48 degrees at 10:49 at night in my room. According to the girl who owns the cafe it's already snowing in certain parts of Haga, and the one of the English teachers said it may begin snowing around the school as early as tomorrow.
I bought two beanies and scarves today.
My koto performance went pretty well. It was a cool experience. Now, if anybody in town didn't know me before, they most definitely know me now (and have probably come up to me and asked if I was in the koto performance on Sunday and told me it was good). Neato.
I have to buy snow tires. Probably.
*Oh yeah, and considering the average temperature around here dropped like 5 to 10 degrees in one night exactly on Autumn Equinox Day, I have no idea what to expect. Or, I do have an idea of what to expect but don't want to think about it. At least I'm not in South Korea! Although I'm probably headed that way weather-wise within two weeks or so.
Whatever I'm visiting a day-care today and am going to play with more day-care kids tomorrow.
I am really getting into Weird Era now, the album that comes with Deerhunter's Microcastles. I haven't been this into a band in a long time. They are like the band of my summer and fall,...and winter? Probably. Why must they do their album-release tour now?!? Because they just released their album I suppose. Bad timing, truly. OH WELL, I will continue to listen to their music in an obsessive trance. I'm really into Backspace Century right now.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Mmm
I had planned on practicing koto for an hour if I could and just finished practicing it for about two hours right now. This Sunday is going to be awesome. It doesn't even hurt to pick those soft notes with my ring finger really anymore; I've just got this hard little bump on there instead. I'm glad; I've actually been able to practice pretty regularly, almost every day for the past few days, excluding two (or maybe three). In any case, I'm happy I was able to commit some regular time to learning this piece and devote a good hour to hour and a half for five or so days over the past week or so. It really is amazing how much it helps to practice everyday. The piece just comes right back to you from the day before so much more easily and with such familiarity. I've been getting to know the instrument so well, which is what I've really been wanting to do. It wasn't even very hard to get myself motivated and into regular practice. I just did and from there on I was in routine. It makes me feel like I can get into this instrument and the musical world of which it is a part.
I'm looking forward to playing some guitar again, after the performance is over. I was really getting into a musical gear with it before I focused on the koto. Life is wonderful.
I'm looking forward to playing some guitar again, after the performance is over. I was really getting into a musical gear with it before I focused on the koto. Life is wonderful.
Random, or, Cold Dokuros
When I got into bed last night it was 51.8 degrees Fahrenheit. I could see my breath in front of my face with every exhalation. When I woke up this morning I checked the thermometer only to find that it was 49 degrees Fahrenheit!! What the heck?! This morning I felt so crotchety, shuffling my way around the kitchen, sipping down my burning hot miso soup just to feel some warmth, it took my morning class with the kindergartners across town to warm up my heart.
And warm it up they did. We had a fun class that covered Dia de los muertos (extremely hard to convey to little kids without a simultaneous translation; I just aimed to make some kind of impression on them with pictures), Thanksgiving, different kinds of foods followed by FOOD BINGO!! (in which they colored in every picture of the food instead of just circling it, that made it a lot more fun), hiding and finding different food cards (The mushroom is under the chair...go!), and topped off with the wonderful tradition of drawing a turkey from your hand outline. Then we had snack time, during which I got to talk to the two teachers about Dia de los muertos. They were really curious about it and its similarities with the Japanese holidary of Obon. Then we all played hide and seek! That school is becoming one of my favorites. The class is only 5 kids so I get to know them a lot better and better every time I go over there. Oh yeah and I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to this one boy during recess. It was like...the highlight of my life. Or at least my life since one of my elementary schools loaned me the book to read in case my lesson ended early. I have such good memories of having this book read to me when I was a child, I just love it. So that was nice.
It's kind of warm right now and I hope it stays that way. I double-bubble wrapped my bedroom windows two nights ago (bubble to bubble!), which led to a slightly more tolerable, although not overly noticeable, temperature difference that night, but seemed ineffective last night. I am going to have to keep planning my next measure on the front against the cold. Two days ago it was sooo cold at work. I didn't even feel cold in any way I could call familiar. It completely overode my skin and was just...a sharp or numb feeling around my bones.
Yeah.
I used to love winter. I have a feeling I'm going to be in for quite an experience once I find snow on my front step. Oh well! I can only become tougher!
A group of the most "masculine" (i.e. loud and disruptive) 3rd year (9th grade) boys hanging out in front of school today asked me if I had a "love girl." The follow-up question was "Have you ever...love love girl?" They were laughing so I figured it was fine to laugh at them, too. Actually, they apparently meant had I ever had a girlfriend. After school is fun.
For the past couple of classes with the first years, the English teacher has just been going around checking every person's notebook to see if they've completed all the exercises for the past...oh, four months or so, so that we can move onto the next section. So, I've gotten to do the mandatory, "Good morning. How are you? What is the date today? What is the weather like? Is anyone absent? Let's say it together," then I had no job for the remainder of class. Which is actually the situation fairly often only this time the teacher wasn't even trying to give a lesson, so I had free reign to talk to the kids and get to know them a little bit. They are actually quite fun and likeable when they're not in a real class setting. So that was nice today.
The new Dokuros album is awesome.
And warm it up they did. We had a fun class that covered Dia de los muertos (extremely hard to convey to little kids without a simultaneous translation; I just aimed to make some kind of impression on them with pictures), Thanksgiving, different kinds of foods followed by FOOD BINGO!! (in which they colored in every picture of the food instead of just circling it, that made it a lot more fun), hiding and finding different food cards (The mushroom is under the chair...go!), and topped off with the wonderful tradition of drawing a turkey from your hand outline. Then we had snack time, during which I got to talk to the two teachers about Dia de los muertos. They were really curious about it and its similarities with the Japanese holidary of Obon. Then we all played hide and seek! That school is becoming one of my favorites. The class is only 5 kids so I get to know them a lot better and better every time I go over there. Oh yeah and I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to this one boy during recess. It was like...the highlight of my life. Or at least my life since one of my elementary schools loaned me the book to read in case my lesson ended early. I have such good memories of having this book read to me when I was a child, I just love it. So that was nice.
It's kind of warm right now and I hope it stays that way. I double-bubble wrapped my bedroom windows two nights ago (bubble to bubble!), which led to a slightly more tolerable, although not overly noticeable, temperature difference that night, but seemed ineffective last night. I am going to have to keep planning my next measure on the front against the cold. Two days ago it was sooo cold at work. I didn't even feel cold in any way I could call familiar. It completely overode my skin and was just...a sharp or numb feeling around my bones.
Yeah.
I used to love winter. I have a feeling I'm going to be in for quite an experience once I find snow on my front step. Oh well! I can only become tougher!
A group of the most "masculine" (i.e. loud and disruptive) 3rd year (9th grade) boys hanging out in front of school today asked me if I had a "love girl." The follow-up question was "Have you ever...love love girl?" They were laughing so I figured it was fine to laugh at them, too. Actually, they apparently meant had I ever had a girlfriend. After school is fun.
For the past couple of classes with the first years, the English teacher has just been going around checking every person's notebook to see if they've completed all the exercises for the past...oh, four months or so, so that we can move onto the next section. So, I've gotten to do the mandatory, "Good morning. How are you? What is the date today? What is the weather like? Is anyone absent? Let's say it together," then I had no job for the remainder of class. Which is actually the situation fairly often only this time the teacher wasn't even trying to give a lesson, so I had free reign to talk to the kids and get to know them a little bit. They are actually quite fun and likeable when they're not in a real class setting. So that was nice today.
The new Dokuros album is awesome.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Uff
Oh man, I just watched 28 Weeks Later and am depressed and frightened.
Zombie movies are awesome, but I always finish them shaken up. Really though, 28 Weeks Later and 28 Days Later are like pieces of art - the cinematography, the music, the motifs; the makers just put it all together in a way that makes me feel like I am beholding art. I think that is partly what gave me this familiar feeling when I watched both of them, the sensation of watching a vivid nightmare unfold before and around me.
The scary thing about 28 Days/Weeks Later is that humans created the disease themselves through science. There are so many plausible scenarios in which humans could create a highly destructive and unstoppable disease through their own scientific means. That's what makes thinking even scarier after watching a movie like that.
I was told today that Michael Crichton died last week of cancer, which he'd had for a while. Man, that's really sad. I grew up reading his books and really can't even comprehend the world without his presence. Cancer.
Also found out a JET for my city died three years ago in a car accident coming back from the city. I am affected heavily by reminders of life's mortality. It all makes me think a lot, and really feel a bit paranoid.
Tonight I will be doing a lot of thinking and asking questions. It usually takes me a while to ride through these sort of things, but I suppose it's important to think about them. Maybe not so much, but perhaps people learn how to deal with, consider these things the more we live.
Zombie movies are awesome, but I always finish them shaken up. Really though, 28 Weeks Later and 28 Days Later are like pieces of art - the cinematography, the music, the motifs; the makers just put it all together in a way that makes me feel like I am beholding art. I think that is partly what gave me this familiar feeling when I watched both of them, the sensation of watching a vivid nightmare unfold before and around me.
The scary thing about 28 Days/Weeks Later is that humans created the disease themselves through science. There are so many plausible scenarios in which humans could create a highly destructive and unstoppable disease through their own scientific means. That's what makes thinking even scarier after watching a movie like that.
I was told today that Michael Crichton died last week of cancer, which he'd had for a while. Man, that's really sad. I grew up reading his books and really can't even comprehend the world without his presence. Cancer.
Also found out a JET for my city died three years ago in a car accident coming back from the city. I am affected heavily by reminders of life's mortality. It all makes me think a lot, and really feel a bit paranoid.
Tonight I will be doing a lot of thinking and asking questions. It usually takes me a while to ride through these sort of things, but I suppose it's important to think about them. Maybe not so much, but perhaps people learn how to deal with, consider these things the more we live.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Brushing our Teeth
There's something weird about brushing your teeth when you look at yourself doing it up close. You're moving an actually pretty big stick around your mouth with surprising force while it makes an odd scratching sound that comes echoing from your gaping maw. And white foam spews out. You can feel it. And this is supposed to make our mouths clean.
What about our minds?
What about our minds?
The Doors really get me.
I just realized the reason behind why bands have a lead singer. A person designated solely to sing, to flip out, to unleash something. I've thought about this before, but it's never hit me like now. Do bands do that sort of thing now? I want to do that.
Man
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=5zesUGSFsjk
Watching this I thought, "Man, it's time for some real music again."
Watching this I thought, "Man, it's time for some real music again."
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