Ah, too cute. Jeff just got a text from our elderly friend Makiko Yamamoto. He had messaged her to say he was unable to come to dinner on the 9th, but that I was still coming. She replied with this message:
Jeff I am regrettable :( Welcome Charly I am waiting for you :) MAKIKO YAMAMOTO.
The Yamamoto's run the English club held in the local town Yuki, that we attend every second Tuesday night. A few week's back, Mikiko dropped in to let us know that she is visiting NZ for a month to attend a language school for two weeks, then stay at my parents for two weeks (she had the dates for me to run by Mum). We were excited about her trip, so she showed us the brochure. We saw it was on the Coromandel and assured her it was a beautiful area, then we noticed with surprise Chris Lawry's (friend who has lived with both Jeff and I. Poor guy, lol) parents in the picture. Of course, it was their new language school! We were laughing with surprise and explained we were very close friends with their son. Such close friends that we would be home for his wedding in October 2012. Then we looked at the dates Mikiko was intending to attend. Yup... October 2012! So we will be in NZ, on the Coromandel, at the same time as our Japanese friend, while she attends language school run by our friends parents! How random! What a small-world moment!!
Ok, class time now so I better skedaddle (yup, Jeff, I did that just to irk you. I managed to put 'skedaddle' into my blog!).
Cheers,
Charly
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Back to it
Not much to say here... Work has started up again - there are FIVE working days this week!
In order to break up the week a bit, we are going bowling with friends tomorrow night. We keep talking about doing things with friends, now that I have an apartment in the city (don't think Tokyo style city :S ), but it's time to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. Starting with going bowling with Gabby and Danny and their toddler.
Actually, their kid is such a crazy situation. Mia/Mya/Mea (take your pic, cos I don't know!) was little more than a baby when they came here last year and is now 2 (or 3?). Her parents are from Montreal, so speak French at home and English when out with friends, but she hadn't started speaking yet when they came to Japan. She has been attending kindy with Japanese children, so now speaks. In Japanese. Which Gabby and Danny don't understand. They originally thought she was speaking babytalk until a Japanese neighbour held a conversation with her and reported back what they had talked about. It's pretty sad for the parents, but great for the child if she can keep up with the Japanese when she returns home.
Now I'm going to pack my bags and head home. I officially finish at 4:05pm but I invariably leave a little later. Somehow I am always ready to leave at cleaning time (4:20ish), so that I look like the lazyarse going home while everyone else cleans (hence my updating now :D ). Not that the Japanese kids version of 'cleaning' seems to involve much more than chatting to friends and hoping the teacher 'supervising' will do their cleaning for them! I know I should get more involved in school life and help out, but it's just another thing on my Should Do list (others on the list include try Kendo, start exercising, finish decorating my classroom, join the tennis club and do some Japanese study...). It's a fairly long list and I'm going to need a motivated day to get on top of it.
Hope you are all doing well and you enjoy the more socially acceptable blog length today!
In order to break up the week a bit, we are going bowling with friends tomorrow night. We keep talking about doing things with friends, now that I have an apartment in the city (don't think Tokyo style city :S ), but it's time to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. Starting with going bowling with Gabby and Danny and their toddler.
Actually, their kid is such a crazy situation. Mia/Mya/Mea (take your pic, cos I don't know!) was little more than a baby when they came here last year and is now 2 (or 3?). Her parents are from Montreal, so speak French at home and English when out with friends, but she hadn't started speaking yet when they came to Japan. She has been attending kindy with Japanese children, so now speaks. In Japanese. Which Gabby and Danny don't understand. They originally thought she was speaking babytalk until a Japanese neighbour held a conversation with her and reported back what they had talked about. It's pretty sad for the parents, but great for the child if she can keep up with the Japanese when she returns home.
Now I'm going to pack my bags and head home. I officially finish at 4:05pm but I invariably leave a little later. Somehow I am always ready to leave at cleaning time (4:20ish), so that I look like the lazyarse going home while everyone else cleans (hence my updating now :D ). Not that the Japanese kids version of 'cleaning' seems to involve much more than chatting to friends and hoping the teacher 'supervising' will do their cleaning for them! I know I should get more involved in school life and help out, but it's just another thing on my Should Do list (others on the list include try Kendo, start exercising, finish decorating my classroom, join the tennis club and do some Japanese study...). It's a fairly long list and I'm going to need a motivated day to get on top of it.
Hope you are all doing well and you enjoy the more socially acceptable blog length today!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Osaka weekend
It may have come to your attention that I have not posted anything in the last week - apologies. Here in Japan it is what's known as Silver week - two three day weekends in a row, meaning a working week of only three days :)
Currently it's Saturday on the second of these long weekends. Last weekend we headed up to Osaka on the shinkansen. It's funny, we always assume there will be plenty to do in cities. Then we remember that a) their shops usually sell things we can't fit/don't use, b) we don't understand the signs on any tourist attractions/places we bump into and c) there is only a finite amount we can eat. Well, that Jeff can eat :D
However, we tested the limits of how much you can eat (apparently it's the done thing in Osaka!), trying butaman (steamed pork buns), Osaka-style okinomiyaki (cabbage pancake), takoyaki (octopus balls), omi rice (omelette with rice), pumpkin flavoured icecream, 'Freshness Burger', frozen yoghurt from Partyland yoghurt store and, er, Subway.
Our hotel turned out to be a worry from start to finish. I had booked online, but when we got there they had no record of my booking. I wanted to jump online and print off my booking info so I could show them, because I was concerned about double booking and they had my credit card details. However, the computer in the lobby wasn't working and we hadn't brought our own with us this time. Throughout this, the minimal English spoken by the staff made things more difficult (usually in big cities hotel staff speak English, we have found). After a lot of hassle they finally got us booked into a room and took our luggage.
When we returned that evening to actually check in, we went up to our room and were hit with the stench of old cigarette smoke. We went back downstairs and insisted on a NON smoking room! Although the room was even smaller than the smoking room, which in turn was smaller than any previous Japanese hotel room we have stayed in, we settled in for the weekend.
That evening, tired from the day's travel and walking in the heat, we got our takoyaki and took it back to our room. We figured we could watch a movie on the entertainment channel while we ate dinner and relaxed in our 'huge' bed. You may see where this is going but... our 1000 yen card for the entertainment channel allowed us access to three porn channels and one fuzzy music channel featuring J-pop. Awesome. So... the front desk got ANOTHER visit from the annoyed foreigner, demanding money back for the crappy pay TV card!
The next morning we headed out to the Osaka aquarium, excited about seeing the resident whale shark. Ah, foolish foolish tourists. Midday on a long weekend in Silver week? What were we thinking?? We spent what seemed like days (but was probably the best part of an hour) queuing up outside in the hot sun (we are talking well over 30 degrees here) before we even got in the door. Inside was only better because there was shade - we were still crushed on all sides by children, parents, grandparents and strollers. Jeff was still getting cranky with people pushing him and I was still moaning about the sweat trickling down the back of my legs.
BUT the good news is that by the time we reached the whale shark in all his awesomeness, the crowd had thinned out some and we had plenty of quality viewing time. Also, less publicised but equally exciting, was the huge manta ray also gliding around the tank. They were both truly amazing.
While we were watching them, a diver came into the ray tank to handfeed some of the smaller fish, sharks and rays in there. Although the manta ray didn't seem interested, there were two huge stingrays that were very, very interested in him (or her?). They both had a diameter the length of the diver and he spent his whole time pushing them away, trying not to be a stingray sandwich. With the limited visibility provided by goggles, he wouldn't realise where they were until a flipper kicked the ray beneath him and the tip of a wing caressed his face from above. The way he pushed them off was like a teacher scolding well-meaning but boisterous children. You could almost see him clucking his tongue.
Other exciting moments at the aquarium were seeing sea otters (huge!), dolphins (bit sad in their small pool) amd, our personal favourite, watching huge deep sea crabs fighting. Jeff alerted me to it by telling me to 'go and watch War of the Worlds over there'.
So we learnt two important lessons. Moral one: don't go to big tourist attractions on national holidays. Moral two: but if you go to Osaka, you must visit the aqaurium. Even if it is a national holiday.
Now it's lunchtime and time for us to prepare our supplies for watching the game. Yup, I am actually going to watch a rugby game of my own free will. Well, I think I will watch it. I intend to watch it. Maybe I will read a magazine while I watch it... we will see. But being overseas while all the World Cup hysteria goes on has made us rather homesick, so we have beer and chips and WILL watch the game!
Hope you are all doing well and - for the people back home - enjoying the rugby madness!!
Currently it's Saturday on the second of these long weekends. Last weekend we headed up to Osaka on the shinkansen. It's funny, we always assume there will be plenty to do in cities. Then we remember that a) their shops usually sell things we can't fit/don't use, b) we don't understand the signs on any tourist attractions/places we bump into and c) there is only a finite amount we can eat. Well, that Jeff can eat :D
However, we tested the limits of how much you can eat (apparently it's the done thing in Osaka!), trying butaman (steamed pork buns), Osaka-style okinomiyaki (cabbage pancake), takoyaki (octopus balls), omi rice (omelette with rice), pumpkin flavoured icecream, 'Freshness Burger', frozen yoghurt from Partyland yoghurt store and, er, Subway.
Our hotel turned out to be a worry from start to finish. I had booked online, but when we got there they had no record of my booking. I wanted to jump online and print off my booking info so I could show them, because I was concerned about double booking and they had my credit card details. However, the computer in the lobby wasn't working and we hadn't brought our own with us this time. Throughout this, the minimal English spoken by the staff made things more difficult (usually in big cities hotel staff speak English, we have found). After a lot of hassle they finally got us booked into a room and took our luggage.
When we returned that evening to actually check in, we went up to our room and were hit with the stench of old cigarette smoke. We went back downstairs and insisted on a NON smoking room! Although the room was even smaller than the smoking room, which in turn was smaller than any previous Japanese hotel room we have stayed in, we settled in for the weekend.
That evening, tired from the day's travel and walking in the heat, we got our takoyaki and took it back to our room. We figured we could watch a movie on the entertainment channel while we ate dinner and relaxed in our 'huge' bed. You may see where this is going but... our 1000 yen card for the entertainment channel allowed us access to three porn channels and one fuzzy music channel featuring J-pop. Awesome. So... the front desk got ANOTHER visit from the annoyed foreigner, demanding money back for the crappy pay TV card!
The next morning we headed out to the Osaka aquarium, excited about seeing the resident whale shark. Ah, foolish foolish tourists. Midday on a long weekend in Silver week? What were we thinking?? We spent what seemed like days (but was probably the best part of an hour) queuing up outside in the hot sun (we are talking well over 30 degrees here) before we even got in the door. Inside was only better because there was shade - we were still crushed on all sides by children, parents, grandparents and strollers. Jeff was still getting cranky with people pushing him and I was still moaning about the sweat trickling down the back of my legs.
BUT the good news is that by the time we reached the whale shark in all his awesomeness, the crowd had thinned out some and we had plenty of quality viewing time. Also, less publicised but equally exciting, was the huge manta ray also gliding around the tank. They were both truly amazing.
While we were watching them, a diver came into the ray tank to handfeed some of the smaller fish, sharks and rays in there. Although the manta ray didn't seem interested, there were two huge stingrays that were very, very interested in him (or her?). They both had a diameter the length of the diver and he spent his whole time pushing them away, trying not to be a stingray sandwich. With the limited visibility provided by goggles, he wouldn't realise where they were until a flipper kicked the ray beneath him and the tip of a wing caressed his face from above. The way he pushed them off was like a teacher scolding well-meaning but boisterous children. You could almost see him clucking his tongue.
Other exciting moments at the aquarium were seeing sea otters (huge!), dolphins (bit sad in their small pool) amd, our personal favourite, watching huge deep sea crabs fighting. Jeff alerted me to it by telling me to 'go and watch War of the Worlds over there'.
So we learnt two important lessons. Moral one: don't go to big tourist attractions on national holidays. Moral two: but if you go to Osaka, you must visit the aqaurium. Even if it is a national holiday.
Now it's lunchtime and time for us to prepare our supplies for watching the game. Yup, I am actually going to watch a rugby game of my own free will. Well, I think I will watch it. I intend to watch it. Maybe I will read a magazine while I watch it... we will see. But being overseas while all the World Cup hysteria goes on has made us rather homesick, so we have beer and chips and WILL watch the game!
Hope you are all doing well and - for the people back home - enjoying the rugby madness!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
My sister is a God. Bow down.
I feel the need to share a link here. Why? Because my sister is freaking amazing. I'm thinking about starting a Laura Draper Appreciation Group on facebook. If you don't already agree, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekD6E5lKVYE
Man I wish I was as cool as my little sister!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekD6E5lKVYE
Man I wish I was as cool as my little sister!!!!!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Badass teacher??
Hey there,
I'm feeling a bit quiet on it today. Yesterday was sports day. And it was at least 33 degrees :S I feel like a wuss because I wasn't even doing sports (and by sports I mean tug of war, dancing and obscure games with fighting over sticks or caps). I spent most of the day hiding under a shady tent, with a cap and sunglasses. I only emerged to join in the folk dancing a couple of times. So I feel bad making the students study, knowing I'm only getting by because I've taken painkillers for my headache!
Anyway, I am a teacher here, ergo I require the students to study. Which generally they do, when they're not asleep. But today I had a class where two girls were continually chatting instead of doing their worksheets. Every time I came past I told them to stop talking and do the worksheet, but they only had the answers I had helped them with, while a number of students were finished and waiting. Yet, even as I tried to tell them to work, one of the girls kept trying to point out something about me to her friend - probably my not-in-the-lobe earring that they seem to love. All I caught was 'kawaii' (cute). Although I'm sure she had the best intentions, it was very irritating to have the students focusing on my physical attributes and/or jewellery when I needed them to catch up to the rest of the class! I was very clearly annoyed at her doing it, but she didn't seem to get it. She didn't seem the brightest bunny in the box. About the third time I came past them with empty sheets, I lost patience and moved them to seperate seats at the back of the room. As I write it, imagining it back home, it seems like nothing, a very standard teacher response to dealing with chatty students (I should know all about it!! I still feel bad for Mr Beach!). However here they have a very different teacher-student relationship.
Afterwards the teacher wanted to know why I had moved them and I felt a need to make my case as to why I felt it was necessary. Perhaps it was less how he asked and more about me, because I have already had my supervisor (grumpy as hell to adults, but can't - or won't - discipline his students) ask me to discipline students 'gently'. I don't really care what my supervisor thinks of my teaching, but I don't want it going around the office that I'm innappropriately rough on the students. So now I feel odd. But when the only discipline I've done all week is move two students seats, that's pretty good, really. I'm so torn... I'm not the kind of person to let the students run over me, but I also know I make my life much harder if I scare them too much. I figure, though, that 16 yr olds probably learn pretty fast - I doubt I will have to move those girls again for a while, now they know I will do something about it if they don't knuckle down.
Bah, it's so hard adjusting from NZ classroom behaviour expectations to Japanese ones!
Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
Hope you're all doing well :D
Charly
I'm feeling a bit quiet on it today. Yesterday was sports day. And it was at least 33 degrees :S I feel like a wuss because I wasn't even doing sports (and by sports I mean tug of war, dancing and obscure games with fighting over sticks or caps). I spent most of the day hiding under a shady tent, with a cap and sunglasses. I only emerged to join in the folk dancing a couple of times. So I feel bad making the students study, knowing I'm only getting by because I've taken painkillers for my headache!
Anyway, I am a teacher here, ergo I require the students to study. Which generally they do, when they're not asleep. But today I had a class where two girls were continually chatting instead of doing their worksheets. Every time I came past I told them to stop talking and do the worksheet, but they only had the answers I had helped them with, while a number of students were finished and waiting. Yet, even as I tried to tell them to work, one of the girls kept trying to point out something about me to her friend - probably my not-in-the-lobe earring that they seem to love. All I caught was 'kawaii' (cute). Although I'm sure she had the best intentions, it was very irritating to have the students focusing on my physical attributes and/or jewellery when I needed them to catch up to the rest of the class! I was very clearly annoyed at her doing it, but she didn't seem to get it. She didn't seem the brightest bunny in the box. About the third time I came past them with empty sheets, I lost patience and moved them to seperate seats at the back of the room. As I write it, imagining it back home, it seems like nothing, a very standard teacher response to dealing with chatty students (I should know all about it!! I still feel bad for Mr Beach!). However here they have a very different teacher-student relationship.
Afterwards the teacher wanted to know why I had moved them and I felt a need to make my case as to why I felt it was necessary. Perhaps it was less how he asked and more about me, because I have already had my supervisor (grumpy as hell to adults, but can't - or won't - discipline his students) ask me to discipline students 'gently'. I don't really care what my supervisor thinks of my teaching, but I don't want it going around the office that I'm innappropriately rough on the students. So now I feel odd. But when the only discipline I've done all week is move two students seats, that's pretty good, really. I'm so torn... I'm not the kind of person to let the students run over me, but I also know I make my life much harder if I scare them too much. I figure, though, that 16 yr olds probably learn pretty fast - I doubt I will have to move those girls again for a while, now they know I will do something about it if they don't knuckle down.
Bah, it's so hard adjusting from NZ classroom behaviour expectations to Japanese ones!
Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
Hope you're all doing well :D
Charly
Monday, September 12, 2011
A day of highs and lows...
Hey there,
Second post in a day! Guess that's what a desk job does to you! Actually I'm now at home fighting to keep my eyelids open, but I feel the desire to tell about my slightly crazy day.
The morning way pretty normal - staff meeting, two classes, some photocopying, etc. Other than the fact in the second class we spent the latter portion with the students teaching me a folk dance (named the Oklahoma mixup or something similarly traditional Japanese...).
After lunch the same teacher had organised for one of the PE teachers to also run me through the dance (I was under strict instructions to say the students taught me at LUNCHTIME, not during class!). That was a nice thought, but I fear the English teacher forgot the overwhelming seriousness of people who have sport as a way of life. Not only was I put through my paces on not just one but two different dances, but poor Wasada-sensei was too! She had only meant to take me down to the weights room to introduce me to the teacher, but she got roped into helping as my alternate partner, until finally the PE teacher decided I had the hang of the steps, so she focused on making sure Wasada-sensei got it too! We were both super sweaty and giggling by the time the PE teacher decided we were up to scratch and our dance lesson ended.
At the end of the lesson, as we passed through the PE teachers office, I finally gave myself the mental kick up the bum I've needed for a long time and asked about trying Kendo. The other teacher - a fresh-faced guy who turned 23 today - was one of the Kendo teachers, so he invited me to come along at 4pm to watch the students training.
That all sounded like fun and I was very excited, but just before 4pm I discovered the sapphire had come out of my engagement ring. I discovered this about ten minutes after the students had finished cleaning the school. I paled to think of my sapphire (ok, I'll put it out there, it's worth over a grand) in the bottom of a vaccuum cleaner or thrown into a bin by some student who made the safe assumption it was plastic. I remembered knocking my ring on the fan in Jinseki yesterday, but couldn't recall actually looking at the stone all day, so I had no idea when it would have come out. This meant it could have been in Jinseki, in my car, on any one of the four levels at school or down the drain from washing my hands. My response was the only suitable one - panic. Unfortunately, in one of those horrible bad timing situations, I found my stone was missing seconds before I was due to have my picture taken for the school magazine, so in my permenant school photo I will be looking like a startled rabbit, trying not to cry!
So I then spent a good while going up and down stairs, crawling round my classroom on my hands and knees and sticking my finger down the bathroom sink when I thought the students weren't looking (there was gunk. Gross, but it was plausible it could have caught my ring).
Finally, almost half an hour after I had promised to be at Kendo, I dragged the Kendo teacher out of practise to make him unlock the weights room for me, where we had been dancing. The Kendo teacher and I both did a couple of circles of the room looking for it and I had actually shrugged and said it wasn't here, we might as well lock up again, when I saw a small blue thing glinting in the centre of the wooden floor. Turns out the problem with circling the room is you don't check the middle! I was so happy to have it back I very almost hugged the teacher. Only, as I didn't even know his name yet and we had only met that afternoon, I didn't think it was the best way to make him feel comfortable round his new student. Instead I was so happy that - after a quick phone call to tell Jeff it was ok, it was FOUND - I went and spent almost two hours watching and talking to the Kendo students.
Now my Wednesday is truely a cultural experience. I will have Sports Festival, where I will be performing two American-style folk dances with hundreds of Japanese students, followed by my first Kendo lesson, where I can safely assume I will be hit over the head repeatedly with a bamboo sword (turns out that's what Kendo is!).
Next step is to also try Japanese archery (kyudo, I think it's called. Done with bows significantly taller than the students - a truly elegant sport) and tennis. Yes, you heard me, tennis. My theory is that if I'm making an ass of myself with my lack of Japanese and my lack of ability in traditional Japanese sports, I'm unlikely to make myself look any worse trying a sport we have at home. This could be my chance to stop being quite such a sporting retard... Of course, these are big words. Jeff keeps laughing at me for being so 'first year', with my excess of enthusiasm and plans to get involved in everything. So I'm not swearing on my hamster's life or anything, just telling y'all of my intentions...
Cheers,
Charly
Second post in a day! Guess that's what a desk job does to you! Actually I'm now at home fighting to keep my eyelids open, but I feel the desire to tell about my slightly crazy day.
The morning way pretty normal - staff meeting, two classes, some photocopying, etc. Other than the fact in the second class we spent the latter portion with the students teaching me a folk dance (named the Oklahoma mixup or something similarly traditional Japanese...).
After lunch the same teacher had organised for one of the PE teachers to also run me through the dance (I was under strict instructions to say the students taught me at LUNCHTIME, not during class!). That was a nice thought, but I fear the English teacher forgot the overwhelming seriousness of people who have sport as a way of life. Not only was I put through my paces on not just one but two different dances, but poor Wasada-sensei was too! She had only meant to take me down to the weights room to introduce me to the teacher, but she got roped into helping as my alternate partner, until finally the PE teacher decided I had the hang of the steps, so she focused on making sure Wasada-sensei got it too! We were both super sweaty and giggling by the time the PE teacher decided we were up to scratch and our dance lesson ended.
At the end of the lesson, as we passed through the PE teachers office, I finally gave myself the mental kick up the bum I've needed for a long time and asked about trying Kendo. The other teacher - a fresh-faced guy who turned 23 today - was one of the Kendo teachers, so he invited me to come along at 4pm to watch the students training.
That all sounded like fun and I was very excited, but just before 4pm I discovered the sapphire had come out of my engagement ring. I discovered this about ten minutes after the students had finished cleaning the school. I paled to think of my sapphire (ok, I'll put it out there, it's worth over a grand) in the bottom of a vaccuum cleaner or thrown into a bin by some student who made the safe assumption it was plastic. I remembered knocking my ring on the fan in Jinseki yesterday, but couldn't recall actually looking at the stone all day, so I had no idea when it would have come out. This meant it could have been in Jinseki, in my car, on any one of the four levels at school or down the drain from washing my hands. My response was the only suitable one - panic. Unfortunately, in one of those horrible bad timing situations, I found my stone was missing seconds before I was due to have my picture taken for the school magazine, so in my permenant school photo I will be looking like a startled rabbit, trying not to cry!
So I then spent a good while going up and down stairs, crawling round my classroom on my hands and knees and sticking my finger down the bathroom sink when I thought the students weren't looking (there was gunk. Gross, but it was plausible it could have caught my ring).
Finally, almost half an hour after I had promised to be at Kendo, I dragged the Kendo teacher out of practise to make him unlock the weights room for me, where we had been dancing. The Kendo teacher and I both did a couple of circles of the room looking for it and I had actually shrugged and said it wasn't here, we might as well lock up again, when I saw a small blue thing glinting in the centre of the wooden floor. Turns out the problem with circling the room is you don't check the middle! I was so happy to have it back I very almost hugged the teacher. Only, as I didn't even know his name yet and we had only met that afternoon, I didn't think it was the best way to make him feel comfortable round his new student. Instead I was so happy that - after a quick phone call to tell Jeff it was ok, it was FOUND - I went and spent almost two hours watching and talking to the Kendo students.
Now my Wednesday is truely a cultural experience. I will have Sports Festival, where I will be performing two American-style folk dances with hundreds of Japanese students, followed by my first Kendo lesson, where I can safely assume I will be hit over the head repeatedly with a bamboo sword (turns out that's what Kendo is!).
Next step is to also try Japanese archery (kyudo, I think it's called. Done with bows significantly taller than the students - a truly elegant sport) and tennis. Yes, you heard me, tennis. My theory is that if I'm making an ass of myself with my lack of Japanese and my lack of ability in traditional Japanese sports, I'm unlikely to make myself look any worse trying a sport we have at home. This could be my chance to stop being quite such a sporting retard... Of course, these are big words. Jeff keeps laughing at me for being so 'first year', with my excess of enthusiasm and plans to get involved in everything. So I'm not swearing on my hamster's life or anything, just telling y'all of my intentions...
Cheers,
Charly
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Osaka in five nights!
I realised in the weekend that we have two three-day weekends coming up and no plans, so I have booked Jeff and I a hotel in Osaka for Friday-Monday. We have no definate plans other than visiting the aquarium (zoos and aquariums are always top of our list!). As it's still very (very!) warm, we intend to spend most of the day in air-conditioning, eg. our hotels or shopping malls, only emerging outside once the sun goes down. Cities are good for this type of thing. We have only spent one night in Osaka before, so it's very exciting! Bar hopping and shops with English, here we come!! :D
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
New job resolutions
To continue with my new resolution to write more often, I thought I would do a quick update now. Not that a lot has happened in the last 24 hours, but little and often is probably preferable for all concerned :)
Last night Jeff and I went to the adult English class that we help out with in Yuki. It took the cake as the most awkward class yet and I was so grateful to have Jeff there too. Only four of the seven regulars turned up, one of which, Tokura-sensei, seemed to be off form. Granted, he is 80-something, but he didn't actually face in our direction all lesson. In my language course in Hiroshima a couple of weeks ago we did an exercise in calling on the telephone, which we practised by sitting back-to-back. I got the shock of my life when I realised how much of my 'understanding Japanese' is actually understanding body language! As such, I was really concerned by this old bloke not even looking our way all lesson. So... I believe Jeff and I were less than useful in that lesson, but at least we showed up to help. And Tokura-sensei gave us apples :) He always gives us something, but my favourite is when he gives us big, delicious apples off his apple tree.
In other news... I have finally submitted my new car contract (under my name, not Jeff's) to my school, so HOPEFULLY they will now officially allow me to drive to work. It has been an on-going saga because a) I work on Tuesdays at a different school, which the ALT traditionally takes the train to and b) I'm the first ALT in this position to have a car and a reason to drive (the other school is 40 minutes closer to Jinseki than my base school). Over the last month and a bit I have been continually asked to come down to the office to answer questions about my car and show relevant paperwork. This is a problem because even if I did understand the requests in Japanese, it's a hire car so I don't have any of the paperwork. Finally I convinced them to just call the hire company and that sorted most of the issues. Until they came back to me and said that I needed a new contract under my name. Originally it was under Jeff's name because it was through his work, he had the bank account and pay cheque and I was on a Dependent's visa. But now my school decided that despite the fact I've been covered for insurance for the last year driving that car, they can't possibly 'allow' me to drive it without it being under my name. I feel so bad for the lovely couple who run Jinseki Motors - they have had so many requests from my school for paperwork and information. I don't say this lightly, but they actually deserve some of the NZ chocolate Mum brought over. Yup, they are THAT lovely.
Actually, I got a fright when I went in yesterday afternoon. When we first hired the car, the wife was heavily pregnant and over the year I've 'conversed' a few times with her baby while he lay next to the cat on the couch. But yesterday when I went in, he was walking around the office, pulling the cat's whiskers and repeatedly falling out the door. He has a shock of dark hair that sticks straight up (if you haven't seen Japanese babies, their hair has to be seen to be believed!) and he was grinning at me as he used my trousers to support himself while he attempted to follow the cat. His Mum said he would be one next week. I know that time frame makes sense, but seeing how big and capable he is now really brought it home how long we have lived in Japan! When I told Jeff about it, he pointed out it will be the same for Jason and Shelley's wee one, when we next make it home (for Holly's wedding!). There's nothing like baby pictures to show how time is passing!
Now I better stop procrastinating and mark some more My Dream essays (*sigh*) or plan Friday's lesson. The weather here is finally starting to cool down - at 6am this morning I had to put on a sweatshirt for the first time in months! Hope you are also experiencing more pleasant weather. Japan has taught me to dislike weather extremes!
Cheers,
Charly
Last night Jeff and I went to the adult English class that we help out with in Yuki. It took the cake as the most awkward class yet and I was so grateful to have Jeff there too. Only four of the seven regulars turned up, one of which, Tokura-sensei, seemed to be off form. Granted, he is 80-something, but he didn't actually face in our direction all lesson. In my language course in Hiroshima a couple of weeks ago we did an exercise in calling on the telephone, which we practised by sitting back-to-back. I got the shock of my life when I realised how much of my 'understanding Japanese' is actually understanding body language! As such, I was really concerned by this old bloke not even looking our way all lesson. So... I believe Jeff and I were less than useful in that lesson, but at least we showed up to help. And Tokura-sensei gave us apples :) He always gives us something, but my favourite is when he gives us big, delicious apples off his apple tree.
In other news... I have finally submitted my new car contract (under my name, not Jeff's) to my school, so HOPEFULLY they will now officially allow me to drive to work. It has been an on-going saga because a) I work on Tuesdays at a different school, which the ALT traditionally takes the train to and b) I'm the first ALT in this position to have a car and a reason to drive (the other school is 40 minutes closer to Jinseki than my base school). Over the last month and a bit I have been continually asked to come down to the office to answer questions about my car and show relevant paperwork. This is a problem because even if I did understand the requests in Japanese, it's a hire car so I don't have any of the paperwork. Finally I convinced them to just call the hire company and that sorted most of the issues. Until they came back to me and said that I needed a new contract under my name. Originally it was under Jeff's name because it was through his work, he had the bank account and pay cheque and I was on a Dependent's visa. But now my school decided that despite the fact I've been covered for insurance for the last year driving that car, they can't possibly 'allow' me to drive it without it being under my name. I feel so bad for the lovely couple who run Jinseki Motors - they have had so many requests from my school for paperwork and information. I don't say this lightly, but they actually deserve some of the NZ chocolate Mum brought over. Yup, they are THAT lovely.
Actually, I got a fright when I went in yesterday afternoon. When we first hired the car, the wife was heavily pregnant and over the year I've 'conversed' a few times with her baby while he lay next to the cat on the couch. But yesterday when I went in, he was walking around the office, pulling the cat's whiskers and repeatedly falling out the door. He has a shock of dark hair that sticks straight up (if you haven't seen Japanese babies, their hair has to be seen to be believed!) and he was grinning at me as he used my trousers to support himself while he attempted to follow the cat. His Mum said he would be one next week. I know that time frame makes sense, but seeing how big and capable he is now really brought it home how long we have lived in Japan! When I told Jeff about it, he pointed out it will be the same for Jason and Shelley's wee one, when we next make it home (for Holly's wedding!). There's nothing like baby pictures to show how time is passing!
Now I better stop procrastinating and mark some more My Dream essays (*sigh*) or plan Friday's lesson. The weather here is finally starting to cool down - at 6am this morning I had to put on a sweatshirt for the first time in months! Hope you are also experiencing more pleasant weather. Japan has taught me to dislike weather extremes!
Cheers,
Charly
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Sorry!!
Hey people,
Ok, no promises of greatness for this post! I know I've been shite at updating lately, but the last couple of months have been crazy.
After our Fuji climb we had my parents arrive. They lived with me in my Kurashiki apartment for a bit until Jeff and I went up to Sapporo, Hokkaido, for a week of holiday (it was awesome. Beer, beer and more beer!). In August I spent the first week in Tokyo training, the next week we both had training in Hiroshima and the third week Mum left and I had a lanaguage camp in Saijo (look out for my youtube debut as the Japanese-speaking nurse!). The following week my classes started and I have been busy trying to get my head round the new workplace, signing paperwork for god-knows-what and driving back and forth between the new Fukuyama apartment and our big place in Jinseki.
Things are starting to settle down finally, as I'm into the third week of school. I spent Sunday night marking 64 'My Dream' essays, which included one which was a page explaining how the student wanted to be a sports sweat shirt. I don't think he was taking the piss, so I have no idea what he actually wanted to be...
Anyway, for the future, this is a list of things I should give you more details of when I find the time:
* Climbing Fuji
* Our Sapporo holiday
* Was going to say our training in Hiroshima. But suffice it to say that we met, we trained and we got horrifically drunk. If you're not sure what kind of party scene to imagine here, let's just say that there was a DANCE FLOOR. The first one I have seen in Japan. So things may have got a little crazy. At least we weren't like one new JET, who woke up at 3am under the bar with two broken ribs and no recollection of how it happened. We were not that crazy. But Jeff was drunk enough to dance and I was drunk enough to ask Jeff why our (Japanese-speaking) friend was talking about eating first year students. Turns out she was talking about teaching first year students about food. Hey, I was half right.
That's not a super long list, so I'm hoping I will get around to giving you a more comprehensive rundown of those two. I keep encouraging Jeff to write something on here, but he is resistant. Although he may not have my self-indulgent turn of phrase, he has a much more accurate memory than me and doesn't change smaller details to make the story run smoother ;) I blame my travel writing paper at Massey, which clearly taught us to sacrifice details for the good of the story!!
Apologies that this is neither thorough nor informative, but hopefully it will be something to tide y'all over until I get back into this!!
Charly
Ok, no promises of greatness for this post! I know I've been shite at updating lately, but the last couple of months have been crazy.
After our Fuji climb we had my parents arrive. They lived with me in my Kurashiki apartment for a bit until Jeff and I went up to Sapporo, Hokkaido, for a week of holiday (it was awesome. Beer, beer and more beer!). In August I spent the first week in Tokyo training, the next week we both had training in Hiroshima and the third week Mum left and I had a lanaguage camp in Saijo (look out for my youtube debut as the Japanese-speaking nurse!). The following week my classes started and I have been busy trying to get my head round the new workplace, signing paperwork for god-knows-what and driving back and forth between the new Fukuyama apartment and our big place in Jinseki.
Things are starting to settle down finally, as I'm into the third week of school. I spent Sunday night marking 64 'My Dream' essays, which included one which was a page explaining how the student wanted to be a sports sweat shirt. I don't think he was taking the piss, so I have no idea what he actually wanted to be...
Anyway, for the future, this is a list of things I should give you more details of when I find the time:
* Climbing Fuji
* Our Sapporo holiday
* Was going to say our training in Hiroshima. But suffice it to say that we met, we trained and we got horrifically drunk. If you're not sure what kind of party scene to imagine here, let's just say that there was a DANCE FLOOR. The first one I have seen in Japan. So things may have got a little crazy. At least we weren't like one new JET, who woke up at 3am under the bar with two broken ribs and no recollection of how it happened. We were not that crazy. But Jeff was drunk enough to dance and I was drunk enough to ask Jeff why our (Japanese-speaking) friend was talking about eating first year students. Turns out she was talking about teaching first year students about food. Hey, I was half right.
That's not a super long list, so I'm hoping I will get around to giving you a more comprehensive rundown of those two. I keep encouraging Jeff to write something on here, but he is resistant. Although he may not have my self-indulgent turn of phrase, he has a much more accurate memory than me and doesn't change smaller details to make the story run smoother ;) I blame my travel writing paper at Massey, which clearly taught us to sacrifice details for the good of the story!!
Apologies that this is neither thorough nor informative, but hopefully it will be something to tide y'all over until I get back into this!!
Charly
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Mt Fuji, here I come!
It is officially the countdown to Mt Fuji! On Saturday morning we will catch a train into Fukuyama city, where we will be picked up by our bus. We will spend all day on the bus (bar food stops), heading up to Mt. Fuji. We will start our climb at 8pm, climbing through the night. It is supposed to take 5-6 hrs, so we will have time to rest up there before watching the sunrise and doing an easy 3 hrs down. We will then be taken to an onsen to rest and recuperate in the warm water, before having the onsen serve us breakfast and packing us back on the bus for the homeward journey! Personally I intend to spend a good portion of the weekend sleeping!
To prep myself for the weekend I did a strength-training workout on Monday night, focusing on the squats (building up those mountain-climbing thighs!!) and today I did another beach run.
I'm quite pleased with my beach runs, as I know they are great exercise, much better for my joints than road running, and I get my dose of vitamin D for the day. I have been toying with the idea of running in my bikini, to get a little bit of a tan (I've given up on 'pale is beautiful'. I don't care what the Japanese think, I just look sick!). But I get enough stares in my tshirt and shorts, so I'm not sure I'm brave enough. Today was a case in point... I'm jogging along the water's edge in my shorts, tshirt and cap with the ipod going, when I see a couple of guys with jet skis up ahead. They are staring at me as I approach. I flatter myself it's because I'm the most beautiful (read only!) blonde they've ever seen, but I know from experience it's either because a) I'm a female running or b) because my face is tomato-coloured. Anyway, I'm jogging along trying to look cool and trying to look at their jet skis sideways out of my glasses, so they can't see I'm looking, when my sneaker catches on a big chunk of seaweed and I stumble forwards, almost landing on my knees in front of the guys. Luckily I catch myself before I hit the sand and stumble on, trying to pretend nothing happened. Awesome. I'm so damn cool I amaze myself. Maybe I should leave the bikini running to the more coordinated!
Other than that, tonight I'm having a battle to the death with mosquitos. I have several big welts on my legs and a smear of someone's blood on my foot from where I squashed a mozzie. I only hope the blood is mine! Maybe this is God telling me to have an early night - get into bed asap and turn my bug repellant mist on!
Eight sleeps until my Mummy gets here!! Yay! Also Beth has just posted me a big package of bits and bobs from home and next week we SHOULD find out where my placement for my new job is!
I hope you're all doing ok back in NZ. Life is great here because we turned on the air conditioning at work today. It was pretty cool in the classroom so I went to turn the air con up a little higher and saw it was set at 26 degrees! That certainly gives an indication how warm it is outside of the classroom... I decided to leave the air con for now, but I may turn it a little higher later on, because I don't think it's healthy for your body to adjust from really hot to fairly cool several times in the course of a day. Of course, noone has told Waikato Uni this - I assume you still have to take sweatshirts to summer lectures and have a light tshirt under your layers in winter!!
Ok, Jeff is calling now so I should finish this. Night everyone!
To prep myself for the weekend I did a strength-training workout on Monday night, focusing on the squats (building up those mountain-climbing thighs!!) and today I did another beach run.
I'm quite pleased with my beach runs, as I know they are great exercise, much better for my joints than road running, and I get my dose of vitamin D for the day. I have been toying with the idea of running in my bikini, to get a little bit of a tan (I've given up on 'pale is beautiful'. I don't care what the Japanese think, I just look sick!). But I get enough stares in my tshirt and shorts, so I'm not sure I'm brave enough. Today was a case in point... I'm jogging along the water's edge in my shorts, tshirt and cap with the ipod going, when I see a couple of guys with jet skis up ahead. They are staring at me as I approach. I flatter myself it's because I'm the most beautiful (read only!) blonde they've ever seen, but I know from experience it's either because a) I'm a female running or b) because my face is tomato-coloured. Anyway, I'm jogging along trying to look cool and trying to look at their jet skis sideways out of my glasses, so they can't see I'm looking, when my sneaker catches on a big chunk of seaweed and I stumble forwards, almost landing on my knees in front of the guys. Luckily I catch myself before I hit the sand and stumble on, trying to pretend nothing happened. Awesome. I'm so damn cool I amaze myself. Maybe I should leave the bikini running to the more coordinated!
Other than that, tonight I'm having a battle to the death with mosquitos. I have several big welts on my legs and a smear of someone's blood on my foot from where I squashed a mozzie. I only hope the blood is mine! Maybe this is God telling me to have an early night - get into bed asap and turn my bug repellant mist on!
Eight sleeps until my Mummy gets here!! Yay! Also Beth has just posted me a big package of bits and bobs from home and next week we SHOULD find out where my placement for my new job is!
I hope you're all doing ok back in NZ. Life is great here because we turned on the air conditioning at work today. It was pretty cool in the classroom so I went to turn the air con up a little higher and saw it was set at 26 degrees! That certainly gives an indication how warm it is outside of the classroom... I decided to leave the air con for now, but I may turn it a little higher later on, because I don't think it's healthy for your body to adjust from really hot to fairly cool several times in the course of a day. Of course, noone has told Waikato Uni this - I assume you still have to take sweatshirts to summer lectures and have a light tshirt under your layers in winter!!
Ok, Jeff is calling now so I should finish this. Night everyone!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Beached as
Hey there,
It has got so hot over here in the last couple of weeks, making that important (slightly painful) move from temperatures in the 20’s to in the low 30’s. I’ve been struggling with that, but this morning I found the PERFECT antidote.
First off, you should know that a) it’s horrible exercising in this heat, so I try to avoid it, and b) we are climbing Mt Fuji in less than two weeks, so I want to be fit for that. So this morning I pushed myself into going for a run on the beach. Usually I think about this and don’t do it, as although the beach is less than five minutes’ drive away, getting there involves walking from my flat to my car (a few hundred metres), opening the two gates (one locked, the other a hooked up chain) to get into the work carpark, driving my car out and closing the two gates behind me again. It always seems such a hassle that I talk myself out of driving anywhere and just end up going to the expensive supermarket that is within easy walking distance. But today I was determined to go for my beach run, so I made the effort of getting the car out and doing it. I was all prepared, with hat and sunscreen for my face, ipod to keep me entertained and bikini underneath so I was ready for the end of my run! I ran to the end of the beach (I’m telling myself it was a km but I could be totally overestimating it!), along the rock wall extending into the water and halfway back, just walking the last half a beach length. I was pleased I had that much stamina considering I haven’t run in months and I was on sand in over 30 degree heat! Finally, back near my car, I stripped off – aware I was the only adult going deeper than knees (with the notable exception of a bloke in his rash vest, bathing cap, flippers and some odd paddles on his hands, who still only seemed to go waist deep). I would like to say I plunged into the icy water, but it was more that I eased in to the cool shallows, anxiously avoiding all the floating seaweed. But submerging myself in that saltiness was divine. It was like being barefoot after a night in heels, like chocolate after a detox, like a home-cooked meal after six months of flatting…
Of course, all this is great news as the swim was such a blissful experience that it made it worth doing the run. I have hope this will help motivate me to fit in a few more runs, particularly over the next couple of weeks before climbing Mt. Fuji. I realise it sounds stupid, a last-ditch effort to get fit in two weeks, but I have been doing ok at my weights workouts at home, so it’s just a matter of trying to use these two weeks to focus on the muscles I will need most for the climb.
Now it’s getting late, so I should retire to bed (after a cold shower), in the hopes of getting to the beach a little earlier tomorrow. Early = cool. I dream of being cool. I fantasise about those winter snows. I never truly appreciated them – actually, that’s not true. The memory of last summer’s heat has stayed with me all year, meaning even in the coldest part of winter, I could easily quell my complaints with a mental reminder that at least it wasn’t summer.
Night,
Charly
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Shopping weekend
It’s a grey and rainy Monday, the start of another week here in Kurashiki. I’m sulking because I have a sore throat and a buzzing head, but I know Jeff has been dealing with constant headaches the last month, so I can’t complain and expect too much sympathy. As much as I’m enjoying my job down here, there is a lot to be said for having someone at home to look after you when you’re not feeling 100%.
Last night Mum booked her flights to Japan, so that’s really exciting! She will be here for slightly over a month. NZ passports can only stay for a month without a visa, but on her UK passport she can stay six months – nice. Although it sounds like Kate may possibly be the most excited person – I think she is really looking forward to having someone to discuss her time in Japan with.
This past weekend Jeff came down to visit me in Kurashiki. Friday night started brilliantly (for me, anyway), because when I got off work I found Jeff had prepared me a big dinner of fresh salad (vegies provided by a sharing neighbour) with tempura prawn and a piece of salmon cooked in foil with basil pesto. It was so great having someone cook dinner for me. Even better to come home from work to find someone has cooked dinner for me; there is something about finishing an eight hour day and NOT having to prepare your own food. As I pointed out to Jeff, this is almost the first time I’ve been able to come home from work to someone else’s cooking all year (with the exception of when Kate was visiting – a couple of times she finished teaching before I did and would prepare something for when I got in). Dessert was the famous Japanese ‘pudding’, another gift from our generous neighbours.
On Saturday we had a lazy morning then drove into the Tamashima train station. There we caught a train into Okayama. This was a revelation, as last time we went into Okayama we spent hours on wet roads, fighting hundreds of cars. The train was much faster and stress free – well, the trip in anyway. On the homeward journey we jumped on a train that turned out to turn inland two stops before ours. We then had to spend at least half an hour waiting at a tiny little train station in a tiny, mist-covered mountain town, waiting for a train back in to Kurashiki. Back in Kurashiki we were able to change to a train that got us back to Tamashima no more than, oh, an hour and a half after we should have been there!
Other than this, Saturday was a very successful day. I found the hairdresser I had been recommended (they are used to Western hair – very important for me!) and got a cute cut. I just hope I can style it on my own… I particularly impressed myself because the hairdresser spoke about the same amount of English as I spoke Japanese, so we ended up communicating in, say, 80% Japanese and 20% English. I was there for over an hour and we chatted almost constantly. We couldn’t talk about anything in-depth, but we were able to ask and answer questions and generally understand each other. Usually I let Jeff deal with the Japanese conversation, so it was great for me, both as practice and as a confidence-booster. While I was doing this Jeff did a bit of shopping, buying beer and snacks at the import store and getting me a book at the store that has an English section (it is a book called 24 Eyes. They made a movie of it and when we were in Shikoku we visited the village that was built as the movie set). When I was done we wandered round a few more shops, weaving our way round the underground mall, before heading home early. You know what happened then!
On Sunday we headed into the big mall in Kurashiki, with the main objective of buying Jeff socks. He keeps trying to buy socks that turn out to be too small, so my sock collection is growing quickly! However, we managed to find him stretchy socks and a new work bag, while I bought a couple of blokes singlets – the only way I can find a singlet that is sure to fit me and isn’t unflatteringly clingy. Lunch was Subway – ah, Subway, how I had missed you!
Back in Tamashima we went for a walk on the beach before Jeff went home. As it was a warm weekend, the beach was very popular with a number of groups on the sand. However, the only people in the water was one woman wading ankle deep and a toddler. As we pulled into the carpark we watched a woman in jean shorts and stiletto gladiator sandals gingerly step onto the sand and walk down towards the water. No wonder when we took the Chinese students from the hall of residence to the beach, they didn’t know to bring swimsuits!
Work starts in just over an hour, so I should get dressed and have something to eat. I might take a bottle of juice to work to make my throat feel better. I only have to teach three classes this evening, but I only have ten minutes break between each one, so I’m not looking forward to it. I guess I’m being a drama queen about this, but it’s just there is no-one/nothing happening to distract me from feeling urcky today (yes, that is a word, ok!).
Bye,
Charly
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Halfway to a placement!
The big news atm is that we are partway to hearing a placement. We have been told I will be in Hiroshima-ken, (Hiroshima prefecture) but no more, so we expect I will probably be in a high school (elementary and junior high school JETs tend to get told a more specific placement). We expect to hear exactly where I'm going in July, but it's fingers crossed for it being close enough to Jinseki that I can live at home.
A couple of minutes ago an odd thing happened. The apartment shook, just a little and just for a couple of seconds. The building also shakes when my neighbour starts his incredibly noisy car, so this doesn't mean much, but - not being used to earthquakes - I wondered briefly if it was a truck driving past or something that had done it, although I hadn't heard anything... Thirty seconds later I got a text from Jeff (in Jinseki, two hours away) saying 'Earthquake!' I know for people used to earthquakes this will seem stupid, particularly because it was so tiny (I'm thinking of Christchurch as I write this!), but I find it bizarre, overwhelming and a little frightening that Jeff and I, so far away from each other, are both being shook around by the same movement of the earth. There is no escaping the power of Mother Nature here. Considering we were told Jinseki doesn't get earthquakes, that makes the fourth one in the less-than-a-year we have lived there! I know Jeff thinks nothing of them, having grown up in earthquake-prone parts of NZ, but it's a big deal for Aucklander Charly!
Now, for the grand finale of this update: my Mum is coming to visit me in Japan!! My boss had her new employee pull out pretty last minute, so I offered to work the first three weeks of July - taking the last week off to have a few days away with Jeff, make the transition from living in Kurashiki to living in Jinseki (or a new town/flat) and to pack my bags for the training in Tokyo. I get a little anxious when I think about everything I have to do in those five days, actually... Anyway, I have organised for Mum to come and help out for that last week of July when I'm away. Yay! As you would expect, I'm really really excited about showing Mum around. It's a pity it will be in the middle of the summer heat, but I'm still hoping that she will come back for the autumn leaves or cherry blossoms :)
I had a very cringeworthy moment with my students tonight. It is the most advanced group of youngsters, ranging in age from nine to about twelve. Their reader is set in America and shows a range of nationalities, with the lead character being a boy in a wheelchair - all very PC stuff. Until one of the girls pointed at the worried-looking black man, the teacher Mr. Williams, and said "Obama!" I knew I should just drop it - there was noone there to be offended - but one of the things I find hard about Japan is the complete lack of cultural diversity. In all reality these kids have probably never seen a black person, and maybe never will. But, all the same, I felt obliged to try to explain that I understood it was hard in Japan, because most people here are Japanese, but that saying he looked like Obama just because he was black was rude, and that it was like me saying they all looked the same because they were Japanese (there was no irony in this; the class consisted of a younger girl all grins, two older girls - one more hesitant, the other with a shrewd twinkle in her eye and a serious older boy. All very different looks and personalities). Of course, I was still doing a double cringe listening to myself, remembering some of the racist anti-Asian sentiments I have heard in NZ, but it just fueled my anti-racist fire! I think the girl understood what I was trying to explain...
Of course, with my boss and I both being natural blondes with that pale/pinky skin tone specific to blondes, the students have probably already concluded that all Europeans look alike! At least when Mum visits they will see that Europeans come in more than one colour, lol. It's stupid, but I wish I could bring Beth here and substitute her for me for a day, to see the reactions. People who know us never get us mixed up (we are very different - hair style, hair colour, skin colour, weight, face, body, etc. Actually I'm not sure what's so alike...), but people who have only just met us often get us mixed up and when we go out together we occasionally get asked if we are twins. So I would be very curious to see how many of the students and parents at the school would assume she was me (with dyed hair, perhaps?) and how many 'see' me clearly enough as an individual to see Beth as a different individual.
Ok, time for me to clean the bathroom and get to bed! Jeff is coming down tomorrow so I have to make the house look spick and span and pretend it's always like that! :D
Night,
Charly
A couple of minutes ago an odd thing happened. The apartment shook, just a little and just for a couple of seconds. The building also shakes when my neighbour starts his incredibly noisy car, so this doesn't mean much, but - not being used to earthquakes - I wondered briefly if it was a truck driving past or something that had done it, although I hadn't heard anything... Thirty seconds later I got a text from Jeff (in Jinseki, two hours away) saying 'Earthquake!' I know for people used to earthquakes this will seem stupid, particularly because it was so tiny (I'm thinking of Christchurch as I write this!), but I find it bizarre, overwhelming and a little frightening that Jeff and I, so far away from each other, are both being shook around by the same movement of the earth. There is no escaping the power of Mother Nature here. Considering we were told Jinseki doesn't get earthquakes, that makes the fourth one in the less-than-a-year we have lived there! I know Jeff thinks nothing of them, having grown up in earthquake-prone parts of NZ, but it's a big deal for Aucklander Charly!
Now, for the grand finale of this update: my Mum is coming to visit me in Japan!! My boss had her new employee pull out pretty last minute, so I offered to work the first three weeks of July - taking the last week off to have a few days away with Jeff, make the transition from living in Kurashiki to living in Jinseki (or a new town/flat) and to pack my bags for the training in Tokyo. I get a little anxious when I think about everything I have to do in those five days, actually... Anyway, I have organised for Mum to come and help out for that last week of July when I'm away. Yay! As you would expect, I'm really really excited about showing Mum around. It's a pity it will be in the middle of the summer heat, but I'm still hoping that she will come back for the autumn leaves or cherry blossoms :)
I had a very cringeworthy moment with my students tonight. It is the most advanced group of youngsters, ranging in age from nine to about twelve. Their reader is set in America and shows a range of nationalities, with the lead character being a boy in a wheelchair - all very PC stuff. Until one of the girls pointed at the worried-looking black man, the teacher Mr. Williams, and said "Obama!" I knew I should just drop it - there was noone there to be offended - but one of the things I find hard about Japan is the complete lack of cultural diversity. In all reality these kids have probably never seen a black person, and maybe never will. But, all the same, I felt obliged to try to explain that I understood it was hard in Japan, because most people here are Japanese, but that saying he looked like Obama just because he was black was rude, and that it was like me saying they all looked the same because they were Japanese (there was no irony in this; the class consisted of a younger girl all grins, two older girls - one more hesitant, the other with a shrewd twinkle in her eye and a serious older boy. All very different looks and personalities). Of course, I was still doing a double cringe listening to myself, remembering some of the racist anti-Asian sentiments I have heard in NZ, but it just fueled my anti-racist fire! I think the girl understood what I was trying to explain...
Of course, with my boss and I both being natural blondes with that pale/pinky skin tone specific to blondes, the students have probably already concluded that all Europeans look alike! At least when Mum visits they will see that Europeans come in more than one colour, lol. It's stupid, but I wish I could bring Beth here and substitute her for me for a day, to see the reactions. People who know us never get us mixed up (we are very different - hair style, hair colour, skin colour, weight, face, body, etc. Actually I'm not sure what's so alike...), but people who have only just met us often get us mixed up and when we go out together we occasionally get asked if we are twins. So I would be very curious to see how many of the students and parents at the school would assume she was me (with dyed hair, perhaps?) and how many 'see' me clearly enough as an individual to see Beth as a different individual.
Ok, time for me to clean the bathroom and get to bed! Jeff is coming down tomorrow so I have to make the house look spick and span and pretend it's always like that! :D
Night,
Charly
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Waiting...
Hi people,
Well, this is really only a courtesy update, because NOTHING'S HAPPENING!! Jeff and I are still waiting on hearing about my JET placement. I was told I would hear in May, but that didn't happen... Now I live for the moment I check my emails every morning. And I am disappointed every morning.
At my temporary job, I originally thought that if the JET placement wasn't in a good location, I could just keep this job instead. But the JET placement took way too long so they well and truly had someone lined up. But on Monday their new employee pulled out, saying she had received a better job offer at home.
All signs had pointed to this week being when we found out about JET ('all signs' meaning the opinions/rumours circulating on JET forums Jeff was checking out), which meant again I was in a position where if the JET offer wasn't good, I could have taken this job. However, three out of five days into the week there has been nothing and Jeff's forums are suggesting there have been delays of another couple of weeks. So again, it looks like I will miss out on this job even if I need it because JET doesn't come through! Jeff is reminding me to be optimistic, that JET will probably give me something closer than this, but I like having a Plan B.
The good news (for me) is that, with the new employee pulling out last minute, Cindy suddenly needed July covered. I straight away said I could cover the first three weeks, so she only needed someone for the last week. While on one hand it would have been nice to have some time to get myself organised before I start my new JET placement in August, and to spend some time with Jeff (especially if my new job will also involve living away from home), I am very very nervous about the summer heat, clearly remembering how miserable I was last summer, so I think being down here in an air-conditioned building with small impatient children keeping my mind off the heat is a good distraction technique. Plus, of course, the extra money is always appreciated.
However, there was still the final week in July when Cindy needs a teacher. I told her that Matt had paid Kate's air fare in return for her covering for a couple of weeks and suggested one of my sisters might be interested in that, if she had no-one suitable over here (I knew she didn't). So now I'm encouraging Beth to come see me in Japan; working for a week then travelling and hanging out at my place for a week. Would be awesome to have a second sister come visit!!
Other than that, things aren't so peachy on the Draper homefront, so if you see one, hug a Draper today :(
Charly, Jeff & Kuma
P.S. A big shoutout to Jason and Shelley who have a new addition to the family - well done you two!!
Well, this is really only a courtesy update, because NOTHING'S HAPPENING!! Jeff and I are still waiting on hearing about my JET placement. I was told I would hear in May, but that didn't happen... Now I live for the moment I check my emails every morning. And I am disappointed every morning.
At my temporary job, I originally thought that if the JET placement wasn't in a good location, I could just keep this job instead. But the JET placement took way too long so they well and truly had someone lined up. But on Monday their new employee pulled out, saying she had received a better job offer at home.
All signs had pointed to this week being when we found out about JET ('all signs' meaning the opinions/rumours circulating on JET forums Jeff was checking out), which meant again I was in a position where if the JET offer wasn't good, I could have taken this job. However, three out of five days into the week there has been nothing and Jeff's forums are suggesting there have been delays of another couple of weeks. So again, it looks like I will miss out on this job even if I need it because JET doesn't come through! Jeff is reminding me to be optimistic, that JET will probably give me something closer than this, but I like having a Plan B.
The good news (for me) is that, with the new employee pulling out last minute, Cindy suddenly needed July covered. I straight away said I could cover the first three weeks, so she only needed someone for the last week. While on one hand it would have been nice to have some time to get myself organised before I start my new JET placement in August, and to spend some time with Jeff (especially if my new job will also involve living away from home), I am very very nervous about the summer heat, clearly remembering how miserable I was last summer, so I think being down here in an air-conditioned building with small impatient children keeping my mind off the heat is a good distraction technique. Plus, of course, the extra money is always appreciated.
However, there was still the final week in July when Cindy needs a teacher. I told her that Matt had paid Kate's air fare in return for her covering for a couple of weeks and suggested one of my sisters might be interested in that, if she had no-one suitable over here (I knew she didn't). So now I'm encouraging Beth to come see me in Japan; working for a week then travelling and hanging out at my place for a week. Would be awesome to have a second sister come visit!!
Other than that, things aren't so peachy on the Draper homefront, so if you see one, hug a Draper today :(
Charly, Jeff & Kuma
P.S. A big shoutout to Jason and Shelley who have a new addition to the family - well done you two!!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
LOVING the new job!
Hey there,
My internet is working quite well atm so I thought I would take the opportunity to update y'all. As my internet is some random broadband that happens to be floating around my 'spare room', I can't really complain about the speed or inconsistency - instead just making the most of it when it's going well.
This is my second week at my new job in Tamashima, Kurashiki. I'm loving it - it's such a breath of fresh air after my last job. My boss is a chatty American woman who liked to horseride as a kid, so we get along like a house on fire (rather too well, chatting when we are supposed to be prepping lessons!). Her teaching philosophy and staff training methods are much more relaxed than my old boss; she believes that if I chat to the students in more complicated language than they understand it will prepare them for the next step up and she puts me in the soundproof room while I'm finding my feet, so I'm not selfconcious about her or parents following my teaching. Because I came on board quickly and am working within her timeframe, both my boss and her husband are bending over backwards to do anything they can to help me out, including not charging me rent and being relaxed about me taking off to the 7/11 for coffee or running home to put my laundry away when rain threatens! My new flat is great - a two bedroom place with a decent kitchen and lounge with couch and coffee table (there is a TV, but without fluent Japanese, it's no help to me!).
In the weekend Jeff came down to stay, so we could explore the local area. We found a mall about 20 mins away that is probably the biggest we have seen here and has all the useful shops we sometimes frequent (by 'useful' read Body Shop and Starbucks!!). We went on a hat hunt, because all Jeff's current caps give him a headache because they are too tight. To get the head size in proportion, in NZ Jeff bought a size L mens helmet and it fitted me nicely. So yes, he struggles to find hats (and yes, I shop in mens stores for mine!). We tried on every hat in the mall (well, it felt like it!) and we found not one, but TWO hats that fitted him. We also picked up the new Foo Fighters CD and I got a mens singlet from Uniqlo (the one store that has clothes with a hope in hell of fitting us). Although I can sometimes fit the womens stuff at Uniqlo, their cotton singlets are very tight and most have built in padded bras. As I have recently started to dress in a manner that best conceals my chest after a few embarrassing incidents with children, there is no way I'm squeezing into those tiny plentifully padded singlets (though I'm still blown away by the ten year old who reached out to admire my necklace, then casually pushed his hand into my chest while staring earnestly at the pendant. On one hand I want to slap him and on the other, I want to give him a hi five for his balls!).
Other than retail therapy, we went for a wander up to a garden/shrine/graveyard with a nice view over Tamashima and the harbour, ate some nice meals and spent rather more time than intended driving around losing and finding ourselves in Kurashiki.
I've surprised myself with having a better than usual sense of direction in this area, which I think is a sign that I'm MEANT to work down here (if JET offer me something too far away I may take this job permenantly rather than relinquishing it to the American woman intending to come in July). In Fukuyama, our closest city to home, I have a dreadful sense of direction - we only ever visit the same places and they involve a maximum of about two turns, but I still feel overwhelmed and confused when I have to drive there. I think the difference is the height of the buildings, all covered in huge signs with stylised Japanese writing.
Driving round in Japan makes me feel like I'm five again. I remember when I was first learning to read how tiring it was being driven round, because I automatically tried to read signs we passed, my brain trying to process the information as we shot past. Now it's the same - it does my head in trying to read all the Japanese writing fleetingly passing as we drive. What makes it worse is often it's kanji which a) I don't know and b) sometimes looks like one of the other two alphabets that I do know, so that I'm mentally putting in sounds then realising that actually it only LOOKS like that letter, it's actually something totally different. Sorry, if this sounds confusing, that's because it is.
Anyway, in Kurashiki the buildings aren't so tall and they are set further off the road, so I don't have these signs thrust in my face while I drive around, so I find it a much more peaceful place. Of course, it also helps heaps that there is a real SWIMMING BEACH just down the road. Swimming beaches are a rare commodity in Japan, as most places where the land meets the water are defined by a waist high concrete wall. My current theory is that it's to stop all the people falling out. However, a few kms from my apartment there is a swimming beach and, although it looks totally manmade, a beach is a beach and it calms me just knowing it's there. My plan is to go for a walk/run down there tomorrow before I go to the supermarket, but that depends on what time I get to bed (it's 11:41pm and I still have to do the dishes...).
Anyway, the plan while I live down here is for Jeff to visit me every second weekend, so we can make the most of exploring a new area, while I still get every second weekend at home to sleep in my own bed, talk to our hamster and check on my bean plants.
Hmm, it has just come to my attention that the internet has stopped working, so I'm going to try to get it going and post this before I lose it!
Bye,
Charly (& Jeff)
My internet is working quite well atm so I thought I would take the opportunity to update y'all. As my internet is some random broadband that happens to be floating around my 'spare room', I can't really complain about the speed or inconsistency - instead just making the most of it when it's going well.
This is my second week at my new job in Tamashima, Kurashiki. I'm loving it - it's such a breath of fresh air after my last job. My boss is a chatty American woman who liked to horseride as a kid, so we get along like a house on fire (rather too well, chatting when we are supposed to be prepping lessons!). Her teaching philosophy and staff training methods are much more relaxed than my old boss; she believes that if I chat to the students in more complicated language than they understand it will prepare them for the next step up and she puts me in the soundproof room while I'm finding my feet, so I'm not selfconcious about her or parents following my teaching. Because I came on board quickly and am working within her timeframe, both my boss and her husband are bending over backwards to do anything they can to help me out, including not charging me rent and being relaxed about me taking off to the 7/11 for coffee or running home to put my laundry away when rain threatens! My new flat is great - a two bedroom place with a decent kitchen and lounge with couch and coffee table (there is a TV, but without fluent Japanese, it's no help to me!).
In the weekend Jeff came down to stay, so we could explore the local area. We found a mall about 20 mins away that is probably the biggest we have seen here and has all the useful shops we sometimes frequent (by 'useful' read Body Shop and Starbucks!!). We went on a hat hunt, because all Jeff's current caps give him a headache because they are too tight. To get the head size in proportion, in NZ Jeff bought a size L mens helmet and it fitted me nicely. So yes, he struggles to find hats (and yes, I shop in mens stores for mine!). We tried on every hat in the mall (well, it felt like it!) and we found not one, but TWO hats that fitted him. We also picked up the new Foo Fighters CD and I got a mens singlet from Uniqlo (the one store that has clothes with a hope in hell of fitting us). Although I can sometimes fit the womens stuff at Uniqlo, their cotton singlets are very tight and most have built in padded bras. As I have recently started to dress in a manner that best conceals my chest after a few embarrassing incidents with children, there is no way I'm squeezing into those tiny plentifully padded singlets (though I'm still blown away by the ten year old who reached out to admire my necklace, then casually pushed his hand into my chest while staring earnestly at the pendant. On one hand I want to slap him and on the other, I want to give him a hi five for his balls!).
Other than retail therapy, we went for a wander up to a garden/shrine/graveyard with a nice view over Tamashima and the harbour, ate some nice meals and spent rather more time than intended driving around losing and finding ourselves in Kurashiki.
I've surprised myself with having a better than usual sense of direction in this area, which I think is a sign that I'm MEANT to work down here (if JET offer me something too far away I may take this job permenantly rather than relinquishing it to the American woman intending to come in July). In Fukuyama, our closest city to home, I have a dreadful sense of direction - we only ever visit the same places and they involve a maximum of about two turns, but I still feel overwhelmed and confused when I have to drive there. I think the difference is the height of the buildings, all covered in huge signs with stylised Japanese writing.
Driving round in Japan makes me feel like I'm five again. I remember when I was first learning to read how tiring it was being driven round, because I automatically tried to read signs we passed, my brain trying to process the information as we shot past. Now it's the same - it does my head in trying to read all the Japanese writing fleetingly passing as we drive. What makes it worse is often it's kanji which a) I don't know and b) sometimes looks like one of the other two alphabets that I do know, so that I'm mentally putting in sounds then realising that actually it only LOOKS like that letter, it's actually something totally different. Sorry, if this sounds confusing, that's because it is.
Anyway, in Kurashiki the buildings aren't so tall and they are set further off the road, so I don't have these signs thrust in my face while I drive around, so I find it a much more peaceful place. Of course, it also helps heaps that there is a real SWIMMING BEACH just down the road. Swimming beaches are a rare commodity in Japan, as most places where the land meets the water are defined by a waist high concrete wall. My current theory is that it's to stop all the people falling out. However, a few kms from my apartment there is a swimming beach and, although it looks totally manmade, a beach is a beach and it calms me just knowing it's there. My plan is to go for a walk/run down there tomorrow before I go to the supermarket, but that depends on what time I get to bed (it's 11:41pm and I still have to do the dishes...).
Anyway, the plan while I live down here is for Jeff to visit me every second weekend, so we can make the most of exploring a new area, while I still get every second weekend at home to sleep in my own bed, talk to our hamster and check on my bean plants.
Hmm, it has just come to my attention that the internet has stopped working, so I'm going to try to get it going and post this before I lose it!
Bye,
Charly (& Jeff)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Jobs jobs jobs
Hi there,
Ok, so an update on the employment situation:
On the 9th I start work for a new English conversation school - yay! I was put onto this job by my current boss, who heard that this woman was desperate for someone to cover a gap between her losing her current teacher and choosing and importing a new one. Wanting to be helpful, he volunteered me. The job is probably a bit further away (in Kurashiki, near Okayama), but it has an awesome little apartment and better pay. I won't know for a while how long I'll be needed for, as it all depends on how long it takes Cindy to find and bring in a new teacher, but I have my fingers crossed it will take her a little while!
As much as I had been trying to enjoy kicking back in Jinseki, and I know I'm really lucky to be living in Japan with no responsibilities and a husband whose well paid job allows us to live well and do a bit of travel, at the end of the day it's freaking boring. There is only so much reading and facebooking you can do in a day. Of course, I SHOULD be writing some amazing book or studying up hard on my Japanese, but having nothing to do saps your motivation and I end up thinking 'I will do it later' and just never getting around to it.
The other big job news, in case anyone hasn't heard, is that JET are offering me a placement for the 2011-2012 year, starting in August. Yesterday I went to our little country clinic for my medical examination. The visit included the nurse standing on a bed to measure my height, sitting around awkwardly in a singlet with no bra waiting for my x-ray, peeing in a paper cup that looked exactly like a drinking cup, nurses wandering in and out of the doctor's office during my examination and the doc having to use his electronic dictionary whenever he wanted to tell me anything! (In NZ I would never think twice about a doc or nurse seeing me shirtless or braless, because you know they've seen it a million times. But here they HAVEN'T, the Japanese have almost no boobs!! Awkward!!)
Anyway, at the conclusion of that awesomely uncomfortable hour or so, I had a text from Jeff requesting I ask if we can get our Hep A & B booster shots at their clinic. I did my best to ask for them and the nurse said 'yes, yes' and ran out of the room. She came back in saying 'no, no Hepatitis C'. I think she thought I was asking if my husband and I had Hepatitis C! I tried again to explain what I wanted, but wasn't getting anywhere, so then I managed to explain that I would come back with Jeff when he got home from work, because he has more Japanese. She agreed, 'ok, later' and they waved me goodbye. I then was going, 'ah, pay now?' 'No, later.' 'Ah, no, pay now.' 'No, later, husband.' Finally I managed to explain that I needed to send the form that day, so they let me pay then and take my form. Phew!
When Jeff got home from work we went back in to try again on the vaccinations, armed with our vaccination booklets and the Japanese work for immunisation (yobou sesshu, if I remember correctly...). It took a while, it tested Jeff's Japanese skills and it required the doc consulting Dr. Google a fair amount, but after a bit over an hour we walked out of the clinic safe in the knowledge that they were ordering in the vaccines for us and we would get our booster shots. Finally!
So now that I have returned all my forms to JET, we are now waiting on hearing where they will place me. If it is too far away - eg. if we can't spend weekends together, I will probably turn it down, but everyone assures us that JET will make a big effort to place me somewhere close by, so we have our fingers crossed. There are three placements coming free in Sera, 40 mins away, so we are hoping I score one of those... Wish me luck!
Cheers,
Charly
Ok, so an update on the employment situation:
On the 9th I start work for a new English conversation school - yay! I was put onto this job by my current boss, who heard that this woman was desperate for someone to cover a gap between her losing her current teacher and choosing and importing a new one. Wanting to be helpful, he volunteered me. The job is probably a bit further away (in Kurashiki, near Okayama), but it has an awesome little apartment and better pay. I won't know for a while how long I'll be needed for, as it all depends on how long it takes Cindy to find and bring in a new teacher, but I have my fingers crossed it will take her a little while!
As much as I had been trying to enjoy kicking back in Jinseki, and I know I'm really lucky to be living in Japan with no responsibilities and a husband whose well paid job allows us to live well and do a bit of travel, at the end of the day it's freaking boring. There is only so much reading and facebooking you can do in a day. Of course, I SHOULD be writing some amazing book or studying up hard on my Japanese, but having nothing to do saps your motivation and I end up thinking 'I will do it later' and just never getting around to it.
The other big job news, in case anyone hasn't heard, is that JET are offering me a placement for the 2011-2012 year, starting in August. Yesterday I went to our little country clinic for my medical examination. The visit included the nurse standing on a bed to measure my height, sitting around awkwardly in a singlet with no bra waiting for my x-ray, peeing in a paper cup that looked exactly like a drinking cup, nurses wandering in and out of the doctor's office during my examination and the doc having to use his electronic dictionary whenever he wanted to tell me anything! (In NZ I would never think twice about a doc or nurse seeing me shirtless or braless, because you know they've seen it a million times. But here they HAVEN'T, the Japanese have almost no boobs!! Awkward!!)
Anyway, at the conclusion of that awesomely uncomfortable hour or so, I had a text from Jeff requesting I ask if we can get our Hep A & B booster shots at their clinic. I did my best to ask for them and the nurse said 'yes, yes' and ran out of the room. She came back in saying 'no, no Hepatitis C'. I think she thought I was asking if my husband and I had Hepatitis C! I tried again to explain what I wanted, but wasn't getting anywhere, so then I managed to explain that I would come back with Jeff when he got home from work, because he has more Japanese. She agreed, 'ok, later' and they waved me goodbye. I then was going, 'ah, pay now?' 'No, later.' 'Ah, no, pay now.' 'No, later, husband.' Finally I managed to explain that I needed to send the form that day, so they let me pay then and take my form. Phew!
When Jeff got home from work we went back in to try again on the vaccinations, armed with our vaccination booklets and the Japanese work for immunisation (yobou sesshu, if I remember correctly...). It took a while, it tested Jeff's Japanese skills and it required the doc consulting Dr. Google a fair amount, but after a bit over an hour we walked out of the clinic safe in the knowledge that they were ordering in the vaccines for us and we would get our booster shots. Finally!
So now that I have returned all my forms to JET, we are now waiting on hearing where they will place me. If it is too far away - eg. if we can't spend weekends together, I will probably turn it down, but everyone assures us that JET will make a big effort to place me somewhere close by, so we have our fingers crossed. There are three placements coming free in Sera, 40 mins away, so we are hoping I score one of those... Wish me luck!
Cheers,
Charly
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Full time work? What is this thing??
Hi there,
I've just heard from my boss that another English school, also 1.5 hrs from home, is looking for a temporary teacher for a couple of months while they hire a permenant teacher. It would suck to effectively move out of home, staying in a different city all week and only seeing Jeff and my bed in weekends, but it would be great to actually earn some money for a change. I'm about as useful as a pot plant here - I make home a more pleasant place, but I don't really DO anything (yes, I am much more argumentative than a pot plant, but I also cook dinner often, so it balances out!). So I'm thinking I might take this job.
In other news, the cherry blossoms are doing their thing. Unfortunately every time we prepared to go to a hanami party (cherry blossom viewing party, where you sit on a tarp under the trees and get trollied on sake), it was put off because the cherries weren't blooming yet. Tomorrow we are finally lined up to go to a party that will NOT be cancelled because the cherries ARE blooming... and it's pouring with rain, due to continue tomorrow. Where is the negative karma coming from???
Next week Thursday, late, Geoff and Sandra arrive in our part of the country (I say that in the widest sense of the word. It will be a long drive to get them home). We are understandably pretty darn excited about it. Jeff, particuarly, has been getting pretty tired with the pressures of work (people tell me work is a tiring, stressful thing. I wouldn't know :P ), so having friends from home visit will be a very, very welcome change.
Hope you are all well.
Bye,
Charly
I've just heard from my boss that another English school, also 1.5 hrs from home, is looking for a temporary teacher for a couple of months while they hire a permenant teacher. It would suck to effectively move out of home, staying in a different city all week and only seeing Jeff and my bed in weekends, but it would be great to actually earn some money for a change. I'm about as useful as a pot plant here - I make home a more pleasant place, but I don't really DO anything (yes, I am much more argumentative than a pot plant, but I also cook dinner often, so it balances out!). So I'm thinking I might take this job.
In other news, the cherry blossoms are doing their thing. Unfortunately every time we prepared to go to a hanami party (cherry blossom viewing party, where you sit on a tarp under the trees and get trollied on sake), it was put off because the cherries weren't blooming yet. Tomorrow we are finally lined up to go to a party that will NOT be cancelled because the cherries ARE blooming... and it's pouring with rain, due to continue tomorrow. Where is the negative karma coming from???
Next week Thursday, late, Geoff and Sandra arrive in our part of the country (I say that in the widest sense of the word. It will be a long drive to get them home). We are understandably pretty darn excited about it. Jeff, particuarly, has been getting pretty tired with the pressures of work (people tell me work is a tiring, stressful thing. I wouldn't know :P ), so having friends from home visit will be a very, very welcome change.
Hope you are all well.
Bye,
Charly
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Update long overdue
Hi everyone,
No promises for how interesting this blog will be as there is nothing much happening here. Although, I feel like I could give birth to alien spawn and consider it still 'nothing much' when everyone up north is going through such trials. I feel shallow worrying about our little concerns when there are still thousands and thousands living out of school halls, unable to let their children drink the water and without heat, in the freezing cold.
Compared to that, our little ups and downs don't seem such a big deal.
So what have we been up to? Working (Jeff) and not working (me - although I actually did work last week), helping out at English class and trying to save money. That's us in a nutshell!
We were supposed to be at a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party last weekend in Onomichi, but it got postponed because the blossoms are late this year - a bit disappointing. This weekend we were supposed to spend in Hiroshima staying at Nishikawa-san's apartment (or 'aparto' as they call it) for another hanami party. Which also got cancelled, this time apparently because Nishikawa-san and Sonoko-san were too busy. Next weekend we are supposed to have a hanami party in Shobara, but I start to see a pattern here...
Instead, on Sunday we went to Okayama city. We had been told that there was a pub that served meat pies - the food Jeff had been craving since hitting Japan - but it turned out to be a bit of a wild goose chase as they only have them occasionally, for big events. Luckily we had a really nice walk around a huge garden on an island and took photos of Okayama castle. The garden looked a little the worse for wear at the end of winter, but the ponds, moss and plum tree blossoms made us (and by us I mean me) determined to go back again later in the season. It would look very different - but very beautiful - in each different season, so I'm keen to visit often. We concluded our Okayama trip by visiting the book store that has a decent English selection and stocking up at the imported food store (three bags of muesli? Check. Seven boxes of peppermint tea? Check. White chocolate covered pretzels? Check - oops!!). Altogether we had a nice day, even if Jeff was snuffling his way round looking a little like that famous reindeer.
Time for me to go make some lunch now.
I hope you are all keeping well and that NZ is recovering from the quakes.
Charly
No promises for how interesting this blog will be as there is nothing much happening here. Although, I feel like I could give birth to alien spawn and consider it still 'nothing much' when everyone up north is going through such trials. I feel shallow worrying about our little concerns when there are still thousands and thousands living out of school halls, unable to let their children drink the water and without heat, in the freezing cold.
Compared to that, our little ups and downs don't seem such a big deal.
So what have we been up to? Working (Jeff) and not working (me - although I actually did work last week), helping out at English class and trying to save money. That's us in a nutshell!
We were supposed to be at a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party last weekend in Onomichi, but it got postponed because the blossoms are late this year - a bit disappointing. This weekend we were supposed to spend in Hiroshima staying at Nishikawa-san's apartment (or 'aparto' as they call it) for another hanami party. Which also got cancelled, this time apparently because Nishikawa-san and Sonoko-san were too busy. Next weekend we are supposed to have a hanami party in Shobara, but I start to see a pattern here...
Instead, on Sunday we went to Okayama city. We had been told that there was a pub that served meat pies - the food Jeff had been craving since hitting Japan - but it turned out to be a bit of a wild goose chase as they only have them occasionally, for big events. Luckily we had a really nice walk around a huge garden on an island and took photos of Okayama castle. The garden looked a little the worse for wear at the end of winter, but the ponds, moss and plum tree blossoms made us (and by us I mean me) determined to go back again later in the season. It would look very different - but very beautiful - in each different season, so I'm keen to visit often. We concluded our Okayama trip by visiting the book store that has a decent English selection and stocking up at the imported food store (three bags of muesli? Check. Seven boxes of peppermint tea? Check. White chocolate covered pretzels? Check - oops!!). Altogether we had a nice day, even if Jeff was snuffling his way round looking a little like that famous reindeer.
Time for me to go make some lunch now.
I hope you are all keeping well and that NZ is recovering from the quakes.
Charly
Friday, March 11, 2011
Compilation entry (written offline and finally loaded up)
2/3/10
Well, it’s snowing again – that long talked of cold snap is here. So far it’s not cold enough for it to stick around on the ground, though.
Btw, I have dated this entry because I’ve decided to try to be more onto it with my blog updates. As such, rather than writing my updates online (where there is online shopping and facebook to distract me!) I will try to get into the habit of writing a few lines on here every day. Then, when I take my laptop online (happens once a week or so) I can put this straight onto my blog. It’s a good idea, we will just have to wait and see how well it works…
This week I’m making the most of being unemployed (well, not working, anyway). Starting next week, I have two five day weeks and a three day week. I know you will all be rolling your eyes and thinking ‘welcome to the real world!’, but the thing is with the five day weeks, I won’t be coming home at all over that period. I will have to pack a bag Monday morning and not see Jeff or home again until late Friday night. At first it was kinda fun packing my things to go down to Mukaishima, but I am now well and truly over it.
I was only going to work two weeks in March, but I decided we need the money (I took home all our savings to put in our NZ bank accounts, so we are back to square one in Japan), so I decided I will just suck it up and accept that for two weeks I will live out of a backpack, only seeing Jeff in the weekend. We will be grateful for it when we get the pay cheque.
Last night I came with Jeff to the English conversation group, attended by our super-cute group of local oldies. As it is a Tuesday night, I haven’t been able to attend before, so it was fun to go along. Present were the Yamamoto’s/Yamamot-san’s (not sure how the ‘san’ thing works with plural…), who have fairly good English and instigate the group, Fuji-san and his wife, a younger woman whose name I’ve forgotten and – although I would never play favourites – my personal favourite Tokura-sensei. Tokura-sensei is super old, has not so many teeth, HUGE black-rimmed glasses, a ready smile and grows BEAUTIFUL apples which he often gifts to Jeff at language class. He is such a cutie I just want to take him home and keep him. He also has better English than you expect – sitting there quietly, then coming out with an understandable explanation about his daughters and grandchildren.
Fuji-san – the male – (I am always unclear with this Japanese custom of using the last name how to denote if you are speaking about the husband or wife… Which reminds me, I expected to be Mrs Wigg, or perhaps Wigg-san over here, but we are Charri and Jeffu [approximate phonetics] and I almost never have to explain about the different last name thing, although the Japanese always want to know why if it does come up) – anyway, the topic under discussion was our trip to Taiwan. We were required to slowly and clearly, in simple English, describe our trip to Taiwan. The group would listen, then ask questions. The Fuji-san’s go to Taiwan themselves in March, so Fuji-san (male) was asking lots of questions. As Jeff said, “He is very difficult to understand, but he tries so hard I don’t want to be correcting him every time.” Personally I was impressed Jeff was understanding at all. Evidently the group relies on Jeff’s Japanese to help him understand, so much of the time they appear to say what they can in English (key words they have looked up in their electronic dictionary), then say the rest of it in Japanese. Considering yesterday was my first time studying Japanese all year (yes, I’m that slack!), that helps me not at all, but Jeff was getting the gist of things.
Speaking of Japanese study, I was relieved yesterday when I picked up my textbook after a study break of almost three months (yikes!). I thought I was going to have forgotten everything and have to start at the beginning again, but when I tried the exercises I found I knew more than expected. In fact, often if I didn’t KNOW the answer, but simply let my gut instinct pick the correct answer, it was correct. Attributable, I believe, to having heard the language enough that I can pick what sounds correct. That made me feel much better – despite the fact I haven’t been studying, clearly I am taking something in!
And, in that vein, time for me to take my end of chapter Japanese test! It’s open book, so failing isn’t an issue, but I am still hoping I know most of the answers without having to check back too much… Cross fingers!
5/3/11
A couple of things to update…
Firstly, I have had a wee breakthrough on my writing. When people asked about my working in Japan, I always said that if I couldn’t find work I would use the time to try to be A Writer – as I’ve always dreamed of. The reality was that after years of essays and factual writing, my style had become overly analytical and self-conscious. Also, they seemed to be an amazing amount of laundry needing washing, the toilet always needed cleaning, emails needed answering, facebook needing checking… you know how it goes! Anyway, to try to help me knuckle down, Jeff started giving me creative writing tasks, such as ‘write a whole page about one flower’ and ‘write a story about someone’s first taste of ice-cream’. At first this was really hard, but I started to get into it and after a few days I had a burst of motivation to finally turn my blog from my year in the US into a book. It is something I have always talked about, but on Wednesday I finally had the get-up-and-go to make a start! This is big and exciting news and I now feel like a Writer, even if I do start back at work next week and probably won’t write anything again for weeks…
Riding on my high from being motivated, I decided to visit Jinseki Junior High school (the school next door where I spent a week or two in September). I contacted the English teacher to tell him I would come in for an hour or two on Thursday, and what time would be best. His text reply read ‘pmJ’. Ok, fair enough, I thought. Assumedly English classes are in the afternoon. I rocked up about 1:30pm and helped out with half an English class before we were all called to the gym. With a conniving smile, the English teacher explained, “Today is volunteer day. We will clean the toilets. You will follow this student.” Wtf???!!!! Someone clearly didn’t explain the definition of ‘volunteer’ to these teachers!!
Looking like a stunned mullet, I followed my student to the outside doorway. Here a group of five students all stripped down to shorts and removed their shoes and socks. This was a BIG deal because a) it’s the first time I’ve seen anyone barefoot in Japan and b) it was so cold it was actually snowing. The students then ran to the door and indicated for me to follow. I was wearing shorts over thick stockings so, indicating my stockings, I put my Ug boots back on and went to follow them. “No, no!” they cried, unable to let me follow in shoes. One of the girls ran and got the PE teacher, telling her “Stockings, stockings!” and pointing at my legs. “Oh!” cried the PE teacher, indicating for me to follow. She led me down the hall to a largish storage cupboard, ushered me in and shut the door behind me. Not, as I mistakenly believed, escorting me to a different group that DIDN’T involve running around in the snow with bare feet, but so I could remove my stockings in privacy!
When I was attired like the students (eg. Freezing) I followed them outside to some outside toilets. Here I was handed a sponge and pointed at the sink, while the other girls got to scrubbing the squat toilets with pieces of mesh (no gloves or anything fussy like that!!). If this was their idea of spring cleaning, they also had a fairly shite definition of spring! To cut a long story short, I spent the next hour or so helping the students scrub every surface of the toilets (being careful to avoid actually touching the toilet itself), spending the greater part of the time on hands and knees scrubbing the floor with a brush. I was laughing at the absurdity, but was also unimpressed at the English teacher. I’m not sure if he thought it was a good joke, or whether he felt it was educating me on Japanese schools, or whether he was just pissed off with me and being mean. But while I scrubbed the damn floor, thinking of my own toilet at home that really needed cleaning and of my book that I could have been writing, I swore to myself it was the last time I would be visiting that school in my free time!!
8/3/2011
Ok, so the other odd thing that followed that day was my book request. The other ALT and I were discussing this book I had started writing two days earlier. Luc was trying to convince me to publish on my own without a publisher, while I kept reminding him I had to write the things first and that that was jumping the gun a little.
However, the next morning I got a phone call from someone jumping the gun even more – Ken, the crazy English teacher, was calling to ask if his students could have a copy of my book. I tried to explain I had only been writing it for two days – I thought that was fairly self-explanatory – but apparently not so… I have noticed over here that often the problem with second language speakers is a lot gets lost in translation. Not just obvious issues where they don’t understand what you’re saying, but with the fluent ones, they seem to THINK they are understanding what you’re saying, but they are not actually listening to the meaning in your sentence and totally miss the point of what you are saying. I have noticed this not only with the Japanese, but also with Luc, the other ALT. He is from Canada and his first language is French. Although he is considered good enough in English to be an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher), I often find in conversation that his answers don’t make sense, because he is taking SOME of your reply but not understanding/listening to the whole meaning of your sentence. Before I get any snide remarks about the length of my replies, he does the same to Jeff, too!
Anyway, so somehow ‘my book has only been being written for two days’ wasn’t explanation enough – I didn’t even bother going into the (too obvious to mention!) fact that the language would be way beyond his students understanding, never mind the content being unsuitable. Finally I told Ken that I had had a story published when I was in high school and that I would contact my family back home to see if they could give him a copy. I didn’t bother telling him his students would really struggle with the language – if he thought he could get them through it, who was I to say it was way too much?? So I got on the phone to Mum and we got a copy of the story through to him. He said ‘thanks’ and I didn’t think much more of it.
Finally, today I got a message from Ken. It reads:
‘the story is 2 diff 4 stus plea send ur letter 4 graduates’
I happened to know that the students graduate in two days’ time, but this did not make the letter reference any clearer! I got back to him to clarify and he said he wanted me to write a 200 word letter for him to print off for the students. Glad to see he really knew how to ask a favour politely!! I got back to him to explain I was in Innoshima this week and couldn’t email him until the weekend, so he finally conceded that a very short message sent off my cellphone would be appreciated. I’m not sure if this is Japanese male arrogance, if he is still shitty at me for not staying at school or if the politeness is all just getting lost in translation, but the manners certainly aren’t making it through the cellphone!
Currently I am on a break between classes at work. Today I’m teaching in the branch of the school that I stay at, so on my breaks I can go chill in my bedroom. The first class was a little stressful – my boss had told me the class would start at 3:40pm, but come that time there were no students and no Japanese teacher (who had the schedule including the names of my students!). Turned out, after the students turned up five minutes late and I surprised the Japanese teacher by finishing ten minutes early, that my boss had told me the times the students would turn up and I was expected to play with them from (eg. Ten minutes before their class). I’ve been working here since September and he has never done that before, so I understandably hadn’t picked it!
Anyway, five minutes till I have to get back in there, so I better finish my drink and get downstairs…
Monday, February 14, 2011
Winter came back!
Hey everyone,
Sorry I have been a total slacker about updating this!!! The longer I leave it for, the more I don't want to write because I have more to update about... Not that me sitting at home in my PJs for days at a time makes for exciting reading :P
Ok, re. NZ - thanks to those that caught up with me, it was great to see y'all and get updates. If I didn't manage to see you, it's ok, we probably talked about you anyway :P Jokes. Kinda. I was really impressed actually; considering how few people I actually managed to see, I got updates on an amazingly wide range of people! I guess when you live overseas no-one expects you to know what's happening, so they are very thorough in the updates. Of course, to those I didn't manage to see, sorry :( It was rather a flying visit.
Yeah, ten days sounded like heaps from over here, but by the time I got to NZ with my shopping list (NZ to Japan adaptor from Dick Smith, light cotton shirts for work in summer, Mainland cheese for Jeff's birthday present, etc!) and my other To Do's (JET interview, get Uni graduation certificate copied and JP signed for the said interview, FIND Uni graduation certificate to get copied and signed, etc!!), there wasn't that much time left for, like, seeing people! I expected my week to involve much lying round reading and going to the beach a few times with my sisters. Yeah - no. It turned out to be a hard week's shopping (finding Jeff short sleeve shirts that weren't white, but were formal enough for work, cheap enough for our budget and didn't rely heavily on purple or pastel blue...) and partying!
I had come home in the knowledge that Kate and Paddy's engagement party (a BBQ meet and greet for the two families) would be on the Saturday before I went home. However, what I HADN'T expected was that on Friday night we ended up taking Laura, my 15 yr old sister, to town! Lucky for her, Beth (21) has an ID that looks more like Laura than it does Beth. So the five of us sisters split into two groups - Kate and Laura (the shorties) together, followed in five minutes later by Beth, Harry and I (so that if they picked up on the second Elizabeth Draper coming in, at least Beth was the real one to argue it!). At first the others suggested I take Laura in. However, considering how often Beth and I get asked if we are twins despite our different hair, different skin, different bodies and five year difference in age, I thought me taking Laura in and Beth following would only invite deja vu and hence difficulties! Anyway, the only hitch was when Harry talked to a guy in the line next to us and he was asking about the fake ID as we approached the bouncers. By this point Laura, Kate and Harry were through, so the bouncer took AGES inspecting my ID - holding it to the light, bending it to check the corners etc! If my 15 yr old sis got in, then I got rejected (for anyone unsure, I am 26 now!!), that would really really suck! I have actually been rejected on that ID before, as I have long blonde hair in the pic and the bouncers didn't like my pointing out I can't get a new ID every time I change my hairstyle. I'd be needing four Driver's Licences a year!!
Anyway, in case any bouncers/police/concerned parents are reading this (by concerned parents I don't mean mine - they were the ones who requested we take her! Dad wanted to make sure she wasn't a dork at school, like I was. Gee, thanks Dad), the only drinks imbibed were a beer that I let Kate and Beth sip at (I know Harry is legally old enough to drink, but I still couldn't bring myself to offer her alcohol!) and a coke that we all shared.
Laura looked really cute - too cute in fact, we had to chase away a few blokes honing in... I had dressed her in a grey cowlneck top and black shorts and did her some classic smokey eye makeup. Beth untied her hair from it's messy bun and clipped a bit to the side, so it all looked very sexy 'I'm not trying to hard but have naturally bedhead hair'. This was all done in the secure carpark below Dad's work on Queen St. The only tense moment came when I realised the bra Laura was wearing under the cowlneck top wasn't cutting it, so we had to switch bras. A quick look at the park behind us confirmed there was noone around, but partway through the change Kate looked up and goes, "You guys know that's a security camera, right?" Oh, bums!! Sorry about that Dad, hope noone bothers you for having your daughters halfnaked in your carpark!
The rest of my time at home was nice and quiet - catchup teas and coffees, using Harry's staff discount at the Esprit store at Westgate and meeting my brother-in-law-to-be's family.
Back here in Japan things had really warmed up. Most of the snow had melted and you couldn't even see your breath during the day. However, yesterday mixed things up again with another heavy snow. Of course, that's great news for our snowboarding, providing it doesn't all melt on the beautiful sunny day that is today!
Hehe, talking about snowboarding, Jeff and I went on Sunday. Jeff wasn't feeling good so didn't stick it out too long, but I went and did a run down the really steep slope. It's pretty challenging as it's all lumpy from skiers doing moguls on it, and, as aforementioned, it's steep. Really steep. Last time I tried it I went down 2/3 of the way with my toes up and heels down, slowly eeking down the mountain. This time I was determined to be more brave. I had good timing, as about seven other snowboarders were attempting to manage this slope - just like me. We basically took it in turns tumbling past each other, then waiting in one spot for the next person to pass you, so you could overtake them when they wiped out. I was pleased I had been using Mum's pilates DVD when I was lying head first down the slope and my board came over so that my feet were in the snow above my head. Yup, some pretty impressive wipeouts!
Umm... in case you were wondering, Jeff was really happy with his cheese. 1.7kg of NZ colby :D
Oh, my interview went well, for anyone who hadn't heard. The interviewers seemed very relaxed and chatty, which is always a good sign. Of course, getting a position will only be half the battle - the real question is where they could offer me a job... Also, for those that were asking, I will hear if I have an offer in April, though it will be more like June when I hear where.
So now, I am at home for the week, theoretically writing. Yesterday Jeff set me the task of writing a story about Bob, the butcher's dog. Turns out Bob is a very odd name for a Japanese dog, and the fact he belonged to the butcher seemed a bit random, but it made me write. Today he has set me the task of writing about someone's first time eating ice cream. Yes, Jeff knows me too well and is trying to help me deal with my chronic procrastination!
Ok, that's enough from me. I should go have some lunch, then sit down to write about this icecream experience...
Cheers,
Charly
Sorry I have been a total slacker about updating this!!! The longer I leave it for, the more I don't want to write because I have more to update about... Not that me sitting at home in my PJs for days at a time makes for exciting reading :P
Ok, re. NZ - thanks to those that caught up with me, it was great to see y'all and get updates. If I didn't manage to see you, it's ok, we probably talked about you anyway :P Jokes. Kinda. I was really impressed actually; considering how few people I actually managed to see, I got updates on an amazingly wide range of people! I guess when you live overseas no-one expects you to know what's happening, so they are very thorough in the updates. Of course, to those I didn't manage to see, sorry :( It was rather a flying visit.
Yeah, ten days sounded like heaps from over here, but by the time I got to NZ with my shopping list (NZ to Japan adaptor from Dick Smith, light cotton shirts for work in summer, Mainland cheese for Jeff's birthday present, etc!) and my other To Do's (JET interview, get Uni graduation certificate copied and JP signed for the said interview, FIND Uni graduation certificate to get copied and signed, etc!!), there wasn't that much time left for, like, seeing people! I expected my week to involve much lying round reading and going to the beach a few times with my sisters. Yeah - no. It turned out to be a hard week's shopping (finding Jeff short sleeve shirts that weren't white, but were formal enough for work, cheap enough for our budget and didn't rely heavily on purple or pastel blue...) and partying!
I had come home in the knowledge that Kate and Paddy's engagement party (a BBQ meet and greet for the two families) would be on the Saturday before I went home. However, what I HADN'T expected was that on Friday night we ended up taking Laura, my 15 yr old sister, to town! Lucky for her, Beth (21) has an ID that looks more like Laura than it does Beth. So the five of us sisters split into two groups - Kate and Laura (the shorties) together, followed in five minutes later by Beth, Harry and I (so that if they picked up on the second Elizabeth Draper coming in, at least Beth was the real one to argue it!). At first the others suggested I take Laura in. However, considering how often Beth and I get asked if we are twins despite our different hair, different skin, different bodies and five year difference in age, I thought me taking Laura in and Beth following would only invite deja vu and hence difficulties! Anyway, the only hitch was when Harry talked to a guy in the line next to us and he was asking about the fake ID as we approached the bouncers. By this point Laura, Kate and Harry were through, so the bouncer took AGES inspecting my ID - holding it to the light, bending it to check the corners etc! If my 15 yr old sis got in, then I got rejected (for anyone unsure, I am 26 now!!), that would really really suck! I have actually been rejected on that ID before, as I have long blonde hair in the pic and the bouncers didn't like my pointing out I can't get a new ID every time I change my hairstyle. I'd be needing four Driver's Licences a year!!
Anyway, in case any bouncers/police/concerned parents are reading this (by concerned parents I don't mean mine - they were the ones who requested we take her! Dad wanted to make sure she wasn't a dork at school, like I was. Gee, thanks Dad), the only drinks imbibed were a beer that I let Kate and Beth sip at (I know Harry is legally old enough to drink, but I still couldn't bring myself to offer her alcohol!) and a coke that we all shared.
Laura looked really cute - too cute in fact, we had to chase away a few blokes honing in... I had dressed her in a grey cowlneck top and black shorts and did her some classic smokey eye makeup. Beth untied her hair from it's messy bun and clipped a bit to the side, so it all looked very sexy 'I'm not trying to hard but have naturally bedhead hair'. This was all done in the secure carpark below Dad's work on Queen St. The only tense moment came when I realised the bra Laura was wearing under the cowlneck top wasn't cutting it, so we had to switch bras. A quick look at the park behind us confirmed there was noone around, but partway through the change Kate looked up and goes, "You guys know that's a security camera, right?" Oh, bums!! Sorry about that Dad, hope noone bothers you for having your daughters halfnaked in your carpark!
The rest of my time at home was nice and quiet - catchup teas and coffees, using Harry's staff discount at the Esprit store at Westgate and meeting my brother-in-law-to-be's family.
Back here in Japan things had really warmed up. Most of the snow had melted and you couldn't even see your breath during the day. However, yesterday mixed things up again with another heavy snow. Of course, that's great news for our snowboarding, providing it doesn't all melt on the beautiful sunny day that is today!
Hehe, talking about snowboarding, Jeff and I went on Sunday. Jeff wasn't feeling good so didn't stick it out too long, but I went and did a run down the really steep slope. It's pretty challenging as it's all lumpy from skiers doing moguls on it, and, as aforementioned, it's steep. Really steep. Last time I tried it I went down 2/3 of the way with my toes up and heels down, slowly eeking down the mountain. This time I was determined to be more brave. I had good timing, as about seven other snowboarders were attempting to manage this slope - just like me. We basically took it in turns tumbling past each other, then waiting in one spot for the next person to pass you, so you could overtake them when they wiped out. I was pleased I had been using Mum's pilates DVD when I was lying head first down the slope and my board came over so that my feet were in the snow above my head. Yup, some pretty impressive wipeouts!
Umm... in case you were wondering, Jeff was really happy with his cheese. 1.7kg of NZ colby :D
Oh, my interview went well, for anyone who hadn't heard. The interviewers seemed very relaxed and chatty, which is always a good sign. Of course, getting a position will only be half the battle - the real question is where they could offer me a job... Also, for those that were asking, I will hear if I have an offer in April, though it will be more like June when I hear where.
So now, I am at home for the week, theoretically writing. Yesterday Jeff set me the task of writing a story about Bob, the butcher's dog. Turns out Bob is a very odd name for a Japanese dog, and the fact he belonged to the butcher seemed a bit random, but it made me write. Today he has set me the task of writing about someone's first time eating ice cream. Yes, Jeff knows me too well and is trying to help me deal with my chronic procrastination!
Ok, that's enough from me. I should go have some lunch, then sit down to write about this icecream experience...
Cheers,
Charly
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)