Calm before the Storm

Its been a pretty quiet week.. and I think as I head to takayama this week it will be another quiet week... Good before Golden Week Mayham!!!!!! I'm spending SO much money to travel only so far for like 10 days... but I told myself I'm not here to make money... so... here I go!! HAHA To even push myself further I made sure I tithed 10% this week for the money... lots of money actually 10%... AND I'm thinking of buying a Nintendo DS... its so big here... they have so many practical games and programs for adults... like dictionaries and those point and speak books... and more brain games... I'm also looking at childrens games perhaps test my japanese... hehehehe... so that means more money.. but not yet I guess... they're SOLD out still here... crazy eh?... so much stock elsewhere but in japan it sucks when something is popular.. they get it last...I want that light turquise one... ohhhh I want that one.....

Moral?... errr I'm learning to let go of my money?.. you'd think that'd be an easy thing to do eh?...

I think as I'm planning out the upcoming months (family visiting at the end of June!!! Hope I get that week off!!! Surviving insane summer here... It was SO humid the other day too, and I felt sick then... then I remembered that the summer is like that with 30 something degrees....)
I'm already thinking again of what I will be doing when I return.. there's a big fear I have to face of the really NOT knowing what I can do when I get back.. I think as I've taught here... I've learned that I don't think I want to become a teacher... I like teaching and care for children very much... but I'm not happy being the teacher thats only okay at my job and children disliking me because I'm the teacher... heheheh..... If I were a teacher I want to be a better one than that... I don't think I can... be that...
But I'm seriously interested in a job regarding children in some way... perhaps some organization that deals with children - on the administrative side, or some volunteer programs... or community centers?!.. I don't know actually... I just know I'll be starting probably with lower pay than I'm getting here.. but then I will be living at home and not paying ridiculous rent like here.... I wonder how ppl become paper pushers for the Vancouver School Board?! hahahah... A part of me is screaming 'I want to be lazy too' as I know there are aspects of the admin job I'm going to hate... like making phone calls to people... errr... anything beats working for my family... not that I don't like the job - its quite interesting - its just that I HATE working with my family.. there's too much pressure to perform - not from them but for myself.. I don't want to fail my family... and live with them... and work for them... EWWWWWWWW no matter now much they drop the idea of "taking over the family business" I REALLY refuse to do it... especially anytime in the near future... like the next 5 years minimum... tooo stressssfullll also I need to face the real world sometime... see if I can work away from my family... yes...

One thing I've really learned being away from home is that its really nice take a break from being the giver in the family... hahah you know how there are givers and takers in the family... I'm a giver.... and its nice to not have to feel guilty or bad for not giving... heheheh.... just for a while.... I need a break... I'm also learning to be on my own too... or rather relying on God - because only recently have I've been praying for teaching agian... and acutally enjoying it again... before I was getting tired.. felt like I had no impact on the children.. but God gave me peace, energy and persistence.... but my family is getting used to being on their own too hehehe....

oyeeeee... more ramblings for later :D

Ohh my friend lent me a book on japanese culture... how cool is this word? Karoshi! Overwork Death... hahhaha
"Sudden deaths of workers who have been working excessively. This is a result of patience and diligence having a negative effect. This phenomenon became obvious in the 1980s and "karoshi" is now a widely known word outside of Japan."

GO CANUCKS GO!!! ROUND 2!!!!!!!!!!!

Just the Way it goes...

What can I say, I've had a dramatic week... at work! As noted, japanese companies have insane late rules... well last saturday it was the last day before a 3 day break... I was tired.... I needed a day to myself just to re-coup... however, I should have been concentrating on the time to leave, because what I thought was the weekday train schedule was actually a weekend.... hahaha so I just missed the train.... and the next one I could be late... so stupidly I call the head office to tell them... perhaps I could have gotten away with it, but the students have been so early that whole week monopolizing the english teacher parents left students in my class that weren't supposed to be there, dropping kids off 20 mins early and 20 mins late.... stupid hanami time (cherry blossom picnics) - thus I lose bonus money... I was thinking... ahhh wells, i guess I deserve this...

And then when i came back from Fukui to visit Shan (see below) I was to sub at a school I've never been to before... it turns out I got the old map!!!.... BOO BOO... I was SO late... and could have lost another 2 points... in our contracts we have 4 points, least to say when you get that far down you basically get fired..... God had it taken care of.... my supervisors defended me from the start and it really helped... and later i found out that having the old map wasn't my fault... so that cleared my conscience.... oyee oyeeeee..... I guess I could have been in worse shape.... considering I just set off a self destructive bomb off... anyways...

It was a nice place to be teaching these past two weeks - I taught the same school for two weeks as in Japan the new school year starts in the begining of April, it just so happens that we were introducing new curriculum this year too....


I had an awesome time hanging out in Fukui, just before that Raph fullfilled his promise of visiting us at some point... it was cool having him around :D The week before that I got to go to Nagoya Castle for a walk around...





In Fukui Shan introduced awesome food, and I also had the chance to head up to Kanazawa for a day... unfortunately I didn't get to see the Ninji Temple up there.. it sounded really cools cause it looked like a building about two stories high, but when you get inside its like a maze of 5 floors. This was a tactic used to confuse enemies if they ever made it all the way into the building...
But I did get to see the following....

JR Station:
Big Park:

Didn't get to go inside, but wanted to: Modern Conservatory of Art


Samurai District:

While in Fukui there was stuff happening... and according to Shan, typically nothing happens in Fukui.... We also went to see a huge buddhist temple in the mountains....










I've forgotten what its like to have plans and be a busy person... but I certainly will be for the next two months...

Golden week - a week where almost every japanese person is off.... is going to be insane (lots of people)... I'm going to Hiroshima that week! yeah!!
Then when I get back I'm going to Okinawa with Shan.... sure my cost is a little pricey but we're going with someone that can drive and has gone many times... that so beats going on my own...
And then... at the end of June, I just found out my most of my family is coming to visit!! (yeah!!!!) which means another week off for me.... now the question remains.... am I even making money anymore? hahaha ahhh wells...

I do need rest though.. and time, alone... and with God.... thats what I'm seriously lacking lately.. I feel fatigued because of making myself busy somehow.... even though I'm out and doing things... I think its that I really miss serving God... I've been more nostalgic than usual...*huggles I miss everyone...* its bad but I'm thinking of skipping church tomorrow just to spend time here with the God and the bible...... is that wierd?