A couple of minor cultural difference I've really noticed this week... (Of course any time you talk about cultural differences, you're generalising. Plenty of Japanese people *don't* fit this mold. But I'm just talking from my own observations...)
Debating
Hmmm... a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to one of Jim's advanced-level students about the Japanese education system. He commented that Japanese people generally have poor debating skills, since students don't really practice or develop such skills in school. He asked me, 'have you noticed that your students can't debate a topic?'
I hadn't noticed it, but today, we were having a debate topic in our advanced level class, and I thought he had a point.
Now, these students have perfectly adequate English skills to communicate arguments. It's just that they didn't really *make* arguments supporting their case. Rather, they kept restating the same facts in different ways. The facts were loosely related to the topic but didn't really support their argument. When I asked them to try to rebut the opponent's ideas, what they said actually *corroborated* those ideas, rather than refuted them.
It's actually strange to see this kind of thing happen. None of the Japanese students really made any 'proper' arguments. (This is not to say that no Japanese people *can*. I've seen other debates, and know of two or three students who can do it quite well. But it seems like Jim's student was right.)
They just couldn't seem to marshal their thoughts in that way - meanwhile, our Mexican student had no problem making several strong arguments for his position.
You realise that you are the product of the training you had at school. The Japanese educational system, of course, has its strong points, but I suspect that debating is not a mental exercise they really practice there...
Shyness
It's a common stereotype that Japanese people are shy. Plenty of my students are not shy. But on the whole, yes, I think Japanese people in general are definitely more shy and reserved than Westerners.
For example, we often have beginner prospective students come in. They - especially the women - are often terrified to meet, and be spoken to by, a foreigner. Even though Jim is charm and personableness itself, and don't think I'm particularly intimidating, they are often very timid and nervous, and find it hard to say anything.
Imagine a similar situation in Australia. For example, if you want to learn Spanish, you go into a Spanish school. There, the director speaks to you in Spanish for a while so he can evaluate your level and decide which class to put you in.
Now, you might think, 'ehh, my Spanish is pretty poor and I can't say everything I want to. I can't understand everything he says, so I might feel a bit stupid. But after all, this is a school for learning Spanish. They must get heaps of people in who can't speak any Spanish at all. This is their job, just to work out how much I know. No big deal.'
Few Aussies would get nervous about such an 'interview'. I can't imagine a single Australian I know sitting in paralysed fear when someone tried to speak to them in a friendly way. But in Japan I've met a number of people who respond that way - often, when the manager comes out to ask you to speak to them, she warns you 'she's very nervous about meeting a foreigner'. So you try extra hard to smile and be kind and soft-spoken.
I'm aware that even my normal manner, which I intend to be friendly, can sound a bit brisk and intimidating to these people who are really, really shy... I feel like I often screw up with these very sensitive people; you have to be very careful to leave them feeling positive about their interaction with you, but sometimes I mess up by asking them questions they can't answer, or I don't enunciate my words clearly enough (an ongoing problem with me).
Another difference is in the lobby. It's rare that a student will come up to me and say hello, if I'm standing there, or have just finished talking to someone else. In a week, maybe half a dozen of the 300+ students would come up to me, but most wouldn't. It's especially rare that any new person would come up to you and introduce themselves.
Sure, I'm the teacher; it's my job to make an effort. But you must agree that if you were in Australia, people would readily come up to you and chat. Again, I remember my old French school and the atmosphere there. Lots of people chatting to each other and to their teachers. But here, even students in the same class will rarely speak to each other in the lobby. That's not to say the lobby is cold and unfriendly. Especially during the evenings, there's often a pleasant buzz as students talk to the managers and teachers. But it's usually the teachers who facilitate it...
Positives :)
Since I mentioned a couple of 'negatives', it's only fair to mention a couple of positives. I'm impressed by how hard working so many students are. They really do a lot of homework, and do it faithfully each week. And, so many of these students work overtime every day. I've had students say they work until 10, or midnight, every day. Some of them work weekends. Yet they still come to class.
The other thing is that everyone is really nice. Over 300 students in the school, and not one person I dislike. Everyone smiles, they're pleasant; nobody is obnoxious; people are considerate of each other and polite, they give everyone an opportunity to speak. It's rare to have a student who tries to dominate conversations, and even more rare to find a student who will argue with anyone in any way!
***
Hmmm... anyway, it's all interesting, isn't it!
I'm pretty chuffed that one new student decided to join a class after a trial lesson he took with me. He said the class atmosphere was fun. I don't know why it is that some lessons go so smoothly and are fun, and others are woeful. I think it's usually dependent on the specific mix of students, and (I guess) on how readily I can think of appropriate things to do in the lesson. I don't do very thorough lesson preparation - there's no time - so the exact things I do in a lesson are a bit hit-and-miss.
I was a bit nervous about his taking that particular class, because the previous week, that same class was an absolute stinker. It was boring, I was ill-prepared and continually shuffling through papers (I'd done my lesson prep earlier in the day, but then later someone had put new lesson materials in, so I got confused), and I spent five minutes failing to explain the key grammar point. (What do you say when someone asks you 'what is the difference between 'I tried to do my homework' and 'I tried doing my homework'?!)
You do get some challenging questions sometimes. Today I got asked: "please tell me the nuance, what's the difference between 'She's too young to have a boyfriend' and 'She's too young to start seeing boys'?" 'Nuance' questions often strike fear into my heart, haha... "What's the difference between 'help me' and 'help me out'?"
Anyway, I'm rambling on... I need to do some sewing and get my immigration stuff together, not to mention wash some dishes (not to mention clean my apartment; it's Disgraceful again. I've been looking for my makeup bag for the last week, but this place is such a sty I still haven't found it. And this is only a one-room apartment!! Today a student said to me 'you look really tired!' (I don't think she meant to be unkind, haha) which made me think, I should really start putting on makeup for work again... I stopped doing it because my bathroom is so small, the mirror gets completely wet and fogged for about two hours after every shower, so I can't see in it in the mornings.)
Yawnnnn... I need to buy some new work clothes too. I am having very bad luck with shirts. Three of my shirts have stretched so that I can't wear them any more; two need sewing; one I bought for mid-winter and realised I can never wear because it's far too warm indoors, seriously it's literally 29 degrees in our office of an evening, and outside it's about 4... geez... both pairs of work trousers have also stretched slightly. It's so annoying. Why must I buy new clothes only a few months after I bought the old ones?
My temporary enjoyment of shopping in Japan has since abated and I'm back to hating going clothes shopping...
Anyway I really should get offline... it's, like, 1:40am...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Music
In the lobby of our school, we always have English music playing. Until now, it's been a kind of mix of 70s and 80s music. You could hear Billy Joel, Queen, Michael Jackson, all manner of popular older songs... But in the last few days, the station was changed to a pop station. I immediately realised the station had been changed when I came out of my class to hear Ricki Lee singing 'Can't Touch It'!
(Actually, I just looked up Ricki Lee's profile on Wikipedia and it says 'Working with songwriter Roselyn Della Sabina, Coulter wanted to crack the music market in Japan.' So... I guess she has. I've heard the song a few times now. :))
Now I get to hear the latest hits again... and again... and again!
It seems that pop music channels are just the same in Japan as in Australia. There are no ad breaks (?!) but they DO play the same songs over and over. Today I heard Fergie's 'Clumsy' three times, Alicia Keys' 'No One' FOUR times, Colbie Caillat's 'Bubbly' three or four times, and Crank That (Soulja Boy) three times. It's literally like they had about six songs on loop. (Bear in mind that half the time, I am in classes. So it's not like I'm listening to the radio ALL day...)
Oh well... I *do* like to keep on top of which songs are popular.
***
Jim often says he has very little to do during the times he has no classes. (We have some hours for office work and admin, but more hours of classes.) This kind of surprises me. The longer I work here, the more work I seem to acquire. I have more admin hours than him, but I have no problem filling all my hours. Of course I spend *much* more time on lesson preparation (not that I spend an unreasonable amount of time, but of course, he's taught most of the classes, like, 40 times before, and I've never taught them before, so I have to look at each one).
Still, apart from the basic 'figuring out how I'm going to teach each lesson', there's:
-writing progress reports for students
-doing educational counselling
-preparing for educational counselling and thinking through what recommendations I will make for each student, and which materials I will give them
-preparing vocab lists for my advanced classes (I don't have to do this, but I think the advanced classes are better if I add extra material)
-updating or adding materials to existing lesson materials
-teacher's meetings
-interviewing possible new students
-miscellaneous admin tasks
-cleaning (only a little)
-creating or searching for new materials for private lessons
-helping students with their 'study at home' program
As you can see, there are lots of bits and pieces. I always have many things to do and keep in mind. And I have a reduced teaching load at the moment, since a few of my classes ended. I can't imagine what it will be like once kids' classes start. I will be a Busy Bee. But, actually, by that time, I should have taught the entire textbook for one of my 'streams', once (it's a 6-month course), so I'll be doing all repeat lessons; ergo, less preparation...
(Oh my goodness... there's this dreadful show 'teaching English' on TV... a 'gaijin' (foreigner) and two 'cute' Japanese girls are dancing and singing together: 'fried rice! sunny side up! beef bowl! pork cutlet!' WHY oh WHY is Japanese TV so dreadful?!
Okay good, now that bad show has finished, and my preferred 'French teaching' show has started. This one is far less obnoxious and does not feature any songs about pork cutlets. Not that I really study French; I just have it on in the background...)
(Actually, I just looked up Ricki Lee's profile on Wikipedia and it says 'Working with songwriter Roselyn Della Sabina, Coulter wanted to crack the music market in Japan.' So... I guess she has. I've heard the song a few times now. :))
Now I get to hear the latest hits again... and again... and again!
It seems that pop music channels are just the same in Japan as in Australia. There are no ad breaks (?!) but they DO play the same songs over and over. Today I heard Fergie's 'Clumsy' three times, Alicia Keys' 'No One' FOUR times, Colbie Caillat's 'Bubbly' three or four times, and Crank That (Soulja Boy) three times. It's literally like they had about six songs on loop. (Bear in mind that half the time, I am in classes. So it's not like I'm listening to the radio ALL day...)
Oh well... I *do* like to keep on top of which songs are popular.
***
Jim often says he has very little to do during the times he has no classes. (We have some hours for office work and admin, but more hours of classes.) This kind of surprises me. The longer I work here, the more work I seem to acquire. I have more admin hours than him, but I have no problem filling all my hours. Of course I spend *much* more time on lesson preparation (not that I spend an unreasonable amount of time, but of course, he's taught most of the classes, like, 40 times before, and I've never taught them before, so I have to look at each one).
Still, apart from the basic 'figuring out how I'm going to teach each lesson', there's:
-writing progress reports for students
-doing educational counselling
-preparing for educational counselling and thinking through what recommendations I will make for each student, and which materials I will give them
-preparing vocab lists for my advanced classes (I don't have to do this, but I think the advanced classes are better if I add extra material)
-updating or adding materials to existing lesson materials
-teacher's meetings
-interviewing possible new students
-miscellaneous admin tasks
-cleaning (only a little)
-creating or searching for new materials for private lessons
-helping students with their 'study at home' program
As you can see, there are lots of bits and pieces. I always have many things to do and keep in mind. And I have a reduced teaching load at the moment, since a few of my classes ended. I can't imagine what it will be like once kids' classes start. I will be a Busy Bee. But, actually, by that time, I should have taught the entire textbook for one of my 'streams', once (it's a 6-month course), so I'll be doing all repeat lessons; ergo, less preparation...
(Oh my goodness... there's this dreadful show 'teaching English' on TV... a 'gaijin' (foreigner) and two 'cute' Japanese girls are dancing and singing together: 'fried rice! sunny side up! beef bowl! pork cutlet!' WHY oh WHY is Japanese TV so dreadful?!
Okay good, now that bad show has finished, and my preferred 'French teaching' show has started. This one is far less obnoxious and does not feature any songs about pork cutlets. Not that I really study French; I just have it on in the background...)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Hmm...
Here's a fun combo for you:
Take a brand new student who speaks virtually no English.
Recommend she take private lessons with a foreign teacher (ie, me) who speaks virtually no Japanese.
Have no lesson plan but what the student brings with her on the day.
Have the student learn phrases of which she is lucky to understand one word in ten.
Huzzah!
When I went to training yesterday I was interested to hear that most of the other foreign teachers do not teach the raw beginner classes. Me, I do. In these classes I have a few students who can't even understand 'what did you do on the weekend?' or 'today, you are in the office'. You learn to work with it and become a dab hand at ways to increase their chance of understanding. (For example if I want to ask what they did on the weekend, I'll start by saying what I did, then ask the most experienced student.)
But a private lesson with no structure? Muzukashii ne... For example I wanted to ask 'which sentences do you need to practice?' and 'how many are there?' I tried every possible permutation of those questions. I made them so simple they weren't even grammatically correct. I don't think she knew the words 'how many', or 'sentence', or what I meant by 'what ones'...
Anyway, it really wasn't that bad, and fortunately, the student was very nice, I just didn't feel like I was the best teacher for the job...
Take a brand new student who speaks virtually no English.
Recommend she take private lessons with a foreign teacher (ie, me) who speaks virtually no Japanese.
Have no lesson plan but what the student brings with her on the day.
Have the student learn phrases of which she is lucky to understand one word in ten.
Huzzah!
When I went to training yesterday I was interested to hear that most of the other foreign teachers do not teach the raw beginner classes. Me, I do. In these classes I have a few students who can't even understand 'what did you do on the weekend?' or 'today, you are in the office'. You learn to work with it and become a dab hand at ways to increase their chance of understanding. (For example if I want to ask what they did on the weekend, I'll start by saying what I did, then ask the most experienced student.)
But a private lesson with no structure? Muzukashii ne... For example I wanted to ask 'which sentences do you need to practice?' and 'how many are there?' I tried every possible permutation of those questions. I made them so simple they weren't even grammatically correct. I don't think she knew the words 'how many', or 'sentence', or what I meant by 'what ones'...
Anyway, it really wasn't that bad, and fortunately, the student was very nice, I just didn't feel like I was the best teacher for the job...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tsukareta... (Tired...)
Had my follow-up training today. It was pretty good, and nice to catch up with everyone from training again. My manager and head teacher evaluated me last week and I'm pleased to say their feedback was good. They said they're glad to have me there, and that I have a very positive attitude, I'm hardworking, and the students think my classes are enjoyable. I was very happy to hear that, especially the last one, because really you don't know what students think. Sometimes I ask my manager, 'oh, what are students saying about my classes?' and she just says 'I'll tell you if there's a problem'. So it's nice to know.
They also gave me feedback on areas to improve, and I'm happy to hear that too. Just in the last week or two I've begun a bit of a shift in thinking. I think because I have slightly fewer classes than normal, and because I finally know all my students' names, I am really starting to see my students more as individuals, to start to recognise their strengths and weaknesses, and to be conscious that the lesson is not just about me getting up there and getting through my material - it's all about *their* perception of the class and of me as a teacher. It's not enough to just get through the lesson; you want to make every class good for every student, and meet every student's needs. It's a bit hard though...
I felt sorry for a couple of guys at training. They say they are still doing about an hour's lesson preparation per class! So they are always taking materials home and spending hours doing it over the weekend. I can fit all mine into work hours and have a little time to spare. So I feel lucky. I think it helps that I haven't been doing kids' teaching though; apparently that takes the most work.
I'm feeling pretty stuffed at the moment, I think just because 'commuting' to Tokyo can be a little draining. I had to take four trains to get back here, and the longest journey was standing all the way, holding my bag and coat and jacket...
I was craving strawberries this evening so I just bought a 'punnet'. Well, it only had seven strawberries in it, and cost about $3. I don't care. It was worth it. They were perfect. The only other strawberries I have seen here are more like $7 a punnet. Some fruits and vegetables are kind of expensive, since they're off-season, but strawberries are the worst. They are like a luxury item; people buy them as gifts...
So I didn't exactly have a 'weekend', what with working on Sunday and a very full day of training today; then I go straight into a new working week tomorrow. But I don't really care. I like work, anyway.
Actually, I still like pretty well everything about living in Japan and I feel happy every day. That's why it's no effort for me to have a positive attitude at work; I don't have to pretend. If I were actually bored or unmotivated, I'd find it very hard to put on a happy face... I still want to make more proper friends and go out more socially (not that I have any time at all for this at the moment...).
Right now I'm thinking about whether I'll go to London in my Golden Week holiday... a good friend of mine is living there now and I'd really like to visit her; I'd also really, really like to see London now that I'm old enough to fully appreciate it. Just imagine walking around the Tower of London, or the National Gallery... I have enough money, I guess it depends if I'm willing to fork over a lot of it. But really, why not? I can stay with her, and when will I get another opportunity like this?
Now I'm trying to work out if I should drag myself off the futon so I can make kimchi nabe and eat a light dinner before I go to bed... I think I will... I should really eat more vegetables... and it's a nice, warming meal...
Alright, good night... hope you are all well! :)
They also gave me feedback on areas to improve, and I'm happy to hear that too. Just in the last week or two I've begun a bit of a shift in thinking. I think because I have slightly fewer classes than normal, and because I finally know all my students' names, I am really starting to see my students more as individuals, to start to recognise their strengths and weaknesses, and to be conscious that the lesson is not just about me getting up there and getting through my material - it's all about *their* perception of the class and of me as a teacher. It's not enough to just get through the lesson; you want to make every class good for every student, and meet every student's needs. It's a bit hard though...
I felt sorry for a couple of guys at training. They say they are still doing about an hour's lesson preparation per class! So they are always taking materials home and spending hours doing it over the weekend. I can fit all mine into work hours and have a little time to spare. So I feel lucky. I think it helps that I haven't been doing kids' teaching though; apparently that takes the most work.
I'm feeling pretty stuffed at the moment, I think just because 'commuting' to Tokyo can be a little draining. I had to take four trains to get back here, and the longest journey was standing all the way, holding my bag and coat and jacket...
I was craving strawberries this evening so I just bought a 'punnet'. Well, it only had seven strawberries in it, and cost about $3. I don't care. It was worth it. They were perfect. The only other strawberries I have seen here are more like $7 a punnet. Some fruits and vegetables are kind of expensive, since they're off-season, but strawberries are the worst. They are like a luxury item; people buy them as gifts...
So I didn't exactly have a 'weekend', what with working on Sunday and a very full day of training today; then I go straight into a new working week tomorrow. But I don't really care. I like work, anyway.
Actually, I still like pretty well everything about living in Japan and I feel happy every day. That's why it's no effort for me to have a positive attitude at work; I don't have to pretend. If I were actually bored or unmotivated, I'd find it very hard to put on a happy face... I still want to make more proper friends and go out more socially (not that I have any time at all for this at the moment...).
Right now I'm thinking about whether I'll go to London in my Golden Week holiday... a good friend of mine is living there now and I'd really like to visit her; I'd also really, really like to see London now that I'm old enough to fully appreciate it. Just imagine walking around the Tower of London, or the National Gallery... I have enough money, I guess it depends if I'm willing to fork over a lot of it. But really, why not? I can stay with her, and when will I get another opportunity like this?
Now I'm trying to work out if I should drag myself off the futon so I can make kimchi nabe and eat a light dinner before I go to bed... I think I will... I should really eat more vegetables... and it's a nice, warming meal...
Alright, good night... hope you are all well! :)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Food and kanji
Recently my experiences of eating out have been uniformly positive. I've tried many new foods that I've enjoyed very much.
Last night, alas, was another one of the Evil Izakayas. There were a few tasty dishes, like kimchi pizza, and a kind of sizzling chicken and mushroom dish, but some others were simply unmentionable.
For example, one plate had lots of tiny, bite-sized pieces of fried chicken (well, it kind of looked like KFC - deep-fried batter). Yum, I thought. Then I bit into them. I don't know what part of the chicken it was, but I'm certain that at least 50% of it was cartilage again. It was very crunchy, in an 'oops, I shouldn't be eating this part of the animal' kind of way.
Another dish featured spicy intestine pieces with cream cheese. I hate cream cheese, and I can confidently say that I also hate intestine. (It kind of doesn't need to be said, does it?) Imagine putting a nice, wobbling, transparent piece of fat in your mouth, and chewing for five minutes trying to swallow it.
Another downer was the natto omelette. I'm sorry, but fermented soybeans are just not for me. The omelette was enough to enable me eat all my serving. I even said I liked it. (This was not true.) I don't want to seem like the fussy foreigner; I don't mind disliking one dish, but three or four... hahah... the worst part is that Jim seems to like pretty well every weird and horrible food item you can imagine!
***
Because I am an incredibly sad person and language nerd, one thing I enjoy doing is looking up kanji.
Kanji are the Chinese-style characters used in the Japanese language. There are around 2000 of them in everyday use, and some of them are very complicated, with 10, 15, even 20 pen strokes in a single character...
Unlike English letters, kanji represent an idea rather than a sound. So you can have characters in Japanese that are spoken differently depending on what word they are in (for example there is a character, meaning 'great', which can be pronounced as 'dai', 'tai' or 'o', depending on the context). Also, a sound can be represented by many different kanji - for example the sound 'dai' could be represented by at least 14 different kanji...
So at first glance Japanese writing seemed completely impenetrable, something that would never, never mean anything to me. But very, very slowly I'm beginning to learn new kanji and recognise them. Today [aka, when I wrote this] on my train ride I amused myself looking up the kanji which make up place names.
For example:
'Omori' is made up of the characters for 'big' and 'forest'. (And the character 'forest' is made of a group of three of the character for tree!)
Tokyo is made up of the characters 'to' for 'east' (which is the same character as 'higashi' in 'Higashi-Kanagawa' - 'higashi' also means 'east') and 'kyo' for capital. So, Tokyo means 'eastern capital'. And the 'kyo' ('capital') in 'Tokyo' is the same character as the 'kyo' in 'Kyoto'. (the 'to' in 'Kyoto' also means 'capital', or 'metropolis'.) And Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan before Tokyo. Isn't that interesting? Well, I thought so...
It's interesting looking up the kanji sounds in a dictionary to see what other words they appear in. (And yes, as I said, I realise this makes me a very sad person...)
I looked up 'me', which means 'eye'. There are lots of other words that start with that kanji 'me', most of them directly or indirectly related to seeing (eg 'me o tousu' - 'look over')
Then I saw 'meshita', which means 'subordinate'. It's made of the characters for 'eye' and 'under' - someone below your gaze... likewise, 'meue' ('superior' or 'senior') is made of the kanji 'eye' and 'over' - someone above your eye level!
The word 'jidousha' ('car') is made up of the three kanji for 'oneself', 'move' and 'vehicle'. A vehicle you can move by yourself. It's a car!
The word 'otona' ('adult') is made up of two kanji - 'big' and 'person'. A big person - an adult!
Then, sometimes the design of the kanji themselves is interesting. More complex kanji will often incorporate other characters in themselves. For example:
'Calm' uses the character for 'woman' under some strokes that look like a roof. So 'calm' is represented by 'a woman under the home roof'.
The kanji for 'bright' is represented by the kanji for sun and moon.
The kanji for 'ask' or 'question', features the characters for 'mouth' and 'gate' - a mouth at the 'gate', asking a question...
Totemo omoshiroi desu ne? (So interesting, isn't it? Incidentally, the 'shiro' in 'omoshiroi' (interesting) is the same 'shiro' that means 'white'...)
When I first came to Japan I always wanted to learn Japanese - actually I've wanted to learn Japanese for years but lacked motivation, since I didn't think I'd ever use it - but never thought I would even try to learn kanji. No, since reading was impossible, I'd just focus on learning to speak and listen.
But now I think it would be stupid to limit myself and think 'I can't do it'. Okay, I know it would take years to learn all the 'everyday use' kanji. That doesn't mean I can't start now and learn what words I can in the time I do have. Plus, if I learn all the elements together, they complement each other. I can learn new vocabulary when I learn writing, for example. I can remind myself of words I learned every time I see those kanji, for example on the train.
Last night, alas, was another one of the Evil Izakayas. There were a few tasty dishes, like kimchi pizza, and a kind of sizzling chicken and mushroom dish, but some others were simply unmentionable.
For example, one plate had lots of tiny, bite-sized pieces of fried chicken (well, it kind of looked like KFC - deep-fried batter). Yum, I thought. Then I bit into them. I don't know what part of the chicken it was, but I'm certain that at least 50% of it was cartilage again. It was very crunchy, in an 'oops, I shouldn't be eating this part of the animal' kind of way.
Another dish featured spicy intestine pieces with cream cheese. I hate cream cheese, and I can confidently say that I also hate intestine. (It kind of doesn't need to be said, does it?) Imagine putting a nice, wobbling, transparent piece of fat in your mouth, and chewing for five minutes trying to swallow it.
Another downer was the natto omelette. I'm sorry, but fermented soybeans are just not for me. The omelette was enough to enable me eat all my serving. I even said I liked it. (This was not true.) I don't want to seem like the fussy foreigner; I don't mind disliking one dish, but three or four... hahah... the worst part is that Jim seems to like pretty well every weird and horrible food item you can imagine!
***
Because I am an incredibly sad person and language nerd, one thing I enjoy doing is looking up kanji.
Kanji are the Chinese-style characters used in the Japanese language. There are around 2000 of them in everyday use, and some of them are very complicated, with 10, 15, even 20 pen strokes in a single character...
Unlike English letters, kanji represent an idea rather than a sound. So you can have characters in Japanese that are spoken differently depending on what word they are in (for example there is a character, meaning 'great', which can be pronounced as 'dai', 'tai' or 'o', depending on the context). Also, a sound can be represented by many different kanji - for example the sound 'dai' could be represented by at least 14 different kanji...
So at first glance Japanese writing seemed completely impenetrable, something that would never, never mean anything to me. But very, very slowly I'm beginning to learn new kanji and recognise them. Today [aka, when I wrote this] on my train ride I amused myself looking up the kanji which make up place names.
For example:
It's interesting looking up the kanji sounds in a dictionary to see what other words they appear in. (And yes, as I said, I realise this makes me a very sad person...)
Then, sometimes the design of the kanji themselves is interesting. More complex kanji will often incorporate other characters in themselves. For example:
Totemo omoshiroi desu ne? (So interesting, isn't it? Incidentally, the 'shiro' in 'omoshiroi' (interesting) is the same 'shiro' that means 'white'...)
When I first came to Japan I always wanted to learn Japanese - actually I've wanted to learn Japanese for years but lacked motivation, since I didn't think I'd ever use it - but never thought I would even try to learn kanji. No, since reading was impossible, I'd just focus on learning to speak and listen.
But now I think it would be stupid to limit myself and think 'I can't do it'. Okay, I know it would take years to learn all the 'everyday use' kanji. That doesn't mean I can't start now and learn what words I can in the time I do have. Plus, if I learn all the elements together, they complement each other. I can learn new vocabulary when I learn writing, for example. I can remind myself of words I learned every time I see those kanji, for example on the train.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Phew...
Just a quick note to say I'm busy-busy-busy at the moment. My schedule this and next week looks something like this:
Tue - get up 'early' to let Internet guy in
Wed - nothing special
Thur - get up early to go to Immigration and get my sponsored visa (I got up quite early and allowed 2 hours, just in case - it took 5 minutes...)
Fri (today) - got up early to go to my private Japanese lesson
tomorrow - I start work earlier anyway, and go out after work
Sunday - I'm working... only for four hours, but our office is opening in case prospective students want to come in, and nobody else could work Sunday...
Monday - I have a full, intensive day of follow-up training... the training is from 11 to 8, and it will take me a 2 1/2 hour round trip to get to the head office, so that's about 11 1/2 hours out and about...
Tuesday - back to 'normal' work; get up early to take my other Japanese class
Wednesday - can finally sleep in a bit... normal working week until Sunday.
So that's 12 days of work in a row...
What I've realised is how much more tired I feel when I have to get up early*, even though I am getting similar amounts of sleep. For example, if I go to bed at 3am and get up at 11am, that's 8 hours of sleep. If I go to bed at midnight and get up at 8:30pm, that's 8 and a half hours sleep. So you'd think I would feel *more* refreshed with the latter, right? But no... I guess if I start my day at 8:30 and don't get home from work until around 10pm, it is a pretty long day...
*(Early for me is not early for normal people. I mean 8:30 or 9am instead of 10 or 11...)
Tue - get up 'early' to let Internet guy in
Wed - nothing special
Thur - get up early to go to Immigration and get my sponsored visa (I got up quite early and allowed 2 hours, just in case - it took 5 minutes...)
Fri (today) - got up early to go to my private Japanese lesson
tomorrow - I start work earlier anyway, and go out after work
Sunday - I'm working... only for four hours, but our office is opening in case prospective students want to come in, and nobody else could work Sunday...
Monday - I have a full, intensive day of follow-up training... the training is from 11 to 8, and it will take me a 2 1/2 hour round trip to get to the head office, so that's about 11 1/2 hours out and about...
Tuesday - back to 'normal' work; get up early to take my other Japanese class
Wednesday - can finally sleep in a bit... normal working week until Sunday.
So that's 12 days of work in a row...
What I've realised is how much more tired I feel when I have to get up early*, even though I am getting similar amounts of sleep. For example, if I go to bed at 3am and get up at 11am, that's 8 hours of sleep. If I go to bed at midnight and get up at 8:30pm, that's 8 and a half hours sleep. So you'd think I would feel *more* refreshed with the latter, right? But no... I guess if I start my day at 8:30 and don't get home from work until around 10pm, it is a pretty long day...
*(Early for me is not early for normal people. I mean 8:30 or 9am instead of 10 or 11...)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Markets
Hmmm, interesting... you know I was describing some of the streets in my 'suburb', and I mentioned that the streets were lined with little shops and had a kind of market feel? Well, I just found an article talking about what shopping in Japan used to be like before convenience stores and department stores took over and how there used to be lots of rustic marketplaces, popular for their friendly and bustling atmosphere and variety of small stores and fresh produce. The article listed my suburb as one of the few remaining such markets in Yokohama. I thought that was pretty cool!
Samui-mui-mui! (It's co-co-cold!)
The last week has been the coldest so far. To put it into perspective, I come home into my apartment and it feels like walking into an oasis of warmth. But actually the temperature in my apartment is around 12 or 13 degrees. (My bank gave me a clock which displays the current temperature. I just got home so it's currently a toasty 11.8 degrees in here!)
This morning, though, I saw SNOW. I got up too late to see the snow actually falling, but I noticed it first on a car windshield. 'Is it ice, or snow?' I wondered. (It was raining all day today so a lot of snow had been washed away.) But no, there was definitely snow all the way along the way to the train station. None of it was in reach so I didn't get the chance to 'play in the snow' - there was only a little, and it has all melted by now. Still - snow! That doesn't happen every year in Yokohama, you know!
Today was the first day my feet were cold. I've had moments where my face or ears will actually hurt from the cold, but usually I am comfortable enough when wearing warm clothes. I think this is probably as bad as it will get. One of the teachers I went to training with is currently based in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, where it's reached an ambient -33 degrees!
I'm having a pretty busy week this week. Kind of ironic that I had endless time on my hands for the last four weeks, and no Internet access, and now that I've got the Internet, and Jim gave me some cool DVDs, and suddenly I can only snatch a short time online at a time! So I've been getting my Internet installed, I had a shamisen lesson, I'm having a private Japanese lesson, I have to go to Immigration (what a pain...), and my usual fun Saturday night going-out-after-work, which I love. On Monday I have to go to follow-up training, so I have a six-day work week. I also have to get a haircut soon... I'm looking forward to it, since my hairdresser is so cool, and I love the area where the hairdresser is.
Basically, any small activity usually takes a whole morning or afternoon. For example, having a private Japanese lesson. It's an hour lesson, and it's quite near my house, relatively speaking, but it still takes about an hour round-trip on the trains, connecting once and taking a bus...
Everyone, I hope you're doing well and enjoying the summer there. :) Hope you all had a great new year and are getting back into the swing of things at work, or whatever else you're doing. All my love! :)
This morning, though, I saw SNOW. I got up too late to see the snow actually falling, but I noticed it first on a car windshield. 'Is it ice, or snow?' I wondered. (It was raining all day today so a lot of snow had been washed away.) But no, there was definitely snow all the way along the way to the train station. None of it was in reach so I didn't get the chance to 'play in the snow' - there was only a little, and it has all melted by now. Still - snow! That doesn't happen every year in Yokohama, you know!
Today was the first day my feet were cold. I've had moments where my face or ears will actually hurt from the cold, but usually I am comfortable enough when wearing warm clothes. I think this is probably as bad as it will get. One of the teachers I went to training with is currently based in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, where it's reached an ambient -33 degrees!
I'm having a pretty busy week this week. Kind of ironic that I had endless time on my hands for the last four weeks, and no Internet access, and now that I've got the Internet, and Jim gave me some cool DVDs, and suddenly I can only snatch a short time online at a time! So I've been getting my Internet installed, I had a shamisen lesson, I'm having a private Japanese lesson, I have to go to Immigration (what a pain...), and my usual fun Saturday night going-out-after-work, which I love. On Monday I have to go to follow-up training, so I have a six-day work week. I also have to get a haircut soon... I'm looking forward to it, since my hairdresser is so cool, and I love the area where the hairdresser is.
Basically, any small activity usually takes a whole morning or afternoon. For example, having a private Japanese lesson. It's an hour lesson, and it's quite near my house, relatively speaking, but it still takes about an hour round-trip on the trains, connecting once and taking a bus...
Everyone, I hope you're doing well and enjoying the summer there. :) Hope you all had a great new year and are getting back into the swing of things at work, or whatever else you're doing. All my love! :)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Ehh? Kodomo da?!
Hehh, today we had a bit of an announcement - our school is going to be made into a school that accepts children too... This came as a bit of a surprise to everyone and it will mean a lot of changes.
Now our office will need to be expanded, we need a new greeting area just for kids, and we teachers will have to go back to training and learn heaps of new materials.
Oh well, at least it's happened after I became used to teaching adults. I heard a little about what it's like to teach kids from other teachers I went to training with. Everyone seems agreed that kids are generally very badly behaved and don't want to learn! One teacher said she has to go chasing after her students who will just run riot, even running out the room...
On the whole, I don't really mind. I have no experience with kids, so just imagine me leading a bunch of six-year-olds in a dance while singing 'hello, hello, hello, hello...' hahah... it will be what's known as a 'stretching experience'. But it will be good to get experience with kids, I guess. :) Could even be fun! Think positive, right? Yep! :)
Now our office will need to be expanded, we need a new greeting area just for kids, and we teachers will have to go back to training and learn heaps of new materials.
Oh well, at least it's happened after I became used to teaching adults. I heard a little about what it's like to teach kids from other teachers I went to training with. Everyone seems agreed that kids are generally very badly behaved and don't want to learn! One teacher said she has to go chasing after her students who will just run riot, even running out the room...
On the whole, I don't really mind. I have no experience with kids, so just imagine me leading a bunch of six-year-olds in a dance while singing 'hello, hello, hello, hello...' hahah... it will be what's known as a 'stretching experience'. But it will be good to get experience with kids, I guess. :) Could even be fun! Think positive, right? Yep! :)
Monday, January 21, 2008
Back on the grid
Am very happy to report that I finally have real Internet access in my apartment. It's fast, it's reliable (well, I hope it will be!), and I can even sit in a comfortable position to use the Internet. I'm pretty chuffed that I was able to work out the Japanese directions. Right now I am listening to SAFM. The Pussycat Dolls' 'Buttons' has just come on. :)
I have lots of posts from my two weeks 'off the grid' but will just post some of it now.
***
Jan 14
Today is Seijin no Hi, or Adult's Day, a day to celebrate people who turned 20 years old in the previous year - that is, come of age. Two of my students were due to celebrate today, somewhere. I don't know exactly how it is commemorated - different events around the country, according to the news - and various ceremonies. I saw lots of 20-year-old girls out and about in kimono lined with thick fur.
Someone told me about the biggest English second-hand bookstore in Japan. It's in Ebisu. I looked up the times in the Internet cafe to make sure it would be open, took the 25 minute train ride from Ueno to Ebisu. Then I walked to the bookstore. I found it. It was closed. I was confused. Mondays open until 8pm... then it twigged. It's a public holiday...
It's easy to forget it's a public holiday when every shop and restaurant is open...
Oh well, I didn't waste the trip, I bought a nice salad at Ebisu station. :)
***
At Kawasaki station there is a big television screen that loops various commercials and miscellaneous footage. I know all the different background music and sound effects by now... One of the features that occasionally comes on is a music countdown - the top ten songs countdown. And let me tell you something - the boy band is not dead in Japan.
Currently on the screen are five boys wearing identical, very shiny leather costumes, singing a song called 'Dear Woman', and doing a slightly camp-looking choreographed dance routine. If these people were in an equivalent show in Australia, they would certainly be doing a parody of boy bands, but here, there is absolutely no indication that it's anything other than real!
That's another thing - obviously I'm not well-placed to tell, as I don't understand Japanese, but there seems to be less cynicism, irony and subtlety on TV and in acting. In Australia most programs are quite downbeat and sarcastic. The kind of commercials and dramas you see on TV in Japan have such over-the-top, earnest sincerity that if they were on TV in Australia, again, it would be on some kind of sketch show making fun of something...
***
I got my first compliment about my use of chopsticks. Hahaha... If you didn't know, it's a bit of a stereotype that Japanese people will be impressed by foreigners displaying the most minute proficiency at anything Japanese. And it's another stereotype that any foreigner living in Japan will be praised for their use of chopsticks, even if they've been living in the country 10 years. (And let's face it, it's not the most difficult skill to acquire.)
Still, when he said it, I tuned into what I was doing, and realised that I was picking up small, individual cooked bean sprouts with my chopsticks, without even thinking about it. So probably I have actually improved since I first came here...
***
My speech has changed a little since I came here; mostly due to consistently pitching my English at a simpler level in class. Sometimes I will use these 'simpler' grammatical forms in conversation with English speakers too. So hopefully by the time I am finished in Japan, I can still express myself in polysyllabic words... hahah...
The two main ones are using 'did you' questions instead of 'have you'...
Eg: 'Did you go to Hawaii before?' instead of 'Have you ever been to Hawaii?'
And, using 'maybe' instead of 'might' and other similar words...
Eg: 'Maybe I will go tomorrow' instead of 'I might go tomorrow'
Eg: 'Maybe it's okay' instead of 'it should be okay'
Another thing is I picked up the habit of saying 'etou...' instead of 'umm...' and using the exclamation 'ehhh?' when surprised.
The other thing I've found myself doing is sucking air through my teeth when I'm thinking. People do this when they're thinking of something that requires some thought, or when something is too difficult. (My students do this habit a lot when I ask them questions. I'll say something really challenging like 'what's your favourite movie?' and they'll go 'ehhh?' and suck air in sharply, before answering...)
***
I am always very conscious of other gaijin (foreigners) I see about. I never speak to them but I always notice them and kind of tune into them, because I go most days without seeing any other foreigners. If I go into Tokyo I always see quite a few.
On the train home the other day there were a couple of Russian girls in my train carriage and I had the amusement of listening to a cute young Japanese guy trying to chat up one of the girls.
The first thing he said was: 'I'm sleepy!'
Girl (astutely): Why are you sleepy?
Boy: I was drinking... lots of alcohol!
Girl: You're drunk.
Boy: Drunk? Drink?
Girl: Drunk. It means you had too much alcohol.
Boy (completely uncomprehending): Drunk?... Drunk!
Girl: Drunk.
Boy: ... You're really pretty!
Virtually everyone you see on the last train of the night is four sheets to the wind. 'Going drinking' is a very popular Japanese pastime. Indeed most books on Japanese culture say it's an intrinsic part of Japanese culture - co-workers will often go drinking after work together - that allows people to shed their usually repressed social behaviour and relax, express themselves more freely. You certainly see people far more at their ease, laughing and hugging and singing karaoke, in izakayas and bars.
I've never seen any belligerent or obnoxious drunks though. Somehow I always feel totally safe in Japan, whereas if you encountered a group of drunk men in Australia you would probably give them a wide berth.
Sometimes when I ask students if they have plans for the weekend they will say 'I'm going drinking'. This turn of phrase always sounds kind of funny to me. In Australia, people will usually say 'I'm going to the pub' or 'I'm going out for drinks with the girls' or something. Somehow, just, 'I'm going drinking' sounds so blunt...
I have lots of posts from my two weeks 'off the grid' but will just post some of it now.
***
Jan 14
Today is Seijin no Hi, or Adult's Day, a day to celebrate people who turned 20 years old in the previous year - that is, come of age. Two of my students were due to celebrate today, somewhere. I don't know exactly how it is commemorated - different events around the country, according to the news - and various ceremonies. I saw lots of 20-year-old girls out and about in kimono lined with thick fur.
Someone told me about the biggest English second-hand bookstore in Japan. It's in Ebisu. I looked up the times in the Internet cafe to make sure it would be open, took the 25 minute train ride from Ueno to Ebisu. Then I walked to the bookstore. I found it. It was closed. I was confused. Mondays open until 8pm... then it twigged. It's a public holiday...
It's easy to forget it's a public holiday when every shop and restaurant is open...
Oh well, I didn't waste the trip, I bought a nice salad at Ebisu station. :)
***
At Kawasaki station there is a big television screen that loops various commercials and miscellaneous footage. I know all the different background music and sound effects by now... One of the features that occasionally comes on is a music countdown - the top ten songs countdown. And let me tell you something - the boy band is not dead in Japan.
Currently on the screen are five boys wearing identical, very shiny leather costumes, singing a song called 'Dear Woman', and doing a slightly camp-looking choreographed dance routine. If these people were in an equivalent show in Australia, they would certainly be doing a parody of boy bands, but here, there is absolutely no indication that it's anything other than real!
That's another thing - obviously I'm not well-placed to tell, as I don't understand Japanese, but there seems to be less cynicism, irony and subtlety on TV and in acting. In Australia most programs are quite downbeat and sarcastic. The kind of commercials and dramas you see on TV in Japan have such over-the-top, earnest sincerity that if they were on TV in Australia, again, it would be on some kind of sketch show making fun of something...
***
I got my first compliment about my use of chopsticks. Hahaha... If you didn't know, it's a bit of a stereotype that Japanese people will be impressed by foreigners displaying the most minute proficiency at anything Japanese. And it's another stereotype that any foreigner living in Japan will be praised for their use of chopsticks, even if they've been living in the country 10 years. (And let's face it, it's not the most difficult skill to acquire.)
Still, when he said it, I tuned into what I was doing, and realised that I was picking up small, individual cooked bean sprouts with my chopsticks, without even thinking about it. So probably I have actually improved since I first came here...
***
My speech has changed a little since I came here; mostly due to consistently pitching my English at a simpler level in class. Sometimes I will use these 'simpler' grammatical forms in conversation with English speakers too. So hopefully by the time I am finished in Japan, I can still express myself in polysyllabic words... hahah...
The two main ones are using 'did you' questions instead of 'have you'...
Eg: 'Did you go to Hawaii before?' instead of 'Have you ever been to Hawaii?'
And, using 'maybe' instead of 'might' and other similar words...
Eg: 'Maybe I will go tomorrow' instead of 'I might go tomorrow'
Eg: 'Maybe it's okay' instead of 'it should be okay'
Another thing is I picked up the habit of saying 'etou...' instead of 'umm...' and using the exclamation 'ehhh?' when surprised.
The other thing I've found myself doing is sucking air through my teeth when I'm thinking. People do this when they're thinking of something that requires some thought, or when something is too difficult. (My students do this habit a lot when I ask them questions. I'll say something really challenging like 'what's your favourite movie?' and they'll go 'ehhh?' and suck air in sharply, before answering...)
***
I am always very conscious of other gaijin (foreigners) I see about. I never speak to them but I always notice them and kind of tune into them, because I go most days without seeing any other foreigners. If I go into Tokyo I always see quite a few.
On the train home the other day there were a couple of Russian girls in my train carriage and I had the amusement of listening to a cute young Japanese guy trying to chat up one of the girls.
The first thing he said was: 'I'm sleepy!'
Girl (astutely): Why are you sleepy?
Boy: I was drinking... lots of alcohol!
Girl: You're drunk.
Boy: Drunk? Drink?
Girl: Drunk. It means you had too much alcohol.
Boy (completely uncomprehending): Drunk?... Drunk!
Girl: Drunk.
Boy: ... You're really pretty!
Virtually everyone you see on the last train of the night is four sheets to the wind. 'Going drinking' is a very popular Japanese pastime. Indeed most books on Japanese culture say it's an intrinsic part of Japanese culture - co-workers will often go drinking after work together - that allows people to shed their usually repressed social behaviour and relax, express themselves more freely. You certainly see people far more at their ease, laughing and hugging and singing karaoke, in izakayas and bars.
I've never seen any belligerent or obnoxious drunks though. Somehow I always feel totally safe in Japan, whereas if you encountered a group of drunk men in Australia you would probably give them a wide berth.
Sometimes when I ask students if they have plans for the weekend they will say 'I'm going drinking'. This turn of phrase always sounds kind of funny to me. In Australia, people will usually say 'I'm going to the pub' or 'I'm going out for drinks with the girls' or something. Somehow, just, 'I'm going drinking' sounds so blunt...
Monday, January 14, 2008
Quick note
Just a quick note to say I now have no Internet access at all and probably won't for another week. I'm writing this at an Internet cafe. Cheers. :)
I am in Ueno right now, I just had my shamisen lesson. It's hard but fun. Still don't know how long I'll learn for though... Yesterday I had fun, went out after church with a bunch of girls (first time I really hung out with people from church - first time I met most of them, actually) - four Americans and two Germans, and all of us (I think), single girls. Hahaha, sound familiar?
After that I went out to dinner with some people from work. Our school met all its goals last year, so we went out for dinner to celebrate. It was my first time at a Spanish restaurant. The food was pretty expensive but soooo nice. They had the most tender, marinated steak, and paella, which I'd never tried before.
The weather has been really cold the last few days. Right now it's late afternoon and probably about 4 or 5 degrees outside. Not very pleasant. But I'm told that in Hokkaido, where I'm going next month, it's around -15... haha...
Have been trying more Japanese food at izakaya, usually on Saturdays after work. The other day I tried a kind of soup which was really delicious. It had some meat and vegetables in it, and large pieces of garlic, and chilli. A couple of pieces of meat were a bit too fatty or chewy to chew and eat, but other than that it was really delicious and I wished I could have had more. I later found out that it was intestine soup. Oishikatta desu ne (Yummy, right?) :)
I am in Ueno right now, I just had my shamisen lesson. It's hard but fun. Still don't know how long I'll learn for though... Yesterday I had fun, went out after church with a bunch of girls (first time I really hung out with people from church - first time I met most of them, actually) - four Americans and two Germans, and all of us (I think), single girls. Hahaha, sound familiar?
After that I went out to dinner with some people from work. Our school met all its goals last year, so we went out for dinner to celebrate. It was my first time at a Spanish restaurant. The food was pretty expensive but soooo nice. They had the most tender, marinated steak, and paella, which I'd never tried before.
The weather has been really cold the last few days. Right now it's late afternoon and probably about 4 or 5 degrees outside. Not very pleasant. But I'm told that in Hokkaido, where I'm going next month, it's around -15... haha...
Have been trying more Japanese food at izakaya, usually on Saturdays after work. The other day I tried a kind of soup which was really delicious. It had some meat and vegetables in it, and large pieces of garlic, and chilli. A couple of pieces of meat were a bit too fatty or chewy to chew and eat, but other than that it was really delicious and I wished I could have had more. I later found out that it was intestine soup. Oishikatta desu ne (Yummy, right?) :)
Quick note
Just a quick note to say I now have no Internet access at all and probably won't for another week. I'm writing this at an Internet cafe. Cheers. :)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Still no Internet
Today I was supposed to get Internet installed at last. Utterly unsurprisingly (after all, I come from the Land of Telstra, which sets new lows for telecommunications services), evening has come, and lo, I am still Internet-less.
Basically they needed to get into some kind of distribution box for my apartment building, and the telco had a key for it already. But then there ended up being a second box for which they *didn't* have a key, and predictably, my apartment's connections were in the second box. Of course, since I can't speak Japanese, I couldn't understand the engineer's explanations, or contact my owner, or contribute anything of use.
To the telco's credit, once I found out my real estate agent's name and number, they sorted out everything, contacted my owner to arrange to get the key, etc. The other exceptional thing about utilities companies here is that if they call and say 'I will be here in fifteen minutes' - guess what? - they actually come in fifteen minutes. In Australia you can be left waiting several hours and wondering whether the installation guy has dropped off the face of the earth.
(Incidentally, did you know that I live in a mansion? Sadly the word has a totally different meaning here in Japan, but nonetheless, I live in a mansion. :))
Normally I would become very cross indeed, especially since they can't now come back until the 22nd. That's 12 days away! And there are many, many things I am waiting to do on the Internet. I want to look up info on Japan, send emails, look up maps, stream the local Aussie radio stations, watch The Chaser, look up info on English grammar, surf YouTube, and - of course! - use Skype so I can finally talk to people properly!
For a week now I've really had no Internet access at all. Sure, if I get the laptop in just the right position, I can possibly access my email after several minutes and several refreshes. But most pages simply fail to load at all. Some days I can't access anything. The other day I tried for an hour just to open one page, and it wouldn't. So I certainly can't use the Internet for, well, anything... It has taken me a full half an hour to get onto Blogger so I can post this (I have been refreshing and refreshing as I type this.)
Somehow I have responded with uncharacteristic patience and didn't feel too upset (I think I was just relieved that the telco was looking after everything and making all these calls on my behalf). Though of course I am none too pleased. I think in general I am a bit more patient here. Like I will get lost for an hour and not care that much. Or take the wrong train and just go and take another one. I daresay this is not a permanent personality change but a side-effect of the novelty of things.
***
Anyway, still can't get online to post this so what to say next? Hmm... Jim had the day off sick today. He was looking pretty unwell yesterday... 'The system' is not well suited to unexpected sick days. I was able to take on two of his classes, and the head teacher took one, but the other two had to be cancelled as no other teachers could be brought in.
***
Right now we are having students write New Year's resolutions. My advanced-level class was the first class where I didn't give any examples of resolutions, as I figured they would be familiar with the concept. When I read the resolutions later, all of them were variations on 'I want to improve my English', except one guy who had written 'I want to do more listening to jazz this year'.
At least he's set himself an achievable goal, right?
Basically they needed to get into some kind of distribution box for my apartment building, and the telco had a key for it already. But then there ended up being a second box for which they *didn't* have a key, and predictably, my apartment's connections were in the second box. Of course, since I can't speak Japanese, I couldn't understand the engineer's explanations, or contact my owner, or contribute anything of use.
To the telco's credit, once I found out my real estate agent's name and number, they sorted out everything, contacted my owner to arrange to get the key, etc. The other exceptional thing about utilities companies here is that if they call and say 'I will be here in fifteen minutes' - guess what? - they actually come in fifteen minutes. In Australia you can be left waiting several hours and wondering whether the installation guy has dropped off the face of the earth.
(Incidentally, did you know that I live in a mansion? Sadly the word has a totally different meaning here in Japan, but nonetheless, I live in a mansion. :))
Normally I would become very cross indeed, especially since they can't now come back until the 22nd. That's 12 days away! And there are many, many things I am waiting to do on the Internet. I want to look up info on Japan, send emails, look up maps, stream the local Aussie radio stations, watch The Chaser, look up info on English grammar, surf YouTube, and - of course! - use Skype so I can finally talk to people properly!
For a week now I've really had no Internet access at all. Sure, if I get the laptop in just the right position, I can possibly access my email after several minutes and several refreshes. But most pages simply fail to load at all. Some days I can't access anything. The other day I tried for an hour just to open one page, and it wouldn't. So I certainly can't use the Internet for, well, anything... It has taken me a full half an hour to get onto Blogger so I can post this (I have been refreshing and refreshing as I type this.)
Somehow I have responded with uncharacteristic patience and didn't feel too upset (I think I was just relieved that the telco was looking after everything and making all these calls on my behalf). Though of course I am none too pleased. I think in general I am a bit more patient here. Like I will get lost for an hour and not care that much. Or take the wrong train and just go and take another one. I daresay this is not a permanent personality change but a side-effect of the novelty of things.
***
Anyway, still can't get online to post this so what to say next? Hmm... Jim had the day off sick today. He was looking pretty unwell yesterday... 'The system' is not well suited to unexpected sick days. I was able to take on two of his classes, and the head teacher took one, but the other two had to be cancelled as no other teachers could be brought in.
***
Right now we are having students write New Year's resolutions. My advanced-level class was the first class where I didn't give any examples of resolutions, as I figured they would be familiar with the concept. When I read the resolutions later, all of them were variations on 'I want to improve my English', except one guy who had written 'I want to do more listening to jazz this year'.
At least he's set himself an achievable goal, right?
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Food poisoning
Been feeling fairly unwell the last few days. I got food poisoning for the first time in my life. Bleagh. Spent all Thursday in bed, throwing up continually, and feeling generally quite wretched. Friday somewhat better, still wasn't up to much. Had to get into strength for Saturday, which was our school's 'fun day'. It went okay, I think. Ironically, the classes where I did the most preparation and the most 'teaching', were the worst, while the games and 'students talking' classes went much better.
The students really enjoyed Taboo, which was lucky. It was a bit hit-and-miss, you see - I had to prepare all the cards myself, and wasn't sure if my cards would be way too easy or way too difficult for them (they were all different levels), but it worked well. Pictionary was also fun. During the day I felt a bit sub-par and short of breath - having had four hours sleep didn't help - but held up okay, even felt well enough to go out after to an izakaya with a bunch of students and teachers, which was a lot of fun.
Been sleeping weird hours too. Got up at 4:30pm today... today I have a bit of a cold, but at least I can eat again. (I realise just how much I love food... :))
Hopefully will be back to normal by Tuesday, when regular work recommences.
Other than all that, had a fairly good New Year period. I went to Enoshima the other day, and on New Year, went to Kawasaki Daishi shrine. It was paaaacked and I *think* I saw snow for a few moments... If I remember I'll post more about it later. :)
Happy new year everyone! Hope you are all well!
The students really enjoyed Taboo, which was lucky. It was a bit hit-and-miss, you see - I had to prepare all the cards myself, and wasn't sure if my cards would be way too easy or way too difficult for them (they were all different levels), but it worked well. Pictionary was also fun. During the day I felt a bit sub-par and short of breath - having had four hours sleep didn't help - but held up okay, even felt well enough to go out after to an izakaya with a bunch of students and teachers, which was a lot of fun.
Been sleeping weird hours too. Got up at 4:30pm today... today I have a bit of a cold, but at least I can eat again. (I realise just how much I love food... :))
Hopefully will be back to normal by Tuesday, when regular work recommences.
Other than all that, had a fairly good New Year period. I went to Enoshima the other day, and on New Year, went to Kawasaki Daishi shrine. It was paaaacked and I *think* I saw snow for a few moments... If I remember I'll post more about it later. :)
Happy new year everyone! Hope you are all well!
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