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Rainy Season Continues...
When it's raining like this--day after day after day of gray skies--there really isn't much you can do but go to Dream Plaza and drink coffees.
It's usually Shorty-shorts-Brian and I with the third person being whoever happens to be free that day.
And as far as a collection of foot apparel goes, just look how diverse we are!
Yeah.
Like I said, when it's raining like this, there isn't much you can do but drink coffee under big, green umbrellas and stare at each other's feet.
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With the cloud cover and on-again off-again rain, it's like a steam bath outside right now. Absolutely terrible weather.
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I saw a new couple walk past me on my way home from the gym tonight. By "new" I don't mean they were shiny and fresh-out-of-the-box, but in a newly-formed couple kind of new. Of course I don't know them, but I'm guessing by the smiles they both wore as they were talking that they haven't been dating for too long.
Thin, happy smiles, tinged with equal parts nervousness and awkwardness.
I used to think those were the best smiles in the world.
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Because I'm reading that stupid book I can't get myself to stop thinking about bananas. It's starting to become a real problem. It's like where there's the JR train, I see a steel banana that carries passengers instead. And where there are sarari-man walking around in ties, holding briefcases, I see a ripe, yellow cavendish sticking out of the suit, head waiting to be peeled. I'm even talking to my friends about bananas. They both gave me this "Uh, dude, are you really talking to me about bananas right now?" look.
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My friend told me in Bali that he can only give it his all or nothing at all. I wasn't aware of it then, but I'm much the same way.
It's either you're a homie, or you're Jolly.
There really is no middle ground.
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Rainy season...
Emails waiting for responses. Dust on the desk. Bills unpaid. New toothbrush unbought.
These are the signs of things getting busy, getting repetitive.
I wonder how Jonathan's doing?
Did My get into the school of her choice?
Why haven't I called home?
June was a long and strange month.
Luckily July started off right with a timely visit from an old friend.
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She came. We ate. We drank. We laughed. We hugged. We headached a long and fitful night.
And we hope we can do it again soon.
(Maybe Sunday)
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Mel moves to Tokyo in late July. Good for he and his family and their future. But with him goes my only close, dependable friend in these parts.
While everything around me feels so flimsy, homeboy's always been a solid piece of chicken-and-ass lovin' rock.
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I'm reading a book about bananas. The title is Banana. I like bananas.
It turns out bananas aren't just interesting because of their sexually suggestive shape and funny sounding name, but also because of their long and convoluted history and the dire future it currently faces.
I'm learning a lot about bananas, or as much as you could ever possibly want to learn about bananas, anyway.
So whereas before I never looked at another dude while eating a banana (I mean, you can see why...cause of the dong resemblance and all), now I can't look at the banana itself without thinking about what will happen to my favorite breakfast fruit in the near future.
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"The problem with that team was they turned the sixth man into a starter."
"Naw, that's part of the game. Injuries happen--that's when everybody's gotta step up. You can't make any excuses."
"I'm not sure it's an excuse. Some sixth men are on the bench for a reason--they're not ready to start. Or it's just not in them to start. They play a role. They're subs. So when a coach looks at a bench player and asks him to start it's going to mess everything up. And whose fault is that?"
"Nobody's."
"That's right--nobody's."
"And you're telling me that's what happened?"
"Yeah...We wanted too much from them."
"You think?"
"I do."
"Huh...."
"Maybe next year."
"Yeah. Maybe next year."
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| Why it's easy to fall in love with this place... 
I had to go into work this morning on a Saturday. Which sucks. My head was swirling and my body was aching from the alcohol and sleep deprivation of last night. Which sucks much more. After class I took a walk down the hill to the conbini near school to buy lunch and a vitamin drink, and because I spent more than 700 yen the clerk told me I could try my luck in a quick raffle-drawing for a prize. And here is where Japan is a quirky, but in the end, wonderful country. There were two types of raffles: one labeled "For alcohol prizes" and one labeled "Other than alcohol prizes". It makes sense--in Japan it is alcohol and everything else. Being that it was 11AM and I was still feeling the drinks from last night, I opted for the "Other than alcohol prizes" raffle. You know what I won? Somehow I won a beer anyway. I looked at the winning ticket in disbelief. I had specifically drawn from the non-alcoholic raffle, but I guess Japan was telling me to drink, and to drink early and often and free. I told the store clerk I had to go back to work and didn't need the beer. She looked at me inquisitively, like, What does "work" and "not needing a beer" have to do with each other? But she acquiesed and let me draw again. This time I won a 198 yen coffee. Thanks Japan. It really is the little things. | | |
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Sumpu Marathon...
Back in March I signed up for the Sumpu Marathon with a friend. Neither of us was looking for the exercise, since we're both active on the daily, but I thought it'd be an interesting experience and opportunity to take pictures. I didn't have the time or inclination to do any training so I opted for the 10k version of the run, something I figured I could do without much trouble.
But as things sometimes turn out, that friend and I had some communication issues and she opted not to participate, so I went ahead and ran with the friends I play basketball with on Sundays. It's really too bad because it turned out to be a perfect day for a run. And I could have used a steady model for the pictures. And she has an exceedingly cute face.
I got a lot of inquisitive stares for taking pictures while running, but I guess by now I'm use to getting strange stares. "Will you look at that?! That gaijin is eating baby carrots--RAW!"
I'll cut the narrative and let the pictures show you what it's like to run a 10k in Japan.
Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning.
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