I'm za English MAAAstaaaar

or so the strange Japanese guy in the green bandana claimed.

last night I went out with my new English friend Andy (I may have mistakenly claimed he was Aussie... this is not right. and not the best of things to mess up in the memory banks either) on Sunday night. We went to a local izakaiya (sp?), loosely translated to a japanese bar/restuant, I think it's more similar to a Spanish bar that serves tapas. It's nice to hang out with someone who speaks the same language. even if it's trivial shit.

it was nice, he worked for Ye Ol' Eikaiwa for a couple of months out in a small town before quitting to freelance teach. he says there is quiet a market for navite English speakers who understand and can intelligently critique technical/biotech documents. a niche waiting to be filled. Currently, with Ye Ol' Eikaiwa, I have a private student who owns a biotech firm and says that the J. biotech industry is really scrambling to try and figure out how to compete with the Am.s.

it's nice to think that if this job doesn't work out and I want to stay in Japan, I have more options than trying to get a job at hotel MORE.

Anyway, eventually we got befriended by a group of very drunk Japanese guys, including one with a lime green bandana, who all played in a Samba percussion band. fuking random, but really fun.

top questions from strange drunk japanese, in some manner of english translation:
where are you from
how long have you been here
where do you live now
are you students
what is your dream (we'd say 'what do you want to be when you grow up?')
how old are you

and one that they avoided but that Andy had just been discussing as the number one top cultural question (and eventually quite annoying):

do you like natto?

they were so drunk that when they left they forgot a couple bottles of beer. lucky us.

To say the least, I'm really enjoying my little adventure.