A Simple Life: Sleep, Eat, Work & Play

Occupied...stressed...

忙しい、忙しい... ~ Dave in Yakitate Japan

Don't know why I feel so occupied all the time. Workload wise, Ka Man probably has more going on. And I haven't got much done lately either. Still, I struggle to keep up with everyday routine and the progress of classes and planning and booking tickets and tours for December holiday.

Quick log...

No longer allowed to use car outside of work but we still do, until Ka Man crashed her car again a few days ago and she no longer has a car. We don't go far though and I'm seriously driving extra careful. Think I'm unconsciously driving Ka Man crazy by following the low speed limit around here. But hey, it will be simply too embarrassing if either of us got into another accident, especially out of work.

Had 3 of my students come to my house the week before. Was a little nervous that I'm not great at hosting and they might get bored. But it was fun. Had a sumptuous lunch of sauce pack Chicken Rice, prepared by Yours Truly. And just had fun playing card games and chit-chatting in half English, half Japanese and body language, with the occasional assistance of the electronic dictionary.

Besides that, pretty much hung around the neighbourhood during weekends, going to Mister Donut for refillable coffee and sugar-loaded donuts. Caught my first movie ever in Japan for 1800yen. Death Note. Apparently quite popular but the acting is way too lame and the plot too predictable. The rest of the time is dotted by small shopping trips to Hakodate and Daiei or Uniqlo. Yes, we've thrown their rule halfway into the air.


Another decision...

Gotta decide if I'm gonna recontract. Yes, I like the nature of my work here. It's probably more meaningful than all the other jobs that i've done before now. I enjoy making chatter with the kids and trying to impart something to these young minds (something I'm still learning to do). While I do miss home and family very badly, I do enjoy having my own space sometimes. On the other hand, I'm painfully aware of the opportunity cost of precious time with family and friends. I have no social circle here. I hardly have even a hobby here. Hakodate and Hokuto aren't terrible cities. They're just not lively enough for me to be sure that I wanna spend a second year here. I'm not even saving as much money or travelling as much as I hoped I could. Just because the yen is falling and Hakodate isn't that well-linked up either.

I guess I would wanna stay in Japan for another year. Cos I don't feel like I'm done with Japan. And if I did go back to Singapore, I probably still dunno what I wanna do and have no plans for my career or future. In which case, I might be wishing I could come to Japan again.

Ka Man, for one, isn't staying in Hokuto. She may transfer to nearer to Sapporo. Or she may very well quit JET and go back to London. Actually, feel quite inferior to her, in terms of work performance. At no time ever, I would want to be her. And she's not the most organized person when it come to housekeeping or time-keeping, but she seems to have an air with her that exudes confidence. She also seems a lot more creative and productive at work than I am. Simply put, I don't feel good about how I am doing at work here and am so stressed by her.

But I'm really glad that I had her for company here. Also, had she not been a Chinese, it would have been harder too. We probably wouldn't have clicked if we weren't put into this situation but we're still really glad we had each other.

Anyway, time to sleep and another day of school. Haven't been on time for weeks. And Japanese are really big on punctuality. Guess that contributes to why I don't feel good about myself here too. If this continues, everyone's probably gonna see me as a bum. Stress...

posted by weiling @ 11:20 PM