Mr. Gaijin

Ah...er...happy new year...

Nothing brings about my desire to update my LJ like a hard deadline. I've got a bunch of stuff due this week, but I guess that just reminds me of other things that I really don't have to be doing.

2007 was a big year for us - new jobs, new job prospects, finishing my masters, new rankings in karate, a couple publications, and a son. Honestly, it wasn't what I had expected, but I suppose this was probably the year of the biggest changes and surprises. 2008 promises to be equally busy, but for different reasons.

It's interesting to think of myself as a father. I'm not the oldest son in a 5 person family anymore - I'm the father, the breadwinner, the support for a 3 person family. When I talk about "my family" I'm no longer talking about the people I grew up with, not unless I directly reference my extended family.

I just got my schedules for next year settled. I'll be working 4 university jobs - 1 full time and 3 part time. Granted, my "full time" job is really only about 20-25 hours a week, but that's what a full time university job constitutes in Japan. I will be teaching 17 lessons, 90 minutes each, every week. It really just means that I need to be working now.

It always seems like I have more interesting things to say before I start writing.

So there was some concern over my previous post on my feelings toward my students. I don't dislike them as people per se when I consider everything. They're actually nice kids with some potential, most of them. They're just frustrating when you have to work against them as a single monolithic roiling mass of hormones and rebellion without understanding of basic reason. So no, I don't really have a problem with my students. I just don't want to teach them in junior high anymore.

Which is a good thing, as I just accepted a job at one of the local universities. But now I learn that the university has scheduled me for classes in such a way that is probably going to cut off my ability to work part time. This means a loss of between $15-18K a year, not a small amount, especially when considering education savings for my son. Granted, this is only for a year, and I could pick it up again next year, but anyone who knows about investing tells you that putting money away earlier is better than later.

The bad news is that I got rejected for one of the universities where I thought I had a really good shot, almost a sure thing. They were offering an even better schedule, and while they say that I'm next on the list if anything should open up, there's only a slim chance that things will open up. This casts doubt as to whether or not I will be seriously considered for any of the other positions that I'm still waiting to hear about, and that kind of sucks.

Still, it's good to have things in a more settled place for next year. I'm almost OK with the idea of working at this place, and will be good to go by April.

Oh, yeah, and Noah is fat, happy, and somewhere off the growth charts that all the Japanese doctors have set up - bigger, heavier, longer, healthier, so it seems. He's just started drooling and making motorboat sounds, which means that teeth are not far off.

Today, Noah officially became an American citizen.  Yuko and I went through the long (almost 3 hour) process of sitting in a consular office and waiting for the head of the office to come down and watch me sign the paperwork.  Bureaucracy is awesome.

While waiting, I managed to come down with a cold, and am now quarantined away from the baby.  This is good, as it gives me a chance to get the remainder of my applications done, and get them off.  The interesting thing is that there seems to be a better than average chance of me getting one of the jobs I really want, based on the fact that people keep telling me that there are very few teachers applying, very few of those speak and read Japanese well enough to do the job, and even fewer have any academic presentations or publications.  Having busted my butt for the past few years, I think I've got a shot.   Once I get these off, that takes away all the stress, and I just have to play the waiting game.

I always figured that getting pooped on would be a much worse experience.

Let me start by saying that Boston better think about giving Hideki Okajima a raise next year.  That guy is kicking ass like no reliever should.

Now, in actually relevant news, Noah stood up today.  Not like he put his legs down while I was holding him and kind of half stood before collapsing.  Nope, the boy was sitting on my lap with his legs all curled up underneath him, and then suddenly kicked (off my nuts) to stand up, hold himself straight legged, clinging to my shirt with his hands, then sit down again, and kick (off my nuts again) to stand up for about 30 seconds while the rest of the family just sat in amazement and watched him.  He then began to bash his chin into my chest and flail his arms (this is a new sign that he is hungry) which set him sitting down again.

He just had his one month checkup, measuring 55 centimeters and weighing in at 4.98 kilograms.  He's above average in all categories (the doctors say) but seems to be beating everyone else out in one category - he's just damn good looking.  Yuko can't take him anywhere without freaking stupid people pulling out cell phone cameras and taking pictures of him.  She's good natured about it, but I'm not so good at it. 

While in the hospital waiting room this morning to check up on his stomach bug, we were attacked by no less than 5 mothers who stopped paying attention to their own children to whip out their phones to get a shot of him.  Being the protective father, I got rather upset that all these disease ridden parents were coming over and breathing on my son, and very curtly told the last two women that they should leave us alone.  The pediatrician's waiting room got very quiet, and when the nurses called us in, they were all quite soft spoken.  The doctor wouldn't look at me.

I was reminded of something that a friend of mine once told me about being a foreigner in Japan.  He was responding to the idea that being foreign in Japan is kind of like being Black or Hispanic in America.  More or less, what he said went something like this: "It's not the same idea.  It's expected that Black people and Hispanics will speak some measure of English in America, and no one is surprised when they do.  The best way to describe your impact as a foreigner on the average Japanese person is to imagine a giant African in a loin cloth carrying a ceremonial shield or a Mexican with a handlebar mustache, sombrero and serape walking into your local McDonald's in the States."

In further news, I know that I will have a full time job starting next year, though where is not completely decided yet.  I have been all but given a contract at the low-level school where I'm teaching part time now.  It won't be an easy job, but it will be a good job, based on the fact that I know that there will be people who will push me to succeed, and the students will really get me to refine my teaching.  However, I'm trying to hold off on signing there because there are other places that offer more money, better students, and longer contracts. 

If I can get my research stats in order this weekend, I'll have my application for a tenured position ready to send next week.  Anyone with stats knowledge want to help?  I'm willing to pay for help.  If not, I'll slog through the SPSS manual and try to figure it all out.

Bah, applying for jobs has me freaking busy. I just got word that I'm 90% set for a full time gig next year, just in time to find out that I'm eligible for an even better job that's even closer to home. The problem is that this job doesn't start interviewing until December, and if the job I just interviewed for is trying to get people contracted fast, so I may not be able to get this better job without casting myself to the wind.

Other than that, Noah has just topped 11 pounds (this is up from his birth weight of 7 pounds 5 ounces) in just under 4 weeks. We found this out because he ended up getting a minor intestinal infection, likely due to his pacifier. (Mind you, he's not such a fan of the pacifier. He chewed it for one day, found out that no milk came out of it, and now spits it out the minute it gets in his mouth and makes a face like "Why would you put something like this in my mouth? It gives me no nourishment. It provides no nutrition. I am neither pacified nor comforted. You're an idiot, Dad." Yes, his grimace can speak these volumes.) He's got medicine and seems to be doing better, but we're going back on Saturday to check again. Still, the fact that he was able to gain a lot of weight even while sick is just a testament to how hungry this boy really gets. Eats like his father.

In other news, we've incorporated Iron & Wine into Noah's bedtime playlist, and it seems to work. We've got a rotation of classical music, acoustic lullabies, and deep voiced singers that seems to get him to close his eyes. The only danger is that this will condition him to sleep when he hears this music, but oh well.

Just a minor commentary on Sam Beam's most recent album, The Shepherd's Dog.  Anyone know why he's incorporating John Mayer into his influences?  Not complaining per se, but wondering why he's moving (moved) away from his William Faulkner-tragicoustic sound.  It's just poppier than I'm used to for him.

So we know that Noah is definitely my son. He eats a lot, then an hour later he's hungry, literally screaming, crying, Pavlovian drooling hungry. He starts making sucking noises and smacking his lips, and presses his face into whoever is carrying him. Tonight he ate at 7, 8, 9, and 10, and started fussing again from 11:15. We're going to wait another few minutes until midnight to feed him, but still, you gotta admit this is impressive. However, we know all the plumbing is working, because he's filling up his diapers just about as often as he eats.

The upshot is that he's now sleeping through the night (well, 5 to 6 hours at a stretch) and still gaining weight.

He's also started to roll over. Not purposefully yet, but he can get from his back to his stomach if you give him about 15 minutes and just let him lie there. He's still in the exploratory movement phase (learning that he actually can move) but it's still fast. He's picking up his head, and while he can't hold it up for long periods, he can look around and start to focus on different objects.

I've been exploiting my time with him as workout time. For some reason, it seems that the rocking motion when I hold him and do sit-ups puts him right to sleep. Mutually beneficial - he goes to sleep, I get a workout, we get to bond, and Yuko gets a break. I've been thinking of how to work pushups in there once he's asleep, but so far I'm not convinced he won't slip off my back. I have not tried this yet, but it promises to be interesting when I think of how to do it. Maybe one of those baby carriers...

More pictures pending, and more news as soon as it happens. I swear, one of these days I'll actually get some sleep.

Well, I managed to come down with a fever and stomach bug today, so I am officially banned from the hospital.  Yuko noticed that I was warm and took my temperature while  I was holding Noah, and found that I was up around 102.  Needless to say, she kicked me out quick and we have Noah under extreme watchful care.  I think he'll be okay, as I religiously doused myself in the alcohol disinfectant that sits outside each of the rooms.  Got everyone else doing it too, so he should be pretty safe.

The only worry we have for him at the moment is that his fingernails are pretty long and he could scratch himself.  We've got him wearing these hand covers that keep him from scratching, but he doesn't like them too much.  He grimaces when we put them on, but that's a good sign by the Apgar test if he can do that in the first few days.

If I feel better tomorrow, I can send out more pictures to people.  If not, there probably won't be too many for a few days.

Oh, and if anyone is Skyping these days (yeah, yeah, I never jumped on the trend while it was cool) drop us a line at q-yu-and-no, and you can see him.  He'll be home on Thursday, so we should be able to do it from then.

Well, random references aside, at 9:15:50 am Japanese Standard Time, my son was born in Munakata, Fukuoka, Japan.  He weighs approximately 7.3 pounds (3332 grams), and is currently resting with his mother at the hospital.  I'm on my way back to the hospital once I get some lunch and send some files.  Anyone who wants pictures, lemme know and they're yours.

Yuko and I completed our move this weekend and are officially settled in the country.  The funny thing is that the room we live in in her house now is actually larger than the apartment we used to live in in the city.  Yuko's parents have this nice, old traditional Japanese house that would actually be on the large side even by American standards.  

The other really nice thing is that we're about 2000 feet about sea level here, which means the air cools down considerably (about 5 degrees Celsius - not sure about in Fahrenheit).  We don't need air conditioning here, which we really do if you live in the lower country, especially in the city.  I was actually chilly last night!  That never happens in the humid Japanese summers.  Kind of amazing.

We've got our new Prius and everything set, and it is so much damn fun to drive - We drove all day yesterday on a quarter of a tank and still have about a tenth of a tank left - more than enough to get to the cheap gas place near the highway.

The plan for today is getting the TV set up in our room, which means drilling and running cables across the roof.  I got to play ninja and run around on the old tiled roof while threading the cable line through rings hanging off the higher eaves.  Damn, but those tiles are slippery, which causes me to conclude that any movie sequence where someone was running on a tiled roof is absolute boolsheet.  Curse you again, film industry.

...And I passed!  Got it on the second try - the evaluator who rode with me this time turned out to be really lenient and passed me without too much hassle.  This time he didn't like the way I braked into turns, but otherwise, said that my performance was fine and that I had fixed my mistakes from yesterday.  I did this by overemphasizing every time I looked before I turned or merged.  I am now officially a licensed driver in Japan, and can take my new Prius out and about, as soon as I finish moving tomorrow.

In other news, next year's full time job announcements are coming up.  This means scrambling to write resumes for each job - they all have their own submission guidelines, and this means redoing the resume each time.  They all have hoops to jump through, and none of them seem to crossover.  This is not only a pain for me, but for Yuko, as she has to check my Japanese on every single resume.  The current count is 5, but it's going up.
However, the other good news is that my good friend Max just got a full time job in Oita, the next prefect over.  This is twice over a good thing, as it means that there is less competition from competent people in Fukuoka.  While I am happy for him and looking forward to visiting him and hitting the really nice hot springs, I am also happy for myself as that gives me a better chance to get the jobs I'm applying for.  Man, I hate the fact that I have to think about my good friend this way, but at the same time, the way the system is set up over here, it's just plain cutthroat.  It's just the way things are, and it sucks.  But, I should be able to get at least one job over here at this point, and that's awesome news.

And I'm off to pretend I'm a minister.

So I failed my driving test today.

This is, apparently, normal for foreigners living in Japan.  Considering that none, absolutely none, of the people I took the test with today passed, I really don't feel too bad.  No one passes on their first try, and almost no one passes on the second.

My reason for failing: I didn't spend exactly one second at a time checking each mirror when changing lanes.  I got halfway through the test, and apparently didn't spend long enough checking for my tester.  I changed lanes per his instruction, and he said "Nope, you failed.  Go back to the start."  He then told me "Everything else you did was fine.  One turn was a little wide, but OK.  Next time check your mirrors for longer than half a second.  One full second each, 1, 2, 3, check each of them.  Come back tomorrow."

So tomorrow I spend another 4 hours of my day sitting and waiting to take the test again, most likely to fail for some other small reason. 

I bought a car!

A Prius no less.  A 2004 Prius with 23,000 miles on it, a 1 year warrantee, and 2 years car inspection and taxes paid in full.  Yuko and I had to shell out about $14,000 all together, but that's the cheapest Prius that we've seen, especially with all these fixin's.  We're picking it up sometime next week once we finalize our moving and give the final payment.  The one trick to the car is that it was in an accident. (hit from the front and behind, and so the front and rear bumpers and panels have been replaced)  However, this means that the guys fixing it threw in a backing camera for free.

Yuko and I will be moving out of this shoebox and into her parents place in about 3 weeks.  Moving in with one's parents seems like a weird thing, but it also makes a lot of sense in that her mother and father will help take care of the baby, and that means that I can work like a Japanese beaver to earn the bread.

Also, I need life insurance.  A morbid thought, but should I careen my new car off a narrow Japanese road, I do want my wife and son to be covered.  The question is term or package - anyone got any feeling on this?  I don't want to pay a lot, but I also don't want to get turned down in 20 years when I get diagnosed with cancer or a bad ticker like seems to take members of family.

School is winding down for the summer, and this has been the best teaching term of my life - I really enjoyed the teaching process this term, mostly because I have great students and I can do what I want for the first time ever.  This has made all the difference for me, and working at University level is just plain awesome.

I will now end like my Japanese students all end skits and roleplays.

That's all.  Finished.

My boy's got long legs!  We got him measured this morning - his torso is about 2 inches in diameter, his head is the same, and thighs are almost 2 inches long, which is long for his age and size.  So, like all fathers, I will now take this opportunity to speculate that my son will either be a dancer, championship sprinter, or able to kick me in the head when he's five.  I vote for all of the above.

I have just "graduated" from Temple University Japan, though I don't have a degree yet.  Or at least no physical copy.  This is frustrating, but I can now put on my resume that I have a Masters.

The plan for tonight is to go drinking with my father in law.  While I love the man, he drinks like a fish and expects the same of me.  I will be moving into his house this fall, and I fear this to some extent.  However, drinking with him tonight will give me a chance to tell him that I really don't want his grandson watching Japanese TV.  I know that this will make me the bad guy for a while, but I'd rather he watches Sesame Street or someone reads a book to him.  Either way, I get the feeling this is not going to be a popular decision.  However, I was able to convince him to let me marry his daughter while he was drunk, so I figure this play should work too.

Since I'm cheap, y'all don't get photos.  Sorry.

We are off to Tokyo!  Headed to the land of more neon than Vegas to see kabuki, get beat up, go drinking, graduate, and go drinking again, in that order.  When next you hear from me, I will be a grajimacated man with a Masters.  Or really, I will have celebrated my graduation.  I won't be getting my actual diploma until August, which begs the question "Why not do graduation in August when you can present the degrees?"  However, this seems to be just the way we do things here at Temple.

Full time university positions are opening up as well.  With any luck, I'll be signing contracts somewhere this fall.  My resume seems to be going in all different directions with all sorts of different strange requirements (like a 2-minute voice memo about my teaching, not a sound clip of me actually teaching anything).  With any luck, this will all pay off, and I'll start making real money.

Newest development with the baby is that Yuko can pinpoint the location and position when she rubs her tummy.  He moves a lot, which is really cool to feel.  Being a father is going to be great.

As you can tell from the title, we just found out that we are having a baby boy.  I would have been happy either way, but it's really cool to know that I'm going to be having a baby boy.  It's crazy, exhilarating, and so real it hurts.

In response to the question I posted a while back regarding names, we have more or less settled on Noah, as it's a name that works in Japanese and English.  For added oomph, we also can use the character "望" which means "hope," evoking my late aunt named the same.  For any kanjikanji readers out there, we would write the name as "望亜," which means "hope of Asia."  It's a good  name all around, and no one ruin it for us with "when I was six the serial killer who lived next door was named Noah" stories or somesuch.  Leave your poop out of my oatmeal for the moment, as I'm feeling good.

In other news, I officially passed my exams, and I have finished my Masters program.  I am a graduate of Temple University.  Now all that's left to do is get published, but I have at least one, and possibly as many as four, publications coming out in the next year or so.  This I will proudly announce as well, when they happen.

In other less important news, we saw Spiderman 3 about a week and a half ago, before all you outside of Asia, just because Sony decided to be cool about something.  Anyone else getting tired of  the "Spiderman = USA, Go us!" message that seems to pop up in every film?  I sure am.  I know I'm an expat and don't get the idea of patriotism, but the stars and bars just seemed unnecessary at the end when Spidey is racing to the big fight.  Don't get me started on the fact that they crammed 3 movies into one, badly.  I suppose I got my excessively overpriced ticket's worth.

In other media, I am balls out screaming for the resolution to Heroes after the last episode.  My geek is showing, apologies.  I do have to say that the cancelling of Black Donnellys and Studio 60 doesn't come as a surprise, but its at least unwelcome news.  Ah well.  I continue to download, as NBC and other channels don't allow people outside of the US and Canada to view their programs via internet.  Punks.

I do have a request for anyone with access to media like this: I'm looking for Sesame Street.  Anyone with videos of old episodes, old video tapes, or any other recordings, I am willing to pay to have them shipped to Japan, or uploaded to the internet and sent this way.  I know it's early to be thinking about this, but this is the media I want my child exposed to.  Not Japanese TV programming, which really only seems to prepare kids for not having epileptic seizures when they watch adult TV.  I know there's gotta be some reasonable Japanese educational programs out there, but none, and I mean none, are research oriented in the way Sesame Street is, and that frightens me.  I'm trying to build a sizable library so that when the boy is old enough he'll have a good selection of videos and DVDs to watch in lieu of the crap on Japanese TV.  Man, do I hate Japanese media, with the exception of notably few anime and movies that actually succeed in telling a coherent storyline without relying on toy power.

Anyway, I've gotta get up early tomorrow and deal with the products of consumer society run amok.

There's a real post coming soon, I swear.  For the moment, we'll content ourselves with quickly do-able.

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!!!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY...
"Swing is a Word," They Might Be Giants

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Upside down," Jack Johnson

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"The Ways of a Woman In Love," Johnny Cash

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Welcome to the Fish Market," Chali 2na ft. Laidlaw & DJ Dez

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"All Alone," Gorillaz

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Ziggy Stardust," David Bowie

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Can't Run But," Paul Simon

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
"Goodnight, Goodnight," Hot Hot Heat

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Bust a Move," Young MC

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Buying Time," Great Big Sea

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"The Church is Burning," Paul Simon

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Digging My Potato," Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Dance Dance," Fallout Boy

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Hold Your Tongue," Jump Little Children

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Oh Come, Angel Band," Johnny Cash

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Cruel Mistress," Flogging Molly

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"I am Somebody," Jurassic 5

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Belle," Jack Johnson

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"Manipulated Living," Michael Andrews (Donnie Darko Soundtrack)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Fool to Cry," Rolling Stones

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIEND?
"Too High," Jump, Little Children

WHAT SONG WILL BE THE SUBJECT WHEN YOU REPOST?
"Losing My Religion," REM

Well, it's official: my wife has a potbelly.  It's not a big one yet, but it is noticeable.  It's only in the past few days that she's really been starting to show.  Still, it's one of these steps toward that baby popping out, and it's all sorts of exciting.

The past weekend grumpyoldman, a friend from my senior year in college showed up to take in the city.  He's down in Miyazaki, way out in the country, and doesn't get to have some of the luxuries of the city like tacos, imported beer, and Starbucks.  Yes, he's actually found somewhere without a Starbucks.  All in all, I think a good time was had by all.  I certainly enjoyed catching up and reminiscing not so fondly about life in northeastern Ohio.  I finally realized that Oberlin was one of those things kind of like going to the dentist; I'm glad I did it and got it out of the way, but don't really ever look upon it fondly.  I think grumpyoldman put it best on Friday when he said "Oberlin had some great professors, but most of the kids there were douchebags."

My new university classes started today, and I have to say that teaching in higher education is everything I thought it would be and more.  My students are awesome.  It's a women's university, so they're all nice, well educated girls, and since they're all English majors, they want to be there.  They want to talk to each other in English.  Some of them are really funny too.  I've got one girl who literally sounds like she's talking in falsetto all the time, another is this kind of diva who calls her class mates "honey," as in, "Oh, honey, I love your earrings, where did you get them?  Hey honey, come talk to me."  (Upon reading this, it's funnier when you get a student with a strong Japanese accent rattling off like this.)

The nice thing is that this marks the first time in a really long time that I've come home from work and felt good, felt like what I did today had meaning to me.  It was a good feeling.  I haven't felt that way in almost a year, essentially since I realized that my old students expected me to learn for them, and that I was holding no chips when it came to ways to stop them from seriously misbehaving.  Moving out of secondary education is going to be a big step in the right direction for me.

The future is bright folks. 

The interview meme is here. The rules are as follows:

1. Leave me a comment.
2. I respond by asking you five questions. You will answer them, because you like talking about yourself.
3. You then update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

My questions come from

pooka_madness

 

 1. Doing any RPGing these days? If not, do you miss it?

Nope, haven't in a few years.  Not since I got here, anyway.  There's just no time for it.

As for missing it, I suppose I do, but I also don't in a way.  It's like it's so far from the world I live in these days that I can't really imagine doing it.  I wouldn't pass the opportunity to do it if I got the chance, but I also wouldn't actively seek out the experience.  It's just hard to find more than an hour or two at a time to do anything.

2. What's it actually like being an American geek in Japan?
Being an American geek in Japan is like being an American geek in America, but everyone speaks Japanese.  This is a bit of an oversimplification, but it's fairly accurate.  I get foreigner rage from time to time, but I used to get angry at everyone living in America just the same.  I have all the conveniences of living in the states, generally the same drawbacks, and my life is here.  Sure there's prejudice, racism, and discrimination, like the fact that it will be very hard for me to have a long-term job here without a Ph.D, and even then not guaranteed, but that's just the way the cards fall.  There will be a book on what it's like being an American geek in Japan, but for it's still a ways off.

3. Let's imagine that teleportation technology were perfected tomorrow and become commonplace and dirt cheap. Where would you and Yuko live?

Hmm...I guess if teleportation were available and easy, I might as well live where I live now.  In the case you describe where I can instantaneously teleport anywhere in the world, it doesn't really matter where you live.

The temptation, though, is to find somewhere with ridiculously low taxes, since that becomes really the only thing that matters when choosing a place to live when you can teleport anywhere.  I have no idea where that would be.

4. Are you ready to be a father?

No, but I don't believe anyone actually is ready.  Will I be ready?  I hope so, but I'll make a metric ton of mistakes and I'm sure my kid will turn out fairly messed up.  However, and I'm paraphrasing pretty heavily, according to the inimitable Dr. Cox, messing up your kids is part of what being a parent is about.  I tell myself that I'll be a good father, but I think best case scenario is that I'm a good enough father.

5. What's the single most sublime roleplaying experience you've ever had?

foreign_devilry's birthday party 2003 is a pretty good example.  He had planned out a whole over-the-top story based on the cheesy Will Smith Wild Wild West, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and a bunch of American folktales like John Henry and the Headless Horseman.  We all got together to be the League of Extraordinary Americans.  It was whacked-out campy fun.  On top of this, the birthday cake was sticky dessert rice, which was ridiculously good.
foreign_devilry

So here's the deal.  We all must have known this would happen eventually, but hey, it's happening now.

Yuko's pregnant.

Trust me, I was pretty shocked when I found out, but it's the real thing.  We've actually known for a few months now, but we've been waiting until week 12 passed to say anything.  We're at week 14, and so far there are arms, legs, and a big head, but no sign of a gender.  We probably won't know that for another few months.  Yes indeed, I am going to be a father.  Me.  The father of a baby.  My father will be a grandfather.  This is truly frightening.

Otherwise, work things seem to be sorting themselves out.  My masters will (likely) be finished in May.  I only add the hesitancy because I still have some papers and presentations to finish, but those should generally work themselves out.  There's the final test, but I think I'll be able to pass that without too much difficulty.  My professor says that you only have to worry if you have any Cs on your report card, and so far I'm ranking in with a straight 4.0, so there's not too much I have to worry about.

I just got all my classes set at the two Universities where next year I'll be adjuncting.  I'm a little behind on a few syllabus things and I've gotta turn in some paperwork to make sure that I get paid, but otherwise, I'll be all set by the time classes start up in two weeks.  Two weeks.  Again, kinda daunting, the thought of being a college teacher.

With a pregnant wife.

Yikes.

If anyone has any recommendations on names that will work in both Japanese and English, please send them this way.  We're having some trouble.

Last up, this weekend I'm also hosting a relatively well known Karate teacher from Hawaii.  He's here to visit my teacher, and this is my first real translation job.  (OK, so I'm working for nice meals, free training, prestige, and a quick academic publication.  It's a job dammit.)  Hopefully, he'll be able to tell me about training in Hawaii, as the best Ph.D. program I can get into is there, and I don't want to leave behind my karate when I go for my Ph.D. in a few years.

And cue the music for the final credits.