One Lesson To Go, Job Ideas, Valentine's Day

hey all,

So it feels like it has been a long time since I posted here, so this will probably be a long one. It seems like a lot has happened.

Thursday was a holiday here in Japan, so Michi and I planned on going rock climbing indoors but decided to visit a cafe instead.

Friday was my second to last lesson at the elementary school: I teach there next week, but then I don't teach there at all in March. I'm really sad to be leaving that school. The kids were pretty good, the teachers treated me well, and the lessons were fun to do.

I've been brainstorming some things that we ALTs could do instead of teaching.

1. subscription website with worksheets, games, teaching tips
1. problem: content has to draw enough people in to support 5-10 people for a year
2. good point: relatively low cost to start, already have lots of worksheets, games, etc
2. game company
1. problem: most of us have no programming, art, or marketing experience
2. good point: already a large market for cell phone games, DS and PSP games, which are comparatively cheaper to make than PC or console games
3. magazine
1. problem: lots of competition, limited English market
2. good point: we're smart people who notice what's going on around us, and can tell you about it in an entertaining fashion
4. escort company
1. problem: quasi legal
2. good point: we are already basically whoring ourselves out for pittance, at least this way we'd be making decent cash
5. translation
1. problem: only a few of us have the certifications to really make this work
2. good point: definitely a wide market
6. proofreading/editing
1. problem: already lots of competition???
2. good point: a huge market. There are public signs with weird English everywhere which have obviously never been edited or proofread by a native speaker. Product use instructions, English versions of Japanese websites, T-shirts. There are lots of areas to this that we can try to tap into, and this doesn't really take too much Japanese skill.

Valentine's weekend went really well. On Saturday, I had my 3rd yoga lesson. It is sometimes difficult and sometimes really easy, but probably the most difficult thing is trying to relax and do the stretches properly when they're being explained in Japanese. Most of the time I can just look at the teacher and understand, but sometimes the postures don't allow that.

After yoga, we picked up ingredients for dinner. I can't really give you the recipe for our main dish, as it involves an ultra spicy Malaysian curry mix that I have no idea where to find. For some reason, the Malaysian guy across from my room sometimes gives a pack of it to me, and I told Michi about it, and she wanted to eat it since she loves spicy food. The dessert is as follows:

200g 70% pure chocolate
300g soft tofu
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dark rum

All you have to do is melt the chocolate, honey and rum in the microwave, then blend everything together in a blender or food processor. This produces a thick, nicely textured vegetarian dairy free chocolate mousse. The important part for me, aside from the fact that it is immaculately delicious, is that it's dairy free.

Sunday, we walked around Kawagoe, which was also really good. For once, the weather was OK: the previous two times I've visited there, I've been rained out. Just a little on the cloudy and cold side, but otherwise fine weather. Michi wasn't familiar with it, and seemed really astonished about all the old buildings and cool shops.

That's all for now.

Cheers,