I will use my free-time and study the Tokyo music scene. This will include going to one or two shows a week and purchasing CDs. I will also research promoters, venues, record labels, studios, managers, and so on. By the end of the summer I want to be gigging regularily, and have a full-length CD recorded as well as some merchandise, like T-Shirts, stickers, and buttons.
The music scene is nearly impossible -- just 80 people going to see 4 bands play is considered a huge success. And to get a show, one has to meet the shop owner for a long-winded Japanese style business meeting where nothing gets resolved. On the good side, the music scene in Japan is widely known as a pay-to-play system, which means not only is there hardly any money to be made, but usually, by the end of the day, a band stays in the red -- but at least they played in a bar half-the-size of a Canadian living room.
I've decided that I must learn how to organize myself. I make more than enough money to live on. Maybe by the end of summer I will be bumped up to about 50k Canadian a year. So I will learn about the Tokyo Music Scene solely for the knowlege to be gained in terms of self-organisation and familiarity with a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I will also enroll in Japanese classes. Found a school close to work. I will be speaking with muzos, managers, et al. So a little more vocab under my belt, and a few extra structures, will go a long way.
New weekend. Starts in Shinjuku after work on a Saturday at five-thirty pm. Work begins on a Wednesday at six pm. That's a lot of time!
Ended up firing my band after the show. Gotta work on making contacts with bar owners instead of playing with people who live far away from me. Never fired a band before.
Hit the gym today. Trying to go three or four times a week. 4kms on the treadmill. Weights. Stair-climber. Sauna. Done. In and out. I feel high after.
Done the first week of classes. Less stressful than I thought it would have been. Though my attention to paperwork is my main concern. Yes. To be in charge of my own classes is a satisfaction I have never dealt with. Curriculum et al. At NOVA, all teachers taught everybody. And with Interac, I was periodically shoved into a room to make English FUN! for students who mostly thought otherwise. Not that I was actually qualified to teach junior high school. I was just brought in as an assistant. Nothing more, nothing less. With a new job comes new challenges though. I am slightly concerned how I will fill up my classes without being too repetitive. Though probably the students want some sort of structure. I do have one day that is sort of a split shift, but luckily I am in the middle of Tokyo and can easily find someway to occupy myself. I recently found a sushi bar with a happy hour.
I am becoming a Tokyo Hamburger Otaku. So far, my brother, sister-in-law and I have been to three hamburger joints. One in Shinagawa, and two in Harajuku. The size of the hamburgers is intense. This ain't no Mega~Mac. I'm talking avocado, bacon, thousand-island-dressing, fried-egg, salsa, gorgonzola cheeze mutha-fuckas! Got some pics. Should post-em. You gotta eat these fuckers from a bag, they so huge! The shop tonight played classic folk and western music. So freakin' good.
Made a good deal of cherry blossom season (花見). Took Sachi to Ueno park and went on a Swan Boat ride, followed by a walk 'neath the cherry trees. Later we went for a night cherry blossom (夜桜) walk on the way to a sushi shop. Also pitched a couple of tarps at yoyogi park and watched the madness ensue.
The other day I woke up at Sachi's place. She'd already gone to work but had eggs, rice, coffee, and juice -- all ready made -- before she had left. Talk about quality-hangover-cure.
I am at the beginning of a three-day weekend, though that is a bit of a stretch -- I will be teaching private lessons. But I will have more than enough time to meet up with the band and rehearse for the show next week, see the girl for great times, and chill-out for the time being.
w00t
Got a new job. Never going back to Junior High School. Once was enough. Though the timing was nice with the collapse of NOVA soon after I started at JHS.
New job looks cool. Central Tokyo. Shinjuku and another location in the business district -- but there is a clean alleyway with seats and a cheap convenience store nearby. Will be working with a mismatch group of foreigners again. Should be much better than being the lone foreigner in a large room with an impenetrable formal language in the air. Also have more free-time, and better pay, with a three day weekend! Man. I am stoked. Gonna teach journalism, business, and communicative skills.
Other than that, been hitting the gym -- wanna look sweet for summer -- and cuttin back a bit on my private students. 10 a week proved too much.