So what else is new?

I taught my first Japanese class last Saturday. It wasn't bad. Coulda been better, but you can hardly go wrong with a few students to pester you with grammatical questions that sound so... so... legal. All that talk of rules vs. custom vs. precedent.

The activity was draining, though the psychic return was worth the financial vacuum I experience regularly as a result of taking this job. Being the general manager (roughly buchou 部長 ) who functionally manages the English Review, Nihongo and Computer "departments" of the company (kaisha 会社 ) is not all it's cracked up to be, especially if the company is only a few months old.

I was also at the Philippine International Convention Center recently (recently is: saikin 最近 ). What was up? An exhibit of the best of Philippine crafts and trade goods. I managed to look at jewels, handbags, religious items and I do have to say our skilled laborers have come a long way since attempting to make poor knockoffs of foreign goods.

So what has this to do with the Japanese (Nihonjin)? Nothing I am at liberty to discuss. Except to say that my Mom would have liked to buy the stuff on exhibit, and that I would have too, especially the new takes on Catholic statuary. Innovative use of material, interesting designs. Woulda made great Christmas gifts for future clients and business partners.

Now, I'm prepping for my ongoing Jap classes-- the ones I'll teach and the ones I'm still taking.

Ja, ne!

GODDAMN IT.

I've had enough of comment spam. I'm switching on the damned comment verification system. I'm sorry guys, if you haveta experience extra crap commenting. But this poor excuse for responsible marketing is ... I can't find the damned words for it.

Loser!

I must be at an all-time low. While waiting for my 6-year-old art student, I am busy pretending to work. What I'm really doing is looking into registering at a ... say it Dex... personals site. The kind that cater to desperate losers looking for love and/or "activity partners," "casual dates" and the like.

Yes you're shivering. You should. Losing Anna's driven me to this pass. It's eaten into my work, affected my better judgement and caused me stomach- and muscle pains and attacks of stress-induced diarrhea the likes of which I have rarely felt. Having responsibilities I cannot shirk plus seeing Japan and its indigenous womanity have helped ease the symptoms of losing the love of my life to the vagaries of evolutionary biology. But not by much. Seeing the young women in Kofu, Sendai and Akihabara actually hurt after the inducing in me the initial pleasures associated with critiquing female eye candy.

Yes, feminists, I am too a sexist pig who should be shot. One of your kind left me because I don't fit your criteria of provider-life partner despite (or maybe because of) all my efforts to be the New Sensitive Caring (therefore wimpy and pussy-whipped) Man. So please cut me a little slack for feeling the requisite pain and lashing out.

Check back with me and I'll let you know if I've put myself on sale on the mass market for losers who can't find the time or the energy to actually bother to meet a live human being and get himself a date. Or not.

Japan: First Impressions

I've fallen in love six or so times since I've arrived in Japan. They are all beautiful:

-the weather in Sendai
-the scenery along the highways criss-crossing the middle and southern parts of Honshu
-the gas station attendant on the long road between Tokyo and Sendai
-the receptionist at the Shinjuku branch of the Toyoko Inn.
-the visually impaired girl eating at Jonathan's family restaurant in Kofu
-the waitresses at that sushi place in Kofu.

Sadly most of the women-- the younger ones especially-- are dolls. And I don't want to grow old with one.

Manejiya Dewa Nai

Well that did it. I've been so preoccupied being available for everyone again that my duties are simply not being fulfilled. I think I may have managed to piss off a potential business partner. I'm in too deep to quit without making a mess. And that's not even a real option since I'm trying not to let the family name rot in the reek of corporate shame.

How is it that I let them railroad me into something I'm not equipped to handle? No choice but to swim in it now.