Just moved house yesterday and I don’t really have Internet access plus I’m leaving for Thailand tomorrow morning, so pictures of my recent trip to Asahidake will have to do. Look for vidoes and a few cellphone pictures of penguins later. For now enjoy

Mayumi ripping down the mountain through the woods.

Orimo blasting through powder under the roapway.

Freezing skiers ambling toward the roapway at the base.

Yoichi giggling his way down the mountain.

The rest of the pictures from my second trip to Asahidake in Hokkaido, Japan are here:

http://www.simulacre.org/wordpress/photos/album/72157594529176908/

I just renewed my contract and agreed to stay at KVH for another 12 months. It took not a little bit of introspection to decide to forgo re-establishing my life outside of Japan. Probably the most compelling reason for staying was the notion that if I had left now, many opportunities would have remained behind. Well, this past weekend I took advantage of one of those opportunities by sitting on a plane for seven hours on Friday night in order to meet up with Josh in Thailand.

The last time I saw Josh it was August, the temperature was well over a hundred and we were surrounded by fat white people. Las Vegas wasn’t much fun, but Thailand sure was.

I arrived in Bangkok at about 23:00, met up with Josh and his girlfriend at the airport after a bit of searching for one another. We jumped into a limo and headed into the city. Rather than do the sensible thing and go to his apartment to drop of my stuff, we immediately hit the clubs. I didn’t end up in bed and asleep until about 09:00. During that gap of 10 hours we did a little bit of dancing, mingling with lady boys, eating and wandering.

The next night was spent pretty much the same as the first and caused me to crash on Sunday night at 20:00 before waking up at 04:00 to get breakfast and head to the airport for my 08:00 flight.

So for those that know him, a little information on Josh. He’s doing well; has a nice big apartment; loves Thailand and probably won’t ever leave for good; has a girlfriend that he enjoys being around; speaks Thai well enough to live on his own after only four months of study; is pretty much nocturnal; knows where to get DVDs for cheap and is basically the same old grug just with less hair.

The rest of the pics are here

Tim is a long way from home.

And I hope he doesn’t break a leg.

Today has been another successful Japanese day.

I went to the くすりや (drug store) to buy a drink and nail clippers. I couldn’t find the nail clippers, so I decided that I would ask the attendant. Unfortunately I also didn’t know the word for nail clippers. Worse still, I’m enough of a chowder head that I left my expensive electronic dictionary in my bag upstairs. I’m sick and tired of pantomiming my communications, so I decided that I would have to be inventive. I realized all of a sudden that I know the words for nail and thing. I couldn’t quite remember the verb ‘to cut’. Was it きる (kiru), きく (kiku) or something entirely different? I took a breath and asked the attendant, “つめをきるものをうりますか (tsumewokirumonowourimasuka). She didn’t even hesitate as she circled the counter, repeated the word/s, きるもの (kirumono) and headed straight for the nail clippers. Victory!
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