Brian's Japan Adventure

February 21^st, 2008

 Bandit On The Run(s). 

I slept a bit late, as I usually have been doing on Thursdays lately. When I got up, I had to decide what to do today. I could go up the hill to the office and check my mail, or I could just go to Megalo and make a day of it.

So I packed up and went to Megalo.  They’re not bad once you get used to them, and in the middle of the afternoon, they are pretty empty and quiet.  Business-wise, I made another small sale with #1, #2 had a few new subscribers, and #3 sat there lonely and neglected. There was still no news from iTunes. I’m glad I am not sitting at home twiddling my thumbs with my livelihood on the line waiting for them. Still, the podcast did get a few more subscribers since I last looked at the report. I’ll post the next episode this weekend. I have two more recorded and ready-to-go already, but I may re-do them if I have time.  I looked for the next episode of LOST, but then I remembered that it’s still only Wednesday in the States, so I didn’t look very hard!

On the way home, I stopped at Happy Town McDonalds. There was a Japanese guy working at the counter who took my order in English and gave my change in English, and thanked me in English.  He even seemed happy to get the practice. Sure enough; he’s the one guy in this city who speaks good English, and he works in just about the only place where English isn’t really necessary.

Then I came back to the apartment to find Marc ready to go to the drugstore. Apparently he’s had “The Runs” for the past six days.  Hmm.  I thought the toilet paper got used up awfully fast this week. I do believe he’s even going to be motivated to replace it this time. I guess this has been a problem for a few days, but I haven’t seen him since Monday, so it was news to me.  He’d been up to the office today, and Y-San wrote a note for him to take to the drugstore explaining what he needed.  Yeah, that makes a neat mental picture doesn’t it?  A giant, bear-like gaijin walks into the local drugstore with a note that says “Help me, I can’t stop pooping” in Japanese.  Bwahahahahaaa!  Well, I guess it’s still a far sight better than having to pantomime it.  He wasn’t too thrilled with it either, but figured it was better to deal with it now, however embarrassing it might be, rather than have to deal with it on the plane next week. Yes, he is leaving next Saturday; he’s got 8 more days; I have 20.

 Would You Take A Job Offer In… Mordor? 

Just before he walked out the door, Y-San called. Marc picked it up and did the talking, filling me in afterwards. Apparently there is now an opening for a job in Fukuyama for an Art and Physical Education teacher for the Elementary School Immersion program. One of the three teachers who were so… unfriendly… to us last fall has quit.  She asked us to forward the news on to anyone who might be interested. She did say that the applicant would have to be able to do cartwheels and demonstrate things like that. I think she knew darned well that neither Marc nor I are qualified to be a P.E./Art teacher, but she probably promised someone she would mention it.  Actually, I could probably handle the Art Teacher side of it without a problem, but not P.E. as well. Now that I think about it, not one physical education teacher I ever had did a cartwheel. I never saw them run, do a push up, or even walk real fast. They were all really good at blowing whistles though. Even if Art and PE appealed to me, it’s in Fukuyama, which is also known as the City of Gloom, Despair and Desolation.  I swear the sun never shines there. I suspect there are tribes of Orcs in those mountains. As I said a few days ago, I could be tempted to stay or come back with the right offer, but not there.

Tomorrow, of course, is Friday, which means I am going back to that dark and gloomy realm.  I will teach the young orclings about food names, and hope to escape with my skin intact.  Fortunately, I have something poor Frodo never had; a return ticket on the 3:45 train.  If you didn’t catch the Lord Of The Rings references, you should probably close down this browser window and go read those books right now. Or at least watch the movies. You know who you are.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 8:28 pm and is filed under Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.