sweet sweet holland: the little star in the centre indicates 'veenendaal', home of my father. just above and to the left is utrecht, the closest decent-sized city to v-daal. unfortunately, a google image search didn't bring up too much on my father's birthplace and residence, 'the greenest place in holland', or, as he likes to call it, "the centre of the universe" 

 

 

 

 

mum (pic mj sent) 

rehearsal in joetsu this weekend. freezing, but we got a lot accomplished. 

debs n troy 

kat and liz 

lopaka and debs 

liz, deccy, simon, debs & tam 

 

vultures and sheer khan 

bagheera and baloo (fumie and james) 

the unheated gym was like a homeless shelter 

so i'm not sure exactly what the deal is, but apparently there used to be only white cars in japan, and not even that long ago. they're still extremely popular (along with grey ones) and in any random parking lot at least 75% of the cars will be white or grey. this is in the parking garage in furamachi last night. note: 

ever wonder what my desk looks like? (probably not) anyway, here you have it: my desk at toyoura junior high school. that's matsuura sensei in the background. he's one of the english teachers i teach with. room looks cluttered, eh?  

TAKE MY QUIZ!!!

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/yourquiz.php?quizname=051207003550-372969

thoughts today

sometimes i just randomly think of something and decide to look up about it on the internet. today for some reason i started thinking about a story that i was read when i was little, the lord of the rushy river. it was about a little girl who lived with a wicked woman because her father was away at sea. the woman took the money her father had given her and spent it on herself, leaving the girl hungry, and in rags. one day the girl went down to the river and met a group of swans. the swans took care of her and she left the wicked woman. eventually the girls father returned from sea, and they were reunited. the wicked woman was punished but eventually forgiven when she humbly begged to be their lawful servant.
i think i used to love this story so much as a child because i loved the idea of being raised by swans. i passionately loved all animals and thought it would be incredible to be raised by such magnificantl and elegant creatures.
there is nothing that turns up on an internet search for the story! it was an old book that my grandmother used to have, so i presume it was quite an antique. i assume it is by an english writer. strange that i can't track it down. i though amazon had everything these days.
this morning i was woken by my alarm, from the middle of quite an intense dream. i was definitely not finished with it and therefore the feeling of it is still quite strong in my head. in the dream i was back in thailand again. but i was with different people - i think i was with my friends lindsay, kate and kat (big surprise there). it was rainy season, and so we couldn't go outside. at one point we were thinking to swim, so i looked out the window to see if the sky had cleared at all. i looked toward the ocean and saw waves - big ones... the scene i saw and the image of the ocean was exactly the same as the image of have in my head, the one that has imprinted itself in my memory almost a year ago today. in the dream, however...the water caught up with us and suddenly i was submerged. in front of me was a little boy and he went under. i put my head under water and saw that i could see clearly, almost as if i were in a swimming pool. i looked frantically for the boy and saw that he had dived down, and was swimming toward the bottom. he finally came back up and said that he was trying to save his puppy. that he had also been in the tsunami last year and that his puppy had drowned then. he didn't want it to happen again. suddenly i was standing on land and the little boy was in my arms, and he was sobbing. he didn't have his puppy.

personality test 1

results:
"What does your score mean?
You seem to have a Type B personality. Your personality draws characteristics from each of the other personality types, that is, Type A and Type C. Either you adjust your behavior depending on the situation, or you tend to be moderated in your attitudes. In any case, you are the most balanced of the three personality types. "
http://www.queendom.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi
agree?

career test 1

my results:
Career Inventory Test Results
Extroversion

63%
Emotional Stability

53%
Orderliness

53%
Altruism

40%
Inquisitiveness

20%

"You are an Administrator, possible professions include - government employee, pharmaceutical sales, auditor, computer analyst, technical trainer, project manager, officer manager, factory supervisor, credit analyst, electrical engineer, stockbroker, regulatory compliance officer, chief information officer, construction worker, general contractor, paralegal, industrial engineer, budget analyst, data base manager, funeral director, cook, security guard, dentist. "
electrical engineer? constructon worker? funeral director?
http://similarminds.com/career.html

gift from my student, asami today. she writes me english letters since she's really good. i write her in english back. sometimes she writes to me in japanese to help me practice. she's also a really amazing artist. 

 

 

one of those cheesy things...

TEN FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Esther Rootham
First Screen Name: thrustine
First Pet: a rat named fiona
First Crush: astro boy
First Kiss: with a boy at camp named nick. it was during a canoe trip and we were in a tent playing 'truth dare double dare'. i didn't like it. think i was 12.
First CD: REM, automatic for the people
First Car: mitsubishi minica
First Stuffed animal: hand-knitted doll from my oma
First Job: 'real' job...dishwasher at wimpy's diner (unless you count my paperoutes)
NINE LASTS
Last Beverage: milk
Last Car ride: driving back from the city office where i had to go at lunch and pay the city tax i've owed since september
Last Movie Seen: the new harry potter
Last Phone Call: hiten
Last Cd Played: 'justine's happy hour' from marijke
Last Bubble Bath: thursday!
Last thing you ate: school lunch
Last bad thing you did: how bad are we talking?

EIGHT HAVE YOU EVERS
Have you ever dated one of your best guy friends? no

Have you ever been arrested? nope
Have you ever skinny dipped: yep
Have you ever been on stage? most definitely
Have you ever been in a fist fight: yes. semi. (excluding hockey). i used to be friends with the ultimate bi%$@. we got into a screaming match and started punching each other one night. i was going through my teenage hormonal stage...i won. boy i still can't stand that pshycho.
Have you ever been in love: yes
Have you ever danced naked: don't think so.
Have you ever sang in front of an audience: course!
SEVEN THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW
1. bead necklace i got from an antique shop in sado
2. black bra
3. black underwear
4. beige trainers
5. black pants
6.3 earrings, + nosestud
7. black hoodie
SIX THINGS YOU'VE DONE TODAY
1. listened to hail pelting the clay roof of my apartment
2. sat in front of my gas heater and drank my morning coffee
3. checked my email
4. had a meeting with a teacher for our next 3rd grade class together
5. prepared for 2 classes on monday
6. filled out this quiz

FIVE FAVORITE THINGS IN NO ORDER
1. getting photos printed
2. watch movies in my pajamas
3. snuggling with my love
4. travelling
5. tea and conversation with close friends

THREE CHOICES
1. Black or White: black
2. Hot or Cold: Weather - warm, drinks - hot
3. Chocolate or Vanilla: chocolate

TWO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
1. travel as much as possible
2. start a family

ONE THING YOU REGRET
1. i try not to regret anything

1. What is your full name now? Justine Berber Anbeek
2. What colour pants are you wearing? Black dress pants
3. What are you listening to right now? 2 different teachers talking on the phone...have you ever noticed how some of them talk REALLY loudly? HAI! UN! UN! UN! SOOOO NONDERO! SO DESU NE! AHHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! UN! UN! HA! HA! ANO... HAAAAAAAIIII!!!! YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU!!!!!
4. What was the last thing you ate? school lunch
5. Do you wish on stars? on the first one
6. If you were a crayon what what colour would you be? stupid ass question
7. How is the weather right now? dark and bitter
8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? hiten
9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? YES!
10. How old are you today? 26
11. Favourite drink? i could murder a caramel machiato right now
12. Favourite Sport? hockey
13. Hair colour? brown
14. Siblings? Nicolas Picolous and Marijke Jane
15, Favourite food? fresh baked bread with peanut butter
16. What was the last movie you watched? harry potter and the goblet of fire
17. Favourite day of the year? don't think i have one.
18. What was your favourite toy as a child? stuffed raccoon named rocky my dad won at a carnival..."rocky raccoon...stepped into his room, only to find gideon's bible...rocky had come, equipped with a gun, to shoot off the legs of his rival.."
19. What's your favourite, summer or winter? Summer
20. Hugs or kisses? yes please
21. Chocolate or vanilla? chocolate
25. Living arrangements? me and yosuke. we get along most of the time...except for when he rises early and makes all that damn NOISE!
26. When was the last time you cried? bout a week ago
27. What is under your bed? tatami mats
28. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Esther
29. Favourite smell? mosquito repellent, burning wood, bbq, vanilla
30. Favourite TV show? don't have one
31. Happy in life? yes? correct answer?
32. What are you afraid of? what i'm going to do when i get home to canada
33. Butter or salted popcorn? both
34. Favourite car? whatev
35. Favourite flower? forget-me-nots and those big, tall blue ones i don't know the name of
37. How many years at your current job? one and a half
38. Favourite day of the week? Saturday
39. What did you do on your last birthday? had thanksgiving dinner with the entire cast and crew of A Jungle Tale
40. How many places have you lived in? 3...canada, holland, japan
41. Do you make friends easily? Yes

another bad class...

taught one of the worst ni-nensei classes today. there is a particularily awful group of boys who all sit together at the left of the class. i still don't know why they don't practice separation in this country...if they can't kick the kids out of class, at least separate them from their friends who are also such bad influences on them...
the boys caused a lot of problems today...at one point two of them were locked in the closet with three of them holding the doors closed. one of the helping teachers went over and tried to sort it out, spoke quite firmly to them and tried to remove them from the front of the closet. she is only pint-sized and one boy reared up and pushed her back...she stumbled back. right before the class ended she was also pushed across the room. as i walked back to the teacher's room with the two JTEs, they both hung their heads in shame and looked as though they were going to cry. what can be done? i don't know. at least i only have to teach this class every couple of weeks, where they're teaching it about 3 times a week.
on a side note, none of the students payed attention to anything and thus didn't learn a thing, despite my having prepared 3 activities for them.

story (part 5)

And they flew over land and they flew over sea, until at last in the far distance they saw the Castle standing on its twelve golden pillars. But all the doors and windows were fast shut and barred, for, see you, the servant-master who had run away with it had gone out for the day a-hunting, and he always bolted doors and windows while he was absent lest some one else should run away with it.
Then Jack was puzzled to think how he should get hold of the golden snuff-box, until the little mouse said:
"Let me fetch it. There is always a mouse-hole in every castle, so I am sure I shall be able to get in."
So it went off, and Jack waited on the eagle’s wings in a fume; till at last mousekin appeared.
"Have you got it? " shouted Jack, and the little mousie cried:
"Yes!"
So every one rejoiced exceedingly, and they set off back to the palace of the King of all the Birds, where Jack had left his horse; for now that he had the golden snuff-box safe he knew he could get the Castle back whenever he chose to send the three little red men to fetch it. But on the way over the sea, while Jack, who was dead tired with standing so long, lay down between the eagle’s wings and fell asleep, the mouse and the eagle fell to quarrelling as to which of them had helped Jack the most, and they quarrelled so much that at last they laid the case before the frog. Then the frog, who made a very wise judge, said he must see the whole affair from the very beginning; so the mouse brought out the golden snuff-box from Jack’s pocket, and began to relate where it had been found and all about it. Now, at that very moment Jack awoke, kicked out his leg, and plump went the golden snuff-box down to the very bottom of the sea!
"I thought my turn would come," said the frog, and went plump in after it.
Well, they waited, and waited, and waited for three whole days and three whole nights; but froggie never came up again, and they had just given him up in despair when his nose showed above the water.
"Have you got it?" they shouted.
"No!" says he, with a great gasp.
"Then what do you want?" they cried in a rage.
"My breath," says froggie, and with that he sinks down again.
Well, they waited two days and two nights more, and at last up comes the little frog with the golden snuff-box in its mouth.
Then they all rejoiced exceedingly, and the eagle flew ever so fast to the palace of the King of the Birds.
But alas and alack a day! Jack’s troubles were not ended; his mother’s curse was still bringing him ill-luck, for the King of the Birds flew into a fearsome rage because Jack had not brought the Castle of the golden pillars back with him. And he said that unless he saw it by eight o’clock next morning Jack’s head should come off as a cheat and a liar.

one must wonder how by 11:44 am i've already updated so much today...

thanks to kat's brilliant advisory i added a tracker at the bottom of the page. it will count how many hits to my site (one, per visit). unfortunately it only starts adding from today so i can't see how many i've had for the past year...but still cool, deshou!

you know what i hate most about unheated buildings?

when i have to wash my hands in the bathroom. they have no 'hot water' taps. and the water which comes out is icicle cold. my fingers are cramping up now. i've had two colds in one month. BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS! GEMME OUTTA HERE!

 

my favouritest little girl 

 

it's DARK!

8:11am. december 02. on the way to work this morning i felt as though it were about 5am. it's so dark out today! and cooooold. it's friday which means another elementary school day for me. i don't think they have the heat on in the teacher's room. i'm still wearing my scarf and my fingers are having trouble typing these words as they are sticks of icicles.
this is i think my favourite shogakkou because the teacher's are so friendly. they always seem to be laid back, and in a good mood, and very friendly with each other. they all eat lunch together at a table on one side of the teacher's room, and afterwards we all have tea together. the students (especially the older ones) can be quite rowdy, but overall they are alright. today i'm doing a christmas lesson (one which i didn't plan). we will be singing 'jingle bells'..."oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open slay..." (how the hell are they going to learn that when they struggle with the 'hello song'? also i'll be teaching the vocabulary of 'paper, hold, line, scissors, cut, open, star, tree, snowman' to make paper shapes.
no play rehearsal this weekend, which i am thankful for. however i will be going to the niigata women's college for their twice anual 'english day'. i meet with small groups of students, do a presentation, and they will interview me.
tomo-chan's back from the states and my studying with her has resumed. (photos below).