Work Week Recap (Ho-Hum)

This past week was only ordinary. At the junior high school I work at...

Oh yeah. I need to think of a nickname for that school as well, to compliment Controlled Chaos Senior High School. Well, the junior high students I teach are, for the most part, very smart, and many will go on to some of the best universities in Japan. However, they are 13 years old, and they have been pressured to study, study, study and be good students and good Japanese children. So some of those kids tend to lose it every now and then, and that includes in my class. So, let's call this school Wild Brainiacs JHS.

OK, now where was I...

At Wild Brainiacs JHS, things were easy. We just gave back the midterm exams and went over the answers. An easy two days for me.

At Controlled Chaos SHS, things were... well... chaotic. There were prospective students showing up in class unbeknownst to me (sometimes while I was teaching), there were students who usually don't come to class coming to class, students who usually come to class not coming to class, students who usually come to the morning class switching to the afternoon class all of a sudden... you get the idea. The nice curriculum plan I worked out at the beginning of the term is completely shredded now. A rough two days for me.

At the HR office, things were easygoing, but we did receive a teacher resignation, meaning I am going to have more work to do on my office day for the next couple of weeks. A not-so-interesting day for me.

Oh Deer

Saturday, October 4th, was a mild and beautiful day, so the wife and I decided to drive up to Nara and go to Nara Park. You may remember that a few years ago I blogged about Nara Park here and here. This is one of my favorite areas in the Kansai area. With all the trees, open grass fields, and, of course, lots and lots of deer, Nara Park is a very relaxing place, even when it is crowded.

Did I mention that there are deer at Nara Park? Here I am below with two of the main attractions:

Weekend Recap

Recaping the weekend, on Saturday I did a little training in preparation to occasionally do young kids' English classes on weekends. My company has a division that has a few young childrens' schools and several in-home schools. I'll keep you posted on how those go.

Today, we did basically nothing except watch a few Grey's Anatomy episodes and some soccer. A nice weekend overall.

Controlled Chaos

Strange things keep happening at the senior high school that I talk about.

I'll get to that in a moment, but isn't it confusing that I talk about the senior high school I go to part of the week, and the junior high school the rest of the week? I need to think of some good nicknames for them... let's see...

Okay, the senior high school is now called Controlled Chaos SHS. That is how I will refer to it in my blog posts. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

You might remember my English Buddy post and how I tried to make a challenging lesson for the new morning class student, but it was way too easy for her. One of my co-workers at the company office yesterday handed me a book with conversation ideas and role-play topics - perfect for students with a high level of English. I thought of a good high-level lesson and prepared it. All seemed well.

This morning, I went to class confident in my lesson, but when I got to the classroom, the girl wasn't there. Instead, there was another girl, another new student! After talking to this girl for a few minutes, I knew that there was no way she could do the lesson I prepared. I had no choice but to think of a lesson out of my head. I thought of as many games as I could to do with her for the first hour, until we took our 10-minute break and I could sneak up to the office and grab a more suitable lesson.

During that first hour, I felt so underprepared, with no lesson plan to refer to. I'm sure the games I did had no connection, but the girl was a good sport, participated well and had no complaints.

I suppose the problem is this: It seems that at Controlled Chaos SHS, it's okay if the staff brings a new student to my class, introduces him/her to me, and expects me to take care of him/her for the next two hours without any prior preparation. Handling classes containing students with varying levels of English ability, I need to be more prepared than I would at, say, a public senior high school.

Yeah, Controlled Chaos is a good nickname for this school.

English buddy

It was a dark and stormy night...

Nah, I'm just pulling your leg. But it was raining today.

As with every Tuesday, today I worked at the small private high school in Osaka city I told you about before. In that post, I also told you about the infamous morning class. That class had a new student today, a 17-year-old girl with amazing English skills! I guess living abroad for several years will do that to you.

I was actually at a loss as to what to do in that class. I prepared a lesson I did previously with other students, but made it a bit harder for her (I had some knowledge of her level before class, but obviously not enough). That lesson was way too easy for her, and she finished it up only halfway through the class. I was left with nothing to do except talk, which she had absolutely no problems doing in English.

But I wonder if I actually taught her anything, or if I was just her "English buddy" for the day.

This small senior high school is really keeping me on my toes, I tell you.

A Monday Holiday

Today was a national holiday, so we didn't go to work. We decided to go to the IKEA store in Osaka. My wife went to look at the furniture and the household goods; I went for the hot dogs with the fried onions. :o)

The IKEA in the port area of Osaka is one of only two in the Kansai region and one of four in the entire nation. It seemed to have the same layout as the one we went to in Kobe; I'm glad we don't have to go that far anymore.

We didn't spend too much time there. We bought some red and white pillow covers for our couch pillows, a few dishes, a plant, some potpourri, and a shade for our bedroom (although once we came home we found out it didn't come with any screws!).

After that, we stopped for some kaiten-zushi (a sushi restaurant where the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt and people grab what they want), then we went home and watched some TV. All in all, it was a relaxing day. Back to work tomorrow!

A Ho-Hum Saturday

Today my wife and I haven't done much. We did laundry, made yakisoba for lunch, and watched a bunch of recorded Grey's Anatomy episodes. Speaking of which, getting a digital television with a hard drive recorder has changed our lives! We look on the on-screen TV listings for shows or movies we like, press a few buttons, and presto! It's set to record. No videotapes to mess with, no worrying about if the tape is rewound or fast-forwarded to the correct position. The shows record on the hard drive for our perusal at any time, and in glorious high-definition! How did we live with VHS tapes before?

My Life Unplugged

In order to keep this blog active, I'm going to (try to) talk about something that happens to me every day, whether or not it is interesting. So get used to it, Bub!

Today, like every Friday, I worked at a small private high school owned by the same company that owns the outsourcing division I work for. By small, I mean VERY small: there are probably 30 students total in that school. It's a sort of alternative school, attended by kids who want to or need to be challenged in their studies. I teach two English conversation classes there. The classes are formerly called Gaikokujin Eikaiwa ("Foreigner English Conversation"). Not so subtle, huh? Can you imagine a class in the U.S. called "Foreigner Spanish"?

Anyway, the morning class consists of two students. One of them, a boy, has only shown up twice since the start of the academic year in April. The other, a girl, does not want to be the only student in class, so she often does not come to school for my class. That was the case today - or so I thought at first. After waiting 20 minutes for students to show up for the morning class, as is protocol, I went down to the staff office and discovered that the girl was talking with one of the staff members, who didn't seem to be in a hurry to shoo the girl upstairs to my classroom.

That's not the first time that kind of thing has happened there. Back in May, there was a student coming to the morning class, and unbeknownst to me he was not supposed to be in the class. One day, a staff member came up to my classroom, apologized to me first, then turned to the student and quietly told him in Japanese, "You are not supposed to be in this class." The boy, who is very good at speaking English, turned to her and cursed at her in English, using some choicy four-letter words. I don't know if the staff member understood, but she abruptly left the classroom, leaving me to teach a boy that was not supposed to be a student of mine.

No More Mr. Nice Guy?

For a while now, I've been thinking about two things that people commonly say about me:

"You're nice, but you're too nice."

"You're a serious guy."

These things bother me, especially the whole "too nice" thing, which goes back to high school.

One day back then, I walked into English class a few minutes early. Waiting in there was a girl that sat at the same table as I, and we struck up a small conversation. Then the girl breaks out this line: "You know, Herman, you are a nice guy. You are nice to everyone around. But you're too nice. You need to be a little meaner; you need to tease a little." I was taken aback; I had no response.

That line stuck with me for years, especially because since that time, both here and back in the U.S., other people have said similar things. What the hell is wrong with being nice? I thought to myself. The world is full of mean people and people that don't show other people respect. Now you're trying to tell me that in order for me to be more popular, I have to stop being nice? I have to insult people to win their favor? I began to resent such people. Maybe they're upset because I treat people nicely and they don't. They want me to come down to their level.

Since I started working in schools here in Japan, I've heard the "You're serious" line a lot. I don't know; maybe it's because I concentrate on my work and try to be professional. But my bosses say I'm serious, and so do some co-workers. And I thought, What's wrong with being serious? Isn't that what you want out of a teacher, or any employee? What's wrong with being serious about a job, or a task, or anything?

Then the other day, it finally hit me. Those people were not really saying that I was too nice or serious. They were saying, in a nice way, that I am boring. They were trying to tell me, without hurting my feelings, that I'm not an interesting guy.

I wonder why I didn't notice that before. I do try to be nice to everyone. I'm careful about what I say to people, to minimize the risk of getting on the wrong side of people. I do that to make friends with people, but those people seem to hang out with other people, including some that tend to be jerks. How come they want to hang out with that jerk, who calls people names and say bad stuff about people behind their backs, but they don't want to hang out with me? I used to think. But it had nothing to do with being nice; it had everything to do with being interesting. To them, the jerk was more interesting than me, Mr. Nice Guy.

I guess what they say is true: Nice guys do finish last.

Since then, I've been wrestling with myself. Do I change myself, or do I say, "Forget those losers and punks!"? How would I make myself more interesting, anyway? Tell jokes? Pull pranks? Wear bright clothing? This has messed me up, big time.

Sweet Home Ala... England?

Oh, man... this is hilarious. It's not often my birthplace ends up on the BBC, but this is worth it:

BBC NEWS UK England West Midlands Chiefs admit Brum skyline mix-up

Watching Medical Interns

...sounds like an X-rated movie. Anyway, my wife and I spent the past holiday weekend watching the first two seasons of the American TV drama Grey's Anatomy on DVD. My mom told me about that show way back in 2005, but for some reason I wasn't interested. However, during the obon holidays, we were bored, and we saw Grey's Anatomy sitting there at the video rental store and decided to give it a try. I must admit... I am not a big fan of hospital dramas. But this one is very interesting.

I wanted to spend today watching Season 3, but since those DVDs are considered "new", they are not half-price, and you know how much my wife loves saving money. Thank goodness for her, because that money would be gone by now, and I would be watching Grey's Anatomy now.

Hanshin Tigers! Fure Fure Fure Fure!

Tonight, we went to see the most popular baseball team in the Osaka area, Hanshin Tigers, take on the Hiroshima Carp at Kyocera Dome Osaka. It was a good game for us to go to because (a) usually Hanshin plays their games in Nishinomiya, halfway between Osaka and Kobe, and far away from where we live; and (b) it's very very hot and humid in Osaka in August, so an indoor baseball game is good. Here, a Hanshin batter in white takes on the Hiroshima pitcher. By the way, Tigers lost 4-3.

Every baseball team in Japan has an official cheering section called an ōendan in Japanese, and the Hanshin Tigers are no different. Here you can see the ōendan waving large flags. An ōendan also features a horn section and a drum section, which play simple songs and cheers that everyone can - and does - sing along to. It's more festive than a baseball game back in the U.S., but all of the songs have the same beat to it (Dat... dat... dat-dat-dat...).

One of the Tigers mascots, LUCKY, working the crowd.

A shot of the dome. If you look carefully, you can see fans holding long colored balloons. In the middle of the 7th, instead of singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" like they do in the U.S., Hanshin Tigers fans blow up these long balloons (which they buy before the game with their own money!), sing a little cheer, then everyone releases the balloons at once. The balloons fly up as the air goes out of them. The funny thing is that after this, several workers come out on the field and quickly pick up the thousands of used balloons off of the field with their hands! It must stink to have that job.

Fireworks in the Sky

This is a picture of the PL Fireworks show tonight as seen from our balcony. Too bad the lens on our digital camera isn't powerful enough to take a clear picture of the fireworks, which were about 15 kilometers away.

Beach Shot

This picture, taken from TV, shows how crowded a typical beach in Japan looks during the summer months.

I've Got Da Fee-vah... I've Got Da Fee-vah...

Well, seriously, I did have a fever - for three days.



I first noticed common symptoms of fever this past Tuesday night: chills (at a time when it is very hot and humid in Japan, and we are trying not to use the air conditioner), sore muscles and joints. My wife put this type of cool pad on my forehead, and I went to sleep - or tried to. I really couldn't sleep well that night. I was either too cold or too hot (typical fever symptoms, my doctor later said).



I woke up Wednesday morning, still with a fever and with a decision to make about going to work. I had never missed a day when I had classes to teach, and my intention was to go to work. So I popped some pain medicine and went to help my wife make breakfast.



But my body ached so much that I had trouble even standing up. Then I felt dizzy and nauseous. That decided it for me; I couldn't work that day.



I stayed in bed all of Wednesday, my fever not getting any better, despite taking Bufferin. My temperature was a little over 38 degrees Celsius. It became slightly lower that night, and being that my past fevers never lasted more than a day, my wife and I felt that I would be better in the morning. We were wrong.



Again, I had an almost sleepless night from being too cold or too hot. I woke up on Thursday again with a fever. Although I wasn't feeling dizzy or nauseous like I was on Wednesday, I thought I should stay home again, rest, and get over this thing.



By the time my wife came home Thursday evening, I still had a fever, and she was freaking out, worried about my health. She almost immediately took me to a nearby family clinic. The doctor was very friendly, trying to say most medical terms in English so I could also understand. What the doctor really couldn't understand is why I had such a high fever for a few days, yet otherwise I was basically fine. I didn't have a cold, and I wasn't in any great pain, just discomfort from the fever. He guessed that I might have an intestinal infection, but he wasn't 100% sure. He sent me home with a few pills to keep my fever down if I had to.



I took one of the pills that night to get some much-needed sleep, and it worked - up until about 4:00 am Friday morning, when the fever came back. My wife, still freaking out, wondered if I should stay home. But I insisted on going to work that day, so I popped another pill and headed off.

For most of the morning at work, I was groggy, but fine. But after lunch, the fever came back. The pill had worn off. The doctor hadn't given me that many pills, so I was worried about taking another one. So basically I suffered through that afternoon. My boss in the office must have know I was suffering, because with 5 minutes left in my shift, he said, "Herman, it's time to go home." (That was very un-Japanese!)

When we came home, my wife again took me to the clinic, and she had them do more this time: a urine test, blood test, and a chest x-ray. All the x-ray showed was that I had "nice-looking lungs", according to the doctor. The urine test just showed I had a fever (duh!), and the blood results wouldn't come until the next morning.

After leaving, we stopped for some KFC, then went home. My wife was surprised at how much I was eating, since my appetite had been so small the last few days (it's because KFC was finger lickin' good!). She took my temperature, and my fever was almost gone!

When I woke up on Saturday morning (this morning), my fever was completely gone! We had to go back to the clinic, though, to get the blood test results. I told the doctor that I had head and neck discomfort, and he said that was basically "fever leftovers" and would go away. The blood test revealed that I had a virus, and the fever was because my body was fighting it. That was it. Not exactly earth-shattering.

Anyway, here it is, Saturday night, and the fever still hasn't returned, although the "leftovers" are still around and I have to take it easy. I hope I'll be alright soon, though.

Why the Small Face?

As I (probably) mentioned earlier in this blog, this academic year I'm working two days a week at a prestigious junior high school located south of Osaka city. The kids there are very enthusiastic about learning, especially the girls. When they see me in the hallways, a lot of the girls try their best to speak to me in English.

However, some of those same girls have told me something I find peculiar:

"Your face is so small!"

You know, I don't know how to take that. That is something I never heard back in the U.S. Is it good or is it bad that my face is small?

INSTANT EDIT: Just a few seconds ago, while writing this post, my wife told me that in Japan, a small face is good. So I guess I can take that as a compliment.

However, it is another episode where I hear something I wouldn't hear back in the U.S. The learning, the experiences, they never stop, even after more than five years here.

More Stormy Times, and the Road to Lahaina

I told you earlier about the troubles between my wife and her mother at Disney World in March. Well, get ready for Part II. In Oahu and Waikiki, everything was fine. But almost from the moment we arrived in Maui, there was tension between my wife on one side, and her mother and sister on the other side.

I won't go into too much detail, since these are my family matters, after all. I will tell you this, though: my wife has different views on travelling from her mother and sister. My wife likes to go exploring, go driving, see as many sights as possible in the time that we have. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law, however, like shopping and relaxing, taking things at a leisurely pace. (If you are wondering, I'm somewhere in the middle.) That was the crux of the problem.

Things came to a head the morning after our arrival in Maui, when the three of them had an argument. To take my wife's mind off of things, we took a drive up to Lahaina - a beautiful drive, mind you! Take a look at the pictures below and tell me if I'm wrong.

Welcome to Maui

After spending a few days on Oahu, we spent the rest of our 2008 Hawaii vacation on Maui, my first time on the Valley Isle. A view of the airport terminal building is above.

Driving away from Kahului Airport, you are welcomed by this sign right outside the airport grounds.

Believe it or not, the very first thing we did after leaving the airport was stop at Krispy Kreme and grab some doughnuts. I think we're too crazy about Krispy Kreme. The bad thing was that the doughnuts we had were not "hot and now" - not made fresh and piping hot.

After our doughnuts, we drove across the big valley in the center of Maui on our way to the beach resort town of Kihei.

Du~de!

Driving around the North Shore of Oahu in April of this year, we stopped at this beach called Turtle Beach. It was recommended by a guidebook called Oahu Revealed. The book said that you are virtually guaranteed to see a sea turtle here, whether in the water or on the beach itself. So we gave it a try, and we weren't disappointed. There were two turtles resting on the beach.

There were "turtle volunteers" keeping an eye on the turtles (a protected species) and making sure humans didn't get their dirty little hands on them. There were signs and ropes around the turtles (including a bilingual English-Japanese warning sign, seen above - very necessary, as the Japanese tourists were trying to get as close as they could).

A close-up view of one of the turtles.

Upcoming Trips

Here's a list of some of the places I will be traveling to in the not-so-distant future (thanks to my beautiful wife for this idea):

• Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture (late summer 2008)
• Saipan (fall 2008)
• Hawaii (islands yet to be determined, winter 2009)

Look out for posts and pictures regarding those trips.