We recently had our Skills Development Conference in Kagoshima City, which is the equivalent of a two-day teacher PD in the United States. Except here, it’s only once per year. It’s a great opportunity to chat a bit with the friends I made at Tokyo Orientation that are too far away for me to regularly see. The usefulness and enjoyment of the workshops vary greatly… but that’s OK, because that’s not really what this post is about.
This post is about “Real Gold”.
This is the name tag that awaited me at the conference. Rich, one of the PAs (essentially ALT leaders) and I bonded over our favorite Japanese soft drink at a recent English camp. It’s made by Coca-Cola, but only sold in Japan. And it’s delicioussssssss…..
Aside from this recent (and awesome) nickname, I started thinking back and remembering some of my most memorable nicknames. It was an entertaining, organized way to remember people and experiences that had a big or small influence on my life. So, I decided to make a list of my own nicknames. I actually started this post three weeks ago before asking people on Facebook to share nicknames they’ve called me over the years. Sorry if I forgot any!
- Spence – The classic. When you’re just too busy enjoying life to say that final “r”.
- Real Gold – See above. Gahhh, the sweet lemony, fizzy goodness… don’t drink the fruit punch flavor, though!
- Spenceroo – Wright, James F. One of my high school business teachers gave me this one. Anyone who had him in class has several hilarious Jim Wright stories.
- Spenceman – This one came from Ryan Applegate, my college buddy and freshman year dorm neighbor. It’s funnier in context – it comes from “Office Space” and Peter’s neighbor Laurence. “Hey Peter-man, check out Channel 9! Wooooo!”
- Spencedawg – Pretty common in my Transy days, though I actually think one of my high school humanities teachers was the first to use it.
- Spence Daddy – From my college roommate, John Hall. Maybe there’s no story for this one, and if there is, I can’t remember it.
- Spencey – It would annoy me to hear this from 95% of the people I know… but what kind of monster could resent Jeanene Jones or Robin Neal?
- Tater Salad – Everyone knows that Ron White is hilarious. Do you know who else is hilarious? Jerry “Big Daddy” Broyles!
- Pants Cannon – This one came from Jillian Lykens, and was my nickname on the Beaumont some-kickball-but-mostly-beer-drinking-in-the-park team. No, it was not because of my awe-inspiring kicking prowess.
- Hamilton – It doesn’t seem like a nickname, but Adam Sullinger is quite zealous in NEVER referring to me by any variation of my first name. Does he even know it?
- Mr. Dukey – From my parents, the story for this one may be best left off the Internet.
- Pentoo, Squid Man, Bumpy – Jeez, Mom… what do these even mean?!?
- Spe-chan (スぺちゃん) – From Yoshi, but now used by her parents, too. ちゃん (pronounced “chan”) is a suffix you can add to a first name in Japan to show familiarity and affection.
- Pen Pen – Also from Yoshi. I like penguins, and if you pronounce my first name in the Japanese style, the “pen” part usually gets the emphasis.
- (Mr.) Spoon – When I first met Stu, I only understood about 70% of the stuff that he said, despite the fact that we ostensibly speak the same language. Now that I’ve known him for over a year, though… I understand about 72% of the stuff he says. It took me a while to even realize that he meant me when he first called me this is a group chat.
- (Mr.) Hammy – Many a Beaumont student has called me this in the past… the ones that I liked got away with it.
- The Professor – From my former BMS colleagues, Mike Fannin and Shaun Demeter. I always chose to believe it meant they thought I was smart, as opposed that I was just a smartass.
- Mr. Sunshine – Another Beaumont name, I’m giving joint credit to Lisa Williams and Mike Fannin… one of them came up with it, and together they made it a thing.
I’m sure there are many others. It’s fun to reminisce.
An unrelated update, mostly to explain a few pictures that follow. A few weeks ago, Yoshi and I went to Kagoshima’s oldest functioning wooden train station, 嘉例川駅 (Kareigawa-eki, Kareigawa Station). Every year, they have a small festival here, with a mushroom BBQ. Yeah, grilled mushrooms. I’ve never liked mushrooms in the past, but they are quite tasty when freshly salted and grilled. Every year, the guest of honor at the festival is the station’s 駅長 (ekichou, stationmaster), Nyantarou. “Nyan” is the Japanese onomatopoeia for cat noises, equivalent to “meow” in English, and… yeah, you can see where I’m going with this. The stationmaster is a cat. I was relieved to find out later that most stationmasters in Japan do not publicly urinate on their train stations. Good to know.
As always, I have more to say… but in a futile effort to keep this blog organized, I’ll hold off until the next post. But before we part… a few pictures of my recent life.
Ain’t it grand?
Satsumasendai, Sakurajima, and Spencer-sensei 