Super Party
Monday evening, I got together with some of the other local American ALTs to watch the Super Bowl. One of them, Zach, is lucky enough to get the satellite channels, so we watched a tape delay broadcast on NHK BS1. It worked out pretty good, except they showed the news for 10 minutes on the hour and skipped uneventful parts of the game (I think they only showed one punt, for example). So, basically we saw about 3/4ths of the game, but that is better than nothing. There was plenty of good food there, like real chili and chips and salsa. I brought along some Skittles from my stash, as well as some Kool-Aid but the rest of the guys just drank beer, of course. So, to recap, we were watching the game, eating chips and salsa, and drinking beer. Oh yeah, we're real Americans.

Game Notes:

I can't decide if the game was boring or not. Honestly, there were some exciting plays here and there, but from about the 3rd quarter on the outcome was pretty clear as the Colts just bled the clock. Overall, it was a so-so game but not terrible.

Speaking of terrible, Rex Grossman didn't exactly turn in the best performance of his career. I can see why people were ragging on him non-stop during the season, he made plenty of crappy throws. Actually, a big minus goes to the whole Chicago coaching staff, for not adjusting their gameplan at all during the second half when it became clear Indy was controlling the game. You've got to try to do something different at least, guys. This makes 3 Super Bowls in a row the losing team had just some awful coaching... Bears, Seahawks, Eagles all should have had a better chance of winning their games. What else can you say but a giant lost opportunity.

Everyday Ish
Well, I'm sure you're wondering, what am up to recently? Well, since you asked, I'll tell you. Saturday, I played Volleyball with a bunch of kids from school. Good thing it wasn't a real game, because I would have lost badly. One of our English classes was on the lives of refugees, so I made a little presentation about that. Likewise, I also made a poster about landmine removal just recently. Last Thursday, I had a Elementary school day, and I about had to kill some of the 2nd graders and the kindergarten kids cried when they lost the game, but other than that it was fun. I'm tired of eating the same food all of the time, but I have to "play it safe" because a lot of the food I buy goes bad before I can use it. I finished 24 Season 1, I'm starting to watch Season 2, it seems good but just not as good as the first.

I called my Mom on Saturday to wish her a happy birthday. Yesterday, I finally got a haircut after about oh, say, three months. Today, I helped out at baseball practice after school. I did some catching and fielding, but man it was pretty chilly out there today. Baseball is definitely a summer sport. It might snow tomorrow or Friday, for the first real snowfall we've had this winter. Will school be cancelled? I don't know, but that would be exciting, wouldn't it?

Today, I was grocery shopping and ran into one of my students. Now he's a nice kid, but he wouldn't stop following me around and asking stupid questions. Again, I like the kid but sometimes there is just no where to go with this job. In other news, I have begun some very preliminary work on Monthly Eigo Post #2, I'll keep you, um, posted. Also today, I had some of the second year students design write their own comic strip captions, it didn't work out so great but at least it was something different for them to do. Also, some students will be putting on a play on Sunday, so I will go check that out. I think that is just about everything. Just a little taste of what my everyday activites are like here.

Deadeye Dick
While I'm using my little corner of the internet, I want to go out of my way to say what a vile person Richard Bruce Cheney is. Normally I try to stay cool about these kinds of things, but this time it's gone too far and I've got to speak up. It's no secret that for six years now the guy has done whatever he's wanted with the US government and constitution, playing up the need to spread democracy in the Middle East and mentioning how the terrorists hate our freedoms, while cracking down on our privacy and rights at home and being the most secretive administration in US history. The guy's shot more holes in the constitution than one of his unlucky hunting partners. No really, for a while no one even knew who worked for the guy. Check it out.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012162.php

His latest interview with Wolf Blitzer of CNN may be his masterpiece. Note the detached worldview, refusal to admit obvious blunders, the faux outrage when asked about his lesbian daughter's relationships. (Never mind his political party has made open targets out of gays and lesbians for years). And he dares to mention that others don't have "stomach" for the fight. If only it were that simple. Ask yourself what he's sacrficed, what he's given up, and think if he has the right to tell others about "stomach" and toughing it out.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/25/cheney/index.html

But he can be a real joker from time to time. Did you hear the one about anyone who disagrees with him wants the USA to lose in Iraq? About all the enormous successes? Oh wait. Seriously, there used to be a joke about how he would eat bats for breakfast, and somehow, seeing his self-satisfied mug, it doesn't seem that far off from the truth.

If you needed more proof the guy isn't human, both The Daily Show and Gregg Easterbrook of TMQ have pointed out another weird trait about the guy- he never, ever blinks. No, I'm serious. Watch any clip of the State of the Union address, and compare his blinks to that of say, more probable humanoid Nancy Pelosi. While Pelosi blinks incessantly, Cheney does, at most, once or twice a minute. The conclusion? What a creep. I'll let Easterbrook sum up my thoughts here:

"Finally, it's normal to blink like crazy on television. Watch even professional newscasters and sportscasters, as they face the camera they blink constantly -- viewers zone the blinking out. Last night during the State of the Union address, George W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi and Dick Cheney were facing the camera. Speaker Pelosi blinked non-stop. The president blinked frequently. Cheney never blinked. Check a video. Increasingly I fear that "Richard Cheney" is the host of a slug-like alien symbiot creature that has been implanted in his body and controls his brain."

That's all. I'm done.

You Can Call It MEP
Here's a little project that I put together in my free time. I call it the Monthly Eigo (Enlgish) Post, or MEP for short, and it's a newsletter I will try to put out every month or so for the students. If I can get them reading English and maybe learning something about American culture, then great. If some of the English seems a little strange to you, please remember the target audience is Japanese middle schoolers with only a few years of study. It isn't anything complicated, but still took the better part of a school today to put together, finding good images, getting everything just right. Now that I've got the format roughly settled on it should be easier to put out an issue. By the way, since I wrote "Monthly" in the title, I'm gonna have to try hard to crank out something interesting every 30 days. If all else fails, I'll just change the name to "Mike's Eigo Post". It's still MEP, you know. Well, here's hoping that A. I can keep it up and B. enough people take the time to read it.

You can d/l the word file of it from here (sorry, you may need to cut and paste):

http://angelfire.com/nc/frodaddy/mepost1.doc

In other news, one of my fellow teachers was flipping out today in the staff room. Turns out there is a picture of him from his middle school days in one of the textbooks. OK, maybe not that big of a deal but it was worth it just to see his reaction. And admit it, if you saw your picture in some school textbook, you'd probably act a little crazy too.

Also, somebody returned from Korea with some chocolates for everyone. But these weren't just any ol' plain chocolates, no. They were spicy, as in with hot peppers mixed in the chocolate. Oh course, he neglected to tell everyone this when handing them out. Fun! Also, an Australian student whose mother is from Ono left to go back to Oz today, he was on his summer vacation there and came to Japan to visit relatives and check out the school. He had to go back to make it to a rowing camp at his school. Oh, those crazy Australians. His older brother is still here through the rest of the week though. Finally, the kids in two of my class periods today were real snots, hyperactive, wouldn't shut up. The third class though, everyone was practically falling asleep. Great. Just another day on the job.

Bucks for Becks
I should be using this space to talk about how great the signing of David Beckham by the LA Galaxy is for American soccer, how it will boost the sport's popularity and visibility in the USA to previously unseen levels. But I can't. All I can say is, it's a really smart business move for Beckham. Perhaps to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars and a future career after soccer.

Really, it's not difficult to see. Just as he is getting benched at Real Madrid and kicked off the English national team, he'll come over to the US and reap a whole new fortune of endorsement cash. He'll be the undisputed star of the entire league instead of languishing on the sidelines, overshadowed by the world's best in La Liga. The contract he signed gives him special cuts of endorsements and jersey sales, just the kind of things you would expect to see flying off the shelves once the public starts seeing his face on ESPN everyday.

Additionally, he'll be in LA, and he can play up his showbiz contacts for himself and his singer wife as much as he wants. Expect to see a thespian Beckham in the upcoming years, beyond your general 30 second TV spots. So never mind some high-minded goal of spreading soccer to America. This is a business deal first and foremost.

Some Random Stuff
We got new computers at one of my schools. It's nice because rarely does someone want to give you a free computer. It's even rarer when you don't want a free computer someone is trying to give you. Basically, the school district wants us to stop using our private computers at school and switch over to the ones they provide. Problem is, they're a pain. Installation is fun when there is no where to put the computers in cramped teacher's rooms. Of course, you can't download or install anything, net usage is limited, etc. Not to mention that I hate using Japanese-style keyboards (too much stuff gets moved around, the space bars are teeny tiny, to name two reasons), and as of now you can see the other school's data and files on the network. So much for privacy. I'm sure we will all get adjusted to it at some point, but it seems like a massive waste to me now.

My old stomping grounds of Machida wasin the news recently, and I can't say that it was for something good. The decapitated head of a murder victim was found in a park there. Well, don't worry, the actual crime was comitted in the filth and pestilence of... a swank Shibuya housing development, but the perp needed somewhere to stash the evidence, and Machida is only a quick train ride away from the city center. You know what to do: click the link for details.

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/395694/all

Well, here's where it gets fun. The only direct line from Shinjuku to Machida is the Odakyu line, which I used to ride all the time. And I don't know exactly, but I have a very strong suspicion of where she would have dumped the "evidence"... a park about 10mins. walk from the station where I've been to many times. Of course, when I mentioned this to my co-workers, they all pointed out how I'd been to Machida recently, about the same time, like you know, I had done it. Got to love those guys.

In other news, I picked a terrible year to go to Japan, because the NFL playoffs are absolutely stacked this year. Look at the matchups... New England vs. San Diego (Belichick vs. Marty, formerly dominant team vs. new kids on the block, River's first playoff start, LT, Will Marty Blow it), Indy vs. Baltimore (offense and speed vs. defense and power), Philly vs. New Orleans (can the Saints win for the city, Superdome will be rockin'). The only potential stinker is Chicago vs. Seattle (will Rex get benched for Griese, everyone expecting Chicago to blow up but they probably won't) Still, that's a great lineup of games. No, I don't have any picks though. Still haven't watched a game this season, you know.

Dateline Tokyo, Part Deux
January 1st:

As you can guess, I didn't do much this day. Mostly sleeping. But my man Shingo was feeling better, so we met up in Yokohama. Most everything was closed, so we mostly checked out the local game arcades. Also we went to Chinatown and had the most ridiculously spicy food, it was crazy. I couldn't get my nose to stop running, but that's part of the fun, right?

January 2nd:

This was one of the days I had all to myself, so I had a lot planned. One thing I had to get out of the way was going to Hama Rikyu Gardens- I was really disappointed that it was closed before. So I went, and there was a special demonstatration some falconers. Well, the birds didn't always want to cooperate, but there were some interesting parts in there, like when I bird swooped in from a local skyscraper (I'm serious) to grab some prey. As for the park, it is an interesting Japanese-style place right in the middle of the city. Unfortantely, it was cloudy that day, but what can you do. Then I went to Ueno, where it was insanely crowded. I grabbed some McDonald's to eat in the park, where I was chatted up by a local homeless (I assume) with some pretty good english skills. Only in Japan I guess. My plan was to go to a Dali exhibit there, but the line was just insane so I checked out some other places instead. Then I went to Akihabara, the famous electronics district, where I spent just about every yen remaining on some retro games- Saturn, Famicom, even some Game Boy Advance stuff. After that I was pretty tired so went back.

Janunary 3rd:

I met Akane and another Charlotte friend, Ayumi, to go to yet a shrine for Hatsumode, which is the special first visit of the New Year where you can get your fortune for the upcoming year, pray, get good luck charms, etc. Then McDonalds (again, but it was close), and we walked around Nagatacho, which is kind of the nerve center of the Japanese Government- the Diet Building, PM's residence (lots of security there), etc. Next to Omotesando, where all the insanely expensive stores are, to walk around and people watch. We stopped at a restaurant for some coffee, then everyone went home while I walked up the road a bit to check out Harajuku.

January 4th:

My last whole day in Tokyo. I went to Asukasa to check out Sensoji, yet another big temple in Tokyo where New Year's activities were underway. I grabbed a quick chicken steak from a foodstall and took some pictures. Next to Kappabashi-dori, which is your one-stop shopping place if you own a restaraunt- plates, signs, giant knives, plastic display food, it's all there. Many of the places were still closed for New Year's however. Then I went to Ryogoku, where the big Sumo tournaments are held, and went to Edo Tokyo Museum, which shows the history of Tokyo inside of this absolutely crazy building. I ran out of time there, so I will have to check it out again some other time. Finally, I had one last thing to do. In Roppongi Hills Toho Cinema, they hda Japan's only English-subtitled showing of Clint Eastwood's latest, "Letters from Iwo Jima". For the privelige of watching a movie on some of Tokyo's most chic real estate, I forked over 1800 yen (around $16.50). However, the movie was outstanding and it was worth every penny.

After the end of the movie, time to get back to the hotel and pack all my crap up for the following morning. I met Shingo at Kawasaki and we went to Haneda airport, said our goodbyes. When I got on the plane, I promptly fell asleep. I guess it was that kind of trip. Lots of walking, not lots of sleep.

At the time it didn't seem like I was doing much, and I was wondering if I was getting my money's worth so to speak out of the trip. But while typing this, it sure seems like I did a crap load of stuff while I was there. Going to Zojoji (temple) for New Year's was a particularly cool experience. Some of the museums I went to were kind of a waste though (no names here). On the whole I had plenty of fun times though; there is always something interesting going on in Tokyo. I sure spent enough money on travel and shopping though. Gonna have to save that yen from here on out.

Dateline Tokyo
Well, my winter break is slowly coming to an end here. It's been an interesting one. First, the Fujimura's invited me over for another reat dinner on Christmas Eve, which was great. Then on Christmas, I got up and opened my gift package- Pop Tarts, 24 Season 1 and 2 DVDs, oh my! But the main event was to come later on- Squid Fishing! One of the teachers at Ono JHS is a real fishing nut, so he took all of the 1st year teachers out fishing. We went to Hoto-jima, a tiny island off the coast ony accessible by ferry. We set up a tent, cooked Nabe stew for lunch, dinner, and breakfast, and of course tried to catch a lot of fish. Unfortunately, no squid were nabbed, but I did manage to catch a few, and one teacher got a swordfish which was donated to some locals. It wasn't too cold, which was my real fear, but it did rain from about 2AM on, which wasn't so nice.

A couple of days of work, and then on to Tokyo for vacation. This was kind of a spur of the moment thing, I hadn't really planned ahead that much. but there is always something interesting to do there and it sure beat freezing alone in my apartment in the boondocks. The only downside is that it was really expensive, but hey, that's Tokyo for you. Here's what happened day-by-day:

Thursday 28th:

Wake up early and drive to the airport. Lucky me, it's a good hour and a half drive to the airport, on some toll roads too. On top of that it was windy, really blowing around my tiny Mitsubishi Minicar. The flight arrives without any problems, but when I take the train, there is a pain-in-the-ass transfer, and I wander around Kawasaki for a good half hour looking for my hotel. Finally arrive and there's still time left in the day, so I head to Shibuya to check out an MC Escher exhibition. You probably know him from all the crazy tesselations and impossible landscapes that he drew. Very interesting stuff, although I thought the artistry on some of his more straightforward woodcuts was the most impressive. Then, shopping at some of Shibuya's book and record stores.

Friday 29th:

I went to meet Shingo at Higashi Kanagawa station, but accidentally got there an hour early, so I went to Sakuragicho to take some pictures Landmark Tower and surroundings. Then to Machida with Shingo, where we met Yugo and had some great donburi. After that we just wandered around Machida for a bit, going to the batting cages, getting some refreshments at Hub, good times. Then, Fuchinobe were we went to Karaoke USA and rocked out for a couple of hours.

Saturday 30th:

Next I had a nice day with Akane, who was studying abroad at UNCC during my senior year. She's really great and it was nice to see her again. Anyways, we went to a nice place in Ginza for a lunch buffet, and then I wanted to go see Hama Rikyu Imperial Garden, but it was closed off for the holidays! Oh no. But that's ok, because we were right next to the great island of Odaiba, where we went to Decks and Aqua City and had a really great view of Rainbow Bridge (we could even see Mt. Fuji as well during the day).

Sunday 31st:

This is the big day, New Year's Eve, it's gonna be great- and my friend Shingo gets a cold. Too much karaoke I think. So, time to scrap the New Year's plans and find something new. So I wandered around Kawasaki, and went to Kawasaki Daishi, which is a very cool temple complex. I went back to the hotel for a little bit, and still without plans, made my way out for the evening. In a stroke of luck, I got on the train and kind of followed where everyone else was going, and ended up at another temple, Zojoji, for the New Year's countdown. What made this temple very cool was that it had a great view of a lit-up Tokyo Tower right behind it. Quite an interesting visual, and of course you had all of your standard food stalls and ceremonies to go along with it. After getting some close-up pictures of Tokyo Tower I headed back to the hotel around 2 or so.

TO BE CONTINUED>>>

The Shortest Day of the Year
Today, we had another one of our crazy sports events. It was a 10k run, and up some killer hills, too. Somehow, I got suckered into participating. Now, I can play sports, sure, whatever. But I'm not exactly so great when it comes to running long distances- I just normally crap out after about a mile or two. By the way, did I mention the huge hills we had to climb as well? Somebody with a lot of hate in their heart must have designed that course. Man, that was a long run. I'm really going to be feeling it tomorrow. My time came in a 1'19"38... that's really slow, something like 12 or 13 minute miles, pretty embarrasing. I probably shouldn't even be putting this on the internet. By the way, the fastest student, Kazu, ran it in 43 minutes... that's just sick.

Note: I wore one of those Under Armor stretchy-type shirts today, and a lot of the kids seemed to get a kick out of that. So, if you want to pick up some street cred with Japanese middle schoolers, by all means have a closet full of Under Armor.

Today was the last day of school for this semester, and honestly I'm looking forward to the vacation. I was just getting worn down recently, always tired, never getting enough sleep, in a negative frame of mind, probably having a little cold or something like that too. So some time off will help. The fact that the days are super-short this time of year probably doesn't help much either. I'm convinced that not getting enough sun everyday puts me in a down mood, maybe more than most.

Now all this is funny, because compared to the work load I had at Clarks last year (especially around Christmas), this job isn't bad at all. In fact, if 2005 Mike could meet 2006 Mike, I'd probably kick my own ass just for complaining like this. I guess the big difference is that I was living in relative luxury back in the States, and my arrangments in Japan leave plenty to be desired. Again though, I can't complain too much on that front either. This is what I wanted, and I knew what I was getting into the entire way. So at a certain point you just have to live with it. At least from here on every day will be getting longer than the one before.

Baseball News plus Exciting Bonus Material!
The Red Sox recently signed Japanese baseball star Daisuke Matsuzaka to a multi-year, mega-dollars contract. Add to that the "posting" fee sent as compensation to his former Japanese club, and they have spent over $100 million dollars to bring in a player who has never thrown a pitch in the major leagues.

Seems like a lot, right? Well, one thing people need to consider is the Japanese market. Matsuzaka's contract press conference was shown live on 4 of my 5 TV channels this morning. Even before he signed, sports shows over here were already highlighting his future matchups against Hideki Matsui (Yankees) and Ichiro (Mariners). So the market for the Sox TV rights and merchandise just expanded by about 120 million people thanks to one player. Not too bad. You see the Yankees logo on all types of merchandise here thanks to Matsui, and now you'll start seeing a whole lot more Red Sox jerseys and ballcaps as well. Everyone is so concerned over whether or not Matsuzaka will become a good player that they have forgotten the potential Japanese business aspect of the deal.

You may recall how I mentioned that I met a reporter from The Guardian during my time in China. Here is his article he was on his way research at the time, concerning an endangered dolphin species in the Yangtze River. Basically, it doesn't look good.

Link to Guardian Article on Chinese Dolphins

I've also seen this story on CNN.com and Yahoo! News. They both said the dolphin is essentially extinct. That's too bad.


Finally, Donald Rumsfeld officially left his post as Defense Secretary, and I can't say that it is soon enough. But do you expect him to go away crying about it? No, how about having a huge ceremony to crow about your "accomplishments". Read this article and ask yourself, "What kind of parallel universe do these guys live in?" It's certainly not this one. Unfortuntely, their decisions will affect all of us.

Rumsfeld gets big Pentagon Sendoff