It's cold

Samui

Year of Requirement Part 20

I mentioned that my home, pre-renovation, lacked air conditioning. Post renovation, it had air conditioning in the living room, but none in any of the other rooms. In winter, I had an electric space heater in my new room.

The school didn’t have climate control, either. Air conditioning consisted of an open window. It was considered rude to fan yourself during class, though everyone did it when the teacher had his back to us. This happened quite a bit because school ran into mid-July, unlike the US.

Heat came from a kerosene space heater. The duty person (it rotated through all 42 kids in the class) had to go to the custodian’s office every morning, get the plastic tank of kerosene, and fill the heater tank.

Kerosene cost money (duh). The JHS principal announced that the kerosene heaters were not to be used until January. An exception was made for the third year students, because he didn’t want them to catch cold before their entrance exams. Then my homeroom teacher said that we should follow the rules set for the other years because it wouldn’t be fair and we should be setting an example for the underclassmen, plus the cold would help us focus.

My friends from Suburbia would have probably made fun of me for complaining of the cold because it hardly ever got below freezing, but part of the problem was clothing. You could only wear the uniform, and the uniform didn’t allow for sweaters, plus I had to wear a skirt, not pants. This was in the mid 80s, so I couldn’t wear Uniqlo Heat Tech leggings with black socks and pretend they were tights, partly because they didn’t exist (I think Uniqlo was already selling clothes in Hiroshima, but it would be several more years before they became a thing), and partly because if you wore tights, they were supposed to be flesh toned. The cold turned my lips an ugly blue color, more fodder for kids disappointed that I wasn’t tall and pretty and long-haired. I spent breaks near the window trying to soak the warmth from the sunlight, which was only partially effective because it was time for the next class by the time I got warm.

Then came winter vacation and then January, and the teacher let us use the kerosene heater. It was hot near the heater and cold away from it. You hoped your seat would be near the middle of the room where the temperature was reasonable.

I found out a few years ago that the classrooms in my old JHS now have air conditioning. I am happy for the kids, but also slightly jealous.

Entrance Examination System

Nyushi Seido

Year of Requirement Part 19

I should probably mention that in winter, there was an actual speech contest, in which participants would speak in Japanese. However, it was supposed to be a personal statement and it wasn’t about presentation. A classmate who said stuff about being raised by a single mom who saved money so that she could pay the admission fee for high school was chosen as the rep. It was a nicely put-together heartwarming story, but she had zero presentation skills.

In case this wasn’t clear yet, I didn’t like Pumpkin Junior High School. I didn’t mind the uniform or the rules. It was the company, or lack thereof. There was a group of girls I hung out with but I couldn’t really relate to any of them, not the way I could with my friends in Suburbia. I was actually looking forward to the high school entrance exam. It would mean new people that might actually understand where I was coming from, or at least try to understand, and it would be the next step toward the career I wanted. When I mentioned this, people looked at me the same way they looked at me when I said my favorite subject was math, which was the same way they would have looked at me if I’d said I wanted to have major surgery without anesthesia.

You could only apply to one public high school. Your homeroom teacher would steer you toward the school that you actually had a chance of getting into based on your transcript and your practice test scores, but from there, it was up to you to score high (enough) on the exam, which was a one-shot deal of five subjects (Japanese, Math, Science, Social Studies, and English) taken over a period of one day (this was back in the mid 80’s. Later, they added an interview and spread the test over two days).

Another way to get into a school was suisen nyugaku which roughly translates into “entrance on recommendation.” Kids who were really good at sports or got lots of awards for art or writing or whatever or were exceptionally talented in any way got in this way, but this was only available in some schools. _The exam was just an interview, and they chose students based on their transcripts and relevant accomplishments. Usually, the purpose was to get kids good at sports into schools that were strong in sports. Since I was neither good at sports or interested in focusing on sports in HS, this information was not relevant to me.

Since you could, of course, fail to get into the public school of your choice, a lot of kids applied for private schools as well (sometimes more than one). For most kids, this was the “safety school” that you were sure to get into. (It was the first choice school in rare cases. Of course, if you were from Tokyo or Osaka or thereabouts, your first choice school was frequently a private school. But Pumpkin City is in the boonies and the top public school was the most competitive.)

If you were accepted to the private school, you paid the admission fee for the private high school and sat the public high school exam, and then, if you didn’t get into the public high school, you’d go to the private school. If you got into the public high school, you (or rather, your parents) had to give up the admission fee as lost. I thought this was absurd and I opted not to choose a safety school. I thought my parents couldn’t afford it. I knew enough about how this whole thing worked to see that pretty much my only chance of having any of the careers I wanted (I wanted to be either a lawyer or a diplomat or what I am now) was to get into my first choice school.

It was a risky move. If I wasn’t accepted, the next chance I would have to sit the exam would be one year later. (There were private prep courses for that. It was rare but not exceptionally so. I know a couple people personally who did this in HS.)

Admissions to all schools involved academic transcripts and personal information like attendance records and extracurriculars and competitions. I had almost perfect attendance (the one day I was absent, the teacher looked around and said, ‘She’s absent? Really? Maybe it’ll snow tomorrow” AND THEN IT REALLOY SNOWED) and I did drama club and I’d won that “speech” contest. But the transcript…well, the transcript. I was behind in Japanese language (of course) and didn’t get the hang of memorizing details in Japanese (I was all right with doing it in English, but not Japanese) until the 2^nd trimester, and I had a 3 (C) in P.E. and Home Ec and Art. The girls in my glass trying to get into the same school had better grades than I did.

So, a test (or five tests, depending on how you count) was going to determine my future. This was extremely annoying. But the world (or even just Pumpkin Prefecture) did not the way some fifteen-year-old wanted.

* If you’re into Japanese anime or manga, you may have noticed that most of the HS stories take place in private schools. This is because private schools will tend to have the diverse student body of jocks, brains, geeks, rich kids, poor kids and creative types both male and female (or trans, let’s not judge here, although they are unlikely to be outside their biological gender, not in a Japanese HS, and even less likely so in the mid 80s) all in the same building. Public schools are sports/ vocational or academic in an assortment of levels, and the student body is not nearly as diverse (although it tends to be more diverse in the boonies like Pumpkin City than in Tokyo). And unlike honors and AP in American HSs, you can’t be in standard one year and honors the next. You’re in that school campus you graduate.

Day four (Happy New Year)

Yokkame (Akemashite Omedetougozaimasu)

So far...

1) I did about 20 minutes worth (of about 12 hours) of that online course today. Yes, New Year's Day and I'm doing an online course between fixing food and picking up after the kids. I lead such an exciting, accomplished life.

2) No sewing yet. I would be doing it now, but the Pumpkin Princess has been sent to her room for doing something minor that I clearly asked her not to do, so maybe not today.

3) The kitchen fan is clean. So is the main compartment of the refrigerator, and half the kitchen counters. Found some interesting things in the fridge, like drinks with expiration dates from 2011 or thereabouts (it was made before the 3-11 Quake!).

4) Weeds pulled, but soil not turned or fertilized.

5) Roux cubes made. I regret not making a bigger batch.

6. Ran 6k twice. I felt really heavy so I stepped on a scale and found out that I was 2 kg heavier than I thought I was. This probably happened over the last month and a half, when the running lapsed and I let go with the nighttime snacks and nightcaps. I hope I can fix this at least a little bit, because I've developed a gut and it gets in the way when I try to move.

7. Made five different dishes for New Year's (This counteracts the 2 kg I'm trying to work off, doesn't it?). I'm impressed with myself because this is some kind of new record for me. Mashed sweet potatoes with chestnuts, vinegared burdock, octopus and cucumber marinated in miso, date-maki (a kind of rolled omelette), and fish roe in fish cake.

So, Happy New Year, and let's hope for world peace (as opposed to what happened in Aleppo) and international understanding (as opposed to Brexit and the Neo-Naziism going on in the US and Europe and has always been around in this country). Hey, if you're reading this, you're probably gaining some level of international understanding, aren't you?

Day one

Ichinichi-me

Not bad. Today, I--

-got out of bed at six after hemming and hawing for an hour, and ran 6k

-reviewed some English proficiency test prep stuff with the Pumpkin Princess for an hour

-pulled the dead plants out of the flower bed. I still have to fertilize and turn the soil, though. I also noticed the dead plants in the pots I have on the front steps.

-chucked the dead potted plant in the bathroom and replaced it with a mason jar of ivy cuttings

-bought rubber gloves for cleaning the kitchen fan and hair dye

-made hummus with yuzu from my neighbor's yard

-made pressure cooker chicken stock from the Christmas chicken, made curry with half, and saved the rest for tomorrow's soup

Hoping I don't burn out tomorrow!

New Years' Plans

Shougatsu no yotei

The New Year holiday is six days this year. It's shorter than usual, and the same as last year. I don't do New Year's resolutions, but I do do New Year Holiday goals, because if I don't I'll spend the entire time in the internet vortex besides the occasional moody emergence to fix meals (Why. Do. They. Ask. For. Food. Three. Times. A. Day) and reluctantly interact with relatives.

So my goals are:

1. Do an online course on a work-related topic. I found this website a couple years ago. The course was good, and I promised myself I'd come back. Guess what happened? So, I'm setting myself up to actually do this and get this done. It's supposed to take 8 to 12 hours. If I don't finish, at least I will have a good start for the New Year.

2. Make a drawstring backpack with the Pumpkin Princess. She bought a kit from school so that we could make it over winter vacation.

3. Clean kitchen fan.

4. Prep flower bed for planting (pull dead plants and fertilize). Yes, it's December. Yes, the plants all died in September.

5. Make roux cubes. Frozen cubes of roux make corn chowder and mac and cheese easy. I ran out of cubes in October and never got around to making a new batch.

6. Run x3 x2  x1 Hopefully 8k at least once.

7. Minimal New Year's cooking. I want to make, at the very least, an egg dish, and hopefully a couple more items.

OK, that's the plan. If (and I said if) I run tomorrow, it's going to count as having run during the New Year Holiday.

(eta: I also need to color my hair.)

(edited on the 29th: ran 6k and pulled weeds)

Untitled

Mudai

Dear body,

Thank you for giving me all those nice things to eat during that work trip (Pizza! Ribs! Tacos! Middle Eastern food), and letting me eat all those nice things for Christmas. I decided to return the favor by having us go running. You are very important to me and I want to look out for you.

So, I don't really think it's right of you to protest so much. It was only 5 k, and I'd run the same distance exactly one week before. It's not like I hadn't run for a whole month, which is what happened a week before. I get that that wasn't fun. I'm being understanding about the soreness from that time. But today? No. Just, no.

In the future, I hope you will be more appreciative of my efforts to take care of you. You should be thanking me, not giving me grief.

Because the KFC whole roast chicken was delicious, and I'd like for us to be around to enjoy it for years to come.

Kisses,
Pumpkinmommy.

Bad luck

Un ga warui

The ATM I use is a booth with an automatic glass door. The door has a design with the bank logo painted on it for privacy/ security. Today I needed the ATM for multiple tasks, but I was ready to step out and get into the end of the line if one formed. I’m always annoyed when someone hogs the ATM, so, I’m careful not to do it myself.Every time I made a transaction, I turned around to check if someone was waiting for me to finish. Every time, I saw no one, so I kept going and did everything I wanted to do, very pleased with my good luck.

When I stepped out, there was a woman giving me the stink-eye. I apologized, and wondered how I hadn’t seen her. Then I realized she was slightly shorter than me and the perfect height to be completely obscured from my view by the stripe painted on the glass door. I pondered the potential effect of suggesting to the woman to switch banks to one whose window design would make her more conspicuous to ATM users and decided against it.