An Upsetting Number of Games: Karuta

The third in our series of game tutorials for English teachers. Link.

An Upsetting Number of Games: The Line Game

Alright, here's the next game tutorial. This time, it's one of the simplest games in the book: the line game.

Enjoy!

An Upsetting Number of Games: Tutorial

Summer has started, which means two things for the ALT. First, we're gonna have a metric fuckton of free time to fritter away. Second, it means the old ALTs are leaving and the new ones are coming in.

With these two things in mind, I've decided to fritter away my time by working on some game tutorials for new ALTs teaching at elementary schools. Most of this information will be old news to ALTs with a year under their belt, but you might find a few variants you haven't seen yet.

Feel free to use, modify, and share. If there's anything that's unclear or a variant you've been using, let me know about it.

First, the tutorial. Here's a link for a zipped version on Google docs.

Blogger's not letting me upload all of the images here, so I'll just put up my favorite image:

Japanglish Fantasy League Vocabulary #6

Like all persecuted peoples, anime fans dream of escaping to a Promised Land, where they will be free from persecution. For the otaku, that Promised Land is Japan.

"Let my people Goku!"

It is true that your average Japanese person is more likely than your average American (or what-have-you) to read the occasional manga or buy a Tony Chopper cellphone strap. They also have about as much respect for rabid anime fans as they would for, say, animal tortue enthusiasts or flesh eating bacteria with poor table manners.

Or, Koreans

Upon arriving in Japan, foreign Otaku often find it easier to deny their nerdish interests, despite that being the reason they came to the country in the first place. Which brings us to today's vocabulary:

Notaku - n. 1). An anime enthusiast in denial.

2). "I'm not an anime fan, I just like Miyazaki films. Well, and Cowboy Bebop. And One Piece. And Berserk. And Hanaukyo Maid Team La Verite. And..."

3). 90% of English-speaking foreigners in Japan.

Usage: "Brad? That f***ing Notaku's wall of shame is twice as big as mine."

"Notaku? I'm not a Notaku. I just like Miyazaki films. Well, and Cowboy Bebop. And..."

Japanglish Fantasy League Vocabulary #5

Japanese Dinosaur - n. 1). A Japanese woman who holds her handbag like the mighty Tyrant Lizard:

(I couldn't find a good picture, but this should give you the general idea)

2). The 45-year-old woman you picked up at Pure¹ last night.

See Also: Velociraptor, Louis Vuitton

1Pure - n. 1). An infamous foreigner pick-up nightclub.
2). A wretched hive of villany and English teachers.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

I love me some Japanese food something fierce. It's one of the main reasons I came back (which seems like a really horrible reason, until you imagine having a craving for a tuna onigiri for two damn years). Sure, there are a few inedible things like umeboshi or natto, but in general, shit be delicious. The main exception to this rule of deliciousness is breakfast. The traditional Japanese breakfast is essentially the worst parts of lunch and dinner, with miso and rice.

Meanwhile in America Damn It, we got waffles, pancakes, sausages, bacon, omelets, biscuits, cereal, and occasionally, fresh fruit. And that's just a SINGLE DISH at Denny's. We haven't even gotten into such variations as the chocolate chip pancake or the biscuit sandwich. American breakfast is so freaking sweet, I will sometimes eat it three times a day. It is not a meal. It is an institution.

All Americans Always Wear American Flags. Always.

So after drawing this comic, I realized it was this comic, in reverse. Oh well.

Newsflash: not everyone speaks English.

Newerflash: not everyone who speaks English speaks your particular brand of colloquial English.

Newestflash: you probably were already aware of this, but oh well.