August 5, 2004

• CAR TROUBLE: so in my quest to change ownership of the car to my name, get mandatory insurance, get additional insurance, and get inspection, i think that it will be about $2,200 in all for the price of the car and the insurance and inspection cost.  half of that is the inspection cost.  balls! but that doesnt sound unreasonable for even the price of the car in general altho it turns out to be 13 years old.  what s the old kelly blue book say about that?  the other trouble is that in order to change ownership, we need the former owner`s, emily`s, seal.  luckily she left it with the school. unfortunately, there is also a small green card that officiates the seal that is also needed.  that thing, no one seems to have and emily is off in thailand for a holiday on her way home.  bugger!

  
  

  HANKO SEAL: this is a very strange thing.  its a little bamboo(?) stamp that is usually kanji if you have a japanese or chinese name.  it is used instead of a signature and is needed for all important stuff like bank account and things.  kind of weird considering its a thing and not a handwritten signature.  but, it is illegal for anyone else to use it.  mine is in katakana and says (ji-o-ru-daa-no).  i realized later that the key chain to the apt was meant for it.  it has a little pouch that fits the stamp and a little ink pad attached too.  i thought the ink pad was a pill box or something and was haphazardly trying to open it with my teeth on day. thank god i did not succeed.  so even when you do carbon copies, you have to go back and put the seal on all the papers.  so everywhere you go there are inkpads and little squishy pads so that the stamp goes on well.  weird.  and it seems ok that we are going to use emilys stamp for her.  aki says "they know me and they know you, and they understand the situation"  good to know.  he also said that since they know where i live and what im doing with the JET program, i will probably be able to get credit or run a tab with the car garage when i owe them 1000+ bux.  good because i dont have that now. 

  
  

  FIRST CLASS:  so i arrived at 10 or a few minutes after since i had to run to the market before for an emergency.  class wasnt supposed to start til 1040, but they were waiting for me when i arrived.  the schedule had changed and class started at 10.  great.  and thanks for calling.  i hear that schedules change a lot. 

  
  

  anyway, the class was not too bad.  not great either.  junior high students who are starting their last year in junior high apparently go to many high schools to choose the one they want.  this is according to nobuko KITAHARAs rough explanation.  they do a kind of mock day at a bunch of schools and choose this way even tho some are far from home.  sucks.    one girl slept the whole time. some were interested.  the old T-zone in class and i dont mean the one on your face.  those students who chose to sit in the front and middle were pretty good.  i asked them all their names.  i heard and understood zero.  i introduced myself with this gem of an essay:

  
  

  Hello, my name is Joanna Giordano.  I am from the United States.  My state is called New Jersey.  It touches New York City.  (anyone been to nyc?)  I have been there many times and i came to Japan from an airport in NYC.  My birthday is april 15th.  this is a special day in the united states when taxes are due.  but it is not a holiday. (joke lost) I have 3 cats at home as pets.  In my spare time I like to watch movies and spend time with my friends.  when i cannot see my friends, i like to email them often. Recently, i attended a concert by the music band Maroon 5. (do you know this band?... nada even tho i heard them on the radio here) Before I left the united states, i saw the movies i, robot and spiderman 2. (have you seen spiderman 2?...they seemed to get that, but still no repsonse) 

  
  

  then i was kind of unprepared. kitahara said to have some games or something, but i was still flustered from jumping right into class.  and i thought she would ve had something.  like a damn thing.  no.  all me.  ok.  so i went around to most, not all of them this time and asked what they did yesterday. tough.  then i asked if they had any pets, and if they liked cats of dogs better.  really a grave yard.  then i asked most, not all when their birthday was.  this was tough.  but i had them get up and stand in order.  ask each other when their birthdays are, answer...sort of.  get in a line.  put my self in, ask me.  it went ok.  i tried to think of what ishida and watanabe senseis had done to us at dartmouth.  plus they are just doing  a mock class.  so its a shame if that was some kind of deciding factor for them.  and i thanked them of course for being my first class.  woot.

  
  

  CEREMONY: today the new ppl are going to tokushima city to have some ceremony for something.  come to think of it, it might be a contract signing so that we are really in.  since i dont think i did that yet.  i did a lot things thru the mail, but someone said they made a big deal of the signing.  o great.

  
  

  SCOOTING OLD LADIES: its really cute to see old ladies on bikes, but old ladies on scooters is better!.  and there seems to be no rule about riding with traffic for bikes, but i try to for the most part.  i mean its just safer.  but when you are on a narrow road with a rice paddy or a ditch next to you and cars whizzing by a few feet on the side of you, its tough not to panic when another bike is coming the other way on your side of the road.  im also torn by the lack of jaywalking.  and as a teacher apparently i have a bit of an example to set.  ill try to keep it to a minimum i guess.  im still afraid to go any faster than a slight breeze on the bike and i dont want to change gears either for fear that the chain will fall off.  the basket is cute tho.  and handy!  i dont have a lot of pants tho so im debating whether to ride with a skirt on.  the school girls do it.  hmmm....

  
  

  INSIDE SHOES: and another thing.  these indoor slippers that they give at the front of the school are the most uncomfortable things.  they are tough rubber and they must be unsanitary i swear.  well it might be that not a lot of ppl wear flip flops as much as i do or want to.  its too damn hot for sox.  but i brought some to keep in my drawer for when the shoes cut a hole in my foot.  but today i think i might go on a quest for my own indoor slippers.  maybe some adidas soccer sandals.  why i didnt bring mine, is really a mystery.  i had some.  and i had room.  i just went crazy. 

  
  

  GAIJIN CARD: got it finally.  only took about 10 days.  now i can be a real person here in Itano.  i can get a bank account.  altho i didnt want to put nobuko thru that.  ill do it next week with aki probably. 

  
  

  post-CEREMONY: some ppl came 3 hrs to come to tokushima city for this thing.  it turned out to be a bust.  i signed something, some head of something a speech in english, one of the ALTs, eric said a speech to him from the rest of us.  how he got that job i dont know.  then they gave us a paper.  i think its just official now with salary and something.  jeez.  at least i only had to go 30 mins.  and cramps all the way.  hope i didnt seem uninterested. 

  • 10:16 pm
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