English Rakugo with Peter & Yuki

4.Oct.09(日)

Things of note today included an argument with my wife about the fact that my new work will interfere with our plans to go to Tokyo on the 12th for her cousin's wedding. I don't know her cousin but i can guess that one missing white guy won't be missed much. My wife (and i'm still just getting used to calling her that) on the other hand claims that she will miss me. Sweet - except in that tone of voice. But it is out of my hands. The fates wish me to work at the University on a national holiday. In this case the fates are made up largely of University Admin staff. Meh.

Perhaps far more interesting today, we went to join our good friends Peter and Yuki and some of Peter's students for an afternoon of English Rakugo. For those of you unfamiliar with Rakugo, it is a Japanese style of stand-up comedy - except that the comedian is sitting. Well, kneeling really. The performer tells humorous stories using hie or her voice and only a limited set of props to imitate anything at all. It takes a little getting used to the style of storytelling since the cultural differences are numerous. Japanese humour is definitely different to what i grew up with in Canada. But it is well worth investigating.


Mr. Katsura Koharudanji (Special Adviser for Cultural Exchange in Fiscal 2006)
Photo courtesy of some other website.

The performances today were all by Japanese performers, though they had an American in their troupe. And they were all in English. We had fun and enjoyed the stories and the telling. Afterwards there was a brief workshop to demonstrate and explain some of the aspects of Rakugo. I was called on stage to participate by mimicking the actions of the performer. Apparently i did pretty well. I know i had fun. I have been trying to figure a way to get other my debilitating and irrational stage fright and over the last year i have been getting much better. Yay!

After the show, with the Rakugo troupe:



Symian is: worried when she's angry.
Currently Reading: ?
Currently Listening: ?
Kanji of the Day: 着　　チャク／き／つ　　ーThiskanji can mean both "arrive" and "wear," which says a lot about the Japanese attention to trend and fashion. Oddly, it also means "adhere." Hhmm...

We all live in a yellow something something

3.Oct.09 (土)

I work in a submarine. Not really. But it feels that way sometimes. I work in a language school with just over a dozen teachers and 4 staff, two managers (1 English and 1 Japanese, in case you're wondering why 2). The teachers' room in tiny. To call it a lounge would be laughable. It is filled with three small sofas, a stack of lockers, a fridge, big garbage bin and equally big recycling bin, shelves of teaching material, and best of all, people. Lots of people. People from different countries and different backgrounds very different personalities. All in a tiny little space, all trying to get their material, plan their lessons, eat their lunches and whatnot.

Most days it works out OK. We are all relatively amicable people. But Saturday especially puts a strain on everyone. It is our busiest day of the week, so all teachers are in (except two) and all teachers are busy. I usually teach 1 lessons on Saturday (5-lunch-6) but some teachers do 12. We only have 5 minutes between lessons to change gears and figure out what's next. And having a dozen people in a room built for five is stressful. So i like to think of it as our submarine. Like the crew of a submarine, we are under pressure and we all have to find a way get along just enough to survive because there's just nowhere else to go. Then 6:15 rolls around, the last lesson ends, and we all head out to grab a breath of fresh air. And maybe a drink.

Symian is: humming the Beatles ALL DAY
Currently Reading: ?
Currently Listening: ?
Kanji of the Day: 注　そそ(ぐ)／チュウ

Soda - new and not so improved

2.Oct.09 (金)

Japan is famous for having weird products or inspiring weird versions of existing products. And while i am fully aware that "weird" is culturally relative, sometimes weird is just plain weird. I often document the strange flavours of chips or drinks or odd food preparations but today i am looking at soda.

Green Tea Coke. (Photo courtesy of Tony Becket)


Azuki flavored Pepsi. For those of you who don't live in Japan, azuki is a type of reddish, sweet bean that is often used in sweets and desserts here.


And if weird beans or exotic tea in your cola isn't your cup of... soda, there's always the classic Pepsi approach to upgrading a soft drink: Add more rush!! Pepsi Max: Ginseng and More Caffeine! WOO!!! Pfft! Red Bull wannabes.

This last one isn't actually from Japan. It comes from a supermarket in North America, which kind of figures since Japan has all the energy drinks it could ever want already.

Symian is: TANTRUM!!!! (HIMYM)
Currently Reading: ?
Currently Listening: ?
Kanji of the Day: 追　ツイ／お(う)　　chase, pursue, follow ; add, additional, supplementary

This blog's for you - or rather, for me.

01.Oct.09 (木)

Dear Joanne,

I apologize for leaving you without any current information on my life. Don't leave. I can change. I can be better.

Seriously, though. Thank you, Joanne for renewing my motivation by letting me know that someone other than Mom was reading. (hi, Mom!) So as i write this, in what is "real" time November 21st (but what is "real"?). I am looking back and filling in the holes in time and space. Which will be challenging since those holes most likely are mirrored in my memory. Maybe now is a good time to try out that fictional memoir thing that seems to be so trendy. Self-fiction. I like it.
I begin here in October and i will proceed randomly, like the storyline from Heroes, as suits my shortened attention span, a product of my generation's - hey look! a squirrel!

Where was i? Oh yeah, writing about me (snore). I often let the blog lag because, quite frankly, i bore myself. So i will be making an effort to be as interesting as possible (interesting to myself - Symian Days nor any of its staff bear any responsibility, legal or otherwise, for your lack of amusement).

Recently i started a new job. Well, a second job. So i now work at Berlitz most days and at Kansai Gaidai University twice a week. The name is actually an abbreviation of "Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku." Try saying that three times fast! (please don't actually try).

I am grateful to my friend Mark for recommending me for the job and i am very excited to expand my teaching ability, adding University to both my repertoire and resume. It does however mean that i will be even busier (goodbye, social life). But i do think it's worth it. And it also provides a much needed boost to my monthly income, which is a relief. So now i don't have to stress about getting extra lessons at Berlitz. If i do, cool, if not, i can use the time to grade papers. But first i need to assign some papers. Yikes.

This is the fancy new campus to which i now commute twice a week:




Symian is: typing slowly.
Currently Reading: i don't recall.
Currently Listening: i don't recall. (thank you, Cheney)
Kanji of the Day: 放　ほう／はな

En route - moblie blog: "mlog" ?

Half hour bus ride to the airport?
Check.

One hour flight Itami to Haneda?
Check.

Hour and a half busride from Haneda across Tokyo to Narita?
Check.

Just one last (longest) leg over the pole to Toronto!

Tony's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Tony!
We met up at a Nepalese restaurant just a few blocks West of my apartment and had some delicious food and met some very interesting people, including a Nepalese guy named Ram Maharjan, who played flute for us. Good Times.

And exactly one month left until the Canadian half of our wedding! Ack! So much to do!











Symian is: adding some Nepalese beer labels to his collection and going back to that restaurant (Gorkha Bazar) soon!
Currently Reading: the latest Time Magazine
Currently Listening: Dragonette - Galore
Kanji of the Day: 打　だ／う（つ）

Yellow Watermelon!

I had heard the legends, but i had to see them with my own eyes....



And i asked the shop staff what the difference was and she said in Japanese, "Don't bother. The regular ones taste way better."
No career in sales in HER future!

Symian is: biting into fruit gold.
Currently Reading: Dororo by Tezuka Osamu
Currently Listening: Matt Anaka - The Future Sound of Retro mix
Kanji of the Day: 談　−　だん