Some news: I managed to get an interview with a Kyoto-based electronic parts manufacturer called Rohm next Tuesday, 7/12/2o05. I have no idea whether I have a good chance at getting a job, but I will wear my suit, bust out my most polite Japanese, and hope for the best. At the same time, various sources are telling me that it will be difficult to impossible to get my visa extended. This after plunking down $1200 on a set of air conditioners for Anna and my house next year, as well as extra for a refrigerator, all-in-one microwave/oven/toaster/grill machine, table set, etc. I figure that if worse comes to worse, I will head back to the US just before my visa expires on August 22, spend some time with my family, take care of miscellaneous business with school and other issues, apply for an English-teaching job, and come back. I really would prefer not to teach English though, as I have little aptitude and even less interest (although I do like teaching and helping my foreign friends with their ESL studies).
Other news: The Kiryu Times will be interviewing me tomorrow, presumably about my internship at Mitsuba through JETRO. It is my first newspaper interview ever, let alone in Japan, so I am a bit nervous but I think it will go okay. I will post the article in this blog after it is published.
Still other news: I have Anna and my new address for for the forthcoming year, to which care packages, letters, and other goodies may be sent (highly encouraged). If you want to know, ask, because I don't feel like publishing it to the public.
And now tonight's feature: some random pictures I took with my cell phone throughout the last 11 months in Japan...
Section 1: People
The first two are of me now, the second from last month when I had to get a little dressed up to interpret for my company's Global Purchasing Conference, and the last is my nametag for work. My company is called Mitsuba, the first line of Japanese text says "Intern" and the second line is my name written phonetically in Japanese.
Anna being cute as usual...
...and struggling to beat an arm-wrestling robot in an arcade near Isesaki City, Gunma.
Fanart from Anna's little tykes. The text on top says "English" followed by "Anna-sensei."
More fanart. The text says "Anna-sensei." I felt just slightly jealous after seeing these and reading some of the adorable cards her kids wrote her. It's so different working for a Japanese company...
My friend Taka with about $3000 after he won big at the slots.
Taka's cousin Hide intently playing Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.
My friend Shu Dar when she came to Tokyo for a short-term study abroad, with a friend.
Section 2: Food
From left to right: (1) my "birthday cake," constructed from a base of silken tofu and topped with avocados, carrots, seaweed, and Japanese crackers; (2) an adorable "bentō" lunchbox Anna made in perfect Japanese style - the cubes on the left are made of a kind of tōfu not readily available in the US called
kōyadōfu, and the mixture on the right consists of beans, carrots, shītake mushrooms, and a variety of seaweed called
hijiki - almost too beautiful to eat; (3) a platter of
yuba (a thin sheet of tōfu prepared by letting a film form on the top of soymilk as it is boiling), prepared and served in different ways. In the rear are three types of Japanese noodles: buckwheat "
soba" noodles on the left,
udon noodles in the middle, and green tea-flavored noodles shaped like
soba on the right. I got this with my friend Shannen in
Nikkō, a famous temple town a few hours away from where I live.
A hamburger with rice balls instead of bread for buns and spicy flavored burdock root (i.e.
gobō) and carrots instead of meat. Way to go!
A spaghetti sandwich. Had to buy it.
The first vegetarian hamburger I have seen in Japan, given to me by my friend Shannen.
Section 3: Engrish
I don't mean to poke fun, but a little copy-editing could have prevented this. I for one am excited that my winter jacket is an authentic cloth made for me. Who wouldn't be?
Ah yes, the good ol' days of froppy disks.
Section 4: Random interesting images:
Some aluminum scraps at a factory I toured. Pretty...
A phallic candy for sale at a tourist trap. The large text reads "power candy," and the text to the left in red says "A mysterious power is floating."
I have never seen a bug with this shape and coloration before. Lying on the ground at the laundromat where I dried my clothes earlier this evening.
A plant that starts off as a seed buried in some cork and nutrients, that eventually flowers after a week or so to reveal the message "Let's stay close forever" in Japanese on each half of the sprouting bud. Amazing!
The "i-ro-ha" hills near Nikko. This image is of a GPS navigation embedded in my colleague's car. The curves are ridiculous.
I never thought I would see these two words juxtaposed, but I stand corrected.
Section 5: Misc.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" is a proverb in Japanese as well. This picture was taken in Nikko. Monkeys are portrayed because it is a Japanese play on words. The archaic form of the negative verb conjugation is
-zaru, which rhymes with
saru, the Japanese word for monkey.
Who knew I would see an advertisement for Pittsburgh's most well-known roller-coaster in Yokohama! Pittsburgh is properly cited in the text at the bottom.
Okay, maybe they're not so interesting, but I'm sure it's better than reading through my sleep-inducing prose about nothing in particular. Please leave comments if you are curious about anything I have put up!
Anna being cute as usual...
...and struggling to beat an arm-wrestling robot in an arcade near Isesaki City, Gunma.
Fanart from Anna's little tykes. The text on top says "English" followed by "Anna-sensei."
More fanart. The text says "Anna-sensei." I felt just slightly jealous after seeing these and reading some of the adorable cards her kids wrote her. It's so different working for a Japanese company...
My friend Taka with about $3000 after he won big at the slots.
Taka's cousin Hide intently playing Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.
My friend Shu Dar when she came to Tokyo for a short-term study abroad, with a friend.
A hamburger with rice balls instead of bread for buns and spicy flavored burdock root (i.e. gobō) and carrots instead of meat. Way to go!
A spaghetti sandwich. Had to buy it.
The first vegetarian hamburger I have seen in Japan, given to me by my friend Shannen.
I don't mean to poke fun, but a little copy-editing could have prevented this. I for one am excited that my winter jacket is an authentic cloth made for me. Who wouldn't be?
Ah yes, the good ol' days of froppy disks.
Some aluminum scraps at a factory I toured. Pretty...
A phallic candy for sale at a tourist trap. The large text reads "power candy," and the text to the left in red says "A mysterious power is floating."
I have never seen a bug with this shape and coloration before. Lying on the ground at the laundromat where I dried my clothes earlier this evening.
A plant that starts off as a seed buried in some cork and nutrients, that eventually flowers after a week or so to reveal the message "Let's stay close forever" in Japanese on each half of the sprouting bud. Amazing!
The "i-ro-ha" hills near Nikko. This image is of a GPS navigation embedded in my colleague's car. The curves are ridiculous.
I never thought I would see these two words juxtaposed, but I stand corrected.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" is a proverb in Japanese as well. This picture was taken in Nikko. Monkeys are portrayed because it is a Japanese play on words. The archaic form of the negative verb conjugation is -zaru, which rhymes with saru, the Japanese word for monkey.
Who knew I would see an advertisement for Pittsburgh's most well-known roller-coaster in Yokohama! Pittsburgh is properly cited in the text at the bottom.
