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 * ...
This will be my blog while I'm teaching in Japan with JET. Here you'll also find links to my most recent photo galleries (assuming I ever get around to fixing my poor camera). My placement is Toyama Prefecture (prefectures are similar to US counties) in the town of Fukumitsu, which is one of eight towns that make up Nanto City. On the right side under the link to my photos there's a small map of Japan with a general marker of where Toyama is. To see a more detailed map of the cities of Toyama, go here And for an even more detailed map of the towns and cities in relation to each other, go here You'll see Nanto and Fukumitsu on the lower right side of the map. I'm in contact with my predecessor now so I have all the details on my new life in Toyama. Here are the things you may find most interesting (or not): 1. I'll be living in the inaka (rural Japan), or more specifically Nanto City of Toyama Prefecture. So lots of old houses, lots of old people, and rice pattie...
Kyoto This past Friday was a national holiday (Culture Day, aka 'bunka no hi') For the 3 -day weekend I travelled with a few other JETs for a trip down south. There I joined the massive crowds of tourists who flock to Kyoto to see the brilliant fall colors this time of year(kouyou in Japanese). Unfortunately its still pretty warm down in the Kansai region so most of the leaves hadn't turned yet. On the plus side the weather couldn't have been better. Like everyone says, Kyoto is indeed a beautiful city worth visiting. However I thought a lot of its cultural and historical beauty has been sadly overshadowed by Japan's affinity for tourisim. All the temples and shrines are flooded with people taking pictures and venders selling tasteless souveniers. The temples and shrines themselves are pretty remarkable (unlike many of Japan's "historical" points of interest which have been so badly damaged by war, fire, and weather that little if anything remains of ...
Comments