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.
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