I panicked about an hour ago about the amount of sitting on my butt (in front of a computer) I do here. So, I found a yoga instructional video on youtube and started to practice my breathing...and stretching, in front of a shiny screen. Then, when my knees and ankles ached about fifteen minutes in, I took a break and decided to change and go for a jog (I would really prefer to say run, but at the speed I was going, I think it can only qualify as a jog even if it peaked at run speed in brief spurts. sigh.).

We'll see how long I can keep this up for.

For both classes, the students segregate themselves by sex. One long row of girls with clusters of guys around them in one class and in the other, guys on one side of the room and girls on the other. Except there are only two guys in that class so it is oddly lopsided, with girls extending all the way to the back of the room when they could just sit on the "male side" of the room, closer to the front.

It's possible of course, that these girls just prefer the back but I am inclined to think that they self-segregate.

contemplating possible explanations for this phenomenon...

I wouldn't say that this was an adventure exactly but I was put on the bus (for the first time) home today and while reading the new manga I had bought (Darling wa gaikokujin...it's not as trashy as it sounds. I swear. zettai shoujo manga jya nai) I managed to miss my stop. It was the stop before the very last one, so I thought I would walk but first I asked the bus driver for directions to the last stop. He advised me to take a taxi because it was dangerous. I, of course, thought of muggings and such but really what he was thinking was getting hit by a car because of the lack of sidewalks where I am. But it was late, and I was tired so I thought I would just take the taxi, but there were none apparently they close down fairly early around here. He asked me if I could contact any of friends (not knowing of course that I don't have a cell phone...and even if I did, I know so few people right here that it wouldn't help at all) and then offered to take me home. He told me to sit on a bench to wait while he packed up, and as I sat I considered all the things I shouldn't say...like where I worked or (if I could help it) my foreigner status. Perhaps it was an American thing kicking in, but if somebody told me they were getting into a car with a stranger back home I would have told them it was a stupid idea. But I did it, and in the five or so minute drive (it would have been a half hour walk...) it came out that he noticed as soon as I opened my mouth that I was a foreigner. I had been hoping that I could trick people longer than that. And then when he asked me how many years I had been in Japan for...I replied two months...instead of perhaps making up a lie. I must have said sumimasen 15 times in the 5 minutes we talked. I said arigatougozaimashita at least 10 times. Gomeiwakuninarimashita once. I wasn't sure how appropriate that phrase was to the situation so I didn't want to overuse it in the event that it was completely wrong. Must needs study more.
It's funny I think that when he said it was abunai, I thought of getting mugged and thrown in a ditch (over-active imagination I know) when really he was referring to the fact that there isn't a pedestrian walkway. Trains from now on.

Zero percent beer!

No folks, (it is sad writing in this blog sometimes when i have so few readers) it is not zero-calorie beer but zero percent alcohol beer. Apparently taking the nation by storm. Well, popular enough for all of the major companies to put out their version and for Japanese television (monolithic entity of course) to create and air a fifteen minute segment about it.

Reasons to enjoy such a thing, as some people may argue that the point of beer is the alcohol (How silly, my Japanese comrades may answer. I haven't met anybody who has actually had this stuff before).
1. You feel like you are drinking beer like everybody else since you really really can't hold your alcohol.
2. You can have a beer during break at work. and it is a-okay. it relaxes you. (but really? isn't it better for work to have a coffee?)
3. edit, I heard a better reason after asking some of my students about this. Apparently, it's so that people can erm, drink and drive. They also noted that being caught while drunk driving entails more serious consequences in Japan than in the U.S.. Some people have had to quit their jobs (or gotten fired, end result is the same I suppose).
I tried to put up picture but failed for some reason. You can just do a search on google and it will pop up.
Edit: worked!