Three Reasons I'm an Idiot

In Korea and Japan, when gesturing toward oneself, you point your finger at your face. This differs a lot from the self-gesturing toward one's chest in the West. It took some time to get used to, but I have, and back home people notice. They also said I was bowing too much, and using bits of Japanese or Korean (unconsciously) too much. Whatever. More on that another time.

At my former school in Japan there is always a big Halloween celebration at a rented out venue. We have games and give out candy and have a little costume parade and contest. I always thought it was a lot of work, but a fun day. For the two years I worked the party, I was a big fat black cat. Go figure, eh?

The first Halloween party took place only a couple weeks after I started teaching at the school, and my Japanese was pitiful. (It still is, but even more so back then.) As I walked around, I kept hearing people - the students and the parents, saying "Kawaii!" when they saw me. I assumed that they were saying "CAT." since that was, afterall, what I was. So when I met people from then on I would practice my newly learned word and proclaim myself "KAWAII!" (CAT!!) Only I was saying it totally wrong, and pronounced it "kOwaii." I am an idiot for walking around pointing to the middle of my face and declaring myself, to small children and their parents, as "SCARY!" (*Actually 'neco' means cat in Japanese, while it's "goyani" in Korean, one to two to three syllables. Complicated.)

I only very recently learned that athletic wristbands actually have a purpose. Goldie stopped by a Nike store to but a pair before we went dancing. I didn't understand why it was so important for him to pick these up, and wondered if it was some raver trend I wasn't aware of. Goldie put them on in the store, danced a little bit, and used the terry-cloth wristbands to mop the pretend sweat off his brow. Well! Whadd'ya know about that!!

I have watched many a tennis match and seem many a tennis player sporting those wrist-socks, and I'm sure I've seen many of then use them to wipe their foreheads, but it still didn't click until G spelled it out for me. I'm an idiot because I miss the function of many a good idea.

The Big Ho just wrote about being wasteful with our resources. I came home tonight and once I entered my apartment, marveled at how cool it still was, seeing as I thought I had opened the balcony door before I left for work. I looked at said door, yes, I had. I looked at my air-conditioner and yes, I had left it on too. Poor thing spent the day labouring to keep my apartment at 25 degrees with a 31 degree breeze blowing on in. Just a couple weeks ago I woke up to discover my apartment was without water so I used cold water from my water-machine to bathe, but left the tap on in the bathroom and came home to find nice hot water had been running out of it for hours. I'm an idiot for pissing my money away.

D'oh!

By the way, surely this, from Wunderground's weather site can't be right, can it? It didn't seem that cold today!
Wednesday
Clear. High: -22° F / -30° C Wind SW 6 mph / 10 km/h
By the way, "kawaii," in Japanese, means 'CUTE!'