a bit

Yamaguchi-sensei is absent this morning, so I find myself without any classes. I'm rather pleased with this, as it allows some time to prepare for others. I didn't work at all this weekend and instead spent it cleaning and organizing and trying to finish The God of Small Things. Enjoyable but colander-like, I can only read in bits and spurts before I move on to something else. I'd prefer to finish In Cold Blood, which I've been reading for over a month and a half, but keep setting aside for more pressing books.

More and more I've found that my priorities are shifting: Though by no means have I stopped procrastinating, the occurrences have lessened. I take a certain amount of pleasure from striking stuff off on a mental list: studying, reading, exercising and gaming. Even writing, which you'll see here in due course. I work on that a bit each day as well. But only a bit.

Vanishing

I got off work at three, hopped a ferry to the mainland and then caught a bus down to central Nago. As I tend to carry more and more distractions with me (books, iPod, DS), traveling has become increasingly easy. I'm encased in my own little world of audiobooks, word games and fiction. The iPod in particular has paid for itself; you can go further and longer when you're not bored tearless.

Elina picked me up at the game store in Nago where I snatched up a copy of Mario Strikers to play in downtime I increasingly don't have. Between writing thank you notes to my Japanese friends, the pile of reading I brought back for myself, exercise and all the myriad details that scream their importance, there's been little time for gaming. But I'll gravitate back toward games when I get tired of reading. I can already feel the pull, but I'm enjoying my books too much.

But reading was why Elina picked me up Nago. This month's book was Starship Troopers and for a novel with no plot, I was completely engrossed. I'm not sure if that's an endorsement, since I could say the same thing about the last four books I've read and am reading: Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, Starship Troopers and currently Salem's Lot. This either means I've picked good ones lately or I'm looking for some escapism. I think the latter, perhaps.

There was a problem, however, with this month's book club: our meeting place Celluloid Cafe had vanished from this earth in the span of a month. In honor of this cozy, seaside locale, I present the obligatory "wtf photo":



We reconvened at a burger joint down the street, where I enjoyed a tasty goya burger and a spirited discussion of Troopers. Fascism and Nazis were absent from discussion, but American--and a touch of British--military policies were at the forefront. Our discussion was concise. Either people liked it or hated it and they could tell you why and probably go off for five or ten minutes, lost in their own thoughts.

It was a short meeting though, since we then hightailed it to one of the three movie theaters in Okinawa for a showing of I am Legend, which had been discussed the previous month. I'd seen it before, but this time I had the pleasure of a frightful young lady clutching my arm.

I was rather pleased with this.

Yesterday I made a speech in Japanese to the other teachers at the regular morning meeting. These meetings happen every Monday and Thursday and largely I just listen. I've had to speak around five or six times total, usually when some event is coming up and I need to tell the other teachers. The last time this happened was in October, when I was part of the International Beach Clean-up and was searching for some volunteers.

Speaking off-the-cuff in front of twenty teachers makes me nervous, even when I've prepared something before hand. However, sometimes there is no preparation time. By now, though, I typically know when I'll be expected to say something. I have some prepared phrases that I looked up especially for those circumstances. Not for this one, though.

Here is what I said:

今回は、急な出来事があってみなさんにご迷惑かけたにもかかわらず、あたたかいみなさんの急力があり、無事帰って来ることができました。本当にありがとうございました。

konkaiwa, kyuuna dekikoto ga atte minasan ni gomeiwaku kaketa nimo kakawarazu, atatakai minasan no kyuuryoku ga ari, buji kaette kuru koto ga dekimashita. hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita.*

"At this time, there was a sudden disaster and it caused trouble for everyone. Regardless, with the warm support of everyone, I was able to return safely. Thank you truly."

Chaiki-san, who works at the board of education, helped me prepare this statement. I wanted to get it right since everyone was so supportive when my father died.

*Since I did not use romanjii when I learned japanese, I'm not sure if this is the proper way to transcribe it.

Japanese Notes

迷惑をかける
meiwaku o kakeru:

v. to trouble； bother or annoy

急な
kyuuna:

adj. sudden

出来事
dekigoto

n. occurrence

拘らず
kakawarazu

regardless of

協力
kyouryoku

n. cooperation; help

無事な
bujina

adj. safe

Headed Back

Leaving in a few hours for Japan.

The site will be changing in the coming month. I think it may be time to do it properly. To do a lot properly.

Josh out.