Author Archives: DavidPfitzner

 
This i got accepted to study abroad in Osaka , Japan. I was so excited at the chance of traveling to Japan and using my Japanese skills. Many  people don’t know that i speak Japanese. So when i speak Japanese they are a little shocked, but always happy. At first Japanese always look at me in a funny way, since they are hearing Japanese coming out of my mouth. I am not your typical japanese speaker. I have bright blue eyes, light blond hair and a stature of six feet. In fact i was the only one in my entire Japanese school with these features. Sure there were other foreigners in Japan, but everyone of them in my school had brown eyes or other asian features. So the funny thing would be when we went on feild trips around Japan. I always stuck out like a sore thumb aove the crowd. One time i rememeber clearly being on a train coming from a temple and was completly exhausted. I was sitting by myself and the rest of the kids were standing. The other students woke me up and said that their were some girls talking about me. So i got up and looked across the train where two girls that must of been in highschool were chatting away about me. They even had a book out and were trying to say things i didn’t quite understand. I looked them in the eye and said “Konnichiwa,” their faces lit up like christmas trees. They began to get even redder as i asked them in Japanese several different questions such as if they spoke English. They said a little and that they wanted to learn more. I asked them what was the book the were readiing. They were a little hesitant to hand it over and i was a little embarrassed to read the sentences outloud. It was a Japanese/English book on how to pick up guys. I think your hot, what is your type? Do you want to go dancing? Why don’t you come to my house, where some of the decent sentences this book had in it. The rest of my group wanted to read the book i handed it to them and told the girls Eigo wo gambatte Kudsasai, whichs means try your best in English. They rest of my group made fun of me because this was alway the kind of attention i seemed to attract after opening up my American mouth while speaking Japanese. Continue reading →

 
Usually everyday i come into work a little early to get something to eat before my shift and to study. I was sitting in the cave which is a place where know one will bother you while you eat or study, but this day  i was interrupted by Cliff. Cliff is another waiter who always jokes around with me. He has been working at Compadres much longer than me and always trys to trick me. He came into the cave and said that John wanted to see me in his office. I said, "Yah right Cliff, just let me study okay!" "No" he replied John said it was seriuos and that  i needed to go up stairs immediately. "Are you sure he said it was serious," i replied. John doesn’t use the words serious very often in a sentence. "Yah, but i don’t know what it is serious about," cliff responded. I went up stairs trying to think to myself what i could have done. It felt like i was going to get fired. I knocked on the office door and John told me to come in. Inside the office was not just John but Kellie as well our other senior manager. They both had stern looks on there faces. John told me to sit down and to shut the door. I had seen private talks like this regarding other people before and it wasn’t usually a good thing. So i shut the door and sat down to hear John say that he wanted to ask me a couple of questions.  "Okay, sure " i thought to myself. John wanted to know if i was planning on moving anywhere soon. I thought about the question and said, "No". Then he asked what my plans for the future were. Wow! that is a big question i thought. I told him i was going to school trying to get a double major in Japanese and international business. That’s great he said. I asked him to narrow the question down for me and what he meant by the future. John replied with the shocking statement that there was a manager position opening up soon and that i was the first person who came to mind to him for the job. I couldn’t believe. I didn’t know exactly what to say so i told him i needed sometime to think about it. I also told i liked the idea of a new challenge, but was intimadated by the fact that i’m only 22 and everyone i would be managing would be older than me. He told me not to worry and that people would respect me if i respected them. I told him that i liked being a waiter because i got to talk to so many different people everyday. He said i would be able to  still do that as a manager. Then i thought about my languages, Spanish and Japanese and how i would use them. It became clear to me that i could still help out other servers with their language barriers and maybe as a new manager i could bring more international business to the restuarant. So i left the office with a million thoughts and a smile on my face. I was proud that John had thought about me in those terms. I talked it over with my girlfriend and my dad later that night. They both thought that it was a good idea. The next day i called John and told him i was up for the challenge and eager to learn new things. The rest of the story still lays untold in the future. Continue reading →

    After highschool I began working construction.  I was building a new garbage dump for our county.  It was very labourous and I usually worked at least 12 hours a day.  I didn’t complain about it because I was getting paid twenty six dollars and fifty cents an hour.    Every Saturday that I worked I got paid time and a half which came out to about forty dollars an hour. At 18 years old this was a lot of money to be making.  My friends would ask how I got the job or what I was doing with the money?  I had been spending some of it.  I bought a brand new wardrobe and a huge stereo system, but I still had lots of money coming in.  At the time I drove an 82 Toyota truck and thought maybe buying a new Toyota truck would be cool. I began to stop spending my paychecks and started to put the cash in the bank. I soon had over five thousand dollars and started looking at trucks, but then I changed my mind.  I decided I didn’t need anymore new toys. What I really needed was to travel and to learn some new things about the world.  That is when I decided to move to Spain!!! Continue reading →

Another opportunity had arrived. My friend was living in Honolulu. His roommate was moving out. He needed a new roommate. I said I just returned from Spain and was broke. Then, a few good things happened. Someone called me and said that they had a extra ticket to Hawaii if I wanted to go. I said alright. Now, all I needed was money for rent. Luckily, I got my tax money back for working the previous summer. It was enough to fund my trip and first month’s rent. So, here I am in Hawaii. I’ve been here for almost 9 months  The opportunity that now sits before me is the chance to learn Japanese. I’ve saved up a bit of it of money again and enrolled in a school near my house. What a coincidence. It is funny how life seems to put you in the places you need to be. For me, that’s in Hawaii, learning Japanese right now. Who knows what my next journey will be after this. Continue reading →

 
After high school, I began working full-time for a construction company. I was quite lucky to get the job right out of high school, since the pay was $26.50 an hour. I worked all summer. It was great. It provided me the opportunity to save up for my trip to Spain. After we finished the job, I left the company and Washington behind. I moved to Spain by myself and began to learn Spanish since I didn’t speak any. Three months later, after many adventures and frustrations, I spoke pretty good Spanish, but had just about run out of money. So, I headed back to Washington where I stayed for a couple of weeks before my next adventure came up: moving to Hawaii.
 
 
Kookoo o sotsugyoo-shite, kensetsu-gaisha no shigoto ni tsukimashita. Jikyuu wa 26 (nijuu roku) doru 50 sento (gojussento) de, kookoo o sotsugyoo-shite sugu ni sonna shigoto ni tsuketa no wa kanari kooun datta to omoimasu.  Kensetsu-gaisha de sono natsu wa zutto hatarakimashita.  Totemo yokatta desu.  Sono shigoto no okage de, Supein ni iku tame no hiyoo o tameru koto ga dekimashita.  Sono shigoto ga owatta node, kaisha o yamemashita.  Washinton o dete, Supein ni hitori de iku koto ni shimashita. Supein de wa, Supein-go ga mattaku wakaranakatta node, Supein-go no benkyoo o hajimemashita.  3 (san) kagetsu go, iroiro na keiken, soshite furasutoreeshon no sue, Supein-go ga kanari hanaseru yoo ni narimashita. Shikashi, okane ga hotondo nakunatte shimatta node, Washinton ni kaeru koto ni narimashita.  Washinton de 2,3 (ni san) shuukan o sugoshi, tsugi no booken, Hawai ni iku koto ni shimashita. Continue reading →

 
In 5th grade, I began to play an instrument, the violin. It was such a difficult instrument at first, but, after years of practice, it became so fun. In high school, my orchestra consisted of 50 players. We were quite good, would travel and perform at places like Disneyland and Victoria, B.C., taking first place on many occasions. I enjoy music and would like to play again. Yet, I haven’t touched the violin in over two years.
 
　Another area in high school I was interested in was Investment Club. I was the Vice President and took great interest in how money in the stock market worked. In the club, we’d practice buying, selling and analyzing stocks. On certain occasions, we’d have field trips to financial institutions.
 

5 (go) nen-sei no toki ni, baiorin o hajimemashita.  Hajime wa totemo muzukashi-katta no desu ga, suu nenkan renshuu o tsuzukete iru uchi ni, totemo tanoshiku narimashita.  Kookoo de wa, 50 (gojuu) nin de koosei-sarete iru ookesutora ni shozoku-shimashita.  Kanari ii ookesutora datta node, Dizuniirando ya Kanada no Buritisshu Koronbia shuu no Bikutoria de Ensoo o shi, yoku 1 (ichi) i  ni erabaremashita.  Watashi wa ongaku ga suki desu. Zehi moo ichido ensoo o shi-tai to omotte imasu.  Desuga, moo 2 (ni) nen ijoo mo baiorin ni sawatte imasen. Continue reading →

 にほんご の たび
 
きょう　から　にほんご、また、にほんぶんか　について　まなびたい　と　おもいます。
おおいに　たのしみます。
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