Useful i-phone Apps In Japan


Japanese sentence of the week 

onaka suita - I am hungry

Days 1824 - 1830
Sunday, March 17 - March 23, 2013


Day 1824 (  )
Sunday, March 17, 2013

Stayed in all day. Ate pizza for dinner

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Day 1825 ( Dragon Ball Bottle From KFC )
Monday, March 18, 2013

Rode to work today then gave a goodbye speech in the gym / auditorium. I did my speech in all Japanese. The principal and almost everyone else thought that this would be my last day, but actually I have 2 classes next week. The same thing happened last year at this school. Well actually it was worse last year. Coming to work like normal, then the teachers were waiting on me. As soon as they saw me, they were signalling me to hurry to give my goodbye speech????? Huh... And why wasn't I informed???

Anyway, did the speech, 3 classes then left. They gave me this book:


All classes wrote something inside. My Japanese friend said she could notice the difference between the teachers who don't really care about English and the ones who try to make an effort.

They also gave me flowers.


In all honesty, I don't like getting flowers as a form of gift. I like giving it but not getting it. Even though its beautiful and I like the kind gesture etc. but, I think flowers is what you give to females. So when I get flowers, I either give them away to females or quite frankly, throw them away.

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I stopped by KFC to try my luck (which is normally not so good) at a dragon ballz campaign they are having now. I got a bottle.

Yeah I was a huge Dragon Ballz fan between 1998 - 2000.


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Day 1826 ( Graduation at My Worst School )
Tuesday, March 19, 2013


Went to my worst school today to attend their graduation. Today, all my schools had graduation. Normally I would go to my main school today but for some reason, I was scheduled to go to my worst school's graduation. It went ok however, and the rotten kids were quiet and well behaved.

My Japanese friend said she thinks that the reason why they probably sent me to my worst school was that my main school and the other school would be too busy and filled with people. In other words, they wouldn't have time for me. However, not many people would care too much about my worst school, so that would be  the best choice for them.

It was of course boring and I was falling asleep. But luckily, I could head home soon after.

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After I got back home, it was time to go to my main school. I went with them to a final dinner/drinking party thing. Some teachers were asking me why I didn't attend the graduation at their school???? I told them because my schedule instructed me to go to another school. They still didn't seem to understand.... I was also confused as to why they didn't know!!!

Any way it was time for the food. As always at these final parties, they served raw meat/fish!!! Which I find quite difficult to digest. Luckily, they had a little candle fire thing beneath some bowls in order to keep some of the other food warm. I simply took the raw stuff and placed them into the hot bowls with the candle beneath them to let them cook a bit. Then I was able to eat them. I also had to give a short speech in Japanese...I must admit that I had a good time there though... Good laughs.

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Day 1827 ( Useful iphone Apps In Japan )

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 (5 YEARS!!!)

Today makes exactly 5 years since I am living in Japan. Yeah me!!! But I do realize that I am getting old. Look what came out of my nose today!!!!!

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I went to the YMCA today even though today is a public holiday. They had a graduation / English festival of sorts. I watched my students do poems and performed some other stuff in English. I also did a dub poem in half Japanese and half English. They seemed to like it. I also handed out certificates and gave a short speech promoting the YMCA and my classes.

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Useful i-phone Apps In Japan

Google Maps



If you get lost easily... (I know I do) Then this is the app for you. It even has a 3D view thing.

Evernote 


This is like Microsoft Word, but for your i-phone. It can add pictures write and store stuff plus even make voice notes to store for later.

Navitime (Japanese Langage Only!!)

This is in Japanese only but it accepts roman letters as well. It tells you train times, the train platforms to take,  and how long it will take you from place A to place B... Along with alternatives. Again, the only draw back is that it is Japanese only.

Booking.com and Hotels.com
                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                        

These are both nice apps for finding hotels anywhere in the world. There is also TripAdvisor and kayak.com.

XE


Use this to convert your currency.


Convert


This one can also convert currency but not as good as XE... However if you have trouble converting inches to centimeters, Celsius to farhenheit etc. This is the app for you.



imiwa? (Formerly known as Kotoba)


This is the best Japanese dictionary on the i-phone hands down. It is even better than some of those expensive  electronic dictionaries. This can even teach you Japanese if you want.


Goo


This is another good app but in Japanese only. It helps you search for new and used cars all over Japan.


Uniqlo 



This is for those of you who like cheap stuff in Japan. This app informs you when there are sales and discounts in Uniqlo.


Dropbox



You have probably heard about dropbox. Possibly the best cloud computing software around. Well its also on the iphone. You can upload your pictures and other files straight from your i-phone. And it will sync with the dropbox on your computer.



Yurekuru (Now Prep?)


You know what else is popular in Japan outside of anime, games, technology and temples??? Yeah EARTHQUAKES!!! This app warns you 10 seconds before an earthquake actually hits... Well it should... Sometime its late, other times it doesn't respond at all. But it has a 90-95%% success rate with me so far.


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Day 1828 ( Goodbye Worst School )
Thursday, March 21, 2013

Taught 4 classes then did a farewell speech at my worst school today. I used the same speech at all my schools. Only thing I have a teachers version of it... The thing is that, only my main school asked me to give to give 2 speeches. One for teachers, the other for everyone including students.

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Day 1829 ( Farewell Main School)
Friday, March 22, 2013

Gave 2 farewell speeches at my main school today. One to the teachers, then another to the students. They also gave me flowers... Oh boy flowers again.... I then did 3 classes then headed home.


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Day 1830 ( Speaking To Street People )
Saturday, March 23, 2013

Went to a sidewalk church this morning to speak to some street people. I spoke to them about hope in the future. My heart goes out to them. One guy said he was from Okayama (The prefecture where I lived for 3 years). They were then given large amounts of bread.

In the evening I went to a dinner party of sorts, held by a guy who I will be working for part time starting April. I may not have mentioned it before but starting April I will only be doing part time jobs. Just something I decided to try because :

i) Maybe I will be moving to the Kansai area soon (Osaka, Kyoto, Nara area).

ii) I need a rest after 5 years of running and jumping around with Japanese kids

iii) I just want to see how this will go not working a 9-5 Job so to speak.


I know this is going to be a bit rough... But lets see how it works out. So far I will be doing YMCA, teach business English to some company workers, teach 2 high schools I think and my evening student. This alone won't equal the salary I got from jumping around with kids.

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