June Adventures

June has been surprisingly eventful so far. My friends and I held an epic pig roast in a big park in a nearby city. It wasn't quite like Filipino lechon, but it was still delicious. Here, don’t these look yummy?

Epic Pork Roast

Dripping Off the Plate

Outdoor Grillin'

The following weekend, I drove down to Nikko, in Tochigi prefecture, to see some famous temples. On the way back, I stopped by Nasu and took some pictures with a gigantic…hamster. Actually, it’s a capybara, the largest rodent in the world.

I'm a Guy on a Rock

"The place of Kendo's rebirth"

Kendo's Rebirthplace

Mon

Like Bruce Lee's Game of Death

Mon 2

Gold

Sorry, lady

Mon 3

Panorama

More Gold

Sitting Archer

Angled Gold

That was a really long flight of steps

Going down

Rooftops

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

Closeup

 

I am the Guardian

Largest hamster ever. Also, forgot my hair wax.

No idea what this is, but it was chillin' with the capybaras.

Nasu's mascot, a big nasu (eggplant)

Saw this cutie, too.

 On Monday, I was invited out to dinner by my former supervisor, Supes! He wanted to take me out to dinner again one last time before I left Japan to go back home. We went to the same place he took me when I first arrived three years ago, an izakaya called “Otaru.” Otaru is a city in Hokkaido, and a very lovely spot during the Snow Festival. Anyway, he was holding this long cardboard box. I thought it was something he picked up from work, or a big poster or something, until I realized that it must be something for me. What a pleasant surprise.

Modeled after Date Masamune's sword

Now, how am I supposed to bring this home?

Word of the Day: 伝統的　「でんとうてき」　“dentouteki,” or “traditional.”

Quick Update

I had been toiling for a couple days about this sudden "opportunity" that appeared in front of me. The advice of one teacher was really hitting it for me. "Think about your future." Over and over, I was thinking about how this decision would affect my plans. I've realized that working and studying at the same is extremely difficult, especially for such difficult subject matter as science, medicine, and MCAT. I knew I had to make a decision for my future.

Last week, I had been working on the Successor's Manual, a guide that I'm writing for my successor. I put it on hold last weekend due to the situation, but I have since started it back up again.

Yesterday (Tuesday), I was informed that the Prefectural Advisers had discussed my situation, and as it turns out, because my successor was already contacted, and because he has already submitted the official Reply Form, it's no longer even possible for me to stay, even if I had changed my mind. Interestingly enough though, I was told that it might be possible to send me down to Ogawara, where they won't get an ALT until next April.

But I wouldn't want that. Shikama has become The Place where I spent 3 years of my life in Japan. I've traveled all around the country, and have even spent more than a month or two in the Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe) area, collectively. But Shikama is where I worked, where I lived. Where I've expanded my Japanese lexicon. Where I've built new relationships and a connection with the local community.

And soon, we will have to part ways. But it'll always be my second (third? fourth? fifth?) home.

Word of the Day: 一斉に　「いっせいに」 "issei ni" or "simultaneously."

Just, Maybe...

While I've been preparing for my repatriation this summer, a strange and peculiar opportunity has possibly, maybe opened up for me, かもしれない (maybe). Ever since I submitted my form to decline the offer to renew my contract with my employer, the Board of Education, the feeling of wishing I had accepted their offer has been growing stronger and stronger each day. My friends in and around Japan have been expressing how much they'll miss me and how they wish I would stay. And usually, I would speak from the heart, and say that I wish I could stay, but it would make the medical school interviews difficult to schedule.

After having taken the MCAT a month and a half ago, my plans were slowly changing. At the end of the test, there is a prompt on the screen, asking the test taker to choose one of the following options:

A. I wish to have my MCAT exam SCORED.
B. I wish to VOID my MCAT exam.


You have five minutes to make your selection. Talk about stressful, right? So there I was, legitimately contemplating voiding the exam. My gut instinct was that I didn't do so well; the test felt rushed. So much stuff to read and so little time to read through and choose your answers. But if I didn't choose to score it, then the whole trip of returning home for those two weeks and the prep work that led up to that day would have felt like it was all for naught. And the other side of me was still curious; perhaps I did better than I thought. So I chose to score it.

In the past month, I was contemplating my plans for medical school. Regardless of my score, I knew that my chances of matriculating into med school would improve dramatically if I attend a pre-medical post-baccalaureate program at a university or school of medicine. So, my focus has shifted from applying to medical school to applying to a post-bacc program. Finally last week, I received my test results, and やっぱり (as I thought), they weren't as strong as I had hoped for. That isn't stopping me from applying to post-bacc programs, as most programs would include an MCAT review course and have me retake the test anyway. But my morale did take quite a hit.

At the end of the week, I went down to Sendai to discuss Art Show plans that MAJET is hosting. As one of the presidents of the association for JET ALTs in Miyagi Prefecture, it's one of my responsibilities to help set up events. The person spearheading the Art Show is actually one of the Prefectural Advisers for Miyagi JET participants. During an informal discussion with her, I had mentioned that "Oh, I wish I could stay in Japan." She had then informed me that another JET who lives in the southern half of Miyagi had originally accepted the offer to renew his contract, but has since declined the offer due to plans to enter a graduate program. His town is now searching for a new replacement ALT, and that new person would arrive next April, during Orientation C. That would leave the town without an ALT for 8 months.

Half jokingly, I told her that they should just send my successor over to his town so that they will have a new ALT right away and so that I could stay in my town. She said, "Hmm, maybe it's possible." She told me that it's something she would need to talk to her supervisor about, so I should send an official e-mail to the advisers so that they could discuss it. I brought up the situation to the three JTEs I worked with and they were all for the idea of me staying. The school's English system is undergoing a big change right now from Elementary and Junior High, and since I am the bridge between the two systems, my participation would be a tremendous help to them. That, and they like me as their ALT.

The problem in all this is that in February I had submitted the paperwork to my BOE stating that I would be declining their offer to renew my contract. So since then, they and my supervisor have been preparing for the hiring of a new ALT to replace me. Just last week, my supervisor had a meeting with the prefectural advisers and he had received the Reply Form from my successor stating that my successor has accepted the offer to work in my town. I had also helped my supervisor write an email to him along the lines of "We received your Reply Form. I am your supervisor. We look forward to meeting you." It's not the official contract yet, but the first communication has already begun. I hate causing trouble for other people, especially if it's my employer (it's not good to upset the people giving you money). But perhaps these inconveniences would be better in the long run?

Of course the other, bigger problem has to do with my future plans. As it stands, I will do applications online, but I'm not sure which programs require an in-person interview. Some do, but I believe some allow phone/Skype interviews, and others don't have any interviews. What's also interesting is that the different programs have different submission and due dates. I am looking specifically into programs in Pennsylvania (hopefully Philadelphia), as my home and college are both there, and I know there are some great schools.

At the end of the day, I talked about my situation with another teacher who isn't a JTE but has acted as an assistant JTE and substitute in the past. Her English is perhaps the best out of everyone else in the school due to her previous job as a flight attendant. She seemed happy and surprised that my situation has come to this, but she reminded me that while I would indeed be helpful for Shikama and its new English curriculum next term, it's not something I should worry about so much. What's more important is my future, and I need to think about that as I make my decision.

Thanks, Sensei.

Word of the Day: 多分　「たぶん」 "tabun," or "probably." My students often translate "maybe" to "tabun," but I have to correct them on the difference.

Golden MCAT Jetlag

The end of April and the beginning of May provided some interesting times. I went back home to the US to take the MCAT. But to avoid being jet-lagged during the exam, I left Japan 5 days prior to taking it. Thankfully, I wasn't terribly jet-lagged while taking the test; rather, I was flustered from the short time limit and long passages and long questions. The most difficult thing for me on the test is the sheer amount of reading. Perhaps if I had a faster reading speed.

Speaking of reading speed, I notice that I've been able to read Japanese faster than when I was in college. Not a lot faster, but noticeable. Reading manga has helped; I should keep it up. I've been reading a karate manga called Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru, as well as Initial D, the famous car manga that made drifting popular. And since I've purchased the manga in Japan, they are only in Japanese. As seinen manga meant for older readers, there is rarely any furigana above the kanji (which gives the pronunciation), so it's good kanji reading practice.

I just started playing two new PS3 games: Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands 2. I hadn't played Bioshock 1 or 2 yet, so I wasn't sure what I was in for. Luckily, Infinite could be played without having played the first two, so I wasn't lost in the story. And boy, what a story. It touches on a lot of social and economic issues. No spoilers, but it's a very deep game, both practically and philosophically.

Borderlands 2 on the other hand is just a lot of sheer fun. It's a first-person shooter role-playing game. Basically, lots of guns, with the ability to use new techniques in battle. Very cool concept. The most fun aspect of the games I play is character growth and new abilities. Just like the anime/manga series that I love the most, like Dragonball, Naruto, Bleach, Hajime no Ippo, etc. Growth; that's what life is all about.

We hope this little cutie grows up well

Word of the Day: 成長　「せいちょう」　"seichou," or "growth," implying "growth into adulthood. The first kanji means "to become," as in the verb 成る "naru." The second kanji means "long" as in 長い "nagai," but it can also mean "head (of) ____" as in 社長 "shachou," the head of a company.

Sakura

Spring has sprung! But then it got confused yesterday and it snowed, what the hell!? Here, check out some beautiful cherry blossoms, known as 桜　「さくら」 "sakura" in Japan.

Cherry Blossoms in Furukawa

As I write this, I'm standing at a "Free Wi-Fi Desk" at the Narita Airport. Gotta go home to take the MCAT. Again. Lol. I've taken it a few times already, but I studied this time more than last time, so I (should) have an improved score than before. But it's also been a while since I've last taken science courses, so it's possible that I've forgotten a few things that were inherently internalized way back in the day. It was fun reviewing general chemistry, as I was reminded of my high school chemistry classes.

My original plan was to apply to medical schools this summer, but to be honest, I'm not completely confident in my application. Schools get around 3000+ applications, and the class size is only about 150. That means that only 5% of the applicants actually end up matriculating to that school! But I believe the actual acceptance rate is about 20%, so that means three fourths of those invited to attend end up declining and going to another school. Anyway, in order to improve my chances, I think I should attend a full fledged pre-med post-bacc program. That is, pre-medicine, post-baccalaureate; a program that is held at a school of medicine to prepare students for matriculation into medical school. I have big dreams, but they require many small steps.

So besides studying and researching medical school, what have I done this past week or two? Oh, yeah, I bought the PS3 Initial D game. That's fun. Unfortunately, the Initial D series underwent a "cleansing" and got rid of many cars, including my beloved GT-Four. But that's okay, they still have RX-7's, WRX's, GT-R's, and Evo's. They even threw in an RX-8 as free DLC.

Also game-related, I'm finally an official PlayStation Plus subscriber! Yay free games! Really, though, I needed that service to copy my saves into the "cloud" so that I can sell my PS3 here in Japan and not worry about my files when I use a PS3 in the US. I love technology. Who knows what kinds of services and such we'll have in another 10 years?

I've noticed that I'm semi-addicted to Gran Turismo 5. And I think I've figured out why. It's not as simple as "I love cars." It's "I love cars and the game does a good job of giving me a reason to turn it on every day." And that reason is...a daily reward. Basically many games today (especially on iPhone/iPad) reward players for playing (or at least turning it own) every day. On iOS, the rewards usually cycle every 5 days, so when you play over the course of 30 days, you get each reward 6 times. In GT5's case, the reward is an incremental bonus to earned in-game currency and experience points, up to 200%. On day 6 and later, the number simply remains at 200%. But if a day is skipped, the number drops back down to a normal 100%.

I think modern RPGs should take advantage of this system. I played World of Warcraft half a decade ago and their system was to reward people when they logged at at certain locations ("Inns") by giving bonus experience points. And back then, they starting "Daily Quests" which allow a player to complete the same quest, once per day, and earn the same rewards (usually a hefty amount of gold). This killed the game for me, as I ended up grinding the same handful of quests for 3 weeks straight, playing the game only one to two hours a day and trying to figure out how to most efficiently earn the most gold in the least amount of time. And because it was the same quests, I grew bored of it quickly. My fault, yes, but it's their fault for trying to take advantage of players' greed. Hah.

Anyway, gotta pack up! I saw some pretty sakura on the way here. Here is a shot from my town! It was snowy and rainy yesterday. How peculiar.

Snow, Rain, and Sakura

Word of the Day: 咲く　「さく」　"saku" or "to bloom."

Spork

So happy that my car is back! Isn't she so sexy and clean? ^_^

Misa is back!

So yeah, I'm still going back and forth between what to do about my car. On the one hand, it's old (16, older than my students!), so it has old parts that might need replacing in the next few years/months (probably the water pump), but on the other hand, it doesn't even have 90,000 miles on it, so in theory, the car should still last much longer.

But my dad is worried that if I do run into a problem, and I need to replace a part, the part either doesn't exist in the US, and I would have to import it from Japan, or the part is no longer made altogether. And that would be a problem. But daaaaaaaamn, I did a used car search using various websites (Kelly Blue Book, cars.com, Edmunds) and anything within my price range is some old crapper with 150,000 miles on it! I feel like it would be more worthwhile spending the money on a car I'd want to bring it back. But my buddy Oreo has reminded me again of the headache involved in the process.

Other than cars, I've been stressing out about the medical school application process. Today, I investigated the "committee letter," and apparently, requirements have significantly become more steep. 100 hours of clinical experience with a letter as proof? 20 hours of shadowing a doctor? What the hell? How is an undergrad supposed to do that, let alone a post-bacc like me? It's getting me worried again. But I'm not gonna give up! I won't let these annoying hurdles stop me from my dream. I have set a goal, and dammit, I will see it through.

Last weekend, I went with a coworker to Ishinomaki, one of the areas damaged by the tsunami. There, we volunteered at a local community center where we served food and entertained guests. I was the token foreigner, so I had the pleasure of surprising people with my English and the phrase "no, I'm not Japanese!" I was assigned the task of assisting in the kid's corner, where I helped kids make a cake dessert and do arts and crafts like folding origami. I also taught them the word "spork," which in Japan is called a 先割れスプーン "sakiware supuun," which literally means "spoon with the tip divided."

I will be home in a few weeks, but only temporarily, to take the wretched Medical College Admission Test. My studies over the past few months have given me some confidence that I will do better on this test than before. But I'm beginning to get concerned about my overall application. I need to have a solid personal statement as well as a good explanation for my previous life choices (moving to Japan, working at UPMC, etc.). No use worrying about it though. Just gotta remain focused.

It's getting late, so I should sleep. But I'll leave you with this, a song that I can't get out of my head, and something which I've been practicing on the guitar. Goodnight!


Word of the Day: 迷う　「まよう」　"mayou," or "to waver" as in being unable to decide upon something.

Distraction

I haven't been able to study AT ALL today, or much this week. Which is sad, because I haven't had any classes this week, so in theory, it should have been an opportune time to study. My goal for tomorrow is to blaze through a few chapters of my review.

Anyway, the big things that have been distracting me today were mostly e-mails. One big batch of e-mails for MAJET: planning the upcoming Art Show, setting up PR (twitter, e-mails, websites, etc.), taking care of orders for publications by National AJET, handling Micro Grant Fund stuff which was set up in honor of Taylor Anderson.

The other thing that has been distracting me is my car issue. My parents replied back to me regarding my concerns, and my dad gave his advice:

Harold, my advice is for you to dispose of your car due to:
1) age of car is 16 years old - too many old parts that may have no U.S. equivalent for replacements.
2) legality of using wrong-positioned steering wheel on U.S. roads.
3) cost of tariff tax at port of entry.
4) transport cost.

Best to do:
1) Do not make any repairs now - only those necessary
2) Sell car as is to the incoming educator taking over your position or anyone else.
3) start with a brand new car in the U.S.
4) kiss your car goodbye - thanks for the safe rides it provided.

All very good advice. But heartbreaking, because I love my car oh-so-much. Also, got some bad news, Dad. I had to take the care in for its biennial check-up and it needed to get its muffler replaced. Considering all the maintenance it has already experienced, doesn't it mean that the car will be working well in the future? Or does that mean it's "prone to injury" and I should expect damage to other parts if I brought it back to the US? I need to talk to a mechanic about all this; especially one with import car experience.

If I can't/shouldn't bring it back to the US, hopefully I can sell it here. If I were to buy a new car in the US, I've been eying the new ハチロク Hachi-Roku, a.k.a. Toyota 86, a.k.a. Scion FR-S, a.k.a. Subaru BRZ.

Toyota FT86 G Sports Concept

Word of the Day: 注意散漫　「ちゅういさんまん」　"chuuisanman" or "distraction" or "lack of attention."