Well Well Well

As of Monday, I have been laid off from my job. I'm not too sad about it, as I was expecting it, as well as the other web designer. So this week I have had a little more time to study Japanese as well as work on web stuff. Today I actually got info for our first site, so i get to start working on that, its a web site for a salon, I have never done one of those before, but it should be fun. Also today, it is confirmed my speedometer on my car is off by about 20 mph. I got another traffic violation from Arizona. About two weeks ago, I went to Arizona for the 20th Arizona Statewide Japanese contest, and on my way back to California, I was pulled over for going 95 in a 75, there is no way I would just go 20 over whilst knowing it. So that was a $280 ticket; then today, i got a thing in the mail that clocked me going 74 in a 55, I always keep an eye on the speedometer, so something isnt right, and both those violations were on the same day, there go another $184 for that. This couldn't happen at a better time, I have no steady job, trying to save money for JET, and bam im out $462 like that. That could have been a new digital camera and mp3 player, or a decent laptop to do work on the go with my partner. Those are things I also wanted to get before JET, but oh well, i still have some money left over, so I'm glad I was at least able to pay the fines, and hopefully I wont have any other expensive surprises.

Let's JETing!

Well, it has once again been a long time since my last post.

Anyway, I have been working as a web designer/developer for a few months now in Corona; the area is nice; the job, not so much. I make minimum wage, and working 40 hours a week is still not that much money when my expenses are considered(rent,bills, and trying to save for JET). Another thing is that I'm probrably going to be laid off tomorrow since the company is going under. So, the other web guy and I are going to try to do some freelance stuff; so hopefully that will help me net more money than what i was making at the company. I'll try to keep you guys posted on how that goes. The next thing I wanted to talk about was the JET program.It seems like an awesome program to go and help teach English in Japan, and the benefits are also good. I'm really excited to be accepted in the program, which is one of the reasons im back on my blog. I don't know where I will be placed yet, but it should be interesting in some way no matter where it is. I would talk about the process and interview but there are quite a few other blogs that were on that in a timely fashion.

For now, I see my blog as being one about Web Development, Digital art, and Japan once i get there. I still want to be active in web and stuff so I won't be all rusty and behind on standards as I already am now, so bloggin about it may help me stay active in that, hopefully. Anyway, thats about it for now, and welcome to the Re-Re opening of this blog.

It's been a while.
Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I was supposed to update a long time ago, but I never got around to it. Anyways, I'm officially a graduate now, and I'm just waiting for my degree in the mail.I got my web site up online http://students.uat.edu/chamontg, I just need to get my own webspace instead of the school one. I also got a video posted of my speech and the animation done for it on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meD3O_6LLNQ
So now I'm kinda just looking for work, and doing some freelance webdesign and practicing to get my portfolio better. I'm gonna apply for the jet program, it would be an awesome opportunity, I can study Japanese, Learn more about Japan, and help children with English, and I would have a lot of time to do computer work. However, JET isn't for a long time, and there is no guarantee I will get it, but I will try.
The JLPT is coming up this December, I'm studying for that as well. The JLPT is the Japanese Language Profeciency test. I plan to take the level 3 this year. Depending how soon I can get back to Japan will determine if I take the level 2 next year. I know I haven't posted in a long time, and this post is probrably hard to follow, sorry.

Speech Contest!

So, this past sunday I did the 19th annual Arizona state Japanese language speech contest. Well, the weather was extremely hot; but the Japanese friendship garden was a very nice place to hold the competition. It was a long day of speeches, but very enjoyable. Guess what. Marty Friedman was there, the former guitarist of Megadeath. That was pretty awesome, but I didn't realize who he was until the day after, when everything clicked in my head. Anyway, when I first got there, I was insanely nervous, but after some walking around, I was able to calm down a bit. By the time it got to my group, I started to get nervous again; but once my speech started, I started to relax and go with the flow. After all the speeches were done, there was a tea ceremony, and then a long wait until the awards. When it came time for awards, I became nervous again; but, all my hard work paid off. I got second place in my category out of fourteen people. I was really happy, and I won some really cool goodies. I'll post back soon with more details. see you then.

The Update of a lifetime...

Well, it has been a while since I last posted; and a lot has happened since that last post. I am not less than a week from my university graduation ceremony. Well, I'm not officially done with college, but since there only one ceremony a year, and I'll be done in the summer, I am able to participate. So next semester is my actual last semester in which I need to find an internship and complete two small classes. I'm also getting web space to put my portfolio online. I made the site completely in Flash, as Flash is my weapon of choice. So I'm hoping that will get straightened out so I can get it online. I have still been studying Japanese also, after the trip, I realized how great it is to experience different cultures; and I have taken studying Japanese more serious than I used too. Hence I am participating in the Arizona speech contest this Sunday. I'm starting to get exciting about it, I hope I can deliver the speech the way I have on my practice runs. Other than all that, I'm thinking about what to do after college, depending on what internship I get, that could lead to a few things. I also have given thought to travel to Japan to try to work abroad, or study abroad at a university. I'm sure a lot more happened since my last post, but I think these were the most interesting things. I'll also post back after the speech contest.

Alright, my second post, but finally some interesting stuff.

This weekend is Toukasan, a big festival in Hiroshima, where girls dress up in yukata, similar to a kimono, and guys wear jimbei. Anyway, a fellow classmate and I decided to go before everyone else, since we were not going to wear jimbei of yukata, like all the other students. The first thing we did when we got there was go to the Sega arcade; not very cultural or related to Toukasan, but still very fun indeed. After that, we starting walking towards the actual festival, we reached a small part of it where a lot of food stands were. We decided to eat later and to see a shrine that we needed to see for our religion class. So we spent like an hour and a half looking for the shrine, which we didn’t find, because we kept walking past it. When we finally did find it, it was so crowded that we could only stand there for about 30 seconds. Looking for the shrine was pretty tiring, so we decided to go to some more arcades; one of them actually had Half life 2 survivor. After some walking, we went into a 7 11, we took a look around and stared looking at the magazine section. I was looking at a manga about samurai, when “friend” comes up to me with open nudie mag saying “Charles look”. So I look to see him standing there with the magazine open to some girl with her top half hanging out, and there was a guy right next to him, strange. After 7 11, just went back home on the over crowded fear train. This was by far the scariest train ride I have been on since getting here. First, when the train was loading, a lady tripped on my foot, we both said excuse me, no big deal. A few minutes later “friend” tells me that the guy across from us is probably reading a dirty manga, so I look up to see what he is talking about, and the girl next to him now thinks I was staring at her, so I quickly look down, and when I look back up, she is still staring at me. So I decide to look to the right, were there is this girl who notices me and tells her friend “hey look a foreigner”. So now there’s three people staring at me, so then I just look down. After a while I figure its safe to look back up, and when I do, the guy standing in front of me, is looking down at me, so I just looked at the ground for the rest of the train ride. The long scary train ride.