So, I had to get up early on Saturday, so I could get in as much sleep as possible I stayed at a friends house that is just one station from the school. That nite, we decided that we wanted to eat okonomiyaki. There was this place close to his house that he had never been to … so we went there. This place was awesome. The people were lively and really friendly and the customers were also talking to me and just having a good time with me and my friend. Well, they started talking about their blog and how they wanted to take a picture so they could post. It, of course, was only supposed to be me and my friend in the picture, but the guy behind us thought it would be funny to jump in too … and it was funny. We were just having a good time with great people. So, I thought I would make a post telling people about this wonderful place. we are only in 2 of the pictures and there is some japanese written at the bottom that tells you that he ia a borrower and.
So, I finally have internet in my new apartment that the university made me move into. The new place is no where near as good as the old house I lived in. This place is smaller and my utilities are included. On a good note, I have internet YAY. Its been really hard not having internet. I haven’t been up to much lately. School has started and I am just going back to my routine, and not much has changed. Though, I did start my internship at a local elementary school here. I have to go teach at an elementary school every friday and 1 saturday a month. Yes, in Japan people go to school on Saturday. They actually tried to get me to take Saturday classes… that was a big no. The kids at the elementary school are awesome and the people that work there are really really nice. Things are definitely different here than they are in America, but it will be an awesome learning experience for me.
Anyway, I have been talking to a friend here in Japan that is basically a programmer and so there might be some changes coming to the website soon. I would like to get things to be a little more professional. I have a lot of ideas not only for changing the site, but for things that I would like to do to show everyone. I first need to work, now that I have regular access to the internet again, on getting my website out to other people. I think YouTube is #1 when it comes to things like that. I hope that new changes will be good and come soon.
Japan is definitely different than America. Business marketing is different, food is different, work ethics are different, class etiquette is different, etc…, and being foreign doesn’t exclude you from any of these. Why should they? You live in their country now. Oh, and one more thing that is really important and is different… in Japan it is not against the law to refuse service or not hire anyone for any reason what so ever. You are even required to attach a picture to your application. Can they not hire you because you aren’t pretty enough? Yup. Is it against the law to hang up a sign on your place of business that says “No foreigners”… nope. Guess what… welcome to reality. Continue reading “How is the view?”
Ok, so its 4am and I went to go outside to take out my trash and everything is covered in snow. It looks so amazing outside I think I’m going to put the proper clothes on and go for a midnight stroll. Unfortunately, I have misplaced my camera and cannot take pictures … which makes me a sad panda. I haven’t updated in while so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! I hope everyone is doing great … ok, I’m going to go play in the snow … ciao.
So, Willy and I have made the top story on the recent UWF News webpage. Its actually pretty exciting, and I was really happy that they asked me to answer some questions. I’m hoping that this will bring more readers to my website, and more activity. Sorry, had to throw in some kind of publicity, its the perfect opportunity. ha ha. In all seriousness, I do hope that people who read mine or Willy’s blog do get some helpful information from it. More comments, of course, are a good way for me to continue topics and even answer questions. I hope you read the article, I think Megan Tyson has done a great job, and I thank her for the opportunity to let everyone know about my experiences. Willy, how does it feel to be home? Oh, I almost forgot. Here is a link to the article for those of you who only follow my blog. The article is the first one and the title is “Oh the places you will go” which is also my favorite Dr. Seuss book.
For a post on my website this is actually kind of random. I normally just talk about things I do, but today I thought I would give you a little lesson. As we are all aware of a new year has come upon us. 新年明けましておめでとうございます（Happy New Year). More importantly this year, according to the zodiac, is the year of the Ox. Having been born in the year of the Ox this is pretty cool to me. So, I decided to share and give little history. Where I seem to fit more of the negative qualities than the positive ones when it comes to the Ox, it is still fairly close. In the western zodiac I am on the cusp of Scorpio and Sagittarius, and the description fits me almost perfect. Its all just for fun though. So, here is the story… Continue reading “丑年。。。This is my year”
Ok, I know its a little early, but it was staring at me and I couldn’t pass it up. I went to Akihabara today with my friend from Finland, Tuuli, to do a little random shopping. The picture is the rewards that were reaped from my shopping. There are, of course, more games that will be bought in the near future, but for now I will enjoy my FF games. I am starting with the first one (Final Fantasy IV) and I am going to work my way up. I played it for about 4 hrs already and I have a headache from reading it and trying to figure it out. Good practice I figured, and its enjoyable. I have a few more pictures to post from earlier events, and speaking of earlier events, I guess I can do a shout out to someone who probably wont even read this. lol. TERUAKI, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I have pictures from his party that I will post later in my FlickR. Anyway, enjoy looking at my new gaming system, I want to keep playing but its really late and I have class tomorrow. YAY Christmas break is soon. I also have some translation homework that I have put off for over a week and a half and its due on Wednesday.
Ok, so it has been a really long time since my last post. From now on I will try to keep them more regular. Since I went to the sumo match I have done a lot of small things, nothing big. I would say the biggest thing I have done since then is stayed with my host family. Unfortunately the stay was only for 1 night, but my host family has invited me to come back again. My host mom is one of the nicest people I have met in a long time and my host father is really cool and laid back. Their son, though busy with studying for the entrance exams for college, is in a band and he plays the guitar. I will have pictures and stuff up on my FlickR so check them out there.
Oh, yeah, I went to the Kawagoe Matsuri (かわごえ祭り). Kawagoe is a city that is just a few stations from mine, and a matsuri is a festival. There is lots of festival type foods. Everything from grilled squid and takoyaki to cotton candy and chocolate covered bananas. Its really really crowded and they carry a moving shrine that has people dancing and playing instruments, and the different shrines will battle as they meet at intersections. It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait until the next festival. I want to go to Hokkaido for the winter festival, but we will just have to see how that goes.
There are a few more things that I have done which are just sightseeing and hanging out with friends. So, yeah check out the FlickR.
Yeah, so today my roommate and I went to see a sumo match. We got up really early because we wanted to make sure we could get tickets, because they wouldn’t let us reserve them. So, we woke up at 5:30 and headed to a place, I don’t remember, close to Akihabara. We got there and got our tickets thinking it started at 8:30. Well, it didn’t. We went in thinking it was going to be really really packed… we were the only ones there. So, we decided to sit and watch the ones who aren’t really in the big leagues yet. Continue reading “I sumo’d …”
I finally got all the pictures from when I was in Osaka and Fukui uploaded to my photostream. Go take a look, I know some of you have been asking for them. I’ll be having another big post coming up soon.
