...so he could sing, "I'm still alive." Which is obviously what I am, although thankfully while I was sitting home alone at age 13, my real daddy wasn't dying. So, the main reason for my continued survival is the fact that I bought a heater, or more properly, I bought a stove. It is basically just a big propane burner. It is so warm! Although, it does give off a rather hideous odor, and it has a tendency to rapidly consume all the oxygen in the room, leaving me with a terrible headache before I pass out. And it is quite a fire hazard as well, which is why we are forbidden from owning this type of heater by the guys at the Board of Education. But if given the choice, I will gladly choose death by fire over ice. It was slightly expensive, but I guess that going with out food a little is better than dying. I figure that things in Thailand are so cheap that I may end up with a little extra money this month, despite taking a trip to Thailand. The expenses for the trip mostly took place last month, so I should have more than enough this month. Damn these apartments suck though, in terms of insulation. Every window is like a gaping hole for heat, even when they are closed. Single pane glass is insane in this climate, especially in an apartment with two sliding glass doors and no central heating. So I have taped bubble wrap to all the windows. And so I have a little mini fireplace. It is okay. It gets seriously warm. I set my alarm a little early and turn the heater on the first time the alarm goes off, so that by the time I actually get around to getting out of bed, it is warm in my room. If I had had more money, I could have sprang for one with a timer. One thing that is really strange is that the situation is basically the same in the schools; no insulation, single pane glass, and giant furnaces in every classroom. it seems strange to me that they wouldn't go to greeeaat lengths to install real heating systems in schools, since it is kids we are talking about here and these things are horrible firetraps, and the Japanese are all deathly afraid of fire, mostly due to the fact that they won't use brick construction because they are afraid of it falling on them in an earthquake. Its kinda funny, but they do have a lot of natural disasters here. And some very unnatural ones.

So what else is going on, you ask? Not too much really. Right now I am watching Ally McBeal on TV in Japanese. It is even more arbitrary than usual, but it sometimes manages to be a bit amusing when you can't understand most of what they are saying and only can watch them squeal and sing and make stupid faces. And Ally McBeal is built just like a Japanese girl, which kinda cracks me up because everyone in America seems to think that she is some sort of freak. Overall, I think this is better than watching it in English. They also show Dark Angel here in Japanese, and it is equally amusing. For the most part it is pretty easy to figure out what is going on as the show is pretty simple-minded and action-oriented. And it is good practice for cheezeball Japanese colloquial interjections.

So maybe you want to hear about my impending trip to Thailand? I leave on Wednesday and return to Japan on December 31st. I am going with fellow JETs Yuji and Eric. We will start by spending 5 days in Bangkok, then travelling south by boat and overnight bus to some remote western islands. I will spend Christmas snorkelling on the island of Koh Yao Noi. The trip will end with three days in Phuket. I am a little nervous but mostly excited and eager to go somewhere so much more different than Japan and the US. Also I am looking forward to relaxing in the warmth. So, there is probably a lot more I could say about the trip, but I am tired and going to bed now. Please ask questions in the comment area and I will answer them.