I did my first Insanity this morning. I thought I was in good shape! I could only do about 70% of each exercise before I had to stop. One thing I liked about this workout, as well as there being plenty of eye candy, is that most of the people in the workout (there must be about ten of them doing in behind Shaun T, the trainer) can't do all of the exercises either, so you can actually compete against them and win. Probably the only criticism I have of P90X is that the people doing it with Tony on the DVDs are obviously doing P90X for the third, fourth time and just destroy it. I would much rather see a person in reasonable shape being really challenged, just like I am. Shaun T is pretty good. There's not much chatting, just insanity from start to finish. Doing this workout and failing miserably kind of inspires me to do Insanity around the new year when things have cooled down. I'll definitely check out some of the other Insanity workouts on my cardio days. From what I can see they are all cardio.
Check out the madness.
Will fell on his face while climbing up a slide and loosened his front tooth as well as cutting the inside of his top lip. He's on his way, reluctantly, to the dentist to get it checked out right now.
I'll be in Melbourne in two weeks. :)
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Secret
I missed the workout last night. I think it was the safety drill we did yesterday. Standing in the sun for almost an hour just wore me out.
I got home last night and played with the boys, Joey Jo Jo and Chilly Willy. There's a kid in Will's kindergarten that I've got my eye on. He's an older boy called Junsei. The other week Will came home with a scratch on each cheek. Apparently Junsei likes to pinch Will's cheeks, and like all the little fuckers here he has long nails. I'm not sure if it really bothers Will, but I told him he should punch Junsei in the nose as hard as he could the next time Junsei does this. So I get home yesterday and Will's drawing with crayons, like he always does now, and I asked him what he was drawing. "William punched Junsei-kun in the nose" he said, and I could see in the picture two boys, one with a long arm punching the other in the nose. "Did he cry?" I asked. "No," said Will. "Well, next time make him cry, okay?" I'm not really sure if he punched Junsei or not, it's hard to tell. But I want Will to know that I am on his side. Has anyone read "Ender's Game"? I would recommend that book to any young boy, because the main character is bullied, but his reaction is calculated, smart, and effective. It's a great story about being a leader. I want Will to be able to fight, so that if anyone crosses the line with him, he can break their nose.
So I missed my workout. The last week I have felt really tired sometimes. Kind of a flash back to this time last year when I would just get exhausted. It might be the weather, or the reduction in meal size, or maybe all this resistance work in Chalean is taking more of a toll that I think. Dunno. But I fell asleep with Will about 9 last night, and I don't think I could have done the workout if I was awake. I certainly have been getting enough sleep lately, so that's not the issue. Anyway, whatever it is, I don't feel sick. I'm putting it down to the workouts and the weather. It's still very warm, but not so humid. Great summer weather, actually.
I've seen a few more foreigners around town than usual lately. Schools in. These guys are assistant language teachers (ALTs). They are paid by city education departments or dispatch companies to go to Primary Schools or Junior high schools and basically be a performing monkey. I did this for a couple of months before I got this job and man did I fucking hate it. A typical day would be go the school in the morning (heads turning, people pointing, kids screaming "Hello!" as you enter), rush into the staff room for some peace and quiet, except when teachers would escort a couple of nervous kids in for an audience with the foreigner and poke the kids saying "Come on, speak English!" and the kids would ask "How are you?" and I would say "Good, how are you?" and they would say "Huh?" Then morning assembly, more heads turning, pointing, "Hello!", and then I would have a class. The young kids would go crazy, and I would have to do some stupid singing and dancing or play some game while dodging blows to the nuts and "Kanchou!" which is Japanese for "enema." They don't have dead legs or shoulder corkys here, but they do try to jam their fingers up each other's assholes for some reason. And English teachers are fair game too, apparently. I've heard of a case where a teacher had to go to hospital because his rectum was bleeding. I was aware of it and wouldn't let any kid get behind me, and if they tried, I grabbed their hand and squeezed it and told them to fuck off under my breath. After the lesson I would be mobbed so I had to run to the classroom like I'm a Beatle in A Hard Day's Night or something, and then I would scrub my hands up to my elbows to get all the germs and dead eczema cells off me. Four or five times a day this would happen. The older kids would just mess around. A lot of them slept. The poor kids have so much shit to do, like sports, cleaning up, preparing lunches, that they just get worn out. These were a little easier, and I would just speak Japanese to them and try to be cool. Then after school, I would often go and do baseball training with them. The first time I did batting practice, I let the first pitch go, then smashed the next one out of the park. That was a fantastic moment. That was pretty good, actually. The only part I miss.
You do get a lot of holidays, and you can learn Japanese very quickly, but generally, teaching in public schools is only a slight step up from teaching in the language school chains, and both are pretty much shit. I'm ashamed I did it for so long. I should have been in Australia doing something worthwhile. Oh well.
Have you guys heard about a thing called "The Secret"? I'm joking! I have a mate into that, and he made me watch the DVD. Huge laod of bullshit. But I do think saying something out loud helps makes it come true, good or bad. So here goes. I will be living back in Australia by the time I turn 40. That's in four and a half years. Doesn't mean I have to wait that long to go back, but on my 40th birthday, I will wake up in my own place in Australia, have a nice job, Junko and the kids with me, and I checked, it's a Saturday, so I will be getting ready for a round of golf. I'll have my Japanese level 1, be in the best shape of my life, and fuck it, be playing off a handicap of 5.
I can't go back without a job, though. I tried that last time, and it didn't work, so I'm going to have to apply myself so I'm a chance. Where do I want to be, and what do I have to do to get there? Simple as that. Remove the ego, the voice that says I'm wasting my time or that I can't do it (at the moment it's saying, dude, you're 35. You couldn't study when you were 16! Give it up!), make plans, schedules, buy what I have to buy, do what I have to do, like a machine. Just like I have done with my exercise. I want to get to the stage that I'm at with my exercise where if I don't study, or go to Japanese class, or whatever, then I feel like shit and am compelled to double-up the next day. Like this morning, I got up at 5 and did Yoga, because I didn't do it last night. So I've done the first step and applied for the test, and I've got exactly 3 months to get my shit together and get Level 2. Like what Paul Roos said to the Swans before the 2005 Grand Final - "If you do what I tell you to do, I guarantee you will win." All I have to do is decide what I have to do, do it, and I am guaranteed success. Easy.
Just did some research into the canned coffee that I drink. One can has about 75 mg of caffeine in it, and I'm drinking 3 or 4 of them a day. That's about the same amount of caffeine as in a Red Bull. Holy shit. I was a little shaky after my after-lunch can, so that explains it. And I've had another can since then! Armed with this knowledge, I'm sure I'll think twice next time I've put the money in the vending machine and the little buttons are flashing and I'm wondering what I feel like to drink. But they are so so sweeeet!
I got home last night and played with the boys, Joey Jo Jo and Chilly Willy. There's a kid in Will's kindergarten that I've got my eye on. He's an older boy called Junsei. The other week Will came home with a scratch on each cheek. Apparently Junsei likes to pinch Will's cheeks, and like all the little fuckers here he has long nails. I'm not sure if it really bothers Will, but I told him he should punch Junsei in the nose as hard as he could the next time Junsei does this. So I get home yesterday and Will's drawing with crayons, like he always does now, and I asked him what he was drawing. "William punched Junsei-kun in the nose" he said, and I could see in the picture two boys, one with a long arm punching the other in the nose. "Did he cry?" I asked. "No," said Will. "Well, next time make him cry, okay?" I'm not really sure if he punched Junsei or not, it's hard to tell. But I want Will to know that I am on his side. Has anyone read "Ender's Game"? I would recommend that book to any young boy, because the main character is bullied, but his reaction is calculated, smart, and effective. It's a great story about being a leader. I want Will to be able to fight, so that if anyone crosses the line with him, he can break their nose.
So I missed my workout. The last week I have felt really tired sometimes. Kind of a flash back to this time last year when I would just get exhausted. It might be the weather, or the reduction in meal size, or maybe all this resistance work in Chalean is taking more of a toll that I think. Dunno. But I fell asleep with Will about 9 last night, and I don't think I could have done the workout if I was awake. I certainly have been getting enough sleep lately, so that's not the issue. Anyway, whatever it is, I don't feel sick. I'm putting it down to the workouts and the weather. It's still very warm, but not so humid. Great summer weather, actually.
I've seen a few more foreigners around town than usual lately. Schools in. These guys are assistant language teachers (ALTs). They are paid by city education departments or dispatch companies to go to Primary Schools or Junior high schools and basically be a performing monkey. I did this for a couple of months before I got this job and man did I fucking hate it. A typical day would be go the school in the morning (heads turning, people pointing, kids screaming "Hello!" as you enter), rush into the staff room for some peace and quiet, except when teachers would escort a couple of nervous kids in for an audience with the foreigner and poke the kids saying "Come on, speak English!" and the kids would ask "How are you?" and I would say "Good, how are you?" and they would say "Huh?" Then morning assembly, more heads turning, pointing, "Hello!", and then I would have a class. The young kids would go crazy, and I would have to do some stupid singing and dancing or play some game while dodging blows to the nuts and "Kanchou!" which is Japanese for "enema." They don't have dead legs or shoulder corkys here, but they do try to jam their fingers up each other's assholes for some reason. And English teachers are fair game too, apparently. I've heard of a case where a teacher had to go to hospital because his rectum was bleeding. I was aware of it and wouldn't let any kid get behind me, and if they tried, I grabbed their hand and squeezed it and told them to fuck off under my breath. After the lesson I would be mobbed so I had to run to the classroom like I'm a Beatle in A Hard Day's Night or something, and then I would scrub my hands up to my elbows to get all the germs and dead eczema cells off me. Four or five times a day this would happen. The older kids would just mess around. A lot of them slept. The poor kids have so much shit to do, like sports, cleaning up, preparing lunches, that they just get worn out. These were a little easier, and I would just speak Japanese to them and try to be cool. Then after school, I would often go and do baseball training with them. The first time I did batting practice, I let the first pitch go, then smashed the next one out of the park. That was a fantastic moment. That was pretty good, actually. The only part I miss.
You do get a lot of holidays, and you can learn Japanese very quickly, but generally, teaching in public schools is only a slight step up from teaching in the language school chains, and both are pretty much shit. I'm ashamed I did it for so long. I should have been in Australia doing something worthwhile. Oh well.
Have you guys heard about a thing called "The Secret"? I'm joking! I have a mate into that, and he made me watch the DVD. Huge laod of bullshit. But I do think saying something out loud helps makes it come true, good or bad. So here goes. I will be living back in Australia by the time I turn 40. That's in four and a half years. Doesn't mean I have to wait that long to go back, but on my 40th birthday, I will wake up in my own place in Australia, have a nice job, Junko and the kids with me, and I checked, it's a Saturday, so I will be getting ready for a round of golf. I'll have my Japanese level 1, be in the best shape of my life, and fuck it, be playing off a handicap of 5.
I can't go back without a job, though. I tried that last time, and it didn't work, so I'm going to have to apply myself so I'm a chance. Where do I want to be, and what do I have to do to get there? Simple as that. Remove the ego, the voice that says I'm wasting my time or that I can't do it (at the moment it's saying, dude, you're 35. You couldn't study when you were 16! Give it up!), make plans, schedules, buy what I have to buy, do what I have to do, like a machine. Just like I have done with my exercise. I want to get to the stage that I'm at with my exercise where if I don't study, or go to Japanese class, or whatever, then I feel like shit and am compelled to double-up the next day. Like this morning, I got up at 5 and did Yoga, because I didn't do it last night. So I've done the first step and applied for the test, and I've got exactly 3 months to get my shit together and get Level 2. Like what Paul Roos said to the Swans before the 2005 Grand Final - "If you do what I tell you to do, I guarantee you will win." All I have to do is decide what I have to do, do it, and I am guaranteed success. Easy.
Just did some research into the canned coffee that I drink. One can has about 75 mg of caffeine in it, and I'm drinking 3 or 4 of them a day. That's about the same amount of caffeine as in a Red Bull. Holy shit. I was a little shaky after my after-lunch can, so that explains it. And I've had another can since then! Armed with this knowledge, I'm sure I'll think twice next time I've put the money in the vending machine and the little buttons are flashing and I'm wondering what I feel like to drink. But they are so so sweeeet!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Chalean Week 3
This morning we had a safety drill. The bell went off at 11, and we shuffled outside onto the tennis courts where they did a demonstration of how to use fire extinguishers, and someone kind of absailed out of a fifth-floor window, and of course, the speeches. We had to stand there for 50 minutes in the sun while they did this. It sucked.
I'm pumped the Lions won. I know Brendon Fevola kicks a lot of goals, but I don't think Carlton can win a flag with him in the team. I think he likes to be the victim too much, plus he's a dipshit. The Lions probably can't win it either, but they have so much more heart than Carlton. Can they beat the Bulldogs? Hell yea. Bulldogs straight sets again. If they don't pick up Barry Hall next year they are not serious.
Workouts going well. I'm enjoying doing the cardio workouts in between the heavy lifting Charlean workouts. I've done a couple from the P90 Master series and I did Cardio X from P90X yesterday, and I feel so much stronger than I remember doing when I was doing them for the first time. However I'm finding that with all the attention to the shoulders in Chalean Extreme that I'm getting extremely tight in the neck and shoulder region. Just have to get used to it. I'm eating well, and basically cut the crap to the odd ice cream and pack of chips, and I'm eating smaller serves at lunch and dinner. I have been eating a lot of healthy snacks like nuts and fruit, so I'm not feeling so hungry all the time.
I saw this on a T-shirt this morning and it fucked me up for a while. "If you teach a man anything, he will never learn." I'm pretty sure that doesn't make any sense. The English people use here, especially marketers, gives me the shits. The slogan of an electronics store where I bought some stuff the other day is "For Your Just." My company has asked everyone to think of a slogan for it. As an example of what they are looking for they chose Hitachi's slogan "Inspire the Next." The next what? Genocide? I'm sure my company will choose something boring and generic like "Let's Challenge!" Not the most adventurous company in the world, this one. I'll keep you posted.
I'm pumped the Lions won. I know Brendon Fevola kicks a lot of goals, but I don't think Carlton can win a flag with him in the team. I think he likes to be the victim too much, plus he's a dipshit. The Lions probably can't win it either, but they have so much more heart than Carlton. Can they beat the Bulldogs? Hell yea. Bulldogs straight sets again. If they don't pick up Barry Hall next year they are not serious.
Workouts going well. I'm enjoying doing the cardio workouts in between the heavy lifting Charlean workouts. I've done a couple from the P90 Master series and I did Cardio X from P90X yesterday, and I feel so much stronger than I remember doing when I was doing them for the first time. However I'm finding that with all the attention to the shoulders in Chalean Extreme that I'm getting extremely tight in the neck and shoulder region. Just have to get used to it. I'm eating well, and basically cut the crap to the odd ice cream and pack of chips, and I'm eating smaller serves at lunch and dinner. I have been eating a lot of healthy snacks like nuts and fruit, so I'm not feeling so hungry all the time.
I saw this on a T-shirt this morning and it fucked me up for a while. "If you teach a man anything, he will never learn." I'm pretty sure that doesn't make any sense. The English people use here, especially marketers, gives me the shits. The slogan of an electronics store where I bought some stuff the other day is "For Your Just." My company has asked everyone to think of a slogan for it. As an example of what they are looking for they chose Hitachi's slogan "Inspire the Next." The next what? Genocide? I'm sure my company will choose something boring and generic like "Let's Challenge!" Not the most adventurous company in the world, this one. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, August 31, 2009
ChaLean Week 2 Nearly Done
Well the Hawks lost, and behaved just like you'd expect them to. There's something wrong at that club. I guess if the coach is a sook then that gives everyone permission to sook. Love it. Swans finished okay. We hit some good form at the end there, but couldn't beat anyone. Too bad we played like shit mid-year, or we'd be in the finals again and be pretty dangerous. Oh well. Still looking forward to this finals series immensely. My tip is Geelong, but I'll stick by Brisbane as the dark horse. I can feel it in me water. St Kilda will choke, I reckon. Can't wait for the grand final because that will mean I'm in Melbourne having a great day!
On Thursday we went to a hotel in Hamamatsu. Junko's parents are members of a group called Resort Trust which own heaps of luxury hotels around Japan, and we can get a room for like a hundred dollars a night. I think they bought membership during the bubble when everyone was loaded. They are amazing places, 5-star everything, pool, spa, awesome restaurants, so we went for night and chilled. Will and I spent most of the time in the pool. He found a book of riddles which he loves. His favourite joke? Why did the snowman in the desert? But he melted! Funny stuff.
Well, yesterday was election day, and apparently the government has been thrown out in disgust by the Japanese. Seventy years and they've had enough. No, actually, the LDP was thrown out in the 90's as well after fifty years of rule, but then there was the sarin attack in Tokyo and a general shitty economy and the Japanese put them straight back in first chance they got. Well, they're out again. Whatever the new guys do, they have to get people to have babies here. The birth rate is the lowest in the world. Did you know the Japanese have less sex and watch more TV than anyone else in the world? They reckon in a few centuries the Japanese people will become extinct if they don't hurry up and procreate. So the new government is going to give people who have kids money. Give me money! Just rememebered that I'm not really helping things by having kids in terms of prolonging the Japanese race, but I still get money. Hah!
I'm still doing Chelean Extreme. The weight workouts are good - short and intense, but I'm going to change the cardio workouts. I have always enjoyed long cardio workouts, and I think they are too short in Chalean, so I'm going to do some of Tony's workouts, and maybe even an Insanity workout here and there. This week, instead of Chalean's Burn Intervals I did P90 Master Cardio Intervals, which is much more intense. I felt really good and strong doing it, much stronger than when I was doing P90 Master all those months ago. I'm throwing in some abs exercises here and there too. I don't like the ones in Chalean. Basically I'm removing anything from Chalean that isn't resistance and replacing it with longer, better stuff. My weight is steady at 81.5 kg, though I feel as though I've eaten my summer holiday allowance, which culminated with Lunch B at a local Indian restaurant on Saturday that put me off food for a good 24 hours. It was a nice way to go out, and from now I'll be concentrating on small, frequent meals and good quality food.
On Thursday we went to a hotel in Hamamatsu. Junko's parents are members of a group called Resort Trust which own heaps of luxury hotels around Japan, and we can get a room for like a hundred dollars a night. I think they bought membership during the bubble when everyone was loaded. They are amazing places, 5-star everything, pool, spa, awesome restaurants, so we went for night and chilled. Will and I spent most of the time in the pool. He found a book of riddles which he loves. His favourite joke? Why did the snowman in the desert? But he melted! Funny stuff.
Well, yesterday was election day, and apparently the government has been thrown out in disgust by the Japanese. Seventy years and they've had enough. No, actually, the LDP was thrown out in the 90's as well after fifty years of rule, but then there was the sarin attack in Tokyo and a general shitty economy and the Japanese put them straight back in first chance they got. Well, they're out again. Whatever the new guys do, they have to get people to have babies here. The birth rate is the lowest in the world. Did you know the Japanese have less sex and watch more TV than anyone else in the world? They reckon in a few centuries the Japanese people will become extinct if they don't hurry up and procreate. So the new government is going to give people who have kids money. Give me money! Just rememebered that I'm not really helping things by having kids in terms of prolonging the Japanese race, but I still get money. Hah!
I'm still doing Chelean Extreme. The weight workouts are good - short and intense, but I'm going to change the cardio workouts. I have always enjoyed long cardio workouts, and I think they are too short in Chalean, so I'm going to do some of Tony's workouts, and maybe even an Insanity workout here and there. This week, instead of Chalean's Burn Intervals I did P90 Master Cardio Intervals, which is much more intense. I felt really good and strong doing it, much stronger than when I was doing P90 Master all those months ago. I'm throwing in some abs exercises here and there too. I don't like the ones in Chalean. Basically I'm removing anything from Chalean that isn't resistance and replacing it with longer, better stuff. My weight is steady at 81.5 kg, though I feel as though I've eaten my summer holiday allowance, which culminated with Lunch B at a local Indian restaurant on Saturday that put me off food for a good 24 hours. It was a nice way to go out, and from now I'll be concentrating on small, frequent meals and good quality food.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
I Hope Hawthorn Lose
9 minutes to go of the third quarter in the Hawks Bombers match. I don't know who wins, but I hope the Bombers smash them. All this talk about the Hawks being 'nasty'. Spare me. Bombers have just destroyed them whenever the Hawks try to get tough. Rioli is a champion. But what I mean is like when Hodge (playing injured as usual, my hero) tries to slap Loniggan, misses, and Loniggan punches him in the jaw and puts him down. Campbell Brown is upset. Oh dear. Think he might get a kick soon? Did you see those slaps he did? What a faggot. I rate Chance Bateman, Rioli, and Buddy, and I hope Roughhead goes to Sydney next year like I've heard he might. BTW this means too much to Jeff Kennett. That guy is a nutter, always has been. I thought he and Felicity split up. Anyway, bottom line. I hope the Hawks get pumped.
Monday, August 24, 2009
First Week Of Chalean
It's a really nice summer day today. Sunny, but a nice cool breeze to keep things under control. Last night I did "Burn It Off!" which is quick cardio workout, and this morning I did "Recharge" because, as Chalean said, I really deserve to look after my body after working so hard during the week. It was just a quick stretch. I manned it up a little by doing Ab Ripper X afterwards. Still got it, baby.
In the previous post I mentioned how tough Chalean Extreme is on the back. It seems that every exercise involves bending over! Yesterday was no exception, and when I finish a set and my back aches, I often wonder if I'll be paying for it the next day. I feel okay today, but I have had a stiff neck since Thursday. I'll see how I go next week. If I get another crick or hurt my back in any way, I'll think I'll stop doing it.
I'm at a loss for anything to write about. Sports season over, Aussies lost the Ashes, Swans not in the finals, Golf season finished on a sour note. My work is dead boring.
I go to the pool with Will every day I am off. I bought him an inflatable tube thing, and he loves it. Yesterday I was having an ice-cream with Will at a small portable shop run by a nice old lady outside the pool. It was just us, the lady, and a guy I'd pegged as a nutter when I saw him sitting down on the locker room floor putting his shoes and socks on. Listening to him talking to the lady took me back to when I'd been here a year and a bit and I was hanging out at a mate's house who had been here a lot longer. An old couple were arguing in their garden outside. "What are they saying?" I asked my mate, and he interpreted the conversation for me.
"What did you bring me this for? I don't need it."
"You need it to trim the plants."
"I'm not going to trim the plants."
"You have to trim the plants."
"You trim the plants, I couldn't be bothered."
"What do you mean? That's what gardening is. Trimming stuff. What the hell are you doing then?"
And so on. I thought it was so cool to be able to understand what people were saying. It's funny how when we hear people talking in another language and we don't understand what they are saying we assume they are talking about really important stuff. Have you seen that bit in Anger Management (I think, some Adam Sandler movie anyway) when you see two Arab looking guys sitting next to each other on a plane arguing? You think they might be arguing about which one is going to stab the flight attendant and which one is going to rush the cockpit, but when the subtitles come up we find out they're arguing about a scene in The Simpsons.
Well my Japanese is now at a level where I can understand mostly about what people are saying in everyday conversations about everyday things. The nutter was talking to the lady about how test scores are way down from what they used to be when he graduated, kids these days are lazy, etc, straight out of one of the silly current affairs shows they have here, and the old lady's like yea, yea, yea. He is a nutter - there are loads of them here, and the funny thing is he only looked about my age. A bit young to be whining about kids. Then when he gets up to throw his empty can in the bin, she says "Thank you very much!" really loudly, which kind of meant "Go away now!". He leaves, muttering to himself, and then two old ladies, friends of the old lady who runs the shop I assume, come for a visit. How are you? they ask the old lady. She says she's tired from working, which they all say. But she says lately she's drinking some kind of drink, I'm not sure, probably some Chinese tea/extract thing that is popular with old people, and she has been feeling much better. They ask her the brand, and she tells them and one of the friends says Oh don't drink that brand, it's a waste of money. But if I drink it thinking it's good for me, then it is good for me, says the shop lady. You should drink this, says the friend, and brings out a brochure for some other drink. Bah! says the shop lady, everybody has their recommendations. Then they bought some ice-cream (here, Willy asked the lady who bought them, in Japanese, Are you really buying two ice-creams? He couldn't believe it. She laughed and explained that one was for her friend). They sat and chatted about these extract drinks, and then the shop lady said I'm sorry, but if I don't close up soon... and we all made our way to the car park.
So I can understand what they say, but I can't understand the tone, and I can't understand the context. At one stage the shop lady said to the other ladies "Shinpai shiteitadaitte arigatougozaimasu" which is basically "Thank you for your concern" which is pretty polite, isn't it. Are they really friends? I could kind of get that the shop lady was humouring the nutter and wanted him to go away, but what about these ladies? Were they trying to sell her something? I have no idea. If they were speaking English I would have been able to tell their relationship pretty quickly. So even though I understand, I don't understand.
It's really hard here to work out what's going on in a Japanese conversation. One thing is that they usually leave out the subject. So "I went shopping" is just "Went shopping." So a lot of the time I don't have a clue who or what they are talking about. Japanese people have the same problem too, but of course not as often. This creates the converse problem of a foreigner learning Japanese who can't leave the subject out, and ends up sounding like "As for me, I went shopping, and I, in particular, bought a hat" instead of "Went shopping, bought a hat." The second one is the level of politeness. You talk to a person you don't know different to people that you know. Same in English, but it's the hardest thing to do in Japanese, especially when you are expected to do it, like when talking to your boss or business associate. There's a whole heap of special terms and verbs that are required. Foreigners can usually get away with it, unless their Japanese is so good that the Japanese person (rightly) thinks they should know better, but Japanese people new to a company will have to take lessons in learning to talk to their boss and guests from other companies. Learning all of these verbs and expressions and doing it correctly under pressure is really tough, and they probably get peeved when a foreigner is allowed to talk to a higher-up in a way that would get them into trouble. And then, to add insult to injury, the boss might actually enjoy the "natural-ness" of the foreigner, which might in turn lead to special treatment or drinks or a round of golf or something. And on top of that, the foreigner probably leaves at 5:00 every day while the Japanese slave away until 9 or 10 every night. Hah hah, fuck em. So yea, a long way to go, but sometimes I enjoy just being able to listen and to understand everyday conversations. People around the world studying Japanese pay a lot of money for the opportunity to hear two Japanese people talking like they would naturally. It's like living amongst the Rinos in a Kenyan national park as the safari buses drive past in the distance. Not really.
So what have I learnt working here? I might have learnt some stuff, but I still find it hard to apply what I have learnt. I don't say "That's not my job" anymore. If the boss asked me to clean the toilet, I would do it. We have to move desks when we move offices. I hate it when people say That's not my job now. But that's easy. What else. I keep my mouth shut in meetings. Or try to. The Japanese say "The mouth is the root of all trouble." Saying nothing is usually the best option here. What else. I have fallen ass-backwards into too many good situations to think that I am owed anything or that I deserve anything. I think living here has made me realise this. Is it a good thing? Has to be, doesn't it? I am a very ordinary man, completely replaceable, and I have so little professional ambition or initiative that I often feel like a fraud. So when Chalean tells me that I deserve this or that, or when I think that just because I did a day's work that I deserve an uninterrupted hour in front of the TV or a pack of chips, I check myself. I don't deserve shit. If I got what I deserved, I would be in terrible trouble, and so would my kids.
In the previous post I mentioned how tough Chalean Extreme is on the back. It seems that every exercise involves bending over! Yesterday was no exception, and when I finish a set and my back aches, I often wonder if I'll be paying for it the next day. I feel okay today, but I have had a stiff neck since Thursday. I'll see how I go next week. If I get another crick or hurt my back in any way, I'll think I'll stop doing it.
I'm at a loss for anything to write about. Sports season over, Aussies lost the Ashes, Swans not in the finals, Golf season finished on a sour note. My work is dead boring.
I go to the pool with Will every day I am off. I bought him an inflatable tube thing, and he loves it. Yesterday I was having an ice-cream with Will at a small portable shop run by a nice old lady outside the pool. It was just us, the lady, and a guy I'd pegged as a nutter when I saw him sitting down on the locker room floor putting his shoes and socks on. Listening to him talking to the lady took me back to when I'd been here a year and a bit and I was hanging out at a mate's house who had been here a lot longer. An old couple were arguing in their garden outside. "What are they saying?" I asked my mate, and he interpreted the conversation for me.
"What did you bring me this for? I don't need it."
"You need it to trim the plants."
"I'm not going to trim the plants."
"You have to trim the plants."
"You trim the plants, I couldn't be bothered."
"What do you mean? That's what gardening is. Trimming stuff. What the hell are you doing then?"
And so on. I thought it was so cool to be able to understand what people were saying. It's funny how when we hear people talking in another language and we don't understand what they are saying we assume they are talking about really important stuff. Have you seen that bit in Anger Management (I think, some Adam Sandler movie anyway) when you see two Arab looking guys sitting next to each other on a plane arguing? You think they might be arguing about which one is going to stab the flight attendant and which one is going to rush the cockpit, but when the subtitles come up we find out they're arguing about a scene in The Simpsons.
Well my Japanese is now at a level where I can understand mostly about what people are saying in everyday conversations about everyday things. The nutter was talking to the lady about how test scores are way down from what they used to be when he graduated, kids these days are lazy, etc, straight out of one of the silly current affairs shows they have here, and the old lady's like yea, yea, yea. He is a nutter - there are loads of them here, and the funny thing is he only looked about my age. A bit young to be whining about kids. Then when he gets up to throw his empty can in the bin, she says "Thank you very much!" really loudly, which kind of meant "Go away now!". He leaves, muttering to himself, and then two old ladies, friends of the old lady who runs the shop I assume, come for a visit. How are you? they ask the old lady. She says she's tired from working, which they all say. But she says lately she's drinking some kind of drink, I'm not sure, probably some Chinese tea/extract thing that is popular with old people, and she has been feeling much better. They ask her the brand, and she tells them and one of the friends says Oh don't drink that brand, it's a waste of money. But if I drink it thinking it's good for me, then it is good for me, says the shop lady. You should drink this, says the friend, and brings out a brochure for some other drink. Bah! says the shop lady, everybody has their recommendations. Then they bought some ice-cream (here, Willy asked the lady who bought them, in Japanese, Are you really buying two ice-creams? He couldn't believe it. She laughed and explained that one was for her friend). They sat and chatted about these extract drinks, and then the shop lady said I'm sorry, but if I don't close up soon... and we all made our way to the car park.
So I can understand what they say, but I can't understand the tone, and I can't understand the context. At one stage the shop lady said to the other ladies "Shinpai shiteitadaitte arigatougozaimasu" which is basically "Thank you for your concern" which is pretty polite, isn't it. Are they really friends? I could kind of get that the shop lady was humouring the nutter and wanted him to go away, but what about these ladies? Were they trying to sell her something? I have no idea. If they were speaking English I would have been able to tell their relationship pretty quickly. So even though I understand, I don't understand.
It's really hard here to work out what's going on in a Japanese conversation. One thing is that they usually leave out the subject. So "I went shopping" is just "Went shopping." So a lot of the time I don't have a clue who or what they are talking about. Japanese people have the same problem too, but of course not as often. This creates the converse problem of a foreigner learning Japanese who can't leave the subject out, and ends up sounding like "As for me, I went shopping, and I, in particular, bought a hat" instead of "Went shopping, bought a hat." The second one is the level of politeness. You talk to a person you don't know different to people that you know. Same in English, but it's the hardest thing to do in Japanese, especially when you are expected to do it, like when talking to your boss or business associate. There's a whole heap of special terms and verbs that are required. Foreigners can usually get away with it, unless their Japanese is so good that the Japanese person (rightly) thinks they should know better, but Japanese people new to a company will have to take lessons in learning to talk to their boss and guests from other companies. Learning all of these verbs and expressions and doing it correctly under pressure is really tough, and they probably get peeved when a foreigner is allowed to talk to a higher-up in a way that would get them into trouble. And then, to add insult to injury, the boss might actually enjoy the "natural-ness" of the foreigner, which might in turn lead to special treatment or drinks or a round of golf or something. And on top of that, the foreigner probably leaves at 5:00 every day while the Japanese slave away until 9 or 10 every night. Hah hah, fuck em. So yea, a long way to go, but sometimes I enjoy just being able to listen and to understand everyday conversations. People around the world studying Japanese pay a lot of money for the opportunity to hear two Japanese people talking like they would naturally. It's like living amongst the Rinos in a Kenyan national park as the safari buses drive past in the distance. Not really.
So what have I learnt working here? I might have learnt some stuff, but I still find it hard to apply what I have learnt. I don't say "That's not my job" anymore. If the boss asked me to clean the toilet, I would do it. We have to move desks when we move offices. I hate it when people say That's not my job now. But that's easy. What else. I keep my mouth shut in meetings. Or try to. The Japanese say "The mouth is the root of all trouble." Saying nothing is usually the best option here. What else. I have fallen ass-backwards into too many good situations to think that I am owed anything or that I deserve anything. I think living here has made me realise this. Is it a good thing? Has to be, doesn't it? I am a very ordinary man, completely replaceable, and I have so little professional ambition or initiative that I often feel like a fraud. So when Chalean tells me that I deserve this or that, or when I think that just because I did a day's work that I deserve an uninterrupted hour in front of the TV or a pack of chips, I check myself. I don't deserve shit. If I got what I deserved, I would be in terrible trouble, and so would my kids.
The boys, Joey Joe Joe and Silly Willy
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Cooling Down
I like this Chalean Extreme. There is so much lifting. I reckon I'm going to put on way more muscle doing this than I did doing P90X. P90X is still the shit, but This is short and heavy. 9 sets, really heavy weights. 2 criticisms though. Hard on the back! Damn. Lots of bending over. And everything seems to involve shoulder flies.
Had a really good day the other day. We went to the place where the had the World Expo a few years ago. Its a big park in the middle of nowhere now, but it's pretty good. Will played and played.
I'm half way through watching District 9. I can't think of a more original movie since Being John Malcovich. I was kind of hesitant to watch it, I thought it would be like a satirical exploration of segregation and racism etc, which it kind of is, but it's funny! Best movie I've seen this year easy.
Longer post later.
Had a really good day the other day. We went to the place where the had the World Expo a few years ago. Its a big park in the middle of nowhere now, but it's pretty good. Will played and played.
I'm half way through watching District 9. I can't think of a more original movie since Being John Malcovich. I was kind of hesitant to watch it, I thought it would be like a satirical exploration of segregation and racism etc, which it kind of is, but it's funny! Best movie I've seen this year easy.
Longer post later.
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