July 1

Happy Canada Day back to my fellow Canucks at home.

The last day of June was pleasant if humid as all hell. I started it by trying out a trendy restaurant with the expats in Roppongi. It's called ROTI, presumably its claim to fame is the rotisserie chicken (a rival to the Farm Grill, I wonder?). The place was certainly quite a bit smaller than I had thought it would be. It's not one of these dark sprawling restaurants with all sorts of nooks and crannies. Indeed, it's quite a bright place with two windows acting as half the walls for this somewhat small brasserie. I think half the tables were outside on the patio. I can only wonder what would happen if it rained. I tried one of their lunch specials for 1300 yen, a relative bargain in Roppongi. The chicken quesadillas with salad fit the bill quite nicely. However, what I'm really angling for is their all-day Sunday breakfasts; I'm such a sucker for pancakes.

Then, it was time to beat feet all over Tokyo for textbooks, one of my new duties as a freelancer. After a few hours, I was able to get somethng suitable for my late night class although the bill was quite a heartpounder. Luckily, my students were very willing to foot the bill. Speaking of food, I'm so glad that there is a doner kebab wagon outside of Tower Records in Shibuya. For just 500 yen, I can get a mightily satisfying pita stuffed with juicy pork and veggies...a good 34 yen less than a Big Mac set. I guess also that lounging in cafes will probably be my lot in life as a freelancer. I ended up staying at the New York Cafe around the corner from the doner kebab wagon for a couple of hours before I had to hightail out west for my lat e class. Still, overall, it was a good experience.

Today was my usual school day. I did my private class then went back to the school for my conversation class before coming back all the way out to Chiba for my final bout with that oil company. Nice students but I won't be going back there. I was just spending too many hours there twiddling my thumbs. Also, my idiotic boss took me aside today for a minute and asked me not to spread around how much I'm enjoying my partial freedom. Hmmm....that's a switch considering he was more than willing to throw one of our experienced and popular teachers to part-time before she decided to fly the coop.

Good heavens...another old veteran goes to that entertainment venue in the sky. Marble-mouthed Buddy Hackett has died.

June 30

Well, the Japanese media are having a field day trashing t.A.T.u. after the two kids and their Svengali-like producer pulled a fast one and suddenly cancelled all of their appearances for interviews and music shows. Not only that, they flaunted a police order not to film any footage of themselves in Ginza and Akihabara (although it was basically just a Handycam defying the order), and then finally at a press conference last night, the duo proceeded to act in a manner unbecoming of guests by openly yawning and cracking gum. Tabloid headlines like "Gimme a Break, t.A.T.u.!" and "Pissed Off at t.A.T.u." are screaming this morning. Geez, I guess that rebelliousness wasn't an act, after all.

As in any democratic country, the fourth estate wields a certain amount of power in society. Even more so in Japan...at least where entertainment and sports are concerned. In America, t.A.T.u.'s behaviour would've merely amused or bemused the folks there, but in protocol-conscious Japan, the Russians committed a faux pas of huge proportions. Perhaps, the girls' new name will be b.R.A.t. from now on. It should be interesting what the departure will be like at Narita today.

All in all, I'm not a huge fan of Japanese journalism...a large group of which are either beholden to the politicians or to hack editors. And the idiocy with which they handle international cele b inteviews borders on the surreal. However, I do wonder if there is a certain amount of naivete as well. t.A.T.u. has based its career on being delinquents. Perhaps in Japan, a lot of bands act tough but they're pretty mild in person. Other countries' punks probably don't fool around in that way. They are either true rebele (please imagine if the Sex Pistols ever came here) or they will keep the hellraiser attitude in public.

On the other side of the spectrum, I just heard Katherine Hepburn passed away. Good golly..another legend leaves the silver screen and just a number of days after Gregory Peck dies. There goes a woman who lived life defiantly to her own drumbeat. There was a Larry King episode a week ago which focused on Hepburn. I wonder if CNN had some inside information about what happened.

June 29

My student's wedding turned out to be an all-day affair. However, it was probably the most enjoyable wedding of all of the nuptial celebrations I've attended in 9 years in this nation. It was just the right combination of people, good food and fun stuff which did the trick for me.

The first party was held at a trendy little restaurant tucked away in an exclusive area of town called Shirogane. Until the subway line s started encroaching the area, it used to be quite difficult to access which of course had lent it its famed exclusivity. In fact, the women who lived, worked and walked there were known as Shiroganeze, basically the elite.
The food was great, the bride and groom were decked out in Japanese kimono while a lot of the guests were in their finest. A wedding here is always a great spot to see the women at their very best. The two companions I came with were themselves resplendent in a Vietnamese dress and a China doll dress. I opted for the usual suit and tie affair; a bit tough since it was rather humid.
We also had live entertainment in the form of a shakuhachi player; a shakuhachi is somewhat akin to a large recorder. As well, we also had some more contemporary fare in the form of a live band playing some bossa nova. As usual, with a wedding here, there was the customary bingo game with prizes.

Also, as with any major social event in the country, the main party was followed by a second party down the street at a place called Boheme, onother trendy little Italian bistro. We just hung out there for drinks for about an hour before heading what turned out to be our longest stage of the night, karaoke at the Big Echo just in front of the Meguro Station. Karaoke is pretty much a never-miss when it comes to thinking about where to head to next.

However, what was different about this bout of karaoke compared to all of the other trips to karaoke was the fact that just about everyone was eager to get their 2 cents in, as it were, for a song. We were getting steadily more aroused by all of the 80s party songs coming out like YMCA, Go West and even Copacabana. Heck, some of our more liberal fellows were getting into major dance mode. Even after 5 straight hours, we were quite willing to go at it further, but more sensible heads prevailed.

Finally, there were just six. The bride and groom, me and my two companions and a friend of the groom. So, now into my 10th hour of partying, I spent the last of those hours with the folks just noshing on a few more dishes (we majorly pigged out at the karaoke box) and nursed an oolong tea before making tracks for home. I was quite exhausted on my way back home and I've finally gotten back into my apartment at the relatively wee hour (for a man in his late 30s, that is) of 12:30 am.

Overall, I had a ball at this wedding. Considering that a lot of weddings consist of listening to boring speeches by the President of the company of the groom's father who should have no business at a wedding, and being stuck with a lot of people one doesn't know, the wedding I attended today was fun, cool and just down-home.

On a related topic, during the wedding party, t here was an underlying current of work and office politics which was inevitable considering that the bride and my two companions were students, and another former teacher made a surprise appearance. The teacher was telling me, or to be more accurate, making a pitch to me about taking a potential position at his private high school come January. He regaled me about the higher salary and lower hours, and also the revelation that yet another teacher will be jumping ship from our school to the high school. I was polite about it but in my mind, it was a no-brainer. The conditions might be better, but it is still a high school, and I made my mind long ago not to teach kids anymore. Unlike what he told me about me being a perfect fit for the school, I would have to say that I wouldn't be too happy there.

From the students, I got the usual complaints about the rookie teachers and even some classmates. It was a bit difficult to listen to, especially when I have no animosity against any of my students myself. However, that may be my Pollyannish side poking me with the hopes that everyone can get along. Just too many people in our programme for that to ever happen. And the gripes about students by students has been par for the course every year I was a full-timer.

The wedding itself set me back quite a few yen but it was worth it. In fact, the bride was quite worried whether I would accept the invitation because of the rather high price; another teacher had declined with the very straight-to-the-gut reason that it was just too expensive to attend. This rather rattled the bride, so she was grateful for my presence. However, for me, I'm always honoured if any student would invite me to his/her wedding. Yes, it is expensive and I certainly cannot afford to go splurging at this time, but on the other hand, I also appreciate the fact that this was one of the most important days in my student's life, and that she wanted me to share it with her and her friends. I think that factor outweighs any financial reason not to go. However, I'm not about to slag the other teacher for his reason not to go; that's his decision, and I can respect that. He could've been more tactful about his reply, though.

June 27

Well, the weather was back to sunny and warm again. And once more, my back was having mood swings.

I had my dinner tonight with my English circle and the boys from the oil company. Despite the popularity of the restaurant and our rather large number, we managed to get a good table, and the food was excellent. My ex was getting well lubricated on the local alcohol so she was in quite the ebullient mood tonight much to the amusement of most of the folks there; she certainly made an impression on the oil boys.

Also, I found out tonight from one of the guys that there is a remote chance that Tokyo may have its first programmed blackout on Monday although I'm not sure if the news had been made public. Due to some scandals involving Tokyo Electric with botched inspections and subsequent coverups, the majority of the nuclear reactors powering the Tokyo grid have been taken off-line until further noticed. Therefore, demand may overtake capacity and we'll be in the dark.

Charlie's Angels debuted today all over the world, and it looks like the movie will get a very mixed review. The reviewer for the Japan Times liked it but a local gaijin magazine didn't. However, this movie is probably going to fare better with critics than the Matrix Reloaded.

June 26

It was raining kennels tonight. But it was cooler and dryer than it has been over the past few days, so we have some respite from the heat. And concerning the current soap opera that is being played out on my back, I was getting some major climaxes there over the course of the day, but for some reason, it's going through some very pleasant denouement righ t now. Hopefully, then, my back is slowly getting back to normal.

Well, my weekend will once again be a hodgepodge of social activities again. I've got my regular Friday circle meeting for dinner at a Chinese restaurant tomorrow. And then I have a student's wedding to attend with a couple of her classmates on Saturday. Not cheap but hey, it's an important date for my student and I'm just grateful that she invited me

Came home tonight and had dinner while viewing a MISIA concert DVD. Who is Misia, you ask? Well, she just happens to be one of the few singers in this country who deserves to be called great. She is this tiny bundle of energy from Okinawa or somewhere in southern Japan who has quietly created a very large and loyal following without any (over)exposure on TV and very few commercials. For most singers, talented or otherwise, they're usually pushed into making tons of appearances on the various music or even variety shows to push their CDs. Not Misia.
Misia's brand of music is hip-hop/house/R & B which often has a 70s disco flavor. The special thing with her is that she has a set of pipes which can knock one's socks off. Apparently, she got her inspiration as a child from the musical "Mama, I Wanna Sing!" (which explains her singing style) and the J-Pop band, Dreams Come True whose lead singer, Miwa Yoshida, also possesses a great voice. And in fact, a couple of years ago, the two did meet and collaborated on a minor hit song.
The usual question which I usually ask to myself when it comes to these real talents is if she can actually make it big in the States. The practical answer to that is sadly no...at least at this time. The current genre du jour Stateside doesn't particularly fit Misia's type of music; it would probably be considered to be more pop and even worse a novelty act (Wow! A Japanese person singing hip-hop? How cute!). Several years ago, a Japanese pioneer in rhythm n' blues, Toshinobu Kubota, tried to break into the US market with nary a ripple. It wasn't because he was bad. Far from it, Kubota is a very accomplished singer. It's just that there is plenty of the American product around. It would have taken Kubota a song with almost impossible appeal for him to get noticed outside of Japan. And I think that would be the case with MIsia. But then again, I think Misia is quite happy enthralling her local fans without the usual media influences.

June 25

My back has gotten worse. It's even a chore just remaining sitting up and getting dressed is an exercise in pain. I bought some liniment just now and I've been popping the Tylenol but I have a feeling that I'm going to have to see a doctor pretty soon. Luckily (perhaps) I got that private class with the doctor's kids, so maybe he can help me out. I have a bad feeling that I may have a slipped disc. If that's the case, all that money I've been paying for health insurance for the past 8 years will probably go down the drain pretty fast. In any case, this hasn't been one of my more favourite weeks.

Well, I just got back from a bit of research on the Internet concering back pain, and apparently a slipped disc is very rarely cause for surgery...at least in the US. Might be a bit prejudicial to say, but I think a number of doctors over here love to make some money on the side from their diagnoses for extra medicine or that big winfall: a date with a scalpel. On a better note, I found that one of those non-surgical remedies happens to be as simple as anti-inflammatory liniment which I bought today. It certainly feels a lot nicer right now. Plus, that aspirin is coming in handy.

Forgot to mention that I caught one of my all-time favourites: AIRPLANE! I remember seeing it back at the Golden Mile Plaza back in 1980 with my brother and just guffawing non-stop through the picture. The gags only elicit a fond grin now but I can still appreciate the humour in it. Since I saw it on DVD, I was able to hear the commentary by the creators; unsurprisingly enough, it felt like hearing a bunch of beer-swilling men in a basement rec room...just the types who would come up with this sort of film One point that the boys didn't mention that I thought should be mentioned is that AIRPLANE spawned off some interesting things: Leslie Nielsen's new career as a wacky comedian, the mini-genre of crazy comedy movies such as The Naked Gun and Hot Shots and the fact that otherwise serious avuncular leading men can do comedy.

June 24

I indulged in one of the perks of my career by joining one of my private classes to a housewarming party for a former student up in the wilds of Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture. She has a very well-kept condo with her family and cooked up a storm of hearty dishes while we had a nice chat. Sure beats work. And the crazy thing is that I still got paid my regular fee though I didn't teach anything. One of the topics we ranted about was the overhype of Beckham during his time in Japan. One of my more gleeful students went on a rare bender decrying the stupidity in falling for this athlete.

In a very sad sign of the times in this country, a couple of rather heinous crimes have come to light recently in the news. One was the mass murder of a family in Fukuoka for reasons unknown; the father, mother and 2 children were all strangled and dumped into a local river. The other was the gang rape of a student by a rather notorious Waseda University circle. There have been arguably even more heinous crimes committed in Japan over the past several years but these two are still a sobering reminder that even this country is not all safe and comfortable.

Interesting. On the Dark Horizons movie website, I saw news about this new version of Battlestar Galactica so I checked out some of the images. I saw the popular Cylons and one Viper. However, I then saw Edward James Olmos, the cool Lieutenant from Miami Vice, as an officer. He and the rest of the supposed crew seem to be garbed in blue jumpsuits reminiscent of the guys on Enterprise. Uh-oh.
I used to watch the original back 20 years ago as a high school student, and managed to endure the repeated film footage of battle scenes. I did like the late Lorne Greene as Commander Adama; no idea if Olmos will be taking on that role. My favorite episodes from the short-lived series were The Pegasus with Lloyd Bridges as the legendary Commander Kane and the other one featuring Patrick Macnee as the head Cylon himself.

June 23

A bit of a return to the old spending splurge of old, though I did hold the reins somewhat more tightly in lieu of my new spending diet. However, I think with a payment of 20,000 yen today from two different classes, I could treat myself a bit. Picked up a Hall & Oates' 12" remix CD (no snickering) from Tower and then got the DVD of that hilarious comedy of yore, Airplane; will always be a fan of the Zucker Brothers.

On a sad note, I found out that they closed down the World Magazine Gallery permanently when I stopped by for a bit of a read. There was a just terse English statement but the Japanese version had a full explanation about how the popularity of the Internet had a hand in its demise, which I think is a crock. The organization probably just couldn't afford all those magazines anymore. In any case, I greatly lament the loss just when I'm now a part-timer and would have appreciated the extra time browsing through the mags for free. As a result I also picked up a couple of mags at HMV along with the DVD. At least, I could use my point card and get a discount.

Having lunch at TGI Fridays today in the Ginza, I realized their 1000 yen lunch special is only a bargain if you choose the hamburger. I unwisely chose the chicken fritter which ended up to be this deep-fried hunk of very substandard fowl...and yes it was quite foul. However, it was a lesson learned.

Then I had started my new Monday night class with a former student and her colleague at his place all the way on the other side of Tokyo, a good 70 minutes away from my place by train. And it starts at 9 p.m. and finishes at 10:30. This is the latest class I've ever had so the commutes home will be a bit of a drag but at this point I'll take anything that's potentially lucrative.

June 22

True to form, summer has indeed come to Tokyo in "person" as well as in tradition. I actually had to activate the air conditioner for the first time this year. But it was nice to see a sunny day.

My friend and I caught The Core at the neighbourhood theatre yesteday. It was one of those check-your-brain-at-the-door films: as long as you're not looking for any deep meaning or even deep science, you should be OK. Plus I gather that the actors involved must have seen this as a good paycheck as well as a bit of a summer-stock lark. In fact, several of the performers completely passed under the radar though they are famous names (Stanley Tucci, Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo), a fact that perhaps enhances their reputation as character actors. In any case, it was a good-enough flick for a summer blockbuster. Hilary Swank was the only one recognizable actor I could pick out although it was amusing to see Bruce Greenwood who had played JFK in Thirteen Days basically play the same character as the commander of the life-or-death mission.

Afterwards we got back to the apartment and just pigged out on some major junk food: Pringles, Domino's Pizza and Haagen-Daas while we scanned through a couple of DVDs: Goldmember and From Russia With Love. It's quite nice to go wild once in a while, especially after having been trying to keep the calories lower for a while. My buddy stayed over for the night and kept the air con on all night which makes me dread what my electric bill will look like next month.

This morning, we watched Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, the best of any of the Trek movies (and yes, I do realize that Patrick Stewart can act orbits around William Shatner) which saddens me that it's been 20 years since Khan was released and perhaps only First Contact has even approached the appeal of it. The relationships, the philosophical message and the battles all came together in a way that hasn't really been achieved in any of the others. And sorry to say, the only relationship in the TNG movies worth mentioning has just been the Picard-Data duo.

June 20

The World Cup was one year ago here but you would've thought it had never ended. David Beckham and his wife, Posh Spice, swept into Tokyo with all of the fanfare of a mix of rock star/head of state (I believe David is a soccer player of some merit). Hundreds of mostly rabid female fans at Narita Airport on Wednesday afternoon had their camera-laden cellphones thrust up into the air like technological Excaliburs to get a shot of their lord and master. Considering that David and Posh breezed through the gate and into the elevator inside of 15 seconds, a lot of people were left disappointed.
His timing in arriving in Japan was a godsend for the local media and, of course, for him since it was during the flight that it was announced that Beckham was dealt to Real Madrid from Manchester United.
If the Beckhams are thinking of running for public office after David's eventual retirement from the game, they are certainly getting a lot of practice at being heads of state right now. There was a reception for them last night with a lot of the Tokyo glitterati in attendance. And today, while the missus took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony of a posh new store in the posh neighbourhood of Minami-Aoyama, the hubby held a press conference at 11 with 300 journalists in the room. The piece de resistance of this event was having Becks unveil a 3-metre likeness of himself all done up in delicious milk chocolate.
Then, Becks continued his state tour with a visit to an elementary school near Ginza in which a whole bunch of kids were there to hear his pearls of advice. He took some questions from the kids (which were no worse than some of the inane questions asked at the press conference) and kicked a few balls from the soccer team for promotional purposes. Again, tons of media were on hand to capture the event live and a lot of office workers desceded upon the schoolyard en masse.
At this time, he is currently doing interviews at Fuji-TV where he was seen handing out presents of chocolate-covered almonds to his hosts. I'd say at this rate, the Japanese would be more than happy to vote Beckham as the new PM of Great Britain. Certainly, he's a whole lot more popular than the current guy.


On more mundane matters, I've finished off another week as a part-timer. Happy to see that I've been a pretty good boy with my budget. I've been far more successful with my financial diet than with my physical one. I couldn't believe how much less I spent on hobbies this past week. I hope this plan of austerity reaps some dividends for me by the time the next paycheck comes in. Also, the life itself isn't too bad. The extra time has given me more sleep and less stress (although my back is still not too good). And I may be picking up yet another former student of mine as a private.
Also, I managed to catch up with a couple of old movies. One was the Audrey Hepburn suspense, "Wait Until Dark". I'm a bit surprised with that one since here in Japan, Audrey Hepburn's career only goes as far as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and the suspense was a post-Tiffany release. To the locals, Audrey will always be the young gamine of the 50s and only that. As a suspense, it was an interesting concept of having a blind person fend off three criminals, and I could see how the Jodie Foster movie "The Panic Room" may have gotten some inspiration from it.

The other flick was one that I'd seen before, "The Caine Mutiny", Humphrey Bogart's last great movie before his death. It was also an interesting one to see certain actors cast against type, notably Bogie's role as the mentally crushed Captain Queeg. Then there was also Fred MacMurray (from My Three Sons) as the cowardly and treacherous Mr. Keefer. I'd say that the movie was ahead of its time in terms of plot direction. If it had been a conventional flick from the 50s, Queeg would've been revealed as a straight nutso villain, and the crew as the heroes...end of story. Instead, we got the "Gotcha" ending when the victorious yet spiteful defense lawyer, Lt. Greenwald, drunkenly castigates the celebrating crew on being just as guilty for not helping Queeg when he had asked for help. Certainly a sobering way to finish a Best Movie nominee that showed Queeg in a more complex light.

June 17

Kinda nice double-whammy day. First I find out that my buddy had given me a 10,000-yen bill yesterday not just to cover his expenses with me giving the rest back to him, but in fact, he gave me the whole amount as a partial advance for my potential new student. Then I started getting some compliments from various students about my slow but steady slimming.

Well, my social calendar is starting to fill up which is fine for me, but a bit worrying too considering that I'm not making all that much money. Luckily, I've been able to maintain a good budget so far.

Some more TV reminiscing. Lately, I've been catching reruns of that ol' chestnut, Perry Mason, every weekday morning on the satellite Super Channel. It was definitely a product of its times: virtually all Caucasians, Perry always won and didn't have a single problem (outside of obvious weight gain and smoking...but then again, I did say that it was a product of its times) and the usual overwrought, hackneyed acting.
However, in this age of moral ambiguity and depressingly human antiheroes, it is kinda nice to turn back the clock to a more innocent (or naive) time. Perry Mason was notable for the stolidness of (Canadian...yeah!) Raymond Burr in the lead role, and his tete-a-tete with Hamilton Burger. Also, just the overall film noir quality and that famous theme song gave the show that touch of class. I just came off from the always fun "Jump The Shark" website where I found out that the show had quite a fair share of diehard fans and sneering detractors. But the big shock for me was finding out that the actor who had played the craggy DA Burger, William Tallman, was kicked off the show for smoking pot at a nudist colony. Gah...get that image away from my mind!
I did catch a special episode this morning, the supposed one of only two times that Mason had ever been seen losing a case (well, actually, he later proved that the defendant was indeed innocent). Of course, the director played it up to the hilt. It actually started with the darkened courtroom just before the "shocking" verdict came in.

More on the old faces bandwagon. Last night, I caught a Biography of Burt Bacharach. I recall vaguely having watched some of his TV specials. I have to forgive him for writing "What's New, Pussycat?", but pretty much the rest are classics. I actually got to listen to that burned CD of the Elvis Costello/Bacharach collaboration of a few years ago. To be honest, I'm gonna have to let it grow on me. I didn't hear a single tune that really got my attention.

Finally, I have to say that my back is slowly coming back to normal, thanks to Aspirin and those heating pads. Man, I will really have to be careful.

June 16

There's nothing that ages a person more than a bad back. Well, I got aged more than a good side of beef over the last few days. My lumbar has been feeling knifed which has made any sort of attempt to stand up or even absorb the inevitable shaking on a subway an exercise in pain. I'm not a religious person by any means but I would be willing to give tribute to the Aspirin God today thanks to the wonderful quick-acting efficiency of pain relief. I'll be going to the next step of a hot shower and then a heating pad.

Today, I also got to add a new restaurant to my repertoire of Tokyo eateries when a friend of mine invited me to a cake buffet at the Tokyo Hilton in Shinjuku. I first thought it somewhat odd since over here cake buffets usually attract the opposite sex. However, I was happy to find out that there were enough savory dishes to relax even the manliest of men. The cakes were also excellent...perhaps even better than those of my beloved Farm Grill. And when one sees bread pudding AND accompanying sauce at a buffet....well, nothing more needs to be said. Another fringe benefit was that the guy who had invited me may be getting a new client in the form of his president. Ahhh...those word-of-mouth referrals.

Reflecting on my 4th Monday on part-time status, I realized that I was able to pull off this trip to the cake buffet because of my new schedule. Again, money is a concern at this time but the main thing is that I could enjoy myself during a time which otherwise would've been spent potentially teaching a boring class with boring material. I can't say that it's been too bad. However, I am tempered by the fact that I will have a regular Tuesday schedule. Glad I could get that self-indulgent stuff out of the way.

June 15

I heard some stuff about the next and last Star Wars movie. Apparently, Chewbacca gets his intro here and ends up rescuing the Skywalker twins and handing them off to Obi-Wan. Y'know, with all of these coincidental connections among the characters, I think they should be retitling Episode IV from "A New Hope" to "Small World, Eh?"

My rarefied week begins with my regular class and then I see some friends for a cake buffet at the Shinjuku Hilton. There goes my budget and my diet. Well, if you have to die, die hard.

June 14

Well, if you're gonna live here in Japan, it's always a major plus if you can get a master fisherman as your friend. My ex and I had dinner tonight at his place. He had gone out early in the morning to see how lucky he was out on the bay. Sure enough, he was able to reel in a lot of mackerel and two red snappers (how many people can do that back in Lake Ontario?) for dinner. When we got there, he was already hard at work scraping off the scales off of his catches before he eviscerated them and then made a whole mess of sashimi and other Japanese fish-based dishes. It was like going to a really good restaurant in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo (it's the area that has that huge warehouse of fish getting auctioned off) for a free meal. Just lovely.

That dinner certainly helped out with today after having my first class with the kids out in the west end today. They were both nice kids but the bottom line was that they were kids, one of whom was in danger of becoming a teenager. It was the usual gawky shyness and lack of focus. It was somewhat arduous, to say the least. I have rather mixed feelings about only teaching them sporadically. I do miss out on a regular source of Saturday income but at least I keep my sanity.

Some feeling of poignancy also seeped into me during dinner. Y'know, I've been living in the same increasingly cramped apartment for 9 years; I can't really have anyone over, except for my very closest friends, without getting a sense of embarrassment over the growing dowdiness of my pad. And yet, the fisherman and his wife were able to move from their old cramped place to a much bigger and nicer condo within a year. I asked myself, silently of course, "What the hell am I still doing here?" I mean, various students have expressed some surprise at my longevity in my current home, and I'm convinced that I am the longest-living resident in the entire apartment building by a long shot. Heck, my real estate agency hasn't even bothered for my guarantor's stamp for the last two lease renewals.
On the other hand, I also have to realize that I am lucky that I can still stay here without needing a guarantor's stamp. I also realize how very difficult it is for a foreigner, even for a stealth gaijin, to acquire accomodations in this country, thanks to the lousy custom of key money and an oft-xenophobic real estate agency and a few bad apples. And finally, I have a barnacle-like attitude when it comes to a residence.

The second source of poignancy was when my ex was leafing through the wedding album that the fisherman and his wife had decided to show us. She fell in love with the wedding dress so much that she asked if she could actually try it on. Luckily, the wife had the dress in her bedroom so she actually allowed it to be worn. When my ex came out wearing the dress and looking so happy, I must admit that my heart flipped a bit. Usually, that's the clump of cholesterol coursing through the aorta but this time, it was just a reflection of what could have been. Also, the fisherman and his wife related that they often had spats over the most insignificant things, and yet they looked completely at ease with each other. Basically, they were soulmates. So I wonder in my late 30s if my door of opportunity has finally shut for good. I don't know the answer to that question....yet. But I do know that I may be in for some episodes of poignancy as I struggle through a new phase in life financially, and also in terms of not having a partner that I could really share my life with. Maybe all of the past events in my life have shaped me to the extent that I'm just not the type to blast forward, I'm just not the type to have a soulmate.

June 13

It's Friday the 13th, but my luck wasn't too shabby today. I had thought it would be since today was my first payday since my reversion to part-time status. It wasn't as low as I had feared. But I realize that I'll have to be very careful about what I spend my money on. Basically, I'm going on a hobby diet. Let's hope that I survive the month.

I found another place with a good deal for lunch. It's the COCA Chinese eatery that I usually go to for dinner with friends. I was actually dong a bit of scouting for a future event so I went there for lunch and found out that they had a decent 1000 yen special. Soup, salad and five steamers of dim sum with dessert. For Japan, that's not too bad at all.

Spent some of the afternoon at the World Magazine Gallery in south Ginza. It looks like that that place will be second home away from home for the foreseeable future. When mags cost 1000 yen easily in Tokyo, it only makes economic sense to peruse them for free. Then I just browsed through two CD shops, Yamano Music and the Ginza chapter of HMV. As I was passing through the floors to head for HMV, I noticed the open massage clinic right by the escalator. Great way to market. I certainly wished that I could've been in that chair getting my shoulders rubbed. The only thing I mind a bit is that technician who gets overly enthusiastic for shiatsu.

Looks like my Friday circle is gelling nicely after all. My ex is adding her form of non sequitur-ish fun to the proceedings. Tomorrow, I meet up with her to head for a housewarming party the next station over.

Well, two American icons have departed this mortal coil. I never really remembered David Brinkley in his "Good night, David. Good night, Chet" days but I do remember having my pancakes on Sundays while watching This Week with David Brinkley. He always had that syncopated delivery which appealed to me.

The other legend of note who has now passed into history is, of course, Gregory Peck. The tributes today have referred to his Atticus Finch as the defining role of his career, a fact punctuated by his lone Oscar win. And of course, I would agree with that except for the fact that I, sad to say, have yet to see To Kill A Mockingbird in its entirety. To be honest, Peck will always be best represented to me as the stolid Joe Bradley whisking Princess Anne off her feet in Roman Holiday. I've seen that movie four or five times while I have to admit that I have not seen any of Peck's other flicks. Well, there was a bit of McArthur here, The Guns of Navarone there, and I did catch his cameo in Other People's Money with Danny DeVito on the big screen, However, as I said, it was just a cameo and it was obvious that his best days were behind him by that point.
Barbara Walters will always be stigmatized by that perhaps mythologized question she has asked of her interviewees: "If you were a tree, which one would you be?" I'm not sure if Walters had ever interviewed Peck but if she had dared asked that question, and if Peck had indeed been gracious enough to answer it, I would guess that Peck would have answered "Oak" or "Sequoia", both solid, grand and American.

June 11

I met up with those people from the Asakusa Incident on Monday. The main guy seemed tired, depressed and somewhat cranky. I'm not sure if he had been still feeling guilty about the other day or the two weeks in town have started to get to him. The other two seemed OK though. We had lunch at an American style bar & grill place beside Shinjuku Station; the food's so-so but since two of the three had a rather major breakfast buffet, I didn't think a real Japanese restaurant would've helped their stomachs any.

Looks like I've gotten myself another customer for my services. That's good to hear since I was rather chagrined to get a payment schedule for citizen taxes, several years after my last schedule, tonight. And I've got my national health insurance to start paying off from next month. Oooh, boy....I could really use a nice-paying group class right now.

Also, came home tonight to a rather powerful stench of rotting garlic and onion in my kitchen after having cooked up something the other day. That's the one problem with garlic; the smell could punch a hole through anything. I ditched the garbage downstairs for pickup tomorrow morning but I'm not sure if the aroma will repel the stray cats and crows in my neighbourhood or actually attract them.

I'm looking at virtually the next two days off outside of one regular night class and my weekly Friday night circle.

June 9

Well, that meeting with friends turned out to be a non-starter due to some screwup in directions. I was quite explicit in telling the folks that I would meet them at Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line and even gave them directions on how to get there from the nearest station to the hotel. For some reason, they ended up waiting at another station completely, so I had to make some relay calls (No, I don't have a cell phone and no, even after this incident, I won't get one...not on my current financial status) and ask them to meet me at another exit. Well, I waited for 45 minutes for them to show up; they never did so I decided that was it. I didn't feel good about leaving them in Asakusa since I recommended the meeting place, but I'm not about to wait ad infinitum either, especially for people who can't take directions well.

I actually got a letter from Grandpa yesterday. He never sends one unless it's New Years (me and the relatives were never that close). However, he found out about the SARS situation in Toronto where my family lives, so he wanted to know how things were going. I had to get a message off to my brother who relayed it to Mom. So, looks like things are resolved although I'll still have to write a letter off to him. My kanji is so rusty.

June 9

Caught the Matrix Reloaded again yesterday with a couple of friends. Looks like the mixed reviews back Stateside didn't scare anyone away. In fact, the movie scored the highest opening of any flick in Japanese history: 2.2 billion yen; sounds like a lot but it's actually about 25 million bucks US. I could understand things better with a second go at it and the FX still manage to thrill but the movie is still nowhere near as good as the first one.

On that update with my ex and the Friday night session. Looks like she'll be coming again; she and the other ladies got along after all despite all I had observed. Go figure! So she will not need my personal lessons. Well, that's fine. I'm meeting friends today anyways.

June 6

Well, I found out my schedule for the next week. Looks like with the testing at my school, I'll just have 4 hours there and the few hours I've got so far for my privates.

My regular Friday nighter received a new third member from tonight...I think. The newbie just happens to be my ex. And I'm not particularly sure if she'll be a good fit for the group. Oh, everyone was cordial enough but the chemistry didn't seem to gel quite well although it's just the first time. She seemed bored at times and didn't hesitate to yawn openly which just struck me as being plain rude. But then again, I've known her for 2 years. She's even asked me to teach her weekly. So I think any hope for a return to a closer relationship has basically gone out the window. I don't think one can love and teach the same person at the same time, and she's made it clear that she wants my teaching self. All I hope is that she'll keep the lines totally clear and that she'll pay me for my services.

June 4

Back from a long day although I only taught one class tonight. First I went over to my school to drop off the Forrest Gump tape for that video class which I hope did OK. Then, I met up with a few friends from Toronto to go dine at the Farm Grill. Not too many people today which suited us just fine. And then we started going through some of the interesting shops in the Ginza which included the big toy store, Hakuhinkan. I was actually somewhat disappointed, though. I had expected the Tokyo version of FAO Schwarz but the stuff they had was considerably less variegated. I did have my latest celeb sighting, a stage actress and frequent guest on the variety show circuit. her claim to fame was a few years ago when she had that huge public feud with the wife of the former Hanshin Tigers manager for several months until that wife was found guilty of tax evasion. Once she was out of the picture, the stage actress also faded from the limelight, too.

Then we went off to the SONY building to check out some of the new doodads. Nothing particularly interesting, but the latest version of the VAIO computer which marries crystal-clear TV and DVD viewing with the regular features of a computer was quite appealing.

I left my friends to teach my first private student, post-full time career. We went off to a Starbucks near Toranomon Station which is usualy very quiet during the mornings. It was also relatively OK in the evenings as well but there was more chatter going on. Happily, though, the lesson went well and the student was very satisfied. I'm tired but it's a good type of tired...the fatigue born of a job well done. Now, the former student who had first recommended me to tonight's private is now considering hiring me as her teacher again. A wonderful thing, this word-of-mouth.

June 4

First, Bob Hope. Now, CNN brought in the cast of "I Dream of Jeannie". I was never a huge fan although I do remember seeing several episodes as a kid. Barbara Eden still looks remarkably good although that "Hollywood Grandma" look is quite obvious. Glad that Larry Hagman is doing well although he acted like a septugenarian from the early 20th-century, not the 21-century. As for Bill Daily, I guess his roles on "Jeannie" and "Bob Newhart" weren't much of a stretch for him. I know that he and Wayne Rogers won't be shaking hands anytime in the future.

Well, we haven't had a major tremor of the week yet...knock on wood.

June 3

Hmmm...I think my paranoia meter may be hitting 11 today. Mind you, it's on a rather minor point but still since it may affect some of my favourite students, I'm not too happy. Since I became a part-timer, I can no longer teach a certain video class which means the onus of that duty has to fall to the coordinator. And it seems as if for the past couple of weeks since departure, the coordinator has neglected to show the video that the students have requested due to various reasons. And now, today, she has told me that the video is now missing.

Now, this coordinator has been quite cordial to me for 5 years, but I am aware that she has a certain amoral or mercenary side to her, and I did actually have a run-in with her some years ago which ended up with me boycotting a party that I was to host. So she is aware that I will do something if I'm wronged.

The paranoid side is telling me that the coordinator may be pulling these stunts to force me back into teaching the kids on Wednesdays, my off day from the school. If that is indeed the case, then she has failed. However, I also have to realize that these students aren't getting the education that they requested, so what I may do is download some scripts from the Net and bring over my tapes of either Forrest Gump or the X-Files and lend them to a couple of my trustworthy students. I really don't want to think this way but considering some of the goings-on in the administrative side of this school for the time I've been there, I can't get it out of my mind either.

June 3

The Angels did make their prerequisite press conference....at Roppongi Hills, the place de jour in Tokyo. The ladies were quite accomodating to the fans. And a local celeb who would make a fine Japanese Angel appeared for a photo op and chat, Norika Fujiwara. I don't think there will be any opportunites in the near future for her if her dip into non-Japanese filmdom is a gauge.

Got a good night's rest...probably the first one in several weeks thanks to my better schedule and that walk through Tokyo yesterday.

Well, Bob Hope turned 100 on Thursday. I mention him because he was probably the very first comedian to make me laugh as a kid, and I remember that he did make me laugh until I cried. That was when I was watching his TV specials, and at the time, I had no idea about his long relationship with Bing Crosby or the Road movies.

In a way, he and Johnny Carson were responsible for how a lot of comedians handle themselves these days (whether they will admit it or not), and also to a large extent, they shaped how I handle my humour: deadpan and the knowing look. It is a consequence of the nature of generations that Bob is now largely seen by the younger folk as a relic from the age of grandfathers and grandmothers; a person who until his slow fade from the spotlight in the 90s was seen as a cornball-and-cheese act relying on the jokes written by others and the celebs deigning to appear with him. I'm no less guilty in that regard; I don't particularly appreciate the hit songs from my parents' generation, and I accept that future generations will probably treat my Billy Joel and Elton John as sappy pop acts. Even with Bob Hope, I largely lost my like for his specials because of the aforementioned corn and cheese. When I can get The Simpsons and Seinfeld back in Canada on a daily basis, the sharp wit and laugh-out-loud gags from those programs can run circles around anything that ol' Ski Nose had done in the waning decades of the 20th century.

However, it is his work in the Road pics that I now look to and that The Simpsons, Seinfeld and even Carson could look to that reveals how much of a master he was. Quicksilver ad-libs and his willful willingness to break the 4th wall made his appearances very welcome and a nice balance to the straightman crooner. Thanks for those memories.

June 2

Good morning, Angels! Well, the next celeb sightings in Tokyo were for Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu who had come in on Saturday. They had a free day so the cameras were keeping tabs on them from a discreet distance as they went on a shopping spree throughout the young and trendy Harajuku district. Strangely enough, noone approached them for an autograph, let alone mob them, although admittedly we only got an edited report. Celebs should be grateful for that much privacy.

Had my private class and then proceeded to walk 6 km. from Shibuya to Ginza. It took me about 90 minutes; not too shabby a time. I hope that took a bit off of my girth.

June 1

Halfway through the year, and sure enough, the warmth and humidity have rolled in like Japanese clockwork. Mind you, that overly muscular high-pressure system managed to give us a taste of the rainy season. Today, however, looks pretty decent for a walk. It's been a quiet weekend so far, and I've got a feeling that perhaps most of the next coming weeks will be mostly quiet ones.

The assistant manager at my school has been trying to contact me. Of course, he won't say anything over the phone, so I just sent him a fax asking him to send me e-mail instead. Another staff member contacted me by e-mail today asking if I could teach a class on Wednesday, which is now my own day. It is probably a class that I enjoy teaching, but I've got to turn it down since I don't want to set a precedent...leave any room open for the staff to exploit. However, the school may be in a bit of a fix since the staff person informed me that there is a rather important government Intensive course being taught next week so the assumption is that a lot of the good teachers will have to be sent out to that...which would also mean that some of the in-house classes would suffer. Ah. what a tangled web we weave. It's too bad, though, the little bit of money would've been nice but it's not worth the cost of remaining beholden to the largely dishonest group of people running things.

May 30

A relaxing day today with little more than a chat fest in the evening to signify any sort of work. I got that haircut but didn't get the shampoo; I'll have to remember to ask for it next time. Mind you, I did save 1400 yen in the bargain. It was a good time to get the cut as well. With the incoming heat, the shorter style will do me well.

Afterwards, I just got back home, made a humoungous pasta lunch and did some cleaning up which included making some major rearrangments to my books and CDs. Things look somewhat neater now.

However, last night, I found myself with an uninvited bedmate. There's nothing like a squirming little larva next to your ear to sit up and take notice. Well, I went out and got myself some insect repellent and proceeded to spray down my bedroom and all of the drawers. I've still yet to experience the annual visit by the cockroach, the deadly enemy of the Japanese. Their fear of nature's most indestructible creature borders on the sociopathic. Sure, I find them annoying but these folks think that the insects must be wearing a goalie mask and wielding a hatchet. In any case, summer is indeed coming up.

Looks like my English circle on Fridays will be livening up. My (ex-?) girlfriend will be joining our little menage a trois from next Friday. One of my regular pair remarked that it will be nice to get a fresh source of topics; she always had a way of being quietly cranky at times. She would make a great Canadian. In any case, I won't be mentioning our connection to the other two; no need for any more complications.

May 30

Forgot to mention that I caught the original Terminator tonight on TV Tokyo. Man, can't believe it's been nearly 20 years since that old sci-fi chestnut came out, and that T3 is slated this summer. It's interesting to watch Arnie in his lone bad-guy role, and Linda Hamilton as a soft and cuddly Sarah Connor before buffing herself out in T2. The FX back then look pretty laughable by today's standards especially when there are several seconds of obvious fake Arnie heads front and center.

May 29

It's always a nice feeling to be wanted. My first two classes were quite happy to see me at the helm again; heck, the second class even applauded. Always nice.

An update on that so-called request by my manager. Well, after I had sent him my "Go to Hell" response, he never contacted me again either in person or phone although I was at the school for all of the morning and most of the afternoon. I don't know how this will play out. Will he actually leave me be or will he plot a bit of sneaky revenge?

Tomorrow is my off day so I'll be getting that long-needed haircut. It'll cost me 5000 yen; not an easy amount to spend considering my current status as a part-timer but the hairstylist there gives the most exquisite scalp massage and shampoo. Plus, I'll have to scour my apartment; it's looking pretty ratty right now.

May 28

The first warm day this year and, as luck would have it, I had on my full suit for that doctor's family. It sure didn't help that I met them at 6:30 p.m. while having an early morning class at 8:30 a.m. My suit will need a night's airing out.

As for what happened in between, I just ended up at the Magazine House and just read my free mags. I will be saving a lot of money that way. Then, I just filled in a few student evaluations.

As for the interview with the doctor's family, it looks I passed muster. We set up the first appointment with the kids for mid-June. The doctor lives in a pretty nice large American-style house...ah, the creature comforts of a good career. Actualy, the doc and his wife had lived for a couple of years in New Orleans back in the early 90s. Some good talk about jambalaya and gumbo there. So it looks like my client list is slowly growing although I'm looking for a few group classes to get that extra income.

Well, it's back to a full day at the school tomorrow. My stupid manager actually had the nerve to summon me to talk with the big prez about my "future". And after my requests for a meeting met with dead air weeks ago. I politely sent a letter which basically can be summarized as "Take a Number."

May 27

Matrix: Unloaded?!

It looks like I'm not the only one with a beef about the former most anticipated movie of 2003. I just read that the second Matrix just dropped 60% in box office, and to add insult to injury, it came in a distant second to Jim Carrey of all people. Mind you, for all patriotic Canadians, it was a win-win situation. A fellow Torontonian lost to another Toronotonian. However, on the absolute side, Matrix Reloaded has reached $200 million...I mean, how many other producers would give their internal organs for that kind of box office? And it's quite likely that it will hit $300 million without breaking too much of a sweat.

However, there is the financial side and then there is the expectations side. And one will come out far lower than the other.

Well, Keanu Reaves did show up for a Matrix preview. He, Larry Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith and Joel Silver showed up at Roppongi Hills last night at the special "invitees only" preview. What's the matter, Keanu? Don't want to mingle with the common people?

Had my regular school day today. Not too bad. I've got my final morning class at that oil company (Yeahhhh!) and then I have an interview of sorts with that doctor about teaching his two young daughters. Dog-and-pony show. Plus, I've got to do some location scouting for a place to teach my semi-regular Wednesday student, and get her a textbook. I'm eyeing an unusually quiet Starbucks near the oil company. I'm just wondering though if it's so quiet that the coffee house decides to close up earlier than usual.

May 26

It's Time To Rock!

Well, I don't know what it is between me and earthquakes. I was just washing my hands in the bathroom at about 6:30 tonight, and my thoughts centered on the Big One, namely a huge tremor. Sure enough, after I toweled off, my apartment started rocking. This is now the third week in a row that Tokyo's been all shook up. Mind you, as soon as I turned on the TV, I found out that the tremor had much deeper and far-ranging roots.

The northern area of Japan got majorly rocked with a Magnitude 7.0 tremor which brings it up to the level of the Kobe quake which laid waste to that city over 8 years ago. What saved cities like Sendai from really bad damage right now is that the epicenter was out in the ocean. CNN has reported the quake but their coverage doesn't match the domestic stuff which had scenes of TV studios shaking (a usual immediate shot whenever a big quake comes) and people in shopping centers running out into the streets.

NHK has been providing live continuous coverage for the past hour while the other commercial stations went back to normal programming a half-hour ago. To me, that signifies that the damage or the casualty reports aren't that bad although there have been reports of buckling streets and houses on fire.

Hmmm....I kinda wonder about that earthquake kit now.

May 24

The Matrix: Re-Bloated

I think this is the first time in my brief blog history that I've ever titled an entry. However, I think this one merits it, and as it suggests, it doesn't bode well.

I had the opportunity to see the year's most anticipated movie (or at least the first half, anyways) tonight at a sneak preview in Roppongi Hills with a few friends (the sequel doesn't start officially in Japan until June 7). And what did I get?

Well, I'd like to preface my review with an analogy. Imagine a budding French chef getting platitudes from a customer over a nicely made salad one day. The chef, then thoroughly smitten, proceeds to whip up an entire 5-course meal based on the energy of that positive review by the next evening. In the same way, Matrix: Reloaded is a victim of its own success. And perhaps, though unfair, that famed Wachowski reticence to grant interviews may now look a bit pretentious to the public.

Special effects do not a movie make. No, this is not a Yoda statement but an unoffiicial warning to directors of blockbusters. In 1999, the original Matrix had some eye-popping visuals, the now-ubiquitious "bullet time", paired with a relatively simple story of one man destined to defeat a great foe. Plot sound familiar? It also describes the original Star Wars and its success.

Though the SFX in the second movie are still impressive, and in a couple of sequences are truly jaw-dropping, the initial buzz of excitement of "bullet time" is now gone, thanks to multiple "homages" in other movies and the Matrix's own DVD sales. We are now accustomed to the 360-degree wraparound; we are now all too used to wirework under the tutelage of Chinese masters. The story should have been first and foremost, and delivered clean and crisp.

Instead, we were saddled with an overly long exposition at the beginning (although it was nice to see veteran actor Anthony Zerbe in a rare good-guy role), too many characters doing too many irrelevent things, a very bulky conversation between Neo and the Architect, and finally, a muddled cliffhanger ending. My feeling was that the Warchowskis tried to stuff a story arc equivalent in length to the first 6 years of the X-Files into one motion picture. Even in the you-can-do-anything world of the Matrix, certain laws of movie physics must still apply, and you just can't cram that much mythos without thoroughly confusing and frustrating the majority of the viewing public. Basically, the story was gasping to catch up with the effects, and the audience was trailing a distant third.

Certain scenes were absolutely unnecessary: Zion's tribute to Studio 54, Neo's so-called test battle with the Oracle's bodyguard (if Neo could just walk through a bunch of kids to see Gloria Foster bake cookies in the first movie, why is this battle needed?), the enitre Merovingian/Persephone sequence, and the Agent Smith hallway battle scene. My opinion is that if a movie is going to be over 2 hours, there had better be a good reason; the above scenes don't justify the length.

Again, my problem with the movie is in story not acting. Keanu Reaves is a poor actor but he fits his role as Neo, the quiet, action type. The other performers such as Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne also carry off their roles competently. I was never expecting any Oscar awards for this movie outside of SFX

As I left the theatre tonight, most of my colleagues (only one of the group of six gave a thumbs-up) were very unimpressed, and I heard mutterings of "terrible" from other viewers. I'd heard that Laurence Fishburne flipped and flipped the bird at the premiere last week when reporters told him of the very mixed reviews. Sorry, Larry...but I think this time, the media may have a point. Keanu Reaves came down to Tokyo yesterday to promote the flick, and I had thought that perhaps he would come down and make an appearance at the sneak preview. He didn't, but in retrospect, I think it was a good thing. He probably would've become the pitiful victim of that classic show of faint praise: polite applause.

Y'know, leaving Matrix: Reloaded tonight reminded me of that time after I had seen The Phantom Menace almost 4 years ago. We saw it and left it trying to gamely justify all the good points of the movie. I couldn't speak for my companions on that night, but I knew that there was a stone of dissatisfaction in the pit of my stomach. However, The Phantom Menace still got a lot of good applause over the end credits and we did try to defend its merits. Tonight, the Matrix sequel couldn't even muster a mother's love from the audience.

Now I look forward to Matrix: Revolutions (or Matrix Resignation) with a sense of some foreboding.

May 22

I've finished another week of part-timing; still doing OK. In fact, I've gotten a couple of tips for potential students, one of which could be quite lucrative. But it looks like I will have to put on the dog-and-pony show for the parents before I get accepted.

Tomorrow I meet up with an old buddy from home for lunch and then I meet up with some former students for dinner. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.

May 20

It's raining several breeds of cats and dogs right now, so I'm very fortunate that I didn't decide to put out the laundry. I had the umbrella but it didn't do my feet and shoes too good. I had to wade through a rather huge pool of water on a stair landing heading for the train station.

On the flip side, I was quite flattered to get a former colleague-turned-singer/songwriter's debut CD. Me and another former teacher managed to get our names on the credits. Now, if the guy can get a million-seller out of his project, perhaps I can think of royalty payments.

Haven't heard from that lady about whether she'll take me on. Looks like it will be a no-go. Fair enough...I'm not into chintziness.

May 19

It was a nice weekend. Met up with some friends last night for dinner in Ginza, one-third of which was pregnant. One guy and I felt a bit left out as the two other couples were swapping child-rearing techniques. The Italian food was quite good although the atmosphere would've been better served if the conversation hadn't swerved into the various uses of dried placentae.

Went on a spending binge yesterday as well. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest move considering that I had just received my final paycheck as a full-timer last week but hey: 1) I've managed to save quite a bit over the last few months, and 2) I don't think I'll have this opportunity again for a long time. I ended up buying some CDs including the Chicago soundtrack, plus a couple of DVDs: Ocean's 11 and the Bond movie, From Russia With Love. I just find the writing in Ocean's 11 so super slick.

Had my first class as a part-timer this afternoon at my student's place. All I can say is that I hope the rest of my classes are as cordial as this one was (fat chance!). In any case, I'm looking at one potential opportunity going down the tubes because she wants me to lower my fee. Look, the lady lives with her parents and she probably gets bonuses at her company...in other words, she shouldn't be suffering too much by paying me what I'm worth.

May 15

Well, I'm done like dinner. I finished my final class as a full-timer tonight. As of tomorrow, I'm a bohemian teacher. Hmmm...to celebrate, I had some ramen. No big crying scenes, no spotlight with farewell speech. Teachers and staff know that I'll be around, albeit in a reduced role, and the students don't know of my transititon...yet. Sure enough, my idiotic managment left me several frantic calls, fearful that I would be leaving them high and dry for a class that I had already said that I would finish up at the end of May.

What to do about tomorrow? Well, I guess to celebrate my newfound freedom, I'll take a leisurely walk around Tokyo. Let's see what's out there.

Looks like The Matrix Reloaded is getting a lot of mixed reviews. Of course, the diehard fans will blame the media for setting the hype bar way too high, and the critics are blaming the same hype and the almighty buck for the supposed emptiness of the movie. In any case, I'll still catch it.

May 13

Looks like my departure from my school will unfortunately be slightly bittersweet. I taught the high class; the "disappointed" student is back to normal but now another student who has had a history of histrionics has now given me the cold shoulder over a supposedly innocuous topic. The fact that she has lashed at several teachers over the past year has at least given me some measure of relief but I certainly do not want to leave on a sour note. Well, in any case, I'll be done by this time tomorrow.

May 12

Had lunch today with my two students who will soon become my private students from next week in a hotel restaurant. The whole deal was almost in danger of derailment because of my stupid boss' scheduling me a class in the afternoon when I had told him a couple of weeks previously that there would be special farewell lunch for me today. My boss is either incompetent or devious with my bet on the latter. However, it wasn't too difficult to resolve; I just sent him a nasty note and just went ahead with my lunch. I learned that standing up to them gets things resolved quickly; it's just that it's all so unnecessary.

Last night heading to sleep, we were rocked by a fairly powerful earthquake. It measured around 4 on the Shindo scale; the Kobe earthquake was a 7. My room felt like it was next to a subway tunnel during rush hour. Well, aside from a few CDs threatening to fall off the shelves, there was no other damage.

As an update on that "disappointed" student, it looks like things have cooled down a bit. We didn't get too impassioned today but I am wondering if that so-called dinner on Friday that the class had been clamouring about previously will actually come to pass.

May 11

Shibuya was its usual youthful, manic mass of humanity around Hachiko the Dog today. Met up with my girlfriend to satisfy her craving for curry. For some reason, Indian, Thai and Italian are the big favorites for something ethnic. We went to the chain restaurant called Samrat where they had a lunch special of 2 curries and free nan for a paltry 1000 yen. Nice and spicy.

Then we ended up going to a cafe where I managed to spill some of my Chai Latte all over my white t-shirt much to my girlfriend's mirth. I think I was quite lucky; I could imagine a lot of other women who would've berated their clumsy others. My significant other after having her bellylaugh, went out to a GAP and got me a new tee which was on sale.

Earlier this morning, I caught a Trey Parker (South Park) film called Orgasmo. Pretty funny and I could find out pretty quickly which characters on South Park he voiced. I got a kick from the small running gag when anyone muttered the epithet, "Jesus". Trey, who was playing a devout Mormon, suddenly freezes, whips around and yells "Where?!"

May 10

After nearly a whole day at home, it was nice to get out to see some people today. Mind you, my wish came true all too well as I hit that famous waiting spot in front of Studio Alta in Shinjuku. I'd probably say that the population density reached about 1 million per square centimetre at about 6 p.m. when I met up with some former students and one teacher to say goodbye to another alumnus on his way to America for college It was the usual karaoke-and-izakaya bit, but it was good catching up with the guys. Since their graduation a few months back, one has married and one has divorced.
The organizer of today's party had brought her cousin along, a newly-arrived 18-year-old from the wilds of Kagoshima making a start of it in Tokyo. I aged quite a bit with him around. We didn't speak much but we did go back to the station together. During the 5-minute walk, he was quite polite....a sure sign of filial piety.

Before heading out, I saw another old SF chestnut: V. Good golly, I remember when this NBC miniseries had made some waves 20 years ago with its Nazi allegory. And it came in between the first Star Wars trilogy and the Star Trek TV franchise. It's of course dated since then with the 80s production values and fashion, soundtrack veering between brass bombast and porn film romance and hackneyed acting approaching Dynasty levels. Jane Badler definitely illustrated the first three letters of her last name in both performance and character. However, it was interesting to see Robert Englund, aka Freddy the Evil from The Nighmare on Elm Street series, as a meek, adorable Visitor, and also Sarah Douglas, just fresh from playing another alien menace in Superman 2, as the Squadron Leader Pamela.

May 9

The countdown has begun on my full-time career at my school. I finished my final Friday; I'll be finsihing up next Thursday and then from that day forward I'll be coming in just on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Well, at least things have been interesting. My class yesterday morning turned out to be one of my most interesting and uncomfortable ones in my 5 years there.

I had the top-level reading class in which the topic of genetics was broached. So as a good teacher, I asked everybody what is inherited down through the generations. The usual answers of eye color, hair color and temperament came up, but then our most fluent and oddball student cried out, "Earwax!" Apparently in Japan, people categorize their earwax as either wet or dry. The dry guys apparently are much stronger. I guess in a country where one of the more intimate acts of love involves the girl picking out the flecks of detritus from the boyfriend's aural orifices with a long wooden stick, I gather that earwax does have a special meaning. All I got was "Too Much Information!"
Also, things turned a bit weirder in the second hour when she suddenly started asking me about my confirmed bachelorhood at my ripe old age. I let out that I enjoyed my Fortress of Solitude and that I have different sides to my personaltiy. Well, at once, she went into shock that I would even admit that I'm not always the happy-go-lucky professional at home that I am at school. Apparently, she dwelt on that all throughout the day. Good golly, lady, let it go!

Well, if I'm lucky enough, I may get to see Matrix Reloaded a bit sooner than most everyone else since my good friend may be able to pick up some tickets for the sneak preview on the 24th. Keeping my fingers crossed!

May 5

Well, it looks like I'm batting 2 for 2 on the movie watch. Caught X2 with a friend on Saturday and I wasn't disappointed. It was quite a bit better than the original which always seemed to be an appetizer than a main course. X2 is definitely a main course. The best battle scene was the introduction of Nightcrawler; he made better mincemeat of the Secret Service than Zod and his wrecking crew from Superman 2. However, that brings me to my main gripe about the movie; the ensuing battles didn't seem to be all that definitive...not like a final superfight between one hero and one villain; I guess it's just the weak thing of having so many characters duking it out. I'm sure that every actor wanted his/her time in the sun. On that note, Anna Paquin got the short end of the deal.
For all those longtime X-fans, there were a lot of nods to the comic book plots, including one major scene which came all the way back from the Chris Claremont era. That still surprised me. I may catch it again on the big screen but most likely I'll buy the DVD. After a spectactular $85 million opening, I think it's pretty much a done decision that X3 is on the boards. Probably will be the Dark Phoenix Saga.

Also caught an old chestnut of a sci-fi show this afternoon. On the old satellite channels, I saw a movie version of Space: 1999. It was a very ham-fistededly smashed concoction of the first 2 episodes of the Gerry Andersen show with Martin Landau...long before his notice as an Oscar-winning character actor.
1999 certainly looks a lot more dated now in the real 2003. For one thing, the moon is still in orbit. All joking aside, though, it was interesting to see this temporary antidote to Star Trek fever with then-current special effects almost on a par with 2001: A Space Odyssey and the camaraderie among Landau, ex-wife Barbara Bain and Barry Morse. Also, the music was very operatic, pre-John Williams. My main gripe about it is that the idiots who concocted this TV-movie version tore out the great opening credits. It almost makes me want to buy the DVD set.

May 2

Entering a long weekend and the last leg of Golden Week. Started off on a cinematic note by finally catching CHICAGO. I'm happy to say that it was indeed worth the 1800 yen. All of the actors looked very accomplished in their transformation into singers and dancers; I must admit that Renee Zellwegger is quite the chameleon. From plummy, plump Bridget Jones to slinky sassy Roxie Hart.

May 1

Well, May Day is here, so about perhaps half of industry is taking a day off while the other half simmer in resentment. My day was quite "on" in contrast with the off day yesterday.

Finally visited that super hyped Roppongi Hills, and yes, it's big. It is also not your family or suburban teen-oriented mall. It is a place for the yuppies, which definitely doesn't include me. However, I did enjoy browsing through the place. It feels like Aoyama, Harajuku and Omotesando stacked up like pancakes: lots of boutiques and oh-so-chic restaurants which will probably demand a VISA card just to get into. Even took a look at Wolfgang Puck's Bar and Grill. Looks very Californian but the prices took me down a few pegs.
When I finally got out of the complex, I was able to figure out where the whole thing was in relation to Roppongi in general. It covers what used to be the ol' WAVE CD shop, a place that I used to frequent quite a lot years ago. And now it's been totally erased...somethng to age me further.

Well, Viirgin Cinemas at Roppongi Hills will be premiering X-Men 2 tomorrow night with the full release on Saturday. Hugh Jackman aka Wolverine will be stopping by for the 9:30 show. And I'm hoping that I'll get to see it then as well. It's always nice when we get simulaneous releases with that of the US. Usually we have to wait at least a few months before a hit movie sees the light of day here on this side of the Pacific. It kinda feels like arriving at a pizza party when all but three tepid slices have been eaten.

April 30

One of those slightly off-kilter days at work. Each of my classes today had an almost successful quality except for some sort of "wrench" which screwed things up a bit. My first class, for example, had one student griping about the overly complex nature of the vocabulary given, my second class just didn't feel perfectly right, my model lesson dealt with two very low students and my final class today which was the final class of the course had a boring chapter and two bored students. However, in the case of this last one, things turned out OK; we agreed to pack up early and then they treated me to dinner up in the exclusive 21st-floor cafeteria.

Another disappointment: looks like my brother and sister-in-law won't be making it out to Japan after all. It isn't so much that Toronto's SARS menace has prevented them from coming over, but the fact that the other participants in the big meeting happen to be from countries where the supervirus is still a huge menace. Basically, my brother would've been playing to a very large, empty room.

Well, not too busy tomorrow. Just two classes and then with luck, I may finally see Chicago and check out the famed Roppongi Hills.

April 28

Light Monday, not surprising considering that we're entering Golden Week. Well, sort of...

I wanted to catch Chicago today but sure enough, I ended up misreading the movie schedules so I got there a full half-hour after it had already begun. Talking with a fellow teacher who had seen it this weekend, I now really want to see it more than ever.

April 27

Let's see....Toronto has undergone a weakened economy and the SARS virus. Well, trouble surely comes in 3s as His Royal Lowness, Mel Lastman decided to speak in the ancient tongue of gibberish to everyone around the world via CNN's Aaron Brown. I didn't see the interview directly but I did see the transcript in Canada's Globe and Mail. I mean, I just had to look in awe at what this man had attempted to say. He actually made George Bush sound like a Rhodes Scholar. The last time I experienced such ineptitude in public office was Prime Minister Mori a couple of years back.

Well, Hotel Haruhiko is now operational. One of my good friends from back home is over here right now on his 1-week vacation. He also brought tribute from back home: Dare cookies, Reese's Peanut Cups and the aforementioned Globe and Mail. The hotel should be quite busy throughout May now that it looks likely everyone will come over here after all. Loopy Lastman may have made himself an international laughingstock but he did get the WHO's attention.

Also met up with a former student of mine who is now living in Buenos Aires but is back for a short vacation. As expected, she was stumbling over some of her words and mixing up Japanese, English and Spanish.

If everything works out, I should be catching Chicago tomorrow during one of my large gaps in my schedule.

April 24

Well, the WHO decided to declare Toronto a no-go zone because of SARS. Of course, the Canadian government blasted WHO calling it an overreaction....and besides, all that tourist money would be lost. Now I'm wondering if all those expected visits over here will also be curtailed.

Another long day in the salt mines. I finished off another one-day Intensive of very little necessity. Thanks to some good planning, I managed to pull one out of the fire although I had one smart ass who put a bit of spice into the pudding. I kinda wish that the manager hadn't scheduled me for that 2-hour night class; I may as well have telephoned in my performance there due to exhaustion. There's no respite tomorrow; I've got 6 hours of teaching to do, but at least the classes are good.

Tomorrow is also the big opening of this humoungous supercomplex in the foreigner's quarter of Roppongi. Called Roppongi Hills, this Tower of Babel is a glass and metal monolith overlooking the seedier establishments and contains 4 shopping malls and Wolfgang Puck's first restaurant this side of the Pacific. He may be on every Hollywood celeb's rolodex back Stateside, but he's an unknown over here; hopefully, his goat cheese pizzas strike a chord with the Japanese. Also, Virgin Cinemas have set up a mulitplex there. Branson himself showed up for the inaugural opening last night with the local showbiz types.

April 23

I've been searching for hotels for my brother and sister-in-law when they come over in mid-May. Anything under 12000 yen a night in Tokyo is about as rare as common sense in the Japanese government.

Well, McDonalds entered a new phase today by debuting its new hip and trendy menu which includes the Premium Mac. Tried it out and decided that the only premium thing about it is the price. Just a slightly bigger burger topped with a gooey wasabi mayonnaise sauce.Thanks, I'll stick with the Big Mac.

April 22

The week has been going by OK so far. The weather is still unusually cool for a Tokyo Spring.

My future relationship with my school is slowly starting to take shape. I just started my new course which will be the only company class that I will have once I go part-time in mid-May. Also, my manager wanted to talk with me about something but since I had to take off for the new class, he waved it off for another day; I caught a slight glower on his visage...if I've done something to offend him...GREAT!

It also looks like I'm having quite the reunion in May. A number of friends, a former student and my brother and sister-in-law will be haunting this side of the Pacific in the next few weeks. I gather that even SARS hasn't stopped them.

April 20

Looks like it was a flip-flop weatherwise this weekend. The rain came on Sunday instead of Saturday.

After a nice day with the girlfriend, I caught up with an old friend back from Canada and had dinner at an izakaya that we usually haunt. Basically, our appetites got the better of us as we devoured fried chikcen, sashimi, eel, custard and beer over 4.5 hours. At the same time, we managed to get into international politics, a topic that I like to let go on but rarely get the chance to due to my work. It was good to give my thoughts about the US and the war.

It also looks like I might face a small onslaught of guests in the coming month, just in time for my semi-retirement. Along with a couple of friends, I may be seeing my brother here on business; it would be the first time he's set foot in Japan in over 20 years.

April 18

Thank heavens this week is over! Man, not too bad today...just 4 hours of teaching but it was a heavy week. At least I can now have some attempts at a good weekend's sleep. I got some Z's in on the sofa in my school's lounge in advertently this afternoon. I guess even coffee and vitamin drinks couldn't do the trick.

Tokyo finally hit the big time in temperaure this year. Nice balmy 26 degrees. It won't be too long now before the mugginess creeps in.

Chicago blows into town this weekend. I will definitely have to catch that sometime in the next couple of weeks. I'm not quite sure how well it'll fare here. Musicals, or at least the Japanese-casted versions, have done OK but the only big face in the movie is Richard Gere. But I'm sure the PR folks will have the gang come in to do a bit of promotion.

I think all of us were amused by the North Koreans this week when they quietly rescinded their demand for only bilateral talks with the US over the nuclear problem. Now, after Gulf War 2, they seem only too happy to tackle multilateralism.

April 17

8 hours of teaching today. I was looking pretty ragged by 9 tonight. However, I'm happy to say that I'm over the hump and that I only have to face 4 hours tomorrow. So far, this new crew seems OK but the gelling factor is not quite kicking in yet. However, since I won't be seeing these guys past the middle of this month probably, I'm not too worried. I'm wondering if I will be kept on even as a part-timer.

April 16

Well, my first full day has passed, and it was full. After 7.5 hours of teaching yesterday, I was a tired little boy last night and I look forward to the same amount of hours today as well. It's still too early to say about how the dynamics are, but it is definitely an older and more staid crowd although I did meet a 20-year-old guy in the group. At least I have a few hours of time between my first and second classes today.

April 14

It's the eve before payday, and after doing the budget for this past month, I'm proud to say that I managed to save quite a bit in March/April.

The new kids are in the House now, and I've just done my first class with the low group today. Not a bad bunch so far, but I'm sure there will be a few "characters" to find. But I do hope that some of my classes will be passed onto other teachers; it's a monster of a schedule this week.

Caught CSI's pilot episode tonight on TV Tokyo. Pretty darn good...there's already quite a bit of tension and drama in it.

April 12

Well, my weeks of wine and roses are over. I had my schedule faxed over to me today and I found out that I've got the lion's share of classes for our new year-course students next week. I should be properly exhausted by next Friday. I figure my soon-to-be former employers are trying to squeeze me for every drop before I take off next month.

I caught Daredevil today with a few friends. Strangely enough, we found it quite entertaining despite the spite thrown at it. Perhaps it was the fact that I had such low expectations, but even with some of the glaring faults, it did keep me entertained for over 90 minutes. And I think if I can be entertained by a flick that was roundly panned, I can only imagine the time I will have when X2 and The Matrix Reloaded hit our shores.

April 8

Well, I saw some of the banner headlines boasting of the death of the Hussein family at the newspaper kiosks. And sure enough, I turn on CNN to find out that nothing's been confirmed yet. Just forlorn ol' General Brooks trying to keep his bratty press corps under control.

It's Intensive time. I've got another one of those all-day freshmen training seminars at a government bank tomorrow. I'll be so wiped out by dinner time. Happily, I don't have any classes after 5.

April 7

On the birthday roll today, Tetsuwan Atomu, otherwise known as Astroboy in the Americas, celebrated his birth. That's right...years ago, when creator Osamu Tezuka gave birth to his most famous character, he had Astroboy arrive on April 7, 2003 in the genuine neighbourhood of Takadanobaba, in Tokyo. Takadanobaba is an area of small cafes and shops popular with the university crowd since it is close to famed Waseda University. On Sunday, there was a parade to commemorate Astroboy, and in the morning, Fuji-TV premiered an updated version of the anime.

Also on a somewhat wistful note, I went down to the trendy area of Odaiba by Tokyo Bay for a class at Shell Chemicals. I related to my students that I had first set foot in the area back in early 1995 when the place was nothing but half-constructed buildings, huge expanses of sand and...nothing. Now, it's its own little world away from Tokyo where the young frolic every weekend.

April 6

Well, unlike the deluge of yesterday, it was a marvelous day today. I got together with a former student at her invitation to go for a walk in a city garden for a bit of cherry-blossom viewing. Surprisingly enough, not all of the blossoms got blown or rained off. In fact, there were quite enough of them so that a lot of groups were spreading out their blue tarps and having their picnics underneath the trees.. We saw a lot of submarine-sized carp in the ponds as well.

April 5

Wind, rain and cold are plaguing Tokyo once more this weekend. So much for cherry-blossom season. It looks like a lot of those delicate petals are going down the sewer today. If we are lucky, there may be some hope for Sunday although with the amounts pouring down today, it'll be some pretty soggy sitting.

Just caught a Biography of Carrie Fisher, a former target of puppy love back in the 70s. Man, she went through more hell than Princess Leia ever did as a Rebel leader. Can't believe she's now a portly 47.

April 4

Capped off another quiet week with dinner with some old students of mine in an Italian restaurant in Shinjuku. I hadn't seen one of them in several months due to her long stay in England. I thought she would have picked up an accent there but that wasn't the case. The food was quite good; Italian has become quite a mastered cuisine in this country, and the typical Italian eatery has become as ubiquitious as a sushi shop. Our maitre 'd seemed to take his job a bit too happily, though. He had a frozen smile and an annoying penchant for spouting Italian which creeped us out sometimes.

Well, I got a heads-up that next week, the busy days will be back. I'll be doing another one of those all-day intensives for the freshmen for one of our clients. Not one of my favourite assignments since a number of these Intensives are frankly of no immeidate use to them. Maybe I can feign SARS.

April 2

Just looking at one of the numerous specials that pop up on Japanese TV between seasons. This one is the CDTV countdown special celebrating the show's 10th anniversary. Boy, nothing dates you than seeing music videos from 10 years back. A lot of those bands have disappeared into nothing. Such is the fleeting nature of fame.

April 2

The black suits are comin'! With the arrival of April, the new fresh-faced addtions to the Japanese work force were out in full force yesterday all over the city. Boy and girls....erk, men and women...were hitting the streets in their new suits and ties and dresses with crisp black bags all against the backdrop of blossoming cherry trees. Oh, how Japanese!

Up and down in the temps department again. We've got some major rain here now and it's back to cold. And my cold is still haunting me.

One of my biggest Internet horrors has come to pass finally. I accidentally deleted all of the good mail instead of the spam mail through the screening software. Major frustration!

March 31

In this currently uncertain world, it is nice to know that there are some nice days to be had. It was the very first gloriously Spring Monday in Tokyo this year. And as I was walking toward the Hotel New Otani from Yotsuya Station, it was nice to see the cherry trees blossoming beautifully, and the temps balmy. Also, I had what was probably the best cocoa I've ever had in Japan in the hotel thanks to my students.

It also didn't hurt that I got to finish at 1 today, so just came back home, did a bit of shopping and then watched some Babylon 5 DVDs before cooking up some dinner. This week looks light as well, and I think I may be finishing even earlier on Wednesday. I'll be appreciating every minute of this week since things will get back to normal within a couple of weeks.

March 28

Ugh! Fighting Darth Throat. Thanks to a cold and a lot of talking in class over the last couple of days, I now have a voice which is a mix of James Earl Jones and a bullfrog. I could probably do a decent version of the famous Budweiser commercial from a few years back. Time to hit the tea and honey.

I see on CNN that the battle map is starting to look a bit crowded in Iraq; kind of like a RISK gameboard after the 7th hour of play. Georgie is getting a bit testy about being questioned on the length of this war but, hey, he and his Cabinet were implying that it would be a bit of a cakewalk before the 20th.

Over here in the Land of the Rising Sun, the (fiscal) year is coming to an end, and come April, everything reactivates from the companies to the TV schedules. University grads are spiffing up their new polyester suits and black bags to enter real society and copious amounts of drinking and abuse. As for me, I'm waiting for CSI to arrive on TV.

Bought a Yellow Magic Orchestra CD a couple of days back. For those not in the know, YMO just happens to be one of the big original bands for technopop which came into being just shortly after Germany's Kraftwerk. The band included Ryuichi Sakamoto, now better "known" to the world at large as the Oscar-winning composer for The Last Emperor. The album I got was "BGM", one of their most techno albums. Their earlier efforts mixed a lot of Oriental flavor and other genres, but this one was pretty pure techno, and it struck me that this was a bit of a precursor to the techno albums of today.

March 27

Thanks to a big hole in my schedule which swallowed my classes in the middle of this week, I find myself with a lot of time on my hands to write and watch TV. Two of my classes on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons got canned or given away to somebody else so I've been able to come home quite early and head out quite late. Not complaining too much, for now.

Spring has finally come to stay. My windows are way open and I'm feeling no pain.

After my lone 2-hour class tonight, I'll be heading out to see a fellow teacher off before he leaves the country permanently. When he first came in, I wondered about how popular he would be but it looks like I had nothing to worry about. He's getting a lot of students coming to his going away party tonight.

March 24

Well, Oscars don't really come out here very much, but it was gratifiying to know that Japanese anime, "Spirited Away" aced the Best Animation award.

Having watched this war in live progress for 5 days, I've gotten a very stark perspective of life. While I'm here grumbling sometimes about my job and my boss, there are people half my age half a world away literally fighting for their lives as well as for their country and political philosophy. Heck, five of those people are now in Iraqi custody going through who knows what. At the same time, there are also journalists out there who are risking their lives to get the truth out, two of whom have paid the ultimate price.

Finally after a very long winter, it became warmer; no need for the heater or blankets anymore. Amen.

March 21

Bush's War is in its second day now. Because Japan treats the First Day of Spring as a national holiday, I got to spend the day with CNN. All I can say is that Aaron Brown must have a lot of time on his hands. For 3 hours, I see him and General Clark talking and cheering on the wonders of the videophone. Over here, the Japanese coverage has been steady.

The president of my soon-to-be former school asked me to have a coffee with him after work last night; the first time in 5 years he's ever invited to anything. He implored me to reconsider my departure and offered me a higher position with higher salary...at the expense of two staff members which he quietly trashed to abandon. The only question that went through my brain was why he couldn't ask me this years ago. I sense a president who is in desperate need of an MBA.

March 18

Well, Bush has thrown down the gauntlet, Hussein has thrown his gauntlet, the UN inspectors are high-tailing it, and over 200,000 troops are massed and ready to kick butt. Plus, the Dept. of Homeland Security has raised the alert up to Orange. Great! I'll just be going to my first class in downtown Tokyo at an oil organization which just sits next to the US Embassy. I wonder if the class will be a bit more interesting than usual.

March 17

The big trip to Tateyama in Chiba worked out pretty well, and that big fear of lightening my wallet didn't come to pass. However, for one thing, that "Romance Car" just ended up being a regular express train so the cost wasn't nearly as bad. Also, lunch was provided by one of our students.

After a 2-hour ride to the other side of Tokyo Bay, our first stop was a strawberry farm. They do things a bit differently than how we would pick the berries back home. They cut out the transportation of the berries back home and just encourage everyone to pick and eat right in the patch. We were given 2 plastic containers, one containing condensed milk and the other was for the berry butts after we ate them. Not a bad system; I managed to down about 30 berries before finishing off the milk.

Then it was off to the seashore where we had my student's exquisitely prepared box lunches which included rolled sushi, fried chicken and marinated meat balls. It was quite nice munching with the waves crashing on the rocks. Then, it was up a long flight of stairs to a hotel nearby for coffee and cake. Well, you might imagine that we were feeling pretty stuffed after lunch and dessert so we took a long walk along the road for about an hour to burn off the excess calories before reaching a tourist store selling lots of flowers, honey and peanut-based goods (Chiba is well known for its peanut crops).

Finally, the girls negotiated a ride with a taxi driver who was very kind to give us a tour around the area before leaving us at the station. Another half-hour of drinks in the nearby cafe, and then we were off to another town an hour away towards Tokyo called Kisarazu. There we went to a Japanese pub, or izakaya, for a clam-based meal. The best dish was the clams steamed in sake. However the meal tended toward the deep-fried side so I felt somewhat bloated this morning. All in all, a nice gourmet tour.

In other news, looks like it'll be a light week for me. My night class got canned so I got home around 3:30 today and the same appears likely for Wednesday. Also, Friday is a national holiday, the Vernal Equinox, although I think this week has started more like the depths of winter.