Fall Colors

I keep trying to post things and my internet is always too slow to upload pictures and save them.

Damn you, NTT West! (If the internet now fails completely, we'll know I have some readers in Japan, and that they're English is better than they let on!)

Anyway, some pretty fall colors:

And then it posts them in the wrong place! Oh well.

Thanksgiving

Happy dia de ありがとうございます!

I had a taiko performance this morning:

And I made almost no mistakes (even in my duet!)

Then I ran around looking at all the stuff for sale at the rest of the festival. My fifth graders were selling rice and something made from rice, so I bought them both, although I gave the thing made from rice away to a friend.

They also sold huge radishes. I didn't buy any because I don't 

know how to cook them. Or most things...

There were some activities. The brass band club played some ditties. And there was arm wrestling. 

They're Japanese. What'd you expect?

After that I cleaned my house like my life depended on it. The thing is, I thought a friend was coming over for coffee - but she thought she was coming over to pick me up and take me back to her house which is warmer, has a bigger television, a real piano, and a cat. So we did that instead. 

Then I went to lunch at a french restaurant with a friend - half a chicken, apparently, fried and covered with a mayonnaise sauce, green things, and sweet peppers (also a side of rice, some sort of cream soup, and coffee, but this is only the chicken):

It was tre tre tasty.

I played the piano at my friend's house for an hour or so and her cat ran away from me. 

Now I'm drinking the only beer suitable for Enchanted. 

More on that at sipsandflicks.blogspot.com

Happy thanksgiving, ya'll!

13 Degrees and Falling Fast!

Last night I dreamed that it had started snowing.

It doesn't snow here, except once in a great long while. It is also still 13 degrees Celsius  so it's not really THAT cold. But it feels like it's freezing. My coworker has already started to complain about his wife's shopping list:

1 electric blanket
1 heavy down comforter
1 pair of woolen slippers
1 new fireplace
1 better-insulated apartment

I have a cheaper solution: wine.

But seriously, my bed is also being piled with numerous warming apparatus. I have two comforters, an extra little blanket for my feet, my winter coat spread out over my feet, and my sweatshirt spread out over my legs. (I do have a third comforter and an electric blanket in the closet, but I refuse to break them out before we hit the 10 degrees mark. One must have some way of marking boundaries.)

It's the kind of cold you can feel on your face when you wake up in the middle of the night to use the loo. The kind of cold that hits your legs and wraps around them like river water. The kind of cold that makes your students bring blankets to school to wrap around themselves as they sit in class in their skirt uniforms. It's winter in the world of no-insulation buildings.

Technically, it's still fall. (Autumn)

Today I'm heading into the city for some winter supplies. Chocolate, cheese, wine, whiskey, oatmeal, and new work pants. Mine are summer trousers, light-weight linen and cotton affairs. I aim to get me some lined woolen slacks. Maybe warm-tech from Uniqlo will actually be warm this year instead of just warm-sounding like last year.

And until then, there is always onsen.

Things I Learned from the Avengers

I only recently saw Marvel's (Disney's?) the Avengers, directed by the murderous Joss Whedon. Seriously, Agent Coulson? Really? REALLY?

I know I'm a bit out of the entertainment loop, but I've been busy and I live in the middle of nowhere. And movies in Japan are expensive. It costs about 17 US dollars to go to a flick at the mall. The little theatre in the forrest in Yasuda is probably cheaper, but I worry a bit that it might not be playing English films, which would be okay if difficult, and more that I might get murdered on my way back through the jungle after the picture, which would not be okay.

Anyhoo, so I rented the Avengers and spent all of my daikyuu time watching Mark Ruffalo apologize for being emotionally unavailable and listening to the cheesiest dialogue I've heard since Adam West commended the dolphin who gallantly sacrificed itself in front of that torpedo so Batman and Robin could save the world from the Yellow Submarine (or however that one went - Pow! Bam!).

Nay! That was not a slam against the comic cohort of assembled avengers! That was just the third paragraph. I really liked the movie and thought the dialogue was a compilation of all the things you wished they would say, especially Tony Stark's conversation pieces, but that usually get left out of movies. Like all the actors knew they had to take it seriously, but not too seriously or they might not be able to face themselves in the mirror when it was all over.

I'm trying to figure out a way to work the movie into my sixth-grade class. They'd love it and it would make English MUCH more applicable to them.

So a list of things I've learned:

Do all your banking online. Never go to the bank. Ever. Captain America can’t always be there to save your ass when you’re cashing your pension check. (And if you happen to live in Gotham, just never leave your house. Unless you’re moving.)  

As long as we're on that one, just don't ever live in New York City. Yeah, it sounds romantic and wonderful, but let's face it. It's always the first to go, whether from the bad guys (see ID4, King Kong, etc...) or from friendly fire (see Failsafe).

Learn English. Because that’s the only language in which your alien attackers will bother to speak to you no matter what country you inhabit. They will assume you know it and will get irrationally pissed if you don't instantly kneel when they demand this of you. 

Get a headset and NEVER be without it. Girls, we’re lucky, most of us can hide it in our hair. Boys, go get yourselves helmets or super-hero masks, while you’re out there getting the headset. Nobody wants to be the last to the alien-destroying party and there is simply NO TIME to speed-dial your cell.

If you happen to prefer distance-killing (as opposed to hand-to-hand combat) figure out life’s cheat code for arrows and bullets. Legolas isn’t the only one who never runs out. Hawkeye obviously googled that one before he went to work for S.H.I.E.L.D and where Agent Romanov stores the extra cartridges on that uniform, well, I’m too much of a lady to ask, but as a lady, I have some ideas.

If you happen to be human and you have access to a super-suit, make sure all the other parts of your domicile are easily breakable and non-body-damaging. Because when the evil demi-god from planet F-ing Nowhere throws you headfirst through your plate-glass windows, you are going to get your face cut off, unless it’s that candy-glass they use for stunts in Hollywood. Especially if the super-suit launch is a tad delayed. Thanks, Jarvis.

Always carry a knife and don’t go out without your cover. Okay, I learned those from Gibbs, but they're totally applicable here.

Learn to fly a jet. If you don’t have access to a jet, just learn to fly a regular non-commercial aircraft of any form. This will allow you to fly top-secret-state-of-the-art-paid-for-by-your-tax-dollars military grade aircraft. You bought it and if you break it, hey! Uncle Sam will buy you another. 

If you're looking for trouble, you might try Budapest or Marrakech. Because that is where all the fun stuff happens.   

And if you absolutely must live in NYC or any of those other cities constantly besieged by alien forces, get to the gym but quick! Being ripped will be the single defining factor in whether you survive the fallout or get shredded like cheddar cheese over a taco in the next war of the worlds. Don't worry so much about your lower body, if you're a gentleman. The super-hero physique is an upside down triangle for men. Focus on your biceps and pecs; this was the only movie I've ever seen in which almost every male character had boobs as big as the female characters' (boobs). 

I watched the damn thing about five times today. Itunes really messes with you over this whole 24-hour expiration thing. That should be my super-power, actually. The ability to magically keep rented movies in my itunes library forever for the price of the rented picture. Will ask Mr. Stark about it...

The Werewolf's Tale

My eikaiwa students' homework assignment last week, in honor of Halloween, a holiday I truly abhor, was to compose a story about a typical Halloween-ish character. Various tales included witches, goblins, black cats, and one last-minute made-up-on-the-spur-of-the-moment plain pumpkin.

The following is my story.

All rights reserved.

The Werewolf's Tale

My name is _____ and I am a recovering smoker. And meat-eater. And part-time alcoholic. 

And werewolf.

Nobody really understands me, except you guys, of course. People complain about the moon affecting their friends’ attitudes (especially, *cough*, the ladies), but honestly, they just have no idea how much havoc it can cause in your life when one minute you’re a peaceable accountant working in a bank in the beautiful lower foothills of the Transylvania Mountain Range and next thing you know – BAM! it’s a few minutes after sundown, and you’ve become a slavering mindless killing machine who fails to differentiate between a sheep and your best friend. Ex-best friend.

(Note to Vlad’s mum: I’m so sorry, Mrs. Domburgr. I wish I knew where I hid the body…)

Where did I go wrong? Sigh. I know admitting I have a problem is the first step to recovery. I keep a diary to help me be accountable for my actions. I’ll read you a recent extract. I’m so grateful to have found a group that doesn’t judge me. You all are so supportive and I will absolutely speak loudly and clearly so you can hear me from all the way over there on the other side of the room.

Tuesday

06.30. I wake up and have a nutritious breakfast of oats and fruit (I don’t eat meat. I’m working up to going Vegan; baby steps), shower, shave (a time-consuming endeavor), and suit-up to start my day as an income-earning, tax-paying, all-around-contributing member of society.

8.00. I’m almost always the first one in at the office, which gives me a chance to tidy up my cubicle before getting down to the exciting experience of following the Transylvania Stock Market. Yen, Dollars, Yuan, Rubles, and Pounds all get weighed against our common currency, pure silver. Some of it is made into coins, some into bullets, but I don’t take offense. I just work my mental abacus (I can add three figured numbers in my head without notes), check the market value, and help keep my nation in the black. It's a grueling job, but I find it to be very rewarding.

10.30 or thereabouts, I excuse myself for a little coffee break. I don’t smoke anymore, but I still make sure to take my every-two-hour-ten minutes. The union insists. I take my coffee with milk only, since I’ve also recently cut processed sugar out of my diet (once I go vegan, I think the milk will go, too; it's a sacrifice, but the right one). All this clean living makes my lungs feel lighter, my eyes feel brighter, my claws seem sharpe- my nails grow more quickly. (Must really say damn! Deep breath. Keep it together.)

13.00. I hold down the fort during the lunch hour and head out when the rest of the office comes back from lunch. I admit, I make them a little anxious, what with all my overly-cautious questioning of the waiters at the local Hoffbrau as to whether or not they use organic wheat in their basil, tomato, and mozzarella ciabatta paninis. But hey – I’m committed to my lifestyle. All the coworkers shifting uncomfortably around the pub table, they can just untwist their knickers and get on with their lives. I don’t judge them when they order fatty sausage links and support their alcoholism with their lunchtime pints, although now and then I drop a kind and subtle reminder that their cholesterol levels are skyrocketing, but that's the kind of friend I am. I care too much about other people’s health.

16.00. I'm trying to limit my caffeine intake, so during my ten-minute break in the afternoon, instead of popping into the nearby café for an espresso and biscotti, I go for a quick sprint around the building. Take off the loafers, put on the trainers and away we go. It shocks a lot of people, I know. They think I live my life chained to a regime that keeps me repressed and discouraged, obsessed with milestones and benchmarks. Haters gonna hate, so I just remind myself that I’m the one who’s living free. They’re the ones suffering under their couch-potato lifestyles. I’m going to have to go quickly, though. The winter sun is fading and it’s getting dark outside.

Wednesday

04.00. I am just exhausted. And covered in blood. Mine? No, not mine. Too full of iron – a meat eater. Well, shit. (Note to self - no need to swear. We can control that impulse.) Did I forget something? I vaguely recall chasing something down the street when I’m pretty sure I should have been returning to the office. Crap. (That’s better.) What was I chasing? Another jogging enthusiast? Hm, I think not. The dim ringing of terrified screams in my subconscious sounds slightly familiar. Well, let’s look. Remaining evidence: fancy watch, leather shoes, little arch support (definitely not a jogger), a cell-phone? Last call – 090-5438-9… That’s my number. Checking my phone. Vlad called me; my best friend since University, yikes.  

04.30. I never remember everything that happens during those moments. It’s like being extremely drunk (not that I would know) or high (I read that in a book), or maybe in the hospital after being hit by a car (three years ago –chased down on the Transylvania-Transnational Expressway; apparently I was after a bus of orphans returning from a school trip to an observatory). All I can say is I’m sorry, Vlad. Sorry you didn’t know better than to run like hell (must really work on not swearing) in the opposite direction when you saw that moon come up. That’s enough introspection for today. Will share thoughts with support group tomorrow. Must go to bed soon. Up again tomorrow at 06.30, with bright new attitude and resolve as we’ll have to start the vegetarian thing over from the beginning.

The End

 2012 M P Farray

A Splash of Autumn

Went up to Monet Garden today. I've now been here in Fall, Winter, and Spring. I haven't made it during the summer. It's just too darn hot.