けるようになるって。ちょっと遅いし、朕はタバコの自動販売機は違反になるはずだけど、少なくても良い。

A few days ago, a fire truck raced by one of the schools. Meaning that there was a fire somewhere in the neighbourhood, the school officials quickly telephoned the fire department, got the address of the fire, checked to see if any student's houses were nearby, and finding that there were, quickly called the house and called the kid to the office to prepare for any possible shock. All of this within maybe 1 minute. Cool and commendable.
先日は消防車が学校の隣で走っていた。近所で火事があるという意味だから、学校の職員がすぐ消防局に電話して、火事の住所をもらってから生徒の家が近所にあると調べた。あると知ってから家に電話して子供も呼んで知らせた。全部は一分以内ぐらい起こった。素晴らしくて奇特ではない？

On the weekend, I was hitching a ride with my friend on the way to our weekly soccer game. We went by the Culture Centre, and due to some kind of event and people parking on the road because they couldn't bother to do it in the lot, what should have been a 30 second ride to pick up her brother turned into 15 minutes. Attention all road-parking 4-way-flashers: YOU ARE ALL BASTARDS, DIE DIE DIE.
週末に友達の車に乗って毎週のサッカー試合に行っていた。友達の兄さんを迎えに行く為に実家に戻っていたが、文化中心で何かがあったので皆は駐車場の代わりに道で駐車していた。それで３０秒の運転が１５分になった。道路ハザード付き駐車者への知らせ：オミャラは最低、死ね死ね死ね！

Walking home, found this at the entrance to a person's driveway. Shinto paper, to protect against the entrance of evil spirits and such.
内に帰りながら近所の家の駐車場の前でこれを見た。鬼とかが入らないよう紙かな。

Since the school term is winding down, I've been having the last lessons of the year with the more regular schools. I've received wonderful "memory books" of the past year (I've only been in the schools for 6 months but they all say "Thank you for a year of teaching" - I think they need to check their math), but the real gems are when the students say "Your classes are always interesting" "I look forward to coming" and best of all, "I hated English but now I love it". Since they are relatively few, I believe these testimonials. Hurrah, I have worth!
学年がそろそろ終わるので、よく行く学校で最後の授業をやっている。素晴らしい「感想本」を生徒からもらっている（全部は大体「一年間ありがとう」が書いてあるけど朕は６ヶ月だけここに居たーなんか数学をもっと厳しく教えようか？）。本物の宝石は「授業はいつも面白い」か「英語の授業にいつも楽しんでいる」はいいけど、最高は「パトリック先生が来るまでに英語が嫌いだったけど今は大好き！！」。こんな感想は少ないので信じている。やった、朕は物価ある！

In other news, to help me with the increasing number of Brazilian kids in the schools who do not speak Japanese, which is the main language of instruction for my English classes (oh sure, you laugh, but I can spend either 30 seconds explaining the game in Japanese or 10 minutes in English), I have ordered a "Teach Yourself Brazilian Portuguese" book. My Chinese textbook has just shipped, so I will be studying that soon too.
他の情報で・・・日本語が分からないブラジル人係が学校で人数が多くなっている（決まっている日本語講座制度は大体ないは一つな理由だと思う）し、自分の英語授業は日本語で説明する（笑うか？日本語で活動を説明すれば子供は後３０秒分かるけど英語ばかりなら１０分掛かるよ）ので、朕を手伝う為に「自分にブラジルのポルトガル語を教える」の本を注文した。中国語の教科書も今日配達されたので、もうそろそろ毎日それを勉強しはじめる。

JTHK: Day One, Tokyo to HK 香港への旅路第一日：東京から香港へ

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:40:00 +0000

The video is finally available for public viewing.
動画がついに公衆的に見られるようになった。

Stupidity Reigns but Does Not Rule 盆暗が君臨すれど統治せず

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 02:52:00 +0000

This past week has been pretty stupid in Japan.
今週は日本でとっても馬鹿だった。

First, the man who will probably be the next PM of Japan, Aso Taro, said that the Emperor must visit Yasukuni.
第一。日本の次の首相に成るはずの麻生太郎が「天皇が靖国に参社すれば」と言った。

Second, a black man who was shooed away from a store in Osaka Prefecture and had the gumption to sue about it had his case rejected because the judge had"doubts about the plaintiff's level of comprehension of the Japanese language".
第二。大阪府の店から追放された黒人が勇気を出して訴えてみたのに、裁判者が「原告の日本語能力には相当な疑問があり」と言って事件は否定された。

Third, a former trade minister, Hiranuma Takeo, said that changing the current Imperial Succession law to allow females to ascend the throne was impossible because “If Aiko becomes the reigning empress and gets involved with a blue-eyed foreigner while studying abroad and marries him, their child may become emperor. We should never let that happen". Other arguments include precedent that Japan has never had an empress before, and that Aiko does not carry the 'Imperial Y Chromosome'.
第三。元通産省の平沼赳夫が現在の皇室承継を変える事は無理だと言った。なぜなら、「愛子親王妃が天皇に成って海外で勉強しながら青い目の外国人と付き合って結婚すれば、胤が天皇に成るかもしれない。それは絶対に許さない」。他の論じは日本は女性天皇が居た事ない、それとも愛子は「皇室Ｙ染色体」を持ってない。

Fourth, Aso went at it again, this time about Taiwan, where he said that "Thanks to the significant improvement in educational standards and literacy (during the colonization), Taiwan is now a country with a very high education level and keeps up with the current era".
第四。また麻生の口から。今回は「（植民地の時代の）教育と識字率の増えの為、現在の台湾は高い教育と現代の国になった」って。

Fifth, following news that Princess Kiko is pregnant, PM Koizumi has announced that he will no longer put forward a bill allowing Imperial succession to pass to Princess Aiko.
第五。紀子親王妃が妊婦になって、小泉首相がもう愛子親王妃に皇室承継を渡す法を国会議事堂で出さないと言った。

Sixth, Koizumi announced that he is reluctant to allow more foreign workers into Japan because of a possible rise in crime.
第六。犯罪率が増えるはずなので、小泉首相が外国人の雇いをあまり入国して欲しくないって。

So why is this stupid?
では、何で馬鹿でしょうか？

1. The Emperors, beginning with Hirohito, have not visited Yasukuni Shrine ever since the spirits of executed war criminals were smuggled in one night in the seventies by shrine administrators.
一。天皇陛下は、昭和天皇から靖国神社で参社しない。理由は、７０年代に死刑された戦争犯罪者の零が或る夜に神社に連れて来られたので。

2. The fact that a visibly non-Japanese man can be shooed away from a store and a discrimination lawsuit can be easily dismissed does not bode well for a future where Japan needs immigrants to survive.
二。ただ見るとやはり日本人ではない人が店から追放できるし、差別訴訟は否定される事もあるので、将来で入国の新国民は必要な日本に悪い前兆ではないでしょうか。

3. Besides obviously racist, it is stupid because it is apparently OK for Aiko to marry a black-eyed Korean-American when studying abroad. We all know how the old guard would approve of that. Japan has also had plenty of empresses - Empress Suiko, for example. And as for using genetics as an excuse - sorry, but all you need for succession is descent from Amaterasu and possession of the Three Sacred Treasures. Japan, welcome to the 21st century. Where is the great spirit of Meiji and modernization? In Denmark, apparently.
三。差別主義だが、海外で愛子が黒い目の韓国人系のアメリカ人と結婚すれば許可みたいので馬鹿だ。保守者はその事にどんな反応をすると皆が分かるでしょう。日本は女性天皇も多かった（例：推古天皇）。そして遺伝子の言い訳；失敬いたすが、皇室承継の為に要件は天照大御神からの正系と三種の神器だけ。日本、廿一世紀へようこそ。ああ、明治時代の改革と近代化の気はどこか？？在デンマークかな。

4. Imagine the uproar if a British former trade minister made the same remark about India. For sixty years Taiwan has been independent of Japanese rule. Plenty of time for improvement by themselves. Just another example of the old guard's inability to let go of the past.
四。英国の元通産省がインドについてそう言ったら乱暴をご想像しなさい。もう六十年間以上台湾は日本から自由だった。自分で進む時間は十分でｈそう。また保守者の過去から離れるの不能力の例だ。

5. Princess Kiko's pregnancy couldn't have happened at a *coughcoughcough* more convenient time. I wonder how much pressure she came under to produce a boy as Koizumi tried to introduce a revised Imperial Succession bill. Artificial insemination and sex selection, anyone?
紀子の妊婦は好都合的にいいね（咳咳咳）。小泉が改革皇室承継法を出してみると宮内庁からどのように息子を産む為に圧力されたかな？人工授精と性別選択は関係ないでしょう？

6. More immigrants and foreign workers does not mean more crime. Seeming as Japan desperately needs immigrants to pay taxes for the pensions of the upcoming retirees, if the government is that concerned about foreign-related crime, perhaps they should crack down on the Japanese agents who import workers and force them to work in the "body" related industries.
新国民と外国人雇いは犯罪率の増えと関係ない。そろそろ退職する国民の年金を税金で払う為に、日本は重要的に新国民が要る。政府は外国人から犯罪について心配してたら、肉体関係仕事で移動民を働かせる日本人を逮捕すれば。

And that's the roundup for this week. Support the True Heir - Princess Aiko for Empress!
では、今週の要約だ。嫡子を応援し、愛子を天皇に！

Snowball Fight 雪合戦

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 10:04:00 +0000

The women I went out with on Friday to the movie gave me something great - a box like the ones at shrines or temples to deposit money into for good fortune! One step closer for me getting a kamidana.
一緒に映画を見に行った女の人達が僕にこの箱をくれた。やった！神棚への一歩～

This is my view as I wait for the bus stop. For the past three days, I've been going out to a school way out in the country - only three buses per day to that area. Lots of very old interesting things there, like Murdered Woman Hill, which is an idiotic folk tale - a woman divorced her husband and went back home, and on the way home rested on a rock in the forest and fell asleep. Her ex-husband, distraught, came through the same forest, coincidence or no, and saw 'a ghost woman' lying on a rock, and killed her. Uh huh. Nice excuse. I, of course, plan to sleep on said rock overnight and see what happens.
この写真は僕が朝にバス停留所で待っている間に見える風景だ。もう三日間ぐらい市内から遠い田舎の学校に行っていた。毎日バスは三台だけ走る。その地域で色んな面白い物がある。例えば、「女殺坂」という馬鹿話がある。昔々、或る女が夫を離婚して故郷へ戻っていたけど、途中で疲れたので森の中の岩で休むと決めた。元主人が（偶然？じゃないでしょう）同時に同じ森で歩いていたが、岩で「怪女」を見たので彼女を殺した。そうか。良い言い訳だね。朕はもちろん或る夜にその岩を探して女性が殺された場所で寝る予定だ。

One popular and easy song/game is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", at least until third or fourth grade, depending on the school. Since I don't have much in the way of material at this particular school, I get to use my favourite medium - chalk and board!
一つの人気あって簡単な歌遊びは「頭、肩、膝と足指」だ（ま、学校によって第二か第三学年まで）。こっちの学校で資料はそんなにないので、好きな媒体が使える！板！チョーク！

It's been a weird few days, with massive snowfall. Still, the shrine of the area's guardian deity looks pretty in the falling snow. 最近は本当に雪多かった。ま、地域の守り神の神社は降っている雪のままで綺麗でしょう。

Turns everything grey, though. The only spot of colour are the two junior high school students.
全部が灰色になってしまうけどな。色はこの二人の中学生からだけ。

Some kids are still suffering from flu and colds, though. One poor guy threw up inside the office, and a Circle of Protection: Vomit was immediately set up from nearby materials.
生徒達はまだ風やインフルエンザを引いているけどね。一人のかわいそうな男子が職員室で吐いてしまった。隣の資料から守丸：嘔吐を設定した。

Still, the snow was perfect for making forts, as it was wet enough to roll giant snowballs. The fort actually started out as a snowman, but as the second ball was too big for anyone to lift, it became the first part of the front wall. When I left the school for the last time today, it had gotten quite impressive. If I get a day off I might go back out there just to work on it some more.
でも、完璧な城建築の雪だった。十分塗れっていたのででかい雪球が作れた。城は元に雪だるまだったけど、二番目の球は大きすぎて誰もが運べなかったので、前壁の基地になった。今日、学校を最後に出る時、きっと堂々に成っていた。休日があれば城をもっと建築する為に又その学校に行こうかな。

Anyway, on to some non-picture commentary. As usual, the first and second graders were excellent at remembering words and WRITING (including kids making normal mistakes like writing the capital E backwards!), whereas asking the sixth graders to do the same thing would elicit groans and complaints. Since the sixth graders were going to middle school in April, I told them to get ready, because they would have English class three times a week. The look on everyone's faces was pure shock and horror. They seriously thought once they finished elementary school, they would be done with English forever. HAHAHAHA!
じゃ、写真無しの記事を書けば・・・普通のように一年生と二年生は言葉がよく覚えられたし、上手に書けた（そして、間違えする生徒が普通の間違えをした；例えば大文字のＥを逆で書く）。しかし、六年生に同じ事を命令すれば、皆が大変文句を言ってなにもしない。六年生が四月から中学校に入るから、毎週英語の授業が三回あるって言った。で、皆が大変驚いている顔をした。皆が本当に小学校を卒業してからもう英語の活動はないと真面目に思っていた。あははははは！

I also met ANOTHER girl with a Chinese mom. Man, Ichinoseki may be in the middle of nowhere but it is probably more multicultural/multiethnic than the rest of Japan! It continues to rock!
もう一人の中華人の母が居る女の子に会った。一関は田舎の真ん中にあるかもしれないけど、日本の普通の町より凄く多文化・他民族な地域だ！一関万歳！

Since I'm tired of raising my voice and screaming over the voices of noisy students, I bought a whistle, a yellow card, and a red card. Now, if they're all noisy, I can use the whistle, and if one particular students is being an idiot, I can just yellow card him. Red card means get the fuck out. Of course I have no real power to use this, so maybe a 'face the wall' would work.
生徒達の声より自分のを叫ぶのはもう面倒くさいので口笛、黄色牌、そして赤牌も買った。今、もしうるさかったら、口笛が使える、そしてもし生徒が特に馬鹿の行動をやっていたら、朕はただ彼を黄色牌できる。赤牌はもう出て行けの意味。もちろんこの権力はないけど、ただの「壁を向け動くな」は効果あるかもしれない。

Waiting for the bus to go home, I actually saw a snowplow. Now I know that they exist here.
バスに待っている間に、本物の雪掻き車を見た。日本で本当にあるか～

The New Face of Pat, Your Imperial Ruler 羽刀、貴方達庶民の天皇の、新しい顔

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:32:00 +0000

New banner! Whee! 新しい横看板！やった！

The beard is continuing to protect against the cold, and coupled with my ever-growing hair (on the head), I can now carry giant snowballs on my shoulder and not feel cold. I'll have to shave and cut in March for girlfriend reasons, but until then, it's wolf time.
髭がまだ寒さか風を防止しているし、まだまだ伸ばしている髪の毛も含んだら肩ででかい雪球を運んでも全然寒くない。彼女の為に３月半ばは剃らなくちゃならないけど、その時までは狼の季節だ。

On Friday night I went with two nice women from the now-defunct English group to see a movie called "Always: Evening in 3-chome", about Tokyo in 1958. Even if it does glorify that damn Eiffel rip-off hunk of metal, it was a good movie. The funny parts were funny, and the sad parts were sad. I recommend.
金曜日の夜は只今停止中英会話会の二人の優しい女の人と一緒に「Always:３丁目の夕日」の映画を見にいった。そのアイフェル塔の偽者鐵の糞物をちょっと自慢するけど、良い映画だった。面白いところは面白かった、そして悲しいところは悲しかった。お勧めだ。

On Saturday I went to the gym and used the equipment with two friends, which was fun. While filling out the registration, a guy came over and asked me what country am I from and the usual chitchat. To finish up, he said 'Well, I hope you take a good Japanese wife from here!' Things progressed even more hilariousy when we went upstairs to use the equipment. The two Japanese girls I was with ... didn't say a word! They just stood there while the attendant panicked over what the hell these three people were standing there just staring at her for! Eventually I spoke up and said 'Hey, we're new. Do we give these forms to you or what?' Later, she said she had been panicking because she thought she'd have to speak English. Come on. This is Ichinoseki. If you meet a white person here, chances are they're a Portuguese-speaking Brazilian.

土曜日は二人の友達と一緒に総合体育館に行って装備を使った。楽しかった。登録しながら役人が来て朕はどっちの國から来たとかのと尋ねた。最後には「じゃ、いい日本人のお嫁さんを結婚して。」って言った。装備を使う為に階段を上ってから状況がもっともっと面白くなった。朕と一緒に居る二人の女性が何もいわなかった！店員がなぜこの三人は黙って立っているかと面って恐慌しながらこの二人がそのまま立ってじっと見ていた！ついに朕が「すいません、初めてですけど・・・」と言った。後で、店員が英語で喋らなくちゃと心配して恐慌していたっていった。マジかよ、これは一関でしょう？この町で白人に会ったら、多分ポルトガル語で喋っているブラジル人だよ！

Saturday was also Soccer Day, and I lasted for about 5 mintues before falling and twisting my ankle. AGAIN. It's fine now though.
土曜日はサッカーの日だった、そして落ちて又捻挫するまで五分ぐらい試合できた。

I've moved my computer into the kitchen, which means I'm closer to the fridge. The space heater for the kitchen is this orange demonic thing, on which I burned my underwear trying to heat it up one morning. パソコンを台所に移動したので、もっと冷蔵庫の近くになってしまった・・・台所である暖房はこの鬼みたいみかん色な物。これで或る朝に下着を暖めてみる時はよく燃やしてしまった！

And thus passed the weekend.
このように週末を過ごした。

Just A Normal Entry 只の普通な記事

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 23:27:00 +0000

After a few weeks of procrastination, I finally started to make some curry. I had more than enough chicken, seen here, frozen. Damn that's hard to cut. Easier than if it was raw, but still. I bought a bunch of potatoes a few months ago from a little store, and if you peel the skin then you've got a nice layer of green. Which means poison. Normally I leave the skin on and just take out the eyes, but this time I had to peel all the potatoes ... sigh. I compensated with lots of onion and garlic, and sesame seeds. I love sesame.
何週間ぐらい延び延びしてついにカレーを作り始めた。鶏肉は十分あった（写真、凍っている）。切りにくいな。生より簡単だけど・・・八百屋から安いじゃが芋を買ったが、皮を少し剥いて層は緑だと見えた、すなわち、毒。普通は皮を剥かなくて目を取るだけだけど、今回はじゃが芋の全部を剥かなくちゃならなかった・・・いやだね。補う為に玉葱と大蒜（にんにく・・・人の肉の元？？？）と胡麻を一杯入れた。胡麻大好き！

This is a notice I saw on a bus. It reads as "For your safety, securely lock your doors! Get into the habit when you leave the house. I still remember when I was young in my Canadian hometown, we'd never lock our doors, though my the time I was almost done in elementary school we had gotten into the habit.
これはバスで見た看板。自分のカナダの故郷でもあまり戸の錠を掛けなかった、しかしもう小学校七年生の頃から毎晩やっていた。

The school I was at still had posters that the students made about other countries during their bit of international study. I did this is Grade 4 and had to do Italy. If only I had been given Japan or China then ... heh. Golf is now an English sport, by the way.
その日の学校で国際學の授業で國々の事を調べる活動からこの看板を作った。朕も四年生の時そうしたがイタリアを勉強しなくちゃならなかった。その時に日本か中国を勉強させられたら・・・まいや。ゴルフは只今からイギリスのスポーツそうだよね。

Hurrah for China! 中華万歳！

There really is no organized snow removal here. I saw one woman shovelling the snow from her driveway and ... throwing it into the middle of the road. This picture was taken near the big supermarket I live by. Vehicular traffic has (I think) created a large snow boulder in the middle of the road.
ここで本当に雪掻き制度はないと思う。一人のばあさんが自分の家から雪掻きをしていると見たが、彼女が只道路の真ん中に投げた。この写真は朕が隣に住んでいる大食品店で撮られた。交通のせいで（かな）道路の真ん中で大きな雪岩がある。

On Thursday night I went out to an onsen with Manga Girl. It was nice, except I was a little surprised that there was no outdoor bath. Because it was separated by sex, we agreed to meet back in the lobby's rest area (pictured) after half an hour. Problem was, I thought half an hour started after entering the bath; she thought it began after entering the changeroom. Ah well.
木曜日の夜は漫画女と一緒に温泉に行った。良かったけど露天風呂がないとちょっとびっくりしてがっきりした。混浴じゃなかったから玄関の休憩所（写真）で後丗分会おうと言い合わせた。しかし、朕は入浴してから丗分だと思っていたが、彼女は更衣室に入ってから丗分だと思っていた。まいや。

Out at the Japan-Style School, we were just having a 'Play Day' of sorts with the younger grades, in which I wouldn't actually teach anything, but instead introduce 'Canadian games'. A little 7-up went well, but then I took everyone to the gym for everyone's favourite - dodgeball! To make things evil, I gave them two balls to throw instead of one. When our time was up, we prepared to leave ... except that the gym doors had locked automatically!
和式学校で英語を教えなくて只「カナダの遊び」のような若い生徒に活動日があった。「七上」は上手くできたけど、後少し皆を体育館に連れて行って皆の好きな遊びをしようと述べたー避球！最悪に成る為に一つじゃなくて二つの球を上げた。時間になってから出るの準備をしたけど・・・体育館の扉が自動的に鍵が掛かった！！

I have my keitai on me at all times, so I just called the office to send someone to let us out.
いつでも携帯を持っているから朕が職員室に電話した。

Later that day the kids went around the school seeing what magnets would stick to. They all had cute horseshoe magnets - no utilitarian bar magnets here!
同日に子供達が学校内で磁石はどんなものにくつける（くっつく）と調べていた。皆は可愛い蹄鉄磁石を持っていた；功利的な棒磁石は許可をしない！

After the day was done at the school I returned to the office and managed to talk to the other city ALT for the rest of the afternoon without complaining about Japan. I also gave out chocolate-covered almonds to the staff and told them to watch out for demons. Walking home I jumped into a snow-filled rice field.
学校で活動が終わってから事務所に戻って午後の残りで日本について文句を言わずに一関市の他の指導助手と話した。職員にもチョコ扁桃を渡して鬼に食われないように気をつけてと言った。そして帰りながら雪いっぱいの田圃に飛び込んだ。

Pointless Labour 無意味な労働

noreply@blogger.com (羽之助) — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Did we ever get a huge snowfall the other day. Wow. We’re talking Canadian-style drifts, although I’m sure everyone up in Aomori is just sick of it. Anyway, since there was massive snow, instead of hiding in the staff room or AV room like I usually do after lunch, I went outside. Surprisingly enough, instead of playing in the snow, two kids were shoveling the front driveway. The front drive is huge, so I grabbed a shovel and began to help them.
昨日は本當に大雪が降った。凄い。「カナダ式の吹き溜まり」だったと思うけど青森縣に居る民族は多分もう嫌でしょう。とにかく大雪だったので普通の職員室や視聴覚室で隠れる行為より外へ出た。ところが雪で遊んでいるより二人の子供達が校門の道を雪掻きしていた。校門道はとっても廣いので掻きを持ってきて手伝いはじめた。

But before that, I was at another school, and I saw that the students were making some really nice representations of their names.
とりあえずその前は他の小学校に行って、生徒達が名前から本当に綺麗な絵を描いていたと見た。

I haven’t taken out the paper in a really long time. Hope they take it! 本当に久しぶりに紙とかを出しに行った。大丈夫ならいいな！

This week is the one time of the year when the Japanese acknowledge that they used to share the same calendar with the rest of East Asia. It's Setsubun-no-Hi, Season Change Day, and at the school some students put on devil masks and I whipped peanuts at them. Everyone in the class went nuts going after the peanuts. It was great. Devil out, luck in!
今週は日本人が東亜と同じ暦を使っていた事を認める年の一つの期間だ。節分の日だから生徒達が鬼の面を付けて朕が豆（実：ピーナツ）を投げ込んだ（悪笑）。生徒の皆が狂ってピーナツを受けてみたので大変楽しかった。鬼は外、福は内！

Anyway, back to the snow shovelling. Instead of playing in the snow, I helped these two kids shovel. When cleaning time started, more kids filed out to shovel, including a few teachers. Except ... there was zero organization. I think I managed to shovel more than everyone else combined, but only because everyone else was doing it so haphazardly. And they were using pickaxes to chop away at the ice under the snow. So you'll resort to kids wielding heavy mining implements but you won't salt the ice? Not that it mattered - the heavy snowfall ensured that all our work was for nothing. So WHAT WAS THE DAMN POINT of making the kids go shovel?
とにかく雪掻きの話に戻る。雪で遊ぶの変わりに二人の子供達の雪掻きを手伝った。掃除時間が始まると雪掻きをする為に生徒達と先生達がもっともっと出てきた。しかし・・・体制は全然なかった。殆ど皆がとても出鱈目的に雪掻きをしていたから朕が自分でもっともっと雪掻きできたと思う。そして氷を破れる為につるはしも使っていた。子供が重い採掘な道具を使うのを許可するけど塩を掛けない？どうでもよかった；雪がそんなに多かったので朕們の労働は無意味だった。結局子供達を雪掻きさせるのは何の目的だったかい？？？

On the way home I slid on some ice with some students. And thus the day had meaning.
帰る内に生徒達と一緒に氷滑りをした。それで日に意味が掛かった。

Seriously, though, lots of snow.
真面目的に言うけど、雪が一杯降っていた。

Sign warning motorists of an accident closing the highway between Tsukidate and Furukawa.
築館（つきだて）から古川までの道が閉まっていると示している看板。