3 Goals Accomplished!

So here I am at my desk in Uchiko Jr. High School, honestly just killing time because my actual first day of teaching won’t be until the day after tomorrow.

Yesterday I had to bug-bomb my apartment: Marco, Paul, and I all got tatami fleas. Since my tatami were new, I didn’t get them nearly as bad as the guys, but would still wake myself up at 5 a.m. scratching. I got this nifty bug-killer you inject into your tatami with a needle and then, just to be on the safe side, blasted my tiny apartment with two cans of the fumigation stuff.

Next, 3 great turn of events this week that made me very very happy:…

First: I FINALLY got my keitai (cell phone). It’s pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself. I went with the company “au” and most of their phones come with internet, camera, video, txting, and such so really it was just a choice in design. Although I won’t let myself use the t.v. function, I got: this one (in black). I know it’s expensive, but although they thought my cell would work with a phone card, it doesn’t, so I would LOVE to hear from you guys. Email me and I’ll give you my #.

Second: I found Aikido!! Or, maybe I should say, Aikido found me, haha. I stumbled across an AJETs blog one day who wrote about training in Matsuyama. I shamelessly commented on his site, begging him to tell me where the dojo was. Josh was kind enough to hunt down my number and get in touch. Although I won’t be able to start training until my school schedule settles down, I am more relieved than I thought I’d be about finding a place. Guess I didn’t realize I’ve missed it so much.

Lastly: I found a bass guitar! An extended-neck bass guitar!! Every music/guitar store I passed these past few weeks, I’ve gone in and asked (or tried to ask) about extended basses. I’m dying to play again, but none of the stores I found carried them. Thank god for Hard Off! That’s right, that’s the name of the store. They’re a second-hand chain that has spin-offs such as Book Off and House Off. Anyway, I found a beautiful solid wood bass for 30,000 Yen and am going back to Matsuyama after work today to get it (they wouldn’t reserve it for me so I’m crossing my fingers that it’s still there). Now, Johnny, if only I could find a way to bribe you across the globe for lessons…:D