Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are
Well, in order to break back into posting, I give you this video.
The election is over, the economy is possibly dying, but humor shall march on!
besides, it really is hard not to love the Onion.
Well, I’m about to do a cross country move (again). Thus posting may be lacking for the next while as I get across the reat plains in my car and then back into the swing of things in Colorado.
See everyone on the other side!
This is part of a series of articles about the experience of living abroad and teaching English for AEON. These represent only my viewpoint and are not sponsored in any way.
I will present both the positive and negative. Ask questions! I tend to gloss over some details while going too far into others.
Another thing I get asked about a lot, and people who want to teach in Japan need to know, is about your living space. This would otherwise be known as “The Apartment.”
It could probably be regarded as a common fact that the average Japanese apartment is smaller than the average American apartment. The lesser known extension of this fact is that the average apartment for a teacher is smaller than the average American closet.
Ok, it is not quite not that bad… but it is very different from what most people are used to. Instead of going into great detail, I’ll throw out some pictures first.
This served as my bedroom, office, living room, and cooking prep room (not that I cooked much). The shot is from the door to my deck where I dried laundry and had breakfast when the weather was good.
This is the kitchen, it was also the only sink I had. Just to the left of that was my clothes washer, it really isn’t worth a separate picture though.
Yeah, it was small. Very very small. When first coming to my apartment my manager was actually worried I might not fit on the bed. Luckily the bed was not a problem, it was small, but it was adequate for sleeping. I can say truthfully that I almost had a panic attack upon first seeing my apartment. I can also confirm that you get mostly used to it very quickly.
It’s not all bad though, having a tiny place encourages you to get out and see things. Also, Japanese culture is largely based around the fact that you don’t host any activities at your apartment, you tend to take people out. This is a big reason why karaoke clubs with private rooms are such a big thing.
I don’t have much to say on the apartment topic. It was small, but it served as it needed to.
Uncle Chris is currently getting ready to move halfway around the country. Thus I have some wisdom to impart about such moves.
In the last two years I have moved to Japan and back to Colorado, then to Boston, and now I will be going back to Colorado. With all this moving, one would assume that I am a moving pro. In some ways I am. I travel light compared to most people I know, and I’m really good at putting things into boxes. On the flipside, I am terrible at planning ahead for these moves and doing thins like selling furniture. I don’t wait until the last minute, but I am not ahead of the curve.
It would also help if Uncle Chris believed in moving trucks… Unfortunately I come from the school of thought that says selling of everything you own is more profitable than hiring people to move it. While true, it comes with more heartburn.
So here it is, a great “Do what I say, not as I do” tip. Making a schedule for when you need to sell things, have certain things packed, and when you actually plan on leaving are good important things to mark down. I technically still have two weeks to do things like that, but working at the same time makes it harder.
If you do decide to move without doing much planning, plan on never buying a decent chest of drawers for your clothes. By doing this you can live “out of a suitcase” like Uncle Chris has the last year. I actually didn’t mean to live out of my suitcase, but not remembering one of the items on my list at IKEA resulted in being left with a closet and suitcase for wardrobe organization. If nothing else it provides for great stories you can use in conversation.
Yeah, this is a short tip, but I really ought to pack things before getting kicked out of my humble abode.
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