Pandemic

I have been wary of watching the news about the coronavirus. Lately, there is one confirmed case in our area. We still do our regular routine, because of only one reported case. However, the situation in big cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya are getting worse. More people will be infected by the virus and may likely reach the countryside because of the pandemic in these cities. I cannot imagine how I can survive if a lockdown and curfew are imposed in our areas. You can neither go to work in the office or school nor go to the gym. I heard from a tutor in the Philippines that it’s very frustrating to live under such conditions. All I can do is to take precautions not to get the virus anytime and anywhere.

Updating My Website

I created my own website yesterday. It took three days for me to create it from scratch. A YouTube video that explained how to make a website helped me a lot. The length of the video was one and a half-hour long but I needed more time because I wanted to change some parts of my website on my own. I am going to update the website by posting blogs and pictures. The website can be used as my portfolio when I look for a job. I hope more people check my website to motivate me to make my website better.

My Website

I was making my original website yesterday. I was working on it for more than 7 hours to make its details fine. I got stuck at some part and I looked for the information on the Internet. However, there weren’t any direct clues to solve my problem. What I did was to check the coding of the website and change some part manually. It took more than one hour to change only small part where you can’t see if you browse my website on PC. The part will be pop up only being seen by smartphone. Finally, I finished making it at 11:30 p.m. I learned how hard it is to continue to work as a programmer.

Lunch with Colleagues

I ate lunch with my colleagues yesterday at a sushi restaurant and a café. Since I am going to leave the school by the end of this month, three of my colleagues kindly invited me to a farewell lunch. We were handling 5th graders together during this school year so we have shared many experiences such as daily classes and school events. They will still be working at the school next school year. We talked about their opinions on their new tasks. A few days ago, our principal announced the new assignments for the teachers in the school. Although we were in charge of 5th graders this year, one will be in second grade, another one will be in fourth grade and the other one will be in fifth grade next year. I’m looking forward to seeing them next time and hearing their stories about their students.

Free Day

It was my first day after quitting the teaching job. I really enjoyed the complete free time by creating my original website and doing some chores such as visiting the bank and convenience store. I recall that being able to use my time as I want is one of the most important things to lessen my stress. I applied for two jobs and I am still waiting for replies from them. I was planning to move to Tokyo or Osaka in April but the coronavirus outbreak ruined it. I’m looking for an IT engineering job. If I passed one of them, I’ll focus on the new job and catch up with my new colleagues.

Restart

Yesterday was the last day for me to go to the school. I cleaned up my desks and classroom allocated. When I said goodbye to my colleagues at the end, they warmly applauded. I appreciate that they kindly supported me in case I got in trouble at work. It was a precious experience that I got occasions to see elementary school from inside. By the way, I need to step forward to the next level. I’m still waiting for a reply from a company which I had interviewed with this Monday. The coronavirus outbreak in Tokyo ruined my plan of going to Tokyo, so I will look for a job in this city where there is only one reported case of the virus.

Last Day

Yesterday was the last day for me to meet the students at school. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, schools around Japan have been shut down since March 3rd. But yesterday, the students came to our school to see the teachers who would leave the school at the end of March. 13 teachers including me will be leaving the school. Fortunately, no students have got the virus and the students I saw looked healthy. Today is the last day for me to go to the school. I will clean up my desk and classroom. I hope no accidents will happen at school to end my school life without any regrets.

Job Interview

I had an online job interview yesterday. The IT company’s headquarter is in Tokyo and they have one of their branches in the neighboring city of mine. If I pass the interview, I will be working at the branch in Takamatsu City. I will be informed of the result via a recruiting agency. I don’t have any backup plans at all, so if I fail the interview, I need to look for jobs again. Previously, I passed interviews for a company in Tokyo but I declined the offer due to the coronavirus outbreak in the capital city. I hope I passed this interview and get a new job starting from April.

Online Business

I earned four dollars in total from an advertisement of my website in the last three months. Every time a viewer clicks the ad on my website, I can get roughly 20 cents. The more people browse my page, the more money will probably come into my bank account. At least 80 dollars are needed to get paid from Google, so I still can’t get even the four dollars. There are people who earn bunch of money through Google AdSense. Making money online is called “modern American dream. “ I will update my website to attract viewers and to get allowance.

Fun and Worries

I learned that I need to get a well-paying job first to enjoy my life from the bottom of my heart. Yesterday, I went to an Italian restaurant with my friend. Although, I enjoyed the conversations with her, I couldn’t fully enjoy the time because of my worries for my future. As long as I don’t get a high paying job, I cannot move on to the next stage of my life such as marriage. Dining out with her reminded me that I need to focus on myself first. I’m not saying that she is my future partner. I need to study more about programming, at least one year, to become a freelance IT engineer. I hope I will get my ideal life by having a programming career.

Olympic Flame

The Olympic flame for Tokyo 2020 was handed over on Thursday in Greece. Flame relay marathons are supposed to be held all over Japan from March 26th to July 24th. The last place for the event will be in Tokyo and the flame will be used at the opening ceremony. Personally, I’m not in the mood to watch international sporting events. I guess many Japanese people also feel in the same way. The relay will start in Fukushima Prefecture on March 26th and it will be held without cancellation. In case the Olympics are held as planned from July 24th to August 9th, I am doubtful if the players will come to Tokyo risking infection. Tokyo is the fourth largest hotspot of the virus following Hokkaido, Aichi, and Osaka. I’ll observe what kind of decisions the Olympic committee will make.

Quick Check-Up

The first drive-thru clinic to test for COVID-19 was launched this month in Niigata Prefecture. The population of the prefecture is 2.2 million and 30% of them are 65 years old and above. Having the virus can cause a serious consequence for elderly people, so being able to take a quick check-up can save the lives of elderlies and can prevent spreading the virus in hospital. In Kagawa Prefecture where I live, we cannot take the check-up without symptoms of days-long fever and sore throat. But I think people want to know if they are negative for the virus or not. I hope drive-thru clinics will open in this prefecture as well soon.

Early Leaving

I usually leave school at 4:30 p.m., but yesterday I did an early out at 2:30 p.m. due to my extra work in the previous days. The two hours are big difference for me because I can do anything without worrying about time after work. I went to the gym alone and then to the place for wall climbing with my colleagues. There are four days left for me to go to the school. Next Wednesday is the last day to work at the school. After that, I'm planning to move to Osaka to look for a new job. I hope there won't be any troubles at school during the last four days.

First Case

Our city has reported our first case of corona virus yesterday. A man in his 50's turned out to be positive of the virus yesterday. Since this is the first confirmed case in our prefecture, we have been afraid of our future daily lives. For example, the city might be locked down like in Manila. Also, I'm worried if grocery stores and gyms will be ordered closed. I need to pay attention to the infection more than before by learning more about this virus. I wash my hands and gargle more frequently, also I'll avoid going to crowded places. I hope the outbreak will be over soon and we will get to live normally again. But with what happened lately, this should be a good lesson for everyone about how pollution, air, water and land, truly affects the environment, too. 

Jollibee

One in my bucket list is to eat lunch at Jollibee in the Philippines. I watched a documentary of a Japanese professional dancer. He is Filiipino-Japanese. For lunch, he first visited Jollibee and had a plateful food. I don't think there are Jollibee branches in Japan, so it was my first time to know the existence of the restaurant. Other things in my bucket list is to get on a crowded train in Manila and to talk with gay people. It’s impossible to go abroad because of the virus, but I will go there in the future to experience these things.

Boss Baby

Yesterday, I watched a 3D cartoon, Boss Baby on Netflix. Each episode is about 20 minutes long. The main character Boss Baby is literally a baby, but he work as a boss in the group consisted by other babies. Those babies behave like a baby in front of their parents but they speak, talk, and work on missions on the back of their parents. The story and lines are very fun and the 3D images are so beautiful that I almost forget that I am watching a cartoon. There are many cartoons on Netflix, so I want to watch them during my free time.

Reading Habit

I bought Kindle on Amazon a few days ago and I started reading books on it yesterday. I also subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, a service that lets you read about 100,000 books at 1,000 yen per month. There aren’t a lot of new books in the service, but they have many books I want to read. Yesterday, I read a book titled “Who am I?” and it was a good way to practice reading in English. Staying at home is recommended by the government, but I can make my time meaningful by using this device. I want to read books more from many genres to gain new knowledge.

Japan

In Japan, you can travel around this country by using bullet trains. They connect to most of the primary cities. And, if you want to go to the country side, you can take our local trains. It can be said that Japan is a tourist friendly country. There are still many prefectures that I’ve not explored yet in Japan. I want to know and learn more about its history. Its existence is much longer than the US. I also want to know why foreign people are curious about its old customs, traditions and our latest trends. I want to take videos of everything about our country then post it on YouTube to show everyone our culture, tradition, beliefs and characters to be understood before they visit our country.

Alcohol

Since I moved into this apartment, I haven’t drunken any alcohol inside this room. A few times in a year, I drink alcohol with my friends, but I don’t drink it by myself. That is simply because I don’t like the taste of alcohol. I’m just a social drinker. I prefer to drink 100% fruit juices. Also, drinking alcohol can affect my muscle growth because alcohol can increase the amount of cortisol, a hormone which can break up muscles. People around my age like to drink beer or sake after work, but I don’t. I hope to continue this healthy lifestyle forever.

Book Reader

I ordered Kindle on Amazon a few days ago and it was delivered to me yesterday. There are three types of Kindle and I bought the medium one, Paperwhite. After setting up my Amazon contact on the device, I started to read sample books. The screen size is a bit smaller than I thought, but it was very beautiful and friendly to the eyes. I am planning to subscribe to Amazon Unlimited, a service which allows us to read books at 10 dollars per month, where you can choose from more than 100,000 books. I want to read many books from many genres to be able to gain new knowledge about different subject matters.

Kindle

I ordered Kindle, a device which was designed only for exclusively reading Amazon books. The gray scale screen is convenient for our eyes and it doesn’t emit a blue light, so you can use the device at night without a light from a lampshade and does not cause a glare at reader's eyes. Also, if you applied for a plan at 10 dollars monthly, you can read more than 100 thousand books only by choosing books on the internet. There are limited English books in our bookstores. This gadget would enable me to search any book that I would like to read. I could expand my English lessons more through this digital reader. Because of the corona virus, the government urges us to remain at home. Using this device will make use of my extra free time at home, instead of being idle. This will really keep me busy and continue making my thoughts active even during this virus alarming period.

Job Adviser

I talked with a job adviser who belonged to an online school yesterday through the Internet. I studied programming in the programming school, Tech Academy, and I asked if they can recommend some programming jobs to me. I was looking for a job in Kansai or Shikoku areas, but he said that 90% of the job openings are in Tokyo. He kindly told me about other job matching websites. I registered my account and applied for some companies in the websites. I hope to get a job where I can use my programming skills. If possible, I want to get a job within this week and to start preparing for relocation next week.

Aladdin

I watched the movie Aladdin in the morning yesterday via DVD. There are several versions of the film, but I watched the latest live-action version. Needless to say, the images are so beautiful, but more than that, I like the songs in the movie, especially “Speechless.” It is played 150 million times on YouTube. The number is convincible because of the melody and her voice. Through watching the Disney film, I learned that you need to take some risk to get an achievement and you don’t have to be selfish. As is often the case, characters who behave for their own profits usually fade away in Disney films. Watching those films always gives me some lessons, so I will watch more movies to learn something new.

Joker

I watched the movie Joker through DVD last night since my American friend recommended me to watch it. The movie should not supposed to be watched by people under 15 years of age because there are many violent scenes such as killing people by gun and serious car accidents. The main antagonist who is a handicapped person who was abused in his childhood is a comedian, but he was fired and he killed three passengers in the train with gun because they teased him. Since then, he killed his mother and his previous colleague. The underlying factor is a polarized society between rich and poor. I learned a dark side of the American society.

Annoying Man

A man in Aichi Prefecture who was tested positive for the coronavirus visited some restaurants having an intention to spread the virus to other customers. He was supposed to stay at home for two weeks, but he left his house after saying to his family that “I’ll spread this virus to other people.” It’s very annoying that there is such a person especially when everybody is very sensitive about the virus. Fortunately, there aren’t any reported cases of the virus in this prefecture, but I think, sooner or later, there will also be infected people. That is because there are infected people in the neighboring prefectures. I’ll avoid going to crowded places such as malls and restaurants this weekend.

Quiet School

Since the outbreak of the new virus, students are required to stay at home to prevent them from human contact for now. But teachers need to go to school even when the schools are closed. In our school, homeroom teachers look very busy because they need to grade their students by looking back their previous test scores and attitude in classes. However, as an assistant teacher, we have a lot of free time. Yesterday, together with other teachers, I helped clean up the library. I feel so relaxed nowadays because I don't need to prepare lessons for several days. Fortunately, there haven't been any reports of coronavirus cases in this prefecture. I hope the pandemic will be over soon.

Microphone

I bought a wireless microphone at about 80 dollars on Amazon. TV broadcasters usually wear such a microphone on their neck to pick up their voice more clearly. I purchased it to shoot videos with my smartphone just for fun. You don’t need to be worried about the distance between the person and the smartphone if you use it. Therefore it would be possible to take zoom-out videos. I will try to film first video at my favorite park this weekend, and if the video seems to be fun, I will upload it on YouTube. I will think about what I should speak for the video by then.

Talking via Skype

Although I got a job in Tokyo starting from this April, I talked with a person on Skype who refers programming jobs to the students in an online programming school. I studied basic programming skills in the online school last year. He kindly took time to talk with me to recommend jobs which are suitable with my preferences. He recommended me a company which has its headquarters in Shimane Prefecture. The prefecture is far from my current place and I haven’t imagined to live in such a place, so I couldn’t say that I would apply for the company while talking with him. I’ll study more about programming to increase the number of the companies he can suggest to me.

End of The Term

Yesterday, it was the last day for the students to come to the school in this school year. The closing ceremony was held much earlier than planned because of the virus outbreak. It was originally supposed to be held in the middle of March. I said goodbye to the students and I got some handmade presents from them. When I look back the days within the year, I felt the first half of the year was very long. But gradually, I came to think that spending time with the students is fun, so the second half passed quickly. I’ve had many precious experiences this year. I want to try something new the next fiscal year.

Speech Practice

Today is the last day when the students come to school. Because of the warning from the government which ask schools to shut down to prevent from spreading the virus, the ending day was rescheduled much earlier than the day of the yearly schedule. Since I am leaving this school at the end of this month, yesterday, I was preparing for my speech at the farewell ceremony. I repeatedly read the speech while taking a walk outside. People who passed by thought of me strange, but I practiced without paying attention to them. I am going to deliver it in English. I hope to make it without any mistakes at today’s ceremony.

Speech for Farewell Ceremony

This was my first time to teach elementary students. A day before my first day of my classes with you in April last year, I was nervous and worried if I can adjust myself to this new environment. Honestly, I still get nervous when I talk with students who I am still not familiar with. However, all throughout the months we have been together, teaching, learning and talking casually with you, I learned to be myself naturally. At first, at the end of the day or when I am at home, I would wonder if I made a remark that I could have offended or hurt anyone of you. But as I see you talking to other students in a happy carefree way, it would cross my mind to think first before I would say anything that might hurt my students. Sometimes, when I am at home, I would reflect what happened that day and then realize that I have said something offensive to a student, I would regret for saying so. I try to make up and change my style in counselling a student to ensure that I will not offend anyone. That I meant well for them and my advise or counselling would be for their own good. I have learned to adjust to this new method where a student will learn to trust me and not be scared or apprehensive if I give them a sound advice. I have learned to be a friend for them rather than a strict teacher. I learned to build your trust and confidence in me.  I learned the importance of "being myself and having fun" teaching you and learning from you. You have been my inspiration and influence in finding my flaws and strength. I thank you all for this wonderful change in me, I pray that you will all have a bright future ahead and continue to be an inspiration and good influence to the younger and future generation.