Another one of those weeks has passed-- one of those that I seemed to jam a freaking lifetime of experience into. Apropos, I am exhausted and not a little bewildered to find that I am at the jarring end of my 'vacation' week. It went something like this:

God I can't wait until I have a week off! Bowling? OK, let's do that Friday. Let's go hiking, too--- OK, maybe, how about when I get back from Tokyo? You want to meet me when? Now? OK. Wow, I'm tired, but I have to get packed for Tokyo. The shrine for New Year's eve? OK, sounds great, see you at 11pm... it should only take a couple of hours, right? Because I'm flying in the morning. Wow, this is a crazy traffic jam, everyone is going to the same shrine? This is amazing... look at the time, 5am! Maybe I can get a couple of hours of sleep before the flight. Maybe I can sleep on the flight. No. Well, that's OK. Hi Sumiko, hi Kazuo, Yu-chan, Tomoya-kun, nice to see you too, yes, let's catch the bus to Tsukuba. Yes, a bath would be nice. Ah, that was lovely, goodnight. Good Morning! Yes, let's go to Mashiko to see the famous pottery, wow, look at all of this pottery, what a lot of pottery, (good god, I think I've seen enough pottery)... yes, let's go back to Tsukuba. Goodnight. Good morning, thank you so much for everything, let's catch the trains to the airport, thank you, you've been excessively kind... Oh hi Makoto, thanks for coming to pick me up, hey, do you know how to get to Komatsushima? I have to renew my visa, you can drive me there tomorrow? That's great! Goodnight. Good morning, yeah, let's go-- ooh, Komatsushima is creepy... that was easy, thanks again, see you later. Oh hi Melissa, sure, let's go to an onsen. Oh hi Miho-- what, a nabe party? Where? My place? Ummm... OK. Melissa, want to come to a nabe party? OK, great, we'll go to my place when we're done here. Sure Kayo, I can read your tarot cards. Thanks for the party you guys, that was great. Yeah, I've got to get to bed, I've got a private student in the morning. No, really. I want to sleep now. No, really, really. Oh crap, I missed my alarm. Harunobu, I'm going to be about 10 minutes late, OK? Thanks so much, see you soon! Hello, good morning, Harunobu...

That brings us to today. My lesson ended, I was paid, I stopped in for a quick chat with Bubu at his shop, then back to my apartment to take my vitamins and to do a swift clean, and then here, to the Internet cafe. I've plugged myself into this computer as though it's an I.V. ... a source of quietude and solitary entertainment, blessed peaceful reflection. I've found a great website called www.pandora.com (I'm sure anyone who spends more than an hour a week on the Internet already knows about it)... anyway, I can type in the name of a band or a song I like, and then the website automatically searches, sorts and sends me a live stream of similar music... it's like being able to create your own radio station. Next I'm going to check out www.youtube.com and see if I can't find a movie I'd like to watch. It's cheaper (and easier, and more private) than going to the movie theatre. I've always been opposed to this kind of computer-focused solitary entertainment, because I think it's damaging to society as a whole; we don't know how to get out and interact in real time anymore. And I tend to blame computers and cell phones and the people who use them to the exclusion of real life. And then there are days like today. I just want to be quietly and privately amused, and I cannot think of anything better than sitting in this little cubicle, drinking my free tea and listening to... a band called 'Seven Nations'. Maybe that's not necessarily useful, but hell, I ought to get off of my high horse and stretch my legs for a bit.

Mom's birthday today. Happy, happy birthday, mom! Let's hope that it doesn't take me six months to get your birthday gift to you this year.

Could I say more? Fill you in on the amazing details of my vacation, like seeing the Japanese nun with the tiny black-clad feet in the bathroom at Haneda airport? And the girls in winter kimono, wearing glittering makeup and sharing a shivering Chihuahua at the jam-packed, incense-scented 3am shrine in Naruto , early-early on January first? Oooh, I could. But forgive me. I'm tired, and I want to play alone.

Namaste

Endrene