Brian's Japan Adventure

December 18th, 2007

A lot of time wasted.

I left the house this morning at 10:10 to get to the Hokaiin train by 10:26 and get to Bitchu-Takahashi by 12:30. I arrived on time, signed in and waited. And waited. Yeppers, nobody showed up for the first class. So I sat there and read a Japanese-English dictionary for an hour and forty minutes. Yahoo, was that ever exciting!

One student did show up for the second class, and we talked about food, then we talked about Christmas, then we talked about food some more. Then it was time to come home. If this all sounds very short and simple, that’s because it was. There was only one student…all day.

Trains Delayed

I waited in the cold for thirty minutes for the train to arrive, then rode the train back. Two stops away from Okayama, at what should have been around 10 more minutes until arrival, the train stopped. Then it started again. Then it stopped. Then it started again. It wasn’t a mechanical problem, there was something happening that wouldn’t let the train proceed. There were announcements, of course, but I don’t know what was going on. Between stops, starts, and just moving very slowly, the train arrived at Okayama almost an hour late.  So much for being able to say the trains always run on time.

Since I was late, I missed my train from Okayama to Hokaiin. I considered leaving the station, walking a few blocks to eat at CoCo Ichiban, and then taking a bus home rather than wait 40 minutes on the next train.  In the end, laziness won out and I sat there and waited for the train. There’s no way to know when the next bus would have come past CoCo Ichiban, and it’s really COLD out there tonight.

So I eventually arrived at Hokaiin, over an hour later than usual. I pick up something to eat at the carryout and ride the bike on to the apartment. I immediately switched on the TV to watch the news, but the news was over (it’s after 7, remember?). I still don’t know what the delay was all about. A jumper or train wreck I guess, but I may never find out now.  It’s now after 8:30, and I have done virtually nothing all day except talk to one student for an hour and a half.

Tomorrow is a day off, since I did the kindergarten on Saturday and the adult classes are off for five weeks. I’ll start the day off at the library for the Internet. Hopefully everything will work this time. After that, I dunno. I really am not in the mood for any kind of “adventure” tomorrow. To be honest, I really don’t even want to go downtown to the library tomorrow, but I have people waiting for pictures, so I’ll do it.

December 17, 2007

The Not-So-Friday

OK, I’m ready for a weekend. I had to work all weekend last time, so now all of a sudden, today feels like a Friday (according to the calendar, it’s Monday for real). I think this is the first case of “feels like…” since I arrived here. Yes I guess that’s proof positive that I have a normal routine now.

Business Update

First off, I went up to the office and dig the blog. I asked Y-san a few questions. The office here will be closed from December 27th to the 6th of January. No mention of Christmas itself. This means that if you have anything else for me, wait till after the holidays because I won’t be able to get it. Even with Priority Mail, it’s too late now. I also checked with her about a conflict between my new Friday assignment and old stuff. I was supposed to be making a special trip to the Kindergarten on the 11th, but that is cancelled now. Also, I will no longer be going to the elementary school once a month. Instead, I will be teaching High School and Junior High school starting in January.

Non-English Class

Then it was time for N-Sensei’s class. Last week’s case of “dumbitis” has spread, or maybe it’s just the ideas in this chapter are too much for them. We’re talking about fashion and why people wear what they wear. It was awful, even worse than last week. I couldn’t make it ay easier than I did, but they just weren’t following anything. I don’t know. I have a few weeks to think of something new I can do with them, so hopefully something will come up. There aren’t many weeks left for this class. It’s entirely possible that by following along the book, that they are simply getting into more difficult material that they aren’t ready to handle yet. At the beginning of class, N-Sensei explained to me that since I taught the whole class a few weeks ago (when he was in Taiwan) that his part of the class has gotten behind. He wants me to take the 7th off so he can teach the whole thing. He said this before the awful class, so he didn’t come up with this in order to get rid of me, either!

Nihongo No Kurasu

Then it was time for an hour break and then Japanese class. We worked more on chapter six, and did a bunch of worksheets. It was nothing new, but the longer we play with the same material, the easier it gets. Simply knowing that we will not be getting to chapter seven gives me a lot more patience with the current chapter. Previously, I had always wanted to move ahead quickly, but now it’s time to simply master everything from the past. I can do what I want when the class ends.

Script Meeting

Then it was time for our meeting with the “correspondence school” teacher at 3:30. We went to our office so Y-San could take us to the meeting place, and I found that I had yet another package waiting. I told her about the two Christmas trees, and she thought that was just hilarious. So we met with the teacher and handed over our scripts. He seemed happy, and we know where to go on January 13th now, so that was that. There wasn’t much to the meeting really.

I took my box and headed down to the apartment for Christmas Cheer part IV

Christmas IV: The Final Chapter

Opening the box, this one is from my brother, same as Friday’s box, so I know before I open it that it’s not gong to be another tree. As far as I know, this is also the last box that I am expecting. Firstly, there is a bunch of candy and cookies and little filler stuff. Not that cookies are bad fillers, mind you! (munch munch) There was a pair of Christmas tree boxer shorts. I knew I should have sent them a list. Boxers are a long-standing way of saying, “Next time give us a better list” in my family.  The last time I got them, it was “Moo Cows.”

Then came the fun stuff. There was a DVD, “Battlestar Galactica: Razor.” This miniseries was broadcast a month or so ago in the States and I obviously didn’t get to see it, so this lets me stay current on the series. I had heard the series was supposed to begin airing again in January, but then I heard it was pushed back, so I may be home before it starts up again.

Then there were three books. “Brother Odd,” I am sure was chosen for the title alone. It actually looks pretty interesting, except that it’s book three in a series. I dunno if I should try it or wait for the other two. The other two books are also in a set, but it appears that the two books are the complete set, so I don’t need to worry about missing parts. This is the “Kingmaker/Kingbreaker” series, which consists of “An Innocent Mage” and “Awakened Mage.” These are fantasy novels, and I’m really not into fantasy as much as I used to be, but they look like fun, and they’re here, so I’ll read them!

After sorting through the loot, I decide that I am actually pretty hungry, and want to be well-fed before watching “Razor,” so I rush on down to CoCo Ichiban. I had wanted curry all day, and wasn’t going to let laziness slow me down tonight. After that, I walked over to the Maruzen bookstore, to use my gift card, but didn’t find anything I wanted. It was probably because I knew about all the new reading material sitting here already. That card will be good later on.

And that’s about it for today. I’ll either watch my DVD or start one of the books tonight. Tomorrow, I have my almost-last classes in Takahashi.  I actually have to go again on the 16th, but the students are already planning a party for that day. I’m going to take my Santa hat, and Christmas vocabulary lists along. Maybe I’ll read them “The Night Before Christmas” to see what they say about it.  The words are big and the grammar a little too poetic, but it’s fun.
And to all who sent gifts: Thank you very much and Happy New Year!

OK, now that brings up a new point. The Japanese just aren’t satisfied with “Merry Christmas.”  Nope. It’s “Happy Merry Christmas” most of the time. One of these days, I am going to compose a list of the “Engrish” that I see here.

December 16^th, 2007

Rotaract Club 

First things first, it turns out that the name of this club is Rotaract.  I have heard enough mangled versions of the name that I wasn’t quite sure what it was called before today.    It’s like the “R.O.T.C.” that leads into the adult Rotary Club if you are successful enough. It’s sponsored and controlled by Rotary Clubs International, the same people you hear about occasionally in the States. 

OK, now back to the beginning. I had my alarm se for 6:00 and got up right on time, getting dressed and ready to take the 7:26 Hokaiin train. Marc didn’t get up until it was time to walk out the door. There was still time to make the next train, so I didn’t care that much. I would have liked to walk over and beat on his door, but the one time I did do that he got so snitty that we didn’t talk for a week. I’d rather be late. 

Anyway, he yells that he’s ready, but it’s getting pretty late for even the second train, to I ride over to the station as fast as I can. I look behind me, and no Marc. I figure he’s just being slow, so I continue on to the station and buy my ticket. The train pulls up just as I put the tickets in my pocket, but no Marc. If I would have had the choice, I’d have gone without him at this point, but I don’t know which building we are supposed to go to and he does. He phones just as the 7:50 train pulls away. Apparently, he’s having bike trouble again. He walks in to the station two minutes later. 

Checking the train schedule on the wall, we see that there is yet another train leaving at 8:10. Our train to the Bitchu-Takahashi station leaves at 8:16, but that actually is still OK, but we’ll have to hurry to transfer trains. Except for one problem: the train doesn’t come at 8:10. Around 8:15, we go back into the station and read the schedule more closely. We’re still not sure, but we figure that this particular train doesn’t run on Sunday. Yay. Now we have to wait until the 8:35 train, and we know that we will indeed be late. Japanese people just hate it when you’re late to something they have planned carefully.  Right at 8:35, the train shows up as it was supposed to and we rode the rest of the way there as planned, only later.

The plan was for us to arrive in town at 9:06 and take a taxi up the mountain to be there long before the requested time of 9:40. We didn’t hit town until 9:50, and got to the event about 2 minutes before the actual ceremony began. We missed the explanation and planning meeting completely, so as the even progressed, we didn’t know what was coming up next. But the even did start on time, and by the end, everyone was happy, so I think our lateness isn’t going to leave much of a negative impression. 

The Madness Begins 

The first hour was a whole bunch of boring speeches. I don’t know, they may have been amazingly exciting, soul-stirring examples of oratory, but not understanding Japanese, I was pretty bored!  Marc was squirming a bit through the whole thing, nervous that he’d have to make a speech; out of more than a hundred people in the room, he was the only one without a suit. After that hour was up, they adjourned for a few minutes for lunch. They handed out bottles of tea and little shrink-wrapped egg-and-turkey sandwiches that weren’t half bad. At this meeting, we met the interpreters, a group of Japanese students who had recently sent six months in Hawaii and knew English pretty well.  What do you have to do to get to take college courses in Hawaii of all places?  And more importantly, do they need English teachers there???  Also during the break they reimbursed us for our train & taxi expenses, simply handing us each an envelope rather than asking amounts. They gave us more than the actual cost, but I’m sure that was no accident. Then they gave all the participants an envelope containing a 3000Y gift card for a bookstore. Supposedly, they work at any bookstore, but that remains to be seen.  I have to say, a $30 gift card beats a box of octopus any time in my opinion. 

The break didn’t last long, and then they marched us all into the big room in a pre-planned order. There were about ten of us, all foreigners of one kind or another. Marc and I were the only English speakers there, but people from Cambodia, Korea, Mauritania, Malaysia, and Indonesia were in our group as well. I’m not sure why, but they seemed to focus more questions and attention on the two of us than the rest of the group. Maybe simply because America has more influence on them than the other places. Also, the two of us were the only ones who needed interpreters, so maybe that added more interest to the equation.

Interrogation or Speechifying? 

We each briefly introduced ourselves, speaking simply for the translators, whose English wasn’t good enough to risk big words or anything spoken too fast. Then they asked everyone questions: 

• What was your first impression of Japan?
• What would you tell the Japanese people as a group?
• What kind of food do you Hate?
• What part of Japanese culture would you like to take home with you?

I was asked first. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I was the oldest, or the most academically advanced, or maybe because I’m the senior American. I doubt chance had much to do with it though. For the first question, I gave a really good (I thought) answer talking about the professionalism of everyone in Japan. How seriously they all take their jobs, from McDonalds to taxi and bus drivers. They all treat their job as if it were their most important duty in life. Sure enough, the next four people after me basically said either “me too” or said something else relating to excellent service in Japan. Either everyone had the same impression, or what I said made an impression. I can remember a time not too long ago when I hated doing little classroom presentations for the other students, and now I’m giving good speeches in strange lands. Times change, and apparently, so can I. 

The questions and answers went on for about an hour and a half. The questions above were the only ones asked, since there were many of us being asked, and two of us took extra time due to translators. Then it was all over, and we did the usual photo-op stuff as a group and individually. We then all hopped on a bus and went to the Takahashi International Hotel for a party.

A Small Dinner Party

The party was pretty much like the office party from last week. There were about 70 of as all together, and we sat seven apiece at big round tables with giant “lazy susans” in the middle where the food was rotated to whoever wanted something. Marc and I sat on either side of the coordinator of the event, who spoke perfect English. Unlike last week, there were not seemingly endless courses, and everyone, even the coordinator was surprised and asked, “Is that all?”  The food was good, and there was plenty of it, but there wasn’t much variety. There was a fish dish, a pork dish, potato salad, something that looked like pizza but tasted like quiche, and some salad. Actually there were two pork dishes, and the coordinator was really angry about it; one of the foreign guests was a Muslim, and he gave specific instructions that there were not to be any pork dishes. It’s hard planning an international event and keeping track of those kinds of requirements, but apparently they had been told about this. 

As I describe it, it sounds like a lot of food, but with seven people at each table all picking at it, it wasn’t so much really. Desert was a few slices of oranges and grapefruit. Thin slices. If this had been dinner instead of lunchtime, I’d probably suggest that they were being cheap, but it wasn’t a bad lunch. The coordinator, on the other hand, was clearly not happy, and I imagine somebody got an earful later on. 

The Ride Home 

Then the event was over, and we walked back to the train station to return to Okayama. Two of the “interpreters” were also from Okayama, and we all sat together and talked about our holiday plans on the way back. One of them started complaining about feeling sick about halfway home, and he was sitting across from me for the entire hour-long ride.  So let’s see whether or not I get sick about Tuesday.

And that was pretty much the entire day. It was a little stressful, and took all day, but I got a gift card and some good food out of it. As they say, “All’s well that ends well.”  I got home just before dark. Tonight I have to prepare for tomorrow’s class and study a bit of Japanese, but neither of those things is going to be difficult this time. Monday’s stuff is always pretty easy. Tuesday is ready to go, and Thursday should be easy as well. I expect an easy week overall. And then comes the big holiday break.

December 15^th, 2007 

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town! 

I wouldn’t exactly call last night a case of Kinderphobia, but it was certainly a close relative. But I set the alarm for 6:15, got up and did “The Hiroshima Run” about 40 minutes earlier than usual. They said get there a half hour early, so I did. Now I know which trains to take (or not to take) that time of morning, so I need never cut it so close again. 

Mr. Kindergarten explained the outline of the party. He literally had an outline written on paper, although it was entirely in Japanese. It all went exactly according to plan and schedule as all things Japanese do.

At 10:20 He showed me to a backstage place where I could put on Santa’s Clothes. I brought my own Santa hat, since it was far nicer than the ones they had. Everyone was impressed with my Santa’s hat. All I can say is Christmas here is kinda weak, so anything the feels like an “authentic Western Christmas” is fun for them.

At 10:30, they turned off the lights and I went up on stage in the dark. They gave me a “cracker” to pull the tab and make a bright flash. Then the lights turned on and I would “magically” be there. I’m not sure who was surprised more, the children or me. I have never seen so many children in one room, much less expecting a performance from me. There must have been 150-200 of them, and many parents with cameras as well.

I then said a few words to the children and Mr. Kindergarten translated. After this, the children asked me questions: How old I am, what’s my favorite color, what’s my favorite food. You know, the usual. (Santa is 140 years old, his favorite color is red, and his favorite food is Christmas Cake; I made all this official today). Then some of the children held up toy animals and asked me which one I liked best, an elephant, pig, or monkey. I picked the elephant because we don’t have those at the North Pole. 

Then it was music time. They told me before the thing started that now I would be singing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” alone, and they would do backup. Cowards! I picked “We Wish…” because it was short and simple and I wanted to make it easy for them to learn it. f I had known I was doing a solo, I would have picked something more complicated or fun. But yes, I sang it, and then did it again, since they wanted more. Then all the teachers played “Here comes Santa Claus” on their instruments. Since I don’t play anything, they gave me jingle bells to rattle. Lastly, it was time for the “Rudolph Dance” that we all did multiple times last Wednesday.  At this time, the party broke up and the children all went to their classrooms. 

But Santa wasn’t quite done yet.  I picked up a sack full of toys and headed off to the various rooms. This was a full and quite HEAVY sack; I am so glad the bottom didn’t rip out! Each age group got something different, and they were all wrapped, so I don’t know what most of them were. The littlest ones got a bag full of sand toys, with a bucket, shovel, and other assorted things to get dirty with. While I was handing out presents, the parents and teachers took umpteen gigazillion photos of me with the children. Then I really was done, and Mr. Kindergarten led me back to the office where I turned back into Brian-Sensei. Throughout the whole thing, they had been calling me Brian-Santa, so I have to assume the children knew it was really me, but I am not sure about their logic with the whole thing. Maybe because I didn’t speak Japanese they didn’t want to call me the real Santa, but if that’s the case, why the pretense at all? I don’t know, but everybody had a good time. 

Then Mr. Kindergarten asked if I wanted to go to lunch with them all. I said sure, and waited. Since there was no hurry for me to leave, and they weren’t ready yet, they had e ride the little kindergarten bus with the children and wave at them as they got off. Not as Santa, but just as myself. That was cute; they all came back individually to where I was sitting and said, “See you!” and then waved as they got off. Finally the little bus took me back to the school where the others were waiting and ready. 

The woman all rode in their car, and Mr. Kindergarten took me in his. We all met up at a little okonomiaki restaurant at the base of the mountain.  Yes, the Kindergarten is on a mountain too. Pretty much everything outside of downtown Hiroshima is on a mountain.  He explained that the building used to be a samurai’s house about 200 years ago, and most of the wood and sandstone walls were original. Yes, I have pictures. The tables were very low to the floor, and there were no chairs. I thought we’d have to sit on our knees like they do in all the classical art, but no, there were big holes in the floor under the tables to put your legs. The tables only looked old-style. It was as comfortable as any other restaurant seating. 

The metal-topped tables were heated by gas, and they brought out food in bowls that we cooked ourselves right there on the table. I had meat, cabbage, sprouts, and some kind of red vegetable chopped into little strips, as well as raw eggs and spices. I cooked the meat by itself and when it was done, I mixed everything up in a bowl and then poured the mixture onto the table to cook. It’s a lot like a vegetable pancake or maybe omelet. It was fantastic! The okonomiaki I had the other time was full of noodles and mystery meat, but this was all real food, and tasted great. 

Meanwhile, they all had questions for me that they had never had time to ask before. What did I do before coming to Japan, why did I decide to be a teacher after owning a store for so long, and what would I do after this? They all wanted to know whether or not I was married and when I said no, they all wanted to know why. Then they all explained who was single and who wasn’t in the group. It’s too bad we weren’t all able to talk like this in the beginning; things would have been so much more comfortable in the previous months. As it stands, I think Kinderphobia is now a thing of the past forever.

Eventually, it was time to finish up, and Mr. Kindergarten dropped me off at the bus stop, where I took the bus back to the Hiroshima station and then the next train to Okayama. My original plan was to maybe go see Miyajima in the afternoon, but I like the way it worked out just as well, if not better, than just more sightseeing.

Tomorrow is the Rotaru (?) Club anniversary ceremony in Takahashi. It’s going to be an all-day event, and although it may not be awful, it’s not going to be particularly fun either.

December 14^th, 2007

A Less-Than-Stellar Day 

I got up and out at the usual time. Today is Friday, so I was off to the library for some Internet playtime.  I did McBreakfast without a problem, and left there just in time to be the library when they opened the doors. Since I was there early, I great little desk. I plug everything in, turn on the power, and … error message “Your computer is not plugged into a network.” I look behind my screen at the cable that most certainly IS plugged into the network. I unplug the cable, switch the two ends, and then plug it back in. Nothing changes. I cross my fingers and turn on both Wifi and Bluetooth, hoping for a signal, but the library just doesn’t do wireless. 

I shut everything down unplug everything, and then start over from the beginning. I figure maybe there is a chance (a small one) that there might be something wrong with the wiring for this desk, so I move to another and try again, with the same results. About this time, Y-San called me and said I had another package waiting for me at the office. Not only does the computer not work, but now the phone is ringing in the library. Argh!  I get up and walk around, seeing others using the Internet, so I can assume there is not a building-wide problem; it’s just me. I shake and wiggle my LAN cable, but nothing new happens. At this point, I pack up my stuff and head back home to go to the office. 

I still don’t know what the problem was. I hope it was just a faulty cable; I bought another this afternoon. If there is a problem with the network jack in this nearly NEW computer, I am not going to be happy. Apple has a great service plan, but I do not want to go without a computer over the holidays. I won’t be able to try the library again until Wednesday.  

But Wait, It Gets Worse. 

So I walk back to Tenmay and wait for the bus. It’s a long wait this time, 20 minutes in the cold. Yeah, I’m whining a bit. The bus eventually shows up and takes me to the little station, where I pick up my bike and head back to the apartment. Bout halfway home, the bike-pedals start to feel mushy. Uh-Oh. Just a few hundred meters later, I have to get off and start pushing. Flat Tire. Not just a flat tire, but the same tire I replaced right after arriving here. There’s a big obvious hole in the side of the tire. I know I didn’t hit anything, so it must have just popped. I’m a big guy, but I a not THAT big. The funny thing is, that Marc called in to Japanese class last night saying he’d be late due to a flat tire, and I didn’t believe him. Today we’re BOTH getting flats fixed. 

I walked the bike home the rest of the way and put away the computer. I walked up the hill to get my box and play on the computer a bit. I was all set for an “Internet Afternoon,” but I can’t spend all day on the office computer. The box turned out to be quite large, but surprisingly light. There’s no card or name on it, but I know my Brother and/or Sister-in-law said something was on the way, so unless I hear otherwise, I will assume it’s from them.  I updated the blogs, did emails, and chatted a bit, but there was nothing special to report here.

Something That Did Go Well 

While I was in the office, I finally bought a ticket home for mid-march. Since I now know my “official” last day, I decided I had better buy a ticket while I still could.  I used a student travel discount service for my ticket over here, and I wanted to use the same people for my trip back. The problem is that I am no longer a student since I graduated last month. I know the school leaves your account in the computer for a certain amount of time, but I don’t know how long. I also know that the service did indeed check that I was a student last time.  I want to buy a cheap ticket while I still show up as a “verifiable” student. 

I’m still not entirely sure what I will be doing in the Spring. I still plan on sending out at least some resumes and see where that leads. But I figure it’s better to lock in the cheap price now and change or cancel it later than wait until I am unable to buy the cheap ticket at all. If anyone is interested, the one-way ticket including all taxes and stuff, came to $575. I think that’s pretty good; if anyone knows any cheaper way, send me a note. 

They Killed Many Trees To Make This Forest 

Then it was back down the hill. Immediately upon getting to the apartment, I open up the big box to see what was inside. Bwahahahahaa!  It’s another Christmas Tree In A Box, exactly like the one I got yesterday. Yesterday I thought it was a neat, really unique gift, but now I wonder if they aren’t hawking these on every street corner in the western hemisphere.  The price tag was still on this one, and apparently the shipping cost twice as much as the “tree” itself, so I know this was not a cheap gift. I do appreciate the thought from both Ptuny and (I assume) my Sister-In-Law, but gosh, we now I have a dilemma: What to do with the second tree? It cost enough I am not going to ignore it, but really, I don’t need two Christmas Trees. As I said, shipping cost twice what the item is worth to begin with, so shipping it back would be just plain stupid  .The obvious solution would be to re-gift it to someone, but the only person I know over here who might appreciate it is Marc, and he can already share my first tree, which is in the living room. I could start my own “Paper Jungle” now. 

I’m ReTired 

OK, so once I knew the mystery inside the box, it was time to deal with the tire. I put on my coat and gloves and walk the bicycle all the way to Happy Town, about 20 minutes away. The bicycle shop I went to on my first day here is behind Happy Town, and I figure that’s as good a place as any. I am assuming that the blowout was a fluke, and not just a crappy tire to begin with. I still don’t know how to ask for a repair, so when I went in, I made “deflated tire” signals with my fingers and a “Pshhhhht” sound effect. They asked “panku?” I looked up panku in my electronic dictionary and it does indeed mean “blowout.”

I stood there about 15 minutes while the guy put on a new tire. This time it cost me 2600Y. I’m not sure, but I think I paid 3500Y or so for the replacement last time. Did I get a deal or just a cheaper replacement? Time will tell. 

You Say Tomato, I say Tomago 

Since I was right there at Happy Town and it was now mid-afternoon, I figured it was as good a time for lunch as any. I went in and did McDonalds. They have something new there now; two new burgers. They look mostly like the “Mega Mac,” the Big Mac with four patties instead of two. One is the Mega Tomato, which is a Mega Mac with a big fat slice of tomato on it. The other is the Mega Tomago, which is a Mega Mac with an egg on it. An egg is called “tomago” in Japanese. The egg is just like one of the round McMuffin eggs you get in the morning. I’d like to try one of the egg-burgers once, but they are just so insanely huge that I am going to have to wait for just the right level of starvation first. Besides, if I changed my regular order, the lady at the counter would be so disappointed in me! 

Afterwards, I went up to the third floor for the 100Y store and bought some Origami paper and books. I figure if I am going to have to assemble a tree or two, I may as well learn to make some animals while I’m at it. Actually, I went up there to buy another pair of cheap gloves before they discontinue them, but the origami looks like fun too. Then I went to the second floor and picked up a new LAN cable, just so I can rule that our as a problem at the library next time. It’s a one-meter cable that cost about 260Y. It was cheap enough that a spare can’t hurt anyway.  Then of course, I bought the usual groceries on the first floor and then rode home. 

What Next? 

Tomorrow is the Santa Claus party in Hiroshima, so I have to get up really early for that, like 6:30. I expect it’ll be done around noon, but no one has said for certain yet.  I’m going to take my folding umbrella and my Miyajima map jut in case that seems like a good idea. Miyajima Island is huge, and I know there will be a lot of walking involved. Probably what I should have done would have been to go today, spend the night there, and come back after the party tomorrow, but I didn’t think of that until this afternoon. I can’t stay over tomorrow night because I have to be in Takahashi for the Rotary Club on Sunday. Busy Busy Busy! 

It’s just now 5:00, and I’m about to start putting together the first of the Christmas trees. I’ll post pictures when I get the opportunity to do so. I doubt that will take very long, since I won’t have anyone telling me how to put tinsel on one piece at a time. Actually, it doesn’t even have tinsel, so that problem is solved already!