Kouyou, again
Well, it's been awhile, and apologies are due for being so slack. The last two months have not been uneventful, so I have a lot of catching up to do. The primary reason for my slackness: one of my colleagues gave me his old xbox, and I have been enslaved by its wondrous pixellated charms. But fear not, gentle reader, for I have not become a complete hikikomori - there shall be plenty of illustrated adventures to come. Hopefully, I can catch up on them by the end of the year...
I'll keep this one short because it's already quite late, and start with the most recent pics from this season, which marks the end of autumn, and the beginning of winter proper.
This year's kouyou (perhaps due to global warming?) came later and more gradually than last year. These pics may look familiar - yes, it's the same park behind the building where I work, and this one is of a huge gingko tree there.
A very crude time-lapse: two pictures taken from the same place a week apart. It's a shame just how fleeting the autumn colours are.
And at the same time, Xmas lights have gone up all over the city.
Along with this season has come another, more unexpected, change at work. Alas, our doors have not been flooded with NOVA refugees, and consequently our working hours have been reduced. This means I have a more normal work week, and a lot more free time (which could probably be better spent than playing Star Wars on the xbox), and long periods of sanity. Unfortunately, it also means that I don't have the funds to travel this holiday season. On top of that, I'll be working for about half of it, even Xmas Day, to try to offset the unpaid holiday around New Year's. On the plus side, I'll get to experience this season in Japan, about which I've heard quite a bit.
On another note, and as a follow-up to my last post, it seems that NOVA has officially gone belly-up. The rest of the Board forcibly ejected the madman Sahashi, and formally filed for bankruptcy, allowing thousands of teachers to finally be able to claim their unemployment insurance. NOVA signs have been taken down all over the city (and country). In the meantime, though, a local Nagoya company, G Communications, has stepped in to take over what's left, redesigning the logo and opening about 30 branches (with plans to expand this to 200), rehiring many teachers and offering a hefty discount to ex-students. However, neither teachers nor students will see their money owed ever again, nor if what I have heard about this company is true, will the working conditions be much better for those teachers. It seems the old saying is still true: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
I'll keep this one short because it's already quite late, and start with the most recent pics from this season, which marks the end of autumn, and the beginning of winter proper.
This year's kouyou (perhaps due to global warming?) came later and more gradually than last year. These pics may look familiar - yes, it's the same park behind the building where I work, and this one is of a huge gingko tree there.
A very crude time-lapse: two pictures taken from the same place a week apart. It's a shame just how fleeting the autumn colours are.
And at the same time, Xmas lights have gone up all over the city.
Along with this season has come another, more unexpected, change at work. Alas, our doors have not been flooded with NOVA refugees, and consequently our working hours have been reduced. This means I have a more normal work week, and a lot more free time (which could probably be better spent than playing Star Wars on the xbox), and long periods of sanity. Unfortunately, it also means that I don't have the funds to travel this holiday season. On top of that, I'll be working for about half of it, even Xmas Day, to try to offset the unpaid holiday around New Year's. On the plus side, I'll get to experience this season in Japan, about which I've heard quite a bit.
On another note, and as a follow-up to my last post, it seems that NOVA has officially gone belly-up. The rest of the Board forcibly ejected the madman Sahashi, and formally filed for bankruptcy, allowing thousands of teachers to finally be able to claim their unemployment insurance. NOVA signs have been taken down all over the city (and country). In the meantime, though, a local Nagoya company, G Communications, has stepped in to take over what's left, redesigning the logo and opening about 30 branches (with plans to expand this to 200), rehiring many teachers and offering a hefty discount to ex-students. However, neither teachers nor students will see their money owed ever again, nor if what I have heard about this company is true, will the working conditions be much better for those teachers. It seems the old saying is still true: "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
posted by Ia Ftaghn at 12:50 am
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