useless

Eiko says...

Most things take time to change. I needed a change NOW. I headed off to the barber for a quick fix. I came back looking the SAME! I HATE my barber and his bowl-haircut and buckteeth! Gimme my money back!

cute student/earthquake

Eiko says...

Was it this morning? It doesn't matter. I was woken up, AGAIN, by one of those big earthquakes. The creaking walls, the windows shaking, falling books thudding, and picture frames banging against the walls of my rooms is enough noise to wake anybody out of deep slumber, and I am no exception! No worries. It was time to roll out of bed anyway, so I didn't mind being woken up so much. Never mind the fact that the time I actually got out of bed was 2 hours after that.
This one was a real biggie. A level 4 in Tokyo. Man, do they keep coming or what?

Just the day before at work, an earthquake hit, and despite the fact that it was only a level 3 in Tokyo, train lines were suspended, and two of my colleagues had to do a bit of walking to get back home. Unfortunately for them, it was pouring rain and there was a cold wing blowing--not the weather of choice to make a long night walk in, if you'd ask me. But at least they made it home, right? There's really no complaining when you think about all the people who are still stuck up North in bad-living conditions at the Evacuation centers, separated from loved-ones, homes, and stability.

Now, continuing on the subject of train lines, if there's an earthquake, and there are train line issues, there is no question at all that the Nippori-Toneri Line is out. I really wouldn't care less about this crappy, far-too-expensive-train-line if it wasn't the key to my getting home without having to walk for hours, or wait for an unreliable bus ride. Luckily, this time around, the line was only suspended for a few hours, and I was able to make it back home before midnight.

Why am I blogging about Earthquakes again?

I've got a crazy English student I wanna tell you about!

So, I have this English student that comes for classes every Monday. She's a cute 9 year old that has the memory of a senile grandma!! A.K.A, she doesn't have much for a memory! I'm not just talking about her not remembering what we learned in our previous week's English lesson. I'm talking about...

Me: Okay, sweetie. What did you have for lunch today?
Student:　アレ、何食べたんだっけ。ご飯と納豆だったと思う。
Me: Cool. So, you had rice and natto for lunch.
Student: うん。ライス・アンド・ナットウ
Me: Great. In English, we say, "I had rice and natto for lunch." Can you repeat that?
Student: アイ・ハッド...あれ？何食べたんだっけ？忘れた。
Me: Huh? You forgot what you ate for lunch? You just told me what you had for lunch 30 seconds ago!!
Student: ハッ？先生が言っていること全然わからない。
Me: Sorry. さっきお昼何食べたか先生に言わなかった？
Student:　うん。思い出せない。
Me: Natto and rice by any chance?
Student:　ソーダッタ！
Me: Yeah. Okay. Breakfast. What did you eat for breakfast?
Student: ”Breakfast"　何だったっけ？
Me:　朝ご飯何食べた？
Student:　何だったっけー。何食べたか思い出せない！お姉さんに電話しようかな。
Me： Are you serious? (I raise both eyebrows.)
Student：ハッ？
Me: Never mind. Okay, so...remember I taught you how to say 地震 in English? We just did that a minute ago. 覚えてる？
Student：　ノー。
Me: Why am I not surprised by that answer?
Student: ハッ？

*I hear a chuckle coming from the other side of the partition. A colleague finds my frustration highly amusing.*

Me: Yeah, shut up. You wanna teach her?
Colleague: Aren't you happy she doesn't know what you just said? Heh, heh.
Me: Yes! No! ARGggghhh!

And this is about EVERYTHING! I tell her how to say a phrase, and she forgets after she repeats it to you fine once. She tells me about something that she learned at school and she forgets what that was when you ask her about a minute later. She is seriously a big question mark to me. She also doesn't care for the word 'punctuality'. We're making progress on that one though. One day, she accidentally showed up 10 minutes early. She showed up at 5:20. Apparently, she thought that class was suppose to start from 5:00 instead of 5:30 which means, if class really was from 5:00, she would have been 20min late. It didn't matter! I was so shocked and pleased at her being early for class that we celebrated this with a few rounds of card games. She liked that. She's always been on the dot since! Unfortunately, her memory is hopeless. I gave up many classes ago when she had difficulty remember what her sister looked like. No joke.

The thing that I love about her though, is that she has the most disarming, guilty face! Each time she forgets something--a frequent occurrence--she has this 'guilty' look face that I simply can't hate! I still have disbelief and annoyance written all over my face when this happens but it's just SO DAMN CUTE! Annoying though. I teach her something which she forgets moments after, and she makes me smile with that 'look' of hers. It's a mixture of disbelief and adoration. I'm left with sheer frustration. Her smile wins out each time. I'll make a horrible mother!!

earthquake and french

Eiko says...

Earthquake
On the 7th night, there was yet another earthquake, (or aftershock) a level six in Miyagi, killing 4 and injuring over 100 people. We felt it strong in Tokyo as well, and although I'm only on the 2nd floor, everything on my table, not to mention the windows, were shaking and making a very disturbing, 'earthquake' noise.
I had just finished watching the epic film 'The Next Three Days' starring Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, and with my mind still in awe, I was in no mood of making a run for anything. I did feel a bit strange though, sitting on the floor of my tiny room, hugging my legs, resting my chin on my knees, deeply contemplating the depth of the film and also feeling, seeing, listening, and experiencing a fairly big Earthquake at the same time. At one point, the idea of opening the door 'just in case' the Earthquake decided to throw a bigger fit than it already was throwing, crossed my mind, but the shaking turned into a small tremor while I was calculating in my mind whether the act of opening the door was even worth getting up for.
Earthquakes have stopped making me jump ever since the 11th of March.

Anyhow.

Coffee and French
These days, I have been spending a lot of my morning/early afternoon time in a variety of cafes, studying French and reading whatever book I'm going through at the moment. I have just finished The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wild, and now, I'm going through '127 Hours'. But notice the 'French' part!! Yes, I'm studying French. I'm experiencing, for the first time, the joy of learning a foreign language. Being that I can't say I studied either Japanese or English, (and the bit of Khmer that I learned doesn't count either) French is truly a new experience for me, and I'm loving every bit of it! This is a lie, of course. There's nothing more annoying than learning how to count in French! For example, 'Soixante0-dix huit' is seventy eight in French, which is all well and good. But wait for the explanation! The idea is anything past 69 is that you cannot say sixty nine, seventy, seventy one, seventy two. Instead you go, sixty nine, sixty ten, sixty eleven, sixty twelve!! And that's just one example!! This coupled with the very different pronunciation system than we have in English can get to your head at times. Which is why I generally choose cafes that allow you to have a puff. Unfortunately, I do love a good Starbucks coffee every now and then, not to mention their generally relaxing atmosphere they've got going. So despite the fact that they are strictly zero-smoke, I frequent Starbucks on a fairly regular basis. Lucky me, they recently built a new Starbucks Cafe right near my work place, so it's perfect to go to before a day of classes. I must admit, it can be expensive but a good cup of coffee plus the relaxed atmosphere is worth it.

Damn! Need to make more money.

run for your lives!

Eiko says...

It's been exactly a week since the big, 9.0 quake, and things have definitely NOT calmed down! A day hasn't gone by without an earthquake big enough to feel and fuss over. The so called 'scheduled' black outs don't always follow the schedule, and this affects every part of work life and transportation. No electricity means no classes. It could also mean no trains home. But the biggest fuss right now in Tokyo seems to be the fear of radiation.

"Hey, dude, are you evacuating Tokyo?"

"I dunno man. Radiation levels are barely above average in Tokyo, and there are suffering people up North with hardly enough food or warmth, but I'm a pansy, so I'm gunna make a run for it!!"

*I roll my eyes*

Anyhow.

All that aside, Anna paid us a short, surprise visit, and we had the funnest of times drinking through the quakes! Love you, girl!

Quake story

Eiko says...

Everyone has their own story of where they were when the quake hit, what they were doing, how they coped, and what thoughts went flashing through their mind as the ground shook under their feet and things started falling all around them.

Apparently,...

-Sunny got stuck in a train during the quake and got home 48 hours later than planned.

-Yasu and Dawnie and Kippins were in their loft 3 stories off the ground when the quake hit.

-Ken was making afternoon tea on the 4th floor of Lodge Home.

Here's MY story, if you like.

I was 3 hours early for my first English lesson for the day in Kinshichou. Having missed my last train accidentally on purpose the night before, I remember being tired and in desperate need of more sleep. So after dropping by my office and letting the staff there know that I was in Kinshichou and that I'd be back for my first lesson, I decided to go for a cup of hot coffee at Mc.D to wake me up, and also hoping to make some progress on 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', a totally addicting, twisted book by Oscar Wild.

At the counter trying to figure out whether or not I wanted any munchies with my coffee:

Me: エーットデスネ。。。
Mc.D person: はい。
Me:コーヒーとですね。。。
Mc.D person：はい。

And that's when things started shaking.

BUT! There was really only one thing on my mind at the moment, and that was coffee. And perhaps something sweet on the side since I like my coffee black? Definitely not fries. Or I could really just have a cigarette with my coffee in the smoking area. I didn't have much for breakfast though. A pack of natto was it? I'm kinda short on money this month though... I just could NOT make up my mind!

I held on to the counter to steady myself from the now much stronger shaking, and quickly glanced up to see if the 'Mc.D-person' was still with me. さすが！！Her lips were still holding that plastic smile! Eyes were a bit worried, but the smile was still there. Great!

Me: そうですね。。。アップルパイにしようかな。
Mc.D person: ホットコーヒーとアップルパイで？
Me:　フム。でもどうしようかな。最近甘いものバッカだし。。。

By now things were really shaking up, and all the customers were looking very alarmed and jumping out of their seets. I held onto the counter a bit stronger and cursed myself for not being able to make my mind up quicker. The girl who was taking my order still had the plastic smile going, but her eyebrows gave away her true feelings about what was happening inside. She was terrified! I decided to be nice and just order!

Me: じゃ、それで。
Mc.D person: ２２０円になります。

I let go of the counter and pulled out my wallet and put down the coins. By now though, things were quite crazy. All the staff in the kitchen were jumping over the register counter and were heading straight for the exit. Fuck the customers! Save your own asses! I decided to junk the idea of sitting down for a read, and decided to just take my coffee and leave. The problem was that she just wouldn't hand me my coffee!! I didn't really care for the apple pie, but my eyes were on that black energy drink, and she just wouldn't hand it over. Well, fair enough, I guess. Things were shaking so hard I thought I might as well join the crowd and make it down to the first floor myself just in case things got even more shaky! I wobbled/stumbled through the shakes to the escalator and half ran, half stumbled down and stepped outside.

EVERYONE was out there! The Mc.D was right outide the station, in front of the bus/taxi stop, and EVERYONE from the station and buildings around were there trying and failing miserably to contact somebody or anybody on their mobile phones! So BAKA! Me too. I pulled out my phone and tried dialing BORIS FIRST!! *wink* After failing at that, I quickly text messaged one of my colleagues if everything was alright at the office, and tried to find my footing.

All the lamp posts and everything that wasn't suppose to be shaking/swaying was shaking dangerously. Everybody was in shock and freaking out! Everybody that is but the people sucking on their cigarettes in the smoking area. They looked as if they were in another world and that nothing out of the ordinary--like a 9.0 earthquake--was happening around them. Brilliant idea! I thought. But quickly remembered that I puffed on my last two the previous night. Shit.

By the time I completed that thought, the first biggie seemed to have calmed down. I must admit, by then I was quite shaken, but WAY too short on energy from lack of sleep the previous night to be freaking out with everybody else! I decided I really DID need that coffee, and since I had already paid for it, it only made sense to go back and get it.

I went inside the Mc. D and grabbed my coffee with a humph, and sat down. All the staff members were back in the kitchen, smiling and serving customers again. Very good. I opened up my lap top at a table, and started sipping and reading away. I had a bite of my apple pie. It had been ages since I had one of those! I started relaxing. Unfortunately, I think I got something under 5 minutes of peace, because the second big shake started up just around that time. I rolled my eyes and looked around. By now, everybody was already in 'freak-out-mode'! There were a few customers who instantly got up and ran for the exit. A lot of people were reluctant to leave their MSG laden, food-colored cardboard sandwhiches that they nickname 'burgers', and looked like they couldn't make up their mind whether they should drop the shit in their hands and run for it, or finish their crap and THEN run for it. I honestly was just so tired! I decided to finish my hot coffee as fast as I could without burning my tounge, finish two more chapters of the book, get a refill on my coffee, and head out.

Wasn't as easy as I thought though. When everything is shaking like that, and everybody else is freaking out around you, it's really difficult to concentrate on reading a book--especially one like 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'! Also, if I could help it at all, I didn't want to die in a McD!

I quickly ran for my refill. This time a dude-staff. He just stared at me like I had lost my mind. I stared back and raised my eyebrows. Gimme my refill so I can make it through my day without sleeping on one of my students, yeah? He awkwardly took my cup, and half pored half spilled coffee in my cup, tried hard to put the top back on and failed, and clumsily handed me my cup of coffee. I rolled my eyes, forgot to say thanks and stumbled/ran out of the building with everybody else for the second time. People were still on their phones saying stuff like, 「だめだ。ぜんぜんつながらない」 while trying to keep steady on their feet. Once again, all the smokers seemed so surreal, peaceful. Amazing.

Headed over to my office which is on the 4th floor, and was delighted to see that all my colleagues were alright and beaming from ear to ear.

"You're alright!" Andy, my boss, gushed.
"Not really. I'm exhausted."
"Oh, no! What happened?" A concerned fellow teacher at work.
"No sleep last night and horrible service at Mc. D. I really just wanted my coffee, you know? Seriously!"
"Ok...that means you ARE alright?..."
"I guess" I sighed, and took a sip from my coffee. The coffee was too hot. I burned my tongue.

Apparently, everybody was unharmed by the quake at work. All the guys at my work place are SO cool! Their totally chaos savvy! One jumped up and held the partitions up from falling on student. Another ran over to the tall book shelf and held it against the wall while keeping the door open. Andy ran over to the drinking fountain which was propped up on the fridge to keep that from toppling over. They said it was a nasty shake, and that they loved it. It was time for a drink!

The reasoning behind that was that the trains will have stopped and no students will be able to come to the office even if they were crazy enough to want an English lesson after something this big--the trains were fucked! This means work for the day was over like it or not. Also, we had a 6-pack just chilling in the fridge. Lastly it's a Friday, and we were all going to drink that evening anyway! Why not start early? We did!

We took the beers outside and toasted to being alive! A few random people joined our little group with beers of their own, and some otsumami as well. A liquor store ran by a sweet old man had lost over 20 bottles in the quake, and so out of compassion we bought 2 more 6 packs of beer off of him, and chugged them down. It was a party!!

After confirming that no students would be arriving, we headed over to the HUB and caught Happy Hour. It was a full night out! Wee-hoo! By the time I was properly tipsy, I was able to get in contact with all of my loved ones and found out the wonderful news that everyone was unharmed! Relieved. I had a few more drinks while watching the news in the HUB. Spent the remainder of the night with Andy and Aich at Karaoke. Trains won't be running till morning anyway, right? Our Karaoke box was on the 8th floor! You could imagine how all those little tremors felt like up there! Big yikes!

Got home safely though. I honestly thought my lungs will be crushed while in the Yamanote line heading for Nippori! I've never been pressed against so hard in a train before! The train was beyond packed! Since there were so few trains running, people had to wait out in the cold for long periods of time before getting a ride and were consequently grumpy! I thought I would get trampled over at one point and have my lungs squished by a fellow human who was in danger of his/her lungs being squished by yet another human in danger of the same horrible death! It was pretty damn painful! Yasu was lovely and picked me up at Nippori since the liner wasn't working. I got back home at around noon, Saturday. It was a looong night.

Showered. Slept. Stocked up the fridge with food. Watched a lot of Glee. Read more of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. Called a lot of friends. Received a lot of calls from concerned friends as well.

It's all good.

No pictures. If you want some there are plenty everywhere on the internet, if what you see when you step out of your door isn't enough.

Write more later.

Take care, all!

oh shit...im 20

Eiko says...

I'm 20 freakin' years old!

Enough said.

birthday eve

Eiko says...

It's the 4th of March, which means that tomorrow is my Birthday. I've only got a few precious hours left to being 19, and I can't believe I'm at work, teaching English in a freakin' striped dress shirt! Oh, well. This is life.

My 19th year has been the best year yet, and it's such a shame it's coming to an end. I wish I could stay 19 a bit longer, but at the same time, I'm glad I'm finally going to be out of my 'teens'. I'm tired of my students freaking out over the fact that I'm not yet 20! When they are curious enough about my age, (being 19 is not something I advertise when I'm working at an office, teaching people older than me in suits and such) I usually get them to guess how old they think I am, and often, they go way off!! The number-one WORST guess really made me feel like running to the nearest mirror to check for any white hairs and extra wrinkles!

Student: Are you married yet? If so, than do you have any children?
Me: *cough* Yeah, um. I'm not really thinking about marriage right now. Same goes with children, really. I think I'll give that a few years.
Student: Really?
Me: Yes. Reeaally.
Student: Excuse me, but how old are you?
Me: Ah! Here goes. Well, how old do you think I am?
Student: Hm. 32?
Me: Oh my. *cough* No.
Student: 35?
Me: *cough cough* No, no, no.
Student: 38??
Me: No where near correct.
Student: Oh, my goodness! Are you in your 40's!?
Me: Geeeezzus, woman, NO!
Student: Oh.... wait.... are you still in your teteteeeeeens? Gasp! You're 19?!
Me: ....
Student: ....
Me: Yup.
Student: ...

You see. And that's when I felt like making a dash to the nearest mirror!! Aaaaanyhow. I really don't look that old. I think it's just the dress shirt and the way I have to hold myself since I'm in an office. Hm. Actually, the above conversation happened just the other day in a non-business setting. In a bar, actually. A group of middle aged, over weight men from Tennessee were drinking a table away from me and my boss. We all started talking and the guy nearest to me asked me straight out if I was married. I rolled my eyes to this and said no. My boss thought it was hilarious and asked the group to guess my age, and that they'd never get it right. I assume they thought I was much older than I looked, because when the guessing began, it went seomething like...

"Let's be nice. She's 32."
"What are you talking about? 28!"
"She's 33, the age Christ died for our sins!"
"She could be in her 40's, you know..."

OMG!

So, really, it's about time I turn 20.

And I feel like doing something outrageous! Any ideas? Well, tomorrow, on my Birthday, me and friends are going drinking to an Izakaya, and that's gotta be fun. But! I want to do something before I turn 2 decades old! Argh! Can't believe I'm at work, in this freakin' dress shirt! Ridiculous.