Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and heck, Happy Valentines Day too!

I add the Valentine wishes because it is now almost February...been a full two months with no news... Sorry about that.
Now news posts, I should say. There has been, on the contrary, quite a lot of news. Mom and Dad came over for Christmas, and we marched past more UNESCO World Heritage sites than you can actually name on your own, ate and ate and ate and ate....and drank.... Mom decided raw fish was objectionable in theory only, and devoured a small shoal worth of sashimi while here. Dad and I topped her though...we may indeed be responsible for the sudden upsurge in interest in protecting fish stocks among the Japanese.
Mom also decided that sake was damn fine stuff, something Dad and I also reconfirmed...for the umpteenth time. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas holiday...tiring..but wonderful.

Speaking of Christmas...K and I officially tied the knot on Christmas Day. It was a beautiful 45 minutes of standing at a window at the city hall watching a flustered little old man try to decipher the forms needed to process a wedding to a foreigner....there were many phone calls and reference books and redundant questions... Romantic, eh?
The actual real wedding ceremony happens in April, in Waikiki. That little jaunt will also serve as the honeymoon. I'm looking forward to checking out Robin Master's estate, taking a ride with T.C. on the Island Hoppers chopper, and sipping a martini at Rick's Cafe. Maybe even take tea with Higgins and the Lads. I also want to listen to the Ventures song "Diamond Head" while sitting atop Diamond Head, and watch the waves come in on the North Shore...nice.

In the meantime, we will be REALLY busy I think. We are moving into our new apartment next weekend, so two months after packing up my old apartment, I get to repack my stuff and pack hers too. Yay. We ge to buy a new bed and sofa, though, and she hired movers who will bring a truck, load it up and unload it all for less than $300. Nice. I will leave for work from the old apartment on that friday, and come home to the new place. I'm excited.

K is also quitting her job. The 30th will be her last day at that monument to self abuse. 80 hour work week anyone? I thought not.

So we'll have the new place to contend with, Hawaii to prepare for, and god knows what other fun little incidentals will pop up along the way...


Oh, and on a geek note...my friend just got a new MacBook. I played with it for 30 minutes and fell deeply and hopelessly in lust. I WANT MAC. K said I could get one if I really wanted one, but I don't thing she really meant it. So enraptured was I that I went home that very evening and formatted my HD and installed ubuntu Linux. No halfway, no more MS anything. If Ubuntu cant do it , it doesnt get done. I'm appeased somewhat for the time being....but I can almost gaurantee there is a mac in my future...and maybe sooner than later.

Also, I bought a game for k's PS2. Medal of Honor: Europe...a WWII themed shooter that is really pretty good. I wanted a game where I could shoot aliens, but shooting Nazis is a fairly satisfying, cathartic undertaking as well. I also want a Nintendo Wii, maybe we'll get one as a housewarming present...

That's all for now, kids. I'll try to do better about this thing in the future...

back to school

Aloha, folks.

I started the new job on Friday. I am teaching English in Japanese elementary schools now, as I think I mentioned before. Lemme tell ya, its a world of difference from the last job.

For starters, the dress code. GEOS was coat and tie...well, tie anyway. At the elementary school, the best dressed folks dress for the weather, because they don't do central heat and air in the school buildings. My first day, I was COLD.

Second, the students. GEOS students range in age from two and a half to eighty two and a half. Pretty much, if you can pay, you can play. I got me first graders to sixth graders only. And lots of 'em too. Class sizes at GEOS topped out at ten, and I never had a class that big. The most kids I ever had was three at a time, and that was a mess. Now I've got anywhere from 12 to 37 kids at a time...quite a difference.

Third, the food. At GEOS, of course, I was on my own for food, and free to run down to the shops if I felt like a snack. Now, I can't leave the school during school hours and I'm expected to eat the school lunch, often with the kids. Which brings us to another interesting point. There is no cafeteria in the elementary school. The kids eat in their classrooms, and it is part of my job to take my lunch in a different classroom every day. I actually haven't done this yet, but it's the only thing on my schedule for today (and next monday and tuesday).

Fourth, the general atmosphere. GEOS was a strange mix of artificial good cheer in the lobby and crushing stress and greed in the office. In the elementary school, the pace is quick because the kids demand it, but quite friendly and relaxed aside from that. The teachers are not under so much pressure, and genuinely care about what they are doing. Its very nice, and a welcome change.

Friday was my first day, and my first school was a small school in the countryside, which was very excited to have me. I showed up at 8:20 so I could be introduced to the staff, and then I was informed that the school music festival was that morning, so there wasn't anything for me to do except to say hi to the kids and parents at the beginning and try not to fall asleep during the performance. I did both with flying colors, then helped put away the folding chairs...to be nice and to try to get my circulation moving again.

My next task was to play with the 1st graders after lunch. They actually have me scheduled in for recess with a certain class. We played freeze tag, and I got in lots of trouble for not remembering the rules and fouling up the game at first, but after 5 different kids explained various aspects of the game at the same time at the top of their lungs I finally got the idea. After that, I did a self introduction lesson for the 5th and 6th grades, which went pretty well, and I went home with a feeling of a job well done.

Yesterday (Monday), I had my first day at the biggest school on my route. I showed up early, they assigned me a desk, and told me that there was NOTHING for me to do that day. Clean out the desk and poke around the school, they said. I did that, prepared 3 lessons, and it was still only 11:30. I wrote an article for my friend's web-magazine...12:45. The day went Ssslllloooooowww. Today is more of the same, except I have a lunch date with the 6th grade today, and we all went out onto the field to run for five minutes. I shouldn't complain about being less than covered up, but it does get a bit old hanging out in the office while everyone else is wrangling kids. I'm sure that will change as soon as they start to figure out what to do with me, though. Can't wait.

Deep Breath

It's been a momentous five weeks, which may very well account for the incredible delay in updates recently. I've been SUPER busy, and here's why.
First, I quit my job. It's been two and a half years at that joint and it was about time to go. My decision was greatly aided by the fact that I was offered a much better job working for the city. Better how? Well, for starters, the pay is better by about $500 a month. If that wasn't enough, its a Monday thru Friday gig...no more Saturdays...and ALL the Japanese national holidays paid and OFF. Second, no sales. Working at GEOS involved a lot of pressure to sell, and sell up. Books, new contracts, homestays...whatever. The idea is to play on the students insecurities and exploit their dreams to get into their wallets...it's a nasty business. Third, the working days are from morning to afternoon...done while the sun is still up. Getting moving at 6:30 am is gonna be tough though. Start tomorrow!
Changing jobs also means changing apartments...which may very well prove more traumatic than the job thing. The old place went with the job, so I had to get the heck out last weekend. It's amazing how much useless junk one person can accumulate in 30 short months. After I culled most of the crap, I was still left with an impressive mountain of incredibly necessary posessions, and no where to put it. After much bean counting and hair pulling, K and I decided to move me into her place and move her back into the old homestead. Its gonna be a little uncomfortable for the next couple of months, but it was the option that made by far the most sense. I'm gonna have a long commute, and she's gonna have a curfew, but we found a place for us, and will move in there in February.
There's also been wedding planning stuff going down, but that whole thing has kind of taken on a life and momentum all of its own. Things happen and decisions are made that neither K nor I are fully aware of until much later...Exciting.
Also, we took a trip to the American Consulate down in Osaka yesterday to get started on the marriage paperwork. Turns out I need an affidavit of eligibility to marry...a form to prove that I am of age and truly really single. So we went, and I filed, and paid $30, and they stamped the paper and we are all set. They didn't check a damn thing except that my signature matched...so if you're american and interested in bigamy, Japan is an option if you find mormons too preachy.
So to sum up, job stress, new job stress, packing stress, moving stress, red tape stress...ick. I feel pretty good about the whole mess though. Yay!

Me and Mr. Toyoda

And how

Well, we (k & I) have finalized our wedding plans...set the date, picked the church, the whole nine yards. Now I just need to save LOTS of money. Yay.... no more beer for me for a while. 's ok, though. My liver could always do with a little break.
After visiting the travel agency on Sunday, we went out to the in-laws for dinner. Just a normal visit, I thought. However, after a long chat about our future plans, they pulled out a birthday cake! I was completely shocked...it was a wonderful suprise. K's folks are really great, and they really like me...

Outside of that, not a lot to tell here in the LotRS...K's dad said he would give me a car if I get my driver's liscence...normal stuff like that.




I got a bouquet too, but I left that in K's care...anyone who has ever been to any of my apartments can understand why.

Happy birthday to me!

Yesterday was the big 3 - 2. Yay. To celebrate, I went to my friend Kenny`s restaraunt, Mercado, for drinks after work. My friends Leslie and Mayumi and Keith and Yuki and Kaz and dave all came too. And of course, K. It was a very pleasant evening...we had some wine, and a nice bottle of sake that I got from K`s dad a few weeks ago.

I didn`t realize it at first, but the couples were all foreign guys and japanese girls. That seems to be the way it goes here in the LotRS. Lots of foreign guys with Japanese girls, but very very few Japanese guys with foreign girls. Kinda strange, huh. Really though, the foreign men tend to outnumber the foreign women here, and Japanese guys tend not to be interested in foreign girls...too much trouble I guess.

Anyway, I had a nice birthday, and me and K are going to Osaka this weekend to see some of her friends and to relax. Should be fun!

Back on track

Had a Heckuva good weekend here in the LotRS. K has finally shaken off the summer school funk that had been hanging over her like a dark cloud for the last two weeks. Thank GOD! I was starting to genuinely worry about her... but she`s back to the good ol` K I`ma gonna marry.

We had a fine Sunday...starting with the Uniqlo (think `Old Navy`).
I needed to buy some new shorts due to the fact that during the rainy season, some of my clothes never managed to dry completely and picked up a nice case of mildew. Awesome. It was easy to identify on the white t-shirts, but I didn`t notice these shorts until we were in the car on the way to the in-laws for dinner. FUNGUS PANTS! (K`s favorite new vocabulary)
So long story short, I bought new shorts. So what? So this. The size I got was NOT XL. I got me some swanky size L shorts. Down to a 35 inch waist! Made my day right there. When I touched down here in the LotRS, I was a svelte 210 lbs, filling out a 38 waist nicely.

Which brings us to point two. I joined the local gym on monday. K has been a member for years, and has been after me to join for quite a while. My coworker just joined up too, and she seems much happier. They were running a special too, so the entry fee was 10 cents. Went up today for my first session. Felt good. Also stepped on the scale. 89kgs. Not sure what that works out to exactly in pounds, but roughly 185 I think. Haven`t seen numbers approaching those since age 20. Real good.

Point three. Signed up for internet service. I won`t get it for another month, but the big thing is that I did the paperwork. I had been avoiding anything that smacked of longterm commitment for a long time...but recently I`ve been feeling much more settled and focused...and grown-up, I guess. Its about time.

Last word. K and I went to the travel agency on sunday to see about having our wedding in Hawaii. Seems extravagant, until you figure that that would almost split the difference between the US and the LotRS, making the travel burden more equitable. Also, in Japan, weddings tend to explode into expensive gaudy affairs that noone I know would be willing to put up with, K included. Hawaii will keep it simple, thus cheaper. Plus, the honeymoon can start immediately! We are still at the very very beginning of the planning stages though, so don`t go buying your aloha shirts just yet... start saving yer pennies though, cause wherever the wedding goes down, noone stateside is gonna be able to drive there.

Thats all for now team.
Cheers!

Whew...long time no see, eh?

Sorry about that, but things have been a little tough here recently. K finally finished up the (absolutely grueling) summer sessions at her school, and is back to her regular work schedule. I am glad for her, and for me. It was tough for me to see her just shut down after about two weeks...no smiles, no laughs...just work sleep work sleep work sleep...it was like I had lost my girl completely.
She still hasn't snapped out of the funk completely, but she's getting better every day.
She did manage to shake it off for a week when she went to Spain with her parents. By all accounts, they had a wonderful time, and she wants to go back. Buenos Dias!

I tried to ease her load as much as I could during the summer sessions...fixing food for her and putting her to bed...after a while it really started to get to me...I was just tired...
But I think I'm snapping out of my August funk as well, and just in time for my birthday! Yay!
No plans for the day yet, but K and I are headed to Osaka next weekend, so a nice little getaway is all lined up.
Other than that, no realy news here...August kinda sucked, but we all got through it ok...the heat has broken here...beautiful days ahead...yay.

Chinese Thoughts

I recently discovered the website for the Official organ of the Chinese Communist party, The People`s Daily. Quite a fascinating read. Check out the forums too! Lots of interesting thoughts on the chaos in the middle east, among other things.

Happy Healthy

This weekend was very nice. K's friends came up from Osaka and we took them down to the Ise Shrine for another installment of lumber pulling. This time, teams of around 300 people hauled wood up the Isuzu River to the Inner Shrine (Naiku). I didn't get to play this time, but it was a lot of fun to watch. Hot though. Very hot.
After a day of stomping around in the blazing sun, K& I were understandably exhausted...nothing exciting except an early bedtime...around 9:30, actually.


K is in week two of the exciting 14 hr day 6 day a week purgatory that is summer vacation at a cram school. She is up at 6:30, out by 7:25, home around 11, and asleep by 12. Last week was miserable, but only 5 days...they gave her a (incredibly rare) 2 day weekend. This week will be a rocking 82 hours! Any wonder I want to take her away from all that? I do what I can to ease her burden, but in reality it is not much more than symbolic...washing her dishes, taking in her laundry, cooking up some food that she can freeze and eat on over the course of the week...making sure she goes to bed by 12...


Taking care of my own stuff too...I finally finished my paperwork and am officially enrolled in the Japanese National Health system. Feels good to be a pinko. It costs me roughly $250 per month, but is comprehensive medical and dental, hospitalization, rides in the ambulance, the works. It also covers a trip to the eye doctor, but not the actual glasses, should you need them. I consider it a bargain...beats the heck out of the half-assed HMO system that seems to be prevailing in the Land of the Idiot Son.

Thats all the news for now...next dentist appointment is friday! Yay!