Deprived Boston sports fan

Yesterday was my last day at the office and I gotta say, it feels really good! First off, I gotta say thanks to everyone who worked with me in the department. If it weren't for those guys and gal, I would have at least said something to SD that shouldn't have been said and make things really uncomfortable. We'll definitely HAVE to hang out sometime soon! Some noteworthy things:

1. The last day was really uneventful. No farewell parties, or pictures taken, or speeches given, just another day at the office. It was...perfect. Seriously, the tension between me and SD had just been growing exponentially during the past 2 months. IF SD had dragged me into a pseudo-good-willed farewell party yesterday, I'd most likely have used the speech portion of the event to voice everyone's frustrations with the state of things. Whatever. Important thing is, I don't need to deal with SD anymore.

2. I met my replacement for my high school position. Generally seems like a level-headed guy with good intentions, which is great. I honestly wish the best for my students.

3. Absolutely MUST get the guys out for drinks some time this week! Said it before, I'll say it again!

Yes, this is the time of the year when I miss Boston the most. Just thinking about turkey, stuffing, huge slices of prime rib, playing mahjong against my grandparents, and watching football, all make me wish I could just fly home ASAP. Luckily, there IS a way to get a decent feast here in Japan during this time of season, and it doesn't have anything to do with Colonel Saunders, thank god! I'm talking about a Brazilian buffet, and I'm so happy to go there later tonight to get my feast! As for the football part, still can't watch any games on tv, but there is a remedy for that coming up next week...

Madden 2006 is coming out for PS2 in Japan next week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I now have the dubious distinction of surviving 2 weeks in Japan on $100. Relying on nothing more than resourcefulness and survival instincts, I was able to go through that rough stretch without too much trouble. Translation: eating tons of Cup O'Noodles, cooking leftover pasta and bumming off my gf. Thank god I finally got paid yesterday and can live like a normal person again, as opposed to being a hermit for the past 2 weeks. Seriously though, it took my brain some time to realize that I finally have some spending cash now. Brain: "You mean, I can actually eat something that costs more than 100 yen?!" Anyways, it's over.

This past weekend, I was invited/dragged to join a tea ceremony event in Imamiya by my gf. Although I didn't really plan on going anywhere that Sunday, I did have some interest in seeing what all the hoopla was about. It was pretty interesting to see the whole process of the tea ceremony from behind the scenes. I've already experienced going through the process as a customer, so I was curious to see what happens on the other side. Of course, to make myself useful, I decided to participate in the way that I felt best suited to do so, by washing the tea bowls. In exchange for my services, I was treated to some traditional tea ceremony sweets and green tea. Now, this isn't just your average tea. It had a bold, earthy taste to it. By the time the event was over, I had drunk at least 6 cups of tea and my head was swimming. Heck, maybe the tea's still in my system now.

At the high school I teach at (Torikai) I knew that the girls' basketball team was good. I just never expected them to be ranked 4th in all of Osaka! The coach was practically giddy when he told me this in Japanese and rightfully so. I seriously hope that the basketball team will serve as a symbol for what one can achieve with hard work, perseverance, and focus (elements that most students here sorely lack). In the meantime, I'm hoping that the team will grab the regional championship.

Ever watch those movies where everyone says it's a great movie, only you don't really find it all that interesting? This happened to me the other night. I started watching "Lovers" (sequel to "Hero"?) the other night and within like the first 15 minutes, I had to change the channel. I don't know, it's a little strange, but I thought it was more boring that what it was supposed to be. Now don't get me wrong, the visuals were great, the cinematography was beautiful, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Ziyi; what could go wrong? Well, maybe it's my personality, but I actually thought that the visuals and cinematography were done too beautifully. It was like looking at a fine art piece, just absolutely gorgeous, but the pacing of the story was what killed it for me. I watched "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" before and I thought that movie was almost great. Almost. The one part that bumped it down to a good movie as opposed to a great movie was the scene where Chow Yun Fat and Zhang Ziyi had that duel in the forest. Again, it was like watching a piece of fine art, but that killed the pace and tension of the story there. "Dances with Wolves" is the perfect example of a promising movie that got killed from overdoing the scenery factor (not to mention that the movie was like 3.5 hours long!) Anyways, I'm all for artistic impression, but if it gets in the way of pacing things, I just can't seem to get interested in it.

Yeah, I've played Everquest before and thankfully I didn't fall victim to it's addiction too badly. I pretty much played maybe 2 hours every night until I got bored with its tediousness and realized that I needed to go out with real humans. Well, my current plight actually reminds me of the days when I started out a new character in Everquest. First off, what happens to newbies? We all start out broke. That's pretty much where I'm at right now. Thanks to having to pay 38000 yen (about $380) in back taxes owed to the Japanese government as well as buying a roundtrip ticket to Tokyo (bullet train, about $270), I am now left with trying to survive 9 days on 10000 yen ($100). In Boston, I could definitely make that stretch without a problem. In Osaka however, consider this: It costs me 800 yen (8 bucks) to go to the high school and back. I do this 3 days a week. It costs me 1640 yen ($16.40) to go to the elementary school and back. Add an extra MANDATORY school lunch fee (policy forces me to eat with the kids) at 220 yen ($2.20). I do this 2 days a week. Now after adding all of that together, I get 5680 yen in transportation costs for one week. Now, that would set me back a little more than 50% of what I have left. 9 days until pay day. So, how does this all relate to Everquest? Easy!

-You have foraged successfully!
-You have foraged successfully!
-You have foraged successfully!
-You have foraged successfully!
-(Your skills in foraging have improved!)

Luckily, I don't have to do this though:

-You failed in begging
-You failed in begging
-You failed in begging

Guard: You are an affront to all I stand for!
Guard hits Jason for 287 points of damage!
You have been slain!

I'll be the first to readily admit that amongst my peers, my current apartment is actually one of the bigger ones. And at about $580 per month, it's almost a steal. Now the time has come for me to find an even bigger apartment. Yes, it's more expensive in Tokyo than it is in Osaka, and yes, I actually need at least a 2DK to move into. Normally, I'd really only need a one room apartment, but I've been put into a unique situation. I've inherited a full queen-sized bed, AND now a sofa. The upside is, I now have great furniture and won't need to go shopping for new stuff. The downside is, I better have the space for it. Luckily, I should still be able to afford some 2DK's that my gf and I have looked at without taking too big of a hit.