Keeping It Professional

Every once in a while I am asked to help my boss interview a prospective new teacher. This is mildly interesting and only takes about 20 minutes of my time, but can end up being incredibly stressful and, at times, aggravating.

First, I always feel a little awkward because the only reason I am qualified to do this is because I can speak English fluently. And the other person can't. I also feel awkward because my boss sits in the corner and watches....judging. No smiles.

Before each interview, my boss, Chuckles, likes to come into my classroom, close the door, and tell me in broken English her fist impressions of the interviewee. And her "first impressions" are actually just reasons why she doesn't like the person - and why I shouldn't like them either.
[To clarify, my boss is also the person who voices her disappointment each year when she receives information about the incoming foreign teacher and they aren't blonde. And straight up doesn't like non-Japanese Asians.]

So before the last interview Chuckles cornered me alone in the office and tells me, "He is a man."

Yes, this is her opening statement. I am supposed to infer that the "he" in question is the person I will later interview.

"...Oh really?"

"I have never hired a man."

"...Oh really?"

"Yes!" she says proudly. Short pause, then she adds, "I don't like him."

"Because he's a man?"

"Ahahahahaha. No!"

End of conversation. Like most with her, I am not sure what to take away from it, other than I think she doesn't want me to say his English is good. Later, my Japanese co-workers come into the office and we begin discussing the situation. The both tell me that Chuckles told them he smells funny, and so she doesn't want to hire him.

For a woman over 50 she has really mastered the art of sounding like a girl in junior high school.

So I go into the interview and talk for 20 minutes with a really nice man who did not smell funny at all and had perfect grammar, but was so nervous he constantly had to pause mid-sentence to stop shaking. He asked me great questions, and was obviously eager to be a teacher. At the end I shook his hand, said good job, and went back into the office.

Chuckles comes in with a disdainful look on her face. She starts speaking Japanese to my co-worker and in there I hear, "blah blah blah Leah-sensei 'Good Job' AHAHAHAHA!"

"What? I wasn't supposed to say good job? He was trying so hard!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She's laughing too hard to respond to me now.

Thanks boss.

She looks at me and manages to say between bouts of laughter, "Don't recommend."

So there it was, my decision was made for me, by the worst English speaker in the whole school and (I can't help but feel like) for all the wrong reasons. But then, such is business in Japan.

Part 3

I was lucky enough last month to see Ethan, who I usually see once a year if we're lucky, not once but twice. He made Japan the first stop on his trans-Asiatic tour, and it was absolutely wonderful to see him. And as usual when we are traveling together, things never quite went as planned, we didn't see the conventional sights, but we had a GREAT time.

We started in Kyoto, where we bypassed the temples to check out the Astroboy Museum. We got a photo with him, and got to watch a sweet anime film that we didn't understand a word of.

Shortly after we hopped on the train to Osaka to meet Shohei, who we stayed with. The one thing we wanted to see in Osaka was the Cup Noodle Museum, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Shohei not only "LOVES NOODLES!" and works at a ramen shop, but that he had never been to the museum and really wanted to go. So at the crack of noon the next day we made our way through the beautiful outskirts of Osaka to the place where it all began (or at least the place commemorating the place where it all began).

Tunnel of Ramen

I learned many things that day. One, Instant Ramen has been around since 1958, and Cup Noodle since 1971; two, astronauts eat Cup Noodle in space; and three:
Three reasons to eat Cup Noodle:
1. cheap
2. safe
3. delicious!!

Then, glory of glories, we made our own.

Designing

Anything (Dried) Our Hearts Desired

Shrink-wrapped for Freshness

After that excitement we hung out in Osaka, ate, drank, and sang karaoke.


We ran into this guy and his girlfriend at an arcade. The guy had spent months and over $500 on this one machine in order to win this stuffed animal. Talk about priorities.

Ethan almost missed his flight, but we managed to make time for Purikura.

Oh My GOD!

I know this isn't the greatest video ever taken, but....these boys are are the best. Absolutely the best.

After this, they decided to draw a huge scene on the board:

...it's the three of us in "our house." Mine is the big head in the middle.

Part 2

Miss you, little chans.

Las Ketchup, Part 1

Unfortunately, I have not really been what you would call "on top of things" lately, blogging being one of those things. I apologize.

Since last writing, some pretty big things have happened, namely:

1. my family came to visit for 10 days
2. my two closest friends in Toyama left (for good)
3. my friend Ethan came to visit

I'm going to start in chronological order, so here goes.

It was absolutely wonderful having my family in Japan. We had so much fun together, and we got to see a lot of different and really cool sights, most of which were new to me as well. They first came to Toyama to see my life here, and from there we went on to Kyoto and Nara, where we got to see two beautiful festivals. Next we took a ferry to the beautiful island of Shikoku, "the Tibet of Japan." We rented a car and drove along tiny, winding roads on the sides of beautiful green mountains that lead down into steep, steep ravines. The riding got a little stressful at times, with the roads being one lane switchbacks and cars driving on the left (slight tension in the car, especially when lost), but the scenery was gorgeous.

After two nights in a cabin in a national park on the center of the island, we made our way across Shikoku and off to Miyajima, a small island famous for the large Torii gate in the water, and for deer wandering around everywhere. It was very peaceful (some might say too peaceful), and we had a nice hike up to the top of one of the mountains. We were hoping to see the monkeys that live there, but unfortunately they weren't around. We stopped in Hiroshima on the way back, which was incredibly moving. All in all we couldn't have asked for a better trip. We had so much fun together, and I'm so happy they were able to come and see my life here and that we could experience Japan together.

Torii Gate and Temple at Miyajima

The deer love eating paper. And this was in the women's bathroom.

We look so good in the morning.

Top of the Mountain on Miyajima

A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima

Tokyo Giants vs. Hiroshima Carp @ the Tokyo Dome

1 Girl, 1 Keg

Go Carp!

Think of the Children

I never knew how easy American kids have it. I know that as a nation we are incredibly fortunate, we have more than we need, etc. etc. etc. But, honestly...our kids have it easy! I remember whining about swim team practice (well, 6:45 was way too early) and doing the occasional yard work, but for the most part life was pretty easy as a kid. To prove it, the following list:

Things I Never Had To Do That Almost Every Japanese Kid Does Every Day (of Summer Vacation):

1. wake up at 6:30 am, walk to the nearest park, and stretch with the other neighborhood kids, some parents, and many old people while listening to the radio

2. upon finishing, clean aforementioned park

3. after cleaning, study for tests (that will take place before summer vacation ends)

4. spend 3 or 4 hours at club sports practice in the middle of the day!! (it's seriously hot here)

5. go to extra classes for additional English practice, or help with other subjects

6. do enough homework that you need to work on it every single day of vacation

I never realized how easy I had it.

(Mom & Dad, if Gabe needs help realizing, feel free to let him read this.)

You Rock, Rock!

This past weekend we went to Fuji Rock, Japan's biggest music festival. The name is actually a lie, it's about 3 hours away from Mount Fuji and on the side of an entirely different mountain, but the show was amazing.

After a two hour train ride, an hour wait in line in the heat for a 45 minute shuttle, and then about an hour of finding and securing a campsite (which was, as most were, on the side of a mountain, so we were at about a 35 degree angle while sleeping), we finally made it inside. And just in time for the Presidents of the USA. They even changed "Peaches" to "Momo," the Japanese word for peach. How cute. The lineup was great (though the past years, honestly, looked a little better), some highlights being:
Grandmaster Flash (amazing)
Bloc Party
the Go! Team
Kate Nash (that girl rocks on stage)
Jamie Lidell (so talented)
Rodrigo y Gabriella (amazing amazing amazing, please check them out - you will not be disappointed)
and Underworld (anthem techno and big bouncy balls, can't beat it)

What I really thought were some of the coolest parts, though, were the small details. First, the area was incredibly beautiful. It took place nestled in this little valley among beautiful green mountains, with a small river running through it that you could hang out at when it got too hot. You could see the fog roll in through the trees and everywhere you looked was just green green green (as well as people people people). The different stages were quite a ways apart, so you had to walk on these cute little trails through the woods (with a huge group of your closest friends), or else on this cool boardwalk they had that wove in and out of the forest. And everywhere you looked there was something interesting. Big beautiful lanterns lined all the pathways, and every now and then you would come across a little woodsy surprise, like a stream of disco balls cascading from the trees. Also, it was so clean. No one put their trash anywhere but the garbage areas, and those areas were manned by people sorting every single last piece of trash into different types of recyclables. The whole system was incredible, and even more so that every single person followed it.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend and totally worth the looks of suppressed disdain given by my Manager (henceforth "Chuckles") when I asked to take off a Friday and Saturday, two of my busiest days at work. It was something that made me look around and think "Oh yeah, I'm in Japan!"...which sounds obvious, but can get lost during the day to day. But I am in Japan...and it rules!