Entries this day: AM Noon _Rob_in_Japan_update changing_lanes mieko tomorrow's_plans

AM

11:37am JST Tuesday 23 December 2003

Talked with janette for about an hour; described to her (oh shit I wonder if this will become a large "sidetrack" to my day) what I had just recently read about computing technology and changes that will need to be made before TIPS can be harnessed effectively.

- - -

Sidetrack avoided. I'm not going to try and solve this bottleneck right now.

I am going to fuck with my website though.

Noon

1:49pm JST Tuesday 23 December 2003

I have just requested that my webquarry email account be changed to the new system so that I have email list capabilities built in. My intention is to send out an update, and I don't want to have to muck with the list myself so I looked into installing majordomo, but that requires root access, so I wondered if webquarry has email lists enabled already, and they do, but I have to be migrated to a new email server. I think and hope and trust the process will be simple and quick and easy.

I also trust the new email thing will be easy enough for people to use that they will actually use it. Eeek some second thoughts are coming, but hey we'll see how it goes.

I need to eat. I bought eggs and spinach yesterday after work; I'll have them with Reece's Pieces from janette as I gaze happily up at the intricately cut Christmas ornament she made for me.

Rob in Japan update

1:55pm JST Tuesday 23 December 2003

HI HI HI from Japan!

I have been in Japan for 9 months and depending on how I look at it,
it seems both like forever and an instant.  I know I've been here for
a while though because recently I was able to help two Americans who
had just arrived in Tokyo and had basically no knowledge of the
language and wanted to buy cell phones.  I was able to hook them up
with free maps of the trains and show them where they could find a
variety of phone shops.

Recently I have been enjoying Japan more than I had been some months
ago.  Therefore it is likely that I will stay longer than my original
contract which is up in March.  Since I'm choosing to stay in Japan,
and choosing to like my job more, at work I have been working quite
deliberately to remember the names of my students.  This is
challenging due to the sheer number of students, the short period of
time we have to talk to them each day, and there's no way to really
predict when I will see them.

The benefit of learning their names: I will begin to remember their
specific English-speaking personalities and therefore be better able
to help each individual.  Also, it just seems like the right thing to
do, to care about my students.  Put forth some real effort kinda
thing.

I've been hanging out with students outside of work, which directly
violates Nova's rules, but has helped me learn Japanese and have more
fun and want to stay longer.

Also in the fun department, I've been hanging out with Morag from work
recently.  She and I seem to have similar outlooks on life and the
meaning of life and stuff like that.  We study Japanese together at
Starbucks on occassion.  So far, two Fridays in a row and a Thursday
in between.

janette and I have been making plans for her upcoming visit in January
which should be a lot of fun though I'll be working basically my
normal schedule at work.  I'll try to get some shift swaps done so we
can have more days off together.  We'll go to Fuji-Q Highland, the
biggest amusement park near Tokyo (and maybe all Japan) with a super
scary haunted house.

- - - -

In Japan, I have learned a lot about myself.  I have faced some of my
greatest fears (and shied away from others).  In this sprawling
collection of cities known together as Tokyo, I walk within huge
crowds and find myself utterly alone.  I have learned that I can make
sense of a completely foreign language.  I have learned that despite
the many cultural differences, people still like to be remembered by
name.

Over the months that I've been here I have watched myself create the
same type of busy busy life here in Japan that I had in the US.
Always moving, always wanting to be with people, always wanting
attention.  This proves to me that the patterns in my life are
manifested by or otherwise tied to me.

This weekend (my weekend is Tuesday and Wednesday), I have seen both
sides of this always-want-to-be-busy pattern.  Today I goofed around
on my computer and slept all day until people started coming home in
the evening.  Then when everyone was available, all the requests for
hanging out began to come back.  In the middle of watching a movie
with my roommates, my invitation to dinner with another friend was
accepted.  During that dinner, I got another email to watch a movie
tomorrow.  Juggling too many girl-friends it seems.  The good news is
they all know I have a real girlfriend, janette back home.

(I'm making progress.  During college all my girlfriends did not know
about each other (until they did, and that was a disaster).)

But what am I really *doing* in Japan?   That question keeps coming
back to my mind.

I'm having fun.  I'm learning the language.  I'm learning about
myself.  I think I'll hang out here for a while.

changing lanes

4:00am JST Wednesday 24 December 2003

Watched Changing Lanes today with Dan and John. Before the movie started John moved on the chair and it made a farting noise and he goes, "haha, that sounds kinda bad doesn't it?" in a way that made me think grow up. Say "excuse me" or "ooh nice one" or something that's at least one step above an implication of a joke but not actually a joke.

I ignored him like I hadn't heard him.

But then, he laughed when, in the movie, a guy at a 12 step meeting goes, "I've been sober for 15 days." That shit is *not* funny. Really wonder why I'm getting so worked up about him.

I noticed yesterday that he reminds me of Alan M from Telecheck.

mieko

4:03am JST Wednesday 24 December 2003

In the middle of the movie, I got an email from Mieko, "I'm in Kawasaki; where should I wait for you?" because I had emailed her earlier, 今晩、食べませんか。 (you wanna chow tonight?) And I was like "oh fuck" cause it seemed strange to have invited her to eat and then gotten food myself (but she didn't reply immediately; obviously it took more than 1 hour cause we had watched half the movie and it took me 20 minutes to go get my food)..

Blah blah blah, we met and had a fun time though all the stores were closed and the first kaitein sushi place was not a sushi place at all, and we left after only the appetizers (story is being adjusted for cultural differences; I don't have the language to explain it succinctly either in English or Japanese) and she paid. Got hot cocoa and tea at Starbucks and I paid and then we chilled on the steps between Azalea and 川崎 station and just chatted.

I think our friendship will survive the miscommunication due to my inviting her to eat and then eating alone; we had fun.

tomorrow's plans

4:18am JST Wednesday 24 December 2003

Tomorrow I'm meeting 裕子 for lunch and then みき (not KG Miki) for dinner and movie, and this time I won't cancel because KG Miki cannot meet me tomorrow. Last time I had invited each Miki to hang out and then KG Miki said yes before Miki said yes and Miki got bumped for KG Miki.