Last of the Year

I'm changing my domain name provider...more than a few of you won't know what that means, but suffice it to say, it's been a pain in the butt! So far, I've lost a day of my life to lack of sleep, come down with the worst cold I can remember (still can't talk normally after 2 1/2 weeks), totally lost a year's worth of e-mail (including very important work and work-contact information) and basically haven't even managed to fix my work e-mail as of this typing.

I just woke up in the chair (again). I'm still not fully packed for my trip to Kochi...which has a departure time some three hours from now. Too much time for a shower, and not enough for sleep in an actual bed. If I'm not ready, it's not for Taka's lack of heroic efforts. She has almost everything ready to go. I only need to finish the essentials (toiletries, iPod charger, Palm stuff, cell phone accesories, etc.). So far, I have failed miserably at packing.

I meant to do a whole post on this, but I'll just mention that in the lull when I thought I was over this cold (but was about to relapse) about a week and a half ago, Taka and I went to a concert. We saw the Yoshida Brothers (Yoshida Kyodai in Japanese). They were fantastic!!!!!!!

Suffice it for now to say that if you've never seen two brothers that have been playing together for 25 years on three-stringed traditional instruments with what looks for all the world like an ice scraper, you need to broaden your horizons. Seriously, these guys were great. They played everything from traditional Japanese, to jazz, to some pretty rockin' pieces. Their back-up band included traditional Japanese drums (taiko), a traditional flute (shakuhashi), an electric violin(!), a western drummer, a keyboard, and both a base and rhythm guitar. The Yoshida brothers played separately and in almost every combination with their backup band as well as just the two of them alone. There was music to suit almost every style imaginable. In short, a great concert!

As I mentioned before, I'm off to Kochi for the New Year in a few hours. It'll be nice to get out of Tokyo for a while. I like Taka's family, and there will be loads of fantastic food and drink. I'm even going to get to spend some time at a hot spring! Can't say I'm looking forward to the airport/plane thing though. It might not be as bad as the States, but any trip through an airport is one I'd rather not deal with...just an evil that needs to be embraced when you want to be someplace far away.

The whole trip will be a little tough on Taka (and I don't just mean the packing). My Japanese skills are nowhere near up to the task of dealing with her family (hell, they mostly don't even speak standard Japanese anyway...it's something called Tosa-ben). I'll try to be better this year (by not asking her to translate everything all the time), but that won't help when the guys are all over and drinking. Her uncles have been known to wait outside the bathroom to get her to translate something to me once the beer starts flowing. Taka's a trooper, but it gets to be a bit much. I'll try to lighten her load a little this year. When I told her that I'd take my Japanese book (Japanese for Busy People) with me, she laughed (when she finished choking). I've had the book for 10 years and have made it to chapter six at least five times (the book has 40 chapters).

Well...Happy New Year to all! May it be everything everyone is hoping for.

Peace.

Randomness from Hangover Hell

Somehow, I got it in my head last night around 11:00 that I wanted to be around people. The time may reflect how embarrassingly late I slept-in yesterday. I actually hopped on my bike and peddled over to the next closest thing to an actual town in this metropolis of eight million people. For those of you that have visited, none of you has been there.

Kanamachi is a tiny place by Tokyo standards...but (I discovered last night) they know how to do a Friday night. I'm sad to say that I was out till what would have been sunrise if it weren't so overcast. It's been a very long time since I've been out-n-about. I even met a couple of interesting people.

As usual with this kind of thing, I am paying for it today.

I just found out that I will be in Kochi for the new year's holiday. I'm not exactly looking forward to the whole plane thing, but am looking forward to a trip outside of Tokyo...esp. one that will involve lots of really good food! Time to polish up my excuses on why I don't speak the language and how come there aren't any children.

Because it's a holiday, I doubt if I'll have any free time, but I'm hoping to sneak away for a while (maybe steal a bike and take a ride along the river). One thing I really am looking forward to is a trip to the onsen (hot spring) near Mama's house followed by a dinner prepared by a master of Japanese cuisine (Mama). Papa likes it when I visit. He's allowed to drink with me.

For those of you confused by the above, Mama and Papa are not actually Taka's relatives. They took care of her and her sister while both of Taka's parents worked for so long, that they have become part of the family.

Since Taka bought the new digital camera, I think I'll try to take a lot of pictures. I'll put a few here in the new year.

Is anyone besides me shocked that another year is coming to an end? Does getting older necessarily mean that you go into a time warp?! I seem to spend the first few days of every month going, "Is it (month) already?!".

I feel like I'm in another time zone. It's 2:30 a.m. and I'm about to wash dishes before brushing my teeth and stumbling into bed. Of course I woke up in early afternoon and had a nap in a chair (my neck keeps reminding me of that little fact). Maybe one of my many New Year's resolutions should be establishing a bedtime (right up there with that 14-year favorite...learn the languge of the country I live in).