Bizarre Teaching Moment #8:The Most Dangerous Game

~This bizarre teaching moment occurred today during yet another class with my beetle-catching gun maniac student (who is actually far more mild-mannered than those words would seem to indicate). Today's lesson was about buildings in a town and methods of transportation. During a review of the vocabulary, he repeated the word, "park", and I asked him if he liked to go to the park. He said yes, but a strange thing happened when I asked him "Why?".

I was expecting him to say something along the lines of "baseball" or "beetle collecting". I should have known better. His response to my question was immediate: "Survival game!". Was that some kind of tag game, I asked? "No," he said, proudly adding, "Air gun!".

^ Air guns are quite popular in Japan. There are several air gun shops in Nagaoka, but unlike in America, there are no real gun shops (such as Wal-Mart) due to very strict firearms laws. Their appearances mimic those of actual firearms down to the finest detail, except that they use compressed air to fire ammunition.

Once, a mildly inebriated friend accidentally shot me in the head with an air gun, and it hurt like hell! Besides, anyone who's seen the movie "Home Alone" knows how much a shot from an air rifle can hurt, especially in a "sensitive" area...

I spent a minute quizzing my student about his "Survival Game". He told me that he and his friends wear goggles when playing (thank goodness for that!), but no other protective gear. If you're shot, it's "Game Over" for you. While he was explaining that to me, all I could think of was this:

^ The Most Dangerous Game is a classic short story by Richard Connell. In the story, the hero falls overboard his yacht and ends up on a mysterious island inhabited by a wealthy hunter. The hunter, bored with hunting animals, considers humans the only worthy prey to hunt, and forces the castaway to "play" the game. Who prevails? You'll have to read it for yourself to find out! ~Oyasumi.

Dare I Ask?

~While walking around Nagaoka station, I noticed that a strange...something has been placed near the main entrance. For the life of me, I can't guess what it is. Here's a picture:

^ Is this some kind of doghouse? A wishing well, perhaps? And what's with the doll on the left? I honestly have no idea. The katakana over the "entrance" reads "Tooa..." followed by some kanji that is unrecognizable to me. Seeing this made me think, "Nan des ka??" (What is it?).

Does anyone care to venture a guess as to the purpose of this object? ~Oyasumi!

Market Day

~Once a week in Nagaoka, the downtown area is closed off to traffic and the street is lined with temporary market stalls. The stalls have many different things for sale; among them are fish, vegetables, fruit, clothes, flowers, and slippers (an important thing to have in Japan). It's a nice change from the usual traffic, and besides, it lets me ride my bicycle to work faster!

^ This road is just off of Ote-dori, the "main street" of Nagaoka leading from the train station to the other side of the city. Ote-dori street is not blocked to traffic, but side roads such as these are.

The day of the week for market day seems to be entirely random--I honestly have no clue how they decide when to set up their stalls. For example, today (Tuesday) was a market day, but I've also seen it on every other weekday. Clearly, some Nagaokans have a schedule set up, but alas, my gaijin eyes are not privy to such secrets.

^ This stand is selling taiyaki, a popular treat in Japan. Taiyaki are small cakes baked to look like fish, filled with sweet red bean paste. Trust me--they tastes better than they sound. The taiyaki at this stand only cost ¥100, which is less than a dollar at current exchange rates. Not bad for a quick snack, although I already had enough food for today's lunch.

^ Perhaps you're in the mood for some fresh fruit? The fruit here costs about the same as what you can buy at the supermarket, but the street market has the advantages of freshness and variety. Ichigo (いちご, strawberries) are crazy expensive in Japan, and this is the best place to buy them fresh in Nagaoka.

^ Or maybe you need a new jacket or shirt? You can pick one up here, along with a selection of shoes, slippers, socks, and other accessories.

The street market caters primarily to residents, not to tourists, as Nagaoka is hardly a prime tourist destination (outside of the summer festival). This means that the products for sale at the street market lean towards the practical rather than the cute. For souvenirs, you'd best wait until the monthly street festivals. So if you plan on visiting me here in Nagaoka, be sure to time your visit well.

~Oyasumi!

You KNOW you want to live in this house

~For those of you who have been following this blog, you know that I like to take pictures of "Japanglish", which is the hilariously incorrect usage of English in Japan. However, there are some Japanese words that sound like English words, and when used in advertisements, the effect is almost as good (bad?). Here's an example, on the side of a construction site:

^ The real-estate and construction company "Sekisui House" builds properties all around Nagaoka. In case you can't figure it out, "Sekisui" sounds like "Sexy" using Japanese pronunciation. I wonder what this "Sexy House" will look like when it's done? Of course, one must take into account the location of the house: directly opposite a middle school.

Sekisui House also sponsors many television programs with commercials. Last night, while I was watching a James Bond movie broadcast in both English and Japanese, and I was amused to hear the announcer bellow "Sponsa no Sexy House!" (Sponsored by Sekisui House) during each commercial break. ~Oyasumi!

Bo-rin-gu

~My coworker Chris (who delivered the hilarious speech in Tokyo) is heading back to England next week, so last Tuesday we had a bowling party with several other friends:

^ We went to a bowling alley named "Dream Bowl Nagaoka". The giant orange bowling pin serves as a convenient landmark (it even shows up on city maps). The word "bowling" in Japanese is pronounced "boringu", which sounds much like the word "boring". Fortunately, the boringu was not boring.

^ Here is yet another strange Japanese vending machine. This one vends...bowling shoes! There are three of these machines in Dream Bowl Nagaoka, each for a different range of shoe sizes. I'm telling you, there's a future for this in America.

The note attached to the machine says that it is unfortunately out of order. Alas, I was denied the opportunity to make use of this mechanical masterpiece, and instead I had to go to the desk, like a normal person. To my joy, I discovered that the shoes at this bowling alley close with velcro. Brilliant!

^ Bowling with friends was a lot of fun. Aside from us, the only other people there practicing for a bowling team. They were wearing uniforms and metal gloves on their right hands that looked like something out of The Terminator.

^ The scoreboard. I'm second from the bottom, although I spelled my name incorrectly in katakana. Rather than "Dei-vi-DO", it says something like, "Dei-wi-DO". Oops. But hey, at least I got a strike.

^ An action shot, complete with a blurry bowling ball. "Sutoraiku desu!" (strike!).

^ This sign shows the weights of the color-coded bowling balls. The katakana reads, "Ball Corner". For some reason, I found the sign amusing.

^ Chris, you will be missed! ~Oyasumi.