English speech competition

Okay I have to confess something right now. I am featured in a Japanese High School Textbook. I guess I am a bit more than a feature, since there is a whole chapter devoted to me, and my former life. It was written like 3 years ago, and well the people of my small town think it is the bees knees. Which is why 2 of the three speeches that were prepared for the speech competition today, featured bits about me and how cool i am. I mean, not to try and denounce that factor, but really give me a break...it was overkill. A bit wierd...and ultimately a tiny bit humiliating. I mean, people thought i wrote the speeches and made my kids talk about me...but they were written by the english teacher, and she would only let me pull out the mention of my name in ONE of the speeches...So alas, my first years were stuck talking about cool, cool me. Oy vey...those poor kids. This place can be so wierd. I mean I left LA a pretty normal person and woke up one day to having a mini-celebrity following. I get followed on the streets, my grocery basket gets pawwed through, I have two regular newspaper columns, weekly speech requests, and now I am the subject matter of the speech competition. YIKES!!! what kind of parallel universe is this??

By the way, my kids lost...but they took it pretty well.

Yet another typhoon

Woke up this morning to a gray, gray world. It was pouring rain. I don't remember going outside in a storm like this since el nino, so I was rather distraught when i realized I would have to hop on my bike and ride to school. So I armed myself with my rain coat, said a little prayer that I wouldn't melt, and off I went. After a block (and there are about 8 between my apartment and school) my pants were soaked. After 2 blocks, I might as well have gone swimming in my clothing. It was ridiculous...I couldn't see a thing and I kept thinking I would get hit by one of those horrible Japanese drivers....(my prefecture is known to have the greatest concentration of traffic accidents due to bad drivers...please no jokes about my own driving.) Anyhow I made it to school safely. Of course I proceeded to produce puddles everywhere I went, but what can you do when your contract forbids you to drive to your place of employment...even in a typhoon. The day itself was pretty uneventful, although i did find it funny that with the weather conditions being as bad as they were, the kids had to stay in school...and the only reason for this was because the school lunch staff had already started making the food for the day...and being practical and unwilling to waste anything, the school board decided to risk the well-being of its students so that they could eat the already made school lunch. After the kids ate, they were sent home.

Everyday, I continue to be amazed and surprised by this little corner of the world.

It's the little things.....

Tonight is the most perfect night...Well, minus the fact that there is yet another typhoon coming in...but, I finally got a chance to figure out a bunch of stuff that has been looming over my head for awhile...setting up my printer and figuring out how to use the conventional oven/microwave thing. The microwave was pretty imperative...as I don't really like to spend hours cooking, and the microwave makes everything so quickly...however...this being japan, and me not reading kanji...i haven't actually been able to figure out the microwave for the past 2 months....but today, armed with the greatest food known to college students (nacho flavored easy mac) I set to work, translating that sucker....I think that is the hardest I have ever worked for a mug of easy mac....but boy oh boy was it worth it!!! Its been too long since I last indulged my white-trashiness!!

Weekend recap

Last Friday, my 5th grade class did the sweetest thing. I guess they had been practicing for 2 weeks a small surprise for me. Every month the elementary school English classes learn a new song. This month, the 5th graders are singing Edelweiss. So one of my classes learned how to play the song on their Recorders (tiny plastic flutes) so they could serenade me. It was so cute and sweet!! I really enjoy teaching the Elementary school kids because they can be really funny and endearing. Still not sure how much I love the Middle Schoolers.

Friday night I went to my first Castle party in Marugame. It was alot of fun, but I can't quite understand how it is not illegal. See, basically in Japan you can drink anywhere. Including on the grounds of an old castle, in the mountains, thousands of feet above the city. Highly dangerous...I mean, there aren't really fences around the cliffs...God, I feel old in saying that...But it is kind of strange that this country looks the other way, when a group of drunken gaijin gather on the land of a historical monument at 2 am, and risk falling of mountain-sides in the interest of entertainment.

Saturday, I made a fabulous discovery with a group of my friends in Takamatsu...if you go to Ritsurin Gardens, and buy the sticks of bread for the Koi (about 80 cents each) and feed the whole stick to the koi...the fish literally jump out of the water to fight for the food...it is really quite an amazing spectacle. And can keep you entertained for almost 45 minutes if you place bets on the fish that will get it. I think lonely planet may have overlooked this phenomenon, but i you are ever in Japan, I highly recommend trying it!!

Sunday, Sports fest and 1st Enkai (teacher's party).....So the sports fest was amazingly Long...I think the Japanese have the market on beating a dead horse. I mean come on y'all learn when to say "when". So the sports fest consisted of about 8 hours of corny relay races. Each one, more overdone and longer than the last. I found that most of the events were amusing...if not completely ridiculous, but maybe 20 people per team was a bit much. So each event went on for 20 minutes...where 5 minutes would have been a better time limit for the mass audiences' attention spans....Oh well..maybe next year.

My contribution to this years sports fest was to run in a 400m relay race. This was the only serious event all day...and I was chosen to run for my team, not because they have knowledge that I am fit, or fast, or even good at running...no they chose me purely because I have the appearance that I might be able to run.....well, needless to say the last time I ran track I was in Middle School...so once again, I have managed to bring shame to my community...we lost the race...I don't normally like to blame myself for these things...but yeah, I pretty much blew chunks all over the race...metaphorically of course....and in my head, all i can think is...I wonder how ridiculous I looked running...because I felt like a stumbling drunk, moving in slow motion...how exactly does that appear to the naked eyes of the city board of education (my bosses??)

After the festival was over (8hours later...my god it was long) the teachers got together for a dinner party. Considering one of my friends had shown me a brief video from his first Enkai, and his teachers were dancing around in their boxers...I was a little disappointed in how tame my party was. We had a 7 course gourmet meal, drank some beer, and were home by 9. No nudity whatsoever!!

I had Monday off of school, but did nothing more than run errands and watch silly movies...Tomorrow I'm back to school!! Grrr....This week, I can look forward to English Speech Competition. I've had to train 4 kids to memorize an English speech (don't even get me started on the speech content...because it would make you piss yourself with how inane it all is) then worked on their ennunciation. All of which has brought me to an even greater level of boredom...so basically, I let the kids slack off a bit, and attempted to bribe the judge today...Unfortunatly, since he feels a bit slighted by the lack of invitation to my last dinner party, my kids are being faced with a no win situation...so I guess I must accept that once again, i will have managed to bring yet another moment of shame to my fabulous community. Who knows maybe by thursday (the day of the contest) the judge will have forgotten my oversight and my kids will kick ass....I'll keep you posted.

Blind Dates, Autumnal Equinox and bad-ass teaching habits.

Number one sign that maybe you should not be a teacher: You fall asleep in your own class. Yes, its true...Yesterday, I fell asleep in class...the class that I was suppose to be teaching....now, I'd like to give the excuse that I was totally exhausted and i think that maybe I am coming down with something. But come on...really?? I fucking fell asleep....I was so overwhelmed with how boring the class was that I had to teach, and annoyed cuz the person I am team teaching with, would not allow me to do creative things, to spice it up. So in this selective English Class (its optional, but students are REQUIRED to take it...Japan is so wierd.) we were watching this english video on Rakugo (a performance that involves a fan)...I decided to sit at a desk in the back of the room...suddenly, I find I can no longer stay awake...cuz the video is horribly boring...I don't even know what it was about, but it was making my skin crawl with anxiety...you know, when you are so craving a warm bed, but you have to sit somewhere and be polite?? Well, needless to say, my students also fell asleep...but they were like, if the teacher can sleep...so can we!!!...I think, if/when it happens again, I'll just plead Narclepsy...I mean, what else is there to do?? Class isn't going to suddenly become any less dry.

Today was a national holiday...Autumnal Equinox...I love the fact that we get days off to celebrate the seasons...It was raining, but me and my friend M took a short road trip to Kotohira to check out the shrine...which was atop 700 steps. Other than being kind of physically draining (even with the rain, it was still pretty humid) it was totally worth it. The shrine was high up in the mountains, and the view was incredible...especially since there was tons of mist hanging over the mountains and the valley below. It was one of those moments, where I looked around and thought..."Wow, I'm in Japan!!" ...This would be an appropriate place to pop in a picture...but alas, I can't figure out how to put pictures up on this blog-thing...technologically challenged...This is where I need my fab friend Jason, to explain things to me.

And finally, this evening i had my first Japanese blind-date. UGH!!! On a blind date scale of 1-10, 10 being OH my God, I want to have his children...1 being "excuse me, i need to use the loo...then calling my best friend on my cell, and pleading with her to call me and get me the hell out of the date."....I give it a 3...I mean, I've done my fair share of blind dating...and for the most part, I have yet to experience a totally horrendous date. Its really a combination of things...1) My friends know my tastes pretty well, and don't set me up with total losers. 2)I'm a relatively confident person, with a few interesting anecdotes to keep the conversation flow going if it starts to dwindle. 3) I'm generally pretty patient with people, and willing to give them a chance beyond an immediate impression. So at the very least, I can make it thru an entire date without being rude. That said, those things only apply to blind-dating in an English-speaking culture. So the guy from tonight gets a 3 because he seems pretty sweet and kind, intelligent and I hear he makes good money (he's a physical therapist at a hospital). But the overall date, BLEW!!! I mean, first off my friend K and her husband had us both over for dinner...so it was like having chaperones watching over us the entire time. Then there is the obvious language barrier...he's japanese..I am the 2nd Western women he has met...EVER. And third...I know I don't understand the culture...I REALLY KNOW that I don't understand the dating culture in Japan...I mean, okay so a guy sleeps with a girl in this country...many times that means, he then has to meet her parents and then they get married...UM HELLO!! not to air my dirty laundry...but I don't even want to think about how many husbands that would mean I would have had already...So the whole time, I just kept saying..."well, I'm only here for 10 more months." and My friend K, (god bless her) kept saying things like..."well, when I met my husband (she's a NYer and He's Japanese) we didn't speak at all...there were lots of silences, but eventually we began to understand each other."

Now no offense to my friend K. But a) I'm not ready to get married. B) I'm really not up for dating someone who I can't communicate with nor share ideas. c) I am having enough trouble with the culture issues..I don't think the Japanese dating culture is something I'm ready to take on now.

Of course I did agree to go with him to a movie...but I'm hoping I can get him to understand the western ways of being friends with members of the opposite sex.

Questions and answers

These have been stolen from some guy named nick in LaCrosse Wisconsin...he stole them from some girl, called ValancyJane. I figure, I get a questionnaire similar to this about once ever 2 months...so why not just post the answers for everyone to see once and for all..


1. What is your Full Name: Leilani Kikue
2. What color pants are you wearing right now? Jeans...classic Levis, blue...
3. What are you listening to right now? whatever background noise is playing in the DVD player.
4. What are the last 2 digits of your phone number? 24
5. What was the last thing you ate? Tea, Hot Chocolate, Okonomiyagi (Japanese pizza...noodles, eggs, cabbage, ginger, and some random other stuff...sometimes its best not to ask)
6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Purple
7. How is the weather right now? Drizzly...and dark out...its night
8. Last person you talked to on the phone? Kota
9. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex: Eyes
10. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I stole it from a stranger's blog...I have no idea.
11. How are you feeling today? Tired, hot, bored, happy...a gamut of emotions
12. Favorite Drink: orange Juice, water, mountain dew
13. Favorite Alcoholic drink: Gin and Tonics, Corona with lime, Guinness
14. Favorite Sports: Surfing
15. Hair Color: Brown
16. Eye Color: Brown
17. Do you wear contacts: Yep
18. Siblings: Yes
19. Favorite Month: March
20. Favorite Food: sushi, matza ball soup, salad, mac and cheese, corn dogs (I'm so white trash!!!)
21. Last Movie you watched: 13 going on 30
22. Favorite Day of the Year: March 19
23. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Sometimes.
24. Summer or winter: Summer
25. Hugs or Kisses? Both
26. Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla
27. Do you want your friends to write back? Duh...
28. Who is most likely to respond? Okay these are getting stupid
29: Who is least likely to respond? You.
30. What book are you reading? A Hundred years of Solitude and a brain candy mystery by Mary Higgins Clark
31. What's on your mouse pad? Don't have one
32. Favorite Board Game: Clue
33. What Did You Do Last Night? watched 13 going on 30 while making dinner (American food from my parents place....it felt like home) Took a long soak in my tub...(which is amazing...its deep enough to go to my upper thigh when I am standing in it....I could practically swim in this thing) Then read a book and fell asleep.
34. Favorite Smell: Rain, a pine forest (but not pine-sol), angelfood cake,
35. Can you touch your nose with your tongue? No.
36. What inspires you? Travel, reading, art museums, music videos, everything
37. Favorite Flower: Irises, daffodils, chrysanthemums, poppies, tulips and lily of the valley
38. What's the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Oh god, I'm late. Do I really have to wake up?
HAVE YOU EVER:
1. Been kissed: Yes
2. Eaten sushi: Yes.
3. Gotten hyper: hmmmmm
4. Been dumped: Yes.
5. Eaten an entire pizza by yourself: Oh yes.
6. Been a rebel: ummm almost everyday
Does someone have something against #7??
8. Gotten in a car accident: Yes.
9. Ever liked someone older: Yes.
10. Seen the white house: Yep
11. Hiked a mountain: Yes
13 Been in love: Yes and no
14. Made home made cookies (from scratch): Yes
15. Cold or hot?: Hot...I despise being cold
16. lace or satin: What kind of question is this??
17. New or old: Old.
18. Roses or daisies: They are both pretty cliche...daisies I guess
19. Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream: Yuck, i don't like ice cream
20. Winter or fall: Fall.
21. Science or history: History
22. Do you like some one right now: nope
23. Do you have a secret crush: Doesn't everyone

Sports Festival Part 1

So the grandiose Elementary/Junior High School Sports fest will be happening in my town this Sunday. Today, I had to watch practice for 3 hours with the Elementary School. Overall, it was pretty cool...kind of reminded me a bit of Leni Refinstahl's Olympiad....a lot of choreographed dance-like moments. They even did a sychronized-swimming bit...although they were on a field and not in the water....It was all so far removed from my childhood Elementary School sports day...which consisted primarily of all the other Catholic Schools in the area getting together for a giant Track and Field meet (my events were 100 yd dash, 400 relay, and shot putt...hmmm maybe i took up shot putt in Middle School, i can't really remember.) So Japanese sport fests focus primarily on the body's abilities to be flexible and fit, not so much on competitiveness. There are some relay races and such...but for the most part, its like sychronized dancing and calesthetics. I remember sitting out there thinking, the whole thing would be an amazing rotoscoping project, if only I had my equiptment.

The one bad thing about this festival is that it is so freaking hot outside...I mean, in the 1st 20 minutes of practice 6 kids passed out....They were going down like flies...it was insane!!! It reminded me of how much I miss air-conditioning in the work place.

Randomly, I made a kid cry again today...this time it was a 2nd grader...again it was food related...I asked him what kind of fruit he liked...and Bam!!! tears start pouring out...I was like...My God, is this not a sign??? I really must suck at teaching. Okay, I know I'm not that bad at this job...maybe its more like a sign that I have no place in the Food Industry.

weekend away....

So after a rather difficult past week...I decided to take off with some of my friends from town and head out to Iwakuni to visit my parents. Now, I've been out to see them a few times, so most of the places we went to weren't new to me. But we did go to my favorite place...Miyajima Island. I love this place. Its known for beautiful shrine and giant Torii (Gate) in the water,which is all really nice and touristy...my favorite part of the island are the midgit deer that come up to the ferry station to greet all the tourists. They are so cute and fanatastic!!! I totally feel like I am a character in a Disney movie. Its like being in another world. Maybe one of these days, I'll get a SnowWhite costume and in true Japanse style, get my picture taken with all my new deer friends.

Anyhow, got home early Monday afternoon..(today was a national holiday...day for the aged...my parents weren't happy when i congratulated them on getting a day especially for them.) My town was having its doll festival....it was actually really cool. They set up like 20 different scenes with a variety of dolls and dragons, etc. Everything was going pretty well, until I stopped by one of the food tents to grab a beverage, and about 20 kids decided they wanted to follow me around town...I looked like the Pied Piper or something.....Thing is, I have no idea what these kids are saying to me...I mean I doubt they are saying anything horrible...but it did occur to me, that I seem to be the only teacher in town that has such a following of kids everywhere I go....I mean, I go the grocery store and they come up to me and start going thru my basket...or I ride my bike home from school and they start chasing after me screaming, "Lani Sensei, Lani Sensei"....its like I've become a popstar or something. And it isn't so much that i mind it...I just find it a bit wierd. I mean, don't these kids have something better to do, than to hang out with a teacher, post-school hours??


Random though to ponder about Japan...Why do so many of the Japanese people insist on getting Mullet Hair cuts???

Partially lamenting over past loves...er..not really!!!

I was just checking thru my emails and was surprised to get one from my ex-boyfriend from 4 years ago. Turns out he just got engaged to his girlfriend, somewhere in Europe (it was a super long mass email...so I admit, i just read the highlights and missed most of the other stuff)....I think what surprised me the most about reading that email, was how genuinely excited for him, I felt. I mean, he is a trully wonderful, amazing and talented person. But for whatever reason we couldn't make it work out. With that said, I always thought, that I'd be a little jealous of whoever he ended up with....but honestly, I am really happy and excited for him. Why can't I feel this happy for ALL the ex-boyfriends from my past who have decided to get married? Duh...it's because most of them are jackasses who don't deserve nice girls. (I'm not bitter:)


On another note: today I made a student cry....I am so not cut out to be a teacher!! That thought aside...this was totally not my fault..but I felt so helpless...I mean I was testing the kids on their ability to order fast food in and English Speaking country...it was a one on one test....(a ridiculous test, I admit...but whatever) anyhow, I'm like, in a super-perky voice..."welcome to MacDonald's, may I take your order?" (this may be practice for a future profession if the Fates aren't kind to me...so don't laugh too hard) Anyhow, the girl starts to order a hamburger...then stops...starts again...then stops and just STARES...

I was so patient with her, I didn't even recognize myself....I kept trying to make it easier on her, by asking if she wanted a hamburger, a cheeseburger, frenchfries...you know pick one, the words are right in front of you!!!...anyhow, she suddenly burst into tears!!! And I'm like...ummmm you can have a vegitarian burger, i don't think it has to be meat. I mean, Hello?? Why is this girl crying???

Well turns out, she is that way with every person she meets for the first time....I was like, "okay, you need to get over this...I mean, I too was once a very shy person...and I've been known to have my fits of tears...but this is ridiculous...this was ordering a hamburger. From ME...one of the most un-intimidating people in the world"...okay well that's just my opinion...and yet again I am reminded that there is SO much i need to learn about this culture.


PS. T if you are reading this...Congrats...I'm so glad you weren't one of those jackasses!!

PPS. In re-reading this...I realize I may start teaching my students Valley-speak just so they can understand me.

What the.....

So okay, I am in English class today, teaching the 7th graders. I had to read this extremely sad story about Hiroshima after the Americans dropped the A-bomb on it. It was such a horrific story, made even worse to me because I was the only American in the room and had to read it to a bunch of Japanese students. Mentally, I kept thinking, my goodness why am i being forced to read this story...here??? of all places? I thought the reverse of this would be for the Japanese to give tours of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor to American Tourists...it was just strange and kind of wrong. I felt ashamed for what happened even though I was not even born when the original decision had been made. So all of these things are going thru my head...when all of the sudden I look at one of the boys in the back of the room...He has suddenly stood up and proceeded to take his pants off....I am so confused...I mean I really really wanted to laugh at the situation. But since everyone else found it normal and completely ignored it (Japanese Teacher included) I just continued on with the lesson....I admit I did not avert my eyes...I was just really intrigued by the fact that a kid would stand up in the middle of class...not bothering to leave and use a changing room or a bathroom stall...and take off his pants and put on gym shorts. What the???? Then he took out a needle and thread and proceeded to sew his pants during my lesson.

At this point in time, I really could not help but laugh...I mean the Hiroshima story was sad and made me feel very ashamed...but this kid with the pants...now that was just ridiculous. And the teacher never even batted an eye.

I am learning that this is standard Japanese procedure for classes. Sometimes the kids will sleep in class, sometimes they will read comic books, sometimes they will talk to their friends and ignore the teacher....All of this I have gotten used to...but taking off your pants so you can sew them in the middle of class...well...I am not sure if I will ever get used to all the Japanese ecentricities!!!

Today is a better day.

So I've been waking up every morning for the last few days with a little optimistic quote playing thru my head. "Today is a new day, fresh with no mistakes." - Anne Shirley (from Anne of Green Gables). And for the last few days I felt my optimism thrown directly back in my face...maybe it is all a grandiose "Fuck you" from the gods of perpetual bad karma (which i am beginning to believe may be possible run-off of my soul draining days in the entertainment industry...but I've digressed). And today, I actually thought maybe it really is true...maybe I actually managed to diss a god at the last temple I visited. It's day 4 of my post-car accident saga and I'm trying to look for even the tiniest good thing...and low and behold, I get served the foulest school lunch yet!!! I've been meaning to start a website on Japanese school lunches, because they really are pretty intersting. Usually pretty gross...but I've learned to eat them...Today, I wasn't in the mood to create a "happy go lucky" headgame that would entice me to eat Whole shrimp (legs, eyes, antenae included), mayo soaked apples, or raw quail eggs. Today, I was hoping for some sort of mixed rice and discovered instead a Loaf of bread, cucumber and miniature fish (whole with eyes) salad, and almond dried fish mix. I could not do it today. So I started playing mad games of Jankenpo (rock paper scissors) and forcing the winners/losers to eat my food...I know I'm a bad example for the kids i teach...but really, i think they need the food/nourishment more than me.

Anyhow, I seriously began to believe that this lunch was a sign of what was ahead today. Especially, since I knew I had to make a stop at my Board of Ed today, to further discuss the matter of the accident. (Will this ever end??)

Okay so the good news is that after all was figured out, I only need to pay about $1200...I guess my school board did some heavy negotiations with the car dealership, that had loaned me the car. (did I mention the car I was driving was a Loaner and not my own?) So once I've paid them the money, I'm in the clear....and even though $1200 is a lot of money..it certainly isn't $4000...so I guess I can sleep at night again. Of course I still don't know if the man I hit will be checking into therapy anytime soon..but let's hope not!!!

So maybe things are looking up...maybe I'll be able to get thru the week mostly unscathed. Maybe I will turn into a hopeless optimist...(okay, yeah that's going a bit far.)

Thanks to everyone who sent me notes...I really appreciate hearing from all of you, especially during my latest overdramatic adventure. Big Kisses from me to you.

I'm crying now....

Its really hard to find love for a country when very little seems to be going right at the moment. I know I am being really pathetic and self-absorbed. But i just learned that this little car accident will cost me upwards of $4000 US dollars. That doesn't include the amount I will have to pay if the "victim" needs therapy. It is very possible that I will be spending my entire year, sitting in my 5 room apartment, because I have no money left for travel. And really, who wants to drive a car anymore...if this is how much it will cost for a broken taillight and a crushed headlight?? I mean what if it was something more severe...I'd never be able to leave my apartment again.

Unfortunatly since I am so isolated (i'm in a beautiful town surrounded by mountains and ocean, but no train station...and really a joke of a bus line.) I have no choice but to have a car.

I came here for adventure and the chance to travel and see new things....and although i'm in the midst of an adventure of sorts...it isn't quite what I had in mind. 10.5 more months and I'm out of here...thinking of moving to Philly. Not sure why. Hopefully it will be better than these past couple of days here in Japan.

Car accidents in Japan...super sucky!!

Train of thought....

So I got into a minor car accident yesterday. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being a blood and guts, death and jaws of life accident and 1 being a small scratch on the rear bumper...this was a 2.5...I wrecked the front of a rental car and blew out the guys tail-light.

Okay so backing up a bit...I was driving (ironically) to the mitsubishi dealer, where MY car was getting its transmission repaired. While changing lanes, the car in front of me slammed on his breaks...because the car in front of him suddenly stopped. So I clipped him.

Back home, this would have been a "let's exchange info, take the car to the shop, get it fixed...don't even bother with insurance" type of thing. But here...I don't speak the language..so other than profuse Gomanasai (i'm sorry)...I'm completely a 2 year old. So, had the pleasure of being escorted by the police to the police station where I had to hang out in the interrogation room for almost an hour. Waiting, for God knows what...but waiting. They took my Gaijin card, my license, my international driver's license, made copies and told me to wait. I might as well have been in a jail cell. And I kept waiting for them to turn the hot bright lights on me, and blow smoke in my face. Truth is, at the end of the day, the police were very kind. Considering how clueless and how little i understood of what was going on around me.

Anyhow, my principal showed up with an English teacher, to "bail" me out. That sucks on many levels, simply because I had to have my boss come get me at the police station. And because the gossip will be hideous tomorrow. Regardless, this is where the Japanese customs "which I'm totally unclear about" come into play. Turns out, I have to go to the Man who I hit's house and bring him a present and offer my apologies. Then again today, I had to do the same thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally insincere and uncaring about his well-being...but What the fuck??? How many presents do I have to get him? Why do I have to do this? I mean...as is I will be paying for his damaged car...and for any sort of health therapy he may need to endure. Why must I also buy him presents? Maybe this makes me a bit of an insincere person...but I guess I'm more confused than anything else.

Marie Curie once said, "there is nothing to be feared, only understood." I really really wish I could understand everything that I have gone thru and will go thru for the next week involving this little accident.

Day 46 Somewhere in Rural Japan

Yesterday was yet another typhoon...I love the weather here. Since arriving, this is my 7th Typhoon. And although, they haven't been quite as miserable as the ones that have been battering Florida. I certainly don't appreciate them. Plus, I am not allowed to drive my car to school...Japanese Board of Education ruling, it doesn't make sense, and it certainly doesn't make me feel safe in a typhoon. But I guess if I die while riding my bike to work in the blustering rain and wind, my family will get a sizable check, since I did sign on to the company's life insurance policy. Nice trade off, huh?

Tomorrow's agenda: hosting my first dinner party in Japan. I've hosted many a dinner party in LA, it was never really an issue since I always had everything I needed to serve the guests. I hate to cook, don't really care to learn, but I love to entertain. Should be interesting to see how the cooking turns out for the 8 guests.