Saturday May 8, 5:09 p.m.

Got back home about a half-hour ago. I had been expecting to head off to the Curry Master for that BBQ later tonight when I realized that there was a possibility that Movie Buddy would have suddenly asked me up for accomodations since I live so close to the Curry Master. And I'm not too crazy about taking last-minute reservations so I had been thinking about doing some quick cleanup at home before taking off at 6. I also thought that the odds of MB being so thoughtless as to do such a thing were pretty small but I couldn't take any chances.

However, I needn't have bothered. I had left a message with the Master asking if she needed anything from the convenience store. A few minutes later, she called me back saying that MB didn't make it due to a cold. And the BBQ was already well under way so I just begged off. If I'd really wanted to have gone, I would have been somewhat upset by the rather cavalier attitude, but as it were, I don't mind at all. I wasn't particularly up for it. So I just picked up some convenience food for tonight.

At the AM/PM, I heard the typically loud voices of two teenage girls just splatting down on the floor at the back just as if they were at home. I just ignored them and sadly wrote them off as the more extreme examples of emotionally unstable teens. I reminded myself that I have met my share of pretty well-behaved teens and even now, the delinquents aren't all that plentiful, knock on wood. Besides, delinquents have been around since time immemorial, and some of them actually end up becoming pretty decent if hard-bitten folks. Still, that middle-aged lady manning the register looked none too happy. I couldn't blame her.

I'm now reminding myself that I should get Arwen my US copy of SPIDERMAN since she wants to see the English subtitles that her version lacks. She called up late last night to profusely apologize about forgetting to pay me once again. I reassured her that I would be able to survive another week without her money and then I sugeested that she could give me the money when the lesson began like some other forgetful souls have done. I also should remind myself to get some Murphy books for SR.

Old Sam got in contact with me by e-mail this morning. He and his wife will be arriving in Tokyo Sunday night and wanted to ask me if I knew any cheap hotels in and around Tokyo Station. As it turned out, there was one but otherwise, it's a pretty tall order so far but I haven't quite given up yet. I'll give him a call tonight.

Also, Automan, another old friend, contacted me to say that he'll be making another pilgrimage to Tokyo later this month. Not sure if it'll be for R & R or for business. However, I'll try and see him.

I called up Mom. Looks like Dad hasn't been too hot of late. I'm a bit worried although I can't be that surprised since he's not exactly even middle-aged anymore. I really hope that passport gets done soon.

Friday May 7, 10:53 p.m.

Well, I made it through my first day back at work in about a week OK. But there were some variations to the theme. I found out from The Teacher that the resentment and dislike she got from her classmates was very much mutual. She kinda went on her usual soft soapbox rant and stated that she couldn't stand the younger folks' immaturity and lack of core values. However, she did have a few allies in the group, one of whom was someone I remember as being a cultured sort...admittedly a rarity in today's young group.

After lunch at the Golden Arches, I went out to Nihombashi to Maruzen to see if there were any hope of finding a tape to go with that textbook I'm using with The SE. Once again, I was out of luck so frankly I'm not sure what to do now. Then, I went up to Asakusa to see if there were any hope of finding one of those carp kites for a good friend back in Canada. No luck there, either. But I did see some Japanese versions of The Rockettes traipsing through the main shopping avenue of the area for some reason. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of men taking pics of the ladies.

I got back to the Tea Room to see SR. No particular changes there although I will have to think about getting some new material for her somehow. At the end of the session I was surprised to get a phone from the Tea Room owner. On the other end was Arwen who told me that due to a jumper at Ichigaya Station, her main route to get to the Tea Room was blocked so we ended up meeting at the south gate of Shinjuku Station. It sure was a Friday back from the Golden Week; there was a literal flood of commuters ebbing and flowing around the ticket gates.

Arwen reached me and then we walked over to the Maynds Building's Starbucks. It was an intriguing lesson to say the least since at one point, she started wondering aloud about what the system behind a typical Japanese FUZOKU club was. I wasn't about to give her major details in a public place but I said that I would be willing to give her some info over e-mail according to reports from various salarymen I've spoken with over the years. She also asked about the reputation behind YOUNG ADAM, that rather risque Ewan McGregor movie. I kinda wonder about what Arwen thinks about at times. Plus, she forgot to pay me again.

As it happened, our streak of going out for dinner after the lesson ended tonight since we started a full hour late and she had things to do at home. Luckily, I did have a rather forlorn meat pie at Starbucks...not a regular item at the North American branches, I'm sure. Believe me, the English have nothing to worry about when it comes to meat pies from Japan.

I got home to find out from the school coordinator that I've actually been offered classes next week. In fact, I may have a bushel of them through the middle of the week. I guess some of the teachers may be on Intensives. Well, it'll be my first crack at this new crew since the year began for them. It has suddenly become quite busy. However, I may have sacrificed some time with another old friend of mine from Canada.

I still have to get some work done in terms of student reports and then get something planned for the little girl tomorrow afternoon. Plus, I do want to catch some of that grueling testimony that ol' Rummy will have to give to Congress in half an hour.

I found out that one of the most familiar faces on the local political scene has resigned because of that silly pension scandal. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda was the No. 3 or No. 4 guy in the government (which would place him in the same ranking as the US Speaker of the House or the Senate President), but for most of us folks, he fulfilled the same role as the Press Secretary. He was a pretty avunculuar sort which made him the perfect sort to talk with the press but he is also the son of a former Prime Minister. I would have said that his father is probably turning in his grave but then again, most politicians in modern Japanese history have had their fingers in so many pies that PM Fukuda is sleeping soundly in his grave.

Shower time!

Thursday May 6, 4:03 p.m.

Just came back from the National Science Museum in Ueno Park where that Star Wars exhibit was located. It's not exactly Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas but it was OK, especially if one appreciates the models that the movies used. After I paid my 1400 yen, I made a rather circuituous route through the original building to the new wing and managed to take one shot just before finding out that I couldn't take any pics inside the hall. Great...I just bought the disposable camera for that purpose.

Anyways, I was greeted by the John Williams fanfare and a 1.5-metre model of an Imperial Star Destroyer. The exhibit was arranged so that the tour goes through the cinematic history of the series from the original 1977 movie to Attack of the Clones. There were exhibits of the various costumes like Obi-Wan's Jedi robes and the different types of Imperial Stormtrooper uniforms. Different excerpts from all of the films played on small flatscreens throughout the exhibit and there were computer screens which allowed people to find out more about the science behind the fantasy of Star Wars. Unfortunately, since I don't read Japanese easily I let that part go. The tour was a pretty quick walkabout...I think I got through it within 15 minutes but I didn't expect all that much.

Back home again and have my first piece of mail in about a week. It's from The Anime King with his two DVDs of his homemade video of Galaxy Angel. It looks like the Cutsoms people were a bit more ham-fisted than usual. Part of the CD case was shattered so there was tape holding it together. I've got some empty cases so I can take care of that problem.

Still overcast. So much for that sunny forecast.

Thursday May 6, 10:39 a.m.

Well, the so-called sun is more of a gauzy brightness. I just hope that the rain hasn't decided to make another appearance. I did my wash; I was rather surprised and relieved that the washing machine didn't do what it somestimes does when it's fully packed. It sometimes conks out or keeps repeating the rinse cycle so taking out the clothes turns out to be a very wet affair.

I've got another free day since my Thursday night juku student has pulled another cancellation. But I won't stay at home; I'll be heading out to the National Science Museum to check out the Star Wars exhibition there. I figure I need to get a bit of exercise. Going to Ueno Park, where the museum is located, may provide a good enough venue for a walk although I'll probably have to skip over some of the homeless folks.

Looks like tomorrow will be back to a full day again. I've got my regular three classes. And then, I think I'll have the afternoon kids. The morning girls are out in at their cottage so I can get some more sleep in. Then, the Curry Master has her BBQ later that night.

Wednesday May 5, 11:58 a.m.

Overcast day and we had some drizzly stuff this morning, although it hasn't come close to the forecast downpours quite yet. I managed to those several hours of sleep I wanted.

Well, it's the final day of Golden Week. I'm sure that the news will be filled with the U-Turn rush and its scenes of jammed highways all throughout Tokyo.

I gave a call to Fujimamas to see if I could make that reservation for Sunday brunch. Sure enough, the guy on the other end told me that they couldn't take any reservations for parties under 5 people, so it looks like the three of us will have to take our chances in the morning. Maybe if we get there by around 10:30, we should get a table. Next, I sent a response to one of my Tsudanuma students concerning her fax about idioms. The way it was structured, I thought she was trying to test MY knowledge about them.

Probably for the next couple of hours, I'll be trying to translate some of this stuff that the Iconoclast threw me for this long-delayed project. I did promise the Prez that I would do something about it as well, although he didn't seem too hopeful. Maybe doing this while listening to some jazz music will get me through it.

Looks like dinner tonight will be relatively inexpensive. All I need to make is some stir-fry; the Engineer was kind enough to give me a present of Nagoya Kishimen. Kishimen is flat noodles, similar to the Pho of Vietnam.

Tuesday May 4, 9:07 p.m.

Well, my last session of "A Dinner with Haruhiko" took place today. I met up with my friend from Shizuoka at the Mullion. She wanted to thank me for helping her with a bit of translation I did for her several weeks ago so we went to COCA just behind the twin department towers at Mullion. Always a good meal. My friend was suitably impressed with the fare as well. Afterwards we walked through the same path that The Engineer and I had gone through yesterday in reverse over to the Tokyo Station underground mall.

The three dinners have been interesting in terms of what each of them and I talked about. The Bohemian went in depth about our uncertain futures, The Engineer and I gabbed about the present and then today, my other friend and I talked about our pasts. She had also been part of our little group back in university in the early 90s, so we spoke of our old friends and what they were up to. I'm sure a few of them were probably sneezing overseas at some of our talk.

Well, the official final day of Golden Week will be a largely empty one. It will be a rainy one, unfortunately. Otherwise, I would have done some laundry and aired out my mattresses. The blusteriness of the winds certainly don't bode well. But at least I'll get to wake up a bit later.

Super Channel has been on a major marathon kick. First, it was the 70 hours of Star Trek, then several hours of Columbo, a number of Frasier episodes, and now we've had 12 hours of the updated Perry Mason movies from the mid-80s. All of the trappings have been held over from the original 50s series: the plot structure of the innocent client framed by the real killer after the murder of a deserving jerk. It was pretty obvious that the new series was filmed in Toronto. I still prefer the original black-and-white show over these new ones but at least with the new ones, we don't get that final scream of admission by the guilty party on the witness stand.

Tuesday May 4, 10:37 a.m.

I met up with The Engineer yesterday at Tokyo Station. I took him over to the trendy spot of the Marunouchi Building. He wanted to have ramen; however, the Tokyo Station area isn't exactly known as a ramen zone like Shinjuku or Ogikubo. So I decided to take a chance and checked to see if there were a chance of such a place in the Maru Biru. Sure enough, there was a place on the 6th floor called Akai Noren (The Red Awning) which served Hakata Ramen, my favourite style of ramen.

Hakata Ramen is notable for the broth which is made from pork bones. The broth is off-white and very rich (no snickering, please). However, both the Engineer, who has traveled through Fukuoka (the modern name for Hakata) and I thought the soup was a bit too watery. However, I couldn't complain about the taste. And the set was pretty generous for a thousand yen: the ramen, kimchi rice, four dumplings and a bit of dessert.

Afterwards, we walked over to another trendy area, Shiodome. Being in Golden Week, there were a lot of people at the NTV Plaza. However, we did manage to get a table at the local Tully's coffee shop for a while before heading over to Shimbashi Station so that E could get his ticket to Kyoto today. Then, we went off to Akihabara to look for some stuff. We did our usual double sessions with the massage chairs in the Yamagiwa store. The sun was starting to set when we walked up to Ueno to look for a place to have dinner. But again, because of the holiday, everything was packed so we just ended up heading home and eating at the neighbourhood kaiten. That sushi chef with the slightly bad ear was there again but this time he was on the ball taking orders.

Finally, we made it back home where we just caught some TV before we retired for the night. Then, earlier this morning, I took him to the station to see him off. My allergies are acting up again so I'm considering downing some medicine before heading out to meet another friend for dinner.

Sunday May 2, 10:50 p.m.

I met up with The Office Lady for her lesson today at Nihombashi Station. We went out of an exit that I usually didn't use from the station, and I was rather surpsised by the new Merrill-Lynch building that towered everything else in the area. We couldn't use the neighbourhood Starbucks since it was packed; however, we only had to walk down a few dozen metres to find a relatively empty Excelsiors.

Afterwards I met The Bohemian at Hachiko. We went up to one of our usual haunts, En, that upscale izakaya on the 11th floor of an electronics store building. It actually opened up at 4 p.m. now so we were happy to find out that we were the first customers in the place. In fact, we got a good window table. We spoke much about our own little foibles in our lives including our love lives. In fact, it kinda felt like my talks with Arwen alone. We managed to go at it for about 5 hours.

I got a call from The Engineer. He gave me the arrival time of his Bullet Train so I can go and pick him up at Tokyo Station tomorrow. But I'm gonna have to wake up a little earlier than I had hoped to get the place spic and span, just in case he decides to stay over. UGH!

Sunday May 2, 9:49 a.m.

Well, it was another bipolar day yesterday in terms of weather. Nice and warm up to mid-afternoon and then the temps fell out the bottom in the evening. If it hadn't been for my Canadian constitution, I would've frozen in my short sleeves. I'm sure that I got a lot of looks myway. Mind you, it also probably helped that I'm not exactly the thinnest guy around.

Caught KILL BILL Vol. 2 with Movie Buddy and his buddy, Sam, in Shinjuku last night after my classes. It's definitely quite different in tone from the first one, and I liked it better. In retrospect, Quentin was right to split his latest into two parts. It war more talky, had more of that famous QT dialogue and certainly demanded more of both Uma and her character. MB wonders if the Oscar guys will do the same thing with it that they did with The Lord of the Rings, just wait until all the parts are out to consider giving it the gold. I just wonder if the movie is just a bit too violent or iconoclastic to get anything.

Afterwards, we went out to SAMRAT, a local Indian restaurant. We were quite surprised and delighted to see that it was actually open until 5 in the morning. The food is great so I could imagine some of the late-nighters headed there. We spent a little over an hour there chatting over tandoori and naan before I had to take off to catch my last train. And I did do that...I was lucky to catch the last train for my area.

I received a couple of messages last night. One was from The Engineer, who had come over on a little vacation with the missus from Canada. He's currently in Nagoya but he'll be coming over to the Big Sushi tomorrow for a visit. He also asked whether it's possible for him to stay over a night at my place. Looks like I'm gonna have to do another whirlwind cleanup.

The other message was from The Bohemian. He's back from studying during Golden Week, so he was asking about getting together for dinner. I initially thought I could meet him tonight after my class with The Office Lady but now I'm gonna check to see if he'll be hanging around unti Wednesday. I would rather have some time to salvage my apartment.

Anyways, I gotta have some breakfast and then do some quick planning for my lesson.

Sunday May 2, 1:19 a.m.

Another long Saturday, another meterologically bipolar day. It was warm up to mid-afternoon and then the bottom fell out of the temps. It was just 11 C when I got home at midnight, and I was just in my short sleeves with a sleeveless undershirt. Thank heavens for my Canadian constitution of surviving winter. I didn't feel too badly considering the chill, but I'm sure I did get my fair share of looks from people.

My class and then my monthly chat fest at the Tea Room went well enough. And then I met up with Movie Buddy and his good friend, Frodo. Frodo had first come over on a visit during the New Years holidays. Apparently, he enjoyed his time here so much that he has returned for a much longer stay. But with his talents in the computer field, he would be way overqualified for a typical teaching position at some English language school.

Anyways, the three of us went to see KILL BILL VOL. 2. Much was made about the splitting of this movie into 2 parts, some saying that it was a moneygrubbing move on the part of Tarentino and the producers. After having seen it, though, I can now understand the move. The second movie has the same characters and story arc but the feel is quite different. There aren't the gobs of over-the-top violence or The Bride's nearly mute rampage of revenge. The second part has much more dialogue and more feeling coming from The Bride, now known as Beatrix, and even Bill. I noted when I reviewed the first part last year that I was quite uncomfortable about Vol. 1 because of the somewhat inaccurate portrayals of Japanese language and the audience's scornful reaction. I like the second part better and I think this audience was a bit more accepting. However, that enka song came back during the end credits, but at least it didn't come on during the film itself.

After the movie, the three of us went to SAMRAT, an Indian restaurant just across from Shinjuku Station. We were surprised that the place was open until 5 a.m. That's a godsend for those late-nighters who need some good hearty fare. I spent about an hour or so with them mostly listening to MB and Frodo talk about their mutual friends from years past over tandoori chicken, freshly-baked naan and curries.

I had to take off a bit early to catch the train for home. It was the usual scrum at Shinjuku Station for the trip home. I was lucky...I caught the last train passing through my station. When I got back home, I received two messages from a couple of old friends. The Engineer has come over from Toronto for a short stint. And The Bohemian called me up for dinner later on Sunday. He's back from studying up north. I may be able to kill two birds with one stone. But before that, I do have the OL's class in Nihombashi.

Time to sleep.

Friday April 30, 7:03 p.m.

Well, looks like my detachment from my hobby was a temporary one. I got the correct user name from my provider. For some reason, they mentioned that the password was wrong but it still worked for me. In any case, I'm back online.

Some interesting news over the past couple of days that I've been offline. One was the fact that several ministers and other top politicians had not been making their regular pension payments. Some very red-faced mandarins considering that a lot of them were pooh-poohing an actress who had also been caught not paying her premiums despite her appearance in a commercial telling people to pay up.

Then, there was a bizarro incident involving some clearly deranged nut who crashed through a flimsy barrier at Haneda Airport with his car, commandeered a few more vehicles and drove around the runways for 40 minutes while the local police and airport security acted like Keystone Kops. As the coup de grace, he then crashed his final car and jumped off into the ocean before dying at hospital.

Two of the three former hostages in Iraq held their first news conference sincecoming back to a hostile reception last week. They looked rather relaxed although the tale that they had to tell was harrowing, to say the least. The one woman who had been part of the group decided to stay away since she's suffering from depression and nightmares. My feeling is that they've been made scapegoats of sensationalistic rags and right-wing cranks.

Japanese Trekkies with satellite TV are probably rejoicing in their armchairs. Super Channel is currently holding its 70-hour Star Trek marathon. I caught The Wrath of Khan this morning as the first entry, and First Contact is currently playing but since it was already more than halfway through, I've decided to skip it and wait for the episodes of Enterprise to come on. As far as I'm concerned, The Wrath of Khan is still the best of the entire movie series. Too bad that it's been 22 years since anything that good has come up in the Trek canon, although First Contact comes close.

The rush out of the city has begun with the onset of Golden Week. It's amazing how people will put up with crowded highways, airports and train stations just for a few days of rest and relaxation. As for me, I'm very happy to stay within the borders of the city.

Friday April 30, 4:53 p.m.

Well, my e-mail system went out of whack a couple of days ago so I'm doing this from a KINKOS in the Microsoft Bldg across from Shinjuku Station. Losing my access at home is a drag but at least I can find out how it feels doing e-mail from an outside source.

Had 2 classes today. One was with The Teacher. No problems there. And the class with Arwen and 77 went swimmingly as usual. I was on a holding pattern concerning Movie Buddy to catch Kill Bill Vol. 2 but it looks like he has to teach tonight so we're holding off it until tomorrow at 6:30.

Just gotta do some prep work before meeting up with the kids on Saturday. Hopefully, my e-mail woes will be sorted out by then.

Wednesday April 28, 11:53 a.m.

Went to sleep last night listening to my new Bill Evans CD. I ended up dozing off at about 2:30 a.m. in the soft glow of my lamp and while doing my crosswords. How's that for domesticated? It's always nice being able to do that knowing that you can wake up much later the next day. I got my first 8-hour hibernation for the first time in a number of days. I hope to do the same tomorrow as well. I may actually feel healthy by Friday.

The image would have been perfect if I'd had the opportunity to continue to do my crosswords while slowly sipping my coffee but unfortunately, myapartment looks as if last night's typhoon did a break and enter. So I'll have to get to work on cleaning the place up. It's one of the small graces that I have that my place is tiny enough so the chore won't take too long. Plus, I got the wash to do as well.

I got the final message from The Iconoclast this morning before his final departure from Japan. He's left another box of stuff for me to claim including yet another pan. He's given my regrets about declining the invitation for that uncomfortable matchmaking session.

I'm still not quite sure about what's gonna happen with Movie Buddy at the end of the week. It may just end up that the only excitement I'll have is just my one or two classes on Friday.

Tuesday April 27, 11:44 p.m.

Between the times of 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. today, there was a mini-typhoon of enormous strength through the Tokyo area. Guess where I was during that time? I was literally mugged by this force of nature on the way to my juku. My first casualty was my trusty umbrella which collapsed from the mighty gusts. I tried to revive it a couple of times before I considered it a write-off. Before the half-hour was up, there would be many more umbrellas on the scrap heap.

However, the main event took place on my 10-minute walk from Urayasu Station. The wind and the rain joined forces to create sheets of precipitation which thoroughly drenched my front side as well as my head. I was breathing through my mouth since it felt like I was swimming in the ocean. By the time I finally got to the juku, I was a gigantic used dishrag. The owner looked at me with some alarm; being the proverbial Japanese woman, she immediately told me to take off my clothes and she then grabbed a small shirt and gray trainer pants for me to wear. I must admit that I felt a bit self-conscious about wearing Sunday lounge wear in class but it was much better than risking pnewmonia. The lady is one class act, though. She hung out my clothes to dry and even ironed them during my final class. I had to leave my jacket at the juku though since it was going to need longer than 3 hours to dry out, so she gave me a loaner in the form of one of those translucent anoraks. As it happened, I didn't need it since the rain had disappeared long ago. However, the winds were still biting. But those I could handle.

I'm back home...still feeling a bit damp especially in the feet, but overall I'm feeling a whole lot better than I did 6 hours ago. Plus, I got paid. Tomorrow, we shouldn't be getting anymore Noah-level floods but the gusts are supposed to be continuing.

My contact at Japan Tour got back to me after an absence of a few days. It looks like the computers at the agency have been under siege by viruses, something that I know all too well since the bugs seem to be trying to invade my computer....luckily, I've got the filter taking them out. I had to resend the pertinent information but at least I know that she hasn't abandoned me.

Sure enough, one of the guys at the Iconoclast's company tried to contact me to confirm me for this little dinner party tomorrow night that the Prez's buddies were persuading me to attend. I sent the Iconoclast my regrets. Just not interested in this matchmaking stuff.

I finally read through the epic HYPERION series. Great sci-fi story although all that time-shifting revealed a very bittersweet ending for the protagonists. The story liberally adapted its structure from The Canterbury Tales, Huck Finn and finally the Passion of Christ apparently. It could be made into a movie someday although there is a subplot woven in there which resembles the plot from T3 a bit too much.

Twice in as many days, I've had students telling me how much I seem to be enjoying my life according to my adventures over the past weekend. To be honest, I think I have been quite lucky over the years with my social interaction. But I know that it can all go sour so I've tried to maintain contact as best as and as long as I can.

Tuesday April 27, 12:07 a.m.

Went into my 80s mode again. I bought a couple of CDs at HMV today: Queen and Supertramp. Shades of AM radio again!

That dreaded mediation between the Prez and the Iconoclast turned out to be just an outing to their favorite yakitori restaurant with a couple of other colleagues in East Shinjuku. We all let our hair down pretty well thanks to the libations that came with the chicken sticks. The Prez's rantings this time were more jovial; he even had the Iconoclast in a full nelson at one point. One of the colleagues gave me a rather hazy invitiation for some sort of party where he was going to introduce me to a young lady. I was pretty noncommittal in my answer. Most likely, I'll just stay firmly at home or give some sort of excuse. I'm not in any particular mood to meet women that way for now.

Looks like the Stylist didn't take the bait for Tuesday afternoon, so I have my usual hole in the schedule. The way it's looking, I've got nothing on Wednesday. Movie Buddy suggested Friday for Kill Bill, but I'm not quite sure what my schedule will be like on that day. The Teacher is still slated for her 11 o'clock, and Arwen is considering a lesson. The Office Lady has asked for Sunday afternoon.

I got messages from a couple of ol' buddies back from Toronto. Looks like the two of them will be here next week on business but not at the same time. Ironic, since the two of them are bosom buddies.

Sunday April 25, 11:34 p.m.

I currently smell like an okonomiyaki house...for obvious reasons, since I did have dinner in one tonight. But I'm getting too far ahead of myself.

I stepped out of my place and had a quick MacBreakfast near my station before heading back to Shinjuku some 10 hours after I had left it to meet up with Arwen and DTE for a much more laid-back experience than the one I had on Saturday night.

The three of us headed out to Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture on a "Romance Car" which took about 45 minutes. I'm not quite sure where the romance was derived since the train itself is really just a level above an express train, plus the windows are larger and seat pairings can be swiveled around to face the one behind for those quartet trips. Since it was just the three of us, though, one woman came to fill up the final seat. She seemed rather discomfited at our group which kinda irked me. I thought she was one of those old-fashioned tupes who freaked out at seeing foreigners and hearing English spoken. And then, she asked Arwen and myself if we could swivel back our chairs so that she could have breakfast on the seating tray...in English. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that but we politely complied, especially since she just asked for only 5-10 minutes of eating time. To be honest, I thought this was just a ruse on her part to make sure we would never be able to swivel our seats back before we arrived at Hon-Atsugi.

Surprisingly enough, though, the lady did invite us to swing our seats back. Even more surprising was that she engaged us in English conversation for the rest of our time to our destination. She's an employee of a pharmaceuticals company who had spent 4 years in Denver studying behavioral psychology before returning to Japan. She was actually on her way to Fuji to have her hair done despite the fact that her home is in Tokyo. She explained that away by stating that she had used to live in the Fuji area and that she just couldn't part with her excellent hairdresser. Now that's loyalty!

At the station, we were picked up by Ms. 77 who then drove us over to the strawberry patch where I once again started to munch on strawberries for the second time in as many years. It was the same old deal as my time in Tateyama last year: pay 800 yen for 30 minutes of all-you-can-eat berries with a plastic dish of condensed milk and the bushes at chest level. All of us were pretty stuffed after just 10 minutes of noshing.

After that, we drove in the car for the better part of an hour heading for a highland to observe the area and the ocean from above. We made a quick pitstop at 77's pink apartment building where we made a drive-thru introduction to her mother on the second floor. Once we reached the highland, 77 took the car up the hillside and parked it. We then walked up a few flights of stairs to reach the top. We climbed a couple of towers. One looked like a miniature version of Tokyo Tower. I was impressed by its claim to fame. Couples often came up to the higher levels of the tower to snap on locks as an illustration of their love. Each lock had either the lovebirds' names or a brief message of their committment to each other. The other tower was a somewhat more eclectically shaped structure in stone. The view from the top was breathtaking: we could see Mt. Fuji off in the distance as well as the towns of Hiratsuka and Atsugi and then the Pacific to the south.

Another several minutes of driving brought us back to the station district of Atsugi where we would stay for the rest of our journey. We looked for a place to have lunch. We found it in a basement Chinese restaurant. We ended up being the final customers there before they shut down for a couple of hours before the dinner service, so we got our food in pretty short order.

DTE had to take off at around 4 so we saw her off at the station. We were musing about what to do before we decided to have coffee at the nearby Tully's. We ended up staying there for about 2.5 hours. In that time, we persuaded 77 to invite her new boyfriend to come over to the cafe so that Arwen and I could check him out as 77's surrogate parents. It took some cajoling but after half an hour, he dropped in on his way to an eye doctor appointment. He's a pretty button-down fellow, the type of person I can get along with very well. I'm always suspicious of those overly cheerful Romper Room types.

After he took off, we hung out there a bit longer before we had to think about dinner. 77 tried to reach him to invite him for dinner as well, but by the time that he finally picked up the phone, he had already arrived home so he was a scratch. So once again, it was the three of us who went down the street to an okonomiyaki house. It was constructed inside to resemble a mockup of old Tokyo circa 1950, just like the Ramen Museum in Yokohama. We were placed right inside the door, right in front of a fake old-fashioned house. Because of our position, there was a draft coming in every few minutes whenever customers arrived or left, but I didn't mind. It was feeling pretty stuffy inside and an okonomiyaki house always had that smell of cooking oil so the drafts helped to clear the air, if temporarily. We went through a number of oily dishes so we were grateful for the dessert of sesame seed ice cream to cleanse our palates if not our clothes.

Finally, 77 escorted us back with a couple of minutes to spare to catch our Romance Car back to Tokyo. Nice day in the great outdoors with some good friends. Hopefully, I can be ready to face the onslaught of the finality of the tragic business relationship between the Iconoclast and the Prez tomorrow night. Not something I'm looking forward to.

Sunday April 25, 12:21 a.m.

The work part of myday seemed to have followed the Murphy's Law corrolary of being killed by a thousand paper cuts. First off, the Tozai Line gets sidelined because of some sort of smoke emanating from one of the stations on the line, so I had to make a quick detour to the adjoining Oedo Line. I was rather lucky with that one since if the subway had gotten delayed at any other station, I would have been very late for my lesson.

Then, after rushing to get copies made for my first kid, I found out from her mother that the older sister who had been originally scheduled to head off for volleyball was now available for her lesson. This, of course, rendered all of my rushing and copying and planning moot. The mother looked a bit nervous when she apologized to me despite my surface replies of "No problem". I did a look bit stern but it was only because I was simultaneously cooking up a plan for the older sister in my head. 17 years of experience came to my rescue. As it were, the lesson went pretty well, especially considering how laconic the older sister usually is.

I ran off to teach my next kid a half-hour away by subway. There, I found out that I was gonna be teaching both sisters there. So I had to leave a message with Movie Buddy that I would be an hour late in meeting him for a pre-party coffee. The younger kid was fine, but I think the older kid is a bit harder to teach.

Next, I call up Movie Buddy again to find out that another old fellow teacher had caught wind of the Ballerina's dinner and wanted in, so I had to call up the restaurant again to make the adjustment. Plus, I ended up going to the wrong subway line to head to Shinjuku. With only a few minutes before my supposed rendezvous with MB and that other teacher, heretofore referred as Scarecrow, I had to grab a taxi and spend another 2100 yen to get there 10 minutes late.

But meet them I did, and we spent about 40 minutes drinking coffee and gabbing about Kiefer's hit show, 24, and other movies at the Excelsior Cafe before heading off to meet the others at the restaurant. Skippy and the Ballerina were there first, followed by another alumnus shortly. Then, we went off to DOMA DOMA, across from the Shinjuku Prince Hotel.

Another alumnus was waiting up at the door, and later on, the Madam, the Rapper and AO arrived to complete the group. The food was fine and the drink was flowing liberally. The Rapper had already had his fill of drink with the school welcome party and subsequent karaoke so hewas already looking pretty ebulliant.

After dinner, the Madam and one other left for home while the rest of us decided to do some karaoke at the nearby SHIDAX box. Surprisingly, The Rapper decided to join his second karaoke party of the day. It didn't take him long to conk out. Meanwhile, AO was also getting rather tipsy, a revelation for me since her reputation had been that she could drink anyone under the table. A half-hour later, a couple of other alumni joined us, Gabby and The Kid. AO and Gabby were very close friends which made for some more interesting moments during the session.

By the time the night was over, The Rapper was nursing a pretty bad hangover, and AO was having trouble standing up. I gave the Rapper a Tylenol while Gabby and The Kid propped AO up. The cost wasn't too painful but it was a typical Saturday night outing in Shinjuku after all. Our two drunk members were getting a bit belligerent with each other so The Kid came in to break it up and gently escort The Rapper back on the right path while the other women escorted AO back to the train station. Aside from that brief moment of tension, the night came off without a hitch. MB and Scarecrow are even thinking of getting something going on the first day of Golden Week this Thursday...perhaps to catch Kill Bill Vol 2.

I've only got a few minutes to take a shower before I have to hit bed for just 6 hours and then head off back to Shinjuku to meet up with Arwen and DTE for that trip to 77's neck of the woods for strawberry picking. I received word from Arwen, profusely apologizing for having forgotten to give me my fee last night. The joke's on her...I didn't even notice.

Saturday April 24, 8:00 a.m.

Back in my high school and university days, I ravenously devoured anything and everything about this country where I now reside. I read authors such as Reischauer and Vogel about the people, the philosophies and attitudes. One thing that has remained with me from all that reading for all these years is that Japanese culture is one based on shame. A crime committed is, of course, a bad thing but what is worse supposedly is when one is caught for that crime and that person is exposed for all the country to see. The country is merciless in its berating, the perpetrator is humiliated like no other while in a DOGESA stance.

That scene is being played out right now writ large. The three Japanese hostages arrived home yesterday at Narita to a chorus of boos and verbal admonishments from protesters who feel that the three shamed themselves, their families and the nation by their brazen defiance of government warnings to not to travel to Iraq. Legitimate magazines and rags alike have put out critical articles of these three for putting the country through an emotional wringer a couple of weeks ago. What has caused even more anger is that even after their ordeal, the three reportedly cited their intentions to return to Iraq. It wasn't as if the three hadn't known about the hostile reaction; they streamed through the arrivals lounge of the airport with heads bowed, and the one kidnapped woman was filmed bent over like a paper clip with two of her family members supporting her.

I must admit that having been raised aware of two cultures, I saw the scenes on CNN with some shock. I haven't caught the footage on NHK. It is possible that the situation may not be nearly as bad as has been revealed on the world news network. However, to get back on topic, I was somewhat surprised to hear of this vitriol against the three, especially remembering the wild relief and celebrations shown on TV a week ago when news of their release had become known. A similar situation played out by Americans would have probably gotten a different response. Kidnapped Americans would have come home to yellow ribbons and a welcoming public, and perhaps there would have even been some calls of admiration and bravery if these people had declared their intention to return to Iraq to help out again despite the dangers.

Apparently not in Japan. The government has issued a strong rebuke, and has even suggested that the three pay their own flight back to Japan. The former hostages have gone into hiding.

Once again, we come to the issue of the shame culture. In Japanese eyes, the abductees' efforts to help out in Iraq and their subsequent capture forced the government to consider two options, both undesirable and embarrassing: to either pay the ransom of pulling out the troops or to let the three possibly die. Both options would have brought shame nationally.

Public opinion seems to be divided, though. So it can't be said that the three have been unanimously castigated into the Hall of Shame. However, the reaction is enough to show me that there can be a very big difference between my two cultures. My take on it is that I feel very sorry for the former hostages. They have been come from one Hell to face another one.

Friday April 23, 11:26 p.m.

Well, we've had hot and humid days followed by cold and windy ones. Now, we're getting both types of weather in the same day. This afternoon was warm and slightly muggy as I headed out to Tokyo without a jacket. Then, coming home, the temps decided to plummet to below 10 degrees. Being the resolute Canadian, I wasn't feeling too bad but the jacket would've helped.

The class with SR was pretty much a gabfest for 3/4 of the lesson. We went over her trip to Hawaii along with the trials and tribulations at her workplace. She's pretty much ready to leave the company come July.

Then, Arwen came by. 77 once again skipped ostensibly due to a possible cracked rib. Considering how often she's skipped, the fact that she lives far off in Kanagawa Prefecture, and she has just inherited a new boyfriend, I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that 77 won't be sticking around all that much with Arwen and myself.

Arwen and I once again fulfilled our Friday ritual of heading out for dinner. We once again headed over to the Saboten (Cactus) tonkatsu restaurant right by JR Shinjuku Station. Another crowded Friday night but we stayed there for a couple of hours gabbing about movies and our respective erstwhile love lives.

I made the confirmation call to the venue for The Ballerina's party tomorrow night. I got a call from Movie Buddy asking what I would be doing between my kid's class and the party, so we've made tentative plans to meet for coffee before the big event. I gather that I'm pretty much out of the loop in terms of the year-course classes. MB told me that there are only 4 classes now due to the reduced group, and I haven't received any word from the scheduler about doing any classes next week. However, I'm not gonna take any breaks. I've asked The Stylist to see if she would like me to teach her in the afternoon on Tuesday. I kept that slot open for any school classes but since none seem to be forthcoming, and since The Stylist had initially hoped that I could teach her on a Tuesday since she's off on that day, I may as well fill that up. I just hope that it's not too late.

Friday April 23, 1:13 p.m.

Just savoring a brief respite before I head out again. I had The Teacher for her regular 11 o'clock. Unfortunately, my allergies started attacking me again just as she walked in. It's an occupational hazard in my line of work. I used up all of my tissue and even a pack of hers that she'd kindly given me. I did take my medicine but it only kicked in just at the very end.

As has been the case since I started teaching her some weeks ago, most of the lesson was spent with her talking about her life. She's certainly had her share of trials and tribulations. Her stories are quite interesting; I taught her the adage "What doesn't kill us makes us grow stronger". It's a pity that she engendered a lot of resentment from a majority of the female students during her time at our school but I think she probably let that slide off her like water off a duck.

I'm not quite sure what her schedule will be like next week...or for that matter, how everyone's schedule will be like for the next couple of weeks due to Golden Week. And I think there's a possibility that some of my venues may be closed up for the holidays. I know that the Starbucks where I teach The Office Lady will be locked down.

My Hokkaido planning is coming along. My new contact at Japan Tours has started asking me about budget and hotel preference. It's rather nice to get personalized treatment.

Referring back to my mild rant about that elder sister dumping me once again for a volleyball match tomorrow, I guess that I can't be too su rprised about the tactic, if that's what it indeed is. I remember some decades back when I had come to Japan as a fledgling high school student over the summer. I spent a few days at my grandfather's place in the Kansai district. There was a young man there whom my grandparents had introduced me to. He took me out fishing in the bay once and had try to engage me in English conversation. One steamy afternoon (this was Japan in late July, y'know), I just didn't feel like going outside in the summer sun to broil, so I feigned a long-term nap when he came over to my grandfather's farm again. He waited a while before he gave up. I feel badly about it now on the point that it was just a rude thing to do although I never found out if the man had seen through the ruse. But I guess when one's a teen with about as much common sense or consideration as a flea, I just can't be that surprised if the sister did indeed try to avoid my lesson. I certainly can't go up on a soapbox and decry the rudeness of teens.