So I have to decide by the 10th of February whether or not I'm going to stay a 2nd year in Japan. I decided last night. There are a number of things I want to do in each country, and I've been weighing both decisions pretty heavily for the past half month or so. I was sitting on a 60/40 in favor of going back, but still couldn't make up my mind, so I left the decision to a coin toss. I tossed a 1 yen coin and decided I would follow what it came up with, and the result was to stay in Japan. Truthfully, I wasn't going to be fully happy with either choice, but in the meantime, here I'll stay!
I got a lot of foods reminding me of home from Rachel on my birthday, including some ham and cheeses and pickles. I am still eating all of the things slowly, it is super awesome and I am happy with everything.
契約更改【けいやくこうかい】 (keiyaku/koukai) (n) contract renewal
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Random pictures, Foreigners are cool
Look at this picture. I thought it was funny. Sure, I probably should be reviewing what my life should be, but I don't want a trash bin reminding me to do so. I would feel like I was throwing a piece of my life away each time I used it if I bought it. It would be pretty funny though.
Not sure what kind of cards these are. Thought they might be for donkeys so I didn't buy them.
One of my students today was talking to my English teacher about how she though foreigners were super cool because they could speak English and understand everything that was being said. She said she respected foreigners because of this. My teacher said it wasn't that cool because it was the language they grew up with, so obviously it was natural to them. She asked the student if she thought foreigners would think Japanese people were cool because they could speak Japanese, and the student answered that yes, she thought so. It would have made sense to me if she said no about the Japanese question, but since she said yes, now I just think she's silly haha. I thanked the student for her respect and grinned before leaving.
ごみ箱【ごみばこ】 (gomi/bako) (n) garbage can;
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Bounenkai & Korea
I've been pretty busy and haven't had time to put up a post in a while... ok actually I've just been lazy about it.
To end the year, schools have a 忘年会 (bounenkai) which is a get-together of company employees (maybe even just between friends, but not sure) where they eat, drink and play games. The characters mean a meeting to forget the year, but it's more to forget the bad things of the year and remember the good. I went to Niitsuki's party and they played bingo and a "Who is the quiz king of Niitsuki" game where random questions were asked to people in groups of 3. I actually ended up winning the game thanks to other teachers giving me answers and the game host teacher screwing the coordinator (my 1 vs 1 final opponent) out of the final question because he didn't say the full name of a movie. I wanted to post a picture of the game board but for some reason I lost it. Sad.
I spent a few hours of Christmas day in Japan, and the rest of the day in Korea! I spent a week there and went with 2 other teachers, Rachel and Tara. I didn't want to be there that long but didn't have much of a choice because the flight times were so crowded. I went to get my money back and on Tuesday I succeeded! So glad, that had been a burden for a few years, but now it's one less thing I have to worry about. I got to see a bunch of things I didn't see the first time around also. I went to a prison that Japanese used to imprison Koreans in, the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and I got to spend New Year's in Seoul. All very awesome!
I stayed in a youth hostel for around $20 a night, and right outside was this set of places. I didn't end up going in either of them, but the one on the 2nd floor is a cat cafe where you can go and play with cats. Sounds fun but yeah, might save it for another trip. Never made it to the 3rd floor, but it sounds interesting too :)
This is a picture of me in North Korea! The DMZ tour was pretty cool, and even though it's a pretty touristy thing to do, if you ever go to South Korea you should try to go on it. There's a lot of interesting history and I got to see a North Korean soldier (from pretty far away but still) up in his post. No North Korean soldiers came to check out the tour which was a little disappointing but it was still a pretty awesome experience that I didn't get to the first time I was in Korea. Glad I got to it this time.
Still on break until next Tuesday. Just taking it easy until then probably.
忘年会【ぼうねんかい】 (bou/nen/kai) (n) year-end party; (P)
To end the year, schools have a 忘年会 (bounenkai) which is a get-together of company employees (maybe even just between friends, but not sure) where they eat, drink and play games. The characters mean a meeting to forget the year, but it's more to forget the bad things of the year and remember the good. I went to Niitsuki's party and they played bingo and a "Who is the quiz king of Niitsuki" game where random questions were asked to people in groups of 3. I actually ended up winning the game thanks to other teachers giving me answers and the game host teacher screwing the coordinator (my 1 vs 1 final opponent) out of the final question because he didn't say the full name of a movie. I wanted to post a picture of the game board but for some reason I lost it. Sad.
I spent a few hours of Christmas day in Japan, and the rest of the day in Korea! I spent a week there and went with 2 other teachers, Rachel and Tara. I didn't want to be there that long but didn't have much of a choice because the flight times were so crowded. I went to get my money back and on Tuesday I succeeded! So glad, that had been a burden for a few years, but now it's one less thing I have to worry about. I got to see a bunch of things I didn't see the first time around also. I went to a prison that Japanese used to imprison Koreans in, the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and I got to spend New Year's in Seoul. All very awesome!
I stayed in a youth hostel for around $20 a night, and right outside was this set of places. I didn't end up going in either of them, but the one on the 2nd floor is a cat cafe where you can go and play with cats. Sounds fun but yeah, might save it for another trip. Never made it to the 3rd floor, but it sounds interesting too :)
This is a picture of me in North Korea! The DMZ tour was pretty cool, and even though it's a pretty touristy thing to do, if you ever go to South Korea you should try to go on it. There's a lot of interesting history and I got to see a North Korean soldier (from pretty far away but still) up in his post. No North Korean soldiers came to check out the tour which was a little disappointing but it was still a pretty awesome experience that I didn't get to the first time I was in Korea. Glad I got to it this time.
Still on break until next Tuesday. Just taking it easy until then probably.
忘年会【ぼうねんかい】 (bou/nen/kai) (n) year-end party; (P)
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