Pasta: Eat with spoon. (For you, DeResta, I made Calamari Pasta last night)
How about the supermarket? My god, the fish section is amazing. Hamachi, salmon, ahi, whale, whale blubber, squid, uni, otoro, toro, you name it, it’s there and it’s good. The produce is amazing too. Every piece of fruit and every vegetable looks fit to be in an advertisement.
I went for a run this morning at 6:30am (more on that later), and on the return, I ate an apple and some grapes that were growing by the side of the road. The care they give the orchard apples definitely makes a difference: this apple was just a normal apple. The grapes, however, were wonderful, and with nobody looking on, I could eat the skin and spit out the seeds. Hah!
Back to the 6am crap. The time is different here. It’s dark around 5:30, and light around 5am. Because it gets dark so early, I want to sleep earlier than at home, and so I wake up really early. It’s disconcerting; I’ve never been a morning person, and waking up at 5:30, wanting to sleep more, and unable to is freaking me out. I’m dealing with this by running and doing yoga at ungodly hours like 6:30am. I’m trying to ignore what my clock says, but it’s a bit like looking at the world upside-down and trying to imagine the sky being down.
I now feel like I’ve been over here forever. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I try not to think too much about my friends, windsurfing, my condo, and running on Baldwin Beach in the winter. If I think about those things, I start to panic about giving them up. So, it’s easier to pretend that this is my life, which for now, it is. My other life is still there, I know, and will still be there after 10 months, but I think it’s very hard for me to make sacrifices and changes. Also, I guess it’s true that you can’t get away from yourself; I think I was hoping to become a relaxed homebody, instead of an exercise-obsessed ADHD child, by coming over here. However, I find it very hard to sit still and study, which is what I really should be doing. I am, however, managing to sit and work on my website a bit – the evidence of that is that you’re reading what should only be my personal journal.
Akemi-san, my host,is a tennis player. We played for a bit today, and I was taking it easy on her until she let it be known that she’s played for 30 years and had a coach for the last seven. Even though she hasn’t played for almost a year, and even though she’s 25 years older than me, she’s a good tennis partner. I think maybe she’ll be putting me to shame once she’s back in tennis shape. The tennis courts here are covered with Astroglide, I mean Astroturf, with sand swept over the top. They play normally until you hit a low, fast shot, and then the ball doesn't bounce - it skids. Fun!
Tomorrow is my first day of work. I’ll be heading off to the office at 7:45 or so, which sounded ungodly until I realized that waking up at what’s normally halfway through my sleepytime is doable here. Yes, I’ll be off to work in my ugly, grey, That’s Swank, fifteen dollar suit. Maybe I’ll take a picture so all of you can laugh at me.
I miss all of you. I hope everything is well for all of you. Email me and keep me up on the gossip!
Also, I haven't been able to be my normal filthy-mouthed self since I got here. So, this is for everyone: FUCK SHIT GODDAMNIT (that's for Primo) MOTHERFUCKER ASSHOLE PUSSY COCK ASS BLOWJOB BITCH and while I'm at it: @#*% &*$ IS GREAT! Ha ha ha!
Thank you very much. I feel better now. Off to sushi in 15. Have to stop typing. Wish I had an internet connection so I could email and message y'all!
