Word verification on comments

Hello All,

I've been getting "blog spam" a lot lately. Seems some crafty and evil internet types have figured out how to leave random ads and links disguised as comments on blogs. So Blogger has a system, where if you want to leave a comment, you have to type in a list of letters and/or numbers to verify that you're a real human leaving the comment. Just one extra step.

So PLEASE still leave comments if you're so inclined - I love reading them. But if you leave them anonymously, please sign with your name or initials so I know who left the comment.

More pics and updates soon.

C ya,
Jason

Trivia - Wednesday, Oct. 5th

Which actor's resume includes stints as a coffin polisher, a milkman, and a nude model for artists?

A. Ewan MacGregor
B. Sean Connery
C. Robert Wagner
D. Harrison Ford

Yesterday's Answer (highlight line below):
James Doohan, who played chief engineer Scotty

Double Peace

Double Peace
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Double peace beats single peace anyday! :)

Some more random recent photos here and below.

Yuki over on the right is practicing for a speech contest with me right now. She's like the funniest person normally, but when she tries to speak English she gets all shy. But she'll get over that and do just fine. Her mom is a elementary teacher at one of my shogakko - cool mom, cool kid. :)

This pic was snapped during gym class - i wander about sometimes when I don't have an English class and wave at the kids or just watch. This day the kids were running laps around the school, so some time waiting for their turn - a perfect opportunity to snap some pics, except that as soon as they see the camera they go into instant pose mode - whipping out the peace sign. I can't resist apparently - why fight it?

Great thing happened today - i was out snapping pics of the "greeter girls" - student officers who stand in front of the large genkan (school entrance where they take off their outdoor shoes) in the morning and greet all the other arriving studetns with a cheery "Ohayo Gozaimasu!" (good morning) - and I noticed that some other students were also out (despite the drizzling rain) collecting money for Tsunami relief fund. I donated 1000yen (the only money I had on me at the time), but then I noticed that one kid came up with a small bag full of 1 yen coins (the equivalent of a bag of pennies). Eureka! I've been dying to find a constructive way to unload myself of the hundreds of 1 yen coins I've accumulated over my first year here. Tomorrow, they are getting some more money from me - a not-so-small bag of 1 yen coins! :)

paper airplanes

paper airplanes
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Do you remember when you got to make paper airplanes in class and it was an educational activity!? :)

Last year I introduced a game where the kids write their name and something they like (ie - "My name is Jason. I like pizza.") on a sheet of paper and then we folded it into a paper airplane and launched them all at once. Every kid picked a new one up and then one at a time they introduced their classmates: "This is Jason. He likes Pizza." Went over really well.

So this 3rd grade teacher morphed my idea and had the kids draw vegetables (the day's vocab topic) on their paper, fold and launch them as paper airplanes, and then they had to come up to me and I'd ask, "What do you want?" and they'd look at their paper and say "I like carrot." (The Japanese almost never pluralize nouns - it's a tough thing to get them used to)

Went over pretty well. Of course there were some vegetables they drew that I couldn't recognize and/or I had no idea how to translate the name of a few - still don't know the Japanese word for eggplant.
And you say "Oh, that's an eggplant" to a kid and he looks at you like you're crazy - It's not an "egg" it's a vegetable you silly person.

roku nen sei girls at Taisha Sho

roku nen sei girls at Taisha Sho
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Some of the 6th grade girls at my closest elementary school. Nagami sensei is kinda visible in the back - acting the clown as always - he's one of my favorite teachers - a great guy, a good teacher and he always tries to speak to me in English, and his English is really good.

Always a pleasure to teach the two 6th grade classes at Taisha Sho.

-J

roku nen sei boys at Taisha Sho

roku nen sei boys at Taisha Sho
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Whenever I describe my elem students as "Supaa Genki" - the Japanese teachers laugh. "Supaa" (super) is a common adjective here and genki means high-spirited and lively. A very apt desciption of most of my shogakko kids.

These kids should enjoy life while they can, cuz come next April they'll all be entering the soul-crushing machine known as Junior High. :P

-J

san nen sei at Taisha Sho

san nen sei at Taisha Sho
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Simply too cute!

3rd grader at my closest elementary school.

-JCH

Trivia - Tuesday, Oct. 4th

Which Star Trek actor lost a finger while fighting on D-day for the Royal Canadian Artillery?

Yesterday's Answer (highlight line below):
Azrael

Trivia - Monday, Oct. 3rd

What was the name of Gargamel's cat on The Smurfs?

Weekend's Answer (highlight line below):
C. Polyester

Trivia - Sat & Sun, Oct. 1st & 2nd

Which John Waters film came with an "Odorama" scratch-and-sniff card that was distributed to the audience?

A. Pink Flamingos
B. Hairspray
C. Polyester
D. Mondo Trasho

Friday's Answer (highlight line below):
False. His real name is Arnold George Dorsey.