Saturday, November 06, 2004

Saturday November 6, 8:51 p.m.

Had an interesting lesson with the Mom of those two sisters. I gave her a major case of the willies when I told her that I had no fear of clasping one of those giant cockroaches that are endemic to this country. Man these guys are just terrified of the insects.

Then, I made it to the Tea Room to see M+M. No cockroarch talk there but we chatted a lot on food. It was a lot busier than usual there; the wait staff was just flying all over the place.

A lot of the comments from the folks back at home and the students here concerning Bush's win pretty much can be condensed into one question: "What the hell were they thinking?!"

Movie Buddy had a brief chat with me over the Messenger about having the dumb luck to get the first 3 discs of 24, Season 3. It's been so many months since I saw the last season that I didn't get particularly envious. But I know that MB will be largely missing this weekend if 24 is of the same calibre as the first 2 seasons. As for me, I'm just taping some travel shows for the parentals. They seem to be the only thing that I can tape for them since enka music has largely disappeared from the tube. For dinner, I just made up my usual pork kimchi and rice...also steamed half a gigantic sweet potato that one of the Beehive gave me. I feel gassy as hell right now. I'm gonna have to keep the windows open wide tonight.

I was checking the Cartoon Network website when I came across one of their new shows: Puffy Amiyumi. Good heavens! The Japanese kitschy pop duo merely did some stuff at a Texas music festival and suddenly they've achieved Shonen Knife fame. And now there's gonna be a cartoon on them. They've been around here in Japan for nearly a decade but their peak was a few years ago and they've largely been appearing solo in different variety shows now. Ami and Yumi have long past the "syndicated" point of their career so they will always be recognizable and liked figures on the tube but musically, they'll just be a late 90s phenomenon.

Tomorrow will be a major clean up here since I've got absolutely nothing. I figure that I'll be giving Mom the monthly call.

Friday, November 05, 2004

Saturday November 6, 7:37 a.m.

Feeling pretty achy and tired this morning. Serves me right for not properly warming down after my workout last night. All that lactic acid must be stagnating in my veins. I inadvertently slept an extra hour which usually signifies that I needed it.

Got at least the one kid today and probably her mother, although I've prepared for the other sister. The classes are one hour ahead of schedule so I can take a bit more time getting over to the Tea Room to see M+M. It'll definitely be nice spending a night at home.

In fact, this weekend will be nice and quiet. Can actually clean up the place.
Friday November 5, 9:31 p.m.

Well, my lesson with The Teacher went smoothly. Afterwards, I headed for Maruzen to get my crosswords and newspaper. Tried to find someplace for lunch but the restaurants seemed a little too upscale in price and status. So I just ended up having lunch back in the school lounge. It was good to see the DJ and the Interpreter after so long. The DJ and I had a good talk on the aftermath of the election. He is somewhat bewildered about the results as most of us in the world are.

I told SR that the countdown to my possible permanent departure for the Great White North began yesterday. She had a minor panic attack about me leaving since she didn't really who she could turn to for future English lessons. I think there's plenty of time left. Besides, The Teacher didn't seem too dismayed when I told her last week.

Some good news...I actually got a class at the school next week. Ironically, one of the senior students saw me today and remarked that she never sees me outside of the events.

Had my second outing at the gym tonight. I lost another pound...good stuff. I tried a couple of the other machines as well. My shoulders are feeling pretty tight right now.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Friday November 5, 8:46 a.m.

The new Star Wars trailer came out on Fuji-TV. Looks like it'll be a chock o' block of action and darkness...and probably more of the "stylized" acting.

Now that Bush is back in business, he called for "reaching out and healing". Hah! The man was able to grab the popular vote, the electoral vote, and extra seats in both the Senate and the House. He'll probably steamroller everything. It'll be four more years of the same. Now, I'm just wondering where Michael Moore has gone.

Had my rubdown in the afternoon yesterday. As I thought, it was pretty empty there at the clinic. A somewhat nebbishy masseur took care of me this time. He was rather conscientious about his work which I appreciated...he asked me at certain times whether his moves were too painful. I assured him that he was doing fine. He also gave me some advice on how to tone up my triceps.

Another good day today. So, I just did my laundry. And then I'll have my regular lessons with The Teacher (hopefully, she'll be in a better mood) and SR. Then, it'll be my night session at the gym with the new sneakers. I bought a pair of amazingly cheap Nikes. They were only a shade over 3000 yen including tax. I even thought that they had to be knockoffs but the telltale swoosh was there on both the box and the shoes, so I guess they must be the real thing. Perhaps the advertising has so ingrained in me that Nikes must be astronomically expensive that I didn't know about the cheaper models.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Thursday November 4, 2:44 p.m.

Atlas shrugged. The world sighed. Bush won.

Well, a decade ago today, I stepped back onto the Land of the Rising Sun to be transported twice across town before I was dragged into my NOVA apartment in Shibamata. Clinton was still relatively unstained, HEY!HEY!MUSIC CHAMP had just started with the youngish Downtown duo and I had much darker hair. I've been through hundreds of students, most of whom have been very nice...a few budding psychos but not too bad, made a few friends, lost a lot of them due to distance or "creative differences", and managed to live in the same apartment for virtually the same amount of time.

Last night, I had a bit of a bellweather moment about my 10th anniversary here when I had that meeting with that acquaintance who is to launch his own conversation school in January. He's been here the same amount of time but he's got quite a bit more ambition than I do. We initially spoke on my availability to teach there, but it soon got into the possibility of actually partnering up with him to help the place grow. I said that it would all depend on how my Xmas vacation goes in terms of what the parentals want of me. If they want me back home, then it's all moot. But if I can come back here and he helps me get my landed immigrant status, then the project could be doable. However, it would also mean that I'd lose a lot of my privates which would be a pity.

Jazz Buddy should've just phoned in her lesson today. She was just so exhausted. Every syllable was interspersed with a yawn, so the first hour was mostly on her job satisfaction. I say she should head for a spa. I think she was rather envious about how genki I was. It is a very nice November afternoon.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Wednesday November 3, 9:37 a.m.

I was called after 8 this morning, and since I rarely get such calls unless they are from my school or from some annoying telemarketer, I didn't answer with the most cordial of voices. Hearing the unknown voice at the other end didn't make me feel any better.

However, when he identified himself as the husband of my good student from my old NOVA days, I quickly got into line and into Japanese mode. I now feel somewhat bad since he had the sad news that his wife had passed away a couple of days ago. I feel doubly as bad since I really didn't possess the vocabulary to express condolences so I'm not sure if I sounded like a complete coldheart. In any case, he was very gracious. I have sent off messages to another teacher and one of her classmates since they're the only people whose addresses I have from those days.

When I met my first student for the first time, I had only been working at NOVA for a few months. She struck me as the usual middle-aged housewife but over the years as her English improved (and that it did), she also changed her image from that of typical housewife to a more hip lady with her fashion and her hobbies. She loved Spain and also studied the language very hard. I still have her tiny plastic bag containing a few precious strands of saffron that she'd gotten from her last trip to the country. Even when I left the company several years ago, she still maintained sporadic contact with me via her annual Sumida Fireworks Festival parties on the rooftop of her apartment. She will be sorely missed.

Tuesday November 2, 10:55 p.m.

Well, the day is finally here. Election Day is off and running Stateside. Already in their desperation to show any sort of results considering the great cautionary atmosphere, the media have jumped on some sort of hick town to announce that Bush has captured that area with a total of 26 votes. Dunno how Kerry is feeling but Bush sure looks giddy and flush with confidence. He was actually cordial with the reporters.

My day was considerably more subdued with just my regular Tuesday classes. In between, I made my first trip to the gym in well over a week. Sure enough, I basically ballooned back up to the weight that I started at but I guess my guilt and power to release some unvented energy balanced the scales a bit since I lost a full pound after just an hour of workout.

Tomorrow, I've got a lesson with The Hawaiian despite the fact that it is a national holiday: Culture Day. My morning will be spent on US political culture watching CNN. Still, I gotta do some cleaning up here. Then in the evening I meet up with an acquaintance concerning his new English school. I may be asked to help out there although nothing will be set til January.

Monday, November 01, 2004

Monday November 1, 9:34 p.m.

Now that Halloween has gone for another year, those typically grayer skies and deeper dusks have returned although the temps were a bit warmer today. The important thing is that there was no rain. I can imagine that the department stores are now setting up their displays for Xmas...another kowtow to US culture.

I had the Class Act again where I got another tip on a good restaurant which serves Chinese dumplings. May have to get another bunch together to check that out. Then, after 5 months, one of the CA's relatives returned from the cold to take my lessons again. She was pretty much the same although she said that she hadn't spoken a word of English during that time. Her confidence remains pretty low, though.

My class at the Company was a bit slow tonight. Looked like two of them had taken some sleeping pills beforehand. However, had them relatively alert by the end.

Well, ready for the quadrennial spectator sports event known as Election Day. It'll be Wednesday morning once the results are finally known so I'll have a hot mug of coffee and a danish on hand to enjoy as I watch what happens between Bush and Kerry.
Monday November 1, 9:34 p.m.

Now that Halloween has gone for another year, those typically grayer skies and deeper dusks have returned although the temps were a bit warmer today. The important thing is that there was no rain. I can imagine that the department stores are now setting up their displays for Xmas...another kowtow to US culture.

I had the Class Act again where I got another tip on a good restaurant which serves Chinese dumplings. May have to get another bunch together to check that out. Then, after 5 months, one of the CA's relatives returned from the cold to take my lessons again. She was pretty much the same although she said that she hadn't spoken a word of English during that time. Her confidence remains pretty low, though.

My class at the Company was a bit slow tonight. Looked like two of them had taken some sleeping pills beforehand. However, had them relatively alert by the end.

Well, ready for the quadrennial spectator sports event known as Election Day. It'll be Wednesday morning once the results are finally known so I'll have a hot mug of coffee and a danish on hand to enjoy as I watch what happens between Bush and Kerry.

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Sunday October 31, 8:05 p.m.

Some frankly vengeful spiritual force must be enacting a very Halloween curse on me. First, it was the Carolinan to ask whether I'd gained weight, and today Skippy said that I looked like Mr. Incredible. Great! Man, you skip a week from the gym and you just get abused.

Anyways, the four of us caught COLLATERAL. We had to be thrown all the way into the very front row so at least one of us had some neck strain. Well, the movie itself was OK. It definitely had that tinge of Michael Mann and it seemed to lift certain plot lines from some of his old movies like MANHUNTER and HEAT. Like some of the critics out there, I was a bit iffy on the believability factor of having Tom Cruise's psycho killer spouting philosophy as if he were a handsomer and slimmer Hannibal Lecter. Ack...it is a Hollywood movie.

Afterwards, MB, The Ballerina, Skippy and I just had some lunch at the Tofu Cafe just one level down from the theatre since the two ladies engorged themselves on the caramel popcorn and the basket was only half-empty. Geez, women and their bird appetites in this country. I think anorexia is more of an established lifestyle than a disease here.

Well, Shosei Koda was confirmed as the headless body found in Baghdad this morning. From talking with Skippy and The Ballerina, it seems that in their circle of friends, Koda was asking for it so there wasn't much sympathy there but I'm sure it's being saved up for his family.