Archive for category Friends and coworkers
July 17, 2005 – BBQ in the park
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan on July 17, 2015
Today after work Palmer hosted a huge BBQ in the park near our apartment. Classes end early on Sunday, so the attendance was great. Most of the teachers from the area and all of the Japanese staff came out for food and socializing.
The BBQ was a nice change from the usual routine of izakayas and karaoke. My personal highlight was eating a delicious lamb burger. My lowlight was running away from fireworks.
If you ever have a chance to attend a BBQ hosted by an Australian, do it!
June 26, 2005 – Birthday karaoke (not mine)
Posted by Barniferous in Azeroth, Karaoke on June 26, 2015
Tonight I went out for birthday karaoke (not mine) with Azeroth and some of his friends, most of whom are students. I didn’t think there was such a think as too much karaoke, but by the end my voice gave out and all I could do was squeak into the microphone.
June 16, 2005 – Farewell party for Kasparov
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers on June 16, 2015
(This is an unpublished entry from my original travel blog when I was teaching English in Japan)
Recently one of my coworkers quit in spectacular fashion, getting his work visa changed and then sending his resignation by fax before a busy weekend. Kasparov was already not very popular with the other teachers, and the way he quit and made the rest of our schedules much busier did not help at all.
Angie let me know that there was going to be a small farewell party for Kasparov after work. Not a lot of people were interested in attending, but Angie wanted at least a few of us to show up. Since I rarely turn down a post work drink (especially when asked by a woman with a Scottish accent), I agreed and was part of the 4-5 teachers who showed up.
We met at a small izakaya near Mishima NOVA that I hadn’t been to before. It was nice, but didn’t have the same familiar character that I had learned to love at Ryoba. Kasparov was ordering sake, and when it arrived, it was poured in a way I had never seen before.
Kasparov was presented with a small sake cup inside a wooden box. The waiter poured sake into the glass, and it overflowed filling the box as well. To drink this requires you to drain the glass, then drink from the box while trying to spill as little as possible. I was intrigued, but after a few too many rough experiences with sake, I decided to stick with beer.
After a few sake glasses / boxes, Kasparov and his girlfriend started laughing about how he quit, and he was so happy about screwing the company over. Most of the effect of his sudden departure was actually felt by the teachers and students, so we didn’t feel the same satisfaction that he did. Usually farewell parties start at an izakaya, and end with late night karaoke. This one ended after a couple hours in the izakaya.
If you are upset with your employer, try not to screw over your coworkers on the way out.
(2015 Update) Apparently overflowing the glass into a box is a traditional thing. Read more about it here.
June 14, 2005 – Come and Knock on our Door…
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, The Penpal on June 14, 2015
My roommate Palmer is away in Thailand for 3 weeks on vacation. My other roommate Azeroth was teaching, so The Penpal and I had the apartment to ourselves for a change, or so we thought.
The Penpal came over and we went to Super Kadoike, the small supermarket across the street from our apartment building. We bought ingredients to cook spaghetti with tomato, bacon, and eggplant sauce. We returned home and started cooking.
While cooking, we were very surprised to see Palmer’s girlfriend Mia walk into the apartment with a load of laundry. I had not idea that she had her own key! She introduced herself to The Penpal, started doing the laundry, and then took a shower. After her shower she came out to talk to us while wrapped in a towel and drying her hair with another towel.
Yes, it was as awkward as it sounded.
Mia did not live in our apartment, but did spend the night with Palmer on occasion. I have no idea why she thought it would be okay to just make herself at home while Palmer was away, or why on earth she thought it was a good idea to talk to The Penpal and I while she was wearing a towel. WTF indeed!
Later in the evening I did my best to assure The Penpal that Mia did not often just hang around in a towel. I think I will be discussing this with Palmer when he gets home!
(2015 Update) This was about the time I made the decision to start saving up for my own apartment.
June 2, 2005 – Who quits by fax?
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Teaching English on June 2, 2015
Today started out as a typical Thursday at Mishima NOVA. Students showed up, teachers taught English, all was normal. In the evening I had an empty lesson and was catching up on some paperwork in the teachers room. I went out front to make a copy, when Patrick the manager started to read an incoming fax.
Patrick read the fax, paused, read it again, and then said “Rumi, please remove Kasparov from the schedule. He doesn’t work here anymore”. Rumi was confused, and not sure if she understood the request. Patrick repeated “Kasparov just quit and doesn’t work here anymore. Please remove him from the schedule”.
It was no secret that Kasparov was not happy working as an English teacher for NOVA. A lot of people sign up to teach English in order to move to Japan, but then realize that the actual teaching is not the fulfilling career choice they thought it would be. Turnover for English teachers is fairly high, but most of the teachers who leave give 2-4 weeks of notice.
Kasparov was an accomplished coder, having developed software as a hobby. His Japanese was also quite good. Unbeknownst to everyone, he had been searching for a new job and had just been hired to do custom coding for a small business in Gotemba. However, in order to get the job, he needed to change the category on his working visa.
Kasparov’s fax explained that as of this morning, he had completed the change to his working visa, and he was no longer legally allowed to work at NOVA. Instead of giving any warning or indication that something was going to happen, he sent a fax on his day off and just never came back. It was one of the biggest dick moves I have ever seen.
Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days of the week at NOVA. Removing one teacher from the schedule created a panic for the staff, who had to try to juggle lessons and find a quick replacement teacher (in an area short of teachers) before finally cancelling lessons and calling students to apologize.
Kasparov quit by fax in order to stick it to NOVA. Overall, the effect on the company was very small, unlike the effect his sudden departure had on his former coworkers and students. He was not exactly popular before he pulled this stunt, and he definitely wasn’t going to win any popularity contests afterwards.
If you have a grudge with your employer, don’t quit in a way that screws over your former coworkers or the customers. That’s just being an asshole.
(2015 Update) My original post on the subject was 2 sentences long with no details because I wasn’t sure who was reading my blog. I should have posted it anyways – it’s not like anyone other than Kasparov would have disagreed with me.
May 15, 2005 – The worst
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Teaching English on May 15, 2015
Today I had the worst kids class in my entire time teaching English in Japan. I can’t go into too many details because I am still working there and don’t know who is reading my blog, but if I have to continue teaching this class I will start considering my career options. I need a vacation!
(2015 Update) I don’t remember the exact details, but I am pretty sure that my original post was about a terrible experience covering one of Kasparov’s classes because he was “injured”. The kids were completely out of control and just went nuts for 40 minutes, running, screaming and throwing stuff. To make matters worse, Kasparov was looking through the window from the adjacent Voice classroom and laughing at me.
Kasparov (obviously not his real name) was a dick.
April 24, 2005 – Singing Celine Dion for beer
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Friends and coworkers, Karaoke, Shizuoka on April 24, 2015
Tonight was another fun night out with Azeroth and friends.
Azeroth was friends with Koalako, one of the students at Mishima NOVA. I had taught her many times before, and she was always a fun person to talk to. Koalako lives in Atami, a nearby city built on the side of a mountain on the ocean. Atami is a terrible place to try to ride a bicycle, but a great place to see fireworks, and is famous for its many hot springs.
I met up with Azeroth, Koalako, and Koalako’s friend (that Azeroth was interested in) in Mishima. I was just finishing work and they had already had a few drinks. We all got on Tokaido line for the 12 minute ride east to Atami. In Atami, we drank beer while walking down the steep roads towards the waterfront. Azeroth, being the classy guy that he is, stopped to pee on the side of the mountain while the ladies and I were watching the fireworks. When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.
We caught the end of a fantastic firework show, with colours reflecting off the ocean. After the show was done, Koalako got a call from her parents. They had never met anyone from outside of Japan before, so they invited us to have some beer and snacks at their local pub. Azeroth and I are not known to turn down beer, so we were on our way.
The pub was a traditional “snack” style izakaya. The room itself was small, with several tables facing a long bar counter. In total there was probably seating for 25-30 people maximum. It was a small mom and pop bar that catered to a small group of regular customers from the area. The atmosphere was cozy and friendly, especially because we were the guests of some regulars.
Koalako’s parents were very friendly and outgoing. They greeted us and then started ordering an impressive display of izakaya food and beer. All of the beer was in one litre bottles. The women at the table took turns filling up our small glasses every time there was any space in them. Azeroth and I didn’t pour any of our own drinks. When you are drinking from small glasses that are instantly refilled, it is very easy to lost track of how much you have consumed. Naturally, this led to only one possible outcome: karaoke.
Mama-san (the female owner) brought over the microphones and the song list. There were only about 8 English songs in the whole book. The selection would have made Canadian AM radio proud; Elvis, Paul Anka, Ritchie Valens, and for some reason, Celine f**king Dion. Since we were being treated to our beer and food, Azeroth and I did our best to entertain our hosts. My Elvis and Paul Anka were passable (despite not knowing the songs well), but my version of “My Heart with Go On” was epically awful. Azeroth was laughing the whole time at making the Canadian guy sing Celine Dion. However, he did bail me out half way through the song as we turned it into an over the top duet.
After more beer than I can count and some good karaoke thanks to Koalako and parents, we noticed that it was getting dangerously close to the last train of the evening. Koalako’s father was worried that we would get lost walking to the station, so he got mama-san to call us a taxi to get us to the station. We thanked our hosts for the fun evening, and protested as Koalako’s father made sure to pay the taxi driver in advance as we were leaving. Koalako’s father is great!
The train ride home seemed about 6 times as long as the ride there, and the walk back to our apartment took forever, owing mainly to the fact that we were unable to walk in a straight line. The evening was a lot of fun, but I am not looking forward to the next morning.
(2015 Update) This is a greatly expanded version of my post from 10 years ago. I added in a lot of detail and mentioned that Koalako was a student, something that I smartly omitted the first time around. I ran into Koalako’s father when I was visiting Japan in 2013, and found that he was still as friendly and outgoing as ever.
April 21, 2005 – Aussie Rules and Don Cherry
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers on April 21, 2015
My roommate Palmer seriously sprained his ankle while playing basketball a few days ago. Since he is not very mobile, he, Azeroth and I all decided to hang out and watch some TV over beers at the apartment. Somehow this turned into a cultural sports exchange.
Palmer is a huge fan of Australian Rules Football, which is a “get the ball over a line” team game that looks like a mix of American football, rugby, and soccer. Palmer showed us a DVD of the 2004 Grand Final game between Palmer’s favourite team, The Port Adelaide Power, against the Brisbane Lions. It was my first time sitting to watch a full game of Aussie Rules, and it was a lot of fun! Aussie rules is a fast paced exciting game, and easy to understand for first timers.
In exchange, I pulled out my Don Cherry 16 DVD and introduced Palmer to the world of hockey. For those unaware, Don Cherry is very outspoken former hockey player and coach, who provides colour commentary between periods on Hockey Night in Canada. He also releases a DVD every year featuring the best hockey highlights from the previous season. Don Cherry DVDs have been my regular Christmas present from my mom for the past 6 or 7 years.
Palmer was impressed with the speed, violence, and skill of hockey. I was just happy to have someone to watch Don Cherry with.
Expand your horizons – get out there and watch another country’s popular sport. It’s a great way to learn about another culture, and a good excuse to have a beer.
April 15, 2005 – Three days in a row
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Teaching English on April 15, 2015
Today I successfully worked through a cold. It helped that I once again had a good kids class. I have now had 3 good kids classes in 3 days! Is this really possible? Is this some kind of wonderful dream?
Even though I was fighting a cold, I felt better than my roommate Palmer. He badly sprained his ankle during basketball practice, and came home on crutches in a lot of pain. Getting to and from work on crutches is going to be hard enough, but he works at Numazu NOVA where the teacher’s room is on the first floor, and the classrooms are on the second floor. That’s not going to be fun.
Remember kids – sports are bad for you.
February 20, 2005 – The least erotic dance ever
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Friends and coworkers, Shenanigans on February 20, 2015
Today was Veronica’s last day as an English teacher, so after work we had a big farewell party at an izakaya in Numazu. Veronica had been teaching for a while and was very well liked, so her party attracted teachers from Mishima, Numazu, Fuji, Fujinomiya, and Shimizu branches.
The highlight / lowlight of the evening was Brad’s (not very) erotic dance. Brad is one of my coworkers at Mishima NOVA who is soon moving to Fuji school. He is about the size of an NFL linebacker, and has a huge booming voice that you can hear from a great distance. Working with Brad is fun, if you don’t have to be in the next classroom competing with his huge voice. The staff usually does a good job of trying to put him in a classroom away from other teachers if possible.
For some reason (alcohol) Brad decided to entertain us by trying to do a “sexy” dance. He had a completely serious look on his face at the time, and most of his moves appeared to be stolen from N-Sync. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time.
As usual, the second party was at karaoke, which went late into the night. Farewell parties are a lot of fun, it’s too bad that someone has to leave in order to have one.
Drinking in Japan 
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