So this is Christmas...

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

I'm working today, hence the short entry.

It is a very delicious crunch chocolate that sprinkled the starry sky of glittering - a chocolate wrapper

I like that Engrish, it's a good one.
So it's the most wonderful time of the year and yet somehow in Japan it seems even more shallow and materialistic. There are Christmas trees everywhere and even a Santa Claus or two and I cant help but wonder who actually knows what this holiday is about... same for Canada though let's be real.
I have some Christmas parties at school for kids and adults. We're supposed to sing for the little kids... should be fun!
My coworkers and I are having Christmas dinner on the 25th... I'm not too sure I want to go but then if I dont... I'm the black sheep of the group and that's no good. But! On December 26th I've recently been in touch with an old friend from high school who was an exchange student from good ol Japan. He's living outside of Tokyo so we're going to meet up and have a little high school reunion. It should be awesome!
And the best news of all! My Mum will be arriving in 11 days! I have some great things planned and I cant wait to see her lovely face :)
As for now... That's about all the updates I can give... Will report back later.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Epilepsy - T-shirt for sale in Osaka

That was a good t-shirt.
So... on the news front... I signed another six month contract so I'm staying until November 2011 with this company. It's a little bittersweet, I love my students but I could do without some of my coworkers. After that I think I'll either go home or find a different job with a different company.
So this weekend... I'm going to try and take it relatively easy. Take mentioned something about me learning how to play the drums hahaha. Recently I've had a cold sore and some canker sores so I'm going to try and get some much deserved rest.
Did I mention I met another Canadian out here?

Who the hell cares set tripping silly - T-shirt on a guy riding the subway

I'm back from Osaka! It was a short whirlwind trip but quite nice to get out of Tokyo for the day and a half that it was. We went to see the whale shark, went to the food amusement park they have and then to Dotonbori to see the big glico sign and to the American village they have... which wasn't very American haha.

Off to Osaka!

Today I'm off to Osaka. I'm pretty excited. I dont have any solid plans for while I'm there. Unfortunately but fortunately the travel agency lost our reservation for the overnight bus to Osaka so we're hitting the bullet train. I'm pretty ok with this. Basically all I have in mind for the trip is learning some Kansai-ben (Osakan dialect), Kuidaore (ruining onself through the extravagence of food) and seeing the huge whale sharks in their aquarium. I think this leaves room for other exciting things too. I'll post pics when I get back.

Feliz Cumpleanos!

Not much is new but I find myself with some free time at the moment before work. What's new? It was Take's birthday a few days ago. I got him a cake. 82 years young haha. I got some strange looks at the cake shop when I ordered not only my message in Spanish but also insisted on them drawing a music note. Take had a good laugh so I'm pleased.

In other news. I booked my tickets to Osaka! I'm going for three days next week. I'm very excited because word on the street is there is a whale shark in an aquarium there and I'm going to take me some pictures of it! I hear the food down there is pretty awesome and the people are all really friendly so I'm sure good times will be had. My coworker and I are going to go together. I'm trying very hard to refrain from spending money until I go. The tickets and hotel were only 12,800 yen which is apparently very good. I'm hoping to check out the Glico man.

Good Luck to All Who Ride - T-Shirt in Shibuya

So I have another cold. I think it's because my apartment is so cold all the time.
This weekend was a very interesting one. After work on Saturday, Take met me at the train station and we went for dinner... That is the last time I let him order even if he is the one with superior Japanese abilities. Over the course of dinner we ate: Karaage, Gyoza, steak, Buri sashimi, whale bacon, pig intestines, raw horse and deep fried oysters (Done in the Hiroshima style so I had to try them because that is where Take is from). The first few dishes were all fine and dandy... the last ones I struggled with. The whole dinner was like Take trying to see what he could get me to eat because I was being stubborn after he gave me the gears about not being open minded. "I'll show you open minded... pig intestines, wow they're lovely... I wish we had more" *gag*
Yesterday before my students house I went to Tachikawa with Take for an epic shopping trip. We went WINDOW SHOPPING for about three and a half hours and he didn't complain once. I am still shocked about this.
Last night I went to my students house. It was alright. I ate more food I wasn't too happy about lol. Steamed fish paste with fish eggs on top. I hate fish eggs. The night went alright, we sat on the floor the whole time so by the end of the night my legs were hurting pretty good. After that I went home and ate pizza lol.
Today I think I will go shopping some more. I have a 5000 yen gift card I want to spend.

Everybody Must Get Stoned - Shirt on a guy in Shibuya

I know I've been extremely neglectful as of late with updating my blog. (I think this is how I start every entry I write) Sorry!
I have been extremely distracted lately with my social calendar. I have been entertaining guests from out of town on the weekend, working overtime all week and having Halloween parties (those fell somewhere between work and play). I went to my first Japanese rock concert and I tell ya, that was very entertaining just watching the crowd. The band's name is Mucc... I enjoyed most of their songs even though they were all in Japanese. I think my favourite part of the concert was when the lead singer was trying to explain "trick or treat" to the crowd and then threw candy at them.
Recently, I've met a number of people into the music scene in Tokyo which has been awesome. I've met various bands and DJs from all over the world including one from Canada! Wooo. That brings the count of how many Canadians I've met here to three. This past Wednesday was a national holiday so I managed to swing partying for four days (with a short break to teach on Tuesday). I met so many people but unfortunately have another cold as a result.
What's on the up coming calendar?
-Tomorrow my friend Take is coming over, hopefully we'll take it easy.
-Sunday I have to go to a student's house for some dinner thing (blah)
-Monday I'm going to go shopping to find a birthday present for Dan, Takumi and Take. November is birthday season.
-Later this month I get a three day weekend so I'm hoping to hop on a bus/train and go to Osaka or Iwate.

Ignore Alien Orders - T-shirt at the Yokohama Oktoberfest

Another few weeks have gone by and I am still very neglectful with my blog. Apologies as always.

What have I been up to you ask? Well, let me fill you in!
-Teaching English to the masses (of course) that keeps me out of trouble for maybe four days of the week. :)
-I read a book. I really enjoyed it. I dont know if anyone who reads this would but hey... it's called "Rant" by Chuck Palahniuk. It's a pretty intense, strange book but rather amusing at parts and very creative at the very least. Warning - not for people with a weak stomach.
-I have been partying. As always. I introduced a friend to my new favourite bar in Shibuya. (name is Rock no Kokoro) It's a half foreigner half local bar, huge focus on indie DJs, the crowd is good and there's no cover. Need I say more?
-I went to my first Oktoberfest. It was grand! A bunch of us from our training group all went together and had a great time. The weather was excellent so we sat our in the sun and drank a bunch of beer and danced a bit to polka. I have a great beer mug from it. (you paid 1000 yen as a deposit on the glass and then if you wanted to keep it you could. So I did! It's great for tea.)
-I went to my first hostess bar. As I was making my tipsy way back home from Yokohama's Oktoberfest I received an email from my friend Wataru asking me if I was free.
"Yes, of course... what are we doing?"
"Meet me in Tachikawa."
"I dont see why not"
Upon finding each other in Tachikawa we start wandering down one of the roads... We make our way into an elevator with his friend and then voila! It didn't dawn on me for a while that I was at a hostess bar. It wasn't very special. But I didn't pay for anything so what do I really care where we drank? All in all it was alright, the hostess bar's "Mama" was celebrating her birthday that night. I asked her how old she was and she swore she was 24 but then she kept forgetting and telling me she was 20, and then 21... I think she was probably more like 30.
-I had ramen three times last weekend and it was delicious. If you've never tried Ramen, I highly suggest you do. Try shoyu (soy sauce) base or tonkotsu (the kind of broth used). I hear it isn't too healthy for you so you should only eat it like once a week... It's probably relatively high in sodium. Oh well.

What's on the schedule for the next while?
- My friend is in town! He arrives on Monday so I must go find him at the airport...
-Halloween is afoot! My school has three Halloween parties I must participate in, let alone the actual day where I plan to be out in full freak force! I'm going to a Japanese concert that day, but either way I'll be in costume for it! My costume is being imported from Canada courtesy of Bryan (the visiting friend)

On the news front...
My Mum is coming to visit for New Years! I'm very happy that I will get to see a familiar face for the holidays and get to share my love for this country with her! Hopefully afterwards she'll understand why I'm here! :)

One Tongue is Enough - no idea where I saw that one...

So the weather is finally cooling down and I no longer have to sleep with my air conditioner blasting. Needless to say, I'm thrilled by this. Also, Autumn/Winter fashion is coming out which is great. My friend is coming to visit me in about two weeks which is also great!
Things are kind of just settling nicely. I had a semi-full weekend this weekend. I went to see my friend DJ in Shibuya which was awesome. Everywhere I went I was treated like a pseudo-celebrity or local god... people flocked around me and just wanted to talk to me... much to my friend's dismay who had a legitimate reason to be flocked to but no one paid attention to him but me hahaha. We were talking about that last night and he could not get over my gravitational pull I had on everyone. Good times. Sunday I spent the entire day in a great deal of pain. The stomach bug/thing I had in May has reared its ugly head again.
I need to go see a doctor.
On Monday I went on an excursion to the English book store in Takadanobaba and I bought two books. I'm excited to start reading some intellectually stimulating books instead of the dribble I have to read for work (that came off a bit harsh maybe). If anyone has any good book recommendations please let me know! :) I also saw a coworker of mine, who works at a different school, and we had dinner in Koenji.
All in all... good weekend aside from the stomach pain and the cold. Turns out the pain killers I've been taking are for headaches... hmm...

Smack my Bitch Up - Guy's t-shirt... walking with his WIFE

For such an epic title to this entry... you'd think I'd have more to say.

Another week has gone by and life in Japan is still great.

Today (Sunday) I had to go in and work. It was a good day, quieter than normal, I taught two classes and spent the rest of the day tying up loose ends which was really nice.
Recently, I have made the acquaintance of another gaijin living in my town. He's really nice and into the same things as me! He's from Rhode Island and is an assistant language teacher at one of the public schools, he moonlights as a DJ though and is hoping to make it big in Japan. How cool. I know a pseudo celebrity! Get this: he can speak fluent flawless Japanese AND he can read a lot of Kanji!! I envy him! Gotta keep practicing eh?
So, since I have tomorrow off, my friend Jay is coming over and I'm cooking a traditional Canadian dinner of chicken alfredo... it's going to be grand if he ever shows up. I suspect he is lost in darkest Tokyo! Uh oh... I fear I'm gonna have to go on a search and rescue mission.
The upcoming week is a bit busy as I have to go to headquarters and learn some new things to help me with my new added responsibilities. I'm feeling the pressure because I need to do well with my new responsibilities in order to prove to them I'm worthy of staying for another year.
No pressure, no pressure... No, pressure! hahahaha punctuation.

Cant Stop Grind - Cant remember where I saw it

I was at a street festival a few weeks back which was a hot bed for Engrish t-shirts, I wrote down some of the phrases I saw in my note pad on my iPhone which is where I keep getting these hilarious titles. Hope you're enjoying them.

This week is supposed to be quieter for me as all kids classes are cancelled but instead of that I have seven classes today (the maximum). Tomorrow is a national holiday though (Respect for the Aged Day I think?) so I dont have to teach tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the break in my week as I also have to come in on Sunday.

Last weekend was another busy one.
On Saturday one of my students took all the teachers and staff at our school out for Teppanyaki. Wow was it ever good! We had a FIVE course dinner! The chef was really funny and treated me like a celebrity or something because I had never had teppanyaki before. He moved things around and kept asking me questions, I think that made the other foreign teacher a bit mad.
On Sunday I walked around this park near where I live for a couple hours and got some massive blisters on my feet because of it lol. After that I went to a karaoke party hosted by a student and my old coworker. It was fun but really long! Around 3 in the morning we called it quits.
On Monday I went to the Great Japan Beer Festival in Yokohama. It was amazing! There were over 250 beers to try there, and you can sleep well knowing I tried my hardest to drink them all. Might have got about 50... in hind sight I probably should have kept a tally. I went with my old coworker and we ran into a student there which was very amusing for us. We ended up meeting a bunch of cool people who brew beers, got their business cards and one brewery invited us to drink on the docks with them after the festival, which we did for a while. Since we were in Yokohama (has one of the world's largest Chinatowns) we went for all you can eat Chinese food.

The pictures I put up are of Yokohama (the building where the Beer Festival was held- no idea what the name is), for some reason a robot was handing out all the awards to the winning breweries and finally... my glass of beer on the ceremonial block of ice that melts. I had more to put up but they have been lost somewhere in cyberspace for the time being. Will post once they arrive.

Cheers!

Titty & Co. (On someone's purse)

Long time no blog.

I've been relatively distracted lately and have yet again been neglecting my blog.

I have been given more responsibility at work. Yay (read exasperated sigh). I will soon get to be one of the many people who die from karōshi. (overwork) haha. I am in charge of more business related things, making sure people sign up to do studies at home and explain to head office why people aren't. I didn't want this responsibility. Enough about work.

On the fun side of living in Japan... It's been summer this past little while that I have not been blogging (duh!) and I have been taking full advantage of the weekly festivals that have been taking place all over Tokyo.

Recently...
I went to a takoyaki party that was held in the middle of a punk rock bar in Kabukicho, in Shinjuku. Some guy closed down the entire bar for a private takoyaki party (fried octopus balls) with only 15 guests! It was quite the sight and really fun.
I went to the Tokyo 2010 Brazil Fest in Harajuku. It was amazing! Great dancers, people were everywhere... the music was great. It was a very hot day though so I did not stay long. I have pictures on my phone but not on my computer. I will post some pictures soon.
I went to Odaiba and saw the future! A friend and I went to the Toyota building where they showcase all their cars and what not. We were able to simulate the race track they test their cars on in a big theatre, learn all about hybrids, see future cars and... ROBOTS!!! We also went to a place called.... Venus Fort (I think), the entire inside was built to look like some courtyard in Italy. I took a lot of pictures... they just aren't up yet (sorry again). My favourite part about Odaiba was sitting on the beach and watching the sunset. Fantastic!
I went to a BBQ (again) on the Akigawa River (again) and it was pretty fun. I was the only foreigner there and most people couldn't speak any English so I was using a lot of Japanese the entire day.

So there's a little update about what's been going on. I will try to remember to update more often and hopefully post some pictures of my adventures!

Hysteric Glamour

It's been a week since I updated this so... I figured I should update it.
Somethings I've noticed this past while:
Everyone in Japan seems to love Crocs and not notice how utterly horrible they are. They bejewel them and everything. I hope whoever reads this knows what they are as I will not be posting any pictures of Crocs on my blog. :)
People here fight over who should sit down. It's the opposite as in Vancouver. People try to give up their seats and then the person they try to give their seat to wont sit down and they argue back and forth as to who should sit. It's very amusing to watch.
So it's summer and the Japanese are in full swing for summer festivals. I've been to two so far. Both were packed full of people, small stalls lined the streets with food and drinks to buy. People are all wearing their yukatas and kimonos and hobbling down the streets in their geta. (Geta are the traditional sandals worn with kimonos) It's fun to watch them get drunk because those shoes are hard to walk in! I went to a matsuri last Sunday with a fellow teacher and a student. It was a sight to be seen for sure! It was in Azabu-Juban near Roppongi. The area was packed with people. The main street was lined with little food, games and drink stalls. There was even a stall selling Moet & Chandon for the more distinguished tastes hahaha. The teacher I went with is not very familiar with Japanese cuisine. We decided to have okonomiyaki from one of the stalls. The Japanese describe okonomiyaki as a 'pancake', there is nothing pancakey about it aside from that I think flour and eggs are used. As I've been told there are two kinds of okonomiyaki, Kansai and Hiroshima. I've tried both before and Hiroshima is tolerable if done right. We had Kansai and it was not done right. My poor friend was terrified as to what he was eating:
"What is this?"
"It's okonomiyaki dude, just smile and eat it"
"what is in it?"
"How should I know?"
"This is terrible"
"I know"
"I dont know what I'm eating"
"Neither do I"
The conversation went on like that in hushed tones for the entire duration of our meal. It was terrible. Events like that I like to call 'dinner roulette'. It can be good, it can be terrible and you're most likely going to lose.

Today, I'm off to another festival with my friend Eriko. I'm not sure where it is but I'm sure it'll be fun!

Straight Burger - a Burger Joint Slogan

Straight burger - no chaser. This burger joint, Lotteria, offers a ten patty burger for the ultra low price of 900 yen. My coworker tried to get me to eat one. I wouldn't know where to begin!
I'm honestly not sure why I'm updating this blog but I am. I'm alive. Work is keeping my on my toes as always. I have to work tomorrow (normally my day off) but oh well. I'm turning Japanese and working myself to death. Funny how that goes. I also went to h.o. for a workshop this week. It was nice to meet some other teachers... one's I had not met before. Some new and some experienced. I'm getting more comfortable with teaching and I think my coworkers are pleased with me. This week has been fun with teaching children. I got to introduce them to the games 'Mother May I' and 'Pin the tail on the donkey'... and with the idea of "show, dont tell" for teaching children I got to be pretty goofy which always makes the day fun. My plans for the brief time I have off this week include: Teaching my friend Japanese, and looking for a good English book to teach someone else English and going for a nice Indian curry. Pretty tame, I know.
I got some good news that I might have company coming to visit me in October. Which is fantastic! I would love the oppportunity to show off my new city and the great places I've become acquainted with!

My Short Trip to Asakusa

So on one of my days off last week I took a quick peek around Asakusa. It was my third time there so forgive me for not taking too many pictures. It was also raining very heavily. The pictures are of: an alleyway by the Sensoji Temple - this is my favourite picture of the bunch and if you look carefully you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree in the background, a couple side streets leading towards the temple where there are a lot of shops where you can buy souvenirs and the like, the gate leading into the main area by Sensoji, the Kaminarimon and a picture of the Tokyo Sky Tree which is currently being built. Sorry for the brief descriptions of the pictures but I haven't figured out how to line up my captions with the pictures... yet!

Yoyogi Park, Harajuku and Shibuya Pictures

So here are some pictures of what I did on Tuesday -- I went to Yoyogi Park in Harajuku and then wandered down to Shibuya.

The above picture is of an enterance way to Yoyogi park. There is a big shrine in the park and is really popular among tourists and foreigners. We fit right in.

This is the view of Harajuku station from a pedestrian bridge.

This was taken in Yoyogi park. It's a huge park.

This was taken in a mall of sorts on Omotesando (a street in Harajuku) Chanel, Bvlgari and all those places were in this mall...

A view of Shibuya from a pedestrian bridge.

Nobody's Ugly after 2 a.m. - a T-shirt

So here are a bunch of pictures of the Tanabata festival I went to and some pictures of Route 16 - a.k.a. "California" (It's right beside the American air base so there are a lot of English shops and what not)

Your Mother is Developer - a t-shirt

So! I finally have internet! What a gruelling ordeal that was! Took ages and ages.

But rest assured I am alive and relatively healthy! After my birthday weekend I think my health took a major beating! My students took me out after class on Saturday and we proceeded to drink for a good five or six hours... maybe longer. They were all really sweet and pitched in to buy me a traditional Japanese fan (I'm always bitching about how hot it is here hahah)and they gave me a champagne toast and everything. It was really sweet!
On Sunday I drunkenly welcomed NTT into my home to install internet which was entertaining... and then I went to Yoyogi park to see some teachers and continue drinking. It takes a lot out of you -- drinking in 35 degree heat. I went to bed at 10 that night and spent the next day lounging around. It was a very nice birthday weekend. My one friend gave me a 1.8 litre bottle of Japanese sake... I named it Koshi and it lives in my fridge. I'm far too scared to open it.

Let's get on to the goods now!! Pictures of my travels!

The top picture is of the shrine in Omiya where I was at first.
The second is of a street in Omiya.
The third is of Ueno (one of the wards in Tokyo)during training a bunch of us went there and explored a bit, had some traditional izakaya food... and beer. :)
The fourth is of the traditional izakaya food - apparently when you eat the tiny squids they explode all their juices and gunk in your mouth. I did not try them.
The fifth is of Hibiya Park (also in Tokyo) we went on the search for Oktoberfest but apparently we missed it by one day. Shucks!
The sixth is of a building in Roppongi - the ward where all the foreigners go. I had to check it out!!
--> Blogger has somehow put them in reverse... the building in Roppongi is top right and Hibiya park is top left and then it goes down in reverse from there! My apologies I will hopefully figure this out sometime!
So those are all the pics I'm going to upload for now... I have plenty more but I need to put them onto my computer and all that jazz... I hope you enjoyed them!

Young's House - shirt on a guy

You're right it is!!

So today is my 24th birthday. It was surprising to see so many people remembered and went out of their way to wish me a happy birthday or give me a present! I've had two cakes given to me, one student bought me a bunch of my favourite candies, one of the teachers bought me some of her favourite drinks (heh heh) and another teacher bought me a Pikachu thing that's really cute. Everyone at school got me a card and signed it too! It was really sweet how nice everyone was to me today! It was a pretty good day! My students are throwing me a party on Saturday and then some people from work and I are going to do something on Sunday. Should be good!
Now that I'm 24 all I can hear is the ticking sounds from the tv show 24 haha
I'll put up some pictures when I get my Internet on Sunday or Monday :)

Touch Me I'm Sick - hat on a guy

I tried to, but he was too fast!!

So it seems I have been negligent with updating my blog, my apologies.

Sometime in the near future - August 1st, I will have Internet and tv in my apartment! Finally!
So... What the hell have I been up to? Not a whole lot really. I finally spent part of my weekend by myself and just hung out, read books and watched some tv my coworker gave me. I'm on to season 4 of 30 Rock and I'm very happy. I've been practicing my Japanese a fair bit and remembering things. I've been having fun putting new music on to my phone thanks to an early birthday present from my wonderful Ma and Pa :) the music was getting a bit repetitive.
I have follow up training on Monday so I have a six day work week as a birthday present from work haha thank you!

Exciting Slot (Pachinko parlour name)

I really should be taking pictures of all the great Engrish I find...
So another week has gone by... They seem to fly by here... Especially the weekends. I'm always so tired I never do anything before or after work. I think I'm going to look into buying a proper bed as the futon I have now is so thin and I think this may be the reason I'm always tired.
I've been reading books like crazy. I've read eight or nine books in the past two months! It's amazing how much one reads when there is no tv or Internet around haha. I will be getting Internet next Monday so the drought ends then! I'm excited to finally be able to post pictures here!
So, some things worth sharing:
A while back I was told that McDonald's has wifi so while there with two coworkers we noticed that the sign was explaining the wifi was only for Nintendo Game Boy Advances so people can battle each other or whatver. Yep, it's that high in demand lol.
Another funny thing - my one friend Takumi once said to me while I was struggling to read a menu "oh yea! You can't read!" this is how illiteracy feels haha.
There's a sign in the courtyard of the mall where my school is located that says "no open flames or combustibles". Did they have a problem with bonfires?
The bouncers at the club I went to last night were all American and didn't speak Japanese... Funny

Food Happiness (name of a grocery store)

When the shit starts flying... Get a shovel!
This week has been a tough one... Luckily it's Saturday and the week is over! Longer blog entry to come later off to shape the minds of the future into English speakers.

Unconcerned but not Indifferent

So it's Monday... I have woken up three times now on the same train at the wrong stop. I have been trying to get home for about six hours now... Had to share haha the struggles of getting home are epic evidently luckily this country is safe and no one mugged me while I slept!

Class Winners 1986 Regional Drags

It has come to my attention that maybe drinking and blogging don't mix. I think I need to get a breathalyzer ap for my phone... I'm sure there's one out there.
British teacher and I are going to Chiba today. I'm not sure what's in Chiba but I don't really have much else to do. I've been reading a bunch of books a student gave me. They're a really easy read so I've finished four in two weeks. I need to get out more haha.
I have to say, I feel really sorry for the people who work the graveyard shift at the Family Mart near my house. I always wander in at strange hours on the weekend, buy a tall boy, mumble things in English, try half assed to speak Japanese and then laugh at myself on the way out lol.
Last weekend some teachers and I went to a very cool club in Shibuya called Womb. The music was wild, the place was huge and packed and there were a lot of foreigners there. I now know where to go when I want to meet foreigners lol. The club was featured in Babel... Worth checking out if you're in the area :)
I'm trying to figure out how to post pictures through my phone, once I do I'm set!

Tokyo Says Dont Drunk Drive

Haha ok です。
I finally figured out how to blog with my iPhone. I will never need a computer again!! Things are well on my side of the world. I'm so happy I figured how to blog via le telephone!
So... What's new here... Teaching is still a challenge but getting better every week which is reassuring.
I'm practicing my Japanese a lot which is both fun and embarassing of course but in the end who really cares? I'm stared at whether I try to speak the language or not :)
the rainy season is here... They say rainy I say horribly humid... Not really rainy. I wish I was willing to show how bad my hair looks haha. Humidity...
My birthday is in less than a month.. Sad bit true that I will be spending it alone and working. I can't be too sad because I am where I chose to be lol
the other foreign teacher has since left and been replaced. This means I am in charge haha. The new teacher is great so far. He's British and we call ourselves team Britain. He worked for Nova before... The one I applied to but they had gone bankrupt...
I keep in touch with the teacher who left and his girlfriend which is making a good support group here.. It's still funny to comprehend that I am in Japan. It feels so natural even though I can barely speak the language.
One of my students took me to a bar called 'K's Bar' in my area... They have tons of Islay Malt scotch so I had one called Aber.... Something... hahaha it was peaty so the name wasn't too important... Aberdeg? The bar hangas a St. Andrew's Cross and is called K's... It's a good omen ね。

Dick Brewer

Yep... I saw a t-shirt here that said Dick Brewer. I thought about buying it but then I think I might save my money for something even more classic. I took a picture though and will be uploading it when I figure that out.
I have also been taking of hillarious Engrish on menus. Example: Big ball of chicken meat served with one egg yolk.
So... It's been a while since I last posted. I am sorry for my negligence. I have been kept on my toes with work lately. I barely have time to do anything sadly. I only had one day off of work this week and it definitely shows. One of my students told me I looked terrible today and had too many zits on my face. Thanks for the honesty? Sorry I'm so homely? I had to go in for follow up training for kids lessons yesterday. It was very useful so I'm not too chapped about having to go in on my day off and it meant I got to see everyone from training which was nice. After follow up training we went to a pub and watched some of the World Cup! Go Portugal. One of the teachers at my school asked me how Canada's soccer team was and I told her we call it Hockey and its played on ice there.
I've been trying to watch a lot of the World Cup which is great and meeting a lot of people... locals and foreigners. Suprisingly enough I am using a lot of Japanese with my new local friends and I am being shown around my new city. My one new friend, Takumi, taught me how to say 'thank you' in Samurai Japanese so we try to get me to use that in daily situations. Example: buying a coffee at Family Mart 'katajikenai' not 'arigato'. The look on their faces is great!
The new teacher has arrived who is replacing the other teacher. He's really nice so far and is from good ol London town. We've decided from now on we're only teaching British English.
My time is up here though... and I left my blog notebook at school today. Otherwise I would be writing a much better blog! I promise to be back soon to give a more detailed entry!
P.S. @DarkEnergy Happy (Belated) Father's Day... a card will be in the mail sometime this year.

Hair/Make Fairytale

So, I thought it might make my blog titles a bit more interesting if I used the various Engrish I saw on my merry little travels. Another little gem I saw was "Ab's Make" = gym? Good times.

So I survived my first week solo. No one got bitten on my watch so I think that constitutes the week being a success!! The really little kids are a bunch of laughs to teach. I get to dance, play jenga and sing songs with them. One class, they were all wearing sticker name tags so I could use their names, the kids took them off and put them over their mouths - lead to a very nice and quiet class! Haha. I think I've gotten the hang of class planning which is nice I was worried for a while that I would be spending hours and hours preparing for lessons. The students are all really nice which helps.

Funny things I've noticed:

1) Even little old ladies here have iPods.
2) Business men, riding bikes in their nice suits, in the rain while (almost definitely drunk) and smoking.
3) The young guys here... wear lower cut shirts than I do, and have nicer hair. Think 80's glam rock look. Maybe I should step up and bring my A game... I thought I had but I stand corrected!
4) The novelty of being a foreigner. I get open mouth stares. When I see another foreigner... I OPEN MOUTH STARE.
5) There is a milk bar in one of the train stations - Does it serve LSD I wonder... like the milk bar in A Clockwork Orange.

I should be getting a phone sometime this week finally!!

Some funny things deemed worth mentioning...

So a few things I have come across on my Japan adventures that I believe to be worth mentioning.

1) Last night as I left the train station on my way home I was listening to my iPod and heard what sounded to be motorcycles. Moments later what appeared to be some sort of biker gang pulled up into the Family Mart sidewalk area. On mopeds. Yes, I accidentally stumbled upon some kind of moped gang pep rally of sorts. Some even had passengers on the back and one moped was even flying the Japanese war time flag. http://www.deepdarc.com/module/album/getpic/pic-775-medium.png　They were all sitting on their mopeds drinking beers or coffees. I found this to be very amusing and just had to share. I hope someone finds that as amusing as I did.

2) The sounds of Tokyo. I really wish I could share some of the excellent sounds one can hear throughout Tokyo. The first thing that comes to mind is the different songs played at each train station. Each train station in Tokyo has its own little song that is played when a train nears. Not joking. Who wrote this music? Its hilarious. Cheerful little blurbs. I love it. Some more great sounds of Tokyo. The various angry protesters who drive through the streets of Tokyo with megaphones blasting their propaganda. (I've heard people are angry about current politics regarding the Americans on Okinawa) and the last sounds I will mention are the ones found in Pachinko parlours and arcade halls. The noise is defeaning and people seem to spend hours and hours in these places.

Time is up! Till next time!

...Lost in the Sea...

I keep promising to write a longer blog so here it is! Enjoy?

Haha where to begin?

My New Digs: The apartment is ok. It's nothing special nor is it spacious but it will serve its purpose and that's all I can ask for. I do have insuite laundry which is a luxury I have never had aside from while living at home... Now I just need to find someone to DO my laundry :) The view from my balcony is of a cemetary (not kidding lol)and of a 24 hour convenient store and the train station. The cemetary isn't creepy... it has a bunch of granite blocks and smells of incense. For being such a light sleeper I thought being so close to the train station would be hard to get used to but I dont hear anything. There are some bad-ass cats that like to hang out in the parking lot they seem to fight a fair bit... I think they could put even Hamlet to shame. The kitchen is pretty small... it only has one burner and a tiny sink, no oven. I have two bar size fridges and a microwave so I dont really bother with cooking. There is this great mobile Indian kebab van thing that is always outside the station when I'm coming home from work. I normally have a kebab/pita thing and a mango puree drink thing for dinner. The vendor and I both cant really speak Japanese but he doesn't speak English and I dont speak what he speaks so we have a good time fumbling with Japanese. The food is great and apparently there is an actual restaurant that is maybe 1 minute from my house that I've yet to go hunting for. My Alien Registration Card should be ready for pick up on June 8th which means that soon after that I will be able to get a cell phone and internet for my apartment. I can finally put up some pictures and share what I've been seeing these past few weeks!

Teaching: It's a lot to take in... cramming what should be a master's degree into a nine day crash course... definitely has shown me what I don't know. I think with practice and studying I should be a lot more comfortable in a few weeks. Teaching 3-9 year olds... hurts hahaha. One child spent the entire 45 minute class running into walls, swinging his socks around and trying to bite the other kids. Try reprimanding him in English... Doesn't work so well hahaha. Who would have thought I could have my ass handed to me by a bunch of kids whose combined age does not total mine? I hope who ever is reading my blog is laughing as hard as I am. The other teachers and staff at the school seem to be pretty supportive. I have had the departing teacher giving me advice and she taught most of the classes so I could observe and get a feel for things this week. She is gone on Tuesday which means I run the show. No pressure hahaha. I'm a bit apprehensive how this week will go. I figure with the right amount of caffine and pep pills I'll be genki enough to survive haha.

Good-Bye/Welcome Party: The school had a combined good bye party for the teacher I'm replacing and a welcome party for me last night. It was really fun. I got to re-meet a lot of my students. I have forgotten most of their names and faces... It was a really good turn out with about 60 people, everyone brought food and drinks and said their good-byes... After the formal party about 20 - 25 of us got a　カラオケ　ボックス　(karaoke box) and rocked out for a couple hours. Once again the alcohol was free flowing and a good time was had... I kept it in check.. knowing I'm their 先生 (sensei - teacher) really sucks the fun out of getting right pissed. One of my students did an awesome rendition of Disney's Under the Sea! It was hilarious! The other foreign teacher and I sang Oh Canada for everyone and then I did a truly spectacular version of Journey's Dont Stop Believing of course. After that we went to an 居酒屋　(Izakaya - Japanese Bar) and had some more drinks and appies til about 5 in the morning. Which I guess is as good of a segway I could ask for to highlight some of the things I thoroughly enjoy/appreicate about Japan.
1) Drinking in public. Whilst slightly frowned upon, it is fully legal to walk down the street, sit on the train or anywhere else in public with an open beer or any other alcoholic beverage
2) Easy access to liquor. Convenience stores, grocery stores, train station kiosks and, of course, vending machines all sell liquor including the hard stuff. A luxury I never had in Canada and I'm sure I will abuse the hell out of! :) Dont worry Ma I'll behave! Conveniently enough, I can SEE a 24 hour convenient store from my apartment balcony that sells booze.
3) Bars are open all night. Same with convenient stores, grocery stores, and vending machines.
4) All you can drink. In Japanese Nomihodai. It's like these bars are challenging you to see how much you can drink. You pay a set amount of money and drink as much as you can in the time period given. For three hours of Karaoke and all you can drink it was about 40$ Canadian... not too shabby. I had a good nine or ten beers. And sang my heart out!
I just realised that little tangent might make me out to sound like an alcoholic. It needed to be said either way.

So getting back on track then... Today is my Saturday as I get Sunday and Monday off. I woke up in the mid afternoon (since I went to be in the morning hahaha) and decided to go exploring for a bit. One of my students said that I would like the area around Tachikawa station because it has shopping (what a lie) so I hopped on the train and came over. I wandered around some of the department stores which have their merits of course but I dont really want any Louis Vuitton bags or Anna Sui clothes that wont fit me. So I went wandering around the area... for some reason there were 10-20 police men guiding traffic... and all the big TVs on the buildings had sound today. I want to say it had something to do with the Japan derby...
I left both my cameras at home today (big mistake) I should have known better. There are some sights to be shared here for sure. One thing I find really cool are these elaborate sky walks they have as like a second floor sidewalk that connects you to buildings all around the station, I like these because it means there is a lesser chance of me getting hit by a car. They remind me of the Ewok village in Star Wars (dont ask me why lol). I'm trying to figure out what I should do today. I have finished two books already (@DarkEnergy - I found that third book in the Stieg Larsson series you like in English and everything you should probably come over and pick up a copy!) I can only dog fuck on the computer for so long. Everyone I met in training lives a ways away and are very hard to get ahold of unless we are miraculously at internet cafes at the same time... Shrug. There is an old TV with VHS in my apartment... I'm wondering if any store in Japan sells/rents VHS tapes anymore. Hahaha and Japan is supposed to be high tech!
I'm sitting in an internet cafe right now... and the person in the booth beside me is snoring quite loudly. Apparently its quite common for Tokyoites to get drunk, miss the train and sleep at an internet cafe in one of the booths... it's only about 1000円　because it is not peak hours... They have showers, hot food vending machines, comic books, drink machines, tanning beds, and what I think is an oxygen bar at this net cafe. I think one could happily live here for a while hahaha. There's also ice cream :)
I got some great news from back home! Chris is talking about coming out for a visit during O-Bon in the summer when I'll have some time off. I'm hoping that all comes together as it would be great to see him and show him some of the crazy things I have only been able to describe on the phone/via facebook messages. I actually managed to find a place with pool tables and I dare say Chris might be one of few people who would enjoy/abuse nomihodai more than I do :) It's been a big adjustment going from seeing him every day to some sporadic phone calls and messages on Facebook I gotta say I really miss him.
I spoke to Richard and Andrew as well and both of them are hoping to visit me in the near future too. It was really nice to hear after such a stressful week that I might shortly have some familiar faces and friends to share the hoopla with. It was really nice to talk to all those guys and get to catch up on things and have their support.

Well this entry has been really long. A nice change from the previous brief entries. I managed to miraculously be online while one of my friends was online so we're off to get lost in Tokyo.

I miss you tons Mum, Dad, Chris, Andrew, Richie (I'm not sure who else reads this?) Love you all, and take care till we speak again!

First Week at my School!

So I'm mid way through my first week at my school. I apologise for the negligence to this blog. It has been really difficult finding internet... until one of the other teachers pointed out this internet cafe between the school and my train station! The first week has been a lot to take in! You never realise how much work a teacher does... wtih lesson prep, energy and really understanding their lessons. I had my second lesson in front of students and I think it went alright. I did make some mistakes but they seemed to have a good time and learn something which I think is all I can ask for at this point. My nerves are slowly going away which is reassuring! I teach a children's class tomorrow and I think it will go alright. Everyone at the school has been really nice to me and I think I will fit right in in due time. As for now I'm spending a lot of time getting to know everyone's names, learning lessons and all the other tricks of the trade. We're having a welcome party with Karaoke for me on Saturday which should be a blast!
My new apartment is alright. I haven't had too much time to explore my surroundings just yet but it's really close to the station and there is a mobile Indian kebab vendor that is on the way home. Funny enough Japanese is both our second language and we manage to communicate just fine in broken JSL!
I'm hoping to get internet at my apartment soon so I can stop using cafe computers and start putting up pictures and updating whenever I please! Till the next post... take care and all my love!

Greetings!

Hi! So it`s been a few days since I last posted. There hasn`t been too much going on as of late. A lot of training. Eight to nine hours a day of very intense training, practice and what not. So needless to say my mind is full and hazy with trying to wrap my mind around being a good teacher. I`ve had good feed back from the trainers. I can`t say I`m fully confident just yet but they are doing a great job with giving as much advice as possible. I think it will all come full circle once I`m at the school and thrown into the mix. Happy birthday @Dark Energy :) Love!

I`m Here!

Well I`m finally here in Tokyo after what seemed like ages of waiting. I`ve already been here for a few days... almost a week actually. I`ve been bad with trying to get access to internet but on my lazy Sunday I managed to take some time to wander down and update my blog and write to some friends.
Training has been going well so far aside from a minor blip requiring a brief trip to the hospital. I`m fine, just had a stomach virus which cause some severe stomach pain. Thankfully the Japanese health care system is very good and so I was in and out with some medication very quickly and the doctor even spoke English! Wow! Training is very thorough with a lot to take in but that`s good I hope to be well prepared for when the real stuff starts.
I have been taking a lot of pictures of my travels all over Tokyo with both my point and shoot and the DSLR and I`m very excited to share them with my one follower as soon as I can get them up!　I have also managed to snag some rather amusing Engrish pics to go with the artistic ones。
I still have one more week of training to go through and then on Saturday I will be going to my new school and moving to my new apartment which is very exciting. I can`t say I`m enjoying living out of suitcases.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm sitting at the airport with fifty minutes to go before take off. I've said my good-byes and had a pretty embarassing cry by myself. So there's nothing left to do but blog.
Well... boarding is starting! The next time I update this I will be in Tokyo. :)

Pictures of Vancouver

So I went out and about with my DSLR camera and took a bunch of pictures of Vancouver for kicks and thought I would put some of them up here. These were all taken around the English Bay area, the building with all the vines up it is the Sylvia Hotel. My apologies for the horrible picture layout I am absolutely not tech savvy. :)

Two weeks till go time!

So there are only two more weeks until I ship out. A fair bit has happened since my last update.
I've actually given out the URL to my blog so maybe people will actually read this! I have also got my work visa for Japan stuck into my passport (it isn't a stamp like I thought it would be)
I have bought all the work appropriate clothes I think I will need and some not appropriate clothes as I dare say it might be hard to find clothes my size over in Tokyo.
I bought a very sleek DSLR camera with the hopes that I will be putting up some nice pictures of all that I see for everyone back home.

I think that's about all that's been accomplished as of yet... I dont think there is a whole lot left to do... :)

Let the count down begin!

I have been very bad in maintaining this blog. I hope it is not a sign of what is to come once I'm over in Japan.
Much has happened since the last update.

I ship out in less than a month - 26 days to be exact and I have less than three days left of work - 2 days and 6 hours. Can you tell I'm excited? :)

I have been sent my Certificate of Eligibility which is required before I can get a work visa for Japan. I plan on getting the visa business all prepared in a couple days once I have finished work.

I have a huge to do list that also needs my attention so I can be well prepared for the move. On the bright side I have all the suits needed and just need to get work appropriate shirts and some shoes and I should also start figuring out how to stuff my life into two bags! Getting excited! :)

Contracts signed, flight booked

So the contracts are signed and received by my employer, I've booked my one way flight to Tokyo Narita and bought one suit (many more to be bought soon).

I'm beginning to think I should start trying to find friends in Tokyo. I only know one person in Japan and she does not live in Tokyo. I'm not too concerned about making friends but it would be nice to know there are some friendly faces in that massive city...

Job Offer

A lot has happened since I last wrote in this.

1) I did not get the spot directly in Tokyo (in one of the wards)
2) After a couple weeks of waiting I have been offered and accepted a position in a Tokyo suburb.
3) Employment contracts are being shipped to my house as I type.

Maybe not that much has happened. Oh well.

I have about four months to get all my effects in order, figure out how to only pay taxes in one country, book flights, save money and get rid of all my belongings. Needless to say shit is about to get a little crazy over here.