It seems that my recovery just came in the nick of time. Just a couple of days after I posted my last blog, I got busy as hell. One of my good friends here had finished her contract with AEON and returned from a good exploration of the rest of the country and called me out on my first weekend night to join her and her friend from the states for a good time in Tokyo. Of course, I went . . . and stayed there my whole weekend lol. Her and her friend let me stay in their hotel room and we just goofed around Japan for two days. It was a great time. One particularly cool thing that we did was got to National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno where they had the body of Hachi stuffed and put on display with other animals that are indigenous to Japan. He must have been a damn cute dog when he was alive. Other than that, we roamed Tokyo for different things to see and do. I miss my friend already and hope that America has welcomed her home well.
The following workweek (last week) was a lot busier than I had anticipated; and we even had Wednesday off 0_0 For starters, Tuesday was the day of the adult Christmas party. We had normal classes all day that went just fine that was swiftly followed by the party; which went really well. We held it at my favorite curry place that my coworker and I go to every Friday. As usual, the staff was awesome and the food was delicious (though a bit spicier than usual). There was a lot of happy drinking, chatter, and everyone but me, enjoyed his or her first white elephant gift exchange. I wasn’t sure how well the idea was going to work out, but was relieved to see that people were enjoying themselves the whole time. Who would have thought the element of theft could bring such merriment to a Christmas occasion =P The after party was taken to silver lanes where only three students joined us five staff for some late night Karaoke and we managed a good time of it. So much so, that everyone missed their last train and we took the show to my apartment and talked the night away till everyone made their first train at a little after 5 AM. A great night!
As you can imagine, I slept most of the day away the next day, and in the evening I did my laundry and some other things here and there until I joined my head teacher for dinner and Avatar in 3D at the local mall. I had a delicious steak with rice and LOVED the movie. I can’t wait to own it for myself. But since the movie is over 3 hours long (or so), my day was over by the time I got home and went to bed soon after.
Christmas eve wasn’t too bad. My present assistant manager is getting promoted to manager of another school and starts there next week, and we thus welcomed her replacement that afternoon. She is brand new to the company, but is really nice and hopefully she doesn’t have too much trouble getting into the swing of things. I’m looking forward to working with her. I had three classes during the day and did a bunch of stuff to help the staff prepare for the kids’ Christmas party the next day or preparing for this week’s holiday. When the day was up, I stayed after for a good long while and just goofed off with whoever had the time. I had dinner at my Ramen place on the way home and watched the Polar Express (4th year running). It was a low-key evening fo sho, but good.
Chistmas was great! We had the kids’ Christmas party and it went over very well. The kids were really cute as usual, and I didn’t have to make sure they were paying attention to what I was saying. An extra plus. I also got to be Santa Clause toward the end of it and gave little gifts out to all the kiddies. They didn’t believe it for a second haha. One took my hat off, while others tried to peek at the pillow under my shirt or pull my beard from my face. Everyone seemed to have fun though and the kids left happy. I wish them and their families a happy new year ^_^ I had one class after the party and then we did the staff secret santa and chatted it up until we called it a day and went home. It was a good Christmas
Saturday went really nicely. I took down the Christmas decorations right away as well as anything having to do with the self-study program. It was very relieving to be able to put away the salesman side of me for a good long while until the end of this coming spring. Surprisingly enough though, I managed to make a sale 0_0 I did a verbal assessment and counseling with a student and he decided to do a little extra study to help him along. I’ll do what I can to make sure it helps. After all the students who did speaking assessments and such were gone, we ordered pizza and savored our last Saturday of the year and last night as the Nakayama 09 staff that I came to care for. 2010 will have a lot of big changes for me within the first four months. I look forward to what they may hold, but I will still look back on Nakayama 09 with a smile.
Sunday was nice. I went out to get some snowboarding pants with my manager and a friend and then, joined my (former) assistant manager and her boyfriend for a house club night in Tokyo. . . though it was from 5-11 (gotta get that last train yo!). Her boyfriend was actually one of the DJs of the evening and really impressed me. I had no problems dancing the whole time while he did his thing behind the stand. The whole event was a lot of fun really. I was the only person there that wasn’t Japanese, so I got a TON of practice. As did some of the Japanese there that wanted to practice their English. Man, that event was definitely worth repeating. I even got a CD of one of my assistant manager’s boyfriend’s mixes . . . SWEET! Check him out at: http://www.myspace.com/yasuexesounds.
For the last two days, I have been a useless piece of crap. I have “spring cleaned” my apartment, but otherwise I have been veging out and loving it. I have been needing this time alone to just let my mind go and worry bout different things of a personal nature. For example, I have been selecting photos of times and friends that I have taken since I got deployed to Cuba. It took a REALLY long time, but the trip through memory lane was surprisingly moving and almost unsettling. Through these pictures I relived countless happy moments and the heat of old crushes. No lie, I got pretty homesick for a bit there. It made me think really hard and re-toggle my perspective about my current circumstances.
I had some really fun times over the last 4 years and seeing them again today and yesterday through these photos still managed to make my heart flutter with differing flavors of delight. I started playing with those two most terrible words as I viewed some of my most cherished memories and people . . . “what if.” I quickly remembered, as I was also reminded by some pics, of decisions made that I can’t take back and how I could never get back to those times if I even wanted to anyway. Those decisions lead to courses that lead me to this very moment, place, and emotional contentment. It would be a waste and immature of me to doubt them for even a moment. Nonetheless these memories are who I am and I plan to have them printed and spread around the walls of my apartment in order to remind myself and show off to any guests that I am truly lucky.
Sorry for the novel, I’ll leave it at that. Have a wonderful new year!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
"I'll get chewed out . . . I've been chewed out before"
Back to normal! So the doc prescribed me some quite effective medicine and I am typing this in normal good health. Feels good. I have gotten back on the workout regimen, am feeling great, and am enjoying the weather that the Japanese winter has to offer so far. As usual, most departments of my life have been going really well.
Last Wednesday during my kids’ class; my once shy introvert proved her comfort in the class in a funny way once again. I was doing something with my arms and I accidently hit her in the face with my fingers as I was moving around. I quickly apologized in English with a clear expression of shock and concern on my face; and her response was . . . (in Japanese and jockingly) I’m gonna kill you. I was quite surprised to say the least, but really entertained as I thought about it later. A funny story I soon won’t forget.
The rest of the week at school went well enough and I honestly can remember anything else that stood out until I was off for the weekend . . . OH! My head teacher helped me purchase an electric Japanese/English dictionary for cheap and I am quite excited now that I have it. Now I won’t be up the creek without a paddle when I go to the doctor or something . . . or when I talk to girls =P
Saturday, right after work, two of my co-workers and I headed off to another school in the area to support a mutual friend at her going away party. Her contract had come to an end and her school was seeing her off with a lively event. I estimate that maybe forty students were there at least. Our friend was definitely one loved teacher. She had been there for a year and a half, and being the charming gal that she is, I was not surprised to see so many people wanting to be around to say goodbye to her. The event got pretty emotional actually. There, were some really good heartfelt speeches, as well as a few tears here and there. It was quite the event. I am sure plenty of the people at the school will miss her and I will be missing her as well (until she returns). We had some good times together ^_^
On Sunday, I headed to one of the popular mountains near here named Mt. Takao (Takao-san). On a sunny day, around the time of the winter solstice, one is able to watch the sun set directly atop of Mt. Fuji. The Japanese call this occasion Diamond Head. But alas . . . it was cloudy -.- BUT, all was ok, as I had a really good time with my companion and the mountain had a beautiful view and a lot to see on the trails. It was not at all a wasted venture. After Takao, we enjoyed some delicious Chinese food and I headed off to hip-hop. Their performance is in less than two weeks and the group is pretty much ready to go. I’m bummed I can’t be part of it, but hope that they do well.
Monday was a lazy day for me. I did some laundry and chores, and then headed to the local mall to get my secret santa gift for work. While there I decided to catch the movie: Inglorious Bastards. It was actually very thought invoking (don’t read on if you haven’t yet seen it, cause I am gonna spill the beans about this movie). So basically it is another WWII story with a plot revolving around an attempt to kill Hitler and end the war right away. Well, I have to admit that I was really surprised to see that the story goes against history and realizes this fantasy. In a theater owned by a Jew in hiding, Jewish American soldiers (the commander isn’t Jewish though) and the Jewish theater owner manage to kill Hitler, Goering, and two more Nazi top dogs amidst roaring flames and machine gun fire in a crowd of German officers and elites in her theater. At times it is a gory and vulgar spectacle, but I have to admit I was amazed with some of the acting and some lines were said that just make ya think. I could go on for a while bout the movie, but I wont bore you with it. I’ll just leave with saying that it was . . . woah.
The week has been coming along well so far and I am facing everyday with a smile. I hope the same goes for you ^_^
Last Wednesday during my kids’ class; my once shy introvert proved her comfort in the class in a funny way once again. I was doing something with my arms and I accidently hit her in the face with my fingers as I was moving around. I quickly apologized in English with a clear expression of shock and concern on my face; and her response was . . . (in Japanese and jockingly) I’m gonna kill you. I was quite surprised to say the least, but really entertained as I thought about it later. A funny story I soon won’t forget.
The rest of the week at school went well enough and I honestly can remember anything else that stood out until I was off for the weekend . . . OH! My head teacher helped me purchase an electric Japanese/English dictionary for cheap and I am quite excited now that I have it. Now I won’t be up the creek without a paddle when I go to the doctor or something . . . or when I talk to girls =P
Saturday, right after work, two of my co-workers and I headed off to another school in the area to support a mutual friend at her going away party. Her contract had come to an end and her school was seeing her off with a lively event. I estimate that maybe forty students were there at least. Our friend was definitely one loved teacher. She had been there for a year and a half, and being the charming gal that she is, I was not surprised to see so many people wanting to be around to say goodbye to her. The event got pretty emotional actually. There, were some really good heartfelt speeches, as well as a few tears here and there. It was quite the event. I am sure plenty of the people at the school will miss her and I will be missing her as well (until she returns). We had some good times together ^_^
On Sunday, I headed to one of the popular mountains near here named Mt. Takao (Takao-san). On a sunny day, around the time of the winter solstice, one is able to watch the sun set directly atop of Mt. Fuji. The Japanese call this occasion Diamond Head. But alas . . . it was cloudy -.- BUT, all was ok, as I had a really good time with my companion and the mountain had a beautiful view and a lot to see on the trails. It was not at all a wasted venture. After Takao, we enjoyed some delicious Chinese food and I headed off to hip-hop. Their performance is in less than two weeks and the group is pretty much ready to go. I’m bummed I can’t be part of it, but hope that they do well.
Monday was a lazy day for me. I did some laundry and chores, and then headed to the local mall to get my secret santa gift for work. While there I decided to catch the movie: Inglorious Bastards. It was actually very thought invoking (don’t read on if you haven’t yet seen it, cause I am gonna spill the beans about this movie). So basically it is another WWII story with a plot revolving around an attempt to kill Hitler and end the war right away. Well, I have to admit that I was really surprised to see that the story goes against history and realizes this fantasy. In a theater owned by a Jew in hiding, Jewish American soldiers (the commander isn’t Jewish though) and the Jewish theater owner manage to kill Hitler, Goering, and two more Nazi top dogs amidst roaring flames and machine gun fire in a crowd of German officers and elites in her theater. At times it is a gory and vulgar spectacle, but I have to admit I was amazed with some of the acting and some lines were said that just make ya think. I could go on for a while bout the movie, but I wont bore you with it. I’ll just leave with saying that it was . . . woah.
The week has been coming along well so far and I am facing everyday with a smile. I hope the same goes for you ^_^
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Freakin body -.-
BAH!! So I got to the doc last week and he looks in my mouth and tells my head teacher (translator of the day) that he saw that my glands were swollen and gave me all sorts of meds to beat the symptoms as well whatever it was that was ailing my system. It worked to the extent that my symptoms were reduced significantly . . . till I stopped taking the meds. Yesterday was really rough at work because of this. I was having some nasty sinus pressure to the point where I could feel a constant dull pain at the spot where my nose connects to my head. It was even throbbing at times, and my eyes were bloodshot and tearing up frequently. Fortunately Wednesday is a light day and my staff took extra concern and my manager took me to a different doctor. The doc thought it was something more along the lines of what I was actually feeling and gave me knew meds. Thank gosh. My manager sent me home and I promptly went to bed after taking some. Like before, they are working, but I am feeling a lot better already. I feel nothing like I did last night. Hopefully these pills persist and knock whatever it is that has been afflicting my immune system into non-existence. I am a lot more optimistic this time around.
Now that I got that out of my system . . . I have had my eyes opened to a new consideration in terms of kid students. I have noticed that shy and nervous kids tend to not perform well in class. They are often too quiet for me to hear and do not open their minds to class activities. On the other hand, I have noticed that if a kid is too comfortable with you, they wont respect your authority or the class in general. I am working on finding that happy medium where I am in good with the students to the point where they are comfortable, but not sacrificing their classroom attentiveness in the process. It is a conundrum that I know I won’t solve until I have a bit more experience, but I am at least aware of the issue and am happy to be striving toward that.
The past weekend was particularly good. I had dinner with an old friend from the states (worked at In N Out with me), his family and a friend of theirs. He has been here for the last six years and is married with a son (an adorable little boy). It was a wonderful few hours over some nabe, beer, and Kyushu made souchu. We sat around and talked talked about each other (as I didn’t know two of the people), tried to make the boy smile, and did a lot of laughing. I could feel the closeness of everyone at the table and I found the atmosphere to be spiritually therapeutic. There is something so peaceful about being in vicinity of a happy family or family like atmosphere.
There is more to discuss but I find myself out of time. Sorry . . . more to come next time!
Now that I got that out of my system . . . I have had my eyes opened to a new consideration in terms of kid students. I have noticed that shy and nervous kids tend to not perform well in class. They are often too quiet for me to hear and do not open their minds to class activities. On the other hand, I have noticed that if a kid is too comfortable with you, they wont respect your authority or the class in general. I am working on finding that happy medium where I am in good with the students to the point where they are comfortable, but not sacrificing their classroom attentiveness in the process. It is a conundrum that I know I won’t solve until I have a bit more experience, but I am at least aware of the issue and am happy to be striving toward that.
The past weekend was particularly good. I had dinner with an old friend from the states (worked at In N Out with me), his family and a friend of theirs. He has been here for the last six years and is married with a son (an adorable little boy). It was a wonderful few hours over some nabe, beer, and Kyushu made souchu. We sat around and talked talked about each other (as I didn’t know two of the people), tried to make the boy smile, and did a lot of laughing. I could feel the closeness of everyone at the table and I found the atmosphere to be spiritually therapeutic. There is something so peaceful about being in vicinity of a happy family or family like atmosphere.
There is more to discuss but I find myself out of time. Sorry . . . more to come next time!
Freakin body -.-
BAH!! So I got to the doc last week and he looks in my mouth and tells my head teacher (translator of the day) that he saw that my glands were swollen and gave me all sorts of meds to beat the symptoms as well whatever it was that was ailing my system. It worked to the extent that my symptoms were reduced significantly . . . till I stopped taking the meds. Yesterday was really rough at work because of this. I was having some nasty sinus pressure to the point where I could feel a constant dull pain at the spot where my nose connects to my head. It was even throbbing at times, and my eyes were bloodshot and tearing up frequently. Fortunately Wednesday is a light day and my staff took extra concern and my manager took me to a different doctor. The doc thought it was something more along the lines of what I was actually feeling and gave me knew meds. Thank gosh. My manager sent me home and I promptly went to bed after taking some. Like before, they are working, but I am feeling a lot better already. I feel nothing like I did last night. Hopefully these pills persist and knock whatever it is that has been afflicting my immune system into non-existence. I am a lot more optimistic this time around.
Now that I got that out of my system . . . I have had my eyes opened to a new consideration in terms of kid students. I have noticed that shy and nervous kids tend to not perform well in class. They are often too quiet for me to hear and do not open their minds to class activities. On the other hand, I have noticed that if a kid is too comfortable with you, they wont respect your authority or the class in general. I am working on finding that happy medium where I am in good with the students to the point where they are comfortable, but not sacrificing their classroom attentiveness in the process. It is a conundrum that I know I won’t solve until I have a bit more experience, but I am at least aware of the issue and am happy to be striving toward that.
The past weekend was particularly good. I had dinner with an old friend from the states (worked at In N Out with me), his family and a friend of theirs. He has been here for the last six years and is married with a son (an adorable little boy). It was a wonderful few hours over some nabe, beer, and Kyushu made souchu. We sat around and talked talked about each other (as I didn’t know two of the people), tried to make the boy smile, and did a lot of laughing. I could feel the closeness of everyone at the table and I found the atmosphere to be spiritually therapeutic. There is something so peaceful about being in vicinity of a happy family or family like atmosphere.
There is more to discuss but I find myself out of time. Sorry . . . more to come next time!
Now that I got that out of my system . . . I have had my eyes opened to a new consideration in terms of kid students. I have noticed that shy and nervous kids tend to not perform well in class. They are often too quiet for me to hear and do not open their minds to class activities. On the other hand, I have noticed that if a kid is too comfortable with you, they wont respect your authority or the class in general. I am working on finding that happy medium where I am in good with the students to the point where they are comfortable, but not sacrificing their classroom attentiveness in the process. It is a conundrum that I know I won’t solve until I have a bit more experience, but I am at least aware of the issue and am happy to be striving toward that.
The past weekend was particularly good. I had dinner with an old friend from the states (worked at In N Out with me), his family and a friend of theirs. He has been here for the last six years and is married with a son (an adorable little boy). It was a wonderful few hours over some nabe, beer, and Kyushu made souchu. We sat around and talked talked about each other (as I didn’t know two of the people), tried to make the boy smile, and did a lot of laughing. I could feel the closeness of everyone at the table and I found the atmosphere to be spiritually therapeutic. There is something so peaceful about being in vicinity of a happy family or family like atmosphere.
There is more to discuss but I find myself out of time. Sorry . . . more to come next time!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Here comes the weekend
There is a video along with this post. Please refer to my blogger site to get the full scoop on my update.
Here are pics of something I forgot to mention in the video. We put up some decorations for Christmas in the office (and here are some pics of the Sushi). I like the atmospheric change and think the decorations to be a nice touch . . . Enjoy ^_^
Here are pics of something I forgot to mention in the video. We put up some decorations for Christmas in the office (and here are some pics of the Sushi). I like the atmospheric change and think the decorations to be a nice touch . . . Enjoy ^_^
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Made it!
I was granted the privilege to breath easy at work 26 days before I was scheduled to. My school managed to meet it’s sales goal for the self-study program this fall/winter in record time (the goal wasn’t even reached last year). Now my head teacher has to buy the TMX Elmo for the staff’s entertainment and I can now feel less pressure in offering materials to my students. Some of them can actually benefit from what the materials have to offer, and I will happily do so if I think they will truly benefit from em or are actually interested. I am expecting to enjoy December at work a bit more now ^_^
Classes have been going well since my last entry . . . for the most part. I had an open house where three of the four kids’ brains wouldn’t work cause their Mom’s were in the room. It drove me absolutely bats and I felt horrible after that class (UGH!!). Other than that though, I have no other negative things to report. Something funny happened today though. One of my originally super-shy kids really surprised me today. I forgot what I did, but I said “Im sorry” to her because of it, and she responded to me in Japanese “I can not forgive you.” It wasn’t a big deal and she was clearly playing, but it was sooooo funny. I was so shocked (in a good way) that she would say such a thing. I wish you could have seen it. I was laughing even after she left LOL. Usually this would bother me, but even though she said something like that, she tried her best when it came time to getting serious. I think she is just comfortable finally, and I am glad she can express that haha.
On Christmas day, we are having our kids’ Christmas party at work . . . That will make the day a lot happier for me than what I expect it would probably be if I was doing nothing that day. I think I will be just fine this Christmas . . . Though I still wish you were here to share it with me.
I made a difficult decision this week. As most of you know, I love the music artist named Kaskade. Well, he is coming to Japan this week for a three-day tour. He will be in Tokyo on Friday, in Nagoya on Saturday, and in Kyoto on Sunday. I decided not to go to the Friday show cause I have class Saturday and thought it would be childish and unfair to my students to lower my teaching effectiveness for the sake of a concert/good time that amounted to nothing more than a good memory. I could go to event in Nagoya on Saturday, but the trip there and back would cost about a hundred bucks. Not only that, but I would need to rest somewhere as well in order to recover and I wouldn’t have much time to explore. If I was making a short trip with a friend out of this venture I might have done it, but the present circumstances are not desirable enough. Too bad, but I am sure he’ll be back! This is a big deal for me. I have done dumb stuff in the past just to see this guy perform . . . I am glad I have grown past that . . . Can’t wait till he returns though!
Classes have been going well since my last entry . . . for the most part. I had an open house where three of the four kids’ brains wouldn’t work cause their Mom’s were in the room. It drove me absolutely bats and I felt horrible after that class (UGH!!). Other than that though, I have no other negative things to report. Something funny happened today though. One of my originally super-shy kids really surprised me today. I forgot what I did, but I said “Im sorry” to her because of it, and she responded to me in Japanese “I can not forgive you.” It wasn’t a big deal and she was clearly playing, but it was sooooo funny. I was so shocked (in a good way) that she would say such a thing. I wish you could have seen it. I was laughing even after she left LOL. Usually this would bother me, but even though she said something like that, she tried her best when it came time to getting serious. I think she is just comfortable finally, and I am glad she can express that haha.
On Christmas day, we are having our kids’ Christmas party at work . . . That will make the day a lot happier for me than what I expect it would probably be if I was doing nothing that day. I think I will be just fine this Christmas . . . Though I still wish you were here to share it with me.
I made a difficult decision this week. As most of you know, I love the music artist named Kaskade. Well, he is coming to Japan this week for a three-day tour. He will be in Tokyo on Friday, in Nagoya on Saturday, and in Kyoto on Sunday. I decided not to go to the Friday show cause I have class Saturday and thought it would be childish and unfair to my students to lower my teaching effectiveness for the sake of a concert/good time that amounted to nothing more than a good memory. I could go to event in Nagoya on Saturday, but the trip there and back would cost about a hundred bucks. Not only that, but I would need to rest somewhere as well in order to recover and I wouldn’t have much time to explore. If I was making a short trip with a friend out of this venture I might have done it, but the present circumstances are not desirable enough. Too bad, but I am sure he’ll be back! This is a big deal for me. I have done dumb stuff in the past just to see this guy perform . . . I am glad I have grown past that . . . Can’t wait till he returns though!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Feeling better
I am coming around from a long run of a mild cough or cold that has been persisting for over the last two weeks. I had a few too many drinks with a friend last Monday and made my situation even worse and I decided to give in and finally go to the doctor this Monday after I realized I wasn’t going to get any better on my own. Like I said, the affects of my illness were mild overall and I did a lot of resting, so I was ok to work but did little else. I would usually go home and quickly go to bed. Thus, there will be a sense of discontinuity with my entries over the next few days, cause I don’t want for these to be too long for you to read by packing in everything I have wanted to relay over the last seven days.
Over the last week, I had a lot of time to myself because I can be kinda grumpy when I am sick and thus avoided real-time Internet communication or hanging out during the week. I did a lot of thinking in that time and realized a little bit more about myself. I have been able to change in my short time here. The person I was when I left California would have trouble understanding the person I am right now. Some of my values have shifted and beliefs towards certain things have been shifted. I feel like lot more is clear me, and making small life decisions will now be that much easier. To sum up what I have learned in one sentence, I say that; just because I have the lifestyle of an “adult” doesn’t mean that I automatically become one.
I was still somewhat of an idiot kid when I came to Japan and acted in that capacity, but I realized that as time drew on and have reduced that behavior to (what I believe to be) an age appropriate level. I am relieved to report that I am 26 and actually seem to be acting like it.
Last Friday I got one of the best surprises. One of my kids students presented me with this:
I am was and still am so touched . . . even if his Mom made him do it LOL. He presented it to me with sincerity. Not much more to say.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sochu -_-
Good weekend last weekend. I didn’t do as much as usual, but it is nice to relax and relatively bum it once in a while. Work on Saturday went well. I was rested and enjoyed all of my classes. A couple of them got cancelled, due to students not showing up and I was able to get a head-start on this weeks prep. It was very helpful as I didn't feel too hot today (I’ll explain later) and was a bit busy, so I needed the extra time today. I was also able to make a sale of self-study material, which kept the pressure off a bit. I’m grateful for the ease of my present situation and it further helps that I think the student will benefit from and probably enjoy the material he purchased. A good Saturday, overall. After work, a co-worker and I hit my favorite Curry place and I took it easy for the rest of the evening. Felt good.
On Sunday, I was finally able to finish my Christmas shopping, to my great relief, and make a little trip out of the errand. The city I did it in was one of the big tourist stops here (Asakusa), but I checked out a different attraction than Senso-ji. My next-door neighbor in Irvine had a Japanese exchange student homestaying with her, whom I have recently been in touch with, and she told me about a really good ramen shop there. Naturally, I had to go and am so glad I did. I have a new favorite ramen place. The meal was amazing; I hadn’t even eaten breakfast and I was sooo full when I was finished . . . I couldn’t eve slurp down the soup 0_0 Anywho, I walked around some while and after I shopped and then later bummed it at home for the rest of the afternoon and night. A good day.
On Monday, I did all my chores, caught up with some friends back in the US and was fortunate enough to meet up with a long lost friend here. A co-worker from In-N-Out had come here 6 years ago a year after he graduated and he never went back. He is now married with a young child and seems to be doing really well. We had some dinner and a few drinks at the local izakaya. It was really nice catching up and also quite a learning experience learning experience as I was really interested in his job. We talked about stuff like that for about 3 hours and it definitely left an impression with me. I’m looking forward to hanging out with him again. . . and I wanna meet his boy lol.
Today was a good day even though I was feeling the effects of a few too many drinks from the night before. Got my work out in, enjoyed my Japanese lesson with my co-worker and survived work just fine with mild ill affect haha. I’ll be turning in early tonight though! Anyway, I had another good kid moment today. My genius 5 year old likes Michael Jackson a lot and his mom requested that I try to teach him to sing some of the songs in class if I could. Well I totally had time today and I taught him a piece of ABC by Jackson five . . . he and mom liked it ^_^ I also noticed that he expresses himself to me in English a lot more recently. It’s very encouraging. He may be better than me at English some day. The rest of the kids’ classes went ok. I don't like the lesson for today and since I wasn’t feeling too hot, class didn’t go as well as I liked, but they could have been worse for sure. Hopefully I am better tomorrow and won’t have any problems.
We’ll see!
On Sunday, I was finally able to finish my Christmas shopping, to my great relief, and make a little trip out of the errand. The city I did it in was one of the big tourist stops here (Asakusa), but I checked out a different attraction than Senso-ji. My next-door neighbor in Irvine had a Japanese exchange student homestaying with her, whom I have recently been in touch with, and she told me about a really good ramen shop there. Naturally, I had to go and am so glad I did. I have a new favorite ramen place. The meal was amazing; I hadn’t even eaten breakfast and I was sooo full when I was finished . . . I couldn’t eve slurp down the soup 0_0 Anywho, I walked around some while and after I shopped and then later bummed it at home for the rest of the afternoon and night. A good day.
On Monday, I did all my chores, caught up with some friends back in the US and was fortunate enough to meet up with a long lost friend here. A co-worker from In-N-Out had come here 6 years ago a year after he graduated and he never went back. He is now married with a young child and seems to be doing really well. We had some dinner and a few drinks at the local izakaya. It was really nice catching up and also quite a learning experience learning experience as I was really interested in his job. We talked about stuff like that for about 3 hours and it definitely left an impression with me. I’m looking forward to hanging out with him again. . . and I wanna meet his boy lol.
Today was a good day even though I was feeling the effects of a few too many drinks from the night before. Got my work out in, enjoyed my Japanese lesson with my co-worker and survived work just fine with mild ill affect haha. I’ll be turning in early tonight though! Anyway, I had another good kid moment today. My genius 5 year old likes Michael Jackson a lot and his mom requested that I try to teach him to sing some of the songs in class if I could. Well I totally had time today and I taught him a piece of ABC by Jackson five . . . he and mom liked it ^_^ I also noticed that he expresses himself to me in English a lot more recently. It’s very encouraging. He may be better than me at English some day. The rest of the kids’ classes went ok. I don't like the lesson for today and since I wasn’t feeling too hot, class didn’t go as well as I liked, but they could have been worse for sure. Hopefully I am better tomorrow and won’t have any problems.
We’ll see!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday
The cold has finally come to my town. I have been consistently wearing a scarf with my outfit when going out and wearing long sleeved garments when around the house. That’s only cause I am too cheap to use the heater most of the time though LOL. Of course, I intend to use it if you ever stay over at my place; I’m not that cheap haha. I like this weather though and have always enjoyed it. I don't feel sticky or gross all the time and it is easier to get warm than to stay cool, for me. I will definitely be enjoying the weather over the next 4 or 5 months.
Work has been going well. Still busy as I expected, but it has been nice to not worry bout prep as well as all these other responsibilities I have had to pay attention to. The open houses have gone well enough. Actually, only one Mom showed up yesterday, so it was pretty much a none-issue. On the other hand, all but one showed up for today’s class though. I was kinda worried as this class is probably my biggest problem class and I was expecting a somewhat tough time with them and the parents having problems. Fortunately, my students decided to help me out and actually play like well behaved and invested students and the class went better than it has in a long time. Whew! I have one tomorrow, which I think will go just fine, but the Moms are really involved and I fear any dissatisfaction. We shall see how it goes 0_0
Other than that; I have no real news or thoughts to report. Just gotta keep on top of my rest, so that I don't get sick amidst this change of weather. I hope all is well and miss you <3
Work has been going well. Still busy as I expected, but it has been nice to not worry bout prep as well as all these other responsibilities I have had to pay attention to. The open houses have gone well enough. Actually, only one Mom showed up yesterday, so it was pretty much a none-issue. On the other hand, all but one showed up for today’s class though. I was kinda worried as this class is probably my biggest problem class and I was expecting a somewhat tough time with them and the parents having problems. Fortunately, my students decided to help me out and actually play like well behaved and invested students and the class went better than it has in a long time. Whew! I have one tomorrow, which I think will go just fine, but the Moms are really involved and I fear any dissatisfaction. We shall see how it goes 0_0
Other than that; I have no real news or thoughts to report. Just gotta keep on top of my rest, so that I don't get sick amidst this change of weather. I hope all is well and miss you <3
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Weekend report
This past weekend was a great one! After work on Saturday, I just vegged in my apartment and did whatever while watching a couple of movies. It is nice to go brain numb every once in a while. On Sunday, I took care of some chores and refused to stay indoors since the weather was so freakin beautiful. I headed out to find this park in my city (that had alluded me one night back in the summer) and was successful in doing so it. It is a wonderful little spot. A perfect place to, go walk off some steam, go for a walk (even a romantic one with a date), or just forget the civilization that surrounds you all together for a bit. I walked around most of it and was really taken aback by its peacefulness even though a good amount of people were there. Every one I saw seemed happy and in high spirits. I took some pictures and did some good thinking and am looking forward to late May or June when the fireflies are supposed to be out and about.
After the park, I had hip-hop class and it went well as usual. Like I said before, the classmates are getting used to me and getting friendlier every week. It's a refreshing experience every time I go. After class I stayed after and chatted with my choreographer a bit. Turns out that He developed quite a fondness for hip hop culture as he studied it in college and on his own, which motivated him to start dancing. Now he dedicates himself to continuously further the art of hip hop dance whenever he has the time to do so. He’s got some undeniable passion and discipline. Haha, he also wants to go out drinking sometime after the performance in January. I am definitely looking forward to that!
On Monday, I enjoyed another cool first experience here . . . Footsol! Footsol is basically 5v5 soccer on a smaller field with a smaller ball and some of the minor rules are changed. So I went with a friend of my manager and he, as well as everyone else there, spoke and understood as much English as I do Japanese. He and everyone were really nice though and I had a really good time playing. It turned out to be a friendly tournament and with about 50 participants. I had the luck of being on the strongest team as we won the tournament 0_0 I wasn’t a starter for our team or anything, but I was ok with that. Footsol can be REALLY tiring if you aren’t conditioned for it and I was grateful to have been invited out and allowed to participate in the first place. Afterward, My manager’s friend took me to this restaurant at a market in Yokohama that had US portions of food at U.S. prices. I freakin gorged myself LOL. It was a great time and I was glad to have made a new friend. Ha plans to join my manager and I for snowboarding in the winter.
The workweek started off well enough. Due to all the work I was able to accomplish last week, I was able to majorly cut down on my normal weekly prep time. I easily finished everything today even though it was kinda hectic. Hopefully “the sailing” continues to go smoothly. Businesswise, we are in a good place right now, so the pressure isn’t too high and everyone is in fair spirits. I hope we can keep it going.
So this week and next, parents will be coming into class with their kids. I’m a little nervous about it, but I actually had one today and it didn’t overly affect me in any ill manner. Actually, I didn’t notice the parents for most of the class. I hope all of them go this well or better.
Haha, another cute attack story happened today. My head teacher has this lesson for 5~6 year olds with two really cute students and one of them is an absolute doll. She seems to have gotten comfortable with me since she was in my group for the Halloween party and has been all smiles with me as a result. Well today she broke my cute-meter twice. First time was before one of my classes while I was playin around with my genius 5 year old. I was just goofing off and did something goofy with my hands and the girl totally cracked up from the other end of the lobby. The laugh was quite infectious and I quickly joined in with her. Then after class, my head teacher was doing the lesson review with the two (they were going over what animals say), and When the head teacher asked “what does a tiger say;” she said “ROARRRR” and kinda leaned in to him as if she were an intimidating animal herself. It was too much and I started cracking up . . . and her Mom (right next to me) did the same. I am so excited to teach her in the spring >_<
One thing I have wanted to mention, and always forgot, is a funny phenomenon I wasn’t expecting. I guess some older women here find it fashionable to dye their hair purple. I’m not talking subtle highlights either; I am talking about straight up in your face unnatural PURPLE. I have no problems with it, but am just simply amused by how the old ladies find it fashionable here while the old ladies in the US fuss at their kids or grandkids for “having crazy hair.” Definitely something to look for if you ever come out here.
Other than that all I well and I will keep it commin ^_^
After the park, I had hip-hop class and it went well as usual. Like I said before, the classmates are getting used to me and getting friendlier every week. It's a refreshing experience every time I go. After class I stayed after and chatted with my choreographer a bit. Turns out that He developed quite a fondness for hip hop culture as he studied it in college and on his own, which motivated him to start dancing. Now he dedicates himself to continuously further the art of hip hop dance whenever he has the time to do so. He’s got some undeniable passion and discipline. Haha, he also wants to go out drinking sometime after the performance in January. I am definitely looking forward to that!
On Monday, I enjoyed another cool first experience here . . . Footsol! Footsol is basically 5v5 soccer on a smaller field with a smaller ball and some of the minor rules are changed. So I went with a friend of my manager and he, as well as everyone else there, spoke and understood as much English as I do Japanese. He and everyone were really nice though and I had a really good time playing. It turned out to be a friendly tournament and with about 50 participants. I had the luck of being on the strongest team as we won the tournament 0_0 I wasn’t a starter for our team or anything, but I was ok with that. Footsol can be REALLY tiring if you aren’t conditioned for it and I was grateful to have been invited out and allowed to participate in the first place. Afterward, My manager’s friend took me to this restaurant at a market in Yokohama that had US portions of food at U.S. prices. I freakin gorged myself LOL. It was a great time and I was glad to have made a new friend. Ha plans to join my manager and I for snowboarding in the winter.
The workweek started off well enough. Due to all the work I was able to accomplish last week, I was able to majorly cut down on my normal weekly prep time. I easily finished everything today even though it was kinda hectic. Hopefully “the sailing” continues to go smoothly. Businesswise, we are in a good place right now, so the pressure isn’t too high and everyone is in fair spirits. I hope we can keep it going.
So this week and next, parents will be coming into class with their kids. I’m a little nervous about it, but I actually had one today and it didn’t overly affect me in any ill manner. Actually, I didn’t notice the parents for most of the class. I hope all of them go this well or better.
Haha, another cute attack story happened today. My head teacher has this lesson for 5~6 year olds with two really cute students and one of them is an absolute doll. She seems to have gotten comfortable with me since she was in my group for the Halloween party and has been all smiles with me as a result. Well today she broke my cute-meter twice. First time was before one of my classes while I was playin around with my genius 5 year old. I was just goofing off and did something goofy with my hands and the girl totally cracked up from the other end of the lobby. The laugh was quite infectious and I quickly joined in with her. Then after class, my head teacher was doing the lesson review with the two (they were going over what animals say), and When the head teacher asked “what does a tiger say;” she said “ROARRRR” and kinda leaned in to him as if she were an intimidating animal herself. It was too much and I started cracking up . . . and her Mom (right next to me) did the same. I am so excited to teach her in the spring >_<
One thing I have wanted to mention, and always forgot, is a funny phenomenon I wasn’t expecting. I guess some older women here find it fashionable to dye their hair purple. I’m not talking subtle highlights either; I am talking about straight up in your face unnatural PURPLE. I have no problems with it, but am just simply amused by how the old ladies find it fashionable here while the old ladies in the US fuss at their kids or grandkids for “having crazy hair.” Definitely something to look for if you ever come out here.
Other than that all I well and I will keep it commin ^_^
Saturday, November 14, 2009
idiot boy!
So I got to video chat with my family in VA for two hours and reconnect with some other friends on skype. It was a wonderful experience and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to see everyone smiles in real time and “catch up.” I am looking forward to a lot more video chatting in the near future ^_^
Work was a bit bothersome for me today though. I was a bit on the tired side and it affected my last class. The teaching point for that class is kind of tricky for me to teach because I don't often use the “present perfect for continuation” that much when I speak, and I let myself get confused over a particular part of the lesson. I felt very ashamed because I think it looked really bad in front of the students. I hope that they didn't mind too much about my goof up. I did recover, but I still don’t like making mistakes like that. They are steps in the wrong direction -_- I will try to make sure THAT doesn’t happen again.
On a different note, I have come to a funny realization. The gym I frequent here is like my own personal version of that local bar where everyone knows eachother. It’s really like that show “Cheers.” Every time I go in there, the same group of older men is there talking amongst themselves between sets. They are pretty impressive though as a few of them actually out lift me. There are some other folks I see there often also and everybody is starting to be friendly with me. Today one of em even went out of his way to talk to me as I left. It was a good moment ^_^ It’s actually kind of comforting in a way.
Now I am off to bed to face a hopefully fun weekend . . .z z z ZZZ z z Z
Work was a bit bothersome for me today though. I was a bit on the tired side and it affected my last class. The teaching point for that class is kind of tricky for me to teach because I don't often use the “present perfect for continuation” that much when I speak, and I let myself get confused over a particular part of the lesson. I felt very ashamed because I think it looked really bad in front of the students. I hope that they didn't mind too much about my goof up. I did recover, but I still don’t like making mistakes like that. They are steps in the wrong direction -_- I will try to make sure THAT doesn’t happen again.
On a different note, I have come to a funny realization. The gym I frequent here is like my own personal version of that local bar where everyone knows eachother. It’s really like that show “Cheers.” Every time I go in there, the same group of older men is there talking amongst themselves between sets. They are pretty impressive though as a few of them actually out lift me. There are some other folks I see there often also and everybody is starting to be friendly with me. Today one of em even went out of his way to talk to me as I left. It was a good moment ^_^ It’s actually kind of comforting in a way.
Now I am off to bed to face a hopefully fun weekend . . .z z z ZZZ z z Z
Friday, November 13, 2009
None of my business
Today went fairly well! Once again I was able to get a lot finished due to the fact that I only taught two classes. My life up until April will be a lot more manageable at work since there is a lot less prep and unnecessary busy work I have to do around the office. Feels good to have so much done.
The classes I taught today were pretty interesting. It was actually the first time I taught them ever (formally). My head teacher had business at the head office and I took over his low intermediate and high beginner classes for the day. They went fine, but I had to slow down my speech some and simplify my words a bit. I’ll be good if I ever have to teach those classes again though.
A funny thing has come to pass at work. I taught my manager and assistant manager the meaning and different ways of telling someone “its none of your business.” It was a humorous event as they got it, but what is even funnier is that they have been using the phrase on me (accurately) ever since I taught them lol. I guess they learned too well haha. So, if you meet them, be sure to mind your own business =P
The classes I taught today were pretty interesting. It was actually the first time I taught them ever (formally). My head teacher had business at the head office and I took over his low intermediate and high beginner classes for the day. They went fine, but I had to slow down my speech some and simplify my words a bit. I’ll be good if I ever have to teach those classes again though.
A funny thing has come to pass at work. I taught my manager and assistant manager the meaning and different ways of telling someone “its none of your business.” It was a humorous event as they got it, but what is even funnier is that they have been using the phrase on me (accurately) ever since I taught them lol. I guess they learned too well haha. So, if you meet them, be sure to mind your own business =P
Thursday, November 12, 2009
GOAL!
Tis the end of my second day of the workweek and things are going pretty well. The weekend ended up being great and I had a good time of it. On Sunday, I went to the soccer game and had an absolute blast. It wasn’t too crowded, my head teacher and I had good seats, and the weather wasn’t too cold. Not only that, but the crowd seemed in high spirits also. As with baseball games, Japanese fans have a lot of chants to help bolster their team’s confidence. Loud rhythmic drumming, clapping, and a good portion of the crowd jumping to the beat accompany these chants. There are also a lot of giant flags being waved around. It is a wonder whether most of the fans even can see the game amidst all the activity. It was really cool to watch (my section wasn't at all involved hehe) though. Unfortunately, my town’s team lost, but the game wasn’t a wasted outing. I will definitely catch another soccer game should the opportunity arise.
On Monday, I was able to take care of cleaning my pad, running errands and doing some shopping with my coworker. It was a good time as we chatted away a big chunk of the afternoon picking up things we need and a gift for another co-worker. In the evening I was able to work out and then go rock climbing at the rock-climbing gym near me. It felt good, but I did a thorough job of exhausting myself and slept REALLY hard that evening haha.
Yesterday started off my week well. This week is counseling week and many parents will be coming in to talk about how their kids are doing, if they will be coming back for the next year, and if they want some extra study materials. I had two of these counseling sessions yesterday. I have to let you know how funny it was to me, that one was for my best student and the other for my worst. They both went better than I expected actually and the mom of my worst student even gave me permission to discipline her kid. I don’t plan to get any stricter with him though, but . . . it's a nice though lol. He isn’t a bad kid, just an uninterested student.
Classes went well enough. Though I kinda goofed in one of em -_- (mixed up my lesson days and did the review lesson a week early). It's a complicated explanation as to why, but the mistake was caught early enough to where I was able to catch them up on what they needed to know and they did fine up to that point in the lesson anyway. The rest of the classes went as usual and one of my adult students even bought some self-study material (makes my life easier in terms of “business”).
Today was really productive as I only had two (instead of up to 5) classes and got hella prep and things around the school done that will make life easier for me in the future. I also had a good time talking and goofing with my coworkers here and there. Work is pretty nice when it is quite and everyone still has a lot of work to do. Even though there were no kids’ classes yesterday, one of my cutest students came in. She lives one or two stations away on the subway and came in all by herself. Big brave girl eh (she’s ten)? We all felt really bad and I ended up hanging out with her for an hour till her dad came into pick her up. It was fun ^_^ The rest of the day went well enough and I even helped make another sale. I’m resting easy this week. I hope the rest of it goes well.
On Monday, I was able to take care of cleaning my pad, running errands and doing some shopping with my coworker. It was a good time as we chatted away a big chunk of the afternoon picking up things we need and a gift for another co-worker. In the evening I was able to work out and then go rock climbing at the rock-climbing gym near me. It felt good, but I did a thorough job of exhausting myself and slept REALLY hard that evening haha.
Yesterday started off my week well. This week is counseling week and many parents will be coming in to talk about how their kids are doing, if they will be coming back for the next year, and if they want some extra study materials. I had two of these counseling sessions yesterday. I have to let you know how funny it was to me, that one was for my best student and the other for my worst. They both went better than I expected actually and the mom of my worst student even gave me permission to discipline her kid. I don’t plan to get any stricter with him though, but . . . it's a nice though lol. He isn’t a bad kid, just an uninterested student.
Classes went well enough. Though I kinda goofed in one of em -_- (mixed up my lesson days and did the review lesson a week early). It's a complicated explanation as to why, but the mistake was caught early enough to where I was able to catch them up on what they needed to know and they did fine up to that point in the lesson anyway. The rest of the classes went as usual and one of my adult students even bought some self-study material (makes my life easier in terms of “business”).
Today was really productive as I only had two (instead of up to 5) classes and got hella prep and things around the school done that will make life easier for me in the future. I also had a good time talking and goofing with my coworkers here and there. Work is pretty nice when it is quite and everyone still has a lot of work to do. Even though there were no kids’ classes yesterday, one of my cutest students came in. She lives one or two stations away on the subway and came in all by herself. Big brave girl eh (she’s ten)? We all felt really bad and I ended up hanging out with her for an hour till her dad came into pick her up. It was fun ^_^ The rest of the day went well enough and I even helped make another sale. I’m resting easy this week. I hope the rest of it goes well.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
かわいい！
The cutest thing that has happened to me here probably happened yesterday at work. So on Saturdays, I have nothing but adult classes, but one of my students brought her two-year-old daughter in with her. Some of you ought to know this girl I speak of as I have mentioned her before in the recent past by the way. Anywho, while Mom went to class, the assistant manager and I played babysitter and hung out with the kiddo. I didn’t really have to, but because I really adore this little one for some reason, I couldn’t resist hangin out. The assistant manager and I sat on our couch while she played with the toys and interacted with us. She did a lot of laughing and excited screaming and seemed to be having fun. She soon decided that she wanted to go to our kids’ room and wanted me to come with her. Since she speaks no English and very little Japanese, her method of beckoning me to come with her was to grab my hand and lead me to the room. Imagine a two year old leading a 26-year-old man by the hand to go play . . . cute huh?
After that, the manager asked me to take care of her by my self. We had ourselves some fun in the room until she decided she wanted to go back out to the lobby. We were out there for about 15 minutes before Mom’s class was over and while we were playing, I overheard my head teacher (in Japanese) say that I look like a dad. I liked the sound it. Hehe, all in all that hour totally made my Saturday. I hope Mom brings her in again sometime soon ^_^
The rest of work went really well and I joined my manager and a couple other students for dinner after work and nearby restaurant. I got a lot of Japanese listening practice (LOL), but was encouraged by how much I actually understood. I guess I am improving slowly but surely.
Today I am off to Nissan stadium (location of the 2002 world cup) to catch a Japan league soccer game. I have been looking forward to this since June and am excited to finally experience the place. I am considering whether or not to paint my body in the colors of the home team and just wear a speedo . . . just kidding . . . but seriously.
The rest of the weekend is looking like it will be nice and I am ready for what it has in store. I’ll let you know ^_^
Saturday, November 7, 2009
金曜日
This entry marks the beginning of an attempt to change my daily routine here. On the days that I have no pressing plans after work, I will stay in the office until the Japanese staff leaves (which is consistently a pretty long time), and study Japanese or write an update . . . as I am now doing. Reason being is that I get no internet here and the staff is busy trying to close up, so I won’t have any distractions from taking care of things that require more attention than facebook and internet antics.
Life since my last update, life has been pretty good. Last weekend I got to enjoy a three-day weekend and made good use of it. On Halloween I went to another school’s Halloween party and had a great time. I enjoyed meeting different staff and students and getting to know them a bit. Most of them were really nice and helped me have a good time. It was also cool to see what another school looked like and I was made really jealous by how much bigger a lot of the classrooms were than ours at Nakayama and that their AC was stronger. My envy isn’t very far reaching though. I like my staff and students too much to care bout room size or AC output.
After the school party, some friends and I headed to Tokyo to meet up with other friends and do some partying there. It was a pretty good time as ended up in a club that had good music, but was packed like sardines. I have to be sure to avoid clubbing here for big party holidays. Its as if there are no fire capacity laws here and I am getting over the fact real quick -_-
On Monday I headed to a city at the base of Mount Fuji with my head teacher to catch some different views of the fall leaves. It was absolutely breathtaking. I have never experienced the sight of fall leaves on this grand of a scale before. You know the colors I’m sure, and the sight stretched on for as far as the eye could see from the spots we stopped at. I will never forget the beauty of that day. I hope to share it with you sometime in some way.
On Tuesday, I went to Kamakura once again and was able to catch the “Grand Buddha” amidst perfect weather this time. I got some great pics and it was a good afternoon. Walking around the town afterward and having dinner was nostalgic for some reason though. I felt the same way I did as the times I walked the streets of Julian or Colonial Williamsburg. It was kinda cool. Imma have to go back next month to see other shrines and see how that feels lol.
Work has gone really well this week. It has been pretty “go go go” the whole time, but I am in good spirits and have been getting my rest. Relations with my co-workers and a large proportion of my students feel as if they are getting better and it makes me really happy. I am so thankful for the state of my life right now and I plan to keep working hard in order to feel like I have earned this sense of satisfaction. I know I am far from being a good teacher, and I will continue to strive for being the best I can possibly be. I want my students to be the most accomplished of any that study the language. I will do my best and we shall see how I do.
A freakin cute thing happened today though. I was teaching my 6-7 year old class and I was at the part of the lesson where we were going over letters. For kids that young, we have a letter song to help them remember letters and their specific sound in a somewhat enjoyable fashion. Ex: “I says ih ih ih, I says ih ih ih, I says ih ih ih, I is found in . . . (and choose a word the starts with I).” Well I was at a loss for a word they would understand and as I was searching my brain for a good choice, one of my girls said “igirisu.” Igirisu is the Japanese word for England and the phonetic start is exactly the same as “I”. I was overcome laughter and congratulated her on her creativity. It was an exceptionally cute teacher moment.
For the oncoming weekend I have no plans beyond hip-hop and living life to the fullest. I’ll let you know how it goes ^_^
Life since my last update, life has been pretty good. Last weekend I got to enjoy a three-day weekend and made good use of it. On Halloween I went to another school’s Halloween party and had a great time. I enjoyed meeting different staff and students and getting to know them a bit. Most of them were really nice and helped me have a good time. It was also cool to see what another school looked like and I was made really jealous by how much bigger a lot of the classrooms were than ours at Nakayama and that their AC was stronger. My envy isn’t very far reaching though. I like my staff and students too much to care bout room size or AC output.
After the school party, some friends and I headed to Tokyo to meet up with other friends and do some partying there. It was a pretty good time as ended up in a club that had good music, but was packed like sardines. I have to be sure to avoid clubbing here for big party holidays. Its as if there are no fire capacity laws here and I am getting over the fact real quick -_-
On Monday I headed to a city at the base of Mount Fuji with my head teacher to catch some different views of the fall leaves. It was absolutely breathtaking. I have never experienced the sight of fall leaves on this grand of a scale before. You know the colors I’m sure, and the sight stretched on for as far as the eye could see from the spots we stopped at. I will never forget the beauty of that day. I hope to share it with you sometime in some way.
On Tuesday, I went to Kamakura once again and was able to catch the “Grand Buddha” amidst perfect weather this time. I got some great pics and it was a good afternoon. Walking around the town afterward and having dinner was nostalgic for some reason though. I felt the same way I did as the times I walked the streets of Julian or Colonial Williamsburg. It was kinda cool. Imma have to go back next month to see other shrines and see how that feels lol.
Work has gone really well this week. It has been pretty “go go go” the whole time, but I am in good spirits and have been getting my rest. Relations with my co-workers and a large proportion of my students feel as if they are getting better and it makes me really happy. I am so thankful for the state of my life right now and I plan to keep working hard in order to feel like I have earned this sense of satisfaction. I know I am far from being a good teacher, and I will continue to strive for being the best I can possibly be. I want my students to be the most accomplished of any that study the language. I will do my best and we shall see how I do.
A freakin cute thing happened today though. I was teaching my 6-7 year old class and I was at the part of the lesson where we were going over letters. For kids that young, we have a letter song to help them remember letters and their specific sound in a somewhat enjoyable fashion. Ex: “I says ih ih ih, I says ih ih ih, I says ih ih ih, I is found in . . . (and choose a word the starts with I).” Well I was at a loss for a word they would understand and as I was searching my brain for a good choice, one of my girls said “igirisu.” Igirisu is the Japanese word for England and the phonetic start is exactly the same as “I”. I was overcome laughter and congratulated her on her creativity. It was an exceptionally cute teacher moment.
For the oncoming weekend I have no plans beyond hip-hop and living life to the fullest. I’ll let you know how it goes ^_^
Thursday, October 22, 2009
day n night
I type this amidst one “of those nights” where you get home and you are freakin tired. One of the primary reasons being the kind of day I experienced today, but I will get to that later. Yesterday was a great day at work. I was bummed that one of my favorite kid students was absent, but the rest of her mates did well and the class was a good time. At one point I was doing something that I had to focus on for a bit and I was sitting down. Since I got my hair cut over the weekend, my head must have had an inviting “pet me” look to it cause two of the students indulged their curiosity and commenced to pet me like a dog. I didn’t it mind much and in good “Wesley form” I pulled on of my favorite jokes on them. I snapped me head around real quick and barked at em like a dawg. HAHAHA you should have seen them jump! I love that joke ^_^ Other than that, things weren’t beyond normal really.
As for today . . . ugh. I started off a bit tired and my first class went fine and I even had a great advanced level interview. The prospective student had lived in London for Eight years and her English still retained the English accent. I was diggin it and my assistant manager said that my efforts were very well received. Good thing. My next class just turned my day upside down though. It is a kid’s class and they are usually my biggest nuisance at this point in time. The best-behaved student in the class was absent and the rest of them showed no interest in working with me during class. They would talk over me, interrupt me, and even disrupt activities I was trying to do (more than usual anyway). I m sure it was plain to see how annoyed I was and I think one of the boys even picked up on it. He got real quite and polite halfway through everything. For some reason, that class managed to sap me of my energy stores and I goofed up both of the next classes I later had in some way. I know we all have days like these, but that doesn’t stop them from sucking -_-
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Starto!
Yesterday was a good start off for the workweek. I got over half of my class prep done and the teachers meeting was a far stretch from being as stressful or distressing as they can sometimes be. It seems that the feel/attitude of the school has changed with the weather and I am glad for it. Going to work is a lot easier and worry free as of recently. Our Halloween parties are this Saturday evening (adults) and Sunday afternoon (kids) and the staff is really gearing up for them in terms of purchasing decorations, food, and getting as many of the students to come as possible. It should be a fun time.
In terms of classes, they went well as usual. I had my three kids classes and one person in my single adult class of the day. The lessons seemed easy for the kids (though a good few were absent this week) and my adult student caught on just fine. Talking to or playing with the students here there between classes was nice and made the day go all that faster also. Nothing especially cute or “out there” took place though, but I will take a day like yesterday any day.
One good thing I guess that is worth mentioning from yesterday has to do with the business end of things for my school. This week begins what we call our “self study program;” where we offer a variety of short courses and materials that target various English abilities at all levels to help hasten student progression. The campaign serves the purpose of enhancing learning as well as boosting profit for the company. I am getting more comfortable with the fact that AEON is business and that it is necessary for me to support my staff as they try to make sales. Yesterday I assisted my manager in our first sale. The adult student I taught signed up for a course on how to effectively take the TOEIC test (with the highest score possible) that will last for 22 classes. It’s comparable to a Kaplan course or something. Hopefully the class is useful for her and that she ends up feeling her money was well spent. I will continue to be supportive in this program and hopefully maintain being on the right side of that super thin line between offering a good service to students at a price and pestering customers just for the sake of turning a profit with disregard for their personal benefit. I think I will pull it off fine since I’m still critical of how much emphasis on money there seems to be here sometimes.
In terms of classes, they went well as usual. I had my three kids classes and one person in my single adult class of the day. The lessons seemed easy for the kids (though a good few were absent this week) and my adult student caught on just fine. Talking to or playing with the students here there between classes was nice and made the day go all that faster also. Nothing especially cute or “out there” took place though, but I will take a day like yesterday any day.
One good thing I guess that is worth mentioning from yesterday has to do with the business end of things for my school. This week begins what we call our “self study program;” where we offer a variety of short courses and materials that target various English abilities at all levels to help hasten student progression. The campaign serves the purpose of enhancing learning as well as boosting profit for the company. I am getting more comfortable with the fact that AEON is business and that it is necessary for me to support my staff as they try to make sales. Yesterday I assisted my manager in our first sale. The adult student I taught signed up for a course on how to effectively take the TOEIC test (with the highest score possible) that will last for 22 classes. It’s comparable to a Kaplan course or something. Hopefully the class is useful for her and that she ends up feeling her money was well spent. I will continue to be supportive in this program and hopefully maintain being on the right side of that super thin line between offering a good service to students at a price and pestering customers just for the sake of turning a profit with disregard for their personal benefit. I think I will pull it off fine since I’m still critical of how much emphasis on money there seems to be here sometimes.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday
Here I sit at the outset of another workweek and I find myself facing it with a smile . . . as usual since I have been here. Since my last video blog I had been fighting something off, as almost all of the staff at my school were some sort of sick. I ended up being able to beat it off though with little ill affect thank gosh.
A cute thing happened with one of my kid students on Friday. She is about 8 or 9 and is probably one of the shyest kids that I teach. She seriously looks like she is in pain from the embarrassment she goes through when she has to speak up in class. It is all-good though, since her classmates are nice and I try to be as encouraging and supportive as possible. I have noticed over the weeks though, that she has become more comfortable with me and participating in class and it has been very encouraging. She has been doing little things like waiting up for me when leaving and going to the classroom and holding the door open for me and such. It has been really cute and on Friday she did something new. Class ended and I had gotten all my materials together and was ready to head down. I turned the light off and noticed she had left her sweater on her chair and when I turned to call her, she was fiddling with the board, and then looked at me and sat in my chair with a playful grin on her face. I was a bit touched and even a bit relieved. I know this scene may not seem like anything special, but I never expected her to be like that with me. Now that I know she is comfortable with me, helping her improve will be a lot easier I think. We shall see.
Saturday night I had dinner with co-workers after work, which was really pleasant. I seem (so far) to have a good working relationship with all my staff and am not repeating the mistakes I made at my previous job. I have respect for those in charge of me (save some trainers that I never see) and am not taking myself too seriously in my job. I attribute this to two primary reasons. The first is that I actually respect the work I do and actually feel like most of my efforts are contributing to something good and I get to interact with people in a meaningful way and they actually respect me as a person. The other thing is that I learned from my last job. I never want to be bitter like that towards my work again and I think it is a bit of a bummer for things to have played out like that, but it is necessary I guess. I will endeavor to keep things going well at work in terms of being a team player and good teacher.
Sunday, I felt ok enough to go to hip hop class and it was a great time as usual. My instructor always has me translate terms or different moves during class and teases the girls that he will quiz them later or he just puts them on the spot and asks what certain words mean. It’s pretty entertaining. The girls also seem to be getting used to my weekly presence and even talk to me more. Yesterday was unique in that I hung for a while after class and I chatted with them, the instructor and even one of the Moms. It was really nice and pretty funny as one of them kept practicing English with me and the others were all making jokes. Also, since I can’t partake in the performance, the instructor wants to get our class to do another sort of performance sometime next year around February so that I could actually perform with the group. It was really touching and I really felt like I belonged in that moment. I am really thankful to have found that class and look forward to being able to speak more with everyone as I improve my Japanese.
The rest of the weekend up till now was a good one even though I spent a lot of it in my pad trying to beat whatever I was fighting. I was feeling really good today when I woke up and was actually surprised at how many errands I was able to take care of. I will be starting this week fresh and on the right foot hopefully.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
a good wednesday
All rights, I am kinda diggin this video thing. For those of you chacking this ish on facebook; just click on the link to VIEW ORIGINAL POST. there you will be able to watch what facebook isnt posting.
For those that get this to their e-mail; could you let me know if this is showing up in the message or not and if you are having problems viewing?
Everyone, if you have any feedback on the video blog idea; please give it to me. It is mostly for you, so if a lot of ya think it is a bad idea, I will just halt this endeavor. Hope you are having a wonderful day/evening
For those that get this to their e-mail; could you let me know if this is showing up in the message or not and if you are having problems viewing?
Everyone, if you have any feedback on the video blog idea; please give it to me. It is mostly for you, so if a lot of ya think it is a bad idea, I will just halt this endeavor. Hope you are having a wonderful day/evening
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Here's a try at something different
So from now on I am probably going to blog in this manner as I want to do a better and more consistent job about telling you how things are going here. We shall see.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I SKYPEd with the burbank crew and it totally made my day monday. I really miss you guys and was glad to see you all together. Quite heartwarming ^_^
PS. I said august when I meant OCTOBER. I am so impressed with how I can even mess up a video blog
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I SKYPEd with the burbank crew and it totally made my day monday. I really miss you guys and was glad to see you all together. Quite heartwarming ^_^
PS. I said august when I meant OCTOBER. I am so impressed with how I can even mess up a video blog
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
whoops
Wow I was totally unawares of how long it has been. Having had only three days of work after silver week threw me off a bit I guess. Sorry bout that. Well, all in all, things have been well since I have last written. The three days of work after silver week were really kickback as there were no kids’ classes and all the normal classes were canceled. It was the perfect transition into work after a vacation. The one thing that was a bit less than desirable was that one responsibility I had been alluding to and complaining about in other posts had to be done still. I finished it on time and to standard, but geez that was difficult for me. Good thing its over.
The weekend was a good one. I went clubbing on Saturday nigh, and it was a great time as always. I went early so I could study up on my Japanese a bit so I would feel less guilty bout partying the night away, and I managed to have a moment. I sat down in the upstairs seating of a McDonalds to do my thing and a Japanese gentleman sat down right next to me about ten minutes later. It turns out he was studying English and noticed me studying Japanese haha. So he got my attention and we talked and helped each other for about a half hour and headed our ways (me to the club and him to some friends). Its moments like those that make life so worthwhile out here. At the club I managed to make nightlong friends and did my thing like I normally do. A well spent Saturday night. On Sunday I took it easy and just went to hip hop class. Nothing special went down though.
On Monday, I was SUPPOSED to go rock climbing, but they were remodeling and my homie and I were quite put out. It was all-good as I got to go birthday shopping for Moms and hang with good company all day. We shopped around Yokohama for a bit and then took the show to Akihabara to look for a costume for Halloween. It was a failure, but at least the company was good. We then headed to Gotanda to this freakin awesome steakhouse here. It was amazing. The sauce was a bit different, but the steak itself was indistinguishable from what you get in the states. A little pricey, but it was an amazing dinner. It was my first real steak in Japan and my stomach was very happy with me that night.
I’ll make another post for last week and the weekend tomorrow. Gotta sleep
-_-
The weekend was a good one. I went clubbing on Saturday nigh, and it was a great time as always. I went early so I could study up on my Japanese a bit so I would feel less guilty bout partying the night away, and I managed to have a moment. I sat down in the upstairs seating of a McDonalds to do my thing and a Japanese gentleman sat down right next to me about ten minutes later. It turns out he was studying English and noticed me studying Japanese haha. So he got my attention and we talked and helped each other for about a half hour and headed our ways (me to the club and him to some friends). Its moments like those that make life so worthwhile out here. At the club I managed to make nightlong friends and did my thing like I normally do. A well spent Saturday night. On Sunday I took it easy and just went to hip hop class. Nothing special went down though.
On Monday, I was SUPPOSED to go rock climbing, but they were remodeling and my homie and I were quite put out. It was all-good as I got to go birthday shopping for Moms and hang with good company all day. We shopped around Yokohama for a bit and then took the show to Akihabara to look for a costume for Halloween. It was a failure, but at least the company was good. We then headed to Gotanda to this freakin awesome steakhouse here. It was amazing. The sauce was a bit different, but the steak itself was indistinguishable from what you get in the states. A little pricey, but it was an amazing dinner. It was my first real steak in Japan and my stomach was very happy with me that night.
I’ll make another post for last week and the weekend tomorrow. Gotta sleep
-_-
Friday, September 25, 2009
Silver week
So it is the beginning of the second day after I returned from my silver week vacation. From Monday until Wednesday night, I was with my head teacher, his friend and one other in the Tochigi prefecture enjoying what the Japanese countryside had to offer. It was a good crew for the trip. I get along with my head teacher and it turned out that his friend and the other gentlemen were really good company. The people that are with you make a really big difference.
On Monday, we set out and ended up in Nikko to go see the Toshogu Shrine. Traffic wasn't too bad until we got to Nikko (everyone had a similar idea to us) and we got there at around 1 or 2ish I think. Since the roads were small and traffic was really heavy on the road to Toshogu, we parked a few Kilometers away and walked up the local streets to our location. It was a nice walk actually as that area was really pretty and there was plenty for my eyes to enjoy on the walk. Check facebook for pics. We also stopped for lunch at a Mom and Pap Korean restaurant on the way. It was a really cute place with maybe five or six tables and walls decorated with notes and pics from foreigners that have visited in the past. The owners were really sweet and talked to us while we ate and shared stories of popular customers or awards they have gotten. Definitely a good way to start off the Nikko experience . . . full of tasty Korean style food.
The Shrine was Magnificent. From the location amidst a national park to the careful detail of the artwork on every building, there was nothing about the place that was unimpressive. Leyasu was definitely an important guy because the effort that went into putting Toshogu together is clearly more apparent than other shrines I have seen here thus far. Unfortunately I was a bit sick that day and didn't get the full experience I could have, but I will still not easily forget how impressed with that place I was.
From there we got to our hotel that was basically a really big house run by an old married couple that have been there for 25 years. I was really impressed with the service we were met with, as were my companions. They made breakfast and dinner for us the two days we stayed and the meals were multi-course meal feasts. I am still hitting myself for not taking pictures of em. Probably had to do with the fact that I was dog tired by the time we sat down for dinner everyday. Also, Our room was a Six Tatami mat sized room, so sleeping was a snug experience and we spent very little time in our room. That was fine, since the living room was stocked with manga and board games that kept us occupied for hours on our second night. ^_^ A wonderful hotel.
On day two, we got up bright and early in order to catch the first Gandola to get to the 2000 Meter station of Mt. Shirane (Shirane san). It was a cloudy cool day that was perfect for a day of hiking . . . Not to mention that the leaves were turning already and the beauty started even before we started. We got to the station with no issue and got to the top of the mountain in about 2 hours. Freakin gorgeous and I have already posted good pics. Check em. From the top, we took a different path to a little pond and had lunch and then took a new path to the Gandola station and got down there even quicker. At the station, they had a foot hot spring where you could kick off your shoes and soak your feet as you enjoyed a 2000 foot view of the area. We of course took advantage of it and headed back to the hotel a little while after. We were on the mountain for around five hours, and it was a great time. I realize that I love to hike and plan to do more of it here.
After we got to the hotel and washed up, I took a long as nap to kick my cold and then played ultimate Frisbee with my crew for a bit. From there, we hit my first onsen that was about 5 minutes away. Those things are REALLY hot. It was a natural spring and I only lasted in there for about 10 minutes tops. I was totally cooked to. My body wasn’t used to that much heat for that long hehe. A good experience though. I’ll definitely be frequenting onsens in the future!
On Wednesday we checked out and headed to Kogen falls and Edomura. The falls were on the way and really pretty. Nothin much else to say about them though. As for Edomura, it is a historical theme park that is based on the Japanese way of life during the Edo period. Basically all the staff/cast dress in edo clothing and play a role all day while there are shops, shows and small attractions for guests to enjoy. Furthermore, they offer (even encourage) costume rentals from ninja to nobility of the time that my companions and I took advantage of the oppertunity. I choose to be a ninja and the other two were Samurai. I felt a little silly and of course got a lot of looks from being the white blue-eyed ninja but it wasn't a big deal. After we got dressed up and took some pictures, we caught the shows, threw Ninja stars, shot arrows and enjoyed the feel of the Edo period. If you come to Japan, you definitely want to check out Edomura. Be sure to rent the ninja outfit also, as it is really comfortable =P
Getting home was quick and painless and a good cap to a really nice getaway. I am sad it is over, but not sad to be back. It is counseling week at work and the rest of the week will be fairly low key. I like how it feels. It is a good transition from having so much time off. Whew, well I am off to work and have yet to plan out my weekend. We shall see what goes down.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thanks for the love!
Life has been fairly hectic this week. At work, we are preparing for our counseling week that will take place after our short holiday. Basically, what is goin on is the Japanese staff at my school will be having meetings with parents of the children students next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. In the meantime, there are no kids classes and the normally scheduled adult classes are canceled as well, but we will be teaching review and private lessons to any of the students that are interested. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but the catch comes in at the fact I have to write progress reports for my kids students. I have to rank their current level in five categories for both present and past levels, and then write remarks about the student. Also not a big deal . . . BUT, lets just say I don't get to say what I want to on all of the reports. This limitation has been making this task incredibly difficult and time consuming. I really really REALLY hate certain affects of money.
In terms of teaching, life was great this week. All the adult classes have been fun as usual and my little molesters’ class was really good yesterday. They must have subconsciously known that it was my birthday haha. Oh, so I got a new student in one of my middle age elementary classes. I think that day was the first time she actually spoke English in a formal setting, but she tried really hard and had a really cute personality. There is one other boy in the class, who is really strong, but he seemed a bit bored with trying to let her catch up. Hopefully he can be helpful. I am planning to ask my head teacher to talk with him so he can help me get her up to speed and they can enjoy class a little more. Also, The middle school trial student from a few weeks back signed up for my class, and I am pretty excited bout that as well. She is pretty strong as well and I think her presence will help the other three come out of their shells a bit more. We’ll see.
Last weekend started on Saturday night with the Pot Luck Party at work. It was good times hanging and talking with the students and afterward we took the show to the Karaoke room and sang away the night till about 130am. On Sunday, I had hip-hop, which was fun as always, and then went to a club in Shibuya all night. I went alone again and have noticed a trend. Younger Japanese guys like to come up to me and talk about anything from small talk to asking to help them pick up chicks. I find the fact pretty entertaining. I wish the ladies there were half as comfortable -_- oh well haha. It was a good night at the club and it made for a totally satisfying dance fix for the weekend. Monday, I just stayed around my pad and cleaned or ran errands around my town.
On Monday I head out with my head teacher and a couple of his friends to Nikko Japan. I will definitely be filling you in and posting pics. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Also, thank you everyone for the love about my birthday. I will be responding tonight and most of the day tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A very weird thing for me
Those of you that know me well enough are fully aware of my attitude about having kids. My catch phrase for the notion of me being a father has been "I am ok with one . . . IF ANY AT ALL." for 98% of my life, I have not been too keen on the thought of me being responsible for a child. Well, now . . . This is where it gets weird.
Teaching kids has made me particularly fond of them and its no joke. I smile whenever I see kids with their parents (anywhere) and get all excited when my kid students come to school. Moreover, most of my smiles from work come from moments I have with my students during the day. Gosh, they really have grown on me. I never thought I would be feeling like this bout kids. I'm not even dating anyone yet 0_0
One of my best pointed out something I have also noticed with this. Whether they behave or misbehave, most of the actions of younger kids are really genuine. They usually wear their hearts on their sleeves and act accordingly to how they feel. Now that they have gotten comfortable with me, the kids are starting to show their true colors and it is the cutest thing most of the time. It is definitely a learning experience though. All of them have very different personalities and I do like some a little more or less than others (just appreciate my honesty please), but I still have come to care for all of them a great deal. Now I am starting to understand why teachers always love teaching kids the most.
Haha, I really cant believe it when I think about it sometimes still, but it is all good. I know I will be happy with whatever I am fated, but I think I would want my first to be a daughter >_<
Teaching kids has made me particularly fond of them and its no joke. I smile whenever I see kids with their parents (anywhere) and get all excited when my kid students come to school. Moreover, most of my smiles from work come from moments I have with my students during the day. Gosh, they really have grown on me. I never thought I would be feeling like this bout kids. I'm not even dating anyone yet 0_0
One of my best pointed out something I have also noticed with this. Whether they behave or misbehave, most of the actions of younger kids are really genuine. They usually wear their hearts on their sleeves and act accordingly to how they feel. Now that they have gotten comfortable with me, the kids are starting to show their true colors and it is the cutest thing most of the time. It is definitely a learning experience though. All of them have very different personalities and I do like some a little more or less than others (just appreciate my honesty please), but I still have come to care for all of them a great deal. Now I am starting to understand why teachers always love teaching kids the most.
Haha, I really cant believe it when I think about it sometimes still, but it is all good. I know I will be happy with whatever I am fated, but I think I would want my first to be a daughter >_<
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