March 26th, 2004
108029329149793581
Just a little below happy
It’s five after one. I should go to bed. I will in ten minutes. In the meantime, I will recount the day’s events and listen to the always mood-enhancing(/generating) Coldplay.
I woke up at seven thirty after going to bed (more precisely passing out) in the vicinity of three thirty, with my laptop exactly where it’s named to be. I was tired. I tried hard to be energetic. I ate too much at breakfast (as my boss bought), way too much. I had fun last night but struggled with exhaustion all day.
I went to a class, came back, fell asleep, somehow managed to disable the alarm, and zonked until half past one when my roommate came in from lunch.
I looked for my boss, I went to the expo. I got lots of flyers and business cards for a very good. job-hunting friend of mine.
I went to two more classes, I listened and took notes. I went to the booth crawl, got a bad beer, a pretzel, and two branded tumblers. I went back to the hotel room to code and found I was supposed to go to dinner with the team.
I ate salad, they ate more. It was slow. We talked about my inadequacies in understanding and adapting to Japanese business culture.
I went to the ETC party at Gordon-Biersch. I took my workmate. We talked with my friends. I found my Japanese now exceeds a colleague of mine’s.
My workmate went home, I took care of several of my best friends, hopelessly drunk; giving them bread and water, among defending one from a slimy guy.
I talked with my old advisor about work, I spoke my situation as plainly as possible. I felt better, but worse. I showed him the game with my voice in it.
A very drunk man asked where the elevator was. We showed him. He asked where I worked. I told him Japan. In between stopping himself from collapsing, he said some revolting, bigoted things. He spat out suppositions that I did some unmentionable things. He said he was sorry. The elevator door closed.
I helped my advisor read a Japanese webpage about his game. I came back to the room. I was tired, but I checked my mail. I grew sad and heavy.
