Whole Lotta Nothin'

Yeah, it's been a while since I've posted. I blame my apathy wholly on the weather. Nothing but whiplash winds pretty much since I've gotten here. There's been breaks and sunny days, but mainly I've been growing a beard and watching waay too much Battlestar Galactica (I can tell you right now, it's no 'Firefly', but it's all I got right now).

I mean, I have been doing stuff. A couple weekends ago, I went back to Kozu for the high school's graduation ceremony. Man, what a downer!







All the students were crying and shuffling their feet. I guess since they've all grown up together and now they're striking out on their own for the first time, I could see being a little nervous. But I thought for sure there'd be the one bullied kid who'd take his diploma, give everyone the finger, and shout, "Sayonara, fuckers!" But no one did.

I've also been kicking ass,














and taking names,
















getting wasted with junior high teachers and teaching them how to sing Foreigner songs correctly.
















Hey! Some people still believe, alright? Don't take their dreams away.
















I've been scouting out bits of interesting nature
(Wakago is the other town in Niijima and they have their own black sand beach)















and going to bars and parties and trying the local Niijima delicacies such as chicken heart, pig ears (great with beer!), and mutant snails.






They tasted, mm...okay.






















I've been trying to get involved in my local community.

(One of the high school students, Takae, in her traditional dance costume)

The high school has some totally rad taiko drummers. I've caught some of their... um, shows? concerts? drum circles?










Whatever you call it. It's a workout just to play these huge, resonating drums. Anna may look like a lil' teen queen, but she could probably kill me with one stroke with her giant drumstick.
















Of course, all these shenagins don't come without a price. I had some serious dehydration and intestinal issues when I made the wise decision to head to the onsen after a drinking party involving shochu, whiskey, sake, beer, and some weird coffee gelatin. And last weekend I got drunk, talked a little too much shit at an Uno game, and lost a good portion of my hair.







Yeah, I know, Uno. Pathetic. But somebody had to make the party interesting. I took one for the team.







So, it's just a matter of riding out the winter and finding things to do. Fer chrissakes, I'm going to Chicago next week, it's not like I'm gonna claw my face off. And I did have a recent invitation to go check out the local slaughterhouse. And I still don't even know where the bowling alley is.

Lots to do, lots to do....