Monday Sept. 15, 11:25 a.m.
BREAKING NEWS! Ben and Jen break up! Film at 11! Oh, the infamy, the tragedy....the stupidity! Well, I caught this one on CNN just now, and the talking heads were just barely rubbing their hands with glee. Apparently, there's no real love lost with Jennifer Lopez since she has exercised such diva-like behaviour. I don't what it is about these female celebs which makes them act so bratty. Lady Jen wants her tea stirred counter-clockwise every time?! Boot to the head!
Aside from that rant, I've had a pretty quiet weekend. Today is Respect-for-the-Aged Day in Japan, so it's a national holiday here. However, I still have one class to teach tonight, my regular Wednesday nighter who is actually one of the relatively few people who does have to work.
I took a call from...well, I can't really say friend, to be perfectly honest. He is a former student from a few years back, and although he doesn't intend to do it, he has managed to annoy a number of people. It can't be helped...he's a bit slow if earnest but he just doesn't know how and when to interact properly. Since his graduation, he's managed to keep in contact with me for the past few years. He had kept in contact with a couple of other teachers but those folks finally couldn't take him calling anymore so one changed her number, and the other escaped when he returned home.
He has a penchant for calling once in a while. I usually screen my calls so I know when he calls up since he never leaves a message. All I get is the three rings and then the busy tone on the machine when he hangs up. What is so bad about this guy? Well, he's not that bad but he just talks on some of the most insignificant stuff. Y'know, from his talks, I've realized that most callers have a reason to call or they want to know how I'm doing. I think part of it is because he wants to practice his English, and I can't damn him for that, but when he just prates on and on about stuff that really has no connection with anything. A couple of years ago, I had to read the riot act to him when he called me up close to midnight after I had gone to sleep; so he's better on timing now. Still, if I don't feel like picking up the phone, I just let him give his three-ring-and-a-busy-tone message. The problem is that he does this three times on that night.
Madonna? Author of children's books? French-kissing Britney Spears? Uh-uh...not near my non-existent kids.
Just a place to deposit my thoughts on life here in the Kanto and about anything else that sticks to my walls.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Saturday Sept 13, 4:12 p.m.
It's been another sweltering day. Happily, I just had that one class before getting back home and cooling off.
Well, I thought I was going to get paid this weekend, but nothing has shown up in my bankbook. I wonder if there has been a change in the rules. Usually we get paid on the 15th of the month or the closest business day preceding the 15th, and since Monday is a national holiday, I logically assumed that it would be either Friday or Saturday. Well, nothing has shown up yet. I'm not putting up any red flags as of yet but I did send an inquiry to my colleague. And this is the first time that the school has not paid on the expected day. I'm sure that there is more to follow.
Two more celebs bit the dust, I see. One, Johnny Cash, was not a surprise. He'd been looking pretty ill for a long time. I was never a fan of his but I do remember catching his specials when I was a kid when my parents seemed to be on that country kick. The other death was a complete surprise. John "Three's Company" Ritter passed away suddenly due to something called an aortic separation. The way CNN described it, it sounds like an aneurysm. Man, I just remember him as the hapless but lovable Jack Tripper with the two bimbettes.
In one of our last meetings at the Friday night circle, my friend and I talked a lot on 9/11 and where we were, and by extension, all of the other major breaking news stories such as the attempted Reagan assassination, the Challenger disaster and Gulf War I. Very interesting.
It's been another sweltering day. Happily, I just had that one class before getting back home and cooling off.
Well, I thought I was going to get paid this weekend, but nothing has shown up in my bankbook. I wonder if there has been a change in the rules. Usually we get paid on the 15th of the month or the closest business day preceding the 15th, and since Monday is a national holiday, I logically assumed that it would be either Friday or Saturday. Well, nothing has shown up yet. I'm not putting up any red flags as of yet but I did send an inquiry to my colleague. And this is the first time that the school has not paid on the expected day. I'm sure that there is more to follow.
Two more celebs bit the dust, I see. One, Johnny Cash, was not a surprise. He'd been looking pretty ill for a long time. I was never a fan of his but I do remember catching his specials when I was a kid when my parents seemed to be on that country kick. The other death was a complete surprise. John "Three's Company" Ritter passed away suddenly due to something called an aortic separation. The way CNN described it, it sounds like an aneurysm. Man, I just remember him as the hapless but lovable Jack Tripper with the two bimbettes.
In one of our last meetings at the Friday night circle, my friend and I talked a lot on 9/11 and where we were, and by extension, all of the other major breaking news stories such as the attempted Reagan assassination, the Challenger disaster and Gulf War I. Very interesting.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Thursday, Sept 11, 4:24 a.m.
It's the 2nd anniversary of the WTC attacks, an event that will probably stand as one of the most seminal of this century. And personally, I also had a brush with it. For it was on that day, I had just come back from a summer trip to Toronto which included a brief stay in New York City a couple of weeks before 9/11. It was on that day that my flight originated from New Jersey Airport, 24 hours before one of the hijacked planes started its fateful final flight from the same place. It was on that day that my plane had to make three separate attempts to land at Narita just after a typhoon had plowed through the Kanto before aborting and head to Nagoya for 2 hours...something that left me wondering if we were going to be be victims ourselves. I also remember the plane making one more attempt which was successful which made all of us applaud in relief, not realizing that half a world away, several hundred other people on planes would not be so lucky.
I had been home for a few hours that night. I was exhausted. I didn't even bother to turn on the TV. Then, the phone rang....I didn't answer it; I figured that I would get back to him/her when I was feeling more energized. So the message machine activated, and the messenger just happened to be my friend from Toronto telling me to get onto CNN immediately; something had just happened in NYC.
Sure enough, when I turned it on, I saw one of the Twin Towers smoking, but the far more searing image was that of the second plane, looking almost like a paper equivalent, plow into the second tower. Aaron Brown had just started his first day at the network, and his voice was preternaturally calm but he gave the dreaded news that two planes had just become weapons of terrorism. Die Hard fantasy became hard reality. Then, the news came that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and yet another plane had crashed into a Pennsylvania. The US, and by extension, the world would never be quite the same again.
All of my exhaustion just left me as I kept my eyes glued on the TV well into the wee hours of the morning, Tokyo time. I sent a couple of frantic e-mail messages over to my two friends, one of whom lived in Brooklyn, just across the river from where the Twin Towers stood. He later sent me word that he and his girlfriend were OK. My brother and his wife were celebrating their honeymoon in Florida when they had to be evacuated to their hotel. The day after, I reluctantly went back to work and the feeling was somber since a number of the teachers were from America.
On the first anniversary of 9/11, I and two other teachers were doing the second Intensive of the annual series of training sessions for our oil company students. As usual, all of us, teachers and students, occupied the training center lobby lounge like a bunch of sophomores after a whole day of study. It was a bit awkward having the TV set to ABC's satellite service which was televising the solemn ceremony while the students were trying to relax, chat and drink beer while the teachers were looking at the coverage in all seriousness. The students were sometimes at a bit of a loss as to what to do. One of the teachers later on confided that he had been miffed at the usual frivolity in the lounge but he also realized that 9/11 affected people on different levels, one of the factors being that of nationality. Although 9/11 was a horror for almost all people, I couldn't expect the Japanese to share the same level of solemnity that the Americans and even the Canadians had.
And now the 2nd anniversary of 9/11 is here. I will have just one class today, and I don't expect any sort of meeting with a group of people to commiserate with. As I said before, the world has changed in some ways: the US is now fully dedicated to war against terrorism, the world has become a bit more polarized, and two countries have fallen in front of the US military might. And of course, CNN now has that perpetual red news strip at the bottom of its screen. But in some ways, the US didn't change or only had a temporary brief moment of change. The so-called rejection of irony didn't become a permanent part of pop culture: comedies are back to their snarky selves and action movies are once again part of the mainstream. Americans live under a rainbow-hued alert system and yet they have reverted, more or less, to their old lives. New Yorkers have reportedly returned to their in-one's-face, sarcastic selves but now with a subsurface undercurrent of sympathy and caring. All in all, though, I think the attitude toward the most tragic event of the 21st century so far in in line with some of the tragic events of the 20th century: we will never forget it but we will go on and thrive.
It's the 2nd anniversary of the WTC attacks, an event that will probably stand as one of the most seminal of this century. And personally, I also had a brush with it. For it was on that day, I had just come back from a summer trip to Toronto which included a brief stay in New York City a couple of weeks before 9/11. It was on that day that my flight originated from New Jersey Airport, 24 hours before one of the hijacked planes started its fateful final flight from the same place. It was on that day that my plane had to make three separate attempts to land at Narita just after a typhoon had plowed through the Kanto before aborting and head to Nagoya for 2 hours...something that left me wondering if we were going to be be victims ourselves. I also remember the plane making one more attempt which was successful which made all of us applaud in relief, not realizing that half a world away, several hundred other people on planes would not be so lucky.
I had been home for a few hours that night. I was exhausted. I didn't even bother to turn on the TV. Then, the phone rang....I didn't answer it; I figured that I would get back to him/her when I was feeling more energized. So the message machine activated, and the messenger just happened to be my friend from Toronto telling me to get onto CNN immediately; something had just happened in NYC.
Sure enough, when I turned it on, I saw one of the Twin Towers smoking, but the far more searing image was that of the second plane, looking almost like a paper equivalent, plow into the second tower. Aaron Brown had just started his first day at the network, and his voice was preternaturally calm but he gave the dreaded news that two planes had just become weapons of terrorism. Die Hard fantasy became hard reality. Then, the news came that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and yet another plane had crashed into a Pennsylvania. The US, and by extension, the world would never be quite the same again.
All of my exhaustion just left me as I kept my eyes glued on the TV well into the wee hours of the morning, Tokyo time. I sent a couple of frantic e-mail messages over to my two friends, one of whom lived in Brooklyn, just across the river from where the Twin Towers stood. He later sent me word that he and his girlfriend were OK. My brother and his wife were celebrating their honeymoon in Florida when they had to be evacuated to their hotel. The day after, I reluctantly went back to work and the feeling was somber since a number of the teachers were from America.
On the first anniversary of 9/11, I and two other teachers were doing the second Intensive of the annual series of training sessions for our oil company students. As usual, all of us, teachers and students, occupied the training center lobby lounge like a bunch of sophomores after a whole day of study. It was a bit awkward having the TV set to ABC's satellite service which was televising the solemn ceremony while the students were trying to relax, chat and drink beer while the teachers were looking at the coverage in all seriousness. The students were sometimes at a bit of a loss as to what to do. One of the teachers later on confided that he had been miffed at the usual frivolity in the lounge but he also realized that 9/11 affected people on different levels, one of the factors being that of nationality. Although 9/11 was a horror for almost all people, I couldn't expect the Japanese to share the same level of solemnity that the Americans and even the Canadians had.
And now the 2nd anniversary of 9/11 is here. I will have just one class today, and I don't expect any sort of meeting with a group of people to commiserate with. As I said before, the world has changed in some ways: the US is now fully dedicated to war against terrorism, the world has become a bit more polarized, and two countries have fallen in front of the US military might. And of course, CNN now has that perpetual red news strip at the bottom of its screen. But in some ways, the US didn't change or only had a temporary brief moment of change. The so-called rejection of irony didn't become a permanent part of pop culture: comedies are back to their snarky selves and action movies are once again part of the mainstream. Americans live under a rainbow-hued alert system and yet they have reverted, more or less, to their old lives. New Yorkers have reportedly returned to their in-one's-face, sarcastic selves but now with a subsurface undercurrent of sympathy and caring. All in all, though, I think the attitude toward the most tragic event of the 21st century so far in in line with some of the tragic events of the 20th century: we will never forget it but we will go on and thrive.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Tues Sept 9, 12:02 a.m.
Long Monday but it'll be the last one. First off, my Monday morning students too k me to the Oregon Bar and Grill up on the 42nd floor of the Shiodome City Centre. The social and financial gaps between me and them were quite evident according to some of the remarks that one of them said about the restaurant. She thought it was rather casual; however, I found it fancy if comfortable. I mean, it isn't everyday that I see true maitre d's in well-tailored suits and wait staff in crisp white uniforms. Also, she played the role of a food critic to a slight extent, stating that the Caesar salad was good but a bit too salty. I also agreed but I didn't mind it all.
The rest of the course, which cost just 3000 yen by the way (a real bargain in a place that regularly charges 6400 yen for the dinner courses), included warm bread and butter, minestrone and dessert with coffee. And of course, the piece de resistance, the steak. It certainly didn't match the size of my usual steak at the Outback, but the taste was certainly more refined and tastier. Plus, the view over Tokyo couldn't be beaten. I would definitely recommend the place to the Movie Buddies.
It looks like that bike victim from the previous night in Hiroo wasn't the only recent accident close to me. That same student had suffered one herself just last Tuesday when a car smashed into her BMW. Surprisingly, she came out of it relatively unscathed with just a sore head. However, the BMW will have to be sold.
After I had given my goodbyes to the ladies, I ended up splurging a bit on CDs. In rather disparate purchases, I bought the Best of Henry Mancini, the man who was responsible for a lot of the movie themes before John Williams took over. And then after an hour or so in my usual hangout on the roof of the Mitsukoshi Department Store, I ended up going to HMV, and bought Peter Gabriel's SO album from 1985.
I then popped down to my regular Monday night haunt all the way in western Tokyo before I had my class with the real estate students. One of them told me that he would like to move the class over to Wednesday afternoons instead of Monday nights, a shift that elates me no end. I do realize it's a bit of a sacrifice for them since Wednesday is their only day off, but to be honest, I was hoping that the late Monday nights would come to an end. And I think that in the long run, it will be much better for all of us if we were in higher energy mode for class. So no more of those midnight home arrivals. I can have pleasant Monday nights at home. However, I'll have to level with my juku employer since she was hoping to extend my hours into Wednesday afternoon.
Long Monday but it'll be the last one. First off, my Monday morning students too k me to the Oregon Bar and Grill up on the 42nd floor of the Shiodome City Centre. The social and financial gaps between me and them were quite evident according to some of the remarks that one of them said about the restaurant. She thought it was rather casual; however, I found it fancy if comfortable. I mean, it isn't everyday that I see true maitre d's in well-tailored suits and wait staff in crisp white uniforms. Also, she played the role of a food critic to a slight extent, stating that the Caesar salad was good but a bit too salty. I also agreed but I didn't mind it all.
The rest of the course, which cost just 3000 yen by the way (a real bargain in a place that regularly charges 6400 yen for the dinner courses), included warm bread and butter, minestrone and dessert with coffee. And of course, the piece de resistance, the steak. It certainly didn't match the size of my usual steak at the Outback, but the taste was certainly more refined and tastier. Plus, the view over Tokyo couldn't be beaten. I would definitely recommend the place to the Movie Buddies.
It looks like that bike victim from the previous night in Hiroo wasn't the only recent accident close to me. That same student had suffered one herself just last Tuesday when a car smashed into her BMW. Surprisingly, she came out of it relatively unscathed with just a sore head. However, the BMW will have to be sold.
After I had given my goodbyes to the ladies, I ended up splurging a bit on CDs. In rather disparate purchases, I bought the Best of Henry Mancini, the man who was responsible for a lot of the movie themes before John Williams took over. And then after an hour or so in my usual hangout on the roof of the Mitsukoshi Department Store, I ended up going to HMV, and bought Peter Gabriel's SO album from 1985.
I then popped down to my regular Monday night haunt all the way in western Tokyo before I had my class with the real estate students. One of them told me that he would like to move the class over to Wednesday afternoons instead of Monday nights, a shift that elates me no end. I do realize it's a bit of a sacrifice for them since Wednesday is their only day off, but to be honest, I was hoping that the late Monday nights would come to an end. And I think that in the long run, it will be much better for all of us if we were in higher energy mode for class. So no more of those midnight home arrivals. I can have pleasant Monday nights at home. However, I'll have to level with my juku employer since she was hoping to extend my hours into Wednesday afternoon.
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Sun September 7, 10:59 p.m.
A very long day, and also a very revealing one. I had that get-together with the Movie Buddies for that breakfast outing at ROTI this morning. It turned out to be a very nice time for all of us. It just so happened the Madame sat right in front of me, but she didn't give any particular inclination about our e-mail messages to each other except for the somewhat jokey references to us as husband and wife, plus some of my own embarrassing French gaffes. I was also happy to see one of my Tea Room bunch mesh in very well with the new alumni. I managed to ingest a lot of food.
The da y saw a gradual attrition of our ranks. We lost a couple of them after breakfast. The remainder did some looking around Roppongi Hills since the Madame hadn't visited the supermall. I found that she has a good interest in interior design shops and jewelry stores. Those two types were perfectly up Roppongi Hills' alley.
Then we lost two more people so the four remaining people: myself, the Madame, my Tea Room buddy and one other teacher decided to take a view from the 20th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel which is meshed in with Roppongi Hills before heading for a quiet tropical bar just a few hundred meters away from the complex. I certainly go t to know the Madame even more at that event, as well as get some more insight from the teacher about his travels through Europe and Africa.
Finally, the Madame and I were by ourselves...by luck or by design, I'm not sure. However, we ended up going to a favorite Chinese restaurant of mine, BEMI, in the Hiroo section of town, just one subway station away. Hiroo is known as a more casual hangout for the ex-patriate population than Roppongi. However, the two of us received a rather exciting greeting when we reached street level. We actually witnessed a motorcycle get majorly clipped by a van in the main intersection. Although the bike rider was injured in the crash, it was still heartening to see some of the people help out the situation by directing traffic and calling up on their cell phones for an ambulance. The ambulance came within a few minutes although the one cop on a regular bicycle took his sweet time arriving on the scene.
When it looked like everything was under control, the Madame and I headed for BEMI down the road and ordered more food. There, we spent the next 2.5 hours just talking about our lives and ourselves. We unburdened a lot about our pasts and our philosophies on life, but it still felt a bit like a cautious dance between the two of us; there is a mutual attraction between us but the fact is that neither of us is willing to whole hog into a relationship at the moment although we never said so directly; we were throwing so many 3rd-person tangential statements at each other. But the two of us had shared one thing in that individually, we had been in relationships that just took off at warp speed. We agreed that we wanted to see how our friendship went for the next few months before we make any moves into a deeper connection. Certainly, from our conversation tonight and our e-mails over the past few weeks, we have started a very close friendly relationship. And I think at this time, I would prefer to take it one word, one gesture, one day at a time.
Well, I managed to blow away close to 8000 yen and ingest several hundred calories today. And yet, I still have an engagement with my two rich students tomorrow at the Oregon Bar and Grill on the top of the Shiodome City Center.
A very long day, and also a very revealing one. I had that get-together with the Movie Buddies for that breakfast outing at ROTI this morning. It turned out to be a very nice time for all of us. It just so happened the Madame sat right in front of me, but she didn't give any particular inclination about our e-mail messages to each other except for the somewhat jokey references to us as husband and wife, plus some of my own embarrassing French gaffes. I was also happy to see one of my Tea Room bunch mesh in very well with the new alumni. I managed to ingest a lot of food.
The da y saw a gradual attrition of our ranks. We lost a couple of them after breakfast. The remainder did some looking around Roppongi Hills since the Madame hadn't visited the supermall. I found that she has a good interest in interior design shops and jewelry stores. Those two types were perfectly up Roppongi Hills' alley.
Then we lost two more people so the four remaining people: myself, the Madame, my Tea Room buddy and one other teacher decided to take a view from the 20th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel which is meshed in with Roppongi Hills before heading for a quiet tropical bar just a few hundred meters away from the complex. I certainly go t to know the Madame even more at that event, as well as get some more insight from the teacher about his travels through Europe and Africa.
Finally, the Madame and I were by ourselves...by luck or by design, I'm not sure. However, we ended up going to a favorite Chinese restaurant of mine, BEMI, in the Hiroo section of town, just one subway station away. Hiroo is known as a more casual hangout for the ex-patriate population than Roppongi. However, the two of us received a rather exciting greeting when we reached street level. We actually witnessed a motorcycle get majorly clipped by a van in the main intersection. Although the bike rider was injured in the crash, it was still heartening to see some of the people help out the situation by directing traffic and calling up on their cell phones for an ambulance. The ambulance came within a few minutes although the one cop on a regular bicycle took his sweet time arriving on the scene.
When it looked like everything was under control, the Madame and I headed for BEMI down the road and ordered more food. There, we spent the next 2.5 hours just talking about our lives and ourselves. We unburdened a lot about our pasts and our philosophies on life, but it still felt a bit like a cautious dance between the two of us; there is a mutual attraction between us but the fact is that neither of us is willing to whole hog into a relationship at the moment although we never said so directly; we were throwing so many 3rd-person tangential statements at each other. But the two of us had shared one thing in that individually, we had been in relationships that just took off at warp speed. We agreed that we wanted to see how our friendship went for the next few months before we make any moves into a deeper connection. Certainly, from our conversation tonight and our e-mails over the past few weeks, we have started a very close friendly relationship. And I think at this time, I would prefer to take it one word, one gesture, one day at a time.
Well, I managed to blow away close to 8000 yen and ingest several hundred calories today. And yet, I still have an engagement with my two rich students tomorrow at the Oregon Bar and Grill on the top of the Shiodome City Center.
Friday, September 05, 2003
Saturday Sept. 6, 12:11 a.m.
So, another work week has passed by without incident. Another full-time teacher has gone by the wayside. And it looks like I have at least one more dry week at the school before things start hopping again.
It'll be a quiet Saturday with just the kids to teach. Maybe I might go for a rubdown at the neighbourhood clinic provided I haven't sweated too much. Then, it's the big breakfast outing at Roppongi on Sunday.
Sad to say, but I found out yesterday that one of our previous students from a couple of years back passed away rather suddenly. She was a happy character; middle-aged chain smoker with a blonde bob, black-rimmed glasses and a big smile. Definitely not your typical Japanese woman.
So, another work week has passed by without incident. Another full-time teacher has gone by the wayside. And it looks like I have at least one more dry week at the school before things start hopping again.
It'll be a quiet Saturday with just the kids to teach. Maybe I might go for a rubdown at the neighbourhood clinic provided I haven't sweated too much. Then, it's the big breakfast outing at Roppongi on Sunday.
Sad to say, but I found out yesterday that one of our previous students from a couple of years back passed away rather suddenly. She was a happy character; middle-aged chain smoker with a blonde bob, black-rimmed glasses and a big smile. Definitely not your typical Japanese woman.
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
September 3, 9:06 p.m.
One of those annoying days. Just when I was about to head out to start the renewing process for my passport, I found out that I needed to hand in my birth certificate. Only thing is that I didn't have one. So now I had to send out a letter to the Registrar General back home to get the APPLICATION FORM for the certificate which I have to fill out and then send back to Canada and then get the certificate to hand in with my other documents to renew the passport. Oh joy, oh bliss. I'm not particularly concerned since I'm not planning to go anywhere in the next 2 months but it's just that I don't have any love for bureaucracy. Then again, I could've been a bit more on the ball about the timing.
Also, Tokyo was entertained by a mammoth thunderstorm around 6 p.m. tonight. Usually, the storms in Toronto are louder than the relatively sedate ones here in Tokyo, but tonight, that fact was smashed by the natural fireworks and waterworks that inundated us. Luckily, I was already sipping my coffee in air-conditioned comfort at the Starbucks. However, I paid the price thanks to the delicate balance maintained by JR and the subway system going awry due to the storm. The power went out at one station which threw the schedules for all of the stations which meant that the trains were all superpacked for far longer. It was a claustrophobic's worst nightmare.
I swear that the so-called paradise of strict punctuality that the Tokyo transportation has is a brittle one. If there is any incident, ranging from an attempted suicide to light snow, that affects the train lines, the entire system suffers and therefore the entire commuting public does, too. I remember taking 4 hours one winter evening getting from Chiba City back to my city, a trip that would normally take just 30 minutes due to light steady snow. Some very unhappy people on that trip home.
However, despite tonight's hellish commute home, I'm grateful that the storm decreased the humidity a bit.
One of those annoying days. Just when I was about to head out to start the renewing process for my passport, I found out that I needed to hand in my birth certificate. Only thing is that I didn't have one. So now I had to send out a letter to the Registrar General back home to get the APPLICATION FORM for the certificate which I have to fill out and then send back to Canada and then get the certificate to hand in with my other documents to renew the passport. Oh joy, oh bliss. I'm not particularly concerned since I'm not planning to go anywhere in the next 2 months but it's just that I don't have any love for bureaucracy. Then again, I could've been a bit more on the ball about the timing.
Also, Tokyo was entertained by a mammoth thunderstorm around 6 p.m. tonight. Usually, the storms in Toronto are louder than the relatively sedate ones here in Tokyo, but tonight, that fact was smashed by the natural fireworks and waterworks that inundated us. Luckily, I was already sipping my coffee in air-conditioned comfort at the Starbucks. However, I paid the price thanks to the delicate balance maintained by JR and the subway system going awry due to the storm. The power went out at one station which threw the schedules for all of the stations which meant that the trains were all superpacked for far longer. It was a claustrophobic's worst nightmare.
I swear that the so-called paradise of strict punctuality that the Tokyo transportation has is a brittle one. If there is any incident, ranging from an attempted suicide to light snow, that affects the train lines, the entire system suffers and therefore the entire commuting public does, too. I remember taking 4 hours one winter evening getting from Chiba City back to my city, a trip that would normally take just 30 minutes due to light steady snow. Some very unhappy people on that trip home.
However, despite tonight's hellish commute home, I'm grateful that the storm decreased the humidity a bit.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Tuesday September 2, 11:16 p.m.
It's been one of the few nights this summer which deserves to be called muggy. I can only hope that my fan will be able to help cool things off when I hit the hay.
Looks like my Thursday just got its hours doubled. I'll be teaching 6 hours then...it's been a while since I've had that many hours during the day. Hope I'm not too rusty.
Tomorrow, I head out to the embassy to get my passport renewed. I'll have to put on the shirt and tie (definitely not a blazer considering the temps) and get those forms and photos done. It was fairly smooth 5 years ago, so I hope it won't be too painful
Ah, another one bites the dust. This time, it's Charles "Death Wish" Bronson. Unless one is a diehard aficionado of "The Magnificent Seven" or the aforementioned "Death Wish" series, Bronson is pretty much unknown here except for the older crowd. He was one of the first foreign stars to make a Japanese commercial. The product was for Mandom Aftershave. Oddly enough, I relate more to his younger days as one of the M7 than as the avenging vigilante. In fact, I still remember his turn in a Twilight Zone episode with Elizabeth "Bewitched" Montgomery as two warriors from opposite sides of the front.
It's been one of the few nights this summer which deserves to be called muggy. I can only hope that my fan will be able to help cool things off when I hit the hay.
Looks like my Thursday just got its hours doubled. I'll be teaching 6 hours then...it's been a while since I've had that many hours during the day. Hope I'm not too rusty.
Tomorrow, I head out to the embassy to get my passport renewed. I'll have to put on the shirt and tie (definitely not a blazer considering the temps) and get those forms and photos done. It was fairly smooth 5 years ago, so I hope it won't be too painful
Ah, another one bites the dust. This time, it's Charles "Death Wish" Bronson. Unless one is a diehard aficionado of "The Magnificent Seven" or the aforementioned "Death Wish" series, Bronson is pretty much unknown here except for the older crowd. He was one of the first foreign stars to make a Japanese commercial. The product was for Mandom Aftershave. Oddly enough, I relate more to his younger days as one of the M7 than as the avenging vigilante. In fact, I still remember his turn in a Twilight Zone episode with Elizabeth "Bewitched" Montgomery as two warriors from opposite sides of the front.
Monday, September 01, 2003
September 1, 9:11 p.m.
Not extremely hot, but the humidity still managed to coat me in a layer of sweat throughout the day. Pretty nice day, all told though. At my first class, it looks like that trip to the Oregon Bar and Grill is an official go for next Monday. The views and, hopefully, the steaks will be worth it.
I paid off my bills afterwards which managed to wipe my wallet and mylesson fee clean. I gotta admit, though, that the tellers at the bank are quick and efficient They mowed through 30 people before me within 15 minutes. I also faced a long line getting to the ATMs downstairs but the wait was a mere few minutes.
Took another jaunt through Tower Records to pick up a magazine before heading to Subway for lunch. Then I ended up going all the way up from Shibuya up to Shinjuku on foot. On the way, I helped an Israeli woman to locate Harajuku, and I realized that there are quite a few interesting side streets in Harajuku which bear further exploration in the future.
I hit the Shinjuku mall, Times Square, and took a gander through HMV before taking a 12-minute break for a free massage in the reclining chair one floor down. I then made the trek over to the hotel district in West Shinjuku where my friend's workplace was.
I had thought that the whole thing about my friend setting me up with his boss as a new English student was a bit of a lark, but when I entered the company, the whole thing initially took on a serious air almost as if I were starting a new company class when I was full-time at my school. So things were a bit nerve-wracking when I was introduced to the president of the software company. The president turned out to be a pretty cool guy although he fit the stereotype of the old-fashioned gruff salaryman from Osaka. It looks like my services may have been rendered because of some serious communication gaps between my buddy and the president; the prez can't really speak any English, and my friend's Japanese isn't too hot either despite 3 years in Tokyo, a fact which has frustrated his boss no end. I would say that a good two-thirds of the meeting in his office consisted of a lot of off-loading of frustration concerning the communication gaps and one particular employee who seems to be a sociopathic slacker. By the end, the tension had left the room and basically we're leaving it open how any classes will go. But basically, I'll have to start from square one with the prez.
Afterwards, all three of us went out to a Chinese restaurant, one of these tiny secret gems hidden in West Shinjuku. This powwow among my friend, his boss and me took on the flavor of the usual drink out that virtually all Tokyo salarymen partake in night after night. I had a beer while the other two shared three pots of some potent Chinese liquor. The real treat was that the prez gave the restaurant staff carte blanche to whip up anything for dinner which usually heralds very good food. And sure enough, the stuff that came out was exquisite including the final two dishes of garlic-fried rice and spicy beef ramen. The staff was very friendly as well. I was so impressed that I took the name card for future reference. There's no knowing when the Movie Buddies may want to try a new place.
Afterwards, we said out goodbye to the prez, and my buddy and I headed back to Shinjuku Station. My buddy was a bit tipsy with drink but otherwise he was OK. I'm pretty sure I was stinking of sweat, garlic and beer but then again, 90% of the commuters were probably in the same boat. And the lovely thing is that neither of us paid a yen; as is customary, the prez took care of the bill.
And yes, I am quite happy that I am back home so early. Usually at this time, I would be teaching out in Jiyugaoka.
Not extremely hot, but the humidity still managed to coat me in a layer of sweat throughout the day. Pretty nice day, all told though. At my first class, it looks like that trip to the Oregon Bar and Grill is an official go for next Monday. The views and, hopefully, the steaks will be worth it.
I paid off my bills afterwards which managed to wipe my wallet and mylesson fee clean. I gotta admit, though, that the tellers at the bank are quick and efficient They mowed through 30 people before me within 15 minutes. I also faced a long line getting to the ATMs downstairs but the wait was a mere few minutes.
Took another jaunt through Tower Records to pick up a magazine before heading to Subway for lunch. Then I ended up going all the way up from Shibuya up to Shinjuku on foot. On the way, I helped an Israeli woman to locate Harajuku, and I realized that there are quite a few interesting side streets in Harajuku which bear further exploration in the future.
I hit the Shinjuku mall, Times Square, and took a gander through HMV before taking a 12-minute break for a free massage in the reclining chair one floor down. I then made the trek over to the hotel district in West Shinjuku where my friend's workplace was.
I had thought that the whole thing about my friend setting me up with his boss as a new English student was a bit of a lark, but when I entered the company, the whole thing initially took on a serious air almost as if I were starting a new company class when I was full-time at my school. So things were a bit nerve-wracking when I was introduced to the president of the software company. The president turned out to be a pretty cool guy although he fit the stereotype of the old-fashioned gruff salaryman from Osaka. It looks like my services may have been rendered because of some serious communication gaps between my buddy and the president; the prez can't really speak any English, and my friend's Japanese isn't too hot either despite 3 years in Tokyo, a fact which has frustrated his boss no end. I would say that a good two-thirds of the meeting in his office consisted of a lot of off-loading of frustration concerning the communication gaps and one particular employee who seems to be a sociopathic slacker. By the end, the tension had left the room and basically we're leaving it open how any classes will go. But basically, I'll have to start from square one with the prez.
Afterwards, all three of us went out to a Chinese restaurant, one of these tiny secret gems hidden in West Shinjuku. This powwow among my friend, his boss and me took on the flavor of the usual drink out that virtually all Tokyo salarymen partake in night after night. I had a beer while the other two shared three pots of some potent Chinese liquor. The real treat was that the prez gave the restaurant staff carte blanche to whip up anything for dinner which usually heralds very good food. And sure enough, the stuff that came out was exquisite including the final two dishes of garlic-fried rice and spicy beef ramen. The staff was very friendly as well. I was so impressed that I took the name card for future reference. There's no knowing when the Movie Buddies may want to try a new place.
Afterwards, we said out goodbye to the prez, and my buddy and I headed back to Shinjuku Station. My buddy was a bit tipsy with drink but otherwise he was OK. I'm pretty sure I was stinking of sweat, garlic and beer but then again, 90% of the commuters were probably in the same boat. And the lovely thing is that neither of us paid a yen; as is customary, the prez took care of the bill.
And yes, I am quite happy that I am back home so early. Usually at this time, I would be teaching out in Jiyugaoka.
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Sunday August 31, 11:34 p.m.
Less than half an hour before September arrives, and I sit marveling at the fact that 2003 will soon be two-thirds over. Although I think we'll probably still get a chance to witness some more torrid days, this summer has pretty much more of an unusually warm spring. Looks like France stole most of the heat going to us.
Well, it looks like someone was smiling down on me tonight. Just as I was prepping my lesson for my late night Monday guys (the ones who nearly slept their way through last week), one of them called up to say that they had to cancel tomorrow's lesson. No problems here...I was thinking may be it was time for a timeout.
I actually took a glimpse at Notting Hill, that Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant rom-com. One of the things that I like about living here is that since the TV stations in Japan just provide a bilingual track for movies shown on the small screen, they have no need to bleep out any offending words. So I was a bit amused when I had a whole bunch of F-words come out. Never would I see that in Canada. However, one thing that I really don't like is how they cut and slash in their humourous attempts to edit movies so that they fit into the 2-hour format.
Ordinarily, I would look forward to September since we have two national holidays, Respect For The Aged Day on the 15th, and the First Day of Autumn on the 23rd (yep, they do actually celebrate equinoxes in this country). However, since I went onto a part-time status, they don't really strike me as all that significant anymore.
Back home, of course, it is the Labour Day weekend, the last summer weekend for all those holidaygoers. And being Labour Day, that means Jerry Lewis is back on with his telethon. I caught him on Larry King yesterday, and I know it's not kosher to do so considering his medical woes and how much he's been helping "his" kids, but man, he just strikes me as such a pathetic figure trying to hurl out his ol' dusty schtick. Maybe Bob Hope did the right thing by disappearing from view after the 80s, although his specials probably did last too long.
Japanese TV has two major telethons in the summer here, but they're far less glitzy than the Las Vegas floor show that Jerry Lewis' telethon puts on annually. The Japanese variety is more in the form of a community picnic writ large with lots of young celebs in T-shirts getting involved in community stuff and fun n' games. Nah, I don't watch them either.
Less than half an hour before September arrives, and I sit marveling at the fact that 2003 will soon be two-thirds over. Although I think we'll probably still get a chance to witness some more torrid days, this summer has pretty much more of an unusually warm spring. Looks like France stole most of the heat going to us.
Well, it looks like someone was smiling down on me tonight. Just as I was prepping my lesson for my late night Monday guys (the ones who nearly slept their way through last week), one of them called up to say that they had to cancel tomorrow's lesson. No problems here...I was thinking may be it was time for a timeout.
I actually took a glimpse at Notting Hill, that Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant rom-com. One of the things that I like about living here is that since the TV stations in Japan just provide a bilingual track for movies shown on the small screen, they have no need to bleep out any offending words. So I was a bit amused when I had a whole bunch of F-words come out. Never would I see that in Canada. However, one thing that I really don't like is how they cut and slash in their humourous attempts to edit movies so that they fit into the 2-hour format.
Ordinarily, I would look forward to September since we have two national holidays, Respect For The Aged Day on the 15th, and the First Day of Autumn on the 23rd (yep, they do actually celebrate equinoxes in this country). However, since I went onto a part-time status, they don't really strike me as all that significant anymore.
Back home, of course, it is the Labour Day weekend, the last summer weekend for all those holidaygoers. And being Labour Day, that means Jerry Lewis is back on with his telethon. I caught him on Larry King yesterday, and I know it's not kosher to do so considering his medical woes and how much he's been helping "his" kids, but man, he just strikes me as such a pathetic figure trying to hurl out his ol' dusty schtick. Maybe Bob Hope did the right thing by disappearing from view after the 80s, although his specials probably did last too long.
Japanese TV has two major telethons in the summer here, but they're far less glitzy than the Las Vegas floor show that Jerry Lewis' telethon puts on annually. The Japanese variety is more in the form of a community picnic writ large with lots of young celebs in T-shirts getting involved in community stuff and fun n' games. Nah, I don't watch them either.
Saturday, August 30, 2003
August 30, 5:44 p.m.
OK day. My kids were pretty good and my monthly man-to-man with a former student went quite swimmingly throughout the 2 hours aside from the washroom breaks.
Fell asleep as usual on the subway home which brings about the trivial topic of subway sleepers. Think of it as the combination of overall lack of sleep, the comfortable sitting opportunities and the rocking motion of the subway which creates this temporary comfort zone for the overworked masses. I never did sleep on the subways back at home for some reason; I think the risk of ridicule was just too high there.
However, here, sleep is considered just part of the regular activity on a train. And types of sleepers appear. One, for example, is the LARGEMOUTH BASS, who conks out with his neck whipped back while his gaping mouth reveals all of his bridgework (if he's older than 50, then he probably has enough gold and silver to make a tray of rings), and in some unfortunate cases, the predilection to snore and share his halitosis. Unsurprisingly, the bass is almost exclusively a male.
Next is the DROOPER who sleeps with his/her head hanging like a bell over the chest. Unlike the bass, the drooper does have male and female cases, and there are even variations. There are crossed-arm droopers and those who lean on their umbrellas.
And finally, there is the DRAWBRIDGE. Usually these folks tend to sleep leaning to one side or the other, and a number of times, they can also end up coming down on an adjacent person's shoulder, thus the moniker. A drawbridge also takes some risks as well. Sometimes, the person may end up leaning on a fellow who doesn't particularly mind the sudden weight gain (especially if the drawbridge is a young woman), but other times, the leanee may suddenly jerk his shoulder violently out of the way, especially if the leaner is a drunken middle-aged salaryman, or even worse, he may even thrust his shoulder up giving the drawbridge a shock back to consciousness. Perhaps in rare cases, an epithet may be thrown out at the offending sleeper.
As for me, I've actually exhibited traits of all 3. How do I know this? Well, there are those first few seconds back from La-La Land when I realize where I am. So, I gather that sleepers aren't just locked into one category.
One other observation about sleeping on the subways. They are usually seen en masse in the mornings and the late evenings. The morning sleepers contribute to a serene feeling on the trains since everyone is basically just doing their own thing. However, the evening sleepers are often the result of overwork or drunkenness, and they are mixed in with the oft-garrulous commuters just coming from the various bars and izakayas, so the atmosphere is a bit more anarchic.
OK day. My kids were pretty good and my monthly man-to-man with a former student went quite swimmingly throughout the 2 hours aside from the washroom breaks.
Fell asleep as usual on the subway home which brings about the trivial topic of subway sleepers. Think of it as the combination of overall lack of sleep, the comfortable sitting opportunities and the rocking motion of the subway which creates this temporary comfort zone for the overworked masses. I never did sleep on the subways back at home for some reason; I think the risk of ridicule was just too high there.
However, here, sleep is considered just part of the regular activity on a train. And types of sleepers appear. One, for example, is the LARGEMOUTH BASS, who conks out with his neck whipped back while his gaping mouth reveals all of his bridgework (if he's older than 50, then he probably has enough gold and silver to make a tray of rings), and in some unfortunate cases, the predilection to snore and share his halitosis. Unsurprisingly, the bass is almost exclusively a male.
Next is the DROOPER who sleeps with his/her head hanging like a bell over the chest. Unlike the bass, the drooper does have male and female cases, and there are even variations. There are crossed-arm droopers and those who lean on their umbrellas.
And finally, there is the DRAWBRIDGE. Usually these folks tend to sleep leaning to one side or the other, and a number of times, they can also end up coming down on an adjacent person's shoulder, thus the moniker. A drawbridge also takes some risks as well. Sometimes, the person may end up leaning on a fellow who doesn't particularly mind the sudden weight gain (especially if the drawbridge is a young woman), but other times, the leanee may suddenly jerk his shoulder violently out of the way, especially if the leaner is a drunken middle-aged salaryman, or even worse, he may even thrust his shoulder up giving the drawbridge a shock back to consciousness. Perhaps in rare cases, an epithet may be thrown out at the offending sleeper.
As for me, I've actually exhibited traits of all 3. How do I know this? Well, there are those first few seconds back from La-La Land when I realize where I am. So, I gather that sleepers aren't just locked into one category.
One other observation about sleeping on the subways. They are usually seen en masse in the mornings and the late evenings. The morning sleepers contribute to a serene feeling on the trains since everyone is basically just doing their own thing. However, the evening sleepers are often the result of overwork or drunkenness, and they are mixed in with the oft-garrulous commuters just coming from the various bars and izakayas, so the atmosphere is a bit more anarchic.
Friday, August 29, 2003
August 29, 10:28 p.m.
Spent another long day at the school today doing mostly nothing. Just had the oil class, then lunch, followed by a few hours of reading then once again playing solitaire and hearts on the computer. I really need to do something. However, today had a bit of excitement as I overheard a 30-minute argument/friendly debate between a female cop and a Portuguese teacher on a matter of teaching procedure. Yes, you heard correctly. For the past year or so, our school has had a group of cops destined to be transferred to overseas postings, and it seems like the language they need is Portuguese. The female cop just happened to be the coordinator of the program from the Metro Police side. Although things got heated at times, they soon realized that they both had a common enemy: our management (no surprise there) Once again, to quote a famous movie line: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." So I guess it just isn't the English side of things that gets shafted.
Well, as I start gaining students, it looks like I'll be losing a couple of them in a couple of months. My Friday night circle has basically hinted that it'll be dissolving in October due to time constraints at work. It could also very well be possible that the ladies just wanted to let me down easy that they were just getting tired of the same Friday routine, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. In any case, although the circle will be missed after 3 years' worth of Friday nights, I wouldn't particularly mind a Friday night off with occasional outings.
Spent another long day at the school today doing mostly nothing. Just had the oil class, then lunch, followed by a few hours of reading then once again playing solitaire and hearts on the computer. I really need to do something. However, today had a bit of excitement as I overheard a 30-minute argument/friendly debate between a female cop and a Portuguese teacher on a matter of teaching procedure. Yes, you heard correctly. For the past year or so, our school has had a group of cops destined to be transferred to overseas postings, and it seems like the language they need is Portuguese. The female cop just happened to be the coordinator of the program from the Metro Police side. Although things got heated at times, they soon realized that they both had a common enemy: our management (no surprise there) Once again, to quote a famous movie line: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." So I guess it just isn't the English side of things that gets shafted.
Well, as I start gaining students, it looks like I'll be losing a couple of them in a couple of months. My Friday night circle has basically hinted that it'll be dissolving in October due to time constraints at work. It could also very well be possible that the ladies just wanted to let me down easy that they were just getting tired of the same Friday routine, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. In any case, although the circle will be missed after 3 years' worth of Friday nights, I wouldn't particularly mind a Friday night off with occasional outings.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
August 28, 8:30 p.m.
Had the lunch with my ex today. It was nice to see that she looked much happier. There was none of that awkwardness that would usually occur in the movies between exes. We went over to a good ramen shop near her company. 850 yen for a bowl of ramen wasn't exactly cheap but it was tasty. I found out that, as I had suspected, one of my former students in the oil company did try to make a go at her via e-mail. Unfortunately fo r him, he decided to choose career over potential romance as he has gone off to work for an auto company in Hiroshima a month ago.
Thanks to my current oil company students being off at the training center until tomorrow, and the fact that my business letter writing student will not be available for lessons until the end of September, I had a rare full day off. It was rather nice being able to walk through Tokyo and then head home early, and to even get a nap. However, it's back to reality as the oil company guys return to school early Friday morning. I'm interested in seeing how the Intensive turned out.
Speaking of potential romances, once again the Madame and I hav e had one of those Hanks/Ryan-type comical e-mail exchanges. Once again, she got a kick out of my lousy French. And once again, my innoucuous friendly statement in French turned out to have a much more embarrassing meaning. She took it in stride, though. However, this is the second time that this has happened, and since among the grads, she and I have been recently referred to as the husband and wife, I do wonder how the next few months will go in our "relationship".
Tonight, I saw another of the recent flood of "foreign" TV programs hitting our shores. This time, it is "Smallville", the revisionist version of Superman filtered through "Dawson's Creek". The teenage spin on it was refreshing to see, as one sees this Clark Kent not as the usual uberdweeb of Metropolis but as the morally upright but angst-ridden adolescent. I also enjoyed the relationship between him and the teenage Lex Luthor; there is a friendship with an undertone of differing philosophies which of course will manifest in their mutual enmity later in life.
Over here in Japan, "Smallville" is known as "Young Superman" which brings up the topic of how the Japanese authorities will change titles of Western movies and TV shows to make them more comprehensibly non-ironic. Here is a short list:
Original Title Title for Japan
Ally McBeal Ally, My Love (a pun on a title of a Japanese pop song)
The West Wing The White House
Beaches Forever Friends
Crouching Tiger.... Green Destiny (you got me on that one)
Suddenly Susan Hello, Susan
Had the lunch with my ex today. It was nice to see that she looked much happier. There was none of that awkwardness that would usually occur in the movies between exes. We went over to a good ramen shop near her company. 850 yen for a bowl of ramen wasn't exactly cheap but it was tasty. I found out that, as I had suspected, one of my former students in the oil company did try to make a go at her via e-mail. Unfortunately fo r him, he decided to choose career over potential romance as he has gone off to work for an auto company in Hiroshima a month ago.
Thanks to my current oil company students being off at the training center until tomorrow, and the fact that my business letter writing student will not be available for lessons until the end of September, I had a rare full day off. It was rather nice being able to walk through Tokyo and then head home early, and to even get a nap. However, it's back to reality as the oil company guys return to school early Friday morning. I'm interested in seeing how the Intensive turned out.
Speaking of potential romances, once again the Madame and I hav e had one of those Hanks/Ryan-type comical e-mail exchanges. Once again, she got a kick out of my lousy French. And once again, my innoucuous friendly statement in French turned out to have a much more embarrassing meaning. She took it in stride, though. However, this is the second time that this has happened, and since among the grads, she and I have been recently referred to as the husband and wife, I do wonder how the next few months will go in our "relationship".
Tonight, I saw another of the recent flood of "foreign" TV programs hitting our shores. This time, it is "Smallville", the revisionist version of Superman filtered through "Dawson's Creek". The teenage spin on it was refreshing to see, as one sees this Clark Kent not as the usual uberdweeb of Metropolis but as the morally upright but angst-ridden adolescent. I also enjoyed the relationship between him and the teenage Lex Luthor; there is a friendship with an undertone of differing philosophies which of course will manifest in their mutual enmity later in life.
Over here in Japan, "Smallville" is known as "Young Superman" which brings up the topic of how the Japanese authorities will change titles of Western movies and TV shows to make them more comprehensibly non-ironic. Here is a short list:
Original Title Title for Japan
Ally McBeal Ally, My Love (a pun on a title of a Japanese pop song)
The West Wing The White House
Beaches Forever Friends
Crouching Tiger.... Green Destiny (you got me on that one)
Suddenly Susan Hello, Susan
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
August 27, 10:03 p.m.
Well, after 60,000 years, Mars has come by for a close encounter with Earth. For the astronomers, this must be the equivalent (or one of them anyways) of a grand slam. For the rest of us, the very rare event must have been so difficult to fathom that it really didn't register much except as an interesting piece of trivia. However, I did get to see the Red Planet myself on myway home. I figured it must've been Mars since it was in the southeast sky, it glinted a red hue and it just hovered there. One of the news programs started off its broadcast with the "2001: A Space Odyssey" theme.
It's official. This year's rice crop will see a shortfall due to the cool summer. To comprehend the horror of this news in this country, imagine if CNN announced that there would be a beef and chicken shortage in the US. Not a pretty sight. It means that Japan may have to go hat in hand for handouts from the US or Thailand for the first time in a decade. However, NHK has just reported that there should be enough of a stored surplus of domestic rice to last the winter. Of course, the Japanese have developed a certain Russian-like fatalism so they're not looking too happy.
For the first time in a while, a TV show here has actually made some waves in the form of good ratings, and it isn't a trendy drama. It's called "Trivia no Izumi" or as it is translated, "The Fountain of Trivia". It's a miz of the American program "Jeopardy" and the usual celeb-laden quiz show here. The masses send in bits of trivia by mail or e-mail every week, and selected items are presented to a panel of celebs for judgement. Each member of the panel taps a button to register their interest; the button sounds like a castrato yelping the Japanese equivalent of a "Wow". Each "Wow" is worth 100 yen, so the lucky person could make as much as 10,000 yen and prize in the form of a golden brain. Not exactly "The Price is Right" but Japan has never had any of these enormous lottery prizes in America that retired folks usually seem to win. In any case, the show premiered last October on late-night TV but was just shifted to its prime-time slot on Wednesdays earlier this summer where it's raking in the ratings. Meanwhile, the former king of the airwaves, the trendy drama , is barely making any sort of dent anymore.
Well, after 60,000 years, Mars has come by for a close encounter with Earth. For the astronomers, this must be the equivalent (or one of them anyways) of a grand slam. For the rest of us, the very rare event must have been so difficult to fathom that it really didn't register much except as an interesting piece of trivia. However, I did get to see the Red Planet myself on myway home. I figured it must've been Mars since it was in the southeast sky, it glinted a red hue and it just hovered there. One of the news programs started off its broadcast with the "2001: A Space Odyssey" theme.
It's official. This year's rice crop will see a shortfall due to the cool summer. To comprehend the horror of this news in this country, imagine if CNN announced that there would be a beef and chicken shortage in the US. Not a pretty sight. It means that Japan may have to go hat in hand for handouts from the US or Thailand for the first time in a decade. However, NHK has just reported that there should be enough of a stored surplus of domestic rice to last the winter. Of course, the Japanese have developed a certain Russian-like fatalism so they're not looking too happy.
For the first time in a while, a TV show here has actually made some waves in the form of good ratings, and it isn't a trendy drama. It's called "Trivia no Izumi" or as it is translated, "The Fountain of Trivia". It's a miz of the American program "Jeopardy" and the usual celeb-laden quiz show here. The masses send in bits of trivia by mail or e-mail every week, and selected items are presented to a panel of celebs for judgement. Each member of the panel taps a button to register their interest; the button sounds like a castrato yelping the Japanese equivalent of a "Wow". Each "Wow" is worth 100 yen, so the lucky person could make as much as 10,000 yen and prize in the form of a golden brain. Not exactly "The Price is Right" but Japan has never had any of these enormous lottery prizes in America that retired folks usually seem to win. In any case, the show premiered last October on late-night TV but was just shifted to its prime-time slot on Wednesdays earlier this summer where it's raking in the ratings. Meanwhile, the former king of the airwaves, the trendy drama , is barely making any sort of dent anymore.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
August 26, 9:57 p.m.
Hmmm...I'm kinda wondering if this is going to be one of those bad weeks that I usually have to drive out of my system. The private class with the BEEs went well enough. We had a frantic lesson about describing the recipes for some of the potluck stuff that everyone had brought in. However, along with last night's slug of a class, I may have been a bit too ambitious with my lesson tonight as one of the students, an underconfident one to begin with, fell down spiritually when I decided to start them on the vagaries of the Simple Present. Mind you, the other two were OK with it. Earlier in my career, I would've been kicking myself five ways from Sunday for the supposed blunder, but I know now that occasionally I will overstep my bound s to find out the students' limits, so I'm not particularly frazzled about it although I'm sorry that she had such a tough time with it.
Well, Larry King had a non-legal issue show today. In fact, he had a panel discussion about Alfred Hitchcock which was nice for an old movie buff like me. I was rather surprised by the revelations that he was actually a pretty nice fellow considering some of the earlier rumours about him as being a master manipulator.
Luckily, from tomorrow, I have a 2-day respite with just one class on Wednesday (hopefully, she won't come late again), and a free day on Thursday. Also, I'm wondering about the newest student; she cancelled out on me yesterday and she has yet to get back to me about re-scheduling. Movie Buddy did warn me, though, that she was a bit flighty.
Hmmm...I'm kinda wondering if this is going to be one of those bad weeks that I usually have to drive out of my system. The private class with the BEEs went well enough. We had a frantic lesson about describing the recipes for some of the potluck stuff that everyone had brought in. However, along with last night's slug of a class, I may have been a bit too ambitious with my lesson tonight as one of the students, an underconfident one to begin with, fell down spiritually when I decided to start them on the vagaries of the Simple Present. Mind you, the other two were OK with it. Earlier in my career, I would've been kicking myself five ways from Sunday for the supposed blunder, but I know now that occasionally I will overstep my bound s to find out the students' limits, so I'm not particularly frazzled about it although I'm sorry that she had such a tough time with it.
Well, Larry King had a non-legal issue show today. In fact, he had a panel discussion about Alfred Hitchcock which was nice for an old movie buff like me. I was rather surprised by the revelations that he was actually a pretty nice fellow considering some of the earlier rumours about him as being a master manipulator.
Luckily, from tomorrow, I have a 2-day respite with just one class on Wednesday (hopefully, she won't come late again), and a free day on Thursday. Also, I'm wondering about the newest student; she cancelled out on me yesterday and she has yet to get back to me about re-scheduling. Movie Buddy did warn me, though, that she was a bit flighty.
Monday, August 25, 2003
August 26, 12:27 a.m.
Well, I had my regular Monday morning class after a month's hiatus. It was the usual talk about our vacations. However, one interesting development was that one of them, a huge steak fan, was rather intrigued by my talk on the Oregon Bar and Grill in the Shiodome City Centre. As a result, there is a possibility we may head out there for lunch. Whoopee!
On the other hand, my night class with my real estate agency folks was pretty much a zero. When I took on THIS gig, I had figured that there would be times when the pair would be rather tired from working and having a class at such a late time. Y'know, I'm pretty sympathetic to that fact, and I remember getting the theory on what makes an ideal student. Still, I couldn't help germinate a bit of irritation that I had to hang out in Shibuya for 7 hours to have a dud class. It almost seems as if everything were conspiring against them to NOT have a good lesson today: long hours, August heat and humidity, and a rather rich dinner beforehand which included shark's-fin on rice. The students were groggily chastened, and they said that they would try to hold on dinner until AFTER the lesson.
Well, at least I'll have another nice outing with the BEEs in the morning. The inaugural class of the fall season will entail a potluck lunch at one of the students' homes. Then I have my usual night class, and that will prove to be a relatively short one since the later student is currently on a business trip.
During my day in Shibuya, I went over to RECOFAN, a discount CD shop to see if I could dig up a cheap nugget, and sure enough, I found the first Swingout Sister album. They certainly were an eclectic group: two guys backing up a former fashion model with a really mellow voice. Their mix of jazz, Swinging 60s London and Bacharach-like arrangements really stood out against all of the then-current R&B/pop stuff from Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, and the synth sounds of the time. It always goes to show you that timing and a different sound can reap dividends. In a way, Swingout Sister kinda paved the way for people like Lisa Stansfield and Basia.
Well, I had my regular Monday morning class after a month's hiatus. It was the usual talk about our vacations. However, one interesting development was that one of them, a huge steak fan, was rather intrigued by my talk on the Oregon Bar and Grill in the Shiodome City Centre. As a result, there is a possibility we may head out there for lunch. Whoopee!
On the other hand, my night class with my real estate agency folks was pretty much a zero. When I took on THIS gig, I had figured that there would be times when the pair would be rather tired from working and having a class at such a late time. Y'know, I'm pretty sympathetic to that fact, and I remember getting the theory on what makes an ideal student. Still, I couldn't help germinate a bit of irritation that I had to hang out in Shibuya for 7 hours to have a dud class. It almost seems as if everything were conspiring against them to NOT have a good lesson today: long hours, August heat and humidity, and a rather rich dinner beforehand which included shark's-fin on rice. The students were groggily chastened, and they said that they would try to hold on dinner until AFTER the lesson.
Well, at least I'll have another nice outing with the BEEs in the morning. The inaugural class of the fall season will entail a potluck lunch at one of the students' homes. Then I have my usual night class, and that will prove to be a relatively short one since the later student is currently on a business trip.
During my day in Shibuya, I went over to RECOFAN, a discount CD shop to see if I could dig up a cheap nugget, and sure enough, I found the first Swingout Sister album. They certainly were an eclectic group: two guys backing up a former fashion model with a really mellow voice. Their mix of jazz, Swinging 60s London and Bacharach-like arrangements really stood out against all of the then-current R&B/pop stuff from Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, and the synth sounds of the time. It always goes to show you that timing and a different sound can reap dividends. In a way, Swingout Sister kinda paved the way for people like Lisa Stansfield and Basia.
Sunday, August 24, 2003
August 25, 12:27 a.m.
The second outing with the Movie Buddies turned out to be another long affair. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Actually with a couple of cancellations, we were actually at about the same number as last time. We had a couple of more teachers join us, though.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was an interesting movie, to be sure. But then again, its subject is no ordinary human, even for a Hollywood fellow like Chuck Barris. To the staff's credit, the movie didn't exactly go to plan. Chuck Barris' life, if it is to be believed, had a lot of highs and lows of a very bizarre nature, and the final scene of the real Chuck Barris, looking so haggard and worn, didn't particularly signify a clean end to his final years. I think, to fully appreciate it, one had to have lived through the Barris years of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and his opus, The Gong Show. The students remarked that it was a bit difficult to follow at times.
Afterwards, we went for a bit of coffee before going for our next main event, which was dinner at a Polynesian restaurant around the corner. I'd been there before with Berkeley students from the past so I thought it would be a good fit for these guys as well. I was a bit disappointed with the selection of the food; as I remembered it, there used to be a lot more dishes on the menu. However, the kids liked it fine...plus the three floor shows of shimmering and sashaying hula dancers.
The conversation was also fairly spicy, thanks to the former lead student of the graduating class. The Madame was getting quite into the intimate details of one of the teachers, followed by some avid palm readings. She's apparently quite an expert; she had me figured out after she did a detailed look through mypalms. Once again, the others were ragging on us about our suitability for each other. To be honest, neither of us seemed to mind it so much, and the icing on the cake happened when one of the hula dancers came to our table during a Hawaiian love song, and gave a gesture indicating us being together. I can't really speak for her, but I still have some fundamental doubts about this; she's an uptown girl, while I'm definitely a more downtown guy.
We finally broke up around 11....a couple of hours later than expected, so I'm gonna have my work cut out for me later today as I teach 3 classes. Luckily, though, the bracketing classes are not much of a problem to plan for. But I'm gonna have to hit the hay pretty soon.
The second outing with the Movie Buddies turned out to be another long affair. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Actually with a couple of cancellations, we were actually at about the same number as last time. We had a couple of more teachers join us, though.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was an interesting movie, to be sure. But then again, its subject is no ordinary human, even for a Hollywood fellow like Chuck Barris. To the staff's credit, the movie didn't exactly go to plan. Chuck Barris' life, if it is to be believed, had a lot of highs and lows of a very bizarre nature, and the final scene of the real Chuck Barris, looking so haggard and worn, didn't particularly signify a clean end to his final years. I think, to fully appreciate it, one had to have lived through the Barris years of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and his opus, The Gong Show. The students remarked that it was a bit difficult to follow at times.
Afterwards, we went for a bit of coffee before going for our next main event, which was dinner at a Polynesian restaurant around the corner. I'd been there before with Berkeley students from the past so I thought it would be a good fit for these guys as well. I was a bit disappointed with the selection of the food; as I remembered it, there used to be a lot more dishes on the menu. However, the kids liked it fine...plus the three floor shows of shimmering and sashaying hula dancers.
The conversation was also fairly spicy, thanks to the former lead student of the graduating class. The Madame was getting quite into the intimate details of one of the teachers, followed by some avid palm readings. She's apparently quite an expert; she had me figured out after she did a detailed look through mypalms. Once again, the others were ragging on us about our suitability for each other. To be honest, neither of us seemed to mind it so much, and the icing on the cake happened when one of the hula dancers came to our table during a Hawaiian love song, and gave a gesture indicating us being together. I can't really speak for her, but I still have some fundamental doubts about this; she's an uptown girl, while I'm definitely a more downtown guy.
We finally broke up around 11....a couple of hours later than expected, so I'm gonna have my work cut out for me later today as I teach 3 classes. Luckily, though, the bracketing classes are not much of a problem to plan for. But I'm gonna have to hit the hay pretty soon.
Saturday, August 23, 2003
August 23, 11:50 p.m.
The summer is definitely back....regrettably. It was over 30 by 9 a.m. this morning, and we hit a good 34.2 degrees by the afternoon. Those unbelievable days of coolness are just increasingly fading memories now. Maybe the only good thing was that I may have lost a kilogram or so through sweat.
After my kids today, I went over to Nakano to meet my newest student. But since I had a couple of hours before the meeting, I decided to take a look at the malls. One of the oldest ones in Tokyo also carries a great deal of anime stores run by the huge Mandarake group. However, I was a bit disappointed that there was only one staffperson in a costume. But the otakus were there in full force. I was surprised to see a number of Star Trek starship models on display.
At about 4, I met Movie Buddy's friend at the station. By that point, I was feeling pretty drenched. We went over to the shop where she worked, a dive shop with a cafe on the second floor. Looks like unlike the others, she has set a time limit on her time with me: about 3 to 6 months, which suits me fine. And also unlike the others, I will probably be doing a lot of picking and choosing from various texts to concoct my materials for her.
After about 90 minutes, I made it back to the station; the temps cooled down to a relatively chilly 30. Happily, the train went in a straight line back to my home, so I could actually get some shuteye on the way. If there is one thing I'll miss about this country if I do decide to leave it, it will be the ability to sleep on the subway. I find myself doing it without hesitation on the long hauls home. It might be age creeping up with me, but I don't really care. Considering I don't get that much sleep overnight anyways, I consider that time on the subway as quality.
Well, I've been able to relax for a number of hours now, but I will have to catch shuteye once more since I've got another Movie Buddy day tomorrow. This second outing will be a larger group with two more teachers and an extra person to add. I made reservations at a Polynesian restaurant in Shinjuku to ensure that we have a place that can hold all of us.
The summer is definitely back....regrettably. It was over 30 by 9 a.m. this morning, and we hit a good 34.2 degrees by the afternoon. Those unbelievable days of coolness are just increasingly fading memories now. Maybe the only good thing was that I may have lost a kilogram or so through sweat.
After my kids today, I went over to Nakano to meet my newest student. But since I had a couple of hours before the meeting, I decided to take a look at the malls. One of the oldest ones in Tokyo also carries a great deal of anime stores run by the huge Mandarake group. However, I was a bit disappointed that there was only one staffperson in a costume. But the otakus were there in full force. I was surprised to see a number of Star Trek starship models on display.
At about 4, I met Movie Buddy's friend at the station. By that point, I was feeling pretty drenched. We went over to the shop where she worked, a dive shop with a cafe on the second floor. Looks like unlike the others, she has set a time limit on her time with me: about 3 to 6 months, which suits me fine. And also unlike the others, I will probably be doing a lot of picking and choosing from various texts to concoct my materials for her.
After about 90 minutes, I made it back to the station; the temps cooled down to a relatively chilly 30. Happily, the train went in a straight line back to my home, so I could actually get some shuteye on the way. If there is one thing I'll miss about this country if I do decide to leave it, it will be the ability to sleep on the subway. I find myself doing it without hesitation on the long hauls home. It might be age creeping up with me, but I don't really care. Considering I don't get that much sleep overnight anyways, I consider that time on the subway as quality.
Well, I've been able to relax for a number of hours now, but I will have to catch shuteye once more since I've got another Movie Buddy day tomorrow. This second outing will be a larger group with two more teachers and an extra person to add. I made reservations at a Polynesian restaurant in Shinjuku to ensure that we have a place that can hold all of us.
Friday, August 22, 2003
August 22
Today was one of those lazy days of summer. After a regular class with the oil company, I had 7 hours of nothing before my English circle with a lone person. So, after lunch, I caught up with that lady who had been in New York when the blackout hit. She took it in stride, staying at her friend's house in New Jersey at the time.
Then, it was just a number of hours with one of the ancient computers in the school playing Hearts and Solitaire, a most appropriate game. I even had time to give it a bit of a maintenance check. Afterwards, I decided to indulge at the nearby Chinese restaurant and had a champon, that Nagasaki noodle delicacy with pork bone stock. It was interesting being the lone eater in the restaurant with ol' 80s music playing in the background while I slurped down the soup.
Finally, I spent an hour at the cafe waiting for my student, doing my crosswords, before she came. Luckily, we were able to gab animatedly on musicals and movies before calling it a night. Tomorrow will be another round with the doctor's kids and then....hopefully....I will finally meet up with Movie Buddy's friend after a couple of aborted attempts.
Today was one of those lazy days of summer. After a regular class with the oil company, I had 7 hours of nothing before my English circle with a lone person. So, after lunch, I caught up with that lady who had been in New York when the blackout hit. She took it in stride, staying at her friend's house in New Jersey at the time.
Then, it was just a number of hours with one of the ancient computers in the school playing Hearts and Solitaire, a most appropriate game. I even had time to give it a bit of a maintenance check. Afterwards, I decided to indulge at the nearby Chinese restaurant and had a champon, that Nagasaki noodle delicacy with pork bone stock. It was interesting being the lone eater in the restaurant with ol' 80s music playing in the background while I slurped down the soup.
Finally, I spent an hour at the cafe waiting for my student, doing my crosswords, before she came. Luckily, we were able to gab animatedly on musicals and movies before calling it a night. Tomorrow will be another round with the doctor's kids and then....hopefully....I will finally meet up with Movie Buddy's friend after a couple of aborted attempts.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
August 21
Well, the summer is back. I had to put on the air con right now. By Saturday, I should be praying for cooler weather once more.
Feeling pretty tired after doing just one 3-hour class, a leisurely lunch, a shopping trip for textbooks, and then the class with my force-of-nature student. I think most of myfatigue came from dealing with her. I was able to get some shuteye on the subway home, though.
Looks like I'm appreciating my new work life more and more as I hear more of the gripes from the remaining full-timers. Two of the milder teachers were even getting riled up over the various scheduling errors. One of them was supposed to have had a powwow with the big boss this afternoon. I wonder if there could be repercussions. I remember my tete-a-tete with the big boss was fairly laughable.
Well, the summer is back. I had to put on the air con right now. By Saturday, I should be praying for cooler weather once more.
Feeling pretty tired after doing just one 3-hour class, a leisurely lunch, a shopping trip for textbooks, and then the class with my force-of-nature student. I think most of myfatigue came from dealing with her. I was able to get some shuteye on the subway home, though.
Looks like I'm appreciating my new work life more and more as I hear more of the gripes from the remaining full-timers. Two of the milder teachers were even getting riled up over the various scheduling errors. One of them was supposed to have had a powwow with the big boss this afternoon. I wonder if there could be repercussions. I remember my tete-a-tete with the big boss was fairly laughable.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
August 19, 11:31 p.m.
I've just sent off an e-birthday card to my ex. She hasn't maintained any contact with me for a few weeks now, but I still just wanted to let her know I care. Also on the bittersweet side, that student whom I was having an almost nightly e-mail dialogue with, hasn't sent me any messages in the last couple of nights. I'm just kinda wondering if I scared her off. I mean, Idid give some examples of flirtations to her to see how much she was interested, but I guess I may have already gone overboard. SIGH! And just when I wanted to have a female friend, too....
My little plainitve wail doesn't compare to the current situation in Iraq. Now, the UN gets attacked. How far will this battle go?
I've just sent off an e-birthday card to my ex. She hasn't maintained any contact with me for a few weeks now, but I still just wanted to let her know I care. Also on the bittersweet side, that student whom I was having an almost nightly e-mail dialogue with, hasn't sent me any messages in the last couple of nights. I'm just kinda wondering if I scared her off. I mean, Idid give some examples of flirtations to her to see how much she was interested, but I guess I may have already gone overboard. SIGH! And just when I wanted to have a female friend, too....
My little plainitve wail doesn't compare to the current situation in Iraq. Now, the UN gets attacked. How far will this battle go?
Monday, August 18, 2003
August 19
The weather has started to resemble a bit more like August. Still not blazingly hot but warm enough to require my handkerchief for brow-wiping, and a mentholated handy-wipe to erase some of the sweat later in the evening.
It was one of those lazy Mondays. My rich clients aren't back online until next week, so I had nothing until 9 tonight. I just went over to the Grill for lunch...and might I say that it's starting to go into an increasingly downward spiral in terms of the lunch menu. The various meats were all either too greasy or bland, and the desserts were barely there. Looks like the owner is saving up the good stuff for the dinner crowd.
Then, after lunch, I spent the next hour or so looking through yet another monolithic commercial complex just a stone's throw away from the Grill, the Shiodome/NTV Center. This time, it isn't just one huge massive building like Roppongi Hills but three...count 'em three....behemoths of glass and steel: the Shiodome Centre, the new NTV complex and the HQ of the world's largest advertising firm, Dentsu. What used to be a decrepit bunch of buildings and empty lots has now become a very sleek and smooth futuristic nexus of activity. As it is, though, NTV looks to be a clone of Asahi-TV's HQ in Roppongi Hills. There's a lot of those stony winding corridors with lots of cul-de-sacs filled with trendy restaurants and cafes. As the new NTV has just opened, the station is celebrating a month-long opening festival, so there was a CHINDON band playing in the main plaza. A Chindon band consists of a saxophonist, a drummer, a trumpeter and a clarinetist and it originated several decades ago as an advertising medium for newly-opened stores in the Shitamachi area of Tokyo.
Afterwards, I slogged through a couple of CD stores before settling for a respite back on the roof of the Mitsukoshi department store while swilling a couple of cans of pop. That took up about 90 minutes but I still had several hours before my class, so I decided to go all the way down to Jiyugaoka. My Monday students often head out there since it is fairly close to their place of business. Well, when I arrived, I found it to be the usual hub around a small station: a couple of department stores nestled into a mass of small izakaya, restaurants, cafes and various shops. I ended up traipsing through it for almost two hours.
I did find some interesting places including a bookstore selling some pretty old books including songbooks from idol magazines dating back to the mid-70s. A lot of our middle-aged actors and actresses sure looked like Morning Musume back then. Also, there were a lot of interesting small bars and boutiques. Indeed, I think Jiyugaoka is a mix between your usual small Tokyo commercial district and Shimokitagawa, a trendy old neighbourhood for the young. There was even a side street called Hilo Street, named after the Hawaiian city. It even came complete with a speaker playing hula music. Only in Japan. And the neighbourhood also has a Dennys and an Anna Millers, which has a distinct reputation surrounding its short-skirted waitresses. But a Hooters, this ain't.
Well, I decided to go off down a couple of stations where my student lived, and went to the neighbourhood McDs for the next 70 minutes (yes, even after that marathon trek through Jiyugaoka, I still had plenty of time). When I finally came out to head over to the apartment, I came across one of the students just standing in front, apparently waiting for me to get out of the station. It just so happened that the other student's apartment was so messy that they decided to have the class out in Jiyugaoka of all things...the place that I had just spent exploring.
On the train heading for Jiyugaoka, the other student was coincidentally on as well, so it didn't take too long to find ourselves a temporary base of operations. He decided on Dennys, and was rather surprised that I knew how to get there. Good sense of direction, I told him.
The lesson was merely OK. One piece of advice when teaching students...well, actually two. The first one is don't bother trying to teach in a family restaurant....too loud. And don't order anything bigger than a cup of coffee when you're teaching. I ordered a peach sundae and it all turned to mush during my class. I would also suggest not teaching anyone past 9, but unfortunately, in my case, that can't be helped. My students only perked up when I could teach something they could use immediately.
Well, I'm home after my semi-odyssey. All I have to do is get some e-mail done and then get some sleep. Luckily, I'm just in the neighbourhood tomorrow with just a couple of classes in the evening.
The weather has started to resemble a bit more like August. Still not blazingly hot but warm enough to require my handkerchief for brow-wiping, and a mentholated handy-wipe to erase some of the sweat later in the evening.
It was one of those lazy Mondays. My rich clients aren't back online until next week, so I had nothing until 9 tonight. I just went over to the Grill for lunch...and might I say that it's starting to go into an increasingly downward spiral in terms of the lunch menu. The various meats were all either too greasy or bland, and the desserts were barely there. Looks like the owner is saving up the good stuff for the dinner crowd.
Then, after lunch, I spent the next hour or so looking through yet another monolithic commercial complex just a stone's throw away from the Grill, the Shiodome/NTV Center. This time, it isn't just one huge massive building like Roppongi Hills but three...count 'em three....behemoths of glass and steel: the Shiodome Centre, the new NTV complex and the HQ of the world's largest advertising firm, Dentsu. What used to be a decrepit bunch of buildings and empty lots has now become a very sleek and smooth futuristic nexus of activity. As it is, though, NTV looks to be a clone of Asahi-TV's HQ in Roppongi Hills. There's a lot of those stony winding corridors with lots of cul-de-sacs filled with trendy restaurants and cafes. As the new NTV has just opened, the station is celebrating a month-long opening festival, so there was a CHINDON band playing in the main plaza. A Chindon band consists of a saxophonist, a drummer, a trumpeter and a clarinetist and it originated several decades ago as an advertising medium for newly-opened stores in the Shitamachi area of Tokyo.
Afterwards, I slogged through a couple of CD stores before settling for a respite back on the roof of the Mitsukoshi department store while swilling a couple of cans of pop. That took up about 90 minutes but I still had several hours before my class, so I decided to go all the way down to Jiyugaoka. My Monday students often head out there since it is fairly close to their place of business. Well, when I arrived, I found it to be the usual hub around a small station: a couple of department stores nestled into a mass of small izakaya, restaurants, cafes and various shops. I ended up traipsing through it for almost two hours.
I did find some interesting places including a bookstore selling some pretty old books including songbooks from idol magazines dating back to the mid-70s. A lot of our middle-aged actors and actresses sure looked like Morning Musume back then. Also, there were a lot of interesting small bars and boutiques. Indeed, I think Jiyugaoka is a mix between your usual small Tokyo commercial district and Shimokitagawa, a trendy old neighbourhood for the young. There was even a side street called Hilo Street, named after the Hawaiian city. It even came complete with a speaker playing hula music. Only in Japan. And the neighbourhood also has a Dennys and an Anna Millers, which has a distinct reputation surrounding its short-skirted waitresses. But a Hooters, this ain't.
Well, I decided to go off down a couple of stations where my student lived, and went to the neighbourhood McDs for the next 70 minutes (yes, even after that marathon trek through Jiyugaoka, I still had plenty of time). When I finally came out to head over to the apartment, I came across one of the students just standing in front, apparently waiting for me to get out of the station. It just so happened that the other student's apartment was so messy that they decided to have the class out in Jiyugaoka of all things...the place that I had just spent exploring.
On the train heading for Jiyugaoka, the other student was coincidentally on as well, so it didn't take too long to find ourselves a temporary base of operations. He decided on Dennys, and was rather surprised that I knew how to get there. Good sense of direction, I told him.
The lesson was merely OK. One piece of advice when teaching students...well, actually two. The first one is don't bother trying to teach in a family restaurant....too loud. And don't order anything bigger than a cup of coffee when you're teaching. I ordered a peach sundae and it all turned to mush during my class. I would also suggest not teaching anyone past 9, but unfortunately, in my case, that can't be helped. My students only perked up when I could teach something they could use immediately.
Well, I'm home after my semi-odyssey. All I have to do is get some e-mail done and then get some sleep. Luckily, I'm just in the neighbourhood tomorrow with just a couple of classes in the evening.
Sunday, August 17, 2003
August 17
Well, it was a fairly quiet weekend. August is still pretending to be April or November although I didn't really need the jacket. Saturday was a complete coccooning experience aside from a quick jaunt to the convenience store around the corner. Sunday was almost the same except for a call from Chip Guy who wanted to get a couple of the guys together for a bit of a drink out.
We (me, Chip Guy and CG's friend) ended up first going to a outdoor cafe in the trendy Daikanyama. Some very good BLTs to be had there; instead of the regular thin strips of bacon, I had a slab of what I think was Canadian back bacon with the usual tomato and lettuce between two English muffin halves. Very nice.
We also got some entertainment, albeit on the dark side. Just in front of us on the street, there was a comedy of errors going on with an inept driver and his car. For 5 minutes, we couldn't figure out whether he was trying to parallel park or drive out. Whatever he was doing, he was doing it badly, and he had enough space in front of the Benz parked behind him.
As it turned out, he was trying to get out, and at that moment, the driver of the Benz had the poor timing to come on out to drive away. We weren't sure whether it had been the frustration of the inept driver that fueled his next act, but he decided to reverse his car and bumped the Benz squarely on the fender. Then the fool decided to get into a one-sided screamfest with the hapless Benz driver who couldn't really hold his own against the guy. The yelling continued for a few more minutes while his pregnant wife stood mutely by with an umbrella, and the three of us were providing play-by-play commentary....mostly denigrating the fool. We almost hoped that Mr. Benz would punch his louder rival's lights out, but such was not to be. Finally, the fool stormed back to his car with his wife and drove off. Mr. Benz just muttered back to the cafe next to us and then he brought back out his family (!) and they drove off. As we saw the car go off, I imagined a tail tightly folded between the rear wheels.
We ended up talking about the incident for several minutes before we decided to go down the street to an Italian restaurant for the main event. The waiter had a bit of a laugh as we all ordered somewhat effeminate drinks in the form of two margaritas and a Bailey's Irish Cream, so not surprisingly, we all got into a round of gay jokes....followed by tech talk.
Tomorrow, back to another sparse week.
Well, it was a fairly quiet weekend. August is still pretending to be April or November although I didn't really need the jacket. Saturday was a complete coccooning experience aside from a quick jaunt to the convenience store around the corner. Sunday was almost the same except for a call from Chip Guy who wanted to get a couple of the guys together for a bit of a drink out.
We (me, Chip Guy and CG's friend) ended up first going to a outdoor cafe in the trendy Daikanyama. Some very good BLTs to be had there; instead of the regular thin strips of bacon, I had a slab of what I think was Canadian back bacon with the usual tomato and lettuce between two English muffin halves. Very nice.
We also got some entertainment, albeit on the dark side. Just in front of us on the street, there was a comedy of errors going on with an inept driver and his car. For 5 minutes, we couldn't figure out whether he was trying to parallel park or drive out. Whatever he was doing, he was doing it badly, and he had enough space in front of the Benz parked behind him.
As it turned out, he was trying to get out, and at that moment, the driver of the Benz had the poor timing to come on out to drive away. We weren't sure whether it had been the frustration of the inept driver that fueled his next act, but he decided to reverse his car and bumped the Benz squarely on the fender. Then the fool decided to get into a one-sided screamfest with the hapless Benz driver who couldn't really hold his own against the guy. The yelling continued for a few more minutes while his pregnant wife stood mutely by with an umbrella, and the three of us were providing play-by-play commentary....mostly denigrating the fool. We almost hoped that Mr. Benz would punch his louder rival's lights out, but such was not to be. Finally, the fool stormed back to his car with his wife and drove off. Mr. Benz just muttered back to the cafe next to us and then he brought back out his family (!) and they drove off. As we saw the car go off, I imagined a tail tightly folded between the rear wheels.
We ended up talking about the incident for several minutes before we decided to go down the street to an Italian restaurant for the main event. The waiter had a bit of a laugh as we all ordered somewhat effeminate drinks in the form of two margaritas and a Bailey's Irish Cream, so not surprisingly, we all got into a round of gay jokes....followed by tech talk.
Tomorrow, back to another sparse week.
Friday, August 15, 2003
August 15, 10:30 p.m.
Well, shortly after my last entry, I find out that nearly a fifth of North America got blacked out. Toronto just can't buy itself a break. I'm hoping that I can get in contact with someone back home. I am happy though it wasn't a terrorist attack.
I can actually say this: I wore a black jacket...in August...in summer....in Tokyo. I am very confident that this is the first time and probably the last time that I will ever pull this off. It was just so cool today as well as rainy. Some deity is playing the shell game with our weather.
It was full-time with my part-time status as I taught the oil guys. Then I met up with a motley crew of a couple of teachers, and three current students for an impromptu lunch at the izakaya right beside the school. I never knew that I could get a pretty decent lunch there. We may have dodged a bullet (or not) during lunch though as we made mention of a recent grad who really didn't deserve her diploma; I think some of us forgot that she was a friend of some of the students there.
Afterward, we hit a cafe for some coffee. Ostensibly, one of the teachers was supposed to have come with me to meet up with a couple of recent grads (deserving ones), but she decided that she would stay with the lunch group. I didn't force the issue, but I thought it was pretty poor of her to make that quick switch like that.
Anyways, I met up with the two grads across the street at a Starbucks, and for th e next four hours we gabbed on just about anything and anyone in our sphere of influence. By around 5, I was getting mighty exhausted, so I was happy when we did break up, although I was happy to have seen them and to continue to see them.
Well, after that I went down to Yurakucho for a bit of CD shopping before meeting up with my Friday night circle for Chinese food, since our regular venue closed up early due to the O-Bon holiday. Very pleasant food and talk.
Well, shortly after my last entry, I find out that nearly a fifth of North America got blacked out. Toronto just can't buy itself a break. I'm hoping that I can get in contact with someone back home. I am happy though it wasn't a terrorist attack.
I can actually say this: I wore a black jacket...in August...in summer....in Tokyo. I am very confident that this is the first time and probably the last time that I will ever pull this off. It was just so cool today as well as rainy. Some deity is playing the shell game with our weather.
It was full-time with my part-time status as I taught the oil guys. Then I met up with a motley crew of a couple of teachers, and three current students for an impromptu lunch at the izakaya right beside the school. I never knew that I could get a pretty decent lunch there. We may have dodged a bullet (or not) during lunch though as we made mention of a recent grad who really didn't deserve her diploma; I think some of us forgot that she was a friend of some of the students there.
Afterward, we hit a cafe for some coffee. Ostensibly, one of the teachers was supposed to have come with me to meet up with a couple of recent grads (deserving ones), but she decided that she would stay with the lunch group. I didn't force the issue, but I thought it was pretty poor of her to make that quick switch like that.
Anyways, I met up with the two grads across the street at a Starbucks, and for th e next four hours we gabbed on just about anything and anyone in our sphere of influence. By around 5, I was getting mighty exhausted, so I was happy when we did break up, although I was happy to have seen them and to continue to see them.
Well, after that I went down to Yurakucho for a bit of CD shopping before meeting up with my Friday night circle for Chinese food, since our regular venue closed up early due to the O-Bon holiday. Very pleasant food and talk.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
August 15
I wake up at 4 am to a very cool August morning. There is definitely some wackiness to this summer worldwide: people dying of heatstroke in Europe; we're shivering here in Japan. Toronto has our temps.
I checked over my finances last night before payday; surprisingly, even with this sparse working month, I was still able to save a bit of money. For me to actually stay above the red line is a miracle.
I've been kinda thinking about this possible thing between me and the former top student. I had asked her via e-mail subtly about going out for brunch on the coming Sunday. Unfortunately, she already has plans but I also noticed a certain brevity and coolness in her last dispatch. Perhaps she's giving me the signal, NO. I must admit that I'm starting to think that this was a flight of fantasy after all. We both may like jazz, speaking French and movies, but this is a woman who has professed her love for Ben Affleck and muscular fellows, and she has been going through the OMIAI route of matchmaking, so she's definitely interested in someone with a more lucrative career than an English teacher. Eck!
Well, after my lone class today with the oil guys, another teacher and I will be meeting up with two just-grads for coffee or lunch. Hmmm...if they decide to hang around long enough, I may just invite them to dinner with my Friday night circle. Our regular cafe is closing early tonight because of the current O-Bon holiday, so we've decided to head out for Chinese in Yurakucho. It could be a very nice meeting.
I wake up at 4 am to a very cool August morning. There is definitely some wackiness to this summer worldwide: people dying of heatstroke in Europe; we're shivering here in Japan. Toronto has our temps.
I checked over my finances last night before payday; surprisingly, even with this sparse working month, I was still able to save a bit of money. For me to actually stay above the red line is a miracle.
I've been kinda thinking about this possible thing between me and the former top student. I had asked her via e-mail subtly about going out for brunch on the coming Sunday. Unfortunately, she already has plans but I also noticed a certain brevity and coolness in her last dispatch. Perhaps she's giving me the signal, NO. I must admit that I'm starting to think that this was a flight of fantasy after all. We both may like jazz, speaking French and movies, but this is a woman who has professed her love for Ben Affleck and muscular fellows, and she has been going through the OMIAI route of matchmaking, so she's definitely interested in someone with a more lucrative career than an English teacher. Eck!
Well, after my lone class today with the oil guys, another teacher and I will be meeting up with two just-grads for coffee or lunch. Hmmm...if they decide to hang around long enough, I may just invite them to dinner with my Friday night circle. Our regular cafe is closing early tonight because of the current O-Bon holiday, so we've decided to head out for Chinese in Yurakucho. It could be a very nice meeting.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
August 13
A relatively cool day today...man, this has been an unusual summer. It was a pretty normal day. Just had three hours worth of classes...all of which went fairly well
Looks like The Hulk got majorly pulped in the Japan Times today. The impression I got from the critic is that he must think comics are probably the lowest form of literature and that Stan Lee is the Antichrist. Well, Mr. Fazio, I respect your opinion about the movie...it was certainly no great shakes; on your other stuff, though, I heartily give you an extended finger in response.
A relatively cool day today...man, this has been an unusual summer. It was a pretty normal day. Just had three hours worth of classes...all of which went fairly well
Looks like The Hulk got majorly pulped in the Japan Times today. The impression I got from the critic is that he must think comics are probably the lowest form of literature and that Stan Lee is the Antichrist. Well, Mr. Fazio, I respect your opinion about the movie...it was certainly no great shakes; on your other stuff, though, I heartily give you an extended finger in response.
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
August 12, 11:30 p.m.
I had a nice day today. It reminded me of the fact that I do have a very unusual, and perhaps even enviable, life now. I went back down to Roppongi to see Chip Guy for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, complete with very American sullen service. Then we caught The Hulk.
Once again this year, a superhero movie managed to do better than expected in my eyes, despite mixed reviews Stateside. Like its title character, The Hulk is well-meaning but flawed. On the up side, the story was fairly good, the CG was handled well, and the subtext between the two fathers of the piece was interesting. On the down side: a slow beginning, flat performances by Eric Bana (who must have assumed that repressed meant emotionless) and Jennifer Connelly (who needs to get advice from the Star Wars actors on how to react to CG), and a bit of a tacked-on battle sequence at the end which could've been much better developed in a sequel. I guess the producers wanted to take no chances. On the Marvel movie rankings, The Hulk rates somewhere between the inferior Daredevil and the far superior Spiderman.
Afterwards, I had my lone class at the Tuesday juku. My new boss is certainly a talkative one; I didn't have any time to prepare at the school itself, although I had things pretty much laid out this morning at home. She again brought up the issue of a new second base of operations with me as the new resident. I said that I would think about it, provided that certain conditions are met.
I had a nice day today. It reminded me of the fact that I do have a very unusual, and perhaps even enviable, life now. I went back down to Roppongi to see Chip Guy for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, complete with very American sullen service. Then we caught The Hulk.
Once again this year, a superhero movie managed to do better than expected in my eyes, despite mixed reviews Stateside. Like its title character, The Hulk is well-meaning but flawed. On the up side, the story was fairly good, the CG was handled well, and the subtext between the two fathers of the piece was interesting. On the down side: a slow beginning, flat performances by Eric Bana (who must have assumed that repressed meant emotionless) and Jennifer Connelly (who needs to get advice from the Star Wars actors on how to react to CG), and a bit of a tacked-on battle sequence at the end which could've been much better developed in a sequel. I guess the producers wanted to take no chances. On the Marvel movie rankings, The Hulk rates somewhere between the inferior Daredevil and the far superior Spiderman.
Afterwards, I had my lone class at the Tuesday juku. My new boss is certainly a talkative one; I didn't have any time to prepare at the school itself, although I had things pretty much laid out this morning at home. She again brought up the issue of a new second base of operations with me as the new resident. I said that I would think about it, provided that certain conditions are met.
Monday, August 11, 2003
August 12
A very exhausting trip home from Yokohama, Tokyo's younger and hipper sister. I went over this afternoon to meet my usual Monday night students for a special afternoon "lesson" at the female student's swanky apartment overlooking the bay. They were quite up for this cocktail production; they bought up all the fixins for a B-52 and a martini...not too cheap. I offered to pay for some of the stuff but they refused.
Then it was off to the apartment where we spent several hours just mixing, eating and drinking. We ended up making that dry martini and the B-52 along with a few other drinks from my mixology guide. The B-52 was delicious but potent; instead of Kahlua, though, we used Godiva chocolate liqueur...very decadent.
Two more guests came by. Both were former co-workers of my female student. At one point, one of them went into a major harangue about her boyfriend; I just listened very patiently and answered where necessary.
What made this feel even more like a weekend was that we decided to do some karaoke in downtown Yokohama. The kicker for the entire night was that I was still paid my full fee despite the fact that I hadn't taught a thing and the fact that the two had also paid my way at the karaoke box. I don't feel particularly good about accepting the cash but since they insisted, there wasn't much I could do, and once again, I'm not going to look a gift uma in the mouth.
A very exhausting trip home from Yokohama, Tokyo's younger and hipper sister. I went over this afternoon to meet my usual Monday night students for a special afternoon "lesson" at the female student's swanky apartment overlooking the bay. They were quite up for this cocktail production; they bought up all the fixins for a B-52 and a martini...not too cheap. I offered to pay for some of the stuff but they refused.
Then it was off to the apartment where we spent several hours just mixing, eating and drinking. We ended up making that dry martini and the B-52 along with a few other drinks from my mixology guide. The B-52 was delicious but potent; instead of Kahlua, though, we used Godiva chocolate liqueur...very decadent.
Two more guests came by. Both were former co-workers of my female student. At one point, one of them went into a major harangue about her boyfriend; I just listened very patiently and answered where necessary.
What made this feel even more like a weekend was that we decided to do some karaoke in downtown Yokohama. The kicker for the entire night was that I was still paid my full fee despite the fact that I hadn't taught a thing and the fact that the two had also paid my way at the karaoke box. I don't feel particularly good about accepting the cash but since they insisted, there wasn't much I could do, and once again, I'm not going to look a gift uma in the mouth.
Sunday, August 10, 2003
August 10, 11:03 p.m.
Ugh! It felt like the hottest day of the year so far this year. And yet, I decided to abandon the comfort (and high bill) of my air conditioner, and go down to Roppongi to try that breakfast at Roti's. According to the ad, it boasted the best breakfast in town.
I was surprised when I got there at about 11:30 a.m. that there weren't all that many people there, but the cashier told me that things usually got hairy past noon with the tourist crowd. The place had friendly service and I was surprised that I was spoken to in English right off the bat despite my stealth gaijin status. It took me a tenth of a second to hook up to native Canadian mode.
As for the food, it was good enough but I just didn't think it earned that best breakfast bit with me today. The pancakes were very good: two large and fluffy flapjacks with whipped butter on the side and real Canadian syrup. The side dish of hash browns was nice but the sausages came a bit mis-seasoned; not underseasoned nor overseasoned. They just tasted a bit off. The buffet table with fresh fruits, breads and cereal seemed a bit skimpy considering that the restaurant expected a lot of folks for an all-day breakfast. However, it was nice to get bottomless coffee.
I wasn't too happy with the surcharge they threw at me, though. Overall, it was good enough and I would bring someone there if they weren't too picky on the money per value aspect of it.
After breakie, I took a quick look through Roppongi Hills for no other reason except to just be part of the crowd. I did take another look at Wolfgang Puck's bistro. The menu did have a reasonably priced lunch at 3000 yen.
Then it was back up to Nihombashi to the Maruzen bookstore to do some prospective shopping for my newest student for a new TOEIC study manual. There was a pretty good practical one issued by Oxford Publishers at a reasonable price, but the CDs and tapes were another matter. I will have to check with her to get her OK.
Next, it was down to Shibuya to Tower Records. I found a good mixology book by Mr. Boston, the bastion of bartending. It ought to be quite good for tomorrow's "lesson" on martinis. I managed to get a juice break in the steam heat before making one last stop at Tokyu Hands to get a teddy bear for Chip Man's baby daughter.
Finally, I swam through the humidity to neighbouring Daikanyama where Chip Man lived. The heat just seemed to get worse, probably because of the reflective surfaces all over and the refractive nature of concrete. I just had enough energy to slog into the nearest convenience store to grab some snacks for Chip Man before making that last 7-minute trek to his house.
I got to meet the littlest member of my extended family. She was an adorable tyke with a good set of pipes as I was to hear sporadically through my visit. It had been several weeks since I'd seen them, so we caught up on a number of things while we watched a couple of episodes from his DS9 DVD collection. I greedily gulped down most of his cranberry juice; my colon should be squeaky clean by tomorrow.
Mommy came home so we ordered in a pizza and just relaxed in cool comfort before I headed out once more. Luckily, the temps had lowered quite a bit to make my trip home bearable.
Now, I just have to confirm that I'm still on for that trip to my student's apartment in Yokohama tomorrow for that class in English mixology. That guide I bought should be quite nice for some of that rum and cognac I have just lingering in my home.
Ugh! It felt like the hottest day of the year so far this year. And yet, I decided to abandon the comfort (and high bill) of my air conditioner, and go down to Roppongi to try that breakfast at Roti's. According to the ad, it boasted the best breakfast in town.
I was surprised when I got there at about 11:30 a.m. that there weren't all that many people there, but the cashier told me that things usually got hairy past noon with the tourist crowd. The place had friendly service and I was surprised that I was spoken to in English right off the bat despite my stealth gaijin status. It took me a tenth of a second to hook up to native Canadian mode.
As for the food, it was good enough but I just didn't think it earned that best breakfast bit with me today. The pancakes were very good: two large and fluffy flapjacks with whipped butter on the side and real Canadian syrup. The side dish of hash browns was nice but the sausages came a bit mis-seasoned; not underseasoned nor overseasoned. They just tasted a bit off. The buffet table with fresh fruits, breads and cereal seemed a bit skimpy considering that the restaurant expected a lot of folks for an all-day breakfast. However, it was nice to get bottomless coffee.
I wasn't too happy with the surcharge they threw at me, though. Overall, it was good enough and I would bring someone there if they weren't too picky on the money per value aspect of it.
After breakie, I took a quick look through Roppongi Hills for no other reason except to just be part of the crowd. I did take another look at Wolfgang Puck's bistro. The menu did have a reasonably priced lunch at 3000 yen.
Then it was back up to Nihombashi to the Maruzen bookstore to do some prospective shopping for my newest student for a new TOEIC study manual. There was a pretty good practical one issued by Oxford Publishers at a reasonable price, but the CDs and tapes were another matter. I will have to check with her to get her OK.
Next, it was down to Shibuya to Tower Records. I found a good mixology book by Mr. Boston, the bastion of bartending. It ought to be quite good for tomorrow's "lesson" on martinis. I managed to get a juice break in the steam heat before making one last stop at Tokyu Hands to get a teddy bear for Chip Man's baby daughter.
Finally, I swam through the humidity to neighbouring Daikanyama where Chip Man lived. The heat just seemed to get worse, probably because of the reflective surfaces all over and the refractive nature of concrete. I just had enough energy to slog into the nearest convenience store to grab some snacks for Chip Man before making that last 7-minute trek to his house.
I got to meet the littlest member of my extended family. She was an adorable tyke with a good set of pipes as I was to hear sporadically through my visit. It had been several weeks since I'd seen them, so we caught up on a number of things while we watched a couple of episodes from his DS9 DVD collection. I greedily gulped down most of his cranberry juice; my colon should be squeaky clean by tomorrow.
Mommy came home so we ordered in a pizza and just relaxed in cool comfort before I headed out once more. Luckily, the temps had lowered quite a bit to make my trip home bearable.
Now, I just have to confirm that I'm still on for that trip to my student's apartment in Yokohama tomorrow for that class in English mixology. That guide I bought should be quite nice for some of that rum and cognac I have just lingering in my home.
Saturday, August 09, 2003
August 9
The grad party went pretty much as expected despite some intense squalls from the typhoon. Lots of food and drink and talk, including some major griping from a few of the teachers about the schedule, which perhaps wasn't too appropriate in front of the grads.
Afterwards, there was a 90-minute waiting period back in the lounge before heading off to the izakaya downstairs for the next 4 hours. There was definitely a major rift between the louder junior grads and the quieter senior grads. However, I'd seen that in previous years so I wasn't too worried about it. However, a rather intriguing running gag started up as one of the students noticed that me and the top grad of the school looked like a married couple. Of course, that got everybody to razz on us big time. I must admit that I was pretty flattered, and the top grad played along very cheerfully with it, but I'm not sure how she truly feels. Plus, there is the fact that I had relatively recently ended my previous relationship. However, she not only likes movies but jazz as well....which perfectly chimes in with me. My ex never really got into the flicks and she had never really registered with any musical style. Overall, I'm just gonna have to take it nice and slowly. I think one reason that my last relationship broke up was that we just went too quickly.
After 8:30, we decided to go across the street and try that trendy bar that we have used for other grad parties and Xmas parties. There, we just continued our separate talks on relationships over ice cream (no other desserts) and tea. Finally, an hour later, all of us went home with the assurance that we will continue to get together once ina while for dinners and movies, and in my case, the possibility that I may get another better chance at happiness.
The grad party went pretty much as expected despite some intense squalls from the typhoon. Lots of food and drink and talk, including some major griping from a few of the teachers about the schedule, which perhaps wasn't too appropriate in front of the grads.
Afterwards, there was a 90-minute waiting period back in the lounge before heading off to the izakaya downstairs for the next 4 hours. There was definitely a major rift between the louder junior grads and the quieter senior grads. However, I'd seen that in previous years so I wasn't too worried about it. However, a rather intriguing running gag started up as one of the students noticed that me and the top grad of the school looked like a married couple. Of course, that got everybody to razz on us big time. I must admit that I was pretty flattered, and the top grad played along very cheerfully with it, but I'm not sure how she truly feels. Plus, there is the fact that I had relatively recently ended my previous relationship. However, she not only likes movies but jazz as well....which perfectly chimes in with me. My ex never really got into the flicks and she had never really registered with any musical style. Overall, I'm just gonna have to take it nice and slowly. I think one reason that my last relationship broke up was that we just went too quickly.
After 8:30, we decided to go across the street and try that trendy bar that we have used for other grad parties and Xmas parties. There, we just continued our separate talks on relationships over ice cream (no other desserts) and tea. Finally, an hour later, all of us went home with the assurance that we will continue to get together once ina while for dinners and movies, and in my case, the possibility that I may get another better chance at happiness.
Friday, August 08, 2003
August 9
The pizza party went well. About 11 full pizzas were generously devoured by the student body. Beforehand, the senior class was feeling some post-grad blues or ennui, so I engaged them in the basics of poker and blackjack.
Today is the big grad party. No idea what's gonna happen this afternoon. It could just end up being a very quiet 2-party deal or it could end up becoming a fracas. In any case, aside from a bit of gale earlier this morning, it looks like the typhoon will just bypass us and leave just some steady rain in its path.
I've been watching the Mariners/Yankees games on one of the commercial channels. The rivalry between Ichiro and Matsui, mostly pumped up by the local media, has been a godsend for sports fans. Watching a game between them is like watching an old game between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens in hockey, when BOTH teams were worthy.
The pizza party went well. About 11 full pizzas were generously devoured by the student body. Beforehand, the senior class was feeling some post-grad blues or ennui, so I engaged them in the basics of poker and blackjack.
Today is the big grad party. No idea what's gonna happen this afternoon. It could just end up being a very quiet 2-party deal or it could end up becoming a fracas. In any case, aside from a bit of gale earlier this morning, it looks like the typhoon will just bypass us and leave just some steady rain in its path.
I've been watching the Mariners/Yankees games on one of the commercial channels. The rivalry between Ichiro and Matsui, mostly pumped up by the local media, has been a godsend for sports fans. Watching a game between them is like watching an old game between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens in hockey, when BOTH teams were worthy.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
August 7, 8:30 p.m.
Today was an intriguing day as I spent my last class with the top classs at my school. As usual, the top student failed to disappoint us in leading the conversation to the down and dirty. We got into the topic of attending a men's strip show in Tokyo. I couldn't believe how enthusiastic she and one other girl was about going out to the Japanese equivalent of a Chippendales. At the same time, the coordinator of the year-course programme was showing a potential new student. I may have dodged a bullet; I just shifted to more ambiguous vocabulary, and luckily most of the students caught on. Boy, I am just gonna have to keep contact with this class.
Later that day, I had my first class with an alumnus at the Tea Room. She was also quite an interesting character in her day at our school. I hadn't seen her for a couple of years, and after meeting her for the first time tonight, I think she has developed a certain amount of gravitas although a certain Betty Boop still resides within her. It looks like it won't just be letter writing that I'll have to help her with but also her TOEIC score since she'll be taking the test at the end of September.
Well, tomorrow I may be catching The Hulk with new father Chip Guy if our schedules can be reconciled. Then, I head off to the celebratory Pizza Party back at school to herald the end of summer term. Finally, I do have my regular English circle. All that is tempered by the meterological possibility that a typhoon may plop onto our city on Friday. Mind you, I think it won't be too powerful since it will have gone over most of Honshu before reaching Tokyo.
Today was an intriguing day as I spent my last class with the top classs at my school. As usual, the top student failed to disappoint us in leading the conversation to the down and dirty. We got into the topic of attending a men's strip show in Tokyo. I couldn't believe how enthusiastic she and one other girl was about going out to the Japanese equivalent of a Chippendales. At the same time, the coordinator of the year-course programme was showing a potential new student. I may have dodged a bullet; I just shifted to more ambiguous vocabulary, and luckily most of the students caught on. Boy, I am just gonna have to keep contact with this class.
Later that day, I had my first class with an alumnus at the Tea Room. She was also quite an interesting character in her day at our school. I hadn't seen her for a couple of years, and after meeting her for the first time tonight, I think she has developed a certain amount of gravitas although a certain Betty Boop still resides within her. It looks like it won't just be letter writing that I'll have to help her with but also her TOEIC score since she'll be taking the test at the end of September.
Well, tomorrow I may be catching The Hulk with new father Chip Guy if our schedules can be reconciled. Then, I head off to the celebratory Pizza Party back at school to herald the end of summer term. Finally, I do have my regular English circle. All that is tempered by the meterological possibility that a typhoon may plop onto our city on Friday. Mind you, I think it won't be too powerful since it will have gone over most of Honshu before reaching Tokyo.
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
August 6
Fifty-eight years ago, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. As usual, NHK broadcast the annual comemmorative ceremony live this morning at Peace Park in downtown Hiroshima. However, for the other commercial stations, it was just business as usual which made me wonder if even most Japanese have started to forget about the importance of the day. Mind you, the mayor of Hiroshima shot one across President Bush's bow by accusing the US of helping to proliferate nuclear weapons.
However, apparently and perhaps all may not be lost. One old woman who had been there on August 6, 1945 as a young lady in her twenties has been visiting the graves of as many of the victims as she possibly could and offering water from a waterfall as a means of atonement. She admitted that back in 1945 she didn't help the seriously burned people around her because had been told not to. And since then, she has felt guilty enough to go on this annual mission to the tombs. But now that she is getting too old to keep on going, the task has now fallen to a 24-year-old man whose grandmother was an A-Bomb survivor. Perhaps the younger generation still has some gravitas about the first city to be attacked by a nuclear weapon.
But of course, we must return to hard gritty reality. Mind you, there is a sense of justice done. Recently, there had been a spate of serial stabbings by a nutball in Shibuya. Well, the police finally got their man, a disgruntled unemployed man in his thirties who wanted to REALLY let off steam. I say, a thousand paper cuts weekly.
Looks like I've got that temporary stint over in Nakano, thanks to Movie Buddy. My first meeting will be on Monday after my special "cocktail" English lesson with my real estate agent students earlier in the afternoon.
Tomorrow will be a 5-hour day with two classes at the school and my first lesson with an alumnus for letter writing.
Fifty-eight years ago, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. As usual, NHK broadcast the annual comemmorative ceremony live this morning at Peace Park in downtown Hiroshima. However, for the other commercial stations, it was just business as usual which made me wonder if even most Japanese have started to forget about the importance of the day. Mind you, the mayor of Hiroshima shot one across President Bush's bow by accusing the US of helping to proliferate nuclear weapons.
However, apparently and perhaps all may not be lost. One old woman who had been there on August 6, 1945 as a young lady in her twenties has been visiting the graves of as many of the victims as she possibly could and offering water from a waterfall as a means of atonement. She admitted that back in 1945 she didn't help the seriously burned people around her because had been told not to. And since then, she has felt guilty enough to go on this annual mission to the tombs. But now that she is getting too old to keep on going, the task has now fallen to a 24-year-old man whose grandmother was an A-Bomb survivor. Perhaps the younger generation still has some gravitas about the first city to be attacked by a nuclear weapon.
But of course, we must return to hard gritty reality. Mind you, there is a sense of justice done. Recently, there had been a spate of serial stabbings by a nutball in Shibuya. Well, the police finally got their man, a disgruntled unemployed man in his thirties who wanted to REALLY let off steam. I say, a thousand paper cuts weekly.
Looks like I've got that temporary stint over in Nakano, thanks to Movie Buddy. My first meeting will be on Monday after my special "cocktail" English lesson with my real estate agent students earlier in the afternoon.
Tomorrow will be a 5-hour day with two classes at the school and my first lesson with an alumnus for letter writing.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
August 5, 11:30 p.m.
Another scorcher to remind me how much I dislike summers in this country. I think I was downing a lot of canned drinks today just to replenish my sweat. Plus, I taught a good 7.5 hours which equally drained me. It also didn't help that there was an intense thunderstorm today which made walking home in the humidity an exquisitely unpleasant experience. I just had time to grab my books for the night classes before heading out again into the rain. At least, I was able to have some down time at the McDs and in my room at the juku before my first class.
Looks like I may have a short assignment coming up with one of my movie buddies' sister. I have to give her a call. Tomorrow should be a bit more pleasant at least in quantity. I teach my kids for 2 hours and then I've got my Toronomon student for 1 hour.
An update on that house that my juku owner was thinking of acquiring. It turned out to be too good to be true. It turned out that there were a lot of cracks and damage in the old hourse, including a toilet tank that was emulating a certain Italian landmark.
David Beckham was back in Japan this week for a demo game with his new team, Real Madrid. 1200 of his best friends roosted in Narita Airport to welcome him.
Another scorcher to remind me how much I dislike summers in this country. I think I was downing a lot of canned drinks today just to replenish my sweat. Plus, I taught a good 7.5 hours which equally drained me. It also didn't help that there was an intense thunderstorm today which made walking home in the humidity an exquisitely unpleasant experience. I just had time to grab my books for the night classes before heading out again into the rain. At least, I was able to have some down time at the McDs and in my room at the juku before my first class.
Looks like I may have a short assignment coming up with one of my movie buddies' sister. I have to give her a call. Tomorrow should be a bit more pleasant at least in quantity. I teach my kids for 2 hours and then I've got my Toronomon student for 1 hour.
An update on that house that my juku owner was thinking of acquiring. It turned out to be too good to be true. It turned out that there were a lot of cracks and damage in the old hourse, including a toilet tank that was emulating a certain Italian landmark.
David Beckham was back in Japan this week for a demo game with his new team, Real Madrid. 1200 of his best friends roosted in Narita Airport to welcome him.
Monday, August 04, 2003
August 5
Well, that supposedly cancelled class today was put back on when the student called this morning to say that the overtime work itself was cancelled. It wasn't too bad and I did get paid, but I sometimes wonder about a class when the students get more excited about my talk on Ontario horseflies than anything on business.
Beforehand, I met up with those two students to head over to their classmate's restaurant for lunch. It was the same place that I had gone to a few weeks ago. We got there a bi t early so we ended up ordering from the lunch menu. However, it was all good; we were privy to a nice cheap meal of some dim sum, noodle and rice dishes and even some dessert thrown in. The three of us had a nice talk for a few hours and then another more at a coffee shop before I had to head out to that night class.
Tomorrow will be a grueling one. I've got 7.5 hours of teaching ahead of me. At least, I've managed to prep for them. It almost feels like my full-time days.
Well, that supposedly cancelled class today was put back on when the student called this morning to say that the overtime work itself was cancelled. It wasn't too bad and I did get paid, but I sometimes wonder about a class when the students get more excited about my talk on Ontario horseflies than anything on business.
Beforehand, I met up with those two students to head over to their classmate's restaurant for lunch. It was the same place that I had gone to a few weeks ago. We got there a bi t early so we ended up ordering from the lunch menu. However, it was all good; we were privy to a nice cheap meal of some dim sum, noodle and rice dishes and even some dessert thrown in. The three of us had a nice talk for a few hours and then another more at a coffee shop before I had to head out to that night class.
Tomorrow will be a grueling one. I've got 7.5 hours of teaching ahead of me. At least, I've managed to prep for them. It almost feels like my full-time days.
Sunday, August 03, 2003
August 3, evening
Boy, showers feel so nice after getting in so gunky. Also, there was another dire reason for me to be so happy to be home but more on that later.
I started what turned out to be a long entertaining Sunday by heading out to Shinjuku and meet up with some students to catch Johnny Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean". When I got there at about 11 am, it was already 31 degrees C. You know when a country is truly heading into the subtropical range when you go into a shop and the air conditioning is set to blizzard. The temperature differential was so enormous between the inside and the outside, it was a wonder that the entire population didn't get pneumonia.
In any case, I met my 6 young charges, all of them from the higher classes, in front of the Mizuho Bank. Then, we set off a block down to the theater and got our tickets before stepping into the Wendys next door to have a quick bite to eat. In what would turn out to be a later gastronomic mistake, I ordered a Classic Triple Meal which included fries, coke and a triple-patty burger. Part of the incentive for my insane choice was out of curiosity, the other part was to provide a conversation piece for the students. I'll have to learn not to do that in the future.
One of the ladies pointed out jokingly that I was the teacher and the only man in the group. The irony didn't escape from my notice, and certainly I was glad for the company. In what would be a running gag throughout the day, the school gossip was bandied about like hot potatoes among kids' hands about which teacher was trying to charm his way into the students' hearts and vice versa. But that was a familiar theme with this group. I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable about the talk; I'd been through this all before. However, this group, and the de facto ring leader in particular, was quite intense about it.
The gossip got really hot when we were waiting in line to get in. Never had I been more entertained in a lineup than with this group. I hope all future outings with them are like this.
Pirates of the Caribbean was a 2 hour, 20 minute flick which had garnered some good reviews from the States. This summer, the so-called blockbusters had to start begging for any sort of approval from the critics, and it seems that Pirates was one of the luckier flicks. However, I think I would have to consider myself one of the naysayers. The movie was OK for the length but it just seemed so lacking in energy. And I'm not saying for certain scenes but for the entire movie. It just didn't reach for the highest highs, or for the lowest lows for that matter. It stuck to a pretty dull narrow range. Depp certainly put ina lot of chutzpah into his Captain Jack Sparrow but it was all in a cinematic vacuum. I just wonder what it would've been like if there had been a dynamic cast and story surrounding him. It will be a minor feather in his cap of sorts, but Pirates won't signify the return of the pirate movie as a viable source of income for the studios.
Mind you, the ladies seemed to have enjoyed it...because of dreamboats Depp and Orlando Bloom.
In any case, the first run of the Movie Buddy outings came off successfully. We, or at least a few of us, may go for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind when it comes out in a couple of weeks.
Our next stop after the movie was a cafe called Veloce. It's just another small chain mixed in with the others that have made Tokyo a coffee town. As we were sipping our iced lattes, our ring leader once again regaled us with some of her adventures in Europe. It will be a pity that she will be graduating in a week, although I think I'll actually be hearing or seeing her a bit more often than I have at the school the last couple of months since we've struck a good friendship.
Then, it was time for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant just around the corner from Veloce. It was tucked into a side street on the 2nd floor; very non-descript. It was notable for the fact that the staff were actually Vietnamese and that the chairs were very heavy. The food itself was OK but not overwhelmingly impressive. In a way, just like the movie, it lacked something. However, once again, the students enjoyed it more than I did, and that's good enough for me. Even after several hours of chat at that point, the gossip was still flying. I landed a minor bombshell on them which threw all of them for a loop.
Finally, our last stop was at a Starbucks...not out of choice but for the fact that it was available and there were really weren't any other interesting places out there for a drink which didn't require a lot of money. In another stupid gastronomic endeavor, I decided to get the Mocha Latte with a Sugar Doughnut. Meanwhile, the ring leader started talking about her former roomie in Paris, a wild child with a long history of substance abuse, and how she had to drag her to the bathroom to help her throw up and then, in another incident, pull her from out of the bathtub since she was drowning. The others suggested that she write a book.
So, 10 hours and over 6000 yen later, the first Movie Buddy outing came to a close. I can't speak for my companions but I was feeling majorly sweaty and smelly in the humid and hot air. Shinjuku is definitely not a place to be if you want to stay feeling fresh. And all of my gastronomic foibles of the day decided to come back at me with a vengeance when I started getting a stomachache on the subway home. Since I was traveling with two women back into Chiba, I couldn't really show my pain so I had to exert a Vulcan control over my body....to stem the flow, if you catch my drift. On second thought, don't bother. Thank god for meditation; I just focused on one word and repeated it over and over to keep things at bay. All this and at the same time keeping a conversation with the students.
When I got out of the subway at last, it was the longest 10-minute walk this year as I mightily trudged my way home while keeping control. But when I got there, a safe resolution was reached and I was proud and relieved...literally. The only bad news is that I have another dinner tomorrow with one of the ladies who had come out today and two other students. However, I'll exercise some more discipline.
All in all, it was a good day despite the hair-raising ending. I think if this continues, it will probably be a monthly thing. I certainly couldn't financially afford to shuck out the yen as I did today on a weekly basis.
In what comes a s a potentially bad news/good news thing, my Monday night student left a message stating that because of overtime work, she would have to cancel the lesson. This will mean that I won't have to trudge out to the west end of town and teach until 10:30 pm and I could potentially spend a more leisurely time with the students at dinner tomorrow. However, of course, another source of income will be lost for the week. Then again, I will have a 3-day weekend. Such is the life of a bohemian teacher.
I probably won't be heading for bed for a while yet. I still have a lot to digest and since I won't be seeing anyone until the mid-afternoon, I can afford a bit of a late night.
Boy, showers feel so nice after getting in so gunky. Also, there was another dire reason for me to be so happy to be home but more on that later.
I started what turned out to be a long entertaining Sunday by heading out to Shinjuku and meet up with some students to catch Johnny Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean". When I got there at about 11 am, it was already 31 degrees C. You know when a country is truly heading into the subtropical range when you go into a shop and the air conditioning is set to blizzard. The temperature differential was so enormous between the inside and the outside, it was a wonder that the entire population didn't get pneumonia.
In any case, I met my 6 young charges, all of them from the higher classes, in front of the Mizuho Bank. Then, we set off a block down to the theater and got our tickets before stepping into the Wendys next door to have a quick bite to eat. In what would turn out to be a later gastronomic mistake, I ordered a Classic Triple Meal which included fries, coke and a triple-patty burger. Part of the incentive for my insane choice was out of curiosity, the other part was to provide a conversation piece for the students. I'll have to learn not to do that in the future.
One of the ladies pointed out jokingly that I was the teacher and the only man in the group. The irony didn't escape from my notice, and certainly I was glad for the company. In what would be a running gag throughout the day, the school gossip was bandied about like hot potatoes among kids' hands about which teacher was trying to charm his way into the students' hearts and vice versa. But that was a familiar theme with this group. I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable about the talk; I'd been through this all before. However, this group, and the de facto ring leader in particular, was quite intense about it.
The gossip got really hot when we were waiting in line to get in. Never had I been more entertained in a lineup than with this group. I hope all future outings with them are like this.
Pirates of the Caribbean was a 2 hour, 20 minute flick which had garnered some good reviews from the States. This summer, the so-called blockbusters had to start begging for any sort of approval from the critics, and it seems that Pirates was one of the luckier flicks. However, I think I would have to consider myself one of the naysayers. The movie was OK for the length but it just seemed so lacking in energy. And I'm not saying for certain scenes but for the entire movie. It just didn't reach for the highest highs, or for the lowest lows for that matter. It stuck to a pretty dull narrow range. Depp certainly put ina lot of chutzpah into his Captain Jack Sparrow but it was all in a cinematic vacuum. I just wonder what it would've been like if there had been a dynamic cast and story surrounding him. It will be a minor feather in his cap of sorts, but Pirates won't signify the return of the pirate movie as a viable source of income for the studios.
Mind you, the ladies seemed to have enjoyed it...because of dreamboats Depp and Orlando Bloom.
In any case, the first run of the Movie Buddy outings came off successfully. We, or at least a few of us, may go for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind when it comes out in a couple of weeks.
Our next stop after the movie was a cafe called Veloce. It's just another small chain mixed in with the others that have made Tokyo a coffee town. As we were sipping our iced lattes, our ring leader once again regaled us with some of her adventures in Europe. It will be a pity that she will be graduating in a week, although I think I'll actually be hearing or seeing her a bit more often than I have at the school the last couple of months since we've struck a good friendship.
Then, it was time for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant just around the corner from Veloce. It was tucked into a side street on the 2nd floor; very non-descript. It was notable for the fact that the staff were actually Vietnamese and that the chairs were very heavy. The food itself was OK but not overwhelmingly impressive. In a way, just like the movie, it lacked something. However, once again, the students enjoyed it more than I did, and that's good enough for me. Even after several hours of chat at that point, the gossip was still flying. I landed a minor bombshell on them which threw all of them for a loop.
Finally, our last stop was at a Starbucks...not out of choice but for the fact that it was available and there were really weren't any other interesting places out there for a drink which didn't require a lot of money. In another stupid gastronomic endeavor, I decided to get the Mocha Latte with a Sugar Doughnut. Meanwhile, the ring leader started talking about her former roomie in Paris, a wild child with a long history of substance abuse, and how she had to drag her to the bathroom to help her throw up and then, in another incident, pull her from out of the bathtub since she was drowning. The others suggested that she write a book.
So, 10 hours and over 6000 yen later, the first Movie Buddy outing came to a close. I can't speak for my companions but I was feeling majorly sweaty and smelly in the humid and hot air. Shinjuku is definitely not a place to be if you want to stay feeling fresh. And all of my gastronomic foibles of the day decided to come back at me with a vengeance when I started getting a stomachache on the subway home. Since I was traveling with two women back into Chiba, I couldn't really show my pain so I had to exert a Vulcan control over my body....to stem the flow, if you catch my drift. On second thought, don't bother. Thank god for meditation; I just focused on one word and repeated it over and over to keep things at bay. All this and at the same time keeping a conversation with the students.
When I got out of the subway at last, it was the longest 10-minute walk this year as I mightily trudged my way home while keeping control. But when I got there, a safe resolution was reached and I was proud and relieved...literally. The only bad news is that I have another dinner tomorrow with one of the ladies who had come out today and two other students. However, I'll exercise some more discipline.
All in all, it was a good day despite the hair-raising ending. I think if this continues, it will probably be a monthly thing. I certainly couldn't financially afford to shuck out the yen as I did today on a weekly basis.
In what comes a s a potentially bad news/good news thing, my Monday night student left a message stating that because of overtime work, she would have to cancel the lesson. This will mean that I won't have to trudge out to the west end of town and teach until 10:30 pm and I could potentially spend a more leisurely time with the students at dinner tomorrow. However, of course, another source of income will be lost for the week. Then again, I will have a 3-day weekend. Such is the life of a bohemian teacher.
I probably won't be heading for bed for a while yet. I still have a lot to digest and since I won't be seeing anyone until the mid-afternoon, I can afford a bit of a late night.
Saturday, August 02, 2003
August 3
I had my monthly call from Mom last night. Most of the calls are cordial but once in a while, she gets into ultra-mother mode and ends up annoying the hell outof me. Partially because part of what she says is true.
Once again, she got into her harangue about thinking about my future and marriage. She comes from the generation where marriage is a no-brainer; one gets married and that's it. She even said that my sister-in-law has offered to introduce me to one of her friends...which really steams me. After breaking up with my ex, getting into another relationship falls somewhere between eating raw liver and having a procotological exam. I'm starting to think that I really have no interest in having a "normal" life of wife and kids. But I kept my cool, though she knows that I have a bad temper.
The other thorn to stick into me was about my financial future. Here in Japan, as an alien, I probably would not get any access to an old age pension if I did stay that long, and since I'm not in Canada making any income, I'm not accruing any pension there either. Basically, there is no nest egg for me provided by the government. I am bothered by that...although I and most people both in Japan and Canada are of the opinion that old age pensions probably will not exist by the time I reach 65. However, my mother asked me whether it wouldn't be wiser to return to the Great White North and find a job with a computer company.
Once again, my blood started to boil. My parents just won't get it into their heads that I have very little interest in becoming a systems engineer or a doctor or a lawyer. And returning home would leave my career in tatters over there. I will not work for any Board of Education at home; I have no love for kids and most likely I would miss life here in Japan. I would end up wondering about how life would be like here. Maybe I'm being closed-minded but I know what I don't like.
So, I'm left at the proverbial fork in the road but a fork with roads leading possibly to dead ends. I stay here in an uncertain economy and future for Japan or head eventually back home permanently but have verylittle opportunity to pursue much of anything.
Why do I feel that my life seems to have more bitter than sweet? Great...I can go to bed grumpy.
Several hours later...
Well, I'm awake again. The grumpiness is largely gone although a lingering sense of UGH remains. Another sign that the typical Tokyo summer is here? I went straight to the air conditioner for relief, and sure enough, that sweat stain is on my futon.
Last night, I went through my increasingly neglected DVD collection (notable by the growing layer of dust) and found the South Park movie. Now that's a view into the pop culture looking glass. Back in the late 90s, the infamously crude Comedy Central series was the talk of the town. Wicked toilet humour, celebrity skewerings and quotable catchphrases ("Oh My God...they killed Kenny"; "Beefcake...BEEFCAKE!") were helping it become the latest challenger to The Simpsons.
The movie itself to me was the peak of the South Park phenomenon. Its "Jump The Shark" moment. And what a moment. The movie relentlessly went out of its way to shock and offend just about any group out there, and the result was a huge outpouring of laughter at the audacity of it all. And on top of that, its ode to musicals was unbelievably good. I could say that the movie was the last great musical of the 20th century (although I could imagine the Gershwins rolling in their graves).
I have a number of movies that I regret not having seen at the theater. Minority Report is one. The South Park movie is another. I would've loved to have been in the audience when all of the mayhem was being spewed. I heard that a number of people left the theatre in horror...with their kids, thinking that this would be a regular cartoon. I'm pretty sure that the kids were dragged kicking and screaming.
Since then, South Park is apparently still running but the glory days are over. The Simpsons are still unbeaten. I saw a recent episode of SP and found out that Kenny was PERMANENTLY dead, as non sequitur as that may sound. Now, the main challenger to Bart, Homer and the Springfield gang for respect is King of the Hill, a much less raunchy show but still very funny.
I had my monthly call from Mom last night. Most of the calls are cordial but once in a while, she gets into ultra-mother mode and ends up annoying the hell outof me. Partially because part of what she says is true.
Once again, she got into her harangue about thinking about my future and marriage. She comes from the generation where marriage is a no-brainer; one gets married and that's it. She even said that my sister-in-law has offered to introduce me to one of her friends...which really steams me. After breaking up with my ex, getting into another relationship falls somewhere between eating raw liver and having a procotological exam. I'm starting to think that I really have no interest in having a "normal" life of wife and kids. But I kept my cool, though she knows that I have a bad temper.
The other thorn to stick into me was about my financial future. Here in Japan, as an alien, I probably would not get any access to an old age pension if I did stay that long, and since I'm not in Canada making any income, I'm not accruing any pension there either. Basically, there is no nest egg for me provided by the government. I am bothered by that...although I and most people both in Japan and Canada are of the opinion that old age pensions probably will not exist by the time I reach 65. However, my mother asked me whether it wouldn't be wiser to return to the Great White North and find a job with a computer company.
Once again, my blood started to boil. My parents just won't get it into their heads that I have very little interest in becoming a systems engineer or a doctor or a lawyer. And returning home would leave my career in tatters over there. I will not work for any Board of Education at home; I have no love for kids and most likely I would miss life here in Japan. I would end up wondering about how life would be like here. Maybe I'm being closed-minded but I know what I don't like.
So, I'm left at the proverbial fork in the road but a fork with roads leading possibly to dead ends. I stay here in an uncertain economy and future for Japan or head eventually back home permanently but have verylittle opportunity to pursue much of anything.
Why do I feel that my life seems to have more bitter than sweet? Great...I can go to bed grumpy.
Several hours later...
Well, I'm awake again. The grumpiness is largely gone although a lingering sense of UGH remains. Another sign that the typical Tokyo summer is here? I went straight to the air conditioner for relief, and sure enough, that sweat stain is on my futon.
Last night, I went through my increasingly neglected DVD collection (notable by the growing layer of dust) and found the South Park movie. Now that's a view into the pop culture looking glass. Back in the late 90s, the infamously crude Comedy Central series was the talk of the town. Wicked toilet humour, celebrity skewerings and quotable catchphrases ("Oh My God...they killed Kenny"; "Beefcake...BEEFCAKE!") were helping it become the latest challenger to The Simpsons.
The movie itself to me was the peak of the South Park phenomenon. Its "Jump The Shark" moment. And what a moment. The movie relentlessly went out of its way to shock and offend just about any group out there, and the result was a huge outpouring of laughter at the audacity of it all. And on top of that, its ode to musicals was unbelievably good. I could say that the movie was the last great musical of the 20th century (although I could imagine the Gershwins rolling in their graves).
I have a number of movies that I regret not having seen at the theater. Minority Report is one. The South Park movie is another. I would've loved to have been in the audience when all of the mayhem was being spewed. I heard that a number of people left the theatre in horror...with their kids, thinking that this would be a regular cartoon. I'm pretty sure that the kids were dragged kicking and screaming.
Since then, South Park is apparently still running but the glory days are over. The Simpsons are still unbeaten. I saw a recent episode of SP and found out that Kenny was PERMANENTLY dead, as non sequitur as that may sound. Now, the main challenger to Bart, Homer and the Springfield gang for respect is King of the Hill, a much less raunchy show but still very funny.
Friday, August 01, 2003
August 2
Another hot day and yet people are still wondering when the rainy season will officially close. Hello, McFly!
Decided to do a little Saturday enjoyment in the neighbourhood. Went over to thelocal massage clinic for a rubdown. I didn't get my favorite masseur, the chief, but his spunky second-in-command. She did a pretty good job.
Then it was off to McDs for a Big Mac set and Coke. I deserved it. After a bit of grocery shopping, I'm back home where I'll probably be sweating all of my Big Mac set over the next few hours while I clean the place. The wonderful thing about my apartment is that it retains heat in the summer and it loses it in the winter. Yes, you read that correctly.
More proof that there may be a god after all. The Ben-Jen vanity project, Gigli, is being slow-broiled by critics and rated a perfect 0% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. People that rich and beautiful should get some cloud with their silver lining.
Another hot day and yet people are still wondering when the rainy season will officially close. Hello, McFly!
Decided to do a little Saturday enjoyment in the neighbourhood. Went over to thelocal massage clinic for a rubdown. I didn't get my favorite masseur, the chief, but his spunky second-in-command. She did a pretty good job.
Then it was off to McDs for a Big Mac set and Coke. I deserved it. After a bit of grocery shopping, I'm back home where I'll probably be sweating all of my Big Mac set over the next few hours while I clean the place. The wonderful thing about my apartment is that it retains heat in the summer and it loses it in the winter. Yes, you read that correctly.
More proof that there may be a god after all. The Ben-Jen vanity project, Gigli, is being slow-broiled by critics and rated a perfect 0% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. People that rich and beautiful should get some cloud with their silver lining.
August 1
A long hot Friday. The summer is definitely here...although it may be too late for the rice farmers to get a decent crop.
I had several hours of break time between my lone class and the dinner with my old students so I ended up heading for Ginza and getting a CD plus magazine. Then, I went up to the roof garden of the Mitsukoshi department store and just read my Entertainment Weekly outside for a couple of hours. It wasn't too hot there; the winds helped to cool things down.
Then, I walked over to Shimbashi Station to meet up with the four oil company students and the lone Friday night circle student (the other is in Switzerland, and my ex has pulled herself out). One of the oil company students found himself a new job with Mazda out in Hiroshima, so it was a goodbye party for him. As usual, we went to the Farm Grill. Of course, with the evening menu, we had access to the good stuff. And of course, I overindulged. Goodbye diet.
Tomorrow will be a rare Saturday off since my kids won't be available then. So I hope to wait for a package to be delivered and then do a bit of cleaning up at home since I probably won't be home on Sunday for most of the day.
A long hot Friday. The summer is definitely here...although it may be too late for the rice farmers to get a decent crop.
I had several hours of break time between my lone class and the dinner with my old students so I ended up heading for Ginza and getting a CD plus magazine. Then, I went up to the roof garden of the Mitsukoshi department store and just read my Entertainment Weekly outside for a couple of hours. It wasn't too hot there; the winds helped to cool things down.
Then, I walked over to Shimbashi Station to meet up with the four oil company students and the lone Friday night circle student (the other is in Switzerland, and my ex has pulled herself out). One of the oil company students found himself a new job with Mazda out in Hiroshima, so it was a goodbye party for him. As usual, we went to the Farm Grill. Of course, with the evening menu, we had access to the good stuff. And of course, I overindulged. Goodbye diet.
Tomorrow will be a rare Saturday off since my kids won't be available then. So I hope to wait for a package to be delivered and then do a bit of cleaning up at home since I probably won't be home on Sunday for most of the day.
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
July 30
Summer is just about on our doorstep. Now, the nights are starting to feel humid. Looks like I'll be burning up the yen overnight via my fan. It's that or end up with a huge sweat stain on my futon the shape and size of my body.
I made the easiest 3000 yen tonight when my student popped into the Starbucks at Toranomon to tell me that she wanted to cancel tonight's lesson because she wasn't feeling too hot. I tried to refuse the money since it wasn't earned but she insisted that I take it if only as an apology that I had to go downtown for nothing. After doing the culturally acceptable two refusals, I finally took the yen. I'm not gonna look a gift uma in the mouth.
Movie Buddy left a message on the machine today saying that he may have another group of students for me. Always nice.
Last night at my newest gig at that lady's English conversation school on the 2nd floor of her house, she first asked me how much rent I was paying for my apartment and then she shifted her attention to a potential house a couple of stations away that she was planning to get for a second school. She even mentioned that she was gonna try to bring the rent down to an unbelievable 50,000 yen a month; the original cost was 95000 yen for a 3-room, 2-floor place, still a good bargain. The catch is that it is located beside a cemetery, and the Japanese, despite all of their technological savvy, are still very superstitious, and so most people would rather eat cockroaches than move next to a final resting place. From what she was saying, I was wondering if she were thinking about me being the new resident.
I must admit that it would be tempting after nearly 9 years in my 2K. And my ex had always wanted me to get a house for us, but that's pretty much a moot deal now. However, I would wonder about having to be at home AND at work at the same time. The superstitious angle doesn't bother me, though. I'm the guy who can always find an empty spot on the subway platform where the label marked "4" (designating the area where the 4th car would be stopping) is located. Even on a crowded platform, it seems that noone native here will go to that spot since the Japanese pronounciation for 4 is a homonym for "death". However, as I write this, I'm knocking on my wooden table.
Well, I've got my early Thursday morning to look forward to
Summer is just about on our doorstep. Now, the nights are starting to feel humid. Looks like I'll be burning up the yen overnight via my fan. It's that or end up with a huge sweat stain on my futon the shape and size of my body.
I made the easiest 3000 yen tonight when my student popped into the Starbucks at Toranomon to tell me that she wanted to cancel tonight's lesson because she wasn't feeling too hot. I tried to refuse the money since it wasn't earned but she insisted that I take it if only as an apology that I had to go downtown for nothing. After doing the culturally acceptable two refusals, I finally took the yen. I'm not gonna look a gift uma in the mouth.
Movie Buddy left a message on the machine today saying that he may have another group of students for me. Always nice.
Last night at my newest gig at that lady's English conversation school on the 2nd floor of her house, she first asked me how much rent I was paying for my apartment and then she shifted her attention to a potential house a couple of stations away that she was planning to get for a second school. She even mentioned that she was gonna try to bring the rent down to an unbelievable 50,000 yen a month; the original cost was 95000 yen for a 3-room, 2-floor place, still a good bargain. The catch is that it is located beside a cemetery, and the Japanese, despite all of their technological savvy, are still very superstitious, and so most people would rather eat cockroaches than move next to a final resting place. From what she was saying, I was wondering if she were thinking about me being the new resident.
I must admit that it would be tempting after nearly 9 years in my 2K. And my ex had always wanted me to get a house for us, but that's pretty much a moot deal now. However, I would wonder about having to be at home AND at work at the same time. The superstitious angle doesn't bother me, though. I'm the guy who can always find an empty spot on the subway platform where the label marked "4" (designating the area where the 4th car would be stopping) is located. Even on a crowded platform, it seems that noone native here will go to that spot since the Japanese pronounciation for 4 is a homonym for "death". However, as I write this, I'm knocking on my wooden table.
Well, I've got my early Thursday morning to look forward to
Monday, July 28, 2003
July 29
Back from another exhausting Monday. I feel very sticky all over, and it's just going to get worse once the rainy season ends officially on Friday.
Looks like August will indeed be a fairly lean month for me. My Monday morning class announced that they will be going on summer hiatus for the next 4 weeks. And along with the fact that my in-school classes and my Tuesday morning private class will be doing the same thing in the next couple of weeks, I may have to look forward to a lot of tofu meals.
After the morning class, I decided to catch a movie. Unlike most of my choices, this was a homegrown production called "Odoru Dai Sosasen 2" or as it is translated, "The Big Investigation". It and the first movie back in 1998 are the only Japanese movies I've ever caught in nearly 9 years of life in Japan. I never even bothered to catch the magical "Spirited Away" which I may regret.
Now what's so special about this flick? Well, to be honest, I first got hooked on the theme song, a kinetic techno number which has become as famous as the Hawaii Five-O theme song. And strangely enough, the movie is based on a cop show which ran for 12 weeks on the local Fuji-TV network back in 1997 before releasing the two movies.
"Odoru Dai Sosasen" will never really compare to American fare such as NYPD Blue or Hill Street Blues. Our cultures are just too different. However, both countries share a love of police dramas and this show has become the recent standard to beat. It stars Yuji Oda (those of you who are into Japanese trendy dramas may remember him from the 1991 hit Tokyo Love Story, as Kanchi Nagao) as Detective Sgt. Aoshima, a salaryman-turned-cop who fights the good fight. The show is notable for its mix of Keystone Kops-type comedy or probably the same level of comedy allowed to exist on The Love Boat and drama based on the eternal rivalry between the local police grunts and the arrogant elite detectives in Tokyo.
This rivalry was what got me further hooked into the show. Apparently, the police hierarchy is separated into two parallel forces: the aforementioned elite cops on a national level, and the grunts occupying the small precincts and police boxes all over the country. Of course, the elite look down upon the grunts which is the heart of the story.
The sequel, whose story revolves around not only the main plot of murders committed by disgruntled laid off salarymen but also on the open battle of police procedure between Aoshima and a new witch-like elite police superintendant and three very small subplots, was entertaining enough although there was very little innovation in the story. It basically followed the same formula of the internecine rivalry, a serious injury to one of the main characters which sparks a closing of ranks and Aoshima's coming to the rescue. However, the Japanese prefer this formula; just take a look at the Tora-san series or the Mito Komon TV show. Formulas rule!
Several hours later, I had my usual late-night class with my real estate agency students. However, I wasn't too impressed with my performance. I felt like I slacked off today; mind you, the one woman was simply exhausted and not in any sort of shape to learn English. However, when I'm doing my own business, slacking off will just lead to being fired off. So I'll have to smarten up next week.
I'm just glad that I just have my new Tueday night class considering how late I've stayed up.
One thing to note, though. And this will fall into the life lesson category. I've known for a while now that my circle of friends is getting very small now. In some instances, it is due to a change in family circumstances; for example, my good friend, Chip Man, has just become a father. His interaction with me, and a lot of other friends for that matter, will understandably be curtailed for the next number of weeks while the new family unit coalesces.
In other instances, though, I've intentionally let go of large groups of "friends". You notice that I've put the last word of my last sentence in quotations. Well, the fact of the matter is that I've stopped considering them my friends. I let go of one group a number of years ago; the last straw was at a Xmas party. I just found that I simply didn't mesh in with those people anymore. I rarely spoke to them, I didn't feel particularly comfortable and I knew a few of them didn't particularly chime in with me either. So it was simply a matter of not answering any invitations. There may be one group right now that I might do the same to. In both groups, none of the people involved are really bad sorts but they and I are just on different wavelengths. Frankly, as I get older, I'm getting less and less patient with accepting being the quiet listener all night at someone's house or at a restaurant.
And strangely enough, I don't feel all that bad about it. I just appreciate the relatively few friends I have all the more, and I understand that as time passes, one's circle of friends does get smaller. Sorry, but I'm not buying George Bailey's final scene of the whole town of friends bit. I liked "It's A Wonderful Life" but it's just another case of Capra-corn fantasy. Finally, I think I'm just more content being alone or being with very close friends. The rest will be kept at arm's length. If this makes me a cold fish, so be it!
Nine hours later....
I woke up to CNN to find out that Ol' Ski Nose, Bob Hope, passed away. In the past few decades, he had largely been seen as a hoary old cornball relic or just a name barely remembered from the Golden Age of Hollywood or as part of a golf tournament. And no doubt to anyone, his TV specials had largely been reduced to barely naughty rimshot jokes and appearances by buxom women who were young enough to be Bob's great-granddaughters.
However, being born in the last few years of the Baby Boom era in the middle of the 20th century, I did remember catching some of his frequent NBC specials as a child, and though, I can't remember things in detail, I do remember the huge TV in front of me and laughing my lungs out at his quips. The man was a master of delivery and timing.
The specials were of course my first exposure to Bob. But then as I grew up, I discovered the Road pictures with him and Bing Crosby, and found out how manic he had been in his ad-libs and his willingness to break the 4th wall. Probably he could be called the Robin Williams of his time.
Being a bit of a comedian myself, I've had a number of influences. Bob Hope is one of them.
I gather that this year will definitely be the one for the passing of the Golden Age celeb. So many have left in the past few months: Kate Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Buddy Ebsen.
Back from another exhausting Monday. I feel very sticky all over, and it's just going to get worse once the rainy season ends officially on Friday.
Looks like August will indeed be a fairly lean month for me. My Monday morning class announced that they will be going on summer hiatus for the next 4 weeks. And along with the fact that my in-school classes and my Tuesday morning private class will be doing the same thing in the next couple of weeks, I may have to look forward to a lot of tofu meals.
After the morning class, I decided to catch a movie. Unlike most of my choices, this was a homegrown production called "Odoru Dai Sosasen 2" or as it is translated, "The Big Investigation". It and the first movie back in 1998 are the only Japanese movies I've ever caught in nearly 9 years of life in Japan. I never even bothered to catch the magical "Spirited Away" which I may regret.
Now what's so special about this flick? Well, to be honest, I first got hooked on the theme song, a kinetic techno number which has become as famous as the Hawaii Five-O theme song. And strangely enough, the movie is based on a cop show which ran for 12 weeks on the local Fuji-TV network back in 1997 before releasing the two movies.
"Odoru Dai Sosasen" will never really compare to American fare such as NYPD Blue or Hill Street Blues. Our cultures are just too different. However, both countries share a love of police dramas and this show has become the recent standard to beat. It stars Yuji Oda (those of you who are into Japanese trendy dramas may remember him from the 1991 hit Tokyo Love Story, as Kanchi Nagao) as Detective Sgt. Aoshima, a salaryman-turned-cop who fights the good fight. The show is notable for its mix of Keystone Kops-type comedy or probably the same level of comedy allowed to exist on The Love Boat and drama based on the eternal rivalry between the local police grunts and the arrogant elite detectives in Tokyo.
This rivalry was what got me further hooked into the show. Apparently, the police hierarchy is separated into two parallel forces: the aforementioned elite cops on a national level, and the grunts occupying the small precincts and police boxes all over the country. Of course, the elite look down upon the grunts which is the heart of the story.
The sequel, whose story revolves around not only the main plot of murders committed by disgruntled laid off salarymen but also on the open battle of police procedure between Aoshima and a new witch-like elite police superintendant and three very small subplots, was entertaining enough although there was very little innovation in the story. It basically followed the same formula of the internecine rivalry, a serious injury to one of the main characters which sparks a closing of ranks and Aoshima's coming to the rescue. However, the Japanese prefer this formula; just take a look at the Tora-san series or the Mito Komon TV show. Formulas rule!
Several hours later, I had my usual late-night class with my real estate agency students. However, I wasn't too impressed with my performance. I felt like I slacked off today; mind you, the one woman was simply exhausted and not in any sort of shape to learn English. However, when I'm doing my own business, slacking off will just lead to being fired off. So I'll have to smarten up next week.
I'm just glad that I just have my new Tueday night class considering how late I've stayed up.
One thing to note, though. And this will fall into the life lesson category. I've known for a while now that my circle of friends is getting very small now. In some instances, it is due to a change in family circumstances; for example, my good friend, Chip Man, has just become a father. His interaction with me, and a lot of other friends for that matter, will understandably be curtailed for the next number of weeks while the new family unit coalesces.
In other instances, though, I've intentionally let go of large groups of "friends". You notice that I've put the last word of my last sentence in quotations. Well, the fact of the matter is that I've stopped considering them my friends. I let go of one group a number of years ago; the last straw was at a Xmas party. I just found that I simply didn't mesh in with those people anymore. I rarely spoke to them, I didn't feel particularly comfortable and I knew a few of them didn't particularly chime in with me either. So it was simply a matter of not answering any invitations. There may be one group right now that I might do the same to. In both groups, none of the people involved are really bad sorts but they and I are just on different wavelengths. Frankly, as I get older, I'm getting less and less patient with accepting being the quiet listener all night at someone's house or at a restaurant.
And strangely enough, I don't feel all that bad about it. I just appreciate the relatively few friends I have all the more, and I understand that as time passes, one's circle of friends does get smaller. Sorry, but I'm not buying George Bailey's final scene of the whole town of friends bit. I liked "It's A Wonderful Life" but it's just another case of Capra-corn fantasy. Finally, I think I'm just more content being alone or being with very close friends. The rest will be kept at arm's length. If this makes me a cold fish, so be it!
Nine hours later....
I woke up to CNN to find out that Ol' Ski Nose, Bob Hope, passed away. In the past few decades, he had largely been seen as a hoary old cornball relic or just a name barely remembered from the Golden Age of Hollywood or as part of a golf tournament. And no doubt to anyone, his TV specials had largely been reduced to barely naughty rimshot jokes and appearances by buxom women who were young enough to be Bob's great-granddaughters.
However, being born in the last few years of the Baby Boom era in the middle of the 20th century, I did remember catching some of his frequent NBC specials as a child, and though, I can't remember things in detail, I do remember the huge TV in front of me and laughing my lungs out at his quips. The man was a master of delivery and timing.
The specials were of course my first exposure to Bob. But then as I grew up, I discovered the Road pictures with him and Bing Crosby, and found out how manic he had been in his ad-libs and his willingness to break the 4th wall. Probably he could be called the Robin Williams of his time.
Being a bit of a comedian myself, I've had a number of influences. Bob Hope is one of them.
I gather that this year will definitely be the one for the passing of the Golden Age celeb. So many have left in the past few months: Kate Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Buddy Ebsen.
Sunday, July 27, 2003
July 28
Just woke up to painfully realize that my backache is back, no pun intended. At least, I know what my pain is like so I'm semi-accustomed to it. But I've taken the Blitzkrieg approach to it. I slapped on liniment, and then applied a mustard patch that I had received from my massage clinic. And I'll probably swallow a couple of aspirin for breakfast.
Japanese baseball set a dubious record thanks to the antics of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and the Ichiro-less Orix Blue Wave. The latter team must be really feeling the ghost pain of their best ever player 3 years after his departure, after it got shellacked for 32 hits and 26 runs. The Hawks "only" got killed for 7 runs. I guess someone forgot to tell them that the final score was more appropriate for a lopsided American football game. The game was pretty much over in the bottom of the first inning when the Hawks got 11 runs. Methinks that the Blue Wave will be doing extra jump-squats today.
And in the world of entertainment, another Musume bites the dust. Yet another original from the 1997 Group of Five, Natsumi Abe, will be "graduating" early next year. She will be the fourth girl...oops, sorry...I should say woman to leave which leaves current leader, Kaori Iida as the sole charter member. Right now, Morning Musume is at a hyper-inflated 16 females, including Abe. The announcement was made last night a t a concert via the MM's guru, Tsunku on video screen (no doubt to evade any flying bottles from the almost exclusively male audience). You could've heard a pin drop when Tsunku dropped the bombshell.
Hmmm....is it me or did President Arroyo of the Phillipines smiled very vindictively after defeating that mutiny of 296 of her soldiers in Manila?
Good golly, it's been a violent weekend. There have been a rash of these random stabbings in Japanese neighbourhoods. Crime may be low here but what few there are, they've been of the psycho variety.
Off to breakfast, I go...that is, if I can stand up.
Just woke up to painfully realize that my backache is back, no pun intended. At least, I know what my pain is like so I'm semi-accustomed to it. But I've taken the Blitzkrieg approach to it. I slapped on liniment, and then applied a mustard patch that I had received from my massage clinic. And I'll probably swallow a couple of aspirin for breakfast.
Japanese baseball set a dubious record thanks to the antics of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and the Ichiro-less Orix Blue Wave. The latter team must be really feeling the ghost pain of their best ever player 3 years after his departure, after it got shellacked for 32 hits and 26 runs. The Hawks "only" got killed for 7 runs. I guess someone forgot to tell them that the final score was more appropriate for a lopsided American football game. The game was pretty much over in the bottom of the first inning when the Hawks got 11 runs. Methinks that the Blue Wave will be doing extra jump-squats today.
And in the world of entertainment, another Musume bites the dust. Yet another original from the 1997 Group of Five, Natsumi Abe, will be "graduating" early next year. She will be the fourth girl...oops, sorry...I should say woman to leave which leaves current leader, Kaori Iida as the sole charter member. Right now, Morning Musume is at a hyper-inflated 16 females, including Abe. The announcement was made last night a t a concert via the MM's guru, Tsunku on video screen (no doubt to evade any flying bottles from the almost exclusively male audience). You could've heard a pin drop when Tsunku dropped the bombshell.
Hmmm....is it me or did President Arroyo of the Phillipines smiled very vindictively after defeating that mutiny of 296 of her soldiers in Manila?
Good golly, it's been a violent weekend. There have been a rash of these random stabbings in Japanese neighbourhoods. Crime may be low here but what few there are, they've been of the psycho variety.
Off to breakfast, I go...that is, if I can stand up.
July 27
A quiet Sunday for a change after some previous socially-influenced ones. Just did the usual home maintenance and lazed around.
Looks like those quakes in northern Japan were quite a bit more serious. There were a lot of wrecked homes and stores. Three quakes of Shindo 6....those are pretty unlucky odds there.
According to NHK, today is Eel Day. Could've fooled most of us in Japan. When I went to the supermarket today, there wasn't all that much fuss over eels.
Tomorrow will be the start of a slow-as-molasses week...luckily I should have my two most profitable classes on Monday. I may catch a movie in between classes.
A quiet Sunday for a change after some previous socially-influenced ones. Just did the usual home maintenance and lazed around.
Looks like those quakes in northern Japan were quite a bit more serious. There were a lot of wrecked homes and stores. Three quakes of Shindo 6....those are pretty unlucky odds there.
According to NHK, today is Eel Day. Could've fooled most of us in Japan. When I went to the supermarket today, there wasn't all that much fuss over eels.
Tomorrow will be the start of a slow-as-molasses week...luckily I should have my two most profitable classes on Monday. I may catch a movie in between classes.