finally! the hot summer seems ALL over, and now comes this breezy season!!!! isn’t that awesome!!!! i have been waiting for this for sooooo long, finally do not have to sweat every single time you step out of the door.

the whole summer, i was almost never even once able to open the window of my room, not that i dislike the outdoor so much that i have to make myself stuck with the air from the AC, it is just TOO 蒸し暑い that letting the outside air in for one minute might already suffocate you. haha.

and now, as i am writing this blog, my big window is wide open, (well, the window here not as big as one of my lovely housemates, but big enough to allow a decent view to be seen~) fresh air coming in, soooo nice. and just made me realize once again how fortunate i am, to be able to live so comfortably, i really have no complain …

thanks to my manager IIO san, i am able to have this room. he is such a nice person.

Back to the topic of studying Japanese.  As much as I`ve learned over the past few months in this language, I still haven`t really been able to communicate very well with very many people.  I`m trying to find more and more ways to remember more phrases that I see and build up my vocabulary.  The other issue that I have is sentence structure.  I know one thing though, sentence structure is not necessary until you get the basics which means in my case, I need to remember that for my own sake and stop trying to get ahead.  I have a habit of rushing myself and then making too many mistakes and then not wanting to continue something because it may become extremely difficult.  This is a problem that I am currently working on fixing.  Hopefully I can get rid of that issue before too long.

I want to learn more about the particular types of technology that they have in Japan and also about the way they operate them.  The reason I want to learn this is because I believe that it will help me with the continuance of my career.  I`m currenlty researching how to teach not only English, but technical English, meaning that I want to teach people that do not speak English the basics and then possibly more intermediate or advance langauge of computers and/or technology either in Japan or in Canada.  This will be determined at a later date.

I`ve also been very interested in the businesses here and how people work on a day to day basis.  Eventually I will be able to succeed at something that I really want to do.  I`ve so far reached and almost completed step 1 of my plan.  I`m teaching conversational language, but I`m also teaching reading, writing, listening, grammar, and other aspects of the English language to many kids and some adults

As a Canadian, living in Japan is somewhat strange still even into the 5th and now going into the 6th month.  Even though I have become more accustomed to most of the lifestyle here, it is still difficult to communicate with my colleagues as they do not speak much English and their Japanese is a little bit too fast for me so our language barrier has been in the way and is hard to break.  However, on both sides, although there is a lack of communication due to the language, there are still many attempts made to talk to each other and resolve issues that arise.

I think once I`ve been for a little more time and have seen a few more sites then I will become more used to my surroundings and the lifestyle here.  I don`t think I will be able to completely live the same lifestyle because things in Canada are very different, but the least I can do is make every attempt to get as much out of this time as I possibly can.

I`ve restarted studying the Japanese language and have begun with mastering Hiragana.  Next step will be to master Katakana and eventually, if possible, Kanji.  Kanji is probably one of the toughest parts of the Japanese language to learn.  I`ve been told by many foreigners that have made the attempt say its very difficult.  Even some of the Japanese people that I know said that they still sometimes have difficult times to remember it.  Like English though, no one really seems to know why grammar is the way it is.  Even the best of English speakers and English teachers can`t fully explain why the grammar is the way it is.  This seems to be the same for Japanese people as well.  However, that`s beside the point.  I`m really working harder than before to learn this language for purposes of communication, understanding and interest.  I think its a rather soft toned language for the most part and that`s why I find it to be a nice study to work on.

I will be continuing and will have a test tomorrow evening for the Hiragana portion.

The weather conditions as of late since the ending of the rain season, have been rather awkward.  I`ve been in weather where it was raining with a little bit of warmth, but never before coming here, have I been in conditions where the rain feels like a warm to hot shower.  It feels very strange.  Even though it`s very hot and humid and muggy here, I still enjoy the weather here mostly.  It did take me some time to get used to it raining for more than one or two days in a row.  About the day before yesterday, regarding the Solar Eclipse, that`s a phenomenon that I`ve been wanting see after so many years again.  Unfortunately, I didn`t get the opportunity, but I saw the replay on the news and it was really interesting and amazing as well.

I`ve been in Japan now for almost 6 months and am very much enjoying as much as I can of the time that I spend here.  I find that people are, for the most part, living up to the standard that most of the other countries expect of them.  The majority of people here are kind, courteous and polite.  However, there are exceptions to every rule and the tact of people is not immune.  I find that most, if not all the younger people and a few exceptions in the older generations, seem to be very polite, understanding toward foreigners and very kind, but also patient.  This is true for everyone though.  This is actually quite different in most parts of Canada.  The people that are the most polite for the most part are the older people, ( no details on percentage because I don`t know very many people in Canada, aside from the fact that Canada is about 5 or 6 times the size of Japan in land mass).

 Having said that, I do see some nicer older people, but I usually run into them when they are in the more rural areas or sometimes on the train when I`m coming home from work in Chiba or Saitama.  Foreigners are sometimes hard to talk to here because they have their own busy schedules or their friends that they are busy talking to.  I have been asked by more Japanese people where I`m from and it usually snowballs into a conversation where the Japanese person is attempting to communicate with me in English.  (I`m still working on my Japanese, – not yet successful).  Eventually I will be able to communicate in Japanese as well as English.

The great thing about Japan is that if you enjoy viewing the new and the old, modern and historical, then you can see it everywhere you go.  Most of the old buildings are still standing, but they have additional building on top of them.  I find it really appealing because it seems to fit very well.  The way the architecture is preserved, but also contains new material, to me, takes a lot of talent and imagination.

I`ve come to appreciate it being from a much younger country with not so many problems such as earthquakes and typhoons.  Also , Canada doesn`t have very much history as a complete country either so it makes history in Japan much more extensive and somewhat more interesting.  Not only for the history of weather, but also the history of the culture and the way of life.  Even though Japan is several hundred years old, the traditions and culture seem to be fully alive and practiced everyday.  I will upload some photos in my next blog to show some of the places that I have been too, both in the past and since I have been here working.

i am in japan, but actually half of my heart goes to the korean “something” hahaha. strange isn’t it? i remember the first time i met THE first korean friend in US, i got SOOO excited i could almost hear my heartbeat out loud. hahaha.

why do i like them so much? i guess it was years ago when i felt SOOO depressed, and i saw dbsk online, their story, was somehow very inspiring to me. i think, if they have never come to japan, there is quite a chance i might end up in korea instead of here. i have never been a “fan” of anyone in action, but out of some personal reasons i went to taiwan for dbsk concerts and end up not able to see them … -_- … it was the typhoon, very horrible, then i told myself, … u have to be kidding me … if you made it this way, i WILL see them in japan!

pissed me off.

but sarcastically speaking, even though i am in japan, i only went to their concert once, and not even care for their fan club, maybe i should join them, that would force me to read more japanese. i too laid back sometimes.

anyway, my point is, i am interested in koreans, however, i have a HARD time communicating with ones that CANNOT speak english, which, that is about ALL of them. ahha.

ya, so just now, i just talked to the friend that went back to korea from US, gosh, SUCH good feeling to talk to a korean that can speak BOTH english and japanese to me again, geez, but the ones here just cannot … i would be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy if they can …

finally the level exam is over, and oh GOSH, i am just glad it is over, that is how i feel about it … so you can imagine how well i did on it … hahaha.

but it is ok, it is not like there is something waiting for me to HAVE to pass it otherwise half the world will be over.

there are PILES of crap waiting for me to do, countless of not-seem-to-be important things, but yet important enough to affect my normal life … like calculating expenses, redoing my stocks planning,  take care of the past due bills
in US, ya, sure, those xxxxxxx, hahaha, cleaning up my small room for real otherwise i would have to space to move, haha, LOTS of cleaning up, and the most important of all, get a job dude!

for the sake of my “会話”, please go get a part-time regardless of the pay, even though it is food-related, YAN SAN! hahaha.

nice. i really look forward to it. GOD BLESS US ALL.

anyway, i am really happy today. i was happy yesterday, i had a good time with my classmates, hanging around with them so silly-ly, but yet none of them got impatient like my friends from my previous school.

today, i had a good lunch with the THOSE 2 of them. hehe.

170 cups of coffee is just enough to allow a 75 kg male to finish a 10 week semester of teaching. The recommended 8 hours of sleep per night is not required. As long as caffeine is flowing through the bloodstream during all classes, 4 hours per night is plenty.

Caffeine: drug of choice for clear-headed thinking.