Bonsoir!
Laziness gets the better of us all. As you can see I was utterly defeated by it this year. In reality I have been writing a little Japanese diary that I carry with me for the past few months, but even with that I stopped. I'm considering starting up an online Japanese diary as well as starting this one again to keep in contact with students (maybe) but mostly to release my unimportant internal monologue.
The most difficult thing in writing a journal or diary, I find, is finding the proper timing. Right now I'm sitting in my work clothes and still have my jacket on, having come in the door over an hour ago. Normally I'm so tired from my (easy) job I just cook, watch TV, take a bath and then waste my hours on youtube. BUT THAT IS ALL GOING TO CHANGE. RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. LET'S DO THIS!!! LET'S WRITE THIS BLOG!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!! YEAH!!!
Okay.
Recently I've been dreaming about my final day of work: March 31st. It has been burning inside me ever since Fumi and I decided to return to Canada next year. My plan is to move to Fukuoka and do some intense Japanese study and then go with Fumi on an incredible bicycle journey.
Currently we're looking at touring Shikoku and then returning to Yakushima again. I bought pair cameras for our use on this journey - Holga cameras! Yes, we're going to be the worst kind of hipsters: Matching couple hipsters.
I recently took a Black and White test roll to see what sort of light leaks were in my camera and to get a feel for it. It looks like I overestimated the exposure time as many are too light. But here is the surprise: It cost 3717 YEN to develop one roll! That is roughly 40 Canadian dollars. Absolutely ridiculous! So tomorrow I'm off to get materials to develop myself. We'll see how that goes.
Anyways, I'll be back to post again sometime with pictures. Perhaps of some photos taken with my Holga.
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, April 24, 2008
On Having Little to Write About
Since my last post I have had very little to write about, as the title of this post explains.
Coupled with being lazy and conflictingly very busy with work, this journal has been put on the backburner.
However I have a few things to pass on.
The first is my most recent encounter with the person who lives beside me.
Yesterday, as I was leaving for work I opened my door and stepped out to see this neighbour, a woman around 65ish exiting at the same time as me, and heading to the elevator. I greeted her with a happy "こんにちは！" (hello!) expecting to receive one back. Instead I got a murmured and very scared hello back. She stood near the elevator, and as I approached (the elevator, not her), she would take steps back to keep away from me.
Thankfully the elevator door opened in only a few seconds, at which I politely offered her entry ahead of myself. She hurriedly walked in, not pressing the button and I followed, pressing for the ground floor and then immediately facing the door.
What followed was a short, but confusingly-awkward ride down. I was trying to figure out what the hell was running through this woman's mind. I was wearing a suit and was freshly shaved. What was threatening about me of all people, was a mystery.
We exited the elevator and she just stood under the overhang, staring, staring, staring at me as I unlocked my bicycle and rode off.
It was pretty weird.
On a completely different subject, rainy season is approaching, and that means one thing. Rain? No. Cockroaches.
Lots of them.
So I've been slowly cleaning my apartment, corner by corner, in an attempt to avoid hosting these fairly large, disgusting pests. An interesting guide for those of you living in Japan, or living anywhere really can be found here.
As for work, my new schedule is hectic. Busy, busy, busy. Wednesday is especially strenuous, with four of my seven specialized classes! I originally was very bothered with this setup due to reasons I won't get into... but now I've decided to take it like a man and just live with it. I've made my bed, and now I have to weasel my way out of it-
But all is not lost! Golden week is in t-minus 4 days for me!
I have planned a trip to the beautiful area of Kagoshima to visit one of the most active volcanoes in Japan - SakuraJima, which I will be hiking up with my even more beautiful girlfriend, Fumi.
Afterwards we're visiting the local Aquarium and then returning to Fukuoka 2 days later. I can't wait. It will also be the virgin voyage for my new camera- a digital SLR I got for 200 dollars under the list price, including a 5 year warranty and lens kit. Go Kitamura camera!
So expect lots of photos coming up soon- I might be buying a flickr account so that I can just unload them there, depending on the price and what Pat says about their service.
And a quick addendum for my father:
Not to worry Dad, the camera was nowhere near the price of Greg's camera. In fact it was less than a half - perhaps a third of what it was. I figured I'd put this so you don't have to worry.
Coupled with being lazy and conflictingly very busy with work, this journal has been put on the backburner.
However I have a few things to pass on.
The first is my most recent encounter with the person who lives beside me.
Yesterday, as I was leaving for work I opened my door and stepped out to see this neighbour, a woman around 65ish exiting at the same time as me, and heading to the elevator. I greeted her with a happy "こんにちは！" (hello!) expecting to receive one back. Instead I got a murmured and very scared hello back. She stood near the elevator, and as I approached (the elevator, not her), she would take steps back to keep away from me.
Thankfully the elevator door opened in only a few seconds, at which I politely offered her entry ahead of myself. She hurriedly walked in, not pressing the button and I followed, pressing for the ground floor and then immediately facing the door.
What followed was a short, but confusingly-awkward ride down. I was trying to figure out what the hell was running through this woman's mind. I was wearing a suit and was freshly shaved. What was threatening about me of all people, was a mystery.
We exited the elevator and she just stood under the overhang, staring, staring, staring at me as I unlocked my bicycle and rode off.
It was pretty weird.
On a completely different subject, rainy season is approaching, and that means one thing. Rain? No. Cockroaches.
Lots of them.
So I've been slowly cleaning my apartment, corner by corner, in an attempt to avoid hosting these fairly large, disgusting pests. An interesting guide for those of you living in Japan, or living anywhere really can be found here.
As for work, my new schedule is hectic. Busy, busy, busy. Wednesday is especially strenuous, with four of my seven specialized classes! I originally was very bothered with this setup due to reasons I won't get into... but now I've decided to take it like a man and just live with it. I've made my bed, and now I have to weasel my way out of it-
But all is not lost! Golden week is in t-minus 4 days for me!
I have planned a trip to the beautiful area of Kagoshima to visit one of the most active volcanoes in Japan - SakuraJima, which I will be hiking up with my even more beautiful girlfriend, Fumi.
Afterwards we're visiting the local Aquarium and then returning to Fukuoka 2 days later. I can't wait. It will also be the virgin voyage for my new camera- a digital SLR I got for 200 dollars under the list price, including a 5 year warranty and lens kit. Go Kitamura camera!
So expect lots of photos coming up soon- I might be buying a flickr account so that I can just unload them there, depending on the price and what Pat says about their service.
And a quick addendum for my father:
Not to worry Dad, the camera was nowhere near the price of Greg's camera. In fact it was less than a half - perhaps a third of what it was. I figured I'd put this so you don't have to worry.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
On Copulation and Castles
I haven't had much time recently(to my surprise) as the training I'm going through is quite busy. Lots of information is handed to us and I furiously take notes ... sort of. Either way it seems to be going smoothly so far, and I have two very friendly and lovely ladies who are also sharing the training session with me. So things are going well. Today I'm prepping myself for a demo teaching lesson on Monday that I hope will go over well. Who knows with me though.
Anyways, what have I done leading up to my training?
First I decided to visit the authentic(rebuilt like all castles due to fire damage) Nagoya Jou:
I toured inside and felt a little nostalgic, as I visited this place 2 years ago with Pat and Marc. This time however, I spent a long time walking around the grounds and relaxing in the park. Absolutely no one except for two other people decided to do this, so it was a really tranquil time. I had my watercolours with me, but I'm still a little apprehensive in trying a plein aire painting.
Here is an example of part of the rock garden area of the park:
A mid-autumn Sakura tree all by its lonesome:
Three cats who decided to make an awesome composition for a photo:
Here is the outside of Kanayama station, where I spent most of my time just sitting and listening to various amatuer acoustic musicians. Staying there forced me to buy a baby guitar for 6000 yen (60 dollars canadian). It doesn't sound very nice, but that's 60 bucks for you:
I also attempted to visit the Nagoya aquarium where Marc and I had an awesome time, but I forgot it costs an ungodly 2000 yen, and it was a national holiday so the line just to buy tickets was roughly a 20 minute wait. I skipped that and walked around the port:
I kept on walking around until I found myself in Italy! I was so surprised. Did I accidentally walk through a magical portal of magic!? No! I just walked into the "Italian Village" which looks exactly like real Italy. Not really, but the prices were insanely expensive for everything so I sort of felt like I was there.
I also found the "Chelan Project". I think that's what it's called. It's basically a program where conservationists breed sea turtles in little tubs and then release them into the wild when fully matured. I wonder if it's very effective.
I also saw a Thunderbird just sitting outside a pachinko parlour(Mom, click on the link to find out what it is).
Also, two nights ago I went out with one of my fellow trainees who I will call "V" to McDonalds when we both realized we hadn't been yet. After we finished our meals I looked down to get punched in the face with this advertising gem on the placemat:
All I can say is that MOTESTO is a lucky guy.
Anyways, what have I done leading up to my training?
First I decided to visit the authentic(rebuilt like all castles due to fire damage) Nagoya Jou:
I toured inside and felt a little nostalgic, as I visited this place 2 years ago with Pat and Marc. This time however, I spent a long time walking around the grounds and relaxing in the park. Absolutely no one except for two other people decided to do this, so it was a really tranquil time. I had my watercolours with me, but I'm still a little apprehensive in trying a plein aire painting.Here is an example of part of the rock garden area of the park:
A mid-autumn Sakura tree all by its lonesome:
Three cats who decided to make an awesome composition for a photo:
Here is the outside of Kanayama station, where I spent most of my time just sitting and listening to various amatuer acoustic musicians. Staying there forced me to buy a baby guitar for 6000 yen (60 dollars canadian). It doesn't sound very nice, but that's 60 bucks for you:
I also attempted to visit the Nagoya aquarium where Marc and I had an awesome time, but I forgot it costs an ungodly 2000 yen, and it was a national holiday so the line just to buy tickets was roughly a 20 minute wait. I skipped that and walked around the port:
I kept on walking around until I found myself in Italy! I was so surprised. Did I accidentally walk through a magical portal of magic!? No! I just walked into the "Italian Village" which looks exactly like real Italy. Not really, but the prices were insanely expensive for everything so I sort of felt like I was there.
I also found the "Chelan Project". I think that's what it's called. It's basically a program where conservationists breed sea turtles in little tubs and then release them into the wild when fully matured. I wonder if it's very effective.
I also saw a Thunderbird just sitting outside a pachinko parlour(Mom, click on the link to find out what it is).
Also, two nights ago I went out with one of my fellow trainees who I will call "V" to McDonalds when we both realized we hadn't been yet. After we finished our meals I looked down to get punched in the face with this advertising gem on the placemat:
All I can say is that MOTESTO is a lucky guy.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Hey More Crap About Work!
Today was a 13.5 hour day. Tomorrow may be the same. God help me!
I had an interesting(infuriating) conversation with one of the customers:
Customer: "Do you have the big swiss chard?"
Me: "Pardon me, sir?"
C: "The big swiss chard." (This doesn't exist).
Me: "We have swiss chard green, and neon sir."
C: "No, the big one!"
Me: "I... uhh, we don't have any?"
C: "I was here last week, you had it." (No we didn't.)
Me: "... I guess we're sold out."
5 minutes later
Customer: "Hey, you got the Sweet Cherry Peppers?"
Me: "Yes sir we do, right here."
C: "Nonono, the sweet cherry pepper. The big one."
M: "The what?"
C: "You know, the big one... pimento."
M: "Oh, the pimento are right here sir, see?"
C: "Nonono, these aren't round. I want the Cherry."
M: "The Cherry are right here sir."
C: "No, I want the big one!"
M: "There is no such thing sir."
C: "I was here last week, you had it."
M (fed up): "No we didn't. It doesn't exist."
Then I just walked off.
I get one of these at least once a day.
I had an interesting(infuriating) conversation with one of the customers:
Customer: "Do you have the big swiss chard?"
Me: "Pardon me, sir?"
C: "The big swiss chard." (This doesn't exist).
Me: "We have swiss chard green, and neon sir."
C: "No, the big one!"
Me: "I... uhh, we don't have any?"
C: "I was here last week, you had it." (No we didn't.)
Me: "... I guess we're sold out."
5 minutes later
Customer: "Hey, you got the Sweet Cherry Peppers?"
Me: "Yes sir we do, right here."
C: "Nonono, the sweet cherry pepper. The big one."
M: "The what?"
C: "You know, the big one... pimento."
M: "Oh, the pimento are right here sir, see?"
C: "Nonono, these aren't round. I want the Cherry."
M: "The Cherry are right here sir."
C: "No, I want the big one!"
M: "There is no such thing sir."
C: "I was here last week, you had it."
M (fed up): "No we didn't. It doesn't exist."
Then I just walked off.
I get one of these at least once a day.
Monday, May 14, 2007
More Work Boasting
I worked 63.5 hours this week.
That includes a day off, and this week was slow except for the weekend.
Next week is going to be interesting.
That includes a day off, and this week was slow except for the weekend.
Next week is going to be interesting.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Work at the Greenhouse
Work at the greenhouse has been going on for a week now. Friends will notice an absence of myself for the next month or so. Yesterday was the beginning of the 12-14 hour work day.
So far I have:
- shoveled dirt
- dug a pipeline with a pick-axe
- lifted stuff
- lifted more stuff
It has got to be one of the most mundane and grueling jobs I've ever had.
But it pays a lot, and I can work insane amounts of hours.
So far I have:
- shoveled dirt
- dug a pipeline with a pick-axe
- lifted stuff
- lifted more stuff
It has got to be one of the most mundane and grueling jobs I've ever had.
But it pays a lot, and I can work insane amounts of hours.
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