The Japanese have this way of saying no to things that drives foreigners crazy. You ask them to do something and they have a social orgasm in front of you agreeing that yes indeed, you should hang out, or do whatever. Then, 5 minutes before the actual event is set to take place, they all of a sudden have some business they "forgot" about or they have some finger nail pains... in short, they can't make it. The reality is that they had chosen to refuse you in the first place, but in order to be polite, they agreed to go along with you to make it seem like they wanted to hang out with you. Then they make up some reason that they can't go all of a sudden. I think it's actually pretty rude because if you had planned to hang out with that person and then they cancel on you like that without a real reason, it leaves you stranded for the day. If the reason is a real one then it's fine obviously, but they planned to take a dump on you in the first place. Still getting used to this part about Japanese people, but I'm getting better and better at reading them! I find if I ask certain questions, I can know if they will turn me down later on by their responses. For instance, when I ask detailed questions such as what time or place to meet, if I get hazy responses or none at all (text messaging), I can assume they will cancel. This has proven to be quite useful.
There was a student the other day who was goofing off and the teacher kept scolding him and telling him to pay attention. After a couple minutes of this, the teacher turned around to write on the board and the student turns to his friends and says "watch this," then he lifts his leg and let's a fart rip. I spent the next 10 minutes trying not to laugh about it. At a different school, I was invited to play basketball with the 9th grade girls, so I went and listened to the teacher talk about where each team was going to play. As I stood there, a girl who I wasn't looking at but who was easily within my peripheral vision was sitting down with her knees up and together. She looks at her friend, and in English says "open!" as she spread her legs wide open. Again, I spent the next 10 minutes (I can laugh at things for quite a while) trying not to laugh at this. I feel pretty immature laughing at things like these, but I don't feel bad about it.
本音【ほんね】 (honne) (n) real intention; motive; (P)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
English is Funny, Random Questions
Speaking English must be really funny for some reason, because whenever my students try to speak English to me they always end up laughing about it. I don't know, it's kinda funny to watch though. Maybe it's me, because there are groups of girl students who just laugh whenever they see me. It's a bit unnerving, I hope it's a good thing. Probably is. I had a girl give me a rasengan the other day. Some of the boy students keep rasenganning me from their dicks. It takes everything in me to not do it back to them. I know I'd hear about it from the teachers for sure if I did, but dang man, I am still really immature because I would have no problem counterattacking by kicking them in the nads. Good times.
Did you know there are no referees during recess time? Even in elementary school! The kids are just allowed to run free without any supervision. This is super crazy coming from a place where there was constant supervision even in high school.
So I walked into the library when the students were cleaning it and the first thing I hear directed towards me is "What do you have for breakfast?" After I answer "I have miso soup and rice" (it's funny because that is a conversation from their textbook, word for word), I immediately get asked "Do you have a girlfriend?" It's usually the girl students who ask me this so I ask them the same question back. These weird questions still come up even though I've been here for 4 months now. Freaking hilarious if I think about it.
金玉【きんたま】 (kintama) (n) (col) testicles (this word is awesome because the literal translation is "golden balls")
Did you know there are no referees during recess time? Even in elementary school! The kids are just allowed to run free without any supervision. This is super crazy coming from a place where there was constant supervision even in high school.
So I walked into the library when the students were cleaning it and the first thing I hear directed towards me is "What do you have for breakfast?" After I answer "I have miso soup and rice" (it's funny because that is a conversation from their textbook, word for word), I immediately get asked "Do you have a girlfriend?" It's usually the girl students who ask me this so I ask them the same question back. These weird questions still come up even though I've been here for 4 months now. Freaking hilarious if I think about it.
金玉【きんたま】 (kintama) (n) (col) testicles (this word is awesome because the literal translation is "golden balls")
Sunday, December 11, 2011
JET Appreciation and My Apartment
First off, I would like to remind myself, and even other JET participants if you are reading this (and not just because it's the holidays), that there may be some exceptionally frustrating things that we go through as JETs. I'm not going to list even one of them because really, which raindrop do I pull from the ocean? Despite all these things, we are living a dream. There are many people back in their home countries who cry when their application to JET gets rejected. There are people who are trying their 5th year and even more to get onto this program. I know what it's like to get rejected, I was turned down the first time I tried out for the program (not to mention about 3 other companies turned me down as well). Maybe that's why I think about that every day that I'm here, quite literally. Even if there are days I don't feel like doing anything Japanesey, I still appreciate the fact that someone else had to stay home so I could be here.
Here's some pictures of where I live!
This is my room. Looks pretty sweet huh? That table where all my stuff is is called a kotatsu. You put a blanket in between the table and the leg portions and turn on a heater underneath where you put your legs. It's the most awesome invention ever and since it's been freezing at night I've been hiding under it when I come home. Kerosene heaters are popular here but because you have to circulate the air and buy the kerosene, I don't use them. I don't care much for breathing the chemicals either. I feel there are better and more efficient ways of acquiring cancer. The TV you can see a little of is a 32" supplied by my employers. Bless their hearts. I actually got it before the rice cooker came. 3 months late but at the rate my board of education gets things done, can't complain!
This is the view from one of my windows. There used to be buildings right in front, blocking the view, but they got torn down since the tsunami took most of them out. I wish it was from my bedroom window though. I don't get to see much of this view since it's from my hall window and the window is glazed. Plus they will probably rebuild the buildings, then my view will disappear. Oh well.
This is my kitchen where I don't do anything but cook and do dishes. I don't have much furniture and there is nothing to do downstairs so I live in my room. I suck at cooking so nothing magical ever happens here either. I miss Korea where I could just order dinner for $5 and have it delivered to my door. Dwen jang jjigae please come back to me!
Her name is Maria (it's actually written on a sticker on the back of the car). She is a sexy beast of a car. Too bad I am too lazy to give her a bath, she could look pretty good. As dirty as she is she still attracts the boy cars.
感謝【かんしゃ】 (kansha) (adj-na,n,vs) thanks; gratitude; (P)
Here's some pictures of where I live!
Her name is Maria (it's actually written on a sticker on the back of the car). She is a sexy beast of a car. Too bad I am too lazy to give her a bath, she could look pretty good. As dirty as she is she still attracts the boy cars.
感謝【かんしゃ】 (kansha) (adj-na,n,vs) thanks; gratitude; (P)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Argh
Why do all Japanese girls smoke?? Smoking is seriously the MOST unattractive thing I can think of a girl doing. It is a deal breaker no matter if she is perfect in every single other way. I know they don't all smoke but yeah. Sigh...
タバコ (tabako) (n) (uk) tobacco (por: tabaco); cigarettes; (P)
タバコ (tabako) (n) (uk) tobacco (por: tabaco); cigarettes; (P)
Monday, November 21, 2011
First Snow!
The first snow of the year fell today early in the morning, but it wasn't until later in the night when it really started coming down. It didn't stick, but it was still pretty. I wish, even though it sucks to drive in, that a lot of snow would fall on Kesennuma. It probably won't, just because that's what just about everyone says, but it would be nice. Now I need to get snow tires. Kesennuma is a little silly because it requires snow tires even though everyone says that not much snow falls. They can be expensive too I've heard. Such awesomeness!
I finally got my rice cooker after almost 4 months. Took long enough, now I'm just waiting on my sofa and cabinet. Maybe in March!
By the way, I am still looking for a reason to stay a second year. If I find one, I wonder if I could balance a 2nd year with the new business that my friend will make in the US. I am supposed to find love here, if the Geibikei rock in the hole thing is true!
初雪【はつゆき】 (hatsu/yuki) (n) first snow (of season)
I finally got my rice cooker after almost 4 months. Took long enough, now I'm just waiting on my sofa and cabinet. Maybe in March!
By the way, I am still looking for a reason to stay a second year. If I find one, I wonder if I could balance a 2nd year with the new business that my friend will make in the US. I am supposed to find love here, if the Geibikei rock in the hole thing is true!
初雪【はつゆき】 (hatsu/yuki) (n) first snow (of season)
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Geibikei, Olympian, Fukushima and Rasengans
Japan has borrowed some Chinese characters for use in their writing, called Kanji (in Japanese). It's different from a traditional alphabet in that each "letter" is actually an entire word, which means there are a LOT of Kanji. Most people's names here in Japan are written in Kanji, which means, because each character is a word, that each name has a meaning that is pretty easy to guess (more or less). One of the students who writes me letters has the name Sumika, which is written as 純花 and means something like "pure/genuine flower." When I wrote her back, I told her that her name was very pretty and that my name didn't have a meaning (yes, I know that's sort of a lie, you history buffs). She wrote me back and this is what she said: "Your name has dust in it. That means gold powder, right?" Sweetest 7th grader... I mean sweetest girl ever. Yeah, if only my name actually meant that.
First click here and watch some of this. You don't have to watch all of it. Now, what you just watched was part of a pretty big anime/animation/comic/manga called Naruto. He's doing a move called 螺旋丸 "Rasengan" which means Spiraling Sphere or something like that, sort of like a Kamehameha if you watch DBZ or a Hadouken if you know Street Fighter. If you know neither, screw you! Anyway, I have been giving my students this move for a while now for fun, and one day as I was walking into class a kid in the front goes "ready, set..." and then the ENTIRE CLASS stuck their hand out and yelled "RASENGAN!" at me. It was the most awesome thing ever and I wish so badly that I could have gotten it on video. I naturally gave the class one back and I think I scared the Japanese English teacher a little bit.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Right Shoulder Destroyed
So a few days ago... actually I think it was Wednesday, I was playing ping pong with my students. They had waxed the floor a few weeks ago and it was SUPER slippery. I managed to slip and fall and somehow my right arm got twisted around in an awkward position and BAM, the same accident that happened almost 10 years ago to my left shoulder to end my breakdancing happened to my right shoulder. It's still super sore and I am still fairly in shock that it happened. Really now? I just need to stop doing sports... which probably won't happen until I physically can't anymore. On top of that, the jolt from landing on the floor knocked some screws loose in my head and gave me a migraine. As a result, I missed a yosakoi (a type of dance) the next day. Super!
Thanks to my school's bunkasai (culture festival), I found a song I really like called 「旅立ちの時」 "Tabidachi no toki" or something like "When I Begin My Journey." Take a listen if you want, it's pretty cool even if you can't understand anything. I know I can't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92kzhYQbbMA
Went to a place called 猊鼻渓 "Geibikei" over the weekend. It was sweet, but I forgot to upload pictures so I'll write about it next time.
恋愛よ、もうすぐ俺のものになるぜ
旅立ち【たびだち】 (tabidachi) (n,vs) setting off (on a trip)
Thanks to my school's bunkasai (culture festival), I found a song I really like called 「旅立ちの時」 "Tabidachi no toki" or something like "When I Begin My Journey." Take a listen if you want, it's pretty cool even if you can't understand anything. I know I can't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92kzhYQbbMA
Went to a place called 猊鼻渓 "Geibikei" over the weekend. It was sweet, but I forgot to upload pictures so I'll write about it next time.
恋愛よ、もうすぐ俺のものになるぜ
旅立ち【たびだち】 (tabidachi) (n,vs) setting off (on a trip)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Porn Mags, Bunkasai and Letters
The other day I refrained from calling a student by her name, and it turned out I got lucky. In the next class over, same grade even, is a girl who looks JUST like her. Very little differences, although I think one has a smaller head. I would have gotten the name wrong if I had tried. There are a couple of kids in one of my middle schools who I swear have twins, either in different grades or just different classes and I can't tell some of them apart unless I see them with their friends. It's a little scary sometimes. I've been trying hard to remember as many students' names as I can, but there are so many and I don't get to see them every day. If I'm lucky I've got around 3% of all my students' names down.
My teacher had her 7th graders play a game the other day where they had to ask me questions and elicit either "yes" or "no" as the answer. One team would be the "no" team and the other would be the "yes" team. The standout annoying kid in the class asked two questions. One was "Do you want our English teacher?" At first I looked at the Japanese teacher, expecting her to tell the student to change the question, but instead she just looked at me said "Say no, no, no." Ok then! The next question he asked was "Do you read porn magazines?" Again I looked at the Japanese teacher to see if she would have the student change the question. She just looked at me like "How's he going to answer?" Teachers are also able to touch their students a lot more than in the states, and it's completely normal. There are two girls who try to pinch me on the side of my abdomen. When I can't escape and they succeed it's really awkward, because I don't want to try and grab them back in the same place because it's weird, but I also don't really want to discourage them because they are so personable with me now, compared to before. Strange times man.
My schools had a culture festival the other day, and it was awesome. They put on some plays in the gym and displayed art and crafts in their classrooms. They also displayed posters describing various things about their culture, such as words in their dialect and stuff about the major earthquake that happened on 3.11.
One of the performances put on by the band club. After this, one of the girls went to the mic and thanked the 3rd years for their time in the club. She started crying as she thanked them. The camaraderie between students is much tighter in Japanese schools than it is in American schools. The Japanese education system might not be so great, but I would choose them over the states' schools just due to how close all the students are.
I'd upload more pictures but I still can't get my stupid internet to work even though it came last week. So in the meantime I'm still using my phone tether and that one picture took like 10 minutes to upload for some reason.
One of my students who writes me letters is so cute. Her favorite foreign movies include "Herry Potter" and "X-Man." Her favorite food [sic] are piza and cheezeburger, and so on. Her favorite singer is Hanna Montana, and so on. She puts the date on her letters. It was just a few days ago, but it's humbling to look at it and realize that in a few years I'll find this letter again, read it, and think "dang, that was a long time ago."
文化祭【ぶんかさい】 (bunkasai) (n) culture festival; arts festival
My teacher had her 7th graders play a game the other day where they had to ask me questions and elicit either "yes" or "no" as the answer. One team would be the "no" team and the other would be the "yes" team. The standout annoying kid in the class asked two questions. One was "Do you want our English teacher?" At first I looked at the Japanese teacher, expecting her to tell the student to change the question, but instead she just looked at me said "Say no, no, no." Ok then! The next question he asked was "Do you read porn magazines?" Again I looked at the Japanese teacher to see if she would have the student change the question. She just looked at me like "How's he going to answer?" Teachers are also able to touch their students a lot more than in the states, and it's completely normal. There are two girls who try to pinch me on the side of my abdomen. When I can't escape and they succeed it's really awkward, because I don't want to try and grab them back in the same place because it's weird, but I also don't really want to discourage them because they are so personable with me now, compared to before. Strange times man.
My schools had a culture festival the other day, and it was awesome. They put on some plays in the gym and displayed art and crafts in their classrooms. They also displayed posters describing various things about their culture, such as words in their dialect and stuff about the major earthquake that happened on 3.11.
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| Brass Band Club Woot! |
I'd upload more pictures but I still can't get my stupid internet to work even though it came last week. So in the meantime I'm still using my phone tether and that one picture took like 10 minutes to upload for some reason.
One of my students who writes me letters is so cute. Her favorite foreign movies include "Herry Potter" and "X-Man." Her favorite food [sic] are piza and cheezeburger, and so on. Her favorite singer is Hanna Montana, and so on. She puts the date on her letters. It was just a few days ago, but it's humbling to look at it and realize that in a few years I'll find this letter again, read it, and think "dang, that was a long time ago."
文化祭【ぶんかさい】 (bunkasai) (n) culture festival; arts festival
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Boobs, Poop and Culture Festival Preparations
If I understood what was going on correctly, I'm pretty sure that a group of 3 9th grader girls in one of my middle schools tried to get me to say "boobs" in Japanese some days ago. The word for boobs is oppai, and one of the girls was saying "O, P, I" then she would back up a bit, drop her head and say very quickly, "opai." And after I said "What? O P I?" she again would back up quickly and say "opai." I think I knew what she was doing so I didn't give in, but it was pretty funny.
A 5th grade girl in my elementary school for sure tried to get me to say "poop" in Japanese the other day. She brought up a notebook with the word "unko" or "poop" written in it in Japanese. She pointed to it and asked "Teacher, what's this?" I smiled and said "fuzakenna!" or "fuck off!" with a mild bitch slapping motion and she laughed as she ran off. I don't blame these kids, I might have tried the same thing when I was their age.
I have a farmers tan that I picked up over a month ago and it STILL HASN'T GONE AWAY. It is ugly and annoying. Thank you very much, Japanese sun!
Students around Japan are currently doing two things at the moment. They are getting ready for a culture festival and practicing choir singing. Schools from kindergartens to colleges participate in this culture festival, which basically will see individual classes or groups putting on some sort of show or attraction while other students go through and see what is going on. There will be food, performances, and other things I'm not sure of yet. What really irks me is that my two middle schools are having their culture festivals on the same day, which means I can only go to one of them. I really wanted to go to both, because I really like both schools. It really makes me sad I can't go to both. But, c'est la vie.
My friend is starting his business and has asked me to be his CFO/partial partner. I am super excited for this, but alas, it will be the nail in the coffin as far as a second year in Japan is concerned. Funny, I miss it already.
おっぱい (oppai) (n) (1) (chn) breasts; boobies; tits; (2) (chn) breast milk; (P)
A 5th grade girl in my elementary school for sure tried to get me to say "poop" in Japanese the other day. She brought up a notebook with the word "unko" or "poop" written in it in Japanese. She pointed to it and asked "Teacher, what's this?" I smiled and said "fuzakenna!" or "fuck off!" with a mild bitch slapping motion and she laughed as she ran off. I don't blame these kids, I might have tried the same thing when I was their age.
I have a farmers tan that I picked up over a month ago and it STILL HASN'T GONE AWAY. It is ugly and annoying. Thank you very much, Japanese sun!
Students around Japan are currently doing two things at the moment. They are getting ready for a culture festival and practicing choir singing. Schools from kindergartens to colleges participate in this culture festival, which basically will see individual classes or groups putting on some sort of show or attraction while other students go through and see what is going on. There will be food, performances, and other things I'm not sure of yet. What really irks me is that my two middle schools are having their culture festivals on the same day, which means I can only go to one of them. I really wanted to go to both, because I really like both schools. It really makes me sad I can't go to both. But, c'est la vie.
My friend is starting his business and has asked me to be his CFO/partial partner. I am super excited for this, but alas, it will be the nail in the coffin as far as a second year in Japan is concerned. Funny, I miss it already.
おっぱい (oppai) (n) (1) (chn) breasts; boobies; tits; (2) (chn) breast milk; (P)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Halloween Party, Inside/Outside Shoes
There's a requirement for any chair in a public school in Japan. It must squeak each time you move in it. That is all.
We had a Halloween party last weekend which went pretty well. Got a few Japanese people to come over. We ended up playing a game called King's Game where basically people draw straws (chopsticks in our case) all labeled with numbers 1 through however many people there are minus 1, and that leftover one is labeled as the king. The king gets to command 2 numbers to do anything the king wants, example being "numbers 2 and 5, kiss!" The stuff we did wasn't that wild, and it was ok, although I'd rather avoid it in the future if possible. Karaoke followed and I'd write about it but nothing out of the ordinary really happened.
Even in Japan I can't avoid getting a cold that comes with a cough that won't stop. I had this cough that lasted like a month back in the states around March. I remember what month it was because it was the month of my JET interview. I also have a runny nose that won't stop and I have to empty the tank in between each class. I probably use up 1/3 of a roll of toilet paper for all the snot that comes out. Weeee!
The most exciting news of all, for me at least, is that I found shoes that I think fit! Japan has this "inside/outside shoe" thing going on. If you haven't guessed already, this is where they have shoes that you wear outside, and shoes that you wear inside. They don't like to track dirt in from the outside is my best guess. It's really annoying for me because I have a hard time finding shoes that fit, and the most readily available store that I know of doesn't have a great selection. I found some though and am excited to try them out tomorrow. What's even weirder is that the inside shoes have no real "dress code." This means you can wear practically anything! People will wear full blown out suits with sandals or tennis shoes and this is NORMAL! It's actually kinda nice, save for the whole needing 2 pairs of shoes thing.
And now, for me, because I'm interested in this stuff at the moment:
1 USD = 76.982 JPY
1 USD = 1,152.074 KRW
鼻クソ【はなクソ】 (hanakuso) (n) nasal discharge (aka snot)
We had a Halloween party last weekend which went pretty well. Got a few Japanese people to come over. We ended up playing a game called King's Game where basically people draw straws (chopsticks in our case) all labeled with numbers 1 through however many people there are minus 1, and that leftover one is labeled as the king. The king gets to command 2 numbers to do anything the king wants, example being "numbers 2 and 5, kiss!" The stuff we did wasn't that wild, and it was ok, although I'd rather avoid it in the future if possible. Karaoke followed and I'd write about it but nothing out of the ordinary really happened.
Even in Japan I can't avoid getting a cold that comes with a cough that won't stop. I had this cough that lasted like a month back in the states around March. I remember what month it was because it was the month of my JET interview. I also have a runny nose that won't stop and I have to empty the tank in between each class. I probably use up 1/3 of a roll of toilet paper for all the snot that comes out. Weeee!
The most exciting news of all, for me at least, is that I found shoes that I think fit! Japan has this "inside/outside shoe" thing going on. If you haven't guessed already, this is where they have shoes that you wear outside, and shoes that you wear inside. They don't like to track dirt in from the outside is my best guess. It's really annoying for me because I have a hard time finding shoes that fit, and the most readily available store that I know of doesn't have a great selection. I found some though and am excited to try them out tomorrow. What's even weirder is that the inside shoes have no real "dress code." This means you can wear practically anything! People will wear full blown out suits with sandals or tennis shoes and this is NORMAL! It's actually kinda nice, save for the whole needing 2 pairs of shoes thing.
And now, for me, because I'm interested in this stuff at the moment:
1 USD = 76.982 JPY
1 USD = 1,152.074 KRW
鼻クソ【はなクソ】 (hanakuso) (n) nasal discharge (aka snot)
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Typical Day
When meeting a Japanese person for the first time, this is how a typical conversation starts out:
Me: こんにちは (Konnichiwa) - Hello
J-Person: こんにちは！日本語お上手ですね！ (Konnichiwa! Nihongo ojyouzu desu ne!) Hello! Your Japanese is really good!
Me: *Painful laugh*
It's obvious what's silly about this, right? For the culturally savvy and wondering, you are right. Mentioning that my Japanese is good isn't really a comment about my Japanese, it's an immediate comment aimed at me to make me feel good and thus, feel better about the person I'm speaking to. A rapport builder, if you will. I understand this. Most foreigners here understand this. The thing is, the conversation I gave isn't really an exaggeration. After saying 1 or 2 lines of Japanese, I immediately get complimented on how good I am. I know it's an ice breaker, but there's no real attempt to hide the fact it's an ice breaker, it's just tossed into the beginning of a conversation as conversation fodder. It's just a little weird because that's something you should really save unless, you know, the person's Japanese is actually fairly decent, don't you think? Japanese people, if you happen to read this, please take note, and stop this grossly overused compliment before it's due, or at least, try to hide it better :)
Typical Day
So a typical weekday for me has me getting up at either 7 or 7:10. I get up at 7 if I was too lazy to take a shower the night before, and 7:10 if I did make it.
After that, I leave the house at 7:40 and arrive to school at 7:55. I sit around at my desk trying to look pretty, accomplishing only being pretty useless, while all the other teachers run around preparing for the day. This goes on until 8:50 when the first classes start. I hate morning classes yet somehow I ALWAYS end up with a 1st period. I usually have around 2-4 classes in a day, and I eat lunch around 12:40ish. 5th and 6th periods follow.
School ends at 3:20, after which the students start cleaning the school. Yes, students clean the school in Japan. I walk around and offer help and oddly, no one gives me anything to do usually, so I continue to walk around and talk to any students who aren't scared to death to say anything beyond "hello." This usually amounts to about 0.1% of the school. The rest say hello, sometimes enthusiastically even, then get scared and run off screaming when they figure out words beyond that are coming out of my mouth.
My school day officially ends at 4 (4:15 for elementary school) PM, and I am free to leave, but usually something keeps me around. Some meeting, speech practice, random planning that I don't have much of a hand in after all, or school club activities. I've been going to the table tennis club, but I plan to try and get around to all the clubs eventually. This keeps me around anywhere from 5 to 6:30. I think I've gone home at 4 twice in the near 2 months I've been at the schools.
If I don't have grocery shopping to do I get home, pop open the computer, and usually get hungry and try to cook dinner around 7 to 7:30ish. It's usually rice, some meat and a bunch of veggies stir fried. It doesn't taste very good at all.
Back on the computer, I reply to messages I got during the day on a website called mixi, essentially the Japanese version of Facebook. After that, if I have time and am not too tired, I try to study some Japanese. This usually works around 3 of the 5 weekdays.
I am attempting to sleep around 11. I don't usually fall asleep until around 11:30 to 12. I am very tired the next day, until of course, it comes time to go to sleep.
That is my typical day, and I was going to write more but this turned into a really long post already so I'm stopping now.
Me: こんにちは (Konnichiwa) - Hello
J-Person: こんにちは！日本語お上手ですね！ (Konnichiwa! Nihongo ojyouzu desu ne!) Hello! Your Japanese is really good!
Me: *Painful laugh*
It's obvious what's silly about this, right? For the culturally savvy and wondering, you are right. Mentioning that my Japanese is good isn't really a comment about my Japanese, it's an immediate comment aimed at me to make me feel good and thus, feel better about the person I'm speaking to. A rapport builder, if you will. I understand this. Most foreigners here understand this. The thing is, the conversation I gave isn't really an exaggeration. After saying 1 or 2 lines of Japanese, I immediately get complimented on how good I am. I know it's an ice breaker, but there's no real attempt to hide the fact it's an ice breaker, it's just tossed into the beginning of a conversation as conversation fodder. It's just a little weird because that's something you should really save unless, you know, the person's Japanese is actually fairly decent, don't you think? Japanese people, if you happen to read this, please take note, and stop this grossly overused compliment before it's due, or at least, try to hide it better :)
Typical Day
So a typical weekday for me has me getting up at either 7 or 7:10. I get up at 7 if I was too lazy to take a shower the night before, and 7:10 if I did make it.
After that, I leave the house at 7:40 and arrive to school at 7:55. I sit around at my desk trying to look pretty, accomplishing only being pretty useless, while all the other teachers run around preparing for the day. This goes on until 8:50 when the first classes start. I hate morning classes yet somehow I ALWAYS end up with a 1st period. I usually have around 2-4 classes in a day, and I eat lunch around 12:40ish. 5th and 6th periods follow.
School ends at 3:20, after which the students start cleaning the school. Yes, students clean the school in Japan. I walk around and offer help and oddly, no one gives me anything to do usually, so I continue to walk around and talk to any students who aren't scared to death to say anything beyond "hello." This usually amounts to about 0.1% of the school. The rest say hello, sometimes enthusiastically even, then get scared and run off screaming when they figure out words beyond that are coming out of my mouth.
My school day officially ends at 4 (4:15 for elementary school) PM, and I am free to leave, but usually something keeps me around. Some meeting, speech practice, random planning that I don't have much of a hand in after all, or school club activities. I've been going to the table tennis club, but I plan to try and get around to all the clubs eventually. This keeps me around anywhere from 5 to 6:30. I think I've gone home at 4 twice in the near 2 months I've been at the schools.
If I don't have grocery shopping to do I get home, pop open the computer, and usually get hungry and try to cook dinner around 7 to 7:30ish. It's usually rice, some meat and a bunch of veggies stir fried. It doesn't taste very good at all.
Back on the computer, I reply to messages I got during the day on a website called mixi, essentially the Japanese version of Facebook. After that, if I have time and am not too tired, I try to study some Japanese. This usually works around 3 of the 5 weekdays.
I am attempting to sleep around 11. I don't usually fall asleep until around 11:30 to 12. I am very tired the next day, until of course, it comes time to go to sleep.
That is my typical day, and I was going to write more but this turned into a really long post already so I'm stopping now.
委ねる【ゆだねる】 (yudaneru) (v1,vt) to entrust to; to devote oneself to; to abandon oneself to; (P)
Monday, October 10, 2011
Just a Slight Waver
So a few weeks ago (I just remembered now), we were doing a lesson on "I like ____." The teacher asks "Who likes rice?" and 4 students raise their hand, including the fattest kid in the class. The teacher points to him and says "Oh yeah (insert student's forgotten name here), you LOVE rice, huh!" A bewildered expression immediately fell over the student's face because he didn't understand what the teacher said. I wanted to laugh so bad.
In that same school is a girl who starts crying at the drop of a pin. Almost literally. There hasn't been a day where I haven't heard her cry at least twice. I'm pretty sure she's mentally handicapped in some way, just not sure exactly how.
<start rant>As polite as Japanese people claim to be, they are RUDE ASS drivers. If they don't have to look you in the eye, Japanese people don't feel bad about screwing you over as bad as they can. True story. </end rant>
I went to a BBQ today with a Japanese person I met on mixi. It was pretty fun. Later that day one of the other ALTs asked if I liked Japanese girls. She might try to set me up if I did. Actually I like Japanese girls and wouldn't mind meeting one, but I'm more interested in meeting friends right now, is something along what I said. After I got back home I thought about it a bit more though. If I meet someone and something happens, that'd be cool. Actually the only reason I'm planning to stay 1 year is because there isn't really a reason for me to stay longer. If I got a girlfriend here I'd rethink my 1 year idea, and probably extend it indefinitely. Of course, I'd have to get one before work asks me to resign or not, which I think is in around 4 months. Doable but not likely. It's almost a little disappointing...
不定【ふじょう】 (fujyou) (adj-na,n,adj-no) uncertainty; insecurity; inconstancy; indefinite; undecided; (P)
In that same school is a girl who starts crying at the drop of a pin. Almost literally. There hasn't been a day where I haven't heard her cry at least twice. I'm pretty sure she's mentally handicapped in some way, just not sure exactly how.
<start rant>As polite as Japanese people claim to be, they are RUDE ASS drivers. If they don't have to look you in the eye, Japanese people don't feel bad about screwing you over as bad as they can. True story. </end rant>
I went to a BBQ today with a Japanese person I met on mixi. It was pretty fun. Later that day one of the other ALTs asked if I liked Japanese girls. She might try to set me up if I did. Actually I like Japanese girls and wouldn't mind meeting one, but I'm more interested in meeting friends right now, is something along what I said. After I got back home I thought about it a bit more though. If I meet someone and something happens, that'd be cool. Actually the only reason I'm planning to stay 1 year is because there isn't really a reason for me to stay longer. If I got a girlfriend here I'd rethink my 1 year idea, and probably extend it indefinitely. Of course, I'd have to get one before work asks me to resign or not, which I think is in around 4 months. Doable but not likely. It's almost a little disappointing...
不定【ふじょう】 (fujyou) (adj-na,n,adj-no) uncertainty; insecurity; inconstancy; indefinite; undecided; (P)
Thursday, October 6, 2011
CPR Certified
The other day at one of my middle schools I caught a bad migraine during the middle of first class. I somehow managed to crawl through that and 2 more classes before dying in the health room. Normally I try to carry two migraine aspirin on me because I know that I can get migraines randomly... at least, random as far as I know.
I managed to pick myself up for the last two periods when some firefighters came to the school and taught one of the 9th grade classes CPR. I participated, and if I understood the teacher right, I'll be getting certification for CPR! In Japanese! So for a while, I'll be certified for CPR in both the states and Japan. Right now there's no difference between the two countries, although I know that in the states they are quickly going towards getting rid of the breaths. Not sure how I feel about that, because if the reason I heard for that is true, it's a little silly I think. Supposedly they want to get rid of the two breaths because people in general aren't doing them correctly. It makes sense, and doesn't at the same time. Anyway I'm done digressing!
This is some place that you can do something at (vague description because I don't know if it's a shop/restaurant/barber/etc). Not much explanation needed on why I uploaded it right! This is in a city called Sendai, which is about 3 hours away from me. Good old Japanese people and their use of Engrish!
I'll end by showing you two entries from my students' summer journals. The randomness of the first one is great, while the feelings of the second one should be worth a literal lol.
I went to a bus stop. I cleaned it. I was sleepy. I was tired.
――――――――
We played the last soccer game. Our team lost the game to the Oshima team by a score of 9 to 2. As long as I live, I’ll never forget how bitterly vexed I was.
心肺蘇生法【しんぱいそせいほう】 (shin/pai/so/sei/hou) (n) cardiopulmonary resuscitation; CPR
I managed to pick myself up for the last two periods when some firefighters came to the school and taught one of the 9th grade classes CPR. I participated, and if I understood the teacher right, I'll be getting certification for CPR! In Japanese! So for a while, I'll be certified for CPR in both the states and Japan. Right now there's no difference between the two countries, although I know that in the states they are quickly going towards getting rid of the breaths. Not sure how I feel about that, because if the reason I heard for that is true, it's a little silly I think. Supposedly they want to get rid of the two breaths because people in general aren't doing them correctly. It makes sense, and doesn't at the same time. Anyway I'm done digressing!
I'll end by showing you two entries from my students' summer journals. The randomness of the first one is great, while the feelings of the second one should be worth a literal lol.
I went to a bus stop. I cleaned it. I was sleepy. I was tired.
――――――――
We played the last soccer game. Our team lost the game to the Oshima team by a score of 9 to 2. As long as I live, I’ll never forget how bitterly vexed I was.
心肺蘇生法【しんぱいそせいほう】 (shin/pai/so/sei/hou) (n) cardiopulmonary resuscitation; CPR
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Speech Results
Let's see if I can get this blog up and off before I have to get going today.
The Sendai speech contest went pretty good. My student ended up getting 5th place in the recitation part out of 17, which was good enough for a certificate and recognition on stage. She was happy she got that high, and I think she deserved it. What was stupid is that I had to take paid leave in order to go to the speech. I had to pay my own way to get there and everything else. Actually I don't care about paying my own way, it's that I had to take paid leave when it was obviously a school event for which I spent a lot of time preparing for. Good old Japanese education system. It's full of so many holes it makes Swiss cheese look solid.
They're putting an air conditioner in my apartment in around 2 weeks. Thank you landlord for installing it a few weeks after it'll be worthless for the good part of half a year. At least I have it for when summer strikes! I really hate the humidity...
I am a little jealous of the teachers in my textbooks. Yeah they're all cartoons but all their students are sitting there listening attentively, all the students are interested in the teacher, and the lessons all go really smoothly. I can't blame the students though, I didn't care about class when I was in middle school either.
This is how I wish classes would go. Everyone smiles and listens to what's being said, the students are interested in the teacher, and I'd rather go to work in the morning instead of sleep in. The textbooks paint such a pretty picture, who wouldn't want to come over and teach English to all these bright and wonderful kids!
But this is how it is a lot of the time. Students don't really talk much, and even if I address them in Japanese they run off. It's like they know I've been to Fukushima and they don't want to catch radiation poisoning from me. Ok that was a horrible joke, but explaining it any other way might make their apprehension my fault, and I sure as hell don't want to take the blame :)
Here is a picture of my Japanese English teacher, my student and myself after she won 5th place. I might be being too careful about this, but if somehow my student goes missing and they find a picture of her here, my ass is immediately a suspect, so yeah. Getting 5th place out of 17 people who respectively won their speech contests is pretty good! I'm happy.
Kentucky fried chicken is hella expensive here!
優秀賞【ゆうしゅうしょう】 (yuushuushou) (n) award of excellence; merit award
The Sendai speech contest went pretty good. My student ended up getting 5th place in the recitation part out of 17, which was good enough for a certificate and recognition on stage. She was happy she got that high, and I think she deserved it. What was stupid is that I had to take paid leave in order to go to the speech. I had to pay my own way to get there and everything else. Actually I don't care about paying my own way, it's that I had to take paid leave when it was obviously a school event for which I spent a lot of time preparing for. Good old Japanese education system. It's full of so many holes it makes Swiss cheese look solid.
They're putting an air conditioner in my apartment in around 2 weeks. Thank you landlord for installing it a few weeks after it'll be worthless for the good part of half a year. At least I have it for when summer strikes! I really hate the humidity...
I am a little jealous of the teachers in my textbooks. Yeah they're all cartoons but all their students are sitting there listening attentively, all the students are interested in the teacher, and the lessons all go really smoothly. I can't blame the students though, I didn't care about class when I was in middle school either.
 |
| So nice... sigh.. |
 |
| THE DEVIL CHILD |
But this is how it is a lot of the time. Students don't really talk much, and even if I address them in Japanese they run off. It's like they know I've been to Fukushima and they don't want to catch radiation poisoning from me. Ok that was a horrible joke, but explaining it any other way might make their apprehension my fault, and I sure as hell don't want to take the blame :)
 |
| Yay 5th |
Kentucky fried chicken is hella expensive here!
優秀賞【ゆうしゅうしょう】 (yuushuushou) (n) award of excellence; merit award
Monday, September 26, 2011
Elementary School Shenanigans
I heard that the gas prices in the states are falling again. If you live in the states and are complaining about gas prices, please know that gas in Japan is around $7.40/gallon. And I drive here!
Today I went to my elementary school and played soccer with a bunch of 2nd graders who kicked my ass. I found out just how out of shape I am when I was huffing and dying at around the 5 minute mark. Even before I got winded though, the 2nd graders were still playing better than I was. I need to start exercising so I can whip their candy asses and show them who the man is!!!
In the 1st grade class I had today we were going over basic greetings. We went over "Hello, how are you?" and we walked around the classroom asking each other. I went up to one student and asked "how are you?" but he didn't understand, turned around and yelled "OH MY GOD!" in English and ran away. Kids these days!
I found I have a habit of thinking of a few things in order when I see a little kid who is a lot younger than I am. First I try to imagine what they might look like when they're older, like in their 20's, and then I wonder what kind of job they might have. After that I always think back to when I was that age and think "I don't remember us looking this young." In 30 years I'll probably look at 25 year olds and think about the same things. Sigh...
One girl in particular catches my attention, because I would be willing to put some decent money down that she will end up something similar to the picture on this honorable text's right. I wish I could keep tabs on all the elementary school students and see where they end up in 20 years. Yes, I am judging books by their covers and it is fun, so screw you!
FYI: If you don't know what's up with the girls in those pictures, they are called gyaru and they are girls who generally only care about living carefree lives, not working or doing anything really, dyeing their hair and wearing wigs, fake nails, and whatever else they can get on themselves that is fake. Also not sure, but it sure looks like they spend a few hours in the oven each night. If someone is reading this and can confirm, that'd be cool and much appreciated.
It's started getting cooler which is awesome. I hated swimming in my own sweat every day, so even if it starts freezing I'll be fine with that.
Found out they are taking a sizable amount out of my paycheck for my pension. It would suck except I can get that all back when I leave, so it's like an extra savings account that will add up to almost a month's salary at the end of one year. SCORE!
厚生年金【こうせいねんきん】 (kouseinenkin) (n) welfare pension; (P)
Today I went to my elementary school and played soccer with a bunch of 2nd graders who kicked my ass. I found out just how out of shape I am when I was huffing and dying at around the 5 minute mark. Even before I got winded though, the 2nd graders were still playing better than I was. I need to start exercising so I can whip their candy asses and show them who the man is!!!
In the 1st grade class I had today we were going over basic greetings. We went over "Hello, how are you?" and we walked around the classroom asking each other. I went up to one student and asked "how are you?" but he didn't understand, turned around and yelled "OH MY GOD!" in English and ran away. Kids these days!
I found I have a habit of thinking of a few things in order when I see a little kid who is a lot younger than I am. First I try to imagine what they might look like when they're older, like in their 20's, and then I wonder what kind of job they might have. After that I always think back to when I was that age and think "I don't remember us looking this young." In 30 years I'll probably look at 25 year olds and think about the same things. Sigh...
One girl in particular catches my attention, because I would be willing to put some decent money down that she will end up something similar to the picture on this honorable text's right. I wish I could keep tabs on all the elementary school students and see where they end up in 20 years. Yes, I am judging books by their covers and it is fun, so screw you!
FYI: If you don't know what's up with the girls in those pictures, they are called gyaru and they are girls who generally only care about living carefree lives, not working or doing anything really, dyeing their hair and wearing wigs, fake nails, and whatever else they can get on themselves that is fake. Also not sure, but it sure looks like they spend a few hours in the oven each night. If someone is reading this and can confirm, that'd be cool and much appreciated.
It's started getting cooler which is awesome. I hated swimming in my own sweat every day, so even if it starts freezing I'll be fine with that.
Found out they are taking a sizable amount out of my paycheck for my pension. It would suck except I can get that all back when I leave, so it's like an extra savings account that will add up to almost a month's salary at the end of one year. SCORE!
厚生年金【こうせいねんきん】 (kouseinenkin) (n) welfare pension; (P)
Friday, September 23, 2011
Continuing Forward
Some interesting stuff this time around.
First off, I think I enabled it so even if you aren't a member of Blogspot you can make comments on my posts. Not sure if anyone is really following, but if you are, and are reading this, and are too lazy to make an account, but still want to comment on my posts, NOW YOU CAN! Bam!
The other day a student came up to show me a picture she drew. It was actually pretty good, and I was going to comment on how well of a self portrait she drew, until she jumped in after I said "That's" and said "This is a picture of a pig rabbit! Do you know what a pig rabbit is?" That day I was very happy that she interrupted me.
The SY who got first in the speech contest a while ago is going to a city called Sendai next week. Sendai is the biggest city in our prefecture and the speech contest there is a big deal. Her English for the speech she's doing is amazing. She actually corrects everything I tell her to and I think if she doesn't lose to her nerves she has a chance of taking first place. Of course if she takes first place it will be all thanks to me. They really should put my name on the trophy, in bigger letters than her name! Ha, but I am looking forward to it, and am rather nervous for her.
I think it's become a tradition that I lose my camera in any foreign country I go over to teach English at. Pretty sure I brought a camera over to Taiwan, just to lose it most likely in some restaurant. After that I bought a camera in Taiwan that was cool beans. Then I went to Korea and lost the camera I bought in Taiwan on a bus somewhere. I then bought a new camera in Korea that was even cooler beans. Now here in Japan I lost the camera I bought in Korea and I have no idea where it is. I don't have any beans anymore.
In a supermarket, another ALT I was with, Tara, found Oregon blueberries and pointed them out to me. I did buy them, and will continue to. Awesome way to support Oregon all the way from Japan!
This is pretty useful if you're a woman in this department store and your period decides to bust in out of nowhere (or bust out). Other than that, I can't imagine they get all that much business...
Over the weekend I went on a camping trip to a place called Bandai... or at least that's what the mountain's name was. The resort was awesome. I don't really like hang out events with a large amount of people so I probably won't go again, on the off chance I decide to stay here 2 years... which I'm not planning to by the way. But if I did, I don't think I'd go again. That said, it was still pretty fun!
We hiked up Mt. Bandai, but I only made it around 80% of the way up because I wanted to go to a museum that was around before they closed. Bandai was a nice mountain, but it confirmed how much I hate mountain climbing. I won't be doing it again. Unless I learn how to fly.
I'm starting to really settle down here for the most part which is awesome for me, and it took about the amount of time I thought it would. Good fun experience! If for whatever reason you need something new to do and have a bachelor's degree, I suggest teaching English overseas. I think a select few places have things like Summer programs and such.
I'm going to meet a 24 year old Japanese doctor tonight for drinking/dinner. Hope it works out well.
ブタサギ (butasagi) pig rabbit
First off, I think I enabled it so even if you aren't a member of Blogspot you can make comments on my posts. Not sure if anyone is really following, but if you are, and are reading this, and are too lazy to make an account, but still want to comment on my posts, NOW YOU CAN! Bam!
The other day a student came up to show me a picture she drew. It was actually pretty good, and I was going to comment on how well of a self portrait she drew, until she jumped in after I said "That's" and said "This is a picture of a pig rabbit! Do you know what a pig rabbit is?" That day I was very happy that she interrupted me.
The SY who got first in the speech contest a while ago is going to a city called Sendai next week. Sendai is the biggest city in our prefecture and the speech contest there is a big deal. Her English for the speech she's doing is amazing. She actually corrects everything I tell her to and I think if she doesn't lose to her nerves she has a chance of taking first place. Of course if she takes first place it will be all thanks to me. They really should put my name on the trophy, in bigger letters than her name! Ha, but I am looking forward to it, and am rather nervous for her.
I think it's become a tradition that I lose my camera in any foreign country I go over to teach English at. Pretty sure I brought a camera over to Taiwan, just to lose it most likely in some restaurant. After that I bought a camera in Taiwan that was cool beans. Then I went to Korea and lost the camera I bought in Taiwan on a bus somewhere. I then bought a new camera in Korea that was even cooler beans. Now here in Japan I lost the camera I bought in Korea and I have no idea where it is. I don't have any beans anymore.
 |
| Blueberries from Hilsboro, Oregon! |
In a supermarket, another ALT I was with, Tara, found Oregon blueberries and pointed them out to me. I did buy them, and will continue to. Awesome way to support Oregon all the way from Japan!
 |
| Wonder how long the line is |
This is pretty useful if you're a woman in this department store and your period decides to bust in out of nowhere (or bust out). Other than that, I can't imagine they get all that much business...
 |
| Mt. Bandai camping are |
 |
| Red, green and some other colors lake... river? |
We hiked up Mt. Bandai, but I only made it around 80% of the way up because I wanted to go to a museum that was around before they closed. Bandai was a nice mountain, but it confirmed how much I hate mountain climbing. I won't be doing it again. Unless I learn how to fly.
I'm starting to really settle down here for the most part which is awesome for me, and it took about the amount of time I thought it would. Good fun experience! If for whatever reason you need something new to do and have a bachelor's degree, I suggest teaching English overseas. I think a select few places have things like Summer programs and such.
I'm going to meet a 24 year old Japanese doctor tonight for drinking/dinner. Hope it works out well.
ブタサギ (butasagi) pig rabbit
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Speech Contest
Sometimes I wonder if the small/big things I do with people will be remembered by them in the far future. 10 years later, will someone remember a one-liner I randomly said that I don't even remember anymore? Will they remember a random night, a conversation, or something I helped them with?
Near since the day I got to Kesennuma (the city I'm living in), I have been helping two middle schools with two students each for a speech contest. That contest was yesterday (Wednesday) and the results are as follows (withholding names, sorry)... oh by the way there were 2 sections of the contest, the first was recitation, where students could pick a passage, memorize it and vomit it back to the crowd. The second section was a speech section where students wrote their own speeches, translated them into English, and then puked them back on to the crowd. And now for results!
Recitation
SY: 1st out of 25.
SH: 7th out of 25
Speech
TY: 2nd out of 5
OC: 3rd out of 5
This was really awesome as the student who won first actually wanted to win first. She had a goal to go on to a bigger speech contest, which she could do if she won first. Freaking sweet! I felt a little bad for SH who got 7th, as they handed out trophies to the top 6. As happy as I am that my students did well, I must say that these speech contests aren't so much determined by the work of the ALT(Assistant Language Teacher, aka me) but rather by the students' innate ability and motivation. This is obvious by the fact that us native English speaking teachers don't see all that much improvement in the things we try to teach them. That said, out of all the other ALTs, I had the most students win something, which means I am the best teacher out of all of us. OH YES IT'S TRUE YOU PUNKS!!!
I am happy that it's over though. I was staying up to 3 hours later than I am normally scheduled to in order to help with the contest. It's over, and I can finally go home on time now! I would post pictures, but you're not supposed to post pictures of students. Maybe I'll black their faces out and post them later, if I'm not lazy.
On an even more exciting note, with the help of another teacher (Rachel) I figured out how to tether my phone, which means I now have INTERNET! This has been the most exciting thing to happen to me since arriving in Japan. Banzai!
優勝【ゆうしょう】 (yuushou) (n,vs) overall victory; championship;
Near since the day I got to Kesennuma (the city I'm living in), I have been helping two middle schools with two students each for a speech contest. That contest was yesterday (Wednesday) and the results are as follows (withholding names, sorry)... oh by the way there were 2 sections of the contest, the first was recitation, where students could pick a passage, memorize it and vomit it back to the crowd. The second section was a speech section where students wrote their own speeches, translated them into English, and then puked them back on to the crowd. And now for results!
Recitation
SY: 1st out of 25.
SH: 7th out of 25
Speech
TY: 2nd out of 5
OC: 3rd out of 5
This was really awesome as the student who won first actually wanted to win first. She had a goal to go on to a bigger speech contest, which she could do if she won first. Freaking sweet! I felt a little bad for SH who got 7th, as they handed out trophies to the top 6. As happy as I am that my students did well, I must say that these speech contests aren't so much determined by the work of the ALT(Assistant Language Teacher, aka me) but rather by the students' innate ability and motivation. This is obvious by the fact that us native English speaking teachers don't see all that much improvement in the things we try to teach them. That said, out of all the other ALTs, I had the most students win something, which means I am the best teacher out of all of us. OH YES IT'S TRUE YOU PUNKS!!!
I am happy that it's over though. I was staying up to 3 hours later than I am normally scheduled to in order to help with the contest. It's over, and I can finally go home on time now! I would post pictures, but you're not supposed to post pictures of students. Maybe I'll black their faces out and post them later, if I'm not lazy.
On an even more exciting note, with the help of another teacher (Rachel) I figured out how to tether my phone, which means I now have INTERNET! This has been the most exciting thing to happen to me since arriving in Japan. Banzai!
優勝【ゆうしょう】 (yuushou) (n,vs) overall victory; championship;
Friday, September 9, 2011
Pictures!
Japan has been great. I've been sucked into the school teacher life that a lot of Japanese teachers live (10-12 hour work days) but that's not going to last much longer. I've been trying to help some students out for a speech contest that's on the 14th of this month and it's less than a week before sweet freedom!
There is still no answer on when/if I'll get internet at my apartment. If I don't have it by mid winter I will destroy something valuable... of someone else's of course.
Not sure what I'm going to be doing in the meantime. Been thinking of ways to make some friends and ideas are coming and will be put into plan in 2 weeks or so. Hoping they work.
I have a car, it will be officially paid off and MINE on the 21st! Her name is Maria and cost me around $1,200. She is the smallest thing I've ever ridden in and will get a picture or two of her up soon hopefully. In the meantime, here's some pictures:
This is a picture taken of a place near my apartment. The place itself got off a little lucky. Most of the other places are filled with rubble. We just got our first convenience store reopened like 5 days ago. It's still a little crazy to think about.
This is a picture of a boat... obviously. There are a few other boats around, a few bigger than this one. There used to be some on the road I drive on to go home, but those have been taken off, luckily.
Here is a picture of one of the bigger boats. Check out the larger version of the picture by clicking on the picture and you can see 2 kids playing under the back of the boat. At least they're trying to enjoy the irony.
Great examples of why the Japanese need English if they're going to attempt to use it. Check out the bigger version of this picture too. She's obviously never been to college.
A $1/plate sushi bar where you can order stuff on the screen that you see in the picture. The ordered sushi comes along on bullet trains (really fast trains they have in Japan).
When I went to meet one of my schools, I walked in to this. The school is great and the students are cool too for the most part.
It doesn't look like it but this spoon with a crack face eventually became miso soup. It was probably as good as crack. This was during a teaching orientation that I had a little over half a month ago.
This is about a 10 minute drive from where one of my friends, Tara, another ALT lives. It's awesome for a view and if anyone else is reading this from where I'm at and feels like getting laid, this is the place to take that special someone. They won't be able to turn you down!
There is still no answer on when/if I'll get internet at my apartment. If I don't have it by mid winter I will destroy something valuable... of someone else's of course.
Not sure what I'm going to be doing in the meantime. Been thinking of ways to make some friends and ideas are coming and will be put into plan in 2 weeks or so. Hoping they work.
I have a car, it will be officially paid off and MINE on the 21st! Her name is Maria and cost me around $1,200. She is the smallest thing I've ever ridden in and will get a picture or two of her up soon hopefully. In the meantime, here's some pictures:
This is a picture taken of a place near my apartment. The place itself got off a little lucky. Most of the other places are filled with rubble. We just got our first convenience store reopened like 5 days ago. It's still a little crazy to think about.
This is a picture of a boat... obviously. There are a few other boats around, a few bigger than this one. There used to be some on the road I drive on to go home, but those have been taken off, luckily.
Here is a picture of one of the bigger boats. Check out the larger version of the picture by clicking on the picture and you can see 2 kids playing under the back of the boat. At least they're trying to enjoy the irony.
Great examples of why the Japanese need English if they're going to attempt to use it. Check out the bigger version of this picture too. She's obviously never been to college.
A $1/plate sushi bar where you can order stuff on the screen that you see in the picture. The ordered sushi comes along on bullet trains (really fast trains they have in Japan).
When I went to meet one of my schools, I walked in to this. The school is great and the students are cool too for the most part.
It doesn't look like it but this spoon with a crack face eventually became miso soup. It was probably as good as crack. This was during a teaching orientation that I had a little over half a month ago.
This is about a 10 minute drive from where one of my friends, Tara, another ALT lives. It's awesome for a view and if anyone else is reading this from where I'm at and feels like getting laid, this is the place to take that special someone. They won't be able to turn you down!
自閉症【じへいしょう】 (jiheishou) (n) autism; (adj-no) (2) autistic
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
So Far
So I'd be writing a ton more blogs but I don't have internet at my apartment and it is unknown when I will get it. According to my supervisor, it's "just a little longer," but that phrase usually doesn't actually mean that when Japanese people. When they say "just a little longer," they are really saying "this answer will make you happy and make you go away thinking I am a good person. I might not even know how long the thing you're asking about will take but if you go away that won't really matter anymore will it!" This leads to some good and fun times while you wait weeks/months for things that were supposed to take "just a little longer." Japanese people do have some of the longest life spans, so maybe that's the reason their "a little longer" is longer than mine.
I've started school and the schools are pretty good. Most of the students don't speak all that great of English but we get by. I had to write comments on a students' poem today and she wrote about rainbows so I wrote "it's a double rainbow!" on her paper. Awesome if you know why it's funny. She will never get it! Another student needed help with a speech so we were reading some sentences word for word until the whole sentence got said. One of the lines was "Don't blow yourself up" (regarding building rockets), so I started with don't, then blow, then yourself, and we repeated like this, each time adding an extra word, until I got to "Don't blow yourself." I almost laughed but held it in.
Uploading pictures right now is a little hard but hopefully when I have internet I'll be able to post a ton of pictures. When will I get internet? It'll be just a little longer...
もうちょっと (mouchotto) (exp) in a little while (referring to the very near future on the order of minutes); in a bit
I've started school and the schools are pretty good. Most of the students don't speak all that great of English but we get by. I had to write comments on a students' poem today and she wrote about rainbows so I wrote "it's a double rainbow!" on her paper. Awesome if you know why it's funny. She will never get it! Another student needed help with a speech so we were reading some sentences word for word until the whole sentence got said. One of the lines was "Don't blow yourself up" (regarding building rockets), so I started with don't, then blow, then yourself, and we repeated like this, each time adding an extra word, until I got to "Don't blow yourself." I almost laughed but held it in.
Uploading pictures right now is a little hard but hopefully when I have internet I'll be able to post a ton of pictures. When will I get internet? It'll be just a little longer...
もうちょっと (mouchotto) (exp) in a little while (referring to the very near future on the order of minutes); in a bit
Friday, August 12, 2011
End of Orientation
自分で俺の年と同じくらい友達を作る目標は何よりです。
Leaving Sendai in the afternoon tomorrow. Had some good workshops but for some reason was really tired and had to try hard to stay awake during most of them. Met some cool people, but honestly wondering how many times outside of these orientations I'll actually meet them. A lot of them are pretty far away.
I love the internet. I just bought a Blu-ray player for my dad for his birthday and I don't even have to be there to have it wrapped and arrive on his birthday (although I wish I could).
Got a fairly full week ahead with things like hanging out and visiting schools to help with speech contests. It's going to be exciting, probably more exciting than this entry, hopefully.
吐息【といき】 (toiki) (n) sigh; long breath
Leaving Sendai in the afternoon tomorrow. Had some good workshops but for some reason was really tired and had to try hard to stay awake during most of them. Met some cool people, but honestly wondering how many times outside of these orientations I'll actually meet them. A lot of them are pretty far away.
I love the internet. I just bought a Blu-ray player for my dad for his birthday and I don't even have to be there to have it wrapped and arrive on his birthday (although I wish I could).
Got a fairly full week ahead with things like hanging out and visiting schools to help with speech contests. It's going to be exciting, probably more exciting than this entry, hopefully.
吐息【といき】 (toiki) (n) sigh; long breath
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
More Orientations
So I have internet for a few days because I'm in a dormitory right now. I've been shipped down to a bigger city (Sendai) for another orientation. It's only the first day but it's been pretty cool. Well not really, the air conditioning is set seemingly on the lowest setting and I am sweating buckets. Gotta dry clean my suit soon, it's gone like a week without any washing and I've been sweating in it. Freaking gross but there is no time to get it dry cleaned since I've been needing it at least every other day.
On another note, all the new teachers played Jeopardy tonight at the orientation's dinner reception and I was able to put my team in second place as I was the only one who knew the last question, which was "what is the word for 'wisdom tooth' in Japanese?" Oh yeah, that definitely leveled up my badassness.
親知らず【おやしらず】 (oya shirazu) (n) wisdom tooth
On another note, all the new teachers played Jeopardy tonight at the orientation's dinner reception and I was able to put my team in second place as I was the only one who knew the last question, which was "what is the word for 'wisdom tooth' in Japanese?" Oh yeah, that definitely leveled up my badassness.
親知らず【おやしらず】 (oya shirazu) (n) wisdom tooth
Pretty sure this should have been posted back on Sunday. It's been a while because I don't have internet and I'm not sure when I'll be able to get it since I guess the tsunami took out some of the wires for it that are needed in my apartment. Hopefully I should have it soon, unless my supervisor doesn't know what he's talking about.
I got to my city Kesennuma on Wednesday and the next few days were spent getting all the things done needed for new life assimilation. Bank account, phone, alien registration card, shopping, car and other random things. Of note, I am getting my car Tuesday possibly and it will be the first car I've ever personally owned and bought woohoo! It's a cheap one at around $1,200 but it works. Also I bought a smartphone which is the first one of those I've ever had. Thank you Japan!
Yesterday I got to take my first real shot at Pachinko. Pachinko is a game where you try to get these BB gun bullet-like balls into certain areas on this pin filled obstacle course. It is mostly all luck and not very fun if you get the newer machines where you just hold a circular lever down while the balls come out. Tara, another ALT (assistant language teacher, the jargon for my job) and I both decided to donate 500 yen (roughly $6.50 USD) to this new experience. We ended up at a machine that featured big breasted girls skiing down mountains and fighting robots in swimming pools while dressed in bikinis. Within maybe 5 minutes we had exhausted all our pachinko balls, smiled at each other and walked out of the parlor. One of the attendants came out telling us to come back in for some reason, which we did, and when we sat back down he pressed a button that gave us a steady stream of pachinko balls to play with that lasted for around 20 straight minutes. We didn't know what we were doing or how much we were winning, but at the end we had quadrupled our money! We went from 500 yen each to 2000 yen each ($25) I got a new wallet and a free drink with cookies plus my original 500 yen back. It was a sweet experience, but not sure I can go back and try again. I came out ahead, and that's not likely to happen again with those types of gambling games!
I'm meeting my schools for the next two days (Monday August 8th, Tuesday the 9th). Should be interesting. Hoping the English teachers I'll be working with are awesome. If not I will still be stuck with them for a year!
恵み【めぐみ】 (n) blessing; grace;
I got to my city Kesennuma on Wednesday and the next few days were spent getting all the things done needed for new life assimilation. Bank account, phone, alien registration card, shopping, car and other random things. Of note, I am getting my car Tuesday possibly and it will be the first car I've ever personally owned and bought woohoo! It's a cheap one at around $1,200 but it works. Also I bought a smartphone which is the first one of those I've ever had. Thank you Japan!
Yesterday I got to take my first real shot at Pachinko. Pachinko is a game where you try to get these BB gun bullet-like balls into certain areas on this pin filled obstacle course. It is mostly all luck and not very fun if you get the newer machines where you just hold a circular lever down while the balls come out. Tara, another ALT (assistant language teacher, the jargon for my job) and I both decided to donate 500 yen (roughly $6.50 USD) to this new experience. We ended up at a machine that featured big breasted girls skiing down mountains and fighting robots in swimming pools while dressed in bikinis. Within maybe 5 minutes we had exhausted all our pachinko balls, smiled at each other and walked out of the parlor. One of the attendants came out telling us to come back in for some reason, which we did, and when we sat back down he pressed a button that gave us a steady stream of pachinko balls to play with that lasted for around 20 straight minutes. We didn't know what we were doing or how much we were winning, but at the end we had quadrupled our money! We went from 500 yen each to 2000 yen each ($25) I got a new wallet and a free drink with cookies plus my original 500 yen back. It was a sweet experience, but not sure I can go back and try again. I came out ahead, and that's not likely to happen again with those types of gambling games!
I'm meeting my schools for the next two days (Monday August 8th, Tuesday the 9th). Should be interesting. Hoping the English teachers I'll be working with are awesome. If not I will still be stuck with them for a year!
恵み【めぐみ】 (n) blessing; grace;
Monday, August 1, 2011
Arrival
After I got off the plane there were probably around 20-30 assistants wearing pink shirts to guide me through the corridors of the airport. All of them were full of energy and welcomed the new teachers to Japan which was cool. We loaded on a bus for a hotel where another 10 or so assistants were waiting to guide us to information booths and our rooms.
The place I'm staying at for a few days for orientations and such is called Keio Plaza Hotel. It has a pretty nice view and although the view would be nicer if it were not cloudy, it would be a lot hotter and this country is hot enough as it is so no real complaints.
Slept decent, although only around 5.5 hours or so, which is why I have time to hash out this entry. Breakfast goes until 9 and I don't eat breakfast so before orientation starts it's lazy time in the hotel room.
This game is awesome. You get to pick a scenario from things like a botched wedding to a classroom full of misbehaving kids. You pound the table as you get angrier and angrier until you can't take it anymore then you flip the table on them and try to take out as much of the people and damage as much stuff as you can. Hilarious when you see the looks on the faces of the people you toss the table into. Check out this link to see how it's played.
Well gotta go. Battery is running out and I forgot this place is all about 2 tong outlets.
Edit: Forgot to put my 3 tong converter in the right suitcase but luckily my camera that I bought in Korea had some converters that worked with the computer. Internet addict for sure.
放射能【ほうしゃのう】 (houshanou) (n) radioactivity;
 |
| View from my room in Keio Plaza Hotel |
Slept decent, although only around 5.5 hours or so, which is why I have time to hash out this entry. Breakfast goes until 9 and I don't eat breakfast so before orientation starts it's lazy time in the hotel room.
 |
| Angry game! |
This game is awesome. You get to pick a scenario from things like a botched wedding to a classroom full of misbehaving kids. You pound the table as you get angrier and angrier until you can't take it anymore then you flip the table on them and try to take out as much of the people and damage as much stuff as you can. Hilarious when you see the looks on the faces of the people you toss the table into. Check out this link to see how it's played.
Well gotta go. Battery is running out and I forgot this place is all about 2 tong outlets.
Edit: Forgot to put my 3 tong converter in the right suitcase but luckily my camera that I bought in Korea had some converters that worked with the computer. Internet addict for sure.
放射能【ほうしゃのう】 (houshanou) (n) radioactivity;
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Off I Go!
So it's midnight and I leave at 2 PM Saturday. Need to be at the airport by 11 AM. I need to start packing but I forgot to do laundry so won't be able to pack until around 1 AM. Had another orientation today that basically rehashed what they said at the old orientation. Not sure why this one was mandatory besides them checking up to see if people are actually going or not.
I'm a little jealous of the people who have never gone over to a foreign country to teach before. They are so nervous and have no idea what to expect. I kind of miss that. I more or less know what to expect, even though this will be the first time for me teaching middle and elementary school.
Got to see everyone before I leave! Well, most everyone, I think I missed someone but I'm only planning for a year so it won't be that long anyhow. It'd be nice if I were younger, I'd consider staying at least 2 years.
Off to get some online poker in before laundry finishes. Next post from Japan!
異なる【ことなる】 (kotonaru) to differ; to vary; to disagree;
I'm a little jealous of the people who have never gone over to a foreign country to teach before. They are so nervous and have no idea what to expect. I kind of miss that. I more or less know what to expect, even though this will be the first time for me teaching middle and elementary school.
Got to see everyone before I leave! Well, most everyone, I think I missed someone but I'm only planning for a year so it won't be that long anyhow. It'd be nice if I were younger, I'd consider staying at least 2 years.
Off to get some online poker in before laundry finishes. Next post from Japan!
異なる【ことなる】 (kotonaru) to differ; to vary; to disagree;
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Getting Ready
Over the past few weeks I've been in contact with people from my city, figuring out what I should be doing, what I should bring and how life works over there. They've all been really awesome and answered my long list of questions without telling me to shut up so I'm very appreciative.
I need to pick up some casual work clothes and take pictures of a bunch of things like buildings and such. Also need to pick up some omiyage (presents) for the teachers I'll be working with. After that it'll just be meeting up with people, saying goodbye and getting ready finally.
So far everything is in order!
耐久【たいきゅう】 (taikyuu) - endurance; persistence;
I need to pick up some casual work clothes and take pictures of a bunch of things like buildings and such. Also need to pick up some omiyage (presents) for the teachers I'll be working with. After that it'll just be meeting up with people, saying goodbye and getting ready finally.
So far everything is in order!
耐久【たいきゅう】 (taikyuu) - endurance; persistence;
Friday, July 8, 2011
Information Slowly Coming In
So looks like I will be teaching at 2 junior high schools and 1 elementary school. I will also need to drive a car. Originally I was hoping for senior high school and not having to drive a car, but whatever this should be cool. Currently trying to buy all the stuff I need before I go over, hygiene stuff, new shoes, still not sure what the environments of the schools are going to be like so holding off on work clothes for now.
Quit my job a little over a week ago now, now just hanging out and waiting for Japan. Excited!
人見知り【ひとみしり】 (hitomishiri) - shyness; fear of strangers; stranger anxiety;
Quit my job a little over a week ago now, now just hanging out and waiting for Japan. Excited!
人見知り【ひとみしり】 (hitomishiri) - shyness; fear of strangers; stranger anxiety;
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
JET Details
Japan’s Historical Earthquake
On Friday, March 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan. Many cities were hit hard by the resulting tsunamis and a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture sustained damage and eventually earned a nuclear warning level as high as the Chernobyl incident. Due to these events, the flow of knowledge of placements and such was delayed by weeks.
JET Placement City
I finally found out I am going to the Miyagi prefecture, to a city called Kesennuma, located in the northern part of Japan. This city was devastated by the March 11th earthquake, with supposedly 1/3 of the city submerged under water and oil fires from the port boats that lasted for four days. At the time of this blog, Wikipedia lists the population at a little over 74,000. It’s hard to find any other information on the city besides earthquake news, which sucks.
Still Going
I’m not as worried about going to my city as I thought I might be. I was more concerned with being placed in Fukushima, the prefecture with the nuclear power plants that are walking on uncertain grounds at the moment. Actually I’m super excited! I just finished an orientation today that told me a lot of what I already knew, but was still helpful. Hoping to hear from my predecessor soon so I can start buying clothes and things to bring.
細菌【さいきん】 (saikin) – Bacillus; bacterium; germ
On Friday, March 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan. Many cities were hit hard by the resulting tsunamis and a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture sustained damage and eventually earned a nuclear warning level as high as the Chernobyl incident. Due to these events, the flow of knowledge of placements and such was delayed by weeks.
JET Placement City
I finally found out I am going to the Miyagi prefecture, to a city called Kesennuma, located in the northern part of Japan. This city was devastated by the March 11th earthquake, with supposedly 1/3 of the city submerged under water and oil fires from the port boats that lasted for four days. At the time of this blog, Wikipedia lists the population at a little over 74,000. It’s hard to find any other information on the city besides earthquake news, which sucks.
Still Going
I’m not as worried about going to my city as I thought I might be. I was more concerned with being placed in Fukushima, the prefecture with the nuclear power plants that are walking on uncertain grounds at the moment. Actually I’m super excited! I just finished an orientation today that told me a lot of what I already knew, but was still helpful. Hoping to hear from my predecessor soon so I can start buying clothes and things to bring.
細菌【さいきん】 (saikin) – Bacillus; bacterium; germ
Road to Japan: Recap of Previous Years
Kyoto
So, to remind myself, the first time I went to Japan was during my time at Mt. Hood Community College with Chiko Sensei’s (RIP) class. It was fun and I went to Kyoto. Met a lot of cool people, all of who I lost contact with after about a year. It was for 3 weeks between June and July of 2003.
NOVA
The next time I went to Japan was with a company called NOVA. NOVA was an Eikaiwa (English conversation school, lit. English conversation). Lucky me, I arrived right as the company was going bankrupt, and experienced it first hand, missing paychecks and living 4 months off something around $2,000. I was in a city called Fujisawa and worked in a city called Futamatagawa. I met some cool people there too, again, none of who I really talk to anymore, but such are the consequences of distance. I was there from August to November of 2007.
Korea and Again Japan
I spent a year in Korea teaching, then worked for a year trying to decide what I wanted to do. I tried going back to school for a few things that put me to sleep faster than anesthesia. To date, I’ve settled on nursing. Still semi-feeling the sting of not being able to spend a year in Japan, I thought I’d try my hand at going back. It proved to be a difficult endeavor. I tried applying for the JET program with a friend, but neither of us even managed an interview. I applied to a lot of places after this with either no reply or replies but no interview. I finally got some interviews but they were again for Eikaiwas, and I felt that if I was going to go back, I wanted to teach at a public school. I applied for Interac, an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) program, got the interview, and not much more. Bastards. After applying to Interac but before getting to the interview, I applied to the JET program again. My application this year was worse than last year’s, the attempt was a total blind dart throw… that managed to hit bullseye.
JET Interview
I got the interview which was awesome. Going into it, I had a bad cold that left me coughing every five seconds. I mega overdosed on cough drops in order to completely redecorate my throat with menthol. The interview consisted of 3 people, a former JET, a Japanese man who I think worked for the embassy in Portland, and some other guy who I don’t remember. The cough drop party worked for the most part and I got through the interview. A month and a half later, I got an email saying they had hired me. Sweet! To be honest, I was more or less considering JET as my last attempt to get to Japan. Lucky it was indeed, my last attempt.
節約【せつやく】 (setsuyaku) – Economising; saving
So, to remind myself, the first time I went to Japan was during my time at Mt. Hood Community College with Chiko Sensei’s (RIP) class. It was fun and I went to Kyoto. Met a lot of cool people, all of who I lost contact with after about a year. It was for 3 weeks between June and July of 2003.
NOVA
The next time I went to Japan was with a company called NOVA. NOVA was an Eikaiwa (English conversation school, lit. English conversation). Lucky me, I arrived right as the company was going bankrupt, and experienced it first hand, missing paychecks and living 4 months off something around $2,000. I was in a city called Fujisawa and worked in a city called Futamatagawa. I met some cool people there too, again, none of who I really talk to anymore, but such are the consequences of distance. I was there from August to November of 2007.
Korea and Again Japan
I spent a year in Korea teaching, then worked for a year trying to decide what I wanted to do. I tried going back to school for a few things that put me to sleep faster than anesthesia. To date, I’ve settled on nursing. Still semi-feeling the sting of not being able to spend a year in Japan, I thought I’d try my hand at going back. It proved to be a difficult endeavor. I tried applying for the JET program with a friend, but neither of us even managed an interview. I applied to a lot of places after this with either no reply or replies but no interview. I finally got some interviews but they were again for Eikaiwas, and I felt that if I was going to go back, I wanted to teach at a public school. I applied for Interac, an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) program, got the interview, and not much more. Bastards. After applying to Interac but before getting to the interview, I applied to the JET program again. My application this year was worse than last year’s, the attempt was a total blind dart throw… that managed to hit bullseye.
JET Interview
I got the interview which was awesome. Going into it, I had a bad cold that left me coughing every five seconds. I mega overdosed on cough drops in order to completely redecorate my throat with menthol. The interview consisted of 3 people, a former JET, a Japanese man who I think worked for the embassy in Portland, and some other guy who I don’t remember. The cough drop party worked for the most part and I got through the interview. A month and a half later, I got an email saying they had hired me. Sweet! To be honest, I was more or less considering JET as my last attempt to get to Japan. Lucky it was indeed, my last attempt.
節約【せつやく】 (setsuyaku) – Economising; saving
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