400 Posts, and 3 Years

hey all,

I've been in Japan for over 3 years now. That seems so strange to type. Three years ago I was 27 years old. At times I wish I had a more visual or concrete profession. I mean, I can't really go around pulling a great student out of my pocket and showing them to people. Architects can point to their buildings, musicians have people listen to their music, painters can show their paintings, game developers can have people play their games, and movie professionals can show their films. The results of my efforts reside in the neurons of the brains of my students, who are off wandering around the earth. Not exactly the most accessible place to reach. And nobody appreciates all the blood, bone, broken hack saw blades, and screams that it takes to show them off.

Three years is around 1000 days. I have to say that three years doesn't feel like a long time. Of course, there are times when I have to plan a lesson that 50 minutes seems like a long time to fill, but the last three years of my life have gone by pretty quickly. I feel pretty ambivalent about that, actually. I guess time does seem to move quickly when you are enjoying yourself, but sometimes I wonder about the hustle and bustle of daily life and where mine is going.

My new AM and PM classes are...going, as well. They really deserve more comment, but for now that will have to do.

Cheers,

Fukushima, One Year Later

hey all,

As I'm sure you all know, remember, or have been reminded by one news source or another, it's been one year since the big earthquake that actually changed the rotational speed of the earth, and cost so many lives here in Japan.

Strange as it is to say, my life has improved a lot in that year. I've moved into a nice apartment with Michi. We've taken a good number of fun and interesting trips, including the Yarigadake trip. My teaching has gotten a bit better. My salary and working conditions have improved some, even though I'm still at the same company.

I don't really have anything too profound to say about it. Things have improved a lot since last summer, with all the worries about radiation, etc. The radiation is actually still a little scary, and energy and water costs so far this winter have been pretty outrageous. I hope that this coming year goes as well, all things considered, as last year.

Cheers,

Big Update

hey all,

Lots of things in the works here. My school is still on holiday for the time being, basically until I hear from the boss and get asked to come in. I may take up a part time job at another school in the meantime, to supplement or replace my income.

The situation with the nuclear reactor finally looks like it is getting better, or at least not getting any worse, which is a nice feeling to have. One news source was quoting the World Bank as saying that it will take Japan at least 5 years to totally recover from this. The thing that still amazes me is the death toll; climbing closer to 10,000 by the hour, and over 11,000 missing. Around 200,000 people are lacking either food, water, electricity or homes. But if you compare this to the causality rate in Indonesia during the 2004 tsunami (which was caused by an ocean earthquake of only slightly greater magnitude than the one in Japan), your perspective changes completely. Despite the direness of the situation, the amazing infrastructure of Japan has probably saved 10's of thousands of lives.

Appropriately, Michi and I rented Touching the Void and The Beckoning Silence, two movies based on books by mountain guide/ rock climber Joe Simpson. The first I'd seen part of before. It is about an accident that befell the author when he was 25 years old while climbing in Peru, and how he managed to survive it. The latter, The Beckoning Silence, is a recounting by Joe Simpson of the story of Tony Curtz and his ill-fated team's attempt to climb Mt. Eiger in Switzerland in the 1930's. They are both kind of disaster movies, is what I'm getting at.

I finally got to see some of Michi's baby pictures, because we ate dinner with her family twice over the long weekend. The company was really good to have, especially after staying cooped up in my room all by myself for most of last week, with my overseas friends and family saying "Run away! Come back home!" and two teachers from my own school making plans to head back to their respective countries until things calmed down here. But spending time with both Michi and her family has calmed me down quite a bit, and given me a lot more hope and maybe a better perspective on Japan's and my own situation.

In other news, I have officially spent two years in Japan.

Cheers,

Debut

hey all,

Been a busy week. Lessons are going pretty well, but I think my PM class is getting sleepier and sleepier every day. I have to have them go through an essay about designing stamps of all things on Monday, but hopefully we will have a new packet of material.

Yesterday went all right at work. A lot of baby lessons, but I got out at 5PM which was nice. Michi came over and we watched part of The Dark Knight, but the voices for the movie were really soft despite the volume being at 100% and we had to get up early for rock climbing anyway.

Today was the debut for my 70L hiking/camping backpack. It handled pretty well, and felt much lighter than my 46L. The bigger pack has more padding on the hips, shoulder straps, and back, plus it is actually designed for hiking as opposed to air travel like the 46L. But, I think I need to spot bringing all of my climbing gear on every trip though, because all those nuts, carabiners, cams, and slings really add up to a lot of weight that doesn't all get used. I think I'll really have to pack my gear carefully too, since it seemed...not full necessarily, but even with just my gear rack, water, rope, harness, and shoes the bag seemed like I'd have to start strapping stuff to the outside. Of course, I'll have to do that anyway for climbing/camping trips, but for just a climbing day trip it felt a bit strange.

We headed over to Yugawara, which I at least haven't been to for almost 4 months. We only climbed four different routes, but we climbed each one several times a piece, so we still got in a decent about of climbing time. Especially fun was a 5.10b called Christmas Rose which  I climbed 3 times. The last climb of the day was a frustrating 5.10b called Alibaba, which I had to down climb because I couldn't make it to the top. As the last climb of the day, I should have chosen a 5.10a or a 5.9 since I was already tired.

If you're in to flowers, Japan is not a bad place to live, especially since being in to flowers doesn't seem to have any homosexual or overly girly connotations. Most of the people stopping and taking photos of flowers are actually middle aged or retired guys with monster cameras. What I wanted to say is that right now is the ume season (the Japanese plum tree), and there was a whole field of them at Yugawara. And of course, for the next month to 6 weeks, we'll have the sakura season. Basically, if you aren't in to flowers when you come here, you will probably develop a major thing for them during your stay.

In the "It's a small world" department, in case anyone has heard about that earthquake in New Zealand, it appears that one of Michi's friends from yoga school might have lost her life in the incident. The name, age, and profession all match Michi's friend, and I don't want to to run the odds on there being another Japanese woman with the same name, age and job being in the same place at the same time as Michi's friend.

In about 16 days, I'll be looking at 2 years in Japan, not counting the 4 day romp I had in the US for New Year's.

Cheers,

Shoes, Etc

hey all,

I mentioned that I had sent my climbing shoes in to a shop to be repaired, but they had come back not fully repaired. On climbing shoes, there is the sole, which is made from a special type of rubber, and there is the RAND, to which the sole is attached. The RAND is attached to the leather of the shoe, and that is where one of my problem areas was: the RAND had pulled away or detached from the leather in some spots. The other problem was that my soles were starting to wear thin in some spots. I got new fronts on the soles, but for some reason the RAND had not been reattached to the leather. So, I bought some superglue, and went to town on the seams, and then duct taped them in place for 24 hours to make sure the bond held.

I haven't climbed on them yet, but I think they should hold. They are getting old anyway, and instead of getting them repaired again, next time I might just buy a new pair. These I'll keep, and they can be my back up pair.

I've been planning on writing about rice treats for some time, but have never gotten around to it. A lot of things in Japan are made from rice (go figure): bread can be made from rice. There are manju, which are are streamed cakes of flour and rice flour that have different fillings.

Senbei, which are rice crackers. It is actually dismissive to just say "rice crackers:" senbei come in a bewildering number of different shapes, sizes, and flavors.

There are mochi, which are balls made of pounded glutinous rice. Even this is dismissive: mochi come in many varieties, and are eaten in many different ways.

Sake is brewed from rice, as is amazake (a type of sweet drink which is one of the precursors to real sake but has no alcohol in it).

Kasu, which is the solids that remain after sake has been brewed, fermented, and filtered, ss used as an ingredient in some soups. And of course, they just eat the stuff  (rice, that is) by itself.

In other news, come January 16th I will have been in Japan for 1 year and 10 months, minus the four days I spent in the US. The 2 year mark is just around the corner.

Today was tough because one of the teachers decided to not come in without warning anyone. No call, no email. Everyone had to scramble and cover some of his afternoon classes, and miraculously our boss found a potential candidate to come in and cover his morning class. I'd hate to be him if he comes tomorrow.

Cheers,

610

hey all,

As of Tuesday, I'll have been in Japan for 610 days, or one year and 8 months.

I thought I'd share a silly story about lunch. As most of you probably have read here, I'm kind of a fan of Muji. They don't advertise (much...), their products are usually, well-built, simple, and convenient, and they also don't have brand names I don't care about plastered all over them. So when I wanted to by a lunch box, I went to Muji first. But the lunch box they were selling was too simple. It was just two interlocking plastic boxes with lids. If you wanted chopsticks, you had to buy them separately and the chopstick box was a different color and a different length than the lunch box. And if you wanted a band to attach the two together, that had to be bought separately, and if you wanted a bag to put everything in, that too had to be bought separately, all of it just didn't seem up to the usual Muji standard.

So I went to Don Quixote, which is one of the weirdest stores I've seen in Japan. I used to go shopping there sometimes when I lived in Tokyo, but they have the shops in most major cities and in Tokyo there was one for each major (and minor) shopping area.They are weird because of their selection of goods. They don't seem to sell cuts of meat, but you can buy eggs, tofu, cheese, milk, bread, snacks, juice, coffee, alcohol, etc. They also sell socks, underwear, shirts, suits, ties, etc. And they also do dishes, kitchen ware, appliances, weights for working out, make-up, toothpaste, shampoo, jewelry, etc. The strange thing is probably not the types of different merchandise that they sell, although they do sell some strange things, but rather the presentation and organization of it. For example, you can buy suits, work shirts, and business socks on one floor, and right next to that area without any separation is pastel elephant underwear...You can guess what is supposed to go in the trunk...

And all the regular clothes are mixed in with nurses outfits, Mrs. Santa outfits, school girl uniforms with too short skirts, etc. The food section is more or less normal, but the health and beauty section and the clothing sections can be a real eyeful if you're just wandering around.

Anyway, I went to the kitchen goods area, and immediately saw a lunch box: two matching interlocking boxes, which included chopsticks and had a special compartment to store them in. It came with a band to help keep everything together, an insulated bag to help maintain temperature, and two miniature ice packs to keep your lunch cold, should you so desire. And it was all the same price as the Muji lunch box by itself. How could Muji have dropped the ball so badly, I thought. Their notebooks are nice, I love their storage boxes for clothes and house goods, I have a pair of their house slippers, and 4 work shirts from their clothing line.Why couldn't they make a decent lunch box for a decent price? Why do I have to put up with a really nice lunch box that happens to say "We are passionate about lunch communication. The lunch is a good day pastime."

At any rate, the weekend was really fun. Michi made some ginger marinated pork with soup and salad, and a double or triple chocolate cake. The cake was really something of a work of art, but all of it was delicious. She also bought me a carabiner for my birthday...At least that's what I thought. The last time we went climbing, I dropped a carabiner and it rolled off into the woods and down a steep slope. It was almost the end of the climbing day, and I had barely been able to find Michi's shoes when she dropped them down the same slope earlier. There was little chance I'd be able to find the 'biner, so Michi said she'd buy me a new one, which she did. But she also secretly bought me a day bag: an 18L Osprey bag, with a built-in 3L hydration system including a drinking tube that hangs just below your mouth and with lots of pockets and straps and crannies to put stuff and a really nice reinforced back that allows air to flow through, instead of leaving your back a sweaty mess. I had been salivating over this bag for months, and I guess she noticed.

Instead of going to Kotakuji like we had originally planned, we decided to go to Tenno Iwa. I had gone there last year with Ayako and Tatcha when Michi was busy, so it was a first for her. For some reason, there was almost no one there, which was nice because there are not that many routes to climb. We did pretty well, but Michi fell twice and cut her shins a little on the second fall. The first fall could have been much worse, especially if she hadn't been wearing her new helmet. Now when we climb, we wear the helmets. I think I've been pretty lucky not to have busted my head open in this life yet, and I'm really starting to want to keep it that way.

Anyway, another day in the life of this English teacher, right?

Cheers,

Life Continues

hey all,

Life continues here in Japan. North Korea has not backed up its threats to nuke Japan; the Prime Minister Kan has beaten back a threat to his leadership; and thankfully the summer heat is starting to abate. According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, we just had the hottest summer in 113 years. But other sources cite 1946. Personally, I have to doubt the 113 years claim a little. If for no other reason that Japan can't seem to keep track of things for that long.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to check out what's been going on with the aging Japanese population. Japanese people are very proud that their country has such high longevity, but recently it has come to light that maybe as many as 240,000 people thought to be over 100 years old, are actually dead. This, despite the fact that the Japanese government is still paying retirement, and health insurance money for their corpses. That's right: their sons and/or daughters were defrauding the government out of money by not reporting the deaths of their parents, and continued to collect the welfare support. I can't imagine any other country just loosing track of 240,000 people, continuing to pay welfare for them for years and years (in some cases these people are believed to have died in the chaos after WWII, so over 70 years for some).

Anyway, that is the news of Japan. Classes continue, and I'm getting more and more fed up with them. Below is an example of how my schedule changes: this is typical of 2 out of my three schools. My favorite school almost never changes the schedule.

So I've been dealing with this for several months now, but there are so many stories that I'd love to get out there. Like my English classes being canceled because they were scheduled at the same time as that class's pool time. I'm a strong supporter of swimming: I was a lifeguard and swim teacher for 6 freaking years. But the pool isn't going anywhere; I have other classes to teach, other schools to go to, and what kind of message does that send to the students about English? Pool time is more important than English time?

Or about CD players. You might think that being in Japan, I am living in some kind of technological paradise (check out this Onion article, for instance). But I can't count the times when I've gone to a class room and wasted like 10 minutes waiting for a CD player. Oh, they have CD players in the classroom, but a lot of them don't work. Or the buttons don't do quite what they're supposed to, as even the Japanese teachers can't figure out what to do with them. I've had classes where they will literally bring in 3 or 4 CD players until we find one that works. Not only that, but I've seen them take out a brand new CD player from a box for class, and put the stupid thing back in the box after class. That's right: they want to keep using the CD players that don't work. We have like 60 in HD flat panel TV's  in every class room, but can't scrounge up a decent CD player.

Or when I've had a homeroom teacher fall asleep at their desk during one of my classes. I'm feeling less and less sorry about leaving this kind of teaching environment behind. Some of the teachers and some of the students were really fun to work with and teach to, but let's be serious.

I complained earlier about my commute, and the chatty school girls on the bus, but recently I've been sharing my morning bus ride with an autistic person who spends the whole trip slapping his checks rhythmically with both hands and groaning. Isn't that just a great warm up to a full day of teaching English with indifferent teachers to rowdy rude students in classrooms without decent air conditioning?

In two days, I will have been in Japan for 1.5 years, or something like 497 days. Also in a few days (this weekend, in fact) I plan on taking my first outdoor trip in quite some time. My shoulder is still bugging me a bit, but it is definitely slowly returning to normal. The plan is to go to Oze National Park, which is a highland marsh area that is pretty famous in Japan. Until a few years ago, it was part of Nikko National Park, which I've never been to, but that should give you some idea of where it is (near Nikko, which is to say, a few hours north of Tokyo).

There are several breathtaking mountains in the area, and the weather is looking decent but not incredible (maybe a little cloudy) for the three day weekend. As usual, there is much more to see there than can be seen in a single trip, especially since it offers different views and flora depending on what season you go there. I'm really looking forward to it.

For the next two days, I work at my school which always lets me leave early, so I'm going to try to bake some of my patented dried cherry oatmeal cookies. Yes, the ones where the girls in my high school lit class were jokingly offering to marry me, as long as I'd stay home all day and bake the suckers for them.

Aside from that, I need to put in some serious study time on Japanese. I've been using a site called smart.fm which one of my friend's recommended to me for studying Japanese, and it is quite nice. I still think I wouldn't pick up much from it if I wasn't here in Japan or if I hadn't taken actual Japanese classes in the US, but all the same, a nice piece of work. The thing that's been really nice is hearing my teachers or principals use words that I'm studying, or running across them in my Japanese translation of A Game of Thrones. I'm now on volume 4 out of 5 in that book, by the way.

Cheers, and don't let the bed bugs bite,

1.25 Years, Weekend

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,

First Full Week

hey all,

Today marks the end of my first full Mon.-Fri. work week. I must say I'm beat. Teaching at 3 schools is tough: 3 schools means that I have roughly 72 classes: 3 schools X 6 grades X 4 classrooms. So, I have to do each lesson a lot. Not 72 times, because my lessons are concentrated on the 5th and 6th graders, but still: that's doing each lesson 24 times. Probably the only lesson I will have to do 72 times is my intro lesson where I introduce myself.

I have an interview for a full time job tomorrow, but I have a lot of questions of about the working environment, actual teaching hours, and what sort of compensation I'll get for developing course materials, etc.

Aside from the interview, the plan is to relax. I won't be receiving too much money in my paycheck this month, so I canceled my yoga classes, haven't bought any games (although I have bought several CDs, which I've been using for my classes), or gone traveling where I've needed to stay in a hotel. I think Michi and I might cook some dinner tomorrow, and visit a park on Sunday, but that is about all.

My last note is that this Sunday will mark 1 year and 2 months here in Japan.

Cheers,

1 Year

hey all,

So as of today, I have been in Japan exactly one year. I've been thinking back on my time here a bit, and I think I've learned a lot. I've been learning about Japanese people, history, culture, food, society, and how to live here. I've been learning about myself, what I expect of myself, my job and the people in my life. I've learned how to sport climb, and have started learning a few new climbing techniques. I've learned a little about yoga.

I've learned a little Japanese. I try to stay modest about this; but I think considering the short amount of time I've lived here, and the relatively small amount of time that I devote exclusively to Japanese study, I've made really amazing gains so far. It doesn't help that Japanese people have a habit of praising anyone who can say a few words in Japanese as being really fluent, and that my girlfriend and her friends/family say the same things. But really, there are still lots of times when I just can't understand what someone is saying to me, and I can audibly hear them switch into I'm-talking-to-a-not-so-bright-child mode. This can be useful, actually, because it does let me understand what they're saying, but it can be frustrating. I actually started reading a book in Japanese today. It is a translation of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, which I have read so many times that I can still follow the main points, despite only being able to really understand 30% or less of the actual text. I think the 70% that I currently don't understand will be a good source of vocabulary, grammar, and pointers on how to use certain constructions.

Cheers,

Exqueeze Me?!?!

hey all,

Still no word about contracts for next year. The ALTs in my city all received an email from our coordinator today which was worded in such a way that it sounded like she wants to ask us whether we intend to stay with the company next year. We were required to fill out such a form stating our intentions 2 months ago, giving them 3 months notice to find a replacement should one of us have decided to join a different company. They, on the other hand, have less than 30 days left to inform us whether we have contracts for next year.

Perhaps her English just got a bit  messed up: in Japanese you often say things or word things backwards compared to English, so it is easy to make such mistakes. I find myself doing it sometimes in Japanese. But if she really intends to quiz us about our intentions again, without telling us what we should have been informed last month...there are no words, at least not any that I can write here.

Monday I put in more applications, including one for an editing/rewriting position for Japanese scientists and doctors looking to publish papers in academic journals.

Today I only had two lessons, both with my 2nd year students. The second lesson actually went really well. The 6th year students from my elementary school also visited my junior high school today, since they will be graduating soon and next school year they'll be junior high schoolers. That was also a cool treat, as I got to see them and my elementary teachers a little.

My last item is that, as it is the 16th of the month, this marks my 11th continuous month in Japan. We are closing in on one year quickly.

Cheers,

Not Really Fun

hey all,

It is probably the cumulative effect of the weather, the fact that I've caught a slight cold, and the tough week at work, but I'm really not feeling too great right now. Climbing yesterday was fun, but I didn't climb too well.

Today especially hasn't been great. The morning was OK, as I played some games with Bri and talked a bit. After that, I met with John and we went to Harajuku, which is this obscene part of Tokyo where people dress silly and stand around for other people to take pictures of them. But there is also a nice shrine and several really nice parks.

John and his cousin left to meet up with John's girlfriend, while I waited around for my girlfriend to show up. I went shopping for a Valentine's Day present in the downtime, and bought something I think she'll like, which is kinda stupid considering my attitude.

I mentioned in the previous post that we fought in Kyoto. We actually fought twice: once on the train there, and once on our first night. The cumulative effects of these fights (and previous ones) are still hitting me, at least. I really don't know how to deal with our fighting, as it seems to send me back into childhood Mommy-and-Daddy-are-shouting-at-each-other mode. It's been on my mind recently whether or not we'll work out as a couple. In some ways we seem really compatible, but in others we aren't at all. Are the areas of compatibility fundamental or incidental? Can the incompatible areas be changed, ignored, or otherwise dealt with? Is it worth the effort to do that?

There are about 3,000,000,000 women in the world. I've met maybe a few thousand, at most. Probably had at least a few long-ish conversations with a few hundred, again at most. Dated 6. Out of the 6, Michi is by far the best. What are the odds that we'll work out? What are my chances of finding someone better? The fact that I'm thinking like this seems like an indication of emotional detachment that means: A) we're already over, B) I can be really cold in my thinking, or C) Both A and B.

In some ways, I don't feel really competent to think about these things right now. It seems like the daily stress of living in a foreign country (10 months, as of yesterday) is starting to catch up to me. In the near future, I'm contemplating either moving to a new city, or changing companies, or both, and I'm in a complicated relationship with a foreigner. The fact that I have been having fun at all seems to be some kind of miracle.

Anyway, we met up, and eat some delicious ramen, but didn't really talk too much. Then we walked around Yoyogi park and sat in a cafe, and preceded to get into another quasi-argument. She's been under a lot of stress at work, and is currently studying to get a new labor law license. I've been thinking about taking the JLPT, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and yesterday finally decided that this year I'll take it. If you can get certified at certain levels, you can prove your Japanese ability to your potential employers, and this opens up many more job opportunities, especially outside of being an English-language whore, ahem, I mean ALT. I hadn't told her about deciding to take the test, and she seemed to be getting upset that she was the only one trying to better her situation. I told her about my decision, and that seemed to clear things up, but...I don't know quite how to express it that doesn't sound stupid. Somehow her getting upset with me seemed unjustified.

To illustrate how deep this sense of JUSTICE goes, I remember vividly one incident involving a babysitter. I couldn't have been more than 7. Her son, a royal brat, had used crayons to color up the concrete basement floor. He blamed it on me, and I had to clean up his mess. I can still feel the anger, and the sense of the unfairness of it. I had done nothing wrong, yet here I was, on my hands and knees, scrubbing the floor because this punk had lied.

Now, here I am, living in Japan, trying to find a new job, trying to figure out whether I should move to Tokyo, studying Japanese almost every day, trying to decide about my (our) future, trying not just to survive but to enjoy my life, and she dare get upset with me for not trying? For not thinking about how to make my situation better? Screw that. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Phew. I haven't been able to talk with some of my best friends recently, and in the case of Bri we haven't talked outside the context of playing video games (it's kinda hard to focus on a conversation when you're trying not to be shot). John has been busy chaperoning his not-too-bright cousin, and Michi herself is often too busy to even email. I find myself in a situation where the people I want and need to talk to are usually unavailable.

I'm going to stop now, because I can rant in this vein for pages and pages.

Cheers, or something like that.

9 Months

hey all,

I just realized that I've been here for 9 months. This is actually the longest continuous time I've spent in a foreign country. I was in Amsterdam for about 10 months altogether, but that was 5 months in Amsterdam, 1 month back home, then another 5 months in Amsterdam.

It is a strange feeling. It seems like I've been doing this forever. I mean, I was in the US for about 8 or 9 months, I think, before jetting out of the country again, like some kind of comet with an irregular orbit. Even when I lived in the US, I skyped with some of my family members that were far away, skyped with my friend Mark, and kept in touch with Bri through online PS3 video games. Not so much has really changed, but at the same time, a lot of other things are totally different.

I have to say I'm still enjoying my life here. My job forms a large part of that, and I think it shows in my posts when it isn't going well. Recently, my job has been pretty fun. Despite some recent rocky spots (no pun intended) with Michi, that part of my life continues to be a source of good times and hope for many more to come. I also have something of a local network of people I can talk to here, which I never had in Amsterdam.

As I complained in the previous post, it is easy to start complaining about all the negative things, but it takes some thought and effort to focus on the positive things.

Cheers,

7 Months

hey all,

So this past weekend marked the 7 months point of my stay in Japan. I feel like I've slowed down my pace of taking pics of food, because I often eat the same things as I've been eating for the last couple months. Also, I feel a little awkward taking pics of my meals with Michi, since that kinda takes us out of the moment, and I think highlights the fact that I'm a foreigner here, who might someday return to the US.

五ヶ月ぐらい

hey all,

It is hard to believe that I've been here almost 5 months already. I don't think my Japanese has improved much since school break started, at least in terms of new vocabulary and kanji, but I can speak it quite a bit better than before.

It finally looks like the outdoor club is planning some events, and I 've just posted my own trip to Utsunomiya to see that large statue as well. There is also a very cool miniature park another hour north of the statue that looks intriguing. It has 1/25th scale miniatures of lots of famous buildings around the world, for instance the Eiffel Tower, the Forbidden City, Ankor Wat, etc.

Cheers,

3 Months

hey all,

I am closing in on the three month mark in Japan. Here are some random things that I'm really excited about:

• I can now do internet banking. No more 3 day fiascos trying to make a simple wire transfer to pay rent!
• I just joined the Tokyo Outdoor Club. Since the bar is not really my environment, this gives me a much better shot of feeling comfortable while socializing. Check out the photos of past trips on their website. They're gorgeous! So, hopefully I can meet some people interested in doing cool things, and not just sitting in dark, smoky, loud rooms killing braincells.
• Getting paycheck #2 in 6 days!
• My new shoes! After getting tired of having my feet soaked when it rained thanks to holes in the bottom, and after slipping a few too many times while hiking Mt. Tsukuba, I bought a new pair of hiking shoes that double as my everyday shoes. They rock!

Cheers,

One Month

hey all,

I realized last night that I had just been in Japan for barely over a month. That in itself is such a innocuous and yet crazy fact that I'm not sure what else to say about it.

Crazy night last night. Out to a bar, and conflicts over who owes who a beer, then more conflicts over whether so-and-so just went to the bathroom with someone else's girl, and several bowel loosening hours at a bass-thumping hip-hop dance club.

Cheers,