T-minus 8 days and counting

I went to Don quijote today. bought alot of thai curry. Is thai curry not one of the greatest foods in the world? tasty, spicy, sweet, hint of lemon grass, coconut milk.... heaven. Even though I'm still in the country for another several months, i feel that one of the biggest things i'm going to miss is the food. Did i mention how a few weeks back i ate raw jellyfish, raw sea snail and hippo? ok, there was no hippo thank god, but i wouldnt put it past the japanese. get this.... recently, due to unknown causes, there has been a huge influx of giant jellyfish on the coast. they have been a disacter for fishermen here, killing schools of tuna and salmon. they get caught in the nets and sting the hell out of the fishermen. so hat are the japanese doing? eating them. yum!

I've lost some weight here... enough to punch two new holes in my belt. now if i cut out maybe one beer a week, how much more could i lose? hmmm.... don't worry. i'll be gorging myself in a week and a half on good old home cooked food.

i leave in a week! rock! so close yet so far away. i have no more days off until then so it could suck.

I got my mid-contract review today. turns out I'm awesome. the staff loves me. the students love me. and i have several kids that request only my lessons. NOVA fears my departure. If i was smart and knew more about japanese business practices, i would quit and start my own kids school. heck, kiyoe has a degree in economics. hmmmm......

i like coffee.

monday night it columbo night. i just saw donald pleasance get outsmarted by the one-eyed chronic cigar smoker in the raincoat. AWESOME!

Lying in Bed

Now, i could get up, make coffee, and watch tv to see how bush is messing up the country this week. But to maintain and hold to the claim of the title.... I'm still in bed. Warm in my bed, surrounded by my 7 tatami mat ice palace with no insulation. i havent been able to do this in weeks. ahh the joys of doing nothing. But holy cow is it cold... believe it or not i believe that my family has it colder right now, predictions of snow, ice, etc. here we just have cold air, sunny but cold air. I beleieve its about 6 degrees here (celcius). Yeah!

whats on todays menu you ask? well... after i make coffee I'm planning on going to meet kiyoe for lunch in Aoyama. after that i think i'll walk down to ometesando to check out the Nerd paradise, Xbox 360 cafe. Its a cafe set up for two months to try to pull japanese nerds away from their beloved playstations (which havent been released yet). just buy a coffee and paly all afternoon. After that i'm going to head to BicCamere (think best buy) to purchase a carrying case for this monstre laptop. a might also look into a webcam and a headset, so i could possibly take to people online, but we'll see.

tonight i dont know. i might get thai curry with kiyoe, or meet a friend that MIGHT be visiting. but i havent heard from him yet. sniff sniff...

by the way... future update will include how my landlord is crazy, how i have just a week and a half before i return, and how you've been counted, meaing that this blog quite possibly isnt as bad as i thought.

see you soon.

ittekimas!

Guatemala Help

Ladies and gents... this one isn't for me, its for my friend Ryan Stimmel. This guy has toured the world, hiked the appalacian trail, the Grand Canyon, and he currently finds his path intersecting with those in Guatemala. He's doing good work, can be trusted, and needs help. If you have just a few minutes, check out his site at www.santiagorelief.com. Talk to you soon!

almost sappy. and PHOTOS are up.

Hello boys and girls... for those of you still around reading i have a little treat. this one is going to be longer. much like the posts of old. Let me start by saying that I'm doing all of this on my new computer. wireless, dell laptop. i love this thing! the real question is... why didnt i get one sooner? oh the possibilities... well, coulda woulda shoulda. no problem, i have it now.

so i have been here in the land of the rising sun since september 9, 2004. (i did go home for two weeks over the summer) i have so much to say, but As much as i would like to put it all into words, it would be completely impossible to do so. I have met so many amazing people, said goodbye to many of them, that its hard to put everything in chronological order. so... I think that I'll keep most of it to myself, but i will say this...
This country is amazing. its not a dog eating, non-potable water place. The people are generally very friendly, the water is clean, the beer is tasty.......


And i've just realized that being sentimental here is pointless. I'm going to stop now.

Dan left sunday morning in a whirlwind. we woke up over an hour an a half late. basically because of a night of crazy partying japan style. we went to a party around 7. around 2 we went to karaoke. hmmm. i know that dan sang 'daniel' by elton john, and somewhere in there was 'piano man'. i sang.... ummm..... some maroon 5 song, and many others with the group. we staggered out at about 515. went to mcdonalds and bought ... something. crashed into my bed around 6. and slept through the 8 o clock alarm. nice. i have sworn off drinking for awhile.

overall we had a great time. it was definitely a more relaxing trip. we ate pizza, made our own japanese cabbage pancakes, shopped, and walked quite a bit. we averaged over 20000 steps a day. i dont know how far that is distance wise... but it was far.

dan was also able to meet kiyoe, ben, erica, and tier at greater lengths. i'd be willing to say that he liked all of them quite a bit. And for those of you not able to come over here, kiyoe will be coming to visit during the new year holiday. and there is a rumour of dan having a nice shin dig at his house on new years eve. but dont quote me on that.

ok folks... back to work. i'll email many of you soon. and check IM. i'll be there more often.