Making friends: The first 3 months

One of my main concerns coming here was social. I was instructed by my company to not learn the language and all I could think is: how in the world am I supposed to make friends?! I'm a very social and outgoing person so it seemed like a terrible fate to be living somewhere for a year with no friends except those that I met at work. Don't get me wrong here. I love my coworkers and I met some great people at training but most of my training friends are far away or busy as are my coworkers. Also, there are not many foreigners in my city let alone ones who are similar in age to me that I can relate to.
At first, I attempted to boldly face this problem head on going to international friendly places like Roppongi in Tokyo and even went by the navy base a couple of times. Every time I would without a doubt meet people. The issue was that I was not meeting the kind of people who could be my friends. A lot of them were Japanese guys trying to pick up an American or another foreigner looking to "get friendly" with someone if you know what I mean. I would strike up conversations with them and then would casually mention my boyfriend. POOF! They would vanish.
I got pretty good at occupying myself by traveling or shopping or gaming but I started to get restless and just wanted some more companionship. Luckily, my Aunt has an acquaintance over here who I met with. She was awesome to chat with and showed me around Tokyo. The best thing she did for me though was introduce me to this adventure club of foreigners. It's basically a group that allows foreigners to meet others in a fun non-threatening environment. I have gone to a couple of their events and met a lot of people some of whom I have started to really chat with. I hope that this will help me really make some connections.
I'm going on a trip with them this weekend on a hike and hot spring trip. I'll keep you updated on my friend success rate.

Cosplay in Japan

As many of you know from my other post, last weekend I went to a gaming convention in Tokyo called Tokyo Game Show. I must admit, one of the things I was most looking forward to was the cosplay. For those of you who don't know, cosplay is when people dress up as their favorite video game or anime character typically for something like a convention. I wanted to point out what I thought were some major differences between cosplay in the USA and here in Japan.
Disclaimer: Theses are all my observations from going to ONE convention. I in no way am claiming to be an expert on cosplay in Japan. Enjoy!
1.) If they are going to cosplay, they are going to do it RIGHT! All of the costumes I saw were beautiful and amazingly well done which is not the case in the USA.
2.) Stopping people on the convention floor is a big no-no. In America, I do this freely. Stopping and asking for people's pictures as I see them. Doesn't work that way here. All cosplay photos are taken in a separate location.
3.) Cosplayers are rock stars. No, literally. There were fanboys asking for autographs and professional photographers set up everywhere.
4.) Manners, manners, manners. You have to make sure you ask before taking pictures as some of the girls are actual models. Also, people stand in a line to take the best photos possible. No group huddling.
5.) Sexy! So, I was really surprised by how revealing and overtly sexual a lot of the female cosplayers were. They were wearing next to nothing and even when fully clothed were laying on the floor with their fingers in their mouths or imitating other very sexual poses. I don't know why this surprised me so much but it did. I thought cosplayers here were classier than that...oh well!
These are just some of the major differences that I noted. Enjoy some pictures!

What up giant robot?!

Just hanging out

To start people off, they would have their friends take a picture or they would take a picture of themselves.

Tokyo Game Show

This story starts with one of my parent lessons on Friday. I asked my student what she was doing this weekend. She replied that she was going to a video game convention. I had to keep my poker face and not completely geek out at her. "Oh, really?", I coolly replied, "Where is this convention at?" I hoped I could get some details out of her. She told me in Chiba. I lit up on the inside. Only two hours away from here! I explained that I'm also a video game fan and would love to hear more about it. We ended up talking about video games for 20 mins. Parent lessons ftw!
Anyway, my first response was to quickly post my excitement on facebook. I instantly got a reply from a friend close by that he wanted to come as well. We made some plans and I now had a con buddy :)
I started the day off early, catching a 6:23 AM train. We made our way to Chiba on a crowded two hour train ride. Luckily, Japanese conventions are much more organized than their American counter parts so we got into the convention floor at 10:15 only 15 mins after it opened which was impressive considering we were in a line that wrapped around the building. When we entered, we were greeted by the booths of many a great video game companies.

Here we are!!

Konami booth

Bandai/Namco booth where we stopped to see a game announcement

Sega booth

Square Enix Booth

X-box Japan

Birds eye view of the floor

It was an amazing experience! I got to see a whole bunch of games that are about to come out including: the new Halo, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter X Tekken, Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball games that are coming out, Battlefield 3, Project Diva, Sonic Generations, and many more. I also got to see and play with the new Playstation Vita!
It was more exciting to be able to play the games! I played Soul Caliber V, Mass Effect 3, Dance Central 2, Michael Jackson Experience, and (the highlight of the day) Ni No Kuni the new Studio Ghibli game which was incredible. It was stunningly beautiful. One of the things that got me was how wonderful the music was. It really completed the game and I look forward to buying once an English version is released!

A small picture of the game. Shhh...I wasn't supposed to take a picture :p

Another highlight was seeing a vocaloid performance. For those of you who don't know, these are Japanese pop stars that are not real. The girls "sing" using a computer program and "perform" using holograms. It was quite the incredible experience to see one.

The picture does it no justice, sorry.

Next time, I'll fill you in on my experience with cosplayers at the convention.

Natural Disasters in Japan

This weekend, I did a little reflecting on the unique natural disasters that I experience here in Japan. This Sunday was the 6 month anniversary of the March 11th earthquake that rocked Japan. I must admit, after it first happened, I was reluctant to still come to Japan. However, I did my research and thought I could handle an earthquake or two. There are a couple of unique natural disasters that I will face during my time here in Japan. Some of these disasters are: earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, etc. I've only been here for two months and I have already experienced earthquakes and a typhoon.

I was actually looking forward to my first earthquake. Then, I slept through my first one XD It was only a week after I had moved here. I didn't have a phone yet so I woke up to a couple of facebook messages and wall posts from my co-workers checking in on me since it was a fairly large earthquake. Needless to say, I was disappointed. But, I had the opportunity to feel another quake just a week later. I have felt about 4 or 5 over the past couple of months. I'm used to them already. Honestly, they are not that big of a deal. Most of the time, I just kind of feel disoriented for a second. During a bigger one, it almost feels like I'm drunk for a second :P All in all, earthquakes I can handle.

Last week there came a natural disaster I was totally uninformed about. My manager made a casual comment about how it was typhoon season and there was a typhoon heading our way. She joked about how she hoped that school would be canceled. I slowly freaked out on the inside as I realized I had no idea what a typhoon would be like. I did some online research and nervously awaited the coming typhoon. We still had classes as the majority of the storm blew past us. It turned out to be just like a severe thunderstorm back home in Illinois. It was very windy so much so that the rain was slanting. The rain was coming down in small but powerful bursts. All in all, the typhoon turned out to be something else I can handle.
No matter where you go, there will always be natural disasters. The best thing I and anyone else can do is be prepared!

Work, the first month.

So it has been about one month since I started working as a NET (Native English Teacher)! I think that things have been going pretty well. The kids are generally nice. Just like back in the States, there are a couple who I would like to never have to teach again but that just comes with the territory of teaching. Let me explain my schedule a bit. I teach all levels of kids from babies (my youngest is about 9 months I think) to Junior high students and even a couple of parent classes. They are spaced out throughout the week. I have more than one of each level so, for example, I have three different baby classes in a one week period. Luckily, the company that I work for uses a textbook and has a curriculum. Other people are not so lucky! It took a little adjusting for me to go from having my own classroom with a set daily schedule to working in and out of classrooms (although I have kind of basically claimed two) and having a schedule that varies day by day.

When I first arrived, it was very hard for me to get adjusted to. This was mainly because I came in right as seminars and supplemental lessons were happening. They basically taught me all about the textbook in training and then said "But now, forget the textbook. You have seminars and supplementals coming up!". I was told to just do whatever I wanted. I had no problem thinking of lesson ideas but actually planning and doing about 6-8 lessons a day at different levels was tough. Now, we are back on the regular schedule and I would say things are going much more smoothly. 

I think my biggest challenges have been organization and parent communication. Most days, it seriously looks like a tornado hit right after I have taught a class! I'm getting much better at this though. It helps me a lot that I bought some binders. I never thought I would be a binder person, but hey, you do what you must to survive. I also wish that I could really talk to parents sometimes. The majority of them don't really understand English. I have a lesson explanation after ever lesson but I always get the vague feeling that they don't really know what I'm saying. It can be really awkward sometimes.

The biggest advantages and celebrations I've had with this job have been with the variety of levels and energy of the classes. I LOVE being able to teach all age ranges again. Don't get me wrong, I loved my middle schoolers but there is always something wonderful about working with 4 yr olds and some other age groups. It adds some fun variety to the day! I also enjoy the pace and energy of the lessons. Since I teach at a conversation school, I only see my kids once a week. We spend time playing vocabulary and conversation games. It's a lot of fun to get to do that everyday. Although it can be taxing. I think I may develop a love for coffee while I'm here...

Photo a Day Japan project

Okay, so this is a little shameless self promotion, BUT I'm really proud of this project! Ever since I started living here, I have been putting up a photo a day from Japan so people can kind of see life through my eyes. You can only see the pictures through my facebook fan page or by following me on Twitter. If you have not done both or either of these things, you should get on that! Here is the link for my facebook fan page: Land of the Reuszing Sun. Feel free to follow me on Twitter as well @heatherreusz. My goal is to really make this experience as visible to people as possible in all ways. Enjoy!

Celebrating my birthday!

Last week was my 24th birthday. I was very excited and nervous to be spending it in Japan. I was excited because I'm in Japan! I thought I had some fun potential! Although, I was very nervous since I really don't know anyone here. I started the day off very well! I got a call in the morning from my boyfriend who showed me my presents over Skype! Then, I had to go to work. I had a FULL schedule! I literally was supposed to work from 1-8 straight. That's 7 50-55 min lessons in a row. Luckily, one of my students canceled right in the middle so I got a break. Happy birthday to me! I got myself a great lunch of sushi and finished off my day. Cleaning went by very quickly and I had the rest of the evening to myself. I couldn't really go out because I had work the next day. The first thing I really wanted was just some American food so I treated myself to McDonalds. Then, I went to an arcade, where the real fun started. Japanese arcades are amazing! They have everything. The most popular machines are UFO catchers, purikura, and rhythm games. I, however, had a mission. I came to play the Gundam POD game. The Gundam PODs are mobile suit simulators. You hop into a giant pod that a full projection system with all of the same controls as a mobile suit. You have two levers to steer and fire and two pedals to jump and boost forward. Here's a shot of the inside:

Amazingly sweet!

A screen shot as you push into battle

The pods from the outside

 I was really geeking out! Check out the video I took: (be warned, the following clip contains Heather being a fangirl which includes odd noises at times)

After playing the game a couple of times and using the rest of my money on rhythm games, I went home satisfied at my low key but fun birthday.

The real fun came a few days later on Saturday. My co-workers (and friends) took me out to dinner for my birthday. They asked what I wanted and I knew immediately: Pizza! We went to a nice Italian restaurant and got a couple of pizza and pasta dishes and ate our fill. We also had a nomihodai which means all you can drink. They had the restaurant staff surprise me with dessert and they surprised me with a gift!

My dessert had a sparkler on it!

Their gift to me was a yukata (summer kimono!)

I was so excited and floored that they gave me a kimono. This is one of the best birthday presents I think I may have ever gotten. It was a fantastic way to end my birthday abroad!