what? yes, an update. It's my first day as the new assistant for the Animation department at my school ;) As you can see, I am hard at work. I haven't been in much of a mood to update lately, as you may have noticed. I figured I at least owed it to those few who still bother to check up now and then to know what country I'm in and such other developments of consequence (check my flickr for more frequent life updates). First of all, I left Japan. After much research and deliberation I finally decided to bite the bullet and go back to school. This decision in itself took about a month. The winner: Academy of Arts University in San Francisco. The program: Master of Fine Arts in Animation and Visual Effects, with an intended focus in storyboarding. Some other options I was considering: * Hospitality Internships in Barcelona, Rome, London and Chile * Working Front of House for Cirque du Soleil * Cinematography Apprenticeship in LA * Going back to Catering * ...
I never thought it'd happen: spring has come to Toyama. According to the obsessive national cherry blossom forecast Toyama should be in full bloom in 2 weeks time. Has it really been a year since I got back from China to find all my colleagues changed over (I still see the current teachers as "new"), my desk changed, and all my little 6th graders turned into studious junior high students? It's happening again. Deja vu This time though spring brings with it a harsh reality I can no longer evade. I'm on a downward run to the end of my JET contract. Four months! and not a clue where I'll be. It's rather terrifying. Here are my options as I see it: 1. Stay in Japan. This would mean finding a job in the city unrelated to teaching. Not an easy task considering I've let my Japanese skills rot to nothing since graduating. Seriously, you'd be surprise what you lose when you're academically unmotivated. That and I think Japan and I need some time apart. ...
I couldn't possibly write down everything I saw and did and felt in the past few weeks, but here at least are a few of the major things worth a mention and I'll let the pictures tell the rest... New Years Day with host family. (photo: osechi and sake for breakfast)>> Since my prior stay in Japan was only for the summer duration I missed out on the Japanese New Year. So this time I wanted to go back to ol' Minami Gyotoku to spend the holidays with my former host family in Chiba. New Years included a visit to a local shrine, traditional osechi made by my host mom, and a whole lotta sake. I always love seeing my host fam again but it seems like my visits are never long enough. This time I could only stay for two nights and 3 days because of schedule conflicts. Mari-chan is getting cuter and cuter everytime I see her (and more fluent than me in Japanese) and I saw the emperor of Japan: from left to right- the prince, the emperor, empress, his 2nd son and his wife (th...
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