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 ^_^

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!

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.

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!

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

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 ^_^

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