Bloom In Japan

Well yesterday marked the 2-month mark for my time in Japan, and needless to say it has been a wild ride so far. The next week will bring about even more changes, as I move into Tokyo, start 2 new jobs, and wait to hear WTF is going on with my last job.

Thursday afternoon I will officially make my move into Tokyo prefecture, as I settle in a few minutes walk from the heart of Ikebukuro. I managed to get my address and find the house, and while the place itself looks like shit from the outside, the location is absolutely perfect. From front door to standing on a train at Ikebukuro Station was less than a 15 minute walk, including wait time at 3 traffic lights and dodging thousands of people. To make things better, my main branch for one of my new jobs is at the station, so I will be able to freaking walk to work. How cool is that? I will be a little sad leaving Miyoshi Town, but it’s been my goal to live in Tokyo, so this will be quite exciting for me.

I finished training for one of the new jobs yesterday, and will technically start work on Friday, although I have yet to create my schedule. I plan on working as much as possible over the next few months to build up some funds and recover from the bullshit that has gone down over the past 9 weeks. I just receieved another offer for a 2-day per week contract at a corporate training company, and I plan on accepting it. I should be able to get some valuable experience working in a professional environment, and the money will be decent. In addition I hope that living in Tokyo will open up the possibilities for teaching private lessons and getting some grub money while I await my first paychecks from the “real” jobs. Things are going to be tight for the next couple months, but hopefully things will work out.

NOVA is set to make an announcement on Thursday regarding the future of the company. Surprisingly 10+ companies have expressed interest in buying them out, so it will be interesting to see what happens as far as backed wages and everything. At the very least maybe the students will be able to use their old points, but I’d obviously like to see SOME money for the 2 months of service I “volunteered”.

At any rate, I’m still a prick and have not uploaded all the media that I have stored, but I will do my best this week in between moving and everything. Beyond that, I hope things are going well back home with everyone. I see the temps are quickly falling, luckily we are still at a reasonable range here. Anyways, I shall try to catch up with everyone soon, mata ne.

Well the circus has continued. It seems as though the Japanese government may have found someone gullible enough to take over NOVA. The problem is that this doesn’t do much to help out teachers or staff as far as money is concerned. Even if a company took over NOVA in its entirety, it would still be doubtful that we would see back wages, as they would probably restart everything under a new name and contract. We may be able to have a job though, which would be better than nothing I suppose. They are supposed to announce everything next week, so we shall see. As far as the scandal itself, the press here has been crucifying the moronic president. It seems as though the man could indeed be going to jail for a long time when all is said and done. Embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, etc etc etc. The man is a real class act. It was a real treat seeing his 3,000,000 Yen per month office, with 70,000,000 Yen worth of furnishings being paraded across television the past week. His “office” is more like a freaking love hotel, complete with sauna, twin bed, tea ceremony room, plasma TVs, and probably a hidden shrine to himself as god. It’s nice to know that the fucker was living his life of luxury while selling off his stake in the company and dooming fools like myself to a life of eating instant ramen and rice. If or hopefully when they actually catch up to the guy, I hope he is paired with an unfortunate cell mate in jail. Words can’t describe my disgust for the man.

In other news, I have decided on a new residence, and will be moving within 2 weeks. I have chosen a guest house in Ikebukuro, which is the closest section of downtown Tokyo to here. My room will be 50% larger, the house itself is decent enough, and the location is excellent. I will be within walking distance of every major subway/train line in Tokyo, which will save me tons of money in itself. Unfortunately I will be a good hour away from the woman, but I’m sure we will figure something out.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Thanks to a photographer from London, I can now pull a Zoolander and go around saying “I’m a model, idiot”. I spent the entire afternoon posing like a moron in various locations in Tokyo. The highlight of the day was doing a shoot in the middle of the clusterfuck that is Shibuya (the insanely crowded place featured in Lost in Translation). As we were shooting, a crowd of literally 30-40 people gathered around and began taking their own pictures with cameras and cell phones. Just another surreal moment in this crazy place. Unfortunately the gig was non-paying, but I got some free food and drink, and will be receiving a DVD full of all the pictures for use in my portfolio. All in all it was a fun experience, and well worth it.

Beyond that, I have been busy in general and have plenty of stuff that I need to throw up on the page. I start training tomorrow with the new company, so that will be quite exciting. I need to head into Tokyo right now though, so that I can try to find a cheap black suit for the new job. Until next time, peace outs.

So it happened. NOVA effectively went bankrupt on Friday, as the board of directors sacked the idiot president and then proceeded to file for protection from creditors. Technically the company isn’t dead yet, but it’s going to take a massive company with a set of big ones to take everything over and try to get the Usagi back on its feet. The company itself is only ~45 BILLION Yen in debt, which is about $450,000,000. I really don’t see anyone with half a brain wanting to get involved in that BS. As for current operations, every branch has been closed indefinitely, leaving half a million students and five thousand-odd employees floating in an abyss of uncertainty. I’d say the chances of anyone seeing any money from this point forward are about 1 in 100.

Where does this leave me? Well thanks for asking. Basically I will be trying to survive on credit and free food samples at local grocery stores for the next 2 months. I have a new employer, but won’t see any money from them until Christmas day. One of the two jobs I’m waiting to hear back on would give me some cash a lot sooner, but the other one is the exact same Xmas scenerio. Alas, I am still completely commited to staying in this wonderful place, so I will be fighting tooth and nail to do so. I will most likely need to move out of my current apartment rather quickly, and have plans to move into downtown Tokyo. Unfortunately, I have zero concrete information on anything at the moment, so it’s a little hard to make plans. At any rate, yea the situation sucks, but whatever; I am willing to put up with a load of BS if I am able to remain here for as long as I’d like. Let the games begin…

So Thursday the 25th is almost upon us here in the Pacific, but like last week, I highly doubt my bank account will change from its current balance of 0 Yen. I really don’t see how the company can survive yet another missed payday, but then again I haven’t understood anything this retarded company has done up to this point. If I check my account at midnight and magically find the 90,000 Yen they owe me, I will strip down and run around my ‘hood like a lunatic.

In better or more interesting news, I just got back from my 4th interview in 3 days. This morning I was offered a position with a certain company, which should at least give me something to fall back on. I am set to sign their contract on Friday, and then begin training in 2 weeks. Of the 3 other interviews, I am anxiously awaiting decisions from 2 of them, as both positions would fit me quite well. The other interview basically turned into an information seminar, where I picked up an IT agent and formulated a battle plan to eventually move into the IT field here in Japan. I should know where I stand as far as employment goes by Monday, and then I can start worrying about finding a new place to live.

Not everything is so stressful however. I’ve been taking advantage of my time in downtown Tokyo to see more sights. I don’t have time to upload pics yet, but I have continued to check places off my master list at a lightning quick pace. Things with Kaori are going great as well. It’s not every day you can find a beer-drinking, anime-watching, manga-reading, poor-boy-loving, potty-mouthed woman. I am a happy man at the moment in that regard.

The next 5 days will either turn me into an extremely happy human being, or a man on the edge. Let’s hope it’s the former.

Well the 19th came and went and nobody got paid. Instead we were presented with another vague fax stating that we are now scheduled to be paid on the 25th. Nobody believes this, and a large percentage of teachers have stopped working. There is chatter on some forums that the company is going to officially call it quits this week, so it may be all over after all. I have 2 interviews in the next few days which may decide my future in Japan. The annoyance and frustration is quickly turning into anger, as a single man (NOVA’s president) is threatening my very existence in this country. Not to mention the countless other lives that may literally be ruined by this collapse. If/when it becomes official, the government better investigate and throw that asshole behind bars for a very long time.

Things are gettin’ a little stressful on this side of the world. The job situation is at a breaking point, causing me to apply for everything from Japanese Prime Minister to Ma-Ku-Doe-Na-Ru-Doe (McDonald’s) janitor positions. I seriously doubt that I will be paid anytime soon, meaning I am going into survival mode for a bit. Regardless, I plan on doing whatever I can to stay here, and really hope things work out.

In better news (always has to be good news right?), I have still been finding time to experience this crazy place to the max, albeit it in new and improved budget-mode. It’s amazingly difficult to find the time to sit down and do updates, but I hope to get some new junk up soon. So yea, the next 2 weeks will be crucial in deciding my current situation, so I hope that I can update with some good news soon.

I hope everyone back home is doing well, I miss y’all, but don’t quite want to see you so soon if you know what I mean. Peace out.

Well I began my on the job training yesterday, and I must say it went a little better than I expected it to. Unfortunately it looks like work is going to keep me fairly busy, but I will do my best to get some more backlogged junk up from this past weekend soon. Hope everyone back home is well!

P.S. How long is jet lag supposed to last? lol