Update

So much for keeping up with this.  I moved back in the middle of this year and got married.  I do hope to someday live in Japan again.

My Future

I know that this may be a bit premature, but I'm thinking that I might stay in Japan for longer than a year.  I already plan on staying through next September, which would put me at about 14.5 months which is already over a year, but I mean longer than that.  I haven't even been here three months* yet and I feel that I still have so much to do.  I'm just starting to meet people (although this process is longer and more difficult than I would like it to be) and just starting to be able to pick up small things in the language.  Assuming that things go well for the rest of my planned time I'm fully ready to make this an extended stay in Japan.  The only thing is that this is a slightly sudden revelation and no one but me knows this decision.  I have a feeling that I'll be disappointing a lot of people once this fully comes out, but I'm finally at a point where I have the base for what I want: every day to be an adventure (for better or worse).  I'm pretty excited/happy that I made a decision even though it could change over the coming months

To kind of throw this in with the main idea of my post, I have been more aware of people staring at me now.  Surprisingly the worst was when I was on the train, in Osaka City no less, and roughly ten people, most of them around my age, stared at me.  Other than being not-Japanese I didn't do anything to make them stare at me.  I didn't do anything rude, I don't dress strange, just me not being the same I guess was enough.  The only thing is that being in Osaka you would expect people to not care about another foreigner, especially when it's the younger generation who is generally more open and used to different cultures.  None of the stares were mean or glares, but my point stands nonetheless.

*My three month anniversary in Japan is coming up on the 19th of this month.  While it may not seem like a long time and not an important date, it is to me.  Three months, or ninety days, is the longest you can be in Japan being legally needing a visa.  I guess that the milestone helps justify my time here (not like I needed a reason).  It's pretty cool to me since I did not move growing up, so I really only had where I grew up and college as extended stay locations (in this case more than two months at once).

Sick and Sightseeing

For the past seven days I have been battling and recovering from a cold.  I spent the whole weekend in bed and got to enjoy all of the normal downs of being sick: fever, cough, aches, vivid dreams, and a raspy voice.  Lucky for me it didn't get so bad that I needed to go to the hospital or a doctor because that would have been problematic for me.  I think that I should probably figure out what I would do if I ever got to that point.  Thankfully I am getting better, although I am not 100% yet.

I am looking forward to the fall weather and activities.  I hope that I can get enough sightseeign in before it gets too cold and before the leaves all turn  brown and fall from the trees.  I'm hoping to make it out to either Kyoto or Nara some weekend.  I am also excited to see an Osaka Evessa game (basketball) since I can see one for as little as 800 yen.

I am starting to really get a hang of how things work around here on a deeper level and I am slowly (emphasis on slowly) learning Japanese.

Happenings

So even though this happened the other week I finally got around to getting my health insurance straightened out.  It's a real inconvenience that important places are only open during normal work hours.  It's like you are not allowed to have a job if you ever want to get something done or you have to take a day off.

My neighbor is usually fairly audible when talking, even at night to at least 1:30AM on a lot of days.  This includes week days.  Two or three nights ago at around 10:15PM or so I hear it getting loud.  This time it may or may not be him and it might be upstairs, but either way I decide to hit the wall a bit.  Most people from around my area know that it means to quiet down, or if you're not being loud, hearing a sound once means that you accidentally hit the wall so I decided to try it here.  A few minutes later I hear my doorbell ring twice in succession and before I could even get up It was rang two or three more times.  Looking out the peep hole I saw people I had never seen before but I open the door.  It turns out to be the guy next door and his girlfriend (I hear a guys voice much more than anything else so I'm guessing).  He just stands there while she talks.  I say that I don't understand them and she says "bang, bang, bang!" with a knocking motion.  I was shocked that they had the guts to come over to my apartment to complain when they are incredibly loud, especially since it was so early and possibly wasn't even me that was making the noise she was complaining about (since she said "bang" multiple times).  She kept talking for a while even though she could tell that I didn't understand it and then said "goodnight" and left.  I could hear the door close and then they yelled at each other.  They are worse than neighbors in college and it's worse because these people are in their 20s and are always loud yet are willing to complain over one small thing.  Very hypocritical.  

Now that I've been here long enough I finally have enough money to have disposable income!  I'm looking to spend some of this extra cash on learning Japanese so I can get to the point of at least having a basic conversation.  I also want to buy a new camera so I can take better quality pictures, and I am looking at bigger apartments since mine is kind of small.

I'm also really looking forward to cooler weather.  I heard that fall really only lasts for a week or two, I don't know how much of an exaggeration it is but it's a little disappointing since I enjoy the crisp weather and sightseeing at this time is the nicest in my opinion due to smaller crowds and the changing leaf colors.

Work and Cosmosquare.

I finished another week and this time it was six days since I had to work Saturday.  Saturdays are actually a little simpler than weekdays because you have less students and because the day is shorter.  It was relaxed and everything got done on time but when I got home I felt dead and it was only the afternoon.  I did not do much of anything yesterday as a result.

Last weekend I decided I wanted to go to the bay but wanted to see it at night so I waited until it got dark.  I took the subway to Cosmosquare and walked along Seaside Park.  I walked down to the Osaka Maritime Museum which looks really cool being a dome that looks in accessible (because the only way to get to it is through an underground tunnel).  I found out when I got back that it has closed on March 13th of this year after only being open for 13 years.  By the time I had gotten down to the museum it had started to drizzle and I figured that it was only rain and since I hadn't seen everything that I wanted that I would keep going.  That was a mistake.  I was already a ways away from the station and there was no good place to walk as the rain picked up and eventually became a downpour.  Another trip cut short by rain.  To top it off, 95% of my pictures turned out horrible since my camera is not meant to take pictures of things that are further than 30 feet away at night so everything was black.  I at least saw a few fireworks and could see the Ferris wheel lit up from so far away.

Week One and Shitennoji Temple

I finished my first week of work at my new job.  When Friday came it was nice.  I had worked seven days in a row again as a result of going from my old job to this one and the days of the week I work.  I'm getting the hang of my new job pretty quickly.  I didn't really have a proper week of training so I am still forgetting small things like moving around desks and chairs at certain times so when my class goes into another room and someone else uses my room it is set up for them.  Every day I feedback from someone on how to improve my lessons and to make sure I include everything needed.  All of the feedback has been constructive and everyone has been really nice since I started so it's been easy to adjust, but I still hope that I figure everything out as soon as possible.  Other than working out lessons I am responsible for reviews of the students each month.  The only problem is that I've only had one complete week with them so how can you really base someone's strength's and weaknesses off of such a short time?  Not every class is taught each day either so some I have even less of an idea of.  Again, though, I have been given help with this task so it's less of a burden.  The kids all seems to like me and so far I've done a good job of keeping them entertained while ensuring that they are safe and learn.  Sometimes it seems like what worked one day to keep their attention doesn't work the next day.

Yesterday I ended up waking up early enough to go out to a temple.  I made my way down to Shitennoji Temple in Tennoji, a place where I've wanted to go for a while.  Right when I got out of the subway I noticed that it seemed to be a lot more open.  Most of the buildings aren't as high although every once in a while there are tall buildings.  One intersection seemed to be very wide and it seemed like I could see for miles.  After walking south a bit I looked to my left and it really opened up!  I could see a cemetery and a large temple.  I was not expecting to see that.  Most of the pictures of the area only show the pagoda and the temple and nothing else around it.  There weren't very many people but there were people working cleaning the courtyard area so it wasn't very peaceful.  In a way it ruined the visit.  I spent maybe an hour and a half walking around going everywhere I could.  I didn't get to see everything, though, so I was disappointed.  Most of it closes at 4:30, but the internet made it sound like the only part that closed was where the pagoda and temple are.  I was planning on going to Tennoji Park and walking around but as I was leaving the temple the sky started to get dark and it started to rain.  At least the rain brought cooler temperatures.

Obon Week

So this past week I surprisingly had off.  The only reason that I did have it off is because I wont be working for this company for much longer so I didn't care to work at another location for three days.  I ended up doing less than I would have liked, but then again, if I really wanted to do more I wouldn't have been so lazy.  Even though I didn't do much, I still managed to complete a few important tasks.  Since I got paid I paid off my bills (something that has been bothering me since I got here), and I still have money left over!  I even bought myself some pillows (finally), and better "sheets" (I found out after I bought them that it is meant for a futon, I made it work).  I still need pillows cases, though.  Most of my confusion stems from my lack of Japanese.  However, now that I'm not poor, I can afford weekend Japanese lessons so I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing!  I also bought more hangers so now all of my clothes are hung up and I managed to make my apartment look presentable and not like I just moved in. I also made my way to the grocery store so now I have food to last me for a while and I even managed to pick up things like a hand towel and a pink pot (it was all that they had and I wanted pasta).  For dinner I made myself rice and salmon with garlic powder, salt, and pepper sprinkled on and I decided to cook the salmon in Dijon mustard.  The mustard gave the meal a little kick which is what I wanted (I tend to like unconventional food pairings).

I did say that laziness cost me the opportunity to see what I wanted to see (still no Sakai City Museum), but I completely forgot about the heat.  I decided to go to my nearest Seiyu to see what they had (where I got my groceries, fancy new pot, etc.).  when I was checking out the cashier asked if I wanted a bag, I shook my head yes but was only given one and that was because of my pot.  I tried to put everything into the one bag but only half would fit so I had to go back and pay two or three yen for another bag (that was filled and overflowing).  I guess that's another case where my lack of Japanese has come back to bite me.  That wasn't a problem in itself, though.  When I started walking to my train station a few blocks away the bags started to rip from the weight.  A screwdriver that I had bought had poked through the bag and ended up stabbing me once in a while on my way back.  The worst part about it all, though, was the heat.  It was about 96 degrees Fahrenheit, or 35.6 degrees Celsius with the humidity way up!  By the time I had reached the train station, an mix of the heat/humidity, and carrying my two heavy bags that were falling apart on me caused me to be drenched in sweat.  When I finally got back to my apartment I felt horrible and not since I had to lug my suitcases from the airport to my apartment had I felt this physically tired.  While that was the most physically draining day, it wasn't the hottest.  A quick stop to my nearest combini early in the week made me feel like I was melting and so that discouraged me from wanting to do much even though I had set my sights high.  If only a minute in the sun made me feel like lying on my bed with the AC down to 23, I didn't want to be out for over an hour.

A few nights I did walk around, but they ended up turning into excuses to go buy some food I didn't need.   My most successful night brought me to Dōtonbori.  I knew that it was going to have a decent amount of people, but I didn't expect it to be the tourist trap that it was.  Osaka Castle has nothing on it.  I wont lie, though, I went there pretty much just to be a tourist myself.  It was definitely worth seeing once, but not some place I care to go again.  It is the smokiest and dirtiest place I have seen yet in Japan (which is cleaner than a lot of places, but still).  It was difficult to enjoy everything that was going on when you had to watch out for other people walking into  the whole time.  I did manage to get myself a picture of the two most touristy signs in all of Dōtonbori.    

                                                                             Glico Man:

I also took the time to see Hozen-ji Temple since it is right in the area.  Again, there were too many people there to appreciate as I could.  After walking around aimlessly for a few minutes I found Namba Parks.  Every set of stairs I climbed I thought it was the top.  I was wrong about five times.  The view was really nice, but my camera is horrible in low light situations so most of my pictures were either black or blurry.  As I was leaving I did happen to see Tsutenkaku and I got a few bad pictures of it.

Now I just have to make sure I'm ready for my new job!