Today I arrived at school late, and why not? There's little for me to do. There's nothing for me to do. Class doesn't start until next Monday, and as of yet I don't know when or even exactly what my classes will be. Those who will teach with me have shipped out in the same boat it seems, for today they came to me, the merest and least important of them all, who never has any idea of what is happening, who is never told indeed even if there is to be class on a given day; they came to me to ask about next semester's schedule. So clearly things are in some state of desperation.

I was also given a subtle scolding for my continued tardiness (mea culpa) and told of my new hours which will be from 8 until 4:45. A full hour longer than my contract stipulates. Today I filled this time expertly by staring at some pieces of paper, trying to make them catch fire, for about 2 hours.

There's something in me that rebels against enforced captivity, as there must be in most people (that's why jail is a punishment, right?), so whereas if I were free to go I might in fact stay and work, where I am shackled and told to stay for no good reason, for no reason at all except that some bureaucratic box needs checking, I cannot be but idle. Though my body stays, all will to work tunnels under the walls and to freedom.

So I spent the day cultivating a bitter tasting resentment towards Japanese bureaucracies, my school's in particular. I guess this is proof that I've been idle for too long, been given too much reign and now must check those passions which I have let run unattended through the construction sites in the back lot of my brain. Still though...

Fuckin' school!