Great Weekend

Friday wasn't so eventful - just stayed in a read Great Expectations. Saturday, however, was a different story. I went into Morioka for the first time in a month or so (probably longer...) to see one of my favorite Japanese metal acts, Gotsu Totsu Kotsu. Met my friend Dan at a restaurant called Universal, had some pizza, habanero sausage, and a beer, and then headed over to the venue on the far end of Oodoori. Nice small place, could fit a max of maybe 300 people (and thatd be really packed), and admission was only 1500. Thats incredibly cheap compared with, say, Behemoth, who I saw in Tokyo for 8500.
Anyway, totally killer show. I was especially surprised with the openers (particularly JWA) as every time Ive seen Gotsu before there has been nary a good band playing with them (some exceptions, of course). Even more surprising still was that all of the other bands were local (Gotsu is from Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture), and Morioka really doesn't have much in the way of metal. Sure, a bit of punk, but theres a lot of Rockabilly up here... and gigantic pompadours. Anyway, I knew JWA was going to be good when they tuned to a Church of Misery song, and I knew Gotsu was going to be good because they're awesome.

Anyway, it was a great show (my neck still hurts) full of stage diving, pushing people around, beer being thrown, and sweating on each other. At first I was a bit concerned as our plans following the show had been to go to one of Morioka's clubs and I was literally soaked in sweat/beer, but instead we were invited to the aftershow party at a local Izakaya where all the bands showed up. Got some tacos before hand though. JWA were a bunch of nice guys, real funny, but of course I was most pleased with talking to the guys from Gotsu for a few hours whilst eating various Japanese bar foods and drinking mizuwaris (shochu and water). We talked a bit of shop (Im trying my hand at contacting labels for their sake as well as promoting them in whatever ways I can) but mostly had a good time just shooting the shit. Totally awesome night, though now back in Miyako I can only remenisce about the fun that can be had OUTside of the middle of knowhere while immersed in the cultural blackhole that is the town I live in.

I'll be asking my landlords for internet access today, and I think I'll be redoubling my efforts to find another job/apply to grad school. I'm only young once, and as Dennis Hopper's death just proved, even the most badass of us have to slow down and die sometime, so get done what you can when you will.

A Typical Day At Kita

So Fridays are the day I have the legendarily dreadful 3B class at Kita HS. This pretty much only applies to their conviction to study (of which they have none and have subsequently attained exactly nothing in the way of English language acquisition), and are fun enough kids to teach... or try to. They are, however, incredibly, often hilariously, rude, and I thought I'd throw some examples your way.

・During dialogue drilling, one student frequently only yells 'Fuck!' when asked to repeat.

・Most male students try to bring attention to their 'yellow hand.'

・One must actively avoid collisions with students' intended hands and one's junk.

・'Fuck you' is not an uncommon response to any posed question.

・Hand gestures of all kinds, specifically the 'gotcher nose!' type one, with the thumb placed between the index and middle finger, which is, in Japan, equated with 'let's fuck'

・Constant questions concerning genitalia.

・

Thoughts

I've been wondering lately if Miyako isn't just playing that god damn saxophone or whatever, dancing over some stupid hill into some dumb, boring, serene forest full of all those nice, cute little animals that I've skewered countless times in the last who knows how long... luring me away from things that'll bite my head of if I don't watch out and stab first. Blood runs deep and red in the forest of the imagination as surely as it flows through these veins, but it seems there's something of a rift between one and the other of late - its tiring living between the two. Though sleep is alluring, I am more and more overtaken by the idea that its high time to get back into that danger zone, wake myself up to the sound of whatever Gonzo drones, riffs, shrieks, and howls are wandering the insomniac streets... get my ears bleeding again.

So, seriously, I don't want to get lost living in such a nice place! Its starting to bug me out that danger, adventure... being young in general isn't really what goes on here... and yet I like the place I live - I'm not unhappy. Kind of lost as to what to do, and at the same time feel like staying here is just fine.

Sort of an odd predicament I'm in, if you can even call it that.

Forget that last post

Yesterday was the best day of my life. That might be an exaggeration, but its a pretty good description. The family I tutor, the Mikami's, invited me out for a hanami party, but when it came to performance, the trees were lacking so we headed to Tono where we (me, Mr. & Mrs. Mikami, and their 2 daughters) toured a Japanese history site. I don't know the name, but if you've been to Gettysburg you know what kind of thing I'm talking about. Anywho, while there we got some pretty decent soba for lunch, saw a woman (video included) tell traditional stories of Tono in the local historic dialect (I occasionally understood single words - it is one hell of a dialect), and saw kappazuri, aka fishing for turtle monsters with cucumbers... I know, right?

Following that we returned to Miyako, around 7 PM (left at 10 am), and made some preparations for the barbeque we were heading to, during which time the younger daughter, who's my age, and I took their dog Sakura for a walk. Cute girl, cute dog, cherry blossoms blooming around us, dusk... I think yr probably starting to get the idea of where this post is ultimately headed - I've got a huge crush. From there we headed to the Taro district of Miyako, oceanside, where we met the rest of the Mikami's, probably 18 people in all, and proceeded to have the barbeque party of my life. Fresh caught squid, scallops, chicken & onion skewers, pig heart, pizza, beer, guitars and a bass and an amp (seems that most of the Mikami men are musicians, and mostly guitarists at that), multiple grills, a 3 month old dachshund, 3 very inquisitive (and a whole lot of fun) little girls (the oldest, I think she was 10 or 11), a fresh ocean breeze, great conversation, topped off with a cute girl who's become something of a diamond in my eye... couldn't really get better, right? WRONG.

After about 3 hours the party wrapped up, and young Ms. Mikami had just called one of her friends to pick us up and take us into town. So with our DD, (just like the school drinking parties, you almost can't avoid someone refilling yr cup with more beer, so at this point we were all except those driving probably about at least 3 16 oz. cans of Asahi super-dry deep) the 3 of us sped back to Miyako in order to, first of all, anyway, drop by the new billiards bar, called Rise, and DAMN is it nice. Only 1 pool table and 2 dart boards, but the place has 5 pretty big flat screens and 1 huge projector, a number of foreign beers in bottles and guiness on tap, decent prices (450 for a draft) and some great lounging space. The three of us proceeded to get on the pool table, where I performed quite poorly but held nothing against the burning light of inability that radiated from Team Japan. I'll blame it on the booze, but christ they were bad. Awful. I mean absolute shit. It was pretty funny to watch, and endearing to a point.

Awesome day of tourism, followed by the best party ever, and really bad pool at a really great new bar? Where does the fun end? Not at Rise, at least! We finished our "game" at Rise and headed to Karaoke! Such hits as Take On Me, The River, Anarchy in the UK, and The Ace of Spades, amongst others, were sung, some times by one, sometimes all together, and it was good like God said the world was.

Sadly, that was the last Miyako saw of us that night. Soon after we headed home.

Now, the problem that needs to be conquered is... get the Mikami's daughter (I've excluded names for some reason or another, just so you know that I know their names) single. She just got back from a year in Ireland (???), and informed me she has a boyfriend. But he's like, Polish or something, and lives forever away. God knows I'm aware of how those kinds of relationships don't work... so I guess I'll just have to put on my best when around her, and coax out the inevitable, little by little. Plus, her parents love me! I should be in like flint!