Intro.

I feel like I should post something for the time being. I'm not officially in Japan yet but this blog has to start somewhere, and the kitchen of my sisters place is as good a place as any. I actually leave tomorrow (the 29th March) and after much deliberation and psuedo-signs I went with the second company to offer me employment - Joy Talk.

Working with Joytalk makes me an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) which involves my eloquent english abilities being utilised as a glorified playback recorder to a Japanese teacher teaching English to students in one or several public high schools and elementary schools. The fact that I can speak English fluently and have a Bachelors Degree means that I can get paid approx 230,000Y a month for, what I've heard to be, very little effort and a lot of holidays.

This is in contrast to working at an English Conversational School where I would single handedly be teaching several students English and relying on myself to produce lesson plans etc. Two very different experiences that I was offered and I'm sure both have several positives and negatives that I couldn't even possibly begin to explain now but I felt that for my first experience in Japan, the position of an ALT was more suited to my sensibilities.

Suited to my sensibilities you ask? Well to elaborate I would like to ask you, as a reader, would you work harder for something that you don't have to work hard for? I'm not saying slack off or anything, but to get from point A to point B do you see a point in travelling to C, E, M, and Z? I just tried about five times to turn that analogy into an excuse of why I shouldn't have to work as hard as I should be when honestly I expect the work to be very enjoyable and will most likely want to work very hard. Maybe my vague example is a handwave to hide the point that I just enjoy having fun and Joytalk can facilitate that more for me?

Anyway, enough of why I chose Joytalk. Turning down the first company made me feel absolutely terrible and whilst I wouldn't say I regret doing it I still don't feel very good about the whole scenario. I do hope they can find a replacement in time... but if I'm going to be making a commitment for a year then I need to do what I want to do - so I believe I chose the right position.

This blog will serve as a form of communication to the people who want to keep up with what I'm doing with myself in Japan and is also a replacement of the mass emails I used to send out when I was in Miami. I need to have a run-down on how to put pictures up but it can be done so everyone will at least have some context for my inane babbling and you won't have to just imagining the shit I get myself into. Oh and the title of the blog? I'm not 100% on it but it's my working title.

On this working-holiday of mine I hope to meet new people, see new things and have an absolutely fantastic time. I think I've got a good framework built up so I just have to get in there and paint that picture so-to-speak and now with this blog, i'll let you know how it goes every. single. step. of the way.


kris.

Ah I almost forgot, I'll also be using Facebook and Twitter (http://twitter.com/krisburridge). Yes I have twitter. Deal with it.