Act your age!

Today was a great day for teaching. If it wasn't for these periodic headaches I get every night due to my sinuses acting up, and the fact that I lost to the same stupid boss AGAIN in Final Fantasy 4 on my way home from work, I'd be in an especially good mood. Oh, and speaking of FF4 and general nerdery, I was playing it on my break today when one of the staff peaked over to see what I was doing. He whipped out his cell phone to show me "FF4: The After," a Japanese cell-only sequel! It didn't mean too much to me as I'm no superfan (it's my first time playing the game) but I'm sure Rich or John will shit their pants upon reading this. There are rumors of an eventual DS port.

But I digress. During one of my breaks I had an interesting conversation with a fellow teacher about career choices, gaming being such an ordinary pass-time in Asia (and the sport of the future) and most importantly the dilemma of the American youth. It's a hard time for us younger people to be taken seriously, let alone accomplish much of anything, when the propagated attitude is to be as apathetic, rebellious and destructive as possible. I know firsthand way too many people back in NY who prided themselves on their complete ignorance and ability to ruin just about anything good. I maybe agreed with this mindset when I was 14, but I definitely feel very differently about it now. There is something to be said for being a part of society, even if it means "just another brick in the wall." Ruining things for other people is not only selfish but pointless, if you take a moment to think of it from the perspective of the other guy. And so, with my current job I'm doing something I enjoy, getting paid for it and able to help some people achieve their goals. It beats utter nihilism or "anarchy," both of which are fun to entertain until you realize how completely useless they are in any real life situations.

But, I can still bang my head, mosh or play heavy music. I can still be angry about a lot of things. I can still express myself in all the same ways, I merely have to determine the proper time or place. Namely H20 and Blacklisted this Sunday @ Shinjuku ACB. YES!

Back to school. I have a wonderful pair of higher-level students I see every Wednesday night. One is a dog-loving, middle-aged woman who cackles with laughter a lot and is always asking questions, which I like. The other is a young guy who enjoys skateboarding and punk rock when he isn't wrapped up in his suit and tie. The conversation got so comical when I gave an exaggerated example of sarcastic tone of voice that the woman said that I should have my own T.V. show. This was of course very flattering, but strangely enough not the first time I have heard this from someone. I guess I can make some pretty strange faces and know how to control my vocal dynamics enough to entertain people.... And I had stuck my head out the window in an imitation of the opera-technique where people sing out of windows, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Age also came up, and I mentioned how I am 23. The woman was surprised, saying that she thought I was older.

"Well I've always been mistaken for being older, especially if I grow my hair out at all."

"It's not your appearance, it's the way you act. You talk with such confidence."

This again was really flattering, but it is what I have been going for all along: To at least appear professional and like I know what I'm doing. How about that, it worked!

And so ends another day where I think I have the perfect job for me. I've definitely never been this happy working at any other job in the past: McDonalds, Wendy's, Subway, Price Chopper, Stewarts, Mobile or Paesan's Pizza. The runner up would be the last one though: I got paid to drive around and listen to metal all the time. Still, it's nowhere near this.

And speaking of driving, that reminds me: In my next post, maybe I'll talk about how I got into a car accident and almost died a day before my roadtrip to Virginia Beach, a week before I moved to Japan! Yea!