A Change Is Coming

Watch this spot...

That's A Wrap

You can probably tell that I've long since given up on updating this blog. No particular reason really. Maybe just me being lazy, or possibly thinking that the only people that really cared about the contents of this blog were those who I spoke to on a regular basis anyway. I'm still in Japan by the way, but only for another month or so. I've booked my return flight back to Los Angeles for September 6th. Everything in this past month has been quite hectic in the sense that I've had to do a lot of prep for my return to the States in a short amount of time. The company I'll be working for in LA needs me to start on a specific date next month, which meant that I had to give my current company here in Japan short notice with my notice of resignation. I felt guilty about that, mostly because I always do my best to be a valuable asset to any company that I work for, and also because my coworkers and students were stunned with the lack of notice. Thankfully, I'm still able to give my students and coworkers a proper "sayonara" and my company, although wishing I'd stay, seem to be very understanding of my situation and appreciated me being so upfront with all the details. Let this be a lesson people, honesty is always the best policy, even if the news you're delivering isn't always what the receiver wants to hear, they'll end up appreciating your candor and will respect you for it.

After three years, I realized that a majority of the pictures I took during my time in Japan were food and snack pics. I guess I'm always fascinated at the differences in snack culture, especially in far-Eastern countries. While my time here in lovely, sleepy Oita is coming to an end, I'm grateful to all of the people that I've met. I feel as if I've made connections with people that will last a lifetime and being an English teacher in a non-English speaking country has helped me develop and see a side of myself that I may have never known existed had I not come to Japan in 2011. I do want to go on record by saying that I still love Japan and I dream of coming back some day, although in a more urban, lively environment. I'm definitely not a country boy. At the risk of sounding incredibly cliche, thank you Japan for changing my life. 今までありがとうございました。

The Yen - A Shadow of it's Former Self

August has come to a close and it's still annoyingly hot and humid here. Currently it's raining, which makes for all the more uncomfortable situation. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to fall's arrival. I miss the dry heat of California and next summer will be much different. That being said, I've pretty much decided that I'll ride out my current contract (which ends in June of 2014), and I'll return to California. That means I'll have spent two and a half years of my life here in Japan. Part of me thinks that isn't that long, but the other half can't quite believe I've been here this long. One huge disappointment is that the yen is so incredibly weak right now (and has been for the past half year), so sending money back to the States hasn't been as exciting as when I first arrived. I'm pretty much cutting even with what I send home but when I first got here back in 2011, I was getting a few extra hundred based on the strength of the yen. If only I had a crystal ball.

So with summer school a thing of the past, I now have to focus on parent observations, which start Tuesday. The parents observe the lessons, all except the grammar classes. I'm not sure what the reason behind that is; maybe it's too dry for the parents to give a crap. I'm not even nervous about these P.O.'s like I was in the past. I've realized they're definitely not a big deal. Most of the parents are either lost, focusing their child's siblings, or messing with their cell phones. I pretty much do my lesson as normal, albeit with a small speech beforehand to welcome parents, let them know about what's going on in the class and any other information they might need to know. This time around, with my friend's help, I've created a quiz about myself that I plan to give students and their parents, which they'll do together before the lesson begins. Basically, how well do you know Jason sensei!? They've had a couple of years now to get to know basic things about me, so it'll be interesting to see how well they do...at least for me anyway. With that, it's going to be a busy September, with the inclusion of me covering Japanese teacher lessons at two different schools the first week. My birthday lands on a Saturday this year, which would be cool except for the fact that it's also the same day as our September staff meeting. Maybe I can lay a guilt trip on everyone and get a free lunch out of it. ;0)

Maple and margarine hotcakes sandwich.

Basically meat and mayo shoved inside.

Red beans and mochi. One of my favorite Japanese treats.

Hot and spicy potato strips.

Terrible grape soda.

Best Doritos I've had here. Very hot.

...really satisfies you.

Summer School - That's a Wrap

Yes indeedy do, summer school has officially come to an end. I'm incredibly happy about this fact and now it's time to return to some normalcy around these parts. The last two weeks were a bit of whirlwind in terms of schedule and fatigue certainly started setting in a bit. Truth be told, the classes that I had for SS weren't too bad at all three of schools. However, I had to help out at another teacher's school, teaching his last two classes of the day. His last class was a bit of a nightmare. It was just five girls, but they were five ball-busting girls. At times it was like talking to a brick wall and when I did get through, it was all for not because they really seemed misplaced in the advanced SS course. Luckily, it was just two days with these troubling gals and now they'll go back to being the other teachers problem when regular classes resume again.

Today, Saturday, we had a staff meeting, which is highly unusual as most of our staff meetings are held on Mondays. I think I liked it being on Saturday better though because Mondays tend to suck no matter what, and having to get up at 9am for a meeting makes it extra crappy. I had a good time at the meeting, as it's usually a nice period to socialize with some of the other teachers I don't get to see so often and our boss isn't really a hard-ass. After the meeting, four other teachers and myself went to a cafe for lunch and chatted about one of the teachers drinking problem. It wasn't behind-the-back gossip, as the teacher with the problem was at the lunch, openly discussing it. It was quite fascinating to hear someone speaking firsthand about a substance abuse problem, their awareness of it and the challenge to nip it in the bud before it gets any worse. So yeah, life could always be worse.

In less heavy news, I beat the incredibly awesome game, "The Last of Us", but I've started it again on the, "Survivor", difficulty level, which really is a pain. There's definitely less items along the way to pick up and they've taken away Joel's ability to, "hear", where the enemies are, so you really have to be on your game. I have one week of regular classes next week, starting on Tuesday, before a week of vacation begins. I don't have any plans, but that's okay. Time to save a little dough. I wrote this blog listening to the soundtrack for the film, "Prince Avalanche". It's music by Explosions in the Sky and David Wingo. Not too shabby.

Mint-chocolate ice cream bar. Pretty rad.

Pepper-salami flavored Doritos. Too salty.

Korean kimchi Pringles. Yeah...not for me.

One of my favorite curries to make.

Little box of french fries from the corner store.

Basically a carbonated, energy-drink version of Powerade.

Japan: a rollercoaster

And like all love affairs, there are ups-and-downs. Right now, I feel like I'm in the middle of a down moment. I don't hate Japan and I reckon I probably never will but right now I don't like Japan. I can't necessarily put my finger on it. It's probably just a bunch of nonsense I've created in my own mind, because Lord knows Japan hasn't changed anything it's doing. I suppose that what it boils down to, is that Japan has it's way of doing things and there are times when your level of managing it will fluctuate. I'm at a low point. I have a near-constant scowl on my face and I don't like my surroundings. I honestly think I'm bipolar (undiagnosed), because I rarely have a real reason for feeling the way I do when I'm in my low points, but alas, I refuse to take medication for such a thing. I'll let you all know if I feel there's anything to truly be worried about.

A lot of people, recently, have been asking me what I plan to do in the future. I recently handled some business at the immigration office, renewing my work visa here in Japan, and that led to people inquiring about my plans. I don't really go on record as to saying when I'll be done here in Japan because I honestly don't know myself. I keep telling myself, "Oh, it'll be soon. Anytime now." Yada, yada, yada. But that's just what I end up telling myself when I'm feeling down about being here and would rather be somewhere else. Plus, keeping my mouth shut prevents me from turning into the boy that cries wolf. I don't want to raise (or lower) anyone's hopes by giving them a date that I may not adhere to. So if you haven't gotten a straight answer out of me, well now you know why. I'm still on a financial mission here and I'm slowly, but surely, trying to focus on my Japanese studies. I plan on taking the JLPT (Japanese language proficiency test) this coming December to see if I've made any real progress. So yeah, here's to short-term goals and long-term (paying off debt). I'm in the middle of a funk, but I'll get out of it, as I often do. Summer school starts in two weeks, so I'll have to barrel through that with a smile on my face. I'd hate for my mood to ruin the kids' fun.

Death sauce flavored crackers. Yep, spicy.

Chocolate baseball bats. Lame.

My new camera. It rules.

My new bag...it rules too.

Super spicy yakisoba. Awesome.

Damn the MAN

Most of pay taxes. It's just one of those things that every working man and woman can say they have to deal with whether they like it or not and in most cases, we do not like it. Here's a related fun-fact about paying taxes in Japan: you will be hit hard during your second year. I mean really hard. I'm quite disappointed in my company for not giving me a heads up about this "residence tax", or jumin-zei 住民税 as it's known here in Japan. It comes in an envelope and it's divided into slips, or payments, that are to be made of the next few months. My first payment is due on July 1st, so that's awesome of them to give me a whole 2 weeks before having to pay $400 usd. I won't get into exact amounts, but let's just say that the total I'll be paying back is much more than just $400. I'm not complaining about paying taxes, I'm just complaining (a bit), about having to pay them in this way. These sudden, large, lump-sum payments that my company failed to mention would be coming and would be a significant amount of money. So yeah, I guess I'm disappointed in my company for dropping a rather important ball. On top of that, the rate for my national health insurance coverage has gone up, again significantly. It is what it is, to coin a cliche, but it's putting a real damper on my ability to save and send money home and that, my friends, is the real sadness of this story.

Aside from all that depressing stuff, we had our spring training seminar in Miyazaki last week. I had a really good time and as far as meetings go, it's pretty awesome. It's really just all of the area native teachers getting together, socializing, going over a bit of business and playing games related to different company practices. Rachel and I played as Vanna and Pat, respectively, in a Wheel of Fortune game with the theme of classroom management. It went over really well, as the group seemed to have fun. The big focus of the seminar was the upcoming summer school classes in July. We practiced curriculum by doing demos and giving each other feedback and for me, it definitely helps seeing all the lessons acted out. I feel like I'll be well prepared by the time SS classes roll around next month. Next up, the big combined meeting (CM), on July 1st, where the native teachers get together with the Japanese teachers for more SS prep. Joy!

What a crew.

One of my favorite combinations.

Sausage for the win.

Mad hot yakisoba.

Wasabi and soy-sauce flavored chips.

Clever. Town of USA (ooh-suh), doin' the Hollywood thing.

Hakata rooftop.

Plenty of flowers around Hakata station.

My Shakey's Pizza Parlor pizza. What a joke.

Only in Japan?

That's an expression you hear all too often amongst English-speaking groups whenever they start talking about...well, Japan. It usually pertains to things that are weird or something that couldn't take place in the States, but in most cases, it's both of these things. However, let's not focus so much on the weird this time around, but for the sake of this story, let's talk about red tape. Japan, in case you weren't aware, is the land of the rising sun and the land of red tape. I'm pretty sure that's why the circle in their flag is the color red. Everything the Japanese do, at least in terms of business, is by-the-book. Now this can be both a good thing and a bad thing. You always have a pretty good idea of what to expect when you're going to do business somewhere in Japan, whether it be at a bank or purchasing an item at the store. I personally like that. However, there are some small things that can start to get on your nerves after a while. For example, when I go to the bank (as I did today), to transfer money back to the States, there is a specific form that I need to bring in. In Japan, they often don't sign for things like we did in America, they use a inkan (a stamp), with their name on it and stamp that sucker on all sorts of documents to make it all legit. I didn't have an inkan when I first got my bank book so I was able to sign it the ol' Western way. Due to signing it, with my signature, back in the day when I first got that bank book, it's pretty much made my inkan (which I eventually got), worthless in the eyes of the bank. Instead of saying, "oh, you can either sign (Western-style), or use your inkan", for "signing" documents, I only have the option of signing them Western-style. All because of how I did it back in the day when I first got my first bank book. Is your head spinning yet?

I'm not saying that this by-the-book manner of doing things is terrible, but it certainly makes the Japanese seem very unwilling to be flexible. I guess, in many ways, they are...at least in the business world. Who know? Maybe they prefer it that way. Or maybe it's the only way they really know so it's hard to compare it to anything else. But when you try and introduce a new style of doing something into their tried-and-true method, it really just ends up freaking everybody out and tends to get shot down. Just so no one gets butt-hurt, I want to say that I'm only generalizing in my experience. We all perceives things differently. There is a certain level of panic that comes across a fast-food workers face whenever I try to make a special order. Something as simple as, "no onions please", has the employee confirming my request in their reply, albeit with a tone of confusion. I went to the post office today, having been delivered a piece of mail addressed to the person previously living here (by the way, that was almost 2 years ago), and the dude's mind was blown. He was like, "so, this is not you?" (pointing to the mail). I replied, "no. that isn't me. yes, that is my address, but he no longer lives at that address." This exchange was all in Japanese mind you. He then tells me to please wait, walks over to a group of employees to tell them what I just told him, I heard a bunch of Japanese acknowledging the situation, he then walks back over and asks me to write my name on a small slip of paper. I didn't even bother to question it. In times like these I just say, "this is how they roll." I ask him if that's all he needs, he nods and clips the name to this piece of mail. I think I just gave this guy a new story to tell around the water cooler. "Hey everyone! So, this white guy walks up to me today..."

Vanilla/chocolate wafer ice cream sticks.

Yum.

That cream soda in a mayo bottle again. Good stuff.

Maple Custard Pie = Bomb!

Idaho burger...not so much. Burger with a hashbrown on it.

Fit for a king.

Long, cheese-flavored puff.