Brian’s Japan Adventure

November 30th, 2007

Mission: Library

Zipped on down to the Mcdonalds/Library route as usual. I was expecting a call from home at 11:00 in order to straighten out a last-minute problem with school that I had to be online to resolve. It’s amazing how difficult this was to resolve; if I had been home, I could have just looked in a phone book for all the information I need. Here, it was a major undertaking to get people to call me with the needed information while I was online to see what exactly I needed. Eventually, I think I got it all worked out.  I don’t know if this problem would have held up my diploma, but it certainly would have caused problems eventually. Better to get it resolved now.

I was recently asked why I spent so much time eating at McDonalds. It’s simple; I know McDonalds, I trust their food (more or less) and most importantly, I understand their food.  Co Co Ichiban is a chain as well, and of course, so is Big Boy. I just don’t trust the food in these little Mom & Pop shops that fill the city three to a block. How do I know how long they’ve had their food sitting around? And don’t say I’m crazy either, because I’ve seen some of those sushi obentos in the display box for more than one day. You can eat three-day-old raw fish if you want to, but I’ll pass. And then there is the other simple fact that I just plain old don’t like fish or most seafood. Fish, octopus, squid, and worse are everywhere here. It’s not expensive, it’s not an obvious specialty, and you just never know what you’re getting until its in your mouth. Fried squid looks an awful lot like beef until you start chewing, so sometimes even ordering from a picture menu is a risk. Nope, I have never been an adventurous eater, and I don’t intend to start anytime soon. Am I missing out on some of the “cultural experience” of Japan? Yes I am, but I think I’ll survive without it just fine.

Anyway, I was at the library for “administrative reasons.”  I really didn’t want to go two days in a row, but I know I had my weekly chat scheduled for Saturday, and I wasn’t able to change the time for the call this morning. Since I was there, I picked up some Christmas vocabulary lists for classes. I think this might be a good week for that. They all know the easy words, but I think I can make up a list of words that will be interesting and challenging for them. Between that and a couple of games, Wednesday should be pretty much ready to go. I can use the same material for my Tuesday classes. I never did get to use the Fairy Tale stuff on the second class, so I have more than enough for that class (assuming anyone shows up for it). Monday and Thursday, as usual, don’t really need materials.  My Friday elementary school visits have basically been cancelled except for ONE visit sometime in February. If I am smart, I’ll get my materials organized tonight instead of waiting till Sunday evening to it like usual.

The Nintendo vs Sony Battle Comes Home

While online, I research between the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP systems to see which I want. They are both nice, and both have some interesting features. But most of the extra features that the PSP has, I can do with my Palm already, so I just don’t see the need for it. The DS, I learned today, will still play Game Boy games, and already have a bunch of those, so the decision is pretty much made now.  I’d say the graphics on the PSP are much nicer, but I’ve always been more a fan of strategy games than super fast shooters, and you just don’t need lots of high-speed graphics for my kind of game.  One thing that almost swayed me in the other direction is that the PSP’s available here are a new model that you cannot buy in the States this year.  That’d be great for “bragging rights,” but I’d rather have something I can use.

A Mystery Presents Itself

I played online until around 3:00pm, which is just crazy-late for a library visit. Any time I get to play the Trivia game twice in one sitting means I am spending too much time online (you can only play once a day). I hopped on a bus to take me to the little station, where I took my bike to Big Boy (See, no Co Co today!). And I had the salad bar. This brings up a question: Where does “baby corn” come from?  Is it related in some way to “regular” corn, or is it a completely different vegetable that only resembles corn?  These are the questions that make me miss not having the Internet available. Yes, I had to travel 7000 miles to have a breakthrough insight into this area of thought. What is the origin of baby corn?

A Problem Resolved

Then I went home. There was nobody else there, which isn’t at all surprising. I decided it was time to “clean house.” The place is half mine, and I am tired of not being able to use the living room.  No, I’m not picking up all the beer cans for him. I did pick up the ones in the living room and pile them up next to the sink where he cooks. I picked up the bottles put them there too. I then picked up and threw away everything on the living room table that wasn’t mine (and some of that too). I put all his “good” stuff into a little bag that better not still be in there tomorrow.  So now at least the living room is usable, and in addition the kitchen is a little more full of garbage. I don’t use the kitchen, but he does. I suspect he’ll be cleaning it soon or he won’t be able to eat.

And now it’s 7:30. I’m listening to “Twilight something-or-other” on the radio and they are playing English music. It’s incredibly OLD music though; “Moon River,” “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” and stuff like that from the 40’s and 50’s. It beats talk that I don’t understand, so it’s still on, but it surprises me that such old music would get radio time here. In a little bit, I’m going to listen to some more audio books. I still haven’t finished Walden yet, but I will, it’s really got my attention. Also, I have another chapter of Japanese vocabulary to memorize by Monday. Yay.

So what’s on the plate for tomorrow? I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ll do the library tomorrow, since I was able to chat for a long time today. I can go again Sunday if I need to for some reason. My lessons, although not done yet, are well enough along that I am not going to worry about them tomorrow. Sigh. Every day seems to be more of a routine and less of an adventure. It’s not boring; I am not saying that. But the excitement is definitely waning. I can’t remember the last time I left the house in the morning and thought to myself, “Wow, I’m in Japan!” I guess nothing can stay new forever, can it?

[update] It’s now 9:00. I just spent the intervening hour and a half working on a “Glossary” of all the people, places, and things I have run across in my travels here. It was surprisingly fun. Every time I’d write an explanation, something new would crop up. I’m going to “sit” on this for a few days and see if I think of anything to add to it before posting.  It’s also the longest thing I’ve written for the blog yet, coming to six pages already in just one sitting.

November 29th, 2007

 A Very Busy Thursday

Slept a little late today, and rushed to get ready for K-Sensei’s class. Just as I was ready to walk out the door, Mom finally called, so I was able to get Christmas gift arrangements for them and myself all sorted out. It’s not the perfect solution, but it’ll work well enough this year. The call didn’t take long, so I went up the hill about a half an hour before class. I didn’t have time to get on the Net at all, but since I just did it yesterday it wasn’t a big loss. I’ll be on again either Friday or Saturday anyway.

K-sensei’s class went smoothly. We talked about the development and growth of the Internet, a subject I knew a lot about. When I explained that not only did I own a computer store during the mid-90’s when the Internet really took off, but I had run an e-commerce store for the past few years, not only was he impressed, but so were many of the (still silent) students. I think this was probably my longest lecture in his class to date, probably because I had a lot to say.

Off The Hook

K-Sensei lets me leave when I am done, so I got home around 11:40 or so. I forgot something important in my phone call this morning, so I called back to the States, and sure enough the phone was off the hook. It would have been around 9:30 there, so I know they were still awake. ARGH!  I think I have actually gotten through to them one time since I arrived here, every other time the phone is off. Why they don’t at lest get voice mail, I will never understand. They don’t even know I wanted something since I couldn’t leave a message.

Wrap Up Your Troubles

Japanese class doesn’t start until 3:30, so I had a choice. I could either study Japanese for three hours or try to get my big Christmas package taped up, sealed, and mailed. I hadn’t even signed the Christmas cards, but it didn’t take as long as I’d thought; Japanese Christmas cards don’t leave a lot of room for long notes. Mom’s card got nearly no not at all due to the size of the writing area, and he kids got very little in the way of a note either, which is unfortunate. I guess I can write letters anytime, and that’s probably something I should make time for soon. Once I finished the cards, I packed them all in the big box and taped it up. I had a few blank customs forms that I picked up the other day, so I filled it out at home.

Using the elastic straps that I bought a few months back, I tied the whole bundle on to the back rack of the bicycle and rode to the little station. I figured it would take some time, so I took along my Japanese class stuff so I could go straight there afterwards. I then parked the bike and carried the box to the bus stop. Ten minutes later, I walked into the post office, handed over the box, paid and walked out. No discussion, no hassle, no questions. It was much easier than on Monday. I have to assume that since I walked in the door with the customs form already filled out that they assumed I knew what I was doing, while a few days ago, it was obvious that I didn’t have a clue.

I looked at my watch and it was 12:30, still three hours before Japanese class. What to d, what to do? The post office is only half a block from Co Co Ichiban, so the decision didn’t take long. Unfortunately, neither did lunch. I don’t know how they fix dinners so fast, but I was in and out of there in 20 minutes. I decided to just go back home and study for the remaining time.

Changes!

Just a s the bus drove up, the phone rang.  Mom? Nope, it Y-san. She wanted to tell me about additional schedule changes. Something has come up at the elementary school, so Marc and I will not be going there at all in December. Oh darn, you all know how much I look forward to that. It’s not so bad really, but I am not exactly disappointed in the news. On the other hand, now we both will be teaching what Y-san calls a “correspondence course” through a lesson on January 13th. It’s not really a correspondence course, she said, it’s more like an American GED Course. It’s only a one-time thing, and it’s on a Sunday. I don’t like using up my weekends, but at least it sounds easy enough.

So then I arrive home and study for a little bit, probably less than an hour, certainly less than I should have. Then it was time to go, and the class went as usual. We talked about invitational phrases such as “Let’s … (do something)” and “Shall we … (do something)?”.  It was pretty easy. Then it was time to go, and Marc asked what I was doing for dinner. I already ate, but it’s not like he asks all that often, so I went with him. We ended up at a place called Yamadoya (I think). They only have about six items on the menu. All the food there is quite cheap, and not bad looking, so I’ll probably try it again. I got a beef bowl that consisted of boiled beef strips over rice. It wasn’t impressive, but it was edible. Marc got Yakiniku, which looked pretty good. I will go back and try that next time.  It ain’t Big Boy, but it’s one more place to try when I get bored with the others.

March of the Gamers

While we were eating, the subject of Christmas presents came up, and we agreed not to get each other anything. Cool. That’s one thing less to deal with. He mentioned that he had visited the new electronics store downtown (called Bic Camera from now on), and was impressed as I was. We then talked about what we might “get ourselves” for Christmas. He said he really wanted a PlayStation PSP. Apparently they have a new model out that is not available in the States yet. I think I like the cartridge games that the Nintendo DS uses rather than the disks the PSP uses, but that’s just my opinion; they’re a little more durable. He wants the PSP because it has wireless Internet and MP3 playback ability. I already have that ability through my Palm Pilot and/or iPod. I have too many toys with me.

I told him that if he wanted one that badly, he should get it. Not only that, but since today was payday, he ought to buy it now while he still had the money. He said that sounded like a good idea, and that he’ll have drank up all his money by the end of the month. Those were his words. I just can’t picture anyone actually saying that about themselves and not trying to change.  But anyway, we ended up riding our bikes from the restaurant to the store downtown in the dark to look at videogames. He decided to buy one, but didn’t have the money with him. On the way home, he decided he “wanted to sleep on it” and maybe get it over the weekend. I know how those decisions go. Been there, done that.

While we were at the store, he noticed they had little shortwave radios for a little under 2000Y ($18) or so. We both bought one. When we got home the next hours was spent writing down station numbers that we could receive over shortwave. There are lots and lots of Japanese stations of course, and more than a few Chinese as well. We picked up stations in Russian and German, and maybe even one in Arabic, we weren’t quite sure about that language.  Although there were a few things in English, there wasn’t any news or anything interesting one while we listened. We had hoped to get the BBC or Voice of America broadcasts, but we didn’t find them when we were listening. Maybe they only broadcast at certain times. I’ll check the Internet for times and stations next time I get on; that stuff must be available.

And now it’s 9:30. This has been a pretty busy day for a Thursday. I’m not quite sure what’s on the agenda for tomorrow yet. I told Mom to call me tomorrow at the library, so I could straighten out that problem with school, but I really don’t want to go both Friday and Saturday. I tried to call and change it, but as I said, they had the phone off the hook. I’ll try calling again first thing in the morning so she can call me Saturday morning instead of Friday morning. Or then again, maybe by morning I will want to go to the library. Time will tell.

November 28th, 2007

Return of Kinderphobia

Woke up at 4:00 with Kinderphobia. I thought I was past all that, but today it got to me again. It probably had a whole lot to do with that “ABC Song” request.  I’m just not the kind of person who sings. Ever. Yes, I realize that’s silly, and I even told myself that last night, but I was still up most of the rest of the night. Argh!

I rode to the Shinkansen to Hiroshima as usual. I brought my iPod along and listened to chapter two of “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau. I read the book once long ago, but I had forgotten just how good it was. Also, I should point out that my link to the free audio book website a few days ago was wrong. It’s actually at http://www.librivox.org (libravox and librivox sound the same, but the web doesn’t like the one with the “A” in the name). This one is especially well read; the people who read for Librivox are volunteers, and some of them are not good, but I really like this one.

Karaoke is for wimps. I do it in STYLE!

I arrived at the kindergarten as usual, and started with the 5-6 year olds. We reviewed just about everything, but I worked on “I like…” and “I don’t like…” quite a bit today. I’m trying to get them to be able to tell their name, age, and what they like before we stop for the big break in a couple of weeks. I think they’re catching on; they just need practice. I’m also using the flashcards to give them ideas of things to like (rabbits, sunshine, pizza) and things not to like (rain, snakes, and carrots).

Then it was time for the little ones, ages 3-4. I started off by reviewing shapes. They know (“know” may be stretching the truth a bit) circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Some of them get it; some of them don’t.  I then tried to get them to do “How old are you?” but I think they’re too young; it just wasn’t going to happen, so I moved on pretty quickly.  We then moved on to cover a few flashcards, but I saved time at the end for my big showbiz break. Then it was time. I tell ya, the “ABC Song” never sounded so good. The kids sat there awestruck by my brilliant rendition of this timeless classic. My cellphone then rang, and it was Hollywood, wanting me to sing at the Academy Awards this year. I told them I’d think about it. Then I did the impossible, the unthinkable, the inconceivable; I did it again, having them join in. Some of them made it as far as G, others K, but I lost all of them by the end. Then I ran out of time. That’s OK, we have plenty more classes to practice.

For the 4-5 year-olds, it was mostly a rerun of the first class, but without the “like” stuff. I might try it with them after Christmas. Then it was back to the office before leaving. They had me try on the Santa suit, and it fit just fine. They have the whole set: coat, pants, white beard, and hat. I told them I’d bring my own hat (“Watashi no boshi wa arimasu”) that fit better. They asked about boots. I don’t have any boots, much less Santa boots. They said OK, and that even Santa must wear slippers indoors. Ummm….. OK.

Then it got a little strange. As if it wasn’t strange enough before. Mr. Kindergarten asked me what do children do at children’s Christmas parties in the USA. I told them games, songs, presents, maybe candy. He asked me what kind of songs, and I mentioned “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty The Snowman,” and “Santa Clause is Coming To Town.” He had never heard of any of them. Oh-boy! He had heard of “White Christmas” and “Jingle Bells,” however. I told him the kids could learn Jingle Bells easily enough, so he was happy with that. I wonder who’s going to end up teaching them that?  I also suspect that next week I’m going to be asked what kinds of games. I can’t think of any children’s party games that are specially suited to Christmas. Party games are party games, right? Email your suggestions or post them below!  He also said that during the party, I will dance with the children. This just gets betterer and betterer!

Smackdown in English Class!

Then it was time for the community center. The first thing we discussed was the change of schedule due to my not being in town on the 19th after all. We switched the party to the 12th, ans we’ll just officially have our last class at the restaurant.  This session’s class went about as usual, but two of the women kept interrupting each other and (I think) got into an argument. They kept saying “We’re not fighting” but yeah, I think they were. I hope they both come back next week and it all blows over. I had nothing to do with it, and really there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. I’m not even absolutely sure they were fighting. We’ll just see next time.

Then it was break time, and I went to McDonalds. Cold sandwiches from Subway just don’t have the attraction they did a few months ago, and the walk to Mos Burger is just too long. Then I went back to the center and did the usual Internet stuff for about an hour. I ordered the Mac OS X that I wanted and had it shipped from home. I paid extra for rush shipping.  Ptuny pointed out to me something very important that I had not thought of before: If the International office here closes for the holiday, I won’t be able to get my packages, so everything coming to me needs to be shipped reasonably soon. That means next week at the latest.

Everybody PARTY!

The late class had the old ladies, and they too, want to do a party on the 12th. I guess that’s gonna be “Fat Wednesday” for me, since that will be two parties in a few hours. HO! HO! HO! They asked me what I like, and I was vague, so they said I have to tell them next week. I don’t care, so long it’s not “Squishies.” OK, I probably do care, but I don’t know what to suggest.  Tonight we finished up the material on “Around The House,” so I need to come up with some whole new them for next week. Next week is going to be the last “normal” class for both of these groups since the 12th will be two parties instead of normal classes. I’ll have to see if I can come up with something fun. The first group already said they want a game. No problem, I have a whole book of “Grammar Games.”

City Lights

And then it was time to go. I rode the taxi through town to the Shinkansen terminal as always. This time, however, they had all the decorations up. Wow, Hiroshima has the most beautiful Christmas light displays I’ve ever seen. There’s a giant red phoenix bird (I assume it’s a phoenix, that’s seems appropriate for Hiroshima), bluish ice crystals, three-dimensional snowmen and dragons. It was great. I’d like to walk through town and take pictures, but I don’t see how I can do that with my schedule. I just don’t get any “after dark” time in that town. Rush-rush-rush!

November 27th, 2007

A Short Tuesday

Got up at the usual time for the usual Tuesday morning routine. After I got ready to go, I found I had too much time left before leaving, so I picked up a copy of Games Magazine that I was sent a month or so ago. I put it aside then and just plain forgot about it. But today it came in handy, and killed just enough time before I had to leave. I probably should have taken it along on the train, but I’ve found that I have a hard time keeping my attention on books while riding the trains. There are just too many distractions outside the windows, even though I’ve seen them all before. I usually listen to my iPod instead; I can stare out the window all I like while listening.

I stopped in at the 7-11 on the way to the university and picked up a four pack of donuts. They were gone before I reached the school. I grabbed a can on coffee from a vending machine about halfway up and it, too, was gone by the time I reached the top. Talk about breakfast on the go!

I signed in with the new person who works there, since the previous person left for maternity leave last week. I don’t know if she had the baby yet or not, but she was about ready to “pop” last week. The new person did not have any announcements or news for me, so I went right over to the classroom.

Could YOU Pass the English Test?

The first class went extremely well today, the students talked about the TOEIC and TOEFL tests, two standardized tests they will have to take sometime to prove their mastery of English. They’re a long way from being able to do that, although one of them has already passed the Japanese Proficiency test at Level 1, which is pretty darned impressive. She says she still has a hard time understanding spoken Japanese, bt she can read pretty well. I think I will be very lucky if I learn enough to pass the level 4 test before I leave. Then again, she’s been studying Japanese for years.

That discussion went on a LONG time, and then we started on regular work. We talked about the telephone again, and how to call a company with a complaint.  This didn’t take very long, so we then started in reading a news article. Since we had read a story about the Titanic last week, I printed off an article about a cruise ship that sunk after hitting an iceberg…last week.  Nah, history never repeats itself.

Abandoned!

The first class ended before we finished the article, and the students left. I waited for the second class to begin, but once again, no one showed up.  After fifteen minutes, the new person came in and told me to go home. She apologized, but didn’t seem to happy either. I wonder if they think this is my fault somehow?  Even in the beginning, there were only two students for that class, and one dropped it very early on.  Whatever; I have no control over who shows up. On the bright side, I got to leave early, and made it to the 3:30 train instead of the one at 5:10. That means I actually made it home while it was still daylight.

Pigs In Slop

I picked up dinner at the carry out, zipped on home and ate it in my room. I couldn’t eat in the living room because Marc has it full of beer cans and Sunday’s uneaten food. It’s no wonder he’s sick all the time, sitting around surrounded by rotting food that he won’t clean up. I could see him using the excuse that he’s sick again for not cleaning up, but it’s almost always like that, even when he’s healthy. Now that I think about it, when he’s healthy, he’s gone more, so it’s actually worse. All I can say is yuck.  I could suggest that he clean it up, but why should he listen to me?  One of these days I’m going to get annoyed and just start breaking things. That’ll get his attention. After all, I eat out every day; what do I care if all the dishes get broken? One of these days…

November 26th, 2007

December Schedule is Set

I went up the hill this morning a usual, and when I got there, Y-san handed me my updated schedule for the holiday season. As I said before, most classes end the week prior to Christmas. The 21st will be my last class until January 7th. After that, things get a little complicated, but that’s something I can get to when the time comes. She also gave me Marc’s schedule to pass on to him; the English Club that he works with has its final day today. Wow.

After going over the schedule, I printed off the materials I plan to use this week for my Tuesday and Wednesday classes. There’s not as much there as I would have liked, but I think I can make do. I updated the blog, made a few responses to comments, and did a few emails, nothing especially interesting there, but I got caught up since the weekend. There is no news about that problem at school, but then it’s still Sunday night there, so I didn’t expect anything yet.

The Silent Class Speaks… Occasionally.

Then it was time for N-Sensei’s class. As time passes, I am getting more and more comfortable dealing with these guys. This is the class that I said was so non-interactive. Well, it still is, but I’ve managed to learn who will speak and who won’t, and I work with what I have. It all comes across pretty well. Today we talked about food across different cultures. No problems here, just one more class running smoothly. It’s amazing how much easier this has all gotten since the first few weeks here. The students must have gotten smarter or more eager to work; it couldn’t actually be that I have gotten better at this, could it?

Slacker or Sicker?

Next, I took my seat in the lobby and started studying for Japanese class as usual. N-Sensei’s class ends at 12:20 and Japanese class starts at 1:30, so that gives me a little time to review. Not today. Around 12:45, Y-sensei walks up and says we can start early today. I ask “What about Marc?” and find out that he’s not coming. Her boss called her to say Marc wouldn’t be here today. He didn’t say why, she didn’t know why either, and was disappointed to hear I had no idea about any of it. Not only was he healthy last night, but I think he stayed home all evening watching TV. I have no idea; maybe he’s sick, maybe he was doing some other job, maybe he was goofing off. I haven’t actually seen him since last night, so I have no idea.

Still, since he wasn’t coming to Japanese class, we didn’t have to wait until the usual starting time, so I was able to do the class pretty quickly and leave early. I didn’t have my usual study-time, so I wasn’t as clear on the vocabulary as I would have liked, but I remembered all the rules we covered last time and that was the important thing today.  Class finished without incident, and I walked back down the mountain.

This Time, I Went Postal

Since I got out of class an hour earlier than usual, I had tie for a mini-adventure. As you all know, I’ve been doing my Christmas shopping over the past week. Today I tried the post office. I didn’t send the big package yet; I sent a smaller package today. This one goes to Canada, not the US, but since it was smaller, I wanted to try it as a “guinea pig” in case they confused me and I had to carry it back home. There was indeed a customs form to fill out, but surprisingly, it was bilingual. I have seen almost nothing here that was bilingual before, so that really shocked me. Still, it was quite a bit more expensive than I would have liked. I fear the day when I have to mail the larger box. I’m not going to apologize for the amount I’ve spent on gifts any more. Considering shipping, this is easily going to be one of the most expensive Christmases I’ve ever bought for.  Still, I was able to mail it without linguistic agony or pantomime. I guess I’ll mail the big one on Thursday after I’ve had a chance to go to that Hiroshima store again.

On the way home, I stopped by… yes, you guessed it, Co Co Ichiban.  I did try the spicier version this time, and also upgrade to a larger portion of rice. I’m starting to experiment with my orders. I think I’ll try one notch higher in spiciness next time. Then it was a quick bus ride to Happy Town, where I picked up Pepsi, Coffee, and Ice Cream to hold me over until the weekend. Then I went back home to unload and call it a day; a pretty busy day at that.

Coming Up Next:

Tonight I still have to sort through my papers and materials that I need to carry with me tomorrow and Wednesday, but that shouldn’t take very long. I haven’t heard a peep out of Marc since I got home. He’s either asleep or gone; neither would surprise me. I just finished a quick load of laundry and will listen to part two of another of the audio books in a little while.

There were a few surprises this afternoon, but overall it was a pretty smooth day.