Well....I taught my Sunday lesson yesterday. It was based on Harry Potter. It was a definite learning experience for everyone, myself included. It felt more like a train wreck for me at the moment. I made the lesson too difficult for the students! OOPS. I mean, I did manage to help the students learn something, but now I have a better idea for what to do next time. I had them listen to some of the movie, repeat it, and also had a fill in the blank section. All in all, I guess it wasn't that bad, but definitely a learning experience for us all.
I became a member of Athlie (pronounced a-tsu-ri-e). It is a very nice gym and there are other members of the my schools staff there as well. I am starting to swim again, which is great exercise. Although I seem to be the odd when wearing what we all think are regular swimming trunks. Everyone else wears skin tight suits. Swimming caps are a must there, so I need to buy one of those for myself! I am also beginning to life weights. At the gym they have a machine to tell you what your body fat is and weight, and such and what your goals should be. I need to lose about 10kg. That is close to about 20 pounds. But if I stick to the exercise regime they have given me it won't be that hard. They showed me how to use the machines there. I can't wait for my body to start its transformation. I am so excited. I want real abs! I want a six pack, not a kegger. Its going to be tough but you know what they say, no pain no gain. Hopefully I will be a little more slender and a little more muscular next time I see yall.
Friday was pay day so I am going to pay some bills and do a little shopping. I want to get a gym bag and swim cap and some exercise shorts. Its a beautiful day...about 25 deg C which is close to 80 F. I think. I am still working on the metric system! Hope all is well in the states.
I tried to attach some pictures of my apartment, I hope they show up.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Last weekend in Tokyo
Finally I can put a post up! Last weekend I met Keisuke in Tokyo on Sunday. Keisuke was an exchange student that my family hosted when I was in high school. It has been about 7 years since I have seen him! He is doing great and he is a sous chef at a sushi restaurant. Well we first met at Shinjuku station, a very large station. After we found each other, which took a moment, we had dinner. We ate konkatsu which is fried pork and rice and miso soup. It was all very delicious. After that we walked around Shinjuku for a while and he showed me where the only Krispy Kremes in all of Japan is! There is always a line going out the Krispy Kreme door. I then took the train to Chofu and he rode his motorcycle, because we didn't have an extra helmet at first. After we finally found each other there, we started looking for a jazz bar. One of his friends was listening to some live jazz at a bar in Chofu and we were going to meet up with them. Well, after thoroughly walking around Chofu we finally found the jazz bar, called Live Jazz. Like everything in Japan, it was small! We were there about 2 hours and then we went back into Tokyo. This time Keisuke bought an extra helmet and I was able to ride on the motorcycle. It was awesome to see Tokyo from the bike. Everyone on motorcycles always creep to the front of the line when you are at a red light, so its easy to pass a lot of traffic. We then at and drank a little more. We went to this restaurant where I ate raw chicken liver, heart and stomach in sesame oil with salt. It tasted a lot like peanut butter! I also ate these little eggs that looked like olives, intestines, liver, stomach, tongue and ground up chicken something or other! It was all very delicious. After that we crashed at his friends house and slept for a little bit.
The next day Keisuke had to go back to Nagoya early and I met up with my friend Em in Ginza. Ginza is the really expensive shopping district in Tokyo. It was fun but I couldn't buy anything....they had Gucci, Armani, everything! We walked around there and got Em's IPOD fixed. I think I am going to get an IPOD next month. Anyways, we then went to Jimbucho, which is the used book store district basically. I was able to buy a new book for about $3. Now that I know where that district is I will be going back there soon! We ate at Yoshinnoya which is one of my favorite restaurants here. It is fast food japanese style. We did a lot of walking that day! Then we went to Shinjuku. I love Shinjuku. It is so nice there. When yall come here that will be one of the first places we go! We had some coffee and cakes after walking around a bit and then split to go home. I love being out in Japan but it is always nice to come back to my apartment, even if it is small, its mine!
The rest of the week I have been teaching. No big news there. I teach on Sunday and I made a lesson based on Harry Potter! I think it will be fun. I will try to write more then or on Monday. Have a good one in the States and you are all in my thoughts.
The next day Keisuke had to go back to Nagoya early and I met up with my friend Em in Ginza. Ginza is the really expensive shopping district in Tokyo. It was fun but I couldn't buy anything....they had Gucci, Armani, everything! We walked around there and got Em's IPOD fixed. I think I am going to get an IPOD next month. Anyways, we then went to Jimbucho, which is the used book store district basically. I was able to buy a new book for about $3. Now that I know where that district is I will be going back there soon! We ate at Yoshinnoya which is one of my favorite restaurants here. It is fast food japanese style. We did a lot of walking that day! Then we went to Shinjuku. I love Shinjuku. It is so nice there. When yall come here that will be one of the first places we go! We had some coffee and cakes after walking around a bit and then split to go home. I love being out in Japan but it is always nice to come back to my apartment, even if it is small, its mine!
The rest of the week I have been teaching. No big news there. I teach on Sunday and I made a lesson based on Harry Potter! I think it will be fun. I will try to write more then or on Monday. Have a good one in the States and you are all in my thoughts.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Call me Mr. Bath
Well well well....not too much has happened this week. I did get my hanko, which is a stamp that acts as your signature here in Japan for official documents. I needed on to open my bank account. For many foreigners, they try to find a hanko that sounds like your last name. But my last name, Feroz, isn't very common, hahaha. So we looked and looked and the closest hanko to my name was Furo. Most foreigners hanko doesn't mean anything in the Japanese language. Although mine does! furo is bath in Japanese. So you can call me Mr. Bath! The lady at the bank laughed out loud (lol!) at my hanko when I had to use it. She never saw a foreigner with a name like mine. She thought it was some kinda of joke! Wish it was, but its for real!
I am going to see Keisuke this Sunday! I am very excited, he is coming to Kumagaya and we will go be having dinner together. I also have my Japanese lesson on Sunday so I will be very busy. For those of you who don't know Keisuke he was an exchange student that stayed with my family when I was in high school. It has been 7 years I think since I last saw him.
I will be going to Funabashi on Monday to visit Em! YAY! I can't wait to see her too. The other teachers have to go to kids training but Em and I do not teach kids classes. Which I hear is a good thing! We are going to look for a second hand English book store. I think its in Tokyo, but I am not sure. I need lots of books and they are so expensive here.
Mom was wonderful and sent me some delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies and two books! THANK YOU!!!! You are a life saver! That made my day! I have only one cookie plus some crumbs left and I am saving it for after work tonight!
Hope all is well state side...no more earthquakes yet!
I am going to see Keisuke this Sunday! I am very excited, he is coming to Kumagaya and we will go be having dinner together. I also have my Japanese lesson on Sunday so I will be very busy. For those of you who don't know Keisuke he was an exchange student that stayed with my family when I was in high school. It has been 7 years I think since I last saw him.
I will be going to Funabashi on Monday to visit Em! YAY! I can't wait to see her too. The other teachers have to go to kids training but Em and I do not teach kids classes. Which I hear is a good thing! We are going to look for a second hand English book store. I think its in Tokyo, but I am not sure. I need lots of books and they are so expensive here.
Mom was wonderful and sent me some delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies and two books! THANK YOU!!!! You are a life saver! That made my day! I have only one cookie plus some crumbs left and I am saving it for after work tonight!
Hope all is well state side...no more earthquakes yet!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Teaching and Earthquakes
Well, teaching is becoming easier every day. I'm remembering my students names more! That was definitely a tricky part of the job. I didn't think it would be but no one is named Sara or Bob, aka normal English names. I am remembering the order of the lessons much better now and I can even teach most of a lesson without looking at my lesson plan.
The weather has been beautiful here. Usually very sunny and hot. I am living in the hottest city in Japan. They had the record high for Japan last summer with 41 degrees C. So this summer I should be sweating like a pig! Gotta love those Polish genes! The past 2 days it has been a little more chilly than normal. But oh well, I hear it is the same in the states!
So I went through my first earthquake early Thursday morning. The quake struck off the coast of Japan and was a magnitude 6.8. I don't live close to the quake but we felt the after shocks here in Kumagaya. It happened at 1:45 am and I had just turned off all the lights and the tv and was laying on the floor...er my futon...getting reading for bed. I was laying there in the dark and then everything started shaking. It lasted for a long time too....30-45 seconds I would say. In the dark I could see my curtains moving. It was really weird to hear the building creaking and making noise from the quake. I didn't really know what was happening at first. I thought maybe I am sleeping and this is a dream. Then I realized I was awake. I tried to turn on the light but I couldn't find the switch since everything was shaking. Finally everything stopped. I laid there for a while and then turned on the TV. There were reports of the quake all over the TV. They even showed a map of Japan and where the quake hit, with other numbers on the map, I'm guessing they were how strong the aftershocks were. I really don't know what they were sayin on the TV because I couldn't understand it! The funny thing is earlier that day I was talking to another teacher at school, discussing earthquakes. I told her if one struck while I was at school I'm underneath my desk and its every student for themselves! Now that I have gone through it I now know a little more of what to expect.
Everyone tells me that Kumagaya doesn't get major earthquakes...mostly just after shocks. But they happen about every other month or so. I can't wait for my next one! I will keep everyone posted on how many earthquakes I go through!
Well, I'm gonna cook some dinner....instant curry....i love it!
The weather has been beautiful here. Usually very sunny and hot. I am living in the hottest city in Japan. They had the record high for Japan last summer with 41 degrees C. So this summer I should be sweating like a pig! Gotta love those Polish genes! The past 2 days it has been a little more chilly than normal. But oh well, I hear it is the same in the states!
So I went through my first earthquake early Thursday morning. The quake struck off the coast of Japan and was a magnitude 6.8. I don't live close to the quake but we felt the after shocks here in Kumagaya. It happened at 1:45 am and I had just turned off all the lights and the tv and was laying on the floor...er my futon...getting reading for bed. I was laying there in the dark and then everything started shaking. It lasted for a long time too....30-45 seconds I would say. In the dark I could see my curtains moving. It was really weird to hear the building creaking and making noise from the quake. I didn't really know what was happening at first. I thought maybe I am sleeping and this is a dream. Then I realized I was awake. I tried to turn on the light but I couldn't find the switch since everything was shaking. Finally everything stopped. I laid there for a while and then turned on the TV. There were reports of the quake all over the TV. They even showed a map of Japan and where the quake hit, with other numbers on the map, I'm guessing they were how strong the aftershocks were. I really don't know what they were sayin on the TV because I couldn't understand it! The funny thing is earlier that day I was talking to another teacher at school, discussing earthquakes. I told her if one struck while I was at school I'm underneath my desk and its every student for themselves! Now that I have gone through it I now know a little more of what to expect.
Everyone tells me that Kumagaya doesn't get major earthquakes...mostly just after shocks. But they happen about every other month or so. I can't wait for my next one! I will keep everyone posted on how many earthquakes I go through!
Well, I'm gonna cook some dinner....instant curry....i love it!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Golden Week and catching up
Well, my training is over and I am now teaching at the Kumagaya Az branch of AEON. This has been a wild ride so far and I have made so many friends along the way. Training was a lot of fun. It demanded a lot of attention but it was worth it! The only down fall was having to wear suits even in training! Oh well. Life goes on. After training was completed on a Friday night, we all went out and went to Izakaiyas. Those are places where you pay like $15-20 and its all you can drink for about 2 hours! They are awesome and well worth the money! After we drank and ate a ton of food, we went karaoking. I love how they have karaoke set up here in Japan. You get a private room with your friends and you sing and sing and sing! They have many American songs available to so its even easy for us to sing!
The Cherry Blossom Festival, aka Haname, was ending as we were arriving! During training we got to see the last day of the blossoms. It was spectacular. The trees are so pink with the blossoms and it is amazing to see so many in one place. The Japanese way to celebrate is to get some adult beverages and sit at the park, then drink your frosty beverages and pay no attention to the blossoms! It was a lot of fun. I went with a group of people from the training house. We had a blast. This Japanese man came up to us and asked us to join him and his friends. We didn't want to be rude so we went and sat with him. The gave us a lot of sake, and plenty of good food. They were all so nice. After the festival we decided to go an Izakaiya! Basically you drink all day during Haname. Sorry mom!
I left Omiya (where I trained) and took the bullet train, aka shinkansen, to Kumagaya. It took a total of 13 minutes to arrive here. I was in my city before anyone else left the train station back in Omiya! I was greeted my manager and my head teacher. That whole day was a whirlwind of events. I had to go to City Hall to register for my Alien Registration Card. My friends from training and I all call it the "gaijin card." Gaijin is the word for foreigner in Japanese, sometimes with a negative connotation. Then we went shopping for my start up supplies. I got rice, cereal, milk, fruit, oranges, etc. The necessary stuff to survive. I went to my apartment at 3:30 to have the gas and electric put in my name. That is also when I received my futon. Everything went smoothly so I was happy about that.
That whole first week went by so quickly. I observed quite a few lessons and taught first lesson on the my second day there. It was kinda scary and there were only 2 students but it went very smoothly. I started teaching full time on the third day I was there. That was a scary day. But I got through it and now I am used to the lessons.
Everyone at the school, staff and students, are incredibly nice. Everyone introduced themselves to me, but I can't remember all the names right now! Its just way to much at one time! I am starting to remember more names but its still going to take me some time. My classroom is very small. It seats 6 students plus my desk and myself! I have decorated it a little bit with pictures of my family, my friends, and postcards from Oil City. I am going to need to get some Buckeye memorabilia to put in there as well....hint hint to yall in Columbus!
Now we are in Golden Week. As far as I can put together its a couple of festivals around the same time so we get the whole week off! I don't know what the festivals are about or anything but thats ok! I went to Yokohama which has Japan's largest China Town and ate Chinese food off of a conveyor belt. I walked around and saw plenty of shrines. I will be posting pictures soon. I have to wait til I get the internet at my apartment before I can do that. I went to a party that night and met some more gaijin and locals. Everyone was very nice. I spent the next day in Funabashi. I met some friends and we got lunch and what not. I finally found Ketchup here! and it is Heinz! I was so excited about that! The rest of Golden Week I have explored my city and seen some amazing sites around here. Once again I will have pictures eventually, just have to wait for that internet connection! I am going to try and have some different sections like food, travel, festivals, etc on this blog. I am not exactly internet savvy so it may take some time to figure out. I will try to update this blog at least once or twice a week.
Hope all is well in the US of A. I miss everyone like crazy! Oh yeah, I would kill right now for a real cheeseburger, with bacon and mushrooms, just like one from Thurmans! Damn does that sound good!
The Cherry Blossom Festival, aka Haname, was ending as we were arriving! During training we got to see the last day of the blossoms. It was spectacular. The trees are so pink with the blossoms and it is amazing to see so many in one place. The Japanese way to celebrate is to get some adult beverages and sit at the park, then drink your frosty beverages and pay no attention to the blossoms! It was a lot of fun. I went with a group of people from the training house. We had a blast. This Japanese man came up to us and asked us to join him and his friends. We didn't want to be rude so we went and sat with him. The gave us a lot of sake, and plenty of good food. They were all so nice. After the festival we decided to go an Izakaiya! Basically you drink all day during Haname. Sorry mom!
I left Omiya (where I trained) and took the bullet train, aka shinkansen, to Kumagaya. It took a total of 13 minutes to arrive here. I was in my city before anyone else left the train station back in Omiya! I was greeted my manager and my head teacher. That whole day was a whirlwind of events. I had to go to City Hall to register for my Alien Registration Card. My friends from training and I all call it the "gaijin card." Gaijin is the word for foreigner in Japanese, sometimes with a negative connotation. Then we went shopping for my start up supplies. I got rice, cereal, milk, fruit, oranges, etc. The necessary stuff to survive. I went to my apartment at 3:30 to have the gas and electric put in my name. That is also when I received my futon. Everything went smoothly so I was happy about that.
That whole first week went by so quickly. I observed quite a few lessons and taught first lesson on the my second day there. It was kinda scary and there were only 2 students but it went very smoothly. I started teaching full time on the third day I was there. That was a scary day. But I got through it and now I am used to the lessons.
Everyone at the school, staff and students, are incredibly nice. Everyone introduced themselves to me, but I can't remember all the names right now! Its just way to much at one time! I am starting to remember more names but its still going to take me some time. My classroom is very small. It seats 6 students plus my desk and myself! I have decorated it a little bit with pictures of my family, my friends, and postcards from Oil City. I am going to need to get some Buckeye memorabilia to put in there as well....hint hint to yall in Columbus!
Now we are in Golden Week. As far as I can put together its a couple of festivals around the same time so we get the whole week off! I don't know what the festivals are about or anything but thats ok! I went to Yokohama which has Japan's largest China Town and ate Chinese food off of a conveyor belt. I walked around and saw plenty of shrines. I will be posting pictures soon. I have to wait til I get the internet at my apartment before I can do that. I went to a party that night and met some more gaijin and locals. Everyone was very nice. I spent the next day in Funabashi. I met some friends and we got lunch and what not. I finally found Ketchup here! and it is Heinz! I was so excited about that! The rest of Golden Week I have explored my city and seen some amazing sites around here. Once again I will have pictures eventually, just have to wait for that internet connection! I am going to try and have some different sections like food, travel, festivals, etc on this blog. I am not exactly internet savvy so it may take some time to figure out. I will try to update this blog at least once or twice a week.
Hope all is well in the US of A. I miss everyone like crazy! Oh yeah, I would kill right now for a real cheeseburger, with bacon and mushrooms, just like one from Thurmans! Damn does that sound good!
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