Just some random thoughts, lest the blog become stagnant.

Has anyone else noticed something peculiar about the minty chewing gum industry? Remember back in the day when they were all going nuts about how chewing Trident/Dentyne/whatever would help to PREVENT cavities? Nowadays, if you look carefully, they proudly display the fact that this gum 'Does Not Cause Cavities'. What the heck. Next they'll be selling us with, 'Does Not Cause Dizziness, Headaches, Back-pain, or Diarria' (P.S. Does ANYBODY know how to spell 'Diaghrria properly??)
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The other day after school I was biking towards an intersection when a kid I passed shouted 'Oh! Ken!' So I looked back and waved and when I looked forward again, the flashing green man had turned to a solid red hand and a whole bunch of my students were all there to see me run through a stop-signal. Sigh. This probably made the news at many a dinner table conversation, and I will probably be fired for it.
Japan is a very letter-of-the-law society and most Japanese pedestrians will wait at a deserted crosswalk until the light turns green even if they were the last people on earth. This is in stark contrast to certain people I know in Canada, who shall remain nameless, who will routinely ACCELERATE through familiar stop signs when no cars are coming (ryan baer). What? Who said that?

However, as evidence of the changing times, I am seeing more and more rebellious youth and adult alike darting furtively across an empty street EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT SAYS STOP.
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I made an extremely delicious meal from scratch. It consisted of stir fried veggies and fried beef strips with some delish spices and melted cheese and ground flax seeds and yoghurt and brown rice. I do this kind of thing all the time.
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Just to show you how awesome my supervisors at the ol' Board of Education (BOE) office are, I was sick this past week with a nagging cold and cough. So Kawamura-san brought me a steaming cup of GINGER & HONEY TEA to my desk, just like my Mom made back home! Wow!