PoppinFreshBoners's Xanga

wasteland.

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:55:27 GMT

Wow... no one creeps Xanga anymore... what happened?

...hello?

I'm back

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:57:00 GMT

   I'm back from Japan. Staying at my bro's place in Chicago until I find a job, then apartment. I will be getting a cell phone soon... I will post the number when that happens.

    yup... I got a little jet lag... sleeping at 8pm waking up at 6am. I'm pretty sure that's not my normal routine.

   I watched a sad sad fight on youtube. kimbo slice vs Thompson... sad.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Thu, 22 May 2008 11:52:57 GMT

Molly, I can do cute, edible, and engrish stuff. there's plenty of that here.

Mom, It's just as I wrote. 27th. 5:27pm. Midway airport. NW flight 110 I think? either that or NW 20. whatever. I change planes in Minneapolis. I might have a lot of luggage so I dunno if I will be able to take a bus to O'hare or not. We'll see. hopefully either, Sean, Junko, or Mike will be free to pick me up. If not... I guess I'm taking a taxi to the nearest krispy kreme and camping there until they are. because I know I can spend the night there comfortably... they might not want me to... but if they call the cops... then maybe I can get the cops to take me to Sean's. haha. mmmm... donuts.

oh, please stop calling Keiko my wife... I know, technically she IS. legal documents and such... but I am not getting ready to spend an ass load of money on a wedding ceremony that doesn't signify anything. just wait... okay? she's still fiance status as far as I'm concerned. But the Visa interview went pretty smooth. there were some real idiots there and it was frustrating listening to them argue with the consulate people while I was waiting. but they were pretty nice. they WERE really strict, though. if there was one spot that you had filled out wrong they made you correct it right there and then. although most things seemed to work out okay for us.

So Keiko's sister stayed at a hotel in Osaka two nights ago... there was a big fire and she ran outside with everybody else where she was interviewed twice on the news. they told her to get closer to her friend and started asking her questions like "was it scary?" "was there a lot of smoke?" and crap to get a good sound byte. But she said it was actually pretty freaky after she realized it was for real and started inhaling a lot of smoke trying to get out. I wanted to see it on TV but there was a car wreck nearby here so it wasn't on local TV only the stuff in Osaka.

Only a few more days and I will be leaving Japan permanently. Yeah, moving back for good.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:44:46 GMT

So the 19th opened up, so I booked a flight for the 27th (tuesday) to fly back to Midway arriving at 5:27pm. If anyone wants to volunteer to come pick my homeless/jobless ass up, that'd be awesome.

I'll be running around after that looking for a job, a car, an apartment, etc. So if anybody is free to hang out and wants to drive me around to some places that'd be cool.

Other than that... not much to report, I had a very chilled out birthday at Keiko's place. Her family all got me some kind of desert. Her Mom made me a cake, and her sister Yuri, bought me ice cream and Keiko brought home cakes for everyone... so... I'm getting fat. Keiko bought me a pair of these sweet Bose over-the-ear headphones. they rock. and my Kung-fu buddy Nicholas got me a tiny plug in headphone amp for my guitar. so I had something to play with while I was sending my amp home. I still can't play anything decent but it's fun to mess around with.

I'm going to go to this place called Fuji Safari Park over the weekend where I may get to hold a baby lion and other cool stuff.

Now that I got the cool headphones, I'm thinking about getting a new Mp3 player... I might just give in and get an i-pod classic. 160gig. black. it looks nice but I didn't wanna have to get an ipod. I wanted to stick with creative but they started slackin and I can't find anything good that holds as much data... so... stuff.

And yes, Jay, I do regret posting all my bidness online for people to read but I also feel bad about not letting anyone know what's up with me... so... yeah... dang... who'm I kidding? I don't think anybody reads this anymore except for Mom and Dad. oh well.

Just as a reward for reading all this, lemme know if any of you all want anything from Japan. It has to be something kinda small and not fragile cos I already have way too much stuff but I can still look for something if anyone has any small requests. lemme know.

limbo

Thu, 01 May 2008 11:07:53 GMT

I am living at the fiance's place now... her family's awesome so it's all good but it's weird to be "the guy on the couch" when the rest of her family is working.... her Mom is back from Malaysia helping out around the house, so she gets to see just how lazy my ass is when I don't have a job or anything to do all day. It's embarassing... I can try to put up the front of being the guy who wakes up early and gets shit done but there is nothing to get done so... yeah...
    Why am I in this limbo like state? I gotta wait around to deal with the fiance's greencard. There's this rule that I have to have lived in Japan for 6 months before the interview takes place, and that basically means that I can't go back to the States till the interview's over with. but the earliest we could make reservations for the interview was June 2nd. So... I'm stuck waiting around without anything to do until then.
    I guess I'm all about a month's vacation but it's hard to go out and party when you're not making any money. and there's not too many people to party with when you're the only person you know not working.   so... yeah. Any suggestions for cheaply biding my time? oh yeah... I'm an idiot... I mailed my computer monitor home... so... can't use my computer... unless I can figure out how to hook it up to the TV... hmm... and I mailed all my PS3 games home but I have the PS3... I'm dumb.

where to?

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:27:22 GMT

    I still have to buy the plane ticket but I'm headed back to the states. I'm spending all April here sending the crap that I'm not selling back home and looking for a job online.   So I will try to get plane tickets to go back home just after my birthday. I really don't know where I'm going to be heading to since I don't have a job just yet... but for now, I'm looking in the chicago area. Still, I'm thinking about San Diego but I really dunno If I can afford to live there.
       Speaking of things I can't afford, I went with Keiko the other day to a wedding planner type company here and we looked at all the plans and things they had on getting married in Hawaii. We typed up some broad plans for all the things we might want to get an idea of the price it would cost... and damn... a lot. just as a rough estimate it was like 16,000 bucks. I didn't know wedding photos plus the albums and all that alone costs like 3 to 5 grand. crazy... I gotta rob a bank just to finance my wedding. ha. uhhhmmm... anyways, that was just one place... we are going again next weekend to talk to a different place about what they can offer.
       that's about it.

going back home??

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:10:44 GMT

   I'm pretty sure I'm tired of teaching English in Japan so I've mostly been searching for translation work here... if I don't find anything with decent pay, I think I will come back to the states to look for work. It's been a fun trip here but I need to start searching for a real job and there aren't many here.
I've been pretty busy with either school, job searching, looking into wedding stuff, or putting all of the above off. It's a pretty huge bummer to have to suddenly and unexpectedly leave here but it had to happen eventually, I guess. Now comes the massive problem of how to send all of my junk back home... although I'm not quite there, yet...

    There's still one last shot I'm going to take at getting some experience at translation and the like for another year here in Japan. This weekend I'm heading to a job fair in Tokyo for foreigners. I will probably do some interviews there and check out my options... although it looks like most of the companies there are looking for people with native japanese abilities for way less pay than I'm making now... and although I finally (somehow) passed the top level (1-kyu) of the japanese test I was studying for all this time, that still doesn't mean I'm anywhere near a native japanese speaker.   whatever... This will all work out somehow, I guess... I just hope it doesn't work out to me living in a cardboard box on the streets of Tokyo cos I hear chicks don't really dig that.

     I forgot how mentally exhausting it is to constantly be trying to sell yourself through e-mails, resumes, and the like. I hate writing up all this and I hate worse having to re-write it all in Japanese. I need to hurry up and find a job that suits me and concentrate all my efforts into that before I get completely burnt out on the job hunt.

If you like NIN you should check this out ---> free music!

crunkituss

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:31:02 GMT

I really don't recommend getting drunk on a weeknight. we always have these meetings on Mondays and shit just gets outta control and next I know it's 1am and I'm trashed trying to ride my bike back to my apartment. the worst part was that I said "no" to all the "let's go to another place to drink" offers and yet they were like "It's okay, I'll buy all your drinks" and crap so... what can I do? free drinks... now I just have to go to school and teach... mildly hungover. ick... the good thing is... I don't have class until 3rd period and all the classes are already planned out... it's just the challenge of acting just as happy and pleasant as I always do but this time, with a headache. I am relieved however, to know that my friends still enjoy my company enough to pay for me to be around in as expensive a town as this.

so, yeah. If Molly and Rache can make it to Hawaii, you two will straight up be in the bridal party... Keiko loves you guys anyways... so... ain't no thing. I'm just stoked that my friends are happy about it. you don't know how cool it is to have someone not be like "oh thanks, jerk, for having the wedding somewhere I can't afford to go". there are so many people I want to attend but I think Keiko feels the same way and is most concerned about her whole family attending and that just isn't fair if she can't make it convenient for her family as well.

P.S. I super appreciate the effort to hook me up with a job. you guys are awesome and I will get back to you on that, when I'm not too drunk to effectively do so. until then. thankyou.

P.S.S. Nate, you remember when we went to the Testament concert? yeah... I was telling that story today... good times... good times.

okay, pass out-on-the-bed time

I hate the BOE

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:51:17 GMT

      So the Board of Education in Nagoya decided that since there have been huge cuts in education that schools only need their Assistant English Teachers for 9 months out of the year instead of the full 12 months we have been getting paid for. so now every teacher in Nagoya who works in a public school needs to either find a new job that will pay all year round, find a part-time job over the 3-month period we aren't doing shit, or just take the 3 month pay cut and deal. I was hardly getting paid enough to live in the city as it was but now I'm screwed if I stay with the company. It's a bit easier to look for jobs if I was in the states but Japanese companies don't hire foreigners for anything but English teachers, waiters, big company jobs, modeling, or construction.
    I have experience doing two of the those and one was a fluke. I've been looking around and it seems that no one who pays decent money needs to advertise for new employees. It's all done by friends hiring friends... which apparently is why Japanese guy porno stars are all so damn ugly and weird... not that I've ever... eh whatever... anyways, I only have one friend who has a cake job in a private school and he hasn't given me the warmest of welcomes... he said he'd just show me around his school to see if I was interested. and that didn't even really happen.
     my other option is to move just outside the city but I need a driver's license for that and that's a crooked ass system where you need an assload of free time and money just to get one. they fail people on purpose for the tiniest thing (especially foreigners who aren't interested in paying 2,000 bucks for drivers school that lasts a few weeks) and make you reschedule and come back 4 or 5 times until they see fit to let you pass. seriously, I failed because I turn to widely inside my lane when I make a turn. there has to be a proper method of bribing those dudes... I'm tired of wasting my time at the DMV.
     Anyways, I've been stressin' about that since last monday when I first heard about the change. lemme know if you hear of any sweet job offers for people who can speak japanese. either near Nagoya or in California where I wanna move eventually.

    Okay, sorry, so what I meant with the last post's engagement thing was that I would let you know more when we decided where and when. none of this trying it out bidness, I am confident in my decision to marry this girl. But here's the deal, we want to get married in Hawaii on March 21st of 2009. It's got to be a ways off cos it's Hawaii and cos I need to save up more cash. I thought about Japan and having a really Japanese style wedding but that is seriously expensive... plus the temple where we wanted to have it is gonna be under construction and covered in blue tarps and junk. also, I figured not so many people would be able to make it to Japan cheaply, stay cheaply, and come back and forth quickly. Italy - too expensive New Zealand - too far away from everyone. back in Illinois - the same thing as Japan but cheaper just not easy for Keiko's family and friends. I'd love to have everyone I knew join the wedding/reception but it seems unfair to Keiko who would have basically nobody but her family... soooooooo.... Hawaii would be pretty and not so far and not quite so expensive a plane ticket for anyone who wanted to come. still, we are thinking about it...

Ideally, we'd like to have the wedding in Hawaii, then a reception in Japan and another in Illinois but yeah... I dunno. At this point, figuring out where to do what seems like a huge headache. I've already had my bro and his wife tell me they can't afford to make it to Hawaii and I can't do the wedding without them... especially after I missed his... which I still regret so goddamn bad. If it wasn't for the bastard who double booked their shit... anyways, I dunno. I really need to figure out what works for everyone and there just isn't any easy solution. especially now that I am going to be either jobless come April or just more broke than I already am.

As far as everything else goes, I have become a total nerd and have been watching Star Trek: Next Generation every day. man, season 1 kills me with all the 80's hair. the only hot chick in the whole season is Counselor Troi. And why the hell doesn't anyone ever get excited? the whole ships about to blow or someone dies and they are all so damn chill about it. like "oh gee".

I've been eating curry rice almost non-stop for the past week. I'm still not tired of it and I do not pee out my butt so that is awesome... because it is very cheap to make. today was thai curry... very spicy.   I'd go so far as to say I could live happily in India with curry everyday and Indian music videos on TV to watch... I dunno what they're saying but it sounds awesome. plus they just kill you how they always get so close without ever kissing the girl. Too bad I still just can't understand Indian accents. oh well.

absent

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:19:58 GMT

I have been away for some time, I guess. I've been spending most of my free time on kung fu, guitar, and Call of Duty 4.

Call of Duty 4 is crazy. it's got amazing graphics... I'd be afraid to play it around Nate because he might have flash backs or something and cut me. but he would probably cut me anyways, so Nate should play it and tell me how realistic it is.

Also I got Assassin's Creed and Conan for Christmas. basically going through those three games and playing guitar when my eyes start to bleed has taken up all my time till now.

I found time for one weekend to go snowboarding though. it was sweet. I did some jumps and landed them 2 out of 3/4 times. I can't remember the times I ate it because it happened so often during the times I wasn't trying a jump. I actually took a crazy bad-looking spill when going down a steep part of the mountain, during which my body did something similar to a cartwheel with some spinning in there and somehow... I landed on my board again... fine and dazed. my friends were like "WOOOOAAAAHH" . I was in such a shocked state I was like "okaaay." and just sat my ass down to take a breather and check that I still had all my fingers and toes attached. I was just fine. it actually didn't hurt at all. what hurt was the first time I did the jump and I took the 5 meter jump and landed sideways on my ass. my asshole burned for about 5 minutes because I hit it so hard. that wasn't so fun but I later went back to land two jumps and felt better. but then I got too cocky and tried a rail in the park and got the board sideways on it and everything... till I bit it at the end. but for some reason-- sarcastic or otherwise-- Japanese people watching clapped for me. it was fun.

the place we stayed in Nagano was broke as hell, though. it was actually so bad that it was funny. there were upside-down exit signs, exposed wiring, doors that just weren't made to open, no showers, public bathrooms, had to rent our towels for three bucks a use. and the free breakfast and dinner that came with our stay package was about the worst shit I have ever attempted to put in my mouth and chew. I don't even wanna call it food. I was starving and I couldn't finish that crap. it was funny because the same dude who rented out my friends' snowboards was working in the kitchen at dinner time.

yeah, that's bout it. oh yeah, I'm engaged and stuff. I'll report on that more when I figure out when and what's up with it.

Also, I think I recently discovered that my favorite food ever is Indian curry. I just never get sick of it. it's that awesome.

this book was cool... all about old gangster life in Japan before the war and junk.