Preparatory Physics - Week 37 (January 27 - February 2)

Preparatory Physics

Week 37

A relatively quiet week at work. Kayoko was still out on vacation, so I had the run of the office to myself for most of the time. A few days out of the week a substitute teacher came by to take care of the students, but we were both pretty busy, so it just ended up feeling very, very quiet.
Saturday night I headed out to Tachikawa to meet up with Sean, Casey, Pat and his wife for a few drinks at an Irish pub. I was pretty exhausted after work so I don’t think I was exactly 100% lucid. For example, I was a fool and ordered a Belgian beer for my first round in an Irish pub.

Hoo boy, there's a faux pas.

Guiness please...

Sunday I once again managed to sleep through a football game with Sean and the other teachers out to the west. I blame it on going to the bar the night before. Regardless, I met up with Sean, Tuan and another acquaintance of theirs (whose name eludes me at the moment) in Akishima for a quick western style buffet lunch. Excellent food I thought, much better than what I would expect to find at a buffet in North America.

The city itself is located about 30 minutes North West of Koganei. I’d been up there previously on my way to hike Mitake-san in the late fall. After lunch Tuan and Sean’s acquaintance took off to be replaced by my friend and countryman, Jason. We went to the local theatre, which was a bit of a nostalgic experience for me. Most of the other theatres in Japan are built more vertically than horizontally, auditoriums piled one on top of the other. This one was very much in the Western style, built very wide, but a bit lower than the theatres I’m used to back home, in the lobby at least.

Anyway, we were there to watch none other than Daniel Craig perform in his newest high-octane portrayal of secret agent James Bond, double O status. It felt just like walking into a theatre back home, all the way down to the freshly made popcorn…which I didn’t order because I’m still kind of tired of it. 5 years at a theatre, that’ll happen. It's just a casualty of the tough life us former projectionist/floor supervisors.

The movie was pretty good, not as good as Casino Royale, but still, decent. I wasn’t disappointed, just frustrated by a few things, mainly the editing in the action sequences. After the film, our little trio stopped off at Tachikawa on the way back to our respective cities in order to have another couple beers at the bar from Saturday night. We played a couple games of darts in which I was solidly trounced and then bid our farewells and headed home.

Sunday saw the beginning of a routine that’s been continued for the past month now with the exception of weekends where, for whatever reason, Melissa, Ben, Seth or I are unavailable.

Rock Band in Shimokitazawa.

I went there after going to Shinjuku in order to pick up a new backpack for the trip I was taking next week. With my wallet about 20,000 yen lighter, I was soon in the possession of a Deuter 55+10 trekking pack. It’s badass, and red too, perfect for someone living in Japan from Canada. I’m really looking forward to loading up with stove, sleeping bag and a tent and hitting the high mountains this summer, as I detailed in my summer activities post a couple days ago.
I carried the bag out to Shimo, sang my heart out once again, especially after having downloaded Spaceman by The Killers, which I absolutely love singing. More Thai food was had, and a once more slightly inebriated Ian walked on home to his little one room apartment. I likely cut an unusual figure though, with my massive backpack. The streets of Koganei would see this pack-bedecked pedestrian twice more in the next month. But that’s a story for the next post…

Stay tuned for Ho - wait for it - kkaido. So I've been watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother, sue me!

Sitcomed out

Ian "Mello Yello" Cantello



Photos: 1. A gray day in Koganei from my classroom window and a picture of the cow on the construction crane across from GEOS. Year of the cow, remember!