30 January 2010

Girls' Night, Indeed.

This is the hellion in a rare state of calm.

Jaime and I went to Baird Brewery last Friday, and spent a good part of the evening helping entertain/being entertained by a 4-year-old girl whose parents may have slipped her a few drinks. She was nuts. Her thing: kicking things. Sometimes people. And running in a loop around the room; once she smacked into the brick wall, once she darted behind the bar.

She took a likin' to us...
And to my super fun little green camera:Kudos, little girl, for these stellar shots of strangers:But soon enough it was the hellion's bedtime, and we had to catch the last train back to Shizuoka. Cute as she was, I'm glad that on a regular basis, 7th grade's as low as I go...

I missed badminton practice for this?

Wednesday afternoon, I made the nearly 2-hour walk-bus-train trek from my school to Hamamatsu to attend the second teachers' meeting of the school year for the company through which I am contracted. These meetings are intended as supportive fora for swapping stories, lesson plan ideas, and general work tips; sounds harmless, right? In actuality, they are a completely maddening waste of time. We are grilled to share any issues we've had at our schools, but really, many of us just haven't had issues. And when no one has any real issues, we discuss mundane hypothetical issues and their commonsensical solutions.

Sure, there are a couple people—those people, you know—who show up bursting with anecdotes and self-proclaimed brilliant activities to share: "So this card game I made up, kids of all ages love it. Okay, so dragons are worth 7 points, lions are 5 points, tigers are 3 points, and monkeys are 0 points, but there’s this one situation where a monkey can beat a dragon, and the students just freak out! (And I will now explain this situation, along with the rest of the rules, so poorly, so that even you as native English speakers are thoroughly confused.) Hey, I brought the cards, so do you guys just wanna play it right now?!"

Oh yes, please. Yes, I do. And I expect you to give me a sticker if I win.

The majority of us do our best to feign enthusiasm. I know I'm completely transparent. I was missing practice for the teachers' badminton club, dammit! The most joyous part of this day was getting to stop at Freshness Burger after the meeting, for the Best Onion Rings in Japan, Possibly Anywhere (it's a chain, though the nearest location I know of is in Hamamatsu).
My aggression subsides with every hot, greasy, ketchuppy bite.

24 January 2010

Califotos II

Monday: How lucky was I to be sipping a Blue Bottle latte, perusing the drool-inducing local produce, artisanal cheese, bread, and various other food shops of the Ferry Terminal, whilst everyone else was just starting their workweek? Fine weather for a ferry, but this trip, I wouldn’t make it to the East Bay. I needed me some Chinatown. Through the financial district to Chinese bazaar shops, a kite shop...and besides the alleyway fire I witnessed, so many amazing smells.Then to City Lights (where like a good tourist I bought beat: Ferlinghetti’s Coney Island of the Mind) and the Vesuvio, ohh yeah. The afternoon: Lombard Street’s curves, a quick stop at Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square, then on to Chrissy Field for a hazy sunset, and the Palace of Fine Arts after dark.Tuesday: First Tuesday of the month means free admission at city museums! Down to the MoMA (between special exhibitions and disappointing overall…yes, the people who told me not to go here were right), then up to the Legion of Honor (European permanent collection, two special exhibitions: Cartier jewelry and forensic reconstruction of mummies, an organ recital in the atrium, and a phenomenal view outside).
Now, if only I could get a drink at the Toronado before every flight I take. Eerily empty plane from ORD to MSN...I shudder to think of my carbon footprint.Perhaps it would be a good transition for me to live in a city with a Japantown, plus a phenomenal public transportation system, when I return to the U.S.?

23 January 2010

Califotos I

My original thought was to take an extended layover in San Francisco, either arriving from or returning to Japan, but the timing looked less than ideal to me as well as the people potentially putting me up. When I have a destination in my head, though…January 1-5, in the middle of my trip to the U.S., I got to explore San Fran, stay with a great old pal and his two fine housemates, and enjoy a few springlike days outside snowy ‘sconsin.

Friday night: three boys and a dog picked me up from the airport, in a Zipcar!

Saturday: Walking, walking, quick train ride, walking, walking. Alamo Square Park to Buena Vista Park...
Through the Castro and down Clarion Alley...Into the Mission (with a notable stop at the pirate supply store), then on to City Hall... Through Japantown (of course there would be middle school girls dancing to anime songs in the main square)...Past the Fillmore, and back to Baker Street for Little Star Pizza, rivaling even Uno’s Pizzeria of Platteville. And there may or may not have been a visit to a tiki bar later this evening…

Sunday: Brett and I acquaint ourselves with Golden Gate Park. An arboretum, golf course, disc golf course, rent-a-bikes, rent-a-boats (although Japan wins hands-down on the cute, natch) model yachts, a bison paddock, a Dutch windmill, and the giant cheese grater that is the deYoung Museum. The finale, the stretch of beautiful beach where I would have flown a kite, were kite frame dowels allowed in carry-on luggage.Thanks for letting me stay! Part 2 post tomorrow.