Halloween 2009 in Waikiki

I just got back from cruisin' the streets of Waikiki to get a glimpse at cool Halloween costumes. I'm sad to report that there wasn't a lot of originality out there. Most of the stuff I saw was store-bought crap that wasn't very original.

This year there seemed to be some very popular costumes. Must've been on sale somewhere yeah? The costumes seen most frequently for 2009 are:
1. Mickey and/or Minnie Mouse
2. Sexy fairies
3. Prisoners
4. Guys in drag

There were also a lot of bees and pirates too, so I guess they get honorable mention.

The cutest costume goes to this little kid in a cop outfit (Click on the photos to enlarge). His parents were dressed up as his prisoners. Now ain't that the truth? LOL



A really cool costume was of the Egyptian god Anubis. I'm pretty sure it was bought and not made though. Awesome costume either way.



I also saw a vacationing Jack, a vengeful Ronald and a box of fries enjoying a night on the town.







Another theme tonight was matching couples. Not the most original idea in the world but still popular. Here's Mario and Luigi, Mario and the Princess and Superman and Wonder Woman. Yes, Superman is definitely checking out Wonder Woman's rack.







In addition to all the general chaos that is Halloween in Waiks, the street performers and religious freaks were out in force. There was a guy who made a glass ball float with some kind of Criss Angel-ish action, a group of Hare Krishna-like folks singing and banging on drums and the Jesus freaks spouting off about the damnation of the world. Pretty typical for a Halloween night.







One of the funniest costumes I came across was two guys wearing a Saturday Night Live "Dick in a Box" costume. I've seen this done before, but it's still a good laugh. Here's the SNL video and below it is the Halloween picture. What makes this funnier is that there's a guy who cut in front of me while I was trying to take the photo. It looks like he's checking out the packages, if you know what I mean LOL




Overall, this was a very eventful night. Lots of fun was had. Lots of walking was done. Good times people, good times.

Back To School Blues

I feel like I'm back in college and have a paper to write that's due in the morning but continue to put it off. I promised myself that I'd work on my statement of purpose for my JET application today. However, I didn't get started till about 10:30 p.m. tonight, and I'm still working it out as I type this.

While procrastination was a motivating factor, it's not like I was a complete slacker today. I did work on the JET application itself and updated some of the information. Some of the questions are tricky and I'm not sure where certain information should be entered. I'll still need to review it before turning it in.

Getting back to the statement of purpose . . . It's only a two-page essay about why you want to do JET, what you bring to the table and why they should pick you. You'd think it'd be simple, but it's not. On one hand, I feel like I don't have enough space to write all the things I need to write. On the other hand, I feel like I'm rambling on and on about things that don't really connect with each other. Definitely need to work on the transitions.

I have to get through at least draft one of this thing because time is ticking down. I'm still waiting for one letter of reference to come in, so I have a bit of time. I'd like to get through with this as soon as possible and move on with my life. There's no use stressing over this application, you know? Just submit it and see what happens.

Bucket List - Week 28 Update

Yup, I admit I've been slacking on this Bucket List. Here's my update:

Bucket List #1
Hopefully no news means good news.

Bucket List #26
I just might do this (but in a negative way). It will probably invovle a world of hurt for someone else. See the latest post about the new girl.

Bucket List #32
Found two pennies bringing me $999.83 closer to my goal. LOL!

Bucket List #55
I have no idea how many books I need to read to catch up on this one, but I've just had no time. The whole tutoring and volunteering thing is consuming my life. I'm even falling behind on my movie blog. It's a tough life I lead. Haha! I'll get back on this at some point.

Bucket List #59
I'll try this in Japan, should I be fortunate enough to go there via JET.

Bucket List #89
Tried this during of my tutoring classes. It's hard. I'll need to practice a lot.

The New Girl - Part 2

I've been working with the new girl and slowly trying to transition some of my job duties to her. However, it is clear at this point that this will definitely be a challenge. I hope it isn't insurmountable, but I'm not even sure what the odds are at this point.

Is it a generation gap or just a personality flaw? The newbie is unable to focus on simple things, and in my opinion, has some form of ADHD. Either that or I have a walking, talking Valley girl on my hands. Thought that was just a Hollywood stereotype, did ya? So did I. The newbie just loves to talk and talk about all kinds of random crap. This is what a fricken liberal arts education does to people. They know a lot of useless facts but are uncapable of dealing in a work environment. Suuuure, they bullshit with the best of them but are completely incapable of getting work done . . . correctly I might add. Done correctly.

I never knew before today just how great and awesome traits like efficiency and common sense are. I've never really worked with anyone lacking these traits and don't really know how to deal with it. Sure, the new girl is a recent college graduate with limited work experience, but seriously? Seriously? How much brain power does it take to count a bunch of things and put them nicely back into a box? It would seem self-explanatory to me that if you're doing inventory you'd want to keep things nice and tidy for when you need to pull the items out in a pinch. What's the sense of counting thousands of items when you're just going to dump them back in a box and not keep track of them?

Another example of the idiocy I have to deal with ( just so you don't think I'm being unbelievably harsh) is the fact that it doesn't even dawn on her that when you're placing address labels onto an envelope, the labels should probably be straight and not tilted in a 45 degree angle. I mean, must something like this be part of the instructions given to her? "Attach one label to the envelope by placing it in the exact center of the envelope. Make sure it is parallel with the bottom edge of the envelope. Then insert a newsletter into the envelope and stack them all nicely in a box so you can take it to the mailroom." Is this the intelligence coming out of colleges these days? Seriously?

I had to talk to our manager today and bring up these and many other issues. The guy himself is a fool so I'm not sure how he is going to approach this. I plan on being very direct with the new girl from now on. I don't care if I come across as condescending. You need to prove to me that you're not an idiot before I talk to you as an adult and use words with more than two syllables.

Having to deal with this girl on a daily basis as well as our big, fat dummy of a boss might just be my undoing. I better concentrate and do this JET application to the best of my abilities. I don't think I can handle much more of anything in the current work environment.

Tutoring Update - Face-to-Face with Student

I met my student tonight at Liliha McDonald's. He was running late because of the bus and called several times to let me know. I appreciated that a lot.

Prior to meeting him, I was a little anxious and intimidated especially since he is an ex-con (according to the Hawaii Literacy people). When we did meet, I have to admit that he does look a little indimidating. As with all stereotypes of ex-cons, he's got tattoos on his arms and is pretty built. In my over-active imagination I could picture him snapping someone in two. However, he is also a reverend, which I am sure is not a stereotype of people who have been in jail. Giving in to my suspicious and cynical nature, I just Googled him and found him in a picture on the website of a church. Apparently he really is an ex-con preacher.

Anyway, I also learned that this guy is a former boxer. He said he is a former state champ and now trains other people. He is currently training a 16-year-old girl, who is really good. It's hard to picture a minister and a boxer in the same person, but apprantly they do exist.

We talked for a little over an hour and agreed to meet Mondays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. He wants to learn to read his minister's manual so he can perform his baptisms, weddings and funerals better. I'm not quite sure how one becomes a minster without being able to read well. But, I suppose God has his chosen people or whatever. I was happy that he didn't go all preachy on me. I think it's enough to be reading his manual. I really don't need to be converted too.

This Sunday is my last tutor class. We're supposed to discuss our meeting with our student. I wonder who other people were assigned. I'm not sure how I feel about tutoring my dude yet. We'll see how things go. On one hand, you can't really hold someone's prior actions or physical appearance against him/her. On the other, it takes a lot for people to change their lives and turn them around. All I can say is, we'll see.

Three Rivers & NCIS: L.A. Review

So I remember seeing the commericals for this new Alex O'Loughlin show called Three Rivers, but I have only been able to check it out tonight by watching it online. The appeal, of course, is O'Loughlin. He's definitely still hot and sexy despite his previous show Moonlight being canceled. Still, I think he was hotter as a vampire. It must've been all that pale skin and dark clothing.

In his current show, he's a transplant doctor named Andy. I'm halfway through the first episode now and find that it's difficult to relate to the characters. I'm not sure I can get onboard with another hospital drama, despite O'Loughlin's hotness. There seems to be less medical stuff than Grey's. He also doesn't really act like a doctor because his bedside manner is so soft. There's not a lot of medical stuff and more hand holding.

I've also watched the first three episodes of the new NCIS: Los Angeles. I can't really say I'm a big fan of the show, even with the studly help of LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell. It just doesn't vibe as well with me as the original NCIS does.

Maybe the characters aren't quirky enough? Maybe they're just not interesting? Even the missions they go on do not seem as exciting. There isn't a lot of medical stuff in this show either. The original show features Ducky, the M.E., in every show. You see the morgue with a body on the metal table in every show. There was perhaps one body on the slab in L.A. They don't really do autopsies, which I find weird, but they do psycho-analyze because the have a shrink on staff.

Both new shows do one thing right, which is to definitely play up the advanced technology. They both have that cool touchscreen action going on. Throwing images from one screen to the next is awesome. They project images on glass walls and are still able to interact with the data. It's all pretty cool.

I'll give each of these series a couple more viewings, but I have a feeling this is it for Three Rivers and NCIS: Los Angeles. Gotta go with the tried and true.

Tutoring Update - Contacted the Student

I contacted my student today, who was assigned to me by Hawaii Literacy. We agreed to meet at McDonalds on Thursday night to get to know each other. We'll see how it goes. The student is an older guy so I'm not sure how he'll react to a younger person tutoring him. I'm not sure this is a right fit, but I'll go in with an open mind and see what happens.

While I'm not at liberty to discuss him at length, I have to admit that I don't really know much about him at this point. I was told that he is an ordained minister and is interested in learning to read the Bible. I'm not sure how he can be a minister and not know how to read. I'll have to ask him about it. He has had some drug issues in the past so I hope they are resolved. I was also told that he has other health problems.

I'm a little intimidated about meeting him, but I guess it should be okay. I don't really feel confident about being a tutor after only four days of training. It all seems so unprofessional. How can you let an untrained person take control of someone else's education? I know we're just helping them to read, but it still seems pretty weird that we're not trained.

JET Orientation

For weeks now I've been mumbling about this JET Programme thing and haven't really explained it much. Since I just went to this Q&A session tonight, I figured I might as well get into it now.

JET is basically a government-sponsored program that recruits English-speaking people to teach English in Japan. They connect applicants with schools, boards of education or prefectures that are looking to hire an assistant language teacher to help their English language teachers in the classroom. The contract is usually a year and you're able to renew up to about five years.

The application process is pretty extensive and used as a way to weed people out. After tonight's orientation, this fact has been confirmed. The essay portion is also an important part used to get through the masses. At the Q&A session, we had a brief intro to the program and watched a video with testimony as to how great the program and experience is.

We were also able to ask three former JETs about their experiences in Japan. Two were stationed in Okinawa and the other one was in Sendai. They didn't really enlighten me much as I've already done some initial research online. They were mostly positive about everything and encouraged us to apply. I guess you wouldn't really want anyone but cheerleaders talking to potential applicants though, right?

Some interesting facts I learned tonight: There were 81 complete applications from Hawaii to be an assistant langauge teacher (ALT). This position makes up over 90 percent of all applicants. There is another position called coordinator for international relations (CIR), but you really need to know your Japanese as you'll be working within the government. Of the 81 people, 48 were interviewed and 22 were selected to go to Japan. That's pretty stiff odds. About 60 percent of the total applicants got to the interview section and about 27 percent actually went.

At this point I'm neither encouraged nor discouraged to apply. I think I'll go ahead with it and see what happens. I really need to work on my essay since I haven't even started yet. I also need to update my resume so I can send it over to the people I have asked to write my letters of reference. You need two of those. I also need to research Japan a bit more and get a better feel of locations and where I'd like to be placed. The location request may or may not be given to you.

The New Girl

We've finally hired a third person for our department at work. Yesterday was her first official day, but today was her first official day with us. She's a recent college grad who went to school on the mainland and has returned home. She went to a small East coast school and majored in poli sci. Interesting.

My first impression of her is that she's quite outspoken and enthusiastic about the job, which is good. Hopefully she'll bring a bit of much needed balance to our department. Her youthful zeal will hopefully allay the growing tension between us and our boss. She seems to be very bright, but I'm not sure how much longevity she'll have in this position. She has also applied at various other jobs, which in my opinion are a lot more free and fun than ours. She's applied for and declined a teaching position in Taiwan. She's also getting ready to take some kind of foreign service test. Both of those are definitely more fun than our job. We'll see how it goes.