August 25th-Sept 4th in 2015

Well, it rained yesterday. Good heavens it rained yesterday. The river kept rising a bit. I need to drop by today and see how it’s doing. (Today is the 26th, by the way). For lunch, Sam and I went to the local Italian lunch place (not the one that I keep trying to go to). It was surprisingly good, and about the same price as 7-11. At work, we talked quite a bit, which was nice, and I’m rereading some of those Cross Time Engineer books. Not exactly great lit, but very readable when you’re killing time and may be interrupted. Read quite a bit back home, and played some guitar before Sam and I went out for dinner. We got sukiyaki for dinner, which was pretty good. The melon ice cream was terrible. By the time we were done, the power was back on. Wanting to be sure of sleep, I drank a lot of beer while reading. It didn’t go particularly well, but I got to drunk dial Anna, which was fun. Got to sleep midnight/one ish. Woke up at six and decided that I really did need some sleep, so I stayed in until 7. Then I got up, showered, actually shaved, and came in to work. Since then, I’ve been reading more in that series, drinking far too much tea, talking to Sam, and just killing time. We went to the Italian place again (Primo Passo, I think it is) and got a different pasta with a different desert (same price, though) and had a grand old time of it. Now I’m back at work. Nothing much to say. I’m tired. I also feel as though I’ve gained a bit of weight in the last three days, which somehow seems both wrong, and likely while seeming to be entirely unfair. Well, best deal with that. Long walk tonight it is. Beyond that, nothing of note to report.
Thursday the 27th, Sam and Hirayama Sensei and I went to visit a bunch of schools. Well, three, I think. Two of Sam’s, one of mine. This was my first visit to Miyanojo Jr. High. Well, it was pleasant enough. After that, we headed off to Kagoshima. It was far, but the drive was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever encountered. Honestly, I don’t know if I could drive to Kagoshima. It is just too much. It’s so beautiful, I don’t know how you can keep your eyes on the road. Well, after we arrived, we got lunch at a pretty good place. Japanese-ish barbeque of sorts? A hot heated metal dome with holes in it that we’d roast our meat and veggies on. Open salad bar, though. And all the soup you wanted. We tricked Hirayama Sensei into letting us treat him. I like to suggest rock paper scissors. If I win, then I claim the right to pay. If I lose, I claim that he won, so I should get the tab. Hehehehe. Anyway, then he showed us the hotel and dropped us off at the reception which was at the prefectural government building. Well, we had more presentations. Most were dull and not very helpful. A lot of it was rehashing the same points we’d gotten a million times before. Still, better than sitting in the office. After the meetings, where I bumped into people I’d love to friend on facebook if I had freaking internet, we dropped our stuff off in our hotel rooms, then went to a kind of after party. It sucked. I mean, it wasn’t terrible, but the place was too small, the food was too expensive (and not very good), and it was so cramped and loud you couldn’t socialize, which had been the whole point in the first place. Oy. Well, after that, we went to another after party. I played the dangerous Littlefinger-esque villain at the first party, and had a girl come into my clutches and had her run interference on a guy who was going after a girl Sam seemed to like. Well, that was entertaining at least, and the upshot was that Sam wanted to go to that girl’s party (this story is out of order, it seems). So, we went. It was pretty dull too, but there were some cool people I’d known before, but we couldn’t really do much. I was rather happy to head home to the hotel, and gladly would have done it sooner.
Friday the 28th we had morning meetings. Dull as all get out. I’d read the KAJET website already, and this was basically them reading it to us. So, got to leave (thankfully) and Hirayama Sensei was there to pick us up. Sadly, we were late, but there was nothing to be done about that. They’d changed the schedule without telling us. In their defense, they probably hadn’t known either. Due to all of the schedule issues caused by the Typhoon, everything was a mess. Anyway, then we all got lunch at an udon place (squee), and then came back. We dropped by more schools and, finally, Hirayama’s home to meet his wife and adorable daughters. Then, we went home. I tried unsuccessfully to nap (it had been so easy in the car) and then got some dinner. Around 8, Sam and I went to that third floor bar. It wasn’t nearly as fun this time. So, we ended up going to the 1st floor bar. It was super fun. I need to try the second floor, otherwise, I think I may have found my place. I do think that a lot of places around here just have a set fee, and then you drink over that? No freaking clue how prices work here. (Note, as of the 31st, I found out that most bars offer a set price and it’s all you can drink from then on. Rock on!) Anyway, on the first floor we had beautiful Indonesian girl again, but also a cute, chubby, Japanese one. Then, I met a super cool monk! He gave me a fan. We were also drunkenly embracing while singing Karaoke. Plastered on shochu, doing arm to arm karaoke, with a Buddhist monk. I think that’s my most Japanese moment ever.
Saturday and Sunday were a mess. Just playing Civilization III and feeling awful about myself and the world around me. Not a weekend I’m proud of. However, I found that if I set my air conditioning on high, it would dry my clothes (something that hasn’t been happening lately because we’ve just been having all the rain in the universe lately). So, Sunday night, I did two loads of laundry, hung them in the living room, turned on the AC full blast, and closed the doors.
I woke up this morning dedicated to the notion of going on a walk. I didn’t. I didn’t really ever get back to sleep, but I didn’t do anything either. Either way, I’m fairly certain it was raining. That’s all that seems to be going on these days. It’s almost enough to make me miss the heat. Almost. Well, I got up, and, wouldn’t you know it, the moisture had gone from my clothes into everything else in the room. The place felt like it got rained in. I spent a lot of my morning time trying to deal with that. Then I had to go to 7-11 for breakfast because I’d forgotten that I was out of food. Great morning, ne? Well, at school, we had a bit of office work, then, we drove to our apartments and changed clothes because Sam, Hirayama Sensei, and I were being asked to help with the cleanup crew for that school whose roof had blown off during the typhoon. By the time we finally got there, it was pretty much over. That was sad. We didn’t get to do much to earn our keep. (Oh, I forgot, on Sunday, I did do my homework which consisted of a short essay in Japanese about the Kagoshima trip). Anyway, after that, we went home, ate lunch, changed, and then Hirayama Sensei picked up Sam and me, and we went off to do our formal hello visits to the rest of our schools. It got really old by the end. However, my self-introduction kept getting better and better. By the end, it was a whole big freaking show. I think that went well. Sam’s Japanese is way better than mine, but you’d never know it. He just can’t sound fluent. He says “eto” all the time. I counted it at over thirty times in one self intro. I should mention, that these take roughly two minutes. At the bar on Friday, after he’d left, I nicknamed the time when he was speaking the “Eto Jidai”. Everybody instantly loved it. I think that name may stick. Seriously, though. It’s just annoying!
Well, today, after school, I came home and found my apartment was still wet, and my laundry was still wet too. So, I took everything to the coin laundromat and dried it. I also washed a bunch of other clothes just in case so I could dry them too. That took, literally, almost all evening. I’m sitting here at 10:18 typing away in my Captain Kirk robe after a long, face scouring, shower. I want to be super pretty for tomorrow. I wish I’d thought to put in some white strips! Oh well.
I’ve been so unaccountably miserable for the last few days. It’s been really hard. I just keep needing to remind myself that life starts for real tomorrow (Tuesday). I’m also more and more aware that I’ve got to keep myself constantly occupied or else I suck. Let’s hope I put this to good use. I’m going to go upstairs and try (unsuccessfully) to sleep.
Goodnight, all.
It is currently 2:29 PM on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. Let’s go over the day, shall we?
I got up at six this morning, and I didn’t take a walk. I hadn’t really planned on it. Still, it’s best to get right out of the way to begin with. I should also say that, in my defense, it’s raining again. But, then again, of course it’s raining. I think that’s just all it’s going to do from now on forever. That’s life. The thunder has been impressive, too. Well, I woke up feeling groggy and totally out of it. So, I had a nice big breakfast, fruit, yogurt, and cereal. Then I went about the morning routine. It was pleasant enough.
It is currently 2:55 on Wednesday. Let’s go over yesterday and today.
I put on my black suit, the $45 that was supposed to be $350 from Penny’s. It had more of what appeared to be moth damage. Just freaking great. After the morning routine, I spent a long time in my bedroom making sure I was dry. I remembered, from Chengdu, what happened if there were any moisture on you anywhere when you went out. Well, I ended up getting pretty wet as it was pouring the whole walk to school. It was hilariously, disgustingly, wet. It was simply pouring. I got to my meeting with the Principal fifteen minutes early or so. He didn’t quite know what to do with me. I met the whole crew, I thought, more or less. There was a big presentation for the start of the semester in the gym. The kids sat there, on the floor, crouching down, and tolerating it just fine. There were many speeches. I ended up sitting seiza on the floor next to Matsumoto for quite some time. She’s one of the three English teachers, though, if memory serves, Ebihara took me there, and Inori was my greeter. Well, more on them later. I got to give a short introduction speech, along with the other new teacher, which was mostly a short greeting. I had fun with that. We introduced ourselves after the school song, something I need to learn. Well, then we had a lot of office time. I made myself useful by doing a lot of grading for a lot of people. It was really nice. I liked the act of simply doing things! It had been so long! I also chatted it up with everybody. It was amazingly fun. At lunch, I ate with the kids. Curry udon! That’s a pretty propitious start! I was a lucky boy. Then, when I finished, I went home, obviously. However, I didn’t go right away. I spent an hour just talking to my coworkers who all seem to be honestly lovely people. I’ll write more on them as I learn their names. Long story short, I impressed everybody. Which, on the one hand, is great. On the other hand, I’ve got to live up to this first impression. All the time. It’s going to be honestly tough, but I’ll do my best at it.
Well, on getting home, Sam called almost immediately after. I needed to run errands, and I told him he could come with. He agreed. We went to the bank, where I pulled out some celebration money. Then, I went to the stationary shop and bought a pen I’ve wanted since I got here. Plus two others. And then I went back for two amazing Engrish bags. Then, we went to Plasse where I intended on getting some douche sunglasses. They’re the kind that barely have any tint, but lower the glare and give you nice, high res like, polarized vision. Well, they were a bit too douche-y, not quite comfortable enough, and a bit too expensive, so I passed. However, I did drop off the black suit at the dry cleaner’s. That was pretty fun. I’d dropped off my black blazer the night before, and so it was nice to see that the lady, who had written my name down then, still had it on a paper next to the register to remember me by. On our way out, we stopped by the yakitori stand outside of the side door and got, literally, the best yakitori I have ever had in my entire life. There’s a new guy running the stand because, apparently, the old couple who ran it are in a bit of trouble. The man, apparently, had a fall and a head issue. The order of which we’re not entirely sure. While standing around there, one of Sam’s schools’ teachers greeted us. That was a grand old time. He was really nice and very chatty. Wait, scratch that, I went to the stationer AFTER this, because of some reason or other. Well, I mean, I went because I needed to go and this guy was getting a little dull. I don’t remember why I hadn’t gone before. Especially as the stationer is between the bank and Plasse. Oh well. Anyway, we did have a lovely time talking to the shop keeper couple. After that, we ended up going to 901 for dinner. Sam is in agreement: Best gyoza ever. We also had a bizarre Caesar salad. I also got some kind of oil baked garlic. It was amazing! I’m in love with that place. Beyond that, I drank a decent amount. I like the Ginger Highballs that are so popular here. Then, I went home and, shortly thereafter went to bed.
I got up this morning (the 2nd), but I made a mistake. I went on my walk. It was a nice walk, but, I ended up not being able to dry. My towels weren’t dry from when I’d washed them the night before, and they, consequently, didn’t dry me particularly well. Making matters worse, my air conditioning seems to be losing its effectiveness the longer I keep it on. Worsening things, I didn’t have a solid hour to dry like I had had before. That was rough. Anyway, I left in a hurried huff, not sure of what to do, and completely soaked. I was dripping by the time I got to school, though there hadn’t been a drop of rain. Just this damned humidity. Well, I was supposed to teach Inori Sensei’s 4th period class, but Ebihara Sensei asked me to teach her 3rd period as well. That was really nice. I think she just either wanted a break, or she was keen to have me around. Or she wanted to see how I’d do. Well, I used the four chord song pattern, C-G-Am-F, and made up a song. The lyrics were easy. The kids would ask me a question, I’d write it on the board, and then I’d sing the answer, then write that, and then we’d make our song. It was incredibly fun. The kids liked it. I ended up doing it in both classes, but it was harder in Ebihara’s. I’d forgotten my treasure box, and they were only 1st years. The addition of a year of English, and the inducement of bribery, made class 2-2 easier than 1-1. Then, I had lunch with 1-2, and came to the office. I finished some work for Ebihara Sensei and Matsumoto Sensei, and now I’m wishing that I could go to the music room to play the tenpuku (Kagoshima style mini Shakuhachi) that Tetto sensei gave me. Honest-to-goodness GAVE me! Incredible! Well, what more is there to say or to be done? I should go into details of the teachers, but I’ve the morrow for that. I slept well last night, but being super genki for kids, and forgetting my bottle of tea today which means I’m effectively sans caffeine, means that I’m in no mood to write even as much as I’ve written.
Still, a page is pretty respectable, especially when one doesn’t feel like writing. And I’m over 19.5 K words for this whole entry which is now over 24 pages. One wonders, of course, who will bother to read all of this mess. Again, I realize I should edit it, but that’s just not going to happen. Have a good day, all. I’ll fill you in with more details tomorrow.
Yesterday, the 3rd, was rather eventful. I ended up teaching a class for Ebihara Sensei and for Matsumoto Sensei. Back-to-back. According to my FitBit, it was 47 minutes of active workout. Hooray for that, I guess. It was super fun. Sam sat in on life here. That was definitely something. He’s mostly just bored, and if he hadn’t been here, I’d have been chair warming at the BOE. Not a particularly fun day. Sitting at the BOE, I mean. I still love this job. The classes went better than expected. I’m improving my delivery. I even got the kids to sing along (through copious bribery). I think I’m getting something of a reputation. Re reading (or, in some cases re-re reading) the Conrad Stargard series (it’s all I’ve got on the tablet ATM) has definitely helped with my delusions of grandeur, but it seems to work for my general teaching style. I play the ukulele, and do a basic 4 chord pattern, and we make a song about me. As I’m the most interesting thing in town. Quite literally. Anyway, it all went super well. After school, Sam and I went out in search of food. Initially he’d wanted to go to Hotto Motto, which is a kind of bento chain place. But there was nowhere to sit. Fine by me, I hadn’t wanted to go anyway. We went to a lone of Hotto Motto down the street, and that proved to have the same problem. Finally, we kept driving until we hit a respectable looking sit down restaurant. It was delicious.
The tempura was great, the chicken was great, and the udon . . . not the best I’ve had, but it’s more than made up for by the quantity of it! I do love udon! Wonderful stuff. Well, the owners appear to be an elderly man and wife, and we were, literally, the only patrons in the whole place. The man shook as he brought us out our food and seemed to struggle with the tray. I felt so bad for him! He was such a nice seeming man that I didn’t know what to do. It was just really rough. So, I’ve decided that I need to eat there at least once a week. Maybe it’ll get a reputation. Man I hope it does. What’s the point of being wonderful, in this world, if nobody’s going to give a damn about you? Those of us who can need to help wonderful people, even if they just seem wonderful because they’re old and adorable, as a way of subsidizing a decent standard of humanity! There, I’ve said my piece.
Well, we went to Tennis club on Thursday night. It was critical that Sam went for an event that I doubt that I recorded. You see, Sam completely forgot about his Eikaiwa lesson on Wednesday, so, I got a call inquiring where either of us was. Thankfully, I was shopping a few minutes away, and managed to get there quickly. I made sure to jog a bit so as to arrive suitably tired. Coming in, unexpectedly, having hurried, to teach a class that wasn’t mine . . . big impression. I enjoyed it. It was about as interesting as it usually is. Anyway, I’d called Sam repeatedly that day to ask him about the class, but he hadn’t answered. So, we all ended up worrying about him. Turns out he got distracted at his first day of classes at the school. Or something. Well, he got dragged off into clubs at any rate. That was enough to botch it. So, I got to be the hero. Anyway, the end result was that he had to make it to tennis on Thursday because it’s run by one of the Eikaiwa students. However! It turns out that either she or somebody else forgot to book the court for the entire month of September! There go my Thursdays. Blargh.
Tonight looks bright. Tea ceremony at 7:30, which will be nice. Tomorrow, allegedly, I’ll have Internet. That will be wonderful. The weather is perfect. Not too hot, not too humid, a lovely breeze. It’s just what it needs to be. Obviously I’d prefer cooler with less humidity, but after what we’ve had, this is amazing. I’m also kicking myself for not having worn sunglasses to school because this sun is impressive.
The computer needs updates. Several, from the look of it, and it is just not cooperating these days as I try to type. Maybe the fact that the document is so big is a problem? No idea. It shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve just hit my 25th page, but I got into the thirties on my old Win 95 PC which I’m sure is a lot weaker than this. Must be updates. I want to write more about everybody, but the typing lag is just infuriating, and I have to keep going back and fixing stuff. Again, hopefully this’ll all be over soon.