Sunday Feb. 29, 1:01 a.m.
My kids' classes were two-thirds OK. The older sister was giving me attitude again. I sometimes think that adolescence should be banned. After I finished with my last student, I decided to head home instead of just hang out downtown for five hours looking for dinner. It was a good decision since I was able to get some down time with a cheap bento.
I met up with the Cop, Movie Buddy and DTE at the bar along with the Cop's girlfriend and some of her friends. They were very friendly but the conversation was pretty much segregated into native English speakers and native Japanese speakers. We got into all sorts of topics including the usual harangue about the idiots who run our school. DTE also had some very choice words for the Scheduler; I now consider her to be a full veteran. MB was providing some sage advice for her about upcoming contract negotiations. Once again, I was the first to leave since the chime struck 11. Also, there were quite a few boorish and obnoxious men and women there by that time so I felt it was best that I leave.
Tomorrow I've got that brunch with Chip Guy followed by catching "Master and Commander" in Shinjuku. Skippy contacted me about some confusion over the bill from last Saturday's karaoke session. Ugh. I told her that we'll talk later.
Just a place to deposit my thoughts on life here in the Kanto and about anything else that sticks to my walls.
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Friday, February 27, 2004
Saturday Feb. 28, 8:07 a.m.
Got less than 6 hours of sleep so I'm feeling rather out of sorts now. However, the chai is helping a bit. I'm starting to fine-tune the recipe after the Iconoclast's initial lesson back on Sunday. My first solo attempt was way too strong...let's say that it acted as a good alternative to Ex-Lax.
I've prepped my lessons for today. Hopefully, everything will work out although knowing the unpredictability of kids, one really never knows. I just have to figure out what I'm going to do for 4 hours between my last lesson and the Cop's farewell.
Got less than 6 hours of sleep so I'm feeling rather out of sorts now. However, the chai is helping a bit. I'm starting to fine-tune the recipe after the Iconoclast's initial lesson back on Sunday. My first solo attempt was way too strong...let's say that it acted as a good alternative to Ex-Lax.
I've prepped my lessons for today. Hopefully, everything will work out although knowing the unpredictability of kids, one really never knows. I just have to figure out what I'm going to do for 4 hours between my last lesson and the Cop's farewell.
Saturday Feb. 27, 12:09 a.m.
Well, I found out that Aum Shinrikyo guru Shoko Asahara got the death sentence that he so richly deserves for that sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subways back in March 1995. I remember being home at the time when the special bulletins came in, and seeing bird's-eye views of emergency crews and stricken commuters scattered throughout the central business district. Because of today's verdict, the police were on high alert for any possibility that the Aum, now known as Aleph, might wreak revenge. Strangely enough, several other cultists have been given the death penalty but none of them have been executed as of yet. Perhaps the guru will be the first to hang. I'm not sure if there will be any mention of when the execution of Asahara will take place; Japan has a custom of keeping executions secret until well after the the deed has been done.
I blew a lot of money today on work-related expenditures such as texts at Maruzen and another round of maple syrup from Kinokuniya. One bottle will be contributed to the Pancake Day party at my juku while the other plus a box of candy will be going to my uncle in thanks for his stamp on my lease renewal form. I sent in the renewal form by mail today but I couldn't make the transfer payment since the banks were all filled with people due to payday today.
I crashed at my school trying to get some of the props from my Pancake Day party. The coordinator was nowhere to be found so I just sat down in the computer room for several minutes until I heard the chatter of former students who just couldn't let go their old alma mater. I had a nice talk with them including the one boy with a number of fetishes. Then I met up with two of my newest students, newly-graduated Arwen and Ms. 77.
We went off to the Tea Room to have our inaugural lesson. It was basically talking on a printout of a CNN article on the Janet Jackson controversy. We leapt from there into unexpectedly deep topics such as religion and one's mortality. The talk was quite good, but at the end I wondered if the two were really satisfied with the lesson because of its casual nature. They reassured me it was but I wasn't totally convinced. In any case, they did request that they would like a mix of structured lessons and casual ones like today's. It looks like I'll be doing some more shopping next week.
Then the three of us went off to Foo Foo where we all tucked into my fave Breaded Pork in Spicy Ramen. It was there that the chemistry finally started to click in so that we ended up talking up a storm for 2 hours. I felt that the relationship was dipping deep into close friendship territory which may or may not be a good thing considering that I'll be teaching them. But in any case, it was a very enjoyable dinner. Luckily that harridan food critic from Monday didn't show up. I was also privy to some rather interesting gossip about the former top class. Apparently, there was a lot of friction and cliquism there. Certain students didn't care much for Skippy and vice versa; Arwen and 77 mentioned that their class which was one level lower had a much more convivial relationship. It was interesting to hear but not surprising. Skippy was indeed this year's lead student, and leaders of any sort have their detractors. Past lead students have also had their enemies at my school. It is a bit ironic that the same reasons which explained Skippy's good work in front of the teachers also got her enmity from a few of her classmates.
We finally broke up at about 10:30 with the next class being held next Thursday in the afternoon. The Cop left a message asking me whether I would be attending his farewell later Saturday evening. I relayed a message to him via Movie Buddy that I indeed would. I've got those kids beforehand which makes me kinda glad that my two former students have canned their session with me at the Tea Room due to illness. I could use a bit of down time after the kids.
And surprise, surprise. The Madam sent me a brief note after several weeks of no contact. I was just as short and sweet with her.
Well, I found out that Aum Shinrikyo guru Shoko Asahara got the death sentence that he so richly deserves for that sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subways back in March 1995. I remember being home at the time when the special bulletins came in, and seeing bird's-eye views of emergency crews and stricken commuters scattered throughout the central business district. Because of today's verdict, the police were on high alert for any possibility that the Aum, now known as Aleph, might wreak revenge. Strangely enough, several other cultists have been given the death penalty but none of them have been executed as of yet. Perhaps the guru will be the first to hang. I'm not sure if there will be any mention of when the execution of Asahara will take place; Japan has a custom of keeping executions secret until well after the the deed has been done.
I blew a lot of money today on work-related expenditures such as texts at Maruzen and another round of maple syrup from Kinokuniya. One bottle will be contributed to the Pancake Day party at my juku while the other plus a box of candy will be going to my uncle in thanks for his stamp on my lease renewal form. I sent in the renewal form by mail today but I couldn't make the transfer payment since the banks were all filled with people due to payday today.
I crashed at my school trying to get some of the props from my Pancake Day party. The coordinator was nowhere to be found so I just sat down in the computer room for several minutes until I heard the chatter of former students who just couldn't let go their old alma mater. I had a nice talk with them including the one boy with a number of fetishes. Then I met up with two of my newest students, newly-graduated Arwen and Ms. 77.
We went off to the Tea Room to have our inaugural lesson. It was basically talking on a printout of a CNN article on the Janet Jackson controversy. We leapt from there into unexpectedly deep topics such as religion and one's mortality. The talk was quite good, but at the end I wondered if the two were really satisfied with the lesson because of its casual nature. They reassured me it was but I wasn't totally convinced. In any case, they did request that they would like a mix of structured lessons and casual ones like today's. It looks like I'll be doing some more shopping next week.
Then the three of us went off to Foo Foo where we all tucked into my fave Breaded Pork in Spicy Ramen. It was there that the chemistry finally started to click in so that we ended up talking up a storm for 2 hours. I felt that the relationship was dipping deep into close friendship territory which may or may not be a good thing considering that I'll be teaching them. But in any case, it was a very enjoyable dinner. Luckily that harridan food critic from Monday didn't show up. I was also privy to some rather interesting gossip about the former top class. Apparently, there was a lot of friction and cliquism there. Certain students didn't care much for Skippy and vice versa; Arwen and 77 mentioned that their class which was one level lower had a much more convivial relationship. It was interesting to hear but not surprising. Skippy was indeed this year's lead student, and leaders of any sort have their detractors. Past lead students have also had their enemies at my school. It is a bit ironic that the same reasons which explained Skippy's good work in front of the teachers also got her enmity from a few of her classmates.
We finally broke up at about 10:30 with the next class being held next Thursday in the afternoon. The Cop left a message asking me whether I would be attending his farewell later Saturday evening. I relayed a message to him via Movie Buddy that I indeed would. I've got those kids beforehand which makes me kinda glad that my two former students have canned their session with me at the Tea Room due to illness. I could use a bit of down time after the kids.
And surprise, surprise. The Madam sent me a brief note after several weeks of no contact. I was just as short and sweet with her.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Friday Feb. 27, 11:42 a.m.
I received an SOS of sorts from my old school, so DTE's premonition that I may be getting more requests from them due to the sudden exodus of teachers may be coming true. I initially asked the scheduler who the students were, and she told me that they were the kid s heading off for university in the States. Over the years, I've also taught my fair share of those classes, and it's been a bit of a mixed bag so I replied that I could do the 10-12 slot. Perhaps the kids may be a bit more sedate then.
Well, I finished off the remaining Fettucine (otherwise known scientifically as artery-hardening plaque) and the Japanese pork soup, so I don't think I'll be needing any lunch before my class today at 6. I've got a bit of shopping and other errands to do, though, which should help burn off some of those abundant calories.
I'm watching some of that Democratic Debate on CNN. For the first time in history, I think Larry King is actually having some trouble moderating his guests, and that's saying a lot considering he often has that harridan lawyer on the regular show.
I received an SOS of sorts from my old school, so DTE's premonition that I may be getting more requests from them due to the sudden exodus of teachers may be coming true. I initially asked the scheduler who the students were, and she told me that they were the kid s heading off for university in the States. Over the years, I've also taught my fair share of those classes, and it's been a bit of a mixed bag so I replied that I could do the 10-12 slot. Perhaps the kids may be a bit more sedate then.
Well, I finished off the remaining Fettucine (otherwise known scientifically as artery-hardening plaque) and the Japanese pork soup, so I don't think I'll be needing any lunch before my class today at 6. I've got a bit of shopping and other errands to do, though, which should help burn off some of those abundant calories.
I'm watching some of that Democratic Debate on CNN. For the first time in history, I think Larry King is actually having some trouble moderating his guests, and that's saying a lot considering he often has that harridan lawyer on the regular show.
Thursday Feb. 26, 10:18 p.m.
Well, I finally got to see the much vaunted "Lost In Translation", the movie that takes place on my turf in the largest city on the planet. Movie Buddy brought over the DVD, and we immediately fired up the player. Nice opening shot of Charlotte's butt. MB joked about how Scarlett Johannsen managed to find her motivation for that scene.
I've heard views from friends back home. One commented that it was a fascinating trip through the bizarro world of nighttime Tokyo paralleling with Bill Murray's poignant trip throught a mid-life crisis. Another just stated that he found the flick merely ponderous and self-indulgent. A third friend was straight down the middle. As for me, I thought it was a very nice little movie although I'm not wholly convinced that it merits Oscar recognition, but it is nice that it has been nominated. I think Bill gave his best performance in his second career as a well-respected actor instead of his early years as the lovable goofball of "Stripes", "Meatballs" and "Ghostbusters". In fact, I think he was basically playing himself filled with regret over doing those movies. As a longtime resident of Tokyo, I've walked through Shinjuku and Shibuya countless numbers of times, but seeing the protagonists look at the strangeness of the neon and concrete of those areas brought back some early memories to me. I could actually relate to some of what they went through. There wasn't really any local talent involved in the film except for that Matthew Minami fellow. He does exist and he does indeed have that same show on Wednesday nights at 11:30. It was rather surreal seeing it with with Bill as the guest as a special feature on the DVD after having seen it before on real Japanese TV. Actually, Matthew is a character portrayed by the actor/comedian Takashi Fujii. I think the only other comment on a specific scene is the accuracy of the lunacy of filming a Japanese commercial with Hollywood celebs. I wonder if people like Harrison Ford, Richard Gere and Cameron Dias had to go through the same sort of hell for 2 million bucks. Speaking of Diaz, I think Anna Faris did a good job dissing her in the movie.
When we finished the movie, MB continued to watch through the extras while I made up that Fettucine Alfredo that the Iconoclast left me. Serving it as a side dish along with some other stuff, I think my stomach and the Astrodome now share something in common. Regardless, I will have to finish the rest of it off tomorrow for breakfast. After dinner, MB was starting to enter sleep mode although he made it through half of "South Park: The Movie" before calling it a night and heading home. Not having seen it before, he did get some laughs out of it.
I activated that air cleaner for the first time today. It seems to work OK although I didn't notice any particular improvement in the room. However, the fact that I didn't sneeze may augur good news. However, there was a rather unpleasant smell emanating from it, so I just threw in some cinnamon powder to get rid of it.
I did some preliminary planning for the kids' classes on Saturday in the afternoon. I'm glad I did it then since I'm not feeling too energetic to do it now. But I will have to think about my schedule tomorrow since I'll be doing some shopping for that new kid, the Pancake Day next Tuesday and then picking up some of the Pancake Day props from the school. All that before meeting Arwen and Ms. 77 for their first lesson at the Tea Room.
And speaking of the Tea Room, I got word from one of the former Tea Room ladies who's now living in Argentina. She sent me the first photo of her baby daughter.
Well, I finally got to see the much vaunted "Lost In Translation", the movie that takes place on my turf in the largest city on the planet. Movie Buddy brought over the DVD, and we immediately fired up the player. Nice opening shot of Charlotte's butt. MB joked about how Scarlett Johannsen managed to find her motivation for that scene.
I've heard views from friends back home. One commented that it was a fascinating trip through the bizarro world of nighttime Tokyo paralleling with Bill Murray's poignant trip throught a mid-life crisis. Another just stated that he found the flick merely ponderous and self-indulgent. A third friend was straight down the middle. As for me, I thought it was a very nice little movie although I'm not wholly convinced that it merits Oscar recognition, but it is nice that it has been nominated. I think Bill gave his best performance in his second career as a well-respected actor instead of his early years as the lovable goofball of "Stripes", "Meatballs" and "Ghostbusters". In fact, I think he was basically playing himself filled with regret over doing those movies. As a longtime resident of Tokyo, I've walked through Shinjuku and Shibuya countless numbers of times, but seeing the protagonists look at the strangeness of the neon and concrete of those areas brought back some early memories to me. I could actually relate to some of what they went through. There wasn't really any local talent involved in the film except for that Matthew Minami fellow. He does exist and he does indeed have that same show on Wednesday nights at 11:30. It was rather surreal seeing it with with Bill as the guest as a special feature on the DVD after having seen it before on real Japanese TV. Actually, Matthew is a character portrayed by the actor/comedian Takashi Fujii. I think the only other comment on a specific scene is the accuracy of the lunacy of filming a Japanese commercial with Hollywood celebs. I wonder if people like Harrison Ford, Richard Gere and Cameron Dias had to go through the same sort of hell for 2 million bucks. Speaking of Diaz, I think Anna Faris did a good job dissing her in the movie.
When we finished the movie, MB continued to watch through the extras while I made up that Fettucine Alfredo that the Iconoclast left me. Serving it as a side dish along with some other stuff, I think my stomach and the Astrodome now share something in common. Regardless, I will have to finish the rest of it off tomorrow for breakfast. After dinner, MB was starting to enter sleep mode although he made it through half of "South Park: The Movie" before calling it a night and heading home. Not having seen it before, he did get some laughs out of it.
I activated that air cleaner for the first time today. It seems to work OK although I didn't notice any particular improvement in the room. However, the fact that I didn't sneeze may augur good news. However, there was a rather unpleasant smell emanating from it, so I just threw in some cinnamon powder to get rid of it.
I did some preliminary planning for the kids' classes on Saturday in the afternoon. I'm glad I did it then since I'm not feeling too energetic to do it now. But I will have to think about my schedule tomorrow since I'll be doing some shopping for that new kid, the Pancake Day next Tuesday and then picking up some of the Pancake Day props from the school. All that before meeting Arwen and Ms. 77 for their first lesson at the Tea Room.
And speaking of the Tea Room, I got word from one of the former Tea Room ladies who's now living in Argentina. She sent me the first photo of her baby daughter.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Thursday, Feb. 26, 12:21 p.m.
I woke up this morning after a rare lengthy sleep to see my cluttered living room with the Iconoclast's plastic box of engineering notes esconced under my coffee table, an air cleaner nestled next to my fan and heater. And I remember how clean Movie Buddy's 1K apartment was last night. Good heavens, the man even hangs out his sink trap to dry. My only saving grace is that he's lived in his place for little more than a year while I've been here for nearly ten. That's a good enough time (and excuse) for my place to get filled up.
I am very happy for the computer speakers and the mouse. The speakers boom with sound instead of just squeak. And my mouse actually goes where I want it to go. I will have to get accustomed to pinpoint steering again.
Well, CNN has been focusing on what could be Mel Gibson's opus to overlook "Braveheart". "The Passion of the Christ" opened on Wednesday to much controversy and to some of the greatest marketing ever done for a movie. I'm definitely not a religious man by any means, but I think what Gibson has done is not stir up a hornet's nest or open up a Pandora's Box but to start a huge healthy debate on one of the most seminal events in human history. Considering all of the controversy surrounding the movie, I think it would be rather superficial to even mention future Oscar possibilities, but I think the Academy will probably steer it away from any of the major categories. It would be interesting to see how something like this film would play in this still largely non-Christian nation (although I think the percentage of practicing Christians in Japan must be over the 1% mark that has been written in the history books).
Well, I've gotten my op-ed piece out of my system. Now it's time to unclutter the clutter.
I woke up this morning after a rare lengthy sleep to see my cluttered living room with the Iconoclast's plastic box of engineering notes esconced under my coffee table, an air cleaner nestled next to my fan and heater. And I remember how clean Movie Buddy's 1K apartment was last night. Good heavens, the man even hangs out his sink trap to dry. My only saving grace is that he's lived in his place for little more than a year while I've been here for nearly ten. That's a good enough time (and excuse) for my place to get filled up.
I am very happy for the computer speakers and the mouse. The speakers boom with sound instead of just squeak. And my mouse actually goes where I want it to go. I will have to get accustomed to pinpoint steering again.
Well, CNN has been focusing on what could be Mel Gibson's opus to overlook "Braveheart". "The Passion of the Christ" opened on Wednesday to much controversy and to some of the greatest marketing ever done for a movie. I'm definitely not a religious man by any means, but I think what Gibson has done is not stir up a hornet's nest or open up a Pandora's Box but to start a huge healthy debate on one of the most seminal events in human history. Considering all of the controversy surrounding the movie, I think it would be rather superficial to even mention future Oscar possibilities, but I think the Academy will probably steer it away from any of the major categories. It would be interesting to see how something like this film would play in this still largely non-Christian nation (although I think the percentage of practicing Christians in Japan must be over the 1% mark that has been written in the history books).
Well, I've gotten my op-ed piece out of my system. Now it's time to unclutter the clutter.
Thursday Feb. 26, 12:43 a.m.
It's been another windfall day fo rme with the Iconoclast meeting me for the last time before taking off for Hong Kong later today. He brought me some more stuff including an extra futon, and even better, a better mouse and speakers. Also, he gave my old SOTEC a Norton Utilities lookover; unfortunately, he couldn't bring back my missing fonts but most of the other problems have been solved. It is nice to be able to have an obedient mouse once again.
After my class, I sped off to Nakano to Movie Buddy's apartment in preparation for his surprise birthday party. DTE was to meet me at the station but she got held up at her student's dinner party, all the way up on the 35th floor of the Marunouchi Bldg...nice place, so she came later. The Curry Master and MB's girlfriend were there to meet me so we planned out a pretty low-key spread consisting of my bottle of sake, smoked salmon & cream cheese on cracottes, friend chicken and sushi rolls. MB finally came home several minutes later. He didn't look too surprised which worried The Curry Master a bit, but his girlfriend assured us that MB is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. I gave him his present of that Lord of the Rings book.
When DTE finally came over, she related to me her frustration about all of the schedule changes and screwups (she used far more creative language) at the school this week. I told her that she was now a full-fledged member of the school. I think all of the veterans have had at least a few run-ins with the staff about some inanity.
I think that half-glass of sake really liberated me. I was spouting off more off-color jokes than I usually do. But I think I left people relatively unoffended.
Well, my Thursday night student canned his class once again. I think this guy is gonna probably fade away pretty soon. As a result, I have no classes so Movie Buddy will be coming over with his better DVD copy of "Lost In Translation" that he is borrowing from Arwen tonight. Speaking of movies, Arwen had to pull out of the Sunday outing because the timing just wasn't good for her. Maybe Ms. 77 will do the same as well, but the Jazz Buddy will be bringing another classmate of hers instead. And, Movie Buddy will also come out. I therefore sent word to Chip Guy that he can count me in for Sunday brunch. I feel kinda bad for Arwen but at least I'll see her and 77 on Friday night and then hopefully take them out to Foo Foo.
It's been another windfall day fo rme with the Iconoclast meeting me for the last time before taking off for Hong Kong later today. He brought me some more stuff including an extra futon, and even better, a better mouse and speakers. Also, he gave my old SOTEC a Norton Utilities lookover; unfortunately, he couldn't bring back my missing fonts but most of the other problems have been solved. It is nice to be able to have an obedient mouse once again.
After my class, I sped off to Nakano to Movie Buddy's apartment in preparation for his surprise birthday party. DTE was to meet me at the station but she got held up at her student's dinner party, all the way up on the 35th floor of the Marunouchi Bldg...nice place, so she came later. The Curry Master and MB's girlfriend were there to meet me so we planned out a pretty low-key spread consisting of my bottle of sake, smoked salmon & cream cheese on cracottes, friend chicken and sushi rolls. MB finally came home several minutes later. He didn't look too surprised which worried The Curry Master a bit, but his girlfriend assured us that MB is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. I gave him his present of that Lord of the Rings book.
When DTE finally came over, she related to me her frustration about all of the schedule changes and screwups (she used far more creative language) at the school this week. I told her that she was now a full-fledged member of the school. I think all of the veterans have had at least a few run-ins with the staff about some inanity.
I think that half-glass of sake really liberated me. I was spouting off more off-color jokes than I usually do. But I think I left people relatively unoffended.
Well, my Thursday night student canned his class once again. I think this guy is gonna probably fade away pretty soon. As a result, I have no classes so Movie Buddy will be coming over with his better DVD copy of "Lost In Translation" that he is borrowing from Arwen tonight. Speaking of movies, Arwen had to pull out of the Sunday outing because the timing just wasn't good for her. Maybe Ms. 77 will do the same as well, but the Jazz Buddy will be bringing another classmate of hers instead. And, Movie Buddy will also come out. I therefore sent word to Chip Guy that he can count me in for Sunday brunch. I feel kinda bad for Arwen but at least I'll see her and 77 on Friday night and then hopefully take them out to Foo Foo.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Wed. Feb. 25, 10:51 a.m.
I got a bit of a surprise last night when I was trying out the YAHOO search engine to look up info on the Kinokuniya Supermarket and found one of my blog entries as one of the results. Nice to have one's name in lights, so to speak.
So far, so quiet. I got a call from the Iconoclast a half-hour ago concerning his next arrival. He'll be trying for the same time of 1400 h. I may be getting some rather bulky stuff such as a futon. I wonder where I'll be storing some of this stuff.
Did a superficial cleaning of the apartment since I don't foresee us staying at home too long. Plus, mid-week laziness is setting in. And I do have my regular Wednesday nighter before heading off for Movie Buddy's surprise birthday party.
I received an article via one of my oldest friends, The Doctor, concerning my bizarre little industry in Japan. It was interesting reading and pretty accurately summed it up for me...that it's not all that far removed from being a bit of a McDonalds.
My area seems to be getting rocked every few minutes or so with tremors. I'm just kinda wondering if this is a prelude to The Big One.
I got a bit of a surprise last night when I was trying out the YAHOO search engine to look up info on the Kinokuniya Supermarket and found one of my blog entries as one of the results. Nice to have one's name in lights, so to speak.
So far, so quiet. I got a call from the Iconoclast a half-hour ago concerning his next arrival. He'll be trying for the same time of 1400 h. I may be getting some rather bulky stuff such as a futon. I wonder where I'll be storing some of this stuff.
Did a superficial cleaning of the apartment since I don't foresee us staying at home too long. Plus, mid-week laziness is setting in. And I do have my regular Wednesday nighter before heading off for Movie Buddy's surprise birthday party.
I received an article via one of my oldest friends, The Doctor, concerning my bizarre little industry in Japan. It was interesting reading and pretty accurately summed it up for me...that it's not all that far removed from being a bit of a McDonalds.
My area seems to be getting rocked every few minutes or so with tremors. I'm just kinda wondering if this is a prelude to The Big One.
Wednesday Feb. 25, 12:20 a.m.
Steady day today. My Tsudanuma class went quite smoothly although I had that little chat with that student who had rejected my proposal to be my guarantor. She said that her husband wouldn't agree because HE had never met me and didn't know my character. Again, I will gripe slightly and say that HE could have trusted his wife's assessment of me. Well, it's all water under the bridge for me since my uncle has agreed to be my guarantor.
The evening classes also went pretty smoothly. I did get th e message out to everyone about Pancake Day next week. It looks like everyone is pretty keen on it, and I was lucky to have have my photos from the first Pancake day with me to show as a promotion. Then, after class I had a powwow with the owner about the plans. The scale will be much smaller than at the main school but I'll still have to do my shopping for syrup and lug my hotplate once more.
Next Tuesday will probably be the easiest Tuesday I've ever had here since both my private classes will be of a special nature. The Tsudanuma class and I will be off on a field trip to the Edo Museum in Ryogoku, and of course, there is Pancake Day at the juku.
It also looks like Movie Buddy's surprise party plans are getting together. And the plans for the next Movie Buddy outing are being sent out to the pertinent players. Now, it's just a matter of the responses. If everything works out, I will be able to join Chip Guy and family for brunch on Sunday before meeting up with the rest for "Master and Commander".
Now, it's just a matter of hearing from The Iconoclast about when he'll be returning to my neighbourhood for some final unlaoding.
Steady day today. My Tsudanuma class went quite smoothly although I had that little chat with that student who had rejected my proposal to be my guarantor. She said that her husband wouldn't agree because HE had never met me and didn't know my character. Again, I will gripe slightly and say that HE could have trusted his wife's assessment of me. Well, it's all water under the bridge for me since my uncle has agreed to be my guarantor.
The evening classes also went pretty smoothly. I did get th e message out to everyone about Pancake Day next week. It looks like everyone is pretty keen on it, and I was lucky to have have my photos from the first Pancake day with me to show as a promotion. Then, after class I had a powwow with the owner about the plans. The scale will be much smaller than at the main school but I'll still have to do my shopping for syrup and lug my hotplate once more.
Next Tuesday will probably be the easiest Tuesday I've ever had here since both my private classes will be of a special nature. The Tsudanuma class and I will be off on a field trip to the Edo Museum in Ryogoku, and of course, there is Pancake Day at the juku.
It also looks like Movie Buddy's surprise party plans are getting together. And the plans for the next Movie Buddy outing are being sent out to the pertinent players. Now, it's just a matter of the responses. If everything works out, I will be able to join Chip Guy and family for brunch on Sunday before meeting up with the rest for "Master and Commander".
Now, it's just a matter of hearing from The Iconoclast about when he'll be returning to my neighbourhood for some final unlaoding.
Monday, February 23, 2004
Monday Feb. 23, 10:56 p.m.
Well, that calm and pleasant day didn't last that long. The wind picked up and the temps dropped by the evening so by the time I got home, most of my wash was on the balcony floor. Mind you, they were nice and dry. I just wonder if any of it flew off to the second floor.
My Monday morning student followed up on that potential new student in the form of her sister-in-law. It looks like the initial meeting is set for March 1st. It'll cut down on my respite but at least I'll make a bit more money in the process, and it may just curtail me from pulling off any more of those binges that I was guilty of last week.
After the class, I went searching for that Canadian bar in Shibuya. My initial foray turned up nothing so I just went for my weekly Big Mac and then went off to Towers to pick up Movie Buddy's present....the book about the making of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think that's fair recompense for his kind gift of a Star Trek book. After that, I made one more try into the heart of Shibuya and found a couple of forlorn Canadian flags fluttering all the way on the banister of a fourth-floor staircase. I was later to find out from Chip Guy, who had gone there yesterday, that the place was a bit on the smallish side with friendly staff but was still finding its sea legs. Not surprising considering that it's barely a week old.
Then, I headed off to Nihombashi to do a bit of initial shopping for materials for a few of my students. Boy, these things can get really expensive. I mean, I know that I'll get reimbursed for them but still I'm sure the clients would appreciate not having to pay so much. I decided to pick up a TOEIC practice book for the Office Lady. There were some books that I wanted to get for my newest, littlest kid on Saturday but I decided to hold that purchase off until later in the week.
My night class was OK although one student is simply needing a lot of time for the stuff to sink in. And my other student was pretty tired by the end. Afterwards, the Iconoclast gave me some further foodstuffs and discs which weighed down my already burgeoning load even more. We went off to our usual Monday night haunt of Foo Fool for ramen. I don't think the Iconoclast noticed but some non-Japanese woman in front of us at the counter was clearly complaining to the stuff about the quality of the ramen. She wasn't loud about it but she made her point clear to which the staff apologized. I hate to say it, but I was thinking some rather evil thoughts at her such as "How dare you mouth off at them?" I think part of my slow boil was because of how much I enjoyed the place myself, and also because she was going at it in such a superior holier-than-thou manner. I realize that everyone has the right to criticize a product, especially when that person is paying money for it....and that an individual has his or her own way to criticize: diplomatically or brusquely. I couldn't even say that she was even brusque...just haughty. Mind you, I've always despised snobs with a passion. Still, the bottom line was that I was not too happy with her. I just hope that she isn't one of those psychos who regularly haunt such places just to abuse the staff since I'm planning to bring Arwen and Ms. 77 here on Friday after their first lesson with me.
Well, I finally got home. I decided to work on the birthday project for Movie Buddy. The Curry Master and MB's girl don't really know any of the teachers so they asked me to see if I could contact anyone. I decided to go through Movie Buddy himself to surrepitiously contact one of his close buddies in the school, DTE. I asked him if I could get her to call me. I was surprised to get a call from her in about 15 minutes. We spent the better part of the hour talkingabout the party and just chatting on various things. She's always been a good person to talk to. In anycase, I'm gonna get back to the Curry Master about the addition in the guest list.
Well, that calm and pleasant day didn't last that long. The wind picked up and the temps dropped by the evening so by the time I got home, most of my wash was on the balcony floor. Mind you, they were nice and dry. I just wonder if any of it flew off to the second floor.
My Monday morning student followed up on that potential new student in the form of her sister-in-law. It looks like the initial meeting is set for March 1st. It'll cut down on my respite but at least I'll make a bit more money in the process, and it may just curtail me from pulling off any more of those binges that I was guilty of last week.
After the class, I went searching for that Canadian bar in Shibuya. My initial foray turned up nothing so I just went for my weekly Big Mac and then went off to Towers to pick up Movie Buddy's present....the book about the making of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think that's fair recompense for his kind gift of a Star Trek book. After that, I made one more try into the heart of Shibuya and found a couple of forlorn Canadian flags fluttering all the way on the banister of a fourth-floor staircase. I was later to find out from Chip Guy, who had gone there yesterday, that the place was a bit on the smallish side with friendly staff but was still finding its sea legs. Not surprising considering that it's barely a week old.
Then, I headed off to Nihombashi to do a bit of initial shopping for materials for a few of my students. Boy, these things can get really expensive. I mean, I know that I'll get reimbursed for them but still I'm sure the clients would appreciate not having to pay so much. I decided to pick up a TOEIC practice book for the Office Lady. There were some books that I wanted to get for my newest, littlest kid on Saturday but I decided to hold that purchase off until later in the week.
My night class was OK although one student is simply needing a lot of time for the stuff to sink in. And my other student was pretty tired by the end. Afterwards, the Iconoclast gave me some further foodstuffs and discs which weighed down my already burgeoning load even more. We went off to our usual Monday night haunt of Foo Fool for ramen. I don't think the Iconoclast noticed but some non-Japanese woman in front of us at the counter was clearly complaining to the stuff about the quality of the ramen. She wasn't loud about it but she made her point clear to which the staff apologized. I hate to say it, but I was thinking some rather evil thoughts at her such as "How dare you mouth off at them?" I think part of my slow boil was because of how much I enjoyed the place myself, and also because she was going at it in such a superior holier-than-thou manner. I realize that everyone has the right to criticize a product, especially when that person is paying money for it....and that an individual has his or her own way to criticize: diplomatically or brusquely. I couldn't even say that she was even brusque...just haughty. Mind you, I've always despised snobs with a passion. Still, the bottom line was that I was not too happy with her. I just hope that she isn't one of those psychos who regularly haunt such places just to abuse the staff since I'm planning to bring Arwen and Ms. 77 here on Friday after their first lesson with me.
Well, I finally got home. I decided to work on the birthday project for Movie Buddy. The Curry Master and MB's girl don't really know any of the teachers so they asked me to see if I could contact anyone. I decided to go through Movie Buddy himself to surrepitiously contact one of his close buddies in the school, DTE. I asked him if I could get her to call me. I was surprised to get a call from her in about 15 minutes. We spent the better part of the hour talkingabout the party and just chatting on various things. She's always been a good person to talk to. In anycase, I'm gonna get back to the Curry Master about the addition in the guest list.
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Monday Feb. 23, 7:54 a.m.
It's sunny and warm outside compared to last night's wind and rain. Hope it stays that way.
Looks like there has been a bit of Yakuza warfare. Last week, a gang leader was assassinated which touched off 11 shootings of payback all around the Kanto yesterday. Three bit the bullet. I wonder if I should just be avoiding Shimbashi or Shinjuku for the next little while.
Looks like that plan to see "Master and Commander" is starting to take shape. I got a reply from Arwen just now giving her OK for next Sunday. She'll see if her karaoke buddy will be joining the fray. Skippy and the Swimmer are already game for later that night. Maybe I'll even give the Jazz Buddy, and certainly the Movie Buddy will be getting the call.
Speaking of Movie Buddy, his party venue has been switched to his place. For purely selfish reasons, I would've preferred the Curry Master's place since it's just two stations down from my apartment. However, the Curry Master was trumped by MB's girlfriend who lives all the way out in the west. I'm gonna have to get him a present.
It's sunny and warm outside compared to last night's wind and rain. Hope it stays that way.
Looks like there has been a bit of Yakuza warfare. Last week, a gang leader was assassinated which touched off 11 shootings of payback all around the Kanto yesterday. Three bit the bullet. I wonder if I should just be avoiding Shimbashi or Shinjuku for the next little while.
Looks like that plan to see "Master and Commander" is starting to take shape. I got a reply from Arwen just now giving her OK for next Sunday. She'll see if her karaoke buddy will be joining the fray. Skippy and the Swimmer are already game for later that night. Maybe I'll even give the Jazz Buddy, and certainly the Movie Buddy will be getting the call.
Speaking of Movie Buddy, his party venue has been switched to his place. For purely selfish reasons, I would've preferred the Curry Master's place since it's just two stations down from my apartment. However, the Curry Master was trumped by MB's girlfriend who lives all the way out in the west. I'm gonna have to get him a present.
Sunday Feb. 22, 9:52 p.m.
Very windy today. In fact, I'm hearing a lot of whistling past my window as I type. I wonder if this is the HARU ICHIBAN (The First One of the Spring), the Japanese equivalent of Canada's Chinook winds. I couldn't complain about the temps, though. It was in the high teens which made the winds a lot more bearable.
I definitely hit the jackpot in the food sweepstakes. The Iconoclast came over with three big bags of stuff. Along with the bathrobe, the pan, the cutting board and other utensils, I also inherited the fixins for real chai tea, tons of sugar, dried scallops (good for Chinese soups), Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, olive oil, a jar of winter honey, candies, a barrel of iced tea mix, a jug of maple syrup and even ingredients to make Fettucine Alfredo. In a very small act of compensation, I paid for his lunch at the neighbourhood eatery.
The Iconoclast gave me a lesson in making chai with the very assorted spices. The stuff certainly put hair on my chest and put the Starbucks' variety to shame. It would probably kill the ordinary Japanese person. Luckily, the winter honey took the edge off nicely.
At the same time, he set off to work on my computer. He marveled at how I could stand using my mouse, a very moody part of my computer. He was able to not only get my Windows Media Player up and running, but we were able to watch Michael Moore's "Bowling For Columbine" on it. It was definitely a very interesting movie. I think that exchange between Moore and former NRA president Charlton Heston was priceless.
Afterwards, we went off to a ramen shop for dinner. Once again, my bad luck with restaurants this year continues. Another favorite restaurant has apparently bit the dust. For many years, I used to frequent this place called Tsukasa for decent ramen. Well, sometime in the last couple of months, it got replaced by a new joint under Chinese management. Since the Iconoclast could speak some Chinese, we were quite lucky although the waitress was perfectly capable in speaking Japanese. The decor was very different and the ramen was OK. It may be worth another shot. Unfortunately, there was one of those loudmouth Japanese rednecks shooting off what little intelligence at another table but we managed to ignore it.
As we passed by the domino effect fallen bicycles and the flying traffic cones, The Iconoclast said that he would be dropping by my place on Wednesday to give me some further stuff for safekeeping and eventual transport back to Canada. Speaking of Wednesday, the Curry Master asked if I were doing anything on that night, presumably for Movie Buddy's birthday party. It was a strange night to be having it but since I don't have anything for most of Thursday, I said that I could make it out there.
Skippy got back to me about catching a movie on the 29th. It looks like she'll be busy at a seminar until the evening so the movie is out but she and her fellow grad, The Swimmer, would be game for dinner. I'll take that as a yes. Now, it's just a matter of finding a good place for dinner.
Well, I gotta clean up the kitchen and find out where to store the extra foodstuffs before tackling the plans for tomorrow's lessons. It will be a very light week.
Very windy today. In fact, I'm hearing a lot of whistling past my window as I type. I wonder if this is the HARU ICHIBAN (The First One of the Spring), the Japanese equivalent of Canada's Chinook winds. I couldn't complain about the temps, though. It was in the high teens which made the winds a lot more bearable.
I definitely hit the jackpot in the food sweepstakes. The Iconoclast came over with three big bags of stuff. Along with the bathrobe, the pan, the cutting board and other utensils, I also inherited the fixins for real chai tea, tons of sugar, dried scallops (good for Chinese soups), Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, olive oil, a jar of winter honey, candies, a barrel of iced tea mix, a jug of maple syrup and even ingredients to make Fettucine Alfredo. In a very small act of compensation, I paid for his lunch at the neighbourhood eatery.
The Iconoclast gave me a lesson in making chai with the very assorted spices. The stuff certainly put hair on my chest and put the Starbucks' variety to shame. It would probably kill the ordinary Japanese person. Luckily, the winter honey took the edge off nicely.
At the same time, he set off to work on my computer. He marveled at how I could stand using my mouse, a very moody part of my computer. He was able to not only get my Windows Media Player up and running, but we were able to watch Michael Moore's "Bowling For Columbine" on it. It was definitely a very interesting movie. I think that exchange between Moore and former NRA president Charlton Heston was priceless.
Afterwards, we went off to a ramen shop for dinner. Once again, my bad luck with restaurants this year continues. Another favorite restaurant has apparently bit the dust. For many years, I used to frequent this place called Tsukasa for decent ramen. Well, sometime in the last couple of months, it got replaced by a new joint under Chinese management. Since the Iconoclast could speak some Chinese, we were quite lucky although the waitress was perfectly capable in speaking Japanese. The decor was very different and the ramen was OK. It may be worth another shot. Unfortunately, there was one of those loudmouth Japanese rednecks shooting off what little intelligence at another table but we managed to ignore it.
As we passed by the domino effect fallen bicycles and the flying traffic cones, The Iconoclast said that he would be dropping by my place on Wednesday to give me some further stuff for safekeeping and eventual transport back to Canada. Speaking of Wednesday, the Curry Master asked if I were doing anything on that night, presumably for Movie Buddy's birthday party. It was a strange night to be having it but since I don't have anything for most of Thursday, I said that I could make it out there.
Skippy got back to me about catching a movie on the 29th. It looks like she'll be busy at a seminar until the evening so the movie is out but she and her fellow grad, The Swimmer, would be game for dinner. I'll take that as a yes. Now, it's just a matter of finding a good place for dinner.
Well, I gotta clean up the kitchen and find out where to store the extra foodstuffs before tackling the plans for tomorrow's lessons. It will be a very light week.
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Sunday Feb. 22, 1:36 a.m.
Well, as you may have guessed from the lateness of the hour, I've just come back from another late night. As I have mentioned, I had my school's grad party today. Unlike the previous five or six I've been to, this one was a bit more lacrymally charged with one student weeping up a storm during her speech on the stage. Our coordinator was even misting up a fair bit during her speech which caused a mini-chain reaction with some of our senior students. However, I did have my usual spate of photo-taking. One of our teachers had a nice idea of trying to gather everyone's e-mail addresses together so that noone will lose complete touch with each other. In my words as host, I mentioned that during their 10 months with us, the students were able to create a community, albeit temporary, that will hopefully retain some of its structure after graduation. There are already some signs of this happening with future plans for movie outings and dinners. Whether this will become permanent remains to be seen once everyone either finds full-time jobs or heads over to foreign lands. In another 6 weeks, there will be another batch of raw recruits to teach. In the meantime, we'll once again have Empty Nest Syndrome.
After the main party, we headed for Shinjuku for one of three neighbourhood branches of the HUB, a chain of British pubs. On the way there, the Button-Downed One atypically struck up a conversation with a couple of Mexicans who were sitting on the train seats just in front of us. They worked at a Mexican restaurant which BD knew of. Unfortunately, their knowledge of English was far more limited than that of either of us, so there was a lot of gesturing and Japanese to exchange. However, I internally lauded BD's assertiveness.
We made it to the HUB, a full 30 minutes before it was due to open, so we spent a few minutes just cooling our heels on the stairs until we got the all-clear from the staff to invade its buttery-soft leather seats. The place reminded me of the Old Mad, the Madison Ave. Pub, a regular haunt near the University of Toronto. The portions of the fish n' chips were nowhere near as large as its Toronto counterpart but I wasn't about to turn down a plate of the stuff. Our large party of teachers and alumni took up a good quarter of the place. The jukebox, for some reason, mostly had 80s videos which I didn't complain about. So we got to old chestnuts like Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and Whitney's "So Emotional". The gang had a great time; the Rapper bought a couple of gigantic test tubes of draft beer which kinda spilled often . It's not easy handling two gigantic towers of beer. However, by the end, the place was starting to heat up and smoke up something awful.
We then hit the venue for the third party which was of course a karoake box. Even with the gradual attrition rate, we were still a prett y hefty party of 15 although people like Movie Buddy didn't bother to join us. He's more on the drinkers' side anyways. The women folk took on one of the staff to negotiate a good price; I felt sorry for the flunky, actually. However, we managed to get a good deal and so for the next few hours, we were singing up a storm. I threw in my two cents' worth via The Carpenters' "Top of the World" which was the party theme song earlier that afternoon, and Queen's "Crazy Thing Called Love". Of course, the rapper contributed Eminem again which gave a good deal of profanity. It was another lively affair before we finally brought things to a close. Outside in the chill air, the Rapper tried to pull of a wrestling move, the Piledriver, on an unsuspecting BD. She didn't mind...she was also a bit drunk herself.
As I said, although this 2003-2004 group has now officially flown the coop, there will probably be get-togethers at least in the near future, although I think the usual pattern is that the alumni will slowly get going with their own lives and fade into the woodwork. Such is life. However, at least for two of them, they will still have an attachment to the school in the form of me as I start their private lessons in earnest from the upcoming Friday.
The Iconoclast will be heading over here with some sayonara stuff like a frying pan and a bathrobe before he finally leaves his employment of 3 somewhat turbulent years at his company later next week. Chip Guy said that he would checking out this Canadian bar that I had given the heads-up about last night. I'm interested as to what he will say. If he gives it thumbs-up, I may check it out on Monday afternoon.
Plus, it looks like The Curry Master will be starting her plans to hold a surprise b-day party for Movie Buddy in the middle of the week. I didn't mind her decision so much since she lives so close to me and I don't have any classes until the next evening. I may be asked to spring the trap to lure Movie Buddy to Curry Master's neck of the woods.
In any case, I've gotta develop those two rolls of film from the party. There should be some interesting shots in there.
Well, as you may have guessed from the lateness of the hour, I've just come back from another late night. As I have mentioned, I had my school's grad party today. Unlike the previous five or six I've been to, this one was a bit more lacrymally charged with one student weeping up a storm during her speech on the stage. Our coordinator was even misting up a fair bit during her speech which caused a mini-chain reaction with some of our senior students. However, I did have my usual spate of photo-taking. One of our teachers had a nice idea of trying to gather everyone's e-mail addresses together so that noone will lose complete touch with each other. In my words as host, I mentioned that during their 10 months with us, the students were able to create a community, albeit temporary, that will hopefully retain some of its structure after graduation. There are already some signs of this happening with future plans for movie outings and dinners. Whether this will become permanent remains to be seen once everyone either finds full-time jobs or heads over to foreign lands. In another 6 weeks, there will be another batch of raw recruits to teach. In the meantime, we'll once again have Empty Nest Syndrome.
After the main party, we headed for Shinjuku for one of three neighbourhood branches of the HUB, a chain of British pubs. On the way there, the Button-Downed One atypically struck up a conversation with a couple of Mexicans who were sitting on the train seats just in front of us. They worked at a Mexican restaurant which BD knew of. Unfortunately, their knowledge of English was far more limited than that of either of us, so there was a lot of gesturing and Japanese to exchange. However, I internally lauded BD's assertiveness.
We made it to the HUB, a full 30 minutes before it was due to open, so we spent a few minutes just cooling our heels on the stairs until we got the all-clear from the staff to invade its buttery-soft leather seats. The place reminded me of the Old Mad, the Madison Ave. Pub, a regular haunt near the University of Toronto. The portions of the fish n' chips were nowhere near as large as its Toronto counterpart but I wasn't about to turn down a plate of the stuff. Our large party of teachers and alumni took up a good quarter of the place. The jukebox, for some reason, mostly had 80s videos which I didn't complain about. So we got to old chestnuts like Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and Whitney's "So Emotional". The gang had a great time; the Rapper bought a couple of gigantic test tubes of draft beer which kinda spilled often . It's not easy handling two gigantic towers of beer. However, by the end, the place was starting to heat up and smoke up something awful.
We then hit the venue for the third party which was of course a karoake box. Even with the gradual attrition rate, we were still a prett y hefty party of 15 although people like Movie Buddy didn't bother to join us. He's more on the drinkers' side anyways. The women folk took on one of the staff to negotiate a good price; I felt sorry for the flunky, actually. However, we managed to get a good deal and so for the next few hours, we were singing up a storm. I threw in my two cents' worth via The Carpenters' "Top of the World" which was the party theme song earlier that afternoon, and Queen's "Crazy Thing Called Love". Of course, the rapper contributed Eminem again which gave a good deal of profanity. It was another lively affair before we finally brought things to a close. Outside in the chill air, the Rapper tried to pull of a wrestling move, the Piledriver, on an unsuspecting BD. She didn't mind...she was also a bit drunk herself.
As I said, although this 2003-2004 group has now officially flown the coop, there will probably be get-togethers at least in the near future, although I think the usual pattern is that the alumni will slowly get going with their own lives and fade into the woodwork. Such is life. However, at least for two of them, they will still have an attachment to the school in the form of me as I start their private lessons in earnest from the upcoming Friday.
The Iconoclast will be heading over here with some sayonara stuff like a frying pan and a bathrobe before he finally leaves his employment of 3 somewhat turbulent years at his company later next week. Chip Guy said that he would checking out this Canadian bar that I had given the heads-up about last night. I'm interested as to what he will say. If he gives it thumbs-up, I may check it out on Monday afternoon.
Plus, it looks like The Curry Master will be starting her plans to hold a surprise b-day party for Movie Buddy in the middle of the week. I didn't mind her decision so much since she lives so close to me and I don't have any classes until the next evening. I may be asked to spring the trap to lure Movie Buddy to Curry Master's neck of the woods.
In any case, I've gotta develop those two rolls of film from the party. There should be some interesting shots in there.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Saturday Feb. 21, 12:27 a.m.
My Friday started nicely enough. The weather was sunny and not too cold. I paid off my bills and sent off my lease renewal form in triplicate to my uncle for his stamp, and then I had my haircut. It was especially nice talking with the ladies at the salon today, and I always love the scalp massage following the shampoo, and the shoulder and neck massage before the haircut itself. It costs me a fair penny compared to what I used to pay back in Toronto, but the service is worth every yen, especially since they throw in a complementary cup of coffee.
I had some lunch before heading off to my lone class with my Friday afternoon student at the Tea Room. She's been having some political problems at her company; nothing too serious at the moment but she's starting to wonder if it's time to find new pastures. All I said was that if she's simply not having a good time there, then just quit. I helped her out with her upcoming EIKEN test on Sunday...that is, the English Proficiency Exam which is held three times a year. She's going for the second-highest level. Also, I had ordered a cup of rosehip tea for the first time since I felt pretty stuffed after lunch and thinking that anything heavier than rosehip would literally cramp my style, I ordered it. Bad move. The clear amber liquid tasted like very faint consomme. And it sure gave me enough incentives to head for the washroom...a very good lazative. My student also didn't have a good reaction to the stuff either. Apparently, though, rosehip seems to be the diet rage here.
On my way to the subway station, I dropped in at the school to find the cooordinator typing up the names for the special diplomas. She wanted my advice on how to come up with appropriate names for them such as "Highest TOEIC Score". I took a scan through the comment sheets for the top class' final class today. The teacher mentioned that the speeches were very well done and there was an emotional charge to it. I could imagine one of the students getting rather misty which would start off a chain reaction. I wonder how it will be later today at the grad party.
Then it was off to Shimbashi to meet up with my former oil class students. It ended up being two of this year's group along with another two of last year's class whom I've been meeting for the past several months. We went to HANAMASA, the Korean BBQ restaurant just downstairs from the late lamented Farm Grill. I had gone there with another friend several years ago with not much of a good impression. The beef was not all that high quality. Sure enough, things haven't changed all that much despite a freshening-up of the decor. The managment needn't have put out sushi either since it was obviously made by machine. The edges of the rice were hardened and the fish tasted like cardboard. The draft beer machine was quite interesting. I just put my mug into it and the mini-crane automatically lifted and tilted it at a 60-degree angle and poured it up. Unfortunately, noone had told me that I also had to press the stop button to cease the pouring. Instead, the foam kept pouring until I started getting some on the floor. I didn't feel too bad since other customers were falling for the trap. I wonder if there had been a candid camera installed somewhere picking up the action.
Some interesting insight into the corporate world. Today was apparently the unofficial day at the oil company for announcements of any transfers of employees to different sections of the company. Everybody usually puts on their good suit and then just waits nervously for 5 minutes between 3 and 3:05. If the boss doesn't call for you, then you're guaranteed for at least another year at your current post. One of our group did get the call to his boss' office; he's been transferred from HQ to another post uptown.
The interaction among the two "generations" of oil company employees was working out well so we went out to a second venue in Shimbashi. Being Friday night, we found a few dead ends due to the crowds, but we finally found a chain izakaya where we partook in some cocktails and boiled green beans. About 90 minutes later, we were all done. On the way home, I saw examples of what one should expect to see every Friday night in Shimbashi. I saw a furious yakuza gangster (as redundant as that may sound) yelling either at a cab driver or into his cell phone. Then there were the usual drunken , staggering salarymen around the station, and then at Nihombashi Station, there were a couple of guys getting ready to wrassle at the top of the escalator with two uniformed station officials as referees.
Coming home, I once again smell of smoke and other stuff. Plus, I'm still feeling pretty bloated after the culinary excesses of tonight. But I do have to take a shower before I hit bed. The Iconclast gave me a call tonight stating that he's willing to dump a lot of stuff on me including a futon, a pan and even some food before he finally leaves Japan next week. Plus, I forgot to mention that the Curry Master also offered me her EPSON printer. Hmm...sounds very tempting indeed.
Well, got that all-day grad party. Man, I'm gonna be so toasted this tomorrow night.
My Friday started nicely enough. The weather was sunny and not too cold. I paid off my bills and sent off my lease renewal form in triplicate to my uncle for his stamp, and then I had my haircut. It was especially nice talking with the ladies at the salon today, and I always love the scalp massage following the shampoo, and the shoulder and neck massage before the haircut itself. It costs me a fair penny compared to what I used to pay back in Toronto, but the service is worth every yen, especially since they throw in a complementary cup of coffee.
I had some lunch before heading off to my lone class with my Friday afternoon student at the Tea Room. She's been having some political problems at her company; nothing too serious at the moment but she's starting to wonder if it's time to find new pastures. All I said was that if she's simply not having a good time there, then just quit. I helped her out with her upcoming EIKEN test on Sunday...that is, the English Proficiency Exam which is held three times a year. She's going for the second-highest level. Also, I had ordered a cup of rosehip tea for the first time since I felt pretty stuffed after lunch and thinking that anything heavier than rosehip would literally cramp my style, I ordered it. Bad move. The clear amber liquid tasted like very faint consomme. And it sure gave me enough incentives to head for the washroom...a very good lazative. My student also didn't have a good reaction to the stuff either. Apparently, though, rosehip seems to be the diet rage here.
On my way to the subway station, I dropped in at the school to find the cooordinator typing up the names for the special diplomas. She wanted my advice on how to come up with appropriate names for them such as "Highest TOEIC Score". I took a scan through the comment sheets for the top class' final class today. The teacher mentioned that the speeches were very well done and there was an emotional charge to it. I could imagine one of the students getting rather misty which would start off a chain reaction. I wonder how it will be later today at the grad party.
Then it was off to Shimbashi to meet up with my former oil class students. It ended up being two of this year's group along with another two of last year's class whom I've been meeting for the past several months. We went to HANAMASA, the Korean BBQ restaurant just downstairs from the late lamented Farm Grill. I had gone there with another friend several years ago with not much of a good impression. The beef was not all that high quality. Sure enough, things haven't changed all that much despite a freshening-up of the decor. The managment needn't have put out sushi either since it was obviously made by machine. The edges of the rice were hardened and the fish tasted like cardboard. The draft beer machine was quite interesting. I just put my mug into it and the mini-crane automatically lifted and tilted it at a 60-degree angle and poured it up. Unfortunately, noone had told me that I also had to press the stop button to cease the pouring. Instead, the foam kept pouring until I started getting some on the floor. I didn't feel too bad since other customers were falling for the trap. I wonder if there had been a candid camera installed somewhere picking up the action.
Some interesting insight into the corporate world. Today was apparently the unofficial day at the oil company for announcements of any transfers of employees to different sections of the company. Everybody usually puts on their good suit and then just waits nervously for 5 minutes between 3 and 3:05. If the boss doesn't call for you, then you're guaranteed for at least another year at your current post. One of our group did get the call to his boss' office; he's been transferred from HQ to another post uptown.
The interaction among the two "generations" of oil company employees was working out well so we went out to a second venue in Shimbashi. Being Friday night, we found a few dead ends due to the crowds, but we finally found a chain izakaya where we partook in some cocktails and boiled green beans. About 90 minutes later, we were all done. On the way home, I saw examples of what one should expect to see every Friday night in Shimbashi. I saw a furious yakuza gangster (as redundant as that may sound) yelling either at a cab driver or into his cell phone. Then there were the usual drunken , staggering salarymen around the station, and then at Nihombashi Station, there were a couple of guys getting ready to wrassle at the top of the escalator with two uniformed station officials as referees.
Coming home, I once again smell of smoke and other stuff. Plus, I'm still feeling pretty bloated after the culinary excesses of tonight. But I do have to take a shower before I hit bed. The Iconclast gave me a call tonight stating that he's willing to dump a lot of stuff on me including a futon, a pan and even some food before he finally leaves Japan next week. Plus, I forgot to mention that the Curry Master also offered me her EPSON printer. Hmm...sounds very tempting indeed.
Well, got that all-day grad party. Man, I'm gonna be so toasted this tomorrow night.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Thursday Feb. 19, 9:23 p.m.
Well, I managed to get in touch with my uncle and he has agreed to be my guarantor. He gave me the usual invitation to Osaka...I gave my usual response that I would like to. Whether or not the invitation is true or not, I'm wondering if I should take a visit there sometime this year. In any case, I ought to send some stuff in thanks.
Today was basically a holiday for me outside of my first class with the Curry Master. I proofread her resume and then had a short discussion on an article I had brought with me. We further discussed on some other approaches for future classes but I'm not particularly sure whether this will become a long-term deal.
I finally got a chance to listen to the LOTR CDs. And I ended up an emotional wreck after listening to the final tracks of "The Return of the King". The soundtrack and the movie have shown their quality.
Tomorrow, I will be getting my bimonthly haircut and then meeting up with my Friday afternoon student at the Tea Room. I may also drop in at the school since for a good majority of them, tomorrow will be their final class there for good. Afterwards, I meet some more alumni from the oil class for dinner in Ginza. Now that the Farm Grill is history, we'll be heading for yakiniku at the shop beside where the Grill used to be.
Well, I managed to get in touch with my uncle and he has agreed to be my guarantor. He gave me the usual invitation to Osaka...I gave my usual response that I would like to. Whether or not the invitation is true or not, I'm wondering if I should take a visit there sometime this year. In any case, I ought to send some stuff in thanks.
Today was basically a holiday for me outside of my first class with the Curry Master. I proofread her resume and then had a short discussion on an article I had brought with me. We further discussed on some other approaches for future classes but I'm not particularly sure whether this will become a long-term deal.
I finally got a chance to listen to the LOTR CDs. And I ended up an emotional wreck after listening to the final tracks of "The Return of the King". The soundtrack and the movie have shown their quality.
Tomorrow, I will be getting my bimonthly haircut and then meeting up with my Friday afternoon student at the Tea Room. I may also drop in at the school since for a good majority of them, tomorrow will be their final class there for good. Afterwards, I meet some more alumni from the oil class for dinner in Ginza. Now that the Farm Grill is history, we'll be heading for yakiniku at the shop beside where the Grill used to be.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Wednesday Feb. 18, 9:36 p.m.
Well, I had my trio of students today. All were pretty good. The Stylist did pretty well in her first class, the Hawaiian was a real plugger as usual, and the Office Lady was beaming proudly over her TOEIC score. As for me, I managed to rake in a bit of cash, but next week should be sparse since I only have the Stylist on alternating weeks and The Hawaiian is off to Hawaii for the next few weeks. Along with the usual monetary rewards, I also got some good culinary rewards. I found a pretty decent Chinese restaurant on the top floor of a department complex next to the Stylist's station, and the Office Lady let me know of a good Chinese restaurant near Omotesando Station.
I tried calling myuncle tonight but all I got was a busy signal. Perhaps he has a visual display of incoming phone numbers and has cut me off. I'll try again tomorrow. Just in case, I sent a heads-up to Mom to smooth things over.
I found out about a new Canadian bar in the heart of Shibuya. The Maple Leaf Sports Bar boasts that it's the only Canadian bar in Tokyo. That may be so although I know that Canadian-owned restaurants do exist. In any case, I intend to check it out...perhaps I'll let Chip Guy know as well.
Well, I had my trio of students today. All were pretty good. The Stylist did pretty well in her first class, the Hawaiian was a real plugger as usual, and the Office Lady was beaming proudly over her TOEIC score. As for me, I managed to rake in a bit of cash, but next week should be sparse since I only have the Stylist on alternating weeks and The Hawaiian is off to Hawaii for the next few weeks. Along with the usual monetary rewards, I also got some good culinary rewards. I found a pretty decent Chinese restaurant on the top floor of a department complex next to the Stylist's station, and the Office Lady let me know of a good Chinese restaurant near Omotesando Station.
I tried calling myuncle tonight but all I got was a busy signal. Perhaps he has a visual display of incoming phone numbers and has cut me off. I'll try again tomorrow. Just in case, I sent a heads-up to Mom to smooth things over.
I found out about a new Canadian bar in the heart of Shibuya. The Maple Leaf Sports Bar boasts that it's the only Canadian bar in Tokyo. That may be so although I know that Canadian-owned restaurants do exist. In any case, I intend to check it out...perhaps I'll let Chip Guy know as well.
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Wednesday Feb. 18, 8:11 a.m.
Last night's trio of classes went rather smoothly. Even my third student who comes in perpetually exhausted...not surprising considering his line of work...was quite good last night. My first class, consisting of that giddy pair, exchanged phone numbers with me. And I've found out that one of them is quite taken with Orlando Bloom's Legolas character. I'll have to give her one of the promo cards that came with my LOTR CDs.
I've got a fairly busy day coming up. I've got three private lessons with the Stylist, the Hawaiian and the Office Lady. I will be looking forward to a late wake-up tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will probably be facing a couple of package arrivals then as well. Well, at least, one of them will be arriving after noon.
Also, I have to swallow my pride and go hat in hand over the phone and talk with my uncle about the guarantor situation with my apartment. I'm not looking forward to that.
As I said back on Monday, I did go a bit nuts on my CD splurging. One of the discs I picked up was a self-titled album by Michael Buble. He seems to come across as a Canadian Harry Connick, Jr. In reviews, he has been referred to as the second coming of Frank Sinatra. I'm sure that Harry Connick, Jr. may not be too happy with that comment. In any case, Buble has got similar looks and chops. He does quite a good job with "Fever" and "Moondance" . It'd be rather nice if he and Diana Krall ever decide to collaborate.
I also picked up a CD single by that local songbird, MISIA. I took a listen to her newest full album but I wasn't too impressed...the first time I've ever thought that for one of her albums which is why I just went for that single.
My most conversational e-mail buddy, and the only friend who overtly knows of this blog, told me about a personal website of one of the cast members of CSI: MIAMI which reminded me of ol' Sir Ian McKellen's site. So I dropped in over there and read his last entry concerning his work on The Return of the King. It's interesting to read what basically comes across as some actor's blog. I can only hope for such an interesting life.
Last night's trio of classes went rather smoothly. Even my third student who comes in perpetually exhausted...not surprising considering his line of work...was quite good last night. My first class, consisting of that giddy pair, exchanged phone numbers with me. And I've found out that one of them is quite taken with Orlando Bloom's Legolas character. I'll have to give her one of the promo cards that came with my LOTR CDs.
I've got a fairly busy day coming up. I've got three private lessons with the Stylist, the Hawaiian and the Office Lady. I will be looking forward to a late wake-up tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will probably be facing a couple of package arrivals then as well. Well, at least, one of them will be arriving after noon.
Also, I have to swallow my pride and go hat in hand over the phone and talk with my uncle about the guarantor situation with my apartment. I'm not looking forward to that.
As I said back on Monday, I did go a bit nuts on my CD splurging. One of the discs I picked up was a self-titled album by Michael Buble. He seems to come across as a Canadian Harry Connick, Jr. In reviews, he has been referred to as the second coming of Frank Sinatra. I'm sure that Harry Connick, Jr. may not be too happy with that comment. In any case, Buble has got similar looks and chops. He does quite a good job with "Fever" and "Moondance" . It'd be rather nice if he and Diana Krall ever decide to collaborate.
I also picked up a CD single by that local songbird, MISIA. I took a listen to her newest full album but I wasn't too impressed...the first time I've ever thought that for one of her albums which is why I just went for that single.
My most conversational e-mail buddy, and the only friend who overtly knows of this blog, told me about a personal website of one of the cast members of CSI: MIAMI which reminded me of ol' Sir Ian McKellen's site. So I dropped in over there and read his last entry concerning his work on The Return of the King. It's interesting to read what basically comes across as some actor's blog. I can only hope for such an interesting life.
Monday, February 16, 2004
Tuesday Feb. 17, 3:08 p.m.
It's been a bit of an off-kilter day today. I was pressed for time this morning, and the fact that I had a large load of laundry to hang up before heading out didn't help matters. Plus, this morning's class just seemed ponderous. The lone text exercise we did didn't grab the ladies. It was interesting that the one woman whom I had asked about the guarantorship and got rejected was a no-show due to a cold. I don't doubt her reasons for not showing up but I just wonder if fate had an intervening hand in this. I was thinking that things could have been slightly awkward if she had been the first one (which she usually is) to show up. Also, my initial response to her rejection was bounced back by the Hotmail server. Rather eerie.
I'm still grateful for the lull between the Tsudanuma class and tonight's load in Urayasu although I will no longer be having the current group of students at the school. It gives me time to rest up. Well, I'll be getting the rice cooker all fired up for dinner and then I'll just make something on the cheap before heading out for the night shift. Tomorrow ought to be a heavy day with three classes.
It's been a bit of an off-kilter day today. I was pressed for time this morning, and the fact that I had a large load of laundry to hang up before heading out didn't help matters. Plus, this morning's class just seemed ponderous. The lone text exercise we did didn't grab the ladies. It was interesting that the one woman whom I had asked about the guarantorship and got rejected was a no-show due to a cold. I don't doubt her reasons for not showing up but I just wonder if fate had an intervening hand in this. I was thinking that things could have been slightly awkward if she had been the first one (which she usually is) to show up. Also, my initial response to her rejection was bounced back by the Hotmail server. Rather eerie.
I'm still grateful for the lull between the Tsudanuma class and tonight's load in Urayasu although I will no longer be having the current group of students at the school. It gives me time to rest up. Well, I'll be getting the rice cooker all fired up for dinner and then I'll just make something on the cheap before heading out for the night shift. Tomorrow ought to be a heavy day with three classes.
Tuesday Feb. 17, 12:44 a.m.
Well, I got that response from my student concerning the guarantourship for my apartment lease. Not surprisingly, she declined it. It is a heavy responsibility but in another way, I can't help but be a little disappointed. You would think that a trusted teacher of over five years acquaintance who has had a spotless record for a decade would mean something. I guess that means I'll have to face my uncle, and perhaps some resentment from him.
I got at least some good news today from my morning student. It looks like I may have another new mouth to feed, so to speak...her sister-in-law. If everything works out, I will be teaching her immediately after my class.
My pay for this month didn't exactly jingle too badly. Still, it's kinda hard to realize that I'm not making the big bucks anymore. Having said that, I went rather nuts on the purchases at Tower Records afterwards. I bought a whole mess of CDs including the triple pack of the soundtracks of each othe LOTR movies. I figure that this opportunity doesn't come often, and I know enough of lost ones that I shouldn't give this one up.
After my regular class tonight, the Iconoclast and I met up with his HK girlfriend at HALC, and then went off to join a fourth member of our dinner group, the roving manager of the tea bar that we sometimes drop in at. For a woman who has never done a homestay overseas, her English was pretty good. We had a brief tea there before we went off to the seedy neighbourhood of Okubo, just north of Shinjuku. I was initially a bit nervous walking up the street , especially when we passed a couple of cops talking with a suspicious type but I was later to discover that Okubo isn't too bad on the main street. It was quite bright, actually and had a lot of Chinese food stores which reminded me of Toronto's Chinatown.
In any case, we ate at a Malaysian restaurant. The food there wasn't too bad but I wouldn't recommend it to any of my students. I think the taste isn't quite up to their palates. Plus, the service wasn't all that competent. The manager of the tea shop was also quite unimpressed by the sight of a cat on the floor not too far from our table. Being the proprietress of a culinary establishment herself would probably make her quite sensitive to the cleanliness issue. However, it was nice for the chat. The manager also surprised all of us when she popped out a couple of photos of her and former President Bill Clinton when he made a trip to Japan last year for some reason, and she gave him a box of tea as a present. He was quite weathered-looking but surprisingly enough, his hair looked rather blonde, albeit in a sickly way.
Well, I got that response from my student concerning the guarantourship for my apartment lease. Not surprisingly, she declined it. It is a heavy responsibility but in another way, I can't help but be a little disappointed. You would think that a trusted teacher of over five years acquaintance who has had a spotless record for a decade would mean something. I guess that means I'll have to face my uncle, and perhaps some resentment from him.
I got at least some good news today from my morning student. It looks like I may have another new mouth to feed, so to speak...her sister-in-law. If everything works out, I will be teaching her immediately after my class.
My pay for this month didn't exactly jingle too badly. Still, it's kinda hard to realize that I'm not making the big bucks anymore. Having said that, I went rather nuts on the purchases at Tower Records afterwards. I bought a whole mess of CDs including the triple pack of the soundtracks of each othe LOTR movies. I figure that this opportunity doesn't come often, and I know enough of lost ones that I shouldn't give this one up.
After my regular class tonight, the Iconoclast and I met up with his HK girlfriend at HALC, and then went off to join a fourth member of our dinner group, the roving manager of the tea bar that we sometimes drop in at. For a woman who has never done a homestay overseas, her English was pretty good. We had a brief tea there before we went off to the seedy neighbourhood of Okubo, just north of Shinjuku. I was initially a bit nervous walking up the street , especially when we passed a couple of cops talking with a suspicious type but I was later to discover that Okubo isn't too bad on the main street. It was quite bright, actually and had a lot of Chinese food stores which reminded me of Toronto's Chinatown.
In any case, we ate at a Malaysian restaurant. The food there wasn't too bad but I wouldn't recommend it to any of my students. I think the taste isn't quite up to their palates. Plus, the service wasn't all that competent. The manager of the tea shop was also quite unimpressed by the sight of a cat on the floor not too far from our table. Being the proprietress of a culinary establishment herself would probably make her quite sensitive to the cleanliness issue. However, it was nice for the chat. The manager also surprised all of us when she popped out a couple of photos of her and former President Bill Clinton when he made a trip to Japan last year for some reason, and she gave him a box of tea as a present. He was quite weathered-looking but surprisingly enough, his hair looked rather blonde, albeit in a sickly way.
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Sunday Feb. 15, 7:31 p.m.
It's been a gap of a couple of days since my last entry, partly because I had Movie Buddy crashing over here last night, and I would rather have not had him discovering my blog habit.
My Saturday started out easily enough. My two kids in the morning were not spectacular but they fit the bill. Then I headed out to meet my newest student who was a buddy of the younger sister. It looks like I have another fairly well-to-do family to deal with. Again, it was another grand automatic gate opening for me, and a front yard to engulf my apartment. The kid herself was pretty quiet but good. In a way, this family is a bit of a mirror image of the Saturday morning group. My morning kids aren't all that enthused about English but their mother is quite keen. In this new group, the mother didn't speak a word of English and seemed rather button-down. My new student was also fairly reserved but her older sister could talk up a fair bit. She's a student at my old unit, NOVA, where she's classed as an intermediate level customer. I may also be teaching her from time to time if her schedule allows it. However, for my main student, she'll need work on conversation, phonics and reading.
I met up with Movie Buddy at Shinjuku where we made our first attempts to catch The Return of the King. Not surprisingly, all of the theater tickets for Saturday night were sold out. Virtually the only seats available were not seats but space for standing. I did want to see LOTR but not enough to be willing to stand for over 3 hours. Taking the defeat in stride, the two of us just went over to the Aussie bar for some good ol' fish n' chips and a couple of Crown Lagers...a good beer.
To change our viewing strategy, we ended up heading all the way to the modern theaters in my neck of the woods where we could reserve seats for the noon showing today. Mission accomplished, we went back to my place where we spent the evening looking at a couple of DVDs. We had been invited by one of our other colleagues over MB's cell phone if we would like to go to a student's place to catch her copy of "Lost In Translation", a movie that won't be making theatrical release until early May. We decided to politely decline the offer since the student's apartment was all the way on the other side of town, and besides, MB went to the trouble of renting the DVDs we were to watch.
Our first entry was "The Time Machine" with Guy Pearce of "Memento" fame. Not a bad flick. Certainly, the effects were good but the overall execution of the story didn't work too well. The story just flew by as fast as the time machine itself. Kinda too bad as it would have been a nice feather in the cap of Simon Wells, the descendant of the author who penned the original story.
After that, we risked our good taste and caught "Queen of the Damned", that faux sequel to "Interview With A Vampire". Again, I was interested in the backstory behind the vampire civilation but something about the movie didn't quite ring true. It was notable just to see Aaliyah's only Hollywood performance before leaving this mortal coil.
The next morning, the two of us headed over to the family restaurant, Skylark, near the apartment. Our breakfast was more of an early lunch by the content of our orders. I had a hamburg steak and two breaded prawns with corn soup and garlic toast. Several years ago, I used to go there for a buffet breakfast almost weekly until I decided to take better care of my girth.
Then, we returned to the theater. MB was getting downright giddy for LOTR. I was somewhat more sanguine although I was also interested in seeing how the epic trilogy wrapped up. In retrospect, I think we were lucky going to the neighbourhood theater instead of the older places in Shinjuku last night. We had great, comfy seats with plenty of leg room (the guys at Toyota would be so jealous). We caught trailers for "Master and Commander" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" . The latter film certainly took its sweet time in getting here. And then we caught the trailer for Brad Pitt's "Troy". It looks like it's trying to go for the post-LOTR title of epic picture.
Finally, The Return of the King. May I say that this film is a triumphant final third for a classic trilogy. Those 3 hours just flew by. Of course, there were tons of jaw-dropping battle scenes and loads of the epic plot. But I think one element that took this final movie over the top was the heart and charcterization. Usually, I don't really invest all that much sympathy into the characters even if the story is good. However, the last several minutes of the movie had my throat lumping up something awful, and what nearly sent me over the edge into lachrymal territory was the scene where King Aragorn and everyone else bowed low in front of the 4 Hobbits with the familiar Shire music playing in the background. Having said that, I thought that the tiny subplot involving the mad Denethor and poor Faramir should've been excised. And I think Peter Jackson rather extended the anticlimax almost to breaking point after the exhausting battles although the penultimate scene once again threatened to get the waterworks going. I think the final scene was totally unnecessary, but I'm quibbling over little stuff. During the end credits, I think it was a nice touch to see the drawn images of the cast shown beside their names, even Sean Bean's. If Bean could be thrown in there, despite the fact that he died two pictures ago, I kinda wonder why Christopher Lee's name and image weren't included. Not that I think Lee is the most angelic actor (my impression of him during cast interviews was somewhat akin to watching a prima donna) but I certainly thought he would have been thrown in. MB thought that contractual and union factors were behind it, but I don't quite buy that. Lee is probably still stewing in his octogenarian juices. In any case, I think if LOTR doesn't pick up Best Picture honors in a couple of weeks, it will be a major cultural crime.
Now that my Movie Buddy weekend is nearly over, I have just to prepare for Monday's classes. I'm not sure but I may have to pick up a bottle of Extra Light No. 1 maple syrup for the Monday morning folks tomorrow at Kinokuniya before heading to the house. It should be a fairly normal week. Certainly, the weather has cooperated so far...it's been downright balmy this weekend.
It's been a gap of a couple of days since my last entry, partly because I had Movie Buddy crashing over here last night, and I would rather have not had him discovering my blog habit.
My Saturday started out easily enough. My two kids in the morning were not spectacular but they fit the bill. Then I headed out to meet my newest student who was a buddy of the younger sister. It looks like I have another fairly well-to-do family to deal with. Again, it was another grand automatic gate opening for me, and a front yard to engulf my apartment. The kid herself was pretty quiet but good. In a way, this family is a bit of a mirror image of the Saturday morning group. My morning kids aren't all that enthused about English but their mother is quite keen. In this new group, the mother didn't speak a word of English and seemed rather button-down. My new student was also fairly reserved but her older sister could talk up a fair bit. She's a student at my old unit, NOVA, where she's classed as an intermediate level customer. I may also be teaching her from time to time if her schedule allows it. However, for my main student, she'll need work on conversation, phonics and reading.
I met up with Movie Buddy at Shinjuku where we made our first attempts to catch The Return of the King. Not surprisingly, all of the theater tickets for Saturday night were sold out. Virtually the only seats available were not seats but space for standing. I did want to see LOTR but not enough to be willing to stand for over 3 hours. Taking the defeat in stride, the two of us just went over to the Aussie bar for some good ol' fish n' chips and a couple of Crown Lagers...a good beer.
To change our viewing strategy, we ended up heading all the way to the modern theaters in my neck of the woods where we could reserve seats for the noon showing today. Mission accomplished, we went back to my place where we spent the evening looking at a couple of DVDs. We had been invited by one of our other colleagues over MB's cell phone if we would like to go to a student's place to catch her copy of "Lost In Translation", a movie that won't be making theatrical release until early May. We decided to politely decline the offer since the student's apartment was all the way on the other side of town, and besides, MB went to the trouble of renting the DVDs we were to watch.
Our first entry was "The Time Machine" with Guy Pearce of "Memento" fame. Not a bad flick. Certainly, the effects were good but the overall execution of the story didn't work too well. The story just flew by as fast as the time machine itself. Kinda too bad as it would have been a nice feather in the cap of Simon Wells, the descendant of the author who penned the original story.
After that, we risked our good taste and caught "Queen of the Damned", that faux sequel to "Interview With A Vampire". Again, I was interested in the backstory behind the vampire civilation but something about the movie didn't quite ring true. It was notable just to see Aaliyah's only Hollywood performance before leaving this mortal coil.
The next morning, the two of us headed over to the family restaurant, Skylark, near the apartment. Our breakfast was more of an early lunch by the content of our orders. I had a hamburg steak and two breaded prawns with corn soup and garlic toast. Several years ago, I used to go there for a buffet breakfast almost weekly until I decided to take better care of my girth.
Then, we returned to the theater. MB was getting downright giddy for LOTR. I was somewhat more sanguine although I was also interested in seeing how the epic trilogy wrapped up. In retrospect, I think we were lucky going to the neighbourhood theater instead of the older places in Shinjuku last night. We had great, comfy seats with plenty of leg room (the guys at Toyota would be so jealous). We caught trailers for "Master and Commander" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" . The latter film certainly took its sweet time in getting here. And then we caught the trailer for Brad Pitt's "Troy". It looks like it's trying to go for the post-LOTR title of epic picture.
Finally, The Return of the King. May I say that this film is a triumphant final third for a classic trilogy. Those 3 hours just flew by. Of course, there were tons of jaw-dropping battle scenes and loads of the epic plot. But I think one element that took this final movie over the top was the heart and charcterization. Usually, I don't really invest all that much sympathy into the characters even if the story is good. However, the last several minutes of the movie had my throat lumping up something awful, and what nearly sent me over the edge into lachrymal territory was the scene where King Aragorn and everyone else bowed low in front of the 4 Hobbits with the familiar Shire music playing in the background. Having said that, I thought that the tiny subplot involving the mad Denethor and poor Faramir should've been excised. And I think Peter Jackson rather extended the anticlimax almost to breaking point after the exhausting battles although the penultimate scene once again threatened to get the waterworks going. I think the final scene was totally unnecessary, but I'm quibbling over little stuff. During the end credits, I think it was a nice touch to see the drawn images of the cast shown beside their names, even Sean Bean's. If Bean could be thrown in there, despite the fact that he died two pictures ago, I kinda wonder why Christopher Lee's name and image weren't included. Not that I think Lee is the most angelic actor (my impression of him during cast interviews was somewhat akin to watching a prima donna) but I certainly thought he would have been thrown in. MB thought that contractual and union factors were behind it, but I don't quite buy that. Lee is probably still stewing in his octogenarian juices. In any case, I think if LOTR doesn't pick up Best Picture honors in a couple of weeks, it will be a major cultural crime.
Now that my Movie Buddy weekend is nearly over, I have just to prepare for Monday's classes. I'm not sure but I may have to pick up a bottle of Extra Light No. 1 maple syrup for the Monday morning folks tomorrow at Kinokuniya before heading to the house. It should be a fairly normal week. Certainly, the weather has cooperated so far...it's been downright balmy this weekend.