Geijin

hello, friends,

i am here! rob is going to email me the picture he took of me coming through the door of the airport, so i will post that as soon as i get it. given the circumstances, i dont look too awful.

a word or two about the computer on which i am working and my computer skills: i am in an internet cafe (thanks, yahoo!) as rob doesnt have computer. there is some LOUD undefinable music playing. the japanese, i am sorry to say, do not have such great taste in music. in regard to my ability on this computer, i cannot seem to find the apostrophe, so my contractions will look funny. get over it.

i landed on monday at sapporo/chitose airport around 8PM. we drove the 50 minutes or so to robs crib (that is what HE says, not me...), after i grabbed some food and beverage: two cans of classic beer and a 6-pack of octopus. how's that for plunging in?

let me paint a picture of the darling little "apartment" occupied by the sibling. like all japanese houses, there is a bathroom with a little sink; in robs case, it is just in front of the front door. you then enter (after taking off one's (hey, i found the apostrophe button!) shoes) a large-ish room, where he has a collection of random furniture. a fridge, a euro-style kitchen, two comfy recliner chairs, a little coffee-table. there are two futons on what i think is called a "tatami" mat. a little shower room. it is cozy, but rob, alas, has not inherited the tidying skills present in the other volansky siblings. i gave it the old college try, but settled for buying myself two clean towels and some sheets and called it a day.

after dropping off my stuff monday night, i washed up a bit and then we did what any self-respecting volansky would do in a new country: found the beer garden. there is a huge outdoor beer garden here in the middle of sapporo and it is where the salarymen get drunk after work. like a british pub, it closes at 10PM, so rob and i got some beers from a ubiquitous "conveni" and joined a bunch of rob's friends -- a group of really swell JETs (insert finger snaps here...), former JETs ("once your a jet...") and others from the US, ireland, australia, germany, scotland and other such faraway places. the JET program is in the middle of a transition, as some are leaving and the new ones are arriving, so there are "farewell" parties. i jumped right into the mix, offering some quips and etc, while taking some group shots.

i was then shot, so we called it a day.

that was monday.

i am going to post this, and then launch into tuesday on another post. points for the individual who knows what "geijin" without looking it up.

hope all is well in the homeland...

peacelovegodbless,
volansake