(wrote this after i left the fabulous 5 star hotel and decided to blob obsessively).
second day of the conference i decided that was not going to waste time at the sessions that really were repeating information. looking back i'm glad i didn't go to the female JET one because that was repeat information. but the independent study of japanese one seems much more useful now. oh well i should be able to find that info again easily. but the day went as such breakfast a little later than usual, around 8:15. i spent the time before that interneting and just getting ready. the first two sessions were on teaching in a high school. apparently everyone else's was crap, but mine was really useful. great info and fun games including the creation of an entertaining story based on a picture of a hiker near bushes and an angry snake (find story below). lunch was next wear we had pasta and i talked to a nice guy from the u.k. about the basics (where are you going, why are you doing JET, ect). i then escaped to mine room put on a cooler dress and ran in to my roommate, jan. i asked if she'd go with me to a bank or the post office to exchange travelers checks. we grabbed kathleen (who is from salem, sprague high) and headed out--skipping the first session. took a while but we found a bank with a good rate and kathleen and i exchanged our checks. jan ended up going back before us so as not to be late. i realize quite quickly that these are not the kind of girls that i fit in with. too much clothing, boy and inane talk, at least from kathleen. she seems very young, although she's also twenty-two. and ironically kept going on about how she looked so old and it was emabarassing. we walked back and got a little lost, but i successfully asked for directions. i then went to the hiroshima-ken meeting and got some info about the next days travel and the following orientation in hiroshima. i planned on going out to wonder during the next session but decided to get packed and take a nap. the absolute exhaustion at this point was just amazing. my lord. so a nap was great but i had a hard time getting up and then went to the session on volunteering and making friends. some good info, but most of it was on the handout. and then there was a quikie japanese lesson. the only interesting part was trying to figure out if the session leader was flirting with me or just pity flirting. he was pretty classically handsome, but with the australian accent (?) he got a couple extra brownie points. but yeah...JET definitely feels like a dating service at certain points. this was followed by running up to get my pre-packed bag and then waiting for a half hour for the doors to open so i could actually check. having to check your only bag the night before a flight is very inconvenient. so in a little bit of desperation for human contact that i already knew (to some extent) i knocked on kate's (who's also in hiroshima-ken) and ivy's (who is just north of hiroshima) door. they were in, i waited for them to pack we checked their bags and headed out. first was a search for food, which was actually an escapade in wondering tokyo (shinjuku) and taking pictures during a sunset and finally finding a crepe shop. after our sweet tooth was satisfied we went on to find real food. of course right next to the crepes was a really cheap noodle shop but we decided to look first. we could never find that place again and kept going in circles but eventually found a 24hr restaurant and ivy and i had soba, kate had tempura udon. we then figured it would take an hour to find the hotel after all our circles but actually found it in 10 min. right across from the hotel was the tallest free view of tokyo so of course we had to go. after many crappy pictures that could not capture the amazing expanse, and an exploration of the omiyage, we sat for a bit. i deleted pics form my camera, ivy and kate people watched, then ivy and i headed back. jan was already home and ex had to some over to drop stuff off. i took a shower after he left and then interneted again, organized then went to sleep. long day, but actually got to bed pretty early and definitely feeling pretty good.
activity for mid level japanese english students:
Patrick likes to go hiking.
He's been hiking many times and has never gotten hurt.
But one day, while crossing the freeway he heard a rustling behind him in the shrubs.
"what could that be?" asked Patrick. A snake emerged and cried,
"It is I, Vern the vindictive snake!"
"What and interesting name. Why are you so vindictive?"
"In my travels as a snake I have been injured by thoughtless hikers with big feet, like you. hisss..."
"Where were you hurt dear Vern?"
"My neck hurts. hisss..."
"We should call a doctor. Do you have a cell phone?"
"No, I swallowed it. Do you?"
"Yes. I just got a new plan and I have a doctor's number programed in."
"Great! Thanks. What is your name?"
"Patrick Dempsy."
"Thanks Patrick."
The doctor arrived and healed Vern's neck.
Patrick and Vern became great friends.
THE END
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