Entries this day: AM Work morag space_initiative

AM

7:53am JST Friday 9 January 2004

Dan and I had a race this morning to see who would get to use the facilities first. We each claimed that we had to be up earlier than the other, citing where we had to be by what time. Realistically we had to be up around the same time. Dan sleeps through his alarm a few times before waking up; I won the race easily.

Work

11:34pm JST Friday 9 January 2004

I had my end of contract review at Nova today. I got an S on "acts in a professional manner with students."

"Why did I get an S here?"

"Do you really want to get into it?"

"... no."

"Maybe you can imagine why that's there."

[imagine] [imagine] [imagine] "fair enough."

- - - -

After the evaluation, I felt kinda poopy. Like aw man i'm a bad person yaddayaddayadda.

But then I let myself cry in the stairwell a bit, to try and get to the core of the issue.

Ah. I found it. I'm a bad person if I assume that this evaluation describes what I'm supposed to be. I'm a money teacher; I know that. This evaluation just says I don't fit in to what Nova wants in a teacher. Oh happy day!

- - - -

Today, Yutaka told me Akina told him to tell me HI.

morag

11:59pm JST Friday 9 January 2004

orag and I went to Starbucks to study tonight, but we just gossipped after I arrived and got my hot cocoa.

We had our first JAM Session. By next week I will have called at least five numbers to find (or have made an appointment for) a therapist here in Tokyo.

She will have sent an email and looked up email addresses for three more organizations for her own project.

We gave each other mental hugs and encouragement and wrote down our goals. Sweet. I'm really glad to have developed this support system in J-town.

space initiative

11:15pm JST Friday 9 January 2004

From The New York Times: (requires free login)

     President Bush will make a speech next week outlining a major
     space initiative, the White House said last night.
     
     Administration officials said they expected that Mr. Bush would
     propose a research and development program with the aim of
     establishing a base on the moon, as a prelude to a longer-term
     goal of sending humans to Mars.

"Mate!" and I read the above to Dan.

"I know a way they could sorta raise funds for this. They could sell lottery tickets for like two dollars apiece.... Wouldn't it be just wicked to win a trip to Mars?"

"Uhhhhhhh. I can think of a few reasons that I don't think that would work. One: I don't think they could actually make enough money on a lottery to send someone to Mars. It would be really fucking expensive to send a body to Mars. Two: ... not just anyone can go to Mars."

"Why not?"

"It takes seven months to get to Mars."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And you put someone who is a bit claustrophobic in the ship, or a bit psychopathic, for seven months.... they would destroy it."

". . . ... Homer Simpson went into space."

[blink] "You're right. That completely destroys my logic. I'm so sorry to have wasted your time."