hey all,
Pretty good weekend. Saturday I finally got to skype with one of my friends, and then I took a yoga class with Michi. I actually sweated a bunch and couldn't do some of their postures, which was a little surprising. Breaking our No Dates proposal, Michi and I hung out at a cafe and mostly talked about Japanese, and whether I could pass level 2 of the JLPT this July. Today I organized an indoor climbing event, and Michi showed up for part of that. Again breaking our no dates proposal, we had some dinner together at a Thai place afterwards.
I'm not sure I'll be doing the running tomorrow morning with my kids. My legs were still sore today from yoga yesterday, and I think I pulled a muscle in my right leg climbing today, so we'll see.
Cheers,
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Realization
hey all,
I came to a realization yesterday about one of the reasons why I had my near mental breakdown last week. Imagine that you just started working at a company, and the boss comes to you and says "Hypothetically, in six months you will be promoted. You'll be in charge of 5 people...etc, etc. The rewards will be great, but so will the responsibilities." A month or so goes by, and you keep expecting to get some kind of training, or preparation for it, but nothing materializes.
Basically, I feel like that's what happened with me and Michi. She started raising these questions about the future really soon in our relationship, and so I started to think about them. But in thinking about them, I got in the mindset of someone who'd been in a relationship for much longer than 4 months. Once I got into accepting this hypothetical future as something like an accomplished fact, I expected to see a similar escalation from Michi. But of course it never came. She still continued to act like we've been dating for only 4 months, which we have.
So I'm trying to back down from there as gracefully as I can.
Anyway, today was an all around decent day. I taught four lessons which went pretty well, made some worksheets, corrected a bunch of worksheets, and even managed to study Japanese for several hours. The part time job went well as well.
Cheers,
I came to a realization yesterday about one of the reasons why I had my near mental breakdown last week. Imagine that you just started working at a company, and the boss comes to you and says "Hypothetically, in six months you will be promoted. You'll be in charge of 5 people...etc, etc. The rewards will be great, but so will the responsibilities." A month or so goes by, and you keep expecting to get some kind of training, or preparation for it, but nothing materializes.
Basically, I feel like that's what happened with me and Michi. She started raising these questions about the future really soon in our relationship, and so I started to think about them. But in thinking about them, I got in the mindset of someone who'd been in a relationship for much longer than 4 months. Once I got into accepting this hypothetical future as something like an accomplished fact, I expected to see a similar escalation from Michi. But of course it never came. She still continued to act like we've been dating for only 4 months, which we have.
So I'm trying to back down from there as gracefully as I can.
Anyway, today was an all around decent day. I taught four lessons which went pretty well, made some worksheets, corrected a bunch of worksheets, and even managed to study Japanese for several hours. The part time job went well as well.
Cheers,
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Uhg
hey all,
I'm feeling pretty beat this Wednesday evening. Yesterday I ran about 1.7km in the morning with my students, which is about 1 mile. Today I kept the same pace, but forgot to bring breakfast and had to tough out the hunger pains till lunch. My legs are killing me.
I only taught two classes today: the bulk of English classes at my school tend to be concentrated on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with Wednesday being a kind of no mans land. That means for the rest of time, I was studying Japanese. I put in somewhere around 5.5 or 6 hours of Japanese study, mostly in the form of making sentences based on words from my flashcard library, and practicing verb conjugation.
I recalculated that I can do the level 2 JLPT in July this year if I study everyday (including Saturday and Sunday), for 4 hours, but again, that pace is really kinda killer.
Last night I ate the last of a big batch of curry, so tonight I'm making another batch that should last till Friday night. Friday is also the last day of work for the month of January, so I get to turn in all my daily report sheets, and the master monthly ones.
That's all for now. Cheers,
I'm feeling pretty beat this Wednesday evening. Yesterday I ran about 1.7km in the morning with my students, which is about 1 mile. Today I kept the same pace, but forgot to bring breakfast and had to tough out the hunger pains till lunch. My legs are killing me.
I only taught two classes today: the bulk of English classes at my school tend to be concentrated on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with Wednesday being a kind of no mans land. That means for the rest of time, I was studying Japanese. I put in somewhere around 5.5 or 6 hours of Japanese study, mostly in the form of making sentences based on words from my flashcard library, and practicing verb conjugation.
I recalculated that I can do the level 2 JLPT in July this year if I study everyday (including Saturday and Sunday), for 4 hours, but again, that pace is really kinda killer.
Last night I ate the last of a big batch of curry, so tonight I'm making another batch that should last till Friday night. Friday is also the last day of work for the month of January, so I get to turn in all my daily report sheets, and the master monthly ones.
That's all for now. Cheers,
Monday, January 25, 2010
Nice
hey all,
As is becoming standard, I had a quick drink with one of my ALT friends after work today, and he gave me a link to an incredible free site for studying Japanese. It has worksheets and info about the new test this year, as well as audio and flash files. The really cool thing about this is that I don't need to access the internet to use the audio or flash files: my Cowon "mp3" player handles flash files, and of course it can handle audio files, so I can use this cool device to study Japanese, in addition to listening to music and watching movies.
I may try to shoot for level two this July, but that means studying 6 hours every day from Monday to Friday: I'd need to acquire another 600 kanji, as well as about 4000 additional words in order to stand a chance of passing. Put another way, at that rate I could pass level 1 at the end of the year, or study only 3 hours each day Monday through Friday, and still pass level 2 in December. In the ten months I've been here, I've learned about 300 kanji, and maybe 1500 words or so. So in the next ten months, I'd need to triple the number of kanji and words that I currently know in order to pass level 2. Considering the amount of time I spent reading books instead of studying Japanese, I think this might actually be possible. Michi thinks I should take the level 2 in July, but the 6 hours each day really makes me doubt that I can sustain that rate over the 6 months until the test.
My own personal methods for studying Japanese:
Cheers,
As is becoming standard, I had a quick drink with one of my ALT friends after work today, and he gave me a link to an incredible free site for studying Japanese. It has worksheets and info about the new test this year, as well as audio and flash files. The really cool thing about this is that I don't need to access the internet to use the audio or flash files: my Cowon "mp3" player handles flash files, and of course it can handle audio files, so I can use this cool device to study Japanese, in addition to listening to music and watching movies.
I may try to shoot for level two this July, but that means studying 6 hours every day from Monday to Friday: I'd need to acquire another 600 kanji, as well as about 4000 additional words in order to stand a chance of passing. Put another way, at that rate I could pass level 1 at the end of the year, or study only 3 hours each day Monday through Friday, and still pass level 2 in December. In the ten months I've been here, I've learned about 300 kanji, and maybe 1500 words or so. So in the next ten months, I'd need to triple the number of kanji and words that I currently know in order to pass level 2. Considering the amount of time I spent reading books instead of studying Japanese, I think this might actually be possible. Michi thinks I should take the level 2 in July, but the 6 hours each day really makes me doubt that I can sustain that rate over the 6 months until the test.
My own personal methods for studying Japanese:
- write each kanji about 20 times
- drill myself with flashcards
- use flashcards to make sentences using the word on each flashcard (e.g. two sentences per vocab. item)
- practice verb conjugation by creating 5 sentences using different forms of the verb in each
- use materials designed for native Japanese people to learn English (e.g. the English textbooks for my junior high school)
- use materials designed for native Japanese people to learn Japanese (e.g. the kanji puzzle books designed for elementary school children)
Cheers,
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Over
hey all,
So first off, please relax and most importantly, don't panic, as Douglas Adams has constantly reminded us. This weekend went really well. Friday night, I spoke with Michi a little bit, and I spoke with my randomly met ALT friend. He gave me some great advice, and just ranting about my problems usually helps a lot.
Saturday morning, I spoke with Bri for quite a while before we started the usual routine of shooting at imaginary people. The one friend that I really wanted to talk to seems to have vanished without a trace. Later, Saturday afternoon, Michi and I met up, and talked on the way to the grocery store, bought groceries, and sat down and talked even more before making dinner: nabe, which is basically some fried, then boiled chicken, plus lettuce, mushrooms, green onion, and some noodle-like substance. The whole mixture is boiled, then dipped into soy sauce, and eaten. Simple and tasty.
We watched Fight Club, and this time since I knew the movie so well, we put on the Japanese audio (it is hard to eat and read tiny subtitles at the same time), which was an excellent decision, because I was listening to what they were saying, and it didn't match the subtitles at all. To my great surprise, Michi seemed to get the movie right off the bat and we got to talk about it for a bit afterwards as well. In case anyone is wondering, she thinks that I am Edward Norton's character, and she is Brad Pitt's character. Wrap your head around that.
Today, I went rock climbing with the outdoor club and did much better than last time. Michi wanted to come, but had a party with her inlaws. Can't win them all.
Tonight I need to go to bed early, so I can get to work a little earlier, and go jogging with some of my teachers and students. I'm shooting for 3.8km each day, but that might be a bit too much. We'll see.
The plan for the next few weeks is to not see Michi at all, at least in a dating context. She might come to some of my rock climbing events, and I might go to some of her yoga classes, but until Valentine's Day, the plan is to give each other a little time and space. She needs to get used to having a needy, somewhat anxious foreigner as a boyfriend, and I need to get used to having a busy, "quiet-loner", Japanese person as a girlfriend. I have the JLPT to study for, she has an extra law license to study for, and neither of us really needs to rush things the way that we have the last four months. I think up to this weekend, we've been handling both our tough situations as best we could, but I think after this weekend, we can do so a little better and with each others' support.
So in this context, what does the title of this post ("Over") mean? Well, January is almost over, and the end of the school year (and my current contract), is coming up at the end of March. My housing contract is finishing up about half way through March, as well. A lot of things are coming to an end, but many things are just beginning. To borrow a phrase from Rosencranz & Guildenstern are Dead: "look upon an exit as an entrance leading somewhere else." As I did when I first came to Japan, I'm going to try to look upon the challenges ahead as opportunities to learn something and better myself, as opposed to obstacles and road blocks impeding the flow of my life.
Cheers,
So first off, please relax and most importantly, don't panic, as Douglas Adams has constantly reminded us. This weekend went really well. Friday night, I spoke with Michi a little bit, and I spoke with my randomly met ALT friend. He gave me some great advice, and just ranting about my problems usually helps a lot.
Saturday morning, I spoke with Bri for quite a while before we started the usual routine of shooting at imaginary people. The one friend that I really wanted to talk to seems to have vanished without a trace. Later, Saturday afternoon, Michi and I met up, and talked on the way to the grocery store, bought groceries, and sat down and talked even more before making dinner: nabe, which is basically some fried, then boiled chicken, plus lettuce, mushrooms, green onion, and some noodle-like substance. The whole mixture is boiled, then dipped into soy sauce, and eaten. Simple and tasty.
We watched Fight Club, and this time since I knew the movie so well, we put on the Japanese audio (it is hard to eat and read tiny subtitles at the same time), which was an excellent decision, because I was listening to what they were saying, and it didn't match the subtitles at all. To my great surprise, Michi seemed to get the movie right off the bat and we got to talk about it for a bit afterwards as well. In case anyone is wondering, she thinks that I am Edward Norton's character, and she is Brad Pitt's character. Wrap your head around that.
Today, I went rock climbing with the outdoor club and did much better than last time. Michi wanted to come, but had a party with her inlaws. Can't win them all.
Tonight I need to go to bed early, so I can get to work a little earlier, and go jogging with some of my teachers and students. I'm shooting for 3.8km each day, but that might be a bit too much. We'll see.
The plan for the next few weeks is to not see Michi at all, at least in a dating context. She might come to some of my rock climbing events, and I might go to some of her yoga classes, but until Valentine's Day, the plan is to give each other a little time and space. She needs to get used to having a needy, somewhat anxious foreigner as a boyfriend, and I need to get used to having a busy, "quiet-loner", Japanese person as a girlfriend. I have the JLPT to study for, she has an extra law license to study for, and neither of us really needs to rush things the way that we have the last four months. I think up to this weekend, we've been handling both our tough situations as best we could, but I think after this weekend, we can do so a little better and with each others' support.
So in this context, what does the title of this post ("Over") mean? Well, January is almost over, and the end of the school year (and my current contract), is coming up at the end of March. My housing contract is finishing up about half way through March, as well. A lot of things are coming to an end, but many things are just beginning. To borrow a phrase from Rosencranz & Guildenstern are Dead: "look upon an exit as an entrance leading somewhere else." As I did when I first came to Japan, I'm going to try to look upon the challenges ahead as opportunities to learn something and better myself, as opposed to obstacles and road blocks impeding the flow of my life.
Cheers,
Friday, January 22, 2010
Not Bad
hey all,
Today has been pretty fun. I taught at the elementary school, which even on bad days is still more fun than my junior high. Today was an especially good day at the elementary school: I did a lesson on weekdays and school subjects, and I even sang a weekday song! They had me eat lunch with the 2nd year students, who are barely above my knees. Cute as can be, but really annoying too. Kids that old aren't impressed by how much Japanese you speak, because they just don't have any clue what it takes. My 6th and 5th year students have to have regular English lessons, so they know. 2nd year students don't slow down or try to speak clearly for you, or use simple words (if anything, they get too excited about talking to a foreigner and talk faster); they just expect you to understand.
Tonight, I plan on meeting up with an ALT I first met on the morning train to my job. We usually just talk on the train, but we've gone out a few times as well. He's been having issues with his job, and I've been having issues with my girlfriend, so the plan is to drink, swap horror stories, sympathize, and give advice.
Cheers,
Today has been pretty fun. I taught at the elementary school, which even on bad days is still more fun than my junior high. Today was an especially good day at the elementary school: I did a lesson on weekdays and school subjects, and I even sang a weekday song! They had me eat lunch with the 2nd year students, who are barely above my knees. Cute as can be, but really annoying too. Kids that old aren't impressed by how much Japanese you speak, because they just don't have any clue what it takes. My 6th and 5th year students have to have regular English lessons, so they know. 2nd year students don't slow down or try to speak clearly for you, or use simple words (if anything, they get too excited about talking to a foreigner and talk faster); they just expect you to understand.
Tonight, I plan on meeting up with an ALT I first met on the morning train to my job. We usually just talk on the train, but we've gone out a few times as well. He's been having issues with his job, and I've been having issues with my girlfriend, so the plan is to drink, swap horror stories, sympathize, and give advice.
Cheers,
Thursday, January 21, 2010
News Flash
hey all,
So things are...exactly the same, if not worse than when I last wrote. I still don't know where, or for what company I'll be working next year, don't know about my living situation (which is dependent on my work situation), and Michi and I are still...I don't know what we are.
However, I'm not in a constant state of anxiety anymore. I've been reaching out and cornering anyone who might help me, or just let me vent some steam and rant a bit. I've managed to keep relatively busy at work, which has also helped keep my mind off my problems. I mentioned that I committed to taking the JLPT test, so I've been printing out sample test questions for different levels, reading about how and when to register and all those glorious time consuming details. I started hitting the Japanese again, and my writing ability has improved quite a bit. I also started another round of applications, for all the good that the past ones have done me.
As I've mentioned in some of my emails to some of you, part of the problem was just thinking about these things ALL AT ONCE, and realizing that I couldn't fix any of it right now. That my future was not entirely in my own hands, but dependent on: my company, which is a pack of...I can't even go there; other companies that may accept or reject my applications; and a host of other ifs, on the other hands, and other imponderables.
As for Michi, God knows I like her, but...I can't get into that either. I feel like this weekend will be some kind of crucible: either we'll come out of it stronger, together, or I (at least) will have learned some valuable life lessons, found out more about what I need (and don't need) from a partner, and be ready to move on.
The stage for this momentous event is our usual dinner & a movie date. I've organized another rock climbing event for this Sunday, and starting Monday, there is some kind of running practice just before school starts that I decided I'd join my teachers and students in. I need to catch an earlier train in order to attend, but I've been going to bed early lately so I don't think it should be a problem.
Cheers,
So things are...exactly the same, if not worse than when I last wrote. I still don't know where, or for what company I'll be working next year, don't know about my living situation (which is dependent on my work situation), and Michi and I are still...I don't know what we are.
However, I'm not in a constant state of anxiety anymore. I've been reaching out and cornering anyone who might help me, or just let me vent some steam and rant a bit. I've managed to keep relatively busy at work, which has also helped keep my mind off my problems. I mentioned that I committed to taking the JLPT test, so I've been printing out sample test questions for different levels, reading about how and when to register and all those glorious time consuming details. I started hitting the Japanese again, and my writing ability has improved quite a bit. I also started another round of applications, for all the good that the past ones have done me.
As I've mentioned in some of my emails to some of you, part of the problem was just thinking about these things ALL AT ONCE, and realizing that I couldn't fix any of it right now. That my future was not entirely in my own hands, but dependent on: my company, which is a pack of...I can't even go there; other companies that may accept or reject my applications; and a host of other ifs, on the other hands, and other imponderables.
As for Michi, God knows I like her, but...I can't get into that either. I feel like this weekend will be some kind of crucible: either we'll come out of it stronger, together, or I (at least) will have learned some valuable life lessons, found out more about what I need (and don't need) from a partner, and be ready to move on.
The stage for this momentous event is our usual dinner & a movie date. I've organized another rock climbing event for this Sunday, and starting Monday, there is some kind of running practice just before school starts that I decided I'd join my teachers and students in. I need to catch an earlier train in order to attend, but I've been going to bed early lately so I don't think it should be a problem.
Cheers,
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Not Really Fun
hey all,
It is probably the cumulative effect of the weather, the fact that I've caught a slight cold, and the tough week at work, but I'm really not feeling too great right now. Climbing yesterday was fun, but I didn't climb too well.
Today especially hasn't been great. The morning was OK, as I played some games with Bri and talked a bit. After that, I met with John and we went to Harajuku, which is this obscene part of Tokyo where people dress silly and stand around for other people to take pictures of them. But there is also a nice shrine and several really nice parks.
John and his cousin left to meet up with John's girlfriend, while I waited around for my girlfriend to show up. I went shopping for a Valentine's Day present in the downtime, and bought something I think she'll like, which is kinda stupid considering my attitude.
I mentioned in the previous post that we fought in Kyoto. We actually fought twice: once on the train there, and once on our first night. The cumulative effects of these fights (and previous ones) are still hitting me, at least. I really don't know how to deal with our fighting, as it seems to send me back into childhood Mommy-and-Daddy-are-shouting-at-each-other mode. It's been on my mind recently whether or not we'll work out as a couple. In some ways we seem really compatible, but in others we aren't at all. Are the areas of compatibility fundamental or incidental? Can the incompatible areas be changed, ignored, or otherwise dealt with? Is it worth the effort to do that?
There are about 3,000,000,000 women in the world. I've met maybe a few thousand, at most. Probably had at least a few long-ish conversations with a few hundred, again at most. Dated 6. Out of the 6, Michi is by far the best. What are the odds that we'll work out? What are my chances of finding someone better? The fact that I'm thinking like this seems like an indication of emotional detachment that means: A) we're already over, B) I can be really cold in my thinking, or C) Both A and B.
In some ways, I don't feel really competent to think about these things right now. It seems like the daily stress of living in a foreign country (10 months, as of yesterday) is starting to catch up to me. In the near future, I'm contemplating either moving to a new city, or changing companies, or both, and I'm in a complicated relationship with a foreigner. The fact that I have been having fun at all seems to be some kind of miracle.
Anyway, we met up, and eat some delicious ramen, but didn't really talk too much. Then we walked around Yoyogi park and sat in a cafe, and preceded to get into another quasi-argument. She's been under a lot of stress at work, and is currently studying to get a new labor law license. I've been thinking about taking the JLPT, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and yesterday finally decided that this year I'll take it. If you can get certified at certain levels, you can prove your Japanese ability to your potential employers, and this opens up many more job opportunities, especially outside of being an English-language whore, ahem, I mean ALT. I hadn't told her about deciding to take the test, and she seemed to be getting upset that she was the only one trying to better her situation. I told her about my decision, and that seemed to clear things up, but...I don't know quite how to express it that doesn't sound stupid. Somehow her getting upset with me seemed unjustified.
To illustrate how deep this sense of JUSTICE goes, I remember vividly one incident involving a babysitter. I couldn't have been more than 7. Her son, a royal brat, had used crayons to color up the concrete basement floor. He blamed it on me, and I had to clean up his mess. I can still feel the anger, and the sense of the unfairness of it. I had done nothing wrong, yet here I was, on my hands and knees, scrubbing the floor because this punk had lied.
Now, here I am, living in Japan, trying to find a new job, trying to figure out whether I should move to Tokyo, studying Japanese almost every day, trying to decide about my (our) future, trying not just to survive but to enjoy my life, and she dare get upset with me for not trying? For not thinking about how to make my situation better? Screw that. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
Phew. I haven't been able to talk with some of my best friends recently, and in the case of Bri we haven't talked outside the context of playing video games (it's kinda hard to focus on a conversation when you're trying not to be shot). John has been busy chaperoning his not-too-bright cousin, and Michi herself is often too busy to even email. I find myself in a situation where the people I want and need to talk to are usually unavailable.
I'm going to stop now, because I can rant in this vein for pages and pages.
Cheers, or something like that.
It is probably the cumulative effect of the weather, the fact that I've caught a slight cold, and the tough week at work, but I'm really not feeling too great right now. Climbing yesterday was fun, but I didn't climb too well.
Today especially hasn't been great. The morning was OK, as I played some games with Bri and talked a bit. After that, I met with John and we went to Harajuku, which is this obscene part of Tokyo where people dress silly and stand around for other people to take pictures of them. But there is also a nice shrine and several really nice parks.
John and his cousin left to meet up with John's girlfriend, while I waited around for my girlfriend to show up. I went shopping for a Valentine's Day present in the downtime, and bought something I think she'll like, which is kinda stupid considering my attitude.
I mentioned in the previous post that we fought in Kyoto. We actually fought twice: once on the train there, and once on our first night. The cumulative effects of these fights (and previous ones) are still hitting me, at least. I really don't know how to deal with our fighting, as it seems to send me back into childhood Mommy-and-Daddy-are-shouting-at-each-other mode. It's been on my mind recently whether or not we'll work out as a couple. In some ways we seem really compatible, but in others we aren't at all. Are the areas of compatibility fundamental or incidental? Can the incompatible areas be changed, ignored, or otherwise dealt with? Is it worth the effort to do that?
There are about 3,000,000,000 women in the world. I've met maybe a few thousand, at most. Probably had at least a few long-ish conversations with a few hundred, again at most. Dated 6. Out of the 6, Michi is by far the best. What are the odds that we'll work out? What are my chances of finding someone better? The fact that I'm thinking like this seems like an indication of emotional detachment that means: A) we're already over, B) I can be really cold in my thinking, or C) Both A and B.
In some ways, I don't feel really competent to think about these things right now. It seems like the daily stress of living in a foreign country (10 months, as of yesterday) is starting to catch up to me. In the near future, I'm contemplating either moving to a new city, or changing companies, or both, and I'm in a complicated relationship with a foreigner. The fact that I have been having fun at all seems to be some kind of miracle.
Anyway, we met up, and eat some delicious ramen, but didn't really talk too much. Then we walked around Yoyogi park and sat in a cafe, and preceded to get into another quasi-argument. She's been under a lot of stress at work, and is currently studying to get a new labor law license. I've been thinking about taking the JLPT, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and yesterday finally decided that this year I'll take it. If you can get certified at certain levels, you can prove your Japanese ability to your potential employers, and this opens up many more job opportunities, especially outside of being an English-language whore, ahem, I mean ALT. I hadn't told her about deciding to take the test, and she seemed to be getting upset that she was the only one trying to better her situation. I told her about my decision, and that seemed to clear things up, but...I don't know quite how to express it that doesn't sound stupid. Somehow her getting upset with me seemed unjustified.
To illustrate how deep this sense of JUSTICE goes, I remember vividly one incident involving a babysitter. I couldn't have been more than 7. Her son, a royal brat, had used crayons to color up the concrete basement floor. He blamed it on me, and I had to clean up his mess. I can still feel the anger, and the sense of the unfairness of it. I had done nothing wrong, yet here I was, on my hands and knees, scrubbing the floor because this punk had lied.
Now, here I am, living in Japan, trying to find a new job, trying to figure out whether I should move to Tokyo, studying Japanese almost every day, trying to decide about my (our) future, trying not just to survive but to enjoy my life, and she dare get upset with me for not trying? For not thinking about how to make my situation better? Screw that. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
Phew. I haven't been able to talk with some of my best friends recently, and in the case of Bri we haven't talked outside the context of playing video games (it's kinda hard to focus on a conversation when you're trying not to be shot). John has been busy chaperoning his not-too-bright cousin, and Michi herself is often too busy to even email. I find myself in a situation where the people I want and need to talk to are usually unavailable.
I'm going to stop now, because I can rant in this vein for pages and pages.
Cheers, or something like that.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
More Work
hey all,
Glad to be finishing up this week, even though it was only four days long. Today, I somehow managed to teach during all six periods at the junior high school. A few other ALTs that I've spoken with or whose blogs I've read seem to agree that four periods is close to perfect, although there seems to be some disagreement about what the perfect arrangement is. Personally, I like teaching 4 classes straight through the morning, then napping/studying/reading/making worksheets at my desk for the two periods after lunch. Usually the high sugar content of the rice just makes me too sleepy to bring any energy to class. Other ALTs prefer 1,2, 4, 6 or some other spaced out schedule, since this gives them a free hour to prepare for upcoming classes. This can be nice sometimes, but unless I'm feeling energetic in the afternoon, I'd rather lose a class in the morning if I need a period to prepare something.
Something kind of interesting is the sadism of my 3rd year English teacher. Every time there is a vacation, when we return to school I have to make a speech about what I did. And every time, I know that my students had an asinine amount of homework to do, but my English teacher really seems to rub this in: "Ah, maybe you all had to study for the ... test, but David-sensei had lots of fun. Let's hear what he did." Not only that, but I have to be careful when making my speeches, because already some students have an unhealthy interest in my private life, and if I mention going to an onsen or making a trip that could be construed as romantic with someone else (accidentally saying "we" instead of "I"), they can't concentrate on the lesson and keep pestering me for details about my girlfriend.
It is not illegal to drink alcohol on the street in Japan, so another ALT and I had a few drinks outside (yes, in the cold) yesterday. He's been here for a while, and is always offering up advice. From what he said, it seems likely that my company does not sponsor visas for part-time jobs, which is what I'd be getting if I move to Tokyo. Further, in order to self-sponsor, I need to have contracts with no less than 3 companies and make at least 250,000 Yen per month (about $2500). This in addition to paying more money for food, clothes, and other daily necessities, the hassle of coordinating between 3 part-time jobs, paying more for commuting between the 3 jobs, and probably paying more for rent.
And until (if) Michi and I move in together, we still probably won't be seeing each other any more often than now. I still have yet to receive any info on locations, etc from the Company. Supposedly, by next month they'll be able to tell me something. To me it feels like I'm (one-sidedly) making a lot of changes for really uncertain outcomes and nebulous benefits/gains. I guess moving over to Japan in the first place was kind of in the same realm, but I couldn't really expect Japan to make itself more accessible for my benefit.
Tomorrow I teach my first lesson of the new year at my elementary school.
This weekend I'm organizing a rock climbing event on Saturday, and will be hanging out with John and his cousin in Harajuku on Sunday. Not sure if I'll be able to see Michi or not.
Cheers,
Glad to be finishing up this week, even though it was only four days long. Today, I somehow managed to teach during all six periods at the junior high school. A few other ALTs that I've spoken with or whose blogs I've read seem to agree that four periods is close to perfect, although there seems to be some disagreement about what the perfect arrangement is. Personally, I like teaching 4 classes straight through the morning, then napping/studying/reading/making worksheets at my desk for the two periods after lunch. Usually the high sugar content of the rice just makes me too sleepy to bring any energy to class. Other ALTs prefer 1,2, 4, 6 or some other spaced out schedule, since this gives them a free hour to prepare for upcoming classes. This can be nice sometimes, but unless I'm feeling energetic in the afternoon, I'd rather lose a class in the morning if I need a period to prepare something.
Something kind of interesting is the sadism of my 3rd year English teacher. Every time there is a vacation, when we return to school I have to make a speech about what I did. And every time, I know that my students had an asinine amount of homework to do, but my English teacher really seems to rub this in: "Ah, maybe you all had to study for the ... test, but David-sensei had lots of fun. Let's hear what he did." Not only that, but I have to be careful when making my speeches, because already some students have an unhealthy interest in my private life, and if I mention going to an onsen or making a trip that could be construed as romantic with someone else (accidentally saying "we" instead of "I"), they can't concentrate on the lesson and keep pestering me for details about my girlfriend.
It is not illegal to drink alcohol on the street in Japan, so another ALT and I had a few drinks outside (yes, in the cold) yesterday. He's been here for a while, and is always offering up advice. From what he said, it seems likely that my company does not sponsor visas for part-time jobs, which is what I'd be getting if I move to Tokyo. Further, in order to self-sponsor, I need to have contracts with no less than 3 companies and make at least 250,000 Yen per month (about $2500). This in addition to paying more money for food, clothes, and other daily necessities, the hassle of coordinating between 3 part-time jobs, paying more for commuting between the 3 jobs, and probably paying more for rent.
And until (if) Michi and I move in together, we still probably won't be seeing each other any more often than now. I still have yet to receive any info on locations, etc from the Company. Supposedly, by next month they'll be able to tell me something. To me it feels like I'm (one-sidedly) making a lot of changes for really uncertain outcomes and nebulous benefits/gains. I guess moving over to Japan in the first place was kind of in the same realm, but I couldn't really expect Japan to make itself more accessible for my benefit.
Tomorrow I teach my first lesson of the new year at my elementary school.
This weekend I'm organizing a rock climbing event on Saturday, and will be hanging out with John and his cousin in Harajuku on Sunday. Not sure if I'll be able to see Michi or not.
Cheers,
Monday, January 11, 2010
Kyoto
hey all,
I just returned from the Kyoto trip, and I really doubt that I can do it justice right now. Michi and I saw some amazing things, ate some scrumptious food, fought, made up, and in general had a good time.
You can find the pictures here. I'll need to reverse engineer an itinerary from the order of the pictures, but the general gist was : Day 1 seeing Kinkakuji, and several other temples in that area; Day 2 seeing Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizudera, and several other temples and famous streets in that area; Day 3 seeing Nanzenji, walking the philosopher's road, seeing Ichijoji-Sagarimatsu, Shisendo, and Manshuin. Ichijoji-Sagarimatsu is where Miyamoto Musashi supposedly fought (and defeated) over 70 members of a famous fencing school. Of course, I insisted that this be part of the trip. It might seem like we saw a lot, but in reality, we only sampled a small fraction of what Kyoto has to offer, and we didn't make any excursions to neighboring cities like Osaka, Himeji, or Nara, which also have many, many temples, shrines, castles, and historically significant parks. Maybe if you took a month, you could see it all at a reasonable pace.
The first hotel we stayed in was really cheap and ridiculously close to Kyoto train station, but not particularly nice other than being convenient. The second night we stayed at a ryokan, which as usual (this is my 3rd ryokan) was excellent: incredibly friendly and helpful staff, nice rooms, excellent food, and of course, top notch onsen.
It's been a long, eventful 3-day weekend, so that will have to be all for now.
Cheers,
I just returned from the Kyoto trip, and I really doubt that I can do it justice right now. Michi and I saw some amazing things, ate some scrumptious food, fought, made up, and in general had a good time.
You can find the pictures here. I'll need to reverse engineer an itinerary from the order of the pictures, but the general gist was : Day 1 seeing Kinkakuji, and several other temples in that area; Day 2 seeing Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizudera, and several other temples and famous streets in that area; Day 3 seeing Nanzenji, walking the philosopher's road, seeing Ichijoji-Sagarimatsu, Shisendo, and Manshuin. Ichijoji-Sagarimatsu is where Miyamoto Musashi supposedly fought (and defeated) over 70 members of a famous fencing school. Of course, I insisted that this be part of the trip. It might seem like we saw a lot, but in reality, we only sampled a small fraction of what Kyoto has to offer, and we didn't make any excursions to neighboring cities like Osaka, Himeji, or Nara, which also have many, many temples, shrines, castles, and historically significant parks. Maybe if you took a month, you could see it all at a reasonable pace.
The first hotel we stayed in was really cheap and ridiculously close to Kyoto train station, but not particularly nice other than being convenient. The second night we stayed at a ryokan, which as usual (this is my 3rd ryokan) was excellent: incredibly friendly and helpful staff, nice rooms, excellent food, and of course, top notch onsen.
It's been a long, eventful 3-day weekend, so that will have to be all for now.
Cheers,
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Return to Work
hey all,
I went back to work yesterday (Wednesday), but aside from getting my daily stamp, I have yet to do anything that could be considered work. There are no classes, half the teachers are gone, and another three-eighths leave early, so I'm not the only one taking it easy. I don't really have the option of leaving early or not coming in, either. I talked to the principal on Wednesday and asked if I could go home, since I didn't really have anything to do, but he actually said I should stay.
I've spent a good part of my time at work going over bus routes, restaurant prices and locations, and researching sightseeing spots for the trip to Kyoto. I've also gotten back into studying Japanese a bit, which, aside from talking to Michi, I didn't really do over my break.
Today was interesting because after work I had my first class at the part-time job with the new teacher. I was really nervous about how class would go, because she seemed really, really odd, nervous, and overly (yet somehow under) prepared. Class actually went really smoothly, with both of us being surprised a few times at each others' good teaching ability.
Tomorrow at my main job, we still won't have any classes, but we'll be doing the school opening ceremony, which like the school closing ceremony, is a misnomer. Today and yesterday, although there were no classes, and most of the teachers were taking breaks, many students kept stopping by the class room to ask for keys to various rooms (the kendo room, the gym, etc). That's right: on their days off, some students can't think of anything better to do than come to school. If the principal hadn't told me to stay, I would have gone back to my guest house and played video games for a few hours, then maybe made some travel arrangements. Much more productive than sitting around pretending to be busy.
Cheers,
I went back to work yesterday (Wednesday), but aside from getting my daily stamp, I have yet to do anything that could be considered work. There are no classes, half the teachers are gone, and another three-eighths leave early, so I'm not the only one taking it easy. I don't really have the option of leaving early or not coming in, either. I talked to the principal on Wednesday and asked if I could go home, since I didn't really have anything to do, but he actually said I should stay.
I've spent a good part of my time at work going over bus routes, restaurant prices and locations, and researching sightseeing spots for the trip to Kyoto. I've also gotten back into studying Japanese a bit, which, aside from talking to Michi, I didn't really do over my break.
Today was interesting because after work I had my first class at the part-time job with the new teacher. I was really nervous about how class would go, because she seemed really, really odd, nervous, and overly (yet somehow under) prepared. Class actually went really smoothly, with both of us being surprised a few times at each others' good teaching ability.
Tomorrow at my main job, we still won't have any classes, but we'll be doing the school opening ceremony, which like the school closing ceremony, is a misnomer. Today and yesterday, although there were no classes, and most of the teachers were taking breaks, many students kept stopping by the class room to ask for keys to various rooms (the kendo room, the gym, etc). That's right: on their days off, some students can't think of anything better to do than come to school. If the principal hadn't told me to stay, I would have gone back to my guest house and played video games for a few hours, then maybe made some travel arrangements. Much more productive than sitting around pretending to be busy.
Cheers,
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Places, Pictures, Plans
hey all,
Here are a few photos from our Sunrise Viewing on Jan. 1, 2010.
I wanted to take a few pictures of Michi in her kimono yesterday (during our temple visiting trup), but it slipped my mind and I couldn't find any good places to take her photo. Below is a google map showing the places I've been, currently focusing on Japan.
View Places I've Been in a larger map
It is less than a week until we leave for Kyoto. The hotels have been reserved (by yours truly), and Michi is taking care of the train tickets. We've made our sightseeing plans, and now we just need to wait until the weekend. I start work again on Wednesday, but there are no classes, so I think I'll make some worksheets for Michi instead. Yes, I'm making English worksheets for my girlfriend. In case anyone is curious, she's made some kanji tests and quizes for me as well.
Cheers,
Here are a few photos from our Sunrise Viewing on Jan. 1, 2010.
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| From 2010_FirstDay |
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| From 2010_FirstDay |
 |
| From 2010_FirstDay |
I wanted to take a few pictures of Michi in her kimono yesterday (during our temple visiting trup), but it slipped my mind and I couldn't find any good places to take her photo. Below is a google map showing the places I've been, currently focusing on Japan.
View Places I've Been in a larger map
It is less than a week until we leave for Kyoto. The hotels have been reserved (by yours truly), and Michi is taking care of the train tickets. We've made our sightseeing plans, and now we just need to wait until the weekend. I start work again on Wednesday, but there are no classes, so I think I'll make some worksheets for Michi instead. Yes, I'm making English worksheets for my girlfriend. In case anyone is curious, she's made some kanji tests and quizes for me as well.
Cheers,
Friday, January 01, 2010
Game Design, First Day
hey all,
So for Christmas, I received Assassin's Creed 2 and Borderlands, among other things, and I'd like to write briefly about why Assassin's Creed 2 is a much better game than Assassin's Creed (Borderlands is fun too, but it is the first, so I can't compare it to a predecessor).
I think the biggest thing is motivation. For instance, in the first game, there were lots of types of flags placed all over each city, and you could kill time in the game just exploring the city looking for them. But what is the point of that? Sure, exploring is fun, in and of itself, especially as the game features highly explorable environments: you can climb almost any surface, jump from wall to wall, building to building, etc. But you don't really get anything from collecting all the flags, other than the fact that you can say "I collected all the flags in Assassin's Creed," at which point everyone will look at you like the loser you are.
Now in the second game, there are statues, feathers, treasure boxes, codex pages, mysterious marks, and seals for you to find and collect. However, you get money from finding treasure boxes (obviously), more money for finding statues, and pieces of story are revealed for finding the pages, feathers, and marks. In short, you have a reason for wandering around looking for this stuff.
In terms of gameplay, this is huge. The first game gave players no rewards for collecting, while the second game rewards it well. Aside from that, the second game features a lead character with more personality, more back story, and who is ultimately more fun to play as.
OK, I'm getting out of my Arm-Chair game designer chair.
Today, I woke up around 3AM. Michi and I made plans to see the first sunrise of 2010 on a boat in Tokyo Bay, so I got up, made some tea, and hopped on a train headed towards Tokyo. We met up and she actually had to wait for me this time. Not because I was late, but because she was incredibly early. We got to the boat launch, and got to see the first sunrise. Out on the water, we could also see Mt. Fuji, which surprised me.
Michi says that the Japanese believe that how you spend your first day of the year is how the rest of the year will be like for you. I'm not sure if I like the idea of getting up at 3AM for the next year, but spending the time with Michi sounds good. Tomorrow, the plan is to check out a couple temples and shrines. Michi's getting dressed up in a kimono, but I'll be going as a plain clothes gaijin.
As usual, pictures coming soon.
Cheers,
So for Christmas, I received Assassin's Creed 2 and Borderlands, among other things, and I'd like to write briefly about why Assassin's Creed 2 is a much better game than Assassin's Creed (Borderlands is fun too, but it is the first, so I can't compare it to a predecessor).
I think the biggest thing is motivation. For instance, in the first game, there were lots of types of flags placed all over each city, and you could kill time in the game just exploring the city looking for them. But what is the point of that? Sure, exploring is fun, in and of itself, especially as the game features highly explorable environments: you can climb almost any surface, jump from wall to wall, building to building, etc. But you don't really get anything from collecting all the flags, other than the fact that you can say "I collected all the flags in Assassin's Creed," at which point everyone will look at you like the loser you are.
Now in the second game, there are statues, feathers, treasure boxes, codex pages, mysterious marks, and seals for you to find and collect. However, you get money from finding treasure boxes (obviously), more money for finding statues, and pieces of story are revealed for finding the pages, feathers, and marks. In short, you have a reason for wandering around looking for this stuff.
In terms of gameplay, this is huge. The first game gave players no rewards for collecting, while the second game rewards it well. Aside from that, the second game features a lead character with more personality, more back story, and who is ultimately more fun to play as.
OK, I'm getting out of my Arm-Chair game designer chair.
Today, I woke up around 3AM. Michi and I made plans to see the first sunrise of 2010 on a boat in Tokyo Bay, so I got up, made some tea, and hopped on a train headed towards Tokyo. We met up and she actually had to wait for me this time. Not because I was late, but because she was incredibly early. We got to the boat launch, and got to see the first sunrise. Out on the water, we could also see Mt. Fuji, which surprised me.
Michi says that the Japanese believe that how you spend your first day of the year is how the rest of the year will be like for you. I'm not sure if I like the idea of getting up at 3AM for the next year, but spending the time with Michi sounds good. Tomorrow, the plan is to check out a couple temples and shrines. Michi's getting dressed up in a kimono, but I'll be going as a plain clothes gaijin.
As usual, pictures coming soon.
Cheers,
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