Thursday, April 29, 2004

Open Minds, and Closed Books

April 30, 2004 2:07 am (Mito)
April 29, 20004 1:07 am (Ottawa)

This is the first entry I've written since arriving in Japan that was not first written out in my paper journal first. Mostly because I'm going to be sitting in this Internet cafe in Mito for the next 4 hours or so with nothing in specific to do. It was an interesting day though, so I'm going to say a few words.

I was dreading today for the past two weeks. We had a big meeting of the teachers in the Ibaraki Prefecture today, and I had to make three presentations. Each time in front of 12-18 teachers...only 4 of which I knew. Each of my presentations was to be a minimum of 15 minutes, and the audience was intimately familiar with the subject matter. For those of you that know me, you'll recognise the kind of situation that has always made my Stage Fright kick into overdrive.

Somehow that didn't happen this time though, I put on my presentations without any real difficulty. Though I did go overtime on 2 of them. I guess that indicates a change in the level of feat I usually experience where these things are concerned.

Afterwards I was talking to the few teachers I did know. Janine, Yasen, Justin, and I decided to drop in at an Indian restaurant near the train station. The others had been there before, and theyt old me the place had great Curry. They were right.

It was an interesting meal. We got onto the oddest topics, some of them things you're never supposed to discuss in polite conversation. At least if you have any manners.

- The differences between Canadians and Americans (Janine, and Justin are American)
- Politics
- The war in Iraq
- Organized Religion vs Personal Spirituality
- JRR Tolkien
- Origins of English Language
- Personal Experiences with Racism
- University life
- International Travel
- Feminism in Japan
- Drugs
- Sex
- Prostitution
- Crime statistics in Japan, Canada, Australia, England, and the United States
- Personal Experiences with Crime
- Political Activism

It was one of the most interesting conversations I've had in years. Because we all spoke our minds regarding issues that we did not all agree about, but there was no argument. We each had our opinions, we listened to them, we compared stories and anecdotes, and I don't think any of us changed our mind about anything. We do understand each other better now though, and I'd say those three now know more about me in some ways than some friends I've had for years. It seems that though we are different in many ways, my co-workers share my open mindedness regarding most things.

On the way back to the train station I asked idly if anyone knew how much karaoke costs, because I'd never been. Apparently that is a mortal sin in the opinion of Janine, because she practically dragged all of us to an amazing Karaoke place to remedy the situation. It was just like Lost in Translation...a little booth with just me and my co-workers (friends? Maybe now...). They had theme rooms, ours was painted to appear like it was near the ocean. Dolphins practically glowed in the black lighting.

Again....no real stage fright. I must have sang along to every single song for the 2 or 3 hours we were in there. I loved every minute of it. Though I must admit I've got the singing voice Lurch (yes...the guy from the Addams Family). It was still fun. We all sucked horribly, and the worse we sucked the more we sang out together, and laughed at each other of course. Justin is a karaoke DEMON!! the guy sings as badly as I do, but with a LOT more enthusiasm. He plays air-guitar as he sings, and at one point he jumped up on the couch and jumped around while belting out some metal song I can't quite recall. Janine is obsessed with Radiohead...pick any of their songs and she will adore you.

We played songs we liked, and other songs that are just fun to sing in that kind of setting, the following is a list of the latter.

YMCA
The Ghostbusters Theme
Lean on Me
Blitzkeig Bop
Bob Marley (don't know the song name)

There were a lot more, we were singing non-stop. Unfortunately I don't know the names of most of the songs I sang, much less the ones we sang together.

It was a bonding night for "Team Ibaraki" as Janine calls us. Heh, now we just need to repeat it in a month when the 4 new teachers for our area arrive.

After karaoke my train home was no longer running, Janine offered to let me crash at her place, as did Yasen. I saw this 24 hours Internet cafe though, and decided I could spend some quality time here while I wait for my train to run again.

Today was the beginning of Golden Week, I have no work to do for the next 7 days. I think I'll take this opportunity to see a bit of Tokyo, maybe visit the high tech centre Akihabara. I will try to avoid losing my entire first paycheck there ;)

It annoys me sometimes that people so often misread me. On the one hand it's funny to hear some of the theories they come up with for why I act in certain ways, or why I do certain things.

Recent examples!!
- I have a crush on Tanya? News to me、that might actually be fun though, I haven't had a crush in long time. I almost miss them. For heavens sake I do not fall for every cute girl that talks to me!
- Jealous about Blaine? Um...yeah...pull the other one now. My issues with him stem from the fact that he's a shameless self-promoter and suckup. He irritates me.
- Come to Japan to pickup Japanese women? Where does anyone ever get this idea from? I never tried to pickup people in Canada, do you think I'd try it on the other side of the planet where they can't even speak my language? Honestly, if I were going to fall for anyone while I was over here it would more likely be another English teacher. At least then we'd have something in common, and the ability to communicate.

heh, I think I'm too tired to write this journal at the moment. Sleep deprevation, a computer, and a semi-public forum for personal bitching...a bad combination.

Take what you will from this entry. Today was a great day.

Friday, April 16, 2004

Fishbowl

April 16, 2004 7:53am (Shimodate)
April 15, 2004 6:52pm (Ottawa)

Life in a fishbowl.

They warn you before coming to Japan that you will be stared at. You generally don't notice it though. At the moment I'm noticing it very strongly, I'm sitting at a train stop and some 14 year old (my guess) school girl is hovering around me.

I was trying to draw a minute ago, but she kept leaning over me. It was distracting so I stopped. Her name tag says her name is Sakura, she doesn't really look like it though. She looks more like a Haruka.

Sakuras are suppsoed to be cute. She's definately not.

I think she's probably very shy. She seems to want to say something to me, but just as she's about to she stops herself and stares at the ground. Very un-Sakura like!!!!

HA!! She has an Inuyasha plushy hanging from her backpack, at least that is somewhat cute.

She's actually not very interesting, certainly not journal-worthy under normal circumstances. Writing about her changes the perspective though. Now I'm not in a fishbowl, she's under my microscope.

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Talking to Tanya

April 7, 2004 5:22pm (Shimodate)
April 7, 2004 4:22am (Ottawa)

I hit the Internet cafe again yesterday, and loaded up all the Instant Messenger programs as usual. Unfortunately Renuka wasn't on this time.

I did get to talk to Chris again though. Sometimes it's very convenient that most of my friends back home are night owls. I also had an interesting chat with Tanya on MSN.

Something feels like it's changing about these visits to the I-net. When I first got to Japan I would spend the entire trip thinking about what I would tell my friends when I saw them online.

This time I was disappointed that Lisa, Bryan, and Renuka were not on, but I didn't really have anything big in mind to discuss anyway.

I know interesting things still happen to me every day. They don't seem as big as they did when I first arrived though. The urge to talk about things here is still strong. I am just not convinced that they are as interesting to people back home as they are to me. I've had to listen to a lot of dull stories over the years, I'd hate to think I was telling them.

It was fun talking to Tanya, I've never spoken to her outside of Barrymores before. Add one more name to the list of people that say they might come to visit here.

One of you get on the bloody plane!!!!

Sunday, April 04, 2004

A Different Japan

April 4, 2004 8:00pm (Shimodate)
April 4, 2004 6:00am (Ottawa)

Different person, different Japan.

I just got off the phone with Leisha. We were comparing our experiences since we finished training.

In that time Leisha has joined an Aikido class, started Japanese lessons, visited other cities and made friends with a bunch of English teachers. Apparently there are man in her area. Quite the contrast.

I haven't really made any friends yet, the only Japanese class in my area runs during hours I work, and I haven't even managed to fidn a place to play Go yet. I've got a lot I really need to do before I can think of Shimodate as home. I'm still living like I'm at a hotel... Maybe tommorow.

Journey Ahead

April 4, 2004 8:49am (Shimodate)
April 3, 2004 6:49pm (Ottawa)

I spoke with my father on the phone yesterday, and something he said got me to thinking. He told me that the job he's starting on Tuesday is part of a bigger plan he has for himself a few years down the road.

The reason this got me thinking is that I've been concerned recently with time passing me by. I'm 25 years old, and that doesn't seem too old. Until I realize that I left high school about 7 years ago. 7 years is a long time.

Then I think I'll be at least 26 when I return to Ottawa, older if I manage to stay longer.

Starting at 26 I will be 30 when I get my University degree, and 32 before I have a Bachelor of Education. That's assuming everything is consecutive.

32, now that is starting to sound a little older than I look forward to being. 32, and my life just beginning...no family, no children, probably no best-selling book on the shelves yet.

My father is exactly twice my age. That means I was born when he was my age (incase you can't do the math). So I feel a bit like I'm behind schedule in life.

Then again, I'm in Japan. I'm having an adventure that most Canadians will never have. So maybe I'm just going to follow a different schedule in life than I expected.

Besides, at 50 my father is planning a career move to take place a few years in the future. If he can do that, then maybe 32 won't feel as old as I think.

Afterall 32 seems pretty young overall...not even middle-aged. It only seemed old for a start. Who knows though, maybe it's not the start. Maybe the start was Feb 25, 2004 when I boarded my flight for Japan. Maybe it was October 2, 1978....

In any case I called this site "Live the Journey", and that's what I'll do. The destinations can take care of themselves.

EARTHQUAKE!!!

April 4, 2004 8:17 am (Shimodate)
April 3, 2004 6:17 pm (Ottawa)

I'm grinning ear-to-ear at the moment because about 10 minutes ago I experienced my first earthquake.

It was pretty minor all said, but definately interesting. At first I wasn't sure what was going on, it just felt like a big truck driving by or something. Gradually it got stronger, and you could almost feel the ground undulating (neat trick when you live on the second floor like me).

The whole thing lasted about 1 minute, but it left quite the impression on me. I want another one! The lights were swinging aroud as they hang from the ceiling, and the earth was audibly rumbling.

All my life I've said I wanted to see what it was like to experience a natural disaster. This doesn't cut it. It was more like feeling turbulence on an airplane.

When I was a child I was in a car driving down the highway with my family in the middle of winter. I must have been about 3 or 4 at most. My father hit a patch of black ice and our car went spinning nearly off the road. My mother was terrified, my father probably was too (though of course what guy would admit that). My baby sister was crying, and do you know what I did?

I said, "That was fun, can we do it again?"

My mother retells me that story all the time, and it reminds me of this little earthquake.

Maybe we never really change from birth to adulthood, we just learn to control our impulses better. In any case "That was fun, can we do it again?"

Saturday, April 03, 2004

Calling Home

April 3, 2004 12:19am (Shimodate)
April 2, 2004 10:19pm (Ottawa)

I called Renuka during her birthday party today, just as I'd planned a few days ago with Lisa. I think she appreciated it. I certainly enjoyed talking to her, even if we could only talk for 5 mins.

My previous talk with Lisa on the phone was around 20 mins. Probably the best phone chat we've ever had. Our phone conversations in the past have always been very to the point. This time we actually chatted. I mention this primarily because Lisa has not been on AIM any of the times I've visited Internet cafes. So this was our first conversation since I arrived here.

It's interesting talking to peole back home, it almost feels like I'm still there. Now I just wish I could remember Bryan's phone number. He hasn't been on AIM either.

For those of you that don't know I am now in my final apartment. I moved in a couple days ago. It's a very quiet neighbourhood, and my apartment is actually very big. Most teachers here get a single apt, but my predeessor was a family man so the apartment used to house his wife and 2 young children as well. It's actually bigger than my place in Ottawa, and has a spare room.

I'm told my utility bills will be horrible, I hope that's an exageration. Somehow I doubt it.

Hopefully I'll get to the Internet cafe tommorow to get some e-mail done. It's been about 2 week.s Unfortunately it's expensive, a $20 (American) train ride + $10 (American) for the Internet. The commute and actual Internet time combined represent a 6-7 hour time investment. So I didn't fit it in last week.

I'm told my Aunt Vicki, Uncle Brad, and my sister Amy now all read this journal. I guess the pressure is on. Kidding ;)

Scenes from around Shimodate:

Graphiti

Neat Gateway

Sculpted trees

River

Another temple

Temple Photo

Shrine Photo

Japanese graveyard


Pottery Museum
Pottery Mould

Mini-Shrine in Pottery workshop

Japanese Artwork

Japanese Artwork

Japanese Artwork

Japanese Artwork

Old Japanese Kitchen

Old Japanese Bathing Room