Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Is Today the Day?
Let's start with an announcement that could only happen on a special day like today: Mako is pregnant with our first child! I knew this day was coming soon but I didn't expect it to be THIS soon. Wow.
Things have been awfully busy lately in a certain kind of way, although in a much more frustrating way things have been incredibly boring. You see, the Japanese school year runs from April to March, so I'm in the middle of a break from classes. You're probably wondering (okay, I know no one is reading this anymore let alone wondering things aloud to themselves, but for my imaginary readership's sake, play along) "Dan, if you've got no classes shouldn't you be thrilled with all the free time you've got?" The answer is simple: I would, no, should be thrilled with the free time except I have to spend my free time sitting at work, nearly alone.
How does this work? Well, I have a certain amount of days I can take off work for whatever reasons. My recent trip to New York (which was a thrill, thanks to everyone) is one example of the right way to use my days off. However, during these breaks I have no classes, as there are no students in the building. There are also very few teachers, as most of them use their vacation time during this period. But I am given a rather unfair choice: either come to work and sit there by myself, or I can use my vacation time too and stay home. While I would much rather save my time and use it for future fun excursions around the world, I can only spend so much time sitting by myself in a nearly-deserted office. So I've been forced to take a couple days off lately. Naturally, Mako doesn't have this option right now so these days off have been spent alone at home. But at least I can amuse myself how I see fit at home.
Another element of unfamiliarity at work here, making the entire experience that much more unpleasant, is the SHUFFLE that's going on around me. Along with all the students moving up a grade, this is a very hectic time for Japanese schoolteachers as well because someone in an office somewhere decides to move some of the teachers around to different schools in what was described to me as a "shuffle" (their English choice). Today was the first day of April so today was the first day for many teachers at their new schools. So far, I've seen a couple new faces but mostly I recognize the staff from other schools in my town. It's like that episode of The Twilight Zone where the guy has a repeating nightmare about being executed; nothing changes except the other actors have changed roles. Not that this job is a nightmare; it's just weird how the already-familiar faces have started to change around all of a sudden.
On the plus side, my days off allowed us to schedule a rather important delivery. I moved into this apartment last summer after buying most of the furnishings and appliances from the previous tenant, my predecessor in this job. Over the last few months we've had to buy a couple new things he didn't have, mostly because we are two people living together and he apparently lived alone. Well we recently had to replace a couple things for the same reason. First on the list was the fridge, which was no doubt perfect for a bachelor but for a married couple (especially one where Husband enjoys a cold beer on the weekends) the fridge was simply too small to hold all our needs. We were able to cheat a little bit in winter by leaving the drinks outside, but it's warming up now and enough was enough. Our new fridge is taller than me, has a control panel on the front, and the main door can somehow be opened using either hand, swinging outward to the left or the right.
Secondly, we needed a new TV. OK, I needed a new TV. With the abundance of widescreen programming in Japan and the relatively undersized, older model I had here, I had been aching to buy a new, flat, beautiful TV for some time. Once I found out that my contract was being renewed, my confidence in buying a major piece of electronics increased ten fold. And then, once a friend of mine living over here informed me that this is the time to buy before the new models arrive (as he just did), my wants truly transformed into a need. Mako was a little cautious, understanding my desire for a new set but wary of buying one larger than 28-inches. In my mind, that was the same as taking a step backwards. Especially since my fellow American friend, as well as Mako's sister, recently bought 42-inch models. I was not about to be outdone!
We went shopping over the weekend with her parents, and her father was all too happy to play the role of negotiator. Personally, I absolutely hate the idea of arguing/bargaining/haggling, because I abhor conflicts. Let me research the best price and then pay it; that's my idea of shopping. I don't need to then engage the proprietor or manager in some kind of bluffing match, whereby I pretend I don't want it and he or she pretends he can't go any lower...fuck that. Fuck that to hell.
Mako's dad, on the other hand, is always doing this kind of stuff. I once saw him try to work a deal at the goddamn gas station. So I let him do all the heavy lifting (metaphorically! I always lift things he actually needs to pick up) while I did my best to interpret which model I wanted. It was a perfect plan, because the salesmen want to talk to someone in Japanese and I can barely understand what they're pushing anyway. Win-win, frankly.
I won't get into numbers but the fact that we bought a TV and a fridge together certainly helped us in whittling down the sales clerks. In the end, we got both items plus a stand for the TV and they agreed to cart away our old stuff, all for less than they were initially asking for just the TV. Very, very impressive sir. Kanpai!
[OK, I admit it, Mako's not really pregnant - this is an April Fools' gag. But what better excuse to post for the first time in a long time? That, and it's the four-year anniversary of feitclub.com
You'll also be happy to learn that she loves the TV too and recanted her previous, heretic statements about it being "too big."]
Things have been awfully busy lately in a certain kind of way, although in a much more frustrating way things have been incredibly boring. You see, the Japanese school year runs from April to March, so I'm in the middle of a break from classes. You're probably wondering (okay, I know no one is reading this anymore let alone wondering things aloud to themselves, but for my imaginary readership's sake, play along) "Dan, if you've got no classes shouldn't you be thrilled with all the free time you've got?" The answer is simple: I would, no, should be thrilled with the free time except I have to spend my free time sitting at work, nearly alone.
How does this work? Well, I have a certain amount of days I can take off work for whatever reasons. My recent trip to New York (which was a thrill, thanks to everyone) is one example of the right way to use my days off. However, during these breaks I have no classes, as there are no students in the building. There are also very few teachers, as most of them use their vacation time during this period. But I am given a rather unfair choice: either come to work and sit there by myself, or I can use my vacation time too and stay home. While I would much rather save my time and use it for future fun excursions around the world, I can only spend so much time sitting by myself in a nearly-deserted office. So I've been forced to take a couple days off lately. Naturally, Mako doesn't have this option right now so these days off have been spent alone at home. But at least I can amuse myself how I see fit at home.
Another element of unfamiliarity at work here, making the entire experience that much more unpleasant, is the SHUFFLE that's going on around me. Along with all the students moving up a grade, this is a very hectic time for Japanese schoolteachers as well because someone in an office somewhere decides to move some of the teachers around to different schools in what was described to me as a "shuffle" (their English choice). Today was the first day of April so today was the first day for many teachers at their new schools. So far, I've seen a couple new faces but mostly I recognize the staff from other schools in my town. It's like that episode of The Twilight Zone where the guy has a repeating nightmare about being executed; nothing changes except the other actors have changed roles. Not that this job is a nightmare; it's just weird how the already-familiar faces have started to change around all of a sudden.
On the plus side, my days off allowed us to schedule a rather important delivery. I moved into this apartment last summer after buying most of the furnishings and appliances from the previous tenant, my predecessor in this job. Over the last few months we've had to buy a couple new things he didn't have, mostly because we are two people living together and he apparently lived alone. Well we recently had to replace a couple things for the same reason. First on the list was the fridge, which was no doubt perfect for a bachelor but for a married couple (especially one where Husband enjoys a cold beer on the weekends) the fridge was simply too small to hold all our needs. We were able to cheat a little bit in winter by leaving the drinks outside, but it's warming up now and enough was enough. Our new fridge is taller than me, has a control panel on the front, and the main door can somehow be opened using either hand, swinging outward to the left or the right.
Secondly, we needed a new TV. OK, I needed a new TV. With the abundance of widescreen programming in Japan and the relatively undersized, older model I had here, I had been aching to buy a new, flat, beautiful TV for some time. Once I found out that my contract was being renewed, my confidence in buying a major piece of electronics increased ten fold. And then, once a friend of mine living over here informed me that this is the time to buy before the new models arrive (as he just did), my wants truly transformed into a need. Mako was a little cautious, understanding my desire for a new set but wary of buying one larger than 28-inches. In my mind, that was the same as taking a step backwards. Especially since my fellow American friend, as well as Mako's sister, recently bought 42-inch models. I was not about to be outdone!
We went shopping over the weekend with her parents, and her father was all too happy to play the role of negotiator. Personally, I absolutely hate the idea of arguing/bargaining/haggling, because I abhor conflicts. Let me research the best price and then pay it; that's my idea of shopping. I don't need to then engage the proprietor or manager in some kind of bluffing match, whereby I pretend I don't want it and he or she pretends he can't go any lower...fuck that. Fuck that to hell.
Mako's dad, on the other hand, is always doing this kind of stuff. I once saw him try to work a deal at the goddamn gas station. So I let him do all the heavy lifting (metaphorically! I always lift things he actually needs to pick up) while I did my best to interpret which model I wanted. It was a perfect plan, because the salesmen want to talk to someone in Japanese and I can barely understand what they're pushing anyway. Win-win, frankly.
I won't get into numbers but the fact that we bought a TV and a fridge together certainly helped us in whittling down the sales clerks. In the end, we got both items plus a stand for the TV and they agreed to cart away our old stuff, all for less than they were initially asking for just the TV. Very, very impressive sir. Kanpai!
[OK, I admit it, Mako's not really pregnant - this is an April Fools' gag. But what better excuse to post for the first time in a long time? That, and it's the four-year anniversary of feitclub.com
You'll also be happy to learn that she loves the TV too and recanted her previous, heretic statements about it being "too big."]
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HAHAH! You got me with that one. We just spoke over Skype and I'm thinkin: "Why didn't he bring that up?" HAH!
# posted by 
: 07 April, 2008 09:17
: 07 April, 2008 09:17
Whoooooa Congratulations!
I used to read you when you were in Japan, and am most pleased to hear you and Mako are not only still together but *married* !! Now to catch up to speed...
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.I used to read you when you were in Japan, and am most pleased to hear you and Mako are not only still together but *married* !! Now to catch up to speed...
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unpaid advertising...I'm no sell out!
