Hallelujah!!
There be a god in his heavenly throne for sure-ah!!
My speech is now set for August 9th!!!
Praise-ah!!!
That is all
Monday, 28 July 2008
Friday, 25 July 2008
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
The Fan Rule
Oh and did I mention this is country where it's rude to fna yourself in hot, sweltering un air conditioned buildings?
ARGH!!!!
I'm sitting here in the office fanning for all I'm worth!
ARGH!!!!
I'm sitting here in the office fanning for all I'm worth!
Heat Rage
I get Heat Rage.
Maybe it's Arab genetics. Explains all the shit in that area of the world! LOL
Getting more na dmore fucking humid here. It doesn't stop at the peak, oh fucking NO, it just keeps getting more and more humid/hot here. FUCKING JAPAN WEATHER!
So I now am sweating it up a treat here.
At night hate it because it disturbs my sleep. Me and my bros all seem to go a little mental at night if it's hot. They sleep walk and, recently, I too succumbed to sleep shouting. Feel a little on edge because of the lack of a proper night's sleep. I could use the air conditioner but I need it all night and that'll kill my wallet/penguins/ice caps surely.
I wish the humidity would fuck off and die. Winter come back, all is forgiven!!!
{This post was brought to you by the letter A for Anger, and M I for Management Issues }
Maybe it's Arab genetics. Explains all the shit in that area of the world! LOL
Getting more na dmore fucking humid here. It doesn't stop at the peak, oh fucking NO, it just keeps getting more and more humid/hot here. FUCKING JAPAN WEATHER!
So I now am sweating it up a treat here.
At night hate it because it disturbs my sleep. Me and my bros all seem to go a little mental at night if it's hot. They sleep walk and, recently, I too succumbed to sleep shouting. Feel a little on edge because of the lack of a proper night's sleep. I could use the air conditioner but I need it all night and that'll kill my wallet/penguins/ice caps surely.
I wish the humidity would fuck off and die. Winter come back, all is forgiven!!!
{This post was brought to you by the letter A for Anger, and M I for Management Issues }
That Really Is All
Finally had Monica over for dinner. Nervous as the Queen of Parties/Dinners/Entertaining was coming to my lowly (well, it's on the 3rd floor but you know what I mean) apartment. It turned out well I think/hope. Mario Kart played, panic as the N64 seemed to die for a moment.
Too much has happened recently. Too must to blog....... avenge me!
Feel sick in the pit of my stomach as various farewell's loom, one after another. Then it will be "That really is all" as the footnote to friendships with some of these people.
Okino proved fun as ever. Did some random pictionary thing and aside from some brain dead students having to have the "rules" of Pictionary explained to them ( I walked some of them through it holding thier hands... literally!) it was really fun. I'm getting a little better at knowing when to get the hell out of dodge and letting the students get on with something. Save my "genki" for other times.
Going to test drive a car I won't buy. LOL
Too much has happened recently. Too must to blog....... avenge me!
Feel sick in the pit of my stomach as various farewell's loom, one after another. Then it will be "That really is all" as the footnote to friendships with some of these people.
Okino proved fun as ever. Did some random pictionary thing and aside from some brain dead students having to have the "rules" of Pictionary explained to them ( I walked some of them through it holding thier hands... literally!) it was really fun. I'm getting a little better at knowing when to get the hell out of dodge and letting the students get on with something. Save my "genki" for other times.
Going to test drive a car I won't buy. LOL
Friday, 11 July 2008
Testing my patience
Got more mind-numbing paper marking landed on me by Weird Haga.
Not so bad because she uses me. I keep telling myself this. Then I remember it's once every month. Yeah, loads of loyalty owed there.
Mind you it's English composition, and being English teachers none of them could tell a shitty English sentence if it came up and raped their cat.
200 tests to go as well as probably Muara and Ito coming back to ask me to do more of theirs. Yay!
And no proper classes to speak of. Only hopes for activities remains next week's stint at Okino.
Not so bad because she uses me. I keep telling myself this. Then I remember it's once every month. Yeah, loads of loyalty owed there.
Mind you it's English composition, and being English teachers none of them could tell a shitty English sentence if it came up and raped their cat.
200 tests to go as well as probably Muara and Ito coming back to ask me to do more of theirs. Yay!
And no proper classes to speak of. Only hopes for activities remains next week's stint at Okino.
The Little K Car That Could
My little K Car is officially terminal. It's entered the "walking ghost" stage of terminal failure. Everything appears fine but it's doomed.
NOOOOO!!!!
I got back form class to have Ms. Haga fucking relay the info to me. In Japanese no less; from a fucking English teacher! WTF? Anyway I was shocked to say the least.
I've been driving around in the Shirataka Auto's bitchin' ride with Chryssy to Tom's house yesterday.
There's other stuff I want to blog about (lest I forget about it when I come to read this again in months) but at the moment all I can think about is the amount of random shit I'll have to deal with for a new car. It's ironic in a way that I'm going through this process at the same times the n00bs will be too!
So now I am on collision course with another trait I hate in Japanese people
Ask them a question (which do you think is the best computer/speaker/car/keitai) and you get the most biased answer spilling from their mouths. Or you get the "proper" answer. Tatamae and all that bullshit.
It really pisses me off. Guess which brand of car Tom suggested I look at? Honda. Cos that's what he owns. No thoughts about value for money, or even the fact that I'll be looking at second hand cars and still I doubt if any Hondas are affordable even 2nd hand!
It reminds me of getting my new snazzy speakers for my iPod. Read all the reviews on line which extolled the virtues of small docks, but when I listened to them they were horrific audio piles of shit.
Everything is biased. The one I chose (borked in the display unit in Apple Sendai) I am much happier with and finally tracked down a proper review (had sound graphs and everything!) which you can't manipulate as much to cover up for a complete lack of bass (warning: most iPod docks are tinny shallow pieces of crap. It's just common sense/science that you need a separate sub woofer to help with the sound)
I like to research something to death when I go to buy it. Computers, speakers etc. I always take magazine reviews with a pinch of salt. Or friends recommendations. With a car you can't really do any of that, especially in Japan I can't turn to as many sources anyway.
I'm not getting a white plate. For only one year and the laughable hike in prices I am going green (well, yellow plate). Then there's where I get a second hand from. Urgh.. urgh....
NOOOOO!!!!
I got back form class to have Ms. Haga fucking relay the info to me. In Japanese no less; from a fucking English teacher! WTF? Anyway I was shocked to say the least.
I've been driving around in the Shirataka Auto's bitchin' ride with Chryssy to Tom's house yesterday.
There's other stuff I want to blog about (lest I forget about it when I come to read this again in months) but at the moment all I can think about is the amount of random shit I'll have to deal with for a new car. It's ironic in a way that I'm going through this process at the same times the n00bs will be too!
So now I am on collision course with another trait I hate in Japanese people
Their absolute inane inability to give you honest balanced advice.
Ask them a question (which do you think is the best computer/speaker/car/keitai) and you get the most biased answer spilling from their mouths. Or you get the "proper" answer. Tatamae and all that bullshit.
It really pisses me off. Guess which brand of car Tom suggested I look at? Honda. Cos that's what he owns. No thoughts about value for money, or even the fact that I'll be looking at second hand cars and still I doubt if any Hondas are affordable even 2nd hand!
It reminds me of getting my new snazzy speakers for my iPod. Read all the reviews on line which extolled the virtues of small docks, but when I listened to them they were horrific audio piles of shit.
Everything is biased. The one I chose (borked in the display unit in Apple Sendai) I am much happier with and finally tracked down a proper review (had sound graphs and everything!) which you can't manipulate as much to cover up for a complete lack of bass (warning: most iPod docks are tinny shallow pieces of crap. It's just common sense/science that you need a separate sub woofer to help with the sound)
I like to research something to death when I go to buy it. Computers, speakers etc. I always take magazine reviews with a pinch of salt. Or friends recommendations. With a car you can't really do any of that, especially in Japan I can't turn to as many sources anyway.
I'm not getting a white plate. For only one year and the laughable hike in prices I am going green (well, yellow plate). Then there's where I get a second hand from. Urgh.. urgh....
{Collapses in heap of confused car-less confuddlement}
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Hospital, Kuruma & Marusuke
On my way to the hospital I dropped in with Oitama. Mirroring the phenomenon of arriving at the doctor's and your symptoms are suddenly much less severe, the car suddenly had slightly more oil than it had last night!
It still was on the low end but a little better. Now it seems mine and Rebecca's kurama's have the same problem
So I'm marking some of Ito and Miuara's tests. So far done 80 of them, two classes. I do want to help them and all, and indeed have something to do the rest of today (Thursday; Grammar day and thus an excuse for me to organise pictures, surf the internet or self diagnose on wikipedia). However they have never asked me to do a class with them. Apart from tentatively approaching me with a marking scheme and some wads of tests I never hear or see them.
I think it's a little unfair. I'd be happy if it led, as I thought it would, to more closer working with them, maybe even a class or two. But so far nothing. I do want to say something but then I feel a catch 22 of them deciding to give me a trial run. Good surely? No.
It will inevitably fail because the kids are usually so apprehensive when I suddenly show up in class one day. Moreover I still find it difficult to think of appropriate games for them to do from their text books. Particularly ones that could be considered "academic" and not just a fun series of role plays on a more useful topic. (Knowing how to say "This is our menu. What would you like to order" would have been good for the school festival).
Then again they could be really open to those ideas. I just don't know. I'm going to make the first move later in August, no point rushing considering we're almost at the summer holiday in school!
Hospital visit ended with the same old "more rest" bullshit. As I calmly (barely) explained I have done nothing for a fucking month anyway!! Lots of barely contained rage as I made those batsu signs for the Doc.
The only new thing, which made me feel a little better, was a stretching guide they gave me. Since it is all in the tendons apparently this may help.
Got loads more pain tablets, thankfully not Ibruprofen; I'd have jihaded if I'd seen those fucking things being handed to me again.
In a sign of how cool my kyoto-sensei is he didn't ask me to add another hour of nenkyo despite coming back at 1:50 instead of 12:30 (which is lunch time, so actually I didn't have to come back till 1:00 before any more nenkyo should have been added).
He's randomly nice like that. Like the time he told me I shouldn't be driving to Iide. I filled out the business trip form but this time Tom insisted I fill in the part about the car to get fuel money. Kyoto said they can't allow me to.... officially. Talk aout tatamae/honne!
I'm so lucky with him. I'd die if next year he is replaced with the kyoto-sensei from Rebecca's school who doesn't seem half as forgiving.
It still was on the low end but a little better. Now it seems mine and Rebecca's kurama's have the same problem
- leaking oil (copious last night for mine; everywhere I stopped I'd see a new spot of oil)
- no apparent drop in oil level
- shit loads of the stuff marring out parking spaces
So I'm marking some of Ito and Miuara's tests. So far done 80 of them, two classes. I do want to help them and all, and indeed have something to do the rest of today (Thursday; Grammar day and thus an excuse for me to organise pictures, surf the internet or self diagnose on wikipedia). However they have never asked me to do a class with them. Apart from tentatively approaching me with a marking scheme and some wads of tests I never hear or see them.
I think it's a little unfair. I'd be happy if it led, as I thought it would, to more closer working with them, maybe even a class or two. But so far nothing. I do want to say something but then I feel a catch 22 of them deciding to give me a trial run. Good surely? No.
It will inevitably fail because the kids are usually so apprehensive when I suddenly show up in class one day. Moreover I still find it difficult to think of appropriate games for them to do from their text books. Particularly ones that could be considered "academic" and not just a fun series of role plays on a more useful topic. (Knowing how to say "This is our menu. What would you like to order" would have been good for the school festival).
Then again they could be really open to those ideas. I just don't know. I'm going to make the first move later in August, no point rushing considering we're almost at the summer holiday in school!
Hospital visit ended with the same old "more rest" bullshit. As I calmly (barely) explained I have done nothing for a fucking month anyway!! Lots of barely contained rage as I made those batsu signs for the Doc.
The only new thing, which made me feel a little better, was a stretching guide they gave me. Since it is all in the tendons apparently this may help.
Got loads more pain tablets, thankfully not Ibruprofen; I'd have jihaded if I'd seen those fucking things being handed to me again.
In a sign of how cool my kyoto-sensei is he didn't ask me to add another hour of nenkyo despite coming back at 1:50 instead of 12:30 (which is lunch time, so actually I didn't have to come back till 1:00 before any more nenkyo should have been added).
He's randomly nice like that. Like the time he told me I shouldn't be driving to Iide. I filled out the business trip form but this time Tom insisted I fill in the part about the car to get fuel money. Kyoto said they can't allow me to.... officially. Talk aout tatamae/honne!
I'm so lucky with him. I'd die if next year he is replaced with the kyoto-sensei from Rebecca's school who doesn't seem half as forgiving.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
The End Of All Things
Was reserving this title for my final month in Japan next year (or another year?! God knows. I think not) but now I feel another end of an era is soon upon me.
I clean my car out. Wipe down the surfaces, generally go OCD on it. Turn my attention to gauges and level checks. Oil is weirdly low... So too is coolant but I think it's always been that way.
Resolve myself to head to Oitama Auto who are meant to be great. I rock up and see the Mama of the Operation, Haika. She gets one of the guys to come over but soon it's her and half the Oitama family looking at my car! One of them, Ryoko, speaks really good English. She used to be at Nagai Koko and kinda remmebers Randy! Sugoi!
Old Man Oitama comes over at one point and basically waves his hand over the engine saying "fucked, fucked, fucked".
Sudden nervousness sets in. I suddenly channel what it feels like to hear that a loved one has got cancer or something!
It was a manual too.
Until it's passed on I'm sticking by its bed side.
So it's evening and time I went to climbing.
I parked the car the way I used to (nose in). You see I said confidently to Ryoko
thinking back to the tell tale stains below Rebecca's and how I can clearly remember checking mine only a week or so ago just to check and not seeing anything.
I got back from Oitama and guess what I see? Massive whopping oil slick! How did I not see that?! Actually I think I did but assumed it was just rain or something in the corner of my eye each time I passed it!!
Despite Old Man Oitama's proclaimation, it's just the leaking oil. Everything else is fine. Well, all things considered; old but ok.
Anyway now I am moving it back from where its parked and I get out. There's a splodge of fresh new oil where the car was. SHIT!
I go to Iide, mill around seeing Al isn't there, unsettled by the thought of my dying car and I leave the guitar in at Chryssy's.
I head slowly back to Nagai. I pull into the car park and decide to check oil; see what kind of rate of descent are we seeing here with drops of oil everywhere I stop the car even for a minute or two.
Oil is back to where it was when I checked this afternoon; ie at or below the "L" mark.
In one evening it all leaked out! SHIT! How long have I been gunning it with this happening?! I can't remember any particular trauma to it.
Going to take it in tomorrow unless someone talks me out of it. I need a car and I am willing to pay to try and fix this one. I don't need a fancy new car, especially considering it'll be only for one year.
All my supposed wealth was built up cos I just KNEW one day I'd need it for something like this. It really does write it all off as such. If a new car is in the offing I'm very badly off, plus with money I need to send home to pay credit card for insane amounts of t-shirts...
And still the end of July marches on, with the prospect of friends leaving forever.
I clean my car out. Wipe down the surfaces, generally go OCD on it. Turn my attention to gauges and level checks. Oil is weirdly low... So too is coolant but I think it's always been that way.
Resolve myself to head to Oitama Auto who are meant to be great. I rock up and see the Mama of the Operation, Haika. She gets one of the guys to come over but soon it's her and half the Oitama family looking at my car! One of them, Ryoko, speaks really good English. She used to be at Nagai Koko and kinda remmebers Randy! Sugoi!
Old Man Oitama comes over at one point and basically waves his hand over the engine saying "fucked, fucked, fucked".
WHAT!???!?!
Sudden nervousness sets in. I suddenly channel what it feels like to hear that a loved one has got cancer or something!
"But... but... they seemed alright! How can this be?!"
No way could a whole new car be cheaper?! Okay maybe it means more problesm down the line but honestly, consider all we've been through together! The slips and tumbles and mad dashes across, around and through Okitama!!They top up the coolant and oil but tell me to check every week. Moreover they say that it's expensive to fix and that I should just get a new car.
NOOOOOOO!!
It was a manual too.
Until it's passed on I'm sticking by its bed side.
So it's evening and time I went to climbing.
I parked the car the way I used to (nose in). You see I said confidently to Ryoko
"I never saw any oil stains in my spot!"
thinking back to the tell tale stains below Rebecca's and how I can clearly remember checking mine only a week or so ago just to check and not seeing anything.
I got back from Oitama and guess what I see? Massive whopping oil slick! How did I not see that?! Actually I think I did but assumed it was just rain or something in the corner of my eye each time I passed it!!
Despite Old Man Oitama's proclaimation, it's just the leaking oil. Everything else is fine. Well, all things considered; old but ok.
Anyway now I am moving it back from where its parked and I get out. There's a splodge of fresh new oil where the car was. SHIT!
I go to Iide, mill around seeing Al isn't there, unsettled by the thought of my dying car and I leave the guitar in at Chryssy's.
I head slowly back to Nagai. I pull into the car park and decide to check oil; see what kind of rate of descent are we seeing here with drops of oil everywhere I stop the car even for a minute or two.
Oil is back to where it was when I checked this afternoon; ie at or below the "L" mark.
In one evening it all leaked out! SHIT! How long have I been gunning it with this happening?! I can't remember any particular trauma to it.
Going to take it in tomorrow unless someone talks me out of it. I need a car and I am willing to pay to try and fix this one. I don't need a fancy new car, especially considering it'll be only for one year.
All my supposed wealth was built up cos I just KNEW one day I'd need it for something like this. It really does write it all off as such. If a new car is in the offing I'm very badly off, plus with money I need to send home to pay credit card for insane amounts of t-shirts...
And still the end of July marches on, with the prospect of friends leaving forever.
The End of All Things?
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Friday, 4 July 2008
Whoops, as a few, but loyal, blog glimpsers point out my thoughts before overlooked the 3rd and older year JETs. Of course everyone will join in on the fresh new luvin' with the n00bs.
Muara and Ito have just landed me with marking to do. Urgh.
Planning things is a bitch.
I love Kirin Milk Tea.
That is all.
Muara and Ito have just landed me with marking to do. Urgh.
Planning things is a bitch.
I love Kirin Milk Tea.
That is all.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Things To Do
Email the people leaving and ask:
Hammer out more details and location about the idea for an "early evening" Saturday 9th August thing in Yonezawa for n00bs and 2nd year Okitamians.
Afterwards anyone who wants to go to can go to the AJET party in Yamagata
Make a map on Google Maps of where Okitama ALTs live. If they don't want to be on the map remove them.
Web address for the guide to Yonezawa events to give people heads up about events there.
Find out when the new ALTs are coming. There are only 6, most of them will be in Group B, August 6th, but for any coming on July 30th I (and anyone else wanting to) will meet and greet them for a quiet relaxing dinner if they:
If not their first night then that first weekend for Group A (Friday or Saturday 1st/2nd August) everyone in Okitama curious to meet the new person could see them and hang out.
Of course major meet for next week (Saturday 9th) but seeing us a lot at the start isn't the worst thing in the world, lol. And of course it's all up to free choice and interest of the persons. No forcing LOLs upon them.
Other than that Chiara has a "buddy" system idea; hook up ALTs with someone in their area who they can turn to for advice.
Oguni is covered with Jesse for the first wee while. Nagai has me and Rebecca. Kawanishi has Iide or Yonezawa ALTs. The one new ALT in Yonezawa has PA maestro herself Chiara or Shane or Daniel; the cream of the crop, lol.
Occupy them with arranged meets at cinema on August 17th for Dark Knight, a random Sunday since most of their weekends will be packed with Orientations or AJET get togethers.
There's bowling and karaoke too, spread out into September wethinks.
Outdoor events not sure about. Perhaps BBQ somewhere. There's the place where a few of us played frisbee, though I can't remember if it's got actual benches and places for that sort of thing. I think it did.
- are they staying in the area afterwards
- how long are they staying
- will they be willing to help shepherd the new ALT round?
- contact details
Hammer out more details and location about the idea for an "early evening" Saturday 9th August thing in Yonezawa for n00bs and 2nd year Okitamians.
Afterwards anyone who wants to go to can go to the AJET party in Yamagata
- How will we get them to Yamagata if they want to come to Kat's all night party? Trains.
- How will they get back if needed? I could drive them back.
Make a map on Google Maps of where Okitama ALTs live. If they don't want to be on the map remove them.
Web address for the guide to Yonezawa events to give people heads up about events there.
Find out when the new ALTs are coming. There are only 6, most of them will be in Group B, August 6th, but for any coming on July 30th I (and anyone else wanting to) will meet and greet them for a quiet relaxing dinner if they:
- don't have a party
- have the energy for it.
If not their first night then that first weekend for Group A (Friday or Saturday 1st/2nd August) everyone in Okitama curious to meet the new person could see them and hang out.
Of course major meet for next week (Saturday 9th) but seeing us a lot at the start isn't the worst thing in the world, lol. And of course it's all up to free choice and interest of the persons. No forcing LOLs upon them.
Other than that Chiara has a "buddy" system idea; hook up ALTs with someone in their area who they can turn to for advice.
Oguni is covered with Jesse for the first wee while. Nagai has me and Rebecca. Kawanishi has Iide or Yonezawa ALTs. The one new ALT in Yonezawa has PA maestro herself Chiara or Shane or Daniel; the cream of the crop, lol.
Occupy them with arranged meets at cinema on August 17th for Dark Knight, a random Sunday since most of their weekends will be packed with Orientations or AJET get togethers.
There's bowling and karaoke too, spread out into September wethinks.
Outdoor events not sure about. Perhaps BBQ somewhere. There's the place where a few of us played frisbee, though I can't remember if it's got actual benches and places for that sort of thing. I think it did.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Betayal? Story. Marking.
Saw Tom at the apartment when coming back from lunch (the last of the curry I made the other day). Said hello and asked where he was going; "business trip to Yamagata" he says.
Sitting in the office, having marked another batch of tests and watched some Doctor Who whilst doing it
Finally resorted to: "Sorry but no, what are you saying, IN ENGLISH!". So after some more JANGLISH I realise that Tom and Soushi may have gone to Yamagata together, for ramen?! Weird!!
Don't know what or why. May ask tomorrow to see what was going on. Not that I really am bothered it's just interesting randomness. "Business Trip" versus "Ramen".
In other events I was sat marking tests, then getting ADD and reading news stories on the Internet before getting back to the grind stone. One time I was taking a break I remembered about a story I had thought of while lying there half awake this morning. It was pretty sketchy but at the time I really liked it. So I sat and typed out the events.
I love events. I love planning them in stories and working on motives and weaving in foreshadowing, back shadowing, any kind of shadowing I want.
For some reason, as of late, I've been seemingly obsessed with time travel. Am I suddenly yearning for control of the past now that we are approaching the departures of manys a friend? Perhaps.
I want to work with other people on stories. To hammer out narratives, scenes all that. But I can't do it, I cannot write prose. So I stick to bullet points or a couple of paragraphs outlining things. I enjoy how quick things can change that way. It's a peculiar kind of 'power' to have. Also it works better for working out the 'devastating ending' which I am fond of. Quicker to change a bullet point than change the course of a fully fledged chapter.
To infuse the story with a sense of foreboding. I love that! I love a sorrowful tone too (Doctor Who - "A Girl In A Fireplace"). And I imagine nearly everything I think about taking place at dusk, in that gentle orange glow of the evening.
Okay. Fuma Yama has been stood beside the printer for about 15 minutes while I type this. Also the young bat-eared teacher, whose name I don't need to remember cos the distinguishing thing about him is is resemblance to a murderous Romulan. He is behind me to my right, a few paces back.
The two are talking. Or more fucking accurately Fuma Yama is whittling on, a cool guy I must add; he dressed as a oba-san when everyone was moving desks in the staff room, lol.
But the other guy? For now going on 20 minutes???
Oh and a "naru hodo" here or there. I don't know if he's just distracted trying to read what I'm typing or wondering if this is some sort of "Bitch/Butch" dynamic going on where he must show subservient delight at Fuma Yama. LOL.
Oh wait.. now he is talking... and his fish breath is drifting this way! Time, methinks, for a long walk around the school!
Story plot points and events hammered out in a few minutes away from marking tests. Which, by the way, are doing very well this year actually. No real low scorers. Sugoi!
I think this comes from my own feelings about my granny, being far away when she died not long after we last saw her. Also from the death of my Mum's friend in Australia in a car crash. It's weird to experience it from such a secluded spot, not seeing my Mum deal with it firsthand, only through terse emails. It feels impersonal. Reminds me of how I felt as a kid when I was told about my granny's death and having to wait (go to school from Tuesday to Friday) until I could go back down for the funeral on Saturday. The distance, and the lack of feeling. Wondering if anyone else had 'felt' it and why I hadn't lying in my bed that Monday night.
time travel story. an uncle dies. a favourite uncle. his room filling personality lost, his laughter and smile gone. maybe he is an doptive father.
the man goes back in time to the time he died but not the same place. he visits everyone, his family and friends, one at a time, obsessed with seeing what they were doing at the moment his uncle died. Don't they feel it? Can't they sense it?
His obsession grows and he relives the moment spanning his uncle's death again and again. Everytime, like a thoughtless reflex, he sheds a single tear at the exact moment his uncle dies. The motive wanes from his actions each time.
Then when he is reliving the moment with someone else they receive news of a friend's death. He is hit by the realisation that he was obsessed only with his uncle, hoping others showed 'signs' of being as devastated as he was, yet also ignoring the realities of life all around him. Of death all around him, unseen and felt at the time by many but sure enough felt in due course.
The realities of death; that missing the moment doesn't make it easier, doesn't make your subsequent grief any "less" than someone who was there to watch the person they loved die.
This speaks to death of his parents. He wasn't there when they died. He didn't see. He didn't know. This is his guilt and his penance. He sees himself in every person going about their daily business unaware of his uncle's death.
Looking back on his journey two images of the man he thinks he is crash together. At once he became the person he hoped everyone else would be; the person who can sense death wherever they are, a single tear speaking of the sense of loss like clockwork.
However at the same time he was a hollow man, increasingly unaffected by death, uncaring and unfeeling; the thing he imagines himself to have been as a boy, playing with toys in the garden, wrapped up in his own world, while his parents lay dying.
he jumps time to see one last thing. he silently watches himself as a kid playing in the garden at the time his parents died miles and miles away. at one point the kid stops playing, only for a moment, before starting again.
He goes back to his future, back to his life, having finally absolved himself of the guilt he felt that day and everyday since for not feeling the death of his parents, for not being there. His grief afterwards was valid indeed.
Sitting in the office, having marked another batch of tests and watched some Doctor Who whilst doing it
- Short Review. better than recent efforts but there are still stupid "touches" that play up its kids TV show slant.
Which is stupid cos it was a favourite because it was for kids but always played quite interesting stories and concepts for kids, with a few winks and jokes to ease their fear. Now I feel they go a little overboard with all that "camp" stuff.
Still it was quite good and epic and ended on a very interesting cliff hanger...
Finally resorted to: "Sorry but no, what are you saying, IN ENGLISH!". So after some more JANGLISH I realise that Tom and Soushi may have gone to Yamagata together, for ramen?! Weird!!
Don't know what or why. May ask tomorrow to see what was going on. Not that I really am bothered it's just interesting randomness. "Business Trip" versus "Ramen".
In other events I was sat marking tests, then getting ADD and reading news stories on the Internet before getting back to the grind stone. One time I was taking a break I remembered about a story I had thought of while lying there half awake this morning. It was pretty sketchy but at the time I really liked it. So I sat and typed out the events.
I love events. I love planning them in stories and working on motives and weaving in foreshadowing, back shadowing, any kind of shadowing I want.
For some reason, as of late, I've been seemingly obsessed with time travel. Am I suddenly yearning for control of the past now that we are approaching the departures of manys a friend? Perhaps.
I want to work with other people on stories. To hammer out narratives, scenes all that. But I can't do it, I cannot write prose. So I stick to bullet points or a couple of paragraphs outlining things. I enjoy how quick things can change that way. It's a peculiar kind of 'power' to have. Also it works better for working out the 'devastating ending' which I am fond of. Quicker to change a bullet point than change the course of a fully fledged chapter.
To infuse the story with a sense of foreboding. I love that! I love a sorrowful tone too (Doctor Who - "A Girl In A Fireplace"). And I imagine nearly everything I think about taking place at dusk, in that gentle orange glow of the evening.
Okay. Fuma Yama has been stood beside the printer for about 15 minutes while I type this. Also the young bat-eared teacher, whose name I don't need to remember cos the distinguishing thing about him is is resemblance to a murderous Romulan. He is behind me to my right, a few paces back.
The two are talking. Or more fucking accurately Fuma Yama is whittling on, a cool guy I must add; he dressed as a oba-san when everyone was moving desks in the staff room, lol.
But the other guy? For now going on 20 minutes???
"Hai" "Hai" "Hai". That. Is. All. Really. That's it.
Oh and a "naru hodo" here or there. I don't know if he's just distracted trying to read what I'm typing or wondering if this is some sort of "Bitch/Butch" dynamic going on where he must show subservient delight at Fuma Yama. LOL.
Oh wait.. now he is talking... and his fish breath is drifting this way! Time, methinks, for a long walk around the school!
Story plot points and events hammered out in a few minutes away from marking tests. Which, by the way, are doing very well this year actually. No real low scorers. Sugoi!
I think this comes from my own feelings about my granny, being far away when she died not long after we last saw her. Also from the death of my Mum's friend in Australia in a car crash. It's weird to experience it from such a secluded spot, not seeing my Mum deal with it firsthand, only through terse emails. It feels impersonal. Reminds me of how I felt as a kid when I was told about my granny's death and having to wait (go to school from Tuesday to Friday) until I could go back down for the funeral on Saturday. The distance, and the lack of feeling. Wondering if anyone else had 'felt' it and why I hadn't lying in my bed that Monday night.
time travel story. an uncle dies. a favourite uncle. his room filling personality lost, his laughter and smile gone. maybe he is an doptive father.
the man goes back in time to the time he died but not the same place. he visits everyone, his family and friends, one at a time, obsessed with seeing what they were doing at the moment his uncle died. Don't they feel it? Can't they sense it?
His obsession grows and he relives the moment spanning his uncle's death again and again. Everytime, like a thoughtless reflex, he sheds a single tear at the exact moment his uncle dies. The motive wanes from his actions each time.
Then when he is reliving the moment with someone else they receive news of a friend's death. He is hit by the realisation that he was obsessed only with his uncle, hoping others showed 'signs' of being as devastated as he was, yet also ignoring the realities of life all around him. Of death all around him, unseen and felt at the time by many but sure enough felt in due course.
The realities of death; that missing the moment doesn't make it easier, doesn't make your subsequent grief any "less" than someone who was there to watch the person they loved die.
This speaks to death of his parents. He wasn't there when they died. He didn't see. He didn't know. This is his guilt and his penance. He sees himself in every person going about their daily business unaware of his uncle's death.
Looking back on his journey two images of the man he thinks he is crash together. At once he became the person he hoped everyone else would be; the person who can sense death wherever they are, a single tear speaking of the sense of loss like clockwork.
However at the same time he was a hollow man, increasingly unaffected by death, uncaring and unfeeling; the thing he imagines himself to have been as a boy, playing with toys in the garden, wrapped up in his own world, while his parents lay dying.
he jumps time to see one last thing. he silently watches himself as a kid playing in the garden at the time his parents died miles and miles away. at one point the kid stops playing, only for a moment, before starting again.
He goes back to his future, back to his life, having finally absolved himself of the guilt he felt that day and everyday since for not feeling the death of his parents, for not being there. His grief afterwards was valid indeed.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Starsky & Hutch
When I was waiting around for Nicole and Monica, wondering where the hell Yamazawa was (and being too stupid to look up the street at the big sign) the Police stopped me.
I'd just come out of Family Mart and up they sidled. My first thought was that they'd come for me about my speeding along on Route 18! LOL.
Actually I never did find out where they stopped me, though Nicole suggested it was cos I looked like an Iranian guy who had been selling stuff illegally in front of the station.
Still now thinking back over it I am pretty angry at it. At the time though, as is often the case with me, I didn't have time to step back and think "Er... no" and kick up a fuss. I was very polite and courteous as they abused my liberties there and then.
Starsky & Hutch appeared beside me. Starksy was flashing his badge. It was almost comical in a way. My first thought: Halloween. Yep, thought they were in costume or something. Assumed it must be Japanese friends of Nicole or something playing a joke on me. I look around and realise this isn't a sitcom.
With the minimum of fuss they ask for my gaijin card. I give them it, in the detachable bit of my wallet that also has my health insurance card. Hutch starts to copy my details into a notepad. At the time I didn't think about it but now I wonder just why the hell they were doing that. I mean, where is my information, including address and passport number and all that, going?
They ask me the "usual" questions according to Monica. Where I work, live, and how long i've been here. I wonder if my credit card had been in the bottom pouch too would they have copied that down? Urgh. And this country doesn't ave any Data Protection Act like back home so that there is some legal thing you can hang them on if they abuse your information. So my details could be spread around half the police forces here for all I know. My car details too, though I didn't tell them my licence plate.
Considering it was probably a case of mistaken identity I am annoyed that they soldiered ahead anyway with taking down details and stuff. Ah well. I'll just have to check my rear view mirror more when I put my foot down, lol
I'd just come out of Family Mart and up they sidled. My first thought was that they'd come for me about my speeding along on Route 18! LOL.
Actually I never did find out where they stopped me, though Nicole suggested it was cos I looked like an Iranian guy who had been selling stuff illegally in front of the station.
Still now thinking back over it I am pretty angry at it. At the time though, as is often the case with me, I didn't have time to step back and think "Er... no" and kick up a fuss. I was very polite and courteous as they abused my liberties there and then.
Starsky & Hutch appeared beside me. Starksy was flashing his badge. It was almost comical in a way. My first thought: Halloween. Yep, thought they were in costume or something. Assumed it must be Japanese friends of Nicole or something playing a joke on me. I look around and realise this isn't a sitcom.
With the minimum of fuss they ask for my gaijin card. I give them it, in the detachable bit of my wallet that also has my health insurance card. Hutch starts to copy my details into a notepad. At the time I didn't think about it but now I wonder just why the hell they were doing that. I mean, where is my information, including address and passport number and all that, going?
They ask me the "usual" questions according to Monica. Where I work, live, and how long i've been here. I wonder if my credit card had been in the bottom pouch too would they have copied that down? Urgh. And this country doesn't ave any Data Protection Act like back home so that there is some legal thing you can hang them on if they abuse your information. So my details could be spread around half the police forces here for all I know. My car details too, though I didn't tell them my licence plate.
Considering it was probably a case of mistaken identity I am annoyed that they soldiered ahead anyway with taking down details and stuff. Ah well. I'll just have to check my rear view mirror more when I put my foot down, lol
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