Slurpees in Japan

What one? Location: Tokyo, Asakusa, 7/11, right in front of the temple gates.

Beetle bodies

Check out these beetles I found outside my apartment. They're pretty huge and valuable. The males can be sold upwards of $100 in Tokyo. If only I knew a seller...

Healthy Debate

Many of my elementary schools this year have requested that, if I'm not teaching English, I should participate in a class. This makes downtime unexistant, which is something I'm fine with. I usually request to be placed in a class where I wont get bored; PE, art, music, and science are always at the top of my list. The other day, I was placed in PE, with about twenty highly energetic third graders. I arrived to class about a minute late, they were already stretching. As they counted off in Japanese "一、ニ、三…" I decided to rebel and see who would follow. "one, two, three, four..." I said with a grin. The eight count finished and two boys standing in front of me followed (as I was a leader). I soon became curious how many kids would join. I began to push. The field of students was about four wide and five deep. A grid of twenty with two leaders and myself in the front. I had already infected two. So I pushed... We completed the sixth stretch, I had the entire front row was counting in English. At this moment, the Vice principle appeared and a small argument broke out. I continued to push... The boy, in the front row farthest from me got into a debate with a girl leading the stretches... ---Translation--- Leader girl, "count in Japanese". Boy, "I want to count in English" "you are Japanese, you are not American, count in Japanese" the girl said in a bossy tone. "Vice Principle! Can I count in English?" he said with no hesitation. "Count in whatever language you want" Checkmate. I was satisfied. Not only did I give the kids a chance to speak in English, I gave them a small lesson in rebellion. The class finished off their stretches in unison; "six, seven, eight".

brutal honesty

While walking to an assembly today, I turned to a boy next to me 


''Do you like meat?''


 him ''Yeah I do'' 


''Do you like meetings'' 


without hesitation ''NO, I DON'T''. 


Keep that brutal honesty kid.

brandon - part 2 of 2

In part two of the series, we complete the second 'half' of our journey.  To be honest with you, it's not really the second half.  Part one covers the first day and a half while part two covers the next four or five days.  Shooting video gets tiring and eventually, I want to relax and have fun as well.  The last two days Brandon was here have no video footage at all.  I have no video of him where I live.

After that day in Tokyo, we went north and stayed at my place.  The next day we played video games.  The day after, we went back to Tokyo and hung out, all night, until the next day.  There is a lot missing.  

There are also some stories I want to tell about the trip but didn't mention.  At one point, Brandon lost his iPad.  He didn't realize it until about an hour after it was lost.  We had to back track our steps and we found it in the same place it was left.  That story I will save for later.

Generally speaking, this is why many of the travel videos I make are more segment like and less story like.  In order to create a story, your camera always needs to be on.  If you're going to do a segment, you can be more selective.  Anyway, that's all I've got.

Brandon in Shibuya

Japanese Summer Festival - 那須 与

It's been around a month since I posted. I finally managed to squeeze this one out today. I managed to get most of it done yesterday and it only needed a few extra bits for today.

Next will be the 'Fire Festival' I attended this past Fall. I think after that, I have nothing left so I will probably start swinging hard at the winter break videos. I'll be trying to keep them to around seven total episodes. Probably somewhere around three for Korea and four for the Philippines. I'm not sure yet, I need to review my footage. If I came out with a total of five, I'd be more happy.

Well, thanks for watching and reading!

Broken Japanese

Sometimes I write in Japanese for my students. They always laugh at what I write. Sometimes what I write is incorrect. A student might try to correct me then another student will stop them and whisper to them ''don't, its funny and interesting''. Apparently broken Japanese is as equally entertaining as broken English.

Working on a travel blog and vlog...

A little over two weeks has passed since I made my way back to the Land of the Rising Sun.  I'm back to work and slacking off when it comes to video projects.  Ahead of me lays hours upon hours of footage I have to sift through.  It's boring, tedious, and much of the finished projects feel, unrewarding.    The only satisfaction I obtain, is knowing other people enjoyed my awkward travels.  There isn't much I have to say about Korea.  I've been there three times.  The Philippines however, was a blast!  Stay tuned!  There is plenty I have  yet to say!

Silly Japanese Signs

Here are a few for your viewing pleasure...

 Be nice to the birds...

Anti-Smoking ad.  (I'm a little sad it came out blurry)  These are found all over train stations.

How to pass a bowel movement (for kids!)

No tattoos allowed (only attempt to keep the Mafia out of the hot springs)

Warning: Snakes (vipers)

Radiation... 

Be careful of closing garage doors

DANGER!  (just don't swim here)

I'm not even sure...  DVD 

People can own rifles here.  It's rare though.

Another anti-smoking ad. 

I'm curious about the accuracy of this...

On the train.

Something or other about 'bad guys'

Nerdy Japan

A boy at school asked me if I played a 'TRPG' which means 'Table Role Playing Game'. I said ''You mean like Dungeons and Dragons?'' He didn't understand me so I drew dice on the chalkboard. Upon seeing the twenty sided die, he face lit up and excitedly said ''Yes! Yes!'' I told him I do but it's been a long time since I have played. Found out he likes to play as a Dwarf. He is probably going to practice English a lot more now so he can talk DnD with me. I don't think many other kids in Japan play those kinds of games.

Winter is around the corner

At least, that is how most people feel. It still feels like fall to me. The leaves just fell off all the trees but the mercury hasn't dropped. Back home, I've heard stories of snow. While here, I am stuck with sunny skies and temperatures settling somewhere in the mid 50s(f). It really makes me wish this area were more like Hokkaido. For now, I'll have to put up with it. Sunshine in the winter doesn't feel right.

Within the next twenty days, give or take, I'll board a plane bound for Korea. I'm off to visit my sister for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to it as well. Something about travel really becomes addicting and seeing to places, is always exciting. There is one thing that is concerning to me, the current state of the Koreas. Both seem to be locked in war games. It would be really nice if the North weren't so retarded. As long as they don't go toe to toe, I'll be happy.

The other day, I finally began the process of capturing my footage from my time spent on Mt. Fuji. One part of it should be finished sometime this week, with other parts soon to follow. I imagine by the time all of it is complete, I will be Korea bound. Crazy to think that.

Well, thats all for now. Felt like I should get a quick update in.

Hit by a BUS

The other day, I had the unfortunate position to be a teacher (who cares a lot about their students) and see one of their students sprawled out on the concrete. They were hit by a bus. I was about five minutes to late to witness the incident. How the student was hit by the bus, was broken down rather quickly in the course of a few hours. A flier was distributed to all the schools in the area. I broke it down in my head and was fairly close to how the situation occurred. I was there, I saw the damage on the bus, and the student on the ground.

The student was traveling with traffic. They decided to cross the street but not at an intersection. This is fairly common in Japan. The problem was their view was obstructed by a large truck. As they went into oncoming traffic, a LARGE BUS came into view and they were stuck. No time for either to react.

I came along just a few minutes after the incident. I felt sick to my stomach and couldn't stay for long. I asked one of my students who it was and they told me. The sad thing is, I have the hardest time trying to remember everyone I work with. I know most people by their face only. I can't read everyone's name because it's all Kanji and kanji can differ considerably with the Kanji it follows.

Luckily the student didn't die. They wound up with a broken back. Which is going to take forever to recover from. I know from personal experience that hospital life is NOT FUN (Although I do enjoy hospital food). I'll see if there is anything I can do to get the student in higher spirits.

-jerry

Trying to maintain

It's rough honestly. There is a lot I'm trying to do all at once. Who thought that a hobby might feel like a chore? It's not really but it bites into my time. Not that bad. I enjoy it. The problem is that I have a hard time maintaining. I probably should snag a calendar and try and stick to a production schedule.

I've been trying to put out a video once a week. At the same time. Consistency is what people care about from time to time. You can produce good content but if it's not at 'X' time, it becomes hard to follow. I need to get back onto the three posts a week and at least one video a week AT THE SAME TIME!

Trust me, I SWEAR I will finish the Fuji stuff. Man. It's been so long. It's going to be like half a year since I climbed... Not as bad as over two years since I've been to Taiwan. Seriously dude.

So much content.

-Jerry