I am from Toronto, Ontario and have opted to teach English in Japan for a year. More specifically, I am in Kawasaki (20 min outside of Tokyo), with a company called Nova. This was my alternative to finding a real job back home.
Other things about me: I enjoy jazz, brushing my teeth, drinking coffee, Woody Allen flicks and watching cartoons. Reading and writing occasionally sneak their way into my day, but rarely so now. Because I don't speak/read/write Japanese yet, getting around here is a little difficult. I am sure that there is a whole lot to Tokyo that I am missing. I suppose this would motivate any normal human being to learn how to communicate, but I am not normal. I prefer spending my time getting lost on the subway and trying not to get hit by cars, as they drive on the opposite side of the street here.
I left my parents, a younger
sister, my girlfriend and a whole bunch of friends and family back home.
Sometimes I think I must have been nuts to have ever made the decision to
come here, but I keep telling myself that this will be a good learning experience
for me. What have I learned so far?
It is imperative to stand
with both your hands visible or occupied when riding in a crowded
subway train. This is to avoid being accused of molesting innocent
young women. Seriously. When a human being only has two
English channels and one sports channel, they will watch anything...even
Cow and Chicken and international highschool basketball, Korea vs.
Qatar. Things here cost a lot more than
what they would cost back home. Example: back home I can get a loaf
of bread for about $2. Here, I get six slices. The hot chicks you see here are
not always chicks. I think I will leave it at that. I have also noticed that though
Japan is advanced in many ways, it is extremely backwards in other
respects. They have vending machines that sell everything from drinks,
to stationary, to used undies, but do not have a 24 hour ATM. You
have to wonder what the priorities of these people are. Selling shrooms on the street
is legal, spitting is not.
My education does not really end here, but you will hear more about it as you explore these pages. There are many things I do not know about Japan, and I only hope I can figure out the important things first.
As if it weren't already painfully obvious, style and creativity were not really considerations while I was making this site. Rather, I am making this site to keep family and friends up to date on how I am doing, instead of writing emails back. Personally, I hate mass emailing everyone, but it becomes necessary when you don't have internet access at home and are forced to use rip-off internet cafes. I suppose that this is even less personal than a mass email, but I hope that it will be more interesting than reading a bunch of text.
I have taken some pictures of this place with my digital camera, and have added the odd bit of commentary here and there. I'm not much of a photographer at the moment, but with practice, I think I'll get a little better. Once I get internet access at my place, I will get my webcam up and running.
Just
a note to all those guys who are hoping to find pictures of young schoolgirls
on this page, you may be a little disappointed. This is a family
page. Those pictures are posted on my other site. Please
don't send me emails asking for the URL to my other site. I was only kidding.