Here is my bubble-afro version of me.

The Law of Equivalent Exchange

For some reason I feel that everything about me is changing. I feel that things that I have learned in the past don’t matter and that I have been doing things wrong this whole time. Maybe its because I’m in the country side and I have nothing but time to relax and reflect on myself and my past. I always thought that I was a decent person but the more I think about it the more I see my flaws. Again maybe it’s because of all this extra time I have and my past mistakes keep haunting me. I am beginning to see now that up until now that I have only been living for myself and not for others. I would like to change that.

Lets start the story with Saturday night. On my last class on Saturday there are usually four students but for some reason only one showed up. Because it became a private lesson I asked him what he would like to do, I had a lesson plan but it’s rare for him to have the opportunity to talk to me alone. He said that he just wanted to chat. So we did. I’m not quite sure how the topic came up but he stated telling me about his life and about how he has been very lonely lately. First you need to know that in the 90’s Japan was going through an economic depression and many had a hard time adjusting, many people resorted to suicide. He said that in the 90’s, he came home one day to find his family gone; his wife packed her and her child’s belongings and moved out. On top of that he was struggling financially. Then he began to tell me about all the times that he thought about committing suicide, but one day while he was coming home he found a injured cat on the side of the road. He picked it up and took it home. To make a long story short, after a lot of money and time he was able to nurse the cat back to health. And during that time he stopped thinking about suicide because he wanted to cat to get better. Then I asked him, “Who saved who?” It’s amazing how God chooses to effect and change our lives. I can’t stop thinking that something like that isn’t destiny but it’s an act of God. God didn’t solve his problems with money but love. That small cat probably saved his life.

After class was over I stayed behind for a couple hours to help the Japanese teach make flash cards. Well, I really stayed behind because it was early and I didn’t want to come home and be alone. We finished the cards and then I started on my way home. I was about 2 minutes from my apartment when a card decided to broadside my bike. I jammed my toe into the side of the car then proceeded to scrap my body against the road. (I know what I’m about to say will seem really stupid but at the time I felt it was the right thing.) When the man got out of the car I saw that he had been drinking, but there was just something about him that told me he was a good man and not some alcoholic, or maybe he was. But, I decided to let him go, he called his wife and she came to pick up him. I didn’t call the cops and I didn’t tell anyone about what happened. When I woke up the next morning my toe was still hurting so I decided to go to the hospital but they were CLOSED, who ever heard of a hospital being closed? Do people not get hurt on Sundays in Japan?

I had plans that day to go to a drinking party with some people at the school I studied abroad at last year. So I traveled the two hours on the train with my broken toe. I got there and had a great time with my friends, the alcohol was a great painkiller. I stayed there that night and went to school the next day with the other students. I wanted to say hello to some people and maybe say hello to some teachers, hoping to get a letter of rec from them. Nothing exciting happened at school except that one of the girls that I was friends with last year happens to live in Oyama (that's where I live). I was soooo excited because I hadn’t really made any friends, except for my students, and now I would have a friend. When she was done with her classes she and I returned home on the train together.

Her name is Yoko, she isn’t one of the cutest girls you have ever met but she has a great personality and there is something about her aura that seems pure, and good. On the way home on the train he contacted her family and told them about me and that I was living alone in Oyama and that I had no friends (well all my friends in Japan live over 2 hours away). Her mom said that I was welcome over any time and that if I was hungry to let her know and that they would send someone to pick me up. They are such a great family. They aren’t rich but they aren’t poor either. Yoko began to tell me about her family and THIS was the moment that I realized that I am very selfish and I want to change. She said that her mom always tells her and her sister that they need to live for others, not for themselves. If you have money, even just a little bit, and you can help someone and still live, then you should give the person money. She continued on about all the ways that he mom has taught her to help others in need. I didn't know what do to or what to say, a family that I didn’t even know has opened their house and hearts to me, I am very thankful. Being so far from home this is the first time I have felt the warmness of a family’s embrace.

The moral is that even if I do have a broken toe now, God has graced me with a kind and caring family. The law of equivalent exchange.

Living in Japan

Being here among all of these Japanese I have come to realize a couple things. First, when I was in America I was always comparing myself to other boys my age and felt that I needed to go to the gym everyday and get huge muscles. But now that urge is gone. I no longer compare myself to anyone, because there is no one out here to compare to. It's a great thing, it lets me think about other things besides "Should I go to the gym or not?" or "If I get bigger muscles will I be more popular?'
Along that same line of thinking, no matter how much or how hard I try to become more Japanese, or just try to fit into the culture, I know I never will. So that allows me to be free. When I realized this, a huge burden was lifted of my shoulders. I don't have to conform; I can be myself and be happy. Being abroad has given me a lot of time to do some self-reflection on my life and who I am.

Trouble in Little Tokyo

I don't know if you have heard about it or not, but recently, one of Japan's major English Schools closed town. It has left all of their Native English Teachers without job or home. The company didn't pay their teachers for two months, before plunging into the ground. Here is the NOVA school is my town.




I feel really bad for these teachers and also for the students that lost all that money. Where will these teachers go? Home? Or will they be able to find new jobs? Here are two pictures or messages that were left of the front door of NOVA by some students.

Design Fest 2007

This last Sunday I went to an event called Design Festa. It was AMAZING. There were over 6,000 artists, 10 live bands, food, and performances. I invited my friend Johnny to come along with me and I'm not joking, we walked around for probably 7 hours straight and we still didn't see everything. Here is a link to an album of pictures that I took. http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/bruinabroad/Design%20Festa%2007/. I hope you enjoy.

My attempt at art

I told you that I was painting so here is a link to some paintings and some sketches.

http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/bruinabroad/

Language and Students

First, I want to tell you about my friend Johnny (an American by the way). We went out for dinner with a couple of people for our friend's birthday. One of the girls had a little to much to drink so Johnny instead of saying "Wow, you're drunk," in Japanese, he said "Wow, you're fat." Everyone stopped and looked at him until he realized his mistake then everyone started laughing. The worst part is that the person whom he said it to was the birthday girl.:( So sad.

I gave my students my email address so that if they ever had any questions about English they would be able to ask me at anytime. One of the students never seemed to mail me. I asked him why he never did and he said that he doesn't have a phone. That's really rare in Japan for a Japanese person not to have a phone. So, I asked him why, he said that his wife would call him all the time and it's just easier for him if he lived without it. And on top of that, he sad that his wife doesn't give him enough allowance to have a phone. Hahahaha. Wow, when he told me this I couldn't help but laugh deep inside. Then once he left I had a little laugh to myself. I couldn't imagine my wife/girlfriend controlling my expenses.

Weekends in Tokyo

There was once a boy who lived in the middle of nowhere and wished he lived closer to Tokyo. So every weekend he made plans with his friends to hang out in Tokyo. The last couple weeks he has visited a couple art galleries and some fashionable Tokyo hangouts. For example, he went to this Mexican restaurant that everyone was boasting about. He tried it, and came to the conclusion that Japanese-Mexican food is nothing but overpriced dog food and that they shop shut that place down. Plus the piano player asked for his date's phone number. Unacceptable. So if any of you out there are wondering if Wes would like anything from the states, the answer would be yes. Either Mexican food, which is impossible, or candy; butterfingers, twix, anything that's sweet. Please feel free to mail Wes anything.

323-0025 Tochigi-ken, Oyama-shi, Shiroyama-cho
3-2-14 Oyama Izukura Dai 2 Building 5F
Geos Oyama: Wesley Crouch

In response to Grandma Kat's question about queef and the student. I thought him the exact meaning of the word and the different ways that people use is in America. I told my students that they are able to ask me anything and that I would tell them the exact meaning. They have asked some pretty interesting things.

A Nightmare in Kid Town

The other day I was about to explode.

First, my class of five 10 year old girls all started to cry in class. We were playing pictionary and one of the girls was drawing Santa on the board. One girl yelled 'Santa' and another girl began to yell at her because she thought there was not 'N' in Santa. Then they all started to cry... I have no idea why but it happened. I had no idea what to do, so I tried to involve them in a different game but there was nothing I could do. I gave up and went and got there parents.

Second, after that class left the manager complaining to me that I was not handling the class correctly. I'm probably not but I have no idea how to teach English to 5 little brats. None of them want to learn English their parents just want them to come so that they have meet new friends. It's pointless trying to teach them. Maybe I'll just play games all next week.

Third, my boss wants me to tell books to my students, I don't want to. I'm a teach not a book store. I understand that it's part of the business and that I'm the best one to assess which book each student needs, but it's over 10 hours of work filling out forms and getting paper work ready for the campaign.

Lastly, I have to hold counseling with all of my students but how am i suppose to do that if my students don't come to class. I was yelled at for not completing my counseling. Two students have not been to class in over six months, it seems that they are busy or just are not interested in having class.

The good news is that one of my new students plays soccer in a near by city and invited me to play with him. I am very excited to play some soccer and get some exercise.

Resourcefulness

While riding my bike around the neighborhood, I discovered a large house being build with a even larger dumpster in front of it. I looked through the dumpster hoping to find something that I could paint on. Laying on the very top was about $300 worth of plaster board. I felt kind of weird taking it home in the middle of the day. I could just imagine the police asking me why I was walking home with a load of wood under my arm. To avoid being questioned I went back after night fall, like a thief in the middle of the night, and took it all home and put it on my balcony. I know that dumping in a dumpster that's not yours is illegal but I'm not sure if taking things out is illegal.

The beginning of my new hobby

Lately, I have been really bored; cleaning my room/apartment, riding my bike around, doing some extra things at work, pretty much all "really exciting" stuff. So I have decided to begin a new hobby, painting. I was inspired by my friend Scott actually. I remember walking into his room and seeing some of his art work and thinking "wow that looks like a lot of fun." Thank you Scott. When I have completed my first work of art which I have deemed appropriate to show the world I will post it on this sight. But NO laughing. Remember it's my hobby not my profession.

Warning*** this is not for children

You won't believe what one of my students asked me today.

With my higher level classes I usually give them about 10 minutes to ask any questions or talk about whatever they want. Today one of my students asked me what queef means. I have no idea where he got it. He asked me if it was okay to call someone this as an insult. I started to laugh.

Tokugawa in All His Glory

The day following the night on the bench I went with my friend Mai to Nikko. This city is really popular and ancient. If you know anything about Japanese history this city holds the remains of the great shogun Tokugawa. By remains I mean hair and nails (I'm not sure what they did with the other parts of his body). This place is beautiful, it's in the country side and there are tree-covered hills as far as the eye can see.

After taking the bus from the station to the main shrine in the area we walked up this long pathway to the gates of the shrine. The place was a rip off, it cost around 10 bucks just to walk around for 30 minutes. The marginal cost of letting me in those doors is zero. I think they should charge less. But hey, I paid so I guess it was worth it to me.

Inside there are a couple famous carvings, the first is of three monkeys (hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil) and the second is of a sleeping cat. I don't know why the Japanese people like the cat but there was a 20 person line just to see the cat. (I'll post pictures so that you can see the monkeys and the sleeping cat). Besides that there wasn't else much to look at except, for the beautiful designs that covered the walls inside and outside of the shrine. (I'll post pictures of that also).

Lost in Nowhere

It's been a while but let me give you a little update about my situation. So, two weeks ago I went to Tokyo to visit from old friends from my study abroad days. I had a great time, for example I got my hair cut (Japanese style), went shopping, had a couple of beers, then on my way to go home I got lost.

Let me tell you the story, so at the train station everyone left in different directions. The thing is there is only one train line that goes to my town that late at night. Therefore I went to that platform not knowing that the train that I was about to bored didn't go where I wanted. About 30 minutes out of Tokyo the train changes tracks and goes in the opposite direction. I boarded the train and fell asleep. Waking up 30 minutes later to find that I was going in the opposite direction. Thus, at the next stop I looked to see when the next time going towards home was coming, but there was none. I looked around and saw that the town I was in was really small and that there were probably no hotels, therefore I got back on the train. Usually at bigger cities there are lots of connecting lines so I waited for a stop that had a lot of connections. I know it's probably a silly way to judge if there is a hotel or not in a city but I tried it.

I got off at a city (the name I don't remember) and started to look for an all night internet cafe, hotel, manga cafe, love hotel, pretty much anywhere I might be able to stay the night. I saw an internet cafe outside the station but it was closed. It was the first time that I have seen a 24 hour internet cafe closed. I was very sad, because there was no where else to go. I saw a crowd of people walking down the main street so I followed them. About 10 blocks and 20 minutes later they entered a "hostess club" for lack of better words. I decided not to go in, firstly because it might be dangerous and secondly it's really really expensive. I walked around a little bit more trying to find a bar or some place which I could just hang out for a while. But no luck, this town is not homeless friendly. To make another long story short I had to spend the night on a bench in front of the station until the first train came. Wow was that a long night, it was cold, lonely, and most of all I didn't know if the cops were going to come by and start asking questions.

The moral of the story is... always look ahead, don't blindly get on to a train if you don't know where it's going.

Side note: There was only one good thing that came out of this trip; I now know why Japan is called the land of the rising sun, the sun rise is beautiful. Probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I didn't know that the heavens could paint such a sky.

Students of Oyama

Today's entry is dedicated to those who showed up to class today. I don't know if there was a celebration that I didn't know about or what but only about half of my students came today. Maybe they finally found out that I'm slowly trying to take over Japan, one language school at a time. haha anyways. I will tell you about two students.

The first, imagine a thin elderly lady (thin is actually a nice word to describe her, she is more like a twig) with short grey hair, stained teeth, large English vocabulary, but has no idea how to make a sentence. It's like listening to a puzzle, she speaks and I put together the pieces. Well on with the story... Today in class we talked about heroes and all the different kinds of heroes there are. So she told me what she thought a hero was and then she proceeded to tell me about the most significant hero in her life. This hero is her Jr. High teacher (I guess it would be similiar to a homeroom teacher in America) and she described how this teacher touched her life. So in Yoko's (fake name but I don't want to get fired) first year of Jr. High she absolutely loved school, every moment of it from recess to doing her homework. Then when she entered her second year something about her had changed, and she started to be disruptive in class, quit doing her homework, and blew off her friends. (Keep in mind that I'm translating her English for you, and that this story is partly my creation, well not my creation so much, but just pretty much all the I could understand) After a while the teacher started to become concerned about Yoko's behavior and told her to stay after class one day. Class ended, all the other students left to go home or wherever they go, and Yoko stayed. The teacher then expressed her concern to Yoko and she wondered why there was this sudden change in behavior. Yoko had no answer, so she began to cry and cry and cry. The teacher was patient and attempted to comfort her. And I guess from then on she was back on the straight and narrow. Strange hero to me but I guess my definition is a little different.

Let me tell you a little about this student. I think she is in her mid to late 60's and she knows nothing expect for how to be a house wife. The only people she currently knows are her husband, close relatives, and the people at my school. And man does this lady LOVE to talk. She could talk for hours if you give her the chance, but no body would have any idea of what she's talking about.
After the story about her teacher she told me another story about when she was moving into a new house and some men tried to pull a scam on her and her husband. Supposivly, the men came to the door (while they were moving in) and asked them if their house smelled funny. The men explained that the dehumidifier or air conditioning (I'm not quite sure what it was but anyways) was broken and that they happened to have one in their truck that they would gladly install for about 50 bucks. To make a long story short she didn't believe them and she thought something fishy was going on so she called the company to come take a look at it, and it appeared that the men had cut off the power supply to the piece of equipment. Rumour has it that these men had been doing this all around town. The funny thing about this story is that, Yoko considers the employee that came out to take a look at the equipment, a hero. Well, maybe it's not quite funny in a humours way but interesting that she would think that.

Alright for the second student, and I find this guy very interesting. His name is "Onizuka." Onizuka is in a class of 4 and he never really has the courage to speak up in class. And because the other 3 students were absent today he finally got his chance, and wow I couldn't get him to shutup. So first let me give a quick background. He is a 50 year-old school principle with three kids and he told me that he hates his boss. haha. I find Onizuka interesting because he told me today that he wants to open his students' eyes to the world and show them all the wonderful and terrible things that are going on but due to government regulation he is prohibited from teaching anything that is not approved by the central eduation authority. We talked about WWII and how he thinks that America made the right decision by dropping the bomb, actually bombs, because he felt that it saved Japanese lives. He believes that if there had been a main land (actually it's more like main island envasion) envasion of Japan that many Japanese people would feel defeated and would have commited suicide. And for that reason alone, America was in the right.

Side story: He told me that his mom had worked in a factory in WWII making airplanes, and that when her factory heard the news about Okinawa, that out of fear of being raped, all the women cut their hair really short. I guess the only distingishing difference between Japanese men and women is their hair. Haha just kidding. But, I thought that was interesting.

Well, this concludes today's lesson on how my job is too easy and I get paid too much to listen to old people talk.

Lost in Translation

Today I'm going to keep it short. So, this morning one of my student's mom (who by the way is really cute) asked me a question which I couldn't believe at first, but then I had to use my "UCLA Japanese Translation skills" to find out what she was trying to ask.

First, she was trying to ask me "Do you have a lover?" but you know how Japanese people can't tell the difference between L and R (oh and another thing, there is no "V" in the Japanese language so they just use "B" instead). So... that's right your guessed it, I thought I was hearing her ask "Do you have a rubber?" I didn't know what to say, a parent was asking me if I carry a condom around. I mean I didn't know how to react. Then I calmed down, and realized that she said lover.

Side Note: Now that I kind of think about it, it's a little strange that she asked if I had a lover.

Fun Times

Alright let me set this joke up properly. Usually when I'm preparing for a lesson, I just look at the lesson quickly, find out what words I think might need clarifying then I think of a game that could be played (cause everyone loves games). To make it short, I just skim and have the class read out parts as we go along. Well, today I think I should have read ahead. So, I start into the listening portion of the lesson where I have the class listen to the dialogue then repeat after it. It's kind of funny cause today's lesson was about possession, asking about who's (noun or such and such) is this? And then you work together to find out who the owner is. Alright here comes the good part. So... I play the dialogue and a little girl asks her friend "who's ball is that?" and her friend replies "I think it might be Dick's ball." HAHA. I don't know if you think that's funny but try hold a straight face when you randomly hear that on a English learning tape.

Also, this week I finish working on presentations with 3 tobacco scientists. I'm not trying to be mean but most Japanese people can't pronounce "R" and "L" in the same word. For example, "Burley," which is exactly the word that these scientists are traveling around the world presenting on. And after 3 hours of one-on-one with each of them, I gave up. So they will now travel the world saying "barwee" instead of "burley."

Week Two

Week two ended yesterday, and wow I have to say that this job is sooo easy. I can't believe that I am getting paid to converse with people in English. My trainer in Vancouver told me that my first month in Japan was going to be hell because I would be spending all of my time preparing for classes. I don't know but either I'm doing everything wrong or I got the hang of it quickly. I would like to the latter.

Lets start from the beginning of the week. On Tuesday, I walked outside to get on my bike and go to work, only to find that my bike wasn't there. MY BIKE WAS STOLEN, or so I thought. Good thing I left early because I needed that extra time to walk. I arrived at work, sweaty pissed off, and down the money that I spent on the bike. I mean COME ON, I'm only in Japan for a week and my bike gets stolen. Well, to make another long story short my manager called around and found out that my bike wasn't stolen but in fact that I had parked it in a no-bike-parking-zone (who knew there where such places) and they had moved my bike down the street to another location. When I got home I went to the spot where they said my bike was and there is was. I was very relieved.

Wednesday, when I arrived to work I was told that someone was coming to the school to observe me. I was prepared for my classes pretty well, but I don't think they were good enough to be observed and the observer to think that I was a great teacher. The guy sat in on some of my classes and told me that he really liked what he saw. Even though I had received no training he said that my classes were well structured and that I the students felt very welcome and comfortable in my class. Wow, was I relieved.

The rest of the week was going pretty normal, or at least the way I expected it would go until Thursday night. I received an email for a old friend that I met at UCLA and he said that some people were getting together on Friday in Tokyo for a couple drinks. I jumped at the chance, wow people I know and Tokyo, I could imagine a better situation. Thus, after classes on Friday I took the 9 pm train from Oyama to Tokyo. It takes about an hour which isn't that bad, the only thing is that the last train from Tokyo to Oyama is around 10:30ish. So that meant that I was committed to stay the whole night, and then I had to be back in Oyama in the morning for work.

I arrived in Tokyo, found the bar, and had a couple drinks. Well... more then a couple drinks. I think that I was a little too excited to hang out with some old friends that I wasn't paying attention to how many drinks I had. Well, the night ended with me getting sick, and my wonderful friend Takashi taking care of me. He paid for a taxi back to his apartment and he let me sleep on his bed while he slept on the floor. I owe him. It's very comforting to know that I have friends like him in Japan. If I have a major problem or get in trouble I know that there are a couple people like him that will come to my rescue.

I took the 8am train back to Oyama, rode my bike home, took a shower, got ready, and went to work. When I arrived at work the manager told me that another people was coming to Oyama to observe me. Ahhhhh. I wasn't in the mood to be observed. Hangovers are not fun. So I went to the convenient store on first floor of my building and bought some energy drinks. Side note-- Japanese people have a whole different level of energy drinks. It's like drinking crack, the stuff works wonders. The day ended great, and may I quote the observer from her email, "I know that i gave you a lot of criticism/pointers in a very short time but I wanted to let you know that, overall, I am really impressed with how quickly you've settled in and gotten the ropes. You seem to teach with confidence but not with arrogance, which is so nice to see. I think that your teaching attitude is great and you will be a rock star in no time." Not to toot my own horn but hell ya. Maybe she was just trying to make me feel good but who cares. If I was able to give her that impression while being hung over I can't imagine what she would have said if I hadn't been.

Week One Update

Well, the first week past by, and I have to say it was quite an adventure. First, the previous resident of my apartment forgot or just didn't pay the gas bill so my apartment didn't have hot water for about 3 or 4 days. It wasn't that bad though, only because it was 80 degrees with about 120% humidity. I prefer the dry heat, I don't like arriving at work feeling sticky and gross. My school location is about 10-15 minutes bike ride. It's not that far but one can work up quite a sweat in this humidity.

So, on top of the hot days, arriving sticky to work, and having to come home to take cold showers, my trainer developed appendicitis the first day of training. Well, you would think "oh how hard could it be to teach beginning English classes," but you would be wrong. Well... only partly wrong. When I arrived at school my second day of work, the manager told me that "John" (sorry but they have explicitly told me that if I give away any information about GEOS that I can be fired, so I have changed the teacher/trainers name to John) was in the hospital and would not be coming. At first I was a little excited, I thought that this would be a great challenge for me. Then my classes started, and everything was going well until I came to my class of five 10-year-old girls. AHHHHHHH. Whenever I wanted them to do something they just told me "NO!" I didn't know what to do. So, I just played games with them until the end of class. To make a long story short I still dread that class and I need to find out how to win them over.

Besides that one class the other students are great. I have such a diversity of students that it's fun to hear about their different pasts and experiences. I have students ranging in age 6 to 65-ish. It keeps me on my toes and I have to find the best way to relate the classes material to each age group. Alright, let me tell you a little about my students, I have housewives, kids, students, doctors, scientists (pharmaceutical and tobacco), travel agents, business men, business women, and the list goes on. Most of them are pretty intelligent but some of them have a hard time. I love it. The first week all I did was introductions in each class. I let them ask as many questions as they wanted about me, some of them didn't really care, but others took advantage of the situation and asked some pretty deep and thoughtful questions. They were all pretty much surprised to hear that I came from a family with 8 kids. None of them believed me until I showed them the pictures.

After classes were over for the week the JET at my school (that's a Japanese teacher that teaches English to the low level students, hence Japanese English Teacher- JET) invited me to come and hang out with with her husband and friends at her house. At first I didn't know if she was just being polite or if she really wanted me to come, I mean I had only meet her twice and she was already inviting me to stay at her house. She is the nicest lady, if I remember correctly she had spent 5 or 6 years in Canada (which is where she met her husband) and then came back to Japan to live with him.

Her house is in the countryside, and when I say countryside I mean it, her backyard was a mountain side covered with trees (it felt a lot like being in Washington). I'm quite not sure what kind of personality she has, she is a mix between a punk/hippie/serious person. I'm not really sure how to explain it. But, I spent the weekend at her and her husband's house. The house is really really old fashion Japanese. The is no insulation in the house, just glass wood around the whole house.

The weekend turned out great, we ate, played cards, watched the rain and fog move over the mountains, and watched the first Italian Job (which is way better then the remake). Since coming to Japan this was the first time that I actually felt welcome and happy. I really needed that.

Video Blog

Training in Vancouver

The journey has begun, I arrived in Vancouver yesterday after my wonderful uncle drove 2 hours from Seattle to drop me off. The first day was exciting, we had some introduction concerning working for a Japanese company and adjusting to life in Japan. The second day we reviewed the text books that are used by the company and other materials that the company produces. The end of the second day was pretty stressful, I had to teach a real student at a local school. Not to be redundant but it was pretty stressful and I began to sweat whenever I ran into a problem (which happened multiple times). I'm learning a lot of about being part of a large organization and the role that I have to play in order to stay off the radar. The other teachers at training are really nice, some of them are a little strange but that's to be expected of people that want to spend a year in Japan. The trainer is a little strange and his smile seems fake. But he's very smart and knowledgeable about the company. I'm thankful to have him as my trainer, he is a great source of information to have.
I leave on Friday for Japan where I will be picked up from the airport by a school representative. After that I'm heading either to my school to meet everyone or to my apartment to sleep, I'm not sure yet. It all depends on whether the teacher who's spot in taking has evacuated the apartment or not. Actually, last night I received an email from the departing teacher telling me that the students are very excited to meet me. It makes me a little nervous, I hope I live up to their expectations. I guess we'll find out.