Home? Coming

February 24, 2004 11:15 AM (Ottawa)
February 25, 2004 1:15 AM (Japan)

It is so odd being "home". It all looks unnatural to me. The second I got off the flight in Vancouver I started feeling out of place.

There are too many white people, everyone looks familiar. I can understand all the conversations around me, it is almost overwhelming. Information overload is the only thing I can call it. I was really happy that there were so many asian people at the Vancouver airport, it was very reassuring.

TV is very confusing, there are far too many channels. Instead of gameshows and talkshows it is all dramas and sitcoms. I am watching V.I.P now, not because I like it, but because it was on in Japanese during the day back in Shimodate.

Bathtubs here are another matter, they are useless! I am used to Japanese bathtubs, which are deep enough that I could sit down cross-legged and still have water up to my shoulders. The one in my hotel room is much longer than a Japanese tub, you can even lay down in it. It is so shallow though that it feels ridiculous.

About the only thing I have liked so far in Ottawa is the chocolate bar selection available. Yay for Mars Bars, and Reese Peanut Butter Cups!

The End

February 24, 2005 12:56 AM (Japan)
February 23, 2005 10:56 AM (Ottawa)

I can see dawn over the wing of the plane. I am not sure what that means regarding where I am. I am not in Japan though, and more than anything that is where I want to be.

I want to wake up in 11 hours and have to rush to work. It would be an office day for me, but maybe I could do some Team Teaching. I always liked meeting new kids.

I want to put a cold cloth on Jen's forehead, and ask her how she's feeling now. I want to hear her complain again about how she is "sick of being sick", then do whatever I can to make her comfortable.

She had a horrible fever when I left this morning to catch my flight, a friend (Akina) was on her way to pick her up and bring her to the hospital.

She sent me an e-mail after she got her diagnosis, "influenza B". She had a temperature of 39.4. Apparently a man with the same fever would be in danger of permanent sterility. Naturally since she told me this and I have been taking care of her for the past few days, I am worried about my own health as well as hers.

Fatherhood is about the only thing in life I know for certain I want to do.

Hopefully this plane is just hot, I am actually fever free.

Back to Jen though.

We said goodbye today, but reassure each other that we would see each other again. I suppose officially we are no longer together now. It doesn't feel that way though, I think it is hard enough to cope with losing Japan, my students, and my job. My heart just refuses to acknowledge that I have lost Jen now too. Especially given the circumstances.

I can't really have left someone I love alone when she was weak, stressed, and suffering from a fever so bad it causes her nose to bleed. I know she will be all right. I know Akina got her to a hospital when I couldn't, and that she is getting treatment. It just seems like abandonment though.

This entry is basically stream-of-consciousness, and a little jumbled.

I enjoyed my time in Japan a lot, and I have much to look forward to back home. The biggest thing on my mind though, the one thing it keeps coming back to is that what I really want is Jen.

I hope you are feeling well. I miss you already.

Sensei jya nai yo

February 19, 2005 5:41 PM (Makabe)
February 19, 2005 3:41 AM (Ottawa)

I am no longer a teacher. It is hard to accept, but as of 31 minutes ago I have been unemployed. The best job I ever had is over.

It doesn't feel real though, I am laying on the floor in my classroom writing this.

I guess technically I have no right to be in here now, but I am not ready to leave. I don't want to let this stage of my life end.

Japanese Pet-Peeve: Japanese toilets, I need something to sit on, squatting is just not acceptable.

Oh Canada: I used to love ordering Pizza Pizza. I am hungry at the moment, so that is all I can think of.

Dinner Out

Feb 18, 2005 4:24 PM (Mito)
Feb 18, 2005 2:24 AM (Ottawa)

I went out to dinner with 3 out of 4 of my Japanese teachers last night. We spent several hours swapping stories about students and former teachers.

It was great, they gave me chocolates as a going away gift, and a hand-drawn Dragonball Z picture. It's funny how everyone thinks that is my favorite show. I hate it. I just love the Dragonball Z shirt. It looks cool, and you can't tell the plot is moronic. Besides, the kids LOVE it.

Sawako, Hideko, and Shiho (my teachers) are worried that the next English teacher won't be as good as me.

I am torn. On the one hand I don't wand somebody bad teaching my students. On the other hand I don't like the idea that they might like the new teacher more than me. Petty? Yes, but honest.

Japanese Pet-Peeve: Overblown courtesy can get annoying. Loud greetings every time you walk into or out of any business place "Irasshaimase" (welcome) are tiresome.

Oh Canada: I am out of touch with most of my friends at the moment. It will be good to touch base with everyone again.

Meena to the Rescue

Feb 15, 2005 8:58 PM (Shimodate)
Feb 15, 2005 6:58 AM (Ottawa)

Today was a great day. I got most of my final financial arrangements done in preparation for moving out. That has been worrying me a lot lately. No problem now it seems.

My Japanese teachers offered to take me out to dinner tomorrow night. I am looking forward to it.

The best part was when Meena solved 90% of my problems with returning to Ottawa.

I will be staying with my Dad temporarily, but I had no idea about how I was going to get a longer term apartment I could afford. Any place I tried to rent would be expensive, or ask me to sign a long lease. Given that I am not sure how long I intend to stay in Ottawa, and need to save money, this was not ideal.

Today Meena offered me a room at her apartment with terms that are better than I imagined possible. She says I can live there as long as I want "Even if just for a month". So she has given me what I was most afraid I had lost, a choice about what comes next.

Meena lives in Gatineau, which is a little farther than I like from Ottawa. She spends a lot of time in Ottawa too though, and she tells me it is only about a half hour commute. She has satellite TV, and Internet access.

Best of all?

Meena is a great friend, and always has been.

I may move elsewhere to get closer to the city after awhile, or I may return to Asia. Living with Meena for now sounds like an amazing opportunity though! I am pretty sure I will accept.

Japanese Pet-Peeve: My gas bill.... OUCH!

Oh Canada: I might actually get a chance to do some LARP gaming again.

Fish, Dish, and Jam

Feb 11, 2005 7:57 PM (Makabe)
Feb 11, 2005 5:57 AM (Ottawa)

I just finished saying goodbye to my favorite class. a group of 5 incredibly "genki" grade schoolers.

Wakana: A very fun and energetic girl who likes to chase me around the classroom. She prefers to be called "Fish", but I have never been able to figure out why. She and her best friend Hitomi (Dish) keep trying to call me "Jam". They seem to think it is funny to say "Fish! Dish! Jam!"

Hitomi: Wakana's best friend, and the only one capable of matching her intelligence and energy. I am not sure why Hitomi likes to be called "Dish", but I am certain she has no idea what being called a dish in English means. Just in case though, I DON'T call her that.

Satomi: The least energetic girl in the class, but still a lot of fun. Satomi tends to follow the lead of Hitomi and Wakana. She smiles a lot, but doesn't laugh and joke around with me like they do.

Nana: The smallest girl in the class, she absolutely idolizes Wakana. If she could, she would take Hitomi's place as her partner in crime, but instead she is pretty happy to just be their sidekick.

Yoji: The only boy in the class. In about 2 years he is going to start looking at Hitomi and Wakana quite differently, and it should be funny. He's a smart kid, but those girls already own him... Once he noticed they are cute? He's screwed.

I got gifts from everyone but Nana in this class (she was absent). Wakana's letter was even in English, and she gave me her address so I can write from Canada. I think I will, it could be fun. Wakana also gave me a little stuffed toy that she says is an "Owl of Happiness", never heard of that, but it's cute.

Satomi and Hitomi wrote their cards in Japanese. I look forward to being able to read them someday.

Hitomi also gave me a Dragonball Z cellphone charm, and a Toy Story alarm clock. I wear a Dragonball shirt to class sometimes because the kids get a kick out of it. I am not sure why she got me the Toy Story clock, but I guess now I will have to see the movie sometime.

Yoji's family got me a bouquet of flowers, despite knowing I have to ride home on a bike for over an hour. I will keep them in the classroom for now.

I told the class the new teacher's name will be Travis, they decided they didn't like that, so Wakana and Hitomi renamed him "Trabbit". Apparently he's a rabbit. This poor guy has no idea what he's getting into.

Japanese Pet-Peeve: People that speak English often pretend they don't because they are afraid to make fools of themselves speaking to a real English speaker.

Oh Canada: I miss nightclubs. Dancing, watching idiots get drunk and make fools of themselves, no smoking (Yay Ottawa!). What's not to like?

My Tree

Feb 10, 2005 3:24 PM (Makabe)
Feb 10, 2005 1:24 (Ottawa)

Jen visited me again this past weekend, and we went on another walking tour of Shimodate.

This time I showed her a big arcade, and an amazing shrine at the what I refer to as "my tree". I am glad I got to show her that, I found it back on March 22nd (I know because I wrote about it).

The tree is massive and completely overshadows a small shrine. The shrine itself is incredibly old, clearly having been built before the tree grew. The tree is actually molded around it. Inside the doors to the shrine there is no floor, instead a small stream is running around a water-worn old statue of Buddha.

Seeing it the first time really made me think about how old Japan is compared to Canada.

The arcade was also interesting, Jen and I used one of the photo-booths that are so popular here to get some cool pics. They came out as stickers, so I am putting them all in my paper-journal.

I look pretty bad in them, so I will get another set later after my haircut so others can see us.

I wish I had more pictures of my students to include in my diary. Maybe I can get some of my favorite class tomorrow.

Aside from Jen and Ivy I really will miss my students most (you don't count Lisa, you are coming back to Ottawa soon too).

Actually Lisa's visit was great last weekend. We got to hang out for a few days and watch TV shows she downloaded on her laptop. It was not a terribly Japanese weekend, but it was fun to hang out together again. It is depressing that we will not meet again for at least 5 months.

Japanese Pet-Peeve: They don't sell any of the over-the-counter medicine that is common in Canada. I had to send home for Sudafed.

Oh Canada: I miss Renuka, maybe I can get her to come with my mother to pick me up.

Stop the World

Feb 4, 2005 3:36 PM (Shimodate)
Feb 4, 2005 1:36 AM (Ottawa)

*SCREAM*

Stop the world, I want to get off.

Things are happening so quickly now that I can hardly stop to notice it all.

Just a few days ago I went to Tokyo with Jen. I finally got to see Tokyo Tower, get my souvenir, and take Jen on an Anime-Otaku tour of Akihabara. It would take pages to talk about it all.

Now I am under pressure from friends, family, and Peppy to let them know my final plans. The problem is that I don't know yet. There is a job I may get in China, but I am waiting to hear back.

Today I will book my return flight home incase I don't get that position. I also have to arrange to pay my final gas, water, phone and electricity bills.

Lisa is coming to visit today for a long weekend, at least that should relax me a bit.

(Continued 9:45 PM)

Yesterday the mothers of my Thursday classes all pitched in to get me a bouquet of flowers. I am going to press a few petals into my paper journal as a souvenir.

Today the mother of one of my favorite students wrote me a thankyou note. It is not very well written, but it is obvious she tried very hard with her limited English ability. I kinda like being called "Mr. James Teacher" too.

The party on Wednesday was great. The English speaking teachers and the Japanese teachers all had fun. The CD was too quiet for us to do the Time Warp to, it was going to be embarrassing. After a few tries to get it working I was going to give up. Then suddenly Yvette burst into song. She sang Time Warp at the top of her voice, and made quite a production of it. She walked on chairs, crawled on the floor, and shouted into people's faces.

It was perfect. The rest of us danced the standard pattern at the chorus, and the Japanese Teachers joined in on the second verse. It was almost like watching a live production of Rocky Horror Picture Show with a Japanese cast.

Yvette is Australian, and this is not her first standout performance at a party. She is always the wildest on in any group. I have never met anyone as outgoing and daring. She's insane, and she rocks.

Japanese Pet-Peeve: Book stores say "Book" on them in English, but contain no English books.

Oh Canada: Leggo my Eggo!