Archive for July, 2016
March 4, 2006 – Too many stairs
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on July 13, 2016
Numazu NOVA is in a two story building. The main reception area and teachers room are on the main floor, and the classrooms are all on the second floor*.
On my way back to the teachers room after a lesson, I slipped and twisted my bad knee on the stairs. My knee hadn’t given me any trouble for a few years, and I had forgotten how much it hurt. I was also suddenly aware how many stairs there were in Japan. I had to go up and down the stairs for the rest of the day for my lesson. It was not a fun day at work.
I am thankful for the seldom used elevator at my apartment building!
* Dear British people. I know that you would call the floor immediately above the ground floor “the first floor”, while most of the other English speaking countries would call it “the second floor”. Yes, I am aware that you invented the language, but your way doesn’t make sense.
March 3, 2006 – The endless bounties of Don Quijote
Posted by Barniferous in Azeroth, Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, Ooka City Plaza on July 13, 2016
A new Don Quijote (DonKi) location recently opened down the street from my apartment. Unlike all of the other teachers who live close to the station, I am fortunate enough to live across the street from 7-11, and less than a 5 minute walk from both Seiyu and DonKi. I love my apartment!
After work, Super Dave, Azeroth, and I met up and went to DonKi to load up on snack food. After a solid hour of wandering around, we left with booze, pretzels, salsa (hooray), spam, and other goodies.
I’m not sure whose idea the spam and cheese sandwiches were, but it wasn’t the best idea. Other than that, we had an enjoyable evening of snacking, drinking, and watching Fawlty Towers. The show is still funny 30 years later, and I’m sure people will still enjoy it for many years to come.
If you are visiting Japan, you must visit a DonKi location. It’s a necessary part of the Japan experience.
March 2, 2006 – Bananaphone
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on July 11, 2016
Yes, I live in Japan and have a whole country full of exciting things to discover. Instead I spent most of my free time today looking at flash animations in my apartment.
This made me laugh – it contains Raffi music and bad language. It’s funnier for me because I saw Raffi live when I was a kid (Baby Beluga Tour represent!!)
March 1, 2006 – Keeping cake out of the rain
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on July 2, 2016
Happy birthday to my wonderful fiancee The Penpal!
I worked an early shift today, finishing at 5:00pm. My plan was to cook birthday dinner for The Penpal. In the past I didn’t cook for The Penpal very often in my apartment because chances were good that one of my roommates would be around. However, Palmer has just moved to Hokkaido and Azeroth was working a late shift, meaning that The Penpal and I had the whole place to ourselves for the evening.
I decided to pick up a cake on the way home at one of the fancy department stores near Numazu station. Fancy cakes in Japan are an art form; the biggest challenge I had was which one to pick. It was raining a little when I entered the store, and pouring when I left. To keep the cake dry, I had to hold the cake bag up directly under my umbrella. I must have looked ridiculous wearing a shirt and tie, holding a cake at eye level under my umbrella as I walked through a downpour to my apartment. It was worth it, the cake was dry when I got home! (I was not)
The Penpal and I had a good evening together. I really hope NOVA is not in a rush to find us a new roommate; I could get used to having free time in the apartment!
Drinking in Japan 
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