Sleep

The school term is three weeks in. Despite having managed to clear the system-wide virus we caught just before the end of the summer term, the beginning of the new term has brought with it its own slew of new problems. This, along with the eternal struggle of trying to persuade children to sit down and actually DO their homework has meant that any "me" time I get (and we're told we have to make time for ME now) is well after 9pm. Thus my bed time has been moving relentlessly towards midnight.

Whilst the rock songs of my youth may have suggested that we can party while we're alive, and sleep when we're dead, you begin to realise that this may just be a fallacy, so I'm going off to have a bit of a nap now.

Finding a Proper Job (and an Au Pair!)

I'm sure many of you reading my random thoughts are all too well aware of my current set of goals - I want little in life, but right now, I'd like to be able to get a proper job and an Au Pair. Nothing kinky, you understand - a female au pair to help round the house and help look after the girls should I wish to have an actual social life. Many people, on hearing the news that I want an au pair make the (not entirely unnatural) assumption that I want a male au pair for, well, I'm sure you've got your own perverted imagination!

So, in order to move closer to the realisation of the first of those goals, I've started a college course at Farnborough College of Technology - Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment. I reasoned that I had been doing pretty much that for the last nearly 6 years, so it's not going to stretch me too much. Since this is my first foray back into the educational arena since I totally failed to get back into University having flunked after year 1, I was somewhat nervous and had to get my mum to come with me to sign up for it. As it happens, far from knowing all about Windows Server 2003, I find myself in the position of knowing some small amount of what is available. I've discovered enough to do my job, but I have no idea whether I'm using the most efficient/elegant solution. Although I was worried that, since I have been doing this job for nearly 6 years, I might find myself on one of those courses where ones knowledge far outstrips that of the rest of the class (and even the course), I'm truly delighted to say that this is not the case. Indeed, in only the second week, I was made aware of a utility I've used before, but this time in a completely different way. I was also made aware of the scope of the "run as" command which has always been used to run commands as the administrator. I'd never really given thought to this command being useful to run something as a limited user from an administrator account - I've always logged out as the power user, and logged back in as the limited user for my testing.

So, 3 weeks into the course, and I'm genuinely learning a lot of new things. This then, brings goal number 1 closer.

But! And this is actually quite a big but (aren't all of mine?) When I finally attain this Nirvana, this perfect, proper job (I have very high hopes!), will I enjoy it? Because the college is not just teaching me about Windows Server - indeed no! Our teacher, probably quite a high up person, and certainly in possession of the local Administrator password, cannot assist with the reset of my user account, disabled because I took too long to effect my first login.

In my current job, I am the KING! Well, probably Queen, in my case, but definitely some kind of computer Royalty/Deity. Indeed, this term I have been signing my emails "Sian Day, IT Goddess". I have access to every file and subdirectory on every server on my domain (OK, it's not that big, but I have 6 servers). I can deny the logon of anyone foolish enough to think they can play me. I can, and do, restrict access to the internet based on whomsoever is daft enough to attempt to play games during lessons. If there's a computer based task out there, and it's available in our school, well then, I have the authority to do it. I have a level of autonomy which would be envied the world over, and I have the time to learn whatever is needed to accomplish the job. I have a boss who's one of the most wonderful people on the planet, and always encourages learning. He never fails to thank me for a)fixing computer problems or b)teaching his class when he's unable to make it. And he doesn't sugar coat it if I do something wrong. Oh, and in case you hadn't worked it out, I LOVE my job.

There are, of course, drawbacks. For starters I've been hired as a teaching assistant. TA's are traditionally women who want a bit of pin money, and who usually have a child in the school at which they're employed. They're not trained to teach, and thus are denied the not-actually-that-shabby salary offered to teachers. In short, TA's are paid a McWage. This is grumble number 1.

I have to change printer cartridges. For crying out loud - I'm the network administrator and I have to change printer cartridges!!

Our IT budget is pretty limited (for an IT budget, not for a School IT Budget), and it can become quite troublesome when things get old, die and or need to be replaced. Last year it was failing projectors - now we've had these projectors since well before I joined the school at the end of 2003, and I was not of the opinion that they owed us a whole lot. What was a problem was that 9 of them developed the same problem within a few months - it was almost as if they were programmed to self-destruct after a certain number of lamp hours! This year, to my horror, it's PC's. Motherboards, to be strictly specific, and a nasty known problem pertaining to capacitors, which has only just started to show itself in a batch of older (5 years old) PC's.

So when you look at it, there's much more in my job to enjoy than there is to hate. Which is why I'm not sure that Goal Number 1 is something I'm going to enjoy when I do get out there. Where else am I going to find myself right at the top of the food chain, while simultaneously being right at the bottom?

Things I've learned about Japan from reading Manga and watching Anime and J-Dorama

I'm sure that my education is still incomplete, but having spent quite some time watching Anime, and then moving on to Manga, and more recently watching J-Dorama (they say Drama in much the way I say Dwarf), I've gleaned much knowledge. In the interests of sharing, here's what I've found.

1. There are a hell of a lot of car accidents in Japan. I'm fairly convinced that this is the most effective form of population control, because in almost every Manga, Anime or Drama I've seen, the parents were conveniently removed due to a car accident. This, of course, leaves many grieving teenagers in situations where they would otherwise be grounded because of their demonstrably anti-social behaviour. These teenagers are often left in charge of their younger siblings who, in the UK at the very least, would have been taken into care, and already well on their way to being a complete social misfit. However, these teenagers are loving and kind to their younger siblings (the aforementioned anti-social behaviour is only shown to others, not family), and no one ever reports them to the social for working unsuitable jobs or having charge of the youngster with no adult supervision.
2. Ladies shoes are very badly made, Manolo and Jimmy having no, um, foothold in Tokyo. I can't believe how many, apparently new, shoes are so badly stuck together that it takes nothing more than a slip down a step for the heel to detach almost completely from the sole of the shoe. I'm also surprised at how often these shoes have been shown to be very expensive. This leads us on, quite nicely to:
3. Ladies are very proud. Having taken a (often shoe-related) tumble in Japan, it's de rigeur always to collect ones belongings, stand up proudly and walk off, usually limping because of the previous point. I rarely see so much as a trembling lower lip, so I applaud these ladies for their bravery!
4. School girls are uniformly bitchy. Damn! This is a huge point. As far as I can work out, if a boy is particularly attractive, he appears to be considered "class property", and no one is allowed to date him. This strikes me as peculiarly unfair, especially to the boy in question, but apparently he doesn't get a vote. If you're a cute, new girl in a school, and you start dating this handsome hunk, you're stuffed. You might as well just throw in the towel right now, and transfer out of there, because no one will back you up, as the rest of the girls in the school find ways to humiliate you (usually involving shredding your expensive and exclusive uniform or shoes), and all the boys will try to get into your underpants and detach you from your beau.
5. Keeping, if I may, on the school theme: Girls can disguise themselves as boys, and will remain undetected for months, while her class-mates are more likely to question their own sexuality than hers. Apparently boys can do the same, leading me to believe that the Japanese are quite androgynous. This leads to many "comic" misunderstandings, which could be cleared up by someone just asking a question - for example, "Isn't your Adam's apple quite large for a girl?" Or, "Haven't you got rather a large arse for a bloke?" However...
6. People just don't like to ask embarrassing questions. Apparently it's impolite, or something. This is an area requiring more research.
7. Love/Like. You can't just like someone. If you like someone, you love them. Maybe it's the translations. This leads me to question how you tell your mate that you like him/her, without the inevitable "You're so gay!" riposte.
8. Firsto Kisso. Yes, that's how they say it. This is quite perplexing to a Westerner, but it would appear that Japanese boys and girls save up their first kiss (this is first lip kiss) until they're in their mid-teens. I'm not sure if parents are allowed to kiss their children on the lips, or whether this is discounted as a firsto kisso, due to it being unavoidable.

Well, I hope my insights into modern Japan have been helpful to you, and that you'll send me a postcard when you next visit Tokyo!