JD's adventure in Japan

Sagicho

2009-03-17T00:46:00.002+09:00

New Post!

2009-03-16T22:42:00.003+09:00

Hello Everybody! My last entry was wishing you a Happy New Year and being that it is now mid march, I thought I’d come back to Wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

In advance, I apologize for my lack of returning emails or calls. I have been very busy and have not had time for much outside of work and a small social life here in Japan. To keep my sanity during the week I have been going in to work on my day off to prepare for the week and plan ahead. Teaching has been no cake walk and there is a lot of work that goes into it. For example this last week we had many visitors that were interested in the school. We have to interview them, level check them for the proper classes, maybe give a model lesson and try to get them to come to the school. Some of the kid visitors, which we had a bunch this week, have lived in a foreign country. Their English level is high (so they don’t fit in the normal age group, 3-5, 13-15, etc. With these students I have to create new classes and lesson plans tailored just for them. It is challenging teaching them as well and I have more than a handful of classes like this. I also have a few challenging students that require extra prep work and follow up, problems at the school, monthly goals, and correcting homework for the other 50+ students that I teach each week. These are some of my daily duties among other things just to name a few and to give you an idea.

Anyways, the little free time I do have I am enjoying!! I have been snowboarding several times with some friends but am sad and happy as spring is just around the corner. I think the Japanese are more excited than I for the Spring Cherry Blossoms and they see them every year! Cherry blossoms were always a symbol that I associated with the world of Japan before living here. I will now get to experience it firsthand! I’m looking forward to spring and will try to get some pics posted as soon as I can.

I’m pretty disconnected from the west out here so would love to hear updates from you now matter how routine and stodgy things may be :>) I’ll try and write in some better stories next post! I posted some updated photos as well. JA MATA (See you Later)

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T15:45:00.002+09:00

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful night of celebration. Forgetting all the bad, remembering all the good, and most importantly looking forward to the future!!!!

Happy New Year 2009! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you Comfortable?

2008-12-31T11:10:00.005+09:00

In Japan, there is this interesting occurrence about sleeping in random areas. This being said because at any point in the day or night you can see a random person sleeping in the most unconsidered spots. You name it, on the sidewalk next to a pile of garbage, in a restaurant, or best yet bent over the hand railing on the island between two very busy streets. By the way, his head was resting on the metal bar. The list goes on and on. .. The last one was the best one I've seen so far! I didn’t have my camera with me to take a picture to show you because it was 2 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. Nonetheless this 30ish year old man was just getting some needed beauty sleep.

Also take note, most if not all of these individuals are men in suits and are cleanly dressed and look like ordinary citizens. I guess this is the life of a Salary Man. The dignified homeless have the energy to find a more quiet and comfortable place.

At first glance you might be surprised and then that surprise will most likely turn into concern!!! Oh no!! If it was late at night on a weekend or someone was standing next to them as a caretaker waiting for a cab... maybe you would have less concern. But that is not the case, so you are wondering…. are they OK? Do they need help? Are they sick? You start looking around to see if anyone else is concerned, but you are the only one. No, here in Japan when you get tired you just pick a spot and sleep! I would be worried about getting robbed or arrested, but I guess it’s not bothering anyone and Japan is known to be one of the safest countries in the world. After a couple months I guess you get used to it....

I believe the main reason for this is that the Japanese people are extremely hard workers. They live to work as opposed to working to live. In some areas, it is a challenge to get back to one’s home, even with Japan’s great public transportation system. Especially if you don’t live in the city, the category most people fall into. The trains stop running around midnight to 6am everywhere, so it is easy to get stranded. Add in the fact that most of the men go straight to the Izakaya (food w/ all you can drink) right after their 12+ hr work day. And we all know Asians are notorious for not being able to hold their liquor! Either way the whole situation spells, Exhausted!! There is a whole business section in Japan of cafe's and lounge's to specially cater these exhausted and energy deficient. I’ve not got the talent yet for the busy intersection or the cold rail but a nap these days I am learning to take when and where I can.

日本語が話せますか

2008-12-16T23:23:00.006+09:00

Nihongo ga hanasemasu ka? Do you speak Japanese?

For all purposes, I just had my first "conversation" in Japanese. It was a meager exchange of information, but for me it was like finding the coolest toy at the bottom of the lucky charm sugar box! I have been studying for a little while now and try to study at least 15 minute a day if not more, so it was very rewarding to see a little light! Granted I still don’t think I can be understood in the most basic of tasks, but I will take what I can get!!

The new pictures I posted are of the Christmas party we had this last weekend. It turned out to be good times and the reindeer suit went over well with everyone (Except one of the 2 year olds, but I’m not sure if he was scared of the foreign guy or the reindeer)

I made another trip to Osaka this past weekend with some friends. That city literally does not sleep! I think Tokyo probably takes the cake for that, but I will be able to make that assessment after this next weekend. Tokyo here I come....

Welcome to my Blog

2008-12-08T17:21:00.004+09:00

I am new to the Blog World, so please bear with me as I attempt to proceed. Please let me know if the links to Pictures or Videos, etc, doesn’t work so that I can fix them.

As my time is a commodity these days and the fact that I want to keep you updated with my adventures, here we go. This is my side of the bargain; I would love updates and quick notes anytime from you.

I'm six weeks in and really can’t complain about how things are going. I expected things in the first 3-6 months to be busy and fast moving, and it certainly has been. The life of a teacher...I am really enjoying the teaching part, something I would welcome as a future endeavor. Its hard work though. I have more than 15different levels of classes (Business, Intermediate, Private) that I must prepare lessons for each week. This week we also had a country-wide kids test and I'm in the middle of doing individual counseling with my 50+ students. Therefore, there is an infinite amount of work outside of the actual teaching aspect.

In these six weeks I continue to study and learn more about the Japanese people, culture and their language. It is a truly fascinating culture with infinite differences. I am still in dubiously acclimating and don’t know if it is ever really possible to that fully in this country. That is fine by me, though :>) There are so many wonderful things to enjoy outside of work. For one, the food is amazing. If you like Japanese food in the States, you are in for a sweet surprise here. It gets better! This is the home turf, baby! I could sample a different specialty restaurant every night of the month.

The trains are 99% on time, a huge difference from my days in La Bella Italia. Kyoto where I pass most of my days off is the thriving cultural center of Japan and has so much to do and places to see. Anyways...Tropic Thunder just came out in Japan and I'm going to see it. Until later...

Very Funny and True!!! A few exercises to prepare yourself for the experience of Japan

2008-12-08T17:15:00.002+09:00

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1.Haven't been practising your Japanese for ten minutes a day? Plan ahead by wearing ear-plugs for a few days to acclimate yourself to not understanding anything that's said around you. Watch TV with them on. Go to your local dry cleaners and try to have 3 items dry-cleaned and pressed, 2 cleaned but not pressed, and one altered. Negotiate cab fare. Get directions from an irate government employee.

2. Don't talk to your friends and family for a week or so. Then set a timer and relate everything that's happened in fifteen minutes.

3. Have a friend blindfold you, take you to a local restaurant, and order your food for you. Eat whatever is set before you while blindfolded, as this will not only acclimate you to the point-nod-and-eat method of choosing entrees in countries with indecipherable menus, but will also acclimate you to dropping things with your eating utensil.

4. Move into your closet. Or, for the true apartment-complex sensation, move into someone else's closet.

5. Get your five favourite CDs. Listen to them exclusively, everyday. Play them until you can no longer stand them. Borrow a CD you don't like from a friend, play it repeatedly until you like it.

6. Have a friend blindfold you and drop you off in an unfamiliar section of the city. Remove the blindfold and put on 3-D glasses. Find your way home. Try this at 1:00 am after a few drinks.

7. When talking to friends, relatives, employers, and local store people, make up imaginary words and phrases and incorporate them into your speech. For example: "Hi Max, how've you glup bink?" or, "You know, Boss, I think I've been underpaid. Tiddelump? Foop brackelback!" or, "Excuse me, I'm looking for pap snarf. Can you plurf me?"

8. When people ask you to repeat yourself, repeat what you just said loudly and slowly, and point at nothing in particular. You will soon be used to the same quizzical looks and exasperated shrugs that will be a mainstay of your social life in Japan!

Kobe Vs Tokoyo FC

2008-12-08T17:02:00.001+09:00

Sushi conveyer belt. It was delicious! $1 a plate

2008-12-07T16:18:00.003+09:00

Yes We Can!

2008-11-15T16:39:00.005+09:00

I think the person who is more upset then John McCain is Hilary.... She might be his age the next time she has a chance to run! It’s crazy to think of all that went in to the campaigning: hundreds of millions of dollars, character assassination, divisive politics, etc. So he did it.......All for what? Now is his time to really find out the mess he has been handed. Unfortunately I think Obama will be taking his first term to start weeding through the rubbish he has been left... New health care, alternative energy....Let’s see if he finds time for that....

Oh well, I'm in Japan for now.

On a serious note, I can't think of a more historic moment in my lifetime. In my adult lifetime at least (the last ten years) it has been difficult for me to be proud of the country I call my home and where I was born. I believe this is a positive change and moment in America in a myriad of ways. One that I wasn't sure we had the intelligence or capability to make happen. I got home from work around 1230am, I was so excited that I thru on my running clothes and my iPod and ran out into the rice fields and screamed!!!! I wish I had someone who was even mildly interested close, but where I live there isn't any foreigners nor for that matter an American for 50 miles from where I live!!!!

2008-11-08T00:16:00.003+09:00

I live about 45 minutes outside of Kyoto in a very small town. It is close to my work and my apartment is brand new and fully furnished. It is small, but it is more than comfortable for me. I know that this will make a few laugh, as they know me for being perfectly comfortable camping in a tent anywhere in the world. I work 10-12 hrs a day. My students as a majority are great. All walks of life: Doctors, teachers, university and high school students, 3 & 5 yrs olds, ....the whole nine. Its funny but I am learning a lot from my students. Since I work all the time, they are my friends and we talk a lot about Japanese culture and life. I look forward to getting to know them better. And the people I work with are young 24-30 and speak English well enough to communicate. Its crazy to think Ive been in Japan only a couple weeks. The Japanese culture is so very different, there is a lot to learn and soak in. I havent been able to see much yet, but as I start to situate myself, I will be taking some journeys. I did go to Osaka last weekend, which was so fun. Night clubs, crazy culture/style -big city life. I am still learning and forming opinions....