1,000 hits later

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit this blog and read my posts, that includes all you bots out there. You've all contributed to what is now 1,000 hits. Joy. I'm officially on winter vacation, which is awesome for obvious reasons. I haven't had a winter vacation since my school days, so this is certainly a welcome blast from the past. So far I'm one day into my vacation and I've used that time to do a little Christmas shopping and TV viewing. If you haven't seen it yet, Breaking Bad is a show worth checking out. I just finished season 3 and oh boy, what a cliffhanger that was! I highly recommend it. I'm also watching the current season of The Big Bang Theory, which I just started, and American Horror Story. AHS is very strange and it's really intriguing to the point where you want to keep watching to see what happens next. It feels like horror movies from the past. Old-school vibe for sure and the editing is interesting.

Enough TV nonsense, my Christmas plans are official. I'll be heading to Fukuoka tomorrow to spend time with my lady friend and I'll have my first Christmas in Japan, the way the Japanese do it; a bucket of fried chicken from KFC and Christmas cake for dessert. They don't really do turkey here, maybe it's the lack of ovens in the kitchen, but the tradition, and I'm not joking, is to chow down on some KFC chicken. KFC gets so busy at this time of year that they actually take reservations for chicken orders. The complete opposite in America where I'm pretty sure KFC is closed on Christmas with no signs of life, aside from a trash-pickin' hobo. It's certainly different from what I'm used to, but hey...when in Rome.

After that, the girlfriend and I will be heading out early, the day after Christmas, to Osaka via train. We'll be spending a couple of days there, with one of those days dedicated to fun at Universal Studios Japan. Supposedly they made it all pretty-like for the holidays, so it should be nice to walk around there and soak up all that holiday cheer. I may not be able to go home this year for the holidays, but I'm happy to still be with someone I care about this time of year and to not be working. Not too shabby right? Anyway, if I don't post before Christmas, have a wonderful holiday and I'm sure we'll be in touch (to those I know of course).

Not too shabby!

Play Santas, play!

College students parade through town.

Universal Studios in Japan is in the mood.

Maybe you thought I was kidding.

Bow before MEGA-SANTA!

Santas holding on for dear life.

Jolly fat man around town.

'Tis the season

Been a little while since my last post but hey, work comes first right? Or some such nonsense. Here we are in December and it's getting to be really damn cold here in Japan. We're talking thermal undies cold. Coming from LA, I was quite ill-equipped in the clothing area and have had to spend some dough on heat-tech from Uniqlo. For those that don't know, it's basically casual thermal wear from a major Japanese clothing store. Work has been going alright for the most part. Now that I've had some time with each of my schools and the students that attend them, I've been able to determine which of the three schools is my least favorite. Believe me, I have one. I actually just finished my week there and it was exhausting, both physically and mentally. I have to prepare my mind for some of those classes because the kids there are just out of control. When I first started this job, the hardest thing for me was being assertive with the kids. I don't like having to raise my voice and no one wants to be the bad guy. Needless to say, I've been getting better at that thanks to some of the classes at this school. On more than one occasion, I had to raise my voice and threaten to take things away from the students. Before for one particular class, three boys wanted to play with their Duel Masters cards instead of getting their homework out for me to check. I told them a couple of times to put that shit away and they nod and say, "okay, okay", but of course they didn't. So I spoke to them in a loud, stern voice with a, "I'll burn this place down" stare on my face and said, "either put the cards in your bag, or I put them in my pocket! Which is it!?". They opted for the bag. I hate that some of the classes have to be that way, but with the number of schools us native teachers travel to, as well as the number of classes and students attending, the odds are against us in that we'll be dealing with some less than enjoyable students. Sigh. Simply the nature of this beast I suppose.

On to happier news. One of my goals before coming to Japan was to see the K-on! movie as I knew it was going to be opening on December 3rd, a time in which I'd actually be here and could see it on opening day. I did just that and was totally thrilled in the nerdiest way possible. I went with my friend Takeru, who also loves K-on! and we both were pleased the movie. I know that you're probably wondering how much of the movie I understood, seeing as how there are no English subtitles and my Japanese is not fluent. Well, I was able to lump enough pieces together to get the major gist of it and even without fully understanding everything, I was still pleased. Now that's a movie! It also helped that it felt like a proper movie and not just like a long episode of the series, which some TV-show-turned-movies tend to do. So not only was I excited to see the movie, just as exciting was the fact that I could see it on opening day, in Japan and on the big screen with like-minded nerds. That's an experience I won't soon forget. I'd also like to point out that it made more in it's opening weekend than Steven Spielberg's Tin-Tin movie, which is saying something about how popular this franchise is. Truth be told, I'll probably see it again before it's out of theaters. Good times!

I have only one week left of work before my winter vacation starts and I'm excited to have some time to chill. I don't think I'll be able to fly back home this winter because it's a bit pricey at the moment but I'll have another vacation opportunity next year and I can certainly use it to return to the states. So instead, I'm thinking I'll see some other parts of Japan...maybe finally hit up Tokyo? Who knows. I still got time to decide and seeing another city is as easy as making my way to the train station.

K-on! The Movie

At the theater

Nerdin' it up!

Nerdobilia from opening night (lyrics and prize sheet with ticket stub)

Do work!

A fellow NT gettin' ready for class.

Rock me like a hurricane

So today is the first of December...welcome to it. Why is that important? Well, for this post it is because I've been sick since November 12th. I don't care who you are, unless you're terminally ill, but that is a long time for anyone to feel "under the weather." I remember it vividly, let's go back to that fateful night. It was Saturday night and I'd just gotten back from a "work-related" dinner. I just wanted to unwind a bit, so I started watching TV and suddenly felt a tickle in my throat. I thought to myself, "uh-oh, this is no good." I actually decided to get to sleep earlier than usual that night because I wanted to feel well-rested and certainly hoped that the feeling in my throat would pass. Fast-forward to Sunday morning and unfortunately the feeling in my throat had not gone away and it was in fact worse. So I began the proper full-frontal health assault by drinking as much Lemon water as possible (tons of vitamin C in that stuff), and by taking my strong American cold/flu pills. Days passed and needless to say the sickness was still with me. Now I had full-blown sinus congestion, complete with sinus headaches and when I had class on the Tuesday after this began, I had a fever (complete with sweating) and barely a voice. That last part is key because your voice is pretty much your most important tool in the classroom and I simply didn't have it (or the energy) to compete with the screamin' little ones that I had that day.

This sickness carried on throughout the week, taking on various other traits such as a runny nose and annoying, uncontrollable cough. Meanwhile, I was still trying my best to treat it. The next Saturday, the 19th, I had a team-teach day with my Australian buddy and when I got to his classroom, I blew my nose but my nostril wouldn't stop leaking. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before and quite frankly I was a bit freaked out because it was like brown water dripping out of my nostril non-stop. Sorry, I know that's not a pretty picture. Eventually it stopped and naturally I was paranoid it would happen again. I finished up the day and the next few days the sickness remained. It lingered. The cough was at the point where I couldn't repress it and would have this incredibly long coughing fits on the train, which was a bit embarrassing if I'm being honest. I made it through yet another week and was getting a bit frustrated at the persistence of this sickness. I was coughing up phlegm like no tomorrow and it showed no times of slowing down.

Finally, enough was enough and on my day off this past Monday, I went to the doctor to get this mess taken care of. It was an interesting experience to be sure. They put a face mask on me right away, more so out of concern to the other patients in the waiting room and instead of letting me wait with the other people, they put me in this sort of "isolation area", that was closed off. My personal quarantine zone. They couldn't know what was wrong with me so they took no chances. Eventually they called my name and a female doctor saw me. Seeing the doctor is a bit different than in America. The room isn't so private as there are tons of nurses walking back and forth behind the doctor doing various things. The doctor spoke a bit of English, asked me some questions, listened to my lungs and then sent me up to the 2nd floor to get chest x-rays. On the 2nd floor, the guy taking x-rays greeted me and was kind enough to speak English with me to make sure the process went smoothly. After that, I went back down to check with the doctor and she said there was nothing to be concerned with. She said that working with kids everyday I can probably expect to get sick more often than I'm used to, which I understood. Then she prescribed me some drugs; an antibiotic, some other pill, and a cough syrup that tastes god-awful. It's about four days of medication and I'm going into the last day. Thankfully, it all seems to be working for me and I'm feeling on the up and up again. Long story short, I miss my Kombucha and when in doubt, don't be afraid to get your butt to a doctor...no matter what country you're in. I'll leave you with a pic of me in the hospital, my drugs, and some random stuff!

I'm a threat!

LTJ - Dope man

My feelings so far

Well it's been a hot minute since I checked in here on the 'ol blog, so I thought I'd make a post about how things have been up to this point and how I'm feeling about it in general. I've mentioned this to a few people before I came to Japan, that I was afraid working here and experiencing daily life here would make me start to think of Japan as just, "any 'ol place", and after some time and certainly a lot of thought, I've been able to form more than an opinion or two. In general, I still like Japan and Japanese culture and there will probably always be a part of me that will. Is some of that magic/fantasy/romance about the "far East" gone now that I'm here working amongst the huddled masses; a bit. What's tricky is that when you fantasize about a place and how you'd love to live there and experience it like a local, you don't realize that it's just like being anywhere else and having a job with a daily routine. The reason a place is extra-enticing when we're at work and fantasizing is because we know that when we get there, we have no responsibilities and free reign to relax, to do and see whatever we want to. Living here, you don't really have that freedom. You see the same things on your commute to work and you learn the regular places to get a hot meal. You work five days a week (most of the time) and you have a couple of days to chill, unwind and recharge for the upcoming week.

So at this point you might be thinking, "hmm, what does this all mean Jason? Are you happy or what?", well the short answer is, "I'm alright, thanks for asking." I certainly have no regrets in coming here because no matter what, this is something I've planned on doing for an incredibly long time. I worked my butt off to get this opportunity and I'm glad that I took it. When I finish things up here, I can look back and say, "I worked hard for this. I did it and I'll never have to wonder about it again." I'm not miserable by any means and there are plenty of things that I like and I certainly don't want this post to come across as me bitching about my situation, I'm simply saying that it's not as glamorous as it can often be presented. It's still a job and work experience at the end of the day and not a glorified vacation. Duh. Do I miss America? Yeah, probably more than I expected I would considering how I was feeling before I left, but hey, part of this experience is also me being able to put my old situation, along with my home country into perspective and evaluating them both with a fresh set of eyes. The way I feel now, I can't imagine how anyone would do this gig for the long term, but that's just me and more power to those people.

Enough of my rambling and I'll sum this all up by saying that I'm thankful for having this opportunity (late Thanksgiving message?) and I'm proud of myself for doing it, but that there might truly be no place like home. I'll keep you posted.

I won this from a crane game at the game center. I love K-on!

I won this the same way. More K-on goodness!

Some sort of Japanese dish I prepared. Not bad for my first try.

Strange noodles with mayonnaise as a topping.

One of my preferred pastries from the convenience store.

Okay, Redbull and now Rockstar...where's the Monster!?

It tastes like...grape. Go figure.

Where does this guy live anyway?

Due to popular demand, or maybe just the fact that my mom really wants to see some pictures of the place, I've finally gotten off of my lazy butt and took some pics of the humble abode. Now for those of you that are gasping in excitement and can't wait to see the palatial accommodations I've been placed in, well let's bring it down a notch. The plus side is that my building is really quite new, having just been built a few years ago and that's it's super close to the main train station in Oita, which is great because I do plenty of commuting. The downside is that, and this goes for many pads in Japan, it's really small and there is zero insulation for heating. The space situation is cool because it's just me, but man it's starting to get freakin' cold and my built it heater is working it's butt off! Anyway, without further ado...some pics!

View of my building from the street.

The view from my front door.

Mail.

My building and a slight reflection.

Where you put your trash.

My door.

Narrow hallway as you come in.

That's all for the cooking station.

Tiny fridge and microwave but I suppose it does the job.

Doorway to the living area.

Save the messy comments please. I mean, it's obvious.

Ladder to the loft just as you enter the living area.

Closet space.

The dumper.

Dumper shelf space.

Washroom/Bath/Shower

It is what it is.

Expect the unexpected

The title of this post is pretty much the three words to remember in this line of work. You never really know what you're getting yourself into on any given day, before any given class. Hell, even if you've taught a certain group of kids before in the previous month, you never really know what kind of mood they're going to have coming into class. That being said, teaching here in Japan has been a job incomparable to any that I've had in the past. I've always had jobs where I've pretty much known what to expect in terms of the upcoming work day, and that's only partially true here. You start telling yourself, "well, I know I have these classes today and it's going to have this age group of kids, so things should go like this". Sounds all fine and dandy doesn't it? The truth is, you should just throw those preconceptions out the window because it's really about as random as it gets.

Today, for example, was a pretty tiring day. I worked a whopping three hours total but two of those hours (two classes) were some of the smaller kids, where you're running around, singing songs and acting like you're 5 years old again. Two of those classes, back-to-back, made for a exhausting start to the day. Our classes are broken down in to color-coding, with colors denoting the age group and curriculum level for the students attending. My second class of the day, Green, consisting of mostly 4 and 5 year old's, was rough because one of the girls, after being left by her mother, started crying uncontrollably, constantly calling out for her mother. Another girl showed up with her mom and she too was balling her eyes out. Luckily this mom didn't bolt out the door right away and decided to hang out for the entire class just to make sure her daughter would calm down. I was actually grateful for this because she helped to calm the other crybaby down as well. So you see, the crying was unexpected. Also, there are times when the kids want to listen to everything you say and then suddenly, without warning, those same kids will start ignoring you to the point of driving you mad. I know that some of you reading this that have had experience wrangling children are probably laughing to yourselves and saying, "oh this poor sap...that's just children!", well I'm telling you to shut up because this is my story! Oh, and the language barrier with the kids makes it twice as difficult to corral them, but hey, I got myself into this.

Lucky for me, and this truly felt like a breath of fresh air, my last class of the day was what we call a Junior Pathways class. These kids are around 13 to 14 years old and the students for this class, at this particular school, are awesome. They have great personalities, seem eager to learn, have fun, and are generally just a pleasure to teach. I was, however, dreading this class a bit only because the lesson for this unit/term is a bit difficult to teach. It's on homophones; ya know, those groups of words that share the same pronunciation but have different meanings and can be spelled differently (bear/bare, sea/see, right/write, etc.). You get what I'm saying. My fears were tossed aside though because these kids are really just super bright and understood what I was teaching them, even though they admitted it was difficult. Just grasping the content is half the battle! Long story short, my exhausting, stressful start to the teaching day ended with a wonderful, relaxing class of smart, attentive kids.

My next teaching week starts on Tuesday and even though I've taught at this upcoming school before, I really don't know what to expect. Sigh.

Big energy drink...big disappointment.

Yakitori...chicken on a stick. As awesome as it sounds.

The lonely train home.

Salsa flavored Pringles...they were awesome!

Sometimes I don't know what I'm eating.

Honey and lemon cider. I love this drink.