Hmm, so in case any of you didn’t know, apparently Matt H. is coming to Japan next week, to take over my teaching position. Yeah, kind of unexpected, but I guess he really wants to be back in Japan. Also, note the mad competency of my school: not hiring another teacher until a week AFTER I leave. Oh well, I won’t be around to feel the effects. More news as it breaks…
Finally, I got the ridiculous amount of cash I was hiding in my apartment converted to Traveller’s Checks. I was getting all paranoid, especially after reading The Sound and the Fury (one of the characters gets a bunch of cash ripped offa him). For a brief moment, I was a millionaire! Ok, a YEN millionaire, which I guess isn’t that impressive. However, it was the most cash I’ve ever handled. Here’s some advice to all y’all: don’t save your money in cash, it’s not worth the worry. Fortunately, the bank employees didn’t blink at my insane desire to change a million yen, so everything went ok. Now all I gotta worry about is packing and convincing the boss to let me skip my last Saturday.
My dream was lame last night.
My sister was driving some big boat of a car, like those old Chevrolets, and I was a passenger in said car. The unfortunate thing was that apparently we were driving after a heavy snow, because the roads were all covered in ice and/or packed snow. As we arrived at an intersection, another car came barreling in from the right. However, through quick brake action, we managed to not hit it. After the incident, we continued on, but I noticed the car we almost hit was following us, and happened to be a police car. The lightbar wasn’t on, but Laura pulled over to let the cop pass us. Of course, the cop pulls over behind us, and I immediately ran out to sweet-talk the (female) officer, who held us no ill will. And that was it!
I’m getting closer to finishing We Love Katamari (recently found out that’s the official English title), and I’m being constantly impressed, but for some reason it’s difficult for me to continue playing. I finished the first one in about a day, but the second is taking longer. Maybe the novelty of rolling has worn off.
Hey, know what’s a real kick to the head? Today is a national holiday in Japan (umi no hi, or Sea Day! if you care), yet Mondays are part of my normal “weekend.” This means that while everyone else gets this day off, I get nothing off. I still have to work five days next week. Hey, employer? This is the kind of stuff that makes people not want to work for you. Hey, Japan? Maybe you should have national holidays on some other days too! My Tuesday-Saturday schedule started in April; before that I got my national holiday Mondays off too, and my co-worker Dave got screwed. Poop on Chambers’ English School, poop I say!
EDIT: I watched X-Files episode 9x13 “Improbable” last night, and this is what I have to say: “LAME!” I’ve been viewing season nine recently because I never actually finished watching the series, and boredom + need for a feeling of completion prompted me to download the last season. I re-watched seasons 7-8 earlier this year, because a co-worker had them. Let me say that Scully + Doggett was cool, but Doggett + Reyes equals teh crap. Reyes’ character is totally uninteresting, and the addition of said character further alienates (ha, ha) viewers who had grown attached to the original characters. Anyway, episode 9x13 was probably the most worthless episode I’ve watched yet, even more worthless than the one where Reyes was trapped in the phantom hospital. Ughh, it seems very appropriate that one of the next episodes is named Jump the Shark.
EDIT #2: I can’t believe that nobody made any comments about those curry snacks. It’s like Satan and his evil bride on a bag of chips.
It’s really raining.
I didn’t notice anything on the train ride back home, so either it started in the brief moment I was passing through the station or else my powers of observation have grown increasingly weak. As I walked towards the exit, I could hear the sound of raindrops furiously pounding the pavement, even through Thom Yorke’s melodious warbling on my iPod. I proceeded to unfurl the umbrella, and a few seconds later I realized it was an exercise in futility. The umbrella only served to keep my head dry. Water dripping down your back, water seeping up your pant legs, water inching its way into your shoes: these sensations aren’t exactly pleasant. Most people wash themselves every day, but unplanned wetness is somehow uncomfortable. Maybe it has something to do with wet clothes. If I was a real perv, I’d still be outside ogling all the schoolgirls trying to get home without being soaked to the skin (and failing). As I passed one corner, I saw a couple huddled under the overhang of some shop. It looked like the man was trying to comfort the terrified woman, but after getting nearer, I realized they were trying to calm a child.
Every time I saw a flash, I was paranoid that lightning was going to nail the top of my umbrella, as unfounded as that fear may seem. Cars were splashing me as they passed on the too-narrow street I have to walk down to reach my apartment. When I finally got inside, I changed into some shorts and hung my pants over a door, where they proceeded to drip copious amounts of water. Yeah, it’s the rainy season.
In other news, I got some white wine from one of my students who went to America for three weeks. It was amazing: gone for three weeks, and she had the English ability to talk about it for maybe five or ten minutes. That’s not good, by the way. Anyway, back to the wine. I know basically nothing about wine, due to the fact that people in my family don’t often drink alcohol and the prevalent American notion that alcohol’s primary purpose is to make you as drunk as possible within the shortest time. Oh yeah, it has to be cheap, too. Therefore, among my friends, bad beer was usually consumed when alcohol was required. I’m not blaming them, of course; they’re just a product of the American system, same as me. This leads me to one of my pseudo-goals, which is to form at least a half-developed taste for different kinds of drinks. I also want to appriciate food more, instead of equating meals with the organic junk I hastily cram down my gullet before running off to work. My digestion is probably horrible, because I eat so fast. I guess I can’t really be blamed too much, though. My diet is not exactly varied, due to the inability to cook many Western-style foods. I can’t wait until I have an oven again, and can cook lasagna and pizza. Hmm, I kinda digressed a bit there.
One more thing: I got paid today, which is, uh, nice, I guess. Since I’m not paying for next month’s rent, I got an “extra” 50,000 yen. This means that on Monday I get to go down to one of the local banks and purchase myself some traveller’s cheques in yen. “Why yen?”, you may ask. And you may well ask. The reason being that the yen is super weak to the dollar right now. Yahoo’s currency page shows the yen at being around 112 to the dollar, which is the lowest it’s been in about a year. If I get traveller’s cheques in yen, I can wait to cash them until the exchange rate is a bit more favorable. “Does it really matter?”, you may ask. The short answer is: yes, even a measly %2-3 difference will matter a bit.
EDIT: So I wrote about the wine, right? Well I busted it open tonight, and it tasted horrible. So, I gave it to Brendan. Also, check out the awesome curry snacks I bought today, solely because of the picture on the front.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the brazen stupidity of the average Japanese pedestrian? Well, let me tell you now: I hate the brazen stupidity of the average Japanese pedestrian. Whilst walking down the street, said average Japanese pedestrian will act as if he or she is wearing a big ol’ pair o’ horse-blinders. And they will weave all over the sidewalk like they’ve been whacked in the head, repeatedly. Let me detail a few of the classic “Japanese pedestrian” moves.
The key to not being an idiot on Japanese sidewalks is to look around. Make sure that whenever you exit a building or vehicle, you look both ways to make sure no bicycles or other pedestrians are headed on a collision course for your head. And obviously you should look before cutting across sections of the sidewalk. I always do a quick check over my shoulder before making any sudden turns, so I don’t get nailed by a bike.
And there you have it. The definitive guide on not being a menace in one small sector of Japanese society.
