Okay, I know it's been a long time and I don't have anything of vital importance to say, so if you're putting out a housefire or trying to get rid of the millions of bees you just discovered are living in your attic, by all means keep doing what you're doing. This entry will still be here when you get back ( Read more... )

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Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. Today, my weekend stretched into its fourth day. As some of you may know, we’ve been getting a heckofalotta rain in Tatsuno, and this has caused some big problems for such a small town. See, Tatsuno, like most of the towns in Kamiina, is situated around the mighty Tenryu River, in the shadows of a few of the ( Read more... )

Well, I’ve been back from my vacation for over a week now, and it’s probably time to tell you where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and how many monkeys fell in love with me in the interim. I think I’ll answer the third question first: 1


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Went up to Tokyo last Saturday with Jo and Tonya, for lots of Tokyo-fun, Tokyo-food, and Tokyo-shopping. T and J have a conference this week for returning JETs, in Shinjuku, and so were going to have to go to Tokyo for that anyway. But, going on Saturday meant more fun, conference free Tokyo-time for them, and I just went because, hey, it’s TOKYO! ( Read more... )

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to know that somewhere in rural Japan, there is a roadside ramen shop with your picture on the wall? Well, let me tell you, it don’t feel bad ( Read more... )

I am out of control. This past weekend marked the second Saturday in a row I spent in Matsumoto’s big department store Parco, roaming up and down the escalators, spending money like it was going out of style. You’ve got to understand, though, that the weekend before this one, I didn’t get a bag. I didn’t get a bag! That’s serious. That’s a ( Read more... )

“No Ted, I will not go bowling with you after work.” I repeated this sentence to myself over and over in front of the lady's room mirror, trying to make it sound firm and definitive. I’ve come to dread Friday evenings, as they always involve the same horrifying scenario. My creepy coworker Ted sidles up to me in Dolls, and attempts to ask me out. ( Read more... )

Well, it's the very last day of my Golden Week holidays, and let me tell you, the prospect of going back to work tomorrow is not a golden one. On the other hand, the past five days have been full of earthly delights, which indicates that it was a successful holiday. Jo had a lovely dinner party on Thursday night, on Friday we visited Minowa onsen, ( Read more... )