Let's Golden Week it's best each other

Shiminnomori Park

Tomorrow is the beginning of Golden Week! It's that week long holiday (for no apparent reason), that we all love. I am not sure what is going to happen this Golden Week. First the things I sort of know about for sure. I know there is going to be a Cinco de Mayo party next Tuesday. And I might possibly go to the beach as well. And apparently me and my friends are going to camp on the beach when we go. I also I am pretty certain I am going to go to MET'S because who can pass up a $15 nomihodai!?!

Now what I don't know. I don't know if my friend Shinya is coming down from Yamagata to take me to a rave. He is always out of it when we talk, I will say it's partly because of the language barrier though. And I am not sure if I am going to be hanging out with Chisato a lot this Golden Week. I meet Chisato at a BBQ this past weekend, the first day I thought she was interesting but there wasn't much physical attraction. But I saw her again like Wednesday, and I think she looked better the 2nd time around since I saw her legs and I thought they were nice. So this time I got her number and e-mail address. So we will see if anything develops or not. She does live in a different city in Gunma though, so that kind of sucks. But the city she lives in is way bigger and there is a lot more to do there. So who knows maybe I can go there to see her on the weekends, and enjoy the big city life!

And I love the fact that since I am a foreigner people think I have Swine Flu. Like I sneezed today and the lady at work next to me screamed like my sneeze had started raping her or something. So she didn't over react at all, she completely handled that situation like a sane person would. Ohh and I can take pictures now on my new Japanese iPhone! So I will try to remember to take some interesting pics during Golden Week. Maybe a picture of someone's vomit and if your really lucky I may even take a picture of my Belly button! I know a lot of you are curious to know what it looks like up close.  Man I am hungry screw this I am leaving.

何！？！

I have no camera so I am just uploading old pictures. . .

There were a few things I wanted to right down on my blog but I think I have forgotten a lot of them. I hope that by writing anyway my memory will spontaneously return. I had a Geji in my apartment on Sunday! When there is a Geji in your room it tends to be the first thing you notice. As soon as I turned on my light in my bedroom my eyes were instantly drawn to the wall. And lo and behold there was a Geji just chilling on my wall taunting me with it's presence. Either this Geji was really cocky or really lazy. All the other Gejis I have seen were running and jumping all over the freaking place but this one just sat there like it was paying part of the rent or something. So in an act of bravery I smacked it with my shoe. That was very uncharacteristic of me. Anyone who has seen me around giant bugs knows that normally I freak out, and run out of the room, and close the door vowing never to return to what ever room such fowl creatures dwell in. But this year has been a year of a change in my character.

I keep telling myself to look forward and not to dwell to much on the past. Problem is now I am completely obsessed with the future, to the point that I will forget something that just had just happened 5 minutes in the past. I need to find a balance in my thoughts somehow. But deep in my subconscious I want to revisit things that occurred in my past. In particular I want to reach out to those people I have shared very intimate moments with. I have meet many people in my life, but I think the people we bare are all too in those fleeting moments of intimacy are people who's thoughts and feelings we tend to care most about. There are certain thoughts and feelings I can discuss with close friends but somethings are best shared with someone who has become more than a friend, a person who blurs the boundaries. They can cross into areas of ones psyche where a friend might not be able to navigate. I hope that this makes some kind of sense it seems clear as day in my mind but trying to transcribe what I am thinking seems very difficult right now. In summation though I want to send a girl from my past an e-mail out of the blue to tell her what our time together meant to me, but I stop myself every time I seriously contemplate doing this. It's not part of the grand scheme of this year. I guess the theme of this year is new beginnings, so I want to stick to that.

I have a beautiful friendship here in Gunma! One of the guys I hang out with on a regular basis is like the brother I never had. He isn't quite my mirror being like Chet was to me in college. But I think it's better this way hopefully we can avoid some of the sticker situations that me and Chet got into in college. . .or not, only time will tell what will happen. Actually this is a friendship triangle since one of the female ALTs is in this as well. This triangle is similar to this video I posted on another blog. I should have posted that video on this blog it seems way more appropriate. Ohh well that is what a post archive is for!

One thing that I am not so thrilled about is that I feel I am losing a bit of my randomness. But this is a double edged sword. On one hand I always have people I know I can hang out with on the weekends so that means I won't have to feel the despair of loneliness that sometimes takes over a lone wolf such as myself. But at the same time I am losing some of the joys of just going out on the weekends with no plans and just letting the night sweep me away. I meet a ton of people and did a lot of stuff last year with people I would meet during the course of a night. I would call those instant friendships. They are like cup noodles except you just add alcohol instead of water, and presto you have a group of friends you can hang out with for a weekend, you may or may not see these people ever again in your life but for those few days it's like you have known each other for your whole lives. Everyone is quite comfortable (mostly because of the alcohol) and there are no worries. I was pretty much a friend for hire, I would stand around somewhere having a few drinks trying to decide on a direction when, a group of established friends would approach me and invite me to tag along, because I looked "interesting". Some of those instant friendships lasted on others are now just people I occasionally see who remember my name and I can only reply "ohh hey" (I don't remember you name) "but it has been awhile!"

So I don't know what to expect this year but so far I am pleased with things. Hopefully this year will continue to be kind to me! Good bye for now.

P.S. I need a phoneeeeeeeeeeee

GUNMA!!

Hello everyone! Hisashiburine? I have been living in my new city, Isesaki-shi, for about a week now, and although it is a bit dirtier than my last city it is also a lot warmer. I don't mind the random garbage as long as it is hot. Nothing like the smell of hot garbage to start the day of on the right foot. It does seriously smell like a zoo here on somedays. I have officially been working at my school for 5 days (1 school week) and I was a bit concerned about if the other teachers would be more conservative than my last school or not. But I am relieved to say they are every bit as relaxed as my old teachers and a good number of them speak english! So I think it is possible my new school might be 10 times better than my old school which I thought was impossible. 

I went to see some of the after school clubs, and I got to practice with the pretty much every club I went too! At my old school I was relegated to just watching the students from the sideline even towards the end of the year I just watched so it wasn't very engaging, but here in Isesaki on day one I was out getting dirty with the kids. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for any of this so I didn't have any athletic attire, so I was restricted in my movements by my business attire. I felt bad when I had to turn down a 1 on 1 challenge from the captain of the girl's basketball team, because she was so excited to try her skills out on me. Little does she know I am freaking horrible at basketball, I am sure she would run circles around me. I will find out tomorrow though, as I promised we would battle it out on the court tomorrow after school. The students at my new school are pretty enamored with me. While I was talking to a former gradate of my school one of the girls volleyball players hit me in the head with a volleyball and then scolded me, about loving any girls except the ones on the volleyball team. I guess I shouldn't tell her I am smitten by two young ladies who work for the same company as me (not any of the other teachers mind you). Actually I shouldn't say young ladies as they are both a bit older than I am.

One lives in the same city as me except on the other side of town and the other lives a few stops away on the train (perhaps a 20-30 minute train ride). At the same time I am drawn to a possible relationship I am repelled by my own laziness and nonchalance. Like I don't even really care if we are together or not. I have had some prime opportunities to let my feelings be heard but I was more interested in other things. At Hanami I had sometime to talk one on one but instead I decided to be a social butterfly and meet a few of the locals, because let's face it the people I was with at Hanami don't know shit about Isesaki they came to this town the same day I did. If I want to find what is exciting in this town I need to get out there and meet the locals. Knowing local people who have lived in the city for a long time made all the difference in my experience in Yamagata. No offense to any of the other ALTs I came down here with they are both cool people, but I think if I don't step up to the plate no one will. They might be fine hanging out with just our small group (just 3 people) but I am not. So when it comes down to either pursuing a relationship amongst a painfully small group of friends, or getting out there and meeting colorful (and very drunk) locals, I chose the drunks any day. A relationship will get monotonous pretty quickly but a drunk person is always full of surprises!

If my beau from Isesaki is reading this, don't think I am talking down to you at all it's quite the contrary. I am also partially being reserved to see if you are as spontaneous as me, I can't really tell right now. I am not sure what would happen if I was to call you friday afternoon to tell you I was going to a festival that night in another prefecture. These things are important to me at least, extreme flexibility leaves the days open for either the mundane or completely unexpected. Well if you are reading this somehow, don't let me know 0_<. You have the upper hand. This blog means I play this game with my hand exposed. Now should I play the Jack of Hearts or the Ace of Spades?

PARANOID!

Look at that shit

So I just saw my second Geji, and I am about to start crying. The first one I saw was like in a jar so I wasn't too worried about it. But this one is running around somewhere in this apartment with me. It was moving so fast I almost didnt even see it except for the fact that it was. . . MASSIVE!

As if having like a billion legs isn't enough to give me a heart attack, Geji can jump too. Man if that thing jumps on me I think ever organ in my body will fail simultaneously. Ahhh I think I can feel stuff crawling on me I am about to lose it. Someone save me I am too afraid to move. I have this feeling it's just going to fall of the ceiling and latch on to my face and I will run and jump off my friends balcony trying to escape the Geji. I want to find it and kill it, but I don't really want to find it at all. Man I think I am seriously about to start crying. . .

The night before

Looking West. Thinking East.

I haven't written in a long time (I seem to say that a lot). I wonder if my blog might cripple me as much as it might liberate me? Sure I censor some things on here, but still I do say a lot! So even if you aren't getting the whole story of what's going on you are still getting a good deal and you can add in your own wild fantasy of what I might be doing behind the scenes. I leave for the airport in like 3 hours and I haven't really slept all day I have just been up doing various things, trying to make sure I don't forget something. But you never get everything something will always slip through the crack I just hope it isn't something really important.

My mind is blank one second then the next it will be drowning with thoughts of what all I have done while I have been here in America. One thing that just struck me as interesting is when someone blocks you out from one facet of their life, it can be the smallest thing. It's one thing if they have never shared that part of their life with you EVER. But it's different if they let you share that part of their life with them, and then took it away randomly. I am under the assumption that maybe in my case this person just wants me to just forget about them. I am not sure who all reads this, but my blog will always be open to anyone! But about 3 different people can read this and think I am talking about them. But I am only talking about one of the three. I hope all three read this, and they all think it is them I am referring to. I won't dwell on this any longer.

So I have made this year better than previous years by being aggressive and also by having very little tact. I have to work on that last part, I could always use more tact. I mean people have bended to my will like never before, but I can't say I am all powerful controller of minds. The truth is I never really exerted my will I never tried at all! I would always just be in my own world and let things happen around me without me trying to change outside forces in the slightest. I would just go with the flow, so to speak. Now I am not aggressive to the point were I am an asshole but just aggressive enough to persuade you to do something. And if you said "NO" I would drop it for that day at least, and then possibly bring it up a week later. 

So now I am wondering how will my new attitude play out in a foreign country? I can't rely on words in Japan. I have to rely on gestures, and looks (not my physical looks, I am not that vain). I will have to rely on my eyes to determine in which way to proceed, but the eyes are easily tricked. I am guessing I am going to have some interesting times to say the least.

I am so anxious to get back to Japan it's not even funny. I had good times here in America meet some really cool people, but at the end of the day I am just not myself here. I feel like I have to adapt to the status quo somewhat. I still stand out like a sore thumb but I make some effort here, but in Japan I do what I want, when I want. No one criticizes me for how I look or what I like to do, they just step the fuck out of my way and let me be me. I find a lot of people I know in America can be real downers. I have never picked up on all the sarcasm that is going around, some of which is directed solely at me. 

Of course I need some examples of such sarcasm directed at me. I give my friend one of my old hoodies which he broke a few weeks earlier. Upon giving it to him he gives it to his girlfriend who is cold. She implies she wants it. Then the sarcasm ensues: "That is supposed to be a MAN'S hoodie". The implications are quite clear I don't have to really have to explain that one out. Of course there were other occasions of similar sarcasm from various people. Right about now I am feeling like I should have went to sleep hours ago haha. It's too late to sleep now, in fact it's too late for a lot of things like going to the doctor, the dentist, and optometrist. I kind of wish I went to at least the doctors office because I could have any number of parasites, diseases, and viruses. But I feel healthy, and I don't have any visible scars or blisters or anything like that so I will give myself a clean bill of health. 

The entire time I am writing this my mind is drifting towards what I will do in Japan. What adventures await me in my new city, will I meet a nice young lady? Will I go to any cool concerts? Will I discover some interesting new food? What will happen???

Guess I will have to wait and see. . .

Not only did I not go on a diet. . .

I tried to grow a beard. . .

So I was thinking I should have went on a diet, but instead I just ate a lot of sweets this weekend. So that diet went very well. But I did have another great weekend ^_^. 2009 has been one of the best years to date! I am actually living up to my New Years resolution, although I can't say I honestly remember what all my resolution entailed since I was pretty drunk when I made it, but I am living up to the parts I do remember quite nicely. The parts I do remember were being more "outgoing", as well to try and stop over analyzing things, and just let what happens, happen. At first I started off very reserved and I was thinking this year was going to be just like last year. 

Like when I was talking to Jazzy for those few weeks I was pretty reserved, and I was thinking oh great I am going to blow this. And guess what I did ^_^. I should have been bummed about it, but I wasn't! I tried it was good for awhile then it was all over, had to move on, no use dwelling on anything beyond my control. But I did learn a little bit from that situation, and what I learned was to just try my luck in situations more than I usually do. And since then I would say some great things have come about! I hope my good luck will continue when I go to Tokyo. 

In other news I tried to grow a beard but ended up giving up on the whole thing. Some things will never change (sigh). Maybe one day I will have that full beard I dream of.

Should I go on a diet!?!

Note: picture taken when I weighed 140 lbs.

So a lot has been going on since my last post not because I have been living some crazy acidic lifestyle, but rather because my last post was awhile ago. So on Thursday my bike was built up enough to ride so I went for a ride with a few friends both of which were exhausted to the point of throwing up, but I was just fine I might have been breathing slightly harder but I was completely fine. I want to say two factors caused my friends to be so out of breath A.) They were on freewheel bikes which are a bitch to ride (heavy, unresponsive, just all out crappy) and B.) One of my friends hadn't ridden a bike in awhile. Well going into Thursday night there was a cycling party most of the bikes were fixed gear bikes my friend was on his mountain bike so that is why I say "cycling" party instead of a fixed gear party plus there could have been a few a freewheels in there as well. I have NEVER seen soo many fixed gear bikes in one house it was lovely. And to make the night even better the keg was Bosco's beer I haven't mentioned this before but I absolutely loveeeee Bosco's beer you have to come down here to get it though since it's brewed in the restaurant/bar and it's super fresh and tasty! So the fact there was bikes and Bosco's overshadow the fact it was largely a sausage fest haha. But I mean I don't even know too many girls outside of Japanese girls who ride bikes so yea. 

Going into friday I was still partying pretty hard so hard in fact that I lost my phone. Then I kept on partying hard on saturday. So I am taking a hiatus for the rest of this month because I also got my credit card bill and I have been partying a bit to hard I spent like $400 or something going out eating and drinking. Yea it isn't pretty :(

So I have been trying to step up my workouts and get ready for my return to Japan! But I weighed myself yesterday after working out and the scale read 144 to my knowledge this is the heaviest I have ever been in my life (although when I was on that chocolate almond binge I could have weighed more). But then I also like to think I am in the best shape of my life so I am not sure if I should scale back on my eating or not. I mean it's not like I am sitting around eating cheeseburgers everyday. I eat healthy about 80% of the time I will eat the occasional muffin or cookie (hey I got a sweet tooth).  So I went here to calculate my Body Mass Index (BMI) and for my height (5'10") and my weight (144 lbs.) I came out with 20.7 . Average for that height and weight is 18.5 - 24.9 so I am average so that is good. But BMI isn't the best measurement of general health so I want to go to the doctor to get my Body fat percentage test, an STD test, and possibly find out my blood type (so I will know when asked this question in Japan). So what do you guys think should I go on a diet and work out more or am being obsessively healthy.