蛤の
ふたみにわかれ
行秋ぞ

How can I suck every last minute out of my time here? I am stressed with school, but I am about to let it go. School is important, but my friends here are more important. School is for personal gain. These people I will never see again. To waste these last minutes I am here would be a terrible loss.

I added "life in America" to my list of categories. Do I over-prepare or what?

I have been doing some lyric translating for a Japanese metal band, and wasn't surprised to find out that the guy I was working with was the bass player. I'm a bass player too, and I used to take on all kinds of projects in the bands I was in. I think it's because I always felt like I had to be the one to get things done.

I find that similarity with lots of other bass players. Hard working, smart, maybe a little less confident than guitarists and singers. But at least we aren't drummers:)

We finally made it through this chapter, where we diverged from the book and had to write 8 versions of basically the same composition. I still have to write the last one.

A school where I substitute taught at a few months ago called me yesterday and offered me about 8 days of work, which basically solves my money problems. Now unless something terrible happens, I should have a few hundred in the bank when I get back to the states. And now I can have my morning coffee at the cafe near school, as opposed to a handful of free public restroom toilet water.

I can walk to work from my house, which is basically unimaginable for most Tokyo dwellers. The teaching is easy work and the people are nice. What a relief and a pleasant surprise.

That's what we are doing in class. Reading and explaining graphs. Pretty dry. For some reason though, I kind of like it. Maybe because I have a "GOOD ATTITUDE®". Not really. It's good to learn things other than the basic conversation. On a bulletin board, someone once said, "Unless you can tell me how to tie my shoes, you aren't bilingual". I think the same could be said for explaining a bar graph.

Yesterday's Search Terms:

"means yesterday in japanese" - Kino or more formal, Sakujitsu. Same Kanji:昨日

On the basic wordpress.com dashboard, I can see the search keywords people used to get here. I'll try to post the answers, if I can. Even though people might not bother coming back, it's good practice for me. Yesterday, for example:

"Japanese word for night" - that's easy. 夜-Yoru. Late at night is usually "深夜"-Shinya.

The next one was not so easy:

"Every Japanese word and what they mean"

Might I suggest Jim Breen's online Dictionary. Sounds like someone has a very demanding teacher.

I wake up, exercise, meditate, write in my journal, go to work, come home and write some more or make music. I  am a vegetarian, but I also can smoke 2 cigarettes a week, and not crave anymore than that. My apartment has no AC, because I don't like it, and it is furnished with a futon, desk with a small laptop, and a dresser. Other than a few books, I have no other possessions. The kitchen has a rice cooker and hot water pot for tea and coffee and a hot plate.

Every morning, as I think of what I have to do that day, tasks pile up, and I get a feeling of dread in my gut. Like yesterday, even when friends want to do something, there is a certain resistance. Like all my time is  being taken away. I am meeting friends in Omotesando tonight, and yesterday I wanted to do it. Today, it's a hassle.

I have less than 6 weeks left in Japan. I have started hearing from friends, some staying longer, some leaving the same time, who want to get together. I want to see them, but my financial situation is pretty grim. I am scraping together the money for a birthday present for my girlfriend.

The books we use at school are the Kanji Master series-