Diary

June 30, 2004 - Wednesday

A day filled with Japanese class and work. I think you get to know my schedule now. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have Japanese class. In between it is work. And sometimes fun things like football or, even better, Kauai.

June 29, 2004 - Tuesday

Humid, humid, humid, humid... And hot. I cannot really remember the last time I was not sweaty. I don't know if that is because of my lousy memory or if it is because of the time that has passed since I last was not sweaty. Or a little bit of both.

At the office I am now working on a paper that is due on July 22. I am still a little bit frustrated about the result. It is not what I wanted it to be. I am quite satisfied with the model I am working on in principle, but the details need further work. I had hoped to have a better detailed model for the paper but I guess the status of the one I have has to do.

June 28, 2004 - Monday

It's Monday again. Japanese class again. And meeting again. The day passed by with the speed of light... And that is pretty fast if you ask me.

June 27, 2004 - Sunday

Today I made my first tea at the tea ceremony class. It was fun but hard work being concentrated for three hours or so. There are so many steps that you have to remember. And remembering things is not my best thing.

It seems like things get into my head... Bunch around for a while and then disappear out into the great Universe... Lost forever. Well, you get it I guess.

Just being a guest at a tea ceremony is procedure that involves many steps of great detail and politeness. But being the tea master that prepares the tea and serves the tea is an even more complicated procedure.

It is not just taking some tea and pour some water. First all the things needed has to be put in the room at their precise positions in the right order. Then all the equipment used must be grabbed and held the right way. Things has to be done in the right order and so on.

But still... It is quite nice and relaxing because you do nothing but this for a few hours. When things are getting more automatic the whole ceremony will be even more relaxing I guess. I hope you all can enjoy it some day.

June 26, 2004 - Saturday

Woke up early in the morning to watch the soccer game between Sweden and Holland. Sweden kept fighting but lost in the end. Too bad. But we have never been really strong on penalties and individual things. So now there is no more reason for watching the games of the Euro Cup.

In the evening Chie and I met with two of her friends for dinner. We met at a Korean restaurant not far from Shinjuku. The food was good, but the most exciting thing about the dinner was the other guests and the experience of something typically Japanese.

About 30 or so Japanese women in the age from 30 and up was seated at three big tables. They had an off-line meeting for the first time. Meaning that they have only met before in a chat-room on the Internet. The reason for meeting in the chat-room??? Well, of course it has to do with having something in common. They all love a Korean soap that is on Japanese TV right now. And especially one guy in the soap.

The soap itself is quite a complicated thing. The particular guy of interest for these women was in a car accident ten years ago. All his friends, including his girlfriend at the time, thought he died. He lost his memory. Ten years later they accidentally meet again and after a while he gets his memory back. He still have feelings for his old girlfriend and she for him. BUT... She is going to marry his best friend form ten years ago. Doesn't it make you want to see it???

Anyway, it was fun watching these women introduce them self. I even thought of introduce myself telling them my nickname in the chat-room was Buttercup, but I decided against it. Instead we all went to a busy Shinjuku and had some desert. It turned out to be much better.

June 25, 2004 - Friday

Friday on my mind... Last work day of the week and it felt fine. I looked forward to the weekend. Besides waiting for the weekend nut much happened today.

June 24, 2004 - Thursday

Dim-diho-didley-hey nothing happened today.

June 23, 2004 - Wednesday

Not much to tell about todays events. Watched the soccer game between Sweden and Denmark this morning. 2-2. Swell. Bye, bye Italy!!! Maybe it was their socks... Or shoes... Or maybe they are just a bunch of divas that have troubles accepting that you need to fight and play as a team to win games in the Euro Cup, and the World Cup.

Anyway... Outside it was hot, hot, hot... Again. And humid. Pheeeew.

June 22, 2004 - Tuesday

Today was freaky hot outside. The typhoon passed yesterday and brought a lot of hot air from the south I guess. 34 degrees and humid. Just thinking made my t-shirt soaked with sweat. Lucky there is air conditioning to keep the indoors at a more bearable temperature.

June 21, 2004 - Monday

Monday again. And the good weather was nowhere to be seen today. Not quite true actually. In the morning it was still pretty good. But the sky turned gray after a while and then it started to rain.

A typhoon have just passed the south of Japan and its spin-offs kind of affected Tokyo as well. The weather in south has been terrible for few days. Windy and rainy. Very windy and rainy. Some guy was walking on the beach in the south and a big wave took him. And he was gone.

The only good thing is that today was a little bit cooler. But they say that after the typhoon it is going to be hot again. And humid. Maybe already tomorrow.

Oooh, by the way... This is a similarity between Sweden and Japan... Swedes as do Japanese like to talk about the weather. When you have nothing else to talk about. Bring up the weather - 'nice weather today, huh?!' or 'it's very hot today, isn't it?!'

June 20, 2004 - Sunday

Another sunny day. But they say that there is a typhoon coming from the south now. So in the next day or so there is some pretty bad weather expected. But today was hot and sunny.

Chie and I went to the National Stadium to watch Amercian football. It was a game called Ivy-Samurai Bowl. The two teams were a mix of players from different universities in Japan and from Yale and Harvard in USA. Yale is east coast and Harvard is west coast in USA. So naturally the east coast university players was with Yale and the west coast players with Harvard.

Since Tokyo is on the east coast we were crossing our fingers for the Yale team.Naturally the Harvard team was the better team. Having a better game plan, executing it better, and scoring more goals. We left when it was about 5 minutes left of the last quarter.

Fortunately I had watched two soccer games in the morning that was quite fun. The first game German only managed a draw against Latvia. The second game the Check republic managed to win against Holland and by that became the first team to qualify to the playoff. The last game was really fun to watch. A great game. Holland played well, but the Check team had great fighting spirit and could play real well too.

It is a lot of sport this summer. The Euro Cup. Then the Olympic Games start in Athens, Greece. That is in August. In September the NFL starts again. I hope Raiders manage better this year.

Ohh, and I almost forgot. Thank you Mash-san for the tickets for todays Ivy-Samurai Bowl. It was fun to watch.

June 19, 2004 - Saturday

Phew, what a game. Woke up just past 7 am and started watching the Swedish game against Italy. Had it recorded during the night so I could watch it the first thing in the morning - without anyone calling or sending e-mails to tell me the result. Italy was the better team but, hey, you need to score to win a game. 1-1 was better than a loss, but still Sweden need to play at least a draw with Denmark the last game.

After the game it was breakfast and then going to the grocery store. Not going actually... Today I drove a car there. Scary. So many cars. So narrow streets. So many people. And a car that I am not used to. But I managed without any accidents.

June 18, 2004 - Friday

Finally Friday again. The work week ended with a meeting. That started late and ended even later. I had no time to go to the gym as planned so I went home and watched some Euro Cup soccer from yesterday instead.

June 17, 2004 - Thursday

A day filled with sneezing and a running nose. I have no idea why, because I was not feeling sick. Perhaps some allergic reaction. It felt like I sneezed a million during the day and it was totally exhausting.

At home I watched some taped - do we still say taped even though it is on an HDD? - TV-shows and a soccer game. It was a recording from yesterday. Wednesday nights a channel broadcast 'That 70's Show' and 'Malcolm in the Middle'. Both shows are quite funny to watch. The humor is a little it weird but I like it.

After watching the taped - I will stick to taped because it's so easy to say/write - I took a hot bath. Then I went to bed and was asleep before I could say Ropp...

June 16, 2004 - Wednesday

After the office today I went on a Japanese American Football game. It was the Pearl Bowl. Kind of a final of the east conference in the X-league, or something like that. The X-league is a league of company teams.

It was me, Chie, and a friend of Chie from her office. A Miami dolphins fan, but he was still OK. We got the tickets from Mash-san who could not come to Tokyo this night. Thank you very much for the tickets Mash-san! It was fun to watch and the team that sponsored the tickets, Kajima Deers - I think - won the game.

The game was in the Tokyo Dome not far from Todai campus. So after I finished my work and gym I walked there. It took about 25 minutes to walk to the Tokyo Dome Hotel where we met. Quite a short walk for so much fun.

Then it was a train back home and before going to bed I speed watched a soccer game from the Euro Cup. A recording from last night. A game between some eastern European countries. Not such a fun game to watch... But i skipped most part of and only watched the three goals that was made. Then I fell in deep zzzzzzzzzzz.

June 15, 2004 - Tuesday

well, thank you so much :( You know who you are, huh? I was going to keep from checking the result of the Swedish game last night. What happens when I get to the office in the morning? I got an e-mail from a friend in Sweden. That is nice you think, huh? But he tells me the result of the game. Grrrrrr!

Well, life goes on with or without knowing the results of soccer games. In the night I had a dinner with Mina-san and Chie. Then I left them early to go back home and watch the game before going to bed. Amazing! Beautiful goals. And five to zero (5-0) for Sweden. I tried to ignore that I already knew the result and manage quite well. GO SWEDEN, GO!

June 14, 2004 - Monday

Another week starts. Despite the official statement that we are now in the rainy season here in Japan the sun has been shining since Saturday. Don't misunderstand me... I do not complain. I enjoy it very much.

Besides the nice weather not much happened today. Work as usual. Oooh, but the Euro Cup has started. Unfortunately, watching the games live means staying up all night long. First game starts at 1am and the second at 3 am, finishing at just before 5am. But there is a re-run in the night after.

Tonight is Sweden playing against Bulgaria, starting at 3 am here. I will watch the game tomorrow night. And hopefully I can keep from checking the result the whole day tomorrow.

June 13, 2004 - Sunday

Sunday again. A day of relaxing usually. But not today. I brought a lot of things to Komaba. Mainly winter clothes because I won't need them during the summer. Then the room at Komaba needed some cleaning too. So it took a while. The evening was spent relaxing though.

June 12, 2004 - Saturday

Today I woke up at 3:45 am. Yupp, that is 3:45 in the morning. Not because of jetlag or anything like that. No earthquake. Just the alarm clock getting off. And I even set it to that time.

No, today I and Chie was going to the fish market in Tsukiji. We had made a reservation for a guided tour there, starting at 5 am. The biggest attraction is the auction of tuna that start at 5:30 am. And we were going there to see it.

After an expensive taxi ride through a not empty but not so busy Tokyo as usual we met the guide and the other of the tour at a hotel not far from the fish market. We got headphones so that we all could hear the guide. Me too. But all the headphones in the world cannot make me understand Japanese well enough for this purpose.

Nevertheless, off we went. To the fish market. It is one of, if not the, biggest fish market in the world. Everyday - except Sundays - 2500 ton fish pass the market. From all over the world to local traders, restaurants, and grocery stores. The most delicious fish according to Japanese is the Tuna. The auction of fresh tuna is therefore considered by most Japanese to be the most interesting and fascinating event.

The auction of fresh tuna is almost the first event in the morning. Of course the tuna has to be unloaded from wherever they come from - we saw tuna from Australia, Italy, Malaysia just to mention a few countries. It seemed like the biggest tuna came from around Japan though. The biggest we saw was 209 kg. Quite a huge fish if you ask me.

The tuna meat is a various kind of red in color, depending on where you look. The more pink the flesh, the more fat it is, and the more delicious it is too. The price is made separately for each tuna in an auction. The more fatty meat and the better the quality of the meat, the higher price.

They told us after the auction that the price of tuna today was, in general, a bit high. But so was the quality they told us. The big tuna we saw - more than 200 kg - caught the highest price for the day. It was 12000 JPY per kg or 2.4 million JPY for the whole tuna. In Swedish currency that would be around 900 SEK per kg and a total of about 180000 SEK. Nothing that you would shop at Konsum - a big grocery chain in Sweden that is a cooperative - is it?

After the fresh tuna auction we continued with the frozen tuna auction. Naturally, the frozen tuna is not considered to be as delicious as the fresh so the price is lower. Still the people doing the calls for the action seemed as frenetic as for the fresh tuna auction.

After the tuna is sold at the auction it is transported to a store where it can be sold to restaurants or normal people. So the auction is only open for companies with a kind of permit. Something like being a distributer of tuna I guess.

Many of the tuna sold at the auction also end up in the big market just outside the hall where the auction was. Along with all kinds of other fishes, shells and I don't even know - or want to know - what half of it was. Some of it is still alive or so newly killed that it is still rattling in its own blood. Which might seem terrible when you read about it like this but it really isn't.

It is a fascinating place. And even though we were there for a few hours we only did see a part of the whole market. People rushing by in narrow spaces to get the fish they need for their sushi restaurant. Something fresh, something still rattling. Or just ordinary people wanting something for dinner tonight. The prices are sometimes only a third or less than what you pay in a grocery store. Especially the fatty tuna.

After watching all the fishes - I have never in my life seen so much fish and so many different kinds of sea life - both Chie and I got quite hungry. Also it was more than four hour since I woke up and had nothing to eat since then.

It was about 8:30 when we lined up outside one of the best sushi restaurants inside the fish market. About 30-40 people were already line in front of us. We just had to wait. Experiencing the Japanese way to do things. Waiting for the best.Waiting to enter the Daiwa sushi (大和寿司) restaurant.

When we finally entered the restaurant - about 90 minutes later - we were seated in front of the old owner of the restaurant. What a luck! He is the master and we were seated just in front of him. Then we started to get through all the fishes and shells they had. Eating our way through the menu. And it was delicious. So fresh. Better than any sushi we had before - or at least as good as good as the best we ever had before. Yummy.

And so cheap. For the two of us it was only 8000 JPY. And we had so four pieces of the fatty tuna - the most expensive one. And two pieces of medium fatty tuna, and awabi quite expensive both of them. And so much other fishes. The same quality in a restaurant in Ginza would probably be 15000-20000... Each.

After this great experience I went back home and back to sleep for a few hours. Not the whole day because in the evening I and Chie was going to see the Passion of Christ, the movie. We went to a movie theater in Shinjuku. Came quite late but we got our seat anyway. And was excited about the movie because it got good criticism.

But what a disappointment. I think Jesus must have had at least 10 liters of blood in his body. So much blood and violence and still it was a boring and slow movie. But the popcorn and the coke (not the C2) was good.

June 11, 2004 - Friday

A Friday like any other Friday the last couple of weeks. Got to the office in the morning. Worked for an hour and half. Then Japanese class. Lunch. Worked some more in the afternoon. And then I went home in the evening. Just relaxing.

June 10, 2004 - Thursday

A perfectly normal day passed today. I realized that the Euro Cup is coming closer and that I won't be able to watch much of it. I think the broadcast is slightly normal hours here in Japan. But on the other hand soccer is big here so maybe...

But it is not much fun without Brazil, and the African and Asian countries, huh.All I can say about the Euro Cup is Go Sweden, and Go Svennis. And I wonder what happen if/when EU becomes a republic??? Gone is the Euro Cup and Allsvenskan. And we will have the ESL (European Soccer Leage) or something even more terrible. Yet another reason for not becoming a republic. Another is that we would only have one position/voice in for instance UN. Not Sweden, Germany, France... But only EU.

June 9, 2004 - Wednesday

A couple of days ago Coca Cola released a new coke here in Japan. I guess it was released all over the world by I have no idea about that. It's called C2 for some reason. Perhaps it is because Coca Cola is two Cs or perhaps it is because it is a second version of coke or perhaps both or none.

Anyway, the new thing with the new coke is less calories with the same taste as the original coke. Anybody who have tried diet coke and have any sense of taste know that the diet coke taste like... I don't want to write a bad word but it really does.

So today I thought I try it out... The new coke. And... I was disappointed!!! OK, not as bad as diet coke. But who can even think that this taste like the original coke? I won't drink it again... Except the second bottle I bought yesterday. But then I won't drink it again. Unless that is the only thing to drink and I am almost dying by dehydration. OK, maybe I will drink it again but it is not likely. Besides I am trying to cut down on my intake of coke.

June 8, 2004 - Tuesday

Today the rain did not fall. As usual I met the cat at Todai in the morning. As usual I said 'お早うございます' (ohaiyo gozaimasu - the polite way to say good morning) - I don't know the age or title of the cat so I use the polite form. As usual the cat answered 'miauuu'. I hope this is a polite way to say 'good morning to you too' in catish (猫語 nekogo - cat language).

The rest of the day was work, work, and more work. Busy, busy, and more busy. Since half days of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are gone because of Japanese class I am quite busy the rest of the week.

June 7, 2004 - Monday

Rain keeps falling on my... Yupp, still raining today. Had a Japanese class in the morning and then I prepared for the research meeting in the afternoon. I had a presentation on the meeting about the paper for the JSPE (Japan Society for Precision Engineering). And then the day was over.

June 6, 2004 - Sunday

Today it started to rain. Now it is supposed to be like this until mid-July. A steady slow rain. Sometimes the rains tops but the clouds remain and the sky is grey. I hope this year will be different. So that the rainy season somehow is one week instead of, what is it... 6 weeks or so.

it also came to my knowledge today that a few people out there reading my diary was worried about me health - after the June 3, 2004 entry. I am sorry for that, I am fine. I was really busy those days to keep a deadline and I wanted to make a dun note about being busy in my diary. So I thought making a reference to the movie the Shining was fun.

In the Shining Jack Nicholson plays a character that is supposed to write a book, but he's go writer's block. So he takes his family to an isolated hotel during the winter time. He starts writing, but due to the all the circumstances he gets mad and all he ever writes is 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy' in different formations. And now I realized I even made the citation wrong. I wrote 'fun' instead of 'play'. But that is how it goes when you eat too much miyoga.

Anyway I am sorry if I made someone think I was loosing my mind - I haven't lost it yet. But I am grateful for your concern.

June 5, 2004 - Saturday

Today I went to Tokorozawa. Spent some time sun bathing. It was really nice weather. Blue sky and maybe 26 degrees. They say that this is the last weekend of good weather and that next week the rainy season starts. Then it will be raining until mid-July.

While I was sun bathing I was invited to a lunch that was held after a ceremony where they honor a person that has been dead for 7 years. I think it is a shinto ceremony and they explained that 3, 7, 13, and 35 years after a person died the relatives of that person hold a memorial ceremony at a shrine. After that they go to eat.

Today I was invited to participate in such a lunch. We had typical Japanese food served at typical Japanese style table. Low and sitting on the floor. Sashimi, some type of salad, and sour plum soup for starter. Grilled fish (called one year fish), rice with octopus and beans for main course. And some green tea and sweets for desert. Yummy.

June 4, 2004 - Friday

Friday again. The end of a long week. I finished my work that will be due on Monday. Introduction of the paper and a presentation of the content of the paper. So I can relax all weekend long. Great.

June 3, 2004 - Thursday

All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy.

All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy.

All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy. All work and no fun makes Johan a dull boy.

June 2, 2004 - Wednesday

A lot cooler today. Which was nice for someone coming from the cold country of Sweden. Besides getting cooler the day was full of ordinary things and events. Like Japanese class and working.

Got information about a deadline next Monday. By that time I have to have an outline of the paper, including all references, a full introduction, and a 5-10 minutes presentation of the outline. So I better get back to work now.

June 1, 2004 - Tuesday

A day of nothingness. Well, at least not much happened worth mentioning. So I don't.