MERRY NON-DENOMINATIONAL WINTER HOLIDAY!!!
(or Merry Christmas)

Well, my first xmas away from home was quite an adventure! I finally got to experience a VERY VERY VERY white Christmas. We had originally planned to go to Nagano prefecture for a few days of skiing. However, our plans were quickly quashed by the biggest snowfall Japan has seen in 60 years. All the expressways shut down and the roads that were open were so jammed with traffic that it was impossible to get anywhere. Considering that on a good day, using the expressways it takes about 6 hours to get to Nagano we started to rethink our original plans. Finally, at the last minute (12pm on the night we were supposed to be leaving) we decided to toss our reservation money down the squatter and head to a closer (and hopefully less snowed in) ski destination, Gifu prefecture.

Thanks to Luciano's new navi, we managed to make it without having to take the expressway. Soon after crossing into Gifu prefecture we realized that the news wasn't exagerating the "biggest snow fall in 60 years claim" ....take a look at the pictures and see what you think.

J

Thank you Navi!!

snowy but so far things don't look too bad....

snow, snow, snow

snow....

white Christmas indeed

No worries, the first floor was overrated anyway...

How high can it pile up before it all falls down??

Clearly some people hadn't jumped on the "let's enjoy shovelling the 12 feet of snow off our roof" bandwagon.

There's a house under there....I'm not shitting you.

From the time we got up in the morning until the time we went to bed at night, people were digging themselves out, from the roof on down.

How these people got out of their house is beyond me...for all I know they're still in there surviving off their stores of dried squid and pickled radish.

One man Brazillian band ??

In addition to letting Luciano get more in touch with childish side, his birthday has also given his eccentric side a boost. Hooray! I love eccentric! Yesterday Luciano bought a trumpet. He has no idea how to play the trumpet, can't read music and has never attempted to play anything other than the "pandero" which is what can best be described as a samba tamborine. Anyway, he has decided that he wants to become a one man Brazillian band. Next on his shopping list is a saxophone. Today he emailed me from the banks of the Suzuka river where he was busy "practicing"

Horray!

Let's making a band


On another note....

Today was my junior high school's marathon and in the true fashion of Japanese backwardsness they decided that althought it was below zero and snowing, the kids were only allowed to wear shorts and t-shirts....but they could wear gloves. What the fuck, it's fucking SNOWING! Not only that, but after they are made to run 4.5 kilos in the snow they then get to take refuge in their classroms which due to the total lack of heating in Japanese buildings are just as cold as outside. What a smart idea you Japanese geniuses. Get 'em good and sick just before xmas. Sometimes I can do nothing but shake my head. It's ridiculous.

This country.....ugh.

30 going on ....

Last week was Luciano's 30th birthday. Now, he appears to be going through some kind of regression. Not to worry though, I think it's merely a harmless regression to boyhood.

Let's look at the evidence.

1) Mangled milk carton.
You remember when you were a little kid and you always managed to open the milk carton on the wrong side, subsequently turning it into a mass of mangled, dirty fingerprinted cardboard? Welcome to my milk. Upon showing to Luciano and jockingly asking "what's this?" he replied "oh honey it's no working!!! Stupid nihon milk!" To which I pointed out "Uhh, see this arrow? That's where you open the milk" To which he replied with a boyish giggle and a hug. How cute.

2)It's not food
Two days ago I found him nibbling (not eating but nibbling like you would on fingernails) on silica gel (which he found on the floor fo my apartment)...yes that's the "do not eat" packet in a shoe box.
"Uh honey...don't eat that.."
"oops, ok"

How old did I say he was... 30?

Hey, if the only immaturity I have deal with is mangled milk carton and my boyfriend eating poisonous shoe preservative, I'm a lucky lady indeed!

Cheers
J

ok I will step away from politics for the moment. From the lack of comments on my two recent posts I am led to believe that political commentary is not a popular subject on my blog...so, I will take a break by giving you a brief glimpse inside "Joe's English Mailbox"

I have a mailbox at school in the staffroom which students can use to write me letters in English. I have about 6 students (all girls of course) who write to me on a regular basis. I would love to think they are doing it out of pure joy and enthusiasm for English but I think it has more to do with all the stickers and goodies I put in their replies. Anyway, I got quite a gem today from Shiori Odo a grade three (15 year old) student. I have decided to copy it in full, word for word, so you can get a good taste of "Japanese English" at it's finest.

On the front of the letter in big, pink, teenaged girl bubble letters is written:

This is panties letter!

and inside....

Hi, Joe
Thank you for your letter.
Please a letter me as soon as possible.
I don't have a boyfriend. It's American joke!!
What to do last week? I play softball in Choyo this club.
But, I want to take a nap.
My class (3-1) is so dusty. Oh no!!
I've started jogging from September.
I'll graduate this year. I'm lonely...
Joe etc...not meet! I'm worry.
My boyfriend is really a heartbreaker.
A!! I was cut hair very short.
Joe! I'm worry expectation prove!
English test "5" This test was difficult.
I see...I don't like English. Repulsion!
But Joe teach English is enjoying. Especially English game.
This letter is awful long. I hope to long letter soon. Goodbye!!

LETTER IS GETTING VERY HAPPY!!
BY SHIORI

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen...teenaged angst, insecurity, love and heartbreak all in badly written English. I love it.

Cheers
J

How dare he!!!

Ok, more politics. Sorry but there is just so much infuriating shit going on I can't help myself. Today Stephen Harper had the gaul to refer to the Canadian Chart of rights and freedoms as a backing for his health care platform. In a recent court case the supreme court of Canada ruled that making Canadians wait for their health care goes against the Canadian Charter of human rights. Today Mr. Harper, in referencing said case, stated that the health care crisis in Canada "has now become an issue of basic human rights" and is using his health care reforms to trumpet himself as some kind of Captain crusader for Canadians' "basic human rights." How dare he even mention the Charter of Human rights when he has blatently stated that he is prepared to use the notwithstanding clause to overturn a Supreme Court of Canada decision concerning just that. As I mentioned before, the Supreme court of Canada ruled that it is IN VIOLATION OF THE CHARTER OF CANADIAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. Something Mr. Harper seems to have no problem not only ignoring but taking one step further and OVERTURNING! What the fuck. This man is such a hipocrit. You can't be choosy about human rights. Oh, it's against Olga's human rights to have to wait 12 months for a new hip but it isn't against John and Bob's rights to have to wait until their dead to legally be recognized as a couple. Sick, I'm sick over the thought of this man in power.

Sorry but at this rate the adventures of this Rice Paddie Princess are gonna get a helluva lot more heated.

Next post..."strategic voting and why it's a crock of shit used by people who are too afraid to stand up for their rights and beliefs."

out of the ordinary...

I usually don't talk politics on my blog but at this very moment I am sitting in my apartment a million miles away from Canada watching the CBC National and I'm so disgusted by the political posturing, mudslinging and lies being endlessly spat out by the polititians in my home country that I can't help but vent. To all of those reading who aren't Canadian, I apologize. For those of you who are Canadian, I beg of you to research your candidates and do not take your right to vote for granted. Do your research, make an informed decision and above all VOTE, please please please vote. January 23rd is V-Day, please make it worth while. As young people we hold the keys to how our country will unfold in the next decade and the next century. Decisions we make today will influence how our country is shaped in the future. This is not something to be taken lightly.

Depending on how you vote, we could possibly be entering a time that will see the things on which we, as Canadians, pride ourselves pushed into the back of the closet with the hopes (of our politians that is) that they will fade enough from the public consciousness that they can be squashed quietly in back rooms while we (the voting public) sit around clueless or perhaps apathetic.

I am not afraid to admit that I am very scared about what this next election will bring. In fact, I am terrified at what our country will become if the the backlash against the Liberal party puts Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in power, even in a minority government. A man who has said that he will put things in motion to reverse pro-gay marriage legistation and who has not shown a commitment to preserving something as fundamentally Canadian as public health care is not someone that I want to see leading my country.

Living in a foreign country for the last three years I have spent many a days explaining my country and it's many laws and policies to people I meet. Not only people from Japan but fellow English teachers from all over the world and I have come to appreciate the progressive policies of my country. Progessive views on marijuana, health care, immigration and human rights (lest we not forget that the Supreme Court of Canada declared that not allowing gay couples to marry is in fact against the Charter of Human Rights). Now, I, and every single citizen of my home country, is faced with the possibility that these things could be pulled out from under our noses.

Today Stephen Harper (in between his broken record statements about "change" and the 'sponsorship scandal") announced that he was going to reduce the GST to 5% over the next 5 years. Yes, taxes suck but why would you cut taxes while welcoming private healthcare due to "rising costs". If you have enough in the national surplus to cut taxes why don't you have enough to help the nation's poor have access to a doctor in a timely fashion? I personally would rather take that "whopping" 365-400$ per year that this wonderful new tax break would give me and write a check to national health care or education. In my pocket I probably wouldn't even notice that money...I mean shit, it only works out to a buck and change a day. But taking 400 bucks from every citizen of Canada's GST that they already spend and have been for the last 15 years and redirecting it into valuable resources could make a difference.

I hate all the shit that goes along with elections. This GST thing is a prime example. Appeal to the quick reflexes of tired voters "oh tax cuts whooopeee!!" in the hopes of sucking them in so that after the voting public has put you in office, you can go ahead and do as you please.

I'm not saying the Liberals are a great party and I myself will not be voting Liberal but PLEASE take a good look at Stephen Harper and his views before you vote. Don't cast a vote against the Liberals, cast a vote FOR Canada and the preservation of those things that make Canada what it is.

J