hey all,
We're still trying to plan lessons, pretty unsuccessfully I suppose. Really, there isn't enough time to do a proper job of it.
On the upside, I've presented my visa extension application. On the downside, I need to go back to Omiya City Hall and pick up some tax documents, either that, or have them mail them to me. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can have them mail the documents to the Yokohama city hall. I've never had much patience with this kind of thing.
Also on the upside, as I am now the most senior teacher at my school (which is in itself a scary thought), the boss has asked me to become the head teacher, and since the duties don't seem to onerous and I'll be getting pay raise to go with it, I'm accepting.
Cheers,
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Georgie Boy
hey all,
Here's a couple videos (viewer discretion advised) of George Carlin about natural disasters. The second one has footage of the tsunami that hit northern Japan two weeks ago.
It's been a good weekend so far. Met up with my southern friend on Friday, met up with Michi today, and also ran a bunch of errands. I did laundry, made a 2 liter batch of chili, and even studied Japanese a little. The only down note is that when I went to the store to pick up peanut oil and spices and root beer, they didn't have root beer! I wandered around the store like a lost, sad puppy for maybe 10 minutes before I got in line to check out. I'll have to find a new source for root beer.
Today, Michi and I will be heading to a rock climbing gym we haven't been to before. We're accumulating quite the collection of climbing gym membership cards by now.
On Monday, the three remaining teachers are coming back in to work to make new contracts and start preparing materials for next year. It'll be good to get out of the guesthouse.
Cheers,
Here's a couple videos (viewer discretion advised) of George Carlin about natural disasters. The second one has footage of the tsunami that hit northern Japan two weeks ago.
It's been a good weekend so far. Met up with my southern friend on Friday, met up with Michi today, and also ran a bunch of errands. I did laundry, made a 2 liter batch of chili, and even studied Japanese a little. The only down note is that when I went to the store to pick up peanut oil and spices and root beer, they didn't have root beer! I wandered around the store like a lost, sad puppy for maybe 10 minutes before I got in line to check out. I'll have to find a new source for root beer.
Today, Michi and I will be heading to a rock climbing gym we haven't been to before. We're accumulating quite the collection of climbing gym membership cards by now.
On Monday, the three remaining teachers are coming back in to work to make new contracts and start preparing materials for next year. It'll be good to get out of the guesthouse.
Cheers,
Thursday, March 24, 2011
New Look
hey all,
Most of you have probably noticed the new look of the blog. I decided that the black and white thing was a little bit too much, so here is something that I think looks a bit better.
All this extra time on my hands is driving me crazy.
Cheers,
Most of you have probably noticed the new look of the blog. I decided that the black and white thing was a little bit too much, so here is something that I think looks a bit better.
All this extra time on my hands is driving me crazy.
Cheers,
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Meeting
hey all,
There is a somewhat chilling display of before and after images of northern Japan here. And here is a chart made by one of my favorite web comic artists of radiation.
We had a meeting at work, where the three remaining teachers tried to figure out how to divy up the students for next semester. We plan on starting on April 5th, and then next week will be devoted to developing materials for the rest of the year.
Cheers,
There is a somewhat chilling display of before and after images of northern Japan here. And here is a chart made by one of my favorite web comic artists of radiation.
We had a meeting at work, where the three remaining teachers tried to figure out how to divy up the students for next semester. We plan on starting on April 5th, and then next week will be devoted to developing materials for the rest of the year.
Cheers,
Monday, March 21, 2011
Big Update
hey all,
Lots of things in the works here. My school is still on holiday for the time being, basically until I hear from the boss and get asked to come in. I may take up a part time job at another school in the meantime, to supplement or replace my income.
The situation with the nuclear reactor finally looks like it is getting better, or at least not getting any worse, which is a nice feeling to have. One news source was quoting the World Bank as saying that it will take Japan at least 5 years to totally recover from this. The thing that still amazes me is the death toll; climbing closer to 10,000 by the hour, and over 11,000 missing. Around 200,000 people are lacking either food, water, electricity or homes. But if you compare this to the causality rate in Indonesia during the 2004 tsunami (which was caused by an ocean earthquake of only slightly greater magnitude than the one in Japan), your perspective changes completely. Despite the direness of the situation, the amazing infrastructure of Japan has probably saved 10's of thousands of lives.
Appropriately, Michi and I rented Touching the Void and The Beckoning Silence, two movies based on books by mountain guide/ rock climber Joe Simpson. The first I'd seen part of before. It is about an accident that befell the author when he was 25 years old while climbing in Peru, and how he managed to survive it. The latter, The Beckoning Silence, is a recounting by Joe Simpson of the story of Tony Curtz and his ill-fated team's attempt to climb Mt. Eiger in Switzerland in the 1930's. They are both kind of disaster movies, is what I'm getting at.
I finally got to see some of Michi's baby pictures, because we ate dinner with her family twice over the long weekend. The company was really good to have, especially after staying cooped up in my room all by myself for most of last week, with my overseas friends and family saying "Run away! Come back home!" and two teachers from my own school making plans to head back to their respective countries until things calmed down here. But spending time with both Michi and her family has calmed me down quite a bit, and given me a lot more hope and maybe a better perspective on Japan's and my own situation.
In other news, I have officially spent two years in Japan.
Cheers,
Lots of things in the works here. My school is still on holiday for the time being, basically until I hear from the boss and get asked to come in. I may take up a part time job at another school in the meantime, to supplement or replace my income.
The situation with the nuclear reactor finally looks like it is getting better, or at least not getting any worse, which is a nice feeling to have. One news source was quoting the World Bank as saying that it will take Japan at least 5 years to totally recover from this. The thing that still amazes me is the death toll; climbing closer to 10,000 by the hour, and over 11,000 missing. Around 200,000 people are lacking either food, water, electricity or homes. But if you compare this to the causality rate in Indonesia during the 2004 tsunami (which was caused by an ocean earthquake of only slightly greater magnitude than the one in Japan), your perspective changes completely. Despite the direness of the situation, the amazing infrastructure of Japan has probably saved 10's of thousands of lives.
Appropriately, Michi and I rented Touching the Void and The Beckoning Silence, two movies based on books by mountain guide/ rock climber Joe Simpson. The first I'd seen part of before. It is about an accident that befell the author when he was 25 years old while climbing in Peru, and how he managed to survive it. The latter, The Beckoning Silence, is a recounting by Joe Simpson of the story of Tony Curtz and his ill-fated team's attempt to climb Mt. Eiger in Switzerland in the 1930's. They are both kind of disaster movies, is what I'm getting at.
I finally got to see some of Michi's baby pictures, because we ate dinner with her family twice over the long weekend. The company was really good to have, especially after staying cooped up in my room all by myself for most of last week, with my overseas friends and family saying "Run away! Come back home!" and two teachers from my own school making plans to head back to their respective countries until things calmed down here. But spending time with both Michi and her family has calmed me down quite a bit, and given me a lot more hope and maybe a better perspective on Japan's and my own situation.
In other news, I have officially spent two years in Japan.
Cheers,
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Yet Again
hey all,
We just had another earthquake, this one in Shizuoka and around a magnitude of 6. In Yokohama, it was about a 4 or 5-. Just some minor shaking for 30 seconds or so. The nuclear reaction situation seems to get worse and worse every time I read an article about it or see it on the news.
Not much to report about me. I finally found some bread, but other than that, spent the whole day watching movies and South Park online, and studying Japanese. I've got some frozen food, and several big containers of curry still, plus some eggs and a large supply of peanuts. And of course several liters of water. I've even got matches, a lighter, my camping stove, etc, so if I lose power and water, I'll still be able to cook and drink.
I have to admit that I'm a little scared and freaked out by this thing, and I seem to have lost all faith in the ground below my feet.
Cheers,
We just had another earthquake, this one in Shizuoka and around a magnitude of 6. In Yokohama, it was about a 4 or 5-. Just some minor shaking for 30 seconds or so. The nuclear reaction situation seems to get worse and worse every time I read an article about it or see it on the news.
Not much to report about me. I finally found some bread, but other than that, spent the whole day watching movies and South Park online, and studying Japanese. I've got some frozen food, and several big containers of curry still, plus some eggs and a large supply of peanuts. And of course several liters of water. I've even got matches, a lighter, my camping stove, etc, so if I lose power and water, I'll still be able to cook and drink.
I have to admit that I'm a little scared and freaked out by this thing, and I seem to have lost all faith in the ground below my feet.
Cheers,
Monday, March 14, 2011
Shopping...
hey all,
I was called early this morning and told that morning classes were canceled, as not many students were expected to come or even be able to come. I was asked, however, to come in for the afternoon as maybe we might have some students then. By the time I got to the school however, the entire day's classes had been canceled, so I went shopping instead. Here is what I couldn't buy:
In an emergency, you can see what food stuffs people think are important. There was actually a large amount of meat left, but meat spoils easily. The vegetable section also had a lot of items left, and the alcohol section had barely been touched.
If you check out the Japanese Meteorological Agency website, you can see the frequency and strength of recent seismic activity. It looks like they are now predicting a second powerful earthquake.
That's all I have for now.
Cheers,
I was called early this morning and told that morning classes were canceled, as not many students were expected to come or even be able to come. I was asked, however, to come in for the afternoon as maybe we might have some students then. By the time I got to the school however, the entire day's classes had been canceled, so I went shopping instead. Here is what I couldn't buy:
 |
| Pre-made lunches and meals section |
 |
| Bread |
 |
| Eggs |
 |
| Frozen food |
 |
| Tofu |
 |
| Rice |
If you check out the Japanese Meteorological Agency website, you can see the frequency and strength of recent seismic activity. It looks like they are now predicting a second powerful earthquake.
That's all I have for now.
Cheers,
Sunday, March 13, 2011
And Now for Something Completely Different...
hey all,
Still alive, still here in Japan. I wish the news and the Universe would give this poor little island a break. We had a smallish earthquake earlier this week (Wednesday, apparently, but I must have slept through it or something), but by now I can't count how many we've had. Of course, if you asked a seismologist, he or she would probably tell you that Japan has several seismic events every day, but most of them are so minor that we can't feel them. But I've actually lost track of the number of times I've felt the ground or the building I'm in swaying like a boat on slightly rough water, or see items on shelves visibly shake since the Big One on Friday.
Yesterday I went up to Tokyo on the excuse of picking up some warm gloves that I'd ordered (just in time for the weather to warm up, BTW), and Michi and I met up. I had gotten a hold of her Friday night, but seeing her in person was a real load off of my mind.
By this time, news was coming in from some of the places that had been out of contact, and we were also getting news about this continuing streak of (potential) disasters, such as this nuclear power plant fiasco. It doesn't look as bad as Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, but both of those happened either before I was born or far away from me. While Fukushima is still a good distance from Yokohama, should an even minor explosion occur, the weather could easily carry radioactive material this far.
We were planning on going rock climbing today, but the nuclear reactor news changed our minds. We stayed in and watched lots of South Park. I also got in some Japanese study time while she was checking the news, etc.
Next week, I have work on Saturday (and there will probably be work tomorrow). We're planning on going to Hakone, but we might have to cancel if the disaster toll keeps rising. I keep expecting Mothra and Godzilla to suddenly appear.
Cheers
Still alive, still here in Japan. I wish the news and the Universe would give this poor little island a break. We had a smallish earthquake earlier this week (Wednesday, apparently, but I must have slept through it or something), but by now I can't count how many we've had. Of course, if you asked a seismologist, he or she would probably tell you that Japan has several seismic events every day, but most of them are so minor that we can't feel them. But I've actually lost track of the number of times I've felt the ground or the building I'm in swaying like a boat on slightly rough water, or see items on shelves visibly shake since the Big One on Friday.
Yesterday I went up to Tokyo on the excuse of picking up some warm gloves that I'd ordered (just in time for the weather to warm up, BTW), and Michi and I met up. I had gotten a hold of her Friday night, but seeing her in person was a real load off of my mind.
By this time, news was coming in from some of the places that had been out of contact, and we were also getting news about this continuing streak of (potential) disasters, such as this nuclear power plant fiasco. It doesn't look as bad as Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, but both of those happened either before I was born or far away from me. While Fukushima is still a good distance from Yokohama, should an even minor explosion occur, the weather could easily carry radioactive material this far.
We were planning on going rock climbing today, but the nuclear reactor news changed our minds. We stayed in and watched lots of South Park. I also got in some Japanese study time while she was checking the news, etc.
Next week, I have work on Saturday (and there will probably be work tomorrow). We're planning on going to Hakone, but we might have to cancel if the disaster toll keeps rising. I keep expecting Mothra and Godzilla to suddenly appear.
Cheers
Friday, March 11, 2011
Biggest in History
hey all,
So apparently the biggest earthquake in recorded history has hit Japan. Yes, I'm fine. Clearly, I still have internet access, my hands are working, etc.
I'm sure you all can find the details all over the web, but here's the skinny. An 8.8 or 8.9 earthquake occurred about 125 km off the shore of north eastern Japan around 14:45 today. It caused a few fires from broken gas pipes, and has collapsed a few buildings, and damaged a lot of roads. Unfortunately, it also generated a 10m tsunami, which dealt a large amount of damage along the coast.
Down here in Yokohama, I was about to begin a baby lesson when I noticed the swaying and shaking of the school building. We all ran outside and watched in stupor as the cars in the parking lot rocked in their places, the buildings across the street teetered like drunken old men, and nature in general showed us that how ever much we think we're in charge, there're some powerful things that can come out of nowhere and show you the true situation.
We tried to resume lessons after that, but several aftershocks came, less powerful than the quake, but still enough to send us out of the building. I've been trying to get in touch with Michi since then, but to no avail. Phone service is more or less non existent. The train lines are all stopped, and have been for the last 8 hours or so. As of 20:30, there are still aftershocks coming through.
That's all for now.
Cheers,
So apparently the biggest earthquake in recorded history has hit Japan. Yes, I'm fine. Clearly, I still have internet access, my hands are working, etc.
I'm sure you all can find the details all over the web, but here's the skinny. An 8.8 or 8.9 earthquake occurred about 125 km off the shore of north eastern Japan around 14:45 today. It caused a few fires from broken gas pipes, and has collapsed a few buildings, and damaged a lot of roads. Unfortunately, it also generated a 10m tsunami, which dealt a large amount of damage along the coast.
Down here in Yokohama, I was about to begin a baby lesson when I noticed the swaying and shaking of the school building. We all ran outside and watched in stupor as the cars in the parking lot rocked in their places, the buildings across the street teetered like drunken old men, and nature in general showed us that how ever much we think we're in charge, there're some powerful things that can come out of nowhere and show you the true situation.
We tried to resume lessons after that, but several aftershocks came, less powerful than the quake, but still enough to send us out of the building. I've been trying to get in touch with Michi since then, but to no avail. Phone service is more or less non existent. The train lines are all stopped, and have been for the last 8 hours or so. As of 20:30, there are still aftershocks coming through.
That's all for now.
Cheers,
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Joke
hey all,
One of my students passed this one along. パン作ったことがある？=パンツ食ったことがある？ This is just a silly joke, something along the lines of saying that the US constitution guarantees the right to bare arms, instead of bear arms. It translates to "have you ever made bread?" and then by changing the accent and spacing between words a little bit, you get "have you ever eaten underwear?"
Been a really good week at work so far.
Cheers,
One of my students passed this one along. パン作ったことがある？=パンツ食ったことがある？ This is just a silly joke, something along the lines of saying that the US constitution guarantees the right to bare arms, instead of bear arms. It translates to "have you ever made bread?" and then by changing the accent and spacing between words a little bit, you get "have you ever eaten underwear?"
Been a really good week at work so far.
Cheers,
Monday, March 07, 2011
Story
hey all,
One story that I wanted to share was of my experience eating at a Yoshinoya a few days ago. Yoshinoya is basically a Japanese McDonald's: they don't serve burgers or fries, but they do serve food just as cheaply, and as unhealthy and quick as McDonald's. I was sitting there, stuffing my face with shredded beef, onion, and rice, when a beer can was thrust into my face. I barely looked up and waved it off. There was an obviously drunk guy for some reason offering me a beer. He saw I wasn't grabbing, and went around the whole shop offering it to other customers in the same brusque manner. This was not the middle of the night, but the middle of the day, and everyone started at him much as I did. The staff didn't throw him out, but they didn't welcome him in either.
Cheers,
One story that I wanted to share was of my experience eating at a Yoshinoya a few days ago. Yoshinoya is basically a Japanese McDonald's: they don't serve burgers or fries, but they do serve food just as cheaply, and as unhealthy and quick as McDonald's. I was sitting there, stuffing my face with shredded beef, onion, and rice, when a beer can was thrust into my face. I barely looked up and waved it off. There was an obviously drunk guy for some reason offering me a beer. He saw I wasn't grabbing, and went around the whole shop offering it to other customers in the same brusque manner. This was not the middle of the night, but the middle of the day, and everyone started at him much as I did. The staff didn't throw him out, but they didn't welcome him in either.
Cheers,
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Big Plate
hey all,
I'm just realizing that there is a ridiculous number of items on my plate at the moment: a probable trip to Hakone sometime this month, a rock climbing trip to Yugawara next weekend, a probable camping/rock climbing trip to Ogawayama in May, the trip home for my brother's wedding in May, a trip at some point to Enoshima, one to Ojima and Shikineshima, and lately Michi's family has been talking about taking a big trip to Oze, with me and Michi serving as guides. There's Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the castle in Himeji, the shrines and parks in Nara, Hokkaido, and hundreds of other places in Japan and around the world. I would love to live long enough to visit the moon and maybe Mars, as well.
If you can't tell, I've been listening to this poem over and over again this weekend.
I think I might have to try to revive Odysseus or Ulysses as a boy's name...But what do you use as a nickname? Oddy? Uly? Dessy? Dezi?
Anyway, there are a couple of games coming out soon, such as Dragon's Age II, that look really amazing. I've played through the demo 3 times now, and the combat is much more visceral and satisfying than the first game. I'm hoping that the story, quests, and other aspects of the game have been punched up a notch as well. It seems like they have been, but you can only tell by playing through it.
There was a lot more that I had typed up, but an error made me lose a big chunk of it.
Cheers,
I'm just realizing that there is a ridiculous number of items on my plate at the moment: a probable trip to Hakone sometime this month, a rock climbing trip to Yugawara next weekend, a probable camping/rock climbing trip to Ogawayama in May, the trip home for my brother's wedding in May, a trip at some point to Enoshima, one to Ojima and Shikineshima, and lately Michi's family has been talking about taking a big trip to Oze, with me and Michi serving as guides. There's Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the castle in Himeji, the shrines and parks in Nara, Hokkaido, and hundreds of other places in Japan and around the world. I would love to live long enough to visit the moon and maybe Mars, as well.
If you can't tell, I've been listening to this poem over and over again this weekend.
I think I might have to try to revive Odysseus or Ulysses as a boy's name...But what do you use as a nickname? Oddy? Uly? Dessy? Dezi?
Anyway, there are a couple of games coming out soon, such as Dragon's Age II, that look really amazing. I've played through the demo 3 times now, and the combat is much more visceral and satisfying than the first game. I'm hoping that the story, quests, and other aspects of the game have been punched up a notch as well. It seems like they have been, but you can only tell by playing through it.
There was a lot more that I had typed up, but an error made me lose a big chunk of it.
Cheers,
Friday, March 04, 2011
Finally
hey all,
It looks like A Dance With Dragons, the next installment in G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series will actually be released this year in July. Although technically, still not finished, he said he is so close that the publishers are getting everything geared up for it.
That'll be it for now. Not much new on my end anyway.
Cheers,
It looks like A Dance With Dragons, the next installment in G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series will actually be released this year in July. Although technically, still not finished, he said he is so close that the publishers are getting everything geared up for it.
That'll be it for now. Not much new on my end anyway.
Cheers,
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
More Debuts
hey all,
While not strictly speaking debuts, my raincoat and rain pants have been getting used every day for the past 3 or so days. So far, they've stood up to the punishment and usage, as I expect of Columbia gear. My gloves, which are North Face, handle rain just fine, but the combination of rain and cold doesn't go over so well. The combination of cold and anything or even just cold by itself doesn't seem to go over well either. I've been eying a pair of gloves by Mountain Hardware, which are alpine rated. That is, I could take them to Everest or glacier hopping, or just skiing. Or, even just use them to keep my hands warm while riding a bike.
Tomorrow is Doll's Festival, which is a celebration for little girls in Japan. This whole week there has been a huge multi-level stage with dolls on it stuck in the office and getting in everyone's way. I think it will be put up outside somewhere, and then taken down again. A lot of effort, but maybe it will be worth it.
It seems like we've got a new part time teacher after all. He just needs a little training and the Dynamic Duo (myself and the other teacher) can take a break and not have to pull 6 day work weeks. I can't really complain because the other teacher has taken the brunt of them, but I'll be putting in two Saturday's this month to help train him and get him ready to teach on his own.
January and February didn't really feature any good games or movies coming out, to my knowledge, but we've got Dragon Age 2 coming out in a week or two, plus Game of Thrones on HBO coming out just next month. This year looks like it will feature some really cool movies and games, and of course Michi and I have lots of trips in the planning.
Below are some pics from the Yugawara trip.
Cheers,
While not strictly speaking debuts, my raincoat and rain pants have been getting used every day for the past 3 or so days. So far, they've stood up to the punishment and usage, as I expect of Columbia gear. My gloves, which are North Face, handle rain just fine, but the combination of rain and cold doesn't go over so well. The combination of cold and anything or even just cold by itself doesn't seem to go over well either. I've been eying a pair of gloves by Mountain Hardware, which are alpine rated. That is, I could take them to Everest or glacier hopping, or just skiing. Or, even just use them to keep my hands warm while riding a bike.
Tomorrow is Doll's Festival, which is a celebration for little girls in Japan. This whole week there has been a huge multi-level stage with dolls on it stuck in the office and getting in everyone's way. I think it will be put up outside somewhere, and then taken down again. A lot of effort, but maybe it will be worth it.
It seems like we've got a new part time teacher after all. He just needs a little training and the Dynamic Duo (myself and the other teacher) can take a break and not have to pull 6 day work weeks. I can't really complain because the other teacher has taken the brunt of them, but I'll be putting in two Saturday's this month to help train him and get him ready to teach on his own.
January and February didn't really feature any good games or movies coming out, to my knowledge, but we've got Dragon Age 2 coming out in a week or two, plus Game of Thrones on HBO coming out just next month. This year looks like it will feature some really cool movies and games, and of course Michi and I have lots of trips in the planning.
Below are some pics from the Yugawara trip.
Cheers,
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