Setsubun!

Hey sports fans*,
Sorry that I have not posted in a while, but my life has been study and work, work and study, and some crappy luck in between. I dropped my mobile and smashed it to small pieces, so if you had my number before, it no longer is me. If you try to call it, my guess is that you will either get nothing, or some angry Japanese trying to tell you, no they are not the crazy foreigner you are trying to call. When I went to get a new one, I was hoping to get the same model, because I both like it and understand the functions. Now, I only got my phone three months ago. They don't even make the model any more, and it was one of the latest ones at the time. That is the power of Marketing here in Nihon. So, I got a newer one, and it is fine, it was also free, which is all I care. I may even memorize the new number more quickly than the old.

On a cheerier note, today, February 3 is Setsubun. Each year at this time, you throw dried soy beans at people wearing demon masks, saying: "Oni ga soto, fuku wa uchi!"
"Devil get out! Good luck come in!" This festival is celebrated in a lot of places, but, once again, it falls on a day where I have class. Never fear! My teachers were cool, and bought both of us students beans, and masks, which they had us both wear. As soon as I figure out how to send email on my phone, I will put the picture of me wearing the mask on the blog. And, I guess I did have good luck, because after class I went in search of this awesome Chinese megastore, where they have all sorts of things for the Chinese community. There is a buffet, which even has a lucky price: 888** yen. Along the way, I went down the wrong way, but found myself actually in terra cognita. From the train station, which is on my line, it is only a five minute walk to my favourite bar, Murphy's. No replacement for One World Cafe, but it will have to do. I turned around, and started walking in the correct direction. As I walked down, I found some seriously great shops, where I bought some gifts,and there is a shop selling Japanese prints, so now I have three sources for my Ukiyo-e needs.
And, then there was the buffet, which was great, and open late enough to go to with my friends after our shift, if we scurry. After all the setbacks last week, I am glad that my demon has left me, for at least a while.

*this line is from the Great Santini, as portrayed by the Magnificent Robert Duvall.
Charlie don't surf.
**The number 8, Chinese, is a homophone for the word luck, and three is lucky number too. So, three luck, really lucky.