April 22, 2005 – Invasion of the Obasans
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking on April 22, 2015
After work I went out for cheap beer and sushi with coworkers. (Yes, like almost every other night).
Tonight there was a huge crowd of older ladies in Ryuu. Usually the izakaya is filled with English teachers and salarymen. Tonight we were surrounded on all sides by obasans. It was a bit of a different dynamic, but the power of beer and sushi still allowed us to have a good time.
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 18, 2005 – No deportation for me (yet)
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on April 18, 2015
Yesterday the staff informed me that my teacher contract expired at the end of the day. Today, an emergency call to the area manager confirmed that we were wrong; my contract and more importantly my work visa expire in May, not April. I have another month to sort out my contract before I will be kicked out of the country.
Important dates to know: contract expiry, visa expiry, passport expiry.
April 17, 2005 – The streak is over
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on April 17, 2015
My streak of good kids classes is over. They were AWFUL today. It was nice while it lasted.
During my shift, I was surprised to learn that today was the last official day on my NOVA teacher contract. This also surprised the staff and supervisor. I have not had a chance to re-sign my contract yet, so I am not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow. I guess I will show up and see if I am on the schedule…
April 16, 2005 – 4 days in a row!
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on April 16, 2015
My cold is getting worse. I had a lot of sinus pressure making me feel like my eyeballs were going to explode. Thanks to the wonders of daytime cold medicine (from Canada), I managed to survive the day.
Also, the streak of good kids classes has now extended to 4 good classes in 4 days!! This is a pleasant surprise.
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.
April 14, 2005 – Expanded responsibilities
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on April 14, 2015
I have received a promotion of sorts at work. I am now the Voice co-ordinator at Mishima NOVA.
Voice is an open conversation classroom at NOVA that allows students of all levels to go and speak English. Most of the time the room is open to any type of conversation, but occasionally the branch will offer a special topic. I have done special topics on hockey, creating a resume, calling in sick, and some of the finer points of English grammar. Guess which of those I enjoyed the least…
As the Voice co-ordinator, it is my responsibility to make a plan for the next 6 months of special topics, and assign teachers to each of them. I had the same responsibilities when I worked at Kawasaki NOVA, but this time should be easier because I am now only scheduling 8 teachers instead of 23.
In other news: I somehow had another good kids class!?!?
April 13, 2005 – A good kids class!?!?
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on April 13, 2015
A good kids class!?!?
The English teaching gods are smiling on me today.
April 12, 2005 – Raising kids in Japan
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on April 12, 2015
Today was another rainy day in Numazu. It literally rained all day. When you don’t have a car, rainy days can limit your ability to get around, at least if you are concerned about staying dry.
In the evening I went out for dinner at Bikkuri Donkey with The Penpal, one of her female friends, and the friend’s young son. The Penpal’s friend wanted to get her son some exposure to English from a native speaker. This is not uncommon – I have found that Japanese people put a higher value on the English they learn from native speakers, even speakers not trained as teachers, than English they learn from a Japanese teacher.
Over dinner, we talked about differences in how kids are raised in Japan and Canada. I was surprised to learn that in Japan it was common for children to share a futon with their mother from the time they are born until they start school. This would be very inconvenient for the father, and also very inconvenient for increasing the family size. I explained that in Canada, it’s common for children to have their own room, depending on the culture of the parents. This was surprising to both The Penpal and her friend, who had lots of questions about how a parent would know if child needs something. It was an interesting discussion for everyone except the young son.
Note to self: if I am going to raise children in Japan, have the discussion about where the children are going to sleep BEFORE making the children.
(2015 Update) As the proud parent of a 1 year old half Canadian, half Japanese boy, I can inform my wonderful readers that we came to a compromise on where our son would sleep. We are currently living in Canada, and sleeping in a nice, cushy queen sized bed. For about the first 6 months, our son slept in a bassinet in our room so we had easy access to him. After that, he moved to his own room across the hall to sleep in a crib. We can hear him easily from our room, and have a portable baby monitor for when we are anywhere else in the house.
I am sure our arrangement would have been different if we were living in Japan or sleeping on a futon, but I think we came to a good compromise.
April 11, 2005 – Rain on my day off
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on April 11, 2015
Of course it has to rain on my day off. I call BS on this weather!
Drinking in Japan 
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