Up And Running!

Say goodbye to Japan and hello to the second-most Japanese place in the world.
We are now up and running at http://www.chrisjenny.blogspot.com
See you there!

I'm working on it!

Thanks for the comments, you guys. Sorry again that it's taking so long! The thing is, every time I sit at the computer I find a new job that I want to apply to and then I have to spend the whole day writing cover letters and checking them over and over and over! Also, I have a LOT of pictures from Altona and Germany to upload and a LOT of cool stories to write.

So just for an update, this job hunt is pretty much starting to drive me nuts. That, and staying at home all the time without any money to spend on decorating our totally grey apartment. Someone had better call me soon. I have mad skills!!

... right?

Hmmm. Basically what I need is a lot of encouragement right now. Chris will attest to the fact that I've been starting to feel quite worthless. So any prayers would be appreciated.

Thanks. And keep checking back!

The Blog Collective

Hello there, anyone who is still reading this thing! And thanks for all the well-wishes during our move! We’re really comfortable in our new place so far and Chris is really liking his Masters program. Like I said before, we’ve both got some old friends around here, so it’s been fun! There’s also a lot of Japanese food and even proper karaoke, so we’re feeling quite at home ;)

But speaking of feeling at home, that’s also exactly my problem :( After two weeks I still don’t have a job! Boooo. I know it’s not a huge period of time and there’s lots of stuff out there for me, but I guess it's just making me terribly restless having to stay at home all day! Steph? I know you hear me!

There are a lot of factors here, I guess. See, I know that I could walk right into the nearest grocery store and tell them I remember practically every single vegetable code and they’d be like ‘see you on Monday’ but that’s not the kind of thing I’m after at this point. First of all, we’ve got enough saved so as not to make me desperate, and I’ve also got my degree now. The first thing I did was teach in Japan and that was really great. Now, I’ve applied to a bunch of government positions and also administrative support positions with the Olympics and things like that. But unfortunately, these aren’t just ‘see you on Monday’ type of jobs!

So this is probably how it's going to work: after I email these “Human Resources” people all my letters and resumes and documents and things, they’re going to wait until the application deadline (some of which are still a week away!) then, they’re going to pull it all out and take their sweet time reading over everythingl. And then some committee is going to take two weeks to decide on whether or not to call me. Then, if they call, I’m going to go in for an interview and then, after making some kind of psychoanalysis of my answers to their questions, they’re going to send me home and call my references. Then, they’re going to take two weeks to psychoanalyze everyone else, and then another two weeks to decide which of us eager beavers is going to get the job (providing there isn’t a second interrview or police record check or whatever else). And hopefully that eager beaver will be me.

But here’s to hoping. If it eventually comes down to ‘beep beep beep that’ll be $29.35 please, would you like a bag?’ I wouldn’t be terribly upset, but like you guys have been saying, I’m also sure something great is out there waiting just for me.

So as for this blog… It’s been japanamazing, but it’s time to move on. We’re not in Japan anymore, are we? So between filling out all manner of online applications until my eyes want to fall out onto the keyboard (please, God not a computer job), I’ve also managed to create a new blog! It’s going to be way different and way cooler than this one, of course. I’m just getting our summer pictures ready to upload right now, so to any of you who are still reading this, stay tuned and in the next post (hopefully in the next few days) I’ll put the new address up here and link to it and say goodbye to Neverland forever. See you then!

The Hunt

About a week and a half ago we decided to stop getting up at noon, stop using jetlag as an excuse, and really get down to business here in Vancouver. As you know, we recently left all the hard-earned comforts of job and home in Japan and came back to Canada. Which means job- and home-hunting had to start all over again. Since we'd been staying till now with the "in-laws", the home-hunt had to come first. I'm sure you've heard people saying all kinds of things about the housing market in Vancouver and I'm here to tell you that they're true. My parents have a one-bedroom basement suite in Altona, the exact size of what we were looking for out here, and as far as I know they rent it for between $200 and $300 a month. In Vancouver this thing would be at least $1000 a month. Believe me, we've seen at least 20 ads for them. And you'd have to pay for laundry and utilities on top of it. If you're near the university, you're in the ritzy neighborhood so the price will go even higher, and if you're near the beach or downtown, it'll be expensive, plus old, dirty and the landlord will probably be an idiot. And everyone is still in the market! There were these dirty places with pre-arranged showings where 30 or 40 people would be lined up outside.

We were starting to think we were being too picky because we didn't take the suite with the oven next to the bedroom door. Or the place with the oven and the sink in completely different rooms. Or the place with the bedroom you had to walk through the bedroom to get to. Or the place whose balcony was about 6 inches away from a concrete wall. Or the place with the 5 1/2 foot ceilings. Or the place with the mouldy bathroom and padlocked back door! We were getting worried. Is there nothing decent in our price range? We were starting to hate this city!

But then Grace came along. Our saving Grace. Her ad was simple, on the internet. A two bedroom main-floor suite owned by a quiet, young professional couple. (two bedroom??? main floor???) How is she renting two bedrooms for such a low price, we thought? We'd been through a lot at this point. We were starting to think, maybe it doesn't have windows or something. (There are people here who would try to rent an apartment without windows, believe me) So anyway, since we only had a week left before going to Manitoba and were basically calling anyone in this God-forsaken city who was offering something in our price range, we arranged an appointment.

Firstly, we were very impressed that she called back. (We'd probably been having about a 30% call-back rate in terms of the messages we left.) So the house is actually less than two years old, it does have 2 bedrooms and each room has a very decently sized window. It's a little further away from the school than we'd wanted, but still on a major bus route. We were met at the door by a 4-ish month pregnant very beautiful young Chinese woman. This was Grace. She showed us the suite, it even has heated ceramic tiles and a security alarm (no padlocks? wow!). She was very nice. We were extremely nice. We put on our very best faces for this one. She said that over 20 people had come to see the suite already and the calls were still rolling in. And we became unfathomably nice.

We told her we'd lived in Japan. Apparently she taught English in Hong Kong! We told her Chris was studying at UBC. Apparently she and her husband had gone there too! We told her we were getting married next year, she introduced us to her husband etc. etc... (Now, we'd had one of these couple-in-common moments at a previous place and it was really promising until we'd got a call the next day saying that they'd rented it to someone else.) So that night we immediately emailed her and thanked her for the tour. We said we loved it and we'd take it in an instant. We filled out her email questionnaire with the utmost care and returned it without delay.

For the next day and a half, we kept trekking into the city, viewing suites and apartments all over the place, for the most part total pieces of crap, halfheartedly filling out other application forms, the whole time crossing our fingers and toes to hear back from Grace.

And then... (in case you haven't caught the thread of this email)... we did. It was ours if we wanted it. We went back that very evening to sign the contract.

So we now have a place in Vancouver t0 call home. What an experience. I really hope we won't have to move again for quite a while. Pictures to come in September.

P.S.
When we were out there signing the contract yesterday, I managed to have a chat with one of the current tenants who was home. I'd noticed she had a couple Bible verses hanging around in the kitchen and I asked her if she went to a church around there.

I go to a church, she said, but it's about 30 minutes away by bus. The pastor's really nice.
Pastor? So it's not Catholic? What kind of church is it?
It's a Mennonite Bretheren church.
(!!! surprised gasping sounds)
I'm from Kitchener Waterloo, my maiden name is Gingrich
(!!! more sounds)

So in the midst of my surprise, I managed to tell her that I was also a Mennonite, from Manitoba and I'd also lived in Kitchener-Waterloo. Ha!
So she showed me the church's website and told me a little more about it and so on.
Crazy, huh? Yeah, we'd actually been praying a lot about finding a good place to call home out here and talking to this lady pretty much sealed the deal for me. Willingdon MB Church in Burnaby - here I come!

The Toliet Seats Are Really Cold Here!

We're home!
Yup, just so you know, we're here and we're OK! We flew out of Osaka at about 3pm on Tuesday, transferred in San Francisco, and arrived safely in Vancouver at... about 3pm on Tuesday. We were welcomed in first-class style, first by America's finest immigration officer himself, Mr. Stockman - who had just finished his shift at the airport, and then by the rest of the beaming Stockman family at the arrivals gate.

I gotta say I felt rather like crap that afternoon, but we were made to feel very comfortable in their house, and after some snacks, naps and dinner, we were in perfect shape again. We even slept the whole night through until 10:30am. So I'm thinking we might have beat jetlag this time!

Anyway, we're not really thinking about it yet, but we do have a lot of stuff to get done while we're here, so once the family goes back to work and we've got some time again, we'll probalby have to get down to business with school, work, house and wedding stuff. *phew!*

I also have a few more pictures and anecdotes about Japan to post. So hopefully I'll get that stuff on here soon as well - at least before it leaves my brain completely! Being back here at times, it almost feels like we never went anywhere at all! (Japan, what?)

So keep checking! And you guys in Vanvouver - you know who you are: email me and let me know when you can hang out :)

The Journey's End

Well, that’s it! We went to work for one last time yesterday. Chris had the early shift and mine was later. It was a regular day, I guess. I mean, I didn’t really spread the news that I was leaving or anything. Usually our Japanese sales staff will put out a card for students to write little messages on a few weeks before a teacher’s last day, so the students kind of get the idea that they’re leaving. I’ve seen a bunch of guys get them. But as my last day approached I kept secretly checking the front desk, but no card. The things is, I wasn’t supposed to go and ask for one, was I? And I certainly didn't want to have to mention to every student in every lesson that I was going back to Canada in a week! So what's a girl to do? Well anyway, that last day in the office, a card mysteriously appeared on the front desk, a few students who happened to be there that day signed it, and the rest of them came up to me with really surprised looks on their faces, saying “You’re leaving? I didn’t know!”

“Yeah, not many people knew…”

(aka “The staff never got me a damn card”)

It wasn’t so bad, really. The other teachers knew I was going, at least. At lunch time in the teacher’s room, Audrey and Joe turned up with flowers and balloons for me. It was so sweet of them!

Joe: “Wonder why you didn’t get a card from the staff, Jen?”

Audrey: “Well, I guess they’ve been preoccupied with that company lawsuit and everything.”

Jen: “Oh yeah, and I thought it was just ‘cause I didn’t have a penis… but I guess that’s not really the case anymore.”

(Disclaimer: that balloon was a complete surprise to all parties – apparently it was just in an innocent-looking package. My apologies for any offence to readers.)

Chris’ day began a little earlier than mine and included a load more presents. See, the middle-aged ladies seem to like him for some reason ;) Anyway, these types of ladies generally have a lot of time (and often money) on their hands – especially the ones who take English conversation lessons on Friday mornings. And Japanese people really, really like to give gifts. So that night when Audrey and I met Chris on the train, he was toting all kinds of bags and wrappings and inside was everything from picture frames to Godiva chocolates!

He didn’t have a card, though. Hah.

That night *sniff* was our last in which we’d see dear Audrey so we decided to skip the last subway home and grab some food and drink near the station. Would you believe Chris and I hadn’t been to a Japanese style bar yet at all? Haha, we are so cool. But Audrey was kind enough to show us the ropes. We got some beer and loads of snack food, told a lot of jokes involving penguins and had a really good time.

On Sunday we’ll be seeing our ‘other girlfriend’ Lisa for one last curry lunch in Kyoto. She’s actually leaving Japan this week, too! We all started out together back in September in the same cockroach-infested apartment block. Audrey’s going to stick it out for a few more months yet. But what a ride, hey girls!?!

Oh yeah, and on Sunday that’ll be it for contact! In the morning, while everyone in Manitoba is at the “Martens’ Family Fun Reunion”, Chris and I will be canceling both internet service and cell phones. So don’t try to call when you get home, guys! We’ll let you know when we get to Vancouver on Tuesday!

All in all, we’ve got a few more things to pack and a few more things to clean, but moving out really hasn’t been that overwhelming. I guess we were pretty lucky to find people to move into our little place and take our furniture. All we’ve got are a few more souvenirs to buy and a few more people to see for dinner and then that’s it! 12-hour flight, here we come. I’ll be posting more pictures once we get back, so keep checking the blog. But thanks for reading about our Japanese journey, everyone. See you soon!

The Last Week

This, being our last week in the office, I decided to get a few shots of my kids. I guess I've said it before, but we teach 4 different age groups, from 3 years old to 12. For the most part, they are the cutest, most evil beings you can imagine.

These are my youngest, I taught them pretty much all year. One graduated to the next level recently and another one (the smartest) wasn't there this day, unfortunately.



It's actually kind of strange to see them standing still and their faces not contorted with screaming laughter.



These are the sweeter-than-sweet girls in my other class. The boys, on the other hand, have a little more energy.





And here's the whole class. A very representative shot, I'd say!

If I could, I'd want to take the camera into every class I had. Some of my students wanted pictures with me, though, and I hope they'll email them. So aside from the kids and the students, there's the other teachers, of course!



Here we are, in what is arguably the smallest office in this company. Working together in perfect harmony, of course. I'll miss you guys!

As for Chris' office, they threw a farewell party for him at a beer garden on the top floor of their office building last Sunday. It was kind of a swanky place, but I guess they just knew Chris only settles for the best ;)



It was a cool place. I didn't talk to many people cuz I was really tired. (I should tell you later about the "midnight motorcycle") Anyway, so I just sat around and played with the cellphone camera.



Somehow, all my pictures ended up looking like some kind of beautiful-people-only-party vodka ad.

Good Morning?

The sun rose at 4:43am today.
4:43am!!

I was awake by 5:30 and tonight I have to work until 9.
I miss daylight savings.

Oishii!

Might be tryin' me some of this today.

Going once... going twice...

Sold to the couple from Argentina!

Yup, we're happy to say we got rid of our apartment. We had a girl come over and see the place on Wednesday and by Friday she and her husband had worked everything out with the landlord. They're moving in as soon as we leave, and they want all of our stuff! Their names are Anna and Greg, they're Spanish teachers in Kyoto and they're really really nice. (I've honestly never met anyone from South America who wasn't extremely cool) . Chris said it's almost too bad we're leaving or we could hang out with them!

Anyway, of course it's a huge load off our backs to not have to worry about moving stuff out and getting rid of furniture and everything. Do you remember how empty this place was when we moved in?? So yeah, we've promised our double futon to Joe and Tiff already, but now since we can keep our extra single futons in the apartment, we don't have to camp out somewhere else the night before we leave. We'll just fold them up and go!

Not that we're counting down or anything, but we're leaving in 15 days and working for only 10 of them. See you soon, everyone!