Goin' back to Cali...

So after 8 months here in Japan I'm finally taking a long vacation.

I'll be heading home to San Diego to see my sister and niece.

It'll be nice to relax and hang out with them
AND

GET TO EAT SOME MEXICAN FOOD!!!!

AND

SEE SOME MOVIES ON THE BIG SCREEN

I can't wait actually. Getting to Osaka will be a chore, but I should manage.

Getting home is worse. My plane lands in Osaka on Wednesday, April 6th at 6pm, even though I take off from LAX on Tuesday the 5th at 2pm. The time difference can be a killer at times. And then I'll have to take a "night" bus back to Izumo which means getting on at 10pm on the 6th and arriving home at 7am the next morning. The journey doesn't take that long - they actually pull the bus over and just stop for about two hours so they can arrive at 7am instead of at 5am. The Japanese keep to their time schedules - convenience be damned! :)

Everyone thinks the bullet trains are cool here - and they are - but they're also bloody expensive. It would've cost me about $200 ONE-WAY to get to Osaka... ummm, errr... no. I'll take the bus for $50. Still, one day, it would be cool to ride on one.

So all this means I might not update this blog for about two weeks. I know my two dedicated readers are deeply wounded, but I'm sure the rest of you will manage. I might have time in SD to post some pics so check in occasionally.

This also means that when I get back it'll be a Trivia Explosion!!
I don't make up the questions - I get them off a page-a-day calendar I got for Xmas. So they'll be waiting for me when I get back. Although when I get back I have to go right back to work on Friday the 8th. Yes, the first day of the new school year is a Friday. Weird, huh.

If you just gotta have some of that sweet, sweet Jason prose, you can check out my Hitchhiker's guide column at The Black Taxi blog site, which is the Shimane JET monthly publication. I just turned in a big column all about summer movies for the March edition, so we'll see if the editors in charge of that month get it posted. My Feb. column is up there now.

So any of my San Diego peeps reading this - email me so we can hang out.

I hope my Shimane peeps have a good spring break. I hope this country warms up while I'm away and I can put away my kotatsu blanket and my heat fan when I get back.

Hugs and Fishes,
Jason

In N Out, Chilis, good pizza, Robertos, movies that cost less than $18 - I'm gonna be a happy man very soon...