danieru in tokyo
Saturday, June 17, 2006
went to a lecture yesterday with Alex Kerr. And what hit me was his sheer overwelming level of arrogance in believing that his way was simply unquestionably correct. His views regarding asthetics was {quote} "what the japanese people deserved". wah.
but what i liked best about the evening was buying bento; microwaving it in the konbini; sitting on the road and eating it under the streetlight. The weather was perfect. G was in high spirits, as an internship with Lehman has arrived, leading to such levels of arrogance has not answering a tele interview with Citi Frankfurt. Gambatte. i'm a born gypsy - perhaps i should use 'drinking a beer whilst sitting on the kerb, watching the world go by at 9pm' as a new yardstick for what it takes to hang out with me. and yet, the number of people who i know who wouldn't enjoy that far outnumbers the ones who would.
got my apartment sorted out after 2 interviews. it's in the middle of nowhwere, but at least it's cheap, which means that i have a place to dump stuff.
got my job sorted out after 3 interviews. it's in central tokyo, and i'm feeling a little nervous about the idea of being brought in as someone who knows what they are talking about. this is not me. i'm neither nervous nor knowledgable. but what really scares me is the knowledge that staying in Tokyo actually means missing out on something else. I love Europe and I want to go back. Just not to the UK. Yikes. I guess another year in Japan wont kill me.
the week with bell was intense. he went and did lots of stuff, and now i've got few more checkpoints on the mental map of tokyo to tick off. the science museum sounded cool - maybe next week.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
The trouble with working
just had a rather moderate job interview, and now feeling utterly miserable. I'm not sure why. Maybe i'm just tense pending their final resposnse. Why couldn't they just say OK or SOD OFF. it'd be easier. maybe.
Anyway, the weekend was good. Worked on Saturday morning, then went down to omote-sando to meet jez for a beer. Matt & Shingo made it too. Which was perfect, because we had both just recieved a text message eviction notice from out flat. So spent a few moments complaining about French leeches, dogs, and general dodginess. Sunday was grand too. Mostly just sleeping in shinjuku-goen with belgian beer, cheese, pate and bread. what more could you want? Then ended up in Shimo-Kitazawa for the 2nd time, and i like the place even more. Shame it is so far out of central Tokyo.
I guess, what i'm pondering, is that i could call Japan quits right now. Wind up the migration, resign, fly. Trek S America for a few months, wind up in London, and get a decent job. Build a villa in Portugal and pretend to be happy. Or I could just pretend to be happy here. Right. So try to be positive: Either way, next week should be the Big Week of decisions. I was hoping it would be this week, but looks unlikely. I guess, what's i'm saying is. I have a chance to go to London, which right now, I feel like going to. Why? No idea. Maybe i'm fed up of feeling homeless. In fact, I'm pretty sure, that's the only problem....
So Bell landed yesterday, and I got him drunk, and tried to weasle a thought out of his head an appropriated comment about me being interminably dissatisifed ;but alas no joy. I shall remain interminably disatisfied. We went out to some JET / Peace type party, and Lauren practically jumped on him, which was hilarious as it was, and then I even got a call today from her asking 'to show him around Tokyo'. Annila managed to get every guys phone number in the bar within about one hour, and Rheanna did an amazing disappearing act, which involved not even showing up, despite about 10 calls to ask for directions. Still ice cold. Me or her? Dunno.
And the final response came today. To say they want a couple more weeks and more interviews before the final response. Ick. Which means i've got to get a new place to live before securing a job. I'm told it's normal. BarCap did 4 interviews for a guy.
I guess, I dont really want to work for a living. And I really hate offices. It's a relationship that I want to terminate. But some of the wisest words I ever heard: Don't leave your apartment until you've got a new place to live. Trouble is, i'm already homeless.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
so jamie landed in narita on monday. since then, i've:
-gotten ill, which is peculiar, because i've not been in about 5 years.
-vaguely recovered from illness, which is nice, but not quite there yet.
-found out that jamie adores platinum blondes in awkward looking heels. found out that he doesn't believe it possible i could find this type of woman heinously unattractive. i think she overheard our discussion, which added to my joy.
-found out that jamie does not think that 'demure' is my type.
-managed to take the subway in the wrong direction, missed the last train home, took a cab, and thanked god it only cost 5,000 yen. i think his meter was broken. or maybe this deflation thingy is still out in action.
-become oncall monkey for both equities and fi at the same time
-took two days off work, and wandered around akihabara. twice.
-got scared when we were told that a guy i was working closley with 'will no longer be coming back to work. reasons to be given later'. as a consequence, decided to change my blog name to something more anonymous. when this page disappears either email me or, should you fear inflating my ego, email Dom.
and today, jamie flew off. he seemed to like japan. although, apart from wandering around the city and going canyoning, he didn't really do anything else. Is that all it takes to like Japan? Maybe. I was thinking on the train this morning about the number of times I tried to escape the island. Too numerous to count. And now i've finally done it, I dont feel that same itch and scratch. It feels as if phase one is complete.
I was on skype yesterday, calling home, and speaking to karena, and mum popped into the room to speak for a few seconds. She didn't talk long, and gave the phone back to karena. I think she may have started to cry. It seems to be harder on the parents when their kids are all in other countries, than it is for the kids. Is that because we are less dependent on them? Or because - in the case of my parents - they don't have a comparable social sphere to draw strength from. Not sure, but I guess I should try and not feel guilty about it.
Went canyoning (essentially abseiling down waterfalls). I did not urinate in my wet suit. Other members of the party would not be able to attest the same. Didn't manage to get a waterproof camera though, so i've got a good excuse to go again.
Bell turns up in a couple of days. Looking forward to it with caution. Quote Ikuyo: "I'd go mad if someone stayed with me for more than a few days", Managed to get 3 days off work, but need to arrange some kind out outdoor thing to do...
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