Fun and Work

Monday March 4, 2:30 p.m.

Well, just to link back to what I'd said last entry....I should've knocked on wood a bit harder. As soon as I mentioned that I would be having a slight respite from all that translating, a big assignment landed on my lap which I've finally completed for hand-in tonight. But I'd also mentioned that that textbook wouldn't get to Mr. Moriya in time?.....well, it got just there in the nick of it, miraculously enough.

However, I was able to spend some time enjoying more ramen at Kinton on Friday afternoon. As usual, I was the first one in line at about 11:10 a.m. Believe me, I don't mean to be so early but I don't really have a very good temporal sense so I always err on the side of caution. Luckily, all three of my ramen companions showed up in plenty of time. We got the Kyushu table right at the front. And as usual, it didn't take long for the place to get filled up. I could actually eat the Extra Pork Ramen with a sampling of gyoza and karaage without re-enacting one of the climactic scenes of "Alien". Then, it was up to the Second Cup across from U of T for a bit of coffee, conversation and digestion.

On Sunday, it was the usual get-together with The Anime King for a round of food and anime. Did Asian Legend for lunch and then that Chinese hot pot place on McNicoll for dinner. That hot place wasn't too bad but unfortunately, the chicken was pretty chintzy. I get far more stuff on the bones in my mother's hot pot.

ESL Shop and The Clubhouse

Saturday February 23, 3:13 p.m.

One of those damp and dreary February days although the temperature wasn't too bad hovering at the zero point.

Had to pick up a new textbook for Mr. Moriya which I did by going over to The ESL Shop south of Dundas West Station. I found out about this place purely by searching on the Net when I was trying to track down the text, so I placed the order and decided to head on down. It's a bit of a pity that I'm pretty much retired from teaching now since Moriya is now my lone student; the store looks pretty well stocked, although I couldn't get 2 copies of the text. And the proprietor of the shop, Mr. King, is a very amiable sort and was willing to give me a nice discount even though the text was a new purchase, and the quoted price was still quite a ways below what other sites were selling it for new....apparently, it's no longer being published so I'm gonna have to search elsewhere for my copy on Amazon. But there are plenty of used copies there when I checked.

I made some photocopies and bought a large enough envelope next door at the stationery shop so that at least I will be covered until I get that used copy. I may be paying through the nose in terms of postage since I want to get it over there by next Friday at the latest, in which case it'll be going ExpressPost....not that cheap at all but it'll get to Japan quickly.

I decided to have my meal at the lunch shop in between the stationery store and The ESL Shop. Aside from one old fellow, I was the only customer inside the place. I ordered a Clubhouse Sandwich with coffee. The old fellow came in, had his soup and stuff, and then left...while I was waiting for my sandwich. I was pretty patient, though, since the owner gave me a free copy of "The Toronto Sun" to peruse with my coffee (very good...very double-double...and that is NOT an oxymoron to me).

Then, I realized when the guy finally brought the plate over. Man, that was one massive Clubhouse Sandwich. He made it totally from scratch which included toasting and buttering the bread, and perhaps even frying up the bacon. I was so accustomed to getting the pre-made wrapped stuff from Starbucks or any other similar place that I didn't expect someone to actually make a sandwich for me. And I had completely forgotten the architecture that goes into a Clubhouse. This was one tasty meal....something that Japan still hasn't quite discovered yet. Hamburgers have been a boom there for the last several years but their sandwiches are still kinda emaciated overall. And heck, they even sell strawberry-and-cream sandwiches in the convenience stores...I like my desserts, but not between two slices of white bread.

Calm Before The Storm

Thursday February 7, 3:09 p.m.

It's been an enervating and energetic past few days for me. As Cozy has been a bit delayed in some of those financial statements to be translated, I've been lucky to get work from my regular gig this week, and I did get a nice healthy check to be deposited in the old account. Still, with the precision needed with this work, I could use a massage AND a nap just about now. As for the energetic part, I've gotten a couple of guest contributors for my Japanese music blog, Kayo Kyoku Plus, and they've been absolutely great with their articles. They're covering artists that I've never covered which means that I have a good chance to discover new singers. It's good talking with folks that share my admittedly niche interest, and I don't feel as much pressure to get a couple of songs up there everyday. I've had some good talks with each of them via e-mail about the wonders of kayo kyoku.

Calm before the storm? Ah, yes, Toronto and much of Southern Ontario is supposed to be socked with about 15~20 cm of the white stuff starting from tonight. So, the big news on the news channels highlights the salting trucks and the weather map. Tokyo was gonna get walloped by a second major snowstorm but it turned out to be a mostly false alarm. Some flakes did fall on The Big Sushi, but here in Toronto, we eat those flakes for a light snack. I'm just glad that I don't need to commute anymore. Although if it's as bad as they're forecasting, I think most people will be more than happy to take a sick day on a Friday.

Looks like I've got another Santouka run next Tuesday with another ramen buddy of mine. The two of us got together more than a year ago for ramen (we've gotten together a few times over the months but with his family and not for ramen) at Kenzo but nothing since then. One of my old students who's now living with his family in California recommended the toroniku ramen with pork cheeks. I did see a page devoted to that type in the menu last Friday, so hey, why not? Plenty of cholesterol to go around.

I got a call out of the blue from another old friend yesterday. Looks like he and his family had gotten bogged down by the flu over The Holidays which would explain why I didn't hear much from him for the past few months. But it sounded like he's hale and hearty again, so hopefully we can all get together for lunch or dinner in the next few weeks.....provided I can shovel out of the snow.

It looks like my Skype student will be continuing on with me. Very grateful for that but I have to find a certain textbook for him. I'll be doing my scouring via Amazon or going downtown to the various bookshops.

Back to the Mill

Thursday January 3, 9:17 p.m.

Well, the Holidays are finally over. To be honest, they weren't particularly all that festive for me since most of my time is actually spent at home as a translator, in any case. Plus, I didn't put on all those Xmas albums; just a few of them and plus the J-Xmas songs I profiled on my other blog. Mind you, Toronto, and the rest of the hockey-loving nation, may get a very belated Xmas present in the form of the return of the NHL...maybe.

I'm definitely back to work. Since yesterday, I've gotten daily assignments for translation, and my old student, Swank, has been sending me drafts of her application letter to one of the universities in Tokyo for a course that she would like to study. I already got paid for that...pretty generous. It's good to have that feeling of regular work even though I don't have to leave home. The rise in TTC fares doesn't bother me too much since I only go downtown when I want to, not when I have to.

Mind you, Saturday will be a crossover trip for me. I'm heading out to the wilds of Mississauga for a New Year's party of sorts at my friend's place. It's potluck and games; I think I can handle the latter but not sure what I can bring for food.

Happy New Year

Tuesday January 1 2013, 1:10 a.m.

I'm not typing this as I decompress at the denouement of a New Year's Eve party. I'm at home in my PJs while the television is showing the rerun of the annual NHK Red-and-White Song Festival. My parents are taping the 4.75-hour extravaganza and don't know how to use the timer function on the VCR (yes, we still have that contraption). Therefore, I must stay awake until 2 a.m. when the show finally finishes up. The White (Men's) Team won....and pretty handily, I must say. The Red (Women's) Team had a few problems amongst its participants. I wouldn't say that singers like Ayumi Hamasaki and Mika Nakashima were solely responsible for their team losing, but they certainly didn't help with some wretchedly off-tune performances. My face automatically scrunched up at the aural horror unleashed upon me, and my brain wholly wished that the Japanese would invent an Auto-Tune microphone for these two if they are ever asked back. It was nice seeing Princess Princess getting a final chance on stage on their first, only, and final appearance at the festival.

Earlier today, I went out with The Wild Guy and his family to a mutual friend's house out on the West End for some lunch. Our host was nice to create a Chinese-themed meal....considering the spread she put out, it would've cost close to $40 if we'd had the same thing at a restaurant in Yokohama easily. I only had to pay with a contribution of Laura Secord.

I've been back in Canada now for a year and two weeks. It's been a transitional period although it hasn't had anything to do with any difficulty in settling back into life in the hometown. I've been quite comfortable here. However, over the last 12 months, I've seen myself shift out of teaching, something that I've done for a quarter of a century, and into translating and writing on a couple of blogs. What has kept things connected for me between Japan and Canada is social media. With sites such as Facebook, I have been able to keep pretty good contact with my old friends in Tokyo and Chiba, even though I can no longer meet them in person for the foreseeable future. Being back in Toronto, though, I've also experienced the realization that some of my old friends have become more distant due to family responsibilities and proximity, but other friends have become closer. Certainly, the Anime King is one such fellow and I have gotten a good grounding in what has been popular in the otaku field in my time back home....something that I probably wouldn't have had in the birthplace of anime itself due to the ever-present stigma. Being in a 'foreign' country has provided some measure of sanctuary. Strangely enough, the King is currently traveling in Japan right now and won't be back for a few more weeks.

Not sure what 2013 has in store for me. I can assume that translation will continue to be my new main source of income while people like Mr. Moriya and Swank will provide me with some wisps of my main professional life....at least for a little while. I actually did a quick proofread of the latter student's application letter a couple of nights ago. She was quite appreciative of my efforts on the sudden request....I was surprised to get a far more generous deposit in my account than I warranted. One of my old friends, whom I hadn't seen in several years, said that she would try to set me up with a friend of hers. Hmmmm....I did ask to warn her friend that I was a burgeoning otaku/geek, but of course, she didn't reply to that. Well, I'll apply the same principle in this situation that I will apply to this year: Be hopeful but not expectant. Certainly when it comes to Toronto's professional sports teams, that is also a wise approach.

I hear "Auld Lang Syne" being played on the Red-and-White right now which means that things are closing down there.

Holiday Outings

Friday December 28, 8:15 p.m.

The one sure thing about the Holidays, other than gaining weight, is the intense ritual of meeting up with friends and family. Did the Kinton thing on the 26th, and today I met up with Shard for lunch at the Madison Avenue Pub. Especially on a cloudy and cold day like today with all that snow on the ground, the Mad is a great place to meet for talk, beer and lunch. As usual, the two of us talked at length about movies and the writing process.

Shard brought up something that author Stephen King had written in his book about writing. Apparently, King has no love for the adverb. As an English teacher who would defend the sanctity of the Past Perfect Tense, for even an author like King to pooh-pooh a major grammatical ingredient irked me. However, I don't think it's that King wants the adverb to be banned. He just feels that the adverb is too much of a crutch for bad watered-down writing.

Case in point:   The old man with a cane walked haltingly down the street.
                          The old man with a cane shuffled down the street.

Now, if I ever do get around to writing that great Japanese-Canadian novel, I will use the adverb...but sparingly. There are plenty of amazing verbs out there, too.

The menu rather led me astray, though. I ordered my usual wings....the menu has been updated and re-worded. I saw the options for the chicken wings as "1 lb" and "2 lbs with fries". Well, I used my mental conversion meter of fajitas and thought that the one pound would be enough and order fries as the side item. My waitress seemed a bit nonplussed by my order since she thought I was making my decision based on the cost....which wasn't the case at all. As it turned out, my 1 lb of wings was smaller than what I'd ordered in the past. The 2 lbs was my normal order. Lesson learned. I may head back there next week for penance. But I did tell Shard that I would take him to Kinton next time since he has yet to try the ramen there.

And despite having taken my cold medicine before leaving the apartment this morning, regrettably, my nose was still running like a broken faucet all throughout our lunch. Luckily, Shard and I have known each other far too long to care really. Still, it was uncomfortable to have to reach for ragged Kleenex every thirty seconds for a nose that felt swollen inside.

Tomorrow will be a mega-outing. I'll be meeting my old friend from my Japan days, The Satyr, for lunch down at a Chinatown institution, Kom Jug Yuen. He's been back for the Holidays for about a week but his family lives quite a ways north of Toronto. And then later on, I'll be meeting up with Automan and his group for dinner. Apparently, earlier in the day, the group will be splitting into two with one team catching "The Hobbit" and the other team seeing "Les Miserables" at Silver City. I've already seen one and I have no interest in seeing the other, so I will be catching them after their viewings. As for "The Hobbit", the word on the street about this 48 FPS gimmick seems to be rather negative. I was OK with it but I won't be crying in my beer if it did get the hook.

Saturday

Sunday December 9, 12:22 a.m.

Japan has undergone a few trials and tribulations this past week, and none of them have had anything to do with the upcoming election. There was the tragedy of some concrete roof panels in a tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture collapsing on top of some cars, killing nine. Then, there was the sudden passing of kabuki master Kanzaburo Nakamura XVIII, and finally that Shindo 5(M 7.3) tremor which kicked the country in the shins on Friday. I took a look at the quake map....almost the whole of Honshu was slathered in Shindo 4s and 5s with the epicentre in the same area where the March 11 quake struck. Can only imagine the terror that the people felt there.

My brother came by and blithely remarked that a Shindo 5 couldn't have been that strong. He must've been joking. I know what a 5+ is like....it was the same strength that hit me in the Shinjuku Starbucks when Tokyo felt the 3/11 quake. It ain't no massage, believe me. Skyscrapers were swaying like palm trees, and I ended up doing a major odyssey getting back to my apartment in Ichikawa that night.

Been a pretty quiet day. Still looks very gloomy out there....nothing Christmas-like at all in the weather department, although CTV says that snow may be on the way later today. Meteorlogically speaking, I care about the last week before Xmas. Do we get a White Christmas or not? Nowadays, it seems like a coin toss. I got another translation done in the preliminary stages yesterday. All I need to do is give it that once-over before handing it into the boss before tomorrow. And I taught Mr. Moriya tonight over Skype....seemed pretty drowsy but then again, he had just come back from a busy business trip in Fukuoka the night before.

Work (the) Future

Tuesday November 20, 12:29 p.m.

Yesterday morning, I went down to my now-former school as if I were going to teach a lesson down there. Got there early. However, it was just to return the school manual....not that I referred to it too much. I just went straight in since there was nobody there and left it at the counter and took off like the ghost I was, since I've been deemed persona non grata.

I ended up just walking up to the St. George campus at University of Toronto. I was pretty much a crap student in the 80s, although I did in fact (barely) graduate, but the campus has been a comfortable refuge for me downtown. I trudged up to Sidney Smith Hall and spent the next 3 hours in the main atrium whilst young folk criss-crossed behind me or lounged about on those comfy armchairs right in the middle. Had plenty of reading material...."The Varsity", "the newspaper" and the hilarious "Toike Oike" along with "The Toronto Sun" and "Metro". During those 3 hours, I didn't feel like a homeless person but I kinda spiritually connected to those laid-off salarymen in Japan who wouldn't tell their families about their unemployment and just secretly spent those 8 hours in parks or coffee shops. It might explain how places like Starbucks and Doutors have exploded in number in the past 15 years.

Got my lunch at one of the veteran trucks in front of Sid Smith. Always nice to get my burger and fries. I think the couple managing the truck was having a bit of a spat though. Afterwards, I walked on down to the Koffler Centre for some browsing, and then crossed the street over to the International Student Centre, one of my old haunts. It's a pity about what's happened to the place. It used to be a nice home-away-from-home to put up one's feet with the various rooms for lounging, but now it looks like all of the rooms have been converted into offices. The one room on the first floor that looked like it could still have people for lounging purposes, the Baldwin Room, was completely deserted, and it was still before 1 p.m. I quickly decided to pass through the ISC and walked to the nearest subway station for home.

Well, with my first source of income gone, what do I have? I still have translation but my boss was none too pleased with my most recent output, so I'm not sure where I stand with him and his company. However, I still have my Skype student at least until the year is up, and another former student has started sending me her essays for proofreading. I still want to get back to writing since I've let that go by the wayside over the past number of months. Nope, not particularly profitable but still alive for now.

Pulling the Trigger, Making the Change

Thursday November 15, 1:02 p.m.

Well, treated my parents to lunch at a Chinese buffet place and then later on, my parents brought home a pizza from the Metro supermarket. I paid the price later on....gastrointestinally speaking. But that's not what the title refers to.

Nope, I decided it was time to hand in my resignation to the school. A couple of weeks back, I did my weeklong session subbing for a teacher....nice students and all, but it was far from a home run with them in terms of rapport....basically I felt like it was the Blue Jays 2012 as a teacher. I could actually see myself in Ricky Romero's cleats and just look skywards. "Why me?" I've been doing this for a quarter of a century with some good success but when it came to this school, I might as well have stuck on a piece of paper to my chest which says "WARNING: ROOKIE TEACHER ON BOARD". There was also the fact that my other work in translation was finally starting to clash with the teaching requests. I had to decline 2 or 3 requests in the last fortnight because of translation assignments. And with that last one, I told myself that it was time to make the call.

So, I sent the e-mail about an hour ago....carefully crafted so that it was polite and apologetic....to the powers-that-be that it was time to move on. Translation is not a walk in the park, by any means. But at least I'm getting more well-earned experience, satisfaction and income. Plus, at least I will have some time back to return to pure writing....aside from blogging.

I still have my lone student back in Japan for the Skype teaching, so that's OK. And perhaps in the future, I may be able to help some other student on an individual basis. But on the organizational level, I'm done.

Peking Duck

Saturday November 3, 1:17 p.m.

It's been nice to finally kinda unwind after a week of solid teaching....or something resembling it. I showed "The Dark Knight" as the final "activity"for the morning class. It was something that most of us agreed to, and the ones who didn't were the ones who didn't show up. One of the kids brought over a box of Timbits for everyone which was really nice. However, I just wondered, though, if it would've been better if I had just taken everyone to a Tim Hortons or a reasonable restaurant for brunch or coffee instead...the gang would've, of course, had more opportunity to speak in their final class. But there have been a lot of doubts percolating through my mind over the past few months about this gig.

Barrie, which is a small city 1 hour north of Toronto, got the meteorological icing sugar yesterday morning, and even The Big Smoke witnessed some wet snow coming down. One of my students from the afternoon class excitedly told me as I made my way out of the school. Pretty early these days for even a flurry, so I'm wondering how this Winter is gonna be. It certainly did feel quite wintry out there. After my week's work, I treated myself to lunch at Yueh Tung on Elizabeth St. Of course, I had my default Manchurian Chicken on Rice. Since I got there about 12:30, the place was at full steam in terms of both customers and harried staff. It was my fourth time there, but amazingly enough, the main guy seemed to recognize me and get me a nice table by the exit.

 Now, back on Halloween night, my family had our long awaited reunion with my Vancouver cousins. My sister-in-law was kind enough to arrange dinner at the Asian Legend in Scarberia. Thanks to her father's connections, we were able to get our own room, and the Peking Duck dinner. Yup, darn scrumptious that skin and pancake first course. I hadn't seen my cousin for over a decade since my brother got married, and as for her husband, I hadn't seen him in close to 30 years. Happily, they haven't changed all that much.

Of course, the 2nd course was that delectable duck fat-cooked dish of duck meat and vegetables wrapped in leaves of lettuce. Strangely enough though, in Japan, where Peking Duck is seen as the King of Chinese Cuisine, a lot of places only provide that first course of skin and wrap...none of the 2nd course and the duck soup at the end. I'd always thought about what the cooks did with the rest of the duck. Did they eat it or did any of the stray cats in Yokohama Chinatown look a lot bigger the next day? I figure if any of my old students ever venture to Toronto, I will arrange a true Peking Duck adventure for them.

Having said that, we didn't get the duck soup. But then again, a lot of dumplings and dessert at the end more than compensated. But when our cousins came over to the house, my mother served apple pie and coffee. Even I would've declined it, but since it was crumble-top....

Been a Week

Thursday November 1, 8:44 a.m.

Man, I've been feeling downright domestic this week with me subbing for that teacher. It's been everyday up at the crack of dawn to head on down to the school and teach three full lessons before heading back. And all throughout, there has been that meteorological arc of the remnants of Hurricane Sandy....gloom and rain. I've met some truly nice folk and some pretty fickle ones as well. And the week's work, which will be finishing tomorrow morning, has gotten me to make a fairly big decision. To be honest, I decided to finish things this afternoon. With the afternoon classes coming to a close today, I decided to treat my entire final class to drinks at Starbucks....they've suffered enough. And tomorrow, with the final morning class, I'll be showing "The Dark Knight" as a treat.

It was a major miracle that I could get through the day today since I was out last night with my Vancouver cousins and my family for a scrumptious Chinese dinner out in Scarberia. They came over to our place after dinner for coffee and cake which meant that I didn't even get to start planning for today's lessons until close to midnight. And my ISP was breaking down, so I had to get a lot of the stuff done at the school in the hour before this morning's first lesson. Plus, the copier on my floor was out of order for 2 days which meant a lot of going up and down stairs to get the needed copies done. Twenty years ago, I would've jumped out the window.

But I feel practically giddy now that I've passed the gauntlet. Even if one of the staffers comes up to me tomorrow and asks if I would like to work next week, I'll politely decline. The way teachers bring the supply guys up to speed varies wildly. This week's guy basically threw me out on a fairly shaky limb.

The Worst Is Yet to Come?

Monday October 29, 10:50 p.m.

Well, today wasn't too bad although the winds did pick up and there was a steady if slight rain coming down onto Toronto. I mean, getting off at my bus stop and walking home didn't even require opening an umbrella....not that it would've made much difference since the winds were such that they would've crumpled my old brolley. Not sure what it will be like tomorrow, though. I've been keeping the channel on CNN so I've been watching Anderson again being tossed around like a matchstick in a wind tunnel. Looks like New York City has been getting walloped by Sandy with the NYSE under 3 ft. of water.

The teaching today for a full day went fairly well although all of us were starting to wilt a bit near the end. I've gotten my prep work done and will now be trying to get some shuteye. I haven't heard anything from the school yet about what may happen vis-a-vis Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy

Sunday October 28, 10:13 p.m.


Hurricane Sandy is on its way, or perhaps to be more accurate, remnants of it are gonna be striking us over the next few days. The forecast has been somewhat confusing although I'm sure the weather folks are enjoying the excitement of it; Sandy has been doing a little of the yo-yo between tropical storm and hurricane, and then apparently it's gonna be merging with another storm to become a superstorm although the folks in Toronto say that pieces of it will be slamming into us. In any case, we're gonna get a season's worth of rain within a few days.

And just as luck would have it, I have a week's worth of teaching to do at the school. So, I'm hoping beyond hope that the TTC will be able to hold itself together. Noone's sure how intense this storm is gonna get, and I'm wondering if the school may actually cancel a day or two in response. I was doing a lot of prep work just for tomorrow's classes....a bit of a blind shot since the teacher I'm subbing gave me the bare bones about what to do. It'll be an interesting week.

And to further add to the mix, I've got a cousin and her husband coming to visit us, and they're arriving on Tuesday, one of the storm days. I haven't seen my cousin in over a decade, plus, I haven't seen her husband in about 30. We plan to have dinner with them on Halloween; there may be some respite from the storm of the year on that night.

Finish for the day

Sunday October 7, 12:02 a.m.

Well, got my music blog done and finished up with Mr. Moriya for his usual biweekly lesson. Got his  payment for September as well. Good session with him. All's well that ends well.

Tomorrow (or later today to be more accurate), I've got my brother's family coming over. But Mom really hasn't done turkey in some years since neither she nor the rest of the family aren't really into the big bird (I'm the lone holdout). So we'll just head on over to the local Swiss Chalet. If it weren't for the fact that I love the place, I'd be a bit depressed right now.

I'm gonna have to head to the ATM as well since I owe my brother some bucks for the toner for my printer. That's fine...I can always do with some extra walking.

Finished the Stint

Monday October 1, 7:28 p.m.

Well, woke one more time at the stroke of dawn to teach another full day downtown. And that was it. I've done my duty for that teacher. The morning class was a bit arduous but I had already known that back on Thursday, but at least the afternoon class stayed true to form and was quite nice. I preferred that way than vice versa. I give back her classes and get some added sleep. Teaching does tend to steal quite a lot of energy, so I've already gotten a nap in the armchair after dinner....just like an old fogie, I am now.

Supposed to be meeting Shard tomorrow for that boot handoff. Just not sure when he's planning to give me those snow boots. Hopefully, it'll be around noon so I can take him to the nearby Pizza Hut for lunch. Although I won't be making any income, I will appreciate the day off.

October has indeed come in but we're getting some unseasonably warmer weather. Nothing like the summer, thank the heavens, but pretty comfortable out there. However, once the Thanksgiving Day weekend comes by, the temps will be plummeting.

Another Client Back in from the Cold?

Saturday September 29, 12:34 p.m.

Well, I've had Mr. Moriya for the better part of a year as a Skype student. Now, another former student may be coming back into my depleted flock. Swank (a nickname I gave her since she looks somewhat like Hilary Swank the actress) has contacted me after several months to see if I could help her again with her written English. Apparently, it looks like she's back on the Eiken wagon again. Eiken is the Japanese abbreviation for the English Proficiency Examination back there which is one of the pillars academically and professionally for how good one is in the world's lingua franca.

I don't think she'll become a Skyper since this is all about the written stuff, and besides,  considering my current Internet package with Rogers, I don't think my bandwidth could suffer another regular student through Skype. However, she'll probably be thinking about having me proofread her stuff regularly, and she was quite adamant about making sure I get paid. Hey, no complaints from this teacher. Plus, I've got the structure for any of that processing down pat thanks to Mr. Moriya. So, I'll be doing some light work today after all.

I used to teach Swank first at a nice cafe in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo for a few years before the gigs switched over to the local library near her home. I also taught her husband, the president of a company in Shinjuku for a year or so. Both of them are the nicest Japanese Trekkies one could meet. And the fact that Mr. Swank also likes kayo kyoku meant some classes went by without a single stitch of meaningful English grammar getting perused. Man, what I got away with at times!

Comfort Friday

Friday September 28, 8:52 p.m.

Unlike the brooding I was doing last night commiserating about yesterday's teaching performance, things went a little better today although my general feelings about teaching haven't really abated. At least, I was happily done at noon today. In fact, it's been my first day without either teaching or translation duties....and will continue to be so for this weekend.

I was hoping to grab a hot dog from the stand outside the school, but for some reason, it wasn't there, so I just got some paperwork done before I walked over a few blocks to that Chinese restaurant, Yueh Tung, that Sam had introduced me to back in August. Even after 1 p.m., the place was bustling like crazy. I did manage to get a corner table by the windows, and ordered my now-regular Manchurian Chicken on Rice. I'm sure a lot of the Chinese food purists would blanch at the name, but heck if it's good food, why knock it? The service was brisk but not unfriendly. It was obvious that the staff were looking out for the customers. The fact that I saw a number of regulars coming down and chatting a bit with the older waiters meant something to me.

I love my MCOR, but from my first two times with the dish, I had felt that something was missing from it. So I just added a bit of soy sauce, and things were fine with the world. At $6.99, not a bad way for lunch. And easy when tipping, too. I just hand over a $10 bill to the cashier (she kinda reminded me of Penny from "The Big Bang Theory"....but no need to worry about me getting wolfish....at my age, she's now just niece/daughter status to me) and skip the change.

It was nice getting a bit few zzz's on the subway although it was another interminable wait at Eglinton for the 34 bus yet again. But got back home and a few hours later, the parentals got back with a bag from The Golden Arches. From a weekly habit of noshing on Big Mac sets back in Tokyo to once every 6 months here in Toronto, it's ironic that I'm having to get my weight down right now.

Shard was supposed to drop on by tonight to give me some damn fine snow boots, but had to cancel at the last moment. He was quite apologetic, but unnecessarily so. I just suggested Tuesday as the next window of opportunity. Plus, I figure we can try the nearby Pizza Hut for a nice lunch.

The weather is quite comfortable now in The Big Smoke. Autumn has certainly arrived.

Why Didn't I Retire?

Thursday September 27, 10:09 p.m.

Had my first day of three of subbing for a teacher. When I met her yesterday to get briefed, I found her to be the most well-organized educator I'd come across at the school....which was actually a bit of a disadvantage for me since I wasn't sure whether the students would take to my approach and also because I felt obliged to follow her style to the letter, despite her assurances that I could do whatever I wanted. As it turned out, the morning class started out well but started descending into a morass by the end....because I was trying to fulfill the scheduled her way. Luckily, the afternoon class was a bit better. Still, I feel like Ricky Romero trying to get out of his annus horribilis. I'm gonna have to wonder if I'm gonna have much of an attendance tomorrow morning.

For a teacher, the expression "You can't please everyone"takes on a heavier meaning. I've known that almost ever since I became one. But as I get older, it's getting harder to take that sort of truth anymore. I've been a sub at the school now for almost 8 months, and again thoughts are rising about whether it's time to move on from teaching. Just doesn't seem to be all that fun anymore.

Keeps on Piling Up

Friday September 21, 1:15 a.m.

The parentals are back from Niagara; as usual, they didn't strike it rich. But they apparently got a good deal on the Hilton there. It only cost them a little over $100 but their room had a bedroom and a den. Mind you, the room had a view of the city and not the Falls, but when you consider how many times they've been there, they can easily sleep well without them.

Had another challenging translation assignment due to some stubborn graphics. Luckily, the boss didn't want it lickety-split, so I could get through it without risking a stroke. He will have to do without me for the latter part of next week since I've been called by my other boss at the school to do a four-day sub stint.

Lazy Sunday

Sunday September 16, 3:20 p.m.

Yup, it's feeling a little more like Autumn today. Took a brisk walk around the neighbourhood...not too warm and not too cool. I finally got those translations off to the boss just a half-hour ago. I hope that these pass muster, although I sometimes have the feeling that it's really up to the editor's whims as to how words are put down. Coincidentally, just one second after I'd sent them, the boss sent me a message stating that this could be another buys week. Feeling tired enough as it is.

Will be heading out in a couple of hours with the family to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. We're supposed to be going to Congee Queen up near my old high school. I was a bit surprised at the choice; at first thought, I'd imagined that the restaurant was just the Chinese gruel equivalent of Dairy Queen, but according to some Net research, the place is a bona fide restaurant.

I've got a full day at the school tomorrow. I know the guy I'm subbing for. He's teaching the Business English classes, so things should be fairly straightforward.

On my Twitter account, I got followed by some Japanese idol/TV personality. Never heard of this young lady before, Ayumi Yasuoka, but apparently she's also a fashion director of sorts, although at the age of 24, I can't be quite sure how much of that is true. But I'm not exactly jumping for joy, since she "follows"over 10,000 people as she is followed by over 10,000 people. On her profile, she admitted that she pretty much presses the "Follow" button for just about everything..

Yasuoka is the one on the right. Apparently, the ladies are enjoying the wonders of roast beef.