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Today, instead of the same boring pointless rituals we've been going through since late November, my class had a brand new boring pointless ritual! Also, tomorrow we have a Briefing! It is possible that by the end of this week, we will have advanced as far as getting flight helmets fitted! At this pace, we may actually see helicopters before March ( Read more... ) -
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So, Portal. I just played it through in its entirety; it took slightly less than 90 minutes. On the other hand, this was my fourth playthrough since I got it for Christmas. Is it short? Very. Is it worth its price? Absolutely. This game has tremendous replayability; it's got the same sort of fun as do the games I end up playing ten and more years ( Read more... ) -
True Stories of Life in Japan
True Stories of Life in Japan is a series I decided to do as a creative writing exercise. My constraints were that I was to publish one per weekday, that each would be at least 500 words, that the series would have ten installments. They would each focus on some aspect of life there, while collectively describing the gestalt of my experience. They ( Read more... ) -
True Stories of Life in Japan, pt 10: All Good Things
My contract in Japan specified that I would stay one year at that company, and that nine months into the process both the head office and I would determine whether the contract was worth renewal. If we both decided that I should stay, I would get a raise of about $1000 annually and an automatic visa renewal. Otherwise, I was free to do whatever I ( Read more... ) -
True Stories of Life in Japan, pt 9: So You Want to be an Expatriate
One of the more common reactions I get from people newly learning that I've lived in Japan is "I wish I could do something like that." It's actually not all that hard; all you need is a bachelor's degree, some patience during the application process, a few thousand dollars to get you over there and set up before your first paycheck, and the will to ( Read more... ) -
True Stories of Life in Japan, pt 8: Nonverbal Communication
My entire stay in Japan originated because of my interest in Japanese. It wasn't a particularly serious interest at first, but I discovered somewhat to my surprise that I really liked studying that language. It was only natural that once I actually got to Japan, I continued my studies, even though it meant paying almost as much for language lessons ( Read more... ) -
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True Stories of Life in Japan will continue through the finish after the holiday break. -
True Stories of Life in Japan, pt 7: The Elusive Asian Girlfriend
When I first arrived in-country, I had a weekend of training and a week of dual-teaching with the prior teacher before officially taking over the position. It's a useful system; my predecessor didn't have a lot to say about teaching, but he did get me familiar enough with the local area enough that I could at least find food, get on the correct bus ( Read more... ) -
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It seems that Mr. Vestal has precisely expressed why I do the things I do: "If your dreams aren’t ridiculous, then they aren’t dreams at all; they’re just expectations, filled automatically by life’s gears turning."
