Kujukushima view from Sasebo city
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
What an eventful day!
Went to Oaira Elem. to do another school visit. Teach the kids some English~ I really enjoy teaching there now, especially the kids are just awesome! They're so sweet and very interested in learning new English words.
So, I went to work a bit early so I can prepare for the materials needed for today. That's as far as my lesson planning go. Go there a bit early, and then just write down whatever I think would work. Games, songs, vocab cards... though I think I should probably find some new materials since they are REALLY getting old... The kids might not mind since as long as they get to play "Gokiburi Game," they're all set.
Anyways, so I was carrying on the lessons as usual, and getting the kids to say "What is your favourite colour?" in "Gokiburi Game," that's when it happened...
EARTHQUAKE!!!
I didn't notice it at first. When the HR teacher yelled, "SANDY SENSEI!! JISHIN!! EARTHQUAKE!!" That's when I realized the ground was shaking... I have low blood pressure, so get dizzy sometimes... so to me, the ground is often shaking... :p
Then after my last class was over, one of the HR teacher said that there was an incident this morning when a strange guy just called out to a junior high student (who goes to the neighbouring juniro high), the kid ignored him, then the guy just slashed the kid's arm, supposedly he wasn't hurt that much.
It's really scary... especially since it's such a small town and you'd think this is the last place for something like this to happen... Guess it's hard to say these days.
************************
On a brighter note, I had an awesome time playing with the kids today!
The Oaira kids have known me since last year when I first started, so we've built quite some rapport. They always come to invite me to play with them after lunch time.
Today we played volleyball outside on the playground, and it was loads of fun! There was a pond right next to the place we were playing, and we kept knocking the ball into the pond... ended up having to get it back, dry it as much as we can and then play again. A girl even got her feet all wet when trying to save the ball from getting into the pond. The whole thing was so stupid, but it was so much fun. hee hee~
Then when we were all playing, a girl came up and said "Sandy sensei, mune dekai ne." to me... basically saying that my boobs are big... I was half shocked, and half humoured... I've never been told that my boobs were big.. Yet I guess to those girls who are barely 9, my boobs are bigger than theirs anyways... :p Then she went "tsu-n, tsu-n!" trying to poke at my boobs.
After that, another boy came up and squeezed my arm.. saying that perhaps I should lose some weight! I couldn't believe it. Actually, this could be a form of sexual harrassment since I was at work... >_<
Anyways, all in all, today was quite an eventful day... ending with a great session at Kinro Seishonen Home, eikaiwa (English conversation Class). Got the kids talking to each other, paying each other compliments, asking how they got their stuff and where they got it. I really like this batch of students cuz they're really quite interested in English. OR, I just really made it easier for them this time :p hee hee
Tomorrow kindergarten visit at Keishin Hoikuen... gotta think up of new things to teach them... aaaaaaaaaah... >_< and gotta go to the folk museum to do some research for the scavenger hunt.. oi~
So, I went to work a bit early so I can prepare for the materials needed for today. That's as far as my lesson planning go. Go there a bit early, and then just write down whatever I think would work. Games, songs, vocab cards... though I think I should probably find some new materials since they are REALLY getting old... The kids might not mind since as long as they get to play "Gokiburi Game," they're all set.
Anyways, so I was carrying on the lessons as usual, and getting the kids to say "What is your favourite colour?" in "Gokiburi Game," that's when it happened...
EARTHQUAKE!!!
I didn't notice it at first. When the HR teacher yelled, "SANDY SENSEI!! JISHIN!! EARTHQUAKE!!" That's when I realized the ground was shaking... I have low blood pressure, so get dizzy sometimes... so to me, the ground is often shaking... :p
Then after my last class was over, one of the HR teacher said that there was an incident this morning when a strange guy just called out to a junior high student (who goes to the neighbouring juniro high), the kid ignored him, then the guy just slashed the kid's arm, supposedly he wasn't hurt that much.
It's really scary... especially since it's such a small town and you'd think this is the last place for something like this to happen... Guess it's hard to say these days.
************************
On a brighter note, I had an awesome time playing with the kids today!
The Oaira kids have known me since last year when I first started, so we've built quite some rapport. They always come to invite me to play with them after lunch time.
Today we played volleyball outside on the playground, and it was loads of fun! There was a pond right next to the place we were playing, and we kept knocking the ball into the pond... ended up having to get it back, dry it as much as we can and then play again. A girl even got her feet all wet when trying to save the ball from getting into the pond. The whole thing was so stupid, but it was so much fun. hee hee~
Then when we were all playing, a girl came up and said "Sandy sensei, mune dekai ne." to me... basically saying that my boobs are big... I was half shocked, and half humoured... I've never been told that my boobs were big.. Yet I guess to those girls who are barely 9, my boobs are bigger than theirs anyways... :p Then she went "tsu-n, tsu-n!" trying to poke at my boobs.
After that, another boy came up and squeezed my arm.. saying that perhaps I should lose some weight! I couldn't believe it. Actually, this could be a form of sexual harrassment since I was at work... >_<
Anyways, all in all, today was quite an eventful day... ending with a great session at Kinro Seishonen Home, eikaiwa (English conversation Class). Got the kids talking to each other, paying each other compliments, asking how they got their stuff and where they got it. I really like this batch of students cuz they're really quite interested in English. OR, I just really made it easier for them this time :p hee hee
Tomorrow kindergarten visit at Keishin Hoikuen... gotta think up of new things to teach them... aaaaaaaaaah... >_< and gotta go to the folk museum to do some research for the scavenger hunt.. oi~
Monday, May 30, 2005
Kingdom of Heaven ~ A film review
Went to Kag city to see "Kingdom of Heaven" with Maru-chan yesterday.
Perhaps because I didn't have too much expectation of the film, I was quite impressed with it.
Maru-chan only wanted to see the movie because it was Orlando Bloom (and I'll bet more than 80% of the people in the theatre were in it for the same reason too...), but I was actually curious how they would treat the crusades theme as a movie, especially a time like ours.
With the war going on in the middle east, and the unnecessary declaration of the "holy wars," I think the movie did a great job of managing to tell the stories about both religions quite nicely. Not to place any blame on either side, but to state the fact of how we alter what religion has meant for us.
I'm neither Christian, nor a Muslim. However, I believe that fundamentally, all religions are the same. Be it Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, or Shintoism, Peace is the ultimate meaning for a religion to exist.
Whether it's to achieve peace between one man to another, or just peace within one's self.
...
Anyhoo, enough about the serious topic.
I thought the film was quite nicely done with great cinematography and awesome soundtrack~ The sound effect is definitely a great plus in the film. Well it is Ridley Scott, and the style is pretty similar to "The Gladiator." I can't help but compare the two.
Orlando Bloom is over-rated as Balian of Ibelin. He's supposed to be this troubled, emotionally disturbed guy who lost his child and his wife, in that order. He had to burden the responsibility of protecting the kingdom, yet he did it all without showing any emotion, other than the time when he was knighting the men in the wall so they would fight with honour. (not that they wouldn't without being knighted anyways...)
David Thewlis(the guy who also played Prof. Lupin in PoA of HP) caught my eyes and I couldn't remember who he was... until I came back and checked imdb. Hee hee...I knew I'd seen him somewhere~
Liam Neeson was a great Godfrey (considering his character is the only fictional one, he did an awesome job!), and he certainly shined in the limited screen time.
I had read quite a few reviews before going to the theatre and most of them are mixed reviews, either praising the film's artistic aspect, or just bash Bloom's incapability of carrying an epic film this big.
Oh well, all in all, the film was definitely worth seeing in a big theatre. The sound effect alone is worth the ticket price.
Oh yeah, and Orlando is pretty hot too. Just so we've got straightened out.
*** (out of 5)
Perhaps because I didn't have too much expectation of the film, I was quite impressed with it.
Maru-chan only wanted to see the movie because it was Orlando Bloom (and I'll bet more than 80% of the people in the theatre were in it for the same reason too...), but I was actually curious how they would treat the crusades theme as a movie, especially a time like ours.
With the war going on in the middle east, and the unnecessary declaration of the "holy wars," I think the movie did a great job of managing to tell the stories about both religions quite nicely. Not to place any blame on either side, but to state the fact of how we alter what religion has meant for us.
I'm neither Christian, nor a Muslim. However, I believe that fundamentally, all religions are the same. Be it Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, or Shintoism, Peace is the ultimate meaning for a religion to exist.
Whether it's to achieve peace between one man to another, or just peace within one's self.
...
Anyhoo, enough about the serious topic.
I thought the film was quite nicely done with great cinematography and awesome soundtrack~ The sound effect is definitely a great plus in the film. Well it is Ridley Scott, and the style is pretty similar to "The Gladiator." I can't help but compare the two.
Orlando Bloom is over-rated as Balian of Ibelin. He's supposed to be this troubled, emotionally disturbed guy who lost his child and his wife, in that order. He had to burden the responsibility of protecting the kingdom, yet he did it all without showing any emotion, other than the time when he was knighting the men in the wall so they would fight with honour. (not that they wouldn't without being knighted anyways...)
David Thewlis(the guy who also played Prof. Lupin in PoA of HP) caught my eyes and I couldn't remember who he was... until I came back and checked imdb. Hee hee...I knew I'd seen him somewhere~
Liam Neeson was a great Godfrey (considering his character is the only fictional one, he did an awesome job!), and he certainly shined in the limited screen time.
I had read quite a few reviews before going to the theatre and most of them are mixed reviews, either praising the film's artistic aspect, or just bash Bloom's incapability of carrying an epic film this big.
Oh well, all in all, the film was definitely worth seeing in a big theatre. The sound effect alone is worth the ticket price.
Oh yeah, and Orlando is pretty hot too. Just so we've got straightened out.
*** (out of 5)