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?

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! :)

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!

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!

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.