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Fukuoka Earthquake
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I currently work 8 part time jobs and 7 days a week. I am quite busy and I only work 5 hours on the weekend so, it seems like I have a lot of free time. Also, I'm making plans to start up a bowling club.
Today, one of my schools, STEPPING STONES, shot a live tv commercal this morning. It was interesting. I didn`t know that it was a live shot so I didn`t tell my friends to watch it. Anyways, I was on TV. Hahahaha. About my former school. I talked to a lawyer and she told me that what my former school did was illegal. I joined a UNION and now they are helping me. I currently work 6 different schools with about 12 - 13 hours / week total. It is not enough but it is enough to get by on.
Today is Saturday. I had 1 hour of work today. It was a 10 AM, 1 hour class for babies. Actually they were about 2 or 3 years old. It is actually a modeling studio and they are in training to be models.
After this I went to a culture area to check my email and they had a SAMISEN event today. It is a tradional Japanese musical instrument. I looks like a banjo and you play it will something that looks like a long hair clip. Anyways, they played it and it was not so bad. I actually enjoyed it. Later, most of us got to try it out. Not too bad. I was easier than a guitar as there were only 3 chords.
I went to the Vodaphone/ J-phone shop and tried to figure out some of my problems with my cell phone.
Then I met my friend Chan. A car hit him on his bike so he was not feeling too good.
By the way. I was fired by my company at the end of July and I was scrambling to get a part time job. Finally, it is getting better. The companies name was OWLS, and lets just say ....... Most people there, do not like the company that they work for. Anyways, I will try to write more later.
Today my classes were canceled as the Thyphoon is getting close to Kyushu Island. But all the teachers must attend the school. Last Thursday I had a very interesting day. It was a rainy day so, I wore my jacket to work. On the way home, I took off my jacket and placed it on the top self above my seat on the train. When I arrived at Kashii station, I forgot all about it. After that I had a lesson near by and I went to that. I also had a job interview near by after that. So, about 9pm, I left their office and I thought, where is my jacket? Anways, it was not important at the time. I went to Tenjin to see my friends at the Voodoo. This is a place where many foriegners hang out on Thursday nights. At Hakata Station (The main railway station in Fukuoka), I stopped that the Information booth, but it was already closed for the night. So, I proceded to Tenjin by subway. I met my friends, but it was a strange night, some were happy and some were sad. Anyways, I caught the last train home to Kashii. I got to my apartment and it was then I realized that my house keys where in MY JACKET!!!!
O boy, what a mess. I called my friend Kojima who helped my find this apartment but he didn`t answer. I called my best Japanese friend Takeshi. He talked to one of my neirbours over the phone and they gave me the apartment managers number. Now, this is 1 AM. He tells me that there is no extra key for my apartment. He calls the owner and says that he will come at 4 AM.
Oh Boy. I have to get up at 6 for work. About 1:30 an older guy shows up and tell the young manager guy to take me to the police station.
So, we go to the police station. There are no police there because they are on patrol. We wait in the police station until about 2 AM. They come in and they ask many questions and write down many things. I can`t speak Japanese and they can`t speak English. They ask my for my Japanese friend so, I give them Takeshi`s number and they call me and talk for a long time. After about 30 minutes, I talk to Takeshi, he tells me that the police demanded that he pick me up from the police station. He also tells me that he must wake up his father to drive to Kashii. He lives about 40 minutes south of Kashii. What a mess!!
If I have to lose a nights sleep over my mistake, that is ok, but troubling my friend and his family? I`m thankful but I feel so guilty. Now, the police are asking me to sign a report in Japanese that I can`t read. So, I ask "why?" Now, they call my friend again and there seems to be a problem. They give me the phone and my friend tells me that the police have asked me to leave the station and for my friend to pick me up at another place. This really makes my friend angry.
I leave the police station and walk to a near by department store and call him from there. It is now about 3 AM. They come and pick me up and we go back to his house. He tells me how angry he was at the police and he even went to the police station to complain.
We get to my friends house about 3:45. My friend gives me his room. He will sleep in his sisters room. His mother was up, maybe working on some accounting, so, I inconvinced his whole family! Him, his father, his mother, and his sister. What a day. I try to get up at 5;30 but it didn`T work. I get up about 7 AM and his father drives me to the JR train station.
I get on the wrong train and I go about 20 minutes south, NOT north. I see more and more rice paddes and less and less people on the train. I ask some guy, "Hakata"? And the guy points in the oppsite direction of the train. Oh boy!
I get off at the next station and I must wait about 20 more minutes for the next train. I finally get to Hakata station at 8 AM and I call my company to tell them that I can not attend my school on time today.
I go to the information booth, which just opened. They tell me that I should go to the lost and found office and point the way. I go to the office and they had my jacket the whole time, with my house key.
Thank you God!
I get on the next train to go home for a shower and change of clothes. I`ve been in my clothes for about 26 hours and it is very hot and humid. I catch the 9:30 Sonic train from Kashii and I get to my school at 10:40. Just in time for the third period 10:45 class. I actually had a second period class but they changed it to after lunch so it was all good.
I work my job in KitaKyushu every weekday. I moved to Kashii during the month. Kashii is on the far east side of Fukuoka. It takes between 50 mintues to an hour and a half to get from my house to my school. This is a lot better than my old house. I can now take the 7:03 train from Kashii (My house is about a 5 minute walk from the station<3 minute run>)
Sunday April 6 th, 2003.
I started a new job. I will teach in an Elementary school in Kitakyushu, Japan. I looks like it will be a real teaching job. I started the training this Wednesday and I will start my first real classes next Friday.
I will have about 4 classes a day with 4 hours of office work to prepare for my classes. My work day is from 8:15-5:15. I will have to get up about 5 or 5:30 AM to get to the train station by 6:30 to catch the 6:39 train to get to kitakyushu by 7:40 to comute to the local station by 8 to get to my school by 8:15. But I will have my evenings and Saturdays free. I`ve been getting up at 6:30 or 7 all week and I`m so tired.
I got a job on Friday, March 14, 2003. I signed a contract with a school to work with them on a part time bases working 16 hours a week over a 6 day a week schedule. This schedule was not so good but I agreed to take it.
Since 16 hours is enough to live off of but not enough to enjoy a nice life. I was looking for more work. I received a phone call from another school that I called earlier. They said that they couldn`t hire me because of my 6 days a week schedule. They also told me that if things didn`t work out at the other school to give them a call.
Now, I swear it is not more than 13 mintues, and my schools calls me to say that they can`t hire me. I was to start my training program in 14 hours. I can`t believe it.
Then some Korean girls I met a couple days before called me and then I invited my Korean friend and the 4 of us try to find a cheap coffee shop. Since they are on the Working Holiday visa, like me, they didn`t have much money. Finally we went to Mcdonald`s and got a cheap snack. After we started going home, I see that the buses stop an hour eariler on Sundays. I moved to a new area a little far away from Tenjon (city centre).
We will see what happens tomorrow. Aaron
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