The Vino Venitas Blog 1st Edition Japan Edition
Ok so due to some irregularities I did not have access to internet so I was unable to post my blog. And this was reflected in my mail box, and all the questions that came with it. So here is it the Vino Venitas Blog of my time in Japan. Now there are more than a few things I’m trying to accomplish while I’m here, so I’m going to break it down into chapters. Now I know that the sound of chapters just makes it seem really long and honestly I’m going to try to be as specific as possible so that you won’t have any questions afterwards with regards to what I’m doing or how it is and such. For this blog the chapters will be:
– Ashikaga (the place I’m staying at)
– Teaching Times
– Spoken Notes
– Poem of the month
– Story of the month
– New Anime/Manga’s to watch
– Gym Developments
– Project Updates
Those will be the chapters for this month’s blog. I will try to do a monthly blog so that you can see what I have been up to and how I’m doing and such. But before we get into all that stuff I first want to say thanks for coming here and being interested in my stuff, I don’t get it but I like it. And make sure to drop a comment or 2, so I know you read it. Because if no one reads it what’s the use of making it. So make sure to drop a comment. Now let’s get started.
Ashikaga
So this is the city I’m staying in, and for those who wish to come visit me or want to Google map my location here is my address:
B202 Koushin Heights Sano
683-3 Yoshimizu-Cho Sano-Chi
Toshigi-Prefecture Japan
327-0313 postal code
Ok first things first, I arrived at Narita and DUDE it was hot as hell, it’s still really muggy but I like it. It’s a real summer thing, and I like the summer. But aight once I landed I had to wait for my bus to go to Ashikaga. So while I’m waiting on the bus this black dude greets me (black sees black in Japan and so you greet). And then he comes up to me like “how you doing?” Well to make a long story short, the dude has been here for 10 years teaching English in Tokyo. And he has NO plans of leaving he is making good money. And he said that I should let him know if I wanted to make some good money too. So let’s just say I took his info and once I get settled into this whole Japan thing I’m gonna see what’s really good. So then he left and I started waiting again, and then these 3 kids from Taiwan stepped up to me, asking me where to go to go clubbing.
YEAH, the boy looks like he knows stuff. Usually when people come and talk to me who I don’t know it’s less fun, but I loved the fact that they asked me. They were here for 5 days I hope they had fun. Then started my 2 hour bus ride, arrived at the station called my pick up. She showed up 15 minutes later and took me to my apartment. Ok so again for all of you who want to come visit me, know this: I’m in the middle of nowhere, and my apartment is a small 4 by 4 room, 1 small hallway/kitchen, 1 small toilet and one small bathroom.
Everybody is welcome, but know that I’m only able to handle 2 people max at the same time. Other than that everyone is welcome. Ok so back to when I got my apartment, I have my own laundry machine, microwave, TV, small fridge and a 2 pit stove and a small ass table. But who needs anything more than that right. I got like this roll up matrass thingy with a cute little pillow from my pick up. So I’m sleeping on the floor but hey it isn’t all that bad. It actually feels like I’m camping every time I go to sleep. It’s awesome.
Now being in the middle of nowhere would be coo, if nowhere had some stuff. But dude there is NOTHING to do here but look at nature and drive around looking at nature. No clubs, no bars, no gyms, no parties no nothing. And like I said, there is a LOT of nature, and guess what nature has a lot of … YUP you guessed it INSECTS. And dude Japan is killing it with their insects. They have butterflies the size of birds. They have dragon flies the size of small paper planes and they have spiders that freak me the F out. These aint your everyday garden and kitchen spiders, No No.
These are the spiders that get shown on the discovery channel. And dude they LOVE houses so it seems, I’m telling you I’m not a big fan of insects and they know it. They keep coming over, pisses me off but hey I’m getting rather good at killing.
For the rest I’m surrounded by rice fields as far as the eye can see. I never knew that there could be THIS many rice fields in one place. But you live and you learn. Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention that I got my own car as well. Without a car there is no way to leave this place, since public transport seems to be a theme held for Tokyo. But I’m still having fun so it’s all gravy.
Teaching Times
First things first, I’m teaching at 5 schools, yes 5. And each school throws me this ceremony where all the children stand up and bow to me, and welcome me with self-made speeches and then clap when I’m done. DUDE its awesome, I have ACTUALLY given 3 Japanese speeches, yeah I know I’m awesome. I read the speech from a piece of paper but hey it still counts. But seriously I have never been welcomed that way. I felt like a really important dude for like 5 minutes, but MAN was it fun.
Ok so I have taught a few classes now, and dude these kids are coo. I’m telling you they all giggle all day, and I’m smiling my ass off trying to make them feel comfortable. But it works, it’s slow but I can see that eventually they will be able to talk to me like a regular person. And these are the high school kids I’m talking about. Their age ranges from 13 to 16, and they are coo real teenagers that act a fool and laugh at dumb stuff. Oh to be young again.
Now these elementary kids are OFF THE CHAIN, I love em. FREAKING adorable, they talk to me as if I’m one of the crew, given they talk to me in Japanese but HEY I LOVE IT. I’m telling you thanks to these kids I’m going to learn Japanese so fast. Seriously these elementary kids are awesome. I get to play games with em all day, it’s just fun.
Now for the rest of teaching experience. At the high school classes all I have to do is stand there, look pretty and make the kids repeat after me. Seriously that is all I do, from time to time I get to play a little game with em, but that isn’t really anything spectacular. Its games like word bingo and such, and even then all I do is say the words. But hey if I get paid to do that, then I’ll do exactly that, who is complaining. Now with the elementary kids, I get to act a fool, do dumb stuff and they like it. I don’t really know what else I can say about this other than its teaching. We all have seen teachers at work, now imagine an extra teacher standing there and from time to time saying something. That’s me, and as any real teacher I have classes and breaks in between classes.
The problem with that is, is that I don’t really have anything to do. So let’s say I have 6 periods in which I can teach, and at least 2 periods I don’t have to teach. Which gives me an hour and a half a DAY where I could just stare at the wall. And that’s just the bare minimum, of the periods that I don’t have to teach. Just last week, I sat there for 4 hours straight, waiting on my classes to start. Now the good thing is, I’m working on my 3rd and 4th book, so I’m using that time to write. And man am I writing, I’m kicking out 2 to 4 pieces a DAY. At this rate I will have my 3rd book done by the end of next month. And I’m loving it, it just means that I will be able to give you more and more, and I know you people love more.
Spoken Notes
We all know yours truly is a part of Spoken Notes, and as a part of Spoken Notes I feel it is my responsibility to see a Spoken Notes Japan come to fruition. I have more than enough experience with making something out of nothing, and this is nothing different. I’m starting from the ground up but I’m gonna give it my best shot to make sure that we will have a Spoken Notes right here. I have currently have a list of 13 possible poets that could perform. I’m still scouting for the perfect location, but I have a few feelers out and a few ideas rolling around in my head.
I wasn’t really able to take this to the next level just yet, due to the fact that I didn’t have Internet, but today that all changed. So now the hunt and the pressure is on to get this started right. SN Japan will be awesome, I’m still thinking about the theme for the night, any suggestions are more than welcome. And if any of you reading this have someone in Japan who would be interested MAIL ME.
Poem of the month
The beauty of solitude
The subtle chirping fills my room with a unique melody
The passing cars seem empty
I am alone and I love it
I revel in the silence of my mind
I adore the space created by what I left behind
I caress the darkness in the gap
And whisper “I wish I never had to go back”
The speed of life
The constant strife
All gone, unable to reach the miles I put between us
A few continents have thoroughly overpowered fuss
I am now without everything
And it makes the crevasses in my soul sing
I can finally get back to me
Revert to the peace I find in a stream deemed empty
Conversations with myself
Without the static of people interfering
I found myself in a dark corner weeping
Neglected due to circumstance
I had to give it, so I created another chance
For me to grow, expand my wings and breathe the air I wanted
Soar among the clouds, take a nap on the sun as it goes down, I craved it
Time ticks to its own rhythm, ever so slow
The constant drive of success has been let go
Peace has returned wearing all black
He is greeted by the old me “welcome back”
Being alone is easy, but pure solitude is better
No phone calls, no meetings, no emails … so much better
No shows, no events, no networking, no stress
No relationship issues, no disappointments, no secrets left to confess
A fresh start, a new beginning
Time for a new race, one at which I’m always winning
The beauty of solitude escapes most
But they forget that it’s a party and they are the host
I enjoy the company of me
And all the personalities that come with it
Being alone … I love it
You should try it
I figured I should start this whole thing off with a piece I wrote on my first day here. It’s basically me saying I’m recharging and I’m loving it.
Story of the month
Helpless
Her gaze leaves me in a daze I’m caught in a maze
A phase I travel to on my workdays
Her glance is a trance which demands romance
My stance is frozen, lost without a chance
Every time my mind resigns and words I’m unable to find
The entire world left behind, a situation so unkind
Monday through Friday she causes dismay
At 6 I view my gorgeous display
The bus stop our spot, and the code we got
Is her eyes on me and my body gets hot
The wind howls a melody at his own pace to suit her beauty
Blowing past her face, her hair dancing elegantly
I want to say hi, her presence makes me want to cry
Heart beating so fast I swear I could die
My mouth opens up but the words seem stuck
I’m waiting on luck, her to say what’s up
So we can engage in the first page of our book
I need a sage to explain how I’m so lost in a look
Waiting on a bus in my mind I’m starting to cuss
Because I have a car but it would ruin us
Maybe she wants a ride should I offer one
Never has this winter cold been so fun
And frustrating at the same time
Uplifting and motivating, while crushing me as I pine
But all the wealth in the world doesn’t amount to those eyes
One day will be the day when all that I despise
Will stop end and be done
We will talk a talk of love and have fun
But until that hour arrives I will drown in the lies
Told by those eyes that pierce through me like knives
I love you is that to abrupt a beginning
The bus is here again I go to a hood I don’t even live in
But I want to smell her for as long as I can
It would be so much easier if I had a plan
If she was lesbian or if I was a man
This is the end, tomorrow I’ll have to try again
From time to time I have to try something new, and this is me doing that. I saw the picture and it just seemed too focused on the eyes that I wanted to capture its importance. And what if her eyes were all you needed to lose yourself in her.
New Anime’s / Manga’s to watch
Ok so I know some of you are wondering why I put this in here, but come on I’m in Japan. And I know that a lot of my people are Anime freaks so I wanted to share this piece with you as well. But mostly I’m doing this for Dijon who wanted me to keep him up to date. Well I started asking the high school kids and the elementary kids and I even asked a few adults. But it seems that One Piece is the standard folks. Another thing the kids watch over here is Fairy Tail, but I was already watching that one as well. But here is one I didn’t know about:
AKB48 (Cars Unit)
The high school girls really seem to like it, so you know it could be kinda special if you catch my drift. But I’m only reporting what I hear, so don’t blame me for any bad stuff. Another 2 I heard about were:
Draimon and Kanong
Now I haven’t googled any of this yet, I wanted to get this blog online first cause I know some people were waiting. So if you googled it or you know about it, or I misspelled it or something let me know, cause I am kind of curious to these animes. And yes I’m downloading them as we speak, you know the boy needs to stay up to date with this kind of stuff.
Gym Developments
So I had this whole thing ready for when I got here. The schedule was: Work-Gym-Home. Simple, effective, straight forward and just a good thing. But then I got dumped in a village with no gym whatsoever. Or at least not a gym I could find by just walking around or by just surfing the web within 5 minutes. So I haven’t started working out just yet, but once I do I might just keep you people posted on the progress of that as well. Which should be fun if you look at it.
Project Updates
36th Ave – This is a project I’m really looking forwards too. This is going to be the next level of the current stuff I’m doing. It’s going to not only show you people, something new but it’s also going to give creative people a new outlet. Yeah I’m all for sharing genius and creating platforms.
Tales of Grimm – People the trailer is on the way, I’m telling you, I saw some of the footage and I read the trailer script. It’s fair to say that this will not only be a REALLY dope movie, but the trailer will blow your socks off dip them in your sweat (the trailer is so hot you will sweat) and then give them back to you.
Poetry and Story books – I’m working on it, I think that by the end of 2012 I should have both done and published. I should also by then have a good start on the novel. Yeah the boy is a writing machine. I love words.
Spoken Notes – Now just because I’m not there, doesn’t mean SN will stop. We have the replacement hosts ready. We have the themes ready, we have the poets ready. I’m telling you SN is going to take over the world and give it back to you covered in wisdom and honesty. The date of the next Spoken Notes should be revealed soon. So make sure that once I give you the date you mark it in you agenda.
L.M.T.D – New stuff should be coming in soon. We are thinking and planning the right things to do. Should be good.
Death’s Mercenary – The movie is put on hold, while I rewrite the script, redefine the characters and reboots the story. Don’t worry it’s still coming.
The End
Ok so I have covered all the bases, I let you in on all the stuff that’s going on and all the stuff I have been up too thus far. If you think I haven’t mentioned something, then it probably wasn’t worth mentioning. The food here is Japanese food, and as most people know I’m not a big vegetable/fruit guy and MAN do they love that stuff over here. So yeah figure it out. I’m also driving on the left side of the road, which is funny, my fellow teachers are coo people. They keep trying to get me to drink coffee but NO I refuse. I hope that by next month I will have done some more stuff so I can keep you people entertained, as well as give you some pictures.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, the reason I don’t have any pictures for you is because I don’t have my camera with me, it was a piece of crap that took shitty pictures. But I plan on getting a smart phone so I should be able to get some nice pictures for you then so wait for the next blog. I should have you covered by then. Yeah that’s the end of the blog, thanks for reading and don’t forget to comment.
Seems like you’ve found your spot to let your creativity flow and it shows.. cause I REALLY enjoyed reading your blog (everything in it) especially your new poem and short story and I can’t wait to read some more!!
Teaching sounds fun the way you describe it! and the the Japanese peeps/kids sound awesomely kind and fun.
It would be SO awesome if you could get SN running over there, but then I do expect you to do at least one poem or short story in Japanese as well. I’m soooo curious how that would sound (when the time comes, definitely need to post the vid:D although we would need subtitles to understand)
Well keep on doing what you do best and keep us posted from time to time
Seems like you’ve found your spot to let your creativity flow and it shows.. cause I REALLY enjoyed reading your blog (everything in it) especially your new poem and short story and I can’t wait to read some more!!
Teaching sounds fun the way you describe it! and the the Japanese peeps/kids sound awesomely kind and fun.
It would be SO awesome if you could get SN running over there, but then I do expect you to do at least one poem or short story in Japanese as well. I’m soooo curious how that would sound (when the time comes, definitely need to post the vid:D although we would need subtitles to understand)
Well keep on doing what you do best and keep us posted from time to time
NICE.. man!! SO gLAD YOU ARE ENJOYING YOURSLEF AND LEARNING … i HOPE TO BE BALE TO ALSO GIVE YOU SOME BETTER NEWS AS REGARDS TO OUR THING THING.. DO KEEP US POSTED..daNG IT REALLY IS ALL I IMAGINED:) bLESSINGS bRO:p
Getting go through this I assumed it absolutely was extremely beneficial. I value you taking enough time and energy to place this short article with each other. I when once again discover myself paying approach to a lot time the two reading through and commenting. But so what, it absolutely was nonetheless worthwhile!
yo I definitly have to come over man! I think about skipping my LA plans for this!
Japan sounds Awesome! It seems like you’re doing awesome in Japan! and your blog is what?…. AWESOME!!! Hope it’s not only work work work but also fun, fun, fun 😀
Hello there there! This publish couldn’t be created any greater! Studying by means of this submit reminds me of my earlier space mate! He often stored referring to this. I’ll ahead this short article to him. Fairly positive he’ll have a very great examine. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic publish. I’m dealing with a few these issues.
Vimo vino vino,
Inspringen as always! Weet je wat ik het leukste vind? It’s the way you white it! Jij schrijft zo ongelofelijk goed! Hoe ik alles lees hoor ik gewoon je stem in mn hoofd alles voorlezen, nog met je grapjes er tussendoor hahaha it was funny, echt dope.
Ik zit hier in de kapsalon te lachen naar mn telefoon (Galaxy S2, best phone ever) en men verklaart me voor gek haha.
Maar goed om te horen dat je daar lekker in je vel zit en een en al peace met the world bent 😛 Met die kiddies around you leer je idd binnen no time Japans.
Ik kijk uit naar je volgende verhalen en hoop dat je alleen maar meer te gekke dingen zult ervaren! Stay focus and ENJOY!
P.s. I lovedddd your poems ik kreeg echt een scène uit een film naar voren bij je 2e poem haha
Klinkt echt als een nice time een leuk avontuur.
Van het les geven tot animes en de zeewier 😛
poem en story of the month, I loved it.
ill be looking forward for the next blog with pictures 😛 get that smartphone lol
Yo Vino,
Seems like your having a good time.. good to hear.
So what are you eating then since your in the middle of nowhere 🙂 and you dont eat the fruit and vegeatables
i guess there is no MC Donald in the area.
I like the blog and i will keep on reading them.
I am only missing the pics.
Greetz
aaai Dayz….
not a big fan of reading, maar je blog is dope…eerlijk
Ik houd ‘t in de gaten
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