Lanterns for the dead, to help them find their way

shakey shakey

Yet another little wobbler that we felt Sunday evening. This one was a wee bit joltier (yes, it's a new word). Not bad but a bit disconcerting. Ulala felt it before me (which is also unusual). My app says 4.7 but the news said less.  I love my earthquake-tracking app. No frills but quick and graphic. Surprisingly comforting to have that info easy to access. There are over a dozen very minor quakes a day - a DAY! - here in Japan, most of which go unnoticed. 

The view from here

4 recent pics from our balcony.

the local festival - July 17th

A local festival at our little local shrine. Pics taken from our balcony. But you could hear them clear as anything chanting and drumming and ringing their bells.

Omelette

Discovered this cute little cafe called "Omelette" on my way to my Japanese lesson today. Stopped in, had a quick late lunch and took a few pictures.

Finding lost things at the bookshop.

   I'm late to the game on this one, but i have recently discovered the amazing artwork and storytelling of Shaun Tan.  In the best way possible, too. I just stumbled across his stuff at the bookstore. No hype, no expectations.  I just liked the cover so i picked it up and flipped through it. Instantly i was mesmerized and ended up buying two of his works. I plan to get more in the future. 

   The first one, The Lost Thing, is a wonderful and fantastic children's tale of a boy who finds the titular Lost Thing and has a brief adventure with it. The story is a commentary on our far-too-busy modern lifestyle and not noticing the wonder around us. But it also reads as a great kids book. The kind you actually want to read again and again and always find new things in.  And besides all that, the art is mind-blowingly intricate, original, and beautiful.

   The Lost Thing was turned into an animated short film that won this year's Oscar for Best Short Animated Film.  Haven't seen it yet (the DVD is proving hard to track down here in Japan), but if it's anywhere as good as the book, i think i get why it won.

Congratulations, Mr Tan, on a job well done! 

The second book of his that i picked up was his latest, The Arrival.  The following are a couple of pages from The Arrival, a stunning wordless graphic novel that takes puts a fantastic spin on the European migration to the United States through Ellis Island. It is beautifully "told" through images, simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. The artwork is incredible. 

For more information about Shaun Tan (a native of Perth, Australia now living in Melbourne) check out his website at ShaunTan.net.  The website itself is quite a piece of work.  What a talent! 

Symian is: truly impressed and enthralled... and running out of adjectives.

Currently Reading: The Lost Thing (again)

Currently Listening: The Stax-Volt Complete Collection 1958-1969

Kanji of the Day: 迷子になった／まいごになった／lost (to be lost)

Phill&Yukari's Wedding

felt this one while at work.

Waiting for someone,

drifting far away in thought.

Suddenly rain falls.

link to the graphic here.

Funny cuz it's true

Langwich Scool

My boss found this comic strip and posted a couple for laughs in our teachers' room. They're not malicious, just very poignant. And funny because they're oh so true. For anyone who's taught EFL (English as a Foreign Language) you'll no doubt recognize more than a few of the characters / situations.

You can see and support the strip at Lanhwich Scool.

Here are a couple of my favorites in no particular order:

Worth checking out at the source: Lanhwich Scool



Symian is: laughing at himself (or WITH himself)
Currently Reading: People Styles at Work
Currently Listening: The Morning Stream with Scott Johnson and Brian Ibbott
Kanji of the Day: 笑い／わらい／laugh (smile)

Sunday and the JLPT Monster

Well, the JLPT is done and gone. I went in fully expecting to not pass and just to take is as practice for December. But once in the test (which seems to be much better organized than the last time o took it five years ago) i found that it really wasn't so bad. Writing a test without the pressure of passing certainly does ease the experience. Educators take note. When I was teaching Uni classes (EFL) I tried to spread out the marking so it wasn't all weighted in a final exam. This worked in favor of most students, i think. Regardless, The JLPT Monster turned out to be just another boogie man, and now i actually think there's a 50/50 chance that i passed! Unfortunately i have to wait until September to get the results. Fingers crossed. I might sign up to take the test again in December anyway, just to get a higher score, but who knows. If (and it's a big if) i pass this time around then the goal will definitely be to pass the N2 (the next level up) in July of 2012. THAT will take some actual studying... hhmm...

At home, Ulala cooked a nice dinner and i got some work done. Then we took a summer evening stroll around the neighborhood and stopped to get a triple scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins (YEs, they have Baskin Robbins here in Osaka and it's awesome) to eat sitting in a little park area, people watching. A lovely evening with my wife after a busy week.

And remember, kids,

So watch your back, yo.

Symian is: relaxing in the wake of the test
Currently Reading: People Styles at Work
Currently Listening: BeatPort random charts
Kanji of the Day: 合格／ごうかく／pass

Not slogging it

I had a seemingly very productive week at work, which is nice. Sometimes work can seem like a bit of a slog, but not recently. I've discovered over the past year or so one of those things that people often try to tell you but you just never learn until you learn it yourself:

If you are interested in your work and challenge yourself you will not be bored.

Seems so simple, right? So obvious. You hear it all the time. And yet we all know a myriad of people who just plain hate their work. And that sucks ...for them.
Me? I'm not wasting anymore time doing crap i don't care about. That doesn't mean only doing things i love, but it does mean caring about the things i'm actually doing and finding more ways to do the things i really do love. Under normal circumstances, no one is going to just hand you a better job. SO it's up to you to do something you want to do and enjoy doing.

I love teaching English in Japan. Now, my job is certainly not hard and can often be repetitive. Many who do this job find it a bit mind numbing (and i do have my days). But it is also fascinating and challenging and infinitely variable if you're willing to put in a bit of effort.

So over the last few years i've been changing my attitude, my behaviour and my life. And with good results (:a growing family and a promotion). A key factor in that is the desire to do my job to the best of my ability and to always challenge myself to do better. This is not the job i want to do for the rest of my life but that doesn't mean i'm going to half-ass it and waste the opportunity. I have always been a string believer that "any job worth doing is worth doing right." When i eventually leave this job (though no plans to move just yet), I want to leave knowing full well that i gave it my best, i improved myself, my company, my coworkers and my students. And hopefully i will have helped many people not only improve their English, but also improve how they study and learn English.

Speaking of learning language, tomorrow I'll sit the JLPT-N3.* I am, shall we say, ill prepared. It has come to my attention that i am in fact the exact kind of student that i generally find most frustrating to teach: the lazy kind. (Sorry, Mar-sensei!) I have had ample opportunity and motive to study but simple have chosen to spend my time doing other things. What other things? Well, let's see... there's house cleaning, watching TV, reading frivolous books, reading not-so-frivolous books, doing more projects at work, excuses ad nauseam. Point is, tomorrow is test day and, since i paid my 50 bucks (a few months ago when i was so sure i was going to study), i'll go and give 'er a go. If nothing else, it'll be a dry run for December, when i can take it again (and really really study this time... no, really!)


Symian is: enjoying the challenge at work.
Currently Reading: "People Styles at Work" by Robert and Dorothy Bolton
Currently Listening: The Complete Stax-Volt Singles Collection 195801969
Kanji of the Day: 日本語能力試験　／ JLPT


*That's the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (new level 3) for all of you who don't live here in Japan.

Fresh Starts

New blog address and new attempt at regular blogging. I was just going to start totally fresh but i figured i actually liked a lot of elements from the old Symian Days page (originally "BigEyes in Japan" - circa 2003). so I opted for the export/import and we'll just go from there.

I certainly can't make any promises about consistency or content. I haven't exactly found my legs as a writer. And my life gets pretty busy. And I'm about to become a father. AND …i'm pretty lazy when it comes right down to it. But having said that, here is my vision of this blog from here on out:

- a photo at least once a week, if not more (mostly taken by me),
- no doubt boring-to-anyone-but-my-mother posts about me, my wife, and our coming-soon baby boy,
- musings on EFL teaching (my job),
- musings or links on DJing (my hobby),
- musings on life and culture here in Osaka, Japan,
- musings on other stuff, i guess,
- and a fair dose of random awesomeness, cuz that's how i roll.

Stick around. You may just learn something.
(though it's highly likely you won't)

P.S. HAPPY CANADA DAY!