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2005-11-12 7:02 p.m.

like the dream of a spring night

So, I�m in the midst of a uniquely Japanese experience. Namely, I have to go to Nagasaki tomorrow, but I have neither the money to pay even the ferry toll to the mainland nor the means of obtaining that money until Monday at the earliest. This is due to the combination of the cash-only nature of Japan and the never-operating nature of its ATMs.

I used up the last of my cash on Thursday and had planned to go to the bank on Friday (yesterday). I forgot. The bank and its ATM are closed all weekend, leaving me destitute.

And actually, I lied. I DO have the money to pay the ferry toll, but only because I borrowed a hundred yen from the grocer. Combined with my remaining pocket change, that will allow me to get off the island tomorrow. And I�m hoping everything will be cool after that, since I�m riding down with two other JETs who live in the Bigger City, and I�m assuming that the capsule hotel I�m planning to stay in tomorrow night will accept credit cards. Food may be an issue, but many convenience stores (such as the kind that are found nowhere on the Rock) have ATMs in them.

Someone once told me that the sound of the bell of the Gion Monastery echoes the impermanence of all things. They also said that the blossoms of the paired sala trees reveal the truth that the prosperous must decline. You think it�s true?

Sometimes I wonder how long U.S. �hegemony� can last, especially as India and China start to get the lead out. As Tom Robbins said in Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, �Did you really expect that a culture that believes the Second Coming is right around the corner, sucking on a breath mint and straightening its tie, could have the long-range vision or the long-term will to sustain a superpower economy?� Especially as long as diplomatic solipsists like the current guy are running things, man�

Another of my favorite quotes from the same book is "Evolution drives a bulldozer disguised as a stationary bike. With history, it�s the other way around." I think that's a pretty good statement of why I find both biology and history so fascinating.

The head of the Rock�s board of education, who is basically the ultimate boss of everyone who works in education here, showed up to observe my class at the high school on Friday. I was doing a lesson on North Korea. He must have liked what he saw, �cause afterwards he asked me to stay for a third year. He said the elementary school teachers told him I�m trustworthy and reliable, and that the preschool teachers really like me, too. (I note the absence of any reference to the middle school.) Huh.

The mother of my surrogate niece (mentioned last time) asked me to stay another year, too. (If I were to give them nicknames, I�d call the mother Natch and the daughter RahRah. I shouldn�t have favorites, but� RahRah�s my favorite, man. I�ve spent more time with her than with any of my other students, as she�s been the most reliable attendee of my English conversation class over the last year, and I think she and I also have very similar personalities.)

It�s tempting, very tempting to stay. But... no. Graduate school combined with the upcoming merger mean I have to say no. The future is waiting, and the Rock�s future is not my future.

The first year I was here I wasn�t called on for my musical skills at all. But recently everybody�s been asking me to play clarinet or guitar at this or that thing. One gig last week, two gigs this coming week, and another gig the week after that.

Oh, I started a Japanese blog. That means I have three now. If you�re wondering what the secret to keeping three blogs is, the answer is to do all three of them half-assed.

And now I�m thinking I really ought to start a French one, too�

It�s strange to write a blog entry in a language that 99% of the people I knew before coming to Japan will never understand. It feels like it�s an alternate me that�s writing it. It�s surprisingly easy for me to write in Japanese, though�

Check out Hacker koans and anti-terrorist driving techniques. And oh boy! Fun and exciting mind control coming to a store near you!

I think I�m feeling a little wistful tonight�

they will never know how the autumn breeze can strip the trees,

greyarea

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