Temporary relocation

Hey, hi, just wanted to write a quick “what’s up” to my readers.  I’m in Southern California frolicking in the sun and getting in some family time before I peace out to the other side of the Pacific.

I’ll be back at my home on Friday evening, then I head to Tokyo eeeeeeearly Wednesday morning (and arrive Thursday afternoon, Tokyo time).  Lots to look forward to over the next week and a half.  Stay tuned.  For…something.

Here and now

When you really think about it, being “alive” is a funny thing.  We strive for self-preservation, but existence itself can be a troubling and heartbreaking experience.  We have our highs and lows, but doesn’t it always seem like those rock-bottom moments feel more earth-shattering than the sky’s-the-limit times?  For me, it does.  I always seem to remember my lowest lows more vividly than I remember moments of triumph.

I do a lot of complaining about my first world problems and my brooding malcontent about the way things are.  I tend to take minor events and rip them to pieces in my mind for the sake of humor and ego-boosting.  I constantly think of how I can “better” myself and my life; how I can achieve more, learn more, be something more prolific and exciting than what I am.  But recent events have served as a reminder to me (and many, perhaps) that rejoicing in the here and now is truly important.

I’m writing this post in wake of recent news regarding the passing of Rodger Swan, upbeat, positive Japan enthusiast and popular YouTube personality.  Rodger passed away unexpectedly earlier this week, and it’s left a shocked, confused, and deeply saddened group of friends, family, and fans to ask themselves: why him?  Why Rodger?  Since I heard the news, I’ve asked myself the same thing.

I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Rodger personally.  For me, he was a friendly face on a computer screen capturing little moments of his life on a video camera and sharing them with the rest of the world.  His consistently cheery demeanor and genuine zest for his life showed through.  There was a total absence of cynicism in his videos, which I think is something rare these days.  Many of us take pleasure (myself included) in mockery, overarching judgments, and passive-aggressive comments, but it wasn’t present in the material Rodger presented to us.  I looked forward to meeting him one day at a YouTube gathering.

His passing is untimely, unfortunate, and deeply saddening.  It serves as a reminder that all we can be really certain we have is the here and now.  How do any of us know for sure there’s going to be a tomorrow?  It’s easy to lose sight of what’s within our grasp right at this moment.  I know I’m guilty of placing too much stock in my future plans, and I tend to forget that living the present is vital to enjoying the future.  It’s hard to live in the moment and enjoy things simply for what they are, but I think it’s a quality that Rodger exemplified, and we could all do well to take a page from his book.

Thank you, Rodger, for sharing your life with us.  You made an impact on a global community, and I’m sad you’re no longer on this earth to continue inspiring and motivating us to follow our passions.  I’m sure by now your ever-present smile is dotting the cosmos.

We miss you already.

When good people get together

Since being back in the US, I find myself comparing many aspects of life here to life in Tokyo.  Transportation, people, food, shopping; there’s something to be said about the similarities and differences present even in the most mundane of everyday situations.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to compare the small-town bar experience to the big-city nightlife.  I think what I found is that it’s truly the people that make or break things.

The planets had aligned perfectly so that one of my closest childhood friends and I were in town at the same time.  We hadn’t seen each other for somewhere around 4-5 years, despite years of shenanigans as children.  He moved to New York when we graduated high school and attended the American Music and Dramatic Academy there.  Always a very talented person, my Mom has video of him singing Disney songs in talent shows as a little boy and making all the mothers cry.  He’s quite good.

Anyway, we got in touch, established we’d like to catch up, and quickly the question came up: “What do we do here?”  We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do for fun, as well as how to get safely to and from where we were going.  We finally decided to hit up the cheesiest possible place; the local Mexican restaurant.  Our mission was margaritas.  The shining moment of the entire expedition: “I want to drink, but I don’t want to drink and drive…so…Mom, will you drive me?”  And drive us my mother did.  She remarked: “Y’know, it’s just like when you guys were in school!” Yeah, except this time we’re going to a bar instead of a school function.

Times change, what can I say?

Our beacon of hope that was the Mexican restaurant closed at 9PM, so we headed to downtown Redmond in search of a place that would stay open a little later.  We found it – a local sportsbar.  When we walked in and sat at the edge of the bar, it was clear we were out of place – instantly we were giggling and cracking camo and workboot related jokes.

Soon it became apparent that this was a very karaoke-friendly kind of place, so we participated (despite my best efforts not to).  After all the country music the other patrons sang, our Ray Lamontagne and Fiona Apple seemed rather out of place, and people looked at us a little funny once we finished our songs.

We had a great couple hours catching up and comparing our experiences moving from the small town to the big city.  It was hilarious to hear similar anecdotes about returning to small town life; getting strange looks for the clothes we wear, re-learning to operate without public transportation, and trying to figure out what to say to people we used to know when we run into them.

First-world problems, I know.

We called it quits somewhere around midnight, where our next task was to find a way home.  The bartender called a cab for us, and told us it’d be a 20 to 25 minute wait.  We stepped out to the road in front of the bar where we stared at the empty street, both expressing the same sentiments regarding cab access in small towns.  I walked into the middle of the street (which, I should note, is like a highway downtown) and took a couple pictures of the downtowniest area of my city.

Our cab picked us up in the alley behind the bar (for some reason), we headed home to our families’ dwellings, and called it a night.  It was the first time I’ve done anything like this in literally months, and it felt so good to go out and enjoy myself again.  For all the crap I give my hometown for being so gosh-darn-hometowney, it’s experiences like this that point to what you can make out of a situation given the right people and a little bit of imagination.

I’m so glad we had the chance to catch up – this particular friend is one I’ve been close with since elementary school, and probably the only friend I still have from that time.  It amazes me to think of the people that come and go in our lives.  When I take inventory of the people that are active participants in my life and that have stuck with me through relationships and absences and everything in between, I feel so grateful!

Mostly grateful that they haven’t been totally put off by my incessant nerdy movie references and my penchant for burping the names of foreign politicians,  but, y’know.

I guess the point of all this is that the night served as an experience to remind me of how important good folk are.  People you love are hard to find, and I’m so happy to have the people I’ve found.

All the juicy details…

Today I officially accepted the position I was offered.  I’m very, very excited to see things coming together in great, great ways.  Here’s the info regarding what I’ll be up to for at least the next year of my life:

I’m going to be teaching at a school operated by American Language School Japan in West Tokyo.  It’s a franchise owned and operated by a family.  In my research about the company, I’ve been really surprised; I cannot find anything negative about this particular business.  Forums and discussion groups are littered with less-than-positive rants and stories about many other English-teaching gigs across Japan, but I feel very good about both my placement and the people I’ve been coordinating with.

I’ll teach from about 3 PM to 8 or 9 PM Tuesday through Fridays.  ALS will secure a place for me to live, provide my visa sponsorship, and spend two weeks training me before I begin.  They offer a very generous 5 weeks of paid vacation each year (in addition to national holidays where applicable); 2 weeks in summer, 2 weeks in winter, and a week in spring.  My class sizes will consist of no more than 6 bodies, and each class will be up to 50 minutes, once a week.  I’ll teach a wide range of ages and abilities, which will require some flexibility on my part.

I’ve never done anything like this before; the teaching I’ve done in the past has been in super-informal situations with language partners and friends.  I’m looking forward to gaining some new skills, meeting new people, and helping out where I can.  There’s some other opportunities I’m looking forward to exploring in my time outside of the classroom; increasing my fluency in Japanese, further familiarizing myself with the culture, and in general enjoying being back in Tokyo.  I’m feeling very, very positive about it all.

I come back in less than a month – I start training in Chiba on the 15th of February, but anticipate arriving a few days before that to accommodate jet lag, and also to give me some time to run a few errands before I get busy with work.  I’m looking at flying in on the 10th or the 11th.  I stay for free at ALS’s place in Funabashi during my first week of training, but think I may make a day (or weekend?) trip into Tokyo depending on how much I need to take care of and how many people I want to harass.  After that initial week, I’ll head to my new place in Tokyo (West of Shinjuku) for a week of observing the current teacher and taking notes.

I’ve got a lot to do in the next 25 days or so, but I’m really looking forward to being busy again.  The last two months have dragged by, but little landmarks have kept me going.  A few days ago I got this very important document in the mail:

At long last!  I have this piece of paper that gives people the impression I have some semblance of intelligence!  I promise to use my powers for good.  Mostly.

I’ll have a video up in the next couple of days on YouTube with this all of this information as well as with some video of shenanigans from the land of rocks and trees over the last couple months.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been so, so supportive despite my absence from Japan.  All of the emails, comments, skype conversations, and phone calls have meant a lot.  I’m still surprised with every new subscription on YouTube that I see, since I haven’t posted anything even remotely Japan-related for months.  I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and creating Japan-related content again.  I loved having every day be a learning experience and being able to share that with readers/watchers.  Also, I’ll be changing my twitter user name to reflect my YouTube and blog (finally).

Thanks again for sticking with me through this hiatus.  I can’t wait to get back!

YES

Oh my God oh my God oh my God I’m so excited I think I’m going to pass ou

[THUD]

Here, have some Oregon

I’ve received some queries as to the status of my job.  I got an email from the company yesterday letting me know that their first week back in the office after the New Year was quite busy, but they’ll know this week if they can make me an official offer.  They wrote to verify my employment status (unemployed) and to make sure I was still interested in the position.  Why yes, I am still interested!  I’m eagerly awaiting their email this week.  I hope it contains good news.  I have a whole set of plans to launch into action if I get the job offer, and I’m very excited to start.  So, thanks for your support, everyone; I’m really hoping for some good news very soon.

In lieu of an update about my potential new job, I thought I’d share a little bit about where I live.  This post will in no way deal with Japan, so feel free to skip it if you’re only interested in Japan-related content.  I promise not to be offended.

Here’s a map of Oregon.  My hometown is Redmond, smack dab in the middle of the map, where the red circle is.  I attended University at the UO in Eugene (GO DUCKS), and my younger brother attends Oregon State University about 45 minutes north of that in Corvallis.  Oregon can be divided into some distinct areas – many people are fond of the “Valley” area, which includes Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, Portland, etc.  The I-5 strip up the western side of the state is a pretty popular area, and the Oregon coastline is very beautiful.

Where I live is called “high desert” because our elevation is about 3000 feet, but the climate is very desert-y.  Further east in Oregon is pretty flat and grassy.  I have access to tons of different outdoor activities here including the popular Smith Rock, snow-sport mecca Mt. Bachelor, rafting on the Deschutes River, and a few hours’ drive from surfing (in very cold water) on the Oregon coast.  I’ve never surfed the Oregon coast because I’m a sissy and am also afraid of crashing into rocks.  I’ll stick to California and Hawaii for the time being.  I can claim my rights as an Oregonian for having hiked/snowboarded/rafted at all the other places, though!

My younger brother studied at the central oregon campus of OSU for fall term, and we moved him back to Corvallis last week to his new place to start winter term.  On the way, we stopped to take some photos because the valley area is so vastly different from where we live.

I’ve driven this road many, many times over the four years I attended college, and every time I’m struck by how much it looks like Lord of the Rings was filmed here.  I think this is the “Oregon” that most people picture when I tell them I’m from Oregon.  I spent four years in a place where I heard people refer to rain as “liquid sunshine”, but my hometown is the polar opposite of this.

This is part of our driveway and the “compound” that is our house.  Our place sits on 20 acres, and what we lack in grass we make up for in…well, dirt.  The climate here is very dry, and lately, very grey.  We live out of town, so it’s very quiet and I don’t see people other than my parents unless I leave our property (yes, I have become a hermit).  I took these photos around 4:30 PM today as the sun was going down, and it was still so dreary I turned on the light on my camera to take photos.  It looks like this every day anymore, and it makes me understand why some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder; it’s a pretty depressing sight to look at day in and day out.

We’ve got Juniper trees, large rodents that live in rock-houses (I’m serious, we named one Paul several years ago), extremely dry weather year round (our rain comes in the form of flash storms during the summer), and my house is down the street from a reindeer farm.  Yes, reindeer.  They get shipped out around the country every December for shows and pictures and things.  I see tourists pulled over to the side of the road to take pictures of them every once in a while.  Inevitably, there comes the season when I see a sign posted outside their office: “Seasonal sausage now available!”  I live in a quirky area, I suppose – it’s pretty laid back, but there’s definitely certain “types” of people that live in central Oregon – the majority of the population consists of hicks and yuppies.  Interesting to see them collide, let me tell you.

Well, there’s my Oregon.  Riveting, I know.   My town’s population is about 25,000 people, few of which I know, and even fewer of which I want to spend time with.  I suppose I could head down to Home Depot and try to make some new friends there…naaaaaah.

Job update soon (I hope!)

P.S. – I realized recently my twitter feed on the sidebar of the blog doesn’t display my Retweets now that Twitter has implemented the Retweet button.  This makes me sad, because I like to think I follow some pretty funny people, and want to share their musings with everyone.  If you’re interested, check out the people I follow – I have no idea who the majority of them are, but they make me laugh a lot. I suppose I should warn that their content is often socially inappropriate…but I like it that way.

Out with the old, in with the new

Happy New Year, everyone!  I’m not sure my new year was worth writing about, but I’ll do it anyway so I can segue into something else later.

I spent the evening of the 31st at home playing Monopoly with my brother and his girlfriend until around 11:57, when we migrated to the living room to watch the traditional ball-dropping ceremony (which really sounds a lot more hilarious than it is, now that I think about it).  We gave a half-hearted “Yay…” along with my Mom, who joined us for the “exciting” moment before retreating to our respective rooms.  I slapped my brother to ring in the new year as I headed back to my bedroom.  I’d say that was the highlight of my evening.  He’ll get me back soon, I’m sure of it.  It’s some kind of sick ongoing game we have, and I’m not sure how it started.  Story of my life.

Anyway, I’ve got high hopes for 2010.  After my last blog post, I surprisingly got an email from the company I was mentioning, who said they’d forward on my info to the owner of the place where I’d applied.  I’ll get more news from them at the end of this week.  Still crossing my fingers (I wish that actually helped).  I’ve also had to come to terms with the very real possibility that this (and other positions back on the other side of the pond) may not work out at this time for me.  I don’t like to think about it, because it’s where I’d really like to be at this point in time, but it is important to have a backup plan to fall on.  I can’t exist in this limbo forever!

I’m pushing forward, because I need a reason to get out of bed in the morning (other than to consume massive amounts of caffeine and harass my cats).  It was another wakeup when the rest of the world went back to work today, but I slept in until 10:30 and spent my day drinking coffee and pacing my house.  It may sound great, but after two months of this, the cabin fever has really set in.  My partner in crime (read: brother) headed back to start his winter term at university, my parents have things to do, and it’s about time I had plans of my own (other than wasting time on Twitter).

So, 2010, I’m open to suggestion.  You know what’s up; you know what I want.  If we could cooperate and work something out, that’d be pretty cool.  I’d like you a whole lot better than I’ve liked some previous years, that’s for sure.  I’ll do my part if you and the universe can coordinate and help me make it all happen.  I’ll try to make the best of it.  And yes, I promise not to spend tooooo much time sleeping.  I’ve done enough of that the last two months.

Happy New Year!

Limbo

I’m stuck.  Stagnant, stymied, caught, going nowhere, and doing nothing.  The first couple weeks I was home there was a flurry of activity; I was applying like crazy to anywhere and everywhere I was qualified to work  in Tokyo.  There were sleepless nights spent drafting cover letters and revising resumes, afternoon interviews and many carefully worded emails sent.  Now I’m in the waiting stage.  As much work as the application process was (I think I applied to around 20 jobs), this waiting portion is more difficult.

I’ve been in talks with primarily one company over the last couple of weeks.  I found out they contacted my references, and they’ve held a couple interviews with me.  They’ve got great benefits, a solid program, and a schedule that fits with my needs and interests.  In a nutshell: a good match.  About a week and a half ago I had an intensive interview with their recruiting director, and she informed me at the end of the interview that within a few weeks, she would review my information with the president of their company, and then contact me with information about available positions should I “pass” his or her inspection.  The next day I got an email from the director detailing the job I applied for – a position in West Tokyo.  Packets of information regarding everything one could need to move to Japan were included.  Also included in the email was a line stating clearly that it was not an offer, but if I was interested in the position, I’d be recommended for the job to the owner of the establishment (who I suppose gets the final say).

This email was sent to me at about 4:00 PM Japan time on a Friday afternoon – right before the company’s holiday break.  I emailed back immediately stating I was interested, but I won’t get any kind of reply until they’re back in the office on the 4th.  So, I wait.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying (and failing) to keep busy around home.  The world has slowed to a crawl here at my house.  We had a grey Christmas a few days ago, but the planet chose to give us some snow a couple days later.

The snow puts a damper on all sound.  It feels like the world around my house has paused; everything has come to a standstill.  It’s funny how time seems to slow down when all you want it to do is speed up!  I’ve lost all concept of a normal human rhythm – my sleep patterns are non-existent, and I lay awake at night trying to think of any and all possibilities surrounding my future.  It’s exhausting!  I know it’s fruitless, but I can’t seem to turn off my brain anymore.  So if any friends see me online late at night, say hi, because I’m likely very, very bored and seeking something to distract me (I’m usually up until 7 these days).

Last night I laid awake thinking about how I just needed something positive.  A growing sense of apathy has been dragging me down quite a bit, and I wanted something to pick me up; something to prove that I was moving forward and making progress.  I was very surprised this morning to wake up and find it:

Finally!  I deferred graduation to do the internship, and have been waiting to see that “Awarded” word on this page for a long, long time.  Seeing this was just what I needed.  Limbo may suck, but at least I can still get a degree while I’m here.

Happy Holidays!

As time has passed, our family’s holiday celebrations have become progressively less present-centric and more breakfast+talk centric.  A couple years ago we started a new tradition of writing family-related stories that we’d share with each other on Christmas morning as opposed to spending a small fortune on gifts.  This year was much the same – minimal gift-giving, and the highlight was on spending a little bit of time together.  Unfortunately, my Dad had to work today (he’s a 911 dispatcher), but we still got a few hours to spend with him this morning.  My younger brother had his significant other’s family to celebrate with, too.

We ate breakfast together, hit each other with pillows, had a few laughs, opened the handful of presents we had under our little forest of trees, and then broke for the day.  I groggily wandered out to the living room at around 10:45 or so to find we had a grey Christmas this year – the world is very, very frosty this morning.

My gifts were in the theme of keeping warm (especially after this blog post).  My parents got me an upgraded heater and I got some extremely fuzzy slippers from my Gram (thank you!).  My brother’s lovely, lovely girlfriend recently returned from a study abroad trip to the middle east, and she brought me back a bracelet from Syria!  I love receiving practical, meaningful gifts like these.

So, with that, another Christmas gone by.  I’m going to spend my day utilizing my new gifts (i.e. sitting in front of the heater and keeping warm).  Check out the Happy Holidays video I made a few days ago, too!  I hope you and yours have a very happy holiday season, whatever you may be celebrating (or not celebrating) this year.  To everyone I couldn’t be with this year, I miss you and wish I could have been in several places at once today.

Happy Holidays.

With love,

Alisha

Recap: Japan Tourist Adventure Part Two: Attack of the Parents (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1:

These posts are pretty image-heavy, so in the interests of saving your computer a little bit, please click the “Read More” link.

(Kyoto) Here we did mostly the same things I did with Gram back in the summer – we visited the Imperial Palace and the Golden Pavilion during one day, then checked out the famous Fushimi Inari shrine the next.