HackCoughOink

Nigh on two weeks after my last post, and am finally updating blog. Sorry. But I was seriously homesick for a while right after training...writing stuff on this blog for the people that I missed and who were where I wanted to be was tough. But ever since work started for sure, it's gotten a lot better. Any kind of stable routine helps a lot. Also, have finally got all my living arrangements/cellphone/rail pass stuff sorted out, so I feel more settled.

One week observation was last week, no problems there. I started kids classes which I can't say I enjoy yet. Hopefully that will change. My office (Hikari no Mori branch) is really nice, in the middle of a mall (YouMe Town). The Japanese staff are nice to the point of being angels; the day of the typhoon, one of them gave me a ride home because the trains had stopped running. She is now known as Mari-sama. Another one (my branch manager, Ryoko) calls me by my Chinese name sometimes ("Riane no Hong Kong namae wa nan desu ka?") ever since I told her about it and my parents being from Hong Kong.

Coworkers are fantastic; there are about five of us "Hikari kids". Soon to be six, since there's another newbie joining the fold in about a week. It's really funny, because there are some Nova teachers who are obvious newcomers (me & Lyd for example) and there are some that I see as old teachers. But in reality, there are only a handful of "old" teachers who have been here for a year or longer....all the rest have been working for 6 months or less. I guess in the Nova career path, anything longer than 6 months makes you a long-time employee.

My students vary from fantastic and lots of fun, to a pile of sludge. It's great because I can recognize students now. So there's Tae Kwan Do Guy With Killer Red Glasses, Confused-Looking-But-Actually-English-Genius Girl, the juniour high school kid with bad teeth but a good attitude, Honda Man, the guy who never stops grinning, Silent Peach Girl, and The Sludge.

The Sludge (or Slug, I haven't decided on the right name) comes in almost everyday for two lessons, it seems. I've had him one of my classes almost everyday I've worked so far. He has completed every lesson in his language level at least twice, but has only passed half of those. He is silent as the grave and taciturn as a grumpy llama. If he wasn't such an odd duck I'd hate his guts (one of my coworkers already does, and, being newer than I am, has only had to teach him three times), but he occasionally smiles and looks interested when new vocab/phrases are introduced so he's tolerable. It's a bitch to try to choose lessons though, because he's done them all to death. His textbook is full of notes that he's made from all of the lessons he's taken, so at least he's (sort of) paying attention. Let's hope he remains tolerable or I might just deck him with his own textbook one of these days.

Social life is rolicking, as usual. Yeah, I can hear you all laughing out there. Had two days off, went out last night with a bunch of other teachers to an all-you-can-eat-or-drink (tabehodai/nomihodai) barbecue dinner. Mmmm....meatfest...pretty much like the Korean BBQ in downtown Toronto. Tried umeshu (plum wine/liquer), three glasses of it. I was told it's not very alcoholic, but Wikipedia claims it's 10-15% alcohol. Mike from near Melbourne, you are a lying perambulator. You are still the king of the grill, but you lie like a rug!

Everyone went out to karaoke afterwards, but I'm sickish, so I went home first, on Emer's (fellow Nova teacher & Romansque Shinmachi-ite) brand new bike. My last time riding a bike was well over 5 years ago, so needless to say I was a little nervous. But it was 2AM and virtually no traffic, so meh! Smooth ride, need to get one myself. Hopefully this Thursday can go buy a used one from another Nova teacher.

Aside from my pig alarm clock (see below) I also have Biku's Pig Hat, and a squashy pig cushion from the 100 Yen shop. Oink!

Just a quick note

I survived training! Hurrah! I was so happy that I did a little dance in the staff room. It was very short and very intense, but it seemed to work. It`s amazing how one bad lesson can torpedo your confidence. But in the end I pulled it together (I think) and ended with a really good lesson with two very eager students. Day off today, then kid`s training tomorrow.

Hopefully getting InterWEB in the apartment soon. Also a cellphone so am not unreachable. We weeded through all the books and videotapes that people had left behind in the apartment. Astoundingly bad taste in these areas, I`m afraid. But interesting! Found some old tapes with Simpsons, Buffy, Dharma and Greg, etc. Yum.

No pictures today, forgot my USB key. Will post that video tour of the apartment soon. I swear. Gambatte!

The Pig Settles In

This is my third full day living in Kumamoto. It's been very nice, except that Bento and I have maybe not followed the best practice in dealing with jetlag i.e. walking for hours to run errands, and totally not taking it easy. The plus side to this is that I've gotten to know the city (or at least the important food locations) quite well. It's been pretty humid and hot, so I've been spending most of my time while in the apartment in the living room/kitchen because it's air conditioned. However, since the chairs and sofas are all upholstered in vinyl, I've been peeling myself off of them whenever I get up, despite Fujistu-san's best efforts (Fujitsu is the maker of the A/C machine...it's known as Fujitsu-sama on really hot days).

My other flatmate (Anna) is leaving today, but she's been extremely helpful and going out of her way to help us get things in order, showing us the best way into the city centre, etc. All while packing and moving and organizing her transition to a new apartment & job. On our first day here, she picked us up from the train station and brought us out to sushi (it was storming like a typhoon when walking back to the apartment, eek!). In short, she is fantabulous and couldn't have provided us with a better introduction to Kumamoto. Apparently am getting a new flatmate (an American girl) in about two week...will see how that goes. Need to learn more about the city before she gets here so that am not a chikara ga nai (incompetent) guide.


View looking left from my window: the ENEOS is a gas station, and the little blue sign on the building with the salmon-pink balconies is a local combini, Lawsons. As you can see from this picture and the one in the previous post, there are mountains that pretty much surround the city.

Have registered for my gaijin card (formally know as a gaikoku-jin...something something very long), but still need to get a bank account (ginkoukouza) at Higo bank, cellphone (keitai), a bike (jitensha) to get around the city, and maybe a bookshelf (hondana) for my room. Learning lots of new Japanese words everyday, but am far from fluent. Am sure that I've been horribly rude/grammtically incorrect many times when asking stuff in stores. Oh well. Must keep on trying. Ganbatte!

So far, have been to two shopping arcades in the city centre (Kamitori and Shimotori, respectively), Don Quixote (kinda like a mini-mall, but with a big bike shop), and about five different 100-yen shops. Mmm...100-yen shops. Bought a pig alarm clock at Don Quixote yesterday and everytime I look at it to check the time, I just about expire from it's cuteness:


It goes very well with the Kobuta no Boshi that Biku made for me. It has 6 or 7 different songs it plays when it goes off, a different one each time you turn the alarm off.

Have had a few opportunites to go out at night and meet some other NOVA/JET teachers, but every night, I've dozed off at about 9pm, falling asleep on the floor while organizing my stuff, or with my head crashed back against the wall while sitting on the couch while watching TV (the most amusing TV so far has been the commercial...have seen two Jack Bauer Calorie Mate ones so far). So maybe going out tonight to a fellow NOVA teacher's birthday shindig.

Off to Lawsons to get a notepad to write letters to folks back homes. Oh yeah, I've been looking up words in my Japanese/English dictionary, and am not sure about the usage in some cases, so let me know if I've made any mistakes.

I Heart Kumamoto

No seriously, it`s a great city. Very tired right now, and hot and crabby, but will post a more in depth report about my fantastic apartment and flatmate and new home in Japan.

In the meantime, go read Bento`s Japan blog, and see below:


View from one of my windows


Little friend in the apartment


Breakfast nook. Mushroom chairs! Cutest kitchen ever!