Sorry. I`ve pretty much been completely neglecting this blog. I`m without a personal and constant internet connection, and it`s really overwheling to sit in an internet cafe and type all my thoughts and experiences. First, to add some structure to this post, I will address the comments from the previous post.

1. Jason; that`s why you are a poet and I`m not. Also, Moby Dick rocks my socks. It`s fun reading it on the train, too, for aesthetic reasons. Tanizaki rules, too. One more quick aside; someone let me borrow that book you have with the dreams and In The Grove and Rashoumon with both the english and japanese. How have the Japanese films been, and the Russian Sci-Fi, as well?

2. Jeremy; Every night, each cell in my body writhess in torment, agonizing over what could have been. Also, there`s a guy here with Josh`s name and your face that talks like no one I`ve ever met, except sometimes I have to do a double take because he does or says something so like you it makes me shiver.

3. Chris: Yeah, no, it was that day. Not sure how your mom got that impression. I`ve laid out the true account of the events leading to my departure, only names were changed to protect the innocent. Also, Sonic in Brawl. Also, I really want to be able to turn to you and say, Having fun, Guy One?, and then have you, without mising a beat, say, Most fun in the world, with a half extremely serious and half wonderously goofy grin on your charming and unforgetable face. I thought about that today in the shower(?).

One big thing here in Japan is how much of a racial minority I am and what that actually feels like. Not good, is an accurate way of describing it. People are too polite to really do anything besides ignore, or conversly, stare at, me, but I can still tell that people regard me with disdain. Most people are less than willing to talk, much less engage me or my white friends, but that`s becoming less and less true, I suppose. The other day, we even managed to charm the heck out of some old japanese people with a combination of candy and loudly studying japanese vocabulary. Also, when they are drunk, they want to talk to you more than anything, which is actually kind of cool.

To be honest, I`m still figuring this thing out. I`m perpetually surprised at how Japanese people react to and view me, and I haven`t been here long enough, perhaps, to have completely figured it out. So, maybe I`ll have more on that later.

I miss all of you. I can`t use skype because there is no internet in my room. I got a cell phone, and it`s orange. I`m going to do a homestay next semester because all I hear from those guys is, Oh man, my host family cooked this amazing ten course meal, and here I am, eating convience store food all the time. Needless to say, things are going to have to change.

And now for a piece of buisness. Do you guys, like, want stuff? You know, like specific stuff? Or should I find things that remind me of each and every one of you, the precious and unique stars that you are, and return with it under my arm to give to you? I found an M.C. Escher capsule toy vending machine, and it made me think, hey, one or two (or more?) people I know back home would get a kick out of this.

My shadow`s figure
cast across the dark river
chasing the half moon

Sorry, campers, but I haven`t had the means nor the resources to blog until now. A combination of lack of internet, time, and sleep has required me to neglect my blogging duties. I know a lot of you are sitting, waiting on baited breath, for updates in regard to the glorious nation of Japan, and how one David Reed has managed himself in navigating it`s harsh current. To begin, we must go back to the very begining, before he even got on the boat.

Getting to the airport was hell and back, and this time it was neither the fault of my mother or I. The freaking Chicago Marathon was the day I left for Japan. If that comment leaves you puzzled, dear reader, allow me to explain. Mayor Dayley, along with his cabinet of advisors, in their infinite wisdom, decided the route of the marathon should be a giant circle around certain parts of Chicago. One of those parts was the neighborhood in which my house is located. What this amounts to is that there was literally no way for my mother`s car to leave lakeview, for multiple hours, due streets being blocked by the runner`s paths. My mother and I were in the car at 9 am in order to get to the airport by 10, to be two hours early to my noon flight. Considering the state of RST (Reed Standard Time; i.e. late), this was pretty freaking good. However, we preceded to drive around north clark and the surrounding side streets for 2 hours in an attempt to find a weak link in the marathon chain, but to no avail. Eventually (read: 11:30), the marathon was over enough to allow us onto lakeshore drive. One hour and one plane reservation change later, I was at the airport and in the clear, nevertheless stressed, anxious, and furious at the state of city affairs. I have heard that even besides the traffic situation, the marathon was alogistal nightmare, and one person died while 300 others were hospitalized due to lack of water available. Bravo Dayley, bravo.

Japan is cool. My dorm is lame, kind of. I have a sink in my room, which is good, but the room is small and the ceiling light is virtually useless. No one talks to anyone, much less to me. The school seems pretty good. I`m in sort of an easy class, which is a result of my vocabulary and that it differs from that of the school`s prescribed curriculum. The grammar is easy, probably too easy. Tokyo is fun. I haven`t explored enough to give a detailed account yet, what with orientation and that kind of stuff. I`ve only been in about three neighborhoods so far, but what I have seen is interesting.

More later, my time
here is coming to a close
like the leaves in fall