Journal 6 - Ichi, Ni, Sen ... Konpai .... Ichi, Ni, Sen ... Konpai ... Ichi, Ni, Sen ... Earthquake?

Ichi, Ni, Sen ... Konpai .... Ichi, Ni, Sen ... Konpai ... Ichi, Ni, Sen ... Earthquake?

Hello all, hope all is well ... geesh, I'm a few days late and I get the concerned emails ... very understandable though and thank you to those who have expressed their concerns. I'm thinking of re-making the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and calling it "Three Typhoons and an Earthquake" ... What does everyone think? OK, first of all the earthquake was nowhere near where I'm living now, so that is good news. However, on Saturday night I was teaching my class and it felt like there was a huge semi-truck driving by. When I realized that it was impossible for a truck that big to go by, I figured it was a small earth tremor. Little did I know that that was the result of a huge one in the Niigata prefecture, which is about 300 km north of where I am. I actually felt 2 tremors that day, but the odd thing was, my co-workers only felt it once. I guess it depends where you are or if you're standing or sitting. Now, I guess yesterday the same prefecture experienced another huge earthquake, almost the same as the one on Saturday. I didn't feel that one at all. All I can say is, my heart goes out to all the people who suffered in that area. I heard that was the biggest one in about 9 years.

So, I am still alive and kicking ... except, well ... I noticed a few weeks ago, especially on the colder nights that everytime I was walking home, there was some kind of presence, like someone was following me, creeping up closer and closer. I ignored it at first, but then realized that this was becoming a concern. It only seemed to be the cooler nights and since it's been getting cooler more and more lately, it became even more of a concern. I tried dodging him by taking different routes, sometimes running home or walking fast, but each day seemed worse then others. I even had nights where I thought I managed to lose him. But, then finally one night, when I least expected it, my feeling became reality ... he managed to catch up to me and eventually caught me ... yes, that damn "cold" got the better of me. So, I've spent the last 2 days sneezing and sniffing, feeling miserable. That's actually why I'm late with this email. Oh, by the way, thought I'd give you a little bit of a Halloween thrill for ya ... were you scared?

Anyway, so because I wasn't feeling that great, I really didn't do that much in terms of site seeing. However, saturday night I did end up going out with another teacher and 4 other Japanese people, not students, just people this other teacher met a few months ago. I ended up going to a Japanese pub, which isn't really that much different from an ordinary pub only you're sitting on the floor and your shoes are off. There was a lot of "Konpai" happening which is Japanese for cheers. It was fun spending the evening with these people even though the language barrier was an issue ... of course after a few Konpai's, we all understood each other. We actually ended up going until the wee hours of the night, 4:30 to be exact. I pretty much had no choice because all the trains stop at midnight. So, I waited until the first one in the morning which was about 5:00 ... Yes, Sunday was pretty much a write off. But, I had fun, drinking with the Japanese locals, going out for more Karaoke, playing darts. Oh and for those of you who were concerened about my cold ... remember, the doctors say drink lots of liquids.

So, that's my story for this week. This weekend will be a Halloween party as well as a welcome party for me. So, that should be interesting. Hopefully there will be a good turn out. Japan does not celebrate Halloween except when it comes to partying (any excuse to party). Halloween was introduced maybe about 10 years ago. The children do not go out Trick-Or-Treating. In fact, the kids I teach have never even said it until I taught it to them last week. I think now, they're expecting me to make them say it every week ... any excuse to get candy, little monsters.

K, so I'm going to close now ... it's Thursday 10:30 am and I have to get ready for work soon. I hope all is well with everyone. Thank you again for your emails and again, I'm trying to get back to you all, but ... internet cafe. Need I say more? There's one thing I've learned here is patience ... I'm being very patient waiting for my internet at home to be set-up. Hopefully, very soon.

Take care,
Joe