TOKYO -- In another capital city half-way around the world, murder. Brutal political assassination. While I was sipping a gin-and-tonic with Maki and Yumi, a man shot former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and then blew himself up, killing her and several others.
How is this acceptable to anyone as a means of settling a political dispute? I will never understand what extremists are thinking and feeling. Even if I could empathize with their views, their methods are not acceptable by any moral standard.
There are plenty of problems in the United States. Gun crime, for example. But much of the world is plagued by a sad, violent breed of instability. I can not understand it. I can only write a few words, baffled words, perhaps ignorant words, just words.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
So many escalators
Update: Heading out into Shinjuku for the second time today, this time steering clear of Department Store Hell and seeking out a big bookstore before a 7 p.m. meet-up with some friends.
Also seeking: a new topper.
More later.
Also seeking: a new topper.
More later.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tokyo
The bus left Nagoya at 5 p.m. and I have just arrived in Tokyo's Shinjuku, where I'm staying in a hotel which is conveniently located right around the corner from the drop-off point. I may be just calling it a night but there is a small chance I'll be able to meet up briefly with one of the Japanese friends via OSU.
The plan, as usual, is that there is no plan, though I am trying to book different lines of friends on different nights so I have a chance to see everybody. Otherwise when I'm on my own I'll explore with the camera.
I had long planned to get up to Tokyo when I had a few days off but I went back and forth on this particular trip. I booked the hotel and bus here just two days ago after a last minute decision to put the trip back on. I still need to book a way home, but the bus service I wanted to use is full on the day I wanted to return. So some improvisation is due.
For now, enough of What I Would Be Doing If I Were At Home. At the very least I should take a walk around, maybe hit the McDonald's across the street. (At home, you see, the McDonald's is at least a 10-minute bike ride away. This is the life.)
Updates and photos will follow. Just as soon as something happens.
The plan, as usual, is that there is no plan, though I am trying to book different lines of friends on different nights so I have a chance to see everybody. Otherwise when I'm on my own I'll explore with the camera.
I had long planned to get up to Tokyo when I had a few days off but I went back and forth on this particular trip. I booked the hotel and bus here just two days ago after a last minute decision to put the trip back on. I still need to book a way home, but the bus service I wanted to use is full on the day I wanted to return. So some improvisation is due.
For now, enough of What I Would Be Doing If I Were At Home. At the very least I should take a walk around, maybe hit the McDonald's across the street. (At home, you see, the McDonald's is at least a 10-minute bike ride away. This is the life.)
Updates and photos will follow. Just as soon as something happens.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Ho Ho Ho
A lot happened since the last "what I've been doing" post so I'll try to fill in the gap here.
First, it's pretty common for foreigners here to be cast as Santa Clause this time of year, mainly for kids. Last weekend, after a long night of little sleep, I headed off to a friend's English school for kids, slipped undetected into a back room and prepared to don the garb of Old St. Nick.
It was the full outfit, beard and all. Before I went on, they fed me. Not milk and cookies, but close enough. In the room across the hall, an unsuspecting group of kindergarten kids munched on snacks and learned about Christmas.
I was busy checking myself in the tiny make-up mirror every few seconds to put my mind at ease over the beard issue. You see, the beard has straps, and I was doing everything I could to conceal them under the jolly red cap or behind the jolly white whiskers. I am a method-acting Santa, you see, and one little slip up could knock me out of sync with the North Pole.
But all went well. One by one they took a seat on my leg and attempted to communicate with the strange man in the red suit who may or may not have suspiciously smelled exactly like what they all just ate for lunch.
It was easy. A couple hours later I returned for another group, this one larger and somewhat more energetic. I walked away from the scene, in my street clothes, $30 richer. And the kids seemed happy, except for that one girl, who is more than likely still crying.
First, it's pretty common for foreigners here to be cast as Santa Clause this time of year, mainly for kids. Last weekend, after a long night of little sleep, I headed off to a friend's English school for kids, slipped undetected into a back room and prepared to don the garb of Old St. Nick.
It was the full outfit, beard and all. Before I went on, they fed me. Not milk and cookies, but close enough. In the room across the hall, an unsuspecting group of kindergarten kids munched on snacks and learned about Christmas.
I was busy checking myself in the tiny make-up mirror every few seconds to put my mind at ease over the beard issue. You see, the beard has straps, and I was doing everything I could to conceal them under the jolly red cap or behind the jolly white whiskers. I am a method-acting Santa, you see, and one little slip up could knock me out of sync with the North Pole.
But all went well. One by one they took a seat on my leg and attempted to communicate with the strange man in the red suit who may or may not have suspiciously smelled exactly like what they all just ate for lunch.
It was easy. A couple hours later I returned for another group, this one larger and somewhat more energetic. I walked away from the scene, in my street clothes, $30 richer. And the kids seemed happy, except for that one girl, who is more than likely still crying.
---
What else? We had our end-of-year party on Friday (stage one of my long night), which is not quite like your office Christmas parties back home. Instead of decorating the conference room and awkwardly forcing yourself to socialize for two hours, everyone shows up at a rented conference room at a hotel and awkwardly socializes for two hours. Except it's only awkward at first, and then the drinking starts.
First you drink only with the crew at your table, where you were randomly placed by lottery (I was with the head hanchos, the only ones whose names were attached to seats). Shortly after the drinks start flowing, people start roaming the room, from table to table, offering to refill drinks, be they sake, beer or tea.
This goes along with a key part of dining etiquette in Japan -- you do not pour your own beverage. Instead, an empty glass is a signal to others that you are ready for a re-fill (and usually, maintaining a full glass is the secret to avoiding a never-ending supply of booze, if anyone ever does this). In the party setting, people were so eager to socialize through the glass re-filling process that a full glass was no excuse to turn down an offer. Instead you be polite and take a sip, opening up a centimeter of space for your new friend to fill. It really gets the party moving.
The momentum from the glass re-filling circus carried right through into the trivia game, which began right as people were starting to get tipsy. Even Sam and I were made to play and we were covertly fed answers by Mr. Sato. I escaped the game uttering something in Japanese, but I have no idea what it was.
Japanese work parties are a different cup of tea. They can get wild. People can get quite drunk. Horribly inappropriate things could take place in the fog of booze and detachment from the real place of work. But then on Monday, it's all erased. It's not spoken of. Nothing wild and crazy happened at our work party, though, so I'm afraid I don't have any good stories in this department.
No do I have a good ending for this post, except to say that I'll be appearing again as Santa at Nanaimo's Christmas Eve party. There will be two Santas ... the other a tall, lanky Englishman who may or may not be dressing as Mrs. Claus. Stay tuned for a full report.
First you drink only with the crew at your table, where you were randomly placed by lottery (I was with the head hanchos, the only ones whose names were attached to seats). Shortly after the drinks start flowing, people start roaming the room, from table to table, offering to refill drinks, be they sake, beer or tea.
This goes along with a key part of dining etiquette in Japan -- you do not pour your own beverage. Instead, an empty glass is a signal to others that you are ready for a re-fill (and usually, maintaining a full glass is the secret to avoiding a never-ending supply of booze, if anyone ever does this). In the party setting, people were so eager to socialize through the glass re-filling process that a full glass was no excuse to turn down an offer. Instead you be polite and take a sip, opening up a centimeter of space for your new friend to fill. It really gets the party moving.
The momentum from the glass re-filling circus carried right through into the trivia game, which began right as people were starting to get tipsy. Even Sam and I were made to play and we were covertly fed answers by Mr. Sato. I escaped the game uttering something in Japanese, but I have no idea what it was.
Japanese work parties are a different cup of tea. They can get wild. People can get quite drunk. Horribly inappropriate things could take place in the fog of booze and detachment from the real place of work. But then on Monday, it's all erased. It's not spoken of. Nothing wild and crazy happened at our work party, though, so I'm afraid I don't have any good stories in this department.
No do I have a good ending for this post, except to say that I'll be appearing again as Santa at Nanaimo's Christmas Eve party. There will be two Santas ... the other a tall, lanky Englishman who may or may not be dressing as Mrs. Claus. Stay tuned for a full report.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Blow the Belt
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times imagines one last debate before Iowa votes. Good stuff.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Reality Land and Dirty Tricks
Dirty trick season is here. The Clinton camp's newest panic-mode effort is a sad strategy to put Barack Obama's admitted teen drug use back into the headlines. Obama wrote about his drug use in his own book, long before he was running for anything. He has talked openly about it on the campaign trail as recently as last week. Rival candidates have not made a fuss about it, as they shouldn't really, because it's highly irrelevant today.
But a Clinton adviser, in an interview with The Washington Post, said his past drug use should be an issue, pushing the story into headlines and making it an issue just before the voting starts in Iowa. Clinton's camp distanced itself from the remarks and the operative later said he shouldn't have made them. But this is classic dirty trickery at work.
What likely happened was that somewhere deep in the Clinton strategy center, probably a tense place right now as Mrs. Inevitable has slipped in the polls, it was decided that they needed a torpedo. But Clinton cannot just stand up and add a paragraph about cocaine to her stump speech. They pick a sacrificial operative to let the issue slip, then distance themselves from the remarks. Then the operative apologizes, and everyone live happily ever after.
But the job is done. Who benefits from this mistake? Obviously the Clinton camp. Most folks will buy the fairy tale that the operative wasn't speaking for the campaign and that no one planned this whole gig.
In Reality Land, this was almost certainly an orchestrated move. A brilliant, sad, well executed move.
But a Clinton adviser, in an interview with The Washington Post, said his past drug use should be an issue, pushing the story into headlines and making it an issue just before the voting starts in Iowa. Clinton's camp distanced itself from the remarks and the operative later said he shouldn't have made them. But this is classic dirty trickery at work.
What likely happened was that somewhere deep in the Clinton strategy center, probably a tense place right now as Mrs. Inevitable has slipped in the polls, it was decided that they needed a torpedo. But Clinton cannot just stand up and add a paragraph about cocaine to her stump speech. They pick a sacrificial operative to let the issue slip, then distance themselves from the remarks. Then the operative apologizes, and everyone live happily ever after.
But the job is done. Who benefits from this mistake? Obviously the Clinton camp. Most folks will buy the fairy tale that the operative wasn't speaking for the campaign and that no one planned this whole gig.
In Reality Land, this was almost certainly an orchestrated move. A brilliant, sad, well executed move.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
a post
My main room is now host to a sofa-bed. It's basically a thick futon-like mattress on a platform and one side clicks up into three different positions of sofa-ness in addition to the fully flat bed-like setting. At night I lay a futon over the sofa-bed to form my new upgraded sleeping area. This is warmer and more comfortable than the double-stacked tiny futon of yester-week.
So that's good.
The second term of the school year (my first) is winding down, which means final exams, which means nothing for me to do, which means reading books and surfing the net at school, which may lead to more blog posting, but we can't be sure.
I've been spending plenty of time at work in recent days trying to arrange details of my trip to Tokyo. I've already re-arranged things a bit -- instead of going over Christmas, I'm going after, staying in Ise to attend related parties.
I may or may not be appearing twice as Santa. I expect full compensation in the form of snacks and beverage, and if the big white beard plays well maybe I'll just keep it on over winter.
Back to Tokyo -- I'm in talks with friends about staying at their places for a day or two while I'm there. If that doesn't work I am looking into youth hostel options, which sound good except for silly curfew rules (be back at 12 when you're on vacation in Tokyo?).
And at this moment I'm debating whether or not to go off to Nanaimo for a 600 yen dinner. One of the veteran gaijin in Ise, Sean, eats at Nanaimo just about every night for dinner, simply asking the owner (and our friend) Kentaro for something to eat. He gets creative for Sean and everything I've seen looks delicious. Most of these dishes aren't on the menu. I'm not saying I want to eat at Nanaimo every night, but now and then it beats to ritual of heading to the grocery store and cooking in my tiny kitchen. So I'll decide within the hour if I'll get up and head out to Nanaimo or come up with a plan B for dinner. Since I currently have no groceries and would have to bike to the store anyway, there's a good chance I'll just go the extra mile (literally) to Nanaimo.
So then. Time to freshen up. Good day.
So that's good.
The second term of the school year (my first) is winding down, which means final exams, which means nothing for me to do, which means reading books and surfing the net at school, which may lead to more blog posting, but we can't be sure.
I've been spending plenty of time at work in recent days trying to arrange details of my trip to Tokyo. I've already re-arranged things a bit -- instead of going over Christmas, I'm going after, staying in Ise to attend related parties.
I may or may not be appearing twice as Santa. I expect full compensation in the form of snacks and beverage, and if the big white beard plays well maybe I'll just keep it on over winter.
Back to Tokyo -- I'm in talks with friends about staying at their places for a day or two while I'm there. If that doesn't work I am looking into youth hostel options, which sound good except for silly curfew rules (be back at 12 when you're on vacation in Tokyo?).
And at this moment I'm debating whether or not to go off to Nanaimo for a 600 yen dinner. One of the veteran gaijin in Ise, Sean, eats at Nanaimo just about every night for dinner, simply asking the owner (and our friend) Kentaro for something to eat. He gets creative for Sean and everything I've seen looks delicious. Most of these dishes aren't on the menu. I'm not saying I want to eat at Nanaimo every night, but now and then it beats to ritual of heading to the grocery store and cooking in my tiny kitchen. So I'll decide within the hour if I'll get up and head out to Nanaimo or come up with a plan B for dinner. Since I currently have no groceries and would have to bike to the store anyway, there's a good chance I'll just go the extra mile (literally) to Nanaimo.
So then. Time to freshen up. Good day.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Melon Time
Brother Phil pointed out in a comment that my most recent post was from quite a while back and about drinking a lot of beer in one sitting. I realize this may have raised some issues about my state, but rest assured that rumors that I was kidnapped and taken to Kyushuu to work on a melon farm were highly exaggerated. The melon farm was in Sendai.
At any rate, I am alive an well now. And though it appears to be Friday night, it is still a "school night," as we have a day-long seminar for the second-year international course students tomorrow. Sunday will be doubly good as it represents my only weekend day as well as the day my new couch/bed thing will arrive by delivery.
I need to clean up because I'm hosting overnighters tonight, so I must go. Farewell.
Keep eating melons. It keeps people employed!
At any rate, I am alive an well now. And though it appears to be Friday night, it is still a "school night," as we have a day-long seminar for the second-year international course students tomorrow. Sunday will be doubly good as it represents my only weekend day as well as the day my new couch/bed thing will arrive by delivery.
I need to clean up because I'm hosting overnighters tonight, so I must go. Farewell.
Keep eating melons. It keeps people employed!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
All one can drink
I shall try not to think too much about the delicious Thanksgiving meals currently being planned by various wings of my family back home. I'll just stay safely wrapped inside my Japan bubble, where the commonly used household cooking devices are not even close to big enough to host a turkey for an afternoon.
Oh, and the pie.
But no -- I must not focus on the pie, in all its wonderful varieties. No, it's just another week in Ise. Tonight I'll be heading down the street to the Ise Brewery for a twice-monthly tradition. For 1,000 yen (less than $10) per person, you get all you can drink on quality beers on tap, some which are made in the house. This is not your normal super-light (and super dry) Japanese beer, which I certainly don't mind. This is quality black beers, brown beers, bitter beers, amber beers. And some wildcards which are best kept in the "sampler" size ... I'm talking about the green tea beer, here, mainly. Not to be trusted.
This place is just a dash away from my house, just before the 100 yen shop and the drug store. Four or five or six of us meet there for the twice-a-month all-you-can-drink festivities, and if we are not satisfied with the night by the 11 p.m. closing time, we usually meander (stumble?) over to my apartment and try not to piss off the mean downstairs neighbor as we push through to 1 a.m. All this on a school night (for most of us). Fortunately this is just a couple times a month at most. But I feel fortunate to live so close to Ise's best source of good quality beer.
Then on Thursday I will teach only two lessons before a three-day-weekend. Nothing special planned at the moment so maybe I'll stay local and aim to save money right after payday instead of right before.
Happy birthday wishes go out to my father, Bryan, back in Oregon. Happy holidays wishes go to all of my friends and family. All I ask in return is that you simply think of me this holiday season. Also, fax me some gravy.
Oh, and the pie.
But no -- I must not focus on the pie, in all its wonderful varieties. No, it's just another week in Ise. Tonight I'll be heading down the street to the Ise Brewery for a twice-monthly tradition. For 1,000 yen (less than $10) per person, you get all you can drink on quality beers on tap, some which are made in the house. This is not your normal super-light (and super dry) Japanese beer, which I certainly don't mind. This is quality black beers, brown beers, bitter beers, amber beers. And some wildcards which are best kept in the "sampler" size ... I'm talking about the green tea beer, here, mainly. Not to be trusted.
This place is just a dash away from my house, just before the 100 yen shop and the drug store. Four or five or six of us meet there for the twice-a-month all-you-can-drink festivities, and if we are not satisfied with the night by the 11 p.m. closing time, we usually meander (stumble?) over to my apartment and try not to piss off the mean downstairs neighbor as we push through to 1 a.m. All this on a school night (for most of us). Fortunately this is just a couple times a month at most. But I feel fortunate to live so close to Ise's best source of good quality beer.
Then on Thursday I will teach only two lessons before a three-day-weekend. Nothing special planned at the moment so maybe I'll stay local and aim to save money right after payday instead of right before.
Happy birthday wishes go out to my father, Bryan, back in Oregon. Happy holidays wishes go to all of my friends and family. All I ask in return is that you simply think of me this holiday season. Also, fax me some gravy.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Budgeted In
Even though I had a chance to more than double my buy in, I played it safe -- that is, I didn't play at all. Rather than forking over the 2000 yen buy-in plus transportation plus food and drinks, I stayed home on Saturday, cooking my own dinner, etc., in a end-of-pay-period conservation drive.
Sunday was not much different. I rode around on the bike for a bit, and later went to the grocery store to sustain my higher rate of eating in. We do get paid on Wednesday, though I should increase my eating in even during normal times (it does not take a financial expert to realize that I wouldn't be broke if I worked a little harder on balance).
Anyway, enough of that nonsense ...
We're entering another busy phase at work. We are in the planning stages for a day-long English seminar for our second-year students set for Dec. 1. The hardest part so far has been recruiting other ALTs to come help ... we offer them about $30 for a days work but it's on a Saturday so we've gotten a lot of "maybes" (JETs tend to be very active on their weekends ... I'm not sure where they get their cash).
Meanwhile, one of the members of the English Club is preparing to participate in a regional speech contest after qualifying at the prefectural level. If she wins again she'll go on to the national competition. Starting tomorrow we'll be working with her after school.
Speaking of the English Club, we're suppose to plan a party with Thanksgiving as the theme. Any ideas? Not sure how practical it would be to try to ... you know ... cook a turkey. What else could we do? The floor is open.
Sunday was not much different. I rode around on the bike for a bit, and later went to the grocery store to sustain my higher rate of eating in. We do get paid on Wednesday, though I should increase my eating in even during normal times (it does not take a financial expert to realize that I wouldn't be broke if I worked a little harder on balance).
Anyway, enough of that nonsense ...
We're entering another busy phase at work. We are in the planning stages for a day-long English seminar for our second-year students set for Dec. 1. The hardest part so far has been recruiting other ALTs to come help ... we offer them about $30 for a days work but it's on a Saturday so we've gotten a lot of "maybes" (JETs tend to be very active on their weekends ... I'm not sure where they get their cash).
Meanwhile, one of the members of the English Club is preparing to participate in a regional speech contest after qualifying at the prefectural level. If she wins again she'll go on to the national competition. Starting tomorrow we'll be working with her after school.
Speaking of the English Club, we're suppose to plan a party with Thanksgiving as the theme. Any ideas? Not sure how practical it would be to try to ... you know ... cook a turkey. What else could we do? The floor is open.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Poker Face
The week is fading into weekendery here in Japan, with only a couple more hours of work on the slate. Tonight, Friday, we will be attending a farewell party for two student teachers who have been here for two weeks. Both are Yamasho graduates and both now attend a university in Nagoya. One plans to go on to a career as a teacher. At any rate, it has been fun to have them around. Sam and I had lunch with them last Sunday and strolled around the historic shopping district near the Grand Shrine.
On Saturday night I will join a charity Texas Hold 'Em tournament in Matsusaka. The entrance fee is a little less than $20 and the potential winnings are probably near $100. There will surely be lots of competition so I'm counting on the cards to carry me. Also some bluffing, perhaps. I cannot reveal my strategy in this public forum.
That leads to Sunday which I currently plan to spend doing nothing and spending no money. Even though I didn't buy a $450 camera this month, the bank account seems to have shed yen faster than any previous month in Japan. So until the 21st I'm in conservation mode, which includes a higher frequency of eating in and a lower frequency of going for a drink at Nanaimo.
In about 10 minutes I'll head to my final lesson of the week. Then I somehow kill an hour before I am released into the wild.
On Saturday night I will join a charity Texas Hold 'Em tournament in Matsusaka. The entrance fee is a little less than $20 and the potential winnings are probably near $100. There will surely be lots of competition so I'm counting on the cards to carry me. Also some bluffing, perhaps. I cannot reveal my strategy in this public forum.
That leads to Sunday which I currently plan to spend doing nothing and spending no money. Even though I didn't buy a $450 camera this month, the bank account seems to have shed yen faster than any previous month in Japan. So until the 21st I'm in conservation mode, which includes a higher frequency of eating in and a lower frequency of going for a drink at Nanaimo.
In about 10 minutes I'll head to my final lesson of the week. Then I somehow kill an hour before I am released into the wild.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A Couch Crisis
I officially need a couch or something.
The situation is this: I have hardly any furniture. In the "main room" you will find a small bookshelf, a large shelf for dishes and other miscellaneous items, a "normal" size table, two "normal" size chairs, and a low table. That's it. No recliner, no couch, nothing to sit in while enjoying, for example, television, or a book or an impromptu nap.
The bedroom isn't much better. It features a twin small bookshelf which actually stores clothes, a tiny bedstand, a tiny ironing board, and two futons, one stacked on the other, representing my bed.
To an extent, this is the Japanese style ... people often sit on the floor, or on thin mats, when having meals together around the low table. Futon mats are your basic bed setup. But go to most Japanese homes today and you'll find couches or recliners.
So I need to do some exploring. Can I afford a couch? Or a maybe a sort-of-couch-that-folds-into-a-futon? And how I can I get it home? Do they deliver? Is that crazy expensive? Will I need to bring a a real life Japanese person along to set up this alleged delivery service? Can I find a good deal at a second-hand store? Where ARE the second-hand stores around here, anyway?
Well, at least I've identified the questions.
The situation is this: I have hardly any furniture. In the "main room" you will find a small bookshelf, a large shelf for dishes and other miscellaneous items, a "normal" size table, two "normal" size chairs, and a low table. That's it. No recliner, no couch, nothing to sit in while enjoying, for example, television, or a book or an impromptu nap.
The bedroom isn't much better. It features a twin small bookshelf which actually stores clothes, a tiny bedstand, a tiny ironing board, and two futons, one stacked on the other, representing my bed.
To an extent, this is the Japanese style ... people often sit on the floor, or on thin mats, when having meals together around the low table. Futon mats are your basic bed setup. But go to most Japanese homes today and you'll find couches or recliners.
So I need to do some exploring. Can I afford a couch? Or a maybe a sort-of-couch-that-folds-into-a-futon? And how I can I get it home? Do they deliver? Is that crazy expensive? Will I need to bring a a real life Japanese person along to set up this alleged delivery service? Can I find a good deal at a second-hand store? Where ARE the second-hand stores around here, anyway?
Well, at least I've identified the questions.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Which far-flung country are YOU traveling to?
Many JETs go back home at Christmas. Others travel to exotic or interesting or cheap-to-travel-to Asian countries. Others, of course, stay in Japan and travel domestically.
I flirted with going home for Christmas, which would certainly be nice, but airfare was through the roof when I started looking.
There's a lot of pressure to have exciting plans for the winter holiday, which spans about two weeks. The pressure comes from other JETs or people at school. "Have you made plans for winter break yet?" they'll say knowingly. "You better book now! Flights are filling up!"
Well, even though we JETs get paid fairly decently, I don't have loads of spare cash on hand to just "book now" for some big trip to Thailand or Cambodia or Islamabad. So for the last few weeks I've been deflecting such questions with half-answers fit for the White House press secretary.
"I'm looking into some possible options."
"I may go home, but it's too early to tell."
"This is really up to the American people to decide."
And so on.
Mr. Suzuki, the principal at my school, seemed shocked, in a muted way, when he heard I wasn't going abroad. Since I wasn't going home or to Vietnam or something, he suggested that I head to Japan's Great White North -- Hokkaido.
That sounded fun, but also pretty expensive and also requiring fast action.
I hedged.
"That would be really fun," I offered. "I'd really like to go there."
And I would, no joke, really like to go there. Some day I will. But I managed to put off travel planning so long even Hokkaido is now in the "maybe next year" category.
Then came today, when I chatted with a Tokyo friend about the holiday break. I ended up deciding to go to Tokyo from Dec. 23 until Dec. 26. The plan is to visit various Tokyo friends whenever they have free time.
At least one friend will be available for nearly all of my time there, so that's good to know. Others will likely be available to meet up for an evening or a lunch or a drink.
I'll travel by overnight bus, saving loads since I'm avoiding the bullet train. The hotel is booked via a discount Web site that'll save me about $100 on my three nights. I'll be in Tokyo at Christmas, and back in Ise on New Year's. Ise is a major New Year's magnet, since it's home to the holiest of holy Shinto shrines, the Ise Grand Shrine.
I'll spend New Year's with whatever members of the local crew aren't off on exciting trips which they certainly booked in, roughly, 1992.
I flirted with going home for Christmas, which would certainly be nice, but airfare was through the roof when I started looking.
There's a lot of pressure to have exciting plans for the winter holiday, which spans about two weeks. The pressure comes from other JETs or people at school. "Have you made plans for winter break yet?" they'll say knowingly. "You better book now! Flights are filling up!"
Well, even though we JETs get paid fairly decently, I don't have loads of spare cash on hand to just "book now" for some big trip to Thailand or Cambodia or Islamabad. So for the last few weeks I've been deflecting such questions with half-answers fit for the White House press secretary.
"I'm looking into some possible options."
"I may go home, but it's too early to tell."
"This is really up to the American people to decide."
And so on.
Mr. Suzuki, the principal at my school, seemed shocked, in a muted way, when he heard I wasn't going abroad. Since I wasn't going home or to Vietnam or something, he suggested that I head to Japan's Great White North -- Hokkaido.
That sounded fun, but also pretty expensive and also requiring fast action.
I hedged.
"That would be really fun," I offered. "I'd really like to go there."
And I would, no joke, really like to go there. Some day I will. But I managed to put off travel planning so long even Hokkaido is now in the "maybe next year" category.
Then came today, when I chatted with a Tokyo friend about the holiday break. I ended up deciding to go to Tokyo from Dec. 23 until Dec. 26. The plan is to visit various Tokyo friends whenever they have free time.
At least one friend will be available for nearly all of my time there, so that's good to know. Others will likely be available to meet up for an evening or a lunch or a drink.
I'll travel by overnight bus, saving loads since I'm avoiding the bullet train. The hotel is booked via a discount Web site that'll save me about $100 on my three nights. I'll be in Tokyo at Christmas, and back in Ise on New Year's. Ise is a major New Year's magnet, since it's home to the holiest of holy Shinto shrines, the Ise Grand Shrine.
I'll spend New Year's with whatever members of the local crew aren't off on exciting trips which they certainly booked in, roughly, 1992.
And the bunny goes bust
As I settle into my third month in Japan on the JET Program, thousands of other foreigners in Japan are facing eviction from their apartments, searching for new jobs and going day-to-day unsure about from where they might get their next meal.This is because Nova, Japan's largest English conversation school and the nation's largest employer of foreigners, has gone belly up after months of scandal that highlighted years of shady business practices ... that short-changed students and treated instructors and domestic staffers like, well, bunny crap.
The story is still making headlines. Here's the UK's Independent from the Nov. 5 edition:
In a country teeming with cute cartoon characters, few are cuter or better known than the Nova bunny. The pink mascot stood in the doorways of language schools across Japan, promising a short educational encounter with an exotic foreigner. But now, thousands of teachers and students have found that the bunny bites, hard.
The collapse of Nova, Japan's biggest employer of foreigners, has left 4,000 teachers – including more than 900 from the UK – stranded without work, money and, in some cases, a place to live. "There are people who don't know where their next meal is coming from," said Bob Tench, an official with Nova's union. "It's very distressing."http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3129679.ece
Nova started back in the early '80s, when Japan was booming and so too was English. Native speakers of the world's language to come to Japan and make $100 an hour, says this take in the Christian Science Monitor.
When I was doing my "what if I went to Japan and taught English" research on the Web, I found mostly bad reviews for Nova from past and present instructors. Some of the complaints were common to all English conversation schools -- the emphasis is on sales, they only want you for short periods, little chance for promotion, little valuable work experience. But Nova had the worst deal, said the consensus. They sometimes shoved three instructors into one apartment and made them all pay full price. (They also paid the rent directly, deducting from salaries, so when they went bush they also forced their screwed-over teachers to deal with angry landlords.)
In recent months, more and more complaints from students came to the surface, which got more attention in the Japanese media. Nova was signing up students for up to three years in advance for lessons. If students ever decided that they didn't like what they had paid for, Nova wouldn't offer refunds. Japan's high court squashed this practice in the summer and governing bodies imposed limits on Nova's operations. Then as October faded to black the Pink Bunny filed for bankruptcy, closing its doors across Japan and leaving students without refunds and teachers without livelihoods.
In Ise, a couple from England who had been working for Nova got out just in time and found new jobs in the area. They also traded in their Nova apartment for one just as big but for half the price. They're wise; they're lucky. One other local Nova teacher, who had just arrived this summer, left Ise last week to stay with her sister on a U.S. military base near Tokyo. She's also lucky in that she has a place to go but she would like to stay in Japan, and finding a job right now is going to be tough for anyone in the English industry.
Meanwhile, the word is that court-appointed overseers, who fired the corrupt president of the company last week, are trying to line-up a savior for the chain, somebody to re-invest, pay off debts, and give some teachers their jobs back. But it's unclear if any company is willing to scoop up the damaged goods.
And finally, enjoy this video for some backgrounds on the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad company:
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Three months then?
Suddenly, and without warning, it became November. We are approaching three months in Japan, which seems like kind of a long time. But since I do expect to stay here for at least two years, and more likely three, and possibly more, it seems like I can still call myself "new."
Routines have been set. Alarm bells ring at the same time every morning. I know which room all my classes are in. I don't second-guess my route to the train station. Life is normal.
I still haven't explored everything. There's so much out there, but not so much with the free time or means of transportation.
But at home thing are normalizing. I recently moved in to the bed room, which for the summer was used only as a storage space for a mess. Since the air conditioner was in the main room, that's where I slept in the Period of Brutal Heat which will sadly return in a year.
But as the temperatures mild-ized I expanded to the bedroom. The mess, naturally, has migrated to the main room, and I'm still waiting for a free day so I can sort through the crap and finally achieve balance.
Meanwhile, this weekend marks the end of speech-contest-season, which was in full swing when we arrived. This has meant almost daily meetings of the English Speaking Society (ESS). That means working past our contractual go-home time for 4:15, usually until 5 or 5:30. It also means occasional treks to speech contests, which are strange affairs indeed. Perhaps some time I'll write about them, but for now, this posts is begging to be submitted.
Good day
Routines have been set. Alarm bells ring at the same time every morning. I know which room all my classes are in. I don't second-guess my route to the train station. Life is normal.
I still haven't explored everything. There's so much out there, but not so much with the free time or means of transportation.
But at home thing are normalizing. I recently moved in to the bed room, which for the summer was used only as a storage space for a mess. Since the air conditioner was in the main room, that's where I slept in the Period of Brutal Heat which will sadly return in a year.
But as the temperatures mild-ized I expanded to the bedroom. The mess, naturally, has migrated to the main room, and I'm still waiting for a free day so I can sort through the crap and finally achieve balance.
Meanwhile, this weekend marks the end of speech-contest-season, which was in full swing when we arrived. This has meant almost daily meetings of the English Speaking Society (ESS). That means working past our contractual go-home time for 4:15, usually until 5 or 5:30. It also means occasional treks to speech contests, which are strange affairs indeed. Perhaps some time I'll write about them, but for now, this posts is begging to be submitted.
Good day
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Halloween Photos
See the blue and red folks? Tetris blocks. Fantastic costume. Which I'd thought of it.
Yes. It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Fortunately, these guys are not, according to what they told me, afraid of any ghosts.
Perhaps the best in show.
School festival photos
Prep for the school festival. Each home room made one of these poster things and then teachers voted on the best in each grade level.
The preparations are elaborate and the entire school is made over. Homerooms are decorated and special displays and created around the campus.
This is a dark room.
During the opening ceremony. This stuff blasted from some kind of cannon. Didn't see that coming.
During the afternoon on the first day of the festival, food was available at booths outside, though it was pouring down rain. Meanwhile there was a sort of open mic thing in the gym so student musical groups could perform.
This is one of the classroom displays ... some sort of jungle. The third-year kids (seniors) really liked making it so visitors had to crawl through tiny spaces.
During the preparations, some softball club members take a break to practice their swings.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Mormonaryianism
The weekend came and went without the issue of Halloween being settled. Because I likely wont' have a chance to get to a store to buy any materials for a more creative costume, I think I'm leaning toward a repeat of the Mormon Missionary idea.
Before you fret, note that this is a Halloween party which will be dominated by JETs from Mie, so I'm guessing they'll get the joke. They have Mormon missionaries in other countries right? All over the world, roughly? Right?
The outfit: Black slacks, a white dress shirt, a black tie, black shoes.
The accessories: A backpack, a bicycle helmet (never taken off), a name tag (Elder Walter Romney), and a "Book of Mormon."
The beverage: Just juice sanctioned by God himself.
Stay tuned for the results.
God bless you.
Before you fret, note that this is a Halloween party which will be dominated by JETs from Mie, so I'm guessing they'll get the joke. They have Mormon missionaries in other countries right? All over the world, roughly? Right?
The outfit: Black slacks, a white dress shirt, a black tie, black shoes.
The accessories: A backpack, a bicycle helmet (never taken off), a name tag (Elder Walter Romney), and a "Book of Mormon."
The beverage: Just juice sanctioned by God himself.
Stay tuned for the results.
God bless you.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Three Elephants and a Pimp
Her name is Rie, and she once dated a member of the Asian Pimps. The relationship has faded, though she talks about it like it was two days ago. "But I lost my boyfriend two years ago," she says, in a tone that suggests she has not yet fully recovered.
Her five-inch-tall stack of photos, held together by a hair scrunchy, features the former boyfriend more prominently than anyone except herself. One photo shows the couple on her birthday. She sighs, as her pair of fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand dogs dart around the apartment oblivious to the somber mood. "Two years ago."
We met Rie, a friend of a friend from Ise who had traveled with us to the city, earlier in the day in Nagoya's trendy shopping district. After trudging through the area for an hour or so, I had managed only to buy a CD. Rie had three gigantic shopping bags. We later learned that one of her nicknames is "bag monster." It fit. I wondered how often she goes on such sprees. How can she afford it?
Maybe it's the three jobs. She works at Toyota in a department involving finance. She works at an unnamed location as a designer. She works three nights a week as a hostess, which requires further explanation.
Hostess bars, also known as snack bars, are incredibly popular among the men of Japan. A snack bar features drinks, often karaoke, and most importantly, young attractive women who engage you in conversation and pour your drinks. Of course, you're paying for the company. Normal operations are nothing too shady. It's not part of the sex trade, though the seedier options could probably be found in the same neighborhood. You pay for a nice-looking woman to sit with you and talk with you. The bill runs up, especially if you're like me and require a couple of drinks to actually enjoy the fake, sometimes dull atmosphere.
At any rate, based on how much I paid when I went to a snack bar with some teachers the other week, I imagine Rie makes plenty of spending money from this gig alone. She fits the part. A sometimes model, she's attractive and interesting to talk to. And, she paints.
As we prepared to watch her friend's live show at a tiny bar in another part of Nagoya, Rie told us about the three elephants. She had to paint three elephants, she said, without much more detail except that it was for an art class she takes. At her apartment, we discovered that she had already painted the three elephants, but had to finish up the project and perhaps try it all again. She filled in the white space around the elephants with a border made up of different degrees of gray. The elephants themselves, stacked on top of each other on one sheet of paper, were a variety of colors. The point wasn't to learn how to draw elephants, Rie stressed. The lesson was about color composition.
The mix of colors that made up the elephants seemed to fit for Rie, the hostess, the painter, the model, the former reggae DJ, the dog-owner, the bag-wielder, the designer, the office worker. There was so much going on in her life that it would be hard to image anyone painting her without using just as many colors. It's cliche, yes, but sometimes art mimics life ... even when it's just a lesson about colors.
So instead of going to Matsusaka, Sam and Mami and I went to Nagoya, where we met Rie, who inspired the above sketch. She was quite a character so I took a stab and writing her down. Thanks for the comments on Halloween. Any more ideas out there?
Her five-inch-tall stack of photos, held together by a hair scrunchy, features the former boyfriend more prominently than anyone except herself. One photo shows the couple on her birthday. She sighs, as her pair of fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand dogs dart around the apartment oblivious to the somber mood. "Two years ago."
We met Rie, a friend of a friend from Ise who had traveled with us to the city, earlier in the day in Nagoya's trendy shopping district. After trudging through the area for an hour or so, I had managed only to buy a CD. Rie had three gigantic shopping bags. We later learned that one of her nicknames is "bag monster." It fit. I wondered how often she goes on such sprees. How can she afford it?
Maybe it's the three jobs. She works at Toyota in a department involving finance. She works at an unnamed location as a designer. She works three nights a week as a hostess, which requires further explanation.
Hostess bars, also known as snack bars, are incredibly popular among the men of Japan. A snack bar features drinks, often karaoke, and most importantly, young attractive women who engage you in conversation and pour your drinks. Of course, you're paying for the company. Normal operations are nothing too shady. It's not part of the sex trade, though the seedier options could probably be found in the same neighborhood. You pay for a nice-looking woman to sit with you and talk with you. The bill runs up, especially if you're like me and require a couple of drinks to actually enjoy the fake, sometimes dull atmosphere.
At any rate, based on how much I paid when I went to a snack bar with some teachers the other week, I imagine Rie makes plenty of spending money from this gig alone. She fits the part. A sometimes model, she's attractive and interesting to talk to. And, she paints.
As we prepared to watch her friend's live show at a tiny bar in another part of Nagoya, Rie told us about the three elephants. She had to paint three elephants, she said, without much more detail except that it was for an art class she takes. At her apartment, we discovered that she had already painted the three elephants, but had to finish up the project and perhaps try it all again. She filled in the white space around the elephants with a border made up of different degrees of gray. The elephants themselves, stacked on top of each other on one sheet of paper, were a variety of colors. The point wasn't to learn how to draw elephants, Rie stressed. The lesson was about color composition.
The mix of colors that made up the elephants seemed to fit for Rie, the hostess, the painter, the model, the former reggae DJ, the dog-owner, the bag-wielder, the designer, the office worker. There was so much going on in her life that it would be hard to image anyone painting her without using just as many colors. It's cliche, yes, but sometimes art mimics life ... even when it's just a lesson about colors.
---
So instead of going to Matsusaka, Sam and Mami and I went to Nagoya, where we met Rie, who inspired the above sketch. She was quite a character so I took a stab and writing her down. Thanks for the comments on Halloween. Any more ideas out there?
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