Iran

دنیارابگوییدچطورآنهاانتخاباتمان دزدیده اند

Tell the world how they have stolen our election

If you somehow don't know what's going on, there are mass protests in Iran right now. On Friday, millions of people voted and, even though Mousavi (who is progressive and stands for change and positive relations with the rest of the world) was winning by two-thirds, all of a sudden the results changed and Ahmadinejad (who leads the oppressive existing regime) had 68%. The election was stolen.

But, for the first time in a very long time, the Iranian people fought back. People almost immediately took to the streets, shouting 'Death to the dictator!' and 'Allah o akbar.' They came together to protest peacefully. The police started attacking, but they didn't let that stop them. Riots started, the shouting kept going all night. Test messaging has been disabled, information-sharing sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are blocked, satellite is down. At 5AM Arabic-speaking soldiers from Lebanon (Arabic is not the Iranian language - that's Farsi) stormed a major university in Tehran. Five sleeping students were killed, many more were injured. 192 members of the university faculty have resigned in protest.

Mousavi requested that a peaceful protest be allowed, but the request was denied, so a lot of people thought it wouldn't happen. However, at first a few thousand people showed up on the streets of Tehran this morning, and at this point it's estimated that between 1 and 2 million people are out there. Mousavi spoke, the police stood by, and at first it was peaceful.

Now people are dying, getting shot and beaten in the street. People in Iran who have found a way to access Twitter are sharing photos and news. The Green Revolution is on.

If you're out of the loop, check it:

Pictures
News

I started my job

Today was, in fact, my second day. I'm working at a clinic, as I said, in medical records from 8-2, then I'm working on a more specific records-centric project from 2-5. I get an hour lunch, which is both awesome and lame because it means I don't get home till almost 6 if I'm lucky enough to catch the 5:05 bus. Yesterday, I failed, today I was told that it's okay if I leave 10 minutes early, so it was all good.

Honestly? This is the most laid back work environment I've ever been in. I can wear whatever I want, as long as it's not skanky (or open-toed shoes, technically, since it's a clinic that will soon also have a needle exchange), I was explicitly told that it's okay if my lunch runs a few minutes over, no one cares, and they're letting me duck out early so I don't miss my bus home.

The work itself is mindless, but there's a ton of it so the time goes by pretty fast, and I'm getting a fair amount of exercise because I'm moving all the time. The elevator is out and a lot of my job involves walking, crouching and reaching, so I'm not just sitting at a desk all day.

Unfortunately, the people are problematic. The personalities of the three permanent people clash, they're snappish and not always very nice, and it's just kind of an unpleasant dynamic. There's also that horrible bitchy two-faced bullshit women sometimes pull - the head of the department and the woman who actually does most of the work act really sweet when they're both there, but when one is out of the room, the bitchy comments start up. It's awful. I don't like the lead, myself, she doesn't do much of anything, but tells everyone else to work more, but still. The fakey friendship thing they've got going on bothers me. It's one thing to be friendly and civil, but they're over the top with pretending to really love each other. I don't know, I feel like I'm going to get really sick of the environment really fast, but it's good money, so I'll handle it.

And... that's all I've got! I'm liking being downtown during the day, that's really nice. I'm not sitting around bored anymore!

More of the same, really

First of all, I've found a 60-hour online TEFL (synonymous with TESOL/CELTA/the 20 other acronyms that all amount to the same thing) course that I think I'm going to register for after I get my second check. The first check will be next Thursday, so I'm going to wait a little longer before doing anything that costs much money. It's $310, accredited, and is a 40-hour basic Teaching English as a Foreign Language certification course plus a 20-hour extra grammar course that will up my overall qualification. Considering my total lack of practical teaching experience (and my inability to change that before I'll be applying for work), this is the best I can do to make myself more competitive. I'm planning on calling the school that offers these online classes when I get closer to registering to ask some final clarification questions, of course, but I think it'll work out well.

Can you tell I'm getting a little anxious about this? It seemed so far away for so long that I wasn't really thinking about it, until I realised that, if I do want to go back to Japan, I'm going to have to start figuring things out in September. Almost a year before I'd be leaving. And right now I'm in a sort of liminal space, waiting until I can do something.

And, you know, it's kind of funny - I'm putting all this work into being an English teacher when it's only a short-term ambition. I have no intention of teaching forever. Really, I (like a lot of other people) am planning on using teaching as a means to something else. Basically, this is my skillset: I'm very fluent in English, I'm going to be fluent in Japanese, I can read, I can speak well, and I can write. I still want to do the graduate program at TIU, but that's just more school, nothing permanent. Actually, what I'd really like to do ultimately is write books about Japan in English. Not travel books or books on subjects that have been done to death (because, really, do we need another book on geisha?), but rather English language books on things that don't get much attention. There are so many topics that foreigners, for whatever reason, just don't touch and I want to take them on.

I want to take pictures of the things travel writers and tourists don't really look at. I want to write about teenagers and the elderly and the assholes at immigration. I want to go to towns 95% of the foreigners who go to Japan have never even heard of and document them, or take the long way to Kansai from Tokyo, rather than the shinkansen, and write about the people I meet. And maybe no one would buy the books, but I would have so much fun writing them that I wouldn't even care.

It's kind of crazy how motivated you get when you realise that, actually, you do have somewhere you want to end up. And it's just vague enough that it will drive my mother nuts worrying that I'm going to finish school and not know what to do with myself.

Haircut!

Yes, I went this morning to the salon I've been going to for about a year now, and got my hair cut. I based it on the picture I posted here and the stylist (who used to live in Japan, oddly enough) loved it enough to keep the picture when I left, in case other people are looking for inspiration for a short cut. It's much shorter than anything I've had in... ever, but it's really light and cute. I'm really happy with it.

So, you all get a picture taken with my Myspace-style photography skills. I couldn't get a good one showing both sides, okay?


Cute, huh? I'm really pleased.

明日 の Ｒｅｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ

Yeah, I'm listening to Daisuke Asakura again. This happens kind of a lot. I mean, the title of this blog is the first line of Orange Tea Time (aru hi fushigi na kuni e itta no - that day I went to a strange country), which probably says something about my love for this man and his heavily synthesized music. Oh, DA, one day I will see you perform, either solo or, more likely, with Access. With Kenichi Ito is probably way too much to hope for.

Anyway, generally speaking I continue to fail at life. I finally called Nikki back, at 2 o'clock Sunday morning, when I was coming back from seeing a concert at El Corazon downtown (it wasn an awesome concert, for the record, even if most of the other attendees were pretty wasted). I was expecting her not to answer and was all set to leave a conversational and rambling message (I'm at least somewhat known for this skill), when she picked up. So I talked for a minute, assured her that I still love her... and then didn't call her back like I said I would. Because, as established, I suck. It's worst during the summer when I just forget about my phone for days at a time and check it to find that I've missed, like, five calls. So, on the to-do list for tonight and tomorrow: call Nikki and then call Annie. And then call the loan people because they seem to think I've graduated and want me to start paying them back in November. Yeah, that's not gonna happen, guys.

In other news, as probably no one remembers, back in January I made a vague and short-lived attempt at a media blog. As in, I made the blog and posted one recommendation before completely forgetting about it for about six months. But now I think I am going to try to resume this project, because I like reviewing and recommending things. The link is in my sidebar, if you want to peek in on it. There will be music and book recs (and possibly TV and film, depending on my mood), with samples and my opinion. Because I know you all value my opinion so very much.

All of that aside, I ideally start work next week. I'm pretty much set to be put in the float pool for the county, which really means (since I don't drive) that I'll be working medical records at a clinic. However, my mum found out today that the jail may also need float pool people, so I might be partially back at the jail. Basically, I'll be spending the next two months or so in some of the sketchier parts of downtown being a temporary public servant.

I'm actually looking forward to this, partly because I'm getting bored and partly because I'm tired of not being able to buy anything. I keep seeing books and stuff that I'd like to have, but can't afford because I have no income. Also, I saw a black and white sort of retro dress today (it has a layer of tulle under the skirt and everything) that I very much Do Want. I'm kind of digging dresses and skirts these days.

And... I really don't have any other news. I'm just trying to keep this blog somewhat updated so everyone knows I'm not dead. Keep an eye out for media posts from me. Hopefully I'll actually get that off the ground properly. I've got some obscure Japanese music and some awesome cyberpunk fiction to recommend. Oh yes.