Wakata Means I Like You

I am on form these days. Some good things, some bad things but what surprised me is how I prepare for it. Yesterday was going to be a big day. Two interviews, news of another and a hair appointment. I had to be sharp, and actually woke from my slumber switching between Japanese and Spanish because you never know when you're going to get the call at the last minute to facilitate a summit between Junichiro Koizumi and José Maria Asnar and save the world. In Japanese -- "My name is Dax. I am a fatty", and in Spanish -- "One more song. No. I'm not going to listen to this music" as strains of U2 came on my radio. "Wotoshi no namae wa Daksu desu. Wotoshi wa debu desu. Una canción más. No. No voy a escuchar." The stuff didn't make sense, and I have no idea if the Japanese was actually correct, but like I said I was half asleep when I started. I was just surprised at how my brain jumpstarted knowing that I had to be sharp yesterday, and I was also surprised because when I want to get my brain going in the morning, I usually practice Hindi.

I said in my last post that I didn't want to jinx an opportunity, but apparently I did. I wanted to keep it on the DL because it would have been a plum job, working for the national arm of the professional association I belong to. That's like, I dunno, working for the Queen, but then actually getting to work at Buckingham, or Windsor or whatever, too. Well, I'm not keeping it secret any more because I didn't get to go forward to the next round of interviews.

The domino effect of the bad news caused me to go to another interview, and come across as withdrawn. At least that's what I'm blaming it on, because I think I blew that job opportunity as well. That's too bad because it was an even better opportunity than the one before, but of course I couldn't see that because I was still brooding over the bad news. My recruiter is going to try and salvage that one for me.

The second interview was for a contract position. You know your interview is with a creative firm when you get off the lift and the receptionist is walking around barefoot. The first interviewer warned me that the accounting department was very cliquey. That became immediately apparent during the second part of the interview. One of the two interviewers stared at me the whole time. I couldn't tell if she was checking out my pipes, or if she was silently disapproving. Either way, she gave off a really negative vibe, which is too bad because the location and salary were just right.

I shlepped around town yesterday, but luckily I did most of the shlepping before the rain started pouring. After the interviews, I went to get a haircut. On the way, I stopped by Ayako's workplace to say hello. She wasn't working, but I did see one of Hank's poker buddies there. I told him that I was there to see Ayako, so maybe he'll put a bug in her ear. I also popped by my old workplace to pick up some books that keep getting delivered there instead of my home. I chatted with some friends and then trod through the rain to my hair appointment.

"Konichi wa! Sumimasen, I am here for my appointment."
"Hi Dax. Gomenasai, but we are running behind. Is it okay?"
"No problem. Have you eaten? I'll pop over to Kakihara's and pick something up for you."
"Arigato! 1 dynamite roll, 1 saba roll and 1 nattou box."
"Kakihara doesn't have nattou."
"Yes he does, but you have to ask for it."

Off I went to Kaki-san's and gave the order. I also told him that I had recently met one of his neighbours and ordered my own late lunch. Back at the salon, I dropped off the sushi order and kept waiting. My stylist had one in the chair, one under the dryer and me waiting to go. I didn't mind, it gave me a chance to relax and read a scathing indictment of George Bush and his disastrous second term. Plus, there's usually a lot of eye candy in hair salons. I got my hair done, but my stylist couldn't do any plucking because she was too busy. She asked me to come back after Christmas. Her wax guy wasn't around, so I was out of luck there too. I told her all about Ayako and my dilemma about Miki. Her advice was quite clear, so far nobody's advising me to give up on Ayako. Did I mention that she likes nattou?

At Hank's house party, Ayako heard that I was a twin. Wide-eyed, she asked, "Really?"
"Joku nai."
And she asked in further anticipation, "Same face?"
"No, gomen."

When I told her that I was the younger twin, she concluded that I was born first. I corrected her, and then she said that in Japan, the younger twin is always born first. Now, this doesn't sound as far-fetched as one might think. Maybe in some parts of Asia, there are differences of opinion regarding multiple births. I've had to clear up misconceptions about twins for a Korean friend (complete with drawings) and I think I was able to convince her, or at least convince her of how I understood my situation. But there was no way I could convince Ayako about birth order. I just smiled, nodded and said, "Oh, really? Wakata", because afterall I didn't really know that she was wrong. Then I helped her do some research about her job. She didn't know her boss' reputation cuz well, she's not from around here, so I showed her on the internet, and helped her put together a dossier.

By the time I got home yesterday, I was soaked right through even though I did have a brolly. A neighbour commented that I looked like a wet puppy as I got in the lift. I didn't get in her face because she drives a sexy silver Porsche, and her girlfriend asked me to wash it the day before when she saw me washing Baby. I said I would wash it, but that she had to let me drive it to the designated car washing stall in the car park, a total distance of approximately 500 feet. No dice.

There was a message on my machine from my recruiter. I wish I had met this guy a year ago, he's phenomenal. He had a job for me! A real job, my wheelman days are over. It was after five, but I called him anyway. Somebody answered, but it wasn't him so I left a message. I called him again this morning and he told me that that job was filled, but that he had another job for me to start tomorrow. He had put me forward for a different job at the same place a few weeks ago, but I didn't get it. So I'll have to wait another day for the call from Koizumi, and until then I'll have to save the world in other ways. Finally, I'm making money again, but it comes at a price. I'll have to bail on my pre-Christmas get together with a few friends. They might have more fun without me.

Movie section: I stayed up late last week and was able to catch a real gem. THE gem actually. This movie is the top-grossing film of all time at the domestic box office. In Italy anyway. Johnny Stecchino stars Roberto Benigni and his wife Nicoletta Braschi. I'd seen this movie before about ten years ago, but I'm thinking it was without subtitles because I remember it slightly differently. Benigni (Dante) plays a school bus driver who gets wrapped up with a mob wife whose husband is Dante's doppelganger, Johnny. Johnny is in hiding in Sicily because all of Palermo wants him dead. Braschi (Maria) brings Dante to Palermo and a series of misinterpretations manages to keep Dante in the dark completely about why he is there. Maria wants Dante to be killed in public so that she and Johnny can move about freely, but in the movie she eventually falls for Dante, and delivers Johnny to his enemies. She flees Sicily with millions and Dante returns to his city vacant and blissful, and resumes driving the school bus. It's a standard lookalike plot, but evidently the Italians ate it up like gelato. This is the movie that actually made me want to move to Rome. I don't know why because it's never revealed where Dante lives. Anyway, Rome didn't scare me after this film. It wasn't La Vità è Bella, but it was a nice bit of brain candy.