Things That Drive Me Nuts

This post is going to be a partial up date and partial rant. Bare with me.

First, I mentioned a while ago that I am climbing Mt. Fuji in August. I am still strolling up the great mountain but what was once a cheap and simple, two day excursion to the top of a mountain and back has turned into a cluster of niggling details and rising expenses. The price tag of this trip was once only about $100 and over the course of the past couple of days, it has gone upwards to around $400 possibly. I have found out that my special ticket that lets me ride as many local trains as I want in a period of five days is NOT good on the exact days I am going to Fuji-san, which means that I can no longer take the local trains to or from the mountain for free after the cost of this ticket. This leaves me with two options: A) I take a crowded, uncomfortable overnight bus to Tokyo and then from Tokyo I take another bus to Fuji. I do not like the buses and I do not like the fact that my feet swell up after sitting for so long and I don't want to deal with foot issues before I even start up the mountain which leaves me with B)Take the shinkansen (fast train) to Tokyo, enjoy a day and night in Tokyo and then leave the following morning to climb Mt. Fuji. If it were not for the fact that the shinkansen round trip will cost me almost $300 and a hotel another $60, I would love this option.

So I am now faced with the choice of spending the money, which I have, I just don't want to spend and go climb Mt. Fuji or never go at all. The frame of time I have to climb the great mountain is dwindling and the upcoming window of opportunity is pretty much the last time I will be able to make the trip. Faced with that, I would rather spend the money and do something that I can look back on and have the memories of rather than not do it at all. So much for saving a bunch of cash this month but in trade, I get a cool experience. It is a good deal but I am still not keen on the money part and probably won't be any time soon.

On to topic number two! Peppy Kids Club (my company) has to be one of the most retarded, poorly run, companies in Japan. Their lack of communication and ability to resolve issues in a timely fashion has nipped me in the ass. Ben is coming in September, this is good. I asked for my time off over a month ago and never heard back from my company. I talked to my boss and he said that he saw no reason I wouldn't get the time off and to go ahead and book my hotels and what not. So after figuring all of that out, he comes back and tells me that the company only gave me three of the seven days off that I requested. This is a week and a half after he tells me to book my stuff. So, I can do one of two things. I can be a good employee and work when I am scheduled or I can go through with my plans that he OK'd to begin with. I am opting for the latter option. This means I will call in sick for two days and tick off my main office but at this point I just don't care. If they were going to end up shafting me anywho, the least they could have done was tell me in a timely fashion. Everyone I teach with knows I am calling in and so I know I will not take everyone by surprise when I do it but still, I shouldn't have to do this. I have been with this company long enough that I feel entitled to a few things. I just find it moronic that the person that is covering for me on my initial days off is still getting paid whether he is teaching or not so why not have him teach for my full requested time instead of leaving him to sit in his apartment and get paid to do it? Peppy Kids Club is run by morons.

Finally, I figured out why I have been wanting to come home so bad lately. I realized this last night as I laid awake; I am wasting my time here. Most of my time is spent in front of this computer screen. I am either watching movies or playing a game. Why in the world am I doing this when I am living is such a cool country? It is because I have nothing better that I could be doing. There are no clubs or groups I can join. No gyms in my area. No movie theaters. And I don't really have any friends I could be hanging out with. If I ever want to do anything, I have to travel at least two hours and spend a decent chunk of money and it is all getting really old. I am sick of wasting my time on the computer and frustrated that I am not left with a lot of other options. I talked this over with the guy that lived here before me and he wholeheartedly agreed that there isn't much more that I could be doing that I have not. This is why he moved into the city. He suggested I move as well but if I were to do that I would need to commit to another year and I am not willing to do that with my current company. I don't feel like I am affecting or getting through to a lot of the kids and I feel that that stems from a lack of interest on their part and a lack of motivating material on my company's part. I am supposed to stick to the material and not deviate a whole lot so it is difficult to spice up the crap I am left with. I am trying but I am just getting disenchanted with the whole system and am starting to crave a lot of Western conveniences like a real apartment, a kitchen, and a car. And food. And the idea of getting a pet. And, God forbid, a girlfriend. And an XBox 360.

Me and eating have been at odds lately. I finally found the double-edge sword I have been looking for. First, you guilt yourself about what you eat and then you guilt yourself for the money you spend to eat. In the end, you eat much less. It is amazing.

Tomorrow, Summer School starts so that will keep me kind of busy for the next eight days. Basically, Peppy Kids Club realized that they didn't have a steady cash flow throughout the year and earnings dipped in the summer time so they decided to through together a new song and dance(literally) and a couple of new workbooks and then charge the family's of the participating children another $150.00. Great marketing can sometimes make for sub-par teaching. The new material is pretty lame and I despise the dances and songs but Peppy needs money so I get a break in my normal routine and get to teach more classes than usual for eight days straight. YAY for me! On the upside, it seriously does break up the monotony of teaching a bit and I welcome that. I just hate having to sing and dance and where an apron for one of the class levels.

Anywho, that brings me to the end of the update. Stuff is going to get kind of busy starting from tomorrow and going into October so I probably won't be writing anymore of the, "Oh, I am sooo bored" posts for a while. This is a good thing for all involved parties.