Archive for category Life in Japan
November 12, 2005 – 1000 yen coffee
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on November 12, 2015
Between lessons today I decided that I needed a caffeine boost. Fortunately there is a bank of vending machines right across the street from Numazu NOVA. I didn’t have change, so I used a 1000 yen bill to buy a 100 yen can of coffee, and then rushed back to the teacher’s room to prepare for my next lesson.
It wasn’t until about two hours later when I realized that I forgot to take my change with me. I went out to check just in case, but my change was long gone.
My 1000 yen can of coffee was pretty good though.
November 10, 2005 – A remedy for stress
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on November 10, 2015
I’m not exactly sure why, but I was really stressed out today. Like one of those situations where stress is squeezing your brain and lying on top of you like a weight on your chest.
Fortunately living in Japan there is a good remedy for this: after work I enjoyed some beer and friend stuff on sticks. Yum!
November 2, 2005 – Santa in training
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on November 2, 2015
Today The Penpal asked me if I would like to be Santa Claus at an upcoming Yamaha English School Christmas party. How can I say no to that?
The Penpal used to work for Yamaha English School, which uses mostly Japanese teachers to teach English to children. She is still friends with a lot of her old coworkers, so they asked her if I could help. It should be a lot of fun!
Now I just need to gain about 100 pounds in a month and grow a beard…
November 1, 2005 – Homework?
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on November 1, 2015
Today I had my first Japanese lesson with the teacher provided by the city of Mishima. My sensei is a very pleasant middle aged woman who is easy to talk to. My lesson was 90 minutes, and we managed to speak almost exclusively Japanese. It was a great first lesson, and I am looking forward to the next one.
Unfortunately she gave me grammar homework. Boo homework!
October 25, 2005 – Yes, we understand the word gaijin
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on October 25, 2015
Today was one of those days filled with minor annoyances that all added up to make me grumpy.
Recently some of the teachers learned that the City of Mishima was offering free Japanese lessons to foreign residents, with signup at city hall. I got up in the morning to meet a group of teachers so we could all go sign up together. It took me about 15 minutes to find my belt, and then when I got outside, I found that my bike tire was flat again. I ended up being late to meet the other teachers at Numazu station.
Finding Mishima City Hall was a bit challenging. There were no English signs (not entirely surprising considering we were in Japan), but we had no idea where to go once we got into the building. Since I was voted to have the best Japanese skills, I went to ask the man at the information desk. He didn’t really understand what I was asking about, so he decided to call the one person who speaks English on staff. He told the person on the other end of the line that there was a group of gaijins asking about Japanese lessons. Upon hearing the word “gaijin” we all laughed, while he seemed legitimately surprised that we were familiar with the word.
The word gaijin literally means “outside person”, and is used when referring to foreigners. The word itself is not inherently offensive, depending on how it is used.
Realizing we could understand a bit more Japanese that he expected, the information desk man referred to our group as “gaikoku no kata” the next time. This literally translates to “foreign country person”, and is a much more polite / politically correct way to refer to a foreigner. The suddenly much more polite man directed us to another building across the street, where an English speaking city worker helped us sign up for Japanese lessons.
After the adventure in signing up for lessons, I rushed home, got changed, and hurried to work. I was not supposed to have any group kids classes on my schedule, but things changed and I had to teach 2.
In the evening I talked to The Penpal. We had been planning to go to Canada for Christmas together, but it sounds like she will not be able to get the time off anymore. Our trip is not looking very likely at this point.
October 24, 2005 – Productive day off!
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, The Penpal on October 24, 2015
Today was a very productive day off. I fixed my flat bike tire, paid my property taxes (yes, you have to pay property taxes if you live in an apartment), and checked plane ticket prices for a trip home around Christmas.
After the penpal finished work we went to a big electronics store called Kojima where I used only Japanese to request repairs to my digital camera, which had been missing it’s button since I dropped it at Numazu summer festival. The penpal expertly coached me on how to say “I dropped my camera and lost the button, can you please repair it?”. The clerk at Kojima seemed impressed. It feels great to get something done in my second language!
Afterwards the Penpal and I ate sushi, hung out, and played Super Mario Brothers. Yes, I have the coolest girlfriend. It was a good day!
October 23, 2005 – Geek day
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Life in Japan, Movies on October 23, 2015
Today was a total geek day. There was yet another teacher party in the evening, but I declined and decided to spend the evening in. Super Dave came over after finishing work and brought his portable hard drive. We traded some movies and TV shows while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 presenting “The Crawling Eye”. Hanging out and watching robots make fun of terrible sci-fi was a lot of fun and a nice break from another night out at the izakaya.
Warning: Do not attempt to watch The Crawling Eye (or any other MST3K) without ample beer on hand. It will break your brain.
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.
Drinking in Japan 
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