Catchall Part 1

So I have a series of random stories that have happened through the last few weeks. I don't have any real good way to tie them together...here we go?

 First off. Japanese fashion is...terrible. It seems that most male fashion in Japan is loosely based on Jack Sparrow, but in an awkward way. Not this guy though. He evidently got into a Delorean that didn't have enough plutonium to get back to the present. You can see that he is wearing: Hammer pants, earing in the left ear, plaid, big Ray-Bans, bowler hat and a the tie to a fancy curtain.

 Thanksgiving was last week, I showed the kids how to make hand turkeys. We wrote all the things we are thankful for on the fingers. I have written sensei (teacher), tabemono (food), tomodachi (friends), and family (family). 

 I found this picture hanging in the hall at one of my elementary schools. The thing in the middle of the rice fields is my small elementary school.

 We get treats at the elementary school when the kids go home... I love the Engrish on the cookie. "The choice raisins are sandwiched in between cookies baked elaborately with fresh milk." Not bad right? I don't really know how you bake a cookie elaborately though...

 Thursday we had a fire drill. Odd right? I was interested in seeing what would happen. Such questions in my mind were "would the kids change their shoes before going outside" and "is this what the helmets in all the classrooms are for?"

 Consequently, during the firedrill, I was left pretty much alone in the staff room. Kind of eerie. I guess I was deemed "non-essential personnel."

 Yes, they do wear the helmets for this. The teachers put on the helmet and lead their students out to line up on the soccer field. Unfortunately for the kids, they were doing this in December...and it was raining. 

They are all into it. They cover their mouths as though there was smoke. You may be asking yourself, as I was, what the kids have on their heads. The kids are wearing their chair cushions on their heads...yeah. Awesome.

 Oh yeah, the tea lady was left to die in the inferno with me. 

 I just thought this was funny. Japan is all about jumpsuits. This brand makes me laugh.

 Today, I had the office manager come up to me and tell me something in unintelligible Japanese. The only words I caught were cafeteria and some pointing. I went to the cafeteria to find this. As near as I could tell from the sashes and the speaking, these are the student body elections. They wanted me to listen, so I did. I passed 3 levels of Angry Birds. Unfortunately, I almost missed the ending stand-up-and-bow.

 My JTE asked me to take over a class for her in the afternoon. We played an awesome game of Jeopardy. Things were going well for about 10 minutes until a student came in, mumbled, and all the students stood up and walked out. Naturally, I followed them down to the first floor where they were voting.

They take it very seriously. It was absolutely silent the room, and this kid would let them in one by one. Democracy at work people. 

In other news, I tried a Tim Tam Slam today for the first time. I was absolutely blown away. Tim Tams are chocolate covered cookie things from Australia. You can find them for a price here in Japan. A Tim Tam Slam is biting both ends off of the Tim Tam and drinking a hot beverage through it. I tried it with hot chocolate. The cookie gets soggy and starts to fall apart as you drink. Before it totally collapses, you pop it in your mouth and experience the best sugary snack I may have ever had. These are my new favorite everything.