So I am more confident that I have gotten into my niche here. Something brand new happens quite infrequently these days, but it is ok. I still really like life here and things overall are still feeling quite fresh.
Work is good as usual. There is always something new goin on and no day is the same as the one before. Whether it is because of new students, programs that we are asked to help promote or the constant class roster changes, monotony is being kept at bay for me. Thank gosh. All the little happy moments and conversations I have with students and staffs are also helping. I pretty much like or have little problems with everyone I work with, so everything is really working out thus far amidst the rather long hours I spend there.
Lots of things went down over the week, as I have alluded to, but I really don't feel moved to share them, because moments like those can’t be conveyed in a way that you would understand and experience them in the same way as me. It really is rewarding though, and kids scare me a lot less than they used to. I can actually conceive myself having one at this point. Don't worry though; I am DEFINITELY not in a rush lol. I haven’t even had a date here yet. Its all good though, as I have bigger fish to fry here right now . . . but my eyes are open =P
The weekend was particularly fun. I met up with friends in Roppongi (Tokyo) after work and got into a fairly nice club (for free!!!) and danced the night away like I love to. They actually had two hairdressing stations (dunno what else to call em) where two guys were doing hair for chicks that could pay for it. I didn't ever expect to see that in a club haha. I also got a lot of free drinks since my friends knew one of the staff and he kept hookin it up. Whew, I haven’t been like that in a while and did not appreciate that the sun was out when I left the club lol.
Yesterday I had hip-hop class and a good time again. Since the choreographer is preparing for the performance in December, we started doing the formations and such. This point of class got funny. So since I may be the only guy (if I perform), the choreographer gives me an 8 count “style solo” where I am supposed to act as if I am “hollerin” at all the girls (who form a crescent formation right behind me) in the class. Not only that, he told the girls to perform as if they are receptive to it . . . just a little awkward. Basically I am just gonna make it fun and innocently playful so I don't feel like a pedophile haha. It’ll be all-good.
Today I just chilled and did everything to tidy up my pad and brush up on my Japanese a bit. It was a rewarding day and good weekend. Looking forward to tomorrow and starting things all over ^_^
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A good week and great weekend once again!
In September, a bunch of holidays fall on the same week this year and my head teacher has been calling it silver week. We will be closed for half a week at work and have been thinking of things (in terms of classes) to offer the students on the days we are open since we wont be holding our normal classes because the cycle would get all complicated. We haven’t decided yet, but it seems as if the week will be composed of private lessons and such. We’ll see. I also am not sure of what I am doing with my time for that holiday. I am supposed to with my head teacher somewhere, but I will wait till there are solid plans set before I get my hopes up. More to come regarding that stuff later.
As far as the weekend was concerned . . . it was a blast! It started promptly after work on Saturday night. I was originally supposed to go to a concert where I know the band members, but the show started an hour and a half before I was even out of work. So, I decided to not go, but the night was salvaged by one of my homies out here and I joined her and her friend in Roppongi (Tokyo) to check out the Sky Aquarium. Basically it is an artistic aquarium atop of a 50+ story building where you get an almost 360 eagle eye view of Tokyo and an eyeful of rare fish set in uniquely designed aquariums (lots of lighting affects) amidst really pretty deep house music. It was a mellow and wonderful experience. It is a total date place though. There were so many couples there! Almost couldn’t keep my dinner down =P
After that, we headed to the “jumpin” part of Roppongi and met up with a friend of my homie and chilled with him and his crew for while at some restaurant. It was a good time and we got a kick out of his friends. They headed off to a club and we actually weren’t interested in following and ended up walking around looking at stores. I served as a bad influence for my friend who did a bit of shopping and ended up with a new dress.
From there we watched the movie “Hachi.” It's a really cute and emotional story about an Akita’s loyalty to his owner and died because of it. If you love dogs, you will like this movie, otherwise I suggest you wait till it hits the video shelves. That may take some time though as the movie isn’t supposed to hit the US till winter 0_0
Sunday was mostly mellow. I cleaned up a bit and had hip-hop class. Apparently, this studio is having a performance in September and they are already prepping for it. If my poor Japanese serves me right, then I think the choreographer wants me to participate. I will know for sure after next week what he meant as he said he would give me some info then. That would be funny to perform again though. Especially cause the class I am in is composed of: me (grown man), another college dude, and like 7 middle school age girls. It would look really funny, but its all good. I am just doing it for fun anyway (no comments needed from: Andrew, James, and Rainer. Thank you lol).
Today, I rock climbed again and have seemed to improved a tiny bit more. I am happy with that and look forward to the next time. It really is an enjoyable and rewarding sport. Overcoming the challenges presented by climbing offer that nice small dose of accomplishment to keep you spirits up for a good while. Afterward, I spent the afternoon and evening in Tokyo (I might s well live there) and have been taking it easy.
Looking forward to the coming week and weekend!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Before hump day
It has been two days into the work week and I have been really busy in and outside of work. It has passed by in a flash, but I feel as if I have gotten a lot done in that time to. Its nice to feel productive and finally ahead on certain things.
Work has been very well, but I must admit that the "routine" setting in. I don't think it is a bad thing; as it is not bothering nor boring me, but rather a reality that just is. No surprises present themselves at work any more really. New prospective students do come in, but no one really makes any waves with their arrivals or departures or anything like that. Its ok. At least my updates wont be as long anymore right? hehe
Today was particularly nice though. My kids class has a girl that is very quiet and usually never does anything to disrupt the class. She barely even participates really. Anywho, I have tried to pay a little extra attention to her in and out of class to she if she will become a bit less shy. It seems to have worked. She was such a character today LOL. She was tired and would randomly throughout the class utter this very tired, or even incredulous, sounding aaaahhhhhh. It was so cute that I couldn't be bothered. I hope this means she is getting more comfortable with me and the class and maybe can even improve a bit more now.
After work, I went with a co worker and some of the students to the Everest kitchen (my favorite curry place here) and enjoyed fine dinner with really good company and lots of laughs & smiles. It was a perfect way to end the day.
Looking forward to tomorrow ^_^
Work has been very well, but I must admit that the "routine" setting in. I don't think it is a bad thing; as it is not bothering nor boring me, but rather a reality that just is. No surprises present themselves at work any more really. New prospective students do come in, but no one really makes any waves with their arrivals or departures or anything like that. Its ok. At least my updates wont be as long anymore right? hehe
Today was particularly nice though. My kids class has a girl that is very quiet and usually never does anything to disrupt the class. She barely even participates really. Anywho, I have tried to pay a little extra attention to her in and out of class to she if she will become a bit less shy. It seems to have worked. She was such a character today LOL. She was tired and would randomly throughout the class utter this very tired, or even incredulous, sounding aaaahhhhhh. It was so cute that I couldn't be bothered. I hope this means she is getting more comfortable with me and the class and maybe can even improve a bit more now.
After work, I went with a co worker and some of the students to the Everest kitchen (my favorite curry place here) and enjoyed fine dinner with really good company and lots of laughs & smiles. It was a perfect way to end the day.
Looking forward to tomorrow ^_^
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
took waaaaay too long!
I think it is starting. A routine in my life is developing here and every little detail of life is becoming a little less novel to the point where I have lost the urgency to report every experience. I do not want to bore anyone, nor do I want to go on needlessly repeating myself. Nonetheless I have also been a little lazy in getting back “into the swing of things” since my break. I actually really messed up my sleep pattern for a bit, but it is more or less back to normal now. Life has been good over the last week, even though it has been a bit busy.
Last weekend I found myself in Tokyo; not once, but twice again lol. On Friday, I went to Akihabara to see what it was about and then went clubbing by myself in Shibuya. Akihabara really is the computer nerd and anime fanatic center of Japan. There were shops with that kind of merchandise EVERYWHERE. Good thing I am no computer nerd or Anime geek, I totally would have dropped too much cash on that exploration. Though I will be going back if I am ever to have any electronic needs =P.
The clubbing was fun. I got into this fun place called “Club Atom” at around 1145 and didn't leave until they closed at five in the morning. I made some nightlong friends with a group of Japanese folks and just danced the night away with them in the Hip hop/RB room. The played nothing but American music and about 85 percent of the music was stuff I really liked. No real report bout girls that night though. You know how lame I can be hehe. I will be hitting that club again for sure!
Sunday, I met up with some friends in Shinjuku and we had an awesome lunch. It was a place where we made our own food again. I have found that I really enjoy places like that. We then headed over to Harajuku to check out the Meiji Jingu Shrine. As usual, it was quite beautiful and a very peaceful place to be regardless of the noisy foreigners that were there -_- After that we did Karaoke for three hours in Shibuya. It was a blast! We just kept going and ended up having another lunch there in the room we were singing in. I have been trying to learn songs in Japanese so I can do them at Karaoke and apparently the practice paid off a tiny bit. I tried a song in Japanese and my friends seemed to have been really surprised at how well I sang it. They said I didn't even have an accent. Crazy. That was a good time. We then went to TGIF and I finally got my giant American style margarita. It tasted just like home and every sip felt like a vacation. Actually, the TGIFs here look exactly the same as those in the US and the Menus are completely in English. I totally felt like I was back in America at that place.
On Monday I slept in and cleaned the apartment till I went rock climbing with my homie in the evening. It was also a good time and an interesting continuous conversation. We had lots of interesting things to discuss. As for the workweek, it was a good one with no outstanding news I can remember, but that is probably cause I have taken so long to write this. As usual the workweek is one big compilation of small happy moments with students and co-workers that doesn't really leave the office and is too much to report in detail.
Geh, I need to stop being lazy and do this daily. The break really threw into a lazy bout last week 0_0
This weekend was good even though it started a little late. I ended up having to work on Sunday, but it was a good time and no bother at all. I got to teach two special classes. One on business English and the other on “American music.” I actually did enjoy myself. After classes, I hung out with my manager and one of the students for a while and chatted it up at Mister Doughnuts. It was fun. Then I once again took myself to club atom and danced the night away. A good time like the others ^_^ I made more friends and this time I have even kept touch with them after the club.
Today was nothing special as I slept most the day away, did the laundry, and cleaned. Though short, it was a good weekend and from here on, I don't want to fall back on my updating anymore. NO MORE EXCUSES!
Last weekend I found myself in Tokyo; not once, but twice again lol. On Friday, I went to Akihabara to see what it was about and then went clubbing by myself in Shibuya. Akihabara really is the computer nerd and anime fanatic center of Japan. There were shops with that kind of merchandise EVERYWHERE. Good thing I am no computer nerd or Anime geek, I totally would have dropped too much cash on that exploration. Though I will be going back if I am ever to have any electronic needs =P.
The clubbing was fun. I got into this fun place called “Club Atom” at around 1145 and didn't leave until they closed at five in the morning. I made some nightlong friends with a group of Japanese folks and just danced the night away with them in the Hip hop/RB room. The played nothing but American music and about 85 percent of the music was stuff I really liked. No real report bout girls that night though. You know how lame I can be hehe. I will be hitting that club again for sure!
Sunday, I met up with some friends in Shinjuku and we had an awesome lunch. It was a place where we made our own food again. I have found that I really enjoy places like that. We then headed over to Harajuku to check out the Meiji Jingu Shrine. As usual, it was quite beautiful and a very peaceful place to be regardless of the noisy foreigners that were there -_- After that we did Karaoke for three hours in Shibuya. It was a blast! We just kept going and ended up having another lunch there in the room we were singing in. I have been trying to learn songs in Japanese so I can do them at Karaoke and apparently the practice paid off a tiny bit. I tried a song in Japanese and my friends seemed to have been really surprised at how well I sang it. They said I didn't even have an accent. Crazy. That was a good time. We then went to TGIF and I finally got my giant American style margarita. It tasted just like home and every sip felt like a vacation. Actually, the TGIFs here look exactly the same as those in the US and the Menus are completely in English. I totally felt like I was back in America at that place.
On Monday I slept in and cleaned the apartment till I went rock climbing with my homie in the evening. It was also a good time and an interesting continuous conversation. We had lots of interesting things to discuss. As for the workweek, it was a good one with no outstanding news I can remember, but that is probably cause I have taken so long to write this. As usual the workweek is one big compilation of small happy moments with students and co-workers that doesn't really leave the office and is too much to report in detail.
Geh, I need to stop being lazy and do this daily. The break really threw into a lazy bout last week 0_0
This weekend was good even though it started a little late. I ended up having to work on Sunday, but it was a good time and no bother at all. I got to teach two special classes. One on business English and the other on “American music.” I actually did enjoy myself. After classes, I hung out with my manager and one of the students for a while and chatted it up at Mister Doughnuts. It was fun. Then I once again took myself to club atom and danced the night away. A good time like the others ^_^ I made more friends and this time I have even kept touch with them after the club.
Today was nothing special as I slept most the day away, did the laundry, and cleaned. Though short, it was a good weekend and from here on, I don't want to fall back on my updating anymore. NO MORE EXCUSES!
Friday, August 14, 2009
whew
Wow . . . A week has gone by fast. That happens though, when one is recovering from losing one day out of their weekend and then starting their vacation the following weekend.
Basically, the day after I wrote that crazy angry rant, I was over it and equipped with a new attitude on how to approach how I do my job. From that day till now, I have been doing my best to do everything in my job “by the book.” Of course I am not perfect and I adjust certain things according to certain situations, but I will be giving nothing for anyone to notice in terms of trainers or any one else above me. Who knows; maybe the students will learn better this way.
A funny teaching experience did arise. On Friday, one of my kids’ classes was reduced from 6 to 2 and it went really easy and well. Both of the boys are really smart and they were very enthusiastic about participating. Since there were only two of them, there was more time to play and I taught them two variations of handshakes one might see in the states. One was the version where you bump fists three times and the other was the one where you smack hands 3 times and end up in a hand-shake/half-hug. They really seemed to like it and one of them tried it on his Mom when we got downstairs. It was really cute and a handful of the other kids wanted to learn it. Haha, it really was one of those precious moments for me. Even the parents were entertained. One even asked if that is how Americans great each other. I told her that boys often do, but boys and girls usually hug if anything.
On Saturday we celebrated two coworkers’ birthdays that are going down this week and the kick off of our vacations. The day (as well as the entire week for that fact) went really quickly and it was nice just to hang out with my co-workers and some of the students amidst the stress free atmosphere of the oncoming weeklong bout of freedom. There were cakes, laughs and well wishes and then we were all off and the break started. I had no plans for the night, but decided to go chill with some of my training mates in Yokohama for a drink. I was only there for about an hour and a half, as I could not miss the last train and just wanted out of the house for a bit. I wasn’t about to party hard the night before I would climb Mt. Fuji. Which turned out to be a memorable experience.
Since mid July, about 5 training mates and I decided that we wanted to climb Mt. Fuji. It had been one of the top things on my “to do” list since I had arrived here, and our first week long vacation was the perfect time to do so. It was fortunate that we had starting planning nearly a month in advance, as getting the tickets and everything else in order amidst working was a bit of a challenge. Everything ended up working out perfectly and we decided to climb up at night so we could get a good view of the sunrise. The only issue was our concern for weather and one of our group was even trying to get us to reschedule for this coming Sunday rather than last, but I didn’t really want to worry bout the weather or push it back. So, I admit being an idiot for not considering the weather more -_-
Sunday evening came around and everything was working like clockwork. Everyone was more or less on time and getting the tickets was a non-issue. We grabbed dinner and hung out in the area till the bus was to arrive. The bus ride up was uneventful, but pleasant and we were definitely anxious to get there. When we arrived, it was a bit foggy and the temperature was great. Some guys put their stuff in lockers and dawdled a bit and we were off. The initial climb was moderately challenging, and the weather was mild and still just foggy in spots. This lasted till the 7th (of 10) station and then the hike turned into a perilous adventure.
At around the 7th station, the moisture around the mountain decided to come down on us a little bit and the winds started picking up. Not a biggie. I put on my layers and everything was good (more or less) until the 9th station. At that point, it was just myself and one other mate that could manage our pace and the wind had really picked up and the rain was steady and cold. To top the situation off, all the shelters were closed at the station. We had to keep going. For anyone considering going up Fuji, you should know that the trail from the 9th station to the top was the hardest for me. It was long and really steep in many places. Not to mention the weather is severe as hell. On this final stretch, all my clothes had soaked through and the wind was sweeping all my body heat away. I was feeling the hypothermia creeping up on me. As we approached the top, I let my partner know I needed to hasten my pace or I would have been in danger. Thus, I rushed off and was at the top in a hurry. Of course all the shelters seemed closed, but I was so desperate that I was gonna break windows to escape the weather.
Fortunately, the door on one of the places wasn't locked. I got in quickly and stripped myself completely of all wet clothing (everything) and changed into dry ones. I shivered with my partner (who arrived after 10 minutes) till my body was back at a comfortable temperature. Turns out that the shelter was a sort of hotel and it cost about 65 bucks to stay. As we woke up the staff with our movement, they asked for the money and let us stay till 5. I was scared for a second as it looked like we might have been kicked out into the horrible weather that lasted all night. That would have sucked. Well, 530 came around and we headed out. I had bought a plastic rain suite at the shelter, and I was ready for the bad weather that had not let up still. We got down to the 5th station in like 2 hours and I managed to stay bone dry (thank god). The trip back home was long and I was exhausted, but proud to have overcome such an adventure. When I got home, I threw all of my wet gear in the bathroom, took a shower and slept.
Monday, I just chilled all day that day as well as Tuesday. I wanted to give my body optimum time to recover. I just cleaned and ran small errands in my town for both of those days. Wednesday was freakin awesome though. I went to the gym and then down to the city of Odaiba. It's a really cool place. There is super unique architecture everywhere and a 1/1-scale model Gundam mobile suit. The model is from a Japanese anime I enjoy and the nerd in me just had to see it. The trip was so worth it. I got plenty of pics of the gundam and explored Odaiba for few hours and soaked it all in as I walked around. Whoever comes to Japan should visit Odaiba for sure.
Yesterday was another chill day and I caught up with people from home mostly. Now I am about to head out the door to explore more of Tokyo that I haven’t seen yet. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Curiosity pissed this cat off
This is going off yesterday's post where I said I took issue with how the trainers for foreign teachers in my company treat us. I was going to live out the rest of my time here with a mild annoyance at the fact that there was nothing genuine to be observed in the interaction of foreign trainers toward the teachers, but I made a discovery today that I just need to vent about. I already gave my mom the brunt of it and she really calmed me down. Thanks Mom <3
What I discovered today was a policy that my company seems to have in place concerning how foreign trainers write a evaluation feedback form on the performance of foreign teachers at their follow up training. This training takes place within three months of a teacher’s arrival and apparently is meant to gauge how much a teacher has developed in their time here. Soon after (2 days in my case), the evaluation is sent to the manager and head teacher of a given foreign teacher’s school. I was given this feedback in person on Monday, but neither I nor any of the other teachers seemed to have been made privy to the fact that the managing staff at our schools were to be given this feedback. Though, I must admit I am not supposed to know of this and technically was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. Regardless of that fact, fate decided that I should find out anyway . . . so there!
So the problem lies in the fact that the trainer wrote notes and comments on my performance throughout the day concerning what I need to improve on according to what she saw.
In her first note, she relays that “he seems to like to do his own thing in lessons. I stressed that students were getting confused in his lessons. . .”
How the hell does she know this? The only time I gave her hint that I “do my own thing” was in explaining one situation and that was an isolated case. She has no proof or direct experience of such a fact. Furthermore, she hasn’t spoken to a single one of my students about my lessons. Her only bases was how I tried to pretend that my training piers were Japanese, and I didn’t take the game 100% seriously. How the hell does she know if the actual students are confused or not?! Absolutely ludicrous.
In another note, she mentions how “ . . . he seems to not agree with the feedback.”
Well of course I am not going to agree with feedback that does not take into account the particular needs of my students or unique circumstances! She is basically saying that I “don't know my place” with her above criticism. I understand I am a complete newbie and am drowning in ignorance when compared to her experience. But just because she has a wealth of knowledge as a product of a wealth of experience, does not make her smarter than me. She has no right to treat me like I am freakin stupid or lack the ability to help my students learn. Especially when she doesn’t even know what their needs are.
She also has no reason to assume that I reject or even intend to reject the feedback of the staff at my school. My managers work hard and have a very informed idea of the needs of the students at my school. Any feedback they have ever given has been unquestioned thus far and that won’t change unless there is a rare occasion where they happen to be dead wrong. Ugh, I can’t believe she would through up such a yellow flag on me like that. Not what I need.
There is one more note to comment on, but I have lost interest in this tirade and it is pretty similar to the last note. Essentially I am trying to illustrate that this women assumed way too much based on circumstances and a situation completely removed from the reality of my particular school. Neither she, the other trainers, nor my training mates are Japanese, and I refuse to treat any of them like they are. I refuse to disrespect the Japanese culture in such a way. If you are a Japanese businessman, I will treat you much differently then a recent American college grad and will also behave differently in a room full of people who know the true meanings of my words. I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be performing all day at follow up training, but rather thought I was supposed to be learning. Well, whatever . . . I am over it now and have lost interest to go on.
My only reason for being so bothered is that an important person has said I have problems I need to work on and I consider these problems to be serious. I am taking my job way too seriously for such accusations as these. These problems don’t exist in my school and actual lessons, but now my manager and head teacher might feel that they do and be watching out for these issues. This vigilance can lead to self-serving prophecy and I now fear the headache it could cause me. I think that fear explains why I was so ill affected earlier on. I now know and was earlier assured that I can prove this evaluation dead wrong. I just hope I get the proper chance to do so. I also hope that my managers bring this evaluation to my attention so I can tell the trainers how much I do not like their system of assuming they know everything about a teacher after merely watching them play pretend.
What I discovered today was a policy that my company seems to have in place concerning how foreign trainers write a evaluation feedback form on the performance of foreign teachers at their follow up training. This training takes place within three months of a teacher’s arrival and apparently is meant to gauge how much a teacher has developed in their time here. Soon after (2 days in my case), the evaluation is sent to the manager and head teacher of a given foreign teacher’s school. I was given this feedback in person on Monday, but neither I nor any of the other teachers seemed to have been made privy to the fact that the managing staff at our schools were to be given this feedback. Though, I must admit I am not supposed to know of this and technically was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. Regardless of that fact, fate decided that I should find out anyway . . . so there!
So the problem lies in the fact that the trainer wrote notes and comments on my performance throughout the day concerning what I need to improve on according to what she saw.
In her first note, she relays that “he seems to like to do his own thing in lessons. I stressed that students were getting confused in his lessons. . .”
How the hell does she know this? The only time I gave her hint that I “do my own thing” was in explaining one situation and that was an isolated case. She has no proof or direct experience of such a fact. Furthermore, she hasn’t spoken to a single one of my students about my lessons. Her only bases was how I tried to pretend that my training piers were Japanese, and I didn’t take the game 100% seriously. How the hell does she know if the actual students are confused or not?! Absolutely ludicrous.
In another note, she mentions how “ . . . he seems to not agree with the feedback.”
Well of course I am not going to agree with feedback that does not take into account the particular needs of my students or unique circumstances! She is basically saying that I “don't know my place” with her above criticism. I understand I am a complete newbie and am drowning in ignorance when compared to her experience. But just because she has a wealth of knowledge as a product of a wealth of experience, does not make her smarter than me. She has no right to treat me like I am freakin stupid or lack the ability to help my students learn. Especially when she doesn’t even know what their needs are.
She also has no reason to assume that I reject or even intend to reject the feedback of the staff at my school. My managers work hard and have a very informed idea of the needs of the students at my school. Any feedback they have ever given has been unquestioned thus far and that won’t change unless there is a rare occasion where they happen to be dead wrong. Ugh, I can’t believe she would through up such a yellow flag on me like that. Not what I need.
There is one more note to comment on, but I have lost interest in this tirade and it is pretty similar to the last note. Essentially I am trying to illustrate that this women assumed way too much based on circumstances and a situation completely removed from the reality of my particular school. Neither she, the other trainers, nor my training mates are Japanese, and I refuse to treat any of them like they are. I refuse to disrespect the Japanese culture in such a way. If you are a Japanese businessman, I will treat you much differently then a recent American college grad and will also behave differently in a room full of people who know the true meanings of my words. I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be performing all day at follow up training, but rather thought I was supposed to be learning. Well, whatever . . . I am over it now and have lost interest to go on.
My only reason for being so bothered is that an important person has said I have problems I need to work on and I consider these problems to be serious. I am taking my job way too seriously for such accusations as these. These problems don’t exist in my school and actual lessons, but now my manager and head teacher might feel that they do and be watching out for these issues. This vigilance can lead to self-serving prophecy and I now fear the headache it could cause me. I think that fear explains why I was so ill affected earlier on. I now know and was earlier assured that I can prove this evaluation dead wrong. I just hope I get the proper chance to do so. I also hope that my managers bring this evaluation to my attention so I can tell the trainers how much I do not like their system of assuming they know everything about a teacher after merely watching them play pretend.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Trainwreck
It has almost been a week since my last post . . . I even believe the reason to be legitimate this time around. I chose to wait till the weekend to post and as things turned out, the opportunity and/or energy to update was unavailable to me due to lack of energy or actual time physically spent at home. Essentially, the weekend was nonstop 0_0
As I have said, Saturdays at work are usually the busiest and getting home somewhat fatigued is not an unusual thing. This week was no different, and I had originally prepared for this in planning to take advantage of some downtime before living up the weekend like I usually do. I had made plans with a friend from the US to meet up at around 1130ish, but those were drastically changed and moved up by two hours just as I got home from work. Thus, I spent an hour coordinating with other friends I had invited out and ended up rushing out the door in order to catch the right train to meet up. I should note I managed to not have dinner either . . . bad idea as some can imagine I'm sure.
I met up with my friends at the right spot and they had a beer for me on hand and I started drinking on the train -_- It was chill though and really nice to see my friend again. Though I felt kind of bad for all the Japanese people on the train. We were kind of loud and that is mildly (probably more) rude here. We had to switch trains along the way, and during our switch we made friends with a group of drunk Japanese people heading in a similar direction as us and finished our trip talking to them and having our fun. I felt less bad bout being loud since some actual Japanese had joined our banter. It was a fun trek.
We get to our destination with no ill affect and my coworker joined us not too long after we had arrived. The event we ended up at was in Enoshima on a peninsula that reminded me of something akin to how Coronado is connected to SD. The friend of one of my companions had rented out a bar, hired two crappy DJ's, and had the place open all night. Needless to say I got pretty drunk, acted plenty dumb, and had a good time. My coworker and I ended up leaving at around 445 for the first train heading back to our homes (after a nap hehe) and feeling rather hung-over. When I got home, I went straight to bed and woke up still not feeling at my best . . . ick. I NEED TO EAT BEFORE I DRINK!
I chilled for a bit in the apartment and handled some chores for a little while and was out the door after not too long. I went to Yokohama with a friend to check out "Egypt's Sunken Treasures," an archeological exhibition that had recently come to the area. It was mildly interesting, but I could not get over how crowded it was. Anything that could be read or just observed had a line one had to wait in to get a turn. Crazy stuff. We didn’t stay too long.
From there, we went rock climbing for a couple of hours at this gym that my companion stumbled on in her time here. It wasn't a gym with a tall wall(s), but rather a shorter facility with 8 different walls. Instead of just climbing on to any rock one sees, the gym labels the different grips according to color and shape in order to restrict and control the difficulty of certain climbing routes. It was actually really challenging, but a lot of fun at the same time. My forarms are still sore to be completely honest lol. Then we saw "The Half Blood Prince" right after. It is a long movie and I just managed to catch the last train home and wasn’t in bed until about 130 and had to be up at 730. I was not looking forward to it.
The reason I had to be up early was for another follow up training for my job. No biggie, but the trick about the situation was that it was located in a city that took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get to. Thus, I was up early and riding hella packed trains as I was riding during peak use hours (both ways). It is quite the adventure. The training was all right, but I found something that was bugging me bout the trainers. Something always rubbed me wrong when I was around them actually, and I finally pinpointed what it was that was vexing me. For the sake of professionalism (I assume), they are fake as hell with us. I understand to do that may important in maintaining harmony between Japanese and foreign staff at the schools, but it just bothers me that the trainers can’t even level with us. Neither they nor us are Japanese, and them acting the way they do makes me feel like I am being treated like a child or a customer that cannot handle honesty. I know I am a weirdo, but I find it disrespectful. I am glad I don’t have to work in a situation under them for a long time if ever again.
Anyway, since the training ended at 8:00, I got home late and just went to bed as I was totally drained and really out of it. The fatigue even carried over into today, but I attribute that more to my body trying to recover my assaulted arm and back muscles that were still achy. Hopefully I will be back to normal in the morning. School was good. Tuesdays aren’t particularly busy for me and today was a good day as any. One funny thing was I found out that one of my students likes Tom Cruise. I thought it funny and immediately thought of my Mom. I even told the student that my Mom liked him. I like moments like that ^_^
Well I am gonna head off now. I hope all is well and this catches you amidst good times <3>
As I have said, Saturdays at work are usually the busiest and getting home somewhat fatigued is not an unusual thing. This week was no different, and I had originally prepared for this in planning to take advantage of some downtime before living up the weekend like I usually do. I had made plans with a friend from the US to meet up at around 1130ish, but those were drastically changed and moved up by two hours just as I got home from work. Thus, I spent an hour coordinating with other friends I had invited out and ended up rushing out the door in order to catch the right train to meet up. I should note I managed to not have dinner either . . . bad idea as some can imagine I'm sure.
I met up with my friends at the right spot and they had a beer for me on hand and I started drinking on the train -_- It was chill though and really nice to see my friend again. Though I felt kind of bad for all the Japanese people on the train. We were kind of loud and that is mildly (probably more) rude here. We had to switch trains along the way, and during our switch we made friends with a group of drunk Japanese people heading in a similar direction as us and finished our trip talking to them and having our fun. I felt less bad bout being loud since some actual Japanese had joined our banter. It was a fun trek.
We get to our destination with no ill affect and my coworker joined us not too long after we had arrived. The event we ended up at was in Enoshima on a peninsula that reminded me of something akin to how Coronado is connected to SD. The friend of one of my companions had rented out a bar, hired two crappy DJ's, and had the place open all night. Needless to say I got pretty drunk, acted plenty dumb, and had a good time. My coworker and I ended up leaving at around 445 for the first train heading back to our homes (after a nap hehe) and feeling rather hung-over. When I got home, I went straight to bed and woke up still not feeling at my best . . . ick. I NEED TO EAT BEFORE I DRINK!
I chilled for a bit in the apartment and handled some chores for a little while and was out the door after not too long. I went to Yokohama with a friend to check out "Egypt's Sunken Treasures," an archeological exhibition that had recently come to the area. It was mildly interesting, but I could not get over how crowded it was. Anything that could be read or just observed had a line one had to wait in to get a turn. Crazy stuff. We didn’t stay too long.
From there, we went rock climbing for a couple of hours at this gym that my companion stumbled on in her time here. It wasn't a gym with a tall wall(s), but rather a shorter facility with 8 different walls. Instead of just climbing on to any rock one sees, the gym labels the different grips according to color and shape in order to restrict and control the difficulty of certain climbing routes. It was actually really challenging, but a lot of fun at the same time. My forarms are still sore to be completely honest lol. Then we saw "The Half Blood Prince" right after. It is a long movie and I just managed to catch the last train home and wasn’t in bed until about 130 and had to be up at 730. I was not looking forward to it.
The reason I had to be up early was for another follow up training for my job. No biggie, but the trick about the situation was that it was located in a city that took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get to. Thus, I was up early and riding hella packed trains as I was riding during peak use hours (both ways). It is quite the adventure. The training was all right, but I found something that was bugging me bout the trainers. Something always rubbed me wrong when I was around them actually, and I finally pinpointed what it was that was vexing me. For the sake of professionalism (I assume), they are fake as hell with us. I understand to do that may important in maintaining harmony between Japanese and foreign staff at the schools, but it just bothers me that the trainers can’t even level with us. Neither they nor us are Japanese, and them acting the way they do makes me feel like I am being treated like a child or a customer that cannot handle honesty. I know I am a weirdo, but I find it disrespectful. I am glad I don’t have to work in a situation under them for a long time if ever again.
Anyway, since the training ended at 8:00, I got home late and just went to bed as I was totally drained and really out of it. The fatigue even carried over into today, but I attribute that more to my body trying to recover my assaulted arm and back muscles that were still achy. Hopefully I will be back to normal in the morning. School was good. Tuesdays aren’t particularly busy for me and today was a good day as any. One funny thing was I found out that one of my students likes Tom Cruise. I thought it funny and immediately thought of my Mom. I even told the student that my Mom liked him. I like moments like that ^_^
Well I am gonna head off now. I hope all is well and this catches you amidst good times <3>
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