Today was supposed to be one half of a “sports day”, but it really was just an excuse to wear out the students out on the field in the morning. Mr. Hayashi took me with him to Himeji to run some errands, and then we came back and had lunch in the cafeteria.

Mr. Hayashi asked me to help him with teaching a class to the students going to Australia. The first two students had arrived and then they paged all the teachers to go to the teacher’s room for a meeting. Mr. Hayashi had forgotten, so he left me in front of the fifteen students, without any lesson or plans.

I faked it – I told them about wearing shoes inside the house, about taking a shower in the morning rather than a bath at night, ordering food at McDonald’s, and basically winging it big time. The students watched in a strange fascination, but they were already pretty tired from running around outside in the heat.

Luckily, Mr. Hayashi came back in about twenty minutes and bailed me out. He talked a little about the trip, and how they are going to set up a website for their parents to follow along on their adventures. I’ll be interested to see how that goes.

After school I went into Kobe and attended my second Japanese class. The difficulty went up a notch, which is good. There were a couple of new students there, one guy from France. We’ve got quite an international crew. After the class I did a little bit of shopping, and then had some donburi for dinner at the ramen joint with the free kimchee. The donburi was delicious – it was grilled pork on a bed of rice with a bit of egg and nori on top. Yum!

Coming out of the restaurant and hitting the lively streets of Kobe – it was quite an experience. There’s something about walking out on the street on a steamy summer night with people walking all around speaking a language you can barely understand – signs you can barely read… it’s times like these where you really feel like you’re in a foreign country. There’s people on the streets hawking goods, guys trying to get you to meet girls, and everyone is staring at you as you walk by. Wow.

Now I’m back home with some shaved ice and trying to beat the heat. Tomorrow I’m off to Carrefour for some shopping – I’m cooking tacos for Kuniko tomorrow night.

Man, it’s hot – hot and wet. I’ve got a couple more months of this to go… where was all this hot air when I was huddled in front of my heater five months ago? You definitely get the extremes when it comes to weather here in Japan.

I did another half day at work today. In the morning I went over and talked to Mr. Hayashi. I told him that something had come up on Sunday night and I wouldn’t be able to join him at Graciani’s. To him I’m passing up a free dinner with a beautiful woman – what am I, crazy? Little does he know that I’m having a free dinner with another beautiful woman anyway. Sometimes things get a little weird around here.

After I left school I ran some errands at the local grocery and bought a huge lunch – sushi, inari (little pockets of fried sweetened tofu filled with sushi rice), two mini-sandwiches, and a roll filled with a cocktail weiner and some catsup. It was a feast for me and I really enjoyed my lunch. To make up for it I just had rice and a hard-boiled egg for dinner. Actually, it was garlic chili rice – I had some sauce leftover from something else and it worked out great.

I memorized more vocabulary tonight – nothing too exciting. The verb of the day is 移る (utsuru) which means “to move”, as in moving from one house to another.

Tomorrow is a mini-sports day at school. There are no classes, but apparently the students are going to go out there and work up a sweat. I’ll bet at least five of them pass out by the end of the day. I’ve also got my Japanese class in Sannomiya. Afterwards I might hit the ramen place again and take advantage of the all-you-can-eat kimchee. Oh, yeah.

I went over to the yakitori tonight, and there was some great news from the master. His wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl two weeks ago. It’s been that long since I’ve been in there, so it was news to me. The funny thing was that he didn’t mention it until about halfway through my meal.

He showed me a picture he took with his cellphone – what a cute baby! The master was definitely proud. Filling in for his wife, the master’s mother quizzed me on all kinds of things, and really put my Japanese to the test. She didn’t seem to mind if I didn’t understand something, she just kept talking. Wow, it was tough. The master interjected every once in a while to help me out, but it was good practice.

That reminds me, Kuniko told me a funny story last weekend. Apparently her students had asked her if she knew how to wink.

For some reason, Japanese people have trouble winking. Maybe it’s just not part of the culture, but winking is pretty rare. A long time ago I taught Kuniko how to wink, and it’s been one of our communication tools that we use, especially when other people are around.

Anyway, she demonstrated her winking technique to her students, and the classfull of girls went nuts (Kuniko teaches at a all-girls high school). She said that the students’ reaction was, “So that’s how you got your boyfriend!”

I’m going to study some flashcards, and then hit the hay early tonight. The bedroom temperature is dropping rapidly, and I’m hoping to have another comfortable night’s sleep.

On the way to school today I saw a lady wearing a T-shirt that said, no kidding, “I Want To Barry My Face In Your Breasts”. Why can’t I find T-shirts like that when I go shopping?

I finished marking my exams, and so Mr. Hayashi and I spent the morning chatting and catching up. This weekend is the STEP test. Usually I’m one of the interviewers, but this time I am sitting it out. I’m going to help by being a supervisor. It pays half as much as an interview, but there is no real work to speak of. I’m not sure why I’m off the team, but Mr. Hayashi felt really bad. He wants me to come to Graciani’s for dinner afterwards, and he’s trying to set me up with one of the ladies from the office. What he doesn’t know is that the lady in the office is a friend of Kuniko’s, and she knows all about our relationship.

Kuniko will be an interviewer at the school on Sunday, so we will be working together again. Mr. Hayashi told me that he didn’t want to invite any other women to Graciani’s because they don’t like to have to share the attention they get from the men. I just smile, nod, and continue to be amazed.

Anyway, Kuniko and I have made some plans behind the scenes. Hopefully she’ll be able to come visit me on Saturday and stay the night, and maybe again on Monday. I asked Mr. Hayashi for some extra time off to do some shopping, but it will really be time for Kuniko and I to spend together before I ship off to California.

Tonight I’m hoping that the yakitori is open – I really want to say hello to the master before I leave for America!

Today was the big day for my English students – they had the listening exam, which makes up around half of their grade in my class. After marking the first few classes’ exams, it seems like it was an easy test. I’m glad, actually. I’d like them to have some confidence going into the next term.

After lunch the history teacher came by to hang out with me. He insists that 15 minutes conversation a day is improving his English. I agree that it’s improving, but I don’t point out to him that it’s closer to 45 minutes a day. Still, he’s a nice enough guy and he’s got some interesting insight into the male-dominant Japanese culture. This is information I can use in the future – so I’m listening carefully and taking notes.

Some of the interesting things he said today got my attention. He saw a woman at a conference he was attending the other day, who was half Japanese, half German. The history teacher referred to her as “half”. Later he referred to her as “not pure” Japanese. Some of these terms might be found offensive in the right situations, but I concentrated on figuring out where these ideas come from, and if there are negative connotations.

He said that people that are half Japanese have a harder time finding jobs in Japan. It’s assumed that since they were raised at least partly by someone who isn’t Japanese, they probably don’t know the culture or language as well as someone raised by Japanese parents. He described a Japanese philosophy about two rabbits. If you see two rabbits in the forest, you’ll only be able to catch one. If you try to catch both, you’ll end up with none. He tried to explain that it meant that you can only be good at one thing – people raised with two languages are really only good with one of them, and that language won’t be Japanese. So they are not desirable as teachers or employees. Interesting.

I gave him some tips on meeting girls, and I’ve discovered that I’m becoming a primary source of information in this particular arena for him. I’m working on overcoming his shyness. Once we get over that, look out ladies!

I managed to avoid getting recruited into the softball team, and got home at a decent hour. After doing some chores and cleaning up around the house I decided to go visit the yakitori – it’s been a while since I was there. Unfortunately, it was his night off, so I ended up eating okonomiyaki at the local restaurant. I discovered that it can be lonely eating okonomiyaki alone.

Back home I exchanged some e-mail with Kuniko, writing only in Japanese. It’s good practice for me, although it takes a really long time for me to respond. We’re coming up with plans for this weekend, which will be chock full of interesting situations.

Exams are continuing at Takasago Minami, and so the teachers are having it easy. Tomorrow the fun ends for me – the students are taking my test and I’m responsible for marking them. I should be fairly busy for a while. Luckily it means I’ll get to skip the softball tournament at the other school.

Today Mr. Hayashi took me and Mr. Komuri out to lunch at an okonomiyaki place. It was really good – they even had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki… delicious! We sat and chatted about various things and relaxed, then when we got back to school Mr. Hayashi cut me loose for the day.

I went home and changed clothes, and then headed into Kobe to attend my first class at the YMCA. The teacher was very nervous – maybe it was her first time. They are rotating teachers to give everyone a shot, and so most of these folks haven’t taught before.

One interesting thing about the class is the students. There are about twelve students. There was two from California, one from New Zealand, two from India, five from China, one from Hungary, and one from Spain. Since very few people spoke English, including the teacher, we made do with Japanese. It was a weird experience to use Japanese to talk to a Hungarian, but it worked.

The class itself seemed a bit on the easy side, but maybe that’s just because it’s only just begun. I learned a few things and I made a few mistakes, so maybe it’s a good level for me.

One of the guys was raving about ramen during the class, so on the way home I stopped in at a noodle shop for some ramen. The bonus – all you could eat kimchee. Oh, yeah… I loaded up. The kimchee was really good, too. They were selling it in jars to take home, but I ate what was free and got out of there with a stomach full.

The class looks like it will be useful, and after all, the price is right. I’m hoping it will improve my Japanese even more!

Kuniko was completely awake at five a.m. – apparently her body cannot tell the difference between a work day and a weekend day. I woke up for a while too, and we made some breakfast, chatted for a while, and then pretty soon we fell asleep again. This time we slept until 10:30 or so in the morning, a proper sleep-in time.

We got our act together and went to Umeda. We were in search of an engagement ring.

Kuniko and I had talked about the ring the day I proposed, and I explained what my thinking was behind not buying it on my own. I wanted to get a ring that she liked. She agreed completely, and so together we went to some stores in the Umeda area to see what was out there.

I think at first Kuniko had a bit of sticker shock. Maybe she didn’t realize how much these things can be. I knew it could get pricey, and so I had been saving some money, just in case.

To make a long story short, we found a ring. We were both happy with it; it cost a lot less than what I had expected to pay, and it looks great on her finger.

After making the buy, we went back to her neighborhood to rent a movie and stay inside where it was cool. We watched “Love, Actually” which was a pretty fun movie. For dinner we went over to the local Indian food restaurant, where the cooks prepared a great spicy meal for us.

We made plans to see each other again next weekend – the last weekend before I leave for my trip to the USA. It was a great weekend with Kuniko, and it was tough to say goodbye.

As I walked home from my local station in Futami, I bumped into a nice lady that I’ve seen around town a couple of times. We chatted in Japanese and she said that she wanted me to teach her English. I explained that my schedule was a bit full. She complained that she was lonely, and wanted to learn English. I got the heck out of there as fast and as politely as I could.

Now I’m off to bed. It’s back to work tomorrow, and I have my first Japanese class at the YMCA in Sannomiya.

I got up this morning with ‘nary a hangover and was off to Befu to run some errands in town. The big shocker was that the local Uniqlo store was closed, so I missed out on the chance to buy some cooler clothes. It wasn’t a wasted trip, though – I picked up some goodies for the folks back home and got some roast beef at the Ito Yokado near the station.

Back home I ate a roast beef sandwich and got all packed up for my trip to Osaka. I left a bit early for Osaka, in order to stop at Universal Studios Japan to buy a present for Kuniko.

Lately it’s been hot and humid in Kansai, about 80 degrees F and 80-90% humidity. Oh yeah. I’m a sweat machine. The air conditioning on the trains and in the stations is a life-saver. At USJ I picked up the gift for Kuniko, and I had a little extra time to spare, so I walked around and took in some of the sights outside the park.

I found a couple of interesting restaurants that look like they were imported here along with the rest of the part – a rib restaurant/microbrewery, and a Hawaiian burger restaurant. It’s a long way to go for ribs, but I might do it – I’m hoping to try one of those in the near future.

I met up with Kuniko at her place around 6 p.m., and she cooked up a great dinner. I sliced ingredients, and she managed the rest of the dinner. It was a Japanese cold noodle dish, with some spicy sauce, and strips of egg, cucumber, and ham. It really hit the spot.

Afterwards we spent lots of time chatting about our week and talking about the future – it was time well spent. I think that Kuniko and I are both on the same page in terms of timing. We ended up staying up late watching TV and talking – we finally went to bed around midnight. Luckily, she’s got air conditioning.

Today was the first day of exams for our students. They get a half day of school during the exams, and I usually also get a half day. Because of some situations in the past where I’ve had to stay longer, I don’t usually plan on getting out early, but if it happens, great!

My test is administered on Tuesday of next week. I’ve heard rumors of an inter-high school softball game that is supposed to happen next Tuesday as well. I think they are trying to recruit me to play. No thank you! Let me know when the ping pong match is.

Ms. Miyake took the written STEP test a couple of weeks ago, and she was going for the second highest level. She insisted after the fact that she failed, but today she found out that she passed. Mr. Hayashi went over the results with her, and they spent a lot of time going over the answers. Mr. Hayashi has the top level of STEP qualification, so he’s able to help a lot of our teachers towards getting there.

After talking with Ms. Miyake, Mr. Hayashi told me that he thought the STEP test must be getting easier. He seemed worried that many people will get the same qualification as him – it seems to be a bit of a blow to his ego. I told him that everyone knows his English is great – no need to worry. Still, I think he’s not happy with more and more teachers getting better. He likes being the big fish in a small pond.

Mr. Komuri invited me to lunch at noon – we decided to meet at my desk before heading out for some food. I had an extra hour before that, so I went up to my classroom with Ms. Miyake and we did some listening practice for about 45 minutes. She had recorded some English conversations off of a radio program, and I asked her questions to test her comprehension. I also explained some of the vocabulary for her. I think it will be a benefit for her in the long run.

We wrapped up the practice at five minutes until noon, but when I got to the staffroom, Mr. Komuri wasn’t there. I waited at my desk until about 12:30, and then figured he wasn’t coming. I walked to the neighborhood grocery store and got a sandwich, instead.

Around 1:30 Mr. Komuri showed up, and he asked what I had for lunch. I explained that I had waited for him for about half an hour, and then just went out for a sandwich. He seemed surprised. I guess Mr. Hayashi had seen me and Ms. Miyake head our of the staffroom together and told Mr. Komuri that I was eating with her instead. Mr. Komuri apologized, and I chalked it up to a communication problem.

Around 2:00 Mr. Hayashi came back, and sat down with me to chat for a while. He asked me what I had for lunch, and asked me if I had been helping Ms. Miyake with her English. I think he was jealous! He told me that if she passes the next test, she’ll be giving me the credit. He said it all with a smile, but I don’t think he was too thrilled. Hmmm…

I did get to leave school early, so it was easy to meet up with Antoine in Sannomiya at 7 p.m. We walked around in vain searching for a revolving sushi type place, and finally gave up and went to a regular sushi place. There we did our best ordering sushi in Japanese. Antoine knows no Japanese at all, so it was all on me. I did my best, and we got a pretty wide assortment of raw fish to eat. This restaurant was strange in that they gave lots of fish, and only a tiny little lump of sushi rice underneath. It was good, though!

Afterwards we went to the Belgian beer place and I ordered the “Large Glass” of Hoeegarden White. It’s the size of two pints – you need to use both hands to lift the glass when it’s full. The price is cheaper by 200 yen than buying two individual beers.

Antoine and I struck up a conversation with a couple of teachers sitting next to us. The guy was a teacher at a school near Akashi – he teaches math. His English was pretty good, though. He was with a 19-year old girl that was cute. Apparently she is a part-time teacher at the school as well. She said she also works at Starbucks and plays in a punk rock band. She didn’t seem to thrilled to chat with us, but her friend made her keep talking.

He said that he is married, and has a 2-year old daughter at home. It seemed strange to Antoine and I that this guy is out drinking with some 19-year old girl when he’s got a wife and child at home. This is something that we’ve seem before in other situations. That definitely wouldn’t fly back in the USA.

The guy insisted on giving me his phone number and e-mail – he wants us all to go to dinner together. Maybe we will – he might be a good connection for a job down the line.

After the Belgian place we went back to the trains and headed home. I was pretty zonked out. I’m definitely ready for the weekend.

Today was the last official day for classes at my school. Tomorrow, the final exams begin for the term. Most of my classes today were review classes, so there wasn’t a whole lot for me to do but chat with the students and goof off.

I did spend a long time studying today. Ms. Miyake found an interesting textbook for me to use, and I’m able to practice reading with it. It’s much easier than the children’s books that I had borrowed. The level is a bit more advanced, but the vocabulary is more focused on what I’ve learned already.

Mr. Hayashi spent a lot of time today trying to convince me in a very Japanese fashion to do things that he wants me to do. For example, he told me that he heard that people that know Japanese have a very easy time finding a job on the west coast of America. I told him very directly that I’d much rather work in Japan. For some reason, he doesn’t seem to be too excited about me doing that. There are a couple of theories that I have, but who knows his real motivation?

Lately his tune has been the same, so I’ve decided to take all his career advice with a grain of salt. After all, he’s the same guy that forgets classes, listens to blank tapes in his car for the positive alpha waves, and calls his students monkeys without tails. I like the guy – he’s really a good person, he’s maybe just a bit too much sometimes. Can I work with him for two more years? Sure, it’s like jousting with Jell-O.

I left the staffroom about 15 minutes early because I wanted to watch the baseball team practicing after school. One interesting ritual they have is when somebody walks to the field, they all say something I couldn’t understand and they take off their hats and bow. No matter what they’re doing, they stop and bow. Weird. I watched them practice for a little while and while I was watching, one of the managers gave me a glass of iced soda.

A baseball “manager” in Japan means the person that manages the equipment, keeps the players refreshed and happy, and generally cleans up after the team. There are two managers for the baseball team, both girls. I know them from my classes, so I chatted with them a little bit. Everyone was curious why I was out there, but it was fun to watch and see some of my students in a different context.

Back home I cooked up some sausages that I picked up a long time ago at Carrefour, and had some wakame (seaweed) rice on the side. I decided to take a night off of studying to relax and recharge – I don’t want to burn out.

After dinner the YMCA called and said that I was accepted for the Japanese class. They asked me to come tomorrow to the first class, and I said yes, and thank you, and hung up, before I realized that I had already made plans with Antoine. Oops. Well, it’s a free class, so I’ll catch up with them on Monday. I’m already cutting classes – can you believe it?

The last two words of last night’s entry were “blissful sleep”. I can’t believe I said that. In the middle of the night I woke up with itches all over my arms and legs, and I had mosquito bites everywhere. When I rolled over and tried to sleep the whine of mosquitos buzzing around my ear would keep me from sleep. I tossed and turned, hiding under my sheet, and had the worst night of sleep in recent memory. I woke up this morning with two new words on my mind: “kill mosquito”.

At lunchtime Mr. Hayashi took me to the hardware store and we looked at the vast array of weapons of mosquito destruction. I could choose from several different ways to kill the little flying bastards. On Mr. Hayashi’s suggestion I got a nightlight thing that emits some kind of oil that is supposed to keep them away. I’ll try it out tonight. I hope it works! If it doesn’t, it might be mosquito netting for me. It’s only just the beginning of mosquito season around here – I’ve got a long way to go.

The big talk today at school was about bonuses. In Japan, all civil servants (that includes public teachers) get bonuses. I think that the bonuses come three times a year, at the end of each term. Also, to a certain extent, private companies sometimes follow this same schedule. Unfortunately for me, I am classified as a part-time employee, and so I’m not entitled to a bonus.

People were walking around talking about how much their bonus was, and it seemed like I was the only one who didn’t have a fat wad of cash to burn. The bonus varies based on experience, but it can be anywhere from $5000 – $9000. That’s right… big bucks!

I don’t mind not getting a bonus – these people work very hard and they are on a long, straight-forward career path that inevitably leads to mandatory retirement at age 60. They work tons of hours, with no overtime. My job by comparison is much easier, and so I don’t feel so bad. I remember my predecessor Andy getting a little upset by the lack of a bonus for my position.

Another big topic at school today was that the air conditioning was coming on. We’ve got air conditioning in only select rooms in the school – the teacher’s office is one of the rooms. There’s no rules about it, but they usually wait until July 1st to flip on the A/C. I guess it’s an effort to save money.

It was funny to hear the announcement that they were turning on the air conditioning at noon that day. Apparently it was an action of such consequence that a formal announcement was necessary. I was hoping for a speech or something, but no luck. Anyway, now it’s much cooler in the staff room.

For dinner I made some fried rice, with lots of veggies and shrimp mixed in. It was kind of like a chef salad of fried rice. Or something.

Off to bed – hope the mosquitos stay away!

With a whopping four classes today, three of them being the same lesson, I was pretty bushed by the end of it. We had a big cleaning day after school, which means that they dedicate 30 minutes to scrubbing the school down in some of the harder to reach places.

Some of the students were hanging out the second and third story windows to clean up at the top, and I couldn’t believe the teachers were letting them do it. I had a huge cleanup crew show up to help me – I guess I’m known to be a bit of a softy. With an army of six students we swept the floor of my classroom, cleaned the chalkboard, and listened to Marvin Gaye.

At five o’clock I hit the road towards Kobe, and made the fifteen minute walk from the station at Sannomiya to the Kobe YMCA. It wasn’t quite what I expected – no gay indians or construction workers, just a big warehouse type building full of sports equipment and cheap rooms.

I found the school area, and they had me take an exam. I noticed that there was absolutely no English on the exam itself, and they assumed that I already knew kana. I passed the test, but barely, with a 74/100. They said that it was enough to get in the level 3 class. Since I have no idea what the levels mean, and since the class is free anyway, I wasn’t too concerned. Just hook me up with the lessons, dude. They’ll confirm in the mail, but my first class should be next Monday. It’s two 2-hour classes, until the beginning of September. Excellent!

I ate at a donburi restaurant on the way home – kimchee and pork donburi – and then I took the train back. It’s getting pretty warm around here, and the humidity is rising. I had almost forgotten how sweaty it gets around here.

Just before bed I got a phone call from one of Melanie’s co-workers. He wanted to explain why she didn’t attend the party, and I could tell he was breaking the rules by telling me. He gave me some details, but I won’t post them here. At least I know a little more about the situation and I also know that she is safe and sound. If you’re dying to know shoot me an e-mail and I’ll give you the scoop.

I’m off to bed. The air conditioner is running and I’m looking forward to a nice cool evening of blissful sleep.

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been busy here and I suggest you skip down to Saturday’s post to see what I mean…

Late last night Kuniko called and we recapped both of our days. Her conversation with her father sounded like a pretty rough one. He’s very concerned about her and her future. Who is this American dude coming out of nowhere to marry his daughter? What future does he have in Japan? He’s not even Japanese! Anyway, he’s eager to meet me and put a few questions to me. Kuniko says that he’s concerned that I haven’t put a lot of thought into our future. Sounds like a fun evening.

What’s worse, a big thunderstorm came through around 2 a.m. I had left all the windows and doors open because it has been so hot. The sudden loud rumbles of thunder and bright flashes of lightning were a pretty harsh way to wake up. I stumbled around closing things. I couldn’t get right back to sleep, though. This was one loud storm.

At six a.m. I got up rather groggily. Today I had some great leftover shrimp and rice to take to work for lunch, but I was busy in the morning trying to get organized and I walked out leaving my lunch on the counter to get warm and go bad. My only excuse is that I’ve got a lot on my mind lately.

At school everything was chugging along normally. People asked how my weekend went, and I told them just that it went fine, saw a movie, studied. All true.

I had three interview test classes today, and they all went smoothly. The students were very energetic and did great – they were really nervous, but afterwards they seemed a little more confident.

The other day I heard from Struan that they are offering free Japanese classes during the summer at the YMCA in Kobe Sannomiya. I called today and signed up to take an entrance examination on Tuesday night. Tomorrow I’ll head over there and see if I can get in. I’m hoping that will help my Japanese a bit more.

Mr. Hayashi came up to me and gravely said that my career plans are looking pretty bad. This came as a surprise considering he had told me as recently as Friday that getting a job in Japan is pretty easy with the right qualifications. I asked him what had happened to the Japanese economy in the last 72 hours to create such a situation. He apparently had talked to a guy he knows that works in a grad school – that school is hiring people from colleges in America – so they don’t need people from Japan. I just smiled and told him that I’ll burn that bridge when I get there, but I don’t think he understood the mixed metaphor joke.

When I got home from work, I called around to some of the JETs that know Melanie to find out where she might have disappeared to. I got in touch with one of her co-workers, and she got all mysterious on me. She said that she isn’t allowed to talk about it, and then later said that she didn’t know anything really. All I got was that she isn’t in her apartment, she is still in Japan, she’s “safe where she is”, but she’s not teaching at the school anymore. Her contract is up anyway in just under a month – I wonder what’s going on. At least I found out that she is OK.

Dinner was breakfast today – scrambled eggs, Japanese bacon, and a nice big hit of salsa to spice things up. I spent time doing laundry and writing down some thoughts and plans career-wise. Between Mr. Hayashi’s grave predictions for my future, and what Kuniko’s dad said about careers, I was a little worried. What if I can’t find something stable? How am I supposed to support a family if I can’t get a job? If somebody asked me right now what my plan is for the next five years I couldn’t really map it out in detail. Is that a problem? Have I ever had a five, ten, or twenty year plan?

Mr. Hayashi has a saying… It doesn’t matter how hard you work if you are moving in the wrong direction. I’m taking a little time now to dream a little bit about the future and see if I can crystallize it into something interesting. I’ve got some things that interest me, and I know there is a market for them in Japan. It’s just a matter of positioning myself to be as good a fit as possible. Maybe now is the time to finally realize my dream of becoming an exotic dancer.

This morning I woke up in kind of a daze. Everything seemed normal – I tooled around the house. I ate a big salami and cucumber sandwich. The salami came from my parents and the cucumber came from Kuniko’s parents’ garden. I studied Japanese, and tried to read a first grade picture book (I couldn’t).

Around the middle of the morning I called my folks and gave them the news. They sounded a little surprised, but happy. I was glad – they have been a constant source of support for me here in Japan. We talked for a long time and then later in the evening they called again to talk some more.

We talked about a lot of the repercussions of my decision, the big one being where Kuniko and I will live. Kuniko and I are planning on staying in Japan in the near future. There are tons of reasons why, and it just makes the most sense. I haven’t gotten enough of Japan yet – I feel like I’ve only grazed the surface. No place is perfect, but to spend years learning about something new, be it language or culture, is something that appeals to me.

This morning Kuniko told her mom about it at breakfast. Kuniko’s folks don’t know anything about me – they don’t really even know that we’ve been dating. There are a lot of reasons behind this – some I understand, some I don’t and never will. The important part for me is to trust Kuniko and her timing – they are her parents, after all.

Her mom apparently took it well, and said that we should get together for dinner sometime. That should be a nerve-racking experience! Tonight at dinner Kuniko will spring this on her father. I hope that goes OK.

I had some leftover shrimp from last night so I’m cooking up a spicy shrimp and rice dish that should be interesting. I celebrated with myself by drinking a couple of Guinness and I’ll cap off today by ironing shirts. Woo-hoo! More news soon!