Girl power

It`s quite possible I over-reacted slightly in my last blog entry. Been a bit stressed sorting out my trip to the UK and had too many alcohol-related late nights to think straight. I had a bit of a get-together in the George last night and it`s weirdly set everything back in place. A few of the teachers here still lack they imagination to do anything with a woman if they`re not going to fuck her, but some of the saner ones reminded me that these losers are in a minority and it`s probably why they had to leave home in the first place. Strange that some of these pearls of wisdom came from a Stretch Armstrong-alike ex-stripper called Troy. We spent much of the early hours of this morning berating these leonards and describing just where they go in the food chain.

On Friday, I met Atsuko for lunch and we did a bit of window shopping. She helped me reserve a seat (well, she fully reserved the seat, I stood beside her and nodded `hai` a few times) on the coach to the airport. I have to get to the station at 5.40am. Ugh. This week I have to sort out my re-entry visa and pack. I have just remembered that I hate travelling, particularly from airports. I love flying - except when I get a bit claustrophobic - but having to get to airports on time and making sure I check in at the right place always drive me insane. Having missed two flights last year due to my own stupidity, I expect to sleep 0 minutes on Saturday (always a performance-enhancing exercise).

After meeting Atsuko I treated myself to an entirely unnecessary `cheek pillow` for the flight. It`s a small, scented pillow with a cute face and arms to keep me company on the journey. I am not sure I`ll use it though. It seems a shame to grubby its sweet little face with make-up, then I came home and spoke to Jo at length about the ridiculous similarities between Greece and Japan. We do seem to have found ourselves experiencing very similar things, possibly inevitable if you leave quite a progressive country and move a man`s paradise.

Today I met Sean for lunch and then took him to the international supermarket under Omiya station, where he paid a small fortune to treat us to feta cheese and olives. Thank you, Sean. It was worth every yen. When I get back to England, I am going to spend the entire time gorging on olives, brie, ham doorstep sandwiches and butterscotch Angel Delight. I may throw in the odd bag of prawn cocktail crisps too. Sashimi is all well and good, but there`s nothing better than a big plate of carbohydrates. (Japan has finally discovered the Atkins Diet and is unlikely to be stopped by any warnings of developing bad breath, seeing as it is already suffering a severe epidemic.)

The woman-hating new teacher (who apparently likes me, though I am difficult, opinionated and Western-looking), was in the pub last night trying to crack on to Kaori. Ridiculously and very short-sightedly, seeing as he met Kaori, along with Yukako and Nozomi, the night he snogged Yukako and tried to get me to steer her towards his room when she was so drunk she was about to collapse. Kaori reported all this back to me, along with the ADoS`s adolescent attempts to get to Yukako through Kaori. I love being the female gaijin today! I get to hear of all the failed attempts of my colleagues to pull my mates, it`s hilarious. I also seem to have the power to veto any relationships I deem unworthy as they don`t trust their own judgements because I have dismissed so many of their idols as losers. I should probably stop doing that, but it can sometimes give you the creeps when you see a huge, buck-toothed loser letching on a nubile 21-year-olds Anglophile.

I`ve also had the amusement/consternation of possible date, Takakun, to deal with this week. I really need to study Japanese dating more than anything else in the world. I have no idea about how it works (I understand how it works for the Japanese girls with gaijin men, both seem to accept the first offer, regret it later and cheat at leisure). It seems, rather than being polite about it, if someone asks you out and you are busy, you either refuse to reply or replying saying no and expect them to continue fielding possible dates and times until the woman offers up something convenient. Not seeming all that dignified to me, I was ready to throw in the towel, but was encouraged to continue by my female friends (`it is always a good time to email`). I eventually got an explanation that his work was busy, but he wants to stay in touch, so all may be well, but I do need to explain that my Japanese is not quite up to native fluency yet. All his emails are packed with kanji and I either have to get a friend to translate or send it back and ask for hiragana only messages. I am not sure why, when the Japanese spend years of their own childhoods writing and rewriting these things to ensure they remember them, they expect a lazy foreigner who has been here less than a year to know as many kanji characters as them.