Mid-Year 08: Day One

After last night's shocking discovery, I quickly ran downstairs and sheepishly asked the receptionist if any stores were open. When she looked at me as though I were clearly crazy (I was a bit drunk, but not that drunk...), I explained my predicament. She laughed sympathetically at me, did some shuffling around, and told me the store next door was already closed, but would be open in the morning. She wasn't sure what time.

I woke up at 7 the next morning, trying to give myself plenty of time to go to the store, buy a shirt, change, and make it to the conference by 9:30. I found out the store opens at 9. The conference building is about a fifteen-minute brisk walk from the hotel, and I knew I could possibly pull it off. I sat down for breakfast while I waited, and Mike joined me. I told him about my predicament, and he offered me an extra shirt he'd brought. Just like that. Unhesitatingly, he offered me more or less the shirt off his back. Mike's a classy guy like that.

Mike having saved the day, I was dressed and ready to go in plenty of time. Joey got to the hotel just in time, having literally just arrived from Hawaii. Word had spread that I knew for sure where the place was, which was apparently not common. That meant I ended up leading a group of thirteen to the place. Which was kinda cool.

After some brief opening remarks--including an admonition that this is a business trip and that we are expected to be dressed accordingly (there were several people in khakis, and a few in jeans, a cardinal sin for Japanese business attire)--two ALTs gave a presentation. I spent most of the presentation trying to figure out what they had been asked to convey, because Pat ended up basically talking about himself for an hour. He was originally placed on an itty bitty island with next to nothing to do, and had made the most of it. That's the upshot of his presentation: he showed lots of pictures, told lots of stories, and even showed a video from a segment NHK did on him.

The best I can figure, he was asked to help assuage the loneliness and despair that inevitably hits every ALT. The desired effect was probably to have the audience members think, "Wow--he did all that with a really lonely placement. I should count my blessings. Surely I can make it!" The presentation made him come across as more than a bit of a jerk, though. The finishing touch was what was presumably intended to be an inspiring example of JETs socializing: a full twenty minutes of footage from a 'pirate party' in August, where 50-60 ALTs hired a pirate ship to cruise them around the waters just outside Nagasaki. The footage, however, included a good bit of drunken silliness. That wouldn't have been a big problem, had the speakers sought permission of those recorded (which they didn't) or shown it when there were only ALTs in attendance. Unfortunately, our supervisors, the Japanese people who teach English with us, were also in the audience. Which means they saw their coworkers making (in some cases) huge embarrassments of themselves. Folks around me were not pleased.

After the presentation, we split up into smaller seminars, which we had chosen a month or two before. I chose one about using music in the classroom. The presenter is a good friend of Ninjo's, and she did a pretty good job. Her fellow presenter was Scottish, so as far as I was concerned, the presentation was awesome to listen to. I got a couple of good ideas from it: using a song as the timer for an activity, and burning CDs of English songs to give as prizes. Simple, but I never would have thought of them.

We were given an hour lunch break, and we all descended like locusts on the nearby restaurants. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, having been shown a nice little place by Aaron and Evelyn last year: Kanaya Burger. It's just out-of-the-way and inconspicuous enough to avoid passersby dropping in (a decision their marketing department probably regrets), and was empty when we got there. I led Leigh (a Brit I know from last year), Fiona (an Aussie I'd met five minutes earlier), Mutia, and Rachel there. It was kind of tight--they only have enough table seating for three--but the food was tasty.

The afternoon session was about avoiding burnout. I sat with Mike and Joey, and we spent practically the whole time quietly cracking up at how little it was helping us.

After we broke for the day, I made a beeline for the elusive shirt store and got one in about five minutes. That done, I met Rose and Kim at AMU, the shopping mall at Nagasaki Station. There's a nice little snack shop specializing in imported foods. They've usually got pop rocks, hot chocolate, Haribo gummy bears, and other random sweets. I made sure to stock up on Christmas candy, in preparation for my lessons, while Rose and Kim freaked out about the Swiss Miss hot chocolate.

While we were shopping, I saw Mr. Urata. He was one of the teachers who helped me out tremendously when I first arrived last year. He and his wife, who helped me just as much at Toyotama last year, were transferred to Sasebo in the spring. I remember he'd said he was very nervous about the move, because his new high school had two ALTs, and he would be in charge of them both, which would test his English abilities.

He loves the new school. Over the summer, he accompanied some of his students on a homestay in Seattle--his first trip to America. I'm so happy for him. His wife, however, has been placed at a school for students who, for various reasons, have dropped out of school before. He said she's having lots of trouble with the students. On top of all this, they have elementary-age kids of their own; I can't even imagine how they manage.

Some of the JETs were heading to some pizza restaurant for a big party. Since I can get pretty good pizza on Tsushima, I was craving Indian food. Joey, Gavin, Rose, and Kim liked that idea, so we planned on dinner there. I ducked into a kaitenzushi restaurant for a quick bite that turned into eight pieces of saba nigiri. Mmm.

I went back to the hotel to drop off my plunder. On the way out, I shared an elevator with Pat, the guy who gave the presentation earlier. He wasn't nearly as obnoxious one-on-one, coming off as a cross between David from the Maymester and Chuck from when we first met: obviously very self-confident, which can be misconstrued as arrogance. He and some of his friends (Chris and Patty, an Irishman) were going to relax in the hotel lobby over a beer or two (courtesy of the lobby beer vending machine), and happily invited me along. I was on my way to dinner, so I declined, but I was glad that they offered. They all gave off a very self-assured, relaxed vibe that I could see being taken as annoying clique-ishness. I wonder if Chuck, Cord, and I came across that way in Myers.

On the way to the Indian restaurant, I ran into Fiona, the Aussie I had lunch with. The second thing I said to her (after "Hi!") was, "Do you like Indian food?" Thirty seconds of good-natured prodding later ("Well..." "Do you already have plans?" "I was going back up to the room for the night." "Oh come on! It's Indian food!"), Fiona joined us for dinner. Again, for a fleeting moment, it felt just like Myers.

Dinner was great: different kinds of naan, several different curries, and lassi. Afterwards, we walked around trying to find a bar. I can't remember if we had a particular bar in mind, but after half an hour, we gave up and went to Panic Paradise again. I showed Rose and Kim the way to the karaoke bar from last night, then went back to join Joey, Mike, and Gavin at the bar.

Several folks from last night were there again, including Carol, Sarah, Sue, Lawrence, and Jacob. (Jacob, it turns out, is one of Mr. Urata's ALTs.) I also met Blair, a different Rachel, and Matt. They were on their way out, though, leaving us four Tsushimen as the only people in the bar. We finished our drink and headed out.

Whereas last year's conference coincided with Halloween, and a benefits-for-charity party was thrown for all the JETs, this year had neither. Still, most of the JETs gravitated to one or two big parties. We decided to check out one at the Crazy Horse bar, both because it's across from our hotel and because, hey, that's a pretty cool name for a bar.

The bar looked to be able to seat 20 comfortably; about 30 people were crammed in. Joey, Gavin, and Mike decided to pass, but Carol, Zoe, and Laura saw me and hollered for me to come in. I'm kind of a sucker for a girl calling me to come somewhere, let alone three girls.

The party was great. There were several conversations, the humor of which was, as always, inversely proportional to the sobriety of those involved. An obnoxious Québécoise named Panta was being... well, obnoxious, as she was in the pirate party video from that morning. However, I was thrilled to be out with people who get more relaxed as they drink, instead of becoming uninhibited balls of awkwardness, as most of my Japanese coworkers tend to do.

The crowd slowly shrunk as folks called it a night. A guy named Chris, who apparently owns the pizza parlor everybody ate at that night, showed up. He donned an Indian headdress, grabbed a guitar, and started playing requests. I slid down to Carol and Sarah, who were talking to Blair and Matt, who were trying to make smoke rings. Chris, who arrived in the Atlanta group with me, was there, too. He joined in trying to make smoke rings, and had a tough time at first. He explained this was due to the smoke not being "wet" enough. Eventually, though, all three succeeded.

Chris started playing a U2 song. The group started talking about the decline in U2's songs over the years. Chris made a great speech about it, citing "Elevation" as an example of a bad song. When someone disagreed, he continued, asking if anybody knew the lyrics offhand. One guy pulled out his iPhone, Googled the lyrics, and passed it to Chris. He read the lyrics to us, which proved his point beautifully.

Someone goaded Carol, a South African from Botswana, into talking about how Oprah is hurting Africa. It's an interesting argument, which is better heard in a bar than read on a blog. Anyway, the bar closed at 1, and we all called it a night.