The Hills are alive with the sound of..... kristin and brody

Week of August 16-23

Its been three weeks without a cell phone, internet, radio, television, basically all the amenities that pass the time both home and abroad. So what do I do to entertain myself? It really depends when I get home from work , sometimes there are those days when I get home at 415 at I say to myself “fuck dude what the hell am I supposed to do,” those days suck, sometimes there is just nothing to do, nothing to explore, and as I mentioned very little in my apt to kill the time. And it is so freaking hot and humid still that being outside sometimes just is not an option. Then I have the days where I have to run to the grocery store, do laundry, go into town. I appreciate those days because it keeps me busy.... So free time afternoons I do one or both of the following:

Read- I have made it through two books (almost) Three Cups of Tea and Crazyheart. I do love both these books and would consider myself an avid reader. However I cant sit and read for hours on end, I am good for maybe an hour then I got to move on to the next activity. I have a list of about twelve books I am going to read here , some I books are favorites that I will re-read, others first time reads, and one in particular I have read over and over again. Now at home I average a book a month, I dont know if that qualifies me for the reader of the month club, but i think its not bad. I plan on the same time frame here, once work starts up I will be busier. So for all you interested readers here is my Omagari Japan Reading List

Three Cups of Tea

Crazy heart

Gods Middle Finger

Girl Who Played with Fire

Nine Stories

A Walk Across America

Into the Wild

Gandhi: An autobiography

Neither Wolf nor Dog

Grand Canyon

A History of Africa

Freakanomics

Work Out: This would seem like a great way to pass the time, well it presents quite the challenge in Omagari. At this moment I am unable to afford a gym membership here in Japan, this is mostly due to the custom here of KEY MONEY, let me explain this wonderful custom. When a landlord/realtor finds an apt for someone in Japan, or at least Omagari, the renter pays the landlord/realtor key money. This money is the equivalent of one months rent, sometimes more. Fellow Americans do not get this confused with security deposit, this money is like a gift saying “Hey thanks landlady , thanks for finding me this apartment!” Now I think a plate of cookies, flowers, or even a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, is a great way to say thanks. Not here, so this key money is money you ll never see again. However the story does not end there, they also charge a commission for finding you an apt. Then of course there is the rent, taxes other charges. So I was quietly forced to pay a hefty sum to get my apt. But thats the custom, so I respect it..... actually I hate it, it has forced me to live on bread, water, and calorie mate for the past month, it has cut my drinking habit in half, and it has led me to have to work out in my tiny apt which is about as comfortable as jogging in a sauna with a sweatsuit on. I mentioned this in my other blog but I ll repeat, I brought the newest fad in home workout’s P90X with me to Japan. Thank you Christy Edwards for selling me this great gift well below market value, I hope it was worth the extra credit. So I do this workout video with my kick as resistance bands and pushup bars about four times a week. Sometimes if I am lucky I ll supplement this with a workout at the state of the art fitness center at Omagari High School (it was honestly state of the art in 1971, but its better than nothing).

Movies: I wont delve to much into this but I do have some movies I am able to watch, usually one a night depending on time. I also got a couple of episodes of Entrouage , a show I refused to watch because Jeremy Piven is a douchebag (except for PCU). But I actually like the show and yes my favorite character is Ari, does that make me a douchebag too?

Staring off into space: As the great Peter Gibbons alluded too, I spend a solid hour doing nothing this includes looking at the screensaver at my computer, sitting on my bed staring into space, the bedroom is the only place I can feel the air conditioner, or looking in the mirror (just kidding, sort of, its a great mirror and I get great light in the bathroom).

Now why am I telling the three people that read this all this information... to bring me to my next story. Yesterday which was monday and yes I had a case of the mondays, I went to a new bar in town called Moon light. I got a tip from my predecessor that this bar was friendly to foreigners in the sense that the bartender spoke a little english. Well it was a great tip, the bartender spoke enough english to converse, there were darts, massive amounts of alcohol including never seen in Japan before... Jager, Cuervo, Capt Mo’s, to make this long list short picture a bar with the whole counter filled with bottles of alcohol three rows deep. They gave out doritos to snack on, cold mugs for your beer and the best part.... wait for it.... wait for it... THE HILLS. Thats right the bartender turned on MTV and to my great pleasure THE HILLS was on. Now many people may think, that is so gay, THE HILLS sucks, again your gay. But I first must admit I watch THE HILLS occasionally at home. That is when I am not watching Jersey Shore or the Kardashians. Now if watching a bunch of hot chicks being drama queens, flaunting themselves is gay, then I am super freaking gay. Because when I do catch an episode I love it. Now in Japan this feeling of euphoria I get from watching THE HILLS is multiplied. WHY? because I havent had a source of entertainment like this since I have been here or seen many american ladies who look like Kristin and Audrina (someone right now is thinking your such a homo) So as I drank my cold , refreshing beer, while munching on cool ranch doritos I was glued to the television watching three, thats right three episodes of THE HILLS. And as the night grew later, the beer getting warmer, my wallet getting lighter, I had to leave the bar, but I left with one question in my mind. Why did Brody get back with Jade? Why Brody? WHY?