So… this morning i am late trying to put on my suit. takes forever to tie a neck-tie. anyway… i decide to wear my summer suit… cause i like how it looks… and i will be in the teacher lounge all day… where its warm. outside its -2 degrees celcius. not crazy… but… cold enough to need more than a shirt and tie and blazer. So i get to school all proud of myself… and the first thing my supervisor says… “alex! let’s go… we have an assembly… for almost 1 hour outside.”
Something that could have been brought to my attention a day or two before. So… i go and try. As I am shaking and freezing… and snot is pouring down my nose… 20 min. into the assembly… i decide… NO> i am not having this. NO WHERE does it say getting PNEUMONIA is part of my job. i get the whole be part of the group thing with them… but if i get sick i will miss a week of work. I politely walk back and to the teacher’s lounge. wait for someone to ask me why i left… no one does. typical. they are thinking about it… not talking to each other mind you… just thinking about it. does he have a problem? did we do something wrong? NO! just because i speak japanese… does not mean i can pick up on everything. I should have been given some form of warning so i know to wear a coat and gloves! Its that freaking simple. I am a foreign teacher here! not a japanese local! how would i know you have a meeting today if you dont tell me! it might have been announced the day before… but i travel… i am not here every day for my job… so i was not here yesterday. they should call me or … no… to be honest… its on me. I SHOULD CALL. i should have called and asked… i know that…just… god its frustrating they treat me like a local… too much. I think from now on… i will call the day before and ask is there any special thing i need to wear the next day. THis happens almost every week i get into some situation where i am not prepared because no one thinks to tell the foreigner who doesnt know any better that the next day we have a meeting… or a snow-ball fight.. or a sports day… or a swimming day… or… sauna day. I actually sat in a sauna once in slacks and a shirt… i took off the tie and coat. Everyone else brought sauna stuff… not me. what… does my face look japanese? Is it my long nose? my 2 meter frame? it must be that i DONT SPEAK JAPANESE FLUENTLY!!!! all these things should HINT that i am not a local! and they wonder why some of us JETs are just not that happy with our job. OOOOOOOHHHHH the city hall told me i do not NEED a car here when i first came… but the school is 30 min. walk from my house!!!! The bus station is almost 10 min. walk… but they didnt even tell me there was a bus station! i just learned by asking around. there was no bycicle for me to use either. they honestly expected i would walk to school every day? and what about winter? Again… I am a foreigner… taken out of my country… brought to east-bumble-F—… and they just expect me to figure things out… on top of that… wear a suit every day and be on time bright and early 8 am every morning… without a car… or any mode of transportation. Yes… not unreasonable… definitely doable… but… when you combine it with all the daily hassles… it just… gets tiring.

I gotta stop ranting… just… what else am i gonna do. I talk to my friends… and i write on here… if i just bottle it up… which i do to my coworkers at least…. then i would explode. Oh yeah… japan is a fantasy play-ground. its one thing to do this as an adventure… its another to have it as part of your daily grind. 6 months in… half way done. soon it will be better weather….

by the way… i should point out… they have a very very very low budget… they can’t technically pay for anything… other than my salary… so… i gotta cut some slack… and i understand that… but… information is free. they could give me information. heads up. “we dont provide you with a car… so… here is a list of local car dealers” no… no… instead… “you dont need a car here… ” just cover up your stink… as if it won’t smell anymore. Again… typical japanese. if there is a problem… cover it up and ignore it. pretend it doesnt exist and maybe it will go away. Its amazing their tolerance level for ignoring problems. I could be whipping one of their genitals with a CAR-Antenna… and they would just ignore it. hoping i stop on my own.