clammy

What's with the weather? It was lovely and hot last week and now its cold, rainy and humid. Cold and humid is just clammy and unpleasant.

Last Thursday I met Jo and we went to the aquarium for a few hours. I didn't really have the money for it, but never mind. Lots of pretty fish, dolphins and killerwhales, and I felt relaxed when I went home afterwards. I see why they put fishtanks in doctor's surgeries and dentist's waiting rooms. I managed to claw through the last few days of the week on the tiny amount of money I had left, swearing I wouldn't put myself in the same position next month.

I went up to Inuyama on Sunday and we went to Kei's for a couple of drinks and some food (because Kei, cunning fellow, lets Iain run a tab - a bad idea if ever I heard one). On Monday morning I was terrified in case the money hadn't gone in to my account and I would be stuck in Inuyama with no way to get back to Nagoya, but Halelujah! I was rich.
On Tuesday night I had awful insomnia so instead of being well-rested and ready for my first Japanese lesson on Wednesday morning, I was blearily replying to Iain's drunken text messages at four in the morning. I got up at nine feeling like going to a class was the last thing in the world that I wanted to do, but I've had enough of not being able to string a sentence together. I have been studying some stuff from a book and my vocabulary isn't too bad, but I don't get enough practice at using it. A lot of Nova teachers go to the language classes at Higashi Betsuin Women's centre. Ten classes for 1,800 yen - about 8 pounds - you can see why they're so popular. The only problem is that it's at ten am on my weekend, but never mind. I'll have to make the effort. I got up there just in time and joined my first class. The class was very mixed - there were 4 Chinese, 1 Taiwanese, 3 Koreans, 2 Canadians, 1 Indian, 1 Egyptian, an English guy and myself. The class itself was pretty fun and moved along quickly; just about everyone seemed to know basic greetings and how to say your name. I didn't know how to say where I came from, so yay, I learned something new. The teacher, Mitzuki, was great and everyone warmed to her - except one guy. He stood up in in the middle of the class and said, "I have a problem." I thought he was going to say, "I have to leave now, I'm sorry," but instead he said, "There is a problem with this class."
"Oh? What's the matter?"
"You said that this man is from Taiwan, but this is not so." The other Chinese students gave him dark looks, wanting him to shut up but he kept going. "Taiwan is part of China. He is not from Taiwan. He is from China."
Mitzuki smiled and said, "Olu says he is from Taiwan, so don't you think he can come from where he likes?"
"But this is wrong, Taiwan is part of China and-"
"-I love this class! Isn't it wonderful? We have so many people from so many different places!" Mitzuki beamed, all sweetness. You wouldn't want to pick a fight with her. "This is our own world in this classroom. We can learn about so many wonderful places. If he says he is from Taiwan, that is where he is from."
"This is wrong-"
"He's from Taiwan."
Everyone in the room glared$ at the man like they wanted him to crawl back under his rock. He slithered back into his seat. The lesson continued. I couldn't believe anyone would go to the bother of dragging an arguement like that to another country and into a classroom where he was going to have to get along with Olu for another 9 weeks. I almost felt sorry for him for making such a fool of himself, but he had been so self-righteous I couldn't find any sympathy for him at all.

I met Iain later and we went for curry (there's a cheap buffet place close to Kanayama station) and he nursed his hangover and smashed thumb.
"How did you do that?"
"Stupid taxi driver shut my finger in the door."
"Looks sore."
"I can't feel the top part at all."

It was raining and we were both knackered. The idea of doing anything strenuous didn't appeal at all, so we whiled away a happy hour or so in the odd second-hand music shop with a taste for obscure indie (watching Iain in there, the phrase 'kid in a candy shop' has never been more apt) and left with an armload of CDs. After a lengthy debate between three assistants in the videoshop who couldn't work out the year of my birth (they go by years of emperor's reigns - I was born in year 55 of Hirohito's reign as it turns out - but this system is only any good if your clerks can remember when the emperor came to the throne), the spottiest one finally gave me a video card and I was free to rent videos. The rest of the day was spent vegging in front of the TV and it was good.