Five Years

Five years. Five long years.. (pensive pause). I can't believe it either.

I think it's gone pretty quick though. Actually, every week passes by so quickly that I'm finding myself far behind with updating posts. Generally my enthusiasm has waned a tad, and I become every day just that little bit more cynical of these people I live and work amongst.

The new working year started great when I got thrown a bone of an extra twenty yen an hour. This is pretty much the norm. Oh, until I found out others were getting more.

It was great that I got a bonus for sticking it out after "the big one". (That was a joke. Are you kidding? They used that as an excuse NOT to give us the stipend anymore). How fantastic is that?

After the Kanto area manager gave a morale boosting speech of how bad we were doing compared to Kansai, one can get the feeling that if they didn't need native English teachers they'd rather do without us.

They say the aim was two and a half different schools.. I get four. Two of those are at schools pretty far away, and were definitely NOT requested so, so much for request surveys.

My Wednesdays at the moment are lonesome affairs at the park. No one I know has the same day off, so it's going to be great in the Summer going to the beach. Right?

I've been meeting at lot of new people at the bars, but rather than being the Charisma Man I thought I was, I'm excellent free English practice. Even the boys think so too.

Japanese men are so wonderful. I don't know how a woman can turn down a man that spits on the street. It must be hard swallowing one's own saliva. 難しい ね

The smoking is really getting to me. It's great having smoke blown into my face, or even how they thoughtfully rest a lit cigarette on the tray to let wisps of smoke waft towards me. I look forward to the day Japan taxes the crap out of cigarettes and bans smoking INDOORS just as Australia did many, many years ago. Likely not going to happen in my lifetime.

It's going to be stinkin' hot in my new apartment. I haven't been searched by police on the street, but I have had a house call, because they want to know where I live, even though the ward office and the government actually already have those details. hmm.

Good things? Yeah for sure!

I love having two empty seats next to me on the train. Reverse racism has its benefits too! Although I have had solo outings at the park, I still find it calming.

Apart from the kids classes where I've felt like I'm just babysitting, I've enjoyed the majority of my lessons. Still wish I'd learnt more Japanese in this time.

Best thing I did was shave my head. It was cathartic. Totally necessary. I think I need to do one crazy thing every year to keep me sane.

I think my time in Japan is limited. I'm really hoping there won't be a year six post. The payoff is virtually non-existant, and the rewards are few. I'm here because I don't know what I want to do, and I've made some good friends here. And.. one my best friends.

I don't want to lose that.