Vacation never felt so sweet. No neck-ties. No nothing I don't wanna not do, but only if I don't wanna not to. Been celebrating lately and now it's time to chill out. Christmas came and went and now it's not here but still, all of this lightning and thunder made me recall other Christmases. This year I was sexually harassed by senior citizens at the bar! That was new for me!
I got a lot of Johnny Cash for Christmas. Also the complete works of Irvine Welsh. Also a new used record. Unbelievable coffee. A hand-knit scarf. Japanese lessons.
I ordered cocoa at the cafe and it came in a soup bowl with a spoon. This evening I tried using a spoon that was too big, so I said, "MY SPOON IS TOO BIG!" Wrote a postcard story about the Silver Surfer. Playing loads of guitar and writing loads of songs.
The "had a bad day" guy had a live performance on TV. He's in Tokyo. He said Japanese words poorly. But I realize now he was a comedy act. It wasn't his face singing, it was his ass with a half-dozen teeth protruding out at rude angles. He got his friend to feed a sandwich into his ass, and they called it a "song."
GIVE ME YOUR DAMNED MAILING ADDRESS OR ELSE NOBODY GETS THEIR FUCKING POSTCARDS!!!!!
Pleaaaaaasssse? Pretty please, with fructose on top?
mbigelow at negativespace dot net
To never see the same person twice. I work about a thirty second walk from the train station. Train stations in Tokyo are very important. The entire community is developed around a train station. A train station is like a city, with a commercial core surrounding the station, then an outflow of smaller businesses, and eventually residential areas. Even though I work, like I said, about thirty seconds from the train station, I rarely see the students of my school. There are so many people coming and going that it's rare to see them. They maybe there, but hidden in the mob. They may see me, but duck behind some other black-haired, black-eyed local so as to avoid their teacher drinking a beer in public. So I rarely see the same person twice, even though I may see a minimum of a 100,000 people a day.
The Japanese are rather snobby about one thing. It isn't fashion. Although they technically are. But REALLY they're snobby about diet, and food. They really appreciate healthy food over here. All walks of life like their natural, healthy food. And if they go to McDonald's they go to the gym or starve themselves afterwards.
I am working on Christmas. So I'm feeling more Japanese. They work hellish hours. 10 or 13 hour days is common. They sleep on the trains and nobody steals their stuff. But working on Christmas sucks! Good thing I have a huge paid vacation starting the day after. Not exactly sure what I'm doing on Christmas, though I plan on delivering some gifts to the bar owners I frequent. The language is coming along very slowly, but I got some phrases on the go and will spend this holiday learning more alphabet and reading Japanese comic books.
Going to be giving a lecture about Canada at a high school sometime next month.
50 minute lesson
25 about canada
25 about vancouver / victoria
they are going on a field trip
any suggestions?