Archive for November, 2013
November 15, 2003 – Stupid Day
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, Teaching English on November 15, 2013
Original 2003 Post
I was woken up by yet ANOTHER earthquake at 3:00am last night. However I quickly returned to sleep. Stupid earthquakes. Also stupid are Japanese bank machines as they usually don`t like to give money after banking hours. Not very convenient. Third in the stupid category are NOVA teachers who don`t look closely at the file, and do the lesson you had planned to do immediately before you can. This gave me two minutes to find a new lesson for 4 students. Stupid day!
2013 Update
NOVA has 8 different skill levels for students. In 2003, they were still using the old textbook with 40 lessons each in all but the lowest level. Choosing a lesson for one student is reasonably easy – pick something they haven’t done before, or failing that, pick something they haven’t done recently. Choosing a lesson for multiple students makes this process more difficult. When you choose a lesson, it is important to write down the lesson they have chosen in the student’s file. That way if a student has multiple lessons in a day, they will not get the same lesson more than once. It is considered bad teaching etiquette to choose the same lesson another teacher has already reserved for the student. Also, it will cause new teachers to have a minor panic attack as they need to find something else to teach in a short period of time.
I am still surprised that some bank machines are not open 24 hours a day, and even more surprised that they close on holidays. It is a bank MACHINE. It doesn’t need time off. This is especially difficult in a very cash friendly country.
November 13, 2003 – First all nighter in Tokyo
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, Marshall, Shenanigans, Tokyo on November 13, 2013
(partial rewrite of original post)
Had my first taste of Tokyo nightlife on Thursday (and Friday) with Marshall. The plan was to go to Shibuya, meet up with Mississippi Mike and his friends, and catch the last train home. Naturally we had a few drinks before we left, and got a “traveler” for the train. For the record, drinking beer on the train is legal, but generally frowned upon by other passengers.
We arrived in Shibuya with no idea of where to go and way too many options, so we decided to wander around the major streets and see what looked interesting.
1st stop – The Oil Bar – We went in entirely because of the name. Oil Bar was is a small pub that played hair metal. We were pleasantly surprised that the staff spoke English very well. It was a good to get a beer and make a plan for the evening. No communication yet from Mississippi Mike.
2nd stop – GasPanic – Depending on who you talk to, GasPanic is either famous or infamous. It is most well known as a popular place where foreign guys go to meet Japanese girls. There is no cover charge, and all drinks are 400 yen. There is a large sign on the wall informing customers that you must have a drink in your hand at all times to remain in GasPanic.
When we arrived it was very crowded, but welcoming and fun. Many beers were consumed, tequila shots were downed and chased with more beer. We met a group of Canadians and managed to have a conversation (as well as you can in a noisy bar) about hockey and Japanese women. Marshall and I left just after midnight feeling very good, and started heading for the station in order to catch the last train home. As we had the station in sight I finally got a text from Mississippi Mike to let us know that he and his group has just arrived in Shibuya.
Depending on your destination, the last train to leave most stations in Tokyo is around 12:30am. The first train starts around 5:00am. If you miss the last train you can either get an expensive taxi ride home, or decide to stay out all night. The beer and tequila in our system helped convince us to turn the evening into an all nighter.
3rd stop – Womb – Apparently one of the best dance music clubs in the world, not just Japan. The whole place was huge, but since it was Thursday night (technically Friday morning), the main dance floor was not open. It would have been cool to see all four floors open and busy. Cover was 1500 yen and drink prices were obscene, especially after coming from the economic GasPanic. Our group danced to live DJ music until the they closed down at 4:30am.
The trip home – This part was not very fun. Shibuya is a confusing place when you are sober and not exhausted. Nobody remembered the way back to the station, and for some reason everyone broke up into small groups going in different directions. All of the groups kept walking in circles and running into each other. After about half an hour, Marshall and I finally found Shibuya station, but due to our diminished capacities we could not find the Keio line. We finally gave up and took the Yamanote line to Shinjuku, switched to Odakyu line, fell asleep on the platform, then woke up to catch a train back to Noborito. There is nothing worse than seeing the sunrise after too much partying. I got home at 6:30, about 9 and a half hours before I needed to leave for work.
Despite the trouble getting home, good times were had by all.
November 12, 2003 – I didn’t travel half way around the world to watch Beverly Hills 90210
Posted by Barniferous in Hello House, Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, Teaching English on November 12, 2013
(rewrite of original post)
There was an earthquake today when I was teaching. My student was a teenage girl who was much more scared than I was. Since I was now a seasoned veteran of Japan (after 6 weeks) I tried to calm her down and just keep teaching through the shaking. I still really hate earthquakes, even small ones.
Speaking of things I hate, I really hate Beverly Hills 90210, which has somehow because the late night TV choice at Hello House. Since my only entertainment options in my room are old video games on the laptop or reading, I managed to sit through a few episodes. I didn’t travel half way around the world to watch crappy Beverly Hills 90210.
November 11, 2003 – Spaghetti Dona
Posted by Barniferous in Asako, Life in Japan, Tokyo on November 11, 2013
Spaghetti DONA
(complete rewrite of original post)
Today is Remembrance day in Canada. Our family has a military history, so growing up I always went to some kind of Remembrance Day service. It was strange not doing anything special to mark the day. Never forget the people who made sacrifices for your freedoms.
Instead of celebrating Remembrance day, I went out for lunch with Asako, the keyboard player from the Beatles cover band that I saw at the John Lennon museum. Her English was fairly basic, so I got a lot of Japanese practice. We were able to talk a little about food, music and family.
Lunch was at a chain called Spaghetti Dona that specialized in, you guessed it, spaghetti. They had a 780 yen lunch special that included a huge plate of spaghetti, salad and a drink. Since I asked Asako to go for lunch, I picked up the bill. This caused some confusion and protest from Asako. I learned later that usually on this kind of date both parties split the bill (betsu betsu). We took a brief tour around Shibuya before going our separate ways, with a promise to meet up again.
November 10, 2003 – On Cloud 9
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Hello House on November 10, 2013
Original post
Went out to an izakaya like place called Cloud 9 near where I live. Great food, good drinks. Tequila is my natural enemy!
2013 Update
I don’t remember this at all, likely due to the Tequila. I believe it was some kind of Hello House event.
November 9, 2003 – Tongue Twisters
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on November 9, 2013
Original post
Language exchange in Yokohama today. I am meeting with an English grammar teacher who wants to improve her spoken English. I got to practice some Japanese, show off pics of Winnipeg, and exchanged tongue twisters. While she is practicing “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” and “She sells seashells by the seashore”, I will be trying out “namamugi namagome namatamago” and “tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da”. I got pretty good at saying “namatamago” but everything else was very challenging.
2013 Update
She sells seashells by the seashore was one of my favourite teaching tools. In Japanese there is a sound for “she” but not “sea”. Walking through this slowly was good pronunciation practice. For more advanced students, I would use this to practice emphasizing certain words in a sentence. For example, I would ask “What does she sell by the seashore” and the student would respond “She sells seashells by the seashore.” with the emphasis on seashells. It was a bit cruel, but also a lot of fun.
November 8, 2003 – Lazy teacher
Posted by Barniferous in Keikyu-Kawasaki NOVA, Teaching English on November 8, 2013
Original Post
Man I love Saturdays at Keikyu! I had a no show for my last lesson, so I sat in the teacher`s room and read a book and sent email with my phone.
2013 Update
As someone who takes a lot of pride in their work, reading my original post really made me cringe. NOVA was one of the few English schools that paid you even if students didn’t show up for lessons. If you were scheduled for 5 lessons, you got paid for 5 lessons even if nobody was there. In turn, the expectation is that when you have a free lesson that you find something productive to do in the office, and not just sit around reading and texting.
Kawasaki NOVA was always insanely busy, so nobody had ever needed to explain what I should do if I had an empty lesson. A few weeks after this original post, I was in the same situation and a senior teacher explained the priorities. The job list for free lessons included:
- Preparation of kids class materials – there was always some colouring, stapling or glueing that needed to be done for kids classes.
- Lesson preparation – ensuring that you were prepared for your upcoming lessons and reviewing or improving your current lessons
- Maintenance of student files – removing old students, replacing folders that were falling apart
- Tidying the office – teachers are generally very messy and there were always files, books and other things lying around the office
- Assisting the staff
From that time forward, whenever I saw a new teacher sitting around doing nothing I was able to get them working.
November 6, 2003 – Gay Tokyo
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Tokyo on November 6, 2013
Original Post
Had a beer with the trainees again. Also learned a whole lot about the gay scene in Japan. Don`t ask, I won`t tell!
2013 Update
During the post work beers at Kiosk, the subject of conversation turned to the gay scene in Tokyo. It turns out that one of the new teachers was openly gay, and somehow knew that one of the senior trainers was also gay. A few of us were surprised about the senior teacher because we didn’t know he was gay. He wasn’t hiding anything, the subject has just never come up before.
There is a bustling gay scene in Tokyo in the Shinjuku Ni-Chome area with around 300 bars and clubs catering to all tastes. There are also some other popular areas in Ueno and Ikebukuro. In my experience in Japan, the subject of homosexuality is largely ignored, and it isn’t a big issue like it is in Western countries. It exists, but people generally don’t talk or think about it often.
It was interesting to learn about a side of Japanese life that I didn’t know about previously.
November 4, 2003 – Porno (the book, not the porn)
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan on November 4, 2013
(rewritten from original post)
Getting my train pass fixed was surprisingly easy, thanks to basic level Japanese and helpful JR staff.
After work I went for some beer with new trainees. There is another Canadian! He is unfortunately from New Brunswick, but I won`t hold that against him. I learned that there was a sequel to Trainspotting (the book) called Porno. Parts of the book are written in phonetic Scottish to communicate how strong some character’s accents are. Reading a few pages of it melted my brain.
November 3, 2003 – My suica has been smashed
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on November 3, 2013
Suica Card
Original 2003 Post
Cleaning, laundry and email day today. Unfortunately due to some issues with my trip yesterday, my train pass doesn’t work at the moment. I will have to speak to the good people at Japan Rail to get things good again. That could be fun…
2013 Update
Each month, NOVA employees were provided with a commuter train pass. The pass allows for unlimited travel between your home station and your work station for one month. Since my commute was all on JR lines, I was issued a Suica rechargeable train pass.
Using my Suica as a commuter pass, I could take free trips between Noborito and Kawasaki, or any points in between. Traveling beyond Kawasaki would require me only to pay the portion of my trip that was not covered by my commuter pass. This saved money on trips to Yokohama for sightseeing, language exchange, and failed date nights to see Kill Bill.
I could also add money to my Suica to use it as a rechargeable train pass. Instead of having to buy a ticket each time I rode the train, I could just scan my Suica when entering and exiting the train system and the trip cost would be deducted from my balance. My card worked on all JR lines, but not private lines or subway.
The Suica system has now expanded to most of Japan, and the cards can also be used at certain vending machines and convenience stores in or near train stations for making purchases.
If you are living in Japan and travel on JR lines regularly, get one of these cards. You will love it!
Drinking in Japan 
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