Report from Greater Tokyo

I once saw a man in the forest. He was wearing loose green clothes; some kind of throw over smock and darker trousers. They had a kind of weird design, as if they were made from leaves, treated in some unknown fashion. It was of course hard top tell in the twilight. but there were glossy patches, as of fresh leaves, mixed with darker patches, some of them brown or red.

I, of course, was walking on the ground. He was in the trees. Who knows? I might have just imagined the whole episode. Perhaps it was just a bird. Certainly no ordinary man could have fled through the branches as he did when he saw me. Those branches would never have taken the weight of a normal man.

Today marks the 20th different JHS I have taught at in this city this school year. That's not counting the elementary schools, eikaiwas, and private/business lessons. Which is quite ridiculous. the curious thing about this one was that one female teacher was wearing stockings and a suspender belt under skirt that was slightly above the knee. Not what I would have considered appropriate clothing for a teacher on duty, but each to their own I guess.

As you may recall, last month my landlady thoughtfully threw away my shoes because she thought they were rubbish. Our friendship has since deteriorated.

So today I paid my rent, minus the cost of the shoes.

Needless to say, she was annoyed at that. She said she'd take it as part payment, and I said as far as I was considered, it was full payment and resolution for her throwing away my things. She then suggested I take it to court. I said that since I felt the money side of things was resolved, there was no need for me to do so, but should she feel the need to do so, she could do so herself.

Her parting shot was that it would come out of my deposit. Like I was expecting it all back anyway. This is a Japanese landlord we're talking about after all.