I hope everyone's been enjoying October..! I would say I have, but I don't quite remember much of it. Lot's of working, sleeping, some worrying, but I'm still alive and Bingley's healthy (and Shota~) so I can't complain.

Since Halloween in Japan is pretty lackluster, as far as I'm concerned, I've had to search long and hard to find anything interesting to post about. Most are snapshots of decorations, costumes, and my own costume prepping, so maybe not so much writing (for once). Enjoy :)

Halloween in Shinsaibashi

A shop in Shinsaibashi with their Halloween display. It's already been replaced with a Christmas one, and Halloween hasn't even happened yet. And I thought America was always in a hurry DD:

A... Halloween.. tree??? From the same store.
I don't even know. It's cute, but at the same time ridiculous.















Let's not forget Halloween.. presents..!..??
I really think they just got their traditions mixed up, which is bound to happen when they aren't native to one's culture (like Halloween in America..? and origins of Christmas for that matter..).

Halloween at Universal Studios Japan

The really shoddy thing is I was sooo, so, so, super excited to go the Halloween events at USJ (especially since the stateside ones had Silent Hill events, which looked amazing and I'm still regretting not being able to go to..) which ultimately lends to a higher degree of disappointment.

And oh, how disappointing it was. Decorations were nice though (I guess). Orange and black and the like.







This! This is the sign that got me all jazzed! Scary attractions where kids aren't allowed?! How awesome-sauces~

A little more cute before we get into the scary other stuff.


I wanted to buy Sesame Street stuff just to show some support for PBS but.. seeing as this is a theme park, it's being pocketed by USJ. Ah wells.









All of these were taken with my phone, so forgive the sizes. :<

Anyway, the Raccoon City sign in daylight (I don't think I snapped a night shot). I was really hoping the Biohazard (Resident Evil) area would be scarier. More like a haunted house. But, it was not.

I feel bad the zombie staffers were only able to scare ぶりっ子 (burikko - girly-girls. usually the type that scream in super high-pitched voices and are generally viewed as annoyingly cute?).

YEA! Night time! let's scare some people!! Right? Right??

No.

It's impossible to scare a crowd of hundreds with.. 10 zombie staffers. So sad that the odds were against them.





Jill on top of the USJ globe, striking poses and signaling.. someone. I think. I don't really know what she was supposed to be doing.

I tried to snap a shot of Nemesis when he stepped out in front of the globe, but alas, all those shots ended up blurry and have been confined the tumblr-verse, where you may giggle at the terrible quality.





And this is about all I did for the Halloween event. Somehow, all the Halloween attractions were done queuing at 16:30 (when we arrived in the park) even though the Halloween event didn't start until 18:00. Plus, the express line tickets we bought, only worked for 4 attractions instead of the 7 they're supposed to work for. (Dafuq??) As a result, we only rode Spiderman (not scary), Back to the Future (not scary), and Jurassic Park (not scary, but we got a funny photo).

I did get to scare my boss a couple times, which made everyone laugh. She loves me tho :3

Overall, I give USJ's Horror Night, out of 100, a -75. It seemed like they weren't ready for the crowd, and it kind of made it feel like a waste of money especially when you're only coming to USJ for the Horror event and you can't do any of the horror even things. Just a mess. I sure do hope the American versions were better. (Also, thank god I have a pass, otherwise I'd be mad x9000).

Halloween at Work

My boss and co-worker, being as creepy as possible in order to scare one of the customers. Some weird dancing was also involved. Lol

We also decided to make Alien Brain Hemorrhages for the month of October. Most Japanese bars don't do any kind of special shots, so this easily freaks people out.









And finally, photos from the party!! :D

The owner, myself and another staff member.

We scary :3

A patron in party mode.

Halloween Costumes (in JP)

Lookie what we have here! My costume from.. 3 years ago? At twice the price too! Sans hat (which is easily the best part). All the Leg Avenue costumes run around this price and most of the accessories are missing.

I actually did like flouncing around in this a few years back.











Then you have the 'Huh?' costumes? Where.. they just took the names of Disney Princess' and stuck them on random costumes. I saw a Princess Aurora one too, but forgot to snap a photo.

It's pretty funny that they didn't even try to match what was written and what's shown.











Nice Japan-only costumes like.. the Host. I mean, the Host is ridiculous to see on the streets, and they're most easily mocked by other Japanese, but as a costume?? Just seems down right boring, but that might just be me. Perhaps there was a clever young chap out there this past weekend causing a ruckus as a fake Host. Maybe they even scammed a few people, who knows~

There were a couple other 'meh' ones like a police officer and traffic.. police officer, but I'll the save the space on the article, and just direct you to the tumblr post with all the costume photos.







This isn't a costume. I think. At least I couldn't tell you what it's supposed to be ('look! I'm objectification of women and probably one of the reasons why women are so thoroughly molested in clubs -- or some such).

I would suppose that no one would really wear this out in public. I hope. Dear Japanese goddess, who must be rolling in her cave.










How about a little more sexualization?? Mmm yes. I, also, wasn't able to see this costume on the streets last weekend, which is a relief because really. This is creepy. I'm also pretty sure that this uniform is usually only for elementary/middle school students (I don't think it's so common anymore, for obvious reasons).

But Alyse, you might say, aren't you jumping to conclusions about the intentions of the costume?? Well, dear friend, a simple google image search of the phrase 小学生体育制服 Shougakusei taiiku seifuku (Elementary school student PE uniform, as I wanted double-check my assumptions), will lead you to understand why.

Ohhh Japan creepy, creepy Japan.... Sad panda :<




This was another one that threw me because.. I don't see a connection between Diva and having a brown face. There are plenty of popular musicians who aren't brown-faced, and the simple fact that it was labeled 'Diva' and not 'Gyaru' or some other fashion style associated with frivolous darkening of the skin makes me wonder what 'Divas' they could be talking about (hint: everytime I hear the word diva, it's usually followed by Whitney Houston or Beyonce).

Ohhhhh...kaaay.

Eitherway, wholly unattractive. Looks like she smeared chocolate on her face. :<

My Halloween

For my own costume, I decided to go with the tried and true 'Vampire.' I couldn't tell you how many times I've been a vampire, but it does not get old for me. This year, I was going for a vampire somewhere between Blade and Underworld (basically 90s/early 00s). Which is really just a fangs and alternative clothes, which means yaaay, I get to save money. Sorta of.

Anyway, I wanted to made some claw-like nails (which I think might be more Interview with the Vampire), and started with this set. It's pretty simple, but I really like them, and plan on wearing them after Halloween too. :)






Then I made these flesh-toned ones with dripping blood so it looks like I really clawed someone to death. Yaaay.

Too bad I forgot to wear either one when I went out for Halloween this past Saturday. Thank goodness for parties that actually occur on Halloween.






I was able to get my hands on some icy-blue contacts, though not UV lenses like I wanted (they don't come in my prescription :< ). These are actually circle lenses, and since you can't change the B.C. (base curve), they aren't the most comfortable. But they got the job done and I freaked out a lot of people on Saturday. :)

I also got a neat wig, skeleton tights (for no real reason except I REALLY wanted some), and leather pants. I think the leather pants fit the Vamp theme better.. but I really want to wear skeleton tights :3







Partner's in crime..! We had a great time out in Minami, and also learned a valuable lesson, clubs are really crowded during Halloween :< Plus clubs close at odd times (usually somewhere between 1-3), which isn't quite late/early enough to catch the trains back home, and really makes you wonder if it's worth spending the 1500 yen sans drink to get into the club for only an hour or two.

I can only predict that the club scene will get progressively worse from here on, until there's nothing left but fuzoku, girls bars, kyabakura, and host clubs. Is that what the old men want? Just to have the streets to themselves??

Ah well. Happy Halloween!! And be safe! :)
★Peaces★

Cheers!!

September..!! Boy, did we have some... good bad stressed times.

Preface:

It had been the better part of three months. Three whole months of waiting, pacing, and trying not to freak out about my non-existent visa status. I suppose I was partially to blame for not realizing that the visa system had changed so that you could reapply for a new visa three months in advance as opposed to the previous policy of only one month (if you ask me, they were basically begging to always be up to their necks in applications and paperwork with as short a time period as that). But it's not like they send out immigration newsletters or are even a place I particularly like to be in (pre-preface: I HATE the immigration bureau in Japan).

I quit my company job (March) and went to apply for a new visa in May (it was to expire in June), but apparently, I did that in the wrong order. A foreigner quitting their job then applying to renew their stay must ring all sorts of bells in the bureau because after that, I had to send them copies of my passbook (similar to bank statements), so they could check if I had... money..? (I guess??) Then a written explanation on how I would continue on surviving supporting myself in Japan without a job despite being the participant in a marriage. It was weird and completely invasive, and I was completely opposed to doing it until I realized my savings were slowly dwindling away and unemployment checks were almost done running their course (and I do actually enjoy working, so there's another thing).

So the immigration took their sweet-ass time, and another month later, I was finally awarded my first full Spouse Visa (the first two only being 1-year test runs just in case. I guess???). That was mid-August, right before Obon Festival, so even though I'd been asked to work at one conversation school after getting my visa back, I would still have to wait until September before I could get started (which means no yen until October, OUCH). That was a definite no bueno, so I made a leap of faith, away from the Gaijinpots and other publications (and websites) for non-Japanese and went straight for, well, Google for starters. But it eventually led me into the wild world of アルバイト (arubaito)  or part-time work.

The Part-time Nightlife

Part 1: The Interview(s) with the Employer(s)

that's exactly what you think it is and it's chocolate.

I suppose it's really hard to realize how limited your options are until you look through the job section of Gaijinpot.com or Kansai Scene. It's about 80% English conversation stuff (closer to 90% on Gaijinpot), some part-time but also a lot of full-time ALT jobs. After that, you may find one or two waitress/bar-tending gigs, then a few things for babysitting. And while teaching English is ALWAYS a good way to make money, I am genuinely uncomfortable teaching English in big classes. Especially to big, mostly unwilling classes. I feel like I'm wasting my time, and therefore, don't want to give the 100% that would be necessary for a good English lesson (not that I would be doing much teaching anyway). And unless you have JLPT certification, companies outside of the English ring aren't interested (nothing says fluency like standardized testing, amirite TOEIC? Or Eiken???).

It's a faulty system based 90% on appearance (photos are a must when sending applications) and/or native-ness (esp. English school companies) or 100% on certifications (translation gigs). So much god-damned paper that usually has no bearing on a persons ability to do a job.

So I typed, or something like it, 大阪市内外国人 (Osaka-shinai-gaikokujin-kyujin) which is 'job recruiting foreigners within Osaka City.' I can't say, or type, what I was hoping to find since I'm sure non-Japanese rarely type that into search engines, but I suppose I just wanted some reassurance that companies were aware of non-Japanese trying to outside of the English circle. And a few things popped up, mostly in relation to kitchen or izakaya staff, which is also cool, but I don't really want to handle peoples food. But I noticed a lot of results in the sites BaitoruDotCom and Arubatio-Ex, so I made accounts and started fine-tuning my search techniques on those sites.

And OHHH my sweet baby Buddha. Compared to the small number of jobs I was used to seeing on Kansai Scene, I thought I'd hit some sort of jackpot. Of course, these weren't jobs that were especially for non-Japanese (arubaito are usually for young Japanese while they're still in school or before moving up to join the ranks of the salaryman and OL), but I didn't let that damper my enthusiasm.

With these sites, I was also able to get into the details of the type of work I wanted. Since food handling was mostly out of the question, I decided to look for work in a night club or bar, that way it wouldn't interrupt the sleep pattern I established for my illustration stuff. I also wanted something with flexible hours and work days, so that if, for some inexplicable reason I got a big illustration commission (a girl can dream, can't she~) or a family vacation popped up, I would be able to take off the necessary amount of time, but also be able to jump right back into the part-time job once things got slow again. And you would be surprised at how many bars are so willing to accomodate. And telephone operation companies for that matter.

After reading the deets (pay rate, whether a uniform was required, location, hours of operation, etc.) I applied to 3 places plus a part-time position at Universal Studios Japan since I've always wanted to work at a theme park (I love fun~). And to my surprise, all three wrote back asking for interviews. And this is when I got really nervous. My spoken Japanese level is pretty high, but I've always hated talking on phones because I usually have to ask for clarification a couple times, and I feel like people then doubt that I speak Japanese at all. So I made a point of mentioning in my e-mailed replies that I was a foreigner (though I did it a kind of nonchalant way e.g. I'm a foreigner but I've got all mah papers, yoRoshiKUUU~), to which I thought I would receive a few 'thanks, but no thanks' replies.

But to MY surprise again, they were all totally cool with it. I would, of course, need to bring my visa, but other than that, no further explanations were necessary and all seemed well. And I was going into my first interview in high spirits until I realized it was my first interview in Japanese. Enter freak-out mode.

I forced Shota to sit down with me in mock interviews for hours, trying to come up with as many scenarios as possible where I might be presented with words I wasn't familiar with or times when I couldn't express myself sensibly in Japanese (while I could read 日払い I had no idea how to say it or even if it was decent to bring it up in an interview). Those moments occurred much more often that I would have preferred, so my brain almost went into so-freaked-out-I-just-won't-go-to-the-interview mode. But then my subconscious reminded me that I'm a foreigner in Japan and if I don't go, it will reflect negatively on all other foreigners and one day, when some other poor soul goes in to apply, they'll be confronted by a boss who thinks that all foreigners make interview appointments just to never show up. Yeah, my imagination is waaaay too overactive but I suppose that is why I studied animation. :)

So I decided, for the sake of all the other non-Japanese living in Japan, I should at least show up so that we wouldn't all be tagged as no-shows.

The interview was with a medium-short guy who looked like he was a probably a host not too long ago, and had the craziest teeth that I proceeded to stare at for the entire interview but that were really cute in that quirky way. He explained the basics of the bar, and how often everyone was paid, then gave me the usual run of 'just-met-a-foreigner' questions e.g. 'how long have you been here? why are you here? are you part Japanese (anyone who speaks Japanese beyond a basic level is assumed to be ハーフ half-Japanese)? what part of America are you from?? Oh, I've never heard of that.. (no surprises).' Then he gave me the 'Thanks a lot. I've got a few other interviews so I'll give you a call next week after I make a decision' -line.

From my own perspective, the interview went alright, but at the same, I was sure that I seemed more trouble that I was worth. After I left the interview, I saw another staffer further along the rode who waved and asked how it went. I told her 'I'm pretty sure I didn't get it..' with an 'ah-well' shrug and a tired smile and continued on my way back to the trains.

I hadn't made it home before getting a call to come in for a 'trial-run' on staff, I just needed to bring a black button-down shirt. I can't really describe how genuinely surprised/happy/excited I was to get the job (or the trial at least), and maybe even for some, it seems ridiculous since it's just a part-time job. But even so, it was a huuuuge boost to my confidence as well as a validation of my own level of competence. Not only was I capable of holding a semi-professional, adult level (all my earlier experience was with Japanese kids) conversation, I appeared fluent enough for work at a bar (which is probably 10-20% drink making and 80% talking).

Now I had two part-time jobs, plus 3 more interviews in the next few days, with a level of confidence high enough that I felt like I could walk into Sony Corp, in sneakers no less, and get a job. Of course, I couldn't then, and I can't now, but it sure felt like it. :)


UggHHGGG I would love to continue, but hoooooly Jupiter this post has become much longer than intended. I shall continue on with the rest of the interviews soon and then finally get into the actually working part. So if you read through this, thanks :3 If not, more picture-tastic postscoming soon..!♥

★Peaces★