December 10, 2005

Finally, we've finished training. I'm glad I'm through training, cause it was really alot of work. The trainers were really helpful and supportive so I congradulate them for their hard work. Yesterday night we went out for a night out. It was a festival day of some sort, not sure what kind of festival, but they served all kinds of different foods along the streets near Omiya station. Before the whole thing we visited a nearby convenience store for some beer and alcoholic beverages to drink while we go to the festival. To tell you now, drinking in public is legal in Japan or at least in the Tokyo area. We managed to walk out way towards the festival area. These were little shacks serving freshly grilled, fried, you name it kinds of foods ranging from squid to chocolate covered bannanas. Actually, the chocolate covered bannanas are cool, cause you can play some sort of game and win another free one. At the start of the line I didn't know what I wanted cause there were so many different foods. 300 yen for some grilled chicken was a good deal, but I wanted to see what else there was, even though I was really starving out of my mind. The festival was just starting, so the livliness was not as intense as I would have thought since it was only the first day (friday). I really liked our training group, cause we all travelled together and we stuck together. The line of shacks lead to the shrine, so I'm guessing it was for some sort of religious festival. We walked along, and made alot of jokes such as "soo important!". The smells were amazing and ranged from fried seafoods to meats. I finally settled for some grilled chicken on a stick which was good but pricey cause it was like 500 yen for one.. The last one was only 300 yen and it was the same amount, maybe more. There was another really great deal , of chicken breast soaked on some sort of sweet sauce, which was about 300 yen for a whole chunk of breast. So i realized that you really have to look for the right place for a good deal, cause some of them I guess "ripped you off". I was a little distressed however, when the lady at the chicken breast shack only gave me back 740 yen back when I gave her 5000 yen for a 300 yen chicken breast. Maggie helped me order by asking the lady if it was ok if I paid 5000 yen. The lady said it was ok, so I decided to buy one ( I was out of 1000 yens). Good thing i noticed.. she gave me 3000 yen back. After the festival we took ourselves for some kareoke near Omiya station. We found an expensive deal for like 2870 yen or something for all you can drink or something like that. I didn't care, cause it was only one night out at the kareoke. The kareoke was interesting. About 13 people for one room with a big screen tv, air condistioners and a touch screen remote in Japanese. It was funny cause the Japanese actually invented the kareoke (i'm assuming) but yet most of these songs were western songs. It was fun, we made a few "soo important" on the mic. Some of us sang some rap (tupac and biggie) and some sang madonna, queen. After while I got really tired and just laid back. It was a good night.

Getting ready

Returned my Acura RSX back to Sherway today. Well, its been a really reliable car for me and I share many memories in it. It's kinda strange, because you can sometimes miss something that has some sort of sentimental value. If it wasn't for all the things I've witnessed and done with the car maybe I wouldn't feel it, but yeah I kinda miss the car because so many things have happened inside of it. I just hope the next owner treats it well, which I am sure of. Going to dinner tonight at 7 pm with the cousins at Sam woos. I guess thats it for now.

One week to go

Yep one more week to go. Just getting things packed an ready, reviewing some training I will be undergoing during my first week there. Still gotta buy some slacks, permanent press dress shirts plus a dress short sleeved shirt. So, everything has pretty been getting ready to go. Also been chilling in the sauna alot since I sprained my biceps doing bicep curls, I cannot excercise my upper body yet. I gotta find a good gym in Japan. Also, getting together with the cousins this Saturday for dinner and maybe a movie, not really down for drinking, don't like drinking too much anymore.

Heaven help the victims of hurricane Kantrina

I was astounded to learn how much damage had been done in the different states of US after the hurricane hit. But most of all I really hope those victims will be rescued, because some of them are in need of fast help, especially the people suffering from heart disease and diabetes. I recall on CNN, this 92 year old woman had heart disease but couldn't hook up her respirator. Some of these people are so in need of help. This storm did not hit here so I didn't really think about how bad it really was until I turned to CNN and witnessed all these people who were in desperate need. Some waving flags for help. It's good to see all these people helping each other. I thought about sometime today. The only thing on this earth that makes all the pain bearable is each other.

Las Vegas

Another place I'd love to go to some day. I love the lights and neon signs there. Call it sensory deprivation, but I think it's worth seeing.

Funny Ass Shit and Guitar Freaks

If you want to see some stupid, funny ass shit go to my links (www.downtoplanetearth.blogspot.com). I also got a guitar site for freaks who like or want to play some serious guitar (www.guitarheads.blogspot.com).

Interview Days with GEOS Japan

Whew! Finally done the 3 days of interviews with GEOS. Oh, I applied for GEOS to go to Japan to teach. Actually, my mom found a newspaper clip in the Toronto Star. This interview or let's say interviews was probably the most intensive set I've ever gone through in my life. Now any other interview just seems like a breeze to me. 1st day: Ok, so this is when you first meet all your other soon to be "teachers in Japan". So the interview was held in Toronto Bay and Queen St, so I took a subway east from Kipling then transfer at Bloor/Yonge and south back to Queen to get off. So I walk into the interview office and I liked how they arranged everything for the potential candidates. There were long tables with books and magazines on Japan. It was arranged so that you could meet all the other people going and just chat. This was I think about 9:40am. At around 10 am (I think), we started the dreaded comprehension quiz, which would determine if you just sucked at English or was good enough to teach. It was pretty long and lasted about 20 minutes. Questions included basic grammar such as spelling (accommodation), punctuation, and creating your own sentences (past, present perfect, etc.). Then there were basic knowledge questions such as who is the president of China; the president of Japan; match song titles with musical artists; match artwork to artists. Then they gave you old names of countries and you had to figure out which country it is (Burma = Myanmar). Then what are the capital cities of so and so. After the quiz we each had one on one interviews with the interviewers (there were two of them). I guess somewhere during this time they marked the comprehension quiz. So based on the interview and quiz you were told if you could come back for the next interview which started later on in the day at 1:30 after lunch. I knew one person who got cut on the first round. So there were around 20 people in total. So I went for lunch with a couple of people and came back. They then gave us general information about the program and we did some activities where the interviewers would observe us. We went around and basically introduced ourselves to each other and just started a general conversation. Finally, I think it was now about 4 or 5 pm. In the end they gave each of us an envelope which told us if we could come back for the interview the next day (Saturday). I got my envelope and it said that I was accepted to the next interview, but I had to rewrite the quiz, because my marks were not so high. I think about 4 or five people got cut the first day. There would be no more cuts until after the last day (day 3), so the rest were pretty much invited again for the next remaining two days. They told us the quiz was the same, so that meant I had to try and remember all the questions and find all the answers to them. I stayed up till about 1 or 2am studying and getting everything memorized. The only thing was I managed to get in about a few hours of sleep. 2nd Day: We all met up in the front lobby of the building at around 8:25am, because on Saturdays the elevators didn't work without a key, which only the interviewers could get a hold of. So we waited there for them. The 8:25 was for the people who had to rewrite the comprehension quiz. So we all rewrote the quiz. I think I did alright since I studied for it the night before and it was the same quiz. Then we went through more details like teaching methods. They gave us teaching demonstrations with the group. The whole teaching methods were explained and we got notes explaining the whole procedure. We were given instructions on how to prepare for the 30 minute presentation we were to prepare for the next day. This presentation involved many different themes, where each group of people would get a certain theme. Mine was ordering at a restaurant. They told us it should take about 5 hours to prepare. I was totally drained and I just felt like I had absolutely no energy. So I reviewed the notes while on the subway. So I got home and started working on it right away. I guess a should a taken like a nap or something, because my mind was not very efficient (lack of sleep, pressure, and anxiety). I figured that I couldn't get to sleep anyways so I'd start work on it right away. Most of the time I was there trying to figure everything out. I called up Clinton who had it tomorrow as well and we both started to really work on it at around 10pm. I was just brainstorming and preparing notes as well as making up props. I also called up other interviewees and we just tried to help each other out. It took me way up until about 3 to 4 am, since I had to go to Kinkos and do some photocopies. It was really hectic for me. I got up to around 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I ended up making a few props of different types of foods. 3rd day: The final day. So we arrived there at around 9:50am. So we all got into our pre organized groups and got into pairs to start presenting. It went alright I guess. I was just really tired and managed to just squeeze it by. So we all got into the one room after the interview. We just sat there chatting before they called us one by one to interview. Done. Only to find out today that I was not accepted. Awe well, it was a good experience and I went to distance so I'm glad. Time to go to sleep.

Heart Felt Sorrow

I would like to send out my heart felt sorrow for the victims of terrorist attacks in London. However, it's good to see people standing up against terrorism. I was watching CNN and some of the citizens interviewed were saying how they will live on like they always did.