The internet at my place here has been a little wonky. Not just my place but pretty much everyone with this service provider. I guess it started up around Christmas Day. I didn't notice it much then because I was so busy with family gatherings and stuff. It was so bad in Orlando though that it even made the news.

So yeah, Christmas Day we went out to my godfather's place in Titusville. He retired and bought a huge plot of land there. He's got like a mini farm going on as a hobby. There we saw old friends from when we lived in New Jersey. That was nice. My godmother was getting all up into my business though asking where's my girlfriend, when am I going to get married, etc.... lol. After that we went to my uncle's house back here in Orlando for another family gathering. That was basically my mother's side of the family. Most of of my mother's siblings live in Orlando now anyway, but all of the cousins don't get to meet that much these days. So it was nice to have all of my generation together again. All my cousins are all grown up! Heck some of my cousins' kids are in high school now! Dang. A little too much drinking though. When the uncles get together and now with so many cousins of age... What can you do?

The day after Christmas, my brother, sister's family and I did a little shopping. Thankfully, the stores & roads weren't too crazy. I got some new pants at Nordstrom Rack and a couple of outfits at Kohl's. After that we went to Hooters. That was fun. My eldest nephew was so cute. He's like 2 years old and was totally flirting with our waitress. Not bad kid, I was thinking the same thing myself! We then went home to take a little nap break, and then that night my brother, sister, and I met up with a friend at the Independent Bar. That was a lot of fun too. Drank a lot, danced around a lot, great music, afterward great food at Broadway Pizza. The pizza was SO good, I was getting a little teary-eyed from it.

Stayed in all day today recuperating, watching football on TV and eating. Ahhh!

When I get back to Japan, I really am going to sign up for that one gym though. As if I hadn't already gained weight there, I think I've really put it on here. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way. Overall, I'm having a great time at home doing exactly what I said I was going to do: relax. Maybe I'll try to get some fishing in this week.

I went to the party tonight and was just, I dunno.... kinda cranky. Part of it was that I was still pissed off because my camera broke - I also wanted to take some pics at this party after all. Another part of it is that I think that all the alcohol I've consumed for the past week has started to catch up to me. I didn't get drunk by any means - I really just wasn't in the mood to drink yet again. It's such that I don't even feel like having much to drink when I return home. Of course, that will probably change once I get over there, but if I were there now I'd probably reach for a tea or a water instead.

ok, gotta finish packing then go to bed.

I just had a rather lousy practice. I guess I had my hopes up after listening to all that jazz yesterday and pretty much every waking moment afterward. Tone was pretty good, but fingers and chops were all outta whack, completely uncoordinated. I felt so clumsy. I knew what I wanted to play and I could hear it in my head, just couldn't get all the other pieces parts lined up. *sigh*

So yeah, if the sax girl calls tell her I had to pawn my sax to settle a debt to the yakuza or something.

I was really looking forward to this practice too. I think that also had something to do with it. Hmmm....

In other news, I had two real strong cravings today that were quite a challenge to resist. As I was wrapping things up in the office this afternoon I had a real strong craving for a cup of coffee. I was just like:
"Man, that would just taste so good right about now!"
But I held fast. One thing would lead to another and before you know it, my sleep patterns are wrecked once again. Then later I saw a co-worker at the train station, we chatted for a bit and he looked like he was about to ask me to grab a round of drinks at the pub. Then the thought flashed
"If he doesn't suggest it, I will."
Then I was like
"No! Don't do it! You're trying to cut back on alcohol, remember?"
That beer would have really hit the spot too. Heh, I'm in my apartment now wondering why I don't just go across the street for a bottle or two. No. I'm going to make dinner, watch a video, and that'll be the end of it.

Oh, but the weather was absolutely gorgeous today. I took my classes outside for a few minutes to do an "observation" exercise - got them to write down everything they could see and hear. They seemed to enjoy it, the mood was certainly lighter once we returned to the classroom.

Anyway, I'm going to get over this bad practice. I haven't been practicing regularly so this is pretty much payback for that. I need to play a little every day. Yeah.

Saturday - CV and I met up with Mochan (Japanese friend who always hosts travelers) and his latest batch. My friend from Germany was in the batch. First we went to Mariko village - once a stop on the old Tokaido line from Osaka to Tokyo. Then we went to a tea ceremony place in Okabe. The green tea ice cream there is awesome, real bits of green tea mixed into the ice cream with dried green tea sprinkles. After that, we hit up an onsen in Kawane. That was pretty nice. Then there was a party in Shimizu at Mochan's place. We all got f-ing hammered. I got sleepy though and passed out for a few hours. Fortunately, there was a lady (Aki) who didn't drink that drove and she agreed to take some of us home at the end.

Sunday - Went back to Mochan's place for more. First up was a sake brewery in Fujinomiya. This place is great. It's really interesting to learn about the sake making process. There's also free samples at the end of the tour and they give out a pack of sake flavored candy - which is awesome. After that we went to Lake Tanuki to view Mt. Fuji and have a picnic. Finally Mt. Fuji was visible from this vantage point! This was probably my 6th time to Lake Tanuki and I had never seen it from there prior to that day. The view was fantastic. (I'll have to post those pics later as I'm away from my pics atm.) Next up was the Shiraito Waterfall. This is always a nice view too. After that we hit the road and went back to Mochan's place for another dinner party. As usual the party involved copious amounts of alcohol. After a while we all drifted off to sleep one by one.

( This is where the Yakuza story comes in. )

Monday - Chris (my German friend) and I stayed here in Shizuoka while Mochan took the travelers down to Nara and Kyoto for the rest of "Silver Week". During the day Chris and I just looked around Shizuoka City. We stopped by my university and ran into a few students. Then I had my birthday dinner with CC and left Chris to his own devices. After dinner, met back up with Chris, went back to my place and called it a night.

Tuesday - more looking around Shizuoka City and returned back to my place. CV came over and the 3 of us had yakitori for dinner, that was delish. Then we headed back into the city for the karaoke madness. It was a bit early so we hit up a foreigner bar for some drinks but the place was dead. We stuck it out there for a little bit then hit up a Spanish bar a few blocks down. By "Spanish bar" I mean that the owners are Japanese but the music, food and drinks are all Spanish/Latin themed. They were playing Salsa music and some people were even doing Salsa dance - pretty neat place. Finally it was about time for the karaoke so we headed down to the downtown Shidax and waited for others to show up. Aki showed up after a little bit and we got word that the other girl (Mino) was going to be late so we should start without her. We got a room and started up some karaoke. Mino showed up and we made the most of the all-you-can-drink special. Whew. Mino shall now be known as "Mino Musume" as she sang/danced a whole block of Morning Musume songs. Chris and I freaked some people out by singing a couple songs from Detroit Metal City - those songs are just SO over the top. 3 am rolled around and we had finally had enough. Again, Aki didn't drink this evening as she drove, so she drove all of us back to my place where we continued drinking and eventually turned it into a slumber party. Whew.

What a (long) weekend. Hell, it's making me tired just thinking about it.

When I got back to my apartment building last night I ran into one of the professors at this university. The dude is from Germany and teaches German and some other European related classes. He's been at this university for a long time, about 15 years or so. Anyway, he invited me out for a round of drinks at the yakitori joint down the street. He's a regular there. The master was hooking us up with extra helpings of the assorted yakitori bits. Started off with beer, got into some sake. They also had a shochu made from black sesame seeds, that was very tasty. Then we had a shot of the "world's strongest drink". They brought out the bottle and it was some Polish concoction that was 192 proof. As I picked up my glass, some of it dripped onto my hand and the sensation was like rubbing alcohol. We downed it and, damn, that was some hot shit. I had to chase that shit with a beer real quick like. Anyway, we also got to talking with the master about stuff and he's a big jazz aficionado. I noted that he was playing some Coltrane and he asked me if I liked jazz. I said I did and he asked if I played. I said I play the sax, but it's been a long time. Then he mentioned that there's a local jazz combo that plays there every now and then. I told him that I'd really like to see those guys play, then he said maybe I could play with them. I'm really out of practice and I don't have a sax here in Japan. So I said once I have a sax and get my chops back up maybe I could.

The German dude is pretty cool. He likes punk rock and early 80s alternative. For example, he likes Joy Division, The Sex Pistols, The Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, Bauhaus, Siouxie and the Banshees, and some others that slip my mind. We also talked about the politics here at the university. Nothing revolutionary on that front, just confirmed some of my suspicions. We drank a little harder than I thought we would. We started at 7 and didn't leave the place until 11:30. Good thing we live just a block away, lol.

Anyway, I think I'm going to put my head down for a little bit before my first class.

My usual Friday-4th-period-bundle-of-energy was a bit subdued today. She was hungover. Moreover, we were doing a lesson on superlatives and one question form was "What is the most delicious ____ that you've ever had?" Everyone proceeded to fill in the blank with sake, shochu, beer, wine, whiskey, tequila, etc. These kids today, I tell ya....

At any rate, the weekend is finally here. I have no plans really. I do need to clean up around the place and call that one dude to see when he wants to see Star Trek. I'll also need to take the old bike out for a spin. (I haven't been riding my bike lately due to weather/bringing tennis gear to work.) So yeah, other than that I think I'll just take it easy and read a couple of ebooks.

Ok, I've had enough of this place for today. Time to go home.

Last night, I made the mushroom and chicken curry again. I want to hurry up and get off of work so I can eat more of it for dinner tonight! (Living alone, making one pot of anything means I'll be eating it for the next 3-4 days. Except pasta, I can make single servings of that.)

I told myself I wasn't going to have any alcohol this weekend. I had a beer with my dinner on Friday and that was it. I didn't really have any cravings, so that was good. Well I had a slight craving when the curry started cooking. I had oolong tea instead. I think I'll hold off on the alcohol again tonight. Tomorrow is St. Pattys and I'm sure The Big K will want to hit up The Hub or something.

After trying to play Street Fighter 4 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom some more, I've come to the sad realization that I'm not good at these games. (T_T) While I was never an expert, I could at least hold my own. The last few times I've hit up the arcade it has been well, embarrassing. I guess what I could do is download, print out, and study the combo sheets. Then find some arcade somewhere off of the beaten path and practice. There are also a host of other interesting looking fighting games out that I see everywhere but am vaguely aware of - e.g. Tekken 6, Virtua Fighter 5, plus a ton of 2-D ones that are new to me. Too bad the arcades here are so expensive (100 yen per game usually). I mentioned once that I might perhaps take the plunge and buy a TV, console system and some games. That is A LOT of money, and I'm not really into games as I once was. Well, I won't be buying anything until after I move, that's for sure. Once I settle in and see what my finances are like, I'll revisit this idea.

Oh and the kids know I'm leaving. I just got mobbed by a bunch of my 1st graders telling me not to go. One girl started crying already. That almost got me going as well. (;_;)

It was a pretty good time. All you can eat yakiniku, all you can drink. I definitely got my money's worth. (^_^) The 6th grade teachers each gave a little speech, and every one of them bawled their eyes out during it. Some of the other teachers also got caught up in the emotion and bawled their eyes out as well.

Prior to the party, word had gotten out that I was leaving and as I was mingling through the crowd, some teachers would ask me where I'd be going next. When I told them the name of the university they were all amazed that I had gotten a job there and remarked that it was no wonder that I was leaving. Some teachers probably assumed that I was leaving because of my run-ins with You-Know-Who. When I told them where I'd be going next, it seems like they had changed their mind and decided that was the reason instead.

One teacher, one of the 1st grade homeroom teachers, did get me to cry last night though. The dude was one of my biggest allies, he knew and witnessed firsthand the progress the first graders were making with English. He was like "After 1 year of your classes, the kids can use English better than most kids after 3 years of junior high school English!" He was telling me how much he enjoyed working with me this year, how all his kids love my classes, they'll all be so sad to see me leave, and that they need more teachers like me for the English department to be successful. With that, I was done. I had a good cry myself and thanked him for all his support this year.

At the end of the party, they were reading off a list of names and I thought it was just thanking people for their hard work this year. Then my name came up and then I realized that this was a list of people that are leaving/transferring in April. There were about 10 names on the list, so this place is going to look quite different next month. One teacher that I was shocked to see leave was a lady who was a rookie teacher the first time I worked here. She is super-involved in everything and is now probably the most popular 2nd grade teacher. She's leaving to work at a school closer to where she lives. Too bad for this place because I think she's awesome.

Then some of us went to karaoke for round 2 of the party. That was crazy. It started off innocently enough, then one of the really hammered guy teachers started doing a striptease and climbing around on the furniture. I kinda wish I could forget about that part actually, lol. The ladies were all hiding their eyes and stuff. Crazy. Then I caught the last train home and stumbled back to my apartment.

I'm at work now kinda tired and dehydrated. I just taught a couple of 1st grade classes and they were great. I am really going to miss them.

from my Japanese co-workers. I guess they were so busy with the Marathon Taikai that they just decided to put the crazy foreigner talk on hold until later. Either that or I'm not getting a response after all. My native co-workers were all abuzz though. One dude was like "Dude, you shouldn't have told [this other dude], as if he could get any more bitter." lol.

I updated my facebook status with the facts that I put in my notice and that I'll be working elsewhere from April. I couldn't help but feel like I'm jinxing things, even though I have turned in all my hiring paperwork and I have an apartment in teacher's housing reserved. There are some people on facebook that I wanted to tell in person first, but unfortunately logistics would not let that happen. I'll tell those folks the whole story when I see them again.

I was going to workout today, but with all the commotion over the weekend, I wasn't able to do any laundry. No workout clothes available. (;_;) Oh well, I'm sitting here eating chanko nabe leftovers and having a beer instead. Nice consolation prize if I do say so myself.

Well, I just did that overdue batch of laundry so hopefully I can hit the gym tomorrow. Heck, I only have 3 more weeks remaining! I'd better make the most of it!

why is the combo of whiskey and cigars so awesome?

My new "surf and turf" = jack and a cuban.

damn.

Looks like I won't be hitting up the gym today, The Big K wants to have some oden after work. I need to not spend so much on alcohol this month though. I need to save up for the move!

so when The Big K asked me out for a few rounds in the park, I was like 'sure, why not?'

I decided to go ghetto today, I started off with some "Strong Seven" and Kirin Tanrei. Actually, after having the Strong Seven(s), the Tanrei was actually drinkable! lol. Since it's a school night, he wanted to pack in in early. Fair enough, but I wasn't done drinking. I picked up some beers and squids at the convenience store on the way home and am rocking that shit out now. I do have some whiskey in the fridge and will probably bust that out with a cigarillo in a little bit here.

Note to self: I gotta clean house tomorrow night. I'm going drinking with the boys on Friday and Miyuki is coming up on Saturday.
-----

ETA: Holeeeeey smokes, Jack Daniels and a Cuban - wow!

The university sent me some paperwork, all in Japanese.
(ToT)
There's stuff like personal history, health check, etc. I can do most of it on my own, but there's still a good portion that I don't know wtf is going on. Miyuki said for me to send the forms to her and she'd help me out with them. I'm also going down there next weekend (Happy Valentine's Day) and hopefully we'll wrap that up then.

I hope the university doesn't think I'm that fluent in Japanese. It wasn't mentioned in the job posting, and they didn't ask about it in the interview. Hmmmm....

Last night was fun though. After work, I first had to stop by a smoke shop for some cigarillos cubanos. Then I met The Big K & Kareem for a round of drinks and a victory cigar to commemorate my successful defection from "North Korea" (our little pet name for the educational conglomerate we work for, as there is a real cult of personality surrounding the founder/owner). We didn't hit it too hard, just enough to get a bit rowdy. After we went our separate ways, I was still in the mood to drink so on the way home I went to convenience store to get some more drinks (beer & whiskey) and snacks (various forms of roasted squid, even the counter guy gave me a weird look - lol). Once home, I watched Taken (again!), drank & smoked some more, then went to bed. The liquor and smoke were so tasty, however I woke up dehydrated and with the worst morning breath (tmi, sorry).

OK, let me e-mail these forms to Miyuki.

Well, I was going to hit the gym tonight after work. Then I got an e-mail from The Big K with a request for a few rounds after work today. I couldn't exactly let a brother down, so I went.

We went to the park, had some beers & snacks, and basically just shot the breeze for a while. I had 2 tallboys, one of Budweiser (of all things) and a Kirin Classic. Hearing about the Super Bowl earlier in the day had me a little nostalgic for an American beer, hence the Bud. The Kirin, just to mix things up a bit. I didn't know how long we were gonna be out there, so I got a flask of sake (label: 白鶴 Haku Tsuru, pretty good for a convenience store sake actually)- just in case. Anyway, we were out there just long enough for me to finish my two beers. It started to get too cold to be out in the park so we called it a night. Still, I didn't want to waste my sake and I started to get a craving for some roasted squids. Fortunately I had the squids at home, so I just held onto the sake until I got back. I'm now typing this up while savoring the squids and sake. ahhh...

In other news, Miyuki has some business up in this area this week. I believe she'll be staying at my place from Tuesday night until Thursday morning. That would be nice. I know that I am meeting her after work on Wed. and she'll at least spend the night with me then. If I had more sick days saved up, I'd call in on Thursday to hang out with her. Oh well. Also, I need to get myself used to the idea that I didn't get the uni gig. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Thinking about Miyuki and stuff, I've also started thinking about doing another year here at the elementary school. It looks like she's neither ready to go to the USA with me, nor is she wanting to move up here to Saitama in April - fair enough. While I do miss my family and friends, I don't really have anything else to do back home. The economy there is a mess anyway, so I might as well thank my lucky stars that I even have a job and stick it out here.

The Big K did remind me about one job posting. I'll take a look at it while at work tomorrow. I am a little tired of job hunting though. If I haven't missed the deadline and can muster the energy for another essay then I'll give it a shot. Otherwise I'll just keep on hanging on here with the crayons and fingerpaints.

I really want to watch it, but I can't find a feed on the internet.... (T_T) I think the Steelers are going to take it, but I am kinda rooting for the underdog. The Steelers are my favorite team, yet I want the Cardinals to at least keep it close. Heck, I'd be cool with it even if they won. The Cards have paid their dues.

The weekend was pretty good. As promised, I did nothing and felt great about it. Although the gym was CROWDED yesterday, wtf. There wasn't much of a wait for any of the machines, but the bath was packed. ugh. I did hit the sauna and showered off afterward, but I didn't soak like I usually do - there was hardly anywhere to sit!

Interesting thing about last night though. After the gym & dinner, I had a beer and watched a video. I finished the one beer and had a craving for another, but I decided to not have it. I'll tell you what, the temptation was strong. If only you knew the POWER of the dark side. I just couldn't get it out of my head. It was calling me! I held fast though. I ended up eating about 5 oranges instead - lol.

Looks like I'm not going to get my Super Bowl on at work after all. Oh well. I did finally remember to bring my iPod cable (& iPod) to work so I'll be throwing some CDs/videos on it today.

I have no job interviews to prep for, no job apps to put out, I did my laundry and shopping, my lessons are planned for next week. Other than going to the gym, I have nothing to do. I just want to sleep in, bum around the apartment, watch some videos and totally veg out. I have absolutely nothing going on this weekend, and I feel fine.

This is *hopefully* the week that I hear back from the uni gig. Whenever I check my e-mail now I hold my breath waiting to see if I have an e-mail from them. Of course I will be disappointed if it doesn't happen, still I'd just like to know one way or the other so I can stop thinking about it.

I just popped open a beer btw, and I was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the can opening sound was. I must have developed a Pavlovian response to it or something. I was already thinking "Ahhhh..." when I hadn't even consumed any beer yet. I decided to do it semi-ghetto and get a 6-pack of Asahi Super Dry tallboys. I say "semi-ghetto" because if I were to go "ghetto", I'd be getting happoshu instead. The Big K would counter that you need shochu to really go ghetto. Then of course the downward spiral begins from there. XP

Hell, on second thought I ought to try getting back into shochu. It's one type of alcohol that I'm still trying to understand. While I'm not a connoisseur I have learned to appreciate other types of alcohol - e.g. wine, whiskey, vodka, sake, etc.... The "Riddle of Shochu" heh, I kinda like that.

I do like me a good sake though, should I ever return to the US for good, I'll really miss it. Anyway....

fu*k, it's past midnight? When did that happen? Oh well, even though I am sleeping in tomorrow I didn't want to stay up this late. おやすみなさい！

Well, it couldn't really be helped though. First night out of 2009 with the fellows (The Big K and Kareem), we had to hit it pretty hard after all. Started off at a yakitori joint and had some beer, oolong-hais, and sake. Oh yeah, we ate some yakitori too. Then went to The Hub to wrap things up. While there we met some other foreigners that worked as ALTs in Saitama City. They were pretty cool. Also, there was a group of Brazilians there that were really living it up. We were about to join in on the fun, but.... by this time it was last train for The Big K. My last train was a little later actually but I couldn't very well party on without him. So I just left when he did. We lost track of Kareem right around this time too. Who knows, maybe he stayed to party with the Brazilians.

This morning, I felt terrible. First hangover of 2009 and it was a doozy. I was completely dehydrated. My insides were churning, reminiscent of that stomach virus that I had over the break. When I tried to rehydrate myself, whatever I drank threatened to come back up so I could only have a little at a time. At least I didn't have a headache. After my stomach settled down, I made a breakfast of coffee and cheese toast.

Anyway, I really need to take the alcohol down a few notches. I felt I drank way too much alcohol last year. I don't want to make the same mistake this year.

It's f-ing COLD out there today and they're having the dodgeball festival outside. F--- THAT! I'm glad they didn't give me a BS collateral duty like photographer for this thing. I'm hanging out in the teacher's office for the duration, that's all there is to it. I am NOT getting sick before I go on vacation.

Last night was fun. For a while now, my regular drink at The Hub has been the "Hub Ale". Last night, the Hub Ale tap was broken, so I had to go with Bass Ale. After a few months of Hub Ale, the Bass was like the best drink ever. Wow. Of course, the Hub Ale is basically a poor man's Bass Ale (it's like 250 cheaper per pint). Still, I didn't expect the difference to be that pronounced. I was just amazed at how much more tasty and refreshing it was. I may just have to stop being such a cheapskate and go for the real deal from now on. Anyway, we didn't go all out last night. We all just had some drinks, played some darts, talked about work stuff and other things - sports, movies, etc.

Actually, it's almost too warm in the teacher's office. They have the heater cranked up pretty good. Better to be too warm than too cold on a day like today though.

I am feeling a bit groggy atm. I think I'll grab a cup of coffee and take it easy for a bit before cracking open my essays.

I'm having some Aki-aji's (I hoarded a couple 6-packs last month when I saw they were running low at the supermarket) and roasted squids. I'm also listening to Namie Amuro's Best Fiction which is a damn catchy album I must say. I'm definitely an Amuro fan now. I need to hit up the Tsutaya and get her other albums.

I actually have a busy day of classes tomorrow. Fortunately, my 3rd graders are watching a video so that really cuts my load in half. After work, I'm meeting with a couple friends for a mini-year-end-enkai. I fear we may hit it pretty hard as the day after is the last day of classes for all of us. I'd better put my hydration protocols in place, just in case.

Speaking of drinking, I'm about to wrap things up here with a cigarillo and JD on the rocks. lol.

I was lying in bed, fast asleep when suddenly my eyes flew open and I realized that I forgot to e-mail some job links to The Big K. We were drinking in Omiya earlier this evening and he called me out saying that I keep mentioning these job link sites but never e-mail him the links. So I (finally) e-mailed them to him.

Drinking this evening consisted of a few rounds in the park and then some drinks/snacks at a yakitori joint. OH, but at 7-11 The Big K introduced me to something... special. Instant hot sake! It comes in a single serve container. First you turn it upside down. There's a button that you push which releases a chemical mixture into the container's internal heating element. Let it mix for a few seconds and then turn it rightside up. In a few minutes you have a steaming hot cup of sake! Unfortunately, what they have in this thing is not exactly premium sake. Still, to get a hot cup of sake out in the park without any extra hardware was a treat in itself, especially on a brisk autumn day like today.

At any rate, I should get to bed. I forgot to plan a couple lessons for this coming week so I have to do that tomorrow.