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October 31, 2005

Halloween Test in Loralei with 2 Men

日本語バージョンは下にあります。

This past Saturday, I went to the local JET Halloween Party. It was sparsely attended because a bunch of wimps called in sick or were doing more "exciting" things. People dressed as power rangers, the maid in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Laura Croft, "myself", high schoolers, Cabaret, and otaku. I wore my panda suit. Actually, I wore my panda suit for three days in a row. My panda suit is great. It's the closest thing to the real experience of being a stuffed animal that us lowly human beings can experience. Activities included karaoke (including a stunning rendition of Cabaret by a Cabaret character), "trick or treating" into brown envelopes, eating, drinking, and some semi-retarded attempts at drinking games. I did find out some great black mail info on some attendees through a game of "I never ever", including who had had sex in their parents bed. (Shivers)

This last Sunday I took a practice JLPT 1 test and got a passing score. It relieves me to know that I have actually have a chance of passing this test. So I don't have to keep on branding grammer patterns onto my forehead while hanging upside down over a bed of upturned nails. What a relief! I still have to study though.

Last night watched a Japanese WW2 submarine movie called "Lorelei". It is an avert armeggedon kind of movie. It's a war movie. There is also a witch who is a human radar. And now I know the Japanese words for submarine and destroyer. (潜水艦sensuikan and 駆逐艦kuchikukan if you were curious)

Today at work, we showed some English teachers a picture of me with a male co-worker. We asked them, "What objects are in this picture?" One teacher responded with, "Two men." Ha ha ha.

先週末の土曜日に、地元のJET会のハローウィンパーティを参加しました。あまりにドタキャンが多い過ぎてたので、出席者が少なかったです。パワーレンジャーやメイドさんやローラクロフトや“わたし”や高校生(多かったね)やキャバレーやお宅のコスチュームが現れていました。わたしはパンダスーツでした。パンダスーツに入るとまるで「自分はぬいぐるみだ!」て言う気持ちになります。

パーティでは次の行為を行いました:カラオケ、茶色封筒に"trick or treat"でお菓子を集まったり、飲んだり、食べたり…数を使った酒飲みゲーム(英語ではdrinking gamesと呼びますが、日本語では何でしょう?)も試してみたがやっぱり私たちに取って難しすぎたです。これで英語の先生ですかよ?

土曜日は能力試験1級の模擬試験を受けました。合格できました。(八十パーセントをとりました。)ちょっとホッとしました。でも文字語彙の部分では珍しく知ってる漢字がありまして、本番試験の文字語彙部分はそう甘くないと思います。やっぱりこれから勉強をしなければなりません。(特に文法を中心に)

昨夜「ローレライ」という第二次戦争の潜水艦の映画を見ました。日本に向いてるハルマゲドンを防ぐ潜水艦についてです。魔女も出てきます。駆逐艦も出てきます。まあまあ面白い映画でしたし、新しい単語も覚えました。(潜水艦、駆逐艦、特攻等)

今日教育センターでわたしと同僚の写真を研修員に見せて、「この写真には何が入ってますか?」と聞いたら「男の人二人」と誰かが答えました。同僚は男の人なんですけど…あの時のわたしの髪の毛はあまりに短すぎて、女の人とは認められていなかったかもしりません。

Posted by Emarrific at 02:17 PM | Comments (6)

October 23, 2005

Kanagawa Sports Day AVI Videos

Here are a few videos I took at Kanagawa Sports Day. These are large AVI files... so I highly suggest you right click and save it to your computer first instead of trying to watch it off of my site, as the speed will be incredibly slow!

Saitama Ganbare!
It's Kanagawa Time!
Ping Pong Relay Pass Off
Gratuitous Cuteness: Little Boy Playing Ball with his Da-da in Yoyogi Park

Enjoy. :D

Posted by Emarrific at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

Kanagawa Sports Day

Kanagawa Sports Day

I just put up pictures of Kanagawa Sports Day. I took lots of crappy pictures and action shots. Hope you enjoy them. I won't even pretend that I will ever write any sort or description of the events. I didn't participate, anyways. I spent most of sports day on the sidelines, thinking fondly of my wonderful down pillow at home while quitely but bravely suffering through a cold. :D

Posted by Emarrific at 01:19 AM | Comments (3)

October 02, 2005

Tou no Take Hike

View of Fuji

This weekend, I went for a hike to Tou no Take 塔の岳 (a part of Mt. Tanzawa) in the East Tanzawa area with a couple of ALT friends. The hike was about 8 or so hours, including rests and someone's knee acting up. The trail was really well maintained, so it was less treacherous than other hikes I've done in the area. However, it was also more eroded than the other Tanzawa hikes, even the Ooyama trail. Also, the landscape was more craggy and dry. I guess in my mind, misty/moist = mysterious and beautfiul.

Therefore, I wasn't as trigger happy as during the misty Hinoki Bora Maru hike of the week before.

However, there was a simply breath taking view of Fuji at the top. I think that's why it is considered one of the 100 "famous mountains" of Japan (a list which includes Mt. Fuji). I don't think my pictures can really accurately convey how beautiful the view was, although my imperfect panoramic picture might give you a little of an idea. I hope you enjoy them.

Next week: Oze. Send me good weather.

Posted by Emarrific at 07:05 PM | Comments (2)