Seoul Day Five
April 10th, 2007
Archive
Archive for April, 2007
Vision Test
April 6th, 2007
The Japanese vision check is different from the standard eye chart that I was used to seeing (or not seeing) in America. It’s also different from the fake “Japanese Eye Test” that was hanging in my American optometrist’s offices. I mean, it looked cool, because it used easy kanji (Chinese characters adopted for use in Japanese, for those who keep seeing that on my site and don’t know what it means 
) for numbers, animals, and weather – but I haven’t seen it used here in reality. I’m sure that somewhere they really do use kanji to test visual acuity, but not in Japan to my knowledge. Instead, they use a really cool, easy to understand chart.
Standard chart used in America – The Snellen Chart
Standard chart used in Japan – 視力検査 (Landolt Chart)
They use circles of decreasing size with a small bite taken out of it. The aim is to locate the hole in the circle and name the direction that it indicates. Hole is at the top? Say “up.” Hole is to the right? Say “right.” It’s foolproof answering. No letter confusion. It reminds me of the modified children’s charts that we use sometimes in pediatric offices and school nurse offices – you know, the ones that contain the letter E pointing in different directions? I’m pretty sure that all of these charts originated in Europe, but it’s mere conjecture. Haven’t actually read anything on them. I guess that’s because I don’t care about their origins – I just think that they look cool. Anyhoo – I just had my first surprise Japanese eye exam, hearing test, and height measurement. The nurse pulled rank and we all had to jump when she said jump. It went smoothly. You’ll all be thrilled to know that I am 180 cm tall officially (I have been saying 179 cm in introductions, but it was a guess), I have perfect hearing in high and low ranges (I’m an audiophile, so that is good news), and my vision with my glasses is spot on. Yay! Have you ever seen a different, more interesting vision test? If so, link us up. Thanks. Just thought it was interesting.
Seoul Day Four
April 5th, 2007
I know, I know. You’re wondering where Seoul Day Three (Part II) is. I decided to just hold off on video until after I’ve got the photos from each day up. I can actually put these up without a bazillion hours of work editing the clips. Therefore, please be patient. As always, we’ll get straight to the pictures.
Okiura Beach
April 4th, 2007
I made a new find. (New to me, anyway.) The last JET here, Zoé, told me that one of her favorite places on the island was Okiura Beach. I am slightly ashamed to say that I just saw it for the first time. It is gorgeous. We have 2 beaches advertised for public visitation on Hakatajima, though we have many more since we’re an island. The biggest one is called, unsurprisingly, Hakata Beach. It’s a manmade beach on the far side of the island from me, which features a snack shop and a nice parking lot and whatnot. It’s nice. Okiura Beach is different. It’s marked by a very small, rusted sign that is fastened with plastic snaps to a road girder. Classy. Ha ha. Anyway, I walked down the road once more. The last time I turned here, I walked straight (where the sign actually points) and I found myself at a very small port for ferries. This time I took a left onto an unmarked concrete road and hastily walked along the side, not wanting to become roadkill. I found my way up and over a small ridge, and then down back towards the water, and there she was stretched out in front of me – Okiura Beach. I went on a really cloudy day, which makes me think that if this had been a sunny day I would have been totally bedazzled. (And not by that stupid girly toy from the 80s that still won’t die.) I walked the length of the beach a few times, just taking in the sights. I liked the smooth rocks on the ends – they are interesting because they contain some kind of crystalline material that is evident when they break. Maybe like a rose quartz or something. I dunno – I never studied rocks. I also liked the little gazebo area / camp area that they had set up off the road. It looked like it hadn’t been used in a really long time – knee-high grass covered most of it. I couldn’t get over the color of the water – which, again, I’m sure would deepen and clear up on a sunny day – and found myself mesmerized by it. I think I will return there for some reading before summer hits – while it’s still mostly unoccupied. It’s an amazing place. You were right, Zoé.
A Novel Challenge
April 3rd, 2007
I hereby challenge everyone who reads this to become a novelist this year. (And yes, that includes me.) You’ve got a few months to think about things, mull them over, come up with characters or plot arcs, do research if you really want to do so, or anything else that will get the juices flowing in your brain for this year’s NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a concept that I very recently heard about, and was immediately taken by. I want to do it this year. I hope you guys will join me.
The basic concept is easy to explain. “Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.” For a more detailed walkthrough of the process, check out this brief guide, or check out the rules FAQ. To strictly adhere, you aren’t allowed to begin writing before that. What I am referring to above is just pre-writing work. The kind that gives you an idea of where you want to go with your thoughts.
I have a few friends who are interested in writing – in both America and Japan, and who have simply never pulled it together to give it a shot. So, what say you join me and make a mad dash in November. Hopefully this will provide a helping hand for Mr. Motivation. Anybody willing? Come on guys. It’d be great fun. Who’s with me?
Changeover
April 2nd, 2007
Most schools are swapping out staff, polishing the floors, shredding old test materials, and leaving their teachers (and ALTs) bored out of their minds while we wait for school sessions to start fresh again. It occurred to me that I should be getting some mail soon from the prefectural BOE, because my schedule just finished. When I arrived in Japan, I was given a schedule from September of 2006 through March of 2007. As I picked it up to throw it away, I was reflecting on the visits. I had a total of 51 non-Hakatajima school visits. Here’s the breakdown.
I went to the bigger schools more than the branch schools. The school that received the most attention was the mainland academic school, Imabari West High School – which I visited 13 times. The other mainland school, Imabari South High School, got 10 visits. Imabari South High School’s branch school on Oshima (to which I refer accordingly as Oshima High School) received 6 visits. That seems to be the standard. Hakata High School’s branch school on Iwagi got 6, and Imabari North High School’s branch school on Omishima (which I call Omishima High School) also got 6 visits. Yuge High School got 10 visits. The remainder of my time was spent at Hakata, which I calculate to be a total of…90 days. (I subtracted the weekends, holidays, and other school visits appropriately.) Altogether, that comes to 141 days at school. (In America, I would be 78.3% through an academic schoolyear.) Time has really flown by. Is anyone else looking back on their old schedules with a bit of nostalgia, wonderment, and relief? Ha ha. I look forward to getting my new schedule too. This time around, I expect only 6 schools (since Iwagi branch closed down), but perhaps I’ll get more visitation dates? I’ll let you know when I know.
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