hey all,
So one of the things Michi has done is enroll in a translation school. This is a brilliant idea, as it might give her extra income or even allow her to change careers down the road. One of the things I've done is look into taking some courses in curriculum planning/educational assessment, and/or getting an MS. in Education with a specialization in curriculum design and administration. This would allow me to feel more comfortable being the head teacher at a school, and would also let me build a curriculum for our classes. As well as possibly branch out and get out of the class room entirely.
The problem is paying for it. I should say, one of the problems is paying for it. Another seems to be finding an online school that is actually online. Yes, you read that correctly. It seems that most of them require you to be living in the US in order to register, which seems really stupid: why should I have to be physically in a place for classes that I am not going to PHYSICALLY attend?
The weather this week has been brutally hot and humid (every time I write these words together I think of Throw Momma from the Train...), with almost no relief. I've resorted to setting my air conditioner on a timer, so it will come on an hour before the temperature starts to get bad at 6AM, so that I can actually sleep in until my alarm goes off at 7:17.
Work has been the usual mix of ups and downs. I've down several hours of overtime this week in order to get the schedule planned out for the next few weeks.
Cheers,
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Planning
hey all,
There seems to be a necessity for planning in my life right now. We have yet to find an apartment to move into for August and that will take some planning, the weekly schedule always needs to be planned out, my student loan payments need planning, as do resident taxes, health insurance, trips (for example, it seems there was a landslide recently in Kamikochi, and 900 people are unable to return home because the road is blocked. We had planned on going there this month or next month, but now will be going somewhere else, probably), etc.
Babies, career changes, continued education and training. Plans, plans, plans.
It was quite a fun weekend, but all these things need to be planned out little by little, and of course the plans will always change, but that is life.
Cheers,
There seems to be a necessity for planning in my life right now. We have yet to find an apartment to move into for August and that will take some planning, the weekly schedule always needs to be planned out, my student loan payments need planning, as do resident taxes, health insurance, trips (for example, it seems there was a landslide recently in Kamikochi, and 900 people are unable to return home because the road is blocked. We had planned on going there this month or next month, but now will be going somewhere else, probably), etc.
Babies, career changes, continued education and training. Plans, plans, plans.
It was quite a fun weekend, but all these things need to be planned out little by little, and of course the plans will always change, but that is life.
Cheers,
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Week
hey all,
The season finale of Game of Thrones was pretty amazing. Of course, the climax of the book is by far one of the highest points that I've encountered in literature, but with some sour chords lingering in the background and of course a feeling of "This could be going there or there, but either one would be stupendous."
Lately, I've been gorging myself on nata de coco, which is a dish from the Philippines made from fermented coconut water. It has a texture that is very unique, maybe best described as sweetened juicy wax. Although that might not sound delicious, it is. I eat about 2 cups or so at a time, which is probably overkill, but it is that scrumptious.
I think we're getting together a foursome for rock climbing on Sunday, which should be exciting.
In other news, I've finally gotten around to logging in to my student loan website and calculated that if I pay $1000 per month from July, 2011 until January, 2014 I can completely pay off my student loans. For some reason, their website doesn't seem to support you figuring this out right there, but if you have the interest rates and the principle, you can figure out the rest yourself with a spreadsheet program.
I think next week's lunch will be lamb and barley stew by Alton Brown. This week, I bought some frozen fried chicken, gyoza and shumai (both are Chinese pot stickers: basically just pork with spice with a wonton wrapper), and I've been alternating one for lunch, the other for dinner, then the third for the next day's lunch, etc. However, the temperature has been around 28C (that's about 82F for all of you in Burma, Liberia, and the US), but the humidity has been above 70%, so you always feel like you've got glue on your skin. In any case, frying every night is not really the thing you want to be doing in this kind of weather, so I'm going back to my "slave over a stove for a 1.5 hours- eat for a week" pattern.
Classes are for the most part going well. I'm working on the history book study guide a little, day by day, and it is coming along nicely.
Cheers,
The season finale of Game of Thrones was pretty amazing. Of course, the climax of the book is by far one of the highest points that I've encountered in literature, but with some sour chords lingering in the background and of course a feeling of "This could be going there or there, but either one would be stupendous."
Lately, I've been gorging myself on nata de coco, which is a dish from the Philippines made from fermented coconut water. It has a texture that is very unique, maybe best described as sweetened juicy wax. Although that might not sound delicious, it is. I eat about 2 cups or so at a time, which is probably overkill, but it is that scrumptious.
I think we're getting together a foursome for rock climbing on Sunday, which should be exciting.
In other news, I've finally gotten around to logging in to my student loan website and calculated that if I pay $1000 per month from July, 2011 until January, 2014 I can completely pay off my student loans. For some reason, their website doesn't seem to support you figuring this out right there, but if you have the interest rates and the principle, you can figure out the rest yourself with a spreadsheet program.
I think next week's lunch will be lamb and barley stew by Alton Brown. This week, I bought some frozen fried chicken, gyoza and shumai (both are Chinese pot stickers: basically just pork with spice with a wonton wrapper), and I've been alternating one for lunch, the other for dinner, then the third for the next day's lunch, etc. However, the temperature has been around 28C (that's about 82F for all of you in Burma, Liberia, and the US), but the humidity has been above 70%, so you always feel like you've got glue on your skin. In any case, frying every night is not really the thing you want to be doing in this kind of weather, so I'm going back to my "slave over a stove for a 1.5 hours- eat for a week" pattern.
Classes are for the most part going well. I'm working on the history book study guide a little, day by day, and it is coming along nicely.
Cheers,
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Weekend "Alone"
hey all,
So my weekend by myself has been pretty pleasant. I've done a few loads of laundry, skyped with my parents, played video games with Bri, had drinks with John, and gone indoor rock climbing with one of the foreigners who recently moved in to my guesthouse. So at least the flood of people moving in hasn't been all negative: I've got someone close by to chat with in English (who I don't also work with, which is important because I really want to keep professional and personal matters separate as much as I can), and in the same person I've got a workout/climbing partner.
Climbing also went pretty well today, although I think both of us weren't in the best form, but we still got in a decent number of climbs.
Michi and I talked some more. Things will work out. Having a weekend off to do other things and gather my thoughts and look at the situation has really helped, as well as the advice I've gotten from others.
I've got another week of work ahead of me, so I'm going to get to preparing lunches and tonight's dinner.
Cheers,
So my weekend by myself has been pretty pleasant. I've done a few loads of laundry, skyped with my parents, played video games with Bri, had drinks with John, and gone indoor rock climbing with one of the foreigners who recently moved in to my guesthouse. So at least the flood of people moving in hasn't been all negative: I've got someone close by to chat with in English (who I don't also work with, which is important because I really want to keep professional and personal matters separate as much as I can), and in the same person I've got a workout/climbing partner.
Climbing also went pretty well today, although I think both of us weren't in the best form, but we still got in a decent number of climbs.
Michi and I talked some more. Things will work out. Having a weekend off to do other things and gather my thoughts and look at the situation has really helped, as well as the advice I've gotten from others.
I've got another week of work ahead of me, so I'm going to get to preparing lunches and tonight's dinner.
Cheers,
Saturday, June 18, 2011
More Occupants
hey all,
Yet another housemate supposedly moved in on the 14th, although I haven't seen hide nor hair of him/her, which is good. The weather is still doing that "Why are you still here? Can't you take a hint?"
Work has been really good some days, and a trial on others.
Not much else new.
Cheers,
Yet another housemate supposedly moved in on the 14th, although I haven't seen hide nor hair of him/her, which is good. The weather is still doing that "Why are you still here? Can't you take a hint?"
Work has been really good some days, and a trial on others.
Not much else new.
Cheers,
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Cool Biz
hey all,
I've been doing a cool biz look at work lately: short-sleeved work shirt with no tie, and dress pants. I still haven't used the air conditioning at work yet this year. I'm going to try to keep from doing so unless the temperature gets above 28C. The temperature is not too high yet, but the rainy season is in full blast, and it feels like I've got a layer of glue covering my body no matter how many showers I take, or how many times I wash my face or neck.
Episode 9 of Game of Thrones has lived up to the high standards they've set for the previous ones. Except for one thing. They've been making lots of changes as they go through the story, and most of them I understand. There is a limited amount of time, a limited budget, and the limitations of a audience's interest and memory to consider. I didn't understand why they changed the flow of the wedding night of one of the characters in the first episode, and I don't understand why they made the paramour of one of the main characters a foreigner. It makes no sense, adds nothing to the character, etc. (Edit: Apparently this change was made to account for the actress's German accent. Still.)
Things are busy at work and after work, as I'm trying to keep everything prepared with vocabulary, study guides, etc.
Michi and I have talked a bit, but things are going to be rough for a while longer I think.
Cheers,
I've been doing a cool biz look at work lately: short-sleeved work shirt with no tie, and dress pants. I still haven't used the air conditioning at work yet this year. I'm going to try to keep from doing so unless the temperature gets above 28C. The temperature is not too high yet, but the rainy season is in full blast, and it feels like I've got a layer of glue covering my body no matter how many showers I take, or how many times I wash my face or neck.
Episode 9 of Game of Thrones has lived up to the high standards they've set for the previous ones. Except for one thing. They've been making lots of changes as they go through the story, and most of them I understand. There is a limited amount of time, a limited budget, and the limitations of a audience's interest and memory to consider. I didn't understand why they changed the flow of the wedding night of one of the characters in the first episode, and I don't understand why they made the paramour of one of the main characters a foreigner. It makes no sense, adds nothing to the character, etc. (Edit: Apparently this change was made to account for the actress's German accent. Still.)
Things are busy at work and after work, as I'm trying to keep everything prepared with vocabulary, study guides, etc.
Michi and I have talked a bit, but things are going to be rough for a while longer I think.
Cheers,
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Ooff
hey all,
I'm just going to lay it out there and say that Michi and I have been fighting a lot lately, and we're taking a break to cool our heads.
Looking back at it, it seems like "unrealistic expectations" is at least partially to blame. I've had these about many things for many years, and when ever reality fails to meet them, I tend to get down, either on reality or on myself, or both. Either way, whatever good mood prevailed before gets lost, someone feels insufficient and someone feels resentful and let down. The thing which really scares me is that sometimes I can see my father coming out of me in these exchanges. Some little comment or event seems to trigger something in me, and I become some kind of demon.
Another is probably just the stress we've both been under. Our weekday schedules are such that we often don't talk or even email for the whole work week. Plus our weekend schedules are no less busy with planning and going on travels, looking for apartments, etc. Add to that any small disagreements or disappointments, and you've got a recipe for trouble.
I think I'm going to try to talk with some of my friends and family next weekend, or maybe go up to Matsumoto by myself if the weather is good.
Cheers,
I'm just going to lay it out there and say that Michi and I have been fighting a lot lately, and we're taking a break to cool our heads.
Looking back at it, it seems like "unrealistic expectations" is at least partially to blame. I've had these about many things for many years, and when ever reality fails to meet them, I tend to get down, either on reality or on myself, or both. Either way, whatever good mood prevailed before gets lost, someone feels insufficient and someone feels resentful and let down. The thing which really scares me is that sometimes I can see my father coming out of me in these exchanges. Some little comment or event seems to trigger something in me, and I become some kind of demon.
Another is probably just the stress we've both been under. Our weekday schedules are such that we often don't talk or even email for the whole work week. Plus our weekend schedules are no less busy with planning and going on travels, looking for apartments, etc. Add to that any small disagreements or disappointments, and you've got a recipe for trouble.
I think I'm going to try to talk with some of my friends and family next weekend, or maybe go up to Matsumoto by myself if the weather is good.
Cheers,
Monday, June 06, 2011
Today
hey all,
1. Got up
2. Made rice
3. Went to work
4. Received pay
5. Bought chorizo and mustard
6. Cooked chorizo
7. Bought laundry soap, razors, and shoe polish
8. Did laundry
9. Polished shoes
10. Watched Game of Thrones, Episode 8 (Still awesome, only two more episodes left...)
11. Ate chorizo with bread and mustard
12. Downloaded pics of Siberian husky and the Chukchi people for my PM class tomorrow
13. Checked weather for Matsumoto trip next weekend (doesn't look good: 60% chance of rain on Saturday, 40% chance of rain on Sunday...)
14. Took a shower.
15. Wrote this blog entry
16. Brushed teeth
17. Passed out.
Tomorrow, I need to finish that evolution presentation for my AM class so I can show them on Wednesday. It is about 12 minutes long right now, most of it narration by Carl Sagan, but I'm going to add a quiz at the end.
The weekend was great. We fought, made up, found a place to stay, decided against it, and went rock climbing at Yugawara. It is off season there, and the weather on Sunday was not great, so we almost had the place to ourselves. There were probably 20 people spread out among the several hundred routes, so we barely met anyone. Only one other time has that happened at Yugawara. We also encountered some monstrous bugs, like some centipedes twice the length of a pinky finger, we're talking like 5-6 inches. The first one was half way up a route, and I had to wait for it to crawl away from that area, lest I be bitten. I wanted to get a picture of the second one, but I didn't bring my camera and Michi's camera's battery was dead.
Cheers,
1. Got up
2. Made rice
3. Went to work
4. Received pay
5. Bought chorizo and mustard
6. Cooked chorizo
7. Bought laundry soap, razors, and shoe polish
8. Did laundry
9. Polished shoes
10. Watched Game of Thrones, Episode 8 (Still awesome, only two more episodes left...)
11. Ate chorizo with bread and mustard
12. Downloaded pics of Siberian husky and the Chukchi people for my PM class tomorrow
13. Checked weather for Matsumoto trip next weekend (doesn't look good: 60% chance of rain on Saturday, 40% chance of rain on Sunday...)
14. Took a shower.
15. Wrote this blog entry
16. Brushed teeth
17. Passed out.
Tomorrow, I need to finish that evolution presentation for my AM class so I can show them on Wednesday. It is about 12 minutes long right now, most of it narration by Carl Sagan, but I'm going to add a quiz at the end.
The weekend was great. We fought, made up, found a place to stay, decided against it, and went rock climbing at Yugawara. It is off season there, and the weather on Sunday was not great, so we almost had the place to ourselves. There were probably 20 people spread out among the several hundred routes, so we barely met anyone. Only one other time has that happened at Yugawara. We also encountered some monstrous bugs, like some centipedes twice the length of a pinky finger, we're talking like 5-6 inches. The first one was half way up a route, and I had to wait for it to crawl away from that area, lest I be bitten. I wanted to get a picture of the second one, but I didn't bring my camera and Michi's camera's battery was dead.
Cheers,
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Life May Continue
hey all,
I went to Kaldi Coffee Farm the other night to pick up some Chipotle Tabasco sauce, and happily discovered that they were selling Dad's Root Beer again. Just after the earthquake, they stopped selling it and I kind of gave up hope that they would bring it back.
The weather has been cold and rainy, cold and dry, cold and windy, hot and humid, hot and rainy, etc, etc. Everything except enjoyable and predictable, basically. As usual, I'm looking forward to the weekend. For some reason, I have had a ridiculously light week at work, probably because I was practically crying from the workload earlier. But I haven't been idly sitting around: I've been working on a presentation about natural and artificial selection, and I've also got my schedule more or less planned out the next month, at one level of detail or another.
My only other news worthy item is that I received two items in the mail today: one was my citizen's tax forms (BOO!) and the other was a book providing details about a bunch of hiking locations in Japan (YAY!).
Cheers,
I went to Kaldi Coffee Farm the other night to pick up some Chipotle Tabasco sauce, and happily discovered that they were selling Dad's Root Beer again. Just after the earthquake, they stopped selling it and I kind of gave up hope that they would bring it back.
The weather has been cold and rainy, cold and dry, cold and windy, hot and humid, hot and rainy, etc, etc. Everything except enjoyable and predictable, basically. As usual, I'm looking forward to the weekend. For some reason, I have had a ridiculously light week at work, probably because I was practically crying from the workload earlier. But I haven't been idly sitting around: I've been working on a presentation about natural and artificial selection, and I've also got my schedule more or less planned out the next month, at one level of detail or another.
My only other news worthy item is that I received two items in the mail today: one was my citizen's tax forms (BOO!) and the other was a book providing details about a bunch of hiking locations in Japan (YAY!).
Cheers,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)