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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Thursday, November 14, 2002 |
 I listened to Badly Drawn Boy again- several times, in fact- after I got home from work. The whole album is growing on me very rapidly indeed, to the extent that 'You Were Right' no longer actually stands out that much. The whole album really is an excellent set of songs, which moreover hang together most coherently.
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Got back to the office to find four envelopes on my desk, three of which were full of more replies for the Indian Day. In fact, the total now stands at 18! This means that we'll be able to play kabaddi after all (which is going to be far, far more enjoyable and worthwhile than an Indian game of marbles, the alternative we were considering assuming we'd only have a few people at the event), and it also means we're not going to need four recipes. Indeed, playing kabaddi, we won't have time to do four; even three recipes might be pushing things. But which one to drop? Lassi and naan are definites; which leaves one of the two curries. I think that we'll go with the mince curry (simple- and I make something similar often enough to know it'll work) rather than the Coca-Cola curry (untested- and who knows what Coca-Cola and chicken will taste like together?)...
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From the staffroom of Kirikushi Elementary School, there's a great view across the bay to Hiroshima. As I drove to the school, I saw two jieikan- JMSDF warships- leaving Kure, and just after my lessons finished and I called in at the staffroom, I saw another warship passing Kirikushi, heading in to Kure. What struck me most was the sheer grace of this warship; it glided, almost majestically, a wonderfully impressive, powerful impression.
But having been on the bridge of such a warship passing through the strait between Etajima and Ninoshima, I know only too well just what a hive of activity the bridge is at this point. Superbly orchestrated activity, yes, and activity without the slightest superfluity; but a hive of activity nevertheless. Not only is the sea route narrow at this point, but there is so much other sea traffic, all of which must be monitored and, of course, avoided. There's a real, and intriguing, contrast between the way a warship appears to move serenely and effortlessly, and the actual business on deck.
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Went to Kirikushi Elementary School after lunch, to be greeted by seven replies for the Indian Day! Maybe it won't be quite so bad after all...!
My first lesson was with the first years; we looked at the same classroom vocab as we'd done in the previous lesson, and practiced it in a circle, and using the dengon game. The children had fun, which I suppose is the most important thing for first years.
In the next lesson, with the fifth years, I'd decided (having talked with the teacher) to show some pictures of Britain, in a Powerpoint presentation. The teacher had assured me that they had a computer projector, and that she'd set it up with a laptop, so that all I needed to do was bring a CD with the file on it. Very kind, but the schools have Windows computers (no need to say anything more), so I took my iBook from the office along as a precaution. Well, when I got to the classroom the equipment was all set up, and projecting away perfectly, so I put in the CD, copied the file, and... found that there was no Powerpoint software installed on the computer. So, good job I took my trusty Mac, then!
Anyway, using my Mac, I showed slides on, and explained, various aspects of Britain- buildings, food, transport, etc.- and the children asked questions. Luckily the class was small enough that everyone could see the pictures on my laptop screen. I got some fair (if not particularly imaginative) questions, although the same few people asked most of them; I got the feeling that about half of the twelve children in the class didn't really have any interest. Anyway, next time, we're making scones.
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Web sites worthy of mention...
An absorbing travel diary recording a trip to North Korea. Some of what the writer comments on reminds me of my visits to Moscow and Leningrad in 1991 and 1992, but everyday life for the citizens of North Korea sounds truly horrific; I wonder if the Soviet Union even in its darkest days was this bad?
Thinking about the Japanese abducted by North Korea, it also strikes me how completely horrifying it must have been not to just to have been kidnapped, but to have been kidnapped and brought to a country such as this. What it must have been like really defies imagination.
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Spent part of the morning finishing the translation of the recipes for the Indian Day, and working out the quantities to buy tomorrow. Mind you, I'm not sure why I'm bothering, given that at the moment (with today being the deadline for replies) we have all of... one person coming. This, of course, rules out playing kabaddi- at the very least, we'd need 12 people. The numbers should increase by this evening, as the schools send in the replies they've collected today, but even so, I can't see more than 10 children participating, especially as most of the children from Etajima Elementary School who normally come to International Club events have some sort of football camp this weekend.
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Last night was very cold indeed. Bone-chillingly cold (especially if the bones in question are toe-bones). I woke up about 1 o'clock feeling so cold that I had to get my big, smothering quilt out.
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:54:52 pm.
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