I'm going to Japan!
Almost everyone who reads this knows that I've applied two different times to teach English in Japan for a year. Well, it looks as if the 2nd time was the charm for me, since I was accepted by
the NOVA Group as an instructor. The details are pretty nice too; I get to chose when I leave, but it has to be sometime during the first quarter of 2005. So far, I'm thinking that I'll leave at the end of February, that way I can
coach for a whole season. This would also insure that I'm not rushed at the holidays, and that I can see my girl probably once that semester before I leave. NOVA sets me up with a furnished apartment, pays the "key money" (kind of a Japanese equivalent of a deposit), and puts me up with 2 other roommates. It gets even cooler, since only about 20% of NOVA's teachers are from the US. Most are in fact from Britain, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia, which means I'll most likely have at least one foreign roommate. Rock on.
To celebrate my new job, my friends in Cleveland took me out the other night to this really fun bar called Howl At The Moon. It's a pretty cheesy place, featuring two piano playing guys that take requests from the audience. Sometimes it's really good music (ex. Ben Fold's Five) and then other times it's just a bit weird (ex. Eminem played on dueling pianos). Anyways, what really stuck out in my mind most about the evening was that there were literally 4 bachelorette
e parties there, all of which had their future brides-to-be totally hammered. There was a point at which I mentally took a step back from all these women making fools of themselves and thought "these people are going into this totally blindly".
This is not to say that the brides that were there don't love their fiancés, since I'm sure they do. But, seriously, these people were going all out in drunken debauchery for the sole sake of having a crazy night. That was it. There was no awe or wonder in their actions, or anything to suggest that they were out celebrating getting ready to start a new life. Them dancing almost topless on the pianos didn't really seem like much of a declaration that they are ready for a mature relationship. Hell, these women couldn't even make mature wardrobe decisions.
Yet, the lowest point of the night didn't stem directly out of my ponderings. It came when some jerk paid the guys on stage to play Sir Mix-a-lot, "Baby Got Back". If ever there was a song that should have died when it fell out of the top 40, this one is it. It's faded, and short-lived glory came because it talked about women with fat asses. Now, however, it seems that the only reason this song is drugged up is as a token reminder that white suburbanite guys
can really memorize the entire lyrics to a rap song, but only if it's 15 years old.
Quite a crazy night.
I'm going to try something new here. I'm going to ask a question, and then request that you all post your answers in the comments section at the end of the post. Please remember to leave at least your first name. Cool?
Q: If you could have the singing voice of any one singer in the world, ever, who would it be?
My answer is, I'd sing like Johnny Cash, since he had a combination of grit and yet elegance that none of his peers ever came close to.
Has it really been almost a month?! Whatever.
Anyways, first some humor. As some of you already know, a toy company in Florida released toys that look like an airplane flying into the World Trade Towers. CNN
posted a story about this. The reason I mention this at all is because of a
strange name conincidence. All I can really say is that this was messed up.
Now, to cover the obligatory personal update side of things. First, summer is officially over for me, as Paul has gone back to college, Ariella leaves for
med school soon (in Poland!) and Jes is
at school. This officially means that I will soon have absolutely no life.
To celebrate the end of summer, Owen, Pratt, Huntz and myself got violently drunk at Huntz' lake house while we watched Notre Dame lose. I was so upset about the loss that I chased Pratt around the house 3 times, threatening to puke on him. Instead I just collapsed.
On the job hunt, so far things are looking really good. I'm having dinner at the Case coach's house tonight with all the other staff. Also, today I'll probably apply to work at Borders in Beachwood, just to earn some $. Besides, it looks like I'll be
leaving soon for Japan! I find out within 3 weeks whether or not I got the jub, but my interview went very well. My interviewer actually complimented my teaching skills, which is exactly what the job is about. I'd have to leave sometime between January and the end of March, so I have a little while before I leave. But hey, if anyone wants to come visit, I can guarntee
all the seafood you can eat.
Anyways, also I'd like to give a big thank you to Dave Passafume, Bill DeCarlo, Big Tom Masters, Dina, Paul V, and Carter for giving me love over instant messanger while I was at the interview. Also, an
especially big thank you to Jamie for prodding me to update my blog.
