Tiger Year!

Last night was interesting, I didn't realize how interesting it really was until now...

A girl, Tsubasa, I had previously met at Club Triangle in Osaka, called she wanted to come by my house to pre-game with her little sister before they went to the club. Initially I agreed. But as the hour drew closer I was kind of dreading the whole ordeal. But I waited to the last minute to even have time to raise my protests over the idea. They were already on the way at that point.

Of course the Tsubasa forgot, where exactly I lived and went to 心斎橋駅 and ended up having to take a cab from their to my house. Some how I was able to give her directions to my house! I can barely give people directions to my house in America, yet I gave perfect directions, (in Japanese), to my house in a foreign country. Had this been America I would have just said something arbitrary like I'm near the park and that would have been it, no street names, no good discernible landmarks, just "I'm near the park".

Any way the Tsubasa and her sister made it, and we began pre-gaming. We were having a good time, but the hour to start our night approached fast. Time flies when your having fun.

Both Tsubasa and her sister already had tickets to the Slum Village show we were all planning on going to, I didn't. So that means I would have to wait in a long line to get in, so I decided I would leave separately on my bike so I could get there and wait in line while they were coming up, and hopefully by the time they got there I would have my tickets. I gave them directions from my place to the club. This time they didn't understand so well, and Tsubasa was getting annoyed. I rode my bike over to where they were, and showed them which street to take, then I headed off rapidly to the club.

When I got to the club I was surprised to find there wasn't a super long line, like I had been anticipating. I paid and went in, and waited for Tsubasa and her sister or Slum Village, which ever happened. On a side note one of the members of Slum Village was standing next to me and asked me some questions about Osaka, I wasn't sure what he said and couldn't really tell if he was really talking to me so I didn't respond, and he walked away.

Tsubasa and her sister came we got drinks and went straight to the front of the venue right near the stage. After awhile I started dancing with Tsubasa's younger sister Haruka. We locked fingers and the dance was getting pretty heated, she wasn't nearly as good of a dancer as Tsubasa though. Every once in awhile she would pull down sharply on both of my arms, I had no idea why at the time though. Meanwhile Tsubasa was laughing at what was happening, had no idea why at the time. But now I have an idea. Obviously Tsubasa brought her sister over to meet me, because she thought I was a nice catch (not like we are even dating though). But I mistook the situation as hey I want to hook you up with my sister lol. Imagine it like this you are talking to a girl off and on and she is like hey you should meet my mom, in that situation any normal person would take it as just that meeting her family. But not me, apparently I would take that as "Ohh shit she is about to hook me up with her mom".

Obvious I wasn't able to read Haruka's body language well at all at the time. And I am sure I made myself look like a creep. EXCEPT that I did start to back away from Haruka, several times in fact, and each time she would turn around see where I went then back up as well. So I think that more than anything confused me, but what ever, at this point I could care less about any of this. I know Tsubasa's view of me as "an amazing guy" is shattered, and I honestly don't care.

That first day we met was amazing though. Just casually went up to her at a club and started dancing, and man she can really dance. Wayyyy better than any other girl I have met in Japan, so I was definitely impressed. We talked after and hit it off well, an then returned to the dance floor to dance the night away. Before we parted ways in the early morning light. Each time we meet after that got progressively worse, and less magical. But that is a story for another day.

Unprofessionalism at its finest

どとんぼり川の祭り

明日デリックは大阪市に来る。彼が私の新しいケイタイーがある！ここから英語書く〜

So my friend Derick is coming tomorrow, and he is bringing me an iron. That's how unprofessional I am, don't even own an iron! This reminds me of an interview I had recently. I woke up early and dressed up in my best, and had a bit of breakfast. Time was running short so I had to rush to the train station. About halfway into my trip I realized I didn't have my resume! I left it in my apartment on my counter. No sweat there was a menu from McDonalds on the floor of the train I picked it up and grabbed a pencil from my pocket and hastily wrote my resume down.

Got to the hotel where the interview was to be held, and man was it nice! Talking about a 5 star hotel in Japan. Super sleek yet elegant looking with all the stainless steel and huge windows and plants hanging around. The interviewer bought me dinner at the hotel restaurant and we started the interview. First order of business he asked me for my resume. I handed him my handwritten resume. He glared at it, and was said, "WOW! Makes me hungry!"

"Great", I thought we are off to a good start the rest of this should be smooth sailing. so we chatted and he said he would like to do everything to get me a job with his company. As the interview progressed, I got more and more relaxed. So relaxed in fact that I loosened my tie, and then later took it off completely. The interviewer was kind of taken back by this. And he was like would you be this relaxed around your co-workers? He was like I would need to maintain a level of professionalism at all times. I commented that this interview just made me feel relaxed.

The interview concluded, so I went back and went back to sleep. Didn't get that job unfortunately :(

hmm

Dotombori祭り taken from my balcony!

Alot has happened, so much stuff that I don't even remember anymore. One thing I can say is that Osaka is bad ass! Definitely my favorite place in Japan, wish I had been living here the entire time, seems like the other years were a waste of time compared to my time here in Osaka. Anything I couldn't do in Gunma or Yamagata I can do easily here! Which explains why I never have time to blog these days, because I am always super busy. I will try and do a blog once a month, but it remains to be seen going forward if I can stick to that. As of right now I am counting down the days until I am finished with my current job and move back to being an ALT. Working in an 英会話 was okay at first, definitely made more money then when I was an ALT, but everyone just got a pay cut, and more work. So yea screw that shit, Japanese people might be willing to accept that kind of treatment but not me.

I know that the closer it gets to that last day the lazier I will probably become, and I am not concerned in the least bit. I have been working so hard that I am usually pretty exhausted. The company went bankrupt and then got bought out, in the process I lost all my vacation days. Which sucked because I was trying to take some vacation days, and my manager was being a total bitch about it. So in the end I ended up not getting a vacation and losing the days.

On top of that I am sure this new company is going to try and screw me over, so I will have to attempt to stay one step ahead. They fucked over two of my co-workers, so whats to say they wont do the same to me. They found some bullshit reasons to withhold money from their last paychecks. And my friend Nao got screwed over as well (almost) they over paid her then demanded she return the money they paid her on accident. To make that shit even more ridiculous she would have to pay the transfer fee to correct their mistake! WTF is that shit? I don't think she paid the money back, because that is some weak ass shit right there.

I expect some similar treatment. My only saving grace is they don't actually know which paycheck will be my last. The pay period is from the 15th to the 15th. I told them I would stay until the 21st to "help them out" but I have no plans on doing that shit, but I cant tell them that. I find its best to quit after you have gotten your last paycheck, that way your previously employer cant do shit to you. And that is my plan exactly. The 15th of August falls on a Saturday, and it just so happens that I work on that day. So I am going to wake up early check my bank account, make sure I got my paycheck, and if everything is okay, I will give my current company the flying bird! That will leave me with a two week break before I start my new gig!

Until then I will keep my head down and be 元気！

3rd base!

A few weeks back I had an intimate encounter with an older Japanese man. It isn't at all what you are thinking. So without further ado let the tale begin. I was a Wednesday I believe and I was at the gym across from my job. I had a good workout, and was heading to hit the showers. Outside of the shower area I was looking for a locker to put my things in. The only one available was up pretty high I had to stand on my tip toes just to reach it. While I was reaching, some Japanese man slid in-between me and the lockers to get his things from a lower locker. When he bent down to get his things his ass collided with my thighs causing me to lose balance. I fell forward, and to break my fall I grabbed on to his sides. So here we were two men at a crossroads in our life. I am sure when he was a schoolboy he never imagined he would be straddled by a sweaty black man outside of a shower. In fact this gym was in the countryside he has probably never seen a black man in his life. So his first encounter isn't the best one. I am sure a handshake would have sufficed. Once I regained my composure he said the most common word ever in Japanese すごい, meaning among other things "wonderful". That didn't make the situation any better. Once we both entered the shower area he was talking excitedly about what had just occurred. It's not like he was talking about some other random black guy everyone knew exactly who he was talking about. As I was the ONLY black guy that was a member of this particular gym. Now the locker room is like a gay prison, as awkward as that sounds that is how it is. I guess to the Japanese it's some kind of glorified piggy back ride. Personally I would hardly think carrying a fully grown naked black man on your back as something as carefree as a piggy back ride. In fact if in your life you are ever carrying a naked man on your back regardless of where he is from or his creed, something serious has happened or is about to happen.

Hmm

Haven't been able to post in awhile haven't had a computer. Hopefully soon that will all change!