27/05/08 – Tuesday

I can’t particularly remember what I did last Friday, so it must have been pretty uninteresting. We had scheduled to have a band practice at my apartment, but the thought of driving to Tanuma again was too much for poor Allen. He had driven Adrian and I to Ota the night before to look for band costumes. We didn’t find any there, but did find an amazing foreign foods store (Brazil mart!). I bought a bag of the world’s hottest potato crisps (Blair’s Death Rain with Habanero) and gave one to Adrian by accident. I totally forgot that even the mildest of curries is enough to set his tongue on fire and have him running for the nearest water trough. Sorry, Adrian. I finished the bag the next day, eating through the sweat and tears. They tasted like magma. Which is a surprisingly nice taste.

22/05/08 – Thursday

There was a staff drinking party on Tuesday night for all of the teachers who are responsible for the first year students. Which includes me, for some reason. The first year students had a school trip to Tokyo that day, which the first year teachers had to accompany them to. Unfortunately I wasn’t invited, but I’m sure it couldn’t have been as fun as it sounded. Plus it was really tipping it down in the morning, which can’t have been that fun.

20/05/08 – Tuesday

So, Friday night we went to Ken’s bar and had a practice. It was Allen’s birthday and Zee baked an amazing rum cake for everyone in the bar to share. On Saturday I spent most of the day writing a song, and went to Allen’s place in the evening, where I played Mario Kart/Party on the Wii with him and Zee, then watched “Heavy Metal”, an awesome movie that I hadn’t even heard of before.

15/05/08 – Thursday

Last night Jami organised a dinner at the Slow Café in Sano. I ordered some strange pasta dish covered with giant prawns, which still had their claws on. I spent five minutes eating the spaghetti and an hour trying to attach the claws to my fork. I used the result to point at people with while I talked to them.

Today I found out that some exchange students will come to my Junior High School on Monday. Ten, to be precise. My school has them scheduled to do to a science lesson, followed by lunch, followed by an hour and a half long meeting in the gym. The staff will report on the clubs that they coach, and various other mind numbing things. For an hour and a half. In Japanese. I tried to protest at this, but the head teachers insisted that it will be an important lesson in Japanese culture for the exchange students. I’m sure it will be, but in ways that the teachers hadn’t intended. After this meeting, the ten students will be made to clean the school and leave. I’m not joking.

14/05/08 – Wednesday

I’m at Tada elementary today. I played “What’s the time Mr Wolf” with third grade. In other schools, the kids all take really big steps, so they usually reach Mr Wolf from across the room in maybe five steps (sometimes they don’t bother counting, they just run). Today I wanted to stop that, so explained that Mr Wolf is very scary, so they should take small steps so as not to get too close to him. Of course, I should have known that they would then all inch along a millimetre at a time, taking them twenty minutes to get anywhere near Mr Wolf. It can be so difficult to strike a balance.

13/05/08 – Tuesday

Karen did the sweetest thing yesterday. She left a tray on my bed laden with various drinks and sweets, all with cute little labels on saying things like “eat me”, “I’m squeamish” and “I don’t know what I am”. It was so charming and thoughtful, and a great birthday present. I love surprises, so it was perfect for me. I’ll have to think of something equally as nice for her birthday. The problem is that she hates surprises.

12/05/08 – Monday

Yesterday I passed up on the chance to see the Dillinger Escape Plan (and four other bands) in Tokyo. If you’ll follow this link, you can see a video of them in action. Parents, if you are reading this, this is the kind of music that kids should be listening to these days. There should be some kind of rule that any music that young people enjoy should instantly turn into noise in the ears of any parent listening. This has been the case for generations. I’m sure you remember your parents telling you that Led Zep or Hendrix songs were just a load of noise, and would you turn it down, it’s 3am. Well, even I admit that this band’s music sounds like noise, and it is certainly an acquired taste. But beneath all the screaming and guitar thrashing are very intricately layered pieces of music, with complex time signatures that change every couple of seconds and a tempo that’s more flexible that Uri Geller’s silverware. Download the guitar tabs/sheet music if you don’t believe me. It’s a difficult kind of music to appreciate, but once you give it enough listens you’re glad that you did.