A SECOND TERM AT FUZOKU... Changes
Whenever I return to Vienna, where I once studied, my old friends usually say to me, "Nothing ever changes in Vienna!" This is largely true. The buildings, the sights, the food, many basic traditions… these remain unchanged. Even my friends seem largely the same. In 1980, when they were in their 20s, they all looked 45 years old. Now they are in their 50s, but they still look 45.
So when I returned to Fuzoku for my "second career" a few years ago, I wondered what I would find different. Like Vienna, much was unchanged. The building was still old and dirty. Many of the sights were unchanged, such as the green water in the swimming pool or the foreign language room, where you could look under a table and not be surprised to find a dead body from nine years earlier.
What had changed in Fuzoku and SHAB? Here is a quick list off the top of my head.
So when I returned to Fuzoku for my "second career" a few years ago, I wondered what I would find different. Like Vienna, much was unchanged. The building was still old and dirty. Many of the sights were unchanged, such as the green water in the swimming pool or the foreign language room, where you could look under a table and not be surprised to find a dead body from nine years earlier.
What had changed in Fuzoku and SHAB? Here is a quick list off the top of my head.
1. FUJIWARA SENSEI. Remember my basketball friends from Vienna who never changed? This is Mr. Fujiwara! 1991 or 2006, he is defying physics.
2. HAKOMORI SENSEI. He wasn't at Fuzoku my first time. The second time, he was. SHAB started getting many exotic snacks, thanks to him.
3. KAZ. I thought he might be a spy for Gakushuin at first, but now I am certain that he is on our side. He was not at Fuzoku during my first stay, either.
4. ROY. One big changed had taken place: Roy had a wife! I had always thought it would be a SHAB student.
5. TACHIBANA SENSEI. He had gotten thinner and looked to be in much better shape. Yet he still ate a lot of pizza at the test recording sessions. Like Mr. Fujiwara, he, too, is defying physics.
6. TOSHIKO SENSEI. Many people in Vienna say, "We have to get rid of the slow streetcars and replace them with fast subways." She sent me plans by fax in the early 1990s. In 2006, she still does. Toshiko is our streetcar.
7. UMABA SENSEI. Remarkably, his jokes had not changed at all. They were just as funny as the first time I'd been there. This is not defying physics, but it defies something.
8. MR. SUGAI. I checked under the tables, but I have not found him. I am glad to know that he is happy and largely unchanged.
9. ME. Just look at the pictures in the album from the early 1990s, and then look at me now. Who was that young, thin guy in the early 1990s?
10. MY PHONE NUMBER & ADDRESS. In 2002, my message saying welcome to Patrick was still on the chalkboard. I had written it six years before.
11. THE BEER FROM OKINAWA. I was delighted to find a large bottle of beer from Okinawa in the refrigerator. I looked forward to drinking it. Then one day I secretly examined the date of expiration. 1999.
12. THE TT LESSONS. I still enjoy the lessons a lot and look forward to doing them. And like my first visit to Fuzoku, the students look forward to the class ending.
13. SADDAM HUSSEIN. People said that he was on trial in Baghdad, but I found that he had secretly moved to Tokyo and become the security guard at the entrance to the school. What's more, he often practices German with me. It reminded me that SHABUKUST had started as a German club, and grown out of those lessons. As for the guy on trial in Baghdad, he must be an imposter.
14. BUSH. When SHAB began, an incredibly dangerous lunatic named Bush was our president. Years later... it is still Bush. WHAT is going on??????? This is something that DEFINITELY should have changed.
15. SHAB SUMMER TRIP. In the 1990s, some black guys almost beat me up during a SHAB trip to the beach during the summer. In 2006, nobody tried to do that during our beach trip.
16. SNACK KINGS IN SHAB. Several students claimed to eat too many snacks at SHAB, or said that they simply showed up and took them. "How could one club have so many Snack Kings," I wondered. Who is SHAB's true Snack King?
17. SHAB LAYOUT. I returned to find SHAB being made on the computer. As I had been the first typist on a giant word processor, this really seemed like progress.
18. STYLE OF EDITING. When I come home exhausted from university, I open my computer files at midnight…. And the SHAB articles START coming in! Sometimes, I switch my computer off at 1:30 a.m. and go to bed. When I awaken, I'll find one or two SHAB manuscripts waiting for me. I wonder, "When do these students ever sleep?" There may be many Snack Kings, but there are several Draculas among you as well.
19. SHAB CONTENT. It was great 15 years ago, and remarkably, it continues to be fantastic. I look forward to reading the articles so much every month, and still proof them very lightly because they are too good to mess with.
20. SHAB STUDENTS. How could this club keep getting such nice, talented, hard working, delightful, creative, funny people year after year?
That point is the most like Vienna. We may worry from year to year about low numbers in SHAB, but we should be thankful for the quality of the members. I have had such a good time working with the students for the past 15 years; I know that the next 15 years will be just as wonderful. Two things will surely outlast me: Vienna, and SHAB.
2. HAKOMORI SENSEI. He wasn't at Fuzoku my first time. The second time, he was. SHAB started getting many exotic snacks, thanks to him.
3. KAZ. I thought he might be a spy for Gakushuin at first, but now I am certain that he is on our side. He was not at Fuzoku during my first stay, either.
4. ROY. One big changed had taken place: Roy had a wife! I had always thought it would be a SHAB student.
5. TACHIBANA SENSEI. He had gotten thinner and looked to be in much better shape. Yet he still ate a lot of pizza at the test recording sessions. Like Mr. Fujiwara, he, too, is defying physics.
6. TOSHIKO SENSEI. Many people in Vienna say, "We have to get rid of the slow streetcars and replace them with fast subways." She sent me plans by fax in the early 1990s. In 2006, she still does. Toshiko is our streetcar.
7. UMABA SENSEI. Remarkably, his jokes had not changed at all. They were just as funny as the first time I'd been there. This is not defying physics, but it defies something.
8. MR. SUGAI. I checked under the tables, but I have not found him. I am glad to know that he is happy and largely unchanged.
9. ME. Just look at the pictures in the album from the early 1990s, and then look at me now. Who was that young, thin guy in the early 1990s?
10. MY PHONE NUMBER & ADDRESS. In 2002, my message saying welcome to Patrick was still on the chalkboard. I had written it six years before.
11. THE BEER FROM OKINAWA. I was delighted to find a large bottle of beer from Okinawa in the refrigerator. I looked forward to drinking it. Then one day I secretly examined the date of expiration. 1999.
12. THE TT LESSONS. I still enjoy the lessons a lot and look forward to doing them. And like my first visit to Fuzoku, the students look forward to the class ending.
13. SADDAM HUSSEIN. People said that he was on trial in Baghdad, but I found that he had secretly moved to Tokyo and become the security guard at the entrance to the school. What's more, he often practices German with me. It reminded me that SHABUKUST had started as a German club, and grown out of those lessons. As for the guy on trial in Baghdad, he must be an imposter.
14. BUSH. When SHAB began, an incredibly dangerous lunatic named Bush was our president. Years later... it is still Bush. WHAT is going on??????? This is something that DEFINITELY should have changed.
15. SHAB SUMMER TRIP. In the 1990s, some black guys almost beat me up during a SHAB trip to the beach during the summer. In 2006, nobody tried to do that during our beach trip.
16. SNACK KINGS IN SHAB. Several students claimed to eat too many snacks at SHAB, or said that they simply showed up and took them. "How could one club have so many Snack Kings," I wondered. Who is SHAB's true Snack King?
17. SHAB LAYOUT. I returned to find SHAB being made on the computer. As I had been the first typist on a giant word processor, this really seemed like progress.
18. STYLE OF EDITING. When I come home exhausted from university, I open my computer files at midnight…. And the SHAB articles START coming in! Sometimes, I switch my computer off at 1:30 a.m. and go to bed. When I awaken, I'll find one or two SHAB manuscripts waiting for me. I wonder, "When do these students ever sleep?" There may be many Snack Kings, but there are several Draculas among you as well.
19. SHAB CONTENT. It was great 15 years ago, and remarkably, it continues to be fantastic. I look forward to reading the articles so much every month, and still proof them very lightly because they are too good to mess with.
20. SHAB STUDENTS. How could this club keep getting such nice, talented, hard working, delightful, creative, funny people year after year?
That point is the most like Vienna. We may worry from year to year about low numbers in SHAB, but we should be thankful for the quality of the members. I have had such a good time working with the students for the past 15 years; I know that the next 15 years will be just as wonderful. Two things will surely outlast me: Vienna, and SHAB.
Thanks so, so much for the good work and the memories.
Robert JUPPE
Robert JUPPE
posted by SHABUKUST at
5:40 AM
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