Bits and pieces
Oct. 21st, 2004 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
littlesaruYesterday there were no lessons because of the typhoon. Today there are no lessons because of the flooding. Yet the teachers still have to come in to school, so long as the roads aren’t closed. Half the teachers live over on the other side of the mountains, in Mai. or Miy. towns. That was the area hardest hit. They are so not going to make it in today. Amongst them are the Principal, Vice-Principal and Syllabus Co-ordinator. Those are the three most important people for re-organising things. No one else can do anything about anything. So they’re all milling around discussing how terrible it is, or surfing the internet or reading a book. Does this make sense to anyone?
Well, it’s been about three weeks since I updated this, which is ridiculous, but I really have been busy.
First there was the studying.
Scheduled for a Friday. A Friday evening to be exact. After a… bad day at work. Obviously no studying actually got done, but it was at least an attempt. We got together. We had dinner. We even got out our books. At eleven we wrote it off as a bad idea. In fact, we’ve written all Fridays off as a bad idea for anything even remotely related to the use of our brains. Who’s going to be able to think when there’s a party around the corner, our brains are fried and it’s so much more fun to gossip. OK, maybe we were bitching a bit. Just a little. After all, Friday is the day I go to O. High School, with F-sensei (read; evil, manipulative bitch from Hell. Possibly spawned by the Devil, but if not, then certainly the love-child of some minor demon and a naïve, overly painted Japanese woman). Well, suffice to say we got nothing done but we felt much better after all that (lack of) hard work.
Then there was the writing.
Haiku contest! For the K-Jet magazine. I wrote five of the twelve entries. Three of them were written by a friend of mine. We suspect that there were only two other authors. We also suspect that no one outside of the Council actually wrote anything. And only the Council voted on the stuff – I think it should have been an open vote, but I was overruled. So, excluding the ones I wrote myself, there were only seven to chose from. This was before I found out which ones my friend had written, so it was completely unbiased. It’s still going to be hard to say the vote wasn’t fixed though – of the six Council members, four of us wrote at least a couple of haiku apiece. We can’t vote for our own, and that essentially narrows the voting pool. Again, I ask, does this make sense to anyone?
Next there was the costume.
Halloween coming up, with Halloween party all organised. This means that a costume is required. Unfortunately I can’t sew. Fortunately my friend can. Even more fortunately, she loves making costumes. So, we went shopping to the 100 Yen shop and bought many random bits and pieces to construct into a costume. I already have a green smock-type thing I made last year as part of my draiad. S. did many miraculous (and possibly illegal) things to it and now I am Robin Hood (female version). Tada! I will rob the rich and give to the poor. Or perhaps just rob the rich. Depends on my mood.
After came the Festival.
In which all the girls dressed up in happi coats, and danced alongside the men carrying the float, laughing evilly at our male compatriots. Not so many great torsos on display, although there were one or two that were ogle-worthy. A happy time was had by all – especially in the post-festival party of DOOM. Too much food. Driving home so couldn’t drink. Hence the doom.
Followed by the broken bath.
My bath in my house is Japanese style. This means that you fill it with water, over the level of the small round metal alien spaceship attached to its side. Then you turn on the gas heater, set the timer and wait. Miraculously the water heats up. Using the technologically advanced method of a giant ladle, you pour water over yourself. Tada! The concept of a shower is born!
Now normally my little heater is efficient, turns on and off when I want it to and all that lot. Except on Saturday it didn’t. That’s happened before, and after a day it revived itself. Alas, this time it was dead for good (insert mournful music here). So on Saturday I shower at my friend’s house. On Sunday I go to the onsen. On Monday I carry buckets over from my kitchen sink (blessed with a tiny little gas heater I call Pookum). And on Tuesday I talk to my supervisor who gets the gas-heater-fixing person to come and look at it. Weep with me everyone, for it is dead. On Wednesday and 10.30 in the morning the gas-heater-fixing person returns with two more gas-heater-fixing people and replaces old model with new. Fill bath up with water. Turn dial on new control-pad thingy. The wonder of hot water is mine again! Bwahahahaha!
And the other Festival, followed by the party.
During the saga of the gas heater I went into Kyoto city and joined with many others in an orgy of ocha (green tea) and ocha related yummy Japanese snacks – dango, sembei, youka. Yummy stuff. Oh, and there was a festival, involving recitations, dances, singing and fire. I like fire. Fire is good. Another festival is coming up this weekend, also involving fire – lots and lots of fire. Hmmmm… (Please do not feed the budding pyromaniac. It might be bad for your health).
The broken glasses.
The arm of my glasses broke. On Tuesday. In the middle of a lesson. I had to wonder around holding my glasses to my head while trying to teach a bunch of exuberant teenagers English – never easy at the best of times. Bear in mind I am pretty much blind without my glasses and have been wearing them since I was eight. Selotape was my friend. So was N-sensei who took me to a glasses shop, explained the situation and voila! Fixing of glasses happened. It kinda helped that they’re Armani (present from Mum for my 18th. Very expensive. But, available all over the world, even the particular hinge design (not common hinge design. Patented. Makes for hoard-worthy glasses). So, glasses fixed and will be getting a spare pair on Saturday or Sunday. After the Festival. Happiness is sight!
The typhoon. The flooding.
Typhoon came. Typhoon howled and blustered and caused cancelling of classes and school. Typhoon rained and rained and rained and rained and rained until you’d think rain was going out of fashion. Rain caused flooding – storm drains became small fountains in the middle of roads and pavements. The river is the highest I’ve ever seen it – and it was really high only a couple of weeks ago. Today roads are closed, covered in mud or water – some people can’t get to work. School is cancelled for students. Not for teachers. Bugger. No work to do. Surfing internet is fun! Also addictive. Have mild suspicion that am considered a bit of a geek by co-workers and friends. Wondering whether I should be proud or embarrassed by that. Settle on proud.
And now I’m not busy, but is there anything I can possibly do that’s constructive or creative or anything? No. Because all my files are on my nice new shiny yummy computer at home and I am stuck at school. Doing nada. Yay! I like being bored. Really.
Fooble.
Well, it’s been about three weeks since I updated this, which is ridiculous, but I really have been busy.
First there was the studying.
Scheduled for a Friday. A Friday evening to be exact. After a… bad day at work. Obviously no studying actually got done, but it was at least an attempt. We got together. We had dinner. We even got out our books. At eleven we wrote it off as a bad idea. In fact, we’ve written all Fridays off as a bad idea for anything even remotely related to the use of our brains. Who’s going to be able to think when there’s a party around the corner, our brains are fried and it’s so much more fun to gossip. OK, maybe we were bitching a bit. Just a little. After all, Friday is the day I go to O. High School, with F-sensei (read; evil, manipulative bitch from Hell. Possibly spawned by the Devil, but if not, then certainly the love-child of some minor demon and a naïve, overly painted Japanese woman). Well, suffice to say we got nothing done but we felt much better after all that (lack of) hard work.
Then there was the writing.
Haiku contest! For the K-Jet magazine. I wrote five of the twelve entries. Three of them were written by a friend of mine. We suspect that there were only two other authors. We also suspect that no one outside of the Council actually wrote anything. And only the Council voted on the stuff – I think it should have been an open vote, but I was overruled. So, excluding the ones I wrote myself, there were only seven to chose from. This was before I found out which ones my friend had written, so it was completely unbiased. It’s still going to be hard to say the vote wasn’t fixed though – of the six Council members, four of us wrote at least a couple of haiku apiece. We can’t vote for our own, and that essentially narrows the voting pool. Again, I ask, does this make sense to anyone?
Next there was the costume.
Halloween coming up, with Halloween party all organised. This means that a costume is required. Unfortunately I can’t sew. Fortunately my friend can. Even more fortunately, she loves making costumes. So, we went shopping to the 100 Yen shop and bought many random bits and pieces to construct into a costume. I already have a green smock-type thing I made last year as part of my draiad. S. did many miraculous (and possibly illegal) things to it and now I am Robin Hood (female version). Tada! I will rob the rich and give to the poor. Or perhaps just rob the rich. Depends on my mood.
After came the Festival.
In which all the girls dressed up in happi coats, and danced alongside the men carrying the float, laughing evilly at our male compatriots. Not so many great torsos on display, although there were one or two that were ogle-worthy. A happy time was had by all – especially in the post-festival party of DOOM. Too much food. Driving home so couldn’t drink. Hence the doom.
Followed by the broken bath.
My bath in my house is Japanese style. This means that you fill it with water, over the level of the small round metal alien spaceship attached to its side. Then you turn on the gas heater, set the timer and wait. Miraculously the water heats up. Using the technologically advanced method of a giant ladle, you pour water over yourself. Tada! The concept of a shower is born!
Now normally my little heater is efficient, turns on and off when I want it to and all that lot. Except on Saturday it didn’t. That’s happened before, and after a day it revived itself. Alas, this time it was dead for good (insert mournful music here). So on Saturday I shower at my friend’s house. On Sunday I go to the onsen. On Monday I carry buckets over from my kitchen sink (blessed with a tiny little gas heater I call Pookum). And on Tuesday I talk to my supervisor who gets the gas-heater-fixing person to come and look at it. Weep with me everyone, for it is dead. On Wednesday and 10.30 in the morning the gas-heater-fixing person returns with two more gas-heater-fixing people and replaces old model with new. Fill bath up with water. Turn dial on new control-pad thingy. The wonder of hot water is mine again! Bwahahahaha!
And the other Festival, followed by the party.
During the saga of the gas heater I went into Kyoto city and joined with many others in an orgy of ocha (green tea) and ocha related yummy Japanese snacks – dango, sembei, youka. Yummy stuff. Oh, and there was a festival, involving recitations, dances, singing and fire. I like fire. Fire is good. Another festival is coming up this weekend, also involving fire – lots and lots of fire. Hmmmm… (Please do not feed the budding pyromaniac. It might be bad for your health).
The broken glasses.
The arm of my glasses broke. On Tuesday. In the middle of a lesson. I had to wonder around holding my glasses to my head while trying to teach a bunch of exuberant teenagers English – never easy at the best of times. Bear in mind I am pretty much blind without my glasses and have been wearing them since I was eight. Selotape was my friend. So was N-sensei who took me to a glasses shop, explained the situation and voila! Fixing of glasses happened. It kinda helped that they’re Armani (present from Mum for my 18th. Very expensive. But, available all over the world, even the particular hinge design (not common hinge design. Patented. Makes for hoard-worthy glasses). So, glasses fixed and will be getting a spare pair on Saturday or Sunday. After the Festival. Happiness is sight!
The typhoon. The flooding.
Typhoon came. Typhoon howled and blustered and caused cancelling of classes and school. Typhoon rained and rained and rained and rained and rained until you’d think rain was going out of fashion. Rain caused flooding – storm drains became small fountains in the middle of roads and pavements. The river is the highest I’ve ever seen it – and it was really high only a couple of weeks ago. Today roads are closed, covered in mud or water – some people can’t get to work. School is cancelled for students. Not for teachers. Bugger. No work to do. Surfing internet is fun! Also addictive. Have mild suspicion that am considered a bit of a geek by co-workers and friends. Wondering whether I should be proud or embarrassed by that. Settle on proud.
And now I’m not busy, but is there anything I can possibly do that’s constructive or creative or anything? No. Because all my files are on my nice new shiny yummy computer at home and I am stuck at school. Doing nada. Yay! I like being bored. Really.
Fooble.
