My Life Is Terrible

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, but don't think it's because I've been busy. I haven’t. It’s because going into the second year of JET hasn't been like into the first. You've changed. Most people won't notice, but deep down you're not as stimulated or as tolerant of Japan and it's proud beautiful people. You probably won't even notice.

Anyway as I saying, every little slitty eyed, raw fish eating, chopstick wasting thing is new and exciting in the first year. This time round it’s been there, done that, got the pixelated porn. It’s an effort to make new friends and it’s a bitch that cool friends, well let’s not go that far, let's say, people you recognised from yearly meetings but you never talked to because they weren't interesting, have left. You know you’ve got problems when most of your friends in Japan are gay or from Birmingham. Stop me if I’m being negative.

No, I’ll stop myself, because that’s how I was feeling. But gosh darn it, you can’t keep a good hentai down, and now I’m back having a great time with loads of new frie…loads of new people I recognise at meetings.

I’m referring to events that occurred at the Welcome Weekend, the annual (my second) get together for new and old JETs to get down dirty and bond, all night long in cabins in the mountains. This is the place where life long (year long) companions are met, life long (year long) friendships forged and a comrade's over night stay in an unexpected cabin grants him a standing ovation in the morning. As long as foreigners are getting drunk and fooling around with other foreigners in strange and wonderful places, all is right with the world.

Is this analysis hypocritical of my description on Manx social life only three posts below? Yeah, slightly. Maybe it’s because my hot-damn girlfriend went and left for prospectin' in the US of Hey and gave me no other choice but to go ahead and have a terrible time with these incorrigible wretches.

Want to see some wretches? Here’s me having a terrible time at WW II.

Wanna see my crocodile impression?

I win! Alcopops melted my teeth first!

If I let go, my tongue will fall out.

Jump in my car.

Pete, Crags and JJ, this one's for you.

I dedicate this entry to my hard working friends at home. Were it not for them, I would still be driving round Japan illegally, like I had been doing since my international driving license ran out on July 25th.

When an international license runs out, the done thing is to take your country's license in and they give you a nice Japanese one. Folks from the US have to take a test. HA HA! Folks from the UK just get it handed to them.

The licensing office in Toyama had unsurprisingly never seen a Manx driving license and neither had the head office in Tokyo. This proved to be a unique problem for them. They needed hard evidence of this 'country' I call home, and asked me to provide it in the shape of a mate's driving license, so they knew that there were others that looked exactly like mine.

So thank you Crags, for the 'will he/won't he fax me his' in time suspense. It arrived just in time for my final appointment at the licensing office. What a pity your license is the old style, looks completely different from mine and was completely useless. Still, that's not your fault.

Pete, with my last minute email to you, I held out little hope for a reply in time. What can I say, you surprised me. A full colour license scan was in my inbox by the morning of the appointment. It's thanks to you that I am now the first Manx person to get a Japanese driving license. And I didn't even have to read the green cross code.

And JJ, you did fuck all, but since you were in the picture I thought I would mention you. Get your act together JJ.

Now that I have my license, I can get back to doing what I like best. I'll let the Hoff explain..

Goals for September

As a new year starts in Japan, so does a new Rich. A better Rich. A more goal orientated Rich. So, on the advice from wise old Dad and entrepreneur in-the-making Brother , I have decided to set more goals. Lets see what we can come up with for September, shall we?

Exercise at least 3 times every week (healthy).
Sell something on eBay to kick start my entrepreneurial system (weathly).
Read at least 1 book this month (wise).

You can't beat that, but here's a couple of others.
Book and pay for a Christmas holiday to Australia. Done this one today actually.
Wake up earlier than I have to. They say it makes you productive. It makes me tired.
Try not to be one of those pervert teachers. Today during the school uniform check all the students must go through at the start of a new term, some of the girls decided they also wanted to physically check each others breasts as well. Cool, but oh so wrong.

I'll be checking back in a month to see how I've done.