Not So Flashy
The Western World has called away another friend. Christopher Barzak is en-route to America, to Ohio, his home state. I was lucky to call Chris my friend these past months; he is an enigmatic old soul, an eclectic talent, and a great time. I hope to be able to diligently follow his (now published) literary career and witness his further successes.This is my goodbye. Sayonara Chris! I was supposed to have attended his Going-Away-Karaoke-Bonanza on Friday, but found myself with a bad cold. I opted for rest that night, instead of a potential 8-hour karaoke-athon.
Saturday I cleaned my apartment (fun!) and watched three back-to-back episodes of Sex And The City with Trex. We also planned a Games Night for that evening. Riccardo came by after his softball tournament, war-wounds in tow. He is apparently a "National Hero" now for sliding into base (in shorts!) and bringing several players home to win the game. Too bad there is no skin left on his leg and he won't walk properly for a month! Boys!
Billy Chan, a fellow British Columbian (Vancouverite) and a friend from Utsunomiya came down Saturday night. The four of us were joined by Daichi for a BBQ dinner. Trex gave us all a scare with her (in)ability to "MAN" the grill, but dinner turned out fabulously (I contributed Greek Salad). Of course the BBQ experience was frequently punctuated by such phrases as:
"Look at me, I'm MANNING!"
Drew and Jen joined us after dinner and a debate ensued about which card game to play. Somehow we ended up with UNO. UNO!?!? Because I don't already play it 95128346 times per week with my students!! Worse, this time I was not playing with six-year-olds, and as such could not cheat my way to victory. Grrrrr.
Sunday Trex and I drove to Tomobe for the first staff meeting of our teaching careers. The meeting was held at the EAC Juku (like after-school classroom headquarters) and lasted about two hours. We discussed teaching methods and brainstormed ideas, made changes to the curriculum, and learned a new English program that we will be implementing come May. Afterward, our bosses, Cynthia and Hiro, treated us to dinner at a swanky French restaurant in Kasama. The four-course meal, plus two varieties of bread was delicious (espeically the dessert; the French definitely do that right!) but work social events are decidedly not the same without Angie, Brad and Neil.
As for my week, it seems quite light. I am still at half-workload, and we are all eagerly awaiting Golden Week, next week. Golden Week is the most celebrated Japanese National Holiday. Actually, it's not quite a week, only three days, but there are many plans in the works for our five-day break (with the weekend); perhaps including, but not limited to, getting my hair done in Tokyo (I found a stylist with 12 years experience cutting hair in New Zealand; his clientel is more than 75% gaijin). Fingers crossed that I can get an appointment.
Until next time...
I'm sorry you couldn't make it to karaoke too, Crystal! But I hope you're over your cold now, and besides, I'm sure we will run into each other again one day. The world is smaller and smaller, after all, and one day we will all be karaokeing again in a box somewhere, Japan, Canada or America, once America and Canada wise up and popularize the karaoke box too!