Where is my brain at?? Tales of Stupidity, by Raygan Solotki
17 May 2012 1 Comment
Yesterday, I had one of those brilliant days. A day that reminded me of the time when I took money out of the ATM and then LEFT IT IN THE MONEY SLOT. Luckily, I live in Japan, so the bank called my school and it was returned to me. I have the excuse I was in the middle of an apple fast, but still – pretty damn dumb.
Yesterday, I had a very exciting day. I started riding the road bike I borrowed/bought from Danielle in an effort to train for the 180ish km ride we are going to do in 10 days, around Lake Biwa. I woke up early, dragged my sorry ass out of bed, and went for a 5km bike ride before school. Then, while at school, I rode 2.5 kms to the town hall and back to pay rent, then at lunch I went to the post office (another 2.5kms round trip) and then finally to the train station after school (1km). At recess I also ran laps of the track with my students (1km). SO, when I got to the train station, I was a bit weary.
Upon arrival at the station, I locked up my bike, and changed into my flip flops for the train ride to the city. While doing this, an older Japanese lady who has waved at me a few times when I have been running, ran up and started excitedly chatting with me in very fast Japanese. She is really sweet, but honestly, I couldn’t understand a lot. Other than who she was (which I already knew), we chatted a bit about my running and the times she had waved… I told her my knees hurt so I wasn’t running much anymore – basic shooting the shit stuff. However, I was kind of trying to escape, as I was REALLy tired, and my train was going to leave in a few minutes. So, i finally made it to the train, but, I hadn’t been paying much attention to what I was doing as I left the bike lock up.
A few weeks ago, one of my grade 6 students was on the train and I laughed because he was sleeping like a rock, and was all strewn about the train. Arms and legs akimbo, crap everywhere. Well… that was me. As soon as the train started to move, I was out. Luckily, I woke up as the train was about to the leave my destination, so I jumped up, grabbed all my crap and ran off the train. Oh, and that student was on the train again and totally saw me like that, and I was most likely snoring. Yeesh.
While I was paying my fare, I realized… my bike key was not in my pocket. So, I grumpily met up with John, and dumped out all my stuff in the back seat in hopes it was there. Nope. Not hidden in anything. So, of course, instead of remaining calm and thinking I would look at the station in my town later that night, I panicked. I called Danielle to tell her I would have to get the lock sawed off, so she might get a call from the police to confirm it was her bike and I wasn’t stealing it. Luckily, she is no stranger to the lost items, so she made me feel much better about this ridiculous situation. Then, my Japanese teacher (and friend) called the train station and the conductor searched the train. No key.
After Japanese class, I returned to pick up John from his study session, and fessed up about my idiocy. He asked me if I was sure I hadn’t left the key in the lock. Seriously, who could be so stupid? We drove to our town train station… and sure enough.
I am THAT stupid. Yet, thankful I live in a tiny village where no one will steal my road bike! Thank you Neo!
To Rogers Canada. Again.
09 May 2012 Leave a Comment
Dear Rogers,
Today the man at SoftBank apologized for telling me they charge $100 to cancel a 2 year cell phone contract 6 months early, plus $10 for each month left. He was embarrassed it was so expensive. Until I told him about the $500 you charged me for 3 months left. Way to go Rogers, for lightening up an uncomfortable moment in Japan! I knew those horrid cancellation fees would be good for something!
Looking forward to checking out Virgin Mobile when I get home,
Ray
Up coming things to post…
07 May 2012 2 Comments
30 day challenge – success! 3kilos off. 28/30 days completed exercise. 30/32 
Golden Week awesomeness – Mie (Ise Shrine, the wedded rocks, camping, kumano kodo, ninja museum); Osaka games convention; Koya-san and a temple stay
Things to come: Biwa bike, tokyo with Tracey, Belgian beer festival.
Good times past, good times still ahead! Will get on the updates soon!
On my mind.
24 Apr 2012 4 Comments
I
t seems that every few months I have a breakdown followed by a breakthrough.
Yes, I am a crazy person. This is not the breakthrough – this is the truth 
I live in Japan. Anyone who knows me and reads my blog already knows this. This is actually my third attempt at living here. Once was in high school – I was here for an exchange and stayed with a host family. I gained a lot of weight.
Second, I lived in Gunma as an ALT post university graduation. I like to think I enjoyed it, but my friends remind me that my job drove me crazy. This was pre-facebook, so no one had to deal with my daily bitchings, but I am assured that I did complain a lot, and had serious issues with my schools and my job. Huh. Funny how I forgot that.
So, now I am back and live in a tiny, remote village in Gifu. It was not among my list of places I wanted to live, but had convinced myself I could live anywhere. I work as an elementary school ALT, although I do spend 2 days at JHS. My JHS doesn’t particularly like me – they do nothing to include me, even though I repeatedly ask. I let this weigh too much on me, and hurt me more than it should. Especially when I have to consider this is not Gunma, and I do not have a base school. I work for the BOE, even though I never go there. So, I am not invited to school events, and I am an outsider. By nature of my job, and also because I am not, nor never will be - Japanese. I can’t change that.
However, I make GREAT money. The JET Programme ensures that all employees get paid very well for this english teaching gig. Much better than most other companies. And, I also did not have to pay for my flight here, my final flight home, and I pay $75 a month in rent (this is not standard – just luck, since I live so far from the city). I am able to send more than $1500 a month home, and still pay all my bills in Japan, and live a very comfortable lifestyle. I will have approximately $3000 a year in `savings` when I leave, thanks to the mandatory pension program that I can withdraw from when I leave. Not too shabby.
Yet, I still have the tendency to look to the bad, and focus on that. This is something i have done for most of my adult life. I don:t know why. Yes, I had a tough childhood, but childhood is over. I am an adult and make my own choices. I made the one to be here, and I make the one to look at the bad and dwell on it. That is something only I can change.
Looking back on my Facebook statuses of the last year, I see an alarming trend to the negative. No wonder I never hang out with anyone – who would want to hang out with a champion whiner?
So, since this 30 day workout challenge has been a resounding success (on day 20! woot) I am hereby proclaiming the following 30 days (and hopefully longer) to be 30 days complaint free
At least to anyone who isn`t my husband.
Neo just might be Chemainus…
17 Apr 2012 1 Comment
I grew up in a tourist town. Well, just outside of one. It is called Chemainus and is located about an hour and 15 minutes drive north of Victoria, on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. The area I lived in was called the District of North Cowichan, and encompassed the farms and lands hemmed in by Duncan to the south, Chemainus to the north, Crofton to the east and mountains to the west. I went to kindergarten in Crofton, grade school in Duncan, yet our mailing address was Chemainus. No wonder as an adult I can’t figure out where home is!
Chemainus means bitten breast, and was originally a first nations community. Much like all of BC… Settlers came for the timber, an its prime location as a port to ship the logs to not only the mainland, but around the world.
Chemainus was a bustling, thriving town. There was a lot of wood on Vancouver Island, once upon a time. Old growth trees that were 100s of years old and so wide around that 4 or 5 people couldn’t link arms around them. Of course, a few of those exist still – but only a few.
Then the 80s came. Loggers wanted more money, the sawmill wanted to pay less, and environmentalists were starting to fight to protect the remaining trees. Things started to change from logging/processing to replanting – trying to fix the clear cutting mess that VI had become. However, years of over cutting and only sending out raw materials (nothing is produced in the area), left people with a narrow skillset. So, when the mill shut down in the early 80s (I think 1984 or 85?) people were… Well… Screwed. Some of the millworkers were able to get work as tree planters (that is what my dad did) but many were reliant on unemployment insurance – which didn’t go far.
The town was in trouble. People were leaving. At its height of production at the mill, the population was only around 8000, (it sits at 4000 now) so Chemainus was in serious danger of becoming a ghost town. Housing prices had gone WAY up, as this area had prime real estate – close enough to Victoria to easily commute, ocean views, etc. however, this meant out of work mill workers were in trouble. Now, the home they had a huge mortgage on was worth 1/4 of the price they owed. And since the millworkers were the backbone of the community, this put everyone else in jeopardy. Bakers, barbers… No one was making any money.
So, the town council got together and decided that this couldn’t happen. Chemainus was a great community that had just fallen on hard times. That is where the idea was born to create a tourist attraction. A way to tell people the story of the town, and bring in much needed revenue. Create jobs and a renewed sense of town pride. Artists were invited to Chemainus. Famous artists, local artists, foreign artists… And they were told the stories of the town. The local native band, mill workers, shop keepers, everyone told their stories and shared the stories of their ancestors. Pieces of history uncovered, photos, names, dates… And the artists put those stories on the walls of the town in the form of massive murals. An art walk was created, and the downtown main street was turned into a 
themed shopping arcade. I think the theme is best described as Olde. 
. It was now difficult to buy items you needed… But if you needed Chemainus knickknacks, fudge, ice cream or pottery – you were in luck. Volunteers walked around town with gumboots and yellow paint, marking off a tourist trail. Horse drawn carriage tours began. A dinner theater opened. Former mill workers became B&b An artists village. Chemainus became a tourist/artists haven. Late Spring through early fall, Chemainus was packed with tourists, who came by the bus load to see the “little town that did”. It was insane. In the winter, many shops closed during the week, and Chemainus felt like a ghost town, but that was fine. The town needed a chance to recover from the 100,000 people who had just traipsed through.
In the summer, Chemainus was a mess of buses, and groups of people herded along the tourist walking trail with thei guide, who was wearing a suit and carrying a flag. Altenatively, they were traipsing along behind someone dressed as a “famous” local from long ago.
Man, I hated tourists. I hated those stupid flags. I hated those damn buses. I worked at Subway when I was on JHS/HS in Chemainus, and I cringed when I saw tour buses park on the road. I hated people video taping me while I was working, or on the street. Of course, inadvertently, I am sure, but I hated it.
Shocking I worked in tourism for 7 years then, hey? 1 summer I even did a full island tour taking people to the ferry in Port Hardy, which included a tour of Chemainus. I felt a bit like a prostitute, not going to lie.
Anyway, what is the point of this rambling blog post? I have been thinking about Chemainus a lot lately, due to my current living situation in Japan. I live in a very small village. Much smaller than Chemainus even. The population is approximately 1500. So, the 500,000 people that visit in the ONE MONTH that the cherry blossoms appear on the 1500 year old tree in our town, makes tourist season in Chemainus look like a quiet day in the park.
I am guessing that even more visitors will come this year, since the tree is now lit up until 9pm every night. A great idea for tourism, but makes it grand central Neo all day, every day. And most annoyingly… everyone thinks I am a tourist. All the time. I get stupid questions, like `what brought you all the way here to see the tree!` … umm… I can see my apartment from here. And `Hey! You are going the wrong way! The train station is that way`… umm… my apartment is over there. Thanks. This morning, people on the train were talking about how I must have stayed at the hotel last night, why would I be on the 7am train. To go to work! I teach your kids! We have met.
Anyway, not sure where my point was heading to when I started this on the train this morning. Other than, Raygan forgot her book and had no internet connection so might as well blog the things in her head… which is the running theme here anyway… However, I am counting the days until a strong wind takes all the blossoms away and everyone goes home.
Discovery!
16 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
Today, I found a copy of my contract on my desk and discovered the most amazing thing…
I DO NOT HAVE TO BE AT SCHOOL FROM 12:30 – 1:30.
What! How did I not know this? And more importantly… how to I put this into practice?!
New School Year musings
12 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
So, I have now been to each of my schools and had the opportunity to suss out what this year will look like. I am relatively pleased, as some of the bad things have gotten better. But, JHS is most likely going to remain a thorn in my side. I must look for the silver lining. That is my goal. I need to enjoy my class time, not let it stress me out that my JHS is kind of crap to me, and just move on. Or it will suck me down into the sneaky hate spiral abyss.
In JHS, my new JTE seems nice enough, and enthusiastic, but her approach to English class is “you speak English, I translate it for the students”. She said this to me this morning. I told her that would probably be a bad idea, as the students would figure that out pretty quickly and just listen to the Japanese. So, instead of translating my English (which isn’t necessary, I only use words they know), she just spoke entirely in Japanese for her part of class. Including simple numbers, etc. Sigh. Oh well, not my problem. I did my part, I smiled, I laughed, I encouraged. Mission accomplished. It is still ludicrous to me that they have a special English “step up” study time … on days I am not here. But, again, not my problem.
On Tuesday, I went through the Japanese curriculum left for me by the crazy evil elf of a Japanese English teacher. She makes me crazy, but luckily I hardly ever see her, as she only teaches grade 2 and inflicts her nuttiness on the other ALTs in my town. Neo is too far away for her little claws I guess. I only deal with her on Tuesday at Motosu. She left a curriculum I am supposed to use… all in Japanese, based on seeing the students 35-40 times a year. I see them 20. Ridiculous. So, I made my own, wrote it up in English and Japanese and gave it to the teachers. I am extremely proud of it. I met with all the homeroom teachers, and I am feeling good about the upcoming year. I saw some of my adorable grade 1s, who are now in grade 2… they were so sad i won’t teach them this year and are already looking forward to next April when we have classes again. Cute! Must play with them more at recess. The only downside, is that my special needs class is now a combined class… Of 2 grade 1s and 2 grade 6s. Whoever thought that was a good idea is mistaken. I have NO idea what to do with them. Must brainstorm.
On Wednesday, I had my first classes at Neo sho. I discovered we have a city wide demo class in my grade 5/6 split class. This will be a bit tricky as we have to switch over to the HRT being T1, and it being a split class will be a huge challenge. We are using the grade 6 text, so basically skipping all the framework from the grade 5 text. I have some low level students and very high…including one special needs girl, so I am a bit concerned, but the homeroom teacher and support teachers are very good and positive, so maybe it will be fun. All my classes on Wednesday are split classes, so I have a 1/2, a 3/4 and a 5/6. I taught 1/2 as well yesterday, and it was fun… but I can see it will have its own problems. For one, the grade 2s are all boys, the grade 1s all girls. The boys feel very superior in their knowledge, and so don’t listen to explanations. But, when I used them as the leaders to give an example, they like that. Might have to use that skill a lot. We also have one little girl who’s mother is from the Philippines… which one of the little boys likes to point out. Loudly and rudely, whenever he can. The HRT and I are not sure what to do about that. Whenever she did well, he pointed out she was a foreigner. She was born in Neo, just like him. Sigh.
My Friday school has some new teachers, but is still just as great as always. The core people I like are still there, and of course they include me in everything and keep me in the loop as to what is expected at me. I wish I could clone them and have them everywhere, but alas, I cannot.
Anyway, that was a super boring post. Sorry. Not much else going on, other than the 30 day exercise challenge. I am on day 8, and my hips are pissed at me for running again. But, I am feeling better and my skin is clearing up. Yay!
The fun of ceremony
09 Apr 2012 1 Comment
Today I attended SIX ceremonies at 2 of my schools. SIX IN ONE DAY. This morning, I went to Neo Elementary School and had the new teacher ceremony, new student ceremony and start of school ceremony. Next, I raced over to JHS, where we had a short teacher’s meeting followed by… new teacher ceremony, new student ceremony and start of school ceremony.
These ceremonies are ridiculous. They are back to back, with each beginning and ending one after another. So, here is how my morning went:
“New teacher ceremony is starting!”
~New teacher ceremony
“New teacher ceremony is over!”
“New student ceremony is starting!”
~ New student ceremony
“New student ceremony is over!”
“New school year ceremony is starting!”
~ New school year ceremony
“New school year ceremony is over”
Fun!
The best part, is the new teacher ceremony. They all do a self intro, and try to make it as interesting as possible.
In elementary school, we have a new teacher who lived in San Diego for 3 years. His self intro, was showing the students some pine cones from around Neo, and asking the kids if they thought they were the same in the US. The kids said yes… and then he whipped out these GIANT pine cones the size of his head. The kids loved it! Then, the next teacher did this crazy trick with a clock… i can’t explain it. But it was cool.
In JHS, the new Principal did magic tricks! She pulled roses out of a hat, and did a cool handkerchief show. She gave the roses to students, and not only did she do all that, but she used English. “1, 2, 3, 4 and Present for you!” which was super cute. The next teacher did a skit from a tv show, as in he did all the voices. The kids were in heaven!
Next, the new English teacher… did her self intro in… ENGLISH! Woot! There is a chance for her! Yay! Then she sang and played the piano. She is totally growing on me. Finally the new nurse sang a crazy song.
Not as good as one of the new teachers last year attempting to slam dunk in his suit and falling on his face, but it was quite entertaining!
Anyway, now that I am finished with the ceremonies, I realized that perhaps I need to stop complaining about not being included, as they are, overall, so boring
I swear, I am going to flip this f’ing table over soon…
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
I have been at work for 30 minutes. 30 minutes into the new school year, and I am having a hard time keeping my temper. I am not sure what the deal is with my JHS, but if they are at all curious as to why the students don’t give a shit about English class, they should perhaps look at their own behavior.
My SOLE job at JHS, is to be the secondary teacher to the English teacher on Mondays and Thursdays. That is the sum total of what I do here. So, you would think certain things would be a given. Like, that I get a copy of the textbook. They didn’t order me one, although the TT (who is a random, not teaching another class at the time, Japanese teacher) gets a copy that is on the “TT” shelf. I asked if perhaps those books weren’t meant for me, since I am the actual team teacher. That is my job. They said no, but I could possibly borrow them if the Japanese TT didn’t want to use them that day. WTF? Seriously?
Also, my school has finally recognized that the students are all failing English miserably, and so need some extra study time. They have put English in to the “Step-Up” rotation, which is a self study in the afternoon. You would think, it would be on a Monday or Thursday… nope! It is on Friday. So, I can’t assist.
The new English teacher seems nice enough, but has only ever taught at Elementary, so doesn’t speak much English, and is as loud as a mouse. So, that will be interesting to see how that goes in class… She told me today that my role in class will be to read the text for the students to repeat. So… back to square 1. DAMMIT. Although, with no textbook, lesson planning might be a bit hard anyway.
It does mean I only have responsibility at JHS from 8:30 – 11:30 on Monday and Thursday, which means I have plenty of time to concentrate on my ES classes.
I think I need to find a quiet corner and go meditate….
Spring!
22 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
So, last post was locked and for those that read it, it was a sad, pathetic whine about being lonely and sad and blah blah blah. Pathetic, really.
However, since then, I realized that I need to stop dwelling on the negative (which I know, I realize every 6 months or so when I get down in the dumps about something) and look at the positive. I have some great friends. Maybe they live far away, and I don’t see them often – but just because the people who live closest to me aren’t the people I am closest with, does not make me some sad pathetic loser with no friends.
I suffer from “never get invited to anything-itis”. It makes me insane. Everyone always assumes I will plan things, and when I don’t that I am busy. Or so I am told. If that is not the case, and they are just douchebags… well, I shouldn’t let that bother me. Because, I do have some great friends.
And, spring is here! So, I need to perk up, enjoy my life and get on with those 2012 goals that i had. I started running again this week. My hip hurts, so I have to go easy on it – but that is fine. No old jokes, please… But spring means that Kat will be here in a few days, we are off to Kyushu for a week, then Golden week happens… then SUMMER! So, let the winter blues F. off!
What did you say??