Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Nuwisha's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Thursday, March 12th, 2009
6:04 pm	The Association Meme: Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given. List brought to you by the letter A for adalricbrandl 1. Tiny Dogs This is a given. There are two small dogs in my house. Duke the Papillon mix and Earl the Pomeranian/Papillon hybrid. Tiny dogs are a lot of work so I tend to talk about them alot. Plus I'm obsessed with dogs in general so it always comes up in a conversation with me, no matter if I have to derail the entire thing or not! Plus, they always give me something to think about when my life is dreary and stagnant. They're always up to something, or are making a lot of noise, or one will throw up / sneeze and Mom will have a fit. Keeps life interesting. 2. X-box To be honest this one blew me away. I HATE X-box with a passion! I hated it's bloated size, I hated playing Halo and the thing I hated the most... The CONTROLLER. I have tiny hands so I never felt comfortable using the thing. I had the same problem with N64 controllers which is why I skipped that Nintendo console. I DO have an X-box 360 now. Didn't have much of a choice! The games I wanted desperately were coming to that platform whether I wanted them to or not! I like the 360 controller though. Depressingly there still aren't enough games I want on the PS3 for me to consider getting one. But wow, this was number 2! I didn't think I talked about it THAT often... 3. Call Waiting Augh. Poor Andrew. I used to call him from work when I was at Connections Call Centre when I was feeling lonely. I swear, I'd wait for over 40 minutes and there would be no calls and then as soon as I'm talking to Andrew, BAM! The worst part was they'd come one at a time so I'd just get back to him and I have to put him on hold AGAIN. Mountain FM blaring in his ear. But those conversations kept me sane sitting alone in the dark... Playing Tetris and doing needle point.. 4. Japan Yeah yeah. I know. I talk a lot about Japan. Kind of hard not to when we're discussing anime or video games or whatever. Plus since I'm IN Japan right now kind of colors my LJ posts a little. Plus I'm ALWAYS up for Japanese food! My first trip to Japan was such an experience that it colored my outlook a lot after coming back. So I keep referring back to it since it was such a big milestone in my life so far. 5. Bold Hair Colors It's true. I love bright colored hair. I secretly wish I was ginger. It's a hobby of mine to see how bright I can dye my hair since it's a darkish-brown color so it's hard to get it REAL bright without bleach. I even dyed my hair blue once... The blue dye came off on EVERYTHING. Pillows, clothes, skin - it was disgusting! Fun to try though. Melinda and I tried to dye my hair red after the blue had washed out... Turned this fascinating shade of purple so we just dyed it brown again. LOL Oh yes, when I get home that's going to be one of the first things I'm going to do... Hmmm... Wonder what to do this time. Oh, by the way. I'll be home on the 25th! I better get packing! Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Muse - Take A Bow (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
6:27 pm	Okay. Thoughts are a bit better organized. So yeah, my company has decided not to renew my contract. I was surprised, but on further consideration, I shouldn't have been. You know the old saying, "Last hired, first fired!" ... Okay. I've never heard someone say that but it's too obvious not to have been said by hundreds of people before me. And I wanted to move badly, and even if they did move me they weren't 100% sure that I'd be in for the long hall. Hell, I wasn't sure myself! Plus, practically every other ALT I met from my company are either married or married with kids. Or married to a Japanese person. That ties you to the country a little more than manga obsession. LOL With the economy the way it is the Boards of Educations probably have a lot less money to deal out too. So anyways, shock wore off, logic consulted. I feel better. Then I realize that I have about 2 weeks to get my shit packed or thrown out or donated. o_O I don't know when the company is going to sneak in to take my car. They can't until the 26th but if they come that day I'll probably be.... ugly about it. I think I'm paid for the end of the month on my apartment, but I don't think I'm going to wait that long. I know I could be looking for a job out here. And I'd probably find one, but they'd all make me sign one year contracts. Some companies don't even want to look at me because of my lack of a BA and working holiday visa status. And the companies that don't mind aren't 100% certain that I'd be okay. Why should they bother to take a risk on me when there are so many other people around? I'm sure my company isn't the only one that's cutting back. I am disappointed though. I really wanted to try this out again in a different area. I didn't want to give up on the whole ALT thing so easily. But I don't want to sign for a whole year and this is a convenient excuse to come home. I didn't quit and I wasn't fired (well... I don't think I technically am. I mean, I completed my contract term, if they don't want to renew that's a different kettle of fish, right?) so it won't look bad on my resume. Another sad thing is I really wanted to goto the Dog Show in Tokyo before I come home, but that would be a minimum of five days in a hotel if they let me stay in my apartment until the 31st. That's at least 450 bucks... (Well, 45,000 yen, much more Canadian, but I'm being paid in yen so I'm using the equivalent.) Since I'll have no job when I got home and I've only doubled my meager savings, I'd rather have that money at home for gas and video games. (Priorities!) I'll be miserable if I can't get around and there's a back log of games that I wouldn't shell out for out here. Usually because they're on the 360 and the 360 is regional. Don't need 2 360's. At least my 2nd PS2 plays Jap DVD's. Found the Sound of Music for 3 and a half bucks. So my last splurge in Japan will come on Sunday. I'm going to Tokyo... for a DAY trip. *groans* I'll leave my house at 6 am and arrive at Tokyo station at 10:13. But hell am I going to miss Haru Comi since it's the last one I'll be able to attend! AND my favorite Doujinshi circle has finally announced the 3rd part of her series is going to be debuted there! Squee! And I just remembered I haven't checked where it is... *checks* I thought so. Tokyo Big Site. What isn't at the Tokyo Big Site?? Just have to be home by 8 am on Monday... Then drive to work. LOL ... I hope Watchmen will still be playing when I get home. Seems to be getting less likely that I'll be around for it on the 28th. Not that I haven't seen it already. Thank you internet. But I want to see it on the big screen. Make my contribution besides salivating for the day it comes out on video (I just realized I typed video instead of DVD. I find it hilarious so I'm going to leave it.) and I probably buy the uber collector's edition one for fifty or more bucks. -_-;; I want the movie companies to see that making a movie like Watchmen is a GOOD investment. I was really impressed by the whole thing. WEEeeellll... Mostly. But I don't want to have to start lj cutting this post for spoilers so I'll leave it at that. Visited two elementary schools for the last time yesterday and today... Now, except for two days, its the Junior High Schools to the end. And only the first and second grades so I'll only have TWO classes a day instead of three. -_-;; Going to damn Kamishima is SO NOT WORTH IT. I mean, I leave the house at 6:50 and I don't walk through my door until 5pm. I know, so what right? But it sucks when I only work for 90 of those bloody minutes! The rest of the time I have to find something to do! And it's not like the teachers need help with 14 students and I can't read anyways... So yeah. Make sure my DS is FULLY charged and play Chrono Trigger until I have a migraine. Or read until I have a migraine, etc. I can't SLEEP it'd be rude and I can't leave the school for the same reason! Not that I'd have anywhere to go... the schools are on this hill on a cliff over the Pacific Ocean. The ferry is about 2km away. Down hill though. But it wouldn't matter because I'd still have no way off the island until 3:30! Okay, I'm done. The kids there deserve an ALT just as much as any other. And besides, I like boats. And the island seems to like me, it hasn't blown that badly except for the one time. Last year the ALT was stuck overnight on the island three times! I only came close once! And oddly enough, the wind was freaking howling but the trip wasn't that bumpy. It was bumpier that morning when I thought the boat was going to break in half from the slamming noises it made when we came off a swell. O_O The only reason I didn't panic because there was only one other guy in the passenger section... and he was napping. I figured once he got worried, I'd be worried. Not looking forward to the job hunt. Didn't go so well last time. I've got a couple of promising websites to send my resume too and I will in a week or so. Might as well be available soon after they have a chance to look at it. Heh. At least I'll make a chunk of change on the exchange again. I checked yesterday and the Canadian dollar is sitting and 76 yen. Hot dog! When I came in August (and I made money then too) it was 112 yen to the dollar! So unless the dollar rockets up 25 cents or more in the next couple weeks I'm sitting pretty! Of course my profit will probably be eaten up in bank fees, but at least those fees won't come out of the principal! Current Mood: Stress Headache Current Music: None... Shhh.... (Comment on this)
Friday, March 6th, 2009
2:24 pm	So... My company laid me off / fired me without prejudice. This complicated things a bit. I'll post something better later. Chances have risen to about 90% in favor of me coming home in April. Current Mood: shocked (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
2:07 pm	Random Musings I haven't posted in a while, things at work have been progressing. I had two observations from my company, my Visa has been renewed, so no deportation for me. Still don't know what's happening in April, been getting different opinions on my visa situations from different companies I've talked to. Not sure what I can do. I'm probably stuck with W5 although some other companies aren't concerned at all with my lack of a real BA. I've worried about it so much that I'm kind of numb about it now. My parents have been off for nearly a week now. They've gone RVing to Yuma, California with the dogs. Dad bought a new truck that can actually hall the thing now, I haven't seen it yet but apparently it's beige. Like all the other cars my parents have owned over the years... Okay. That's a lie. I remember Dad had this four door baby blue... thing. Before we had anything to tow though. Boat stays in the water. The dogs are doing well, they're all vaccinated up and Earl recovered from his Kennel Cough. Apparently Duke runs around when they finally stop desperately trying to make friends with EVERYONE in eye shot while Earl makes a quick round then comes back to Mom demanding UP. My parents have finally arrived in Yuma and have been visiting their friends there. I got a quick email, but seems like Dad is having trouble keeping a connection since I got 4 small emails within 20 minutes of each other. LOL All the talk of dogs, the Westminster Kennel Club Show over and Crufts coming up I decided to have a look for JKC shows. Well... I found one in Nagoya! ... Today. Bugger. But there's another show in Tokyo at (surprise, surprise) The Tokyo Big Site on April 4th. So I'm going to catch that one. Maybe I'll spend the money and get a hotel IN Odaiba, make commuting easier. The thing is I'm probably going to Tokyo in March for Haru Comi. But I mean, hell, when else am I going to see a Japanese Dog Show? I mean, crazy! There's another show in "Nagoya" but I think that one is in the surrounding area. Have to do more research. I'm bummed about missing the one this weekend though. If only I had looked it up at the beginning of the week... Oh well. Plus the JKC follows the FCI rules of dog shows, so it's more like a show in Europe than in Canada or the States. So some of the dogs are in different groups than I'm used to and there are different groups altogether! Like the Spitz and Primitive Breeds group. That's my favorite group period so it'll be fun to see them all in one ring. Ah... I don't know what I'm doing here. I still seem to want to go for another term... So I guess I'll eat up my work holiday visa. Then I think I'll have to come home. I found a couple of websites offering Temp work at different offices in the Van area. Probably a good idea, if I can get a couple of temp jobs then I can get the experience to actually get a permanent job. *sigh* Then, of course, I could always goto school, get a real degree and somehow find a career. I still like the Archivist idea, but I need to get a BA in... something. I really don't want to get a BA in English. I like English and all, but I'm not passionate about it by any means. Maybe a Bachelor of Science. I wouldn't mind being in charge of an archive in a research facility.... As long as they aren't trying to make any super soldiers. On a secret island. (Oh yes, with RE5 coming out I had to make that reference.) .... I want a dog. I want to start trying to get into Confirmation and other sports. Duke would be good at it. (Well. Not confirmation but other sports.) But he's so sensitive that he's hard to work with. A harsh look and he's depressed for the rest of the day. Plus, he has a real crazy energy so a lot of big or dominant dogs want to sit on him until he calms down. Yes, we're horrible owners, our dog is unbalanced. But he's not unbalanced that it's a PROBLEM. Per se. And... He's always been like this. I mean, since I first saw him at the breeder's house when he was 8 weeks old. Earl's out of the question. He's stumpy, got breathing issues and far too stubborn even if I were willing to ignore his health problems. ... Might make an okay therapy dog. He doesn't live to be with other people like Duke does. But he's calm and will sit in your arms pretty happily. Makes my grandparents happy, anyways. LOL BAH! Depressed. Current Mood: aggravated Current Music: Back-On - Flyaway (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
7:24 pm	AUGH Well. Today I had an "observation" class with my company. They kind of announced they were coming Friday. Not that it really mattered to me, I was more excited than nervous. I thought I'd finally get to meet this new supervisor that I got. Well. I did. Sort of. They watched 2 of my five classes and when those were done they buggered off. I mean, would it have killed them to talk to me for 5 minutes? I did get a few words in edge wise but really, they blew me off. God. Just because I'm in Toba doesn't mean you can ignore and dismiss me!! They can avoid me though, and my inbox sure reflects it. I don't know... Do I really want to deal with this for another 6 months? Sure, I'll be somewhere else but I don't know if things will be that different at actual work. I mean, I get very little satisfaction from my job. 1/2 the time I'm playing tetris, or staring out the window, or reading the same book over and over and over. I know. Being paid to play my DS, sounds great right? But I did this before at Connections. I'd be busy and then I'd sit around for 3-4 hours doing needlepoint or reading or playing cards. It gets to you after a while. I want to be busy at work. I want to feel like I'm actually a part of something larger than myself when I work. My jobs so far have been solo... Except Tim Horton's. LOL I mean, sure I teach with another teacher during class but outside that I'm sitting by myself playing tetris while the real teachers do, you know, their jobs. ... Or at least, if I am working solo I want to be busy ALL THE TIME. Maybe a job with an actual break... Like a lunch break... That would be a change. Oh. And Obama is the bane of my existence. Trying to teach the kids "Yes, I do." and "No, I don't." results in the little buggers saying "Yes, we can!" so even the kids who are trying to get it right are confused. -_-;; And they all look at me like, "OMG you must LOVE Obama right?" I'm CANADIAN. I don't have as strong an opinion. ...Damn Obama. LOL Still deciding if I want to goto Nagoya tomorrow. I get Wed off for "National something Day" and this Saturday is Valentine's day so I don't want to have to deal with that crowd. Wanna actually go see a movie this time. Need to pick up my magazine too... I'll probably spend money though. I do that when I'm bummed out. But on the way to the theater I can go get one of those tasty crepes. Mmm... Crepes. Tomorrow is the logical choice. Just tell my sloth that, please. And now for something completely different! I'm going to talk about my newest game, so if you aren't interested, you can stop here. Bought the new Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 for the PSP. I must say I'm enjoying it a lot more than the first one! They fixed a lot of the problems I felt they had before. The support classes are a LOT easier to control this time. The characters don't have to "like you" to join your party. That was a big issue last time. I want to level the characters from the Tales games but half the time they don't like you enough or they don't feel like it! Lazy bastards! So I have to fill out my party with random generated character that they're nice enough to provide you. But isn't the point of the game to interact with all your favorite Tales character from previous games? I should think so... By the end of the game I had 3 classes above level 35 and none of the Tales characters had even made it to 30! So they did away with the opinion thing, which is awesome. You can still find out what characters think of you though... So there could be some mechanic there that I don't know about (or can't read). There is about three times as many characters this time around too. Which can be a problem, because when they join your guild they're usually really low level compared to you. So it's a huge pain leveling them up. You only have 3 spaces outside yourself and I like to have a balanced party... And then you get a quest to do with specific characters... For example the Tales of Eternia group wanted me to do a quest with them. The three characters are a Swordsman, a "Grappler" (in quotation marks cuz I haven't seen any throws...) and a Magician. So what does that leave? Support. Groan. Change class to priest, the fist-fighter was still at level 1 so I could get away with a completely fresh char. Then I learned the controls were improved so I felt better about the whole thing. Then the next quest. Gotta take Genis (Magician) and Rayne (Priest) from Symphonia into a new dungeon. (So dollars to doughnuts it'll be the hardest.) I think, okay, they joined after the beginning of the game, so they won't be level one... And they weren't. They were level 7. My highest class was level 22 and I was having difficulty. So bugger. Change class again and start dragging them around the other dungeons. (No point having support if Rayne is in the party!) Plus it was a good excuse to level a different class. Just stood in the back for the first few fights while the NPCs took care of things. They also made the (for my lack of thinking of a better word...) Hero Classes unlockable this time- which was a relief for me! In the first game some classes had to be unlocked by a one-on-one duel with a Tales character of that particular class. ... I'm not good at one-on-one! The game is designed around having a party and I don't have the leet skillz to fight a beefed up char! I mean, I did fine in Symphonia with that one-on-one. (Trying not to be spoilery.) And just as well on the one in Abyss. This was like the characters were on acid. Combos, dodges, deflects, I couldn't do enough damage! But that's more my skill level than a fault with the game. I guess other people had problems so they changed that. Sounds like they kept the "Champion" duels the same though. After you level a class to a certain point you get "Champion" quests where you duel this mysterious guy and get his armor and weapon piece by piece. Best armor of the game for that class, of course. It always amused me wondering how the Priest and Magician classes handled with those... But I never got either class to that point. One complaint that I have is that the block feels sluggish. I think it's the platform. My Tales of Hearts game on the DS feels a bit sluggish too. But I hear Tales of Vesperia on the 360 is bad too... Hmm... Either way I'm too used to Symphonia and Abyss, those games had really responsive controls. Oh. And another thing... ARMOR ORGANIZATION. I've gotta buy and maintain armor and weapons for every single Tales character in my guild. It's a pain in the ass because if you just dismiss your party instead of switching them out they keep all the armor they're wearing. But if you switch them out, they'll take it off so I can put it on the next guy. So I have a hard time remembering who has what! And then sometimes I'll get a character and he's completely naked! And their sprites don't change unlike your character so if I don't notice I won't realize until battle starts and I wonder why he's only doing single digit damage and dies in two hits?! That actually happened at the start of the game. I thought the game gave starting armor. No. What RPG doesn't even give you starting armor? LOL To be fair, they give you a good chunk of change at the beginning. I just didn't read between the lines. More (probably) as the game progresses. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: Back-On - Flyaway (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
5:59 pm	Hrmmm... Well... Got some interviews done. Now I'm in limbo again. I've accomplished a lot, I feel, but this whole limbo thing makes me feel like I'm running in circles. The company I went to in Nagoya specializes in Kindergartners. Right. I dunno, better pay, better location, but is it really worth dealing with 2-5 year olds every day? Had Skype interview with another company. I dunno. Doesn't seem any different than what I'm doing now. Just the scenery would change. Had Phone interview with latest company. ... Seems good. On paper I'm getting paid less, but if I put into consideration the sick / holiday days etc. then I'm making about the same. I've got another job that I'm going for too. But the deadline isn't until Friday so there's no point getting excited until at least monday. I don't want to go into details. Might jinx the entire thing. Bizarre. Longer I stay in Japan the more superstitious I become. Probably my paranoia. OH! OH! Tales of the World : Radiant Mythology 2 just came out today! So awesome... They've really upped the character creation and the number of characters from the games you can recruit! I'm really excited about this one. And it finally has proven to me that, yes, my American PSP WILL play Japanese PSP games. The new Crystal Chronicles : Echo of Time has come out for both DS and Wii too. Not sure how it works. Apparently it isn't like the old Crystal Chronicles where your GBA and GC had to talk to each other to work... I'll look it up later. So TIRED! So not worth an 11 hour day just to teach for 90 frigging minutes. I spend the rest of the time picking my nose! At least at this school I don't get in trouble for surfing the internet. Oh, I'm allowed the internet in all my schools, but only for work things. This school doesn't mind if I use it to check my email quickly and read the news pages. I'm so out of touch with the world. My kids have kept yelling "Yes We Can!" at me and I couldn't figure out why the hell they kept doing that... Oh right. Obama. *feels REALLY dumb* Read his speech too. (No Audio in school.) Very pretty. ... There are these white eagrit (NOT how it is spelled.) birds that live in the rice fields around my apartment. I finally heard them make noise the other day... They actually sound like Duke's squeaky dog toy. I'm not kidding. I couldn't believe it. I thought one of the dogs was playing but then I noticed it came from above me... Then I saw the bird. Another one to add to my plethora of Japanese bird stories. Current Mood: exhausted Current Music: Too tired for music... (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
5:10 pm	... Why does numerology keep saying I'm a religious fanatic? I've been getting these numerology emails for a while, just for the hell of it. Bored one night and you get a "free trial" plus a bunch of emails of different numerology subjects. Anyways, went back to the doctor. I've been feeling way better... But he burst my bubble. I'm still going to have to be on these meds for a few more weeks. Boo... But my meds get lowered next week. Unless I have a relapse. Had my first interview. It's august all over again. It's not an interview it was a sales pitch. Not sure about this one. Smells similar to what I'm doing now, once bitten. Next one is this Saturday. Gotta go all the way into Nagoya, we'll see. Damn expensive, damn trains. And I've got a new one now. But I might have to go out to Tokyo. o_O Bit far. Very expensive. Oh... And then there's still the first company. Yokohama, February. Good lord. I need more Dr. Who. Current Mood: distressed Current Music: Bump of Chicken - Karma (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
7:01 pm	In Summery: Sick but Optimistic First, Sunday. I've been having problems sleeping / breathing so I did a huge clean and vacuum of my apartment. I had been gone in Tokyo for 10 days and before that I had a nasty cold so I figured it's because of dust and after talking to Mom I was sure of it. Bedding washed, floor vacuumed, shelves rearranged and books dusted, I was exhausted since I haven't been breathing right since my cold in December. Didn't help. Decided to give it a couple of days. Monday. My coordinator called me up on Friday telling me to come into the office at 4pm for a meeting. Since I only go into Nagoya once a month on long weekends (if I can help it) I decided to leave early, spend the day doing my shopping and going to the company office at the end. The office I reasonably close to Nagoya station so I could walk 90% of the way underground. It's actually at the next station over, but no way am I paying 2 bucks for the subway to walk 500 m in a warm underground mall. Besides, on the way there's a Starbucks and when I'm in Nagoya (or other city) is the only time I even see a Starbucks so no way in hell am I missing out on that! So, do my shopping, had lunch at Denny's (at 2pm, but still.). I know, Denny's. You laugh but they have decent food in Japan. Japanese versions of American food, usually tastes better and has mushrooms. I love mushrooms. Now, the REAL reason I goto Denny's. They have nice, heated, western-style toilets. Oh, yeah. I was desperate and went to a bathroom in Nagoya station once.. Not pretty. I still had an hour and a half before I had to be at my meeting, so I decided to head there anyways. Even if I'm early I'd be around people and I bought magazines besides. Yeah, get lost in the underground. This happens EVERY BLOODY TIME I have to goto the office. It's a good thing I'm obsessively worried about being late. I'm the same in Canada to. If I have enough time to get ready I'm always about 20 minutes early for any meeting. Only time I'm late is if I goto the wrong place, or it's like "Meet you in 20 minutes." when I'm shopping with Mom and she throws me a curve ball by actually being on time. LOL I think it has to do with the fact I never go into the station at the same entrance. Last time my meeting was in the morning so I went straight to the office from the Kintetsu line. Time before that was the first time I ever went so I met a coordinator on the ground floor of the station and walked with her. This time I was shopping a couple of blocks from the station so I went down the first underground entrance I could find. Right in front of Denny's. LOL So thanks to my shitty sense of direction I was only half an hour early. But I had my chai so it was ALL good. The person who had the appointment before mine was there. He was going through basic training. He's in Okizaki, with 5 schools and at the same middle school 85% of the time. I had to fight down a wave of pure envy. Then I had my meeting with Tamas. I had been preparing myself for this meeting since Friday. I expected everything to empty placation to half-promises to evasion. No. Sat down. I told him what I told Aki and he says, straight out. "I understand. I'll send you a list of what's available in Febuary when I'm sure what's coming up." o__O I was stunned. Out of all the possible situations I had considered this was not one of them. In a bizarre way I was disappointed. I knew I had the power in this meeting, which usually doesn't happen and I was looking forward to sticking to my guns. I was SO SURE that they were going to try to weasel me into staying in Toba until July but it didn't happen. Didn't even suggest it. The reason for coming into the office was called "follow-up training" which had alarms going off. Usually follow-up training happens when someone makes a complaint about you. And all my schools have been throwing me rave reviews so far so I thought it was just an excuse for a face-to-face with the boss and filling out my Visa extension forms. Wrong. I actually had a complaint. It HAD to be from Kamo ES because I hadn't seen them since September and I was at their school the entire last week of my term. I'm not enthusiastic enough they said. Fair enough. I was still struggling with a cold, I didn't have a single break during the day. I got to leave early some days, but when I was working, it was non-stop. Plus, I was pretty burned out by this time and worrying about my position in April - so they didn't get me at peak performance either. It was hilarious because one of the teachers came to me after class with a dictionary and said that I was "calm and collected" during class.... I took that as a COMPLIMENT! I thought it was a GOOD thing to be in control. Tamas was completely understanding and actually made all my excuses for me. I wasn't going to make any excuses, why bother? I was going to take the criticism and if there was a nugget of truth in their complaints, work with it. (And there was, so I am working on my enthusiasm level.) So I got follow-up training. And even better, there were two other ALT's with me. One was from the Nagoya area. Got off to a bad start because he was bitching about his 20 minute commute. And I was like, "Oh yeah? 2 hours, mother F&@@*$!" Not literally, of course. But I shut that one down. The other ALT was from Yokkaichi which is actually one of the stations that I stop at on my way to Ise. Yeah... Apparently Yokkaichi has their own English program which states down to the minute what you are supposed to do, say, and act. Man. That's a real tough one. I've got so much FREEDOM comparatively. And then the other ALT's actually have to stay at school until 4:30 every day, I get to leave as soon as my classes are over. I never stay past 4 unless one of the teachers asks for a meeting after 6th period and it stretches for over 30 minutes. (That's happened, oh, once so far. I left at 4:15. LOL) And the way there were describing some of their classes, yeesh! Tearing up game cards, being completely unruly, etc. I'm so spoiled with my kids, they're all decent, even when they misbehave it isn't out of spite. It's because they're kids! After getting my promise from Tamas that I'll be moving in April I started getting nervous. O_O What am I going to do if all my classes are shit-heads?? I mean, I act all "cool and collected" but I don't have a thick enough skin yet. It still BOTHERS me. And my teachers, at least they control their classes! The other ALT's were talking about how they were trying to keep attention and the teachers weren't helping AT ALL. Then again, apparently their teachers actually take part in planning the lesson and actually have input. I don't get that. There was a talk on how to approach teachers with suggestions and here I am.. I'm the one to TELL my teachers what is going on. They don't argue with me. They're the ones that make suggestions to ME. And frankly, when one of them does I get really excited and praise them! -_-;; I talked to Mom about the meeting when I got home. It was 2:30 am my time, but it didn't matter. For reasons I'll explain in a minute. She made a good point that it's better to be busy everyday than be spoiled with all my "extra free time." I mean, god, what do I do with it? I have a nap, I watch DS9, I read... Not exactly productive. But the reason I was up so late was because the right side of my face felt like it was going to explode. Throughout the day I had been blowing my nose every 5 minutes or so. It was a lot of snot too, but I didn't really think about it since it was about 2 degrees and I was going in and out of heated stores and subway tunnels. It got worse on my train ride home, I used up every kleenex I had and by the time I got home I had pains from the side of my nose, to bellow my eye, across to my EAR and down to my jaw and teeth. It all ached. Not bad enough that I was crying or suffering or anything, but enough that it was really starting to piss me off and I couldn't sleep. I told Mom and Dad that I thought I had a sinus infection and I was debating whether or not to goto school tomorrow so I could goto the hospital. Mom eventually convinced me to go. So I did. Tuesday I returned to Kamo ES. I didn't have any hard feelings over the complaint, like I said, they've only seen me from that one week that I wasn't at my best. My other schools have seen me over a period of 4 months so they have a broader view. That day I had to work all six periods. Oi vey. Each was a different grade doing a completely different subject, it was hard to keep it all straight! I had called Aki when I got up that morning and asked her to help me find a hospital/doctor I could goto. I called her again during lunch break and she found my an Ears, Nose and Throat clinic that was about 5 minutes drive from my apartment. Great! The thing was, the clinic opened at 3 and closed at 6. The hospital walk-in hours were over so this was the only place in the area people could goto. I was scheduled to teach until 3:30 and driving from Toba to Ise takes about half an hour. So I made myself look really pathetic and the vice principal agreed to let me go after 5th period. And thank god I went... So I get to the clinic after some Japanese parking hilarity and I get my number. I only waited about 40 minutes so I was REALLY pleased. Of course, health care in Japan is privatized, so it's on the American system. So... Do I have insurance? Of course not. -_-;; I have no one to blame but myself. Apparently W5 has a contract with a health insurance company in New Zealand, but I had my travel insurance which covers hospital and theft so I didn't need more, right? (I learned later that my travel insurance may actually cover this, but I need to send all this stuff in myself anyways, so it really didn't matter at the time.) So before I got to see the doctor I got the whole "you should have insurance and you have to pay 100% of the fees." Well, I wasn't expecting any different. The doctor and nurses were really friendly and nice. And after I showed that I could understand Japanese they treated me like any other patient. Well... They dumbed down their language a bit, but that was it. This clinic was REALLY fancy. It looked better than the Ears, Nose and Throat clinic at UBC when I had an ear infection! So that made my stomach churned. I figured a hundred bucks just to LOOK at the place. So first I had a optical fiber camera shoved up my nose. A very interesting feeling. After looked at both nostrils he mutters "youkunaine" which means "that isn't good". Crap. So then he said he wanted to take an X-ray of my face. I agreed to it, of course, I wanted to know what was wrong! But I'm thinking, "Oh god, 50 - 100 bucks here..." Got some x-rays. While they were developing they stuck a nebulizer into my nostrils and I had to breathe in my nose and out through my mouth for about 5 minutes. The place is really efficient, there was a nurse at every station and me and 2 other patients were rotated around each other easily. Come back to look at my x-rays. He points the the sinuses that are above the eyes, and they were like two black blobs on the x-ray. "These are healthy." the doctor explains. Then he points to the sinuses that are in my cheeks. They were just about completely white. "These are not." stating the obvious. I have "acute sinusitis" a sinus infection. Fuck. I'm taking 20 pills a day and I've got this emergency nasal spray that I can use 3 times a day. I only use it when I need to sleep though. Helps me breathe. So night time and nap time. More bad news, I have to go back every week for the next 3-4 weeks. So, my bill times 4. Unless something isn't working and they have to switch meds, then who knows how much it'll cost? Good news! My doctor's visit AND my meds totaled up to only $100.00. I was so relieved after the whole chat I was terrified I didn't have enough money in my wallet to pay! I was thinking I was going to have to beg them to take my purse and I'd take my driver's license, debit card and my car keys and drive to an ATM and come right back! There was enough electronics in my bag to prove that I'd come back, I figured. Cell phone, my new electronic dictionary, my DS, not to mention my gaijin card, canadian debit card and my credit cards. Enough insurance I think. So I'm pretty miserable most of the time and I will remain so for at least another week. Then I might start feeling better once the meds have a chance to kick in. Taking tomorrow off because it's my island day and I'm just not up to an 11 hour day with at least 4 hours being outside in the cold or in a drafty boat. So yeah. Don't get one of these. They aren't fun. Enjoy my wall of text. Current Mood: sick Current Music: One Republic - All Fall Down (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 9th, 2009
7:59 pm	Hmmm... I really can't decide if things have gotten better... But they aren't any worse either. Just complicated. Got home from Tokyo no problem. On the way back I had a crystal clear view of Mt. Fuji from the shinkansen. I showed the teachers my photo this morning. They were excited, it's cute. Apparently it's really good luck to see Mt. Fuji from the first to the fourth of January. So two good luck charms. This year is looking up. I sent my resume out to test the waters. One company has already got back to me. And I've opened negotiations with my current company. I'll be heading in on Monday. (It's a holiday out here.) Schedule is seriously screwed out here. I'm back for Thurs and Fri and now I have a long weekend. -_-;; Would've been easier to start later and be off until this Tuesday. Well, whatever. Don't know what else to say. But that's okay. Post later if anything comes to me. Current Mood: amused Current Music: More DS9 (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
7:58 pm	Dammit... Why is Japan so freaking HOT? Bah. The worst part is I spent a good amount of time crammed into trains.. Or underground waiting for trains. That's hot anyways. But even when I'm outside the sun is so freaking hot I'm sweating. The only time it feels like winter is when the wind blows. Japan has really cold wind. But yeah. It says it's 6 degrees, but it's all lies. It's 10 at least. The comic convention was interesting. I didn't realize it but the entire thing changed everyday. Thank god I visited all the stations I wanted to on Sunday. I don't know what else to say really.. It was at the "Tokyo Big Site" convention center on Odaiba. I had to take the computer run train, which was very crowded. Each day I went there I found new short cuts to take me there faster, but I always had to take the unmanned train. It was just... Crowded. I took pictures of the building, but once I got inside there were just people everywhere, I couldn't stop or I'd be trampled... Saw plenty of gaijin, but everytime I visited a circle's table they looked at me like they couldn't quite believe there was a foreigner at their table. So Tuesday I went to Odaiba anyways and went to see a movie. ... Nothing was on though, really. Wall-E is still new out here. o_O And Hellboy 2 is coming out in January. I missed out in Canada so I'll see it out here. LOL Anyways, I saw "The Day the World Stood Still" with Keanau(?). It wasn't bad. But I wouldn't have seen it if I wasn't desperate. The theater was really classy too. In Japan you reserve your seats at the ticket counter so I was guaranteed a good seat. They had a few rows of these "loveseat" like seats with pillows on it. It looked really comfortable. But the normal seats were just as nice. Good size theater, reminded me of Metrotown. They had a great "manners" commercial though, they had this party of 8 rowdy guys and they kept breaking all the rules until finally popcorn was thrown everywhere and they started a brawl. They took themselves outside though, which I thought was interesting. It was really entertaining to watch! I'm watching the New Year's Specials on TV, it's really hilarious, they have all these "stars" and "idols" and it's the "athlete" team that seems to always get it right! There's the song special but I can't watch that very long. I mean, I like music and all but 4 hours? Augh. No. I'd rather watch crazy game shows... Although I don't understand any of the trivia questions. I don't feel too bad though, the contestants don't seem to either... This was a lot more fun the last time. I actually knew some of the celebrities. I'm really out of the loop. -_-;; Have to watch more Japanese TV. Aw man. I hope I have enough money for the next few days. I forgot that alot of ATMs close down from the 1st-4th. Yeah. The ATMs. It's weird. Well... At least the ones in Ise do, I haven't seen anything written on the ones out here. OH! And the ATMs in 7-11 stores actually take foreign debit cards now! It used to only be the ones in post offices! Doesn't really help me in Toba or Ise though, they don't have them. Nagoya does, though. But I haven't seen a single Circle K shop out in Tokyo, which really surprised me! They definitely have better food than the ones out here though. Pretty nasty. Going on another tour tomorrow. Going to take all day, so that's good.... Don't have much to say. Spent too much money. I'm going to have to forage for food for the next few weeks when I get back to Ise. ... I'm going to miss my bed. ;_; ... And my internet had a burp. I'll have to wait. OH! And if you haven't watched the WOW video "Blind" yet, DO SO NOW. It's had a couple of posts on the WOW community. Here's the website. I'm too lazy to code it. http://vimeo.com/2625538 Current Mood: amused Current Music: Namie Amuro - Hide and Seek (Comment on this)
Friday, December 26th, 2008
6:40 pm	In Tokyo Well... I made it to Tokyo. Got a headache lugging around Dax through Nagoya and Tokyo. But Tylenol quickly took care of that. I still have a lingering cold - it's just a cough. But now it's like my ears won't pop. It's really annoying. But the best, the BEST, thing so far is the bed in my hotel room. It's been so long since I slept in a REAL bed, it's so comfortable, it's hard to get up! My futon back in my apartment is fine, but there's nothing like sleeping on a mattress again. When I got here none of my outlets in my room had 3-prongs so I went to Akihabara to pick up an adapter. It'll be great at my apartment too so I can finally use a socket closer to my table. No more tripping over the cord at night! I picked up my Tales magazine at the huge Animate store. Actually after I've been around I`ve decided Akihabara has the biggest Animate store but I actually prefer the one in Nagoya. It's stocked better and only has 3 floors... I'm sick of those narrow stairways. It's embarrassing trying to squeeze past all these people going up or down the stairs. Very gaijin of me. I took my big Tokyo tour yesterday (Christmas day for me) and had a pretty good time. There were two other single people besides me, as in people not already part of a group, not people who are in a relationship. One was a middle-aged guy from Venezuela and the other was a man from Senegal the same age as me. He speaks beautiful French. So we made a cute little group. Carlos had to be 5'10" and Badu was close to 6'5", I looked like a midget. Besides drinks I only spent 10 bucks the entire trip. I found a button with my name in hirigana on it. I could never get anything with my name on it as a kid, so I found it entertaining. There was a dog store in the souvenir section of Asakusa Temple, it was amazing! They had stuffed animals of around 40 breeds of dog. I took a picture, don't know how well it turned out though. I half want to go back and get one of the papillon ones, but they start at 40 bucks. They even had Japanese-style dog clothes. I kind of wanted to buy something for Earl. Duke is to sensitive but you can get Earl in and out of clothing. He looks so indignant afterwards too. So cute! Actually... I guess I could get Duke into it, he wears a rain jacket and life jacket after all. But to get back to the subject, I bought a stylized Papillon cell phone strap. It's cute. The trip started out at Meiji temple and it was nice to go back after 6 years, part of the temple has been refurbished and now they're accepting French wines and not only sake for company donations, it's great to see the wine barrels next to the sake barrels. Next was the East Imperial gardens. Not much was blooming, of course. Just the Camillias, some Winter Sakura trees and oddly, a few daffodils. I should come back during my spring break. The palace is open only two days of the year. One was two days before I arrived and the next is the day I leave... I dunno. I don't think it's worth sacrificing my shinkansen ticket and paying for another night at the hotel, in my gut opinion. Next was the buddhist Asakusa temple. It's famous for it's huge paper lantern gate with the kanji for lightning written on it. It has a huge avenue of souvenir shops, which I mentioned above. It was so busy it took me about 20 minutes to get to the middle gate! Unfotunately I didn't have time to go RIGHT UP to the shrine, but I've got a few good pictures. I also bought a fortune, it has an English translation, but it would be hard to find your fortune if you can't read kanji numbers. Anyway, I got the "best fortune" which is apparently especially good from Asakusa. Apparently this temple loves to give out "bad fortunes." So I get a lucky charm for my wallet that'll last until next Christmas. After that was lunch at a hotel, it was overlooking a garden on the bay, it was gorgeous! Took a few pictures of that too. Lunch was good.. But it was kind of cheapened by hash brown thing they served with it. Reminded me of the hash browns you get at McDonalds. Then it was time for a cruise around Tokyo bay. Had a really good view of Rainbow Bridge, and the rest of Odaiba. After the cruise we actually went to Odaiba but we only spend half an hour there. Barely saw anything besides the replica of the replica of the Statue of Liberty in France. LOL Oh. And I went to Toys R Us with Carlos and Badu. They were under the impression things were cheaper in Japan. HA! Sometimes you can find an equivalent price but on the whole things are about 10 bucks more expensive. So, good tour. I think I may goto Tokyo Tower tomorrow. I really don't know what else to do. Fuyu Comi doesn't start until Sunday so that'll keep me busier. But I'm still pretty lonely. I don't take being alone very well. So I'm a little sorry for myself right now. Ungh... I never thought I'd miss work, but here it is. Miserable at work, miserable on vacation... The thing is I DO want to stay in Japan, maybe if I can make it for a year... I think that'll be okay. My fortune says that employment is favorable, maybe I'll get out of Toba in April! LOL I'm going to start sending applications out when I get home to Ise. Just in case my company can't find me a different position. I find myself oddly looking forward to the Star Trek MMO. I don't know why I should, I've never enjoyed a Star Trek game before. Saying that, the last one I really tried to play was on the Game Gear. But having my own Star Trek ship and crew is like the answer to one of my favorite daydreams. I heard they might have Defiant-class ships available eventually and that would be so awesome! Plus they're designing their own ships, which is fun too. But in the beginning the races available don't include Trills or Bajorans, which is too bad since they're my favorites. They do have Andorians though! It's why I love DS9 the best out of all the Star Trek series, huge space battles and lots of coexisting species. Current Mood: lonely Current Music: An episode of DS9 (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
2:41 am	Oops. Been awhile. Well.. These few weeks have actually been pretty good. I'm been working hard and hardly working... All in the same week! LOL And I managed to wake up just as Tales of the Abyss started so I drug myself out of bed to watch it. I mean, I had to goto the bathroom anyways. And it was cold. ;_; Turned on my heater. It has an auto 3 hour timer. My plans for a DSI have hit a snag. Turns out that the DSI is NOT backward compatible with anything beyond the DS. It has no GBA cartridge slot. So... Is it worth getting the new DSI for the whole newness of it or do I get a DS Lite so I can play all my games. There's a mauve one that I think is hilarious. Or turquoise! I want a pink PSP too. That's so something you can't get in Canada! ... And my keyboard is stuck on French again. So annoying... And I don't know how I do it either so I have to flail on my keyboard until it changes back. Wait... Got it! Yays! So ANNOYING. And it's STIL stuck that way on WOW. But now I think I have a strategy... Oh. And I saw a weasel. Seen all the famous Japanese animals except a monkey now. I hate monkeys though... I don't know where this phobia came from, probably just because it's unfamiliar. I don't have the natural snake phobia that most people have. I replaced it with spiders, heh. I really don't have much to say. Things are going at their expected rate. I paid for most of my trip to Tokyo. I'm going on a big tour of Tokyo on Christmas day and going to Fuyu Comi will be fun. Anything is better than sitting here for 2 weeks. Ungh... I don't know what I'm going to do during Spring Break. I got a few months to decide though. The school timetable in Japan is screwed up in my opinion. The year starts in April and then after one term they've got at least a 4 week summer break. It makes the kids really bratty in September... >_> And then there's April to think about... I really beat this horse to death though so I'm trying not to worry about it until the new year. Anyways, back to bed. Current Mood: good Current Music: Tales of the Abyss Ed. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
5:48 pm	Heh. I'm pretty proud of myself. So my package from Canada failed to be delivered today. No problem, I thought. There's a number on the bottom for English service. Yeah. Can't be made from a cell phone. What a pain in the ass. So I girded my loins and made the call to the Japanese number. It went swimmingly! I'm going to get my package between 7 and 9 pm tonight! It's sure some service the Japanese have! Free re-delivery, post on Saturdays.. I'm pretty impressed! Oh boy oh boy! Can't wait for my huge ass box! I'm relieved that I got it so soon, it's really gotten cold and I was beginning to wonder how I was going to layer myself up for school. Rawk. ^_^ Few good things happened. I saw a dolphin today. A real, live, wild dolphin! Shocked the hell out of me. I was just staring out the window during my 50 minute boat ride as usual and it just jumped right outside my window! So that was awesome. I also got a free vacuum cleaner. Slightly broken, but nothing duct tape can't fix. So score! I got it from another ALT who teaches English to the 5th and 6th graders at my huge school. He's from New Zealand with a Japanese wife. Nice guy. I've also really gotten into the Code Geass anime. Seemed every Japanese artist I watch does a series I like AND Code Geass so I finally went to see what the fuss was about. It's excellent! It's convoluted and melodramatic, just the way I like it! The character designs are by CLAMP to which made me giggle. ... It actually reminds me of Death Note... With mechs. LOL Anyways, if you're bored torrent it up! There are two seasons, I found both with English subs but the series has been licensed so it's a bit harder to find. Anyways, good stuff! The next 5 weeks are going to be pretty hard core. It's coming up on the end of term so I'm going to ALL my elementary schools at least twice between now and winter break. So at least 3 elementary schools a week. -_-;; And even worse... Next week I have THREE island days. Ugh.. I HATE island days, I have to get up super early, make my own breakfast (I usually just pick something up.) and walk to the train station. Boo. Well. I'm definitely going to earn my trip to Tokyo... But finances are tighter than I like. I go over budget every month for transportation and so far my logical arguments have fallen on deaf ears. My rent is about 200 dollars more than what they told me it was going to be. Plus gas, electric and water... I won't mention food. Grr. I mean, I knew I probably wasn't going to MAKE money on this trip, but I don't want to have even LESS money by the time I get back! *sigh* Current Mood: groggy Current Music: Mirror's Edge - Still Alive (Comment on this)
Friday, November 7th, 2008
10:15 pm	Neat! I found a kanji training game for the DS in a second hand video game store. It's pretty neat. It goes all the way down to hirigana and katakana too so at least the kanji aren't all foreign to me. It's like Brain Age, 5 minutes a day to improve your kanji! It even came with the nintendo version of a shodo brush, I thought that was excellent. But I'm worried I'll lose it like my last 2 pen dealies. I know this sounds weird, but I was having alot of fun with it... Plus it gives me an excuse to bring my DS to school. It'll be fun to show it off. Speaking of the DS... The new DSI is out. In a wide range of colours... if you like black and white that is. It's the equivalent of 200 bucks though, so I'm going back and forth whether I wanna lay down that much cash... Well. Maybe in the new year. I've decided to go to Tokyo during winter break. One of the largest comic conventions takes place on the 28th-30th of December and all my favorite doujinshi circles will be there with their latest stuff, so that would be a blast. And while I'm there... take a city tour... go to Disney Land... I haven't been to a Disney park in 6 years. Disney Sea... Froze my ever-loving ass off. Bought Indiana Jones cookies for my parents for when they came to visit me... 8 hour bus ride. Got on at midnight, arrived at opening at 8am. That was HORRIBLE. Plus the bus stopped every 2 hours or so, then the lights would come on... Ugh. The only downside to my master plan is that I gotta go all by myself... Traveling by yourself sucks. Especially when you aren't planning to meet someone or join a group... I might make new friends there, who knows. But I'm a pessimist. So it feels a little daunting. Need to go to a travel agent soon too... There aren't any around where I live so I gotta go out of my way... And after a day at work I'm cranky and tired... Monday or Wednesday would be my best bet... Those two days I have a better chance of leaving early... Hell, I did this 6 years ago, it should be EASIER this time! Hmm... While I'm in Tokyo I should see if I can pick up one of those handy-dandy kanji translators. You draw the kanji on the touch screen and it tells you what the word is... I'll still probably have to look up that word, but at least I'd know what sounds it makes so I can actually look it up in the dictionary! That's what makes Japanese so HARD. If it weren't for the kanji without furigana (hiragana written by the side) I'd probably be functionally literate. Not newspapers or anything... But trashy novels at least... I was at a book store today and I picked up a copy of the Dead Poets Society in English. Loved the movie, thought the book would be fun. The book can't be any more that 250 pages and they're asking TWENTY BUCKS for the damn thing. Just... NO. Not happening. -_-;; I miss books. I finished Marley and Me today, brought tears to my eyes. My nose is still running from that awful cold I caught last weekend so at least I could blame it on that. I'm still coughing up fun stuff too. But at least I'm not SICK. I've gotten into the habit of looking at Japanese job search sites. If things don't work out here, might try somewhere else. And try with SOMEONE else if my company doesn't give in to my demands. Not that I think I'm being unreasonable. Somewhere with stores, not have to drive an hour to schools... Less than 10 freaking schools... Being to cover ALL my freaking travel expenses within the budget my contract states! That last part is just bullshit anyways. How the hell do they expect anyone to want to STAY in Toba if they have to pay out of pocket for gas to get to these schools out in the bush! ... At least they pay for my car. I'll give them that. I won't be able to drive soon after my contract expires anyways. They only give you a year, so after that I have to take their test... And it's not uncommon for Japanese people to fail about 3 times, let alone us foreigners! And it costs 200 bucks a pop! Pass or no pass! Not worth it, not worth the stress. Although I love having my car and it makes my living here SO much easier, it isn't enough to convince me that I NEED a car. I wouldn't stay out here anyways, even if I didn't have to drive. I like the people, but 10 schools is a LOT and I'd like to feel like I was living in town, not a distant suburb. It'd be fun to work in my old stomping grounds, or at least close to them. ^_^ Or hell, work in Tokyo. There are far more job openings out there than I expected. But you have to be careful... Some of them are salary and some of them are per hour. The problem with the per hour jobs is the threat that you might have to find YOUR OWN students or the classes dry up, not stable. But salary lump-sums limits how much you can earn even if you work extra hours... So yeah. Interesting to think about. Oh, right. Job. Job continues to be bearable. Even manage to enjoy myself some days. Still miss friends/family/dogs and still a nervous wreck most of the time. Geez.. I'm so high-strung, it's a little ridiculous. Still lonely, but busy so I'm okay. Only talk to myself on off occasions. Still trying to figure out what I want to do come March, I'm still up in the air. Stay? Don't stay. Go Home? Don't go home... Go home and do WHAT is the scariest question that I still have no answer for... Although I've been thinking about becoming an archivist. Problem is that it's a Master's Degree so I need to get an undergraduate in an "appropriate field". But they don't hash out what fields are appropriate which is kind of annoying. I mean, English is the obvious one, but there's a plural in there so they have a broader range than that. I'd like to major in Japanese... I'd actually love to brush up my French and take a minor in that. Living here has reminded me how much I love speaking another language. Heck, I like to speak in English too, who am I kidding? But I'm really happy that my Japanese has managed to get to a level that I can insert more of my personality and jokes into my conversations. Telling a funny story and having them laugh is a real rush. Means I told it right! Sometimes that's hard even in your native language! Of course the real problem remains, where would I work? I mean, I could come back to Japan after I get my degree, but I'll probably end up teaching english again. I'd love to have a job out here that didn't involve teaching children. I really don't know how to deal with kids. I never had much experience with them having no siblings or even younger cousins around more than once a year... Hmmm.. I wonder if I'd be okay with High School kids. Another issue: I'm so not cool enough to live in Japan. LOL Oh god, I saw this... garment... today that was literally a knit shirt with shorts attached. So it was kind of like a jump suit. But I mean, A KNIT shirt, long sleeves with SHORTS. They weren't long shorts either. Boggles the mind. Then... I saw the knit dress with spaghetti straps. o_O I don't understand... But I don't have to. I'd never fit my ass into one anyways. Ah, Japan. Current Mood: amused Current Music: One Republic - Stop and Stare (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
8:17 pm	Good news! My teeth stopped bothering me! Thank GOD because that could've been a real nightmare. ... I caught the Japanese crud. And it is now feasting on my tender gaijin immune system. I'm kind of annoyed. I think I caught it on monday or tuesday. I started feeling it on Tuesday as I finished work. But I thought that it was because I was at my huge school and I had to talk over more than 150 kids that day. Not all at once, thankfully. LOL But my throat started hurting... And then it wouldn't go away, my teeth were hurting then too. I managed to scrape by on friday and when I got home, the coughing, the running nose, pain in my sinuses and chest... All at once! It was kind of freaky! So I went in to the store today and bought tablets and Vicks VapoRub. Oh god, I was SO happy to see it, because I wasn't sure they had is out here. These tablets are pretty weak I think, I have to take 3 at once. And that is the dossage, I can read the kanji for "how many" and "how many times". The rub is weak to, it doesn't have that eye-watering effect that I expect. Then again, the stuff at home is probably 8 years old and has congealed into super rub or something. Either way, that stuff works. I can barely SMELL this stuff and that's after a bath so my sinuses are all cleared up. Ugh... And I've got one of my huge schools on Tuesday and I can't concentrate... All I can do is stare at the computer screen and just lie there. I can't sleep because my sinuses drive me crazy everytime I move my head... But I'm not exhausted for some reason... Maybe I am, I'm just too sick to realize it. I bought a big fluffy blanket too. Definitely a smart idea. Suddenly it's cold. Not as shocking as the last time I was here, but it's noticeable. Too bad. It's a long weekend and I was hoping to go catch a movie, but I shouldn't drive. At all. Bad enough going to the store. Dad's going to send my box on Monday so I got Dad to buy me Fallout 3 for my box. I wanted to try it for console, but this way I can play it NOW. And I'm all about now, baby! LOL So Spore and Fallout 3. I'm going to be a happy gamer come the end of November when the box finally makes it's way here. Current Mood: sick Current Music: Project Runway (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
7:10 pm	Well... This weeks gone pretty well. Not much has changed, but I guess I'm handling things a bit better now. New problem. My wisdom teeth are bothering me. I thought it might be a cavity at first, but the pain kept going away and coming back. Then.. I poked my gum. Ow. So. I don't know what to do. They haven't bothered me in probably 2 years so I put the whole removal on the back burner. But what if it doesn't go away this time? What if they impact or some other such thing? I've had teeth issues since I was a baby and I had to have 9 teeth removed so the teeth that I do have would fit in my mouth. So I don't think I'm too out of line for worrying about that. Medical terminology was deffinately not part of the curriculum back in Jap 101 so I really don't know how to express myself. Which means I need an interpreter, my company is based in Nagoya more than and hour and a half away, so I don't think they'd help me. And if I DO goto a dentist he's going to tell me what I already know. "Wow. You have wisdom teeth. They aren't going to fit so you'd better get rid of them." I REALLY DO NOT want to have them removed in Japan. I'm scary paranoid about these kind of things so I'd need a lot of hand holding anyways, plus recovering on my own out here would be a nightmare. AND my company sure as hell wouldn't support me. I don't think they'd fire me though. It's, what?, about a week to recover? I think I'd be safe for about two and a half to three weeks. Probably. Oh... And Dax tried to pull a Sanzo on me and delete that WHOLE last paragraph. But I thwarted him. Ah. Victory. My parents have seen 2 black bears in as many days and when I told my teacher about it she insisted that I tell EVERY class about it. Fun times. Puma is a really popular brand out here so I can always point out what a cougar is. LOL Earl was nose to nose with a huge black bear (through our chain link gate) and he wouldn't back down. Duke was smart enough to run away. Ah Earl, you think you're a Rottweiler. Luckily the bear was healthy and not starving so he just shuffled along after staring at him for a while. Poor Mom, she nearly had a heart attack. And then when Dad was taking the dogs for a walk the next day he found a bear in the tree in the park. He decided that was a good time to turn around and walk back home. Lots of bears this year. And Dad was saying that FOUR cougars had to be put down in Squamish this summer, that's worrying. AUGH! Stupid teeth! They won't hurt for hours and then it's like "remember me?" and it's ALWAYS around lunch time. I don't think it's because I'm clenching my jaw or anything. My jaw doesn't hurt, it's my gum and molars. And the other side started hurting a bit today to... Upper molars appear to be fine. Just my lowers. Oh. And OMG the last episode of house! I just watched it! *dies* Current Mood: bugger (Comment on this)
Friday, October 17th, 2008
5:32 pm	Ah... I remember this feeling... I'm homesick. I've had my first bout of "I wanna go home NOW!" syndrome. I'm really lonely and usually I go people watching when this happens but it's one of those days where I acknowledge the fact that in the sea of people everyone is in couples and groups and I'm the only one sitting by myself. I hate that. It makes me hate going into restaurants or go shopping, so I end up sitting at home. I've been really tired this week too. And today I had a class seriously disrespected me and I got no help from the teacher. They're thirteen year olds, it happens, but by the teacher not saying anything he was allowing it and that's not acceptable. So more shit on my heaping pile of emotional baggage. I'm not going to pack up and leave because of one class out of 50, but still. Not fun. And I gotta go back on Monday. So not only do I end my week on a bad note but I have to start it again on said note. Then I start thinking "Well, what if I do go home?" I'll be around friends and family... but I'll still be jobless and adrift until I finally settle for a job at Wallmart. If they'd even hire me, who knows. Dammed if I do, dammed if I don't. I don't know what I want to do. I feel like a waste of space and all that other self-loathing stuff. Cheery, I know. Well, it all can't be roses. Current Mood: crushed Current Music: Fatboy Slim - Everyone Loves a Carnival (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, October 10th, 2008
5:18 pm	YAYS! Miso! I guess miso cup ramen is a seasonal thing out here... I mean, in September I could find maybe one kind, but now they're back up on convenience store shelves. I bought an EXTRA large one for today. ^_^ Another aside, thursday was my island school day and as I was walking from the port to the train station I nearly step on.... a crab. I mean, it was in the middle of the sidewalk! I was a block away from the ocean! And since I was wearing sandals my tender toes were exposed. So I jump about three feet in the air yelling "FUCK! KANI!" (kani being crab in Japanese) I think I scared the shit out of this car that was driving by me at the time... I've also had to become careful of stepping on dead fish. All part of the experience. Seems I've out-waited Nintendo. I've been wanting to upgrade my brick DS for a while now, but I always seem to back off or miss the boat. So now at Tokyo Game Show they announce the new DS... It's called something-or-other I don't remember. Comes out here in November, it'll be in NA in late 2009. Might as well pick up one of those.... It has a camera in it now. EVERYTHING has a bloody camera in it out here. Oh, and it'll play music too. Again, like every other bloody thing around here. And even more creepy is that in September, the XBox 360 out sold the PS3 and Wii in Japan. The power of the JRPGs I tell you! White Knight is coming out on Christmas day and FFXIII can't be far away.. Yeah, it's coming out on the 360 too but still. Might return the status quo. Also I've learned that my Elementary school teachers are dropping the ball with me. They're supposed to start teaching english by 2011 so they're supposed to "learn how to teach english" from me, but they basically leave it ALL to me. I didn't realize this was SO wrong (I knew it was kind of wrong...) until I had my meeting at the Board of Education and I got to hear what the other ALT's are doing. Man, I've been busting my ass and they're supposed to help me like 50/50 instead of 90/10! I give them 10 because they do make sure the kids listen and don't run amok. But basically they pick the topic, we have a curriculum book they can read in Japanese so they know what the activities are but so far NONE of them have bothered. Then they finally agree to talk to me 5 minutes before class starts and are like, "So what are you doing?" And then they look blankly at me as I mention activities from the curriculum. I mean, it's not like it would take them long to read it. 5 minutes tops! So why don't they read the entire bloody page BEFORE they send me the "schedule". RARR! SO NOT FAIR! So the BOE is going to talk to them. True Japanese style. In Canada I would walk up to these people and explain myself, not here. And I'm giving them a rough time but as people in the staff room they're very friendly and I like them a lot. They do their best to make me feel included, which I really appreciate. Keeps the loneliness at bay... After the class, of course. No need to avoid me then... So... A mixed bag. Oh! I bought my PS2 and I found a used DVD of Star Trek : Resurrection for like, 5 bucks. Heh. Awesomeness... CRAP! That's what I needed to buy at god-damn JUSTCO, a splitter! I have no plugs. Darn. Oh well, do it tomorrow after I come back from Nagoya. Yup. It's Nagoya weekend for me since I get Monday off. So. An update of sorts, sorry for being so schizophrenic. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: Powerman 5000 - Danger is Go! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
3:48 am	Right... Let's try this posting thing. I've officially made it through my first month. My self intros are FINALLY over. So far it's been a mostly positive experience. But, oh my god, tuesday. What a show that was. First of all I had NO idea what I was supposed to do besides my damn self-intro which CAN take up the whole class if the kids actually want to ask questions so I was sweating. I figured, no sweat, I got 1st period off. HA. No one bothered to give me anything until literally 2 minutes before I was dragged to class. And what a class that was! We had these 5 kids that would literally get up and walk around during class and make a huge racket. But, I mean, 8 year olds, right? I felt bad because the teacher was having a really tough time with them and I couldn't do anything to help her. Says so right in my contract. "Thou shalt not touch the children nor speak to them in any disparaging way." So I got to stand at the front of the class... Smiling. Then again the special ed teacher who was there didn't help either so... Yeah. The next class went much better. The one after that was... mixed. The teacher kind of sat off in the corner reading his book. It's like... "Hello! Please don't ignore me!" But he didn't graduate into the class I've come to call "Nose Pickers". He was polite to me and would actually pipe in once in a while. -_- Class after that. Okay. Last class, we make our way through the halls and... Big class fight. Bloody noses everywhere. I'm like... "Whoa..." Teacher was on hand so things were in the investigation stage. So basically the teacher walks me into the classroom.... Then walks out again. Well, shit. This is another one of those contract commandments. "Thou shalt not go into the classroom without a teacher present... It can only lead to law suits." Crap... So, I waste about 15 mins. hoping the teacher will come back... No. No choice. I taught the entire class myself... In BOTH English and Japanese. Good lord. Apparently I was doing alright though. I didn't get any blank stares after my Japanese. I did after my English but that's a given by now. Ugh... And I've got TWO island days in a row. The island days are annoying, I have to get up extra early to get my ass to the ferry AND take a train. It's not worth 20 bucks a day to park so I can have an extra 20 mins. Plus the classes are so small out there. I've gotta teach an hour class... with 7 kids. A typical class is 45 mins and activities just don't LAST long enough with so few participants. AUGH! STRESS! And I have to goto this one EVERY WEEK. The reason I go there every week is for the Junior High. All my Junior Highs get at least one day a week. But they figure since I'm there anyways, throw me to the damn elementary kids too. Makes me want to drop a big "F-Bomb" on all these people and SWIM back to Toba. My other island isn't one of my favorites either. One of my teachers in a nose picker and I get the feeling he doesn't want to bother with an ALT at all. *sigh* I've grown sick of the few DVDs I brought with me so I've done a lot of torrenting. Yeah. All four seasons of Deadliest Catch. But after a couple of episodes I've had enough crab... My favorite reality show is back. Well.. Was back like 2 months ago in the states apparently. But hell yeah for Project Runway! I love that show... But I promised myself I wouldn't make this post about it. And despite all this moaning and bellyaching things are fine. I'm good IN the classroom, I just get the jitters before... And when I run out of materials. Bugger. But honestly, I have no one else to vent to so you guys get to enjoy. Or skip, either or. My other ALT buddy caught the evil Japanese flu so she's outta commission for a while. We text message eachother though. She's very understanding of my panic attacks. She's been here for a while now, and was a teacher in the Philippines besides so she gives me a lot of good advice. This weekend is apparently Ise Matsuri. There's a big notice near my appartment that the main street I'm on is going to be closed Sat and Sun. I think I can get in and out, there's an alternate route so I should be able to get in. But it looks like fun! I'm going to party with the city on Sunday. I'll take pictures! I just can't promise that they'll be anything besides a sea of heads though. Heh. Current Mood: awake Current Music: Linkin Park - Faint (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
12:22 am	"Crying is like puking for the soul..." No. No I haven't been crying. But when I read that tidbit on Dominic Deegan I had to smirk. So. I haven't crashed my car yet. Ah, yes. Adventures of driving in Japan. It's fine when you're moving but when you stop at a light I have a mantra "you drive on the left you drive on the left..." keeps me from trying to make a right turn into oncoming traffic. But things have been fine... As long as there is a center line on the road. Once that baby is gone I'm in trouble. If you see someone coming you pull over as far as you can and see if you can squeak past eachother. Cars aren't so bad... It's the service vehicles and TOUR BUSES that give me the panics. Oh my god. And they have these 3ft deep gutters on the road for rain water and I know if I put a wheel in there I'm fucked so I'm trying to pull over for monster bus and I'm teetering over the edge... Yeah. Good times. Problem is on some of these roads I'm starting to get COMFORTABLE. My car has NO stereo and can pick up NO radio stations so I have to put my iPod on max volume and put my headphones around my neck. So I'm singing to myself and woolgathering while I drive. I mean, this was fine on the Sea to Sky... I know that road backwards and forwards. But anyway, driving is an adventure. School is still fine... I'm actually visiting a school for the SECOND time tomorrow. (I've only done that with ONE other school so far...) And I get Tuesday off for not specified reason. Japan has a LOT of long weekends. Makes up for the fact they have a shorter summer holiday I suppose. With badgering from my parents I've taken a few more pictures so I'll have to load those up. Quick update. Current Music: Vitamin String Quartet - Freak on a Leash (2 Comments |Comment on this)