Friday, September 12, 2008

Be Random?? Why...of course, I can be random...I mean..since you asked so nicely

Greetings to those of you who keep coming back...."I love ya like my luggage." (Name the movie that line came from and you'll be my friend for life...whether you want that or not!!!)

It's been a strange week....weather not sure if it's going to go back to hot or not, so teased us a bit with it, which prompted many students to ask about "Indian summer". No, I thought that the warm temperatures after cooler ones had to be after the autumnal equinox to be considered "Indian summer" and really....warm, hot, cool, rain, hot, cool, warm....pretty much sums up late summer/early fall weather here in Nagasaki, or so I believe.

There is a typhoon brewing....right now it is not headed our direction, it's moving towards China, but there for awhile it looked as if it were headed for us....and coming up on the western side of Kyushu does not make for good typhoon conditions for us here in Nagasaki. We've been really lucky (knock on wood!!) the past few years....here's hoping the good luck continues.

My classes are back now in full swing but...this week, due to rescheduling, I happened to have three mornings free. Not sure how that happened, exactly, but it was great!!! I spent 2 of those mornings doing some cleaning and what-not blog reading and watching YouTube videos and spent one day in the office of a friend getting information about "teaching teachers English"....I'm just getting ready...you know...just in case things work out.


Flamingo Friday

We have two of these plastic flamingos and they keep popping up in different places. Tonight, I found one just hanging on the oven, I guess he was waiting for the pizza I was about to put in!!!

So, on Wednesday, I went back to the shopping center I went to last week and went to the game center (again!).....I was on a mission to get some more of these.....

As it was on a school day, the people in the game center consisted of young mothers and their babies, some university-aged kids and many, many oldER women. In the game centers here, along with the variety of kid-centered games, there are also some that are geared for older people.....and then, there was me...at the game with the shovels to try and scoop up the baby Croc-wannabe key chains and accessories. I was on a Croc-y roll....after doing it three or four times, my little bag was pretty full and I was about to quit when I realized that there was one old lady, watching what I was doing very intently. I smiled. She smiled back. I said, "Konnichiwa.". ("good afternoon). She konnichiwa-d me back....and moved a liiiiiitle bit closer. I looked at her (and wishing so hard that I had the ability to raise one eyebrow in her direction)...then told her that this was really fun and the key chains were cute and I bet her grandchildren would love to get one. She told me that she had never done that before...wellllll...I had some time before my dance class and a few extra 100 yen coins in my pocket and I proceeded to show her how it was done and then gave her a couple of my sure-fire ways to get a bunch of things in the scoop. I then told her "gambatte" (good luck) and went over to the stationary section to see what new pens they had that I needed to buy.

After about 5 minutes and three new pens in my bag, I was ready to go and "do my thing on the dance floor". As I was leaving the area, I glanced back at the game center....and there...by the game I had left was not one, but three little old ladies...all dropping 100 yens into the game, trying to scoop out the key chains...with the one that I had helped earlier, standing in the middle, tell the other two how to do it.
See....Pay It Forwards don't have to be big...just as long as you keep it moving, it counts!!!

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

You did know that I come from a small town, right? Back in February, when I took part in a month-long-post-everyday challenge, one of our 'assignments was to post about where we come from. If you missed it (personally, I thought it was one of my best..but, I'm prejudiced!), you can go here and read...but come back, okay!

Anyway....our county has two newspapers and my mom sends me one of them faithfully. Now, when I am there, I don't really read it very thoroughly...but here in Japan, I read. every. single. little. article. I'll ask my mom sometimes about something I read and she'll be all like "Where did you hear about that?" Hello.....it was in the paper!! Didn't you see it??

There is a big difference in the content of big city newspapers and that of a smaller community. For example, before she passed away, my grandmother was the reporter for her area of the county and would put the news in every week. Going out to their house to visit..sometimes just to borrow their toilet or get something to drink.... would result in a "Debbie stopped by to see her grandparents on Tuesday." in the next paper. I love it.

So, imagine my joy and the giggles that followed when I read this in the paper from a couple of weeks ago:

Please...please...don't get me wrong....I am NOT making fun of this. I just think that anywhere else, a snake on the loose really wouldn't be newsworthy....but how nice of that woman to put it in the paper.....her neighbors will be a bit more careful in their gardens now, thanks to her. Hmmm...I wonder if my mom read about this....I better go call and find out. {smile}

Look who found the box in the closet with the Halloween decorations........






And finally....finally an end to all this jumping around...I will leave you with this.

I am not really a political person...not compared to some good friends that I have. While others have posted about this and that happening and being said about this candidate or that candidate...while I appreciate all the information....I must admit that it is really getting hard almost to tell the BS from the truth.

One of my favorite things to watch on YouTube is Craig Ferguson. He is a nutter. His sense of humor usually has me laughing out loud. I was over at another blog that I read faithfully 'cause she's just so great, and she had posted this video, which I borrowed (thanks, Janet!!)

Yes, Craig Ferguson is a comedian. But, unlike other comedians who are poking fun at the different candidates and the issues....Craig is different. His message is to everyone....Republicans, Democrats, young people, pig lovers. And it is a good message. Watch it all the way through...his words and his message...coming from a man from Scotland who has just become an American citizen...rings very true and packs a pretty good punch. Go on...watch it. Then pass it on....it's that good!



7 comments:

Janet said...

why, that would be from Steel Magnolias, darlin'!

The Girl Next Door said...

darnit janet you beat me to it but I cheated to get the answer before I realized you beat me to it.

massive runon there.

happy weekend stay safe!

Michael said...

Love Craig Ferguson!!! LOL @ your entries...can I ever relate to just wanting something "American" to remind me of home!

Nancy said...

Craig Ferguson ... summed it all up.

And I love that the pink flamingo's move about your house =)

3rdEyeMuse said...

Steel Magnolia's, thank you. :) ... I soooo wish I was there to see the elders at the claw machine (scooper machine?) as I bet it made you grin ... and Craig Ferguson is not only the BEST, but now he's my hero, too.

Michael said...

He he...I have a few disappointed readers on my hands...I'll have to come up with something to make up for it :)

Hula Girl at Heart said...

Ooh, Steel Magnolias, Steel Magnolias.

I don't know about the rest of ya' honey, but your hair's holdin' up just fine.

And if you can't say something nice about somebody, come sit by me!

I don't do snakes, though. Not enough counterspace.

Shall I go on???