General Update

Since I haven’t given a life update on this blog for a while, I thought I’d jot down a few things.

Um…not much to tell actually. Life continues to go fairly well for the present (although questions about what the hell I’m going to do next year continue to plague me).

I’m enjoying my job (as much as a job can be enjoyed) for all the reasons I mentioned before. I like working with adults, enjoy having other native English speakers in the same office to take off stress in between classes, and I am working pretty convenient hours (although, in contrast to my JET and ALT days, I’m actually very busy during those work hours-which is good and bad I guess).

I’ve taken out a subscription to the English version of the Daily Yomiuri newspaper in Japan, which helps keep me abreast of current events. And I also bring in the paper to work everyday to share with my co-workers, although I’ve noticed nobody really seems to read it as thoroughly as I do.
Actually of the two, I actually prefer “The Japan Times”, especially since the Daily Yomiuri has a reputation for being a conservative mouthpiece. But the Daily Yomiuri was about $15 cheaper a month, and I figured it wouldn’t kill me to be exposed to other points of view. (I enjoy reading their editorials about how all teachers should be forced to stand and sing the national anthem, or how there is no evidence that Japanese soldiers took comfort women from Korea and China during World War II--actually to be fair the Daily Yomiuri does also contain inserts from American papers which offer contrasting points of view).

I like all the people I’m working with. We go out occasionally at Tropicocos, and also get together for a weekly poker game. I’ve never really been into Poker before. My old Calvin roommates didn’t get into poker until after I had already left for Japan, so previously I had only played when I was back home for Christmas. I’m starting to get the hang of it now though.

Shoko works early mornings, so unfortunately she doesn’t come out with us most nights. We did host a “nabe party” (kind of like Japanese Fondue-maybe) a couple weeks ago, and invited over everyone from work. The party itself went pretty well, although Shoko did entertain everyone by telling everyone stories about my poor hygiene and nutrition habits. Next time I’m going to have to prep her on appropriate topics beforehand.

I also brought Shoko along for Poker one night. Everyone tried to teach her in a mixture of simple English and our poor Japanese. She just sat out and watched the first few hands before deciding to buy in. And then she proceeded to knock everyone else out of the game, and ended up coming in second. I was instructed never to bring her to the poker games again.

I’ve gone out to a couple parties with Shoko’s friends, in which I generally tried to play the role of the friendly foreigner and smile a lot. Shoko says I’ve been making a good impression on her friends, so I guess I’m good for something.

Useless Wikipedia Fact
Only a few of the Simpsons "Tracy Ulman Shorts" have been released on DVD. "Good Night" was included on The Simpsons season 1 DVD. Five of these shorts were later used in the clip show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" on the half-hour show, which was released on the season 7 DVD. These five shorts were "Good Night", "The Perfect Crime", "Space Patrol", "World War III", and "Bathtime".[9] Groening has announced that all of the shorts will be available on mobile phones.[10]

Link of the Day
Are We Politicians or Citizens?
by Howard Zinn