Friday, 26 February 2010
More Photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=204233&id=681663134&saved#!/album.php?aid=204233&id=681663134
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
More Japping
It Snowed! Again! Not enough for it to settle on the ground but it seemed very keen on settling on my fine suit. I have 2 classes today as there is a sports carnival (indoors) for the senior high school, grade 1 (or year 10). So im just hanging around..doing very little, might go play ping pong later. Things are going really well with the fam, they are having a meeting soon to decide whether they are going to keep me for longer than 1 month, as that is the base amount that a family has to keep us for if they sign up for the billeting program. the youngest daughter has called me her older brother a few times now, because i have been letting her use my laptop for games at night after dinner and being the EP1C nice person that i am, it was so sweet to hear :) She had a friend over named maiko or something like that, who i met the other day. I have to stoop to go from the kitchen to the loungeroom, so when i straightened up she just goes :O I said hello and all she could do was smile really widely, she did that a lot for the next few hours :P. The family has had troubles with their computer, so they enlisted my help, as i had earlier carefully explained how awesome i am at fixing them.
1 /-\ /\/\ 1337!! Is what i exclaimed, their minds were blown to be honest. They had no anti virus and so had heaps of viruses and spyware on the computer, and they hadnt maintained it at all so it was heavily fragmented. So i installed a few programs and set to work fixing it. There were about 1600 spyware programs and maybe 20 dangerous viruses, so all in all a good days work, they were very grateful.
1 /-\ /\/\ 1337!! Is what i exclaimed, their minds were blown to be honest. They had no anti virus and so had heaps of viruses and spyware on the computer, and they hadnt maintained it at all so it was heavily fragmented. So i installed a few programs and set to work fixing it. There were about 1600 spyware programs and maybe 20 dangerous viruses, so all in all a good days work, they were very grateful.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
More info
In the last few days i have been slowly acclimatising myself to the country, and the climate. It has started warming up again (SO AWESOME) So i dont have to wear 4 or 5 layers anymore, and the snow melted finally, thats always nice.
I am getting the train and bus to school on my own for a week because my host brother Taizo is in nagasaki for a week long school trip, Which is a little daunting but im getting used to it. It was his birthday yesterday, and i have no money, so i gave him one of my favourite shirts *sad face* the grey one with the picture of the people painting, its all greyscale with the guys sunglasses in bright orange. He was pretty happy with that so its all good :P
Im not doing too badly injuries wise but there are still some danger areas for those over 5ft 10in
Namely:
-The rails along the roof to hold onto on the train, and the doors of the train, and the ads in the train, and the rings which hang from the rails to hold onto on the train.
-The kitchen and the bathroom at my homestay.
-Any house that isnt my homestay seems to have doors which are just above my shoulder height
I havent actually worn anything other than my formal suit since i got here :S Because everyone at school wears a suit..and i brought nice jackets and stuff to wear to work. And all of the doors here slide save for the bathroom doors and doors to small rooms.
I have NOT eaten a bad meal sinec we got here.
My family had a `welcome to the family` party for me 2 nights ago. And that got:
-A massive sashimi platter
-A smaller sushi platter
-A huge costco pizza
-Coke to drink
-krispy creme donuts
-Ice cream cake (taizo`s birthday)
-An awesome caeser salad thing, but the japanse eqivalent
After dinner we played russian roulette with sashimi and wasabi, the father went out and out a huge line of wasabi onto 2 pieces, except it wasnt very well hidden so he and the mother got the wasabi, and it was understandably humorous when the mother was taping the father reaction, and then froze as she realised her own predicament.
Sinec there was still sashimi left we played scissors paper rock (jakenpo (jar~ken~po) and when you lost you had to eat a piece.
Saturday night morgan and i went to a restaurant which has really good food, but most importantly had all you can drink for an hour and a half for 15 bucks. Needless to say it was good, we went from there to a live band house, which was lame as the music was really soft, although there was a very funny trashed japanese man to talk to. Much fun was had and i ended the night with 7 whole yen.
I am getting the train and bus to school on my own for a week because my host brother Taizo is in nagasaki for a week long school trip, Which is a little daunting but im getting used to it. It was his birthday yesterday, and i have no money, so i gave him one of my favourite shirts *sad face* the grey one with the picture of the people painting, its all greyscale with the guys sunglasses in bright orange. He was pretty happy with that so its all good :P
Im not doing too badly injuries wise but there are still some danger areas for those over 5ft 10in
Namely:
-The rails along the roof to hold onto on the train, and the doors of the train, and the ads in the train, and the rings which hang from the rails to hold onto on the train.
-The kitchen and the bathroom at my homestay.
-Any house that isnt my homestay seems to have doors which are just above my shoulder height
I havent actually worn anything other than my formal suit since i got here :S Because everyone at school wears a suit..and i brought nice jackets and stuff to wear to work. And all of the doors here slide save for the bathroom doors and doors to small rooms.
I have NOT eaten a bad meal sinec we got here.
My family had a `welcome to the family` party for me 2 nights ago. And that got:
-A massive sashimi platter
-A smaller sushi platter
-A huge costco pizza
-Coke to drink
-krispy creme donuts
-Ice cream cake (taizo`s birthday)
-An awesome caeser salad thing, but the japanse eqivalent
After dinner we played russian roulette with sashimi and wasabi, the father went out and out a huge line of wasabi onto 2 pieces, except it wasnt very well hidden so he and the mother got the wasabi, and it was understandably humorous when the mother was taping the father reaction, and then froze as she realised her own predicament.
Sinec there was still sashimi left we played scissors paper rock (jakenpo (jar~ken~po) and when you lost you had to eat a piece.
Saturday night morgan and i went to a restaurant which has really good food, but most importantly had all you can drink for an hour and a half for 15 bucks. Needless to say it was good, we went from there to a live band house, which was lame as the music was really soft, although there was a very funny trashed japanese man to talk to. Much fun was had and i ended the night with 7 whole yen.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
SNOW
It's snowing :) it has settled on the cars about an inch deep, im a very happy boy :)
This snow came down 3 nights ago (im still quite behind on this blog) and there is STILL snow on roofs and on the ground. There were teachers outside today shoveling snow drifting into the air, to smash the big chunks and spread it out so it will melt faster and using a hose in vain to do the same.
This snow came down 3 nights ago (im still quite behind on this blog) and there is STILL snow on roofs and on the ground. There were teachers outside today shoveling snow drifting into the air, to smash the big chunks and spread it out so it will melt faster and using a hose in vain to do the same.
Japan Year, 2nd Post (This is still a few days ago)
Have you had that moment where someone stops to stare at you for some reason, not a backward glance, a full on, stoping walking to stare and you stare. Imagine that, but 3000 people doing it as you walked around, thats what morgan and i got today, and it is very VERY strange. For one of the 4 classes there were at least 60 kids inside and outside the classroom staring at us, sometimes they will wave and say hello, and when we reply they run away giggling, its very odd. I hope i will make more friends once they get used to me though, i think i won a few kids over today when the rugby team had weights training and i bench pressed 30 kilos more than the captain :) after school every day, including saturday they have a club, like tennis or rugby or something, there is one called a weight lifting club, which involves proper olymipic weight lifting where they hoist it off the ground, then up to their collarbone, then above their head. I went there today after gym and with hardly any instruction, because the coach (who is an australian champion lifter) speaks no english, i lifted 5 kilos more than the best lifter there ^.^ the coach wants me to come back tomoro and train properly hehe. for lunch i had chicken strips, some lettucy stuff and rice which i put soy on, for dinner i went to a really yummy restaurant with my current host mr takeuchi and had egg and chicken on rice with miso soup (the egg chicken is also called the parent child or mother child dish because children are fed it when they are younger). I also bought a converter so i am on my laptop now. I will buy a phone card when i can i havent had a chance to do anything yet.
Japan Year, 1st post
From Cairns i sat next to a nice lady, maybe in her late 20s, early 30s with a 6 month old baby, and we talked for an hour or so about different stuffs, travel and japan and jobs and australia and things. I watched better off ted, all about steve and some other stuff im too tired t remember right now. i ate some yummy pork and rice for lunch and a pie for dinner (or afternoon tea or sumin). Customs was really fast and everyone here is really really nice, they picked me up an english and a PE teacher from the airport. I had sushi from a sushi train thing for dinner. But as well as seats they had tables in the middle, and an intercom you can press to order things, and they go around on a number for your table, and there is hot water taps for green tea.
Today i woke up at 3:40am instead of 5:40 because i did not change my phone back 2 hours :S so i wandered around for ages and got ready for like over an hour before realising, then got undressed and went to sleep :) i had 2 pieces of toast with eggs and little yummy sausages, he cooked the toast in the microwave :O crazy technology. I got to school and sat around and explored the school for an hour and a half till morgan got there at 8 20, it was really good to see him again and catch up. i cant wait to be with my host family so i can sleep for longer and come in later with the son who goes here. Today i had 4 classes, where i helped students from year 7 through 11 with english work, the teacher has the easiest job, he jsut speaks english to the kids, has been here like 6 years and knows less japanese than morgan or i, does about an hours lesson planning outside of class, and his classes he just does games and stuff, simple but effective :)
Have you had that moment where someone stops to stare at you for some reason, not a backward glance, a full on, stoping walking to stare and you stare. Imagine that, but 3000 people doing it as you walked around, thats what morgan and i got today, and it is very VERY strange. For one of the 4 classes there were at least 60 kids inside and outside the classroom staring at us, sometimes they will wave and say hello, and when we reply they run away giggling, its very odd. I hope i will make more friends once they get used to me though, i think i won a few kids over today when the rugby team had weights training and i bench pressed 30 kilos more than the captain :) after school every day, including saturday they have a club, like tennis or rugby or something, there is one called a weight lifting club, which involves proper olymipic weight lifting where they hoist it off the ground, then up to their collarbone, then above their head. I went there today after gym and with hardly any instruction, because the coach (who is an australian champion lifter) speaks no english, i lifted 5 kilos more than the best lifter there ^.^ the coach wants me to come back tomoro and train properly hehe. for lunch i had chicken strips, some lettucy stuff and rice which i put soy on, for dinner i went to a really yummy restaurant with my current host mr takeuchi and had egg and chicken on rice with miso soup (the egg chicken is also called the parent child or mother child dish because children are fed it when they are younger). I also bought a converter so i am on my laptop now. I will buy a phone card when i can i havent had a chance to do anything yet.
Today i had a really strange breakfast, it was these strange rice paddy things, with cheese and melted onto them and tomato sauce, like a pizza kinda. The consistency was like glue and it was sooo hard to eat, i hardly finished it, definately not a quick breakfast but a strange and tasty one nonetheless. This was my last night with my staff member Mr Takeuchi and i am looking forwards to staying with my host family tonight and unpacking, i feel like im in a hotel otherwise :P i have no classes to teach today until 10:50 which is good but i am just sitting around surfing the web pretty much. I was talking to the staff member before and there are all kinds of different meaning to thing people do with their cars, like flash their lights and hazards to say thankyou,or to warn of police, and sometimes honk to say hello or thanyou, i have not heard anyone honk here yet, it just doesnt happen when they are annoyed. Want to hear something strange? after spending all that time trying on a finally buying shoes everyone wears comfortable sneakers inside, you leave your business shoes in a locker at the door and wear sneakers for the rest of the day, or whatever you like. They have many vending machines here and there are both hot and cold drinks. You can buy cans and cartons of hot cocoa and coffee and as you shake them they get a bit hotter, like they have just been made :) i will send pictures soon once i buy a card reader and get some yen. There are many beautfiul homes here and it was so cool seeing snow on all the rooftops this morning.
This is from 2 days ago.
Today i woke up at 3:40am instead of 5:40 because i did not change my phone back 2 hours :S so i wandered around for ages and got ready for like over an hour before realising, then got undressed and went to sleep :) i had 2 pieces of toast with eggs and little yummy sausages, he cooked the toast in the microwave :O crazy technology. I got to school and sat around and explored the school for an hour and a half till morgan got there at 8 20, it was really good to see him again and catch up. i cant wait to be with my host family so i can sleep for longer and come in later with the son who goes here. Today i had 4 classes, where i helped students from year 7 through 11 with english work, the teacher has the easiest job, he jsut speaks english to the kids, has been here like 6 years and knows less japanese than morgan or i, does about an hours lesson planning outside of class, and his classes he just does games and stuff, simple but effective :)
Have you had that moment where someone stops to stare at you for some reason, not a backward glance, a full on, stoping walking to stare and you stare. Imagine that, but 3000 people doing it as you walked around, thats what morgan and i got today, and it is very VERY strange. For one of the 4 classes there were at least 60 kids inside and outside the classroom staring at us, sometimes they will wave and say hello, and when we reply they run away giggling, its very odd. I hope i will make more friends once they get used to me though, i think i won a few kids over today when the rugby team had weights training and i bench pressed 30 kilos more than the captain :) after school every day, including saturday they have a club, like tennis or rugby or something, there is one called a weight lifting club, which involves proper olymipic weight lifting where they hoist it off the ground, then up to their collarbone, then above their head. I went there today after gym and with hardly any instruction, because the coach (who is an australian champion lifter) speaks no english, i lifted 5 kilos more than the best lifter there ^.^ the coach wants me to come back tomoro and train properly hehe. for lunch i had chicken strips, some lettucy stuff and rice which i put soy on, for dinner i went to a really yummy restaurant with my current host mr takeuchi and had egg and chicken on rice with miso soup (the egg chicken is also called the parent child or mother child dish because children are fed it when they are younger). I also bought a converter so i am on my laptop now. I will buy a phone card when i can i havent had a chance to do anything yet.
Today i had a really strange breakfast, it was these strange rice paddy things, with cheese and melted onto them and tomato sauce, like a pizza kinda. The consistency was like glue and it was sooo hard to eat, i hardly finished it, definately not a quick breakfast but a strange and tasty one nonetheless. This was my last night with my staff member Mr Takeuchi and i am looking forwards to staying with my host family tonight and unpacking, i feel like im in a hotel otherwise :P i have no classes to teach today until 10:50 which is good but i am just sitting around surfing the web pretty much. I was talking to the staff member before and there are all kinds of different meaning to thing people do with their cars, like flash their lights and hazards to say thankyou,or to warn of police, and sometimes honk to say hello or thanyou, i have not heard anyone honk here yet, it just doesnt happen when they are annoyed. Want to hear something strange? after spending all that time trying on a finally buying shoes everyone wears comfortable sneakers inside, you leave your business shoes in a locker at the door and wear sneakers for the rest of the day, or whatever you like. They have many vending machines here and there are both hot and cold drinks. You can buy cans and cartons of hot cocoa and coffee and as you shake them they get a bit hotter, like they have just been made :) i will send pictures soon once i buy a card reader and get some yen. There are many beautfiul homes here and it was so cool seeing snow on all the rooftops this morning.
This is from 2 days ago.
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