Windy

It's a rainy day in Tokyo, so I decided to stay inside. Inside is at Karryn's house, who was kind enough to offer me her roommates place while he's away in the Netherlands. Yesterday I accompanied her to a yoga class she teaches and twisted myself into exhaustion. When we arrived home Karryn cooked a vegetarian meal and her other roommate Tony and I watched a Japanese game show about competing magicians.

Today I cozied up in a blanket and started a novel about a Japanese girl who goes to San Francisco to get married, but when she arrives her fiancee dumps her for a skinny American blond girl. Determined to never return to Japan Midori sets off to create her own future in America. I read for awhile then heard the gentle ringing of distant bells calling for me to come outside in the rain. I put on my giant red rain jacket and headed for the glass sliding door leading to the street. When I approached the door I heard the familiar rushing noise of a door opening and then walked full faced into the glass door. It turns out that the other side had opened and instead of air I was greeted with a face full of pain, if there had been a camera I'd have won a good deal of money on American's funniest home videos. I checked my head for blood and when I found none I enjoyed a hearty full bodied laugh. When I had fully recovered from my fit I saw an old woman bent over at the waist trying to carrying a couple bags of groceries and an umbrella. She seemed to be struggling so I asked if I could help. She looked up at me and her eyes sparkled and she said, "domo arigato gozimasu." I took the groceries and she tried her best to keep the umbrella over us both even though I was three or more feet taller than her. We didn't say much but walked VERY slowly toward what I could only assume was her house. When we arrived she thanked me again and said, "chotto matte." So I waited, and soon enough she returned after a couple of minutes with a bunch of cookies and treats.

I stepped out onto the street once more my head to the wind and popped a cookie into my mouth. I scanned the vicinity for a lunch spot and found one. Places in Tokyo have very small restaurants, this one had only three tables, one of which was a single. I sat down, shaking off the rain, and ordered the only thing I understood on the menu. "Chikun Kuri." After lunch I returned to the apartment and read a couple manga in english. Tonight Beau, Karryn, Casey and I are all headed to an underground ping pong bar. My plan is to tell everyone I'm terrible, make massive bets, then use the money to feed the homeless...which at the moment is me.