DearScotty

It’s been a while since I’ve complained about the school lunch. I’m sure part of it is because I’ve gotten used to most of it but, more importantly, I believe they’ve just stopped making really bad food all together. Well, today they broke their streak of providing decent meals for lunch. Today’s main dish was bird’s nest. I approached my plate with caution as I tried to discern what brown jumbled mess lay before me. I sat down and studied the gunk piling high. It looked like twigs, pine, laundry dryer lint, and other odd things you’d find in a bird’s nest, yet it was darker as if the nest was soaked in black ink. Truly baffled, I asked the secretary next to me what this dish was. She said it was black sea grass and tarp with processed fish. I responded with, “It’s not very pretty is it?” She gave her usual response when asked about odd food dishes and said, “No, it’s not pretty, but it’s healthy.” As she was finishing up her sentence the vice principal entered and dumped his bird nest into the trash. I asked him whether or not he liked the dish. He said, “Diet, I’m on a diet” then proceeded to slap his belly. Immediately I told the secretary, “Guess he doesn’t know it’s healthy.”

Today I signed my intent NOT to re-contract. My two years in small town Japan will be over next July. I will probably have to give a good bye speech to the kids. The usual speech will probably motivate the kids to continue learning English while demonstrating that they’ve changed my life. I’m sure the kids haven’t learned anything, and my life hasn’t changed much. I would love to take the piss but I’m sure it won’t get translated properly. Now that I know the leash is coming off I feel a lot more relaxed, especially in class. I could care less if the kids goof off or attempt to destroy the lesson. Go a head, fine by me. Now that I’m set to start grad school at UCLA in the fall, the students’ lack of joy to play Jeopardy doesn’t bother me a bit..
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Besides catching up on a decades worth of TV shows that I’ve failed to ever watch, to kill some time I like to jam on the guitar. I’ve never formally introduced her so, here goes. I bought James for a few hundred bucks when I first arrived in Japan. I don’t know who James is, but he makes good guitars. Playing in between episodes of The Daily Show and Colbert Report can get quite boring so I’ve decided to get a band together. My friend Shou is an amazing guitar player, who makes my guitar skills look like a five year old playing a squeaky recorder. That said, I have demoted myself to bassist. The only joy in this is getting to buy myself a new bass. My previous basses have been beginner basses, except one that was a step up from beginner. So, this time around I decided to go all out and get me a manly yet beautiful bass.

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