Hajimemashou

Greetings to any who may read these words. To you I say . . . no, you wanted to take a left at that last search engine. Man, if they’re going to build an information superhighway, the least they could do is put up some decent road signs.

Anyway, let me start by explaining who I am and the purpose of this blog. My name is Ryu Sensei and I will soon be the newest English teacher in Japan. I’ve started this as a journal of my adventures. I hope to keep my professional and private lives separate, but as they are both significant in relation to my travels, there will doubtlessly be some overlap. For the record, I will NEVER refer to any of my students, colleagues, friends, or family members by their real names. This is both to protect their privacy and to cover my hide as I am well aware that anything I post here may be read by a world wide audience. (I’m also well aware that few if any people I know are actually going to read this, but allow me this slight delusion of grandeur)

Now, what will I be talking about here? Well, this will be a combination journal and opinion blog. I’ll report any interesting travel stories and/or cultural exchanges I experience that I want to preserve for posterity. Opinion posts will cover a wide range of topics ranging from politics, to education, to food, to webcomics, to Kaiju Big Battel (KBB).

What is KBB? Well, it’s a combination Japanese monster movie and professional wrestling parody show that pokes considerable fun at both it’s parent genres. In other words, a bunch of city stomping creatures “settling their differences” (Read: beating the high holy heck out of each other) in the ring. I stumbled across this about two years ago and became hooked on the humor and the writing to say nothing of the community of die hard, amazingly creative, fans that follow KBB. Don’t be surprised if frequent posts on this blog relate to my reporting, opinions, and analysis of the goings on in the fictional world of Kaiju Big Battel (and before anyone asks, the spelling error in “battel” is deliberate. Apparently, there was a typo made on an early Kaiju T-shirt and the guys in charge thought it looked cool so they left it).

Now that’s settled, you’re probably wondering who I am. Well, I won’t give you all the details, but here’s what you do get:
• I was born in the UK to an American military family. Therefore, I’m a US citizen with all the rights and paperwork that entails. I could even run for president if I choose. That, of course, presupposes that I lose my mind at some point before declaring candidacy.
• By the time I was through elementary school, I had lived on two continents and had either visited or lived in over a dozen countries. So I’ve been a wanderer all of my life.
• I graduated from university in 2006 with a BA in English/Education and I am a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
• I love to cook. One of my main goals of going to Japan is to learn more about Japanese cooking techniques and recipes.
• I enjoy science fiction & fantasy and pride myself on having a healthy imagination. This interest has expanded in recent years to include a love of Japanese pop culture such as anime, manga, tokusetsu, and kaiju. Yes, I am a nerd and darn proud of it.

That’s about it for now. I’m in the process of getting my work visa so that I can legally earn money in Japan (quite a good idea if you ask me). That means I’m momentarily trapped in a limbo of paperwork and waiting. As soon as anything post worthy happens, I’ll write it here.