Time is Slippery Like Glue

It was officially one year since I landed on Japanese soil as a JET on the 26th of July. Today is the day I took the Shinkansen to Shiga, had an awkward meeting with some government officials and taken away from the city into the winding roads of the Japanese country side to my new home in the small town of Hino to meet more government officials. Alone, miles away from the next JET, but not afraid. Just tired from the journey and excited to start a new life.

The sultry days of summer have returned once more. Now I know it is not easy to ride my bike to the next town. However, I still have the desire to try because it's something to do. I probably wont though.

Summer night in Hino

Time has passed fast. I am glad that I am staying for another year, even if it is just so I don't have to move again and fit my life back into a suitcase. I have been to new places in far off countries, and new places just beyond my doorstep. Both, just as amazing in their own right. I have met many faces, many I will never see again but never forget. And in this time, I loose track of time itself. There is so much I still want to do! So much I want to learn. So much to make me stronger. What is it? I still haven't found what I am looking for. I still have not found myself. It's slippery.

Time has passed slow. The monotony of life. The everyday work that is required so that one can survive. At my desk and in these confined walls where my mind can't wander freely, time sticks. Minutes are hours, hours are days and days are weeks. This kind of time is hard to shake loose, many times it follows me home. It makes me slower, but not relaxed. The mind becomes lazy because of lazyness. Even my free time is dictated by the next work day. Is this really free? At least I can pretend and give into the illusion that it is. It is this slow down of time that makes time so quick. For when it decides to speed up, sometimes I forget to catch up.

Is time slippery or sticky? Like wet glue! Sometimes you get stuck, but sometimes you can piece something together and make it work. If your not patient though, nothing will hold together. If your too patient, the glue's power is wasted. One year gone! One more to go. I need to find more pieces of something without getting stuck in a sticky mess.

Gion Matsuri

Lately I have been in a weird funk due to a lot of reasons. Today was a day that reminds me why I am here and what I love about living in Japan.

Every July, the city of Kyoto hosts the famous Gion Matsuri where basically there are lots of people and huge shrines are lifted and carried around the city. I started the day off late, missing the morning portion of the festival but arrived around noon to meet up with some friends for lunch and evening festivities. I also got some great pictures because I had something resembling a real camera with me!


Who likes short shorts?


Lunch with a friend.

Believe it or not, one of the reasons this day was so great is because I spent it with some beautiful women. I would post photos of these beautiful women but actually since I want to respect their privacy and God only knows who might steal them for their personal albums (I know I would...), you will just have to take my word for it. To make up for it, I will post pictures of cute kids!


This kid can milk the pose.


Why are Asian kids so cute?

I guess this festival is so famous that even the Yakuza like to show up and celebrate. I didn't take the best picture to prove this, because I really enjoy my head firmly planted to my neck. Of course I am only joking, everyone knows Yakuza are nice guys...right?


If your looking for Mafia Suzuki check the chest tattoo in the upper left.


A portable shrine parade!


Happy faces of the festival, and the death stare from beyond!

After watching the shrine floats being carried through the streets and meeting some exchange students from Germany, it was time to make friends with the local Shinto priest.


A very cheerful fella...really! Like Yoda with a very cool hat.

The priest gave all of us rice crackers and sprinkled curry powder on one of the fine ladies with me that evening.

After being blessed in some Shinto voodoo or something, we had some dinner and sat by the river to share a drink and watch the fire dancer.


My favorite picture of the evening.

I don't know what it was. Being in the company of beautiful women all night, being in one of my favorite cities on earth, being at a energetic festival or the joy of finally having the opportunity to take some sweet pictures! For most of my readers, they probably already know that I love photography. I want to share what I see with you! I want the way that I see the world to be a different way for you to see the world. I wish all my entries could be full of pictures like this.

Without going into much detail, all I can say is that this night has hit something in my soul. Something that needed to be lit and has been out for far too long. What spark ignited it, I can't say for sure! But I feel...happy tonight!

Frustrating

Time is not a calendar or a clock. It is nothing but the actions taken.

I need more action.

Celebrating America's Independence Day from across he Pacific.

Need a New Phone

This post diverges a bit from the usual purpose of this blog, but is also related to Japan.

When I came back to Japan in 2009 I decided to use the mobile phone I purchased in 2007 when I was a student here. It is a great phone, the Sharp 910SH. The model was actually released in August 2006. After using the phone for almost 2 full years and having it sit in a box for one year between each year, the battery has decided to give up. Now everytime a receive a call, send a text message or connect to the internet the phone shuts off. If it's plugged in, it works fine, and if I use an external battery pack it can send messages. I could buy a new battery for $40, or since I am not tied to a contract I could purchase a new phone. With smart phones on the market such as the HTC Desire and the new Apple iPhone 4, purchasing a new phone seems tempting.

The new iPhone 4 is selling like cocaine in Columbia, making it impossible to purchase one. Must be good right? This is where I look back at my trusty Sharp 910SH which is about 4 years old.

Apple markets FaceTime as one of the best new features of their phone. The ability to have a video call. So what?! My Sharp 910SH also has a front facing camera, which can call any other camera that has a screen over any 3G network in Japan. Sure beats apple's new "innovation" which only works over wi-fi.


FaceTime on 3G

I like having a nice camera on my phone. One that is good enough to replace a normal point and shoot. That way when I go out, I don't need to pack my phone and a camera into my pocket. The iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera with flash and can also record HD video. But wait a minute?

My Sharp 910SH also has a 5 MP camera with a flash (farther from the lens resulting in a better picture) AND it also has a 3x OPTICAL zoom. Something the new iPhone 4 doesn't have, nor the HTC Desire. Hmm, I thought camera technology was suppose to be advancing. People are excited about a technology released only a few days ago that was available, and better, 4 years ago! Maybe the the "4" in iPhone 4 stands for 4 year old technology, and the Desire means you will desire more. If you want an example of images from my phone, just look at 90% of the pictures on my blog. Granted, my 910SH can't record HD video. =(


5MP with flash


3x optical zoom

Oh and internet. I can connect to the internet. But to be honest, the Sharp 910SH can't provide the experience a modern smart phone can. It can view normal PC web pages, but the formatting is off. Nonetheless Japan has a mobile version of almost any website.


Yahoo Japan Mobile

Comparing the HTC Desire to the iPhone 4 though, at least you can view Adobe Flash websites on the Desire. Apple has boycotted Flashplayer saying that it isn't good and the new standard will be HTML 5. Too bad consumers can't choose how to use their products when it comes to Apple. WHO CARES! Flash is used now! Every browser will support HTML 5. Nobody likes a N. Korean dictatorship, unless your the one following Dear Leader! It really makes me think Apple is better at developing marketing techniques than it is technology. Especially since Japanese are lining up just as much as their American counterparts, for a phone offering less for more money.

I was really looking forward to the new Apple iPhone 4. There are many good applications, but now after it's release and price tag that offers me only a pinch more hardware than my current 4 year old phone, it isn't worth it. I guess I will be going for the HTC Desire or upgrade to another normal Japanese cellphone which seems smarter than a "smart phone."

Rainy season

The last two days have been a break in the rainy weather of tsuyu. About 2 more weeks until rainy season will come to a close.

I've been pretty busy these last couple weeks. Doing lots of speaking tests with my 3rd year students, since the mid-term is here. Today I also visited two of my elementary schools. Out of four classes, only one was bad. Especially when a kid somehow pulled out a 7" blade resembling some kind of ninja gardening tool. The petting of the blade was a bit disturbing. But I just looked at him like if he didn't put it away it was going through his skull. I think somehow he was allowed to have it since it was just in a plastic bag hanging at the side of his desk. Besides this semi-shocking experience, the class had disruptive students per usual.

And finally, my sanctuary has been compromised. I've seen students pass in front of my house on the way to school, and I know they saw me. Then a couple weeks ago, there were four first grade girls waiting in the park across from my house, and they decided to ambush me with questions about Justin Beiber. They know from talking to me in school that I basically think he is a terrible singer. But somehow they try to still talk to me about him and other pop stars on the same level. And now, it is about twice a week at my front door!! I try to be nice, and of course enjoy that they try many times to use the English they have learned, which I encourage. But sometimes it can be a bit much. I felt bad today since they caught me when I already had one foot in my door, and decided to just wave and say goodbye. Believe me it is hard when there are three little smiling girls running up to you screaming your name like you are a rock-star while carrying their ipod filled with Justin Beiber. It is almost like kicking a small kitten out of a doorway.

Now only if this happened with women somewhere between the ages of 20 and 28...

Life's a song

Yesterday my school had a chorus contest. All the classes at school, totaling 11, competed against each other singing various songs. It was a great diversion from the normal mundane day. Listening to students sing for 8 hours passes much faster than reading Yahoo News and Wikipedia for 6 hours.

Contest

Today was not a special day. I only taught one class, two of them were cancelled, and basically surfed the internet reading up on two smart phones, the new Apple iphone 4 or the HTC desire. Next week the iphone 4 will be coming to Japan, and I am in need of a new phone since my current one decided to stop doing all the things that phones do best.

Thinking about this though, I question my job. I am here for another year. I get paid well. I live in a foreign country. My job isn't hard, in my opinion. I am very glad I have signed on for another year, because I still haven't experienced everything I want to yet. Plus my life outside of school is pretty damn amazing!

But back to work. I question, am I a good ALT? Do my co-workers think I am lazy? After all, I just surf the internet, study Japanese, or read a book for a better half of my day and get paid for it. I don't participate in the "cleaning time," or get involved with club activities. Granted I have never been assigned anything to clean, and never really "invited" to go to a club activity. Could I be more pro-active in my school? The more I think about it, the more the answer is YES! I could be!

The thing about being an ALT is. You arrive in a foreign country and then are shown a desk in a staffroom at some school. You are disorientated from JET lag, culture difference and a new language. Nobody really tells you what to do. You just sit there. You REALLY wish you could be doing something, but you just keep sitting there because you really don't know where everyone else is anyway. For one month, there are really no students in the school.

You design your self intro lesson. Then you find yourself just struggling to find out what the plan is for the next class because you don't know when you can talk to your team teaching partner. You really want to be involved. This goes on for about four months. Adrift in an unfamiliar place, not sure where your going or what you should be doing.

Then after four months, the situation doesn't change. But you get use to it. You get use to reading Yahoo News until you have a headache. Staring at a Japanese text book day dreaming about the weekend. Basically, you get used to being lazy and doing nothing.

Then sometime in April or May you start getting more work. Japan seems to make a little more sense, and the teachers try to talk to you about something once and a while. But it has almost been a year and still you haven't joined students in their clubs or tried to force your way into cleaning duties. Why should you? When the clock hits 4PM it is time to go home and do some more pointless crap, like check your email and facebook because your work blocks it.

Somehow this seems like an utter waste to me! What could I be doing at work to make my job more fulfilling and to make my co-workers appreciate me, or ALT's in general? I always tell myself, I am gonna go to the Kendo club today and watch it for an hour or so. But sitting in my desk for 2 hours doing nothing waiting for club time to roll around, makes me just want to escape from school faster than Houdini.

Only 1 more year! Is that really enough? I hear horror stories of foreign English teachers in the private sector, if I ever choose to relocated within Japan. I know JET does give the best benefits as far as 20 paid holidays a year, subsidized national health insurance, and helps cut threw a lot of the Japanese bureaucratic tape.

If I go back to the U.S. will I enjoy it? I know there are things I will REALLY miss about Japan. Can I get a job that pays as well without having to work crazy amounts of hours? Good thing I have about 7 more months until I really have to start thinking about it. Unfortunately, time flies fast.

The dryer part of June

As the rainy season descends upon mid June with full force, the last couple weeks have been sunny and warm. With the weather warming up, I am also warming up to my small town of Hino.

Since returning from India, I have been busy visiting elementary schools, making English picture dictionaries for 200 students, making friends, drinking coffee and watching movies on a bed sheet.

In May, the next day I returned from India actually, I met a girl named Ayumi through a mutual friend. In June I made her and a friend Mexican tacos. Turns out that she is pretty cool and knows a lot of other young people that live in my town. Within the last week I have met about ten 26 year old Japanese people who live in my town! We have been to Kyoto to eat Okinawan food and go to a club named World where DJ Taku Takahashi from m-flo was playing. It was pretty amazing, except that I don't actually remember hearing Takahashi play. I remember seeing him enter the club, but never remember him on stage. Either way, the DJ that was spinning was pretty damn amazing!


Taku Takahashi

Besides this, in my very own town in the middle of nowhere above the Hino Damn, we set up a projector and watched a concert DVD. Something unique to countryside living. In the city you would probably be dealing with the police about noise pollution complaints.

One thing is for certain! I am beyond excited to have similar aged friends in my town. On Tuesday we plan on watching some people play futsal.

I was also invited by one of the part time teachers at Hino Junior High School to watch her play the koto. So I watched for a couple hours although I left early since most things traditionally Japanese seem to be dragged out extremely long, which can lead me to get extremely bored.

I also revisited a coffee shop in my town for the second time called Ren-Rou. I've most likely now been to every cafe in Hino, and have recently decided that Ren-Rou is my favorite. They don't have amazing or cheap coffee, but for Hino it is the best! Also the environment is relaxing and the music that is usually played is also pretty good. The owner seems like a friendly guy and the cafe seems like a place that I may become a regular customer of. Not to mention, it helps support local business.


The business card of a caffeine dealer.