Friday, March 14, 2003

March 15

I had one of those rare days in my teaching career as I got slapped on the wrist for unprofessional conduct. Strangely enough, the slap came from four high school students whom we're currently grooming for life in American universities. These guys are very keen though a bit on the hyper side. Still, they're very good nonetheless. They came to me after class tonight to good-naturedly chastise me for being too generous on them during their speech class. And you know, they were absolutely right; I have been much too easy on them. They were nice about it, but I'm taking it quite seriously so I'm not exactly too thrilled with myself right now.

Well, the past week has been light though those high school classes have still managed to tap my energy reserves. I'm looking forward to the weekend. On Sunday, I'll be heading out with two other teachers and three students to the tip of Chiba Prefecture for a little walk through the woods, a nice little excursion for a person who hardly ventures outside of the megalopolis. However, I'll have to shuck out a good 15000 to 20000 yen for the round trip tickets on the Romance Car. The Romance Car is just a moniker for an observation train car with enlarged windows and movable seats. Lucky I got paid today. Still, this will pretty much deplete the entertainment budget for the month.

Very happy that there's been a resurgence in the return of American TV programs here in Japan on regular and satellite TV. The last time we've had such an influx was back in the 50s when there wasn't enough original domestic programming to fill the airwaves in Japan's virgin industry. Now, it's just the case I've become disinterested in the tons of trendy dramas and variety shows. The West Wing is firmly esconced here along with all of the Star Trek series, plus we're getting CSI in April. However, the great experiment with Buffy didn't take, and Ally is coming to a series end this Sunday. Heck, I even caught an old episode of Gunsmoke this morning. Now, if only we could get either Alias or 24, we'll really be making progress.

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

March 12

We're definitely in a light week. First, my non-teaching Monday, followed by a shortened Tuesday session and now a 9-hour break between a morning and evening class. Not that I'm complaining too much about it. However, from my classes, I've been getting a largely negative reaction to this upcoming war in Iraq. People from my oil company class to my group of travel-loving middle-aged ladies are frankly a little concerned. Mind you, the UN actually did show a bit of gumption and managed to stave off D-Day to the 20th, at least.

Monday, March 10, 2003

March 10

One of those non-teaching teaching days. My first couple of classes were just chat fests as they usually are. And then, my final class had two of my students coming in over an hour late so that I just did an iota of instruction. Still managed to feel tired

The hay fever is still beating down on me. My nose was stuffed up so I had to apply some Tiger Balm-like medicine to my upper lip to clear my sinuses. My eyes are still looking pretty bloodshot.

I caught the trailer for the next Charlie's Angels movie. The suspension of disbelief required is probably even higher than the "lift n' separate" of the stars' bras.

Sunday, March 09, 2003

March 10

A bit of a bittersweet weekend. Found out from my ex-(?) that she'll moving out of prefecture next weekend. It's not too bad; she says that she can still reach downtown Tokyo in less than an hour but our meetings will become even more infrequent. Also, found out last night how much out of synch a person can be with other people. My good friend's friends are good people but they just don't mesh with my personality, and I think that was vice versa.

Caught the latest Bond flick yesterday. I was rather surprised that the hoary series still managed to draw the folks over in Tokyo in. It was a very serviceable movie with the usual sex-and-violence. However, I hope the next movie will have a much better theme song. Where's Shirley Bassey or Carly Simon?

Hay fever is still running rampant with my sinuses, and my eyes are as "road-mapped" as a major urban centre. One can only hope that someone decides to deforest much of Chiba Prefecture.