It happened in...
Christmas? Wot Christmas?
And this will be my last blog entry of 2004. I wish it could be a happier one. I know we're meant to be preparing for a party this evening, but I've just spent a tearful morning watching BBC news reports from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India.
One man mentioned had lost 8 members of his family. Another man had spent the morning burying his wife and eldest daughter in the spot where their house used to be. He was going to spend the afternoon trying to find his other daughter, 4 years old. If he doesn't find her, he's lost everything. His story can't be unique.
28 December
So that's it. The last lessons of 2004 done. No more work until next year.
Dominating all the news programmes and front pages of all the newspapers is the death toll in the Asia quake. Authorities currently put the number of dead at around 40,000, but as the number increases hourly, this is likely to be only a shocking fraction of the human cost come next week. Millions have lost everything and the humanitarian mission to bring aid to the afflicted areas is likely to have to be the biggest in human history.
Check my diary to realise, with a shock, that I've organised 3 hours of private lessons today. Now why would I have done something as foolish as that? So back to earth with a bump. Better start planning them, and the 3 others at the school this evening. But only two more work days and then it's the New Year holiday.
The biggest earthquake anywhere in the world for over 40 years hits Indonesia and the resultant tidal wave hits countries around the Indian Ocean. Thousands are thought to have been killed.
Christmas Day in Kumamoto is a bright, warm day, quite unlike how Christmas "is meant to be". While Kuni is at work, I spend the day bumming around doing my own thing. I even pop down to the electronics store to look at mp3 players. It's like a wish come true, it's only Christmas for me, nobody else. No crowds, no traffic jams, no problems parking.
Later on, our party kicks off with more mulled wine and champagne. No Christmas pudding this year (I looked everywhere, but alas) but plenty of cakes. Followed later by very loud trance and dancing, and then it all starts to fade into that indeterminate post-party haze...
I've obviously been a very good boy this year, because fortune is smiling on me. The only lesson that I had scheduled for tomorrow... has been cancelled. In the words of an Irish fella Mum and Dad once met, "You couldn't have arranged it better if you'd arranged it."
So before I pop off to pour another pint of brandy into the mulled wine, I'll just pause to wish you a very Merry Christmas (seeing as you really ought to be too busy to be reading this tomorrow). Hope Santa brings you what you wished for, and if not, well you'll be smashed by lunchtime anyway and past caring. And there's always the sales in January.
We might have to work over Christmas, but today was the Emperor's birthday, so we got a day off. The Emporer was on TV earlier giving a public address, and I don't think I'm maligning the ol' fella too much when I tell you that if David Beckham were in his 70s and Japanese, he would sound exactly like Emperor Akihito.
On a similarly disrespectful note, my new t-shirt made its debut today. Spoke to Simon (in China) about it. In my town, it's a funny little nubbin of satire. In his town its an unforgiveable statement of rebellion against a perfect system of government, and you'll be arrested and re-educated.
Perspective's everything, innit.
A couple of new bits of Engrish have gone up, and there's an article or two on the way shortly, but hasn't been a diary update for over a week, cos... well, nothing's happened, basically.
All the shopping and posting was done some while ago, so it's all been eerily quiet round here of late. And I guess it's all downhill until the weekend.
Back to work after the heroics of Saturday night. The bounenkai (end of year party) was huge fun. A superb speech by Nakao-san in the restaurant was followed by our discovery of his singing prowess and general upforitness at Second Sight, the karaoke bar we hit next. In fact a number of heroes were discovered at this bar and the next one. I ended up singing most of the songs that other people had chosen but couldn't, on reflection, be arsed to sing. So though I have a natural disinclination to hog the limelight, I reluctantly but gamely stepped up.
Though I remember leaving, my recollection of the journey home remains stubbornly vague, though I assume that it will have involved some high volume singing. (Ed. In fact next morning showed that the last cd played in the car was Faith no More - apologies to the neighbours are probably in order.)
The Japanese for 'hangover' is futsukayoi (lit. 'two days drunk').
Today, Apple English School officially trades places with Open House Language School. Tonight the party will be large, the karaoke will be loud, and tomorrow is set aside for recovery. Expect no sense until Monday.
Advent calendar chocolate is always so rank.
The Milky Bars are on me!
For I am a Semimillionaire. Bow down, paupers.
The kitchen now has it's own separate climate. While it was nice and toasty in the living room, it was arctic in the kitchen, so when the kettle boiled, a low-lying cloud bank formed.
It cleared up towards noon, with fresh southwesterlies developing later in the day, and a widespread overnight frost expected. On to tomorrow...
The last thing you expect when you're walking round a department store is to get mown down by a train.
But it could happen.
If you got a virus-infected email from me over the weekend, sorry about that. I managed to trace it back to a user email address at my school. Wasn't sure though if it was a spoof address and was a pc in the school itself, or was a real address from head office. Did a scan on both computers there, and the main pc turned up 3 viruses. Then our attention turned to the laptop.
Sometimes you read on anti-virus websites that "Even with up-to-date AV software, the odd virus can slip past."
When the first 300 files scanned appeared to be viruses, a few eyebrows were raised. Little did we suspect...
The user has been issued with a pencil, a pad of paper and an instruction never to go near another pc again.
Eggs! Get your eggs, here! Fresh and white eggs are here! Wiggle jiggle, yellow middle, that's the best of what you are, I love you egg! White and tender, surround the center, Cozy, sitting in the crackling shell.
Ahem. Another coffee, I think.
Today's little piece of internet gold is the incomparable I LOVE EGG!
And you must want to hear the egg song...
Decorations all up and finished now.
Gaudy? Perhaps. Tacky? Almost certainly. Care? Not a bit.
Woohoo! Look! Look now! At the pretty stuff!