Quick update on my life.
For a while now, I have been eating bean sprouts, noodles, and sausage...and I have to say, it is a pretty good meal to have on a regular basis. It fills you up, tastes good, and probably isn't too bad for you either. I am not too much of a health freak, but it is something interesting about life.
Also, I impressed a few ladies, ones that I was teaching, and now they want to learn twice as often. It makes me feel good that I can make people interested in learning English.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Incoming Students
I finished exams and have spent the majority of the summer working at Kemco and a private school. It is a lot of fun, actually, but a bit time consuming.
In terms of new videos, I have no real idea about what I should film next. The only real suggestion I has gotten is to look at other vloggers and copy them, or do a colab video with them... I don't think it is a good suggestion, but it is one. Better than someone saying I should dress up like a catboy and dance around... Obviously, my viewers are not the most enlightened indivuduals. I mean, if I do what everyone else is doing, what is the point in doing anything at all?
Maybe I should have been more specific and said that I want to know what they would like to see. Yeah, sure, the peace park is great and all...but is that really something you can't see? Do people have nothing they want to know or see in Japan? Maybe no one likes or cares much for Japan outside of anime and women.
The new international students will begin arriving in less than 2 weeks now. The school asked me to write something for them about my experiences here in Japan. It turned into an 8 page report...basically. I had a ton of people proofread it before finally decided that there really wasn't anything left to add. I will be here for a while longer, but I am not really sure how long anymore.
I want to stay until next August, but I may only be able to stay until Feb or March, in terms of the Study Abroad program. If that is the case, I will end up missing a semester in America, meaning I will be a year behind, rather than just a semester (study abroad usually puts you behind). The semester I had prepared for, but a year... I have a few plans if I can't continue to Study Abroad in Japan after March.
In terms of new videos, I have no real idea about what I should film next. The only real suggestion I has gotten is to look at other vloggers and copy them, or do a colab video with them... I don't think it is a good suggestion, but it is one. Better than someone saying I should dress up like a catboy and dance around... Obviously, my viewers are not the most enlightened indivuduals. I mean, if I do what everyone else is doing, what is the point in doing anything at all?
Maybe I should have been more specific and said that I want to know what they would like to see. Yeah, sure, the peace park is great and all...but is that really something you can't see? Do people have nothing they want to know or see in Japan? Maybe no one likes or cares much for Japan outside of anime and women.
The new international students will begin arriving in less than 2 weeks now. The school asked me to write something for them about my experiences here in Japan. It turned into an 8 page report...basically. I had a ton of people proofread it before finally decided that there really wasn't anything left to add. I will be here for a while longer, but I am not really sure how long anymore.
I want to stay until next August, but I may only be able to stay until Feb or March, in terms of the Study Abroad program. If that is the case, I will end up missing a semester in America, meaning I will be a year behind, rather than just a semester (study abroad usually puts you behind). The semester I had prepared for, but a year... I have a few plans if I can't continue to Study Abroad in Japan after March.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Exam Time!
I haven't posted in a while...
So most of my exams are next week. A few papers, a couple of presentations and exams, and I am done with my first semester here.
This week has been amazing. In particular, the last few days.
Wednesday, I used Pokemon to teach English. That was probably the most amazing thing for me, because it is something me and my students have in common. Granted, I don't know all 500, but I know up to the Silver and Gold games. It's kind of like teaching kids with something you loved growing up.
Thursday, I got to spend time with my best friend here in Japan. We ended up drinking a bit, and stayed up all night together. It reminded me of how me and Jon use to stay up a lot (we were/are both insomniacs), but...replace Jon with a Chinese girl, and replace Waffle House with 7/11 and Booze.
Then today, despite my lack of sleep, I am studying and whatnot.
The only real issues I have had are the same issues I have been having all year: The school is sorta lame, students are hard to meet and talk to, and Japanese people are really obsessed with studying. And while I really want to study, practice my Japanese, and learn more about the culture, it seems like it is easier to learn Chinese than Japanese here in Japan. Ironic, isn't it?
So most of my exams are next week. A few papers, a couple of presentations and exams, and I am done with my first semester here.
This week has been amazing. In particular, the last few days.
Wednesday, I used Pokemon to teach English. That was probably the most amazing thing for me, because it is something me and my students have in common. Granted, I don't know all 500, but I know up to the Silver and Gold games. It's kind of like teaching kids with something you loved growing up.
Thursday, I got to spend time with my best friend here in Japan. We ended up drinking a bit, and stayed up all night together. It reminded me of how me and Jon use to stay up a lot (we were/are both insomniacs), but...replace Jon with a Chinese girl, and replace Waffle House with 7/11 and Booze.
Then today, despite my lack of sleep, I am studying and whatnot.
The only real issues I have had are the same issues I have been having all year: The school is sorta lame, students are hard to meet and talk to, and Japanese people are really obsessed with studying. And while I really want to study, practice my Japanese, and learn more about the culture, it seems like it is easier to learn Chinese than Japanese here in Japan. Ironic, isn't it?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Finals & Racism
So summer in Japan starts in about a month, and finals are coming up at the end of July.
I am mostly worried because it feels like I am not doing much work in the classes. For example, I never do anything in the English class I am taking. The teacher doesn't even ask me questions. Instead, he asks the Russian. It is a bit confusing and upsetting, since I am a native English speaker, from America, and many questions are about American english.
Another is Psycholinguistics, where I also do nothing. At the end of the semester, however, papers are due, so at least I know there is something that will be graded.
Aside from those two though, I am not too worried. I have recently encountered a lot of racism, and not even in the "trying to be helpful" way. For example, I was buying items from the Lawson store on Campus, and the clerk said, in Japanese, "stupid foreigner" instead of "thank you very much." When I told the school about this, they ignored it. In addition, most Japanese women around the area that I live are very similar to American men - which is a bad thing.
As a result, I spend more time with the Chinese population on campus, or Japanese who are not from this area - who also agree that this area is very different from every other part of Japan.
Japan has a lot of wonderful things about it, such as the nature, food, and (in most areas), very very polite people. However, just as in America, not everyone is this way. I am surprised that my Japanese teacher recommended that I live in this area.
I am mostly worried because it feels like I am not doing much work in the classes. For example, I never do anything in the English class I am taking. The teacher doesn't even ask me questions. Instead, he asks the Russian. It is a bit confusing and upsetting, since I am a native English speaker, from America, and many questions are about American english.
Another is Psycholinguistics, where I also do nothing. At the end of the semester, however, papers are due, so at least I know there is something that will be graded.
Aside from those two though, I am not too worried. I have recently encountered a lot of racism, and not even in the "trying to be helpful" way. For example, I was buying items from the Lawson store on Campus, and the clerk said, in Japanese, "stupid foreigner" instead of "thank you very much." When I told the school about this, they ignored it. In addition, most Japanese women around the area that I live are very similar to American men - which is a bad thing.
As a result, I spend more time with the Chinese population on campus, or Japanese who are not from this area - who also agree that this area is very different from every other part of Japan.
Japan has a lot of wonderful things about it, such as the nature, food, and (in most areas), very very polite people. However, just as in America, not everyone is this way. I am surprised that my Japanese teacher recommended that I live in this area.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Salsa's & Jobs
Last Monday (8th), my laptop broke, so I haven't been able to update for that reason.
Tuesday (the 9th), I went to a party With Matt (an American from my home university), Kazu (friend of Matt and I), and Tsun (a Chinese guy who wants to learn English). I saw Patricia, but we didn't talk much. I also met a Chinese girl named Yuan. She's friends with Matt and is really nice, though she didn't really talk to me until Matt and company left for English Table. She sort of just came up when I was talking to a chinese girl and started talking to me, which was a nice change of pace. We also shared a few “I don't speak enough Japanese to understand this speech” moments (it was some faculty dinner).
After it ended, we went to English Table. We talked to some people, and to each other until she had to leave.
I talked to Tsun some, mostly about stuff like Star Ocean, and then headed home.
Wednesday (10th), I found out that I have a Midterm in Japanese, and that the Salsa was moved to Saturday, because they were having a party instead.
Thursday (11th), I went to Karaoke with Matt, Kazu, and Tsun. I invited Yuan, but she declined.
Friday (12th), I met with my friend Angel, who I played Volleyball with, and a freshman (Kaga - first part of his last time. forgot his first, so I will update this later with it) who wants to learn English.
Saturday (13th), I met with Yuan and Matt at school and we talked until late. Yuan wanted to read some of my poems, but. Then I went to the Salsa Party, Danced with Patricia a little, but got bored and went home early.
Sunday (14th), I went to the English Cafe near my house, hung out with Matt some, and then went to an Italian Buffet, where I have around 3 or 4 plates - American sized - worth of food, some of which was piled on pretty high.
Monday (15th) was dull. I was suppose to meet with Yuan, but she was sick. I paid some bills and hung out with Tsun (I see him pretty much every day, and we practice English, Japanese, and Chinese together).
Tuesday (16th), I went to the second of my three classes, missing the first because I over slept (it's at 8:45am), and the third because I had some person business to take care of. I was also hired as an English teacher at a private school.
I went to English Table, where I met a girl who can make Okonomiyaki. She invited me to go to her restaurant and try it.
She ended up leaving a bit early, and then I went over and sat with my friend Kaga, who asked me questions. They were a bit dull, and when I saw a Japanese girl staring at me, I waved her in to try and excite things a little. She asked me some questions until then Yuan came.
I let her read my poetry book again, since she was interested in seeing my new poems, and explained some of the poems to her, while also answering questions that the Japanese girl and Kaga were asking me (via texting Yuan).
Eventually, table ended and I went with some of the people, including Kaga, to a Ramen shop.
Wednesday (17th), I went to Salsa Club with Dr. Moldova and Yuan. Towards the end, I got bored and started improving a little bit of what I had learned into the dancing, which almost everyone was ok with.
Even after class was over though, me and Yuan had practically sneak out, because one of the students said that we had to stay longer because we were new, thus showing me that Americans come from countries that aren't America.
After running away from the scary lady, we drank some ice strawberry milk (from a vending machine) and talk for a long while.
Thursday (18th), I missed my first class because of some personal business I had to take care of, applied for a job at a video game company, missed half of my second class because I was working on a paper for my third class, which was canceled.
I studied some, getting Yuan to teach me some Chinese, ate dinner with her at the Okonomiyaki place that I had been told about on Tuesday, spent a good while talking to her (including learning some more Chinese that makes her laugh when I say it), and then headed home, took a shower, and wrote this on my cellphone.
Tuesday (the 9th), I went to a party With Matt (an American from my home university), Kazu (friend of Matt and I), and Tsun (a Chinese guy who wants to learn English). I saw Patricia, but we didn't talk much. I also met a Chinese girl named Yuan. She's friends with Matt and is really nice, though she didn't really talk to me until Matt and company left for English Table. She sort of just came up when I was talking to a chinese girl and started talking to me, which was a nice change of pace. We also shared a few “I don't speak enough Japanese to understand this speech” moments (it was some faculty dinner).
After it ended, we went to English Table. We talked to some people, and to each other until she had to leave.
I talked to Tsun some, mostly about stuff like Star Ocean, and then headed home.
Wednesday (10th), I found out that I have a Midterm in Japanese, and that the Salsa was moved to Saturday, because they were having a party instead.
Thursday (11th), I went to Karaoke with Matt, Kazu, and Tsun. I invited Yuan, but she declined.
Friday (12th), I met with my friend Angel, who I played Volleyball with, and a freshman (Kaga - first part of his last time. forgot his first, so I will update this later with it) who wants to learn English.
Saturday (13th), I met with Yuan and Matt at school and we talked until late. Yuan wanted to read some of my poems, but. Then I went to the Salsa Party, Danced with Patricia a little, but got bored and went home early.
Sunday (14th), I went to the English Cafe near my house, hung out with Matt some, and then went to an Italian Buffet, where I have around 3 or 4 plates - American sized - worth of food, some of which was piled on pretty high.
Monday (15th) was dull. I was suppose to meet with Yuan, but she was sick. I paid some bills and hung out with Tsun (I see him pretty much every day, and we practice English, Japanese, and Chinese together).
Tuesday (16th), I went to the second of my three classes, missing the first because I over slept (it's at 8:45am), and the third because I had some person business to take care of. I was also hired as an English teacher at a private school.
I went to English Table, where I met a girl who can make Okonomiyaki. She invited me to go to her restaurant and try it.
She ended up leaving a bit early, and then I went over and sat with my friend Kaga, who asked me questions. They were a bit dull, and when I saw a Japanese girl staring at me, I waved her in to try and excite things a little. She asked me some questions until then Yuan came.
I let her read my poetry book again, since she was interested in seeing my new poems, and explained some of the poems to her, while also answering questions that the Japanese girl and Kaga were asking me (via texting Yuan).
Eventually, table ended and I went with some of the people, including Kaga, to a Ramen shop.
Wednesday (17th), I went to Salsa Club with Dr. Moldova and Yuan. Towards the end, I got bored and started improving a little bit of what I had learned into the dancing, which almost everyone was ok with.
Even after class was over though, me and Yuan had practically sneak out, because one of the students said that we had to stay longer because we were new, thus showing me that Americans come from countries that aren't America.
After running away from the scary lady, we drank some ice strawberry milk (from a vending machine) and talk for a long while.
Thursday (18th), I missed my first class because of some personal business I had to take care of, applied for a job at a video game company, missed half of my second class because I was working on a paper for my third class, which was canceled.
I studied some, getting Yuan to teach me some Chinese, ate dinner with her at the Okonomiyaki place that I had been told about on Tuesday, spent a good while talking to her (including learning some more Chinese that makes her laugh when I say it), and then headed home, took a shower, and wrote this on my cellphone.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Weekend After Midterms
So my Midterms are over...I think. I am glad.
So Saturday, I went to the International Dorms and worked on a project for a bit. It started raining just as I was unlocking my bike, which caused me to be trapped outside for about an hour. When I finally did get inside, about 5 minutes later, the horribly heavy rain stopped.
Next, I went to YouMe Town and wandered around for a little bit until I ran into Aki (who is friends with Yoshi, who started talking to me randomly [which I am perfectly fine with - I actually enjoy that sort of thing] and agreed to introduce me to a lot of people - one of which was Aki). Aki showed up with two friends, one was Nao (I think that is how you spell it), and the other was Jun. We went to McDonalds (their choice), ate, and talked for about 3 hours until Shun showed up, who is also friends with Yoshi. We decided to meet for Volleyball the next day, just before parting ways.
Shun and I were invited to a party. We arrived with Dr. Moldova about 10 minutes early, and the party ended up starting about 30 minutes late. I saw Makiko, but didn't say much of anything to her. I spent most of my time talking to two new people: Patricia from Fiji, and a Japanese girl named Manako.
Patricia had my attention for a good part of the first half of the party. I was really interested in talking to her more, because she had amazing English, amazing Japanese, and was just really fun to talk to in general. She talked to Dr. Moldova some, who was explaining some engineering stuff. She looked at me, expecting me to translate what he said, which I responded with by turning around and trying to walk away - she grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me though. She also invited Dr. Moldova and I to a Salsa Club.
I am not sure when, but she sort of disappeared, and when I noticed, I was a little sad since I didn't get to say goodbye or exchange phone numbers so that I could ask about the Salsa location (I did find her on Facebook though, so I think it will be fine). But by the time I noticed, I was talking to Manako.
So Manako approached me at the start of the party, introduced herself, and then walked off. Later, we spent a good while talking, and I got her to try some Nihonshu (Rice Wine). I enjoyed talking to her, and we plan to practice together again sometime. At one point, I wanted to sit down because my knees were hurting (I had been standing without moving much for almost 3 hours), so I had to lead her to some seats, which Makiko commented on. We sat and talked for a bit until she decided that she had to go. We exchanged numbers, and then she left.
After that, I roamed around for a bit, finishing off my Nihonshu before finally crashing a conversation that started with the word Communism and ended with Child Rape. Don't ask.
I headed home, got some rest, woke up Sunday morning, got ready, and then headed over to a meeting spot that had been decided. I had to buy some shorts ($5), then I met up with Nao and a Japanese guy who everyone kept calling Ghost. We headed to the gym, set up for Volleyball, warmed up for a bit, split into teams (my team was myself, Nao, Bobby [his "middle" name], Ghost, and Angel [Ghost said "she looks like an angel,"]), and then played 3 games. It was fun, intense, and I got to spike a lot of balls. The way that the team was set up, Ghost and Angel protected the back, Nao and Bobby would help protect the front, and I would smack the ball to the other side because I had "a lot of power." At one point, I had "too much power," but I managed to tone it down.
After that, and once I realized Ghost was obsessed with Gaikokujin (especially me), I we changed back and went out to eat at a resturant called Joyfull (I did not make a typo). I kept my order pretty cheap, and a lot of the people in the group were picky, so I ended up getting some of free food, such as Tomatos, Pickles, etc...
I headed home after that and took a hot shower, followed by a hot bath.
That was my weekend in a nutshell. Hopefully Wednesday I will be going to Salsa with Dr. Moldova and Patricia.
So Saturday, I went to the International Dorms and worked on a project for a bit. It started raining just as I was unlocking my bike, which caused me to be trapped outside for about an hour. When I finally did get inside, about 5 minutes later, the horribly heavy rain stopped.
Next, I went to YouMe Town and wandered around for a little bit until I ran into Aki (who is friends with Yoshi, who started talking to me randomly [which I am perfectly fine with - I actually enjoy that sort of thing] and agreed to introduce me to a lot of people - one of which was Aki). Aki showed up with two friends, one was Nao (I think that is how you spell it), and the other was Jun. We went to McDonalds (their choice), ate, and talked for about 3 hours until Shun showed up, who is also friends with Yoshi. We decided to meet for Volleyball the next day, just before parting ways.
Shun and I were invited to a party. We arrived with Dr. Moldova about 10 minutes early, and the party ended up starting about 30 minutes late. I saw Makiko, but didn't say much of anything to her. I spent most of my time talking to two new people: Patricia from Fiji, and a Japanese girl named Manako.
Patricia had my attention for a good part of the first half of the party. I was really interested in talking to her more, because she had amazing English, amazing Japanese, and was just really fun to talk to in general. She talked to Dr. Moldova some, who was explaining some engineering stuff. She looked at me, expecting me to translate what he said, which I responded with by turning around and trying to walk away - she grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me though. She also invited Dr. Moldova and I to a Salsa Club.
I am not sure when, but she sort of disappeared, and when I noticed, I was a little sad since I didn't get to say goodbye or exchange phone numbers so that I could ask about the Salsa location (I did find her on Facebook though, so I think it will be fine). But by the time I noticed, I was talking to Manako.
So Manako approached me at the start of the party, introduced herself, and then walked off. Later, we spent a good while talking, and I got her to try some Nihonshu (Rice Wine). I enjoyed talking to her, and we plan to practice together again sometime. At one point, I wanted to sit down because my knees were hurting (I had been standing without moving much for almost 3 hours), so I had to lead her to some seats, which Makiko commented on. We sat and talked for a bit until she decided that she had to go. We exchanged numbers, and then she left.
After that, I roamed around for a bit, finishing off my Nihonshu before finally crashing a conversation that started with the word Communism and ended with Child Rape. Don't ask.
I headed home, got some rest, woke up Sunday morning, got ready, and then headed over to a meeting spot that had been decided. I had to buy some shorts ($5), then I met up with Nao and a Japanese guy who everyone kept calling Ghost. We headed to the gym, set up for Volleyball, warmed up for a bit, split into teams (my team was myself, Nao, Bobby [his "middle" name], Ghost, and Angel [Ghost said "she looks like an angel,"]), and then played 3 games. It was fun, intense, and I got to spike a lot of balls. The way that the team was set up, Ghost and Angel protected the back, Nao and Bobby would help protect the front, and I would smack the ball to the other side because I had "a lot of power." At one point, I had "too much power," but I managed to tone it down.
After that, and once I realized Ghost was obsessed with Gaikokujin (especially me), I we changed back and went out to eat at a resturant called Joyfull (I did not make a typo). I kept my order pretty cheap, and a lot of the people in the group were picky, so I ended up getting some of free food, such as Tomatos, Pickles, etc...
I headed home after that and took a hot shower, followed by a hot bath.
That was my weekend in a nutshell. Hopefully Wednesday I will be going to Salsa with Dr. Moldova and Patricia.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Vlog Count
I got up to 45, but 39, 40, and 41 I will need to go back and figure out how I want to edit them. I will probably worry about that next weekend, after Midterms.
The reason I have to go back and edit them is because they are from when I went to Nagoya, and Momo wants me to edit her out... I didn't get too much video of her, but I got a decent amount of her friend Saki because she kept explaining things. Not sure what I am going to do honestly... if anyone has a suggestion, feel free to share it with me.
The reason I have to go back and edit them is because they are from when I went to Nagoya, and Momo wants me to edit her out... I didn't get too much video of her, but I got a decent amount of her friend Saki because she kept explaining things. Not sure what I am going to do honestly... if anyone has a suggestion, feel free to share it with me.
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