A Long Week of Insomnia
1) Got two more e-mails from the company I am being considered for employment by. The first was just to let me know that they will likely be making their decision sometime this coming week, while the second was from my contact in the recruitment office telling me she's quitting (?!) and that I will have a new contact from now on. So I still know nothing.
2) I spent most of this last week/weekend absolutely exhausted. I had a ton of trouble getting to sleep, and I would wake up at 5:00am every single day. Even if I tried I couldn't fall asleep again, and in the end I'd get up around 6:00am and just groggily play on the computer to waste time before going to work.
3) The weekend was a continuation of #2, such that even though Saturday was the Hokkaido Great Music Parade where local school and company bands march through the city for hours and hours, I was only able to stay awake for about an hour or so before I trudged back home and took a nap for 2 hours. When nap-averse Altaeron conks out for 2 hours in the middle of the day, you *know* he's tired. Fortunately I woke up in time to meet some of the other JET's in the city for okonomiyaki, though afterward they went to Round 1 to play sports while I walked home to, yes, conk out once again.
4) It poured on Sunday, which was unfortunate because my old boss Chief Hasegawa had scheduled a barbecue that day. We all ended up going anyway, and we were actually able to hold the barbecue thanks to a tarp that the chief had hung over his driveway. We had to squeeze all our chairs and the grill pretty close together to stay out of the rain, but we ended up having a good time regardless. Pork, beef, chicken and squid were all on the menu, not to mention various veggies and fruits. Only about half my office attended, but Emmy brought along her sister Rena and Rena's American fiancee so it was nice meeting them (Emmy and Rena are half-Japanese half-American). As usual at Japanese barbecues, I ate way too much food, but it was very tasty so it was worth it.
5) This week I have my penultimate Fun Friday on Friday, and I am in the middle of working on a speech comparing Japanese and American culture which I will give in early July. So far I've been emphasizing the *cultural* aspects of food rather than the actual food itself, because I'm a terrible cook and can talk more about culture than I can about things like preparation, etc. I don't know how well it'll go over, but frankly, this is going to be the last speech I will ever give as a CIR, so even if it sucks they can't fire me XD. (What a great atitude to take!)
6) Saturday I'm planning on going with a bunch of people to Sapporo to attend to the Yosakoi Soran Matsuri, so that should be a lot of fun. I will take pictures, though I still don't have a USB cord for my camera yet so I don't know when I will be able to post them up to Facebook. I'll let you know when I do though.
That's it for now. Bye bye.
2) I spent most of this last week/weekend absolutely exhausted. I had a ton of trouble getting to sleep, and I would wake up at 5:00am every single day. Even if I tried I couldn't fall asleep again, and in the end I'd get up around 6:00am and just groggily play on the computer to waste time before going to work.
3) The weekend was a continuation of #2, such that even though Saturday was the Hokkaido Great Music Parade where local school and company bands march through the city for hours and hours, I was only able to stay awake for about an hour or so before I trudged back home and took a nap for 2 hours. When nap-averse Altaeron conks out for 2 hours in the middle of the day, you *know* he's tired. Fortunately I woke up in time to meet some of the other JET's in the city for okonomiyaki, though afterward they went to Round 1 to play sports while I walked home to, yes, conk out once again.
4) It poured on Sunday, which was unfortunate because my old boss Chief Hasegawa had scheduled a barbecue that day. We all ended up going anyway, and we were actually able to hold the barbecue thanks to a tarp that the chief had hung over his driveway. We had to squeeze all our chairs and the grill pretty close together to stay out of the rain, but we ended up having a good time regardless. Pork, beef, chicken and squid were all on the menu, not to mention various veggies and fruits. Only about half my office attended, but Emmy brought along her sister Rena and Rena's American fiancee so it was nice meeting them (Emmy and Rena are half-Japanese half-American). As usual at Japanese barbecues, I ate way too much food, but it was very tasty so it was worth it.
5) This week I have my penultimate Fun Friday on Friday, and I am in the middle of working on a speech comparing Japanese and American culture which I will give in early July. So far I've been emphasizing the *cultural* aspects of food rather than the actual food itself, because I'm a terrible cook and can talk more about culture than I can about things like preparation, etc. I don't know how well it'll go over, but frankly, this is going to be the last speech I will ever give as a CIR, so even if it sucks they can't fire me XD. (What a great atitude to take!)
6) Saturday I'm planning on going with a bunch of people to Sapporo to attend to the Yosakoi Soran Matsuri, so that should be a lot of fun. I will take pictures, though I still don't have a USB cord for my camera yet so I don't know when I will be able to post them up to Facebook. I'll let you know when I do though.
That's it for now. Bye bye.