More from iphone adventures: Nov,2012 Yokohama

Okay, i haven't been blogging nearly as much as I intended to when i first started this. The number one reason? I'm a procrastinator. And I apologize.

Anyway, just a small update: I am liking my job. I still have it in the back of my mind that I never intended to work with kids, but ... whenever I think of how things were just 4-5 months ago, I once again am reminded of how thankful and blessed I am.

All crap aside from the last place, I did cringe having to write an email to my last workplace in order to figure out some tax stuff..which is another story ill spare you from. I went from a pretty stressful, small office environment with almost no real opportunities for working with my colleagues to a lively workspace with lots of energy, color and many many opportunities to make a fool of myself while being encouraged to do so.
 
There are annoying kids, but there are also very cute kids. Lots of kids make me laugh. You would be surprised with the kind of things they will do when acting. Just give them a setting. They will make it come alive.

Now.. on to some of the things ive been wasting my time on.

Cubeecraft toys!!! That website has been a gold mind of cool toys you can make out of paper.

Just make sure you have thick paper and lots of time.

This one is Totoro!

I found myself a good bomberman one too!

 

 

With some craftknife magic its done! I do actually use this in some of my lessons. 

 

Some of the other things I do at work consist of talking to teachers, messing around with materials that may be remotely educational and sometimes... goofing off with teachers.

Behold, the water powered rocket.  

I dont know what it is, but elementary school girls love riding unicycles. Every school has a ton of these.

 Kids are into lots of creative things these days. 

Pig with a mustache?

Found some drawings.. notice in the lower right picture there is a 

crayon drawing of a gun. -_-

One reason I find myself lucky to be in this setting is the education.  Im not just amused and amazed at the education that kids receive here, but im stoked that I also have access to a ton of resources for learning what I need to while im here.

I get to work with teachers, the ones in charge of the early stages of these kids' social and educational lives. I also have access to books and endless learning tools.

Check out this book.

Its a manga style story about an onigiri, his ninja upbringing and his friends.

Collecting umeboshi from some mysterious forest usually controlled by another school of ninja's his party has to pass tests in the form of quizzes about food in order to obtain the items he needs.

Cool thing reading this is that its not too difficult for where I am at in Japanese. Its pretty entertaining so far.. and I also learned that umeboshi related fruits are poisonus  until they are ripe. Well.. they can get you a bad stomach ache and severe diarrhea.

Here's another one im trying to find the time for.

 

Annnnd completely unrelated to work.

Here's a polar bear with a mustache.  Compliments of the lady friend. "The way to a man's heart is through is stomach.. or cute stuffed animals with mustaches."

 

 What I get to see and hear every Sunday.  Church in a livehouse. Nice..

My first attempt at cheesebread. 

Something i found on my two hour walking adventure from my station all the way to Yokohama.

The top 3 reasons why I walked all the way to Yokohama:

Excercise

Saving Money

...

To go to the music store... where I found this sweet axe.

Aaaaand its mine.  One of my friends said it looks like a "strat from the future,"

Well, actually, that is what it was designed to be.. the alternative to the strat.. and so much more.

More updates to come more frequently soon!

Halloween...

I did absolutely nothing for Halloween..  well, almost nothing.  It was Wednesday, i had work the next morning.... so i stayed home. At least i made my first beer bread of the year. 

 

Pretty good for unlevened bread. You really do need to get baking powder or yeast in order to make this stuff rise.  

 I suppose its time for a little update. At the moment, i am a bit buzzed from coming back from a nomikai with some of the senseis from one of my school. Indeed, it has been a long day.  You know what I did for work?  I went to a huge park all day with the kids.  The entire school went.

It was a pretty neat setup they did with the groups. 6th-1st grade mixed into smaller groups. Within those smaller groups were even smaller cohorts. 6th graders were in charge of keeping the younger kids in line with the 5th graders being somewhat co-leaders.  

We went to some park called Smile...s omething. Im not sure of the name but it was a huge park.  Lots of green everywhere complete withe a bunny and hamster petting zoo. With different stations set up throughout the park, senseis ran games for the groups of kids that went to the different stations. Everything from jump roping, to the bean bag toss.  It was really neat getting to see all the kids interact with eachother of different classes and age groups.

For those who dont know Japanese elementary schools, when the kids eat lunch its usually in their own classroom with the same group of kids all the time all year.  However, today was really neat as in that all of the kids of different groups interacted with eachother playing games, eating lunch together and cooperating to gain points in the various games.

When I was in elementary school, I definitley dont remember ever participating in something like this. My class was mostly separated from others. Interactions were sometimes even hostile.  But the younger kids here were really looking up to the older ones. And the older ones were really looking out for the younger ones. Specially in the long walk to the park from the school. I noticed the older kids pulling the younger ones to the side of the road whenever cars would come by. Even one little boy was looking up to his 6th grade sempai and holding her hand, even trying to fall asleep in her arms.

All in all, today was a good day. I would have loved to take pictures, however according to company rules,, pictures of my schools are a no no.   Maybe one day i can sneak some.

This job is unexpectedly rewarding. I like these kids more than I expected too.  Maybe cuz they dont actually speak English... Hahaha who knows.

Pictures of wierd things....

Okay, these aren't completely wacky things you might expect, but lets take a look:

Okay, a normal toilet paper roll holder.

  But the English makes no sense. Resonable (sp?) and Sympathetic.

Sympathetic to what?  My arse? I guess.

 

Oh look! Domo-kun! 

 

And he is headed for the busiest intersection in the world.

Found this book at the store. Its about poo!  

Basically, the first page shows a dog "making" the poo.  All in cartoon form of course.

The poo then comes alive and is like "wow, ive always wanted to live in the big city!" Starts walkin around and waving animals n people.  Next thing you know everyone is running for hills, even a snake is crawling up a lamp pole with a "get the f)(# away from me look."

In his story, Unco (poo in Japanese) just wants to be friendly and doesnt understand why everyone is running away.  I don't know how it ends... but im sure theres a lesson to be taught at the end. Maybe.

Found this flashcard at work. It was in the pile for "careers" Hitler stache?  Funny thing is, over half of the other cards had the same mustache.  Waiter, Driver, Shop Assistant... all cartoon versions of what Hitler could have been.

 

Interesting?  I dont know what lesson this card is used in. But theres a board game with dice to go with.  The picture is interesting indeed.

Beer, now in resealable plastic bottles!!!

 

 I don't know about you bro, but I want to order something from the Legular Menu.

Okay, so this is an odd place I passed by in Shibuya. I'm pretty sure it was an adult movie theater. If you look at the second bullet point down the list.. I am certain beyond a reasonable doubt... is says "Student Discount." OMG!

Chubaka (sp?) keychain!

 Lady dressed as a bunny.. on the way to her part time job maybe?

Mmmm Pungency. Last time i checked, I didn't remember this word having good connotations.

 

Well, thats all the pictures for now.  I hope to take more soon!

Pictures to Share

 Some pictures I have taken since moving to Yokohama:

Zushi Beach! Prettier, much cleaner than Momochi in Fukuoka.

 

 Minato Mirai's Landmark Tower

I like the "no skateboarding" sign with someone doing an awesome trick.

Part of a kids festival somewhere near Kannai

 

More pictures to come soon!

Anniversary

Today marks the almost 1 month anniversary since moving to Yokohama and starting life in Japanese elementary schools. I still can't believe i'm doing this. If you know me, than you know that I never ever ever ever considered doing this.  Of course, life happens and decisions must be made. Aside from all the lesson planning and feeling like I don't know what I'm doing, every day is filled with interesting experiences.

Whether it's the kid's reactions to games in the classroom or walking down the hall and never failing to hear "omg Michael Jackson Sensei!!" one thing is for sure, when I'm not "teaching" I feel like im getting a second chance at reliving my childhood. Living my childhood again through a Japanese lens.  Its a delicate mix of knowing what I am doing and not knowing what I am doing. 

As a kid I was never really aware of what I was doing in the class room, mainly just messing around and not caring about grades or whatever. And now, when ive finally gotten kids to understand a game iv'e introduced, it may only be 15 min, but sometimes I just jump in and participate in the game too.  In a way its reliving being a kid, but its hard to know exactly whats goin on cuz the kids are speaking a different language. I'm not talking about Japanese or English, but when I was a kid the adults were speaking a different language.

I realized that my main function is not to "teach" these kids English. It's to make sure they have fun and keep an interest in English that will prepare them for the all the technical baggage to come when the hit JHS. At any rate, I know I still have a damn long way to go as far as teaching and figuring out what I really want in this life. For now, the highlights are keeping me interested this job.

I do like watching kids come up with their own creative ways of dealing with a "shopping game".  Ive had kids who for some reason decided they wanted to buy up all the bananas in class, name their own store... or even start haggling other students.  You could even tell which kids were greedy with money.

Sitting in and participating in club activities is a blast too. Last week in one of the schools science clubs, they made some sort of sweet and salty candy in one of the lab rooms. I don't think my elementary school had a science room!  Yesterday I played cops and robbers in the schoolyard with the "survival" club. 

Anywhoo.. thats my update for the week.

Ps. Japanese Coke sucks.  I don't even know why I bought some. I never drink that stuff...  Somehow I always convince myself to make poor decisions with food.

Late night craving for tacos?

Late night craving for tacos? (Taco = Octopus in Japanese)

Why not head to your local.....

Taco Bitch!!!

What????!!  Haha, I saw this shop on the bus ride home from one of my schools.  Oh the crazy English that Japanese people use.  I love it.

Hello! Hello Hello Hello!!! Goodbye!

２４年４月：Hello Fukuoka!

２４年８月：Well that lasted long... Goodbye Fukuoka!... Hello Yokohama!

What can I say?? Life threw me a few surprises.  Yes, curve-balls really.  Some people say everything happens for a reason. I'd like to believe in some divine plan if there is one. Sometimes its difficult to know what I am doing out in this country.  Yet my struggle is I tend to believe in coincidence. However, if I may say... these are damn good coincidences.

Things in Fukuoka did not work out exactly how I planned them. I intended to stay for about 3 years, yet my previous boss asked "why not 5?"  

All things were good right? ... I couldn't have been more wrong!!  Twas in deed a dream job or so it seemed. Importing beer from around the world, satisfying bellies, turning six-packs into kegs.. and saving Belgian Christmas for the Japanese.

While I am still praying for something ridiculous and impossible to happen, I do have to take note that not only was I blessed with a job in Fukuoka.  When it was time to end it, God must have known this was going to happen.. cuz he gave me another one.  Of all places... in Yokohama. The only other place in all of Japan where I know friends.  My good friends Jinggo and Ken. Glad to be a part of your beautiful city.

Yes, I went from being an alcohol importer to... educating children. I have a newfound respect for teachers, good teachers. After about a week of crash course teacher training, I realized, being a good teacher who constantly keeps students engaged is hard! Even if you are an "Assistant English" teacher.  Yes, I am an "Assistant" teacher, yet we are expected to plan everything for every lesson.  

The irony is that I took so much pride in not being an English teacher when I first got here.  After a few months of trying salaryman work at a small office and realizing how much that sucked, God must have been laughing at me as he let me find ads for all kinds of jobs on Gaijinpot, specially the English instructor ones. 

Learning to communicate with kids in general is challenging.  Even more so with kids that don't speak your language. Teaching them how to do things and play games without explaining, just modeling.. that is indeed challenging.

Ive spent the last few days just going out of my mind with this.  Dealing with kids is an important job! Also, I get to see where all the culture learning happens.  These kids are being instilled with the very essence of what people will see in years and have been seeing... oh what it is that makes Japan the way it is.  Wacky Japanese culture and things we know as Japanese come from... guess what.. Japanese people!  And i get to witness it right in front of my eyes.

This job is pretty exhausting so far, but its important. It is by no means boring like other jobs ive had in the past. Its pretty exciting, borderline nerve racking. But its an experience that hopefully Ill get to enjoy for more than a few months. 

Anyway, its time for me to sleep! School tomorrow... As long as I have strength, Ill keep doing what I can here until I find my true purpose here. Peace!!

届いた！

在留資格認定証明書が届いた！あああ！早く過ぎる。次は飛行機の切符かな。

Its finally here, my certificate of eligibility! Note: "Business Papers"
Its fun getting a mail that basically says, "your future is here" Next is a plane ticket I suppose.



btw, I know ive been really lazy about posting stuff. Ive been wondering though, who even reads this?? I could post all kinds of junk on here and if noone reads it I won't get in trouble right? Anyway, im so lazy ive been thinking about going into hybernation and putting this blogging madness to sleep for a while. If you do read this, shoot me and email or comment to let me know..

What am I doing?

Sometimes I wonder what exactly am I doing? Aside from going to war with kanji and bulding myself a UFC body, not a whole lot. But I did get a very nice email today.. asking for my address in order to send 在留資格認定証明書！　Thats right. Its only a matter of weeks... Time to make some money!

Well I dont feel so bad having to wait for so long nowww.

Valentine Cards

This year someone may be receiving a card similar to this...

Or even better, this..

Wishing everyone a nice Valentine's Day!

~(^_^)v

The Fish-Eye

Ive always wanted a fisheye lens for a camera. The effect in my opinion was always pleasing to the eye. Getting a somewhat distorted but wider view of things. In order to take pictures like this ones options are to either buy an expensive camera with changeable lenses and then buy a separate fisheye lens or go with a cheaper non-digital alternative.


Of course, the least expensive quality camera i could come across would be at least $600 at base price. Then the extension would cost another $200. To get a proper carrying case and the right equipment that should go with this caliber of a camera would bring be to a total of almost $1000. An expensive hobby indeed!

Another option is to buy a camera made for fisheye photography. There are a few brands that make cameras with these specialized lenses starting from $50 and moving on up. Of course, the one below is a glorified version of what you could get. Most of these cameras are made out of plastic and use 35mm film.


However much i would love to buy one of these cameras, considering the cost is quite important. On one end I have no choice to wait until i am a little less poor to get started on this style of photography. On the other end, I want this capability so much that i can easily settle for a cheaper alternative. However, this alternative involves film :(. Unfortunately for me, I am quite spoiled by digital technology.

Luckily, I found myself a 3rd option. Using an old digital camera to start with, I decided to build my own fish-eye lens at home. After some research and a look at what other people had done, I decided to try something out.

First I started out with a wide angle door viewer, a pvc pipe and some craft foam. All of the materials I used were from a local hardware store, craft store or my own garage.

Careful cutting and precision measuring helped me build the perfect fitting for my digital cameras lense to fit nicely into the foam. Also, coating the door viewer with the foam helped to create a centered piece that would fit nicely into the pvc pipe while being centered with the camera lens.

After putting everything together carefully, I was able to build a complete lens. To make it look nice, all it needed was some high quality black ducking tape. The entire thing was built out of 4 basic materials.

After the lens was complete I attached it to the old camera. Of course, I wanted to make sure it was the old camera... just in case the fitting of the lens was too rough. Since these cameras aren't really meant for such extravagant attachments I thought it was quite nice.


In the end i was able to make a nice looking extension of my camera. I was able to successfully build and test my new fish-eye lens. And the best part was.. I made it myself!


Its not perfect, the sides are still visible unless you adjust the zoom right. However, considering the alternatives and the cost, I would say the small less than $20 i need to build this was quite worth it. With a little more work and adventure I hope to take some great pictures with this soon!