Halfway through

I'm halfway done through training. After a long day, I just finished all of my HW for the night and I feel okay. I'm starting to be exhausted at all of this learning. Seriously though, 9 hours a day of lectures, learning, and performing model lessons. 9 hours of day of full energy and then coming home (and wanting to do nothing more than relax, eat, and sleep) with a stack of homework. I've gotta tell you. This training is hard. Good news is that I'm almost done.

The worst part is that I did almost nothing that was worth noting and it's only my 5th day in Japan! That's how much time this training is taking up. Sleep. eat, and learn.

I know, I know...this post is kind of a downer. But it's not all bad...on Saturday, they'll be bringing in real babies for us to try our newly learned craft on. Kind of scary yet exciting. Saturday will also be my last training day. Do you know what that means? Sake! Beer! Karaoke! Black Outs! Hang Overs! And Japanese weirdness. And then on Sunday, I'll be getting the keys to my shiny new apartment. I'm excited because me and Natalie have been separated for this entire week. Sunday will be an end to that.

So, lots to look forward to! Hopefully tomorrow is less tiring

Rotator Sushi

Second day of training is officially over! I did a model lesson today and I think I did pretty well. It was for the baby class I'm supposed to teach. The only thing I did wrong was...forget all of my props in another classroom. Realized it halfway through my lesson. Outside of that, everything was pretty routine. I have a CRAP load of homework everyday. It's 11:40 pm right now and I just finished my homework, which is to prepare another model lesson for tomorrow.

Highlight of the day (and there weren't many) was going to a rotating sushi bar and having my first sushi in Japan. For those of you who didn't know, a rotating sushi bar is where you sit at a bar and there is a conveyor belt moving in front of you filled with individual plates of sushi. It's one of the most fun AND cheapest ways to eat sushi in Japan. All in all, it costs about a buck 20 per  plate for 2pieces of sushi. The most expensive kind is 2 dollars. However, even the dollar variety will hook you up with some quality fish: salmon, tuna, crab, shrimp, etc. What's cool about it is that they pump out an endless variety of sushi. I think I saw quite a few new types of sushi. Ones with a giant dark blue veggie on it and some weird sea creatures. I don't even know. Other highlights were the Miso soup and the faucet of hot water at your seat where you can mix in matcha powder (green tea powder) to your hearts content. Also, they gave me an awesome sushi shaped lollipop on my way out. Forgot which one Natalie got but it was cool too. I'll try to get a picture of them later.

Okay, well off to bed. Got another long day ahead of me!

PS. much to the disappointment of us Americans...there were no Philly or California or Hawaii or Texas or Montreal or you name it sushi rolls...just the boring, really delicious kind.

Poke Trainer Training

After 9 hours of sitting and being lectured and watching demonstrations and trying to teach the way my company wants to, I've finally completed my first day of training.

I'm tired and annoyed that I have homework AND that I have to wake up early and do a demo lesson to my trainers tomorrow. But otherwise, I'm no less excited about working for this company and IN Japan than I was two days ago. It looks like it's going to be a fun yet challenging environment to work in. I don't have much to say otherwise unless you want to learn how to teach English to infants and how to sing songs and generally look foolish to anyone that is over 7 years old.

Besides training, I ate an amazing bowl of Japanese Soba w/ a side of shrimp Tempura and I went to the grocery store to pick up my first Bento lunch. Still a satisfying day even after all the hard work...

Now it's off to bed to recuperate and prep myself for another long day tomorrow.

Alone Abroad

After spending most of the weekend hanging out with and getting to know our new co-workers (Paul, Allen, Thomas, Christina, and Eric), Natalie and I had the opportunity to spend some time exploring the city by ourselves. It was really nice because we can really relate to each others perspective as far as experiencing Japan. Having taught in Korea last year and having lived together for three years, it's a lot of fun being able to compare Japan to life in the States and in Korea. We tend to notice and observe very different things but when we put it together through conversation, it becomes quite fun.

We did a few things today. We mostly just walked around. That's what I love about traveling. No, I didn't see the Eiffel tower nor did I see Mt. Fuji. But I walked around in a department store for 3 hours. It. was. awesome. The mundane becomes interesting. Just checking out all of the weird little gizmos and trinkets that Japan produces is quite fun. We walked into a Pachinko Game Room where dozens of elderly Japanese play seizure inducing slot machines. We played Street Fighter 4...IN Japanese. We ate our first bowl of Ramen. We saw Harajuku picture booths and walked into an arcade for infants (as in, an arcade where each game is shrunk to fit baby hands, even a baby sized air hockey table!). We explored the hipster Japanese equivalent of Goodwill and observed that 75% of the Japanese population wears black slacks (or skirt) and a white dress shirt...while the rest wear weird...I mean awesome or I mean a something a notch under pokemon suits.

After our department store goodness, we had the opportunity to check out more of Okayama. It's really quite a nice town and it's impeccably clean. The people are easy going and friendly and it's not a noisy place. Honestly, Japan...you've knocked my socks off.

Well, gotta catch em all. What i meant to say was Gotta get some sleep. Tomorrow, I start Poke-Trainer training and I plan to give the middle finger to Jet lag.



I leave you with this: The epitome of Japanese weirdness:

Yes, he is a cell phone charm

The Good, The Bad, and The Weird

Hello!

After a long and tiring flight, I finally reached Japan safely on Friday night. I'm now in Okayama City, Japan where I'll be training for my job. I'm staying in a dorm with about 7 other English teachers (all from America). So far, I LOVE Japan. It is really amazing. Everything about it is just bizarre, but so far, in a good way. Let's start with the good:

The Good:

• It's safe
• It's clean
• The people are really friendly
• The food is so good (and I haven't tried any sushi yet)
• It's actually really pretty here
• There are so many interesting things to see and to go to in and around Okayama city
• Technology is way better than in America

The Bad:

• It's pretty expensive. It's very reasonable for food but transportation and alcohol are up there. I mean beer is about 4 or 5 bucks at a bar. It's not too bad but you won't find me drinking 3 times a week.
• There's not much to do as far as nightlife goes. We found a foreigner bar, and I thought it was pretty horrible. It was like hole in the wall, but in a bad way.

The Weird:

(Japan is just about the weirdest place as far as civilized countries go. Mind you, I think weird things are even better than good things. This is what I love about traveling. The weird.

• Green tea flavored everything is everywhere (green tea flans, green tea ice cream, green tea Kit Kats, green tea soda, green tea cakes, green tea donuts, green tea cookies, green tea flavored tea
• Butter flavored potato chips (the foulest thing ever)
• Men are super flamboyant (make-up, purses, more make-up, skinny pants, hidden high heels, lipstick)
• The grunting (Japanese people just kind of grunt sometimes. Sometimes, I feel like I already know Japanese because you know, I'm an expert grunter). For example, yesterday, this guy came up to me and started flexing his muscles at me while grunting. Then, he touched my arms and grunted. Then I grunted and that was perfectly normal.
• People wear halloween costumes (last time I checked, it's not even July)
• Dragon Ball Z and all of your favorite Anime characters are part of the national culture
• Just about everything on TV. Turned on the TV and saw a group of women dressed as weird pseudo super heroes with colorful makeup...grunting at each other.
• Vending machines everywhere. Heck, even at some restaurants, you pay for your food at a vending machine
• Bra and boob bouncing infomercials. 
• Just general perverseness (hentai..weird)
• Arcades with the weirdest assortment of games ever

The list could go on and on....all in all, I love Japan. It's fun, it's new, It's exciting...life is fun right now.

I'm really looking forward to my year here but I already miss my friends and family in Houston and my mom in Quebec. Ok, well Sayonara!

The first of many. (things)

Konnichello! (Konnichiwa and hello)

Welcome to my blog. My name is Nikola. So, I'd just like to start by saying that today is a very special day for me. In a few hours, I'll be boarding a plane to Japan along with my wonderfully awesome girlfriend, Natalie. It's really unbelievabl!. A new adventure, a new experience, and a new blog. I'll be moving to Japan to teach English to the kids in Okayama city, Japan.

Right now, I'm a little tipsy. I've just said goodbye to my family and my friends (don't you just hate those?). I'm unbelievably excited and a bit nervous. I've been waiting for this day for so long that I don't know how to express how I feel about it.

So, it's almost 4 am. Let's get this party started! See you on the other side of the Pacific and enjoy the ride.

Bye-o-nara