|
| So I think I'm going to make blog spot my main blogger now.
check out the blog at
http://cwfineart.blogspot.com/
I'm not sure if I'll keep posting on Xanga or not.
The advantage of blogspot is you don't have to sign up for a special account to
post comments, and it seems a little easier to customize the way I want, and looks a bit more professional.
The thing I like about Xanga, however, is that it alerts subscribers when I upload a new post, which as far as I am aware, blog spot doesn't do.
But it seems like Xanga's kinda dead these days, so if your still reading here let me know.
And also let me know if you think I should still post here, or if you can just start checking my other blog instead.
Also facebook is linked to my blog spot now so my blog's will still show up on facebook, but I don't know how many people are actually finding my blog on facebook either.
| | |
| I recently revamped my website so if you have time please check it out... and join my mailing list while you're at it.
http://www.cwfineart.com
in other news....
Sorry Osaka, I'm sticking to Tokyo
I really enjoyed the time I spent in Osaka, and I felt like it would be a nice place to study and go to school.
Yet,
Tokyo has lured me with it's promise of greater job opportunities along
with the security of already having numerous connections here that I
can work with.
If I was just thinking about studying I'd
probably of went with Osaka. I could get away from all the distractions
I have here in Tokyo and really concentrate on studying.
But the
fact is. I have to pay for my school. Which means I need to work while
I'm studying, and when it comes to opportunities for work. Nothing
beets Tokyo.
So anyway, I had my first interview with the school (Tokyo Communication Art [link])
about a week ago, and I just got my approval in the mail today. Mind
you this is only the first phase. I still have to get all my paperwork
together and what not, but I'm pretty confident I'll be accepted.
It's
amazing when I compare this interview with the interview I had when I
first came to Japan as a study abroad student about 4 years ago. I
remember myself rambling for the right words as I tried to answer
questions that I didn't understand at all (since they were speaking
Japanese I'm being really literal when I say I didn't understand the
question). I basically begged the one person there I knew spoke some
English for help, and Yeah they basically let me off out of pity
because of how pathetic I was.
That and the fact I only needed to prove I had a very basic Japanese ability, just to stay at their dorm.
Yeah that was 4 years ago. Now I'm on the verge of going to school full time in full Japanese.
I
went to my interview confident and everything went smoothly. 4 years
ago this was just a dream, but as I'm finding over and over again,
dreams can be grasped, and dreams can be real.
I'm not saying
it's easy. I've been borderline obsessed with getting here, and lived
and breathed and slept with a burning in my heart that kept pushing me
forward to chase these dreams. But in the end it pays off.
Still
just taking first steps, and there's still a long way to go. But
whenever I feel discouraged I know I can at least look back and see
just how far I've come.
We're past the point of no return.
**********************************************************
This is a copy and paste of what I posted about the interview in 2004.
********************************************************
Finally we reached Wakeijuku
(my dorm) and I was promptly interviewed. I walked into this room all
sweaty and tired and about ready to pass out wherein about five older
Japanese men were seated at a table looking very formal and I sat down
on a chair in front. Man, the interview was in Japanese!!! I had a
translater next to me, but she was just there for cases where I
obviously didnt understand (which came often) or when I couldnt say the
right words (which also came often). I stumbled over so many words, and
I could hardly understand them at all, because even if they were saying
things I should know, my mind was trying to go to sleep and I had to
keep waking myself up, and so I was having trouble even with simple
stuff. Man I must've looked so pitiful. But I guess that's allright
because they accepted me into the dorm. They must have taken pity on my
pitiful self.
| | |
| So I just got back from my little trip to Osaka.
It was really great. I made no reservations for hotels, youth hostels, or the like.
Just paked my bags and went.
8 to 10 hours on local trains. An inexpensive trip. I purchased the seichun juhachi kippu so I could travel 5 times (for 24 hour periods) for only about $100. This got me to Osaka and back with 3 more travel days left on my ticket, so I may be going back again in a week or so to use up my extra days.
Like I said, no hotels. I just camped out at various internet cafes over the nights and left my bag in locker storage during the days. All together I was spending less than $20 a day on lodging and storage. Food wasn't a big issue either. Usually paid between $3 to $5 on most meals. I treated myself to some good Okonomiyaki on the last day though.
Plus a number of the schools I visited gave me gift certificates for JTB Travel to reimberse me for coming all the way from Tokyo to see their school. So I ended up with about $150 worth of travel certificates as well. That almost covers the whole trip.
Anyway Osaka seems like a nice place. People are a bit louder and more outspoken than Tokyo. I heard that if a person from Tokyo had a million yen they' spend it all on clothes, while if a person from Osaka had a million yen they'd spend it all on food.
This could be true. I surveyed people on the train and noted that (ddiscounting the kimono clad people off to see fireworks) about 80% of their clothing styles were things that you would normally see people in America wear. This wouldn't be the case in Tokyo, wear people always try to dress at the top of fashion.
Anyway here are a few interesting signs I saw.
This apparently is a restaurant that's made to look like a church chapel
Welcome to "Eat-Man" (sounds good)
I found this sign on a pedastrian crossway.
It says that this is a pedastrian crossway, not a toilet.
Why that distinction had to be made is beyond me.
And finally here are the school goodies.
I looked at three schools. The first two were kind of like, "Why did you come from Tokyo to Osaka? All the good schools are in Tokyo."
So I kinda got the impression that I should give up on Osaka and take my risks in Tokyo with the coming earthquake and all.
But the third school Osaka Communication College was really impressive and it seems like they really make it a priority to get their students jobs. You learn from teachers about half the time, and the other half of the time you learn from guest teachers who are actually professionals in their respective fields.
The school also has connections with numerous big companies like say, Capcom, Square Eunix, SNK, and the like.
The school has a Tokyo branch too so staying in Tokyo is also a possibility, but I'd have to decide where I'd really want to be.
It would be nice to experience another side of Japan outside of Tokyo. They say Tokyo and Osaka are like polar opposites in some respects.
Plus I wouldn't have to worry so much about the great Kanto quake if I were Kansai, but where ever you go there can be dangers. Random crazy people stabbing people, train crashes, car accidents, there are always dangers. But it still might not be a bad idea to take major city earthquake off of that list.
and lastly as promised, some pictures from the English camp...
Most of the teachers were Korean Americans from Atlanta.
Mostly college students.
 
They really like taking pictures
And the wonderful, far to energetic kids.
So once again. Please let me know if you'd be interested in coming for a Winter English Camp.
| | |
| I apologize to anyone who may have been worrying about what happened to me since I didn't get around to posting an update for so long. Basically I've been incredibly busy ever since arriving back in Japan. I arrived back in Japan wednesday night and was off to a three day camp with one of the Korean Middle Schools I teach at the following morning. The first two days were brutal since I hadn't had any time to get over jet lag but after that things became a bit more manageable though I still didn't get completely over my jet lag for at least another three or four days. Aside from the drowsiness however, I really enjoyed spending time with the kids. And it seemed the other teachers were becoming more socialable as well. Despite having known that I could speak Japanese before, usually when you say a white guy can speak Japanese it's assumed to mean that they can greet you in Japanese and maybe crash through some daily exchanges of words but since westerners usually don't go beyond that they probably assumed that they wouldn't be able to talk to me that much <at least not without slowing down and dumbing down sentences>, but it seems like they're starting to realize that with me they can just talk in their regular Japanese and it's not a problem. I ended up talking a lot to the kids in Japanese too. It was nice to be able to speak in Japanese and have people understand me again. It felt kinda wierd when I went back to the states because it felt like all this vocabulary I had had suddenly lost it's potency cause even if I said something in Japanese there was no one around to understand it. So yeah, don't know if you understand what I'm saying but anyways it was a nice camp. I came back from this camp on Saturday night <late saturday night> after going out with the other teachers to eat and drink and be merry and what not. And then I woke up early Sunday morning to return to the church. After church I met the missionary team that came over to teach our summer English camp and I joined them in teaching the English camp for the next ten days or so. We taught kids every day up until just a few days ago and then I took them out around Tokyo to tour the city as much as possible before sending them back to the states yesterday. They came from a church in Atlanta. Mostly Korean Americans around college age. Really good group. I enjoyed spending time with them a lot. And even though I pretty much had no days off since arriving in Japan and didn't even get a chance to to my laundry <let alone reply to emails> until yesterday, I'm really thankful to have met them. I'll post pictures later. but anyway this leads me to something that has just developed today. We had a meeting and the pastor is thinking about doing a shorter version of the summer english camp this coming winter and he asked if I could help find teachers to come over. Basically I'm looking for a group of about 8 or 10 people <give or take> that would like to come over for a short mission trip <maybe about 7 to 10 days> this winter vacation. Maybe the youth group can start doing some fundraisers to help send people. Anyway it's a personal expense of about $1600 per person. The church will provide food and lodging. We'll teach all ages so any English speakers from say high school and up are welcome. K anyway that's all for now. let me know if anyone's interested. | | |
|
