UC application deadline

I was tired all day today. It was hard to get through work. I was falling asleep in some of the classes that I wasn’t teaching in and really used up all my energy just to get out and go home. I was beat and I’m not sure why I was so tired either. I woke up late today, again and managed to get to school on time before first period and actually early enough to meet another teacher on the train.

First period with 11th grade yuri was pretty good. They could understand the assignment because I explained it better, I think and most of them were able to do it with ease. So they had a lot of time left over to talk and look through the brochures. I wanted to give them some time to absorb it and it wasn’t really speech intensive like my usual assignments are. I just wanted them to learn a little bit about the world and to have fun with it. English should be fun and I think that I’m so focused on preparing them for the test that they aren’t able to enjoy it at the same time.

Second period with 8th grade Yuri was at the gym today. We had the gym all to ourselves so it was quiet except for us performing the Blue Bird. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it or not, but it’s a weird drama. At first I couldn’t understand what was going on, but after seeing it so many times, I’ve started to work out the rough details of it and understand it better. They did a pretty good job with it and they need to work on their expressions more. That was the main thing about this class that needed work. Their English level is pretty high, but some of them don’t seem to be too interested in it and don’t really add that extra little flavor that makes it wonderful.

Third period was with 10th grade Fuji. They had their weather test today and did a horrible job. They all bombed on the test and didn’t do well at all. Many made too many mistakes and gave only one word answers. I didn’t really know how to grade them and it seemed as if my scores were inflated, which later I had the Japanese English teacher re-grade them by knocking off a point for each of them. I don’t think that they were prepared enough to take the exam in the first place. There really wasn’t anything to go with and I personally think that it’s kind of hard, even for me to take since I didn’t know what to expect going in. That’s when being all scattered brained really takes it toll and it’s not on the teachers, but more so on the students who suffer with bad grades because of the teacher’s inability to teach them what is necessary for the test.

Fourth period is my off period and I used it to type up my personal statement for my UC application. It was due today and I just wanted to add the finishing touches to it before I sent it off. I wanted to use the LL and it appeared to be empty, so I took the key and went up there. I only found a ton of students waiting outside because no one had the key. It turns out that they needed to room and had a class in there. The teacher was a PE teacher and they were just going to use the computers too so she said it was ok for me to be in the room and work on the computer too since they were. Usually I wouldn’t but because this needed to be done today and it was important, I decided to join in the class. It was 11th grade kiku, so it was ok with them. It turned out that they needed my assistance with the computers and since I’m one of the few teachers at the school that could help them with the computers, it was lucky that I was there. Most of the students didn’t know how to use the school computers because of the logon and passwords and there were some problems with the wireless internet. So I managed to fix all of them and helping about 13 groups with it. It made me look good in front of the students and the other teacher, so it was just about being at the right place at the right time. It was good.

Fifth period was with 9th grade kiku. We needed to get them ready for their test next week too. I think that for them, it will be difficult too. We will require them to do an interview with the teacher and act out as if they are a customer shopping at a store. They will need to identify what they want to buy and go through the process of trying it on and paying for it. We planned for next week to have them actually use real cash to pay for things, but I think that it will take too long. We went through the School trip book and covered the clothing items
Sixth period was much of the same thing as the last class. 9th grade fuji, but I went through it kind of fast because I was getting really tired and didn’t want to talk too much. I was beginning to lose my voice for a little bit too. They had a lot of time to practice and I had the students choose each other so it made it more interesting for them. I think they will do ok on the test; some students will do well while others won’t do so well. But that’s like every class.

I left school soon after that. I left with two other teachers, part-time teachers of course. Then I did some shopping at the grocery store before I went home. I needed to get some food before my day off since I don’t want to be starving tomorrow.

Then I came home and got settled, I was still a bit tired though. So I kept myself busy procrastinating. But later on, I finally got around to finishing up my UC personal statement and sent that stuff through. I’m not sure if it was good, but it’s what I have to say and I hope this time around the results will be different. I’ll have to wait another six months before I hear the results, but it’s ok, I’m not in any hurry. It will be good for me to know so I could plan out the next step for myself. I’m still planning to go back to the U.S. and live in San Francisco. I think that would be a cool place to live.

I downloaded BitTorrent today too. I’m going to see what the fuss is all about. I’ll let you know what I think about it later. I didn’t end up going to sleep till really late tonight. I was talking to a lot of people online and I’m surprised that they stayed up so late too. It was great to get talking to them because I haven’t talked to some of them for years.

Another sluggish day

I was tired because I stayed up late again last night getting everything finished and drying my clothes. I got up and ready to go to work.

I had only 4 classes today, so it wasn’t that much work, but I wanted to get things finished before I went to work. Unfortunately though, that made me a bit late to leave my house. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to make it to work on time. This would have been the first day that I would have arrived late, but somehow I made the Tokyu Toyoko line of the train that I usually get. It was perfect timing and great.

The first class was with 8th grade ran. They just did their drama today, and it was the Sound of Music. They did a pretty good job and all I did was listen to them. So I didn’t really have much work to do since I’m not leading the class.

The second class with 8th grade kiku was in the gym, since it will be their only practice in the gym with me they needed to get it down. They did a pretty good job, but they need to practice their It’s a small world song. I was a bit shocked at how good they were too.

The 4th period class was 7th grade kiku. They need a little work on their readers’ theater. They haven’t memorized their lines yet, but it’s only a week away. I knew that they would be struggling since they were having trouble with it in the summer when I was starting to teach them.

The last class of the day was with 11th grade fuji. They understood my assignment better than Ran, which was a big surprise to me. They were able to do it and they enjoyed it. They didn’t give me that much trouble today and I think that it went fairly smooth. Some students didn’t fully understand, but it wasn’t anything too serious though.

The 6th period break was the time I spent fixing all the things for the CD’s. I managed to do all the editing on the school’s computer, which was great since I hacked into the server and figured out the password and was able to download the software needed to make the editing possible. I erased everything afterwards, but was happy that I accomplished it.

Then we had English club. We played a pretty interesting game that lasted the whole time. We took the titles for the movies that we did for the school festival and tried to make other words using the letters in the title. The winner had about 60 words from Batman Begins, a true story. We needed to make it longer to compete with Pirates of the Caribbean. But they did a great job with it.

I left school really early today to type all my entries and to work on my UC application. I know that it’s due tomorrow, so I have to get cracking on it to make sure that I get it in on time. I need to work on my personal statement right now and finish the application. I think that I will submit it tomorrow though, one day before the deadline, which is a bit of a danger since the server might crash, like it has in the past, but I’m sure that they have compensated for that and will be ok since I’m a day ahead living in Japan and I could wait a little longer and submit it in the morning.

Back to work

I was sluggish all day and just tired. I dragged myself through the day and don’t really remember too much.

The first class was with 9th grade Yuri. We started them on shopping and getting them ready for their test on shopping next week.

The 4th period class was with the 11th graders Ran, I decided to hurry up my schedule so I could just do more fun activities near the end of the year and not have them worry about a test all the time. So we started the section on going abroad and I introduced a new method that they aren’t used to. I wanted to hear them speak English and research about a trip that they want to go on anywhere in the world. I brought some brochures so that they could research them, but they didn’t understand my instructions very well. They understood what I expected, but didn’t understand what I wanted them to do. I gave them a paper, but that confused them a little. But in the end it all worked out and I think that they will enjoy the next section.

The last class of the day was with 7th grade yuri. We just read from their scripts and had them practice and get ready for the English festival next week. They did a fairly good job with remembering their lines, but not the best.

During my break period, I had to fix some problems with the CD’s that CP made for the 8th grade speech contest. There were some weird noises on the CD’s that made it hard for the students to listen to after the track had finished. That wasn’t too hard to fix, but there was one that did give me a little trouble. There was one CD that left out a few sentences so I had to merge two sound files together, but I didn’t have the software to make it work. So I decided to take it home to work on it there.
When I got home, I didn’t work on that though. I had a billion other things to work on. I needed to do laundry and pay bills. So I took care of those first and threw out all the trash that was piled up before I left. And I saw an episode of everyone loves Raymond. I also talked to EK for a little bit because we needed to talk about the cell phone that I want to buy. But he didn’t talk to his friend for me. But that didn’t matter, I was just happy that I was able to take care of everything today that I wanted to take care of. I wanted to go to the bank today to get some money, but I forgot my debit card at home, so I will have to do that tomorrow.

Leaving Taiwan

So continuing from last night, Lee picked us up at 5:20am just like he said, we didn’t leave till around 5:30am because EK was sleeping and didn’t finish packing. We arrived at Amy’s house not so much later. It really is a like a high class hotel rather than an apartment. It’s really lavish and decked out; a very nice place to live.

When we came in, we all just passed out and took a nap for a few more hours before we needed to go to the airport. After a few hours passed; we woke up and Amy made us lunch. It was just gyoza or pot stickers and meat balls, but it was good and enough to make us full. She did make a lot of them. It was good and a perfect way to end our trip. She called the front desk and asked them to get us a Taxi.

The taxi was an unmarked Toyota Camry, one of those really nice ones too. So that was nice and it only cost us about $10 USD to get to the airport, which isn’t bad at all. We waited around a little bit and bought some more souvenirs before we left to go back to Tokyo.

The airplane ride wasn’t so bad. There wasn’t much entertainment on the plane though and I had a window seat, but only got a view of the right wing of the plane. The food was good though, which surprised me a little bit.

The train ride after the plane ride was much smoother except the seats were a bit hot for me. I had all my luggage in front of me and all the hot air from the heaters was blowing back at me, so it got hot after a little while.

I didn’t get home till around 11:30pm and I was pretty beat, so took a shower and got some rest.

Last Day hanging out in Taipei

In the morning, we went out on our own. Lee picked us up late this morning, but I suppose he was incredibly busy. It was ok though. We went to get some beef noodles for lunch since we were hungry as hell. Then he dropped us off at Taipei main station so EK and I could get some computer shopping done. I bought three things that cost me a lot of money. I bought two 1 gigabyte RAM memory chips for my new laptop and a 1 gigabyte mini SD memory card for my new cell phone, both of which I haven’t bought yet.

From there, EK and I split ways. I would wait at Taipei station for Amy to come with her friends and EK would continue to shop for his computer things. He didn’t buy anything at this point. Amy was about 2 hours late from the original appointment time, but that was cool since I made a new friend who was trying to tell me about a business in Taiwan. It was pretty interesting and I got to walk around Taipei station to check out all the booths and stuff.

When Amy came, we took the bus to Ximen, which is a young people’s area. I went there before with EK and Lee a few nights ago. We decided to see a movie, and saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was a lot better than I thought it would be and it was pretty good. The theater was interesting and it was a bit ghetto style, but it was a good experience.

After the movie, we met up with EK and saw that he had bought a lot of crap for his computer. He even bought a monitor. So we went into a tea shop after that and played cards with Amy, EK, Anne, and Andy. It was fun even though I lost a lot playing killer, or big 2. I had a lucky seat that I would win when I sat there and an unlucky seat when I was sitting next to EK. How odd is that? I had Taro milk tea, which tasted exactly like Tea Station’s Taro Snow Ice. After we stayed there for a little bit, we parted ways with Anne and Andy. We took the MRT to Longshan Temple station to go to Snake Alley. As you probably guessed, we went to take a look at some snakes. EK and I even decided to have a taste too. It wasn’t too bad, and it does taste like chicken, but without a lot of meat and it has a lot of bones. We drank snake poison, snake blood, snake oil and a few other things. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.

After that, Amy needed to leave, but we still wanted to get a massage. So Amy met up with her sister to go back to Taoyuan and she told Lee to come get us after we had finished with our massage. We went into a place to get a whole body massage. You know, you’re supposed to feel better afterwards, but I didn’t really feel better. It hurt a bit and left my muscles sore. I think she was pushing too hard and my muscles weren’t really relaxed. It was a good experience though. We were late to meet up with Lee and he took us home.

We began packing and since we’d have to get up a few hours later to go to Amy’s house I didn’t sleep at all. EK took a little nap on the couch downstairs, even though he should have been packing.

Hualien Ocean Park

Hualien Ocean Park was the only thing that we did today. We also went to another place that’s near the park too; it was the hotel that we were considering staying at. At first we thought that we would just leave the park and go somewhere else, but then we scrapped that idea since there wasn’t anything near that we could go to or to do. So we stayed at the park for a little while. We did some roller coasters there and played some games. I played a basketball game and got a two game total of 151 points, which is the most I’ve ever gotten and I think that’s pretty impressive.

We had lunch at a restaurant on the premises and it turned out horrible. The taste was just nasty. It is probably the worst thing that I’ve eaten since I’ve been in Taiwan. From there, we did some shopping for souvenirs. I wanted to get some things for my friends and for some teachers at my school. I couldn’t find enough good gifts to give away since they didn’t have that many things for sell and their shopping district was very limiting. I did manage to get a few things though, so I was happy about that.
We took a bus to the Belle Vista Hotel at top of the hill above\r\n the theme park. The hotel was very luxurious. We had a cake set at the hotel, which is probably one of the more expensive things that we¡¦ve done here in Taiwan. We had to walk back to the bus which is at the base of the mountain. It took a little bit of time to get there since we were so far up, but we took a little shortcut and crossed a bridge that was only for use of the staff. We did it anyways and were able to arrive at the bus with just enough time to get good seats on the bus. I was talking to some of the other passengers while Eigo slept on the way to the train station. I got really annoyed with\r\n Eigo today. It was pretty bad too and I haven¡¦t talked to him all night since we boarded the train till now. The train ride back was very quiet since I didn¡¦t talk to him. I think that it was all the things that were adding up that led to this happening. I just got tired of it yesterday and last night especially and was getting offended by him. He was being stupid and his overconfidence in himself was really unappealing. He just had a bad attitude towards everything and it really pissed me off so I just took it easy and just let things be. I didn¡¦t want to blow up in his face since that wouldn¡¦t be cool of me, but to not do anything was probably not good either. ",1]
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We took a bus to the Belle Vista Hotel at top of the hill above the theme park. The hotel was very luxurious. We had a cake set at the hotel, which is probably one of the more expensive things that we’ve done here in Taiwan. We had to walk back to the bus which is at the base of the mountain. It took a little bit of time to get there since we were so far up, but we took a little shortcut and crossed a bridge that was only for use of the staff. We did it anyways and were able to arrive at the bus with just enough time to get good seats on the bus. I was talking to some of the other passengers while EK slept on the way to the train station.

I got really annoyed with EK today. It was pretty bad too and I haven’t talked to him all night since we boarded the train till now. The train ride back was very quiet since I didn’t talk to him. I think that it was all the things that were adding up that led to this happening. I just got tired of it yesterday and last night especially and was getting offended by him. He was being stupid and his overconfidence in himself was really unappealing. He just had a bad attitude towards everything and it really pissed me off so I just took it easy and just let things be. I didn’t want to blow up in his face since that wouldn’t be cool of me, but to not do anything was probably not good either.

I think that the thing that really bothers me is that he\r\n can¡¦t take care of things. He couldn¡¦t make decisions and that really slowed down the process. I feel that my greatest mistake was allowing him to come with me on this trip. I hardly regret, but that¡¦s my regret. Since the beginning I knew that bad things would happen and that I would end up not enjoying my trip, like I do now, but I didn¡¦t know how things would turn out. At the beginning of the week, things were looking good. He was bad, but within tolerable levels. The first problem that I had with him was that he bought the tickets way too late and we lost a day because of it. I mean, I did enjoy the symposium and got a chance to see my friends and develop a stronger relationship with them, but still, I lost a\r\n day I could have spent in Taiwan. He defense was that he put the blame on the company and said they had mixed up the airplane flight times, but it wouldn¡¦t have happened if he had just followed my instructions to buy the airline tickets in October. He waited to the beginning of this week to pay for it, how ridiculous is that? When we got back home, I was watching TV and one of the movies said something that really did say it for me. It¡¦s easier to remember a phone\r\n number than it is to forget it. ",1]
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I think that the thing that really bothers me is that he can’t take care of things. He couldn’t make decisions and that really slowed down the process.

I feel that my greatest mistake was allowing him to come with me on this trip. I hardly regret, but that’s my regret. Since the beginning I knew that bad things would happen and that I would end up not enjoying my trip, like I do now, but I didn’t know how things would turn out. At the beginning of the week, things were looking good. He was bad, but within tolerable levels. The first problem that I had with him was that he bought the tickets way too late and we lost a day because of it. I mean, I did enjoy the symposium and got a chance to see my friends and develop a stronger relationship with them, but still, I lost a day I could have spent in Taiwan. He defense was that he put the blame on the company and said they had mixed up the airplane flight times, but it wouldn’t have happened if he had just followed my instructions to buy the airline tickets in October. He waited to the beginning of this week to pay for it, how ridiculous is that?

When we got back home, I was watching TV and one of the movies said something that really did say it for me. It’s easier to remember a phone number than it is to forget it.

Heading to Hualien and Taroko Gorge

This is a place that most people go to when they travel to Taiwan. It’s one of the most famous places to visit for foreigners to Taiwan. We decided to go with this place for our outside of Taipei excursion. Originally we planned to go to three different places that were recommended in the books, but we soon realized that it was impossible for us to do with the tight schedule that we have. So out of the three that we had, we chose one to go with and it was Taroko Gorge since Lee recommended it.

The morning started off very early. We needed to be out of the house by 6:30am, which is the earliest we’ve gotten up since we’ve been in Taiwan. We needed to catch the 8am train to Hualien. The train ride was really incredible and I was surprised at all the great views that I’ve seen on this trip. It’s really spectacular to see and I’m glad to experience it. I think that I must have used up a lot of my battery in my camera and took a load of pictures more so than any other day probably.

When we arrived at Hualien station, we met up with our tour guide and they took us to a few places near the gorge. The first place we went was to a beach that was just absolutely fantastic. Then we went near the gorge and took some pictures at the entrance of the gorge. There was a little place just past the entrance that was pretty fabulous and was great for picture taking. It is by far one of the most spectacular things that I've seen in my life. It's on many postcards, so it was great to see it in person. We also went to the temple near the Grand Formosa Hotel. The bus driver kept dropping us off at various locations and gave us a chance to walk along the gorge so that we could take many pictures. It was a great view and I didn't mind the walk since it was great. I was the only one in my group to actually get to the top and take pictures, while everyone was taking a rest near the bus and at the hotel. After this pit stop we stopped off at a jewelry gift shop where Eigo bought something for his mother. Then the driver dropped us off at our hotel.

After arriving at the hotel, we watched some TV and then left to look for dinner. We had dinner at a little wonton shop, and since it was only wonton, it wasn't enough to make us full. So we just walked around to find something. It became a very very long walk around the city of Hualien. I was just following Eigo's lead, since he was getting really annoying at this point. He was just pushing my patience to its limit and I couldn't take it anymore. I was able to get a lot of photos on this walk around the city. At the last place that we stopped at, I bought a grip of DVDs and VCDs too. I was looking for some movies and found them in English. I would like to get a few more before I leave, but I doubt that it will be possible. But I finally bought some souvenirs for myself and I could enjoy it.

When we arrived at Hualien station, we met up with our tour guide and they took us to a few places near the gorge. The first place we went was to a beach that was just absolutely fantastic.

Then we went near the gorge and took some pictures at the entrance of the gorge. There was a little place just past the entrance that was pretty fabulous and was great for picture taking. It is by far one of the most spectacular things that I’ve seen in my life. It’s on many postcards, so it was great to see it in person. We also went to the temple near the Grand Formosa Hotel. The bus driver kept dropping us off at various locations and gave us a chance to walk along the gorge so that we could take many pictures. It was a great view and I didn’t mind the walk since it was great. I was the only one in my group to actually get to the top and take pictures, while everyone was taking a rest near the bus and at the hotel. After this pit stop we stopped off at a jewelry gift shop where EK bought something for his mother. Then the driver dropped us off at our hotel.

After arriving at the hotel, we watched some TV and then left to look for dinner. We had dinner at a little wonton shop, and since it was only wonton, it wasn’t enough to make us full. So we just walked around to find something. It became a very very long walk around the city of Hualien. I was just following EK’s lead, since he was getting really annoying at this point. He was just pushing my patience to its limit and I couldn’t take it anymore. I was able to get a lot of photos on this walk around the city. At the last place that we stopped at, I bought a grip of DVDs and VCD’s too. I was looking for some movies and found them in English. I would like to get a few more before I leave, but I doubt that it will be possible. But I finally bought some souvenirs for myself and I could enjoy it.

Then we came back to the hotel and ate the dinner that I bought. It consisted of Pringles and Ritz peanut butter crackers while we were watching Ocean's Eleven on TV. After that we were watching Master and Commander on TV. That is a freaking long movie and I didn't like it. So I wasted a lot of sleep time to watch it. It was definitely not a good idea.

Shopping all day / Chang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Today, the only plan was to go shopping for some electronics and things of that nature. So the first thing we did today after getting up was eat a little breakfast which was a gift from Lee’s parents. It was quite tasty and a great way to start the day. We went to a little shopping street area where everything is supposed to be the cheapest in Taipei. It’s like the Akihabara in Japan and there are many stores lined up for a few blocks selling things at below market price. I thought that it was pretty interesting. Things were a great deal and I had my eyes set on a few things that I have wanted for a really long time.

My goals for the trip there were to get a new laptop if I saw one that interested me. But I couldn’t get persuaded from the one that I’ve longed for in Japan. Since I could get that customized to fit my needs and even though it will be expensive, I think that’s still the way to go. So I had erased my goal before even going to the Taipei shopping area.

So the next thing that I wanted was a projector. I've wanted one since I moved to Japan and even then some. I'm not sure why I didn't end up buying one, but I think that it had something to do with the price since it was a bit out of my budget. I didn't want to spend more than 700 dollars for it, but it ended up being around 800 dollars for a good one, so I didn't end up buying one of them. I would have to replace the light bulb after 1000 hours of use, and the bulbs are really expensive too. I have the money and I brought enough with me to purchase it, but I just didn't.

The last thing that caught my attention today was a portable media player. It's like a larger version of the Ipod with video. The one that I saw was a 40 gigabyte 3.6 inch screen, but I just didn't want to spend the money about it. The one that I was looking at turned out to be way more expensive than the 60 gigabyte ipod with video and it just wasn't worth it. So I didn't end up getting anything. I turned my attention to DVDs but couldn't find anything that I really wanted or liked. So I ended up going home empty handed from all the shopping at the electronics store area. We went there twice today too. We started the day there and then we went back after we went to Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall.

The memorial is quite impressive, but what would you expect from the person who led the country. It's rather large and took a bit of time just to walk from place to place. We were dropped off in front of the library and then we walked under the grand gates in the front. We took a ton of pictures, so when I get back to Japan, I'll load them up. The national theater and the national music hall are also on the grounds. We took a bit of time in the memorial section that was dedicated to his personal life. He's got a ton of awards and all that stuff, it's pretty cool to see. I'm glad that I had the chance to see that and go walk around. I bought some postcards in the gift shop that I plan to be mailing out this week and very soon. I think that I won't get that much of a chance later on in the week. It's pretty hard to find a post office here, although I've seen 2 already.

Since we worked on our plans for the next two days this morning, we could take the time to take it easy today. Later in the evening, we went to a Shibuya like place where a lot of young people hang out. It was pretty interesting. I found a Lollicup there, but it wasn¡¦t that good to be honest with you. It wasn't sweet enough for my taste. I would have liked it better if it was sweeter, but since I got honey milk tea, I thought it would be sweet enough. It was much better than Eigo's though. His didn't taste so great and it was just a regular Tapioca Milk tea. We were just walking around waiting for Lee to finish his massage. He really needed it because he was very tired and I could tell that.

I'm glad that we had the opportunity to eat some good food today too. We had a hong kong style lunch which was a mix of three meats pork, duck, and beef. It was very good and I'm glad that I had the chance to eat that. For dinner, we were just walking around the Shibuya like place and picked up some rice noodle dish. It was really nice. Then we came back to his place and I could get a chance to type up this entry. Eigo called Sally and talked to her for a little bit, but it was faster than my shower, so I¡¦m not sure what happened there. I¡¦d like to find out some more details about it though. We have to get some shut eye early on tonight because we have to get up at 5:30am to get ready to go to Tarako Gorge tomorrow morning. I think that it will be a fun trip, even though we don't get to do the things that we want to do like go to an open onsen and go for a 2 mile hike. But I think that it will be good anyways.

On the beach in Taiwan

an hour trip away from Taipei

Today, we set out to a new place that not many people know about in Taiwan. It is a famous place for natives to go to and it was a rare treat for us to go with someone who knew a lot about it. I think that we were fortunate to have this opportunity to come here at this time when everything is just working out right for us.

So the trip that we took today was about an hour away from downtown Taipei. We went with a few more people than we did in the days before. At first as we left Lee’s apartment, we met up with Vivian again and her friend named Sally. We took a little trip to Taoyuan to pick up Vivian’s sister, Gladys and we had a little breakfast there. Gladys made us a sandwich for breakfast and bought milk tea for us. Both were excellent. We found out that Vivian's house is a six story building and its all their family. That's very nice and we took their nice Volvo SUV to the onsen place that we were planning to go to.

About an hour into the trip, we stopped at a place for lunch. It was a very traditional taste than before and it was really good. We both enjoyed the food very much. We had a lot to eat at this little small place. We were the only customers in the store, which made us feel very special. We had a chance to make some traditional tea of the Hakka tribe of Taiwan. It was pretty interesting since we needed to smash the sesame seeds with some peanuts and a host of other ingredients to make the tea. We added oolong tea to make the flavor and it was very good. It was tasty, but the problem that I had with it was that my plum stick melted away faster than everyone else. Soon after that we left on another 40 minute adventure on the winding mountain side to a little onsen place that was called the East River something something resort.

It was a nice little place and there weren’t that many people there either. That was the really good part about it. It’s not like Japan where you have to go around naked, so we were wearing swim suits. I was happy that I got a chance to wear my swim suit that I bought in Okinawa again. Since I paid a large amount for them, I’m glad to be making use of them. It was great to be relaxing and talking with them. Gladys, Lee, EK and I were in the outside onsen area, while Vivian and Sally were in the inside one. EK and I kept on switching from hot to cold baths. It was great and really relaxing. I’ve got a lot of pictures of the place and of us there. I'll post them up as soon as I get back to Japan and to my computer. It was fun, relaxing and enjoyable so that was a great day to have during our vacation. It was a very good cultural experience and the scenery was just absolutely breath-taking. I'm glad that I got to see the countryside of Taiwan. That was something that I planned for this trip. I mean when EK and I were thinking about where we could go or what we could do, the main three things that we wanted to see, were all outside of Taipei and all dealt with nature. So getting out there and seeing it was very nice and good for us.

On the way home, things were a bit different. EK kept on going on and off of his sleeping patterns. Sally sat in the back seat and slept most of the way. I was sitting next to Gladys who was talking for most of the trip back home. It was a bit tiring because of the mountain driving and the heat in the car. I needed to get some fresh air from time to time, but the twisting and turning was a bit much for me. I was beginning to have a headache during the car ride. We took a local road to get back to Vivian’s house, so it took a lot longer than anyone or everyone expected. At the end, we were talking more with each other and they were asking me things about what I thought about the culture and things of that nature. We had to head back because Gladys had to go to class since she had two classes tonight. She was late for class though since we took the local route there.

From there, Gladys went to school and Vivian stayed at home. Lee took EK, Sally, and I back to Taipei. Sally had an appointment with one of her friends that she was setting up on a date. They were just going to go see the new Harry Potter movie that just came out here. The ride back to Taipei was pretty interesting. EK and Sally were both in the back seat and talking to each other a lot. I’ve never seen him this way macking on girls in front of everyone. I think that it was pretty obvious. They were speaking all in Japanese too. She used to live in Japan to study Japanese and she’s really really good at it. I was very impressed with it and how fluent she became with only living and studying for a year. They were talking a lot, while I was just talking to Lee to keep him away while he was driving. I was talking to him about the time one of my friends met up with him at the airport. It’s such a small world. He told me about the places that we went to and which place that he enjoyed the most while he was traveling. He enjoyed traveling around Europe and I thought that was very interesting. I really want to go there too, and I'm just trying to figure all that out now too.

After that we went to get some dinner at a Taiwanese style Shabu Shabu. I thought that it was fairly inexpensive to have each person to able to make their own meat and vegetables. It was a lot to eat and afterwards I was stuffed. I ordered the Lamb meat, and it seems that since I’ve been in Taiwan, I’ve been eating a lot of that. I think that it’s only because it’s incredibly under priced, but the quality is still high. I ate a lot and became full quite quickly. We left to go home soon after that. Then EK and I were working on our plan for the rest of our stay in Taiwan. Lee looked stressed about something. I’m not sure if it’s us that’s making him stressed out, but I thought that it was about time that we took over with the vacation planning and set out some of the important things that we wanted to get checked off and made a pretty good plan for it to be accomplished. I put together a plan of all the things that we haven’t seen, but want to see, plus meeting up with all the new friends that we’ve made and the old friend that I have.

A day out in Taipei

Today’s plan was to go out into Taipei and to visit some of the things that we wanted to see most in the capital. There were many things that we wanted to do while we were here, but I think that today we only wanted to go to Taipei 101 and to visit the National Palace Museum.

The first thing that we did today was go to get Shao Long Pao or Taiwanese styled dim sum. It was pretty good and a great way to start off the first real day of our stay in Taiwan. We picked up one of Lee’s friend at Taipei station and we got to hang out with each other for most of the day. It was nice to meet up with some of his friends.

After that brunch, we headed towards Longshan Temple to do some praying. It was very nice and interesting to see. Lee and his friend Vivian told us what each of the gods were and how to pray to them. That was very educational since I always pray, but I end up leaving out a lot of details that I should have included. I made a lot of the same wishes with each of the Gods, but at different times.

From there, we grabbed some tea at the original tea station. It was a nice little coffee house and something that I haven¡¦t seen before anywhere that I've been. They had a nice little setup and the thing I ordered (Chrysanthemum tea with honey) was damn good. I really enjoyed it and was surprised at the quality. I really missed the true style of milk tea, but I guess I will grab some later. We are still early into the Taiwan trip.

We walked down the street some and found a place that we will be going to later on in the week. It's a place called Snake Alley and I think that you could figure out what the feature of the street is. You could see live snakes in containers and people preparing them. It was still very early in the day, so no one was really there and no one was eating snakes, although we did see some dead ones and live ones. It was a pretty interesting place to be and to think about eating them later on in the week, I think I'm just preparing myself for it.

We had wakue, which is a southern Taiwanese dish of rice. It doesn't look very good, but it does taste very good. I was a bit surprised when I saw it. But when I tried it, it was actually very tasty and something I wouldn't mind eating again.

After all those things, we jumped into the car and went to the National Palace Museum. We saw a ton of cool things on the way there. We passed by the National Theater and then Chiang Kai Shek Memorial hall and then the Grand Hotel. It was a bit hard to get some pictures of them, but I think that it was pretty cool, just to see it. It was beginning to rain a little bit harder, but still I wouldn't even consider it rain. It was more of a light sprinkle.

Most of the National Palace Museum was under renovation, but we did and could see a lot of things. It was pretty interesting and the artifacts that were there were plentiful. We really couldn't see all the things with enough time to enjoy them. At the end we were rushing a little bit so that we could make a 4:45pm departure from the museum. We only took about an hour and a half there to see most of the exhibits there. We took some pictures, even though we weren't allowed to take pictures, but they weren't of anything in the exhibit. It was only of the sign of the museum.

From there, we left to take the MRT, which is the subway system here in Taipei. We were taking the stop to the Taipei City Hall exit, which is the closest to Taipei 101. From there, we parted ways with Vivian, who was our guide for most of the day and providing some translation for us on many things. We wanted to go into the tower first and go onto the observatory deck. We took the elevator to the 89th floor of the building and had a great view. It was nice even though it was raining outside. There are actually a lot of lights in Taipei, which makes it a great view.

In the observatory, we had some ice cream, the world's highest Ice cream shop and it was good. We took the world's fastest elevator up to the top, which took about 40 seconds go up about 80 something floors. They have many world records for the building. I even took a piss in the world's highest restroom. Although I'm sure that's not a world record or anything, but just something that I noticed. We went outside at the very top for the outside observatory. It was windy and rainy, but it was fun. The wind was very strong and when you're up at that altitude, it can get scary as hell. But I enjoyed it and it was a very liberating experience to be that high. It had an awesome view too.

After that little trip up the world's tallest building, we decided to do some shopping and looking for some dinner. I wanted to stop by the Sony store to see how much the laptops would be, but they are about the same as they are in Japan, but they lack some of the cool things that are in the Japanese versions. I think that it would need to come from Japan to make it worth it. We went to the food court in the building to get some food. We decided to get some Taiwanese styled food since we were in Taiwan. I didn't get what I really ordered, but it was still good. I thought that the thing that Eigo got was a bit better than the one that I got though. It was still enough for me, probably too much for me, but I thought that it was good.

After dinner, we started to go shopping for some electronics, but Eigo was having some troubles finding the store. We went into the wrong building and then we went on the wrong floor. But we ended up finding our way to the right place. We didn't have much time to do anything there though. We did look around for a little bit, but nothing really and nothing in too deep. I thought that it was a bit overpriced since I could buy the same laptop in Japan for about the same price, but this is Taiwan, where the laptops are supposed to be much cheaper. But we didn't have much time since the store was closing and they were kicking us out. We walked around outside for a little bit to see what we could do. We still had about 30 minutes left before Lee would come and pick us up, so we went around to different game centers to see if we could do anything. We got stuck in one watching the trailer for a new movie that will be coming out during Christmas time. It was for the new movie about the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, witch and the wardrobe. It looks very good so far from what we saw on the trailer.

Then we got picked up right outside of the building. He showed up pretty promptly, which I was surprised at since I don't know the traffic patterns of Taipei. I would think that it would take more time, but it didn't.

We also had the time and pleasure of going to the night market at Shilin. That was pretty interesting and I bought some things to keep your hands warm when it gets cold out. It's actually pretty cool and I bought one for everyone in my family for when they come to Japan and it will be very cold so they can use it. I felt really sick in the stomach today and I think it was because of the dinner that I ate at Taipei 101. My stomach is still very weak and I'm not sure that it's a good thing to always be traveling with this kind of problem.

When we came back, we stopped by the supermarket, which was a first for us in Taiwan. I didn't think much of it, but it does look similar to any other market place. Staying at this place is a whole lot better than staying at a presidential suite at a 5 star hotel because we don't have to pay for it, we have a personal tour guide to take us everywhere, introduces us to his friends, has a stellar view of the city of Taipei, enough entertainment to keep us busy for years and is just kick ass. This is the life that all people strive to have. It's very inspirational for me. This is exactly what I want and now it's here in the material world and not just in my imagination.

I've learned a lot about what I want and how I'm going to start working on it from this trip. I need to stay focused and stay the course to get here. But it's definitely an eye opener. I really have been thinking a lot while I've been on this trip and I think that I've got to work out some of the priorities in my life to see if I'm heading in the right direction to meet my needs. I think that after seeing and touching all of this, I just want more and I can't go back to where I'm at. I did sacrifice a lot to get here, so I'll have to figure out what's the next step for me. It's nice and I decided that I'm having a very pleasant vacation here. I'm going to take things slowly and enjoy it here. I have decided that I will indeed come back to visit Taipei often. Not only are things much cheaper, but the standards of living is good and the way of life is good. I really do feel comfortable here compared to Thailand.

arriving in Taipei

Since we came to Taipei later than I thought that we would, our plans had changed a little bit. I thought that I would have had to leave the English Fun Fair right after it finished, then getting to Narita by night and then catching the air flight to Taipei and arriving that night. But since the plan changed, I had to get up at 4:30am to catch my plane at 11:05am. That’s a bit long to get ready to go on the airplane I think. I wanted to leave yesterday, but then I’m glad that I didn’t, although that would have been more enjoyable. It was a long wait at the airport to get into the gates and even board the airplane. I thought that it was extremely weird that the airport was so busy since I’ve never seen it busy at all. From what I heard, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin was coming to Japan the same day we were leaving to Taiwan.

The flight wasn’t bad at all. It was a short little hop over the bottom part of Japan and we were soon in Taipei. It did go by really quick and it wasn’t even long enough for us to have a movie to watch while we were flying. It wasn’t a high class plane even though we were flying Air Nippon, which is the sub-ANA flying company. The food was alright, nothing special which is also usual for air flights. But not having the movie on an international flight did bother me. I mean we didn’t have much entertainment to keep us busy for 3 hours. I would have liked something other than what they were showing on the screen. I’m spoiled with the JAL and Singapore Airline flights that I’ve had.

We arrived at the airport in Taipei and it was incredible. That airport is really new looking and extremely clean. I was impressed with the customs and the fact that we got through really quickly. I guess there weren’t that many flights going into Taipei at that time, even though it was in the afternoon. It seemed like we were the only flight that came in at that time since we got through immigration and baggage claim in a total of 10 minutes. I got picked up by Amy and her father; they took us to an amazing place in Taoyuan. They have a stellar looking apartment, or shall I say the Japanese word Mansion. It was very nice and something that was just awesome. They had a huge TV and all the other good stuff. We kinda got hooked into it while we were supposed to be planning our trip to the Southern part of Taiwan and the rest of the week in Taipei. We didn’t get much planning done, but everyone got involved with our planning and helping us to decide what we should do. Amy’s sister works for a hotel and she called around to get us some information for tours around Taiwan. I think that she was really pushing for us to take up one of her offers. They did sound good and something that I’m pretty sure that if we did take, would have made everything else easier for us. But EK didn’t want to take them up on it. I would have liked to since I know that we wouldn’t be able to do all of that on our own, but EK thought otherwise.

We chilled at her apartment for a little bit. I was working on fixing her computer so that her webcam would work with video, but I didn’t get enough time to figure it out before we had to leave for dinner. We talked about something happening in San Diego and her life there, but we kept on getting interrupted by EK. It was starting to get annoying and this was at the beginning of the trip.

Lee couldn’t go pick us up at the airport because he was taking a class that he needed to be at. So he came later to pick us up because we were going to stay at his house in Taipei. He came to around 6pm and we all went to eat dinner with each other. We went to a restaurant near Amy’s house. It was something like a Jasmine on Convoy, but nothing as flashy. The food was excellent. I absolutely loved it. It was very tasty and I really did miss Chinese food because of it. I forgot how real Chinese food tastes. That’s horrible that I’ve gotten used to the taste in Japan that I forgot all of the other tastes. I think that the best dish of the evening was lamb. I love to eat it, it was really damn good. It was nice soft and tender and juicy too.

After dinner, it started raining for a little bit. We got a picture with Amy, her sister and EK and me in front of the restaurant before we jumped into the car to go to Lee’s house. He has a nice place on the 16th and 17th floor of the building that his family built. It was really cool and had one hell of a first impression on us. I’m convinced that all international students must be rich because it was such a nice place and it was no wonder that he could study abroad. We decided to call it a night pretty early and we got the tour of the mansion. I quickly grabbed the master bedroom since Lee wasn’t using it. It had a stunning view since most of the room was window. Not much privacy if you ask me, but since you’re so high, it’s not really much of a problem; although I did have the feeling of falling down because of the height. EK got the room that Lee’s girlfriend from Japan stayed in when she’s in town.

English Fun Fair and YOKE's symposium

I think that today went very smooth and was very good. I didn’t see much of a problem today. I got up a bit late, but still arrived at work a bit early. I think that’s a bit weird, but that was beside the point. I had enough time to get something to eat and to eat it before all the real work began. I thought I wouldn’t have enough time to eat this morning, but I got lucky and found some time. I was working in a special room today, one that parents and students would be joining all the time. It was a rotating room, so that the main students would be in high school in the 10th grade speaking with two native teachers. We didn’t know how many parents and their daughters would come, so I was the backup if the other two couldn’t handle having too many students. They did all the work and I just helped out. So I ended up not doing too much. The high school students that went into the groups were pretty interesting and some of them are new to the school, so they have never experienced what an English Fun Fair is. I think that was a good experience for them to have. I did this till it hit around noon. Then I helped out to clean up, and I was gone. I left school rather early, but still later than I expected. Since I wasn’t going to be going to Taiwan until tomorrow, I had more time and another plan to meet up with something that I’ve been working on all year.

I left the school and soon found myself at the Motomachi-Chukagai station. I believe that is the closest station to where the symposium would be held. I went straight there and started working right away. I didn’t have anything to do though since they were all finished setting up and the symposium already started. It was cool to be hanging out outside and talking with the members of the Red Shoes. I think that at this point, my Japanese ability was at its highest it’s ever been. I could converse quite easily and they could understand and I could understand too. It was great. I saw the girl that I thought was amazingly beautiful and talked to her for a little while. She was surely pretty and I think that it was good to meet her again. I was lucky that I had this second chance to even meet her since I should have been in Taiwan already.

I did some prep work for the after symposium party. We set everything up and then the party started. It was pretty good, but nothing different from usual. It was like when I came to Japan on this exchange. I felt really happy that it was all coming together. There was talk at this event that the red shoes would break up because the members or mainly the leaders didn’t like working with YOKE. It was a bit sad since we wouldn’t be working with each other anymore, but it was good that it finished well.

After the party finished, we cleaned some things up and stayed after to talk a bit more until all the delegates left back with their host family. We went around to Café Veloce to get some coffee afterwards and this would probably be the last time we’d be working together. We took some pictures and then we parted ways. I had to get home in a hurry because I needed to finish packing for tomorrow’s trip to Taiwan. I was really on a high today too.

A regular day on Friday

It was a bit tough today to get through 5 classes. I was still tired from yesterday and staying out a little late with the delegates. I think that they are pretty cool people. They seemed nice from what I’ve known about them, but they have a typical “they aren’t that interested” in what the program is really all about. I was a bit exhausted because of everything that was going on yesterday and especially with all the running and physical things that were bothering me. I was having trouble walking today.

The first class that I had today was 11th grade Kiku, we finished up the Oral exam today. They all gave their speeches and only a few people need to take it. But the student is one that won’t come back to the school, so I don’t think we would have to wait for her. They struggled with memorizing their speech that was the main problem that really affected everything else on their speech. They didn’t do so well overall. We started on the “On Air” worksheet that I made for them and stopped right before the key expressions part. Some of the students were really annoying for some reason. Both teachers were working on other things today during the class today too, which is very distracting. I think that if the teachers aren’t paying attention, something must be wrong and it is a bit disrespectful.

The second class that I had today was with 7th grade ran, and the lesson for today was with a questions and answers game. We did it a few times for them. We did this instead of the English drama, which we should have done since it is getting dangerously close to their performance date. They don’t have many classes to practice and I kind of wish that the other teacher just follow the syllabus since that was already planned for her to do. She is throwing everyone and everything out of whack by changing it on her own, without really consulting anyone on it. She also introduced some of the people coming to the English fun fair so the students would get an idea of who were coming before they actually meet them.

The third class today was with 9th grade Ran. We were getting ready for the preparations for their trip to America. We handed out their school trip books today. They weren’t on their best behavior today either. But the thing was they weren’t horrible either, but still more on the bad side than on the good side. We did a part on shopping today. We finished page 12-13 and then CP introduced her friends that were going to come to the English Fun Fair so that the students would get an idea of who they would meet.

After lunch, I had 10th grade yuri to teach. We took some time to finish the have you ever rap worksheet and then I passed out worksheet number two. They had two worksheets to work on this topic. It was to get them to go around and ask people what they have done before. Then I gave them 10 minutes to go around filling it out. We finished with me telling them what’s on their test.

The last class of the day was with 7th grade fuji and we were once again working on the drama for the English Festival. They changed the plan back to the schedule because we had consulted and it would be best for them to practice for that and stick with the syllabus. They too were doing Beauty and the Beast. But this class has a slightly different version than the class that we taught earlier today, which does make a difference in the reading. It is essentially the same though, but they have less to memorize. I think that they are also really starting to understand it too. We showed the pictures of the people who were going to come to the English fun fair and played the questions and answers game again. We finished with the song to beauty and the beast. They need a lot more practice on it. They haven’t practiced a lot or even enough.

A day and night with the delegates

So in the morning, I had to get up and go meet up with them at City Hall. It turns out that I didn’t need to dress up all formal or anything since I’m just a volunteer and not part of the delegation. It was ok since I’m used to wearing a suit anyways. But it’s better to look more professional anyways. It’s standard Japanese dress code anyways. We met up with the delegation after they had met with the Mayor of Yokohama. From that point, we took them to a Junior high school called Fujimi junior high school. We spent quite a bit of time there too. We arrived there around 10am and had a little orientation session about YOKE and what it stood for and what it does. Then we had a little time to go around the classrooms and see them in progress as the students are being taught in a variety of different subjects.

The English conversation room was very interesting to me because they were talking about games and just talking in English. They didn’t have a native English teacher, but the teacher that was teaching was just repeating himself over and over again. The students understood and responded. I thought that was interesting since I never usually repeat as much as he does. So that was interesting for me to think about repeating more to get them used to the language and the meaning.

We then went outside and watched some of the students play on the track and field. We went into the gym where they had a few other events going on. They were many things to do at the school in terms of physical sports. I think that it was pretty interesting to see and they had gymnastics. It was a co-ed public school, which is a side of Japan that I haven’t seen since the other public school I went to was at the High School level. They generally were interested in talking with the native English speakers and they weren’t too shy about their English. They were struggling with it, but I applauded that they were trying. Our group got stuck without a translator, which was weird, but some of the delegates spoke Japanese and I was doing my best to translate too. So our group was ok.

After another briefing session, we had lunch with the students. Our table had a few girls from China that were studying at the school and had only been there or actually in Japan for a few months. My Chinese, as I’m ashamed to say wasn’t up to par to be able to create conversation with them. So our table was incredibly quiet. A stranger walked into the room and I’d have to say that she is one of the best looking Japanese females I’ve encountered in Japan. Well, she’s my type. I think that all the guys couldn’t resist but to talk to her. I am usually good with that, but for some reason, I was compelled to talk to her and introduce myself. I didn’t make a move on her or anything, but I really wanted to. It was something that was uncharacteristic of me, but I don’t regret it.

From that point, we split into two groups A and B. I was in the B group which went to a community center that offers outside school studies or a facility for students of foreign countries to come and study and get help with other things. The center was interesting since they don’t advertise or anything, but they have a solid group of kids come to study and get help there. It’s interesting how it works and how it survives, but it’s something that is necessary for the students to get the help for school. Some of the students from the school we visited today attend this center to get help as do other schools in the area. The area of Yokohama is famous for having a lot of foreign residents residing there. We spent a few hours here and I was in charge of taking photos and listening and doing other various things too. It was interesting to see how things work in the volunteer sector in Japan as opposed to how we do things in America.

From there, we jumped into taxis and drove to Chinatown with the delegates. We were going to let them have some free time in Chinatown to look at gifts and just experience the area. Our group was too big to go together, so we split up into a few groups and went around. We got some good pictures and bought some stuff there. It was nice and interesting. I ran into a few of the other group members around Chinatown.

Around 6pm, I left early to set up the room and area for the welcoming dinner party at the restaurant we tried the other day. I really enjoyed the dinner party. A lot of the people come out of the woodworks to make it to the party. I haven’t seen some of them in a long long time, so it was nice to see them there. I was really enjoying the trip and hoping that I’d have more time for them to show them around and be with them more, but unfortunately I probably wouldn’t be able to. My Japanese improved a lot during this trip and I was able to talk to most everyone in Japanese, which to my surprise, was awesome. Everyone was taken off guard by it. It was a great way to end things and the party.

The party finished a few hours later and the delegates wanted to return to the hotel. I was part of the last group to go to the hotel after we parted with some of the volunteers. At the hotel, we waited around and decided to take the delegates back out again. We went back to the Landmark Tower again but just checking everything out on the outside and not so much looking for something to eat or anything. They already had a lot of the Christmas decorations up, so we took a group photo at the big Christmas tree in Queen’s Square. Then after that, we decided that it was a good time to go home. After all, I did have work the next day. I didn’t want to end up being all tired for a 5 classes Friday, but I still ended up being tired. I didn’t get to sleep until late since I couldn’t go to sleep.

SD Delegates arrive

Today, I had 5 classes and they were a bit much since I’ve been getting to bed later and sleeping less. It’s getting really cold now about 9 degrees Celsius for a high, which is damn cold. It doesn’t get that cold in San Diego.

The first class started hella early since it was a first period. I had class with 11th grade yuri. I had them finish up their tests. There was one student today that couldn’t do a good job. It was painful to watch her give her speech. After that we worked on the next section. I used the print that I made and gave it to them to practice. The speeches took up a lot of time so we didn’t use the book and most of the students didn’t even bring their books since I hardly use them.

The second class was the 8th grade yuri. They are a good class, but were very distracted today. I’m not sure what it was, but they were all looking out of the window and just not paying too much attention to what was going on. They had to listen to CP talk about her friends that are going to come on Saturday. Then we played the questions and answers game where they go around the room and asking and giving a responding answer with the card that they have. They were able to do it.

The third class of the day was with 10th grade fuji. They needed a lot of help today. It was a bit unbelievable how bad their sense of geography is. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing as they were writing some of the answers down. I could tell that they weren’t high level at all. They have no sense of what the world looks like or what’s going on outside of Japan.

5th period was with 9th grade kiku. We started something new today. They now have a school made textbook that they will use for the rest of their Junior high school life. The topic today was on shopping and that will be the topic of the test too. We had some of the students model shopping at a store, which the teachers set up as a precursor to when they go to Santa Barbara. Shopping, of course, is something they will spend a great deal of time working on.

6th period was with 9th grade fuji. We followed the example from the last class, but they seemed out of it today. They didn’t do as well as a job as I would have expected from them. They are at a higher level, but just couldn’t comprehend the material today. They weren’t really responsive today either. There was only one student that volunteered to help me out, but she was still reluctant and she’s usually the one who likes to speak English. So this worried me for a little bit.

I stuck around school for a little bit of time and just did various things to keep me busy. I usually spend a lot of time in the Language Laboratory since I can use the laptops at school and other things and just have time for myself. So I was just updating my journals with the laptop there.

Later that evening I went to the Yokohama Navios to meet up with the delegates from the San Diego – Yokohama Sister City Society Exchange. I was supposed to meet up with EK, but like usual he was late. The problem with this was that my cell phone had died so I couldn’t get in contact with him. He was more than one hour late, so I decided to grab dinner before I were to meet up with them. I just went to something quick since they were about to arrive. I ran across the street to McDonalds since it was convenient.

When I finished eating, I went back to the hotel and realized that they had already arrived. So I just walked in and waited for them to finish their orientation meeting in the lobby. I think that it was a good first impression. EK and another one of my friends came about an hour or so late to meet up with us. The orientation meeting was a bit lengthy so their dinner time was cut by a lot. They suggested that we go across the street and have dinner at World Porters, but by the time the orientation meeting was finished, it was closing time for most of the stores.

I went with most of the members that I already knew since I met them in March when I went back to San Diego for spring break. We took their group to many places, but ended up at the Landmark Tower on the food floor and got okonomiyaki there. It was reasonably priced for them and it was a good experience for their first meal in Japan. I think that they enjoyed it, but I wasn’t hungry since I got something to eat while I was waiting for them to arrive. After that we took them back to their hotel and left for home.

Ytka Birthday

I sent him an e-mail to say happy birthday, but he must have changed his phone number or something. So I couldn’t get a message to him through the cell. I tried calling too, but that didn’t work out either. So I think that I’ll send him a message through a website or something just to get the message across to him.

I had only 4 classes today and we just did the things that we’ve been doing in other classes all day. That’s usually how it goes on Tuesday since it’s with 8th graders for most of the day.

The first class was 8th grade ran. There were parents in the back of the room since it was an open school day. That made it a bit weird for me, but CP took it in stride. They weren’t on their best behavior today, but they weren’t all bad either. We wanted to impress the parents who were there to see what’s going on with the classes. They did a good job in front of them, but since they are at a high level, they tend to get bored easily and don’t interact with the teacher so much as they do with themselves.

The next class was 8th grade kiku. There weren’t any parents in this class, so we could do the questions and answers game easily. It gave them a chance to get up and speak in English, which they all did and did well too. They were a bit more reserved than usual though and it took me awhile before I could get them to speak up. They did well with answering the questions too, so I’m happy about that. This was all in preparation for English Fun Fair that will happen this weekend.

The 3rd class today was with 7th grade kiku. They actually had the same activities as the other classes today, but at an easier level. They needed to go around the room asking questions and answering each other. They needed to ask about the Nationalities and where they are from. They each got a flag representing a different part of the world, so that they wouldn’t be surprised when they meet people from all over the world at the English Fun Fair. They did a good job and it was fun walking around. I’ve noticed that some of the students don’t talk to other students and they pick on each other a lot.

The last class of the day was 11th grade fuji. I started talking about the On Air printout with them. I wanted to bring it up the next topic. I think they have plenty of time to learn it since it’s still far away, but it is important to know. I wanted to get them thinking in English, so I modeled it last week. The topic will be Going Abroad, so they need to start thinking about places around the world and things that they want to see and experience. It’s a fun topic and it’s always best to save for the last topic of Oral Communication.

I got to go home early today, which was a bit of a surprise. I had finished all my work and walked with another teacher to the station. It was a nice walk to the station and I got to talk to them about something rather other teachers that we had noticed spent more time with each other recently. That’s always interesting since we don’t have a water cooler in the office; we have to go to other extremes to get the gossip out.

A very good day

Things went especially well for me today. I’m not sure why, but things just went well. I was enjoying my time at work and all the classes I had today were great. The students were great, the activities were great, the attitude was great and that’s extremely rare.

I had three classes today and the first being 9th grade yuri. They aren’t as bad as the other teacher makes them to be, but today they were really good. I think a bit annoying for the other teacher, but I thought it was fine. They had to do an activity about money today, and like the other classes, they were into it. They were actually able to do it better than the other classes too. I think that they are getting more serious now because their trip is coming up soon. They interacted with me more than they have before too, which was weird, but good. I’m glad actually and it’s great that it happened.

The second class today was with 11th grade ran. They were pretty good today, a bit loud and talkative, but that’s because I’m nice. I had to wait a few times to get their attention, but things were pretty good. I did a basic lesson from the textbook and then a handout to get them ready for the next section on going abroad. I think that they will like the next section because it will be very interactive and they will have a great opportunity to see and touch and imagine things they haven’t before. I’m really excited about it myself. But today, it was only just introducing the topic with pictures from the textbook and some dialogues. I was leading up to the things that we talked about today and hinting that they would be on the test that’s coming up.

The last class of the day was with 7th grade yuri. They were very good today and we had parents in the junior high school classes so they were watching our activities. They had a bit harder task than the 9th graders this morning, but I think that they performed very well. It required a lot of thinking, which isn’t very usual for the activities that we do for them because usually they aren’t able to handle it. But because this weekend is the English Fun Fair, they need to get really good practice with it and they had to answer questions and answers. They did a little bit about countries and nationalities. It was good for them to learn and I think that they were pretty good at it.

After school, I pretty much stayed in the Language Laboratory and worked on the laptop all day. I needed to get some stuff done. I was working on some stuff for the 9th grade lessons and looking for some menus online of the restaurants that the students will be going to in March so that we could get real life examples and for them to be really prepared for it. I think that they will be able to enjoy it better if they get to see the real things and be able to really do a good role-play with the things that they need to learn.

Then I was talking with some teachers in the other office and I found out that I make a lot more money than most of the teachers at my school. It’s very odd, but it’s because I’m in a special position. I was complaining that I didn’t make enough and then I found out that they didn’t make nearly as much as I do, so I stopped complaining immediately. I thought it was weird and can’t even imagine how they could survive since they make less and things for them cost more. I mean I live very cheaply and I barely scrap by, I don’t even know how they do it. But it was a nice conversation to have because I was going to ask for a raise, but now I’ve reconsidered since it wouldn’t be possible since I already make so much as it is.

I had dinner tonight at Bamiyan and didn’t get my usual Fried Rice and Gyoza. I thought that was weird, but I think that ordering some other things is important too. So I wanted to try that out and be a little different today. That was good and it was pretty delicious too.

Dinner with Mywa

I did my laundry today. It was very necessary since I didn’t have many clean clothes left. I did this in the morning and wasn’t really doing much at that time either. I haven’t talked to anyone that much really, and I’m not sure why. The only plan after that is to meet up with my friend that is leaving to San Francisco to live for the next few years.

I met up with her in the Ofuna area and I ended up being about 10 minutes late, but the reason being I was buying her a gift to take with her to America. I went there early, but it took me awhile to find what I was looking for. Anyways, we went to get some coffee and exchanged gifts. She wanted to say thank you to me because I had helped her with her Visa application and it passed this time after she couldn’t get it the first time. So I’m happy that I helped and it worked out well for her.

We then went to get dinner around 5:30pm. We went to an izakaya and stayed there for about 6 hours. That’s a long time to be there, but we had a good conversation.

I finally realized what some of my problems are. She was very blunt with telling me it.

Problem 1: it has to do with my Japanese. I make errors because I’m not careful to distinguish between verbs and adjectives. I learned that I don’t need to use particles when speaking. I still write like I’m in elementary school and my grammar is that way too. It could be because I’m learning from an elementary textbook, but that should stop.

I need to become more fluent and now I’m realizing it. I don’t want to turn out like the other foreigners here that can’t speak Japanese even though they’ve lived here for ages. That’s just something I wouldn’t be able to face when I go back to the U.S. it’s shameful I think, so I’ve got to get to work on that.

Problem 2: with my girlfriend situation. According to her, I’ve never had a real girlfriend because it’s never been longer than 1 year. I could understand what she was talking about too when she said that. It’s because of my priorities. My priorities are always above that of my partners and I think that’s why things never work out for me. She says that I don’t put up with other people and that’s why it doesn’t work. That’s true and I can’t deny it. I never realized it before until she brought it up, but it makes sense now that I know.

She thinks that I should get a girlfriend, but it will be very hard to get a girlfriend because I’m at the at the age where people are looking for serious relationships that last years and I’m not in a position to offer that since I’m leaving Japan in 8 months. But I could continue to keep the relationship if I go back to America because she believes that Japanese girls would do that with me.

Saturday classes and Red Shoes meeting

I thought that I had two periods to teach today, but it turned out that I only had one to teach. Sometime in the last week, the schedule changed and no one informed me of it. I wasn’t extremely happy about it since I could have slept for another hour or so. I thought that I’d be late today too because I had to set up the room with the projector and hook up the computer to it.

So during the first period I was working on my personal statement for university. I got a good deal of it finished too. I took the time to work on the longer one because I already had most of it finished already. I think that it’s not coming together as I expected it to. It’s not nearly as good as I thought it up as when I was thinking about my personal statement a long time ago. I think that I need some work and need to pep it up for a little bit before I go to Taiwan. I don’t have much time left since I will leave at the end of the week. I only have about seven more days before I go and I really do need to finish it before I go. I think that I won’t have enough time to do it when I come back. I could always take my work there, but what kind of vacation is that, if I take my work with me?

The second period was finally the class that I was supposed to teach. It worked out ok because I had just enough slides to take it to the end of class. It was almost perfect timing and I talked about it in a way that it wasn’t boring and I kept pace with what I was talking about. The topic of the day was the 6 fishes that I came up with to teach her. I didn’t come up with it since someone had taught it to me before, but I presented it in a way that she would understand and learn to be able to tell who from whom. I think that she’s really interested in the topic and was actually taking notes during class. She usually doesn’t like to, but for some reason, she is and taking the notes on everything. We did a review and she was able to remember the things that we had talked about before too. That’s just great in my opinion.

After school I returned things back to its original place and then waited for some other teachers to go get lunch. Usually on Saturdays we go together to get lunch and bring it back to school. I’m not sure why this started, but it’s pretty usual. I’m at school right now typing this. I’m not sure what I will do next. I could go out and play tennis like I originally planned for, but I didn’t bring my tennis clothes, so if I were to go do it, I’d have to play in a suit. So I’m still thinking about it.

I’ve got a meeting tonight in Yokohama and I’m thinking if I should go home and get changed and then go to the meeting or if I should just go in a suit. I could just leave right now and even get a little rest and that way I don’t have to carry around my computer all day either. It’s getting heavy and I think that it would be an inconvenience to do that. But then I’d have to walk a lot to get home too.

sore

I was sore today because of the basketball game yesterday. I was sore then too actually. I knew I should have stretched a little more. It was really hard to get up this morning because I didn’t feel like I had the energy to be able to do it. It was also very cold today too. I think that winters coming really rapidly.

The first class I had today was with 11th grade kiku and they had a test to give. I really feel bad that it worked out this way since I didn’t realize that there was going to be an Athletic meet the day before and then a test right afterwards. That’s really not cool of me and looking at their condition and their scores, I should have known better. Friday classes are on a tight schedule since there aren’t so many of them. Even though there are fewer students in this class and with about 5 people absent, we still went over time. We actually got there before the class even started too, which was the weirdest thing in the world. I guess that somehow it’s just destined that we finish over time.

The next class was with 7th grade ran. We did an activity today relating to the English fun fair at the end of next week. We did an activity about nationalities and countries. CP had cut out some country’s flags and laminated them and we passed them out to students who had another worksheet that they would learn and go around the room to see who was who. If they found someone, they needed to mark it off. It was just to practice to ask people where they were from and what nationality they were. It was pretty simple and I think it worked out very well. I think the students enjoyed it, which is a good thing.

Today 9th grade ran was very good. That was very odd. Even the students were saying that to each other. They were paying attention and participating. It was very weird and I didn’t know what was going on. The topic today was on money and it seemed like everyone seemed to be interested in it because they will be going to Santa Barbara in March next year.

The 10th grade class after that was ok. They weren’t their peppy-selves today, but they were good. Some students were sleeping, and I’m not sure if it was because I was boring or if they were just exhausted because of yesterday. I think that it could be a combination of both. I really hate teaching the classes that aren’t my lesson plans. I really don’t feel motivated to do it. I find them pointless and really irritating that it doesn’t improve their thinking and learning processes. It’s just busy work and it’s just a waste of time. But I don’t do anything about it. That’s another thing that I’m really annoyed at.

The last class of the day was with 7th grade fuji. They are much better than the 7th graders from last year, but they still have that little bit that still irks you. It’s tolerable, but it’s not at the same time. They are just being 7th graders. We were working on the same activity as the 3rd period class. We were doing the countries and nationalities.

Athletic Meet

I didn’t take pictures today. I just didn’t feel like I would want to or have to. I’m not sure why, but that’s just the way that it happened to be.

I got to Sendagaya station and the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym at 9am today. I set my alarm for 5am and didn’t really get ready or even leave the house until 2 hours later. I didn’t really do much at the beginning but, just change my clothes.

The whole day, I was just going around looking at the games played by the students. I was an active “cheer” leader, and would get the classes involved with cheering for their classmates. It was fun. We started the day in the Main Arena, but we had to move to the Sub Arena since another event was schedule for that day. I’ve never seen the sub arena before, and didn’t know that it existed, but now I know.

Some of the students weren’t very good at the sports, but some were just simply amazing. They are just very good.

After all the students finished, the teachers went at it with old students. I played basketball this year. It was tough as hell. I never thought that I’d feel like dying, but today I got really close. I was very dehydrated and couldn’t really breathe normal. And then I got a huge as blister on my right foot too. I wasn’t wearing the right type of shoes to be playing basketball. So it was horrible.

After we finished cleaning and all that good stuff, we were going to have dinner at a place called China Quick. But that was still a long while away, so some of the teachers dispersed and I ended up at a café with some of the English teachers I was with. I didn’t want to go with the male teachers since my foot was in pain and I didn’t want to walk on it a lot. I just got an iced chocolate, which wasn’t very bad, but just average in my opinion.

The Chinese food was pretty good. I mean, I’ve had better, but I think it’s a good prelude of what I can expect for when I go to Taiwan next week. I can’t wait to dive into the food. I’m going to get so fat. I didn’t eat as much as I thought that I would eat. I wasn’t feeling very good so decided to take it easy. I was talking to a lot of teachers around me. I thought that was good because I was speaking mostly in Japanese with them. I could get most of what they were saying and asking me, so that was good. I think my Japanese actually has gotten better. I’m not sure how or even why it has since I hardly study any new words or anything. I think I need to make it a habit to at least study just a little. I think that it wouldn’t kill me, but at least I’m more confident in my Japanese ability.

When I got home to look at my foot, I saw that I had lost a good chunk of my skin to the blister. I would say it’s about the size of a quarter in shape and width too.

A pretty easy day

It was pretty easy today.

The first class was an oral test for the 11th grade yuri. We didn’t finish though. It was the first time that we didn’t finish a test. There are just too many students in the class to be able to finish in the allotted time. We even went over time and there’s still like 7 girls left to give their speech. They were good and had to memorize a lot. I give them props for that.

Second period was with 8th grade yuri. They are a pretty high level class too. They didn’t have a Japanese English teacher today, so me and CP just did it by ourselves. They only needed to give their speeches, so it wasn’t a big deal. We just helped them out with that.

Third period, I think CP wasn’t happy. They weren’t very active in the participation department. I’m not sure they understood what was going on, since they were really really quiet. It’s very eerie to be teaching this class. You’d think that they are paying attention, but you could tell that thinking wasn’t one of their specialties. They are just sitting there and it’s hard to tell if they understand, or if they don’t. They don’t really work at trying to figure things out, but more or less wait for us to give them the answers. I think the fundamental difference of the way that these students are educated is through lecture and they are only fed information that they need to learn to spit back out. I think that’s why they aren’t able to speak well.

Fifth period, we were working with U.S. currency. I had brought some of my money to class to share with the students, what they look like and so they could see the difference from Japanese money and the American bills. They needed to work with it and just examine it. They looked at it to examine some things about it.

Sixth period with 9th grade fuji, had the same activity, but they weren’t as into it as the last class. I’m not sure why, but I’m thinking that their getting lazy and it’s really starting to affect their performance. They took a long time to get started, and it’s usually only one or two students participating and everyone is just quiet, but today they weren’t quiet and just talking. They were chattering a lot and it was very distracting for me. So I stopped and waited to get their attention. I think it worked, but they need to improve on that a little bit more.

I stayed till 6pm and then I left for home. I didn’t have club today and just waited around to show my pictures to a teacher who wanted to see them.

a great day

Today I didn’t have much work to do. I only had 4 classes to teach today, but today I felt great. I didn’t get much sleep, but I just felt great. I was walking with a teacher to work today. It was nice to have someone to talk to from the train station, since it’s a bit far, but not really that far. I bought my lunch at AMPM today, which I haven’t done for a long time.

The first class was with the 8th grade ran, I wasn’t leading the class or anything, but I just sensed that it would be good today. They were good today. It was one of the student’s birthday today too so we sang her happy birthday. They had to do a presentation that’s modeled from the book. It was good to hear them speak up and to make a speech.

The second class was 8th grade kiku. They needed a lot of help, but it was pretty smooth for me. They did good for their level and their ability. They also made a speech today too. I gave them a lot of time to prepare and they end up finishing before class was over. We had like 10 minutes left to spare, which is very rare in speech giving.

The third class was with 7th grade kiku. They just played the game. They are well capable of doing it so that wasn’t a problem.

During lunch, I got a sandwich made for me by CP. It was turkey meat on wheat bread. It was pretty good, but I guess no one could really mess that up. So it was good. It was enough for lunch, but I thought that I’d get hungry really quick after. That was the case.

The last class of the day for me was 11th grade fuji. We had our oral test today. It took up a lot of time and they were going really slow at it. They didn’t really prepare that well. I’m wondering if it’s me or them, but most likely it’s them. Unlike the other case today, this class went all the way through and almost into the next class time. It took up about 70% of their break time to finish, but it was their fault for going so slow and getting ready took them forever too.

I stayed for club after school and it was only me today. CP decided to leave early, but I’m not sure why.

I was able to get some printouts at school and worked on the computer to get some stuff finished. I tested all the materials that we needed to get CD’s burned for the speech contest that’s coming up.

I’m actually very hungry right now and I’m in a rush to get to bed since I have to get up really early tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a busy day since I’ve got 5 classes and I start off with a test.

A regular Monday, I guess

Today felt very regular, but I got a lot of things accomplished today. It started off pretty good actually. I woke up early and left my house earlier than usual too. It was already warm this morning so I didn’t feel like I had to force myself to get up. I got to my school’s station early so I decided to send the postcards that have been sitting in my briefcase for months. I finally sent it. I need to get some more addresses so I could send more. If you want me to send a postcard, make sure I get your address so I could do it. I only have a few since I didn’t take them with me when I came to Japan. I bought lunch soon thereafter.

Then I got to school and got all the printing done for my oral test today. And I took care of other things too. The first class wasn’t as bad as usual. They were bad, but good at the same time. They did the activity, but in a way where it was mocking the teachers. It was 9th grade yuri and the Japanese English teacher is their homeroom teacher. They have a lot of attitude towards my Native English partner, and I must admit that it’s not a very good performance in this class. She becomes very negative and it’s not pleasant to see. It’s very cynical.

The second class was 11th grade ran. They had their oral test today. I was grading like mad for the whole class period and about 10 minutes into their lunch. I felt bad for that. They did ok. I had expected them to do a little better than they did. I gave them a long time to memorize it, but some of the students started to memorize it about an hour before. I could tell because of the smoothness, or lack thereof was apparent. I’m not sure why that is and I’m wondering if I’m making it too easy or too hard for them.

The last class of the day for me was with the 7th grade yuri. It was pretty simple since we played the game for bingo with them on the topics of hobbies. They did it and were able to understand what was going on. They are a bright group of girls.

English club was cancelled today, so I didn’t have much to do after school. I was working on some things for the next section in the 11th grade classes. I got tired working on it and then decided that I should just go home and quit wasting time.

I wanted to get a guide book for Taiwan in English. But the Yurindo place at Kannai station didn’t have it. I think I’ll have to go into Shibuya to get it, but I’m afraid that I won’t have enough time to get one before I actually go to Taiwan. I’ll have to locate it online and find time to go get it in person, since I can’t get it online because I don’t want to use my credit card that’s still linked to my U.S. account.
I came home watched an episode of Everyone loves Raymond eating the dinner that I made last night. The rice paper got hard, but everything inside is still ok. It makes you get hungry fast since I’m hungry now typing this and it’s almost 1am. I should be sleeping since I have to get up in a few hours and I need the energy for work.

Wheel of Fortune

That pretty much tells you what I did today. It was really fun. I had gotten up early today for some reason and I wanted to go back to sleep because I thought that since I didn’t have anything else to do today that I would do that. So I ended up getting up around noon. From then on, I was on the computer. I was supposed to go to a Yoke meeting today, but they had cancelled it in favor of a meeting on Saturday the 12th with only the Red Shoes members. There wasn’t going to be a lot of people going today so that was the reason for the move.

I was talking to a lot of old friends, well only three. Not that much actually. It was good to hear from them again, but I feel something different about them. It was also interesting that we got started on the topic of relationships. I’m officially looking for a girlfriend now and will set aside some time to get one. I think it’s the right thing for me to do at this time in my life. It’s good timing for me I think.

I was talking with family for a large part of the day. At first we were playing games on the computer, but since I was on video conference we were playing together against the computer. Then we figured out that we could play against each other using MSN messenger. So we started playing a bunch of games on that. It’s fun as hell. We played Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Word up or something like that, and other games as well. None of them are as fun as wheel of fortune though. They stayed up really late to play too. They were up till 5am their time, and that’s even late for me too since I have work tomorrow. It’s about midnight now and that’s all I did today.

I made dinner though. That took forever to do. I made spring rolls, which didn’t taste so bad. I was expecting it to taste worse than it really did. So I’m happy about that. I hope they don’t go bad really quick since I made a lot and had to save them because I couldn’t finish all of them today. I’m hoping that they will last me for at least a few days. I have a lot of leftovers, but I just wanted to give it a try to see if I could make it. The problem I faced most today was the fact that my internet was going slow. That really messed up some of the games we were playing and it was hard to understand my sisters since it would be choppy. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I do not like it.