Update
It's been around a month and a half since I got home. For a good part of that time I've just been lazying around home, not doing all that much. Felt pretty good actually to just take some time and do a whole lot of nothing. Currently I've gone back to work for Reside Residential, and will be working graveyard somewhere up in Washington most likely. I've also started taking prerequisite classes for nursing. I only need two more classes, so I'm just taking one class at a time right now. Will be applying to schools in the winter sometime. I'm also still trying to get some start-up businesses up and running, so we'll see how that goes.
Speech Contest Results
I learned that Yumiko at Jonan got 1st place in the composition speech contest and that Riko at Niitsuki got 2nd. I'm really proud of those girls and I could tell that Yumiko had the ability to get 1st place. I'm excited to hear about how they do at prefectionals in Sendai. I really wish I could go with them and coach them right now. Should have stayed a 4th year! The other two girls did well with the recitation parts, but didn't place apparently.
優勝【ゆうしょう】 (yuushou) overall victory; championship
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Thoughts on Driving in Japan
This is just slightly old, and I posted it on Facebook but thought I'd do it here as well. Driving in Japan is frustrating. I imagine it's frustrating no matter where you go but each place has different reasons it's frustrating. The majority of thoughts I have on driving are frustrations but there are a few good points.
1. Please turn... please turn... please turn... YES!!! Finally!!! *2 minutes later* Please turn... please turn...
2. I'm going to pass this bicyclist... if he ever gets off to the side far enough so I can.
3. Why are people obeying the speed limit?! It'd be faster to walk than obey these things.
4. That was a close one! I haven't had someone suddenly turn in front of me since maybe... yesterday!
5. Should I just hit the gas and go through or should I stop? Well, I guess I'm still going. Yeah that was pretty red, I should have stopped actually. *Looks in rear view mirror to see 3 cars followed me through*
5. Did that woman just turn off her car at the red light, then start it again when the light turned green??
6. Japanese joke: Calling THIS a two-way street. There's barely room for a bus.
7. Turn signal BEFORE brakes, please.
8. Good thing my shaken (car inspection) is so expensive this year!
9. I'm paying to sit in a traffic jam on this toll road for SOME reason, I'm sure.
10. The magic of hazard lights are amazing. They allow you to park anywhere, even in the middle of a busy street!
11. Nice roads. So that's why the tolls are so expensive.
12. Sensors on traffic lights sure would be nice.
13. Does that guy not see the irony of pimping out a yellow-plate car?
14. Backing up is the only way you've ever parked in your life and it still takes you 3 tries? Wait, one more time. You're 2 centimeters off the middle.
15. I completely agree with the mother in the car in front me! Your kid doesn't need a seatbelt!
16. Striped white line on this curvy road, solid yellow line on the road with vision for miles. Makes sense.
17. Slower than a snail in the single lane roads, faster than a Ferrari when there's a passing lane (reminds me of home).
18. Wow people are actually willing to stop their lane on the opposite side to allow me to turn, and even give me a signal (flashing lights) to make it clear! This does NOT remind me of home!
19. How to pull out into a busy intersection: Creep forward ever so slightly every few seconds until you are sticking out in the road, forcing people to stop to let you in. Forget to blink your hazard lights twice to say thank you.
20. Is this guy gonna complete his turn before Christmas?
21. It's probably a waste of money to have 3 guys standing almost within arm's length telling me to go the obvious direction in this construction zone.
22. Why are all the "Baby in car" signs written in English? I know how hard you studied in middle school and I don't know if you can read that!
23. Cop cars back home tried to hide. Here, they try to stick out like a sore thumb. I actually do like this better.
運転【うんてん】 (unten) driving
1. Please turn... please turn... please turn... YES!!! Finally!!! *2 minutes later* Please turn... please turn...
2. I'm going to pass this bicyclist... if he ever gets off to the side far enough so I can.
3. Why are people obeying the speed limit?! It'd be faster to walk than obey these things.
4. That was a close one! I haven't had someone suddenly turn in front of me since maybe... yesterday!
5. Should I just hit the gas and go through or should I stop? Well, I guess I'm still going. Yeah that was pretty red, I should have stopped actually. *Looks in rear view mirror to see 3 cars followed me through*
5. Did that woman just turn off her car at the red light, then start it again when the light turned green??
6. Japanese joke: Calling THIS a two-way street. There's barely room for a bus.
7. Turn signal BEFORE brakes, please.
8. Good thing my shaken (car inspection) is so expensive this year!
9. I'm paying to sit in a traffic jam on this toll road for SOME reason, I'm sure.
10. The magic of hazard lights are amazing. They allow you to park anywhere, even in the middle of a busy street!
11. Nice roads. So that's why the tolls are so expensive.
12. Sensors on traffic lights sure would be nice.
13. Does that guy not see the irony of pimping out a yellow-plate car?
14. Backing up is the only way you've ever parked in your life and it still takes you 3 tries? Wait, one more time. You're 2 centimeters off the middle.
15. I completely agree with the mother in the car in front me! Your kid doesn't need a seatbelt!
16. Striped white line on this curvy road, solid yellow line on the road with vision for miles. Makes sense.
17. Slower than a snail in the single lane roads, faster than a Ferrari when there's a passing lane (reminds me of home).
18. Wow people are actually willing to stop their lane on the opposite side to allow me to turn, and even give me a signal (flashing lights) to make it clear! This does NOT remind me of home!
19. How to pull out into a busy intersection: Creep forward ever so slightly every few seconds until you are sticking out in the road, forcing people to stop to let you in. Forget to blink your hazard lights twice to say thank you.
20. Is this guy gonna complete his turn before Christmas?
21. It's probably a waste of money to have 3 guys standing almost within arm's length telling me to go the obvious direction in this construction zone.
22. Why are all the "Baby in car" signs written in English? I know how hard you studied in middle school and I don't know if you can read that!
23. Cop cars back home tried to hide. Here, they try to stick out like a sore thumb. I actually do like this better.
運転【うんてん】 (unten) driving
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Sayonara Japan!
I'm sitting here in the airport, about 15 minutes before boarding starts on my flight. Of course, the feelings of wishing I could stay longer are extremely strong right now. But this is how it's supposed to be. These feelings of not wanting to leave the place I called home for 3 years is proof of how much I loved Japan, loved Kesennuma, and how much I loved all the people I met there.
It's almost unreal to think about going home. It's not the first time I've done this whole process, but the bonds I made this time are much stronger than the ones I made the previous times. What I'm not looking forward to is the moment when I'm back in my room and the entire trip to Japan feels like one big dream. I hate that part. Also not looking forward to learning how to drive on the right side of the road again!
I thought about ending my blog soon after I got home, but I noticed the title of this blog, and I think I'm going to continue writing in it. I'll write about the reverse culture shock I experience, the impacts Japan will ultimately have on me, and of course, the time I end up coming back here, because I most definitely will. Speaking of which, I need to write a list of places to visit when I come back, because I imagine it'll be many years before I'm able to. My guess (because I like doing that) is that I'll be back in 5 years when the Olympics are being held... or maybe 4 years. Tickets during the Olympics will probably be through the roof.
This is the last post officially from my journey in Japan. I'm about to board now, so with this, I'll say thank you Japan, for everything. Thank you Kesennuma for allowing me the opportunity to call you home for 3 years. Thank you to the people, the teachers, and the students who watched over me for 3 years. It has been an incredible journey that not everyone will get the chance to experience. I will never forget any of you! I love you all! SAYONARA!!!
さようなら (sayounara) good-bye
It's almost unreal to think about going home. It's not the first time I've done this whole process, but the bonds I made this time are much stronger than the ones I made the previous times. What I'm not looking forward to is the moment when I'm back in my room and the entire trip to Japan feels like one big dream. I hate that part. Also not looking forward to learning how to drive on the right side of the road again!
I thought about ending my blog soon after I got home, but I noticed the title of this blog, and I think I'm going to continue writing in it. I'll write about the reverse culture shock I experience, the impacts Japan will ultimately have on me, and of course, the time I end up coming back here, because I most definitely will. Speaking of which, I need to write a list of places to visit when I come back, because I imagine it'll be many years before I'm able to. My guess (because I like doing that) is that I'll be back in 5 years when the Olympics are being held... or maybe 4 years. Tickets during the Olympics will probably be through the roof.
This is the last post officially from my journey in Japan. I'm about to board now, so with this, I'll say thank you Japan, for everything. Thank you Kesennuma for allowing me the opportunity to call you home for 3 years. Thank you to the people, the teachers, and the students who watched over me for 3 years. It has been an incredible journey that not everyone will get the chance to experience. I will never forget any of you! I love you all! SAYONARA!!!
さようなら (sayounara) good-bye
Monday, August 4, 2014
Minato Matsuri, Feelings of Leaving
It's 2 am as I write this. Minato Matsuri, a 2-day summer festival with street dancing the 1st and fireworks and taiko (Japanese drums) the next, just wrapped up.
The festival was fun. I got to dance with my students and see a lot of them that I'll likely never see again. I went to Jonan before the thing started to record a video for the kids who are doing the speech contest, and the teacher will show it to the kids before the speech. I hope they are happy and it inspires them! I really want them to do good and I can't wait to see the video of them! Ok end tangent.
The second day of the festival was taiko and fireworks right outside my apartment. I saw more of my kids and got to take a lot of pictures with them. It's hard to leave them. One of the speech contest kids said she didn't want to be friends with the new ALT, that she preferred me. I don't know if she was joking or not but she didn't seem to be. I felt bad for the new ALT but I was happy that she was sad I was leaving. She also wanted a woman but, too bad! She said men were hard to talk to, and when I whined about that, she said I was ok because I wasn't a man. Damn kids.
It's not the first time I've been in this situation, but the feelings don't get any easier. It's weird being in places and seeing people for what I know will be the last time ever in my life. It's almost like I can feel a part of me dying. It's painful. But it's good in that, those sad feelings are the validation that this journey was meaningful in a good way to my life. I'm incredibly lucky to come on this program that not everyone can come on, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity. Anyway, got to get back to packing. Kuroneko is coming tomorrow! I leave Kesennuma on Tuesday and Japan on Wednesday! Here I come Oregon!
そろそろ (soro/soro) soon; momentarily; before long
The festival was fun. I got to dance with my students and see a lot of them that I'll likely never see again. I went to Jonan before the thing started to record a video for the kids who are doing the speech contest, and the teacher will show it to the kids before the speech. I hope they are happy and it inspires them! I really want them to do good and I can't wait to see the video of them! Ok end tangent.The second day of the festival was taiko and fireworks right outside my apartment. I saw more of my kids and got to take a lot of pictures with them. It's hard to leave them. One of the speech contest kids said she didn't want to be friends with the new ALT, that she preferred me. I don't know if she was joking or not but she didn't seem to be. I felt bad for the new ALT but I was happy that she was sad I was leaving. She also wanted a woman but, too bad! She said men were hard to talk to, and when I whined about that, she said I was ok because I wasn't a man. Damn kids.
It's not the first time I've been in this situation, but the feelings don't get any easier. It's weird being in places and seeing people for what I know will be the last time ever in my life. It's almost like I can feel a part of me dying. It's painful. But it's good in that, those sad feelings are the validation that this journey was meaningful in a good way to my life. I'm incredibly lucky to come on this program that not everyone can come on, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity. Anyway, got to get back to packing. Kuroneko is coming tomorrow! I leave Kesennuma on Tuesday and Japan on Wednesday! Here I come Oregon!
そろそろ (soro/soro) soon; momentarily; before long
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Regret
One of my English teachers cried before we said goodbye for the last time today at a goodbye party. It was then that I knew I had messed up. One of these days I will make the right decision when it comes to women. It won't be today.
Edit: Well, maybe I didn't make a mistake after all. I never received a reply for one last meeting even though the message was read. Whew!
やってもうた (expression) (yatte mouta) oops!
Edit: Well, maybe I didn't make a mistake after all. I never received a reply for one last meeting even though the message was read. Whew!
やってもうた (expression) (yatte mouta) oops!
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
End of School, Goodbye Parties, Speech Practice, Getting Ready to Go Home
School has ended. I've taught my last class I'll likely ever teach as an ALT. I had to give goodbye speeches in front of all my schools and they presented me with flowers and goodbye gifts. It was nice, but I'm glad it's over, I hate giving those goodbye speeches. I also received a lot of those cards where everyone writes goodbye to you on those big cardboard things. I'm going to miss all my students and teachers. I had one student cry. Secretly, that is what I wished for and I would have been really sad if I didn't get that. Thank you for all the great memories, it has been fun!Even though I'll have had two weeks to do things, I'm super busy and haven't had time to do everything I wanted. I'm trying to fit in a bunch of goodbye parties in between trying to clean, it's a hard deal. I've met a lot of awesome people over the 3 years I've been here. It's hard to say goodbye to them, especially when I think about how everyone has moved on quite a bit back home.
I'm done with school but still going in for speech practice. I've got one student who I'm hopeful for, she's got really good English. She's writing about her grandparents' cooking soy boiled food. Hope the new ALT can lead her to prefecturals because she definitely has the talent!
We've had a few meetings at the BOE on getting ready to go home, said our goodbyes there, and just today they came to pick up our trash. They said they were going to the dump, but they were really going to the garbage/recycle place. I didn't put my trash in bags so we all had to help do it before loading it onto the truck. More lost in translation! I'm going home on the 6th. Going to Tokyo on the 4th after Minato Matsuri to hopefully meet some people, then Oregon awaits!
It's been a long journey. Can't believe it's all coming to an end.
送別会【そうべつかい】 (sou/betsu/kai) farewell party
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Vacation, Preparation for Returning Home
So I ended up going to Osaka, Okinawa and Matsushima on my way back.
In Osaka I went to see the Sky Building in Umeda and Takarazuka, an all female theater. It was a good view, and interesting that a large part of the audience is all women. I ended up losing my camera sometime though, and bought a new one right before going to Okinawa for around $350. I like it, but it doesn't take panorama shots, which I really liked my old camera for.
Okinawa was cool too. I ended up going to one of the smaller islands called Zamamijima for a night. It was a calm little island and I probably should have stayed another night or two. The next day I went to the Churaumi aquarium and that place, well the aquarium itself anyway, is BIG! There were 3 whale sharks and a few really big stingray like things. The next day I had planned on visiting a castle and possibly just enjoying the beach, but I came down with a migraine. Of course, that was the only day that it was sunny. I managed to drag myself out of bed around 3 or 4 and made it to Shuri castle. A cool place, but not sure it was worth it at that point, I probably should have tried to just find a beach. The place I wanted to eat at, a shabu shabu place, was full of people and I couldn't eat the dinner I wanted to either.
All in all, it was a decent trip, but I am never going to do this sort of thing again alone. It was really depressing seeing all the couples walking around while I had no one. Traveling by yourself sucks.
I've started getting ready to go. Slowly cleaning my apartment and just sent 2 boxes of around 15kg (33 lbs) back to the states. That'll lighten my load for suitcases. I've also started the process for getting the pension refund, I'm set to get over $8,000 dollars so I'm quite pleased with that!
I'm telling the kids that even though I'm leaving, a new ALT will be coming. They say that they'd rather have me. Even if that is tatemae, at least this time, I'm able to let it make me happy.
水族館【すいぞくかん】 (sui/zoku/kan) aquarium
In Osaka I went to see the Sky Building in Umeda and Takarazuka, an all female theater. It was a good view, and interesting that a large part of the audience is all women. I ended up losing my camera sometime though, and bought a new one right before going to Okinawa for around $350. I like it, but it doesn't take panorama shots, which I really liked my old camera for.
Okinawa was cool too. I ended up going to one of the smaller islands called Zamamijima for a night. It was a calm little island and I probably should have stayed another night or two. The next day I went to the Churaumi aquarium and that place, well the aquarium itself anyway, is BIG! There were 3 whale sharks and a few really big stingray like things. The next day I had planned on visiting a castle and possibly just enjoying the beach, but I came down with a migraine. Of course, that was the only day that it was sunny. I managed to drag myself out of bed around 3 or 4 and made it to Shuri castle. A cool place, but not sure it was worth it at that point, I probably should have tried to just find a beach. The place I wanted to eat at, a shabu shabu place, was full of people and I couldn't eat the dinner I wanted to either.All in all, it was a decent trip, but I am never going to do this sort of thing again alone. It was really depressing seeing all the couples walking around while I had no one. Traveling by yourself sucks.
I've started getting ready to go. Slowly cleaning my apartment and just sent 2 boxes of around 15kg (33 lbs) back to the states. That'll lighten my load for suitcases. I've also started the process for getting the pension refund, I'm set to get over $8,000 dollars so I'm quite pleased with that!
I'm telling the kids that even though I'm leaving, a new ALT will be coming. They say that they'd rather have me. Even if that is tatemae, at least this time, I'm able to let it make me happy.
水族館【すいぞくかん】 (sui/zoku/kan) aquarium
Friday, June 20, 2014
Bye bye Maria, Osaka and Okinawa soon
It's been a while. It's actually getting really close to the time I leave Japan finally. I'm feeling really good about finally going back. I have no regrets about not signing up for another year and I'm anxious to see my friends (what few I have left back home) and family.
I'm actually getting rid of Maria, my car, tomorrow. It's been a great 3 years babe, you treated me great. No major problems and you only cost $1,000. I'll miss you, but you aren't worth the ridiculous shaken I'd have to pay to keep you another month and a half. I'll be renting a car from the Ishida garage for around $250 for the next month and a half. Not a bad deal actually.
I'm taking tomorrow, Friday, off until next Friday and am going to Osaka and Okinawa for a few days. Just bought the tickets today and still haven't booked any hotels or things to do yet. I'll be by myself which dampens things a bit but should be a fun getaway. I'm bad at traveling by myself so hopefully I can will myself to have some fun.
The schools had a track and field meet the other day and my school cleaned up. They took a bunch of first places in the relay races, I was pretty happy for them.
Guess I should start looking for a place to stay this Saturday...
旅行【りょこう】 (ryokou) travel; trip
I'm actually getting rid of Maria, my car, tomorrow. It's been a great 3 years babe, you treated me great. No major problems and you only cost $1,000. I'll miss you, but you aren't worth the ridiculous shaken I'd have to pay to keep you another month and a half. I'll be renting a car from the Ishida garage for around $250 for the next month and a half. Not a bad deal actually.
I'm taking tomorrow, Friday, off until next Friday and am going to Osaka and Okinawa for a few days. Just bought the tickets today and still haven't booked any hotels or things to do yet. I'll be by myself which dampens things a bit but should be a fun getaway. I'm bad at traveling by myself so hopefully I can will myself to have some fun.
The schools had a track and field meet the other day and my school cleaned up. They took a bunch of first places in the relay races, I was pretty happy for them.
Guess I should start looking for a place to stay this Saturday...
旅行【りょこう】 (ryokou) travel; trip
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Random Update
There's roughly 75 days now until I go back to the states for good. Time is winding down. I've decided to try and take a week off near the end of June to go somewhere interesting, but I'm not sure where to go. I'm also sure that I'll be traveling alone, and I'm not a big fan of that but I really feel I need to go somewhere so I don't waste my remaining time. Right now I'm thinking of Okinawa and Osaka. Plane tickets would be around $350 in total I think... not sure yet.
I'm not really sure what to write here anymore. My life has been pretty boring actually. My shoulder still hasn't healed up enough to play any kind of sport yet. The 3rd years as retiring from their club activities I believe at the end of this month, so while my shoulder still probably won't be healed by then, I'll probably try and play a bit with them since it'll be the last time I can.
I also really want to get to Matsushima. Maybe in a week or two...
つまんない (tsumaranai) dull; boring
I'm not really sure what to write here anymore. My life has been pretty boring actually. My shoulder still hasn't healed up enough to play any kind of sport yet. The 3rd years as retiring from their club activities I believe at the end of this month, so while my shoulder still probably won't be healed by then, I'll probably try and play a bit with them since it'll be the last time I can.
I also really want to get to Matsushima. Maybe in a week or two...
つまんない (tsumaranai) dull; boring
Friday, May 9, 2014
My Car, Shoulder Still Injured, 3 Years in Japan
Finally managed to get those postcards sent off to Diana and Chiem, a year after saying I'd send them.
I went in the other day to ask about options for my car for the last 2 months. The insurance is due in a month and it's going to be at the very least, $700 and likely more because I know it has some problems I've been ignoring for the past few months now. I just want to rent a car or lease one for the last 2 months as $700 at the very least is too much for a car for that time. I love you Maria, but your time has come! She's been a good car for 3 years though, no major problems even though she only cost me a grand.
I was taking my shirt off one day about 3 days ago and seemed to slightly re-injure my shoulder. Now I can't walk with my arm down or it feels like it'll fall out again. I need to go buy a splint for it I think. Doing that after school. It sucks because it doesn't feel like it got any better after those 3 days either. I don't want surgery...
3 years was a good amount of time to be here. A while after I get home I'll be able to look back at this experience with fond memories and stories, but I'm definitely not as enamored with this place as I used to be. Which is good in a sense as it's making it easier to go home. I'm not going to get home and wish so much that I had stayed another year. It's almost weird thinking that almost 3 years has passed and that I have less than 3 months left in Japan. Definitely when people get all otaku crazy about Japan they only see the beautiful outside of it, but like sakura, it doesn't last long, and once you're here for a while you start to see all of what's wrong with the country. I still love it and will come back for traveling and such, but I couldn't live here forever. It's hard to live in a country that thinks work is more important than family and that bases a lot of its societal rules off of lying. It's also hard to be an Asian American male here :)
車【くるま】 (kuruma) car
I went in the other day to ask about options for my car for the last 2 months. The insurance is due in a month and it's going to be at the very least, $700 and likely more because I know it has some problems I've been ignoring for the past few months now. I just want to rent a car or lease one for the last 2 months as $700 at the very least is too much for a car for that time. I love you Maria, but your time has come! She's been a good car for 3 years though, no major problems even though she only cost me a grand.
I was taking my shirt off one day about 3 days ago and seemed to slightly re-injure my shoulder. Now I can't walk with my arm down or it feels like it'll fall out again. I need to go buy a splint for it I think. Doing that after school. It sucks because it doesn't feel like it got any better after those 3 days either. I don't want surgery...
3 years was a good amount of time to be here. A while after I get home I'll be able to look back at this experience with fond memories and stories, but I'm definitely not as enamored with this place as I used to be. Which is good in a sense as it's making it easier to go home. I'm not going to get home and wish so much that I had stayed another year. It's almost weird thinking that almost 3 years has passed and that I have less than 3 months left in Japan. Definitely when people get all otaku crazy about Japan they only see the beautiful outside of it, but like sakura, it doesn't last long, and once you're here for a while you start to see all of what's wrong with the country. I still love it and will come back for traveling and such, but I couldn't live here forever. It's hard to live in a country that thinks work is more important than family and that bases a lot of its societal rules off of lying. It's also hard to be an Asian American male here :)
車【くるま】 (kuruma) car
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Preparation for Home, Shoulder Dislocation
It's strange to think about how I only have a little over 3 months left before I stop teaching overseas for good. I've already started looking at phone plans, computer parts (I'm planning to buy an actual desktop when I go back home) and apartment prices. There's things I'm looking forward to going back home and things I don't want to leave here. It's hard to believe that by the time I get back home I'll be halfway to 31 years old. I was 26 when I signed up to come over to Japan. Time is just flying by.
The sakura have started blooming, they're beautiful. I wish they'd last longer than 2 weeks or so. It's my last time seeing them here so I'll probably go around and try to take pictures of them around the schools.
Last week I dislocated my shoulder again playing badminton. I dove for the shuttle and extended my arm too much I guess, and it fell out. It took around 2.5 hours to get it back in, much longer than the 20-30 minutes it took before. I couldn't get it back in so I had to look up ways on my phone which led to me pulling on it until it slipped back in. It's been over 5 years I think since it last slipped out but I don't think I can play things like tennis anymore. I won't even be able to go at my usual 85% at badminton anymore either. Getting older sucks.
脱臼【だっきゅう】 (dakkyuu) dislocation
The sakura have started blooming, they're beautiful. I wish they'd last longer than 2 weeks or so. It's my last time seeing them here so I'll probably go around and try to take pictures of them around the schools.
Last week I dislocated my shoulder again playing badminton. I dove for the shuttle and extended my arm too much I guess, and it fell out. It took around 2.5 hours to get it back in, much longer than the 20-30 minutes it took before. I couldn't get it back in so I had to look up ways on my phone which led to me pulling on it until it slipped back in. It's been over 5 years I think since it last slipped out but I don't think I can play things like tennis anymore. I won't even be able to go at my usual 85% at badminton anymore either. Getting older sucks.
脱臼【だっきゅう】 (dakkyuu) dislocation
Friday, April 11, 2014
The Japanese Lie
Not that other countries don't rely on this as well, but the lie is such a big part of Japanese culture that without it I'm pretty sure Japan would simply collapse. There are so many examples I could use but that would take a book series.
Japanese people lie. This is the simple truth. The example I've had the most experience with is Japanese people telling you that you should hang out together. A lot of the time what they're really saying is "I don't want to hang out with you, but I want you to think I'm a good person and I want us both to be comfortable RIGHT NOW (big key words), so I'll just lie and say "yes!" to you about hanging out." Then, you invite that person to hang out but you just get repeated excuses as to why they can't, along with the slightly hopeful, yet still useless "next time!" Hint: They don't really mean "next time."
When they don't have to see you face to face, anything goes. Gossip flies faster than sound and you can be flat out refused for things that were previously agreed upon. A common complaint of Western businesses that try to do business with Japanese companies is that Japanese businesses will say that they will buy their products (or engage in business with the Westerners) while face to face, but later on won't fulfill on their verbal agreement. This is to appear nice, but it's hard to see where essentially promising someone to do something, then negging on it later (and often messing up plans) is nice.
As much as the lie is an integral part of Japanese culture, Japanese people are actually pretty bad at the whole thing. I believe this is on purpose. I think that Japanese people give lies that are bad enough that people know they're lying, but are plausible enough that others can't really call them out on it. It's like they're saying "I don't want to do (insert action here), but I also don't want to say that outright, so hopefully with this sorry excuse of a lie, you'll get that hint." The worst lie I ever received is when I asked a girl to hang out. She essentially told me no by telling me she wasn't sure, so I asked her why she wasn't sure, and she replied with "because I don't know what will happen!" I thought maybe she didn't want to hang out with foreigners (she did that stuff to another foreigner here), but just a month ago she shipped herself off to Canada for a 1 year study abroad... I did get the hint though, I never contacted her again after that.
I've gotten used to the incessant lying here after 3 years and have started doing it myself. Wonder how long it'll take me to turn that around after I go back home. I do think that this is one of the reasons why Japanese people are not as happy as they could be. True, honest and unhindered communication isn't valued here. In fact, it's often punished.
嘘【うそ】 (uso) lie
Japanese people lie. This is the simple truth. The example I've had the most experience with is Japanese people telling you that you should hang out together. A lot of the time what they're really saying is "I don't want to hang out with you, but I want you to think I'm a good person and I want us both to be comfortable RIGHT NOW (big key words), so I'll just lie and say "yes!" to you about hanging out." Then, you invite that person to hang out but you just get repeated excuses as to why they can't, along with the slightly hopeful, yet still useless "next time!" Hint: They don't really mean "next time."
When they don't have to see you face to face, anything goes. Gossip flies faster than sound and you can be flat out refused for things that were previously agreed upon. A common complaint of Western businesses that try to do business with Japanese companies is that Japanese businesses will say that they will buy their products (or engage in business with the Westerners) while face to face, but later on won't fulfill on their verbal agreement. This is to appear nice, but it's hard to see where essentially promising someone to do something, then negging on it later (and often messing up plans) is nice.
As much as the lie is an integral part of Japanese culture, Japanese people are actually pretty bad at the whole thing. I believe this is on purpose. I think that Japanese people give lies that are bad enough that people know they're lying, but are plausible enough that others can't really call them out on it. It's like they're saying "I don't want to do (insert action here), but I also don't want to say that outright, so hopefully with this sorry excuse of a lie, you'll get that hint." The worst lie I ever received is when I asked a girl to hang out. She essentially told me no by telling me she wasn't sure, so I asked her why she wasn't sure, and she replied with "because I don't know what will happen!" I thought maybe she didn't want to hang out with foreigners (she did that stuff to another foreigner here), but just a month ago she shipped herself off to Canada for a 1 year study abroad... I did get the hint though, I never contacted her again after that.
I've gotten used to the incessant lying here after 3 years and have started doing it myself. Wonder how long it'll take me to turn that around after I go back home. I do think that this is one of the reasons why Japanese people are not as happy as they could be. True, honest and unhindered communication isn't valued here. In fact, it's often punished.
嘘【うそ】 (uso) lie
Friday, April 4, 2014
New Teachers, Tokyo
So the end of the term has come, all my graduations are done, and I've found out who all my English teachers will be for the last few months I'm here. The landscape of my schools has changed quite a bit, none of the students I met when I first came here are here anymore, and 90% of all my schools' staff has changed as well.
Teachers for 2011-2012
Jonan [Takahira Tomoko, Onodera Chisato, Niinuma Sachiko]
Niitsuki [Abe Shizuko, Onodera Masaaki]
2012-2013
Jonan [Takahira Tomoko, Onodera Chisato, Chiba Yoshie, Onodera Masaaki]
Niitsuki [Abe Shizuko, Takahashi Chihiro]
2013-2014
Jonan [Chiba Yoshie, Suzuki Chie, Onodera Masaaki]
Niitsuki [Takahashi Chihiro, Kumagai Junichi]
2014
Jonan [Chiba Yoshie, Suzuki Chie, Onodera Masaaki]
Niitsuki [Takahashi Chihiro, Kumagai Junichi]
All the teachers I taught with when I first got here have moved on to different schools. Teachers only get to stay at any one school for a maximum of a few years (upwards of 7 or maybe 8) before they are forcefully transferred. It's quite different from American schools where you hear of teachers who have been there for over 20 years.
I went to Tokyo for a few days over the break (they get 2 weeks here for spring break, although it's a little hard to call it that since most of the kids are still going in for sports clubs). I met Marika, who is going to (is already in) Eugene, Oregon for a 1 year study abroad. She's a cool girl, hope I'll be able to meet up with her when I get back in 4 months. I also got to see Atsushi and Ami. There's a lot of people I'll miss when I go back who I likely won't see for a long time afterwards.
I also went to see the ramen museum in Yokohama. It's a cool place, but the ramen I ate there was the worst I've ever had in Japan.
Anyway there's a lot of ramen shops all over and it looks like a small town from a few decades ago. Nice atmosphere. I ate my ramen then went back to Kesennuma.
Last night we had a welcome party for the new teachers at Niitsuki. Now I'm kicking myself I didn't try to see if Chihiro wouldn't have gone out with me. I feel like she would have. Seems no matter what I do with girls it's always wrong. At least I can laugh about it a little. Tonight I've got another welcome party for Jonan's teachers. Hoping for some eye candy as there isn't a whole lot there now!
博物館【はくぶつかん】 (haku/butsu/kan) museum
Teachers for 2011-2012
Jonan [Takahira Tomoko, Onodera Chisato, Niinuma Sachiko]
Niitsuki [Abe Shizuko, Onodera Masaaki]
2012-2013
Jonan [Takahira Tomoko, Onodera Chisato, Chiba Yoshie, Onodera Masaaki]
Niitsuki [Abe Shizuko, Takahashi Chihiro]
2013-2014
Jonan [Chiba Yoshie, Suzuki Chie, Onodera Masaaki]
Niitsuki [Takahashi Chihiro, Kumagai Junichi]
2014
Jonan [Chiba Yoshie, Suzuki Chie, Onodera Masaaki]
Niitsuki [Takahashi Chihiro, Kumagai Junichi]
All the teachers I taught with when I first got here have moved on to different schools. Teachers only get to stay at any one school for a maximum of a few years (upwards of 7 or maybe 8) before they are forcefully transferred. It's quite different from American schools where you hear of teachers who have been there for over 20 years.
I went to Tokyo for a few days over the break (they get 2 weeks here for spring break, although it's a little hard to call it that since most of the kids are still going in for sports clubs). I met Marika, who is going to (is already in) Eugene, Oregon for a 1 year study abroad. She's a cool girl, hope I'll be able to meet up with her when I get back in 4 months. I also got to see Atsushi and Ami. There's a lot of people I'll miss when I go back who I likely won't see for a long time afterwards.
I also went to see the ramen museum in Yokohama. It's a cool place, but the ramen I ate there was the worst I've ever had in Japan.
Anyway there's a lot of ramen shops all over and it looks like a small town from a few decades ago. Nice atmosphere. I ate my ramen then went back to Kesennuma.
Last night we had a welcome party for the new teachers at Niitsuki. Now I'm kicking myself I didn't try to see if Chihiro wouldn't have gone out with me. I feel like she would have. Seems no matter what I do with girls it's always wrong. At least I can laugh about it a little. Tonight I've got another welcome party for Jonan's teachers. Hoping for some eye candy as there isn't a whole lot there now!
博物館【はくぶつかん】 (haku/butsu/kan) museum
Monday, March 24, 2014
New Teachers, Spring Break
So in a few hours I get to see which of the teachers will leave and who will stay. In Japan, government workers (and even some non government workers) are often transferred around after 3-8 years. Teachers, police, hospital workers, post office employees, etc., are all moved around. I understand why the system is in place where teachers move schools every few years, but I think that's just because Japanese higher ups don't like to get rid of the bad apples, so they just let each school share them for a while before moving them. My school currently has one of those. He sucks at teaching to the point that the school won't let him teach, but yet he's still at the school and they won't get rid of him. There's a lot of problems in Japanese business that differ from Western business problems, this is one of them. It seems like it slows things down, to constantly shift people around places where their main job might even change, forcing them to learn new things and constantly be behind.
Kevin's last night in Japan was last night. It was pretty simple, just me and him, eating dinner at Yeti and then a few drinks at Kyuusaiya, then games at the apartment for a bit. His leaving is a clear sign that my life in Japan is quickly drawing to a close. There's so many things I'll be happy to get away from here, so many things I'll be sad to leave, so many things I can't wait to get back to. The emotions are definitely flooding.
I still haven't figured out for sure what I'm doing for spring break, but I will be going to Tokyo on the 26th to meet Marika, a girl I met in the Yatai Mura a few weeks ago who will be going to Oregon for a 1 year study abroad. I'll also try meeting up with Ami and Atsushi if they are available.
Thinking of trying to get on those online dating sites a month before I go back. I'm tired of being single.
転勤【てんきん】 (tenkin) job transfer; job relocation; intra-company transfer
Kevin's last night in Japan was last night. It was pretty simple, just me and him, eating dinner at Yeti and then a few drinks at Kyuusaiya, then games at the apartment for a bit. His leaving is a clear sign that my life in Japan is quickly drawing to a close. There's so many things I'll be happy to get away from here, so many things I'll be sad to leave, so many things I can't wait to get back to. The emotions are definitely flooding.
I still haven't figured out for sure what I'm doing for spring break, but I will be going to Tokyo on the 26th to meet Marika, a girl I met in the Yatai Mura a few weeks ago who will be going to Oregon for a 1 year study abroad. I'll also try meeting up with Ami and Atsushi if they are available.
Thinking of trying to get on those online dating sites a month before I go back. I'm tired of being single.
転勤【てんきん】 (tenkin) job transfer; job relocation; intra-company transfer
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
March 11th Anniversary, Graduation
This is my 100th post of the Dustin in Japan blog! It's unfortunate that I'm writing on such a downer of an entry this time.
Just a few minutes ago here at Jonan we all gathered outside. Every year at 2:46 PM on March 11th they ring the city warning bell for 1 minute for the anniversary of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that ravaged a great part of the coastal Miyagi cities and towns. Even though I didn't experience the tsunami firsthand I couldn't help but think what a fearsome sound the warning bell was producing. As we walked back in a lot of my teachers were fighting back tears and one was letting them flow. While I am happy to join in on the remembrance of the anniversary, I don't feel exactly right crying along with people as I didn't experience it myself, nor did I lose anything in the disaster. I know others (including the people who were here at the time) would tell me it's ok, but that is just how I feel personally.
On the radio and TV they are talking about how Miyagi has to do its best and to dream of the future. But lately I've been hearing a common sentiment among the Japanese people and that is that those messages aren't exactly right. I agree with them. Japan is a country that doesn't express its feelings and I feel this severely hurts its people. It's important to talk about things, but Japanese people are apt to just bottle it up and move on. A common theme here includes the word 我慢 which, in the most honest translation, as its often used, is "just deal with it." It doesn't matter how you feel about things, it doesn't matter if it's right or not, just deal with it. It's how they get all the Japanese people on one page, and there are benefits to that, but overall I feel it's very unhealthy for the Japanese people's mental well being. One Japanese girl was telling me how the people lost in the tsunami have become taboo even, that they're not supposed to talk about them. It's only been 3 years and to think that those people are supposed to just be pushed to the back of others' memories so they won't make others sad anymore is nothing short of ridiculous. Japan needs to get over it's "but talking about feelings is embarrassing!" attitude. For the betterment of its people. Unfortunately, it either won't, or I won't live long enough to see it.
Graduation was this last weekend on the 8th. I went to Jonan this year. Actually I wanted to go to Jonan's graduation last year and to Niitsuki's this year, it sucks I didn't get to go to those respective graduations. But it was still cool to go to Jonan's. I've had these kids since halfway through their 1st year, and now I watched them graduate as 3rd years. It was the last graduation I'll see as an ALT. I didn't cry though. I thought I'd be able to change my social skills for the better when I came here, but so far, that's not the case. I hope my kids now will get a much better ALT than I. Someone told me that it'll be a shame when I leave back to America. I wish I could live up to those words.
I am back to Oregon in roughly 21 weeks!
我慢【がまん】 (gaman) patience; endurance; perseverance; tolerance;
Just a few minutes ago here at Jonan we all gathered outside. Every year at 2:46 PM on March 11th they ring the city warning bell for 1 minute for the anniversary of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that ravaged a great part of the coastal Miyagi cities and towns. Even though I didn't experience the tsunami firsthand I couldn't help but think what a fearsome sound the warning bell was producing. As we walked back in a lot of my teachers were fighting back tears and one was letting them flow. While I am happy to join in on the remembrance of the anniversary, I don't feel exactly right crying along with people as I didn't experience it myself, nor did I lose anything in the disaster. I know others (including the people who were here at the time) would tell me it's ok, but that is just how I feel personally.
On the radio and TV they are talking about how Miyagi has to do its best and to dream of the future. But lately I've been hearing a common sentiment among the Japanese people and that is that those messages aren't exactly right. I agree with them. Japan is a country that doesn't express its feelings and I feel this severely hurts its people. It's important to talk about things, but Japanese people are apt to just bottle it up and move on. A common theme here includes the word 我慢 which, in the most honest translation, as its often used, is "just deal with it." It doesn't matter how you feel about things, it doesn't matter if it's right or not, just deal with it. It's how they get all the Japanese people on one page, and there are benefits to that, but overall I feel it's very unhealthy for the Japanese people's mental well being. One Japanese girl was telling me how the people lost in the tsunami have become taboo even, that they're not supposed to talk about them. It's only been 3 years and to think that those people are supposed to just be pushed to the back of others' memories so they won't make others sad anymore is nothing short of ridiculous. Japan needs to get over it's "but talking about feelings is embarrassing!" attitude. For the betterment of its people. Unfortunately, it either won't, or I won't live long enough to see it.
 | ||
| 2 girls that wanted a pic w/me |
I am back to Oregon in roughly 21 weeks!
我慢【がまん】 (gaman) patience; endurance; perseverance; tolerance;
Friday, March 7, 2014
Japanese Education System
The Japanese education system is like any other, ripe with beneficial and detrimental points. I'm going to give my take on each side.
Beneficial points.
1. They have this thing called "Integrated course" (Best I can translate 総合) where they do all sorts of different things ranging from learning how to cook rice in aluminum cups to going out and assuming the roles of fire fighters, store clerks, elementary school teacher assistants, and so on. I love this aspect of the system because they get a very real taste of what the work force feels like. It's as real as it can get for junior high school students at least, and I feel is a very good addition to the education system.
2. Students clean their school. There is a "janitor" of sorts, but he doesn't clean the classrooms, the bathrooms, or anything else besides the staff room and some areas outside. The students clean their classrooms and their bathrooms and generally keep the school clean. This gives them a respect for their classroom (and ultimately a higher respect for things in general) that Western students don't have. Of course, a lot of students don't actually take the cleaning that seriously and the next morning dust bunnies can be found without much effort. Also, in elementary school, leaving cleaning the bathroom to 1st and 2nd graders is not a good idea. I know from walking past it multiple times. All this said, I'm glad I didn't have to do this during my middle school years!
3. Students don't cook their own lunch but they serve it to each other. At least in America, our lunch is handed to us by a lunch lady/guy if you buy it at school (in Japan there is a forced school lunch for elementary school and some middle schools. Possibly some high schools but that would be rare if there are any). Again this serves to the respect and autonomy of the students.
4. They have school trips for each grade, and big events like Culture Day (文化祭) and Sports Day (運動会). These make the students work together to feel a bigger sense of togetherness and sportsmanship. On top of all that, the students organize and plan everything, adding to their maturity and planning skills.
Detrimental Points
1. Club activities. In middle school, every student is forced into after school club activities. I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole after school club activities thing but I definitely feel this is the worse of two (or more) evils. I would have hated middle school if they forced me into a club, and I'm sure there are students here who feel similar. On top of that, many clubs force their students to go to tournaments and come in on Saturday and even Sunday to practice. Every weekend is too much and takes away from family time that they already don't have enough of. This also forces teachers to work often 7 days a week, and many of them already work 12+ hour days on school days already. Of course there are benefits to joining a club, but the way it's done here, I feel the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
2. Cram schools. As if club activities don't already take a ton of time away from the students, a lot of them are going to cram schools after school, arriving home past 9 pm. When kids are kids they should be allowed to be kids! There will be plenty of time to study later, and it's not like they aren't already studying now in school. Some kids go to these in elementary school as well. Cram school in elementary school? Really?
3. The teaching system is a very one-way style of teaching and it's very formulaic. The teacher gives information, the students write it down and memorize it. You rarely, if ever, see students and teacher engaged in a discussion, where students are asking about points they don't understand, asking questions that demonstrate critical thinking, or even really thinking for themselves during a lesson. I remember trying to give a lesson where the students had to think a bit, and most couldn't do it because it was "too hard." They were right. Their critical thinking skills aren't like their Western counterparts and I should have rethought the lesson.
4. Obviously I'm going to write about the English classes since that is the bulk of my experience here in the Japanese education system. Again, English is presented in a very formulaic manner. This is fine as language has rules that you can learn and follow to use it to communicate, but the formulas are very fluid. Especially in English, where one sentence won't fit every situation that it looks like it could fit. Japanese is a very rigid language without much variety. One sentence works in a multitude of situations and it is rarely changed. This is difficult to teach because the students and teachers are so used to their native tongue. So when you teach them one sentence in English and ask them to change it, it takes them forever. They also never study true conversation in school. There are times where students can recite big chunks of text in front of the classroom, but it's never really conversation. They can't sit there and have a conversation despite studying the language for years. It's because they study strictly for entrance exams to high school or university. It makes sense to study for these, but in the process, students are seeing English as a tool to get into schools, instead of what it really is: a tool for conversation. I have English teachers that can't speak English. They mark things correct that are out of this world wrong (Engrish is not the correct spelling). They import us as assistant language teachers but to be honest, in the classroom, we don't do much. We are overpaid for the jobs we are allowed to do. The English teachers are only concerned with finishing the textbook and in order to do that they have to focus on it and we aren't allowed any time to teach conversation or anything about other cultures (to a large extent. Some of us may get a few classes a year, if that. This year I'm getting none). Also so far I haven't heard any teacher say that to learn a foreign language you have to learn about it's culture, and this is more important than I think most people realize. I'm flat out saying that the English education in Japan is not good. It's just not good.
I think Japan has some good points in its education system, but it does need an overhaul, like most countries' education system.
Beneficial points.
1. They have this thing called "Integrated course" (Best I can translate 総合) where they do all sorts of different things ranging from learning how to cook rice in aluminum cups to going out and assuming the roles of fire fighters, store clerks, elementary school teacher assistants, and so on. I love this aspect of the system because they get a very real taste of what the work force feels like. It's as real as it can get for junior high school students at least, and I feel is a very good addition to the education system.
2. Students clean their school. There is a "janitor" of sorts, but he doesn't clean the classrooms, the bathrooms, or anything else besides the staff room and some areas outside. The students clean their classrooms and their bathrooms and generally keep the school clean. This gives them a respect for their classroom (and ultimately a higher respect for things in general) that Western students don't have. Of course, a lot of students don't actually take the cleaning that seriously and the next morning dust bunnies can be found without much effort. Also, in elementary school, leaving cleaning the bathroom to 1st and 2nd graders is not a good idea. I know from walking past it multiple times. All this said, I'm glad I didn't have to do this during my middle school years!
3. Students don't cook their own lunch but they serve it to each other. At least in America, our lunch is handed to us by a lunch lady/guy if you buy it at school (in Japan there is a forced school lunch for elementary school and some middle schools. Possibly some high schools but that would be rare if there are any). Again this serves to the respect and autonomy of the students.
4. They have school trips for each grade, and big events like Culture Day (文化祭) and Sports Day (運動会). These make the students work together to feel a bigger sense of togetherness and sportsmanship. On top of all that, the students organize and plan everything, adding to their maturity and planning skills.
Detrimental Points
1. Club activities. In middle school, every student is forced into after school club activities. I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole after school club activities thing but I definitely feel this is the worse of two (or more) evils. I would have hated middle school if they forced me into a club, and I'm sure there are students here who feel similar. On top of that, many clubs force their students to go to tournaments and come in on Saturday and even Sunday to practice. Every weekend is too much and takes away from family time that they already don't have enough of. This also forces teachers to work often 7 days a week, and many of them already work 12+ hour days on school days already. Of course there are benefits to joining a club, but the way it's done here, I feel the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
2. Cram schools. As if club activities don't already take a ton of time away from the students, a lot of them are going to cram schools after school, arriving home past 9 pm. When kids are kids they should be allowed to be kids! There will be plenty of time to study later, and it's not like they aren't already studying now in school. Some kids go to these in elementary school as well. Cram school in elementary school? Really?
3. The teaching system is a very one-way style of teaching and it's very formulaic. The teacher gives information, the students write it down and memorize it. You rarely, if ever, see students and teacher engaged in a discussion, where students are asking about points they don't understand, asking questions that demonstrate critical thinking, or even really thinking for themselves during a lesson. I remember trying to give a lesson where the students had to think a bit, and most couldn't do it because it was "too hard." They were right. Their critical thinking skills aren't like their Western counterparts and I should have rethought the lesson.
4. Obviously I'm going to write about the English classes since that is the bulk of my experience here in the Japanese education system. Again, English is presented in a very formulaic manner. This is fine as language has rules that you can learn and follow to use it to communicate, but the formulas are very fluid. Especially in English, where one sentence won't fit every situation that it looks like it could fit. Japanese is a very rigid language without much variety. One sentence works in a multitude of situations and it is rarely changed. This is difficult to teach because the students and teachers are so used to their native tongue. So when you teach them one sentence in English and ask them to change it, it takes them forever. They also never study true conversation in school. There are times where students can recite big chunks of text in front of the classroom, but it's never really conversation. They can't sit there and have a conversation despite studying the language for years. It's because they study strictly for entrance exams to high school or university. It makes sense to study for these, but in the process, students are seeing English as a tool to get into schools, instead of what it really is: a tool for conversation. I have English teachers that can't speak English. They mark things correct that are out of this world wrong (Engrish is not the correct spelling). They import us as assistant language teachers but to be honest, in the classroom, we don't do much. We are overpaid for the jobs we are allowed to do. The English teachers are only concerned with finishing the textbook and in order to do that they have to focus on it and we aren't allowed any time to teach conversation or anything about other cultures (to a large extent. Some of us may get a few classes a year, if that. This year I'm getting none). Also so far I haven't heard any teacher say that to learn a foreign language you have to learn about it's culture, and this is more important than I think most people realize. I'm flat out saying that the English education in Japan is not good. It's just not good.
I think Japan has some good points in its education system, but it does need an overhaul, like most countries' education system.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
New Interac ALT, Graduation, Rachel Coming Back
I ended up not going anywhere despite having 5 days off about 3 weeks ago, but that's fine. I just played games and it was nice getting back on track with everything.
Kevin got a job and will be leaving next month on the 24th or so. I'm interested to see who the new ALT will be. Lately I've been having bad luck with the newbies so hopefully this new guy (definitely going to be a guy, watch) will be a breath of fresh air. If not, he'll be far away enough I can avoid him easily. We're having a send off party for Kevin this Saturday (in 2 days) starting at Shinkyo (Chinese restaurant) and going to Ami, with Stray Sheep likely afterwards.
It's about that time to start saying goodbye to the 3rd years (9th graders). On the 8th of next month they'll be graduating and leaving the schools. I'm at Niitsuki today and I've got my last class with both the 3rd years today. It's sad because they are the students I have had my entire time here (besides the elementary kids) and now they'll be leaving. It's been a short 2.5 years. I wish them luck!
Rachel is coming back again for graduation and the tsunami anniversary from the 8th to the 12th next month. Need to start cleaning! Also need to make plans for spring break!
Been playing the Last of Us lately. Good game. I really want to visit a ghost town sometime in my life so I am really enjoying the visuals.
卒業【そつぎょう】 (sotsugyou) graduation
Kevin got a job and will be leaving next month on the 24th or so. I'm interested to see who the new ALT will be. Lately I've been having bad luck with the newbies so hopefully this new guy (definitely going to be a guy, watch) will be a breath of fresh air. If not, he'll be far away enough I can avoid him easily. We're having a send off party for Kevin this Saturday (in 2 days) starting at Shinkyo (Chinese restaurant) and going to Ami, with Stray Sheep likely afterwards.
It's about that time to start saying goodbye to the 3rd years (9th graders). On the 8th of next month they'll be graduating and leaving the schools. I'm at Niitsuki today and I've got my last class with both the 3rd years today. It's sad because they are the students I have had my entire time here (besides the elementary kids) and now they'll be leaving. It's been a short 2.5 years. I wish them luck!
Rachel is coming back again for graduation and the tsunami anniversary from the 8th to the 12th next month. Need to start cleaning! Also need to make plans for spring break!
Been playing the Last of Us lately. Good game. I really want to visit a ghost town sometime in my life so I am really enjoying the visuals.
卒業【そつぎょう】 (sotsugyou) graduation
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
What If?
I've been writing here a lot lately but I feel that right now it's the only way to keep myself sane. It's pretty lonely at night, I think that's making it really hard to sleep and the silence has been getting to me.
Lately I've been thinking about the people I've met over the years, and it's only been because I made it on to the JET program. I met awesome people, but I wonder what it would have been like if I had made different choices. I'm not saying I made the wrong choice, but rather, what kind of people would I have met if I had gone to, say, China, or France, or wherever else. What kind of people would I have met then? What would my life be like now? What would my life be like if I never came to Japan? Would I be a nurse by now? Would I have found my passion and opened my own business by now? It's interesting to think about even though it's impossible to really speculate about the different people I would have met. Overall I'm happy with the people I've met here.
It's going to be so easy, yet so hard, to finally go back home.
若しも【もしも】 (moshimo) if
Lately I've been thinking about the people I've met over the years, and it's only been because I made it on to the JET program. I met awesome people, but I wonder what it would have been like if I had made different choices. I'm not saying I made the wrong choice, but rather, what kind of people would I have met if I had gone to, say, China, or France, or wherever else. What kind of people would I have met then? What would my life be like now? What would my life be like if I never came to Japan? Would I be a nurse by now? Would I have found my passion and opened my own business by now? It's interesting to think about even though it's impossible to really speculate about the different people I would have met. Overall I'm happy with the people I've met here.
It's going to be so easy, yet so hard, to finally go back home.
若しも【もしも】 (moshimo) if
Monday, February 3, 2014
Relationships
Well since she broke it off I'm going to guess she doesn't read this anymore. She told me she used to, back in October, but it's unlikely she does now.
My Japanese friend (who is a girl) once told me that when Japanese girls are mad, they stay silent and don't tend to say anything. I feel like this might be the same with problems in their relationships. I've dated two Japanese girls now, and both of them broke it off with me, and both times, it went like this:
Sweet text message
Sweet text message
Sweet text message
...See ya!
Granted there were a few other signs here and there I probably should have picked up on, but for the most part I didn't feel like anything was majorly wrong. At least, wrong enough to just break it off entirely. Both times too, we had plans to meet up over long distances, and both times, I was led to believe those meetings would happen up until the break-up text. Now that I think about it, it is pretty vexing. You don't just wake up one day and say "hey, there's a bunch of problems I didn't notice until just today. Weshould talk about them are going break up." They fester over a period of time until you get to a boiling point and stuff starts overflowing. Then, even if you turn off the heat, so much has overflown and it's not like you can get it back.
Western relationships seem to work on the basis of telling each other what you want/need (women a little less than men here). The good side of this is that there is no guesswork. You know what is working and what isn't, what to keep doing and what to work on. The bad side of this is that people often aren't good at making these statements of their wants/needs without making it sound like an attack on their partner (or, their partner isn't good at taking these statements not as attacks), which can lead to feelings of resentment and fights.
Japanese relationships seem to work on the basis of guessing what the other wants and trying to make the other person happy. The good side of this is that there is a fairly clear attempt to make the relationship work. The bad side is that there is a lot of guesswork, and if something isn't working, neither side will address it. Talking about feelings isn't big in Japanese society, even to your significant other. Hell, they don't even really say "I love you" to each other (in contrast, I believe Westerners say this too much).
Both times I felt like I tried to hard to make the relationships work (NOT to be read: I was perfect, I did everything right). But both times I got the text of death at the point where the girls had given up completely. There was no hint of "maybe we can make this work if we change things." There was no hint of "I need something different, can you give that to me or no?" There was no hint of "I still like you, but I feel those feelings slipping, we should talk about it." I wanted to try and fix things, and I feel like, if they had talked to me earlier about things, that we could have, in both relationships. It is impossible to stop the car if the wall gives no indication of its presence until the final second.
I wonder how happy Japanese people really are in their relationships. I feel communication in relationships isn't valued as much here as it is in Western cultures, and yet communication is one of the key ingredients to a long lasting, happy relationship according to many couples. Key word there being 'happy.' Divorce is looked down upon so many Japanese stay married even if they live away from their spouse, although this does seem to be changing. Westerners on the other hand can be divorce happy, and that, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be changing positively.
If it sounds like I'm simply attacking Japanese girls/society here, I'm really not. Like I already mentioned, there were things I probably could have done better too. I could probably write a book on why I'm not exactly Prince Charming. But both of these relationships failed in large part because the girl didn't bring up major problems before hand. I didn't feel there was anything terribly wrong, and I definitely didn't think she was thinking of breaking up with me. I don't know. Maybe this was all by design. Maybe I was just being used? I doubt that because I'm not good looking or extremely outgoing. Culture for sure plays a large role here, but I really feel with just a little more communication that things could have gone so much better. Maybe next relationship I should make a monthly appointment to ask the girl if anything is wrong. I need to get her to tell me the ship is sinking before it actually sinks. We can't save it if it's already submerged.
The saddest thing is that I like to kind of keep in touch with my old flames. I like to see what they're up to and see if they're happy. I want to be friends with them. It's not like I want to keep them around for the possibility of getting back together or anything like that, I'm just genuinely interested in their lives. It's sad to share such intimate moments only to just never talk again, I think. But none of them share those same feelings. They just never want to talk again.
To be honest there isn't really a point to this post, even though it's probably the longest one on here. It just feels nice to get some things off my chest. Maybe I can read this later and smile about it. I think the most important thing for me now is to try and take as many lessons out of this as I can (although I just turned 30, I'm still VERY new to the whole dating/girlfriend thing) If any of those girls ARE reading this, I'm not saying it was your fault, but rather both of ours. I'm not blaming you either. I'm not mad. I'm just sad, and likely will be about it for some time.
フラれる (furareru) to be dumped
My Japanese friend (who is a girl) once told me that when Japanese girls are mad, they stay silent and don't tend to say anything. I feel like this might be the same with problems in their relationships. I've dated two Japanese girls now, and both of them broke it off with me, and both times, it went like this:
Sweet text message
Sweet text message
Sweet text message
...See ya!
Granted there were a few other signs here and there I probably should have picked up on, but for the most part I didn't feel like anything was majorly wrong. At least, wrong enough to just break it off entirely. Both times too, we had plans to meet up over long distances, and both times, I was led to believe those meetings would happen up until the break-up text. Now that I think about it, it is pretty vexing. You don't just wake up one day and say "hey, there's a bunch of problems I didn't notice until just today. We
Western relationships seem to work on the basis of telling each other what you want/need (women a little less than men here). The good side of this is that there is no guesswork. You know what is working and what isn't, what to keep doing and what to work on. The bad side of this is that people often aren't good at making these statements of their wants/needs without making it sound like an attack on their partner (or, their partner isn't good at taking these statements not as attacks), which can lead to feelings of resentment and fights.
Japanese relationships seem to work on the basis of guessing what the other wants and trying to make the other person happy. The good side of this is that there is a fairly clear attempt to make the relationship work. The bad side is that there is a lot of guesswork, and if something isn't working, neither side will address it. Talking about feelings isn't big in Japanese society, even to your significant other. Hell, they don't even really say "I love you" to each other (in contrast, I believe Westerners say this too much).
Both times I felt like I tried to hard to make the relationships work (NOT to be read: I was perfect, I did everything right). But both times I got the text of death at the point where the girls had given up completely. There was no hint of "maybe we can make this work if we change things." There was no hint of "I need something different, can you give that to me or no?" There was no hint of "I still like you, but I feel those feelings slipping, we should talk about it." I wanted to try and fix things, and I feel like, if they had talked to me earlier about things, that we could have, in both relationships. It is impossible to stop the car if the wall gives no indication of its presence until the final second.
I wonder how happy Japanese people really are in their relationships. I feel communication in relationships isn't valued as much here as it is in Western cultures, and yet communication is one of the key ingredients to a long lasting, happy relationship according to many couples. Key word there being 'happy.' Divorce is looked down upon so many Japanese stay married even if they live away from their spouse, although this does seem to be changing. Westerners on the other hand can be divorce happy, and that, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be changing positively.
If it sounds like I'm simply attacking Japanese girls/society here, I'm really not. Like I already mentioned, there were things I probably could have done better too. I could probably write a book on why I'm not exactly Prince Charming. But both of these relationships failed in large part because the girl didn't bring up major problems before hand. I didn't feel there was anything terribly wrong, and I definitely didn't think she was thinking of breaking up with me. I don't know. Maybe this was all by design. Maybe I was just being used? I doubt that because I'm not good looking or extremely outgoing. Culture for sure plays a large role here, but I really feel with just a little more communication that things could have gone so much better. Maybe next relationship I should make a monthly appointment to ask the girl if anything is wrong. I need to get her to tell me the ship is sinking before it actually sinks. We can't save it if it's already submerged.
The saddest thing is that I like to kind of keep in touch with my old flames. I like to see what they're up to and see if they're happy. I want to be friends with them. It's not like I want to keep them around for the possibility of getting back together or anything like that, I'm just genuinely interested in their lives. It's sad to share such intimate moments only to just never talk again, I think. But none of them share those same feelings. They just never want to talk again.
To be honest there isn't really a point to this post, even though it's probably the longest one on here. It just feels nice to get some things off my chest. Maybe I can read this later and smile about it. I think the most important thing for me now is to try and take as many lessons out of this as I can (although I just turned 30, I'm still VERY new to the whole dating/girlfriend thing) If any of those girls ARE reading this, I'm not saying it was your fault, but rather both of ours. I'm not blaming you either. I'm not mad. I'm just sad, and likely will be about it for some time.
フラれる (furareru) to be dumped
Friday, January 31, 2014
Nothing to Offer
Aaaaand, I'm not going to Osaka anymore. I figured out these past few months that I don't really have a lot to offer girls in a relationship. There isn't much I can do as a person to make them like me. I don't really know how to put it other than that. I've never been good with relationships but I think it's going to be even harder for me from now on. I always thought I might be good with this sort of thing if I could just get a girlfriend but I don't think that's the case at all. Like a lot of the things I try, I'm really bad at it, and if I want to get better it'll take me a long time of learning. Japan, in this regard, you really have not been kind to me. What's sad is that it's been kinder than the states has.
落込む【おちこむ】(ochi/komu) to feel down (sad)
落込む【おちこむ】(ochi/komu) to feel down (sad)
Monday, January 27, 2014
30th Birthday
Been following the Blazers lately when I can, they're off to a good start this season, currently 3rd in the West, sitting on a 33-12 record (they lost today). Predicting they end up with the 4th seed, we'll see how close I am. Also been playing League of Legends quite a bit, trying to catch up to Chiem in skill level, although that might be impossible now, he's too good and I'm not good at these types of games.
So I'm 30. 3 decades old now. My birthday was fun, me and a few people went to Yeti for dinner (the 2 Pierres, Dara, Tara, Hiroe, Kevin) and then went to Moon Rocks for some drinks. I got some cool presents over the days too. Pierre-A got me the Metal Gear Solid trilogy for PS3, very cool but I have to download MGS1 from the store, which is kinda lame. I also got some sake from Pierre-M, cheesecake from Tara, notebooks from Hiroe, a new bag from Machiko (my old one was ripping, such a thoughtful gift!), a shirt from Satoko, a bottle of tequila from Toro and a battery charger from my parents.
Going to ask for vacation time for next month so I can go to Osaka! We have a Tuesday off next month so I'm trying to take Friday and the Monday off to get a nice long weekend. It's going to be sweet!
三十路【みそじ】 (misoji) age thirty
So I'm 30. 3 decades old now. My birthday was fun, me and a few people went to Yeti for dinner (the 2 Pierres, Dara, Tara, Hiroe, Kevin) and then went to Moon Rocks for some drinks. I got some cool presents over the days too. Pierre-A got me the Metal Gear Solid trilogy for PS3, very cool but I have to download MGS1 from the store, which is kinda lame. I also got some sake from Pierre-M, cheesecake from Tara, notebooks from Hiroe, a new bag from Machiko (my old one was ripping, such a thoughtful gift!), a shirt from Satoko, a bottle of tequila from Toro and a battery charger from my parents.Going to ask for vacation time for next month so I can go to Osaka! We have a Tuesday off next month so I'm trying to take Friday and the Monday off to get a nice long weekend. It's going to be sweet!
三十路【みそじ】 (misoji) age thirty
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
End of Year Party, Hiroshima, Hida Takayama, New Year's, Nagano
Seems the time I take to write these things keeps getting longer and longer. Not sure why, I think I just keep forgetting to write entries.
Anyway on the 20th I came down with a migraine around 9:30 and had to go home and miss the ceremony for winter vacation. I was really sad about that, but managed to pick myself up for the end of year party 忘年会 at Ikkeikaku, a hotel near my apartment. These enaki foods actually aren't that good, even though they're presented beautifully. They asked me to sing happy birthday to the math teacher which was cool. One of the teachers threw up after other teachers got him to eat multiple spoonfuls of wasabi. We played bingo and I won a bunch of useless stuff like foot inserts and those rubber finger protectors that look like mini condoms. Fun night, but I didn't attend the after party as I still wasn't feeling well from my headache.
On Christmas eve I started my trip down to Hiroshima at around 3pm. 24 hours later I arrived at the hotel I was staying at to see Machiko. We went out and had okonomiyaki, then went and bought a Christmas cake. The next day we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. There were a lot of sad stories about the war victims. I wondered if the government would have still dropped the bomb if they could see firsthand what it would have caused to people. After seeing that we went to Miyajima to see the Itsukushima shrine. It's a big shrine out in the water and I had always wanted to see it. It was cool, although we should have gotten up a bit earlier so we could have seen the other stuff (it was nighttime when we finally arrived).
We took a night bus to a place called Hida Takayama 飛騨高山. We went to a village that had been preserved and walked around and inside some of the buildings. They had items from their respective time periods including spindles, silk worm raising artifacts, and cooking utensils. The snow made it very beautiful, but we were also on our way to Tokyo that day, so we couldn't stay long, and ended up leaving around 3 pm.
We hit Tokyo and a few hours later were on our way to Sendai. From Sendai I went home for a day, then Machiko came to Kesennuma the next day. We tried to go to Brunch but it was closed, so we went to a different pasta restaurant near Big House. We had wanted a parfait the other day, so we got it then. We went to Stray Sheep for a while before turning in.
The next day we went back to Sendai and met Tara there, hanging out with Machiko's friend Asana for a sushi dinner then going back to her parents'. We watched the Japanese new year show (forgot what it's called) and I think the white side won. The next day we went back to their place to eat osechi and
then went to a temple to pray for good luck for the following year. We went to karaoke then back to the parents' house to look at Machiko's baby and early school pictures. So cute! Machiko's parents fed us soba (what you're supposed to eat on new year's day) and osechi (what you're supposed to eat that morning), then dinner that day. Her mom is an amazing cook. It isn't easy for me to eat breakfast but I got a lot down. The next day we shopped around for a bit before going back to Kesennuma.
Now I'm in Nagao with Tara. We stayed at a ryokan the first night, eating chanko nabe for dinner. Chanko nabe is what sumo wrestlers eat a lot of while they're trying to gain weight. It wasn't too different from regular nabe in my opinion, but it's good, I can see how they could eat that every day. The next morning we went to a mountain area with monkeys. There's an onsen (hot spring) where the monkeys bathe so we went to see them. They're so
adorable, picking at each other and hugging each other for warmth. We tried an onsen there, but the water was too hot inside, so we went outside, clothes on, and sat with the monkeys as they picked at each other. Went to Zenkoji temple and eventually to dinner at a high end restaurant where we were served a 7 course meal that included duck. It was delicious, although I wish the portion sizes were a big bigger. Afterwards we tried to get tacos at a different restaurant but they were all out so we just went back to the hotel.
The next day we hit the mountains. Tara went skiing and I was trying to finish a tax document for CollabHealth that I should have finished already. I got most of it done, and finally finished it for my Skype meeting Tuesday. We went to an onsen and then finally got the tacos we wanted! 1,600 yen, a bit steep, but I had been craving them for a while now so I paid up.
Sekine Toru, who I met volunteering a year ago, came back to Kesennuma for a visit so I saw him last night at Stray Sheep. Makes me feel like time is just flying by. Pretty soon I'll be reading this and it'll be a few years past already.
If Machiko is still in Hiroshima in a month, I'll go to Osaka!
旅行【りょこう】 (ryokou) travel; trip
Anyway on the 20th I came down with a migraine around 9:30 and had to go home and miss the ceremony for winter vacation. I was really sad about that, but managed to pick myself up for the end of year party 忘年会 at Ikkeikaku, a hotel near my apartment. These enaki foods actually aren't that good, even though they're presented beautifully. They asked me to sing happy birthday to the math teacher which was cool. One of the teachers threw up after other teachers got him to eat multiple spoonfuls of wasabi. We played bingo and I won a bunch of useless stuff like foot inserts and those rubber finger protectors that look like mini condoms. Fun night, but I didn't attend the after party as I still wasn't feeling well from my headache.
On Christmas eve I started my trip down to Hiroshima at around 3pm. 24 hours later I arrived at the hotel I was staying at to see Machiko. We went out and had okonomiyaki, then went and bought a Christmas cake. The next day we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. There were a lot of sad stories about the war victims. I wondered if the government would have still dropped the bomb if they could see firsthand what it would have caused to people. After seeing that we went to Miyajima to see the Itsukushima shrine. It's a big shrine out in the water and I had always wanted to see it. It was cool, although we should have gotten up a bit earlier so we could have seen the other stuff (it was nighttime when we finally arrived).We took a night bus to a place called Hida Takayama 飛騨高山. We went to a village that had been preserved and walked around and inside some of the buildings. They had items from their respective time periods including spindles, silk worm raising artifacts, and cooking utensils. The snow made it very beautiful, but we were also on our way to Tokyo that day, so we couldn't stay long, and ended up leaving around 3 pm.We hit Tokyo and a few hours later were on our way to Sendai. From Sendai I went home for a day, then Machiko came to Kesennuma the next day. We tried to go to Brunch but it was closed, so we went to a different pasta restaurant near Big House. We had wanted a parfait the other day, so we got it then. We went to Stray Sheep for a while before turning in.
The next day we went back to Sendai and met Tara there, hanging out with Machiko's friend Asana for a sushi dinner then going back to her parents'. We watched the Japanese new year show (forgot what it's called) and I think the white side won. The next day we went back to their place to eat osechi and
Now I'm in Nagao with Tara. We stayed at a ryokan the first night, eating chanko nabe for dinner. Chanko nabe is what sumo wrestlers eat a lot of while they're trying to gain weight. It wasn't too different from regular nabe in my opinion, but it's good, I can see how they could eat that every day. The next morning we went to a mountain area with monkeys. There's an onsen (hot spring) where the monkeys bathe so we went to see them. They're so
The next day we hit the mountains. Tara went skiing and I was trying to finish a tax document for CollabHealth that I should have finished already. I got most of it done, and finally finished it for my Skype meeting Tuesday. We went to an onsen and then finally got the tacos we wanted! 1,600 yen, a bit steep, but I had been craving them for a while now so I paid up.
Sekine Toru, who I met volunteering a year ago, came back to Kesennuma for a visit so I saw him last night at Stray Sheep. Makes me feel like time is just flying by. Pretty soon I'll be reading this and it'll be a few years past already.
If Machiko is still in Hiroshima in a month, I'll go to Osaka!
旅行【りょこう】 (ryokou) travel; trip
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