Pulse Check

Living. Just spent Monday-Saturday in Narita. There’s nothing like handing in the staff room key to the desk staff at 3:00 in the morning only to pick it up again from the same guy four hours later. It was that kind of week.

 

After Monday, didn’t have time for lunch until today. Got three editing jobs from AAR on Tuesday and didn’t have time to check e-mail after that—just told them I’d have to get back to them over the weekend. Also had questions about the set for Metamorph that I haven’t had time to answer, and that’s just on my phone. Dreading checking e-mail tonight.

 

This morning I had a “belief in a higher power” moment. Woke up thinking, “Wow, I feel rested and my alarm hasn’t even gone off yet.” Then I realized that there was only one way such a thing was possible—I’d overslept by an hour and a half.

 

Fortunately, I always got up two and a half hours before our sessions started, so I was able to leap up, pack, check out, and still arrive in the staff room before anyone else. Had to check my room clock three times before I believed that I hadn’t slept past the start of the training session. My mind went white as I accepted the brilliance of the Angel of Timeliness that must be watching over me. I was the emcee. We’d been giving people a very hard time for being late, and I would have been crucified. Missed a few spots dry-shaving, though.

 

After things finished up and all the packing was completed this afternoon, I took a dip in the hotel onsen. I gave the hotel staff a scrutinizing look until they gave me a discount coupon, though I was still convinced they should have given it to me for free (we'd booked 60 people into their hotel for 5 days, and entrance was free to guests). Taking a look at the scales, I noted that I was checking in at 67 kg. I normally range around 69-70. It was that kind of week. By Friday, I was dishing out orders to staff without hesitation or remorse because I had simply run out of hands with which to do things. Never done that before. Remarkable to see people listen.

 

Ended up playing cards with our hotel liaison at 3:00. Probably the first non-bussiness-related thing I’d done since Monday. Hadn’t even taken my personal laptop out of its bag all week. Probably stupid of me to start the week off by discovering Game of Thrones on Sunday…

 

Have a metamorph rehearsal sometime tomorrow. Not even sure when any more. Also might have had a workshop for Kabuki Christmas Carol today. Haven't had time to check.

 

This evening a trainee taught me how to play Korean jacks. Then she gave me a set. That was rather cool.

 

Back to Blog >

Write a comment

Comments: 1
  • #1

    Kyle Michelsen (Sunday, 21 August 2011 01:58)

    Hi Mike, it's my first morning in my new apartment and I've got a few minutes to kill before the post-office ATM opens, and if there is a higher power I'll be able to re-up on cash because I discovered yesterday that my American MasterCard doesn't exactly work everywhere I'd like it too. Ever had to ask a konbini clerk to slowly remove items from your tally until the coins you had were enough to cover everything? Anyway, I figured I'd check out your blog in the mean-time, and I believe I'll be doing a lot of that from now on. Thanks for the great training!