My legs are tired.

So in Japanese "mama chari" means like ... old lady bike. most people ride mama charis around. And I am one of them. It is not a mountain bike, or a racing bike, or a street bike, or a trick bike. It's one of those bikes that you sit straight up on with the basket in front. I had a good experience with the bike I used to have in Tokyo, which was also a mama chari, so I looked forward to riding my bike here in Sendai. But this bike isn't that bike, and Sendai isn't Tokyo. There are a lots of hills here in Sendai, the bike's pedal are placed sort of awkwardly, and I forgot how much bike seats hurt your ass when you sit on them. It was a pretty exhausting experience and makes my apartment, which is far from the city and takes a little hill-climbing to get to, less great than it seemed before. Damn.

So other than riding around on my bike, today I dropped a fat wad of cash on the Economics office to pay my tuition. And the guy started laughing at me because I kept making mistakes with the requirements for my enrollment. Sort of embarrassing. And then I looked around to see if I can join a music club so I can start a band, and after annoying this girl in "Minna utau kai club" (the "everyone sings" club), I found out the place I was supposed to go. So all the clubs have their club headquarter rooms side-by-side in these long one-story buildings that look like barracks from Manzanar (and I mean the actual barracks, because these things are made of rotting wood and yellowed glass, and the doors and rooves have about 60 years of rust on them; be sure to get your tetanus shot before joining a club). So I went to this one building at the top of the hill and I heard a promising sound: a bass drum. And then guitars. And bass. And vocals. My goal of starting a goofy Japanese band is right behind those doors. I didn't want to bother the band that was practicing, but now I know where to go. Woohoo.

Literally THIS VERY MOMENT my host father is talking to me. And I'm typing this because what he is saying is pissing me off. Yesterday before I went to bed he approached me about helping him teach a new English class at his school for advanced English speakers. And when I say "help", I mean he wants me to come up with some good business articles for them to read - in other words to make the curriculum and teach it. And then I'm pretty sure his friend Bill (the 50 something "hapless character") wants me to help him teach his class because he asked to talk to me on the phone tonight, but then when I picked it up, it had been disconnected. Oh yeah - and host dad just told me Scottish Elaine really wants to "keep in touch with me" because she wants to me to do financial analysis of her school and give her freakin INVESTMENT ADVICE after I tried to politely tell her I wouldn't yesterday. Aside from the fact that I'm not going to be responsible for someone else's stock portfolio, even if they pay me for it, who the hell do these people think they are? They can tell me all they want that it is too my advantage because I will be able to get to know Japanese society well through these interactions. They can flatter me all they want and tell me "it's unusual to have someone of your caliber here and I want to take advantage of your presence" or that someone like me can really "stimulate the students minds more than normal lectures" or whatever, but the operative phrase will always be "take advantage of your presence". I absolutely refuse to do the things they are asking of me. I owe them nearly nothing, and they will be rewarded accordingly. I have 9 months left here to accomplish 3 things: improve my Japanese, do my research, and explore Japan and Asia. Involved in that is making friends at school and hopefully a band. But teaching English classes and being a part time investment banker/stock broker for some down-on-their-luck adults are most certainly NOT a part of that experience. As it is, this homestay, with all the English speaking and the fact that it is driving me NUTS has only set me back; it hasn't helped at all. So if these people think they are going to be able to use up my time for their own purposes, even if they are really kind people and ask me really nicely, they are dead wrong. Just dead wrong. Maybe this sounds selfish, but you know what? It damn well should sound selfish. I am going to be as selfish as I have to be this year. Time is limited and I have shit I have to get done.

The only person I like is the person I get to spend the least time with - my host mom, who only speaks Japanese and seems to understand that I'm frustrated and don't want to spend my time here as an English tutor. This morning when I was leaving, and my host dad said he wanted me to come to his class today, she told me right before I walked out the door "you can just come straight back home if you want - you don't have to go to his school." My thoughts exactly. And tonight I got to eat dinner alone with her and watch TV with her, which was really nice. I'm glad she's around. Oh, and she's the only person that calls me "kenji-kun", and that's a ticket straight to my heart.