Tuesday January 31, 2006
Combined meeting
Mood: 
Happy
There was a combined meeting between the Japanese teachers and the native staff. We had to demo a new curriculum for the junior class. This curriculum included activities of translation between Japanese and English. Of course the Japanese teachers had fun with us because we don't speak Japanese. When it was my turn, I had fun with them by telling a story in English in which the words chosen were of a very high level and they got confused. Then I asked questions about the story and they were all confused. It was a friendly tongue in cheek payback for their translation activity. Then we went to an all you can eat restaurant and they were impressed that the majority of the meal we ordered were chicken. They prefer fish and sea products but they eat chicken a little bit too. Then we went to a Karaoke and we sang some songs until 2am. My Japanese manager is an office worker who is dedicated to the company and preaches all the company's guidelines and positions as if it was the Holy truth. After some drinks and casual talks, I started to investigate what she really tought of the company. She was defensive at first but then she opened and revealed what she really thought about the company and its employees. It was interesting talk. Because the Karaoke finished well beyond the latest train to Miyakonojo, I went to a classroom near the train station for a nap but the spare key was missing!! So I had to wait three hours for the next train. The train station was closed so I went to a nearby Karaoke where they have the Free Time night special where you can enjoy unlimited karaoke until 5 AM for 10$. I took the special alone, went to my private room and slept until 5. Took the train back to Miyakonojo, went to bed at 7, woke up at 2pm and taught at 7pm. I have never been so glad to own Advil.
On a side note, the elections are next Sunday so I have to support those lound and obnoxious election trucks until then. They run from 8am to 8pm non stop!
Posted at 11:41 PM | Comments (1)
Sunday January 29, 2006
God damn elections...
Mood: 
Relax
I HATE when there are upcoming elections in Japan. Door to door solicitation is prohibited in Japan so to make sure their message is heard, the politicians take vans with HUGE speakers and YELL their message from 8AM to 8PM even on WEEK-END!!! That is right, today is Sunday, my only day off this week, and I was taken out of my sleep at 8AM by one of those van. It doesn't stop broadcasting and I can't wait until it's 8pm tonight. No matter where you go, you always hear it and it really gets on my nerves. And when there are no election, it's usually commercial vans yelling about the specials at the local grocery etc... Why is it allowed?? Well the politicians were elected by broadcasting like crazy. They are reluctant to remove the very tool that got them where they are. Even the politicians who disagree with that method employ it because not doing so would mean they don't have the support/budget for it and they would lose votes. Since I am downtown, I hear 2 vans for 2 candidates at the same time. I hope elections are today and starting tomorrow they will shut up!
Posted at 06:42 PM | Comments (0)
Saturday January 28, 2006
Quick update
Mood: Happy
It is with great pleasure that I finished that week. I was at the most disorganized and dirty classroom of Japan. It's even hard to teach because nothing is at its place. I have a meeting on the 30th, so I will discuss the matter with the Japanese teacher responsible for that classroom. My kerosene heater works like a charm but is a little bit smelly. I ordered cable TV (Actually it's IpTV, delivered via internet but on the real television...) and I get 2 months free without obligations. On 34 channels, there are about 15 of them that are bilingual so I will enjoy it! I am a little bit tired tonight so I won't do anything and I have no plans for Sunday.
Posted at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
Sunday January 22, 2006
I got my kerosene heater
Mood: 
Tired
First of all, my cold seems to get better.
I went to Miyazaki with Mai today. We did some shopping at the Aeon mall and we went to see King Kong at the movie theater. It was a good movie but a bit long. It was her mother's birthday so I went back to Miyakonojo at 18:40. I went straight to Best Denki and bought my kerosene heater. Overall cost for the heater, a tank and a pump was around 175$. I went to the gas station to fill up my tank and it costed 1404 yen (16$) for 18 liters. When I arrived home, I read what I could from the instructions in Japanese and tried to fill up the heater's tank. I did it the wrong way and spilled some kerosene in my entrance. Luckily for me, it is a cement floor but I have a hard time washing it totally. I tried with hot water and laundry liquid soap but there is still an oily layer on the floor. Some people suggested to light up a match and burn it but I hesitate to do such a thing... Now I have it up and running. I am surprised of the not so pleasant smell but delighted with the vast amount of heat generated.
Posted at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
Saturday January 21, 2006
Week finished
Mood: 
Sick
I am still sick but I think it's getting better. Parents observation is finished at Kita school with success although I was sick. I did not do much this week and I had my first restaurant dinner of the week tonight. I went to a sushi bar and ate 10 pieces. I met one of my student at the restaurant and he was surprised to see me speak in Japanese. Tomorrow I have to wake up early because I am going to do shopping in Miyazaki. I hope I will get better soon.
Posted at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
Sunday January 15, 2006
Day in Miyakonojo
Mood: Relax
I got an haircut today. They guy was maybe 100 years old and used very old fashion ways to cut me hairs. He used a huge blade to trim my hairs on the back and he made the job mostly by scissors although I asked for a clipper cut. Mai came to visit me at 13:19. We went to "Joyfull" for lunch and we did shopping in Aeon mall. We went to the Tsutaya to rent the movie "Madagascar"... What is old and boring in Canada is new and hype in Japan. Before watching the movie, we went for dinner at Baikingu, the buffet-style restaurant near my apartment. We watched the movie and she returned to Miyazaki.
Posted at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
Saturday January 14, 2006
Team teaching
Mood: Sick
I am still sick. I've gotten oven my fever but my throat is still sore. I did not do much during the past day because I was sick and I prefered to stay home. The temperature increased during the last two days and today I was blessed with a temperature is 21! I went to my Kobayashi school with my performance supervisor who team taught with me. I did the first and the last classes and they went well. He did the middle class and 2 kids were hyper so he had some problems but overall it went well. Mai is supposed to come visit me on Sunday and I will keep the website updated (or try to :) )
Posted at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
Monday January 9, 2006
Parent observation and karaoke
Mood: Relax
This week was parent observation at Takao school. So when I taught the lesson, they sat and watched. They also had to fill a survey on how they tought the class went. Before they came, I installed a dozen of chair around the classroom for their comfort but because they are Japanese, they ignored the chairs and sat on the floor. Overall it went smooth but the upper level classes are not good in English and cannot follow the curriculum outlined in the program. On one hand I had to cover all the topics the parents were said we covered but on the other hand, I had to make the class easy for the parents to think their children is doing ok. We are a private company and customer service is more important than actual results. The problem is that my students struggled in my upper level lesson and some of the parents didn't put a circle next to "My kid enjoyed the lesson". Anyway, I was told that it's normal and I should still cover all the objectives because parents are paying for it.
When I finished the last class, I went to an izakaya (Japanese style pub) with Aika and her friend. We ordered too much food and couldn't finish it all. It's a shame because we left jumbo shrimp in cottage cheese, chicken skewer and chicken namban (fried chicken with tartar sauce). Then we went to a shochu shot bar but for a reason that us unknown, Kakano and I had nausea when we started to drink shochu so we left the shot bar and went to karaoke (Where else?). So we took a suite with all you can drink until 6 am. We ordered many cocktails and drank a lot. I went to bed at 7 and woke up today at 14:00! I did not do anything other than taking my illegal advil and internet because my stomach hurted.
The girl on the picture is Kanako.
Posted at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
Sunday January 1, 2006
Happy New Year!!!
Mood: 
Excited
We are in 2006, the year of the dog. I celebrated New Year with Mai in Miyazaki. There were festivities celebrating New Year and the merge of three cities near Miyazaki. I arrived in Miyazaki around 20:30 and we headed to McDonald's for a cofee, McDonald's was one of the few open restaurant. Then we headed towards the city hall for the celbration but it turns out that it was about 1km further so we walked and got there. It was raining a little bit but not enough to be annoying. I tried many different kind of food like porc bread, cherry peanuts and charcoal roasted chicken. Around midnight, a countdown started. When we arrived in 2006, the taiko (Japanese drum) players started and a 20 mins long fireworks show was held. Then it started to rain a little bit more and the taiko show was over. We walked towards the shrine and took the bus to get there faster. Arrived at the shrine, we did the praying ceremony and got a little piece of paper that gives us our fortune for the upcoming year. I got a middle fortune and Mai got a low fortune, not sure of the exact meaning though. We tied the fortune to a tree and left for Karaoke. We started Karaoke at 1:30 and finished at 3:30. The Karaoke room in which we were had a massage chair. To finish the night, we went to a classroom for which I had the key and we talked and killed the time there waiting for the first train at 5:30. I arrived in Miyakonojo around 6:45 and went to bed (futon) at 7:30. Mai on the otherside had to stay up until at least 7 because she had to take the bus to Fukuoka which is a 4 hours ride to see a musical show with her mother.
Posted at 10:49 PM | Comments (1)