Monday, May 29, 2006

Of Codes, Warps, and Anticipation

Last night wasn't a complete bust. I went to the late showing of The DaVinci Code, which was mediocre, but to be expected since I already knew how the movie was going to play out, having read the book already. The price of seeing a movie here is way too expensive though. As opposed to other countries, there is no discount for Matinee showings, only a steep price of roughly $17 for every show except the last one, which is the Late Show. This last showing offers a big discount, allowing one to spend only $11 for a ticket, nearly double what I would pay in America (two cheers for not throwing away my student ID when I graduated last spring!). I also had to spring $3.50 for a small bag of the caramel popcorn that I fell in love with at the theater Christian and I went to in Mexico! Of course, $11 there would get us 2 tickets at the full blown evening price, and it would get us tickets and snacks during Matinee hours. Just one more reason Mexico is a better place to be right now...

On a lighter note, I've been playing the hell out of my new DS Lite that I bought! It always feels good to get some enjoyment when I spend that kind of money on a video game, and the New Super Mario Bros is a game that has me addicted. There are a crazy amount of secret coins, and quite a few levels that you can only access through secret 'warps' much like the original Mario for the Nintendo. Unfortunately, I've spent about 2 hours trying to unlock said warps only to find that they lead to levels I've already beaten... A friend suggested I look for a game guide online, but it feels so dirty when I use a guide to help me, and I don't want to taint such a great time I'm having playing this game.

I realized today that I haven't really been as excited about something in my entire life as I am about moving to Mexico. When I was a kid, I never felt this excitement waiting for any christmas morning or an upcoming birthday like I'm feeling for my upcoming move. Hard to believe that I'm just 5 weeks or so from being in Cancun with Christian, and I absolutely can't wait! I feel like I'm bouncing off the walls and going crazy waiting for the moment when I'll finally be able to fall asleep in a hammock again. With that final thought, I'm off to bed in this futon, wishing it were a hammock with my future wife laying in it.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Time Flies...Even When You're Not Having Fun!

Well, the last week of my life is gone, and I only hope the next 3 go by just as quickly. Work has been the same old routine, with the students being cool but the company being difficult as usual. I was hoping to get a bunch of overtime so that I would be working for the last 20 days straight of my time in Kumamoto, but now it looks like I'll only be putting in an extra 2 days, and one of my half days is going to be full instead. So that's an extra $300 or so. It's nice having real money for a change, but it's going to be even nicer when I'm in Mexico, enjoying the perks of married life. The cost of living in Mexico is nice and cheap, so we will essentially be able to live off of what I make from editing Star City, and then have everything else to save, pay off my loans, etc. Then eventually, it will be off to grad school. Christian is talking about Canada, which I think would be pretty good, but New England also seemed pretty nice when I was there last fall. That's a long ways off though, and let's not forget that there's only this much time until Mexico:



On a brighter note, I bought the new Nintendo DS Lite a few days ago, which have been sold out in Japan since about 2 months ago when they came out. I also got New Super Mario Bros to play on it, which sold out between when I bought it in the morning and after work when I went back to the shop to look around a little more (the shop is right near the train station in Kumamoto), and I heard one guy asking for it. I wanted to taunt him in Japanese, but I decided against it. I think I finally just felt smart for once, which was cool, but I will probably return to the States and find that the game was cheaper there anyways, but I had to have something to play on this beautiful new system:

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I had a DS over a year ago, but everything they promised when I bought that one fell through. I sold that one in December when I was in need of money, so it gives me the perfect excuse to go find this one and get it. There are enough games that it should keep me satisfied, and I think Hector and Karla will like it too (little in-laws).

I played cards last Sunday and did pretty well, winning a half box of packs from the new set, and only losing 2 games all day. It will be nice to play in English again. I get a migraine every time I go play cards here, because I end up having to think a lot all day and speak Japanese on top of that. My Japanese is still pretty aweful, but I'm probably going to keep studying even after I leave so I can eventually have it at my disposal for teaching or helping people out occasionally. Well, that's all for now. It's off to bed so I can get ready for an early day at work, which is one of only 19 more to go!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Got Kit Kats?

Well, my future mother-in-law, Carolina, has said that Kit Kats were her favorite of all the different candies I had brought down when I was visiting in December or the times I sent packages before. Time has come for me to send a package from Japan, so I've been looking for every possible variation on the sweet little combination of chocolate and wafers that this country has to offer. Here's what I've come up with so far:
Kit Kats para mi suegra
From left to right: Wine; Fruit Parfait; Bag Filled With Half Regular, Half Strawberry; French Milk (I think); and Mango!

I stopped short of getting her the Green Tea flavored variety, but might do so anyways because of the novelty of it. I'm also going to hit up the gotcha-gotcha machines and get some toys for all the kids to maybe put in a pinata or something when I move down. So in short, if you guys know of any interesting Kit Kat varieties, let me know so I can pick them up!

I'm going to post more later about what's been going on in the last week, but for now I just wanted to get this up.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The Countdowns Are On!

Well, The resignation papers are being turned in tomorrow. I couldn't be more excited. My last real day of work is going to be on the 17th. That means I have a month of working in that hellhole until I'm gone. I'm going to miss the kids there, and the biggest disappointment is that they are mostly pretty good kids, and if I had free reign with what I could do, I'm sure they would learn a hell of a lot, but the limitations they place on us are just too high. I was telling Tatsuya the other night that I don't like the company because many people assume that people who are taking lessons with a school like us aren't expecting real results, which is B.S. to say the least. many students, adults and children, are there because they have goals, or because they really have no other exciting things to look forward to in their days, which is why it pisses me off so much that everyone else seems fine with just playing by the rules and giving shitty lessons. It's just bad treatment of a paying customer, not to mention the fact that it's perverting one of the most crucial relationships in people's lives - that between a teacher and a student. Like I said, 31 more days... and I just counted 25 working days, so now I have that do countdown from as well.

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On another, more important clock, I only have 48 days and change until I'm in Mexico, and that's the only thing pulling me through this job right now. Many of Christian's family has been telling her they're going to be giving us different things like a coffee maker, dishes, and pans as wedding presents, which sounds really cool. Being with her has really given me a new definition of family. My family has always been rather chaotic. I love them and wouldn't change them, but being around such a big family and seeing how so many of them get along so well has been something that brought me closer to Christian and to my own family as well. All the kids and relatives made me feel really welcomed and loved last time I was down there, and that's pne of the biggest reasons I can't wait to get back there. I also like feeling important and helpful when I'm with them, even if I suck at speaking spanish, I still feel like part of the family.

I'm also really excited about having a home in Mexico with Christian. Other places just don't feel like home without her being there. It's also going to be nice having a place in an exotic place to invite friends and family to visit. I don't think the distance is too bad, especially to what it feels like being over in Japan - cut off from everything. I've been looking at the different tickets for flying to tournaments and stuff from Mexico, and it really feels nice to be planning out everything for me being down there. So, if anyone is looking to come down and hang out in mexico, let me know!

Tatsuya e-mailed me the photo we took when I met his family the other night, which was really cool. His family was really great, and he also has a nice girlfriend, Hiromi, who is half Argentinian. It's nice to see someone else being as lucky as I am, and I guess it goes to show that smart guys realize that Latin girls are where it's at. I figured it out almost 2 years ago, but I guess I'm just ahead of the curve.

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Well, and last but not least, check out the counter that will now be added to the end of almost every post... The countdown to when I'm finally in Mexico.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Tokyo is Gone...

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Well, Tokyo was a lot of work, but actually pretty fun. The hotel I stayed at was pretty nice, as I stated earlier, but it was also nice to see so much more cultural diversity than Kumamoto. I ate Mexican, Indian, and then had some Japanese food when I met Tatsuya (a Japanese guy who lived with my family as an exchange student when I was in High School), his family, and his girlfriend. I'll bug him for the picture we took together and post more about that then when I post that.

Tomorrow it's back to the job from hell, but I'm buying my ticket home tomorrow also, so that's something to look forward to. I also can't wait to turn in my resignation papers and start ticking off days until I'm done working at that little pit of hell. It's too bad, because like I was telling Tatsuya last night, it would be so much fun if it was just me and the students doing the learning thing. Oh well.

Work was crazy all weekend, I only got like 3 and a half hours of sleep on sunday night, but oh well. I made an insane amount of money, and it was almost as good just watching the game for a weekend as it was to be playing it. I can't wait to start playing a bunch once I'm living on the other side of the world again. Well, being that it's 4:15am here, I'm off to bed, hopefully to sleep at least like 8 hours for once...

Friday, May 12, 2006

Quick Photo

Well, since I just went to the trouble of finding a place to host photos, I figured I'd take advantage of it and show everyone a picture of my fiance, in case you haven't met her. This is probably one of my favorites that she's sent me since I've been here in Japan! Hot little Mexican, huh? (I have no idea what the hell she's doing with me...)
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Lost in Speculation

Well, I'm sitting in my hotel room on the 28th floor of the Century Southern Tower Hotel, in Tokyo. It's located in Shibuya, which is one of the biggest districts in the city, so it was pretty interesting walking around the area this afternoon. I went around looking at shops, but I can't really afford to blow any money on anything thanks to the upcoming ticket I'm going to have to buy to get home. I'm also having to front the money for the hotel room this weekend, which isn't that bad. It's a bit ironic (by which I mean sad and depressing) that whenever Christian and I are together, we usually have to stay at bargain basement hotels, but when she's not with me, I stay in a place like this for free.

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On a fun note, I saw Mt. Fuji from the plane today, which is always cool. All day, I've been thinking about whether or not this trip could have turned out any differently than it did. The job has been aweful, which undoubtedly tainted the rest of the experience, but I wish I could have met some people I actually gave a damn about like I did last time I was here. I've been thinking a lot lately about what the difference is, and I think that one major difference is that I just enjoy being in school. I enjoy going to class and learning stuff. There are always people looking to talk about politics, religion, or philosophy just for the sake of talking about it. This trip has primarily consisted of me meeting people who don't do much for fun except drink. Which is understandable, because that's pretty much one of the biggest Japanese pastimes too. Maybe it's just as bad back home and I didn't notice it.

On a brighter note, tomorrow is the big $10K Championship in Tokyo, which is why I'm here. I'm going to be doing event coverage here. I got the job through some people because of the job I've been doing on the site I edit - StarCityVs.com. To be honest I'm kind of nervous because I'm getting paid a lot of money and I don't want to drop the ball on this one. It also doesn't help that my Japanese capabilities have been sliding in favor of learning more Spanish recently (for obvious reasons). Well, I'll post the coverage link here as soon as I get it, so you can all laugh at my mistakes and misfortune! I guess it's time to get to bed so I can get some work done tomorrow!

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Time for a change...

Well, I originally started a blog account back in January when I was getting ready to come to Japan. Quite a bit has changed since that day I left to come here...

I originally thought this job would be a good way to teach and develop as a teacher. Man, was I off on that one. turns out the company is like working at McDonalds as an English teacher. The students are usually pretty cool, but the curriculum design is about 30 years out of date, using many practices that I considered to be archaic when studying them back in school. It doesn't help that the people I work with don't understand why I get upset about a company that is perverting the profession of teaching, which in my opinion is one of the most sacred roles in society. They try to make it as impersonal and uniform as possible, which is the opposite of what needs to be done when teaching, especially language.

A few weeks ago, Christian found out that she would be unable to get a visa she needed to come here until around September, if then. So I made a decision to jump ship. I don't care if it looks like I'm giving up, because I can't take this situation anymore. I've decided to move to Mexico and experience the culture that my future wife grew up in. As of right now, I don't have a job, but I'm not too worried, as we will be looking for jobs in Cancun, and there are an abundance available for fluent English speakers.

It will also be nice to finally be within a decent proximity to the rest of my friends and family in the states again. I will finally be able to return to a semi-normal life after being relegated to the corner of the world with no real friends for the past few months. I think one of the main reasons I enjoyed Japan so much last time was that I was in a much different living arrangement, with plenty of people who shared a lot of the same interests as me. Most of the people I work with now drink as their only form of entertainment, so I have little in common with any of them. I look forward to the day I can get back in an academic environment where people enjoy talking about philosophy and world issues, instead of merely which bar they're going to go to.

So, I head to Mexico in what feels like a leap of faith, but I know that there's someone to catch me, so I have never been so excited about something that would normally have scared me in the years past. I still worry about little things like transportation, hurricanes, etc, but nothing that will keep me up at night. I'm finally doing something that I feel is what I should be doing, and I can't wait!