Uninspired Post Written by a Tired Worker on Friday

Good evening,

So, another week has passed, and here you are, reading my blog, wondering, "what could Greg have possibly done this week?" Well, you came to the right place, 'cause I'm here to tell you.

Last weekend was fun. What did I do...uhhh

Ah yes, now I remember. Friday night I went to Wade's place to hang out with him, Paul, Tina, Natalie, and Erin. It took me about an hour to drive what should have been 30 minutes, but I'll get into my "Japanese-drivers" rant soon and spare you now. We played Left 4 Dead until the girls arrived, and then we watched Batman: The Dark Night. Wicked fun, and it was my first time seeing Wade's place. Afterwards, we hung out for awhile, talking and eating Wade's Starbursts.

Saturday we had lunch at the Viking (all-you-can-eat) Yakiniku place. I'm pretty sure I covered our table's tab, I had huge bowls of meat, and was still eating long after everyone else had finished. Afterwards, I did some errands- Yamada Denki (the electronics store) and so forth, the gym, and then went to Paul's house to hang out that night.

I got there and we played some more Left 4 Dead. Then, Paul, Nick, and I, met up with Tina downtown, and went to see......Paul's girlfriend! Yes, Paul (or Po-ru San, as he is called at school), has a Japanese girlfriend. He has been reluctant to introduce us to her, but we were finally able to convince him to take us to the ramen shop she works at. We went to the shop, ordered some ramen, and tried not to be stereotypical Gaijin fools. So, we were able to look at his girlfriend, but we were unable to actually speak with her until we paid for our meal. It was really only enough for a quick (my name is blank, I'm from blank), but still, it was good just to see what she looks like.

We headed back to Paul's, played some more vidja-games, hung out, and then went home our separate ways.

Sunday I cleaned my apartment and skyped. Seth came by that night and we cooked dinner (beef and broccoli) and played some RE4. We also moved my piano into my heat room, and, wow, suddenly I've been practicing again. I feel bad for my teacher, who had to endure my not-practicing for so long, because my piano was in one of my cold-rooms for awhile.

I suppose I should explain to you "heat room" and "cold room." They are pretty self-explanatory, but, my "heat room" is comprised of my kitchen, living room, and bedroom. These rooms are all within range of my heater, and I close the doors to the non-heated areas to keep the heat in. It works quite well. The "cold rooms," are those not heated by my heater, and therefore are useless to me except for the occasional run to the bathroom.

Wednesday night, Paul hosted a movie night at his house, and we watched the movie "Old Boy," which I highly recommend. It's a Korean movie. The only part I cringed at was when the main character eats a live octopus, and you can see the tentacles squirming and sucking all over his face. Even when the character falls face-down on his plate because he "passes out," the tentactles are still all squirming outside his mouth. Since I already hate that part of octopi, I was engrossed- I had to watch it, but it's something I could never do. It was so delightfully freaky that I had to watch. Unfortunately, the disc skipped about halfway through, so I still don't know what happened to the guy! NO!

We also played Mario 3, which is only the best game ever invented. I either scared or impressed people with my insane (read: encyclopedic) knowledge of the game and all of the secrets in all of it's levels. Either way, we almost beat the game that night.

Afterwards, I went to the onsen with Erin and Tina, since my shower is broken. Oh, funny thing about my shower...it's broken. Actually, not so funny. I've been going to onsens almost every night. So, we went to Gokuraku, an onsen close to their area, and the best one in Hachinohe. We got post-dinner dinner there, and then onsenned. It was good, and on the drive back, Erin turned 27!

Last night was boxing with Matt and Joe. It's always wicked fun, and I can't wait to box again. Matt bought some pads and gloves, so we practice at Body Park in Nanbu. It feels really good to hit something and practice martial arts. I just want to go again.

Here's one from the past. At one of my middle schools, I asked a student "What three foods do you like?" His answer:

"I like cheese. cheese- cheese- I like- umm...cheese, i like-chee-cheese, and...eto...cheese, cheese..." This literally went on for a good 4 minutes, until the teacher had to interrupt and say "how about ramen and tempura?"

"...ramen and tempura..." Ok. Well, it was much funnier when I was actually there.

Somehow I've gotten the newkid to smile at me, like we are sharing this inside joke. I don't know what the inside joke is though, and I'm not sure what he means when he briefly smiles at me. Best case scenario, he is observing me to make sure that I am worthy of receiving his 10 billion dollar check...now! Guess not yet. Worst case scenario, he is smiling sadistically, thinking about how I won't figure out he's an axe-murder until later tonight. I'm hoping for the former.

Regardless, I think this is a good move forward. It means that, perhaps, he is less afraid and more willing to...not be afraid(?).

Ah, this Monday I went to Shorenji Kempo, that karate class I've been taking, and I told them that I was quitting. It's sad, but true. I'm not learning much, and it's just not that fun or practical.

Hmm, what next? What else? This weekend is here. I'm going to Erin and Crystal's joint b-day party and karaoke. Should be good. Tomorrow I'll be snowboarding at Okunakayama. That's about all I've got planned for now.

I forgot to mention that I just came back from calligraphy. I was supposed to write a wish (in Kanji) on a piece of paper in Japanese calligraphy. The English teacher wrote out my wish (for happiness and health for my family), and I practiced a few times before getting on my knees (which hurts, fyi) and calligraphy-ing it. Unfortunately, on my official run-through (on the official paper and everything), I wrote in the wrong order. Ms. Kamiyama came to the rescue, my wish was changed from happiness and "health for my family" to "I wish to be a safety-driver." Not a bad rebound, I daresay. Now, this anzen unten hito is going to sign off. Work is done for the day and I'm going home.

Good luck, and please, be a safety driver.