magli's Xanga

Today's thoughts:

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:14:05 GMT

* It's been awhile since I last did random thinking while being stuck in traffic on the freeway. The thinking process has been taken places during my train ride...which kinda feel different from the thinking I do while driving

*I love learning more bits and pieces of my mom's past at the dining table as we talk to our dad

San Fran WEEK ONE

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:10:28 GMT

Today has been a week since I came back to the states, thought it would be the right time to give this blog a quick update. Haha...let's hope I will come back next week to write a "WEEK TWO" entry!

Coming back home really reminds me of how comfortable it is to be home. I miss driving (despite the skyrocketing gas prices), miss taking BART and MUNI (despite the fact that they definitely aren't as clean as the subway's and JR's in Japan)..I wonder if I'll be taking AC transit sometimes next week [think I will actually make an effort to do that, haha]. I cant believe that I actually miss the precor when I walked into 24 hour fitness despite the fact that the gym isnt nearly as clean as the ones in Japan. It really is nice to be back seeing all my family and friends. The very first day when I walked back to my room, seeing all the stuffed animals, pictures, decorations I have, my first thought was...."This is home"...It cannot be compared with my empty apartment in Japan. After a week spent with family and friends dim suming @ ranch, eating and shopping @ Berkeley, shopping @ Costco and Trader Joe, going to happy hour @ Chevy's, chilling @ Kell's, clubbing on 80's night, watching Sex And the City..etc, I realize how much I miss this life, which I consider to be my real life as compared to my temporary life in Japan. Seeing all my friends who showed up @ Chevy's yesterday, again the thought of "This is home" came to my mind! For a moment, I actually thought that it might have been a wrong decision for me to extend for a second year~ But I do know that this is the right decision though.

Japan does offer me the opportunity to be involved in stuff that I dont get to do/ or dont have the time to do in the states. I really enjoy playing soccer, touch rugby, and especially enjoy learning Eisa (Okinawan-taiko-dance). Even if the opportunity is there, working a full time job in the states probably wont allow me to do all three at the same time. Taking every opportunity to go travel and studying for the GRE and CSET is definitely gonna be my goal for next year, staying in Japan will definitely give me the time to studying. The only thing I gotta do is to stay focus!! (ganbare Maggie ~~ haha just giving myself a little self-encouragement), Lastly, another year of teaching experience will no doubt give me more ground on teaching and maybe an extra point toward qualification for grad school.

With that said, guess now I should just make sure I get everything I planned on doing done by next week. This is sad that I am already feeling the time pressure. Yet, the garage is a still a mess from my attempt to organize it, still havent done my laundry from a year ago (no worries, they are clean stuffs...but I didnt have time to completely dry and fold them so had to throw them n a basket right before leaving for Japan 10 months ago), then got quite a few errands to run. Of my 7 remaining days, 4 days will be spent in the city...only 3 days left to take care of everything...yikes~

It's been awhile

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:22:17 GMT

Wow...xanga changed a lot since my last entry...It actually took me awhile to find "add weblog" in order to write a new entry. I was gonna go through what I've done since my last entry, but if you got my facebook, you should already be able to see my pics & so forth......too lazy to go over things one by one....not that there are a lot going on..but I feel like for each and every little thing, I would have to explain it and add pics in order for them to make sense...and I am just too lazy to do that...haha!!

Anyways...Japan is continuing being great! Having a good life w/ i guess great life/work/exercise balance (Now, i just gotta work on stop binging on all those delicious snacks that they got in Japan sighssss) And I am still missing BOBA...despite the fact I've been eating a lot of other snacks..haha!!

Now Planning on a trip to Kyushuu in March-April, a small trip to Shikoku in May, then hopefully be able to go back to the states for 2 wks in June for my dad's bday as well as my friend's wedding! I will officially be out of vacation days @ that time tho, but still will do whatever it takes (unpaid vacation? pre-using my vacation from next year!!!??)....in order to go back!! And AFTER that, I am OFFICIALLY DONE w/ Japan~ haha, I can't even focus on studying Japanese no more...(being skipping my Japanese book, did the test, and just send in my asnwer that way)...this is partially because I've been told that I will not be allowed to take the translation course cuz my board of education dont have the budget for it. Even if I pay for the course on my own, they dont want me to be out of school for a week during the conference w/ the course!! Part of my motivaiton to get done with my current advanced Japanese book is so that I could take the translation course next year....but since that's not gonna be possible, there really isnt a good reason for me to do well on it...sighs.

But anyways...by "done with Japan", I mean after I come back to Japan for my 2nd year, I will start traveling OUTSIDE of Japan....cuz...i m done w/ Japan...done w/ all 4 Islands (except for Okinawa which I will DEFINITELY GO sometimes next year)....yes, cant wait to travel!!!

Lastly...just thinking....if i need to pay $20 deductible everytime i go to the doc here like it is in the states, I would've been broke by now! For some reason, guess I've been going to the docs a lot more than when I was in the states....first for my knee after I fell (I probably went for at least 10 times to change my dressing there)...then once for hurting my softbone after snowboarding, and once today for sudden muscle/bone pain....man...i didnt even do anythign to hurt myself......and it turned out all my temperature, xray, blood pressure are normal....could it be the weather that's giving me all these pain....or excess inhalation of CO2 & chemicals from my heater....???? anyways, so then I am supposed to go back to the doc's again tomorrow for follow up~~ lets hope the pain will go away and that i'll be able to sleep tonite!! Man...and I still got soccer practice on Weds and still wish to be able to go snowboarding for the LAST time this season next Monday...so I got 7 days for the pain to gooooooooooooo away far far away from me!! Wish me luck

Maggie is sobbing with Happiness

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:57:40 GMT

I just had the best talk with my dad~. Growing up in a pretty traditional Chinese household, (or maybe just in my household), we never really talk openly about each others’ thoughts. love lives, college major choices, career choices, whatsoever. Maybe with the distance that is separating me & my family now, (and also with the progress of age) this allow me and my dad to finally open up our thoughts.

Picking up my headphone and signing on Skype was a scary process today. I wanted to talk to my sis or my bro first, unfortunately, they didn’t pick up. So there I am, calling my dad to let him know that I have decided to stay for another year. I know it wasn’t a surprise to him, during our last phone conversations, he had repeatedly reminded me that I shouldn’t re-contract for whatever reason; and my responses to his comments were always some not-so-smooth changes of topics. Nonetheless, after explaining my reasons for my choice, he seems to understand. He says he can’t really support or oppose our decisions, not mine, not my sis, not my brothers, but he just wants us to be able to make the right decision for our own lives, careers, & future. And my last line to my dad was, “Dad, I know you would like me to come back. I have thought about this carefully and think that staying here a 2^nd year will benefit me. I promise that there will not be a 3^rd, 4^th, or 5^th.”

Yup, so 2 yrs and I will be back with a focus on my career (not a JOB), but yes, a career~ Today, I will be writing down my goals for my rest of stay in Japan! I guess this way it will keep me focus on the purpose of my stay! And by writing this blog, I guess this serves as a promise to my dad, myself, and to everyone reading~ (::nod::nod::)

A Fruitful weekend

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:41:49 GMT

I've been wanting to write about this past weekend (mainly because I thought I did a good job coming up with a cool title for this entry....but you prolly think its cheesy..lol)...anyways, can't believe it is almost Thursday already...wow..this week certainly passed by fast.

So this weekend, I had lots of fun meeting up with Kiwi's and picking apples. On Friday, a navy ship (my city - Kure - is known for its building of the Yamato battleship during the WWII period, till this day, this city is still known for its navy / Maritime Defense force / and its shipbuilding industry)...so a navy ship from New Zealand came to Kure on Friday. On Saturday, I tagged along with a couple of ALTs from New Zealand to tour this HUGE battleship. It was quite amazing, it reminded me of the "game" battleship...or scenes that I've seen in animation....but in real life size:

The ship got 7 levels...amazing huh!? and it held 170 crew members! After the tour, I again, tagged along with the Kiwis to Hiroshima~ I've actually havent really had a chance to do any tourisy stuff in Hiroshima yet..so here we are at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park...the building behind us is the site where the A-bomb was dropped:

On Sunday, my host family and I went apple picking~~ hehe...it was fun, but expensive, though it is free to eat the apple there (just like fruit picking in America)...but w/ apples, you can only eat so much at a time...on avg, the apples are like $1 a piece...it was still fun though...we especially enjoyed our GRILLED apple sandwiching TOASTED marshmallow...this is quite a GREAT combination. With the LACK of graham crackers in Japan...we tried sandwiching marshmallows with different items....Ritz crackers were OK...but Apple slices turned out quite nice...i would say that it is actually comparable with graham crackers too....be sure to give it a try next time you go BBQ~

Hahah...today, while I was in the shower after running~...i was thinking...as a reward for myself after running the Hiroshima Peace Marathon...I will treat myself to an Onsen (hot spring) or maybe a super spa....on TOP of that..if there is massage available, I will pamper myself with that....along with a BIG BOWL of shaved ice at the end....AHHHH....I certainly do know how to motivate myself.....hehe...Onsen onsen onsen on......and on & on..lol

For more pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/magli1120

$50 bucks for an ankle support!?

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:41:22 GMT

Yeah, I have finally registered myself for my first Marathon in Japan: The 27th Hiroshima International Peace Marathon. Of course, by that I mean I signed myself up for the 5k only! haha....Can't wait till Nov third. All I gotta do now is to go pay at the convenient store tomorrow~ and then I will have to start training!!!

I've actually started running for a lil bit for a month now...I can only afford to do 5k each time. Then, last week, as I was tyring to do a longer run according to Nike's online training, my ankle pain came back again... It was about half a year ago that I have sprained my ankle, guess it never really healed itself completely....another big sign of aging (sighs) When I went to the store to look for an ankle support, I was shocked to find that it cost freakin 50 bucks!!!! The one I got from Walgreens only cost me like $20~~Guess, for now, I will just have to use the one I got from the dollar store that does not support shXt!!! Tomorrow will be the day when I head over to Hiroshima in search for a cheap ankle support before I head over to my first soccer class

As far as work goes, I spent the entire day studying Japanese at the office. The students were all preparing for thier midterms, so the teachers didnt even bother to ask me to go to class....It was kinda boring sitting around all day long...but hey, what can I say. I still get paid for sitting around, doing nothing, except for studying my Japanese. The only complain that I have is that....well, obviously, there are different types of teachers. There's one school that I LOVE...and then @ this other one, there's an English teacher that I dont like. To my surprise, I actually had to use the B---- word to describe her today. Basically...she's someone who would ask for your opinion as far as lesson planning....HOWEVER, she would NEVER agree to other people's ideas...How EVIL!!!The only reason why she would ask for my opinion is so that she could criticize my ideas. Then she would move on and push her idea forward...as I continued in my attempt to work with her...she kept gearing the whole lesson plan to her own idea....at the end, she basically asked me to create the worksheet for her according to her own idea!!! errrrhhh It is not that I care THAT much, but well...first of all, she lost the written lesson plan that I have previously provided her, 2nd, I care only cuz I put my effort into thinking of a lesson plan per her request, and not a bit of it was appreciated. After a long discussion with another Assistant Language Teacher who has previously work with this woman....I was told that this is the way she is....and she doesnt want to make the lesson too much fun cuz the students might end up comparing and think the lessons w/o ALTs are boring!! Guess at this school, I will never be able to accomplish one of JET's goals of making English a fun activity for those kids.[m:79]

Alright...enough ventings!! I think this is the same case for many others in my position also. They all got some teachers & schools that they work well with. On the other hand, some are just like the case I have described above. Guess overall, it should all balance out!!!

~October~

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:19:22 GMT

It has been over a month now since I have arrived in Japan...and ALMOST a month since my first day of teaching~~

It seems like my mind just went blank as I am trying to decide on what to write here....on one hand, I think a lot of whats going on everyday is just a part of my daily routine....YET, there are quite a lot going on as far as new thoughts about schools/lesson plans, new classes I will be attending, the Hiroshima international peace marathon that I will be joining, the upcoming autumn-festival with the Kameyama shrine...and then there are other thoughts such as my appreciation of my host family, the sports festival @ one of my elementary schools, or the preparation of my junior high school's cultural festival~~

Looking at the above, it seems like my schedule is quite busy....but at the same time, it feels a little empty. This is a weird feeling~ am I starting to feel homesick now ...but then I do enjoy myself here~~...or maybe it is still the difference between being a student & working! Yesterday, I was actually comparing my life now with my life as a student in Tsukuba. I certainly had tons of fun despite the fact that I was only living with 80,000 yen a month, on top of that, I had to pay 210 yen a nite to use the bath house...aaawww...cant believe it's been more than 4 years ago~~

Today~ after me and other ALT's "Billy's bootcamp" exercise program, we returned the projector & other equipments to the Board of Education. It was past 8pm when we walked into the office~~ to my surprise...there were still at LEAST 15 people there....OMG...it wouldnt surprise me if 2 or 3 of them are working overtime...but i mean the ENTIRE staff were there and none of them seem to be getting ready to go home. Poor - my supervisor, he got a 2 or 3 yr old @ home...and he has to wake up an hour early everyday just to be able to play with the kid a little bit before he heads out of the house for 15 hours at the least~~ this would certainly not a life I would like to live~~ ......as I end this one random blog....Me gonna head off to bed for my 8 hrs of sleep~~

It's been awhile now~~

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:41:41 GMT

Finally~I am connected to the rest of the world now~~ I have internet @ my apt now yeah I never realize how I've been taken internet for granted for so long....and w/o internet, it is really a pain in the butt and I just feel so isolated w/o it. Finally after a little over 2 wks of waiting, the modem has finally been delivered to me this morning!!! However, on the down side...w/ internet, I get lazy!! Today, beside jogging 5k, I did NOTHING besides eating and chatting and checking email...etc...but guess i dont feel TOO guilty since its a 3-day wkend here, and hey, its been awhile since I last stay online for hours and hours~~

OK...so I guess I will try to keep it brief as far as life for me in the last 3 wks~ The first couple of days I was in Shinjuku, met up w/ friends in Ueno (all in the Tokyo area). I feel like Tokyo hasnt changed much since I left here the last time in 2003. I was glad that things are the same and I had no problem w/ the JR sys and all. Too bad I didnt get to stay out there longer to meet up w/ more friends before I needed to head over to Hiroshima.

4 hours of bullet train ride ~ passing by all the stations where I wanna make stop overs - (Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama.....) I have finally arrived in Hiroshima. 3 second year JETs along with a Board of Education officer came to pick me and another new JET up from the platform, in about half an hour by car, we arrived at my apartment in Kure city. It was much much nicer than expected...w/ 2 tatami rooms, the previous person also left me w/ a mountina bike, so i m pretty much all set w/ my living situation here. Pictures of my room can be seen on the link shown @ the bottom of this post.

As far as work goes, I am done w/ my first 2 wks of classes. I am assigned w/ primarily 2 jr.high (JHS) and 5 elementaries that I would visit probably once a week or every other week. It seems like the the JHS that I went to during my first week takes a lil more time in order to break the ice w/ ppl there. Or maybe the work environment will stay this way just cuz it is so...but overall, it was okay. I just wish that I get to know the teachers and students there more...but...i know i m in no rush, since it was only my first week.

As far as my second JHS goes, it went great. The teacher there is a graduate of Tsukuba University (the school where I studied abroad @), so there is a connection right there already. And I feel much more involved in this school ( it might be that this school is a bit smaller, only got about 230 students vs three something w/ the first school)...or maybe teachers are just more friendly @ this school. I didnt have class on my first day, but the remaining 4 days I attended a total of 15 classes. Introduced myself to the students, played games with them, and team-teached with teachers. It certainly was great and I felt that I had much more interactions with the students here than in my first school. On Thursday of last week, I've also attended one elementary school and taught two classes....5th & 6th grades. Kids there are great....ele kids are so active in participating, so I was able to introduce myself as well as played bingo w/ them. It was a lot of fun! However, with ele kids, since they dont have any English textbook, I will have to put more effort into coming up w/ lesson plans for them...however, since they are so fun to play w/, I really am looking forward to coming up w/ smthg fun and educational for these kids.

Highlights of some fun classroom experience:

* 3 9th grade students wrote me an English letter together on my second day. They wanted to tell me about themselves and their hobby and asked me to write them back. It was very very cute and sweet!! especially since it was only my second day in their school.

*2 7th graders were very cute and kiddish. As I went around the classroom to ask kids question, these 2 kids saw me approaching and hid under their desk. (They werent scared of me or anything, they were just doing this for fun)..then i started knocking on their desk....silly kids.

*While I was in my first school, I went to lunch w/ a teacher @ Macdonald's and ran into 2 "bad" kids from my 2nd JHS. Those 2 bad kids recognize me when I went to their school. I call them "bad" kids as in they are the class clown of the school, they have dyed their hair, always skip classes...and so forth....well, not bad as in doing drugs or anything like that. Anyways, so these kids recognize me when i went to their school and screamed out loud as I entered their school. One of these kids kept calling me "shin-jin" - "newbie", and whenever he comes to the office, he would want to have "communiction time" and somehow I ended up talking to him in Japanish everyday. They arent bad kids at all...i guess, but they just dont like school...hehe

*@ the 2 7th grade classes that I went to on Friday...the kids made me cracked up so hard that I couldnt read the vocabruary words to them no more. In the first class, kids found the word "boiled egg" funny...or rather the pronouciation of "boiled"....so this lil boy w/ a high pitched voice said "boiled" w/ questioning ending (which made his voice even higher)....well, its not funny unless u actually hear it....anyways...and the mistake continue as I teach the kids how to say the different objects that are posted on the board.....I called "miso soup" "miso"....then I mistaken a picture of "natto" w/ "corn", and I called a "toast" "bread".....hey, cant blame me cuz thats what the picture show....oh..i didnt know that "sunny-side-up" is called a "fried egg"...haha...so it was just continuous mistakes there. with the second class, it was better....it wasnt me making any mistake. But two loud kids in class started to repeat after me in their loudest voice. I couldnt help laughing...and when they saw me laughed, they started screaming the words out loud......and I started cracking up.....I knew they would end up saying it even louder....seeing the way I cracked up....I just couldnt stop....till the teacher asked those kids to lower their voices....it was just a crazy Friday. And those kids....they are like...what u say if u have more than one thing for breakfast....(their target sentences were.."what do you have for breakfast? I have ............. ", then they started saying, "I have boiled egg and scrambled egg and fried egg and miso and rice............." these kids are just so silly..haha

Hmm....guess I did not succeed in making this a brief entry....haha...but guess life for me has been well. Looking forward to going to Osaka to visit my good friend next weekend....here are the pics taken so far:
http://picasaweb.google.com/magli1120

English-teaching

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:32:05 GMT

I hope I will not be required to do this...LMAO...

Happy Birthday cuzzo

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:49:25 GMT

Happy 16 and 1/2 birthday Viviviviivivivivii ~~~ geez....while ppl my age are already starting to avoid the increase of this sensitive number....my lil cousin kept making her point that she is officially 16 and a half now...not only 16, but 16 and a half~~ teenagers....so young () oh guess what...and this girl is claiming herself a 90's girl....whereas me and many others I know are born in the 80's...yikes ..we are literally born in two different century!!

anyways...happy 16.5 bday and um....wish you hok yip jung bou, sum xhuan shi sing, fai gou jern dai, nin nin yau gum yuck, sui sui yau gum jiu.....wahahahahhahahahahahahah