Friday Night

Posted on 2006/01/29 09:12:10 (January 2006).

[Friday 27th January]
"Excess ain't Rebellion" as the wise poet John McCrea once postulated, however it does appear to feel pretty good on occasion, somewhat regardless of this fact.

Let's face it, it had been a pretty crappy week. There has been a certain amount of tension at work, which had really come to a head recently, resulting in some rather unpleasantly toned phone calls and emails (not from me, I hasten to add). The trials and tribulations of working in a large and globally distributed company have taken me quite by surprise - it is really hard at times. I found by the end of the week it had really ground me down, and by the time 5:30 on Friday had arrived I was quite fed up with it.

Chie went out with some of her friends for the evening, so I was at something of a loose end. As I left the office I still wasn't quite sure what I was going to do - I didn't really feel like I had the enthusiasm to go out anywhere. I got on the usual train home, but somehow just didn't bother to get off at my usual stop. Instead I carried on to Shinjuku, and from there without thinking my feet just seemed to lead me to Ikebukuro, and then from the station right into the bar of my friend Watanabe-san.

It turned into quite a long night. Clearly I had more energy than I thought (once free of the will-to-live sapping environment of the office), and I found it surprisingly easy to forget how crap my working week had been.

It was a great night out.

I seem to have developed quite a talent for talking to complete strangers recently. As I hardly know anyone in Japan this is, of course, something of a necessity. By no means was I sat nursing a quiet pint in silence all evening. Amongst other fascinating dialogues, I had a chat with an architect/designer about the beauty of pub interiors, a short exchange with some other bloke about the relative merits of Belgian beer, and a long debate with a guy from Nepal about who really got to the top first - Sir Edmund or Sherpa Tensig.

Of course, one of the downsides about going out by yourself is the lack of being able to talk about it by the proverbial water cooler (or coffee machine) on Monday morning - or to reminisce about it with a friend a later date with a friend over a quiet pint. I certainly wasn't lacking for company all evening, but it would certainly have been nice to have a "regular" friend to have shared the experience with.

What do you mean *relative* merits of belgian beer! ........... You have insulted me, Sir! ........ Pistols or swords! Your choice!

Posted by Sheri Ze Belgian Frog at 2006/01/29 10:45:21.

I know EXACTELY what you mean Johnny boy! Be strong and try some more, maybe you should get an hobby outside work, a jym something like that... The problems that I had (and still have) in the North is the fact that I am not meeting a lot of people to become friends with, if you take out the guys/gals at work...

Posted by Lox at 2006/01/29 24:22:22.

No, no, no Sheri - relative as in how Belgian beers compare to each other.
The conclusion was that I don't know Belgian beer very well!

Posted by John at 2006/01/29 13:10:25.

You want a regular friend to talk with? Next time you meet a midget, slap him on the face, drag him while he is groggy and lock him up in a locker. Everytime you need to pour out your feelings, you 'll have someone at your disposal...! Easy! (But don't forget to feed him from time to time)

Posted by Sheri at 2006/01/29 17:45:14.

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