Some Shit Hits The Fan

Back to work, man! I woke up refreshed and recharged, and went right out to the train station 15 minutes early. I caught an early train, and went to work with loads of candy and a spring in my step.

The place was almost deserted. There were only two teachers there that looked a little surprised that I was too. As people came in I delivered the omiyage packages, and everyone was so happy to get them! Some teachers that rarely talk to me managed a few words in English, and the principal and vice-principal were both amused and happy.

Mr. Komuri and I had a good reunion, and we joked around for a long time. He suddenly got all serious, and then asked me if I knew what had happened. Turns out two big events happened while I was gone.

The first, and most serious thing that happened, was some guy in Kakogawa flipped out and killed seven people with a knife. The guy was seriously wack-o, and they only caught him because he crashed his car trying to escape from a police car that was going somewhere else. My quiet neighborhood had now become to murder capital of Japan.

The second thing was that they finally published the story on Melanie, my erstwhile neighbor upstairs. Since it’s in the newspaper, everyone now knows that she was busted for accepting a package that contained marijuana. It was on the television news, and in the major papers all across Japan. Since I can’t read Japanese I can only relate what I’ve heard from some other people, but it sounds like she will stay in Japan and face charges, and that she could face anywhere from two to six years in prison. I’m doing some research to find out what’s going on with her case.

Mr. Komuri and I talked about that for quite a while. He said half-jokingly that he was worried that I might be involved, and cautioned me to be careful. I assured him that I would – I’d like to extend my stay in Japan, but I don’t want to live in a jail to do it.

Myself, Mr. Komuri, the history teacher, and Mr. Kimura all went over to the Chinese restaurant for some lunch, and then I went home. Not a long day, but tomorrow I don’t really need to go in so early.

Back home I finished unpacking, did some housecleaning, and then went shopping for a few things to restock my fridge. While at Carrefour I bumped into two French guys, and I put in a request for vintage port. They both gave me a blank look and said that they would look into it. I couldn’t tell if they understood what vintage port was, so I explained it carefully. They doubtfully said that they would try to get it in stock. Not to perpetuate stereotypes, but the French don’t seem to do customer service so well.

Good news – they had some new beers in the beer section, and one of them is Celebrator. I haven’t had this in a long time, so I’ve got it chilling in the fridge. It’s even got the little plastic goat on it!

The guy that checked me out did the whole thing in heavily accented English. I could tell he was really enjoying the chance to use it, so it was nice to help out. He did a great job – I was surprised that he works as a clerk in a supermarket!

Now I’m back at home thinking about dinner. I bought some roasted port at Carrefour, and some inari. I have lots of dinner options, I’ll just have to see what sounds good.