hey all,
As of June 16th, I've been here in Japan for 1.25 years straight. I'm not sure if I posted about it before, but I won't be coming to the US this summer. It is too expensive to leave, still pay rent here, not earn any money in the US for several weeks, and then fly back. Period. However great it might be for my spirits. One of my Australian friends thinks of visiting home as recharging one's batteries. Dealing with everyone not in your native language and in an odd, and sometimes amazing and/or infuriating culture wears you down. Maybe once or twice a month, I met with a fellow ALT, Michigander and MSU graduate and we get to speak English, act like Michiganders, and commiserate about Japanese culture and/or girl troubles. I know we both see this as necessary for our sanity.
In other news, tomorrow I visit a kids English school I've been interviewing with to check out their teachers and teaching style. The current plan is to work for them on a short term contract starting in mid-July, and if I like them and the deal seems too sweet, to switch companies.
This weekend was lots of fun. I decided I have enough money to survive until my next paycheck, and Michi and I have been wanting to go rock climbing, so we were going to go on Sunday. But, well, things happen, as they say. Saturday we had dinner with her family and watched the World Cup Japan vs. Holland match. Given my previous experience with living in Holland, I should have been rooting for Japan to trounce them. But I'd have to say that for me the main highlight was getting to see Michi's family. I finally got to meet her youngest brother, who reminds me a lot of Bri for some reason. I've never really cared for watching sports, but watching together with them was pretty fun.
As I said, we were going to go rock climbing to a new spot today, but neither of us slept very well. Michi has been feeling a little sick since last weekend, and I've been waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 because of the heat and light. Yes, at 5 in the morning it is already hot and humid in Tokyo, at least hotter and more humid than it should be at 5AM. So I've taken to wearing an eye mask and exposing as many square inches of my skin to cool air as possible. But still, I didn't sleep too well that night, so we lazed around in the morning, and finally decided to head over to a museum in Roppongi to see a post Impressionist exhibit. Now for me, as a foreigner in Tokyo, I associate Roppongi with sleazy bars and pick-up joints, love hotels, etc, not with museums. But for some reason, one of the national art museums is in Roppongi. We got to see some Monet, Cezanne, one Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh. Can't say as I'm a huge art lover, but it was cool to see some of the real paintings, and also just to compare tastes with Michi.
After that, we went to a national library, where I showed her a bunch of picture books of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings.
Cheers,
