My Birthday, Recontracting

So my birthday was a little over a week ago.  I turned 29.  It's crazy to think about how I decided I was going to try for the JET when I was, what... 27?  And I'll be done with the program when I'm half past 30.  It was a hard decision actually but I decided to stick around a 3rd year so I can study for the JLPT (Japanese Language and Proficiency Test) Level 2.  I have a year and a half to do it.  I think I can!

There is this girl at Niitsuki who I teach and she is the sweetest girl ever.  She is the only student who remembered my birthday and made this card for me.  I met her when I she was a 1st year, and now that I've decided to stay for a 3rd year I'll watch her graduate in a little over a year.  Sometimes the students do the coolest things.  I'm glad I decided to stay for this.

On the other side of things, there's a bar that's a 30 second walk from my place (that's right, 30 seconds!).  Stray Sheep.  It has an awesome ambiance and can't complain with the travel time to it.  I went there on my birthday with Kevin and Frisa, and the owner, Toro-san, told me to come back again Saturday for a b-day party there.  We did, and he bought me a cake.  Those things cost around $25-$30!  I love that bar.  I'll miss it when I finally leave.


So the final year and a half of my stay in Japan is on!  Soon I need to start planning things for the entire rest of my time here.  Budgeting out the money I want when I go back home (the yen is getting weaker... NO!), where I want to go for vacation, and how I'm going to study for the JLPT Level 2.

I just found out my friend Diana, who I "met" back in middle school, is now engaged.  Time has passed so quickly, it makes me a little sad.  It's also not like I have anything going on in that department either haha...

In other random news, the other day, while eating lunch with my 4th graders, I looked up just in time to see a kid vomit his tasty school lunch back onto his tray.  I wasn't hungry after that.

誕生日【たんじょうび】 (tan/jou/bi) birthday

New Year's, Volunteering

We had a good new year!  We spent it at Stray Sheep drinking and playing N64.  Man that N64 brings back some memories.  I remember playing Smash Bros. at Ike's back when he still lived at his parents, and playing Mario Golf when we used to have sleep overs at my house all the time.  Seems like yesterday but I know already it was many years ago.  Time sure flies.  I'm sure it won't be all that long before I'm talking about this entire trip to Japan as if it were in the past.

The weekend after I went to volunteer for Kesennuma.  It was an awesome experience.  The whole organizational side of it wasn't put together so well, and we ended up not doing a whole lot of work, but that's ok.  I went, I did.  That's what matters.  Seeing how much we got done that day vs how much there is left to do, and I can see that cleaning up Kesennuma will take the better part of many, many years.  We went to Iwaisaki, a famous place in Kesennuma with a blowhole thing near the ocean.  We cleaned it for a while and then met up with some of the other volunteers afterwards for dinner and drinks.  Met some awesome people and had a really good time.  Definitely planning to go again!

I feel like I've already made a decision on staying another year or not.  The thing is to see how people on the other side react to it.  It's not an easy decision by any means.  I'm still thinking about it actually.  Why do I have to be on the verge of 29 right now??

光陰矢のごとし【こういんやのごとし】 (kouinya/no/gotoshi)(idiom) time flies

Christmas, Break, Plans

So I've been on Christmas break for about a week now.  It feels nice going to sleep and waking up whenever I want.  We had Christmas dinner on Christmas followed by some gaming, PS3 and SNES emulator.  It was fun.  I got to talk to my parents on Skype and open the presents they bought for me.  Technology is really cool.  I can't wait to see just how far it'll get in my lifetime.

Last night my teacher invited me out to eat dinner with her and her husband.  We ate at a place called 福よし (Fukuyoshi) and they treated me to a LOT of really good seafood.  I don't even like seafood that much and it was good to me.  They kept talking about how expensive it was, so I'm guessing they paid around 4,000 yen for it all ($40).  She's a really cool teacher and the husband is a principal at a different school.  They're both planning to retire this March (Shhh!  It's a secret!).  I'll miss her.

Hoping to go down to the volunteer center this next week to see if I can volunteer to do some things in Kesennuma.  It would be really cool to help out the city if I can.  I just bought a Nintendo 64 along with one of the other ALTs.  Played games like Smash Bros., Mario Golf and such.  Brings back memories.  I still haven't decided if I want to stay another year or not.  Sometimes I feel like yes, sometimes I feel like no.  The one big thing is that once I leave here, it's almost certain that I'll never go overseas again to teach.  I've sort of been in and out of that throughout my twenties, and finally would like to start making a life for myself in the states.  Not sure yet.  I wish I could read this blog in 6 months and see what I ended up deciding on.

引退【いんたい】 (intai) retire; (P)

Christmas Party, School Evaluations

Last Friday I held a Christmas party at my apartment.  It was fun.  Everybody brought a dish and we played a quiz game where the top spots got first pickings at the presents everyone had bought for secret santa.  The food was very good and we then moved to Stray Sheep for a bit before packing it up.  We asked if we could bring in some game systems for new years and the owner said yes, so that should be fun if we actually do it!

Yesterday we had school evaluations.  But unlike last year, they didn't let us see our individual grades or read the comments.  We just heard the good things the schools wrote about us and weren't let in on any criticisms.  More or less a waste of time, but nice to know that at least they do say good things about me.

I'm currently trying to play Final Fantasy 13-2 in Japanese.  It's a good way to study.  Just 3 days left until winter break!  Looking forward to Christmas!

冬休み【ふゆやすみ】 (fuyu/yasumi) winter vacation

Hospital Visit

I went to the hospital the other day because I couldn't hear out of my right ear.  I had planned on going after school but my teachers insisted that I go early.  I said ok I guess, and at the hospital I figured out that you can only sign in from the hours of 8 to 11.  The hospital closes in the evening.

Have you heard of this?  Holy hell, I feel like being super careful in the evening now.  I have no idea what people do if they break a bone at 6 pm.  Do they just wait until the morning? Plus they close on the weekends.  They told me to come back after my medicine ran out, which would have been Saturday.  I told this to my vice principal and he said that I'd have to go Monday since they wouldn't be open.  It's funny but scary.  Sure hope I don't break my bone at like 8 pm on Friday.  Goodness.

After 2.5 hours of waiting in line, I got to see the doctor.  She cleaned my ear out and gave me something to get medicine.  The whole ordeal, doctor visit plus medicine, cost me around $35ish.  That's cheaper than some people's copay in the states I think.  My vice principal noted how expensive it is in Japan, but I told him that my doctor visit alone in the states was twice what I paid overall for that.

医者【いしゃ】 (isha) doctor; physician

Poker, 3 Day Weekend, Basketball Game

One of the things that I'm happy I'm in Japan for is the ability to play online poker again.  I'll probably never be able to stop playing.  Being back on Full Tilt is awesome.  Had a bit of a bad start but am back and playing decently well.

We get a 3 day weekend this week.  Not exactly the 5 day weekend I might get back in the states for Thanksgiving but good enough!  Planning to go down to Ishinomaki on Saturday morning, then to Sendai for the evening for dinner.  It should be pretty fun, and we're planning to go clubbing afterwards, just the Kesennuma people.  My neighbor said it best, that I don't stand a chance with the girls if the room is full of white guys, and he's right.

I went to a basketball game last weekend where Sendai played Yokohama.  Sendai was ahead for the entire game until the end when Yokohama came back and made it exciting.  Sendai ended up winning by 3 points.  It's funny because when the opposite team shoots a free throw, the home team BOOs them!  I never got over that and laughed each time they did that.  Good times.

My car has some problems, although I think I didn't explain them well, and they are going to try and fix the wrong things.  Sigh... I need better Japanese.

野次る【やじる】 (yajiru) to jeer (at); to hoot; to boo; to catcall; to heckle

Survey asks: What makes Japanese citizens feel distinctly Japanese?

I read an article that can be found here that talked about what made Japanese people feel Japanese.  Some of the answers made sense, such as eating rice and miso soup for breakfast, putting natto on rice and drinking Japanese sake.  There were some responses though that were pretty egotistical and funny.  Here they are:

—When I wait in line without complaining. (Female, 31)

—The joy of drinking water right out of the faucet. (Female, 39)

—Even if I’m dealing with a difficult or unreasonable situation, I never show my true colors and keep my feelings to myself.  (Female, 24)

—When I get irritated with people who are unable to read a situation or pick up on the mood of a conversation. (Female, 30)

The comments from sore readers were much better though.  Here are some of the good ones:

--Complimenting his fellow gaijin friend/coworker/stranger for such amazing skills to handle chopsticks.

--When I smoke irregardless of who is sitting nearby.

-- When I pretend to be asleep on the Tokyo Subway and refuse to offer my seat for pregnant women.

--the only words in my vocabulary are sugoi, kawaii and oishii

--Surprised nobody mentioned the four seasons, which only happen in Japan.

--My girlfriend came over the other day and said "Make me feel like a Japanese woman!"

I told her to do unpaid overtime.

大和魂【やまとだましい】 (yamato/damashii) the Japanese spirit