Rage and the Secret Life of Point Cards

 AM

At 9:30am, I woke with a crushing headache. Rather than a hangover, which would indicate a great night beforehand, the headache mainly resulted from rage and a touch of dehydration. After reading my draft schedule for the next academic year, my shock was so great that it nearly caused vomiting. Despite a year of outstanding evaluations and a spotless attendance record, not one of the seven schools I nominated appeared on the sub-professional spreadsheet (right) .My week of personnel department rage began with two trips to Wakayama in one week, subsided on Wednesday, then was enflamed once again on Thursday night. I'm still pondering whether or not to compose a strongly worded letter. Then again, I didn't come here to work for my company - I came to get out of a rotten job and out of the cool soup which Melbourne isn't and enjoy myself (which I am!)

PM

During the PM hours I was asked no less than four times whether or not I had a point card. I also gained one point card and redeemed some goodness from another point card.

I've inadvertently become a regular at the Akagakiya Sushi restaurant in Namba. Every time I visit, which is very often, I get asked whether I would like to convert my pile of plates into points. Finally today (thanks to Rosie's Japanese skills) , I was able to become part of the sushi point card bretheren. I'm completely unsure as to the nature of the calculations, however today I accrued 17 points. As to exactly how the points will pay off I am also completely unsure, but I plan to pile on the numbers for something big - someday.

Just 30 minutes later, I experienced the joyous result of point accumulation. For months, small numbers of points have been added to my and Rosie's Yamada LABI card. Today, at about 4:30pm the pay off came. It was unexpected, for my previous experience with points has been almost nil, and in Australia, redemption for most people is an impossible dream. As the clerk fed our card into her machine, then scanned the barcode on our new powerboard an amazing thing happened. In my ignorance, I offered the young women the 1300 or so yen for the good but she simply pointed to the register that read 0Yen. The powerboard cost nothing but a few abstract numbers on a hi-tech silvery card. Again: what an amazing country.

What's That Smell?

Friday 6th November 2009

AM

Least: At about 11:50am, my senses were attacked by an intense rotten egg smell coming from outside. This is the second time that I have been grievously assaulted by this particular odour and I am yet to come up with any theories about its source. I am refraining from naming it as the fourth bad small of Japan - but another attack could just bring it into contention.

Most: At nearly 6:00am, I was woken by the simple fact that I was cold. It is amazing how quickly the morning have gotten cold. Once again it is as if the govenment has flicked a weather switch. The brutality of the summer seems to have erased the memory of cold mornings in Japan, but this morning they started coming back.

PM

Least: At nearly 11:00pm, I realized that I was a number of days behind on the AMPM blog. To save the pain of rifling through my memory for events of days gone by, I will soon have to begin taking notes. The danger is though, that I will look and feel like one of those people who annoyed my so much in Clifton Hill.

Most: At about 1:00pm, I was finally admitted into the world of the point card. After buying a smallish item of electronics at LABI I was offered, an recieved a point card. At the instruction of the staff, I inserted it into a poker-like machine and watched the pictures spin. I won a 10 yen bonus. A little disappointing, but I feel it could be the start of something big,

The Man with the Magnets

AM

Least: At 10:15am, I began carefully poaching my eggs according to the tried and true Box method. When the crucial time for toasting arrived, I was devastated to discovered that we were breadless. Given the sensitive nature of the poaching process the only two options were to complete then eat the eggs or send them to the Osaka incinerators. The two eggs alone on the plate looked pathetic and lonely. In my panic, I had undercooked the eggs by approximately one minute.

Most: Just after 10:30am, I made a trip to Family Mart then a trip to Kohyo in search of bread. Upon arrival at Kohyo, I discovered that every overcashed housewife in Tezukayama was there. Normally, this fact and their ruthless shopping methods could only be recorded as uninteresting, however some barking piqued my curiosity. It appears that every one of the aforementioned housewives uses several cash and point-cards, one of which makes a machine bark like a puppy when scanned. An 'electronic money' dog named Happy Waon (above) specialises in point collecting and singing. His hobby is shopping. A small sign at the counter read 'Electric Money Can Be Used At This Counter'.

PM

Least: At 2:35pm, I was transported back to work and back into a very familiar routine. Everything was exactly as I'd left it. The staff, the building, the now out-of-date postings, the students, the awkward smalltalk and the lack of useful breaks. At least the sheer sameness of it all caused absolutely no stress. I'm sure it won't cause any stress for the rest of my time there.

Most: At about 9:05pm, I took my usual seat in the very last carriage of the Nankai Local at Nakamozu station. Some familiar characters were there, including the cougher in his brown suit, and the young pastry chef thumbing his latest edition of the glossy mag 'Super Patissier Book'. One stranger tended a finger wound with a tissue. Most interesting though, was an unfamiliar bloated wreck who, suffering some ailment, began placing numerous (about 30) adhesive magnets to his chest and wrists. I hope his illness wasn't serious. The tanned girl wearing her all-yellow softs didn't blink and fell asleep.