30 Questions for Mr Frog

Morning.

Here’s a small blog post with a bunch of questions being answered. It gives a good indication of my personality, and for psychology drop outs, an excellent insight into the mental discord of an amphibian stuck in a man’s body. Enjoy.

1. Are you an actual frog?
   1. Yes. No. Maybe. What do you think?
2. Why name your website “Frog Machinery”?
   1. There’s a song called “Frog Machine” by Infected Mushroom that I really like. I love that song, and for whatever reason the name Frog Machine stuck with me, so I just started using it as a nickname. Machinery is a reference to inner workings aka the brain.
3. What’s your star sign?
   1. Taurus. Chinese sign is Snake. Snake headed frog with the body of a muscular bull. And smelly shits.
4. So you really live in Japan?
   1. Yes.
5. Can I live in Japan?
   1. If you get a job, yes.
6. How?
   1. Apply for job, get offer, fly to Japan, get visa, work. Also, learn the damn language.
7. But I wanna speak English!
   1. Then you’re in for a difficult time. Learn the language. I’m self-taught. Not perfect by any means, but I speak to locals, can do my taxes and am able to care for myself. Learn the language!
8. What made you to decide to start a blog?
   1. I love writing. I’ve been writing stuff since I was about six years old. I never really showed any of it to anyone for a long time, but decided I’ll collect my thoughts on a blog and maybe it’ll be useful to people in some way. It also keeps my mind sharp.
9. Why do you like philosophy?
   1. It’s challenging for me. It also teaches you how to think, unless you read post-modernists or Kant. Then you’re just trying to give yourself an aneurysm.
10. What kind of philosophy do you like?
    1. You can read this.
11. Ugh, you like Ayn Rand? How could yo–
    1. Shh, stop.
12. <If hyper-objectivist weirdo> Ugh you criticize Objectivism? You’re just dish—
    1. No, NO. Stop, go away.
13. Do you think self-help is helpful? You write a lot about life and self-helpish kind of stuff.
    1. Only if you take action. Self-help is a farce if you sit around being a blob and don’t do anything. You need to take action in order to sort your problems out. There’s no possible way any books or blogs will help you if you’re lazy.
14. But I’m lazy.
    1. Then slowly wither away. Sorry, no one is going to save you. I can’t make you change. No one can, except you. Please believe in yourself.
15. What do you think of COVID?
    1. Not a big deal anymore.
16. Do you think people should get vaccinated?
    1. If they want.
17. What do you mean ‘if they want’?
    1. I mean, if you want, then get vaccinated. If not, then don’t.
18. But they might get really sick!
    1. Yeah, and they might not. It’s none of our business. I respect people’s personal medical decisions, and I think you ought to as well. Your choices are none of my business.
19. Are you some kind of libertarian?
    1. I’m a nobody. I also don’t ascribe to the political compass.
20. But how am I supposed to get to know you if I don’t know what coloured square on a grid you fit into?
    1. Try coming out for a coffee and having a conversation. Labels are largely useless here, and ideology before humanity is generally a terrifically bad idea.
21. What do you do for a living?
    1. I’m an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher.
22. How long have you been doing that?
    1. About eight and a half years now.
23. I’ve heard ESL teaching in Japan isn’t a “real” job.
    1. You’re hanging out with very miserable and weird people then.
24. What do you mean?
    1. ESL teaching is real work, but it also acts as an easier “entry point” for non-English speaking countries, and there are certainly companies here that are no good. Lots of people use it as a stepping stone into new jobs – some stay as language teachers because they like it or they see it as a career (I do). On occasion, you get awful people being language teachers because they think it’s a free ride. They definitely exist.
    2. The people who see it as a stepping stone and think it’s not a “real” job tend to see it as a job beneath them and only for plebs – it’s a superiority complex. Frankly, I don’t care what people do, your life and your values, just do your best.
25. So it’s a real job then?
    1. Of course. It’s easy to be a shit teacher, it’s very hard to be a great one.
26. So I guess you need a masters then.
    1. No, diplomas are just fine. The papers are really just a formality alongside wanting to progress into academia – if you learn some fundamentals in TESOL, TOEFL or whatever have you, you can build from there and teach. That said, becoming competent takes time and serious effort. You will have a lot of failed lessons or ineffective approaches.
27. What kind of skills would you need to be a great teacher?
    1. A lot. A strong grasp of the English language for starters (though you don’t need mastery of its grammar, language improvement never stops!), very good communication and listening skills, natural curiosity, high general knowledge and the ability to take in different viewpoints.
    2. Those last three are the most important I think. All students have different lives with different stories, and being able to take in their thoughts, learn new things and expand your own knowledge to utilize topics of interest that serve the needs of the student are critical to good language development. There’s a lot more than all of this, but you get the gist – being a great teacher isn’t easy.
28. You sound very serious about it.
    1. I am, but I’m also a very laid back person. My writing makes me come off as a rather serious and intense person in real life, but really I’m more just a raving lunatic that’s very funny and enjoyable to hang out with.
29. What kind of hobbies do you have?
    1. Boatloads. I play two instruments (beginner at both at the moment), practice singing, beatbox (15+ years), paint here and there, love video games, boxing, cycling, hiking, cooking and more.
30. How the hell do you do so much?
    1. I manage my time well and pace myself.
31. What inst—
    1. Nope, 30 is the limit.

Hope you enjoyed that. If you have actual questions for me, comment down below or message me in other places.