Gluten-Free In Japan

thoughtpeach:

For some reason, Floyd County remade the Archer pilot with a velociraptor (dialogue replaced with screeching) instead of Sterling Archer.

(via mattfractionblog)

Well, would you look at the time…

It’s almost been a year since I started on JET, since I started this tumblr.

True to form, I have proven very lazy in one of these two. Thankfully, it was not my job!

Consider this tumblr put on notice to improve itself in the coming weeks.

Spring is coming.

The Moon - 29/11/12 8:13pm

The moon from my apartment.

Photo is zoomed and lightened to see surrounding starfield in post processing.

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Actually quite amazed at the clarity of this image (albeit the post work does add noise to the image. I guarantee you the originals are much cleaner). Didn’t think I would be able to capture it so clearly, but I did a quick read up on some astronomy photography blogs and messed with my camera settings. Ended up maxing the shutter speed to 1/4000, and got a whole selection of images like the one above.

Couldn’t manage to get Jupiter as well, unfortunately. He was sitting up to the right of the moon but did not want to get photographed properly.

Just seriously overwhelmed by the sheer amazingness of simply seeing the moon so clearly with my own eyes. I haven’t done that in a very long time, and it is still absolutely astonishing.

Fires in the sky (no filters).

Mr. Smoky

Bad Moon Rising…

(Source: infinity-imagined, via catsinlobsterhats)

Mantis Warrior

Love like a sunset.

Moon Station Bravo

Moon Station Alpha

Language

There’s something I’ve been thinking about that was brought to a head recently.

I don’t think my language ability is good - because I’m comparing myself to people who have, or could, pass N2 or N1. Yet, there are lots of people here who are in the same position when compared to me.

When a friend introduced me to his girlfriend the other day, he did so by saying my Japanese was good. Objectively, this is true.

Subjectively, however, I am still holding to the belief that the next step for me to become ‘better’ is by either passing higher levels on the JLPT, or by more frequent and involved use. That is, more topical discussion with a more extensive vocabulary than what I currently possess.

And yet, I can still explain class activities to my students in Japanese; I can still have long conversations with fellow teachers about life in Australia versus life in Japan; and, most importantly, I can still explain the conditions of Coeliac Disease to the waitress taking my order at 2am and request a specific meal with modifications to make it GF.

My friend I mentioned earlier, on the other hand, can still hold up a decent conversation with his girlfriend in Japanese. Not to mention his fluent French and Irish (that should make it easy to guess who I meant.)

So, I guess the point I’m trying to make here, if any, is that we tend to understate our abilities to a certain degree. Just remember, even if all you can say in any language other than your native tongue, you’re doing 100% better than the mono linguists in the world!

Summer!

So, time for another one of these things, eh? Well, let’s start with a round-up of what’s been happening.

For starters, I’ve finished the first semester of this year and am currently in the super-long summer holiday period.

But don’t think that means I get to stay home from school - oh no, teachers (ALTs included) are still required to come to school everyday.