J191 Tuesday October 30th
This week was to be a 4-day week. My company saw fit to give us Saturday off, a ludicrous luxury. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with my long weekend, but it will be wonderful, regardless. Today was somewhat busy with 4 classes, more than my normal Tuesday load, but not terminally hectic. I wrote a little, updating my blog, but there's lots more where that came from [EDITOR'S NOTE: Hahaha, yeah. Sorry about that. The G.R.E ate up all of my free time]
J192 Wednesday October 31st
Happy Halloween!
I had been planning on going for a run, but I woke up with an aching ankle. I did my best to stretch it out, but it wasn't wanting to cooperate.
A normal Wednesday load, which meant a 4-hour block at the end of the day. Killer. During my break in the afternoon, though, I paid my bills. I also put in an hour of G.R.E. study at the end of the day.
J193 Thursday November 1st
A lighter day than the previous two, thank goodness. I can't wait for the weekend; 3 days will feel like an eternity. I've been mulling going to Tokyo on Sunday for fun, but nothing solid has formed in my head. M-sensei and I are kicking around the idea of beach walking on Monday.
I ran out of rice the night before, but I didn't have the chance to pick any up before the end of work. I tend to get out of my job around 9:30, and Ito Yokado and Sakura City close at 9. Luckily, there is a great food shop called...uh...Food Shop...on my way home from work. I tend to duck in once or twice a week to pick up groceries, to supplement big food hauls from the weekends.
This evening I was lucky; a huge 5kg bag of rice for a surprisingly low price of 2500 yen. I lugged it to the checkout counter and then to my bike. Enjoying a home-made dinner of veggies and my new rice, I put in another half-hour of G.R.E. study.
J194 Friday November 2nd
I talked with lots of people this morning, including E.J. for the first time in a few weeks. He's got finals looming as the semester comes to a close.
Work was a one-two punch of two three-hour blocks of classes, but I survived well enough. I stayed a little late to help close up, chatting with a few students as well as the staff. On my walk back I ducked into Joycom again to put a few hundred yen more into D&D. I didn't have much chance to experiment with the game when K and I played it the week before. I wondered, given the length of the game as well as the ability to input one's name (more than the three-character initials most arcade cabinets allow) if the game had a character-save feature. Alas, my hopes were dashed by the harsh reality of the situation. Still, that did give me a good idea for a future arcade game.
Many Japanese arcade games have character save features. More accurately, they have profile saves. The newer games have slots where you can insert a magnetic-strip card that holds your unique information. Your game record, your nickname and initials, even stuff like high scores, is stored on the card. You can go to any arcade in Japan that has the machine you play and insert your card, and your profile pops up. It's terribly convenient.
Upon arriving home I found that an old high school friend of mine was planning to come to Tokyo. Josh Weeks was his name, a classmate of mine from many a year ago. He and a friend were coming to Japan during the next week. I offered to show him around and provided my cell number and email.
I also played lots of Halo 3. The day before, the free month of Gold-level XBox Live membership that came with my hardware had run out. I found, to my dismay, that Halo 3's multiplayer requires a Gold-level membership to play. I found solace in playing a few campaign levels, but felt a little stung. I don't regret my purchase; Halo 3 continues to be a shining beacon of gameplay and fun, but this development helped me decide to buy the Orange Box, rather than, say, another few months of XBL Gold.
J195 Saturday November 3rd
A wonderful, lazy day. I woke up late, a rarity, and talked with friends for a few hours. I ment to go to Uchihara, where dwells an actual mall, but I was waylaid by slack. I did a load of much-needed laundry whilst browsing the internets. I had the feeling of forgetting something all day, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I had lunch at Kumamoto.
That evening was Claire's going-away party. I took with me my only cigar, a Cuban roll of fine tobacco, to smoke in honor of Claire's farewell. I'd enjoyed my cigarillos, purchased alongside the cigar, earlier in the year, but I didn't make a habit of them. I had been saving it for a special occasion, and I figured the departure of one of my friends from Japan was certainly deserving of a little combustion.
Hiro, primary owner, operator, bartender, and impresario of G-Bros, assisted me in the proper preparation and smoking of my cigar. It was savory and dark, a flavor far removed from the thinner cigarillos. They were a more sharp, sour tasting breed. This was more mellow and rich, though not without its own heavy bite. I don't know how I managed to do it, but the cigar developed a distinct angle as I smoked it, one edge of the tobacco being burned more rapidly than the other.
Many, many drinks were had and stories told. I held an impromptu edition of Toast Club, scribing the relevant data (attendees, toasts, etc.) in my Moleskine. I will carry them back to America, when the time comes, to record them faithfully in the master book.
The party was long and bittersweet. Claire is a wonderful person, and I really enjoyed her company. In the end I said my own private goodbye outside the heat and noise of G-Bros, under the cool, clear night sky. I biked home, smelling of cigar smoke, a little sad and rather tipsy.
J196 Sunday November 4th
I almost decided to not go to Tokyo today. I got up a lot later than I'd planned, and I felt a little down from the whole 'Claire is leaving soon' thing. Still, I called Brain up, and he convinced me to come on down. I phoned up another friend, Tiffany, a teacher for my company who works in Yokohama, a big satellite town of Tokyo. She helped me find a place to stay the night; the Yokohama International Center Hotel.
I made a reservation, checked up on the train times, and dashed to the station to catch the next Super Hitachi. During the hour and a half train ride down to Tokyo, I spied two things of interest. One was a lone parachutist, falling slowly like a big polyurethane dandelion. She/he was drifting across a big expanse of nothing, a field that lay between the ocean and mountains into which two Hitachis could have fit. They weren't very high up, maybe half a kilometer at most, but their view must have been spectacular.
The other thing I saw was a parade. Or a procession. A portable shrine was being carried along a road that lay near the tracks. A dozen men and boys were giving it their best, hefting the intricate lattice of pine and oak lacquer. In my mind's eye I could see the kami enshrined within the man-sized box, easily weighing in at half a ton, bouncing along jovially, joining in the celebration in a manner that fitted its station. Boisterous laughter or serene amusement? It didn't matter; the people were having fun, and that warmed the heart, no matter what one's metaphysical disposition may be.
Brain and I met up at Ueno, where he accompanied me to Kawasaki (between Yokohama and Tokyo, where the International Center was) to help me check in. It was a bit of a detour, an hour one way, but catching up with Brain is a long-term activity, so we were entertained. The International Center itself was a rather impressive building, a modest complex of buildings surrounded by parks and green space, set a 10-minute walk away from the station. Brain and I walked through a bustling marketplace, a bazaar if I ever saw one, that was packed with people. Cyclists weaved their way through the throng of people, deftly avoiding injury to both personage and parcels.
The International Center had a hotel built in to its overall layout. The room was Western-style, with a bed rather than a futon. The room, and the 50 or so siblings it had, were able to be occupied much like an apartment; many gaijin or transient Japanese use rooms like these to have a nice place to stay for longish periods of time.
After checking in, Brain and I made our way to Akihabara. We walked up and down the strip, looking through shop after shop. I once again priced micro laptops, my interest in a miniaturized portable computing solution still present. Brain informed me of the EEE-PC, a staggeringly cheap (and small) micro that is built off of a custom Linux environment.
He also told me about the new Gundam series, Gundam 00. I'd heard that a new series had come out, but I hadn't seen anything about the plot or characters. His summary sold me, and I made a note to myself to download the translated episodes once I got back home.
After Akiba, and a stop by Star Kebab, the best Turkish kebab joint in Japan, as far as I'm concerned, Brain and I headed to Shibuya. We got there around 7PM, but most of the shops were starting to close. We were trying to get into a multi-store skyscraper, but the guards had it in their minds that it was closed, despite the signs in plain Japanese stating the stores inside were open until 9PM, every day. We found an entrance where the guards were not so strict, and ascended an elevator to an HMV media store. The rest of the evening was spent browsing movies and music.
Around 9 or so Brain and I decided to call it a night. We went our separate ways, he to his apartment and I to my hotel room. The train ride wasn't as long as I remembered, and I walked through the now-empty bazaar with purpose, eager to get to my rented bed. The day had been long, and I was tired. Alley cats and nocturnal motorists crossed my path a few times, along with some late-night pedestrians. Hitachi quiets down considerably at night, but Tokyo and its suburbs are almost never totally quiet.
I always wonder what they do, these night-dwellers. Why does the woman in front of me carry bags of groceries, despite every shop I pass being closed? To where does the young couple putt on their moped? The moon looks down on us all, she alone knowing our destinations.
J197 Monday November 5th
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. The 40th Annual Bi-Yearly Tokyo Motor Show has been going on, and today was one of the last few weeks it was going to be open. It had been opened to the public a few weeks prior, and a steady stream of people, car-otaku and families alike, had been coming to see the next year's auto-mechanical wonders.
I met Matt and Dan at Ueno station early in the morning, and we all proceeded to the site of the TMS. Along with my tickets, each a reasonable 2000 yen or so, I purchased an eco-friendly canvas bag, a sturdy contraption that is emblazoned with the show's logo. Into it went every promotional book I received that day.
And what a great number I received! Every major, minor, and sub-minor automobile manufacturer had a booth there. Motorcycles, cars, trucks, and bizarre mixes between the three were everywhere. Concept cars ranged from the marginally advanced to the downright futuristic. There was one series, by Nissan perhaps, that was a modular series of vehicles. A person-sized vehicle that could couple with a larger shell, turning two of the devices into a 2-person car, as well as a boat platform.
Extreme flexibility and space conservation was another order of the day. Several vehicles crammed a full (American) sized car's worth of stuff into things barely larger than a Mini-Coop. One concept, a van, was right up my alley. A 2-seater whilst driving, the back section pulls out a good two meters, expanding the car's interior while exposing the now-extended "pod"'s guts. The pod can be ordered to fit a large amount of gear, ranging from refrigeration units for produce storage to diving gear. The mockup's interior featured a rather neat looking computer terminal, too.
There was so much more. I could write a book on just this one day alone, but for the sake of brevity, let me tell you the basics. Japan is a technofetishist's wet dream. This was a convention about new cars. The new cars were jaw-dropping.
Alas, I have no pictures what so ever! My camera, faithful companion all these months in the land of the rising sun, decided to die on me in the second motorcycle booth. A scant dozen images, and the poor guy just gave out. I swapped batteries, swapped memory cards, I shook and prayed and cursed, but nothing would coax my camera back to life. It refuses to turn on or extend its lens assembly; whenever I try to do so, I hear a small servo-mechanical whine and then nothing. I think a gear or something similar has gotten discombobulated, resulting in mechanical trouble.
Luckily, Matt is an amateur photographer. His camera blazed throughout the conference, and between he and Dan, a ton of digital pictures were taken.
The evening wore on, and despite a delicious lunch bought from a Pakistani vendor, we were tired, hungry, and desirous of home. And, yet, there was one last item on the agenda; our farewell to Claire. The young Scotswoman was leaving for her homeland the next day, and though we'd all said our good-byes, we had planned on having dinner with her that night.
Alas, the demons of time and space were to rob us of our final rendezvous. We had miscalculated travel times and the final train home, and simply put we could not both see Claire off and get back home that night. Over much hemming and hawing, Dan and I decided to head back home, while Matt stayed behind to visit Claire and see her off in the morning. Dan and I both had work the next day, while Matt was still unemployed.
We said our good-byes, Dan and I, to Claire via cell phone. Perhaps it was better that way.
The Fresh Hitachi, the last train from Ueno to our homes, ferried us northward through the dark fields of the Kanto plain. Under the clear skies, so full of stars, our train sped, taking us back to the quiet of sleepy Ibaraki prefecture. We both disembarked at Hitachi, but Dan, having parked his van at the station, had a few minutes more to go; he lives in Ogitsu, a train stop north.
I biked back home past darkened shops and cozy, light-oozing homes. My apartment was waiting for me, as I'd left it two days prior. Remembering now the sleep I enjoyed that night makes me tired, and so I close this entry to sleep, again. Perchance to dream :)
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to work we go
J170 Tuesday October 9th
I had some trouble sleeping, so I got up early. That happens sometimes. I decided to get started on the G.R.E. application process, so I did some Internet gumshoe work. I had emailed the American offices of E.I.S., the company that creates and grades the G.R.E. Their response told me to get in touch with a Japanese company called C.I.E.E., claiming that this company was the one who administered the test here in Japan. I called C.I.E.E., but they said that I had to call E.T.S.
I was not amused.
To compound my lack of enthusiasm was the impending pre-work task. Or should I say task what involved me getting to work earlier than normal. Today I was to help hand out fliers at Ibaraki University, Ibadai to the locals. It's not the most exhilarating job in the world, but it's work outside the office in the fresh air, which is always nice. I met M-sensei, my coworker, and K-sensei, our manager, at the office. We piled into K-sensei's car and were off.
Ibadai is one of several branches of the local University system in Japan. I don't know how it works, or what sorts of classes they offer, but the students there always seem very...serious. I don't know how else to put it. Many are dour, most are very closed off. Handing out fliers here always takes a while, 'cause many of them just ignore you or, quite literally, run away from you. Or run past you.
Two or so hours of passive aggressive fun later, we were finished, and headed back to the office. Upon returning to the office my mood brightened considerably. I was delighted to find that I a) had only one class that day and b) had a 2-hour break. Normally I have an hour to do with what I please, the rest of my day is spent teaching or in office hours. So large a break was stupendously rare.
I headed home for lunch, making a quick detour to purchase a new ink cartridge for my printer. I had to print out another math study guide for the G.R.E. and I didn't want to run out of ink.
I had lunch at home, another rarity, and enjoyed the fruits of the Internets. The rest of the day was spent folding copious amounts of fliers and, of course, teaching. In the evening I biked home and went for another jog. The cooler air worries me somewhat, my asthma being aggravated by cold air, but I've held it together so far. That may change in the coming months.
J171 Wednesday October 10th
My morning Internet session was graced with a twofold conversation with Peter, a fraternity brother of mine, and my little (biological) brother E.J. They both had undergone an interview with E.A., a video game giant of America, and were both excited about the prospect of getting their internships there for the coming summer. I told them both how proud I was of them, and I wished them luck in their endeavors.
I tried to print out the new math guide from the G.R.E. website, but my printer developed a stupidity complex. It started to print pages out of order, and I decided to call it quits before I wasted any more paper. I would fix the problem tonight, after work.
I had to head in early again, 'cause we were handing out fliers...again. Although today was to be at a different school: Ibaraki Christian University. I'd never been before, so I didn't know what to expect. I met K-sensei and M-sensei at the office, and we hopped the train south. The day was pleasant; still a little warm with a nice breeze, and a beautiful clear blue sky.
Ibaraki Christian is a beautiful campus. It reminded me a lot of my alma mater, Georgia Tech, actually. Plenty of trees and bushes, lots of college-style buildings, but with the well-used, semi-decay aesthetic that is the Japanese hallmark. The greatest part, though, was the students; they're so much less serious!
They laugh and smile! They don't run away from you! They practice their English with you! And best of all, they take what you are handing out. Remember how it took 2 hours to hand out the fliers the day before at Ibadai? We were done in 30 minutes at I.C.U. Also, the ratio? Had to have been 5:1, women to men. Astounding.
The difference between those two colleges, so very close geographically speaking, was astounding. It requires further contemplation on my behalf.
Back at work I had another big break. I had an interview with a prospective student, which went well. I decided to use my break to pick up some gaming supplies. I hopped on the train, southbound, for Hitachi-Taga, home of the fantasy land that is WonderGoo. I purchased a 360 headset, to be used with Halo 3's multiplayer, and a small internet hub, to be used so my laptop and 360 can be connected to the 'net at the same time.
I made it back to the station to catch the next train north to Hitachi. I got back to the office with minutes to spare, but it had been a break well-spent. The rest of the day, 4 classes in a row, went by quickly enough. I sped home, eager to try out my new toys.
The hub worked instantly. I wasn't particularly worried; it's like the stone wheel of computer technology. Cable A goes in slot 1, Cable B goes in slot 2, plug the power chord into the wall, and bam. If that doesn't work, something is wrong on a level more fundamental than most people can troubleshoot at home.
The headset was a different story. It's wireless, and has no battery slot. It came with a USB power chord (!) to recharge it. It didn't have a factory charge, so I plugged it in and let it juice up overnight.
J172 Thursday October 11th
A lite day, but it still felt kind of long. In the morning I experimented with the headset a little before work. Like all other wireless peripherals it must 'synch' with the mother console. I thought I'd synched it, but the little thing just didn't appear to transmit audio in either direction.
I put that aside to tackle my new math practice book-in-the-making. The previous day had yielded me a stack of single-sided pages. These were to be turned over and re-inserted into my printer's paper try to turn them into two-sided book pages. Somehow my printer was expressing constant paper tray errors, and during the previous day's printing session had begun to print a few pages out of sequence.
I sorted the correct pages from the erroneous, as well as the one-siders that were still usable. Patience, above all, saw me with a stack of correctly printed pages after the better part of an hour. I reverently packed them and my Utility Ball o' Twine into my bag and set out for work.
I only had two or three classes today, giving me ample time to hole punch and bind my newly minted math book. It isn't terribly thick, about 30 or so pages total. I'd learned a few lessons binding its smaller sibling the previous week, and the binding process was much faster and sturdier.
J173 Friday October 12th
Busy. Freaking. Day.
A full 6 classes, 3 in the morning, 3 in the evening, with two hours between. I hit the books during my lunch and office hours, flexing my super-rusty math neurons. And I do mean rusty. The guide is really quite good; it breaks down the math questions on the G.R.E. into their component parts. It provides an excellent, comprehensive math review that's not too dense, nor is it too verbose. It's a superbly crafted work, and I'd love to thank the author.
That being said, my performance today was...sub-par. Not horrible; I actually liked math way back when. I just haven't used that part of my brain in years.
Somewhere during all that neurochemical defrosting was a call from Brooke, the new Kiwi (New Zealander) teacher. She wanted to get sushi some time during the weekend. M-sensei had mentioned wanting to go hiking this weekend into the mountains. I'd love to do both, but currently they both want to do it on Sunday. Plans must needs change.
I ended the day with a bit of Halo 3 multiplayer. It's been a while since I've enjoyed multiplayer FPS gameplay, and I forgot how therapeutic it could be. Not that I'd been containing a murderous tide within, but decompression via Team Slayer versus, say, just surfing the Internet for a few hours, is a different experience. Gaming was, and still is, an important part of my life. My hiatus from it has been very interesting, not unlike a scientist taking sabbatical from his or her research. I approach it with a different viewpoint than I had before.
J174 Saturday October 13th
Up early for another busy Saturday. Saturdays are sort of like running a marathon; exhausting, but they let you know you're still alive, man.
During my brief breaks I brainstormed with M-sensei about weekend plans. The hike was moved to Monday, and my sushi lunch with Brooke was confirmed for Sunday.
The work day came and went. On my way home I stopped by Ito Yokado for much-needed groceries. I met Claire inside, and we chatted a while about the NOVA situation. The company has been having some trouble. NOVA, like my company, pays rent for its foreign staff. The amount is deducted from our paychecks at the end of every month. It's terribly convenient, but in the case of NOVA, replete with many financial woes, this means that the rent isn't getting paid. Furthermore, it would seem that the company hasn't been paying their Japanese staff, opting instead to spend what little cash they're making on foreign staff salaries. Things are not looking good for NOVA.
Bidding the bonny Scottish lass farewell, I headed back to the homestead, and I relished my pre-G-Bros home time. I was dozing lightly at my computer when I felt a rather intense earthquake. I heard it before I felt it, but when it came it was like a fist smashing into my apartment. One big lurch, then nothing. At first I thought I'd dreamed it, but I heard all my stuff rattling, and saw various objects rocking back and forth.
The regular gang was at G-Bros. A 'new' teacher, named J, was around. I say 'new' 'cause he's been in Japan for a few months, but has never come to Hitachi before today. He's with Interact, the JET-like private company, the same one Josh and Daniel, two of my D&D players, work for.
No one had felt the earthquake. Not surprising; for such large events they can be oddly localized. My weekly beer and chat time was pleasant, but my plans for the next day called me home at a reasonable hour. I then proceeded to play Halo 3 until 5AM. I like gaming, what can I say?
J175 Sunday October 14th
Amazingly, I was up at 9AM. Powering up the trusty laptop, I noticed E.J. was online. We chatted for a while, but then I had the crazy idea of using GoogleTalk to...talk...with him. We geared up our headsets and were soon chatting with Google's own free VoIP service. For the better part of an hour we talked. Many subjects, personal and public, we discussed.
We both needed to head our separate ways after a while, and we bid one another farewell. I showered and headed over to City Hall, where Brooke and I had said we'd rendezvous for our sushi. The day was a bit cooler than I'd planned, but nothing I wasn't used to. I got to the City Hall first, but a few minutes found Brooke there, too. She lead the way on her bike, and we set off north, in search of sushi.
Up and up and up we biked, up the gentle foothills that Hitachi was carved into. Uphill biking is rarely easy, but the best rewards are when one reaches the top. Brooke and I delighted in gravity-assisted acceleration. ZOOOOOOOOOOM! Nothing is quite like the rush of speed one gets on a bicycle. Maybe it's the closeness of the mechanism, the bare-bones quality, or the fact that one is not in a car-shaped shell, but damn if it doesn't feel five times faster when you're careening downhill at a solid 40 kph.
We finally got to Kappa Zushi, our destination. Kappa Zushi is a chain of conveyor belt sushi restaurants, with a layout and general atmosphere akin to a Denny's or Shoney's at home. It was a little crowded, and most of the crowd was family. Brooke and I were subject to many young children's open-mouthed wonder, which only made us smile. One little girl we saw had hair so long it would have dragged the ground, were it not gathered in a ponytail high on her head first.
We got a booth to ourselves and tucked in. Conveyor belt sushi is very much what it sounds like; there is a kitchen in the back of the restaurant where chefs churn out a never ending supply of sushi. The dishes are placed on a series of slow-moving conveyor belts that loop between a double row of booths. If you see a piece of sushi you want, you take it from the belt and chow down. You save your plates, stacking them toward the far end of your table.
There was a second belt, situated above the slower belt, which could be used for special orders. Want something that isn't showing up on the normal belt? A special desert, or more expensive kind of sushi? Just tap your order in on the touchpad above the table, and in a few minutes your order will zip along the upper belt straight to your table. Unload your dishes and hit the 'return' button before digging in, though, to send the little trays back.
Thanks to the exercise of the bike ride here, I wasn't terribly hungry. I put away 6 dishes of sushi (2 pieces each). We ordered some special things, though. I got a slice of melon, quite delicious. We tried something called an "avocado tortilla". Another cautionary tale, gentle reader: the Japanese do not appear to know what "avocado" is. Oh, certainly, one can find the buttery, rough-skinned fruit in some stores. But what we got was not derived in any way from that same species of plant matter.
Perched atop the two plates we got on the fast track were little tortillas. They were filled with a thick green paste, which we assumed was mashed avocado. I bit heartily into mine, but was soon set upon by sweetness, rather than the buttery smoothness one normally associates with avocado. The mixture seemed to be a kind of sweet cream, beneath which was situated a small bundle of mixed fruit. The treat was, on the whole, enjoyable, but it was not even remotely avocado-ish.
For desert we pigged out on flan. Brooke helped herself to some darker chocolate pudding, but I stuck to the classic desert. This was, thankfully, as I had anticipated. Firm gelatin, with dark, slightly bitter section on top, and a lighter, sweeter layer taking up the rest of the bottom. A pleasant meal-ender.
The waitress stopped by and tallied our dishes once we signaled our readiness to depart. I took a final swig of the complimentary green tea (power provided at the table, coupled with a hot water dispenser). Brooke and I paid, and were out again in the afternoon dusk. For those of you unaware, Japan does not adhere to the Daylight Savings Time system, rendering the days and nights completely vulnerable to the shifting lengths our ancestors experienced. As I write this, the difference in day length is staggering, but even as early in the fall as October, the shortening day was noticeable. It was scarcely past 2PM, and the sun was already in its decent.
We mounted our bikes and headed back toward home. We'd biked a solid 30 minutes north, but the trip felt a bit shorter on the way back. We stopped a few times to take in the Recycle shops that dotted to landscape. These media-saturated second hand stores are one of my favorite places, and they groan with loads of cheap games, music, and books.
Upon returning to City Hall, Brooke and I parted ways. She was off to her apartment, and I to mine. It was only around 3PM, but I felt quite tired. The lack of sleep the night before, coupled with the copious bike riding had drained my reserves. I vegged the rest of the day, fixing myself a batch of pasta for dinner, and saving the leftovers for my hike the next day. I finished the day with a bit of artwork; sketching onto one of the large format looseleaf pages I'd bought ages ago.
J176 Monday October 15th
The Hike! I was up at around 10AM and got ready. I packed my light jacket and my hat, my pasta for lunch, and topped off my Camelbak water bottle. I love that thing. I got off to a slightly late start. On the way out I heard the unmistakable sound of festival drums. The big shrine on Route 6, one of my favorite places in Hitachi, was having a small matsuri. I wasn't able to swing around front to see it, but I heard the merry, rhythmic taiko drums and the chaotic piping of flutes as I biked along the shrine's back wall.
I met M-sensei and K, our only other companion for the hike, in front of G-Bros. We took a few quick pictures, and set off. Our plan was to hike from Kamine Park, just north of Hitachi proper, all the way south to Ogistu, three or so stops south of Hitachi on the Joban train line.
We hiked along the road north, finding Kamine with little trouble. The path itself was somewhat difficult to discern, given that the map M-sensei had found was of somewhat blurry quality. We strode through the park, finding a few guide posts to show us the way. We came out the far side of the park, finding ourselves on a road I began to recognize. We passed a rather fancy looking golf course and found ourselves near the baseball field I'd climbed to during Golden Week, all those months ago. The field was empty, but in a nearby parking lot an old man was cleaning his car.
I was elected to ask for directions. The old man got the gist of what we were trying to do. He didn't show us where to go, though; he drove us there. He cleared out his back seat and drove us a good 10 minutes along the road we were on. At a small car park he pointed up a small set of steps set into the mountainside. That was the trail we were looking for. He pulled out a rather impressive atlas and calculated the rough travel times of our trip. He pointed out some landmarks, mostly peaks, that we'd see on our journey. Armed with our new information, we thanked him profusely.
Leaning up against the small wooden post fence that guarded the first few steps was a stout walking stick, a straight branch really. I laid claim to it after the other two declined, and we three set out...or should I say up?
Up we climbed, and then down. Up and down, so it went. Up hill and into dale. Over stone and root, but always we could find the trail. It was a well-maintained path through the hills and into the mountains, with sign posts every kilometer or so, or at any big branch or fork.
The mountains sighed with the wind as it blew through the rocks and trees. The sun, already beginning its decent, lay golden light all around us. The sounds of the city were quickly swallowed by the trees, and we were soon left in the silence of nature. We made our way up, some parts of the trail almost vertical. I was reminded of Mt. Fuji every once in a while, but the overall conditions were laughably easy compared to that behemoth.
Through gaps in the trees we could see the landscape beyond us. Grand vistas of thick woods lay all about us, shot through with artificial rivers of power lines and their towering supports. Several times, deep in the mountains and on side paths, we found evidence of previous habitation or structures. Like ancient ruins, slabs of concrete in odd shapes hunkered in the darkness beneath boughs. Vine-covered metal scaffolds spoke of old mines and digs, long abandoned. Occasionally we'd hear mournful squeaks through the trees, and found decaying metal skeletons. Their rusting parts rubbed together in the strong breeze, sending ghost sounds wafting through the wood.
Onward we forged, finding a small mountain top shrine. A short distance from it was a monitoring station of some kind, a concrete cube festooned with a small radio tower and a few power cables snaking off to attach a few clusters of scientific instruments. A few ominous concrete buildings were dug into the sides of small hillocks, but the station was quite unmanned. The shrine and weather station were perched atop a broad peak, overlooking one of the bigger valleys Hitachi was built into. I recognized it as the origin of the mountain road I'd followed deep into the hills during my Golden Week expeditions. Some 15 kilometers I'd hiked up a gravely road, past quarries and concrete dams, the dense, dark cedar forests looming to either side.
This world is so very beautiful, and I hope you realize that one day. Not to say that you don't already, but the beauty I speak of is something one can never finish appreciating.
We double-backed, unable to find the path where we were currently. Upon further review, we realized we'd gone off the major trail. Back on the correct path we headed west. Up a ways longer we found a small clearing, and decided to take in lunch. The sun was dipping low, but had still a few hours left in it. Our lunch was quiet, cool breezes ruffling our clothes and hair as we ate.
On again we trod, not thrilled about being stuck in the mountains after dark. After another half hour or so of climbing, we came upon a sheer, stony mountain peak. We took a short detour to scale it's backside, finding ourselves on one of the higher peaks of the mountains. Before us, laid out like some grand-scale map, was the mountain country of Japan. From the north to the south rolled the broad bases of the mountains. Atop them jutted the massive peaks, rocky but still clad in dense forests. A few roads crisscrossed the wooded mountains, and here and there a building glinted in the setting light. The sky was a brooding mix of gray and gold as the sun began its final arc downward, casting bright amber light through the wispy edges of massive cloud forms.
We shouldered on after taking a few snapshots. We'd lost the trail for a few minutes, but a quick scamper up the side of a mountain we found our way again. After another long ascent we began to hear an odd humming, grinding noise. As we continued down the trail, it got louder and louder. We spied a tall tower in the distance, atop which lay a Doppler dome. Next to it we saw a cell tower. We'd come across one of the last landmarks of our journey. The setting sun's rays were dimming by the minute, and we dallied for only a moment. The towers were accompanied by a rest stop; a small stand of toilets, a viewing platform, and a map. The map was a work of art, hand-crafted by scorching and painting the smooth-sanded surface of a broad slab of wood. We recognized the paths we'd been braving, and puzzled out the correct path to continue down.
We marched on, a quicker pace than before: the darkening sky and downhill grade contributing greatly to our speed. The woods pressed again around us, blocking much of the sunlight and plunging our trek into early twilight. Along ridges and the mouths of steep, tree-filled valleys we walked, catching sight of vital signs and other tools to help hikers. Twice we used ropes and chains tied to trees to descend steep segments of the paths. I gave silent thanks to the kind souls who had left them for us, not knowing how we could have safely gotten down on our own.
We passed above a paved road after what felt like ages. The path we were on skirted the edges of a mined-out quarry, though no cars passed along the asphalt below. The sky was nearing proper twilight, and our daytime was measured in tens of minutes, rather than hours. M-sensei took point, he possessing the best night vision between the three of us.
Into the woods we plunged in single file, barely able to see the companion in front of us. I was in the middle, with K behind me. Our way was brisk, but more than a few times we stopped to prevent tragedy by way of misplaced step on a precarious mountain path.
As we neared one of the next landmarks, an East-West connector road, we all began to contemplate the cessation of our hike. Our destination was still a good hour off, and the path was becoming impossible to navigate safely. M-sensei declared a moratorium on any such talk until we reached the road, though. After a harrowing half hour in almost total darkness, we hopped down a short ridge to find ourselves on Road 36.
Before us lay a long fence, beyond which we knew was a golf course. Behind us lay the mountains we'd just crossed through. To the east lay, eventually, Hitachi-Taga, and to our west were the unknown mountain lands of Japan. The team agreed that it was too dark to continue, so we looked for a way to get back home.
My suggestions of following the road were voted down, given the suicidal lack of a pedestrian lane, and the curiously regular volume of vehicular traffic. The darkness only added to the potential lethality. We headed into the golf course, walking along its main road, hoping to find another road on the far side to follow into town. We reached the club house after a few minutes and saw a few lights burning. We looked around for the course's road, but found that we had hit a dead end.
About this time one of the caretakers poked his head out of the window and asked what we were doing. Again I was volunteered to talk, and told the man about our situation. We'd walked through the mountains and were trying to get back to Hitachi. By now the entire caretaker staff, some five souls, had converged on the location where this was happening. He and the rest of the staff put their heads together, and after a few seconds deliberation, two of them offered to drive us back to Hitachi.
We couldn't believe our luck, and accepted with many thanks. A small sedan was wheeled around, driven by a young man who spoke a bit of English. An older gentleman rode shotgun, and we three hikers piled into the back seat. We set off down Road 36, eastward, into the city. Our kind benefactors had intended to take us all the way back to Hitachi, but we three agreed such kindness, though very thoughtful, was not needed. I managed to determine our location as being very close to Hitachi-Taga station, and requested we be dropped off there. A few minutes later, we arrived at the station. I snapped a quick picture of our drivers, and after another round of astonished thanks, we parted ways.
We purchased tickets for the next northbound train and waited for it to arrive. The night was quite deep now, and cool. The train came soon enough, and we got back to Hitachi without trouble.
I took a cab back home, not trusting my weary legs to hold out for the walk home. Besides, I'd left my bike at home that morning. Minutes later I trudged my way up the stairs of my apartment building. The shower I took was sinfully hot, filling my cold flesh with delicious, soothing warmth.
I haven't slept so well in many, many months.
I had some trouble sleeping, so I got up early. That happens sometimes. I decided to get started on the G.R.E. application process, so I did some Internet gumshoe work. I had emailed the American offices of E.I.S., the company that creates and grades the G.R.E. Their response told me to get in touch with a Japanese company called C.I.E.E., claiming that this company was the one who administered the test here in Japan. I called C.I.E.E., but they said that I had to call E.T.S.
I was not amused.
To compound my lack of enthusiasm was the impending pre-work task. Or should I say task what involved me getting to work earlier than normal. Today I was to help hand out fliers at Ibaraki University, Ibadai to the locals. It's not the most exhilarating job in the world, but it's work outside the office in the fresh air, which is always nice. I met M-sensei, my coworker, and K-sensei, our manager, at the office. We piled into K-sensei's car and were off.
Ibadai is one of several branches of the local University system in Japan. I don't know how it works, or what sorts of classes they offer, but the students there always seem very...serious. I don't know how else to put it. Many are dour, most are very closed off. Handing out fliers here always takes a while, 'cause many of them just ignore you or, quite literally, run away from you. Or run past you.
Two or so hours of passive aggressive fun later, we were finished, and headed back to the office. Upon returning to the office my mood brightened considerably. I was delighted to find that I a) had only one class that day and b) had a 2-hour break. Normally I have an hour to do with what I please, the rest of my day is spent teaching or in office hours. So large a break was stupendously rare.
I headed home for lunch, making a quick detour to purchase a new ink cartridge for my printer. I had to print out another math study guide for the G.R.E. and I didn't want to run out of ink.
I had lunch at home, another rarity, and enjoyed the fruits of the Internets. The rest of the day was spent folding copious amounts of fliers and, of course, teaching. In the evening I biked home and went for another jog. The cooler air worries me somewhat, my asthma being aggravated by cold air, but I've held it together so far. That may change in the coming months.
J171 Wednesday October 10th
My morning Internet session was graced with a twofold conversation with Peter, a fraternity brother of mine, and my little (biological) brother E.J. They both had undergone an interview with E.A., a video game giant of America, and were both excited about the prospect of getting their internships there for the coming summer. I told them both how proud I was of them, and I wished them luck in their endeavors.
I tried to print out the new math guide from the G.R.E. website, but my printer developed a stupidity complex. It started to print pages out of order, and I decided to call it quits before I wasted any more paper. I would fix the problem tonight, after work.
I had to head in early again, 'cause we were handing out fliers...again. Although today was to be at a different school: Ibaraki Christian University. I'd never been before, so I didn't know what to expect. I met K-sensei and M-sensei at the office, and we hopped the train south. The day was pleasant; still a little warm with a nice breeze, and a beautiful clear blue sky.
Ibaraki Christian is a beautiful campus. It reminded me a lot of my alma mater, Georgia Tech, actually. Plenty of trees and bushes, lots of college-style buildings, but with the well-used, semi-decay aesthetic that is the Japanese hallmark. The greatest part, though, was the students; they're so much less serious!
They laugh and smile! They don't run away from you! They practice their English with you! And best of all, they take what you are handing out. Remember how it took 2 hours to hand out the fliers the day before at Ibadai? We were done in 30 minutes at I.C.U. Also, the ratio? Had to have been 5:1, women to men. Astounding.
The difference between those two colleges, so very close geographically speaking, was astounding. It requires further contemplation on my behalf.
Back at work I had another big break. I had an interview with a prospective student, which went well. I decided to use my break to pick up some gaming supplies. I hopped on the train, southbound, for Hitachi-Taga, home of the fantasy land that is WonderGoo. I purchased a 360 headset, to be used with Halo 3's multiplayer, and a small internet hub, to be used so my laptop and 360 can be connected to the 'net at the same time.
I made it back to the station to catch the next train north to Hitachi. I got back to the office with minutes to spare, but it had been a break well-spent. The rest of the day, 4 classes in a row, went by quickly enough. I sped home, eager to try out my new toys.
The hub worked instantly. I wasn't particularly worried; it's like the stone wheel of computer technology. Cable A goes in slot 1, Cable B goes in slot 2, plug the power chord into the wall, and bam. If that doesn't work, something is wrong on a level more fundamental than most people can troubleshoot at home.
The headset was a different story. It's wireless, and has no battery slot. It came with a USB power chord (!) to recharge it. It didn't have a factory charge, so I plugged it in and let it juice up overnight.
J172 Thursday October 11th
A lite day, but it still felt kind of long. In the morning I experimented with the headset a little before work. Like all other wireless peripherals it must 'synch' with the mother console. I thought I'd synched it, but the little thing just didn't appear to transmit audio in either direction.
I put that aside to tackle my new math practice book-in-the-making. The previous day had yielded me a stack of single-sided pages. These were to be turned over and re-inserted into my printer's paper try to turn them into two-sided book pages. Somehow my printer was expressing constant paper tray errors, and during the previous day's printing session had begun to print a few pages out of sequence.
I sorted the correct pages from the erroneous, as well as the one-siders that were still usable. Patience, above all, saw me with a stack of correctly printed pages after the better part of an hour. I reverently packed them and my Utility Ball o' Twine into my bag and set out for work.
I only had two or three classes today, giving me ample time to hole punch and bind my newly minted math book. It isn't terribly thick, about 30 or so pages total. I'd learned a few lessons binding its smaller sibling the previous week, and the binding process was much faster and sturdier.
J173 Friday October 12th
Busy. Freaking. Day.
A full 6 classes, 3 in the morning, 3 in the evening, with two hours between. I hit the books during my lunch and office hours, flexing my super-rusty math neurons. And I do mean rusty. The guide is really quite good; it breaks down the math questions on the G.R.E. into their component parts. It provides an excellent, comprehensive math review that's not too dense, nor is it too verbose. It's a superbly crafted work, and I'd love to thank the author.
That being said, my performance today was...sub-par. Not horrible; I actually liked math way back when. I just haven't used that part of my brain in years.
Somewhere during all that neurochemical defrosting was a call from Brooke, the new Kiwi (New Zealander) teacher. She wanted to get sushi some time during the weekend. M-sensei had mentioned wanting to go hiking this weekend into the mountains. I'd love to do both, but currently they both want to do it on Sunday. Plans must needs change.
I ended the day with a bit of Halo 3 multiplayer. It's been a while since I've enjoyed multiplayer FPS gameplay, and I forgot how therapeutic it could be. Not that I'd been containing a murderous tide within, but decompression via Team Slayer versus, say, just surfing the Internet for a few hours, is a different experience. Gaming was, and still is, an important part of my life. My hiatus from it has been very interesting, not unlike a scientist taking sabbatical from his or her research. I approach it with a different viewpoint than I had before.
J174 Saturday October 13th
Up early for another busy Saturday. Saturdays are sort of like running a marathon; exhausting, but they let you know you're still alive, man.
During my brief breaks I brainstormed with M-sensei about weekend plans. The hike was moved to Monday, and my sushi lunch with Brooke was confirmed for Sunday.
The work day came and went. On my way home I stopped by Ito Yokado for much-needed groceries. I met Claire inside, and we chatted a while about the NOVA situation. The company has been having some trouble. NOVA, like my company, pays rent for its foreign staff. The amount is deducted from our paychecks at the end of every month. It's terribly convenient, but in the case of NOVA, replete with many financial woes, this means that the rent isn't getting paid. Furthermore, it would seem that the company hasn't been paying their Japanese staff, opting instead to spend what little cash they're making on foreign staff salaries. Things are not looking good for NOVA.
Bidding the bonny Scottish lass farewell, I headed back to the homestead, and I relished my pre-G-Bros home time. I was dozing lightly at my computer when I felt a rather intense earthquake. I heard it before I felt it, but when it came it was like a fist smashing into my apartment. One big lurch, then nothing. At first I thought I'd dreamed it, but I heard all my stuff rattling, and saw various objects rocking back and forth.
The regular gang was at G-Bros. A 'new' teacher, named J, was around. I say 'new' 'cause he's been in Japan for a few months, but has never come to Hitachi before today. He's with Interact, the JET-like private company, the same one Josh and Daniel, two of my D&D players, work for.
No one had felt the earthquake. Not surprising; for such large events they can be oddly localized. My weekly beer and chat time was pleasant, but my plans for the next day called me home at a reasonable hour. I then proceeded to play Halo 3 until 5AM. I like gaming, what can I say?
J175 Sunday October 14th
Amazingly, I was up at 9AM. Powering up the trusty laptop, I noticed E.J. was online. We chatted for a while, but then I had the crazy idea of using GoogleTalk to...talk...with him. We geared up our headsets and were soon chatting with Google's own free VoIP service. For the better part of an hour we talked. Many subjects, personal and public, we discussed.
We both needed to head our separate ways after a while, and we bid one another farewell. I showered and headed over to City Hall, where Brooke and I had said we'd rendezvous for our sushi. The day was a bit cooler than I'd planned, but nothing I wasn't used to. I got to the City Hall first, but a few minutes found Brooke there, too. She lead the way on her bike, and we set off north, in search of sushi.
Up and up and up we biked, up the gentle foothills that Hitachi was carved into. Uphill biking is rarely easy, but the best rewards are when one reaches the top. Brooke and I delighted in gravity-assisted acceleration. ZOOOOOOOOOOM! Nothing is quite like the rush of speed one gets on a bicycle. Maybe it's the closeness of the mechanism, the bare-bones quality, or the fact that one is not in a car-shaped shell, but damn if it doesn't feel five times faster when you're careening downhill at a solid 40 kph.
We finally got to Kappa Zushi, our destination. Kappa Zushi is a chain of conveyor belt sushi restaurants, with a layout and general atmosphere akin to a Denny's or Shoney's at home. It was a little crowded, and most of the crowd was family. Brooke and I were subject to many young children's open-mouthed wonder, which only made us smile. One little girl we saw had hair so long it would have dragged the ground, were it not gathered in a ponytail high on her head first.
We got a booth to ourselves and tucked in. Conveyor belt sushi is very much what it sounds like; there is a kitchen in the back of the restaurant where chefs churn out a never ending supply of sushi. The dishes are placed on a series of slow-moving conveyor belts that loop between a double row of booths. If you see a piece of sushi you want, you take it from the belt and chow down. You save your plates, stacking them toward the far end of your table.
There was a second belt, situated above the slower belt, which could be used for special orders. Want something that isn't showing up on the normal belt? A special desert, or more expensive kind of sushi? Just tap your order in on the touchpad above the table, and in a few minutes your order will zip along the upper belt straight to your table. Unload your dishes and hit the 'return' button before digging in, though, to send the little trays back.
Thanks to the exercise of the bike ride here, I wasn't terribly hungry. I put away 6 dishes of sushi (2 pieces each). We ordered some special things, though. I got a slice of melon, quite delicious. We tried something called an "avocado tortilla". Another cautionary tale, gentle reader: the Japanese do not appear to know what "avocado" is. Oh, certainly, one can find the buttery, rough-skinned fruit in some stores. But what we got was not derived in any way from that same species of plant matter.
Perched atop the two plates we got on the fast track were little tortillas. They were filled with a thick green paste, which we assumed was mashed avocado. I bit heartily into mine, but was soon set upon by sweetness, rather than the buttery smoothness one normally associates with avocado. The mixture seemed to be a kind of sweet cream, beneath which was situated a small bundle of mixed fruit. The treat was, on the whole, enjoyable, but it was not even remotely avocado-ish.
For desert we pigged out on flan. Brooke helped herself to some darker chocolate pudding, but I stuck to the classic desert. This was, thankfully, as I had anticipated. Firm gelatin, with dark, slightly bitter section on top, and a lighter, sweeter layer taking up the rest of the bottom. A pleasant meal-ender.
The waitress stopped by and tallied our dishes once we signaled our readiness to depart. I took a final swig of the complimentary green tea (power provided at the table, coupled with a hot water dispenser). Brooke and I paid, and were out again in the afternoon dusk. For those of you unaware, Japan does not adhere to the Daylight Savings Time system, rendering the days and nights completely vulnerable to the shifting lengths our ancestors experienced. As I write this, the difference in day length is staggering, but even as early in the fall as October, the shortening day was noticeable. It was scarcely past 2PM, and the sun was already in its decent.
We mounted our bikes and headed back toward home. We'd biked a solid 30 minutes north, but the trip felt a bit shorter on the way back. We stopped a few times to take in the Recycle shops that dotted to landscape. These media-saturated second hand stores are one of my favorite places, and they groan with loads of cheap games, music, and books.
Upon returning to City Hall, Brooke and I parted ways. She was off to her apartment, and I to mine. It was only around 3PM, but I felt quite tired. The lack of sleep the night before, coupled with the copious bike riding had drained my reserves. I vegged the rest of the day, fixing myself a batch of pasta for dinner, and saving the leftovers for my hike the next day. I finished the day with a bit of artwork; sketching onto one of the large format looseleaf pages I'd bought ages ago.
J176 Monday October 15th
The Hike! I was up at around 10AM and got ready. I packed my light jacket and my hat, my pasta for lunch, and topped off my Camelbak water bottle. I love that thing. I got off to a slightly late start. On the way out I heard the unmistakable sound of festival drums. The big shrine on Route 6, one of my favorite places in Hitachi, was having a small matsuri. I wasn't able to swing around front to see it, but I heard the merry, rhythmic taiko drums and the chaotic piping of flutes as I biked along the shrine's back wall.
I met M-sensei and K, our only other companion for the hike, in front of G-Bros. We took a few quick pictures, and set off. Our plan was to hike from Kamine Park, just north of Hitachi proper, all the way south to Ogistu, three or so stops south of Hitachi on the Joban train line.
We hiked along the road north, finding Kamine with little trouble. The path itself was somewhat difficult to discern, given that the map M-sensei had found was of somewhat blurry quality. We strode through the park, finding a few guide posts to show us the way. We came out the far side of the park, finding ourselves on a road I began to recognize. We passed a rather fancy looking golf course and found ourselves near the baseball field I'd climbed to during Golden Week, all those months ago. The field was empty, but in a nearby parking lot an old man was cleaning his car.
I was elected to ask for directions. The old man got the gist of what we were trying to do. He didn't show us where to go, though; he drove us there. He cleared out his back seat and drove us a good 10 minutes along the road we were on. At a small car park he pointed up a small set of steps set into the mountainside. That was the trail we were looking for. He pulled out a rather impressive atlas and calculated the rough travel times of our trip. He pointed out some landmarks, mostly peaks, that we'd see on our journey. Armed with our new information, we thanked him profusely.
Leaning up against the small wooden post fence that guarded the first few steps was a stout walking stick, a straight branch really. I laid claim to it after the other two declined, and we three set out...or should I say up?
Up we climbed, and then down. Up and down, so it went. Up hill and into dale. Over stone and root, but always we could find the trail. It was a well-maintained path through the hills and into the mountains, with sign posts every kilometer or so, or at any big branch or fork.
The mountains sighed with the wind as it blew through the rocks and trees. The sun, already beginning its decent, lay golden light all around us. The sounds of the city were quickly swallowed by the trees, and we were soon left in the silence of nature. We made our way up, some parts of the trail almost vertical. I was reminded of Mt. Fuji every once in a while, but the overall conditions were laughably easy compared to that behemoth.
Through gaps in the trees we could see the landscape beyond us. Grand vistas of thick woods lay all about us, shot through with artificial rivers of power lines and their towering supports. Several times, deep in the mountains and on side paths, we found evidence of previous habitation or structures. Like ancient ruins, slabs of concrete in odd shapes hunkered in the darkness beneath boughs. Vine-covered metal scaffolds spoke of old mines and digs, long abandoned. Occasionally we'd hear mournful squeaks through the trees, and found decaying metal skeletons. Their rusting parts rubbed together in the strong breeze, sending ghost sounds wafting through the wood.
Onward we forged, finding a small mountain top shrine. A short distance from it was a monitoring station of some kind, a concrete cube festooned with a small radio tower and a few power cables snaking off to attach a few clusters of scientific instruments. A few ominous concrete buildings were dug into the sides of small hillocks, but the station was quite unmanned. The shrine and weather station were perched atop a broad peak, overlooking one of the bigger valleys Hitachi was built into. I recognized it as the origin of the mountain road I'd followed deep into the hills during my Golden Week expeditions. Some 15 kilometers I'd hiked up a gravely road, past quarries and concrete dams, the dense, dark cedar forests looming to either side.
This world is so very beautiful, and I hope you realize that one day. Not to say that you don't already, but the beauty I speak of is something one can never finish appreciating.
We double-backed, unable to find the path where we were currently. Upon further review, we realized we'd gone off the major trail. Back on the correct path we headed west. Up a ways longer we found a small clearing, and decided to take in lunch. The sun was dipping low, but had still a few hours left in it. Our lunch was quiet, cool breezes ruffling our clothes and hair as we ate.
On again we trod, not thrilled about being stuck in the mountains after dark. After another half hour or so of climbing, we came upon a sheer, stony mountain peak. We took a short detour to scale it's backside, finding ourselves on one of the higher peaks of the mountains. Before us, laid out like some grand-scale map, was the mountain country of Japan. From the north to the south rolled the broad bases of the mountains. Atop them jutted the massive peaks, rocky but still clad in dense forests. A few roads crisscrossed the wooded mountains, and here and there a building glinted in the setting light. The sky was a brooding mix of gray and gold as the sun began its final arc downward, casting bright amber light through the wispy edges of massive cloud forms.
We shouldered on after taking a few snapshots. We'd lost the trail for a few minutes, but a quick scamper up the side of a mountain we found our way again. After another long ascent we began to hear an odd humming, grinding noise. As we continued down the trail, it got louder and louder. We spied a tall tower in the distance, atop which lay a Doppler dome. Next to it we saw a cell tower. We'd come across one of the last landmarks of our journey. The setting sun's rays were dimming by the minute, and we dallied for only a moment. The towers were accompanied by a rest stop; a small stand of toilets, a viewing platform, and a map. The map was a work of art, hand-crafted by scorching and painting the smooth-sanded surface of a broad slab of wood. We recognized the paths we'd been braving, and puzzled out the correct path to continue down.
We marched on, a quicker pace than before: the darkening sky and downhill grade contributing greatly to our speed. The woods pressed again around us, blocking much of the sunlight and plunging our trek into early twilight. Along ridges and the mouths of steep, tree-filled valleys we walked, catching sight of vital signs and other tools to help hikers. Twice we used ropes and chains tied to trees to descend steep segments of the paths. I gave silent thanks to the kind souls who had left them for us, not knowing how we could have safely gotten down on our own.
We passed above a paved road after what felt like ages. The path we were on skirted the edges of a mined-out quarry, though no cars passed along the asphalt below. The sky was nearing proper twilight, and our daytime was measured in tens of minutes, rather than hours. M-sensei took point, he possessing the best night vision between the three of us.
Into the woods we plunged in single file, barely able to see the companion in front of us. I was in the middle, with K behind me. Our way was brisk, but more than a few times we stopped to prevent tragedy by way of misplaced step on a precarious mountain path.
As we neared one of the next landmarks, an East-West connector road, we all began to contemplate the cessation of our hike. Our destination was still a good hour off, and the path was becoming impossible to navigate safely. M-sensei declared a moratorium on any such talk until we reached the road, though. After a harrowing half hour in almost total darkness, we hopped down a short ridge to find ourselves on Road 36.
Before us lay a long fence, beyond which we knew was a golf course. Behind us lay the mountains we'd just crossed through. To the east lay, eventually, Hitachi-Taga, and to our west were the unknown mountain lands of Japan. The team agreed that it was too dark to continue, so we looked for a way to get back home.
My suggestions of following the road were voted down, given the suicidal lack of a pedestrian lane, and the curiously regular volume of vehicular traffic. The darkness only added to the potential lethality. We headed into the golf course, walking along its main road, hoping to find another road on the far side to follow into town. We reached the club house after a few minutes and saw a few lights burning. We looked around for the course's road, but found that we had hit a dead end.
About this time one of the caretakers poked his head out of the window and asked what we were doing. Again I was volunteered to talk, and told the man about our situation. We'd walked through the mountains and were trying to get back to Hitachi. By now the entire caretaker staff, some five souls, had converged on the location where this was happening. He and the rest of the staff put their heads together, and after a few seconds deliberation, two of them offered to drive us back to Hitachi.
We couldn't believe our luck, and accepted with many thanks. A small sedan was wheeled around, driven by a young man who spoke a bit of English. An older gentleman rode shotgun, and we three hikers piled into the back seat. We set off down Road 36, eastward, into the city. Our kind benefactors had intended to take us all the way back to Hitachi, but we three agreed such kindness, though very thoughtful, was not needed. I managed to determine our location as being very close to Hitachi-Taga station, and requested we be dropped off there. A few minutes later, we arrived at the station. I snapped a quick picture of our drivers, and after another round of astonished thanks, we parted ways.
We purchased tickets for the next northbound train and waited for it to arrive. The night was quite deep now, and cool. The train came soon enough, and we got back to Hitachi without trouble.
I took a cab back home, not trusting my weary legs to hold out for the walk home. Besides, I'd left my bike at home that morning. Minutes later I trudged my way up the stairs of my apartment building. The shower I took was sinfully hot, filling my cold flesh with delicious, soothing warmth.
I haven't slept so well in many, many months.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
wow, I really am behind on all this...
J163 Tuesday October 2nd
I was up at 11. The perpetual nap in the van the day before had done wonders for my overall energy level, and even my plentiful rounds of Halo 3 Multiplayer didn't drain my reserves.
I printed out the first study guide issued by E.T.S., makers of the G.R.E. exam. They provide a staggering amount of help materials for those who would take their test, materials I plan to use to study my heart out before December. I still need to register for the test...
The study guide is a lithe 20 pages or so, but it's the initial one. I printed it single-sided and took the pages, and a big roll of twine my Dad and brother sent me, in to work. It was a slow Tuesday, the best kind, one where I only had 2 classes, both in the evening.
Most of the day was spent in the break room. I worked some magic with a two-hole punch and a ruler, I made a series of holes in the stack of paper I'd brought with me. One deceptively long piece of twine, an hour, and a ton of geometrical thinking later, I held aloft my freshly-bound study guide. Zelda style. 'Cause that's how I roll.
For my break I decided to buy some paper at Ito Yokado. I'd been on the lookout for a new bag, something more satchel-like than my single-strap backpack. It was nice, and had served me well on Fuji and beyond, but it lacked in my one true vice - pockets. The poor thing only had two pockets, woefully inadequate given my mildly O.C.D. impulse to categorize everything I own. (For a real brain-twister, consider the fact that my apartment is still a mess)
There is a sizable bag shop on the first floor of I.Y., one that I will browse through every month or so. Today, I hit the jackpot. The only one of its kind, it hung from a display tree like a ripe pear. Light green, made of what felt to be agitated canvas, studded with brass rivets and snaps, and above all composed almost entirely of pockets. This was my bag. It was a bit pricey, about $40, but I considered it worth it. Not too big, not too small. Just right. I donned my new purchase at the counter, eliciting a smile from the shop keep, but they were quite all right with it.
I crossed the plaza and went up to the Daiso/Stationary level. The Daiso is a chain of 100 yen shops. Across the escalator-dominated core of the building from The Daiso is a stationary store. This floor is what I imagine the afterlife to be.
I picked up a ream of white printer paper, A4 sized, for my printer. E.T.S. had a bigger, math-focused study guide on their site that I intended to print as soon as I could, but my supply of papyrus was dangerously low at home. On the way back I met a student of mine who was out with a friend of hers. Meeting students in public is always a comedic situation. It's as if they believe I don't exist outside of the class room. That I have some sort of chamber in the school within which I recharge every night. Perhaps I sleep in one of the underused rooms? I could easily live off of the convenience food in the Lawson's next door.
Anyway, this has gone on far too long for a simple Tuesday. Sufficed to say, it was a good day. Little else of consequence happened beyond the acquisition of a Totally Sweet Bag.
J164 Wednesday October 3rd.
GAH.
Long day. 5 classes, the last 4 in the 4-hour block o' doom at the end of the day. Wednesdays kind of suck. Not in a horrible way, but a muuuuuuuuughrlgh way. One fantastically awesome ray of sunshine broke through the day, though, and that was the package that I got in the mail.
My Mom and sister had joined forces to send me a birthday package of extraordinary magnitude. I used my break time to dash to the post office and retrieve it. It appeared to be the victim of a (non-Psi U!) fraternity hazing, but it had survived. It could strut down the street, bearing its crumpled corners with pride, a young FedEx package on its arm, the envy of every DHL letter-sized envelope that saw it.
I crammed it into my bike's basket and made my way back to work. I wanted to wait 'till I got home to open it, dreading the bike ride home with a box the size of my (manly, hairy) chest open to the elements. But, then again, it was a package from home. I settled into my chair in the break room and quietly sliced the packing tape securing the crumpled corner. I pried the box apart as far as the cardboard would allow and took a peek inside.
Shirts! Yay! What could be ties, double yay! Something glittering gold in the artificial twilight...a word? The title of a hardback book? The word...."Red"? My mind went through a curious game of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. My sister loves books. I bought her a copy of The Lies of Locke Lamora last year as a gift. She loved it, and vowed to buy them all. The next book in the series was titled Red Seas Under Red Skies.
I needed to get that book in my dirty little hands now.
My pocket knife made quick work of the tape the package could afford to lose. A quick struggle with the laws of physics, and the tome was mine to behold. A ship, aflame, beneath firestorm-black clouds. A city, golden (but due to flames of rebellion or the gild of fortune?) shone in the background. The title glittered in faux-gold, stamped in historical strokes. It was, indeed, the book I thought it was to be.
The rest of my break saw me absorbed in the book. It was delicious. It satisfied a thirst I had thought long-forgotten.
As an indication as to how this whole thing works, the last day's material, Wednesdays, was only two lines in my paper journal.
J165 Thursday October 4th
Understand, readers, that I cannot tell you everything that happens in my life while I live it here. I am bound by many contracts, legal and social, to keep certain events and information under wraps. I do not betray any oath I have sworn by telling you I have, and keep, them, but it is something you should consider.
The events of today were...something upon which I shall meditate for quite some time.
J166 Friday October 5th
A busy day. Another 4-hour deathblock of classes. That's two in a week, for those of you playing the home version of our game. Red Seas did a good job of soothing my hurts, though. It is a cool balm, a raging storm, a lagoon of clarity, a karst of inescapable darkness. It is, in a word, awesome.
After work I joined Josh at B.B.A. I was originally only there to drop off the first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3, but hunger and need of the relaxing properties of alcohol won me over. I dined on salmon pasta and enjoyed a cool Asahi Super Dry. On the B.B.A.'s PS3, the only one I've seen outside of Akihabara in Japan, was a Gundam fighting game. I played a few rounds after consuming my dinner, but I knew I had to move along. Tomorrow was a Saturday, and that's never easy.
J167 Saturday October 6th
A busy day. 3 in a row, then 4. I made a bit of a mix up toward the end of the day; teaching with the wrong materials for one class. Luckily I did some student swapping fu and managed to fix the situation, but it was a bit of a shaky day for me. I tried to rest after work as best I could, but found little succor in the Internet.
I headed out to G-Bros for a drink and company, but little was going on there. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the week-reviews of my compatriots. The teachers for the biggest English school in Japan, Nova, are reporting some odd goings on. Claire and Genie's rent hasn't been paid for the month yet. I have a bad feeling about this. I distributed CDs full of photos, taken by the Crescent staff and given to myself and M-sensei at work, to those who had gone diving a week before.
New in the bar was a rather tall woman. Blonde. She was a new teacher to the area, working with what she said (if I remember correctly, I'm not really sure) was a branch of the government. She wasn't a JET, though, that was for sure. Her name was Brooke, and she was from New Zealand. We welcomed her to the gang, though the energy level for the bar in general was pretty low. The gang left, and I stayed a while to chat with the newcomer. She'd been a teacher in Japan before, but left for home for reasons. She was back again, hardly a week in the Land of the Rising Sun this time 'round.
After a short while I doffed my non-existent cap and powered my way back home. I enjoyed Halo 3, the first time in days, until 3:30 AM. Good times.
J168 Sunday October 7th
This was a terribly lazy day. Chatted online with friends, poked around the Internet. Played more Halo 3. I did some cleaning and straightening and made a nice dinner. D&D was the next day, and I did some prepwork for it. I sketched a dungeon, figuring the second adventure was good enough time as any to introduce the party to the eponymous subterranean architectural design philosophy. Man, I love my vocabulary. Eponymous!
J169 Monday October 8th
Today was to be an epic D&D game, despite a few setbacks. K was unable to make it, denying us our normal play space of GEOS. Over fresh bowls of ramen, the group determined Big Echo, one of the nicer karaoke places in town (and literally next door to the ramen shop we were eating at) would suit our needs nicely.
We had a new player, Daniel, a newcomer from Canada. Amazingly, he had actually played 3rd Edition D&D before! He threw dice with friends in college, and though they never got beyond 3rd level, he knows the basics. Oh, the joys of not having to explain the basic concept of "roleplaying" to a player!
We booked a room for 3 hours at a reasonable price. Karaoke, for those of you who don't know, includes a rainbow of free drinks and somewhat affordable room service. We discovered the power switches to the T.V. and stereo system, and after closing the door we found the room to be quite sound-proof. The occasional thump of bass or vocal twang would sneak through, but we were the only ones on the floor. Our complimentary glasses never emptied of the free-flowing slushies the drink bar sported, and soon after we started gaming a steady stream of consumables were ferried to our room by a cute waitress.
The game itself went very well. I'm finding my DM's legs again, and find a group of, essentially, newbies to be quite fun to game with. Some of them are really settling into their party roles, while others are still taking their time. Still, no inter-party conflicts have arisen, which I find to be nothing short of miraculous.
Masaki brought a large dry-erase battle mat, printed with a massive grid of inch-a-side squares and protected from food and drink by flexible plastic. It is an invaluable gaming tool, and made communicating battle information super easy.
Toward the end of the adventure things got a bit combat-heavy, but no one complained. Nick decided to stay past Last Train, opting to spend the night at the local branch of Toyoko Inn, a national hotel chain of good reputation. We played until 11PM. The cost was a bit pricey, but when you factor in the utter privacy, the climate control, the food, and the free drinks, it was a hell of a deal.
After getting home I painted a little. An idea had been brewing in my head, a clever (to me, at least) application of tape to blank canvas, so as to crease a mask atop which one would paint. Removing the tape produces a preternaturally straight, clean, line of unpainted canvas. I was happy with the results, though I'm sure the idea can be further evolved.
Once again, I put in a few hours of Halo 3. I've noticed some rather awful graphical glitches, coming from my system hardware, rather than the game itself. Power cycling (turning it off and then on) will fix the problem...usually...but this evening it took me 4 tries to do it. Worrisome.
I was up at 11. The perpetual nap in the van the day before had done wonders for my overall energy level, and even my plentiful rounds of Halo 3 Multiplayer didn't drain my reserves.
I printed out the first study guide issued by E.T.S., makers of the G.R.E. exam. They provide a staggering amount of help materials for those who would take their test, materials I plan to use to study my heart out before December. I still need to register for the test...
The study guide is a lithe 20 pages or so, but it's the initial one. I printed it single-sided and took the pages, and a big roll of twine my Dad and brother sent me, in to work. It was a slow Tuesday, the best kind, one where I only had 2 classes, both in the evening.
Most of the day was spent in the break room. I worked some magic with a two-hole punch and a ruler, I made a series of holes in the stack of paper I'd brought with me. One deceptively long piece of twine, an hour, and a ton of geometrical thinking later, I held aloft my freshly-bound study guide. Zelda style. 'Cause that's how I roll.
For my break I decided to buy some paper at Ito Yokado. I'd been on the lookout for a new bag, something more satchel-like than my single-strap backpack. It was nice, and had served me well on Fuji and beyond, but it lacked in my one true vice - pockets. The poor thing only had two pockets, woefully inadequate given my mildly O.C.D. impulse to categorize everything I own. (For a real brain-twister, consider the fact that my apartment is still a mess)
There is a sizable bag shop on the first floor of I.Y., one that I will browse through every month or so. Today, I hit the jackpot. The only one of its kind, it hung from a display tree like a ripe pear. Light green, made of what felt to be agitated canvas, studded with brass rivets and snaps, and above all composed almost entirely of pockets. This was my bag. It was a bit pricey, about $40, but I considered it worth it. Not too big, not too small. Just right. I donned my new purchase at the counter, eliciting a smile from the shop keep, but they were quite all right with it.
I crossed the plaza and went up to the Daiso/Stationary level. The Daiso is a chain of 100 yen shops. Across the escalator-dominated core of the building from The Daiso is a stationary store. This floor is what I imagine the afterlife to be.
I picked up a ream of white printer paper, A4 sized, for my printer. E.T.S. had a bigger, math-focused study guide on their site that I intended to print as soon as I could, but my supply of papyrus was dangerously low at home. On the way back I met a student of mine who was out with a friend of hers. Meeting students in public is always a comedic situation. It's as if they believe I don't exist outside of the class room. That I have some sort of chamber in the school within which I recharge every night. Perhaps I sleep in one of the underused rooms? I could easily live off of the convenience food in the Lawson's next door.
Anyway, this has gone on far too long for a simple Tuesday. Sufficed to say, it was a good day. Little else of consequence happened beyond the acquisition of a Totally Sweet Bag.
J164 Wednesday October 3rd.
GAH.
Long day. 5 classes, the last 4 in the 4-hour block o' doom at the end of the day. Wednesdays kind of suck. Not in a horrible way, but a muuuuuuuuughrlgh way. One fantastically awesome ray of sunshine broke through the day, though, and that was the package that I got in the mail.
My Mom and sister had joined forces to send me a birthday package of extraordinary magnitude. I used my break time to dash to the post office and retrieve it. It appeared to be the victim of a (non-Psi U!) fraternity hazing, but it had survived. It could strut down the street, bearing its crumpled corners with pride, a young FedEx package on its arm, the envy of every DHL letter-sized envelope that saw it.
I crammed it into my bike's basket and made my way back to work. I wanted to wait 'till I got home to open it, dreading the bike ride home with a box the size of my (manly, hairy) chest open to the elements. But, then again, it was a package from home. I settled into my chair in the break room and quietly sliced the packing tape securing the crumpled corner. I pried the box apart as far as the cardboard would allow and took a peek inside.
Shirts! Yay! What could be ties, double yay! Something glittering gold in the artificial twilight...a word? The title of a hardback book? The word...."Red"? My mind went through a curious game of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon. My sister loves books. I bought her a copy of The Lies of Locke Lamora last year as a gift. She loved it, and vowed to buy them all. The next book in the series was titled Red Seas Under Red Skies.
I needed to get that book in my dirty little hands now.
My pocket knife made quick work of the tape the package could afford to lose. A quick struggle with the laws of physics, and the tome was mine to behold. A ship, aflame, beneath firestorm-black clouds. A city, golden (but due to flames of rebellion or the gild of fortune?) shone in the background. The title glittered in faux-gold, stamped in historical strokes. It was, indeed, the book I thought it was to be.
The rest of my break saw me absorbed in the book. It was delicious. It satisfied a thirst I had thought long-forgotten.
As an indication as to how this whole thing works, the last day's material, Wednesdays, was only two lines in my paper journal.
J165 Thursday October 4th
Understand, readers, that I cannot tell you everything that happens in my life while I live it here. I am bound by many contracts, legal and social, to keep certain events and information under wraps. I do not betray any oath I have sworn by telling you I have, and keep, them, but it is something you should consider.
The events of today were...something upon which I shall meditate for quite some time.
J166 Friday October 5th
A busy day. Another 4-hour deathblock of classes. That's two in a week, for those of you playing the home version of our game. Red Seas did a good job of soothing my hurts, though. It is a cool balm, a raging storm, a lagoon of clarity, a karst of inescapable darkness. It is, in a word, awesome.
After work I joined Josh at B.B.A. I was originally only there to drop off the first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3, but hunger and need of the relaxing properties of alcohol won me over. I dined on salmon pasta and enjoyed a cool Asahi Super Dry. On the B.B.A.'s PS3, the only one I've seen outside of Akihabara in Japan, was a Gundam fighting game. I played a few rounds after consuming my dinner, but I knew I had to move along. Tomorrow was a Saturday, and that's never easy.
J167 Saturday October 6th
A busy day. 3 in a row, then 4. I made a bit of a mix up toward the end of the day; teaching with the wrong materials for one class. Luckily I did some student swapping fu and managed to fix the situation, but it was a bit of a shaky day for me. I tried to rest after work as best I could, but found little succor in the Internet.
I headed out to G-Bros for a drink and company, but little was going on there. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the week-reviews of my compatriots. The teachers for the biggest English school in Japan, Nova, are reporting some odd goings on. Claire and Genie's rent hasn't been paid for the month yet. I have a bad feeling about this. I distributed CDs full of photos, taken by the Crescent staff and given to myself and M-sensei at work, to those who had gone diving a week before.
New in the bar was a rather tall woman. Blonde. She was a new teacher to the area, working with what she said (if I remember correctly, I'm not really sure) was a branch of the government. She wasn't a JET, though, that was for sure. Her name was Brooke, and she was from New Zealand. We welcomed her to the gang, though the energy level for the bar in general was pretty low. The gang left, and I stayed a while to chat with the newcomer. She'd been a teacher in Japan before, but left for home for reasons. She was back again, hardly a week in the Land of the Rising Sun this time 'round.
After a short while I doffed my non-existent cap and powered my way back home. I enjoyed Halo 3, the first time in days, until 3:30 AM. Good times.
J168 Sunday October 7th
This was a terribly lazy day. Chatted online with friends, poked around the Internet. Played more Halo 3. I did some cleaning and straightening and made a nice dinner. D&D was the next day, and I did some prepwork for it. I sketched a dungeon, figuring the second adventure was good enough time as any to introduce the party to the eponymous subterranean architectural design philosophy. Man, I love my vocabulary. Eponymous!
J169 Monday October 8th
Today was to be an epic D&D game, despite a few setbacks. K was unable to make it, denying us our normal play space of GEOS. Over fresh bowls of ramen, the group determined Big Echo, one of the nicer karaoke places in town (and literally next door to the ramen shop we were eating at) would suit our needs nicely.
We had a new player, Daniel, a newcomer from Canada. Amazingly, he had actually played 3rd Edition D&D before! He threw dice with friends in college, and though they never got beyond 3rd level, he knows the basics. Oh, the joys of not having to explain the basic concept of "roleplaying" to a player!
We booked a room for 3 hours at a reasonable price. Karaoke, for those of you who don't know, includes a rainbow of free drinks and somewhat affordable room service. We discovered the power switches to the T.V. and stereo system, and after closing the door we found the room to be quite sound-proof. The occasional thump of bass or vocal twang would sneak through, but we were the only ones on the floor. Our complimentary glasses never emptied of the free-flowing slushies the drink bar sported, and soon after we started gaming a steady stream of consumables were ferried to our room by a cute waitress.
The game itself went very well. I'm finding my DM's legs again, and find a group of, essentially, newbies to be quite fun to game with. Some of them are really settling into their party roles, while others are still taking their time. Still, no inter-party conflicts have arisen, which I find to be nothing short of miraculous.
Masaki brought a large dry-erase battle mat, printed with a massive grid of inch-a-side squares and protected from food and drink by flexible plastic. It is an invaluable gaming tool, and made communicating battle information super easy.
Toward the end of the adventure things got a bit combat-heavy, but no one complained. Nick decided to stay past Last Train, opting to spend the night at the local branch of Toyoko Inn, a national hotel chain of good reputation. We played until 11PM. The cost was a bit pricey, but when you factor in the utter privacy, the climate control, the food, and the free drinks, it was a hell of a deal.
After getting home I painted a little. An idea had been brewing in my head, a clever (to me, at least) application of tape to blank canvas, so as to crease a mask atop which one would paint. Removing the tape produces a preternaturally straight, clean, line of unpainted canvas. I was happy with the results, though I'm sure the idea can be further evolved.
Once again, I put in a few hours of Halo 3. I've noticed some rather awful graphical glitches, coming from my system hardware, rather than the game itself. Power cycling (turning it off and then on) will fix the problem...usually...but this evening it took me 4 tries to do it. Worrisome.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
off schedule, on schedule. schedule, schmedule!
J154 Sunday September 23rd
I woke up for Gurren Lagann in the morning. The series is winding to a close, and I must say it is still pretty awesome. I may write a review of it, come to think of it.
After indulging in my kidulthood, I cleaned my kitchen. Household chores have become rather fun activities for me, though I still haven't vacuumed in months. The dust bunnies are migrating to the jamb of my sliding balcony door, where it's warmer. Fall is settling around, and the temperatures are juuuust starting to fall.
I went to Ito Yokado for some much-needed groceries, and enjoyed the terribly domestic joy of cooking with fresh ingredients. As I cooked and subsequently consumed I pondered the plot of my game. My group has 4 members other than myself, only one of which has actually played a tabletop game. One has read the rules extensively, to practice his English in fact, but has not played yet. Another has RPd online, but never offline. The last is a complete virgin to the idea of tabletop RPGs.
My task in crafting this adventure, indeed the world it will take place in, is to make it comprehensive to mesh four completely different people into a well-rounded monster-slaying machine. I love this game.
I hammered out some of the basic, introductory plot. I also plotted the general scale of the world and calculated the travel times based on the rules found in the DMG. One thing I dislike about D&D's overall setup is the fact that the rules are split over three different books. Having only the DMG in dead tree format, it is difficult to quick-reference any information not found in its pages. Luckily, truly wonderful online resources exist such as the D&D Wiki and the Hypertext d20 SRD. These websites, and more, have saved my wizard hat-wearing bacon a time or two in the past.
Overall, it was a lazy day. The game was prepared for, and tomorrow would be epic. Truly epic.
J155 Monday September 24th
Game day!
I printed out a batch of character sheets, getting a little close to the wire thanks to Nick's departure time. Nick is the player who's played tabletop before, mostly Exalted and 2nd Edition D&D. Nick lives and works in Akihabara, in Tokyo. He's got quite the commute to get to the game.
I met Josh, K, and Masaki at the train station at around 3ish. Nick's train was delayed, a bike had become lodged in a guard fence and had to be cut out, so we ducked into Ito Yokado to grab lunch. K was kind enough to donate his room at Geos, his work place, for our game. There was only one other class that day at Geos, and we kept ourselves quiet. Lunch in hand, we settled in to the room and set up shop, waiting for Nick. I explained the basics of the world, going over the world file I'd created the week before and emailed out to everyone, and answered questions.
Nick finally got to Hitachi around 4. Josh picked him up outside of the building, and at long last the gaming group was fully assembled.
The next 4 hours were a blur. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was on fire, but it certainly was a performance that demonstrated my GMing skills. I invented a dozen characters out of thin air, each with a different personality and voice. A town sprang fully-formed from the dry-erase marker in my hand. A plot, sinister and laced with evil, lurched into existence, my every word another footfall of its shambling bulk.
Nick had to dash off at around 9:30 to catch the last train for Tokyo. K and Masaki went their separate ways, while Josh and I hit G-Bros for a post-game beer and some french fries. We talked about the game some, but most of our conversation centered on Halo 3's impending release. The game dropped in two days, our time, in the States, and in three days here in Japan.
I'd been giving the subject of Halo 3 quite a bit of consideration. To purchase it required a system to play it on. The Xbox 360 is available in Japan, but I would be purchasing a Japanese system. Able to play many games, but not all of them. Some 360 games are region locked, meaning they cannot play on consoles from incompatible global regions. Out of all the next-generation gaming platforms, though, the 360 is the least region-locked one.
Josh and I parted company after a few rounds. I made my way back home, basking in the glow of a game well-run. I blogged a week's worth of entries and fell into a deep sleep. I had a strange dream about a hole in my fingernail. It did not hurt, but the absence of my fingernail was very strange. Like someone had cut a square out of my finger.
J156 Tuesday September 25th
I bit the bullet. I awoke. I turned on my laptop. I found the number for the nearest WonderGoo, the one in Hitachi-Taga. I reserved an Xbox 360 and a copy of Halo 3.
Yeah, it'll be a lot of money. Yeah, I may have trouble bringing it home. But you know what? The happiness it'll bring me, the stress-relief and the reveling in the story and the sheer joy of gaming once again will vastly outweigh any difficulties I have on account of the system.
Also, before I left for work, I went for a jog. I. Me. I ran. For 11 minutes I did a brisk jog through the sunlit back streets of my neighborhood. I staggered, sweat-drenched and dizzy, back to my apartment and took the coldest, best shower in my life. I resolved that the purchase of my 360 would be coupled with raising my activity level to new heights. My run would not be a one-time thing. I was going to, and am currently, exercising more than I ever had before.
I filled my tires before I left for work, too. I brought my Camelbak water bottle, bought for my Mt. Fuji ascent, to work. I had calculated that, by eliminating drinks from my daily purchases at Lawson's and the vending machine at my workplace, I could compensate for the price of my 360 and Halo 3 in about 5 months. Math is awesome. Plus, the tap water here in Japan is quite palatable; moreso than much of the water I've drunk in the States.
I ended the day with some Final Fantasy VII. I finally got out of Midgar.
J157 Wednesday September 26th
Looooooong day. 5 classes, 4 of which were in a big block at the end of the day. From 5PM to 9PM I was on my feet, teaching. That is not an easy thing to do, and I do not boast or brag.
During the day, Wonder Goo called and informed me, via one of my coworkers translating, that they had no "Regular" copies of Halo 3 left. They did have plenty of the "Grande" copies. Or whatever they're called. Has lots of extra stuff, but isn't the one that comes with the replica helmet. They were so nice, they let me have the better version for the price of the normal version. Man, if only American stores were this nice every once in a while.
I talked with both my Mom and my Dad thanks to the wonder that is Gmail chat. I played a bit more FFVII, finally managing to beat the Midgar Zolem, the giant freaking snake in the swamp. Go me! I went to sleep early, around midnight, due to exhaustion.
J158 Thursday September 27th
I was up so very early. I was too excited to sleep. I showered and headed out to the station. I missed my first train, given that I was still half-asleep, but I made it to Hitachi-Taga on the next one. Dark clouds had gathered in the hour I had been outside of my house, threatening to loose rain and ruin upon the world.
I marched with a purpose. A brisk walk down the straight road that led from Hitachi-Taga's train station to Wonder Goo. Nothing, not no body no way, was going to stop me from getting my console and my game. Except for the fact that I couldn't remember the Japanese word for 'reservation' (yoyaku) and the woman at the counter spoke no English.
Lots of pointing and my best attempts at Japanese later, I had in my hand an XBox 360 Premium and a copy of Halo 3. I could have kissed the cashier, but it would have caused an international incident.
I marched back in the light drizzle that had started up, covering my precious purchases with my body as best I could. Waiting for the train in the dry of the station, I cracked the case on my copy of the game, flipping through the Japanese-language guide and bonus materials. I caught the train and was back in Hitachi in less than 8 minutes. I stuffed the Xbox into my bike's basket and raced home, one hand on the handlebars, the other keeping the rain-glazed console firmly in place.
I made it home without dropping, folding, spindling, or mutilating either my console or my game. How it happened I do not honestly know. I went about setting everything up, plugging in cables and rerouting power to my various and sundry electronics that pepper my apartment like modern art.
My 360 can be switched to English, no problem. Everything shows up in good old E-go (Japanese for "English"), no problem.
I loaded Halo 3 in the tray. The CD slid in to the slot slowly, and with a reassuring click it settled in place. The rotator arm gripped the CD's spindle-hole firmly, and began to rotate it. The console's optical drive laser flicked on, converting light into data, feeding megabyte after megabyte of code into the system's RAM. Instructions piled atop one another, and processes were queued and executed in ever-complex formats. In less than 3 seconds, my 360 had ingested the Halo 3 disc, and turned it from a small circle of plastic into the physical manifestation of my gaming desires for the past 4 years.
I was holding my breath.
The intro screen faded into life. Purple and morose. Beautiful, familiar music rumbled from the deeper registers into the audible, and I closed my eyes. I savored the strings and horns, the handful of singers, raising their collective voices, instrumented and otherwise, in the mournful theme of Halo 3.
I played for the better part of an hour. The game's menus are in English, but the voice overs are in Japanese. Big cinematic sequences have subtitles, but the in situ dialog, radio chatter and in-game instructions, are not subbed. No biggie. I still get the important bits.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I had a light day, as classes go. I ran again, rewarding my new exercise routine with Halo 3 until 4AM. My dinner was slowly consumed as I assumed the mantle of the Master Chief. I slept like the dead, content in a way I hadn't felt in nearly a year, perhaps more.
A few of you, maybe more, will understand when I say that I have been looking forward to Halo 3 for a very long time. It is, to me, as momentous, if not more so, as the release of a new play by Shakespeare, or perhaps a new volume of prose by Whitman or Hunter S. Thompson. I truly do enjoy video games as others do print media, or movies. To have, to finally have, the culmination, the end, of the Halo story in my hands is almost unbelievable.
I woke up for Gurren Lagann in the morning. The series is winding to a close, and I must say it is still pretty awesome. I may write a review of it, come to think of it.
After indulging in my kidulthood, I cleaned my kitchen. Household chores have become rather fun activities for me, though I still haven't vacuumed in months. The dust bunnies are migrating to the jamb of my sliding balcony door, where it's warmer. Fall is settling around, and the temperatures are juuuust starting to fall.
I went to Ito Yokado for some much-needed groceries, and enjoyed the terribly domestic joy of cooking with fresh ingredients. As I cooked and subsequently consumed I pondered the plot of my game. My group has 4 members other than myself, only one of which has actually played a tabletop game. One has read the rules extensively, to practice his English in fact, but has not played yet. Another has RPd online, but never offline. The last is a complete virgin to the idea of tabletop RPGs.
My task in crafting this adventure, indeed the world it will take place in, is to make it comprehensive to mesh four completely different people into a well-rounded monster-slaying machine. I love this game.
I hammered out some of the basic, introductory plot. I also plotted the general scale of the world and calculated the travel times based on the rules found in the DMG. One thing I dislike about D&D's overall setup is the fact that the rules are split over three different books. Having only the DMG in dead tree format, it is difficult to quick-reference any information not found in its pages. Luckily, truly wonderful online resources exist such as the D&D Wiki and the Hypertext d20 SRD. These websites, and more, have saved my wizard hat-wearing bacon a time or two in the past.
Overall, it was a lazy day. The game was prepared for, and tomorrow would be epic. Truly epic.
J155 Monday September 24th
Game day!
I printed out a batch of character sheets, getting a little close to the wire thanks to Nick's departure time. Nick is the player who's played tabletop before, mostly Exalted and 2nd Edition D&D. Nick lives and works in Akihabara, in Tokyo. He's got quite the commute to get to the game.
I met Josh, K, and Masaki at the train station at around 3ish. Nick's train was delayed, a bike had become lodged in a guard fence and had to be cut out, so we ducked into Ito Yokado to grab lunch. K was kind enough to donate his room at Geos, his work place, for our game. There was only one other class that day at Geos, and we kept ourselves quiet. Lunch in hand, we settled in to the room and set up shop, waiting for Nick. I explained the basics of the world, going over the world file I'd created the week before and emailed out to everyone, and answered questions.
Nick finally got to Hitachi around 4. Josh picked him up outside of the building, and at long last the gaming group was fully assembled.
The next 4 hours were a blur. I wouldn't go so far as to say I was on fire, but it certainly was a performance that demonstrated my GMing skills. I invented a dozen characters out of thin air, each with a different personality and voice. A town sprang fully-formed from the dry-erase marker in my hand. A plot, sinister and laced with evil, lurched into existence, my every word another footfall of its shambling bulk.
Nick had to dash off at around 9:30 to catch the last train for Tokyo. K and Masaki went their separate ways, while Josh and I hit G-Bros for a post-game beer and some french fries. We talked about the game some, but most of our conversation centered on Halo 3's impending release. The game dropped in two days, our time, in the States, and in three days here in Japan.
I'd been giving the subject of Halo 3 quite a bit of consideration. To purchase it required a system to play it on. The Xbox 360 is available in Japan, but I would be purchasing a Japanese system. Able to play many games, but not all of them. Some 360 games are region locked, meaning they cannot play on consoles from incompatible global regions. Out of all the next-generation gaming platforms, though, the 360 is the least region-locked one.
Josh and I parted company after a few rounds. I made my way back home, basking in the glow of a game well-run. I blogged a week's worth of entries and fell into a deep sleep. I had a strange dream about a hole in my fingernail. It did not hurt, but the absence of my fingernail was very strange. Like someone had cut a square out of my finger.
J156 Tuesday September 25th
I bit the bullet. I awoke. I turned on my laptop. I found the number for the nearest WonderGoo, the one in Hitachi-Taga. I reserved an Xbox 360 and a copy of Halo 3.
Yeah, it'll be a lot of money. Yeah, I may have trouble bringing it home. But you know what? The happiness it'll bring me, the stress-relief and the reveling in the story and the sheer joy of gaming once again will vastly outweigh any difficulties I have on account of the system.
Also, before I left for work, I went for a jog. I. Me. I ran. For 11 minutes I did a brisk jog through the sunlit back streets of my neighborhood. I staggered, sweat-drenched and dizzy, back to my apartment and took the coldest, best shower in my life. I resolved that the purchase of my 360 would be coupled with raising my activity level to new heights. My run would not be a one-time thing. I was going to, and am currently, exercising more than I ever had before.
I filled my tires before I left for work, too. I brought my Camelbak water bottle, bought for my Mt. Fuji ascent, to work. I had calculated that, by eliminating drinks from my daily purchases at Lawson's and the vending machine at my workplace, I could compensate for the price of my 360 and Halo 3 in about 5 months. Math is awesome. Plus, the tap water here in Japan is quite palatable; moreso than much of the water I've drunk in the States.
I ended the day with some Final Fantasy VII. I finally got out of Midgar.
J157 Wednesday September 26th
Looooooong day. 5 classes, 4 of which were in a big block at the end of the day. From 5PM to 9PM I was on my feet, teaching. That is not an easy thing to do, and I do not boast or brag.
During the day, Wonder Goo called and informed me, via one of my coworkers translating, that they had no "Regular" copies of Halo 3 left. They did have plenty of the "Grande" copies. Or whatever they're called. Has lots of extra stuff, but isn't the one that comes with the replica helmet. They were so nice, they let me have the better version for the price of the normal version. Man, if only American stores were this nice every once in a while.
I talked with both my Mom and my Dad thanks to the wonder that is Gmail chat. I played a bit more FFVII, finally managing to beat the Midgar Zolem, the giant freaking snake in the swamp. Go me! I went to sleep early, around midnight, due to exhaustion.
J158 Thursday September 27th
I was up so very early. I was too excited to sleep. I showered and headed out to the station. I missed my first train, given that I was still half-asleep, but I made it to Hitachi-Taga on the next one. Dark clouds had gathered in the hour I had been outside of my house, threatening to loose rain and ruin upon the world.
I marched with a purpose. A brisk walk down the straight road that led from Hitachi-Taga's train station to Wonder Goo. Nothing, not no body no way, was going to stop me from getting my console and my game. Except for the fact that I couldn't remember the Japanese word for 'reservation' (yoyaku) and the woman at the counter spoke no English.
Lots of pointing and my best attempts at Japanese later, I had in my hand an XBox 360 Premium and a copy of Halo 3. I could have kissed the cashier, but it would have caused an international incident.
I marched back in the light drizzle that had started up, covering my precious purchases with my body as best I could. Waiting for the train in the dry of the station, I cracked the case on my copy of the game, flipping through the Japanese-language guide and bonus materials. I caught the train and was back in Hitachi in less than 8 minutes. I stuffed the Xbox into my bike's basket and raced home, one hand on the handlebars, the other keeping the rain-glazed console firmly in place.
I made it home without dropping, folding, spindling, or mutilating either my console or my game. How it happened I do not honestly know. I went about setting everything up, plugging in cables and rerouting power to my various and sundry electronics that pepper my apartment like modern art.
My 360 can be switched to English, no problem. Everything shows up in good old E-go (Japanese for "English"), no problem.
I loaded Halo 3 in the tray. The CD slid in to the slot slowly, and with a reassuring click it settled in place. The rotator arm gripped the CD's spindle-hole firmly, and began to rotate it. The console's optical drive laser flicked on, converting light into data, feeding megabyte after megabyte of code into the system's RAM. Instructions piled atop one another, and processes were queued and executed in ever-complex formats. In less than 3 seconds, my 360 had ingested the Halo 3 disc, and turned it from a small circle of plastic into the physical manifestation of my gaming desires for the past 4 years.
I was holding my breath.
The intro screen faded into life. Purple and morose. Beautiful, familiar music rumbled from the deeper registers into the audible, and I closed my eyes. I savored the strings and horns, the handful of singers, raising their collective voices, instrumented and otherwise, in the mournful theme of Halo 3.
I played for the better part of an hour. The game's menus are in English, but the voice overs are in Japanese. Big cinematic sequences have subtitles, but the in situ dialog, radio chatter and in-game instructions, are not subbed. No biggie. I still get the important bits.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I had a light day, as classes go. I ran again, rewarding my new exercise routine with Halo 3 until 4AM. My dinner was slowly consumed as I assumed the mantle of the Master Chief. I slept like the dead, content in a way I hadn't felt in nearly a year, perhaps more.
A few of you, maybe more, will understand when I say that I have been looking forward to Halo 3 for a very long time. It is, to me, as momentous, if not more so, as the release of a new play by Shakespeare, or perhaps a new volume of prose by Whitman or Hunter S. Thompson. I truly do enjoy video games as others do print media, or movies. To have, to finally have, the culmination, the end, of the Halo story in my hands is almost unbelievable.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
another! and so soon!
J147 Sunday September 16th
One thing I love about my work schedule is that it has finally broken my annoying habit of waking up early...mostly. See, used to, I could never sleep past 9AM. No matter what. I could have stayed up 'till 2AM, 3, 4, even 5, and I'd be up, exhausted and cranky, at 9. But enough super-late nights finally began to crack whatever mystical soporific barrier that exists within me, and now I can actually sleep in. Most of the time.
I woke up around 11:45AM. I checked movie times using the Internets, and found one that suited both of our needs. I woke up with the 'net, seeing that Alan Greenspan had dropped the bomb about Iraq, how it truly was a conflict fueled (heh) by want of oil. I'm sure it'll be spun away from the more damning implications, if you can call directly assaulting years of lies with glaring truth an implication, but for the few days it takes to mobilize the PR machine, it will be a sweet victory. I'm not conservative, sorry. Welcome to the blog.
I cleaned up and headed out to Mito. I almost missed the train, but a quick sprint down the platform and a majestic leap through the doors found me safely aboard the train, breakfast in hand. The day was quite sunny and clear, and I enjoyed my rice balls and tea whilst watching the Japanese countryside go by. I love watching the world out the windows of a moving vehicle, and it's something I rarely got to do once I started driving. Japan has given me the chance to rekindle my love of travel. Observing travel, I guess.
I got to Mito with plenty of time to spare. I had been messaging Brandon back and forth during my train trip; he wasn't quite clear on the movie times, but he got to the train no problem. I needed to find an ATM, being cash-less at the time (my train ticket was paid with my Suica card), so I decided to walk around. Mito station is flanked on either side by massive pedestrian platforms, huge elevated slabs of concrete that allow one to walk from the station to nearby points of interests, hotels, department stores, the movie theater, and more, without having to worry about traffic. It's really an impressive bit of engineering, and it gives a great view of the city. The first department store I found didn't have an ATM that I could find, so I turned around and tried to find someone I could get directions from.
On the way back toward the station I recognized one of the statues decorating the walk. It was a life-sized bronze of three men, an old man flanked by two younger men. The man on the older man's right is holding his hand up, as if to halt or rebuke someone. It was a statue of Tokugawa Mitsukuni. He was a daimyo, a local lord in service to the shogun, who was in charge of the Mito domain. During his life, he was a prolific traveler. A TV show, beginning in 1969 and continuing to today (that's 37 seasons for you playing our home game) called Mito Komon has dramatized the tales and legends of his travels.
He's sort of a state-empowered Robin Hood...maybe like Walker: Texas Ranger. He goes around with two samurai bodyguards in plainclothes, looking for corruption, evil, and general nastiness wherever he goes. When he finds it, he and his associates work to correct the wrongs wrought by the baddies. The end of every episode usually involves the samurai putting on their best "I'm a freaking samurai, buddy" faces and loudly exclaiming: "Don't you know who this is?! Here before you is Lord Mitsukuni of Mito, uncle of the Shogun!"
Well, anyway, this statue is of the three main characters, Mitsukuni and his two companions. I started recognizing all the other Mito Komon imagery around Mito. Little chibi versions of the old guy smiling at me from glossy fliers or displays. It was cool.
I walked to the other side of the station and spied a hotel. I entered and was delighted to find the hotel staff spoke English. They produced a map which directed me back the way I came, claiming an ATM existed in the department store I first entered. On my way back I met up with Brandon and we walked together. We couldn't find the ATM on our first pass through, so Brandon said he knew where an ATM was. Trouble was, that was a good 5 minute walk away, and the movie was starting in about 10. I'm not one for close calls, so I suggested we look one more time. This time we descended into the lowest level of the department store, and we finally found the ATM, encased in a small glass chamber near a McDonalds. I withdrew funds while Brandon acquired lunch at the Golden Arches, and we speed-walked back to the movie theater, on the hotel side of the platform.
We made it just in time. Up the stairs to the platform, back through the station, across the soccer field-sized pedestrian walk, into the theater. We bought tickets and hurried up the escalator to our theater. We got there while there were still trailers playing. We rule.
Once again, the movie was delicious. I caught a few more elements this time, which I will be happy to share in private. I dislike spoilers, so I will not subject my friends to them, lest they request it specifically.
After the movie we exited the theater. The sun was well into its decline. The length of the day was shifting ever shorter, and its effects were beginning to be noticeable. Brandon was quite content after watching the movie, made so by its sheer awesomeness. We went into another department store to do some window shopping. I was looking for a new bag; my backpack was quite functional, but far from fashionable, and I missed my satchels.
We saw many products. Jewelry, and tons of it. Watches. Racks upon racks of clothes. I felt a little plain in my shorts and t-shirt; Japan has made me somewhat fashion conscious. Though I wouldn't know where to begin if I wanted to actually become stylish. Brandon had to leave for a dinner engagement after a while, and I stayed on to shop a little more. I hopped back on the train just as the sun was truly setting. I enjoyed the twilight as my train sped me home, the theme of the Evangelion movie, "Beautiful World" still echoing in my head.
Once I got back to Hitachi I put some of the last few minutes of daylight to use. I stopped by Sakura City to check out the crafts store. I browsed the aisles, looking for something to inspire me. I found some wooden beads, and some stone ones too. I purchased a handful of both and set out for home. Sifting through my crafting supplies, shipped as birthday gifts from my Dad and EJ, I set about stringing my newly-acquired beads through a thin length of chain. Alas, what I'd purchased wasn't enough to complete a full necklace, but the 70% that I did have looked awesome. I slept well, despite the relative shortness of the day.
J148 Monday September 17th
Most of the day was spent preparing for my special lessons for the coming week. Researching, reading, writing, and editing. I remember, now, why college was a challenge; I get horrible headaches when I work at the computer on one task for a long time.
My topics were Art History, created with the help of EJ and his prodigious knowledge of the subject. I also did a Cultural Exchange class, focusing on the media that America and Japan have swapped. Mostly anime and manga, but movies were there, too.
To ease the pounding in my head I read some of my books. I finished Kafka on the Shore, a novel by Haruki Murakami, a postmodern Japanese author I've enjoyed before. His novel Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World was the inspiration for Haibane Renmei, an anime series I really liked. I read the book a few years ago and was impressed. On my return home from Fuji I had purchased Kafka, and a variety of other books, and had been reading them in series ever since. Expect a review forthcoming to the Lovely Lisa and J.D.'s blog, 7FootShelves.
By the end of the day I'd gotten maybe 80% of both works done by the time I needed to sleep. A little FF VII rounded out the day.
J149 Tuesday September 18th
I was up early and managed to finish everything with a little time to spare. I have a business meeting tomorrow, the 19th, in Tokyo, and I still have some homework to do for that, but that can be done today and tonight. Maybe even tomorrow on the train. My first class was a bit rough; I don't think my students were expecting so much stuff. It's hard to make up classes on one's own. Most of my classes are taught with pre-made materials, out of books written by my company, so I don't have to do much prep time. It still takes effort to teach a coherent lesson. In that respect it's very much like improv theater. My meeting in Shinjuku is tomorrow.
J150 Wednesday September 19th
Last time I did this, I was late for my train. Not this time! I was up early, early. Showered, shaved, and dressed to the nines. I aimed to get to Shinjuku as early as I could. My tickets had been provided by the company, thankfully, and I caught the Tokyo-bound Super Hitachi early in the morning.
The Super Hitachi is really nice. It's a super-express train, meaning it stops only about 7 times between Hitachi and Ueno, the end point for the Joban line on which Hitachi sits. The end result is a breathtaking 1.5 hour trip, compared to the 3~4 hour local train time, not counting delays.
I had grabbed a quick breakfast on my way down, but it didn't hold for long. I remembered that there would be no meal break during the meeting, as we had a lot to do and little time to do it. When I pulled in to Ueno station I hopped the Yamanote line to Shinjuku. I did an awesome running leap into the train, as its "I'm leaving right now" alarm started going off while I was on the steps down to the platform. Luckily, my continuing exercise has restored some of the speed and grace of my youth, and I boarded the train without trouble. My local Yamanote-line train pulled in to Shinjuku station at around 11AM, at which point I realized I'd made a mistake. I didn't know how to get to my company's headquarters. I knew they were located in a building nearby, a short walk to be honest, but without knowing the direction to go or the name of the building, I was trapped. The meeting started at noon.
I tried to call everyone I could. I literally called everyone in my cell phone's onboard phone book. No one answered. I cursed my patchy contact information reserves and resolved to get everyone's everything when this was all finished. I resolved to call my office, knowing that it opened at 11:30AM. I watched as the seconds ticked by, feeling the occasional bead of cold sweat work its way down my back. Finally, after what felt like hundreds of calls, my manager picked up at the office. She and I conversed quickly, and I managed to write down a bevy of information on the HQ building. Thanking her profusely, I hung up on my manager and sought a cab.
Now, this building is relatively new. It's terribly expensive and very fancy. I find a cab without problems, but I have found the only cab driver in all of Shinjuku that doesn't know where the building is. Giant freaking building. Where they house the local government in addition to my company's offices. I'm not an expert in the road layout of Washington D.C. (well, I do know a few things, but that's because I'm a conspiracy nut) but I know what the freaking White House looks like. And where it is. And its name.
Anyway, another quick call to my manager netted the phone number, which I then gave to the driver. He made a surprisingly long call to the office, but finally managed to get his bearings and figure out how to get us there. Once at the building I thanked and paid him for his services, and was in. I had, maybe 5 minutes to spare.
The meeting was pleasant enough, though its exact details I can't go into right now. I met some old friends and made some new ones. Koji, an ex-sushi chef who lived in America for a dozen years, sat next to me, and we became fast friends. Tiffany, a teacher I'd met during my follow-up training, was there too, much to our mutual delight. I met many other teachers and managers during the exercises we performed. One woman, Alison her name, struck me as particularly visually impressive; she had golden eyes. Not green eyes. Not yellow eyes. Her eyes were the color of burnished, well-lit gold. No contacts, either, I checked. Awesome.
After the meeting was finished, Koji and a few other employees were going to grab dinner at an Indian place nearby. I'd gone to the place before and fell in love with it immediately. They served delicious, hot curry and all-you-could-eat nan. Nan is a style of Indian bread, and would bring about world peace, were more people to share it. Needless to say, I heartily accepted Koji's invitation to dinner.
Before I left I met Sharon and Shannon, two of the staff that taught me when I first came to Japan. Thinking back now on those times...it feels like much more than 7 months. I feel so different than I did then. The weather has gotten cool again, though it's nowhere near Japan in the winter time. I was different then, in many respects. Both Sharon and Shannon commented that they didn't recognize me at first glance, which I was somewhat surprised at. It's strange to think the way I look has changed so much, but even looking back at my old pictures I see that I have.
Anyway. Koji and I enjoyed two large pieces of nan apiece, along with dishes of hot curry and cool yogurt. He and I were heading toward the same station, Ueno, so we became travel buddies for the evening. We walked back to the station after dinner and hopped the Yamanote back to Ueno, and there we parted ways. My trip back home was enjoyable, happening in the ever-earlier Japanese twilight that I love so dearly. I wanted to get something to drink, but the train's only vending machine was out of order. Boo.
I got back with about 30 minutes to spare. I had one class to teach that day, you see, at 8PM. It was short but sweet, and in the end all was well. I headed home after work and relaxed after the day's trials. I really like taking business trips; the novelty hasn't rubbed off yet. The rush of trains, the joy of watching the world slide by. The break from normal routine.
J151 Thursday September 20th
I was up at my usual time in the morning. The night before I'd happened upon the writings of one Cory Doctorow. I'd been clued in to BoingBoing by my coworker, which is one of Mr. Doctorow's many online repositories of his writings. What I'd found the night before, though, was a collection of his books. Doctorow is a big believer in...well, many things, but one of them is the Creative Commons Licensing system, wherein a person may give numerous and varied rights of reproduction, and in some case recreation, to their intellectual property provided credit is correctly and noticeably due. In this case, Doctorow has decided to release most, if not all, of his books for free on the Internet, as well as in dead tree copies one can buy at their local book store.
This morning I read a short story he had written about a world maybe a year or two into the future. A world in which Google had become evil. Using technology available today, in no way extrapolating what Google does to harvest data or how it is utilized, Doctorow painted a vivid and striking future of totalitarian power, thanks in part to a fictional joint effort between the Department of Homeland Security and Google. The short story is called Scroogled, and I highly recommend reading it.
Today was a relatively light load, only 4 classes. During my break I rode my bike to Sakura City and purchased more stone beads, so as to complete the necklace I'd begun making two nights prior. After work I headed home and cooked up a delicious veggie-packed meal.
I ate my hot meal (a simple pleasure, that) over my laptop, reading by its LCD glow Cory Doctorow's first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. I'll be reviewing it soon, so stay tuned for the full text. In a nutshell, it's a look into a future society, maybe a hundred years into the future. The new society Doctorow describes is fascinating, having done away with "money" in the classic aspect, and instead relying on "Wuffie", a form of currency based on respect. A lengthy novella, but easily finished in an evening's dedicated reading time.
J152 Friday September 21st
Not much to report. One of my special lessons involved watching a movie, which one of the school's staff attended, in addition to my regular student. It was fun teaching her. It was interesting to watch how she learned and what she still had trouble with, despite her amazing English skills. They both did fine in the end.
In other exciting news, they're remodeling the section of the building next to the school. We are situated in a small suite of offices built atop Hitachi's train station, but we don't operate out of the entire top floor. Odd sounds and thumps come at all times from the walls and floor, but they've soon become a sort of white noise. It'll be a busy day tomorrow...oy.
J153 Saturday September 22nd
A full load today, save one private lesson. An extra hour's break, a respite from the ravages of an all-day teaching session. Despite my exercise, my back still kills me if I don't sit down every few hours. Teaching for 3 and 4 hour blocks of time does not make me feel good.
After work I had a wonderful surprise; new episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender were available online! As a long-time fan of this series, the third season's premiere was a delight to behold. I managed to get a low-quality torrent of it downloaded quickly, enjoying my dinner while I watched.
I headed out to G-Bros late, around 11PM, but was surprised to find only K there. Apparently, everyone else had either other plans, was still working, or was asleep. I had my customary beer, but neither K nor I were going to stick around. I had to finalize my plans for the D&D game to be held on Monday, and K had to put in his nightly call to Sylvia.
On our way back home we bumped into the Amity girls, Erin, Jo Ann, and Candice. Jo Ann's high school friend Will was visiting, and the girls were taking him out to G-Bros. We chatted for a while. Will works for the USAF, on an air base somewhere south of Tokyo. I can't remember the name. Seems like a cool guy, though. He had a good sense of humor. I didn't stay long, though, and both K and I peddled off into the night for our respective homes.
The next day was Sunday, which was to be a day of much slack, and of much preparation.
One thing I love about my work schedule is that it has finally broken my annoying habit of waking up early...mostly. See, used to, I could never sleep past 9AM. No matter what. I could have stayed up 'till 2AM, 3, 4, even 5, and I'd be up, exhausted and cranky, at 9. But enough super-late nights finally began to crack whatever mystical soporific barrier that exists within me, and now I can actually sleep in. Most of the time.
I woke up around 11:45AM. I checked movie times using the Internets, and found one that suited both of our needs. I woke up with the 'net, seeing that Alan Greenspan had dropped the bomb about Iraq, how it truly was a conflict fueled (heh) by want of oil. I'm sure it'll be spun away from the more damning implications, if you can call directly assaulting years of lies with glaring truth an implication, but for the few days it takes to mobilize the PR machine, it will be a sweet victory. I'm not conservative, sorry. Welcome to the blog.
I cleaned up and headed out to Mito. I almost missed the train, but a quick sprint down the platform and a majestic leap through the doors found me safely aboard the train, breakfast in hand. The day was quite sunny and clear, and I enjoyed my rice balls and tea whilst watching the Japanese countryside go by. I love watching the world out the windows of a moving vehicle, and it's something I rarely got to do once I started driving. Japan has given me the chance to rekindle my love of travel. Observing travel, I guess.
I got to Mito with plenty of time to spare. I had been messaging Brandon back and forth during my train trip; he wasn't quite clear on the movie times, but he got to the train no problem. I needed to find an ATM, being cash-less at the time (my train ticket was paid with my Suica card), so I decided to walk around. Mito station is flanked on either side by massive pedestrian platforms, huge elevated slabs of concrete that allow one to walk from the station to nearby points of interests, hotels, department stores, the movie theater, and more, without having to worry about traffic. It's really an impressive bit of engineering, and it gives a great view of the city. The first department store I found didn't have an ATM that I could find, so I turned around and tried to find someone I could get directions from.
On the way back toward the station I recognized one of the statues decorating the walk. It was a life-sized bronze of three men, an old man flanked by two younger men. The man on the older man's right is holding his hand up, as if to halt or rebuke someone. It was a statue of Tokugawa Mitsukuni. He was a daimyo, a local lord in service to the shogun, who was in charge of the Mito domain. During his life, he was a prolific traveler. A TV show, beginning in 1969 and continuing to today (that's 37 seasons for you playing our home game) called Mito Komon has dramatized the tales and legends of his travels.
He's sort of a state-empowered Robin Hood...maybe like Walker: Texas Ranger. He goes around with two samurai bodyguards in plainclothes, looking for corruption, evil, and general nastiness wherever he goes. When he finds it, he and his associates work to correct the wrongs wrought by the baddies. The end of every episode usually involves the samurai putting on their best "I'm a freaking samurai, buddy" faces and loudly exclaiming: "Don't you know who this is?! Here before you is Lord Mitsukuni of Mito, uncle of the Shogun!"
Well, anyway, this statue is of the three main characters, Mitsukuni and his two companions. I started recognizing all the other Mito Komon imagery around Mito. Little chibi versions of the old guy smiling at me from glossy fliers or displays. It was cool.
I walked to the other side of the station and spied a hotel. I entered and was delighted to find the hotel staff spoke English. They produced a map which directed me back the way I came, claiming an ATM existed in the department store I first entered. On my way back I met up with Brandon and we walked together. We couldn't find the ATM on our first pass through, so Brandon said he knew where an ATM was. Trouble was, that was a good 5 minute walk away, and the movie was starting in about 10. I'm not one for close calls, so I suggested we look one more time. This time we descended into the lowest level of the department store, and we finally found the ATM, encased in a small glass chamber near a McDonalds. I withdrew funds while Brandon acquired lunch at the Golden Arches, and we speed-walked back to the movie theater, on the hotel side of the platform.
We made it just in time. Up the stairs to the platform, back through the station, across the soccer field-sized pedestrian walk, into the theater. We bought tickets and hurried up the escalator to our theater. We got there while there were still trailers playing. We rule.
Once again, the movie was delicious. I caught a few more elements this time, which I will be happy to share in private. I dislike spoilers, so I will not subject my friends to them, lest they request it specifically.
After the movie we exited the theater. The sun was well into its decline. The length of the day was shifting ever shorter, and its effects were beginning to be noticeable. Brandon was quite content after watching the movie, made so by its sheer awesomeness. We went into another department store to do some window shopping. I was looking for a new bag; my backpack was quite functional, but far from fashionable, and I missed my satchels.
We saw many products. Jewelry, and tons of it. Watches. Racks upon racks of clothes. I felt a little plain in my shorts and t-shirt; Japan has made me somewhat fashion conscious. Though I wouldn't know where to begin if I wanted to actually become stylish. Brandon had to leave for a dinner engagement after a while, and I stayed on to shop a little more. I hopped back on the train just as the sun was truly setting. I enjoyed the twilight as my train sped me home, the theme of the Evangelion movie, "Beautiful World" still echoing in my head.
Once I got back to Hitachi I put some of the last few minutes of daylight to use. I stopped by Sakura City to check out the crafts store. I browsed the aisles, looking for something to inspire me. I found some wooden beads, and some stone ones too. I purchased a handful of both and set out for home. Sifting through my crafting supplies, shipped as birthday gifts from my Dad and EJ, I set about stringing my newly-acquired beads through a thin length of chain. Alas, what I'd purchased wasn't enough to complete a full necklace, but the 70% that I did have looked awesome. I slept well, despite the relative shortness of the day.
J148 Monday September 17th
Most of the day was spent preparing for my special lessons for the coming week. Researching, reading, writing, and editing. I remember, now, why college was a challenge; I get horrible headaches when I work at the computer on one task for a long time.
My topics were Art History, created with the help of EJ and his prodigious knowledge of the subject. I also did a Cultural Exchange class, focusing on the media that America and Japan have swapped. Mostly anime and manga, but movies were there, too.
To ease the pounding in my head I read some of my books. I finished Kafka on the Shore, a novel by Haruki Murakami, a postmodern Japanese author I've enjoyed before. His novel Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World was the inspiration for Haibane Renmei, an anime series I really liked. I read the book a few years ago and was impressed. On my return home from Fuji I had purchased Kafka, and a variety of other books, and had been reading them in series ever since. Expect a review forthcoming to the Lovely Lisa and J.D.'s blog, 7FootShelves.
By the end of the day I'd gotten maybe 80% of both works done by the time I needed to sleep. A little FF VII rounded out the day.
J149 Tuesday September 18th
I was up early and managed to finish everything with a little time to spare. I have a business meeting tomorrow, the 19th, in Tokyo, and I still have some homework to do for that, but that can be done today and tonight. Maybe even tomorrow on the train. My first class was a bit rough; I don't think my students were expecting so much stuff. It's hard to make up classes on one's own. Most of my classes are taught with pre-made materials, out of books written by my company, so I don't have to do much prep time. It still takes effort to teach a coherent lesson. In that respect it's very much like improv theater. My meeting in Shinjuku is tomorrow.
J150 Wednesday September 19th
Last time I did this, I was late for my train. Not this time! I was up early, early. Showered, shaved, and dressed to the nines. I aimed to get to Shinjuku as early as I could. My tickets had been provided by the company, thankfully, and I caught the Tokyo-bound Super Hitachi early in the morning.
The Super Hitachi is really nice. It's a super-express train, meaning it stops only about 7 times between Hitachi and Ueno, the end point for the Joban line on which Hitachi sits. The end result is a breathtaking 1.5 hour trip, compared to the 3~4 hour local train time, not counting delays.
I had grabbed a quick breakfast on my way down, but it didn't hold for long. I remembered that there would be no meal break during the meeting, as we had a lot to do and little time to do it. When I pulled in to Ueno station I hopped the Yamanote line to Shinjuku. I did an awesome running leap into the train, as its "I'm leaving right now" alarm started going off while I was on the steps down to the platform. Luckily, my continuing exercise has restored some of the speed and grace of my youth, and I boarded the train without trouble. My local Yamanote-line train pulled in to Shinjuku station at around 11AM, at which point I realized I'd made a mistake. I didn't know how to get to my company's headquarters. I knew they were located in a building nearby, a short walk to be honest, but without knowing the direction to go or the name of the building, I was trapped. The meeting started at noon.
I tried to call everyone I could. I literally called everyone in my cell phone's onboard phone book. No one answered. I cursed my patchy contact information reserves and resolved to get everyone's everything when this was all finished. I resolved to call my office, knowing that it opened at 11:30AM. I watched as the seconds ticked by, feeling the occasional bead of cold sweat work its way down my back. Finally, after what felt like hundreds of calls, my manager picked up at the office. She and I conversed quickly, and I managed to write down a bevy of information on the HQ building. Thanking her profusely, I hung up on my manager and sought a cab.
Now, this building is relatively new. It's terribly expensive and very fancy. I find a cab without problems, but I have found the only cab driver in all of Shinjuku that doesn't know where the building is. Giant freaking building. Where they house the local government in addition to my company's offices. I'm not an expert in the road layout of Washington D.C. (well, I do know a few things, but that's because I'm a conspiracy nut) but I know what the freaking White House looks like. And where it is. And its name.
Anyway, another quick call to my manager netted the phone number, which I then gave to the driver. He made a surprisingly long call to the office, but finally managed to get his bearings and figure out how to get us there. Once at the building I thanked and paid him for his services, and was in. I had, maybe 5 minutes to spare.
The meeting was pleasant enough, though its exact details I can't go into right now. I met some old friends and made some new ones. Koji, an ex-sushi chef who lived in America for a dozen years, sat next to me, and we became fast friends. Tiffany, a teacher I'd met during my follow-up training, was there too, much to our mutual delight. I met many other teachers and managers during the exercises we performed. One woman, Alison her name, struck me as particularly visually impressive; she had golden eyes. Not green eyes. Not yellow eyes. Her eyes were the color of burnished, well-lit gold. No contacts, either, I checked. Awesome.
After the meeting was finished, Koji and a few other employees were going to grab dinner at an Indian place nearby. I'd gone to the place before and fell in love with it immediately. They served delicious, hot curry and all-you-could-eat nan. Nan is a style of Indian bread, and would bring about world peace, were more people to share it. Needless to say, I heartily accepted Koji's invitation to dinner.
Before I left I met Sharon and Shannon, two of the staff that taught me when I first came to Japan. Thinking back now on those times...it feels like much more than 7 months. I feel so different than I did then. The weather has gotten cool again, though it's nowhere near Japan in the winter time. I was different then, in many respects. Both Sharon and Shannon commented that they didn't recognize me at first glance, which I was somewhat surprised at. It's strange to think the way I look has changed so much, but even looking back at my old pictures I see that I have.
Anyway. Koji and I enjoyed two large pieces of nan apiece, along with dishes of hot curry and cool yogurt. He and I were heading toward the same station, Ueno, so we became travel buddies for the evening. We walked back to the station after dinner and hopped the Yamanote back to Ueno, and there we parted ways. My trip back home was enjoyable, happening in the ever-earlier Japanese twilight that I love so dearly. I wanted to get something to drink, but the train's only vending machine was out of order. Boo.
I got back with about 30 minutes to spare. I had one class to teach that day, you see, at 8PM. It was short but sweet, and in the end all was well. I headed home after work and relaxed after the day's trials. I really like taking business trips; the novelty hasn't rubbed off yet. The rush of trains, the joy of watching the world slide by. The break from normal routine.
J151 Thursday September 20th
I was up at my usual time in the morning. The night before I'd happened upon the writings of one Cory Doctorow. I'd been clued in to BoingBoing by my coworker, which is one of Mr. Doctorow's many online repositories of his writings. What I'd found the night before, though, was a collection of his books. Doctorow is a big believer in...well, many things, but one of them is the Creative Commons Licensing system, wherein a person may give numerous and varied rights of reproduction, and in some case recreation, to their intellectual property provided credit is correctly and noticeably due. In this case, Doctorow has decided to release most, if not all, of his books for free on the Internet, as well as in dead tree copies one can buy at their local book store.
This morning I read a short story he had written about a world maybe a year or two into the future. A world in which Google had become evil. Using technology available today, in no way extrapolating what Google does to harvest data or how it is utilized, Doctorow painted a vivid and striking future of totalitarian power, thanks in part to a fictional joint effort between the Department of Homeland Security and Google. The short story is called Scroogled, and I highly recommend reading it.
Today was a relatively light load, only 4 classes. During my break I rode my bike to Sakura City and purchased more stone beads, so as to complete the necklace I'd begun making two nights prior. After work I headed home and cooked up a delicious veggie-packed meal.
I ate my hot meal (a simple pleasure, that) over my laptop, reading by its LCD glow Cory Doctorow's first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. I'll be reviewing it soon, so stay tuned for the full text. In a nutshell, it's a look into a future society, maybe a hundred years into the future. The new society Doctorow describes is fascinating, having done away with "money" in the classic aspect, and instead relying on "Wuffie", a form of currency based on respect. A lengthy novella, but easily finished in an evening's dedicated reading time.
J152 Friday September 21st
Not much to report. One of my special lessons involved watching a movie, which one of the school's staff attended, in addition to my regular student. It was fun teaching her. It was interesting to watch how she learned and what she still had trouble with, despite her amazing English skills. They both did fine in the end.
In other exciting news, they're remodeling the section of the building next to the school. We are situated in a small suite of offices built atop Hitachi's train station, but we don't operate out of the entire top floor. Odd sounds and thumps come at all times from the walls and floor, but they've soon become a sort of white noise. It'll be a busy day tomorrow...oy.
J153 Saturday September 22nd
A full load today, save one private lesson. An extra hour's break, a respite from the ravages of an all-day teaching session. Despite my exercise, my back still kills me if I don't sit down every few hours. Teaching for 3 and 4 hour blocks of time does not make me feel good.
After work I had a wonderful surprise; new episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender were available online! As a long-time fan of this series, the third season's premiere was a delight to behold. I managed to get a low-quality torrent of it downloaded quickly, enjoying my dinner while I watched.
I headed out to G-Bros late, around 11PM, but was surprised to find only K there. Apparently, everyone else had either other plans, was still working, or was asleep. I had my customary beer, but neither K nor I were going to stick around. I had to finalize my plans for the D&D game to be held on Monday, and K had to put in his nightly call to Sylvia.
On our way back home we bumped into the Amity girls, Erin, Jo Ann, and Candice. Jo Ann's high school friend Will was visiting, and the girls were taking him out to G-Bros. We chatted for a while. Will works for the USAF, on an air base somewhere south of Tokyo. I can't remember the name. Seems like a cool guy, though. He had a good sense of humor. I didn't stay long, though, and both K and I peddled off into the night for our respective homes.
The next day was Sunday, which was to be a day of much slack, and of much preparation.
Monday, September 24, 2007
It's a beautiful daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
J139 Saturday September 8th
Forgot to mention: I chose the earlier option of my two renewal dates. My contract will finish on May 28th, 2008. I'm not sure of my immediate plans after my contract is complete, but more than likely they will involve a plane and America.
Saturday was a bit of an inverse to Friday. I had 5 classes scheduled, but I wound up teaching 6. No biggie, really; I'm used to Saturdays being packed and exhausting. After work I stopped by Ito Yokado and picked up a tremendous volume of food. Milk, juice, tea, cereal, lots of veggies, tofu, and a few healthy snacks (yogurt, raisin bread rolls, cheese). I cooked a delicious, filling dinner and got caught up on the acclaimed machinima series Red Vs. Blue. I'd watched the first three seasons, but after they started season 4 I lost track. I'd found a torrent with almost every episode, excluding the last 5 or 6 episodes, and had been watching them at night.
After my dinner had digested, and I'd watched nearly all of the RvB on my machine, I pedaled my way down to G-Bros. Bostian, a visiting professor at Ibaraki University and a Slovenian by birth, was having his farewell party that night, and had invited the gang out for revelry and song. I was feeling pretty drained, from the combined stresses of both Friday and Saturday, so I didn't join the karaoke group that was forming. Still, I had a few drinks and bid Bostian a fond farewell. He was a pleasant fellow, always smiling and cheerful, and I miss him now that he's gone.
J140 Sunday September 9th
Y'know, soon, I'm going to be out of catch-up material :)
Today was a day of much slack. I woke up for Gurren Lagann again, which was wonderful and action-packed. The morning half of my day was quite lazy, but towards noon I got in touch with Josh. He had missed the character creation session earlier, and we plotted to meet for lunch and discussion. I met him at Hitachi Station, so very convenient.
We walked 'round downtown Hitachi a while, just talking and geeking out. We sat a while at the plaza and discussed his character, but soon our conversation turned to other things. K showed up briefly on his bike, but was soon off to study and talk with Sylvia. Josh and I investigated the possibility of lunching at Namaste, an Indian restaurant that is perpetually closed. We sauntered across the big loop parking lot out front of the station, and were unsurprised to find Namaste locked up tight. No matter when someone tries to go, it is always closed. It doesn't look boarded up, but we've never seen it open.
We settled for Baskin Robins instead. It was the first ice cream I'd had in a while...months if I recall correctly. It was quite good. I had...something chocolaty, I think. I had a bit of a sugar buzz.
We decided to head to Wonder Goo, that place of media whimsy. A quick southerly train ride found us in Hitachi-Taga, and after a quick jaunt, we found ourselves entering the store of our dreams. One thing I will note about this particular Wonder Goo; it has an odd odor. Imagine warm humus, perhaps atop a warm slice of pita bread, left to sit in a warm place for an hour or so. It's not unpleasant, but it's very distinct and noticeable.
We browsed the racks of used media. Josh found a few items, though nothing jumped out at me. I saw my first in-store advertisement for Halo 3, renewing my on-again-off-again inner monologue on purchasing the game (and the system to run it).
After the Goo, Josh and I were feeling a bit hungry. Our lunch was several hours behind us, and we both were in the mood for good eats. Josh knew the way, on foot, to a Mos Burger, sort of like a McDonalds, but if the food was slightly better tasting and not as greasy. Also, it's a sit-down restaurant, rather than a fast-food joint. You just...order burgers and fries. Japan is weird. We both dined on chili-dogs, surprisingly delicious given the Japanese inability to properly emulate Western food. Over our spicy dinners we discussed character back ground and history.
After finishing dinner we headed to Josh's place. I hadn't been in a while, and further character creation required a computer. A long-ish train ride found us in Ogitsu, Josh's town of residence, and an invigorating walk found us at his place. I was happy to see it was about as junky as my own apartment; it was reassuring to find another person okay with living in dusty, cluttered bliss.
I introduced Josh to Red Blade, a D&D character generator program of impressive power and grace. We worked on his character throughout the evening, pausing to consume hilarious media. I had introduced Josh to the Berserk Abridged video series on YouTube. He had discovered the abridged series of Avatar, Yu Gi Oh (the original abridged series, and arguably the best), and Naruto. We watched these and more as the evening went on. We finished his character and started the walk back to the station; the last train was scheduled to depart Ogistu station around 10:40. We got there by 10:20 and learned that the train was delayed, and wouldn't be in the station for another hour. We walked to a near(ish)by conbini and purchased a late night snack. We continued our geek-fueled conversation until it was time to leave, and we bid one another farewell.
I do so love riding the trains at night. Japan isn't on the Daylight Savings Time system, so one becomes very aware of the changing day and night cycle of the Earth. Night has begun to fall earlier and earlier, and by 7 it was pitch-black. The trains cut through the darkness, speeding along their tracks very quietly, deceptively so given their bulk. They wind like snakes through grass, casting warm light wherever they go. You can see the shadowy outlines of mountains through the darkness, backlit by stars or by the moon. Clouds are awash in contrasting night-darkness and moon light, making a dramatic sky show of muted color.
My ride is too short. I wish I could ride a night-train for longer, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I rode my bike back home and fell into bed, tired by happy. The day had been a good one.
Forgot to mention: I chose the earlier option of my two renewal dates. My contract will finish on May 28th, 2008. I'm not sure of my immediate plans after my contract is complete, but more than likely they will involve a plane and America.
Saturday was a bit of an inverse to Friday. I had 5 classes scheduled, but I wound up teaching 6. No biggie, really; I'm used to Saturdays being packed and exhausting. After work I stopped by Ito Yokado and picked up a tremendous volume of food. Milk, juice, tea, cereal, lots of veggies, tofu, and a few healthy snacks (yogurt, raisin bread rolls, cheese). I cooked a delicious, filling dinner and got caught up on the acclaimed machinima series Red Vs. Blue. I'd watched the first three seasons, but after they started season 4 I lost track. I'd found a torrent with almost every episode, excluding the last 5 or 6 episodes, and had been watching them at night.
After my dinner had digested, and I'd watched nearly all of the RvB on my machine, I pedaled my way down to G-Bros. Bostian, a visiting professor at Ibaraki University and a Slovenian by birth, was having his farewell party that night, and had invited the gang out for revelry and song. I was feeling pretty drained, from the combined stresses of both Friday and Saturday, so I didn't join the karaoke group that was forming. Still, I had a few drinks and bid Bostian a fond farewell. He was a pleasant fellow, always smiling and cheerful, and I miss him now that he's gone.
J140 Sunday September 9th
Y'know, soon, I'm going to be out of catch-up material :)
Today was a day of much slack. I woke up for Gurren Lagann again, which was wonderful and action-packed. The morning half of my day was quite lazy, but towards noon I got in touch with Josh. He had missed the character creation session earlier, and we plotted to meet for lunch and discussion. I met him at Hitachi Station, so very convenient.
We walked 'round downtown Hitachi a while, just talking and geeking out. We sat a while at the plaza and discussed his character, but soon our conversation turned to other things. K showed up briefly on his bike, but was soon off to study and talk with Sylvia. Josh and I investigated the possibility of lunching at Namaste, an Indian restaurant that is perpetually closed. We sauntered across the big loop parking lot out front of the station, and were unsurprised to find Namaste locked up tight. No matter when someone tries to go, it is always closed. It doesn't look boarded up, but we've never seen it open.
We settled for Baskin Robins instead. It was the first ice cream I'd had in a while...months if I recall correctly. It was quite good. I had...something chocolaty, I think. I had a bit of a sugar buzz.
We decided to head to Wonder Goo, that place of media whimsy. A quick southerly train ride found us in Hitachi-Taga, and after a quick jaunt, we found ourselves entering the store of our dreams. One thing I will note about this particular Wonder Goo; it has an odd odor. Imagine warm humus, perhaps atop a warm slice of pita bread, left to sit in a warm place for an hour or so. It's not unpleasant, but it's very distinct and noticeable.
We browsed the racks of used media. Josh found a few items, though nothing jumped out at me. I saw my first in-store advertisement for Halo 3, renewing my on-again-off-again inner monologue on purchasing the game (and the system to run it).
After the Goo, Josh and I were feeling a bit hungry. Our lunch was several hours behind us, and we both were in the mood for good eats. Josh knew the way, on foot, to a Mos Burger, sort of like a McDonalds, but if the food was slightly better tasting and not as greasy. Also, it's a sit-down restaurant, rather than a fast-food joint. You just...order burgers and fries. Japan is weird. We both dined on chili-dogs, surprisingly delicious given the Japanese inability to properly emulate Western food. Over our spicy dinners we discussed character back ground and history.
After finishing dinner we headed to Josh's place. I hadn't been in a while, and further character creation required a computer. A long-ish train ride found us in Ogitsu, Josh's town of residence, and an invigorating walk found us at his place. I was happy to see it was about as junky as my own apartment; it was reassuring to find another person okay with living in dusty, cluttered bliss.
I introduced Josh to Red Blade, a D&D character generator program of impressive power and grace. We worked on his character throughout the evening, pausing to consume hilarious media. I had introduced Josh to the Berserk Abridged video series on YouTube. He had discovered the abridged series of Avatar, Yu Gi Oh (the original abridged series, and arguably the best), and Naruto. We watched these and more as the evening went on. We finished his character and started the walk back to the station; the last train was scheduled to depart Ogistu station around 10:40. We got there by 10:20 and learned that the train was delayed, and wouldn't be in the station for another hour. We walked to a near(ish)by conbini and purchased a late night snack. We continued our geek-fueled conversation until it was time to leave, and we bid one another farewell.
I do so love riding the trains at night. Japan isn't on the Daylight Savings Time system, so one becomes very aware of the changing day and night cycle of the Earth. Night has begun to fall earlier and earlier, and by 7 it was pitch-black. The trains cut through the darkness, speeding along their tracks very quietly, deceptively so given their bulk. They wind like snakes through grass, casting warm light wherever they go. You can see the shadowy outlines of mountains through the darkness, backlit by stars or by the moon. Clouds are awash in contrasting night-darkness and moon light, making a dramatic sky show of muted color.
My ride is too short. I wish I could ride a night-train for longer, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I rode my bike back home and fell into bed, tired by happy. The day had been a good one.
*yawn*
J134 Monday September 3rd
I was up early, as I had much to do and little time to do it. Today was to be the first meeting of my D&D group, and I had to prepare. First, I cleaned just about all of my apartment. There was the chance that one of the players would need crash space, and I had offered my couch. I wanted to be sure he wouldn't be horrified of the...state of things.
I am not a filthy person, but being a single male does make me adopt a...shall we say lackadaisical attitude when it comes to housekeeping. I scrapped off the big chunks, though, and made my abode presentable.
I grabbed a quick shower and headed off to the station, there to meet up with everyone. I met K and Masaki, the D&D enthusiast I'd met nearly two months prior in front of Sakura City. After a little while, the third member of the group, Nick, arrived. He lives in Tokyo, so his commute is a bit of a killer. K was very kind and offered us his class room at his work place to game at. There were no regular classes that day, and the space would be perfect for our needs. The group trekked to Ito Yokado and procured lunch, myself getting a okonomiyaki (think a pizza...made from an omelette).
The session of the day was to be character creation. For those of you who have never played a tabletop role-playing game, there's one thing you have to have, and that is a character. It's usually beneficial to group harmony if everyone makes their characters at the same time, so as to have a good spread of powers and abilities, and so that two characters don't step on anyone's toes. This session was just that, brainstorming and helping one another with crafting complimentary, well-rounded characters.
I'd brought my laptop, equipped as it was with numerous gaming resources, which greatly helped the creation process for the gathered players. We planned and schemed for a few hours, myself giving a short lecture on the world. The big white board in the room proved to be the perfect gaming accessory, and was quickly filled with a rough map of the game world.
Toward the end of the meeting, Masaki received word that his father had taken ill and was going to the hospital. Apparently he had been under the effects of some malady for some time, but Masaki wanted to be with him when he got to the hospital, so he had to bid the group farewell for the day. As a parting gift, he left us with his hand-bound copies of the D&D Player's Handbook. A most generous loan.
The time was nearing for the weekly Japanese lesson, so the group took a hiatus. Josh was planning on meeting us after the lesson concluded, for another round of creation and brainstorming. Nick was content to wander town for a while, shopping at Yokado whilst K and I taught the lesson. The new teachers, Jo Ann and Candice, joined us, and I was put in charge of helping them with the basics. I surprise myself with how much Japanese I remember. I know I would be much better at the language if I practiced more. K is a study-holic, and it shows. Me, not so much.
We worked on the basics for a few hours, and before we knew it the lesson was over. K and I met up with Nick, and we lead the whole group around Ito Yokado. Up and down the escalators we traipsed, browsing (mostly) everything the department store had to offer. When we tired of window shopping we headed over to Sakura City. It was around this time that I received a message from Josh; he had had a difficult and exhausting day at work, and needed to sleep. I replied with sympathy and told him we'd do a creation session at a later date.
The group walked to Sakura City through the quickly fading sunlight. The sun had set while we were in Yokado, and the last rays of sunshine were painting the clouds a dramatic hemorrhage of purples and reds. We paced and window shopped all throughout Sakura City, marveling at the myriad of styles and accessories to choose from. Japanese fashion can be very dramatic and cosmopolitan, even as far out in the sticks as Hitachi is. Emphasis is placed on abstract or stylistic clothing, rather than functional stuff. As a stickler for utility, I don't look very stylish, though the same could have been said when I lived in the States.
The evening was drawing to a close, and Nick was nearing the deadline for his last train home. We bid him farewell as he headed down the escalators and out the building. The rest of us stayed in S.C. a while longer, but left once we realized the place was closing.
K and I took the girls to G-Bros. Some of the gang were there when we got there, and we had a jolly time. I treated the new teachers to Apple Pie Gyoza, a delicious desert that is a testament to Hiro's (bartender and head chef of G-Bros.) ingenuity and culinary genius. The girls were skeptical at first, but their fears were allayed thanks to the fried goodness that is Hiro's Apple Pie, Japan-style. Just like Mom used to make...in an alternate dimension.
Those of the gang present got it in them to go bowling. I myself was quite tired after the events of the day, and called it a night. Home was a quick bike-ride away, and soon I was closing the evening with my customary internet time.
J135 Tuesday September 4th
Only two classes today! I occupied my time by assembling materials for our weekly news discussion class and folding a tremendous volume of fliers. Today was my deadline for deciding about my contract. I settled on a 3-month extension, ending in the first week of June. At the last minute, before I could go home, I had to write a short essay on why I had decided to renew for only 3 months, rather than a year.
J136 Wednesday September 5th
Only 3 classes today. Folded even more stuff today. My manager informed me that the date I had selected was incompatible with my company's hiring schedule. I had to select a date that was either earlier or later. I was given the choice of June 16th or May 28th. I have until Friday the 7th to decide.
J137 Thursday September 6th
Another 3-class day. I feel rather bad, having gotten only interrupted sleep the night before. Special classes are in two weeks, and I must needs prepare for them. My schedule has no fewer than 6 classes for tomorrow, the 7th. Karma for the light beginning of my week.
The latest typhoon blew in today, late in the evening. I managed to sleep through most of it, but I was woken up several times through the night due to sudden gusts of wind. These gales (and I do not use the term lightly) were strong enough to set my entire apartment building rocking back and forth. Not enough to endanger its occupants, you must understand, but enough so as to register on one's unconscious threat-detector.
J138 Friday September 7th
A near-Saturday day of class density, with a whopping 6 classes scheduled for today. I worked through them all, though I was saved by a total student cancellation in the evening, giving me an hour's rest before the final push. I felt bad all day due to the oft-interrupted sleep I had gotten the night before.
One of my students offered to take me to a town a few hours away. She said the town is known for its pottery. She wants to take me and another student next-next Monday, the 17th.
Another of my students, a new girl who started today, is very much an anime/manga fan. Not every student I have is a fan of comic culture, but enough of them are to make life interesting. My student and I compared our favorite moments in several of our favorite series. We both were big Naruto fans, which is always a hoot to discover.
The week was almost over. The next day, Saturday, would be...draining...but that's a story for another night. I'm a little spent from the day's activities, but I'll endeavor to complete this week's entries tomrorow.
I was up early, as I had much to do and little time to do it. Today was to be the first meeting of my D&D group, and I had to prepare. First, I cleaned just about all of my apartment. There was the chance that one of the players would need crash space, and I had offered my couch. I wanted to be sure he wouldn't be horrified of the...state of things.
I am not a filthy person, but being a single male does make me adopt a...shall we say lackadaisical attitude when it comes to housekeeping. I scrapped off the big chunks, though, and made my abode presentable.
I grabbed a quick shower and headed off to the station, there to meet up with everyone. I met K and Masaki, the D&D enthusiast I'd met nearly two months prior in front of Sakura City. After a little while, the third member of the group, Nick, arrived. He lives in Tokyo, so his commute is a bit of a killer. K was very kind and offered us his class room at his work place to game at. There were no regular classes that day, and the space would be perfect for our needs. The group trekked to Ito Yokado and procured lunch, myself getting a okonomiyaki (think a pizza...made from an omelette).
The session of the day was to be character creation. For those of you who have never played a tabletop role-playing game, there's one thing you have to have, and that is a character. It's usually beneficial to group harmony if everyone makes their characters at the same time, so as to have a good spread of powers and abilities, and so that two characters don't step on anyone's toes. This session was just that, brainstorming and helping one another with crafting complimentary, well-rounded characters.
I'd brought my laptop, equipped as it was with numerous gaming resources, which greatly helped the creation process for the gathered players. We planned and schemed for a few hours, myself giving a short lecture on the world. The big white board in the room proved to be the perfect gaming accessory, and was quickly filled with a rough map of the game world.
Toward the end of the meeting, Masaki received word that his father had taken ill and was going to the hospital. Apparently he had been under the effects of some malady for some time, but Masaki wanted to be with him when he got to the hospital, so he had to bid the group farewell for the day. As a parting gift, he left us with his hand-bound copies of the D&D Player's Handbook. A most generous loan.
The time was nearing for the weekly Japanese lesson, so the group took a hiatus. Josh was planning on meeting us after the lesson concluded, for another round of creation and brainstorming. Nick was content to wander town for a while, shopping at Yokado whilst K and I taught the lesson. The new teachers, Jo Ann and Candice, joined us, and I was put in charge of helping them with the basics. I surprise myself with how much Japanese I remember. I know I would be much better at the language if I practiced more. K is a study-holic, and it shows. Me, not so much.
We worked on the basics for a few hours, and before we knew it the lesson was over. K and I met up with Nick, and we lead the whole group around Ito Yokado. Up and down the escalators we traipsed, browsing (mostly) everything the department store had to offer. When we tired of window shopping we headed over to Sakura City. It was around this time that I received a message from Josh; he had had a difficult and exhausting day at work, and needed to sleep. I replied with sympathy and told him we'd do a creation session at a later date.
The group walked to Sakura City through the quickly fading sunlight. The sun had set while we were in Yokado, and the last rays of sunshine were painting the clouds a dramatic hemorrhage of purples and reds. We paced and window shopped all throughout Sakura City, marveling at the myriad of styles and accessories to choose from. Japanese fashion can be very dramatic and cosmopolitan, even as far out in the sticks as Hitachi is. Emphasis is placed on abstract or stylistic clothing, rather than functional stuff. As a stickler for utility, I don't look very stylish, though the same could have been said when I lived in the States.
The evening was drawing to a close, and Nick was nearing the deadline for his last train home. We bid him farewell as he headed down the escalators and out the building. The rest of us stayed in S.C. a while longer, but left once we realized the place was closing.
K and I took the girls to G-Bros. Some of the gang were there when we got there, and we had a jolly time. I treated the new teachers to Apple Pie Gyoza, a delicious desert that is a testament to Hiro's (bartender and head chef of G-Bros.) ingenuity and culinary genius. The girls were skeptical at first, but their fears were allayed thanks to the fried goodness that is Hiro's Apple Pie, Japan-style. Just like Mom used to make...in an alternate dimension.
Those of the gang present got it in them to go bowling. I myself was quite tired after the events of the day, and called it a night. Home was a quick bike-ride away, and soon I was closing the evening with my customary internet time.
J135 Tuesday September 4th
Only two classes today! I occupied my time by assembling materials for our weekly news discussion class and folding a tremendous volume of fliers. Today was my deadline for deciding about my contract. I settled on a 3-month extension, ending in the first week of June. At the last minute, before I could go home, I had to write a short essay on why I had decided to renew for only 3 months, rather than a year.
J136 Wednesday September 5th
Only 3 classes today. Folded even more stuff today. My manager informed me that the date I had selected was incompatible with my company's hiring schedule. I had to select a date that was either earlier or later. I was given the choice of June 16th or May 28th. I have until Friday the 7th to decide.
J137 Thursday September 6th
Another 3-class day. I feel rather bad, having gotten only interrupted sleep the night before. Special classes are in two weeks, and I must needs prepare for them. My schedule has no fewer than 6 classes for tomorrow, the 7th. Karma for the light beginning of my week.
The latest typhoon blew in today, late in the evening. I managed to sleep through most of it, but I was woken up several times through the night due to sudden gusts of wind. These gales (and I do not use the term lightly) were strong enough to set my entire apartment building rocking back and forth. Not enough to endanger its occupants, you must understand, but enough so as to register on one's unconscious threat-detector.
J138 Friday September 7th
A near-Saturday day of class density, with a whopping 6 classes scheduled for today. I worked through them all, though I was saved by a total student cancellation in the evening, giving me an hour's rest before the final push. I felt bad all day due to the oft-interrupted sleep I had gotten the night before.
One of my students offered to take me to a town a few hours away. She said the town is known for its pottery. She wants to take me and another student next-next Monday, the 17th.
Another of my students, a new girl who started today, is very much an anime/manga fan. Not every student I have is a fan of comic culture, but enough of them are to make life interesting. My student and I compared our favorite moments in several of our favorite series. We both were big Naruto fans, which is always a hoot to discover.
The week was almost over. The next day, Saturday, would be...draining...but that's a story for another night. I'm a little spent from the day's activities, but I'll endeavor to complete this week's entries tomrorow.
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