January 7th: When I lived with a lunatic.

Jan. 7th, 1986 (Age 7, Evansburg, New Hampshire)

Dear diary, next week on the 15th is Martin Luther King’s birthday. He was a black person and very important.

*   *   *   *   *

Thursday, January 7th, 1993 (Age 14, Evansburg)

Sonia’s older brother Kevin called and asked me if he could borrow Life of Brian so he could tape it. He was going to rent a VCR, but I told him it would be cheaper to just buy it for $10.00, so he called the shop I got it at and reserved a copy. I haven’t been able to watch it. My mother hasn’t left the living room since I got home from school, so I finally gave up on seeing it tonight.

     At guitar lesson my teacher told me that someone in the choir had gone to see the Winter Madrigal and said I looked absolutely gorgeous. Yay.

*   *   *   *   *

Friday, January 7th, 1994 (Age 15, Nagasaki, Japan)

I mailed about nine letters today. I ordered my new home school courses: Sophomore English Semester 2, Biology 2, Geometry, American Government, and Music Theory. I’m still not going to do them all at the same time, but I’m promising myself that I will work much harder.

     I finally thought of a good story idea, and I started it today. It’s about two guardian angels, Mediavel and Duranavin, who are sent to help a teenage girl named Hope. There will be two other characters: Kris and Lucy Hoyden. Luci is the popular snob at school who points out all of Hope’s bad points and says she’s worthless. Kris will be the shy boy who convinces Hope she’s special. Notice the names: Kris=Christ and Luci=Lucifer. Ain’t that cunning? You can look up Luci’s last name in the dictionary – it’s also kind of a joke. Eventually Kris will die, Hope loses hope, and the two angels go against God’s will and kill Hope so she won’t be miserable. Sorry, no happy ending. I’ll be amazed if I ever get it off the ground, but I think it’s a pretty good idea. I assure you, it will be quite blasphemous. The introduction alone is enough to make the Pope quiver.

*   *   *   *   *

Saturday, January 7th, 1995 (Age 16, Nagasaki)

The next time I write I’ll be safe back in Kobe, I hope. Jess is not coming back until early Monday morning. I can’t wait to see Sei, but I know I’ll be a bundle of nerves when the time comes. I will miss having my own room, but I miss talking to my dear Irish Jess more. It’ll be good to get back.

*   *   *   *   *

Sunday, January 7th, 1996 (Age 17, Kobe, Japan)

This morning there was so much fog that the expressway was closed, and it took us two hours to drive the twenty kilometers to the airport. My departure time came and went and we were still on the road. I pulled over to call Sei but he had already left to pick me up at Osaka Airport. I tried to tell his mother I would be late, but I couldn’t think of the words. For some reason all I could think of was Spanish. She gave me his car phone number so I was able to get ahold of him. When I got to Nagasaki Airport all the planes were fogged in including mine, so I took off an hour and a half late anyway.

     It’s so wonderful being able to touch Sei again. His family was having a company party when I got there so there were a lot of people and their families at their house. There was one obnoxious little boy. He came up to me and said stuff like, “Oh, yellow hair,” and “Why are you speaking English?” I wasn’t offended at all but for some reason Sei was. It happens to me all the time, but that’s the first time he’s ever witnessed it.

*   *   *   *   *

Tuesday, January 7th, 1997 (Age 18, Exton, New Brunswick)

Sei showed up at 3:00 a.m. and slept with me. He slept soundly. I, however, stayed awake all night because of his snoring. Then for some reason he suddenly left at 8:30 all in a huff. At 10:00 I went shopping for his Christmas present. He called and asked if he could come join me, and when I said “Why?” he said “Fine, I won’t go,” and hung up on me. He kept his phone off all afternoon. He was nice to me later, though. Hmmm.
     Tonight I went over to his apartment, now with electricity and a TV, with a couple of his Japanese friends from school. We played video games the whole time.

*   *   *   *   *

Wednesday, January 7th, 1998 (Age 19, Exton)

I haven’t heard back yet from the apartment or the job – perhaps the answer to both is no? I sure hope not.

*   *   *   *   *

Thursday, January 7th, 1999 (Age 20, Exton)

All the Japanese students who are here now know and were friends with Toshi (he’s gone now), and I’m worried that Sei will open his big mouth and say how and why he hated him. Then no one will like Sei, and they’ll talk about him behind his back. I don’t want that to happen.

*   *   *   *   *

Friday, January 7th, 2000 (Age 21, Kobe)

We went to Shinsaibashi but couldn’t find anything to buy. I ended up spending all my money on a pair of shoes and a Baby-G watch. I feel sick and Sei has a cold.

     After dinner we told his parents that we haven’t been able to find a church for the wedding yet. They don’t really understand because here they have fake chapels that anyone can get married in. Now we’re thinking of just having a reception. It would save us a lot of worry, and then we could devote all our money to making it really good. But his parents keep trying to interfere. They want to spend more than I can afford, but I don’t want them to give us money because then they’ll have the right to make all the decisions.

*   *   *   *   *

Sunday, January 7th, 2001 (Age 22, Kobe)

I want to go back to the U.S. When I was in high school I liked Japan, but now I hate it. I hate it. Sei's father is having his annual company party this evening and Sei is stone cold drunk. He was last night, too. So is his mother and half of the guests. There’s a five-year-old boy here with his parents and Sei's already banged his head on the floor by accident three times. I don’t want to have kids with him if he’s going to be drunk in front of them. It’s 11:00 and tomorrow’s a holiday, but I have to work so I escaped and came upstairs. I’m not a Christian but at least Americans for the most part have Christian morals. Japanese people have no true morals at all. I hate this country and I hate everyone in it.

*   *   *   *   *

Monday, January 7th, 2002 (Age 23, Kobe)

Sei started back to school today, and tomorrow he starts work. I watched the movie The Gift and enjoyed it. I also rented The Barber of Siberia but I didn’t like the picture quality so I didn’t finish it. I also didn’t like the way Julia Ormond looked, if that was her.

*   *   *   *   *

Tuesday, January 7th, 2003 (Age 24, Kobe)

Sei barged into the bedroom at 4:30 his morning growling and raving like a lunatic. It’s so embarrassing because I know my brother can hear everything through the wall. And he had a test today which he didn’t study for. I’m surprised he even bothered to go. On top of all this I’m coming down with something again.

*   *   *   *   *

Wednesday, January 7th, 2004 (Age 25, Kobe)

Alexa is coming over tomorrow so I can help her make up some advanced English lessons for her application to teach on the World Peace Boat in April. I'm going to give her some of the lessons I made during my time at English Dome.

*   *   *   *   *

Friday, January 7th, 2005 (Age 26, Kobe)

I may have gotten a new student without even looking for one. After today's lesson I took my student and Penn to the dog cafe for a juice. I ran into a woman I had met walking her dog by the river back in the summer. She had her four-year-old daughter with her and said she was looking for an English and/or piano teacher. She also lives literally just up the hill from me, behind Sei’s parents.

*   *   *   *   *

Saturday, January 7th, 2006 (Age 27, Kobe)

We couldn’t go to Costco because my student changed her lesson from 2:00 to 5:00. I spent the rest of the day copying moon phases and stuff into my new notebook.

*   *   *   *   *

Sunday, January 7th, 2007 (Age 28, Kobe)

I went and picked up Juno and Penn and printed off the photos from my trip.

Disclaimer: This blog is a work of non-fiction. Most personal names (except for those of celebrities) and place names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals.