I seriously LOVE Lindsay Lohan!

I know that I haven't posted in about 6 years, but who better to jolt me back to life than the Lohan herself? Her life is more dramatic than a Telenovela and I love it!

The Lohan gets out of rehab and just a few days later is arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license and possesion of narcotics! Basically it appears that Lohan went batshit after an argument with her assistant and ended up in a car chase with her through Santa Monica! Somehow Lohan ended up chasing the mother of her assistant and was pulled over after the woman called 911. Lohan's blood alcohol level was between 0.12 and 0.13 (the legal limit is 0.08) and was found with cocaine in her pocket!

Apparently Lohan attempted to blame another passenger in the car by stating to police that 'the black kid' was driving..yeah way to dig an even bigger hole. She is also reported to have told passengers in the car 'I can't get in trouble. I'm a celebrity. I can do whatever the fuck I want.'

Since the incident everyone has chimed in with their opinion, including her mother Dina Lohan, estranged father Michael Lohan and even Britney Spears, because she is so qualified to pass judgement on others.

It looks like Lindsay will be facing jailtime, and you know that she won't spend her time writing letters to fans with drawings of unicorns and happy flowers like Paris Hilton. The Lohan is badass, she'll pair up with a 500 pound inmate named 'Momma Knuckles' and attack other inmates in the showers if they refuse to trade their Marlboro Reds for protection.

Katsuyuki and I

Celestial Child: Gion Matsuri

Each year, a young boy is chosen from among Kyoto's wealthiest merchant families to act as a sacred page, an intercessor between the gods and the priests presiding over one of Japan`s most famous festivals: Kyoto's Gion Matsuri. At the culmination of the month long event, the Chigo, or "celestial child", rides in the Naginata Hoko, the first float in a long procession of 32, dressed in ceremonial Shinto robes. In order for the procession to begin, the boy must cut through a "shimenawa" , or sacred rope, with a single stoke of a sword.

Here he leads a procession of omikoshi, or portable shrines, through the streets of Gion on horseback. As a god, he is not permitted to touch the ground. He is carried inside the teahouses to give his blessing.

Behind him, Japan's most famous teahouse, the Ichiriki.

Gion Matsuri is a traditional festival which has been held at Yasaka Shrine for over 1,100 years. The festival was first held in 869, when a plague swept the country. People believed it was a curse of the diety Gozu Tenno. Sixty-six pikes representing the provinces at that time were erected at Shinsen-en Garden. The gods of Gion were celebrated and portable shrines were paraded through the streets as the people prayed for an abatement of the pestilence. Then known as Gion Goryo, the festival actually began as a ceremonial rite for the dead killed by the plagues.

Back in Kyoto

It's that time again...Gion Matsuri! I'll be in Kyoto until Wensday. This picture was taken during last year's festival when, by chance, I was invited to meet Mamechiho by a young American exchange student's host family (as his interpreter).

Let's hope the rain holds off for what could be my last Gion Matsuri for a long time... (ioi)

My Last Elementary Visit

A thousand tiny paper cranes and books full of letters from my Oi Elementary students. Usually students write short messages on shikishi, but my 5th and 6th grade classes insisted they needed more space. Instead they wrote me letters which the teacher bound up into little books.

After bursting the flood gates during my last day at the Beautiful Mountain School, I knew my last day at elemntary would be tough. When I first came to Ena as an ALT, I visited 16 different schools. Usually I went to a different school everyday, which made getting to know the teachers and students very difficult. I mostly visited elementary schools, which was fun at first, but soon became very taxing. Often the teachers at the school forgot to prepare for my visit, without asking me to prepare something, and I was thrown into classrooms of almost 40 students with minimal Japanese and no teaching ability. Many times the teachers walked out, sat down and read a book, or stood in the corner , completely detatched from the chaos that would ensue.

For the past year and a half, however, I have been assigned to 3 main schools, including one elementary: Oi Sho. I've always loved it there. The teachers are kind and cheerful, helpful during and interested in the lessons, and the students are genki and adorable. Before I began my lessons there, the students would see an ALT maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I was fortunate enough to begin teaching there once a week, and the incredible progress the students made before my eyes astounded and encouraged me. I learned a lot during my first year as an elementary ALT, and from the start at Oi I planned my own lessons and activities. I was always in charge of the class, and the students always participated and enjoyed the lessons. I really began looking forward to my visits, even though I would continually stress about the lessons and activities I planned. Students would often come talk to me during free time, recess and after school, trying to use the English they had learned. I realized that just having an ALT in the school on a regular basis makes a huge difference to the students, motivating them to speak in English and giving them a genuine chance to do so. The relationship the ALT has with the students is the biggest motivating factor of all. If the students like the ALT, and feel close to them, regardless of how little interest they have in English, they will try to learn and use it.

My experiences at Oi Elementary have been some of the most challenging, rewarding and fun of my JET career. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know the children there and to make so many beautiful little friends. I will never forget them.

The Oi's Outdoor Soji Crew, including the famous "Monkey Man" (front and center).

5th graders... 3rd graders...
2nd graders...

Shrine O' Love: Jishu Jinja

World reknown traveler Joseph (of Mary-and-Joseph-hand-puppet-theater acclaim) and I try our luck at Kiyomizudera's Jishu-jinja, decidated to Okuninushino-Mikoto, the god of love and "good matches". You can read more about Joseph's adventure in Kyoto here.

With less than a month left as a JET, I am: busy, sleep-deprived, and in denial. Ganbarimasu!