Entries this day: Dream Five_hundred_statements Hitomi_lunch Post_lunch Pre_dinner The_dinner_with_Keiko_+_Brandt eilat's_lecture peace_cafe yummy_kisses zzzzz

Dream

7:31am CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

Basically I was organizing communication between two groups who were very upset with each other. I didn't know the issues, but people were mad and arguing in the street. I was in the middle and they had guns on both side and I was like, "hey, no fighting," I am an unarmed man in the middle of you guys. "What's the deal? Okay, you get your people together and give me six points of what you want." I went to the other group and looked for someone to tell the same thing. For whatever reason I couldn't find someone, but the point is I was right there in the middle of this street fight with machine guns and all that. Rar. That was my dream.

Five hundred statements

11:00am CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

Just finished my second class. For homework I was like, "write some statements." Yuuko asked "how many statements?"

I said, "Five hundred."

"Really?"

"Don't ask. You choose."

She used one of today's phrases and goes, "no way,"

"Very good," I said, "natural English for disagreeing."

Then Rie goes, "today's homework: how many statements?"

I ignored the fact that she hadn't understood any of the previous discussion. "500."

"What? Five?"

"No. Look. Don't ask. If you want to learn English, you will write 500. If you don't care, write zero. It doesn't matter to me. I don't care. I will read and check any homework you do."

I think I should have bitched at them in Japanese at that point.

Hitomi lunch

12:48pm CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

Just had lunch with Hitomi cause she happened to be near me while I was headed to lunch. Parts of the conversation triggered painful memories of conversations from our past where no communication is happening except "what?" "what?" "what?" "what?"

She said, "どうでした？" which I would translate as "how was it?" but I didn't know what she was actually asking about.

I said, "I understand 'how was it?' but I don't know what 'it' is."

She replied, "I didn't say 'it.'"

Oh god. This is going to kill me, but ultimately we got past it. It turns out she had been asking me about my trip in 1997 in Costa Rica. I, for some reason, thought she had been asking about something on PB.

In the end, I was teaching her some ASL alphabet. I'd like to relearn slash learn ASL a bit more.

Post lunch

1:01pm CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

Was writing postcards today when I realized I haven't seen Kin nor Mariko with braces in a long time. (Long by PB standards, where we see everyone every day (except those people who we never see (those people who we see for the first time while watching videos of the trip after it's all over)).) I decided they must be on one of the overland excursion tours (about 100 passengers are off the boat now from Scicily or Barcelona to France).

I have written 25 post cards that I need to send in France. I wasn't able to send any in Barcelona because it was a Sunday and holiday, so I couldn't buy stamps. The streets had a slightly eerie ghost town look to them cause they were all closed up. I'm sure it would have been a way different experience to go on a non holiday Saturday.

Pre dinner

7:10pm CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

Today is the day I am going to GET Got by Keiko and her belly dancing friends. I'm all dressed in dark suit and tie and dark shoes and fancy blue plastic 100 yen watch.

Today I missed the France port orientation (oops), but didn't get any trouble for it. I have my super beginner and beginner lesson plan finished for tomorrow, and have already given it to Shinji, my downbunk mate. (bunk below mine)

The dinner with Keiko + Brandt

8:39am CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

I thought I was all genius when I wished Keiko a happy birthday the day before her birthday and she invited me to join her (and Riko and Eri) for dinner (tonight). I showed up at her room, lookin' all sharp. Then, three minutes later, guess, just guess who showed up.

Brandt walked in, lookin' all sharp. If I coulda cancelled at that moment, I would have.

But I was like, aight; fair enough. I thought I had had my own little good idea, but Brandt has his own good ideas, too. Brandt sat beside Keiko and bought her a glass of wine, after asking me if I wanted to split with him a bottle of wine for the table. I was all, "no, I don't drink." Soon after the wine arrived, an bottle of champagne came to the table anonymously.

Brandt, in making conversation, made references to legs and above and below and between the legs, and Keiko was like, "Rob, tell him to stop," and I was like, "dude, stop," and he didn't, so I kinda blew it off like, "welp, I can't control Brandt."

He put bits of icing on her face though she tried (not too hard) to resist. Three times. He definitely was rewarded; she made him lick the icing off her face. I was jealous, but was like, good job. I believe I would not have done all that in front of him, because it would have 'meant' more to me, and not been just like, "hey, I'm licking cake of Keiko's face," but more like, "oh yeah, baby, I am right here in kissing proximity of a beautiful woman.." so I wonder if it doesn't mean that to him, or if he is unphased, or what.

The party turned into an "アー　パーチ" (ahh party) where participants "say 'ahhh'" and have ever larger pieces of cake fed to them. Riko fed me a piece and Keiko was like, "hey; I'm supposed to be first," since it was her party. I had already chewed the piece pretty effectively, but I pretended like I would spit it out so she could be the first to feed me. Keiko put out her hands and I almost did it, but she pulled back, and I pulled back, and then she was like, "no for real," and much to my delight, I blahed the chewed ball of cake into her hands, much to the disgust of most of the table. Brandt acted grossed out, but I don't know if how much he actually was.

Right now I am in Eilat's lecture (it's about to start) and he is still with the girls. I took care to come here because I judge in the big picture, this is more important for me.

However, when I said bye to her, she said "thank you for the card," because I had written her a card (which, ironically, she had seen before I had written it), and I was like, "oh, I have another card for you," and gave her a 1 hour massage coupon. I didn't give it to her in front of the group; I want to be on the inside scoop.

Let the party happen and let cake be licked, but I want to be the favorite. though at the same time I don't want to commit. Interesting common theme in my life.

eilat's lecture

9pm CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

In her lecture, Eilat did not defend the Israeli's actions, but simply described how it could come to occur that Israeli could persecute Palestinians for 57 years.

She is saying basically that for 2 thousand years Jews prayed for Zion, a place they could finally call their own, as they continued to be expelled around the world.

Finally, they were all called together to become the New Jew - no longer persecuted, but able to take control of his own future. A farm tool in one hand and a gun in the other.

A phrase was used: "a land with no people for a people with no land," which was not accurate: there were people, but it was argued that their presence was illegitimate.

In 1947, the UN suggested dividing the land into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. The jews at that time didn't care about the amount of land, but that there was some land, and that they were the majority.

The Palestinians were quite upset because, in their eyes, the bulk of their land was being taken without cause.

In recent polls, 65% of the population were willing to remove themselves fromthe Palestinian territory, but were unwilling to give control to the Palestinians.

But the issue, that keeps the war going is not about Jerusalem, the refugees, the border... it's not so complicated that no one can come up with a workable solution.

The war continues because someone is benefitting from the war. People around the world are benefitting from this war.

The Israeli government is maintaining the war via manipulation, constantly telling the population their security is at risk. Saying "security" in Israel is like saying "abra cadabra" in any other part of the world. Israeli's are willing to give up their personal thoughts, their time, their lives, in exchange for security.

The textbooks focus on the suffering of Jews, but does not talk about the suffering of the people on the land to which the Jews came. Palestinians were just called Arabs, lumping them in with 70 other countries that can be called Arabic.

We are taught that all Arabs want to kill all Israelis, and that Israelis are not wanted in the middle east. But the truth is most Jews 60 years ago did not want to be in the middle east. They were forced to give up their European heritage and take on a whole new culture.

Israeli children are required to send presents to soldiers and go on field trips to fire rifles at camps, to ingrain military service into their minds.

Anytime the government wants to justify a military action (which invariably means destroy a Palestinian village) they just need to say, "there are threats of bombings in _____," and everyone will support the action.

The Israeli army is depicted as completely admirable, and the very image of a masculine soldier is used to sell everything from cellphones to chicken soup.

Most Isreali politicians come straight of the military and replace their uniforms for suits.

Israeli military budget is far higher than any other government budget.

Institutionalized military violence shows up in the home with spouse abuse and other violence.

10pm

I was moved to tears after a video Eilat showed. Real bullets being used on protestors with no weapons.

peace cafe

10:41pm CEST Wednesday 29 June 2005

I'm walking to Peace Cafe planning meeting. She said she did not tell everyone about the hour massage coupon.

yummy kisses

1:55am CEST Thursday 30 June 2005

Although my schedule book says "SLEEP" from 11pm to 6:50am, I have not yet slept, but instead just totally kissed someone. We maintained good control and all clothing remained fastened and in place.

We had been chatting and then I said I need to go sleep, but she was like, "what?" and we ended up starting Bite Club. "You point to a part of your body and I'll bite it." Yes, I am a genius.

zzzzz

2:39am CEST Thursday 30 June 2005

I just talked to Allison for 40 minutes and *now* I am going to bed.

Oh, the magician had a cool trick earlier today. He would shuffle cards and then flip through them very quickly and then we would choose a number and he would tell us what card that number was. He did it twice, amazingly, except he was off by one card both times.