Me and the Sky

Well, today is another day. The sun is shining in a clear, cloudless sky, and it's almost warm enough in my room to leave the heater off a while, a typical autumn or early winter day here in the Kanto region. I was amazed last night yet again as I stood on the balcony at Richard's apartment while taking a break from watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by how stark and clear the winter sky can be at night. It's a rare thing for us Oregonians, seeing as the rainy season comprises the cold 9 months of the year. Here it's quite the opposite. The dry season is the cold season, and the hot season is the rainy season, which, when you think about it, makes for beautiful but unenjoyably cold winters and lush yet hot, wet and miserably humid summers.
You'll hear the Japanese rave about how spring is the big season here; it's the one to wait for, to be here for, to look forward to and relish in the delicate, fleeting moment between two otherwise miserable seasons. But I'm here to say they're full of it. Horseshit. Spring in Tualatin is warmer, sunnier, significantly less windy, and sports the exact same cherry blossoms as does Japan, minus about 900 years of age. Springtime here is cold. And it's rainy, whatever they say. And if you happen to be lucky enough to have a sunny day coincide with the week, yes 1 single solitary week the blossoms are out, good luck to you getting a spot where you can enjoy them. Literally the entire nation of Japan is in Ueno Park, or Kashiwa No Ha Park, or that little cherry tree a couple blocks down from your house, sprawled out and shitfaced and laughing that your gaijin ass wasn't there three weeks earlier scouting out spots like the locals were, after having stopped by periodically throughout the year to monitor pruning and changes in soil composition.
It's like this with everything though, take undokai, Field Day, for example. It's Field Day, seriously, but parents get there at 4am or earlier to start waiting in line, another long and honored Japanese tradition. And when, at 9am, they open the gates, they have to let people in in groups of 10, because otherwise there would be open fistfighting between the dads who have been elected to go wait in line and secure a good spot to watch their kids, but not really cause it's all just for show, while the moms are back home cooking massive lunches for the family and making sure that their kids wake up on time and are in peak condition for their performa, er, competition.

But alas, I digress. It's sunny today. I woke up with a headache this morning from sleeping with my contacts in again. I think the time in my life to actually use dailies as dailies and not bi-yearlies may be approaching. It's yet another day I haven't heard back from Cerie about going to work to sign my contract, and I get the impression it's going to be a little while before I can do that. I got a call from them last week asking me if I could come in to Kanamachi on Monday to do so, but then on Monday got a message saying that wasn't going to be possible, and another saying that Tuesday and Wednesday were a no go as well, and to wait until I was contacted again. Probably next week, from what I've gathered from the rumor mill.

But as well the rumor mill has brought the interesting news that other people I know living in Abiko are starting work next week, and it's making me wonder why it is I haven't been given a call as well. Neither I nor Richard nor Bryan nor Nathan have, but Christian and Jeremy are going to work in Kita Senju next week. I was given a call from Cerie about going to Kanamachi, so it might just be that I was assigned to that branch and that that particular one isn't ready to open yet, but I also have to wonder if they knew that and sent those two to one that was opening for some undisclosed reason. I know that both of them basically went to work every day until the collapse, and that Bryan and I missed a day or two there at the end, and now I'm wondering if that's Foreign Personnel going through our files and selecting the people that went every day and didn't bail. That's the kind of thing they would never admit to, but I suppose with a little investigation it wouldn't be hard to find if there's a pattern to those they called.

But all the same, it means that the process has started, and that people are going to start getting calls to come in to work, if not now then at least sometime soon, and that's progress. Any progress is good in my opinion, even if I'm still being excluded from those that are being chosen. Hopefully it's just that my branch hasn't been opened yet, but I guess we'll see in time.

So for now, it's just me and the sky. Here in my room, it's hot because only the sunlight comes in. But I know it's cold out there. And when the sun begins to set, there will be nothing to hold that heat in. And who knows, by the time it gets dark, I'll probably be so worried about keeping warm I won't even look outside my window to see the night sky and be surprised by its beauty. But for now, I'll enjoy it.