Almost became the victim of an amazon scam recently. but before talking about that, i wanted to mention some things about the tokyo trip that i left out during the last post. when asked by the people here, i often say that i don't miss the people in singapore despite not having gone back at all since the start of JET, because i can chat to them online and even video call if necessary. but after meeting my friends in person, i think i'll revise that opinion. while it's possible to keep in contact via virtual means, there's something extra special about doing things together in person. i do kind of miss meeting up with them for outings. and like with scary JC friend, the idea that i can meet them in person anytime is more reassuring than knowing that they're available online. it's weird because the availabilities are basically the same whether it's online or off (it can be argued that they're more available online than off, actually), but that's feelings for you.

one of my cousins used to be hugely into gundam models. i remember his room having quite a few of them when i went over as a kid. the interest never caught on with me, but i ended up getting a model kit when we visited the gundam bay (the official gundam model and merchandise shop). it's black with neon light blue highlights, which i think looks kind of cool. what finally convinced me to take the plunge was that it holds a spear, and my friend said "that's so like you(r character in final fantasy)!". ended up i decided to ask her to bring it back to singapore for me, because it would take up space here. also, packing the completed model for a move to another country when JET ends would be a pain. unintended plus, it gives me something to look forward to!

after the briyani lunch with my JET friends, we went to a couple of shrines. drew a mixed bag of fortunes. in tokyo at least, i really got the sense that the world is opening up again. the crowds were so bad! it made me x-guess my decision to extend my contract past this july, but i know that it wouldn't be fair to the town if i changed my mind now. one alternative i thought of was doing it in december or january, but that would leave the kids JET-less for 2 terms. that wouldn't make me feel guilty at all, if not for the fact that my favourite class is still in school.

went to glance at my countdown timer, and it showed that i have 393 days left. doing some maths tells me that i set it for end-march or early april next year. i think i will most likely exceed it, since i have to factor in clearing my leave and all that as well. assuming i continue taking leave as prudently as i do now, i will have about 30 days left at this time next year. the plan is to take 3 days off per week, and only go to my secondary schools for full-day classes. i can do that for 10 weeks! that's mad! i'll let future me work the details out.

before i forget, let me tell you about the amazon scam. i saw a shop selling something that i wanted for 600 yen, when other shops were charging closer to 1800. so faced with a 66% cost savings and free shipping, i naturally went with the cheaper option, even though it would take 3 weeks longer for the item to arrive. but i was willing to wait since i didn't need it in a hurry. i placed the order on wednesday night, i think. on friday, i got an email saying that my credit card had been refunded for the purchase. then, i came home to a missed delivery notice from the post office. it was from a company that i didn't recognize, and it asked for 16400 yen, cash on delivery. i have not done cash on delivery since i got my japan credit card, so that was definitely suspicious, especially in light of the refund. good news is that in japan, you can refuse to receive cash-on-delivery items! so the way i see it, i'm not making any loss. i guess the company knows my address, but it's not that huge of a deal, i think.

the assignment from the science side is making me annoyed. the subject head is asking for so many edits and changes! i might be too sensitive, but i don't like it when she uses strikethroughs to indicate that something should be redone. practically, it means that i have to take one extra step to undo the formatting then make the change. on a more personal/irrational level, i feel like she's disregarding/invalidating my work. but i also know that she had to take effort to read through it to decide that it wasn't suitable. lesson here is to not take things personally and work towards the goal. who knows - i may meet a boss in future who corrects me in the same way! i will say though, that i'm finding the work less and less interesting. like with teaching english here, i don't get fulfillment out of repeating the same thing. i think i just might call it quits, depending on what the next assignment is.

graduation season is around the corner. i have 2 ceremonies next sunday, so that counts as a full day of work. i'm also scheduled to work on saturday, to help get the venue ready at one of the schools. go 7-day work week! i'll be getting time off, of course. the primary school decided to hold their graduation ceremony on thursday, which is when i'm not scheduled to be there. i feel neutral about this. not going to go out of my way to attend, because i feel it wouldn't be worth my while to make special effort. maybe that's a sign that i'm not cut out to be a teacher/carer/nurturing figure for kids. 

-random thought of the day: Rest up for next week!-