Confessions

I have a confessions. This may come as a shock to those who know me.

I've found out I like mayonaise. Honestly though, I've just never tried it until like last October. But before than I would never touch it. Thanks to Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and Yakisoba; I've found out I actually do like mayonaise. Click on the links to read about them and see some pictures. But all of them are served with mayonaise if you know what is good for you. Also, I've come to appreciate mayonaise on fries. Just like Europeans according to Pulp Fiction. Although I don't know if I will continue my like of mayonaise when I return state-side. The mayonaise here is sold in really thin plastic bottles that you squeeze, never glass jars which require a knife. So, half the fun is squeezing it. It's a simple pleasure of life.

Enough with confessing, my online ordination only allows a few absolutions a day.

Some school business: Hosei changed some of the courses they offer in the spring so I have been working at trying to get them approved and change some of my courses around that I had previously applied for. Which is confusing enough, but add to that someone at Baylor put my spring classes in the fall and my fall classes in the spring and it gets harder. I saw this a while ago, but never said anything about it since it wouldn't matter. But since now I am trying to change classes that Baylor thinks I have already taken...it gets confusing. And I feel pretty stupid that one of the classes I am trying to get credit for is "Space travel in Japan: space tourism". The University of Wanky Bollocks lives up to its name by offering courses like that.

My teaching and all that is still going well. The other day I taught my girls the faranheit and celsius scale. In Japan (from what I have got) kids are just taught "degrees" not "degrees faranheit" or "degrees celsius" like in America. So when the kids saw there were two sets of thermometers they were really confused. They thought it was really funny that in America, 40 degrees is cold. (in celsius 40 degrees is like 105 faranheit I think).

Some pictures around town.



This is in Hatsudai near where I teach one of my new students. I thought this was interesting because it was a really old building in the midst of a lot of construction (I couldn't get the construction in) and in the back was some of the tall buildings in Shinjuku.


Here is a really worn out sign by a crosswalk. It's actually on the ground, so I'm not sure if "sign" is the correct etymology. But it says "STOP! look both ways". Kawaii ne (How cute).


Here is a rare sight in Tokyo. This is a 24 hour "family resturaunt"-comparable to Denny's or IHOP. But the strange thing is, there is a parking lot right there for customers! And you don't have to pay if you are a customer. What a novel concept.


Here is a house I saw yesterday. It's the width of about one door. And it's one Japanese door not a western door. I saw a lady walk out and I peeked inside. Talk about tight quarters.