Episode 17: There's never enough time...
Konnichiwa mina-san! (Hello Everyone!)
Yes, it has been another heck of a week for me over here in Tsu, and as promised, I'm going to deliver some new and exciting news in the life of a Canadian abroad. To any of my attentive readers, I'm sure you've noticed that today's entry is a little, well, tardy to say the least. Let me explain why:
Here in Nova, it can be difficult to get a day off. In order to alleviate this, there is a "Shift Swap" program, where you can exchange certain days off with other teachers, allowing you to "Work each other's shifts" to grant you a three day weekend, etc. Well, this week, my new roommate Jon went back to Canada, and my good friend Karen had her cousin come up from Australia. Due to conflicts, etc, I ended up working a shift for Jon, AND a shift for Karen, which happened to be both of my days off this week. Thus today was my first day off in about eight days, which when you've pulled a muscle in your neck and managed to catch the first bit of a cold in four months, can be trying at best. Anywho, it's over, and I've actually had a great week, despite all this, so I've got Sunday off, and then I work Monday & Tuesday, and then back to another two days off. That'll be sweet. (This picture is a picture of me with our Tsuminami Nova worker Kaori. Recently Ashanthi has been teaching her and our other worker Nao some great English words. They're wicked fun people.)
To get back to the 'thesis' of today's entry, I have to say that this last week has been full of ups and downs, back-flips, the like, but mostly, it has been a mad dash to a finish line. I've got mainly three things I'd like to talk about, so let me 'get at'er!'
Two of my good friends left for England this past week. Neil and Ellen, you will be sadly missed. (Yes that's them on the left.) That being said, they went out with a serious bang, and not only did those two deliver the goods, but they also 'cut the mustard' like the best of 'em. The stage was set for success, and from the beginning of the night we all knew that we were going to be going on a wicked ride until the early morning... or late morning...
The plan was a simple tri-pronged attack. First Bar, then Bowling, finally Karaoke at the one and only Shidax. Bar at 7, Bowling at 9:30, Shidax from 12:00 until 5:00am. It went as planned, and then some.
Ashanthi, Rachel and myself were working that night, so we met up with the slightly intoxicated gang at Grandbowl! (The bowling place I mentioned a couple weeks ago.) Not only did they give us a royal welcome for our approximately 40 bowlers, but they gave Neil a special ball, and told him that the festivities would begin on his 'opening pitch.' Well, the ball didn't look that special, since it
was just a clear plastic ball with white inner plastic as the center. Of course, that would be merely to the mortal eye, for if a divine being, such as "Bowl-ar" (lord of bowling), placed his icy gaze upon the solid ball of majesty, he would have seen the motion sensitive LEDs implanted within its Titanium exoskeleton. After everyone had quieted down, and Neil took a microphone to announce the opening bowl, he placed the ball in his hands, and a hush fell over the audience. Surely enough, he threw that ball with all of his might, and as it hit the lacquered surface, the spinning ball of rainbow LED goodness went straight and true. 
STRIKE!!! Now that's an opening to a good night. There was much rejoicing, and much fun to be had.
After a riveting couple games of bowling, many of us were ready for the Karaoke to begin. I remember Ellen specifically being so excited that she grabbed a few of us and just began walking out the door, leading the train to the excitement that is Shidax! In case you didn't know about how much the Karaoke costs at Shidax, let me explain it for you. That night we opted for the "Special 12-to-4am" price, which was 3400 yen (approx $32). That is four hours of Karaoke in a beautiful private area, and all you can drink alcohol & coffee/tea/pop, etc. Not bad, eh?
The night began rather simply, with a few fan favourites, and after about the first hour or so, it became an all out brawl, with music from all facets of life. We had Billy Joel, followed by White Snake, followed by Queen, Boys 2 men, Madonna, and Billy Idol. We had single singers, duets, teams, choirs, and pretty much everyone in the room singing with, or without, mics.
One particular highlight of the night came in form of getting our friend Rachel (in the middle), who, well, let's just say 'isn't a professional singer' to sing "All By Myself." Pretty much... all by herself. It was one of the best Karaoke moments I have yet to experience, and as I'm sure you can see by the picture, I look particularly happy during the singing of the song. Kudos go out to my sister from another mister, Ashanthi who took a lot of the pictures for this night.
Right! I almost forgot! Here are a few pictures of my brand new apartment! Yes, I managed to make my first move from my old Nova apartment (which wasn't to my liking) to this newer, and better location (still Nova accommodations.) My room is now bigger, my storage space more plentiful, I have a beautiful shower, my place is in a better location AND it costs less! Can you think of a better move? I can't. My only worry is that I'll have to do a lot of work on my old place for the inspection that will occur sometime soon. 
Frankly, the place was in quite the 
disarray when I arrived, so I hope they don't ding me on anything. My old place actually got much better when I moved in. (I replaced some things, and cleaned like mad.)
Anywho, that's it for me this week. But stay tuned for next week... I try out a few new restaurants, and also, I go down to the beach with Tomo-san and light off some 2" wide Fire-crackers that we had to get a Fire-Marshall's license to ignite! Do I blow my hand off? Does Tomo-san make his mouth even wider?! WAIT AND FIND OUT!
Ja matta ne,
-benjamin
p.s. Check out these funny pics I found!
No smoking adds have never been better. "But he lives in an old movie." diss!
Ahh.. Bubble man 2, return of the beverage that tastes like sugar. Yes, I purchased one, and I can tell you this stuff gets you wired more than coffee any day of the week.
I just love this guys facial expression... he's so bitter... and sharp. Just like the beer.
Yes, it has been another heck of a week for me over here in Tsu, and as promised, I'm going to deliver some new and exciting news in the life of a Canadian abroad. To any of my attentive readers, I'm sure you've noticed that today's entry is a little, well, tardy to say the least. Let me explain why:
Here in Nova, it can be difficult to get a day off. In order to alleviate this, there is a "Shift Swap" program, where you can exchange certain days off with other teachers, allowing you to "Work each other's shifts" to grant you a three day weekend, etc. Well, this week, my new roommate Jon went back to Canada, and my good friend Karen had her cousin come up from Australia. Due to conflicts, etc, I ended up working a shift for Jon, AND a shift for Karen, which happened to be both of my days off this week. Thus today was my first day off in about eight days, which when you've pulled a muscle in your neck and managed to catch the first bit of a cold in four months, can be trying at best. Anywho, it's over, and I've actually had a great week, despite all this, so I've got Sunday off, and then I work Monday & Tuesday, and then back to another two days off. That'll be sweet. (This picture is a picture of me with our Tsuminami Nova worker Kaori. Recently Ashanthi has been teaching her and our other worker Nao some great English words. They're wicked fun people.)To get back to the 'thesis' of today's entry, I have to say that this last week has been full of ups and downs, back-flips, the like, but mostly, it has been a mad dash to a finish line. I've got mainly three things I'd like to talk about, so let me 'get at'er!'
Two of my good friends left for England this past week. Neil and Ellen, you will be sadly missed. (Yes that's them on the left.) That being said, they went out with a serious bang, and not only did those two deliver the goods, but they also 'cut the mustard' like the best of 'em. The stage was set for success, and from the beginning of the night we all knew that we were going to be going on a wicked ride until the early morning... or late morning...
The plan was a simple tri-pronged attack. First Bar, then Bowling, finally Karaoke at the one and only Shidax. Bar at 7, Bowling at 9:30, Shidax from 12:00 until 5:00am. It went as planned, and then some.Ashanthi, Rachel and myself were working that night, so we met up with the slightly intoxicated gang at Grandbowl! (The bowling place I mentioned a couple weeks ago.) Not only did they give us a royal welcome for our approximately 40 bowlers, but they gave Neil a special ball, and told him that the festivities would begin on his 'opening pitch.' Well, the ball didn't look that special, since it
was just a clear plastic ball with white inner plastic as the center. Of course, that would be merely to the mortal eye, for if a divine being, such as "Bowl-ar" (lord of bowling), placed his icy gaze upon the solid ball of majesty, he would have seen the motion sensitive LEDs implanted within its Titanium exoskeleton. After everyone had quieted down, and Neil took a microphone to announce the opening bowl, he placed the ball in his hands, and a hush fell over the audience. Surely enough, he threw that ball with all of his might, and as it hit the lacquered surface, the spinning ball of rainbow LED goodness went straight and true. 
STRIKE!!! Now that's an opening to a good night. There was much rejoicing, and much fun to be had.After a riveting couple games of bowling, many of us were ready for the Karaoke to begin. I remember Ellen specifically being so excited that she grabbed a few of us and just began walking out the door, leading the train to the excitement that is Shidax! In case you didn't know about how much the Karaoke costs at Shidax, let me explain it for you. That night we opted for the "Special 12-to-4am" price, which was 3400 yen (approx $32). That is four hours of Karaoke in a beautiful private area, and all you can drink alcohol & coffee/tea/pop, etc. Not bad, eh?
The night began rather simply, with a few fan favourites, and after about the first hour or so, it became an all out brawl, with music from all facets of life. We had Billy Joel, followed by White Snake, followed by Queen, Boys 2 men, Madonna, and Billy Idol. We had single singers, duets, teams, choirs, and pretty much everyone in the room singing with, or without, mics.
One particular highlight of the night came in form of getting our friend Rachel (in the middle), who, well, let's just say 'isn't a professional singer' to sing "All By Myself." Pretty much... all by herself. It was one of the best Karaoke moments I have yet to experience, and as I'm sure you can see by the picture, I look particularly happy during the singing of the song. Kudos go out to my sister from another mister, Ashanthi who took a lot of the pictures for this night.
Right! I almost forgot! Here are a few pictures of my brand new apartment! Yes, I managed to make my first move from my old Nova apartment (which wasn't to my liking) to this newer, and better location (still Nova accommodations.) My room is now bigger, my storage space more plentiful, I have a beautiful shower, my place is in a better location AND it costs less! Can you think of a better move? I can't. My only worry is that I'll have to do a lot of work on my old place for the inspection that will occur sometime soon. 
Frankly, the place was in quite the 
disarray when I arrived, so I hope they don't ding me on anything. My old place actually got much better when I moved in. (I replaced some things, and cleaned like mad.)
Anywho, that's it for me this week. But stay tuned for next week... I try out a few new restaurants, and also, I go down to the beach with Tomo-san and light off some 2" wide Fire-crackers that we had to get a Fire-Marshall's license to ignite! Do I blow my hand off? Does Tomo-san make his mouth even wider?! WAIT AND FIND OUT!Ja matta ne,
-benjamin
p.s. Check out these funny pics I found!
No smoking adds have never been better. "But he lives in an old movie." diss!
Ahh.. Bubble man 2, return of the beverage that tastes like sugar. Yes, I purchased one, and I can tell you this stuff gets you wired more than coffee any day of the week.
I just love this guys facial expression... he's so bitter... and sharp. Just like the beer.Labels: Benjamin Lynch, Bentron, Canadian, England, ESL, NOVA, Teaching overseas, Tsu
posted by Benjamin Lynch at 12:41 AM
1 Comments:
HA HA!
If villains in old movies don't put respiratory health in perspective, I don't know what will =P
BUBBLE MAN II! My favourite hero from Soda Planet since Bubble Man I! I need to try one of those ;)
Chungtron
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