Almost a month later

Here I am. It feels as if Japan has completely skipped past fall and decided to park it firmly in the cold of winter. Today, in particular, felt like the coldest weather so far this season. The wind was absolutely biting and even though I was layered up, it was still felt. The heater in my apartment struggles to keep the place warm. The only way it works adequately is if I shut the door leading to the kitchen hallway. It makes for a fairly snug living room, but once I crack that door open to get to the bathroom or kitchen, it's like walking into a meat locker. Instant freeze.

In other news, I just got back from a nice weekend my the little misses and was able to accomplish some Christmas shopping for family members. I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to get, but I had this feeling that if I saw it then I would buy it. The thing is, I didn't know at the time what it was going to be. However, I'm pleased with what I found, thanks in part to the little misses for her recommendations, and I'm hoping the folks back home will be pleased as well. Obviously I won't be divulging what it is I bought until after the holidays. I'm a big tease, I know.

I've been in a weird state-of-mind lately. I'm here in Japan, doing my thing, accomplishing a long-set goal, but the longer I stay here I can't help but be reminded that it isn't forever...right? What's next for me? What do I want to be next for me, is the bigger question? I wouldn't call this a quarter-life crisis or anything that dramatic. Lord knows I haven't run out and bought anything incredibly unnecessary and expensive, and I don't think that what I'm doing, mentally, is me being my typical worry-wart self. It's simply me thinking ahead and trying to be responsible in planning the next stage in my life, whatever that may be. My lady friend put it to me this way, "What is your specialty? You're here in Japan, teaching English, so English is your specialty here. What's your specialty in America?". This has stuck with me, because well, it just makes a lot of sense and it's something I should know. Alas, I don't, because I've never given it much serious thought. I've been thinking of what I'd like to do back in the States and I've been thinking about what I've put a lot of time into. I've put a lot of time, and I mean a lot of time, into learning the Japanese language. Am I fluent? No. Am I more adept in it than the average Joe? You bet. That being said, I've put so much time into learning this language that I'd hate, and would be incredibly disappointed in myself if I let it fall to the wayside. What does this all mean? It means I'd like to start taking my studying more seriously...especially since I'm living here in Japan for the time being. I'd like to eventually get a job working in Japanese translation, putting this long-learned skill to good use. Just throwing out ideas, production assistant/translator for a video game company...BOOM...the idea instantly turns me on. No, not in that way, ya freaks. But being able to speak Japanese more fluently than I do now would open the door up to such a position. So there ya go, my new goal for the new year. I'm giving it to you a bit early, but there's no time like the present to hit the books. Wish me luck!

Think pizza-flavored Cheetos puffs. Not good.

This was way tasty.

The lady's cute dessert.

Cold and Rainy

That pretty much sums up the weather today as I write this post. I had an office day today, which on a Saturday means waking up around 8 in order to shower and get to the classroom in time to call in. I woke up to the sound of heavy rain and strong winds. I didn't expect that at all so it put a damper on my already sour mood from not getting a lot of sleep. Today was spent working on a poster for our upcoming CM (combined meeting), which is where all the area Japanese teachers and Native teachers get together to talk business. The theme of the poster is St. Patrick's Day and it's supposed to get the attention of potential students for our school. I almost finished, but I'm a bit picky when it comes to my artwork so I still have some coloring to do before it's done. I'm sure I'll post of a photo of the finished "product" when it's done. The reason I'm making it in the first place is because my boss is making all of us NT's create one for a "friendly" competition. I don't mean to brag or boast, but I'm thinking mine is a slamdunk win.

Aside from that, not much is going on here in Japan, at least not in my life. Work is about the same as always, although I'm continuing to discover that I'm not really cut out to be a teacher. I simply don't have the patience for it. I know, I know - news flash! But hey, at least I'm aware of my own shortcomings right? More and more I think to myself, it sure would be nice to be back in the states. Not that I hate Japan, but I simply don't care for teaching that much and to be perfectly honest, it's quite difficult to find non-teaching work here as a foreigner. I mean, I could be flipping burgers at McDonald's Japan, but I'm talking about jobs where I can actually make a decent wage. So as it stands, I'm still planning to be home by next summer, which really isn't that far away as we creep up on December. I'm not sure who really cares about the idea of my going back to the states aside from a couple people, but hey, I'm puttin' it out there.

5 Pepper-flavored chips

Before

After...yummy!

Meow...bring on the money!

Somewhere in Oita

Red chili and garlic-flavored chips.

Sausage snack...gag, vomit, gross.

Party pizza-flavored Pringles. Bleh.

Korean inspired onigiri. Meat and kimchi inside. YUM!

Before

After. Tasty soba.

I've Got Something to Say!!

Those of you in the know, the cool folks, know that this post title comes from the gone-too-soon series, "Strangers with Candy". God I loved that show. Anyway, it is indeed fitting as it has been awhile and I do have things to say. A lot has happened since my last post. Work has been about the same. Classes have been going well and I still stand by the claim that I have the most well-behaved kids in the prefecture. I felt like I had a bit of a breakthrough this week with some teens that I teach on Wednesday at this particular school. I can't really put it into words, but the vibe was just more positive and they seemed to be having a better time. Maybe it was me, maybe it was them, maybe it was a little of both. It's a good feeling when you see a positive change in student's attitudes. On the downside of the teaching game, I have to cover Monday classes at another NT's school this next week and it's a school I truly dislike teaching at. I find the behavior of the students there to be...obnoxious, to put it lightly. So not only does that suck for me, but my boss has given me the task of recording some of the students giving thank you messages to their JT (Japanese teacher). "Hey kids, you barely know me, but saddle up and play nice for the camera would ya?". Just seems poorly planned in my opinion. However, as always, I tell myself...it's not my school and it's just one day. It could always be worse.

In happier news, I am no longer a single man. Woo-hoo! I've had a lovely lady in my life since October 16th, yes, I'm counting. Let's face it fellas, these are important dates to remember in the mind of a woman. Obviously, things are still in early stages but I'm having a great time with her and she genuinely gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Oh what's this? I'm finally going to be getting the video games that I ordered on October 9th!? Yeah, it's been close to a month since I ordered Fifa 13 and Sleeping Dogs from play-asia.com. Now, both games were listed as having a ship out date of 1-5 days. Not bad I thought. However, October 16th rolls around and I still haven't heard from these guys. I emailed them to inquire about my order to which they replied, "we're currently waiting for more copies of Sleeping Dogs so that we can ship your order out in full". Wow, you don't even have stock of the game I ordered? Well  then why would you list it for sale on your site? Can you imagine if all e-commerce sites did this? October 31st - still nothing. I email again saying, "yo, what's going on with my order? I enjoy your site and the products you offer but I'm disappointed in the way you've handled my order". Who knows if that would make any kind of difference, but I wanted to speak my mind. Ideally, they would feel like a child being disciplined by a parent. Oddly enough, hours later, I get an email saying my order shipped. How about that? I'm not saying my displeased email had anything to do with it, but the timing is quite amusing. Will I order from these turds again? Possibly, but my expectations have been significantly lowered.

A random Izakaya (Japanese bar) I socialized in.

Summer School.

Classroom decorations SS.

Ditto.

Summer festival decorations in Oita (I'm behind in posting pics!)

It's getting a little chilly

There are times where I feel like I've just updated this blog and then there are times where the days simply get away from me and I haven't posted an update in weeks. This is obviously falling into the latter category. For those that check this blog on a regular basis looking for news, I apologize for being so lax about it. However, I can't promise my blogging behavior will get any better because the moment I do, I'll end up only posting once a month.

Anyway, things on the work front have been pretty chill to be honest. I had to do some coverage last Tuesday at one of my least favorite schools, and to add a cherry to that doodoo sundae, I had to teach JT lesson's. Us NT's are in no way trained to teach those properly so it always just ends up being a day of games with the kids. Even my boss says to just try and have fun with the students. There's been a lot of NT's having to cover JT lessons these days because we're simply short-staffed with Japanese teachers. It's becoming a real pain in my native arse. To detail my day at this particular school, I got off the bus to witness quite a scene at the intersection with a car having flipped on it's side. There were police everywhere (luckily the accident happened just across from a police station) and people involved were looking genuinely shaken. I snapped a few pics...classy, I know. After preparing for my lessons at the school, the first lesson beings, students are doing their writing and in comes a little boy around 15 minutes late. With him enters a woman who apologizes for being late and starts taking her shoes off; getting comfortable basically. I'm like, "are you this boy's mother?", to which she replies, "no. haha. I'm the new JT for this school, here to observe your lessons". Now, those that know me know that I hate surprises...especially work-related surprises and this was indeed an unwelcome surprise. No one told me that I'd have a visitor observing my lessons that day but I instantly flipped the, "F it" switch and told her, "well, I'm here covering JT lessons, to which I have no formal training in, so don't expect much. Certainly don't expect a proper JT lesson". Luckily, she was a cool person with a good attitude about it all and she spoke really great English having spent a number of years in the States. As expected, the lessons were basically just me playing games with the kids but doing my best to have them speak English throughout. Sometimes you just have to wing it I guess.

This upcoming week is a bit different because it's Halloween lesson week. I was originally scheduled to be teaching Halloween lessons at the same undesirable school as mentioned above, but fate smiled upon me and I won't be going there. I did, however, plan for these lessons by ordering a costume of Mario (of Super Mario Bros. fame), and I think it looks pretty solid. Since I'm not going to be teaching lessons with it, I may just walk around town with it. That could prove interesting and rather entertaining. That's right, Halloween is right around the corner and while it doesn't mean much to me, the weather's rapid change certainly does. The days are super comfortable and I'm diggin' 'em but the nights are getting downright chilly. I need to buy a winter jacket before the real cold hits or I'm screwed. My winter jacket from last year is worthless because the zipper broke. Lame.

The accident I mentioned.

Waiting for the bus.

Gasp...nachos!

Chili burger. Not too bad.

Egg topped burger.

Somewhere in Miyazaki.

The "blue" version of that milky-soda drink.

Lotteria's version of the McRib.

Tasted the watermelon, but not sure about the salt.

One Year Later...

Cause for celebration; I've made it through parent observations at all three of my schools! Yay! I'm applauding myself, you just can't see it. It's been a pretty stressful, exhausting last three week. Pretty much all of my classes had parent observations aside from a handful of grammar classes that I teach. This time around I prepared a Colorado quiz for the students to take with their parents before the lesson starts. It's just something a little different that they can enjoy and also learn a little more about where I'm from at the same time. It seemed to go over quite well and most of the kids enjoyed doing it. The way the lessons went during P.O.'s were a bit like this: the usual check in, introductions from myself and the school's JT, mini-presentation from the kids to their parents, Colorado quiz, and then the lesson as normal. There were a few times where a student wasn't actin' the fool in front of everyone and those times are especially frustrating and embarrassing since the parents are watching. They're basically watching to see how you'll handle it. It's amazing how little the parents involve themselves while your lesson is going on, even if their kid is being disruptive. However, after three weeks of this, I pretty much walked away unscathed. Today was the last day of it and I'd say the classes were even downright pleasant. Today was the last day that my JT for this school and I would be working together. We had a nice lunch before classes started and it's been a really great year working with her. She's moving on to (hopefully) bigger and better things in Fukuoka. Sitting at the station waiting for my train after classes, I realized how much I'd miss her and how well we worked together. I'll see her again, just not in a co-worker capacity. Change is the only constant. How's that for profound?

Along with the end of P.O.'s, today also brought upon sudden cold weather, complete with rain. It feels like only a week ago the sun was blazing and I was sweating from the humidity. It felt like winter today, but with no transition into the next season. I'm hoping today was just a one-off type of thing and we'll retunr to some normal, cool weather next week. I have tomorrow off, bu then it's back to business as usual on Monday, starting bright and early with a staff meeting in which a fellow NT and I have to make a small presentation on safety in the classroom. I don't really have anything planned other than an open-forum discussion and possibly some role-playing. Should be a mess, but I've always been pretty good at faking my way through things like that. Next week I also have two team-teachers, one on Wednesday and the other on Friday. So I'll have another NT coming to my school on those days to take a class off my hands. I love it when that happens. I just hope my kids are good to the visiting NT. I feel like it would reflect poorly on me if they weren't.

In other news, it's been over one year since I came to Japan! I didn't even realize the date had passed because I'd been so busy and caught up parent observation classes. When things started slowing down, I realized that I landed in Japan on September 10th of 2011. It's amazing to think that it's already been that long and that some of my fellow NT's are packing up and saying goodbye because they only wanted to do the initial one-year contract. It's strange to think that could be me, had I not signed on for longer. There have been moments where it felt like time was simply flying, but there have also been those moments where I felt like a certain week or month would never end. I've gotten quite used to my way of life here but that doesn't mean I'm fully convinced I want to say here that much longer. I haven't quite figured out how long that necessarily is. Right now, and this is probably because I've taken notice of the one-year anniversary, but I'm going through a homesick phase. I miss my family and friends a lot and being in the States. I just hope everyone knows that I'm here trying to handle business and sort stuff out, not because I want to be far away from them.

Oh, and this is completely random but I wrote this post while listening to the new Green Day album, "UNO!", which is surprisingly rad. The single they released, "Oh Love", is still terrible in my opinion and I stop the album early (since it's the last track, thankfully), but yeah, that's my two cents on that.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor made it to Fukuoka? Whoa.

Fukuoka.

Canal City, Fukuoka.

Korean idol group being interviewed in Canal City.

Sizable crowd.

Ramen museum, here we go.

The halls of the ramen museum.

Bonafide.

Chow time.