not a single thing on that list strikes me as even remotely strange. oh boy.
not a single thing on that list strikes me as even remotely strange. oh boy.
The only one that I even blinked at was the evacuation harness. Everything else was like "yeah, it's Asia."
not a single thing on that list strikes me as even remotely strange. oh boy.
The only one that I even blinked at was the evacuation harness. Everything else was like "yeah, it's Asia."
We have a steel trapdoor with an extensible ladder on our 2nd floor balcony! We'd burn to death before we got it all set up of course but you have to admit they tried.
Asia :rock
Have fun in a new world!
not a single thing on that list strikes me as even remotely strange. oh boy.
I'm not understanding the bathroom/shower being the same place thing. Are you saying the toilet is in the shower?
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2966789647_0621e30998.jpg)
This is a pretty typical japanese one. the idea is that you shower first, then get in the bath (so as not to dirty the water with your scummy soap etc). It makes perfect sense to me! (now)
The only reason the toilet is in there is to save space. Larger apartments usually have the toilet in a separate room. In studio-type apartments, toilet/sink/shower/bath is all bunged together.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2966789647_0621e30998.jpg)
This is a pretty typical japanese one. the idea is that you shower first, then get in the bath (so as not to dirty the water with your scummy soap etc). It makes perfect sense to me! (now)
The only reason the toilet is in there is to save space. Larger apartments usually have the toilet in a separate room. In studio-type apartments, toilet/sink/shower/bath is all bunged together.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2966789647_0621e30998.jpg)
This is a pretty typical japanese one. the idea is that you shower first, then get in the bath (so as not to dirty the water with your scummy soap etc). It makes perfect sense to me! (now)
The only reason the toilet is in there is to save space. Larger apartments usually have the toilet in a separate room. In studio-type apartments, toilet/sink/shower/bath is all bunged together.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2966789647_0621e30998.jpg)But this one in the pic has no toilet right?
This is a pretty typical japanese one. the idea is that you shower first, then get in the bath (so as not to dirty the water with your scummy soap etc). It makes perfect sense to me! (now)
The only reason the toilet is in there is to save space. Larger apartments usually have the toilet in a separate room. In studio-type apartments, toilet/sink/shower/bath is all bunged together.
I've been in one where the drain for the shower water went into the squatting toilet hole. It was efficient I guess.(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2966789647_0621e30998.jpg)But this one in the pic has no toilet right?
This is a pretty typical japanese one. the idea is that you shower first, then get in the bath (so as not to dirty the water with your scummy soap etc). It makes perfect sense to me! (now)
The only reason the toilet is in there is to save space. Larger apartments usually have the toilet in a separate room. In studio-type apartments, toilet/sink/shower/bath is all bunged together.
not a single thing on that list strikes me as even remotely strange. oh boy.
I was in Pusan in 1993, and it seemed like no-one was able to fathom the concept of waiting in a line. Queuing up. NOBODY. The closest anybody came to being "polite" about waiting was someone asking if they could go in front of me. Instead of just shoving past each other person, like everyone seemed to be, they asked first. That was at the US Embassy.
I was in line at a 7-11 to buy drinks; I tried to line up there as well, but some 80 year old lady shoved in front of me, turned to face me, and growled at me. No joke.
I was in Pusan in 1993, and it seemed like no-one was able to fathom the concept of waiting in a line. Queuing up. NOBODY. The closest anybody came to being "polite" about waiting was someone asking if they could go in front of me. Instead of just shoving past each other person, like everyone seemed to be, they asked first. That was at the US Embassy.
I was in line at a 7-11 to buy drinks; I tried to line up there as well, but some 80 year old lady shoved in front of me, turned to face me, and growled at me. No joke.
I was in Pusan in 1993, and it seemed like no-one was able to fathom the concept of waiting in a line. Queuing up. NOBODY. The closest anybody came to being "polite" about waiting was someone asking if they could go in front of me. Instead of just shoving past each other person, like everyone seemed to be, they asked first. That was at the US Embassy.
I was in line at a 7-11 to buy drinks; I tried to line up there as well, but some 80 year old lady shoved in front of me, turned to face me, and growled at me. No joke.
This is funny because I know that you look like you could rip the arms off a grizzly bear and beat him to death with it. What do these grannies think?! That we're all just going to take shit from them forever? One day we will rise up.
You should explain to them that in America, we pull the plug on our elders! :maf
It was just a haunted house with a bunch of fans in it :lolPretty scary if you're actually Korean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
Another funny thing I remembered: Motorcycles and motor scooters are very common here. What's funny is that young guys often blast music as loud as they can from their bikes. It's never hard rock or rap, though, which is what you typically hear blasted from American vehicles; instead, you'll see a guy on a dinky little 1980s Honda (designed for one person, but carrying two as the girl on back demurely--but hilariously--sits side-straddle) blaring ABBA or a shitty K-pop song at 110 db and dangerously weaving in and out of traffic.In Iran I saw a family of four (toddler on the gas tank) on a single bike. Freaked me out considering it was in my first hour in the country.
I like your impressions Tristam :)
I think GilloD is still to overwhelmed with Asia to write anything coherent.
I'm sure you since you're in Japan that you're familiar with some of these things due to some cultural similarities.
It was just a haunted house with a bunch of fans in it :lolPretty scary if you're actually Korean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
:rofl It's crazy that the myth is propagated by their own government. I, having lived in California my whole life, can't even imagine having to put up with that. These days I can't even fall asleep without the noise of a fanIt was just a haunted house with a bunch of fans in it :lolPretty scary if you're actually Korean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
This has carried over to Japan. My wife's parents actually believe this nonsense. I got this horrified expression when I told them I wanted to have a fan blowing on my face at night. :lol They used to only have fans with timers on them, and it was pure hell sleeping at their house in the summer, in a tiny room with no windows to open and a fan that fucking cut off after an hour max. When we went to live with them temporarily, the first thing I did was buy a nice, new, timer-less fan, which went with me into every room I was in.
I think this shit has affected my wife, too. She never wants to use fans, and it has been a miracle getting her to finally accept having the ceiling fan on at night. She's not used to central heating and air, so when the A/C is on, she is the only person I know wrapped up in a heavy winter blanket-- in the summer!
That is crazy.
Then again, a lot of westerners assume we catch colds because of being in a cold temperature. :-/
I don't understand how you guys can fetishize a culture with such stoopit "rules."
I don't understand how you guys can fetishize a culture with such stoopit "rules."
This seems like an appropriate place to ask. How is Busan? I wanted to go to Seoul but I might be able to get a job in a Busan public school, which is difficult this late.
I wasn't sure so I kinda let the opportunity go by. :-\ I had to act like really fast. Ooooh well. I kinda really wanted to go to Seoul anyway. I just hope I don't end up in a private school that sucks out my soul since public school jobs this time of year are almost impossible to get.
Has your stay in Korea allowed you more appreciate for :american even more, gillod?
I wasn't sure so I kinda let the opportunity go by. :-\ I had to act like really fast. Ooooh well. I kinda really wanted to go to Seoul anyway. I just hope I don't end up in a private school that sucks out my soul since public school jobs this time of year are almost impossible to get.
I thought public schools in Seoul imposed more stringent qualifications on their applicants, like at least a year's ESL teaching experience and a TEFL qualification. Or maybe I'm just confusing that with the EPIK program's stipulated qualifications for applicants who want to teach in Seoul.
Has your stay in Korea allowed you more appreciate for :american even more, gillod?
Travel abroad always does that to me. I actually get a weird like. "Oh, the USA RULES" but at the same time when I come back I'm like, "You people are ANIMALS".
Koreans come in 2 flavors: 1: Willing to ruin their entire day to help you and assist you in any way possible, 2: Absolutely fucking heinous, rude, amoral, insane sewer creatures. It's a 90/10 split. Most people are tremendously wonderful, but every now and then you run into something they could make a direct to DVD movie about.
We were at the Immigration Office to try and get our ID cards. It's one of those "Take a Number" systems. We were 556. We walked in at 330. They "lost" our online reservation. So we sat there for like 2 hours. Finally, 556 comes up. It takes us maybe 15 seconds to get up to the desk, but the lady at the desk hit the button like 4 more times. So now 556, 557, 558, 559 and 560 are all standing there and she's saying "560 only. Everyone else new number new number you wait. Too long take!". I pulled my best Korean impression and just stood there pushing my papers towards her saying "ID Card! Id Card! No speak Korean!". I've been told the best way to deal with Korean bureaucracy is just to act like a spoiled distinguished mentally-challenged fellow. And it worked! And the other suckers all took new numbers!
But then it turned out that the hospital FUCKED UP my health exam and didn't put the TB result on my form despite the fact that the Korean government already has SIX COPIES of TWO DIFFERENT FORMS certifying that I don't have fucking TB, but whatever.
So, no ID card. WHich means no health insurance, no bank accounts, no cell phones, no internet, no paycheck. Ugghghghg. Have to go back on Monday.
Other than that. School is insane. My 4th and 5th grade co-teachers speak no English, which means I teach 100% of the time. Teaching is fucking exhausting and nerve wracking, doubly so when the only textbook you have is in KOREAN.
I was warned about double standards and contradictions before coming here, but it's kind of insane how deep it runs. They want like 150% of you to teach English, but the kids don't get a grade, they have no ENglish materials and they actually told kids- in front of me- that this class was like Prioirty ZERO. BUt then they turn around and go "ENGLISH IS SUPER IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD WORK A THOUSAND HOURS EVERY WEEK". So. WHatever. The lady who approves lesson plans also speaks no English. I could turn one in that says, "Today I will take the children to a field and murder them, and eat the meat from their bones and make a suit of armor from their teeth and masturbate to a picture of a fish" and she'd sign off on it.
I'm sort of at that point where the novelty has worn off and my whole person is kind of trying to figure out how to readjust. It's left me grouchy, but. Okay-ish! We got kicked out of a department store. My wife was looking at clothes and she had a dress in her hand and went to look for a dressing room and all of a sudden some lady ran up and like grabbed her wrist and started yelling in Korean and then secuirty came and escorted us out. I guess it's like. Each floor has multiple stores? There are no walls. It looks like every other department store I've ever been in. But there are invisible lines of demarcation and if you cross one you are SHOPLIFTING.
Who is fetishizing these cultures? I just live here, as does Chronovore. GilloD has never struck me as an anime/j-game enthusiast but I suppose I could be wrong.
Agreed. There are fewer than I imagined, but there are definitley more than a handful. I don't get it, but. Hey, whatever.Who is fetishizing these cultures? I just live here, as does Chronovore. GilloD has never struck me as an anime/j-game enthusiast but I suppose I could be wrong.
I wasn't really talking about you guys, who seem like just what you said- pleasant enough fellows who just happen to live in the East. But you gotta admit that there's a hefty nerd population that are big ol' weeaboos.
The one thing I cant stand about crazies moving east is those pathetic losers that never got laid in the west and just moved there for the women. Like these real fugly distinguished effete fellows with pretty asian girls. Sure I understand them, but I dont like them.
The first time I moved to Japan, 16 years ago, I taught English at a couple places over the course of two years. Most of the foreigners I met were reasonably well socially adapted, mainly choosing to come to Japan to learn about another culture. Most of the foreigners biggest problem seemed to be they weren't really interested in putting in the time to study enough Japanese to communicate with the locals.
However, I agree that there are a lot of people who are in the east because they couldn't make it in the west, either socially or professionally. Funny thing is, those guys don't make any friends over here, either. They may be getting laid, but they aren't getting ahead in life, and I bet they're still desperately lonely at their core.
Agreed. There are fewer than I imagined, but there are definitley more than a handful. I don't get it, but. Hey, whatever.Who is fetishizing these cultures? I just live here, as does Chronovore. GilloD has never struck me as an anime/j-game enthusiast but I suppose I could be wrong.
I wasn't really talking about you guys, who seem like just what you said- pleasant enough fellows who just happen to live in the East. But you gotta admit that there's a hefty nerd population that are big ol' weeaboos.
The first time I moved to Japan, 16 years ago, I taught English at a couple places over the course of two years. Most of the foreigners I met were reasonably well socially adapted, mainly choosing to come to Japan to learn about another culture. Most of the foreigners biggest problem seemed to be they weren't really interested in putting in the time to study enough Japanese to communicate with the locals.
However, I agree that there are a lot of people who are in the east because they couldn't make it in the west, either socially or professionally. Funny thing is, those guys don't make any friends over here, either. They may be getting laid, but they aren't getting ahead in life, and I bet they're still desperately lonely at their core.
I'm not saying all of the teachers do this but it is just that a lot of those "Ask me anything, I teach English in Japan!" threads wind up going down that route and rarely move on from there. The topics are rarely anything more than cost of living, those quirky things those Japanese students do, where is the best place to score Japanese games, and where is the best place to score Japanese ass. Apparently Gas Panic is a popular place. I shouldn't know what that place is but I do because of the dozens of sweaty virginal dudes salivated at how it might be the easiest place to score. Other else than that, they don't talk much about the culture except a few passing remarks. Which means a lot of them just go from the school to where they can get their games to their apartment.
I want to visit a good number of countries and Japan and South Korea are two of them. I'd like to see the North but I doubt that will ever happen. Never know what might happen with the successor so maybe I can in a decade or so.
I'm not saying all of the teachers do this but it is just that a lot of those "Ask me anything, I teach English in Japan!" threads wind up going down that route and rarely move on from there. The topics are rarely anything more than cost of living, those quirky things those Japanese students do, where is the best place to score Japanese games, and where is the best place to score Japanese ass. Apparently Gas Panic is a popular place. I shouldn't know what that place is but I do because of the dozens of sweaty virginal dudes salivated at how it might be the easiest place to score. Other else than that, they don't talk much about the culture except a few passing remarks. Which means a lot of them just go from the school to where they can get their games to their apartment.
I want to visit a good number of countries and Japan and South Korea are two of them. I'd like to see the North but I doubt that will ever happen. Never know what might happen with the successor so maybe I can in a decade or so.
Good luck with that; I'd be interested in visiting N. Korea if they opened up to the outside the way Eastern Europe seemed to after the wall came down. Prior to that level of change, Kim Jong Il can keep having his cabaret girls and feasts while his population are kept ignorant and starved.
And I do hear you about the guys who are genius-level-Japanese-experts because they've been here for six months and managed to not die, score a job, and get laid (or nearly laid) in a country that hand-holds foreigners more than anywhere else I've heard of. In November, I'll have lived here 10 years total, and I'm still learning new stuff every day.
My least favorite type of foreigner are the ones who go way out of their way to ignore other foreigners, as though they're the first paleface to show up on the island. These guys will just stare past you, pretending they haven't seen you. WATEVERS, ADMIRAL PERRY.
I've heard that the international marriage divorce rate is incredibly high. I suspect if that's the case, it's due to people having unrealistic expectations of what their partner will become in the marriage. A lot of western guys seem to expect that they'll have a live-in cook, accountant, and maid who doubles as an Asian sex plaything, and later on the wife'll raise the kids while they fuck off and play around. On the other hand, Japanese women get their vision of American men from TV dramas and romance movies, so they believe that they'll be courted, respected, and treated considerately by the guy. These two visions don't mesh well.
I am SHOCKED at the number of long-time teachers who can't read Korean. You could seriously teach yourself in 6 hours. It's 24 letters, that's fewer than English. And only like a dozen main shapes. I think it's just lazy not to learn.
We got kicked out of a department store. My wife was looking at clothes and she had a dress in her hand and went to look for a dressing room and all of a sudden some lady ran up and like grabbed her wrist and started yelling in Korean and then secuirty came and escorted us out. I guess it's like. Each floor has multiple stores? There are no walls. It looks like every other department store I've ever been in. But there are invisible lines of demarcation and if you cross one you are SHOPLIFTING.
I'm a first-year JET in a big city. I was arrested on a false charge of shoplifting and put in jail for six days. I was advised/ordered to sign a confession, which I eventually did; then I was released. Though they knew the truth (I am innocent) the Board of Education fired me, for reasons no one knows, but it's likely that it was to save face in one way or another. The situation mishandled from the beginning by the store, the police, and the City Education Center (who technically employs me, not the schools or BOE). There's nothing short of spending long months in court to get my job back, and it's not worth it to me. But I want everyone to know what happened.
Nov. 23--I was shopping in a department store the other JETs and I refer to as "K-Mart"--the place has pretty much everything, and it's cheap. Set up the same way, too, with different departments running into each other, plus there are three or four floors connected by escalators. I was carrying around four items from different parts of the store--slippers, water purifier, shirt, scarf. I didn't grab a cart when I came in; I never do, plus I wasn't planning on buying that much. I was carrying everything, water purifier under my arm, everything else in my hands. I was up on the third floor, away from the carts, and it was getting awkward, holding everything. I had a couple bags with me, one of which was clear, so I put the stuff in there to hold til I got to the register. I chose the clear bag precisely because I didn't want to appear suspicious, and I dumped the stuff in there in plain view of everyone. A few minutes later when I was down near the front door, checking out the sale clothing rack before heading to a register to pay, a security lady grabbed my arm and fired away in Japanese. She pulled me to the back of the store, still speaking Japanese even though I told her I couldn't understand. Again, I never left the store.
She brought me to the back security room and took the things out of my bag. She obviously thought I was trying to shoplift. I tried to tell her that was NOT the case, I wanted to buy the things; I showed her my wallet and money but she would have none of that. Eventually the police showed up, still no one spoke English, and despite the fact that I told them I was new to Japan and couldn't speak Japanese, they continued to talk to me and ask me questions.
They put me in a police car and we headed to the station, where I was led through the station itself, out the back and through an outdoor passageway to a dimly lit, freezing room that resembled a garage. I was alone with eight or ten male officers. They smoked heavily and spoke in torrents of Japanese. One repeatedly raised his voice and always pointed his finger at me while he talked. I was more than a little scared, not to mention angry and completely helpless.
There was one cop, an older guy with what you might call "smiling eyes," who spoke some English and tried to talk to me. He listened to my side of the story and told me that in that store, you aren't allowed to pay for things from departments altogether (unlike K-Mart), plus I had the things in my bag. I explained my reasoning, and pointed out that I hadn't even left the store. He told me the security guard had said that she caught me out in the street, then later she said I was "in the doorway." It seems strange that she changed her mind.
Someone handed me another cell phone and another Japanese-English voice barked at me, "WHY YOU STEALING!" I explained again my side of the story. He interrupted me constantly, ending with, "I KNOW YOU THINK JAPANESE ARE STUPID!" I handed the phone back in disgust. I was still alone with the chain-smoking men who were obviously talking about as if I weren't there, laughing hard then looking down at me as I sat there. One made some kind of gesture towards his chest, and everyone laughed except the nice cop, who just looked at me with a small, embarrassed smile.
A couple hours later I was still there, unable to gauge anything about what was going to happen. I didn't know if we were waiting for something, or if they believed me, or really if they even understood me. They took me back into the station, this time to a tiny room with a table and two chairs. There was a woman officer to sit with me then, as a "female overseer" I guess, and I suspect she should've been with me the whole time. I went through the same story again and again, trying to find out when I could go home, trying to call someone to tell them where I was, but anything I asked for, the answer was no. It became apparent that they weren't even sure what to do with me, and the nice cop came in and made conversation with me--about his uncle in San Francisco, baseball, how I like my job. He told me a translator was coming.
Two hours later, the translator arrived, and the questions began. A cop sat across from me with a computer to take down my responses. I wasn't sure if I had to answer, but I did because I didn't want to prolong this any further. The questioning was ridiculous and long. Among the questions asked were: Do you study martial arts? What is your monthly salary? Apartment rent? Have you ever been awarded a medal by the Prime Minister or Emperor? Do you like to gamble? Do you like to drink? What kind of drinks do you like? What's your blood type? I was ready for the next question to be "Do you like sushi?" When I commented to the translator (whose English was far from great) that the questions seemed irrelevant and unprofessional, he ignored me. When I pressed him about it, he said that his job was only to tell me what the police man was saying to me. I told him I thought this was extremely unprofessional and he ignored me.
They also took my statement about what happened at the store. At times the translator and cop would talk for a long time after I explained something, then there would be another completely random question. I also noticed that if spoke for thirty seconds in English, the translation lasted about ten in Japanese. Again, I wasn't sure even how well the man understood me. I was certainly not able to speak "normal" English with him--I had to speak slowly and use simple words (a skill you pick up quick here, I think).
Eventually we'd come to an impasse about whether or not I had actually shoplifted. I felt I couldn't spell it out any more clearly. I asked the translator if he understood and believed me. He looked uncomfortable. Then I asked if the police man believed me, and he said, "He thinks you are making an excuse."
After that the female guard searched me and the officers went through all my personal belongings. They emptied my purse and coat pockets, went through my wallet. They reminded me of my overly-curious junior high students. I had to explain every single card in my wallet, answer questions about how ATMs work in America, how one gets a driver's license, and when they found an old CTA token, the other people in the office crowded around as I explained the Chicago transit system. I had some packs of Japanese study cards and English flashcards for students, and they took the rubber bands off and counted them, reading each one and sometimes debating the correctness of the Japanese phrases. They were also impressed by the rocks in my coat pocket from Mt. Fuji and Kamakura. I had quite an audience by the time I finished the show-and-tell. Then they told me I was arrested and would be taken to jail so the case could be investigated.
They put me in handcuffs and tied a rope around my waist. I was going to the police headquarters in (big city nearby), where there's a women's detention area. It was 2 am and I hadn't eaten, though I couldn't have anyway due to nerves. I'd been at the police station for nine hours.
When we arrived at the detention center, we went through the same routine of going through and listing all my possession with the guards, even though there was already a detailed listing from the Kawasaki cops. As the Yokohama folks counted my flashcards (328 in all), even the police from my city were rolling their eyes.
After I was handed over, some women took me into a room to change clothes and search me. I stood naked for awhile before they gave me a yukata/robe. When they noticed my bellybutton piercing, they tried to tell me to take it out, but it's not that easy. We had to go back to the translator so I could tell them that it's not like an earring; you need pliers and a professional to take it out. That threw them, because prisoners aren't allowed to have jewelry, and the idea of making an exception doesn't really seem to be part of the Japanese society. Regulations must be followed mindlessly because...they're regulations. One guy actually went to look for pliers to rip the ring out of my navel. I told the translator that it had to be done by a professional, otherwise there would be a serious infection. The prison people consulted each other and finally decided to let it be. I was trying to be strong through all this, keep the tears away and not show my fear. But at that point, everything was so surreal and unbelievable, I just lost it.
They led me to a cell with two women in it, sleeping on the floor: my new home. Didn't sleep well that night.
The next day was Sunday, and a man from the American Embassy came down to see me. It was such a relief to see an American, and speak to someone who understood what I was saying. He told me straight out that once you're arrested, it's very hard to fight the charges. There are all kinds of waiting periods between visits to the prosecutor (they can hold you up to 23 days for pretty much any reason they come up with, and bail is the exception rather than the rule here in Japan). The prosecutor then decides if you're indicted, and if you are, then you have to wait for the trial, etc., and in the meantime you're sitting in prison. The whole process could take up to five months, and then I would have to serve a sentence if I were found guilty (99% of people brought to trial in Japan are found guilty). He told me the fastest way to get out was to plead guilty, and that I might consider that. He said in most cases you stay in jail for a few weeks and the prosecutor doesn't send you to court; you are simply released. At that point, that was the brightest option. I could make a false confession and hope that all I'd have to do was get out of Japan. There was no way I could handle being in a jail cell for months with nothing to do but lose my mind. It wasn't an option.
I also got a visit from my supervisor (we don't work directly for the BOE or schools, but for the Education Center). The head of the Education Center had issued an order, and my supervisor showed it to me through the glass: It said that JET, CLAIR, and the superintendent had been made aware of my situation. I was ordered to hire a lawyer and plead guilty to the charges. There would be "bad press" if I went to court, and I was to settle out of court in any way possible. The paper said nothing about telling the truth or fighting for what was right. It said to plead guilty. I could tell then and I know now that it wasn't my supervisor's decision--in the heirarchy, he's very low and has little power.
I went to the prosecutor the next day and told him I'd tried to shoplift, and that I was very sorry, that this was my first time doing such a thing and that I felt awful and would never think of doing it again. It was harder than I thought to make up a good story and stick with it. All of this was through a Filipina translator whose native language was neither English nor Japanese, and who both the prosecutor and I had a hard time understanding as she spoke to us respectively. The prosecutor ordered me detained for ten days. I would see him again and he would decide if I was indicted or not.
The police from my city came back to question me again a few days later. It was absolutely ridiculous. They were much nicer to me this time, and the interpreter they brought was an absolutely amazing Japanese woman. We were in there for two hours as they took my statement about being guilty and sorry, though the actual business only took about 45 minutes. The rest of the time they were going off on tangents about where to go in Japan over winter break--there's a great ostrich park in Okinawa--and how to say certain things in Japanese or English. At one point one of the guys opened his bag and brought out a huge sack of tangerines, and we all sat around eating them. I had to regretfully tell them, no, I can't bring any back to the jail cell with me, it's not allowed, and they told me to keep our little snack a secret. They said they'd talked to the prosecutor and he would release me within the next week--everything would be okay.
The prosecutor called for me two days later and I managed to convince him that I'd never "steal" again. My supervisors picked me up and over dinner they told me the superintendent was intent on firing me but that she would take a week or two and talk it over with the Board of Education. During that time I was not allowed to visit classes. I wrote a long letter describing my situation to the BOE, and my supervisor translated it and handed to HIS supervisor, who handed it someone else, who gave it to the BOE.
I understood that the Board was concerned about its image, but I believe that the truth should be told (ironic how lying got me out of jail--the truth certainly didn't set me free this time). It's not complicated--it was a bad situation and I did what I had to do. I hoped that they would look past the surface of things and consider me for what I am--a well-liked teacher who does her job well--but I see that this is not a system or society designed to accommodate exceptions. The BOE decided that I was no longer allowed to be in the classroom. They didn't technically fire me, but forced me to quit. Either way, it shouldn't have happened.
I wrote this because even though I can't get my job and life back, I think it's crucial for people to know what happened, and that the system can really screw you here; I aroused suspicions unconsciously, and once the police were called, it was like jumping into a wild river--the current was going to carry me to an inevitable end. There are a million maybes and what-ifs--what if I spoke Japanese, what if I wasn't a gaijin, and so on--but what happened to me could happen to anyone that makes an honest mistake or stops thinking for a second. In this country, you're guilty until proven innocent, and that's a really scary thing for a foreigner.
In the end, maybe things will work out for the best. I have endless support from my boss and the other ALTs, and I'm hoping to stay in Japan and find a new job. I don't want to work under a BOE that doesn't care about its staff, especially the foreign teachers, and who obviously isn't thinking about the students--the reason they have a job in the first place. The police will throw out my record (they promised they would within two weeks, and I also asked my lawyer to makes sure they do) but even then I would not be allowed to return.
If you've made it this far reading, thank you. I know it's a long story and I actually left a lot out. But just please be aware that these kinds of things do happen, and they happen to people who've worked hard, honestly, to get where they are. I will send this letter to JET, CLAIR, my teachers and parents my community, and anyone else who listens. Out of respect for the other ALTs, I won't say what city I teach in--for now, anyway.
Most of the other white devils I saw in Japan were Australian.
I remember riding the ferry from Miyajima back over to Hiroshima with my wife after an awesome overnight stay, and there was this dude going on and on and on about how he needed at least three days in Akihabara.
::)
Another thing that crops up all the time between foreign males is the use of language as some kind of penis-wagging, alpha-male horseshit. Hit some word the other guy doesn't know yet, "What's that? Oh, you don't know?! This word means ______." Or watching the other guy's attempt to communicate, waiting for an opportune moment tocorrectassist him. "Yay, congratulations, your Japanese is better than mine. Here's a gold star for your forehead."
100% true. One of the first things I noticed when I got there. :lol You get guys walking down the street with this scowl whenever they see another foreigner. It's like gang territory or something. The best are the nerds; one time during a Tokyo trip to a conference, my wife and I were walking around Akihabara. We went through all the floors of a Sofmap and when we got to one that had animu/game figures, we saw these two white guys talking about the toys. When they saw me, they turned red, shut up, and skulked away with the same scowl...hilarious.
Another thing that crops up all the time between foreign males is the use of language as some kind of penis-wagging, alpha-male horseshit. Hit some word the other guy doesn't know yet, "What's that? Oh, you don't know?! This word means ______." Or watching the other guy's attempt to communicate, waiting for an opportune moment tocorrectassist him. "Yay, congratulations, your Japanese is better than mine. Here's a gold star for your forehead."
god GilloD you're such a koreeaboo, dropping all those furrin wurrds
100% true. One of the first things I noticed when I got there. :lol You get guys walking down the street with this scowl whenever they see another foreigner. It's like gang territory or something. The best are the nerds; one time during a Tokyo trip to a conference, my wife and I were walking around Akihabara. We went through all the floors of a Sofmap and when we got to one that had animu/game figures, we saw these two white guys talking about the toys. When they saw me, they turned red, shut up, and skulked away with the same scowl...hilarious.
Whenever I see a white person I'm super nice. I need someone to commiserate with, heh. There are 4 other Americans on my floor and we sit outside the CStore and drink Soju. Korea! White people are great. 95% of Koreans are amazing.
well hell, even i know that means 'arching ropes of jism'
god GilloD you're such a koreeaboo, dropping all those furrin wurrds
ANYONG HASEO. GAMSA HAMNIDA.
That's all the Korean I know. That and "hehehhehehehehehehehehehe"
Stupid question time:
you worked as an IT guy in the States, GilloD and coming from your stories you have a good programming/ db administering knowledge.
Now you work as an English language teacher in Korea.
Ok... ummmm... how does that work? Is the pay that much better (I don't think so, IT specialists learn way, way more than teachers).
Stupid question time:
you worked as an IT guy in the States, GilloD and coming from your stories you have a good programming/ db administering knowledge.
Now you work as an English language teacher in Korea.
Ok... ummmm... how does that work? Is the pay that much better (I don't think so, IT specialists learn way, way more than teachers).
I was making 30/k a year at my last job. I had health insurance, but I paid about 60/month for it. AFTER TAXES, my take home was about 20-22k. I paid around 6k a year in rent.
In Korea, I make about 24,000 a year, but I pay NO taxes and NO rent, so that's about 36,000. I also get a housing bonus of $400 a month, so that's about 40k. My wife makes the same now. And we BOTH have health insurance. Korea is also much cheaper than New York.
So it's not a HUGE step up, but it's much less hassle and the money is better. Plus, we get to travel. I get 3 weeks of paid vay-cay in Korea versus 1.5 weeks in New York.
Hmm, money was a good reason I guess. How long do you plan on staying there?
EDIT: Every place on earth is cheaper than NY I'd wager.
plus, the won is at a painful low right now. if it picks up over the next year, instant pay rise. (unless your contract is for a dollar amount...)
So, my 4th grade teacher speaks like 0 English. But she's always asking me convoluted questions in Korean, at which point I'm like "Haha, My korean is SO BAD!" and then we laugh and she walks away. She's also SUPER WEIRD. Today she like stood outside my office for 30 minutes and scared the shit out of me when I walked out. Then she came in and started using my computer even though I had like 10 windows open. So I said like, "Oh, uh, using. I'm using" and then she walked away without a word and started sleeping in the middle of someone else's class. This is a mere
oh god this story just got GREAT but I have to go update soon hahahjhaskdghdjghjd
A few minutes later, the door creaks open. She says omething to me in Korean and my coworkers pale. So I'm like, "Dudes, what?" and they kind of stammer and they ask her something Korean and she replies and it's clear that they're like. STunned.
Apparently she asked me if she could come home with me and do it.
WHAT. They told her I as married and she said something like, "Oh it could be fun" and then she left. And then she tried to come back in and my co-worker actually shoved her out the door and locked it. We called the Vice Principal who is like GOD there and she said, "I can;t really discuss it, but she has many mental disorders".
So, anyway. Korea?
Story B:
My office-mates rule. They're super nice. They take me to the bank and the cell phone shop and translate and fight to get me a good deal. They're fantastic and I love them TO DEATH. So today I stopped by the bakery and grabbed some donuts for them. Koreans are not huge on pastry in the AM, but post-Lunch they're game. SO I got like 5 from this lady in the market who makes them on demand. I brought them in, co-workers were delighted, we agree to post-lunch pastry consumption.
Meanwhile, Tues and Weds I teach 5th grade. My 4th grade co-teacher is INSANE with SEXY DESIRE, but my 5th grade teacher is just depressed. She usually hides in the office and cries the whole time. Today she hid in the office, cried and ate all 5 fucking donuts.
End ofTuesday.
Threesome?
Was she a good looking korean? I mean they're rare, but it could happen. I would have went for it. I'm sure the wife wouldn't mind. Everyone wants to try exotic cuisine. You only live once, man.
Sounds like maybe today is a holiday or school event that you didn't know about. :lol
Sounds like maybe today is a holiday or school event that you didn't know about. :lol
Kids are here. And my co-teachers are off teaching. Where are my students?
Sounds like maybe today is a holiday or school event that you didn't know about. :lol
Kids are here. And my co-teachers are off teaching. Where are my students?
Slowly working through the EB archives with a dictionary.
Was she a good looking korean? I mean they're rare, but it could happen. I would have went for it. I'm sure the wife wouldn't mind. Everyone wants to try exotic cuisine. You only live once, man.
No, she's not. Acne+Pale+Chubtown.
Anyway, now my 2nd class isn't showing up? Freebie, but like. What's going on?
Anyway it TURNS OUT that they SHUT OFF THE WATER IN THE WHOLE CITY to clean the resivior and no one told me. They canceled class, but I guess Is till had to be here, so whatever. Catch up on work etc.
Anyway it TURNS OUT that they SHUT OFF THE WATER IN THE WHOLE CITY to clean the resivior and no one told me. They canceled class, but I guess Is till had to be here, so whatever. Catch up on work etc.
They probably don't have a problem with school shootings though since it's a capital offense for any private citizen to own a gun, apparently.
What the hell did "2 sleep, 3 work" mean?
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
"Tommorrow we have, uh, physcial event. We all do sport. What is sport you are the best at?"
I am good at NO SPORTS. I suck at all of them. I was the kid who hid under the bleachers with a book. Fuuuu. Everyone is like "Oh, Americans so good at sport! What you pick?!". Is there D&D? Competitive dice rolling? Dwarven Trivia 101? How about a DIV-off? CSS-race? Anyone? help?
I'm going in February. :rock
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
"Tommorrow we have, uh, physcial event. We all do sport. What is sport you are the best at?"
I am good at NO SPORTS. I suck at all of them. I was the kid who hid under the bleachers with a book. Fuuuu. Everyone is like "Oh, Americans so good at sport! What you pick?!". Is there D&D? Competitive dice rolling? Dwarven Trivia 101? How about a DIV-off? CSS-race? Anyone? help?
Incheon I think. They haven't said my placement yet.
I've read that Incheon itself is pretty gross, but it's close enough to Seoul that it doesn't matter that much.
[youtube=560,345]U7mPqycQ0tQ[/youtube]
yessssssssssssss
Any of you guys been to Jeju? One my wife's best friends teaches English there.
Any of you guys been to Jeju? One my wife's best friends teaches English there.
Teaches? It's SUPER NICE. I think we're going to take a trip there in winter. It's like an unspiled tropical island. Cheap to get to, like 80 bucks round trip from here
Any of you guys been to Jeju? One my wife's best friends teaches English there.
Teaches? It's SUPER NICE. I think we're going to take a trip there in winter. It's like an unspiled tropical island. Cheap to get to, like 80 bucks round trip from here
Interesting stories. A couple questions:
1) How do you goto Korea to teach English, but can't speak Korean fluently? That seems kind of ... odd
2) Are you saying Super all the time, because Asians say it?
Just wondering.
How did the sports day go GilloD?
[youtube=560,345]U7mPqycQ0tQ[/youtube]
yessssssssssssss
[youtube=560,345]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBNqWzuPVCk[/youtube]
Korean GANGSTA BITCH
:rofl :rofl
K-pop and Korean "hip hop" and "R&B" are so hilariously derivative of their American counterparts.
I still remember some Lee Hyori music video where she was dressed up as a cheerleader and ran by a group of boys suited up in American football uniforms and doing the whole "AW DAMN son look at that girl!" routine. That would all fine if ANYONE IN FUCKING KOREA played American football. Watching Korean music videos may also give you the idea that street basketball exists here; it doesn't.
It seems like the style of music videos in general are currently in the 90's. The US will hit 2010 and Korea will start aping Beyonce music vids.
It seems like the style of music videos in general are currently in the 90's. The US will hit 2010 and Korea will start aping Beyonce music vids.
Already been done:
[youtube=560,345]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5vQNAB_9p4[/youtube]
[youtube=560,345]NGRj3jFAWcw[/youtube]heh it's like each couple of lines is taken from a top 10 rnb song. :lol
girls' generation :heart
Well, they do it in the buff here, so I was naked with about 60 other Korean dudes in a hot tub and steam room. New cultural experience indeed.
Back when I was doing the full-time musician thing, the woman at the local convenience store found out we played music, and brought me in a bunch of videotapes of what was supposed to be her favorite bands in Korea, because we, as musicians, would appreciate the musicality regardless of the language barrier. She was always so sweet and nice that my guitarist and I felt obliged to watch some of them in case she quizzed us.
The tapes wound up being hours and hours of H.O.T., a Korean boy band. Hooooo.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/hotgraham/HOT.jpg)Well, they do it in the buff here, so I was naked with about 60 other Korean dudes in a hot tub and steam room. New cultural experience indeed.
Either that's one giant hot tub, or there was more to this "New cultural experience" than you're telling. :-*
H.O.T.!!Kitty Yung?
We need an appreciation thread.
EDIT: Oddly enough, typing H.O.T. Korean into Google image search did not result in a slew of boy band pics. :teehee
Here's G Dragon. He's like ELvis or something. This video/song is on everyhwre you go and Koreans are constantly going "Pika pika pika tay". It has supplanted 2NE1's 'I Don't Care' as the greatets Korean musical achievement of all time:
[youtube=560,345]LOXEVd-Z7NE[/youtube]
So, new "cultural experience" (as the bilingual Koreans put it) for me today. I went with my friend's soccer team to play in a nearby town and afterward they insisted we go to the sauna. Well, they do it in the buff here, so I was naked with about 60 other Korean dudes in a hot tub and steam room. New cultural experience indeed.
Ah yes, the dreaded open class.
I quickly found that none of the pressure was on me, but on the teacher instead, and it was no longer a problem. I generally found that it made me, the ALT, look good, and the Japanese teacher who was SUPPOSED to be prepared to teach his/her class English look pretty bad. :lol There was one class where the teacher approached me weeks in advance, and I helped her make a power point presentation, which resulted in a fantastic lesson; it was pretty impressive, but she kind of "cheated" and had her class practice this particular lesson for several days before the open class happened. I guess I don't blame her, since this wasn't just teachers that came, but also higher-ups from the board of education.
Most of the other open classes I had were usually pretty bad. I'd come in and do my thing, then step back and watch the teacher have a mini melt-down in front of his/her peers, from either doing a mediocre/shitty job, being unable to handle the kids, or both.
Yes, English teaching's a hilarious way to waste a few years, but there's no way I'd want to do it again or even for as long as I did if I could do it all over again. Two years is the sweet spot, I think. Other ALTs used to say this; I did for three years, and I think I agree. It was really getting boring by the third year. I was enjoying living overseas though. :)
When my contract ended, I stayed around for four more months, job-hunting. Only applied to one private English school, and it was a complete joke of an interview. The guy got there like 20 minutes late, flat-out lied to me about how the school operated (he said a bunch of different stuff in e-mails to me), told me that they don't tolerate people who arrive late (even though he showed up late, lol), but then told me how his top teacher was always late for work, and he'd fire her if she wasn't at the top, and then got all pissed off at me when I told him I was making more money then he said I was (he was a JET too). I wasn't even arguing with him, he was like "You make around 360,000 a month, right?" And I said "A little more; 380,000, but yeah in that range." And he gets all defensive about this and indirectly accuses me of lying. I explained that my contracting organization paid me extra to help cover the rent, but he doesn't believe me. I later realized that I had a pay stub in my briefcase I could have whipped out, but like it even would have mattered. No way I would have taken that job, and no way he would have hired me. That was a fun experience.
Have you and Mrs. ever thought about Peace Corps? My wife's sister and her husband were in Morocco for 2 1/2 years and loved their experience.
Wut.
That's lame.
Also, check yer PMs.
Yes, English teaching's a hilarious way to waste a few years, but there's no way I'd want to do it again or even for as long as I did if I could do it all over again. Two years is the sweet spot, I think. Other ALTs used to say this; I did for three years, and I think I agree. It was really getting boring by the third year. I was enjoying living overseas though. :)
When my contract ended, I stayed around for four more months, job-hunting. Only applied to one private English school, and it was a complete joke of an interview. The guy got there like 20 minutes late, flat-out lied to me about how the school operated (he said a bunch of different stuff in e-mails to me), told me that they don't tolerate people who arrive late (even though he showed up late, lol), but then told me how his top teacher was always late for work, and he'd fire her if she wasn't at the top, and then got all pissed off at me when I told him I was making more money then he said I was (he was a JET too). I wasn't even arguing with him, he was like "You make around 360,000 a month, right?" And I said "A little more; 380,000, but yeah in that range." And he gets all defensive about this and indirectly accuses me of lying. I explained that my contracting organization paid me extra to help cover the rent, but he doesn't believe me. I later realized that I had a pay stub in my briefcase I could have whipped out, but like it even would have mattered. No way I would have taken that job, and no way he would have hired me. That was a fun experience.
Yes, English teaching's a hilarious way to waste a few years, but there's no way I'd want to do it again or even for as long as I did if I could do it all over again. Two years is the sweet spot, I think. Other ALTs used to say this; I did for three years, and I think I agree. It was really getting boring by the third year. I was enjoying living overseas though. :)
When my contract ended, I stayed around for four more months, job-hunting. Only applied to one private English school, and it was a complete joke of an interview. The guy got there like 20 minutes late, flat-out lied to me about how the school operated (he said a bunch of different stuff in e-mails to me), told me that they don't tolerate people who arrive late (even though he showed up late, lol), but then told me how his top teacher was always late for work, and he'd fire her if she wasn't at the top, and then got all pissed off at me when I told him I was making more money then he said I was (he was a JET too). I wasn't even arguing with him, he was like "You make around 360,000 a month, right?" And I said "A little more; 380,000, but yeah in that range." And he gets all defensive about this and indirectly accuses me of lying. I explained that my contracting organization paid me extra to help cover the rent, but he doesn't believe me. I later realized that I had a pay stub in my briefcase I could have whipped out, but like it even would have mattered. No way I would have taken that job, and no way he would have hired me. That was a fun experience.
Yeah, that's one of the interviews where you can just go ahead, get up and leave, and even flip the guy off if he asks you where you're going.
Wow. I don't think I'd even interview with a company that wasn't going to purchase my plane ticket up-front to attend their interview.
I wouldn't expect to attend an on-site interview without having passed all but the last stage of candidacy anyway, but once they're willing to bring you in, it's on them.
GilloD: Keep a bunch of difficult and time-consuming word searches at the ready for any days you just feel like absolute shit. The learning value is next to nil, but every now and then you have days where you gotta think about what's good for you, not what's good for the kids. And in my experience, nothing keeps them busy and quiet like word searches. If you feel guilty about it, just redeem yourself the next day with a fab lesson plan.
GilloD: Keep a bunch of difficult and time-consuming word searches at the ready for any days you just feel like absolute shit. The learning value is next to nil, but every now and then you have days where you gotta think about what's good for you, not what's good for the kids. And in my experience, nothing keeps them busy and quiet like word searches. If you feel guilty about it, just redeem yourself the next day with a fab lesson plan.
Yeah, I usually include a small wordsearch on all my worksheets. Problem is that I can't make worksheets and I really can't make worksheets for 6 weeks, heh. Yikes. I am DEMORALIZED
So, I have this big projector screen I use to display Powerpoints and videos and whatever. Games, too. Vocab slides etc etc. It;s the only thing the kids will pay attention to because they're all on the internet 24/7. WHatevs. Anyway, I had a rough like two weeks. The kids were acting horribly, I was getting 0 support from my co-teachers and I just kind of lost my footing. So yesterday I put in like 12 hours of work, really pumped out killer lesson plans for the whole week. I come in today, I teach the first 6th grade class and it goes fucking great. The era of Good Feelings is back! I feel vindicated, it's really going well, everything is perfectly timed A++.
And then the projector breaks. It just won't turn on. And I have nothing to teach. I manage to swing it mostly by talking, but without visual aids the kids are like "wtf is a shoe wtf isa turkey blahblah lemme throw paper at minsu lemme chase jimmy around the room". I actually copy my PPT to posterboard, but it's still kind of shitty. I limp through the day, I spend like 75% of my time trying to keep a room of 40 kids from exploding while my co-teacher sleeps in the office that isn't hers. I try to make worksheets at one point but we're "Over our paper budget". Our paper budget turns out to be LESS THAN 1 sheet per student for the whole semester. Great!
Finally, at the end of the day this tech guy shows up. He immediately knows what's wrong. Here's what he says: "ohhh many school computer tv break. many fixes, yes? so maybe 6 weeks to fix okay". FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.
Like. I learned on a chalkboard. Fine. But I also wasn't learning French at a conference-style table with no one who spoke English in the room. ANyway. Time to make new paper lesson plans!
Forgive me for sounding like a douchebag but why is it that you're always late or you're the only one there at where you work?
Forgive me for sounding like a douchebag but why is it that you're always late or you're the only one there at where you work?
I'm not late. I;m supposed to be in at school by 9 AM, I usually come in at 8:30 so I have some time to clean up and write out lessons and make sure I have all my copies etc etc. Today they bumped up everything by 30 minutes but never told me.
My last job was hilarious(ly awful) and people would just like not shown up sometimes.
lyte edge: Kancho is taken from Naruto, right? Korea imports most of its manga (I think they like to call it manhwa here) from Japan, and I think Naruto is super popular too, so the ass-poking doesn't surprise me.
:lol I enjoy your stories, GilloD. Things are more tame where I'm at--I experience many of the things that you do, just at a lesser degree of craziness.
lyte edge: Kancho is taken from Naruto, right? Korea imports most of its manga (I think they like to call it manhwa here) from Japan, and I think Naruto is super popular too, so the ass-poking doesn't surprise me.
I've only had it happen to me once though. I was entering the school grounds one morning a few weeks ago, still in morning-commute mode and completely oblivious to everything around me, when suddenly I feel a small, sharp jab directed to my rectum. Mind and body immediately entered "WTF" mode and I turned around and saw one of my kindergarten students (yup, gotta teach the kindergarten class 4 times a month every other month) with a shit-eating grin on her face and the most ridiculous pseudo-innocent demeanor. I didn't know what the hell to say--I can't really lecture her because her entire English vocabulary consists of four words (hello, goodbye, teacher, cookie). I just shook my head and continued walking.
You should have just yelled "TEACHER COOKIE GOODBYE!!!" with a scowl on your face.