After the sayonara show, all the clubs rushed into position for demachi. Basically we lined up around the corner while regular demachi took place (we waited for like an hour, during which I wrote my notes about the play and sayonara show). Then, each club moved to stand in front of the other clubs and deliver their goodbye message as each taidansha ( Read more... )

Make no mistake: Japan has lots of flaws, and is not perfect, and all that. There's a very dark side to this culture that can be both disturbing and destructive ( Read more... )

About two or three weeks ago I posted (a locked entry) about going onto a dating site, how it's going well, and how I'd made a few casual dates. A few were for up here in Tokyo ( Read more... )

Oh my God ohmygodohmygod! I'm dancing around the room! I'm squealing!

Naturally, when I arrived in Japan, I wrote to my Remi right off as soon as I found paper pretty enough to be worthy of her. It's been a couple months with no contact, so I'd mostly given up...

AND THEN I RETURNED HOME AND IN MY MAILBOX WAS AN ENTRANCE FORM TO REMI CLUB!

With a ( Read more... )

So, I'm walking down the street when this little, shuffling old German man comes up to me and asks me for directions. He looked so lost and confused I decided to just walk him to his hotel. He spent the entire time talking about his world travels, which I figure little old men are entitled to, so I just nodded along ( Read more... )

In my new job, there are other translators from other countries to help out in Spanish, Chinese, and Korean. They're all really nice, and I mean that in the best way; as in, "kind and helpful," not "boring." They've all been so kind ( Read more... )

It’s barely six AM and I’m awake, despite being awake past midnight and having a couple hours until work. I have a lot on my mind, most of it good, and my brain moving this quickly always keeps me up.

I AM IN JAPAN.

Ha! I didn’t want to put that down until I got here, kept fearing that if I wrote something like, “I’m going to go to Japan,” ( Read more... )

Just got the notice from the JET Program office--I GOT AN INTERVIEW!  I'm one step closer to going back to Japan as a CIR!

You know, I first took Japanese class because I wanted to brush up on my Japanese to try and work on getting a job. But today, after finishing the final exam, I felt a great sweep of loneliness. I liked the people I had class with, and I look forward to next semester with the hope of seeing many of them again.

Go figure.

So, I'm back up in the states, possibly temporarily but who knows.  We're hoping to consult some doctors here and I'm taking a few college classes.  My mother is very (and I mean VERY) hopeful that I'll get a graduate degree, but I just don't think I want it.  I don't enjoy taking classes with all the stress involved.  Of course, maybe that'll be ( Read more... )