May 1998 - email5
From: Gary Ploski
5/13/98 22:47
Subject: zannen desu ne!
To: me

        I'm gonna miss this... I'm presently watching a show that is documenting/interviewing the Jamaican National Soccer Team. The players are having just as much fun as the commentators. This is crazy funny! The players are winning $100 if they hit the post from 25 yards out. If the ball hits the post and goes into the goal.... they get $500!!!!  So far 4 ppl have hit the post, but have yet to put it into the goal on the deflection.

        This is GREAT! Now the National Team is competeing against the Japanese Commentators..... in a PK match!!!!  1-0, JPN... Ewwwwww, nice try by the keepa, but now it's 1-1. ni-hon-me.... GOAL!!!!  2-1... 2-2. Eww, this is heating up. Same dude?! HUH?! Same guy that shot the first shot... He keeps answering questions with "yessss". His name, is NORI. TAKANAKA!??! Is that you? san-bon-me..... UHHH>.. commercial.

        Ok, Today I was witness to changes in class. Parents were allowed into classes. Only mothers came though... a sign of the times. Uhh... SAVE!!!! SAVEEEE SAVEE!!!! Nice save keepaaaa. next up... Jamaica. Keeper vs keeper.. and the keeper wins!! 2-3. yon-hon-me... GOAL!!!! 3-3. Wait.. what's this? SAVED by the keepaaaaaa!!!! Nope, the shooter missed. 3-3.  5-hon-me. straight on and saved. and of course.... a commercial.

        Ok the students. They were so quiet cause they were nervous and it was English. What a topper. During class, one of the teachers that rarely uses Japanese in class, broke into Japaese for lots of the class. I told him and he said "Oh, really. Ok, thank you for telling me." When I tried to do something that I had done before... GOAL!!!!!!! 4-3 Jamaica wins! He acted like he was surprised. I did the same thing 2 hours earlier. HUH?

        Everyone was kissing up to the parents. I took part in a way... I was SUPER GENKI!!! I was havin FUN, FUN, FUN! Unfortunately my cohort, was a little bit more reserved than normal. Usually he just laughs at what I do in class. Guess the pressure changed that in a way that my changing of voices to accomodate the role I was to fill didn't pass with him. Ya see, I was to be Mrs. Light - an older British woman. So, I thought I'd have fun with it, again. zannen desu ne. bummer uh.

        That was today's experience. I have been noticing something about myself over the past week or so. I've been on an extreme rollar coaster. I've been on the kiddie ride for a long time, but "Black Widow" has somehow become the ride of choice for my life. If you don't know what the "Black Widow" is, zannen desu ne.  : )  I'll tell you after, after I bring you to RIVERSIDE PARK and put you in front of a roller coaster that goes from left to right. Only for a very short period of time as well.

        That isn't the key focal point though. In the middle is a looooop, that's what I've been doing recently. One side is the US, the other JPN. The middle is the insanity. Oy vey. Taihen desu yo. It's a little different from the up/down roller coaster. It's just as cofusing though, maybe more so cause I don't know where I am in respect to mental wishes... in JPN or in the US. A tough thing. zannen again. ganbaru!

        So days have been passing in which I will go to do something and wish oh so much that it would be like that in the states. Then moments later, I'm comfortable just sitting in my apt. thinking things in Japanese, about the Japanese and about Japan.  Only moments later, you get the point I think. There are fun times, but I see those happening primarily on the weekend. I think I've concluded that the AET position is not anything what I want to do for any length of time. THat time includes now I think. I'm not sure, it seems to change daily.

        What do I do? Nani o shimasuka. kotaewa.... nandemonai. It's all I can do. I've just got to live and live some more. I'm gettin stuff out of my visit, but what I feel is that it's limited to the time I can spend outside of school. I'll only do what I can... unfortunately I know that incorprates just about anything... namely - everything. We all can do that - everything. ahhhhh. How could it be so easy? Who knew?

        WEATHER REPORT --- I am presently going to ASAKA DAI GO-CHUGAKO. What does that mean? It means.... ame o furimasu!!! ITSUMO!!!!! Honto da yo! Shinjararenai!  Anyway, sorry about that. It's raining! Everytime I go to go-chu it rains. It's just like the morning sun - it will happen. Well, there's something for those of you that have been reading fromt eh begining. hehe.

        Well, as 'time goes by' (the title of the Every Litte Thing CD -- Thanks MA!!) I can only keep my head up and try to rid myself of any and every ounce of stress. NOTE - to releave stress in your life find some sort of group activity to enroll in... v-ball, b-ball, soccer, softball, etc. It helps to relieve stress. I would know cause I havn't played v-ball in about a month and DAMN were my muscles sore about a week ago.

        I relaxed a LOTTTTTT and it seemed to relieve that stress that was in my body, it felt good when I was able to see without squinting. I had a slight eye-migrain(second time - 1st was at TPU my last year sometime around this time of year. sense a trend?)  Gotta do what you gotta do. I'm doing what I feel will work, and it seems to have worked so far. I'm in Japan right. : ) YOKATA!!!

        By the way if anyone wants to sell you fish on a Tuesday afternoon and you're not sure if the prices are good... contact Yorick Brown at yorick@yorick.org  He's got his own organization, who knew he was doin so well. : )  Check it out. Yorick has got the latest and greatest available for you and for everyone else out there. moshi dekiru -- TRUST ME.

        Soon my friend, soon. I've been asked way to many times. Please get a pen and calender before you read on. Have you gotten a pen yet? Ahhh, gewd, how bout a calender? hmmmmm? That's the important thing. Go for it... I'll wait. (30 secs pass. seriously!!!)  Sometime during the first... do you have a pen and calender? ...full week of August. THat's between the 2-8 (sun-sat). I'll probably be in realistically toward the middle of that week, so if you want to contact me you've got the dates.

        Regaring email. Thought I'd mention it breifely. No worries at all. If you want to email me... send it to the same address I gave you so many months ago =  me    Use that address and I'll get your email. Honto ni! Dozo, send away. till then all you crazy ppl, my fingers have begun to grow extentions to make this typing thing faster. WOOO scary! KOWAI! AHHHHH!! Help! ok, before this really happens. have a crazy day. ciao cito
- posted by garyploski @ 5/13/1998 09:17:00 PM