The exciting new development of the week is that I now have a laptop sitting on my desk at work for my personal use! The city hall apparently has decided it`s upgrade time so all of the teachers here (aside from one or two part-time teachers) now have new laptop at their desk. Even the ones who had laptops before. They have some awesome usb lock technology, too, so if you don`t have the right purple fob for your computer it`s no go. It makes me happy. But mine lives in my desk because the computer is not mine and I`m afraid to lose it. We have also been granted new computer lab computers and new megaprinters for the office. Everything is shiny.
But, I can now update from work! And do work at work even if I need a computer or the internet for it! And print things without monopolizing the main computer! And make my flashcards using google image search on paid time! I`m so happy about this~
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Opera!
I can't remember if I mentioned the nice older gentleman I met totally by accident on the street a month or so ago. Probably not. Anyway he asked me to his house for dinner with him and his wife because he's a Japanese teacher and it turned out that he knew my predecessor's predecessor and her friends quite well! He and his wife are lovely and I started taking Japanese lessons with him two weeks ago. He's even giving me the lessons for free! (Well, we're exchanging English and Japanese, but he's taken a university degree in teaching Japanese.) He says he volunteers with a couple of Chinese ladies who are learning English, too.
He also invited me to their opera group which meets every other (I think) Saturday or so. I've always been a little interested in opera so I said sure ^_^ Turns out it was an awesome decision! One of his friends who is also helping teach me Japanese has been all over the world and to Vienna quite a few times. He loves Opera and has a separate workshop/relaxation building where their friends meet for their Opera club. Not only does he have a good sized TV but he has two humongous speakers which have amazing sound. I think it must be similar to actually being in an opera house and having an awesome seat. They told me that one speaker cost over two-hundred thousand yen. That's like twenty thousand dollars. For one speaker.
Anyway, I got to meet lots of awesome new people and afterwards I got to enjoy their end of year party with them! It was fun! And a few of the ladies are learning English so I can help them practice while they help me practice Japanese. I'm thinking I might even be able to pick up some of the speaking style that older people use here. I'm already learning bits of Gifu-ben (the Gifu dialect) so I might as well!
He also invited me to their opera group which meets every other (I think) Saturday or so. I've always been a little interested in opera so I said sure ^_^ Turns out it was an awesome decision! One of his friends who is also helping teach me Japanese has been all over the world and to Vienna quite a few times. He loves Opera and has a separate workshop/relaxation building where their friends meet for their Opera club. Not only does he have a good sized TV but he has two humongous speakers which have amazing sound. I think it must be similar to actually being in an opera house and having an awesome seat. They told me that one speaker cost over two-hundred thousand yen. That's like twenty thousand dollars. For one speaker.
Anyway, I got to meet lots of awesome new people and afterwards I got to enjoy their end of year party with them! It was fun! And a few of the ladies are learning English so I can help them practice while they help me practice Japanese. I'm thinking I might even be able to pick up some of the speaking style that older people use here. I'm already learning bits of Gifu-ben (the Gifu dialect) so I might as well!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Yay hospitals?
Well my good news is that I do not have pneumonia! Yay! A cold I had (now whether this was the nasty hacking thing I had two weeks ago or the sore throat from last week or both is up for debate) irritated my asthma to the point where I had to go visit the hospital today because it felt like pneumonia. Not being able to breathe properly sucks.
Luckily Keith was able to come with me and translate so things went very easily. We waited for 1 1/2 hours and watched Keroro Gunso on Keith's PDA. Then a doctor listened to my lungs, I had a chest x-ray taken, and they put me on some air pump thing where I breathed in medicine to clear up my lungs for about 5-10 minutes. After another shorter wait they took my monies and gave me two days worth of powdered medicine.
I did notice that the doctor's computer console had English for words like heart and lungs and although he spoke no English he typed things like wheeze and no (heart) murmur. I thought that was pretty strange. Also I got a card that contains all of my information at that hospital so next time I need to go I can just present my card! How awesome :D
When all was said and done we went to Yumiko's mom's house and I got to meet her mom and see her sister and niece again! Her mom is such a sweetie and fed me food that's good for sick people like tea and umeboshi (sour, sour dried plums). I also got to meet her mom's three cats and dog. And Yumiko cut my hair for me! (She was a full-time hairdresser before she started teaching school) I'm so happy! She layered it and shaped it around my face. And all because I helped her learn to knit. She's such a sweetie!
And I just realized that tomorrow is going to be the last time I see half of my Nishi Elementary students until the New Year. That's really disturbing!
Luckily Keith was able to come with me and translate so things went very easily. We waited for 1 1/2 hours and watched Keroro Gunso on Keith's PDA. Then a doctor listened to my lungs, I had a chest x-ray taken, and they put me on some air pump thing where I breathed in medicine to clear up my lungs for about 5-10 minutes. After another shorter wait they took my monies and gave me two days worth of powdered medicine.
I did notice that the doctor's computer console had English for words like heart and lungs and although he spoke no English he typed things like wheeze and no (heart) murmur. I thought that was pretty strange. Also I got a card that contains all of my information at that hospital so next time I need to go I can just present my card! How awesome :D
When all was said and done we went to Yumiko's mom's house and I got to meet her mom and see her sister and niece again! Her mom is such a sweetie and fed me food that's good for sick people like tea and umeboshi (sour, sour dried plums). I also got to meet her mom's three cats and dog. And Yumiko cut my hair for me! (She was a full-time hairdresser before she started teaching school) I'm so happy! She layered it and shaped it around my face. And all because I helped her learn to knit. She's such a sweetie!
And I just realized that tomorrow is going to be the last time I see half of my Nishi Elementary students until the New Year. That's really disturbing!
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