7 posts tagged “facebook”
Alright, so there are many reasons to be cheerful, but lets start with three. Not the only ones, nor the most important ones, but 3 being the magic number, a good place to start.
Almost a year ago Mick and Min and Nettie bought me a moleskine when they came to Japan. I've been writing in it almost every other day and I'm starting to feel as though it's had a transformational effect not only on writing about things I experience but on observing them as they happen.
Until today I haven't really been that interested in going back through it and reading it again, but I was prompted by a freinds retrospectiveness to delve into the waybackmachine and visit one of my first blogs. Most of the links are broken and the jpegs are missing due to the archive not following links contained within javascript, but it's still there, frozen in time.
Moments we capture in print or on screen are also indelibly imprinted on our psyche. I am who I today for as much I have determined for myself, shaped by the influence of others.
Today I am tired and sore. Yesterday was a 16 hour working day, and tomorrow will be another fourteen. I am happy for the standard 8 today, but feel so driven to produce something of value I am up writing now.
How different things are now to what they were a year ago. I was newly out of work and expecting my third child. It was getting very cold and I was sporting a long beard. I was in a foreign country surounded by people speaking a foreign language and those that did speak English were paying for me to do so.
Things couldn't be more different. I am clean shaven and working three jobs to get back on track. My third child is almost walking, and all three of my kids are at least in the same city. I still get paid to speak English, but this time it's different because it's my second job and the pressure is off. Now I'm able to poor my talents and skills in to my day job I'm a lot more settled.
I still have a long way to go before I can say I'm doing exactly what I want to do, but I am getting there. I'm in a place where I can share my vision and make a difference. I could be getting paid more, but that's beside the point, I'm learning and growing into my responsibilities and that feels good.
Where I'm going from here is the nexus of technology and learning. I have a couple of plans that are slowly being brought to fruition. I won't be revealing all just yet, but you can see things slowly taking shape in places like rainbowhill88 and jrfiction on YouTube, and rainbowhill and jrfiction on tumblr. If you're a higher frequency person, then join me on twitter in either Japanese or English flavours.
There's also edufire, which is where I'm off to now, to try and build up my student base. I'm tutoring in Japanese and English over there. If you're a teacher maybe you should come and join us, if you're a student maybe you should come and learn from me!
It's been trapped up inside my head trying to find it's way out for such a long time, I wondered if it would ever make sense enough for me to write about it. I've been getting into the habit of keeping a journal on paper and that has helped with regularity and avoiding all kinds of self censorship. It's peculiar even when I write for myself I am held back by a sense of what might be appropriate to write, and what I should be allowed to think about something.
It really does help to get things down on paper, but for me it is it is a means to an end. The aim is to live more creatively than I have in the past. By that, I mean not just taking more photographs, or writing poetry, but through creating opportunities for myself and my family. Lately, I feel as though I've been able to do that in a way that I haven't done since I left University and started working in multimedia.
Work has been a bit tough, there have been interpersonal rivalries and some corporate casualties. I'm glad I have toughed it out however, because it has now given me the more scope to seek autonomy and creative self expression. I'm hoping that work provides a stable platform from which to move forward in my career.
The hours at my day job have been flexible enough for me to be able to take a second job two nights a week teaching English at a language school just around the corner. The second income gets taxed at the maximum rate, but it's good to know that with the support of family I am able to hold it down. That confidence in myself, and in the team at home, is going to come in handy when I decide to go back to study hopefully next year.
It could be I'm just feeling confident after reading too many self help/life hack/productivity blogs, but things are moving in the right direction.
I bet you didn't know you can still find a long black in Brisbane for less than $3, well how about about $2.50. Yes it's true, I was completely blown away when I realised I'd been paying too much elsewhere. The cafe is WickEd Corner Cafe, on the corner of Wickham Terrace and Edward Street heading up towards Spring Hill. It's conveniently located towards the end of my morning walk into town, and just before I drop down in to the seething morning rush coming out of Central Station.
The coffee is Segafredo, a full dark roast with a rich crema and subtle aroma. There is just a hint of sharpness with very little persistent after-taste, just the right kind of coffee to launch into the day with. The deck on the corner is full sun, so although it's bright it has good views down Edward Street and up Wickham Terrace to the old mill. It's just too bright to face the other direction, and too hot behind the glass inside the cafe to sit anywhere else but on the terrace.
I found about about through a promotional flyer and loyalty card that was left in the office. The card requires only five purchases before the first free coffee and each free coffee after that is five stamps. Great value. This morning was the second time I'd been there and I was a bit surprised when the staff asked me for three dollars. I could see it clearly written above her head on the board, long black/flat white $2.50, I bet she was surprised also. She must have been new I thought.
Well, they are hiring!
Well part of the battle is won. I've made it home, finished my course and landed a job, all without completely depleting my savings. The hardest part is yet to come, finding an apartment. Not an easy task in Brisbane at the moment, where most people spend at least at least a 3rd of their income on rent. Buying is out of the question, housing affordability is at it lowest point in about 12 years, and there doesn't seem to be any chance of that changing soon.
I'm working, and that's the main thing. I decided on going with a full time permanent position with James Cook University Brisbane, in their Learning Support Services section as a Student Learning and Support Officer. It's not English teaching, but it does have slightly more going for it financially. I needed the stability that comes with a salaried position over the contract work that typifies the English teaching industry even here.
I'm going through the induction process today, and tomorrow I'll be in the Channel 7 studios for the recording of "How to Get That Job" with Sarina Russo. I've been told to have some questions ready just in case I get called on to participate in Q&A.
It has been said that brevity is the source of wit, but isn't limiting yourself to five.sentenc.es taking things a little too far? It seems that as the number of our online buddies increases, it's becoming less practical to deal with the flood of information coming our way. Choose your friends wisely I say, GIGO!
There once was a very clear line that separated my professional life from my social life, but increasingly that line is becoming blurred.
My employer has recently launched a new blog, and has invited contributions from instructors. There is also a short video competition for instructors with the theme "My Japan". I am interested in contributing to both of them. I think anything I can do for new instructors to help ease the transition to living in Japan is a good thing.
I know there are other instructors are out there blogging for the public, but I'm not sure how many of them would want their students to know it. Especially in light of the tragedy earlier this year.
The recent launch and invitation has raised a few questions about how much I want to reveal of myself online and in class. I've always kept a professional distance in my dealings with students, and that isn't about to change. However students and others are going to have greater access to my online life, if I start contributing to a potentially high profile blog.
I have turned down friends requests from students before on youtube and facebook, and I will do it again. But with Facebook launching public search listings, the illusion of a private circle of friends is becoming even thinner. There is always the possibility that the stage whispers I make on line cold be overheard by students or my employer, taken out context and served up to me in a memo at work. By the way, I have opted out of having my profile show in public search listings on Facebook.
Since rounding off my involvement in Aikido my social life has revolved around my family first and foremost. If I am interacting with other English speaking people outside of work they are usually other instructors, that's part and parcel of expat communities all over the world. The other place where I interact with people is online, so I am glad that there are privacy options on Vox and other sites where I have a presence.
So, really, I don't have any qualms about blogging for work. Let the dialogue be open, honest and based on mutual respect.
It's kind of rare that I get the time these days to sit down and write a full blooded blog post, and when I do I'm usually posting pictures of our latest trip to the park for friends and family. That's not something that I think is terribly interesting for most people. Most often I've been connecting with people online via my mobile phone and Nintendo DS with Opera mini.
I read some where recently that people love reading short blog posts with lists of links so I've decided to send you a five of my favourite blogging tools on the web. This is where you will find me spending most of my down time, while I'm on my way to work and in my breaks.
- Tumblr - A tumblelog, fast and light, very visual and a bit like scrap-booking.
http://rainbowhill.tumblr.com/ and in Japanese http://jrfiction.tumblr.com/ - Twitter - microblogging tool for those with an attention deficit, also a very good way to share news, and keep your ear to the ground. I'm posting here only in Japanese.
http://twitter.com/jrfiction - Jaiku - The choice for me between Jaiku and Twitter is simple, the former is in English and the latter is in Japanese. I must admit that I have connected with more people on Twitter, perhaps because I put more effort in.
http://jrfiction.jaiku.com/ - Flickr - I've only just rediscovered Flickr, they have some new upload tools and it's simple to upload via email also. I repurpose my feed here for Tumblr and Jaiku. My photosets are also available through other sites like vox and facebook.
http://www.flickr.com/people/rainbowhill/
I was going to mention 43things and Facebook because they seem to absorb a lot of my time, but that's only when I am in front of the PC, which is like I said earlier a lot rarer these days.
