I'm really glad I sit by the door in the teacher's room, aside from it being a quick escape. The little garden area outside is truly a world of mystery and splendour. For instance, I always hear loud splashes in the pond, but whenever I turn around, there's nothing there. But the other day I finally caught sight of what the fish are actually doing: freaking out. The gigantic koi actually leap out of the water! Why? I don't know! But it's great. There are also tiny lobsters (or big shrimp, if you look at it that way) who live in the gutters along the sidewalk. Lobsters walk backwards! Yes, folks, we live in a mad world.

Right now, I'm enjoying the breeze and silence. All the teachers are in the gymnasium, listening to gory stories about bike accidents from the life insurance company (which I'm spared from because it's all in Japanese). It's a little bit like being a child, and exempt from real-world, grown up things. Every now and then we get life insurance saleswomen, or textbook saleswomen who make the rounds of the teachers' room, and by now, they know not to bother with me---just smile and give me candy. : )

So, another week has ended, finally, and I have a whole weekend to look forward to wasting. I decided to take it easy this time, not travel very far, and cut back on the spending. I haven't spent an entire weekend at home in a couple weeks, and I'm looking forward to buying a new light for my kitchen and studying Japanese.

So, last weekend I spent the Saturday in Tokyo! It was wonderful. I caught the 8:02 train with my lovely Irish friends, Amir and Louise. Louise had been working nonstop on a dissertation that was due the day before and still not finished, so there was much napping and passing out on her part. We arrived in Tokyo two hours later and had to take another 30 minute train to get to the convention center that was hosting the Tokyo Game Show. Easy peasy right?

Wrong. We got to the station and it was PACKED with nerds of all shapes and sizes heading for the show. Ok, they weren't nerds, but we knew where they were going! We had to stand in massive lines to get our fare adjustments in order to leave the station, which probably took half an hour. Miraculously, I spotted a friend from Hamamatsu in the crowd! Anyways, after fixing our tickets, we walked to the center, which was almost too easy to get into. Just wait in line for two minutes, pay, get your ticket and waltz right in.

The show itself was chaotic, loud, crazy, and packed. It filled three huge halls of the center, and there were booths for games as well as consoles and brands. It was a little like the state fair, only instead of petting zoos and milking stations, there were games and scantily clad Japanese booth girls. I didn't end up playing any of the games (the lines were too long) but one. It was Dragon Quest Monsters for the cellphone, and I waited about ten minutes in line, mindlessly pressed buttons on a cell phone for the length of one battle (all in Japanese), so I could get the cute slime keychain. : ) And it was the only free thing I got... Anyone expecting lots of free gifts was sorely disappointed, although you could shell out the big bucks for game merchandise, sure to set you back and arm and a leg and grant you Numero Uno Nerd Bragging Rights until the next TGS.

However, I wasn't really there for the games.. There was still plenty to see. Cosplayers primped and preened for the cameras in the pathway connecting halls, I think this was my favorite part of the whole show... Kids must have spent countless hours and yen on their costumes, and it showed. Plus, they really hammed it up for the cameramen, which was entertaining in itself. I probably saw a dozen Clouds, in every permutation of the character. There were even people cosplaying for games that haven't yet been released.

But like all good things, TGS ended, and we had to fight more lines for the train ride back to Tokyo. We ate tenpura in beautiful Ginza, and then it was time for me to go home, exhausted and happy.