The recent disaster in Asia (tsunami)had people here a bit tense. Several of our teachers were touring India, Thailand, and Cambodia when the titalwave hit. The military quickly hunted them down. Luckily, they are all accounted for now. It would have really sucked to come back to school after break and have to tell the kids that a few of their ( Read more... )

I think I understand what Allen must feel ( Read more... )

Yes, it is true. I now have internet at home. It is wonderful ( Read more... )

As Carol indicated in her journal, I am in Tokyo at the moment. I am attending a technology conference for a week. (Yes, no teaching for a week!) Tokyo is awesome. Now, I've been to cities before, but no city I've ever been to compares to Tokyo. The lights, big screen televisions, multiple-level sidewalks, the amount of people, the size of ( Read more... )

I am now officially living in Japan. When I lived on-base, it was like living in a little mini-America. Now, I live among the Japanese. I live in a Japanese neighborhood in a traditional Japanese house -- hell, even my furniture is Japanese. (Yes, that’s right. I bought or was given Japanese furniture for the place ( Read more... )

So..I am taking the big plunge. Next week, I am moving out of my little on-base apartment. I am moving off-base and into an athentic Japanese House. The house I'll be renting is so cool: It has three totami-mat rooms...the Japanese bath and shower... and a Japanese Westernized toilet, complete with sink above and a heated toilet seat (got to keep ( Read more... )

George Bush ( Read more... )

I've drank more beer since I got to Iwakuni than I have in years. I've been to the Officer's Club for happy hour every Friday for the last four weeks; we rotate: a pitcher then a round a shots - repeat this for too long and you'll be seriously wasted. Everytime I go out to dinner, I've been ordering beer. And, after school yesterday, I went over to ( Read more... )

So, I just started rehearsals for Casablanca. Everything is going fine...the students actually pay attention and write down their blocking. Impressive ( Read more... )

The rest of my stuff is finally arriving tomorrow. Let me tell ya, you never realize how important your stuff is to you until you have to go without it. When I first got here, all I had was what I carried in my suitcase. Then, my first shipment arrived, and I was thrilled. Now, my last shipment is coming. My books, my microwave, my teaching files