On the train:

I spent another day of meetings in Tsukuba. I am writing this as I ride the shikansen back from Tokyo. I am getting almost sick of this ride. I would be completely dead without my ipod and computer. So here I sit. Today`s lucky car is #5. I am in row 16 seat C which is an aisle seat. The car is full and the guy next to me is asleep. The couple on the other side of the aisle are both playing with their cell phones. Some of these people you could write a story about just by looking at them. I see another couple of women who obviously are coming back from Tokyo Disneyland. They have their souviners and even some Tokyo Bananas. Somehow I think they had more fun that I did today.
I was actually going to go to Disneyland over the weekend. However, some sudden work popped up and I found myself in Yokohama and Tokyo. So a crazy weekend to say the least. But it was ok. The weather was so beautiful that I couldn`t help but be in a little good mood. Plus after riding the trains to and from Tokyo I am very very glad I didn`t go. It would have been completely crazy full of people. But I am not sure if there is a time that Tokyo Disneyland isn`t crazy full of people.
On other news it appears I am getting affected by the prime loan issue in the United States. My house and everything is safe since I didn`t take out some crazy loan like many people did. However I got notice that my house and condo and other properties I own are having the property taxes adjusted. It appears the values have now decreased a little. Its fine to pay less taxes but I hate to see the property depreciate. I know it won`t last forever……. But I think it could get more painful for a lot of people…
Well I guess I will eat my bento and try to relax for an hour before I get to Nagoya…

Happy Trails,,,
Todd

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States. I will spend the holiday traveling to Tsukuba and attending meetings. It doesn`t bother me. Thanksgiving is a holiday where family members try to get together to enjoy a traditional thanksgiving meal. We reflect on family and blessings in our lives. Then we watch football...hehe. But its a good day to relax, overeat, and relax some more.
Yesterday a colleague who works with me told me he didn`t understand why American`s eat turkey on thanksgiving and he didn`t think turkey would even taste good. I tried to explain the tradition behind turkey but he refused to try and understand. To him it was just another commercial holiday. So it kind of upset me to think that here is a guy from Japan who is telling me from America that our holiday makes no sense and we should change it. I almost wanted to punch him! Then he had the nerve to start talking about Christmas in Japan.... don`t even start there... I am seeing Christmas things all over Japan now. I think its cool. But I also think Christmas is kind of hollow here. I mean Japan really has the commercial aspect of Christmas down. I see sales, and Christmas trees, and Santa`s all over. But it will never really capture the true feeling of Christmas that Western Countries (Christian Countries) have. It just can`t. But it can do what its good at and commercialize it and give a boost to the economy. But really the holiday has no meaning here. So my colleague who started trying to tell me about Christmas really started to get under my skin. I looked at him and told him to shut-up because he had no idea what he was talking about and I left the room. Hum.... I guess it was too direct to say but give me a break! Him trying to tell me what Christmas is about is like me trying to tell him what obon is about. Our perceptions just can`t capture the real meaning or spirit behind the holiday. Anyway... enough of that... I have calmed down now....hehe.

So Happy Thanksgiving everyone and if turkey sounds bad and you can`t understand why American`s would even eat it then go to KFC or McDonald's. Have a coke and a smile!

Hump Day!!

While Wednesday is maybe my second most un-favorite day of the week, its hump day. So thats always nice to know. Lately the weather has been so nice in Nagoya. Its cold at night but the days are cool and crisp. Just how I like it. Football weather!! But its weird to be watching games on Monday morning before I go to work. So someday it will be nice again to lay on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon and watch a good football game. I guess those days are at least a couple years away. So for now its watching football games early Monday morning while I am still half asleep and then trying to get enough motivation to get out the door and over to work. I really need a vacation...hehe. At least new years is getting close. I debated to go back to America for a couple weeks or go up to Hokkaido. Hokkaido won this time. So I will head up there for a little over a week and stay with some friends and just relax and eat the excellent food up there. So I am looking forward to that.
Well I guess its time to find my motivation to get out the door and over to work.... joy. I don`t love Wednesday but at least its hump day and after today downhill until the weekend.

November....

Well October is gone and already November. Still love the weather here in Nagoya this time of year. Really beautiful!! I was looking around itunes last night and found a new album from a band I really loved in high school. The group is called "The Church". I couldn`t believe it. I listened to a few of the new songs and was sold. It really brought me back like 20 years. I can`t believe how time flies. I looked at the picture of the band and they are so much older now. It really made me feel old. I haven`t heard anything from them in maybe 15 years. But their sound was amazing. They sounded just like I remember them and the new album was awesome!! I ended up downloading the songs. So I spent the night listening to them and kind of just relaxing.

I have had a cold for over a week now. I have tried to hold off going to any doctor but its getting worse. So I may end up going tomorrow morning if I feel the same. I think I kind of have a week immune system or something because when I get sick I always get pretty sick and usually take longer than a lot of people to get back on top. Anyway I am still alive. Just some serious congestion and headaches.

Well the Dragons pulled it out and won. I was happy. Finally a team I am cheering for is winning. This is a bad year for my sports teams.... Did I say that already?? Well its true! Next year is only 2 months away... I hope its a better year for my teams.

R.I.P. Nova:

I had a few emails this week about my opinion on the Nova issue here in Japan. I worked for Nova many years ago in Otaru when I was about 22 and 23. I was not a full time employee. Actually, I was working in another private English school at the time when I was suddenly contacted by Nova to help them out. They had only 1 forienger in their school at that time and that person was quitting. So they needed a “gaijin” to be in their school until someone else was hired on. So I decided to work there as well. I already knew some of the management there.

At that time Nova was pretty much the king of English conversation schools in Japan. I found Nova to have a lot of money and a lot of resources. This was much different than teaching at a smaller private school. But my experience there wasn`t good or bad. I guess just typical. The school pretty much treated its teachers like a piece of meat. It was impossible to take a day off. The rules were very strict and just pretty much not flexible at all. But I found this same situation at a lot of schools. At that time I felt it was a little too much at Nova. Looking back I am not so sure. But I do know that the school did have issues with the way it treats its teachers. I know many teachers who were very disrespected and treated a little harshly. I also know teachers who loved the experience. Basically for me I felt they didn’t treat the teachers very good. Also, from the very beginning、 I didn’t like the pricing strategy there. I had many many students who were a little stressed out over their strategy. But I wouldn’t say they were much more expensive than other schools. Just the way they charged for lessons was a little different. But many schools have copied that same system. So all in all I thought my experience in Nova wasn’t good or bad.

Do I think the school is effective in teaching English and getting people to improve their English?? YES! But I say this because I think anytime a person has a chance to speak with a native speaker and learn and practice their English with someone who has natural speaking ability is necessary. So going to Nova and speaking and learning from someone who has native speaking ability will improve your English. But other schools do the same. My point it just being able to speak and learn from someone with native speaking ability will improve your English. Nova’s learning system was no better than other systems at some other schools in my opinion. But if you are comfortable in their system that is good. Students need to be comfortable. I think that’s important. So Nova as a school in my opinion is really no different than other schools. Just that it had money and resources.

But one difference as of late….. bad, dishonest, and greedy management. This is what is killing the school. (There are other issues too.) This is the sad fact. Nova provides a good service. But the way it has been providing it is very selfish in my opinion. It’s sad and frustrating to see a company who gets too greedy and forgets who the customer is.

How do you feel about the teachers now at Nova? How do you feel about their qualifications? As for the teachers of Nova, I feel sorry for them. They have been treated completely unfairly lately from the company. Some of the stories I am hearing are unfair. But in a sense I am not so surprised because that is kind of the nature of the business. But I think everyone eventually will be ok. I don’t think too many Nova teachers made a career out of teaching there. In my experience it was kind of a place people would work for a couple years at the most and then continue on in life with something else or somewhere else. But that’s just my opinion. I still feel sorry for the people who haven’t been paid and now find themselves in a foreign country without and money and job. I think the outcome of this can’t be very good. So I hope some good decisions are made quickly for everyone. As far as qualifications, I make no comment. Some teachers in Japan are there to teach. Some are there to earn a quick buck. Nova`s teachers are no different than teachers in many other schools. But not all schools are the same.

Someone asked me in an email the other day if I felt Nova is really needed these days? My first reply is yes. I think they are needed. There are many people who still desire and need to improve their English schools. English as a global language is very important. There are English language school in the United States that helps Native speakers with their pronunciation and accents. Many people are surprised to hear this. But it’s true. This is because there is a desire even in native speaking countries for people to improve their communication skills. So anyway if you have confidence in your English and feel you don`t need to improve then I guess you don`t need to worry about it. If you feel you want to improve or need to improve of just have a hobby of studying English, then yes language schools are needed.

So now I hope I have answered all the questions. Its an intersting topic which I am happy to discuss anytime since I am working and interesting in teaching English.

Now on to Sports.... Rockies lost...!! $#&%!! But the Red Sox are too strong. I think they have a really good chance to win again next year.

For tonight... GO DRAGONS !!!

OK OK I have a lot of people asking me about the World Series in the United States and now the championship series in Japan. So let me tell you who I am cheering for.

World Series.... GO ROCKIES... ! (The have never won and they are the underdog... I have to cheer for them. )

For Japan Series... GO DRAGONS... ! (They lost last year. Plus I now live in Nagoya so I have to cheer for them). BUT... my heart is in Hokkaido... just not with the fighters right now. So sorry to all my friends and family in Hokkaido. Don`t worry... my heart is "dosanko" all the way!!

So now I have made it clear who I am cheering for. On other sports my football team "Denver Broncos" are doing completely terrible this year. I guess its a good year to be in Japan away from the sport this year since they suck so bad. NBA starts up in a couple of weeks and I am very interested to watch my team "Utah Jazz". I really hope they at least repeat whe they did last year. So anyway the sports are in high gear and lots to keep track of... Its hard to concentrate at work. I am checking live sports scores as much as I can.... hehe. Don`t tell anyone!!!

Ahhhh Thursday afternoon…. Some people may be asking why I am blogging on Thursday afternoon… well good question. Just taking a quick break from life. I found myself starting to almost fall asleep at my desk. Its been a very quiet day and I have no huge fires going on right now. Just a few small ones here and there. But today I got involved into some other things during lunch so I worked thru lunch. So now I am just taking a break!!

I got some terrible news yesterday a dear friend has passed away. I am shocked. He was hunting in the mountains and got hit by lightning. It was very sudden. It just breaks my heart. He has a wife and 3 children. So it got me thinking about how precious this time really is. The death of a friend or family always get you thinking deep. But this really is such a tragedy and I have been thinking the last couple days about this. It makes me homesick too !!!

Then I hear about a stabbing death of a little 7 year old girl here in Japan. She was stabbed in the chest and stomach. I can’t believe it. What is going on in the world that people are stabbing little children. I wish I could have 10 minutes in a room with the guy who did this. If there ever was a case to support the death penalty its now. I can’t believe we have such sick people walking around the streets. I also can’t believe the amount of violent crimes held against innocent children in Japan. I hear so much of this news it makes me sick. Why here? I feel like I hear more of this in Japan than in the United States. I am sure it happens everywhere. But it seems to be on the news a lot here. Still I know there are sick people in every country. It just depresses me a little.

Well enough of the dark stuff….. the weather is nice and fall food is awesome!! I am eating oden from 7/11 almost once a week now….hehe.