back to Japan for the last time

So I just came back from the States where I spent the holidays. I felt like if it was possible it had to happen. There was no way that I would stay in Japan even though the friends I've made are great and all. It's just not the same without people you love. After I came back, I felt really jetlagged. I still haven't gotten over it. Yesterday I acted the trooper and went out to a bar in downtown Nagoya to celebrate my room mate's time here in Japan and to give him one last goodbye. He decided to leave a few months ago and I wish I was him in a way. However, I feel I need the sense of accomplishment and want to finish the next couple months strong. After his party, we went to a karaoke place and instantly were swarmed by drunken Japanese guys. Maybe they came from a wedding who knows. One guy displayed his hindquarters to my room mate who swiftly gave him a little thrust which knocked this guy on the ground. It was hilarious. Unfortunately, it happened too quickly to get it on video. Here's one I took right after it happened:

Christmas In Japan

Well, the Christmas season has arrived in Japan, finally. The "illumination" displays are up, the themed event lessons are quickly filling up, everyone's shopping. The spirit of Christmas is in the air, in a predominately Buddhist country. It's pretty surreal. In two and a half weeks, I'll be back in the States curling up next to the fire with my girlfriend and family. It'll be a great ending to a challenging and rewarding experience working in Japan.

Reflections on culture

I'm still working on updating more often! Sorry about that! I just wanted to address some things I noticed about Japan that I like and some things that I don't. First off, I think it's great that people here have a great amount of patience (which is great for me because I'm pretty slow). They are also kind (at least they appear that way) and show a lot of respect towards others. However, they tend to be a little too focused on order and have views on honor that seem a little scary being a Westerner. For example, the service is great wherever you go, but they are unwilling to adjust to changes that happen which are contrary to protocols.

The way companies work are quite different from what I'm used to because they are very formal. Whenever someone needs to tell you something, it goes through all the positions of the company. You can't just give a form to someone to give to someone else. You have to give it to that person, and if you don't they will tell you to. Even if they are sitting right next to that person in the office. Also, say something happened to a English teacher's family overseas (like a family death). The director will ask staff personnel to personally ask the teacher leaving to stay for the duration of the contract. In other words, it is more honorable to work than grieve the death of a family member.

I have also noticed parents acting what we would call brutal to their children. Smacking them on the head and yelling at them is common. Unfortunately, this extends to parents correcting their children for not being able to learn a new language as quickly as they would wish. It is pretty disturbing to me, and hard to accept.

I don't mean to complain or make it sound like I am. I only mean to address a different culture and how it made me think about my own. Living here and seeing what I've seen made me think about what I like and dislike about mine. Thus, it makes my stay here seem more valuable.

The year is flying by so quickly

If I remember correctly, it was the last week I was in my old apt. that I wrote last. Well, a lot has happened since then. I have moved into a new apt. with a roommate from my original training group, and have been there thriving. I have also gone many places within Japan and have even gone to Italy and back to the USA. I think those particular trips really helped me to heal somewhat. For the first few months I had been awfully homesick. It was good to be back where everything was English and people were so casual.

I know I had promised myself to update this often when I originally started the blog, but I have been updating Facebook a lot too. Whenever I want to talk about something interesting and share tidbits and such, this will be the first place I'll go to. Until then, take care and thanks to everyone for reading!

moving soon

Again I just wanted to share with you about goings on here in Japan. I'm realizing just how big the learning curve is for my job. It seems that there are just so many things that I have to do and I'm not. I'm wondering how much I should worry about it outside of work. At times, the job of a teacher is stressful, but I can see that after a few more months, with a lot of practice, it will be second-nature.

I have been living in a small apartment for the last few months. I think I've already talked about that. Fortunately, I'll be moving soon to Freebell. If you live in Nagoya and you're a foreigner, you've no doubt heard of it. Apparently, its a gaijin ghetto. I thought about this, but made the decision that where I'm living is overpriced and I need to save money for traveling and other expenses. Plus, its exactly the type of place I was expecting the company to put me in.. obviously I'm in a country where almost no one speaks English so its hard to do everyday things. Live is about to get a lot cheaper and easier.

The friendship department is one of the hardest things to get going here, I think. Mostly, I do things with other teachers, and that's fun. However, I feel like it'll take time to get the kind of friends I had when I went abroad, for example. The new apartment should solve this problem. Many more English speakers for sure!

World Cup fever is very much alive in Japan. I've been watching games on TV and went to a native teacher friend's place in the area to watch the Japan-Netherlands game. It was so exciting! I'm also very satisfied that USA is doing much better this time around. They seem more hardened and less amateurish.

I'll be writing again after I'm in the new apt. Kanpai!

Long Break

It's been a while since I've written. Now I'm lucky to have a few followers (although they are basically my family). I wonder how many posts I have to write in order to get more. I'll try harder, I swear. Since the last post, I've been going from place to place in Japan. I just came back from Tokyo to visit a family friend, and it just reminded me how much cooler that city is than where I live now, the wonderful industrial city of Nagoya. Seriously, mostly everything there is interesting. Before I had gone there, I had my doubts. When I watched "Lost In Translation," I expected it to be overwhelming, but it turned out to be really cool. There are never too many people like you would think. There are plenty of parks to go to as well. I took the bullet train, or Shikansen there as well, which was a great experience. On the way there, alas I mistakenly sat in the smoking car and had to stay there for like 2 hours because I was afraid of falling into people while it was in transit. That thing is so expensive, but I guess it's worth it if you have the dough. While I was there, I had to go back to Omote-Sando to check it out. I was disgusted again of the prices. If I could go to only one area in Tokyo, though, I'd probably choose Ginza or somewhere nearby. There's a little something for everyone there. In Ginza there's the Sony Building too. Last time I went there they were showing some 3D Wega TV. I swear, 3D is really pitched nowadays. It's not as good as they say, too. Back to work tomorrow.. gotta teach kids.. probably shouldn't comment on that.

Drink take-out

I went to Starbucks today, and got a Latte. They had an extensive tea menu. I told the guy at the counter about how popular Chi teas were in America, and he seemed very interested. I asked for take-out and they put it in a bag with a holder as well. They do this at all places here so I thought I might share. Pretty smart!