I really wish they'd just put furigana in all my manga
Once again, you're just going to get a bunch of random thoughts. Maybe once I get accustomed to my schedule, I'll be able to sit down and write an actual entry.
The other day, I asked one of my coworkers how much rice I would need to make in the morning if I wanted to make two rice balls for lunch (because they measure their rice by bowls). Katsu, my only male Japanese coworker, was standing there and he said, “Haha, that's a stupid question.”
Well, fuck you too.
And then today, I'm the only one in the office and he walks in, pauses in front of me and says, “I got a flat tire on my bike today. But it only cost me 800 yen to fix at Asahi.”
Then he took an awkward step in the wrong direction before leaving the office altogether.
I don't even know.
-
Manager came up to me today and told me that one of my students was planning on quitting before, but after the class I taught today, she changed her mind and decided to renew.
Yeah! Kids like me!
I mean. At least one likes me.
-
Right now, I teach 29 classes a week. There are 12 different levels I teach, the lowest being 2 year old babies and their mothers, the highest being parents of students. Starting in April, manager says I'll only have 24-25 classes to teach, which will be nice.
However, because of this, she's decided that I should do monitor lessons. Monitor lessons are basically extra lessons that students can take if they want to study more, lessons I will give during my free blocks of time during the day. Which would be fine, you know, except for the fact that I'll likely only get two days advanced warning when I have to do one. So on top of planning for my 12 class levels (which might turn into 13, since I have to do Baby O along with Baby A and Baby C now) I have to be ready to whip out a lesson plan for any given student at any time. Even my fellow Japanese Teachers can take monitor lessons.
I would almost rather have the 29 lessons a week. OTL
-
So I'm used to getting people who are pretty surprised when I tell them: Yes, I've graduated high school. And college too, thanks. Because they think I'm 18 or something. The lowest I've gotten is 16, the highest is 19.
So imagine my surprise when one of my junior high students today told me that I look 29 years old.
What? Really? Haha, I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I feel like I should be insulted, since I'm pretty sure I don't actually look like I'm 30 and also, it's probably not something you should tell a woman. On the other hand, I find it interesting that Americans think I look young, but Japanese people think I look old. Granted, this is only one student, but whatever. I imagine it has something to do with how young Japanese women look.
-
So, for Amity (and I'm guessing Japanese companies in general) piercings are kind of a no-no. Which, you know, whatever. I can understand. I took my labret out for the interview and wasn't expecting to put it back in. But they take it one step further and limit us to one stud per ear. I have my ears pierced a total of 9 times, so I had to take out 7 of them. (Actually I cheated and kept a clear plastic stud in my cartilage so it wouldn't close, so technically only 6 came out.) And I thought, okay, I've had my other ones for over 3 years now, so they shouldn't close up on me.
Apparently, I was wrong, and today when I got back from work and tried to put them back in, I got to go through the pleasant experience of re-piercing my ears.
Joy.
I had to do it once before, after my MRI, and that one included three ears, my labret and my navel. This time wasn't as bad, and there was less blood, but still incredibly unpleasant. Now I'm going to have to see if I can find some clear studs for my other holes and hope no one at work notices. OTL
-
I'm sleeping really fucking well.
Pardon my language, but considering the amount of trouble I was having back home (which was a lot, by the way) it's pretty amazing that I sleep so well over here. But I have a theory.
I lead a much more active lifestyle in Japan, and I always have. Back when I studied abroad, I had an hour trip to and from school, wherein I walked up at least 5 hills every day (in total); and if I wanted to go somewhere on the weekend, I had to ride my bike to the station and then walk everywhere. Sometimes Hiroyo would drive me, but usually not, since I didn't like to bother her with it.
And likewise, right now I bike to work everyday, and sometimes I bike home for lunch. If I go anywhere on the weekend, or if I have to run errands (which I have in much more abundance now that I live by myself, obviously), I have to do it on my bike or on foot. On top of that, I have to go posting for work, which means I get to walk around residential neighborhoods for one or two hours and stick flyers in mailboxes. Today I did it for two hours, walking non-stop (unless I got lost, wherein I had to pause and look stupid for a couple minutes).
I think this is why I sleep so well in Japan. Honestly, I think I could sleep anywhere and still wake up feeling fine, if only because I've had a decent amount of exercise during the day. I don't wake up 20 times starting at 3:00 in the morning, I don't wake up with my back screaming at me to fix it, or with nearly as many headaches as I did back home.
You have no idea how happy I am when I sleep through the night. Dear god, it's glorious.
I guess this just means I can't live out in buttfuck nowhere, because having to use a car to get everywhere is bad for my sleeping habits. And shut up, I know I could just go to a gym and work out, but I don't have the motivation to just go somewhere specifically to exercise. I hate not having some sort of attainable goal at the end, like scoring goals in soccer or getting to work on my bike. It's hard to explain, but if it's not immediately apparent what I'm getting out of it, I have no interest in doing it.
Sorry mom, I must have missed that gene.
-
Amity Diet Update:
I've lost enough weight that one of my suits no longer fits. It's just my luck that it was the most expensive one that I bought and now it hangs in my closet, absolutely fucking useless. My two from Banana Republic still fit well enough, though the pants are kinda loose and I had to go buy a belt today because I was getting tired of pulling them up. OTL
-
I think Amity should hire more Native English Teachers (NETs).
Seriously. We have a lot to fucking do.
-
I got a phone!
And imagine my surprise when it started going off the next day and when I looked, it said EARTHQUAKE! I was like, “Holy god, WHAT?” But then I actually read it and it was in Nagano, so I freaked out for nothing.
But that's kind of handy, y'know, my phone telling me when an earthquake happens.
BEHOLD
It's green!
-
Dear Mangaka,
Please use furigana. It helps a lot.
Love,
Megan
-
Went to have dinner with the hosto fam again on Sunday. We had NABE (are you jealous Allie?). It was curry nabe that we turned into ramen after most of it was eaten. And we also had katsu, my favorite, and Hiroyo gave me some to take home because she's worried about me wasting away into nothing.
But before that, we went to a cafe called Komeda's and had delicious drinks and a warm crepe with ice cream on top. Here are pictures.
Haruhi enjoying her lemon tea.
Nanako, looking kind of high. I'm sure she's just excited to eat her melon soda float.
Hiroyo, trying to figure out the logistics of her coffee.
"How do I drink this? Taihen!"
My coffee and ice cream drink, and the crepe thing we ate.
I hope this makes up for the fact that there were no pictures last time. Hahaha.
One last thing! Canada made a video of all our training week pictures, set it to awesome music, and posted it here. Go check it out!
The other day, I asked one of my coworkers how much rice I would need to make in the morning if I wanted to make two rice balls for lunch (because they measure their rice by bowls). Katsu, my only male Japanese coworker, was standing there and he said, “Haha, that's a stupid question.”
Well, fuck you too.
And then today, I'm the only one in the office and he walks in, pauses in front of me and says, “I got a flat tire on my bike today. But it only cost me 800 yen to fix at Asahi.”
Then he took an awkward step in the wrong direction before leaving the office altogether.
I don't even know.
-
Manager came up to me today and told me that one of my students was planning on quitting before, but after the class I taught today, she changed her mind and decided to renew.
Yeah! Kids like me!
I mean. At least one likes me.
-
Right now, I teach 29 classes a week. There are 12 different levels I teach, the lowest being 2 year old babies and their mothers, the highest being parents of students. Starting in April, manager says I'll only have 24-25 classes to teach, which will be nice.
However, because of this, she's decided that I should do monitor lessons. Monitor lessons are basically extra lessons that students can take if they want to study more, lessons I will give during my free blocks of time during the day. Which would be fine, you know, except for the fact that I'll likely only get two days advanced warning when I have to do one. So on top of planning for my 12 class levels (which might turn into 13, since I have to do Baby O along with Baby A and Baby C now) I have to be ready to whip out a lesson plan for any given student at any time. Even my fellow Japanese Teachers can take monitor lessons.
I would almost rather have the 29 lessons a week. OTL
-
So I'm used to getting people who are pretty surprised when I tell them: Yes, I've graduated high school. And college too, thanks. Because they think I'm 18 or something. The lowest I've gotten is 16, the highest is 19.
So imagine my surprise when one of my junior high students today told me that I look 29 years old.
What? Really? Haha, I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I feel like I should be insulted, since I'm pretty sure I don't actually look like I'm 30 and also, it's probably not something you should tell a woman. On the other hand, I find it interesting that Americans think I look young, but Japanese people think I look old. Granted, this is only one student, but whatever. I imagine it has something to do with how young Japanese women look.
-
So, for Amity (and I'm guessing Japanese companies in general) piercings are kind of a no-no. Which, you know, whatever. I can understand. I took my labret out for the interview and wasn't expecting to put it back in. But they take it one step further and limit us to one stud per ear. I have my ears pierced a total of 9 times, so I had to take out 7 of them. (Actually I cheated and kept a clear plastic stud in my cartilage so it wouldn't close, so technically only 6 came out.) And I thought, okay, I've had my other ones for over 3 years now, so they shouldn't close up on me.
Apparently, I was wrong, and today when I got back from work and tried to put them back in, I got to go through the pleasant experience of re-piercing my ears.
Joy.
I had to do it once before, after my MRI, and that one included three ears, my labret and my navel. This time wasn't as bad, and there was less blood, but still incredibly unpleasant. Now I'm going to have to see if I can find some clear studs for my other holes and hope no one at work notices. OTL
-
I'm sleeping really fucking well.
Pardon my language, but considering the amount of trouble I was having back home (which was a lot, by the way) it's pretty amazing that I sleep so well over here. But I have a theory.
I lead a much more active lifestyle in Japan, and I always have. Back when I studied abroad, I had an hour trip to and from school, wherein I walked up at least 5 hills every day (in total); and if I wanted to go somewhere on the weekend, I had to ride my bike to the station and then walk everywhere. Sometimes Hiroyo would drive me, but usually not, since I didn't like to bother her with it.
And likewise, right now I bike to work everyday, and sometimes I bike home for lunch. If I go anywhere on the weekend, or if I have to run errands (which I have in much more abundance now that I live by myself, obviously), I have to do it on my bike or on foot. On top of that, I have to go posting for work, which means I get to walk around residential neighborhoods for one or two hours and stick flyers in mailboxes. Today I did it for two hours, walking non-stop (unless I got lost, wherein I had to pause and look stupid for a couple minutes).
I think this is why I sleep so well in Japan. Honestly, I think I could sleep anywhere and still wake up feeling fine, if only because I've had a decent amount of exercise during the day. I don't wake up 20 times starting at 3:00 in the morning, I don't wake up with my back screaming at me to fix it, or with nearly as many headaches as I did back home.
You have no idea how happy I am when I sleep through the night. Dear god, it's glorious.
I guess this just means I can't live out in buttfuck nowhere, because having to use a car to get everywhere is bad for my sleeping habits. And shut up, I know I could just go to a gym and work out, but I don't have the motivation to just go somewhere specifically to exercise. I hate not having some sort of attainable goal at the end, like scoring goals in soccer or getting to work on my bike. It's hard to explain, but if it's not immediately apparent what I'm getting out of it, I have no interest in doing it.
Sorry mom, I must have missed that gene.
-
Amity Diet Update:
I've lost enough weight that one of my suits no longer fits. It's just my luck that it was the most expensive one that I bought and now it hangs in my closet, absolutely fucking useless. My two from Banana Republic still fit well enough, though the pants are kinda loose and I had to go buy a belt today because I was getting tired of pulling them up. OTL
-
I think Amity should hire more Native English Teachers (NETs).
Seriously. We have a lot to fucking do.
-
I got a phone!
And imagine my surprise when it started going off the next day and when I looked, it said EARTHQUAKE! I was like, “Holy god, WHAT?” But then I actually read it and it was in Nagano, so I freaked out for nothing.
But that's kind of handy, y'know, my phone telling me when an earthquake happens.
BEHOLD
It's green!
-
Dear Mangaka,
Please use furigana. It helps a lot.
Love,
Megan
-
Went to have dinner with the hosto fam again on Sunday. We had NABE (are you jealous Allie?). It was curry nabe that we turned into ramen after most of it was eaten. And we also had katsu, my favorite, and Hiroyo gave me some to take home because she's worried about me wasting away into nothing.
But before that, we went to a cafe called Komeda's and had delicious drinks and a warm crepe with ice cream on top. Here are pictures.
Haruhi enjoying her lemon tea.
Nanako, looking kind of high. I'm sure she's just excited to eat her melon soda float.
Hiroyo, trying to figure out the logistics of her coffee.
"How do I drink this? Taihen!"
My coffee and ice cream drink, and the crepe thing we ate.
I hope this makes up for the fact that there were no pictures last time. Hahaha.
One last thing! Canada made a video of all our training week pictures, set it to awesome music, and posted it here. Go check it out!