Sunday, May 06, 2007

Career blah

I officially started my new job yesterday (checks time)...on Friday, May 4th. But I already reported to the office on the 2nd and 3rd for trainings. I can't say much about it since I am only a few days old into the job. Will post more probably after my first week. All I can say is that...freedom is so good! We have YM!! And MSN! And iTunes! And a lot more! Wipee! Goodbye proxies. ^_~

Speaking of careers, I had a chance to think about what I really want to do with my life. And that is to teach Japanese. I know that there is absolutely no money in teaching. I know that people actually expected me to be some big-shot banker, economist, corporate planner or a CFA but I am only 75%-80% convinced that I can be happy being any of those. I mean, really happy. I know people will say that if I pursue the teaching path, my economics degree will go to waste and that the cum laude (kung laude?) thingie would mean nothing.

So what?

Right now, I do not care about those things anymore. I am in search of my 'best place' (Refer to the anime Shaman King) and I have a pretty good idea of what it is.

However, I don't have any immediate plans of quitting the rat race. Not yet. I still want to save some money. Maybe work for the next couple of years with the teaching job on the side. I will be teaching anyway starting next year so I have a weekend part-time job too. Before I go 100% into the teaching world and quit the corporate world altogether, I want to move into a decent place of my own, have 'respectable' savings...the loose change I keep doesn't count.

I know that I am heading for the right direction. I am always happy whenever I am involved with something related to Japan or Nihongo. Whether it is something for Japinoy.com or something for school, I never feel that I am being forced.

If I can't logon to Japinoy at least once a day, I'd feel deprived...forget GirlTalk and PinoyExchange. I'm going to channel all my energy and resources into the site I love most in the entire WWW: Japinoy.com ^_^

At school, I am always bibo, enthusiastic. I go over the moon every time sensei says something really nice about me...like that time he called me the 'go-go-go' type of teacher. ^_^

As early as now, I am already trying to come up with things to make my lessons more interesting: great looking visuals, funny anecdotes, Japan trivia, songs, whatever. I (mentally) prepare them for every lesson. Like this one: Ben Affleck to Wentworth Miller to dochira ga hansamu desu ka? Hek-hek-hek.

As early as now, I am already thinking of what I want my students to call me:
  • Ramos-sensei - No way. It ages me at least 10 years.
  • Catalina-sensei - Nope. Not cool enough.
  • Cat-sensei - Pittari!!
As early as now, I am already picturing what kind of teacher I will be...I want to be the cool one. ^_~ Someone like Alfred-sensei, maybe. Someone who's ready to go to karaoke after class. Someone who enjoys pop culture. Someone who is funny. Someone who makes impossible-to-answer exams...not!

As early as now, I am already thinking of how to improve name and face recall. I am bad at remembering names and faces and if I were to become a good teacher, I should at least be able to tell who's from my class and who is trying to stalk me!

So many plans for next year...andI still have eight months to come up with more. ^_^

Ok, this is the part that I say oyasumi and mata ne. I have to rest and catch up on sleep. I just hope my diarrhea has stopped already. I got it from drinking too much coffee...I so badly wanted to stay awake in class!

Oyasumi! Mata ne! (Whenever that is)

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Posted by Unknown at 01:02 0 comments

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Japan wave in Korea troubling for some

Japan wave in Korea troubling for some
Source: J!-Ent News

In a recent article on Chosun, the article is about how some experts feel troubled byKorean companies purchasing rights for Japanese manga and novels for stories to be remade into Korean dramas.

According to the article, “Experts say the Korean entertainment industry’s dependence on Japanese pop culture will increase because the Japanese novel and manga markets are popular around the world. According to the Korean Publishing Research Institute, as of 2006 the size of the Korean novel market was no more than W203 billion, while that of Japanese market stood at W724.3 billion. The gap for the manga markets was even greater, with the Japanese market (W4 trillion) some 40 times bigger than the Korean market (W124.2 billion).”

More?! Read on!

Fresh Japanese Wave Threatens Korean Pop Culture
Korea Can’t Keep Siphoning Off Japanese Culture

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Posted by Unknown at 09:19 2 comments