Hiatus

I feel like I should take one, as I have been busy at work -- planning for the open class, and now for the self-introduction festival I'll be having for the 6th graders -- and at home (cleaned some stuff out of my closets last night and did some laundry, as well as go jogging and study Japanese for an hour or so and watch the last episode of West Wing Season 5 on DVD) and my mind feels completely dried of it's creative juices. Never mind that I spend nearly 10 minutes a day thinking about my cute waiter (who'd want to give that up? definitely got different creative juices flowing there. and writing that -- just feels dirty even though I don't intend it that way.) and going out with friends and singing horribly at karaoke, and the cute waiter again, and music, music, and more music, and the guilt I feel for writing this when I should be doing some kind of work. So, I'll cut out the guilt part, stop now, and go back to the good stuff. See you when the inspiration hits!

Aaargh

I can think of nothing worse than having all your work done and being forced to wait around for a meeting that starts when you are actually supposed to be done for the day, all the while knowing you will not be partcipating in the least. Dammit.

The Disaster that is Me

I am not the tidiest person in the world by any means. I have never been good at getting my stuff together and hidden nicely away. Generally, I tend towards sprawl, and I would like to place some of the blame firmly on my spacious living quarters and some on the winter.

In the winter, I get changed in the rooms that are warm, which means at night in my bedroom, and in the morning, I use the bathroom. However my closet is my spare room which is far too cold to venture into during either evening or dawn hours (dawn is probably a bit of a stretch; 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 is dawn as far as I am concerned) which means clothes either end up laid out on the floor at the end of my futon, or tossed in the laundry basket. And once the laundry is all dried and done, I generally toss it on to the desk in the kitchen, as it never dries until the heat has been on for a few hours at night.

Recently (well, how recently can 2 weeks ago be?) I returned home from a trip to my other home with 2 massive suitcases, utterly exhausted and so dropped the suitcases in the hall, where they still lay, and went straight to bed. The next day, I ripped into one of them to find something to wear, and that is how it has been going ever since. As I walk down the hall every morning, I dip into the suitcases to find something to wear, or I accompany it with something out of my various stockpiles of clothes. Again, I really have only to move it around the corner into my spare room to get it out of sight and start my whole process of putting everything away but... Being the procrastinator that I am, I am making the project bigger and bigger in my mind, deciding that I should start culling my old clothes now, figuring out what to get rid of before the return home, which means this should all come to a head in March. Promising, isn't it.

So there is actually a good reason for me not allowing people into my apartment right now, and I am not just making it up when I say that, "no, you really can't come in."

Timing is Everything

It's one of those days when I can feel myself becoming more and more ill as the day progresses. And naturally, it is one of those days that I can't take off, and before a weekend I don't want to miss out on. The big day being Monday means that the last 打ち合わせ時間 will be today, before the weekend. Everyone, except for me, being paranoid about what is going to be happening wants to discuss it to the most minute detail. I just want to curl up under a warm blanket with some hot cider and good drugs, and go to sleep for hours and hours in the hopes this bug flees from me. And the weekend, well that is just jam-packed with good stuff too. Tonight involves a brandied Christmas pudding and a friend's good cooking, before tomorrow's venturing out to see Arsenic and Old Lace in To-shi. Sunday is all planned out as well - a mellow afternoon in one of the upstairs booths at my favourite cafe with the aforementioned friend, studying Japanese amidst デッカイ cookies and delicious drinks. And naturally, I can't do anything about Monday either, what with 54 people from Western Tottori coming to view the class which is making everyone paranoid (now that I have a plan, I feel much better about it, just wish I could get everyone else feeling the same way so that I could go to bed).

Blah blah blah

One of the beautiful things of living in a foreign land where you don't speak the mother tongue is the ability to tune it all out. Fading in and out of conversations at will is so much easier when you aren't always sure what is being said. When you do understand the language, it always creeps in under the door and you are subconsciously tuned in to anything potentialy interesting. Sometimes, the tune out comes in the middle of my conversations completely unbidden, and I find myself doing the "whuzzahuh?!" But then, there are the times when it becomes a survival tool, such as staff meetings.

Do, do, do at the Do! Do! Do!

Conversation with Diane and Sarah ranged from work and snow to grey hairs and pride and being off men; the skinniness of Hiro and the deliciousness of food; smoking, excercising and other life choices for your health; participation in and ditching of social activities; sex and christening and the very 久しぶり nature it; obligations and disepensations; shiny party clothes and sparkly body parts and strappy party shoes and the creating of occasions to wear them; "It's cute" and grammar revision. And then there was Pete and Cian. Promises of golf and fucking, although not necessarily at the same time; concurrence that in fact people are more likely to jump bones right before they leave; years of abstinence in hopes of promises fulfilled; hot birds and too wearing in Japanese; karaoke plans that don't happen; decisions to create fun music compilations for the restaurant featuring quality tracks from "Dirty Dancing;" sempais and kohais and verbal laziness and required duties; venturing forth into the territory of, "it's sexy" during a friends well-timed trip to a washroom; party invitations and disappointing declinings; finally introductions are made and small joys are had.

Once again a good night followed by a relaxing weekend of random chores and work obligations and general idling.

And I have yet to unpack my suitcases and remove them from the front hall. I get dressed in the morning by picking various articles out of whichever pile I am stumbling through.

Untitled

..due to a creative dearth. All my energies and creative juices are now directed to keeping my job. This doesn't mean my position is under threat - at least not while I am here - but for future ALTs, as my position may be cut due to budgetary concerns.

In order to keep my position in the school after I am gone, I have been volunteered to teach the demonstration English in the Elementary School class for all of western Tottori. Very exciting. No pressure.

Foolishly, I chose to have it with a 6th grade class. It is not the class which is a problem as they are fairly energetic (or perhaps I should say, not entirely apathetic?) and the teacher is pretty game for everything. My problem is the syllabus, which states this open class will be the second, and last, class of a 2 class unit on New Year's games. I am having a wee bit of difficulty figuring out how to make it last, still be interesting, and hopefully use some English beyond eye, nose, left, and right. Currently leaning towards throwing in a quiz in Japanese regarding other countries New Year's customs.

I think I deserve at least one cocktail tonight...

大shock!

Three weeks plus off on relaxing warm vacation and mellowing English conversation, and now, thrown rapidly back into the mix of work and cold and Japanese incomprehension. Not ready for my system to handle it, and looking desperately forward to 5 o'clock tomorrow night, as I should be off by then.

Mild and indirect disapproval from various sources with regards to my having taken Tuesday off, as I arrived back in Nanbu 11:30 Monday night. I however have held back on relaying the information to all regarding my activities on Tuesday (banking and a visit to Sakaiminato's immigration office, both of which needed to be completed before 3 o'clock, and grocery shopping, as there was absolutely no fresh groceries in my fridge) as I believe that as long as I am responsible enough to inform everyone beforehand that I will be taking vacation days, what I do with them is of no concern to anyone.

I once read a quote that suggested something to the effect, the free-est person is one who can turn down a dinner invitation without giving a reason why. My reasons are my own, and if I believe them to be important enough to pursue, then justification to others is merely a waste of my own time and effort. But then, most people that know me already realize that they will not get me to do something I don't want to do anyways, so there you have it.

Happiness

The New Year has sprung, calling for resolutions, revolutions, and revelations. None of which I shall pay any mind to. Well, maybe the revolutions, but resolutions, despite my firm dedication to maintaining an utter lack of resolve about most things, aren't my bag.

Just a wish for merry wishes to all my luvverly friends and family in 2006es rapidly progressing year. Well aware it's only just begun, but also aware it will be nearly over before I have even had to time buckle up my seatbelt.