Entries this day: Study Training earthquake zzzz_no_OKC_rally

Study

10:52am JST Monday 26 May 2003

Stop fuckin' around and study.

Wait.

I got a box of COOKIES from janette and CDs from g!! The CDs are of Futurama episodes and I'm sure I'll love them. For some reason, though, my CD/DVD player ate the CD and won't give it back. I'm quite certain it's not the fault of the CD, but that the CD player is damaged since I banged my computer pretty effectively one day and the CD player started grinding and farting and stuff. Now it won't play the CD. Ah well. I wonder if I can fix it or if I should take it to some Mac place in Japan.

The cookies are chocolate chip and chocolate chocolate chip and they're the best cookies ever!!

Training

10:05pm JST Monday 26 May 2003

Today I had FUT 2 (Follow Up Training 2) at Yokohama. It wasn't as bad as FUT 1 in terms of filling my brain to overflowing, but it was certainly not my favorite thing in the world.

BUT, it means I can give level ups to students (recommend they move from a level to the next level). It takes two teachers to suggest a student level up, plus the student passing a test (tailored for that level) to move them to the next level.

Today as I went through my files, I saw that Rachel had given a LU 1 recommendation to a student and I ignored it, thinking I would not let that sway my decision.

Later, when I had the class, I was like, "wow she was good" and it turned out to be the student Rachel had recommended as well. SO, I got to give her the second LU! But the student had split before I completed her file in the teachers' room, so I didn't actually get to give it to her. Plus the original recommendation was a month and 2 days old (limit is supposed to be one month), but she hadn't been here in a month and 2 days, so Steve was all, "can she move to the next level?" "yes" "then level her up."

That made today's training worth it.

Such a good feeling that I almost think I'll begin to memorize the criteria for leveling up students to different levels. Maybe I'll start with the low levels and learn the criteria one level at a time.

That makes sense.

earthquake

9:52pm JST Monday 26 May 2003

Wow!

Today during work; actually it was before work, but I was in the building, I went to pee and suddenly I felt a tidbit dizzy and then realized "whoah!" it was an earthquake!

I enjoyed this earthquake cause I was on a "stable" surface (the floor of the building) and could clearly feel the slow shaking motion maybe a couple inches of displacement on the fourth floor every second or so.

I ran to the window, looking for other signs. A large wire between telephone poles was oscillating. Felt another shakey shake and could see it begin oscillating again.

Looked at a tall building some hundreds of yards away, but couldn't discern any oscillation in the building itself... but(!) I could see on top of the building the boom of a crane was shaking.

That seemed to be it, so I went into the office all, "wow! that was awesome!"

Some people were scared, or think I don't have a sense of what the damage could really be like. "6000 people dead in blahblahblah" some city and I'm like, "so? How many people live there? Six million?"

Later, Eric/k said it was a magnitude 6 in some city and 7 in some other city. That it caused the bullet train to stop, and caused some fires elsewhere.

One man in the voice room predicted a big earthquake within two weeks.

I was all, "alright!" but not everyone shared my enthusiasm. I just know that I'll be okay; if a big earthquake is an experience I get to have, then I'm ready.

- - - -

On the train now to go home and life is normal. Train is full. People are talking or reading as they always do on the way home.

zzzz no OKC rally

2:18am JST Tuesday 27 May 2003

Sigh.

I missed OKC Rally. OKC is my favorite rally besides Houston. And Houston is my favorite only because Jason and I planned it for some years in a row and made it kick major ass.

OKC is my favorite rally because of fantastic memories of OKC 1987 and the church is a coooool shape for Sardines and awesome Silent Football memories and because I learned the secret to Ceiling Wall Floor at OKC.

I hope you cats had major fun.

You're still in my dreams at night.

- - - -

I'm not going to attend SWUUSI. I'm not even going to try, though last year I said I would ask for the time off. I don't want to go through the pain of saying Goodbye again.... This seems to be what Bryn described to me at San Antonio Rally a couple years ago. I wonder if it's subconsciously a reason I'm not getting too close to people here in Japan.

Shit I gotta go to bed. I have Japanese class in 9.5 hours.