1) The weather has started to get warmer. Hot even. For some reason my office is considerably hotter than anywhere else in the city. I find myself getting sweaty and irritable without even realizing it. I will suddenly realize I am furiously pounding the escape key because i am typing in the wrong language, but I am so flustered that I accidentally hit F1, which obviously brings up the help menu. This unreasonable request causes my ancient work computer to stagger under the strain. Anyway, the point is that the weather right now isn't bothering me so much as the prospect that it will only get much much hotter. It really isn't even that hot outside, but it will be. "When does cool biz start and we start turning on the air conditioner?" I ask, and the answer fills me with dread, "July."
2) Due to the rising of Kyoto's temperatures (obviously due in turn to global climate change) I have been leaving my window open constantly. My neighbor does the same. His window is three feet diagonal from mine, and I can see into his apartment when I go onto the veranda. Somehow, though, I have absolutely no idea where the door to his apartment is. By my calculations, his apartment should be occupied by the elevator I use every day. I only know that he lives in the same dimension as me because I hear him cough all the time. He is sick or something, I guess. The disturbing part if this trend is the following: whenever I hear him give off a little cough I am painfully reminded that he can likewise hear me. I sometimes (all the time) talk to myself, my computer, my food, and just about everything else that can't verbally defend itself. Sometimes after I say something a little too loudly I hear a little cough from my neighbor. Maybe he isn't so sick.
Now that I have gone into the not-so-happy trends in my life, it's probably for the best if I included some good things:
1) It's nice enough outside that I can hang out on the veranda. Last weekend I took my lunch outside and watched an entire baseball game taking place in the adjacent elementary school (coaches versus kids). At one point a tiny Japanese kid sprinted from center to right field and made a diving catch. I literally applauded. I hope nobody saw me.
2) The banks of the Kamo River are once again warm enough to frequent in the evenings. My favorite thing to do last summer was to get some beers and some friends, and go hang out on the river after dinner. (It's not without its dangers, however. Hawks and crows will grab whatever is in your hands. These guys are brazen and nasty. I read that a crow recently stole a prairie dog from the Ueno zoo in Tokyo. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/world/asia/07crows.html )
3) I don't know if I should tell you this or not. Here goes. I was reading an article in a Japanese magazine and happened to see a picture of an attractive semi-nude American. Who's that? I wonder to myself, she's not bad looking. I get around to reading the picture's caption, and it turns out this girl is the infamous Mylie Cyrus I have been reading about. I know everyone is scandalized by the fact that her dad, Vanity Fair, and everyone involved turned a fifteen year-old Hanna Montana star into a object of sexuality and thereby robbed the American people of what little innocence they had left. That's not why i am upset, though. I am upset because now I have to live with the fact that for 5 seconds, between me looking at the photo and reading the caption, I was attracted to a fifteen year-old. Thank you Mylie Cyrus, I am now officially a huge jerk.
Now, onto the events of today.
I am working tomorrow (a Saturday; I am not pleased) so my boss gave me some time in lieu awhile back. Because i am working all day on a Saturday he gave me two half days. Today was one of those days. I was supposed to come into work at 2pm. Of course I forgot, though, and came in right on the dot at 930am. They told me to come back at 2pm, and I was left, wearing a suit coat and tie, with nothing to do for the next four hours. I let my legs do the deciding and walked around in places in Kyoto I had never seen.
That's when I realized that there is a reason I have never seen these parts. I walked through a "market" of local vendors selling socks and fish flakes, the "projects" where the gardens are well-kept but the denizens dare to not properly separate their garbage, and small temples so filled with luxury cars I could not enter.
I then came across Hongwanji (I don't know why there is a 'w' in the name. There is no such sound in the Japanese language as 'gwa'). It is one of those giant tourist attractions that I should have gone to in the first week, but never made it. I entered on a whim and happened to catch a Buddhist service. It's been awhile since I heard some honest-to-god chanting monks, and it was a nice alternative to work.
I then went to a local bookstore to buy a magazine. I looked at the Economist and Scientific American, but it turns out the English versions are 1200 yen (12 dollars or so). Really? For one issue? I could have bought Jane Eyre for 880 yen (not that I would want to do something like that). I settled on 440 yen for the Japanese edition of the latest Newsweek.
Now, if you had asked me fifteen minutes ago, I would have told you that my morning was totally interesting and completely worth writing about. Looking back on it, turns out I would have been very very wrong. Will I go back and delete my account of my very ordinary day? No. This is a blog, and writing a blog means never having to say your sorry (or be responsible for the quality of your posts).
I have a quiz for you. Quick, name me a food that goes well both with beer and milk. Stumped? here's your answer:
RITZ! Tonight I tested the ritz and beer combination. Not bad. Not bad at all.
