Vacation is here, 3 days early.

OK, it's not vacation. I have been ordered to remain at home and under quarantine because I came into contact with a person testing positive for the H1N1 Influenza virus.

So here I am, 9:40 in the morning, writing my blog and thinking about going back to bed. After all, what else will I do other than sleep while I wait for WoW to come back online.

All kidding aside, there are some rather uncomfortable realities at work here that make this whole affair rather unwelcome.

First is that my laptop is at work. While this isn't in and of itself a problem, there are some files on there that I need to continue work on a powerpoint presentation I'm to give at this years JET orientation.

Next is the fact that my friend Fran is coming on Saturday. I don't suspect there will be any difficulties, but I'm knocking on wood and taking my temperature every few hours just to be sure.

After that is the fact that I have asthma. In the US, I've read that 1 in 3 patients diagnosed with the swine flu has asthma, and that this is a veritable risk factor whose ultimate symptom could be death! YIKES!!

Thankfully, no symptoms yet, and if my asthma starts to get twitchy, my awesome doctor, with ingenious foresight, prescribed me a couple of days worth of Prednisone.

The last thing of course is the possible parallels with the 1918 Spanish Flu. According to Wikipedia, "[i]t was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1" and there were two waves. The first wave started in March, and "the epidemic resembled typical flu epidemics." But there was a second, deadlier wave that occurred in August of that year, where "the virus had mutated to a much more deadly form." This is what infected 500 million people and killed some 50-100 million of them.

Our pandemic started in April, and so if the pattern follows, we'd see a second wave in September. With news of a new Tamiflu-resistant strain, coupled with the fact that September is notorious around the world for being a month in which more people suffer asthma attacks, this whole pandemic thing has gotten me just a little bit worried.

Strange Food

Been a while since I last posted. Mostly this comes from me being very busy at work, and very tired. I just can't surf the way I used to, and as a result I don't feel I have any new to contribute.

However, my photographing of Engrish and strange Japanese food products continue unabated. For your viewing pleasure, I bring you these oddities (in no particular order).

From Food

From Food

From Food

From Food

From Food

From Food

From Food

Summer heat...

...in May. Yes, it's a balmy 30 degrees in Fukuoka today, far too warm for my liking. At least the breeze is cooling.

So news. I've been incredibly busy over the last few weeks. Pretty much since the new school year started. Part of this is because my classes are clumped together on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, leaving me with little time during those days to plan. As well, despite being in my 3rd year, I find that every year I still have to make new lessons. Probably this is because most of my lessons suck. But a part of it is because a lot of the classes have changed in terms of curriculum.

Here's an example. My English Expressions class, last year taught solely from the textbook, is now being taught via movies. I'm not personally all too happy with the way it's being taught now; as it stands, we only show parts of the movie, and so for the students the experience is rather disjointed. I'm hoping to use smaller elements (the WKUK "Sniper Business" skit, for example) so that the stories are self-contained, but we'll see how that pans out.

In other news: After much scrambling, I've got a weekly gaming group! A long sought after goal, myself and three other JETs are currently workout through the Scales of War Adventure Path offered by D&D Insider. A total blast. I'm actually saddened that we're skipping a week. It's odd how some skills, like being an effective DM, actually start to rust without use. But I'm getting back into the hang of things.

I guess that's more or less it. I'm just here enjoying a semi-day off. I have some work, but it's not too pressing...

Heisei 24

or 3 years from now. That, as it turns out, is when the old Fukuma teacher's housing (or juutaku for those in the know) is destined to be demolished. Which is why they didn't bother to tell me. Cause, you know, it's 3 YEARS from now.

There's a lesson in all this somewhere, about loose lips or the dangers of second hand rumors etc.

I eagerly await the day that I am the SOLE resident of the entire apartment complex.

Bye-bye Fukuma?

How odd things work out the way they do. There was some talk about me moving to Hakata, an idea which is seeming more and more remote, due in part to some real estate laws where I would have to live (at least on paper) with my grandmother for a year, or some such. More complicated than it's worth, plus I get the feeling I'd get sucked into some sort of family stuff, which I have scrupulously avoided these last 3 years. Not that I don't like my family. But I enjoy my semi-hikikomori/hermit status.

So here I was, ready to live here another year (and possibly another after that). But I just heard that this place, this dear old, decrepit apartment, is on the chopping block (or wrecking ball, as the case may be). I had heard rumors to that effect, but today was the first semi-confirmation I got.

It's all second-hand knowledge. My co-ALT, who is moving, had to go with some school office people to see what needed to be tossed due to years of ALTs leaving their crap for their successors. It was there that the office people mentioned the impending destruction of the apartment, and consequent move to...

Kasuya! Though the geography means nothing to those unfamiliar to this neck of Japan, it would mean an hour commute by train/bike to and from school.

Allow me to make a big hrrrmm....

OK, so the travel time doesn't really bother me, even though it will mean having to wake up and leave an hour earlier. And to be honest, it will free me up from a bunch of things here which eat away at my beloved me-time, so that's a bonus.

But it's likely that I will have to foot the bill for the move.

Honestly, I don't know how to feel about it, but as a person who has a bad tendency to nest, I think I'm looking forward to the forced change.

To move or not to move...

That is indeed the question that has occupied my mind for the last little while. Some history.

Many moons ago, my grandmother owned a house near Hakata Station. That house was torn down to make room for an apartment building, and in compensation, my grandmother got 4 apartments in perpetuity, whose rent would be substantially lower than similar places in the area.

Those 4 apartments have stayed in my family for a good many years. Last year, my cousin and his family moved out of one of them, and the apartment has remained unoccupied since then. Earlier on this year, specifically when my dad came for his early-March visit, the idea was brought up that I should take that apartment.

So I've been weighing the pros and cons:

PROs: Downtown location. Proximity to relatives.

CONs: Smaller. Higher rent. Higher transportation costs. Longer commute time.

So far, the cons outweigh the pros right? But the first pro, location is weighted significantly higher in my opinion. Life would really be a LOT more convenient living there, despite the overall higher cost of living. But really, that's to be expected considering that I'd be moving from the burbs to the city. People who came to visit me would not have to "enjoy" an additional 35-40 minute trip AFTER they've completed a grueling flight over the Pacific. Staying late in town would be a viable possibility as I could WALK home from Tenjin and environs.

This would also set me up in the near run for a place to live after my JET contract expires. I still intend, as of now, to renew for a 5th, but it'll be good to know that I'll not have to look for a place afterward.

Of course, there would be some associated hazards as well. McDonald's, KFC, Mr. Donuts, Yodobashi, all dangerous temptations to me.

Still, this is something I must consider very carefully...