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| In Fuji! |
| 05.31.04 (5:31 am) [edit] |
Just a quick update. I got to Fuji City today, and my awesome Area Manager Jay took me around and showed me the grocery stores, restaurants, etc.
It is a great city. Lots of paper mills, but Mt. Fuji looms in the background (though I haven`t seen it yet; too cloudy). The bullet train was crazy...so fast, felt dizzy on the way in.
My apartment is huge! Only about a third smaller than the one I had in Fort St. John - just massive, by Japanese standards. And I can see Mt. Fuji from my deck (again, when it isn`t cloudy).
Ugh...too tired. Update in a few days.
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| Grrr...bloody keyboards... |
| 05.22.04 (2:24 am) [edit] |
I know about that previous blog being all misformatted...I have no idea what I did, but obviously it is incomprehensible to Western machines. I tried to reformat it, didn`t work, then I tried retyping it, and promptly deleted the whole bloody thing, so I`m giving up for today. I`ll try another time to fix it.
Taught my first class today. Went well...they were little hellions (~6 years old), but I got through the lesson.
Day off tomorrow...thank heavens. I am soooooo tired.
Nothing else happening...oh, yeah. I got hit on by a Japanese guy yesterday on the train.
The day before, all of us teachers were on the train, and this Japanese guy sits next to Aaron and starts...well, hitting on him, telling him that he is gay and asking him out. Aaron is 42 years old, almost 6 ft. tall, and black. Aaron politely tells him he`s married and has two kids, and that he`s not interested.
So yesterday, we get on the same train, and I got on a different door, so I was sitting two seats up, away from the rest of the teachers...and lo and behold, the same guy comes over and starts, ah...showing interest. It was a very odd experience. I guess it`s a compliment that I, a skinny 21 year old white dude comes in second only to a 42 year old tall black guy. But still.
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| Coolest Things I Have Seen In Japan |
| 05.20.04 (12:49 am) [edit] |
- sake comes in cartons, jugs, and juice-boxes
- Japanese toilets: two kinds, one is a whole in the ground, the other is a futuristic one with buttons like it is out of Star Trek
- Japanese commercials: these crack me up! Mike and I like the ads better than the shows. They make no sense.
- Japanese t-shirts: Weirdest nonsensical slogans. Favourite so far: `Laundry is Little Boy`s Brother`
- Sumo wrestling. `Nuff said.
- Car garages: they are like ferris wheels - you put your car on this metal thing, and it goes up in a circle and another slot comes down...then when you are ready to go, you hit a switch and the whole thing turns until your car comes down. Crazy crazy crazy.
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| Ａｆｔｅｒ ａ ｌｏｎｇ |
| 05.20.04 (12:43 am) [edit] |
Ｉ am back. Yes, it has been a week - and back. Yes, it has been a week - and a very painful week, at that. But Internet is really not as common as one would think in such a as common as one would think in such a technological society, and the first place we found didn:t support my blog. Plus it`s been uber-busy support my blog. Plus it`s been uber-busy with training. But I`ll get to that.
The trip over was fairly uneventful. After bidding a fond `Sayonara` was fairly uneventful. After bidding a fond `Sayonara` to the parents, I went and waited in the area through customs for a few hours. Sipped coffee, read, people-watched...very relaxing. There was a good-looking customs agent with a beautiful dog (like a cross between a with a beautiful dog (like a cross between a greyhound and a dog (like a cross between a greyhound and a lab) checking things over, and it was fun watching these kids run up to the dog, then get scared and run away.
Boarding is called, so I give my ticket and start down the ramp. Not so fast, Ｔｈｏｕｇｈ - that cute customs lady calls me over.
Cute Customs Lady: So what are you doing in Japan?
Me: Working, travelling some.
CCL: What do you do here?
M: I`m a student.
CCL: Do you have a job?
M: Only part time.
CCL: So if you`re a student, without a full time job you`re a student, without a full time job, how a student, without a full time job, how can you afford to pay for this trip?
M: Uhhh...
CCL: Are you carrying anything hidden on you? Knives, weapons...
M: I have a money pouch...
CCL: How much money in it? Where is it?
At this point, she suddenly began to resemble a harpy and her dog got bigger and more vicious with every second. Luckily, she eventually saw reason that a scrawny vicious with every second. Luckily, she eventually let me go...but it was a weird way to start, getting the ninth degree like that.
Plane was fine. Not great service, but I sat next to a great guy from Korea, and read and slept a lot.
Got to Narita (near Tokyo) okay, but trying to change planes in that airport...which is just huge. And I`d been airport...which is just huge. And I`d been up for a whole day prior to that. And the plane was late. And nobody spoke English. Finally I managed to clear customs and get through, only to find a gargantuan corridor that I had to get through. Only get through, only to find a gargantuan corridor that I had to get through. Only problem was that there were lines of people walking back and forth across my path, and people in all directions with carts and bags. Tons of people, too. So now I`m playing `Frogger` in the bloody airport.
But I got there okay, and the plane ride to Nagoya was okay, and the plane ride to Nagoya was all right the plane ride to Nagoya was all right - I was kinda sick and sleepy, because I`d been up for a whole day. Met up with Mike, a guy from Vernon who`s also a teacher, and we got picked up and a teacher, ａｎｄ we got picked up and taken to the PKC office. Thus began a barrage of paperwork, some of which seemed like a horrific psychological experiment - we had ｔｏ fill out a pile of sheets perfectly...no mistakes. This after 23 hours of travelling...ugh, felt like a horrible psychiatric test.
Tiny apartment. Tiny, tiny, tiny. Especially with Mike and I sharing - no room at all. My suitcase kept blocking the fridge. Ah, well - only for a couple of weeks.
People are so nice. We asked a guy for directions, and he called his buddy to come over and drive us to the place. It`s great.
You get a lot of weird looks on the subway, though. People aren`t used to seeing gaijin (foreigners), and one guy took the picture of a couple of the other trainees and then ran off.
Alrighty, enough for now. Training starts soon!!!
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| The very-not-calm-and-actually-quite-stressful-period before the storm... |
| 05.11.04 (11:43 pm) [edit] |
It's just over 13 hours away, and I'll be on a plane.
I've spent the day packing. Got everything in, but the suitcases are bulging so it looks like I've got small children jammed in there. In the morning I just have to throw in my toothbrush and I'm ready to go. I'm looking forward to the airport...after saying 'goodbye,' and after I'm checked in, when I've just got a nice two hours to sit and read and relax. I'll hit the Tim Hortons and be in a caffeinated heaven.
So...not much else to say...I'll blog next time I'm near a computer in Japan.
Sayonara!
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| T-minus four days... |
| 05.08.04 (1:04 am) [edit] |
It has indeed been a sobering day.
We took Sheena (my sister) to the airport tonight - she's off to a youth conference in North Bay, Ontario, for a week. Standing in the terminal and saying goodbye...especially since I won't see her until I get back...it kinda hit home that aspect of the trip. That it will be me standing in the terminal on Wednesday, bidding everyone adieu.
I've been doing some odd jobs around the house and for my dad's business to earn a little extra cash - still have to get those bloody slippers. It's nice to have something else to think about.
And reading...I'm about two-thirds of the way through Atwood's [i]Oryx and Crake[/i], and enjoying it...to a certain extent. It's very different from [i]The Robber Bride[/i] (the only other Atwood novel I've read, so far), and it's a much easier read. Futuristic, quasi-apocalyptic (which is a favourite genre of mine in itself), and focusing on the dangers of genetic splicing...but it's also kind of depressing. Therein lies the inherent flaw that problematizes zombie, apocalypse, and natural disaster themes in books and movies: it's a lot of fun to watch a complete meltdown of society, but dealing with the consequences is just draining. Still, it's a good read.
Slippers tomorrow.
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| Introduction |
| 05.05.04 (9:41 pm) [edit] |
So following the euphoria of yesterday's blog beginnings, I felt I should write a more coherent and comprehensive introduction.
Ahem.
In exactly one week from today, I will be on a flight to Japan, where I have a job teaching English until December. I will be staying in Nagoya for the initial two weeks, where I am a put through a (what I'm told is rather) trying training workshop. Then I get shipped to my permanent residence, Fuji City (see the pics below for what the place looks like), which is an hour and twenty minutes from Tokyo by train.
And no, I don't speak Japanese, or know much at all about the Japanese lifestyle and culture. Like Stevie Wonder in the Louvre, I won't have a clue what's going down.
Do I like Japanese food? Well, yes...at least, as of last Thursday. Trish and I hit up Tsunami's Sushi, and marvelled at the oval-shaped river that makes up the sushi bar. You sit on the outside and chefs on the inside put small servings of all kinds of dishes in little wooden boats that float by...you just grab what looks good, and they tally up the colour/price-coded plates when you're done. We had a great adventure there...tried raw shrimp (good, tastes like normal shrimp), pork tempura, California rolls, caviar rolls (which was as good as eating raw fish eggs can be, I suppose), raw Calimari (which was hard to swallow...way, way too chewy), and some delicious raw oysters. Overall, I liked it. But we'll see...so far the food's agreed with me, but I got a prescription for traveller's intestinal discomfort pills in case Montezuma decides to visit.
I'll be teaching a wide range of ankelbiters (3-15, I think, is the official age group). Not quite sure how the school system works...from my limited knowledge, I believe that I teach a different class for a week once a month; that is, I think I switch between four schools through each month.
I've got my own apartment, which the uber-awesome company has taken care of. I'll try and get some pics of it uploaded here when I get a chance.
Anyhoot, I think that's all I can say for now. I went shopping and got some clothes, and a big new backpack (for which I still need a Canadian flag, and a Tim Hortons Mug). Still need a new shirt, and slippers...but there's no bloody way I'm paying $39.99 for a pair of too-tight slip-ons from the Bay. Methinks I'll be hitting up every shoestore in Langley in the coming days...
Right now, I'm still in the denial stages...can't quite believe I'm leaving, but having to make all the necessary arrangements. But I'm excited. I can't wait to get on that plane, and meet the other teachers. The company guy said that I'll be with people from all over the world - England, U.S., Australia, New Zealand...it'll be a great experience. And if I meet any girls half as lovely as Scarlett Johansson, I'll consider myself lucky.
T-minus 7 days, folks. I head out on Wednesday, and I'll try and update daily until then.
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| One More Pic |
| 05.04.04 (10:42 pm) [edit] |
Another pic of Fuji City.
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| Pic? Pic?! Pic!!! |
| 05.04.04 (10:20 pm) [edit] |
My first image uploaded! This is a pic of Fuji City, where I will be staying for the next 8 months.
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| One small step for Cam... |
| 05.04.04 (10:01 pm) [edit] |
*cue James Earl Jones*
"Thus begins a new era..."
One in which I have a blog. But give me a few days. I'm still learning what all these fancy buttons do.
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