strange saturday

i had a strange day last saturday.

my morning was the same routine: i got up nice and early, walked to omiya station to the sound of royskopp then I got my train nice and early so I had plenty of time to ease into my day. i got a usual seat in the front, women only car, and changed my soundtrack to some lloyd cole. when the train got to omiya koen station it didn’t move for a very long time. i chilled out a bit, relieved that i had plenty of time to spare. the conductor kept making announcements and the only thing i could make out was that something had gone wrong at the station one stop ahead.

the first thing anyone says when there’s a major train delay is “it must be a jumper”. there’s such a strange feeling when you see people frustrated about getting somewhere and some poor soul has just died a brutal death. i decided to go sit on a platform bench and take in a little bit of 30 degree weather. it was very quiet and there was a gentle breeze.

my manager called to see if i was going to make my first lesson of the day and i told him it didn’t look like we were going to move any time soon. at this point the conductor was no where in sight and people slowly started searching for other ways to get to their destinations.

about half an hour later another work staff member called to see what the status was on my train and i told her it would probably be another hour. she told me i should take a cab and that the company would cover the cost. i exited the station and joined the taxi lineup. by this time i was already going to miss my second lesson of the day.

omiya koen is a small town so taxis are few and far between. the lineup finally dwindled down to myself and a salary man. he was kind enough to turn around and ask me where i was going. he too was headed for iwatsuki so we shared the cab. of course the traffic was horrendous so i missed yet another lesson.

i finally got to work about 2 hours late and the salary man refused to take my money when it came time to pay. i insisted but he would have none of it so i politely accepted his generosity.

here’s the kicker, i don’t get paid for any of the classes i missed !!!! oh i tell you it’s such a joy working for this company. there was no way i could make it to work and it gets docked off my cheque…i’m just a LITTLE fumed about it. luckily i’m getting reimbursed for the cab ride which was the cost of about 2 lessons. thank you mr.salary man for helping me make some of my wages back.

that afternoon was also a little strange. my first lesson was man to man with a kinder which was fine but then i had to take my lunch break. after my break i had three no shows and ended my shift with a junior man to man. we had a small earthquake around 2pm and a typhoon around 4pm.

that evening matt and i went to say one last goodbye to joe : ( i’m sad that my gay boyfriend is gone, workdays at iwatsuki and all nighter karaoke will never be the same…sniff.

today was jaime’s last day at work as well, she’s off to america to attend graduate school at yale and i wish her all the best. i can’t wait to be in joe and jaime’s shoes, it will be such a good feeling to walk into my very last day at work. only 8 months to go !!!

here's a picture of me at work

listening to sunset rubdown shut up i am dreaming