Special Update: Ryan in Halifax

Ok, so I've safely arrived back in Canada. I... I can't update right now because I'm on a laptop (laptops make me tired) so I'll fill you in on all the details later.

Any of you in Halifax, please contact me.

-Ryan

My Last Days at Nova

OSAKA - With only two working days left and only five days left before Canada, Ryan is preparing for his long journey home. As his last week at Nova has progressed, Ryan has openly announced the fact that he has quit to every class he has taught. The conversation generally goes as so:

"Hello, my name, of course, is Ryan. I come from Canada! I am going back to Canada next Tuesday!"
[students stare blankly - one of them possibly claps in confusion]
"I quit Nova. Friday is my last day here!"
[Students start to catch on, some gasp and others whisper amongst themselves. I draw a sad face on the scrap paper in front of me and point to it. The students laugh but then affirm that they feel the same way.]

"You... you have quit?!" one asks, "But you will come back?"
"I'm coming back to Japan on July 20th," I reply. "But I am not coming back to Nova."
[blank stares]
"Osaka - yes. Nova - no." I say as I cross my hands to indicate an x.
[They give an "ahh so" expression of comprehension.]
"Another school??!" one asks inquisitively.
"No" I reply. "I want to start a business!"
"A business??" Their hats fly up in the air.
"Yes, a man-to-man (one-on-one) teaching agency."
"You???" they ask and point to me.
"Yes." I reply and point to myself as well (it's how things work here).
"I want to join and be your student!!" one exclaims. The others in the group quickly follow suit as I write out my e-mail address so they can contact me later.

I'm really going to miss these students. I work at a medium-sized school with only about 500 active students (students who have come within the past three months). Although that sounds like a lot, I only teach weekday evenings, which narrows it down to a small pool. This delightful bunch of mismatched characters have made my longest-running job ever (SEVEN MONTHS!) into the best job I've ever had.

Day after day I've had the opportunity to sit back and listen to them talk about their daily lives: their problems at home, their overly stressful jobs, their experiences abroad, the hopes for the future, trips to their hometowns, their opinions on pets and the delight they take in eating delicious cakes. I've been inspired by their determination and the fact that actual adults are taking time out of their busy lives (some of these people are getting only three hours sleep per night) to study English. They each have their own individual goals, but seem to be able to stick by them and watching them progress has been exceptionally rewarding.

Anyway, hopefully I can take a few of the most pleasant ones with me...

On the brighter side of things, this past weekend I was informed that I have been selected as a possible candidate for the scholarship for which I applied last month. This means that I'll have an interview and some Japanese testing in Toronto once I'm back. I can't wait... I've started trying to put my case together as to why I'm worthy. It's tough.

If you were wondering whatever happened to my poker legacy over the past couple of months, well, I was trying to hide the fact that I had become a failure. I lost four or five times straight to a brainiac pre-law guy from Illinois and his intense Australian roommate. Anyway, I'm back on top as I made my final clean sweep last night.

With World Cup Soccer in full-swing, Japan has been crushed with the loss of what was most likely the only game they had a chance at winning. My students have now started agreeing when I tell them how much I hate Australians.

Between soccer games, my newest roommate Jack and I have started our own training. Every night we've been going for long, exhausting jogs and it feels great... Actually, I just realized I'm late for tonight's jog. I'm going to leave you with an assortment of pictures from the past week since I probably won't have a chance to update before Canada.


Tuckered out on the train after a long day at work


My last days with the Nova Usagi


My last days with my Nova students' files


Supa Tomode - My neighbourhood discount grocery store (allegedly owned by the yakuza)


The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building apparently has people rowing up it. I visited their Museum of Entrepreneurship and Innovation yesterday, it was great.


Would you pay $210 for a melon? What if it were the Best of Melon?


Clutter upon Dotonbori


This one is for Sean (who clearly has the fashion sense of a Japanese woman)


Yes, the Japanese have WANTED people too. And one of them has been to this station, it appears (bottom-right).

Have a great week, I'll update from Canada.

Reading Montenegro

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
-Groucho Marx

I just finished reading another book. That's right. Me, reading. Possibilities are endless when your home has no access to the internet or English TV. And this one came much more quickly than the seven months it took me to read the first Lord of the Rings book... I finished this one, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, in under two weeks.

But how could you read a book that quickly? you're probably asking in wide-eyed astonishment. Well, it was interesting enough to keep me reading on the subway and at Bagel Bagel so it really wasn't my usual one-page-a-night read. The authors applied economic theories and statistical analysis to an assortment of topics and together we learned to mistrust real estate "experts", that sumo wrestlers bathe in filthy corruption and all about the corporate structure necessary to run a proper crack ring.

In summary, I used to find reading to be a huge waste of time, but the non-fiction genre has really baked the cake (sorry, I was in the mood to invent a new saying). Last week I went to the Osaka public library (I'm a member of a library!) which happens to have a decent English section and took out six non-fiction books. My bookshelves are finally being used for their intended purposes (rather than the maple syrup and wires that they have been historically holding).

Speaking of "non-fiction", I saw the movie the Da Vinci Code last night. It was a nice cross between ridiculous and exciting, but what really hit me was how much I'm going to miss being in Europe this summer. I hate Japan. No no, that's not true, but I have started to rethink what I should do with the rest of my life. Maybe I just need to watch Battle Royale again when I come home to remind me of why I'm here.

Usually, I end up getting specific channels of inspiration from movies that weren't intended by the film-makers, and the Da Vinci Code was no exception. I'm now considering a career in the efficient and secretive field of Swiss banking.

Speaking of work, at time of publication I'm down to ten working days left. That's forty hours of teaching time or fifty classes (yes, they're packed in there quite firmly). I have been coming up with brilliant schemes of how to go out with a bang, but will need to keep that secret until my last day has past (haha, I hope that gives the intended shroud of vagueness for my co-workers who I know are reading this - but please note, it will likely not end in violence).

This Friday brings us into the Fifa World Cup Soccer season. This is, by far, my favorite sporting event to follow (short of the elusive Rugby 7s). I love how Brazil, rarely talked about despite being in the world's top five countries for both population and land area, is somehow able to shine and defeat those uppity Europeans. Not to say that I want Brazil to win or anything. I'm going for Iran this year, actually.

Rather than pick a favorite team, I usually tend to pick a least favorite team. And this year, I'm determined to do whatever I can to ensure that England doesn't win. I live with two English roommates and it would be the best gift any God could give me to ensure that they lose every single game they play.

The other day, as I was sipping on my afternoon coffee and enjoying an afternoon BLT bagel sandwich at Bagel Bagel, I bit into something strange. A BLT sandwich should contain, as its acronymic name suggests, bacon, lettuce and tomato. What it didn't specify, though, was the lemon. There was a full sour lemon wedge lodged in there, complete with skin and seeds, hidden in the depths of my sandwich.

Now I'm not one to complain in Japanese-run restaurants, so I didn't. But as these types of occurences are very common, I always wonder whether my food's bizarre outcome was intended or just a coincidental mistake.

Speaking of segues, my reading of the daily newspaper has finally paid off. The world's former newest country, East Timor (which declared independence in 2002), has erupted in riots. This is most likely to be over the fact that their country is no longer the world's baby. On Saturday, Montenegro declared its autonomy, separating from Serbia.
The upside? Another country to visit that doesn't end in -stan. The downside? I officially no longer know the capital city of every country in the world.