Entries this day: 12,500 AM Yasuko

12,500

9:49am JST Tuesday 15 June 2004

At work yesterday, something was triggering in my head each time I wrote the date 14 June 2004 on the note papers I wrote for the students. (Also, due to slight pain in my wrist, I didn't write notes for students who obviously weren't doing homework, nor taking notes themselves.)

After work, I received an email from Masashi:

Dear Rob-san

Happy your Memorial Birthday!
You've become 12,500days old!!
Did you enjoy today? I hope you did well.

Masashi

Holy cow I had forgotten it was my 12,500th day. Well, I won't forget 13,000. That will be on, let's see.. 27 October 2005.

AM

12:00pm JST Monday 14 June 2004

Good morning. It's noon.

Dan sent me

MATE! -
MATE - 1000 yen!
MATE - 32!
- MATE!

And I was like, "you keep sending me this, but what does it mean?"

"It means I'm in shock - S H O C K. And I'm just having a bit of a laugh."

"You're in shock? Are you okay? Should I call a doctor?"

"yeah mate, only a doctor can help me."

"Maybe a game of HSJ will help. Hey - remember that time we played in front of Subway? I think Jen was there..."

He didn't reply back.

- - - -

Yasuko

11:20pm JST Monday 14 June 2004

Helping Yasuko with her speech. It's harder than fuck and I really feel for her. I wrote it, and while I don't feel any guilt about the speech itself, I do feel empathy for her; I know it's a difficult process to cram a speech in a different language into my head, so I assume it's the same for her.

We're kickin' it at Denny's now, about to leave. I gave her notecards that I hadn't really used in 11 months (actually the green ones that janette gave me when I first got here). I kept the ones I had used and gave Yasuko the rest. Pay it Forward. Plus Maggie's logic; I'm not using it, so I might as well give it to someone who can benefit from it.