A Long Update in 2017

I’ll try to begin this entry as close to I can as the start of February. But, of course, I have to go back.

In September, I injured my back. In trying to treat it, with onsen and electroshock, I made it (and everything else) worse. I then didn’t let myself rest, and I got jumped on by children. In the end, by late December, I was walking with a cane. I pushed myself for Kat’s visit, which was enjoyable. However, it may have made things worse (though it didn’t seem to). In the end, I was reduced to a slobbering pain medication zombie, and was sent to the US to recover after the Japanese doctors told me that there was nothing that they could do.
So, in short order, I found a ticket, booked a plane, and headed back to Michigan with the intention of staying four weeks to fix a slipped disc.
But it wasn’t so simple.
To begin with, the slipped disc was only one of a series of problems. There was also the stress fracture. And the spondylolisthesis. And the muscle deterioration. Which, of course, tied into the nerve pain. It also turns out that the treatments for one of these problems would make the others worse. So, four weeks became two months. Then, all of a sudden, I found myself summoned back to Japan, sometime around the 14th, and, on the 21st of April, in the 29th year of the Heisei era, I was back in Japan. Here are some highlights from those two months.

1. Hanging out with Kat.
   Early in the whole thing, when it was still assumed that I’d only be around for two weeks, Kat came out, which was amazing. It was great to spend time with her, even though it was barely two days and I nearly got killed on the way to the airport getting her. Also, lunch with Courtney was amazing. Hooray for that.

2. Hanging out with Courtney
   Didn’t happen much, and mostly due to her running out of power, but she’s great to be around.

3. Hanging out with Matthew
   I got to see him twice! Once just for the hell of it, and once because of a family event that he was more or less stuck going to. The first time was part one on one, and part with Tris (I like both dynamics, so I went for both). The second was just the two of us. I adore that boy.

4. Hanging out with Tris
   So much of it! I had forgotten just how much I adore him, and just how special that he is to me. He’s a brilliant guy, and I am so happy to have him in my life.

5. Opera with Shayla.
   The opera wasn’t great, the cast wasn’t great, and mum had let moths eat my top hat, BUT, going with Shayla was amazing. Her breakup with her long term boyfriend is also intriguing. Gotta coax her into Japan . . .

6. Beauty and the Beast
   Saw it at Bloomfield players. Tristan was, undoubtedly, the highlight of the show as Gaston. To demonstrate that I’m not biased, that’s what Bell’s mother also told him. Then told Belle. The rest of the cast was, at best, serviceable. Belle was a talented singer who didn’t seem to get this whole “acting” thing. The Beast was a pretty good singer who seemed to have heard of this “acting” thing, but wasn’t quite sure what exactly it was. Gaston’s sidekick wasn’t bad. The rest of the cast were slow, dull, and difficult to watch. Tristan was amazing, and I met a girl who goes to Rising Stars, which ties into the next point.

7. Rising Stars
   Sadly, I didn’t get to spend time with Tom as I had hoped to. However, I did see him a bit when I substitute ran a session of The Rising Stars, which is always fun.

8. Tammy
   Seeing Tammy, repeatedly, was great. The fact that I refer to her as my second mum doesn’t do much to disabuse people of their conjectures as to why she and my mum are ALWAYS together . . .

9. Seeing the family
   I’m still fairly convinced that dad doesn’t like me very much, but, he doesn’t appear to actively dislike me. That’s good, at least. He’s getting old, and that frightens me. More than I can really say. Mum and I, of course, have a very complicated relationship. She also doesn’t understand what injuries are, how they work, or why it’s not always a good idea to push yourself super hard while recovering from something. However, things were great the last week. She and I always get along well when she’s in nostalgic mother mode. Which lasts for about four days before and after my arrival and departure. Grandpa and Grandma are also incredibly old, which is worrisome. I didn’t like the talk about how this may be the last time we meet, though there’s obviously some truth to that.

10. MBGCO
    Party was fun, though I wish I had had more time to make it a big thing. Next time, man. Next time.

11. The Doctor
    Had a great time with the Kirsch family. Whole body is much improved, if a bit weak. So, yeah. $2,000 well spent.

12. The Diet
    I lost a great deal of weight on this trip, though I’d put some on at the start, so it wasn’t as pronounced as it ought to have been. I need to keep losing, though, and I’m working very hard towards that. Unfortunately, I have to resign myself to the fact that exercise really isn’t an option, at present, and that diet is my only choice. But, I’ve got a newfound faith in myself that’s based on more than a mere feeling, and THAT is critical.

13. The Dogs
    Fell in love with mum’s dog Angel. I didn’t like her when last we met. No idea how she and I fell so hard for each other. Yet, somehow, it happened.

14. Revelations
    This may be the most important thing. The realization that I had has changed everything. Every day, since the 12th (13th in Japan, and, hence, nearly two weeks) I have viewed the whole world differently. It’s a difficult change to explain. Everything feels lighter. I feel as though a giant weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Music sounds sweeter. People seem nicer. Nature seems more beautiful. Pain isn’t as painful. Everything is vivid and alive in a way that feels very new to me, though I know it has some basis in the past. And, if my hypothesis is correct, then this is just the beginning. It gets better. And THAT is motivation towards something if I’ve ever had any. People talk about push and pull factors. Well, I know that down the other path is the overwhelming physical pain of a person collapsing. It’s impossible to separate my physical from my mental decay. I realize that more and more. Well, that’s an incentive to never go down that road again. Meanwhile, I have here, right now, a consistent, if narrow, glimpse into a world far better than anything that I was capable of imagining a mere two weeks ago. Hope is a blessing and a curse, but when your hope is for something which lies within your control, then . . . the world opens up. Beautifully. I’m reading fiction more. I’m listening to music more. This had started, a bit, before the realization, which makes me think that maybe things had been building for a bit. After all, six months of horrible physical pain and decreased activity aren’t especially conducive towards beautiful thinking. But, who knows? It’s hard to determine all of this. But, hopefully, I’ll get there eventually.

Well, I’m now in Japan, and I’ve been here since Friday night. I’ve been trying to clean up my house (little by little) because it’s a sty and that’s become unacceptable. Thankfully. If I could, I would clean harder than I am. But, I’m well aware that pushing myself is dumb.

My American Airlines experience was mixed. The booking was great. Changing tickets was great. Then, the night before my return flight, everything collapsed.

3 AM phone call informing me that the flight was canceled. Robo call then explains the replacement flight, but it doesn’t make any sense. So I call. I’m told that I can be put on another flight with a two hour transfer time between Narita and Haneda. There is a two hour shuttle between those two airports, not counting check in or baggage. If you’re VERY lucky, it’s 90 minutes. I’m also informed that if I can’t make the transfer, it’s my fault, and that I’m on the hook for a hotel. Then I’m told that I can stay overnight in Tokyo. At my own expense. Then I’m told that there’s another flight, two hours earlier, that I can take. A 5:50 flight. That I’m informed of at 3:30. So THAT was an adventure. So, Tammy has to rush down from Fenton to see me off. (As a side note, reading a book with a ton of footnotes makes me imagine all the footnotes that this would have if published, which is a hilarious thing to think about. This may be why I have so many unexplained specifics in this entry.) So, we rushed off, and there wasn’t a convenient Timmy Ho’s or McDonald’s to get me breakfast at, so I got Burger King, which sucked. Don’t like their breakfasts at all. Anyway, I got there, and then the fun continued.
The wheelchair guy was new and incompetent. He told me not to put my wallet through the scanner, but, then I had to do so. By tossing him my wallet. Which was terrifying. The line at security was also the worst I’ve seen (for having that few people). At the plane, the crew said that they’d help me with my carry on, then checked the damned thing without telling me.
I got off in Dallas, and that was another disaster. Between the bumper car ride that was the terminal shuttle, the runaround on my bag, kneeling in line to try and get help because they couldn’t find a wheelchair for me, being told that my bag had gone through, then was waiting, then had gone through, and so much more . . . it was awful. The wheel chair lady who was supposed to help me in Dallas looked at me with more utter contempt than I have ever seen a human being express in my entire life. It was honestly astonishing.
So, I arrive at Narita, and the Japanese staff are (of course) amazing. I go to get my baggage and am then informed that my carry on is on the wrong flight and that they have to ship it to my house. It’ll get there on Sunday (thankfully it actually did). Then, I’m packed off on the bus to Haneda. It was uneventful from there.
Before I forget, I met an amazing Frenchman on the flight from Detroit to Narita. He explained something to me which has stuck with me: The Americans and the French hate each other because we’re the same. We’re both nations full of stuck up people who are convinced that theirs is the only valid language, the only valid culture, and that the entire world needs to emulate them. Two divas can’t share space in peace.
But I digress.
I arrived at Kagoshima, and Sam, Kumei, and Eitoku were there waiting for me. Also Kumei’s daughter. It was very sweet! Then, they took me out to dinner. It was to some yakiniku restaurant, I think. Maybe a Korean barbecue. I’m not quite sure where one ends and the other begins. Then, I went home. I had to kill a spider. I pushed my chair at it. Because of course there was a huntsman in my bedding. Of course there was. I actually called Sam and had him come up because I thought that the damned thing had gone behind my wardrobe, but, as it turns out, I’d actually killed it.
Saturday was restful. I showed up to the start of D&D, then went to the doctor for a pain killer injection. Then I . . . I think I just played Civ. I ate at Primo Passo for lunch (last time for a long time) and Kitchen Inoue for dinner. I’m sure that I took a bath.
Sunday, Kumei and Eitoku came over to cut our grass. Sam had freaked out because he’d found a centipede in his house. Which, to be fair, is a lot more reasonable than my freaking out over spiders. Japanese centipedes are actually pretty dangerous. Anyway, I felt bad because I couldn’t help. I mostly was in my room playing Civ, but, I did get Kumei and Sam (before Eitoku came) snack packs from 7-11 (I got them onigiri, Pocari Sweat, a croissant, and a beer each, Sam then got another pack like that for Eitoku), and I distributed omiyage. After more Civ, I went to Rara for dinner, which was amazing. Though the curry of the day left a bit to be desired. I felt bad that I didn’t have time to grab Basil hookah tobacco, and even worse that I forgot to bring presents for the two cooks, but I had a good time going there. I’ll worry about the other presents later on. Probably I’ll cover the cooks next week when I go in. I think that I can afford to visit that place once a week and not totally blow my diet.
Monday was a BOE day. I gave out candy, and everybody liked it. Eitoku is still there, and so is tall lady whose name escapes me. Also lonely lady. And these are my favorites. Well, other than Higashi who is still there. I adore that man an unreasonable amount. One of the bosses that I liked (but didn’t really know) was transferred, and I’m sad that I didn’t/couldn’t say goodbye. I’m looking forward to the getting-together party that we’ll be having soon. I also miss Michigan beer. Only had a bit of it, but my goodness is it better than Japanese beer.
Today I’m at Miyachu, and I’ll be here Wednesday and Thursday as well. No Eikaiwa yesterday, but, I think there is on Wednesday. Friday is Riusui! I’ll get to see Nene! That’s going to be amazing.

The air plane was very rough on my back, and the injections, while useful, are really only masking pain. So I can’t rely on them forever. Plus, it does nothing for the nerve pain. I’ve got to be careful and to limit myself and what I do. I really want to be our and about and active etc. However, that’s just not advisable. Even in class, I can feel my natural tendency to get up and showboat around. I love it so much, and it’s hard to give up on this. Well, give up isn’t the right expression. It’s have to give this up, even temporarily. I’m worried about healing, and I don’t know the best way to expedite it. I mean, doing what I’m supposed to do is really my best bet, but I just want to be better. Especially as now, I’ve got the desire to get out and do things. Oh well, such is life.

I feel like I’m moving towards things instead of away from things. I feel like I’ve got a positive motivation instead of a negative one. I’m wanting to read, to write, to study, to do a lot of things, and it’s a good feeling. It’s odd because this was a lot stronger when I got back here. While driving around, recently, I had a feeling that I was back in old Japan. My old Japan. The way that I used to view it. And everything was so beautiful. The sun was shining, the bamboo was golden, the clouds were yellow pink, and the road was curving perfectly. I just felt . . . right. It was amazing. And I needed that feeling.

Well, I am feeling sleepy now; the jet lag and the wear of sitting around doing very little (while hungry) is getting to me. I had a great time teaching the special class 3rd period. We even had a new boy in class, and having three students makes it a lot easier than having one or two. I feel like there’s more that I’d like to write, or, at the very least, that I should write, but it’s not coming to me right now. Well, I don’t really have to worry about that, do I?
I have all the time in the world.