First Classes

First, I'd like to apologize to all of you who have been eagerly awaiting my next post.
I'd also like to apologize to anyone who is reading this post...'cause it's going to be a short one.

Since I last wrote, in 4 school days I've had 12 self-introduction lessons. That may not sound like a lot, but when you're repeating the same facts about Oregon over and over again...and showing the same drawings over and over again...it starts to wear on you. Trust me. And these are 50-minute periods we're talking.

For the most part, the classes have been good. I've had a few groups that really got into the lesson...asked lots of questions, played along with my silly games. And then there are the groups who just couldn't care less. I've had classes where I literally stopped talking for close to a minute...and nobody took note; half the class was asleep, and the other half was throwing erasers, yelling at their friends across the room. And the funny thing is...it's completely normal. The teachers of those classes really can't do anything to stop 'em when they get like that. For a lot of kids at this school...English is a totally abstract subject. Most of these kids will be going on to careers in Japan where they never once have to use English. But...the schools are required to teach it, so the kids have to go to class. They don't have to listen...or stay awake...but they have to be there.

Everything else is going fairly well. We get Internet installed in our house next Tuesday. The shower's still not working right. It gets really hot or really cold, but nothing in between. I can't tell you how many times I've frozen my head, then burned my ass all within a 20-second time span. We've had people come to the house on 3 separate occasions to look at it and try to figure it out. But every time, we're met with the same, bewildered expression. "We don't know what's wrong." Followed by "Someone from the water company (or the gas company)" will have to come look at it in a few days." Now we're waiting for the gas company to come back on Thursday...to try something different. Hopefully this time it works.

We found a few places that sell foreign goods. We got some tortilla chips, guoc chips, peanutbutter, and tomato soup...all at fairly reasonable prices! Tonight, we made nachos...yummy! Oh yeah...we also finally changed the cover on our blanket. It was a little spendy, but...totally worth it. We were so excited to come home and put it on...but it smelled like fish. So, we had to wash it and let it hang dry over night before we could use it. Again...totally worth it. I slept like a baby last night.

In other news, I'm just about to finish "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, so if anyone is interested in my views on it...let me know. I won't bore the rest of you. I also added another movie to our growing DVD collection...Deuce Bigelow, Male Gigolo. That's right...I'm going high class. Aaaaaaand, I just finished downloading this week's episode of "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me. The NPR News Quiz." I'll definitely be listening to that as I lay in bed tonight. It's good to have that kind of connection to the English-speaking world. It gives me some comic relief, along with all the news I could possibly need from the week.

And how could I possibly forget?! We bought a rice-cooker tonight! It's official...we're Japanese! But not quite...we got the $30 one instead of one of the $500+ models. I mentioned the price of rice-cookers to one of my coworkers the other day (who studied in Seattle for two years) and he said that the rice-cookers we use in America...they were using here 30 years ago. That's why they're so much cheaper over there. We thought about buying a more expensive one...in the range of $50-$60, but even at that...we wouldn't be able to read the buttons or the instruction manual, so...what's the point? Even if it could cook us a 7-course meal...we'd still just be cooking rice.

Chances are I'll be in Oita tomorrow, so I'll um...maybe post some pictures or something. But, until then...have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.