February 2001

Feb 5

Couple of days ago we had sports competition at school. We were to play either dodgeball or volleyball. Of course I preferred volleyball but I was assigned to dodgeball and it was so boring! I got hit at the start of every game. It was also very cold. The ground has defrosted a little and it was muddy everywhere. I slipped and got covered in it.

At the art club after the classes it was not too bad. I had brought a durian cake for everyone to try. It is impossible to smell it for more than a few minutes! After just a morsel I almost vomited. I feel sick now just remembering it. One girl stuffed a whole piece in her mouth at the beginning. Poor thing! How did she tolerate it? We all had to have a good gurgle and drank water afterwards.

Sunday was my 14th birthday. I was dropped at a mall but I got bored of it rather soon. I did not buy much for myself - just a pen case, a hair clip, light bulbs, paint to paint a mirror frame along with a brush, and some wire to make a cassette holder. And a bag to give to Karen. Interesting choice of birthday presents, hey? I saved a lot of money to buy something big later.

For dinner mum cooked up a feast better than what we had for the New Year's! I felt very grateful.

I got to chat just for a bit. There was a 16-year old boy who wanted to talk to me. He seemed alright but I did not respond. I have absolutely no clue what to talk about! Can't imagine it. I don't mean that I am thinking about having a boy friend but I regretted a little that I ignored him. It's just, if I don't think about gender, maybe I can just be friends. It's very rare that I come across a person who is just looking for friends. I could brag about it to Yuki and it could be just fun.

Feb 7

Wednesday was such a day! From the first period at school I felt a bit sick. I did not pay attention to it at first but by the beginning of the second period I decided to rest at the nurse's station during the period 4. The 3rd was science and I didn't want to miss it. But eventually just before that class was ending I felt too sick and had to ask to be excused. It was so lucky that the toilets were near the class! I threw up within 15 seconds. Someone almost saw me but luckily that did not happen. I lay down for some time after that and I felt better. To be safe, I hardly ate lunch. We only had 4 classes today. As soon as I was home, I felt terrible and absolutely exhausted too. It was so bad! I kept vomiting. Any medicine and drinks that I had. I decided to fast and felt better by the evening. The culprit was an expired cake left from my birthday that I had for breakfast. Couldn't even smell banana custard for years after this. I felt the sickest that I had ever felt before that...

I have to record this story that happened at lunch today! I was standing somewhere and that idiot Aoki was walking past and ordered me to move. I obliged. Then he was walking back and wanted to walk past me again. This time I thought that he can walk around my spot easily and after all, people give way to him too often. So I said that I didn't want to move. He repeated his demand and I repeated my answer. He stood there for a few moments and then walked past, shoving me away. I did not respond to that but there was a teacher nearby, who called him over and yelled at him for like 7 minutes! Haha. I am not malevolent but that was fun. It's not all because of me anyway. Turns out others have been complaining about him too.

Feb 9

We had an assembly at school today. We had a talk about drugs. The speaker was a guy who used to be a Yakuza gang leader and took drugs for years. He chopped off two of his fingers as a punishment for not being able to quit. Cutting pinkies is a common punishment for transgressions in Yakuza culture. He spoke is such a tone... How shall I put it? He had a fierce, fiery voice. And he spoke not as a teacher but like a normal person. Because of this, I think everyone would remember this lecture and I doubt that any student would become an addict. It really touched me. Turns out even in our prefecture there are a lot of drug addicts. Even junior high school girls. They would do drugs at nights on rooftops and some have jumped off. Because when you take something, the reality is perceived differently and you feel that you can do anything, even fly. That's scary. Where on earth do they get drugs from? But still, I feel curious to try. I think everyone must think the same.

Last night we went to Daria's house for the whole evening until 1 am. Pete was the only boy. How did he manage to have been born like this? I am surprised how he has so many friends but in situations like this he cannot behave himself at all. He only bothers everyone. Then he was play-fighting with Daria and could not defeat her. It looked like he was in pain. I was in a very uncomfortable position. I did not do or say anything about this. What could have I done?