Friday April 16, 11:51 p.m.

Another long day and night come to a close. Not feeling as grungy as I did on that warm Monday but not really all that cold either.

I had my regular session with The Teacher. It looks like the pattern has been set for her lessons. Basically, it's a mix of chat and her reading her articles while I scan for any major pronunciation or grammar errors. Not a bad way to earn 5000 yen.

I then went back to my station to get some lunch via the conveyor belt sushi place under my station. Pretty good fish today. Then, I paid off some bills. My wallet is definitely feeling a lot lighter now.

Stopped off at Tokyo Station, the main bullet train hub and went to the Hokkaido Plaza of JR. Apparently, enough people like to head up to Japan's northernmost island that its own travel office was warranted. Good for me. I picked up some info about this 4-day tour up there via the much-vaunted Cassiopeia. In absolute terms, it won't be cheap but compared to what I get, it's a pretty good deal. Now, it's just a matter of seeing if I can get a ticket on board. I will have to aim for either mid-May or June. July is just going to be too expensive.

After the stop at Tokyo Station, I walked over to the Ginza and browsed through Yamano Music for a while. I held my tongue and my money and didn't buy any CDs this time around. There wasn't really anything that grabbed my attention anyways. Next, I went across the street to the Mitsukoshi Department Store and headed all the way up to the roof garden where I hung out with some of the old and middle-aged and read my book. It was sunny but a bit too drafty on the outside so I ended up spending the last hour inside the elevator bay.

I met up with Arwen at the Tea Room. Ms. 77 had a soccer match to play so she was absent. Once again, we went out for dinner afterwards. This time, it was back to Yoyogi, the second time this week I went there after the dinner with the Prez on Monday. However, with Arwen, we didn't end up in a down-home izakaya. Instead, she took me to a raucous Cambodian restaurant. The staff were, I assume, all Cambodian and the attitudes certainly were non-Japanese. The owner was an amiably gruff sort who tried to push the set course on us. However, Arwen stood her ground and ordered a la carte. Lots of noise amongst the staff. The food was good, however, as was the conversation. Once again, we gabbed about marriage and babies. She told me that one of her old classmates has been learning everything a potential good wife needs to land her a husband. I had to shake my head bemusedly. The peer pressure that some women are under...

It looks like that trip for strawberry picking on the 25th is a go. It'll be myself, Arwen, DTE and 77 in Kanagawa.

The ride home was suitably crowded for a Friday night but no particular problems of stepping into street monja or drunken salarymen.

I noticed when I got home that there was no fax from my school about any scheduled classes next week. Well, I guess I may be taking that as a hint of things to come...or not to come, as it were. I think if anyone had asked me earlier, I would've said that I was disappointed, but now as I think about it, I feel a bit more liberated. If they need me, they'll call me.

I sent in the final numbers for Party Hearty's big BBQ bash on Sunday. A couple of late cancellations but otherwise we've got a good number coming. I also got word from the mother of my two Saturday morning students. The older kid is off at school tomorrow so I'll probably have the mother in her stead. Whew! That'll save me some extra weight in books and the usual frustration of getting her to talk in more than a monotone. The mother is a much more outgoing sort.

Once I finish up with my kids, I'll be meeting up with Moomin and Chihiro at 5 for that tea. Looks like my weekend is set.

Thursday April 15, 11:18 p.m.

There is joy in this country tonight after the news that the 3 hostages have been released in Iraq. NHK and one other channel are providing live coverage. And the troops are still in Iraq. Whether this will bode well or ill remains to be seen.

My lessons at the Curry Master's place tonight went pretty well. From what was a pretty simple article for her, we were able to jump into a wide-ranging conversation going over terrible homestay experiences to crime in big cities to her phobia about cockroaches. The lesson with the SE also went ahead without a hitch but we could've used a tape with the book conversation which got me thinking about creating our own tape for him since it seems that the tape for the text doesn't exist anymore. And that led us to her long-defunct AIWA stereo system in which both her CD and tape recorder can't open. So the three of us set about seeing if we could rectify the situation. At first, we had assumed that the tape stuck in there was the cause of the problem but after wrenching open the casing, it turned out that it was a mechanical problem. SE was able to pull the tape out with some difficulty but it hadn't gummed up the capstans after all. SE pointed out in hindsight that the AIWA had a history of breaking down fairly soon.

The plans for the two parties upcoming are coming along. The party for Chip Guy has been slowly gaining attendees, and now I've been recruited for food duty early on Sunday. As for the party for the Ballerina, it looks like one of the ten has pulled out due to work.

I got word from SR that she has reconsidered about joining that class after I made some points to her. I'm certainly grateful but it did get me thinking about how long I should keep a class going. Some of my longer-living classes such as with the Tsudanuma ladies and the Monday morning folks have gone on for years since the ladies consider the classes as social events as well as venues to pick up their English. Therefore for them, I'm not too worried about how much longer I can take them. However, with some of the school alumni and the other privates I've picked up over the past year, those students are just there for the education. Once they get it, what then? I could imagine that the end could be pretty awkward, so I'm now thinking if I ever do pick up any more students I'll consider offering to tell them that I'll either give them 6 months to a year or some other sort of criteria to structure their lessons and then they can consider whether or not they want to continue or just cut things off. No awkwardness or hurt feelings. And I can then pick up those students who couldn't get into my time slots.

Well, just finish this blog and then write up the report for the classes tonight. Off to bed. Meanwhile on TV, most of the stations are now focusing full bore on the release of the hostages. The families of the 3 were shown celebrating. There i s joy in Mudville tonight.

Thursday April 15, 8:26 a.m.

A very ominous sign from Baghdad. One of the Italian hostages has been reported killed. I'm not sure of the circumstances leading up to his death, but this will really terrify the families of the kidnapped 3 here. I haven't seen any news of it on NHK; I'm just kinda wondering if it may be holding back the news in deference to the families. The station has "shaped" its programming in the past; when the abductees from North Korea returned to Japan 18 months ago, the station made sure its Tuesday night enka show featured all of the top stars from the early and mid 70s for the abductees to watch. In a nation in which doctors have often withheld terminal cancer diagnoses from their patients, I wouldn't be surprised if NHK decided to use the same tactic.

Well, it looks like Koizumi is actually putting the nation's money to work...finally. CNN just announced that the Japanese government will be investing the equivalent of 11.3 billion US dollars into foreign stocks starting from next April. That is, if Koizumi still has a job at that time.

I've got another cancellation. SR called in to say that she won't be able to make it for Friday because of work. It looks like her job in Hell got a lot worse during her trip to Hawaii. But, interestingly enough, she also asked this question about this school that she may be interested in signing up for English lessons. They would be daily and would involve some easy conversation stuff and they would be inexpensive. Being my usual paranoid self, I was just wondering if this were a very subtle sign in telling me that I'm no longer needed. I don't think I'm particularly high-priced myself, but if she could get these lessons for far less and far more frequently, I wouldn't be surprised if she did decide to fly the coop, as it were. Just like some of those doctors and NHK, she may state a translucent white lie like she's too busy to get out of my lessons. I hope she doesn't. I don't appreciate that tactic...I prefer her to just tell me openly. I'll certainly be disappointed but at least I would feel a lot better than if I were lied to. It may be the Japanese way, but it sure isn't mine, and the "When in Rome..." proverb can only go so far with me. My first two privates of my bohemian career pulled the same stunt with me, although I let that go since I wasn't too crazy about the circusmtances surrounding that class. However, I'm kinda wondering about the Hawaiian.

Well, now that I've gotten my rant across....another old student of mine, the Princess sent over a message asking if I would like to join her and Chihiro for tea on Saturday. Nothing too expensive since Chihiro is looking for a job. I gather that it'll be the Tea Room then.

Gotta get the wash up...make sure I don't have the lighter stuff on the outer line so as not to bother my downstairs neighbour again with falling shirts, and then I head out for my haircut.

Wednesday April 14, 10:34 p.m.

WOOWEE! Just calculated the budget for the past month. After seeing losses for the first couple of months this year, I actually made a good profit this month. Maybe I'll treat myself to something tomorrow.

The Office Lady called up at about noon to say that she had to cancel out of tonight's lesson due to a cold. So I ended up a with a midweek day off. I may have lost a chance to make 3000 yen but I'm glad that I didn't have to go (although the OL is a good student) since it would've meant a 90-minute round trip down to Toranomon for a 1-hour class in which I'm not even paid for transportation. I actually got a nap before heading out into the cold spritzing air to get some grub at the corner convenience store. With the extra time, I was able to get all that ironing done and even complete a very mundane action of filling out my address book.

With the 3 kidnapped Japanese people as yet to be released, the families of the 3 came out in front of the cameras once again....but this time to apologize. It was a very Japanese thing to do....the families told the press that they were sorry that their loved ones created so much worry among the population and then they bowed very deeply.

So far, the reviews on President Bush's press conference have been largely mixed. A lot of people did agree with me that G. W. hemmed and hawed and did more evading than Leona Helmsley and her tax returns. There were apparently those yahoos who sided wholeheartedly with the President and chastised those who were against him as unpatriotic. I kinda wonder if some of those folks have a large poster of Senator McCarthy in their living rooms.

On TV, the noon hour on TV Tokyo is served by The Adventures of Lois and Clark. I've watched snippets of it here and there as background noise or visual wallpaper; I think you can figure out what I think of it. The acting, the effects and the music just makes it look like a cheapo version of the movie series...or at least the first two movies since the last two movies with Christopher Reeve were pathetic. I actually went searching on the net for the website for the series. There doesn't seem to be any official site (not too surprising since the series ended almost 8 years ago), so I ended up going to Jump The Shark.com. It was an entertaining read, to say the least. Apparently, the majority of the folks have stated that the show jumped the shark after the first season, so perhaps I feel vindicated by watching the 4th season episode that I caught today.

The coordinator of the year-classes at my school sent me a message asking whether she should change the time of this welcome party on the 24th to meet my convenience. I told her that my dance card was full with my kids' classes and then the dinner for the Ballerina that night. In retrospect, I think the 24th would be a good day after all for the party since it will occur after the first week of classes. I'm not sure why the coordinator feels that she needs me that badly that she would break all convention and change the party time to the dinner hour. An old head teacher who never liked her once posited the theory that with an obliging Haruhiko at the party, she can avoid having to show up at the parties. That's not true at all since she had been present at previous welcome parties. Well, in any case, I hope she can scrounge up the teachers to show up for the party. It's not as if I don't want to go, and certainly, I can think of more enjoyable things than teachng one of those kids but I made a business commitment and I intend to stick to it. Perhaps with so many veteran teachers like the Rapper and the Songbird flying the coop recently, she's a bit desperate for some old hands to be present. Well, there's always the Movie Buddy.

As for tomorrow, I've got my bimonthly appointment with the hair salon. Yeah, yeah, I know...I said salon. My ex introduced it to me early in our erstwhile relationship since her scuba diving buddy was running it so I abandoned my old barber shop of 7 years to satsify my girl's wishes. Having said that, the salon has been very good to me for the past 2.5 years. A hair salon, unlike my old barber shop, has a policy of not giving shaves. However, I do enjoy the scalp massages and shampoos.

Then, I'll probably head over to Maruzen to see if I can get some tapes for the SE for tomorrow night's class. I could stay here at home again for most of the day, but I figure I should get out for some exercise.

Just saw Senator "Mauler" Kerrey gouge into CIA Director Tenet about 9/11. At certain times, Tenet looked like he was gonna explode and at others, he looked bewildered at this "Good Cop, Bad Cop" approach writ large the commisssion is susing thanks to the very bipartisan makeup. After Kerrey the Democrat finished up, Lehman the Republican has now just given the most wonderful platitudes to him. Whatever one thinks of American politics, it's never boring.

Wednesday April 14, 10:13 a.m.

Currently watching one of President Bush's rare press conferences. It' s been a pretty mixed bag, so far. He has been doing his usual hemming and hawing along with the occasional slip-up that the "Bushisms" book people thank god for (Rumsfeld is a co-secretary of state? Who knew? ...."I wouldn't be happy if I were occupied?" Huh?).

He also seems to be falling back on adages that have been used in the media in the past few weeks. The press has been striking at him fairly hard for what's been happening in Iraq recently, especially in the last couple of weeks, and for good reason. His 18-minute opening statement has given no particularly specific plan about how the States will bring things under control...in fact, he didn't even concede that things have been spiraling out of control.

Having said that, he has shone in all-too-brief moments when he's gotten angry or passionate about the answer for that question. But those could be explained away since he's briefed about possible or probable questions beforehand anyways. John Dickerson of TIME threw him a curve ball just now for which the Prez looked distinctly peeved. However, that journalistic grenade did reveal a bit about how Bush reacts...not too well; he even just conceded that he's not too quick on his feet in such situations. It wasn't quite cringe-inducing but I'm sure he wasn't too comfortable. And I'm kinda wondering if the Press Secretary will give Dickerson a red card for his transgression.

On a lighter and more wistful note, it was a revelation to see John Roberts of CBS News popping up and soberly throwing Bush a question. I remember him as J.D. Roberts, rock n' roll reporter of The New Music, a then-cutting-edge TV documentary show from then-cutting-edge CITY-TV in Toronto. His fashion back then was suitably a leather jacket, jeans, a near-mullet and a smirk. Now, he stands up at the press conference in a full Congressional suit and anchorman-gray hair. Man, how fast a quarter-century can fly by.

Tuesday April 13, 10:24 p.m.

Amazing....it felt like early summer yesterday but it feels like early winter tonight. I'm sure that there are a lot of immune systems crying "Uncle!" right now. We're supposed to get rained on as well for most of tomorrow.

Well, my message to my downstairs neighbour got a prompt and neat reply...just the one I like. When I got back home tonight from the juku, there was the bag with my UNIQLO shirt right by my door. I just wonder if I should get him a little reward, but then again, it is just a shirt, and it's not as if any of us in the building are particularly neighbourly to each other. I don't think any of us have any contact with the others.

The classes tonight were cut-and-dry as usual. The one student in my second class was griping again about using the textbook that is supposedly too easy for her. And I once again proved her in the lesson that she has yet to master some of the grammar that we did today. I figured that she just gets that way whenever a lesson bored her (like last week).

The coordinator from my school finally sent me a response about this welcome party. She gave a fairly surprising response that the program attracted the lowest number of new recruits ever...just 26 new faces, as compared to 40-45 new students in previous years. I can't say that I'm totally surprised, though. With the number of English conversation schools littering Tokyo and the high prices, it's going to be tough to get students. Also, a part of the success of such a school is word-of-mouth, and frankly speaking, I can't say that my school would have a great reputation. Not to slag on most of the teachers, though; a lot of them are decent folks who really try to put through an education to them. However, I think the aftercare and the peripherals such as textbooks have been pretty substandard for as long as I remember. I mean, the main text for the students have simple drawings of folks in bell-bottoms and afros...that's how old it is. The low turnout will also hurt me. Fewer students will mean fewer classes for teachers to teach. I may actually have to fill up my Tuesdays and Thursdays if I don't get any more classes from them.

As for the welcome party, I found it rather bizarre that the coordinator decided to make it for the next Saturday. She had usually set it far into May just in case new stragglers came into the school. In any case, I told her that I couldn't make it because of my kids and the fact that I have that dinner for the Ballerina that night. Well, no use crying over spilt milk.

That new Pet Shop Boys video looks rather intriguing with its Japanese pop culture theme. In fact, I think the Boys make a pretty humourous stab at the commercial industry here with its silly images and funky kanji. I never expected the song "Flamboyant", though, to actually cover how a lowly salaryman goes from a zero to a hero by entering this contest that actually exists on Japanese TV.

While I was blogging, I ended up chatting for an hour with Movie Buddy. It had been a few weeks since I spoke with him last. Both he and I were commiserating about the state of our school after I had told him about the low recruitment rate. He also believes that I probably won't be seeing too much of the school anymore. If that's indeed the case, I will really then consider opening those last two weekly slots for new students. It's a pity in a way, though. I really did enjoy teaching those classes for the past 5 years. But life is transition. At the same time, MB told me that The Rapper has also pulled out of things. Again, I can't say that I'm surprised. MB himself almost ended up on the streets when contract negotiations broke down at one point a couple of weeks ago.

Tuesday April 13, 10:43 p.m.

Back to cold windy weather again. Those winds are just blowing like gales out there. In fact, my UNIQLO shirt was a casualty. It got blown down to the second floor balcony, so I had to exercise my Kanji writing muscles and pen a memo for the fellow downstairs. I tried to make it easy for him and myself by just asking him to put the shirt ina bag provided for him and just place it in my mailbox. No muss, no fuss and no contact.

Party Hearty finally got back into the e-mail swing of things in a most timely way since she's providing the pad for Chip Guy's farewell this Sunday. Not surprisingly, there'll be tons of food. I'm good with that.

I got word back from the Anime King. It looks like the poor guy suffered the flight from Hell with delays and rebookings. However, he is now back in one piece in Toronto. I hear the gang back home will be taking him out for a nice juicy steak dinner. He deserves it.

Well, gotta get working on those lesson plans, although I only have 2 hours tonight. Then, I gotta get some lunch, and then maybe I can actually get some ironing done. I've got a good pile of wrinkled clothing on one sofa.

Monday April 12, 11:45 p.m.

It felt more like early summer today. The mercury went up to 26 C. But my best personal barometer was the fact that I was feeling pretty grungy by the time I got home tonight. I went straight into the shower. Luckily, things will be a good deal cooler tomorrow.

It was a good day for walking though. Certainly, a lot of the fashion freaks were out in Shibuya today. I saw a few unnaturally tanned young folk in day-glo colours and bleached blonde hair. We had a tragic fashion trend a couple of years ago called GANGURO and YAMAMBA which these folks were emulating today. The latter especially looked like photo negatives. I hope that today's sightings were more of a woeful aberration than a return to turn-of-the-century form.

My classes went pretty smoothly. Afterwards, the Prez once again treated me to yet another one of his local haunts. This time, he took me a bit further out into Yoyogi to an izakaya called Uogashi. Great food....I stuffed myself almost to the point of attaining first victim status in SEVEN. The place also got a write up in the Washington Post for its home cooking. The owner said that since the article's release, there have been a few foreign guests coming into the izakaya. A bit hard to imagine since the place seems so Japanese, but the article did say that the ownership was friendly, and they were indeed that tonight.

No news about the 3 hostages. I just don't know about that.

A Waseda University professor got nailed in Shinagawa Station for trying to peek up a high school student's skirt using a well-placed hand mirror. Gah! A once-popular celeb was caught doing the same thing. He and his career plummeted into oblivion.

I was thinking about doing some ironing before I hit the hay but I've decided to just jump into bed immediately after my blog. I'll probably have more energy next morning. As for right now, it seems to be devoted to digestion.

Monday April 12, 7:13 a.m.

UGH! I went through pollen hell yesterday with my nose and eyes running like a river during Spring Thaw. Neither the air cleaner nor the medicine helped out since I decided to wait too long before relinquishing to the pills. I took another batch this morning and it feels like it's kicking in.

I was able to enjoy...between grabs of Kleenex, that is...the DVD of "Intolerable Cruelty". It was another Arwen loaner thereby bypassing the much more expensive theater route. The Coen Bros. once again pulled off another fine homage to screwball comedies. The banter amongst the cast was quick and witty...a challenge for even advanced English students. And George Clooney couldn't have looked suaver...even in Ocean's Eleven. It's rather interesting that he and Cary Grant have the same initials...reversed...cue the Twilight Zone theme.

The big news has been the fate of those 3 kidnapped Japanese in Iraq. Spirits were considerably buoyed yesterday at the news that the three would be released. However, it's now been more than 24 hours since that announcement and there has been no further news. I cannot imagine what the families must be going through. A couple of representatives from those families looked on the verge of emotional and physical collapse at a news conference.

There was some non-baseball sporting news on the tube with the national judo championships yesterday. Japan's own homely darling, Ryoko Tani (nee Tamura), alias Yawara-chan, clinched her berth at the Olympics. I think everyone still remembers the moment when she won the gold in Sydney 4 years ago. Not a dry house in the country. However, my respect for her fell a few points with that ludricously cheesy televised wedding reception she had with her baseball beau. Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair, though, since major sports celebs HAVE TO have their weddings made public.

Well, I'm still waiting for my birth certificate to come in from Thunder Bay. With 70,000 applications clogging up the works there, it's not surprisng that I've been waiting more than 4 months. Having said that, I'm gonna be sending a letter today to see if my application even got there. As I was telling Mom yesterday, there's nothing to do but wait.

It looks like it'll be another fairly quiet week. I'll be loaded today and Friday but the middle section will be sparse in classes.

Saturday April 10, 11:05 p.m.

Well, the Anime King left this morning. I helped him lug one of his bags up to the subway station and then saw him off. Then I treated myself to a McD's breakfast before heading out for the kids. I had some vain wishes that the older sister at the first house would gain the desire to speak but such was not the case. She was her usual sullen self. My best kid in the afternoon seemed pretty tired after a bout of swimming.

Last night, I took Arwen and Ms. 77 down to the Ginza to meet up with the Anime King and his associate, the Exporter, for dinner. I rather wondered how the combination of my two worlds of English teaching and university buddydom would mesh. But I needn't have worried. Everyone got along swimmingly. AK had mentioned the Exporter for years but last night was the first time for me to meet him. He and I are the same age, and he's quite personable. He's been shipping Japanese pop culture goods to the Americas for a number of years now. Arwen and AK especially hit it off quite well since Arwen is also of AK's world by association.

We ended up going to Ten-Kuni, a reasonable tempura place in the Ginza just across from where the Farm Grill used to be. We were a bit surprised when the maitre 'd pegged me immediately for a foreigner although I was a stealth gaijin. He just merely shrugged his shoulders and said that after 40 years working there, he could pick out foreigners just like that.

Arwen's hubby, Aragorn, actually showed up after dinner since he was working close by. He's also quite a good guy and I was also amazed that both he and the Exporter were just as willing to converse in English with each other. The Exporter made the same remarks as well.
I think the two guys would've made good students at the school.

Well, now that the King has left, I've got my bedroom back so I can save myself the backaches. However, I do think I'll be doing my fair share of cleanup tomorrow. Luckily, I don't have anything slated for Sunday, although I did get a message from Movie Buddy for the first time in a couple of weeks. He may have wanted to come over here to watch a DVD, but I rather preferred to just be by myself tonight so I haven't responded back yet

I caught the new, improved and much darker version of Battlestar Galactica thanks to my buddy's videotape. Let's say that it isn't my youth's Battlestar Galactica with the repeated effects shots, droning Cylon voices and mullets. I could compare the two versions like comparing Frank Miller's Dark Knight to the Adam West Batman. Everyone in the newer version comes off with a deeper, more complex and not as nice personality which makes for a lot of tension amongst the characters. Plus, they have thrown in an X-Files-like twist ending, to boot. I'm not really sure if it will be picked up since I've got the feeling that viewers are now kinda burned out on the sci-fi TV after 15 years of Star Trek and Babylon 5.

Thursday April 8, 12:46 p.m.

Another lazy day today. I just have that one class at the juku. I checked my e-mail. There was no cancellation notice from the juku owner so I assume that I'm on. Not much to plan anyways. The Anime King and I didn't get up all that early this mornng. He took off about an hour ago to meet up with his associate, K-Books, in Akihabara.

It looks like I have two attendance lists to mind over the next couple of weeks. There's that party for the Ballerina. The Rapper is the latest one to join the group. Then there's the going away party for the Chip Guy. I've received 5 positive responses for that get-together. That brings the grand total to 10 already. I'm just wondering how all of us are going to squeeze into the place.

My nose is acting up again so I've activated the air cleaner. The Anime King has declined The Iconoclast's request to take it back to Toronto due to its size...something that I don't mind considering my allergies.

Wednesday April 7, 9:49 p.m.

I had my biweekly Wednesday morning student for the first time in about a month since she was off in Hokkaido for a few days on a scheduled lesson day. The Stylist is not a super gabby person but she does like to talk. The problem is that her structure threatens to fall off the track.

Afterwards, I decided to visit Odaiba for the first time in a few months. I went over to the Sunset Beach restaurant which has a decent lunch buffet. A lot of pasta, meat and salad. I basically engorged myself. Ironic, since the Stylist advised me about eating less and exercising more. My actions at the restaurant illustrated how little I like to listen to authority. However, I did follow up my binge with over 2 hours of solid walking through the area including three malls and Fuji-TV. I noticed that there was still some solid construction going on near the main Tokyo Big Sight convention centre. There's even a gated area near the TBS which consists of a chapel and classic-looking buildings for weddings. After my walkabout, I got on the Yurikamome train at the end stop so I was able to sit in the front seat and snoozed during the 30-minute ride back to Shimbashi at the other end of the line.

I had another 20-minute walk from Shimbashi to Toranomon where I had the Office Lady. She's been rather busy with the accounting so she's been hoping for a holiday soon. Speaking of holidays, I'm now thinking about heading out to Hokkaido a week after the Golden Week holidays. I've been wondering about taking the famed Cassiopeia Express from Tokyo to Sapporo. It's about as close to the Orient Express as it can get here, and apparently the prices approzimate its more famous counterpart as well. But I figure that if I let the prices scare me, I'll never be able to make the trip, and I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Now that I'm back home, I received a message from the Anime King not to wait up for him for dinner. I'm thinking about seeing if we can do some lunch or an early dinner tomorrow since he'll be taking off on Saturday.

Wednesday April 7, 12:42 a.m.

This must be a weird week. First, it was the crazy lady in Shinjuku Station, then the rude geezer at Pepper Lunch, and now coming back from work tonight, it was the fighting couple on the subway platform. A small woman was chewing out her boyfriend about something in what was a textbook spat. The woman was doing most of the yelling while the man was alternately muttering or doing a slow burn. I knew what was going to happen next...the man then slightly exploded at her as a pheonmenon known in Japanese as "gyaku-kire" or counter-blowup. Then he went back to his sullen self while the woman continued to admonish him. I would've loved to have seen what happened next but the train arrived. It's been several months since I'd seen a couple arguing in public outside of the battles that my ex and I had. I can only imagine what's going to happen the next day.

The classes at the juku went pretty normally. The juku owner was back to her ebullient self, especially since she found her second wind and proclaimed that she would be taking the juku into a new direction by next year by moving the place to Shin-Urayasu and expanding it into a full-fledged school. I wish her the best of luck. Certainly, my fortunes would be tied into anything that she would do.

Well, I got back home from the spat to see that Anime King had arrived here over an hour ago. It was good that we could talk so that some of the tension could drain away from me. It was also nice to see the music channel on SkyPerfect play some of those old J-Pop songs from my childhood. Got me into a better frame of mind.

Apparently, Doctor Who is back...or will be back...on BBC. I remember watching the good Doctor and his adventures on TV Ontario and PBS back home as a die-hard fan of the series years ago. The stories were quite good in the prime Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker years. The new Doctor is supposed to be played by some fellow named Eccleston. I just hope that the effects are much more improved. I think I'm a bit too old now to accept the gold spray-painted styrofaom ball as a rotating planet anymore.

Tuesday April 6, 12:21 p.m.

Another lovely day outside. Another old boor to observe. I had just gotten my rubdown at the quick massage clinic when I decided to have lunch at Pepper Lunch, that mix between fast food restaurant and grill. An old fogey sat two seats away from me. He wasn't openly antagonistic but he just alternately muttered or growled his order to the waitress. Plus, he ignored her when she asked if he needed anything else. Man, are a lot of these Japanese men genetically predisposed to become jerks as they age? The current generation of young punks aren't exactly my cup of tea either but at least they are sullenly polite.

I have yet to hear from the Anime King since he left his message on Sunday night. As far as I know, he's coming back here for the rest of his stay. He's got the spare key and a map to the apartment, so I'm not particularly worried about him.

Well, I've got a few hours before heading out to the juku so I might as well enjoy the afternoon and listen to some CDs and do crosswords.

Monday April 5, 10:09 p.m.

I was on my way home through Shinjuku Station when this woman several metres out in front was screaming epithets into her cellphone, and screaming at the cops who looked her way. Obviously, she wasn't exactly playing with a full deck but trailing behind her, but I just felt like smashing her face in with my fist. There have been a number of these very angry half-sociopaths walking through the streets of Tokyo recently, and they've certainly raised my blood pressure lately. On the subway home, a typical middle-aged geezer was sitting next to me just huffing his stink breath. I was getting some rather nasty thoughts about him, but it was also possible that he may have had a pretty bad end to his day. However, I'm starting to wonder if it is time that I took a REAL vacation, and not just spend my days off at home. Otherwise, I may end up becoming one of the walking insane.

My day was otherwise OK. I had a full slate today with three classes. I thought I had a pretty good chance to meet up with the Anime King tonight after class since he was planning to call up the President for dinner. However, I found out that the Prez was off on business in Shikoku, so obviously no dinner.

Well, tomorrow, I'll have nothing until my juku classes so hopefully I'll be able to rest up adequately although I plan to get a rubdown in the morning.

Sunday April 4, 9:48 p.m.

Cold and wet as a dog's nose today. Unbelievable this season! I'm still suspecting that we'll get a few flurries tonight.

I had my dinner today with those juku students at that hidden restaurant in the wilds of Tsudanuma, Takimoto. I got to the platform of my station at 3:55 p.m. and ended up having to wait 20 minutes. Women...well, at least I was graceful about it.

Man, if anyone from home ever comes to my neck of the woods, I really have to take them to Takimoto. The place is truly a culinary gem out here in the burbs. I was a bit concerned about the Zen-like map but it was a lot easier than expected to find the place. And then, I had wondered about the course we had selected. It was the cheapest one at 4,000 yen per person so I thought that we weren't going to get that much. I was absolutely wrong. We got a ton of dishes consisting of sashimi, tempura, shellfish, etc so that we were actually stuffed by the end. The ladies were also impressed by our little room, incidentally, the same room that my Tsudanuma students and I had when I first went there. All in all, we were a very satisfied group. No wonder there was a month-long waiting list.

Shivering on the way back home, I invited the ladies to come up to my apartment for a bit of coffee. We picked up some dessert from the local convenience store. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to clean up a bit before I left the apartment. We looked through the satellite TV, and I made Chai. One lady enjoyed it while the other one wasn't too big on spices so she couldn't really complete the cup. Still, it was nice to entertain company.

Well, back to the mundaneness of prepping for lessons tomorrow. The Anime King may be calling up the Iconoclast's old boss to have dinner then since he knows that I 'll be teaching class at the company on the same day.

Sunday April 4, 12:15 a.m.

I went down to Shibuya again to meet up with Chip Guy. He was to meet me in front of the gigantic Starbucks across from Shibuya Station, so I just hung around in the neighbouring Tsutaya, the Japanese equivalent to Blockbuster Video in the States. The tunes of HIkaru Utada were playing everywhere like a ghostly presence since the young lady hasn't released anything new for over a year...an eternity in the J-Pop business. Her album of all of her singles was released about 10 days ago, and unsurprisingly, is a best seller. I'm kinda wondering if I should pick it up myself but I think I've got all of her best stuff in her first two albums and one really good single. Also, Matrix Revolutions was playing on the screens. For some reason, the movie has been released a few days here before its release Stateside.

I met up with Chip Guy and our destination this time was the restaurant Toriyoshi just up the street in Dogenzaka. It's theme is chicken but is a few grades above the KFC variety. It was the just of two of us so we gabbed on Star Wars, superhero movies and all of the other manly stuff. I figure that I might be meeting CG quite a few more times in the next few weeks since his departure from Tokyo is fast approaching. It'll be several months at least before I see him again, I gather.

We picked up some dessert at the local Cozy Corner and then went back to his place. His wife was busy puttering about on the laptop while CG and I watched Matrix Reloaded. After my diatribe from last year, my opinion still hasn't changed. However, I am slowly starting to comprehend The Architect's lecture to Neo.

The long ride home on the subway was fairly uneventful although on the Tozai Line, I was seated next to an old fogey who had obviously been drinking according to his stinky cigarette-and-booze breath. He was muttering garbage. Although I won't ever touch the cancer sticks, I still kinda wonder if I'll end up like that if I stay here way too long. I was telling Chip Guy tonight that I'd never retire from teaching. I'd probably end up dead soon after. You can ask the late Alistair Cooke.

Saturday April 3, 12:13 p.m.

Another grand day in the Big Sushi! The temps are perfect and the sky is cleas. There should be tons of people in the city parks getting soused and generally making asses of themselves tonight. Hail Cherry Blossom Viewing.

Well, I went off to pick up the Anime King at Narita yesterday after a major clean sweep of the apartment. His plane actually arrived well ahead of schedule but I still waited for 45 minutes until he popped through the custom gates. It looks like he had a very interesting experience with one comely Customs officer. He was carrying some vacuum-packed packages which were teabags of high quality. Not taking chances, the officer had it X-rayed by a colleague, and then she asked AK politely with a hint of trepidation if he would submit to a body search (no cavities, though). He didn't need to think twice about that one!

On getting back home, we just crashed for about an hour before we hit the neighbourhood ramen shop. The place was absolutely empty...not a good sign for a Friday night, although one other couple entered later. However, with the taste of the food and the Anne Murray tribute playing in the background, I wondered if I were back in a Toronto Chinese eatery. There was no doubt where the Chinese management's layalties lied....there were pictures of Chairman Mao everywhere.

Afterwards, we bought some desserts and breakfast stuff at the AM/PM nearby and just chatted for a few hours before we hit bed. The Anime King took off this morning to traipse through Ueno Park and then meet up with an old associate of his in Nakano...most likely to mull through the huge MANDARAKE manga/anime emporium there. With the whole place taking up 4 stories, they should be there for a while. However, he also has to meet up with another buddy of his who'll be arriving at the Hilton tonight. The two of them will be staying at the Iconoclast's place for the next few days until the other guy takes off for home on Tuesday. Then, AK is back here.

Just when I was getting out of the shower, the mother for that kid I teach on Saturday afternoons called up to cancel the lesson for today. No complaints here. So instead of riding the train and getting some games ready, I am just enjoying blogging, e-mailing and doing some more domestic stuff.

CNN's Anderson Cooper, cable's equivalent of David Letterman, is obsessing about that Japanese Naval Self-Defense recruitment commercial where young thin sailors are prancing about on the bow of a destroyer yelling SEAMANSHIP. It's apparently become a regular Friday rite of celebration on his show. My thoughts about it? It's plain gay...the Village People should be getting royalties.

Friday April 2, 9:15 a.m.

It rained steadily throughout the night but it's stopped now. Still overcast, though. However, things should improve by afternoon.

I finally got the name of the airline. The weird flight number belongs to Japan Air Systems. The Anime King comes in on schedule at Terminal 2. But I've gotta get the place all cleaned up beforehand. We'll probably grab some ramen but I'm afraid he'll be on his own for the weekend since I've got those events to deal with. Perhaps on Monday after my company class, I can meet up with him for dinner.

Thursday April 1, 10:01 p.m.

Second consecutive good weather day...saints preserve us!

I aired out the mattresses this morning just in case a third day of good weather is too good to hope for. The new lamp is working out well...it's really nice to have that soft warm glow of an incandescent bulb. Before I hit the hay, I have to set up the bedroom to look half-decent for my guest. I'll probably be sleeping on the sofa from tonight. My back will be yelling revenge.

The hay fever got me good today. Up to this point, I thought it was giving me a break this year but the pollen must've been out in full force because I was sneezing up a storm during the walk from home to the subway station. I had to buy some medicine at the drug store across from the subway entrance. Of course, I did the idiotic thing when I took some of it on the platform. I had the medicine bottle cap to hold the three pills while I had the open bottle in my other hand. When I proceeded to swallow the pills by upending the cap into my mouth, my right hand decided to follow suit, and with gravity being its usual dependable self, all of the pills fell onto the platform. To add insult to injury, the train was just coming into the station. I had to hustle while using every profanity in the English book to pick up every last pill. But thanks to some superhuman speed, I managed to pick up all but five or 1.333 doses.

Of course, the pills took their sweet time to kick in, so for the first half hour of my lesson with Arwen and Ms. 77, I had to keep a pretty ragged tissue nearby . Not very conducive to good teaching. However, the students were very maganimous to my suffering. It was the first time in a few weeks to have both women together. We ended up going a full 90 minutes over time.

Then it was off to Myoden to teach the Curry Master and the SE. I had a full hour before the class started so I spent part of my time at the Golden Arches. No, not a healthy way to go but it wasn't as if I had much choice in the matter. The station mall has a lack of good places to eat. Mind you, it looked like a new place opened up since there was a CHINDOYA band there playing. A Chindoya band is a trio consisting of a bass drummer, a saxophonist and an announcer which loudly proclaims the opening of a new store or restaurant. It harks back about a century. And the folks dress up in a mix of kimonos and some clown-like clothing, anything to get attention.

Speaking of new, the Eidan Subway System ceased to be (at least in name) after 50 years of operation. From today, it became Tokyo Metro. The changes are purely cosmetic; aside from the name change, the signs and staff uniforms changed colour scheme. But the weird innovation was this letter-number code that's being applied to each station. I guess all this is for the foreigners coming into Tokyo to make it easier to ride the subway.

Well, tomorrow, it'll be another day off but it won't be a quiet day. I have to clean up the rest of the apartment for the Anime King. I'm still awaiting word from him via The Iconoclast about where he'll be coming out at Narita. I absolutely refuse to run around there looking for his arrival gate.

Thursday April 1, 1:03 a.m.

Another long, long day. And I feel properly prepared for bed. I was in full UNIQLO garb to tackle the lovely weather out there. First I met up with my ex for lunch in Shimbashi. Once again, we went to that "secret" tonkatsu place near her workplace. We got there at 11:55 a.m., just five minutes before the lunch crowd tried to rush into the few seats that were available. The pork is of excellent quality...no fatty deposits in the entire piece which is a big weak spot for some of the supermarket variety of breaded pork cutlet.

After lunch, we had about 20 minutes left in her lunch break so we just chatted quietly outside her company. It looks like she has come to a time of stability in her life, something that I wasn't too certain about when the two of us were an item. Part of it was me. I have never been an optimistic person, and some of my more dour periods affected even her natural exuberance. She was still thinking I was in one of my dour states today which I wasn't. I guess it was good that we broke up.

For about several hours after that, I was in shopping mode. First off, it was to the bookstore Maruzen in Nihombashi where I got some stuff for a couple of students. And then, I bought some shower curtains and a lamp as part of my home improvements. I tried to keep things low in the money department, but this week's budget tally will be considerably larger.

Then, after a long browse through Shibuya HMV, I met up with Chip Guy and a couple of his former MBA classmates at the Maple Leaf, that Canadian pub I had mentioned several weeks ago. There was a mural with tree sections, snowshoes and skates draped on it but aside from the Canadian owners, it didn't really strike me as a particularly Canadian pub. It just struck me as your usual sports bar. There was plenty of space, and the hamburgers and fries were surprisingly good; the burgers were especially juicy. I was especially surprised by the spiciness of the chicken wings. I don't think I've tasted wings that fiery since my Toronto days at the Madison Ave. Pub. The service was competent but a bit overattentive on the part of one guy. I wasn't ever sure if he were a waiter or one of the owners. He seemed more host-like. It was nice that he was concerned about our welfare but he could have spaced out his checks on us a bit wider. Still, I think the place merits a visit by me and some of the students someday. I do have one suggestion, though. Get some NHL games! We weren't particularly interested in watching the Japan vs. Singapore qualifying soccer game.

I got back home to find out via e-mail that the kid I was helping for his working-holiday odyssey in Canada has arrived safely and is now living with his host family in Acton, Ontario. Of course, the language barrier is a bit formidable for him right now, but I assured him that the wall will come down gradually.

Well, tomorrow....sorry, today...I have three classes to teach. But I have to pick up my blankets first and then air out the mattresses in the first stage of preparation for welcoming the Anime King. I'm still waiting for him to inform me about which terminal he'll be arriving at.

Tuesday March 30, 10:28 p.m.

The rains burst forth about 6 p.m. and they've been doing a pretty good recreation of the Noah's Ark controversy. My feet are still wet under my socks so I'm risking athlete's foot here but I'll try and get this blog ging done first.

The juku classes went smoothly. As usual, during the 45 minutes before the first class, the juku owner engaged me in conversation for all of that time. She remarked that I had the voice for radio and wondered why I hadn't gone that route. I told her that I had always harboured a miniscule thought about what it would be like to be behind a mike. She encouraged me to try out for NHK; I was polite about it but I had to think about how remote that opportunity would be. Plus, at this point, I simply don't have the time.

My first class with the ladies was another laughfest. Half of it was spent planning for that dinner on Sunday. I'm just wondering how we're gonna try to get to this place which is hidden in a neighbourhood; the map sure doesn't help.

The second class went well enough. However, there was a bit of an incident outside the juku involving another one of those hothead boor drivers honking and then yelling at a driver of a blue van which was blocking half of the street. At first, I thought the van was the one owned by one of my students since I remember being driven by him once in a similar vehicle. Luckily, it turned out to be a different person. My student isn't exactly one of the more intimidating types. By the time, I left though all the tension and the two cars had gone.

That tragic accident involving that kid at Roppongi Hills on Friday has grown into a full media incident. Policemen filed into the Sanwa Tajima Corporation, the manufacturer of the revolving door which killed the boy, and brought out boxes of information as if they were raiding the company for tax evasion. It may be getting a bit ugly, too. Sanwa Tajima and one other company involved in the door's production have started pointed fingers at each other. Also, the mass media have done the usual dogpile on the story by suddenly coming up with previous incidents involving revolving doors all the way back to 1997, and there were quite a few. I can't be sure if any other station had actually tried to expose the dangers of revolving doors before since I don't watch all that much Japanese TV anymore, but it galls me a bit that it takes a death of a young boy to start these folks talking about a problem which should've been easily fixed yeass ago. But I figure it's just part of the culture here....don't make waves unless absolutely necessary.

Well, in other news, the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays started their season at Tokyo Dome tonight. Of course, since Hideki Matsui is a Yankee, the crowd treated his team as the home team. Too bad that the Rays handed the Yanks' asses back to them.

It looks like the sun will be back tomorrow according to NHK. Thank heavens for that, although my sneakers will need to dry out for a considerably longer time. Maybe some of those company folks will be heading out for cherry blossom viewing.

Tuesday March 30, 12:11 p.m.

It didn't feels more like a Sunday than a Tuesday. I'm still in my PJs doing e-mail and blogging. It looks overcast but I have yet to see any of the rain that the weatherguys have been threatening. Perhaps within an hour, I'll head on over to the store and see what I can find for a lamp and an extra CD rack. I had gone over to the LOFT in Shibuya, a fairly upscale household goods store. Upscale in price as well. Then, I've got either 2 or 3 hours worth of classes at the juku tonight.

I think with the possible exception of Thursday, the rest of the week ought to be called Sunday. I've got nothing slated for tomorrow or Friday and Saturday ought to be just that one kid again. I'm not sure about any dinner plans with the Anime King as yet.

The Iconoclast called up from Hong Kong just now asking me about his friend who's some sort of education consultant. Apparently, he wants to talk to me about some business opportunities. Enh...the Iconclast has given him my number so he'll probably be calling me up sometime tonight, but I'll probably be just polite and hear him out. I'm not much for business. I did relay a message to him to get to the Anime King in Taiwan about my need to find out his airline. It'd be a pain to have to run between two terminals just to find out where he'll be exiting customs from.

Monday March 29, 9:38 p.m.

It was another nice day in the big city. We got up to about 22 C. However, we'll probably be getting showers tomorrow...still pretty balmy, though.

My first class with the ladies was chatty as usual. We went over one of the ladies' trip to New Orleans in May, so I threw in some dishes to try out like Blackened Catfish and Jambalaya, Plus, I mentioned a couple of chefs' names such as Paul Prudhomme and the ubiquitious Emeril Lagasse. I'm not a huge fan of the latter just because he's just a bit too over the top for my liking. The lady also had two complementary tickets for a game between the Mets and the Cubs. I would've loved to have gone if she had just thrown in the airfare and hotel costs in New York.

Well, my miscellaneous expenditures will definitely be showing a bit more of a spike this week. I purchased a couple of slacks which actually fit me for a bargain price at the UNIQLO. I used to have pay more than twice as much at Eddie Bauer. Plus, I also indulged myself and got the latest PREMIERE issue and that Junior Senior CD.

After my company class, I decided to hit Foo Foo after a couple of weeks' absence. It wasn't very busy tonight. I think at one point it was just myself and one other salaryman. The ramen was a bit spicier than usual but I managed to refrain from sweating all over the counter.

Chip Guy and his wife were persuading me about the speedy wonders of ASDL last night on the way back from The Monsoon Cafe. I checked out my provider after I'd gotten back home. It seems that I need to get a LAN board. However, CG surprised me with the news that I should actually upgrade from my hoary desktop to a notebook; the latter is actually getting cheaper than the former. Exqueeze me?! Still, it would be another big dent in the miscellaneous column so I'll have to think about that one.

Speaking of the Monsoon, I mentioned to the ladies today that I had gone there the night before. The richer of the two got that pained expression on her face whenever she hears of a place that didn't meet her standards of culinary excellence. No offense taken, of course. However, I had to wonder if living the life of Riley so long has ironically put her into a culinary siege mentality. I mean, it's fine that she has developed a palate for the finer things in life but I think sometimes being so choosy tends to restrict one's enjoyment of food. Certainly most restaurants will not or cannot strive to achieve such levels and keep the largest customer base.

I've yet to hear from Party Hearty's friend about those people I have to contact for the housewarming party on the 18th. However, it looks like that get-together for the Ballerina on the weekend of the 24th is starting to gain some steam. I've gotten a few responses from people.

Still gotta do some domestic chores before I hit bed. Luckily, I'm pretty much off tomorrow aside from two hours at the juku.

Monday March 29, 12:20 a.m.

It was probably the most gorgeous day on Sunday. The weather was somewhere between warm and cool with plenty of sun. Perhaps Spring has finally arrived after a tumultuous end to Winter. I will still take a wait-and-see attitude for the rest of this week.

In the afternoon, I went off to see Chip Guy and the family. His little daughter is starting to stand on her tiptoes with the help of the coffee table. She's also grabbing her leg and stretching it. The two of us believe that she may have a future in ballet. We spent an hour or so looking at the DVD of "Freddy vs. Jason". My, how the mighty have fallen. The movie doesn't even pretend to be a horror movie anymore. Just bad acting and unconvincing gore before the main event. The war casualties in Iraq are far more gruesome than what transpired in this movie.

After getting through that unintentional laughfest, Chip Guy, his daughter and I went off to The Monsoon Cafe near his home where we spent several hours on the patio having Asian cuisine and coladas. His wife joined us about an hour later, and then we were joined by an old friend, Party Hearty, and a couple of others. PH recently moved into the tonier district of Ebisu from her old place in the suburbs of Edogawa Ward near my home, so she's now planning to have a joint housewarming and farewell party for the Chip Guy later next month. It would seem that I have been put into the position of harbinger for the party since PH currently doesn't have any e-mail capability. She apparently doesn't realize that I'm not exactly one of the core members of her august group of friends. Ah well, anything to help out a friend.

CG's girl was starting to get a bit cranky so we finally broke it up,a nd the family and I went back to his place for another hour of coffee and the baseball game between the Yankees and the Tokyo Giants. It was a no-brainer....the Yankees handily defeated the Giants. As if either the Yankees or the Giants are going to risk injuring anyone in a cross-cultural game.

Because of the impending move back to the homeland, Chip Guy's living room has started to look a bit less lived-in. He gave me a ton of Playstation 1 games...not as if I really play them anymore but if I do end up with a whole lot of time on my hands... His wife also gave me three bottles of Alberto Styling Mousse since they have the rather annoying tendency to blow up on planes.

I'll be meeting the Chip Guy again midweek at the new Canadian pub in Shibuya. He stands by the hamburgers there although he concedes that the place needs some more seasoning. I'll be happy with that.

Well, not too bad on the weekly expenditures for the past week, although I know that I'll be getting a couple of pairs of pants at UNIQLO tomorrow after my first Monday class.

Saturday March 27, 10:00 p.m.

Nice day although it got a bit chilly in the evening. It was a pretty cut-and-dry Saturday. I just started out by sending a couple of blankets out to the cleaners so that Anime King has something nice to tuck himself into when he comes over on Friday night. My lone kid is starting to warm up to me now that I've been teaching her for about a month. She's starting to chatter off at the mouth in between exercises in Japanese. I can't say it's a bad thing. She's starting to feel more comfortable around me. Hopefully, I can get the basics of English into her before the wall of adolescence comes crashng down between us.

Then I met up with my two monthly regulars at the Tea Room. We ended up talking about booze, Hokkaido and movies and went well over the 2-hour limit. The session did get me thinking, though, about how I was ever able to get through 3 years of WEEKLY sessions with the original Friday night Tea Room crew.

Speaking of them, one of them contacted me about another job opening in her company. Recalling that I helped place another school alumnus with one of her associates, I was kinda wondering if Arwen would be interested. She just got the job with Roppongi Hills but since she related that she wasn't all that thrilled with it, I sent off the message to her.

And speaking of Arwen, she never got back to me about The Anime Fair so I will assume that I will have a goodly amount of time to relax tomorrow until I meet up with Chip Guy.

Saturday March 27, 11:04 a.m.

As expected, that incident at Roppongi Hills was on the wide shows this morning. Apparently, this has been the 5th incident in the one year since the supermall opened but it's the first fatality. My biggest question is why a 6-year-old boy had been allowed to enter one of those revolving doors unaccompanied. I'm sure the parents of the boy will probably be thinking about that for the rest of their lives.

I got a call from the Ballerina. It was one of the few chances that I've had to talk with her on the phone. It's usually been a case of one-way telephone tag or e-mail. She's apparently headed back to the Big Sushi in late April so I've sent out the call to some of her old classmates.

Well, it's actually a very nice day out for once. I can hang out the laundry without fear of it getting moldy on the line. The inside of my apartment, though, looks like a disaster area. I'm still considering whether to bother to do much with it since I face the Big Clean on Friday just before I head over to Narita.

Saturday March 27, 12:02 a.m.

Long day today but not too painful. The lesson with The Teacher went OK. Again, it was just a mix of talking about old times and her homemade text. It ought to be good for me with other students. Then it was off back to my station for a sushi lunch. and then I went off to the Ginza. I just ended up doing some browsing around. I was tempted to get this catchy tune at HMV by a Danish techno duo named Junior Senior. However, I wasn't able to remember the title for the song so I had to wait til tonight to check it out on the Internet. It's called MOVE YOUR FEET.

I had my lesson with SR and then Arwen came in 10 minutes late. I was starting to wonder if she had forgotten about the lesson when she breezed in breathlessly. Apparently, there was some sort of tragedy at Roppongi Hills where she is now working part-time involving a kid and a revolving door. I'm trying to check it out on one of the Japanese news websites. She tried to get here faster but her employers were very jittery about the situation and media so she had to sit tight for a while.

Afterwards, Arwen and I continued our newly-formed habit of having dinner after the lesson and headed out to Shinjuku. This time, our destination was Saboten, a tonkatsu place just down the corridor from Foo Foo. It was pretty cramped inside since it was a Friday but surprisingly our voices could still be heard. I engorged myself on the Saboten Special, a concoction of deep fried pork cutlet and shrimp with rice, miso soup, cabbage and a savory egg custard. Once again, our conversation was surprisingly lively and varied. The one thing that surprised me was that she shared my conviction about having to do something while listening to jazz music. Before we realized it, we had spent a good two hours at the place.

I was kinda wondering about attending that Tokyo Anime Fair. I had thought that the fair would be next weekend. Unfortunately, it turns out that it will be THIS weekend instead. I told Arwen about it; she semi-jokingly said that she'd be interested in taking a look. I think I can still make it for this Sunday morning but I'm not too sure about Arwen's availability at such late notice, but I'll let her know regardless.

Saturday won't be too painful. The two morning sisters are off to Florida so I won't be seeing them for about 2 weeks, and I'll only have the one young kid in the afternoon. After that, I have my monthly meeting with those former night students at the Tea Room. On Sunday afternoon, I'll be meeting up with Chip Guy for one of the last times before he heads back to Canada.

I'm still feeling pretty engorged after that dinner. Luckily, I don't need to head to bed all that quickly.

Thursday March 25, 10:10 p.m.

Thi s has been a day which couldn't quite decide which weather it wanted to throw at us. So I got a bit wet getting home tonight from my class. Speaking of which, the juku class with that long-absent student wasn't too painful at all. He was pretty rarin' to go compared to his last lesson over a month ago in which he was dying of a cold.

Well, my bedroom light is back to normal thanks to the starters...nearly normal anyways. There is still one flourescent tube acting a bit crochety.

I was able to score a lunch with my ex next Wednesday. It will have been a month and a half since my last meeting with her. I figure that since I have no classes on that day, I might as well touch base with her.

Skippy contacted me about getting together with her and her former classmates for a bit of Ohanami on the 4th. Unfortunately, I already have some plans with a couple of those Tuesday night students.

Tomorrow will be my busiest day with The Teacher, SR and Arwen. There shouldn't be too much to prepare, though.

Thursday March 25, 12:11 a.m.

I already know that next week will be a pretty slow one. The Office Lady told me that she would be too busy to come by for her regular session since it is the end of the fiscal year. With the Hawaiian out indefinitely to tend to her ailing father, the Stylist off in Hokkaido and now the Office Lady too busy, I'm gonna have a midweek day off. Well, not only then but I've also got my Friday completely cleared to prep up the apartment and then pick up the Anime King.

As I write this, my TV is on the 9/11 investigation live coverage. Up until now, I'd thought the banter between the CIA Director and the 9/11 Commission was in great danger of devolving into a cordial high school reunion. Thank you, Senator Kerrey for putting back the bite. Oh, wait...Senator Ben-Veniste is doing a kissup to ol' George.

It may be possible that I won't have any class tomorrow if my Thursday night student pulls off another scratch. I have most of the day free anyways.

Wednesday March 24, 3:34 p.m.

Another gray day today but so far, no rain. I went out to the electronics store to see if I could pick up a starter for my kitchen light since the thing keeps strobing for several minutes before it calms down. I found it but now I can't even open up the casing without tearing it apart. On the other hand, I could dismantle the casing for my bedroom lights which have also been wreaking havoc with my eyes but I now have to get those starters.

The Anime King just contacted me. It looks like his stay with me could be a lot shorter than expected since he's got a friend coming over from Hong Kong who'll be staying at the Iconoclast's old apartment. His buddy doesn't know Tokyo too well, so AK may end up nursemaiding him instead.

Well, it looks like that comedian whose death I had mentioned a couple of days ago is getting the royal send off. Two private channels have provided live coverage of his funeral and 3500 people have attended. That doesn't include the many fans who have come to pay respects to the man. I don't think I've seen this much full court press for a celeb's funeral since the funeral for that former member of the rock band X almost a decade ago. However, when I mentioned his name to the lead student of the Tsudanuma group yesterday, she gave a terse opinion that she didn't particularly like him or his old variety show because she thought that it had been a bad influence on kids. And sure enough, the show did get a lot of PTA criticism for its somewhat bawdy humour and Three Stooges-like slapstick.

Just have The Office Lady tonight so it'll be a quick outing. I may or may not have that guy who has cancelled his last three classes on Thursday, but I'll probably head on out to Tokyo tomorrow to get a new pair of UNIQLO chinos.

Tuesday March 23, 11:35 p.m.

Another no-problem day. I got my usual round of chocolates and Japanese crackers from my Tsudanuma ladies. It looks like there will be somewhat of a lull with these folks for the next few weeks after a pretty solid block of classes with them. I got back home for a few hours where I enjoyed a lunch consisting of salad, rice and Spam. Yes, Spam...I actually love the stuff fried up with soy sauce. The juku classes were also pretty smooth.

It looks like I may be facing a bit of a loggerhead with helping out that nephew of the president of the Iconoclast's old company. He's been asking me some pretty minute questions about his upcoming homestay trip in Canada while the homestay guy hasn't been too quick on his replies. The nephew's latest message just had a bit too many kanji for me to handle, so I've asked the Curry Master to help me out in the translation.

The 911 inquests are ready to go. Looks like some pretty interesting testimony will be coming up. Now that Richard Clark has been turning Benedict Arnold against the Bush adminstration, the plot will get pretty thick.

I've been going through the latest episodes of ENTERPRISE that my fellow Trekkie buddy has been sending me from Canada. All I can say is that T'Pol is turning out to be the most un-Vulcan Vulcan that I've ever seen. In the last episode, I've seen her plead, cry and have a shouting match with Trip. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think she'd be ready for the Vulcan funny farm.

I'll be hitting the bed soon after a shower. I've basically got nothing tomorrow aside from my regular class with The Office Lady. So I plan to head out to the nearest electronics store and see if I can buy a decent lamp for my bedroom. With the Anime King coming around the end of next week, I think I ought to get some home improvements in.

Tuesday March 23, 7:34 a.m.

Well, no snow but it still looks pretty gray out there. However, it's good enough to finally get my laundry out there. My washer was starting to get a bit too stuffed. It'll be another usual Tuesday for me; my Tsudanuma ladies in the morning and then my juku classes at night with a big hole of nothing in between. It'll probably stay that way for at least another month since the new guys at the school won't be starting up until April 19th. Hurts me in the money department, but I can't complain about the relaxation at home.

I heard from Jazz Veteran about how much she enjoyed the outing on Sunday. I've yet to hear from Jazz Buddy, though. I did catch JB sleeping a bit at DUG, so I'm not sure if she did enjoy it. I hope she's not holding it against me. As for me, I kinda fall in between this potential spectrum. I must admit that I was getting a bit bleary-eyed at times despite the frenetic activity that was taking place down in front. Although I didn't get a whole lot of sleep the previous night before, I think my somewhat ambivalent feelings probably stem from my attitudes toward jazz.

I rather came up with a theory while I was listening to a jazz CD that JV had lent me on Sunday. It was a very good performance to listen to but I was also checking my e-mail at the same time. In fact, I realized that while I'm listening to jazz, I'm always doing something else at the same time, whether it be cooking or doing my crosswords. I've never listened to jazz by itself the way that I can listen to a recognizable pop song. This observation can reflect in any way that you can interpret it the complexity of jazz and the simple-mindedness of pop. As I read in my jazz book, one of the integral parts of the genre is improvisation so that even a cover of a famous standard can, or even has to, greatly diverge from its original melody. I guess for me that fact will be the main obstacle for me to truly appreciate the music and probably for me to last through a jazz concert. I recollect that I couldn't watch the Diana Krall DVD without starting to nod off a bit. I need some sort of pyrotechnics to get me through.

Speaking of music, I see that the Southern All Stars are getting to release a new single here. Who be they, you ask? They're the great dinosaurs of J-Pop who've been around since the late 70s. No, not exactly the Stones, perhaps, but in the very ephermal world of Japanese pop music, the SAS are legends. Basically, they're a band that sings a brand of summery pop/rock, and a lot of the natives my age are probably the greatest fans of the group. I've never been a huge fan of them myself; I just find them a bit too repetitive but I must admit that some of the tunes are distinctive enough to be enjoyed. If I ever do decide to permanently pull up stakes, I may get a compilation of their best stuff for posterity.

A talking head from Goldman-Sachs has just said that the current Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, may just not have the ability to pull off any economic recovery. Heck, all of us had that figured out 2 years ago.

Monday March 22, 10:39 p.m.

It was pretty much a cut-and-dry trip into Tokyo to teach at the company. It went pretty smoothly despite the slow-as-molasses performance of one of the pair of students. There are just some people who will never make it through languages.

No snow as of yet, but the forecasters are still saying that we're due for 1 to 3 cm of the white stuff overnight. I'm still not quite sure about that since it actually felt warmer heading home than it did heading over to Tokyo. But then, I overcompensated as usual in my winter wear. I threw on my big black bulky sweater underneath my winter coat, and I had on my longjohns. I was of course perfectly fine walking outside but I was doing a slow broil in the subway.

A mighty shoe dropped today in the Middle East with Israel's assassination (there's no other way to put it) of the spiritual leader of Hamas. The world is just waiting for that second volatile shoe to fall.

I've been enjoying reading the second of an epic sci-fi series called HYPERION. I'm currently on the second book, and it's been a pageturner so far as was the first book.

Monday March 22, 12:11 p.m.

Woke up after my exhausting night of jazz feeling semi-refreshed. It's been looking cold out there, and we still may get some snow on the way. So much for the arrival of Spring. Well, if it happens, it's gonna happen at around 6.

The networks have been blazing today about the death of one of TV's most recognizable and best-loved faces, Chosuke Ikariya. His fame came pretty early in the 60s when he led four other singer/comics to form a country band. However, their comedy acts overshadowed their songs so they redesigned themselves to become the comedy group, The Drifters. The group's claim to fame came in the late 60s with their legendary variety show which ruled the airwaves for 15 years and at one point, had half of Japan's population watching weekly. Ikariya as the leader had the role of being the eternal curmudgeon, berating his fellow members for their stupidity. As a kid, I used to watch the show via the embryonic technology of VHS when VCRs were the size of coffee tables. After the show ended its run, Ikariya turned to acting, and became known for his roles as either the unassuming wise elder statesman or as the crusty countryside father. However, his best post-Drifters character will probably be as the retired police detective from a series which is known outisde of Japan as The Bayside Shakedown. He was even seen and referred to as the Morgan Freeman of Japanese cinema for his hangdog look and laconic way.

Well, just some lunch for me and then I have to head on off for my lone class at the company. It could be a pretty light week for me since my Monday morning folks have cancelled out, along with the Hawaiian and half my kids on Saturday.

Monday March 22, 1:36 a.m.

Well, it's been a couple of days since my last entry due to the fact that I had been entertaining Movie Buddy on Saturday and Sunday.

Man, I am officially ready to proclaim this winter as one of the weirdest in recent memory. From a Wednesday that had 22 C temps and summer-like aspirations, we ended up getting wet snow falling on us and major chills on Saturday. I had been teaching at my kids' place when the elder sister and I noticed the fluffy wet flakes wafting down from the overcast sky. Things haven't improved much since then although we did get a sunny day today.

I met up with Movie Buddy at the station on Saturday afternoon. It ended up that he stayed at the Hotel Moi since we made it a marathon of flicks over pizza. I managed to devour an entire Dominos medium pizza called Giga Meat; MB was a bit more sedate in his approach. We caught a grand total of 4 movies over the next several hours. THE ROCKETEER was one of those underrated flicks that just fell through the cracks when it was first released in the early 90s. And there was a young ravishing Jennifer Connelly who looked a whole lot more fetching than her older self in that other, more recent superhero movie, THE HULK.

The second feature was THE MUMMY RETURNS. It wasn't a bad flick at all, though I'm happy I kept my 1800 yen. Then we saw that other sequel, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. I'd already seen it a few days ago, but MB hadn't. The two of us agreed that this was more Johnny Depp's movie than it was Antonio Bandera's. By the end of that movie, we were getting pretty tuckered out, so we crashed a few hours until Sunday morning in which we caught "highlights" of Star Wars: Episode 2. After having gone through the scenes, my feeling is that George Lucas may be a visionary but he's also the richest hack this side of Hollywood.

The two of us got dressed up to head over to Curry Master's place for pancakes. So I brought my bottle of syrup as a contribution. The three of us plus MB's girlfriend just slogged down a bunch of savory and sweet concoctions. And then we also tackled eating through this monstrous citrus fruit only found in southern Japan and known as the King of Fruits. I stayed there a couple of hours before I was off to Shinjuku.

There I met Jazz Buddy and Jazz Veteran. We first went into the seedy area of Kabukicho to try out JB's recommended Chinese restaruant. It was small and had that ambience that a lot of those formica-and-tile Chinese eateries back in Toronto have. The food was excellent which pleased JB. Then, it was off to our main destination of DUG, a jazz bar on the main drag. The bar was typical for a jazz joint. It was tucked away in the sub-basement and had that small, dark and intimate look about it which typifies the usual joint. We got there almost a full hour before the trio started playing. It was a piano/bass/drums combo. Most of the songs were original compositions although there were a few standards thrown in for good measure. When they started their first session, it was just the three of us and one very appreciative couple at the front, but it gradually filled up by the end.

Overall, I feared that I was getting that Kabuki Narcolepsy Syndrome that I had suffered back on Tuesday. It is hard work concentrating on understanding the music being blasted at you, and since I was trying to interpret a previously unheard composition, at times, I was risking embarrassment by nodding off. It was difficult but I did manage to keep both eyes open. However, Jazz Buddy fell straight asleep in the second set. I was never quite sure how she took to the live performance. But Jazz Veteran ate it all up.

There was also a middle-aged drunk guy who kept acting up like Ed McMahon at a Jerry Lewis telethon and kept giving his very vocal appreciation for the trio's workmanship. He must have been a pretty bigwig, though, since he was approached by the guys later on for a drink. I have to admit that I was also greatly impressed by the bass player's virtuoso performance slicing through the strings like a knife through butter. At the end, Jazz Veteran at least openly suggested that we do another jazz outing in the near future. I'd be game but I think I should take in a bit more coffee beforehand.

Well, I'm back home ready to fall over. Luckily, I've got nothing until my company class later in the early evening since the others had to cancel their classes. Speaking of cancellations, The Hawaiian just contacted me saying that she wouldn't be able to make this Wednesday's class because of her father's illness.

Saturday March 20, 8:04 a.m.

Let's see...Pakistani forces pounding an Al Qaeda enclave which may have the No. 2 man, an attempted assassination on the top two people in Taiwan, and bomb threats against D.C area schools. Just another day on 21st-century Earth.

Yup, I woke up early with all the grogginess and creakiness of a guy who hasn't gotten enough sleep. Over breakfast, I was able to get 4 lesson plans done. Luckily, the e-mail traffic has been minimal so that I can get off and clean up a bit more before heading out.

Gray and overcast outside. Probable rain. Still cold. Kinda like my mood right now.

Saturday March 20, 12:30 a.m.

I hope I can get this entry done quickly since I need to get some sleep. And I only have the bare bones of lesson plans for the kids. Damn!

The two classes with the afternoon SR and then Arwen went refreshingly quickly thanks to some good sidetracking. Plus, I got a souvenir from SR's trip to Univesal Studios Japan in Osaka; it's some sort of Spiderman chocolates. Earlier I had gotten a golden Peanuts necktie from The Teacher.

I met up with Arwen in front of Foo Foo at 6 tonight. However, Ms. 77, who had suggested having the class in Shinjuku, ironically had to pull out due to a cold. So, Arwen and I just went over to the neasby Andersen bakery cafe across from City Hall for our lesson. We had a good class there; a lot of school gossip mixed in the actual text stuff. And we continued on with it afterwards when we had a bit of dinner a level up at the Royal Host. At first, I felt slightly queasy, probably due to fatigue and coffee, but luckily my good rapport and conversation with Arwen helped perk me up. It's been quite amazing how the two of us have managed to click. We got into some fairly deep topics such as love and marriage. Once again, I felt a bit of regret. However, I do have to remember that we probably could click like this since our relationship is platonic, and one of us is already married; I'm not sure if we would be this cordial in a romantic relationship...as strange as that may sound.

Ms 77's absence this week and next week made me wonder aloud if she were enjoying the lessons. This may have caught Arwen off-guard a bit, so I explained my view that students could decide to "fire" me by telling a little white lie to save face, an unsurprising but annoying cultural tic here. Arwen also agreed that she's not too thrilled by that approach to telling a teacher that his services are no longer wanted, and she reassured me that Ms. 77 was happy with the lessons but just can't make it out due to extenuating circumstances. That explanation by Arwen meant a lot to me.

Friday March 19, 12:42 p.m.

I had The Teacher for her first lesson today. She's one of those students whom I would consider to be an "automatic pilot" of sorts. She needs no prompting...she can just speak herself into a tizzy. She even gave me her own homemade text of articles for us to use.

I just have a short respite here before I head off to see my regular Friday afternoon student (or my semi-regular as she cancels quite a bit), and then meet up with Arwen and Ms. 77 in Shinjuku. The last matchup will probably be quite temporary in nature as 77 is planning to head over to the Great White North on some sort of visa. Chip Guy asked whether I would be available for tonight for a possible steak dinner out at the Outback. I said that I'd be available after the last class ends at 7, but since I haven't heard any response from him for the past day and a half, I assume that the idea didn't hold any water. With an 8-month-old baby, it rarely does.

Well, I managed to clean and vacuum things a bit for Movie Buddy's arrival tomorrow. I will endeavour to get the bare banes planning done for the kids' lessons.

I see that the Pakistani forces may have the No. 2 guy in Al Qaeda trapped. I think the media had said something similar about Bin Laden early in the Afghanistan adventure but he escaped. So, I'll only believe it when I see the good doctor in Allied hands.

Thursday March 18, 9:52 p.m.

"Hey, Tokyo...Toronto called. It wants its winter back." Yes, after a brief dalliance with summer yesterday, winter decided to return with a vengeance today. It was just rainy, cold and windy although the winds were not as gale-force as they were yesterday. The only thing missing was snow but I'm not exhaling just quite yet.

Luckily, today's schedule only involved going out to buy groceries for dinner and then the brief jaunt to teach The Curry Master and The Analyst. On the way back home, I just had that chocolate itch that I needed to scratch, so I bought some Kit Kat at the low, low price of 99 yen.

I got a message from Movie Buddy asking if he could come over to the apartment on Saturday night since he had some DVDs. Gotta clean the apartment tomorrow morning since I will have absolutely no time after that.

Happy day in Tokyo as the Japanese team won its game against the UAE. I got a slightly drunk Jazz Veteran sending me e-mail on that fact.

Wednesday March 17, 11:49 p.m.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Not that anyone really knows about this holiday over here aside from the ex-pats (no pun intended) and the groupies who love them. I haven't even mentioned it to any of my students.

Well, today was a downright warm day. It hit 22 C in the Big Sushi but the day also came with some pretty heavy-duty winds which wrought the parked bicycles-as-falling dominoes effect again. The subway systems had to set out a wind warning for trains on the outside which delayed things a bit. The Office Lady excitedly pointed out one paltry cherry blossom on a tree. The effect wasn't all that awe-inspiring to me but the point was made. It looks like Cherry Blossom Season may be here earlier than expected. Time to spread out the blue tarp, beer bottles and fried chicken again.

As for my rare Wednesday afternoon matinee at home today, I watched ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO on DVD thanks to Arwen's loaner while the movie is actually being played at the theaters as we speak (please don't tell anyone). I'm kinda glad that I didn't shuck out the 1800 yen for this one. It was very enjoyable to watch on the tube but I don't think it would've made much impact on me at the theater. Plus, I got the good extra on the DVD on how to make that pork dish that Johnny Depp's character loves in the movie. The only problem is that I don't think I can get the vital ingredient here, and I don't have a coffee grinder.

I see that the foreign celeb endorsements are back. Currently, there is a poster of Charlie's Angel Lucy Liu draped on the floor in a sexy silky shimmery slip hawking diet beer of all things. And I recently caught THE David Bowie on TV doing an ad for some Japanese company while parading himself in his various personae such as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke.

I still haven't heard any fallout from my school concerning the sudden loss of teachers. I'm just wondering if this is going to be the equivalent of Geraldo's opening of Al Capone's Secret Vault.

The winds are still wailing away out there. We'll be hitting reality again as of tomorrow in terms of temps. And a bit of rain might fall on our parade as well.

Tuesday March 16, 11:39 p.m.

Well, Arwen and I met at the National Theater in Hanzomon to catch a Kabuki performance. We saw a beautifully-designed stage with cherry trees, performers draped in gorgeous kimonos and acting that was on the truly epic.

We both fell asleep within 15 minutes.

It was a pity, but I had half-expected it to happen. Perhaps it was a bit of a self-realizing prophecy, but there's something about watching Kabuki that brings out the urge to nod off better than warm milk with nutmeg. It certainly didn't help that I had rented the wrong earphone guide (Japanese instead of English translation) for the first act. I think Kabuki is just a bit too archly performed for me, and the fact that it lasts 4 hours brought Mr. Sandman all the sooner. As for Arwen, I was a bit surprised that she dropped out, too, since her understanding of Old Japanese is probably a whole lot better than mine.

Well, after that first act (an entire hour), we ran out of the theater to get some cool air into our systems to wake us up. Then, we gave it another shot...this time, I got the right guide. And the second act was just half an hour. Still, though, I was on the verge of heading back into narcolepsy. I'm not sure how my partner felt at that time. However, by the second intermission, we had to make a big decision since the intermission only lasted 10 minutes. I was definitely ready to head on out, but I did try to give Arwen every opportunity to give her opinion. In true Japanese fashion, she merely replied that she was OK either way; but she did leave a couple of signs that tipped the balance: 1) she was doing a lot of stretching, and 2) she stated that she would probably end up snoozing through the third act which was to last 100 minutes. After that comment, we decided to throw in the towel and scurried off to a Tully's. I still felt bad since I had invited her to the performance, and the performance was indeed visually stunning, but considering that she was little better than I was, and that the other audience members probably wouldn't have appreciated a couple of dozers, I think it was the inevitable thing to do.

We laughed our way to the neighbourhood Tully's where we spent the next 2.5 hours gabbying about everything from the OTAKU phenomenon to my poor excuse for a love life. I think that fact in itself reflected how I felt about Kabuki. Also, I kinda got a bit wistful over lost opportunities talking with Arwen. For a bit, I wondered about how it would have been if Arwen hadn't already married. However, the moment passed into oblivion as it should have.

Afterwards, I headed over to the juku, but on the way, I stopped in at McDonalds. I realize that I had been to the Big M yesterday and that having their fare twice in a week was not a good way to a healthy state, but I just had to try the newest thing on the menu, FISH MCDIPPERS. Now, I'm not sure if this is a Japan-only thing, but it's basically the Piscean equivalent of Chicken McNuggets with tartar sauce. The McDippers passed muster with me. Not too bad...and the campaign for it has been pretty hard-sell. They've got posters plastered all over the restaurant with no less than a supermodel, a comedian and an acapella group all shilling the item.

The classes tonight were slightly limp. The first class came with one of the regular pair off with a cold. The other ended up just engaging me in free conversation which was basically a mix of Japanese and English due to her low level. However, we did set a date for our rendezvous with that secret restaurant in Tsudanuma that the Tuesday morning ladies had taken me to last week. The Anime King is at my place at that time, though, so I hope he doesn't mind foraging for himself on that day.

Well, I'm a bit wiser now in my preferences for Japanese culture. And I've also gleaned some new insight in my burgeoning hobby as a jazz enthusiast. I listened to the first disc of Django. It's amazing that his best stuff was recorded back in the 1930s but a lot of what he did has been emulated a lot in the present age on TV. I also recall hearing something similar to Django Swing in the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

I'm wondering how the school is doing right now. For a few weeks, I had been aware that a couple of teachers were planning to fly the coop secretly. One was the Cop who took off today for Taiwan. And the Songbird had legitimately put in her 1-month notice with the staff. DTE and the Cop predicted that I might get a frantic call from the scheduler about coming in to teach someclasses, but there was nothing on my message machine tonight. However, I figured that since the staff has long been inured to these escapes so they probably had some teachers on standby to fill in the gaps.

Tomorrow, I just have The Office Lady for an atypical morning class. Then, I'll just be looking for material for Thursday's student.

Monday March 15, 11:56 p.m.

Another long day is over. I had a couple of surprises this morning at my morning class. First off, the student that I had expected to be away today actually came, and then my afternoon student cancelled. The conclusion for all that was that I did a bit of roaming around Tower and HMV. I bought CDs by a couple of jazz legends, Django Reinhardt and Bill Evans. I knew that the 3-disc set of Django for just 1390 yen was just a bit too good to be true. There was only a flimsy cover for each of the CDs, but then again what could I expect for that price? Well, I've gotten all the info on the man in my JAZZ FOR DUMMIES.

My traipse through the Shibuya HMV revealed a better jazz section. In the DVD area, there were a bunch of guys guffawing at the big screen showing a Mr. Bean sketch. I also took a look through UNIQLO, a very American-looking Japanese clothing store which has boasted low, low prices for pretty good quality. I found a pair of chinos that could actually fit me for just 2900 yen. I didn't buy them but I'll eventually get them.

Since I had some extra time, I ended up sitting in an open-air plaza in the Shinjuku hotel district near the Iconoclast's company. It was still a bit chilly to sit there but I managed to do so for 40 minutes. I wanted to prove my willingness to cut back on spending by not going into the cafe that I used to frequent, so I just bought a vending machine milk tea.

The night class was a slog. One guy who had been away for 2 weeks was struggling to get through the book, while the low guy on the totem pole has the mind of a sieve. However, I got my money from the president. We also had another one of our chats about the foibles of the Iconoclast. However, that was only a 10-minute session so, lucky me, he took me to one of his favorite sushi bars in Shinjuku. Again, the staff was really nice and the food was just resplendent: melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna, tender sea eel and velvety chopped tuna wrapped in rice and seaweed. The conversation between me and the President was very cordial. We went through the gamut of topics from the Iconoclast through the musical genre of chanson to the terrorist attacks in Spain. Of course, he treated me so that really helped out my new budget.

Checking my e-mail, I got a message from Arwen stating that she would be willing to meet me for the Kabuki performance tomorrow. That will be nice. She just has to call me tomorrow to find out where and when to meet. In the meantime, I do have to prep for my juku lessons later that night. The students will be scratching their heads as to why I'm in a full suit.

Monday March 15, 8:04 a.m.

Well, the Russian and Spanish general elections are now history. Guess which one got the bigger coverage by the world media? The Election of Inevitability got swept aside by the dramatic win by Spain's Socialist Party over the ironically named Popular Party.

From the mountain to the molehill. The local entertainment wags were clucking today over the hospitalization of one of the more popular members of the ubiquitious Morning Musume. I couldn't read the kanji clearly but the poor girl has some sort of intestinal disorder. Perhaps she ate too much of her own publicity.

I'm still stinging over that monthly budget assessment from last night. I'm thinking that it may have been better if I'd just not started that financial habit last year. Ignorance is bliss!

I did a bit of late-night middlemanning over phone and e-mail for the nephew of the president of the Iconoclast's former company. After a couple of failed tries to get through to the lad, he finally called me so we went over his flight schedule on the 29th to Toronto to start his new homestay life in the Great White North. Then, I sent off the info from him as well as his queries to the Iconoclast and the nephew's host.

Well, off to the salt mines.

Sunday March 14, 8:23 p.m.

As expected, it's been a quiet day here. Just stepped out to get the usual fixins for dinner. But I have gotten messages. Chip Guy sent me one concerning getting together on the 24th for some Korean BBQ (why midweek?), and Jazz Buddy sent me an e-mail further progressing next week's visit to that jazz bar in Shinjuku. We've decided to go for the more storied DUG since it's in an area with a lot more culinary possibilities before the performance.

I did the finances. Not surprisingly, I made another loss. Although I did make quite a bit of dough this month, that lease renewal fee took a chunk out of me. However, if I subtract that from the expenditures, then I only really lost just a few bills. But the bottom line is that I'm gonna have to make a concerted effort to rein in my spending. Well, thankfully, I've increased my number of students. The Hawaiian, though, has cancelled her class for this Wednesday due to a family matter.

Gotta get some domestic stuff out of the way before I hit the hay including writing up a letter to VISA to not have the bills come over to Japan. The last couple of statements arrived here probably because I either made that Amazon purchase back in February or I reactivated my Toronto account. In any case, I gotta get that done.