Well this was a saga and a half. You know how I was telling you in my last entry to “stay tuned” for this concert? Well I have a BIG story for you!
So we were in a rush on Monday after school because we had to have all our things ready to go as soon as we got to the train station after school. We got to Osaka in record time, quickly had something crap and unhealthy to eat (a Japanese version of McDonalds) and rushed to get to this concert held at the Osaka Dome. We got to the dome, and this strange, eerie silence surrounded us. We could hear no music, no laughter, no people and the doors weren’t even open. We were so confused and baffled by this situation that was presented before us. I said to the others, “Geez, the Osaka Dome has pretty sound proof walls surrounding it because I can’t hear anything.” Everyone agreed.
We were walking around the dome trying to find an entrance to get in. It was so strange that noone was even hanging around the outside of the dome, not one soul. We were beginning to think that we had the wrong date! Eventually, we spotted this sign. It said something like this:
“We are sorry to announce that the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert has been cancelled for 19th March due to Anthony Keitis (the lead singer of the Chilis) having bronchitis. Please hold on to your tickets as the concert will be held later on in the year.”
Well you could imagine the disappointment on my face after reading that sign. I was shattered! I had taken a day off the next day, booked a hotel that night and had my concert clothes on ready to go…and then this! No Chilis!
So we walked back to the train station with our tails between our legs and our heads down feeling sad and ripped off. Lauren’s friend, Renee got the raw end of the deal because she was just visiting for two weeks and she had a ticket, so there was no way that she was going to be able to make the concert later on in the year. I felt for her that night!
Anyway, we got back to the main part of Osaka and decided to drown in our sorrows and look for a place to eat cake and coffee. Well, what else do you do after feeling disappointed other than eating cake? It did make me feel better though coz it tasted so good!
We wondered around for a little more and then went to bed after a sad, sorrowful night! (I soon got over it, though – at least I have something else to look forward to later on in the year!) The next part of the story is really cool!
22 March 2007
Sumo Wrestling 18th March 2007
I went to Osaka o Sunday and saw a sumo wrestling tournament. It was so cool! It went all day (from 8:30am to 6:00pm) and I loved every second of it. It was really fun to watch and I never got bored of watching it. The actual wrestling matches don’t go for that long. They can be as short as five to ten seconds and can last up to five minutes…or longer! The goal is to try and get the opponent on the floor or out of the ring. The first player to do this is the winner.
The sumo wrestlers looked so big and tough and mean! I definitely wouldn’t want to get on their bad side because they would squash me flat like a pancake in one second! That would be the end of me! What got me, was that sometimes the sumo wrestlers would push each other with such force that they would go flying out of the ring and land on top of the spectators in the first row! Imagine a sumo wrestler landing on you! Man, I was so glad I wasn’t sitting in the front row!
I didn’t end up getting a photo with a sumo wrestler in his traditional costume, but there were two sumo wrestlers standing by the vending machines in their robes and they kindly let us take a photo with them. When I asked for their names, one of them replied and I forgot his name the very next second because it was so long. The other one just said, “shhh…it’s a secret!” and he left it at that and didn’t tell me his name! I just played along with it and laughed. Maybe he was so famous that if he said his name, a mass of people would come running to get autographs…it was probably for his own protection (not that a sumo wrestler would need protection coz he could just sit on them and be done with it!).
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It ended up being a great day with lots of fun. I bought a sumo display cloth, a sumo wrestling magazine and some sumo rice crackers for the teachers at work. When I gave them to the teachers today, they were so excited! I think I made their day!
Sumo wrestling would require a great deal of commitment and dedication…they don’t just look the way they do overnight! Unfortunately, sumo wrestlers have very short lives due to their lifestyle, but they are very skilful at what they do.
Apparently, at the end of their sumo career, they have a very important and significant ceremony where they cut off their hair that is always so perfectly worn in a bun. This is a very sad moment for the sumo wrestlers because it means that they will never wrestle in the ring again. Many of them get very emotional during this ceremony.
So that is what I learnt about sumo wrestling. Pretty impressive, huh? Stay tuned for my next entry: The Red Hot Chili Peppers concert!!!
The sumo wrestlers looked so big and tough and mean! I definitely wouldn’t want to get on their bad side because they would squash me flat like a pancake in one second! That would be the end of me! What got me, was that sometimes the sumo wrestlers would push each other with such force that they would go flying out of the ring and land on top of the spectators in the first row! Imagine a sumo wrestler landing on you! Man, I was so glad I wasn’t sitting in the front row!
I didn’t end up getting a photo with a sumo wrestler in his traditional costume, but there were two sumo wrestlers standing by the vending machines in their robes and they kindly let us take a photo with them. When I asked for their names, one of them replied and I forgot his name the very next second because it was so long. The other one just said, “shhh…it’s a secret!” and he left it at that and didn’t tell me his name! I just played along with it and laughed. Maybe he was so famous that if he said his name, a mass of people would come running to get autographs…it was probably for his own protection (not that a sumo wrestler would need protection coz he could just sit on them and be done with it!).
It ended up being a great day with lots of fun. I bought a sumo display cloth, a sumo wrestling magazine and some sumo rice crackers for the teachers at work. When I gave them to the teachers today, they were so excited! I think I made their day!
Sumo wrestling would require a great deal of commitment and dedication…they don’t just look the way they do overnight! Unfortunately, sumo wrestlers have very short lives due to their lifestyle, but they are very skilful at what they do.
Apparently, at the end of their sumo career, they have a very important and significant ceremony where they cut off their hair that is always so perfectly worn in a bun. This is a very sad moment for the sumo wrestlers because it means that they will never wrestle in the ring again. Many of them get very emotional during this ceremony.
So that is what I learnt about sumo wrestling. Pretty impressive, huh? Stay tuned for my next entry: The Red Hot Chili Peppers concert!!!
13 March 2007
After the graduation ceremony...
The ceremony was ECXELLENT! I am so glad that I got to go to it today. I was so amazed by the fact that all the students looked so perfect, not a foot out of place and they were all looking straight ahead sitting as still as a statue the entire time! Good luck trying that with our kids!
All the third grade students stood up and sang a couple of songs and they sounded amazing. It brought goose bumps to my skin listening to how beautiful they sounded – three hundred students in perfect harmony and perfect unison. I don’t know how they did it. Then to top it off, the conductor was one of the students and he looked fantastic. He was so graceful with the way he moved his arms and he was so confident in the way he lead three-hundred students in perfect timing and perfect pitch. The pianist was also a student and she could play the piano so well. Not one nervous mistake. I was in awe!
At the end, this girl gave a speech. The only thing I could really understand about the speech was when she was talking about her parents and her friends that she had made at the school and I think she was talking about how she will always remember the school and the support it gave her. It was really sentimental and sweet. Then pretty much the entire audience started crying – including most of the third grade students…AND including me! I felt really dumb because I wasn’t really apart of any of it…I don’t even teach the third grade students and there I was bawling my eyes out! I just put my head down and tried not to let anyone see that I was getting all emotional. I couldn’t even really understand what was going on and I was STILL crying! How sad is that?!! Oh well, not to worry. We can keep it a secret just between you and me!
All the third grade students stood up and sang a couple of songs and they sounded amazing. It brought goose bumps to my skin listening to how beautiful they sounded – three hundred students in perfect harmony and perfect unison. I don’t know how they did it. Then to top it off, the conductor was one of the students and he looked fantastic. He was so graceful with the way he moved his arms and he was so confident in the way he lead three-hundred students in perfect timing and perfect pitch. The pianist was also a student and she could play the piano so well. Not one nervous mistake. I was in awe!
At the end, this girl gave a speech. The only thing I could really understand about the speech was when she was talking about her parents and her friends that she had made at the school and I think she was talking about how she will always remember the school and the support it gave her. It was really sentimental and sweet. Then pretty much the entire audience started crying – including most of the third grade students…AND including me! I felt really dumb because I wasn’t really apart of any of it…I don’t even teach the third grade students and there I was bawling my eyes out! I just put my head down and tried not to let anyone see that I was getting all emotional. I couldn’t even really understand what was going on and I was STILL crying! How sad is that?!! Oh well, not to worry. We can keep it a secret just between you and me!
Tuesday 13th March 2007
Today is the graduation for the third grade Junior High School students. I am so excited to see it because all of their formal events are always really good. I was almost not able to go because I was supposed to spend the day at the Elementary School today, but I asked if I could stay here instead so that I could see their graduation ceremony and luckily, they said yes. All the teachers are really nicely dressed up and they look really good. All the men are wearing suits and all the women are wearing nice black pants or skirts and nice tops. The ceremony starts at 10:00am and it’s only 8:24am. Hurry up, time!
We spent all of yesterday afternoon cleaning the school. The students got their rags and brooms and swept the floors, cleaned the windows, cleaned the walls and the entire school looks perfect! I asked what I could do and I got to follow the flower arranging lady around the school and help her arrange the flowers in the pots. I had no idea what I was doing, so she did it all and I just held the flowers. Every now and again she would give me a flower and tell me exactly where to put it in the pot to make me feel like I was actually helping, but I really wasn’t doing much! I was like her caddy!
We spent all of yesterday afternoon cleaning the school. The students got their rags and brooms and swept the floors, cleaned the windows, cleaned the walls and the entire school looks perfect! I asked what I could do and I got to follow the flower arranging lady around the school and help her arrange the flowers in the pots. I had no idea what I was doing, so she did it all and I just held the flowers. Every now and again she would give me a flower and tell me exactly where to put it in the pot to make me feel like I was actually helping, but I really wasn’t doing much! I was like her caddy!
Updated "Chin Chin" story...(read the one below this one first)
So the “Chin Chin” story continues…
I was talking to the teacher who was in the class when it all happened and she gave me an update of what the kids said. Apparently, after the class, all the boys came up to her and asked her if I really knew what chin chin meant. She told them that I didn’t know what it meant. Of course I didn’t know, coz I wouldn’t have said it otherwise!!! Anyway, I asked her what they said to that and they told her that they were going to come up and tell me what it meant! She told them off and said not to and got angry with them. I can’t believe they were still talking about chin chin in the next lesson they had with her. Man, that is so embarrassing! I never want to teach that class again. If they come up to me and say anything about chin chin I will get so embarrassed and probably go as red as a tin of tomatoes! I hope they don’t say anything! It just puts a whole new meaning to the “Three Little Pigs” story:
“Little pig, little pig, let me in. Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”
I think my next lesson will be learning the story about the three little pigs…what do you think??? ☺
I was talking to the teacher who was in the class when it all happened and she gave me an update of what the kids said. Apparently, after the class, all the boys came up to her and asked her if I really knew what chin chin meant. She told them that I didn’t know what it meant. Of course I didn’t know, coz I wouldn’t have said it otherwise!!! Anyway, I asked her what they said to that and they told her that they were going to come up and tell me what it meant! She told them off and said not to and got angry with them. I can’t believe they were still talking about chin chin in the next lesson they had with her. Man, that is so embarrassing! I never want to teach that class again. If they come up to me and say anything about chin chin I will get so embarrassed and probably go as red as a tin of tomatoes! I hope they don’t say anything! It just puts a whole new meaning to the “Three Little Pigs” story:
“Little pig, little pig, let me in. Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”
I think my next lesson will be learning the story about the three little pigs…what do you think??? ☺
12 March 2007
Embarrassing "Chin Chin" story...
I have an embarrassing story to tell! I am at work now and I just had a lesson with the second grade Junior High School students. In the last bit of the lesson, we played bingo. I got them to brainstorm a whole heap of words to do with the body and I wrote them on the board. They were getting stuck for more words, so I was pointing to different parts and they had to tell me what they were. Anyway, I pointed to my chin and they didn’t know what this word was. So I wrote it on the board and they cracked up laughing. I had no idea why so I kept on going on with the lesson.
Then I was calling out all the body parts and they had to cross them off if they had written it down. They were telling me to call out chin, so I did and they laughed again. I asked the teacher why they thought it was so funny, and she was too embarrassed to tell me! She said she would tell me later. At the end of the lesson, I asked her what chin meant. She told me that chin chin means "male privates", so that was why they found it so funny! I was so embarrassed! She said that in the next class, maybe I shouldn’t write chin down as a body part, and I agreed with her! Well, at least I learnt a new word today!!!
Then I was calling out all the body parts and they had to cross them off if they had written it down. They were telling me to call out chin, so I did and they laughed again. I asked the teacher why they thought it was so funny, and she was too embarrassed to tell me! She said she would tell me later. At the end of the lesson, I asked her what chin meant. She told me that chin chin means "male privates", so that was why they found it so funny! I was so embarrassed! She said that in the next class, maybe I shouldn’t write chin down as a body part, and I agreed with her! Well, at least I learnt a new word today!!!
Sunday 11th March 2007
I am back! I have gotten over the flu and I feel 100% now…YAY!!! I had a really good weekend, so I will tell you all about it...
On Saturday morning, Lauren and I had booked into this really trendy hairdressing salon in the main street of Himeji. When I saw this place weeks ago, I was really impressed with it because the people who work in there are so fashionable and their hair is awesome, so Lauren and I booked in a session. The people who did our hair were really nice. The guy who did Lauren’s hair had a haircut like Dragonball Z! He kept on telling Lauren how much he liked the show! He was wearing cowboy boots and trendy jeans with a big belt and Winnie the Pooh underwear sticking out of his jeans (he got embarrassed when we saw them and he told us not to look!!). I got my haircut all Japanesey and I think it looks really cool!
Lauren got a trim and the Dragonball Z guy made her hair look really nice and smooth. We took some photos of our hairdressers because they looked so cool!
One of the American’s who lives in our building (Julian) organised for us to go on a Japanese Sake tour of the Sake Factory in Himeji. After we got our haircuts, we got to taste all these different types of sake for free! At the beginning, the president of the sake factory was talking about how they made the wine as it is a very long process. Then they showed us a video of the entire process. It looks really tiring! We went on a tour of the factory and saw all the containers that the wine is put into. The best part was left till last which was when we got to drink free sake! It got very messy indeed!
I think sake is an acquired taste so it is the sort of drink you have to get used to as it is very strong, but it was good to taste really expensive ones for free! Check out the photo of what we had to wear when we went on the tour. Pretty cool, huh???
After the Japanese sake tour, we had tea at this really cool restaurant that makes yummy okonomiyaki. It tasted soooo good! While we were eating, some school kids came up to us and started talking to us. They were really excited to be speaking to foreigners. They were deaf, so it was pretty hard to communicate at the start, but then they gave us a notebook and a pencil and we were writing some questions down to ask them. They were really cute and we talked to them for ages. Then they asked us if we wanted to go and do puricura. I had no idea what they were talking about, but Mac was with us and he could speak Japanese and he knew exactly what they meant. Puricura is like a photo machine that you go into and take photos with your friends and then before you print them, you can put cool pictures and stars and cool boarders around them. We spent ages in there and it was lots of fun. I think the kids enjoyed it too!
By this stage, it was getting later, so we headed to a really cool bar called Coast. There was a big party there that night because some regular local guys were leaving town and they had a big party for them. There was lots of drinking and dancing and fun involved in the night. As the night got on, it got messier and messier and they brought out the whipped cream and were putting it all over people’s faces. Thank goodness they didn’t put it on my face, coz I would have killed them! When I got home, I went straight to bed and didn’t move until late Sunday afternoon!
On Saturday morning, Lauren and I had booked into this really trendy hairdressing salon in the main street of Himeji. When I saw this place weeks ago, I was really impressed with it because the people who work in there are so fashionable and their hair is awesome, so Lauren and I booked in a session. The people who did our hair were really nice. The guy who did Lauren’s hair had a haircut like Dragonball Z! He kept on telling Lauren how much he liked the show! He was wearing cowboy boots and trendy jeans with a big belt and Winnie the Pooh underwear sticking out of his jeans (he got embarrassed when we saw them and he told us not to look!!). I got my haircut all Japanesey and I think it looks really cool!
Lauren got a trim and the Dragonball Z guy made her hair look really nice and smooth. We took some photos of our hairdressers because they looked so cool!
One of the American’s who lives in our building (Julian) organised for us to go on a Japanese Sake tour of the Sake Factory in Himeji. After we got our haircuts, we got to taste all these different types of sake for free! At the beginning, the president of the sake factory was talking about how they made the wine as it is a very long process. Then they showed us a video of the entire process. It looks really tiring! We went on a tour of the factory and saw all the containers that the wine is put into. The best part was left till last which was when we got to drink free sake! It got very messy indeed!
I think sake is an acquired taste so it is the sort of drink you have to get used to as it is very strong, but it was good to taste really expensive ones for free! Check out the photo of what we had to wear when we went on the tour. Pretty cool, huh???
After the Japanese sake tour, we had tea at this really cool restaurant that makes yummy okonomiyaki. It tasted soooo good! While we were eating, some school kids came up to us and started talking to us. They were really excited to be speaking to foreigners. They were deaf, so it was pretty hard to communicate at the start, but then they gave us a notebook and a pencil and we were writing some questions down to ask them. They were really cute and we talked to them for ages. Then they asked us if we wanted to go and do puricura. I had no idea what they were talking about, but Mac was with us and he could speak Japanese and he knew exactly what they meant. Puricura is like a photo machine that you go into and take photos with your friends and then before you print them, you can put cool pictures and stars and cool boarders around them. We spent ages in there and it was lots of fun. I think the kids enjoyed it too!
By this stage, it was getting later, so we headed to a really cool bar called Coast. There was a big party there that night because some regular local guys were leaving town and they had a big party for them. There was lots of drinking and dancing and fun involved in the night. As the night got on, it got messier and messier and they brought out the whipped cream and were putting it all over people’s faces. Thank goodness they didn’t put it on my face, coz I would have killed them! When I got home, I went straight to bed and didn’t move until late Sunday afternoon!
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