Far Away Blog

Beaten By My Wife's Common Sense

2012-01-28T14:45:00.002+09:00

This weekend was supposed to involve two really great runs. I have been lazy throughout the week and simply haven't been getting out there early in the morning and putting the kilometres I should be under my feet. I could make many excuses, but laziness is the only true reason.

The plan was to go for a run this afternoon while my son was taking a nap. There's a little problem though. I woke up several times throughout the night coughing and hacking. by 5:00 am this morning I was pretty much completely awake and laying in bed coughing up a lung. I can't remember if it was the right or left one, but it felt like one of those rascally lungs was trying to crawl out of my mouth and scamper away under the bed.

My wife and I took my son to Kobe Women's University later on in the morning. I want him to start chasing women early, so I thought that would be the perfect location! Ok….maybe I lie. We actually took him to the university because they have an early child care program there and once a month they have an open house. They have a great mock classroom facility with tons of cool toys. the student teachers have a chance to interact with children and I had a chance to take a load of cute pictures!

Soon after that we were back home and I continued to cough up a lung. There is a chance I may have been coughing up two lungs.....but definitely not three!

My planned run was snuffed when my wife, using her common sense told me I probably shouldn't. "Kevin, last time you went running with a chest cold, you made it worse." I lowered my head and admitted that her common sense beat my need to run.

So, here I sit, making worksheets for my students for next week's classes and writing a blog post. The coughing is getting worse and I'm wearing a little sad face.

Here are some scenes from Sannomiya in downtown Kobe, Japan. I took these last night on my way home from work.

This is my favourite Starbucks location in downtown Kobe.

This is the Nescafe Cafe close to my favorite Starbucks.

A pile of sad looking teddies. Took this picture of a crane game close to Sannomiya Station.

Don't Step in the Shit

2012-01-26T20:55:00.005+09:00

Don't step in the shit! Why not? Isn't the shit the stuff that's going to get you all the viewers on You Tube and al of the readers on your blog? Well, what I mean by "shit" is controversy. Controversy is something that gets people watching videos on your video blog or reading your blog posts. Being edgy and controversial is interesting if done well. It is exciting if thought through. Controversial views are often the key to success in the world of content creation. Being a hot young lady also works if you are on You Tube!

As a mid 30-something guy, my hot lady days are far behind me. Come to think of it, they never existed. So, what is a mid 30-something Canadian blogger with a receding hairline to do in order to get tens of thousands of people to read my posts and millions to watch his videos? I could take my shirt off! Wait a second...that might cause a violent physical reaction known as "vomiting." I could simply show more cleavage! Wait a second....my chest hair might impede the view.

What's a guy to do?

Ah....that's right. I can get edgy and controversial. BUUUUTTT...I don't want to. I don't want that sort of attention. Don't get me wrong. I love attention. If I didn't love attention I never would have become a drama freak in university or done improv theatre after university. I never would have played music in so many bands. If I didn't love attention I wouldn't have three You Tube channels and this blog. I wouldn't be such a Twitter whore (btw...you can follow me here)!

In the past I have made some edgy videos and they have done well. A lot of people watched them. On a former blog, I used to write some edgy posts and many people read them. The problem was and I'm sure still would be that I attracted negative attention. I was noticed by normal readers and viewers, but at the same time I was noticed by internet trolls.

More than fours years ago I was in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa and there were duel protests on Parliament Hill (Canadian houses of government). There were are very large number of pro-China supporters and some Free-Tibet people (with heavy police protection) a block away. This was just before the Beijing Olympics. I shot a video of each group and as I did, shared some of my thoughts on the issues at hand. That night I posted the video and went to sleep. The next morning I awoke to thousands of hits which I initially thought was very cool. Then I noticed that I had dozens of very insane/nationalistic/threatening comments on my page by Chinese netizens. Some of my loyal viewers tried to support me in the comment section and then they were attacked by large numbers of netizens. After a few days of FAR TOO MUCH ATTENTION, I decided it would be in the best interest of my You Tube channel to just pull the video down. I didn't post another video for a few weeks and by then, the storm had calmed.

A few years later, while here in Japan, I made a video defending English teachers in South Korea. I worked there for more than five years and it is pretty common knowledge that there are certain nationalistic segments of society there that like to use teachers as scapegoats. There has also been a history of tabloid journalists there doing the same. I made a very frank and abrasive video (I was pissed off at the time about the topic) defending teachers and "poo pooing" their detractors. I posted the video and it immediately began to get lots of hits. Soon after that though, I started to attract the trolls. I left that video up for more than a year though. I didn't care, but every once and awhile a very nasty and persistent troll would rear his ugly head.

Fast forward to now. In 2012, I am still an attention whore. I would love for my videos and blog posts to all be popular and viral. Heck, I'd love to even be able to make a living doing this hobby that I love so much! BUT….I now refuse to be controversial. Well, a little edgy is ok. Some bloggers and video bloggers obviously pander to their audiences and only say positive things. Some never speak their minds freely.

I intend to speak my mind, but I never go looking for a fight. What is the point? I am not a very angry person. At times I become a little disgruntled about things in life, but we all do. I don't want to get myself noticed because I am negative or angry. I'm just not that sort of person. I suppose I could pretend to be angry and that would probably get some hits. Many people have online personas and it works for them. In my case though, that just isn't the "angle" I am shooting for. In fact, I don't have an angle. I'm just Kevin sharing his non-angry thoughts with all of you folks out there.

Being controversial definitely works if you want to be noticed online. BEWARE though. With all that attention, some negatives are bound to be included!

How Blogging has Kept Me Sane!

2012-01-23T21:24:00.002+09:00

Blogging isn’t for everyone. Video blogging is even more “not” for everyone.

When we blog we sit down in front of our computers and pour out our thoughts and feeling on various topics. When blogs first started to emerge in the late 1990’s they tended to be an almost diary style form of online writing. Even in 2012, many people who write bogs follow a similar style.

I began writing blogs in the late 1990’s. My first blog was a fan page for an indie musician based in Canada. I stopped maintaining the site and stopped doing the “blog thing” by 2000. Just a few years later, I was living and working in South Korea and I decided to jump back into my old hobby. It had become so much easier. I could simply write something in Blogger and hit “post.” In the 1990’s I would write all of my web page language in HTML using Notepad on my Windows machine as my main editing tool. I would upload all text and photos using a File Transfer Protocol app called Cute FTP. I thought it was a lot of fun at the time, but it was also a lot of work.

Jump ahead to 2006. I began to make video blogs on You Tube. I now had a blog and vlog presence on the Internet. It was a fun way to let off steam, complain about stuff that annoyed me in Korea, play around with technology and be a little creative.

Jump ahead to 2012 and I have three You Tube channels, two blogs and have tried my hand at podcasting. I would probably attempt to do more, but having a family and “non-online” life luckily keeps me from attempting to take on more.

I’ve been in Asia for almost ten years now. While I’ve been here I’ve made some amazing friends and then inevitably said goodbye to them. Once I became married and started a family I became even more cocooned I my little world far away from home. Sometimes I miss communication with other native English speakers and those who share a similar cultural understanding. Luckily, blogging and vlogging have given me an outlet. They have given me a way to reach out to like-minded folks around the world.

Through this amazing hobby I have been able to share my experiences in Korea, Japan and as a teacher with those around the world who are interested in those very things. Not only have I been able to meet amazing folks from all over the globe, but also I have been able to meet so many wonderful people in person right here in Japan.

Blogging has given me the chance to meet new people as well as share my thoughts, feelings and knowledge.

If you have the ability to read this blog then you have the ability to start your own. I highly recommend it. It’s been lifesaver for me!

Some of the great things you can see while living in Asia...worth blogging about!

Things I Shouldn't Have Done in Korea

2012-01-22T20:52:00.002+09:00

I received an email today from a You Tube viewer who is soon heading to South Korea to be a teacher. They asked me some questions about getting prepared for their big move. Obviously there are so many things one can do to prepare in advance of such a life-changing endeavor.

The question I liked was along the lines of, “Looking back on your time in Korea, what would you have done differently?” That is a great question. It immediately got me thinking about some of the bad choices I made so many years ago when I first went abroad to teach.

Now, I have of course made some great choices over the years, but I had had my fair share of “bad calls.” Writing this post in 2012, I am a dedicated and hard working teacher. I love what I do and really feel that I’m good at it. I take what I do seriously and love helping others who hope to become teachers or current teachers who wish to become better ones.

In 2002 I wasn’t the teacher I am now. I wasn’t even the same person I am now.

Let’s just jump into a short list of some things I would have done differently during my first year in South Korea:

Taken my job more seriously! I know for a fact that I wasn’t a very hard worker and didn’t really care much about my teaching. I was having an “adventure” in Korea. I was drinking and having a yearlong party. I was the type of “teacher” who annoys the Hell out of me now. I was the sort of teacher that in my current position in 2012, I would probably fire!

I wouldn’t have partied so much. I was so excited to be so far away from everything I knew. I was having too much fun in bars, pubs and clubs with other like-minded “party animal” teachers. As I look back on those days, I lament all of the amazing things I could have or should have done while in Korea. I was too busy going out and drinking beer to travel extensively or really learn about my host country.

I would have avoided the “human train wrecks.” I associated with too many people who were out of control. I met too many teachers who simply went overboard and felt that there were no boundaries for them. I was hanging around with men and women who drank too much, got into fights and generally gave foreigners in Korea a bad name. I wish I hadn’t spent any time with people like that.

I wish I had traveled more. I lived in three different cities in Korea and explored them extensively, but really wish I had spent more time exploring the more rural areas of Korea and the culture they had to offer.

I wish I liked seafood back then. I like seafood now. I didn’t eat it in 2002. Now that I think about it, I missed so many amazing culinary experiences. Korea has amazing food and I should have eaten more of it.

I wish I spent more time becoming a better teacher. I wish I had taken the time to learn about being a better teacher. I taught some great kids during my first year in Korea and I wished I had done a better job educating them.

Now of course I had many wonderful experiences in Korea during that first year. I went on to spend five years in total there. In the end, I made more good decisions than bad ones.

If Korea or Japan is the place you want to go, there are countless ways to research them these days. Spend time on blogs and watching vlogs. Take your time though. It’s never a good idea to rush into anything and remember, try to do things the “right” way!

Japan...May I Leave?

2012-01-21T22:01:00.002+09:00

Now that I have your attention, let's begin!

Daydreaming of non-Japan

It’s been almost ten years since I first stepped foot in Asia to live. I have lived in both Korea and Japan. I have learned a lot along the way. I have had many jobs at many schools. In the last ten years I traveled, had too much fun, received a teaching degree, got married, settled down and started a family.

Things are pretty good.

There is just one problem though. I just cannot seem to stop thinking about life elsewhere. I just can’t stop thinking about living in Canada. I suppose that is natural. I am a Canadian after all. My wife knows this and is very loving and supportive. Sadly, her love and support cannot fix the massive teacher surplus in Canada; a surplus that basically makes my teaching credentials and experience almost useless.

I cannot stop thinking about living in Canada. Living in a place where I understand the language and the television programs. Living in a place where children don’t stare at me and point. Living in a place where high school girls don’t giggle as I walk past. I daydream about a place that I really haven’t seen much of for the majority of my adult life to this point.

I never forget that I am very lucky to have what I have here. I have an amazing wife and a beautiful son. I have a good job and good coworkers. I live in a place that is never dull and always fascinating, but it isn’t the place I think about when I close my eyes at night.

Many of my readers and You Tube videos viewers would simply shake their heads at hearing this. “What do you mean Kevin? How could you want to leave Japan? I have always dreamed of living there!”

I understand where they are coming from. I once dreamed of living in an exciting foreign country. I made the move and it was amazing. I had adventures and loved being immersed in new cultures and experiences. In time though, after many years, that way of thinking changed. I began to long not for new far away places, but the place I originally come from. I started to long for my roots. Not everyone in my situation feels this way, but I do.

I won’t be going anywhere soon, but I will be going somewhere eventually. That’s the plan for my family and I.

Of course, even when we do settle somewhere else, Japan will be a place we will always be connected closely too. My wife is Japanese and my son is half Japanese. We always want him to be closely connected to his family and culture here. Yearly trips to Japan will probably be a reality.

For now though, I am here. I am here and will be positive about the blessings I have.

I can’t stop daydreaming about where I came from though.

A shot I took while waiting for the train the other night. There are many amazing things about Japan. One of them is the fact that almost every moment is an amazing photo opportunity!

Cold Turkey from Vlogging!

2012-01-19T21:31:00.002+09:00

It’s time to go cold turkey! That’s right. I have to quit. Well, maybe not quite, but at least go on hiatus for a while. Yup, I just can’t get things done if I keep going at the same pace as I am now.

If there is one thing that I am absolutely amazing at, it is spreading myself too thin. Jumping into too many projects all at once is something I’ve always been a little more than proficient at. Let’s see. What are the various projects I have on the go at the moment?

youtube.com/busankevin – my main video blog (or vlog) channel that I’ve run for more than 5 years. Videos about life in Asia/Canada/food/ranting/ramblings/travel destinations and more. At least one edited video (normally more) posted each week.
youtube.com/jlandkev –my unedited, usually uploaded directly from my iPhone vlog channel showing snippets of my every day life here in Japan. Normally I upload 2-3 videos a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
Youtube.com/runcauseitsfun – a new vlog channel all about running. More than a dozen videos about running uploaded since Christmas.
Running – I have run on average, about 40km a week this year and plan to ramp that up to 60-80km a week soon.
Blogging – I have this blog (not very active and sorry about that) as well as my “Running to Help Japan” blog.
Hair brained fundraising schemes to help children in need in northern Japan.
My BOOK! “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the Real Deal.” The first draft is a hair away from completion.
Wonderful wife and son.
Full time job as a teacher at an international school.
Nothing to add here…..just wanted 10 things…

As you can see, there is a reason I average four hours of sleep a night. Seriously, that is all I normally get and some things are starting to bother me (aside from my ever-present dark circles under my eyes).

I NEED to get my book completed. I am so close to being finished and so excited about that fact that I have to wrap it up ASAP! There is nothing ground breaking about my written work, but I know it will be an entertaining read and have a lot of useful and fun information for those out there interested in coming to either Japan or South Korea to teach.

Originally I intended to have it completed by October and ready to hit the Amazon Kindle store before Christmas. That didn’t happen. Why not? Well, I started to get obsessive about my video blogging once again. That’s the issue with me. My You Tube presence gets me so excited that I forget about all of the other important projects I have on the go. Those important projects get put on the back burner and don’t seem to move forward.

I’ve decided there’s only one thing I can do to make sure I get my first draft of “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the Real Deal” finished, proofread and sent off to some other editorial eyes in the next month or two. The only way is to go You Tube cold turkey! That’s right. No You Tube for the entire month of February. I have done this sort of thing in the past when I was feeling “You Tube” burnout, but this time it’s different. At the moment I am having a great deal of fun with You Tube and video blogging, but I am spending too much time focused on that and not enough time writing.

I have to post several planned videos in the next week or so, but come February 1^st, I will not log into You Tube for a month. In that time I will set aside at least an hour or two each day to work on my book and maybe write some blog posts here. I will also remain active on Twitter. I won’t be going into a tech blackout, just a You Tube hiatus.

When I return in March, hopefully, I’ll have a book close to completion and an accompanying website to promote it! I’m looking forward to getting this big (for me) project wrapped up!

Stay tuned for more!

BE PREPARED! : Advice for Classroom Newbies

2012-01-14T20:38:00.007+09:00

I am both a teacher and a story teller. In September 2011, I began writing "Teaching in Asia: Tales and the Real Deal." This book is basically aimed at anyone out there who is interested in coming to Asia, more specifically South Korea or Japan to teach English. After many years of blogging and making videos about teaching on You Tube, I decided that the best way for me to share my knowledge and experience with everyone was in book format. Hopefully, within the next few months, the eBook version will be available in the Kindle Store.

Teaching in Asia: Tales and the Real Deal will be a combination of practical "how to" information as well as some interesting and entertaining tales from my years overseas (where I still am). If you have followed my BusanKevin You Tube channel for any time you may be familiar with my story telling videos. I have definitely lead and interesting life to this point and love to share my stories with pretty much anyone who will listen. This book will help you find a job, become a better teacher and hopefully, entertain you all at the same time.

Here is a brief snippet from a section about preparing when you have little or no teaching experience:

Lesson Preparation:

There is no such thing as being too prepared. Being prepared and even better, being over-prepared can be a very comforting thing in the first days of your teaching career.

A few years ago, while working as a head teacher at a private school I was responsible for observing new teachers. A recently hired teacher was going to be conducting a lesson on one of his first days in the classroom. He was to give me his lesson plan and I would quietly sit in the back of his classroom watching him teach and interact with his students. I was looking for many things while I observed. Was his lesson meeting curriculum needs? Was his lesson well planned and engaging for the students? Did he transition well between different activities? Did he manage the students well? How did the students respond to his teaching style and delivery? The list goes on.

What I saw was a nervous teacher speed through his lesson in half the time he had planned and then freeze. He quickly raced through his class material, not really stopping to see if the students were understanding and when he reached the end of his lesson, or should I say his lesson plan (there were still 30 minutes left in class), he literally stopped speaking. He nervously looked at the students and then me before rummaging through his teacher resource basket for a few moments. He then looked at me and said, “That’s all I have. I don’t know what to do.” His class was confused and looked at me. I told him he had 30 minutes to go and he had to do something for that time since it was his class. He panicked and I had to step in front of the class and off the cuff, create a writing exercise for them to do for the remaining time in that class period.

Although that teacher had clearly spent a lot of time planning his lesson, he wasn’t able to execute it the way he had hoped because he was simply too nervous. This is of course a very normal thing for someone who doesn’t have experience. The problem was that he didn’t have the experience necessary in order to have a “bag of tricks.” He wasn’t able to think of something off the cuff when his lesson didn’t go the way he had planned.

That teacher and many others out there in both Japan and Korea could save themselves from this uncomfortable if not terrifying experience if they just “over-plan” before their first few lessons. You might want to even do it for the first few weeks until you start to get more familiar with your new role as a teacher.

That teacher I observed should have created extra teaching material aside from his language lesson. Maybe he could have created or found a journal worksheet online. The students could have drawn a picture and written about whatever the class topic was. Maybe he could have had a few puzzles in his resource basket. He could have gone online and researched a few ESL or phonics games he could play with the children if his planned lesson came to an end faster than expected. All of these extra activities would have been a small “bag of tricks” for him in a time of need.

Another great thing about planning too much in the beginning of your teaching career is that those lessons or activities that you planned and did not use are by no means a waste of time. You can create and label some folders and store them away for later use. You might not use them today, but you may want to next week or next month. In time, as you become more experienced and capable as a teacher, you might even want to share those resources with newer staff members in your school. You may be new to your job, but near the end of your first contract, you will be the veteran teacher helping someone new who has started working for your school.

In time, and you will know when, you won’t need to prepare as much. As you become better at managing a class and creating effective lessons and lesson pacing, you won’t have to spend so much time preparing. Again, you will know when this happens. Some people very quickly become comfortable in a classroom environment while other teachers may take some more time.

I always felt more relaxed when I knew I had more than enough activities prepared for my class. You definitely will too.

Over the next few weeks I will share some more snippets of Teaching in Asia: Tales and the Real Deal. I will also keep you updated on the progress of the book (first draft is almost complete).

Here is a BusanKevin "classic" video. This was shot in 2009 and in it I'm telling a story about my first day teaching in South Korea in 2002. It also happened to be my first day teaching ever. It was a disaster to say the least!

Run Cause It's Fun

2012-01-09T22:44:00.003+09:00

Running is something I am passionate about and that is why I created the You Tube channel named "Run CauseItsFun." I have 16 videos on my new channel and this was my first interview with a fellow runner! Hope you enjoy.

Canada and Back Again

2012-01-09T22:22:00.003+09:00

It's been awhile folks. Actually, it's been a long while. More than one month has passed since I made my last post. Things have been busy. That is actually an understatement! things have been "gosh darn" busy (my apologies for the harsh language).

I went to Canada for the better part of December with my family. It was a fabulous time. My family in Canada had the chance to see my son for the first time and I have the opportunity to gain some weight. I worked very hard to put on about 3kg and I was happy with the results. the steady intake of Canadian craft beer, pizza and chocolate worked. 3kg heavier, I found myself back in Kobe at the end of the month and ready to rock in the new year! btw...HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE!!!!

Since coming back to Japan I have been focusing a lot on my running again. Last year was a great year for running. I ran a 60km (38 mile) home made ultra marathon and raised almost $4000USD for Save the Children and their work with the young survivors of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. I also ran both the Osaka and Kobe Marathons. Duing my Xmas break in canada I started a new You Tube channel (just what I need...another project to spread me thinner) all about running. You can check out Run Cause It's Fun and let me know what you think!

In non-running news, I almost completed the first draft of my upcoming self-published (Kindle Store) book, Teaching in Asia:Tales and the Real Deal. It is a mixture of practical advice and stories for those of you out there who are interested in coming to either South Korea or Japan to be a teacher. I'm hoping this project will be finished soon!

Be sure to check out my Running to Help Japan blog of course. I am starting 2012 with some more fundraising ideas for my charity project. I am tossing around the idea of running 8 marathons in 8 weeks to raise money for Save the Children Japan. You can read more about it on the Running to Help Japan blog!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE and thank you for reading!

Japan in a Minute

2011-12-07T21:32:00.004+09:00

I suppose I have been searching for a theme on my main video channel for a long time. My BusanKevin channel recently celebrated 5 years of existence and I wanted to get more grounded and less random. I decided to go with a new series of videos I call a "Japan Minute." These videos will basically be the main focus of that You Tube channel. Essentially they are anything and everything about Japan in a minute or less. I have made seven so far and there will be many more. I plan to cover history, popular culture, food, drink, literature, folklore, etc. You name it and hopefully there will be a Japan Minute about it at some point.

I have been putting out two videos a week recently. Next week I will be off to Canada for a few weeks to relax with family back home. I plan to post a few Japan minutes, but of course not as many as usual.

I hope you enjoy the new path my You Tube channel is taking!

Here are a few Japan Minute episodes:

Kobe Marathon Eve

2011-11-19T07:32:00.005+09:00

I thought it appropriate to make my "blog writing comeback" on the eve of the first ever Kobe Marathon. This one will be a big deal for the city of Kobe where live. The first marathon in Japan was run here more than 100 years ago and tomorrow morning, 18,000 runners will start running from Sannomiya to the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and then finish on Port Island. I will be one of those runners.

This will be my second full marathon in 3 weeks. To be honest, until last week was feeling the effects of Osaka Marathon. Although a great marathon itself, Osaka was somewhat of a personal disappointment. I went into that race sick and weak. I was running strong until a few km's past the half and then I fell apart. I finished in a decent time, but nowhere near my goal.

I'm excited about tomorrow for a few reasons. First, it's in Kobe. I love Kobe. This is simply a wonderful city to live and and I'm looking forward to running on the same streets I have spent hundreds of hours on. I've seen most of the route at one time or another on long runs and there are some great sights.

Another great thing is that some of my students plan to come out to cheer me on. I know where some of them will be and I hope I get the chance to see them.

The finish line is on Port Island and a ten minute walk from my house. That is going to be super great. I can stumble home with ease when all is said and done.

If you are a twitter user you can send me a tweet of support tomorrow morning. You can find me here on Twitter. I use the RunMeter running app on my iPhone and when people send me a tweet, a voice reads it out loud to me. It is a lot of fun. The Kobe Marathon kicks off tomorrow morning at 9:00am Japan Standard Time.

Another little piece of great news. I now, after many years without one, have a laptop. This means that once the busy times at work ease up a little, I will be back to "Teaching Asia: Tales and the Real Deal." my book will be wrapped up sooner than later I hope. A lot of great stuff is already complete and I've almost finished proofreading the first draft. Mind you, I have decided to ad some more to it.

Pizza in Japan

2011-10-20T22:49:00.004+09:00

There are many things I love in life. I love my family. I love running. I love Canada, the country I am from. I love living abroad and the adventures I have in doing so. I also love pizza.

Pizza is food from the Gods in my opinion. It is the perfect mix of all major food groups. I get Grains, Dairy, Veggies and Meat all in one wonderful package.

I have been a fan of pizza my entire life. A great take out pizza is something to cherish, but even more is a great homemade pizza. Luckily, my parents are amazing cooks and growing up I have th fondest memories of my father's "from scratch" pizzas. They were delicious beyond description and now, as I live in Asia, I appreciate them even more.

I have lived in Asia for almost 10 years now. I lived in Korea for more than 5 years and there, pizza is everywhere. Pizza is common, it is cheap and to be honest, doesn't taste very good. Most places that sell pizza basically serve ketchup, a few slices of pepperoni and very little cheese on a slab of cardboard.

In Japan, pizza is really expensive and doesn't taste very good. ALSO, the sizes are really small.

Solution.....make your own from scracth. That's what I do. here is a quick vid of a pizza I made last weekend. An actual recipe/tutorial video will come soon.

Here is a great video that explains what you get in Japan when you order take out/delivery pizza.

Multi-tasked to Death

2011-10-13T06:41:00.004+09:00

I’m tired, but I’m happy. Did I mention I am tired? I’m tired in a new way. I’m tired to my very bones.

Things are a little busy for me at the moment. Actually, things are a LOT busy for me at the moment. I am of course working full time as a homeroom teacher and that takes up about 50 hours a week and sometimes more. I’m running two full marathons in the next four weeks and of course I am trying to finish up my first “real” attempt at writing. With the first draft of “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal” near completing I have begun proofreading it on commutes and during my lunch breaks. Did I also mention I have a wife and one year old son at home I try to spend maximum time with?

Things are more than a little busy and to be honest, something’s got to give soon.

Priority number one is my family. Work follows that cause of course, “baby always needs a new pair of shoes!” Then comes running and then the book BUT, there has been a change for me with regards to the last two.

Running has been a major part of my life since I began training for my first full marathon in 2008. It has made me healthier, happy and I have achieved many personal goals doing it. I was also able to raise almost $4000.00 earlier this year for disaster relief in the Tohoku region of Japan through running. Running is good.

The thing that is beginning to wear on me these days is that as I come near the end of my first major writing project, I am beginning to love writing far more than running. There is a serious conflict there because both take up a major portion of my time and to do either one of them well, you need a lot of time.

In recent weeks, as I wake up at 4:30 am to get outside for a training run, I find myself wishing that I was sitting down and working on my book instead. Marathon training has become a chore. Writing has become a joy.

So, here’s the plan. I of course need to prepare for the upcoming Osaka and Kobe marathons, but once they are finished, I’m going to step back from running full marathons in 2012. The training simply takes too much time and once I finish “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal”, I already have another writing project in mind.

I won’t give up running though. It’s simply too much fun. The other night I ran a rather quick (for me) 5k. I was surprised that I was able to run a very hill-filled 5k in a hair less than 23 minutes. What could I do if I seriously trained and even had some racing flats? Can I run a 20-minute 5k in the new year? How about a 45-minute 10k?

In the 2012 I plan to register for several 5 and 10k road races and we’ll see if I can be fast. The training won’t be nearly as time consuming and I can still run a few times a week.

My plan is to focus on my writing once Kobe Marathon is in the bag. My family will be a major focus as well.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Arghh...I can't eat that!

2011-10-10T20:32:00.006+09:00

As many of you know, I am currently working on my first book. "Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal." will be released as an eBook later this year. It will be a great resource or anyone who is interested in moving to South Korea or japan to teach. It is practical advice from a certified elementary school teacher someone who has lived and worked in both countries (that's me by the way). It will be a mix of entertaining and useful stories as well as advice on how to find a job, prepare for your move and successfully adapt to the culture.

The best way to find out about the book, my progress putting it together and release information, keep an eye on my Facebook page. I will be setting up a website for the book just before the release.

I wanted to give you guys a little taste of what I am up to. This is a

small section form one of the chapters in the book. "Argh...I can't eat that!" is part of the Culture Shock chapter.

Argh…I can’t eat that

You are now in a very different culture and with the different culture come new culinary experiences. The food typically eaten on a daily basis by Korean or Japanese people is obviously quite a bit different from what a typical Canadian, American, Australian, etc. might eat. You are going to have to try your best to get used to it because when you are with your Korean or Japanese friends, students or going to most restaurants, that’s what you will be eating.

To be honest, when I first landed in Korea in 2002, I was anyt

hing but an adventurous eater. I grew up in Eastern Canada and although had a family that was open to new food experiences, I personally wasn’t. As a young man, I was more of a Subway sandwich and pizza sort of guy and freely admit that I feared the unknown when it came to eating.

When I arrived in Korea, I knew nothing about Korean food. I suppose most people who go to Korea to teach find themselves in a similar situation. Luckily, I really enjoyed most of the new dishes introduced to me. I became a big fan of the food Korea had to offer. Generally, Korean food is spicy. A main spice used in many dishes is “gochu” which is a red hot pepper. Korean food also consists of a lot of vegetables. It’s definitely healthy, but for some, it can be a little too much. Some people don’t like the strong smell of the garlic and sesame oil while others tend to find it too spicy. I have met a few teachers in my time that had a history of stomach ulcers or were in general just sensitive and couldn’t handle the “heat” of Korean food.

Again, I took to it pretty quickly and enjoyed it. My advice to those out there who have never had Korean food and are coming to Korea is to be open-minded. You never know what something is like until you try it. Korean food is extremely healthy and packed full of flavor. It is also extremely affordable if not down right cheap to dine out at most restaurants in Korea. Many teachers will prefer to eat out most nights of the week as opposed to cooking at home because it can actually be cheaper to do so.

Japan also has some great food and aside from sushi and sashimi, I had basically no knowledge of the cuisine before I met my wife several years ago. Now I am absolutely in love with Japanese food. There was one stumbling block for me though, seafood. While growing up I never liked fish and since it is a major element of Japanese food, had to really try hard and learn to like it. Luckily I have, with the exception of eel.

Like Korean food, Japanese cuisine contains far more vegetables and a variety of them than a typical Western dish. I suppose what I love the most about Japanese food is the fact that in one typical meal you will find so many flavors on your plate.

Now eating out in Japan sadly isn’t as affordable as in Korea, but it’s always worthwhile. Since coming to Japan, I tend to eat most meals at home, but since my wife is Japanese, the vast majority of them are Japanese food.

Most people will enjoy the local “eats” when they come to Japan and Korea, but some may not. Again, my advice is just to give things a try. Even if a “mysterious” dish doesn’t look appealing, it may be extremely delicious.

If for some reason you just can’t wrap your plate or stomach around some of the local dishes, if you live in a larger city, there are plenty of restaurants that would probably cater to your needs. In Japan, there are Italian and Indian restaurants on almost every corner as well as fast food restaurants and pubs that serve “American” style food.

The same goes in Korea as well. You can find McDonald’s and Starbucks almost everywhere and family restaurants such as Bennigan’s and TGI Friday’s are very popular, although expensive. Many large supermarkets carry a variety of foreign food products and there are even specialty shops that deal specifically in food from abroad.

If you aren’t in a major urban area you are probably going to be out of luck when it comes to finding comfort food from home. You may just have to suck it up and learn to like what’s around you. To be honest, it’s not very hard!

Some kimchi, one of Korea's most famous dishes.

Remember to follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

A toddler changes everything

2011-09-27T06:54:00.001+09:00

Time is now officially a luxury. I suppose this has been sinking in for some time, but recently it has been really hitting home. Just a year and a half ago it was so easy to work, come home and do all of my hobby-esque type things. I had loads of time to run, write blogs and make videos for You Tube.

Now that my son is officially a toddler, that time is only a memory. I even find myself at times a little envious of my friends out there in the bloggerverse who have so much more time to accomplish so many more things than I do. I sometimes find myself thing, “What could I be capable of if only I had more time?”

Those thoughts are often fleeting though because as my adorable son wobbles up to me to hand me a block or stuffed toy, I realize I am blessed. My son, especially now that he is developing such a funny and wonderful personality, brings me more joy than any blog post or video production I could be involved with.

So what is the answer? Can I have my cake and eat it to?

I can have a little, I just have to schedule every aspect of my day and realize that times are different. Once upon a time I might be able to write five pages in a writing project. These days, I am satisfied with one or two. Once upon a time I used to be able to produce three or four edited videos a week for my video blog. Now, one video a week is all right.

I wake up early in the morning while my son and wife are sleeping and I run. If I am not running that day, I do some writing. Sometimes I wait until my son is asleep at night and then I write. Either way, it is all about scheduling. I’m living in a new reality. It is a wonderful one though.

By the way, an update for all of you folks out there, the working title of my book is “Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal.” The bulk of it is now written. I still have a few more weeks to go before the first draft will be complete. Then I have to format, proof read and self edit it. Then I will send it off to someone else to edit. Once that process is completed, I will upload it to the Amazon Kindle store.

I will be charging a price for it, but it won’t be high by any means. I think it will be the perfect book for all of those who are considering teaching in Japan or South Korea at any point. The advice is mostly mine, with the help of some friends and the stories are all mine.

You won’t need a Kindle to read it as well. You will be able to sownload it to any iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, Android device, laptop and desktop computers.

I’ll keep you updated as I move through my first book writing experience. Already though, I have to admit that it has been far more satisfying than any other sort of media production project I have tackled so far!

Writing and injuries

2011-09-13T06:00:00.004+09:00

Just a few days ago, Mother Nature was showing us her kind affection by taking the temperatures here in Japan down a few notches. After a nasty and humid summer, things were becoming tolerable. Daily temperatures were in the mid to low 20's (Celsius) and there was no humidty. It was bliss. Last week all of that changed. we were slammed with summer all over again. "Ugh" is what I have to say about that.

I have been trying to spend more time with my family recently and also have ben dealing with a little running frustration. After Saturday night's sprint training session I developed some tenderness in my right achilles tendon. I wasn't able to go for my long run Sunday morning. It's now Tuesday morning and I still haven't run yet. I am hoping that my tendon will feel alright tomorrow morning. I will try a short 5k run slowly around the neighborhood and I will of course keep you guys informed.

On a more positive note, I have dusted off my eBook project and am writing up a storm. I have lived and worked as a teacher in both South Korea and Japan for many years. Many of my most popular blog posts and video blogs are about the topic. Also, my story videos about my time in Asia often attract a large audience.

Once I learned more about self publishing on e-platforms such as the Amazon Kindle I was sold. If I could publish my own book, why not do it? I'm still working on a title, something I'm going to use crowd sourcing to help me (probably on my Facebook page....link is on the side of this blog) make a decision on.

Since I started blogging about teaching in Asia more than 6 years ago, I have fielded literally hundreds of questions about the topic. Why not put a lot of this information in book form and add several personal stories about my experiences in both countries?

I am hoping to have my first draft completed sometime in early October and then proofreading, editing, having someone else edit it and then off to eBook land, most likely the Kindle store.

There will be lots of updates on what I am doing here on this blog, but the best place to follow would be my BusanKevin Facebook page. I added a new widget this morning on the side of this blog to make that easier for you!

Running to Help Others

2011-09-01T21:55:00.001+09:00

Many of of you know that after the disaster that took do many lives last March here in Japan, I wanted to do something to help. I decided to create the "Running to Help Japan" project. This was something I could do by myself to help raise money to help the kids in northern Japan. I am a teacher and have made my career caring for and teaching children. I also have a young son and my heart broke to see so many children, so close to me, who no longer had anything.

I did some research and decided I would work to raise money for Save the Children.

This is an organization who works to improve the lives of children throughout the world. They had set up teams here in Japan immediately after the earthquake and tsunami to help the youngest victims. They seemed like the perfect fit for my fundraising goals.

Although I know I am not a gifted runner, I am a decent one. I am a "mid-pack" marathoner with an incredibly high pain threshold and stuborness. I am also a runner who day dreams often of running distances far beyond that of a regular marathon. This was my chance. This was a chance for me to push my body and mind to a place they had never been before.

At the same time, raising funds for a good cause.On June 25th, 2011, I ran 60km or 37.5 miles in the blistering heat here in Kobe. It took me more than 6 hours, but I did it. In the process I raised $3917.00. It was an amazing experience. I have never felt so many emotions all at once. I felt pain, joy, pain, excitement, pain and did I mention pain?

This was something I never could have done without the support of my You Tube viewers, my Facebook friends, my real-life friends, family, Twitter followers and of course the article written about Running to Help Japan in the Cape Breton Post. I have to give a special thanks to the sports writer, T.J. Colello. His story really got the financial ball rolling for this charity drive and really got the fire lit under me!

I also have to thank several friends of mine in the Japan You Tube community who supported me so much. I have to thank (these are their You Tube names): qiranger, WarmothStrat (Mully and Misses Mully), softpapa, FindMeInKurume, Gimmeabreakman, DimPerrin, Ozzy78, Micknfumi and the many others who helped.

Another special thanks goes out to Edward at the Japan Talk podcast for his amazing support and shout outs for my ultra marathon. It is now September and I am now smack back in the middle of training again.

On October 30th I will run in the first ever Osaka Marathon. 3 weeks later, I will run in the first ever Kobe Marathon.

What will happen after that?

I am thinking about something big. I am thinking about running to help a new charity and am thinking about something even grander in scale than the last time! 80km? Maybe a multi-day event? Should I walk across part of Japan? It will be something big for sure. I want to push myself more and more. I also want to raise funds for a worthy cause while doing so.

Any suggestions on my next adventure? (leave a comment)

A little more about why I did what I did. Here is an amazing song by another Canadian living in Japan. "Blackwater" is a song written and performed by John Jenzen who lives in Nagoya, Japan. He wrote it after reading about an entire bus filled with kindergarten children was swept away by the tsunami.

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The Accidental Teacher?

2011-08-27T21:22:00.008+09:00

Teaching is what I do. Teaching is what I do to earn a living for myself and my family. I am a teacher at a school five days a week and a teacher at home the other two. I suppose I am a teacher at home everyday. Everyday I'm attempting to teach my son how to speak, how to have fun, how to walk and how to not throw and break everything he can get his hands on.

As I look back on my adult life, a younger Kevin could have never imagined himself becoming a teacher. I remember, while in my early twenties, my older brother graduating from an Education program and getting his first job as a teacher. I remember his tales of the classroom and I thought to myself, "I could never do what he does." Fast forward many years and here I am. A professional teacher with a teaching degree and a license. I never would have thought it.

What happened?

How did I become something I thought I could never do?

I suppose I knew fairly quickly that I liked teaching. My first class of young learners was in a city called Ilsan in South Korea. I was their language teacher and it was early 2002. After the initial few months of shock wore off (having a room full of six year olds run me ragged), I felt like this was a fun job. After all, I had been a performer (singer, actor, general clown) in years past and in a way, I was taking a stage everyday when I walked into that classroom. Everyday I was standing in front of a small audience and having to captivate and excite them. I had to hold their attention and entertain them. More importantly, I had to teach them something of value.

After some years of that I knew that teaching was the profession for me. I saved my money, applied to Education programs in Canada and eventually received my teaching credentials.

Now I am here in Japan doing what I think I do best. I'm teaching a group of intelligent and funny little people (I don't mean dwarves) everyday. There are of course ups and downs. Sometimes the downs can be really low and often the ups are very high.

As look at the future, I sometimes get more than a little down though. I am a Canadian who misses home. I want to take my skills and use them in classrooms in Canada. Sadly though, there seem to be too many people deciding to become teachers every year. I know that I will be able to find a classroom somewhere, but it probably won't be the place I want to go. Then again, maybe it will be! I think the next few years will lead me and my family down some very interesting and exciting paths for sure.

For the time being though, I am here, in Japan doing the think I know I am meant to do. I'm teaching.

Here are a couple of pictures from 2005 when I was teaching adult students at a school in downtown Seoul South Korea. I only taught adult learners for one year, but it was an enjoyable experience.

In the theme of teaching, the other day, while commuting home from school I thought about making a video tutorial. What could I make one about? The answer was clear. I make lots of videos on You Tube about Asian food. Why not make one about how to eat the stuff? Here is my first ever video tutorial, "How to use chopsticks."

You can find me on TWITTER: @jlandkev

Babies, Videos and Writer's Blahhhh...

2011-08-22T20:46:00.005+09:00

Hey there folks! I hope you are all doing extremely well and I of course want to thank each and every one of you for simply being so awesome!

I think all my readers are great. All of the fine folks who watch my video blogs are great and in general....hmmm....what was I talking about? Lost my train of though....

The Japanese Obon holiday season is over and I was back to work today. During the past nine days I didn't have to deal with work. It was nice. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with work, but as we all know, vacation is simply often better than work. I spent a lot of time playing with my son and even more time not working on my book about teaching in Korea and Japan. Now that I am back into my weekly work routine, I will begin writing again. Actually, I already wrote a little today. It felt good.

I'm also struggling to get back into running regularly. The amount of heat we have had this summer has really put me off and family life has also made it difficult to find time to run. Long distance running when you have a baby at home isn't always the easiest thing to juggle.

This past week, I've been focused mostly on this guy. Running and writing will be there anytime, but having the chance to be with my son as he learns to walk will only happen once.

Last Saturday was the day for three small festivals in my neighborhood. Sadly it rained all day, but that didn't kep many of the local kids from having fun!

There was to be dancing in the evening at this festival, but heavy rains closed things up earlier than most would have liked!

Kimchi Onigiri 김치 오니기리

2011-08-12T21:43:00.005+09:00

Convenience stores in Japan are definitely convenient. they are located everywhere, open 24 hours a day and normally have their shelves stocked with a wide variety of interesting and captivating products. You might be thinking, "What the hell is Kevin talking about? Convenience stores aren't interesting." In Japan however, they most certainly are!

A popular food throughout Japan is "onigiri." Essentially, onigiri is a rice ball. Many things can be added or mixed with the rice in order to enhance its flavour. The other day while stopping by a 7-11 convenience store close to work, I saw something interesting on the shelves. A kimchi-fried rice onigiri. I had to try it. It was basically a fusion of Korea (Kimchi), Chinese (cha-han or fired rice) and onigiri (Japanese rice ball).

You can find out more about my thoughts and reactions while eating the kimchi onigiri by watching my food review video!

Teaching in kindergartens

2011-08-09T20:35:00.003+09:00

For many people heading to South Korean and Japan every year to teach English, kindergartens are their first jobs. Some are good places to work while others are not always. Some kindergarten jobs offer decent salaries and teachers are treated well. Some involve long hours and a relatively low wage compared to other ESL jobs.

Here is a little more about working in kindergartens in both Korea and Japan (my latest video):

Japanese Eats: Pepsi Energy Cola

2011-08-04T21:26:00.005+09:00

It is summer around the northern hemisphere of this big ole ball we refer to as "earth"! It is sumer and if you live in Japan (and many other places), it is freakin hot! It is really hot. In order to get us folks through the summer, the fine people at Pepsi begin getting a little creative. Each summer, Pepsi comes out with some new, and often whacky, summer special flavours.

A few years ago we had Pepsi Shiso. then there was Pepsi Azuki. Now there is Pepsi Caribbean Gold and well as Pepsi Energy Cola. I first saw Pepsi energy Cola a few weeks ago at my local Lawson convenience store and had to grab a can. i quickly realized that it was an energy drink akin to Red Bull. I HAD to try it.

Here is my review of a limited time "in Japan" drink:

Here is my 2 year old review of Pepsi Shiso:

Teaching in Asia: Private Lessons

2011-08-03T21:41:00.003+09:00

If you ever have the opportunity to teach in Asia, you will quickly learn that a great way to supplement your income is with private lessons. There can definitely be benefits to teaching them, but depending on where you live and what sort of visa you have, there may be risks as well.

Watch my "Teaching in Asia: Private Lessons" video to find out more!

Running in Osaka

2011-07-30T21:22:00.004+09:00

Today was a lot of fun. This was the first day of my Osaka and Kobe Marathon training cycle. That's right. Two marathons this Fall and they are three weeks apart. That may be too much running for many, not a lot for others, but for me, it's just right (or at least I think it is).

Today I went into Osaka and met a couple of fine gentlemen in Osaka Castle Park. I met @samurairunning and @runlikeustoleit from Twitter for a 6.94km run around the park. It was a hot and sweaty afternoon, but it was a lot of fun to meet two very interesting guys and fellow runners.

Here is an image of the run we made this afternoon in Osaka. Apparently, we ran through the castle moat at one point. I assume the GPS was just a little off.

I also shot a couple of quick video as I went home. This was really my first time walking through the newly rebuilt Osaka Station. It's pretty sweet!

We're Far and Away!

2011-07-29T22:16:00.006+09:00

It is Friday and I have been doing a few things to "mix it up!" For quite some time I have been thinking about changing the name of this blog. I of course am a Canadian and I do live in Kobe, Japan. It's pretty easy to see why I dubbed this blog, "A Canadian in Kobe."

I love this city and I like living in Japan, but I have been thinking about and planning on my "post Japan life." I never intended on living out my days in Japan. I do enjoy things here, but found myself a Japan resident "by accident."

"Far Away Blog" seemed like an appropriate title because of the fact that for the past ten years, I have been far away from Canada and my friends and family. I realize that I may leave Japan in the next few years, but I may not return to Canada.

Even if my family and I do move to my "home" (Canada), my wife (who is Japanese) will be far away from hers. No matter how you cut it, someone in my family will always be "far away" from home.

I am a "real" teacher back home in Canada. Sadly though, there are TOO many "real" teachers back home in Canada. I may be back there soon teaching, but maybe not close to my family. The "Far Away" theme appears again and again even while I'm planning my return.

Have no fears my peeps...I will be in Japan for another year. Even when I do leave, I will always return and have a STRONG connection. After all, my wife is from Osaka and my son is from Kobe!

btw, I would LOVE to thank my friend Danielle for creating my new blog banner! She is also the groovy person responsible for my BusanKevin channel design.

You can find her on Twitter @ladyramses

Teaching in Asia: Recruiters

2011-07-25T14:49:00.001+09:00

Some are good, many are not so good. The reality for many interested in heading to teach in Asia is that they will have to deal with a recruiter.

Here are my two cents on the subject:

TV shows I loved that my son probably won't!

2011-07-25T08:30:00.005+09:00

Yesterday, while sitting home with my son, watching him watch television, I began to think more and more about my favorite television shows as a child. My early childhood through elementary days were in the late 1070's and into the 1980's. Most of the shows I grew up watching and loving so much are no longer even in the world of reruns, let alone available for me to watch here in Japan.

I realize that with the wonders of modern tech such as torrents, iTunes and dvds, I can probably watch most of the shows I did when i was young, but I have a feeling my son won't. Times change and with them do tastes. Some shows I think have a definite charm that children will always be attracted to. Just a few years ago i remember finding some episodes of Sharon, Lois and Bram's The Elephant Show (a Canadian TV show from the 1980's) on You Tube. I played them on the computer during a few lunch periods and my kindergarten class (mostly Japanese kids) were for the most part, mesmorized by it and angry when i had to shut it off! The power of good children's programming had crossed time and culture!

I thought about some of my favorite shows that I loved throughout my pre-school years right through elementary school.

Here is my list of shows I loved as a kid:

The Elephant Show was a kids variety show by the iconic Canadian children's singers Sharon, Lois and Bram.

Mr. Dressup was another iconic Canadian children's show. I remember excitedly watching this every weekday morning in my preschool days!

MASH was a fun show. I have clear memories of watching this show with my entire family. Again I watched it so many times in reruns as an older kid and an adult.

Just Like Mom was a Canadian game show where teams of mothers and their children were pitted against each other. They had to see how well they knew each other. I always thought it was a lot of fun!

The Friendly Giant....nuff said!

The Edison Twins. Kids solving mysteries using science. Too cool!!!! This was another Canadian TV show (you probably all know that I am a Canadian).

The Kids of Degrassi Street. A Canadian children's show about the lives of a group of children growing up in Toronto.

Degrassi Junior High. The Kids of Degrassi street got older and their lives got a lot more complicated!

The A-Team. They were bad-ass!

Wok With Yan. Yep! I loved a cooking show. The host was just damn funny! Another Canadian show.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

I'm Always Sick in Japan

2011-07-24T15:25:00.004+09:00

Is it easier for a foreigner to get sick while living in Japan? I suppose there are a lot of factors. Where do you work? Are you a teacher? If so, what age groups are you dealing with? Are there allergens in the air that you might not have to contend with in your native country? What are the pollution levels like where you live? Do you take care of your own health?

I think about this a lot because of the fact that in the past few years, since coming to Japan, I have been constantly sick. I am really tired of it, literally and figuratively.

I suppose I can point the finger of blame in many directions. I can also probably point it at myself.

First of all, I am a teacher. I am in direct contact with a large number of children everyday. That’s nothing new though. I’ve been a teacher for about ten years now and have worked with thousands of kids, but have never been so consistently under the weather. A factor may be their age. I have been teaching very young children who have yet to fully develop their immune systems. That means they are sick a lot more than their older counterparts. Long story short, there are a lot more sick little boys and girls hacking and sneezing away in my presence.

In 2002, when I first moved to Asia to teach, I had a job at a kindergarten in Korea. Most new teachers, including myself were sick for most of our first year there. Many veteran teachers referred to it as the “Korean Cruds” and said most new people to the country got it. Basically, due to environmental reasons as well as new food, illnesses, etc., newbie’s were sick a lot!

I think geography has a lot to do with being sick a lot as well. With living far away from where you grew up, you are now being introduced to an entire new set of viruses and illnesses. For example, right now, there is something called “hand, mouth, foot disease” (it’s not very serious) sweeping through kindergartens and day cares in Hyogo Prefecture where I live. Even my son had it last week. It is an illness that is rare and almost unheard of in Canada and America, while quite common here in Japan.

Now I’ll turn my finger of blame towards myself. I simply do too much and don’t rest enough. I work six days a week, run, blog, video blog, am writing a book and of course am married and have a one year old son. I honestly sleep no more than five hours a night. My schedule has definitely led towards my immune system not being what it should.

Time to slow down a bit and get rest.

Problem is, I don’t want to slow down!

They made you eat poop?

2011-07-24T15:22:00.002+09:00

Kids are funny. There is no other way to put it. Kids are funny because kids are honest. They are far more honest than you or I will ever be. They have yet to learn about social norms and boundaries. They have not yet learned that one might offend another or hurt another’s feelings by telling the truth sometimes.

Kids are innocent and kids are honest. Kids call it as they see it.

Here’s a story about that:

Teaching in Asia: Private Language Schools

2011-07-20T21:07:00.006+09:00

It's been a crazy week so far. A typhoon almost hit us and then crawled away in a wimpy fashion. Also, I had a birthday. Today was actually my birthday.

I suppose I can (this being a special day to let my hair down) let you know what I am working on. I have from time to time eluded on my Twitter account that I am in the midst of a "big" writing project. Well, I am. I am writing a book. more specifically, an eBook that I will be self publishing. This book will be about teaching in both Korea and Japan. I have a lot of experience working in both countries as well as Canada. I have been writing for some time now and have been asking amazing members of the teaching community for information and help on the project. You can expect the finished product this Fall sometime.

My new "Teaching in Asia" series is something that I going to compliment this book. I plan to make dozens of videos in this series. I think it will be a great resource for anyone out there interested in becoming a language teacher in Asia.

Here is the latest installment.

Teaching in Asia: Private Language Schools

Teaching in Asia! I plan to have a new and interesting thumbnail for each video.

Donbori, pizza and a tower

2011-07-17T11:39:00.003+09:00

Another week has come and gone here in Japan and here are some more instagram photos from the previous week. The weather was hot and sunny all week.

You can see some supermarket donbori I ate earlier in the week, a street near my apartmen, some pizza I made from scratch, my local train station and Port Tower along the Kobe waterfront.

Teaching in Asia: The Series

2011-07-17T11:21:00.003+09:00

I uploaded my second installment in my "Teaching in Asia" series of videos on You Tube. This series of videos will be about all aspects of teaching in South Korea and Japan. I have a lot of experience teaching in both countries as well as in Canada so it is a topic I am more than comfortable talking about. I also plan to delve into some areas I'm not so knowledgeable about and in those cases, I plan to get some other bloggers/teachers involved.

Yesterday was a very productive day. I shot two more videos in the series and edited three last night, including the one below.

Today is a gorgeous day here in Kobe, but unfortunately, my family is sick so we cannot enjoy it together. I will however sneak out later and shoot two ore videos and have them edited tonight.

I aim to release two to three videos in this series every week. Is it a lot of work? Yes it it, but I have started to find the fun in You Tube again and am enjoying the video making process once again!

Teaching in Asia: Am I Qualified?

Summer Camp in Japan

2011-07-16T22:06:00.002+09:00

This is my fourth school year in Japan. I’ve been here for a little more than three years and have worked at the same school the entire time. Every July, the students and teachers from every campus of my school go to summer camp. The students take the role of; well, students and teachers take the role of camp counselors!

For my fourth summer camp in Japan, I was given the role of camp leader. It was my job to coordinate the activities and events during the camp. We went last week into the wilds of Japan and had a wonderful time. Everything was a success and the new campsite we went to was brilliant!

One activity we did was a nature scavenger hunt. I lead groups of students and teachers up a mountain trail and they had to tick off various items from a list. Before taking the students up the mountain though, I had to explore the various trails myself. I took some videos with my iPhone of my camp explorations. You can get an idea of how amazing the place was.

Two things you won’t see though are the students and teachers. I have a few rules about making videos and blogging. I only speak about my school in a very general way and I never show images of students or coworkers. As a professional teacher, it’s a good policy!

Check out my summer camp videos:

I Kill Bugs

2011-07-15T14:03:00.002+09:00

I'm not a heartless man, but sometimes I simply don't pay attention to where I walk. Cicadas of Japan....BEWARE!!

Adventures in Japan

2011-07-13T21:51:00.006+09:00

I've had a few extra days off from work this week and have been spending a lot more time than usual with my family. It has been wonderful and has definitely made the week much better.

As many readers of this blog may already know, I am a huge fan of the Instagram iPhone app. I decided to start taking a series of pictures of my son and calling them Baby Adventures in Japan. I have been taking them in various locations we've been to throughout the week and just have two rules: 1. Make the shot cool. 2. Don't show his face. I'm not trying to be super secretive since I have in the past shared pictures of my son. I just thought it would be a cool way to snap some fun shots.

Here's the first Baby Adventure in Japan:

"Baby Adventures at IKEA"

By the way, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY son!!!! It was a wonderful day!

Japanese on Drugs?

2011-07-12T15:28:00.003+09:00

Recently I’ve started video blogging again after a hiatus of a few months. Family life, work and my ultra marathon training made life very busy and I simply no longer had time to blog. As life seems to ease up a little, I have a little more time.

I’ve made my written blog (what you are reading now) a priority, as my writing skills need improvement. One of the downsides of teaching young children for several years is my loss of writing ability. I also have a larger writing project on the go and simply want to write as much as possible.

Today, a wonderful mid-week day off, I decided (while both my wife and son were taking a nap), to go back to my old video blogging roots and shoot a short and fun video.

Here it is:

Japanese on Drugs?

How do you stay cool in the summer?

2011-07-11T21:47:00.006+09:00

It's hot! It's really hot. That is one thing that is consistent about summer in Japan. Well, there are probably more things that happen consistently as well, but I can't stop thinking about this heat. This is my fourth summer here in Japan and I never like this time of year. I try not to be a negative person. I try to be happy and upbeat as much as possible. I often walk around with an absent-minded/happy/vacant look on my face. I enjoy smiles, laughs. I enjoy puppy dogs and bubbles. I like happy things.

Summer in Japan is not a happy thing, unless you live in Hokkaido and then it's a rather tolerable and probably lovely thing.

This morning my wonderful son woke up at 4:00 am and decided he didn't want to go back to bed. By 5:00 am this morning he was ripping around the living room having a good time. I was trying to sleep on the floor of the living room, but had little luck doing so.

Normally, I sleep in a bedroom at one end of my apartment. Most of the year my wife and I crash in our bedroom every night, but in the summer things change for me. We have only one air conditioning unit in our house and it is located in the living room. Every June I bust out the futon set that we use for guests and stretch it out in the living room just before bedtime. I turn on the A/C unit and doze off into a blissfully cool slumber (and cross my fingers that my son won't wake up too early).

That's one way I cope with summer and the vile heat.

How do you do it?

Check out my video about coping with summer heat and leave a comment below this post telling me what you do to cope with the heat wherever you are!

I ended today's video blog in this alley. It7s a great little place filled with dingy and amazing little restaurants and drinking holes. I love this kind of place, but a narrow street like this in the summer with no wind is extra hot!

Follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Japanese Stalkers and Japan in Pictures

2011-07-11T17:43:00.004+09:00

Another week of Japan in pictures. I take a lot of pictures everyday and many with the iPhone application, Instagram. Here are some images of Japan I captured.

I also wanted to share a little story. Yesterday, while out for a Sunday training run, I passed a young couple riding a bicycle. Shortly after passing them, the young man decided to hop of the bike and chase after me while his girlfriend took over driving. He followed behind me for more than a kilometer before finally stopping. he was by no means dressed for running and I have no idea why he did it. It was pretty weird though. I'm happy something like tat didn't happen at night or I would have had to practice my sprinting skills!

You can watch the story here:

Teaching in Asia: Disorganized Schools

2011-07-10T21:37:00.002+09:00

I've tasked myself with a pretty large project. I have decided to write some fun and hopefully useful posts about teaching overseas. I have asked a large number of teachers in both Korea and Japan to answer some questions. Once I've received all the interviews, I plan to compile the information into some in-depth blog posts and then later this year, an ebook.

I've been blogging and vlogging for many years now and have received literally thousands of questions about teaching in Korea and Japan. I have made dozens of videos on my two You Tube channels (jlandkev and busankevin) and many of those videos have proven to be my most successful.

I have also decided to get back into making videos about teaching as well. My series "Teaching in Asia" will focus on teaching in both Korea and Japan (two countries I have experience in). I will also look at teaching itself, resources, assessment, methodologies and about getting into a teacher education programs in your native country.

This afternoon I decided to shoot a video talking about a negative experience I had while teaching in South Korea. Not all schools are equal. As a new teacher coming to work in Asia, sometimes finding a great work environment can be a crap shoot.

If you are working for a large franchise operation, one campus may be wonderful, while the other may have a tyrannical manager or unfriendly teachers. Some schools offer great training and a solid curriculum for new teachers while others throw you into the classroom your first day with no truing whatsoever. Some are flexible and some are rigid. Some schools pay handsomely while others may not have enough funds to make payroll.

You simply never know.

Today's video blog is about disorganized schools. There are many!

Why the Hell would you ever want to move to Asia?

2011-07-05T21:14:00.006+09:00

Every year, thousands of English speaking people from around the globe make their way to countries throughout Asia in order to teach. The people are as varied as are their stories and reasons for coming to such faraway places.

Some of these soon to be teachers are young and some are not so young. Some are somewhere in between! Some are normal while others are not so normal. Some are married while others come looking for love.

I have met hundreds of teachers over the years in South Korea, and Japan as well as my travels in China and throughout South East Asia.

I have asked many people how they ended up in the place they were and the answers were varied, but often there were themes. Here are some reasons so many come to Asia to teach:

1. Gap Year. Many young and recent university graduates simply don’t really know what they want to do after graduating from university or are not ready to settle into a career-oriented job back home. They are simply looking for a year of fun and adventure.

2. Adventurous types. There are some who move abroad because they simply find life in their own country boring. They want some more flavor and excitement in life.

3. Travelers. Teaching English is a great way to save money for future travels. Also, if you are already residing in Asia, it is a great springboard to so many other countries.

4. Career changers. I met many people over the years who gave up great careers in their native countries in order to teach. Many were burning out in their old careers or simply felt their jobs had little meaning. They simply needed a big change.

5. Heart broken. I met more than a few people who left home because of a broken heart and were simply trying to get as far away as possible from some bad memories.

6. The hopeless. I also have met people who seemed hopeless. When I say this, I mean that they lacked social skills and seemed to be void of any marketable job skills as well. They were the sort of people who would flounder in their own country, but due to the fact that their native language is English, were able to have a job in another.

7. Those struck with Yellow Fever. I’ve heard this term many times in the past ten years. There are lots of guys who are simply really into Asian women. Where are the majority of Asian women? In Asia!

8. Saving for bigger things. I have met many folks who are teaching in Asia with bigger plans in mind. They are saving for graduate school or in order to buy a house in their native country.

9. Bad economies. Since the global economic meltdown a few years ago (thank to the American housing industry), it’s much harder to find employment in some countries. That being the case, many people are looking abroad for work.

10. Mystery men. I have met some guys who seem so absolutely dysfunctional that I have no idea how they survived in their own country or how they don’t get deported from the one they are in now!

Now of course, these are just some sweeping generalizations I’ve made. They are based upon some of the people I have met abroad in my years working as an educator.

When working abroad, you will meet some amazing people. You will make life long friends and you will also meet some people that you wish you never had!

Life in Asia can be an interesting one!

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Back alleys of Japan

2011-07-05T21:10:00.003+09:00

There is nothing I love more in Japan than simply exploring the back streets and alleys. For a curious person such as myself, there are endless wonders to discover. I suppose the only thing better than exploring is bringing a camera (or iPhone) along and sharing it with all of you!

Japan by Photo

2011-07-04T21:44:00.007+09:00

Here are some pictures I took during the last week using the iPhone app Instagram. they are random and a lot of fun I think.

Hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave a comment below if you'd like to see more pictures in the future.

Japanese Beer Garden?

A Sunday morning breakfast audience.

Dead beetle. An untimely demise!

Shoes belonging to the men of the house!

Soon people will be celebrating Tanabata in Japan.

Took this shot the other day after an early morning run. The sun was just rising and the flowers looked great.

Follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Koreans Vacuuming Grass

2011-07-04T20:11:00.006+09:00

Life abroad can be one filled with excitement, new discoveries and often, things that make you raise an eyebrow. In different cultures, people often do things in a very different way than you might in yours. It may not be culturally acceptable to spit in one country, but perfectly fine in another.

Different cultures also have different standards and definitions for things such as beauty and cleanliness. We eat our food in different ways. We behave at concerts in different ways. We create in different ways.

Cultures are different and the following photos are no exception to this. I lived in South Korea for more than five years, but never came across something this weird. While surfing around a former colleague's Facebook page, I came across these pictures of Korean cleaning staff outside of a store in Mokpo, Korea. I almost couldn't believe what I saw. I had to email him for clarification and then permission to use these pictures.

These are pictures of Korean cleaning staff at a store vacuuming the grass! That's right! They are actually cleaning the real grass on the lawn with a vacuum cleaner.

Bizarre as it may seem to me, this sort of thing apparently happens in Korea.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

The Hardest Day of my Life

2011-07-03T21:23:00.001+09:00

I completed my 60 kilometer ultra marathon to raise money for Save the Children Japan last week. Here is a little more about the run:

Here is some more about the actually running data for the entire run. this was collected by the Runmeter app I used on my iPhone to track the run.

"Running to Help Japan 60km" Splits

Kilometer 01 - Average 6:41 /km
Kilometer 02 - Average 6:14 /km
Kilometer 03 - Average 6:01 /km
Kilometer 04 - Average 6:20 /km
Kilometer 05 - Average 6:22 /km
Kilometer 06 - Average 6:12 /km
Kilometer 07 - Average 7:15 /km
Kilometer 08 - Average 6:23 /km
Kilometer 09 - Average 5:45 /km
Kilometer 10 - Average 6:37 /km
Kilometer 11 - Average 6:15 /km
Kilometer 12 - Average 6:27 /km
Kilometer 13 - Average 6:25 /km
Kilometer 14 - Average 5:23 /km
Kilometer 15 - Average 5:51 /km
Kilometer 16 - Average 6:17 /km
Kilometer 17 - Average 6:25 /km
Kilometer 18 - Average 6:02 /km
Kilometer 19 - Average 5:58 /km
Kilometer 20 - Average 7:31 /km
Kilometer 21 - Average 6:36 /km
Kilometer 22 - Average 6:07 /km
Kilometer 23 - Average 8:19 /km
Kilometer 24 - Average 6:56 /km
Kilometer 25 - Average 7:10 /km
Kilometer 26 - Average 6:48 /km
Kilometer 27 - Average 7:39 /km
Kilometer 28 - Average 5:46 /km
Kilometer 29 - Average 6:05 /km
Kilometer 30 - Average 6:19 /km
Kilometer 31 - Average 5:48 /km
Kilometer 32 - Average 6:37 /km
Kilometer 33 - Average 5:15 /km
Kilometer 34 - Average 8:24 /km
Kilometer 35 - Average 6:06 /km
Kilometer 36 - Average 6:46 /km
Kilometer 37 - Average 5:34 /km
Kilometer 38 - Average 6:15 /km
Kilometer 39 - Average 6:10 /km
Kilometer 40 - Average 6:21 /km
Kilometer 41 - Average 7:19 /km
Kilometer 42 - Average 6:13 /km
Kilometer 43 - Average 10:46 /km
Kilometer 44 - Average 6:45 /km
Kilometer 45 - Average 6:19 /km
Kilometer 46 - Average 7:54 /km
Kilometer 47 - Average 7:04 /km
Kilometer 48 - Average 5:53 /km
Kilometer 49 - Average 10:25 /km
Kilometer 50 - Average 6:20 /km
Kilometer 51 - Average 7:49 /km
Kilometer 52 - Average 6:18 /km
Kilometer 53 - Average 6:49 /km
Kilometer 54 - Average 5:29 /km
Kilometer 55 - Average 6:13 /km
Kilometer 56 - Average 7:09 /km
Kilometer 57 - Average 5:43 /km
Kilometer 58 - Average 7:45 /km
Kilometer 59 - Average 6:49 /km
Kilometer 60 - Average 6:04 /km

Next stop....Osaka Marathon on October 30th. After that, Kobe Marathon on November 20th.

Running to Help Japan: I Did It!

2011-06-25T20:17:00.005+09:00

Long story short, "I did it!" Today was the big day for Running to Help Japan. Today was my 60km run. I completed the entire 60 kilometers in 6:38:55.

This was easily the most difficult thing I have ever done. i have never experienced so much pain or emotion doing something. Now, I have heat rash on my feet, an amazing sunburn (I applied sunscreen several times) and VERY sore legs.

I can't wait to go to bed early tonight.

Tomorrow, I will write a detailed run report and tell you guys all a lot more. Now, I sleep!

I dedicate this to everyone who supported me through this journey!

What's next?

Running to Help Japan: Where I'll run

2011-06-22T20:29:00.002+09:00

Here it is folks. My “Running to Help Japan” 60k route this Saturday. I’ll be running this 20km loop three times. I know this area very well since these are regular training areas for me. I think it’s best to stick close to home and run in familiar territory.
Aside from the bridge between Port Island and Kobe Airport Island, it is a pretty flat course.

I’ll start at about 5-5:30am to try to beat some of the heat. Unfortunately, it has been very humid here this week. I’ll have to be very aware of my hydration and make sure I’m getting enough liquid.

Here are some maps of my route:

Remember to follow me on twitter that day. That is how I will be making my live updates. Also, since I am using the Runmeter iPhone app to track my run, when you tweet me a message, a voice reads it to me. That’s great motivation.

Donate to Running to Help Japan below:

Japanese Booze Shops and Fast Shoes

2011-06-19T21:44:00.005+09:00

I went for a run this morning in my new shiny and fast shoes. While out on the road, I felt inspired. I shot three video blogs and put them on my "jlandkev" You Tube channel.

Here they are:

Perspectives: Where I was and where I'm going

2011-06-18T21:29:00.004+09:00

I actually have a little free time this evening to write (I actually starting writing this post last week) so I decided to respond to my friend Dimitri. He wrote a recent blog post called Perspectives. He asked the question, where were you one, five, ten years ago? Where might we be one, five, ten years from now?

Here is my perspective:

- 10 years ago: I was living in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. I was recently graduated from a technical school program in 3D graphics and electronic game design. I was working as a junior 3D modeler and texture artist at a small game development studio. My job was exciting and stressful at the same time. I enjoyed many aspects of it, but was longing for travel and a life filled with a little more adventure. I was contemplating some sort of big change. I was searching websites and investigating the option of getting a tech job overseas, maybe Ireland.

- 5 years ago: I was living and working in Busan, South Korea as a teacher at a large school chain called CDI. I had a wonderful girlfriend who I met in Busan, but wasn’t Korean. She was a Japanese woman from Osaka. We were pretty serious and talking about a future together. I had also been accepted into a teacher education program at the University of Ottawa in Canada. I was looking forward to starting there the following year.

- 1 year ago: I had finished school in Canada and was a full-fledged teacher. I was starting my third year at a school in Kobe, Japan where I was living. The Japanese woman I was dating in Korea was now my wife and we were just weeks away from expecting our first child. Life was interesting and about to get more interesting!

- Today: I still live in Kobe, Japan with my wife and a cute little son who is about to turn one! I still work at the same school teaching children and have learned a lot about fatherhood. Like all new parents, my life has completely changed. I also have a new passion. I have combined running with charity and spend the time I used to on You Tube video blogging, on raising awareness and trying to raise funds for Save the Children Japan. I also plan to branch out and do even more charity work.

- 1 year later: Not sure about that. I may be preparing for my return to Canada. My teaching career in Canada is calling me. I could possibly be in the midst of moving and relocation preparations. Then again, maybe not!

- 5 years later: I will be living in Canada with my family. We will be living in our first house and my son will enjoy running around in the backyard. I will be using my teaching talents and abilities to help young learners in my own country and working hard to run and help various charitable organizations. I will also be preparing to head to the Sahara Desert in Morrocco to run the Marathon des Sables for the first time!

- 10 years later: I will be taking a leave of absence from my teaching job back home to spend a couple of years working at a large international school in Japan again. My children will be enrolled in the public school system here for a few years to help them improve their Japanese and get in touch with their Japanese culture!

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Running to Help Japan（走って日本を助ける）

2011-06-16T23:32:00.004+09:00

私は、神戸在住のカナダ人教師のケヴィン　オーシェイといいます。今年３月１１日に東北地方をおそった地震、津波、原子力発電所の災害は本当に悲劇でした。この災害の後、私は何か手助けしたいと思いました。そこで、走る事に貪欲な一人のランナーとして、私は「走って日本を助ける」ことを決心しました。２０１１年の間に、募金団体『セーブ　ザ　チルドレン　ジャパン（東北地方の子供たちの支援活動を行っています）』への募金を募るためにいくつかのイベントで走ることを計画しています。
　
６月２５日、私は６０kmのウルトラマラソンを神戸で走ります。他のイベント同様に『セーブ　ザ　チルドレン』の募金を募るため今年末に大阪マラソンにも参加する予定です。
　
あなたも募金をすることで子供たちを助けることができますよ。どんな小さな金額でも結構です。ウェブサイト「Running to Help Japan（走って日本を助ける）」のベージ下から募金団体へアクセスできます。
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kevinoshea/runningtohelpjapan

よろしくお願いします。

My name is Kevin O'Shea and I am a Canadian teacher living in Kobe, Japan. The March 11th earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster were a true tragedy. After this happened, I wanted to do something to help. An avid runner, I have decided to create "Running to help Japan." Throughout 2011, I plan to run in several events in order to raise money for Save the Children Japan and their work with children in the Tohuko region.

On June 25th, I will run a 60km ultra marathon in Kobe, Japan. Later this year I will be running the Osaka Marathon as well as other events in order to raise funds for Save the Children.

You can help by making a donation. Any amount helps.　You can visit the Running to Help sponsor page below and donate:
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kevinoshea/runningtohelpjapan

Thank you

Running to Help Japan BLOG!

Follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Donate to Running to Help Japan here:

Game On for Running to Help Japan

2011-06-09T22:20:00.003+09:00

Running to Help Japan is GO on June 25th, 2011....at about 5:00am.

#Quakebook

2011-06-04T22:28:00.002+09:00

#quakebook featuring Scala & Kolacny Brothers and Kings of Leon from Quakebook on Vimeo.

Angry Foreigners in Korea and Japan

2011-06-04T22:00:00.005+09:00

This afternoon I read an article on CNNgo called “12 Rules for Expat Life in Korea.” The link was sent to me by my friend in Tokyo, Hikosaemon, a long time resident of Japan and blogger, who was curious about my thoughts on the topic.

For those of you familiar with my blog, previous to coming to Japan, I lived in South Korea for more than five years.

I have to admit that the article did have a lot of truth to it, and was a bit of a laugh since I had experienced some of the things mentioned. I also have to admit that I found a slight feeling of tongue and cheek “bitterness” to it. That was also something I can relate to in a way.

I want to delve a little bit into the world of the “bitter foreigner.” An entire book probably wouldn’t be able to properly discuss this topic, but I’m going to scratch the surface a little in this post.

After my 5 plus years as a teacher in Korea, I left with a chip on my shoulder (I’m not proud to say that.). There were many reasons I left Korea with a less than positive feeling about the country in my mind. In the same way Korean people (or Japanese for that matter) feel negative feelings when they see a group of drunken English teachers acting like jackasses on a train late at night, I had too many run ins with ill-mannered, drunken old Korean guys. I had more than one employer short change me on pay and basically, should have just moved on a little sooner than I did.

There are many people who move to Asia with great expectations only to become jaded and angry. The reasons are varied and often there are many. Some people are screwed over by shady employers. Some are screwed over in the romance department (something that happens in every country and culture). Some don’t like the food. Some don’t like the cultural belief systems. Some are close-minded. Some have serious inferiority complexes and need someone to blame for their own issues or simply to look down upon. Some angry foreigners are people who simply should have never left their small little hometown in their native country.

During my first year in Korea, a period of time when I was simply in love with the culture and everything it had to offer, I had two young Canadian women in my Tae Kwon Do class. After only being in Korea for a month or two, they hated everything. They complained about the language, the smell of kimchi, the fact that they could not buy Kraft Peanut Butter (which I love btw) and anything else you can imagine. They were angry from day one! Those two ladies were a prime example of people who just aren’t cut out for life abroad. I’m sure that they would be angry in any other country that wasn’t Canada. To be honest, they probably wouldn’t be happy with life in Canada either!

Some foreigners get bitter about life in a place like Korea or Japan over time. They start off happy. They love everything about the place for a few years, but begin to grow cynical over time. They begin to spend more time bitching about the place they are in than simply living life. Often, groups of like-minded foreigners get together and spew negative energy (birds of a feather tend to flock together). Sadly, those sitting around them in various bars, coffee shops and restaurants (Korean and Japanese people) can often understand some of what they are saying. It simply paints a very negative image in the locals’ minds about foreigners and their opinions.

Often, once people form negative opinions about the place they now work and live, they share it. People tend to blog about it. The most negative people tend to scurry around in the comments sections of online newspapers and forums of major English teaching job sites. From time to time those angry people will draw the attention of local netizens, which leads to online flame wars.

Please don’t think that all expats living in Korea of Japan are negative. That is by no means the case. I suppose the reality is that the negative people tend to be the loudest. I was that way too, once upon a time. When you have a chip on your shoulder or are angry, you really want people to know about it. When you are content, you tend to just live life in a happy way. You may not feel the need to climb to the highest mountain and shout about it.

After a few years in Korea I became a pretty negative guy. Now I live in Japan. After a few years here, I am not a negative guy (unless I am sick for too long….that would happen anywhere). There are many reasons why I think things are different. I’m not going to compare and contrast the two countries and use that as a reason. I think there are some other very basic personal reasons why I am not a bitter foreigner.

1. When I lived in Korea I was a single guy. Now I am happily married to a wonderful woman and have a family. I have more important things to think about than bitching about insignificant aspects of life.

2. I am a “family man” in the true sense of the term. I rush home every night after work to have dinner with my wife, play with my son, give him a bath and help put him to bed. I no longer spend my free time in pubs and bars complaining about stuff with fellow foreigners.

3. I run marathons (literally). My hobby of long distance running means that I spend a lot of my free time running and focusing on running goals. Those are all positive things. Running brings joy to my life. I didn’t really run in Korea. I wish I did. I probably would have been a happier expat!

4. My job. Although not perfect (is there such a thing?), my job challenges my skill set as an educator. My jobs in Korea didn’t. Simply put, I am busier and more challenged.

5. My wife is Japanese (and I live in Japan) and she helps me a lot with the day-to-day life things that I wasn’t able to do by myself when I lived in Korea. (i.e. filling out tax forms, ordering things online).

6. I spend more time with local people (Japanese) than foreigners. I’m not one of these “I’m better than other foreigners cause I hang out with Japanese people all the time idiots! Not at all). I sort of wish I had more foreign amigos. I just tend to spend more time with my wife, her family and friends. I also have a neighbor who is a runner.

7. Charity work. For the first time in my life, I started doing some serious charity work. I have combined my hobbies of running and blogging to create the Running to Help Japan project. I am training hard to raise money for Save the Children Japan and their earthquake/tsunami relief efforts.

8. I have no time to be bitter. After reading 1 though 7, you can see that I’m pretty busy! I don’t have time to be negative.

Not all people who come to Korea or Japan become negative. Some do however. Those negative people can be pretty nasty to be around. They are the ultimate buzz killers. My suggestion, if you are around them, change company. Hang out with people who are more positive. Hang out with more local people (indigenous persons). Maybe you can find some positive hobbies. Start video blogging, playing some sort of sport. Cooking and art classes are always a great thing to do and they are easy to arrange. I’ve met people who have learned to play instruments or even get their masters degree in their free time while living in Korea and Japan.

Sometimes it can be hard to live and work so far away from your home. At times it can feel like and adventure and at times it can be a true test of one’s patience. You can make it a positive expeience though. Sometimes the positives come easy, but other times, you just have to work a little harder!

You can follow this "Non-Angry" foreigner on Twitter: @jlandkev

Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets....Oh Canada!

2011-06-01T20:29:00.006+09:00

Is this a Japan-centric blog? Maybe. I do afterall live in Japan so I suppose I write a lot about the place I live in.

If I lived in Korea, this would be a Korea-centric blog.

When I make the move back to Canada, it will be a Canada-centric blog. Today, although I am in Japan, I want to make this post a little….no wait!!!! I want to make it VERY Canada–centric.

This is Canada’s day for hockey. In 1996, Canada lost the Winnipeg Jets. It hs been the dream of thousands of Canadians that the city of Winnipeg would someday acquire a new NHL hockey franchise. Today that happened. True North Sports Entertainment, bought the Atlanta Thrashers franchise and will be moving them north to Winnipeg for the 2011-2012 season. I am definitely happy for the fine folks of Manitoba’s largest city.

Now, am I a hard core hockey fan? No I am not. Do I enjoy hockey? You better believe it! Am I happy that Canada now has a 7th NHL hockey francise? You better believe it.

Also, the Vancouver Canucks, another one of Canada's few NHL teams begin playing the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals this week. have I always been a Canucks's fan? No I haven't. Am I happy there is a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup finals? You bet your ASS I am!

Go Canucks Go!!!

Go Jets Go!!!

Suicide by Train in Japan

2011-05-29T21:42:00.006+09:00

A sad reality about life in Japan is that it is quite bleak for some. I suppose that is the case for people throughout the world. Japan however does have one of the highest suicide rates in the world.

After 3 plus years living in Japan and traveling on trains, I have grown accustomed to trains being late for various reasons. Sadly, the most common reason is suicide. Many people chose to end their lives by jumping in front of trains as they are pulling into the station.

The JR (Japan Railway), the rail line I use most often in the Kansai area deals with this problem a lot. Some stations have digital information signs that explain to you why a train delay has occurred and what lines are affected. I took this picture in Akashi Station with my phone.

Human Damage Accident = Suicide

My Ten Big Adventures

2011-05-29T15:13:00.007+09:00

I think everyone has a little inner adventurer in them. For some people, that adventure might be as simple as getting on an airplane for the first time. That adventure might be gathering the courage to quit a job they dislike and move on to something new and more rewarding. For others, that adventure might be in the classic, “Indiana Jones” style, bush whacking through the jungles of South America or seeking treasure in the West Africa.

Everyone has a different concept of adventure and everyone has a little bit of adventure somewhere in the back of his or her minds.

I suppose I have an adventure bucket list so to speak. There are certain adventures I’ve dreamed about taking one. These are various things I’ve thought about throughout my adult life. These are the things I hope I can do before I’m too old to do them!
Here they are, the adventures I hope to someday have (I only chose 10 and they are randomly ordered):

1. Mt. Fuji – about 300,000 people hike this mountain every year. I would like to be one of them. It’s not that far away from here and it is very doable!

2. The Dempster Highway – the most northern highway in Canada. 736km from Dawson City, Yukon (about 40km from there) to Inuvik. I want to drive this highway in September.

3. Appalachian Trail – 3510km hiking trail in the United States. It goes from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. This trail is famous for the number of hikers who hit it every year and its thru-hikers (what I would want to do), hike the entire trail in a single season. I have been reading about this hike for years. I especially loved Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods.”

4. Marathon Des Sables – 243km ultra marathon across the Sahara desert in Morocco. It is a 6 day staged race in which you must carry your own food, water and supplies! Wow! I get hot and steamy just thinking about this one!

5. Cross Canada Drive – St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia. If we had a nice comfy ride, this would also be a great family trip (my wife might want to kill me half way through though…I’d probably drive her nuts!).

6. Sail on a tall ship – lots of tall ships would stop by my hometown of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia when I was a kid. I always imagined spending a few weeks on one. I know that you can actually drop some coin and often join the crew for a week or two. I would love to sail around on a tall ship. I could throw up over the side of a ship the old fashioned way!

7. Spend a month on an archeological dig – I realize that this would mostly entail me moving wheelbarrows filled with dirt, sweating and being eaten alive by bugs (or freezing my backside off depending on the time of year), but it would be interesting. I suppose a lot of that might have to do with what type of site we were excavating.

8. Cycling Ireland – I would love to spend a summer slowly cruising around rural Ireland by bicycle. I’d love to sleep in tents, pubs and country inns. The whole time, Guinness would fuel my ride. This would be a great family trip!

9. TGO Challenge (Hiking across Scotland) – this is an annual, non-competitive coast-to-coast hike across Scotland. The walk is between 288-320km and you have 15 days to complete it. Coming from Nova Scotia (New Scotland) I suppose I have always had an interest in the history and geography of Scotland.

10. Cycle Across Canada – I’m not a big cyclist, but I like bicycles and I like camping. Why not!

Do you have some adventures planned or still in the dream stage?

Follow my daydreams and adventures on Twitter: @jlandkev

Rainy season in Japan: A Survival Guide

2011-05-28T11:59:00.005+09:00

How to Keep Upbeat and Happy During the Rainy Season in Japan: A Survival Guide

The rainy season has begun here in Japan and anyone who lives here or is thinking of moving here should know that every year, for a few weeks, we are locked in a world of constant rain and general wet misery. This bleak and dreary weather can often lead some to become depressed. If you follow my quick and easy tips though, you’ll never feel gloomy again during Japan’s rainy season!

1. Wear Hawaiian shirts everyday. It may be gloomy outside, but it will be a party everywhere you go!

2. Have loads of electric fans stationed throughout your apartment to dry the clothes you have to hang inside (no dryers here).

3. Install a large inflatable palm tree in the corner of your living room. It will give you that tropical feeling you so long for. My wife doesn’t know I plan to do this and she probably won’t like it too much, but I know my son sure will!

4. Booze! Lots of booze may help you forget this dreary period of the year. Go on a bender until rainy season is over. You’ll be just like a beautiful butterfly emerging from your drunken cocoon in the summer!

5. Quite your job and move to a desert region. Once the rainy season is over, move back to Japan and beg for your job back (it might just work).

6. If you are a runner like me, don’t let the rain discourage you. People in Japan may not run in the rain, but you sure did back home in Canada, America, U.K etc. Don’t forget your soaking wet running past!

7. Wear sunglasses everywhere you go and complain about how bright it always is! Convince yourself that it isn’t cloudy! Young women all around Japan wear large sunglasses inside, outside, during the daytime and nighttime....you'll blend right in!

8. Always keep the lights on in your apartment and buy several extra lamps. Make your apartment as bright as possible. Sure, it won’t be good for your power bill, but you’ll feel more cheery!

9. Drink heavily….ah wait…I already mentioned that one.

10. Only eat food from India, Jamaica, Korea and Mexico. Spicy food will warm you up. With that increased body temperature you might be fooled into believing it isn’t so damp and crappy outside.

Follow these tips and you’re sure to have a far more enjoyable rainy season here in Japan.

Also, don’t forget to take them with a grain of salt ;)

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Why I need to watch more television

2011-05-27T14:22:00.008+09:00

Popular culture is in a way like food. We consume it on a daily basis and often we need an understanding of it, at some level, in order to carry on conversations with our peers, colleagues, friends and random people we meet. We don’t necessarily have to consume an inordinate amount, but we must eat a little for fear of being left out of the conversation. These days, I feel a little left out!

During my childhood and teenage years, there were specific television programs I eagerly anticipated all week long, shows that were special events on certain nights of the week. Like most children/teens in Canada, I spent a fair amount of time propped up in front of the ole boob tube.

As I got older and moved on to university, I found that I was spending more time away from home or at least a television. Instead of watching TV, I was socializing with friends at coffee shops and later bars. We would sit around and listen to music and talk as opposed to watching television.

In my early twenties, post-university, I became a college student, studying 3D graphics and design. I spent every free moment I had creating 3D models and learning about game development. There was no time or even interest in watching television (Aside from season one of “Survivor” which I loved!).

Post-college life involved me working very long hours at a game development studio. I worked a lot and did freelance 3D design on the side. I did have some time for television, but by that time had become a full-fledged tech geek! My roommate had a satellite dish and we would spend evenings, when not working, drinking beer and watching Tech TV (I loved the show “The Screen Savers”.).

Soon after that I found myself living in South Korea, working as an English teacher. I had cable television, but most channels were of course Korean. I did however start watching more television again. I didn’t have a computer during my first year in Korea so had little Internet access (after years as a tech-gek I was purposely going “anti-tech”). I would watch AFN (American Forces Network) a television channel run by the American military for U.S. service personnel in Korea. I was able to watch American sitcoms (Fraiser seemed to be on at least three times a night, seven nights a week) and shows like David Letterman. It was sort of refreshing.

Soon enough I was busier and busier at night with my social life, Tae Kwon Do classes and travel that I would rarely watch TV. That continued for the rest of my time in Korea.

I made the move back to Canada and then to Japan with my wife. By the time I was in Japan I was a full-fledged, hard-core You Tube video blogger. I ate, breathed and lived You Tube. I was having so much fun making videos, watching others’ videos and communicating with the hundreds of people emailing me and commenting on my videos. I simply had no time for watching Canadian/American or any other television! When I got home from work or had any free time, I was plunked down in front of You Tube. I really loved it, but I wasn’t consuming the culture that so many others were.

I started to notice over time that I was missing certain cultural references. I am a massive fan of the daily radio show from Canada called Q. It is a culture and arts show. Often they would make references to shows such as Mad Men, Dexter, or 30 Rock and I had never seen any of these shows.

Although I’ve never been a big television viewer, missing these cultural references is a little troubling for me. I realize that I don’t want to consume too much pop culture that way, but some would be good for me I think. By consuming a modest amount of popular culture from Canada or America I would at least feel a little more included in some conversations. I would feel a little more “with it” I suppose.

Now on the other hand, I think it is a healthy thing that I’ve never been faced with an episode of Jersey Shore or some of the crappier fare, pop culture has to offer back home. I honestly can’t afford to lose any more brain cells, the kind that might face extinction by having too much reality TV pointed in their direction.

When people ask me, “Do you watch TV?” I can honestly say “No.” Do I say that because I am a cultural elitist? There’s not chance of me ever being that! I am pretty damn blue-collar when it comes to most things. I’ll take a cold beer in a pub any day over a glass of wine in a fine restaurant. I am a meat and potatoes guy in the true sense of the term. I haven’t watched TV for years because I have been doing other things. Now, I can honestly sit back and say that I would like to watch some television. I would like to at least know a little more about contemporary pop culture.

The irony is that I have been so wired into social media for the past few years that you would think I would know more about the cultural landscape than many. I find myself in quite the opposite position though.

Time to watch some TV.

I need to eat a little more pop culture!

You can follow more of my thoughts on TWITTER: @jlandkev (Japan-Land Kevin)

5 things to do when you're sick

2011-05-23T21:36:00.005+09:00

I am sick. It’s official. It came out of nowhere. Some coworkers couldn’t make it into work today because of illness, but I felt great. I suppose I did have some minor “blahs” to the heavy rain all day, but aside from that, was ready to teach and excited about hitting the road early in the morning for my first training run in several days (looks doubtful that run will happen).

I am feeling worse with every passing minute and will crawl into my cocoon (aka…bed) soon. I was however able to construct one piece of (out of 2) IKEA furniture that was delivered to our place this evening.

I decided to come up with a list of things to do when you suddenly become sick, but definitely have to go to the work in the morning:

1. Drink boat loads of water, herb tea and other hydrating fluids.

2. Take some over the counter cold medicine (not sick enough to necessitate a trip to the emergency room). Unfortuantely, cold medecine in Japan is pretty weak compared to what I am used to in Canada and really doesn’t help much. I suppose the placebo affect might be worth something.

3. Build IKEA furniture (but then realize you are too weak to finish the second book shelf).

4. Feel sorry for yourself (I’m really good at this one)!

5. Go to bed….night folks….

DOWN with being sick....especially on cold rainy nights!

You can follow me and my sick self on Twiter: @jlandkev

You deserve to be angry when...

2011-05-22T21:19:00.004+09:00

It recently dawned on me that it has been more than nine years since I left my life as a 3D modeler in the games industry, moved to Asia and became a teacher. There was of course, time for teacher’s college back in Canada thrown in there as well, but I have been in Asia for a long time.

The entire time I have been here I’ve worked in education. I’ve worked in both South Korea and Japan and as a teacher in private language schools and private international schools. I have dealt with many types of employers, students, parents and colleagues. I have had wonderful experiences and some that have been anything but wonderful!

While out for a walk this evening (a beautiful spring going on summer evening here in Kobe, Japan) I was thinking of my own experiences, those of former coworkers and stories I have heard from the hundreds of teachers I have met over the years.

Often I have met “angry” teachers in Asia. At times I have been an “angry” teacher. Sometimes I think you have every right to be angry. Others times, not so much!

As a teacher in Asia…

You DESERVE to be angry if:

1. Your school doesn’t pay you on payday! I have met too many people (including my wife) who have worked for a school that only paid them part of their salary or none at all come payday. There are many fly-by-night organizations in both Korea and Japan.

2. Your school hires you to work a certain schedule or teach certain grades and when you arrive in the country, they change everything at the last minute!

3. The company that hired you seems to be (or just is) completely disorganized.

4. Your coworkers are more concerned with partying than teaching (therefore coming into work every morning, hung over or possibly, still drunk!).

5. Your boss (often in Korea) pressures you to drink on a regular basis and when you explain to him that you don’t like drinking very much, you are mocked!

6. You have to deal with pushy mothers (of students) who have no background as educators, but think they know everything and want to dictate your teaching style.

7. Your school doesn’t support you when pushy mothers are pressuring you.

8. You’re told not to teach too much because the students might become bored. Just play with them and make them happy.

9. Your school has no curriculum.

10. Your school has no training mechanism in place for teachers (it sucks to learn under fire!).

11. Your school tries to convince you that it is perfectly ok for you to work there on a tourist visa (very illegal).

12. Your school fires you in the 11th month of your contract so they don’t have to pay your severance pay or give you a return airplane ticket. This happens from time to time in Korea. Often the school gives some bogus reason to fire you like, “The children were scared of you.” Or “ You weren’t kind.”

You DON’T deserve to be angry if…

1. Your school expects you to actually work! Your school is a business and they have spent a lot of money for you to come to Korea/Japan to work for them and help them earn money. They didn’t hire you so you could “have an amazing adventure and travel experience”!

2. Your school expects you to show up 10 minutes before work! Welcome to a job. Teachers in Canada/America/Australia or wherever definitely show up long before classes begin in the morning and leave long after those classes are over.

3. You don’t get paid for prep (preparation) time. Welcome to reality! The entire time you were in school as a students, your teachers didn’t get paid for prep time either. Teaching is a salaried gig.

4. You come to work hung over on a regular basis and your manager/head teacher gets angry with you. You are being paid a salary to teach. That means you are now a professional teacher. Act professional.

5. Your manager/head teacher is angry cause you came to work drunk. If you did that in a Canadian/American/British school you’d be fired faster than you can imagine. Your license would be revoked as well!

6. Your school expects you to work hard and teach.

7. You have singed your contract, come to Korea/Japan and then realize other teachers you meet earn more than you. Hey, you should have done more research! If your school offered you a certain salary and you accepted, you don’t really have the right to complain about it. Finish your contract and then move on to something else.

8. Your school doesn’t ant you to speak Korean or Japanese in the classroom. They did hire you after all to teach English. They are not paying your salary to practice the language of the country you are in!

Sometimes, teachers in Korea and Japan can have a reputation of being complainers. Sometimes those complaints are completely justified. Other times, not at all.

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Sweating in Japan

2011-05-22T10:53:00.002+09:00

Growing up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, I faced a varied climate. There were some distinct seasons. We of course were faced with damp, slushy and cold winters. Those were followed by muddy and damp springs. After spring was the shortest season of them all, summer. Summer lasted from about the second week of July until the end of August. The temperatures were arm and relatively dry. We would deal with average temperatures of about 25C, comfortable and warm. After that came my favorite season, fall. The air was crisp and the fall colours throughout Cape Breton’s forests were simply breathtaking.

Fast forward many years and I find myself living in the Kansai region of Japan. The climate is far different from what I grew up with and people deal with the elements in a very different way.

How do the seasons here in Kobe compare with those I dealt with while growing up? Well, there isn’t a lot in common!

In Kobe, there are certainly distinct seasons. Winter is mild and very easy to cope with. I like to refer to winters here as “winter lite”! We basically have no snow at all and the temperatures hover around 5C. Winter in Kobe is like mid-fall back home. I like it, but I occasionally miss the “white stuff.” Spring comes along and temperatures skyrocket very quickly. By mid-May, temperatures are I the mid to high 20’s. Then comes a bonus season! Rainy Season.

Rainy Season is basically a month of wet and a whole lot of not fun. As I am writing this post, the rainy season is beginning.

This is a month of having to hang your laundry inside your house (although clothes dryers are standard in Canadian households, they don’t exist in Japan). It is a month of your clothes not drying, getting moldy and not smelling so fresh. This is a season of testing the strength and durability of a variety of umbrellas and hoping someone doesn’t steal your umbrella when you leave it in the umbrella stand outside your office. It is wet!

Rainy season passes and we are immediately thrown into the “Japanese sauna”!

Summer in this area of Japan is brutal. It is hot and very humid. Often, with the humidex, temperatures reach the high 30’s and at times the low 40’s. You sweat from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed. Then you sweat in bed!

Summer in Japan is all about having high power bills in your house because of the air conditioner (even though many Japanese people refuse to use the air conditioners they have) and pointing fans in every direction you can think of.

During my first summer here, I was often self-conscience about the amount I was sweating. I was embarrassed about the fact that the underarms of my shirt were often wet. I was embarrassed about constantly having to wipe the endless waterfall of sweat from my brow. Then I began to look around and noticed that I wasn’t alone. Most of the people around me were sharing the same misery! Most men were also soaking through their shirts and I realized most people carried “sweat towels.” Small towels used to wipe their brows, necks and faces. Both men and women would constantly use these towels. Construction workers normally just tie a white towel around their heads like a bandana to soak up the moisture (I’ve even seen a few dorky foreigners do the same).

Once the sweltering nastiness of summer passes, we have fall in Japan. Fall here is much like mid-summer where I grew up in Canada. It is still pretty warm, but at least the sweating pretty much stops.

Then we’re back to winter and the cycle continues.

Conclusion: Weather here is a lot different than what I grew up with and summer here REALLY sucks!

Beautiful Japanese Pond

2011-05-18T21:10:00.003+09:00

Although I wasn't able to write a proper post this evening, I wanted to leave something for everyone to enjoy. My son has been feeling under the weather the past few days and that coupled with my Running to Help Japan training hasn't left a lot of time for writing.

I took these pictures today of a wonderful little pond not far from my school.

Becoming a Superhero

2011-05-15T22:40:00.008+09:00

Am I a superhero? Of course not! I’m nothing at all like a superhero. I’m not particularly strong. I can’t see through walls. I can’t morph into an animal. I can’t fly and I’m definitely not the bravest guy you’ll ever meet. I’m certainly not a superhero.

I’m not Superman or the Green Lantern, but I do find a definite appeal in doing things others can’t or simply don’t want to try. Like most people out there (not everyone), I do want to be noticed. If I were happy blending into the woodwork I probably wouldn’t have dedicated years to making hundreds of You Tube video blogs and writing hundreds of posts on blogs now defunct and still in existence. I’m not a superhero, but I do enjoy some amount of attention. That’s a natural thing!

Over the years I’ve done a lot of things to “get noticed.” Growing up I was definitely the class clown. In university I got into acting and had parts in several plays and made “interesting” music as a drummer in several indie bands. I then went on to be a professional dinner theatre, improv comedy performer and bar band drummer.

Now I am a teacher and I suppose that to is a way to perform. Everyday I get on a small stage for a captive audience and it is very important that I both educate and entertain them!

I suppose in a small way though, part of me does romanticize about the “superhero” aspect of existence. In a small, yet rather realistic way, I have been trying to achieve my own personal “superhero” status. In early 2008, when I first moved to Japan from Canada I promised myself I would run a full marathon that same year. I had never run a race distance over 10k, but vowed to do it. I suppose it was something to check off on my “things to do in life” list (My list is long and varied. Some other goals involve going to the North Pole and spending a summer drinking and camping my way around the countryside of Ireland!)!

I ran my first full marathon that Fall (2008). It was a slow time, but I did it! That was my goal. I realized I had completed something most people would never try to do. It felt good. I ran more races over the next few years and consistently made much better times with everyone.

Now I find myself in the position of running a 60k run to raise money for a charity (Running to Help Japan). I will also run the Osaka Marathon and maybe the Kobe Marathon (if I get into that race) this autumn. This particular goal feels good in many ways. Some reasons are selfless and some are selfish!

I realize that by running practically a marathon and a half is something most people will never do. Many marathoners would never do this. I also realize that there are many others who have run MUCH further distances. In the world of athletics, what I am doing is nothing outstanding. In the world of runners, I am no superhero. I’m just a guy running 60k.

In my little world though, amongst my family, friends and coworkers, it is special though. I suppose within my community of You Tube viewers and blog readers it is special. It is special because those who know me well; know that I am not really an athlete. I’m a regular guy, realizing a little later in life that I have become an athlete (sort of). I’ve come to realize a new potential.

I can also do something I have never done before; I can raise a lot of money for a good cause. At the time of writing this post, I have raised almost $2700 for Save the Children Japan and their relief efforts in the areas of Japan hit hardest by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. I am happy that this amount of money will make a real difference in the lives of Japanese children, but also have to admit that it makes me feel good about myself that I can do this for others. I suppose I am a little selfish in that regard.

This whole running thing has also captured my imagination in other ways. I am curious to see what I can make my body do. I know I have some intense stubbornness and mental fortitude, but once I lay down the base of physical training, I think I will be able to do some pretty amazing things. Again, not necessarily amazing compared to great athletes, but for me. I run for me.
I suppose now, I run for my son as well. He is only 10 months old, but I do run for him in many ways. I want to be more fit. When he starts running and playing outside I want to be able to keep up with him. I want to be healthier and fit to live a long and energetic life as his father. Also, I want him, when he is a little older to come to my races and look up to me. I want my little boy to see me as a “superhero” I suppose.

I have dreams in my own little running life. Next year I plan to run my first 100k race. I hope to someday run the Marathon Des Sables in Morocco (running in the Sahara Desert just seems so badassed!). I would love to run a big 100-mile race in America like the Western States 100. I would love to hike the Appalachian Trail and the Trans Canada Trail.

I have many dreams.

I am not a superhero.

In a small way I would like to be one though.

You can Follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

A Contest for Runners

2011-05-15T16:34:00.002+09:00

Check out my "Running to Help Japan" blog for more information.

Annoying and Dumb = Annoying and Dumb

2011-05-14T10:56:00.004+09:00

As someone who has been a blogger and video blogger for about seven years, I have dealt with ten of thousands of comments and emails about my videos, blog posts and general questions about life in Asia. Most of the comments are supportive and kind. Some are rude and mean-spirited and some are simply annoying and dumb!

Supportive and kind comments = good!

Rude and mean-spirited comments = no worries (been online a long time and have a thick skin/don’t even notice them).

Annoying and dumb = annoying and dumb!

I want to take a look at some of the most annoying and repetitive comments I have found on my You Tube channel over the years. One of the most annoying and reoccurring problems is when people send you an email with a question that they could have easily found an answer to if they had just done a Google search!

A variety of annoying (so you all know, I have worked as an English teacher, elementary school teacher international school teacher in South Korea, Canada and Japan):

1. How do I get a job as a teacher in Korea and/or Japan? (Google it!)

2. How do I get a job in Asia? (What? What kind of job? Where are you from? What is your skill set? What? Be more specific and then Google it!)

3. I think Korean/Japanese girls are hot. How do I get one? (Come to Asia and try not to be a loser…then maybe you can get one!)

4. Can you recommend a recruiter? (No!....they are all scumbags!)

5. I know you said you don’t know anything about recruiter in you video/blog, but can you recommend a recruiter? (Drop dead!)

6. Which country did you like more, Korea or Japan? (Japan…my wife is from here…I’m biased.)

7. You shouldn’t make so many cuts in your video edits…it’s annoying. (I go to commenter’s channel and they have no videos, which means they know nothing and therefore I dismiss their opinion!)

8. Your walking videos are too shaky and they make me nauseas. (I go to commenter’s channel and they have no videos, which means they know nothing and therefore I dismiss their opinion!)

9. You suck! (…and I have more than 18,000 subscribers on You Tube so apparently I don’t suck as much as you!!!...that was smug…hehe…sticking my tongue out like a 4 year old!)

10. Get out of Korea! (I did many years ago….obviously you really didn’t pay attention to the part of my video where I aid I am not in Korea).

11. I hear English teachers in Korea/Japan make a lot of money. Is that true? (No it isn’t! Teacher often make very little. In Korea they make a low middle class income at best…Japan; not much better).

12. Promote my channel please. (Show me you have the goods and maybe I will. You better have at least two-dozen cool vids or a lot of great blog posts!)

13. Please make videos about anime/manga/otaku culture. (Sorry….none of these are interesting to me…I know nothing about them)

14. Make videos more like –other blogger’s name—(No! I’m not them.)

There are many more annoying and weird comments. These are some basic and very general ones. If you are a blogger or a vlogger you probably commiserate with this post.

Follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Why is Twitter So Much Fun?

2011-05-11T20:48:00.007+09:00

Twitter is fun. It’s just that simple. Well, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it! . I think it’s great. I use this app everyday. I use it when I wake up in the morning to see how my twitter friends (tweeps) are doing. I use it to pass the time on my commute to and from work. I use it to follow the latest in breaking news. I use it to spread the word about my blogs, videos and charity I’m working on. I also use it to ramble about the silliness of day-to-day life and the strange things I observe while wandering the streets and train stations of Japan.

My Twitter Story:

I began using Twitter about a year and a half ago. I was by no mans an early adopter. I had of course heard of it a lot and knew many people using it. I just hadn’t caught up. I started using the Twitter page itself when I opened my @jlandkev account. Then I installed Tweetdeck on my desktop. It was interesting to use, but not particularly fun. I could only use it a little at night when I got home and missed most of what people where tweeting about throughout the day when I wasn’t in front of my computer.

A little more than a year ago, I got my first smartphone. I bought an iPhone and that was the Twitter “game changer” so to speak. On the advice of some folks I installed Twittelator on my phone. It was so much fun. I could tweet and read tweets from others wherever I was. Although cool to me, I think my wife was thoroughly annoyed that my face was always buried in my iPhone, laughing about something that someone, somewhere had written.

I realized that Twitter was a great way to promote my videos on You Tube. It was even more useful in promoting my blog posts. It seems that the people who are really engaged by Twitter are more “text oriented” people such as bloggers. Many who are into “visuals” such as video blogs, don’t seem to have such a strong interest in Twitter (my observation).

On May 11, 2011, when the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, Twitter was the fastest way to get news. I followed more than a dozen news sources and what stood out more than anything were the blogggers. Japan-based bloggers throughout the country stepped up to the plate and were tweeting news much faster than traditional news organizations could churn it out. By following some good people, you could be way ahead of most when it came to news of the disaster. News organizations such as BBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, etc., were following the same bloggers I was and simply reporting what those bloggers were saying!

I was on vacation the day after the disaster happened and for almost three weeks I was constantly tweeting about the disaster and retweeting amazing bits of news from so many sources. Many friends back in Canada commented that they appreciated me keeping them updated in such an instantaneous fashion. The number of people following me jumped very quickly and I was even contacted by some news organizations in Canada about the disaster. Since I was of course nowhere close to the affected areas, I just referred them to solid bloggers who were.

Since the news cycles around the world have changed and even domestic news about the disaster has waned, I don’t use Twitter as ferociously as before, but I still use it everyday. With my job, I don’t check it throughout the day while I am teaching, but I do check my feed at break time and after work of course. It is a lot of fun!

Now who do I follow on Twitter? I follow a pretty broad spectrum of people and organizations. I follow news agencies, reporters, charities, bloggers, runners, teachers, friends, family, etc. I don’t tend to follow big celebrities such as singers and actors. I find that they normally have little to say, yet speak a lot!

Twitter Integration:

Twitter can be even more fun when it is integrated into other iPhone apps.

I recently started using the Runmeter iPhone app while training for an upcoming marathon. A great twitter feature is that once I begin a run, it sends a tweet informing everyone I am now running. Then, when someone sends me a message on twitter, the app reads it to me as I am running (in a pretty decent voice). It is great for motivation! On June 12, 2011, when I am running my ultra marathon for Save the Children Japan, please tweet me a lot! I will hear them all as my running app reads them to me.

Instagram is another fun way to use Twitter. It is a free app for the iPhone and it allows me to take pictures, add really cool filters and share them within the Instagram social network. It also posts them to Twitter and Facebook so I can share them with my friends there.

Am I addicted to Twitter? Maybe a little. I have to admit that I don’t use it as much as I did a few months ago.

Is it a useful tool? As a blogger and aspiring “writer-guy” it certainly is for me. I currently have more than a thousand followers on Twitter and it is a great way to share my blogs and other projects with a wider audience.

In my previous post I mentioned how I am moving away from one form of media (You Tube), but I am not moving away from media altogether. I am still an avid Twitter user and blogger.

Am I a bit of a Twitter fanboy? I suppose so. If you think that’s a really bad thing; I stick my tongue out at you and say, “ blah blah waggle blarg blaaaaaaahh!!!” in my best four-year-old voice!

You can follow me on Twitter here: @jlandkev

Social Media Burnout

2011-05-10T21:00:00.006+09:00

Things haven’t been good lately. A self-admitted social media addict, I have been involved in it, (social media) in one way or another for many years. I wrote my first blog in the late 1990’s while a student in Canada (all html in Notepad). I was studying 3D graphics and later worked in the game development industry during and post “Internet Bubble” breaking.

I left tech completely and set off for Asia. I quit my job as a 3D artist at a company and gave up my freelance contracts and became a teacher. My first year in Korea was a complete about face from technology. I had loved it so much, but it quickly led to my “burn out” in 2001. That was my first tech melt down so to speak.

That first year in Korea I didn’t even have a computer or even a cell phone. I would email my parents once or twice a week from a computer in the staff room at school. I would occasionally call people on the telephone, but normally, I would just “pop” by my friends’ apartments to see what they were up to and vice versa. That year was filled with work, martial arts training, drinking with friends, travel and general adventure.

Fast forward to 2006. That's the year I discovered You Tube. I had a Japanese girlfriend in Korea (now my wife) and we would watch videos about Japan. I opened up an account so I could email people like tokyocooney with questions about Japan.

Soon after that I purchased my first video camera. I bought a Sony Handycam at Emart in Busan, South Korea. I started making crappy videos and editing them in Windows Moviemaker. Months later I would move back to Canada, but the You Tube hobby continued.

By the time I moved to Japan a little more than three years ago, I was downright obsessed with You Tube and vlogging. I was all about building community, socializing and interacting with fellow bloggers and having a great time. Things got to the point where I had thousands of subscribers, received dozens of emails every week (often asking the same questions continuously) and started to find it hard to keep up with things.

My love of You Tube continued and in early 2009 I became a You Tube partner. In 2010 I had a chance to visit the Google campus in Tokyo when I was there for the Tokyo Marathon and met many amazing fellow vloggers.

By 2010 I was juggling several blogs, two You Tube channels, had become very active on Twitter and was doing numerous collaboration videos. It was a lot to handle. Did I mention I had a full time and very demanding job as a teacher and was a husband?

By mid 2010 I was a new father and things changed a lot more. I had far less time to sit in front of a computer maintaining my “social media empire.”

My interest in You Tube began to diminish a lot during 2010 and more so this year. The simple amount of time needed to maintain what I had created was simply too much. I was spending up to and above twenty hours a week parked in front of my computer working on You Tube and the community around it (that was before my son came along). I was no longer watching movies or television shows. I was no longer reading books. Everything was about maintaining my community and working on my You Tube success. I was taking things far too seriously.

Recently, I have also started to explore other areas of interest. I am now more interested in writing than shooting and editing videos. I realize I will never be a “superstar” or “professional” You Tuber and would rather channel my energy into more traditional blogging and writing. I also have some other literary projects I am interested in starting this year. My marathon running and charity work have also eaten into that “You Tube time.”

For the first time, I notice that You Tube causes me more anxiety than joy. I have met some incredible people through this social media network over the years, made a little money and have had a lot of fun, but it is now time to take a little break. I will of course pop videos up from time to time about my charity work, projects I am involved in and when I have vacation time, maybe a little more. My involvement won’t in any way what it once was.

I’m not disappearing by any means of course. I am still alive and very well on Twitter and I plan to focus a lot more on my blogging. I will be writing more than before and trying my hat at more traditional writing as well.

Long story short, when something you do stops being fun, it’s time to start doing something else.

I’m still going to be around and in a big way. I’ll just be around in a different way!

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

8 Ways to Make a Successful Blog

2011-05-07T21:47:00.004+09:00

A constant for me in the previous two or three years are emails of a common theme. People from around the world have often emailed me asking how they can get more people watching their You Tube videos or reading their blog. I have spent about 6 years regularly, and more often irregularly, blogging and vlogging about life in Korea and Japan, about being an educator, about my views on a wide range of other topics.

I have spent more time than I can count chatting and discussing strategies with other bloggers. How can we get more traffic coming to our sites? How can we get more subscribers? How can we become professional bloggers? How can we become successful?

I think I have learned a great deal in my years of blogging. I do understand how you can create a successful blog or You Tube channel (the latter becoming harder these days since You Tube no longer seems to support new talent or even mid-pack partners such as myself). Now I have learned a great many things, but have often not put them into practice. I suppose I have learned how I "could" be more successful, but haven't taken many of the appropriate steps in that direction.

How can I become a successful blogger?

1. Choose a theme and stick to it! Most people who have successful vlogs or blogs have a specific theme and rarely, if ever deviate from it. If your blog is a random mishmash of ideas and topics, it will be hard to draw in a specific following. People with a narrow focus tend to find more success. A great example of narrowing a blog/vlog’s focus is the Korea-based You Tube vloggers, Simon and Martina. They used to make videos only about Korea and being a teacher. They were good and finding some success on You Tube. Once they zeroed in on making K-pop (Korean pop music) videos and created their K-Pop Mondays series, they blew up as You Tubers and are now VERY successful. Their blog eatyoukimchi.com is also hugely successful.

Although I know that I myself should be more narrow and focused, I tend not to be. In a way, I am shooting myself in the metaphoric foot!

2. Consistency pays off. If you want people to notice you, you must create a body of work. In order to do this, you must write or shot video consistently. People tend to not pay attention to or simply forget those who only post a new blog a few times a month. A few times a week or more is always better. Once you start building a following, those who really like you will crave content!

I personally have a great deal of trouble producing regular content. With a demanding job, wife and infant son, as well as a marathon running hobby, I have very little time to sit in front of a computer these days.

3. Interact with your readers/viewers. Followers love it when you interact with them by replying to emails and responding to their comments. This gives your readers a more personal connection. They begin to feel like you care about them and they in turn will support you even more. I suppose it is about community building. Unfortunately, as your following grows, this will become more difficult to do.

4. Build and maintain your community. Use other complimentary social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your writing or videos.

5. Toughen up. If you can’t take criticism or rude comments from the occasional Internet troll or someone who disagrees with your point, blogging isn’t for you. The Internet is full of people who have strong opinions and many may be the opposite of yours. There are also a lot of idiots with too much time on their hands. From time to time they may target you. This is part of online life. Don’t take it personally!

6. It takes time. To many impatient people send me emails (which I normally delete and never respond too) about how they have made one or two videos and now they are ready for Internet fame. If you are a blogger or vlogger seeking success, it can take a very long time and a lot of hard work! The now famous You Tube star Wheezy Waiter, who now has hundreds of thousands of subscribers still only had about 200 followers after he had made 100 videos! He was doing it for years before he broke out!

7. Accept failure when it happens. Not every idea for a blog or video channel will work. Sometimes, after trying for a long time, it might be better to just call it a day and move on to a new theme or project!

8. Build a network. Make friends and connect with other bloggers and vloggers. If you have a great online network, they will help you and promote your content. Building a network takes time. You must regularly comment on people’s blogs, interact with them on Twitter and Facebook.

These are all very good pieces of advice. If you follow them, you may achieve success. There is also of course an element of luck involved. Sometimes someone accidentally notices you big and they promote you. Other times, your luck may not be so good.

You mustn’t only produce good regular content; you must also spend a great deal of time promoting yourself. Your blog is a product and you want people to buy in.

I know these rules, but I am often guilty of not following them. I am sometimes scatter-brained so making videos or blog posts on a consistent theme is difficult for me. I also have a lot of trouble producing consistent content and interacting with followers. This is due to a lack of time.

Would I like to be a super-duper successful blogger someday? Of course I would! Will I? Probably not, but you never know (Any famous bloggers out there waiting to notice me?).

10 Goals to Shoot For

2011-05-04T08:18:00.003+09:00

Although this is not the beginning of a new year I thought I would map out a few of my goals for the rest of this year. I suppose like so many out there, I have goals, large and small that I often think about, but am also guilty of “only” thinking about as opposed to seeing them through.

1. Get back in the habit of posting on this blog more often. I really like writing here and earlier this year, when I was writing consistently, the number of readers here was constantly growing. Time to jump back in a keep developing this great readership!

2. Continue my charity work. As of writing this blog, my Running to Help Japan project is at 52% of my goal. I have raised more than $2500 for Save the Children Japan. Although this charity project I started has been time consuming (spreading the word through social networking) and the training itself, it has been beyond satisfying! I plan to keep it going throughout the year.

3. Learn more about being a good father and husband. I’m just an average guy who can always make room for improvement! I think I am already a good family man, but I know I can focus more on spending quality and meaningful time with the two greatest people in my life; my wife and son!

4. Kick butt in this years’ Osaka Marathon. I was lucky to land a slot in the first Osaka Marathon on October 30, 2011. I am excited to run in another major event. My best marathon time is 3hrs 59mins. I plan to run this one n 3hrs 40mins!

5. To write honest and interesting pieces on this blog (excluding this one of course…hehe).

6. I plan to write my first children’s novel/storybook. I have been a teacher for almost 10 years now. For the past 3 years I have been teaching young learners. I have read hundreds of children’s storybooks. I have my own personal collection of children’s literature here at home. I love storybooks and fun novels for young readers. I’ve been thinking about writing my own for several years now. I realize I have the ability and think I know a fair amount about children’s tastes. This year, I’m going to stop thinking about and get around to doing it! I plan to use my class as a great resource. They’ll be perfect for running my ideas buy and testing material on.

7. Begin re-growing my hair. Never mind…that one isn’t achievable!

8. Refocus my creative energies away from You Tube (I’ve lost the joy for video blogging and it’s no longer rewarding or me) to writing, blogging and possibly podcasting.

9. Focus on life after Japan. Time to seriously begin my teaching career in Canada. Research (where to live) and job hunting will begin this year. I will not limit myself by geography. There is a teacher surplus in many parts of Canada so we will go to an area that has a need.

10. Spend an amazing Christmas holiday in Canada. I’m looking forward to introducing my son to his grandparents and family in Canada, in person. Also, Canadian pizza, Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches and Sleeman’s Honey Brown Ale are high on my list of priorities!

Are Foreigners in Japan Cold?

2011-04-26T20:39:00.009+09:00

Today I was asked some interesting questions on Twitter. Someone, who lives and works in South Korea as a teacher was asking me about making the move to Japan. Of course, I have lived and worked in both countries and made a rather brief answer to her in a few tweets. I decided I wanted to sit down this evening and be a little more thorough with my answers.

Now, this Twitter follower mentioned to me that she is interested in moving to the Kansai area of Japan and has visited a few times. She commented that she noticed foreigners (gaijin) in Japan seem to stick to themselves as opposed to Korea where (waygooks) tend to socialize more. She is worried about being lonely when she comes here.

Being worried about the prospect of feeling lonely is a very legitimate concern. I also have to admit that when I first arrived in Japan a few years ago I thought much the same as she did. Within my first few months here I thought that gaijin in Japan were a cold lot and not at all welcoming. Although I didn’t miss Korea much, I longed for the foreigner camaraderie! Why don’t foreigners in Japan have that?

As I spent more time in Japan and was able to meet more and more people I made some interesting conclusions. Most of them had to do with the fact that the foreigner populations in the two countries tend to be quite different. Comparing the two is much like comparing apples and oranges.

To be broad, the variety of foreigners in Korea is much more limited. There are basically, migrant workers, brides from South East Asia, U.S. Army personnel and English teachers. The individual asking me the questions was mostly talking about the English teacher crowd I assume.

In Korea, English teachers for the most part, tend to stick together, move and party in packs and pretty much do everything else together. They normally come from the U.S Canada, the U.K Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. They are all university grads, or at least supposed to be, the only way to get a teaching visa and often are in their 20’s.

Many teachers come to Korea simply because they are not sure what to do after university, are looking for a “gap” year, are having trouble finding work in their native countries or would like to travel. Now of course there are many interesting stories and folks in Korea and many have left pretty amazing lives in their respective countries to simply experience Korea and try their hand at education.

Most people I met during my time in Korea never learn much about the country or language. They didn’t go to Korea to do that. They went there, worked and had a great time with like-minded foreigners. Every small town/city with any foreign population had a foreigner bar where most English speakers congregated on weekends to party.

That was my experience when I lived there from early 2002 to 2007.

Japan is an entirely different beast altogether. There are of course scores of young people who come here to teach English. There are also many people who come here to do other things as well.

If you are new to Japan or lived in Korea beforehand, you must be careful not to make the mistake I made. I assumed most foreigners here were assholes for not smiling at me or nodding their heads as I passed by. I suppose I know much better to think that now.

You quickly learn a lot about the different types of foreigners here and why they may not al huddle together in dark bars on Friday nights (there are many who do that of course, but not everyone). There are also many reasons why they may not want to interact with a friendly foreigner new to Japan and looking for friends:

1. The vast majority of foreigners in Japan are not teachers. Many of them (even if North American/European looking) don’t even speak English. For example, there are of Russian factory workers living around my neighborhood.

2. Many foreigners who came to Japan studied Japanese in school and are very interested in Japanese culture and language. They are keen to improve their language skills, learn more about the culture and would rather interact with the local Japanese folks (makes sense).

3. Unlike Korea, many foreigners in Japan have been here long term. They have set down roots, have families and simply aren’t interested in the bar life/foreigner community. They have created their own community with family and friends (both foreign and Japanese).

4. I have found that some groups of young people who work for the JET program, ECC, Aeon, etc. (not always of course) can be cliquey and mostly socialize with coworkers.

5. MANY foreigners you see walking around in major urban centers don’t even live here. They are tourists. Unlike Korea, Japan has a massive tourist industry (well, maybe not at the moment with the current nuclear issues). They have traveled here from other countries, have limited time here and are usually not looking to make friends I suppose. Their friends are waiting for them back home when vacation is finished.

6. Some foreigners are simply assholes. Yup, some are just not nice. There are many of foreigners who speak the Japanese language, but there are some who think that speaking Japanese better than others, makes them an actual better person. Believe me, you don’t want to hang around with a chucklehead who judges his/her own self-worth and that of others based on language ability (a little shallow me tinks!).

7. There are also folks who think they are better than others simply because they have lived in Japan longer than you. Their years of experience “in country” make them somehow better than others. I suppose if you met someone like that in your own country you would deem him or her obtuse or shallow or both!

8. Many people who live here are university exchange students. They normally come for a school year and tend to be busy with studies and having fun with classmates.

9. There are also many others I didn’t mention!

As you can see, there are all sorts here in Japan. Simply put, the variety and amount of foreigners living here is much larger than in Korea. With that variety comes a more complicated social tapestry I suppose.

Is there a strong foreigner community in Japan? Yes; just look at how so many foreigners in Japan banned together online and in person shortly after the earthquake and tsunami last month to help.

I suppose I should refer to it not as a “foreign community”, but as “foreign communities.”

If you are new to Japan, will you be lonely? If you are outgoing and willing to meet new people and try new things, probably not. Are most of the foreigners in Japan similar? Absolutely not! Can it be more of a challenge to make foreign friends in Japan than in Korea? I think so, but it is very doable. From what I remember, people teaching in Korea tended to make friends simply because they had "being foreign" in common. I have found that in my short time here, making friends is similar to making friends in Canada. I don't just befriend anyone. I tend to hang around people who have common interests, I think are dynamic, interesting, etc. I suppose with a broader foreigner population base (at least in urban areas), people can be more selective.

I have been here for more than three years and have some very good friends. Mind you, my own personal life has changed drastically. When I lived in Korea, I was single and always game to go out, met new folks and often both in clubs and bars. Now, I am married and have a young child. I no longer tend to go to bars and never clubs. I have also become a long-distance runner. My lifestyle is completely different than before. I may not have as many friends as I did when I lived in Korea, but I am still a very happy man.

Hope some of you thinking about living in Asia for the first time or moving from one country to another take something at least quasi-valuable from this post.

Things movin in Japan

2011-04-23T11:08:00.006+09:00

It's been a long time since I have posted on this blog and there is of course a few very good reasons. First, the new school year in Japan has begun and I have been extremely busy getting used to a new group of students. I've also ben enjoying time with my family.

The thing that has ben very consuming for me of course has been my Running to Help Japan project. I decided last month that I would tackle a "homemade" ultra marathon in order to raise funds for Save the Children's Japan Disaster Relief Fund. I had been taking part in some group efforts and spent a lot of time promoting other people who were helping, but I wanted to do something more personal. I don't have a lot of money, but I do enjoy running. I thought I could harness my love of running with my social media "talents" and raise some funds.

I've made a few video on You Tube promoting Running to Help Japan and so have several other great video bloggers. Many people have been very kind to tweet about my run on Twitter as well. Last week I was also featured in a story in the Cape Breton Post, a newspaper from my hometown area in Nova Scotia. All of these efforts have helped a lot! As of the time I'm typing this, I have raised $1,662.00. That's 33% of my $5000.00 goal.

I have been waking up most mornings at 4:30am to get out and do training runs. It hasn't been easy adjusting to this new lifestyle, but my health is getting better everyday and I am doing it for a very good reason!

Some local media coverage (in Nova Scotia, Canada) about my Running to Help Japan Project. A story was written about me in the Cape Breton Post. Hopefully, I can get more media coverage like this. It certainly helped with donations!

For more regular blog posts by me in the upcoming months, it's better to follow my Running to Help Japan blog.

Here are some pictures I took in the past week during some of my training runs:

These are some fishing boats tied up in Nada-ku in Kobe. I often run past them in the morning.

Oe of the many bicycle parking lots you come across everyday in Japan.

Some police boats docked behind the Kobe HQ of the Japan Coast Guard. This is located downtown near Meriken Koen.

A Spring Week in Japan

2011-04-07T21:06:00.003+09:00

With the addition of running to my life, things have gotten a lot busier. Since going back to work this week and training again, I have precious little time in the day to even think about blogging and even that time will be reduced in the coming weeks.

I wanted to share some photos I took this week with my iPhone.

A spring week in Japan:

Social Media used to Help Japan

2011-03-29T16:36:00.004+09:00

It's been a few weeks now since the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. with more than 12,000 dead and something like 17,000 people missing as well as an ongoing nuclear crisis, Japan is not in a good place! Obviously, people and governments around the world have been doing a lot to help this country. People throughout Canada, America and so many other countries are donating to charities, arranging relief supplies, starting fundraisers and volunteering to help Japan.

What has been especially interesting for me is to see how so many are taking hold of social media and using it to help. people have been spreading the word about what is really going on in Japan (often when foreign news agencies are getting it wrong). They are organizing fundraisers and charity events on Facebook. They are being creative on You Tube and blogging about it!

Some examples that have recently stood out in my mind are the "partners4japan" project on You Tube that was started by Japan-based video blogger Ciaela. Vloggers from around the world have been donating videos to spread the word about Japan. Also on You Tube, well-known vlogger "Gimmeaflakeman" has started a project called "Ganbare Japan" in which anyone anywhere can send him a video or picture to inspire Japan and he will put them all together into one collaboration video.

#Quakebook is another inspiring project. This book was the brainchild of Japan-based blogger "Our Man in Abiko." HE asked blogger via Twitter to write stories and of their experiences with the big earthquake. It will soon be printed and all proceeds will go to support the Japanese Red Cross.

Myself, I have just started my own fundraiser. I will be collecting funds for Save the Children and their relief efforts in northern Japan. I'll be running a 60km ultra marathon in June in order to do it and I plan to share my experiences leading up to that day through social media. You can check out my Running to Help Japan site here!

There are of course so many other examples of people helping using social media. these are just a few!

Crappy Media Coverage in Japan Explained

2011-03-23T23:14:00.005+09:00

I had never heard of the British comedian Charlie Brooker until this evening when I saw this video posted on Twitter. Now I love him! He got it right!

Going in the Food Vlogging Direction

2011-03-21T21:23:00.005+09:00

I’ve decided to become narrower in scope these days. I’m not talking about every aspect of my life. I’m talking about vlogging.

I have always known a few things that would probably bring a lot more traffic to my You Tube channel, but have never gone in that direction. I suppose I will focus a lot more on bringing a lot more people what they are looking for. I have always known that most of my most popular and several of my viral videos have been food videos. People love food! People also really want to see food from other countries. My food videos appeal to a much broader spectrum of people than my story vids do. I know that. I also know that if I made my channel food specific, I’d probably achieve a lot more success. So, that’s what I’m going to do.
I recently started a series of videos called, “Japanese Eats.” In these videos I plan to show a very wide variety of food you can find in Japan. Some will be traditional, others new.

Now, I’m not much of a cook and to be honest, my wife and I don’t go out to restaurants very often. I do however buy food at supermarkets and convenience stores. My wife is also an amazing cook and great resource for sharing Japanese cuisine!

So, from now on, my BusanKevin You Tube channel will be primarily for food video. Don’t worry though. For those of you who enjoy the randomness of the channel (former randomness), I do have another channel called “jlandkev.” That’s where you can go to watch story videos and check out the things I see on a daily business living here in Japan.

Here are the fist two installments of my Japan Eats series:

I think it's going to be a lot of fun for both myself and viewers to see the wide variety of cool, popular and off the wall food you can eat in Japan!

How You Can Donate to Help Japan

2011-03-20T22:00:00.003+09:00

There are many ways you can donate to the relief and future rebuilding efforts in Japan. You of course must be wary. In times of tragedy, there are those who use it as an opportunity to line their own pockets.

if you are going to donate money to Japan, make sure you do it to a credible organization. Here are just a few who are helping Japan right now:

Canadian Red Cross

American Red Cross

Japanese Red Cross

UK Red Cross

Australian Red Cross

Save the Children

Salvation Army

Oxfam International

Meat Pie and Inarizushi 稲荷寿司

2011-03-20T15:18:00.006+09:00

I can’t make all of my posts dark and dreary. I also can’t make them all angry because I am basically a very happy guy!

This past Thursday was Saint Patrick’s Day and I, being of Irish-Canadian descent, had to do something about it. With a new baby at home, I wasn’t really up to going out for St. Paddy’s this year, but I made a steak and Guinness pie at home. I did the same last year as well. I suppose it is becoming a tradition in my house. I of course enjoyed wit with several can of Guinness as well!

Take a look at my creation (served with mashed potatoes as well):

All pictures of my Steak and Guinness pie process were taken with the iPhone app, Instagram.

I also uploaded another in a new series of Japanese food videos called Japan Eats. I have long known that my most popular videos on You Tube tend to be food related. I also decided I need to make a lot more of them!

People Escaping Japan?

2011-03-20T00:02:00.003+09:00

I have felt many emotions since last Friday when the big quake hit Japan. I’ve been confused. I’ve been sad. I’ve been grief stricken. I’ve been scared. I’ve been logical. I’ve been thoughtful. I’ve also been pissed off.

That’s right, a few things have made me very angry about the events that have unfolded during the past eight days.
I of course cannot be angry about the actual catastrophe because it was out of the hands of all of us. Mother Nature had a beef to grind and unfortunately the people of Japan had to face the brunt of it.

I can’t be upset at the people of Japan. They did nothing to deserve this. I also cannot be upset at the fact that there were nuclear reactors near the water. There are nuclear reactors in many countries throughout the world and aside from two notable cases; there have never really been major problems with nuclear energy (someof you will probably disagree). There was also a large tsunami wall built in front of the reactor.

Japan, one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world is BY FAR the most prepared for earthquakes and tsunamis. They have building codes unlike anywhere else in the world. They have a tsunami early warning system. They have FREAKIN Nintendo, Sony and Honda robots!

None of this could have prepared them for a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and what we are now finding out, a 15 meter high tsunami in some parts along the coast.

So, I have shared with you that none of these events have made me angry. What does make me angry though is the irrational and sensational coverage of this catastrophe by some news organizations and (mostly) the way some European governments have handled the situation.

I realize that the situation around the nuclear plant in Fukushima is bad. If I were anywhere close to there I would also want to get the “Hell out of Dodge.” Things begun to get a little out of hand when several European countries began telling ALL of their nationals, no matter where they were, to get out of Japan. That was irrational and exaggerated.

Today I listened to the March 17th episode of CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corportation) As It Happens and got more than a little ticked off. I wasn’t angry about the show because I am a HUGE fan of the hosts, Carol Off and Jeff Douglas, but a person they interviewed on yesterday’s show annoyed me.

On the March 17th, 2011 episode (14 minutes into Part 1), a Japanese woman married to a French national was interviewed. Now they had lived in the area close to the Fukushima reactor and were evacuated to Kyoto. I can obviously understand that. What got me was the fact that the woman explained how they were fleeing Japan to France on an emergency flight arranged by the French government because all of Japan was SOOOOOO dangerous! This woman and her family were now in Kyoto and wanted to get further away. She said it was because of the way her husband and all of his French friends felt and the “knowledge” they had of the situation.

This woman, who is also pregnant, said she had to get away from Japan so her baby would not be born deformed! Jeesh!!! Come on!

I can understand this woman being somewhat scared, but her interview was very uncharacteristic compared to most Japanese people I’ve heard interviewed or spoken to in person (I live in Japan and am married to a Japanese person). She explained that she felt this way because of her husband and his French friends in Japan. They were all getting the “Hell out of Dodge”!
Now, I’m not writing this to shit on French nationals or France. I’m pissed off because it is obvious that French media and the government (and many other media organizations) are doing a piss poor job off telling this story accurately.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure that the Japanese media and government are guilty of, at times, underplaying things, but……COME ON!!!!! Let’s not just make shit up!

Most expats living in Japan have very upset families in their native countries. In some cases I can understand. I live very far away from this crisis and do not want my friends and family to worry about me. My Kansai-based friends and I are very safe. Shoddy media reports about Japan cause a lot of concern and worry for our families. That’s why I’m miffed!

Here are a couple of examples of media exaggeration during the past week.

This one is from a British newspaper.

This one is a comparison of the BBC and the Huffington Post.

By the way, I have listened to CBC As It Happens everyday this week (I download their podcast) and I have found they’ve done a fine job covering Japan(I was just miffed about that woman they interviewed).