Ep 22. Christmas Comes But Once (or Twice) a Yea

Since I'm writing this a week late, this post is going to be a bit short on the details...relatively speaking, at least, that's the plan. Plans change, though, so we'll see what just so happens to come out.

Last week was...interesting. Mentally, it was a rather difficult challenge to stay focused and not completely check out. Overall, while not perfect, I would say that I did a pretty good job. Definitely, the weirdest part was going to work on Christmas, and that's really something that's just such a tiny, but important detail. I have never had to go anywhere on Christmas, and the basic itinerary is the same. Wake up, open presents, play with presents, see a movie, have dinner, and go to sleep comfortable in the knowledge that the future will hold absolutely nothing. Barring that last part, I can safely say that, even if one does go to church on Christmas, that still leaves a good part of the day free to spend time with family. In fact, many of my good Christmas memories are of getting a new game of some kind, and playing it with my sister...which leads to one of the other odd things about the holiday this year: I wasn't with her. Now, my parents are diviorced, and so I often don't see one or the other on Christmas day. That's OK, we just celebrate on another day. However, the one constant that has always been there is my sister. To put it bluntly, this is the first Christmas that I have ever had without Alexa. Through thick and thin, triumphs and trials, we have always had at least this day together...but not this year. I do understand that, as people grow older and start their own lives and their own families, that the complexity can make getting together harder. That fact, however, does not make it any easier for me, though only time will tell the full ramifications.
Anyway, my Christmas was effectively a day ahead of everyone else (yes, we did spend the usual 7 hours together in the same day, but we weren't really awake together for it), meaning that I got to open my presents a day early. This fact lead to a couple of semi-awkward video chats where I opened the presents that I received from family in front of them...while they just watched. More than anything, it was an easy way to say, "thank you" as I opened gifts, but I still felt as though they should be opening something as well. Having said that, I did have a nice Christmas and I received many well thought out and heartfelt gifts.

In return, the gifts that I gave seem to have been well received as well. All in all, a good morning, especially the breakfast. Utilizing home made bread from my new bread maker--such is the life of one without an oven--I quickly whipped up a batch of french toast, which I feasted upon with a glass of sparkling apple juice for company. Needless to say, with all that was going on that morning, I got out of the apartment a little later than I might have liked. All the same, the day went well.
That evening, I decided to do something a little...rash. I went home to change a little bit (and pick up my milk), then hoped a train for Miyahara

My travel buddy

Breakfast, because pictures are being difficult...

A gift from my manager...  :)

Christmas Cake

Happy at the Christmas Party

There I attended a nice party with some friends. We had a glorious feast of grapes, Mac and Cheese (thanks for the care package, mom), and--for the non-vegetarians--KFC. Why fast food on Christmas? Are we really such lazy folk over here that we would sink down to that level? Ha, no. Aside, as I would later learn, from Disney Sea, Japan is devoid of turkey, which somehow got translated as the eternal food of choice for all US winter holidays. While they are lacking in turkey, the Japanese do have other poultry. Somehow, KFC--called Kentucky over here--took off, and marketed brilliantly to become the food of choice during Christmas. According to some friends, it must be pre-ordered over here, and we were lucky to get any at all. "That's insane," you might say, "it's just greasy, poorly made chicken." And while that may be true, that's how the tradition goes over here. The other traditional food that we had was the Christmas cake. 

Oh my goodness, is cake ever important over here at Christmas. And not just any cake; Christmas cake is light and airy, and usually covered in strawberries. The one that we got was Chocolate and a tad denser than usual, but that's what happens when you don't pre-order. Christmas cake is probably the biggest part of the holiday over here; people react much the same way to the fact that we don't have it as many westerners do in the discovery that they have to work on the holiday. Up to this point, I have always had pie on Christmas; in the future, that fact may well change.

The next day, I had another Christmas, this time with the family on their Christmas. As they prepared for dinner, I prepared for work; in essence, we all had two Christmases this year. And who knows what the future will bring; maybe next year there will be two Christmases, or maybe there will be four. I don't know, but I do know that this has been another adventure in the austentatious. If you liked me, tell your friends, if you hated me, tell your enemies, and if you don't care either way, then tell everyone. Good night.

Xenologue: A quick apology

Wow, I would like to apologize for a bit of yesterday's blog post (though, for reasons, I'm not going to modify it at present). I got a bit too holier-than-thou at parts, and posited some political views. While I do not apologize for holding the latter views, I do not believe that this is necessarily the forum to share them. I want this to be a space where everyone can feel welcome, and airing those views could turn people away. In terms of the holier-than-thou attitude, I do apologize for my words. I am very lucky to have the opportunity to even be able to apply for a job like this, much less have that job. I know that a lot of people say that we should travel when we're young, but for a lot of people that's just financially infeasible. So, I apologize for taking my privilege for granted. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy New Year.
Speaking of new year, it is a tradition in Japan to take a bath infused with yuzu--think a diminutive ugly fruit--and to eat kabocha. I don't know why, and none of the Japanese people that I asked knew either.

Ep 21. Lord Winter's Chilling Designs

When last we left our hero, a penultimate week of daily work awaited. But lo, what's this? Awaiting secretly and silently in the lofts was the dreaded Lord Winter! Chiller of the cocoa, freezer of the fields! Is there no end to what this great villain will do? Alas, within a night the bright and brave forces of Senator Summer fell--possibly due to congressional infighting which didn't allow orders to push through--and winter indeed arrived to storm the keep. Certain doom seemed afoot, and indeed a day shorter than any other came to pass. Could anything save us from this darkening doom of deceit and despair? Yet, when all hope seemed lost, when the chill in the air seemed to juggernaut through the hearts of the world like a canary through a masher, hope shown through. That's right, as the great metaphorical block of steel plummeted towards the fickle fowl below, a hero arose to hold back the fell tidings long enough for our imaginary avis to moult in phoenix flame into a blue bird of happiness and flee back into the hearts of man. Today was longer than the one before and, though we've still many months of freezing winter yet to go, the hint of coming Great Thaw-r--to smash Lord Winter with his mighty hammer--is still in the air.


So, I woke up Tuesday morning, got ready, and went to work only to discover this outside of my door.

Hint: It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's...

A cloudy day. That's right, for the first time in months, we had a few gray days and a bit of rain. Naturally, most of my co-workers were a little miffed about the change in weather. Naturally, being from Oregon, I was exuberant. The world was finally as it should be: the sun had retreated behind an insulating cloud layer for winter and, though it might be a tad wet, that was just another reason to snuggle deeper into ones blankets at night. Logic had been restored. On top of that, we had a strong possibility for snow. Now, I love snow--probably because I have never been forced to drive in the stuff--and to say that I was a bit excited would be an understatement. I was not just excited for the coming flurries, I was checking the mall exit every chance I could get for even the slightest hint of a flake. Everyone was preparing for what I had been told was inevitable. And then,  like I said, Logic was restored. As every Oregonian knows, it never snows when everyone believes that it will. Snow is just a myth thought up by parents to convince their kids that there can be something white and clean and beautiful about winter. So no, there was no snow. And everyone else rejoiced.
Most of the rest of the week went well. It happened to be the last week of classes--which had to be the lesson before the review unit for the kids classes--so everyone seemed to be in a partially checked out mood. I'm not saying that our lessons were bad, or that we didn't do our job to the best of our abilities, but more that human nature prevailed despite our best intentions. There was, actually, one really funny story from the week. I was in the break room, eating lunch with another teacher, when we both heard a familiar crash: someone had knocked over a chair. The chairs that we have are nice, in relatively good condition, and function very well for how we need to use them. However, that includes the necessity of wheels and being a little tipsy if you sit in them wrong. For adults, sitting in these chairs is easy; for kids, not always so much. Back to the story, we heard the crash, and then a pause. We then heard the teacher ask her student,
"Are you all right?" What followed next was a blood curdling scream as the other teacher in the break room exchanged this terrified look of, Oh no! Who broke what bone in how many places and who needs to call the ambulance. The horror was only momentary, however, as the teacher in the classroom then said,
"[student's name]! Stop screaming! [Different student's name], are you OK?" The student who had screamed had not been the one who had fallen over; he was just a loud student who had decided to scream because it seemed like a good idea. So, what can you do in that situation? Laugh. Which is what the other teacher and I in the break room did.
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I'm going to pause for a moment to tell another story. Back when I was in Upper School, in my sophomore year, I took a class called Advanced Algebra (not that this fact is at all relevant, but it was right after my Team Sports class and right before lunch. Isn't it funny what the brain remembers?). Anyway, every day in class I sat next to an upper class-man, and every day without fail, during the homework time at the end of class, I would end up re-explaining the lecture to her and working through some problems with her. She was by no means a less-intelligent person, but more someone who needed some direction in how to put the pieces together--I tend to be rather similar with physics. One day, while doing an example problem, we got different answers. Turning to her, I said,
"let's see where you went wrong." And she just deflated. Clearly she had thought that she was finally getting a hold of things, and I just tore her confidence to pieces. Checking over our work, I found the issue that had led to our diverging solutions...in my work. She had done everything perfectly, had really understood what was going on, and my words had cut through that like a knife for something that I had done. I felt absolutely terrible, but being young I really, really didn't know how to apologize yet--unlike now, where I only really don't know how to apologize (getting down to r_don't know how to apologize is one of my goals before I turn 50, but judging from how people go, that might be optimistic). I learned a really important lesson that day, and I still remember her name (though for privacy concerns I won't use it). So, seven years later, I say that I am sorry for my words. It was insensitive and barbaric of me to so unthinkingly cut you, and I am truly sorry.
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Friday was an interesting day for many reasons. It started with confusion, ended with concern, and nothing that happened was really within my power to change too much. For privacy, I won't go into those two stories in this blog, but I will go into one other. For a week or two--these weeks can blend together--I have been missing a set of stickers. These are not run of the mill stickers; these come in a set with some rather expensive, though helpful, books that my company produces. As such, losing them is one of the worst mistakes that someone can make. And I didn't know how it could happen! I always put them away the moment that I received them, and I had spent the entire week reorganizing and looking for the stickers. But they never appeared. Finally, I told another teacher my situation. What followed was a rather frantic half an hour of both of us looking through all of my folders and everywhere it could possibly be, all the while her asking me,
"How could you do this?" In a rather exasperated tone. And I had been doing so well; I had been reminding students of important announcements, I had been remembering check tests, my classes had been going better. And then I had messed up again. It really made me feel as though none of my hard work was ever going to pay off. And then we found them. With her stuff. Now, I do forgive her wholeheartedly, because a) she's a very busy person, b) if the past was any indicator, I should have been the one at fault, and c) I have been in that seat before.  But that doesn't change the fact that I had a half hour of being berated for something that was not actually my fault.
So, what's the lesson from this story? Well, it's hard to put into words, and harder to put into practice. History can be a great indicator of future trends--bubbles, depressions, weather patterns, holidays, etc--but when it comes down to the personal level, it can be catastrophically wrong. And I realize that that's a big word, but it best suits my purpose at this point. A shot confidence is nothing to joke about, and assuming that it must be someone else's fault when we could be blamed instead is just hubris. And so, to all of my dear readers, I give this story, in  hopes that none of you will make the same mistake that I--or my friend--did.

Following the flummoxing and fateful Friday, came a day that we had all been dreading for some time: our most veteran teacher's last day.

Posted with her verbal consent.

At the end of the day, we had a great party, and I got to be the MC. We played games, sang kareoke (starting with a startling bad--if not enthusiastic--rendition of, YMCA by yours truly), and in the end had a great time. This woman was an inspiration to all of us. She was strong, she was great at her job, and she was following her dream. I hope one day to surpass her in ability, but that day is quite a ways away yet. She will be missed greatly by all of us, but I at least wish her the best in her next adventure.

Sunday turned out to be a surprisingly busy day. After chatting with my parents (and wishing my Dad a happy birthday on the day of his birth, Japan time) I went X-mas shopping--and I'm using the X because my fingers are growing numb from typing so much in the cold.
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As a side note, the 'X' comes from the Greek letter Chi, which happens to be the first letter in the Greek word for, "Christ." It is not an attempt to take the Christ out of Christmas, but rather a convenient way to spell the word while still being true to its roots.
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So off to Omiya I went, to find presents, delectables, and...

Oh hi, worlds fattest pigeon.

Finding nothing that I wanted, but good substitutes--sorry, WU Improvers who will get this joke, but this is the best wording for this sentence--I then went to Urawa for some Japanese tutoring. I did not get put with the happy, hyper guy from last time; instead, I got a very serious man who clearly loves his language and wants everyone to speak it perfectly. In other words, while he's probably great for those who can speak but need practice in communication, he wasn't exactly the best for someone who is as new to this as me. Still, I was able to write all of my notes in Hiragana--badly draw, but still legible because some things transcend the language barrier--and afterwords he took me down to a book store for a text book. The problem was that he suggested a book that was all about repeating phrases, an activity that, for me, is about as helpful as spouting gobbledy gook. When it comes to languages, I'm a very visual person. Flash cards work wonders; purely audio CDs do not. Still, I felt really bad that I didn't get it in the end, because he was taking time to help me. It's just that the help that he offered--and this comes from experience gleaned from Spanish, work, and classes in general--was one of the worst suggestions possible. I'm still going to make him a thank you card, though, and I am going to redouble my efforts.
Following the lesson, I considered getting an electric grill, but decided against it. It just felt a little too unsturdy for my tastes, and the amazing deal from a week prior was no longer in existence. So, I came home, and spent some good time talking with my father who, with my sister, step mother, and one of my aunt-and-uncle pairings, was at my grandparents house. Following a text from a friend, I then went back out into the world and down to the Pokemon Center, to get the 'mons from a distribution. That failed, because the center had apparently run out of the entirely man-made and easily reproducible zeros and ones. If I wanted them, I would have to come back tomorrow, which was out of the question. On the way back home, I discovered that there was a Toys R' Us a town away from my city, a store that was also offering the deal. So, I decided to zip over, and spent the next hour in a train. At least, I think it was an hour...it might have been more, it might have been less, and it might have had stops in between. I'm really not sure, because I happened to bring a book with me. For those who don't know, books are my opiate. And I don't mean that in the, books are how I relax sort of way, which is true. More, I mean it in the, when I read, I lose all sense of the surrounding world and have quite literally spent entire days reading books without realizing it. As a Freshman in Upper School, my mother had to take my books away because I would read instead of doing homework. As someone who still believes in Santa Claus--more as an embodiment of the general feeling of good will for the time of year, and less a physical tub of lard squeezing through the central heating ducts--books really do transport me away from it all.
Anyway, I got to Okegawa, and walked the sixteen minutes to the store. On the way, I was passed by several mopeds being driven by a barrage of Santas. Other than that, I could have been on any other suburban street in Japan. What awaited me at the end, though, was what I took to be a rather large shopping mall. It really wasn't, but was instead the closest I have ever come to entering the sound-sation known as a pachinko parlor. Gambling is rather illegal in Japan, yet somehow pachinko has survived to assault the ears of everyone within a two block radius. Sitting above this money drain was Toys R' Us. Did they have the deal? No, and the closest one with it was approximately two hours away by train, so that's a bit of Christmas that I'm going to miss out on. Instead, what they had were the perfect gifts to complete my stocking.
You see, for both myself and the other American teacher, this will be our first Xmas away from home. So, I came up with an idea: we would both make each other a stocking, so that on the morning of the 25th we'd both have something fun to open up that we didn't really know about. I knew what I wanted, and it was something that has been in every stocking that I've had for years, but some things are sadly hard to find in Japan. Toys R Us, however, was my savior. Currently, the stocking sits ready to be delivered tomorrow, to fill the following morn with a little taste of home.
After stepping foot into my first Toys R Us in roughly a decade, I made my way back home and promptly crashed. However, this was not a normal sleep, for earlier that day I had received a package from my mother.

Oooh, a reused package. Very Oregonian.

Oh, she added a stocking...and more food that I don't have space for...

Wait, what's that behind everything...it must be a...

my mother sent me a queen sized--and obviously searched through--western pillow. I was so excited that I could hardly believe my luck. And so, that night, I slept as I had not for several months, basking in the happy fluffiness of a pillow that was not made to be a compact rock. Also included was much food and several presents, wrapped in a paper she knew I would like because, well, I had bought it the year previous.

Which brings us to today, my dad's birthday in America. I woke up, took a shower, and promptly texted him asking if he would like to chat. He was out, and would be for an hour...which was when I needed to leave my apartment. We did end up talking for about ten seconds as I was about to leave the apartment, but I had already made plans to be somewhere at that time and I did not want to be late. A student at my school had, some years back, lived in Hawaii (pronounced by my Hawaiian born co-worker, Ha-why-_-ee), until her visa had not been renewed because the US immigration system has huge and, rather frankly racist, issues. But now isn't the time to go into that, and I really don't know the best way to fix it anyway. Anyway, she knows what it's like to move to a foreign country where they don't speak your language, and that's really something that you can only know if you've experienced it. I'm sorry, but until you're facing bills that you neither know what they're for nor why you're paying for them, you have no idea what this is like. Anyway, she was a good friend to my co-worker, and had invited us both to her apartment for sandwiches and cake. And it all turned out fantabulously:

A nice view of some distant mountains.

More mountains.

Yes, more mountains. I wish I had this view.

Some apple things that we made.

Our fantastic feast.

The four layer cake that I made and decorated.

Those are some nice, even layers.

I'd call that demolished.

Their beautiful trees.

All that's left.

I will now leave you all for the evening, because a loaf of break will soon finish baking in my bread maker, and I want to start dinner soon. And so, I leave you all with these images of my seizure inducing Christmas tree, which will never be plugged in again:

Pretty, I might have to turn this on more often...

By the great Google, darn those flashing lights!

This has been another adventure in the austentatious. If you liked me, tell your friends; if you hated me, tell your enemies; and if you didn't care either way, then tell everyone. Good night.

PS: The photos that never managed to get into the previous post.

Please meet Jewels and Verne.

Yes, you read that right.

Gah, so tasty...

A beautiful lake.

Inside a corner of one mall, from the ceiling.

A corner of a different building of the mall, looking up.

The frozen mochi.

I have no idea.

This rice cooker costs more than my apartment.

They have a 3D printer for sale.

For only slightly more than a rice cooker.

A nice view of some mountain.

A retake of a previous picture.

The bread riseth...

Ep 20. The Lull

Following many periods of preposterously perilous and perpetually puntastic adventures, our hero finds himself within a new stage in life, one where what was once exciting is now fruitless, where the unknown has become average and the zest of excitement has been toned down. Welcome to the Lull, a zone inhabited by the Dailies, the Hourlies, the Weeklies, and the Avergies. However, rather than being a time of tense and un-turbulent solitude, our hero sees this fact as an opportunity, for perhaps this Lull is but a break before bombastic and barbaric times set themselves into force. Or, perhaps his initiative, like his water, has merely frozen over.

Winter has arrived. Now, we have not gotten as cold as the Pacific Northwest, nor as cold as many other parts of the US. That does not change the fact, however, that I fell like I'm freezing my buns off over here. This is partially due to the fact that I really dislike being cold, but it might also be cause by the lack of central heating in apartment buildings over here. Now, I know that this is a fairly petty complaint, but given that many apartments also lack solid insulation or a sturdy build--sturdy tends to literally fall to pieces when the ground begins to rumba--it's a chill that I am not used to dealing with. Still, one must always look at everything with a grain of salt. Yes, I am currently sitting here shivering because I don't want to turn my heater on, but at the very least I will appreciate having central heating when next it is available to me.

So, I have not done much this week in terms of what some might call adventures. That is not to say that I did not do anything, nor that I didn't do anything new. Rather, so much has been new for so long that what I really need is a quiet weekend to just process and vedge. That weekend will have to be later, however, because these past two have been quite adventurous. Aside from the Tokyo trip, last weekend also included dinner with my other American co-worker. To be honest, though I do love my Japanese co-workers to bits, and am incredibly thankful to have them, it's also nice to know that there is someone else at work who has gone through many similar situations to my own, and in ways that can be understood in my own terms.
Actually, we have been spending more time together and talking more. Yesterday, we went to a weekly Japanese tutoring session that she likes to go to, and that I have been to once. Admittedly, my Japanese is a lot better than when I first went, and though I am fairly functional, I am nowhere near even remotely conversational. I was paired with an older Japanese man, who turned out to be one of the most excitable people who I have ever met. What proceeded was an hour-and-a-half flurry of information, detailing questions, statements, nouns, directions, introductions, etc! To make his point, he would stand up and gesture, and tried to do the teaching as much as possible in Japanese. I started by writing the new words in romaji, but when he noticed, he chastised me. "English is for eigo, hiragana is for Nihongo."Wise words indeed. The problem is that while I can read most hiragana fairly easily, I have little experience writing it. Thankfully, he was more than happy to write for me, and he gave me a lot to study for next week. I am, however, glad for the work, because it is giving me something personal to work towards outside of work. I even went out and bought a little kids book on practicing hiragana. I can't wait to show off my progress next week.
Following the lesson, my co-worker and I wandered the mall, looking at things. We found some good deals that I need to go back for--that will be next weekend's adventure--and were walking back to the train to go home when she got a text from a friend. Did she want to join him for some shopping? I was welcome to come along. So began our journey to Koshigaya-Laketown.
On first arrival, my primary observation was the lake, easily visible from the station. This is by no means a large lake, but it is still the first such body of water I have seen in quite some time. It even has a lake front park, which we immediately went to check out...and were met with wind. As I have spent some part of my life in Hood River, I am well acquainted with wind, and know how to deal with it. That does not mean that it can be readily enjoyed, however, when ones long johns have been left at home in the wash. I got my pictures, enjoyed the view, and then we skedaddled towards the mall.
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**Speaking of pictures, my phone is charging, so they will be added in later.
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Now, most stations in Japan have a mall close by. This makes sense: there's a lot of foot traffic, it will get a lot of business, everyone is happy. Indeed, I noticed the mall as we were leaving the station. I continued to noticed the mall as we walked towards the lake, and I couldn't help but notice the fact that the mall also had joined us at the lake, and extended along the bank perpendicular to us.
The AEON LakeTown mall bills itself as the largest eco-friendly shopping mall in Japan. While I'm not sure how I would verify that last part, it is certainly the largest mall that I have ever been to. This place is so large, that have split it into three parts: water, wind, forest. Shopping here is not like a normal shopping mall, where to meet up you have to find the right store. Shopping is more like a Disneyland parking lot: you have to know which one you're in, or you are never going to find each other. Still, what with our having just come from tutoring, my co-worker and I decided to get lunch. We ended up settling on a nice looking buffet place. The rules, once we got in, were simple: eat whatever you want, as much as you want, for 90 minutes; and they had a lot of food there. While standing in line, her friend joined us, and the three of us ate. A lot. The nice thing about a buffet is that you can see what you're eating. As such, for a vegetarian like me, it's relatively easy to find things. I say relatively, because in Japan you can find meet in the most unlikely of places. Take the vegetarian-tofu curry. It looked and smelled delicious, it was filled with tofu, and I could find no reason to doubt it. What could possibly go wrong (he naively thought). Just to make sure, I examined a few ladles. Sure enough, in every last spoonful, floating like a cackling child who has just stolen candy from a baby, were little flecks of beef. They made their tofu-vegetarian curry with beef stock, and had put extra beef in it. Welcome to Japan.
Post the delicious lunch, we got down to business. My co-worker's friend needed to shop for two separate holidays: an anniversary and Christmas. Thankfully, he had already found his boyfriend's birthday present, otherwise the trip would have taken much longer. For those who don't know, shopping isn't really my thing. My general approach to buying things is that I go to the store with exactly what I want in mind. As such, while many people like to wander randomly through stores, gasping at the purchases they want to make, I am more inclined to just sit back and observe. That's not to say that my interest cannot be piqued (see above for a good example) but more that I prefer to think about purchases before making them.
Having said that, I did buy one thing--though I saw many more interesting little gadgets. Mochi is a traditional Japanese treat and, while it can take some getting used to, is delicious if made right. What I was not aware of was mochi stuffed with ice cream. It's cold, it's hard for those with sensitive teeth, but it is delicious.
Anyway, we wandered in circles for a bit--even with a map, we got lost--until we found the shop that my co-worker's friend was looking for. Inside, he did indeed find the perfect gift for his beau...OK, writing that is a little weird, but not for the reason many people would use. Let me illustrate with a story from last year: a group of us were hanging out in a friend's room, talking, when suddenly someone says, "I just realized what's weird about you and your girlfriend" (this is Friend 1). The friend who this was directed at (Friend 2) looks a little confused, a feeling shared by most of the people there. We all knew Friend 2, and we all knew that she had a girlfriend. We also all knew that Friend 1 was not only ace, but fairly bi-romantic (if not pan-romantic) as well. However, Friend 1 cleared things up by saying, "it's because you have one." You see, dear reader, I did not go through college with people who were in serious, committed relationships--barring a couple of exceptions. It's not that we weren't interested in people, nor that we necessarily believed in free love (definitely not that most of us ever engaged, or really had ever engaged, in sexy-sexy-fun times), but more that being in a relationship was just not something we really did. We were having so much fun just being friends that nothing else seemed relevant (or, in many cases, was really possible). I'm still getting used to the fact that most people my age have dated, done things, or may be in a serious relationship at whatever level. Does that make me utterly naive about how romance and relationships and that sort of thing actually work? Absolutely yes. Would I change anything if I could? Probably yes, but I'm fine with how things turned out in the end. It has just given me a different view than many about what makes a relationship healthy. Still, it was really cute the way that his face lit up when he found exactly what he was looking for; it's that kind of reaction that reminds that there does indeed exist (relatively) innocent love in the world.
One final note on the mall, I did end up having fun. Will I now go out shopping? Probably not. Will I see my co-worker's fabulous friend again? I am inclined towards the negative, simply because I was not necessarily on my best behavior. That's not to say that I am a horrendous person, but that I can be a little much to handle when I don't watch myself like a hawk. Looking back, I do wish that I had kept a better hold on my quirkier self, but at the same time I am glad that I could express as much as I did. I am decidedly more reserved over here in both speech and action, but that visage cracked yesterday. Do I desire to not have that facade? Yes, but I must also contend with being a tad exhausting without it. In that case, a balance is needed, one which will need constant evaluation. Still, I am thankful for my co-worker and her friend for letting me tag along, and I hope that they had fun.

Speaking of buying things and having fun, I did end up making a more sizable purchase than might be considered wise (I'm still saving a ton, just less than I want to). I bought a bread maker and, having tasted my first loaf, am glad for the decision. It was so simple to pull off, it made my apartment smell heavenly, and it went great with my schocking dinner. Now, many will say that I am a fool for buying it, because such a device is a long term object. To those, I simply say this: yes, I bought a bread maker for myself. I am rather domestic, and enjoy cooking and cleaning (though I do enjoy a little clutter). As such, the bread maker--and next week's purchase if I decide they're worth it--is the perfect kind of thing for me to get. But I got it for another reason: I want this to be the best apartment ever, for everyone who works at my school in perpetuity. I did not get this wonderful (albeit regrettably hued) device merely for myself, but for my successors to give them options of what to do while here. Plus, the fact that my whole apartment now smells more of bread than man is a decided plus in my book, although I am wondering how I am going to get the mixing attachment out of my bread...
Anywho, this has been another adventure in the austentatious. If you liked me, tell your friends; if you hated me, tell your enemies; and if you didn't care either way, then tell everybody. And now, good night.

Ep. 19 The Great, Circuitous Zoo-Regard

Following a week of jubilation and holiday hi-jinx, our hero was ready and rip-roaring to visit the undersea world of wild delights known as: aquarium. But what's this? Changed plans at the last minute left me stranded and adrift, not a plan in sight and only my wits for comfort. What was our hero to do in such a daring 'dicament? Make the best of it, of course.

So, karmatically, I had this coming. I am always early to work, I am emphatically on time to my personal schedule on weekends, but have someone else try to plan a day for me and I can, at times, be a tad tardy. To be honest, it runs in the family. This particular karma-punch came from the effects my tardiness at Nikko caused--again, I am really sorry that it happened. I had planned a rather nice day at a spectacular aquarium with some friends and, the night before...plans changed. They decided to spend the night drinking in Tokyo. Now, trains in Japan are not like trains in many US cities, in that they do stop running during the most dead parts of the night. This pause is usually after midnight. So, a night of drinking in Tokyo is, quite literally, a night of drinking in Tokyo. As such, our 3pm meeting time was just a tad too early for my companions, and as I'd rather share this experience and the aquarium was a tad expensive, I was left relatively plan-less. However, a few days ago I had decided to join my predecessor on a fun adventure out to a Book-Off extravaganza. Book Off is a Japanese chain book store, so my Portland Powells senses were a bit uppity about going to a chain book store. But I went anyway, and ended up having a blast. I don't get to nerd out as much as I would like to over here, so it was nice to talk to someone really nerdy. We wandered around the mall, shop to shop, looking at things. The book store itself felt like the love-child of a, "Good Will" and a book store. They had everything, from clothes to DVDs to CDs. Oh, and they had books too, against the far wall. Because, being a book store and all, they kind of have to have a few of those. Still,

it did live up to its name as a bazaar.
We then had lunch together, and went off to the pet store. I don't know what it is about these places, but they depress me. No, I know exactly what depresses me:

It's those two eyes, pressed against the glass, looking cold, and scared, and utterly confused and alone. It's the idea that this little guy has to sit here day after day, and hope that his cute appearance gets him adopted before he grows too old. Don't get me wrong, apparently pets get a great life over here, and being a Papillion means he'll probably get adopted soon, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't depress me. Now, yes, I do realize that this depression is partially biologically driven so that we'll always take care of our offspring when they're small, cute, and useless. That does not change the fact that it can be depressing.
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Speaking of small, cute things, there was a religious children's performance in the mall the other morning.

Your average Japanese person celebrates Christmas, but without any hint of a religious aspect. These kids, however, sang many well known songs (in Japanese) and were darn cute to boot. Now, back to my daily inanity.
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After a few hours of exploration, my companion and I parted ways in Omiya. She needed to go home and, darn it, I wanted to do something besides wandering around a mall. What better way to forget the depression of small, cute animals in small cages than to see large, less cute animals in...big-yet-still-small cages. That's right, I went to a zoo.

In Ueno park.

Which had water writing.

Photo monkey was excited to go to

The Ueno zoo.

 So, if the statues weren't obvious, this zoo has pandas:

That's right, a Japanese zoo has pandas on loan from China. Now, after the travesty known as the Omiya zoo, my hopes were not high, and at first I was not impressed. The Panda cages were pretty big, but the elephants' enclosure was a tad small--I know, they're huge so it's hard to make anything big enough--and one of the tapirs had an obvious bad limp. However, I was quickly impressed by the rest of the zoo. I even got lost and went in circles for a good twenty minutes. Now, it is getting late here, so I'm going to just upload a bunch of zoo photos:

This is the best squirrel photo I got. How I miss the fluffy devil spawn and their suicidal road-dashes.

Nice antlers...must be feeding time.

I am Simba now!

 The polar bear enclosure was impressive, and I got there just as they were feeding him. There was a hole in the ice that I got to watch him climb out of! It was very impressive.

The closest I want to be to a grizzly bear.

In Japan, they have sun bears...

that actually move and do things.

No, I am Simba!

Anteaters are surprisingly acrobatic.

Of the two Dholes, on knows how to relax...

while the other's a tad upbeat.

Add caption

 I saw this scene while wandering around lost. Yes, there were a lot of people around, but a little patience got me this great shot of mother and child. Even in the wild, most great apes are good parents to their offspring. Also, fun fact: monkeys have tails, apes don't. Just saying.

Penguins! But couldn't really catch the fun drip feature.

Zelda fans rejoice!

Huh, naked mole-rats that aren't in a pile up...

Bush Babies! Really cute and unbelievably tiny.

 Without going into why, I really hate the flash feature on cameras. Yes, there is a reason why I'm saying that here, but I'm a little embarrassed to tell the tale. This, however, was natural lighting, and it turned out just fine.

Last, but not least, an Okapi. The butt of a zebra, the body of a horse, and the closest relation (I think) of giraffe. These creatures are well adapted to their rainforest home, able to blend into both low grasses and heavy trees. They also have rather long tongues.
So, the Ueno Zoo was actually pretty good as far as zoos go (Oregon Zoo, you have spoiled me). Next, however, I decided to go to the Kyu-Shiba-rikyo Gardens. Billed as a taste of Edo and, "impressive view of rocks," it really it a peaceful place in the middle of the city...at least, I would say that if it really could get out of the city.

What a pretty pond...and buildings.

That reflection is amazing...and buildings.

The center of the park...and buildings.

 At least in the Ueno Zoo, the buildings were far off and subtle.

Far away, and if you happen to squint and see the pagoda, that's the Benten temple.

The distant Sky Tree.

But no, in the middle of what should be a calm park, there's the sight of towering buildings and the roar of cars and trains. Don't get me wrong, I think that Tokyo is a fantastic city where one can find anything and everything. However, more and more I am even more glad for how far out I am. I can get out of the city, I don't have to listen to traffic. All in all, it's a bliss for me that I don't have to look far to find the quiet. One last picture about the gardens, before I move on. Sadly, there was a busy street in the way, so I could not get the clarity that I wanted. However...

 

This man and daughter caught my eye. I apologize for the graininess, but this was the best photo that I could take. Part of the reason that I went to the park was that the Pokemon Center is across the street, and I wanted to see their Christmas stuff (I'm a bit addicted, so sue me). However, on this day they were closed, and they're at the top of those stairs. Now, I wasn't the only one surprised by this fact, and I will bet that these two were as well. I don't know what their story was--and I would have missed them if the shop hadn't been closed--but there was such a profound melancholy in the way that they were walking. Clearly, they had been excited to go to the store, and clearly those hopes had been dashed. To top it all off, this little (I'm going to assume here based on the color and what I could see of the child) girl had to walk down steps that were clearly really big for her. Her father (once again, assuming here), carefully walked down each and every step with her. Like I said, I don't know there story, but I wish them both well, and hope that their next parent-child adventure goes much better.
Following that adventure, I went to Akibahara, spent some money, and then went home. I then decided to test my skill at a claw machine--I had some 100 yen coins left over--and was rather perturbed that I could get this with my first coin:

 and no farther. I don't know what kind of anti-gravity device they use, but clearly it works. To be honest, I neither want nor need such speakers, but they would have made such a nice gift, and instead I was thwarted by...I have no idea. That, dear reader, is utter BS, and I doubt that I will be spending money at that arcade any time soon.


I will leave you now with this image:

I don't know what the bridge did, to deserve being chained to its pillars. I didn't know that bridges were a flight risk, but whatever it did must have been bad. Of course, it might be that this particular section was not connected as well as the others, as evidenced just out of shot, and so needed the additional linking in the likely event of a massive earthquake, but either way that's Japan for you. Anyway, this has been another adventure in the austentatious. If you liked me, tell your friends; if you hated me, tell your enemies; and if you didn't care either way, then tell everybody. And now, good night.