The sixth graders at N are finally getting used to me <3 It makes me so happy because they're good kids. They're just shy.
Last time I had lunch with them, S talked to me the whole time. Today, S AND M talked to me the whole time <3
Of course it was all asking me random questions. It started out about foods and stuff.
Then M said this:
この質問はこの二人からけど彼氏いますか？(This question is from those two over there, but do you have a boyfriend?)
I told her no, and they were like WHY?
Then Kaz asked me if I had a boyfriend in the US. I said no, again.
I'm pretty sure that M asked them if they wanted to be my boyfriends at that point.
THEN Kaz asked me "Where are you from again?" and I told him Colorado.
He and the other boy both said "OH, COLORADO" like they knew what I was talking about.
M said to him "You don't even know where that is, do you??"
Kaz: Yeah I do! It's near the top, right...? In the east... WELL I've HEARD of it!
I told him it's in the west and we laughed at him.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
A taxing day...
Today has been utterly exhausting. I came to school early because I was planning on making copies for my second graders so they could do a Christmas activity. I was only five minutes earlier than usual, but I figured that was plenty of time to get my copies made.
Sometimes, I think I ought to be kicked for my optimism..
I got to school and they were still having their teacher's meeting. So I accidentally interrupted that. Then, I didn't want to casue any more distractions, so I just stayed put until they finished. I had to rush to get my compies made before first period because even though I was early, their meeting ruined my plans.
First and second period were fine but then during morning break, I had to rush to make copies for my sixth graders Momotaro activity. I came back from lunch and opened my desk to find I ALREADY MADE THEM OM MONDAY. I FORGOT. So I caused myself undue stress, and I have 80 extra copies of masks that I can't use because I have done them at all of my schools already. Damnit all.
Then third period, I don't even know what happened. The homeroom teacher has never done this to me before, and I kind of didn't know what to do. She left me alone. With 29 second graders. She was in the hall with one of the kids the whole time, scolding him maybe. I don't know... but I... That was hard. That's the same reason that I don't teacher 英会話. It's so taxing. There was no way that I could have done that lesson without using Japanese. I didn't use too much, just to ask them necessary questions. But, I am not supposed to. Ugh.
Fourth period was better than usual... Sixth graders...
Lunch was exactly what I needed to recharge. First of all, it was one of my favorite lunches and secondly I had lunch with 5-1. Last time it was nothing special but this time the kids that I sat with were insane! They made me smile and laugh the WHOLE time. It was so fun. One of them was pantomiming most of lunch and the kid next to him (I need to learn that kid's name, he's always active in class) was crazy! He didn't stop talking ever! And then when Abe sensei came in with her cow puppet, he said it was his rival. So funny.
Fifth period, again a weird thing happened. It was Ki sensei's class and I was really looking forward to it because he. is. awesome. Again, I am not sure what happened, but K sensei popped his head in right after we started asking to talk to Ki sensei. He pulled several boys out of class and left. me. alone. again. WHAT THE HELL??
But, thankfully his class is good. I sensei's class would have given me blank stares if I had done with them what I did with his class. I just said "I have these" and held up my different masks. Then "Who wants to be...?" and I got everything started except the grandpa in Momotaro. But... also, most of his kids know that I can speak and understand Japanese, where as I sensei's kids freaked out when I told them last time I had luch with them. I sensei was in her classroom (I guess?) and she came in to help me after about 15 minutes. She wasn't sure what was going on with those boys either, but speculated that perhaps something had happened between them and some of K sensei's kids.
Then after classes I booked out early and went to bank. It took me forty five minutes to get everything worked out to send money home. And I don't even know if I got everything right. :/ The guy that works at the post office saw me and came and talked to me a little bit. He's nice but soooo weird.
And now I am gonna go take a shower, read, and pass out. Sounds lovely.
Sometimes, I think I ought to be kicked for my optimism..
I got to school and they were still having their teacher's meeting. So I accidentally interrupted that. Then, I didn't want to casue any more distractions, so I just stayed put until they finished. I had to rush to get my compies made before first period because even though I was early, their meeting ruined my plans.
First and second period were fine but then during morning break, I had to rush to make copies for my sixth graders Momotaro activity. I came back from lunch and opened my desk to find I ALREADY MADE THEM OM MONDAY. I FORGOT. So I caused myself undue stress, and I have 80 extra copies of masks that I can't use because I have done them at all of my schools already. Damnit all.
Then third period, I don't even know what happened. The homeroom teacher has never done this to me before, and I kind of didn't know what to do. She left me alone. With 29 second graders. She was in the hall with one of the kids the whole time, scolding him maybe. I don't know... but I... That was hard. That's the same reason that I don't teacher 英会話. It's so taxing. There was no way that I could have done that lesson without using Japanese. I didn't use too much, just to ask them necessary questions. But, I am not supposed to. Ugh.
Fourth period was better than usual... Sixth graders...
Lunch was exactly what I needed to recharge. First of all, it was one of my favorite lunches and secondly I had lunch with 5-1. Last time it was nothing special but this time the kids that I sat with were insane! They made me smile and laugh the WHOLE time. It was so fun. One of them was pantomiming most of lunch and the kid next to him (I need to learn that kid's name, he's always active in class) was crazy! He didn't stop talking ever! And then when Abe sensei came in with her cow puppet, he said it was his rival. So funny.
Fifth period, again a weird thing happened. It was Ki sensei's class and I was really looking forward to it because he. is. awesome. Again, I am not sure what happened, but K sensei popped his head in right after we started asking to talk to Ki sensei. He pulled several boys out of class and left. me. alone. again. WHAT THE HELL??
But, thankfully his class is good. I sensei's class would have given me blank stares if I had done with them what I did with his class. I just said "I have these" and held up my different masks. Then "Who wants to be...?" and I got everything started except the grandpa in Momotaro. But... also, most of his kids know that I can speak and understand Japanese, where as I sensei's kids freaked out when I told them last time I had luch with them. I sensei was in her classroom (I guess?) and she came in to help me after about 15 minutes. She wasn't sure what was going on with those boys either, but speculated that perhaps something had happened between them and some of K sensei's kids.
Then after classes I booked out early and went to bank. It took me forty five minutes to get everything worked out to send money home. And I don't even know if I got everything right. :/ The guy that works at the post office saw me and came and talked to me a little bit. He's nice but soooo weird.
And now I am gonna go take a shower, read, and pass out. Sounds lovely.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Time to Pursue
I think that it's time to pursue some things that I want to do, more so because I am in freaking Japan! What the hell am I doing? Just dawdling! This is what I wanted to do, be here so I could do these things. Jeez.
I want to do these things:
-go to other parts of Japan!!
Okinawa and Kyushu!
-go to Korea again if possible
-go to concerts!
~Arashi
~Kat Tun
~GreeeeN
~Flumpool
~KisMyFt2
~NEWS
~Hamasaki Ayumi
~Kpop concerts in Japan? YES GO!!!
I want to do these things:
-go to other parts of Japan!!
Okinawa and Kyushu!
-go to Korea again if possible
-go to concerts!
~Arashi
~Kat Tun
~GreeeeN
~Flumpool
~KisMyFt2
~NEWS
~Hamasaki Ayumi
~Kpop concerts in Japan? YES GO!!!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Lunch Time Conversations 2
Today I had lunch with 6-1 at my big school.
Girl: ね先生、知ってる？彼は先生が好き！(Hey teacher? This boy here likes you!)
Boy: へー！何だそんな話！(EH? Why are you talking about this!?)
Girl: ね、ね！先生！本当だ好き！*bunch of chatter that I couldn't follow to save my life, but she mentioned something about how he always knows when I am at school, is more attentive when I am around and about how he was turning red when she mentioned it* (Hey! Hey!! Teacher! He really loves you!)
Girl: 先生？ どぅユーラブつかさ？！(Teacher? Do you love Tsu?)
me: へー？！(EH?)
Girl: コリン先生！DO YOU LOVE TSU?
That poor boy wouldn't talk to me the rest of lunch time.
The beginning of lunch time makes so much more sense now though.
BUT it doesn't explain the other boys arguing with the sensei about letting me sit at their table, claiming "I'll talk to her! I'LL TALK!" lol
Girl: ね先生、知ってる？彼は先生が好き！(Hey teacher? This boy here likes you!)
Boy: へー！何だそんな話！(EH? Why are you talking about this!?)
Girl: ね、ね！先生！本当だ好き！*bunch of chatter that I couldn't follow to save my life, but she mentioned something about how he always knows when I am at school, is more attentive when I am around and about how he was turning red when she mentioned it* (Hey! Hey!! Teacher! He really loves you!)
Girl: 先生？ どぅユーラブつかさ？！(Teacher? Do you love Tsu?)
me: へー？！(EH?)
Girl: コリン先生！DO YOU LOVE TSU?
That poor boy wouldn't talk to me the rest of lunch time.
The beginning of lunch time makes so much more sense now though.
BUT it doesn't explain the other boys arguing with the sensei about letting me sit at their table, claiming "I'll talk to her! I'LL TALK!" lol
Saturday, October 20, 2012
In Which I learned the Importance of Knowing Names
Last week I had to ask the nurses at two of my schools for help making copies. I am trying very hard to make an effort to learn all my teacher's names but it's proving very difficult because I have so many... All things considered I think I am doing pretty well. The school I am struggling with the most is my small school, because they didn't give me a teacher name chart like my other schools.
Anyways, I had to ask for help making copies at H on Thursday because I usually ask the financial operator for help. She was off from school on Thursday though, so I had to try and figure it out myself. I didn't want to go back and ask the principal for help because he doesn't think that I can understand Japanese (which is ridiculous, but whatever.) And I can't ask K sensei for help because he's just so cute about things and... I can't handle it. After attempting things (pushing buttons) and nothing happening, I went to the nurse for help. She was in the clinic room, and I poked my head it and asked her if she had time. She was happy to help me, and after she finished showing me what to do she told me that it made her really happy that I remembered her name.
Then, yesterday I had a similar experience. I was at A and needed to make copies again for the same activity. I went into the copy room, and fidgeted around again (the damn things are all different,) and then gave up. Thankfully the nurse was coming out into the hall and I asked her 「U先生ちょっといい？」 and she helped me do everything. While we were waiting for the copies, she said the same thing to me 「名前覚えたありがとう！ 嬉しいです！」I thought that it was interesting that the two of them were so happy that I remembered their names, because to me I feel that it's necessary to have good communication to know names. For this reason, it drives me insane that H, the school with the most students, don't have romanized name tags for the students. Even though I have over 800 students in all, I would like to be able to at least know some of their names!
U sensei (from A Elementary) is adorable. She told me after thanking me for remembering her name that she wants to teach me many things, because she only has two adult sons she wants to teach me things she would teach to her daughter if she had one. Basically she said that she wants to be my Japanese mom. It was very touching and I'm almost tearing up remembering it. Every time I leave school for the evening, she tells me 「今度待ています！」which is literally "I'll be waiting for next time!"
I'm pretty sure that I love my job right now. <3
Anyways, I had to ask for help making copies at H on Thursday because I usually ask the financial operator for help. She was off from school on Thursday though, so I had to try and figure it out myself. I didn't want to go back and ask the principal for help because he doesn't think that I can understand Japanese (which is ridiculous, but whatever.) And I can't ask K sensei for help because he's just so cute about things and... I can't handle it. After attempting things (pushing buttons) and nothing happening, I went to the nurse for help. She was in the clinic room, and I poked my head it and asked her if she had time. She was happy to help me, and after she finished showing me what to do she told me that it made her really happy that I remembered her name.
Then, yesterday I had a similar experience. I was at A and needed to make copies again for the same activity. I went into the copy room, and fidgeted around again (the damn things are all different,) and then gave up. Thankfully the nurse was coming out into the hall and I asked her 「U先生ちょっといい？」 and she helped me do everything. While we were waiting for the copies, she said the same thing to me 「名前覚えたありがとう！ 嬉しいです！」I thought that it was interesting that the two of them were so happy that I remembered their names, because to me I feel that it's necessary to have good communication to know names. For this reason, it drives me insane that H, the school with the most students, don't have romanized name tags for the students. Even though I have over 800 students in all, I would like to be able to at least know some of their names!
U sensei (from A Elementary) is adorable. She told me after thanking me for remembering her name that she wants to teach me many things, because she only has two adult sons she wants to teach me things she would teach to her daughter if she had one. Basically she said that she wants to be my Japanese mom. It was very touching and I'm almost tearing up remembering it. Every time I leave school for the evening, she tells me 「今度待ています！」which is literally "I'll be waiting for next time!"
I'm pretty sure that I love my job right now. <3
Fujitsu Friday Classes are Insane
Last night we were practicing introducing someone else in class. This happened:
Kuma: My mother is... she... takes care of my sisters baby. *rocking arms back and forth pretending he's holding a baby*
Haji: BABY LOVE!
Me: NO! *choking* Babysitting!!
I couldn't stop giggling for a good five minutes.
It was horrible.
Kuma: My mother is... she... takes care of my sisters baby. *rocking arms back and forth pretending he's holding a baby*
Haji: BABY LOVE!
Me: NO! *choking* Babysitting!!
I couldn't stop giggling for a good five minutes.
It was horrible.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Lunchtime Conversations with 5th Graders
This happened to me at lunch with 5th graders.
S1: 先生！何才ですか？！
me: 24
S1: じゃー彼氏いますか？！
me: まだいない
S2: じゃ早く作ってください！
Why is it even my kids say this?!
S1: 先生！何才ですか？！
me: 24
S1: じゃー彼氏いますか？！
me: まだいない
S2: じゃ早く作ってください！
Why is it even my kids say this?!
Coming to Terms With My Bias
A while ago, I said that I can't have a favorite in Super Junior, much like I can't have a favorite in One Direction, and how I struggle with keeping favorites in Arashi and Kat Tun...
Well...
I have come to terms with who they are now.
Super Junior's overall bias (which L just commented "changes with the wind" which is too true.):
Eunhyuk
(but this is "I will readily have your children" kind of bias here with him right now.)
SuJu singing bias:
K.R.Y. (all of them)
One Direction:
LouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouis!!!
And so. I need to buy the Leeteuk postcards next time I go to Tokyo, yes. But I also need to buy Eunhyuk XD
Well...
I have come to terms with who they are now.
Super Junior's overall bias (which L just commented "changes with the wind" which is too true.):
Eunhyuk
(but this is "I will readily have your children" kind of bias here with him right now.)
SuJu singing bias:
K.R.Y. (all of them)
One Direction:
LouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouisLouis!!!
And so. I need to buy the Leeteuk postcards next time I go to Tokyo, yes. But I also need to buy Eunhyuk XD
Saturday, October 13, 2012
In Which I Went to Tokyo for the Weekend
Last weekend was a holiday weekend! And the schools in Y started school a bit earlier than the rest of the prefecture, so we also had Tuesday and Wednesday off.
Let me start over though-
I started teaching an English class three times a week (but now I will only do two,) at Fujitsu Corporation last week. It is Monday, Tuesday and Fridays (but now I have dropped the Monday class.) It is from 18:00-20:00 on those days, about 8 km from my apartment in Y.
Monday and Tuesday were kind of painful classes. These are adults that I am teaching for these classes, and I feel that many of them know about the same as my fourth graders at my elementary schools. And, I was told that I should not respond to questions asked in Japanese... to which I agreed, but will not practice. Adults cannot learn the same way as children, their brains do not work the same... so I will not ignore questions asked to me in Japanese. Friday was a whole other matter though. We didn't even open the textbook for that class which was fantastic. There are higher levels of English in that class though, so it made things much easier.
One of the students is a clown though. He asked me out about 7 or 8 times. It was very amusing because his English isn't ...very good. It consisted of "Next Sunday, we go (insert random topic here,) TOGETHER?" And, two days ago when he walked into class he said "HELLO K, I LOVE YOU." to me. I just told him "Thank you," and continued talking to another student. (Please note that this is all in jest. He is married, and very childish and goofy. We discussed in class Friday night that he is もっと大人になれ which I translated as "He still needs to grow up," although that is not directly correct. Every time he said something foolish, one of the other students would say "He still needs to grow up.")
Friday (October 5th) was the day that we had decided to go to Tokyo though, so right after the class I came home and R took me and G to Yaita station. We thought we were going to miss the train, but had plenty of time to spare... It takes about 2:30 hours to get from here to Tokyo and the train that we got on arrived at 20:45. We met with T at Utsunomiya Station around 21:15 and got on a train to Tokyo from there. We were quite lucky to sit down the entire time. Returning to Y wasn't so lucky on Monday.
We stayed in a pretty cheap hostel called Khaosan in Asakusa. This year, I think that I have had enough of Asakusa... I will be fine if I don't go back there for years, I think. The hostel was super small and noisy. Needless to say I will not be staying there again. Saturday (Oct 6th) we roamed around in Asakusa for a while and then met up with Ro (another ALT in a different city) who was staying with us for one night.
Weird turd like thing on top of a building in Asakusa. It looked like it was painted on this building from where I was... Kinda neat.
Koi near the Kaminari Gate that were large, but still had their color. Not brown. Interesting...
Sky Tree...
Sky Tree again, close up. This picture is from Sunday though, not Saturday.
Market street leading to the temple in Asakusa.
We went to Shin Okubo (Korea Town) and had amazing Korean food for dinner. It was SO good, and thankfully G was with us because I don't know Korean food but he does since he lived there for a while. The host was very handsome but he was the only one that was. Haha.
I don't remember everything, but the soup on the top left was the best tasting thing ever. By far.
Then, T and I needed to go to the Korean idol shops. G and Ro were bored to say the least. We wasted a bit too much time in one of them, and bought too many things. I got some Shinhwa and Super Junior post cards, and T got some Leeteuk specific post cards (WHICH I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT TOO. Boo.)
This is one of T's post cards... I will need to buy a set of those next time I go to Tokyo... haha.
.JPG)
Sunday, we met up with E in the morning for lunch and had okonomiyaki. We then walked from Shibuya to Harajuku and had crepes, and walked back to Shibuya. Next time we go to Tokyo, E invited us to stay with her which will be so nice compared to stupid hostels...
In the afternoon, we met with my friend A in Asakusa. (See, too much Asakusa!) She wanted to see the Sky Tree, so we walked around til we found it. It's ...really, really tall. We didn't go up because it is something like ￥3000 to go up, and we thought that we can have a really nice dinner for that price instead. We had Chinese food and then went to Baskin Robbins after.
Sunday night, we had to change hostels because we originally intended to go home on Sunday night. We just moved next door, but we stayed in dormitory style rooms this time. It wasn't that bad, but there was a Chinese girl out in the common room who was talking very loudly on her phone until about midnight. (There is a sign that says very clearly to be QUIET after 10pm, but I don't think she spoke any English at all... ><) We got an early start and left the hostel at 9 am (but put our stuff in rented lockers) and went back to Shibuya for lunch (Standing Sushi bar this time. So. Good.) and then walked to Harajuku again since we didn't really explore it the day before.
I tried really hard to get a Koki key chain or cell phone charm and failed miserably. I got TWO of Taguchi and one of Kamenashi. Boo. Koki is the only one in Kat Tun I don't have! I really want one of him.
It was exhausting being in Tokyo! No wonder I always slept like a rock when I lived there. Always in crowds and doing something. We had to go BACK to freaking Asakusa to pick up our stuff, and then to Ueno to head back to Tochigi. We had to stand almost the entire ride home, which was unfortunate.
Also, during this trip G absconded my Kindle. He complained of boredom on the train so I gave it to him to read something and he found "Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist!" on there. He started reading it and decided that he was going to keep my Kindle and keep reading. He kept it for most of the trip... :< I got it back after we got back to Y and found out that I can lend him the book through email for two weeks time, so that's what I did. So now I have my Kindle back haha.
I love Tokyo, I really do. But I was really happy to come home to boring old Y because I was so tired. Hostels aren't home, and unless I had some place to call home, like when I studied at Sophia, I will always be glad to come "home."
Also, it's a good thing that I don't live in Tokyo. I would never get anything done if I did. At least, not until I got over the wonder of living there again.
Oh and Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated to recovery from the vacation. Haha.
Let me start over though-
I started teaching an English class three times a week (but now I will only do two,) at Fujitsu Corporation last week. It is Monday, Tuesday and Fridays (but now I have dropped the Monday class.) It is from 18:00-20:00 on those days, about 8 km from my apartment in Y.
Monday and Tuesday were kind of painful classes. These are adults that I am teaching for these classes, and I feel that many of them know about the same as my fourth graders at my elementary schools. And, I was told that I should not respond to questions asked in Japanese... to which I agreed, but will not practice. Adults cannot learn the same way as children, their brains do not work the same... so I will not ignore questions asked to me in Japanese. Friday was a whole other matter though. We didn't even open the textbook for that class which was fantastic. There are higher levels of English in that class though, so it made things much easier.
One of the students is a clown though. He asked me out about 7 or 8 times. It was very amusing because his English isn't ...very good. It consisted of "Next Sunday, we go (insert random topic here,) TOGETHER?" And, two days ago when he walked into class he said "HELLO K, I LOVE YOU." to me. I just told him "Thank you," and continued talking to another student. (Please note that this is all in jest. He is married, and very childish and goofy. We discussed in class Friday night that he is もっと大人になれ which I translated as "He still needs to grow up," although that is not directly correct. Every time he said something foolish, one of the other students would say "He still needs to grow up.")
Friday (October 5th) was the day that we had decided to go to Tokyo though, so right after the class I came home and R took me and G to Yaita station. We thought we were going to miss the train, but had plenty of time to spare... It takes about 2:30 hours to get from here to Tokyo and the train that we got on arrived at 20:45. We met with T at Utsunomiya Station around 21:15 and got on a train to Tokyo from there. We were quite lucky to sit down the entire time. Returning to Y wasn't so lucky on Monday.
We stayed in a pretty cheap hostel called Khaosan in Asakusa. This year, I think that I have had enough of Asakusa... I will be fine if I don't go back there for years, I think. The hostel was super small and noisy. Needless to say I will not be staying there again. Saturday (Oct 6th) we roamed around in Asakusa for a while and then met up with Ro (another ALT in a different city) who was staying with us for one night.
We went to Shin Okubo (Korea Town) and had amazing Korean food for dinner. It was SO good, and thankfully G was with us because I don't know Korean food but he does since he lived there for a while. The host was very handsome but he was the only one that was. Haha.
Then, T and I needed to go to the Korean idol shops. G and Ro were bored to say the least. We wasted a bit too much time in one of them, and bought too many things. I got some Shinhwa and Super Junior post cards, and T got some Leeteuk specific post cards (WHICH I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT TOO. Boo.)
This is one of T's post cards... I will need to buy a set of those next time I go to Tokyo... haha.
.JPG)
Sunday, we met up with E in the morning for lunch and had okonomiyaki. We then walked from Shibuya to Harajuku and had crepes, and walked back to Shibuya. Next time we go to Tokyo, E invited us to stay with her which will be so nice compared to stupid hostels...
In the afternoon, we met with my friend A in Asakusa. (See, too much Asakusa!) She wanted to see the Sky Tree, so we walked around til we found it. It's ...really, really tall. We didn't go up because it is something like ￥3000 to go up, and we thought that we can have a really nice dinner for that price instead. We had Chinese food and then went to Baskin Robbins after.
Sunday night, we had to change hostels because we originally intended to go home on Sunday night. We just moved next door, but we stayed in dormitory style rooms this time. It wasn't that bad, but there was a Chinese girl out in the common room who was talking very loudly on her phone until about midnight. (There is a sign that says very clearly to be QUIET after 10pm, but I don't think she spoke any English at all... ><) We got an early start and left the hostel at 9 am (but put our stuff in rented lockers) and went back to Shibuya for lunch (Standing Sushi bar this time. So. Good.) and then walked to Harajuku again since we didn't really explore it the day before.
I tried really hard to get a Koki key chain or cell phone charm and failed miserably. I got TWO of Taguchi and one of Kamenashi. Boo. Koki is the only one in Kat Tun I don't have! I really want one of him.
It was exhausting being in Tokyo! No wonder I always slept like a rock when I lived there. Always in crowds and doing something. We had to go BACK to freaking Asakusa to pick up our stuff, and then to Ueno to head back to Tochigi. We had to stand almost the entire ride home, which was unfortunate.
Also, during this trip G absconded my Kindle. He complained of boredom on the train so I gave it to him to read something and he found "Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist!" on there. He started reading it and decided that he was going to keep my Kindle and keep reading. He kept it for most of the trip... :< I got it back after we got back to Y and found out that I can lend him the book through email for two weeks time, so that's what I did. So now I have my Kindle back haha.
I love Tokyo, I really do. But I was really happy to come home to boring old Y because I was so tired. Hostels aren't home, and unless I had some place to call home, like when I studied at Sophia, I will always be glad to come "home."
Also, it's a good thing that I don't live in Tokyo. I would never get anything done if I did. At least, not until I got over the wonder of living there again.
Oh and Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated to recovery from the vacation. Haha.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Time for an update. Nothing interesting though!
I reckoned enough time has passed that I should probably make an update post. I can't honestly say that anything overtly awesome has taken place, but I'll do my best to recall things that I thought were worth remembering.
Let's see... My first week of school was kind of uneventful. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I was at my main school but I didn't have any classes because they were busy preparing for Sports Day which took place that Saturday. They cancelled English class, but still had me come. It was kind of annoying, because I sat around for 8 hours each day in the teacher's room, doing nothing. Well, I found stuff to do... I translated some lesson plans and got to know the office manager. She is really nice.
My birthday was my first day at my smallest school. I enjoy this school a lot because the kids are so smart, and the classes are so small. For my birthday, R and I went to Genki Sushi for dinner. She tried to pay for me but I didn't let her do it.
That Friday was my first day at A Elementary School. This is a medium sized school, I suppose. After I finished at this school, I decided that I like the 3rd graders the best at all my schools. They are the most fun to play, and they still love to have English class.
Saturday (September 8th) I went to the main school's Sport's Day. It was a really fun event and I am glad I went. I sat with the vice principal and she explained things to me, since they do a lot of events that we do not have in the US. After that, my friend from karate at Sophia came up here with one of his friends and we went exploring in Otawara (north of Yaita.) We went to a temple, and then we went to okonomiyaki! O insisted on paying for mine -_-; He said that it was my welcome back to Japan gift.
Sunday, I went with R and her friend M to one of the ALTs who was leaving's house. She was getting rid of a lot of stuff, so she gave us things. I got a kotatsu (yay!) along with some hangers, a basket to keep things in, a box to carry school stuff in and a vacuum. After that, we hung out with M for a little bit. (She's really cool, she's been here for a while so she has a lot of experience with teaching and with living here.)
The following week, I had all of my schools! All four of them. Wednesday I had a teaching demo with a teacher that I had never worked with before, which was kind of nerve wracking. But, it went well, and we got some really good feedback, so that's nice. My kids are all so interesting, I have really interesting little tid bits every day that I post on my Facebook. Like for example, my first day at A, One of the third graders heard me talking to his teacher in Japanese, so he proceeded to run back to his class and tell the kids that I could speak Japanese. I had lunch with them after their class, and the kids I sat with talked to me a lot. One of them said to me: 先生、これはちょっと恥ずかしいし、あまり答えたくないだけど結婚しまったの？Which is like, "teacher, this may be a little embarrassing and you might not want to answer it but, are you married?" Which was followed by the other kids looking at my hands and saying adamantly that I wasn't married because I didn't have any rings on. I get asked this a lot by my kids. When they find out I'm not, then they demand to know if I have a boyfriend. When I tell them no, they ask me if I have a person that I like. They also ask me how old I am and are shocked when I tell them I am 24. They say that I'm young! Every time! But I think they are comparing me to their parents haha.
At N, the groundskeeper heard me talking to the nurse and decided that my music tastes aren't to his liking and he "rented" me four of his favorite CDs. I haven't listened to all of them yet, but I listened to one of them and it's really good! It's obvious that he likes female singers, because he was okay with me saying that I liked Hamasaki Ayumi, but he said that Arashi is no good. XD
I have seen tons of my kids at the Beshia (kind of like Target, they have everything you could need there. Food, clothes, household supplies, everything!) and one night a few weeks ago, before I even had them in class, I saw some of the kids from H there. They ran after me, calling to me just to say hello. It was cute.
I had lunch with the special needs class at H a little while ago. There are only four of them; 1 fifth grader and 3 first graders. I am not sure what makes them need to be in this class, because quite honestly I think that they are all brilliant. One of the first graders talked my ear off during lunch. He kept saying things like 日本語では「パン」は「パン。」英語では？Which means "In Japanese bread is bread. What is it in English?" And when I answered him, he would sit and think about if for a minute and then say "That's right!" in Japanese. It was the cutest thing ever.
Last week, I had lunch with one of the second grade classes at H. They were adorable too- one of the little boys was determined to talk to me, even after he was scolded by his teacher. The little girls asked me the same things that the third graders at A did, but then asked me to please remember their names... when they didn't teach me their names in the first place! So cute. XD I have them for the first time this come week.
I have also been keeping up with my TV shows from back home. I watched all of "Once Upon a Time" and have been watching "Grimm" and "Bones," and I started watching "Game of Thrones" today. Last weekend, I went to the capital of Tochigi (Utsunomiya) with G (one of the other new ALTs who lives here too,) R, and G's friend T who lives in Moka. G is like... my other half. For real. It's terrifying, and hilarious. We like almost all the same things- we listen to the same music, watch the same things, and are usually on the same wave length when it comes to trains of thought. It's ridiculous! We have spent too many hours in Tsutaya looking through the music selection, asking each other if we have heard of this singer or that band, and freaking out when the other hasn't heard of them.
We are all still waiting on our visas, which is totally annoying. We can't get anything done until we get our visas- can't open our bank accounts, can't get cell phones, can't get our health insurance cards... it sucks. I really, really want a cell phone, but obviously can't get one yet. I have been contemplating getting an iphone, but a friend sent me some commercials for some Androids and it made me want them too. I think that I will get an iPhone, because I know how to use one... but it's still something that has been bothering me lately.
Other than that... um... I might take up some part time work with my company as well. I was offered some, to teach night classes for business English. I am going to go check it out this week with S, one of the other ALT's here. He teaches the class that I would be teaching as well.
By the way, if I didn't mention it yet, there are five ALTs in my city with my company. Me, R, G, J and S. There is also a JET here, who works at the high school (I think his name is J? I haven't met him yet.) and there is another random guy here. So, there are a total of 7 gaijin. Haha.
That's about all I can think of right now... Oh! I have a lot of time off in October- a five day weekend! And, that Saturday is T's birthday, so we're thinking about going to Tokyo for some of the time. We might have to make the trip short depending on some things, because we haven't gotten paid yet (obviously, we can't until we get our visas.) and we won't get paid until near the end of October (which sucks!) But, if I go to Tokyo and I don't see everyone that I can while I am there, I won't ever hear the end of it...
Edit: I forgot about this until I went to take a shower. I was talking to K and K yesterday morning and we talked about them coming to visit me in March. Since my contract lasts until March 31st, but I am finished with classes on March 22nd, we talked about them coming here around that time and we can adventure. Since K has started working, she has been saving up her money so that she can do just that. So, hopefully that works out! It would be awesome.
Also, I decided that if I decide that I want to stay here and do this a little longer, I cannot stay in this apartment. It's horrible, the convenience is fantastic, whatever. The road that this place is on is horrible. It's the most congested road in the city and it has traffic at all hours of the day. Trucks barreling by at all hours of the night shake the building and we (R, G and I) can't tell if it's an earthquake or if it's just the trucks going by again. It's terrible. D:
Let's see... My first week of school was kind of uneventful. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I was at my main school but I didn't have any classes because they were busy preparing for Sports Day which took place that Saturday. They cancelled English class, but still had me come. It was kind of annoying, because I sat around for 8 hours each day in the teacher's room, doing nothing. Well, I found stuff to do... I translated some lesson plans and got to know the office manager. She is really nice.
My birthday was my first day at my smallest school. I enjoy this school a lot because the kids are so smart, and the classes are so small. For my birthday, R and I went to Genki Sushi for dinner. She tried to pay for me but I didn't let her do it.
That Friday was my first day at A Elementary School. This is a medium sized school, I suppose. After I finished at this school, I decided that I like the 3rd graders the best at all my schools. They are the most fun to play, and they still love to have English class.
Saturday (September 8th) I went to the main school's Sport's Day. It was a really fun event and I am glad I went. I sat with the vice principal and she explained things to me, since they do a lot of events that we do not have in the US. After that, my friend from karate at Sophia came up here with one of his friends and we went exploring in Otawara (north of Yaita.) We went to a temple, and then we went to okonomiyaki! O insisted on paying for mine -_-; He said that it was my welcome back to Japan gift.
Sunday, I went with R and her friend M to one of the ALTs who was leaving's house. She was getting rid of a lot of stuff, so she gave us things. I got a kotatsu (yay!) along with some hangers, a basket to keep things in, a box to carry school stuff in and a vacuum. After that, we hung out with M for a little bit. (She's really cool, she's been here for a while so she has a lot of experience with teaching and with living here.)
The following week, I had all of my schools! All four of them. Wednesday I had a teaching demo with a teacher that I had never worked with before, which was kind of nerve wracking. But, it went well, and we got some really good feedback, so that's nice. My kids are all so interesting, I have really interesting little tid bits every day that I post on my Facebook. Like for example, my first day at A, One of the third graders heard me talking to his teacher in Japanese, so he proceeded to run back to his class and tell the kids that I could speak Japanese. I had lunch with them after their class, and the kids I sat with talked to me a lot. One of them said to me: 先生、これはちょっと恥ずかしいし、あまり答えたくないだけど結婚しまったの？Which is like, "teacher, this may be a little embarrassing and you might not want to answer it but, are you married?" Which was followed by the other kids looking at my hands and saying adamantly that I wasn't married because I didn't have any rings on. I get asked this a lot by my kids. When they find out I'm not, then they demand to know if I have a boyfriend. When I tell them no, they ask me if I have a person that I like. They also ask me how old I am and are shocked when I tell them I am 24. They say that I'm young! Every time! But I think they are comparing me to their parents haha.
At N, the groundskeeper heard me talking to the nurse and decided that my music tastes aren't to his liking and he "rented" me four of his favorite CDs. I haven't listened to all of them yet, but I listened to one of them and it's really good! It's obvious that he likes female singers, because he was okay with me saying that I liked Hamasaki Ayumi, but he said that Arashi is no good. XD
I have seen tons of my kids at the Beshia (kind of like Target, they have everything you could need there. Food, clothes, household supplies, everything!) and one night a few weeks ago, before I even had them in class, I saw some of the kids from H there. They ran after me, calling to me just to say hello. It was cute.
I had lunch with the special needs class at H a little while ago. There are only four of them; 1 fifth grader and 3 first graders. I am not sure what makes them need to be in this class, because quite honestly I think that they are all brilliant. One of the first graders talked my ear off during lunch. He kept saying things like 日本語では「パン」は「パン。」英語では？Which means "In Japanese bread is bread. What is it in English?" And when I answered him, he would sit and think about if for a minute and then say "That's right!" in Japanese. It was the cutest thing ever.
Last week, I had lunch with one of the second grade classes at H. They were adorable too- one of the little boys was determined to talk to me, even after he was scolded by his teacher. The little girls asked me the same things that the third graders at A did, but then asked me to please remember their names... when they didn't teach me their names in the first place! So cute. XD I have them for the first time this come week.
I have also been keeping up with my TV shows from back home. I watched all of "Once Upon a Time" and have been watching "Grimm" and "Bones," and I started watching "Game of Thrones" today. Last weekend, I went to the capital of Tochigi (Utsunomiya) with G (one of the other new ALTs who lives here too,) R, and G's friend T who lives in Moka. G is like... my other half. For real. It's terrifying, and hilarious. We like almost all the same things- we listen to the same music, watch the same things, and are usually on the same wave length when it comes to trains of thought. It's ridiculous! We have spent too many hours in Tsutaya looking through the music selection, asking each other if we have heard of this singer or that band, and freaking out when the other hasn't heard of them.
We are all still waiting on our visas, which is totally annoying. We can't get anything done until we get our visas- can't open our bank accounts, can't get cell phones, can't get our health insurance cards... it sucks. I really, really want a cell phone, but obviously can't get one yet. I have been contemplating getting an iphone, but a friend sent me some commercials for some Androids and it made me want them too. I think that I will get an iPhone, because I know how to use one... but it's still something that has been bothering me lately.
Other than that... um... I might take up some part time work with my company as well. I was offered some, to teach night classes for business English. I am going to go check it out this week with S, one of the other ALT's here. He teaches the class that I would be teaching as well.
By the way, if I didn't mention it yet, there are five ALTs in my city with my company. Me, R, G, J and S. There is also a JET here, who works at the high school (I think his name is J? I haven't met him yet.) and there is another random guy here. So, there are a total of 7 gaijin. Haha.
That's about all I can think of right now... Oh! I have a lot of time off in October- a five day weekend! And, that Saturday is T's birthday, so we're thinking about going to Tokyo for some of the time. We might have to make the trip short depending on some things, because we haven't gotten paid yet (obviously, we can't until we get our visas.) and we won't get paid until near the end of October (which sucks!) But, if I go to Tokyo and I don't see everyone that I can while I am there, I won't ever hear the end of it...
Edit: I forgot about this until I went to take a shower. I was talking to K and K yesterday morning and we talked about them coming to visit me in March. Since my contract lasts until March 31st, but I am finished with classes on March 22nd, we talked about them coming here around that time and we can adventure. Since K has started working, she has been saving up her money so that she can do just that. So, hopefully that works out! It would be awesome.
Also, I decided that if I decide that I want to stay here and do this a little longer, I cannot stay in this apartment. It's horrible, the convenience is fantastic, whatever. The road that this place is on is horrible. It's the most congested road in the city and it has traffic at all hours of the day. Trucks barreling by at all hours of the night shake the building and we (R, G and I) can't tell if it's an earthquake or if it's just the trucks going by again. It's terrible. D:
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Okay I'm here
I got to Japan last Sunday, August 26th.
As long flights tend to make me forget the memory of them, I don't really want or need to recall it. All I know is that when I got to Japan I never ever wanted to sit down again. But, I had to... I had to take a three hour bus ride to get to Utsunomiya and then I had to take a 7 or so minute train ride to to get to Ujiie. This whole process started at 4:30am on August 25th in Denver for me, and ended at about... 23:30 August 26th Japan time so of course I was really exhausted after.
Monday, the 27th of August I was taken to meet the Board of Education with another girl who is in my company named Rachael. She lives in the same complex as me and comes from Las Vegas.
So, of course I am going through a bit of homesickness and jet-lag is horrible and maybe a bit of culture shock as well. You're probably thinking "WTH Korin. How do you have culture shock in Japan again? You were just there!" ...well... let me tell you, this area I am in now is so different than Tokyo and Yokohama that it's like a different country.
For example. Here I have to drive.
DRIVE.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Starting on Tuesday the 28th, we had teacher training. It was intense and many times I thought to myself: 'What the hell was I thinking, I don't know how to teach little kids. I don't think that this was a good idea, God this was a horrible idea.'
Which brings me to the main point of this.
I know in my last post I had said that I don't see myself in Japan forever. And obviously this is probably the loneliness talking more than anything now but I think that statement is getting more and more true as time goes by.
So I guess it's really good for me that my contract is only until mid-March. If I hate it, then I can get out of it then. But, I am not going to break my contract, no matter what my mom says about me being able to. That would bring way too many financial repercussions on me. I don't want that, so I'll stick it out at least until then.
But then what will I do when/if I got home in March for good?
Well. First of all, I am going to live with Alysha if she still has space in her house. Then, I don't know for sure what I will do other than that. But, I am actually getting really excited about doing that. And I don't want to get anyone's hopes up about it, so I won't talk to anyone about this. Alysha just offered it as an option if I come home at that time. I'm thinking that I should get my foot in the door with those translation companies that my auntie had told me about, and I feel like Japanese has already come back to me with a huge smash. More than last time anyways. So, hopefully I get better at Japanese because I need to use it at work to read my lessons and then I can go on to that instead...
And then I want those tattoos I was thinking about too. A cherry blossom, the lyric 愛の嵐 from 時計仕掛けのアンブレラ and then I was also thinking something Harry Potter related like maybe the Deathly Hallows or something. Also I need to get my ears pierced lol.
As long flights tend to make me forget the memory of them, I don't really want or need to recall it. All I know is that when I got to Japan I never ever wanted to sit down again. But, I had to... I had to take a three hour bus ride to get to Utsunomiya and then I had to take a 7 or so minute train ride to to get to Ujiie. This whole process started at 4:30am on August 25th in Denver for me, and ended at about... 23:30 August 26th Japan time so of course I was really exhausted after.
Monday, the 27th of August I was taken to meet the Board of Education with another girl who is in my company named Rachael. She lives in the same complex as me and comes from Las Vegas.
So, of course I am going through a bit of homesickness and jet-lag is horrible and maybe a bit of culture shock as well. You're probably thinking "WTH Korin. How do you have culture shock in Japan again? You were just there!" ...well... let me tell you, this area I am in now is so different than Tokyo and Yokohama that it's like a different country.
For example. Here I have to drive.
DRIVE.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Starting on Tuesday the 28th, we had teacher training. It was intense and many times I thought to myself: 'What the hell was I thinking, I don't know how to teach little kids. I don't think that this was a good idea, God this was a horrible idea.'
Which brings me to the main point of this.
I know in my last post I had said that I don't see myself in Japan forever. And obviously this is probably the loneliness talking more than anything now but I think that statement is getting more and more true as time goes by.
So I guess it's really good for me that my contract is only until mid-March. If I hate it, then I can get out of it then. But, I am not going to break my contract, no matter what my mom says about me being able to. That would bring way too many financial repercussions on me. I don't want that, so I'll stick it out at least until then.
But then what will I do when/if I got home in March for good?
Well. First of all, I am going to live with Alysha if she still has space in her house. Then, I don't know for sure what I will do other than that. But, I am actually getting really excited about doing that. And I don't want to get anyone's hopes up about it, so I won't talk to anyone about this. Alysha just offered it as an option if I come home at that time. I'm thinking that I should get my foot in the door with those translation companies that my auntie had told me about, and I feel like Japanese has already come back to me with a huge smash. More than last time anyways. So, hopefully I get better at Japanese because I need to use it at work to read my lessons and then I can go on to that instead...
And then I want those tattoos I was thinking about too. A cherry blossom, the lyric 愛の嵐 from 時計仕掛けのアンブレラ and then I was also thinking something Harry Potter related like maybe the Deathly Hallows or something. Also I need to get my ears pierced lol.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Okay, it's set
I'm going to be leaving for Japan, at the latest, in 25 days.
I'm not going to be living in Iwate-ken. I'm going to be in Tochigi-ken.
Teaching at 4 elementary schools.
Making bank, hopefully.
Other than that, nothing much has been going on of interest.
I'm thinking about getting a tattoo, but that's the biggest thing so far. XD
I'm not going to be living in Iwate-ken. I'm going to be in Tochigi-ken.
Teaching at 4 elementary schools.
Other than that, nothing much has been going on of interest.
I'm thinking about getting a tattoo, but that's the biggest thing so far. XD
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thoughts and...
More importantly: Thoughts.
So, surely you're aware that I have received a job offer in Japan, starting in late August. As far as I know right now, I am going to be in Iwate-ken but I am not sure where in Iwate-ken I will be. (Freaking Misu from karate said that would happen to me jokingly and it DID. UGH.) At first, I was a bit... scared. Okay, I'm still scared. Scared shitless. Iwate-ken is where the huge earthquake and tsunami last year took place. BUT, what are the chances of that happening again? Very small, right? Right???
But that is not the point of this post. I am going to Japan, and I am going to do this. It's what I want to do. At least for a while.
Recently, I have been thinking about it, and I don't know where I'm going to be in five years. I don't have a damn clue, and it's scarier than being in Iwate-ken. But, I have been thinking about it A LOT lately, and I honest to God cannot see myself living in Japan permanately. It's just... I don't know if it's because I have finally gotten over culture shock, and gotten used to the idea of living in the US again or what it is, exactly... but I can't see myself there forever. Which, I am sure is going to come as a shock to a lot of people. Many of my friends have said "You'll go there and you won't come back," and have been saying that for a while. Even when I first heard it, I didn't think that it was even close to being true at all.
I mean, obviously I don't know for sure, but ...I don't know.
なんでもわっかない。
There is more to this post. A lot more. But, I don't want the entire world reading it so it's in my private LiveJournal. Sorry. :< Also, it's all in my crappy Japanese. So, too bad I suppose.
So, surely you're aware that I have received a job offer in Japan, starting in late August. As far as I know right now, I am going to be in Iwate-ken but I am not sure where in Iwate-ken I will be. (Freaking Misu from karate said that would happen to me jokingly and it DID. UGH.) At first, I was a bit... scared. Okay, I'm still scared. Scared shitless. Iwate-ken is where the huge earthquake and tsunami last year took place. BUT, what are the chances of that happening again? Very small, right? Right???
But that is not the point of this post. I am going to Japan, and I am going to do this. It's what I want to do. At least for a while.
Recently, I have been thinking about it, and I don't know where I'm going to be in five years. I don't have a damn clue, and it's scarier than being in Iwate-ken. But, I have been thinking about it A LOT lately, and I honest to God cannot see myself living in Japan permanately. It's just... I don't know if it's because I have finally gotten over culture shock, and gotten used to the idea of living in the US again or what it is, exactly... but I can't see myself there forever. Which, I am sure is going to come as a shock to a lot of people. Many of my friends have said "You'll go there and you won't come back," and have been saying that for a while. Even when I first heard it, I didn't think that it was even close to being true at all.
I mean, obviously I don't know for sure, but ...I don't know.
なんでもわっかない。
There is more to this post. A lot more. But, I don't want the entire world reading it so it's in my private LiveJournal. Sorry. :< Also, it's all in my crappy Japanese. So, too bad I suppose.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Starkid!
Starkid again!
Just know these things.
Meredith (sp) is ADORABLE.
Lauren sang “Boy Toy.”
Brian Holden did hip thrusts and sang most of Darren’s parts in songs (and did it well! I am proud of him!)
Joe Walker’s shorts were WAY too short. I thought something was gonna fall out of these.
Jaime still sings wonderfully. Simply put- she’s amazing.
Jim Povolo wore a skirt, and no shirt, the entire time.
Brian Rosenthal was Joey’s Heart since AJ wasn’t there. And he was so darn cute! I wish I had been closer/my cell phone camera didn’t suck in dark places. If we can’t have AJ as Joey’s heart then Brian is the next best thing.
Monday, May 21, 2012
日本に行った！！
April 30-May 10, 2012
Much of this was written while I was in Japan, so it's mostly in present tense. Please disregard that. :)
Sunday, April 29 was the day that we went from Korea to Japan. The flight was super nice because there was hardly anyone on it. (it was a continued flight from Japan to LA so I think that's why.)
Monday (April 30,) Katie and I went to the hostel, which was horrible because the directions had us go right through a huge tourist center in Tokyo. It was ridiculously crowded because it was a holiday but it was alright once we got there. Later that evening, Jaren arrived in Japan, so we went to Shibuya to meet with him and Chrys. Oh but get this- I had to lend Katie money every day because she cannot withdraw money from her account. She tried when we got to the airport on Sunday evening and then on Monday before we went to the hostel she called them on Skype and they said that she wasn't using the correct pin number... so I had to up my with-drawl limit per day so that we're both covered. ...it was quite the ordeal...
Tuesday, Chrys and I attended karate practice, like old times!! We were late, because Chrys and I had a misunderstanding about time. -_-;; It would have been nice to have had my cell phone during this trip... so we had to stretch and warm up on our own, but it was so fun. I miss karate practice a lot. Yu-chan is the captain of the team now and he is so amusing. After we did partner work, we split into groups for sparring, kata and basics. Yu-chan had Chrys and me go with him to work on kata... We originally wanted to go with Omura-san because he was teaching the first years basics, but Yu-chan and the girls wanted us to do kata instead. I have totally forgotten all of the kata that I used to know, and Yu-chan danced around singing 「忘れちゃった～～？」(You've forgotten~?) at me, many times... with a towel on his head. He's so silly.
Wednesday, we went to the Natural Science and History museum in Ueno. It was so. freaking. cool. The museum is located in Ueno Park, and it is amazing. I would like to go back there. We had to leave the museum at 5 when they closed and we had 3 hours to kill until dinner... so we rode the train around again... It decided to rain that evening, so it was much better than the other option of walking around in the rain. Katie and I met up with Erika one last time for dinner (Standing Sushi in Shibuya), and then Thursday morning we had our last meal with Chrys at Mister Donuts. Then, we headed to the airport.
Thursday was horrible after that though. We spent a ton of time in the airport, which was fine...whatever, we knew that was going to happen. But then it started to storm. Thunderstorm. It delayed our flight, which was fine... for the time being. The flight was the shortest that I have ever had from Japan to the US. It was only 8 1/2 hours long. It was fine, no real problems until we got close to the US. Then we hit a hard bit of turbulence, and I got a bit sick. After that, we had to go through customs and re go through security. There was only an hour before our connecting flight and we missed it. We were exhausted and it sucked. We were then put on stand-by for another flight. I decided that since I had no idea how stand-by worked, that I would ask the worker at the desk. She told me that someone would call my name but when that happened, Katie and I were in the wrong area. So, we missed the stupid flight, because someone else jumped ahead of us while we were trying to get to the lady.
I was pissed, with dead electronics, so I decided that I needed to find a charger. The flight that we got rescheduled for was set to go at 15:00, which was so annoying because it was 11:00 at the time we missed the flight. We SHOULD have been HOME by 15:00, not waiting for a stupid flight still. Katie called her mom, and she told her that there were some other flights that would arrive in Denver earlier, and so we asked if we could get on stand-by on one of those flights instead. We had to ask the lady who was announcing stand-by on the previous flight, and I think that we guilted her into making sure we got something.
We got onto a flight at 13:00, which was scheduled to arrive in Denver at 17:00. This did not happen. The flight was supposed to be boarded at gone, but because of the same weather that caused the turbulence earlier was causing problems. We took off late, and it was horrible. There was so much turbulence I felt like we were on a roller coaster. I tried to sleep, but it was miserable because of the bouncing of the plane. I honestly felt like I was going to throw up, many, many times.
We finally got back to Denver, and Katie's mom, Kelsey and Chelsie picked us up.
I decided that I am never, ever coming home through San Francisco again.
All in all it was a good trip. Even though the end was a bit of a bummer.
日本はすごい楽しかった。懐かしかった。
まった、夏に会うね～日本。<3
Much of this was written while I was in Japan, so it's mostly in present tense. Please disregard that. :)
Sunday, April 29 was the day that we went from Korea to Japan. The flight was super nice because there was hardly anyone on it. (it was a continued flight from Japan to LA so I think that's why.)
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| My first dinner in Japan. Miso soup, rice and crab meat croquettes. Super yummy!! |
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| My first breakfast in Japan. Mister Donut. :) |
Monday (April 30,) Katie and I went to the hostel, which was horrible because the directions had us go right through a huge tourist center in Tokyo. It was ridiculously crowded because it was a holiday but it was alright once we got there. Later that evening, Jaren arrived in Japan, so we went to Shibuya to meet with him and Chrys. Oh but get this- I had to lend Katie money every day because she cannot withdraw money from her account. She tried when we got to the airport on Sunday evening and then on Monday before we went to the hostel she called them on Skype and they said that she wasn't using the correct pin number... so I had to up my with-drawl limit per day so that we're both covered. ...it was quite the ordeal...
It's been nice being here again. Katie thinks I am biased because I didn't like Korea as much as I like it here, but I rather like understanding things and being able to order food to eat. And there are so many good things to eat here...!!
Tuesday we went to Fuji Q Highlands, which is an amusement park near Mt. Fuji. It was fun, but it also rained on this day. That means we couldn't see Mt. Fuji and they also closed the rides for quite some time. Later on in the day, we went on one of the fastest roller coasters in the world! Do you believe that I did that? Because I did!! It was really fun! But it was also really scary...
Wednesday we intended to climb that mountain that I climbed last time I was here with Chrys and Jaren, but it rained that day which was unfortunate. But, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Katie's legs still really hurt and I think that she would have been miserable to climb that mountain had we gone. Instead, we went shopping for Jaren (he wanted a lunch box,) went to the biggest book store in Japan, where Chrys told my to buy a specific set of books to practice for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (which I think I will take in December if possible.) And Chrys took us to eat okonomiyaki on this day as well.
Thursday, we met with Hiroko. She was one of the program coordinators for CIEE when I was here, and she recently had a baby who is so cute! We had sushi for lunch and then we took her to a parfait place that we have been to in the same area. It was really fun to see her again.
Friday we all stayed the night at Chrys' apartment together. We intended to do many things that day as well, but it was raining and we had to take our things from the hostel so that wasted a lot of our time. Unfortunately we didn't get to do anything super fun that day.
On Saturday, Chrys' friend Soojin arrived. My friend Jaren was still here on Saturday so while Chrys went to pick Soojin up from the airport, Katie, Jaren and I played games together. After she arrived, Chrys took us to a place called Bubby's in Yokohama that she likes to eat at (it's American food, hamburgers and stuff like that) and then she showed us the port in Yokohama and also her school. It's a very lovely place as well. After we finished that, we went to meet some of our friends from karate. I felt bad though because we were quite late. When we saw them, all my friends told me "yasseta" but I didn't know what it meant... Chrys told me that it means I lost weight?? But I don't think that I am skinnier than I was the last time I saw them so it confused me. But, I kept getting asked if I was on a diet or something and why had I lost weight and things like that so maybe I have?? We went to a drinking party with them and had dinner which was fun. There were only four people that I knew from when I was here last time, but it was really fun to see them again and talk to them. Chrys and I are going to join their practice tonight as well. Jaren had to leave on Saturday night, so we left from our friends and took him to the bus station to go to the airport.
Tuesday we went to Fuji Q Highlands, which is an amusement park near Mt. Fuji. It was fun, but it also rained on this day. That means we couldn't see Mt. Fuji and they also closed the rides for quite some time. Later on in the day, we went on one of the fastest roller coasters in the world! Do you believe that I did that? Because I did!! It was really fun! But it was also really scary...
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| Okonomiyaki! It was so yummy too! We had this on Wednesday. :) |
Thursday, we met with Hiroko. She was one of the program coordinators for CIEE when I was here, and she recently had a baby who is so cute! We had sushi for lunch and then we took her to a parfait place that we have been to in the same area. It was really fun to see her again.
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| Yaki-salmon-mayo. The best sushi that I have ever had. |
On Saturday, Chrys' friend Soojin arrived. My friend Jaren was still here on Saturday so while Chrys went to pick Soojin up from the airport, Katie, Jaren and I played games together. After she arrived, Chrys took us to a place called Bubby's in Yokohama that she likes to eat at (it's American food, hamburgers and stuff like that) and then she showed us the port in Yokohama and also her school. It's a very lovely place as well. After we finished that, we went to meet some of our friends from karate. I felt bad though because we were quite late. When we saw them, all my friends told me "yasseta" but I didn't know what it meant... Chrys told me that it means I lost weight?? But I don't think that I am skinnier than I was the last time I saw them so it confused me. But, I kept getting asked if I was on a diet or something and why had I lost weight and things like that so maybe I have?? We went to a drinking party with them and had dinner which was fun. There were only four people that I knew from when I was here last time, but it was really fun to see them again and talk to them. Chrys and I are going to join their practice tonight as well. Jaren had to leave on Saturday night, so we left from our friends and took him to the bus station to go to the airport.
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| Yokohama |
Sunday, (May 6) we went to Tokyo Tower with Chrys' friend Soojin who came to visit from South Korea. It was kind of crowded, and it was cloudy (which it has been cloudy for a lot of the time we have been here.) After Tokyo Tower, we split up from Chrys and Soojin and Katie and I went to Harajuku. We wanted to go to Yoyogi park to see all the people that go there on Sundays, but we were late and missed a lot of them. We had to cut that short though because there was a totally unexpected downpour and we almost got caught in it. We didn't do much in Harajuku besides look around in the shops and eat lunch. After that we met up with the same friend from yesterday (Erika) for dinner in Shibuya and had okonomiyaki (it translates as savory pancake, it's one of my favorite Japanese foods but it's really hard to find at home unless you make it yourself.) Before that, Katie and I rode the train for about 1 and 1/2 hours killing time (there is a train that goes around in a circle called the Yamanote line, and that's what we rode.) Katie has been having shin splints, and because it's difficult to find places that you can just sit around for a while here, riding the train aimlessly is the best thing to do.
Monday May 7, Katie and I went to Kamakura with my friend Erika (who lives here.) Kamakura is near the ocean and it's a very lovely place. It's one of my favorite places in Japan. A long time ago, it was the capital of Japan and so there are many temples and shrines there. We spent a lot of time on the beach, but we didn't swim because it wasn't warm enough to. After the ocean, we went to the biggest and one of the oldest shrines in the area and walked around. Then, we headed back to Yokohama (where Chrys lives.) But, we all fell asleep on the train and missed Yokohama station by quite a long shot, so we ended up hanging around in a part of Tokyo called Shibuya instead. We have been spending a lot of time in Shibuya because it's the most convenient place for everyone to meet.
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| Tokyo Tower! |
Tuesday, Chrys and I attended karate practice, like old times!! We were late, because Chrys and I had a misunderstanding about time. -_-;; It would have been nice to have had my cell phone during this trip... so we had to stretch and warm up on our own, but it was so fun. I miss karate practice a lot. Yu-chan is the captain of the team now and he is so amusing. After we did partner work, we split into groups for sparring, kata and basics. Yu-chan had Chrys and me go with him to work on kata... We originally wanted to go with Omura-san because he was teaching the first years basics, but Yu-chan and the girls wanted us to do kata instead. I have totally forgotten all of the kata that I used to know, and Yu-chan danced around singing 「忘れちゃった～～？」(You've forgotten~?) at me, many times... with a towel on his head. He's so silly.
Wednesday, we went to the Natural Science and History museum in Ueno. It was so. freaking. cool. The museum is located in Ueno Park, and it is amazing. I would like to go back there. We had to leave the museum at 5 when they closed and we had 3 hours to kill until dinner... so we rode the train around again... It decided to rain that evening, so it was much better than the other option of walking around in the rain. Katie and I met up with Erika one last time for dinner (Standing Sushi in Shibuya), and then Thursday morning we had our last meal with Chrys at Mister Donuts. Then, we headed to the airport.
Thursday was horrible after that though. We spent a ton of time in the airport, which was fine...whatever, we knew that was going to happen. But then it started to storm. Thunderstorm. It delayed our flight, which was fine... for the time being. The flight was the shortest that I have ever had from Japan to the US. It was only 8 1/2 hours long. It was fine, no real problems until we got close to the US. Then we hit a hard bit of turbulence, and I got a bit sick. After that, we had to go through customs and re go through security. There was only an hour before our connecting flight and we missed it. We were exhausted and it sucked. We were then put on stand-by for another flight. I decided that since I had no idea how stand-by worked, that I would ask the worker at the desk. She told me that someone would call my name but when that happened, Katie and I were in the wrong area. So, we missed the stupid flight, because someone else jumped ahead of us while we were trying to get to the lady.
I was pissed, with dead electronics, so I decided that I needed to find a charger. The flight that we got rescheduled for was set to go at 15:00, which was so annoying because it was 11:00 at the time we missed the flight. We SHOULD have been HOME by 15:00, not waiting for a stupid flight still. Katie called her mom, and she told her that there were some other flights that would arrive in Denver earlier, and so we asked if we could get on stand-by on one of those flights instead. We had to ask the lady who was announcing stand-by on the previous flight, and I think that we guilted her into making sure we got something.
We got onto a flight at 13:00, which was scheduled to arrive in Denver at 17:00. This did not happen. The flight was supposed to be boarded at gone, but because of the same weather that caused the turbulence earlier was causing problems. We took off late, and it was horrible. There was so much turbulence I felt like we were on a roller coaster. I tried to sleep, but it was miserable because of the bouncing of the plane. I honestly felt like I was going to throw up, many, many times.
We finally got back to Denver, and Katie's mom, Kelsey and Chelsie picked us up.
I decided that I am never, ever coming home through San Francisco again.
All in all it was a good trip. Even though the end was a bit of a bummer.
日本はすごい楽しかった。懐かしかった。
まった、夏に会うね～日本。<3
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
My trip to South Korea
April 24-30
We left Denver at 8:00(am) on Tuesday the 24th and arrived in Seoul around 15:30 on Wednesday the 25th. The most I remember about the flight is having to wait 20+ minutes to use the toilet because the K-girls were brushing their teeth.
After going through customs at the airport, we got to our hostel around ...I wanna say it was about 19:30 but I'm not too sure now. We arrived at our hostel, a little place called "Mint Guesthouse" which was located in Hongdae with the lovely directions that were provided on the website. And when I say lovely, I really mean it. The directions were perfect. They hit every escalator coming from the subway, and were super easy to follow. The girl that was working at the hostel (and the owner for that matter) was awesome, and she offered to order us food for dinner. This was a huge help to us because we were so tired. The food was delivered to us (bibimbop) and it was amazing. There was so much food and it only cost us 10 USD total. It was shocking, but I should have expected it because Soo told me that they served huge portions in Korea.
Over the next couple of days, we went on the Palace tour. It was really easy and really cheap to get around in Seoul, even without knowing Korean. The biggest difficulty was getting food.
The first day, we totally ruined the itinerary that Katie had set up because we got a bit lost. But, everything worked out in the end.
The last day (Saturday) we went to Seoul Tower and decided to take a taxi instead of hike the mountain that it is on. That was a horrible choice- driving was a free-for all, the driver didn't seem to care that there were lines on the road, or that there were cars in his way. I believe that he also ripped us off a bit. -_-;
Earlier that day, we hit up the shopping districts and found a bunch of Kpop stuff for our friends here. It was shocking to see how much cheaper the products were in Korea than they were in Japan (but this was also two years ago when we were in Japan. Also, we found out that wasn't necessarily the case once we got to Japan again.)
Most of the trip, we ate convenience store food. We attempted to get food from a chicken place, and it was a disaster. It scared us away from eating out in general and I felt like a jerk because I couldn't order food. It was a relief to go to Japan where I can actually function.
We left Denver at 8:00(am) on Tuesday the 24th and arrived in Seoul around 15:30 on Wednesday the 25th. The most I remember about the flight is having to wait 20+ minutes to use the toilet because the K-girls were brushing their teeth.
After going through customs at the airport, we got to our hostel around ...I wanna say it was about 19:30 but I'm not too sure now. We arrived at our hostel, a little place called "Mint Guesthouse" which was located in Hongdae with the lovely directions that were provided on the website. And when I say lovely, I really mean it. The directions were perfect. They hit every escalator coming from the subway, and were super easy to follow. The girl that was working at the hostel (and the owner for that matter) was awesome, and she offered to order us food for dinner. This was a huge help to us because we were so tired. The food was delivered to us (bibimbop) and it was amazing. There was so much food and it only cost us 10 USD total. It was shocking, but I should have expected it because Soo told me that they served huge portions in Korea.
Over the next couple of days, we went on the Palace tour. It was really easy and really cheap to get around in Seoul, even without knowing Korean. The biggest difficulty was getting food.
The first day, we totally ruined the itinerary that Katie had set up because we got a bit lost. But, everything worked out in the end.
The last day (Saturday) we went to Seoul Tower and decided to take a taxi instead of hike the mountain that it is on. That was a horrible choice- driving was a free-for all, the driver didn't seem to care that there were lines on the road, or that there were cars in his way. I believe that he also ripped us off a bit. -_-;
Earlier that day, we hit up the shopping districts and found a bunch of Kpop stuff for our friends here. It was shocking to see how much cheaper the products were in Korea than they were in Japan (but this was also two years ago when we were in Japan. Also, we found out that wasn't necessarily the case once we got to Japan again.)
Most of the trip, we ate convenience store food. We attempted to get food from a chicken place, and it was a disaster. It scared us away from eating out in general and I felt like a jerk because I couldn't order food. It was a relief to go to Japan where I can actually function.
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| lol I don't remember the names of any of these places. |
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| View from Seoul Tower during late afternoon. It was so smoggy. :/ |
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| Here's the night view! :) Pretty neat, right? |
Friday, April 13, 2012
Ereaders and Digi Cams..
I need a new digital camera... I'm sad because my camera cannot take pictures outside and I don't know why. It used to be able to take them just fine, but now they're horrible- bright white with just a bit of what I am taking a picture of. My brother and I have tried many different things to fix this and cannot figure it out, and the darn thing is fine if I take photos INSIDE...
Luckily I can borrow Vance's camera when I go to Korea and Japan soon.
The other thing I reckon I need is an ereader. I have been burning through books recently and with the whole moving back to Japan thing I reckon that an ereader might be the best idea. English books are few and far between in Japan and who knows where I'll be located... and if I will be willing to spend that extra money on an imported book (probably not!)
I'm thinking I'll get a Kindle. One of the simpler ones, I don't need the 3G and what not... haha. We'll see, I guess.
Luckily I can borrow Vance's camera when I go to Korea and Japan soon.
The other thing I reckon I need is an ereader. I have been burning through books recently and with the whole moving back to Japan thing I reckon that an ereader might be the best idea. English books are few and far between in Japan and who knows where I'll be located... and if I will be willing to spend that extra money on an imported book (probably not!)
I'm thinking I'll get a Kindle. One of the simpler ones, I don't need the 3G and what not... haha. We'll see, I guess.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Things I need to do...
Welp, a lot of things have happened this month. I didn't mention it previously but I applied with a company called JoyTalk and interviewed with them back in January. When I didn't hear back from them for over two months, I had given up on getting the job (because the start date was fast approaching March 27th.) I emailed my ex-coworker Greg and told him about it and he suggested that I enroll in a TEFL course he found on Groupon. (It was an amazing deal- a $599 course for $79!!) So I did.
Then I heard from the recruiter at JoyTalk.
He told me that they'd like to offer me a placement in Tochigi prefecture starting on March 27th teaching at an elementary school and a junior high.
I started crying because I wanted to take it but the timing was just horrible. So many things have happened since I interviewed with him... so many things.
The biggest thing that happened was that my paternal grandfather almost died. This is what I told Grant, the recruiter, when I spoke with him, asking for a deferment. But other things have changed too and I just cannot go to Japan next week... Especially because I thought that I hadn't gotten the job and had given up on it.
So, things will progress as planned until August. I will go to South Korea and Japan in late April/early May with Katie. I will go to Kelsey's graduation, and stay with my job at Sports Authority. I will get the TEFL certification (starting the class as soon as I finish this post,) and I will have that under my belt so that I can perhaps do a teaching stint in South Korea when I finish in Japan. And then I can go wherever I want to teach English. I would love to be able to do some in Europe so that I can experience living there as well.
So the point of this whole thing was to remind myself who all I need to tell that I got that job still and who knows. I don't want important to me people to find out on FB...
Who knows:
-my mom
-my dad
-Vance
-Katie
-Katie's family (surely she told them? Not sure.)
-Momo
-Jaren
-Manager Nick at work
-Eric
-Michele
-Jesse
-Greg
-Liz
-Daniel
-Taylor
I still need to tell the rest of my family members, and the vast majority of my co-workers.
Who doesn't:
-Chrys
-Emily J
-Emily W
-Jimmy
-Emily F
-Missy
-Aichan
-Alyssa
-Alysha
-Jamie
-Jaimie
-Naoko
-Jouji
-Amber
-Jonathan
-Scott
-Thea
-Kyle
-Luke
-Mina
-Brenda
-Ami
-Sonya
-Chase
-Ryan
-Carly
-Danica
-Brooks
-Work Jimmy
-Nick
-Mauricio
I'm sure I am forgetting some people, but that's who I can think of off of the top of my head right now.
Then I heard from the recruiter at JoyTalk.
He told me that they'd like to offer me a placement in Tochigi prefecture starting on March 27th teaching at an elementary school and a junior high.
I started crying because I wanted to take it but the timing was just horrible. So many things have happened since I interviewed with him... so many things.
The biggest thing that happened was that my paternal grandfather almost died. This is what I told Grant, the recruiter, when I spoke with him, asking for a deferment. But other things have changed too and I just cannot go to Japan next week... Especially because I thought that I hadn't gotten the job and had given up on it.
So, things will progress as planned until August. I will go to South Korea and Japan in late April/early May with Katie. I will go to Kelsey's graduation, and stay with my job at Sports Authority. I will get the TEFL certification (starting the class as soon as I finish this post,) and I will have that under my belt so that I can perhaps do a teaching stint in South Korea when I finish in Japan. And then I can go wherever I want to teach English. I would love to be able to do some in Europe so that I can experience living there as well.
So the point of this whole thing was to remind myself who all I need to tell that I got that job still and who knows. I don't want important to me people to find out on FB...
Who knows:
-my mom
-my dad
-Vance
-Katie
-Katie's family (surely she told them? Not sure.)
-Momo
-Jaren
-Manager Nick at work
-Eric
-Michele
-Jesse
-Greg
-Liz
-Daniel
-Taylor
I still need to tell the rest of my family members, and the vast majority of my co-workers.
Who doesn't:
-
-Emily W
-Jimmy
-Emily F
-Missy
-
-Alyssa
-Alysha
-Jamie
-Jaimie
-
-
-Amber
-Jonathan
-
-Luke
-Brenda
-Ami
-Chase
-Brooks
-Nick
I'm sure I am forgetting some people, but that's who I can think of off of the top of my head right now.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
I told you SuJu was ruining my life
Now instead of only going to Japan to see Chrys, I'm also going to South Korea.
See what SuJu did there?
And I'm becoming more open to perhaps getting a teaching job in Korea. And learning Korean.
See what SuJu did there?
And I'm becoming more open to perhaps getting a teaching job in Korea. And learning Korean.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
My list of things I need to do when I visit Chrys in Japan in May
Haha me and my lists!
Go to K-Town (Shin-Okubo)
-buy anything Super Junior that I can find
-get Liz a damn Taeyang pen
-see if they have a poster of Taeyang for Liz
Go to Harajuku
-do puri-kura
-idol shops
-eat a crepe
-eat a kabob
-that accessory shop
Emily wants to go to an onsen.
lol. That is truly horrible, that's all I want to do. Haaa... so far. :P
Go to K-Town (Shin-Okubo)
-buy anything Super Junior that I can find
-get Liz a damn Taeyang pen
-see if they have a poster of Taeyang for Liz
Go to Harajuku
-do puri-kura
-idol shops
-eat a crepe
-eat a kabob
-that accessory shop
Emily wants to go to an onsen.
lol. That is truly horrible, that's all I want to do. Haaa... so far. :P
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Super Junior (and how they're maybe changing the course of my life!)
Um, it's kind of 2:30am right now.
Haha.
Anyways, I wanted to ramble about Super Junior and what has happened to me recently (BECAUSE OF THEM.)
I have been listening to Japanese and Korean music since I was a sophomore in high school. That's been about eight years now, and I have been listening to Super Junior since their beginning really. But my relationship with Korean music is kind of strained, and I go through long spurts refusing to listen to it. Such an instance has been for almost two years. When I first went to Japan, I was listening to a bit of Korean music because one of my good friends in the US was Korean and she made me listen to some music she liked. When I arrived in Japan, I met a lot of people who were really into Korean music because it's good to dance to, or something like that. And me, not wanting to like what everyone else likes, decided that it was time to stop listening to Korean music. I was in JAPAN after all. To learn JAPANESE.
While (most of) my friends were raving about Korean pop bands that they were finding and falling in love with, I staunchly stuck to my love, the Japanese boy band Arashi. I stuck to Arashi like glue (and I still do.) When my friends would send me Korean music to listen to, I would listen to it maybe one time (if that) and then not listen to it again. If I were to listen to Korean bands, I made sure that it was in Japanese, (with the exception of Taeyang's "Wedding Dress" because that song is a miracle worker when it comes to writing last minute papers, and SHINee's "Ring Ding Dong" because that song is freaking catchy.) because a bunch of Korean bands were branching over to Japan (and still are from the looks of things with Super Junior.)
Then I returned home to the US. My best friends here were also obsessing over Korean music. I found this quite annoying and stuck to my "no Korean music!" policy. I would sit with them through a few music videos that I didn't really care that much about and not really pay attention to the song, just watch the dancing. I finally approached graduation from my college, and while attempting to get a position teaching English in Japan, a bunch of people told me that I should also look into teaching English in Korea. (This was a legit suggestion, because the job market in Korea is bigger for English teachers than it is in Japan simply because more people go to Japan. Korea is cheaper than Japan, and the chances of getting a job in a major city are much higher.) This upset me greatly, because the point of teaching English in Japan is to be able to live in JAPAN again, not in Korea. I know that they're close, but the whole point was to go for Japan, for the Japanese language, etc.
Struggling to find a job teaching in Japan, I have considered that maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Being an English teacher, I mean. I'm looking to translation jobs instead, because that's what I really want to do (I think.)
About a month ago, I was watching things on YouTube and I stumbled across SM Entertainment's page. Super Junior belongs to the giant company of SM Entertainment, and I decided to see if the band had put out any new music since I had last listened to them. (Last time I did, they had just released their 3rd album "Sorry Sorry.")
I was shocked to see that they had released a bunch of new songs since I stopped listening to them. I clicked around a bit and I found the cutest video I have ever seen in my life:
I can't even count how many times I have watched this video since I found it. It took me about a week before I was able to recognize all of the guys and figure out who was missing (compared with their previous videos, they're missing three guys in this video. One is gone for good due to a lawsuit, another is in his mandatory military service and another is on a kind of hiatus because of acting.)
From this video, I clicked around and watched their other newer videos. This was fatal. I've become obsessed with them again, perhaps more obsessed than I was in 2006. Before I went to Japan, I had an interest in learning Korean, but I never really did anything about it because I was too busy preparing to go to Japan. Then, I lost that interest. Now, I want to learn Korean just for Super Junior. And only for Super Junior.
I still don't care about Korean music more than I did before, I only care about Super Junior. (And Shinhwa, sometimes Big Bang and a little bit of SHINee. EDIT: AND RAIN, HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT RAIN??? And maybe some of TVXQ. Sometimes.) I'm not interested in other, new bands and I am in no way interested in female artists or bands (I don't even want to get started on why.) And, I don't care what my friends have to say about that. I'm also not interested in Korean dramas, the same friends who were telling me that I should try and get a job in Korea were praising Kdramas and I just don't see the appeal. I might watch some variety shows (but probably only the ones that Super Junior members are in.)
Now to why this band may be changing my life.
Obviously, I don't really know what to do now with my life. I have graduated from my university and have yet to find a job. I'm not ready for graduate school by any means, and I won't be ready for a while I believe. Part of the reason I am not ready for graduate school is because I don't know what I want to go for. I thought maybe I would go for Anthropology (focus in Japan, obviously.) There are no schools in my state that offer this sort of study, however and I was considering going to Japan for this.
Now however, with my somewhat renewed interest in learning Korean, I am considering getting a linguistics degree. A friend told me that as far as she knows, I would need proficiency in two or three languages to get this type of degree, so that is a slight set-back. I also have a desire to learn German, Italian, (re-learn) Spanish and perhaps Gaelic.
But I blame my indecisiveness on Super Junior and their absolutely adorable video here. I had a bit of an idea about what to do and now I am back at square one. It's not fair for me to say that this is all because of Super Junior, because I'm having a bunch of conflicting feelings about many different things right now. I just happened to stumble across their new music at the right time, I suppose.
Now I just need someone to help me learn how to read and write hangul. I'm trying to learn it myself but it's hard for me to teach myself these things.
Haha.
Anyways, I wanted to ramble about Super Junior and what has happened to me recently (BECAUSE OF THEM.)
I have been listening to Japanese and Korean music since I was a sophomore in high school. That's been about eight years now, and I have been listening to Super Junior since their beginning really. But my relationship with Korean music is kind of strained, and I go through long spurts refusing to listen to it. Such an instance has been for almost two years. When I first went to Japan, I was listening to a bit of Korean music because one of my good friends in the US was Korean and she made me listen to some music she liked. When I arrived in Japan, I met a lot of people who were really into Korean music because it's good to dance to, or something like that. And me, not wanting to like what everyone else likes, decided that it was time to stop listening to Korean music. I was in JAPAN after all. To learn JAPANESE.
While (most of) my friends were raving about Korean pop bands that they were finding and falling in love with, I staunchly stuck to my love, the Japanese boy band Arashi. I stuck to Arashi like glue (and I still do.) When my friends would send me Korean music to listen to, I would listen to it maybe one time (if that) and then not listen to it again. If I were to listen to Korean bands, I made sure that it was in Japanese, (with the exception of Taeyang's "Wedding Dress" because that song is a miracle worker when it comes to writing last minute papers, and SHINee's "Ring Ding Dong" because that song is freaking catchy.) because a bunch of Korean bands were branching over to Japan (and still are from the looks of things with Super Junior.)
Then I returned home to the US. My best friends here were also obsessing over Korean music. I found this quite annoying and stuck to my "no Korean music!" policy. I would sit with them through a few music videos that I didn't really care that much about and not really pay attention to the song, just watch the dancing. I finally approached graduation from my college, and while attempting to get a position teaching English in Japan, a bunch of people told me that I should also look into teaching English in Korea. (This was a legit suggestion, because the job market in Korea is bigger for English teachers than it is in Japan simply because more people go to Japan. Korea is cheaper than Japan, and the chances of getting a job in a major city are much higher.) This upset me greatly, because the point of teaching English in Japan is to be able to live in JAPAN again, not in Korea. I know that they're close, but the whole point was to go for Japan, for the Japanese language, etc.
Struggling to find a job teaching in Japan, I have considered that maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Being an English teacher, I mean. I'm looking to translation jobs instead, because that's what I really want to do (I think.)
About a month ago, I was watching things on YouTube and I stumbled across SM Entertainment's page. Super Junior belongs to the giant company of SM Entertainment, and I decided to see if the band had put out any new music since I had last listened to them. (Last time I did, they had just released their 3rd album "Sorry Sorry.")
I was shocked to see that they had released a bunch of new songs since I stopped listening to them. I clicked around a bit and I found the cutest video I have ever seen in my life:
I can't even count how many times I have watched this video since I found it. It took me about a week before I was able to recognize all of the guys and figure out who was missing (compared with their previous videos, they're missing three guys in this video. One is gone for good due to a lawsuit, another is in his mandatory military service and another is on a kind of hiatus because of acting.)
From this video, I clicked around and watched their other newer videos. This was fatal. I've become obsessed with them again, perhaps more obsessed than I was in 2006. Before I went to Japan, I had an interest in learning Korean, but I never really did anything about it because I was too busy preparing to go to Japan. Then, I lost that interest. Now, I want to learn Korean just for Super Junior. And only for Super Junior.
I still don't care about Korean music more than I did before, I only care about Super Junior. (And Shinhwa, sometimes Big Bang and a little bit of SHINee. EDIT: AND RAIN, HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT RAIN??? And maybe some of TVXQ. Sometimes.) I'm not interested in other, new bands and I am in no way interested in female artists or bands (I don't even want to get started on why.) And, I don't care what my friends have to say about that. I'm also not interested in Korean dramas, the same friends who were telling me that I should try and get a job in Korea were praising Kdramas and I just don't see the appeal. I might watch some variety shows (but probably only the ones that Super Junior members are in.)
Now to why this band may be changing my life.
Obviously, I don't really know what to do now with my life. I have graduated from my university and have yet to find a job. I'm not ready for graduate school by any means, and I won't be ready for a while I believe. Part of the reason I am not ready for graduate school is because I don't know what I want to go for. I thought maybe I would go for Anthropology (focus in Japan, obviously.) There are no schools in my state that offer this sort of study, however and I was considering going to Japan for this.
Now however, with my somewhat renewed interest in learning Korean, I am considering getting a linguistics degree. A friend told me that as far as she knows, I would need proficiency in two or three languages to get this type of degree, so that is a slight set-back. I also have a desire to learn German, Italian, (re-learn) Spanish and perhaps Gaelic.
But I blame my indecisiveness on Super Junior and their absolutely adorable video here. I had a bit of an idea about what to do and now I am back at square one. It's not fair for me to say that this is all because of Super Junior, because I'm having a bunch of conflicting feelings about many different things right now. I just happened to stumble across their new music at the right time, I suppose.
Now I just need someone to help me learn how to read and write hangul. I'm trying to learn it myself but it's hard for me to teach myself these things.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
On Faramir (taken from my Tumblr)
On Faramir
In the middle of re-reading the Lord of the Rings, I am in the chapters where Frodo and Sam encounter Faramir and his men. Faramir in the books is much more admirable than the Faramir in the movies- even though he is quite admirable in the movies- at the end of the chapter entitled “The Window on the West,” Sam accidentally mentions the Ring to Faramir and unlike in the movie, he states that “Not if I found it on the highway would I take it” (page 665.) He had previously mentioned this when discussing Isildur’s Bane with Frodo, long before he knew that it was in fact the Ring of Power. Faramir’s understanding that the Ring cannot be possessed by a Man makes him far wiser than many others.
For this is one of the reasons I adore Faramir.
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