I bunked my classes 2day & got myself caught. First thing awaits me tomorrow morning is a nice censure. I have to prepare myself for a presentation this Thursday, I don't like to admit it but I am a little nervous. Some of my classmates gave their presentation 2day and it didn't make me feel any better. Tough days ahead…..
Post how your day was… (NEW)
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@Hercule:
I had a wonderfull day. Met with a nice girl and chatted with her. Hope for more, wish me luck.
Good luck =D I wish the guy I liked noticed me >.<
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It was like totally awesome.
I managed to make an A on my first Comp II paper. I could not believe it because I thought the paper wasn't going to cut it. Later I ran into my Comp I teacher and she told me that making an A in Comp II with this particular professor class is quite a task.
I can't believe it. o_o
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Not too good. My laptop went under again, so now it's back in the tech repair shop exactly one week after I brought it in the first time. Apparently the motherboard somehow conked out while in sleep mode.
Apart from that, a rather drizzly day, compared to the weekend which was kinda warm. I think I'll get a haircut this week…
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I was packing for a move. Hell I really have too much things… I don't know what I should do with my clothes. I just don't have enough boxing left. So, seems like I have to fill trash bags.
And me and my dad were invited for dinner. Schnitzel and potato salad with cucumber. yummy~
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Not too good. My laptop went under again, so now it's back in the tech repair shop exactly one week after I brought it in the first time. Apparently the motherboard somehow conked out while in sleep mode.
Oh god, I know all about that.
I bought my laptop for college, and guess what? The very first day of college it has already messed itself up, and when we sent it in to get fixed they told us it was unfixable so I'd be getting a newer model. Instead I got my old laptop back with new problems - It told me that my copy of Vista was "pirated" (which forced me to 'reset' the whole computer many times, making me lose a bunch of music, games, etc.) and then it started having a very similar problem to the one you mentioned.
For future reference, I can say both from my own and many friend's experiences, putting laptops to sleep is not recommended. Putting my laptop to sleep eventually killed it for good and now I don't have it for college anymore. It also oh so conveniently died right after an extended warranty that HP issued for the model due to all of its known problems ran out.
Trust me, I know all about it. I'll never ever buy another HP ever again. I blew all of my high school graduation money on that stupid thing and it hasn't helped me at all. I see everybody on campus with their laptops using the campus Wi-Fi, and I can't because my stupid worthless laptop.
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:O What did you do?
Well i "took over" youtube
@metteminne:wait, you are admin on youtube?:ninja:
ummm… no but i sort of became one. found a serious flaw which allowed me to edit anyone's video. enjoyed myself for three hours before google finally fixed the bug.
(shameless self brag in spoiler tags)
! alright here are some of screen shots. Look at video names
! 1. Google own channel!
! 2. Look at views!
! 3. Most viewed videos of all times!
! 4. Justin bieber pawned!
! 5. Most viewed channel on youtube!
! well there are others too… but i guess you have an idea :ninja:
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My laptop was messing up so I loaded it in safe mode, shut it down normally, and restarted and everything was fine after that :ermm: .
Now I'm doing my Arabic exercises.
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Oh god, I know all about that.
I bought my laptop for college, and guess what? The very first day of college it has already messed itself up, and when we sent it in to get fixed they told us it was unfixable so I'd be getting a newer model. Instead I got my old laptop back with new problems - It told me that my copy of Vista was "pirated" (which forced me to 'reset' the whole computer many times, making me lose a bunch of music, games, etc.) and then it started having a very similar problem to the one you mentioned.
For future reference, I can say both from my own and many friend's experiences, putting laptops to sleep is not recommended. Putting my laptop to sleep eventually killed it for good and now I don't have it for college anymore. It also oh so conveniently died right after an extended warranty that HP issued for the model due to all of its known problems ran out.
Trust me, I know all about it. I'll never ever buy another HP ever again. I blew all of my high school graduation money on that stupid thing and it hasn't helped me at all. I see everybody on campus with their laptops using the campus Wi-Fi, and I can't because my stupid worthless laptop.
Im surprised my laptop still works despite the screen case being loose and the corner chipped on it …and this laptop is about 1-2 years old:blink:
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It's gonna be hard to resist the chapter 598 spoilers all day.
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This morning @ my school,a 11th grade student hypnotize my classmate,i am just curious how he doing that.
oh God,please let me know his secret,he can controlling other student's mine & make the victim obey with him. -
It's gonna be hard to resist the chapter 598 spoilers all day.
i keep having to reload pages cause there are so many people on this forum. Sparta has fallen upon us.
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Over 900 (no stupid meme allusion intended) users online and I doubt it will be better tomorrow. I can't even imagine how bad it was when there were over 3000.
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RAM compatibility, how I hate thee.
Edit: The website's going all screwy because of all the people looking at spoilers .
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Wow, the website was gone a long time.
@Topic
I was supposed to write a report but I did nothing at all. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day -.- I hate my procrastinating ways. -
I have to write a paper by Thursday.
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My grandpa shot my birthday to hell. He decided today that the world revolved around him and that I was a piece of turd on the highway of his life.
He kept telling my mom and brother to come over and rub his groin cuz it was hurting. He threatened to shove a piece of cake in my brother's face, and he kept yelling and me and wouldn't let me enjoy opening my presents or blowing out my candles.
He didn't even give a shit when I cried.At least spoilers for One Piece made my day a little brighter :C
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oh man. that must be awful - i'd be so furious, i can't even imagine. but eh, happy belated birthday! just be thankful for whatever you do have, i guess.
hope this makes you feel better:
!
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My grandpa shot my birthday to hell. He decided today that the world revolved around him and that I was a piece of turd on the highway of his life.
He kept telling my mom and brother to come over and rub his groin cuz it was hurting. He threatened to shove a piece of cake in my brother's face, and he kept yelling and me and wouldn't let me enjoy opening my presents or blowing out my candles.
He didn't even give a shit when I cried.At least spoilers for One Piece made my day a little brighter :C
D: Awww baby! I wish I could've done something to make you feel better =( You should've sent a PM my way and I would be all over you in a minute! :<
As for me, my request to complete my Practice at a Hospital, was (surprisingly) accepted!! ^^ I am not gonna do it in this Semester as I wished but oh well~! I'll just have to work harder this semester on my Undergraduate Project to have less work to do for it on the next one… Hope my partner won't mind me picking up the pace of my part now and slow it later >3<
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I have one day to write a paper on how Noodles' (from Once Upon a Time in America) life was affected from living in New York :getlost: .
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My laptop's back in working order now. I pray that this will be the last time I have this kind of trouble with it.
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speaking of laptops. mine is giving me big troubles. the idiot machine refuses to power on unless i plug in power supply. after i turn it on it keeps working even if i remove power supply :s
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Finished my paper a lot easier than I thought I would.
I'm thinking of changing my username on here since 2 members I hold in high regard have done it recently. Trying to think of something.
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I'm in a new group project in a class, and my group partner just sent me three emails back to back asking me questions on how we're going to do the project.
THE PROFESSOR HASN'T EVEN DISCUSSED THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROJECT!
Breathe chicka! I have a life and things to do!
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This morning, I still needed to shadow four shows as a requirement to get my own radio show. Now, no more. I broke a studio record and played about 4 hours of my own music.
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This morning, I still needed to shadow four shows as a requirement to get my own radio show. Now, no more. I broke a studio record and played about 4 hours of my own music.
Congrats!
That's pretty impressive.
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Thank you. I figured I would spend my midweek weekend doing something productive and here I am, haha.
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Had a quite mediocre day. One got an OP-chapter, but otherwise the day pretty much screwed. Because of the last nights show I was able to go to sleep somewhere around 0.30 my time and as I had to wake up at seven, I was so damn tired I coulnd't concentrate at all at school.
Afterwards, when I came home, I got a call from my doctor. They had taken some blood samples of no real importance few weeks ago and I thought that it'd be over already, but no. The lab had lost two samples and the doc said I have to go and get those two samples taken tomorrow and as I happen to have a phobia of those needles, I'm a bit shocked and annoyed right now. Darn lab..
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I'm in my university library right now on a public computer. The guy sitting next to me smells so bad…I'm going to die.
My day is pretty bland thus far. I'm turning in my test corrections today, so hopefully that goes well. Other than that, I'll be home at around 10.
Wake me up when I'm there.
EDIT: I'm starving too. The highlight of my day will be picking up a bagel and large diet soda. That is so not good.
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My day wasn't too bad, although I didn't do very much. I told myself to try to practice some Java, but deep down I knew I wouldn't feel like it.
I enjoyed the One Piece that returned to us, but besides that a fairly dull day.
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@Kairouseki:
Finished my paper a lot easier than I thought I would.
I'm thinking of changing my username on here since 2 members I hold in high regard have done it recently. Trying to think of something.
Really, now? Who are these two members that you speak of?:ninja:
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Actually, they're Gueta and you :silly: . SMUDGE's change isn't really all that much and Robby I don't count since his name was changed as a joke and then reverted.
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Im just found out fraggle rock in coming back to TV!
i cant wait to watch it plus other shows -
Im officially accepted into
! Gap State HS
Let's make some trouble,because im a new student there. :D -
Started off my birthday by getting the 25th Anniversary DVD set of all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Came with the movies, bandannas of the four turtles and tattoos. Also got a shirt of the 80s TMNT cartoon, along with a Super Mario Bros. one and a pair of pants. Within the pants pocket was a Pokemon booster pack, something my dad did for me and my brother when we were kids on Christmas.
So far, so good. Gonna have breakfast in a moment. :)
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Good day/week.
Birthday today, which was good - and I find it sort of wonderful that this morning it was completely the most awful strong gloomy rain weather, and yet now it's bright and the sun is shining. Good day. Saw a pal who left school this year out in town at lunch too.
I got cash because they don't really know what to get me. And from September onwards, with my birthday money added on, I now have £400.
Tomorrow I'm going into town and cinema with pals.
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So, my RAM got here today. Problem is it's the set that doesn't work.
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Pretty usual day. I had to pack a lot of stuff because I'm going to Prague tomorrow. Well, maybe "tomorrow" is the wrong word since I'm leaving in two hours. I need to go to bed dammit.
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@Kairouseki:
Actually, they're Gueta and you :silly: . SMUDGE's change isn't really all that much and Robby I don't count since his name was changed as a joke and then reverted.
Oh! Well, thank you! Maybe I should post more often. Only problem is that I never have much to say…:S
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Spanish, Math, and History tests on Tuesday.
D:
No sleep from now until then. -
Woke up late and had to practically throw my siblings out the door before they missed the bus. Youngest and I played PS3 all day. Days off ROCK.
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I´m soo hungry >.< I ate lunch at 11.30 and now it´s 19.10
Also this day was so boring. I had to study for two tests, -
study ,ap forums and youtube
thats my day
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This was two days ago but I'm sure you'll forgive that.
Okay here goes. Grab your box of tissues and take a seat.
This is my last year as a high school English teacher and for this year's culture festival I wanted to go all out so I participated in a crazy amount of actvities across two days.
I edited the opening movie (viewable on my FaceBook page) as well dressed up in drag for a bit part in it.
I played Namihei in the teacher's play of Sazae-san.
I sang this song with the school band:
GJXrmTdP6VU
I participated in the fashion show as an Akiba otaku.
I filmed all the students prepping for the festival across a week.
My wife and I filmed as much of the Day 1 events as possible.
While working on the above I edited a ending movie for the culture festival and put together the majority of it the night before the day it would actually be displayed.
On the second day I played both Bruce Springsteen and Cindy Louper in a karaoke of We Are the World in full costume(s).
I faced the winning team of the school eating contest and beat them solo.
I then filmed more of the student activities and finished editing the video with scenes from just moments before.
I started saving the video down to the wire and after 20 minutes of rendering the file was fucked. The clips from my digital camera require FFD show and it opens an individual copy of the prog for EACH clip which means there were like 50 of them opened. The memory of my comp was obliterated and the movie suffered because of it with multiple hiccups in the final AVI. Cursing myself and sweating bullets (the final act was already on stage) I removed parts of the film and extended other scenes and deleted the unecessary clips. I'm not a praying man but I clasped my hands just the same and hit Render and waited as I paced back and forth alone in the teacher's office.
See, it was incredibly important to me that this go perfectly. Everyone who;s known me since grade school knows that I love making movies. They're not the most professional things but I love to tell stories through media. My first year as a teacher here 5 years ago I worked very hard to make videos for the students celebrating their culture festival and graduation and in the end only 4 girls with nothing better to do watched the video in a small side room after graduation and left the room with a, "Thanks, that was kinda cool."
That was the start of a slow decline that over the next few years would see the burning fire in me slowly dull. During my second year there was even a period where I wasn't sure I wanted to continue anymore because one class in particular responded so poorly to my classes. Believe me, it's not all roses.
I didn't regret a thing.
Not the months of hell I went through being put on the wait-list for the JET Programme not knowing what I'd do next with my life.
Not the two weeks in college I spent every waking minute learning an entire semester of Chem in order to keep from failing and losing my scholarship which would have prevented me from studying abroad in Japan that was intended to augment my JET application process.
Not being around the world while dear family members have passed on.
But there was something missing. Something was different about going to work each day as the months and even years went on. I did my job and I loved it, but that fire in me wasn't burning as brightly as it did when I was a 23 year-old.
I'd see students and say 'Hey!' or 'Yo!' but I never tried to talk with anyone during lunch anymore. I didn't go to art class with the kids. I didn't hang around after school for club activities. I did my job, I did it well and I did it with a happy heart and I even went beyond the call of duty when needed, but I never went out of my way to interact with the kids.
Take for example, I used to hump it 3 miles on a bicycle in the rain and back all the way across town to get fresh donuts for kids as a reward for class games. Now I wouldn't even think about that. I go down the street to the convenient store and buy them dollar bags of chocolates. See, it's still freakin' awesome compared to what they normally get in other classes, but it required minimum effort from me.
There are happy moments of course. When you hear that students talk about you when you're not around, in a good light of course, it kind of makes you happy that they think about your classes, especially when they're of your own design. For instance, there was a 3rd year student who asked me a week ago, "Greg! You aren't going back to America yet are you???" I said I wasn't and they were happy that I'd be there for their graduation. But oddly enough, later that same evening I was asked by a group of 1st year students if I was going back in October. I told them I wasn't and they were really happy. That in itself made me smile but I couldn't help but think how strange it was for such a rumor to travel between grades like that. Anyway, moments like that when you know students think about you are really nice. Usually they just sit at their desks stone-faced and it's hard to crack a smile let alone figure out if they're the least interested in you.
So three weeks ago when the student council asked me to make and edit an ending video for the culture festival to be viewed by EVERYONE I was really honored. It would make for a nice 'circle of life' bow on the experience ending as it began but this time for everyone to be able to enjoy it. I was only a little miffed that I told them I wanted to use a specific song but they went over my head and later asked that I use a song by Kana Nishino called 'BEST FRIEND' and just when I was prepared to use that I got a text in the middle of the night asking me to change it to 'Taisetsu' by Funky Monkey Babies. Changing things up like that irks me but what can you do when pop culture in Japan is such a fickle thing.
And so there I sat hunched down in a corner of the teacher's office biting my nails as my laptop rendered away like a vacuum cleaner. With 20 minutes to spare the file rendered. I ran through it and the video was flawless. Granted it wasn't as I originally envisioned/edited it but it was still awesome.
I slammed the student council USB into my comp and slapped the file on it and ran across the school to the auditorium. I made it. The last three karaoke acts were going on stage. I passed over the USB and returned to teacher's room where I let out a huge sigh. It was the end of a VERY busy three weeks and my last Culture Festival at a place I've come to think of as home. After a few moments in my chair I got back up headed to the auditorium to watch the events. Unlike teachers I go to the very front of the gym with the 3rd year students to watch performances. I just happened to sit next to a girl who is the 'boss' of her class and has a nasty diva attitude. She used to be really friendly but one White Day when I was giving chocolates to everyone who gave me chocolates on Valentine's Day, she asked for chocolate and I literally didn't have enough for her so I apologized and said I didn't have any for her and she hasn't spoken to or looked at me since. Her class in general has been a nightmare across three years and a number of the class members dropped out over time. They don't dislike ME but they don't get on well with one of my coworkers and it makes for a tense classroom atmosphere that hasn't been productive for two years.
As the tech teachers prepped the movie and the Windows Media screen came up that girl said, "What? We have to watch another movie?"
And you know…after all that I just couldn't put up with it so I got up and moved to another location to try not to think about it and concentrate on positive thoughts. Right from the opening moments the students really got into the whole thing. They laughed and ooh'd and ahh'd through the whole thing not knowing that I made the video. And just as it was over and I was feeling very satisfied, when the gym was silent, remained silent, and it was then a second year student burped loudly.
So that was the note my last Culture Festival was going out on.
I laughed to myself. What was I expecting? The school is a much better school than it was 5 years ago. I mean when I addressed the students for the first time in the very same gym, when I looked out amongst them I saw that one of them had a freaking regent.
It was a bad school.
But my second year the guidance faculty got some new blood and they began a plan to reform the heart of the school. Over the course of the next 4 years cell phones vanished during class. Blond hair disappeared as did piercings. Uniforms were properly worn and vandalism decreased. The changes that have occurred in the school are remarkable. However, the heart remains the same and boys will be boys. So I wasn't about to let a burp get to me. They seemed to enjoy the video and that was enough but there was still a part of me that was a little let down.
I slinked to the back of the gym with the rest of the teachers where I watched the rest of the proceedings as the vice-pricipal's sub came on stage and gave a speech followed by the official closure. At this point it's standard procedure for the guidance teachers to say a few words but instead something else happened. The student council vice-president's voice came on over the speakers.
"And now for a special presentation. Greg, would you please come up to the stage."
wut
I stood there in the dark for a moment. Surely I misheard, yeah that's it my Japanese is good but I probably jus-
"Greg, please come to the stage."
:blink:
I looked over at the school nurse standing next to me. She shrugged. I worked my way up to the front of the gym still clutching my fake afro from a few of my acts that I lent to students for karaoke. As I climbed the stairs to the stage I heard the the girl from earlier calling out, "Come! Get up there Gregory! RUN!"
I was alone on stage and it was really awkward. I wasn't sure what it was about and the silence was awkward so I started to put on my afro but the girls all called out, "No,no,no, this isn't the time for that." Then the student council members showed up on stage and lined up.
"Greg, we just wanted to thank you for all your work this year with us. There's so much we couldn't have done without you."
I started to tear up.
This is traditionally the part where they hand you the flowers and ask for a few words but instead they asked me to take a seat right on the stage and watch the main wall. The wall lit up with a projector-lit screen and in front of the entire student body and faculty, they ran a movie they made for me in secret thanking me for all my work not just this year but in years gone by with pictures and movies of me that I didn't even know existed and recorded messages from the students even the girl who didn't talk to me.
I was blown away but nothing could have prepared me for the final scene. The entire school was lined up in the gym and screamed:
"GREG! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! THANK YOU!"
It was an emotional TKO. My hands were literally locked behind my head and I couldn't process what was going on.
For most of my life I've been 'the friend' who 'plans surprises' or 'the buddy' who 'knows how to make movies' but I've never been the recipient of either.
Suddenly it all made sense, the students thinking I was leaving in October. That's because they thought it was a final goodbye movie. And the changes in music selection? Because their original choice for the ending movie 'Best Friend' is what they ended up using for the surprise video.
After the video ended and the lights went on the place was silent. I mean, dead silent. There wasn't a whisper to a neighbor, nothing. Just me crying tears of happiness. And that was soon followed by the girls who followed suit.
The student council was also in tears by then, especially the one who served as cameraman, and they asked me for a few words. I couldn't think straight but I managed to choke out that having this job was something I wanted for a long time and worked very hard for and that I didn't think of it as a 'job' so much as I do pure 'happiness'. Of course there are so many other things I wanted to say but I didn't want to blabber or take up anymore time so I ended with, "Thank you!", in English.
Just behind my proposal to Haruka, that was, without question, the happiest day of my life.
Every struggle and every failure was given meaning.
That fire burns brighter now than it ever did.
Those of you who know me on FaceBook can see the video there. I won't post it on YT because it still has 1st and 2nd year students on it.
Unrelated but related, here's a presentation for the Culture Festival from one of the classes I teach. They rule.
_s87gvCGMqM
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Thats really cool Greg.
congratulations on your successful 3 year stint. It must have been an awesome conclusion.
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Wow, Greg that's amazing. I actually did cry while reading…..
It's funny, my cousin is actually in his second year of teaching high school english over in Japan. I haven't talked to him since he left, but I hope he comes back with stories as great as yours!
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congratulations on your successful 3 year stint. It must have been an awesome conclusion.
5 years. And it's not over yet! :) No more Culture Festivals but I'll be there until next July.
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I got my computer completely put together and started and installed all drivers but the video drivers. The internet connection is going slow, though :cwy: .
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Congrats Greg. That is truly awesome stuff. I too, teared up reading that. I'm a teacher too, and I can well imagine all the various emotions you described. I commented on your FB page, so I won't go on too much here. I will say Congratulations, though.
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! This was two days ago but I'm sure you'll forgive that.
! Okay here goes. Grab your box of tissues and take a seat.
! This is my last year as a high school English teacher and for this year's culture festival I wanted to go all out so I participated in a crazy amount of actvities across two days.
! I edited the opening movie (viewable on my FaceBook page) as well dressed up in drag for a bit part in it.
! I played Namihei in the teacher's play of Sazae-san.
! I sang this song with the school band:
! GJXrmTdP6VU
! I participated in the fashion show as an Akiba otaku.
! I filmed all the students prepping for the festival across a week.
! My wife and I filmed as much of the Day 1 events as possible.
! While working on the above I edited a ending movie for the culture festival and put together the majority of it the night before the day it would actually be displayed.
! On the second day I played both Bruce Springsteen and Cindy Louper in a karaoke of We Are the World in full costume(s).
! I faced the winning team of the school eating contest and beat them solo.
! I then filmed more of the student activities and finished editing the video with scenes from just moments before.
! I started saving the video down to the wire and after 20 minutes of rendering the file was fucked. The clips from my digital camera require FFD show and it opens an individual copy of the prog for EACH clip which means there were like 50 of them opened. The memory of my comp was obliterated and the movie suffered because of it with multiple hiccups in the final AVI. Cursing myself and sweating bullets (the final act was already on stage) I removed parts of the film and extended other scenes and deleted the unecessary clips. I'm not a praying man but I clasped my hands just the same and hit Render and waited as I paced back and forth alone in the teacher's office.
! See, it was incredibly important to me that this go perfectly. Everyone who;s known me since grade school knows that I love making movies. They're not the most professional things but I love to tell stories through media. My first year as a teacher here 5 years ago I worked very hard to make videos for the students celebrating their culture festival and graduation and in the end only 4 girls with nothing better to do watched the video in a small side room after graduation and left the room with a, "Thanks, that was kinda cool."
! That was the start of a slow decline that over the next few years would see the burning fire in me slowly dull. During my second year there was even a period where I wasn't sure I wanted to continue anymore because one class in particular responded so poorly to my classes. Believe me, it's not all roses.
! I didn't regret a thing.
! Not the months of hell I went through being put on the wait-list for the JET Programme not knowing what I'd do next with my life.
! Not the two weeks in college I spent every waking minute learning an entire semester of Chem in order to keep from failing and losing my scholarship which would have prevented me from studying abroad in Japan that was intended to augment my JET application process.
! Not being around the world while dear family members have passed on.
! But there was something missing. Something was different about going to work each day as the months and even years went on. I did my job and I loved it, but that fire in me wasn't burning as brightly as it did when I was a 23 year-old.
! I'd see students and say 'Hey!' or 'Yo!' but I never tried to talk with anyone during lunch anymore. I didn't go to art class with the kids. I didn't hang around after school for club activities. I did my job, I did it well and I did it with a happy heart and I even went beyond the call of duty when needed, but I never went out of my way to interact with the kids.
! Take for example, I used to hump it 3 miles on a bicycle in the rain and back all the way across town to get fresh donuts for kids as a reward for class games. Now I wouldn't even think about that. I go down the street to the convenient store and buy them dollar bags of chocolates. See, it's still freakin' awesome compared to what they normally get in other classes, but it required minimum effort from me.
! There are happy moments of course. When you hear that students talk about you when you're not around, in a good light of course, it kind of makes you happy that they think about your classes, especially when they're of your own design. For instance, there was a 3rd year student who asked me a week ago, "Greg! You aren't going back to America yet are you???" I said I wasn't and they were happy that I'd be there for their graduation. But oddly enough, later that same evening I was asked by a group of 1st year students if I was going back in October. I told them I wasn't and they were really happy. That in itself made me smile but I couldn't help but think how strange it was for such a rumor to travel between grades like that. Anyway, moments like that when you know students think about you are really nice. Usually they just sit at their desks stone-faced and it's hard to crack a smile let alone figure out if they're the least interested in you.
! So three weeks ago when the student council asked me to make and edit an ending video for the culture festival to be viewed by EVERYONE I was really honored. It would make for a nice 'circle of life' bow on the experience ending as it began but this time for everyone to be able to enjoy it. I was only a little miffed that I told them I wanted to use a specific song but they went over my head and later asked that I use a song by Kana Nishino called 'BEST FRIEND' and just when I was prepared to use that I got a text in the middle of the night asking me to change it to 'Taisetsu' by Funky Monkey Babies. Changing things up like that irks me but what can you do when pop culture in Japan is such a fickle thing.
! And so there I sat hunched down in a corner of the teacher's office biting my nails as my laptop rendered away like a vacuum cleaner. With 20 minutes to spare the file rendered. I ran through it and the video was flawless. Granted it wasn't as I originally envisioned/edited it but it was still awesome.
! I slammed the student council USB into my comp and slapped the file on it and ran across the school to the auditorium. I made it. The last three karaoke acts were going on stage. I passed over the USB and returned to teacher's room where I let out a huge sigh. It was the end of a VERY busy three weeks and my last Culture Festival at a place I've come to think of as home. After a few moments in my chair I got back up headed to the auditorium to watch the events. Unlike teachers I go to the very front of the gym with the 3rd year students to watch performances. I just happened to sit next to a girl who is the 'boss' of her class and has a nasty diva attitude. She used to be really friendly but one White Day when I was giving chocolates to everyone who gave me chocolates on Valentine's Day, she asked for chocolate and I literally didn't have enough for her so I apologized and said I didn't have any for her and she hasn't spoken to or looked at me since. Her class in general has been a nightmare across three years and a number of the class members dropped out over time. They don't dislike ME but they don't get on well with one of my coworkers and it makes for a tense classroom atmosphere that hasn't been productive for two years.
! As the tech teachers prepped the movie and the Windows Media screen came up that girl said, "What? We have to watch another movie?"
! And you know…after all that I just couldn't put up with it so I got up and moved to another location to try not to think about it and concentrate on positive thoughts. Right from the opening moments the students really got into the whole thing. They laughed and ooh'd and ahh'd through the whole thing not knowing that I made the video. And just as it was over and I was feeling very satisfied, when the gym was silent, remained silent, and it was then a second year student burped loudly.
! So that was the note my last Culture Festival was going out on.
! I laughed to myself. What was I expecting? The school is a much better school than it was 5 years ago. I mean when I addressed the students for the first time in the very same gym, when I looked out amongst them I saw that one of them had a freaking regent.
! It was a bad school.
! But my second year the guidance faculty got some new blood and they began a plan to reform the heart of the school. Over the course of the next 4 years cell phones vanished during class. Blond hair disappeared as did piercings. Uniforms were properly worn and vandalism decreased. The changes that have occurred in the school are remarkable. However, the heart remains the same and boys will be boys. So I wasn't about to let a burp get to me. They seemed to enjoy the video and that was enough but there was still a part of me that was a little let down.
! I slinked to the back of the gym with the rest of the teachers where I watched the rest of the proceedings as the vice-pricipal's sub came on stage and gave a speech followed by the official closure. At this point it's standard procedure for the guidance teachers to say a few words but instead something else happened. The student council vice-president's voice came on over the speakers.
! "And now for a special presentation. Greg, would you please come up to the stage."
! wut
! I stood there in the dark for a moment. Surely I misheard, yeah that's it my Japanese is good but I probably jus-
! "Greg, please come to the stage."
! :blink:
! I looked over at the school nurse standing next to me. She shrugged. I worked my way up to the front of the gym still clutching my fake afro from a few of my acts that I lent to students for karaoke. As I climbed the stairs to the stage I heard the the girl from earlier calling out, "Come! Get up there Gregory! RUN!"
! I was alone on stage and it was really awkward. I wasn't sure what it was about and the silence was awkward so I started to put on my afro but the girls all called out, "No,no,no, this isn't the time for that." Then the student council members showed up on stage and lined up.
! "Greg, we just wanted to thank you for all your work this year with us. There's so much we couldn't have done without you."
! I started to tear up.
! This is traditionally the part where they hand you the flowers and ask for a few words but instead they asked me to take a seat right on the stage and watch the main wall. The wall lit up with a projector-lit screen and in front of the entire student body and faculty, they ran a movie they made for me in secret thanking me for all my work not just this year but in years gone by with pictures and movies of me that I didn't even know existed and recorded messages from the students even the girl who didn't talk to me.
! I was blown away but nothing could have prepared me for the final scene. The entire school was lined up in the gym and screamed:
! "GREG! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! THANK YOU!"
! It was an emotional TKO. My hands were literally locked behind my head and I couldn't process what was going on.
! For most of my life I've been 'the friend' who 'plans surprises' or 'the buddy' who 'knows how to make movies' but I've never been the recipient of either.
! Suddenly it all made sense, the students thinking I was leaving in October. That's because they thought it was a final goodbye movie. And the changes in music selection? Because their original choice for the ending movie 'Best Friend' is what they ended up using for the surprise video.
! After the video ended and the lights went on the place was silent. I mean, dead silent. There wasn't a whisper to a neighbor, nothing. Just me crying tears of happiness. And that was soon followed by the girls who followed suit.
! The student council was also in tears by then, especially the one who served as cameraman, and they asked me for a few words. I couldn't think straight but I managed to choke out that having this job was something I wanted for a long time and worked very hard for and that I didn't think of it as a 'job' so much as I do pure 'happiness'. Of course there are so many other things I wanted to say but I didn't want to blabber or take up anymore time so I ended with, "Thank you!", in English.
! Just behind my proposal to Haruka, that was, without question, the happiest day of my life.
! Every struggle and every failure was given meaning.
! That fire burns brighter now than it ever did.
! Those of you who know me on FaceBook can see the video there. I won't post it on YT because it still has 1st and 2nd year students on it.
! Unrelated but related, here's a presentation for the Culture Festival from one of the classes I teach. They rule.
! _s87gvCGMqMFirst your amazing proposal now this? If I didn't know any better I'd say I'm jealous. Also very happy for you, congratz!