I have arrived in Japan!

I have arrived in Narita airport in Tokyo. I am feeling much better. The excitement has surfaced and I am soaking in everything I see.

There is so much going on here so I am going to just bullet point the things I saw:

- The flight attendance, counter ladies for ANA are all really beautiful. No, seriously, they are all really gorgeous. Maybe it has to do with their immaculate up-do hair and uniform.

- Japan toilets – the ones that warm and wash your butts are ubiquitous! And they feel really weird for the first if you have not had water spraying into your ass while sitting in the toilet.

- Fukuoka is a very accessible city. Many people speak some English.

- Japanese customer service is excellent. Even though they know you don’t speak Japanese, they still speak to you in Japanese like you do and make sure you are okay.

- Yes, convenient store and vending machines are ubiquitous.

- Though they don’t celebrate x’mas here. X’mas songs are blasting everywhere. Apparently, x’mas is like a couples holiday here.

- Lastly, even though I am Asian, I still stand out like a reindeer.

December 3, 2009

Well, this is it. The day that I have been planning for almost a year has come. How do I feel? Emotional. Maybe there is a small tinker of excitement but I will really have to nurture that to come to surface. I hope that once I have landed, even in Narita airport, I will feel it more. In fact, I need to feel it. I have wanted this to happen for so long…but I can’t help but feel that I left behind so many good things.

For the past month or so, planning for the departure date was kicked into turbo mode. First was the selling of furniture on Craigslist. Then came quitting my job, seeing my SB friends and co-workers one last time, and the preparation of a 2-day garage sale. The last phase was moving back to my mom’s in the bay area and storing what remains of my 31 years in a corner of the garage and some in my so-called room at my mom’s. I also spent time with my sister in San Francisco, had a small gathering with my extended family, went back to Santa Barbara one last time, then Thanksgiving, and finally, doing all the shopping – buying new suits, shoes, Target etc. I knew I would get it all done but I didn’t expect take up so much time so unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a relaxing break before I embark on this journey. Plus time passed by so quickly that it was like my life was rushing through to the end this chapter.

So what is this new chapter? At this point, I know that this definitely is a career move. Someone reminded me that I should make more money in this stage of my life as I have spent my 20s in learning and gaining experiences so it is time for the returned investment. I am also looking to define my profession. You know when you were young, people always asked what do you want to be when you grow up? Well, I still don’t have a defined answer. And since I am not young anymore, I need to figure it out. Personally, I want to get to know myself better. I have never lived alone before so here’s the chance, my friends (especially to those that have nagged me all these years!). As I shrugged to what I am writing here, I think I will mostly just let it ride and see what happens.

Here I am, December 4, 2009 marked as the new chapter of my life. I lived a good life so far and I have only my friends and family to thank for the love and support they have given me. The biggest lesson I have learned from this chapter of my life is the power of friendships and love. I will end today’s blog with this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded."

Corot-7b: New Planet Discovered; Astronomers Say There's Solid Ground

Sometimes, we are so consumed by our everyday living that we forget we have this infinite universe and we are just little earth. Even though there is some sort of life out there, we have not found anything remotely resembles us - human beings that has evolved in millions of years. Okay, some may argue that there are aliens out there but are they really from outer space? If so, we haven't found anything inside or outside our solar system yet. Maybe these aliens are just mutants...sorta like X-men characters but they've been labeled from outer space to comfort children or the general population that don't want to hear we have these scary looking things as our relatives.

It is absolutely fascinating to me that there is a chance we will live outside of earth. So far, we haven't been successful in finding a planet that is actually livable (well, maybe we have but they've been hiding it so some mega-billions entrepreneur wouldn't go pay the Russians to go up there for a photo opt)but I know we will never give up on that search. It has only been the last 50 years (or less) that commercial flying is available to everyone. It is only a matter of time that we will be buying special cruise packages to the moon.

Atlanta Adventure

I was in Atlanta for work for too long (10 days) at the end of July for the ELC National Session - an annual week-long conference. One of the students, Jerry Liu, was a UCSB friend and we have not seen or spoken with each other for about 10 years. So, we decided to hook up during the week for dinner and catch up.

Our dinner date turned out to be a bit challenging. I postponed to the next day because another student wanted to have dinner with me before she leaves. Then I had to work late and I couldn't leave on time. Finally, at 9:30pm, we met at the hotel lobby and Jerry was calm, gracious, and patience, and Jerry's sister, Erin who was visiting him from New York for the week took charge of finding a place to eat. She said we were going for some Southern BBQ that night at Daddy D's but we would have to take the Marta and it's not too far away.

During our journey to the restaurant, Jerry and I caught up with our lives. I actually knew very little about Jerry during college and only learned so much about him during our trip to the restaurant. Jerry sold Cutco knives started in his sophomore year in college, was the national champion salesman, and worked for Cutco for 8 years recruiting, managing and coaching new salesmen. He's now living and working in Shanghai working for his family's business running a chain of schools in Taiwan and China founded by his father for students with learning disabilities. He and his sister are passionate about his father’s cause to help students overcome their learning disabilities from the theories he has developed since his days as an EdD student, and to follow his father’s footsteps, Jerry is now pursuing his EdD at Fielding. In combination with his business management background at Cutco and his educational experience at Fielding, Jerry is hoping to standardize and streamline his father’s business and write a dissertation on teacher’s pay based on students’ performance.

I didn’t talk much about myself because I was absolutely fascinated by Jerry’s story and I think they were really eager to tell me their story too which caused us to not to pay attention to our way to Daddy D’s. After walking for about 20-25 minutes in a somewhat shady neighborhood and unpopulated streets, I asked to check where we were and realized we might have passed the restaurant. Just as we began to walk back, it started to drizzle so we picked up our steps. Finally, we found this dimly lit hut and realized that was it. It obviously looked closed but determined, Jerry and Erin found the open door and walked in anyway. Once inside, the chairs were stacked up on the tables but there was still a heavy smell of barbecue coming from the kitchen. We begged the waiter to serve us something and 5 minutes later, he came out with 2 heavy boxes or ribs and corn bread for free! Just as we were about to walk out, the manager came in and said it had started to rain hard. It was 11pm and seeing that there was no other cars outside, he asked where we were going and offered us a ride to the Marta station, which is 5 minutes by car but 20 minutes by foot. At first, we hesitated but he smiled and said he wouldn't bite. We looked at each other, took a leap of faith and accepted the good gesture. Shortly after we hopped on the car, the manager said it was 54 minutes until his birthday. We talked casually until we arrived at the Marta station. I don’t think I even got his name. Maybe we did ask for it but I don’t remember anymore.

As soon as we sat down to wait for the train to come, we dived into the boxes. The food was still warm and the cornbread, with full pieces of corn was one of the best I’ve ever had. The meat on the pork ribs pulled right off and the barbecue sauce got the right amount of tang and sweetness. We didn’t have any utensils or napkins but we didn’t care. We sat mostly quietly munching away, licking our fingers, and wiping them on our clothes.

I wanted to remember this night because so many things that happened have led to this spontaneous, adventurous outing. I want to remember the kindness from the people at Daddy D’s and the experience of the real kind of southern hospitality. I want to remember the things I learned from Jerry. What I can’t describe or seem to be able grasp is the meaning from all of this together – a long lost friend found, an intriguing story learned, an act of kindness received, and an unexpected adventure.

Japan

It's been too friggin long...since my last post! And this is a real luxury for me to take time to write this...

My excuse - well, I have 3 jobs, working hard to make things happen, and at the same time, the world evolves and keep moving with or with me. Here's a list of things that happened to me and around me.

- Experiencing the struggle of an organizational and cultural change at work. Now that I have studied all of that, I now understand why there are millions of books written and will be written on it. It's just one of those things that is much easier to talk about in theory.

- Being a first-time consultant. Giving my opinions and "expertise" of my knowledge in distance learning and how it can implemented in a blending learning TESOL program.

- Working for a for-profit but totally cool, laid back, alternative long distance phone company - bigredwire.com. And be given total trust based on my professional background, my early performance, to eventually more responsibilities and $$.

- To be teaching again and working with students, especially the Hispanics in the SB community. It's very satisfying to know that you are making a difference to the lives of your students every day and to know that they are coming to class every night after work to better themselves. If they don't have an excuse to not come to class, neither do I!

- To be so lucky for having 3 jobs in an economy where many people don't even have 1. I am reminding this to myself everyday because it can all go away very fast.

- Getting to know San Francisco inside out during my week of vacation there in May.

- Death of Farrah Fawett - a lesson learned of her courage.

- Death of Michael Jackson - I had no idea it would affect me so much but after all, he is THE western celebrity I knew growing up in Hong Kong. My parents even got us tickets to see him in concert when he was going to come to HK but alas, he cancelled it because of the whole child molestation fiasco. Nevertheless, I completely agree that MJ has given his childhood, his talents, his music, his love to perform to us that I want to give him the same respect as the people I knew that have passed on. MJ, your music will continue to inspire me with love, dedication, and suffering.

- Last but not least, my pursue of Japan. For me, things always happen when I am least expected so I have taken a step back in waiting for AEON to give me a placement. Of course, I got this unexpected phone call soon after my adjusted attitude and then a couple weeks later, an offer to work in Fukuoka. Yesterday, I have given them my verbal acceptance of the offer and next week, I will sign a contract of a 1-year commitment to live and work in Japan. I don't have time to talk about my feelings and what will happen now but while I was reviewing some information before I accepted the offer, I came upon the personal essay I wrote for the application back in January. It really sums up how I still feel about going to Japan. It is a lifelong dream and a new chapter from a long story since childhood. Here's my personal essay and my acceptance speech to AEON.

Why I want to live and work in Japan
by Tiffani P. Chan

My story with Japan has been a long one, starting at the tender age of 7. One of my few early childhood memories is of Mrs. Uchida, our neighbor inviting me over for tea every week to play with her son, Hiro. I don’t remember much about talking to Mrs. Uchida or playing with Hiro but I do remember the tatami floors, the Ikebana that were uniquely and beautifully arranged, the colorful sweets and cakes, the smell of soy from Mrs. Uchida’s cooking, and the sound of Japanese from the TV or the stereo. It was a world far different from my apartment or any of my friends’, but I remembered feeling like I belonged there and I could understand everything around me, including the conversations between Mrs. Uchida and Hiro in Japanese.

Perhaps my father knew this so when I was 10, he took our family for a vacation to Japan. It was my first visit to Tokyo and in hindsight, it was the awakening of my lifelong fascination of the Japanese culture. Later in college, I naturally signed up for courses about Japan in art history, films, and language. When I had the opportunity to visit Japan again at the age of 20, I made a decision to return one day to do more than just exploration but to immerse myself in the culture. Life caught up with me after college. With student loans mounting, I secured a job at an organization that nurtured me with diverse opportunities. Personally, I found happiness and endured setbacks in different forms and circumstances. For the past 7-8 years, I lived as a citizen of America and a member of my community. I worked, I loved, I made friends, I volunteered, I paid my bills. But I felt something was missing.

If 2008 was marked as the beginning of change in history, it was also for me. One day while I was writing my Master’s thesis at a coffee shop, I bumped into an old friend who informed me he was leaving to teach with AEON in Tokyo. The news was serendipitous. I have been contemplating the next phase of my career and I was not sure what that was. Still, I was not convinced teaching was something that I wanted to do everyday so soon after I finished my Master’s degree, I completed a certificate program in TESOL and during the practicum, I fell in love with the creativity of teaching and daily interactions with students. After many years as an education administrator, I found an enormous sense of satisfaction from the direct results in the classroom as compared to sitting behind a desk working in front of a computer. It also affirmed my career choice as an educator and renewed my passion for education, especially in making learning a life skill for all ages.

I want to live and work in Japan because I am seeking a work abroad experience in a country that has developed a multi-faceted environment that can utilize my background in business, education, and intercultural communications to help students develop knowledge that is interesting for learning, as well as skills that are practical and competitive in the global, flattened world of today. Finally, this has been my lifelong dream and I am ready to make it into a reality. I am very excited at the opportunity AEON can provide into making this dream comes true for me. Thank you very much for your consideration.
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Hi Mark

I really appreciate you for giving me sometime to think about the offer. I used the past few days to review all the information I have from the interview and the email you sent. I did some research about Fukoaka and Kyushu. Fukuoka seems like a very nice city and I think it is a wonderful alternative to Tokyo. I was also able to talk to my friends and my family, and I didn’t know this but my parents have been to Fukuoka and they had very fond memories of that city. Anyway, all of them are very excited and supportive of me if I do work in Japan. So, having said that, I am happy about the placement in Fukuoka and I am delighted to accept the offer.

Thank you very much for all that you do. And again, I really appreciate you for keeping in touch with me the past 6 months.

#6 六 (roku): Grace in Small Things - San Francisco

I have been to San Francisco numerous of times since I was 5, when I first visited the US. After immigrating to the Bay Area with the family in 1996, day trips were frequent but we would often go to the same places - Chinatown to eat, Pier 39, Union Square, maybe a drive along the El Presidio. I would look forward to every trip to the city even though they were short and I would get so excited as I entered the city on the 101 and saw the skyscrapers.

Almost half a year ago, my sister accepted a job with Barclays Bank International in the city and after enduring a tedious 3 hours round trip commute to work 5 days a week, she finally moved to the city 3 weeks ago!! I am super proud and excited for her but I am equally excited for myself because that means I can visit the city more often. So...I planned my vacation to roam around the city like a local but also do all the touristy stuff that I never got to do from the short day trips.

Here's what I love from my vacation:

1. The embrace of diversity - cultures, food, languages, education, economy, class, taste, style, music etc.
2. San Franciscans - the people are kind, relaxed, smart, interesting, open-minded
3. Golden Gate Park
4. Wide range of cuisines in wide range of prices.
5. The St. Regis

Find me on Yelp...under SBFoodie for my reviews on the places I went...

Preserving life and beauty at the Taj Mahal

After some routine garden maintenance after work today, I had a flashback of a small incident at the Taj Mahal. Though it was only 7 or 8 am in the morning, there were already lots of people at the site. I was walking towards the tomb, along side the reflecting pond and tentatively listening to my guide about the history. Then all of a sudden, my guide put his arms in front of me, his hand almost touching my chest and motioned me to stop. I wasn't paying much attention and walked another step but somehow, the guide, without touching me, stopped me from putting another foot down and said "look", his eyes looking at what's beneath my foot. When I looked down, I was surprised to find a beautiful, colorful butterfly with intricute patterns 2 inches from me stepping on it. I immediate realized what bad omen it could have been if I have stepped on it at the Taj Mahal and thanked the guide profusely for saving me from such misfortune. We continued walking without making a big deal but later that day, I realized that it was something magical - the subtlety of beauty and life being preserved conscientiously, as it happened to me, in a very small way, at such an appropriate place - the Taj Mahal.

Me, happy at the Taj...