The Noro-virus and Me

Yep, that's right. Yours truly got struck down by the noro-virus. I don't even know if that's supposed to be two words, but I also don't care enough to check. For those who have been living under a rock and don't know what noro is, it's a horrible bug that, from what I've read, is a contagious form of food poisoning that causes severe abdominal aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. I can't imagine not remembering the date it happened to me, because it was pretty damn traumatic I must tell you. It was January 23rd and I remembered getting a piece of fried chicken from Lawson (the local convenience store). I took it home, chopped it up and put it in a salad. By the way, I'm telling you this because I'm pretty sure I got the virus from the chicken. Anyway, I was sitting there watching a concert on my computer and I started getting some abdominal cramping. It was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing too strange and my first thought was that it was from the carbonation of a drink I had. I decided to call it a night, as it was already 1:30am. As I laid there, I realized the cramping was getting worse. It was horribly uncomfortable and I knew it was gonna be difficult getting to sleep. Next thing I know, it's nearing 3am, stomach is still hurting but now I felt the need to use the bathroom. I get in there and it was, pardon the frankness, diarrhea. I found this a bit odd because I hadn't had anything spicy and at this point I wasn't even thinking of the norov-virus. I laid back down and repeated this diarrhea madness a couple more times, every hour or so. Now it's around 5am, still no sleep and now I start feeling nauseous.

Let me point out that I haven't been sick, vomited, in years. Seriously, years. This nausea was pretty strong and usually, whenever I feel this way, I can repress it. Deep breathes. However, this was definitely different. I had to sit on the bowl and the next thing I know, vomit is forcing it's way out. Luckily, I have this little bucket close by the toilet. I just had a feeling I'd be needing it and boy did it come in handy. I realize how gross this story is by the way. It's not lost on me. So yeah, this insanity continued and at this point it's nearly 8am. No sleep was had and I knew that I wouldn't be in any shape to teach classes that day. I've been sick before here but I've never called in sick and missed classes. This particular week I was covering (no surprise), for another teacher at their school, so I didn't feel as guilty. My boss was pretty understanding for the most part. I could tell he really would've preferred me to work (as did I), but if he could've seen the horror going on, he would've given in right away. My neighbor, who also happens to be a coworker of mine, was kind enough to bring me some sports drink and light edibles, crackers and that sort. Thank God for her or I would've had to crawl to the store, devoid of energy, shitting myself along the way. I really had no appetite and it was difficult to keep even water down. There's no cure for this virus, as doctors recommend bed rest and drinking plenty of clear fluids.

It took a couple of days before I could even eat a little bit of food. I was mostly living off of a liquid diet of water and sports drink. Truth be told, it took a solid 5 or 6 days before I really felt like myself again. That virus really took me to the mat. So, that's my story and all I can say is that I sincerely hope you or anyone you know doesn't get it. Oh, and I'm aware of the lack of pictures being posted as of late. I've been lazy taking pictures period. I'll try and rectify that.

Strawberry soda. Not great.

Devil Hot Pringles. Not bad.

More Than A Month Later Pt. 2

I was back in America and it was an awesome feeling. It was actually quite surreal being back and seeing pretty much everything in my native language. I was a bit out of it due to all of the travel and really just wanted to lay down. My stepdad picked me up at the airport and took me to surprise my mom at home. I'm pretty sure I mentioned already that she was unaware of my arrival. The surprise went as well as was expected. She was there watching TV when I casually walked in as if it were just another day. She was shocked, and most importantly happy, so this mission was a success. That night, Christmas eve, it snowed, which was awesome timing, having a white Christmas and all. Christmas day, another surprise was looming for my mom as my brother would be flying in from LA and she had no idea about this as well. Sure enough, her reaction to his arrival was about the same as with me; shock and happiness. Solid. It was probably the first time in years that all of us had been together, so that alone made it worth the cost and exhaustion of flying back.

Back in Colorado, I was able so see a lot of old haunts, see a good friend and eat some foods I haven't had in over a year. My body had no idea what was going on after going nuts with all that American junk food. It was worth it though, believe me. Do you know how much it sucks not having Mexican food? I didn't do much on vacation aside from laying around like a bum, but that's pretty much all I wanted to do. Just kick back with the family and watch TV. It's weird, I didn't really do anything "special", but everything felt new to me. I'd like to go on record saying that I missed American grocery stores. The selection is ridiculous in the best way. We got it good Americans. I had a really good time being home and it definitely reminded me of what I missed and that it was where I wanted to be. Still have some business to settle up here in Japan, but I know where I wanna be.

After my very short nine days wrapped up back in the States, I was back on the plane at the all-too-early hour of 5am. First flight was Denver to Dallas, followed by Dallas to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Fukuoka. After arriving in Fukuoka, I'd still have a 2-hour train ride to Oita. Needless to say, I wasn't excited. The travel time on the way back was much longer. The direct flight from Dallas to Tokyo was 13 hours. No one should have to sit on a plane for that long, especially when you can't sleep, which is my problem. I watched pretty much all the in-flight movies again and tried to maintain my sanity by walking around and chatting with my neighbor. By the way, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", is a solid film. When I got back to Japan, I still had a day or so before I had to get back to work (planned it that way), so I wasn't totally stressed. I was able to recoup a bit before getting thrown back into the fire with my long-commute school. Also, January and February are parent observation months, so you have to get your A-game back quickly. Truth be told, I'd been transitioning smoothly into life back in Japan, until the night of the 23rd when a certain virus decided to hit me...

More Than A Month Later Pt. 1

See what I did there with the post title? Anyway, so yeah, I'm back in Japan now after having spent my winter vacation traveling back to the States to be with my family. I couldn't really mention that before because it was a surprise visit and I couldn't let the cat out of the bag. I'll start from the beginning and give you all a rundown of how my traveling panned out. Flying to Denver is not a short trip when you're coming from Japan. I know that's incredibly obvious, but without having a direct flight there, it's hard to really imagine how long you're going to be in the air and how much flying you're going to be doing. My adventure began on December 23rd. I took the 2 hour train to Fukuoka from Oita, because I was staying overnight in a hotel so that when I woke up on the 24th, I would only have a short taxi ride to the Fukuoka airport. I woke up Christmas Eve morning to snowfall and thought, "Gee, I hope this doesn't make for an uncomfortable flight." See, that's where my mind goes because I highly dislike flying. My lady friend was with me at the hotel and airport. I was filled with anxiety, as it had been a year since I had flown, and I really had no appetite. I said my goodbyes and boarded the flight to Narita. Luckily, I had an aisle seat with the seat in the middle being empty and an elderly Japanese man at the window. Having an empty seat next to you is pretty awesome, as most of you know, but I was also happy to have been sitting next to this older guy (whose name I never did get), because he was very friendly and talkative. Normally, I don't want some stranger chatting at me, but I welcomed the distraction from being in a steel tube in the sky. This dude was in his 60's, a retired university professor living in Canada, who had been living there for over 30 years. His English was basically fluent level. Turns out he was in Japan visiting his mother, who had just turned 101! I was blown out by that. He said that Japan has the highest number of centurions in the world. I'm inclined to believe him because I see old people everywhere I look.

After landing in Tokyo, I didn't really have much time to look around. I had to hurry up and get through security and check in my luggage to be sent to the States. One good thing about having a residency card here in Japan is that the line for someone in my position was super short. Score. Got my bag checked in, bought some snacks and water for the flight and it was already time to board. I was seating in the very last row (for passengers, as the actual last row is the flight attendants row), on the aisle of the middle section. The three seats in the middle were empty, (again, score!), and then there was a lady in the left aisle sleep. This put me at ease having all this extra room. I could stretch out and have easier access to the junk in my bag. Also, the captain let us know that the flight would be shorter than previously announced (at around 8 hours 35 minutes, as opposed to 9 hours 30 minutes), so things were looking good. And they remained good, as the flight went fairly smooth. Whenever we had turbulence, the captain was quick to get on the intercom to let everyone know that he was adjusting the flight to avoid it, and I thought, "this dude is on his shit." I watched, "The Bourne Legacy", and thought was pretty good. I also saw the new, "Total Recall", and thought that wasn't so good. The best part about those international flights is getting access to brand new movies right away. As usual, I couldn't really sleep, but for whatever reason, I wasn't that tired and the time moved faster than expected

Landing in LA, I was a bit taken aback at the crudeness of the workers in the airport and reminded at how American security and immigration tolerate zero bullshit. I can respect that...the hardcore security part. I was also reminded at how dumpy LAX is. Oi vey. I took a shuttle to my American Eagle terminal (flying on an airline that sounds like a clothing store), and my flight was schedule for 10:25 to Denver. Got to the terminal, dude gets on the intercom and says that the flight is being delayed due to maintenance issues. Something you always want to hear before flying right? He gives an estimated time of departure as 11:30, as they now have to wait for another plane coming in from San Diego. I saw on the ground watching the old 1979 Gundam anime movie on my laptop. Final departure time ended up being 11:50, and they had been offering $500 vouchers to people willing to take later flights. I wasn't having it because at this point, I was done flying. I got on the super sketchy, celebrity killer plane and was seating in the aisle in the very last two seats, right next to the shitter. Awesome. I thought, "how many trips to the toilet could people possible make on a less-than-two-hour flight? Turns out, a lot. On the brighter side, the flight attendant was super awesome and seated next to me. We chatted about my life in Japan and her life in Chicago. She gave me gossip magazines to, "keep me up to date on the nonsense in America", and even gave me an extra can of orange juice when our flight landed. All in all, some better than average flying experiences for a guy trapped in economy. Landing in Denver was a great feeling. I had my feet on solid ground for longer than an hour and heck, it was Christmas Eve and I was back in America!

Mochi filled with Anko (red bean paste), and cream. I love this.

Hi-chew. Strawberries, Mango, and Bananas and cream. Gross bag.

Pizza potato chips. Olive and Garlic flavor.

At the big CM (combined meeting), in Miyazaki.

Only Rachel and I noticed the camera.

Richard and Spencer - Cheers!

Chicken ramen flavored chips. Meh.

Gyouza (dumpling), flavored souvenir chips from my lady friend.

Kitsuki classroom. Yep, had to cover there.

 

 

David was thrilled to be at the meeting.

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.