Japanese children are cuter...

...that is all

Quick update for those of you who wish to stay up to date on the Nova situation. Probably the most straightforward and authentic website to use to get information is www.nova.ne.jp, which is Nova's official website. There are two English links on it now detailing the exact bankruptcy proceedings that are currently ongoing and what exactly will be the fate of the company both if the government lawyers can find a sponsor and if they can't. I'll also try to post any important changes as soon as I can, but hopefully this site can help with any questions or confusion anyone has.
However on a brighter note Jeff, Ayuko and I have been having an incredible time so far here in Osaka and the surrounding cities. Today Jeff and I went to Nara, one of my favorite places in Japan, and were able to see some beautiful temples and scenery. We were lucky to have great weather today, about 70 degrees, and should have comparable weather for the rest of his trip. I've gotten some good pictures and once he leaves and I have a little more free time I'll start posting them. Since we have been walking an average of 9-10 hours a day for the past three days we have decided to take a day off tomorrow and just be lazy. Maybe go to a movie or get massages or something. Who knows.

OH DEAR GOD...Sahashi, NOVA's president, has been forcibly removed from his position by the board of directors in an emergency meeting today. They have also declared what is essentially Chapter 11 and are attempting to restructure the company now that they can work unimpeded from Sahashi or Monkeybridge as everyone calls him. (His name means Monkeybridge) What this means is that their first order of business is paying teachers and staff, then paying off debt, then refunding students. So basically NOVA might be able to pull out of this and chances are I will actually be paid! HOORAY!

Well still no pay today, surprise surprise, but I don't really care at this point because Jeff got into Tokyo a couple of hours ago and I'll be picking him up from the bus station in Osaka early tomorrow morning. After we drop off his stuff at home, mainly to let him take a shower after close to two days without one, we'll be hitting up Osaka to see the sights. Since he is staying here a week I plan to go to Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima, maybe Kobe, and then end the week with a couple of days in Tokyo. I've never been to Tokyo, but have been really wanting to go ever since I got here so it should be a lot of fun. It also looks like we'll be in Tokyo for Halloween, so we should be able to go to some crazy clubs and see some ridiculous outfits. If I have time I'll update over the next week and try and put more pictures up and I'll definitely let you know if I ever get paid or if one of my interviews actually panned out.

Well today determines if NOVA survives or not and it all depends on their closing stock price today. If it closes a 35 yen or above then most likely it'll be bought out by two companies based in the Virgin Islands who would exercise the stock warrants they currently have. This would mean that I would actually get paid tomorrow which is always a nice thing. However, if the stock closes below 35 yen than the companies actually lose money if they exercise their warrants, so it seems doubtful they will if that is the case. Regardless today will definitely be a rather stressful day as I await my fate, but if for whatever reason NOVA is not bought out I just hope they have the decency to go bankrupt so I can collect my unemployment and get some form of money. Sigh...

However my friend Jeff from college is coming tomorrow for a week of Japan craziness, so I can at least forget about my worries for a bit. Just wanted to say I appreciate everyone's support and prayers during this rather exciting time of my life as well. Hopefully things will work out with a new job or I'll actually get paid from NOVA! Imagine that! Getting paid for work you did! Another big sigh.

Holy shit Jeffrey Hamilton is coming to visit me in Nihon. Let the craziness begin. Also my goal is to get him married to a girl like one of the above. Kawaiine!!!!



p.s Also just had a kickass interview which hopefully translates into a job. Fingers crossed!

By the way Ayuko is on the right of all the pictures

Well as NOVA is now a week late paying all the foreign teacher wages as well as over a month late in paying the Japanese staff it seems that their collapse is imminent. Supposedly some shady stock deal with companies in the Virgin Islands is going to put about 70 million dollars into the company on the 24th, but the NOVA president is so untrustworthy you can't believe what he says. Like the fact that we were supposed to get paid today according to some fax he sent out last Saturday, but SURPRISE no pay today and no explanation. He did this last month to the senior teachers by feeding them faxes like that FOUR times until they were finally paid three weeks late. So nevertheless no one has any faith in him and as far as I am aware almost every NOVA teacher is refusing to go into work until we are paid, essentially shutting the company down. I have boycotted three days this week and go on paid holiday tomorrow until November second, so who knows what will happen. All I care about is that we get our pay for September as I work about 30 hours overtime...BUT life is going great except for the whole not getting paid thing. I'm loving living with Ayuko and her family and just being in the countryside as opposed to the concrete jungle. I'm putting up some much requested pictures of Ayuko with this post and will put up some more of the area as soon as I take them.

Well I've moved into Ayuko's place as of now and they are currently remodeling my bedroom and bathroom into like a deluxe suite. I'll have a tv in my bathroom as well as a huge bedroom and my own kitchen. All this plus food, electricity, internet, rent, EVERYTHING for only 20,000 yen a month or roughly $180 US. Ridiculous. This living situation means not only that I will save hundreds of dollars every month, but also that if NOVA does go bankrupt I'll have plenty of time to find another job. Speaking of other jobs I had the second of three possible interviews with Berlitz, another big English school, today and if all goes well I'll have a final interview sometime in the next week or so. However there are about 100 people applying for 5 jobs, so needless to say the odds are against me. I think the cliched saying of you miss 100% of the shots you never take applies here, so we'll see how things go. I'll put up pictures as soon as my room is complete. Still rather stressed as to the whole job situation, but hopefully things will work out. Gambaru!