Entries this day: Tsunami_nashi no_mice_nor_men soness!

Tsunami nashi

3:03pm JST Sunday 28 February 2010 (day 14585)

This entry is called "tsunami nashi" because, in Japanese, tsunami means tsunami, and nashi means, in addition to pear, nothing, as in, there was no tsunami despite the warnings, police, and maps saying it could be two meters. I went to the sea to watch. We got nothing.

But the good news is I met a guy named Yasuo who actually met me, saying 「津浪見に来たの？」 (but I ignored him at first cause there were, in addition to "a guy every 20 meters watching the ocean," as I told Alfonzo, several guys in uniforms telling us how we weren't allowed to be there,) and then "Hello? Did you come to watch the tidal wave?" and we started chatting and I found out he also lives in the neighborhood of Chez Soness.

Though I left him in the proverbial dust of Soness's yellow bike on my way to the train station, the trains (on the Tokaido Line) are *still* stopped (and have been since before 1:20pm when I first arrived to head up to Ebisu for Mice and Men by TIP), so he caught up with me and now we are eating at the tempura shop inside the station.

3:45pm JST Sunday 28 February 2010 (day 14585)

Tokaido Line is still stopped, but Yasuo talked to a guy who was like, "yeah the wavelength of tsunami is pretty long, so probably stopped until evening." I was like, "no way!" and he goes, "way" and though the conversation didn't get the trains started, he did suggest taking the Sagami Line to Atsugi, then the Odakyu Line to Shinjuku, and Yamanote to Ebisu. It should all be free on my train pass, though I don't know if I'll have to show it to the guy at the various windows, or if I can just beep on through.

Said bye to Yasuo, who is going to study or something in the area.

5:47pm JST Sunday 28 February 2010 (day 14585)

Nice. The guy at the end of the Inokashira Line in Shibuya erased from my PASMO any trace that I had used the Odakyu Line today. (not for secrecy nor security reasons, but just so the ticket gates wouldn't charge me. For some reason the ticket gates haven't been programmed to allow free access on tsunami days.)

no mice nor men

9:36am JST Monday 1 March 2010 (day 14586)

Mice and Men, a play based on the book by Steinbeck, was performed this weekend in Ebisu by TIP. I wanted to see the tidal wave more than I wanted to see the show, so I felt a bit lucky when the trains were stopped for the tidal wave. Unfortunately, there was no tidal wave, but the trains didn't restart after I deemed things "all clear." I guess my sway in Japan isn't as pervasive as I might have hoped.

Anyway, I got to the theater just as the play was over, and met Emiko, crying, on her way out; we were supposed to have attended together, so I figured at least I could show up. We ate a bit, though it took her a bit to regain her appetite after the play.

Karaoke after that, and then we took the yamanote line from Ebisu to Tokyo where I got the 22:13 train to head home. Emiko sat with me for a bit on the train before it left. We were in the front of the green car, in the seats at platform level, just until a minute or two before the train left.

After we were clear of the station, I moved up to the upper deck, cause that's where I really wanted to sit.

soness!

10:15am JST Monday 1 March 2010 (day 14586)

Just as I sat down in the upper deck seats, Soness called! In a beautiful synchronicity, she was in Shinagawa, ready to get on the same train as me. Sweet, so I rotated the seats in front of me to convert them into foot rests and we got to hug and chat all the way home. I hadn't really gotten to talk to her since her trip to north america (Vancouver and her hometown in Florida), so that was really nice to bond. She'll be headed out to Honkers soon for NLPT training, so that's really cool too! It's been my greatest pleasure to see her fantastic reformation, from sobbing broken hearted to beautiful strong woman.