Still Wondering When I Work I Bet...

Sunday, I got home after 11 a.m. and it was my intention to take a nap, get dressed, and be back in the city for a dinner date at 6 with Maggie and Yolaine (who’s leaving this year). Well, when I walked into my apartment, a STANK like no other nearly knocked me over!!! “What in the world??? If there is a dead animal in my apartment, I’m moving out today!” is what kept going through my mind as I search around for the source of the STANK. I checked the shower room because the window stays open to let out the moisture and it’s quite possible that something had come into the window and died under the tub. I know it’s gross but it’s possible. No dice. Poured bleach down the drain in the kitchen. No dice. I even checked in the toilet room…hey, you never know. No dice. Then, I saw a white for out of the corner of my eye that I didn’t remember being there before. It was a bag on the shelf next to the fridge. Remember that chicken and shrimp that I bought Saturday for kabobs…yep! Well, it was gray and you could see the wavy stink lines rising off the meat inside!!! I had to tie it up in 3 bags before I couldn’t smell it anymore. I would have put it in the freezer until trash day (today), but I have shoeboxes bigger than my freezer…which is how I left the meat out in the first place. I had planned to put it into small zip lock bags so that I could put them in the freezer, but somewhere in my grogginess, I had forgotten. That evening, we ate at a really good Indian restaurant in the city. I can honestly say that I have yet to have Indian food here that isn’t amazingly delicious! Italian is another story…as much as I love them both, seaweed and egg DOES NOT GO ON EVERYTHING!

Monday, I was right back in the city for a meeting. After the meeting, 8 of us headed to a great Sri Lankan restaurant. I can’t recall the last time that I ate anything that HOT…but it was SOOOOOO GOOD! They didn’t have lassi so we had to order milk to go in our tea and they brought out one lil coffee creamer! WHAT! Did they not realize that the point was to put out the fire?! Surprisingly enough, it did the trick. I took a Zantac and enjoyed. We did get yogurt sorbet (if that makes sense, it wasn’t really ice cream) and it made a world of difference. With the feeling returned back to our mouths, we headed back to work…for a whole 45 minutes. Yes, people abuse the system outside of the US…hehehe.

After "work", I was home long enough to drop off my computer, change shoes, and grab a bag that I had packed because the woman I’d hung out with in Tokyo and I were going to the ballet back in the city. I changed in the train station bathroom, put my stuff in a locker, and sachéd off to the concert hall with my tiny dress and big ol’ fro! I wore a little black dress that belonged to my late aunt who lived in NY and spared no expense on her wardrobe…and I felt like a star. All the stares and smiles didn’t help because by the time we got the place my head was bigger than my fro…hehehe. I was brought back down to the earth by the mosquitoes the decided that my calves were their dinner.

Have you heard of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo? Well, it’s a ballet company, all the dancers are men who (when dressed as females dancers) dance in pointe shoes! This may be hard to believe, but they were better than any female ballerinas that I’ve ever seen! Their technique was AMAZING! They did their own comical renditions of famous classical and modern ballets like Tchaikovsky's "Swan lake", Leonide Massine's "Gaité Parisenne", Balanchine's "Middle-Blue-Verging-On-Black-and-White Period", etc. It was so good. After the first curtain call, they did a Mexican inspired dance…Hilarious! Then, when we thought they were done, they came back out and did a traditional Japanese dance (that I had actually learned in Atlanta at the Japanese speech contest I did in college). It was too cute and a few of them were jazzing it up, adding a little extra booty and shoulders). I wonder what they do when they visit other countries. We were laughing at he thought of what they might do in Jamaica. No cameras were allowed inside, or during the autograph signing. Pictures of the signing magically appeared on my memory card though. That's the face of Chase Johnsey (from Florida) on the left and Or Sagi (from Israel) on the right. We were able to take pictures in front of the sign near the entrance though. We had planned to go out for Thai food after the show, but it finished later than we thought and I had to be on a bus at 6:30 this morning. So, we stopped to pick up a bubble tea and rushed to our respective trains.

Wondering When I Work, Huh?

The past few weeks have been full of food, fun, and my favorite…TRAVEL! Saturday before last, 29 of us packed into vans and cars to head down to Kumamoto. Kumamoto is the prefecture south of Fukuoka. One of the guys who lives in my building organized the trip and rented 3 cabins near the beach. When we got there on Saturday afternoon, the cabins weren’t ready so we made a makeshift wall of people and towels, changed into our swimwear, and headed to the beach. It was by the grace of God that the weather held up because thunderstorms were in the forecast for whole week (it’s rainy season here now by the way). The sky was overcast but it was hot and the sun would break through every now and then. After a short game of touch football, most of us made our way to the murkier-than-I-deem-acceptable water. Things were cool until the creatures started popping up everywhere. The first thing we say was a…um…well, we couldn’t figure out if it was a plant or an animal. The second thing was definitely and animal, but once again unidentifiable. Then there was the tiny starfish, tiny octopus, the weird bugs, and the jellyfish. The jellyfish was the icing on the cake that solidified my decision to stay out of the water. I can’t say that I’m too fond of being stung by jellyfish. That evening, the grills were fired up and the fun began. The Hawaiians pulled out the ukuleles and guitars and sang the night away while the Japanese ladies were inside cooking their hearts out. They even had breakfast ready when we woke up…AMAZING!




Monday, I was off to Tokyo for meetings (see previous post). Friday, I went to the next city for a Model United Nations party...SUCH A CUTE IDEA. Everyone was supposed to dress up to represent a country. Of course France is the easiest...a striped shirt, scarf, and beret...and I figured someone else would be France. I couldn't think of what country to be so I decided to be the United Nations (building). The costume went a little something like this...

Blue hat...be cause UN folks wear blue hats/helmets

UN Flag...I printed it and made a flower to stick on my hat

Black shirt and pants...it's a plain dark building

Mirrors...the windows are reflective look like this...I wrote "THE UNITED NATIONS of Benetton" and "NO I'M NOT FRANCE" on the mirrors so that people would not be confused

Flags at my feet...there are flags at the base of the UN building...I chose flags that are meaningful to me (S. Korea, Nevis, St. Thomas, Japan, Senegal, Germany).

I felt terrible Saturday, so I stayed in bed until 4. I recently bought a grill, so I got up and went to the store for some chicken, shrimp, and charcoal. The plan was to make some kabobs, but I needed to get ready for the “Prom” that was to begin at 8ish. So, I settled for some bratwursts and corn instead, and invited one of m coworkers over to help me eat it. After late lunch/early dinner, we ladies donned our prom dresses, put our cute shoes in our baskets, and biked to the station in hopes that it would not rain! The prom was nice. The theme was Disco Royale (Studio 54 meets James Bond I guess) and I thought that people would show up half steppin’ but everyone looked really nice. Only a handful of people dressed for the theme, me being one of them. It ended at 10ish, so everyone headed to their respective after party destinations. Most folks went to a bar that is owned by a former teacher from my program, but bars aren’t my scene. So, 4 of us headed over to a salsa club…no I didn’t suggest it! We had a really good time and the other 3 were dancing which made for a good time. When the crown died down, we all headed to the salsa place that I had been to once when I first got here. Everybody from the first place had migrated there. I don’t know if any of you remember me mentioning being asked to dance as part of a group by an instructor. Well, she was there and soooo happy to see me again. That place closed at 4 so the remaining two of us headed over to the Internet café to take a nap and wait for the trains to start running again.

In Tokyo instead of at school...YAY!

Monday and Tuesday, I was in Tokyo for a meeting because I’ll be doing a workshop for the new teachers coming in early August. I’ll be presenting on life in Japan as a person of African descent. There are a total of 6 of us giving the presentation at the two orientations. I showed up as instructed with my outline ready to discuss. How about the 5 other folks came empty handed and designated me at the note taker. The fact that we had to turn in an outline is the only thing that kept me from saying, “Are you crazy? Take your own notes losers!” So I begrudgingly took notes and looked at them all like they were crazy during the meeting. When asked if I was alright, I replied, “Yes, just waiting for y’all to get to the point.” After our meeting on Monday, a group of us met with the woman who has been over the African Descent special interest group for the program. My intention was to get a list of resources within the country from her but it turned into a casual dinner/regular night out…which I didn’t mind. We ate Mexican food at a restaurant not too far from out hotel…the luxurious KEIO Plaza hotel in Shinjuku…they really know how to put us up!!! Too bad that money doesn’t go into new teacher housing in my prefecture! Anyway, after dinner a woman from Jamaica and I headed out to Roppongi looking for loud music on a Monday night. We got loud music but that’s about it. After scouring the streets for a place where the music was consistently half-decent, we finally ended up in a near empty salsa club/restaurant called Copacabana. There was a kinda-old-looking-relatively-youngish white lady there dancing like it was Spring Break Miami with an OLD Japanese man who looked like he didn’t know what to do…so I danced one song with the cook who was obviously doing nothing because he was standing around bobbing his head and there was no one there anyway. We got back to the hotel a little after 12.

Tuesday, after the meeting that ended at 12, a group of us headed over to Sizzler for lunch. When you hear Sizzler, what do you think of? A greasy buffet line with out of control kids eating directly from the dessert bar or an almost upscale dining establishment with impeccable service and an amazing salad/soup/desert bar? Well, I’m glad to inform you that it was the later. The place was NICE and the food was GOOD! A couple weeks ago, I made an appointment and a spa that has a staff who are knowledgeable about Black people…it’s the only one that seems to exist in the whole country and they are booked solid for months from now. So, I was lucky to even get an appointment when I did. The woman I had gone out with Monday (see me trying to stop refereeing to people my age as “boys” and “girls”) needed her hair trimmed and one of the stylists there said she could fit her in real quick out of the kindness of her heart at the same time as my appointment, which was for 3 pm. Well, as we were leaving the restaurant at about 1:30, she got a phone call from one of her friends in town who she had made lunch plans with but forgot about. So she went to meet him in front of the hotel. She calls me at about 1:45 and says, “Come on, I’ve got someone to drive us to the spa.” So, I made my merry little way back over to the hotel. She asked him how long it would take to get there and he said about 40 minutes so we hop in the car thinking we’re going to the spa. 2:45 rolls around and we’re in Saitama, a suburb of Tokyo. So, I politely remind her that I have somewhere to be at 3. This fool was taking us to his house to eat!!! At that point, I was mad and ready to get out and take the subway back into town. At 3, I called the spa to tell them that we were in traffic and we would be about 15 minutes late. Well, we get about a block from the spa at like 3:35 so I called the spa back to tell them that we’re coming and they tell me, “I’m sorry but we can not take you today.” I WAS HEATED!!! But you know what? Lesson learned...You'd think that by now I would know not to accept rides from strangers...even if it's a friend of a friend when you have an agenda of your own...

Have you ever seen the show Dirty Jobs? Well, students here have the opportunity to go to different companies around the city to experience working for a day. Now I thought they would be going to administrative type places. One of the teachers had to around to check on them, take pictures, and talk to the workers. He invited me to go so I tagged along. It was so interesting. First, we stopped at the shop that the teachers’ lunches come from. We all know that the best tasting food comes from the most questionable places and there was no exception here. The inspector in me (my mother) was like “Uh Uh!” looking around the overcrowded greasy little kitchen. Our next stop was a water sanitation company. When we got there, the students were already out with the workers to do a job. So, we drove to an apartment complex where they were learning about how the wastewater is treated before it goes into some river somewhere. All this made me wonder where the water in my apartment goes and comes from. Since turning on the faucet expecting clear water and getting otherwise, I’ve only been drinking bottled water and the water that I use to make other things with is always boiled first. I only shower, wash dishes, and do laundry in the tap water.

While leaving, the teacher said that we were going to a pet shop next. What do you think of when you hear “pet shop?” Animals in cages? Staff in khakis and polos? Well, I was mistaken. When we entered the “pet shop,” there were two dogs in kennels at the front. The smell of wet dog was almost unbearable until I switched on the shallow breathing. Beyond the two dogs, there was a bunch of students surrounding a table under what appeared to be big hand-held hair dryers on stands. There were two pairs of furry gray and white legs on either side of one of the students. I had never thought about it before, and perhaps I’m being a drama queen, but the sight of a sleeping dog on a table being worked on by 6 people kinda made me sad. Did anyone else know that dogs are sedated before they’re groomed? Then, they turned on the dryers. I wanted to run out of the tiny shop. Between the wafting of warm wet dog smell and the fur flying everywhere, I almost lost it thinking of fleas doing summersaults through the air, screaming, “WEEEEE!” Okay, so, at that point I was indeed being a drama queen…but still! So, I backed up to the door a bit to look at the two other dogs. THEY WERE ASLEEP! I felt like I was witnessing some evil ritual or something. Thinking about it now makes me itch!

Lastly, we went to a facility that packed trash to be recycled. There were massive piles of newspapers, boxes, wood scraps, furniture, bedding, etc. I can see why little boys want to drive Tonka trucks when they grow up. Watching the trucks picking up stuff, carrying it away, and dumping it was really fascinating because the equipment moved so gracefully. The two students there were opening batches of today’s newspapers. So, the newspapers are distributed at like 6 a.m. and by noon the unused ones are already on their way to being recycled.

On the way back to school, I talked about how awful our apartments are and the whole asbestos thing…by the way, using asbestos is not illegal in Japan. I asked about the teachers’ apartments in that city so the teacher drove past them so I could see. Upon seeing the building, I expected to be stopped at a checkpoint so that roaches and rats could inspect our vehicle. The outside looked as if the building was constructed a long time ago, never completed, and people moved in anyway. If it were painted, then their place would look like ours. The doors/windows looked nice and they all had screens on them though, which makes me wonder how the inside looks. Which brings me to my newest venture… I’m making screens to go in the windows of my toilet and shower rooms. Last night was the trial run. The wood that I bought for the frame was too thin so it bent and wouldn’t stay flush with the wall. So, I bought some more wood and tried again. Looks pretty good huh? I think I’ll start a Do It Yourself TV program for those of use who live in abject poverty like me…ok, so perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration…anyone willing to invest? Without central air, it’s impossible to keep the whole place cool with the windows closed, not to mention the possibility of mold being an issue…but if I open the place up without a screen, then every bug in the neighborhood will move in.

Tokyo Day 2 and 3...sigh

Yesterday morning, I got bored sitting in the house while Justin was at work so I got up and went exploring in the neighborhood. I went to KFC for lunch then jumped on the first bus that I saw. Justin’s apartment is right next to the ocean but there’s no beach in the area…or so I thought. When we reached the beach area, I was surprised to see folks out walking, jogging, fishing, playing in the water, and at another part of the beach folks were digging for clams. Just as my contentment began to settle, I received a text message from my supervisor. It read:

Hello. How are you? I am a little good. I’m sorry that I said you were not chosen the new PA. Have a good weekend. See you.

What kind of notification is that??? I think it’s a bit on the unprofessional side to send a text message about a job position to someone’s phone. What happened to the days of notification letters…or emails even?! It’s funny how some things only bother you when you’re upset. All of a sudden, my adventure had turned into me on a bus in some strange area and no interest in the beach or the beautiful day. Then, Justin sent me a text to let me know he was home so I headed back to give him the not so great news. On the way back, I passed through a festival and bought some bread and chicken kabobs for us to snack on. Perhaps my penchant for bright colors is rubbing off on him but look what he was wearing when I got home…YAY…Why so handsome?!?!?! It was my intention to meet up with the AUC students who are in town for the summer program but that fell through. So, we headed into the city to hang out before it got too late. Now the question is WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!?!

Today, I had a taste for Subway so we headed on base for lunch. After grabbing a chai from Starbucks, we walked back to Justin’s neighborhood and I got a chance to begin to talk my way through my dilemma...to stay or to leave. I also started a list. Half of the paper are realistic/tangible reasons to stay in Japan and the other half lists reasons to be at home. Well, there are 5 things on the Japan side and none on the home side. Now had I listed negative things then going home would definitely look way more promising...i.e. I don't like my job...but who does? I know one thing...I WANT TO LOVE WHAT I DO...so until then, I'll just chalk up the 9-5, revel in the weekends, and enjoy my vacations.

At about 9:30, I left Justin's because my flight leaves at 6:30 am tomorrow and I needed to be close to the airport. The hotel I chose is a business hotel, which means that the rooms are small and practical. This one, however, is by far the nicest business hotel that I've seen. So, I was sure to get the brochure that lists all of its hotels across the country. It's amazing what you can get for a little over $50 here. You couldn't pay me to stay anywhere in the states for that price!!! Here's the view from the window/balcony.

Tokyo Day 1

Am I the only one in the world who gets put next to crazies on public transportation? Halfway to Tokyo, the person sitting next to me got off the train and another person sat down. He was wearing a suit and had is lunch in a bag. This man fidgeted so much that I thought for sure that he was going to pee his pants at any moment. He was worse than a kid! Justin was still at work when I got to his apartment so I acted like I was digging in my purse for my key until someone walked up and opened the outside gate to the apartment. There was jelly, apple juice, water, milk, canned coffee, eggs, and bread in the house so I headed out to the store to find something to eat. When I got back to the gate, I went right back to pretending that my key must have been at the bottom of my bag until someone opened the gate. Justin found out that he has to go to work in the morning so we exchanged gifts and watched movies instead of going out. It wasn’t much of a gift exchange though, because I accidentally left his stuff from home and China in my living room. He brought back some really cool stuff from Mexico and Russia (which made me feel bad for leaving his stuff in Fukuoka)!