A new post!

This is so late people probably arent even reading this anymore, haha.
Anyway... things have been a bit more normal again lately. I got a new job as I mentioned before, and that is going well enough. I'll talk more about how different the Japanese school ssystem is at the end of this post for those that wish to read about it. New Years came and went also. We had a good time on the 30th. We (and by that i mean eric, jon, ayumi, azu, a bunch of azus friends, and I) went out for dinner at an all you can drink place, and followed that up with all you can drink karaoke. We had alot of fun, but alas, yours truely drank too much. I think the kicker was when I mistook a class of Shochu for water towards the end of the night. Of course, you have to be pretty wasted to do that anyway, because when you think about it... why would anyone order me a big tall glass of water at all you can drink karaoke? Shochu is basically... weaker vodka. I dont like it at all when im sober, and i only realized what it was after id put most of it down, so the 31st was a painful day. Me and eric were both pretty unhappy that day. Jon shrugged it off like a champ. I was happy to hear that one of Azus friends hurled too when he got home, so i wasnt the only one. The scary thing is, i even hurled the night before about 3 or 4 times, and i was STILL miserable the next day for about 10 hours. Anyway, now that i'v thoroughly worried my mother...

Azus birthday was in January too. We were teasing her, because I guess 24 is the age girls should be married by in Japan, and its all a downhill slide in market value from there, lol. My friend Maiko is also 24, and she isn't married or even dating someone, so she said everyone is worrying and pestering her as well. Recently, Azu, Eric and i went to a party at an American friends house in Zushi. He was a Nova teacher, but he's teaching somewhere else now... anyway, his brother is in the Navy here, and they get to buy all their food on the base. So, the party was pretty cool, we got to eat American food and have an American style party for a change. Eric and i played Rock Band, which it turns out is pretty awesome. The drums are fun, i was doing a few songs on hard by the end of the night, but the foot pedal on hard gets rough....

Azu also just got back from Shanghai yesterday. She and her mother took a trip there for a few days. I had to work, so i didnt go. Azu's dad was in Hokkaido as well, so it was just me and her brother at home. We did a whole lot of nothing (cleaning included). Azu's mom was worried i was going to burn the house down if i cooked, lol, so i didnt use the stove in accordance with her wishes. I guess when you can communicate at about a 5th grade level, it registers as being able to operate the stove at a 5th grade level, haha.

Well, i am going to go play some Wii shortly, after the final blurb about schools here. I have to polish off my games before Smash Brothers comes out and i spend every waking moment honing my skills to crush Eric and Jon.

Peace!

About Schools:
So, Japanese High schools couldn't possibly be more different. For starters, the High Tech image of Japan that is mostly accurate in all of the big cities, is totally thrown out the window in a public High School. Walking into a high school is like walking back in time 20 or 30 years. They are all old, drafty, unheated, bland buildings. There is no central heating of any kind. In Winter, they burn oil in stoves, and let the heat just.... radiate. The hallways and bathrooms have no heating at all, and sitting on a toilet seat in winter is like putting your bare ass on a bench outside... not fun (actually think i prefer the squatters in the HS in winter). Classrooms also have gas oil stoves.
Next, the biggest difference, and the difference that probably changes the entire dynamic of social relationships in a High School is the class structure. At the start of the year, the students are put into a class, and a classroom, in which they will be all year. Its like elementary school, only you dont have the same teacher. The teachers move around and change rooms in a Japanese High School. As such, there is a big Teachers Room office type thing in every school, and the teachers have a meeting every morning. So when the bell rings the teacher goes out, and the next one comes in. This system (which i dont like) creates this feeling that the classroom is bascially, student territory. Not that American students are respectful, but we have an understanding that we are in the teacher's room, not the teacher a guest in the student's room. This sorta turns the tables in the student's favor for screwing around in class. Also, because they all see the same single classroom full of people for an entire year, they all know eachother way too well, and talk way too much. It can take 5 minutes just to get kids to shut up and unwillingly put away their lunches as they are forced to abide another intruder coming into their domain. Also, as a result, social groups are mostly a product of each classroom. There is little, if any interaction between grades (except at clubs) and much less interaction within each grade of students than in America.
Next, as anyone know knows anything about Japan will know, the Entrance exams to High Schools determine which level of High School kids will go to. Given the rest of the system, i have come to think the entrance exam system is actually a good thing. The reason is, that this is the way Japan separates students with different outlooks on life, basically. For a studious student trying to get into a prestigious University, it would be hell to be stuck in the same classroom of screw-off retards all year. So... basically the studious kids all go to academic High Schools, and the less studious types all go to lower level High Schools. My main High School just so happens to be one of these schools. My Thursday school is more Academic, and the difference is HUGE. Classrooom management needs alot of work in Japan. Kids are often semi out of control, and teachers cant throw them out of class like in America, so to be a kid who wants to learn, in a bad class, means you are not going to learn anything, and there is almost nothing you can do about it. So, you best study your ass off in Jr. High if you dont want that.
Lastly: clubs. Clubs are huge here, almost everyone is in one, and only the renegade type kids proudly proclaim they are in "go home club" when asked what club they are in. Sports clubs operate the same as any other club, anyone can join. Which means everyone who wants to play soccer, can. This is alot more inclusive than America, which I think is a good thing. The Schools with serious sports teams still perform quite well with this in place, so there isnt alot of argument that the kids who wouldnt have been picked in America are dragging everyone down. Now, those kids may not play alot of games against other schools, but i think alot of them would be the first to bow out, given social attitudes in Japanese society. However, it does seem that they do all get some playing time. There are clubs for Tea ceremony, Kyudo (japanese archery), Karate, Judo, Kendo(wooden sword fighting), Gardening, Movie club, Pop music club, and all the sports, basically... you name it. There is an english club also, which I sorta... i guess oversee. Anyway, thats all i am gonna write for now, if anyone has any questions, email me, or comment! peace!
(i dont feel like editing any spelling or grammar mistakes.... so there!)

Back to school!

Well, as the title indicates, im going back to school! Not in the sense you are thinking, probably. So, since i wrote last, some developments have been made with Nova. Eric and Jon are working agian, which is good... perhaps working isnt the best pay to put it. They're going to work, anyway. Lessons havent started yet, so they just sorta hang around, greet students, and try to look busy. Only a few schools have reopened, so many teachers are still waiting on standby for decisions from Nova, or the new company that took over a part of Nova, anyway. I was in that category.

Anyway, i had a few job interviews, and i just happened to get lucky, and was offered an ALT position. ALT stands for Assistant Language Teacher. So, i am going to be teaching English in 3 different Japanese public highschools, hence the title. As my job title indicates, i will be working together with the normal Japanese English teacher. My duties apparently can range from teaching lessons by myself, to just doing what the teacher says, it sorta all depends on the teacher i guess. This also means that i have to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn, as im sure you all will remember you used to have to do for High school. Its even worse because i have to commute sorta far. Basically i am gonna be getting up at 6 a.m. or earlier everyday now. That aside.... i get sweet vacation time! Summer vacation is 6 weeks here, and i get 60% pay and dont work a single day! I get all the national holidays, spring break, fall break, golden week... its gonna be glorious. I also get 5 vacation days of my choice per year in addition to all the other stuff. (Nova gave 10 for the whole year and didnt give any other holidays...) I'v heard the job is pretty fun, and it will require more Japanese out of me, so i think that will be good too. I have my first day of training tomorrow, and i will start working on December 7th. I am a bit nervous about dealing with whole classrooms of kids, though. Anway... new job acquired, my chapter at Nova has come to a close it would seem. The new company seems to be getting things under way, though.

I'v been teaching a good amount of private lessons in my free time for cash and for something to do. At first i thought i would have too much free time on my hands, and i would go insane, but i feel that i have almost been.... sorta busy actually, between interviews, lessons, and Nova meetings and what not. I visited Eric and Jon last night, and we crashed at Jons house, as it was their day off. They had to work this afternoon, so they made it to work allright. Next week will be my last weekdays off, so i am planning to visit again on their days off. After that its school working hours for me with weekends off!

Well, time to sleep, training comes early tomorrow, Peace! (p.s. Azu lost my card adaptor for the moment, so i can post pictures or videos, but i will find it.)

yay for trips

Well, alot has happened recently, where to start... Ok, well i'll start with work. So, Nova imploded, declared a type of bankrupcy that protects them from creditors and lets them search for a sponsor to help them rehabilitate. If no sponsor is found, the company will be liquidated and cease to exist. Today they were supposed to announce which was going to happen... and so far i'v heard that they've found a sponsor, and are going to announce who it will be in 3 days. The down shot of it, is it looks like we will all get laid off and possibly rehired, so the company doesnt have to pay our unpaid salary. So... it looks like we will have to go through the whole system of trying to claim our salary from the government, which will give us 80% it looks like, surely after a long, drawn-out beurocratic procedure of some sort. That being said, i'v been looking for a new job... and i interviewed for something that possibly starts in January, so we'll see how that goes. Onward to cooler things.

So a few weeks ago, Azu, Eric and I went to South Korea. That was good fun. It is pretty different from Japan, but similar in some ways too. It sorta reminded me of America and Japan, but had its own unique Korean style as well. The people acted very differently. Not shy and all, and alot more... pushy i guess i would say, in the physical sense. School boys on the train in Seoul seemed to be locked in eternal combat with one another. Girls at the palace we visited pretty much swarmed me and started asking questions in English, and shouting at me that i was handsome, lol... Japanese school girls will sometimes look at me and giggle, but they would definately never talk to me, heh. On the escalator, people would just push right by you, taxis would drive away if they didnt like where you wanted to go... many big differences. We saw alot of Seoul, and ate alot of good spicy korean food/barbecue. Eric and i also watched some sweet Starcraft matches on TV. They have a channel sorta like G4, but mostly dedicated to starcraft and some warcraft3 matches, it rocked. I imagine thats how normal dudes feel when they watch sports. We also went to the National Museum of Korea where my friend Sook works, which is a pretty huge museum, and saw alot of cool history stuff. After that we got boozed up and tried to get into a night club by ourselves, with 0% Korean.... that didnt go so well, so after that we got boozed up back at our guest house with some sweedish girls who were also staying there, and we passed out watching starcraft. The guest house was great by the way, really cheap... like 30 bones a night, and we had our own rooms, nice bathroom, a kitchen, a computer with internet, and could even do laundry if we wanted. Prices in general were cool, a 20 minute taxi ride was like 4 bucks, i was floored. Food was the only thing that was about normal price. Clothes were somewhat normally priced as well, a little on the cheaper side. But admission to all the places we went was really cheap compared to similar places in Japan. It was a good trip, and Sook made most of it possible.

I also went to Saga, in Japan a few days ago. Saga is on the island of Kyushu, which is the southwestern island out of the 4 biggest islands. Since its more south, which is usually warmer in Japan, i expected it to be just that, but because Saga is on the west coast of Kyushu, it was actually colder, because the west coast faces the Japan sea, which gets its coldness from Russia and the like... so it was a little colder actually. We saw a cool festival, and a castle in the area. We stayed and Azu's friend Juri's house, which is sorta in the countryside one night, and a ryoukan the next night. A ryoukan is a japanese style lodging place. They usually outfit you with a nice yukata to wear, and a nice open room where everyone sleeps on Tatami mats and futons, and you shower in the public bath or hotspring. It was really nice, we had our own hotspring outside our room, and the big public one as well. They served a pretty fantastic breakfast of fresh cut fruit, Sandwiches, bread, milk, coffee, etc. We saw alot of the countryside, various islands, and lookout points, it was very pretty.

Oh, also..... we ate live squid. Yep, it was nuts. We went to this restaurant on the ocean, with tanks as you walk in with all the live animals that will soon be on your plate. Its famous for squid... so we got 4 squids, one for Azu, Juri, Azu's mom, and Juri's mom. I ordered tempura.... So, the squids came.. and there they were, they had their backs sliced up so you could pull the meat off them, so they werent exactly.... lively, but they were alive allright. when you poked em or took some meat, their teantacles would move! I had a few pieces, it was pretty good. Eventually Juri's mom chopped the tentacles, and i had one of those too, lol... it sucked to my plate! i had to pull it off forcefully. the tentacle was pretty chewy, and the suckers were sorta... crunchy. Not as good as the "meat" on the back. Anyway... squid doesnt get any more fresh than that. I took a video, so if ya wanna see, email me, and i'll send it to you. After that we stayed at the Ryoukan and went to Fukuoka the next day, before we caught a plane back home to Kanagawa. A good trip!

Well, I'll try to post again a little earlier about developments with the work situation. Happy Birthday Eric!

Peace.

How's the sky Chicken Little? "It's FALLING MAN!"

If any of you had been wondering what a massive corporate collapse is like, well just send me an email and i'll give you all the details, because i am sorta in the middle of one right now. Thats right, i may be jobless in a month... or even 15 days for that matter, depending on the situation. We might recover and i might be ok also... but signs are pointing to the less cheery outcome these days. So, basically, the governmet slapped my company with a ban on signing new students to lucrative contracts for 6 months, starting in June. This is because my company was involved in some false advertising, which led some students to get mad and demand refunds, which my company refused to pay. Well, uncle sam decided to stick up for the little guys and forced them to give the refunds, and imposed the above mentioned ban. Now, this would normally be ok, but the company is sorta in a rough patch because the execs are too stubborn to close a few schools that have been losing money, simply because they dont want to give up market share. For the last 2 years they've been running them at a loss just to hurt competition. Well, its come back and kicked them in the nuts, because the combined choke hold on cash inflow, with the refunds having to be paid, with the loss of money on unprofitable schools has led to one minor problem: they cant pay us. So... on the 15th... payday, only maybe 80% of us were paid. They didnt pay the higher promoted teachers at each branch, basically cause they couldnt, and they were the only ones that would be less likely to revolt. Well, they were wrong, after repeated lies about when they would be paid, revolt they did, and all hell is breaking loose. They have only JUST managed to pay them today, which at this point noone saw coming. The thing is, now noone thinks they are getting paid next month, and all kinds of crazy rumors are going around. Anyway... on Oct. 15th if the teachers dont get paid again, all hell is going to break loose. They might get some money to tide them over till the ban lifts in december though, so we'll see. All i can say is its getting a little crazy, and noone is taking their job seriously now.

Anyway... enough about that, i'll cross that bridge when and if i get to it. So, i went to the Tokyo Game Show with Jon. Eric was a pansy and didnt call in, so he didnt go, but we had fun! It was basically like E3, in japanese, with more people in costumes. Anyway, we had a good time, saw some cool games, and the cool thing is it was only like 10 bucks to get in, pretty killer.

In about 2 weeks or less, Eric, Azu and I are going to South Korea to hang out for 3 days. We are meeting a friend of ours named Sook, from UNR who graduated and moved back to Korea, and she is going to show us around Seoul. We're pretty stoked about it. She set us up in a guest house somewhere downtown. Also in early November i am going to Saga, which is in Kyushu (southern island of Japan) for a couple days to hang out in Azu's friend Juri's hometown. There is some kind of festival that time of year, so that should be a good time as well. Mike is also probably coming over in early November too, so that should be a rockin good time. Azu is working night shifts these days, which she hates, but i sorta like actually, haha. She has to work these long 24 hour stretches, and while i dont see her then, she usually gets more time off inbetween, and we can actually do things. We went snorkeling in Manazuru last week and met some girls from sweden. There were alot of fish surprisingly, despite the visibility not being the greatest.

Oh, there was a typhoon that plowed right into us earlier this month too. It was pretty crazy, the ocean waves were NUTS. They were coming all the way up the beach, and over this giant 20 foot cement wall at times. They also knocked out a section of the freeway that is right on the ocean. Anyway, me and azu were going down to check them out before the Typhhon fully arrived, and i stepped over this barrier the city put up to detract people from dieing in the giant waves (it was only like 2 feet high, lol). Anyway, before i could do something stupid, some old japanese dude came running out of his house yelling "what the hell are you idiots doing, you're gonna get swept away!!, dont you know what this means!? get back over here!!" and the like... so he probably saved my life, cause not more than maybe 2 minutes later a giant wave washed past where i was standing. I probably woulda been ok though :P. Anyway, me and Azu were on TV because a camera crew came down to film the giant waves when we were watching them, and as they interviewed us, a big wave came and soaked all of us. It was pretty funny. But yeah, a few students recognized me on TV. So that night it came in full force... scary, crazy rain and wind. The house was shaking and all.

Anyway, thats all for now, enjoy the picture of a few crazy FF10 cosplayers there. I'll let you all know how the ol' company fares here in the next few weeks. Peace!

Alot of Stuff

Well, i just typed up a long post, and hit a wrong button which decided to terminate all of it, so now i'm pissed off and you'll have to live with the summarized version.
Anyway, i was pretty busy in August with alot of swaps and junk. I didnt do much, other than make it up to Saitama to visit Emily before she goes back to America. Anyway, Mt. Fuji was pretty cool, aside from whole mountain cabin part. There are 10 levels, or stages on Fuji, and you start at level 5 usually, to which you can take a car or bus. We hiked to 8.5ish to sleep, and woke up to climb for the sunrise. In the cabin, we got a dinner, and got to sleep like sardines, or not sleep at all rather, for 6 hours, then get up at midnight and resume climbing in the miserable high elevation cold of Mt. Fuji's peak. There was also a traffic jam of people on the narrow path, because we all woke up at the same time... so you couldnt even move to stay warm. I paid 5 bones for some hot tea that is normally worth 1 bone at the top, because my hands were about to freeze off. We went from miserable summer, to winter in less than a day. Anyway, the sunrise was magnificent, and i am glad i climbed. It cleared up for the sunrise and we got to see a nice one, it was strange being so high. I would not do the whole sleeping in the cabin thing again.. if i ever do climb it again, it would be up and down in one day. By the way, going down is worse than going up. There is a japanese saying that goes something like "Everyone should climb Mt. Fuji once, but only crazy people do it twice". Its about right.

We went to Saitama for a yukata party with the gang up there as well. That was pretty fun. We drank alot, emily drank even more than alot and was a bit... well sickly the next day. It was a good time.

Also, there was a night me, Azu and Juri did some partying where i work, Hiratsuka, and basically stayed up all night and caught the first train home. Only.... we sorta fell asleep on the train. So the next thing i know, a train guy is waking me up. I think to myself (still drunk) "how nice of him to wake us up at our stop" so we stumble down the platform, me thinking "thats odd, i dont remember an exit there in Kozu... oh well, thats useful" Juri then says "thats the shinkansen entrance!" So i think "hrm... dont remember a shinkansen (bullet train) entrance in Kozu... thats really useful too!" Then as we continue down the platform, one of us finally reads a sign and we realize..... we're not in Kozu at all, we're in Atami. Atami happened to be the final stop on that train.... which is about an hour south west of Kozu... soooo we got back on and rode home, this time a little later, and managed to get off the train this time, barely. Juri somehow woke up and got me and Azu up. Then we got to walk home in the blazing morning sun, passing people going to work. Awesome!
Anyway, Azu eric and I are planning a South Korea trip this month, so i'll keep you posted! Peace!

Typhooooon! Just kidding.

As the title indicates, i almost got to see a raging typhoon last weekend, but.... didnt. My little sister in okinawa got to see one up close and personal though. After boning Okinawa, that same typhoon went for Japan proper, and did some typhooning in southwest Japan. It was SUPPOSED to come up to where i was as well.... but it decided to turn away. This is good news for everyone... but i wanted to see a badass typhoon, so i was sad. It did make for an easy day at work though, because the bulk of the students cancelled that sunday. An earthquake also hit recently as many of you may have seen on the news. I felt it, but it wasnt so strong where i am. It was an odd feeling. I was teaching a lesson and all of the students are like " Earthquake!" and i say "what? who? where?..... i dont feel any - ah, yep, sure enough". The building sorta started to sway back and forth, it was dizzying. Azu's hotel is like 30 or so floors up in a building, so she felt the swaying pretty strongly i guess, and the elevators stopped and all the guests paniced. Anyway, it did alot of damage in Niigata where it originated, mostly to old buildings.

Well, enough about Japan's many natural disasters. Last night Azu and i partied in Shinjuku with some of her old friends. All of them went to college in the U.S., so they could speak english really well... but they mostly all spoke japanese the whole night, haha. Only if they wanted to say something important to me in particular did they speak english. We ended up doing some cosmic bowling and then setting up some teams and betting for drinks at the end of the night. You may not know this, but i am a TERRIBLE bowler. It is not uncommon for me to gutterball numerous times in a row. However... for the first time in my life, i managed to pull my dismal score up from the depts with a few lucky spares and a strike, and get over 100 to save my team and win the game! For the first time ever i scored over 100... so i was happy. All the girls outbowled me and Azu's other male friend Yu, so we couldnt do girls vs. boys. It was a sad night for us.

In about a week and a half Ronn, Azu, Tawnya, and I are going to climb Mt. Fuji. We'v already reserved the cottage, so its happening! We are planning to start on the 29th, then sleep for a few hours in a cottage near the top, then wake up at 2 am, and finish the climb to see the sunrise from the top. Im told climbing Mt. Fuji is nothing short of miserable, so... hopefully the view will pay off.

Happy Birthday to AdriAnne!

Festivalicious

So, alot happened last week. To start, there was the whole television extra job. I worked as an extra on a Japanese television movie. It turns out, the story is actually pretty famous. They are doing a remake of some old japanese World War 2 story, its going to be a 2 hour television movie. The title translates into something like "I want to be a shell" or shellfish. All of my older students know of the original movie. The younger students just look at me puzzled when i tell them the name. One class, haha... there was one old dude with 3 other younger students. He was the only one who knew of the story, and was very surprised and sad that the other people had never seen or heard of it. I guess it involved some kind of Japanese officer that was wrongly accused of some war crimes, and the title has something to do with wanting to clam up, like a shellfish or something... i dunno. Its going to be on TV here on August 24th i heard. Interestingly, i also heard that Hollywood is currently working on a version of the story. Anyway, i got to work with a couple famous people. For anyone who has seen Jet Li's newest movie, Fearless, you will know one of them. The final japanese fighter that Jet Li fights at the end was the main character in this movie. His name is Shido Nakamura. The other guy is an american dude, who is famous only in Japan. I'v seen him on TV a few times, his name is Patrick, or Patkun as they say here. Anyway, as far as my part went, i was in about 3 scenes. One scene where an officer comes into our prison and demands to see one of the american prisoners. Another scene where the main guy is talking to all the prisoners and telling us we'll be working in a coal mine, and later at the end, when the war is over, and all of us prisoners get to happily leave the prison. I'll let you guys know if i see myself on TV, haha. It was an interesting experience... involved alot of waiting, and doing the same thing over and over again until the director was satisfied. But, i was paid pretty well for my time, and it was more like an adventure than work. I got to stay in a pretty nice traditional japanese Hotel for a night, talk to alot of other random foreigners who were also prisoners, and I also got to travel to a rural town in the mountains, and see a new place. The other foreigners were from all over, some from brazil, sweden, australia, argentina, canada, africa. Basically it was anyone who appeared to be american with the exclusion of anyone asian looking. One of the brazilian guys only knew japanese and portuguese, so i had to speak to him in japanese when i spoke with him, haha. I was actually supposed to do another scene today, but they called back and told me that the scene was removed. Also, i was asked to do another event.... like some kind of staff job at a justin timberlake concert? i dunno, but i was working that day, so i told them i couldnt. I guess they'll be calling me for anything these different companies get asked to find people for.

Anyway, this week was also Tanabata, which is a star festival of sorts. Has something to do with some prince and princess of the stars, who were too happy together, and only wanted to lay around and be in eachothers company when together, so the gods separated them, and said they can only meet one day a year. That day is the Tanabata festival! It just so happened, that the biggest, or second biggest Tanabata festival location is Hiratsuka, where i work now. The festival lasted for 4 days, and for the 2 days that i participated, involved me being wasted until last train, and having a hang over the next day. It also involved about 5 zillion people walking all over Hiratsuka, and alot of awesome, artery clogging festival food, like battered deep fried potatoes covered in butter, and meat on a stick. It was pretty fun, until the next morning, when i wanted to hurl on a student.

Azu and i also went to Odaiba. We saw some cool movies in the Sony science center, but didnt have enough time to see as much as we wanted, because i had to catch a bus to Ibaraki for the extra thing.

Well, thats about all for now. Me, Ronn, Azu, and Tawnya were going to meet for another 21 dollar burger this week... but Ronn and Tawnya forgot to save enough money to ride the train to the restaurant, so plans were cancelled. Jon also had to call off the Kawagoe festival gathering planned tomorrow. He gave a long, thorough list of reasons, and i couldnt really dispute any of them, so that was that! I got a hold of my sister Brittany in okinawa, and was informed that she's getting..... married! Yeah, planned for next summer i guess. Crazy. Anyway, i am going to try to visit her this fall sometime if i can, so that should be fun. Thats all for now. If you find yourself hating summer, just think of me sitting in 80% humidity right now, it may cheer you up!