The Business Trip: Deliver Us From The Eliminator – Part 2

I find myself in a pool of water sitting up against some wet rocks which are slightly covered in damp moss. The sun quickly dries any part of me above the surface of the water as it beams down to warm my body. The waterfall above me splashes down into the pool creating cooling mist and I rest my head back watching a flock of birds fly through the sunlight. I feel something tickle my leg and open my eyes. Blinded by the sun I see a figure rise up from the water and as my vision clears I see that this is the most beautiful Asian woman I have ever seen, a siren walking out of the mist, naked and smiling and arms outstretched. She advances, the sound of the waterfall grows louder and I stand and move towards her, both of us locking in a passionate embrace. I move in to lightly kiss her when three gunshots ring out and…

…I awake in the hotel room. The waterfall was the torrent of rain hitting the window, the girl is gone and the three gunshots were housekeeping banging on the door. Another fantasy ruined by reality. I wake up, gather my clothes together and check out of the hotel. Prior to leaving I had wanted to take a photo of the toilet seat as it had printed upon it: Please seat on seat when playing with knob. Immature reigns supreme for this traveler of the road. The sleep was much needed, about nine hours worth and I would probably have moved along much farther with my fantasy Goddess had the old lady with the mole hadn’t have disturbed me. Well, that’s what you get for not putting out the sign.

Outside the rain was coming down in buckets, really huge buckets, the kind of buckets they place KFC in to feed George Wendt sized buckets. I was instantaneously soaked. I hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella and even if I had thought to bring an umbrella I no longer had an umbrella to bring. The one I had carted along with me from Canada was mauled by the wind a few weeks back, inverted and thus rendered useless unless I needed something to catch the rain in as opposed to having an object to use so to avoid it. I quickly looked like I had just swam from Canada with every inch of me drenched. Now, this wasn’t a problem for me. I’m a guy who really enjoys the rain. I used to take walks in thunderstorms, one of my quirky truths that people can use to fasten the old Weirdo button to my chest. The thunderclaps were enormous this evening but no lightening, which can be the highlight of any stroll in a storm. Watching the streaks zig-zag across the sky is the main reason I’m storm watching. What, you think I’m out there because I have some strange hippie notion that nature’s water cleanses me or something? Hell, no. Lightening is cool!

Taking that old tram to the class in this storm was somewhat worth the frustration of last night. I had compared it yesterday to an amusement park ride and today it was even more so: The Terror Tram. The rain and window rocked the tram so that it felt as if it would drive off the tracks, do a few barrel rolls and plummet into somebody’s rice field. The thunder added the effect and every so often a light in the tram would blink. Seriously, these folks up here could transform this into a prime tourist attraction if they added a few tunnels and cheesy ghost special effects. And have Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me on a constant loop. Now that would be a ride! The Terror Tram rolled into the storm, the sky a mass of gray. The clouds in Japan are extremely fascinating as I have seen nothing like them before. They are thick massive clumps above and in some cases one will block out the entire sky above you leaving patches at the sides other clouds will invade. These are artists clouds, not the feeble little cotton balls we have back home. You want to paint a stormy sky come to Japan for your model. The results above are gorgeous in their naturalist shades. The clouds covering the black mountains and the storm made for the perfect setting for a horror movie. If I could summon forth the dead, my friends, I’d have called upon Vincent Price to be a passenger on this haunting ride through the Northern Japanese storm.

The Terror Tram let me off to once again get soaked as I walked to the class. The lessons today went better then yesterday and though I was still frustrated at the poor management I felt that this trip wasn’t totally a bust. That morning the rain had subsided a little bit to allow for a brief tour of Fukui where I saw some of the ruins of a castle that once stood there as well as an interesting and elaborate shrine in the cities core. I’d seen many like this before but what made this one stand out were the tall buildings all around it. The modern and the ancient. Sure, I would have liked to have traveled to some of the spots mentioned yesterday but in the end, if anything, I managed to take a ride on the freaky tram and did not have to teach the Eliminator. Speaking of which, I thought I would give my supervisor a jingle before catching the train back home. He had to teach the day instead of me and I hoped the kids were not so rough on him and, then again, I hoped they were. This way he would be able to see where my complaints may be somewhat justified. He picked up sounding a little winded. Whereas the highlight of my day would be the Terror Tram his would be one of the kids pissing on the floor. Man, I’m glad I avoided that little marking of the territory moment although I have noted that bodily fluids have now upped the ante of the Eliminator. Best to bring a raincoat next month…just in case.

The train back to Kashihara got me in at midnight, the last minute, after five hours of travel and lots of waiting around stations. I had missed the direct line back so I had to take a few detours but I have become a master of the Japanese rail system after this weekend and finding my way back home was as though it were only a few blocks away. It wasn’t much of a sightseeing trip because of the weather but it was a change of pace from what I had become used to. I am just as much a guy who loves his life shaken up every now and then as he does walking around in thunderstorms and from the looks of the skies I gather I will have plenty of opportunity these next three days off. The hour is now late and I am road weary and hoping the night of amazing sleep carries over from the hotel. Mostly I look forward to returning the waterfall siren in the mist. Here’s to sweet dreams and no cleaning staff to disturb them.

Some photos of the last two days. Not much, though, due to the weather: