Sky Bonsai

J73 Sunday, May 27th 200 10:39 AM

Ahhhh, what a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I got a good night's sleep...mostly.

See, it's a funny thing, but the sun rises at 4AM around here. 4 freaking AM. Last night, after a round at G-Bros and conversation with the Gaijin Gang, I packed it in for the night. I got home and bummed around the internet for a good hour or so more. All in all, I hit the sack around 3:30 AM. The night sky was already showing a pale navy blue as the sun prepared its inevitable rising. So, to sidestep that pesky, long-running nuclear explosion, I did what I always do when I need sleep: I use my blindfold.

Its actual name I cannot remember. In Japanese, the characters that make up its name translate to "something with which to wipe your hands". It's the best handkerchief in existence. Thin enough to dry quickly, yet super-absorbent. about 20cmx100cm, it's a sizable piece of cloth, but it compacts very well. You can use it as a short length of rope, tie off anything, use it as a bandanna, blindfold or headscarf. It has a neat design, too, so it looks stylish. I got it at the Phallus Festival my first month in Hitachi (I can't wait to tell you all about that) and its been my faithful companion ever since.

Anyway, to get back to my actual journal. Yesterday was Saturday, busiest day of my week. It wasn't that bad, all things considered. I've been having a bit of a tough week because I kept coming in almost-late every day. Something would come up in the morning that delayed my exodus from my apartment. I slept too late, had some bad food the night before, spent too long checking email, that sort of thing. This next week I'll remedy the problem with a hard deadline each morning.

Today is my only weekend for these two weeks. Tomorrow I go into Tokyo for follow up training at the Head Office of my company. It's not going to be too tough, but I really wish I didn't have to give up an off day to do it.

Today I'm going to the beach to bum around, and will probably do some grocery shopping. I really, really, need to clean up my apartment. It's a bit of a mess ever since E.J. was here. Two people living in this tiny space can really make the dust pile up.

Tonight, the Gang and I are going out to see Pirates III. It's out here, with English vocals and Japanese subtitles. Here's hoping we can get there and back without any difficulty :)

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[Original day written: Sunday, February 25th 2007 at 8:00AM]


J4.0
Not a lot to report today. Training is.....training. They're teaching us a basic lesson plan that we will follow for every lesson we will teach, save special or private lessons. It's kind of cool, though I worry about boredom.

Grabbed breakfast and lunch at Lawsons. The Japanese idea of hamburger is alien to my own. First, it's not made of ground chuck. It tastes like.....fish? Kinda? Also, they don't put hamburger patties on buns. Or bread of any sort, really. Just by itself, or on a bed of rice. Very different.

My jetlag is finally fading. I woke up at 6:30AM this morning, but I slept a lot better last night than I had been.

Tomorrow we have a big day. We teach actual students for the first time, to practice our recently-acquired skills, and the president is coming. Miyagi-san (not quite his name, but very, very close) will visit us in the morning and give us a rousing speech.

J4.1
To further make me wonder about my fellow trainee's overall exposure to the world, they don't know about the Jim Jones cult from the 70s. I admit, being fascinated by them from an abnormal/social psychology fanboy point of view, I probably am in a position to know a little more than the average person about cults. BUT: to not know about "the poisoned kool-aid" as a cultural phrase gives me pause.

To be honest, none of my fellow trainees strike me as people who are interested in Japan as I am. None of them watch anime or read manga. None of them are gamers. Only one can speak Japanese, and he's been here a year. I don't think I like him that much, to be honest. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. He's always, always correcting someone about Japan. Facts or rumors or information. I really want to get along with everyone here, but he's making it difficult by being such a douche.