Bye Bye Scooter

I officially sold my Malaguti Yesterday scooter today. There is no point leaving it in the garage while I will be away for probably one year or more. I will miss it as it sipped petrol and was always useful parking in the city.

I am in the city today as a matter of fact for the last time. It feels very strange not being at work this morning. I brought my Bop It that I got from Angus & Robertson and exchanged it at Target for the last black one there was. Trivial I know, but white can get dirty and black looks oh so expensive.

All around the city there are so many asians, mostly korean I believe. You might think I had a thing for asian girls. Yes, they can be very kawaii but I don't base my rating of attraction on race. There is more to it than that right?

I may finally buy my plane ticket today. Once I've done that there is no turning back is there?

Last day at work

This is my last day working in this construction industry call centre. It has been almost 6 and a half years since I started so I was feeling a little emotional. I said my goodbyes to all the people I have worked with over the years. 

Later on, we went to Arrivederci's (how appropriate) to have last drinks and pizza. There was a good turnout. I've always been afraid that if I organised a get together and no one came I would be so embarrassed. Cue flashback from Grade 7 when I went for sports captain. I stood up for the counting of the votes and I only got one vote which luckily was my own vote. So, all good tonight then. 

Last to leave was Gina and Kath about 9pm. Thanks girls, much appreciated! I caught the train alone to the city and went to the Dub. Always a good place to meet the travellers of the world and every once in a while pick-up. I'm just doing my best for international relations! I talked to Dan from England (just talk, I'm not gay okkkay?). On the dance floor he did some stupid dance moves that the asian girls loved. I must use this tactic as it's better not to be as self-conscious as I am. 

 I caught my bus at about 2am. I had a little cry on the walk home. All these things are really starting to get to me.

Bop It Extreme 2

I bought a new toy. It literally is a toy. It's called a Bop It Extreme 2. It makes a drum beat and you have to do the actions it tells you. ("Twist it,spin it" etc) until it catches you out. It may come in handy in teaching. That's what I've told myself but between you and me I don't really want to grow up.

Everyone Knows!

It won't be long before I am going overseas. Today, just about everyone knows that I am going. News gets around so damn quickly in this place. They said that I have to quit work here but my job is safe when I come back.

One person said I was going because I wanted to pick up a lot of Japanese girls. Well I'd be lying if this wasn't one of the reasons, but having said that there are plenty of asian girls (Korean and Japanese) here so it would be a pretty crazy thing going for solely that reason.

I guess I need to do this to grow as a person and to me this adventure is a holiday and working rolled into one. Tonight we went to do lawn bowls. Exciting because the company are paying for food and drinks. I'm going to miss that.

SoH Medical Checkup

Today I sent the medical checkup details for the last 2 days before this that I had the medical done as well as the chest x-ray that is required by the Japanese Government. I said to them that it was for a pre-employment medical which was a big mistake. It cost me $132 to have basically a hearing, eye test and urine check. This is NOT covered by medicare so I didn't get a cent back. The X-ray was done the previous morning and I was asked the same question. The lady doing the x-ray said she didn't hear that so that it got bulk-billed. There are some kind people in this world after all.

The "Bu"

I have a bit of a story to tell. It may be best if I work on this backwards.. 

 I caught what I thought was the last train back home from Shibuya, but it looked like it stopped a few stops short of Yokohama. This was a problem. It was only 1am and about four hours before the first train would start in the morning. 

 An elderly man pulled up in his car asking where I was needing to go. It was not a marked taxi and he didn't have a cap on. I told him I had no money but he talked Japanese, so I had no idea what he said. I didn't see any meter, so I figured it was one of the kind Japanese people.... I was wrong. 

 After a while he put on his "official" cap and took it off every now and then. The ride took almost half an hour. Once we got to my home station, he wrote on a piece of paper 6900 yen (about AUS $70). Of course this freaked me out a bit, so I offered him "all" the money in my wallet, which was around AUS $10 and got out of his car. I say all because I DID have another 10000 yen emergency money hidden in my wallet, but I felt I was taken advantage of and the money I had should cover his petrol money. 

 I feel a bit like a fugitive. There aren't too many foreigners in this part of town, so I hope he doesn't report me to the police. I even gave him my name when I thanked him. I REALLY wish I hadn't. 

 Joel and I had some drinks at Shibuya before that. Johnny and Barnaby joined us for dinner at the Udon restaurant. I had chicken udon which although was steaming hot was quite tasty and messy. With chopsticks and slurping, I had a few drops of miso soup on my (thankfully) black shirt. 

 After work we all went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku for a high lookout view.It was too overcast to see Mt Fuji but it was a pretty good place to see the wide expanse of concrete that is Tokyo. Best of all, it was free. 

 Training was tiring, but it always has been. I'm a bit slow to get everything, but I hope I get better. I have to stay back next week to do some follow up training for the teaching demo I didn't do so well, which sucks. Never a dull moment though. I need less dull moments in this lifetime.