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.