Lonely Planet...Lonely Me

For those not in the know, Lonely Planet is a company specializing in travel resources for those on the go. The second part of the post title refers to me...being lonely. It's been a few weeks since my last post and there's a few reasons for that. For one, I've been busy with work...covering at different schools, going all over Kyushu to make sure classes are covered. Secondly, my great friend Erin came from Los Angeles to visit me! Yay! She brought her Lonely Planet travel guide with her but as of today, she is on her way back to LA. Now you understand everything.

So last week I had to cover in Yukuhashi, because they don't have an NT up there. I wasn't looking forward to it because, well...I never look forward to covering classes at other schools. However, I was, more so than usual, not looking forward to covering at Yukuhashi because it has a reputation for having "difficult" classes. I translate that as unruly, monster children are running amok. For the most part, the classes were okay...just okay, but there certainly were some classes that made me think about how blessed I am to be teaching at the schools that I do have. I pretty much feel that way every time I go to cover at a different school. My students, for the most part, just seem to have it together. I'd put them up against the other schools any day, in terms of overall behavior. The worst of the week were kids who pretty much just ignore everything you're saying and only talk to each other. Most of what you say is futile and it's incredibly stressful. That school will soon have a new NT and I only hope he goes in there with the right attitude, otherwise it will eat him alive. It was a long week (Monday-Saturday) and I was truly glad it came to an end, mostly because my friend Erin arrived here in Oita the same day as my last class at Yukuhashi!

Erin's bus arrived pretty late Saturday night, around 10:30 or so, but I was there to greet her as it dropped the passengers off and it was great to see her. We didn't do much that night because we were both tired, but she certainly had a full agenda of things she wanted to do and accomplish before going home and we made it happen. I was able to hear about her fun travels in Tokyo though and I was quite envious! Sunday was spent relaxing in the morning and attending a farewell party for one of the school's NT's, Ruki. Ruki lived in the same building as me and was so friendly and welcoming to me when I arrived in Japan. We had a great time at her party, hanging out, eating and talking...I'm really going to miss her. Erin had a great time at the party as well and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed meeting all the new people in my life here in Japan. Monday, we weren't able to do much because I had to work, covering at one of Ruki's schools. Luckily it was just for the one day, leaving me the rest of the week off. Tuesday, we decided to take the train up north to the big city of Fukuoka. Marty, a former NT, met up with us along the way. We had a plan to shoot some stuff for the 4th episode of ChaChaCha and Marty volunteered to be cameraman while Erin and I did some acting. All in all, I think the footage turned out great and should be really amusing. Again, a testament to Erin's work ethic and making the show a priority even when she's on vacation. Scenes shot on location in Japan...how awesome is that? After that we relaxed by having some fun at Round 1, which is an all encompassing indoor amusement center. They have games, basketball, batting cages, etc. We also made it a point to have some Fukuoka ramen, which was pretty amazing. It was a great day and I need to make it a point to go there more often. Yesterday was spent at a big shopping mall here in Oita, called Park Place. Erin wanted to buy some stuff for people back home and I think she was happy with what she came up with. We also had sushi, which was on Erin's list of things to do while in Japan. It turned out amazing and delicious. We were both wowed by the seared eel. As Erin puts it, the sushi was, "bonafide".

I took her to the airport bus this afternoon and we said our quick goodbyes. Those are the best kind when you're an ultra-sensitive guy like me. I miss her already and I'm stricken with a strong sense of loneliness, but I know it's not forever and I know this feeling will pass. I'm appreciative of her visit and hope that she had a great time. I know I did.

Erin has arrived.

Ruki and I strike a pose.

Erin and Marty ham it up.

Erin on the train to Fukuoka.

Marty and Erin after a ChaChaCha shoot in Fukuoka.

Hakata station, Fukuoka.

Erin and Marty discuss a shot for ChaChaCha.

Erin prepares for Mario Kart 2 action!

Testing reflexes.

Marty was confused.

Hey batter, batter!

Swing, batter, batter.

At Hakata station, waiting to go home.

Yeah, that's wassup.

Marty: mind-blown after seeing Oreo sticks.

The mind-blowing snacks in question.

On the bus to Park Place Oita.

Operation sushi: success.

Legit.

Partial carnage.

Behold the majesty of seared eel. So damn good.

She was really this happy.

Pizza night!

Erin gives her classic "food-stare".

Hisashiburi! (Long time no see)

It's been a couple weeks since I blogged about my life here in Japan, so by golly...let's get to what's doin'! Since we last spoke, I had my GW (Golden Week) vacation, which is basically a week off of work and I did absolutely nothing. Well, not nothing exactly, but I definitely didn't do any traveling or anything exciting. I hung around the apartment like a lazy bum and occasionally went out to explore the city and play games. Not a rollercoaster time by any means, but it was a week not having to teach so I won't complain. It's all a part of my plan to save money and I'm happy to be sticking to that plan. It doesn't always equate into exciting times, but I gotta be responsible with my income.

As for the teaching game, I just finished up a week in my furthest commute school. Last time I spoke on that, it wasn't a pleasant week because my hotel night wasn't set up properly and I had a kid peeing herself in class. This time around was much better. The hotel room was reserved and there was no kids urinating in the classroom. The hotel was alright, and I've been told that it's the best in town (the town my school is in), but it's rather old and while I don't mind that, I do mind seeing a cockroach running across the floor. This unsettled me greatly as all I could think about was the roach crawling on my bed as I slept and dancing on my face. I eventually put those thoughts aside and got some fairly decent sleep. As for the large, unruly child classes that I had trouble with last month, this month I was lucky to have my JT (Japanese teacher) for the classroom come and sub-teach with me. Basically she was there to help corral the kids and keep them in line, assisting when needed. Trust me, her assistance was greatly appreciated as those classes are just too large and those kids are just way too young. I've said it before but it's seriously like a daycare session.

It's Sunday now and I'm leaving in a hour or so to attend a farewell party for one of the NT's (native teachers), who has been with the company for 3 years but has decided it's time to move on. I'm not really close with her, but I'm going more as a gesture that we're all in this great adventure together and let's stick together until the end. She's been nice enough to me whenever we've socialized and hopefully her next step in life will make her happy. As for the party, you all know I've never been the partying type, so I'll just make a brief appearance to eat a little food and socialize with some of the other teachers I know. I'm bringing sausages for the grill...per another teacher's request. I know that last sentence seemed to come out of nowhere, but it's true, and it's a pot-luck type of affair. I'm looking forward to chatting with the only other guy teacher that quit the company a month ago. It's been awhile since I saw him and it's a drag being in a girl's club all the time.

In other news, my friend Erin is gonna be here in a couple of weeks to hang out with me and I'm really looking forward to that. She'll be my first visitor since I came out here and we plan to shoot some stuff for a new ChaChaCha episode. Should be interesting. Not sure if I'll make a post before her visit, but keep checking back!

My "friends" are baking up delicious cookies.

Not sure why I expected these donuts to taste better.

Behold: the sea.

Mochi pizza with cheese tators.

Beefy Cheetos. Bleh.

From one of my students picture below!

I love this class!

One of my students asked me what type of Kinect games I liked. Cute.

One of the kids pictured above drew me.

Picture Post!

These were awful. Oyster and soy sauce flavor.

Yep, chocolate covered potato chips. An acquired taste I guess.

Noodles, duh.

Kimchi and sesame oil flavored chips. Bomb!

The Express.

Hi-ho Nakatsu!

Boys, be ambitious! lol!

Le Grand Sausage from McDonalds. It was odd.

Here I am, playing with my food.

The latest from the news desk

Howdy folks, it's me again. Been a hot minute since my last post but hey, I'm working over here, not relaxing. When I last left you dear reader, I was in the middle of trying to figure out what I was going to do with my contract renewal form. The decision I've made is....wait for it, drumroll please! I've extended my contract by another 3 months. Why only 3 months? I'm sure that's what you're thinking. Well, 3 months gives me 3 more months of time to think about my next move, it gives me 3 more paychecks in which to pay bills and it also caps out my 2012 year. Nothing like a fresh start in January right? Regardless, those were some of the elements at play in coming to my conclusion. That and I didn't want to commit to another year because it's really hard to predict the future, especially when I'm still 5 months out of finishing my initial contract. I know there are a few people that are disappointed that I'm not finishing up here and just going back to America, but hey...another 3 months isn't so long and it's better for me financially speaking. I haven't heard back from my boss yet after having faxed in my form, but I'm curious to see what he has to say about it.

In other news, it's been a week of teaching at a new school for me this past week. I was covering for another NT at her school for classes that went Monday through Friday. All in all, the classes went quite well. There weren't any monster children and really only 2 classes that stressed me out and made me want to scream. The week before however, a little bit of a different story. I was at one of my regular schools, and this particular nightmare class was on a Saturday, first class of the day. Now I have to say that I don't really have many monster children and these kids are all cute and quite nice in their own right, however, since April (the beginning of a new school year), my small kid classes were condensed into one big class. Now I have 12 little kids, around 3 - 5 years old, in the same class together. This is madness I assure you. It all started horribly with a little boy wailing like a banshee as his mother dropped him off. He cried for maybe 15 minutes, screaming for his mommy, while I'm trying to check the other kids in and comfort him at the same time. He finally stops screaming and the lesson begins per usual when suddenly one of my 3 year old students stops dead in her tracks and begins pissing on the floor. No warning whatsoever. I pick her up and take her to the bathroom, clean her up as best I can, taking her pissy socks off and I check her bag for a change of clothes. Her parents did not put a change of clothes in her bag! My God man she's only 3! That being said, she spent the rest of the lesson in piss covered pants. I come out of the bathroom with her to see a little boy pulling a little girl by the arm, thus making her cry because he's playing too rough. I tell him to apologize to the poor girl and he gives me that, "go F yourself" face. So I tell him again, "say you're sorry!", in Japanese and he does it, but then he bursts into tears screaming about how I bullied him into it. Have I painted a scene of pure chaos for you yet? It was insanity. I'm pretty sure we didn't get to cover anything for the lesson because it ended up being an hour of daycare. I refuse to teach that class again the way it is now. I told the JT and my boss that this class needs a sub teacher there. It was not fun at all.

That event was icing on the doo-doo cake encapsulating that whole week. This regular school of mine now has a class that finishes around 9:45, which isn't that late, but it's late enough so that there are no trains running back to my turf at that time, meaning I need to stay in a hotel. My boss, being his usual self, failed at making my hotel reservation even though he was aware months ahead of time that I'd have this new schedule starting in April. So I ended up sleeping on my JT's floor (bless her heart), because I didn't have enough money on me to cover the room cost. Another one of my schools, that I start teaching at tomorrow, now has a hotel night on Tuesday's and I pray to God that my boss has this in order already. Don't worry, I'll be inquiring tomorrow. Here's to a better week, and then my vacation begins on the 28th! Yay for Golden Week! (P.S. I didn't get the marketing job in Tokyo that I mentioned in my last post)

Hot Royal Milk Tea, quite yummy!

This ramen was nuclear hot!

I eat salad, sometimes. That's a little dressing pack on the right.

Cupcakes my friend Mika made me! Delicious.

Valentines gifts...I'm a bit behind uploading pics. Ha!

Pringles...sour & butter flavor. Sounds booty, tastes awesome.

Express train, I love it.

Going to...Nakatsu.

Nakatsu station. Ghost town at night.