Friday January 14, 1:34 p.m.

Had my lone student at Speedy's today. Grandma Dance is a truly special individual. She's an octogenarian who's seen her share of history. She grew up during the Second World War, had to work in the factories as a high school kid but had the rare privilege of learning English in a classroom...secretly, of course, since the learning of English was officially prohibited in wartime Japan. And she even attended the Tokyo War Crimes Trials as a spectator; she remembered seeing the US Army MPs striding in their crispy uniforms in the courtroom. And since then she has continued to learn...or by her own admission. try at least not to lose what knowledge she has of English. She's been a Speedy student for almost as long as I have been there, and I've had lessons with her over the years although today's session was the first one with her in almost 2 years.

It was somewhat saddening and poignant that over those 2 years, age and illness have clearly taken their toll on Grandma Dance. She looks less robust and she has more instances of forgetfulness. And I've been told that she's had her stays in hospital. And yet, she still manages to keep on coming to this school to keep up her language skills. I can only hope that I still have that much fortitude if or when I hit the big Eight-O!

Since I don't have Mr. Swank today, I'll probably head for home in about 15 minutes and crash there for a couple of hours before I head over to the juku.

Friday January 14, 11:40 a.m.

Got into New Speedy's this morning to immediately find out that Mr. Swank had called in to make a rare dotakyan for his lesson this afternoon. So, I just have Grandma Polka in about 20 minutes followed by the juku classes tonight. Helps with the commute. Ms. Efficiency also informed me that there will be a party on the 29th to herald the real departure of her predecessor, Ray. Ray supposedly ended her time with us last summer but the bossman was able to hold onto her for Monday and Tuesday nights over the last 6 months I think Ray had been hoping that this would be the last time for her to unleash herself from Speedy's clutches.

I've also come to a decision about my future as well.

It's not a sudden decision...it has been mulling around in my brain for the past couple of years and it was juggling around with more energy over the Holidays to the extent that it was 90% settled by the time I got back to Japan. Then, last night's commute brought it to totality.

I'd finished my usual Thursday lineup of Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man, both fine folks and students. And I was feeling rather exhausted when I left Speedy's at close to 11 p.m. In fact, I rather slept so soundly on the subway on the way home that I ended up overshooting my station by a couple of stops. Normally, that would only be a mere inconvenience but this happened past midnight and was lucky to have caught the very last train heading West. But I was sitting like a limp rag on the bench for close to 10 minutes and just thought about having to do this 3 times a week....coming home past midnight and at least once a week having to get out of bed to head out the door at 6:30 a.m. And it's not as if I'm a senior director of a company or even a middle management drone. I'm just an English teacher and I'm sitting in a deserted subway station at 12:10 a.m. And I decided then and there that it was really time for me to make my farewells to Speedy's, the place that I've been working at for the past 7 years.

And so I'll have a talk with the bossman himself on Monday night and get things into motion.

Thursday January 13, 10:40 p.m.

Pretty conked out after 6 lessons today. Almost fell asleep in front of The Music Man.

I heard from Speedy that MB and his friend dropped by the new school last week to set up some sort of relationship with the high school that MB's teaching at. And I'll be meeting up with The Bohemian this Saturday in Shibuya for dinner.

Thursday January 13, 6:05 p.m.

Over the Holidays, I got to see a couple of flicks, both starting with the letter "T". The first one I saw was the heavily touted "Tron". Three years in the making with a cult following after the original of 1982. After several years of having Japanese otaku capture the world pop culture zeitgeist, it was now time for the American geeks to get some of their own back.

The problem was that the original was not all that great to begin with. And the new flick with a wizened real Jeff Bridges and a sleekly young digital Jeff Bridges ended up also being a bit of a dud. Not sure if it had been the jet lag of 13 hours over the Pacific and most of Canada, but I actually ended up sleeping through portions of the film...yes, even the scenes which took place on The Grid. It was like getting the cinematic equivalent of all icing, no cake which brings back the saying about all the world's best special effects designers cannot a decent story make.

The other "T" movie was quite a bit more satisfying. Strangely enough, it was "Tangled"...the Disneyfication of the Rapunzel story. I never thought I would ever catch this one but my old friend The Dancer invited me to see it with her and her kids, so I went with her to the new AMC Multiplex at the corner of Yonge & Dundas. Not sure if it'll become a classic along the lines of a "Toy Story" but the story, characterization and the humour all got together to make a pretty decent Xmas flick.

Thursday January 13, 5:06 p.m.

Had a bit of a mystery with my first student of the day...Grandma FON. I haven't seen her in over 6 months and today was supposed to have been her first lesson. She turned out to be a no-show, and so both Miss Efficiency and I got a bit worried since she had always been very punctual in the past. I even walked all the way to our old digs 6 minutes walk away. We were rather concerned since she is far from a spring chicken being in her late 70s. Did she have a stroke back at her house? Or did she end up forgetting that we had moved? In any case, the mystery had a happy resolution when she called us up during my later lesson with The Shareholder. Apparently, it was a mixture of a family emergency and the inevitable age-induced memory loss. She had to rush out to Osaka and had forgetten whether she had phoned us last night (she didn't) to inform us of the cancellation.

As for The Shareholder, he was his usual laconic self. Then I quickly flitted out to Shinjuku Starbucks to see The New Yorker for the first time this year. The timing wasn't too good since mid-afternoons usually meant a full cafe, but I got lucky and someone vacated her table. The New Yorker was suffering from a cold but we managed to get through the hour OK. I even got an olive loaf from her. It was a nice exchange for my omiyage of maple caramels from Canada.

I'm halfway through my slate of students. I've got The Carolinan, Mrs. Thursday and finally The Music Man on tap for tonight.

Over the past several days, there has been this rash of Good Samaritanism all throughout the country. Apparently, it all started with a fellow who had anonymously given a gift of elementary school knapsacks to a school. And he just identified himself after some sort of beloved anime character. And from that time onwards, other people have started following his lead and donating anything from school supplies to food to schools. It rather reminds me of the plot from "Pay It Forward". In any case, at a time where the Japanese economy remains stagnant, the Japanese government is paralyzed and bizarre murders have been taking place, it is nice to hear that some altruism actually exists in Japan. How long it continues is anyone's guess.

Wednesday January 12, 6:56 p.m.

Well, I've nearly completed my first day at the new residences of Speedy, next door to a rather scrumptious bakery that I can't really enter since I've decided to work hard on losing weight (although it didn't stop me from getting my fried chicken bento at the nearby Family Mart). It hasn't been that bad, actually. Along with Miss Efficiency, I've now seen La Fille for the first time this year. And I got to see Grandma Fado and Mr. Overachiever in the now smaller if cozier classroom.

Speaking about Grandmas, I heard from Efficiency that Grandma Dynamite is now officially gone off the schedule since she has to take care of her mother. Incredible that a woman of her age still has a mother kicking around.

With the heavy schedule today and tomorrow, it was inevitable that cancellations would happen. 001 cancelled for tonight, and The Patent Attorney has cancelled his early morning lesson for tomorrow which means that I can get a good night's sleep instead of having to drag myself out of bed and out the door by 6:30 a.m.

I had my first student at the kids' school this afternoon in Naka-Meguro. She's the mother of one of the young charges that the kids' teachers have been taking care of. Very nice lady...not too high on the proficiency level but very willing to speak out.

Just have Miss Sony later tonight. Like so many of our students, it'll also be her first time in the new digs.

As has become the tradition at the beginning of the year, I've been going through the various DVD sets that I'd bought back in Toronto. First off has been Matt Smith's "Doctor Who" and Volume 3 of "Family Guy". As for the former, going through the first half of Season 5, it looks like the youngest actor to ever portray everyone's favorite Time Lord has gotten a firm lock on his Doctor. He's definitely different from David Tennant's portrayal...kinda like the brilliant but eccentric high school nerd from "The Social Network"on extreme caffeine.

Wednesday January 12,　1:16 p.m.

This is my first entry of the New Year...rather late, I know, but when one doesn't own a computer...

Lots to talk about but I'll just start this entry by mentioning by saying that I'm back in the professional saddle again. Started with The Beehive and the juku. Got my first and presumably only chewout of the year from the juku boss yesterday when she accused me once more of overusing the Net during my break. It's the back-and-forth once more about how much access I can get with the computer. Well, I've decided to break the cycle and just not use it if I can help it; it's just too habit-forming. This time, though, I just won't say anything to the boss.

I entered the new Speedy school for the first time this morning. It's definitely a new configuration starting with the fact that we're on the ground floor now and that my classroom has no view to speak of. I had my first lesson of the year there with Grandma Fado...luckily, it was just a lot of chat.

And I've even had a chance of coming to the kids' school where I am now. It's taken me 55 minutes door-to-door so I'm a bit concerned about getting back since I've got The Overachiever in a couple of hours after my one-off lesson with a kid's mother in about 40 minutes.

Saturday December 25, 6:16 p.m.



And a Merry Xmas to you all. I've been back in Toronto for the past 10 days and I have still yet to reach the halfway point of my long vacation...that's how long my trip is this time.

As you can see, this is the City Hall skating rink, one of the most familiar local sights during this time of year in Canada's largest city.

For me, it's been the usual round of meeting friends and family. I'm currently waiting for the turkey to finally get done at my brother's place. Apparently, the oven thermometer isn't working too well so my brother and sister-in-law have been pacing around the oven for the past several minutes.

I've done my fair share of local noshing over the past 10 days here. I've met folks like The Anime King, The Egg, Shard and Automan for lunch and dinner. And I've had my Mexican, my Quebecois (poutine) and Chinese. Toronto is definitely a foodie's paradise. I even had a chance to meet up with Mr. TOEFL last week during his time here. Took him to The Madison Ave. Pub, my old haunt. He definitely enjoyed the wings there, and he's certainly a lot more cleaner with his eating than I am.

The weather's been pretty cold although not frigidly so. It's at about a reasonable -7 C and there is snow on the ground, so we did get our White Christmas.

Wednesday December 15, 4:33 p.m.

Well, I guess it had to be my turn in the Airport of Fate. It happens to all air travelers once in a while. I got delayed. I arrived at Narita in plenty of time to find out that my flight will be 2 hours late getting underway. And then, the lady who took care of my booking sheepishly told me that the reservation computers crashed. Not sure how the other passengers took the news but I know a bit about these things can happen so I didn't give her any hassle. In return, I got a food voucher for 1,000 yen so I took advantage and enjoyed lunch at the Fujiya's in the mall. I kinda wonder if this is a prelude to a bad flight. Glad I brought the meds with me.

Still after I returned to the counter, the ladies there very cheerfully escorted me over to the young lady who had taken good care of me and finally got me squared away. And I've just told my brother that I'll be a couple of hours late arriving at Pearson. But you never know, the plane might just catch a good tailwind.

Tuesday December 14, 4:28 p.m.

Had my last lessons at the old Speedy's last night....yup, old Speedy's. When I next set foot in my Nakano-Sakaue school in January, it'll be in the new school around the corner...and next door to a very appealing bakery; that should really screw up any attempts to start losing that Holiday flab. Had my trio of Miss Genki, Kirk and The Medicine Man. All of them went smoothly although I was feeling pretty tired by the end. I'd been up since 5 a.m. Monday morning. Miss Genki told me in her lesson that she'd treated herself to a luxurious trip to a hot spring in Hakone over the weekend thanks to her semi-annual bonus. Must be nice to be able to do that. Unfortunately, Speedy's is nowhere near that sort of profitability, and I think the bossman would have to think very long and hard before instituting that policy.

This morning was my last session with The Beehive for 2010 in Tsudanuma. It was the gathering of all of the vets who had first met me all the way back in 1998: Travel, Tee, Jade, Alp and Buckingham. Of course, being the final one before The Holidays meant that there was a small lunch in store. Unfortunately, Jade had to pull out at the last minute since she was suffering from dental problems. We walked all the way down to what used to be our old haunt at the Ace Lanes Bowling Alley and beyond until we reached Chez Como, a French restaurant that we'd visited once before several years ago at Ms. Tulip's suggestion. The food there was indeed excellent although I will definitely be grabbing something for dinner between Mr. White and The Milds later on.

I've pretty much finished my Xmas shopping and just have to start packing the suitcase when I get home tonight. I'm fairly confident that I will get things done before I hit the hay at about 1 a.m. And then I just have to have breakfast, clean things up in the apartment and do a final check of luggage before heading on out to Narita.

I do have to say that I did finally catch the pilot episode of "NCIS: LA" over the weekend. Yep, it is quite different in tone from its parent show, "NCIS", much in the same way that "NCIS" was different from its parent show, "JAG". As Chris O'Donnell points out, there are no clones of any of the "NCIS" characters within the LA characters. And it doesn't hurt when you have an Oscar winner in the form of Linda Hunt as the operations manager.

Sunday December 12, 3:04 p.m.

Yup, I'm actually writing this over at Speedy's. Of course, noone else is here except for me, but I had to get a copy of a test for Cozy and some exercise sheets for Kirk tomorrow night. Should be on my way home in about 5 minutes.

I'm really into the final days before The Great White North. Still haven't completed the Xmas shopping, but then again I'm never done until the last minute anyways, so it's business-as-usual. Woke up early to get over for my last lesson with Yajima for the year. He had just come back from his first business trip to Germany. It was fairly arduous for him since he was stuck on a plane for 12 hours and then it was basically a city a day for him. He was quite happy to be back in relatively warm Tokyo since Germany was definitely in the grips of a snowy start to Winter. It was a pretty easy groove with him today.

Then I had to do my final poke into Tower Records in Shibuya. Of course, the place was packed with the young of Tokyo. Couldn't find anything that would be appealing to the parents in terms of DVDs so I just used the final points of my point card to grab reading material for the flight home at a hugely discounted price. This is probably one of the last places on Earth that a point card for a CD shop still exists.

Anyways, gotta get home and get some washing and ironing done. It'll probably be spam night tonight for dinner....something simple and delicious with rice. Also, Mom will be calling to make final confirmations before I get back. I was happy to get the last of the nengajo done last night.

Well, tomorrow's the final classes at Speedy's for the year. It'll be a busy one...got about 5 or 6 lessons on tap.

Saturday December 11, 2:31 p.m.

Officially, I finished my final Saturday shift here at Speedy's. It'll be sad to no longer see Mrs. Prissy and The Publicity Assistant but I will appreciate feeling like I can actually get days off fairly regularly. The ladies were kind to get me some parting gifts.

I got a late request from Ol' Sam's wife for a kid's textbook. Shouldn't be much of a problem since I have to drop by Kinokuniya one more time on Monday before the trip home.

Saturday December 11, 12:37 p.m.

And a Happy Birthday to Mom out there.

Met Ms. Viva for the 2nd time in our foodie buddy outing series yesterday in the Tokyo Dome area. Last time, it was Foo Foo; this time, it was Bubba Gump for some pure Americana.

Didn't have the famed shrimps, but I did enjoy the fish n' chips. Bubba Gump is quite a bit more generous in the pieces of fish, and they were surprisingly juicy. Viva had her Seafood Special. But the two of us had to share the Alabama Mud Pie. I actually had to measure the height to make sure that we were indeed eating someting that was 14 cm high. With all that we ate, I didn't have to touch food again for the rest of the evening.

Which was just as well since I was pretty much on the run for the rest of the evening. Had Mr. Swank for his final lesson of the year. It turned out that I didn't need to help him with his speech for his business trip to Vietnam next week since the organizer had apparently found a Japanese interpreter. Still, there was plenty of stuff on the plate to keep the lesson filled and entertaining. I lent him my DVD set of "Star Trek" time travel episodes.

Ran over to Urayasu to teach The Journo. He was also very entertaining. He's quite the raconteur of his adventures in places like Chile and New Orleans. And of course, he kept me informed of the trials and tribulations of Japan's currently most idiotic kabuki actor, Ebizo Ichikawa. Not surprisingly, The Journo was very leery of Ichikawa's somewhat vague and zombie-like delivery.

Also had my final lesson with The Restauranteur. Very nice way to finish my Fridays for the year.

Tuesday December 7, 4:35 p.m.

I just saw that Toronto newscasting legend, Mark Dailey, died last night from cancer. Ah, man...at 57 years of age, way too young. I always liked his stentorian baritone delivery, and for all intents and purposes, he was the voice of City-TV.

It's kinda penultimate day professionally speaking. I had my second-last session with The Beehive this morning and then I've got my second-last sessions with Mr. White and The Milds later today. The juku boss has been wondering aloud of actually getting serious with her English studies, so I showed her a copy of the text that I'd been using with folks like Mr. White and Cozy for the past year. That copy was Book 1 of World Link; she said that it looked kinda easy. I kept my tongue firmly in place....my opinion is that she'll need that book just to strengthen her all-over-the-place structure, but I compromised by saying that will bring over the aptitude test for her to try before any text is decided upon.

Last night, over at Speedy's, I had my first official class with Kirk. It was a good session; we had a hearty talk on Japanese politics. There was no copy of his designated text other than the staff copy. I rolled my eyes at this slight and just gave Kirk that copy. Of course, when I told the bossman, he kinda mewled that he had needed it for his class this morning. Well, Kirk has been signed up for that text for over a week. Why hadn't a proper text come for him within those 7 days? Sometimes, I just want to kick him. However, basically, I had to race home, take my own copy of the text, make copies at the nearest conbini, race home and then try to fax A3 sheets through my own A4 faxphone. Not surprisingly, I got a message from him this morning that the faxes didn't come out too well. Well, I tried. In any case, I would like to give him my suggestion but I'm afraid that he will treat this like a Kennedy-Nixon debate and give a voluminous rebuttal.

Monday December 6, 6:00 p.m.

Yep, the pictures say it all...I'm gonna be geeky in this entry.

"Farewell, Mother Earth...."

I think anyone who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s in North America know about "Star Blazers", aka "Space Battleship Yamato". A lot of my classmates and I in junior high school ran home daily to catch the latest episode of one of the most beloved serial anime anywhere and of all time, especially when the ship fired the almighty awe-inspiring Wave Motion Gun at the dastardly Gamelans. And of course, the theme song by Isao Sasaki always got us otaku and geek on goosebumps so big that we actually gained height. And I'm sure all of us wondered if there would ever be a live-action version of it.

Well, wonder no more. On December 1, the live-action version finally premiered everywhere in Japan. And I finally caught it at Roppongi Hills this afternoon after my lesson with Swank. You might say it was the "Ocean's Eleven" of Japanese sci-fi, although I liked the comment made by one other blogger who mentioned that this was the first example of live-action Japanimation that actually starred real Japanese (well, not really...there was "Casshern"). However, getting back to my "Ocean's 11" analogy, "Space Battleship Yamato" stars pretty much everyone familiar on Japanese TV. Of course, there is Takuya Kimura from SMAP as angry Acting Captain Susumu Kodai, Meisa Kuroki from tons of commercials and dramas as a kick-butting and brooding Yuki Mori, Toshiro Yanagiba from "Odoru Dai Sosasen" as the stalwart Chief Science Officer Shiro Sanada and Tsutomu Yamazaki as the crusty but doomed Captain Juzo Okita.

Well, what did I think? Y'know...taking into consideration the local industry, the budget and the acting in a typical Japanese production, the live version of "Yamato" probably is as good as it gets over here. No, I guess my comment is a bit backhanded but really, it wasn't a bad adaptation. The effects were indeed pretty top notch...although from seeing them, you can't help but get reminded of "Independence Day", last year's "Star Trek" and the new "Battlestar Galactica"; but heck, I'll take that over the cruddy SFX in "Star Trek V" any century. Especially in the first few minutes, and when the Yamato fired the Wave Motion Gun for the first time, I have to admit that I did get those old goosebumps going on all cylinders again.

As for the story, this was a rather long movie...going to 2.5 hours but it did go fast. I was surprised that that much time had elapsed when I looked at my watch at the end of the movie. It just seemed to be an amalgam of the first two anime movies more than a true reboot. All I will say beyond that is that it's very unlikely that there will be a sequel. However, the producers and director did a commendable job of trying to fit certain scenes and have a bit of acting meat for all of the performers.

And speaking of the acting....well, it is typical Japanese TV acting: overly melodramatic and screaming. Never accuse a Japanese production of Oscar-baiting ambitions. Ironically, Takuya Kimura was perfect as Susumu Kodai since the original character was an angry young man, and KimuTaku is the go-to guy for angry young men roles. Having seen my share of J-dorama, I still had to wince at a few scenes since, for supposed settings of gunmetal gray, I could see a lot of brown oak being spat out. However, I really did enjoy Yamazaki's rendition of Captain Okita and there was one scene in which he played it for comedic effect.

The music? There were hints and one half-rendition of the legendary theme but "Star Blazers" and "Yamato" fans may have left a bit disappointed that the orchestra didn't unleash a full version. My eyes were still a-poppin' that Aerosmith's Steve Tyler consented to his very first solo for "Love Lives". The score basically served the story dutifully rather than come up with various themes.

For me, the highlight scenes were, of course, the ones showing The Wave Motion Gun and the other weapons firing on full, and one that could probably have the otaku Stateside applauding with a cameo by Analyzer (IQ9 in "Star Blazers") in Terminator mode. And there were even a few scenes which had me lumping up...a bit.

In the relevant Mixi community, I saw that a lot of the members were raving about the movie. I can't say that I am one of them. It's pretty much along the lines on how The Publicity Assistant stated it. "Space Battleship Yamato" isn't great but it isn't horrible.

Sunday December 5, 11:52 a.m.

Well, as half-expected, it was a bit of a misunderstanding in that message I got from Ray yesterday. She was actually asking about last night's Speedy party when she was asking whether I would be showing up. Of course, I did not. However, she was asking whether La Fille and I can be available for lunch sometime before I head on out.

Last night, instead of heading out to a party that I wouldn't have enjoyed and would have lost 5,500 yen for, I just went home and enjoyed a nice small dinner of fried chicken, rice and salad. And just spent the night reading, listening to Xmas music and writing some more New Year's cards...in other words, it was bliss.

I came to the I-Cafe and got some stuff done for AK and Cozy. Now, I'll be heading on out to get some Xmas shopping done since I'm in my final full week before home.

Saturday December 4, 3:48 p.m.

Man, what a day! I made it halfway on my commute to Speedy's when I realized that I'd left the textbook for the first model lesson back home. I got into "24" mode and made it Jack-style back home after leaving a frantic message on the bossman's machine. I managed to finally get back to the school with 20 minutes to spare before show time. And luckily enough, the model lesson went swimmingly. She's signed up and will actually be having her first class with the bossman and will probably be seeing me in January. She'll be Miss X-Ray since she is an X-ray engineer.

The following two lessons went well although The Intellectual got a bit of a shock when I told him that I wouldn't be able to teach him anymore past December. I think I should've told him a bit earlier.

Strangely enough, Ray is still willing to meet me tomorrow for Tony Roma's even though no one else can come. So, after my stint at the I-Cafe tomorrow, it'll be downtown, get some Xmas shopping done and then meet up with the lass in Roppongi. I won't mention anything about my recent conflicts with Miss Efficiency but if she asks about her....

Friday December 3, 8:03 p.m.

When I woke up this morning, it sounded and it looked like the deluge that launched Noah's Ark out there. I don't think I've ever seen that much rain hit the dirt that quickly and that intensely since a 1995 typhoon. I'd thought that my chances of seeing The Bass were going to be severely hampered. However, by the time I got out of the apartment 90 minutes later, it was sunny and warm...as if Canada had lent us Indian Summer. I don't think I've ever seen that type of meterological switchblade snapback in this country.

It got up to about 21 C today...I had to remind myself that this was early December. Even at this latitude, having the temps reach early summer levels at this time of year was pretty darn unusual. And although the floods subsided, the winds were smashing bicycles and anything not lashed down on the streets. When I got out of Urayasu Station tonight, I was lucky in that as soon as I got out of the ticket gates, the Tozai Line promptly stopped service due to the winds. The line for taxis was reaching Krispy Kreme proportions. Hopefully, the subway will be back online by the time I finish my lessons at the juku tonight.

I was able to teach The Bass over at the Funabashi cafe. Looks like he's been having his usual mellow time with practicing with his band and taking care of his drum business. After my lesson today, I won't be seeing him until late January. Getting over to Speedy's, I had The Shareholder. He was a bit more sluggish today but nothing too surprising. Then I got over to West Shinjuku to teach Mr. Swank. He was as jolly as ever and we had a great time discussing about watching 2009's "Star Trek" again. I have one more lesson with him before the Holidays begin for me.

Once I escaped Urayasu Station, I walked through the gales to The Restauranteur's place. It was atypically bustling tonight, and I went for the most expensive item on the menu, which was the Veal Fillet in Mushroom Sauce. I did promise her that I would have it before I went back to Canada, and I gladly fulfilled my promise and filled myself up with some really tender meat. The Restauranteur was quite surprised by my order.

Anyways, as the winds are still whistling out there, I have to get one more sheet made up for The Restauranteur's lesson later. Yep, once again, The Journo has canned his lesson tonight and his lesson for next week. I take it that the Ebizo Ichikawa nonsense on TV has been keeping him busy. He was reporting on it yesterday.

Friday December 3, 7:24 p.m.

It's been a slightly tumultuous time at Speedy's. I had my 2nd spat with Miss Efficiency in as many days yesterday. On Wednesday, it was about the fact that she objected to my not attending the Xmas party. Yesterday, it was just the two of us in the office when she started her usual haranguing about the bossman and the state of the company. I was in agreement with a number of her issues but then when I tried to sympathize about the fact that she was having a tough time in the office, she unleashed an accusation that I was trying to get rid of her, which took me aback. I tried to explain that that was not my intention but she wasn't hearing anything of it from me, and so the temperature chilled rather suddenly in the office. And I don't think anything has changed today.

I was also slightly disturbed by a couple of statements that she spat out like verbal diarrhea. She said that she didn't trust a single soul; just herself. And then she spoke on her "friend" who she slightly denigrated by complaining that she always tried to change the environment and just listened when Efficiency started getting sore. A friendship without fighting is a fake friendship, she said. Although I know that friendships have their ups and downs, I think Efficiency's level of acceptable battling is much higher than most people would like in their relationships. From some other stuff she mentioned in her diatribe, this is one lady who has Issues.

After that rather tense discussion, I decided to leave the office since I had to teach The New Yorker in Shinjuku. And though I would like to give her a benefit of a doubt, I'm gonna increase the distance between her and me. At least, she and I apparently can still interact professionally since we did talk about work amicably enough.

But the last couple of days has taught me that Speedy may be right in that Miss Efficiency is not helping things by openly shrieking her grievances at anyone who may be in the room. The bossman has his faults but she is bringing morale down. And I discovered that I was starting to harangue like her when I got caught up in her discussion.

Thursday December 2, 8:20 a.m.

Nice crisp Autumn day out there...yes, I do realize we're in December but we're also officially still in Fall.

With the help of Shard, my old friend in Toronto, I was able to secure my very first appointment with a massage therapy clinic when I get back to the ol' hometown. I've had the shiatsu massages here in Japan before although my last visit to a kori toru clinic was several years ago (just didn't think that they were too effective anymore). Over the years via YouTube and several books that I'd bought, I've seen the Swedish version and have always wanted to experience that at least once. Perhaps, Shard's friend can finally reach those knots and untie them. Perhaps I may actually become a new man.

A bit of a Donut Day, as Thursdays often have been, for me. I've just got The Patent Attorney in a few minutes and then some hours later, it'll be The New Yorker and a couple of hours after her, it'll be The German, Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man. I'm sure Mrs. Thursday will have some insights about the second-last episode of "NCIS"'s 6th season.