Let's Enjoy Looking At "ONLINE RAIBU JOURNARU"

...which is what makes the job seem so horrible.

I spent most of last Friday at another old folks' home. The visit was once again billed as a 'simple English conversation' class, but the old folks weren't having any of that, whoo boy. I later discover that only one or two of them even know how to say 'hello' or give their own name in English.

So what did I do since I wasn't teaching 'simple English conversation?' Well, I played Irish music. For a straight hour. And it was fabulous. Playing music is good for the soul. And these guys were into it like woah. Loads and loads of questions. It was great. There I was introducing a foreign culture to Japanese people - you know, doing my job.

Doing my job, incidentally, led to much hilarity (okay, you try explaining terms like 'air flow' and 'copper alloy' in a foreign language without prior preparation). One of the best things about the day was the woman in charge of the center, who was positively Western. By which I mean she was outgoing, confident, and had this big booming laugh that came out with great frequency, but never made you feel stupid. She was wonderful.

Lunch was served, and seeing as it was March 3rd, it was a special Girl's Day meal, complete with chirashizushi and this special jelly made from red wine. Center Lady was absolutely horrified at the thought of me sitting seiza, so she busted out a stool for me to sit on. Problem was, I was way too elevated about the table if I sat on the stool, so after she finished laughing she went and got a big tupperware box to put my food on.

The visit wrapped up, and the old people filed out. I stayed behind with the volunteers for cake and tea, and more discussion about What America is Like. They poured over my photo album and actually included me in all of their conversations, which was wonderful (and somewhat unusual for Japanese in groups). Then they gave me an absolutely gorgeous floral centerpiece and sent me on my way. Which is why I was so pissed to go waste my time at city hall later that day.

Yesterday was spent on top of a mountain, vastly correcting my horrendous snow boarding tecnique. I knew I should have got some decent instruction from the very beginning. 'Just figuring it out' is just another way to say 'creating and reinforcing a lot of bad mistakes' which I knew from the beginning. But still. If we get one more snowfall with some good powder, I think I'll actually be able to get down the slope with certified good tecnique.

That will be all.

Man, do I hate it when people aren't upfront about their intentions, or worse yet, use that as a tactic to try and pressure me into doing something they aren't brave enough to ask me to do straight up.

Take, for instance, the car. Its previous owner quoted me a price, which I agreed to without haggling. A month later after having the paperwork switched out of his name he sent an intermediary to tell me that he wanted me to refund the vehicle tax he'd paid on it seven months ago. After all, all Japanese do this.

I checked with my friends and my coworkers. No Japanese do this. He'd already been enjoying the benefits of the tax for over half a year, and I will have to pay the tax myself in six months. Thing is, if he had just added the amount of the tax to the price he quoted me, I'd have been none the wiser. Instead he tried to trick me (and later pressure me) into subsidising his vehicle. Unfortunately for him, my reaction was to seriously reconsider buying the car. Oops.

Then there was the snowboard wear. Its owner, who had newer cooler gear, loaned it to me in late November because he wasn't using it. All well and good. Fast forward to January, when he sendt an intermediary to tell me that he'd like me to give him an arbitrarily high amount of money for the gear, but it was totally cool if I didn't want to do that, too.

Thing is, if I do end up in Hawai'i next August, I won't need overly-expensive, ratty snowboard wear, and my plan was to return it anyway.

January headed into February, when the guy sent another intermediary to tell me he's sending friend to get it back from me since he's tired of waiting for me to pay for it. Right before the weekend, of course.

Only oops! My response was to go out and buy new, brandname wear for 1/4 the price that this guy wanted.

Thing is, I probably would have bought his set in November if he had just asked me then. But I really dislike it when people try to guilt/pressure me into doing something when for whatever reason they haven't just asked.

(>.<);;;

On a brighter note, my new stuff is cool. ( Moreover, it is awesomely DayGlo. )

That will be all.