Mutsu

I apologize for the lack of recent posts. I've been busy moving. Additionally, the internet has not yet been set up at my new apartment. Here is a pic of the city I now call home. My place is off in the distance on the left side.



I've only been here a few days, but already life feels a tiny bit easier. No longer do I have to drive a half hour to visit friends or eat at a decent restaurant. I live within walking distance of a big grocery store, a video rental place, a home store, and kaiten sushi. Expect a new apartment tour video soon.

And here is a pic of Tanabu High School, the new place I work. I havent spent a whole lot of time there yet, but so far so good.

School Festival

This past weekend was the Ohata High School Festival. I apologize for taking so long in uploading these pics. I've been busy, etc. The festival was awesome. Each homeroom class and club put on some sort of presentation or attraction. Two classes made a food court. One made a haunted house. There was a presentation about Okinawan history, a craft sale, a PTA bazaar, a karaoke contest (where two students blew my mind with their astonishing voices), and an eating contest. Here are a bunch of pics:

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One class put up these boards with poems written by students and teachers. I had to come up with a poem in thirty minutes, and this is what I did:

I came to Japan on a big white plane.
They told me I had to rewrite my name.
Japanese was hard. Everything was new.
At first I was Chris. Now I am kurisu.
The first word I learned was sumimasen.
The next after that, wakarimasen.
I still don’t know much. My mind’s at a loss.
At least I can say:
Arigatou Gozaimasu

(sumimasen = excuse me, wakarimasen = I dont know, arigatou gozaimasu = thank you very much)

Luck

Luck. I like it. I have two things for you concerning luck.

One: How much money is in this coin jar? I hope I find some luck in this one. Japanese money includes 100 yen (about $1.00) and 500 yen coins, so this jar could be in the range of hundreds of dollars. Post comments with your guesses - the closest guess will win a prize. I don't know what kind of prize, but I'll think of something.



Two: Luck has come to me. Harry Potter Six arrived a day early, which after reading news stories about the severity of previous leaks, feels like a bigger deal than it really is. So far so good, but I won't risk the wrath of Scholastic Publishing by revealing the book's secrets.



And take a look at the box. It has a sticker and even though I can't read Japanese, it seems pretty clear that it is saying "don't deliver this until July 16." Before giving the book to me, the delivery man pointed to the sticker, shrugged, and smiled. My kinda guy.

update

I thought I'd take a moment to update you on what's going on. Summer vacation is around the corner (only lasts one month). This weekend is my school's big school festival where each class creates some sort of attraction, two that I know of are a haunted house and a display on the history of Okinawa. It will be fun, though I dislike having to work every day of what should have been a three day weekend (which will be compensated with free days in the following week). Next wednesday is my driving test to get a japanese license (terrifying).

And the week after that, I move to Mutsu where I will start my new position at Tanabu High School. Mutsu is the small city a half hour away from where I currently live. There is much more to do there than Ohata, so I am excited. I am also excited because the new school is for advanced, college bound students, and I will only teach classes for students who chose the specialized English course. I have already talked to a few of them, and some of their English is astounding. But, it will be sad to leave Ohata, where I do get along so well with the students and other teachers. Luckily, it looks like I might be able to make weekly visits to Ohata.

I think I'll stop there. Here is a pic of some of the fun I missed while my family was in the bahamas.

Nerd Report

Here are a few more shots of my alternate life in the World of Warcraft. But be happy to know, I haven't yet become as addicted as I had feared. I have not played every single day since I bought it, and I think my longest playing session has been two hours, with an average of about 45 minutes per session. Not bad compared with previous game addictions.

OK, so now my warlock is level 13. Below is me and my summoned Voidwalker:



Now for some scenic views. Here is me flying out of Stormwind:



Here are two pics of me riding the Deepwater Tram (I think that is the name...):





And also I have started playing as an undead warrior as well. Here he is:



And finally, here is the imp I mentioned earlier:

Chris is Jealous

As I write this, I am sitting at my desk at work with nothing to do. Meanwhile, the rest of my family is living it up on Harbour Island in Exuma, Bahamas. My mom is from the Bahamas and I have family still living there, which gives us a good excuse to visit every few years. The last few trips have all involved going on my uncle's boat and renting a house on a remote out-island. We boat, we fish, we swim, we explore and have a general all around good time. This year I can't go. Too expensive and I can't miss nearly that many class days (Japanese schools only get a month off in the summer).

So, here are a few pics I found on the web of what I am missing.





I also found out from a website I discovered from a friend's blog which science fiction writer I most closely resemble:

I am: Olaf Stapledon Standing outside the science fiction "field", he wrote fictional explorations of the futures of whole species and galaxies.

Intriguing, no?

World of Warcraft Update: My warlock is now level 10 and he has a cool little imp that follows him around and shoots firebolts.

Uh Oh...

Well, I may have committed social suicide. I've gone and started playing World of Warcraft. Here is my first character, a warlock named Drabo.