moshiwakenai

Is the somewhat formal way to apologize in Japanese, and more literally means "there's no excuse..." It's been a while since my last post, moushiwakenai. And I'm afraid I have no exciting excuses to let me off the hook, so I do hope my attentive viewers forgive me and don't start ignoring this url.
I have maybe been a little bit busier lately, trying harder and harder to come up with a basic plan for next year. Not to mention organizing my trip back home, which is slightly exasperated by simultaneously existing in two different places, thousands of miles apart. My family is this very moment making their way to Florida, where their Jewish blood has inevitably guided them. Specifically, their next destination is Gainseville, a nice-looking college town outside of Jacksonville. North Florida isn't famed for its high-minded cosmopolitan culture, but the college should attract enough snobby pretentious stuff to amuse everyone. But perhaps this will be a time to reflect on that age old question, "how far can you REALLY take a Jew from New York?" My parents new adventure will be yet another case study in the ongoing debate.

But if you're reading MY blog, you'd probably like to know about what I'M doing, right. If only I could really answer you. Maybe it's living a pseudo modern suburban Robinson Crusoe lifestyle in Japan, or my silly job, or just being 22 and lost, but I think I'm finding myself in the midst of what I would like to dramatically call an existential crisis. A few things have brought this on.
Japanese: It's the language that everyone speaks here, mostly exclusive to all other languages. It's also a language that I find very difficult to really wrap my brain around, and still have trouble communicating with it. And forget about being able to read or write.

Work: a friendly young English-speaking co-worker left my school in march and was replaced by a nice middle-aged woman who speaks little English, has never been a teacher (or a worker) and is simply terrified by everything and everyone. She tried to use the computer briefly but I'm not sure could really fully grasp the coordination of the mouse and keyboard and how they affected the image on the monitor. While not really a natural ability, this is the year 2007, and she only lives 100km from Tokyo, Japan, a hive of just about any high technology that exists. What this means for me is that the class we teach "together" is in fact left to the more experienced of the two, which, unbelievably, is me. Working outside the confines of the crappy text books is a relief, but I have no training (formal OR informal) on being a real teacher, and what incredibly vague "training" I have received is along the lines of time-filler games and warm up activities and other cute little add-ons. But that doesn't cut it for 50 minutes every week in a class of 36 kids. But I teach this "international class" (hahahah) to 4 sections of 13-14 yr olds, and each class is about 36 uniformed kids with the same attitude that most 13-14 year olds everywhere approach school: "I'm only here because I have to be." This a new responsibility for me in a job that previously required little in that department, and I'll have to see how it actually goes. I feel a bit of an accomplishment when I think things go pretty well, but more often then not I wonder if the kids are as lost as I am.
This leads to the question, what WILL I do with this job. I've been discussing with my supervisor about taking leave this summer (I want extra leave because of the wide distance between my two homes) while not using up all of my vacation days. Essentially I asked for unpaid leave (my summer would otherwise be paid desk sitting). Based on the continued vagueness of his answers I can only assume he can't approve my request. But I really don't think I'll get in too much trouble for not going to work when I in fact have no work. I know my school doesn't care, and the only potential problem would be a paper one. If it turns out to be a real problem, well then I'm afraid I'll have to say goodbye, and try to leave on the friendliest terms possible and make sure to get a letter of reference from someone before I leave.

At the very least I'll finish this contract in July, and then I'll come home between mid July and mid August (more specific dates and itinerary to follow asap). Then I plan on coming back, and working and saving money and doing whatever else I can until December, when I would like to take a trip to and explore Amber's homeland. As long as I get to pet a koala and almost get bit by 10 kinds of venomous snakes, I'll be happy. From there I'd have to return to Japan to take care of all my stuff, and prepare for that next step. Maybe I don't have the focus just yet for grad school, but I'd at least to plant myself with another job/internship closer to friends and family. I won't assign a date to come home, as I imagine it would depend on what I can find.

I'm homesick and part of me wants to just bag the dumb job and come home. But when I pull myself out of my funk of self-pity I conclude that its much better to come home with a little more to show. Maybe a little more language, a little more money, and a few more interesting experiences about Japan to share back home. I hope this makes sense to people.

I'll stop blabbering this time, but I want to wish my sister happy travels in France. I know she'll love it, and I hope she is right now. What a nice city Paris is, even with all the dog poop. Safe travels shmoo, and I hope you have at least as much fun as you did here in Japan (but not MORE fun).
Ogenki de

Aaron

Crazy Japanese

Japanese people work a lot. I go to school for about 8 hours everyday, which is less time than any other student or teacher, with the possible exception of some "special" students. There are also two assistant teachers who possibly spend less time at school than me in a given week (say, 35 instead of my 40 hours) but they are considered "part time." I don't know what time people start to arrive, but I'm fairly certain some bukatsus (clubs) start at 6 or 630 in the morning. They will likely then continue through 5 or 6 in the evening. I know lots of teachers must stay later than that for various preparations or cleaning or whatnot. I'm told that even in America the 35-40 hour work week is increasingly becoming unattainable, but a part of me still thinks "this is ridiculous."
But, all that said, the Japanese do have a multitude of public holidays where basically noone works. I forget exactly how many, but it basically averages to one a month, which allows for a pleasant three day weekend with some frequency. And this past week was the mother of them all, a grouping of public holidays affectionately refered to as "Golden Week." Me and Ambs elected to not go crazy this time around, for want of money/time/energy/etc., but she has had a slew of Aussie mates coming in and out these past weeks. This has more than kept her busy, and I've been able to tag along and countless times think to myself "wow Aussies talk so funny." And more importantly than that, I've had a REALLY fun time figuring out how much of what Amber says is just "Aussie" (as she claims it is) and how much of it is just Amber. I won't bother with all the details, but one specific moment comes to mind:
Amber says that she does trivia back home in her favorite bars in Melbourne. She says its a fun way to be with friends and win free beer. Perfectly reasonable I suppose, but I had to tell her that no young person in America would admit to frequenting trivia nights at the local bar. I can't help but associate trivia at a bar with the word "local" (ie old-fashioned hillbilly). And this is coming from someone who's lived in Dallas, Pennsylvania for over a decade. Amber reluctantly accepts that perception in AMERICA, but insists its different in Australia. SO, one of the first questions I ask her friend Daniel, her fellow melbournian, goes "could a young person in Melbourne legitimately say they go to trivia for fun?" Daniel quickly and easily responded "no." While I've endlessly teased Amber for this, one could also think of it as a victory for Australia in my eyes. I mean a bunch of people who say "reckon" and go to trivia for fun doesn't really evoke the perception of a cosmopolitan city in my mind, despite Amber's persistence. But Daniel has put my mind to rest in favor of Melbourne, though perhaps has made me question a specific few inhabitants...
Of Course I never asked her friend Ben, whom I met this past week. But she warned me that they frequently did trivia together, and well, I already got the answer I wanted.

My life in the mean time consists of struggling to learn this insanely difficult language, failing to learn this insanely difficult language, and then getting frustrating that I'm struggling, and then failing to learn this insanely difficult language. Also, thinking and worrying about next year, and the ever looming question.. dou shiyou... (what to do...). Though I do think that regardless of the specifics I will be in America between mid July and mid August, and would then like to continue some work and study here, at least for a little bit. Where and how are a little up in the air, but sticking around here is also an option. I do wonder if being closer to a city and more young people might make life a little more enjoyable and maybe even make learning Japanese easier. All questions to ponder...

Anyway, pictures are better than words sometimes:

Crappy rockers adorn Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, but their teenage fans happily do their weird dance/headbang in unison.

I've put pictures of the rockabillies up before, but this was the first time I saw the rockabilly chicks in their betty outfits. As per usual, noone can really dance very well.
However, Paul and Daniel can look good in front of their ridiculous car, which appears to be an authentic old Cadillac.
I stole this picture from Amber, but I really like it. Everyone looks appropriately ridiculous.
This is Tokyo trip #2. This is Ben at a cafe near Inokashira park in Kichijoji, Tokyo. I really like this park, and this a pretty nice cafe. The waitress freaked out as we entered, and was unable to move when Amber answered how many of us there were (3). She must've freaked out simply because foreigners were talking to her, which is not such a common reaction these days, especially in Tokyo. Amber says she's received her fair share of foreigner freak outs in her years here though.
This old guy in the park whips out American folk and blues songs in an indecipherably thick Japanese accent. But hey, points for trying. That adorable kid in the background paid more attention to him than most of the park goers.
That goldfish's eyes... were indescribably disgusting.
Here are some ads in a Tokyo rail station. Just in case you didn't know Japan was silly and was really into animated girls and huge giant robot monsters.

That's all for now. Check out my flickr page again, I added more pictures of the girls' trip to Japan from way back when. I'll eventually give in and pay the fee to put up more pictures, but only a few for now.