It's official...

Shiozawa san asked and I said yes... to quote Eleanor, I have "pimped myself out to TUC" and will be being Not Kumiko's Stunt Double for just one day... First Sunday in December, I think...

Also had meeting with staff today to tell them about the merger and discovered that thanks to gossip from the other school- they already knew. Was very pissed off, we all went for dinner at Mongolian restaurant. Am now completely ratted.

How is it possible ...

...that I can bear the possibility of moving to a school I don't want to go to with a little more than dread but a 2 inch bug has the power to turn me into a driveling, sobbing, incoherent wreck incapable of movement or thought...?

Oh yes, 2AM maybe 2,30 AM I decided it was about time I went to bed as I was on the early shift the next day... as I was sitting on the er.... throne... I saw something fly across from my bedroom to my kitchen, I actually thought it was a moth at first and then of course, I realised that it was not. Thankfully my bathroom is the size of an aeroplane bathroom and I don't shut my door because if I did, I would not have seen it. And then who knows what I might have woken up to, it would have made Simon crawling around in my hair look like fun... So this time I was well armed, I had insecticide and I was ready to use it. There was one tiny problem with this - if I sprayed a roach in my kitchen I had no idea whether it would actually die right there or fly around until it died and who knew where it would land... I might not have been able to get it out or whatever. The annoying little abomination of nature crawled under my hob, then into my cutlery drawer - so now I have to buy new cutlery, no way in hell I'm using that again- So I thought ok, I can use the old bag and curtain pole trick again, only this time, once it was in the bag, I would gas it... nearly worked as well until the abhorrent beast saw what was coming and flew off onto the window sill.... marvellous thought I, I can push the window and screen open and he will go away and I can slam it shut and that will be the end of it... Apparently they don't like air or something because then it went berserk and started flying around and having a spack attack. Eventually it settled on the wall and started running around near the ceiling at which point I lost the plot and started gassing it. It tried to run and then fell like a stone to the ground and of course I had no idea whether this was a weevil-like stunt fall or whether it was dead. More to the point I couldn't SEE it... So it's about 3.30AM now I have to move everything around very gingerly with the aid of my curtain pole to avoid frightening it if it was still alive and kicking so to speak... I eventually located it and it was kicking... don't know about alive! So now, the problem was how to get it out of my flat without touching it in anyway now that it was on the floor... Well I ended up getting the vacuum out and tried to get it that way. Of course before that I had to arrange my vacuum strategically over a plastic bag so that I would be able to rip out the vacuum cleaner bag and wrap it up quick smart just in case it really was alive. Well now here's the thing, it wouldn't vacuum, I spent about 15 minutes trying to get it and then another 15 tentatively trying to establish that it was in fact in the vacuum cleaner bag and not lodged in the tube somewhere... Finally accomplished that, sealed the plastic bag, entombed my vacuum in another plastic bag just to be sure and lobbed them outside. 4AM. Can I sleep? No, of course not because despite the fact that I have left the light on, every time I fall asleep, somewhere in my dreams is a roach and I wake up. At 7.45 I had had about an hour's sleep I think and I had to get up and go to work. I have had so much caffeine today that I doubt I will ever sleep again, but my flat is roach free. Long may it last.

Now, I realise that I have presented this little episode as if I had executed my anti-roach warfare plan with cold-blooded military precision... the sad truth is that much like last time I was shivering, sweating enough that I looked as though I had been in the shower and sobbing like a baby, begging God to make it disappear... It made the transfer to Ueno hirokjoi look like fun.. what the hell is wrong with me?

And it continues....

The Japanese staff were supposed to get paid today but they got a memo saying the "system was down" so they would have to wait another 4 days.... System down my backside if that were true they should be able to sort it in 4 hours, not days...

And I found out to which school I will have to transfer. Ueno Hirokoji. All I can say is: God. Help me, please.

I thought this was so funny, I couldn't resist nicking it from Sarcasmo...

The Fall-Out Begins....

So, I have talked a bit about the current work situation and what is going on but until today all that had happened was that a few students quit but it was nothing to really worry about. Today I found out that the branch across the street which by some twist of fate is in fact, in another block, have been told that the people who own the building it's in, do not want to renew their contract on account of the news. What that means is that our branch will be remodelled and all of their teachers, staff and students will be joining us. Including the kids... It also means that I would have to work with the block trainer on a daily basis... Glenn, my fabulous area manager has given me a choice. Stay where I am and go into Kenny's block which means working with Perry the idiot block trainer every day and deal with all of the kids... OR, transfer to another school and stay in Glenn's block... What to do...

So as I was saying..

So I haven't blogged for quite a while, not about anything coherent or sensible anyway... I mentioned a while ago that I had changed my mind about leaving TUC. Well, I kind of changed my mind again over the course of a few months... I have become absolutely sick of the fact that the admin team are still carrying out their Machiavellian schemes, including the complete remodelling of the lobby which is a bit of a long story. Essentially, an anonymous donor gave the church a substantial sum of money specifically to have the lobby remodelled. Frankly, it doesn't need doing, well unless you count the fact that we could do with another loo. But that isn't what has me annoyed - it's the fact that I firmly believe that the "Admin" should not arbitrarily be accepting money on our behalf for fatuous remodelling. It is my understanding that at no point was this even raised for discussion at council, it was just announced... Now I could be wrong, but surely it is their responsibility to say to the donor "Well, you know, it's awfully nice of you to offer but actually, to be honest we don't need the money for that... BUT... we could really use it for this...." The same could be said for the extension of the dais at the front of the sanctuary; the Austrian Ballet in Tokyo, whose directors happen to go to TUC donated the cash for that to "facilitate the performance of stuff" but like, we don't need that doing and we DO need the balcony remodelling so that the choir don't have to turn sideways to watch Shiozawa san and thus sing into the organ rather than into the sanctuary... perhaps I'm biased... I really can't tell but a little voice deep inside me suspiciously thinks that if the Austrian Ballet in Tokyo were not planning to dance on it - they would not be donating the money for it... although apparently, they have said that we (TUC) are under no obligation to have them dance on it... Whatever... So I'm annoyed about that, I'm still boiling about all the Koinonia business and Pastor Barry's lack of involvement, despite the fact that Wally told him all about it while I was in Singapore. I was also kind of sick of being Kumiko's stunt double, I mean I do get it, you know, the whole cultural thing... seniority counts, blah blah blah... but all I want to do is sing dammit... Which is why, when presented with the opportunity to do just that, I am having the dilemma I mentioned before because I so want to tell TUC to shove it and refuse to sing for them or infact, do anything for them, but I want to sing that piece, I really do... On the other hand, I have been toying with the idea of joining the Anglican church - it's a tough decision, I put together a list of pros and cons... In no particular order they are...

St Albans - Good Points.

It's on my train line and therefore only one train.

The building is nice.

They have a real pipe organ.

Communion is at the altar rail.

The liturgy is reasonably traditional.

Sunday School is during the service so kids aren't in the service.

The sermon I heard was solid, I liked his delivery and he had a good point.

Less Good Points.

It is a good 15 minute walk from the station.

Pews are not very comfortable.

The worship I was part of was fairly joyless, I haven't heard the choir yet but I have heard their resident diva.

If I am going to be anybody's stunt double, at least Kumiko is a very good singer... St Alban's resident diva is not.

Some annoying kids don't go to Sunday school.

They have modernised the liturgy slightly so some of the words are naff.

I don't know if that sermon was representative.


TUC - Good Points

Choir.

Mary-of-the-uncommonly-good-sense.

Nancy, my surrogate Mum.

Wally.

Jean-who-Prays-with-a-capital-P

It's 2 minutes from the station.

Being Not Kumiko's stunt double for just one day.


Less Good Points

It's an hour away on two or three trains depending on which way I go.

Pastor Barry's sermons are good but they are too long and I can't concentrate.

Sunday school is not during the service and most parents don't discipline their kids, I can't stand that.

Admin have highly questionable principles.

The man to whom I am no longer allowed to refer as Boy Wonder because Sunsook doesn't like it and I suspect Mary-of-the-uncommonly-good-sense doesn't either...

Being Kumiko's stunt double.

I tell you, I never thought it would be such a tough decision... I feel so uncomfortable about the fact that I only want to stay at TUC because I so desperately want to sing that song and if I am completely honest, it doesn't have much to do with God either... It's not like I won't miss my friends but on the other hand it's not like I will never see them again, either... When did my ego get so big...?

My Ego

Well, I don't know that I've mentioned it but since my last blast about TUC, I have been attempting to try out the Anglicans of late. They have several good points which I shall go into later in more detail but the most impressive being the fact that they are using Fair Trade coffee at fellowship hour (where's the tea? That's what I want to know!) on the other hand, TUC's Choir Sunday will feature John Rutter's Requiem, and rumour has it that Shiozawa san wants yours truly to sing the below... or above whereever imeem.com makes it come out on my post..

The thing is, that this is CLEARLY a soprano number and as we all know - I am only Kumiko's stunt double! The kudos of this is unimaginable, not to mention the fact that my voice was obviously born for this high pitched floaty stuff and not the rich fruity stuff Kumiko gets to enjoy blasting out. So, I am faced with a dilemma, which given the state of the world is nothing in the grand scheme, however, my ego versus my principles...? What to do... I dearly want to tell him I'm not doing it but I don' t think I can resist the temptation of getting my very own soprano solo that isn't because Kumiko is off elsewhere or ill or not able to get to rehearsal...

Give me one moment in time...

I had one of those exquisite moments the other day. You know, the kind so perfect you wish you could hold onto it and freeze time; a fragment so wonderful you want to keep it in an ice cube forever so you can bring it out and look at it from time to time and remind yourself what life is all about...

I had gone to the laundrette and it was such a lovely evening, a nice breeze, not at all humid so I thought to myself, instead of sitting here and watching the machine rotate, why don`t I go for a little walk...? So off I went towards the local shrine when I noticed that a little restaurant on the corner that usually closes at 6 or so was still open. Curious I thought and walked past only to see a bloke sat inside in a baseball cap playing the jamisen. That in itself was quite a surprise, you don`t see many of those, they come from Okinawa, most people seem to play its square shaped friend, the shamisen but anyway... I was suddenly gripped by the urge to sit and listen but as I hadn`t taken my wallet out with me as I was only going to do the washing, I couldn`t very well go in, so I sat outside on a bench and enjoyed. After a while the man began singing too, and as the music floated across the breeze and I looked around me at the Chinese lanterns and the traditional buildings which surrounded me, I thought this. Right here. Right now. this one moment in time, is the reason I came to Japan. One moment when I forgot the washing. Quit worrying about whether my computer would shut down again if I turned it on when I got home. Didn`t care about my noisy neighbours or grieve for the kitten I was still moping about. One moment when I just sat. When I just sat and enjoyed listening to a chap in a baseball cap playing music he liked. I realised that that is exactly what is wrong with my life... I never... just sit.

Interesting news, just in...

Snippets of gossip overheard by Our Man on the Inside at some point recently... According to Jody Fuller, if "people don`t like what`s in the Koinonia, they don`t have to read it..." Too right!
However, this only compounds my disappointment in her really; if that is her honest opinion, then why didn`t she issue forth at the fateful admin meeting....?

Also in today from the same source, Debbie Hayman - (see above link if you haven`t already) - is putting together an issue of Koinonia for publication in the not too distant future... I think I will refrain from commenting on the actual publication for now but this again, just goes to increase my suspicions that for whatever reason, La Hayman, is slowly trying to take over TUC. I mean I believe I mentioned that both the former Vice-President and the Treasurer are about as much use as a wet weekend in Paris, possibly less so, and Jody Fuller obviously disagreed with the decision although she apparently didn`t do much about it... so why is La Hayman so anti-EvilNestle being criticised, first of all, but second, how come she has SO much influence... Just because she is the President of the Congregation, doesn`t mean she owns the Church - she`s just supposed to represent us, so when did she start running it and why can no one seem to do anything about her....?

Even more suspicious, our friend, let`s call him P.F. for the sake of his anonymity, a long time friend of TUC and hounded off the council by our former Pastor through some more than unfortunate circumstances into which I will not go just now, was nominated by Our Man on the Inside to stand as a personnel officer now that one of them has been transferred overseas. The nomination didn`t get any further than being made due to La Hayman`s desire not to have him on the council again... She apparently is being backed by the youth elder, a person I also dislike immensely for being the loudest voice in the no-you-can`t-run-your-own-service- on-Christmas-Day- debate... Now granted, our man, P.F., is not someone you want to give a microphone to, as you will be listening to him for the rest of the day - he has never learnt how to be succinct - however, he has a totally good heart and has the best interests of the church in mind and has given much of his life to her cause... so this strikes me as more than a bit unfair and I will ask again, where do La Hayman and her friend get so much power that they can quash a nomination for council before the rest of the council gets to hear it...? As I thought, something is very, very wrong at TUC.