Saturday, April 24th, Day 54 of challenge Ran 3 miles/ Total so far: 96 miles/ Miles to go: 904
Did not win lottery or weekly grand. Gambling investment so far 21 dollars/ winnings 8, down 13 dollars.
Thursday was another marathon day at work. I had lunch with three Japanese judges. One is a visiting scholar. The other two are here for a few days observing the US jury system. Japan has recently introduced jury trials in some criminal matters. They are sent by the Japanese Supreme Court. We have law school alumni on the court and a long tradition of hosting visiting Japanese scholars and judges.
I have been studying Japanese by listening to tapes and wanted to impress them a little but that morning I could not remember a special expression used only the first time you meet someone which roughly means "Hello and pleased to meet you." I looked at my booklet of 30 some odd tapes and tried to remember which CD had introduced that expression. I use the Pimsleur system. It is very good and teaches by having you listen and repeat conversations between native speakers in 30 minute increments, but there is no booklet or index telling you what is covered in each CD. I was running late and knew I only had one chance to pick a CD that I would listen to in the car. I used my psychic powers to try to discern which to pick. Number 21 was calling my name so I grabbed it and popped it into the CD player and off I drove. Amazingly, the first question on the CD was "How do you greet someone for the first time?" By the time I arrived at school I had practiced my phrase and was able to duly use it when I greet them. I am sure I was more impressed by myself than they were. But I did decide that maybe I needed to try more psychic power before buying my Weekly Grand...etc.
The afternoon found me hosting a delegation from the Cultural Mission of Saudi Arabia who were visiting to discuss programs at the University for their students. It gave me a chance to use my Arabic language skills which, though rusty (I learned Arabic when I was in Kuwait years ago...more in future posts) are better than my Japanese. They seems more impressed and happy to hear me greet them in their own language. We have many Saudi students and and I am an academic advisor to them. The visitors gave me a plaque and a shirt and some other gifts and told me that the students told them how much they appreciated my help. The feelings of camaraderie are mutual. I had to explain also that I was sorry I would miss the dinner and celebration they were having that night. I had a student leaders meeting at 5 and also had to teach my class that night, which was followed a meeting with two transfer students who had not taken my exam last fall and wanted to review it before this semester's exam. I did not get home until around 10 and fell into bed No running Thursday :(
Friday after a brief stint in the office I drove to DFW Airport where I was lucky enough to catch an earlier plane. I arrived and shared a cab from the airport with friend Lars who had also gotten on standby. We stopped at the apartment, dropped off suitcases and pick up daughter, Leigh, continuing on to dinner that night with my good friends, Israel, and Tony and the cast of their movie, Ticked Off Trannies with Knives which was showing that night at midnight at their Red Carpet premier for the Tribecca Film Festival. Taka had arranged the dinner at a wonderful restaurant called, La National. It is the oldest Spanish Tapas restaurant in Manhattan and the food was scrumptious, especially the black ink seafood paella. From the restaurant we went to a club for the pre-party then to the movie. I skipped the post party as the movie was not over until after 2:00 a.m. Great day but once again not running.
Saturday was a beautiful day of perfect weather. I got my hair cut from my favorite Russian barber shop two blocks from our apartment. I love the place. It is a little hole in the wall where an old Russian immigrant and his wife and 21 year old son all cut hair. They always greet me warmly and ask about Texas. The haircuts cost 11 dollars and I give a 4 dollar tip which I know they appreciate. The conversation can meander about life in the US and life in Communist Russian where the older man used to live. His son mostly is interested in sports and the night life in Dallas. I remember one time around the first of the year the son was cutting my hair and his father was making a fresh salad with cucumbers and onions and tomatoes. It smelled so good. When he finished my haircut, the son told me that his father wanted to see me "in the back" which was behind a curtain. I was not sure what was back there and for a moment wondered if this barber shop was a front for the Russian Mob and I was going to disappear...I know, irrational but I guess I have seen too many movies. When I pulled the curtain back, the old man offered me a plate of salad and give me a shot of vodka. "Celebrate Russian new year with me!" he commanded. We downed our shots and I ate the delicious salad and I felt special...like I have been included in the family. Today there was no salad or vodka, but I was still glad I had waited until this trip to New York to get my hair cut.
After the barber shop, I took Leigh to Nana's, the Korean nail salon a few doors down from our apartment. Nana and her crew love us and make a big deal out of each visit. I only wanted a manicure but I knew Leigh would appreciate the luxury of a manicure/pedicure and she did. Nana was so excited. "You bring beautiful daughter!" she exclaimed, then promptly asked Leigh if she was married yet. Leigh laughed....and explained that she was not. Nana proclaimed that she should not worry and that surely soon she would be. I am sure Leigh had not thought to worry at age 22.
The post Nana's day found Leigh and Taka and I running along the Hudson River. Taka runs much faster than we do and had to slow down and loop back, urging us to run faster, which urgings we ignored. After the run we stopped at an outdoor restaurant called the Piers or something like that. We ordered a bucket of 6 Carona beers accompanied by three of the largest cheese hamburgers I have ever seen, surrounded by mountains of seasoned fries. We basked in the sun with our beer and burgers. Since I had run 3 miles I felt no guilt as I pushed the last fry into my mouth.
After an afternoon nap, Leigh and I went to Mont Blount, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants where Maria, the proprietress and Patricio the Argentinian waiter made sure we felt at home with our crab cakes and mussels and hard crusty bread. The pear and watermelon martinis were the perfect complement to our food.
I skipped another late night Tribecca Festival party and choose instead to go to bed after dinner. I slept well. Life is good!
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