Friday, December 30, 2005
The Two Days of Christmas
Woke up early for Saturday. Maybe 7am. Got on a train from Shinjuku to Shimoda, and met Jeff and his other half on the platform. Because I had a reserved seat, I passed out for the first half of the 2.5 hours. Woke up to the scenic beauty of the Japanese coast enroute to the Japanese the Izu peninsular. There are a whole series of active volcanic islands on the way down, puffing up fumes, and causing smelly sulphuric chaos for the locals. Get to Carl's place. Stand in awe at the sight of a house. Stand in amazement at the talk of luxury resorts around the world. Stand patiently waiting for more steak from the bbq. Met a software salesman. Got his attention, got his meishi, got to get back to him.
About to take the train back home again, but hitched a ride with two guys. I only caught one name. Interesting conversation, and made me realize the import of socratic irony. I need to talk less and hear more. Sleep.
Then the 25th. Woke up, went to church. it has been a long time since i've gone to church, and i did think carefully before i went. i decided to go. it was busy. like an open air marketplace. not such an enjoyable experience. also, the vatican did not get any of my money. since i've stopped going to church, i have slowly begun to develop irritation towards the way that the catholic state conducts its business. Anyway, headed back to the flat, and ate a big lunch, cooked by Fanny. A few phonecalls, headed down to meet PK, Jaime and others for a Christmas dinner in Shinjuku. Not Shinjuku-Itchome, thank god. Met a British guy who moved to Tokyo 6 months ago, and sits around all day playing computer games. He sells them over the internet, and makes a fortune. Despite the fact that he has awful hair, i'm still jealous.
Half the people departed, and I struck a deal with the Karaoke guys: 1500Yen per hour for Nomihodai. Sang stupid Christmas pop songs for an hour and tried to get value for money from the drinks deal. A Japanese Christmas, and entertaining too.
All the Christmas stuff comes down in Japan on the 26th. The season is over. It's crazy, the 25th isn't even a national holiday. they go mad with the consumerism, but consider christmas to be a season rather than a day. so nobody wishes each other merry christmas on the day, or even around it for that matter. but you see the trees, the snowmen, and even the odd Pere Noel.
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