October 20, 2004 - Typhoon Tokage
The sky this morning was gushing sheets of rain that seemed to stagger about like a drunk samurai, a bit out of control and somewhat dangerous. Ill prepared for my language class and ready to go make an ass out of myself for a couple of hours, I suited up in my rain gear to head for campus. About two minutes from the front door I ran into Diana and Katie who had headed for campus an hour earlier. No school! Typhoon day! Classes canceled! When I got the news, the euphoria of the moment zapped me straight back to grade school and the occasional lucky "snow day". Funny how 25 years can be instantly erased in a single moment.
Diana, Katie, Mike, and I shared lunch in their apartment, fried rice with egg and chicken. Following lunch we played a few rounds of Yatzee, after which Diana and Katie headed to the rec room to study Japanese and do pilates in the exercise room (with a video). I went to go check out how the local "river" was doing after a solid day of heavy rainfall. It was about five and there were still a few people about, mostly hapless workers caught between home and the office. Fully suited up in rain gear with an umbrella to boot I was getting pretty soaked. I'm guessing that the guys in business suits and the women in their fancy dresses were none too pleased with the state of affairs.
	It is now 6:30 evening, the sun has gone down, and it seems as though Typhoon Tokage has found us in earnest. The wind has picked up substantially and sounds like the distant wail of a siren as it passes through the power lines outside the apartment, not to be confused with the wail of the firetruck that just pulled up next door. The occasional uber-gust really gets things screaming, some are so strong that they ring the doorbell. I'm currently watching the branches of a medium sized tree across the street whip about like strands of rope. I am totally amazed that the thing hasn't been turned into a hairy stump with strands of wood where the tree used to be.
More than anything I want to take the train out to the local beach, about 10 miles from here, to see the state Osaka bay is in. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the trains are running , or how long they will continue to run if they are, so I'm thinking it best not to venture too far. I may walk down to the waterfront, about 15 min. from here, but it is a pretty sheltered inlet so I doubt that the waves will be very large.

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