The JET re-contracting meeting was the other day. Basically they sit all the JETs in a room and let them air their problems (ie. bitch fest), strongly suggest that we wait until the deadline until we decide (gotta brave that bitchin' winter before you can stay another year) and give us various tips on avoiding the wintery months ahead (e.g. avoid depression and heavy drinking by drinking... in moderation). It sounded fairly boring when I first heard about it, but thanks in part to a good group of people and excellent CIRs, the meeting was fun and informative.

I learned things like:
-Winter is going to make me want to cry
-Bubble wrap those damn windows to create the *illusion* of insulation
-You can buy chemical pads and apply them to different areas to prevent frozen digits
-Complicated ways to conduct heat in my apartment using tubing and one small heater-fan
-The lack of moisture in schools and apartments will lead my skin to develop plague-like attributes
-Every Situation is Different
-Contact solution, Toothpaste, eyedrops, various medicines and other liquids will freeze UNLESS I put them in the fridge (wtf?)
-Toilets will freeze, so I'd better booze up the water the night before
-The Cake is a lie

I heard exchanges like:

Coordinator: Well, we all have things is common, like we all teach kids...
JET x: I teach demons.

*People talking about why they are leaving*

JET y: Well, my situation is a little unique as I have a son coming in February.
*clap clap clap*
JET z: It's not that unique, I'm sure there are other people who will have a son in February...

Coordinator: So, I'm passing out a sheet where I want you to write out your goals for the next two weeks so you can keep track of how things are going.
JET a: "eat a child"
JET b c d: "Two girls at the same time"

*On the issue of underutilized JETs*

JET e: Well, if you think you aren't being used, take up a project. Like me, for instance, my school has the seconded longest hallway in the country, and I got a piece of it for English.
*laughter at the hall comment*
JET e: I'm not even kidding! The longest one is in Aomori and it beats my school by about 1 metre.
*increasing laughter*
JET e: You don't understand, I ride a taxi to get from one end to the other, but it's too small for foreigners so I kinda ride on top and wave at the kids as I pass them by (they aren't allowed to ride on it) and...
Note: I can't remember how the rest of this goes, but you get the idea

*On the topic of 'sick days' and the differing thoughts on it.* NB: Most, if not all Japanese contracts have unlimited sick days that can be taken and about 15-20 days of paid vacation that can be taken. It's a very Japanese custom to take vacation time to heal up from the flu. Some vacation, huh.

Jet f: Man, I don't think the Japanese understand the concept of a sick day, they always try to make me take my paid vacation for days when I'm sick.
Jet g: Actually, I asked another teacher at my school if she was going to take sick leave when she got ill, and she just turned and looked at me and said, "You know, I don't even know if I have sick leave in my contract."
*Cue gasps of shock and terror from other JETs.

When I got to Japan, blogger just started presenting itself in Japanese. This was good in one way because it forced me to figure out Kanji I hardly ever see, and it was bad in another as I didn't have a clue about commenting and the like. Thus, I wouldn't respond to people's comments because I never knew I had any, and you had to have a google acct. to post. However, but annoying points are gone know as I receive an email know whenever I get a comment (to my cell phone, no less) and you don't need a google acct. So, comment freely and I will be sure to reply to you (eventually).

So, what's been happening lately? It's been getting cold. Stupid cold. I type this under the warming glow of my kotatsu with about 3 layers of clothes on and my Kerosene heater begging to be turned on. We've already received about a metre of snow on some days and it's always about 8C when I get up. But, the temperatures vary wildly during the day. Mornings may be cold-ass cold, but mid day will be summer hot. What the hell Japan? Whatever, I'm just going to bubble wrap my apartment when I get some tape.

I have a lot of back entries that I need to put up, but I think I'll do that kinda slowly. I also have a new camera, so I should finally get some good pics of my town and great kids up before the semester is done.

小島　よしお。。。 Kojima Yoshio...

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/773718/
(The video is all in Japanese, but don't worry, the stupidity transcends language)

The first time I saw KY was on Japanese primetime tv before school started, and I thought to myself, "man, this is some crazy shit. Oh well, since I'll never see it again I guess it's worth a chuckle." But alas, I was pretty wrong as it turns out that KY is the flavor of the month and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. His gag basically consists of him coming out in a thong, making a mistake, breaking into song, making inane observations, breaking into 'そんなの関係ねぇ～！’ (translation: that has nothing to do with this!), before finally breaking into an equally grating　'へいおっぱぴ～！' (roughly abbreviated and translated as: Ocean Pacific Peace). Repeat a few times and add a couple shots of talents breaking into forced laughter and you have topnotch Primetime TV!

Now, I don't mind that people enjoy him, nor do I mind that he's on tv. However, I do mind that almost everyday, I'm bound to hear his irritating gag 5 times. He is pretty much the bane of my existence. Literally, not a day goes by where my students won't do his gag, or adverts for his song/videos won't jump onto my phone. Heck, adults are no better, they too are eager to jump into a 'sonna ni kankei ne' at any minute's notice. I tend to be very careful to make sure that everything I do is related to something else, for fear of triggering a KY attack. My nonsequiters(sp?) have suffered in the crossfire.

Gah!! I don't get it! It can't be THAT funny! Someone explain his mass appeal, PLEASE!

遅くなってごめんなさい。今日まで、書きたいことが何もなかった。これから、人生で退屈な時に気に入っていることや気になることについて書くつもりなので、よろしかったら読んでください。

じゃぁ、今日のトピックは「あこがれ」にしようと思う。

去年、自分の人生のあこがれを決めた。「正義や文化に興味があるので、絶対に国際弁護士になりたい。」その上に、「今の国際化の経済では他の言葉は必要だから、中国語と日本語を習いたい」と思った。そのようなチャレンジは、その一瞬（時）まで、やってみたことがなかった。友達にその夢を伝えた時「できるかどうか分からないけれども、その道は苦しくて寂しくて、そして時間がかかる。本気じゃなかったら、あきらめた方がいいよ。」と言われた。ちょっと落ち込んでしまっただけど、そのことをよく考えているうちに段々僕のあこがれのための情熱が高くなってきた。最後に、「やるしか、仕方ない」と思って「できた人になる」という冒険がはじまった。

そして、始めての一歩は日本に引っ越したり、一生懸命感じを勉強したり、優しい人に出合ったりすることだった。僕は、まだ若いので、自信がある。中国語と日本語を習いたいけど、かんぺきに習うという訳ではない。あこがれまでは、限界があるので、無理なことはしない方がいいね。僕はやることをやる。もしかしたら、頑張ったのに、そのことをできなかったとしても、「やってみたなぁ。。。。」とは思うだろう。

この世では、本当に一期一会だよね。だから、僕の限界は自分自身の目で見たい。

Got internet, will update.

Saturday

The plan was that MJETs (an organization that gets Miyagi JETs to come together) was holding a walking tour of Sendai, followed by a Nomi-tabehodai (all you can eat and drink) and some late night fun. So, Alia and I catch the bus for Sendai, which ended up being a surprisingly cheap and easy way to get to the city. We get there a little early, find some JETs we know and have lunch. I quickly realize that the GPS on my phone was far more detailed that I could have imagined and has made the walking tour all but moot (it was a flimsy pretext to go partying anyway). A

About the time the walking tour was about to start, a good 20-30 Jets had gathered at Sendai station and everyone was on their cell phones trying to IR connect phones to transfer numbers and email addys (think proto typical pictures of trendy Japanese youth and we were it). After a buying 4 JLPT level 2 books (it's coming up people, I hope you've signed up!) we headed to a pretty good Indian restaurant and got smashed again over some pretty good stories.

Speaking of stories, here's a good one I heard (I'm going to convey it in first person cause it's more interesting this way). So, on Friday we had our 2nd term beginning ceremony. There were two new teachers, myself and a 20ish female Japanese teacher. The ceremony starts and the new teachers are welcomed to the stage to the regular fanfare you'd expect. The Japanese teacher goes up the stairs first and assumes her place on stage, then I head up. But wait, as I get to the last stair on the staircase, the whole thing breaks and I go tumbling down the stairs just shy of the stage.

The place goes dead silent

I get up with just a few cuts and bruises and laugh it all off, but every second I get a "Are you ok!?" from each teacher and I try to tell them I'm fine; though, it's painfully obvious that they are not fine. However, the ceremony keeps going, I say my spiel and everyone claps. Yay. Is it over? Oh no no no. The ceremony was 2 hours... 2 frackin' hours of standing in the hot sun while being leered at (the kids were supposed to stand, but many broke down and sat on the ground - we teachers did not have the luxury). So, the other new teacher and I are bowing and nodding at the appropriate times, and the time FINALLY comes to get off the stage. The poor girl next to me took one step and jelloed to the ground. And I could see the determination in her eyes to stay conscious, until the final moment when she finally conched out. "Oh, this is terrible," I thought, "but at least it takes the attention off of me."

And that's what you can expect from Japanese Junior High Schools.

Dinner was followed by some pretty good Karaoke, which was followed by a trip to Bar Isn't It (which wasn't, it was more of a club). It's also important to mention that our group acted as a sort of magnet for English capable Japanese people, so the JETs pretty much ended up being the party at the club. I could go into the details of the club, but they wouldn't be very coherent. So, just imagine lots of inter-cultural lovin' going on. After people danced for about 3 hours (until 3:30am) my small group decided to pack in for the night. I had made arrangements to stay at a friends place, but all the trains had stopped at 12am, so I was screwed. Luckily, I met an ex-Jet, Sarah, who became a private JET in Sendai and she offered her flat to us for the night. So, we finally got to bed at 4:30am and set our clocks for 9am to catch our 10am bus.

Mmm, nothing like hard drinking, strenuous exercise and the prospect of no sleep.

So, what kind of weekend does a JET have? (aka. what wacky shit happens?)

(I usually don't go over my blogs, so just deal with the style, vocab, and spelling errors)

I'm glad you asked... cause this weekend was especially crazy (Saturday at least)

Friday
On Friday, the town I'm stationed in held an 宴会(enkai = welcome party) for the 4 new JETs, and the 2 recontracting JETs were invited to come join the festivities. The new JETs are Alia, Heather, Andres, and me, and the vets are Jeff and Kennard (though we don't see much of Kennard).

The party was held at a Zen temple at 5:30 and all the big wigs from most of our schools were there. They had been planning the party for about 4 months, and the owner of the hotel was a Shotokan karate instructor whose English was very good. The food situation was a sukiyaki type deal with a gajillion different things thrown in. In the 'odd food category' I had Beef tongue (I think this was the second time I had it), some terribly bitter river fish (awa, I think) and some pork intestine (内臓 - ないぞう). They kept expecting us to freak out with every dish, but everyone held up pretty well until I had to explain that I've tried organs in a lot of styles but I just don't like the flavor of the meat. This was met with the typical "Oh, your Japanese is SOOO good" followed by several people picking organs of the grill, savoring the smell and eating it slowly while slowly drawling out, "delissssscious." And that was that.

The drink situation was of the 'bottomless beer cup' style. At about 7:30, everyone except for Alia and Heather were pretty soused (Heather doesn't like to drink and Alia has a Kidney problem). They asked/forced the JETs to sign a song, so we belted out "Amazing Grace" and The US national anthem. I don't know the anthem, so Heather thought ahead and saved my ass by bringing the lyrics. At first, I was impressed that we harmonized pretty well... until our superiors starting singing. We were schooled. I don't know how or why, but all Japanese people have hidden amazing singing powers. Well, after our impromptu song session concluded, they decided we needed more singing, and it was off to Karaoke!

...but it wasn't the Karaoke I was used to. I was a 3 TV setup with about 4 mics, but only one song can be song at a time. I felt a little bad, cause our boisterous group pretty much took over the establishment from some construction workers. So, I'm pretty drunk here, I start browsing the song selection (which was really vast, despite the place being pretty small) and I see... SUPERSTAR by S.H.E. (it's in Chinese). I decide, what the hell, I know most of the words anywho, so I select it, get up and start to belt it out....

The reactions were excellent.

The construction workers were dying of laughter, the supervisors were shocked, the bar owners were bemused and the other JET were caught off guard. When I finish it's the standard applause and Jeff turns to me and says, "Off all the things I was expecting you to sing, that wasn't it. At first I thought I was going crazy, but then I realized it was Mandarin." I quickly say that the only reason I can sing it is because I heard it so much in Chinese, before anyone gets the wrong idea. Although, that bold first strike at embarrassment really gets things started. Before long everyone is signing, getting more drunk, and we somehow manage to work 6 languages into karaoke before we ended (The construction workers did Dragostin din Tei (sp?) or the Numa Numa song, and we just about died). Although we ended at about 10pm, I was ridiculously drunk and had had no water all nite. After they sent us off in separate taxis and bid us good nite.

I somehow got my futon out before I crashed but woke up at 5am, terribly dehydrated. Mmm, it's like college all over again.

(I'm cutting this into 2-3 entries that are easier to digest) Next, Saturday in Sendai! And Sunday, smashed take 2!

So, I’m in Japan and I’m alive. I’ve been here for about a week now, and I’m been in my town in Miyagi-ken for a couple of days. I guess I have a few updates to give, so I’ll do it by memory (if you want to skip the random rants, jump ahead a bit):

Orientation Problem

This was from August 5-7 in the sweltering heat of Tokyo. The day started off with me just narrowly getting all my crap checked onto the plane (and in the case of my over-sized backpack, sneaked onto the plane). But no, I had not tricked the system because as soon as I got to my first flight from DC to Newark, I realized that the overhead bins were dangerously full, save the first few rows. Now, see, common sense would tell me to put my luggage up before the other people arrive, but no, I didn’t want them to suffer the ‘inconvenience’, so rather, I waited till I got to my row to first it completely full and asked the flight attendant what to do. The last thing I remember as she swiftly spirited my bag off the plane was “Don’t worry, we won’t lose your bag *saccharine smile*”.

Fast forward to Tokyo, “Excuse me, Mr. Grant? Your bag got delayed it should be coming in tomorrow… or the day after... perhaps *smile*” (meanwhile, I’m in a long sleeved, very warm polo shirt and jeans) “But I NEED that bag, it has everything I need in it!” Reply: blank stare. So, knowing that a losing battle was imminent I continued on with the clothing on my back. And, the best remedy for this situation was to spill booze on myself at karaoke later that night, and have the winning smell of tobacco seep in (I wasn’t smoking btw).

So, the first day of orientation, everyone is in suits, and I look a mess. One would think this situation does not warrant interrogation? Nope, I had this exchange every couple of hours: “So, you do know this is a formal event, correct?” they would say, followed by my retort “I don’t have anymore bloody clothes! They were lost!” followed by a sympathetic nod (repeated ad naseum). So, come midday, and I’m entirely expecting a report on my bag, where I get “Um, Mr. Grant, we don’t…know… where your bag is…” The sad thing is that I couldn’t even get mad at anyone because this came about 3-4 people down the chain of command. Anywho, I spent the rest of the day roaming the streets with Nat (and some other guy whose name we had trouble remembering) looking for a Uniqlo (aka, the place that sells fat foreigner-friendly clothes). And, after buying a set of clothing so I could get by, my luggage greets me as I arrive * sigh *. Better late than never.

Orientation Itself

Having frequented boards on the subject of the JET orientation, I was at least fairly certain what to expect. So, for those of you who have you eyes set on JET, let me say one thing, MOST OF ORIENTATION IS A WASTE OF TIME. Honestly, just go to the opening ceremony and your prefectural meeting and you’ll be fine. I went to two workshops, the team teaching at elementary school one and the driving in Japan one, and I find that the second did not apply to me in various ways or that I knew most of it already. Also, the ‘panel’ of learned guests was just awful, but I was unfortunately between two people and thus couldn’t leave. I luckily did not suffer any jet lag, but I could see the other JETs dropping like flies when the lights were dimmed. It was Astronomy class all over again.

What I found most impt about orientation was the social networking aspects and the exploring aspects. I got a good amount of DrumMania in, and I found a couple of Traders where I purchased Kingdom Heart 2 Final Mix (plus limited edition book!), Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, and I big box of JLPT 2kyuu flash cards. (I also looked for a TV, but I then realized that Japan uses something called D端子 for its HDTV needs (unlike our component cables) and then I proceeded to buy $200 worth of cables on Amazon.co.jp.) Anywho, I met a lot of interesting people and wouldn’t mind partying with them down the road.

Home

After Orientation, all the JETs are shipped out via train, bus, car, boat, or plane to their final destinations. I, and two other lucky people, were off to a little town in Miyagi-ken. When they said Inaka, they weren’t kidding. While our area is ,without a doubt, picturesque, it is definitely a sudden shift of lifestyle. I was a little wary at first as we passed the 90^th acre of rice field and pulled up to our Stalin-esque apartment complex, but I’ve become pretty excited about what the town offers. The people are great, the onsen are plentiful, rent is nothing, the food is cheap, and I get a good chance to improve my Japanese daily. There may not be any bars or game centers or large book stores… but I can always drive to the next town for that.

My apartment was pretty spacious, although the mess I was welcomed to took about a week to clear. Also, for some reason the faucet mechanism befuddled me for the first few days, where, you pull down on the level to get water. Easy enough, although the water tends to get everywhere if you pull the fountain a little too far. Furthermore, my natural inclination to stop an oncoming deluge of water (as trained by my faucet in America) is to pull down. So, this ended up with me being doused with water the first few days (which wasn’t so bad, considering it’s hot as hell here).

I had more, but this went on way too long.

間違いがいっぱいので、すみません。

皆様、このブログによこそ。僕のことに心配した友達に安心してくれ、まだ生きてる。JET先生として八月の五日から日本に住んでいる。まあ、「住む」というけど、本日は八月の五日から七月まで、東京のJET入門指導に出席した。必要と伝えたなのに、半分ぐらいサボった。。。でも、いいわけあるよ！まず、僕のスーツや服を入れた荷物が亡くなっちゃった。仕方がなくなったらので、ウニクロから服を買いた。まあ、やかったです、外国人サイズがあった。もう文句言わないで続く。じゃ、入門指導だって。。。いらないと思った。本当に基本的な情報を教えてくれた（例えば、「日本で運転する」というクラスでは「道路に左の方運転するべきだ」とか「スピードすらな」という情報を伝えてくれた。だが、一つの面白いことに、日本では、法律のBACがなし。言い替えれば、一つずつのビールを飲むと、運転できない（N.B.　僕なら、全然飲み運転しないけれど、ちょっと驚いた）。その以外に、オリエンテーシオンが時間を無駄に使ったと思った。

"Aren't we all a little young to live in our memories?"

Said to a friend who longed for the 'good ol' days'. Just a thought, when this generation get the green light to be nostalgic? Not sure what I'm getting at by posting this, but I hope the good times are yet to come.

I had a flow and a format on how I wanted the entry to be, but I kinda gave up halfway.

Not much to say right now. Graduation, China-trip, and Japanese Language Academy have come and gone (I still need to put up pics) and now I'm kinda in the ether before Jet Setting for Japan. I'm just filling my days with catching up with relatives, packing, movies, and random last minute purchases that make little sense (Blu tack and a new razor!). Also, finally got all my forms to Jet, paid for random stuff from my pred, got a mixi account, and sent in most of my Law school stuff to the LSAC, who will forward said stuff to the Law Schools.

Finished Harry Potter like the rest of the world, and I thought it was pretty great. Dark, engaging, jam-packed with action, and a good balance of dry humor. I've started playing Guilty Gear:Accent Core. Still trying to learn 10 kanji a day. Re-watching Hikaru no Go. Finishing up watching Dexter.

I'll be in Miyagi-ken, in a moderately small sized town. I'm looking forward to everything besides the blistering cold and awkward stares. I'm going to start using Windows Live Messenger and Skype from here on out for phone calls and such, they're quite useful on a number of levels.

Random Things

I need a new camera...

New music: Maximo Park. Listen to 'Books from Boxes'. Great band I heard the other say on Xm. You can also listen to their stuff on www.pandora.com

Movies Seen and Rated (not necessarily new): 1) Densha Otoko - Excellent: hilarious and very well put together 'romantic' (though I'd argue that it's not a chick) flick. 2) Match Point - Great: Dark and engaging. Reminded me of 'Closer' for some reason. The characters were very 'real'. 3)Harry Potter: OotP - Excellent: Was not expecting much, but the movie was a surprisingly good condensation OotP. 4) Chuck and Larry - Terrible: Just avoid this one. Unfunny and painfully so.

So, the JET interview didn't eat my face as expected.

I drove up to Arlington early on friday, singing really bad songs at the top of my lungs for 2 hours for no particular reason.

Fast-forward to the taxi ride over to the Japanese embassy. I started practicing smiling in the car and I realized that my face muscles were twitching in a fairly insane manner... AND I WASN'T EVEN NERVOUS! But, I took some deep breaths and got my muscles under control and reached the embassy...

...Where I proceeded to go to the wrong entrance and become slightly flustered until I see...

Karen! She was waiting for her ride, but she said her interview went well, but that she was terribly late for it. (BTW, traffic was sucking on Friday)

Anywho, I get to the door with the huge 'JET' sign on it (pshah) and go in. I get lead into a room to sit and wait for about an hour until my panel is ready for me (With water and tea!). I meet a panicky girl who is sure she is not going to get in because she has no Japanese and teaching skills, and proceeds to SAY THIS OUT LOUD AND UNPROVOKED (Keep in mind, interviewers are walking in and out of the waiting room, and the receptionist apparently keeps tabs on us). There was also a girl applying for a CIR position who wouldn't stop talking (although, she said she got accepted last year and had to cancel last minute, so she was just passing on vital knowledge apparently). Some others kids trickle in before 3:20, but they don't do anything out of the ordinary. Then...

Someone from my panel comes to get me and our conversation goes:

Me: Nice to meet you
Her: My name is *blank*.
Me: My name is *blank* -pause- nice to meet you. (Oh crap, did I say 'nice to meet you' twice?)

Good start, ne?

Anywho, my panel is a nice Hungarian ex-JET woman who wouldn't look me in the eye (she would rather look forlornly off to the right than in my direction) a nice African-American Ex-JET lady who was the lead interviewer, and the Japanese male diplomat who was fairly engaged.

I got no tough questions, just stuff about my teaching experience, being a Belizean-American, culture, and my time to Japan. My favorite question was this, from the lead interviewer "Frankly speaking, when a ken gets someone like us, they may think 'Oh crud, we got the defective gaijin.' because we don't represent stereotypes. What would you do if that happened?" I blathered a lot, but I felt like I answered every question correctly and I got many nods. Also, when I mentioned that I had fenced, both ex-JETs mentioned family members who fenced and we had a good laugh (though I may have lost the diplomat there). Oh, there was one point when I realized I wasn't smiling and then burst into a smile... for no reason. And, I kept nodding my head in a slightly insane manner(In a 'I got no neck bones!') style. However, Before I knew it, we were out of time but I was totally relaxed and ready for more. I left the room, asked where to catch a taxi, and told some people good luck... and that was it!

It wasn't a slam dunk interview, but I felt it went very well. If I don't get in this year, then I must have spoken too fast, or natalie voodoo-ed me.

So, just a scant 1-2 months until I find out what's up... whoo.

Duke Law's Director of Admission just emailed me and 'invited' me to apply to their law school. Plus, they offered to waive my application fee.

Question: Do (good) colleges usually ask people to apply even though they don't meet average entrance statistics?

(Note: the question above is a SERIOUS question, as I think my chances of getting into Duke are comprable to me meeting Shakira at a supermarket. Very LOW)