So far, all the picture links I've sent out are a collection of select pictures from everything I've done here. I decided to post all of my pictures on a different photo sharing site for those who are interested in seeing more pics of certain places and things I've been
doing.
Here are the links to my pictures again. The first one is the new one to the expanded gallery. There are also new pics in there too from more recent stuff that I haven't posted in my older links. The next three are my older links that I've sent out already. I will keep updating those as well but consider those as summaries while the new site is the full story.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanghr
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2195593&l=fa231&id=900881
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188485&l=419b2&id=900881
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2186601&l=efb53&id=900881
My first Thanksgiving in Japan and second one away from home (in New Zealand last year) was pretty awesome I have to say. Of course I missed being at home with family, friends, and home cooking, but my friends and I made up for it pretty sufficiently here. Friday (Thursday for you guys) was a national holiday and so my coworkers and I all had the day off. The crew at Kawasaki Berlitz is a really tight group and I am so happy I've been able to become good friends with them too. In the morning, I skyped home during our annual family and relatives Thanksgiving dinner and "sat" at the dining room table with everyone while they ate turkey dinner AKA they put the computer with the webcams running on a shelf next to the table so that I could see them and they could see me. That was really nice and as close as I could get to joining their party from Japan.
Next I and five of my friends went to Costco in Yokohama and stocked up on all the ingredients we needed for Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. Unfortunately, Japan lacks fresh turkeys and the frozen ones couldn't be baked since no one here has an oven. We substituted the big bird with five rotisserie chickens which were fine replacements. Next we went back to our friend, Max, and his girlfriend, Naoko's apartment to cook. We all pitched in and cooked for about five hours straight until there was a feast ready to be
served.
The final dish list:
Five rotisserie chickens
Mashed potatoes
Corn on the cob
Stuffing
Gravy
Assorted garlic veggies
Assorted steamed veggies
Corn bread
Homemade baked mac and cheese
Sweet potatoes
Wine and Beer for everyone
The rest of the crew showed up at four o'clock and so the party started. There were about thirteen people total plus Max's dog and it really was a great time. Adam even has a subscription to NFL Total Access which can show any football game within a week of it being played online. Max hooked up the computer to his big plasma TV and so we had the Thanksgiving day games going on on that during the whole thing.
Hope everyone else's Thanksgivings were just as enjoyable!
Comfortable is the word I would use to describe how I'm feeling these days. After two full months of not being sure where I would be living permanently, what job I would be working, whether I would have enough money to hold me over until I got some kind of income, and making new friends only to watch them go home, I'm finally glad to say all the instability associated with the Nova situation has passed for myself and my closest friends. Even though we didn't get our paychecks for September and more than likely also for October, I think I have enough to get me through to my first Berlitz paycheck at the end of November--obviously living frugally-a.k.a. not eating out, going out too much, or traveling anywhere far.
Some news about Nova--the company filed for bankruptcy a couple weeks ago and has until Nov 9 to figure out whether it can find a sponsor or liquidate. So far the rumors are that they found a sponsor and will be re-opening a tiny amount of schools in the Osaka area next month and slowly rebuilding from there. As for when we will be paid the salary owed to us, I think that we are in the middle of the list of priorities with rent for buildings being the first. I don't want anything to do with Nova anymore besides receiving my final payment and I think that I got out just in time. Right now, thousands of teachers barely have any money to scrape by and many have been evicted from their Nova apartments and are staying with friends. Some can't even afford a flight back home and so are stuck in an awful position. As for finding new jobs, the market is saturated with unemployed instructors since the filing for bankruptcy and the amount of jobs available at other companies don't come close to having enough openings for everyone. I've been told it's really tough to find a job right now. It's really unfortunate. I'm all moved into my Fujisawa apartment with two new roommates, one of them being an ex coworker from Nova and so far it's been great. Fujisawa is also a nice place to live because there is always something going on, it's close to the beach, and still not too far from Yokohama and Tokyo. I have been working at my new job for about two weeks now, and I really like it a lot. My coworkers are all in their 20's and the atmosphere is upbeat and energetic. I love them already and we always go out to local bars after work. Berlitz as a company is already far better than Nova ever was in that I feel like a human being when I'm working there and not a dispensable number. And of course, Berlitz will pay me on time monthly, something I used to take for granted before I came to Japan. Once that happens, I can start saving again and then eventually go and experience some more of the country outside of my local area of Fujisawa, Yokohama, and Tokyo and also some other parts of Asia.
Despite all the bumps in the road since I got here, I regret nothing. Retrospect only leads to being unhappy with the present and to want to go back and change things that have already happened would be a waste of time. The only things to do are learn and move forward. If I had by chance chosen a different date to arrive here, say earlier in the summer, I would not have met the people I have become great friends with, possibly would not have even been placed in this region, and would not have a great new job with a better company as I do now. Anything done differently on my part could have possibly resulted in my coming home much earlier than planned and I am satisfied with every choice I made. I have also learned an immense amount about myself and getting through these first few months has boosted my confidence in that I now know that I can make it on my own. I want to thank everyone who sent me messages and supported me emotionally through the whole thing. Your encouragement played a huge part in my being able to work everything out in this very very different and sometimes difficult country, and I know I wouldn't be feeling half as good about my situation had it not been for constant morale boosting on your part. I know some people here who didn't have that kind of support and watched them break down with anxiety about everything that was going on with Nova as it affected every aspect of their lives. Seeing that only made me think more about how lucky I am.
I updated my pictures since the internet at my new place is much better than the old one. Here are the links for those who are interested, newest ones at the top:
Japan (*_^)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2195593&l=fa231&id=900881
Japan <('.'<)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188485&l=419b2&id=900881
Japan <(^_^)>
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2186601&l=efb53&id=900881
