It's pouring today. A typhoon is moving through. This morning I beat the rain to work but coming back this afternoon I biked for 20 minutes in a downpour. I find it rather fun as long as I remember to bring the appropriate gear with me--jacket, rain pants, a plastic bag for my bookbag, etc. I also have my hair cut really short so I just have a hand towel I use to wipe my head off. I can't stand putting the hood on my jacket up when I am riding. I loose a lot of peripheral vision that way and feel extremely vulnerable to cars. Anyway, fun fun.

Today I had an interesting pre-class conversation with one of my teachers. Here's how it went.
Nozawa-sensei--"Today we will do a lesson on Snoopy."
Me--"Uh, ok."
Nozawa--"Do you know Snoopy?"
Me--"Uh, well, yeah, sort of. Charlie Brown, right?"
Nozawa--"Ah! Yes! Charlie Brown......What do you think of Snoopy?"
Me--"Uuuhhhh.....well......"
Nozawa--"Just a cartoon?"
Me--"Ah, yeah. Just a cartoon."

Now, I show you this conversation not to make fun of Nozawa or Snoopy, but rather to illustrate the strange questions that ALTs sometimes get asked over here. That, and to make the point clear that you (we) must be ready (although that is impossible) for anything at any time. I've been asked about the war in Iraq, about what I thought of Japan before I came here, about my marriage plans, about different food, different songs, movies, sports, different events in history, about my favorite English word, and today, about Snoopy (and I am probably forgetting many of them). Usually the questions are about legitimate stuff, sometimes they are hard to answer, occasionally they are damn funny, and a few times I have wondered what the person asking me this strange question was thinking. But hell, it's fun and good to show some of these people that we, of countries far away, are human too.

That is all for now.