It's Monday, June 17 - a day I taught at Ohtawara Chu Gakko (Ohtawara Junior High School) in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken in Japan (Ohtawara City in Tochigi Prefecture) - and stuff begins to happen. Yesterday, I began plans to sleep with my ex-girlfriend Ashley again.
Today? Well, it's another day, right?
It's a hot day - kind of sticky. School is boring so I teach some of the teachers (and students) a few naughty words in English - uh, just the guys, of course. The women are too demure. There are several university students/would-be teachers at school - observing classes (and me). A really good-looking lady, with an almost bronze complexion keeps trying to talk to me all the time. Her name is Junko (no idea what her family name is!). She's about 21, 5'-4" and slender, but has curves in all the right places. And, more importantly, she's paying attention to me plus her English is superb!
Regular readers may have noticed that I often don't appear to be trying very hard to get laid. It's true, because here in Disneyland, I mean Japan, I have found that the women will hit on me. I think it's because I'm taller than the average Japanese man by about four inches, am decent enough-looking (I've never thought I was good looking), have longish, but neatly styled hair, am Western (always popular with the Japanese ladies), but don't look like your typical American or Canadian - I'm a bit of a rarity... exotic to the Japanese if you will. While it's true I almost always have a smile on my face, I can't say that my sense of humour or personality stands out (actually my two best features after my butt) because with the language barrier, few Japanese truly get to see what I'm really like. But Junko's English seems to be good enough to almost pass as a native Canadian speaker. It's probably why I was able to relax and just be my usual shy self around her.
Junko is forever talking to me about my relationship status (very single - as is she), about how much she wants to live in Canada, or find a boyfriend (and when she said that, I swear she looked me straight in the eyes, squeezed my thigh, and batted her eyelashes at me).
I'm not stupid. I wrote out my home phone number and address on my business card and told her to come over to my apartment later this evening after 9:30PM.
Why so late? Did I have to clean my place?
Nope... I had a night school English conversation class I had to teach.
That class is okay.... people now know how to make real conversational introductions. Sort of.
"Mayonnaise is Narita-san".
... mayonnaise is how many beginner Japanese pronounce the phrase: 'my name is'. It's cute, actually. I can only get them to try and repeat the proper pronunciation after I say it, but we are talking years of actually saying it incorrectly. My favourite mispronunciation is the name Catherine (Komlodi), who's forever known in my mind as "Gasoreen", which is a lot like Gasoline...which is perfect, because she has the octane to make me go-go-go!
I get paid Y12,500 for the evening = $125. Yahoo!
I race home, pull out a bottle of wine, then put it away knowing I won't need it.
Ten minutes after arriving home, there is a gentle rapping on my apartment door. It's 9:31PM. Exactly. A very shy Junko walks in, takes off her shoes and looks about for my apartment slippers (for guests).
She asks where they are. I say she won't need it, and move in for a long kiss and am not rebuffed.
The next morning after she left my apartment, it appears as though I was correct. We did not need the wine, and Junko did not need the apartment slippers.
Somewhere needing to buy orange juice,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog title is crooned by Morrissey & Siouxsie: SHHHH
PS - Another article will be published eight hours from this - this is from the Wall Street Journal and is about the Honda car factory in Tochigi-ken. It is presented in its entirety though, I have added my own notes and comments as a forward and backward to the article.
Today? Well, it's another day, right?
It's a hot day - kind of sticky. School is boring so I teach some of the teachers (and students) a few naughty words in English - uh, just the guys, of course. The women are too demure. There are several university students/would-be teachers at school - observing classes (and me). A really good-looking lady, with an almost bronze complexion keeps trying to talk to me all the time. Her name is Junko (no idea what her family name is!). She's about 21, 5'-4" and slender, but has curves in all the right places. And, more importantly, she's paying attention to me plus her English is superb!
Regular readers may have noticed that I often don't appear to be trying very hard to get laid. It's true, because here in Disneyland, I mean Japan, I have found that the women will hit on me. I think it's because I'm taller than the average Japanese man by about four inches, am decent enough-looking (I've never thought I was good looking), have longish, but neatly styled hair, am Western (always popular with the Japanese ladies), but don't look like your typical American or Canadian - I'm a bit of a rarity... exotic to the Japanese if you will. While it's true I almost always have a smile on my face, I can't say that my sense of humour or personality stands out (actually my two best features after my butt) because with the language barrier, few Japanese truly get to see what I'm really like. But Junko's English seems to be good enough to almost pass as a native Canadian speaker. It's probably why I was able to relax and just be my usual shy self around her.
Junko is forever talking to me about my relationship status (very single - as is she), about how much she wants to live in Canada, or find a boyfriend (and when she said that, I swear she looked me straight in the eyes, squeezed my thigh, and batted her eyelashes at me).
I'm not stupid. I wrote out my home phone number and address on my business card and told her to come over to my apartment later this evening after 9:30PM.
Why so late? Did I have to clean my place?
Nope... I had a night school English conversation class I had to teach.
That class is okay.... people now know how to make real conversational introductions. Sort of.
"Mayonnaise is Narita-san".
... mayonnaise is how many beginner Japanese pronounce the phrase: 'my name is'. It's cute, actually. I can only get them to try and repeat the proper pronunciation after I say it, but we are talking years of actually saying it incorrectly. My favourite mispronunciation is the name Catherine (Komlodi), who's forever known in my mind as "Gasoreen", which is a lot like Gasoline...which is perfect, because she has the octane to make me go-go-go!
I get paid Y12,500 for the evening = $125. Yahoo!
I race home, pull out a bottle of wine, then put it away knowing I won't need it.
Ten minutes after arriving home, there is a gentle rapping on my apartment door. It's 9:31PM. Exactly. A very shy Junko walks in, takes off her shoes and looks about for my apartment slippers (for guests).
She asks where they are. I say she won't need it, and move in for a long kiss and am not rebuffed.
The next morning after she left my apartment, it appears as though I was correct. We did not need the wine, and Junko did not need the apartment slippers.
Somewhere needing to buy orange juice,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog title is crooned by Morrissey & Siouxsie: SHHHH
PS - Another article will be published eight hours from this - this is from the Wall Street Journal and is about the Honda car factory in Tochigi-ken. It is presented in its entirety though, I have added my own notes and comments as a forward and backward to the article.
