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Talk about a bad
Talk about a bad time to look for a job. The international financial institutions where I’m most likely to find employment are freezing hires until the markets improve and on top of that Japan’s unemployment rate is rising. Tod swears this doesn’t affect me, and maybe he’s right. I’m pretty much a fringe employee anyway.…
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Remember the guys who
Remember the guys who were setting up drainage pipes last month? Apparently their work is being inspected today. Two men from the Tokyo Waterworks department are walking along the retaining wall where the pipes are installed. They are examining a big patch of bright green the moss that grows where the water spills over the…
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Crown Princess Masako is
Crown Princess Masako is having a baby and the nation’s lawmakers are having a cow. The princess is married to the heir to the Imperial throne. The country has waited (somewhat impatiently) for her to produce an heir. If she and her husband welcome a boy into the world, the young prince will be second…
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I’m happily out of
I’m happily out of touch with American culture. When I get a hint of what awaits me on repatriation, I am stunned and revolted. Here’s an excerpt from a liabilty waiver that US chapters of a non-profit organization have to sign for every event they attend: “I have read or had read to me this…
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Yesterday, Tod gave a
Yesterday, Tod gave a Database Design seminar. It was fun, but tiring for both of us. Today’s been a sleepy day but I really do have things to do. Maybe it’s the wet weather; maybe I’m just procrastinating. Whatever it is, I’d better get myself in gear and do some work.
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I love to barter
I love to barter deals with other women business owners. For example, yesterday I made a deal with a local art school owner. I’ll give her 17 hours of computer tutorial–teaching her how to update her website and set up a mailing list–and she’ll let me take her 5-day Drawing on the Right Side of…
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Alice had been looking
Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. `What a funny watch!’ she remarked. `It tells the day of the month, and doesn’t tell what o’clock it is!’ `Why should it?’ muttered the Hatter. `Does YOUR watch tell you what year it is?’ `Of course not,’ Alice replied very readily: `but that’s because…
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Sumo was all I’d
Sumo was all I’d hoped and more. Elizabeth was certainly right about the food. I don’t need to cook dinner for at least two nights. The caterer delivered yakitori, sandwiches, soramame (huge steamed beans like limas), bento lunch boxes, beer, sake, wine, and ice cream. Plus a bag full of omiyage (gifts) to take home…
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After three years in
After three years in Japan, I’m finally going to a sumo match. And we’re going in style. Our friends, the Andohs, have a box courtesy of Takashimaya, where Atsunori works. Elizabeth proimises us that we’ll be fed until we’re stuffed! “Come hungry and bring a backpack for the food to take home,” she advised. As…
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Yesterday just before dinner,
Yesterday just before dinner, Tod’s cell phone rang. “I got spammed on my phone,” he said, looking at the message and turning the phone towards me and our friend, Brendan. Tod’s NTT i-mode phone allows people to send e-mail and text messages (like a pager, remember those?), as well as voice mail and regular phone…
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