Saturday, April 21, 2012

Busy life


Hey everyone who still visits this barren land called "vince in osaka". Most people I know just follow my posts on Facebook and Path nowadays. Therefore, this blog has become almost obsolete. That being said, I'm going to post and update it now. :)

Osaka Downtown


So what on earth is going on here in Osaka? I can't believe I've been here for over four years. The new school year just started 2 weeks ago and I've been busy getting to know about 280 students. It's a lot of students to get to know, and honestly I won't eve learn half their names. I'll try my best to do it.

This is a view from my desk as work.



The past couple of weeks have been greeted with the arrival of the Cherry Blossoms. The bloom every year at the beginning of April. Unfortunately the beauty only lasts for a few days. People in Japan use this opportunity to hang out outside under the cherry blossom trees. They have picnics and barbecues. It's fun and the weather is usually pleasant. I took this opportunity to practice my outdoor photography, which to be honest, is not that difficult.

A Cherry Blossom in bloom. Photo taken near my apartment.

At the park near my apartment. People hanging out under the tree.



I've been doing a lot of hiking recently. It's really nice to go outdoors and get on those mountains. There's a great feeling after a hike is finished that I can't explain. I just feel so refreshed!

Mt. Shiraga in Hyogo. It was a fun and difficult hike.

Hiking


Last month I went to a lovely little town about 3 hours north of Osaka. The town is Kinosaki Onsen. An onsen is a Japanese public bath. The waters of Kinosaki are supposedly of such a high quality that they give you health benefits. Thousands of Japanese venture to this town every month to try the baths. In the town there are 7 major bath houses. You can pay one fee and have free access to all the baths. The good thing is that they ate within walking distance with each other. To be honest, the entire town is probably no more than 2 or 3 kilometers across. At night all the people who stay there wear a traditional Japanese Yukata and walk around the town visiting the baths. When I was there, I took a bath 5 times! Unfortunately it was raining the entire trip, but that didn't deter me from having fun. I did some night photography there. That alone was worth it to me. If anyone ever visits me, I'll definitely take them there.


Kinosaki Onsen

Night View in Kinosaki

Walking around in Yukata



Well that was my little update. I'll give this blog thing another whirl. In the meantime check out some of my photos here. Thanks for reading. :0)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Time is flying.

So I just had my birthday last Friday. It was uneventful for the most part, but I still had a good time with some good friends. There was a tropical storm roaming around Osaka so we received 4 days straight of rain. It would come in spurts too. You could be walking around with no rain, and all of a sudden a torrential downpour. Luckily for me, I happen to love rain so it was good.


This week at my school is the last week of normal classes until the end of the semester exam. Most students are tired of studying but they have to really study more because of the tests next week. For my English Conversation class, the students are being paired up and asked to make a short dialog using some topics we have covered this semester. These include asking for a date, asking for a favor and talking about summer vacation. It's not that difficult, but if the students really try to learn and act out the dialog well, it will be difficult. I hoping for great results. Tuesdays are really busy for me here at my school. Six classes in a row is straining. I've only got 30-40 minutes to eat something and prepare for the next class. Wednesday and Thursday are really simple though because there are only 4 classes. Two classes each day. So the week starts fast and ends slow, which is probably the best way.


This past weekend I was watching a wonderful documentary called Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero. It is a powerful, sad and uplifting documentary. It chronicles the planning and the building of ground zero. They introduce you to people involved and how it effected them. Some parts will make you cry and some parts will make you realize what an amazing country America is. It makes me proud to be from America. It makes me proud that best city in the world is just going to get even better, New York City. I hope you guys try to watch it. It's on Discovery Channel in the USA. You can also search for in on YouTube.


Ok, I've got to go now. Tonight and every Tuesday night I play futsal with my futsal team. It's so much fun and I really love playing soccer and futsal. It's such an amazing sport. Have a wonderful day all.


peace,

vince

Thursday, September 1, 2011

After a year.

Hey everybody!  I can't believe it has been about one year since I last posted on my blog.  I just thought about it today and decided to give it a try again. 

Well, I've officially started fifth and most likely final year of JET.  It's hard to believe that I started this blog 4 years ago before I left to Japan.  Nowadays I'm basically posting on Facebook.  It's a lot more convenient and easy. 

I've recently come back from a long 29 day European tour.  Needless to say, it was absolutely amazing.  The cities I visited included Rome, Florence, Pisa, Sienna, London, Manchester, York, Liverpool and multiple towns in Wales.  I experienced so many highs and a few lows.  I made a lot of new friends too.  This trip has made me think about finally ending my tenure in Japan.  My contract is over on July 31st 2012.

Tomorrow a typhoon is supposed to arrive here in Japan.  It so happens to be my birthday as well.  Should be a very windy and rainy birthday.  I don't mind because I really like rain and they might cancel school.  I'll be back with a better reflection of my trip to Europe.  Pictures will also be posted here soon.  It just takes a lot of time so please bare with me.  I hope you are still reading after all this time.  Take care.

peace,

vince

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Where's the Typhoon?

Last Tuesday there was a big announcement in the teachers room just before quitting time. The Vice Principal yelled out that there was a big typhoon coming and we might not have classes the following day. While he was saying this, I was looking at the weather on my phone and it said "Sunny". I figured that it was just another over reaction from the weather folk in Japan. It happens a lot actually. Needless to say, it was warm and sunny on Wednesday. :0)

Two Thursdays ago was my birthday and I became 28 years old. Wow, I'm really getting old! I still feel like I haven't really accomplished anything in my life. It's a weird feeling to be honest with you. I went to dinner with the misses and ate some delicious Korean style food. It made me remember how much I miss Korea. The food there was just amazing. Anyway, besides getting about 80 happy birthday messages on Facebook, it was just an ordinary day. One of my students gave me a cute little present with cookies and a Super Mario Lolly. I was really happy and surprised.


My Small Present


Yesterday, (9/12, Sunday), I went to watch my school's girl's basketball team play in the Osaka City Round of 16 high school basketball game. It was really interesting to see how it they play these games. They had girls playing on one court and the boys playing on a court directly across from them. Meanwhile fans and other teams waiting to play are in the middle of both courts. It's a really strange setup compared to an American style but I guess it's efficient. If my school would have won, they would have went to the final 8 of the city. Unfortunately they didn't win but they sure played hard. The other team just shot lots of three point shots and made about 60% of them. That pretty much ended the game there. I was so surprised to see how good my school was in terms of ball skills. They handled the ball really well and were good in the paint! Girls got some skills, even though they are so short. After the game I headed back to my apartment. It took me about 1 hour to get home, so it was a bit of a journey to see the game.


The team huddling up before the game.


During the game.

Warming up at halftime.
On Saturday was the 9th anniversary of 9-11. That was a horrible day for America and myself. It's sad to see that many people have already forgotten about that day. It's not really mentioned much in the news from what I saw. I don't think I saw anything about it here in Japan either. Well, It's not like Japan has to care or anything, it didn't happen to them, so I can understand that. I spent my evening watching the web stream of the memorial in New York city. It doesn't matter how many times I see that, I always cry. You can see people holding up 9 year old photos of their family members that no longer exist. One lady made a small speech at the podium and something like, she hopes that 9-11 never becomes a national holiday in America because it's not something to celebrate and have a day off of work, it should be a day of remembrance and mourning. Another woman added that her husband was never found in the rubble so she will continue to come back every year because it is where her husband is buried. Imagine not having a body to lay to rest? That would be just horrible. I'm sure his body was incinerated instantly in the fire unfortunately. One day he's alive the next day he's gone completely. Well, sorry to go on about this saddening topic but I just had to say something about it.
One more week until I head to Mt. Fuji to climb to the top. I should probably start buying some gear right? haha OK, well enough of my rant for today. Have a wonderful day, night, whatever.
peace
vince


























Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Hisashiburi! (Long Time No See)

Hello everyone that still (nobody) reads my blog. I think that this blog has really no point now. Especially since almost everybody that I know and keep in touch with is on Facebook. They can see everything that I do, all the pictures that I upload and status updates instantly. It seems that Blogs are becoming more and more obsolete. Unfortunate but true none the less. I'm sorry to anyone that reads this and is not on Facebook to see all my happenings and what not. I'll try to update my blog at least once a month or something like that from now on.
Anyway, I've had a busy 4 months since I last posted. I changed my school with completely new staff in a different location of the city. No more bike rides to school either since my school is now in train distance. From trips to the beach, birthday parties, playing soccer and basketball, the world cup, school welcoming parties, work drinking parties, practicing Japanese calligraphy, clubbing, a tour of the Suntory Beer Factory, a trip to San Francisco, Las Vegas and El Paso, duty as a best man in my cousin's wedding, planning a birthday party for a friend and I and finally saying goodbye to many good friends that are now leaving back home. It's been crazy this year so far to say the least! My life over here is still exhilarating and fun. I can't say I'm not lucky sometimes.

Here are some pictures from my phone I've taken this year.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=161812&id=632777724&l=cfbff7fb6a

This is my album from Summer 2010
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=184645&id=632777724&l=3f5fc7ed44

I think that when you see these pictures you will get a good picture of what life has been like over in Osaka. It's a great place to be and I enjoy it everyday. From August 1st, I started my 4th year in Japan. When I first came to Japan I never thought I would be here 4 years. Time literally passes us by.

My next excursion is this month. A few friends and I will attempt to climb to the top of the largest peak in Japan! MOUNT FUJI!! I really can't wait and I know it will be a challenge, but I'm always up for a challenge. There is a famous saying here in Japan that the Japanese always say. "Everyone should climb Fuji, but you're a fool to do it twice." I'm really looking forward to that day! ;)

OK well, I just wanted to update this BLOG. I hope all of you readers are doing well and thanks for the continued support even though I completely neglect the BLOG. I'll try harder.

peace,

vince

p.s. If you are on facebook just add me!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Teaching English Reading

So today was my first non-English conversation class. At my new school, there is a different curriculum from my last school. At this school I have to teach English Reading to all first year students. Today was my first two lessons. Needless to say, I was quite nervous about it all.

Each class consisted of 42 students. I have never taught a class of such size before in Japan, so I really didn't know what to expect. To raise the pressure, I had never taught with my teaching partner before. I literally just met him about 1 week ago! So we didn't know each others style. Anyway, I'm glad to report that the classes went just fine. The students were very enthusiastic and friendly. The English level at this school is fairly decent as well. This reading class is not an elective therefore they must take the class. That means that many students are assumed to not care about English. Luckily for me the students did like English. There was not even one student sleeping either class for 50 minutes. That would never have happened in Matsubara High School.

My lesson consisted of a sparsely laid out plan of introducing class greetings, bonus point rules and class rules. Then the last goal was to introduce Texas and myself to the students, giving out bonus points to students that answered questions or asked them. Overall it went smoothly considering all the obstacles. Afterwards my teaching partner and I discussed ways we could improve the class. I think that we worked well together!

I ate lunch in my school cafeteria on Monday for the first time. One of my fellow teachers came along with me to introduce me to the staff. As I first entered the cafeteria, I was shocked to see how nice it was. At my old school, the cafeteria staff consisted of some old guy and a young kid. At my new school there were 6 ladies cooking up a storm! The selection was excellent and I even got a tray! That made my day right there. My test was to order the same thing that I always ordered at my old school, curry rice. So came my piping hot bowl of curry rice, with a side of macaroni salad and tea. Delicious! Much better than the goo I was served before. At that point I knew, this year was going to be good. haha


Typical bowl of Curry rice w/pork cutlet. Delicious!


peace

vince

p.s. here is the link for my high school's website! http://www.osaka-c.ed.jp/kunijima

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A Fresh Start!

Hello everybody! I'm currently in my school right now, and there is a teacher's meeting going on. That means I have so much free time. Anyway, I'm sorry that I have failed to maintain this blog. It's quite out-dated and frankly sucks. However, I have decided to write a few things that have happened in the last 4 months.

I have decided to extend my stay here in Japan another year. I actually made that decision 2 months ago. I will begin my new contract from August 2010 to August 2011. It will be my 4th year in Japan. Something that I really never thought would happen. When I first came to Japan, my thought was to stay 1 year and get some experience. Since that time, I've grown accustomed to my life here, and enjoy it. My job is stable and the income is fine. Not to mention all the perks of living the 8th largest city in the world. :) I'm just not ready to give it up just yet. I want to make the most of my time that I have left in Japan.

January was a strange month actually. I came back from my trip back home in Texas with a "dude, Japan sucks" attitude and a larger waistline. Of course that usually happens when you come back from holiday. Life went on as usual though. My school situation was not so good. The students were great (most of the time), but other factors were holding my experience back. I chugged along through the rest of January and February by playing soccer and playing lots of video games.

In March, the Japanese school year ends and so did the high school careers of my 22 senior English students. It was sad to see them go. I taught them for almost 3 years and we had a very good relationship. I really liked them, even though they always slept in class. After a week of ceremonies and goodbyes, the school year ended. The beginning of my interesting work-free March began. In the middle of March I got a phone call from the Supervisor of all JET teachers in Osaka. He told me that the Board of Education was going to transfer me to another school. This is normal for regular teachers in Japan. They are regularly transferred to other school in March. However, this is extremely rare to see a JET teacher get transferred to another school. JET teachers usually spend their entire length of stay at the same school. So this came as a big surprise to me and and all my co-workers. A few days later I decided to start taking all my belongings out of my desk and back home. I was to report to my new school on April 7th for the first time. In between that time, I had a few days of holiday so I went to Tokyo to visit a some friends. I had such a good time and it made me forget about the nervous feelings I had in my stomach.

I reported to my school on April 7th with my suit and shiny shoes. I was led into a small conference room with 8 other people in suits and shiny shoes. They all looked at me quite bamboozled at the fact that a foreigner walked in. Anyway, it turns out that all these teachers were transfers as well. So basically they felt as bad as I did. That really made things easier to bear. After a short meeting with directions all in Japanese, we were led to a larger conference room. In this larger conference room was every teacher and staff member at my school. We were about to be introduced to every one. Wow, I was so nervous. Right before I entered the room, I was tapped on the shoulder by a teacher. He was speaking English! The first English I had heard in hours that day. He told me that after I was introduced, I could just leave because I didn't have to go through the entire meeting with the Japanese teacher. (the perks of being a foreign teacher) So I was introduced with a bow and I just left the room. And that was my first day at my new school! The next day was the opening ceremony for the school. The new teachers were introduced to all the students in the gymnasium. That was nerve wrecking but not as bad as the day before.

That Friday was the "Goodbye Ceremony" at my old school. I was invited to go. So I had to show up at the Principal's office at 8:30am. When I arrived, the Principal told me that I was to give a speech to the students in which I said goodbye. There were 7 teachers leaving the school, so the order in which we gave our speeches. Of course, I was the last one. Let me preface this by saying in the morning I didn't eat breakfast because I was too nervous. I also had this stupid idea to chug a Red Bull right before I arrived at my school. So there were at least 900 people inside the gym. The departing teachers, myself included, were led down the aisle and to the stage, where 7 seats sat lonely. Yes, we had to sit on these seats while we waited to give the speech. So, we were on this stage with every single student and teacher looking at us. One by one we gave our speeches to the students. Some long, some short, some sad, some I couldn't understand. The whole time I was shaking uncontrollably because I was nervous and that Red Bull was destroying my nerves. My time came and I attempted to give a speech in Japanese. I succeeded at talking for about 30 seconds until I somehow forgot how to speak Japanese. I had to ask one of the English teachers to come up to the stage with me and translate for me. Yeah, probably the first time that has happened at that school! haha Anyway, everything went ok I guess. And I said my final goodbyes to my students and fellow co-workers. As I pedaled away on my bicycle looking back at Matsubara High School, I was happy to leave that school but sad to leave my students behind.

That weekend I went did a lot of drinking, talking, dancing, cherry blossom viewing and other nonsense. Perhaps too much stress needed to be released! :) I decided that this new school year was going to be different. I want to make a greater effort to make my classes great. I'm going to get much more social! I'm going to reduce my gaming. I'm going to run a lot more! I'm going to write more BLOGS!!! hahah This is becoming a New Year's Resolution now! :) I might as well change a few things since I'm basically started a new chapter in my life here in Japan. I've got a new nephew coming in a few weeks. I cannot wait to see his face when I go back to America for my cousin's wedding in August. This is the end for now of my unnecessarily long blog post. Take care of yourself, where ever you are!

peace

vince

p.s. title...that's what she said.


View of Tokyo skyline from the Metropolitan building in Shinjuku.

Another view with Mt. Fuji in the background.

The most famous crossing and possibly the busiest crossing in the world in Shibuya Tokyo. World's busiest Starbuck's is right under the big screen.


Cherry Blossom viewing parties in Osaka's beautiful Castle Park.

The Moat of Osaka Castle with some Cherry Blossoms in view.

Monday, December 28, 2009

The Return

Hey everybody!  Well it's been about 2 months or so since I have last blogged.  Apologies to all that have come back to my lame blog to see nothing at all.  Anyway, I thought I would get back into this whole blog business.  Currently I am back in El Paso for the holidays.  I arrived here on December 17th and it has been quite nice to be home.  Meeting family and friends definitely has a refreshing effect!

Well to just update you on the past few months I will just show you some pictures! :)


Cerezo Osaka soccer match in October.  This stadium is 5 minutes from my apartment.


My school had a festival in October.  They performed dances, plays and music.


Soccer team Christmas Dinner


Making random Japanese people use the Hula-Hoop!  Fun!


Volunteering to teach some Japanese kids how to play Heads Up 7-UP.  Swell time!


Matsubara Festival, a little festival close to my school.  Food, music, games...the lot.



Christmas time with Grandpa!

I'll be back with some more pictures very soon!  Thanks for reading.

peace

vince


Friday, October 9, 2009

What...Storm?

Hey blog readers!  How are you doing?  Well I'm happy to report that nothing serious happened when first hurricane in 2 years to hit Japan, Hurricane (Typhoon 台風) Melor came to shore in Osaka.  The winds were quite strong at night and I really couldn't sleep.  There was strong rain and wind for the duration of the night.  3am was probably the worst time for me.  I just watched the news on my cell phone and hoped nothing would break or fall apart.  The eye of the storm didn't hit Osaka directly luckily.  Unfortunately, other parts of Japan were not so lucky.  Here is a quick story that sums up the storm from The Examiner. Typhoon Melor  School was canceled for most of Osaka on Thursday.  I was glad because I really didn't want to venture outside with all that rain on the streets.  To sum it up, my first experience with a hurricane was uneventful, thankfully!

So today was the start of the 3rd term here at my school.  There are 4 terms total at my school.  Later this month is the school festival called 文化祭 "Bunkasai".  I talked about this event in the past, so look at the archives if you wish.  It will be held on the final Saturday and Sunday of October.  The bad thing is that I have to work on that weekend.  The good thing is that we get "make-up" days off the following Monday and Friday.  Brilliant!  That's another perk of working at a school in Japan.  When you have to work on a weekend, they will will usually give you the following Monday off or a day of your choice during the week!  I can't really complain about that! :)

This Saturday I will volunteer at a local Elementary school down the road from my high school.  They are having an "international festival".  That's a pretty vague term, but basically they will have some foreign English teachers and foreign exchange students from around the area to teach the kids about games from our countries.  From my school, 2 exchange students and I will volunteer to help.  I have to teach the kids from the elementary school about a simple game I used to play when I was a kid in school.  So the best game that I have memories of was Heads-up 7up!  That was a great game!  If you don't know this game, I'll give you the basic rules.  You get a group of students to come to the front of the class and have the rest of the students stay seated.  The seated students have to put their heads down on the desk with their eyes closed.  They have to stick their hand out with their thumb up.  The standing students will walk around the classroom quietly touching one students thumb.  Afterwards, the students who had their thumb touched will have to stand up and guess who picked them.  If they guess correctly, they get to stand up and join the standing group.  Pretty simple right?  Well I will see how it goes tomorrow!

I'm trying to decide where to travel this Christmas holiday season!  Any suggestions?  Until next time!

peace

vince

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Meet Ms. Melor!

So it's been raining all day long here in Osaka.  I had a class this morning and it felt like it was night time.  Dark gloomy clouds were lurking overhead.  Well Typhoon (hurricane) Melor is heading towards Osaka right now.  It's supposed to arrive on Thursday morning.  We are supposed to see if there is an advisory at 7am on Thursday morning to see if we have to head into work in the morning.  So we shall see what happens.  I really don't think there will be too much trouble, but the rain should be abundant.  Those clouds were looking menacing as well.  Ok, I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.  I have to get ready to get soaked riding my bike home again today.  Take care!

peace

vince

Check out the location of the storm here.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/map/interactive/JAXX0071?from=36hr_topnav_business

Oh and this 大阪 means Osaka!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Typhoon season

Hello all 3 of my blog readers!! I hope this day finds you in good spirits. As for me, well I think I might be coming down with a retched cold. I suppose it is all my fault however. Last night I went for my weekly football practice. The weather looked a bit gloomy as I set off on my trusty bicycle. The sun was still shining bright in the late afternoon sky. The football pitch is about 20 or so minutes from my dwelling. I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and some flip-flops. I was surprised because there was a bit of a nip in the air. Anyway, it started rain while we were playing football. That's no problem because the pitch is covered so we didn't get wet. Unfortunately it continued to rain, and I was forced to ride my trusty bike into the cold evening and onto the wet and slippery streets back home. Needless to say, I was freezing. I felt like a dog probably feels after a shower. Well, perhaps that's not the right analogy, as a dog probably feels great after a shower. Umm..well anyway, I arrived home and took a warm shower and I already started to feel horrible. Now today is nice and rainy again. I was chatting with my co-worker today and he said there should be a typhoon approaching Osaka tomorrow. Which basically means that it will rain all day long. Cold, rainy and gloomy for the next few days I fear. But that is life in Japan if you live close to water.

Two weekends ago I played in a football tournament in Kobe.  It was called the "International Charity Football Tournament".  Various teams from the Kansai region of Japan came to play in this tournament.  All proceeds went to charity, a charity for starving African children I heard.  There were eight teams in total.  The team I was on was the Osaka JET teachers team.  Obviously the players were Osaka JET teachers.  We ended up not losing any games.  We drew 3 games and won 2 games.  The last game we were down by 3 goals to 0, yet we still managed to come back and win 4-3.  We played six games, and I was completely tired after everything.  We arrived in Kobe at 8am and stayed there until 5pm.  It was a long day, but it was fun also.  We met many teams and players from around this area.  Most of them were foreign teachers, but there were also some Japanese teams too.




Last weekend my Xbox 360 died again.  The way you can tell that your Xbox has died is because 3 flashing red lights appear on the front.  This means "Hey, your xbox is now a fancy box of parts".  Last time this happened,  I had to get it fixed back home in the U.S.A.  However, I didn't want to deal with all that again.  So I just decided to buy a new one here in Japan.  It was on sale anyway at Amazon.jp.  I love Amazon.jp by the way.  You can literally buy anything from there and it is usually cheaper than buying it at the store.  Also you can ship everything for about 300¥ or about $3.00.  Cool!



Last weekend, my friends and I attended a J-League 2nd division soccer match.  The team name is Cerezo Osaka.  They play Nagai stadium which is about a 5 minute walk from my apartment.  The stadium they have also hosted the International track and field championships last year.  It's a really nice stadium, and I can see it from my apartment!  The match was a 1pm kick off, and in typical fashion we arrived about 1:20pm.  The match was fun and we drank some beers and ate unhealthy food.  All part of the experience I guess.  The Cerezo Team is doing quite well at the moment so they may get promoted to J-league 1st division!  That would be great, and it would make 4 teams from this area in the J-League 1st division, 2 teams from Osaka, 1 from Kyoto and 1 from Kobe.


Nagai Stadium

So after much debate with myself inside my head.  I have decided to buy a bed.  After living in Japan for 2 years of my life sleeping on top of a futon on the floor, I think my body needs a break.  So I am looking into buying a bed.  It's quite difficult though.  The sizes in Japan are different from the kind that I know in the U.S. .  The sizes in Japan are Single, Semi-Double and Double.  From what I gather a single is actually smaller than a "Twin" size in America.  So I think a Single may be a bit too small.  However, I don't really want to take too much of my limited space in my apartment with a large bed.  So I have to weigh my options.  To give you an idea of what I am looking at check out this link. http://www.nitori-net.jp/result.html?s.q=%8Br%95t%82%AB%83%7D%83b%83g%83%8C%83X&s.ie=Shift_JIS  This is a popular furniture shop in Japan.  It is quite cheap and the quality of the items are quite good as well.  I have bought my futon and various other articles in my room from here.  My price range is no more than $300 or ¥30,000.  I don't want to spend so much on a bed.  I've never been good at interior design when I was in America, so you can imagine how horrible I am here in Japan.  I will make my purchase next week and I will let you know how it goes.

Well it's about time for me to get out of here (work).  I had no classes today, so I used my whole afternoon writing this blog.  What a difficult job I have!  Talk to you all soon, have a brilliant week.

peace

vince

Friday, September 25, 2009

Docked and back in Japan!

Hey everybody! It's been a long week for me here in Japan. Last Friday I went left to Busan, South Korea with 3 of my friends. It was a wonderful trip! I had a lot of fun spending lots of time with my friends. Korea seemed like secondary really. It was more about laughs and having fun. We ate some delicious food, we hiked in Korean mountains, we wandered aimlessly through hordes of people trying to buy fish at an outdoor market and dodged reckless drivers in the street!

We started our trip with a boat ride. I didn't really know what to expect on the boat ride. However, I did know that it would be a 18 hour ride. The boat itself was a bit old and dingy, but it had a certain personality to it. Once we finally entered the boat we had to grab our room key. The room was a 4 bed bunk. It was very small and cramped but somewhat cozy. We put our luggage down in the room and continued to explore the ship. We went to the top deck of the ship to enjoy the views and the sea air. It was nice to get out of the big city. At about 7pm that night they served dinner. Surprisingly, the food was excellent. It was a buffet style with various Asian foods with a smattering of random western food like fries. That night we bought some beers from the vending machines and drank on the top deck. It was quite chilly and windy up there, but the beers went down well. My friends girlfriend felt a bit sea sick so she went to sleep. The rest of us went to run around like kids on the top deck with hurricane force winds at the top. The sea was quite ruff and we were swaying and hitting waves like crazy. Looking back on what we were doing, it was dangerous, but it was sure fun and a bit wet! haha

Here is sunset on the boat. With a view of the world's longest suspension bridge in Japan.

Sunrise on the boat, about 6:20 am.

This is a view of Busan, South Korea from the boat. The seas were so choppy!

When we arrived in Korea, we rode a taxi to the hotel that was on the other side of the city. The taxi was cheap! Only about $15 for a 30 minute taxi ride! South Korea in general is a very cheap country to visit. I brought $700 but I only changed $400 and I still had $100 dollars left from that. Our hotel was dirt cheap and it was not a bad hotel at all. It wasn't the nicest place on Earth but it got the job done. Plus, the beach was only about 10 minutes away. The streets of South Korea are a lot more dirty than Japan. There are parts of the streets that smell of horrible sewage. But it's not overpowering or anything. I was quite surprised at the the condition of some parts of Busan. For example, the Beach area is quite nice and there are very nice restaurants, a beach etc. In an area called Jalgachi, there are some areas that look like a proper third world country! Old women sitting in the middle of the road selling fish. We saw a lady literally preparing, gutting and cleaning fish on top of a drainage gutter. I wonder where these fish are coming from! Occurrences like that never happen in Japan. So to see it in a "rich" country like South Korea, I was surprised to say the least. At one point I was taking pictures of everything I saw, sometimes I would be far behind my friends because of my camera happy shooting. An interesting experience!

This was the beach about 10 minutes from our hotel.

One of the nicer areas of Busan.

On our last day we went to hike in the mountains. Now none of us were prepared to hike really! I was wearing some Converse all-stars and jeans. But we continued on our way anyway. My friend (following his Korea guidebook) lead us on a 2 hour journey to a lovely temple at the top of the mountain. It was very nice and worth the trek. The only problem was that after we finished the trek to and from the temple, about 4 hours had past and we were completely exhausted! We didn't really want to see anymore temples. It was all worth it in the end though.

The lovely temple that we hiked up the mountain for!

A brilliant view from the top of the mountain.

Our last night we used another useful travel guide to lead us through some dicey streets to a wonderful 5 star Kalbi(BBQ ribs) restaurant. That food was absolutely delicious. The workers were very friendly and helped us cook the food. We were all happy and full after that meal. At night my friends girlfriend showed up in our hotel room and gave us some Korean face masks she had bought from a cosmetics store strangely called "skin food". Apparently they are very popular to buy for the Japanese. So she strongly suggested that we use them! We all put them on our faces and look completely ridiculous. We started to act like we were burn victims in our beds. Hard to describe how funny it was. It made our last in Korea a memorable one.

Five star meat on the grill.

Overall I left Korea with a nice feeling. I learned a lot about the country in the short time that I spent there. But I know there is so much more to know about that country, so I want to return again soon! On the other hand, I gained a profound appreciation of how wonderful Japan is. The old saying goes, "You don't know what you have until it's gone.", and the rings true for Japan. I'm really glad to live in a place like this. This is not saying Korea is a bad place, because it's not. However, I feel I am lucky to live in a prosperous and nice country like Japan. Well there is a lot more to say about this trip but I just wanted to give you a small taste of what happened. I will be back soon with more posts soon OK!

peace

vince

p.s. if you want to see my photo album of my trip, send me an email at trancewave2000@hotmail.com and I will send you a link!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Off to Korea!

Tomorrow (Friday) I am heading to Pusan, South Korea with a few of my friends. We are going to travel by ferry. So I should be able to take some nice pictures of the sea. There are 3 holidays in a row next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so we have some time for a mini adventure! I won't be back until next Wednesday. So I'll be back with some pics! Talk to you soon.

peace

vince

Friday, September 11, 2009

Good times on a Friday

Good Friday to you! Well it's already the second week of September. My September has been pretty bland so far. My birthday was last Wednesday, and it was great to get some goodies from home! Thank you!

I decided that I would share some of the lessons that I do at my school. I scanned some of the works from my students so you can see the results. On this past Wednesday I made a lesson for my students that they have to make a short story by looking at a picture.


I made this sheet for instructions.

I have to make the English very simple. I also made a ridiculous story about an Elephant in a rain coat for an example. Next was the students turn.



This is from one of my students. She is really funny and this is my 3rd year teaching her.

The English is not perfect at all, but I don't punish them for it. It's just a conversation class not grammar! I just want them to use English.

*The circles on the sentences mean "correct" in Japan. In America, we use the check mark.


This is the picture that she had to look at to create the story above.



You can see some of her notes in Japanese there on the paper. The English level is probably about middle school at my high school.



The next picture is one I gave to another student. He happens to be the funniest guy in class.

He had drawn angel wings on the backs of the kids. You will see why now... ;)


As you can see, he has a very big imagination! Oh, just in case you didn't know. Yakuza are Japanese mafia, so that will make the story make a little more sense hopefully! ;)


The next lesson I started in my class a few weeks ago was to make a recipe in English. I wanted them to make a simple recipe and them share them with each other. Here the best example from one of my 3rd year students.
Japanese students love to draw little picutures of everything. They are good at conveying emotions with these little drawings. Hey maybe you can try to make this very popular Japanese fast food dish! :)


Ok, I just wanted to share some of the things I am doing at my school. Teaching is very interesting here, I have to make up all my lessons on my own. I'm the only foreign teacher so sometimes it can get a little difficult. Enjoy, and I will be back soon!


peace


vince



p.s. don't forget 9-11-01. 8 years later and I can remember every last thing I did that day.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Football match in Kobe

Hello all! This weekend was a busy one! On Saturday I went with my friend to watch a football match in Kobe. We went to see a Japan League (j-league) football match between Vissel Kobe and Urawa Reds. Urawa is close to Tokyo in the north and Kobe is about 30 minutes from Osaka by train. Kobe has a really nice Soccer specific stadium and I was quite impressed. The atmosphere was intense and fun! Here are some pictures of the match.

This mural is in the subway station.

The outside of the stadium.

The pitch

The end of the match. Vissel Kobe 3 Urawa Reds 2!! :)


Sunday I went to the Osaka Science Museum and Planetarium. The Museum was a bit rubbish, but the Planetarium was really cool! They showed the stars that were viewable that night in Osaka. They also showed a few constellations, galaxies and nebulas that were viewable that night. All this information was in Japanese. I wasn't able to understand everything but I knew what they were talking about! I hope to go back there soon!

I was at the market today. I found some little dried fish snacks! They were tasty, salty and sweet. They look crazy but they are really good! :) Want to try? :)

Tasty little lads, fish jerky?? You want some while watching a game dad? :)

peace


vince

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I've been here a long time!

So today one of my teachers told me that I needed to turn in my health insurance card. I asked them why I needed to. He told me that my insurance card has expired and they needed to renew it! Apparently it is only valid for 2 years. So I came to realize that I have been in Japan for quite some time. I still remember that fateful day when I stood in line in Tokyo waiting for my suitcases filled with shoes, deodorant and hygiene products. Now I'm nice and settled in my new flat and I have a daily routine. I have a good paying job, some new friends and a lot of new experiences. So I guess this staying in Japan thing has worked out in the end.


I was looking on the board at my school to see what the schedule was just a few minutes ago. I found out that it was another half day for the Senior students. Keep in mind that we literally just came back from summer holiday but this week there are 4 half days at my school. Anyway, the reason that there is a half day today is that the teachers are offering some practice job interviews for the Senior students. I asked my colleague what kind of jobs they are practicing for. She told me that they are for the jobs that they will look for after high school. You see, my school is a very low level school. The students know they are at a low level school and only a small fraction of them will even attempt to go to University or even technical school. Therefore, they are starting to prepare now for real world. It's a pity that many of these students are quite smart, but lack the confidence to go so University. They think that they are not smart enough because they were put in my school, the publicly known "low level school". I've ranted about this many times in previous blogs over the past 2 years, but I still can't get over it. Most of the jobs that the students here are expected to get are jobs like, bike repair man, hair dresser, shop clerk, cleaning crew, trash crew, convenient store worker, construction worker etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these professions, don't get me wrong. I just see so much potential in some of these kids, it just makes me sad. I asked a very talkative, witty student in my class the other day... "What do you want to do after high school?", he told me "Umm, maybe I want to work at bike store". As in he wanted to do that for the foreseeable future.


I'm glad that my school feels that it needs to help the students with their interview skills! That's a great idea. However I just wish that they would try and push them a little higher. Damn I'm starting to sound like a trained teacher... oh wait! I am one! :)


Well I'm leaving school soon! And I have to ride my bike past that scary scarecrow mannequin again!!!! ahhh!!!


peace


vince

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Summer Vacation is over! :(

Hey everybody! I am back to blogging after a month off! I was on Summer Vacation and honestly I had absolutely nothing to write about. I did nothing interesting besides play football and eating. Pretty average life I guess. Well today was my yesterday was my first class. I did my usual "Good Morning!!!" greeting and my response from the students was "..................................". Then I remembered, wow I hate teaching here! Well I guess it's not that bad, but wow! Not even a response. I had to say "good morning" about 4 times until I received a little "good morni....n..g". Well the lesson went well, after I made the dead rise.

I'm excited about next month! I will be traveling to South Korea with my friend, his girlfriend, his brother and I. We are going to to take a ferry from Osaka to Pusan, South Korea. Home of Korea's most wonderful beach. According to the Internet, that is. We'll be leaving on September 18th. Should be quite fun!

As I left for home today, I was riding my bike as usual. There are many rice fields in front of my school. There are also many scarecrows our there, to scare away those giant freak black birds! Anyway, I saw this freaky looking scarecrow. I don't know where the farmer dude got that mannequin head but damn, if I was a bird, I'd fly away from it!

Apparently, blonde people are scary! That thing is freaky!!!

I'll be back soon with a few stories.

peace,

vince

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Footy Dinner and Kobe

Hello everyone! How are you? Well if you are in Osaka, you know that it has been very humid lately. Rainy season is in full effect over here. Today it rained almost all day. That wreaks havoc on a bike ride to school. Well last Friday we had a small end of the Football season dinner. We went to a Brazil themed Churascaria, or BBQ place. It was very delicious, but a bit expensive. We had a great time, giving out awards like MVP, best goal scored, etc. I even got the meat sweats...dictionary that one. :)

This pic is of all the guys just eating and drinking at the restaurant.

On Sunday I went over to Kobe, Japan. It's only about 30 minutes away by train. Kobe is a really nice city, and it's a lot cooler than Osaka. Probably because of the sea that is there. It's more of a port town, and that is an important party of the economy. The area around the port is very nice. I want to go back at night because I'm sure it looks lovely. Well here are some pics of my small day trip to Kobe. Enjoy and I will be back soon!

Kobe Shopping area

Me in China Town

Poor little duck...he was a lovely young buck in his day...


Various nonsense on sale in China Town...






Kobe Harbor Area


There is a ferry and a nice ferris wheel in the background.


Deadliest Catch?


Kobe