Judging from the temperatures thus far, this summer is going to be a scorcher--much like the summer I arrived in Japan. I'm really bad with the heat; it makes me sluggish and stupid. As a result, I'm not as meticulous/careful about things as I should be...
Today, for example, I was supposed to be teaching English in first period at Kirita. Usually my arrival time is 9am, but first period starts at 8:25am, so if I'm teaching first I need to come early and I usually highlight it in my agenda or do something to make sure I remember to leave the house earlier.
This time, however, I suffered from a total brain fart. Even though I got the weekly teaching plan last week (and "1" was written right on the plan for the scheduled period), and even though I looked at today's schedule on the blackboard in the teacher's room yesterday, somehow it completely failed to register that I needed to be at the school for first period.
(O.O;)
As a result, I came to school at my usual time and it was only when I walked into the teacher's room and looked again at the day's schedule that I realized my mistake. (Ironically, I had actually come to school a little earlier than usual and was feeling pretty good about that until I realized that rather than arriving 10minutes early, I had arrived 25minutes late!)
(T-T)
Considering that the lesson today was pretty much just giving out and explaining summer vacation homework, it wasn't the end of the world, but I really really really HATE screwing up.
Well, on the bright side of things, at least I made the mistake on a day I was visiting Kirita rather than another school. The students at Kirita see me "all the time" so one missed class isn't as big a deal as it would be at a school where an ALT only comes once or twice a month. Also, since I tend to stay at Kirita well past my scheduled working hours on regular days, that helps to balance out the occasional screw-up. And my Kocho-sensei (principal) is really laid back and understanding about such things, too.
But still... I'm definitely going to have to work harder to stay focused/on the ball during this summer heat.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Fireworks & Taiko
This year's Lake Towada Kosui Matsuri (十和田湖湖水祭り) was awesome! The rain held off for the weekend so I was able to enjoy fireworks on Saturday night and taiko on Sunday.
The weather was pretty close to perfect on Saturday night, in fact. It was comfortably cool so I wasn't dying of heat in my yukata. There was also a bit of a breeze which was important for clearing the smoke from the fireworks. Admittedly it was cloudy, but since the fireworks didn't go up that high it wasn't a problem in terms of visibility at all. ^_^
I didn't take many photos since a) taking photos of fireworks is difficult; and b) I wanted to enjoy watching them more than I wanted to take pictures of them, but here are a couple of pics:
Also, here's a pic of me in my new yukata from Uniqlo. When I bought a new yukata last year I told myself that I wasn't going to buy any more yukata, but since it was on sale--only 3990yen for the yukata, obi, and himo (cloth "ropes" used to tie the yukata)--I couldn't help myself. ^^;;
(Incidentally, I just realized that I never posted a picture of the yukata that I bought last year, so here it is:)
Sunday I went down to the festival again, this time with the members of the Suijin Kaminari Taiko (水神雷太鼓) group to watch their two performances. It was the first time I've seen them perform since last year's Aki Matsuri.
Even though I know I'm a far way from being able to perform in public, watching them definitely gave me incentive to work harder at taiko practice. Usually I'm the type that hates being in the spotlight--even peripherally--but seeing their performance made me really want to be able to perform with them. It looked like so much fun!
At the pace I learn I suspect that it will probably be at least half a year if not more before I'll even be close to being deemed "ready to perform" but I definitely plan to work hard to reach that point.
*sigh* If I hadn't taken almost 3 whole months off from January to March (preparing for my Kirita students' graduation) I might even have been ready to perform this time 'round. Oh well. All I can do is continue to do my best from now on!
Here's a video of the final song from their second performance of the day. (Sorry, the sound and video aren't exactly in sync...) The song is called "Hanamatsuri" and it's pretty much the only song out of everything they performed that day that I can play from beginning to end. ^_^;;
The weather was pretty close to perfect on Saturday night, in fact. It was comfortably cool so I wasn't dying of heat in my yukata. There was also a bit of a breeze which was important for clearing the smoke from the fireworks. Admittedly it was cloudy, but since the fireworks didn't go up that high it wasn't a problem in terms of visibility at all. ^_^
I didn't take many photos since a) taking photos of fireworks is difficult; and b) I wanted to enjoy watching them more than I wanted to take pictures of them, but here are a couple of pics:
Also, here's a pic of me in my new yukata from Uniqlo. When I bought a new yukata last year I told myself that I wasn't going to buy any more yukata, but since it was on sale--only 3990yen for the yukata, obi, and himo (cloth "ropes" used to tie the yukata)--I couldn't help myself. ^^;;
(Incidentally, I just realized that I never posted a picture of the yukata that I bought last year, so here it is:)
Sunday I went down to the festival again, this time with the members of the Suijin Kaminari Taiko (水神雷太鼓) group to watch their two performances. It was the first time I've seen them perform since last year's Aki Matsuri.
Even though I know I'm a far way from being able to perform in public, watching them definitely gave me incentive to work harder at taiko practice. Usually I'm the type that hates being in the spotlight--even peripherally--but seeing their performance made me really want to be able to perform with them. It looked like so much fun!
At the pace I learn I suspect that it will probably be at least half a year if not more before I'll even be close to being deemed "ready to perform" but I definitely plan to work hard to reach that point.
*sigh* If I hadn't taken almost 3 whole months off from January to March (preparing for my Kirita students' graduation) I might even have been ready to perform this time 'round. Oh well. All I can do is continue to do my best from now on!
Here's a video of the final song from their second performance of the day. (Sorry, the sound and video aren't exactly in sync...) The song is called "Hanamatsuri" and it's pretty much the only song out of everything they performed that day that I can play from beginning to end. ^_^;;
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
日本人の知らない日本語ドラマ！！ (The Japanese Japanese People Don't Know)
I just learned that a drama based on the popular manga-form essay "日本人の知らない日本語" (Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo, i.e. "The Japanese Japanese People Don't Know") written by 海野凪子 (Umino, Nagiko) and illustrated by 蛇蔵 (Hebizou) will be airing on YTV/NTV (or RAB in Aomori) on Thursday nights from 23:58-24:38 starting July 15th (this week!). You can check out the official Japanese website at http://www.ytv.co.jp/nihongo.
!! I'm excited!! I really enjoyed the books so I have high hopes for the drama as well. The time slot is rather unfortunate (why so late?!) but I rarely go to bed earlier than 12:30am anyway, so I'll just have to make sure that I do all my bedtime preparations before the show starts so I can go to sleep pretty much right after it finishes.
This is shaping up to be a good summer, television wise, with Hotaru no Hikari 2 on Wednesday nights (22:00-23:00) and now Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo on Thursday nights. ^_^
!! I'm excited!! I really enjoyed the books so I have high hopes for the drama as well. The time slot is rather unfortunate (why so late?!) but I rarely go to bed earlier than 12:30am anyway, so I'll just have to make sure that I do all my bedtime preparations before the show starts so I can go to sleep pretty much right after it finishes.
This is shaping up to be a good summer, television wise, with Hotaru no Hikari 2 on Wednesday nights (22:00-23:00) and now Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo on Thursday nights. ^_^
Lake Towada Kosui Matsuri & Aomori Nebuta
There's a festival at Lake Towada this coming Saturday and Sunday (17-18th). Weather permitting, there will be fireworks from 8-9pm on both nights and during the day there will also be various events/performances (Yosakoi, taiko, etc.)
Last year the fireworks were canceled due to rain and strong winds, but I went two years ago and had a good time. This year I'm planning on going to watch the fireworks on Saturday night with a friend (yay! a chance to wear my yukata!) and then I'll be heading down Sunday morning with the taiko group I practice with. I won't be performing, but I'll be going to help move the taikos, and to (hopefully) be generally useful. =P So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate...
For more detailed information, check out the website (Japanese only) at http://www.kosuimaturi.com/
Speaking of festivals, Aomori Nebuta is also coming up in less than a month! The Festival runs from the 2nd-7th of August every year. Here's a rough schedule for this year's events:
Aug. 1st:
18:00~21:00 Festival "Eve" Celebrations
19:00~20:40 Fireworks at Asamushi Onsen
Aug. 2nd-3rd:
19:10-21:00 Children's Nebuta (15 floats); Large Nebuta (15 floats)
Aug. 4th-6th:
19:10-21:00 Large Nebuta (~20 floats)
Aug. 7th:
13:00-15:00 Large Nebuta (~20 floats)
19:15~21:00 Fireworks & Setting Nebuta to Sea
This is all from the Japanese website: http://www.nebuta.jp/schedule/
As big as this festival is in Aomori, in almost three years of living in the prefecture, I still haven't managed to see the festival yet. And it looks like this year I won't be able to make it out either, due to the timing of the arrival of the new Towada ALTs plus the junior high school Canada trip (海外発見).
Ah well. I just need to make sure I make it out at least once before I leave Aomori for good! =P
Last year the fireworks were canceled due to rain and strong winds, but I went two years ago and had a good time. This year I'm planning on going to watch the fireworks on Saturday night with a friend (yay! a chance to wear my yukata!) and then I'll be heading down Sunday morning with the taiko group I practice with. I won't be performing, but I'll be going to help move the taikos, and to (hopefully) be generally useful. =P So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate...
For more detailed information, check out the website (Japanese only) at http://www.kosuimaturi.com/
Speaking of festivals, Aomori Nebuta is also coming up in less than a month! The Festival runs from the 2nd-7th of August every year. Here's a rough schedule for this year's events:
Aug. 1st:
18:00~21:00 Festival "Eve" Celebrations
19:00~20:40 Fireworks at Asamushi Onsen
Aug. 2nd-3rd:
19:10-21:00 Children's Nebuta (15 floats); Large Nebuta (15 floats)
Aug. 4th-6th:
19:10-21:00 Large Nebuta (~20 floats)
Aug. 7th:
13:00-15:00 Large Nebuta (~20 floats)
19:15~21:00 Fireworks & Setting Nebuta to Sea
This is all from the Japanese website: http://www.nebuta.jp/schedule/
As big as this festival is in Aomori, in almost three years of living in the prefecture, I still haven't managed to see the festival yet. And it looks like this year I won't be able to make it out either, due to the timing of the arrival of the new Towada ALTs plus the junior high school Canada trip (海外発見).
Ah well. I just need to make sure I make it out at least once before I leave Aomori for good! =P
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