So today was another ordinary day...but with one caveat.....IT'S HOOOT!
The temperature is around 30-32 degrees Celsius which equates to around 86-90 degrees F. Add humidity on top of that and it's not too pleasant being inside without fans and teaching kids all day! Haha, luckily I was at the elementary school today and I can wear more relaxed sports clothes. But no matter what....it's hot! Today I had 2 elementary schools. In the morning, I taught 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th grade at one school while at my 2nd school in the afternoon I taught the 5th and 6th graders. It was a fun day. We played lots of games and they had a lot of fun. However, with all the movement and games came more heat and it made it tiring. But I'm sitting in my house right now with my fan running and the AC on to help keep it cool. It definitely feels a lot better and I'm starting to cool down for the first time today!
This week is supposed to stay pretty warm with the exception of Saturday and part of Sunday. It should cool down but with that is rain, unfortunately....:(. Normally I wouldn't mind the rain too much but one of my buddies is having a BBQ on Saturday and if it rains that day, it will be sad. We can always do the BBQ inside his restaurant as well, but it would be more fun to be able to hang out outside as well and throw around a frisbee or do some summer stuff as well.
Anyway, the kids had a lot of fun today and it was a good time today. The 1st graders played a game called "Fruit Basket" for the first time today. But because we were learning colors, we did "Color Basket." I was surprised, though, because most everybody in Japan knows how to play "Fruit Basket." But since they are in 1st grade and just started school a couple months ago, they wouldn't have too much opportunity to play the game yet. At the end of class, they all said they had a lot of fun and enjoyed it so that was rewarding. Well, time to keep cool and only a few more weeks of class until summer break! Woooo!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Construction
So I have been removed from posting over the past week. I've been pretty busy and haven't been around too much so that's why I haven't had time to sit down and write more regular blog posts. But I'll hopefully get more caught up and get back into the routine. So last week I took the driver's test....and FAILED! What?! So I scheduled to go in again sometime when summer vacation starts because I don't want to have to use more vacation days to go up to the DMV to take the test. It's such a pain, and I failed for such a dumb reason....:(
There is a special course that people who want to get a Japanese driver's license are required to take the test on. It's like a real roadway with a series of obstacles, turns, and other mock things to replicate the real roads...except for a ridiculous part called the "Crank Turn" which is where my fate ended in obtaining my driver's license. So the crank turn is a series of three 90 degree angle turns and not to mention that it is very narrow to get around each turn...and there are poles that block the way so even if you clear the front bumper over the curve and don't go over with your wheels, the front bumper could hit those poles and you could fail on those. So I was doing well going through the test. I was 2nd in line that day which was lucky so I was able to watch someone else go first before I took the test. He did everything like I had read on the internet about what to do before the test. Checking under the car, double, triple, and quadruple checking all the settings and mirrors in the car, and obviously putting on your seatbelt before turning on the engine were all part of the drill. However, this guy had gone through and hit one of the poles in the crank secion which constitutes an automatic fail. We had to go directly back to the starting point and he was not allowed to finish the course.
I was up next. I did all the initial checkpoints, was doing well, and had a lot of confidence....until we hit the crank turns. I went in for the first turn but it was a tight left turn so I did not make it in. I did a reverse which is fine in order for me to get in. Then came the 2nd 90 degree turn....again I had to back up. Then there was the 3rd 90 degree turn on which I had to back up twice....for a total of 4 times that I had to reverse so that I was able to navigate the car through...which apparently led for me to fail! Wow...I was so mad. I can't believe that even though I was able to navigate the car through, that they failed me because I had to back up. I think that even if I had to back up, I should have still gotten full credit because I was able to navigate it through without hitting anything or going over the curve. So....I have to make the trek back there and retake the test. So for now, I'm still just past part 1 of getting my Japanese Driver's License.....Oh well. As the Japanese say....."しょうがない" *deep sigh
Anyway, I am posting this weekend as well because I have some rare time in my house. But this time that I have in my house was not my choice....when nature decides to wreak havoc and cause leakage in your roof and ceiling, it's time to get a new one. So there are a couple of construction guys who are here today to replace the inside roof because there was some water damage to the ceiling. They are also replacing the floor in my kitchen. There are a couple "hot spots" which sink down when you step on them. So I told them about those as well which had been there since I moved in. So they're finally going to fix all of that today. But the only issue was that they needed to be able to come for a full 1 or 2 days because it's a rather large project. But I have work throughout the week....so that meant that I had to be home during a weekend so that they could come to do their stuff. Bummer.....but I'm glad that they'll hopefully be able to get this all done and get this show on the road. Just waiting and HOPING HOPING HOPING that they finish it all today so I don't have to wait around for them tomorrow to finish up.
Until then, I'll be occupying myself with some cleaning in other rooms and watching movies.
There is a special course that people who want to get a Japanese driver's license are required to take the test on. It's like a real roadway with a series of obstacles, turns, and other mock things to replicate the real roads...except for a ridiculous part called the "Crank Turn" which is where my fate ended in obtaining my driver's license. So the crank turn is a series of three 90 degree angle turns and not to mention that it is very narrow to get around each turn...and there are poles that block the way so even if you clear the front bumper over the curve and don't go over with your wheels, the front bumper could hit those poles and you could fail on those. So I was doing well going through the test. I was 2nd in line that day which was lucky so I was able to watch someone else go first before I took the test. He did everything like I had read on the internet about what to do before the test. Checking under the car, double, triple, and quadruple checking all the settings and mirrors in the car, and obviously putting on your seatbelt before turning on the engine were all part of the drill. However, this guy had gone through and hit one of the poles in the crank secion which constitutes an automatic fail. We had to go directly back to the starting point and he was not allowed to finish the course.
I was up next. I did all the initial checkpoints, was doing well, and had a lot of confidence....until we hit the crank turns. I went in for the first turn but it was a tight left turn so I did not make it in. I did a reverse which is fine in order for me to get in. Then came the 2nd 90 degree turn....again I had to back up. Then there was the 3rd 90 degree turn on which I had to back up twice....for a total of 4 times that I had to reverse so that I was able to navigate the car through...which apparently led for me to fail! Wow...I was so mad. I can't believe that even though I was able to navigate the car through, that they failed me because I had to back up. I think that even if I had to back up, I should have still gotten full credit because I was able to navigate it through without hitting anything or going over the curve. So....I have to make the trek back there and retake the test. So for now, I'm still just past part 1 of getting my Japanese Driver's License.....Oh well. As the Japanese say....."しょうがない" *deep sigh
Anyway, I am posting this weekend as well because I have some rare time in my house. But this time that I have in my house was not my choice....when nature decides to wreak havoc and cause leakage in your roof and ceiling, it's time to get a new one. So there are a couple of construction guys who are here today to replace the inside roof because there was some water damage to the ceiling. They are also replacing the floor in my kitchen. There are a couple "hot spots" which sink down when you step on them. So I told them about those as well which had been there since I moved in. So they're finally going to fix all of that today. But the only issue was that they needed to be able to come for a full 1 or 2 days because it's a rather large project. But I have work throughout the week....so that meant that I had to be home during a weekend so that they could come to do their stuff. Bummer.....but I'm glad that they'll hopefully be able to get this all done and get this show on the road. Just waiting and HOPING HOPING HOPING that they finish it all today so I don't have to wait around for them tomorrow to finish up.
Until then, I'll be occupying myself with some cleaning in other rooms and watching movies.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Need to swim?
This week has been a pretty normal week so far. I haven't posted since I made a trip out to the driving center to go through the first step of getting my Japanese license. Today was an ordinary day at school where I taught two 3rd grade classes, two 2nd grade classes, and a 1st grade class. It was pretty busy because I had class 5 out of the 6 periods!
But the main thing I wanted to blog about was my gym experience yesterday. In my eikaiwa class there is a member who is very active and likes sports. He is 60 some years old and still goes to the gym at least 4 times a week, goes skiing every year in Switzerland, and wakes up early every morning to do pushups and situps. Not to mention tennis every Sunday as well. So we were talking one day about a nearby gym and I was interested. He offered to take me there with him one time along with another eikaiwa member. So I happily agreed because I wanted to know where this gym was and it would be nice to go and get in the pool as well and get some much needed swimming in. So we went yesterday and he picked me up around 5:30.
So we got to the gym and stretched and hopped into the pool. After swimming the first 2 laps I was already out of breath....hahahaha! I was actually pretty tired and took a 20 second breather, then continued a bit more. But the continuation was in increments of 50 meters with breaks in between each time. Meanwhile, I saw other people in there in their 40's and 50's swimming continuously. The eikaiwa members that I went with were also taking it easy but they were swimming more than I was....I felt....so out of shape!! Haha. But in all honestly, there are two different types of being in shape. There's running and there's swimming. I am definitely NOT in swimming shape! I am much more used to running and would be able to run at a normal pace for a longer distance. MUCH MUCH more so than swimming. But still, I felt pathetic against all these other people. I didn't get a tally on how many total yards I swam, but it wasn't much more than 500. I think the eikaiwa members I went with swam closer to 1000 yards maybe....didn't keep track but more than me! Haha. So I decided that I want to get more into swimming for a few reasons. It is very healthy because you get an overall body workout. Swimming works your whole body, whereas running will work mainly your legs. Swimming is also easier on the joints because it is in the water. Your knees are not being crushed or pounding continuously on the ground or treadmill. There is no risk of shin splints or other such injuries. And finally I won't feel embarrassed the next time I go swimming with other people because I will be able to go longer than 100 yards without nearly passing out.
Haha, so the moral of the story is that even if you think you are in good shape, there will always be a 60+ year old Japanese man or woman who will school you...NO MATTER WHAT!
But the main thing I wanted to blog about was my gym experience yesterday. In my eikaiwa class there is a member who is very active and likes sports. He is 60 some years old and still goes to the gym at least 4 times a week, goes skiing every year in Switzerland, and wakes up early every morning to do pushups and situps. Not to mention tennis every Sunday as well. So we were talking one day about a nearby gym and I was interested. He offered to take me there with him one time along with another eikaiwa member. So I happily agreed because I wanted to know where this gym was and it would be nice to go and get in the pool as well and get some much needed swimming in. So we went yesterday and he picked me up around 5:30.
So we got to the gym and stretched and hopped into the pool. After swimming the first 2 laps I was already out of breath....hahahaha! I was actually pretty tired and took a 20 second breather, then continued a bit more. But the continuation was in increments of 50 meters with breaks in between each time. Meanwhile, I saw other people in there in their 40's and 50's swimming continuously. The eikaiwa members that I went with were also taking it easy but they were swimming more than I was....I felt....so out of shape!! Haha. But in all honestly, there are two different types of being in shape. There's running and there's swimming. I am definitely NOT in swimming shape! I am much more used to running and would be able to run at a normal pace for a longer distance. MUCH MUCH more so than swimming. But still, I felt pathetic against all these other people. I didn't get a tally on how many total yards I swam, but it wasn't much more than 500. I think the eikaiwa members I went with swam closer to 1000 yards maybe....didn't keep track but more than me! Haha. So I decided that I want to get more into swimming for a few reasons. It is very healthy because you get an overall body workout. Swimming works your whole body, whereas running will work mainly your legs. Swimming is also easier on the joints because it is in the water. Your knees are not being crushed or pounding continuously on the ground or treadmill. There is no risk of shin splints or other such injuries. And finally I won't feel embarrassed the next time I go swimming with other people because I will be able to go longer than 100 yards without nearly passing out.
Haha, so the moral of the story is that even if you think you are in good shape, there will always be a 60+ year old Japanese man or woman who will school you...NO MATTER WHAT!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Step 1 of Japanese Driver's License...Success!
Today I had the day off because in place of having class and school on Sunday, I had today off. It's a random day off, I know....but it's better than nothing, right?! So today I planned on going in to the Japanese version of a DMV. They call it the License Center which is basically the automotive place to take care of things that you would do at the DMV in the States.
So this morning I made my way up toward Chiba city to the License Center in order to first get my American license translated into Japanese. Apparently, you must get it officially translated by the JAF (Japanese Automotive Federation) which is kind of like AAA. So I went and did that and it only took around 30 minutes. After finishing that at around 10:45am I headed over to Kaihin-Makuhari where the License Center is and went there to await what was in store for me in order to get my Japanese License. Apparently, the process is long and painful...and indeed I can see why.
For starters, it was rainy and gloomy today so the trek wasn't as nice, but I guess it wasn't pouring so that was good! Once I made it to the center, the reception desk for changing your license from a foreign license to a Japanese one was only open from the hours of 8:30am-9am and 1pm-1:30pm! Haha....I arrived at the center around 12pm so I had to wait for about an hour before I could even get my documentation to someone to have them check it so I could take the written test. Well, I got to get some kanji studying in so it wasn't too bad. Finally at around 1pm I handed in a multitude of items...
So this morning I made my way up toward Chiba city to the License Center in order to first get my American license translated into Japanese. Apparently, you must get it officially translated by the JAF (Japanese Automotive Federation) which is kind of like AAA. So I went and did that and it only took around 30 minutes. After finishing that at around 10:45am I headed over to Kaihin-Makuhari where the License Center is and went there to await what was in store for me in order to get my Japanese License. Apparently, the process is long and painful...and indeed I can see why.
For starters, it was rainy and gloomy today so the trek wasn't as nice, but I guess it wasn't pouring so that was good! Once I made it to the center, the reception desk for changing your license from a foreign license to a Japanese one was only open from the hours of 8:30am-9am and 1pm-1:30pm! Haha....I arrived at the center around 12pm so I had to wait for about an hour before I could even get my documentation to someone to have them check it so I could take the written test. Well, I got to get some kanji studying in so it wasn't too bad. Finally at around 1pm I handed in a multitude of items...
- My current U.S. Driver's License
- My old U.S. Driver's License (expired one)
- My current passport
- My old passport (expired one)
- The translated license provided by JAF
- My alien registration card (Japanese ID)
They were basically checking to make sure that I had lived in America for at least 3 months after having received my Driver's License. After that was all checked and finished, they took me to a room where I could take the written test. This is step 1.
It was an easy test. It was only 10 T/F questions and they were pretty common sense. The only challenge was getting around the translation from Japanese into English...which was not so easy on one of the questions! So during the test, I asked the proctor if he could explain more what one of the sentences meant. I can't remember verbatim what the question was but it went something like this....:
Original Question:
"When driving on a road, large motor vehicles and mopeds must keep to the extreme right and light small vehicles and extremely light ones must keep to the extremely left, when approaching a lane which has a change direction."
I read this a couple times and it didn't really make complete sense to me...so I thought about it a little bit and skipped it. After coming back to it, I looked at the picture which accompanied it and figured it was probably trying to say something like this:
My Interpretation:
"When driving within the lane, large motor vehicles and mopeds are required to drive along the right side of the lane while smaller vehicles such as bicyclists are required to drive along the left side of the lane."
I talked with the proctor while he was giving me the eye exam and he had asked me what was confusing about that question. I told him that the last line of the question didn't quite make sense because I wasn't sure if they were trying to say that when you turned into a lane after making a right turn, the vehicles must be in those positions within the lane, or while it was running normally in the lane. He then was like, "Ohhh, I see. Then if it was confusing for you then it might be confusing for other foreigners taking the test as well!"
Haha, I agreed and kindly offered to write down a cleaner way to word the question so they could correct it and ensure that other people wouldn't make a mistake while answering the question because of misinterpretation. He gratefully accepted. So after I finished filling out the applications and getting my appointment set for coming back to take the road test, I wrote down on a piece of paper a more natural way of wording the question. He thanked me and said they would definitely make the change. I guess I'm becoming a natural teacher! Haha! The only thing that was going through my mind was..."Since I helped you with this...could you please just give me the Japanese License now without having to take the road test?!"
Well, I'm scheduled to take the test next Thursday (the 9th) in the morning so I'll have to make another trip out there and probably have to take some time off from school in order to go. They are only open on the weekdays so I have no other choice.
I'm glad that I was able to pass the test and before having taken the test, I read a lot of blogs and information on there about switching to a Japanese License. I even read online that other people had written that it would be tough to get around some of the questions because of the wording or translations, much like the one I encountered today. My question is, if other people experienced it and write about it online, why aren't the tests fixed into better English now? Those people should have also helped by providing a more natural way of wording the questions! Anyway, I hope I pass the test next week and will not have to make more trips out there!
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