Fantastic Damage
After another long stretch of work, I finally got a day off today. It was real nice and warm too, so I got to do stuff like wash my car and go kick the soccer ball around, little things that I haven't been able to do in a while. You know, the whole sunshine, fresh air thing. I just don't want it to get too hot, because I haven't fixed the A/C in my car yet from last year. Still, today was in fact pretty nice and I could get used to this routine.

What was also pretty nice was, I got hooked up with a press pass to the Charlotte/Dusquene game last night. So yes, I did in fact get to sit at the press table right at center court. If that's not the best seat in the house, I don't know what is. I also got to indulge in the free pregame meal (sweet potatoes were delicious) and postgame press conference. Now, Dusquene came into Charlotte with only 3 wins the entire season, so this wasn't really a hot ticket. But still getting to do all that stuff was pretty cool. And if I go to Japan, this could be my last basketball game for quite some time. As for the press conference, I did get a recording of Bobby Lutz's and Curtis Wither's comments, if I get bored enough I might type them up on here sometime soon.

So, sounds like everything's been going pretty nice recently, right? Not so fast. Turns out, this girl I like already had a boyfriend. Who is a big basketball player. On a Division 1 college team. That's currently in the top 25. Hmm. I'd say it looks like I might have misjudged that situation just a little bit.

JET Interview Status: Completed.
Finally, the time had come. I was finally sitting in the Japanese consulate in Atlanta, waiting for my interview to begin. I went over all the questions they may ask, my answers. I thought about all the events that occured since I'd last been to Japan a year and a half ago. JET would be my ticket back to Japan. Now, I just had to rock this interview. No pressure, right? So anyway, how did it go?

Pretty well, I think overall. I was interviewed for about 15 minutes by a panel of 3 people, one a Japan expert, and two former JETs. Early questions included What was the toughest part of studying abroad in Japan, and Why did I think Japanese politics were interesting. Not too bad so far, and the questions were a good chance for me to flex my knowledge of Japan. Japanese pro baseball even came up in the conversation. Then, I was given some more situational questions, like what would I do in x situation. I was still pretty prepared for these, and I think I gave mostly good answers.

Then they asked me to teach a quick lesson about African Americans. Yay, something open ended. They said, you could use anything in the room but I decided to play it safe and use the whiteboard. I tried to keep it visual, drawing a map of Africa and the USA, spelling out all the tough words, etc. But I'm still concerned that I talked to fast and used to complicated words. I don't think that sabotaged the interview though. Then they gave me the opportunity to ask questions, and they said I has asked good questions and had to think about them for a second, which is a good sign.

So I was pretty relaxed and confident, and I think everything in general went pretty well. I was wearing my power tie, so that helped. The interview questions certainly could have been much harder IMO. Now, concerns. I wished I had simplified my sample lesson more, and somehow displayed my Japanese language skills. Also, hopefully the girl from the embassy didn't think I was being too pushy, I was just trying to be real friednly, honest.

Anyways, I sure hope I get this job. Working at the mall has been pretty lame recently, so that certainly raises the stakes. I really don't know if I can sell shoes for another year.

V-Day
So what do you think I spent my Valentine's Day doing? Smooching up next to a loved one? Nope! How about working open to close (10-9) at the mall. And with opening and closing duties, it's really more like a 9:30-9:30 shift. Fantastic.

But that's neither here nor there. The big news is, I leave tomorrow for the JET interview on Thursday. I'm going to Atlanta straight from work. I thought I'd be nervous, but the truth is I'm excited. I've only been out of the Charlotte metro area once since I started work (trip to Hickory), and even something like staying at a hotel is pretty exciting to me. Plus, I will finally get to do the interview, which is something I've only been waiting about 8 months for. I guess I'm as prepared as I'll ever be. Just got to rip this one up and hopefully I'll be on my way back to Japan before I know it.

Ganbarimashou!

Just call me Professor Frohman
This morning, I woke up and felt like I was about to do something foolish. Now, I feel that way every day, but today in particular because I had agreed to teach a class at UNCC for my old professor Dr. Piazza. Sure, it's just one class period of an intro course, and it's pretty basic material, but I'd never done anything like it before so I was feeling pretty nervous just for that.

So after a little introduction, there I am in front of about 15 students, teaching a class about the beginning of the Cold War. "Today, we're going to talk about the Truman Doctrine"! Try to contain your exctiement. Being in front of the students, on the other side so to speak was a strange sensation. Like I said, a new feeling for me. But overall everything went pretty smoothly. Prof. said I did well, had a good speaking voice, etc. Probably my biggest problem was writing on a chalkboard. It looks worse than chickenscratch.

So I managed to do it without freaking out. Is it something I want to do the rest of my life? Well, just based on one class it's got to be better than selling shoes at least. And It's true though, most of the students looked like zombies and were probably half-comatose through class. Hmm, I was never like that as a student was I?

In other news, I finally decided to get my act together and set up my Xbox Live account. Me and Sammy used to play Live all the time back in college instead of studying. Good Memories. Anyways, my "Gamertag" is OatmealLegend. Halo 2 and PGR2 players of the world, watch out!

JET Update Plus more
I've got good news to report on the JET front. I got an interview at the Japanese consulate in Atlanta on February 16th, at 11am. As this is the next big step in the application process, I'm plenty nervous but excited as well. I've sure been waiting for this long enough it seems. Now I just need to get ready. I know they will ask me to pretend like I'm teaching a class, so I definitely need to be prepped for that one. I've been thinking about keeping it pretty simple, sticking with something like basic geographical features or the solar system. Whatever I choose, I have to do it well because this will obviously have a huge impact on if I can go or not.

Other than that, I've been relaxing these last couple of days off from work; somehow I ended up scheduled for nine straight days or something like that so I'm enjoying every free minute that I have. So I took a lot of naps, went to see Syriana (good), picked up some games at Wal-Mart, caught up on my magazine reading, etc. Its been good times, but the party ends tomorrow. My sales numbers have been pretty slack (especially before last week) so I've definitely been feeling the pressure from my bosses to hit all my marks. We've also been moving out our fall stuff and getting new spring styles in, so there has been a ton of stock work to do as well. Just another day at the mall.

Seahawks 34, Panthers 14
Man, that was painful to watch. Bummer. Life goes on.

What's up Fools
Not much here. Work, then go home and sleep, and that's about it. You know the deal. I did get to go see a UNCC basketball game last week, vs. Xavier. Unfortunately, the Niners weren't having a great night and lost by 13 at home. This also brings up the fact that my cell phone is broke, so I couldn't contact and meet up with anyone at the game. It had all my numbers in there, and of course I never wrote any of them down, so it's pretty tough to communicate with people. Technology is great until you depend on it, and then when it's not there for you, you're screwed. Now I've heard that I can "unlock" an older cell phone that I have, and use that one, but the whole process sounds kind of fishy to be honest. Still it would be cheaper than buying a new one, so guess that I will have to give it a shot.

Also, I did take some time on my break to check out the coolest shoes ever coming out this Saturday. It's called the Nike Air Max 360, and for the first time the midsole is completely an air pocket- there's no foam or anything. It's 360 degrees of Air, get it? See, this is more of the stuff that technology is good for, fancy running shoes that no one will ever run in. Anyway, dude at Finish Line let me try them on early and I can say the shoe is quite confortable and lightweight, and of course all that Air is badass. Problem is, it costs $160 and will probably sell out immediately. Still, for someone who used to obsess about the latest Nikes "back in the day", it was cool to see something fresh and new again.

Also, a big congratulations for my Dad, who turned 50 years old on Tuesday. I guess this is where I would put up an embarrasing photo or something like that, but I'll save him the humiliation- this time. Happy Birthday!

Par Avion
I'll admit, I had my doubts. I didn't know if he was gonna come through. But sure enough, Mark delivered as promised with an awesome mailing from Canada. Sure, it was about 5 months late, but as we all know better late than never.

Check this out- Canada-edition Smarties, complete with Maple Leaf and extra "eh" suffix. Pretty cool, but what's even more surprising is that Smarties is the same name for two completely different candies in the US in Canada. Canadian Smarties are M & M looking things, while in the US Smarties are these small sugary tablet things. That almost blew me away as much as when I realized Canadians say the letter Z as "Zed" instead of "Zee". What a strange, strange place Canada must be.

Special Edition Pineapple Hi-Chews, straight from Okinawa. Great!

Finally, a real honest to God offical Malaspina Mariners badminton jersey. Pretty slick, eh? Too bad it's not Yonex, though. That would have been prefect. I can't wait to rock this thing around Mooresville. Thanks again Mark, and have fun in Yokohama you lucky bastard!

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Happy New Year everyone. All I can say about 2006 is, this year suckas are going nowhere. But hopefully Fro will be returning to Japan in '06, at least that's the plan son. Certainly the #1 priority. I feel like I real chump not making it back to Japan in 2005 and that is one of the reasons that I won't miss this past year at all. Outside of a couple high points (writing for the school paper, graduation, ... um something else) the year stunk pretty hardcore and I can't say "good riddance" to it quite fast enough.

I did get to see my home fry Sammy recently. Always a pleasure to see a Nave. Of course there was much Taco Bell to be had, late night shopping at WalMart, and a guided tour of Hickory's "big box" shopping district (very impressive). Afterwards, Mario Kart DS until about 3 in the morning. Needless to say it was one of the best times I've had in a while and a much-needed break from the usual.

As for my previous post and lack of updates, I apologize. Working retail over the holidays will in fact drive you crazy. Today was my first day off since Christmas, and my first real day off (i.e. no obligations) in about 3 weeks. I haven't had two days off in a row since Thanksgiving. Basically, I need a break from work which is hopefully forthcoming. A 40 hour work week never sounded so good.

This is it.
This is it.

I think I've finally lost touch with all reality. It sure took long enough. When you reach a certain point where you don't quite care anymore, it's actually quite liberating. Well, it's been fun. Catch you guys on the flipside.