Wednesday March 5, 5:17 p.m.

Looks like pantsuits are still in. Apparently, Hillary has won both Texas and Ohio in what's turning out to be the most epic battle in US Primary history. Not sure if it was the SNL appearance that put her ahead this time around. Meanwhile, John McCain can finally relax a bit and see his enemies duke it out from the comfort of his own den for the next few months.

Just came back from teaching The New Yorker. It'll be the last one before she takes off with her sister next week to Bali. So I'll have to get those White Day chocolates over to the Sisters of State by next Thursday when I teach The Carolinan.

Speaking of chocolates, we here at Speedy's have got quite the mission trying to devour all of the chocolates that the older students keep plying us with. There's a tradition of paying tribute to teachers amongst the senior generation. I would have ended the last sentence with "...that's sadly lacking with the young'uns..." but the tradition is working just a bit too well, if you know what I mean. We even got chocolate marshmallow pies from Korea for some reason. Yup, that's right...when I think Korea, I think chocolate marshmallow pies.

Well, it's just The Diver and then The Bostonian. Maybe I will get some sleep tonight.

Wednesday March 5, 12:36 p.m.

One of those long patches of nothing to do between lessons. I've got The New Yorker at 3...maybe...probably....I've got her down at 3, and I usually put down her time right at the end of the lesson since she pulls out her schedule immediately after she's paid me. Being a bit paranoid, I tried sending word to her cellphone but for some reason, I can't get through. I've now sent word to her sister, The Carolinan, to find out if The New Yorker has changed it.

The Nurse was her usual self...although at one point, she started sniffling. Not sure if it was hay fever...or something else. I don't believe I've offended her. I've had to bump The Class Act off the 17th for her since her schedule has been royally tight. So, that'll be a big drop in income for that day, but The Nurse has been a very loyal student for the past year.

John McCain can now drop that "presumptive" label from his title of Republican Presidential Candidate. He's just reached the magic number and Mike Huckabee has dropped out. Now, he can rub his hands in glee as the Democratic rivals still continue to slug it out. The folks at CNN must be either skipping in ecstacy over that race....or reaching for their TUMS.

Wednesday March 5, 9:45 a.m.

After a warm spell, it's back to (relative) cold again. Another Hump Day...although it won't be the top-heavy schedule of Monday and Tuesday. Had a lot of commuters sniffling away on the subway coming to work this morning. A lot of corresponding masks as well, including on my fat mug.

The Milds regaled me with their "interesting" adventure through India. They said they went through a bit of culture shock traveling last week in terms of a number of things such as clean towels and washrooms. I don't mean to offend anyone living in the country, but my two retired students said that they were quite happy to be back home here, although it was truly an eye-opening experience for them. Got the tons of photos and a souvenir of a package of darjeeling tea.

Both Mild Jr and Jolly were undergoing some rather lousy bouts of hay fever themselves during the lesson. However, Jolly did enjoy his trip to Hokkaido last weekend after his Client From Hell had raked him over the coals.

I see that the Canadians have gotten their little taste of the nastiness of US Presidential Politics after that leaked memo concerning one of Obama's assistants supposedly reassuring the Canadian Consul-General in Chicago that his anti-NAFTA brimstone was really just smoke and mirrors. Hmmm....hasn't seemed to hurt Obama any...he just won Vermont. Still, I'm sure the Canadian government will be announcing "Act Nonchalantly" Day shortly.

The Nurse should be coming in any moment...

Tuesday March 4, 6:33 p.m.

Ah, such an O. Henryesque ending. I finally had the one big hit class with Chip N' Dale...and then the boss tells me that they'll finishing up later this month. But I kinda figured that they wouldn't be staying too much longer. However, the boss told me that she'll try and fill up the 6-7 time slot.

The Carolinan sent me word to get that new venue opened up at the Ichigaya Starbucks for her next lesson. BC's good to go with it as well. And we'll see about finally getting that reservation done for the Greek restaurant in Roppongi at the end of the month. Spyro's, I believe it's called.

It'll be another early start for tomorrow. I've got The Nurse for the first time in about 2 weeks. And then it'll be The New Yorker in Ichigaya (I'll still keep her at Tully's since there's almost no way that I can get a table during the day at the Starbucks...plus, she is a smoker) before The Diver and perhaps The Bostonian.

Hay fever has started in earnest. All that pollen from all those cedar trees has started clogging up my nasal passages. However, it hasn't been too bad so far...my nose has been running a bit but no major sneezing fits. But I've got the mask on now....as have so many other commuters.

Tuesday March 4, 4:52 p.m.

It's been a conventional start to the week. The usual busy Monday with The Class Act, SIL, The Full-Timer and then Medicine Man. However, I did have a model lesson student in between the last two folks. Pretty fluent young lady but can still use our help. Keeping our fingers crossed on that one.

Also tried to do some more tweaking with Cozy's translations. Luckily, I haven't heard anything from him in the last 24 hours so maybe that's a good sign.

Tuesday has also been rather usual as well. Despite the somewhat awkward situation last week with The Beehive over my financial situation, the ladies were in back into their old mode. They were happily discussing about their upcoming trip to Croatia in May. They also seemed to like that one page from my new Business Vocab book that I've been using with students like The Coffeemaker, Jolly and The Carolinan. 002 was her usual happy self. And I've got the juku crowd in about an hour. The Milds should be back from their India trip today; it ought to be interesting how they fared. Hopefully, neither of them ended up with Delhi Belly.

Sunday March 2, 1:51 p.m.

I was pretty lucky to find an empty booth on a Sunday at the I-cafe today. I thought I would have to line up. As it is, though, I got one and have been working on corrections to some of Cozy's replies to my first translations. Not easy. In fact, I'm thinking of talking with SIL tomorrow during some of her lesson to get some insight. I wouldn't ask The Class Act since they don't have the ability to express their thoughts on that level.

Came home last night feeling all knotty. I actually did splurge some yen (although it isn't like the old days (my food bill came out to just 1,600 yen in total) on a bento consisting of rice and a piece of salmon. Mom called last night to confirm that my brother and his family will be moving a little further out into the boonies outside Toronto into a larger home. He even invited Mom and Dad to move with them, but Mom demurred since she is still working, and it would be a huge commuting headache to get into town. Apparently, some of the relations on Dad's side will be coming into town in a few months for a visit. Mom told me that the only cousin I really got to know and her hubby are now well-to-do retirees in their fifties traveling the world. Even if she doesn't mean to do it...she makes me feel very guilty. Well, there's always the lottery.

Just had The OL at the cafe in Nihombashi this morning. Did well.

Saturday March 1, 1:41 p.m.

March is here and the breathing is tough. Yup, hay fever season is in full swing again. All those TV reports on masks have starting popping up like fleas. I even got my own little pack of 105 yen masks from the dollar shop downstairs.

Well, paid more of my debts last night. A bit more off my back.

Saw The Coffeemaker this morning at the coffee shop. Tully himself was a no-show but we both figured that he was busy working on his paper for university.

I've got The Manhattanite in about half an hour and then another new student a couple of hours later. I had lunch at China Quick. I usually go for the large bento box special for 750 yen, but this time I went for the other option...which was this big bowl of ramen with a huge continent of BBQ pork or cha-shiu. It goes for 800...and I definitely got my yen's worth. That picture was misleading in the other way. My piece of meat looked like the answer to "What if Piglet starred in Ian Roth's 'Hostel'?" It was this huge hunk of tender pork with plenty of fat. I concluded that my protein and fat requirements were duly answered in this bowl. The soup itself was pretty ordinary but as the fat slowly melted, things did improve. However, I'll probably head back to my bento next time.

Tonight, I'll just have the salad, thank you very much.

Friday February 29, 6:01 p.m.

A quiet Friday. I did the dry run of my tax return today...not too bad, I only have to pay an extra 200 yen over last year. Still, my year is pretty much set financially in that I'm gonna have to be very careful over the next several months.

Looks like Prince Harry's cover has been blown. The Royal has (or had) been plying his military trade for the past 2 months in Afghanistan. I hope he has an exit strategy. Now, every Taliban soldier is out for blue blood.

Saw Janet Jackson on Larry King this morning. Still hot at 41...I can't even believe she's that age now. I will always see her as Willis' girlfriend on "Different Strokes". Pretty laid back today, compared to Valerie Bertinelli's somewhat caffeinated appearance the other day.

Anyways, I've got Miss Disney in a couple of hours and then The Ace. I've just been prepping for the weekend classes.

The Carolinan was hinting that she would probably like to move to another site for future lessons, preferably one that doesn't allow smoking. To be honest, my coat smelled pretty putrid from the coffee & smoke at Tully's. We will probably have to try the Starbucks by the station.

Thursday February 28, 12:34 p.m.

The usual orderly chaos in the office right now. The Admin will be making the slow fadeout from our school over the next few weeks...much like the others preceding her, since she does have to help out her husband's work. But she'll be generous enough to fill in on Wednesdays for the next little while until we find a new day-to-day person. BC has been good but both Speedy and I think that she's just not ready to take the top spot. It's too bad The Admin's leaving...she's been a very steadying influence, especially when compared to the occasionally manic bossman.

I've just gotten off the translation over to Cozy. Maybe I'll get another assignment hopefully.

Thursday February 28, 11:42 a.m.

The last day of the month....only it is Leap Year, isn't it? I believe the term is known as urudoshi in Japanese.

Back for The Yogist in about an hour or so. Cozy has finally gotten in the payment for my services, and I'm ready to hand in my latest work for him. Looks like he'll be like the juku boss and Speedy, and pay me at the end of the month. Good for me anyways, since I need to get the textbook for the juku's new student, Miss Disney. I'll be going with World Link Intro...it's been good for me and the low students...namely The Diver.

After that retrospective interview with Elton John on Larry King the other night, I've been listening to John on the old stereo. Tunes like "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road" and "Your Song" have been quite soothing during these trying times.

Anyways, back to my scallop-flavoured crackers...

Wednesday February 27, 10:51 p.m.

The Diver is slowly gaining her sea legs as pertains to English...a good sign. And it looks like my model lesson student is another lock. 2 for 2! She's a charming one...don't worry, I'll keep it professional. Pretty good delivery and comprehension but somewhat underconfident and lacking in vocabulary. I dub her The Bostonian.

Anyways, I'm out of here. But I'll be back again in about 12 hours time for the weekly session with The Yogist and then The Carolinan.

Wednesday February 27, 4:17 p.m.

Well, it looks like I wasn't the only fellow going through a Black Friday last week. I got nearly wiped out by my real estate agency, but Jolly (who was not too jolly last night when he raced in) had to endure one of the trials by fire that an eigyoman (sales rep) goes through. Due to a slipup somewhere, he had to go over to a client's company and apologize by bowing really, really deeply while the client berated him. He wasn't a happy camper, let's say. However, he will be heading off to Hokkaido on Friday with a fellow snowboarding buddy to lick his wounds. He's actually heading over to the same resort that 001 had gone to a couple of weeks ago. I gave him a small taste, literally, by giving him some of those scallop-flavoured crackers.

The winds were still whipping up something fierce until about noon, so the laundry had to come in, lest they end up flying over The Pacific.

I've just a couple of students tonight: The Diver and then a model lesson student for Business English. Hope I'm 2 for 2 with the latter since I locked up Miss Disney last night at the juku. The Manhattanite called in for a lesson on Saturday afternoon after Tully & The Coffeemaker and before yet another new student. Surprisingly, Miss SDF, that former soldier-turned-homestay student in Toronto, dropped in to say hello and give us a souvenir of icewine chocolates. Looks like we have another convert to the Toronto life...she'll be returning after her first tour of duty there.

I've been watching Larry King the last couple of times. Looks like it's 70s week. Sir Elton John came in as a much more sober-sided Knight of the Realm, instead of the notorious hissyfit-throwing prince of flamboyance. And then, this morning, I saw Valerie Bertinelli from that old sitcom chestnut, "One Day At A Time". Man, she looks great at 47!

Tuesday February 26, 9:51 p.m.

It's raining nearly cats and dogs...ironic that the juku cat came in through my window all wet. Well, that model lesson student came in and she's now a lock for Friday nights before The Ace comes in. She reminds me a lot of Seven....she's a fairly low student but she's got potential. She hails from Aichi Prefecture, the home province of Nagoya City. I'll have to check out her regional accent someday. Like Seven, she also seems to have a great love for all things Disney. In fact, she went to Hong Kong last week...to see HK Disneyland. That's something, considering that there's a Disneyland just a stone's throw away from here. I guess until further notice, my new Seven will be tagged Miss Disney.

And along with that new hello may be a goodbye of sorts. The Siberian came in to state that he finally got that start to his career at a printing firm in downtown Tokyo. So, he'll probably be quite scarce, especially since he'll be assigned to eigyobu...Sales Department. As with the millions of other twentysomethings, he'll be starting the new phase of his life in April.

Ahhh...Jolly has actually shown up. Should be fun.

Tuesday February 26, 7:15 p.m.

The education of the folly of my ways is continuing. I met The Beehive at the usual place. And I was very contrite and grateful for the ladies' help. They were quite concerned for my well-being...as all of us have said time and again, they are like my surrogate mothers. And like a mother, Mrs. Alp became the designated admonisher. It wasn't a full bore chewout, and the fact that Mrs. Travel was kinda giggling at the same time made it known that it was not all that serious, but Mrs. Alp made it clear that I was gonna be given a bit of an asskicking...or a light spanking, in any event. Mrs. Alp was just as much worried as ticked off. Both her and Travel said that even their husbands were worried about me. Of course, I took the tongue lashing with the respect I had for them and just imagined that if it had been my real mother, I would have been figuratively thrown across the room. But the message was still clear from them....I have to get my affairs in order while I try to get over the guilt trip that I'm now wading through since I have kinda gotten the ladies in a bit of a tizzy. Later in the day, I did pay off some further debt with the money they gave me.
The gloomy atmosphere didn't last long since we were all back to our smiley selves (well, at least I tried to put on a brave face) and talking current events.

002 was fine as usual. I haven't told her anything about my situation and none of the Speedy group will be told. I got to the juku, and the boss has given me a document to hand into the real estate agency along with her consent of guarantorship. There will be another payment; this time, the renewal fee due next Monday.

Just had Chip N' Dale. Dale was back to her sleepy n' sniffly self. For some reason, she seems to get lackadaiscal whenever her buddy comes with her. However, I've been using their class along with the other lessons over the past few days as therapy, as a tonic of sorts. Work does make for a good diversion. Mild Jr. just dotakyan'ed, as I thought he would. Since his parents are currently doing the Indian tour, although he said that he got saddled with work, I kinda figured that he wouldn't be able to make it today. I do have a model lesson with a young lady in about half an hour in lieu of The Milds. And I've just gotta see about The Siberian and Jolly. I hope they do show up.

The winds were whipping up something awful around the time that the kids came in. But it sounds calm now. Looks like rain tonight. I'm happy that tomorrow classes won't be starting up til 7:30 with The Diver...I can get some sleep time in although I may be brooding again. 001 will be away for the next couple of weeks due to an unfortunate need to do the night shift Wednesday night, and then an Alaskan trip the week after. I've also got another model lesson right after as well.

Monday February 25, 9:09 p.m.

Well, tomorrow I'll be meeting The Beehive, ladies who are now gonna be investing me in a way that none of us had expected to do so. As I said, they'll kindly be advancing me some money to keep my head over water...and for that matter, away from the exhaust pipe. It may be a bit awkward, and I kinda wonder if I should be going to lunch with them as I usually have done. I do have that assigned lunch of scallop-flavoured crackers, y'know. At this point, I'm keeping my financial situation from being known from anyone else....just the juku boss and The Beehive. I'm not even telling my biggest patrons, The Class Act, since they've been very generous with me in the past.

It's good then to find out that my brother and his family have been able to find their own detached house even farther into the boonies. I only found out by accident by reading the status bar of my sister-in-law on her Facebook account. At first, I'd thought that there was some serious marital discord, but...whew...it was just a move. I can only imagine how much bigger this new place is gonna be like. I think their soon-to-be former place is a pretty spacious deal. Well, at least someone in the family has actually succeeded. And nope, I won't be telling them either. And neither will you, Shard!

Monday February 25, 8:39 p.m.

The Japan angle on the Academy Awards was one itty-bitty acute angle barely 10 degrees: there was a film up for Best Foreign Language Film called "Mongol" from Kazakhstan (no idea whether this was an official rebuttal to "Borat") which starred Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, the same guy who was in the cult fave "Ichi the Killer". Nope, didn't win. Too bad since Fuji-TV's entertainment reporter, Mr. Karube (my clone, by the way) was posted outside his hotel waiting for the actor to come on out in his tux.

However, the really big news was about that odd fellow, Kazuyoshi Miura (nope, not the legendary soccer player), who had been charged and later acquitted of murdering his wife way back in 1981 in Los Angeles. Well, apparently the LA police aren't done with him quite yet since they had him arrested in Saipan...a US territory. Took all of the folks here by surprise.

Last night, while I was digesting my corned beef n' cabbage, I was watching a 2-hour special on The History Channel called "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk". I'd always heard about the famous openly gay city councillor in San Francisco and his subsequent assassination thirty years ago but never really knew what had happened until last night. It was interesting to find out about his dedication to public service and his inevitable rise to public office in the first hour and then his killing in the second. Now, I realize what The Twinkie Defense was all about. The special was dated...probably only a few years after the fact. I checked out Wikipedia about what had happened to the killer, Dan White. The special only mentioned that he had been released in 1984 without any sort of remedial therapy. Well, I guess the special must've been released just several months before White's suicide. It also asked about whether Harvey Milk brought about some change. He did but there's still much more to be done when it comes to the issue of gay marriage. And just this morning, I saw a CNN report on some openly gay teenager who was just shot to death by one of his classmates.

Somewhat less tragic but nearly as sordid was an incident that had happened during the New Year's holidays up in northern Japan. Up there, there is a custom in which young or middle-aged men dress up in demon costumes and dance into invited houses to rid them of evil spirits and take payment in form of the family's booze and food. Well, it looks like one of the young devils was indeed a devil...he merely decided to part from the main pack at a hot spring and invade the women-only part of the bath; and before you can say Ken Shimura, he ended up doing some major groping of the nude women.
The article may have ramped up the seriousness of the situation since it reported that none of the women there decided to charge the 20-year-old dolt (the only spirits invading his soul were of the liquid variety); probably everyone there just thought that "Boys will be boys".
However, the article...which I discussed with SIL today....did remind me of a place that my ex had pointed out to me. Some years ago, between our official breakup and the time that she'd completely disappeared from my life, we had lunch at one of her favourite tonkatsu restaurants. When we left the place, she nonchalantly told me that the place upstairs was known as a chikan (groper) bar. This is a place whose interior is designed as a subway car in which female staff just hang around as supposedly unsuspecting commuters while the male customers come in, order their drinks and then....well...squeeze the Charmin. Mr. Whipple would have a major coronary. Yep, it's just like my old friend once told me....Japanese men are perverts.

Monday February 25, 7:23 p.m.

Well, I'm poor...what do I do now? At this point, I'm just glad that I got paid by Speedy today and that The Beehive is giving me that advance. Of course, I also have whatever the juku boss is giving me this Friday.
As for expenditures, I can pretty much say goodbye to just about anything that isn't absolutely necessary for survival or the job. Which means sayonara to movie nights (I'm gonna miss MB, Skippy and the rest of the bunch), magazines and CDs. And even my culinary habits will have to change as well. On Mondays, for instance, Wendy's was the usual destination after my 90 with The Class Act. Today I didn't have them since The Lady was off to witness her first Paris Collection, but if I did have them, the famed burger emporium would no longer be on my list. In fact, today I had my first real taste of my new life...I just had a small handful of scallop-flavoured crackers with bits of real scallop for lunch up on the rooftop of the Matsuzakaya Department Store near where I teach SIL. Ironic, since I had passed through Maruzen in Otemachi to pick up the latest issue of METROPOLIS for SIL...I passed by Com Pho, my old Vietnamese lunch haunt. I don't think I'll be hitting that place anytime soon anymore. Yesterday, I just rustled up some corned beef and cabbage with my rice....always good cheap fare.

As I said before, it's a smaller lineup today...well, it's basically the same number of lessons as last week, although without that rash of cancellations. I had SIL and I just had The Full-Timer right now. We met in the usual smoky Doutors branch near the station. She had a short trip in Guam for which she brought back some small souvenirs for me....happily, they're food. Looks like she may be facing some big decisions of her own as well. It seems like she has a bit of a crackpot for a manager, so she's starting to think about moving onto better things. After that, I've only got Medicine Man. Fortunately, he has decided to continue on with his lessons; in fact, he's hooked up for the full package.

It was Oscar Night.....not that it really mattered to me. Most of the movies that were up for Best Picture haven't even arrived here yet. Of course, CNN had most of its smarmy best by the red carpet. It was just interesting for the fact that things were back to normal after that writers' strike. Kinda wonder how Jon Stewart did.

Monday February 25, 5:17 p.m.

After the nightmare financial crunch of Friday, I was able to get some good news via The Beehive. The juku boss had been rather hesitant about the extra month's rent I needed since I am already indebted to her husband for the guarantorship...that is, if the real estate agency does accept it. So I had to ask...beg...for The Hive's help. Luckily, on Sunday morning, just before I left to teach The OL, Mrs. Travel called up to say that she and the other ladies would advance me several weeks' worth of fee to cover the shortfall.

So it was with some relief on Saturday that I could take some time out to visit The Cat up in Nagano Prefecture. Sure, it cost me over 10,000 yen in Bullet Train round-trip fare to get up there and back, but it was certainly better than moping around the apartment.
Tokyo Station was bustling with folks heading to various places around the country, and it wasn't even a long weekend. It was the first time that I'd gone onto the Bullet since the last time I'd been up to see The Cat and her family, and that was at least a couple of years ago. I took a non-reserved seat in the last car; the train was about 8 minutes late getting out...something that turned out to be an inadvertent omen of sorts, but more on that later.
Tokyo was balmy at 15 C and sunny. Of course, I knew that the trip up to Nagano would show a differing climate as I approached it. And sure enough, once we got through the tunnel in the Japanese Alps, the weather changed dramatically from balmy and sunny to overcast and snowy. By the time I reached the resort town of Karuizawa, the Japanese version of Banff, Alberta, it was looking pretty much like Xmas again. That Bing Crosby tune from "White Christmas"..."Snow", was starting to ring in my noggin' once more. The next station over was my destination, Sakudaira. Actually, although the snow was on the ground, Saku City was a bit less snowier and more sleety.
The Cat was there with the car and her two little kittens to pick me up. And it was just a 10-minute drive back to her apartment. Her hubby was at work all day. It was a nice homey visit. I brought over a small package of strawberry cakes for the family (I may be destitute right now, but I still think going empty-handed to someone's house is a sin). The Cat's two daughters have gotten used to me and we actually engaged in an afternoon's worth of playtime. The elder sister seems to have a talent for building things with her blocks...I sense future urban planner. Kinda reminded me of Linus Van Pelt and some of his creations in the earlier Peanuts strips.
The Cat whipped up some rice curry for all of us and then after the few hours of playtime, we all took a drive around the area just to freshen ourselves up a bit. The Cat had wanted to show me Mt. Asama, but the clouds obliterated that view. We got back home and then she and her elder daughter got busy making dinner out of Nagoya-style chicken wings (you gotta try these ones), fried potatoes and a Quattro pizza that she'd ordered.
I actually stayed an hour later than scheduled since The Cat told me that her husband would be back around 8 p.m. It would've been a pity if I'd gone without at least giving him my respects in person. And sure enough, he did get back to have a 30-minute chitchat before driving me back to the station. By that time, Saku was pitch black (no chance of downtown lighting obscuring the night view), the temps had plummeted to -4 C, and there was a fair blizzard whipping up around us.
I said earlier on that there was an 8-minute delay with the train headed to Saku. Well, it looks like The Cat's request to stay around another hour was a good one. Apparently, there had been a major power outage on the Nagano Shinkansen Line which pretty much screwed the schedule for the entire day, including 2 hours of no service whatsoever. As it was, though, it took 20 minutes longer than expected for my return train to reach Ueno Station because of the log jam of Bullets trying to get in and out of Tokyo Station. So I decided not to take that chance and got off at Ueno. Luckily, the rest of the trip home was uneventful. Still, Tokyo had gotten a taste of a climactic barrage of a different sort...in the form of a sandstorm, thanks to the Japanese equivalent of the Chinook winds in Canada and perhaps the Santa Ana winds in the US.

But the main event was yesterday. The entire Kanto got majorly buffeted by some powerful gales. There was a whole lot of whistling going on around my apartment for virtually the entire day and night. I was thinking the Tozai Line would be cut off due to the high winds but surprisingly enough, it was still running. I was lucky that I didn't have to go outside at all to see The OL. All I had to do was just get off at Nihombashi Station and just go through the downtown entrance of the Coredo Mall to reach the Ueshima Cafe where I taught her.

More later....

Friday February 22, 2:07 p.m.

Well, the juku boss did say that this year, my 42nd year, would be one of the most trying ones. And it looks like the omen is coming true. It all started with that letter from my real estate agency stating that I was delinquent in my rent for February. I thought it was some stupid clerical error...I've been very good for the past 14 years when it came to paying my bills. I faxed them proof via copies of my passbook and then called the agency up when I didn't hear from them. Finally, I had to go over to the agency in person to find out what was going on. Let's say I wasn't too impressed with their service.
However, I think it was just as well that I did go in person. The clerk over there looked into my records and found out that there was indeed an error...somehow in the past, I ended up not paying for one month. And so, I've now got to pay that along with the March rent and the lease renewal fee which is 1.5 times the regular rent. Basically, I'm gonna go broke. I asked rather urgently whether there was a mistake in the computer. But the clerk patiently and with some sympathy showed me through the printout that none was to be found. You can imagine that I wasn't feeling too good. With a sense of shock and dismay, I rather moped out of there. I didn't make direct eye contact with her but I could sense that she was also feeling a bit tense; I could imagine that she's had some rather more tempestuous confrontations in the past over these sorts of deals.
I've just had to do something that I really hate to do...and that is go begging hat in hand. I've sent an SOS of sorts to the juku boss herself. She's already volunteered to be my guarantor for the apartment, so I was hesitant to ask her again...but she's also the one who did offer to help me out financially before. It's gonna be a bad year.

Ironically, I then had to go down to Akasaka to the HQ of the real estate agency to find out about the change in guarantor. As I was heading down on the subway, I was just in a bit of a daze; I didn't bother to find a seat...just stood by the door. True to my luck today, I got off at Akasaka since the address said Moto-Akasaka...only thing is that Moto-Akasaka was nearest the Ginza Line station, Akasaka-Mitsuke, rather than Akasaka Station on the Chiyoda Line. So I had to walk another 1o minutes through the ritzy neighbourhood. I got to the HQ. The lobby looked distinctly Kubrickian with noone there. It was one of those reception areas in which I had to go to a phone and dial an extension number to summon someone. So I did so and got someone from the relevant section to meet me.
A fellow who looked like the recently departed Barry Morse came out to meet me. He had that demeanor of a very efficient butler...and had the height to show for it as well. Rather towered over me although he wasn't intimidating. He gave me his card and I told him about my situation. He went back to his office and then returned to let me know that the juku boss needs to hand in a document along with my form for lease renewal. I wasn't in a good mood but I appreciated his level of service as he opened the door for me to exit.

So I'm back here at Speedy's after having had lunch at McDs (I wonder if that will be the fanciest meal I'll ever have for the rest of this year). I have to take over one lesson for the bossman who's had to go in for some emergency surgery concerning his colon. I hope it isn't too serious. He told BC, who's the only other person here, that she'll have to hold the fort for the day. Although he'll be back here tomorrow, he's de facto incommunicado until Monday.
But it looks like that little filming here yesterday has already paid off. The feature on our little school got televised at noon today on the TBS variety show. And people have already started to call in about us. Ironically, I was right in front of TBS when I got off at Akasaka.

Not sure what or how things are gonna shape up for the next several weeks into Spring.

Thursday February 21, 3:54 p.m.

The filming finished almost 30 minutes ago. Pretty painless, although BC just confided that she absolutely hates being put out in public. I just kept my mouth shut, eyes on the screen and fingers on the keyboard. The "student" in this case was one of those PYT (pretty young things..thought I would channel Michael Jackson here) and was pretty loud...I guess they gotta be when they're on TV.

Found out through Facebook that both The Entrepreneur and The Dancer have become members of this huge community. Sent them a little greeting.

Thursday February 21, 2:40 p.m.

We've got the TV guys in here and Speedy's giving them the dog n' pony show about the school. Just prelims right now...the filming should be getting under way in about 20 minutes. No celebs but that's no skin off my nose.

The Yogist didn't have any big effusive statements about her first ever marathon on Sunday, but she said that she'd enjoyed it much more than expected. Obviously since it was her first one, she has been suffering the usual muscle aches and pains brought on by pushing her body to the limit. She's not quite sure whether she'll re-enlist for next year.

I dropped a line onto The Entrepreneur since I hadn't heard from him in a number of weeks. He got back to me pretty quickly. Apparently, he had tried to send me a message last week but obviously he didn't make it through. Looks like he and his relatively new bride are still very much in the honeymoon phase...they'd gone to some little inn for Valentine's Day last week. Ahh...a different world.

Right now, the TV crew is starting its dry run for the filming. The rather genki director has recruited BC into the fun...although BC may be rather bemused by it all. I'll have to talk it over with her tonight. Speedy is trying to calm her down although I'm not sure what his state of mind is like, either. I'm just working here.

Rehearsal one has just launched. BC looks like she's holding things together. I think I did get into the shot....and we're about to do another take. I'm starting to understand how these things are being put together. And I wonder how actors and actresses can take this sort of thing for 18 hours.

Anyways, more on this later...

Thursday February 21, 12:40 p.m.

Looks like the flu/cold/hay fever bug has been taking its toll locally. A few of our students and even The Admin's son has taken ill today. So, Mrs Speedy is taking over at the desk today. The Yogist should be coming around here in about 20 minutes. After that, it'll be another five hours of nothing before I take care of BC and her essay. However, during that interval, one of the local variety shows will be appearing here for a bit of filming for one of their segments to be shown. It had been a while since the last shuzai...most of the filming centred around Mr. Influence's project of Cooking in English. So I'm gonna have to primp myself up a bit...or just hide in the closet for the next few hours or so.

BC's got a big English test coming up this Saturday so she's pretty nervous about her written segment, so recently our one-on-ones have been on her essay writing skills. She's not too bad..not too imaginative but she gets the job done. She has the usual structural issues such as omitted articles and prepositions as even a lot of the advanced students do. We'll be having a business dinner of sorts since we'll be going to the Chianti place next door...home of the Chianti Burger...that messy monstrosity that I'll definitely not be ordering tonight lest BC really wants me to leave some residue on her stuff.

Well, I sent my bill to Cozy regarding those first three translation projects I did for him. He had no problems with it and I'm looking forward to a little moola being transferred into my account soon. He's also sent over the next assignment. I've got about a week on that one.

I'm looking forward to the Yogist's tale of her run through downtown Tokyo on Sunday during the marathon.

Wednesday February 20, 8:06 p.m.

001 is quite the tonic....another one of those lessons whose contents could belong to any winning sitcom. She always marvels at how quickly the time flies...despite the fact that we go non-stop for 80 minutes. Her ski trip to Hokkaido was its usual glamourous thrill, except that the flight home turned out to be delay after delay due to various reasons. And yet she'll be gone for another 2 weeks...next week is just because she unfortunately pulled the night shift but the week after will be the big international trip to Alaska.

Well, now it's just The Diver. She's not nearly as gabby or as confident as 001 so there will be some more effort needed on my part. However, if she shows the promise that she did last week, then I think the next hour will be pretty painless.

Wednesday February 20, 5:06 p.m.

Back at Speedy's again after teaching The New Yorker in Ichigaya. Had the rather surprising happenstance to run into my ol' manager at the ol' school...the somewhat smarmy mealy-mouthed one. Past teachers once told me that you'd know when the manager truly disliked you if he seemed rather pleased to see you. In that case, I can comfortably state that he really despises me.

Before that rendezvous, I had lunch at China (Not-so-) Quick nearby. Service was its usual perfunctory-if-not-so-friendly self. At 750 yen for a good-sized bento, I was satisfied, though.

On the way back to Ichigaya Station, there was a small group of people dressed in blue coveralls, helmets and white gauze hay fever masks giving out flyers. At first, I thought the ultra right wing was starting to lighten up their fashion statements a bit, but in actual fact, it was probably the other end of the political spectrum. As one lady was exhorting the commuters with a megaphone, the group was decrying yesterday's accidental slice-and-dice by an Aegis destroyer (not the cruiser I had misidentified it as), the Atago, of a fishing boat off in Chiba waters. Their eventual purpose was to demand the dismantling of the Self-Defense Forces. Good luck on that. Unfortunately for the MSDF, it looks like a lot of sailors will be going through the wringer in the eyes of the media and people for the next few days at least. I think the only guys who won out on this one is that Chinese factory responsible for the poisoned gyoza...they've been knocked out from the spotlight.

Anyways, speaking of food, I gotta eat mine. 001 will be here in less than 45 minutes.

Wednesday February 20, 1:28 p.m.

Almost ready to head out the door to see The New Yorker. It's been one of those lazy few hours between lessons and a malfunctioning computer in front of me. I did plan for tonight's lessons. But I'm feeling pretty tired right now.

Well, the world has seen a few hiccups in the past several hours. Fidel Castro has finally decided to step down officially...Cubans have barely raised a conga line in response. The party of the late Benazir Bhutto may have won the Pakistani elections although I'm not quite sure what Musharraf will do now. How about one more dclaration of martial law for old time's sakes? And the Obama Steamroller is still making itself known after Barrack grabs Wisconsin from Hillary...not sure what Hawaii is thinking quite yet. And of course, Kosovars are holding their collective breath over what revenge Serbia and the USS---er, I mean Russia have in store for them.

Wednesday February 20, 11:26 a.m.

Just finished with The Nurse...another absurdist humour-filled riot. We managed to unravel her problems of contrasting Simple Present with Present Continuous. Looks like this day will be sandwiched with nurses (no snickering in the audience, please). I just had this one now and my night will be over with The Diver...someone who's in more need of TLC. In between, I've got The New Yorker and 001.

Yesterday, much like Monday, promised more than it actually delivered. But it wasn't actually a bad thing. Monday had all these frontloaded classes of which three dotakyan'ed. Tuesday had my last two guys of The Siberian and Jolly can out. For The Beehive, it was just Mrs. Alp, Travel and Jade. There was some talk about their upcoming trip to Croatia. Mrs. Jade, channeling the absent Mrs. Tee, was worrying quite a bit about it considering the current situation in Kosovo. But Mrs Travel, being the veteran adventurer, laughed it off and stating the three months before launch. We ended up having lunch at a Korean bibimpap place in department store near JR Tsudanuma. Good food...and very hot, but not because of the spices but due to the actual heat of the stone pot.

002 was her usual self during my house call. Her husband had done the marathon and struck a personal best. The lass had tried to qualify for it last year but failed so she's gonna go for it again for the next year.

For the juku, only Dale showed up. We worked on diseases for which she did quite well; certainly with a whole lot more oomph than she had shown last week. Her mother and little brother (a bit of a holy terror at 4) came in for the 2nd time in as many weeks. I'm not sure if I should take that as a hint.
Mild Jr. showed up for his regular spot of occupational role-playing. He's gonna be promoted to the position of top of security at his hotel...not sure if he's too thrilled about it, though. For a guy who looks like an enforcer, he's quite mild-mannered like his parents. As for The Milds, I had their last lesson before they take off for a week's tour of India tomorrow. They are going on a typical Japanese tour which will probably mean that they won't get anywhere near anything remotely dangerous...which gave me some relief. As I usually warn my students before they take off on an overseas vacation, I don't want to see their names listed on an NHK News Bulletin.

My newborn adventure with my real estate agency over that misunderstanding on Saturday continues. I tried calling the office to see if my fax had gotten there safely. The young lady on the other end of the line cheerfully admitted no knowledge so I left them my number in the hopes that one of the higher-ups would call. Haven't heard a thing. I may have to visit them personally to get some action. To remind folks, I'd received a letter from them accusing me of non-payment of my rent last month for which I have the proof in the form of a bank statement that I did indeed pay up...as I have every month for the last 14 years.

The big news right now here is that crash between an Aegis-equipped MSDF cruiser and a fishing boat off Chiba...no guesses needed to find out who won. The father and son aboard the little boat are still missing, and I can't really expect them to be found alive after all this time (more than 24 hours ago) and in this weather.

Feeling pretty tired after two nights of just 11 hours of sleep. I'm rather happy that I don't need to come in until The Yogist's lesson tomorrow afternoon. I'll be interested to find out how she fared in The Tokyo Marathon.

Monday February 18, 9:22 p.m.

Well, this is one for the record books. I had been expecting a very heavy, Admin-sympathizing night schedule. But as it turns out, I've ended up with a long intermission between SIL and Medicine Man...who should be arriving any minute now. First, The Full-Timer and The Diver cancel. Then, Mr. TOEIC outdoes himself by not only calling in to delay his arrival but then calls a second time to cancel outright. Such is the lot of a staffer in eigyobu (Sales Division). Speedy has reassured me that I will be paid in full for sudden cancellations. Easiest pile of yen I've earned all month. The Admin will be falling off her chair in laughter tomorrow, I bet.

I got another quick little order from Cozy. I just translated his little sliver of wording right in Gmail.

As for Medicine Man, this is his fourth and final lesson so far if he doesn't renew...hope he does; although I'm well aware about what happened to The Judge.

Monday February 18, 8:00 p.m.

It looks like The Diver may be amenable to a Wednesday night slot, so I don't lose any income; it'll just be transferred. So I'm just waiting for Mr. TOEIC. Ironically, he's usually the go-to guy for dotakyan...apparently, since I haven't heard anything from him yet, I'm assuming he'll actually make it tonight.

Luckily, with the unexpected free time, I have been able to concoct something for the kids. It'll be on the wonderful world of disease.

It'll be a typical busy Tuesday. The Beehive and then 002 followed by the juku crowd. Perhaps Jolly may opt out. I know that The Milds will not be coming the following Tuesday due to their trek through India.

Had a little chat with Speedy. Officially, then, the search for The Admin's replacement is now on. BC's name did pop up. Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing some of her complaints about Speedy's ways, so it was no surprise that he told me a bit about BC. And never the train shall meet.

Monday February 18, 6:42 p.m.

Well, so much for the heavy night. Not only has The Full-Timer opted out today but The Diver just called to cancel as well. So my next class won't be til 8:30. A bit of a drag, perhaps, but I can still use the time to concoct something for Chip N' Dale tomorrow night at the juku. Speaking of the li'l munchkins, I'm not quite sure how much longer I'll have them. I haven't exactly been pulling them along too quickly and Dale certainly looked a bit lax last week. I only get 1600 yen for the two of them, so I may start suggesting that they look for a proper kids' teacher.

Monday February 18, 5:10 p.m.

It's only a Monday and yet I'm already feeling run down. Maybe it's the onset of the flu...although I haven't had the flu in nearly 30 years. Let's say this, the last time I had influenza, I distinctly remember missing that episode of the original "Battlestar Galactica" in which Starbuck's father was played by Fred Astaire. No...I'm not imagining this...Astaire did play Starbuck's father.

Or perhaps it's some lingering stuff from the kerfuffle surrounding my apartment and the real estate agency. Yup, it's renewal time which means paying the renewal fee of oodles of yen plus getting the guarantor to sign up. I've decided to change the guarantor (which is mandatory in most cases) from my uncle to the juku boss, since I rarely have any contact with him. Another big headache is that when I came home, I got a form letter from the local branch of the real estate agency gently accusing me of not paying last month's rent. Well, I just let out a huge "WHAT?!" in surprised outrage and ran out to the nearest ATM...nearly 10 minutes on foot away and updated my passbook. Sure enough, there was the proof in the pudding...I did pay my rent...and so I made some photocopies of the passbook and sent off a politely worded counter message by fax (despite the fact that I was feeling far from polite at the time). I haven't heard anything since then so that may be a good sign. In any case, I'm in the clear so it's up to them to let me know what they did with my money.

Before that, I had a pretty good lesson with The OL. She rather surprised me with her book report. A lot of that rust from last week disappeared and she gave me a comparative study of "A Christmas Carol" and its representation of life in Victorian England. Certainly a whole lot more than the usual "I liked it because..." comments I get. So I decided that the next few lessons at least should centre around those reports since it does get her speaking at a mile a minute; it's obvious that she enjoys espousing on English-language literature, her major at university right now. However, I did give her some remedial grammar exercises to cover some of the patches. Her next assignment will be George Orwell's "Animal Farm", required reading in my old junior high school days.
I even got a little present from her via something that her supposedly otaku sister (not the UL but the other one) whipped up from scratch...a fabric bookcover. Apparently, the only sister I haven't met from her clan is quite the whiz at homemaking.

Yesterday, I met Tully and The Coffeemaker for the first time in 2 months...nearly forgetting that The Tokyo Marathon was under way. The Tozai Line was a lot busier than usual for a Sunday and Iidabashi Station was more reminiscent of a weekday at rush hour with lots of folks in jogging gear and with banners. However, Ichigaya was as quiet as usual...the runners had passed the area several minutes before. At least, the weather was far sunnier than last year's drippy inaugural although the chill was still there. I wonder how The Yogist and 002's hubby did. This time around, the organizers and even some impromptu volunteers had whipped up enough bananas and onigiri for starving participants. But there were still not enough porta-potties. But then again, there will never be enough porta-potties no matter how many are present. When one has to wait 10 minutes to take a whizz...
As for Tully and The Coffeemaker, they didn't suffer any rust but The Coffeemaker tends to clam up whenever she's given too much of a challenge such as business idioms. Still, they will be back on March 1.

Today is a pretty loaded day...despite The Full-Timer's sudden cancellation due to work (she's the payroll person at her company....which probably means very busy at this time of year). I had The Class Act (The Lady's chef whipped up a new dessert of matcha mousse with strawberries) and SIL. SIL and I looked at an article on the passing of Maharishi something-or-other, the Beatles' ol' guru in India. Considering his influence on the boys, it could be said that the Maharishi may have been indirectly responsible for the paradigm shift in American pop music. Maybe Paul could have used some of his pearls of wisdom just about now.
Well, I've got a bit of breathing room since The Full-Timer is off today. But I'll have the threesome of The Diver, Mr. TOEIC and then Medicine Man back-to-back-to-back.

In the past few weeks, I've been audience to a lot of deaths...those of a Japanese director, an Australian actor and some tragic ones of students at Northern Illinois Univeristy. So it's with some relief that I could actually witness the birth of a nation....Kosovo...although Russia and Serbia wish that it was stillborn.

Last night, Fuji-TV had its comedy competition for a few hours. A whole bunch of the comic cognescenti descended upon its studios to find out who would get the top prize...and therefore a boost in popularity, and ergo, yen. There were some new ones but there were some of the other vets...such as that Yoshio Kojima, the bikini-pant sporting lunkhead who's been using his lone shtick of pumping his arm into the ground while yelling "Sonanno kankei nai!" I think it's safe to say that his 15 minutes are almost up. Then, there was prettily porky Kanako Yanagihara with yet another one of her salesperson characters....still not sure how long she'll last. And then there was latecomer Edd Harumi...the former corporate etiquette trainer who has climbed up the ranks with her warped version of her job while hissing "Gooooooood!"Now, she's using her talents as a dancer to add to her shtick...she literally kicked up her heels to "My Sharona" by The Clash. I'm sure she's taken Yoshio's place on YouTube.
But the winner ended up being the fellow who has become famous for his impersonation of Dylan McKay from "Beverly Hills 90120". No accounting for taste, apparently. If all this sounds pretty warped...that's because it is.

Saturday February 16, 3:58 p.m.

Just had The Manhattanite an hour ago. She's doing OK...having her Italian singing lesson right about now. Yep, that's also been a popular activity among some of the women here.

Will be heading off shortly for Nihonbashi to teach The OL. It'll be a shoring up of things forgotten over the past year. Still have yet to hear from Tully and The Coffeemaker about tomorrow. However, The Coffeemaker did propose the 17th so I'm assuming everything's online for that one...but just not sure what I'll be doing with them.

Got another rush job done for Cozy. Just a little memo but I'm sure he appreciates that I have gotten the first three jobs in for him quite a bit ahead of time...although I'm unsure of the quality.

Tomorrow's the 2nd annual Tokyo Marathon redux. Last year, the runners had to face rain and some mighty cool temps. This year has been downright cold, and so we can probably only hope for some sun. 002 will be enjoying the race from the comfort of her living room this time around but her hubby will be in for his second try. And The Yogist will be making her debut as a marathon runner. She couldn't come for her Thursday class because she had to register for it; she was pretty nervous but I'm sure she'll do well. Just have to wonder how this race will affect the subways on the way to Ichigaya tomorrow.

Friday February 15, 4:22 p.m.

Gotten a few more chocolates from the students. The Sisters of State were the latest folks to bring tribute to their old teacher. And the Admin was also very generous as well. Looks like I'm gonna have to make way in the March budget for the vengeance on White Day. Speaking of the sisters, The Carolinan has given me her say-so to start thinking about that outing to Spyros, the Greek restaurant in Roppongi. Probably won't be for another 6 weeks, though.

BC seems to be on a more even keel now since she started at Speedy's back in January, although I think the bossman has paid a price. BC may have been an emotional wreck last summer but she's gotten back her second wind...and using it to blow back some arguments against her new boss. She's said that she doesn't really mean to scare him but I think she's a little less patient with his rapid-fire ways than The Admin and me. As for The Admin, who has been with us for almost a year, has officially given her notice to the boss since she needs to stay closer to home in Izu. So I warned BC that she may be top dog for a while or that she'll need to help train a new assistant.

Today, I just have The Ace later tonight. Usually I would just keep it within the neighbourhood on Fridays just to save myself a bit of money...although considering the annual income tax mugging and my lease renewal, it hasn't meant much at all. But today I had to get a present for the juku boss since her husband has consented to be my guarantor for aforementioned renewal which gets me off the hook from an uncle I hardly ever make contact with. So since I would be in Ginza, I decided against better health judgement and indulged in my Chinese buffet in Yurakucho. Yep, I got myself stuffed nicely on the siu mai and ma bo dau fu although I never went overboard in my foodie tendencies. It cost me 1,800 yen for all-you-can-eat. However, across the hallway was the relocated Thai restaurant, Siam, offering its lunch buffet for just a measly 945 yen. I'll have to give that one a shot next week.

I ended up getting the juku boss and her husband a box of Harrod's tea and a small jar of marmalade from the depachika of the main Mitsukoshi department store in Ginza. Busy as usual but probably not as nuts as it was yesterday due to Valentine's Day.

I got word from The Coffeemaker for the first time in almost 2 months. I thought she and her buddy, Tully, decided to break things off with me. Instead, she asked about my availability to resume lessons starting on Sunday. I've sent her a positive response with a counterresponse pending. Speaking of work, I'm gonna be massively backloaded on Monday. I've got my veterans of The Class Act, SIL and The Full-Timer before the lineup of Mr. TOEIC, The Diver and Medicine Man. I'll probably be properly baked by the end of that night.

Stopped off at Maruzen after a much-needed walk through Yurakucho up to Otemachi. I wanted to see if I could find some book on Business Japanese since I'm doing those translations for Cozy. No luck....and that translation yesterday took 5 hours straight at Speedy's. I was feeling mighty stiff after that session. And still, I wasn't too satisfied with it. But ready or not, I have to hand it in tomorrow. However, I did come across the Anglicization of yet another manga series, "Dr. Slump".
Recently, there's been a spate of English-translated versions of popular manga. "Dragonball" has now got English running through its pages as well as "Death Note". And several months ago, Skippy had lent me a few volumes of "Nodame Cantabile" in the English format.
"Dr. Slump" is special, though, since I had received a couple of the original Japanese books all the way back in 1981 by my homestay sister. This series had been the first big success story for Akira Toriyama before he came up with his magnum opus of "Dragonball" a few years later. I ended up getting the entire series over the next decade and it's still sitting somewhere back in Toronto. I enjoyed the story of Arale, the perpetually toddleresque android, with her lecherous, Kansai-ben spouting inventor, Dr. Norimaki, because Toriyama unabashedly mashed up his anime style of drawing with elements of Hollywood parody (guests like Superman and Mr. Spock appear side by side with Japanese icons Godzilla and Gamera....one of the main characters' fathers is Clint Eastwood!), raunchy humour and fourth-wall breaking absurdism. For anyone who enjoys "Dragonball", I would recommend "Dr. Slump" wholeheartedly.

Sticking the pop culture, I caught the latest video by Kaela Kimura, Japan's poppier answer to Avril Lavigne. I'm not a huge fan of hers but I think her new song and video, "Jasper" is quite catchy. And I find out that she had some help from the techno guy Takkyu Ishino who has come out with some fun hooky tunes of his own. "Jasper" is the tie-up song for "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" which is supposed to hit town this weekend.

Thursday February 14, 8:57 a.m.

Well, another Valentine's Day. I've managed to score chocolates from 002, Mrs. Mild and one of the grandmotherly students so far. I'm sure all of the depachika chocolate outlets as well as the chocolatiers will be doing volume business.

Managed to finish off the classes last night without pulling a muscle. 001 was her usual self; one of the highest forms of praise that I can get is when a student remarks how quickly time flew in the class. 001 said so. The Diver was also quite happy with her third lesson. Kept things strictly to the text and lots of drills. And I finished things off with Medicine Man. As for 001, she's off to Hokkaido for yet another run on the slopes....this is her second time in as many weeks. I guess 11 years at the hospital can have its benefits. And then in another 2 weeks, she's off to Alaska to see the Aurora Borealis for the first time.

I had to close up the shop last night since The Amazon was only meant to be here til the beginning of my class with Medicine Man. So I tried to fulfill Speedy's wishes and turn off the power. I thought I did but came in this morning and found out that I hadn't switched off one heater properly. I'm lucky that Speedy isn't the upbraiding type. I've only got The Nurse at the school while I have The Carolinan and BC as my privates.

Man, quite a few people leaving this mortal coil this year. Roy Scheider of "Jaws" fame passed on this past weekend. And then the main news this morning is on the death of Kon Ichikawa, another one of the big directors here.

Really cold this morning. Kinda surprised that my pipes didn't freeze.

Wednesday February 13, 4:56 p.m.

The winds of Hell have been blowing around here for the past couple of days. Not too many casualties in terms of people but there are a whole lot of bicycles and pylons which have seen better days.

The juku crowd was generally OK except for Chip N' Dale. I'm kinda wondering if the Wall has inevitably arrived for the kids. Dale was pretty listless. I've never been a great fan of teaching kids and the end usually begins when the light goes out of their eyes. However, I did get some Valentine's Day goodies from The Milds (as I also did from 002); incidentally, the new retirees will be heading for a week's tour of India from late next week. Man, I hope they survive the experience. As for The Siberian, the young lad spent most of the long weekend hitting his favourite izakaya three times in as many days...doesn't remember too much either. Jolly helped cap the night with a good go in his lesson.

I've got the night group tonight with 001, The Diver and Medicine Man. Most of this morning was spent watching the latest primaries in the US. Amazing what this Obama guy is doing. He's finally gone ahead of Hillary in the delegate count. And as the CNN guys were also noticing, there's quite a difference in style of delivery between Barack and John McCain. Obama is addressing arenas of screaming young folk as if he were Freddie Mercury, while McCain has a pretty subdued audience with the old guard behind him.

Just found out that Mr. TOEIC has cancelled yet again his double on Saturday...which just leaves me with The Manhattanite for the sole class at the school. I'm sure Speedy will be really thrilled at that news since he really wants to save on the upkeep, and opening up a school for just one student doesn't really do that. However, for me, I'm lucky enough to have The OL afterwards in Nihombashi.

The Cat has confirmed my arrival in her neck of the woods for next Saturday afternoon.

A little over a year ago, Japan saw yet another celeb become governor of a prefecture. The guy's stage name was Sonomanma Higashi...a comedian with the head of a sausage but with the mentorship of none other than Beat Takeshi. With his entry into a more sober world, we also discovered why he chose the stage name...his real name is the unwieldy Hideo Higashikokubaru. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
I certainly thought that he would have much impact on the political scene as some of his predecessors like former comedians-turned-governors Yukio Aoshima of Tokyo and Knock Yokoyama (both dead now) of Osaka...basically none or bad. The former was pretty much a non-factor while the latter got ousted for sexual assault on an assistant. Strangely enough, though, the new governor of Miyazaki Prefecture has probably become one of the most popular and well-known regional rulers in recent history....and considering that he had to immediately take care of the crisis of culling bird flu amongst tons of chickens in his realm. In the year that he's been in charge, he's become quite the eager salesman and booster for his province that even Governor Ishihara of Tokyo can only wonder about.
And another successful point about Higashikokubaru's reign is that unlike past geinojin-turned-seijika, he hasn't totally toned down his hilarity. He's still getting regularly asked to appear on the variety shows as himself, and he's more than happy to blurt out the one-liners. I even saw him on an episode of Utaban...which strictly has only musical guests on. I don't think even former Prime Minister Koizumi had this much pull in the entertainment world in the early part of his rule. Basically, the Governor of Miyazaki has now set the bar high for any entertainer who may be entertaining ideas of hitting the stump.

Tuesday February 12, 4:28 p.m.

It's another cold and rainy one out there. It was supposed to be mid-afternoon snow but I guess the temps didn't fall far enough.

Yesterday was the latest chapter in The Burger Tour. The newest stop was near Jiyugaoka Station, about 15 minutes west of Shibuya by Tokyu Toyoko Line. I'd been to Jiyugaoka a number of times in the past...it's basically a suburban hub with all sorts of little stores, restaurants and what-not surrounding the station. It was the usual crew...Skippy, MB and The Satyr along with myself. The Satyr's squeeze, Miss Ivory, was also supposed to show up but she's gone down with the cold. The Sylph won't go anywhere near meat anymore so, obviously, she was a no-show. Looks like I won't see her much then from now on.
It was a 10-minute bus ride to Komazawa Park, a relatively huge piece of greenery in western Tokyo. And just across it was AS Classics, the famed burger joint. I'm not sure where the name came from but then again past burger joints we've gone to have names like Brozzers and Baker Bounce, so I can't really cast too many aspersions on this place. Skippy had made reservations but they weren't really necessary since there were plenty of empty tables available. The place was typically American Diner in decor, and there was even a small wood stove burning near our table.
As has been the case the last few times on the Tour, the burgers were the great attractions while the sides were pretty mediocre. I had the Cheeseburger which was another huge mother. MB and I ordered Fish n' Chips and were given two large tablets of batter-fried fish with home fries and a mysteriously large plop of what looked like freeze-dried-then-thawed tartar sauce. Again another strikeout looking for a decent platter of FnC. I think the last place that had good stuff was the Australian pub in East Shinjuku. MB and I decided that we should start an alternate tour looking for fine Fish n' Chips...and Buffalo Wings, for that matter. The restaurant ran out of the wings...not a good sign, frankly...good spicy and meaty wings have been hard to find since The Maple Leaf closed up shop last May. Basically, we had a good time there but I wouldn't go there again anytime soon since it's so far away from my neck of the woods.

On the way back to the station, Skippy told me about the so-called scandal around Kumi Koda, the singer to dethrone Ayumi Hamasaki as J-Pop Queen. I'd heard bits and pieces for the past few days but didn't really get anything concrete. Apparently, the Osakan singer said something rather impolitic on a radio show. Her manager or her manager's friend was having trouble having a baby for which Koda jokingly blurted out that after 35, a woman's ovaries tend to go to pot so best make them children ASAP. Well, something hit the fan...and the complaints rolled on in which forced her to make a taped apology.
I rather rolled my eyes at this. I mean, back in the West, a comment like that would be called into bad taste of course but the celeb offender would backhandedly apologize or defiantly not apologize, citing free speech. However, over here, things are somewhat different. Anyone studying Japanese Culture 101 will know that Koda doesn't say things for herself but for her in-group, and since Japan has a shame culture, even a little nasty joke like that can reflect badly. What compounds things, though, is the grafted Western tabloid culture that has hit mass media over here. And another Western...or perhaps human...trait is that people just love to break down people they've brought on up.

I was surprised by the news of the fire and subsequent collapse of Namdaemon, that huge structure in Seoul last night. I remember taking a picture of it when The Class Act and I had gone to Korea a couple of years ago. And it was basically the de rigueur backdrop to any news report from Korea. So seeing it go down like it did was a shock to me....as if The Imperial Palace in Tokyo or The CN Tower in Toronto had come crashing down. Apparently, some aged homeless man did the foul deed.

Just had The Beehive. Ms. Perth made a surprise visit since her father was ailing. And also Ms. London, the one who had introduced me to the ladies nearly a decade ago, also came as well. It would have been a full hive if Ms. Pottery and Ms. Tulip had been there. They were all gabbing about their latest travel project, a few days in Croatia later this Spring. We continued the discussion at a pasta restaurant in Funabashi for which I was plied with the noodles the ladies couldn't eat...which meant I felt like the first victim in "Seven".

Then, it was back to see 002 for her second lesson of the year. According to her, The Baker has been having a tough time at work recently. 002, 001 and I had always been joking about the fact that The Baker would be a rather tough boss to work for and that Tokyo Bay was probably littered with the remains of those assistants who didn't meet her very stringent standards.
Well, it looks like one of her staff finally had enough. The Baker was recently a victim of gyaku-ijime....reverse bullying. Someone had stolen her laptop and left a rather nasty note. It's never easy and always lonely at the top.

Well, I have the usual cast of characters at the juku tonight...except for Mild Jr. who's double-shifting. Apparently, one of his colleagues had also been having problems with his superior and took off suddenly.

Sunday February 10, 10:39 p.m.

Saturday night was pretty miserable in terms of weather. Apparently, neighbouring Tokyo and Saitama got the snow that had been forecast, but my neck of the woods in Chiba just got doused in cold, cold rain. Also, had a dinner which wasn't the most comfy...for the second time, I went to Yayoiken, that sit-down bento restaurant which had been built in the station mall a few months ago. The only other time was right on its first day. The food was pretty good then, as it was last night. Karaage bento, if you must know.
The only problem was in the timing. I came in at about 7 p.m....the time when most of the salarymen drag their sorry asses for something other than instant ramen. Also, the kitchen must've been filled with a bunch of greenhorns. For a restaurant that works on the ticket-dispensing machine system, the staff was pretty slow. And the drill sergeant manager made them know that fact pretty sternly...just a few metres away from we customers. Not exactly the most inviting dining experience.

However, today was quite pleasant and balmy. Up to 11 C. Still ended up bringing the scarf and mittens. With the unusually cold winter this year, one can't be too careful. I met BC at JR Shinjuku and we went out to Saboten, that tonkatsu restaurant in Odakyu Mall. Then, we headed off to Nakano to her friend's niko concert at Zero Hall. The niko is that Chinese string instrument which popped up a lot during movies like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
Actually, the concert had started around 2:30 p.m. with an intermission. We got there about 7:30 since her friend was due to play in the very last performance. We like the niko but not to the extent that we would risk economy-class syndrome. Not surprisingly, the various performers played traditional Chinese tunes as well as covers of pop songs from Japan and abroad. One group played "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic", but I forgave them for that because they also brought out some really Yoda-like masters for the finale. The Carolinan showed up at about 7:30 p.m.
The concert ended an hour later, so the three of us just headed on out to a nearby Caffe Velocce for some coffee and cake. We've already gotten started on the plans to head out to that Greek restaurant in Roppongi that Speedy and I had gone to a number of months back.

Well, got National Foundation Day tomorrow...which will merely mean an extra day for me to clean up the apartment before heading out to meet my other group of buddies for the latest chapter in The Burger Tour.

Saturday February 9, 5:09 p.m.

Well, the Dentist was her usual barrel of laughs. She'll be heading off to Hokkaido for a little R&R next week, so I won't be seeing her til March. I'll be heading up to the wilds of Nagano Prefecture to see The Cat and her kittens on the 23rd. Meanwhile, today, the bossman is taking a very rare Saturday off to indulge in an onsen in Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture. Kusatsu is pretty famous for its hot springs so I could imagine that they're doing volume business this holiday weekend.

As for me, I'll be off for the next couple of days. I'll be meeting up with BC for dinner tomorrow before the two of us catch The Carolinan in Nakano for a concert of her friend. She plays the niko, that Chinese string instrument. Most likely, I'll take BC to Saboten, the tonkatsu chain restaurant in the underground Odakyu Mall by JR Shinjuku. Then, on Monday night, I'm meeting up with The Burger Tour gang for our latest conquest across from Komazawa Park.

Still have yet to see the snow come on down. Perhaps if we are lucky, it'll be one of the examples of the weather forecasters getting it wrong like they did up til a couple of weeks ago.

Saturday February 9, 2:53 p.m.

Another possible snowy evening in store for us today. I'm at Speedy's where it's just BC and me before The Dentist shows up in about 20 minutes. I typed out the translation for Cozy and sent it over to him...hopefully, it passes muster. I got a bit of money riding on it.

I saw The OL for the first time in nearly a year at Nihombashi. We had our first reunion lesson at an old-style but trendy little coffeehouse called Ueshima in the Coredo mall. She was awfully rusty after a year of nearly no English communication whatsoever; basically she'll need a full review of just about all the basics that had been covered a couple of years ago. However, she started to warm up by the end of the session. She's gotten a straighter perm compared to her frizzy do back then. Her sister and my former student, The UL, said hello back to me although there was no sign that she wanted to resume her classes. The OL will be trying to crunch in as many classes with me as she can during her 6-week Spring vacation for her nighttime university education.
The OL is one of the more compassionate folks I know. She raised my fee by 500 yen due to the gradual inflation that's been permeating life here in the last couple of months. A package of Sapporo Ichiban went from 68 yen to 100 yen...nearly a 50% jump! And we're looking at a price hike in milk and other things from March. Plus, I've got my taxes and rent renewal to look forward to. I wonder what the suicide rate is gonna be like next month.

Friday February 8, 10:30 a.m.

Another sunny & cold one here in The Big Sushi. But it looks like the weekend may be snow-filled; man, this has been an unusual winter. The weather forecasters have been talking about the pattern that's been happening this past week: a snowfall every 3 days. So, we may be looking at midweek snow next week.

Well, a bit of a surprise in timing if not inevitability...Mitt has quit, and right at the conference that would love him. Meanwhile, the guy who's seen with equal parts of suspicion and derision, John McCain is now the presumptive nominee for the Republican party. (I think the audience was looking downright consumptive.) Give a nice round of tepidness and catcalls for the possible future President of the United States.
Pretty ironic that a guy who is loaded with cash and has the looks of a middle-aged superhero lost out to a stubby, garrulous fellow who looks more like Dr. Evil. McCain has got his work cut out for him. Arch-conservative Ann Coulter threatened to vote for Hillary Clinton if he got the nomination...now that's pretty harsh.

Over here, the big news was that tainted gyoza scare. Yoichi Masuzoe, the beleaguered Minister of Labour and Welfare (he's become the John McClane of the government) has gone on record saying that this could've been a deliberate attack.
As I said, it was the news. But last night, the top story on all of the news shows was the arrest of that former sumo stablemaster and 4 of his underlings for beating a wayward apprentice to death for not being sumo enough. Tokitsukaze had already been ousted from the world that he'd known for decades last year...supposedly the first and only person on record to ever have that humiliation. And now, he's become a jailbird. Just goes to show that the vaunted Spartan education ethos here has limits.

I got started on that rush job translation assignment that Cozy had given me. Yep, not all that easy. A lot of new kanji that I haven't been able to decipher quite yet, even with the help of three dictionaries (E-J, J-E and kanji). And so I'll be hitting the translation dictionaries online for further help. I'll probably be investing in a Business Japanese lexicon tomorrow at either Maruzen or Kinokuniya between classes. And there is always the act of just asking BC at the school tomorrow.
Still devoting more than 2 hours to the task was pretty interesting. If I start internalizing this newfound knowledge of business Japanese, there could be another source of income right there.

Thursday February 7, 3:20 p.m.

Making this entry at the Kinko's in Shinjuku...just across from Krispy Kreme #1. Yep, still the usual snake-like lineup...about an hour's wait according to the signboard. The reason I'm here paying 210 yen/10 minutes instead of doing all this at Speedy's is that I've had a rush translation order from Cozy and the document couldn't be opened at the faltering computers back at the school. Luckily, I was able to pull it off here. And so, I've got a few hours of translation to do after dinner tonight.

Last night, after that arduousness with The Diver, I did have that model lesson student. He was a businessman with a fairly good grasp of the English language, friendly and conversational. In other words, he'll either not sign up or stay only for a little while. A telling sign is that he told Speedy after the lesson that he would wait a month before a final decision. I don't think I taught a bad lesson, but I think that upper-intermediate level men here just wouldn't find much with me. However, he did appreciate my tip on how to avoid jet lag...and he's got a 27-hour trip to Sao Paulo in the next few weeks.
Of course, Speedy went into one of his "Woe-is-me" stories after that one. Of course, I know that the school has yet to enter the black after 3 years of operation but sometimes I'm just reminded of the situation one too many times.

The Yogist has definitely shaped up (no pun intended) as one of my favourite students. Always willing to try hard and perky to boot, she's starting to rival 001 in that department. She's also been fretting a bit about her upcoming participation in the Tokyo Marathon on the 16th. I don't doubt that it will be a tough one for her since she's doing this for the first time, but out of all of us at the school, with the obvious exception of the marathon veteran 002, she's probably the best-conditioned to make it to the finish line.
She also reminded me that there will yet be another subway line completed for opening in June. This one will be extending from Shibuya through Shinjuku to Ikebukuro, a straight-line arrow punching through the three major hubs of Tokyo. I can only imagine that commuters will be descending into the depths to reach this line...it's a wonder that the bedrock underneath doesn't look like a giant ant's nest.

Well, since I'm in the area, I might as well check out HMV across the bridge in Times Square. May pick up a magazine.

Thursday February 6, 12:55 p.m.

Only 5 minutes before The Yogist comes in, so I'll have to make it a short one.

Unlike yesterday, it's pretty sunny if cold. Hopefully, this'll hold up for another couple of days.

001 was her usual laff-riot. Didn't even touch the textbook. However, it was quite the opposite of The Diver's lesson....she's one of those really underconfident, mutter-under-her-breath types who can really drag things down. I was very patient with her, though...remembering that The New Yorker was also very much like this in the early days. The New Yorker still isn't fluent but at least she's with the program now.

Skippy's got the next Burger Tour all set for the holiday Monday...yep, it's National Foundation Day, not that many people would care except for the ultra-right wingers. This time, we'll be off in the western reaches of Komazawa.

Anyways, time to go.

Wednesday February 6, 4:18 p.m.

Well, I would've just loved to be at home this morning as a relatively new spectator in the gladiator sport known as Super Tuesday. From what I've seen on the CNN website, it looks like that Democratic battle will continue on long into March and has already become rather legendary. As for the Republican nomination, McCain will probably get the nod...if not this month, then in the Spring. At least, I've got two days' worth of highlights to catch.

Instead, I had my somewhat laconic class with The Nurse and then I headed on out to see The New Yorker. It was snowing pretty steadily when I got to Ichigaya this afternoon, although all of the fluffy flakes melted on impact. Kinda wonder if it's gonna continue to do that into the evening. We see some accumulation then.

Two down, three to go. The lesson with 001 will be breezy, I predict. As for The Diver, I hope things settle down with this nervous Nellie; and of course, there will always be some tension with a model lesson student.

Wednesday February 6, 9:36 a.m.

Well, it's Super Tuesday Stateside. Huckabee has taken W. Virginia, while Obama has got Georgia in his back pocket. But there are still a few hours left.

Over here, it's Busy Wednesday for me. On my slate today: The Nurse, The New Yorker, 001, The Diver and a model lesson student in the final slot at the school. It's also starting out as a snowy Hump Day...this is rather unprecedented. I don't think I've ever heard in my near decade-and-a-half in the Kanto of 4 separate days of snowfall. Mind you, the snow outside is of the convenient variety...nice n' dry and very meltable.

The juku crew was fine as usual. Only Chip showed up...Dale is apparently home with the flu. Mild Jr. came over followed by his parents. Mr. Mild celebrated the big 60 last weekend...a rather auspicious birthday in Japanese culture which is known as kanreki. I'm not sure of the history behind it but it involves a lot of wearing of the colour red. And Mr. Mild now officially joins his wife in contented retirement...and daily playing of his new Wii Console.
The Siberian showed up for his sporadic chit-chat. Last night's topics involved his phobia of butterflies and the concept of marbling...yep, we do get rather esoteric. And Jolly once again dotakyaned to Friday night.

The OL further detailed our reunion for Saturday morning. Most likely the cafe of choice will be in Nihombashi...will be convenient for me when I head up to Speedy's for The Dentist.

Tuesday February 5, 4:16 p.m.

Since I didn't have The Beehive today, I could sleep in a bit before heading on out. I paid the last of the City Tax premiums for FY 2007 and the 2nd-last premium for National Health Insurance. So, I'm feeling rather financially light. Still, managed to enjoy a full Subway tuna sub before heading out to the Ichikawa Tax Office to pick up the deductions form. Yep, I've already started doing the calculations for the return.

I saw 002 for the first time this year. Looks like she had a pretty bittersweet New Year...certainly not a happy one. Her grandmother passed away right on January 1, not exactly the greatest day to have a loved one leave this mortal coil....kinda like having a relative die on Xmas Day. She asked me about possibly having that postponed dinner this weekend, but unfortunately, I've got that concert with The Carolinan and BC on Sunday, followed by the next Burger Tour with Skippy and friends.

The OL contacted me about her next set of classes. Looks like I'll have to be squeezing her in here and there since my schedule has been filling up in the last week or so. So far, The Nurse is still rarin' to come early on Wednesday...a pity, since I'd wanted to catch all the hoopla surrounding Super Tuesday on CNN. It'll be truly a Hump Day tomorrow since I've got her, The New Yorker and then 001, The Diver and yet another model lesson.

Gotta give a shout out to a sci-fi fellow....Barry Morse passed away on Groundhog Day at the ripe old age of 89. Not only was he a transplanted Brit and household name in Canada, but was a genre guy as the intrepid Lt. Gerard in the original "The Fugitive" and congenial Professor Victor Bergmann in "Space: 1999".

Well, gotta prep for Chip N' Dale and the rest of the juku crew.

Monday February 4, 7:22 p.m.

Looks like I'm in the middle of some employee-employer pains. I taught The Full-Timer just now, and apparently she's come to the end of her tether concerning her eccentric manager. She and her mother will be heading to Guam this Thursday for some R&R...hopefully, she'll be able to vent somewhat. And a few hours ago, The Admin informed me that BC and Speedy haven't been getting on too well...clash of personalities. Speedy is a bit anal at times but BC is also a bit hypersensitive. And The Admin has been planning to head back home to work there in early Spring. Could be an interesting February...

I sent off a missive over to my old friend in Nagano, The Cat, asking if I could come and visit her family later on this month. Can't believe it's been a decade since I ended up cooped up in my apartment for nearly 3 weeks with a busted ankle while watching the 1998 Games in that prefecture. I still have a banner that my friend had given me after it had fallen down from one of the poles in the Olympic Village.

The big news still surrounds that poisoned frozen gyoza that has affected hundreds of Japanese nationwide. It's still too early to state how the dumplings got that way, but already the tabloids are screaming conspiracy theories of a bio-terrorist attack. It's been amazing how quickly the Chinese government have tried to stem the tide...just as amazing as how much an Olympic torch can act as an incentive.

Anyone who thinks that Tommy Lee Jones is devoid of a sense of humour can probably check out the latest in his series of canned coffee commercials for BOSS Coffee. For the past couple of years, he's portrayed this mute alien...just Tommy Lee Jones....no costume or makeup (try to persuade that guy to put on any funny prosthetics) observing everyday Japanese behaviour. This time, he's the lighting guy for an Akihabara aidoru who ends up as a customer in a Maid Cafe. You can probably catch it on YouTube.

Anyways, back to work. Gotta lot of it now.

Monday February 5, 5:38 p.m.

Man, had a couple of downpours over the past two days. One was purely meterological. Some 5 weeks late, but we finally got that Hallmark-level Christmas Winter Wonderland yesterday. The Kanto got dumped on with about 3-5 cm of the white stuff. Not exactly anything to shiver about in Toronto (especially when my hometown got assaulted with 20 cm the other day), but basically we can compare Toronto and Tokyo in terms of scale. The panic button gets pressed here at 1/10th the level of snow as it does in Toronto. I was lucky in that I had the day off on Sunday; just managed to go and come back from the supermarket with supplies...only needed to be careful with my steps on some of the more slippery sections of the pavement. This morning, most of the sidewalks were scraped off and the thaw has gotten rid of most of the stuff aside from some small piles, and those will be gone by tomorrow.

The other downpour was professional. Just in the last few hours, I've found out that 002 and my old student, The OL, are back online. And Cozy has sent me my first translation assignment. So, it's not really a downpour but still, the three came in in pretty short order.

It's been the regular Monday lineup so far with The Class Act and SIL. SIL has enjoyed the Elvis calendar that she'd gotten from The Matron via Hawaii. She was wondering how The Matron had found out about her hobby...I just whistled a lot. And I've got The Full-Timer in about 10 minutes. Both The Diver and Mr. TOEIC have cancelled their lessons for tonight, but I still have Medicine Man in the last slot tonight.

Man, that Super Bowl must've been something special. I read the upset victory by the Giants on CNN just now. I bet a lot of folks must've lost theirs a few hours ago.