Updates...

all my classes were cancelled Monday and Wednesday due to the quake so i’m finding time to update, update, update…

-i mailed in my absentee ballot a little while back. many of the teachers here were so interested in the candidate list and the bubbling in. they are all really well informed on american politics. i’d say amongst them kerry has a slight lead over bush.

-met my neighbor recently. [it was getting to be quite eerie that i never saw anyone in my building.] he’s an attractive, 29-year-old petroleum salesman who moved to joetsu from tokyo for 2 years for work. we chatted in his place over a bottle of chilean red wine for about 3 hours. don’t go there…he has a serious girlfriend back home. his english is superb. he had the vocabulary to discuss everything from politics to reggae music. and his apartment is a bachelor pad and a half. although it’s constructed similarly to mine, it is exponentially more luxurious. unfortunately, his high-tech flat screen tv fell and broke during the earthquake. he’s been a huge help deciphering labels and pamphlets for me.

-don’t freak out… i got hit riding my bicycle on the way home from school the other day. night school got let out early b/c they were canceling the trains in preparation for the typhoon. it wasn’t serious, just plastered my face against the passenger side window and screwed up my bike basket a bit. there is some inherent fear here about auto accidents. the saying goes, if you cause an accident and someone gets hurt, you’ll be paying for the rest of your life. i think the woman driving was worried i might sue. although i assured her in japanese that my bike and i were fine and i was in a hurry to get home and outta the storm, she checked me and my bike over, then got out her wallet and stuffed some money in the pocket of my hoodie before scurrying off. strange.

-the dreaded tomatoes, onions and mayonnaise that have long plagued my palette are no longer so much of an obstacle. they are all so prevalent that resistance seems futile. last night at a swanky café down the street i ate raw beef slices smothered with a flavored mayo. it was not unlike tartare and it was delish. onions invade everything here…grilled with chicken on a stick, fried in tempura patties, floating in miso, swimming in curry. i’m actually starting to like them. ordered the onion sauce with my 'hamburg' last night. and i triumphed over tomatoes recently at ppc pasta café. we had a pureed pumpkin salad that was mixed with raisins, capers and tomatoes, served on a lettuce leaf with a mayo drizzle. it was a fabulous marrying of bitter and sweet. i’m not a big enough girl to go for the new tomato mcgrand they’re rolling out at mickey d’s though. the huge ad campaign would make you think that putting a tomato slice on a cheeseburger is a novel idea.

-broke down and bought a cell phone yesterday. very proud liz and i sorted this out solo, although it did take us nearly 4 excruciating hours. you can imagine…

-this week i’m planning to forego lesson plans in all my classes to have halloween parties. actually three teachers will be out this week so i’ll be conducting those classes on my own...if we have classes. what better way to win the hearts and minds of the students than throwing a party with candy and games while the authority is away?