Bathroom Experiences

(No, this isn't about squat toilets.)

In the past, there has generally been some time between when events actually happen and when I've had the time / energy / focus to post about them here.
This morning's experience, though, requires an immediate post.

Upon hearing nature's call, I grabbed my book of crossword puzzles (my bathroom entertainment for months), and went about my business. Upon entering the answer for 34-Down, I started to notice the toilet was shaking.
"What the hell...?" I wonder out loud. Is it me? Am I suddenly light-headed or dizzy..? No... I'm fine, the toilet is really shaking under my behind.
I hear a low rumble from the wall behind me and then notice the door to the bathroom is wobbling back and forth. And some wobbling noises are coming from the other rooms. Then I notice the entire bathroom is shaking. The floor underneath my feet, the walls, everything.
"Holy crap! An earthquake!"

I'd never been in an earthquake before. Seen them in countless movies, TV shows and the like, so I considered standing in the doorway. Do I stand up with my pants around my ankles?
It wasn't that strong an earthquake - not that I have much to compare it to - and so I opted for staying put and riding out the experience on the porcelain. I humorously thought about the door to my apartment opening with me foolishly standing in the bathroom doorway with my pants around my ankles.

To my family and the other worriers out there, I'm fine. No damage. I've experienced turbulence on airplanes that was more of a shaking than what this was.

So it was a very cool experience.


Update 5:30PM - Turns out this was a pretty big earthquake, and you'll likely hear about it in the news in the States. In that article, there's a map. I live at the edge of the outer-most circle drawn around the epicenter, almost due south of it.

"You're Type A, Aren't You?"

...a teacher asked me not too long ago.
"Type A?" I immediately thought she meant Type A personality. (Which, it turns out, she did, except in the Japanese way)
After some chattering with her coworkers about how to translate what they wanted to say to English, she said, "Blood. Blood type."
"Type A blood?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Yea, I have Type A blood. Why do you ask?"
"We thought so."
"You thought so?" My mind started searching for an explanation, and I came up with no reasonable explanation for how they predicted - or even why they cared about - my blood type.

But turns out that one's blood type here is a personality guide. It's the equivalent of astrology in Japan. If you're type A, you're considered to be a perfectionist. Type B, selfish. Type O, you're supposedly someone who focuses on style over substance. Type AB's are said to have a split personality between the A and B types, but also having a need to always be free.

A few days later, in a different teachers' class, the question was asked of me again. This time the teachers' debated whether I was Type A or B before they asked. Later, I was erasing the whiteboard and missed a couple lines over to the side of the board, so I went to erase them too. As I did, someone said, "See? He is Type A."

Wikipedia has an article which goes into greater detail.

If it is like astrology in the States, I humorously picture a man trying to pick up a woman at a bar with a line like, "You're Type A, aren't you? I can tell..."

Spring Time (!?!)

Spring is here. Flowers blooming, birds chirping, butterflies fluttering, all the cheesy works. In February (Yes, I know this post is dated in March, but spring showed up last month). This is, by far, the earliest spring I have ever experienced. And may likely ever experience, until I'm retired and living with all the other old people down in the subtropic regions of the globe.

At first, the quite warm (in the 60s) day struck me as a winter-time aberration - that annual brief glimpse of spring that shows up right before 6 inches of snow comes tumbling down the following day. But the sustained good weather, plus the feel of the spring thaw in the air, really hit home that yes, it is time to say bye to Old Man Winter.

I feel just a slight twinge of sympathy for those of you in the northeastern USA (of course, I am not referring to the areas which were bombarded by the 20 feet of snow in the last month - for you I have great sympathy) where you have received cold weather recently. New York, Boston, DC all had 70-degree weather in January, so I'm not that upset to hear the mercury in your thermometers has come crashing down. But for my friends still in the dark, gray, cold, nasty, depressing winter in the Czech Republic, my heart goes out to you. The weather I'm experiencing now matches what we had last year in late April. So given last year's long, dark months, I feel indescribably pleased with the turnaround this year.

Last year in Prague, Ben said something worth sharing now: "I love seeing people smile for something the world did." Amen.

Happy spring.

Multiple Choice

I approached a coworker earlier this week and asked her, "Does our private student already have a copy of the new book, or are we bringing one to him tonight?"
She answered, "Yes."
"Yes what?"
"The second one."
"So why did you answer 'yes'?"
"Because in Japan, if you are given two choices, and say 'yes' you mean the second one."
"'A or B? Yes.' How can 'yes' be the second one?"
"It just is."
"So how do you say 'the first one'?"
"'The first one.'"
"Okayyyy...."

A day passed as I thought about this and then I asked her, "If 'yes' means the second one, what does 'no' mean?"
She was stumped.
After a long, contemplative pause, she replied, "I don't know. I don't think we ever say that when given two choices."
"So 'yes' is an sensible answer, but 'no' isn't?"
"Yes."

Coffee? Tea? Yes!