Hehe - so it’s now Sunday evening and I’ve just got time to write this entry, then I’ve got to take my Japanese end of term test In theory I could just cheat as I have it here next to me, but i think that would be a little pointless - so i am going to create real exam conditions!!

So last night, I hardly need to say where we went, it hasn’t change week in week out yet, so I’m pretty sure you can guess. A little difference in the planning this time though, as Seiko wasn’t going to be home for dinner and we were going to eat out. However, I had to wait for Mums call, so had to cancel that bit (the eating out) - thus leaving me with the dilema of no food
I decided that something out would probably be best, however before I left, it was time to make the customary “going out cheapskate drinks” - it was going to be a simple vodka and coke, but i had neglected to buy any coke, so it was going to have to be something different.

I’m pretty glad there wasn’t any coke actually as this allowed me to find my perfect drink. Simply take half a glass of red wine, add a random amount of cassis and finally top up with vodka - delicious
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Two pints later and having then dj’ed for the last hour or so (so was very hyper) - it was time to leave. However, I suddenly had a massive “missing Gowry” attack, so decided it would be a good idea to call her. Of course, after 2 pints of the above, i really wasn’t in such a fit state to call anyone, so just remember apologising over and over for being so drunk lol…

Leaving the house was also a bit of a challenge as the flooring in our apartment is so uneven or at least, it was last night - strangely enough it seems to have flattened out now….
First stop before Roppongi was McDonalds to pick up some food. The order went OK, Double Cheeseburger - no problem. Whilst I was waiting for it, the next person made their order - some chips… hmmm… yes, I want some chips too - so called over the staff to add it…. next person orders some Chicken nuggets… sumimasen - sore-to Chicken Nuggets hitotsu…. I’m not sure how long this would have gone on, but luckily there was no one else in the queue or i dread to think how much food i would have left with
So I make it down to the platform, but although they smell nice, there’s not much taste to the french fries, coupled with the fact i’m getting a load of strange looks. Taking a quick step back to reality, it doesn’t take a genius to see why. Whilst I am indeed picking the chips up and moving them to my mouth, none of them are actually making it and I’m just dropping them all over the platform :o …. a hasty chip collecting situation then ensues and i’m left with a bag full of dirty chips lol….

When I finally make it to Roppongi, for once Seiko isn’t drunk, which is an incredible feat by her, especially as she has just been out drinking with mates… good on her!

So first stop is Hub to take advantage of the cheap drinks (and to watch Everton on the TV - so it was packed) before hunger got the better of us and we relocated to a local izakaya to get more drinks and some yaki-udon (and some glasses of water!!!)

Finishing here, we then headed off to iLounge (where we went last week) which was actually playing some good music this week (and had about 20 people in it, unlike last time) and was doing drinks for 500 yen… HOWEVER, if you didn’t know this, you had to pay 1000.. (as in, we went in and they gave us a 1000yen menu, however I pointed out there was a huge sign outside saying 500 and threatened to leave unless they charged as that … so all was good!)
At 4am however the drinks did go to 1000 yen, so naturally we chose this time to leave and head to the Wall Street Bar next door which was again quite empty. I think it’s due to the fact that these places are off the main highstreet, so perhaps you only go there if you know they are there, rather than just spotting it….

I don’t think we were here for so long until we got hungry again, so it was off to an Akonomiyaki restaurant, where we were able to get a very nice meal (though Seiko nicked most of the meat before I had a chance to get any myself :D) - I know, it looks like someone has thrown up on the table, but no, honestly it’s really nice
Come 6 or so (i think) it was time to head back to the station, there was a brief comedy moment when Seiko tried to get her coat on backwards (true to form, she had now got quite drunk) - but apart from that, we made it out relatively unscathed
Finally making it home, we discovered that somewhere along the way we had managed to pick up two softcore porn mags?!? So something new to add to our collection of “things picked up on a night out” - though I don’t know where they came from. They’re not even new, so it’s not like we bought them from a shop …?

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But wait! The story doesn’t end there, there’s just a little more to go…. On returning from my room where I had put on my pajamas - i was greeted with the site of Seiko having fallen asleep on the bed, toothbrush still in mouth I submit the following photos as evidence
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So there you have it, a quite successful night out

Today I was on a help shift - which meant instead of working at my usual school, i had to go to “Shibuya Honko” to cover for an absent member of staff… oh my god, i never want to go there again - it must be the busiest place in the whole world, not a chance to even catch a breath
Earlier on, i had to go and switch plane flights as i decided i want a definate time, rather than a random open ended. Problem was, the branch i went to, wasn’t the branch i originally booked at - and they wouldn’t let me book a new flight until i had cancelled the old one. No problem you might think, except they don’t speak english. The staff at the branch i went to also claimed they could not cancel the flight on my behalf - rather crazy and tbh, quite annoying.

In the end one of the people at Nova rang for me = but it still seems really strange that it couldn’t be done in the store. They claimed the reason was i had to personally call - despite the fact they knew i couldn’t and it would be a friend…. ah well, i digress…

So new flight half booked - i say half as i then hit stumbling block 2. this company don’t accept credit card as a method of payment?!?! so i couldn’t pay for it - luckily i get paid tomorrow, so i can use my rent money to cover the flight. this was all luck though, if i didn’t have access to this money i would be stuffed.

It’s really weird, but you would think everything would be all advanced out here, but so many places don’t take credit card….. i just don’t get it …. so many things here are all “back in time” (don’t get me started on medical care …. ;))

Anyway, i’ve got a big japanese test coming up soon, so i’m actually starting to study a bit more now. i’m also going to try and drink more fruit juice as i fear my skin is really starting to suffer. I’ve only just come out the shower but already i am as dry as anything… strange as i have special dove moisturiser shower gel stuff.

Apart from this, not too much to report. Shiho has gone AWOL and Seiko has gone to Osaka to see her boyfriend. In the interim, Yumi has been over to translate emails to and from the electronics shop and the table company, so by Friday i should have a desk and something to put on it yay! I didn’t get a chair (not enough cash) - but can steal Seiko’s while she’s out (most of the time) until i can raise the money to get a nice (but cheap) one. Infact, i might still be able to sit on my bed and use it, not quite sure how high it is… we shall see…
So plan tomorrow, to Shibuya in the morning to pay for flight, then if time, to school to take my exam then back home to pick up the table which should be arriving around 1pm or so (though i haven’t had a mail back yet … hmm…)

Friday is a much easier day, school in morning then a little training session at Nova so finishing at 5. Then home to take delivery of the speakers, ready for a good loud mixing session on saturday - i’m sure the neighbours can hardly wait … muhahahah!

woot.. something else i can claim a first to, buying something on interest free credit speaker and mixer now ordered, coming in at a total of about £300 (so £30 a month, not the £20 i told you mum) - much easier to manage so now i’m dead excited and the thought has cheered me up no end
May I introduce to you the Alesis M1 Active, 100watt RMS of pure music playing ability
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And finally the new - just released - Vestax VMC-002XL in special edition white

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Hopefully arriving within 4 days or so, in time for next weekend
So last night, well, i’m quite starting to like saturdays now. Each week when Seiko returns she cooks something new (and delicious) so at least on Saturday nights I will always be sure to get a good meal
We then made the usual trip to our favourite place (lol) Roppongi and of course started off in Hub. They had some new christmas cocktails on offer (not sure what was in them, but they tasted very nice) so we ordered a few of these. Not sure how we discovered this (I reckon we must have just been button bashing) but the jukebox was on free play, which meant we were able to supply the other patrons of Hub with as much Bon Jovi music as the machine would put out
Now I know you guys look at this and just see every weekend we go the same place. Well, Seiko and I are painfully aware of this too, so decided this time to make an effort to go a new place ‘I-Lounge’ which opens at 3am. (hence the Hub to pass the time).

I must admit, i was actually quite excited as 1) it was new, and 2) it was supposed to be a trance bar - so we both had quite high hopes. First impressions were good, the place was very nice inside indeed - erm, except there was one problem - no one was there!?!?

Luckily the barman was very friendly and kept us entertained for the time we spent there - it would have just been nice if more people had turned up On the plus side, i now have another place i can go and dj at if i want to, so perhaps just us being there was a good thing. (as we wouldn’t have got to chat with the manager if it had been busy).

It had now got to about 4:20am or so, and knowing i would be hungry, it was time to go so we could get food and be in time to catch first train. Unfortunately, I think Seiko had now just passed her drinking boundary as she had fallen asleep on the bar…

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However, a bit of a proding later and she was able to stumble along with me to the kebab shop - where she then promptly fell back to sleep (though i didn’t mind so much as it meant she didn’t eat all my chips like she usually does… haha) - leaving to catch the train wasn’t so easy though as by this time she was properly sparko and it took a lot of persuassion to wake her back up
The actually train journey back was the usual amusing affair, with her collapsed in my arms (though this time with me monitoring carefully to make sure she didn’t throw up on my coat :D)

At Sangenjaya, i wanted to make a quite stop in McDonalds (gotta love the S+E muffins) - by which time Seiko had decided she didn’t want to walk back - but to get a taxi instead. I would usually tell her this is a waste of money, but then, it was very cold and she was offering to pay so it seemed like a good thing to do.

Now my favourite bit of the story:

So we’re in the taxi and off we go, except Seiko then falls back to sleep again. Well, due to my slightly intoxicated state and feeling quite confident, it seemed like a good chance to practise some Japanese (make those classes be worth something!) - so it began….

Ok, so it wasn’t the most advanced of Japanese (straight ahead please, at the next corner - turn right, stop in front of that building etc…) but using my new found knowledge i was able to direct the taxi all the way home and to stop it in front of our door (without using *any* hand guestures!!) - w000000t! go me!!!
It’s little things like this that make me happy i am studying and out here - i know it sounds stupid - but it feels like a great achievement to me, i haven’t learnt anything for years - so now, it’s like a lot more of a big deal
So let’s see, i can direct taxis, or stuff in a restaurant (properly up to 5 items… then my counters get a bit squiffy), ask for directions and tell people they are a “stupid f**king idiot” - progress!!!

Ah I should also point out, the photo shoot has me wearing glasses. Special “no lens” glasses to be exact, which apparently make me look smart (or something….)

I’d better get back to the books now, bed in 4 hours

Life most certainly is a rollercoaster. Well, at least my emotions are at least - if I wasn’t certain I was a bloke, I would swear I was on my time of the month…
Not totally sure what the problem is, I just think not a lot of good things have happened recently, so it’s sometimes very difficult to stay “happy go lucky”…

In usual yo-yo fashion, this post will now go on about how I feel a lot better - doh! I’m tempted to not write anything unless I am in a good mood, but figure it might be nice to look back over everything that has happened in my time here, just maybe, if you read something bleak, give it a day or two until you sign me up to the samaritans
Let’s jump back to Thursday as that seems to be where I left off…

So Thursday was my final “end of probation” observation, basically where the head boss comes in and observes a lesson to make sure all is good. If I pass (and taking into account everything else I do at the school) - then I pass probation and get onto full pay (it goes up to the 195,000 yen (£975) from 180,000 (£900)) - not a huge difference, but enough to seriously muck things up if I don’t make it….

Maybe I was worried about this, not sure - there’s a few other bits and pieces, though I probably shouldn’t post these - just in case….

I went in an hour or so early so I could prepare the lesson and made sure it was all up to scratch. Picked one I thought I could do a lot with and worked it all out to a tee…. so come 5:50 I was all ready, so went to the classroom….

No one there - hmmm…. sat and waited a bit more … nope, nothing - great a no show… i now had the danger of being given a different lesson, which i hadn’t prepared for …

(interlude - i would like to apologise now for the lack of capital letters - it’s much easier (and faster) to type excluding them, hence the reason they have no disappeared!! ;))

The school called her up and apparently she had totally forgotten, but as she was due for a second lesson “would try to make it in if she could” - didn’t sound too good, but better than nothing - so it was back to the waiting game.

Come 6:40 and she still hadn’t showed, however i was told she would probably be 10 minutes late or so. Whilst this usually wouldn’t be a problem, this now meant I had to cut bits of the lesson to make it all fit, yet at the same time covering everything i needed to pass the observation….

So at 6:55 she comes in and the lesson goes ahead - how did i do? well, i think quite well - i managed to cover everything needed and she was able to complete all the parts of the lesson with no problem, so i guess i was cheered up. although Steve (the head guy) couldn’t give me an answer right then, he did say it was very good and no problems to shout about - so i guess as long as the rest of the month at school goes good i should be all ok
Thursday (ohhh look, a capital letter :p) also saw the return of Shimpei (ahah! another one…) who had been travelling around europe for the last month. So even though money was pretty scarce, we all went out to a korean bbq restaurant in Umeguoka. Probably not the best choice as they seem to eat tiny portions (that aren’t massively cheap) so i had to order a bit more than everyone else just to get full. Still wasn’t feeling so happy, which apparently showed as yesterday (fri) i got a load of messages asking if i was ok (awww… :))

Friday morning and school time, except, i had forgotten my tekiken (travel card) had expired and had no money to pay for a train ticket STUPID!?!? Ho hum….

Once the local atm (which takes my natwest card) was online i was able to get some money, but by then it was too late to go in. Not wanting to waste the time though, i figured it would be a good idea to head to Gusto for food, quiet and some Japanese study (as if i stayed at home i knew i would just get distracted by the computer).

So Gusto it was, where I ordered a seafood pasta and set down to work. The pasta arrived and looked lovely, so i carried on working and eating. It was only when i had got to the bottom of the bowl i realised that there hadn’t been any seafood in it… … not wanting to cause a fuss as it was still really nice, but then knowing that if i didn’t, i would have paid £5 for a tomatoe pasta - i figured it would be best to point this out…

So using my best Japanese - sumimasen, demo, seafood ga arimasendeshita (i’m not sure if seafood is the same in japanese, but the rest meant: excuse me, but, there was no (seafood) in this) - the waitress then apologised and took my (almost empty bowl away).

I’m not sure what i was expecting her to do, but i assumed i would just get a little selection of seafood to eat. Not so, within a few minutes I had a brand new bowl of pasta complete with prawns an suchlike result…. except, i was quite full from all the previous pasta but felt it would be rude to not eat it…..

30 minutes later it was time to head to school, so off i went - 1st lesson was a no show, so i took the opportunity to get on with more japanese, followed by …. another no show hurrah!

The next lesson was a lower class so we were going to work on colours and clothes - i like the lower lessons, they’re always so much fun.

I had two students, so to start with i got them to describe what clothes each other was wearing. The first girl was fine doing this, but the second girl was a bit shy and couldn’t describe the first girls trousers. As I couldn’t see what she was wearing (due to the table) and not thinking properly, i looked until the table to help out - of course she wasn’t wearing trousers at all but a very short skirt, which i inadvertantly then went and looked up… whooops :o

The rest of work went fine, but it was still nice for it to be over and the weekend to begin.

Yumi had also had to stay until 9, so we decided to go have a look around Shimo and find somewhere to eat. After walking for a little bit, we found a place that advertised everything as 390 yen (about £2), so down the stairs we went…

Wow! The place was amazing, like a little town square type thing inside a building, down the bottom there were all picnic tables, or you could sit in the upper level (where we did) - i wish i had taken a photo as it’s too difficult to explain, but i will go back - so next time!!

They sold pretty much everything, so we ordered some drinks and a curry set with naan (which was actually quite delicious). When taking your order, the waitress then asks you to play “rock, paper, scissors” - if you win, you get free desert. After getting confused the first time (:o) we did it again, but lost … oh well … you also get a bingo card when you come in, everytime you order a drink, your coaster has a number on it. You then match this to the bingo card - complete a line “BINGO!!!” and you win 5000 yen (£25!!) - see, this place is sooooo cool
But wait! There’s more - just before we were about to leave, some Japanese bunny girls came around with a lucky dip machine thing promoting Jack Daniels. After having the instructions repeated to me about 5 times (lol) - i finally figured out that if you buy a drink, you get to have a go in the lucky dip machine. Well, I don’t like whisky, but i wanted to play on the machine, so bought a jd + ginger and reached into the box to get a ticket…..

…. seems maybe i am on the up, as in true ben-luck-stylee i won So i am now the proud owner of a Jack Daniels t-shirt… w00t!

And finally for the best bit - after a little alcohol (which for me equals about one glass) and because i was with just Yumi, i lost my shyness about speaking Japanese. Even to the point where I could actually remember things from my book that i had only ever gone over a few times, wow! Ok, it’s still not up to the level i should be at, but for me, just being able to remember anything at all is quite an achievement - i was even able to comment that “the atmosphere in here is very good” (i have only ever done that lesson once, which means it must be going in somewhere…!?!?)

This has inturn spurred me on, so when i finish this, i’m back off to Jonathans (haven’t been there for ages) to get some food and continue with the study session….. hurrah!

I’m not sure if i mentioned it before, but in Jan i promised Nagisa that i would be able to speak to her only in Japanese. Until recently this looked like a rather stupid suggestion to have made, but now, i think there is hope!!!

Other good news, well Mum, Dad and Nan have very kindly offered to put some money towards my plane flight home, so this has cheered me up loads (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!) - though i still wish i could be able to fund it myself - i don’t like relying on other people for money…

Shimpei has also found an electronics store that will sell me some speakers and a mixer on a 0% interest payment plan for 10 months, so hopefully we will soon have some music in the flat. This *also* means we can do karaoke, which in turn means more people will come around… etc etc…

I’ve also had a new idea, which whilst i can’t execute yet, has also helped towards my good mood. Once we get some sofa’s, i’m going to start an “English Discussion Afternoon” here at home. Basically, people just come around who want to practise their English, so we can all meet in a group, just to randomly talk. I’ve also rather brilliantly decided to make it at lunch time, as knowing what the Japanese are like, means people will bring food - to start with, it will be free, but once it gets popular i can start to charge for it (maybe £10 a session or so) - this is good for two reasons, one I get to make some money, but 2, i get to meet more people (see, genius!).

I’ve got more ideas to add on this, like doing special “English Karaoke” sessions (which will help them with their reading skills) and a few other event things that i worked out with Yumi. Combine this with being able to then offer private lessons and it seems like a pretty good idea.

But as I said, we have no furniture now, so can’t do this yet - however, hopefully soon… fingers crossed
Right then, it’s now 15:05, so I need to get going - a students life is always busy

Well this is one heck of an emotional rollercoaster, yesterday was all good, I felt I had got somewhere with Japanese and was starting to like everything again, yet by the end of the evening, depression had set back in and my mind was not a happy place….

If I really think about what is causing it, I think it boils down to money…

I always was of the believe that you don’t need a lot of money to have a good time, and i still stand by this - however, on the flip side, having no money at all is a problem.

Again, there are things that can bypass all these issues: being with friends, having loads to do to keep you occupied etc, however out here, I just don’t have all those comforts.

I (rather stupidly) was thinking about the JET program that I turned down. Would have been an extra £7k a year, house sorted (no £1500 put down), flights all paid, in a proper school so you get to hang out with japanese staff…. kinda exactly what i wanted…. i turned it down to come here to be with Seiko and in Tokyo. But I don’t think I needed to, she is perfectly happy being with her sister and is out most of the time anyway.

Tokyo isn’t as great as is made out, or maybe it is, but I just can’t afford to do the really good things… i dunno…

Now with graduation coming up, work have told me I need to show them the flight details in a week, so I have to buy all that now. The sensible person inside me should really say “you can’t afford it, you will have to leave it” - in the UK there would have been no problem, I could have easily gotten the money, but out here I am kinda stranded.

But no, this will only happen once in my life and I really want to see everyone, so I will do it. There will however be no way I can clear the debt it will cause whilst I am still out here… that is depressing too….

Maybe I’m just having an off day, I don’t know - I hope so. But it’s hard to work out what I need to do to cheer up. I can’t go out more to meet more people as I have no money, so it’s just once at the weekend, so I have to spend time sitting at home…. the longer I am home with other people in, the noise really gets to me and makes me irritated…

I can’t win…. what to do, what to do…. oh dear….