I figured this deserved a seperate post as it’s kinda special, but to save confusion, the photo’s were taken a mixture of last night (hence Seiko being in one) - and the rest taken just now when I went to get her some ice cream from the store and wanted to go back and get some day time shots.

Ok, so, let’s start with the simple, walking down the road and, what’s this?

A tiny little shack thing tagged onto the end of the block.

[IMG=301]

We get a bit nearer and see it has a little opening…

[IMG=302]

Strange, but what it be? The sign doesn’t help too much, I can translate - “Burusera …… ko-na-” - so something corner (well state the obvious)

[IMG=303]

A closer look and we discover it’s a vending machine corner, ah no problem, so Seiko goes inside to get a cup of coffee….

[IMG=304]

BUT WAIT! That’s not coffee for sale? Infact, that’s not drinkable at all…. can anyone guess…? (to stop me getting told off by mum, you need to click the links to see what’s inside……)

[IMGT=305][IMGT=306]

Well I never, fancy that ….. only in Japan

Sitting home waiting for Seiko to return, so figured I might as well get on with writing a bit more - though at present - I am talking with Helen on MSN, so progress might be a little slow, in fact, I may not finish by tonite - so you may well find two different accounts here ….

Anyway, I’m starting to ramble, let’s onward and avarst ye young see dog…
Today as I wrote yesterday, I had to give 3 kids lessons, 2 of them kinder classes (which I was quite looking forward to) - though getting up early was horrible. I don’t know if anyone else gets this, but if i don’t have enough sleep i feel all grotty and like my hair is all itchy - which then causes my head to break out in mini one day spots…. arrgh….

So anyway, first lesson was kinders which i was looking quite forward to, but maybe also a little nervous as it would be a full class. It started off well enough, we were going through the colouring books and getting on with the flash cards - but I soon saw why teachers don’t like the kinders - they seem to get bored quite easily and start just climbing up the walls?!? haha… you then don’t know how firm you should be with them to get them to stop - like properly shout, or just go with the passive approach.

I dont like telling off kids, so i stuck to the “try and just coax them over” technique, which while worked, certainly isn’t the fastest method - though we did get through the whole class without too much of an issue and it certainly is easier than doing an adult lesson.

So do I recommend it… hmm, as long as they are well behaved it can be good fun, though if not, you might come into issues. The second class seemed to have a few more trouble makers in it, but still, it went ok…
Second class was a man to man kids lesson, but I hadn’t been given the correct material to take home, so was kinda a bit lost in this one - I managed to follow the plan as I went along, but didn’t manage to cover all the curriculum as it was in really small and i missed it - however he did very well and got it all done
Lunchtime didn’t come soon enough, and it was off to the AM:PM to get a microwave meal of spaghetti and sausage. When paying, I did my usual “arigatou”, but this time the woman asked me “…..nihongo….” (i didn’t get the rest), however it was pretty safe to assume she asked did i speak japanese…

I told her a “little, tiny” - at which point she then started asking me some (basic) questions - where was i from, how long had i been in Japan, where did I study etc…. ok, so again, it wasn’t much - but it was still a lot more than i could have done if i knew nothing. She also got the other assistant to join in, who is quite cute ;), which was nice … haha …

So back to school for the final half (at least the day is split exactly into 2, 4 lessons, lunch, 4 lessons) which was 2 voice classes and 2 groups of 4… usually i run away from such a schedule, but today, i seemed to have some extra power in me, and gave I think some very good lessons
Something needs to be done about Usuke though, yet again he sent Yumi into a flood of tears …. I don’t know what to do … but really, this cannot go in. I know she doesn’t want to say anything, but if she is going to leave the company anyway, she might as well go out guns blazing !

And heareth lies the cut - Seiko came home, so went out ….

Being quite tired, we figured we would just go and find some food and then hit an izakaya or something, so off we went. Seiko reckoned there was a good restaurant up the road, so we set off …. on getting to the top of the hill, we realised there wasn’t so decided to walk down the Setagaya-dori…. 15 minutes later we had reached Sangenjaya (where we had decided we definately didn’t want to be) - it was now 12 midnight and i was starving, so Seiko suggested we walk to the next station along (Ikejiriohashi)…..

20 minutes later (:eek:) we finally got there to be greeted by ….. NOTHING ….. haha … not wanting to walk around any further, we just went into a local ramen place, which to it’s credit was actually really nice, however, there is a perfectly nice ramen shop at the end of our street - go figure ….

Seiko seems to have caught quite a bad cold, and unfortunately it started to come out quite badly last night. I must admit it was quite funny, as her voice went really high pitched as she coughed each time she tried to talk, but I mustn’t be too mean - Upshot is, we caught a taxi home… but you know, we did nothing, but I won’t call it a waste of a weekend as it was really nice to spend quality time with her.

We have agreed that once I come back, we are going to make a real effort with each other, there should be a sofa by then, so we can watch movies together and stuff…. w00t!

So anyway, back home now and gonna toddle off to bed in a moment…. Night!

Mmmm.. i am now sitting at my computer eating huge chunks of the special cheddar cheese sent to me for christmas along with a few fingers of a kit kat - i must say, they go together quite well! Yummy …!

Well that was quite a story last time hey? Actually looking back, it’s quite funny - just a shame it stuffed up my weekend as now being back and working this 7 day week is just horrible.

I could go on and write loads more, but, I don’t want to - perhaps all that is just a memory best forgotten.

Sunday, as I had already mentioned, I had to work to cover shift swapping for my holiday. I had never worked a weekend before, but was told they were always really busy. To make matters worse, you can’t go in any earlier to prepare as the staff don’t get in until 9:30 (work begins at 10)

Even worse, the night before had been so cold (and we are talking proper freezing) - I had been unable to get much sleep at all and walking to work, I was just in a daze. To try and counter this (and because for once I was up early enough) i headed straight for the local McDonalds to pick up and Sausage and Egg McMuffin - so mum, you can be happy I have had breakfast for once!!!

The weekends are the busiest days at Nova (hence the reason I have never wanted to work them) - and it seemed today was no exception. My first class was a full 4 person, but luckily for me, a lower level - which I really enjoy teaching, so it wasn’t too tough
The rest of the lessons went ok, but by lunch I was really grateful for the break. Not really much of a break though as of couse I had to plan all the next lessons, so sat with a yaki soba balanced on my knee, trying to write up all the next reports!

My final class of the day was voice - which was nice as by then i was getting quite tired - and as usual, the topic turned to how much I think Japanese food sucks over western food However, this time it was a bit more productive as the students seemed to know quite a few BBQ buffet places, so by the end of the lesson I had quite a comprehensive map of places I should try.

Even better, one of them is only a few minutes from work - and offers drinks for 1000yen (£5) for drink as much as you can for 2 hours!! They offer the same with their menu too, but this is a little more expensive at 3000yen for a 2 hour eatathon. I think I should definately try it though, make the most of the time here Haha….

I was so glad when I finally reached the end of the day and was able to stagger home, though only an hour or so after arriving home, I had a call from Shimpei who needed some help with some translation. Usually I would have said I am too tired, but i felt obliged to help as he has been so good to me.

I was just about to leave when Yumi showed up though! Apparently Seiko was coming back and she had asked to see her so she could give her a present from her weekend away. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to see Seiko yet, but couldn’t leave Yumi on her own in the place, so called Shimpei.

It turned out however that Seiko was at Shimpei’s already, so we could all go around there…. he also said he had talked to Seiko and she wanted to meet up….

So it was on….

The upshot of everything is, we are swapping rooms…. which you would think is a great situation - but, I just can’t stop feeling guilty about it I feel like perhaps she feels bullied into it (as in, “Ben will go back to the UK unless you move”) - they keep telling me not to feel bad, but it’s not helping….

I also feel bad about her having to pay so much more rent than me (£150) - but I really cannot offer any more - so, I figured maybe I could do extra things around the house to help out - such as do the floor cleaning, or the laundry (though according to Gowry, it’s not the done thing to wash a girls laundry unless she is your g/f? I don’t know, i’m not sure I see the problem) - so this will make me feel a bit better, as I will be putting more input in?

So yes, the room move will be next friday - I will miss the sunshine and daylight but i guess it will solve all the other problems. Infact, maybe this will encourage me to spend less time on the computer!! The other issue might be that next to my room now will be another bedroom, so saturday night late music might cause issues, but i suppose that can be dealt with when the issue arrises - in the meantime, i’ll just have to keep it low on weekdays.

I also told Seiko that i was sad i never see much of her, i came to live with her in Tokyo, but only see her a few times a week at most. We are now going to make the effort to see more of each other and have bought a calendar for the kitchen so we can see who is free when - thus being able to plan to meet up and stuff around those times. Admittedly me working until 9pm each evening doesn’t help, but I am right next to the station, so on Mon + Wed nights we can definately start to do more things (I have school on Wednesday at 9am you see, so the other nights are no use).

Talking of Japanese school, it starts tomorrow which will be good, though i reckon i will get a right bashing for now having learnt as much as i should have - though now I have finally got all my computer work out the way, i have a lot more time for it - there is a bit of a mutiny going on the forums, but hopefully we can sort all of this out without too many casualties.

Sorry if this is a bit rushed, but I’ve got work in 10 minutes, but didn’t want to leave anything any longer less I forget, so in summary:

1) I’m moving room
2) Seiko and I are going to spend more time together
3) I hate working weekends 4) Cheddar Cheese + KitKat is most delicious

So tonite was my weekend, due to having to work on Sunday. I finished work early which was good, so had intended to come home and work more on the site, hoping to have it finally finished, so I could release the new plans to the public.

This didn’t go quite to plan though as some other matters came up, but in reality, this is irrelevant as I was still happy
Seiko finished work at 10 or so and was then coming home, before we were both going to go out. At 11 o’clock (or maybe 10:30, not sure) she came home absolutely trashed - this of course was bad enough in itself, except she had brought someone else home - a big Japanese army guy, who she claimed not to know?!?!?

They were both quite drunk and he was trying to say something, but I didn’t have a clue and wished really he would just f*ck off as I knew by now I wouldn’t be going out, so just wanted some peace and quiet to get on with things. He then proceeded to keep taking me by the hand and dancing with me, in that stupid drunk way everyone does… I just was hoping Seiko would go to her room or something.

Seiko however had other ideas and opened up 2 (yes 2) bottles of wine, which the then poured out (and all over the kitchen) - oh and I’ll point out, it was red wine….

They asked me over to drink with them, so figured one would be ok. However as I was standing in the corner trying to get the cork off the corkscrew, the guy kept grabbing me, and then groping my arse….? Assuming he was just drunk and trying not to fall over (how naive am i) - i ignored it, however he then asked Seiko did I have a girlfriend, and when I said yes, he got down on his knee and proclaimed he was really jealous - ok, so now those warning bells were ringing….

Not really too much time to think about it though as by now Seiko had swung her arms around and thrown red wine all over the wall and floor! I started to mop it, at which point matey thought best to help my hands along
I now decided it would just be best to try and ignore them, so went across the room to the computer and pretended to be on the phone. This kinda worked, but I could see in the background Seiko had opened another bottle of wine?!?!

There’s no point me going into detail here, but for the next hour or so, cue just noise and them just coming in my room and rolling on the bed and stuff… including the guy starting to try on all my clothes, then takign my new jumper and dragging himself along the floor all around the apartment in it? No wait, Seiko gave him the jumper, yes thats right - she took it and gave it to him, then he started to roll around the floor in it.

Damnit, I’m so angry - I bet this writing is terrible - but at least it’s written with passion
So finally Seiko passes out, so I assumed the guy would leave, but no, he just sits in the frontroom and starts going through my Japanese folder. I dont know what to do now, i just want him gone, but it’s obvious he’s not going to.

So I keep typing, when wham! He has opened up Seikos packet of salmon (like the whole thing) and thrown it onto my bed!?! Like WHAT THE F*CK?!?

I ring Shimpei to ask him what to do, but I guess in reality there was nothing he could do - he did offer to speak to the guy, but i wasn’t so sure this would be a good idea…..

You know, there was like loads more, but I’m so angry I can’t fully remember - the upshot was, as soon as he finally left the room, I turned off all the lights - he came back in, sat around talking to himself for sometime and now has finally left.

However - I now have another god damn dilema - if Seiko doesn’t know who he is, surely he shouldn’t be sleeping with her?!? I don’t know, I jsut don’t know - she also is supposed to be up early tomorrow to go on some boat cruise somewhere, so what will happen to him?!!??

This is insane.

Just when things were starting to get better - but now I just think, “I came to Tokyo for Seiko and so far she has f*cked up my house, f*cked up my new year (which was a big BIG deal to me, though i didn’t show it, whats the point) and now there’s these other issues with her just getting trashed - I could have taken JET, been earning £19k a year and have access to loads of Japanese people…. but I turned it down to be with her, and its just not getting me anywhere….

Helen, I apologise for ever having any problems with you - now I have found Seiko, you are just like a little angel
I will read over this again in the morning, see if I have missed anything, but now I just want to go to bed - try and forget it ever happened. And then begin my 7 day week….. fantastic - thanks a lot.

Well, only a few days late anyway Yes family, you will be pleased to know your parcel finally got here, and was met with quite a great deal of excitement (probably more by the girls! they found is very imteresting!! :D)

w00t! So we now have some decorations up - I was also tempted to take the time to turn my table box into a christmas tree - but seeing the cost of paint, it was then time to change my mind… lol…

So here you go, Christmas in Japan
[IMG=205]
[IMG=211]
[IMG=207]

That was the front room - my camera doesn’t seem to do a very wide angle, so couldn’t get it all in, but my bedroom didn’t escape the chrimbo treatment either …

[IMG=208]

With even Usagi getting into the sprit with his own little red tree
[IMG=210]

So THANK YOU MUM AND DAD - I might even leave it up for the whole year - it looks kinda cool in here… hurrah!

So what else, well basically been doing loads of work over the last day or so, getting the new server secured and some crazyness with DNS and anonymous name servers sorted. Then the rest of the time programming Gowry’s school reunion site, which is FINALLY done… but I won’t post the URL until she has added her bits and things…

Yesterday Shimpei was around to do our talk about room changes - but it was a kinda pointless thing as no one really wanted to do it - so it went like this:

Shimpei (to Seiko) - Would you change room.
Seiko (to Shimpei) - Not if I still have to pay £500 a month

And that was it, we didn’t talk about the frontroom or anything. But to be honest, at the moment I’m happy as I like looking out the window when I work (which I couldn’t do in her room) and as the schools are on holiday there is no noise in the morning…

As for the privacy thing, well, maybe now things will change - the TV is now in Seikos room and I always have my music on, so maybe it’s just pretty obvious. I don’t want to rock the boat at the moment, as we are all getting on quite well - so I think for now, let’s just let it go…

Of course, if it all goes pear shaped a bit later down the line, we can have our talk then - at least we know there is an issue now - so maybe people will see the light
Well excuse me ladies and gents, but now I feel like some food (I was working so hard yesterday I missed all my meals :eek:) so I shall bid ye farewell….

Huzzah!