It is miserably hot today. I feel so gross. I walked here this morning, and then 10 minutes after I got in, I had to go back to my apartment with one of the office guys so we could remove the couch and table that I no longer want. Of course, I had to rush around and clean up before he could come in, and then we had to lift the stuff, so by the time I got back to the office (and walk up the stairs again), I was in a right state. At least the AC is on. But it's not working fast enough.
I also need to get rid of my piano. A new JET is looking at buying one, but he can only pay about half of what I'd like to get for it. So I'm going to call up my old supervisor who helped me get the piano and see if I can't sell it back to the guy I bought it from for more.
It seems like I have so much left to do here before I leave. I really need to pack my shit up, as I'd like to have my big bags packed by Saturday, so Kuroneko can take them to the airport. So I will be doing that tonight. Yes. I don't care how tired I will be.
Last night we went out to Sakai for my last yakiniku dinner. It was delicious. Then we went to karaoke for longer than I anticipated, and of course, I found some new songs that I'm good at singing, but I'm leaving the land of karaoke, so they are no longer of use to me. I know they have karaoke in America, but it's different.
Mama got my Comcast installation set up, so I definitely have to be at the apartment by August 6. I'm getting their Triple Play option, with cable, internet, and digital phone service all in one. I hope it works out.
I think I might go on a Facebook crawl today, see if anybody is doing anything interesting.
Would anybody be willing to see Batman with me while I'm home? This is a pressing issue. I feel like I should go ahead and buy my tickets.
Showing posts with label virginia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label virginia. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
successor
Today I found out who my successor will be, or at least who one of the two new people is. She posted on the Mie forum and ta-da! I'm not technically supposed to find out until tomorrow, but oh well. The internet ruins everything. Now I have this 15+ page thing to fill out about Kumano and being an ALT and blah blah blah. I've done most of it already, and it will give me something to do tomorrow. Good times.
We haven't yet heard about the other new person. I hope it's a hot guy for Catherine's sake. We were pulling for a hot guy and a lesbian, but I don't think the new girl swings that way.
One more day until my lady troubles are over! Yay!
I've been so bored lately. Maybe this is a sign that I should clean my apartment. I could be wrong. My boredom has also resulted in my blogs being boring. Apologies all around.
I'm trying to decide if I should get on the UVa Law forum. Part of me wants to, so that I can at least internet know people before I go. I will look into this more tomorrow at work, since I will be there all day, and that welcome letter stuff won't take all day.
We haven't yet heard about the other new person. I hope it's a hot guy for Catherine's sake. We were pulling for a hot guy and a lesbian, but I don't think the new girl swings that way.
One more day until my lady troubles are over! Yay!
I've been so bored lately. Maybe this is a sign that I should clean my apartment. I could be wrong. My boredom has also resulted in my blogs being boring. Apologies all around.
I'm trying to decide if I should get on the UVa Law forum. Part of me wants to, so that I can at least internet know people before I go. I will look into this more tomorrow at work, since I will be there all day, and that welcome letter stuff won't take all day.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
show me the way to go home
Oh man, I'm sleepy. So sleepy. And I really tried to go to bed early. I did. And I let myself sleep in a little bit, all to no avail. Maybe if the stupid rain hadn't woken me up several times last night, I wouldn't be so tired. Stupid rain. Stupid off-shore typhoons.
I haven't posted in a while, clearly. Apologies all around. Here's a brief-ish description of my time away.
April 26-29
I decided to take an extended Golden Week trip, since the real GW sucked this year (the holidays didn't align properly, alas). Michelle and I spent the first days of our trip in Fukuoka, as we usually do. It was super fun, possibly more fun than other times. We sold some of our manga and I got three pairs of new glasses at Zoff, including the sunglasses that I've been wanting for almost a year. They are badass. We also finally ate at the Indian restaurant next to Ichiran, and it was delicious. Sag panir with cheese nan is the way to go, most def.
April 30-May5
Our trip took a turn for the worse when we went to Korea. Maybe it was because we'd had so much fun in Fukuoka in the days before, maybe it was because we stayed in Seoul instead of going to other cities, I don't know. But the general consensus was that Korea sucks ass.
The countryside is less-than-impressive, for one thing. Here, I'm surrounded by beautiful, lush green mountains, but there, the mountains and everything else just looked gray. Bleak. Not a great first impression. This is probably the result of pollution, a lot of which I'm sure comes from China, but whatever.
Seoul was also dirty and grimy. Not how I like my cities, or at least the shopping areas, to look.
The food looked gross. There, I said it. We looked at it, and it looked nasty, so we didn't eat it. And I don't even feel bad about it.
Lastly, the residents of Seoul were some of the most infuriating people I've ever had the displeasure of coming into contact with.
My biggest complaint is that they are line-cutters, which might not sound like a big deal, but it's one of my pet peeves, and fucking everybody was doing it, which to me indicates a system-wide lack of respect for others. Needless to say, lots of elbows were thrown on this trip.
Aside from the gratuitous line-cutting, I found them rude and pushy and they somehow managed to disrupt our paths everywhere we went.
Also, lots of public transport smelled like salami, which I fear has forever ruined that deli meat for Michelle.
Oh the plus side, we did get to see Ironman (twice!), which I don't think has been released in Japan yet. And the tickets were only 8000 won (about $8 US), whereas they are usually 1800 yen here ($18 US). And the people laughed at appropriate times during the movie, which Japanese people never do, because they are either humorless or retarded.
In general, people were normal-sized, which was refreshing, and they didn't walk around like the living dead, as the J-folks are also prone to doing.
And they had Krispy Kreme!!
I'm sure there are other good things about the country, but honestly, we didn't really see it. And I'm never going back, so oh well.
May 5-6
We went back to Fukuoka for a day and a half after getting back from Korea, and thank god we did. We definitely needed that time to "fix" our trip. I have never been so glad to get back to Japan.
Unfortunately, this was the last trip I'll be taking anywhere and the last time I'll see Michelle for a while. But I have to save money for shipping stuff home and for future expenses. Argh.
One of those expenses is my new apartment. My parents are going to pay my rent, which came as a big surprise to me, but I want to help if I can. Mom and Dad went to Charlottesville while we were in Korea and found an apartment for me. It just happens to be in my favorite building. Yay! More about that later.
So that explains a lot of the time. After getting back to Japan, I went back to work, and that's what I've been doing for the last week. Super fun, I know. I'm trying to keep my head in the game, as it were, for the next few months, but it's hard. Now that I have something else lined up, I'm ready to go home and do that. But not yet. Alas.
I haven't posted in a while, clearly. Apologies all around. Here's a brief-ish description of my time away.
April 26-29
I decided to take an extended Golden Week trip, since the real GW sucked this year (the holidays didn't align properly, alas). Michelle and I spent the first days of our trip in Fukuoka, as we usually do. It was super fun, possibly more fun than other times. We sold some of our manga and I got three pairs of new glasses at Zoff, including the sunglasses that I've been wanting for almost a year. They are badass. We also finally ate at the Indian restaurant next to Ichiran, and it was delicious. Sag panir with cheese nan is the way to go, most def.
April 30-May5
Our trip took a turn for the worse when we went to Korea. Maybe it was because we'd had so much fun in Fukuoka in the days before, maybe it was because we stayed in Seoul instead of going to other cities, I don't know. But the general consensus was that Korea sucks ass.
The countryside is less-than-impressive, for one thing. Here, I'm surrounded by beautiful, lush green mountains, but there, the mountains and everything else just looked gray. Bleak. Not a great first impression. This is probably the result of pollution, a lot of which I'm sure comes from China, but whatever.
Seoul was also dirty and grimy. Not how I like my cities, or at least the shopping areas, to look.
The food looked gross. There, I said it. We looked at it, and it looked nasty, so we didn't eat it. And I don't even feel bad about it.
Lastly, the residents of Seoul were some of the most infuriating people I've ever had the displeasure of coming into contact with.
My biggest complaint is that they are line-cutters, which might not sound like a big deal, but it's one of my pet peeves, and fucking everybody was doing it, which to me indicates a system-wide lack of respect for others. Needless to say, lots of elbows were thrown on this trip.
Aside from the gratuitous line-cutting, I found them rude and pushy and they somehow managed to disrupt our paths everywhere we went.
Also, lots of public transport smelled like salami, which I fear has forever ruined that deli meat for Michelle.
Oh the plus side, we did get to see Ironman (twice!), which I don't think has been released in Japan yet. And the tickets were only 8000 won (about $8 US), whereas they are usually 1800 yen here ($18 US). And the people laughed at appropriate times during the movie, which Japanese people never do, because they are either humorless or retarded.
In general, people were normal-sized, which was refreshing, and they didn't walk around like the living dead, as the J-folks are also prone to doing.
And they had Krispy Kreme!!
I'm sure there are other good things about the country, but honestly, we didn't really see it. And I'm never going back, so oh well.
May 5-6
We went back to Fukuoka for a day and a half after getting back from Korea, and thank god we did. We definitely needed that time to "fix" our trip. I have never been so glad to get back to Japan.
Unfortunately, this was the last trip I'll be taking anywhere and the last time I'll see Michelle for a while. But I have to save money for shipping stuff home and for future expenses. Argh.
One of those expenses is my new apartment. My parents are going to pay my rent, which came as a big surprise to me, but I want to help if I can. Mom and Dad went to Charlottesville while we were in Korea and found an apartment for me. It just happens to be in my favorite building. Yay! More about that later.
So that explains a lot of the time. After getting back to Japan, I went back to work, and that's what I've been doing for the last week. Super fun, I know. I'm trying to keep my head in the game, as it were, for the next few months, but it's hard. Now that I have something else lined up, I'm ready to go home and do that. But not yet. Alas.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
soooooosh
Alas, Virginia said no regarding an increase in my scholarship. Oh well. It didn't hurt to ask. And $10,000 a year is still nice.
Today was my third day of class and it was at Iruka. I'm very pleased with the 1st years. There are 6 of them! A much better number to work with than 4, like the 2nd years. The 3rd years were less than genki, but whatever.
After work, we went out for sushi. Unfortunately, after I had my salmon, I decided I wasn't in the mood for sushi. So I had a pumpkin mousse and then went home and ate a bunch of grapes. And some cheese.
Tomorrow is our first day with the new Kinomoto kindergarteners. I hope they're good. The Ido kids (all 9 of them) were good yesterday, not as cute as last years, unfortunately, but cute. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, they want us to go with them on a little field trip. If it does, we'll just have regular class. I'm kind of hoping for rain, just in case they turn out to be awful like the last group.
The new vice principal at Kinomoto is pretty awesome. He's been in Belgium for the last few years, and when he comes back to Kumano, they put him in the worst school in town. Nice. But he came into the office and talked to Catherine and I (in English!) for a bit. He referred to the students at his school as "naughty" (which is totally true, we didn't deny it) in this great European-accented English. He then invited us to visit his school, which I will only do because the kindergarten is in the same building. I'd rather not see the rest of those kids (with the exception of the 2nd graders).
I've been watching a lot of Numb3rs lately, especially the 3rd season, and I noticed that the actress playing Megan was a little fatter than in the other seasons. She was pregnant, of course, and so in watching episodes from earlier in her pregnancy, it was really interesting to see how they were hiding her belly. In the later episodes, she was mostly shot sitting down behind a desk, but in the earlier ones, she'd hold stuff in front of her body or stand behind something. So sneaky!
There's a weird buzzing sound going on, and I don't know where it's coming from. My computer? The kotatsu? The lights? The fridge? Can't tell. But it's irritating, so I'm going to bed.
Today was my third day of class and it was at Iruka. I'm very pleased with the 1st years. There are 6 of them! A much better number to work with than 4, like the 2nd years. The 3rd years were less than genki, but whatever.
After work, we went out for sushi. Unfortunately, after I had my salmon, I decided I wasn't in the mood for sushi. So I had a pumpkin mousse and then went home and ate a bunch of grapes. And some cheese.
Tomorrow is our first day with the new Kinomoto kindergarteners. I hope they're good. The Ido kids (all 9 of them) were good yesterday, not as cute as last years, unfortunately, but cute. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, they want us to go with them on a little field trip. If it does, we'll just have regular class. I'm kind of hoping for rain, just in case they turn out to be awful like the last group.
The new vice principal at Kinomoto is pretty awesome. He's been in Belgium for the last few years, and when he comes back to Kumano, they put him in the worst school in town. Nice. But he came into the office and talked to Catherine and I (in English!) for a bit. He referred to the students at his school as "naughty" (which is totally true, we didn't deny it) in this great European-accented English. He then invited us to visit his school, which I will only do because the kindergarten is in the same building. I'd rather not see the rest of those kids (with the exception of the 2nd graders).
I've been watching a lot of Numb3rs lately, especially the 3rd season, and I noticed that the actress playing Megan was a little fatter than in the other seasons. She was pregnant, of course, and so in watching episodes from earlier in her pregnancy, it was really interesting to see how they were hiding her belly. In the later episodes, she was mostly shot sitting down behind a desk, but in the earlier ones, she'd hold stuff in front of her body or stand behind something. So sneaky!
There's a weird buzzing sound going on, and I don't know where it's coming from. My computer? The kotatsu? The lights? The fridge? Can't tell. But it's irritating, so I'm going to bed.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
just when everything was settled
Hmm...
I got a letter from Columbia telling me that my application has been put in their "Reserve group". So I've been wait-listed. This screws things up a bit, as I have been getting excited about going to Virginia. But if I could possibly get into Columbia, that would be awesome.
I think what I'm going to do is send in the first deposit to Virginia, since that's due at the end of the month, but also accept the spot on the Reserve list. They're going to reevaluate the applications at the end of May, which is before the second Virginia deposit is due.
I highly doubt I will get in, but at least I wasn't flat-out rejected on the first pass! How exciting!
I got a letter from Columbia telling me that my application has been put in their "Reserve group". So I've been wait-listed. This screws things up a bit, as I have been getting excited about going to Virginia. But if I could possibly get into Columbia, that would be awesome.
I think what I'm going to do is send in the first deposit to Virginia, since that's due at the end of the month, but also accept the spot on the Reserve list. They're going to reevaluate the applications at the end of May, which is before the second Virginia deposit is due.
I highly doubt I will get in, but at least I wasn't flat-out rejected on the first pass! How exciting!
112 days and counting
I looked at my calendar today and I have 112 days until the end of my contract. I hope I can leave about a week earlier than that, but if that's not possible, it's 112. I can't wait to leave.
The main reason that I want to get out of Japan is that I hate being in the office. I have nothing to do and it sucks. And that crazy bitch Miyahara yelled at us again yesterday for talking. Is she unable to do her job unless there is complete silence? If so, I don't consider that my problem; get some fucking ear plugs, they have them at the 100yen store. If it's just English she doesn't like to hear, still not my problem. I don't negotiate with racists.
I've spent the last few days looking at apartments in Charlottesville. I found a few that are very close to the law school (like a 5-minute walk), but upon closer inspection, they look slightly ghetto and have bad reviews online. There are some that are very nice, though. One of my favorites (and of course, the most expensive), is in a converted 1924 warehouse, with hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and 9' ceilings. So pretty!
My parents are going to actually go up to VA to check these places out for me, since it's not really convenient for me to go myself. I made them a Google map (I had no idea this was possible until a few days ago, but it's awesome.), with the locations of the apartments plotted out in relation to the school. I've tagged them in different colors based on my preferences: purple for the ones I really like, pink for the ones I like okay, and yellow for the ones I'd settle for.
Yesterday after work, Lauren, Catherine, and I went for a little hike on the Matsumoto trail. Cat had never done that one, and it's pretty easy and doesn't take long, so we did that instead of going to the gym. The weather was nice, not too hot or cold, and the crazy wind we had yesterday had died down by then, so it was a pleasant little hike. And then Lauren and I went out for cheap yakiniku. It was so good. I love meat.
Oh yes, and there was an earthquake this morning. It woke me up about 4:40. At first I thought I was imagining it, since I was still half-asleep, but when I kept being shaken, I realized it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. I thought about getting out of bed and getting in the doorway, just in case that was just a fore-shock, and then I thought about how I don't have a little earthquake pack, and then I went back to sleep. So much for that.
The main reason that I want to get out of Japan is that I hate being in the office. I have nothing to do and it sucks. And that crazy bitch Miyahara yelled at us again yesterday for talking. Is she unable to do her job unless there is complete silence? If so, I don't consider that my problem; get some fucking ear plugs, they have them at the 100yen store. If it's just English she doesn't like to hear, still not my problem. I don't negotiate with racists.
I've spent the last few days looking at apartments in Charlottesville. I found a few that are very close to the law school (like a 5-minute walk), but upon closer inspection, they look slightly ghetto and have bad reviews online. There are some that are very nice, though. One of my favorites (and of course, the most expensive), is in a converted 1924 warehouse, with hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and 9' ceilings. So pretty!
My parents are going to actually go up to VA to check these places out for me, since it's not really convenient for me to go myself. I made them a Google map (I had no idea this was possible until a few days ago, but it's awesome.), with the locations of the apartments plotted out in relation to the school. I've tagged them in different colors based on my preferences: purple for the ones I really like, pink for the ones I like okay, and yellow for the ones I'd settle for.
Yesterday after work, Lauren, Catherine, and I went for a little hike on the Matsumoto trail. Cat had never done that one, and it's pretty easy and doesn't take long, so we did that instead of going to the gym. The weather was nice, not too hot or cold, and the crazy wind we had yesterday had died down by then, so it was a pleasant little hike. And then Lauren and I went out for cheap yakiniku. It was so good. I love meat.
Oh yes, and there was an earthquake this morning. It woke me up about 4:40. At first I thought I was imagining it, since I was still half-asleep, but when I kept being shaken, I realized it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. I thought about getting out of bed and getting in the doorway, just in case that was just a fore-shock, and then I thought about how I don't have a little earthquake pack, and then I went back to sleep. So much for that.
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