User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 

April Fools!
My bosses Akiko and Maiko played an April Fools joke on me.  They pulled me into the interview room and told me that I had to be let go.  I kinda bought into it before they talked to me (they had me wait a bit) because I've heard horror stories of visa problems and stuff like that.  Anyways, it was an April Fools joke.  I hate April Fools jokes involving trouble at work, so I began plotting my revenge.  The whole day I acted like I was upset with them about the joke.  I went home after work and wrote an email that looked like it was from the trainer Alec at the AEON headquarters in Okayama.  It's an old and very easy computer trick that spammers use all the time.

Anyways, the email said that I had called him and told him that I was upset and that I want to submit a formal complaint to the head office.  It also said that he wants to talk with the two of them on a conference 

Christmas in LA
I visited LA for Christmas and New Years.  It was awesome seeing everyone again as it had been over a year since being back.  The place hasn't changed much, but it was really strange walking around inside my family's house with shoes on.  I just had to take them off.  Obviously, Japan is rubbing off on me.  Soon my name will be Takashi Furuta or something.  I didn't do much in LA other than hang out with friends and gorge myself on massive American portions.  That was the point of the trip.

Osaka Weekend
I had a concert in Osaka recently.  The show went really well, and I dug the reactions I got from people; however, I didn't sell many CDs.  Then after the show, the MC of the show asked me to 

First Time in the Newspaper
My student Ayumi works for the Asahi newspaper here in Tottori, and she asked if she could interview me.  It was fantastic PR because she focused primarily on Mondaiji (my music/comedy project).  The article appeared in the Sunday edition a few days later.  There was even a picture from the live show I did at Afterhours.  I went to Japanese class that day, and all the teachers in the class said, "Hey!  You're in the newspaper!"  One teacher copied the article and gave it to everyone in the class to read.  They want me to play a few of my songs in class sometime.

AEON Halloween Party
We had a our annual Halloween party at AEON, and it was a blast.  I was a ninja with a mullet wig, and even played a few of my silly songs for the students.  We had a trivia game and a costume contest too.  My manager Akiko won hands down.  Her drunk Japanese businessman with a "barcode" comb-over wig costume won the hearts of all in attendance.  One student went all-out with a panda costume.  Unfortunately, he got 

Typhooooon!
There have been some crazy typhoons this season.  I'm sure Japanese people are used to them; but being a novel experience for me, I'm certainly not accustomed to them yet.  My boss called me one morning and said, "You're fired!  Don't come to work today.  Just kidding.  All classes are canceled because of the typhoon, so don't come to work."  That was the first time in my life I got to stay home due to the weather conditions.  Thanks, Mama Nature!  The theme of typhoons seems to be WIND.  One storm was so cool I even filmed some of it from my balcony.  There is supposed to be another one on the way.  Fortunately, Tottori doesn't get hit too severely by typhoons.  Further south is a different story.

Earthquake!
There were some earthquakes here recently too.  I felt 4 in one day.  I woke up to one one morning and said, "Earth! ...would you