Why Japan doesn't stand a chance against N. Korea

Solving problems with neighbors. Trying to get them to say something like "I would ask them to turn down the radio/clean up their yard" etc.

Me: imagine your neighbor has lots of garbage in their yard, it smells really bad, what will you do?

One girl: I will clean it.

The other dude: I will move.

Work related blog

Two more quotes that were pretty funny from yesterday. I was having the class discuss their favorite animals - and why. Something like that shouldn't be this entertaining, but...

"Penguins are so mysterious, you never know what they're thinking." And, "cats have great imaginations."

Margaret T.

Margaret T.
Originally uploaded by terw0015.

Margaret. Pronounced mar-gar-et. Not margret – like it’s spelled. I first met her in the staffroom at work. She started a conversation with me. I don’t remember what she said, I can only guess. Probably something like “hi, I’m Margaret.” All I know is that I rarely start conversations. Details about our first encounter are foggy. Not only was it over a month ago, but I was frantically trying to figure out how to pretend like I speak proper English. I was also wearing a tie which decreases memory by about 25% - studies show. After my first two weeks in Japan, Margaret was my best friend. She helped me buy a cell phone. If she hadn’t, I probably still wouldn’t have one. She brought me to Osaka Castle, told me how to say “ticket” in Japanese and made me sing Bohemian Rhapsody at a karaoke bar. One of her eyes had kind of a squint to it. It was kinda cute and I always wanted to ask her why. But that’s just a strange question I guess. I have a “spock” ear, or as they are called by the new generation of elementary school kids, “hobbit ears.” A little kid in Hawaii pointed out (pun? almost?) that I had a hobbit ear and it wasn’t the most flattering thing. If it wasn’t for the fact that he came up to my knee I would have told him about my hobbit ancestry. Anyway. Margaret was heading home about three weeks after I arrived. And she’s married. So why do I spend all this time getting to know someone who I may never see again in three weeks – and is married? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because she is so cool. Or maybe I am strange. Maybe the rest of the kids at work aren’t the type I would hang out with. Who knows? Either way…. Well let’s just say its cause she is cool, after all, this is her blog. Well I had all this cool stuff to say about her but, I am forgetting it. She keeps interrupting me on MSN. So Margaret, the flattering stuff I had planned to say about you just escaped me. And it’s your fault. So to make a long story short, she is cool even if she single handedly reduced my number of friends in Japan to zero. Oh well. So here you go Margaret, the blog you requested. If anyone else would like a blog dedicated to them, just let me know. Oh yeah, she knows how to play Minesweeper. What a nerd! OK, the end.

My favorite work quote so far. We were talking about getting favors from friends and I was trying to get him to ask his imaginary neighbor to take care of his imaginary cat. “Will you feed me my cat?” I cracked up laughing.

What is this? I don't know

What is this? I don't know
Originally uploaded by terw0015.

Before you start, I already know what you're thinking. We've lost Mark, oh no!!!" But stop, don't worry. So I have 20 dress shirts now and I had 10 regular shirts in four years of high school. Big deal. So two of my dress shirts are pink. Whoopdiddydoda. I am still the same old Mark, except I dress like an idiot. As soon as I get out of the corporate world it's straight back to t-shirts with holes, yellow pits and paint stains. But I haven't changed completely.

Despite my ridiculous wardrobe, I still manage to maintain some typical Mark traits. I do not wash my clothes. My clothes rack is by a permanently open window, so I figure with as many dress shirts as I have, I will just get into a rotation and by the time a shirt gets its second chance it will be clean again. Also, I had difficulty with my belt. All the belts were for little people and they had one huge one, so I got that. I had to punch my own hole in it, I was a little off but it still works. The only problem is it's a little loose and it tends to shift to the side throughout the day. It doesn't actually hold up my pants, it's just for looks I guess.

And finally, I have been here over a month, wearing a tie everyday, and do I know how to tie one? No. I have a diagram bookmarked on my internet, I am 0-1 trying to tie one. I think I’ll just be pulling them over my head for the rest of the year.