2 weeks shy of two months

It has been so long since I have had enough motivation to actually update this. It is hard to explain my reluctance to post recently and there are several factors and considerations that have lead to my extended silence.

I think the primary reason is that I have made this blog overly public. Too many people can see this and that has weighed on my mind when I sit at the computer get ready to spill some guts. I fear that I will hurt feelings, burn bridges, or simply annoy people with ish that they really don't want to hear. Also, I want to make sure I didn't present a certain image through this medium, and this fact has caused me to refrain from throwing out some maybe important stuff. My closer friends and family know me well enough to understand that I don't like to complain about ish regularly unless I am directly faced with whatever challenges me.

Don't get me wrong, I have a multitude of things that I am happy about and would love to relay to the rest of you, but that isn't the whole story. From here on I need to be better bout having balance with this blog. Life is black, white and everything in between and I intend to do a better job of reporting that carefully, thoughtfully, and accurately.

Before I go off, I just want to inform the world that in the last three weeks, I have had the utmost privilege of enjoying visits from people living back in the States. I got to see my dear friend and Dance partner, Lynn along with her family for a night, kick it around Tokyo with Mikey and Allyson on two occasions, and most importantly, My mom brightened up my apartment and everyday life for seven days. The thing I miss the most about the United states is the people I love and care for, and aving these people out here (even if for short periods of time) has been really uplifting on my spirits. I am so very thankful to have been given the opportunity to reunite with these ones loved, and I hope that they were able to enjoy themselves here <3>

So the thing that is testing my patience on a daily basis recently. . . is work. April marks the beginning of the new yearly children's' and adult's 6 month class schedules and my office has been undergoing a lot of change. To this day, the only staff that hasn't experienced change in their office role since early January is the school manager and myself. At present, we have two brand new "green" teachers, my head teacher (our direct supervisor) is gone for two of my three work days, and our assistant manager is still "working things out." I'm going to refrain from any further details on this, but I think you can imagine the wide spectrum of possible challenges I face on a daily basis in the office. To be honest, things are getting on my nerves, but I want to remain patient. Hopefully, things will be smoothing out soon.

There is a lot more to say, but this is too long. hopefully I write again before 6 more weeks has passed -_-

Mid February

As predicted, 2010 has been flying by since my last post and I am constantly in some sort of state in catching up. I find it humorous how I always try to treat the passing of the old year and coming of the new in the same manner same as any other time of the year, but events at the onset of this year have really forced me to make several minute and significant changes in my daily life (including work) that I really didn’t give enough consideration. It isn’t a problem or anything, and I am not in any way complaining. I just wish to explain why I seem to never be online or even at my computer at all anymore. Life, as well as some personal choices of mine, has actually forced me to physically live life beyond the confines of my apartment. It’s what I get for spending all that time watching TV as a kid haha.

Work . . . no complaints. The vibe has changed though, and in two ways. On the one hand, like I mentioned earlier, a lot of kids students have been deciding quit coming to our school. On the other, we have been seeing a lot more prospective adult and kid students come in with the interest to study with us. In the last two weeks, I have probably done more model lessons for adults and kids that I did in any three-month period during my first six months here. Aslo, there seems to be a better team like cohesion at the office. Everyone seems to help each other out more, planning and communication have a improved a little and the day to day pressure isn’t too high. We’re just busy with the new flow of things and chuggin along. It may feel a bit busier from day to day right now, but I am cool with things and hope to get a good new office rhythm figured out soon.

Dance . . . If I haven’t mentioned this cultural element I have noticed, let me fill you in. When people pay for formal instruction for a skill here, it often seems that the interaction between staff and student/customer is as personal as it is professional. Once patrons enter the domain in which they will be instructed, their fellow students and instructor(s) form a special social unit that resembles a family in terms of familiar interaction, and attentiveness to each others’ needs and desires. Time also takes an affect on this phenomenon. The longer the group has existed, then the closer the long term members seem to be. I have seen this with Aeon, people that go to my gym, as well as my dance class. With particular regard to my dance class, I am really starting to feel like “one of the gang” when I am there. Not only are my young classmates fairly comfortable with me, but other instructors as well as even students and parents have become familiar enough with me to treat me in a manner where I don’t feel too much like the outsider that I actually am. It's a really nice & refreshing feeling and I always look forward to class beyond the mere desire for my dance fix.

Personal . . . if you haven’t seen from my tweets from valentines day or other recent occasions, I guess I should inform you that a special someone has come into my life. I really enjoy her company and we had a wonderful valentines day. We took a walk through one of the really pretty parks here and along one of the rivers for a while. In the evening, we did some outdoor ice skating and had a good dinner. She is even busier with her Job than I am with mine and we really only get to hang out on weekends (Saturday evening and/or Sunday), so we try to spend as much of that time as possible together and I am thus not at home as much to catch up on things as I used to be. My personal life may be in some sort of upheaval in the moment, but I couldn’t be more grateful for the wonderful gift I have been granted to share. I’m looking forward to next weekend ^_^

Monday is catch up day, but I am usually pretty burned out and don’t get too much done. Especially today, since I had to work yesterday (Sunday). I need to learn how to utilize Mondays more efficiently now that it will be my only day to do ish that is moderately important and could become problematic if ignored (laundry and such)

Oh yeah . . . If you weren’t aware, Valentines Day is done differently here. In a sense, it has been cut into two holidays. The first is the traditional day on the 14th of February. The other is on march 14th. On the traditional day, Japanese women either buy or make chocolate (of any sort) and present it to the males in their life. Dad and brothers naturally get some of the action, guy friends receive “giddy choco,” and the specially made or expensive stuff goes to the boyfriend/husband. I also learned that girls will just make chocolate to eat together with their girlfriends also. As for the other day, it is called white day and it is basically the same as V-Day, but the responsibility falls back on the men. It’s an interesting custom. I dig it.

So this Valentines Day haha . . . I got my chocolate and a cute picture of us and card combo and after I said thanks she kind of had this expecting look on her face. And I was like: “what? It isn’t white day yet.” Then she was like: “youre American right?! You don't celebrate it like us!” Haha oops! I actually was planning to do my part on white day. We had a good laugh over the situation and agreed to celebrate the rest of the holidays in Japanese style haha. I’ll do good on white day. No worries =P

All right, this is long . . . my bad!

Busy!

One month down, and I must say that January 2010 was one helluva month. I have been quite busy as you can tell by my two or three posts and one of them only being in video cause I was way lazy. I am sorry for it, but the way I have things prioritized right meow, it cannot be helped really. But fortunately I have finally been able to make the time to let you guys now what’s up and goin on around out here. I guess I should let you know why I have been so busy.

The primary reason . . . My Move!! As many of you already know, my American co-worker’s contract came to an end and it was her time to move onto something different. Usually not a big adjustment, but due to changes soon taking place at my school, I had to move into her apartment. Thus, the week after my last post, I the time spent packing little by little and taking care of loose that needed to be tied up to make the transition smooth.

On the 23rd (two nights before I moved), we had my co-worker’s going away party and I partied quite well. All I did was drink at the main dinner portion; it wasn’t much, but still on empty stomach . . . so yeah. Then after the main party, I headed over with a big group to the local karaoke spot and we did our thing for about an hour and a half . . . THEN a student took two others and myself to a local bar and we drank and sang till like 230 in the morning. I went to bed quite drunk and with a smile on my face haha. Of course, I was tired as hell all day the next day (especially since I woke up around 830) and did very little beyond some extra packing.

On the day of the move . . . I didn’t even get to my new pad till 6 in the evening. I packed and got out of my old place by 2:00 and waited around the school till I was able to head to my place. I wasn’t in the apartment by myself and ready to unpack until around 7 in the evening. As you can imagine, I didn’t get too much done since I had to get ready for work the next morning. Since I moved on a Saturday and had to figure out a new timing routine for getting to and from work, I wasn’t able to get much cleaning and unpacking done. Actually, my place still isn’t exactly organized to the point where I want it at this moment -_- Its nice enough though.

Anywho, another factor that hurt my available time to be at home and take care of ish was that work was particularly busy. I had a lot more paperwork than usual and other small factors gave me less time than Im used to in order to do it. Thus, I would go in early or stay after later (actually doing work) to make sure I didn’t fall too far behind (and I wanted to scoot as quick as possible on Saturday). The week ended up going by quickly and it wasn’t until Friday evening that my apartment was livable and ready for any guests I would want to have. No worries, it all ended up working out.

On Saturday, I was able to get out of work quicker than usual and enjoyed . . . wait for it . . . yes, a date. And that’s all I’m gonna say bout that here (ok . . . it was really nice) =P Then on Sunday, a group of students and staff from the school took a day trip to Disney Sea over here. It was a wonderful day. I was actually really surprised at how beautiful the park was. Any description I give it really won’t give it the justice I want to, so I will just leave it at the fact that I strongly suggest anyone go there if they get the opportunity to come to Japan. A very beautiful and happy setting for a good day in here ^_^

Monday was the catch up day. I had to go to the government building and register the fact that I moved and have my new address printed on my alien registration card. I also took a trip to pick up some things at the store I had needed for the apartment and hadn’t yet been able to get. Other than that, I did the laundry and enjoyed the snow during the evening . . . That’s right . . . it snowed finally . . . and I loved it ^_^

Work has been more or less the same this whole time with just one concern; MY KIDS ARE QUITTING. By the middle of the month I will have said goodbye to 7 of my kid students since November. They all say that they are quitting cause of cram school and busy schedules and I understand that, but can’t help but to be a little bummed out by it. If I had been better, would they have been more motivated to stay . . . I dunno. A couple of them, I am a little happy to be rid of, but I will miss the others dearly. I wish them luck in their lives and hope to see em again someday.

Well, I have once again made this long enough. I’ll give you a break now haha.

Sorry it took so long!

2 weeks

Sorry it took me so long to get this up and I am sorry to those of you who cant get the full scoop cause this post is mainly in video. Hopefully I can make sure the next one is typed.

Twenty-Ten or Two thousand Ten?

So the year at work has kicked off with a good start. Thank goodness. Today was moderately busy, and the transition to work after being free for the last nine days was quite smooth. Classes went really well actually. My genius six-year-old was awesome as always (even taught him a bit of lyrics from Michael Jackson, whom he loves), and all my other kids were really behaved for me today. I am going home very happy tonight ^_^

Though, today was a tad bittersweet. One of my favorite kids students had decided to stop coming to class so she could free up time to go to cram school in order to prepare for Jr. high, and today was the first day she didn’t show up. The class was, of course, easier to manage, but I will miss her presence. She was one of my brightest, and she really lightened the class atmosphere at times. I wish her the best of luck! On a brighter note; my first adult class went fantastic. I had two really fun ladies that are both excellent students and made the lesson really fun to teach. A great cap to a good day.

As I sit here typing this, I actually feel really refreshed from my break. I am totally ready to give it all I can until my next long break in May, and have high spirits and hopes that I will improve both as a teacher and a Japanese speaker. I am off to a nice start, but we shall see how it goes . . . Well, I hope >_<

2010 is here

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that the last few days have been wonderful and relaxing for you and that 2010 has much happiness and joy in store everyone. My New Years Eve, day and following days were quite the contrast to the beginning of my break. Originally, I had plans to go to my Head teachers hometown and bring in the New Year at his family’s place. Well, he got sick and the doc told him to stay home and he followed the directions and told both my manager and myself on the 30th. Shortly after that text, my manager texts me that she, two of the students, and myself were moving our trip up to . . . TOMORROW the 31st (and we were leaving t 5am)0_0 Usually not a problem, but I had already had two-week old plans with my hip hop instructor to spend the night drinking and dancing in Tokyo (the 30th) and I didn’t want to be a spoil sport and cancel any plans. Thus, I soldiered it out. I had a great time in Tokyo with the instructor and got off to the ski trip with no problems.

On the way to the resort in Gunma (named Ishiuchi Maruyama) the weather was perfect, but turned blizzard-like shortly after we got on the slopes. I actually enjoyed it a lot though ^_^ The cold totally dispelled any drowsiness I was feeling and the limited visibility made it more of and adventure for me. It was an amazing way to spend New Years Eve day. Later on, we all had a big dinner and then the two students and I headed to our traditional Ryokan. It was great. The accommodations were comfy, we got free yukata to wear during the stay, and were able to enjoy their onsen for a bit. It was quite relaxing. To bring in 1200 am 2010, We turned on the tube and instead of seeing time square and the decent of its ever famous luminous sphere, we saw clips of what was going on at different Shrines across the country and the release of balloons at a famous shrine in Tokyo. It was different, but I was content nonetheless. About 15 minutes afterward, I was asleep and didn’t wake up till 1040 the next morning haha. I was freakin tired.

New years day was done in Japanese fashion (Hatsumode). We were in the town of Ikaho and the town’s Shrine is found at the top of a 365-step stairway. We made the trek up, threw in our 5yen coins, rung the bell, bowed & clapped twice, made a small prayer, and bought our new year’s fortunes. Mine was the second best you could get (out of 3). We then had lunch and headed back to our homes. It was a great way to spend the New Year.

The next day I accompanied a friend to Tokyo because she was unable to do her Hatsumode the day before. Even though it was the 2nd, it was still REALLY crowded, but the line still went by pretty quickly, so That was good. Fortunately, the shrine was in the same town as my favorite Ramen restaurant and we were able to head over pig out. Yummy ^_^ Then, yesterday was her birthday, so we went to this really cool spa/onsen (Check this site for all the details. http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/index.html). It was a good 3 hours of ultimate relaxation. I am definitely going back there in the near future.

Now I am just recovering from my last 4 days and mentally preparing myself for the New Year. I am gonna put together an actual personal curriculum for my Japanese study, so I can get it going a little bit faster and kill the Japanese Language Proficiency Test I plan to take in a few months from now. I plan to print out pictures from my past to adorn my walls and keep my room from looking drab all the time. I have no resolutions though really. I stopped believing in them sometime ago. I decided that it was silly for me to wait for the first of the next year to fix any problems I may have now. Thus, I have nothing new to share in terms personal goals and aspirations.

Alrights, Im going to get to it now. Have a great 2010 everyone!

My bad!

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!