Archive for March, 2015
March 15, 2005 – Sake DOES give hangovers
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking on March 15, 2015
At some point in my year and a half of teaching English, one of my students tried to convince me that good Japanese sake doesn’t give hangovers. After conducting some field research last night, I completely disagree. I would also like to find that student to have some harsh words with him.
But later… not feeling well now.
March 14, 2005 – White Day
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on March 14, 2015
Happy White Day!
On Valentine’s Day in Japan, women give chocolate to men. White Day was created in 1978 so men would have to give something to women in return. The tradition has recently spread to South Korea, China and Taiwan.
After work I went to a really classy internet cafe / bar with some other teachers. This particular bar features DJs or live bands during the week. It was a nice change from the izakaya, and I will have to go back in the future.
March 12, 2005 – Bad kids
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on March 12, 2015
Today was not so busy at work, but the kids in my kids class were BAD.
March 11, 2005 – Fuji School
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka on March 11, 2015
NOVA is updating the kids lesson curriculum. Today I had training on the new lesson material in Fuji school.
Fuji school is in Fuji city, which is located right next to (you guessed it), Mt. Fuji. Fuji is an industrial town, home to paper factories, auto parts manufacturers, and other businesses which make it not terribly nice to look at or smell. The branch is nice and spacious, but the view from the Voice room is several hostess pubs across the back alley.
According to the teachers, there is a very good Indian restaurant in the city that is run by a man who draws comparisons to the soup nazi from Seinfeld. I look forward to trying it out!
March 10, 2005 – Massage?
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on March 10, 2015
In the morning I went for a much needed haircut. The last time I ended up with a bizarre soccer hooligan haircut, but I decided to give QB house another chance, mainly because it is close and cheap. This time worked out much better, and I got exactly the haircut that I wanted.
Tip for everyone getting a haircut in a different language: bring a picture of a time you got a good haircut.
Work was pretty typical, but something interesting happened on my way home. Mishima NOVA is located across from the south entrance of Mishima station. I was waiting at the corner to cross the street, when I was approached by a woman. She asked me in Japanese if I wanted a massage. I politely said no, and she went back to the corner and continued asking men who walked by.
I have never seen anything like this before in Japan. Also, I am no expert on the massage business, but I suspect most legitimate massage places don’t advertise face to face on street corners at night.
Japanese buses are f**king confusing!
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on March 9, 2015
When people think of mass transit in Japan they usually think of trains first, and for good reason. Trains are by far the most famous and most efficient way to get around the country and the major cities. But not all cities are big enough to have great train systems like Tokyo or Yokohama. Enter the bus.
After living in Winnipeg, I am very used to riding the bus. Winnipeg Transit is usually on time, and provides decent service along major routes and is really cheap. Before anyone in Winnipeg starts complaining about this one, I would suggest that you try another city’s bus system first. Anyway, I figured that since I mastered the train system with no previous exposure to trains, buses would be no problem. Was I ever wrong!
There are two main kinds of buses in Japan. One is what is familiar to most people in Canada. You pay a set fare when you enter the bus, and exit when you reach your destination. No problem here. On the other type of bus, you have to pay based on the distance traveled. You board the bus by the rear door and take a ticket. Your ticket will have a number of the stop that you entered the bus. As the bus travels, there is a large digital scoreboard at the front which has the stop numbers and the current price. For example, I get on at stop one, so underneath the one, it says 150 yen. At stop two the board is updated with a higher price for people who boarded at stop one and a base price for people who just boarded. (Seeing it is much easier to understand than reading this.)
When you want to leave the bus you press the signal button and you insert your ticket in the reader at the front of the bus beside the driver. The readout displays how much you owe, and you insert that in change into the coin slot. If you have a 1000 yen bill you can put it into the bill slot. The bill slot will break your 1000 yen bill into 9 x 100 yen coins, 1 x 50 yen coin and 5 x 10 yen coins. You then insert the correct amount of change into the coin slot and leave the bus. Despite the fact that vending machines, train ticket machines, and EVERY OTHER MACHINE WHICH TAKES PAYMENT allows you to pay with bills, this bill slot only makes change for you.
Last Friday I rode the bus from Mishima station near my school to Ooka station near the Penpal’s house. I didn’t have enough change, but I had a 1000 yen bill and NONE of the information I just typed. First I tried to stick my ticket into the bill slot. Fortunately the driver was able to rescue it and put it in the right place. The display read 270 yen, so I inserted my 1000 yen bill, took all the change (1000 yen) and tried to leave the bus. The driver stopped me, and then I realized that I hadn’t yet paid. Fortunately, most bus drivers are used to people (especially foreigners) being confused with this system and are very patient and friendly about the whole thing.
To make things even more confusing, in Nagoya city there are two companies that run buses in the city. One has the previously mentioned system of breaking your bill and then you pay. The new company accepts payment with bills and makes change. Two different systems in the same city. Even the Japanese are confused by that one. In the mean time, I think I will try to stick to the excellent train system where I can insert any bill and coins by the handful, or my bicycle that I can drive on the sidewalk and park nearly anywhere. buses are just too f**king confusing.
March 9, 2005 – Epic bike ride
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Shizuoka on March 9, 2015
Some of the 1000 trees near Senbon beach in Numazu
Today the weather was amazing. I got off my lazy ass and onto my bike to go exploring. I started off towards the docks and the beach, went by Senbon forest, started off towards Izu, and looped back around. In total I was riding for about 2 solid hours.
I seriously love the ocean.
March 8, 2005 – Room setup never ends
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Ooka City Plaza on March 8, 2015
Today I spent time once again trying to organize my room at Ooka City Plaza. My room is the smallest of the three bedrooms, and has an awkward shape. That combined with the sheer volume of stuff I am trying to keep in there makes it difficult to get the way I want it.
Today my closet got attention. The closet is large enough that I had at one point considered setting up my futon inside and turning it into a private sleeping area. However, recently it has become a storage area for empty boxes. I cut down the boxes I didn’t need, and organized the rest to make the rest of the closet more usable. My next project is to organize, sort, and throw away some of the random stuff that is currently stashed in my giant suitcases. It is surprising how much stuff a person can collect in a year and a half.
Progress on my room is always very slow. At this pace I will probably just finish finding the ideal setup right before I move back to Canada.
March 7, 2005 – Mid Shift
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on March 7, 2015
Today I worked my first mid shift. Mid shifts are rare at NOVA. Typically there are early shifts of 10:00 – 5:00, late shifts of 1:00 – 9:00, and part timer shifts of 5:00 – 9:00 on weekdays. The mid shift was about half way between an early and a late. It was scheduled to help increase branch capacity, but it was awkward because I really didn’t get much use out of my morning, and all of my coworkers were still working after I left in the evening. Not a big fan of the mid shift.
The one good part of the day was my first multimedia level check. NOVA uses a video chat system that they use to give lessons in other languages outside of major cities, to give students lessons at home, and to allow level checks in small branches that don’t have a surplus of teachers. It was my first time to use the multimedia system, and it was pretty cool, although not quite the same as being in the same room as the student.
March 4, 2005 – Surprise English!
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on March 4, 2015
Another easy day at work with almost no students coming for class AGAIN. After work I went for coffee with The Penpal at the nearby Newton Cafe. The waitress is a student at NOVA, so I decided to give her some free English practice by ordering in English. I completely caught her off guard with this, but overall she seemed happy to have a chance to use English outside of the classroom. I told her that since I knew she worked at the cafe, I would come back and order in English again.
Instead of using the train to get home, I decided to try out the bus with The Penpal. Unlike the train system, Japanese buses are very confusing and not user friendly. I will write about it in more detail in the next week or so.
Drinking in Japan 
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