The Weekend and its Aftermath 週末と直後

I made a tough decision when I decided to go get this computer, because I knew it would put me in financial constraints. If I didn’t send any money home to pay off the credit cards and make OSAP payments it wouldn’t be a problem but that’s dodging responsibility, isn’t it. I figured with the extra money I get from the Monday English classes, that would at least cover my food until my next payday. I budgeted everything for the month and it all looked good.

予 算的にちょっと困る可能はある と知っていたから、このノートパソコンを買うのは面倒な決定だった。オンタリオ州学生ローンとクレジットカードを返金する為に両親に送金しなかったら問題 ないけど、それは責任から逃げる事だよね。月曜日の大人英語授業からもらうお金は少なくても次の給料日まで十分だと思っていた。月の予算を作って、全部は 大丈夫そうだった。

Then last Thursday came a party for both the new staff who came because of the city merger and the old staff who got transferred because of the city merger. Entry fee: $50 (which is normal). It turned out to be a huge affair with the entire Board of Education, but I didn’t know that. At least I wore formal clothes this time. I had written a scroll for the occasion, which read “Nobody knows when we can meet again. So hold tonight dear” in tanka form. Everyone was immensely pleased at my scribbled characters. Anyway, at the end of the night the older men from my department got ready to leave. I tagged along and sure enough we headed towards the bar district of downtown. I figured, great, after-party at Paper Moon just like last time. Cheese platter, here I come!

さ て先週の木曜日は合併のせいに 来た新職員と合併のせいで転勤された職員達の宴会があった。会費は普通の五千円だった。教育委員会の全員の大宴会だったけど当時はそう知らなかった。ま、 今回は正式な服を着た・・・そして宴会の為に「皆が又・會えるか誰も・知らないよ・だから今夜を・大事に爲さい」の短歌を巻物で書いた。僕の汚い字に皆が とても喜んでいた。とにかく、宴会が終わってから僕の部の男性達が出る準備を始めた。僕も一緒に行ってやっぱり下町の酒屋地域に向かった。やった、僕の歓 迎会みたいにペーパームーンの二次会！チーズ盛り合わせは後少し！

Wrong! We went to a hostess bar! For $40 you get all you can drink (if you’re a strong drinker you can really take advantage of this) and a girl in a short skirt to sit next to you and pretend to be interested in your conversation. My girl was actually fun to talk to, so it was actually fun and I can understand why men would frequent the hostess bars. For me though it’s much cheaper and fun to just go to Paper Moon with my friends, though. The thing about the hostesses though is that they were actually younger than me for a change! My companion was only 20! Kind of nice to not be the baby here for once.

不 正確！スナックに行っ た！四千 円を払って飲み放題が出来るしミニスカートを履いているお客さんの話に興味がある真似をする女性が隣に座る。僕の相手と話すのは本当に楽しかったからどう して男性がスナックに行くのが理解出来る。しかし僕にとって友達と一緒にペーパームーンに行くのは十分安くて楽しいけどさ。所でホステスは僕より若かっ た！僕の相手は二十歳だけだった！今回は赤ちゃんと呼ばれなくていいから嬉しかった～

So anyway, we left the first hostess bar and started walking down the street. Three of my supervisors went ahead, and as they turned the corner were invited by some EXOTIC ORIENTAL WOMEN for a “massage”. I caught up to them on my bike, and asked one of my supervisors whether they had been Chinese or Filipino. He laughed and said he didn’t know because he was “Japanese only”. In case some people don’t know, a lot of places refuse foreign entry (check out Arudou Debito’s site) and post signs reading “Japanese only”. This particular supervisor is an awesome guy though, and I personally thought it was funny and perfect for the moment. It turns out that everyone was going to a second hostess bar for another after party, but by this time I was out of money, sufficiently drunk, and feeling rather sleepy, so I elected to go home.

と にかくスナックを出て路を歩き 始めた。僕の監督者の三人が前を行って、角を曲がった時、魅惑的な亜細亜の女性に「マッサージは如何ですか」と声をかけられた。自転車に乗っていたからま すます監督者に着いて一人にあの女性達は中国人かフィリピン人かと尋ねた。彼は「日本人だけ」（ジャパニーズ・オンリー）だから知らないって笑った。誰か 知らなかったら、色んな所は外国人お断り（有道出人のサイトをお調べ）をして「ジャパニーズ・オンリー」の看板を示す。こちらの監督者は素晴らしい人だ し、その瞬間に会ってたし僕に特に面白かったと思った。皆がまたスナックに行って三次会をするそうだったけど、その時に僕は金なしだったし、十分酔っ払っ ていた、そして眠かったので家に帰ると選んだ。

The next morning I felt horrible, and not just because of the drinking. I had had a bit of a cold but now I was really sick. I went to a UNESCO thing to increase Japanese awareness of the non-Japanese among them, and then went straight home and took a bath, then went to bed. Still feeling pretty bad the next morning, I went to Saty to get some medicine for my fever and sore throat. I’m not exactly trusting of Japanese medicines, and it did make my heart race, but hey. My fever broke and I appeared to be on the mend. My headache was compounded by the damn election trucks, though. I swear I am going to start a petition to make a bylaw to get those things banned. Find some other way to get your message across. Anyway, my throat was still sore, and after teaching a class at No Temple School my voice had become a bit hoarse. I fished out my penlight and had a look at my throat – nice white spots. Great. Tonsillitis again. The next day I went to the doctor after teaching six classes at the School of No Discipline, which made me lose my voice, by the way, and got some medicine. Feeling much better now but my voice is deeper than usual. The great thing is my bottle of cough syrup came with its own shot glass!

次 の朝は調子悪かった、そして飲 んでいた所為ばかりじゃなかった。少し風を引いていたけど今は本当に病気だった。否日本人が日本人の間に住んでいる知る事を起こすためのユネスコの事に 行ったけど、それからは速くうちに帰った。お風呂に入ってから早く寝たけど、翌朝はまだ調子悪かったのでサティで熱とのどの薬を買った。 日本の薬はあまり 信用しないし、心拍を急げたけど、まーね。熱が下がって治し始めたと思っていた。拡声器選挙車に頭痛が悪くなったけど。なんか拡声器選挙車を禁止する内規 を起こす請願書を作成しようと思っている。他の方法で広告しなさいよ。とにかく、のどがまだ痛かったし、無寺小学校で僕の声がかすれた。ペンライトを見つ けてのどを見てやっぱり白点が出ていた。素晴らしい、又扁桃腺炎。翌日は無規律小学校で授業を六つ教えて（声が無くなった！）からクリニックに行って薬を もらった。今は大体調子いいだけど声は普通より低い。素敵な処は僕の咳止めシロップは小酒グラスが入っていた！

Well, that’s all for now. More fantastic observations and complaints are in the works!

では、以上です。これからも素晴らしい観察記録と文句は只今準備中です！