Payday!

Today I finally got paid! What a great feeling of hard work and accomplishment I have.

My first paycheck comes to me in actual check form, both rare for Japan and my company. In the future I will be getting it directly deposited into my bank account, once some paperwork is finalized. And another oddity of my first paycheck is the amount of yen I've recieved. Since I missed about 10 days of the pay-period it only represents 2/3 of my post-tax income.

I am excited about next month!

つづく

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Birthday Fun!

Happy 25th birthday to me! Man alive, I feel old! To put that in perspective, I have been alive for more than 9130 days, yet I can only remember a few hours worth of life-stories, and only a few minutes of those are really worth telling. It seems like the majority of my life has been filled with many small moments, all building up to today.

One such small moment was the day I got my Wii Fit. For those who don't know yet, it is a fitness "game" for the Nintendo Wii. Unlike the running pad of the original Nintendo, the Wii Fit Board can read your weight, pressure, and balance. Using this information it allows you to play many different types of fitness games.

So for the past few days I have been recording my BUI and daily fitness times so I can reach my goal (also set with the Wii Fit). My goal is to reduce my BUI to 21 from 22 over the course of 6 months. That is equal to 3kg total, or about .2kg per week. Good goal, eh?

つづく

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Senkeien Garden

Today, in celebration of Valentine's Day, Sanami and I went to the Sankeien Garden （三渓園） in Yokohama. It is like a living museum of old homes and zen gardens. It was very interesting to (once again) see how the previous generations lived. Our lives today are so entirely different.

Please look here for a future link to a photo gallery.

つづく

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New Life Bank

Today I opened an account with New Life Bank, also known as Shinsei Bank 新生銀行. Since I am starting a new life in Japan, this bank was appropriately named for me. And, to top things off, my ATM card is "tea green".

When trying to get a bank account in Japan, all but Citibank and Shinsei Bank requires what is called a "hannko （判子）". Instead of a signature the Japanese use this hannko name stamp. This old tool carries the modern rational that a secret name stamp is more secure than a signature. Imagine your initials writen with every letter a different size. If anything this is less secure, because a stamp font is easier to copy than a hand-writen signature.

Another backwards day in Japan.

つづく

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The Smile Award

Today at work I was informed that I recieved a smile award from a student. Every student gets one award to give for every 20 lessons they purchase. So in otherwords, I made the lesson fun and interesting for the student. This is pretty impressive for someone who has only been working for two weeks.
Also, the same student requested to have me every week, which is another accomplishment. Some teachers go for more than 12 months before getting a request.

In something completely different, the words "ago" and "before" are usually interchangable. However, the word "ago" also implies completeness of a task.

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sent from W-ZERO3

つづく

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Unofficial Mascot

This is Jo-Jo, the very unofficial mascot of my school. She is very well trained, loves people, and a cute begger always looking for handouts. I'm fairly sure there is a no visiting pet rule, but the entire staff loves her. It is fairly amazing to see Japanese office workers, who are often away from the public eye, come into the teacher's break room just to say "Hi" or "よしよし". Some office staff who are shy about using English will attempt to have conversations with Jo-Jo. I personally think she is better than some of the human teachers we have.

つづく

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Japanese Lesson

I just got done with my first Japanese lesson. Out of a score from 1 to 10, I would give it an 8 for what I learned, but would have to lower my score to a 7 because 90min for $50 is a little expensive.

-I re-learned how to use the ん and の, to subly ask for more information or prompt for a conversation.
-お願いがある時にもらうを使うけどお願いしない時にくれるを使う。
-Only university students are called "gakusei 学生" while every other student is called a "seitou 生徒".
-you かつ or まける a game, but you ごうかく（する） or ふごうかく（だ） a test.
-kaigan means "coast" or "sealine"(北、南、東、西)
-（Kouza）口座をひらきたいんです。
-An Inkan (印鑑) is a fancy Hanko (判子).
-A Kanrinin (管理人) is an apartment manager.
-"多分"を使う時に"と思う"も使う方がいい。

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sent from W-ZERO3

つづく

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Fat Tuesday

So today was Fat Tuesday in Japan, which means absolutely nothing. Less than 1% of the people in Japan follow a Christian religion, and fewer still who are Catholic. However a co-worker of mine is, and he is "looking forward" to start fasting tomorrow. But in Japan, if you are a 5'11"+, 170lbs+, then everyday is a day of fasting.

My breakfast ritual has not changed much. I still have coffee and toast, with the occational egg or yogurt. However my lunch and snacking habits have changed quite a lot. A typical lunch is rice, some vegitables, and about 60g of meat, and while working a snack is coffee. At home snacking is more elaborate; typically rice crackers, tea, chocolates, coffee, chips, or fruits.

つづく

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Demons and Imps

Yesterday was Setsubun （節分）, a Japanese holiday with similar roots to Halloween. Like many things Japanese, it is fairly boring and solem. There are no costumes, no candies, and no parties.

But it was an interesting cultural event to participate in. The festivities begin with the family gathering at the door of their home, each with a bag of beans. The family then chants "Demons are outside, good fortune is inside （鬼は外、福は内）," while throwing beans both outside and inside. From this point the family gathers the beans thrown inside the home and proceeds to eat them. Your age determines how many you eat. For example, I am 24 so I ate 24 beans.

I wonder if the power of beans will really keep the demons out of my home?

つづく

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First Snow

Today we had the first snow of winter here in Yokohama. Technically it was the second, but this was the first time this year that it stuck. I was filled with a mixture of happiness and dread this morning. Happy for the beauty, but dreading the commute to work.

Students can cancel a lesson, but a teacher can not. This happened to a few people, but not me. Not that I mind, I still enjoy teaching, unlike many teachers. One student said, "I usually drive a car, but because of the snow I took the train. If there was no train then I could come." Elementary, but true; without the trains in Tokyo/Yokohama it would be impossible to get to work/school/university. Trains are both the main source and alternative travel option.

つづく

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Yokohama Station

This is Yokohama Station, which is near where I work. I take a train here nearly everyday, and yet it is still confusing. If it was to win an award, it would receive the "Busiest Ugly Station Award", or maybe the "Ugliest Busy Station Award".

While the station is not easy-on-the-eye, Yokohama is a nice place to commute to. I have the option to walk to work on the skywalks, roadways, or underground passages. It may sound like a futuristic B-rated film, but it is only a finely placed building; near a subterranian mall and the largest Sheridan Hotel in Japan.

つづく

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Moblie Blogging

This past week has been a busy one of me. I completed my training to be an English teacher and have taught my first 5 lessons. One of those lessons was also my surprise evaluation. Of course I passed, and even surprised the evaluator with how much I got the student to speak. My weakest points were the "3Ps" - Presentation, Practive, and Performance; a term to discribe the basic pacing of a lesson.

This week I also got a new mobile phone. In fact, I am writing this post on it. While a little large compared to normal Japanese cell phones, it runs Windows Mobile and it was free (w/ service contract). Being a practical buyer, I wanted to get something I could also use in America, in case I move back.

Well, this post was boring. Look for something more interesting next time.

つづく

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