first, before i bitch and moan about work and other stuff, i have to get my thoughts on my christmas vacation finished. from an e-mail to a friend: "the northern part of my town is basically becoming a shopping mecca, which, though convinient, is also rather disturbing. i kinda wish that the merchants that be had merely built the barnes and nobles and left it at that. instead, there's a super wal-mart, a 20 screen cineplex, a hollywood video, grocery store, home and office depot, and a ton of other stuff. long live the american consumer. :-p i also got to see a real live nhl game (brought my mom along, actually. she does *not* have city instincts, unfortunately). went to the georgia dome saw tech lose to an inferior team in the peach bowl. also went to a mini-five year high school reunion, which was pretty weird...it was basically 15 people who were in most of my classes with me, and about half ended up going to tech. the hs people had classes with...it's weird, because it's like you revisit all your adolescent conceptions, but as an adult. you gain insight into your classmates that you hadn't previously, along the lines of "gee, i didn't ever notice his/her crippling personality flaw when i was 18!" high school's fun to visit, but i wouldn't wanna live there again. i like my classmates, but the friends i have now (some of whom are old classmates) pretty much kick ass. um, i got a boatload of dvds and videogames for my dreamcast. and...stuff. so those were my holidays. and now i'm back in japan, refreshed and not nearly as homesick as before."
notes on the above: the tech game was beyond suck. tech basically dominated the first half, but couldn't put lsu away b/c they kept turning the ball over. then, in the second half, the defense finally gave out. i brought a souvenier plastic cup back with me. after the game, the friend with whom i went got really sick. so all in all, i imagine he's had better nights (as have i). the wednesday before i left, the gang (matt, brandy, todd, catherine, mike, jill, alan, and deb) assembled for one last round of trivia, and my sister even came along, which was an pleasant surprise. unfortunately, we didn't even come close to winning, but that's okay.
now, the whining. first off, i'd been trying to get a jogging routine going the past couple of weeks, but all i've got to show for it now is a pulled calf. i've been trying to play basketball on it, which hasn't exactly helped it heal. it's actually not that bad if i don't run on it, and it's been getting a lot stronger (practiced tonight, and was sinking a decent number of shots), but there's still a wall it seems to hit after 15 or so minutes. but i don't plan to do any intense physical activity until this thursday, when the junior high plays the town office team again. we got absolutely killed last time, and it's mainly b/c of crappy defense, and a lack of offensive execution. i got like 8 or 10 points, but my calf really slowed me down. before i left for america, i'd become a pretty big shot-blocking presence, but that's gone right now. i just hope that, in resting my calf, i don't lose my outside shot. due to constant practice, i've become really confident shooting the j. anyway, other stuff...
i'm beginning to appreciate elementary school, especially the younger classes. the students' enthusiasm is really quite a rush for me. and japanese children are so amazingly cute! this past thursday, however, was kind of a bummer in a way, as one of the teachers pretty much dominated my time, absolutely insisting that i eat lunch with her class. she kind of freaks me out, and she's a major gaijin groupie. i dunno, maybe i'm being kind of harsh, but when people demand my attention/time/money, it bugs the hell out of me. those are the kind of people i distance myself from back in america. energy vampires, i think is the term i'm looking for.
speaking of which, there's a pretty clingy-type lady at the church i attend as well. she's like over 30, single (which she let me know in no uncertain terms when i met her a couple of weeks ago), and just really creepy. i don't know how to signal that i'm not interested in someone ten years older than i am without being rude, but for crying out loud! i hate it when people intrude on my boundaries without being invited. but there are cool people at the church, too, which is the main reason i keep going back. hopefully i can develop some honest-to-goodness friendships with nice, non-clingy japanese people while i'm here.
been listening to: nile, children of bodom, the old 97s, and opeth