Question.
Think back to this day 1 year ago. What did you do? Have a vague idea? Well, if so, you’re a dirty liar because there was no this day last year. It’s Leap Day.
Happy Leap Day liar.
Found out tonight that the textbook job didn’t come through. I was definitely a little surprised when I read the e-mail, but I guess that’s how it goes. Oh well. Instead of letting myself get too disappointed about it, I’m totally kicking into full gear to find a new, real, full time job. I’m ready. If anyone has any leads, let me know.
Moving back to the US is a consideration of course, but I think I’d like to stay here if I can.
I guess winter’s almost ready to end here in Japan. About time. Last week it was pretty warm for a few days, then the weekend had mad crazy wind. It was cold again, then today we had some of the heaviest rainstorms I’ve seen in a while – and they lasted only a few hours. And I think the super winds are back now. The rest of the week is supposed to have highs in the 50’s.
I feel like I started this entry with a bunch of ideas, but they’re all gone now. Uhh… Well I guess that’s all for now.
Oh but one thing! This year’s かなまら祭り(Iron Penis Festival) is on April 6th. Anyone going? I thought for some reason it was in late March, but I checked and it’s officially on the first Sunday of April every year. Also checked this site. Steve Cochrane will be in Japan that week, and Macie is coming as well, so those two will probably enjoy seeing the weirdest freaking event on the planet. Need I remind you of last year? I’ll have to think of some other weird stuff to show those two while they’re here. They’ll probably be here right as the sakura bloom, which is perfect. And of course Namja Town is on the menu.
Now that I think about it, I don’t know if I really want to go back to the Kanamara Festival, since the old Confederate guy with the dog might attack me or something.
I’m finally recovered from my cold and back to 100% health. I spent most of Sunday evening napping or laying down, and by Monday I was down to just a slight cough. Totally good now. Oh, and as I mentioned in my last post, here is just a sampling of some of the Japanese potion medicines that I took. I also took a few Dayquil/Nyquil tablets, but overall I think sleep is what cured me. I’m usually able to fix most illnesses by sleeping. I guess the medicines help a bit though. And while this is just a sample of what I took to get over this cold, it’s an even smaller sample of the hundreds of different medicine and energy drinks they have here, most served in tiny little glass bottles.
From left to right:
A little bit different than just taking some ‘tussin.
I caught a cold, for the first time in over a year if I remember right. Over the weekend I was laughing as I heard of various friends getting sick, thinking that this was a great time to not constantly be around the public, especially Japanese students and co-workers who would seemingly rather wear a surgical mask and infect the rest of the population than actually stay at home for a day and recover. But yeah, I got what was coming to me I guess.
I went to sleep really early (for me) last night, and slept on and off for most of this morning and afternoon. I really don’t feel that bad, just a stuffy nose and slight sore throat here and there. I think I’ll be better by the weekend. I’ve got some Dayquil/Nyquil still from the US, and have also been taking some of the Japanese energy/health drinks. I’ve taken so many little vials of Japanese potion medicine that I’m starting to feel like a Final Fantasy character. I thought the kakkontou worked at first, but I was a little too late I think. Kakkontou is supposed to only be good if you take it as soon as you feel any cold symptoms.
I’m going to do a bit more work for tomorrow, then sleep. I have a job interview and some corporate classes, then will probably spend the rest of the evening sleeping.
Sent off my application and writing samples for the textbook-writing job on Monday morning. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully I’m close to getting a job there. I’m supposed to get some kind of answer back next week. One of the samples I had to write was just a personal essay about something that impacted your life, and what I wrote was pretty much exactly the same as some of my blog entries, maybe a bit more serious and formal. But not all that much. Oh, and I guess it had a little bit more structure than the usual brainpuking I do here.
I’ve been watching a lot of the TV show Monk this past weekend. I’d seen random episodes here and there in the past because my parents watch it at home, but watching it from the very beginning has been better, although there’s not really much stuff that transfers from one episode to the next. It’s pretty much the same as watching Detective Conan, just with a different gimmick. Instead of a little kid with a bow tie and a stun-gun watch, you have a middle aged dude with OCD and a bunch of other phobias. Oh yeah, and Monk‘s not animated or in Japanese. Pretty much the same thing. Other detective shows like CSI are OK, but I like the ones that aren’t too serious, so this is a good.
I suppose it’s proof of my own OCD that I have to watch them all in order too. I don’t really like just watching random episodes of shows, even if it’s really episodic.
