Suddenly, babies!

So what have I been up to at work these past few weeks? I've been collecting babies.

So the first week of October is the beginning of a new term. And we are at a point where all baby and preschool/kindergarten aged kids are renewing and or starting new classes. Ont he business end of things there was a campaign to bring in more babies. And bring in the babies we did. Starting tomorrow (Tuesday) I am going from having one baby class to having four. Three new students, three new classes. Two new lesson plans to have to do.

I didn't even like the one baby class I already have. I feel super awkward, and the class seems pointless to me... This kid doesn't even walk/talk. He just sits there and puts things in his mouth. Two of the babies I am getting are slightly older, allowing for more interaction. I have been warned that one of them actually prefers to run around. Just what I need, another class where my student run around me in circles. On the bright side, I am going to waste less time every week twiddling my thumbs with nothing to do. And I think I have enough teaching hours to regularly pull in over time. Yay! Let's see how this next week goes... maybe the baby classes wont be so bad.

A JT and I had to do a model lesson to prepare for our new baby classes. So everyone gathered in a room and we taught our lesson to one of the teachers with a doll. I had glowing reviews and only have to rearrange a few things. That was reassuring. But then they started to review the JT, who I felt was at the same level as me, in fact, she went first and I stole a few of her ideas. They nit-picked her for almost 45min! They were going for so long, they told Briana and I that we could leave. I felt bad for her for one, and for two I started to worry that I wasn't as strong as I thought I was, but that since I'm a NET they go easy on me. That's really annoying, I want to be the best teacher I can be! I have already come an incredibly far way learning about patience and flexibility. But if they just brush me aside saying, "yeah, that's great!" every time I'm not gonna learn much.

On that same vein, follow up training is coming up in a month and I am pretty excited! The actual travel and training part of it is going to be tedious. But I will be reunited with a lot of fun people from my initial training group, and will get to meet new people and make new friends. I love making new friends! Like a creeper, I've already scoped out two people who are going to be at training that live near Ogaki. Hopefully we get along, and can get together on weekends. My knowledge of the area isn't extensive, so maybe some fresh faces can introduce me to some new adventures. Briana assures me that everyone parties and hangs out and that is generally a pretty fun time. Yay!

As far as non work related things go, there isn't much to write (excluding Briana and I's three day weekend in Kyoto, but that's for another post). Been going to Miroku and having fun. I have been talking to the regulars more often now. And even go and sit and drink with them at times. Ryo (despite his insane work schedule) told me that he is studying English so he can communicate with us more effectively. his motto is, "One day, one page." I've decided to do the same thing. A couple pages a weekend simply wasn't effective. We have also met up with the foreign guys more often. They are pretty fun to hang out with.

The shining moment from this last week, however, is when I got hit by a car on my bike. I was approaching a road that runs N/S from the east. I was on the south side of a car waiting to turn left, but I was turning right. Keep in mind that in Japan they drive on the opposite side of the road than they do in America. I forgot this, and so I cleared my left side, and then rolled forward a bit to see past the car on my right, and BAM. There was a south bound car RIGHT THERE and we just happened to both be hidden from each other by this big ass car waiting to turn left.

Luckily the car hit my front wheel and not my body. For a split second I thought I was going to manage to stay upright, but that fantasy was crushed when the ground suddenly came rushing up at me. My bike frame was slightly bent, the light was messed up, the basket dented, and the chain popped off. I felt fine, but I was terrified and shaking. The woman who hit me pulled over and rushed over to check on me. She spent 10-15 min trying to fix my bike chain for me all the while fussing about how scared/shocked she was, and how sorry she is, and how she feels bad for making me late for work. I was also very worried about being late for work. Eventually we stopped an old man riding by on his bike and asked if he knew how to fix the chain. Which he did in under 30 sec. WTF dude? That was awesome!

I hopped on my messed up bike and awkwardly made my way to work as fast as possible. I got there with about 5 min to prepare for the special event we were having that morning. I got ready and entered the lobby and then found out that no one had signed up for that particular time slot. Relieved I went and sat in my spot in the teacher's room and just stared at a wall, shaking and trying not to freak out. I told on of my fav JTs what happened and then the room exploded in concern for me. I assured them I was fine, and then Miki (the JT I originally told) and Satomi helped me to find a bike shop near by where I could get everything fixed. I took my bike there on my lunch break and the old man who ran the place fixed everything but the bent frame for pretty cheap. Lucky!

All week I've been finding bruises, bumps, scratches, and sores all over my body. This week was exhausting and painful because I was so sore. I have about nine bruises in various places. It could have been considerably worse, so I won't complain. One thing I will complain about, however, is apparently you are supposed to exchange insurance information and the woman who hit me's insurance company would have ponied up some cash. I didn't know any better, and she probably took advantage of that so that her insurance rates wouldn't go up for hitting someone. I can't blame her, but I still feel cheated a bit.

Well that's all from me for now. Stay tuned for an update about my trip to Kyoto and pictures from it!
matta ne!
~寒

Manual labor, visitors, and taiko... oh my!

Work was uneventful this week. Remember my terror of a student, I? Well he is no longer my student, and this week that class was much more manageable. Its better, and I'm happy about that, but I feel bad for Briana who now has to deal with him. Sorry Briana!!! There are also two students of mine that I didnt see for the entirety of seminar season, so I've only taught them for the past two weeks. The younger P5 one and I have hit it off. She is really smart and gets through the material really fast, so we play a lot of long and fun games together. I have even started teacher her hand jives before/after class. Her class is very refreshing because both of my other P5 classes are pre-teens who are incredibly disinterested. Getting them to do drills is like pulling teeth. My other "new" student is another P7 (the same level that my "cousin" is in). And while the other P7 class is really goofy and funny and relaxing, this student is very quiet and awkward. Its also a private lesson.... so there's that. I get the feeling that he really doesn't want to be there, but him Mom is really pressuring him. Its a shame, because his English is great (except his pronunciation is horrible). I can talk normally with him and he generally understands, and he can express himself well. His English ability is probably the level of my Japanese ability (except my pronunciation is flawless). Can get by, not perfect, but on the way to fluency. Its an awkward class, but we manage.

What really stands out about this week at work was the amount of manual labor I ended up doing. For the first time this week I had to do what we call "posting". Every month the school gets a crap ton of flyers that we then have to go and put in the mailboxes of all the houses in the vicinity. Me and two of my JTs went on on the HOTTEST day of the week to a really rich neighborhood with these huge houses. The neighborhood really reminded me of ones back home. It was a weird sine of nostalgia wandering around the curvy suburban streets. I had 200 flyers to put into mailboxes. We split up the neighborhood into three sections and I set out on my own. I had a bag with my wallet, iphone, water, and the flyers in it. It was surprisingly heavy and left angry red marks all up and down both of my arms. I played music from my iphone out loud since I forgot my headphones, but I only saw one person the entire two hours I was out there, so I don't think I disturbed anyone. I entertained myself by seeing how many of the names written in kanji (Chinese characters, and the only of Japanese's three alphabets that I have yet to master). I walked around in my work close is 95 degree and very humid weather for two hours. It was draining. Good exercise, and the neighborhood was pretty, but damn. I don't wanna do that again any time soon, but we do it every month!

Then the next day was air conditioner cleaning day! We all threw on a mask, grabbed a toothbush and a stool, and picked a room. Basically I had to scrub all the lint/mold/dust/whatever from the the filter and the unit itself. It took about an hour of intense scrubbing while standing on my tiptoes and trying not to get dust in my eyes. My arms were dead by the end of it, and my work clothes were covered in crap. Its amazing how much dust is in those things. And they all work so much better now! I should do the same thing to my own a/c unity at home... later. Posting and cleaning were literally both in the job description, and everyone (including Manager) had to do it. So I don't really have room to complain. But it was a shock to my system.

So this weekend Steve came to visit. Remember last week Briana and I went to Kobe to see him? We all went out to lunch at Cheesecake princess, which was delicious! We then headed for Gifu for a small matsuri. I think it was a hand-made crafts bizarre of sorts. There were some really cool products for sale! Like these old burnt pieces of wood that had been turned into planters for small shrubs, grass, and/or moss. Very cute! the whole reason for going to the festival, however, was for me to meet with a taiko team that was performing there, Gonna. About a month ago I posted in a taiko forum that I was looking for a team in the area and someone hooked me up with this guy Tatsuya who is the head player. They were amazing! Like no other team I had seen before, very unique. I'll possibly post a video later. But they really inspired me and I wanted to play REALLY badly. Afterwards I went to talk to them. unfortunately they don't do open practices, but Tatsuya promised to help me find another taiko team that does. So I'm one step closer to playing again! Yay!

After the matsuri we went back to my place to relax for a bit and beat the heat. Then it was back out for Korean for dinner (I'm a fool for chijimi) and then Miroku! Because in Briana and I's world, all roads lead to Miroku. It was a fun night! Except for when a middle aged Japanese man told me i'm a fool for not liking Tom and Jerry and that I'm a little fat, and all American's are really fat. The conversation ended right after that. I wasn't even talking to him, I was chatting with his nice friend before he even showed up! Ugh... The group of foreign guys showed up again last night as well, and it was fun getting caught up with them.

This morning Steve left. But not until after we grabbed some lunch and ice cream at the local mall. I then spent the rest of day doing absolutely nothing. I just realized about an hour ago that I desperately needed to go grocery shopping. Whoops... But I did write some letters to send home and studied a little Kanji. A really nice relaxing day, which is exactly what I need before going back to work. I'll just get groceries Wednesday morning, I don't start work till 1pm that day. Side note; I did the calculations and realized this weekend that I work a 48 hour week. Holy crap that's a lot! Tomorrow I wear a suit to work for the first time, so that's exciting. And its a 4 day week because Saturday is a holiday. Three day weekend baby! I'm headed to Kyoto!

まったね！
～寒

Kobe!

This weekend Briana and I headed off to Kobe to stay with my co-trainee Stephen, and meet up with some of the other trainees who live close by (Brittany, Cheryl, and Michelle). We took the local trains to get to Kobe, so it took about 2 and a half hours or so. But it was only three trains, fairly simple. We got to see the BEAUTIFUL Japanese countryside as we went from one major city to the next. We rode through Kyoto (which I'll be returning to in a couple weeks) and Osaka (which I would really like to visit some time). We made it to Kobe around 1pm and met up with all the others.

We went to this really random man-made river that runs under the Shinkansen (high speed bullet train) tracks. It was wonderfully cool, and beautifully clear and clean. So I changed into my bathing suit and we dived right in! Well... Briana and I were celebrating the night before (at Miroku, of course) because she renewed her contract for another year! I'm so happy that she is going to stay! Anyways, Briana was hung-over, so no swimming for her. She sat and chatted with the dozen other random people who we were all connected with. It was a gathering of Amity NETs and JTs from the area.

ANYWAYS, I went swimming. We waded through the water until we got to this deep pool with a rock face surrounding 3/4 of it, and a waterfall on 1/2 of what remained. Of course we climbed and jumped a bunch of times. Then we just sat in the water and got to know one another. After while we went back, but when I realized that our plans for that evening were still several hours away, Michelle, her fiance, and I went back. This time we decided to climb the waterfall and see what else there was. Well it was a long trek, barefoot, through a river with rough rocks and pebbles at the bottom. But we came to another deep pool after not too long. We were content to just recover there, but there were other foreigners there who told us that if we went further we would come to another, bigger waterfall with a higher place to jump from. So of course we had to go! Climbing up for this one, was an ordeal. You had to press you back against one side of the wall, and your feet ont he other, and kind of shimmy up a few feet. We only jumped once off this one, and then we were BEAT. But it was gorgeous, and fun, and felt great! Well worth it. The journey back was even easier, since we had done it once before.

When I got back tot he picnic space I was beat. So I dried off and we talked a bit. Then Briana and I went with Steve to his place. We changed and what not, and then went back out to meet back up with everyone at a rooftop beer garden. All you can drink and all you can eat for $30! It was amaaaaaazing. The food was meh, but the company was good, and the beer was flowing, so a good time was had by all. After that place closed, we went to a bar called The Hub. Its a British styled pub. My table ordered this HUGE graduated cylinder full of beer that is almost as tall as I am! But really it was just like buying a pitcher. Perry-

Okay wait, quick side story about Perry.  One of my friends from LMU named Kaitrin, was the same year and major as me. We took Japanese class together and studied abroad in Japan together. Then I go to Kobe to an event organized by a guy named Perry. Who also went to LMU and is also friends with Kaitrin, and also studied abroad with her in Japan (she went twice). Holy crap, small world!!!!

So at the Hub, Perry pushed Briana and I to talk to some random Japanese guys at the bars. He was basically like, "Hey have you met my friends here?" and then disappeared! We talked to the guy for a bit. He bought two graduated cylinders full of margarita and gave one to us. And a Zima... randomly. He kept the other for himself. His friends came and joined us and we made small talk and took pictures together. The four of them are were firefighters, and thats pretty darn cool.

We didn't stick around for too long at the bar though, because we had to catch the last train back to Steve's place. We knocked out pretty quick since it had been such a long day. The next morning we grabbed breakfast at McDonalds, bought some Omiyage (souvineers. In an office setting its traditional that if you go somewhere on vacation, you bring back something edible to share with everyone) for the other teachers back home, and then grabbed our long train ride back to Ogaki. We almost had a little hiccup changing trains in Osaka... but we made it work, thank god!

I spent the rest of the day cleaning and generally doing nothing. Though I did go on a little night time bike ride. I really need to do more of that, or start running to keep in shape. I intend to as soon as it stops being so darn hot. Maybe at the end of the month?

Well, that's all from me for now!
まったね！
～寒

Pictures! Part 5

This is a little gem of a resteraunt hidden right behind Ogaki Castle. It's super high-end, yet super affordable. Best food in Ogaki, hands down.

Happy Birthday Taisei! Ryo and Yuta surprised him at midnight with a cake.

And then we all ate cake!

Me and Kanami (a co-worker) went to dinner and a movie. It was really fun!

The view from the top floor of my apartment. This city still takes my breath away. 

I miss mexican food sooooooooo much! So I made tacos! The shells were stale, but otherwise it was delicious.

A portrait by a different student. This one is decidedly more flattering, haha.

Grafitti... Japan does it better. And would you believe its just across the way from...

This shrine? This picture doesnt do it justice, but the place is pretty darn big. And active! There was a monk performing rites inside.

One of my most used classrooms at work. No tables for those P1-3 floor classes.

And here is a classroom with a table and whiteboad.

Ogaki Amity front desk.

Ogaki Amity lobby. 

This is the teacher's room. Six of us fit at that small table. Its pretty crowded and crazy, but we make it work.

And this is the closet where Briana and I keep most of our supplies. I still dont know what half of it is....

Here is a link to my school's website (in English) is you are interested!

～寒

Whoopsies...

It looks like i've gotten almost three weeks behind on this blog, and since I'm skipping town for a weekend trip I probably should get everything all caught up....

Though honestly, I don't have much to say. My life has finally settled into a routine. Work is going well, my weekends are all the same... Oh goodness, have I become boring already?!

Well lets start with weekends: I hung out with one of my Japanese co-workers outside of work for the first time. It was really fun, and its nice to expand my social circle. We went to a movie, and then met up with Briana later for dinner. I hope to do that more with her, and other JTs from work. They can show me more things this has to offer, and I get to practice my Japanese more.

On another occasion is was invasion of the foriegners at Miroku. I swear, there were eight of us, and maybe like... four Japanese customers. It was insane! All of us English teachers for various companies. Briana and I had met a few of them before, and made friends with the others. Craziest part? There were three black people. THREE!!! In a small bar in a small town int he middle of Japan. All three of us were really baffled. I might have also seen a pig with wings... We had a lot fun! Though a crazy old Japanese mad tried to have a conversation with us at one point that was very awkward.... He just kinda... sat down at our table outside and began muttering about how we are all the same. That's nice dude, your drunk, go home... haha. 

Inversely last time I was at Miroku with Briana, we were the ONLY ones there. It ended up being one of my  funnest (if not the funnest) time that I had hanging out there. We talked with the bartenders, watched movies, and listened to music. It was also all Japanese all the time (I translated for Briana the whole night) so I really got to stretch those muscles. 

Last weekend Briana and I went to Gifu for dinner. And then got trapped there! The trains stopped running, cops were wandering around.... I have no idea what was going on. I asked a cop and she said she had no clue when the trains would be running again. We waited around for about 15min before deciding to just take a taxi home. Ugh, talk about an expensive dinner. The next day we went to Nagoya and explored the city more. She took me to Osu to an outdoor shopping mall behind this big temple. (I know, right?) We had the BEST pizza that I've had in Japan that has a guy working there that looks exactly like Yuta (a Miroku bartender). After a little shopping we went to a burger place in Nagoya proper that is run by a friend of Briana's. Apparently this place is so popular and exclusive that they sell out of burgers. She told him ahead of time that we were coming so he saved us one. He handcrafts each and every one from scratch, and I'm pretty sure that it was the best burger that I've had... like ever. 

So now for work stuff: Remember the class that I have that had two of my cousins in it? Well one of them has quit... sad. That class is still one of my favorites, they are still a lot of fun. And I think they  like me? Its hard to tell with teenagers... My slightly older teenager class has warmed up to me as well. I can laugh and joke with them a bit now. I still don't quite get them though.... They complain that something is too (insultingly) easy one moment, and then really struggle with something that I think will be easy for them the next... Ugh, i guess I just have to keep at it. 

I have two new students!!!! One has quickly taken the place of my favorite student of all. I'll get to why in a bit... the other is a cute shy kid, who was placed in a class with one of my crazier students. Its a mommy and me class, so I think they will actually help each other out. Well... here's to hoping, at least.

So about this other class... Its a P1 class like the other (meaning they are 4-5 years old) but its not a mommy and me. Including the new one (my favorite) there are four children. We'll call them H, I, R, and S. R is the average student. He can learn the target language, and knows the amity structure. He can repeat and knows what comes next, etc. etc. but he is a little kid, so he is easily distracted (especially by I), and gets antsy fast. H is a bit of a handful, she used to cry and refuse to come into the class. Now she comes in, but refuses to participate. She plays in a corner, or runs around with I, and gets into my props basket. Most of the time she is harmless, and sticks to herself, but I is a bad influence on her. I is a bully. He refuses to listen to anything I have to say. He screams and runs around me in circles. He pushes, punches, and kicks the other students when he thinks they are paying too much attention to me (or just when he feels like it). He takes my props (either out of my basket, or out of my hand while i'm trying to use them) and crumples them up/breaks them/throws them. He will also take the other student's backpacks and throw them into the middle of the classroom then proceed to jump and stomp on them. This child is out of control! I try picking him up (when he is running around me in circles) and holding him by my side, but he just wiggles until I drop him. When he messes with things that aren't his, or people, I grab his hands, look him dead in they eye, and tell him to stop. But he only stops for about 30sec, then he is right back to it. A couple weeks ago I had to call Manager into the classroom to try and handle I and H. They calmed down for her, but as soon as Manager left, it was chaos again. That class is the longest 40min of my life... 1st thing every Friday... But S, S is my knight in shining honor. I love this kid. He is super smart, super cute, super fun, and best thing? He stands up to I! S's first day in class, I tried to pull his usual with S and S was NOT having it. He even tells him to stop in English! Honestly, that class is mostly spent teaching S and R (when he isn't distracted by I's antics). And I am okay with that, cuz those two are cute, and manageable. Luckily after a particularly horrid class (that left me almost in tears) Manager decided it would be best to move I to another class. Specifically to one taught by Briana. Sorry Briana, but I am NOT sad to see him go!

On a more positive note, I had an amazingly heart wrenching feel good moment last week at work. You know how in a room full of mothers a child can call out "Mom!" and only one woman will answer? Well I'm sitting in a room full of teachers and a student came to the door and called, "Sensei!" (Japanese for teacher) and my head immediately popped up and I answered. No one else even twitched. When I realized what had just happened, I was grinning like a fool for the rest of the day, haha. 

In other news, I am supposed to be meeting up with a taiko group weekend after this to talk about practicing with them. That's super exciting! Next weekend Briana and I are taking a weekend trip to Kobe to visit a co-trainee of mine and see the ocean! The last weekend of the month we have a three day weekend, so Briana and I are headed for Kyoto and plan to hang out with Ayumi while we are there. September will be a fun month! 

Unfortunately for the last week and a half I have had a terrible chest cold. I'm constantly coughing, and there is all kinds of phlem.... gross. Some of my students are even like, "ummmm, sensei, are you okay?" in class. how embarrassing. And i'm sure I caught it from one of my students. KIDS. ARE. DISGUSTING. I'm gonna turn into a compulsive hand-washer/sanitizer just to avoid being sick once a month. I'm starting to feel better now though, so I'm pretty sure I'll be good to go for my weekend trip.

Well that's all for now! And to think, I didn't think I had much to say... haha

Later!

～寒 <-- that says Sam, btw