ｌａｎｄ ｏｆ ｇａｄｇｅｔｓ

 it's been a disorienting time of
running about, good-byes, job-hunts, riding the rails,
drunkenness and debauchery. yeah, japan is the real
deal, but i'm bouncing back from my initial shock and
making little stabs of my own.
 i had an interview the other day， down near tokyo.
that was a bit mad, had to take the bullet train and
meet the BOE for the shiki district(first town north
of tokyo).  you could draw comparisons with the
mono-rail at disneyland.
 i borrowed a monkey suit and slathered through the
late monsoon august heat. i kept memorizing the
japanese phrases for 'plesed to meet you, my name is,
i am from america'. with all the formalities of
japanese interviews, must've bowed 20 times while my
case workers sweated over me. i was told to smile a
lot, so i decided to think about dave chapelle's
'sesame street' skit, that usually puts a smile on my
face.  it all seemed a bit absurd to be sitting with
my back upright and looking for visual clues from my
fellow subordinate tomadachi. the irony perhaps lies
in the only question asked was what was my favorite
japanese food. tempted as i was to say 'kfc, pizza
hut, and mcdonalds', i opted for soba, sushi, tempura,
and taki-yaki.  their eyes widened at the last one,
'white boy likes octopus'? not really, but i thought
if that didn't put me over the top, nothing would.
after an hour of heated discussions, chronic
fatigue, bits of catchy phrases, it was decided that
my capacity would be best served at the local middle
school level.  i would be bouncing between two of 'em
and have a friday to meet up at the BOE for
evaluations. more bows, a bladder full of ocha, but
smiles all the same.
 i spent a better part of last weekend doing the
teachers’ training with a bunch of kiwis, aussies, a
few brits, and some obnoxious yanks.  i made a
few good　drawings of the local deities, acted out a couple
of skits, drew up a few lesson plans, and practiced my
japanese acumen.
 after the last meeting, my personal contact komeko
drove me down to the local rental agency in shiki. an
hour drive turned to three, catching the remnants of
the tokiyites returning from their weekends on the%