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J O U R N A L
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Tuesday, June 29
[Days off]posted by peter at 00:42 .......As for central Yokohama, well I think I love it. The jellyfish in the water did kind of violate me though.
And I finally found the Yokohama Barneys New York store. But when did I find it? Oh, I noticed the sign just as I was sailing away on the ferry.
Never mind, now I can justify a special trip there.
There is a Nikko account here.
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[Tokyo]posted by peter at 09:59 .......A woman just got on the Ginza line with a basket full of kittens.
I'm on my way to Nikko.
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[Those days when you]posted by peter at 11:10 .......Two additional interesting intercultural experiences:
- We made a young boy start screaming just by existing in the same world as him. Seriously, he looked at us once and away he went, at the very top of his lungs.
- Brooke got her bum pinched by an awful and disgusting man on the train last night. It was one of those crowded situations where each person was in contact with five other people, and Mr Pervert thought he would seize the day. Brooke was not the only one he accosted, it seems.
We are going to Yokohama today.
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[Schedules]posted by peter at 16:19 .......Oh we are in Ginza, of course we are. Ignoring the fact that we are now perched in the Apple centre, it's all very wonderful and, oh, it's so Ginza. We just bought some very expensive iced drinks.
Absolutely must stop with the late nights though – 5am again last night which never bodes well for the following day.
Ginza is so beautiful. And soon, so soon, we are to stroll Omotesando and Harajuku, before perhaps popping up to Shinjuku for a spot of who knows what?
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[Hot]posted by peter at 22:10 .......I have just completed twelve continuous days of work, so it follows that I am physically and emotionally exhausted, despite the fact that two of them were merely part time.
Descriptive fragments like "out of one's mind" seem relevant at the moment.
Tonight the insects are cutting paths through the air, so it's lucky that this summer's motto is "curls are not the enemy". This land just seems a breeding ground for creatures, discomfort, fungal skin infections and heat exhaustion.
Three nights ago I went to bed after the sky turned light. The previous evening had brought sleep maybe an hour before the dawn. Not the best behaviour in the middle of a 12 day stint, but life simply must go on even when work does its very best to suck every last semblance of sentience from one's being.
I suppose one should not get too melodramatic.
[A week maybe two]posted by peter at 09:53 .......It's so wonderful having Brooke here (although she is in Osaka today).
But it's ridiculously hot. Why anyone would choose to live in this climate is beyond me.
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[The visitor]posted by peter at 19:34 .......Brooke is in Tokyo! In about 25 mins she will board the bus from Narita... I am so excited I could just die.
What am I to do with myself for the next two and a half hours?
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[Goal]posted by peter at 11:45 .......Walking the underground passageway between the Ginza line and the Marunouchi line, bound for Shinjuku, listening to Dolly Parton and knowing you've just sent home enough money to pay off your credit card debt.
Now THIS is living.
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[Kaemasu]posted by peter at 23:21 .......I realise change is what I'm after and I'll take it in any form. I no longer dread the departure of my closest friends (they are all leaving at the same time) because it will force new situations and widen my circles. And this is life so I refuse to let it get me down, much as I'm going to miss those fuckers, oh how I hate them for leaving.
But I love change. I've sought it subconsciously for the past few years – just never really named it, so to speak. Granted it leads to instability, but maybe I am at my happiest when governed by the least certainty. As Carly Simon said, these are the good old days.
Is this happiness?
[Hmmm... spooky]posted by peter at 01:32 .......Tonight was so damn cool and I can't even begin to describe why.
I really am starting to despair of learning Japanese though... why can't they just slow down when they speak to me????
And I am having hair issues but at least a student told me I display infectious happiness, although admittedly not in those exact words. Also, I am so completely horrified to see what my shoe purchase converted to in Australian dollars, but remember how many times we live, kids.
Finally, please feel free to visit me in Tokyo, anytime. And keep an eye out for them ghosts.
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[Before the stint]posted by peter at 20:31 .......Well, guess who's got the 7 month itch?
I lasted seven months in Melbourne, and tomorrow heralds the same anniversary here in Tokyo. It's not that I want to move (despite the very very tempting bright lights and rock tshirts of Osaka), but that I want something to happen. Genta and I were talking today and we both feel that something has to occur before we can move on.
Naturally neither of us knows what that actually is.
One thing's for certain: I have got to get out of this Gaijin House. I feel the Yamanote district calling me, and establishing a vegetarian enclave in central Tokyo might be just the thing that needs to happen. Despite the pretentiousness, despite the bad sunglasses, despite the bad hair, (I am referring to the hideously embarrassing bulk of the foreign community, and no I am not claiming to be perfect but at least I put in some effort) I need to move to central Tokyo.
If not that, then I don't know what. Because other countries are calling me. For some reason I am feeling compelled to travel to (and maybe set up home in) Shanghai. And as REM said, Hong Kong is present, Taipei wakes up, (talk of circadean rhythms etc.) and don't I know it because both of those cities lure me. And let's not overlook Prague, Berlin and New York.
Hardly life's most monumental decisions, but they are important to me.
In any case, I'll be in Tokyo for the forseeable future.
I wonder when my career will officially begin?
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I bought another shirt today; this one has a kind of gypsy/peasant neckline and a very wonderful faux-layered effect. I feel an outfit with the new shoes coming on.
I also visited A Bathing Ape and nearly dropped some serious cash/credit, but reason prevailed. An Hysteric Glamour tshirt also has my name right on it, hmm, not long to payday (nor Brooke's visit for that matter), and who knows what could become mine after that significant occasion?
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In fact, I am most aware of how much I love Tokyo when I realise that I could well be in a Banana Yoshimoto novel. I am thinking in particular of three absolutely fascinating women I have met:
#1: Recounted a ghost sighting without faltering. Apparently the spirit surrounded her and prevented her from speaking.
#2: With nary a blink, told me about her friend who sees dead people. Apparently this friend once went to a disused hospital and was possessed by a spirit which caused scarring to appear on his arms and bestowed incredible strength in his slender frame. About five people witnessed this. She said this guy has learnt to live with an everpresent spirit world.
#3: Told me she routinely sleeps for up to 48 hours without waking. Also says she has a persistent pain in her head.
These are the stories that keep me here. They gave me chills.
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And there's another typhoon coming. Fortunately or not, I am working for the next 12 days.
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[Kutsu]posted by peter at 12:39 .......Let's think about my new shoes. I was assured by the sales staff that they are vegan. They are a cross between Dutch clogs and cowboy boots. Maybe.
Black uppers. White sole with black stitching. Waterproof. A kind of tuft stitched on the toe. A bit pointy. Can be worn as either shoes or scuffs.
I am now on the train to work. How can I possibly teach 8 classes today? I'm going to have to talk about my shoes.
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[Shift swap day off]posted by peter at 21:32 .......Completely fabulous day with Otis and David in Tokyo, including the requisite vegetarian cafe experience, stacks of shop browsing (maybe I do need those shoes), a visit from Genta and an exhausting hike to Daikanyama. Later I met Makiko for coffee, after which we got crushed on the train much like garlic does in a garlic press. Awful.
It was so hot too; I spent the bulk of the day sweating unattractively in the thick air. I think it's white or black shirts only in this sort of climate. My anti-spending resolve held pretty strong, and I have neither shoes nor tshirts despite the multitude on offer, but nevertheless I have to reconfigure this week's budget so as to survive until payday.
But that sort of talk is dull. I am hungry and will now make dinner!
Actually I live in Tokyo.
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[If I]posted by peter at 19:27 .......I'm trying as hard as possible to avoid doing the "actually I live in Tokyo" thing whenever I meet other travellers and the like. But it's hard, especially when obvious tourists start random conversations and start pointing out things about Japan and whatever. I'm on a bit of an anti-pretentious drive at the moment, and the "actually I live in Tokyo" thing must be cut from my phrase stock. (Especially when I in fact live in Yokohama. At least there's always my mobile phone to subtly illustrate the fact that I am a resident.)
I'm worried about what I'm going to be like when I visit Australia. (A hideous story in itself; I am currently stuck with a very expensive return ticket that I have to either use or write off because it doesn't fit my time frame, and I can't decide what to do, so a brief holiday may or may not be in order but then how the hell am I going to afford New York??) I can just see myself swanning into shops, casting supercillious sneers over everything and then gliding out with an "actually I live in Tokyo" trailing in the breeze.
Would you like fries with that? Actually I live in Tokyo.
This must never happen. NEVER.
There's a whole heap of Kyoto/Osaka information here. I'm having weird ideas about moving that way in the not too distant future.
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[in Kansai]posted by peter at 21:59 .......2nd try after initial email failure. Ignore present tense.
As expected, Osaka was truly superb, but I am in Kyoto now, about to drink hot chocolate made from sacred water.
We are staying at a wonderful old guesthouse in Gion, with all of the traditional trappings but none of the cultural hassle (ie. formality).
We just got accosted by a bunch of school children and their enthusiastic teachers. Oh the fame of a native English speaker - we autographed countless workbooks.
Anyway, my drink has arrived and typing on a phone is dull endeavour on a day like this!
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[Cool change]posted by peter at 23:21 .......I am so excited about going to Osaka tomorrow. Everyone always points out the supposedly vast differences between Tokyo and Osaka, so it is going to be really fun sorting out the fact from the fiction. Kobe, Himeji and Kyoto also beckon (indeed I am staying in the latter city), but I have neither concrete plans nor bucketloads of time so it is going to be an interesting trip.
I plan to leave at about 6am tomorrow, although that may be a bit ambitious. Not that there's any problem getting up at that time – it gets light at about 4am – I keep waking up to find that I am only halfway through my intended night's sleep even though it is more or less broad daylight outside.
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The more I teach children the more I realise that I must never have any of my own. They make me sick. Yesterday I had to teach this disgusting little creature who decided to martyr himself in front of me. Before the lesson had even commenced he was on the verge of tears (his mother's ineffectual pleading did little to quell this state), but I sort of cheered him up with the promise of English fun. However, halfway through the lesson he started acting up and grabbing things from the basket of resources and behaving in a rude and unpleasant manner, so I fixed him with the harshest glare I could muster. He then played the martyr and leant against the wall with a pained and distressed expression on his face, responding to neither my own suggestions (of writing numbers on a paper jet) nor his mother's ineffectual pleading. So I just ignored him. I am not interesting in indulging martyrdom without damn good cause.
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People keep telling me that I look tired.
[Cell]posted by peter at 01:42 .......This is my first attempt at posting from my mobile phone. Hopefully it won't result in corrupted HTML or invalid characters. I can't imagine there'll be a problem.
Away from webgeekiness, I missed my last train a short time ago because I wanted to finish watching The Ring, so I am therefore spending the night at Hello House.
It's always nice to sleep in day-old clothes.
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