Sept 11th-15th in 2015

After that, on the 11th (written on the 15th) I didn’t do much in school. In the end, I ended up going to the work Enkai welcome party. That was fun enough, though not nearly so fun as I’d hoped. Saturday certainly must have existed, but what all I did seems to have escaped me. I know I did some errands, though not as many as I’d hoped, and I know that I dicked around a bit, not as much as I’d wanted to, but far more than I should have; beyond that, however, I can’t really remember what it is that I did exactly. I know I had lunch at the Italian place. I also seem to have awoken much earlier than I’d intended to.
Sunday the 13th I attended my first Japanese sports festival. It was amazing! So fun and entertaining! I never thought that I’d enjoy myself watching middle schoolers compete, mostly in relay races, from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, but, somehow, I did. It was great. The school was divided into three teams: the White Tigers, the Red Phoenixes, and the Blue Dragons. Due to having been accosted on my way home on Friday, I was compelled to cheer for the Blue Dragons, which was just as well because they destroyed all competition! It was really fun to watch, though, as there’s so much drama. Of course there were tears, but they didn’t seem to be the petulant, spoiled, tears of the losing American child. These were tears of disappointment in oneself. A fascinating difference. There were also a long series of pageants and parades. Maybe it’s that old warlord in me, but I just love seeing people march in perfect unison and to move in and out of formations. Still, I reflected, during the parade of clubs, that in the old days, parades must have served a valuable purpose. I’d never really understood the appeal of them before, but, now, as I think on it, they must have been a valuable way to relay information back in an era when this wasn’t possible any other way. I had had no idea that there were so many clubs at Miyachu, nor what all that entailed. Seeing all of those kids, in full uniform, marching across the field . . . it was honestly really impressive. You understood quite a bit about what they were about, and you wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to join all the clubs. And, man, let me tell you: Japanese uniforms are just better.
One of the things that entertained me the most was the club relay. I’m not sure if it counted for anything, scoring was something of a mystery to me, but I was struck by the utter lack of fairness, and how this didn’t seem to bother anybody. I was astounded to watch the Judo club run, in their full outfit, holding, for example, a practice mat. Or, by the same token, the Kendo club girls running, barefoot, in their heavy robes, passing rattan practice swords instead of batons. That having been said, I loved when the baseball team destroyed the track team in the race. The track team, of course, passed batons. But I saw baseballs, basketballs, kendo swords, mats, swimming aids, ping pong paddles, and probably a few other things I’m forgetting passed from person to person. It was odd how it was all so deadly serious, yet, at the same time, it was all so much fun for everybody.
Another thing that amazed me was the participation of the crippled boy here. There’s a student here who appears to have some kind of disability or other. The specifics elude me and I’m not exactly sure that I can ask. He’s generally in a wheel chair, and his legs are very thin and knock kneed. Yet he always participates. Even in the relay races, he was included. He can walk, sort of, with help, and he raced a very short, maybe thirty foot, section before a designated runner took over. It was beautiful to watch. He was so included, and everybody worked hard to keep him a part of everything. And while they did it, they all tended to smile. There’s such a beauty and a nobility in that. He was a classmate, dammit, and classmates participate because they belong. He belonged there, with everybody, and he was going to be a part of everything one way or another. The fact that everybody took this as a matter of course made it that much more remarkable to me.
I even got to participate in a game! I was drafted by Matsumoto Sensei, which probably means I was drafted onto Red Team. That’s fine, though. I don’t think I was of much help. In this game, you hoist up a basket on a pole, maybe ten or fifteen feet up. Then, a massive crowd underneath throws beanbags up into it. Obviously, you’re being pelted the whole time, and attempting careful aim is useless because your bags are constantly bombarded while in the air. I take consolation in knowing that my team, if it was in fact Red Team, would have lost anyway. Still, I had fun, and it was nice to be a part of it.
At the ending ceremony, there were, of course, many heartfelt tears and apologies. In the end, Blue Team was just obviously superior. Their taunting, their dance “O.N.” competition, their . . . everything. And, so it came to pass that they won. It was still lovely. I think that if I hadn’t been pressed into service as a Blue partisan, I may have cheered against them simply because of how one sided it was. I just kept thinking about Mobius Strips the whole time. I loved, in the races, the come from behind victories, the impossible recoveries, and the heartbreaking failures. I watched the Kendo club tear ahead despite being small, heavily dressed, barefooted, girls who had to run while carrying swords as big as they were claw their way to an impressive lead, only to lose it all when a girl tripped. I watched Blue Team earn one of their few hard fought victories after coming behind from a full half lap. Just wonderful. Maybe it’s because I was close enough to see them? I’ve noticed that in Japanese sports TV, too. The focus is on the faces. You see the emotions as much as the game. It’s about the story, not about the score. This, I can get behind.
I attempted to help in the cleanup, but they were too well practiced. I was baggage again. Eventually, I was told to duck out early so I’d have time to make it to the Tsukaretakai (we worked hard/we’re tired party). It was held at Chinman, that Chinese place I’d been to once before that had failed to impress. It was 3.5K Yen, but that was fine. I had lovely talks with everybody. After that party, there was an after party held at some weird truck garage near the Joy Luck. Of course, being Japanese parties, everybody gave speeches. I know that I have one, but damned if I can remember much of what I said beyond describing how much I’d had to drink. In the end, seeing that I wasn’t having a great time (though it was fun) and knowing that I was the only person there (I was wrong on that count) who had to work the next day, I stumbled down the hill and found a taxi that was waiting for a couple who walked up soon after me. They knew me, I don’t know who they are, and they knew where I lived, I still don’t know who they are, and they had the taxi drop me off and wouldn’t take any money. I feel guilty. Still, I love Japanese people.
The next morning, I got up at six but didn’t walk. I was actually a tiny bit hungover, which is a source of shame for me. I ended up just taking time getting ready, which was a good call as it was my first day teaching at Eshin Elementary. It’s next to the BOE, and so I went there first. I was shocked to see a few people that I’d seen at the party. See, the Miyachu teachers had Monday off. Apparently BOE workers did not. I think that Hirayama Sensei, who was obviously worse for wear, was a bit annoyed that I was, by that point in time, pretty genki.
Eshin was super fun. I taught back to back classes, which was great. I think I taught . . . four classes? Maybe five? I don’t remember. Still, it was great. I had lesson plans for the two levels I’d be teaching, but it didn’t really matter because two teachers ignored the lessons outright and the other two or three adapted from the set material pretty loosely. I learned a fun Japanese game! It’s a sort of theatrical Rock Paper Scissors. It’s grandma, hunter, tiger. Hunter kills tiger, tiger eats grandma, grandma scolds hunter. You stand on opposite sides of a partition, during a song, then you have to do a little choreographed peek at one another. Then, you assume the characters and march out. It was so much fun! I also learned a geisha game where you have to either steal an object or get the rhythm right on a hand placement. It’s hard to explain in type, but easy if you see it done.
After that, I had eikaiwa. I finished class as 3:10, and Eikaiwa is usually at 3, so it was evidently supposed to be bumped to 3:30, but, when I got there at 3:30, it was already in full swing, so I suspect that the ladies missed the memo. Thankfully Sam had my back. Hooray for that. Either way, it ended at 4:30.
Eikaiwa finished, I went home. I was exhausted and felt like crap. These days, that seems to be my default state. I listened to ASMR and evidently fell asleep pretty hard. I thought about staying in bed, but I was almost out of food for tomorrow’s breakfast, so I went to the store. In retrospect, I should have just made another super long sleep of it. I couldn’t get to sleep effectively until about 2:20 according to Fitbit. That sounds about right, though I had thought it was closer to 2. Something of a problem, I assure you. I tried to sleep until seven this morning, but my body is now firmly convinced that six AM is a reasonable time to wake up, and any attempt to convince it otherwise means that it gets angry at me. I’m, once again, annoyed with my brain for picking nights when I can’t sleep to suddenly and vividly put me in the emotional and physical place of people I know who have experienced extreme trauma. It’s getting worse. Add to that my normal tendency to see random objects and the explicitly visualize myself being tortured by them, and you’ve got a royal mess. Plus crazy legs and an inability to get comfortable. Well, it’s now the 15th, and I’ve gotten caught up on most of the things that have actually happened. Now, it’s time to get going on the things that I’ve been deciding.
What I need right now is a new list of priorities. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never really had any long term plans for what I’d do after Japan. I mean, I’ve had a lot of plans, but nothing that ever really stuck, especially when musician and writer went out the window. It occurs to me that I can’t work on everything at once. There’s a lot I need to do, and rather than stressing obsessively about all of the things I’m not doing, I need to lock myself into a plan of action so that I can get things in order. So, here we go.
Priority one: I need to get my body under control. I had meant to start the exercise program this week, but, frankly, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Well, next week begins with a holiday break. I don’t have school the first three days. That’s plenty of time to get things started well and to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Body is priority number one. I don’t know what I want to do, but there’s nothing out there that I could do that wouldn’t benefit from me being healthier and sexier.
Priority two: Keeping the apartment clean. I just function better when things around me are organized, and I need to bear this in mind and to live accordingly. Moreover, come rainy reason, if I don’t have good habits in order, the hose house will rot away to nothing and I’ll be out a fortune.
Priority three: Get better at guitar. I keep thinking that maybe some form of entertainment is what I want to do. If that’s the case, I’ll need guitar. If it’s not the case, well, I feel happiest with some form of music and or artistic expression, and when I know enough guitar to actually play songs I like, I know I’ll be really REALLY happy.
Priority four: Learn the damned party tricks. I keep meaning to learn card tricks and to practice with my contact juggling. Well, again, if I do decide to go into entertainment, these will help. If I don’t go into entertainment, these will certainly help in class. These are just useful skills, for somebody who relies entirely on charisma, and I want to have them.
Priority five: Learn Japanese. I suppose that you can say that maybe this should be higher, but, to be honest, I’m not sure. I’m learning it as I go just by living here. Every day I’m getting a little better without really needing to study much. If I’m going to be here for a while, then I’ll just keep getting better. These other things are all things that I won’t get better at without effort, so it seems reasonable to put them first.
I think that, as time goes on, these are going to shift in their relative importances. Once my body is in decent shape, the amount of time I spend on it can go down. As I get in good apartment habits, my overall time spent cleaning will go down. As I get better at the guitar, less practice will yield more results. As I learn more tricks, the easier it will be to learn more, and I’ll have a nice bag of them to rely on rather than the . . . effectively nothing that I’d got. Finally, as these all go down in time, I think that I can spend more time on Japanese.
Well, of course, the question comes up that David Wong on Cracked so brilliantly posed. What will you give up for this? I suppose that Napoleon Hill asked the same thing, though not quite so forcefully. At school, I’ve actually got to use my down time productively. I want to write letters and practice Japanese, and otherwise maximize my useful time. Reading at my desk isn’t terribly enjoyable, but I do it because I don’t want to use my time. Well, I’ve got to. I’ve got to do something with it. I’m so exhausted and depressed by the time I leave school because of how little I’ve done that it’s hard to do anything when I get back to my apartment. Well, let’s remedy that! Let’s make this work.

Last updated September 16, 2015