Archive for October, 2015
October 16, 2005 – Speech contest
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on October 17, 2015
Today I went to the English / Japanese speech contest at Numazu library. The event was hosted by NICE – Numazu association for International Communications and Exchanges (shouldn’t that be NAICE?)
There were two hosts to the event – one speaking English and one speaking Japanese. The Penpal was the English speaking host for the day. To add a bit of class to the event, the hosts were dressed nicely, with The Penpal wearing a kimono.
A common mistake that non-Japanese people make is to confuse a kimono with a yukata. A kimono refers to a formal and elaborate garment that can cost thousands of dollars, where a yukata is a lighter, less formal robe. In order to get properly dressed in her kimono, she went to a special shop before the event where trained staff spent almost 90 minutes getting her dressed.
This was my first time to see The Penpal in her kimono, and she looked fantastic!
The speeches were interesting, covering a wide range of topics. My favourite speech of the day was in English, given by a retired older woman who studies English as a hobby. When she started her speech she was so nervous that she was visibly shaking. As she got into her speech and got more comfortable, her confidence grew, and by the end she finished strong and looked very happy.
I truly admire the courage of anyone who gets up in front of a crowd to speak, especially in a foreign language. If I am still in Japan at the same time next year, I would like to test my Japanese skills and enter the contest myself.
October 15, 2005 – Only NOVA teachers can badmouth NOVA
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Teaching English on October 16, 2015
In what seems to be a very regular occurrence, I went out after work AGAIN. As per usual, beer, sushi, and karaoke were on the agenda for the evening.
At karaoke we ran into a group of other foreigners, most of which were English teachers for other schools. When they heard we were working for NOVA, they started talking trash about how terrible NOVA was. For the record, only NOVA teachers are allowed to talk crap about NOVA. We alone have earned that right thank you very much.
October 13, 2005 – Emergency beer
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Friends and coworkers, Teaching English on October 13, 2015
One of the teachers at Numazu NOVA cancelled on their shift at the last minute. During the rush to rearrange the schedule, Super Dave got stuck with 4 voice classes out of his 5 lessons.
Voice is the open conversation room where students of all levels can attend. Depending on the group of students, sometimes the classes just run smoothly by themselves. Other times the teacher is required to keep things moving and entertain the students. 4 voice classes with largely the same group of students would be exhausting!
Palmer and I decided that Super Dave needed some beer for surviving his crazy day, so we went out for a few after work. Beer doesn’t always solve problems, but it can help occasionally!
October 12, 2005 – Monkey love
Posted by Barniferous in Azeroth, Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan on October 12, 2015
Last night Azeroth had a very enthusiastic guest over for a “visit” around 2:30am. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard the sounds of two drunk people attempting to be quiet as they entered the apartment. A message to all the roommates of the world: you aren’t nearly as stealthy as you think after a few drinks.
I am usually a very heavy sleeper, but I was unable to sleep through the sounds of crazy monkey love that started up across the hall. My room door is pretty thin, and Azeroth’s is a sliding door that offers literally no sound dampening at all. On top of that, both of them sounded like they were having a very good time.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate when people are able to express how much they are enjoying themselves in an intimate situation. However, it is still possible to enjoy physical affection when you aren’t screaming at the top of your lungs, especially at 2:30am with thin walls.
After unsuccessfully trying to drown out the sound, I decided to take a nice 30 minute walk around the neighbourhood. When I got home, all was quiet.
My day at work was long and miserable due to lack of sleep (again).
(2015 Update) The next day Azeroth told me “you’ll never believe who was in my room last night”. He never told me and to this day I still don’t know. Come on man – it’s been 10 years, give me a hint!
October 11, 2005 – Three schools in three days
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Teaching English on October 11, 2015
Today was the first day of 3 different NOVA branches in 3 days. Today I demonstrated my conversational English teaching skills in Fuji city. Tomorrow I will be enlightening my students on the finer points of conversation at my usual branch in Numazu. Thursday I will be expertly educating at my old branch in Mishima.
I thought that 3 branches in 3 days was pretty impressive, until my thunder was stolen by Alice, who had just somehow completed 4 branches in 3 days. Thanks for stealing my thunder, Alice!
After work I went out for pizza and beer at a really cool place in Numazu. Sleep is really overrated.
October 10, 2005 – Part of a group
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Karaoke on October 10, 2015
Today a group of people went out for beer and karaoke. I was one of them.
(2015 Update) At some point in the future, I will be asked to sum up my 3 years in Japan. If I only use the words “beer and karaoke”, I will have successfully described about 50% of my time in the country.
October 9, 2005 – A day in Yokohama
Posted by Barniferous in The Penpal, Yokohama on October 9, 2015
Yesterday The Penpal and I went to her friend’s wedding in Yokohama. We spent the night in a hotel, and decided to spend today hanging out in Yokohama.
I have been living in Numazu for the past year after spending a year in Kawasaki. I do like Numazu, but I miss being close to a vibrant and fun city like Yokohama. There are lots of things to do, and it doesn’t feel as busy or crowded as Tokyo.
The Penpal and I spent some time exploring Minato Mirai and some of the areas I used to visit often. In the evening we returned to Numazu together. It was a fun day!
October 8, 2005 – Wedding in Yokohama
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on October 8, 2015
Today the Penpal and I went to her friend’s wedding in Yokohama. This was my first wedding in Japan.
When I was originally invited to the wedding (as the Penpal’s +1), I was hoping that I would get to see a traditional wedding at a shrine. I was expecting fancy kimonos, serious faces, and sake. When I asked for information, I learned that the wedding was going to be “Western style”, which turned out to be very interesting in it’s own way.
I have been to several weddings in Canada. A typical Canadian wedding involves a ceremony at a church or wedding hall, followed by wedding pictures, dinner, speeches, and then a few hours of drinking and dancing. Depending on how long the newlyweds plan for pictures, the whole experience can take up a whole afternoon and evening.
We showed up at a wedding chapel near Shin-Yokohama station. The chapel was designed to look like a church, complete with pews and crosses. A gaijin in priest robes officiated the ceremony in Japanese, and made several mentions of Jesus. I asked the Penpal if her friends were Christian. She said no. Apparently I was the only person who thought it was strange to see Christian symbols and hear Jesus mentioned during a non-Christian wedding ceremony. I also started having my suspicions that the “priest” was simply an English teacher moonlighting.
Even though I was a bit distracted by the fake Christian wedding ceremony, it was still beautiful and the full chapel enjoyed every minute of it.
After the service, we moved into a nearby reception hall. With the expected Japanese efficiency and punctuality, dinner started exactly when it was supposed to. The bride and groom arrived on a musical cue wearing different clothes than they had just been wearing for the ceremony. Unlike weddings that I was used to from Canada, speeches occurred while everyone was eating. The usual people made wedding speeches – the bride and groom, best man, maid of honour, and parents. We also got to hear from the bride and groom’s work supervisors. In Canada its not common to invite your boss to your wedding unless you are friends. In Japan it is usual.
The reception ended only a few hours after it started, exactly on time as all of the guests filed out through a reception line. Everyone received gifts from the bride and groom on the way out. The reception was done by 10:30, and we were all back at the hotel by 11:00. There was no dancing.
I hung out in a hotel room with The Penpal and her friends. I tried to convince them that it was a wedding night and we should go out and have fun, but everyone else was ready for bed.
The Western Style wedding was an interesting experience, and nothing at all like what I was expecting. It was a carefully choreographed and organized, and started and finished exactly when it was supposed to. Even though I didn’t get to see a traditional wedding, I still learned a lot about modern Japanese culture, and had a lot of fun at the same time. Thanks to the bride and groom for inviting me to share your special day!
October 6, 2005 – Welcome wagon
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers on October 6, 2015
When you are teaching English in a smaller town in Japan that has chronically understaffed schools, news of a new teacher is pretty exciting.
During my shift at work, my coworkers and I learned that the new teacher, Vivian from England, had just arrived in Numazu. Super Dave and I decided it would be fun to get some people together to welcome her to the neighbourhood. We left work with one of the Japanese staff, and on the walk towards the NOVA apartments we texted and called several other people. By the time we knocked on Vivian’s door, we had 7 people ready to greet her. We all piled into her apartment for a bit, then took her out for beer and sushi.
You can’t go wrong with beer and sushi!
October 1, 2005 – Don’t push the “push” button
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on October 1, 2015
My sixth day of work in a row was a busy one. I learned two very important things today about what does and does not get you in trouble at work.
I learned that people DON’T seem to get in trouble for making inappropriate sexual comments in English, especially if the recipient of the comments can’t fully understand them. There was an attractive young female in the office today, learning about working at NOVA because she was interested in becoming one of the Japanese support staff. My coworker Ronnie, who has never met an attractive woman he hasn’t harassed, spent every minute he had in the teacher’s room hitting on the potential staff member. His usual routine involves being charismatic and funny, but when he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere, the comments just got crude and uncomfortable. It was awkward for everyone involved. Nobody really stepped in to stop him, but a few people tried to engage the young lady in some more productive conversation.
On the other hand I learned that you DO get in trouble for pushing the mysterious “PUSH” button on a grey wall panel in the classroom area. The button is labelled in both English and Japanese, and is found in only one of the classrooms. After a month of wondering what it was, and using it in a lesson about speculation, I gave in to the temptation and pushed the button. It opened a skylight panel in the room which I later learned can only be closed with a special tool that is not kept in the branch. My attempts to apologize to the staff (in two languages) were completely ignored.
So to summarize, it’s okay to harass a potential new employee all day, but never push the “push” button.
(2015 Update) For the record, I don’t think Ronnie was ever disciplined for the way he talked to the potential new employee. I am not sure if the inaction on NOVA’s part was due to Ronnie being one of the most popular teachers with students, or if a certain level of sexual harassment is just acceptable. Either way, the potential new employee never applied for a job at NOVA, which was not surprising in the least.
I did however hear about pushing the “push” button from several authority figures afterwards. It’s important to have priorities.
Drinking in Japan 
Recent Comments