Entries this day: AM At_work Email_from_Jill Email_tally Photos_of_Jen Work Work_party after_party_rant

AM

8:16am JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

Slept early last night and woke up around 5:30am. Took a shower, finished shaving my head, meditated, slept again. Weird dream about an old house with shower room under construction and I accidentally took a shower in there without knowing if the construction was complete.

At work

10:02am JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

Have arrived at work with my newly buzzed haircut. Due to limited eye contact and communication at work, it's taking a bit for people to notice.

Email from Jill

11:31am JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

Got pics from Jill in Canada

I added them to the journal entry for the Super PB Party from which they were taken.

A big HELLO from Canada Rob!  Likely you will only have the faintest memory of losing the shirt off
your back to some crazy Canadian & friends at a PB Party in a hot basement in Tokyo in May
'05. Again, thanks for being a good sport!  You will be amused to know that your shirt resides in
Thunder Bay Ontario Canada at the bottom of my brothers drawer (in the threezee photo Dan is to your
right....he has an affinity to monkey shirts).  I have attached a few photos of that fateful
encounter to jog your memory.  We had an absolute blast during that 10 day haze, managing to tour
Tokyo, climb Mount Fujisan, spent time in Nagoya at World Expo as well as in Kyoto.

Steven, the guy you actually traded your monkey shirt with, still lives in Tokyo...

All of the folks in the PB group photo attached, including the cardboard heads, have continued to be
involved in Rotary International Projects promoting goodwill, peace and understanding around the
world. We are big into the Rotary Group Study Exchange Program, which is a cultural/vocational
exchange that pairs teams of 5 from different countries on an annual basis.  We went on one
ourselves to Sweden in 2000, had a fabulous life changing experience, and now facilitate the same
program for others.  The camaraderie this generates between nationalities is truly phenomenal...and
connection by connection we feel it makes the world a better place to live.

It is always GREAT to hear of your many adventures Rob and your updates are delightful!  Please
accept this email as my official request to stay on the "Rob Update List" for 100 years.  Hope your
movie night at the Pink Cow was a success.  Best of luck with your passion for the arts and your
foray into meditation!  Keep us posted on your showing in July...you never know what will inspire us
to return to Tokyo!

Peace & Goodwill from Canada!

Jill

Email tally

4:35pm JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

In my inbox:

1. 12 emails from 2008 (one from February and the rest from March)

2. 3 emails from 2007 (shrug)

3. 65 emails from 2006 (and several of these I can just archive; too late to respond)

4. 11 emails from 2005 (mostly that I want to post in my blog)

6:59pm JST

And now there are 81 messages in my inbox. ドンドンドンでできる！

Photos of Jen

4:02pm JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

She sent them to me almost 2 years ago, but I posted them: Pics of Jen on Facebook

Work

6:59pm JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

Didn't do much today.

Work party

7:00pm JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

There's some kind of party that most peeps at my work are attending tonight. I'm not sure who all will be there, but attendance is semi-expected. I hope it's fun!

after party rant

9:53pm JST Monday 17 March 2008 (day 13872)

That wasn't totally tragic, but just a bit disgusting with smoke at times. My "speech" in Japanese was a bit tragic. Oh, I know what was really tragic.. people fucking asking me if I could use fucking chopsticks.

Let me assure the readers of this here journal: I can use chopsticks. I have been in Japan for five years. That should be enough to learn how to use chopsticks. Oh, and in the United States, I used chopsticks at about age 12 at Vietnamese restaurants. Good god when will people stop being so dense as to ask what food I can eat and if I can eat it with fucking chopsticks?

I can also say the equivalent banalities of "nice to meet you" and "my name is Rob" in Japanese. This does not mean my Japanese is good so stop saying it is. It's fucking irritating for me to say こんにちは and the reaction to be, "oh my god your Japanese is so good!!!!" Shut the fuck up and act like I'm not a fucking idiot and maybe I'd be interested in learning a bit more.

Perhaps I should find a place to write this little rant in Japanese. "Stop asking foreigners if they can eat 'Japanese' food with 'Japanese' utensils." Very little of Japanese culture originated in Japan so get off your racist horses and live with the rest of the world. Stop being surprised when someone can say my name is ____ in Japanese. I can say "my name is Rob" in English, Japanese, Spanish, French, ASL, and (with a bit of review) Arabic, Mandarin and Russian. It's not so fucking amazing to speakers of those other languages, so why is it a shock in Japanese? Perhaps if Japan was more of a world-welcoming country, more people would care to learn the language and therefore it wouldn't be such a shock.

Something like that. I shouldn't post this, but I'm gonna. I imagine my reaction is fueled in part by my own issues, but I know I've heard more than one non-Japanese be miffed by these questions/reactions.