I've been asked many times in recent days to sum up my 5 year experience here in rural Japan as an ALT. There are so many aspects, both personal and professional, that I would need to talk about that I can't adequately do the experience justice in a short blog post or casual conversation at karaoke or over dinner.
To put it very simply - I have enjoyed my time here in Shimane beyond words.
This experience has been transformative for me - a life altering experience that I don't think I'll ever fully recover from - and that's a good thing.
My life here has been filled with friends and fun times, and also frustrations and sadness. The overwhelming outpouring of well-wishes from my co-workers and students these past few weeks has been really touching, and I know that the hard work I put in over the years has been appreciated.
I went to a sayonara party last night with about 10 area shogakko teachers that wanted to say Thank You to me - some have been teaching with me for 5 years. They serenaded me with SMAP's "Arigatou" at karaoke and needled me about finding a nice wife when I return to America. It was a fun party!
And they talked about my relationship with the students like I was more than just an ALT - like I was a friend and they kept using the words "famous" and "popular" which made me a little embarrassed but also good inside.
Just the previous night I was invited to another sayonara karaoke party with about 20 former students, all now in HS, and the contrast was funny. The choice of songs with the slightly drunk teachers was Eagles and Bay City Rollers and Joe Cocker, while the kids were happy to sing the latest GReeeeN or HY song and had no interest in singing English songs.
I was asked once what song I would listen to as I flew away from Japan...
and again recently I was asked to "reflect" on my time here for a local JET publication and this is the song that I found that I think pretty well sums up my time as a rural ALT.
It's a Billy Joel song from early in his career, and it's among my Top 10 favorite songs of all time...
"Summer, Highland Falls"
They say that these are not the best of times
But they're the only times I've ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own
Now I've seen that sad surrender in my lover's eyes
And I can only stand apart and sympathize
For we are always what our situations hand us
It's either sadness or euphoria
So we'll argue and we'll compromise
And realize that nothings ever changed
For all our mutual experience
Our separate conclusions are the same
Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
Our reason coexists with our insanity
So we choose between reality and madness
It's either sadness or euphoria
How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies
Perhaps we don't fulfill each other's fantasies
So we stand upon the ledges of our lives
With our respective similarities
It's either sadness or euphoria
To Shimane: Sayonara - mata ne - see you again.
-Jason
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
My farewell speech at Taisha Jr High School
My last day of being an ALT happened on Friday, July 17th.
I spent the day at my main Jr High School - Taisha Chu, where I first started teaching in August of 2004.
I've spent the past two weeks saying goodbye at all my other schools - some were emotional farewells, others were less so, but I knew that Taisha JH would be the one that would be the hardest for me.
Luckily, I decided to do my entire speech in English. I could have struggled with some Japanese, but then the kids would have been distracted by my muddy pronunciation and the mere fact that I was speaking full sentences. :)
So I asked one my JTEs - Mr. Toma - to stand beside me on the stage and translate what I was saying into Japanese. This gave me time in between my paragraphs to collect myself and keep it together, and it even distracted me a bit - worrying about where I should pause for the translation - so I only cried a few times during the speech.
The opening line, where I mention how hot it is, became too prophetic, as it was sooooooo hot and humid in the gym - everyone was sweating and sticky.
I got a nice surprise at the start of my farewell ceremony, when the new Kocho sensei (School Principal) made his introduction speech entirely in English. And he speaks very well - it's a shame that I've only been able to work with him since this past April.
The whole day on Friday was a special day for me - one that I will never forget. I have lots of photos, mementos, thank you cards, and memories from that day.
Here is the text of my speech:
Farewell speech for Taisha JH
July 17, 2009
Good morning everyone.
I know it’s hot today, so I will try to keep this speech short, but I have a few things I want to say on my last day here at Taisha Jr. High School.
When I first came to Japan in 2004, I was very nervous about my new job as an ALT. I had never been to Japan before, I didn’t speak Japanese and I had never heard of Shimane before.
But on my very first day in Shimane I met Moriyama Kyoko sensei - and she has been my friend for 5 years now. Everywhere I went, people in Taisha were so nice to me and welcomed me to Shimane. I want to thank some of the teachers that have been here since I first arrived in 2004, like Akagi sensei, Kojima sensei, Maniwa sensei and especially Kyoto sensei. He has been so kind to me all these years and helped me very much. And I want to thank teachers no longer here, like Sakamoto sensei and Nishi sensei for all the wonderful concerts, Ishitobi sensei and Matsuo sensei for letting me play kendo, and of course all the great English teachers I’ve taught with - Hama sensei, Kada sensei, Honda sensei, Yamamoto sensei, Ninose sensei, Nariai sensei, and Nagami sensei.
I want to thank all the current teachers here today for being patient with my poor Japanese. Also, for letting me attend so many sports events and music concerts. I also want to thank the current English teachers for all their help and patience and fun lessons. To Iwanari sensei and Sano sensei - arigatou! I have to say a special “thank you” to Mr. Toma, who has been my friend for 4 years and helped me in many ways - honto ni arigatou gozaimasu! Last, but not least, I must thank Kyoko Moriyama sensei. I once read a book in her class about a “Giving Tree” that does all it can to help her friend. Ms. Moriyama has been my “giving tree” for 5 years - many, many, many times she has helped me and we’ve had so much fun in our English classes and at school events like Sports Day that working with her is a true joy.
To all the staff and teachers at Taisha Chu - I say “Thank You!” To the students I say - you are very lucky. I have taught at many schools with many teachers. The teachers here at Taisha Chu work very hard and care so much about their students. You are all very lucky to have such nice and thoughtful teachers and staff.
Being an ALT is not a difficult job. I enjoy teaching English, talking with students, participating in school events, and talking about America. But sometimes it can be difficult to live all alone and so far from home. Therefore, many people ask me - “Jason, why have you stayed in Taisha for 5 years?” And I have many answers - I like Japan, I like Shimane, I like living in a small, peaceful town, I like my job as an ALT.
But my real answer is “my students.” All of you have become my family and Taisha now feels like my home. All the 3nen sei here today were 4th graders at shogakko when I first came to Japan in 2004. The 1nen sei were shogakko 2nen sei. Perhaps more than any other teacher here in Taisha, I have watched you grow up. I have seen you become teenagers, and seen your personalities change and develop as you got older. I have also watched older students graduate from Taisha Chu, go on to High School and even on to University. I am very proud of all my students. You are all great people and I have enjoyed getting to know all of you.
I want to thank you - the students, for being such good students all these years. For being my friend, chatting with me in English and trying so hard in your English classes. I know you can achieve anything you set your mind and heart to - I believe in you.
And I want to take a moment to give you some advice. Travel! That is my advice. Japan is a wonderful place, full of great culture and traditions. I have enjoyed learning about the history of Izumo and Shimane and been lucky enough to travel to many other fascinating places in Japan.
Many young people all over the world are very interested in learning about Japan. Please tell them about your country. There are so many amazing things to see in this world - in Africa, in Australia, in Europe and in America, that I hope you get a chance to see some of them. Don’t be afraid to take a chance and leave the safety of Japan, where you know the language and the culture. Try new things and accept new challenges. I was a little scared when I first moved to Japan, but these past 5 years have been among the best in my life. I took a chance and I made many mistakes, but that’s ok. There is a saying - “Failure is the stepping stone to success.” (Shippai wa seikou no moto) I agree - learn from your mistakes and continue to to do the best you can.
When you travel to other countries, the language you can use almost anywhere is English. I know it’s hard now, at age 13 or 14, to see how important English can be, but if you study hard, English can be your ticket to the world.
Anywhere I go in the world after today, I will always carry in my heart many precious memories of my time here at Taisha Chu.
I have really enjoyed so many school events, like Sports Day, Culture Festival, your club competitions and concerts and graduation. My favorite activity has been the English Speech contests, where Taisha Chu has won many prizes.
I hope our classes together have been interesting and even fun sometimes. I will miss playing games and reading the book together and helping you study.
I have thousands of pictures in my computer of students and events at Taisha Chu. Smiling students, laughing students posing with the peace sign -students arm in arm - together as friends. I also have thousands more trapped in my mind - moments frozen in time that I will remember always.
I will never forget all the fun moments and smiling faces. I will never forget all the times we chatted in the halls between classes, all the lunch times we spent together, all the sports events where I cheered you on to victory, all the concerts where I heard wonderful music. I will never forget all the friends I have in Taisha.
Thank you so much for being my friend. I am very sad to leave, but I am happy to know that anytime I come back to Taisha, I will see so many of my friends again.
Please show the new ALT the same kindness you have shown me. Just like me when I first arrived, he will be very nervous. So please introduce yourself in English and welcome him to Taisha Jr. High School.
It’s very hard to leave, but I know I will see you again. So instead of saying Sayonara, I will simply say mata ne - see you again.
Thank you very much for listening.
*****
And after that I had a great day - chatting with my kids, taking more pictures, playing kendo after school and then going to a really nice teacher party in the evening.
Lots more to do before I leave Japan, but I wanted to take a moment to remember this special day.
Peace,
Jason
I spent the day at my main Jr High School - Taisha Chu, where I first started teaching in August of 2004.
I've spent the past two weeks saying goodbye at all my other schools - some were emotional farewells, others were less so, but I knew that Taisha JH would be the one that would be the hardest for me.
Luckily, I decided to do my entire speech in English. I could have struggled with some Japanese, but then the kids would have been distracted by my muddy pronunciation and the mere fact that I was speaking full sentences. :)
So I asked one my JTEs - Mr. Toma - to stand beside me on the stage and translate what I was saying into Japanese. This gave me time in between my paragraphs to collect myself and keep it together, and it even distracted me a bit - worrying about where I should pause for the translation - so I only cried a few times during the speech.
The opening line, where I mention how hot it is, became too prophetic, as it was sooooooo hot and humid in the gym - everyone was sweating and sticky.
I got a nice surprise at the start of my farewell ceremony, when the new Kocho sensei (School Principal) made his introduction speech entirely in English. And he speaks very well - it's a shame that I've only been able to work with him since this past April.
The whole day on Friday was a special day for me - one that I will never forget. I have lots of photos, mementos, thank you cards, and memories from that day.
Here is the text of my speech:
Farewell speech for Taisha JH
July 17, 2009
Good morning everyone.
I know it’s hot today, so I will try to keep this speech short, but I have a few things I want to say on my last day here at Taisha Jr. High School.
When I first came to Japan in 2004, I was very nervous about my new job as an ALT. I had never been to Japan before, I didn’t speak Japanese and I had never heard of Shimane before.
But on my very first day in Shimane I met Moriyama Kyoko sensei - and she has been my friend for 5 years now. Everywhere I went, people in Taisha were so nice to me and welcomed me to Shimane. I want to thank some of the teachers that have been here since I first arrived in 2004, like Akagi sensei, Kojima sensei, Maniwa sensei and especially Kyoto sensei. He has been so kind to me all these years and helped me very much. And I want to thank teachers no longer here, like Sakamoto sensei and Nishi sensei for all the wonderful concerts, Ishitobi sensei and Matsuo sensei for letting me play kendo, and of course all the great English teachers I’ve taught with - Hama sensei, Kada sensei, Honda sensei, Yamamoto sensei, Ninose sensei, Nariai sensei, and Nagami sensei.
I want to thank all the current teachers here today for being patient with my poor Japanese. Also, for letting me attend so many sports events and music concerts. I also want to thank the current English teachers for all their help and patience and fun lessons. To Iwanari sensei and Sano sensei - arigatou! I have to say a special “thank you” to Mr. Toma, who has been my friend for 4 years and helped me in many ways - honto ni arigatou gozaimasu! Last, but not least, I must thank Kyoko Moriyama sensei. I once read a book in her class about a “Giving Tree” that does all it can to help her friend. Ms. Moriyama has been my “giving tree” for 5 years - many, many, many times she has helped me and we’ve had so much fun in our English classes and at school events like Sports Day that working with her is a true joy.
To all the staff and teachers at Taisha Chu - I say “Thank You!” To the students I say - you are very lucky. I have taught at many schools with many teachers. The teachers here at Taisha Chu work very hard and care so much about their students. You are all very lucky to have such nice and thoughtful teachers and staff.
Being an ALT is not a difficult job. I enjoy teaching English, talking with students, participating in school events, and talking about America. But sometimes it can be difficult to live all alone and so far from home. Therefore, many people ask me - “Jason, why have you stayed in Taisha for 5 years?” And I have many answers - I like Japan, I like Shimane, I like living in a small, peaceful town, I like my job as an ALT.
But my real answer is “my students.” All of you have become my family and Taisha now feels like my home. All the 3nen sei here today were 4th graders at shogakko when I first came to Japan in 2004. The 1nen sei were shogakko 2nen sei. Perhaps more than any other teacher here in Taisha, I have watched you grow up. I have seen you become teenagers, and seen your personalities change and develop as you got older. I have also watched older students graduate from Taisha Chu, go on to High School and even on to University. I am very proud of all my students. You are all great people and I have enjoyed getting to know all of you.
I want to thank you - the students, for being such good students all these years. For being my friend, chatting with me in English and trying so hard in your English classes. I know you can achieve anything you set your mind and heart to - I believe in you.
And I want to take a moment to give you some advice. Travel! That is my advice. Japan is a wonderful place, full of great culture and traditions. I have enjoyed learning about the history of Izumo and Shimane and been lucky enough to travel to many other fascinating places in Japan.
Many young people all over the world are very interested in learning about Japan. Please tell them about your country. There are so many amazing things to see in this world - in Africa, in Australia, in Europe and in America, that I hope you get a chance to see some of them. Don’t be afraid to take a chance and leave the safety of Japan, where you know the language and the culture. Try new things and accept new challenges. I was a little scared when I first moved to Japan, but these past 5 years have been among the best in my life. I took a chance and I made many mistakes, but that’s ok. There is a saying - “Failure is the stepping stone to success.” (Shippai wa seikou no moto) I agree - learn from your mistakes and continue to to do the best you can.
When you travel to other countries, the language you can use almost anywhere is English. I know it’s hard now, at age 13 or 14, to see how important English can be, but if you study hard, English can be your ticket to the world.
Anywhere I go in the world after today, I will always carry in my heart many precious memories of my time here at Taisha Chu.
I have really enjoyed so many school events, like Sports Day, Culture Festival, your club competitions and concerts and graduation. My favorite activity has been the English Speech contests, where Taisha Chu has won many prizes.
I hope our classes together have been interesting and even fun sometimes. I will miss playing games and reading the book together and helping you study.
I have thousands of pictures in my computer of students and events at Taisha Chu. Smiling students, laughing students posing with the peace sign -students arm in arm - together as friends. I also have thousands more trapped in my mind - moments frozen in time that I will remember always.
I will never forget all the fun moments and smiling faces. I will never forget all the times we chatted in the halls between classes, all the lunch times we spent together, all the sports events where I cheered you on to victory, all the concerts where I heard wonderful music. I will never forget all the friends I have in Taisha.
Thank you so much for being my friend. I am very sad to leave, but I am happy to know that anytime I come back to Taisha, I will see so many of my friends again.
Please show the new ALT the same kindness you have shown me. Just like me when I first arrived, he will be very nervous. So please introduce yourself in English and welcome him to Taisha Jr. High School.
It’s very hard to leave, but I know I will see you again. So instead of saying Sayonara, I will simply say mata ne - see you again.
Thank you very much for listening.
*****
And after that I had a great day - chatting with my kids, taking more pictures, playing kendo after school and then going to a really nice teacher party in the evening.
Lots more to do before I leave Japan, but I wanted to take a moment to remember this special day.
Peace,
Jason
Monday, July 13, 2009
Preview of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya - 2009
For the next two weeks I'll be enjoying my last Sumo tournament for a while.
This is my rundown of where the wrestlers are in the rankings and what to expect during this basho.
-Jason
Friday, July 10, 2009
Like bubblegum with a wafer in the middle
1. Products in Japan amuse me at times. Especially when they misuse English.
2. School farewells are tough - I have two more tomorrow and three next week. Gambarimasu!
3. Japan in the summer sucks! OK, ok - it doesn't suck, but damn it's hot!
4. I didn't mention it in this vlog - but I got to go swimming with about 12 of my students yesterday at the school pool. It was so refreshing and fun! 12 boys who are in the "Fun Sports Club" get to use the pool after school and I was asked to join them. We had a blast! I may be a fat old geezer, but I can swim like a fish. :D
5. I can't wait to be back in the States to drink regular Pepsi again. It's sad that I'm looking forward to cola... :P
6. This video is over 10 minutes long - if you watched all the way to the end I owe you a sticker! :D
-Jason
PS - the really sad thing is I don't even chew gum.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Getting your hair cut in Japan
A skit and an interview - 8 minutes of pure goofiness. :)
My good friends at the local hair salon - Carriere - are fans of my blog and YouTube channel - so I asked them if they would like to be in a video with me. They said "mochiron."
The skit is meant to show that even with minimal Japanese you'll still be able to get by - use the Japanese you know and you'll be surprised how much English some shopkeepers and other folks know. Fumiko didn't really know what I was going to say/do in the skit, so she did a pretty good job of being a Japanese person. :D
I really have enjoyed each visit to the salon - I've come to think of it as my most pure Japanese language relationship. Fumiko and I chat about world events, sports (she likes sumo too), local gossip - all kinds of things - and we do it almost entirely in Japanese. She doesn't want to practice her English on me, like so many Japanese adults do when you meet them, and we don't have to talk about school, which is refreshing.
My Japanese was pretty bad when I first arrived in 2004, but she's been really patient and we've had a great time chatting along the way these past 5 years.
I hope you enjoy the vid!
-Jason
Friday, June 26, 2009
Breaking news - Michael Jackson has died at age 50
This from IMDB.com
Michael Jackson has died, according to stunning reports from Los Angeles. The 50 year old suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles on Thursday and paramedics were called to the scene. Reports suggest the King of Pop was unconscious and not breathing.
The medics had to perform CPR on the superstar as they rushed him to UCLA Medical Center.
TMZ.com claims the Thriller singer has since died.
______
This is crazy news. I'm reading this at about 7:30am here in Japan as I prepare to go to school. I don't have time to write a reaction now, but I'll add one tonight.
-Jason
Michael Jackson has died, according to stunning reports from Los Angeles. The 50 year old suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles on Thursday and paramedics were called to the scene. Reports suggest the King of Pop was unconscious and not breathing.
The medics had to perform CPR on the superstar as they rushed him to UCLA Medical Center.
TMZ.com claims the Thriller singer has since died.
______
This is crazy news. I'm reading this at about 7:30am here in Japan as I prepare to go to school. I don't have time to write a reaction now, but I'll add one tonight.
-Jason
Monday, June 22, 2009
TRANSFORMERS 2: Revenge - an early review from Japan
My thoughts on the big summer blockbuster, which actually opened in Japan a few days before it opens in America.
-Jason
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Not everyone likes us
Recently I posted a video about the challenges and rewards of teaching at Elementary school in Japan. I'm trying to get some of my thoughts and experiences teaching here for 5 years on video before I leave Japan in just over a month.
As always, my vids get comments and I get emails wanting more info, etc.
But this time I got another video posted as a "response" to my video.
The video was about 2 ALTs (maybe JETs - but I'm not sure - they could be with another company) who got arrested in Okinawa ken for having crystal meth. Drugs are a big huge No-No! here in Japan and there is zero tolerance.
But the interesting part was what was written in the sidebar description box...
I've copy and pasted it here with no corrections or additions/deletions.
Just goes to show that for all the kids I've helped become more interested in English over the years and all the Japanese friends I've made, there is still a very small amount of Japanese citizens who resent us being here on the taxpayers dime.
Here is the content:
The superintendent of education said
｢Trust in the education is damaged and regrettably. Severe disposal is examined including the dismissal. ｣
what a nauseating sight.
This is why I hate gaijins.
this kind of crimes committed by gaijins is on the rise and has become a social problem.
it seems sign of going from bad to worse.
these gaijins doesn't want to follow the rule of japanese society..
**********
Dear jet.
do you get certified as tefl,tesol,M.Ed?
most of your associate in japan are only speaking native tongue...
they are not qualified teacher.
it was originally started in 1987 to trade friction between Japan and the U.S.
How many country would employ, even as simple language teachers, unskilled foreigners who could
not speak, write and read the national language?
only japan.
What a nonsense.
Now, existence value of jet is nothing.
there is a movement to do abolition of jet.
it is positive trend.
the problem is Administrators of jet, called clair.
that's what we call "amakudari",
clair is seen as a symbol of corruption of official.
we japanese have doubt about the way of using taxpayer money.
we'll see the end of the jet programme in not-so-distant future.
slowly but surely many japanese is realizing this.
it's very regretful that
i heard some jet persons are always bad- mouthing japan on the web.
stop it.
that's unforgivable rude
ingratitude to japan.
in fact, you receive very preferential treatment(like striking mismatch)from japan.
You're encouraged to remember that japan spend money 40000 million yen a year to feeding jet foreigners.
this is our tax.
thankyou.
****
I've had comments left on my videos similar to this in the past - and I've even tried to be reasonable and have a discussion with these types of people, but they're not interested in a dialog - just a one-way, narrow minded attack on what they see as a waste of taxpayer money. Of course, I humbly disagree.
Peace,
Jason
As always, my vids get comments and I get emails wanting more info, etc.
But this time I got another video posted as a "response" to my video.
The video was about 2 ALTs (maybe JETs - but I'm not sure - they could be with another company) who got arrested in Okinawa ken for having crystal meth. Drugs are a big huge No-No! here in Japan and there is zero tolerance.
But the interesting part was what was written in the sidebar description box...
I've copy and pasted it here with no corrections or additions/deletions.
Just goes to show that for all the kids I've helped become more interested in English over the years and all the Japanese friends I've made, there is still a very small amount of Japanese citizens who resent us being here on the taxpayers dime.
Here is the content:
The superintendent of education said
｢Trust in the education is damaged and regrettably. Severe disposal is examined including the dismissal. ｣
what a nauseating sight.
This is why I hate gaijins.
this kind of crimes committed by gaijins is on the rise and has become a social problem.
it seems sign of going from bad to worse.
these gaijins doesn't want to follow the rule of japanese society..
**********
Dear jet.
do you get certified as tefl,tesol,M.Ed?
most of your associate in japan are only speaking native tongue...
they are not qualified teacher.
it was originally started in 1987 to trade friction between Japan and the U.S.
How many country would employ, even as simple language teachers, unskilled foreigners who could
not speak, write and read the national language?
only japan.
What a nonsense.
Now, existence value of jet is nothing.
there is a movement to do abolition of jet.
it is positive trend.
the problem is Administrators of jet, called clair.
that's what we call "amakudari",
clair is seen as a symbol of corruption of official.
we japanese have doubt about the way of using taxpayer money.
we'll see the end of the jet programme in not-so-distant future.
slowly but surely many japanese is realizing this.
it's very regretful that
i heard some jet persons are always bad- mouthing japan on the web.
stop it.
that's unforgivable rude
ingratitude to japan.
in fact, you receive very preferential treatment(like striking mismatch)from japan.
You're encouraged to remember that japan spend money 40000 million yen a year to feeding jet foreigners.
this is our tax.
thankyou.
****
I've had comments left on my videos similar to this in the past - and I've even tried to be reasonable and have a discussion with these types of people, but they're not interested in a dialog - just a one-way, narrow minded attack on what they see as a waste of taxpayer money. Of course, I humbly disagree.
Peace,
Jason
Monday, June 15, 2009
A few June Updates
Hello All -
I noticed when I logged in to Blogger just now that this is my 901st post. I'm sure I passed 900 a ways back, but I've deleted some old posts along the way (usually cuz they were linked to photos that are no longer public) and I'm now at 900+ posts. Kinda crazy in a way. I've been posting to this blog for about 4 1/2 years, so that's about 200 posts a year. Not bad. :)
Anyway - it's interesting (at least to me) that after spending so much time on this blog, and then shifting my attention to my much more viewed channel page over at YouTube, that I'm now going to start using Twitter.
I've had some people bugging me about why I hadn't signed up for Twitter yet. I didn't really see the appeal, but I'm not going to have as much time to vlog and blog over the next few months as I prepare to leave Japan, so maybe the brevity of Twitter will work best for me.
My address over there is Twitter(dot)com/TaishaJason
Check it out and feel free to leave feedback.
I never seem to catch on to these social network sites - I have a MySpace page that I haven't logged onto in over a year and the only time I go to my FaceBook page is when someone leaves me a message over there.
I spend a lot of time on my computer, but I just don't visit these sites that often.
Not really much else to report at this time.
I just got back from a 3-day English camp called CHESS that I've blogged about here many times in the past. It was, as always, a great and exhausting time - one of my most favorite JET events of the year.
I now have to turn my attention to leaving. I have to pack, send boxes back to America, try to sell some things here, give away clothes and books, etc., finalize my bills, get my plane ticket home, and the list goes on.
I have a few more big events before I leave, including a special library event on July 4th that I'll tell you more about soon, but basically my attention has to be on preparations for leaving and saying goodbyes. July 30th (my tentative leave date) will be here before I know it, and I don't want to rush around in my final week.
Hope all is well where you are.
Peace,
Jason
I noticed when I logged in to Blogger just now that this is my 901st post. I'm sure I passed 900 a ways back, but I've deleted some old posts along the way (usually cuz they were linked to photos that are no longer public) and I'm now at 900+ posts. Kinda crazy in a way. I've been posting to this blog for about 4 1/2 years, so that's about 200 posts a year. Not bad. :)
Anyway - it's interesting (at least to me) that after spending so much time on this blog, and then shifting my attention to my much more viewed channel page over at YouTube, that I'm now going to start using Twitter.
I've had some people bugging me about why I hadn't signed up for Twitter yet. I didn't really see the appeal, but I'm not going to have as much time to vlog and blog over the next few months as I prepare to leave Japan, so maybe the brevity of Twitter will work best for me.
My address over there is Twitter(dot)com/TaishaJason
Check it out and feel free to leave feedback.
I never seem to catch on to these social network sites - I have a MySpace page that I haven't logged onto in over a year and the only time I go to my FaceBook page is when someone leaves me a message over there.
I spend a lot of time on my computer, but I just don't visit these sites that often.
Not really much else to report at this time.
I just got back from a 3-day English camp called CHESS that I've blogged about here many times in the past. It was, as always, a great and exhausting time - one of my most favorite JET events of the year.
I now have to turn my attention to leaving. I have to pack, send boxes back to America, try to sell some things here, give away clothes and books, etc., finalize my bills, get my plane ticket home, and the list goes on.
I have a few more big events before I leave, including a special library event on July 4th that I'll tell you more about soon, but basically my attention has to be on preparations for leaving and saying goodbyes. July 30th (my tentative leave date) will be here before I know it, and I don't want to rush around in my final week.
Hope all is well where you are.
Peace,
Jason
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Golden Week trip to Hiroshima
Golden Week trip to Hiroshima - 4.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
I spent one day of my Golden Week holidays in early May visiting nearby Hiroshima with Mike, a college student studying in Shimane, and his wife, Kim.
We had a nice day of sightseeing, shopping and eating.
I made a vlog about the first part of our day, which we spent at the Peace Park and Peace Memorial Museum.
You can see it on my YouTube channel Here.
I'll post a 2nd vlog soon with footage of us eating okonomiyaki and walking around the city.
More pics can be seen at my Flickr page by clicking on the pic above.
Cheers,
Jason
Friday, May 29, 2009
Penn Says:Japanese Rape Game
Penn is a famous magician/comedian/actor in America.
He has an interesting channel on YouTube that I subscribe to.
I agree with most of what he says here - a well thought out and interesting discussion.
-Jason
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
How to Make Bento (Japanese Boxed Lunch)
I often see this channel's videos, since the channel is labeled "Guru" on YouTube, just like my channel. So their videos are often above mine on the "top rated" or most viewed lists.
I haven't really watched one before, but I have to admit, I watched this one all the way thru - just fascinated by how a bento is made.
I've seen my kids open amazing looking bento lunches for years now, and I always wondered if they were hard to make.
While this example features some over-the-top features for cuteness and interest, it's actually not that far from the reality I've often seen at school.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Monday, May 25, 2009
2009 May Grand Sumo Tournament - Day 15 - Final Day
A nice summary of the final day of action, from NHK world channel -so all the commentary is in English.
It was a great tournament - one of the most exciting I've seen during my five years watching SUMO.
-Jason
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Asashoryu: Sumo's big bad boy 2 朝青龍 明徳
An interesting 3-part interview with the Grand Champion - Asashoryu. The CNN interviewer asks questions in English and Asa responds in Japanese with English dub over.
Go to the YT page and you can click on parts 1 and 3.
-JH
Tokyo Day 13 - Hakuho v Harumafuji - May 22, 2009
A great match between two fantastic foes with an unexpected and thrilling finish!
I love SUMO! :D
-Jason
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Kansai Men's Students Finals 2009
This is college level kendo. I'm not sure how many of my students, who are playing kendo in Jr High School, go on to compete at the college level.
At about the 2:45 mark in this video, you see a good example of the "tsuki" attack, or neck thrust, that is actually not allowed at the Jr High level.
And the very end of the video contains some quick points.
I'll be editing and posting a kendo video of my own very soon.
-Jason
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tokyo Day 4 - Harumafuji v Goeido - May 13, 2009
My coverage of the current sumo tournament is well under way on my new YouTube channel I have dedicated to SUMO. :)
Check it out!
-Jason
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Japanese TV #2 - TFP2 with Rookies（ルーキーズ）and Arashi (嵐)
pretty good example of the type of TV I watch here in Japan, when I'm not watching Sumo.
I can't really follow along well enough with a drama or comedy - the actors just speak too fast for me to get it all - but I do enjoy the occasional funny game show, like Tokyo Friend Park (TFP2).
I'll be posting a few more of these clips on my TaishaJason channel on YouTube.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
Summer movies in Japan
Hello All -
Well it seems to start earlier and earlier each year - the coming of the summer movie season.
When Sony started releasing the Spider-Man films during the first week of May, it started a trend of kicking off the summer "blockbuster" movie slate even earlier than the standard Memorial Day weekend start of decades past.
So this weekend in America you get the first big popcorn muncher of the season - "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
When does this movie come out at theaters in Japan you may ask...
August 22nd! That's right, almost 4 months later! Which means, in this year when I'll be going home to San Diego in late July, I will miss seeing this movie on the big screen. It won't still be playing in America when I get home and it won't have opened here in Japan before I leave. Sucks! In fact, based on the internet buzz and reviews I'm seeing today, the movie will most likely be out on DVD back in the States by late August.
This happened last year with another big comic based movie (that actually turned out to be very, very good - unlike what I'm hearing about Wolverine) - "Iron Man" came out in May last year and didn't open here in Japan until September! I could have bought the DVD from Amazon in America and watched it before having a chance to see it on the big screen here. But I waited and I'm glad I did, as it was a great big-screen movie. (And I bought the DVD too)
I fare better with most of the rest of the summer fare I really want to see, with the exception of the latest from Pixar - "Up."
It opens around Memorial Day weekend (May 29th) in America, but doesn't open here until December 19th - the Japanese market is holding it back as a Winter holiday movie here. So I'll miss it on the big screen as well.
Same thing happend with "Wall-E" last year - but with that one they also only released it to the big screen here in my area dubbed in Japanese so I waited to see it on DVD so I could watch it in English.
Other summer movies I'm looking forward to this year include:
Star Trek - opens May 29th here in Japan
Terminator Salvation (T4) - opens about three weeks after America (21 May) here in Japan on June 13th
Transformers 2 - Revenge (as it's called here) - opens in Japan on June 20th
This movie actually opens a few days before it opens in America on June 24th. Which is interesting since the first film did well here, but not Pirates of the Carribean well. Heck, I may have to go see it and make a vlog about it and spoil it for everyone in the States for a change. LOL
Harry Potter 6 - opens July 15th (same day as in the States). This franchise is immensely popular here, so I'm not surprised we don't have to wait for this one.
Another July opening here is Monsters v Aliens, an animated 3D film that looks like a lot of fun. It opened in March in the States. Luckily, the amazing new movie theater in my area has a nice 3D theater within its 10 screens, so I can see it in 3D.
As for more adult fare - it can be hit or miss. Something like Angels and Demons will open at about the same time, but something like "Knocked Up" from a few years ago won't even be released here on the big screen - comedies don't play well here. Dramas depend entirely on who the star is - if it's got Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp, then it gets released here.
Something like Land of the Lost - which has Will Ferrell - a big star in America but no big deal here - and is based on an old American TV show - doesn't even have a Japanese release date listed on the IMDB. Since it comes out in June in America, it's another one I'll probably miss on the big screen.
OK - well, it's a big holiday week coming up here next week - 4 holidays in a row known as Golden Week - but not much is playing at the local theater for me to go see. I saw Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino last week (it just opened here) and I don't think there is much else coming until Angels and Demons in mid May. (Unless you count 17 Again - which is getting a timely release here as Zac Efron has become popular here due to the strong DVD rentals of the High School Musical franchise here and the fact that the Disney channel is a popular cable channel here)
Right now, I'm most excited about Star Trek and the new Terminator - can't wait to see both!
-Jason
Well it seems to start earlier and earlier each year - the coming of the summer movie season.
When Sony started releasing the Spider-Man films during the first week of May, it started a trend of kicking off the summer "blockbuster" movie slate even earlier than the standard Memorial Day weekend start of decades past.
So this weekend in America you get the first big popcorn muncher of the season - "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
When does this movie come out at theaters in Japan you may ask...
August 22nd! That's right, almost 4 months later! Which means, in this year when I'll be going home to San Diego in late July, I will miss seeing this movie on the big screen. It won't still be playing in America when I get home and it won't have opened here in Japan before I leave. Sucks! In fact, based on the internet buzz and reviews I'm seeing today, the movie will most likely be out on DVD back in the States by late August.
This happened last year with another big comic based movie (that actually turned out to be very, very good - unlike what I'm hearing about Wolverine) - "Iron Man" came out in May last year and didn't open here in Japan until September! I could have bought the DVD from Amazon in America and watched it before having a chance to see it on the big screen here. But I waited and I'm glad I did, as it was a great big-screen movie. (And I bought the DVD too)
I fare better with most of the rest of the summer fare I really want to see, with the exception of the latest from Pixar - "Up."
It opens around Memorial Day weekend (May 29th) in America, but doesn't open here until December 19th - the Japanese market is holding it back as a Winter holiday movie here. So I'll miss it on the big screen as well.
Same thing happend with "Wall-E" last year - but with that one they also only released it to the big screen here in my area dubbed in Japanese so I waited to see it on DVD so I could watch it in English.
Other summer movies I'm looking forward to this year include:
Star Trek - opens May 29th here in Japan
Terminator Salvation (T4) - opens about three weeks after America (21 May) here in Japan on June 13th
Transformers 2 - Revenge (as it's called here) - opens in Japan on June 20th
This movie actually opens a few days before it opens in America on June 24th. Which is interesting since the first film did well here, but not Pirates of the Carribean well. Heck, I may have to go see it and make a vlog about it and spoil it for everyone in the States for a change. LOL
Harry Potter 6 - opens July 15th (same day as in the States). This franchise is immensely popular here, so I'm not surprised we don't have to wait for this one.
Another July opening here is Monsters v Aliens, an animated 3D film that looks like a lot of fun. It opened in March in the States. Luckily, the amazing new movie theater in my area has a nice 3D theater within its 10 screens, so I can see it in 3D.
As for more adult fare - it can be hit or miss. Something like Angels and Demons will open at about the same time, but something like "Knocked Up" from a few years ago won't even be released here on the big screen - comedies don't play well here. Dramas depend entirely on who the star is - if it's got Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp, then it gets released here.
Something like Land of the Lost - which has Will Ferrell - a big star in America but no big deal here - and is based on an old American TV show - doesn't even have a Japanese release date listed on the IMDB. Since it comes out in June in America, it's another one I'll probably miss on the big screen.
OK - well, it's a big holiday week coming up here next week - 4 holidays in a row known as Golden Week - but not much is playing at the local theater for me to go see. I saw Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino last week (it just opened here) and I don't think there is much else coming until Angels and Demons in mid May. (Unless you count 17 Again - which is getting a timely release here as Zac Efron has become popular here due to the strong DVD rentals of the High School Musical franchise here and the fact that the Disney channel is a popular cable channel here)
Right now, I'm most excited about Star Trek and the new Terminator - can't wait to see both!
-Jason
Thursday, April 30, 2009
RJL Vlog #9 - DIY Okonomiyaki (おこのみやき)
Enjoy a trip to an okonomiyaki restaurant with me and my friend, Miymi.
-Jason
Saturday, April 25, 2009
SMAP's Kusanagi Kun/草彅君 Arrested! - Breaking Japanese News
Some interesting aspects of Japanese culture are discussed after they finish talking about the breaking news involving a member of popular J-pop group SMAP.
-Jason
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Shortening Japanese (Tofugu)
Really well-made vlog helping you speak better Japanese (or at least more natural sounding Japanese).
Deas is a fellow ALT in another part of Japan.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Saturday, April 18, 2009
10 questions
Hello All -
I get tons of email at my YouTube page - most of it from JET applicants or people interested in living in Japan.
I do my best to answer as much of it as I can, but I do get asked the same question a lot by people who haven't looked thru all my videos. And I understand, since I have a lot of videos to look thru! :)
I got the email below a few days ago from a student in high school - much of my mail comes from eager high school students trying to plan out their future, a future that many of them hopes will include a job in Japan.
So have a look at Sydney's 10 questions and my 10 answers below.
Cheers,
Jason
Hello!
My name is Sydney and I am a high school student who is interested in teaching English in Japan in the future. I'm working on a career portfolio project in my English class and I was hoping that I could interview you for the "Ask an Expert" portion. If you are busy and don't have the time to answer these questions, please let me know as soon as possible. Also, I'm very sorry if one of these questions were already answered in one of your videos. My boyfriend recently informed me of your videos on YouTube and I was in a hurry to write you this message. However, I will be watching more of your videos. :) Ah, so sorry about the length of this message. Now for the questions:
1. What do you like most about your job?
2. How did you become interested in your career?
3. Briefly describe some of your job responsibilities.
4. Describe the education and/or training required.
5. Approximately how many hours do you work a week?
6. What is the approximate salary range in your area?
7. What do you like least about your job?
8. Does your job come with any benefits?
9. Do you get along with your co-workers/boss/etc.?
10. How long have you had your job?
Thanks for your time!
- Sydney
Hi Sydney -
Well, seeing as we're both from San Diego, I'd be happy to answer your questions.
Glad you're enjoying my vids - please subscribe when you have time.
1 - The best part of my job is helping my students - not only to learn English, but to learn about America and to help them be comfortable speaking to a foreigner.
2 - Before I found out about the JET Programme, I was in college (at UCSD) and studying with the goal of becoming a high school history teacher. So I was already interesting in teaching, and when I found out about JET I decided to try teaching in Japan.
3 - I'm an ALT, which means Assistant Language Teacher. Even though I'm an assistant, I still have to do many of the same things the regular teacher does - teach lessons, prepare lessons, grade papers, go with the students to school events, help with English speech contests, etc.
4 - To be a JET, you have to have a college degree - a BA or BS. You don't have to have a degree in education, but it helps to have had some teaching or youth volunteer experience when you apply.
5 - 35 to 40.
6 - JETs make 3,600,000 yen per year. With the current exchange rate at around 100yen = $1 - that's about $36,000 per year.
7 - After a few years of being an assistant, you do start to want to run your own classes and make more of the decisions about what to study and how to study it. And being an assistant also means that you have to be asked to join classes by the main Japanese teacher of English, so some days you are very busy and other days you are not busy.
8 - Yes, being a JET includes good benefits - excellent health care in the Japanese National system, 20 paid vacation days per year and subsidized rent for my apartment.
9 - Well, that's a tricky question here since there is a language barrier for many JETs who don't speak Japanese well. But I do get along with most of my fellow English teachers very well, and I wish I spoke better Japanese so I could get to know my other co-workers better.
10 - JET is a one-year contract, but you can renew up to five years maximum. I am in my fifth year, so my job ends this July.
Hope that was helpful.
Peace,
Jason H.
I get tons of email at my YouTube page - most of it from JET applicants or people interested in living in Japan.
I do my best to answer as much of it as I can, but I do get asked the same question a lot by people who haven't looked thru all my videos. And I understand, since I have a lot of videos to look thru! :)
I got the email below a few days ago from a student in high school - much of my mail comes from eager high school students trying to plan out their future, a future that many of them hopes will include a job in Japan.
So have a look at Sydney's 10 questions and my 10 answers below.
Cheers,
Jason
Hello!
My name is Sydney and I am a high school student who is interested in teaching English in Japan in the future. I'm working on a career portfolio project in my English class and I was hoping that I could interview you for the "Ask an Expert" portion. If you are busy and don't have the time to answer these questions, please let me know as soon as possible. Also, I'm very sorry if one of these questions were already answered in one of your videos. My boyfriend recently informed me of your videos on YouTube and I was in a hurry to write you this message. However, I will be watching more of your videos. :) Ah, so sorry about the length of this message. Now for the questions:
1. What do you like most about your job?
2. How did you become interested in your career?
3. Briefly describe some of your job responsibilities.
4. Describe the education and/or training required.
5. Approximately how many hours do you work a week?
6. What is the approximate salary range in your area?
7. What do you like least about your job?
8. Does your job come with any benefits?
9. Do you get along with your co-workers/boss/etc.?
10. How long have you had your job?
Thanks for your time!
- Sydney
Hi Sydney -
Well, seeing as we're both from San Diego, I'd be happy to answer your questions.
Glad you're enjoying my vids - please subscribe when you have time.
1 - The best part of my job is helping my students - not only to learn English, but to learn about America and to help them be comfortable speaking to a foreigner.
2 - Before I found out about the JET Programme, I was in college (at UCSD) and studying with the goal of becoming a high school history teacher. So I was already interesting in teaching, and when I found out about JET I decided to try teaching in Japan.
3 - I'm an ALT, which means Assistant Language Teacher. Even though I'm an assistant, I still have to do many of the same things the regular teacher does - teach lessons, prepare lessons, grade papers, go with the students to school events, help with English speech contests, etc.
4 - To be a JET, you have to have a college degree - a BA or BS. You don't have to have a degree in education, but it helps to have had some teaching or youth volunteer experience when you apply.
5 - 35 to 40.
6 - JETs make 3,600,000 yen per year. With the current exchange rate at around 100yen = $1 - that's about $36,000 per year.
7 - After a few years of being an assistant, you do start to want to run your own classes and make more of the decisions about what to study and how to study it. And being an assistant also means that you have to be asked to join classes by the main Japanese teacher of English, so some days you are very busy and other days you are not busy.
8 - Yes, being a JET includes good benefits - excellent health care in the Japanese National system, 20 paid vacation days per year and subsidized rent for my apartment.
9 - Well, that's a tricky question here since there is a language barrier for many JETs who don't speak Japanese well. But I do get along with most of my fellow English teachers very well, and I wish I spoke better Japanese so I could get to know my other co-workers better.
10 - JET is a one-year contract, but you can renew up to five years maximum. I am in my fifth year, so my job ends this July.
Hope that was helpful.
Peace,
Jason H.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Hannya
So this is the most watched video on the Japanese YouTube main page today.
It's two skits from a TV show. Watching it - if you have no idea what they're saying or why people are laughing - welcome to my world. :)
I often channel surf, but I seldom watch any variety or comedy show for too long. While I do get the cultural references some of the time (for example - I think the first skit is a parody of a popular TV show) and I do understand some of the Japanese - most of the humor here goes right over my head.
The actors or comedians on most shows 1 - talk way too fast for me and 2 - often use Kansai dialect full or words and expressions I'm not familiar with.
It's tough sometimes living somewhere where you're never really in on the joke and you can't really make jokes of your own.
Again - the more you can learn Japanese, the more you will enjoy your time in Japan.
My students will most likely enjoy this clip.
-Jason
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Gathering Storm by Coughlan666 (RATED R)
WARNING - this does have a bunch of bad language, but I haven't laughed as hard at anything on YouTube in a long while.
-JCH
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Scrap Teacher eng subbed Ep 1 Part 1/7
I'm lucky that my Jr High is not like the one portrayed in this popular Japanese TV show - "Scrap Teacher."
The show is popular because 4 of the young male actors are from a very popular J-pop boy band called "Hey! Say! Jump!"
But I like the lead adult actor who plays the 29-year-old new teacher at the school.
It's great to be able to watch stuff like this on YT with added subtitles.
Enjoy!
-Jason
For more, just click on the above video YT icon or wait until the end and click the link for part 2.
Friday, April 10, 2009
First Day of school at my Japanese Jr. High - Part ONE
April 8th was the first day of the new Japanese school year.
I'll only be teaching for first term, as my job with JET ends in July.
So it was a bittersweet start to the year this time - knowing that it will end soon made it a bit sad.
-Jason
Monday, April 06, 2009
Apple's all-new 3G iPod shuffle; it talks to you!
I'm a huge Apple computers fan - ever since 2004, when I got the iBook laptop I'm typing on at this moment , I've enjoyed hearing about each new innovation and product.
I bought my iPod (video, 40gb) back in 2005 or 2006 - I can't even remember now. I still use it all the time - it's been particularly helpful here showing pictures and slideshows in class. And I love having it for long train trips or flights home.
This new iPod Shuffle is pretty amazing - doubt I'll be buying one, but it sure looks cool. :)
-JCH
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Pictures and vlogs from my Tokyo trip - part 2
Tokyo - Feb 09 trip - Day Four - 3.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
Hello All -
I've finally had some time during my Spring Break to update my FLICKR page with the rest of my Tokyo pictures.
These include pictures from Sunday, when I went to a famous Buddhist temple in Asakusa called Senso-ji. And I traveled by train out to neighboring Saitama prefecture to visit the John Lennon Museum.
Both were worthwhile destinations and I recommend them both to people visiting Tokyo.
The picture above is me in the lobby of the JLM - you aren't allowed to take any pictures or video in the actual museum, so that's about all I have, except for a few vlogs I shot at the entrance:
The temple at Asakusa is a very famous landmark in Tokyo and it was super crowded on the Sunday I visited.
But it was interesting to see the mix of commerce, with the path leading up to the temple full of shops on both sides of the path, and the traditional, with people waving incense all over their bodies and making prayers and offerings inside the temple.
It was a great final day in Tokyo - I had just the right amount of time before I had to get the train from Ueno station back to Narita airport. And the weather stayed nice the entire time, altho it did start to get chilly on Sunday.
Unfortunately, I think all the carrying of luggage around the stations, and up and down large flights of stairs, did a number on my back, and after feeling sore all week, my back seized up on me on Friday after I got back and I was in bed all the next weekend, basically unable to move and in great pain, necessitating a trip to the Japanese emergency room that Sunday. Sucks to get old! :P
Anyway - the trip was excellent - I had a great time, met some cool people, saw some awesome sites and ate some great food.
I can't wait to do it again!
Peace,
Jason
100 Scariest Movie Moments - 01 - Jaws
People often ask me what my favorite film of all time is, and I have many, but if pressed I say "JAWS."
For me, it's just a perfect movie. And oddly enough, I never saw it on the big screen when it was originally released in 1976. (I was only 7 years old and I lived in California, so my parents wisely didn't let me see it or I would have never gone to the beach again)
But I never saw "SIngin' in the Rain," "Casablanca," or "Bridge on the River Kwai" on the big screen either, so that's not a big deal.
It was probably the fact that I discovered the movie on VHS and could watch it over and over again (which I did) that has let it become my all time favorite movie.
Everything about it is fantastic - the pace, the plot, the acting, the effects, and of course, the music.
I realized that it's a genre picture and maybe hard to compare to something like Schindler's List or Citizen Kane, but for me, JAWS is endlessly watchable and a great example of everything that Steven Spielberg does so well.
-Jason
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Behind the Scenes at MyArgonauts Productions
Happy April Fool's Day everyone. This vid has been getting some good reaction from my viewers on YouTube.
Hope you enjoy it. :D
-JCH
Utada Hikaru - First Love (karaoke)
I really like the style of lyrics seen in the above video.
Watching karaoke vids is a great way to learn Japanese. Many standard karaoke vids include furigana for the kanji, so as long as you know at least hiragana you can follow along. This video is even easier as the Japanese is transcribed into romaji.
Utada is immensely popular here, altho she hasn't had a big hit in over a year.
This song is an early hit for her and one of my favorite sappy J-pop songs.
I'm not sure who to compare her to - maybe Christina Aguilera - since they both are talented vocalists, have had many big hit records, and both started singing at a young age.
The video below is a live version of the song and you can see how Utada looks now.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Updates
Hello All -
I have lots of things to tell you, and no time it seems to type it all up and post it here.
But I should have some time starting this weekend, as I'll be on Spring Break starting tomorrow. yeah!
I'm not going anywhere or doing anything special - just hanging out in my town and trying to catch up on things that need doing, like cleaning my apartment, seeing some movies (Watchmen - yeah!), and updating this here blog.
I'm sure many of you watch my vlogs over on YouTube, and I've been pretty active over there, but I want to spend some time here as well - I have some text posts percolating in my brain that I want to share with y'all.
Also, I need to update my Flickr site, which is way behind. Altho the fun of it has gone mostly for me now that I can't post pics of me with my students, I will try and get the rest of my Tokyo pics posted and some other recent pics as well.
Thanks for reading and I hope your Spring is off to a nice start.
Be Seeing You,
Jason
I have lots of things to tell you, and no time it seems to type it all up and post it here.
But I should have some time starting this weekend, as I'll be on Spring Break starting tomorrow. yeah!
I'm not going anywhere or doing anything special - just hanging out in my town and trying to catch up on things that need doing, like cleaning my apartment, seeing some movies (Watchmen - yeah!), and updating this here blog.
I'm sure many of you watch my vlogs over on YouTube, and I've been pretty active over there, but I want to spend some time here as well - I have some text posts percolating in my brain that I want to share with y'all.
Also, I need to update my Flickr site, which is way behind. Altho the fun of it has gone mostly for me now that I can't post pics of me with my students, I will try and get the rest of my Tokyo pics posted and some other recent pics as well.
Thanks for reading and I hope your Spring is off to a nice start.
Be Seeing You,
Jason
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
Response - Getting to know TaishaJason
More than you ever wanted or needed to know about me. :)
To follow along with the list, click on the YouTube icon in the lower right corner and watch the video on the YT page so you can access the sidebar.
I invite comments and responses.
-Jason
Friday, March 06, 2009
New STAR TREK trailer
I was never a big Star Trek fan. In that old pop-culture debate, Star Wars vs Star Trek (similar to Elvis vs The Beatles or Batman vs Spider-Man), I was always on the side of the Jedi, Wookies and lightsabers over the side with phasers, Tribbles and bad Scottish accents.
But I certainly enjoyed Star Trek growing up - the original TV series with the best captain (which is another debate - Kirk vs Picard) was always something I liked to watch, but I hadn't seen every episode and I didn't know obsessive details about each show. I had a friend in High School named Chris who was a big Trekkie and he got me to watch some of the best of the original series, like Wolf in the Fold and City on the Edge of Forever. Well, as you can see, I now can name episode titles, so I've grown into being a Trekker (the more recent term for a Trek fan), but I'm still not an uber fan.
What prompted my interest even more than Chris's enthusiasm for the old series was the new series - The Next Generation - that started when I was a Freshman in college. The first season was a bit stiff and awkward at times, but the show grew into an interesting parable of life here even tho the action took place in distant galaxies far into the future. I became a bigger fan of "Next Gen" than I was a fan of the Kirk and Spock version of Trek.
But the first Next Gen movie - called Generations - was a disappointment. The previous 6 ST movies, with the original crew - had been somewhat hit or miss - the generally accepted wisdom nowadays is that the even numbered ones - 2, 4 and 6 - are good movies, with #2 being my personal fave - and the odd numbered ones are not very good, or even downright awful, as in #5. (Although I have a lot of affection for #3 - The Search for Spock)
The Next Gen movies hit their stride with their 2nd attempt - First Contact - which features perhaps the best villian in any of the movies, even better than Khan in ST #2 - the Borg.
Star Trek movies, like Bond films, get by on their established characters, but what makes them really memorable and fun and exciting is a great villian.
So it's with interest that I watch the build-up for the new Trek film, coming to screens in May (even here in Japan where it comes out on May 29th).
Simply titled "Star Trek," this film chronicles the early adventures of Kirk and Spock and the original crew, all played by new, younger actors. The film is being directed by JJ Abrams, who is responsible for Lost and Alias on American TV,
The trailer below is pretty excellent - giving a good indication that the film will be action packed and exciting. What's missing, at least in the trailer, is a hint of the comedy that makes Trek so much fun - no dialog from Scotty in this trailer - and I'm still not sure if Nero, the new villian played by Eric Bana, will be memorable or not, but I'm certainly very excited to see the film.
Abrams has to walk a fine line here - please all the core Trekers out there while trying to build a new audience that will want to "bodly go" on more adventures in the future.
Many casual movies fans will dismiss this picture based on the title alone - "pphhht" Star Trek? - I don't like Star Trek, some of them will say, but if the movie succeeds, then perhaps even casual fans or older fans, like myself, who didn't buy into the recent TV incarnations of the franchise, like Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, will give Star Trek another chance.
Watch and enjoy! (There is a short commercial before the trailer begins)
-Jason
But I certainly enjoyed Star Trek growing up - the original TV series with the best captain (which is another debate - Kirk vs Picard) was always something I liked to watch, but I hadn't seen every episode and I didn't know obsessive details about each show. I had a friend in High School named Chris who was a big Trekkie and he got me to watch some of the best of the original series, like Wolf in the Fold and City on the Edge of Forever. Well, as you can see, I now can name episode titles, so I've grown into being a Trekker (the more recent term for a Trek fan), but I'm still not an uber fan.
What prompted my interest even more than Chris's enthusiasm for the old series was the new series - The Next Generation - that started when I was a Freshman in college. The first season was a bit stiff and awkward at times, but the show grew into an interesting parable of life here even tho the action took place in distant galaxies far into the future. I became a bigger fan of "Next Gen" than I was a fan of the Kirk and Spock version of Trek.
But the first Next Gen movie - called Generations - was a disappointment. The previous 6 ST movies, with the original crew - had been somewhat hit or miss - the generally accepted wisdom nowadays is that the even numbered ones - 2, 4 and 6 - are good movies, with #2 being my personal fave - and the odd numbered ones are not very good, or even downright awful, as in #5. (Although I have a lot of affection for #3 - The Search for Spock)
The Next Gen movies hit their stride with their 2nd attempt - First Contact - which features perhaps the best villian in any of the movies, even better than Khan in ST #2 - the Borg.
Star Trek movies, like Bond films, get by on their established characters, but what makes them really memorable and fun and exciting is a great villian.
So it's with interest that I watch the build-up for the new Trek film, coming to screens in May (even here in Japan where it comes out on May 29th).
Simply titled "Star Trek," this film chronicles the early adventures of Kirk and Spock and the original crew, all played by new, younger actors. The film is being directed by JJ Abrams, who is responsible for Lost and Alias on American TV,
The trailer below is pretty excellent - giving a good indication that the film will be action packed and exciting. What's missing, at least in the trailer, is a hint of the comedy that makes Trek so much fun - no dialog from Scotty in this trailer - and I'm still not sure if Nero, the new villian played by Eric Bana, will be memorable or not, but I'm certainly very excited to see the film.
Abrams has to walk a fine line here - please all the core Trekers out there while trying to build a new audience that will want to "bodly go" on more adventures in the future.
Many casual movies fans will dismiss this picture based on the title alone - "pphhht" Star Trek? - I don't like Star Trek, some of them will say, but if the movie succeeds, then perhaps even casual fans or older fans, like myself, who didn't buy into the recent TV incarnations of the franchise, like Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, will give Star Trek another chance.
Watch and enjoy! (There is a short commercial before the trailer begins)
-Jason
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
new Terminator film trailer
I'm a big fan of the Terminator film franchise. I absolutely love the first two movies, and I even enjoy the third one for what it was - an attempt to prolong the characters on screen.
This new film - with Christian Bale (who plays Bruce Wayne/Batman in the recent Batman films) as John Connor looks AMAZING!
I can't wait to see it. The Terminator films and even the Fox TV show, which just came out on DVD here in Japan, are pretty popular here, so I'm hoping the film will come to Japanese theaters shortly after it debuts on American screens.
Another highly anticiapted movie for me - Watchmen - comes out this weekend in America and in late March here in Japan, so that's not too bad a wait for me. It also looks fantastic based on what I've seen online.
Enjoy!
-Jason
This new film - with Christian Bale (who plays Bruce Wayne/Batman in the recent Batman films) as John Connor looks AMAZING!
I can't wait to see it. The Terminator films and even the Fox TV show, which just came out on DVD here in Japan, are pretty popular here, so I'm hoping the film will come to Japanese theaters shortly after it debuts on American screens.
Another highly anticiapted movie for me - Watchmen - comes out this weekend in America and in late March here in Japan, so that's not too bad a wait for me. It also looks fantastic based on what I've seen online.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Pictures from my Tokyo trip
Tokyo - Feb 09 trip - Day THREE - 16.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
Hello All -
I've posted a few pics from my first few days in Tokyo at the beginning of February.
I had a great time and I've posted lots of videos from the trip on my YouTube site.
Day One was Thursday the 5th.
I flew on JAL from Izumo to Haneda airport in Tokyo. Plane trip took about 90 minutes.
From the airport I got a few trains to my hotel near Ueno station and I dropped off my luggage.
I had a few hours to kill before my meeting with the folks that run the JET Programme, so I walked around a bit and had some lunch at an Irish Pub.
Our meeting started at about 1:00 and I met the other 9 ALTs invited to give their opinions to the JET staff and officials on how to improve the JET experience. My presentation wasn't until Friday, so I mostly relaxed and listened and commented on the other presentations.
The great, former ALTs and CIRs who now work in Tokyo for the JET ministries, like CLAIR, took us out-of-towners out for some excellent Indian food and a two hour nomihodai (all you can drink) dinner.
Then it was a few subway stops and I was back at my hotel - a little exhausted from the traveling so I was eager to just crash into bed.
Up early the next morning for our 2nd day of opinion sharing.
My presentation was the last of the day, so time got a little short and I wasn't able to cover all the points in my outline, but overall I think it went well and I enjoyed hearing other perspectives on the job I have and the "company" I work for.
We wrapped up, had a small pizza party for lunch and then I was free for the rest of Friday. I went back to my hotel to change out of my suit and then struck out on the town to explore Tokyo and eventually have dinner.
I ended up spending way too much time in the English book and magazine section of the Shibuya Tower Records, so I didn't look for a place to eat until about 10pm. I ended up going somewhere very familiar to all Californians - TGI Friday's.
It was overpriced and noisy, but I enjoyed it - a rare taste of "American" food for this rural boy.
Here is a picture from Shibuya at night:
The picture at the top of this post is from my full day of sightseeing on Saturday.
I went to Harajuku and visited the nearby shrine dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife. He was a key figure in the Meiji Restoration, an important time in Japanese history in the late 1800s.
It was a beautiful Shinto shrine and the weather was so nice, it was a pleasure to stroll around the grounds and escape the craziness of urban Tokyo if only for a short while.
After Harajuku I went to Akihabara - the famous geek Mecca filled with tons of small shops selling toys and electronics and everything associated with Anime (Japanese animation).
I walked around, bought a few gifts and had lunch at Burger King - another American fast food restaurant that they don't have in Shimane.
After Akiba, I was off to another Mecca - this one for fans of Sumo. The stadium where they hold the Grand Sumo tournaments three times a year in Tokyo is called the Kokugikan and it's a distinctive looking building I've seen on TV many times.
I was eager to explore the Sumo museum, but after making it out to the stadium, I found out that the museum was closed that day. I was so disappointed.
I explored a bit more and then it was back to the hotel to rest and change for my night out with some fellow YouTubers.
We all met near Ueno station at around 7pm and Hiko, who's lived in Tokyo for over 10 years, showed us around a bit before we settled on a pub-type place for drinks and food and conversation.
Later we ended up at TGIF (a different one) for dessert and we all got our cameras out and shot vlogs of each other. How geeky! :P
I'll post more pictures from Sunday - my last day in Tokyo - soon.
This weekend and next I'm super busy getting the graduation movies prepared for my soon-to-graduate 9th graders at both my Jr High schools. It takes me a long time to edit all my pictures and video footage together. But the kids really love the resulting movie each year.
Hope all is well with you.
Peace,
Jason
Friday, February 27, 2009
Jason in Tokyo - Vlog #11 - Hiko, Cruxay, Atomicboyx - meeting Tokyo YouTubers
My version of the video posted somewhere below by my pal Hiko - I got out my camera and started interviewing the other J-vloggers I go to meet in Tokyo during my trip a few weeks ago.
We had a nice night out chatting and eating and bitching about YouTube. :)
-Jason
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
【とっきゅん】双子メイドがぽっぴっぽー踊ってみた＠修正【れーはん】
I've lived in Japan for almost 5 years now, and it seems to me that no matter how long I lived here there are just some aspects of Japanese pop culture that I'll never understand. The above video is a perfect example. *shakes head* wakaranai :)
I found this, by the way, since I was checking out the "most discussed" sports videos in Japan today and this was on the list... Umm... sports? really?
-JCH
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Myargonauts Atomixboyx Radrey and Cruxay in Ueno! (英字幕)
I had the good fortune to meet up with some other YouTubers who live in Japan, and more specifically Tokyo.
I have some footage from this night as well, and I'll post it soon.
Cheers to Hiko for posting this vid and showing us around.
-Jason
Monday, February 16, 2009
A years worth of Japanese Food in Tokyo
People often ask me what do you eat in Japan?
Well, here are some examples. While I wouldn't eat everything in this video, I have tried a bunch of new things while living here, and I enjoy some Japanese food very much.
-JCH
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The People vs George Lucas - Official Teaser Trailer 1 (HD)
Here is a documentary you know I'll be seeing if it's playing when I go home to America from August.
I should do my own vlog about Mr Lucas.
-Jason
Saturday, February 14, 2009
What's on the menu at my Japanese school? Would you eat whale meat?
A little glimpse into my school lunch time at my smallest elementary school, which only has 10 students, up in the mountains above Taisha.
This day whale meat was on the menu for kyushoku (school lunch).
This vlog has been getting lots of comments on my YouTube page.
-Jason
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
WHAT'S UP の返事
something for my students - I wish I could get them to say something other than "how are you?" and respond with "I'm fine thank you and you?"
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Jason in Tokyo- Vlog #1 - Ueno eki
Hello -
I'm in Tokyo for 4 days on official JET business, but I also get a few days to sighsee and have fun.
This is my first vlog from the trip - I had just arrived on Thursday morning.
I stay until Sunday evening, and I hope to meet up with some other YouTubers tonight for some Tokyo evening fun.
Peace,
Jason
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Apply to JET - Vlog #105 - ALT interview roundtable
My friends here in the Izumo area of Shimane helped me make a vlog, offering advice to JET applicants about to take their interview for the 2009-2010 program.
So thanks to Eric, Ashley, Seth and Lauren for giving my subscribers a break from hearing me talk all the time. :)
-Jason
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
日本の英語の習い方の問題 Problems with Japan's English Program
This one is for my students:
浜山中学生と大社中学生：
Do you agree with Koichi or disagree? Why?
Someone asked if I can summarize what Koichi is saying in English... Not really, but maybe if Koichi stumbles by and sees this he will leave a comment.
ジェイソン
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Mｽﾃ HY 366日②
HY have over time become my favorite Japanese band. I listen to their CDs more than any other J-pop that I have.
They're also very popular with my students, and their new album, which this song is from, has been a big hit, but I have yet to get it. CDs are really expensive here - averaging about $25 or more. So I usually wait until they are available for rent at my local DVD shop. I can rent a new CD for about $4 and then upload it into my iTunes and iPod.
Anyways - enjoy the tune.
-Jason
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Learn Japanese from Yoda
My buddy Koichi of Tofugu.com has a fun introductory Japanese lesson for all of you just starting out.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Applying to JET - vlog #101 - The Interview - Part One
My new series of JET Vlogs starts here. I'll discuss the interview process for JET over the next few vlogs. I've already done parts two and three as well, so go to my channel page to see those.
As of today, this vid has already had over 650 views in about three days. That's amazing to me, but very rewarding - it's great to know that many people are interested in what I'm saying and perhaps the info is helpful to them.
Cheers,
Jason
Friday, January 16, 2009
Star Wars - retold by someone who hasn't seen it
My brother, Paul, sent me a link to the video below, which is easily one of the best homemade vids I've seen in a long while. Watching it brought a huge smile to my face, and I laughed out loud many times.
Kudos to the guy who recorded the audio and then edited it all together.
Simply fantastic!
(And thnx to Paul for sending me the link - how did we survive before the internet??) :D
Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.
Kudos to the guy who recorded the audio and then edited it all together.
Simply fantastic!
(And thnx to Paul for sending me the link - how did we survive before the internet??) :D
Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Jason's DVD Collection - Movies I Like - part #4
this is part four of a series I'm doing on my 2nd YouTube channel currently.
I'm going thru my huge binder of DVDs that I brought with me to Japan and recommending films I like.
click on the YouTube icon above in the lower right corner of the video to be taken to my TaishaJason channel if you want to see more in this series.
-Jason
Friday, January 09, 2009
Japanese trailer for Watchmen
Ahh... Watchmen. Easily my most anticipated movie of 2009, and surprisingly, I found out that is was set to be released in Japan the same month (March) as in America. BUT.... there is current litigation between FOX, who claim to own the original distribution rights and Warner Brothers, who produced the film.
Fox actually won an early court case, and they may block the release the of the film. Which would be an enormous shame, since everything I see online about the movie looks incredible.
If you've seen the domestic trailer, then you might be interested to see the Japanese trailer below, since it features some new footage and turns the focus of the movie into a political realm mirroring today's society, even tho the film is set, as was the original graphic novel, in the mid 1980s.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Fox actually won an early court case, and they may block the release the of the film. Which would be an enormous shame, since everything I see online about the movie looks incredible.
If you've seen the domestic trailer, then you might be interested to see the Japanese trailer below, since it features some new footage and turns the focus of the movie into a political realm mirroring today's society, even tho the film is set, as was the original graphic novel, in the mid 1980s.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
RJL Vlog #6 - IzumoTaisha at Midnight - New Year's Eve 2009 - Part One
Part ONE of three vlogs I'll make about my New Year spent at IzumoTaisha shrine in my town.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Monday, January 05, 2009
Winter and Spring - same location
New Year's Day at IT - 4.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
a little experiment - the pic above is "small" size from my Flickr account, and the pic below is "medium" size (and from 2006, while the pic above is from last week).
Does the medium pic throw the design and layout of my blog all out of whack?
Happy 2009!
I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at my local shrine, IzumoTaisha.
It was nice to go again, since I didn't go last year due to bad weather and two years ago I was in America for the holidays.
It was crowded, as you can see in the picture above, but not too bad.
I walked around and took a bunch of footage which I'll edit together for my YouTube channel soon.
To be honest, I'm not really looking forward to 2009. Unless something unusual comes along, I'll most likely be going home in late July. After 5 years here in Taisha, I've come to think of it as "home." It's gonna be really hard to leave.
I won't be so sad to leave the job - 5 years of being an assistant makes one long for their own classroom where they can have more influence over the course of study. But I will be sad to leave my kids - the students that I've come to know over the past four and a half years. And I've gotten very used to my solitary life - a lifestyle I now am very comfortable with. Going back to a big American city, living with other people, having to go back to school to get my teaching credential even after 5 years of in-class experience - these are all things I'm not looking forward to.
But I knew this time was coming - in fact, I thought I was going home in 2007, after the end of my third year. But in late 2006, JET changed the rule about allowing ALTs to stay on a 4th and/or 5th year, and I decided to stay. It's an easy decision (at least for me) to stay - it's much tougher to leave.
Some might say it'll be good for me to have a change. Certainly I've been in a rut lately. I don't really talk about it much on this blog or in my YT videos. I've mastered the bi-polar front: well-adjusted, cheerful and engaged on the outside - the side I show to others, while inside I'm really quite depressed and very lonely.
I'm just not the kind of person who wants to talk about it. I know the reasons for it - some of the reasons are in my sphere of control, others are not, but my laziness and social misanthropy certainly don't help the situation.
I will say that it sucks to be poor in Japan - most JETs will never have this problem, but for me, staying a 5th year has turned out to be a mistake in financial terms. I just had 11 days in a row of vacation and I rarely left my apartment. I have no money to travel or do anything beyond rent DVDs and sing karaoke and go out to each occasionally. To have a little bit of money to take advantage of my upcoming business trip to Tokyo will require some tricky financial wrangling, but I'll manage somehow.
I'll be going home in July with almost no money saved, and a monthly debt in America that won't care that I'll be unemployed. I'll be 40 years old, single, and living with my parents. Not exactly the optimum situation. I might be able to come back to Japan in 2010, but by then I might have re-adjusted to life in America and the urge to move again might be gone.
I would love to get a job here teaching in a high school, to continue my adventure and have some experience at the only level of Japanese education I don't know much about. I've got a few leads, so who knows, but I doubt I'll find something that doesn't mind me starting in mid summer (The Japanese school year starts in April - at odds with the arrival/departure of JETs) and pays as well or better than the JET programme.
I don't usually mention this type of stuff. While I want this blog to be informative for potential ALTs, it would be disingenuous of me not to mention some of the rough spots involved with living in a foreign country and out-staying all the other ALTs you arrived with. I'm the only 5th year ALT in Shimane, so everyone that I knew and befriended when we all arrived as newbies back in 2004, has since left Japan, or gone on to other work.
Which I guess is a big reason I've embraced YouTube so much in the past year. It's given me an outlet and "someone" to talk to when I often go a whole day without having a conversation in English or about something other than teaching.
I'm very happy that many people have found the vlogs helpful and informative and I hope to continue making entertaining and insightful vlogs in 2009.
I do get to watch my hometeam - the San Diego Chargers, play in their first playoff game tomorrow night. NHK is showing the Saturday game against the Colts during prime time tomorrow at 6pm. And I'm gonna cook tacos - so a little taste of home and what I hope will be a good game on TV - a nice way to end my holiday. Tuesday I'm back at work, altho I'll spend most of the day cheering on my school's volleyball team in their New Year tournament, so I hardly call that work.
Wednesday I'll spend the day decorating my Language Lab and designing a new English board at Taisha JH, and then the 3rd term officially starts on Thursday, and I'll be at Hamayama JH to start the New Year.
Even tho I'm pessimistic about 2009, I am looking forward to various aspects of the coming year. Of course, many of the upcoming events, like graduation will be tinged with sadness for me, as I know it will most likely be my last of each event in Japan. But I hope to make the best of it.
I hope you have a wonderful 2009, and if you're in America, perhaps I'll be seeing you later in the year.
Peace,
Jason
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Request - Cooking dinner in Japan - Part Two
Cooking with Jason!
I've had some interesting requests for videos from my subscribers, and more than a few have asked to watch me in the kitchen cooking something.
This vid is actually part two - for part one click on the "YouTube" icon above and then you'll be able to see the line to click on for part one.
Cheers,
Jason
Thursday, January 01, 2009
cat stevens
So I often think about what singer's voice/talent I would have loved to have been born with... (am I the only person that does this?)
And even tho you may think my answer would be John Lennon or Colin Hay or Joe Jackson (all excellent choices), I have to say that I just love Cat Stevens voice and delivery. It's so unique and memorable and melodic.
If you only buy one CD this year, make it "The Very Best of Cat Stevens." I play it at least once a week - it's an amazing collection of songs.
-J
who turns 40 this year and will never have a son, but would like to think they could have listened to this song together.
Greg Laswell
My favorite cover song of 2008 (at least that's when I first heard it).
I keep playing it over and over in my iTunes.
-J
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (ACOUSTIC)
My song for January 1st, 2009.
Happy New Year.
If I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time All the time.
(My favorite Radiohead song of all time, and in my top 50 songs of all time)
-J
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Me and My Argonauts
Hey Gang -
Just plugging myself here. More good stuff all about me! :)
Seriously, it's kinda funny that I now have so many people watching my videos and reading this here blog. I do the same stuff, just now I get more comments and feedback on it.
I do get asked about my YouTube user name from time to time. My channel name is "Myargonauts." Most people get the reference, but a few are clueless.
Way back in the dark days of AOL, when I got my very first email address, I wanted something that referenced "Logan's Run" - my favorite sci-fi film of all time. But Logan5, the name of the main character, was taken. I tried and tried to think of something, without using my actual name.
Eventually, I came up with "myargonauts," which is a reference to the famous greek myth about Jason and the Argonauts. Jason searched for the Golden Fleece on a ship called the Argo - so the men who sailed with him were called Argonauts. Since I'm Jason, they are "my argonauts." Not very clever, but I liked it. And it's a name that has stuck for over 10 years now.
My buddy, Koichi, was nice enough to give me a great write up over at his blog, called Tofugu.com.
Click Here to go to the page. I wish I had some web design or layout skills and I could make this blog much more presentable.
Anyway, it was really cool of Koichi to give me a nice shoutout - so Thanks Koichi!
He's got a great site, so click around once you're there and check it out. His front page today features an interesting article on the Japanese lyrics to the Xmas song "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." Good stuff!
Today, December 25th, was the last day of 2nd term at school - just another working day in Japan. I did dress up as Santa for my Jr High kids tho. I stood outside the entrance and said "Good Morning" in my best Santa voice and handed out stickers and shook hands.
From tomorrow I start my winter vacation. I have about 10 days off in a row, but I won't really be doing much. I'm pretty poor at the moment, so no travel for me. So I hope to spend some time updating my Flickr site and all 3 of my YT channels and this blog too. We'll see if the laziness takes hold or I actually get some stuff done.
I do have my Japanese tutor tomorrow. I continue studying even tho I'll most likely be going home next year. It's almost weird to say "going home" since I now consider Taisha and my apt here my "home." By the time I leave next July, I will have been here for 5 full years - that's longer than I've lived anywhere in the same house/apt as an adult.
2009 is gonna mostly be a painful year for me in many ways. I'll rush around trying to get things done before I leave - tasks I want to accomplish, places I want to visit, etc. - and always I'll be thinking in the back of my mind - this is my last graduation/class field trip/Osaka sumo trip, etc.
I'm really excited that I get to go to Tokyo for a few days in early February. I haven't been back to Tokyo since July of 2004, when I first arrived in Japan for JET Orientation. I know February isn't the best time weather wise to be visiting the capital of Japan, but I plan on making the most of my trip. I'd really like to visit Tokyo Disneyland, so hopefully I'll be able to work that in, even tho right now I have no one to go with, and the idea of going to Dland by myself is rather depressing.
I have a Japanese female friend in Osaka/Kyoto who I was going to invite, but she just sent me an email today inviting me to her wedding party that same weekend. Funny world innit? :)
It's 1:20am here and an American Football game is about to start on NHK, so I'm off to watch that. (I don't have work tomorrow so I can sleep in!!) The snow is hitting my windows and the wind is blowing hard. It was almost a white Christmas, but not quite. Hope your holidays are going well.
Peace,
Jason
Just plugging myself here. More good stuff all about me! :)
Seriously, it's kinda funny that I now have so many people watching my videos and reading this here blog. I do the same stuff, just now I get more comments and feedback on it.
I do get asked about my YouTube user name from time to time. My channel name is "Myargonauts." Most people get the reference, but a few are clueless.
Way back in the dark days of AOL, when I got my very first email address, I wanted something that referenced "Logan's Run" - my favorite sci-fi film of all time. But Logan5, the name of the main character, was taken. I tried and tried to think of something, without using my actual name.
Eventually, I came up with "myargonauts," which is a reference to the famous greek myth about Jason and the Argonauts. Jason searched for the Golden Fleece on a ship called the Argo - so the men who sailed with him were called Argonauts. Since I'm Jason, they are "my argonauts." Not very clever, but I liked it. And it's a name that has stuck for over 10 years now.
My buddy, Koichi, was nice enough to give me a great write up over at his blog, called Tofugu.com.
Click Here to go to the page. I wish I had some web design or layout skills and I could make this blog much more presentable.
Anyway, it was really cool of Koichi to give me a nice shoutout - so Thanks Koichi!
He's got a great site, so click around once you're there and check it out. His front page today features an interesting article on the Japanese lyrics to the Xmas song "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." Good stuff!
Today, December 25th, was the last day of 2nd term at school - just another working day in Japan. I did dress up as Santa for my Jr High kids tho. I stood outside the entrance and said "Good Morning" in my best Santa voice and handed out stickers and shook hands.
From tomorrow I start my winter vacation. I have about 10 days off in a row, but I won't really be doing much. I'm pretty poor at the moment, so no travel for me. So I hope to spend some time updating my Flickr site and all 3 of my YT channels and this blog too. We'll see if the laziness takes hold or I actually get some stuff done.
I do have my Japanese tutor tomorrow. I continue studying even tho I'll most likely be going home next year. It's almost weird to say "going home" since I now consider Taisha and my apt here my "home." By the time I leave next July, I will have been here for 5 full years - that's longer than I've lived anywhere in the same house/apt as an adult.
2009 is gonna mostly be a painful year for me in many ways. I'll rush around trying to get things done before I leave - tasks I want to accomplish, places I want to visit, etc. - and always I'll be thinking in the back of my mind - this is my last graduation/class field trip/Osaka sumo trip, etc.
I'm really excited that I get to go to Tokyo for a few days in early February. I haven't been back to Tokyo since July of 2004, when I first arrived in Japan for JET Orientation. I know February isn't the best time weather wise to be visiting the capital of Japan, but I plan on making the most of my trip. I'd really like to visit Tokyo Disneyland, so hopefully I'll be able to work that in, even tho right now I have no one to go with, and the idea of going to Dland by myself is rather depressing.
I have a Japanese female friend in Osaka/Kyoto who I was going to invite, but she just sent me an email today inviting me to her wedding party that same weekend. Funny world innit? :)
It's 1:20am here and an American Football game is about to start on NHK, so I'm off to watch that. (I don't have work tomorrow so I can sleep in!!) The snow is hitting my windows and the wind is blowing hard. It was almost a white Christmas, but not quite. Hope your holidays are going well.
Peace,
Jason
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Father Christmas - a story in Japanese and English
Enjoy a nice Christmas tale of Santa, read to you by some of my great students and myself with a fairly inconsistent English accent (apologies to my Mom and Dad).
-Jason
Sunday, December 21, 2008
1000 subs! ありがとうございます！ THANKS!
I recently passed 1000 subscribers to my main YouTube channel.
Thanks to them and others who stop by to watch my vlogs, my videos often end up on the Top 10 most watched or most discussed list for all the people making vids in Japan.
It's pretty cool and if you're a subscriber and you're reading this too, then I thank sincerely for your support.
I have some good stuff planned for 2009, so stay tuned! :)
Peace,
Jason
Saturday, December 20, 2008
High School Musical invades Japan
This is mostly for my students, many of whom really like the J-pop band, NEWS, that this young actor/singer is from.
The report shows them staging a live version of the first HSM movie in Japanese. And he has to kiss his leading lady on stage.
-J
Big picture update - #3 of 3 - pics from Aug 08
farewell to summer community concert - 15.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
I posted a bunch of pics of me and my kids as we finished our summer vacation and started to prepare for the big event of the year - Sports Day in September.
Above is a picture of some of my local elementary kids - mostly 4th to 6th graders, in a combined band playing in the "farewell to summer" community concert.
I spent the last days of summer at my schools, even tho classes wouldn't start until the first week of September. My 9th graders were at school each day too, preparing for their upcoming Sports Day.
Here you can see one class - the Red Team - taking a break in the quad after working on their group dance and cheer.
some students are assigned to work on the costumes the students will wear during this group dance routine - here you can see one of the more elaborate costumes to be worn by a green team leader:
Some of the kids are assigned the job of making the huge class posters that inspire their teams to victory. This is a cool design from my 2nd Jr High's Red Team - and I helped them come up with their English motto - "Red Fire - Burning to Victory!"
It was hot! You can see all of us in the pic below have sweat towels draped around our necks - they're essential in the 30.C+ heat and humidity of the Japanese summer.
It was great to hang out with my 9th graders in a relaxed atmosphere at school - goofing around and having fun. I get along great with this group - I've been teaching them since they were 5th graders at elementary school, so we're comfortable with each other - comfortable enough for me to allow them to try and tie my hair up above my head - didn't quite work tho... :)
So that's about it for my August update. I had about 375 pics to sort thru to find the best and most appropriate ones to post to my Flickr account.
Looking ahead to my September update - I have an overwhelming 1.362 pictures to choose from. I take a staggering amount of pics on Sports Day every year, and this year I had two Sports Days and I also visited Taisha High School and took pictures there as well.
Hopefully I have time during my winter holiday to get those pics posted.
Happy Holidays!
-Jason
Friday, December 19, 2008
How we stay warm in my rural Japanese school
As winter approaches in many places where my subscribers live, I give a quick glimpse into how we stay warm at my rural school.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Driving in Japan - Going to Matsue on Sunday
Another driving video - this one features Mt Daisen and me on my way to Matsue, the capital of Shimane.
Enjoy!
-Jason
Monday, December 08, 2008
Big picture update - #1 of 3 - pics from Aug 08
Jacob & friends
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.
Hey Gang -
Jacob says "Konnichiwa!" Jacob is the green dragon from the Chinese zodiac in the picture above. I've collected Jacob and his friends over the years from a small craft shop in Hinomisaki. Jacob was the last one I needed and now I have all 12.
I spent some time over the weekend updating my Flickr site with a bunch of new pics. I'm going thru my backlog of pics by month, so this batch is from August of 2008.
This update post will highlight some of the pics involving me and school and my students and events I went to during summer vacation.
The next update will be about other ALTs and JETs and some of the fun we had in August. And then update #3 will be about the preparations for Sports Day, which got underway during summer vacation.
Speaking of SD prep, I did upload a few pics from the earliest days of preparations, like this one below of my kids in Taisha working out their team dance routine:
One fun event I went to this past summer was a chorus concert in Izumo featuring both my Jr High schools and also former students who are now at Taisha High School.
My kids:
Ang's kids, some of whom were once my students:
I also had a great time in Mid-August at the Taisha town festival, the goen matsuri.
I got to see tons of my students dressed up in their summer yukata (casual cotton kimono) and plenty of people turned out in the summer heat to enjoy food stalls and games and entertainment:
(Do I look good in glasses?)
Lastly, I had a great time listening and lending support to both my schools' brass band clubs as they competed in the kentaikai, or prefecture-wide tournament.
I snapped tons of great pics of my genki band kids in Matsue, and I also traveled to Ohda to see my C-Team band (mostly 7th graders) compete in their tournament too.
So that's about it for this first update. I hope to blog about the other two batches of pics later this week.
Peace,
Jason
Sunday, December 07, 2008
kyushoku (school lunch) on Friday at my Jr High in Japan
no real description needed for this one...
watch and enjoy!
-Jason
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Questions from my interview test for my Japanese Jr High students
If you're curious what kind of things you may be teaching if you get this JET gig to teach in Japan, then here is a peak into my last two days at work this week.
I spent periods 1-4 on Monday and Tuesday interviewing every 7th grader (ichi nen sei) in one of my Jr High schools.
I had to ask each 12 or 13 year old a series of 15 questions, and they had to answer in English.
They had the questions in advance, and I didn't try to trick them or ask them out of order, etc.
Just a straight forward test of their speaking skills. This is why I'm here. So my kids, out here in very rural Japan, have an opportunity to speak with a native speaker, even if it's in this type of scripted format.
The teacher in charge of these 140+ kids is doing a good job with them this year, and most of the students did really well, answering each question as best they could.
The great thing about this for me is that I get a chance to learn a little about each kid - what music they like, if they have siblings, what club they're in at school, etc - so I can start putting a name to the face and more of a personality to each kid. Some are shy, some are super genki, some obviously really like English and study hard, and some could barely answer any of the questions.
I recommend this type of activity highly to any ALT with the time to do it.
-Jason
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Rumination - I recommend Books about Japan
Welcome to Jason's Book Club. :)
I talk about 5 books related to my life here in Japan. I provide links to each book at the YouTube page for this video.
I also try out a new Pepsi flavor, Pepsi White, and briefly show my new kotatsu at the end of the video.
-Jason
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