T minus 4 Days

With only four days left of work in my office, I am noticing how quickly the time has moved recently. I don't have the feeling that Time has passed by, cause that feeling would have me standing motionless, wouldn't it, while the world whisks by without me. No, I feel more like a kid wearing a large piece of cardboard on his back on a windy day. The breeze is coming from behind, and kind of carries me along as I take big strides with my wings.

Kind of a nice feeling that comes with a realization of how much I've done these past 4 months.

And the realization of how far I'd like to go.

I want my Dinky Doily, Dammit!

Lots in the news this week, as it were, with American Senators complaining about Canadian safety, non-tax-paying-not-really Canadians complaining about the way they were evacuated from Lebanon (hey man, ya didn't have to get on the boat. you have a Canadian passport by loop-hole, and have never lived in Canada anyway) why the Canadian tax-payer flips the bill, and new airport fears that inevitably mean that there will be more regulations and rediculous rules at airports in the near future.

Up until today I was looking forward to going home during my winter break. In any event, I think this will just kick start me to do what I've wanted to do for a long time: pay the extra money to avoid flying through the States. Is there any other country that makes you collect your checked baggage during a lay-over, only to go through the labourous task of going through security to re-check your bags? If so please let us know. I think it says they don't trust the compitence of other countries.

No more bringing your own water on the plane? Come on now. How long till anal cavity searches for all passengers? How long till clothing is no longer permitted? Welcome to your nude Club Med trip to icy Chicago. Dinky Doily provided free of charge to warm your exposed and shivering member, cause we appreciate your business.

Why can't we admit guilt?

What is wrong with the human animal? What is it about us that so fears the outcome of admitting wrong doings? This post is charged by the recent findings regarding Tour de France possibly winner/possible big loser, Floyd Landis of America, but in a bigger way, it is about us all.

When I was in grade four, I was in the bathroom of my school with a kid named Mike Willichko. He dared me on to flush a piece of cardboard (which was ontop the urinal tank) down the toilet. I am not one to turn down a dare, and tried. Of course, the carboard went nowhere, and we both fled the bathroom giggling.

Later that day, when the heat came down, he ratted me out.

If I were him, I would not be a proud man. I would loathe myself for pigeoning a mate. But the fact is that I too, did something I am not proud of. When interogatted, I said it was he that stuffed the cardboard into the toilet. The result being that we were both brought before the principal for a face to face. In that setting, seeing his fat freckled face, I could not lie. When asked who did it I said I did. I was given 100 lines to write over the Christmas holidays, one "line" being about 3 sentences long.

I don't regret it. Though I think he was a big mouthed coward that got off scott free for egging me on, I deserved it. I am the one responsible.

But why do we have the desire to deny what we have done when we know we it to be wrong? Can we so easily blame it on Adam and Eve and Original Sin?

Why did I so vehemantly defend Ben Johnson of Canada, when he so clearly won the gold with steroids in '88, regurgitating the claim that someone slipped it in his drink?

More than the fact that we don't want out heros to be bad guys, we ourselves, don't want to be bad guys. And our distorted self perception (not who we are, but how we feel others perceive us) is what drives us.

Zainichi in Canada at Buliding 44

Insane dream of being back at my parents' house last night, though my parents were no where to be seen. Karin was there, and then out of the depths of nowhere, about 30 cars converged on my house and out came 10s of Zainichi Koreans. Though it was my home, I had to pay the respect to my elders.

Karin made me go and prepare Oshibori for them all, so i rummaged through my closets to find face clothes that I then ran under cold water, rolled up into Maki and broght back on a nice plate, only to find that everyone had moved on to Buliding 44,though I have no idea what that means.

As I made my way through small pedestrian streets to Buliding 44 a group of Mormons pushing Barbeques crossed my path, so I stopped to get a burger that, throughout the dream, ended up on the floor three times.

Building 44 was a tall and beautiful piece of architechture, with pillars and glorious windows, but with rediculously narrow stairs. I handed my burger to a child on the second floor while I climbed the stairs. He dropped it. His mother said sorry, and handed it back to me.

I think this dream has something to do with the fact that I went on a beach trip with about 150 Zainichi Koreans about 2 weeks ago. We barbequed at the beach, and everyone was suprised and impressed with my existence there. One guy said to me "you got balls, coming here." . It was a comment of reverance, nothing nasty. He was just impressed that I would go on such a day trip with my girlfriend's family, when she wasn't there. She was working.

It was a good day trip, and a bizarre dream.

Changes

So I moved into my apartment and started my job as of April first. As of September first, I will still be in my apartment, but I won't be at my job.

We've quit. Or rather, we've given notice.

I was approached by a private high school that heard about me. They offered me about $10 000 more per year, plus transportation, plus one third my rent, plus a great vacation package: 3 weeks in winter, 3 weeks in early spring, one week in late spring, and a month in summer. Do the math and that amounts to a no brainer.

Though the money and the time off are all really appealing, that wasn't my only motivation. Check this, there is a master potter that teaches... well, pottery, at the school, and I'm hoping he will take me on as a student. Apparently, he's somewhat excentric. One of the other teachers said "well... he's... you'll have to get to know him first, you see... he's an artist. yes, an artist."

Sweet. Nothing a few off the wall comments won't solve. Like the fact that I don't trust plastic bags floating in the wind.

Though it'll be a bit rough at first (waking up to be at morning meetings again) I am really looking forward to being finished at 4:30, compared to 9 at night, which is the case now. Hell, getting one third my rent means I can move into a more flash apartment and still pay roughly the same I pay now. Savy?

A lot of things to look forward to, my friends.

4 years

I could be the Olympics, my friends. Or the World Cup. I could be many things. Fact remains that I have been in Japan exactly four years today. Four years ago today I was fresh off the plane, in awe of Tokyo, saying "Don't know what all the fuss is about, it's not so hot... then I got out of the airport and air conditioning and felt my lungs feel the hurt of humidity, like I had just inhaled saw dust.

Every four years also what it feels like updating my blog. Hasn't been quite that long, but feels it. I'm an extremely busy man.

My finger is healed up nice, though I still can't bend it all the way. Takes many many months to get back to 100% I'm told, and I haven't been doing my exercises like I should. I still baby it.

My new apartment is a dream, though lacking in screens, meaning I do get some bugs in my living space. They cast strange shadows when they just hang out on my lace curtains and the light from the street light is cast into my livingroom. But it has nice hard wood floors (I would prefer tatami throughout, but only have it in my bedroom) a decent kitchen (though lacking in cupboard space) and a great little room that will soon be my office, though now it is just a very large walk in closet.

After 8 months of school and unemployment I am back in the black. Somehow, after only working for 4 months I have managed to squirrell away a decent amount of cash, and have paid back the peeps who loaned me some fetti to pay the bills. Well, all except the folks, and I'm gonna start sortin them out next week.

A rather boring entry for such a momentous day, but whatevers. I'm back, ain't I?

Mahalo