I’m not going to be posting to the public for a while. I am putting too much time into building my career at the moment. Writing about my life at this point is like listening to just any other guy rambling about life in Japan. The good ole days of wine and women have passed. I’ll come back when I have lost my job or my wife to share just how miserable things can take a turn. For now though, there are many other gaijins out there sharing what it’s like to live in this land of mystery.

Thanks for reading and listening to my podcasts. It’s been a great help recording my life and meeting some nice people along the way. I’m really looking forward to listening to it when I’m in that wheelchair.

Until we meet again.

Mike

Now before you jump on her side, we need to realize that EVERYTHING is opposite here–white and black, dogs and cats. It’s say instead of question, listen instead of speak, and silence instead of opinion. So I’m screwed. Anything out of MY mouth is going to be a question about why she doesn’t speak her opinion. BLAMMO! I’m wrong. Thank you ma’am may I have another. And so goes my life.

But does this mean I will leave this woman? Hmmm. I don’t know. I can’t imagine what life will be like without Kai here. He seems to be our glue. If Tomoko and I sit down alone for longer than 30 minutes we get into some sort of argument. We haven’t laughed together in years. What does this mean for our future. Ouch.

Recently I have been wondering why she seems so unhappy when I have been the opposite. I think she wants me to spend more time with Kai, have more money to spend, and that I do nice things for her (no idea what they would be. Probably loving romantic stuff). Spending time with Kai is no problem, but the nice things for her stuff. Well, it’s give and take. She does a great job of taking care of the house and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of getting our money back in line and turning my life around so I’m not an alcoholic who cheats on his wife. The thing is, none of that would have happened had she provided me with the basic manly necessities of bedroom bliss and a bit of fun caressing around the house. You know…love.

Bottom line is…I and my tongue have gotten me into a lot more trouble than fun. I just need to figure out how to get the fun back.

PS: I do still love Tomoko…she’s a great person.

I still haven’t gotten a podcast out about what’s going on, but it’s on my mind. A couple things I’ve been thinking about lately that may or may not make it on the cast include:

• Why so many are not willing to share or delegate responsibility to others. Is it greed or self gratitude, saving face or building credibility?
• Why is Aso’s cabinet giving out 12,000 yen per person? Is there just no creativity in the diet?
• And when is Japan going to learn that budgets don’t have to spent?
• If I were a priest with a shrine, I would work with the local government to spread the hordes of money they are raking in from desperate donors.
• I just took a pay cut as a wedding celebrant. Does it bother me? No. Why? Because I make 10 times more than the other staff members and work half as much. Logics and thinking of the community.
• If I keep being good to my wife, will she ever come around to having sex? Oops. That’s may be to personal. Oh well, it’s my blog.

Let’s see if I can recap some of it:

• Spring break came and gave me a chance to start a new adventure in virtual worlds. I started an English learning community in Second Life that has turned out to be somewhat of a success as I write.
• I have been writing and editing a paper to publish in JALT on a new teaching model that could change the way education thinks about technology integration.
• I have been preparing for a new career in university teaching after completing my Masters in Education and technology. This includes preparing for a major research project into co-op and virtual language learning as an alternative to social networking.
• My dad came to visit. Wow. That was a ride. You can see his trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sirdouglas1/
• My wife and son got to see me for a little while.
• My computer died and I had to buy a new and rebuild the 600 gigs I lost. Now I have to use Windows in Japanese. It totally sucks.
• I’m now ready to start the 2009 school year but only barely.
• I have quit one wedding agency and now have a little more time. Let bygones be bygones.
• My health is becoming much more important and need to get health insurance to cover my worries…needless to say that is going to cost a bit.
• Did someone say pension?

So where does this leave me with gaijin-in-Japan? Well, this is my journal. And as I am sure you well know, writing a journal is the last thing you think about when times get busy. I’m trying, but it isn’t easy, especially when it’s not an income source. Thank you to everyone who has sent me email and messages curious about what’s going on with me. Believe you me, this blog will continue forever, but in certain times it may take me longer to write. Is anyone interested in becoming my ghost writer? I’ll send you an audio file and you do the rest. haha. For now, I will do my best.

You can expect a podcast in the next few days. I promise…sooner than expected.

Best,
Mike

News
Murder
Prison in Japan
The new wallpaper TV by Toshiba

Weather
Not so cold
Rainy
No snow

Current Events
um..February
The ice festival on Rokko Mountain…and Sapporo
We can go ice skating at the pool….yay…haha
Some people are going for a snow shoe hike in Shiga…um
—-I need to get out
OH..Sam and Daves, Osaka. March 7th. I’ll be there. The one and only time I’ll go to Sam and Daves.

Food and Drink
What do foreigners want to eat when they come to Japan?
Dad’s coming…what should we feed him?

Main Topic
How can we make a difference as professors if teachers don’t understand us? Should I be part of the problem or an agent for cultural change? How much time will it cost me, and what’s the risk for wasting my life?

Music by: The Yoshida Brothers

Arnold calls eikaiwa
Pink Floyd and Bush

I find myself logging in to Second Life as soon as I have a chance and checking my IMs. I then chat with the people hanging out in our sim on Cypris Island. After, I work on building something, cleaning something, going shopping for something, or just teleporting around the world to see something new and meet some new people.

Does this mean it is easier to live in a foreign country when you have a connection to the outside world that is more than just the Internet? Are virtual worlds a way for gaijins to escape periodically to keep in touch with the outside world? Well, all I know is that it’s better than wasting an ichiman on beer and chatter with girls at a snack. I think I’m home.

Tenured Professor

• Makes around 10,000,000 a year
• Teaches between 6 and 8 classes
• Works 365 days a year
• Must go to pointless meetings ad be available every single day
• Must publish and present continually
• I’d probably be the token gaijin in the department.
• Needs Japanese fluency or the ability to fake it really well.

Project Research Assistant/Associate Professor
(Still “researching” this one. Don’t even know if it would be possible.)

• 3-5 year contracts
• Earns around 6,000,000…need to confirm
• Teaches between 4 and 6 classes
• Works around 10 months a year…need to confirm
• Must teach and perform research
• Must publish and present per project
• I imagine you need to be able to speak and read to some considerable extent.

Contract Assistant Professor

• 3-5 year contracts usually renewable
• 6,000,000 yen salary
• Don’t usually have to attend meetings
• 10-12 classes
• About 4 months off a year
• It would be nice if you continued to publish and present; especially if you want to get rehired.
• Intermediate level Japanese needed but not usually required. No reading or writing really necessary.

Part Time Contract Instructor/Lecture/Adjunct Professor

• Usually 3 year contracts renewable
• Available classes vary between universities which mean you are always looking for work.
• Pay is around 25,000 per class per month (4 classes is about 120,000 per month). Some schools pay only for the classes you teach, others pay year round, and others pay only 10 months out of the year.
• You need to teach 18 classes a semester to make over 500,000 yen per month.
• You rarely teach the same class every year.
• No benefits.
• Masters not usually required but becoming more commonplace. Also having one published work is becoming popular also. I didn’t even have a bachelors when I started, and no…I didn’t lie on my resume either. All other positions mentioned above require a Masters; Doctorate for tenured positions is highly suggested.
• About 5 months off a year and no extra work.
• Very little Japanese needed.

Weddings
You can make an extra 100,000 or 200,000 if you live near a big city (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe).

So which position sounds best? Of course there is more involved, but I’m getting closer to choosing exactly which route to take. I’ll know more next year when I take a full time contract position. At the moment though I am loving doing weddings and part time teaching. 10 classes, weddings = over 500,000 regular…22 WEEKS off (less weekends)!

NOTE: I re-uploaded the podcast on 2/3. I had muted the funny audio parts when I exported the podcast from my recording software.

News
Aso…in Davos
Japanese tourist molests in Manila
Whalers running
Cell phone banning

Weather
Not too cold
Dry

Current Events
Setsubun
Movies

Food and Drink
Shopping
Hamburgers
What I ate for dinner last night

Main Topic
Going to temple for the first time
My Second Life

Music: Rocky Horror Picture Show - Opening

Jim Breur - Alcohol
Steven Lynch - Craig Christ

Just one more bonus for living in Japan.

So how do you move from the 4:00am taxi home to the 12:00am last train home? Or better yet, 3 hours maximum and then go home…that just seems impossible. I’m sitting here on my second day of recovery from a night out that included tequila and the sun coming up. How can I stop this? Is it me? Is it my friends?

These nights used to happen once or twice a week, now they happen once a month. So it’s getting better. But why do I give in to fun? Can’t I just stand up and walk out? I said things have gotten a lot better, right? And they have, mainly because I took myself out of the situation.

Some people think stopping drinking cold turkey is the best way, some think moderation, others believe taking up a new hobby…all of these have one thing in common, change. The problem with change is that most of us are only able to make change for a short period of time. We don’t have enough conviction to follow it through to its potential. I knew I had to take myself out of the situation if I was going to keep my marriage. I knew I couldn’t live like this forever. I recognized I was living a young life happy without responsibility, but that in order to make a solid stable living I would have to become a solid stable person as well as a role model for my child.

But have I succeeded? As I sit here with a second day hangover, I say not. But at least I’m making progress.

News
Cloned animal food OK
I’m sorry…let me kill myself
The nurse got me sick

Weather
Not so cold
No snow

Current Events
Nothing interesting…it’s damn cold to do anything
Oh..except bonsai and marathons

Food and Drink
Tomato nabe, oden, and sleeping yatai
WHAT?! No beer

Main Topic
Plans for the future
How to make money
GinJ going to subscription based
GinJ eBook

Music by: The Yoshida Brothers - Storm

Vowel Syndrome

Foreign university faculty face annual round of ‘musical jobs’
James McCrostie and John Spiri lament ‘academic apartheid’ in college hiring practices

By JAMES McCROSTIE and JOHN SPIRI

Universities in Japan force most of their foreign instructors to play an unnerving version of musical chairs. Every year the music starts and instructors with expiring contracts scramble for an opening at a new school. University administrators force teachers to play “musical jobs” by offering limited-term contracts.

So when’s the next podcast? I’m thinking of doing it in the next few days. I haven’t recorded my life for a while so I need to write down the main stories and figure out how to ramble them off within 30 minutes. haha.

So what’d ya do for New Years? Well, pretty typical with a twist. Drank a lot with friends, of course, had a nice temaki sushi dinner on New years eve and then planned a party in Second Life for ten friends from around the world (80s dance party, lights, psychedelic dance floor, fireworks). After the party we followed New Years west for a couple more hours until I collapsed at 5:00 just before Moscow. The next day we did the proverbial one hour osechi visit with the family at my mother-in-laws and then stopped by a shrine for my yearly campfire smoke soak; clapped hands, threw 20 yen, folded the omikuji, took some photos. Went home, finished my thesis, sent it in, drank a little sake, and crashed.

Today I am off for a couple bridal fair weddings and then out to our friends in Akashi for a kaki party and more festivities into the night. Tomorrow afternoon is another bridal fair and another night of baby sleep. Next week should be a fresh start. Now you can understand why it might take a while to put together my thoughts for a podcast. Cheers.

With the year winding down and many changes happening in everyone’s lives both good and not so good, we’d like to send our best wishes to you and yours.

Here is a story I hope will make us all remember how good life can be no matter where we are located or how distant we might think we are from each other.

There once was a boy who lived in a time with candy and toys. His parents and friends loved him dearly. Everyday he would come home to warm meals and a soft bed. Christmas was his favorite time. It was when all of his family would come together. He would receive presents and money, eat fantastic food, and sing and dance to his grandpa’s harmonica; what a joyous time.

The next year he began to experience a change though. His parents began fighting, his friends were moving away, and his grandfather passed away. Christmas was not the same that year. There was no family gathering, no great food, and no singing or dancing with grandpa.

That next year his parents divorced and there was never another Christmas as warm as once before. The only thing that made him feel as if he was spending a wonderful Christmas as he had had as a boy was when he played his harmonica and learned to cook that fantastic food himself.

That was 25 years ago. Now that boy is living in Japan, playing his harmonica, and cooking fantastic food. He might not be with his family, but those who share in the delight that swims in his head during this time can share with him how wonderful this time of the year can be.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What I’m trying to say is that these are trying times…I think. I mean, I don’t see any of it really, but I hear people are really struggling outside of my bubble. I heard from a friend of a friend that one guy lost his his job because the company was cutting back. I, on the other hand, just got hired. My wife tells me that cheese is really expensive now, but we have a drawer full of cheese in the new fridge. Hmmmm. I heard that beer prices have gone up 3-5%, but we were just given a case of Suntory Super Premium and I saw the Daily Yamazaki convenience store having a sale on beer for 100 yen per can. Hmmm.

So it’s a rocky Christmas. Does that mean Kai and I can’t get a Wii? Probably not. On with the show.

So what am I going to do? Well, for starters I’m going to be looking for advertisers on this blog and making it something. I’m also going to be working on professormerryman.com too. I’ll be advertising web design again and beginning to sell some builds in Second Life, doing some teacher training and maybe even a private or two. That’s the plan.

If anyone has any better ideas, let me know. With Masters in hand, I seek employment. Merry Christmas. Do I really want to make a podcast? hmmm.

It’s been a busy year. There are still a few more months to go. Pardon my lack of posting, I’m still around.

Just like the old days. I’m totally censoring this post and will even have to censor the next podcast. Actually, I don’t think I could even say what I did because it shames even me, but that’s what having fun in another city is allllll about. Let’s just say, HUGE beautiful Brazilian woman with big tats, a pole, and 4,000 yen glasses of champagne. Enough said….well…one thing should be said. I never touched her.

So I took the night bus up and the day bus back. I took the more expensive 7,600 yen double decker up. It was nice. And then took the same bus back for 5,000 during the day. Go figure. So for about 15,000 I got a trip up to Tokyo, less the 400,000 yen we spent at the bar. We…haha…they spent.

My night out summarized:
Hilton beers at 6:00. Hard Rock Fajitas and 1,800 yen beers. Nigerian touters. Brazilian tats. 4,000 yen champagne. A pursuing fight at the register. 900 yen bottles at Motown. No sleeping allowed. 5:00AM Rahmen. A short nap and shower at the hotel. 10:00AM Dennys. The “Don’t swear here” couple from Orange County….so funny. A helluva long ride home. My sweet sweet home in Kobe. So happy to be back. What a ride that was.

Did someone say recession?

Here is an excerpt from Aaron Shepard’s website:

The Tale of the Heike is a chronicle of the twelfth-century rise and fall of the Heike clan, climaxing in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. This chronicle is considered one of the two greatest Japanese literary works, and the most influential of all. Scenes and characters from the work have appeared in novels, stories, songs, classical theater, puppet plays, storytelling texts, movies, and television shows.

The work in its earliest form was created in the early thirteenth century, possibly by a retired court scholar named Yukinaga. Composed in poetic prose rather than verse, it was originally intended as written literature, but it was quickly embraced by the blind bards of Japan. These bards were called biwa hoshi (BEE-wuh HO-shee), “lute priests,” because they dressed in the robes of Buddhist priests and accompanied themselves on the four-stringed Japanese lute called biwa.

In the hands of the biwa hoshi, The Tale of the Heike was adapted for oral performance, and much material was added. A standardized version was finally dictated in 1371 by the great bard Kakuichi. For a century after that, biwa hoshi recital of The Tale of the Heike was considered the highest of all Japanese performing arts. It remained popular up to the early twentieth century, and a few biwa hoshi still perform today.

The legend of Hoichi is retold here chiefly from “The Story of Mimi-nashi-Hoichi,” a retelling by the great literary pioneer Lafcadio Hearn in his Kwaidan (“Ghost Story”), Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1904. Though Hearn does not cite his source, it was apparently a literary work rather than a folktale—though there may have been a folk source farther back. The legend is well known throughout Japan.

Akama—the scene of the story—is an old name for what is today the city of Shimonoseki. It lies on the southwest tip of Honshu, the main island of Japan. Dan-no-ura is a bay at the east end of town. The Battle of Dan-no-ura actually took place throughout much of the Shimonoseki Strait, the narrow channel between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu.

I enjoyed reading this story. I hope you enjoy it also.

News
Not enough toilets in Tokyo
Listen to scammers
Obama town is ready

Weather
Dry and beautiful

Current Events
I forgot..oops

Food and Drink
My BBQ
Kirin new 7%
Ban San Kan
Marshmallows suck in Japan
Sure deodorant…huh?

Main Topic
I wanna be like Mike
Dreams

Crime scene telemarketer
You’re my Prison Bitch

Various sound effects
Techno Halloween
The theme from Poltergeist

Portrait of an ENTJ - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging
(Extraverted thinking with critical intuition)
The Executive

As an ENTJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things rationally and logically. Your secondary mode is internal, where you take things in primarily via your intuition.

ENTJs are natural born leaders. They live in a world of possibilities where they see all sorts challenges to be surmounted, and they want to be the ones responsible for surmounting them. They have a drive for leadership, which is well-served by their quickness to grasp complexities, their ability to absorb a large amount of impersonal information, and their quick and decisive judgments. They are “take charge” people.

ENTJs are very career-focused, and fit into the corporate world quite naturally. They are constantly scanning their environment for potential problems which they can turn into solutions. They generally see things from a long-range perspective, and are usually successful at identifying plans to turn problems around - especially problems of a corporate nature. ENTJs are usually successful in the business world, because they are so driven to leadership. They’re tireless in their efforts on the job, and driven to visualize where an organization is headed. For these reasons, they are natural corporate leaders.

There is not much room for error in the world of the ENTJ. They dislike to see mistakes repeated, and have no patience with inefficiency. They may become quite harsh when their patience is tried in these respects, because they are not naturally tuned in to people’s feelings, and more than likely don’t believe that they should tailor their judgments in consideration for people’s feelings. ENTJs, like many types, have difficulty seeing things from outside their own perspective. Unlike other types, ENTJs naturally have little patience with people who do not see things the same way as the ENTJ. The ENTJ needs to consciously work on recognizing the value of other people’s opinions, as well as the value of being sensitive towards people’s feelings. In the absence of this awareness, the ENTJ will be a forceful, intimidating and overbearing individual. This may be a real problem for the ENTJ, who may be deprived of important information and collaboration from others. In their personal world, it can make some ENTJs overbearing as spouses or parents.

The ENTJ has a tremendous amount of personal power and presence which will work for them as a force towards achieving their goals. However, this personal power is also an agent of alienation and self-aggrandizement, which the ENTJ would do well to avoid.

ENTJs are very forceful, decisive individuals. They make decisions quickly, and are quick to verbalize their opinions and decisions to the rest of the world. The ENTJ who has not developed their Intuition will make decisions too hastily, without understanding all of the issues and possible solutions. On the other hand, an ENTJ who has not developed their Thinking side will have difficulty applying logic to their insights, and will often make poor decisions. In that case, they may have brilliant ideas and insight into situations, but they may have little skill at determining how to act upon their understanding, or their actions may be inconsistent. An ENTJ who has developed in a generally less than ideal way may become dictatorial and abrasive - intrusively giving orders and direction without a sound reason for doing so, and without consideration for the people involved.

Although ENTJs are not naturally tuned into other people’s feelings, these individuals frequently have very strong sentimental streaks. Often these sentiments are very powerful to the ENTJ, although they will likely hide it from general knowledge, believing the feelings to be a weakness. Because the world of feelings and values is not where the ENTJ naturally functions, they may sometimes make value judgments and hold onto submerged emotions which are ill-founded and inappropriate, and will cause them problems - sometimes rather serious problems.

ENTJs love to interact with people. As Extroverts, they’re energized and stimulated primarily externally. There’s nothing more enjoyable and satisfying to the ENTJ than having a lively, challenging conversation. They especially respect people who are able to stand up to the ENTJ, and argue persuasively for their point of view. There aren’t too many people who will do so, however, because the ENTJ is a very forceful and dynamic presence who has a tremendous amount of self-confidence and excellent verbal communication skills. Even the most confident individuals may experience moments of self-doubt when debating a point with an ENTJ.

ENTJs want their home to be beautiful, well-furnished, and efficiently run. They’re likely to place much emphasis on their children being well-educated and structured, to desire a congenial and devoted relationship with their spouse. At home, the ENTJ needs to be in charge as much as he or she does in their career. The ENTJ is likely best paired with someone who has a strong self-image, who is also a Thinking type. Because the ENTJ is primarily focused on their careers, some ENTJs have a problem with being constantly absent from home, physically or mentally.
Retrieved from http://www.personalitypage.com/ENTJ.html

So at least I am going to finish my Masters in the next few months and be able to apply for jobs without relying on networking solely. I’ll have a small textbook, an article, two presentations, three letters of recommendation and possibly one paper published by the end of the year. All in all, it has been a fruitful year.

Lessons learned:

• Don’t finish college if you don’t know what you are going to do. When you get older you can go back and finish–unless you are going to be a blue collar worker your whole life.
• Enter into relationships that benefit both sides if your intention is to further your career.
• As long as you have a vision and goal for your future, what’s happening today won’t affect reaching your target.
• No matter what people say, stay positive and continue helping others with a good attitude.
  Don’t ever get bitter.
• Every word out of your mouth is important. One phrase can be your demise.
• Get 8 hours of rest every night. Your health is most important.
• Don’t be afraid to stand back and ask, “What the hell am I doing?”
• Don’t let on that you know more about something than the other person, especially if they are older than you.
• Tenured positions don’t pay as well as contract positions…period!
• Learn to live with uncertainty.

News
15 die in video box fire
Sumo wrestler exposes the dark side of sumo
Rugby World Cup in Japan, maybe?
Banana diet is popular

Weather
Not much of a typhoon season
Clear skies

Current Events
So many festivals

Food and Drink
Happoshu is finally standard in Japan

Main Topic
Am I feeling secure now with good skills, jobs that want me, and a good family?

Music by the Yoshida Brothers (Mixed with drumline)

George Carlin ebonics
Psychotic Hotline