The mural

It's not quite done yet, but here's what I've painted so far. I actually stole the design from some site online which used a photo of Mifune Toshiro as its inspiration (he was a Japanese actor who starred in many Kurosawa Akira films). Having more time and energy I would have done a sketch from the photo myself and it OBVIOUSLY would have looked better. But this was more of a trial project. My mom wants a Victorian-style woman painted on a wall in her hallway and my dad has already set aside a giant space in another part of the cellar for me to paint. I guess if I can free up the time (let me just check my schedule...) I'll paint more and then post those as well. Feedback would be appreciated. But keep in mind that I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my shit...

Why don't women do that here?

I was just cracking up over an article I found through Mari's Blog (Mari is a Japanese girl writing in English, and includes lots of links to Japanese pop culture stuff). One of the articles she just linked to was titled "You've Been In Japan Too Long When..." and that sentence was finished with: ...you are not surprised to wake up in the morning and find that the woman who stayed over last night has completely cleaned your apartment, even though you'll probably never ever meet her again. This actually came up quite a few times in conversations I had with other teachers at NOVA. My friend from the Philly area once took a girl home for a fling, and in the morning discovered she had sewed up a hole in his pants while he was sleeping. She knew full well that it was a fling (at least, that's how he told the story...), but I guess that's just something girls do there.

山椒大夫 (1954)

Another movie recommendation. Mizoguchi Kenji's "Sansho Daiyu" (or, in English, "Sansho the Bailiff"). This film takes place in the late-Heian era (maybe around 1000 or 1100 AD) and centers around a former daimyo's (feudal lord) family. In a retelling of a classic Japanese story, this daimyo intentionally disobeys an order from the government and loses his office. He is banished and his family is left to fend for themselves. While traveling along a road, his wife and two children are kidnapped, separated, and sold into slavery (the scene where the family is captured is quite intense). Life gets worse for everyone involved but its beautifully directed and there's a humanistic message.

Update to my Interac application

I had a phone interview with Interac (maybe two weeks ago) and I was told that I would receive a formal invitation to attend their recruiting seminar in New York. Apparently it took them two weeks to get around to sending me a mass email with details of the interview. It starts at 9am ("sharp" according to the email) and lasts like 4 fucking hours. In addition to suffering through their sales pitch about living in Japan I have to deliver a 5-minute presentation. The guidelines are as follows:

GUIDELINES FOR VIDEO INTERVIEW (to be video-taped during interview)


The five minute demonstration must contain ALL of these three components:


1) Greet an imaginary class of Junior High School age (12 to 15 years) Japanese School Children. (One minute).

2) Deliver a one-minute self-introduction and describe your strengths in relation to teaching. It is encouraged that you do this in Japanese if it is possible. (One minute).

3) Drill an imaginary group of Elementary School age Japanese Children. Choose one of the following topics:


1. Numbers 1-5

2. Days of the Week.

3. Colors


The total presentation should be not exceed 5 minutes in duration. We have included details and tips that will help you present a perfect demonstration lesson. They are outlined in the attachment. Please contact us immediately if you are unable to open the attachment.

Sounds like a snap but you know how much it sucks to do this kind of shit for an interview. I think I'm gonna go with numbers because there are handy songs available. One little, two little, three little fingers, four little.... oh wait. For that song to work I would need to go as high as ten. Am I limited to 5? Ummmm... let me think this through...

66.5 by 82 inches

I've been inspired to paint a mural in my dad's basement. Pictures will be produced when its finished but Daniela has to see it before anyone else can.

So disappointed...

If the thought of putting classic literature and poetry on an iPod doesn't do it for you, just skip this one.

I found a website, Librivox, that provides free audio recordings of books. After a little searching I also found readings from the work of some of my favorite poets. I was THRILLED to find, what I thought, was a way to put poetry onto my iPod and then listen to it while running. Try to imagine how let down I was when I found out that all the recordings were done by volunteers and these volunteers had some of the worst, nasally voices ever recorded. Oh man. Returning to one of my favorite sites online, The Gutenberg Project, I found they now also carry sound recordings and often there will be multiple recordings for one book. At least that affords some selection. Would you rather hear Songs of Innocence and Experience read by the guy who did the voice for Snuffalufagus or the guy who did the voice for Yoda?

女が階段を上る時

Thanks to Netflix and the Criterion Collection I've been watching a lot of old Japanese movies lately and I have some recommendations. I just finished 女が階段を上る時, or 'When a Woman Ascends the Stairs,' in its translation. The story involves a Ginza bar hostess in the years following World War II. She's a widow of 30 and her impeccable character makes her an anachronism in, what was then, modern Tokyo. I wouldn't normally post my thoughts on a movie from the 1960s but some idiot from Chicago posted his thoughts on IMDb and I had no one to argue with. 'Wallabee Champ' thought: "The biggest [flaw] is there's no actual drama, because the main character doesn't face any adversity. She's just a whiny woman who's upset with her lot in life, but too unmotivated to change it, and instead mopes around a lot." No. Totally wrong. I don't even know where to begin with why that statement is shit. I'm guessing that if Godzilla doesn't knock down the city, 'Wallabee Champ' won't register the adversity. The adversity in the film comes from working a job she hates (where she has to entertain and flatter people who are depraved and selfish) because its necessary, while trying to preserve her own dignity. I found that despite being a movie about a Japanese bar hostess in post-war Japan, I could totally relate to what she was living through. How do you define who you are and then preserve that in the face of modern society and its compromises?

In addition to this, I would recommend every movie directed by Kurosawa Akira (start with the more famous samurai films but don't skip Ikiru), the three films about the life of Miyamoto Musashi directed by Inagaki Hiroshi, and a bunch of other films that I'd be happy to elaborate on if anyone is interested. And a bunch of anime too.

Financial Advice

I want to write a long and thorough post later, but the gist of what I want to say is this: buying stock in NOVA is probably a good idea.

Taxes... 5 months late

I'm now filling out my taxes for the fiscal year 2006. I'm not actually late since I applied for an extension while I was traveling. If you've never needed an extension before, it gives you until October 15th to get your shit together.

While I was in Malaysia I met this girl who taught in Japan for three years and she told me which forms I would eventually need to file. I'm filling out a 1040 like everyone else (I have to use an arbitrary exchange rate and put all of my yen earnings into dollars), but on top of that I'm filling out a 2555 form, which allows me to exempt up to $82,400 of my earnings from taxes in the US. So, if you're thinking about working abroad, know that you won't need to pay taxes back home. I wish I could just call the IRS and tell them how much I earned, much less than $82,400, and they could just let me go. It's going to take me hours to read through the IRS website and figure this out with the ultimate result (a foregone conclusion) that I won't owe a penny. Can't we just skip everything in between guys?

By the way that girl I met in Malaysia was a total bitch. The second she told me she went to Wellesley I knew it was going to be a pissing contest. I was at an early disadvantage because I told her I taught at NOVA (JET being a much better choice), but I recovered some ground when I found out I was a few years younger than she was. She had found a better deal on her hotel room and rubbed in that it was a single. I played that off like she was being antisocial and told her making friends is the best part of traveling. I think in the end I won. After all, I'm me. There's nothing she could have said to recover from that.

Voodoo Chile Blues

I wrote back to the WinBe school and told them I needed an additional week to decide whether I would accept their offer or not. I explicitly told them that I had an interview at another school and without hearing their offer I'm not prepared to decide. I'm not sure if that will fly or not, but reading something in their contract is what made me go this route.

An Instructor who breaks the contract without an unavoidable reason (as defined through consultation with the Japanese Labour Law Bureau: Roodou Kijun Kantokusho), may find themselves the subject of legal proceedings in Tokyo Civil Court to recover costs incurred by WinBe as a consequence of the Instructor’s actions.　

I don't know what costs the school will incur if I say 'yes' but that scared me into being a little bit more thoughtful in my dealings with them. Hopefully I'll hear back from someone at Interac this week and then I can make a decision.