Day Twenty-Eight

Again, been neglecting this thing. Busy week, preparing for the midterm which I took today. Wasn't horrible, wasn't great. Just was. Funny, after the spoken part of the exam, my sensei asked what I thought of the class so far. I told her that I like the class but I find reading very difficult because of all the kanji (Chinese characters). She said that she photocopied Tanizaki's story about tattooing for me because she thought I would really like it, and that she would give it to me to read next week. And she also asked if I'm usually a pretty quiet person, since I hardly ever talk in class. I said yes, and then she said that she figured that was my personality, since it seems like I knew what I was doing in terms of the class. This is funny because most of the time I *don't* know what I am doing in the class, which is why I am so quiet!! I just happened to speak up the other day when one of my classmates was giving a presentation cuz I felt like his argument about pop culture was a bit reductionist and a little too overdetermined in regards to the seemingly totalizing effects of globalization and so-called "free"-market capitalism. But then I remembered, oh it's summer, so I pulled back and imagined vampires and werewolves fighting in a planetary deathmatch and wondered which side I would join. But just as in graduate school in the States, my silence seems to be often interpreted as thoughtfulness rather than stupidity. I wonder what it is about me that gives off such an aura. Cuz really, it's really more a "duh, i dunno" kind of silence than a "hmmmm, i'm deep in thought" silence. *shrug*

Also, on Wednesday, I was in Tokyo in a record shop in Shinjuku, and randomly met a cute guy. He was the one who initiated the conversation with me. An inked up, rockabilly punk guy. I would post his picture up but perhaps that's not really appropriate. (Email me if you want to see it.) He seems nice, but also kinda weird. But then again, I am in the land of crazy so perhaps that's to be expected. For instance, at one point he was looking at the tattoo on my arm and wanted to see the entire thing. So I pulled up my shirt sleeve to show him and then he started fondling me somewhat inappropriately. I didn't really know what to think of this so I sorta ignored him, pretending that I was deep in thought looking through the record bins. After record shopping was over, we walked to the train station together, and he showed me the cover of the record he bought, and was like, "This is so-and-so's wife (some member of some band), I bet they have sex every night." I was like, "What? Huh? How do you know that?" It was really weird. Who says that to someone they just met??! Anyway, we've been texting each other for the last few days. He invited me over to his place on Sunday. I am not sure what to do about this. Again, he seems nice, but a little strange. And as many of you know, I am in the midst of my desert journey, so I don't plan on getting any action anytime soon. If he wants to just hang out, that's great. But I am not looking for anything more than that. I am pretty happy in the desert right now!

Anyway, that's about most of the interesting things going on lately. I am headed to a butoh dance performance tonight, which I am super excited about. It's a pretty famous troupe called Dairakukadan and they are performing a work entitled "The Hole." I'll report back on whether it's any good. I'm sure it's gonna be great!