New Pics - The Mysterious Mountain Shrine

Cue Mysterious Cities of Gold music as we ventured into the mountains and found a shrine buried in the forest, at the foot of a waterfall, in the mountains behind Nagai.

From Nagai Mountain Shrine

There be a god

No speech practice today.  But Yumiko wants me to come in tomorrow.... and at 7 30 on Monday. 

Why!?!?!  

Also discovered a small snag in plans to take me to Miyage... I 've got agricultural school that day... I like the kids there but really.... lol.  

Gotta make those choices don't i?  Harvey Dent would be proud.

That is all

Ready for your close up!

So the Prinicpal is very nice.

Despite catching me numerous times reading the BBC News site or even a video or two, he is still going to present me a hanko he made for me, himself, using my weird Japanese Kanjji name that means: "Child of the Sun"

or in 1980's speak..

Estaban!!!  

Suge!

In fact he loves me so much he's decided to put a mention of me in the Parents' Newsletter for the school.  Quite why it's taken over a year for this I'm not sure.  Well the fact he only started back in March... but still, you know?

Anyway, after Tom has finised translating this all, the Principal leavess.  Tom starts talking about a picture for it.  I offer to give him my "Doctor Khattak" passport photos.  

No no, it'll be fine.  They've already got one you see... one which Tom took...

The only pictures Tom has ever taken of me have been with me mugging to camera or doing stupid things... which would he choose?!

"The one with the banana"

My face drops.  So there I will be, in the newsletter, the first picture my students can use to show to their parents with me in.  And what will I be doing?!

Chugging on a massive sodding banana, cheeks bulging  with the girth of it all, eyes rolled back in euphoric delight.

Tom says it shows 'What's inside me'.  

Oh dear.  Oh very dear...

Sick & Tired

I have been sick... sick and tired.

Hoping this weekend will be a chance to get on top of all of that.  Like Leo on the bow of the Titanic.  Or something a little less gay.  LOL

That is all

A Little Mercy perhaps?!

So after the stonkingly close Speech Contest yesterday, the stress from which I think is only just finally taking it's toll on me via sweat-inducing flashbacks, Yumiko decided to let Endo enjoy a day off.

Not.

We'll be practicing after school today.  Riiiight.  

I can see where this is headed....

And if I thought my ablitity to come at the speech with any objectifity was on the wane now... lol

Sexy Tom Update

A new feature for my friends who think my supervisor, Tomohiro Mukoda, is "hawt".  

I can't see it, nor would I really want to see it.

But I feel it's a service to the community.  So for his fans...

• he cut his own hair again recently
• it's now kinda spiky, hip and young (I think)
• it's now "up"

That is all

{off to wash the feeling of sleaze-by-proxy off}

Speech Contest Asides

Two other students this year were freaking demi-gods of English.  They wree chittering away in the stuff to each other during breaks.  It was great to see, reminding me of the STEP-UP seminar where all the teacher's spoke for 3 whole days in nothing but English to each other.  

Of course Yumiko couldn't really see that beauty.  She pointed them out to me later in the day. 

"Look JoeyD, so you see them?  They are speaking English!  Why?!"

"Oh yeah, I saw them.  Isn't it great?!"

"But why?!"

I think I can translate what Yumiko actually wanted to say:

"What the fuck is wrong with her?!  Is she retarded?!"

---

Those two students later point at me Yumiko and Endo as we come down the corridor towards the hall and start saying "Oh!  He's here!".  I wonder if they're talking about someone behind us, then wonder if they might mean me, then realise it's Endo!  

They call him "Runner" after his story the previous year and I could tell the girl, Kanno Kudo, was deeply jealous of him.  She won junior high school two years ago, Endo last year.   

So weird hero worship/nemesis vibe I got.  She had crazy good English, but oddly defensive.  I asked if she lived abroad at the insistence of Yumiko who thought that would be the only reason a Japanese national would ever dare speak in English to another Japanese person at an English speech contest.  

Kanno seemed a little affronted by it.  Also made it known she was not really believing my, actually heartfelt, "good luck" to her before and after.  

---

Kanno got 3rd prize, just short of a trip to Tohoku finals.  I liked her speech a lot but she stopped twice during it.  I knew her and Endo would be close in the running. 

When we were going home at the end of the day, the prizes handed out, I bump into her and the other kid, also named Kudo.  Not her bro tho.  They again hero worship Endo and she insists on getting his number.

I have flashbacks to Nancy...

Let's just hope he didn't send all his contact details and address to her phone like I did... lol

I then commend them for speaking English all day.  She kinda sneers at me tho, even though I say that she should be proud of outdoing others away from the podium.  Jeeze Louise, I know she "lost" (3rd place in the entire freakin' ken) but come on, lol.  I said I hoped to see them at other contests but she's off to...

...well I confess I never heard what country.  It was something like Al... but I hope to god it's not Algeria, I mean, what the fuck would anyone, let alone a Japanese person, want to go there for?!  And they speak French.

So she'll be living there for a while.  She shouldn't have any problems with her abilitiy.  

contest Pt 2 - Endo and Emo-Girl Tirumph!

I'm wondering what the others will sound like. 

I've listened to the speech so much I can't judge it anymore.  Okay I can judge how correct or close to natural what he is saying but on its own I can only hear Endo speaking it.  And that sounds both natural and different too.  There's nuances to the way he speaks that I'd never noticed before.  Was he still clear to others who'd never heard him?  Was his accent changing cos of Yumiko?  

Listening to the DVD of last year's contest also made me stop and think.  Some of them were alarmingly good.  Perfect american accents and clear impassioned delivery.  Were they better than Endo is now?!  I kinda thought one of two of them were... shit!  It was so hard to get that objectivity back.  

I mean it's like how I think my Dad speaks clearly but to everyone else it's difficult to hear what he's saying.  I, and you, adapt.  Then again I can listen to someone who I first considered clear and start to hear the little nuances and 'character' so that they don't seem as crystal clear as when I first listened to them.  Which is it?!

We rocked up to the place.  It was so good to have been there the day before to dispell Endo's (and my) nerves around it.  

Much bustling and hustling.  Saw the odd few ALTs.  Saw the few odd ALTs, lol.  

The morning went by in a bit of a blur.  There was much practicing, all the time in fact.  We skipped out on the Junior High school speeches so we could practice outside on the susushi balacony, joined by a motherfucker of a spider.  I heard other High School students and got nervous as they all had very clear tone and speech.  

Last year Endo won by a mile in the Junior High School category, there just wasn't anyone as good as him.  Now though the game was fucking on!!

It was lunch.  Shit!  Where'd the time gone?! 

Now we were waiting for the start of the Senior High School section.  Thankfully there would be a break after every 6 students, which meant there'd be a break right before Endo came on!  That'd really help to make his memorable, I hoped.  Particualrly cos it's a genki speech.

I will blog about the choice of speeches in more detail I'm sure, but I must remind myself of some of the very good ones in there.  In fact they all were.   But the actual speaking ability of some was definitely not amazing.  However what I found was that despite this some speeches really really caught my attention.  

All the more amazing cos I have the automatic drowse control enabled usually for things like this.  Especially after Endo got up.  It was his turn and he went up on the stage and broke with protocol by bowing before reaching the podium; good on the kid for making it interesting... or not so good for shoving two fingers up to Japanese Speech Contest etiquette, lol.

He starts well.  I'm little disappointed with the volume of his speech, which Yumiko and the teachers have lowered to make it feel more heartfelt I think, but i hope the judges, sitting half as far from him as I am, can hear it clearly.  He nails the bits we went over and over.  But since it sounds so much like the practices we've done I honestly can't feel how great it is for a first time listener.  

The other speeches I would have zoned out on, relieved and tired after the practicing and stress, but amazingly found myself absorbed by some of them.  One about Canada, others which also talked about KY.  Some amazing speeches, and also some with mixed speaking abilities but still great speeches.  

Then it was a break, Alex came in to do a presentation, and then another break.... which turned into an hour!  The judges were having a really tough time deciding!  Nerves were getting a little on edge as we realised just how close it must be this year...  I starred 5 excellent speeches in my programme that I think Endo was definitely facing stiff competition from.  

And then finally they set out the chairs and the judges came out.  Speech by the head judge and a few other pees and then suddenly we were on to the results!

Typical Japanese fashion; all this build up then a quick, um, release...

Whipped through the Junior high results and suddenly in High School...  Now they were annoucing the top 5!  

Really happy that Jennifer's student, the other "KY" speech, got a special prize.  

Surprised by 5th place person, a little by 4th as well.  

Liked 3rd.  Shit... here we go!  Is he even in there at all?!?!

Second Place - Endo! 

Yumiko and me were stoked.  Even shared a smile and a silent high five with the Damn Weird Yumiko (TM).  

First place went to...

Well it was a story about a girl who cut herself.  In a contest where the marks are skewed heavily towards content as opposed to actual English ability, it made sense.  

• 50% Content
• 30% English
• 20% Delivery

Does anyone else see the bullshit?!  So her decision to talk about cutting herself definitely earned her points.  On the other hand I found her speech one of the harder ones to discern the words...  However she'd nailed the emotion and pacing.

So I suppose if he really wants to win outright next year Endo just needs to start cutting himself, lol

So Endo and Emo-Girl are going to Tohoku Finals in Miyage next month!  Hurrahs! 

Murayama Yamagata-ken Speech Contest: Pt1

w00t!

Endo got 2nd in the speech contest!

So it's 2:10 on Wednesday.  I'd run back to the apartment during "lunch" (a throwback title, to a time when I used to actually eat more than just dinner in a day).  Packed together a few things into a two shopping bags, perfecting the 'travelling light' thing, finally.  

---

Also nice that the thought of a small trip like this doesn't put me on edge as much as it used to.  The reason, of course, were all my little compulsions and habits at home; ones that i don't even realise I ave formed after many years (or just a year) but are suddenly upset when away from the comfort and luxuries of home.  Now, thankfully, I don't seem to suffer from any of that very mild anxiety anymore.  Hurrahs!  So whereas I would often remember how 'lacking' a place was to cater for all my little routines and habits, this time I can barely remember anything about the hotel cos I just didn't care.  A quiet little 'victory' of sorts for me.  "One small step..." and all that.

---

Ah..... but I'd forgotten to pop into Endo's practice during lunch.  Shitbeans!

Still, I could see a huge amount of time laying in wait this evening in Higashine to practice.  And the only thing I think Endo may have lost is just another few perfected intonations, lost in the relentless tutoring and micro management of Yumiko.  Nothing a read through and 15 minutes couldn't undo.

Endo was driven by his Dad.  Yumiko wanted me to bring my stuff from my car... even though I would be following in my car until Shirataka.  So I had to bring it all back.  

Yumiko drives fast!  I warmed to her slightly at the site of 70km/hr on my speedometer as I follow a Japanese person.  

Riding in her car isn't as painful as I thought it would be; no overly long silences or anything like that.  

We first go to the place where the speech will be held.  A brilliant ice breaker for Endo.  We get to practice the speech on the stage, with us sitting where the judges will be.  The "ET" kid from Nagai was also there too.  I tried to block out her speech lest I tear up again at the traumatic ET movie synopsis, lol.

We practiced and practiced.  Hit upon one or two points that had become engrained with Endo and that needed changing.  Felt extremely tired, cold and my throat was fucked up again.  This speech contest would be the death of me I decided.  

Went back down to Higashine to stay at our hotel.  Shocked by how nice it is as a city, well the main bit in front of the station anyway.  Endo given choice of place to eat.  Yumiko seemed to think he wanted ramen.  I wanted sushi or something but it was up to him so I joked around with places he could go.  Jokingly berated him for wanting to eat in... Jusco!  lol.  Surely something more grand dude on the Eve of your Victory?!

Kappa sushi was it.  The two of them hadn't ever/really been so I was the sempai, showing them the ropes.  Yumiko was Damn Weird (TM) again as she seemed to need prompting to do simple things like give everyone the cups, tea and hot water that she was beside.  

It was cold outside, worrying since it seems pretty early for that kind of nonsense.  That or my cold was really bad.  Well, I say a cold, but as I've postualted before I think it's like 3 different things all hitting at once, lol.  This is a Man Cold dammnit!  Hear my feeble cry!

Then it was off to Endo's room.  Still in work clothes at 8pm.  I asked if I could change but she said we should start immediately.  So we spent about 2 hours practicing the speech in Endo's room, cramped with 3 people in it.  Some good work, nice improvements,unexpected regressions: he's one of the few Japanese people who can easily do the "-ly" sound but he sometimes defaults to the Japanese "-ri" by moving his lips a little instead of keeping them still, fixed in a sort of wide grin in order to make sure the sound is clear as well.

Then it was 9:30 and it was over.  Yumiko and Endo had guilt tripped me into not feeling so bad about going down for breakfast at 7:00 fucking-AM.  They get up at 5:30 and 6:00 normally.  Endo actually went down at 6:00AM to practice sprinting!  Holy mother of god!

I arrived late to breakfast, of course.  But since I skipping the salad nonsense, and it was a pretty decent buffet for a small Japanese hotel, I was finished waaay before them.  I sat there hoping my speed eating wasn't lost on Yumiko.  Finally they finished and we went up and got our things and came down.  I lay down for a grand total of 5 minutes as I was still tired.  

Yumiko Calls

.. and I come arunnin'!

So after telling her that I'd be free from 2-5 in the afternoon today...

Note: Saturday! Saturday Speech Contest practice! 

No that doesn't sound right at all. 

Like "File And Order Your Paperwork on New Year's Eve" or "Do the Spring Clean on Your One Day Off!". Well, then again as ALTs our definition of free time is fairly loose and permeates into the normal working day, so it was bound to happen at some point, the Overlap.

Anyway.  

Yeah, so 2-5.  Get a text last night.  She wants me to come in at 5...  

After getting everyone together for my Wanted film night (now with added Chiara attributes I note) and setting the time for 6:15 I can't really spend too long with Endo.  45 minutes max.  Really annoying.

But.  You know what?  It's his fault if he's not getting more time with me.  I've told them I want to practice but he is hell bent on keeping up his track and field practices and then not coming to practice afterwards.  

One week kid.  That's all.  Just come after school and work an hour or so, then go to your club afterward.  Japanese people don't know about the adverse physical effect of overtraining huh?

Instead I've got to try to come in at 7:30 AM to get in a practice with him.  And now on weekends, which I was happy to do since this week has been disrupted cos of sports day and we barely got 1 hour the whole week!  so out of genuine sense of wanting to see him do well I said "coolbeans" to Saturday only for it to be fucked over by, yet again, fucking Track and Field practice!  

Which is it kid?  What is more important?  

• Track and Field or 
  
• Not nailing the speech?  
  

Track and Field that you do all year and may never achieve victory or a speech that I know you could if you just spent more time practicing.... (note: with me not Yumiko)

So Yumiko called, and I anwered.  I'll be in school for a pithy 40 minutes this evening.  Hoping I don't have to undo the damage she's done the day before training him behind my back

Nagai Sports Day

this is one image i love from my last ever sports day at Nagai.

From Sports Day

More news pics in many different albums at my web album

Nagai Hanabi Matsuri

From Nagai Hanabi 2008

We're good for something, don't mess with it

Across the spectrum of placements that ALTs find themselves parachuted into at the start of every August, it is difficult to come up with a list of things we're all good at doing: From elementrary to senior high.

Aha, wait, surely it's helping with english?!

Well sadly judging by the endless ceaseless mound of Engrish and the panicked expression I see in young people's eyes across Japan when they see me (then again I do look like a terorist... ) and the endless giggles-only "dialogue" I have with my students I call bullshit.

No, what I am absolutely certain we are good for is:

• Utilising the expensive broadband internet service in school fully
  
• Prepping our kids to duke it out in speech contests

Images of the kids on the ropes, spitting blood, us dabbing at their wounds with cotton wool and yelling:

"Man up bitch!  Now give me "Rory loves the little lambs", and this time with no fucking B's!!"

are not far from the truth, especially in the crunch time before the contests.  

This year I have the pleasure of coaching Endo, a kid with great English and blessed with an easy pronounciation style that is convincing and clear.  A world away from last year's students' pronounciations.  

Granted, they had great English too but when they spoke they looked like someone had a string attached to their bottom lip and was tugging on it frequently.  It made english look kinda painful.  LOL

I helped them as much as I could and they did okay. 

This year Weird Yumiko is mentoring Endo.  I really wish she wasn't.  Scratch that: 

Oh Allah how I wish she wasn't.  

You see she gets in the way.  And fucks with the 2nd thing we ALTs are good at.  She often has me try to coach 'her' on how to say it just so she can coach Endo in private away from me.  

What the fuck?!

I do get time with him, but she fits in secret practices with him.  So I work out the kinks in his speech, come back the next day to find some other Weird Yumiko-ism has joined in the fun on line 18.  Argh.

Today I am meeting with her after school, only her, for manys a long hour I'm sure, to basically go through the speech sentence by sentence working out timing and intonation for the next section.  She will then tell this to endo at 7:30 tomorrow morning when I can't come bacause I'm off to my Iide school.  

What's the bloody point?!

Endo has already got the speech memorised and has amazing pronounciation.  He's delievered it at the Okitama round of the contest.  Now he needs advanced work on pacing and tone.  Frankly Yumiko ain't entirely up to it.  She's too keen on turning every sentence into something that sounds like a startled revelation, again fucking up the cues I already gave him for the Okitama contest!  

Thesedays I see him for 20 minutes during lunchtime.  We got through one paragragh...  Afterwards yumiko takes me aside to go over one bit.  We speent 10 minutes, just her and me, working on the sentence 

"In my first year of senior high school I took part in the biggest race in school"

She kept emphasising "Senior" and put an OTT startled tone on "biggest".  I was going for a more subtle "first" and "biggest" emphasis, them being the main intoned words in that sentence (followed by pacing and grouping such as "I-took-part-in-the-").  After hearing her soldier on with her own version again and again, seemingly ignoring my version and forgetting why she was wasting my time, I turned and said, dropping all honorifics

"Just listen to me!"

Not my smoothest move.  But by muhammad did it feel just a little  gooood.  Then remembered that I'm not even meant to be coaching her!  I'm coaching Endo! 

Twat

That is all: Bell Child

It sounds like an epileptic ADD child is ringing the bell on his bike right outside the window.  Endlessly.

That is all