17 February 2005 It's time to sign off. I'll be away for about 3 weeks, and it's possible but not so likely that there will be any journal entries during this time. We're off to Kansas, where we'll stay at my sister's house along with my mom. We're really looking forward to this vacation. We're packing some serious souvenirage. Ernesto, yours is actually in the mail already. It's a shame, but I'm going to have to stop reading Robin Hood during the trip. It's just too huge a book to take along, although I've been lugging it to work everyday. I'm back in Robin Hood mode. Ready for quarterstaff and longbow lessons. My traveling book will be The Canary Murder Case, a Philo Vance story. Yesterday was my last working day with Tammie. I'll miss her and working with her, and Kumiko and I will both miss her and Patrick as friends. Tammie, we're looking forward to free lodging and meals in Sydney. Patrick, we're looking forward to free entertainment as well. Tammie, we'll have to complete our t-shirt, fitted sheet and towel folding training at a later date. I hope to someday eclipse you in the towel arena, but I do need your guidance to get there. Perhaps an email correspondence course. Goodbye for now. Here are a few sayonara pics until I start posting again.
The ones who will soon leave Japan, Patrick and Tammie, moony-eyed.
Cat and bicycle near JR Shinimamiya station
An old dude in deep concentration over his board game. Shinimamiya.
After we all ate kushikatsu in Shinimamiya.
Doorway in Nishinomiya. The curtain says "North Mouth" (kitaguchi).
Yet another departing friend, Grant, shortly before heading back to Perth, the city of lights, on the exciting Swan River.
Kumiko on the escalator at our station: Hankyu Sone.13 February 2005 It's 7:57. We're expecting dinner guests at 8pm. Now we play the waiting game. Everything is clean and the mood lighting is in full swing. The fish gratin has 5 more minutes to bake. Tammie and Patrick and Sue and Richard and Mairwen are coming over. This is our goodbye dinner for Tammie, who has quit and is going home at the end of the month. Patrick will join her soon after. Oh, they're here!
10 February 2005 We are taking so much crud back on our trip to the States! And then bringing so much back to Japan. Here's an inventory of things I've ordered which will be waiting for me at my mom's house (so far): a bunch of books from Amazon (thanks for the gift certificate, Mikey!), a Zeiss Super Ikonta 6x6 format camera, some film, a Carl Zeiss 35mm lens for my Contax camera, several Avengers DVDs ('63 and '64 series), a Contax TLA280 flash unit. There may be others as well. I'm a consumer. Here's a very cool Subaru Sambar k-truck that deserves a bit of spotlight:
spotted outside JR Osaka station and shot with my Fujifilm Klasse
8 February 2005 On Sunday I went back to Shin Imamiya to take pictures in daylight. Lots of interesting people walking around, and I went into a "go" parlour where all the old dudes hang out and play shogi (with little wooden tiles), and i-go (with little black and white stones). Crowds gather outside to watch the riveting, slow-paced action. I got the courage to go inside and ask if I could take pictures. Permission was granted, and it was a perfect set-up since the players are so engrossed in their games they don't even notice when someone's 4 feet away with a camera. I didn't want to use flash, so I experimented with Konica-Minolta color ISO 800 film for that scene. Can't wait to see how it performs. I havn't actually taken the film to the shop yet however. I'll take it tomorrow, and the pics should be ready on Friday. I hate waiting, but I love saving ¥500 per roll over 1-hour service. It's cheapest for me to shoot black and white, because I don't get any prints. Just scan in the ones I like. Developing is only ¥360 per roll. Color negative film is next at 479 yen including prints, and color positive costs a bundle at 719 yen for processing only. I've decided to lay off that stuff for a while, and go back to print film. After all, I'm not a professional, and even amateur print film is a lot better than the stuff pros used in the 1970s. While roaming around Shin Imamiya I stumbled upon the red-light district, which was quite a shock. It looks like what I've heard about Amsterdam, with the exception that each girl is accompanied in their little display case by an old woman who takes care of them and solicits the men who pass by. Hard to look and hard to look away too. The next day, Kumiko and I did a lot of souvenir shopping in Umeda, and at night we met one of her colleagues at Nishi Kujo station for a yakiniku dinner. I hadn't had yakiniku since Glenn visited last summer. My stomach gave it a warm welcome back. Is there anyone out there who doesn't just love grilled meat? No way, that's crazy talk.
Here's a nice photo taken by my father-in-law last autumn:
Photo by Hisamichi Niijima, at Hattori Ryokuchi Park in Toyonaka
5 February 2005 We watched "The Road Warrior" on cable tonight and I realized that the line I always use to demonstrate my Australian accent is not exactly as performed by Mel Gibson. I usually say "I saw a rig back there that could haul that tanker. You wanna get out of here? You talk to me." But in the movie, the real line is "Two days ago I saw a vehicle that could haul that tanker. You wanna get out of here? You talk to me." Vehicle! Why did I think rig? Anyway, upon close examination, I found that my Australian accent, contrary to my coworkers' assessment, is spot-on. I'm a dead ringer for Gibson with that line. My friend Tammie has a problem with my pronunciation of "me" at the end. Thinks it sounds English. But that's absurd. Tammie's absurd, along with anyone else who thinks my Australian sounds English. I perfected the accent in 2002, in Perth. I also had my first and only "meat pies" there (hopefully not my last), and saw a man shopping in a mall, pushing a cart, with a great big gut, wearing only thongs and a pair of shorts, perfectly at ease, as if at the pool. I think I used to see that in Texas when I was a kid, but not since. I'm half way through The Da Vinci code now, and loving every minute. Can't wait to see those paintings in real life. Mom, since you're going to France next month, you should read this book and then check out the corresponding Da Vincis at The Louvre. I wish I could go with you.
JR Osaka station, as we were boarding for Shin Imamiya
2 February 2005 I'm jealous of all the snow in northern Japan. We saw pictures of Niigata on the news tonight. They have something like a meter of snow on the ground now. It looks fantastic. We typically take a winter snow trip, but we won't have a chance this year, unless there's snow in Kansas when we visit my sister this month. I want to go out and take snow pictures. I love the stuff. We had some flurries yesterday morning, but nothing on the ground. Last night was rippingly cold and this evening is chilling as well. It feels so clean and refreshing, but I'm glad to have heaters inside. Mike, thank you for the correction to my Star Wars gaff below. I want to be part of the solution, not another link in the chain of Star Wars misinformation. By the way, I heard that Episode III is going to feature a love scene between Chewbacca and Boba Fett's mom.
