I Hate to Think that All My Current Experiences Will Someday Become Stories With No Point
But alas, that's what it's come down to. I wrote my blog on my work computer, but didn't quite finish it. And then I forgot to bring it home to post it. So instead I'll post it on Jan 5 when I go back to work, and you can pretend that you were too busy to check my blog this past week, and think that I really posted it today, Dec 29, like I meant to! It all works!
Even though I know that nobody's too busy to not check my blog AT LEAST four times a day.
Thank you, farewell, and Happy New Years!
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christmas Eve
On window panes, the icy frost
Leaves feathered patterns, crissed & crossed,
But in our house the christmas tree
Is decorated festively
With tiny dots of colored light
That cozy up this winter night.
Christmas songs, familiar, slow,
Play softly on the radio.
Pops and isses from the fire
Whistle with the bells and choir.
My tiger is now fast asleep
On his back and dreaming deep.
When the fire makes him hot,
He turns to warm whatever's not.
Propped against him on the rug,
I give my friend a gentle hug.
Tomorrow's what I'm waiting for,
But I can wait a little more.
- Bill Watterson
Merry Christmas Everyone!
On window panes, the icy frost
Leaves feathered patterns, crissed & crossed,
But in our house the christmas tree
Is decorated festively
With tiny dots of colored light
That cozy up this winter night.
Christmas songs, familiar, slow,
Play softly on the radio.
Pops and isses from the fire
Whistle with the bells and choir.
My tiger is now fast asleep
On his back and dreaming deep.
When the fire makes him hot,
He turns to warm whatever's not.
Propped against him on the rug,
I give my friend a gentle hug.
Tomorrow's what I'm waiting for,
But I can wait a little more.
- Bill Watterson
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
A Nauseous Nocturne
At night my mind does not much care
If what it thinks is here or there.
It tells me stories it invents
And makes up things that don't make sense.
I don't know why it does this stuff.
The real world seems quite weird enough...
Another night deprived of slumber,
Hours passing without number,
My eyes trace 'round the room. I lay
Dripping sweat and now quite certain
That tonight the final curtain
Drops upon my short life's precious play.
From the darkness, by the closet
Comes a noise, much like a faucet
Makes: a madd'ning drip-drip-dripping sound.
It seems some ill-proportioned beast,
Anticipating me deceased,
Is drooling poison puddles on the ground.
A can of Mace, a forty-five,
Is all I'd need to stay alive,
But no weapon lies within my sight.
Oh my gosh! A shadow's creeping,
Omnious and black, it's seeping
Slowly 'cross a moonlit square of light!
Suddenly a floorboard creak
Announces the bloodsucking freak
Is here to steal my future years away!
A sulf'rous smell now fills the room
Heraldingmy imm'nent doom!
A fang gleams in the dark and murky gray!
Oh, blood-red eyes and tentacles!
Throbbing, pulsing ventricles!
Mucus-oozing pores and frightful claws!
Worse, in terms of outright scariness,
Are the suckers multifarious
That grab and force you in its mighty jaws!
This disgusting aberration
Of nature needs no motivation
To devour helpless children in their beds.
Relishing despairing moans,
It chews kids up and sucks their bones,
And dissolves inside its mouth their li'l heads!
I know this 'cause I read it not
Two hours ago, and then I got
The heebie-jeebies and these awful shakes.
My parents swore upon their honor
That I was safe, and not a goner.
I guess tomorrow they'll see their sad mistakes.
In the morning, they'll come in
And say, "what was that awful din
We heard last night? You kept us both from sleep!"
Only then will they surmise
The gruesomeness of my demise
And see that my remains are in a heap.
Dad will look at Mom and say,
"Too bad he had to go that way."
And Mom will look at Dad, and nod assent.
Mom will add, "Still, it's fitting,
That as he was this world quitting,
He should leave another mess before he went."
They may not mind at first, I know.
They will miss me later, though,
And perhaps admit that they were wrong.
As memories of me grow dim,
They'll say, "We were too strict with him.
We should have listened to him all along."
As speedily my end approaches,
I bid a final "buenas noches"
To my best friend here in all the world.
Gently snoring, whiskers seeming
To sniff at smells (he must be dreaming),
He lies snuggled in the blankets, curled.
HEY! WAKE UP, YOU STUPID CRETIN!
YOU GONNA SLEEP WHILE I GET EATEN?!
Suddenly the monster knows I'm not alone!
There's an animal in bed with me!
An awful beast he did not see!
The monster never would've come if he had known!
The monster, in his consternation,
Demonstates defenestration,
And runs and runs and runs and runs away.
Rid of the pest,
I now can rest,
Thanks to my best friend, who saved the day.
- Bill Watterson
Maybe this post will help people understand what goes on in my brain at night. My dreams get weirder and weirder every night.
At night my mind does not much care
If what it thinks is here or there.
It tells me stories it invents
And makes up things that don't make sense.
I don't know why it does this stuff.
The real world seems quite weird enough...
Another night deprived of slumber,
Hours passing without number,
My eyes trace 'round the room. I lay
Dripping sweat and now quite certain
That tonight the final curtain
Drops upon my short life's precious play.
From the darkness, by the closet
Comes a noise, much like a faucet
Makes: a madd'ning drip-drip-dripping sound.
It seems some ill-proportioned beast,
Anticipating me deceased,
Is drooling poison puddles on the ground.
A can of Mace, a forty-five,
Is all I'd need to stay alive,
But no weapon lies within my sight.
Oh my gosh! A shadow's creeping,
Omnious and black, it's seeping
Slowly 'cross a moonlit square of light!
Suddenly a floorboard creak
Announces the bloodsucking freak
Is here to steal my future years away!
A sulf'rous smell now fills the room
Heraldingmy imm'nent doom!
A fang gleams in the dark and murky gray!
Oh, blood-red eyes and tentacles!
Throbbing, pulsing ventricles!
Mucus-oozing pores and frightful claws!
Worse, in terms of outright scariness,
Are the suckers multifarious
That grab and force you in its mighty jaws!
This disgusting aberration
Of nature needs no motivation
To devour helpless children in their beds.
Relishing despairing moans,
It chews kids up and sucks their bones,
And dissolves inside its mouth their li'l heads!
I know this 'cause I read it not
Two hours ago, and then I got
The heebie-jeebies and these awful shakes.
My parents swore upon their honor
That I was safe, and not a goner.
I guess tomorrow they'll see their sad mistakes.
In the morning, they'll come in
And say, "what was that awful din
We heard last night? You kept us both from sleep!"
Only then will they surmise
The gruesomeness of my demise
And see that my remains are in a heap.
Dad will look at Mom and say,
"Too bad he had to go that way."
And Mom will look at Dad, and nod assent.
Mom will add, "Still, it's fitting,
That as he was this world quitting,
He should leave another mess before he went."
They may not mind at first, I know.
They will miss me later, though,
And perhaps admit that they were wrong.
As memories of me grow dim,
They'll say, "We were too strict with him.
We should have listened to him all along."
As speedily my end approaches,
I bid a final "buenas noches"
To my best friend here in all the world.
Gently snoring, whiskers seeming
To sniff at smells (he must be dreaming),
He lies snuggled in the blankets, curled.
HEY! WAKE UP, YOU STUPID CRETIN!
YOU GONNA SLEEP WHILE I GET EATEN?!
Suddenly the monster knows I'm not alone!
There's an animal in bed with me!
An awful beast he did not see!
The monster never would've come if he had known!
The monster, in his consternation,
Demonstates defenestration,
And runs and runs and runs and runs away.
Rid of the pest,
I now can rest,
Thanks to my best friend, who saved the day.
- Bill Watterson
Maybe this post will help people understand what goes on in my brain at night. My dreams get weirder and weirder every night.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
December 19
My hands were all shaky,
My face had gone pale.
A letter from Santa
Just arrived in the mail!
It was hand-written
In old-fashioned ink pen.
It was handsomely printed
And dated twelve-ten.
"Dear Calvin," it said,
"I'm writing because
This year I've repealed
My 'Naughty/Nice' laws.
"So now, I urge you:
Be vulgar and crude!
I LIKE it when children
Are boorish and rude!
"Burp at the table!
Gargle your peas!
Never say 'Thank you',
'You're welcome' or 'Please'
"Talk back to your mother.
Don't do as you're told.
Stick your tongue out
At your Dad if he scolds!
"Drive everyone crazy,
I really don't care!
Act like a jerk,
Anytime, anywhere!
"I'm changing the rules!
The BAD girls and boys
Will be, from now on,
The ones who get toys!
"Good little kids make me
Sick, it's no joke.
Sincerely, signed Santa."…
And then I awoke.
I hate being good
(Or trying to fake it).
Six days 'til Christmas!
I don't think I'll make it.
- Bill Watterson - "Calvin and Hobbes" - 12/19/1994
My hands were all shaky,
My face had gone pale.
A letter from Santa
Just arrived in the mail!
It was hand-written
In old-fashioned ink pen.
It was handsomely printed
And dated twelve-ten.
"Dear Calvin," it said,
"I'm writing because
This year I've repealed
My 'Naughty/Nice' laws.
"So now, I urge you:
Be vulgar and crude!
I LIKE it when children
Are boorish and rude!
"Burp at the table!
Gargle your peas!
Never say 'Thank you',
'You're welcome' or 'Please'
"Talk back to your mother.
Don't do as you're told.
Stick your tongue out
At your Dad if he scolds!
"Drive everyone crazy,
I really don't care!
Act like a jerk,
Anytime, anywhere!
"I'm changing the rules!
The BAD girls and boys
Will be, from now on,
The ones who get toys!
"Good little kids make me
Sick, it's no joke.
Sincerely, signed Santa."…
And then I awoke.
I hate being good
(Or trying to fake it).
Six days 'til Christmas!
I don't think I'll make it.
- Bill Watterson - "Calvin and Hobbes" - 12/19/1994
Van Gogh Would've Sold More Than One Painting If He'd Put Tigers in Them
So I said I'd have a blog up on Friday... well I lied! I don't play by anyone's rules. Except my own. And sometimes I don't even play by those!
A busy weekend again, though I didn't travel too far. Friday night was a typical gym/dinner/home evening. Saturday was a typical gym/haircut/downtown peanut butter expedition day, followed by Hikari Lightup in the evening.
Pictures will be most effective for this blog... so I'll just write about the other parts. Hikari Lightup, like many of Japan's lightups, involves lights. In this case, as in many cases, trees and paths are lit with lights. This one was a bit different though, as there were lightup displays made by students from Rie's university, which were cool and interesting. There was also a large number of vendors selling foreign food: tequila, tandoori chicken, donuts, hot dogs, etc...
There was also another Christmas concert, which was interesting because they were playing African and Latin American Christmas songs too o.O.
After stopping at Osaka station (Rie needed a computer mic from Yodobashi Camera), we said farewell to Anton and Rie and went to Kyobashi, with the goal of getting drunk as quickly as possible. And by we, I don't include myself. We found an all you can drink (nomihoudai) place, but misinterpreted the price outside, finding out it was a hostess bar too... so we moved on and found Beetle Girl's Bar. 2000-en for nomihoudai shochu. I had water :P.
Keith and Erika came late, I went to fetch them from the station, they wanted beer and not shochu so I went with them for snacks/beer. Then I left to return to the dorm, as the others were planning on clubbing the night away. Made curfew by less than 3 minutes, whew.
Saturday was Kobe, I met up with Keith, Erika, Boon-Hau, and very eventually Tongxin at Kyobashi, then headed for the Bruce Lee Weapons Store in Chinatown. Quite the selection of nunchakus, fake weapons, clothes, posters, figurines, etc... Boon bought a lot, I wonder if he'll have problems with customs...
Next was Kobe Luminaire, home to the largest lineup I've ever seen... about 10 blocks long with the entire street packed with people. Eventually you pass through large arches filled with lights, and at the end of the street is an arena of lights.
Afterwards I bought two hot double chocolate cookies (this is very important (to me)), and we went out in search of dinner. After walking in a very large cold circle we came to where we started... and found the restaurant we were looking for. Mmm, Kobe beef steak... Our meal cost 60 bucks each, for 10 bites of steak, but sooo good. Definitely worth trying once, though meals go downhill from here.
Oddly enough we saw Jen at the restaurant, not expecting her to be there at all! But she was the one to recommend the restaurant to us in the first place.
6 days till Christmas, and I'll be all alone... both Dave and Byron will be leaving this week, and I probably won't see them till after New Years. So I'm all alone for a week :(.
And I found the official dates for getting kicked out of my dorm! 1pm on the 29th, and then I can go back in on the 3rd. In other words, one night to pack and get out haha.
And more finalizing New Years plans... changing hotel reservations, reserving train tickets, etc, very busy...
Well, back to work! Pictures up in a few hours maybe.
So I said I'd have a blog up on Friday... well I lied! I don't play by anyone's rules. Except my own. And sometimes I don't even play by those!
A busy weekend again, though I didn't travel too far. Friday night was a typical gym/dinner/home evening. Saturday was a typical gym/haircut/downtown peanut butter expedition day, followed by Hikari Lightup in the evening.
Pictures will be most effective for this blog... so I'll just write about the other parts. Hikari Lightup, like many of Japan's lightups, involves lights. In this case, as in many cases, trees and paths are lit with lights. This one was a bit different though, as there were lightup displays made by students from Rie's university, which were cool and interesting. There was also a large number of vendors selling foreign food: tequila, tandoori chicken, donuts, hot dogs, etc...
There was also another Christmas concert, which was interesting because they were playing African and Latin American Christmas songs too o.O.
After stopping at Osaka station (Rie needed a computer mic from Yodobashi Camera), we said farewell to Anton and Rie and went to Kyobashi, with the goal of getting drunk as quickly as possible. And by we, I don't include myself. We found an all you can drink (nomihoudai) place, but misinterpreted the price outside, finding out it was a hostess bar too... so we moved on and found Beetle Girl's Bar. 2000-en for nomihoudai shochu. I had water :P.
Keith and Erika came late, I went to fetch them from the station, they wanted beer and not shochu so I went with them for snacks/beer. Then I left to return to the dorm, as the others were planning on clubbing the night away. Made curfew by less than 3 minutes, whew.
Saturday was Kobe, I met up with Keith, Erika, Boon-Hau, and very eventually Tongxin at Kyobashi, then headed for the Bruce Lee Weapons Store in Chinatown. Quite the selection of nunchakus, fake weapons, clothes, posters, figurines, etc... Boon bought a lot, I wonder if he'll have problems with customs...
Next was Kobe Luminaire, home to the largest lineup I've ever seen... about 10 blocks long with the entire street packed with people. Eventually you pass through large arches filled with lights, and at the end of the street is an arena of lights.
Afterwards I bought two hot double chocolate cookies (this is very important (to me)), and we went out in search of dinner. After walking in a very large cold circle we came to where we started... and found the restaurant we were looking for. Mmm, Kobe beef steak... Our meal cost 60 bucks each, for 10 bites of steak, but sooo good. Definitely worth trying once, though meals go downhill from here.
Oddly enough we saw Jen at the restaurant, not expecting her to be there at all! But she was the one to recommend the restaurant to us in the first place.
6 days till Christmas, and I'll be all alone... both Dave and Byron will be leaving this week, and I probably won't see them till after New Years. So I'm all alone for a week :(.
And I found the official dates for getting kicked out of my dorm! 1pm on the 29th, and then I can go back in on the 3rd. In other words, one night to pack and get out haha.
And more finalizing New Years plans... changing hotel reservations, reserving train tickets, etc, very busy...
Well, back to work! Pictures up in a few hours maybe.
Friday, December 15, 2006
I Try to Make Everyone's Day a Little More Surreal
Today's news headlines remind me of SimCity... In the 3000 version there's a news ticker at the bottom that tells you what's happening in your virtual city. For example, "Is Kitty Kibble Shortage A Hoax? Sims Search For Truth", or "Cat Hijacks Municipal Bus; Riders Applaud Good Timing At Stops And Courteous Meows"
In today's (real) news:
Puppy swallows 13-inch knife, survives
World's tallest man saves plastic eating dolphins
And finally...
Hermaphroditic deer with seven legs 'tasty'
And these aren't National Enquirer either, it's MSNBC and CNN.
New Years trip planning has been completed. It's a trip to Kyushu for me, seeing Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Mt. Aso, and Beppu. Looking forward to the private showers in my hotel room, contrasted with the famous public onsen in Kumamoto and Beppu, haha.
I also calculated that the total travel time between the cities I'm going to is around 43 hours. That doesn't include local travel within the cities either. Oi.
One month from today the Killers (a band) will be playing in Osaka, I'll probably go, tickets go on sale tomorrow. In February is Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) in Hokkaido, which will be expensive but fun. And my hotel looks very cool. I should get a thicker jacket before then. March is Tokyo, to tour one last time, and see Bloc Party as well. Plus I'll be busy at the gym, and with pushups, and practicing guitar and hacky sack and Japanese, time should go by fast. Too fast... ~.^
I'll be writing another blog today/tonight, so expect it up soon.
Today's news headlines remind me of SimCity... In the 3000 version there's a news ticker at the bottom that tells you what's happening in your virtual city. For example, "Is Kitty Kibble Shortage A Hoax? Sims Search For Truth", or "Cat Hijacks Municipal Bus; Riders Applaud Good Timing At Stops And Courteous Meows"
In today's (real) news:
Puppy swallows 13-inch knife, survives
World's tallest man saves plastic eating dolphins
And finally...
Hermaphroditic deer with seven legs 'tasty'
And these aren't National Enquirer either, it's MSNBC and CNN.
New Years trip planning has been completed. It's a trip to Kyushu for me, seeing Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Mt. Aso, and Beppu. Looking forward to the private showers in my hotel room, contrasted with the famous public onsen in Kumamoto and Beppu, haha.
I also calculated that the total travel time between the cities I'm going to is around 43 hours. That doesn't include local travel within the cities either. Oi.
One month from today the Killers (a band) will be playing in Osaka, I'll probably go, tickets go on sale tomorrow. In February is Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) in Hokkaido, which will be expensive but fun. And my hotel looks very cool. I should get a thicker jacket before then. March is Tokyo, to tour one last time, and see Bloc Party as well. Plus I'll be busy at the gym, and with pushups, and practicing guitar and hacky sack and Japanese, time should go by fast. Too fast... ~.^
I'll be writing another blog today/tonight, so expect it up soon.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
I Wonder If You Can Refuse to Inherit the World
Lots to write about. I journied west this week, to the city of Hiroshima.
I departed Friday night with Keith, Jiang 1 and Jiang 2 (both are Keith's co-workers from China). We took the night bus from Tennoji, about a 7 hour trip. Luckily this night bus was much better than the last, with each seat separated (seat, aisle, seat, aisle, seat) and there was a washroom in the back. Which was too short for me to fully stand in.
We arrived at Hiroshima Station at 6am, played cards and ate breakfast at Makudo for a while, then went on a hike to a shrine on top of a nearby mountain. We were mostly just killing time (Kelvin was due to arrive from Tokyo at 10am), but it was a good view.
Kelvin arrived in one piece, but not feeling the best. Another case of food poisoning: he had eaten expired tofu a few days earlier, adding to the list of "Food to Avoid". After taking awhile to plan our day, we made our way to the trams.
The first stop was Genbakudomu-mae, where the Hiroshima Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum are located. The weather was gloomy when we arrived, which seemed to fit the mood of the park. The dome was one of the few buildings left standing after the bomb dropped. We also saw the Children's Peace Monument, surrounded by glass cases holding tens of thousands of paper cranes.
The museum was pretty chilling... first displaying the history of Hiroshima, then showing before and after views of the city. The middle section showed artifacts that survived the bomb... clothes, lunchboxes, a rusty tricycle, a section of wall with a silhouette on it. A huge wall of letters, written by the mayors of Hiroshima, advocating the abolition of nuclear weapons. Pictures of the victims, covered in burns, describing death tolls and how the victims suffered, and teaching the science behind the atomic bomb and radiation sickness. It was a good experience, but difficult...
From Genbakudomu we went to Miyajima by ferry. The island is home to the Miyajima Floating Torii Gate, one of the 3 most beautiful views in Japan apparently. I think for this section a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out my webalbum instead for pictures.
The one interesting thing to note was one of the items in the gift shop... A towel with a picture of two women on it... and when the towel gets wet, their clothes disappear! Or, as the sign beside the towels put it "Surprise! A naked woman appears!". /sigh
Afterwards we decided to check into our accommodations for the night, a type of inn called a Ryokan (Translation: "Type of inn"). Upon finding out that we weren't staying in a hotel I must say I was a bit disappointed, I was looking forward to a private shower... Instead it was very communal, even compared to my dorm, as there were four buckets extremely close together. As in, if the room was full, the buckets must have been touching o.O. But I went at 1am when it was empty, hurray. The room was ok, slept on futons on tatami floors, and I got one of the better sleeps I've had in a while. Probably because the futons are softer than my bed, and because I wasn't listening to any weird music while I was sleeping. (Thanks a lot Brady, your crazy music invades my dreams and makes me think I'm going insane!)
Day 2 we went for breakfast at Lotteria, which serves its pancakes in a burger wrapper, with no butter, syrup, knife or fork. And orange drink sucks. We walked to Shukkuin Garden, which was quite nice to see. Kelvin came up with the idea of using our bodies to spell Hiroshima in Kanji (which was a humorous failure). We also saw the ruins and reconstruction of Hiroshima Castle, and went shopping in Hiroshima's downtown area.
On our walk we passed by a mall where a Christmas Concert was being held out front. To everyone who's seen A Christmas Story (ie, to everyone)... remember that scene at the Chinese restaurant where the staff sings Deck the Halls? Like that, only add another 20 people, a stage, microphones, background music and a bigger audience.
Not to mention the weirdest part. They weren't singing traditional Christmas carols, but religious songs, like "Oh Happy Day". In a population of less than 1% Christians, and after seeing Christmas (er, XMas) as a purely commercial affair here, this was very weird to see and hear.
After trying on interesting hats in the hip-hop stores (Yes, people aren't wearing enough hats, and yes, I want an Indiana Jones style fedora), we headed back to Hiroshima Station for our 7 hour train ride back home.
Other news... Well, Bloc Party tickets have been obtained! I got the ticket for the Tokyo show in the mail, and the Osaka ticket has been prereserved... now I'm debating whether to go see the Killers in January.
The training for the pushup competition is underway, though I will not say how many I am up to. Like in poker, gotta play your opponent, not your hand. Gya ha ha... Anyways, a trophy has been obtained, featuring Fullmetal Alchemist's Armstrong on the top, with his beautiful muscles haha.
And finally, trying to plan for New Years. Currently it's a train to Fukuoka, a loop around Kyushu, then back home. Maybe expensive, but we'll see. Gonna book hotels tonight.
Ja...
Lots to write about. I journied west this week, to the city of Hiroshima.
I departed Friday night with Keith, Jiang 1 and Jiang 2 (both are Keith's co-workers from China). We took the night bus from Tennoji, about a 7 hour trip. Luckily this night bus was much better than the last, with each seat separated (seat, aisle, seat, aisle, seat) and there was a washroom in the back. Which was too short for me to fully stand in.
We arrived at Hiroshima Station at 6am, played cards and ate breakfast at Makudo for a while, then went on a hike to a shrine on top of a nearby mountain. We were mostly just killing time (Kelvin was due to arrive from Tokyo at 10am), but it was a good view.
Kelvin arrived in one piece, but not feeling the best. Another case of food poisoning: he had eaten expired tofu a few days earlier, adding to the list of "Food to Avoid". After taking awhile to plan our day, we made our way to the trams.
The first stop was Genbakudomu-mae, where the Hiroshima Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum are located. The weather was gloomy when we arrived, which seemed to fit the mood of the park. The dome was one of the few buildings left standing after the bomb dropped. We also saw the Children's Peace Monument, surrounded by glass cases holding tens of thousands of paper cranes.
The museum was pretty chilling... first displaying the history of Hiroshima, then showing before and after views of the city. The middle section showed artifacts that survived the bomb... clothes, lunchboxes, a rusty tricycle, a section of wall with a silhouette on it. A huge wall of letters, written by the mayors of Hiroshima, advocating the abolition of nuclear weapons. Pictures of the victims, covered in burns, describing death tolls and how the victims suffered, and teaching the science behind the atomic bomb and radiation sickness. It was a good experience, but difficult...
From Genbakudomu we went to Miyajima by ferry. The island is home to the Miyajima Floating Torii Gate, one of the 3 most beautiful views in Japan apparently. I think for this section a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out my webalbum instead for pictures.
The one interesting thing to note was one of the items in the gift shop... A towel with a picture of two women on it... and when the towel gets wet, their clothes disappear! Or, as the sign beside the towels put it "Surprise! A naked woman appears!". /sigh
Afterwards we decided to check into our accommodations for the night, a type of inn called a Ryokan (Translation: "Type of inn"). Upon finding out that we weren't staying in a hotel I must say I was a bit disappointed, I was looking forward to a private shower... Instead it was very communal, even compared to my dorm, as there were four buckets extremely close together. As in, if the room was full, the buckets must have been touching o.O. But I went at 1am when it was empty, hurray. The room was ok, slept on futons on tatami floors, and I got one of the better sleeps I've had in a while. Probably because the futons are softer than my bed, and because I wasn't listening to any weird music while I was sleeping. (Thanks a lot Brady, your crazy music invades my dreams and makes me think I'm going insane!)
Day 2 we went for breakfast at Lotteria, which serves its pancakes in a burger wrapper, with no butter, syrup, knife or fork. And orange drink sucks. We walked to Shukkuin Garden, which was quite nice to see. Kelvin came up with the idea of using our bodies to spell Hiroshima in Kanji (which was a humorous failure). We also saw the ruins and reconstruction of Hiroshima Castle, and went shopping in Hiroshima's downtown area.
On our walk we passed by a mall where a Christmas Concert was being held out front. To everyone who's seen A Christmas Story (ie, to everyone)... remember that scene at the Chinese restaurant where the staff sings Deck the Halls? Like that, only add another 20 people, a stage, microphones, background music and a bigger audience.
Not to mention the weirdest part. They weren't singing traditional Christmas carols, but religious songs, like "Oh Happy Day". In a population of less than 1% Christians, and after seeing Christmas (er, XMas) as a purely commercial affair here, this was very weird to see and hear.
After trying on interesting hats in the hip-hop stores (Yes, people aren't wearing enough hats, and yes, I want an Indiana Jones style fedora), we headed back to Hiroshima Station for our 7 hour train ride back home.
Other news... Well, Bloc Party tickets have been obtained! I got the ticket for the Tokyo show in the mail, and the Osaka ticket has been prereserved... now I'm debating whether to go see the Killers in January.
The training for the pushup competition is underway, though I will not say how many I am up to. Like in poker, gotta play your opponent, not your hand. Gya ha ha... Anyways, a trophy has been obtained, featuring Fullmetal Alchemist's Armstrong on the top, with his beautiful muscles haha.
And finally, trying to plan for New Years. Currently it's a train to Fukuoka, a loop around Kyushu, then back home. Maybe expensive, but we'll see. Gonna book hotels tonight.
Ja...
Thursday, December 07, 2006
I Understand my Tests are Popular Reading in the Teachers' Lounge
Wow, haven't blogged for a while. Guess you all know what that means! Yep... I got work to do! Granted, it's just soldering/desoldering but work's work.
Soo, last weekend, Friday night was a welcoming party for the new person in my section, we had hotpot, it was pretty good. My coworkers were surprised when I told them it was -30 back in Calgary last week, and that smokes were 10 bucks a pack back home.
Saturday meant waking up quite early. I was meeting Keith (and very eventually Tongxin) at Yodobashi Camera to study for our big JLPT test. Breakfast, studying, camera buying, and lunch, and then Tongxin showed up around 2-2:30. Just as reference, we were all going to meet at 9:30am. Poor late Tongxin.
We travelled down to the Intex Osaka convention centre, on the west side of the city (where the Coldplay concert was), to see a robot exhibition. Some very cool things in here, including a spider bot which can scurry around, pick things up and put them on its head. Fighting robots, gymnastic robots that can do somersaults, boxing robots, biking robots, robots that look almost human. We got there late and only had an hour to see everything, but managed to see the important stuff.
After the expo, back to studying! By this time the Beatles were driving me nuts, Yodobashi Camera had the same CD playing all day long, which meant I heard Hey Jude 42 times, which is excessive even for Hey Jude. It turns out that level 3 JLPT is very hard, I did not do well on the practice tests at all, so I had low confidence for the next day.
So Sunday was the JLPT, I won't say much about it cept I'd be surprised if I even got one question right. Tongxin had an interesting test writing experience I hear. Later I went downtown and bought two books (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and Bradbury's Classic Stories I (Which has A Sound of Thunder in it, woot!)).
I also bought a guitar. I can't play guitar. I know nothing about guitars. And I have no coordination. But what better time to learn! I ordered a lesson book and a book of music (Coldplay's Parachutes, has some excellent acoustic songs), should arrive this week or early next.
Anyway, after the test, Keith had to pick up Tongxin before heading to downtown Kyoto, so I dropped off my newfangled purchases back home then headed back downtown to meet them.
Where were we going? Kiyomizu Temple Lightup! It's where the take the temple... and they light it up! Anyway, it was pretty, but as I had been to the temple before, it wasn't much different. But still good to see I suppose. Pictures will be up on my webalbum soon.
Gym on monday. Went to see Casino Royale Tuesday night. Not a bad movie, started out good, but went downhill after the... well, during the torture scene. /shudders.
Yesterday Kelvin came down to Kansai on business, so we went out for dinner at Shin-Osaka. I was late because my Sub-Express train turned into a local train without my knowledge. We went to an Indian restaurant and had Indian beer, and then I missed shower curfew. Was good though.
I stayed up too late last night to finish my book, Curious Incident... It's about a 15 year old kid with Asperger's (similar to high functioning autism) who tries to solve the murder of his neighbour's dog. Very well written and interesting story. It's written as a fictional autobiography, so you read it in first person from the boy's point of view. I liked it, though I think maybe the author got a little too carried away with the plot, it's a little far fetched. Now onto more Bradbury.
Tomorrow, as Sir Jason of France so kindly reminded me, is Friday, ie Kyoto Accordion Day, hurray! And then I'm off on the night bus for Hiroshima, with Keith, Kelvin, and a few of Keith's coworkers.
What else? Hmm... people in Calgary, stay safe. Three people my age have died in Calgary this winter. A guy that I've known since Grade 7 was killed in a car accident last month. This morning I found out that two brothers from Calgary, one of which was in all of my engineering classes at school, died from CO poisoning from a faulty propane heater while out in the mountains. Very scary.
Until next week...
Wow, haven't blogged for a while. Guess you all know what that means! Yep... I got work to do! Granted, it's just soldering/desoldering but work's work.
Soo, last weekend, Friday night was a welcoming party for the new person in my section, we had hotpot, it was pretty good. My coworkers were surprised when I told them it was -30 back in Calgary last week, and that smokes were 10 bucks a pack back home.
Saturday meant waking up quite early. I was meeting Keith (and very eventually Tongxin) at Yodobashi Camera to study for our big JLPT test. Breakfast, studying, camera buying, and lunch, and then Tongxin showed up around 2-2:30. Just as reference, we were all going to meet at 9:30am. Poor late Tongxin.
We travelled down to the Intex Osaka convention centre, on the west side of the city (where the Coldplay concert was), to see a robot exhibition. Some very cool things in here, including a spider bot which can scurry around, pick things up and put them on its head. Fighting robots, gymnastic robots that can do somersaults, boxing robots, biking robots, robots that look almost human. We got there late and only had an hour to see everything, but managed to see the important stuff.
After the expo, back to studying! By this time the Beatles were driving me nuts, Yodobashi Camera had the same CD playing all day long, which meant I heard Hey Jude 42 times, which is excessive even for Hey Jude. It turns out that level 3 JLPT is very hard, I did not do well on the practice tests at all, so I had low confidence for the next day.
So Sunday was the JLPT, I won't say much about it cept I'd be surprised if I even got one question right. Tongxin had an interesting test writing experience I hear. Later I went downtown and bought two books (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and Bradbury's Classic Stories I (Which has A Sound of Thunder in it, woot!)).
I also bought a guitar. I can't play guitar. I know nothing about guitars. And I have no coordination. But what better time to learn! I ordered a lesson book and a book of music (Coldplay's Parachutes, has some excellent acoustic songs), should arrive this week or early next.
Anyway, after the test, Keith had to pick up Tongxin before heading to downtown Kyoto, so I dropped off my newfangled purchases back home then headed back downtown to meet them.
Where were we going? Kiyomizu Temple Lightup! It's where the take the temple... and they light it up! Anyway, it was pretty, but as I had been to the temple before, it wasn't much different. But still good to see I suppose. Pictures will be up on my webalbum soon.
Gym on monday. Went to see Casino Royale Tuesday night. Not a bad movie, started out good, but went downhill after the... well, during the torture scene. /shudders.
Yesterday Kelvin came down to Kansai on business, so we went out for dinner at Shin-Osaka. I was late because my Sub-Express train turned into a local train without my knowledge. We went to an Indian restaurant and had Indian beer, and then I missed shower curfew. Was good though.
I stayed up too late last night to finish my book, Curious Incident... It's about a 15 year old kid with Asperger's (similar to high functioning autism) who tries to solve the murder of his neighbour's dog. Very well written and interesting story. It's written as a fictional autobiography, so you read it in first person from the boy's point of view. I liked it, though I think maybe the author got a little too carried away with the plot, it's a little far fetched. Now onto more Bradbury.
Tomorrow, as Sir Jason of France so kindly reminded me, is Friday, ie Kyoto Accordion Day, hurray! And then I'm off on the night bus for Hiroshima, with Keith, Kelvin, and a few of Keith's coworkers.
What else? Hmm... people in Calgary, stay safe. Three people my age have died in Calgary this winter. A guy that I've known since Grade 7 was killed in a car accident last month. This morning I found out that two brothers from Calgary, one of which was in all of my engineering classes at school, died from CO poisoning from a faulty propane heater while out in the mountains. Very scary.
Until next week...
Friday, December 01, 2006
It's Not Denial. I'm Just Very Selective About the Reality I Accept
"Ah, here's the problem. Somebody evidently left the rat faucet on down here!"
A blog of two parts, each one different as black and white, as night and day, as Captain Planet and the Abominable Snowman!
I'm sure you can tell which kind of part this is already.
Our first story of the day: Ice Cream Man! The Entertainer was playing in my office and now the darned thing is stuck in my head.
Next, we move to Western Canada, specifically the prairies, where it is very cold. -30 and lower in Calgary this week, and lots of snow. Makes me glad I'm here. Except of course, my kitchen, showers, and washroom are not heated. Which makes for chilly trips to the washroom in the morning. Not as bad as riding the C-Train or snow shovelling... yet...
From there, a more serious topic, I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 on Tuesday, which is a very good book by the way, I don't know why any sane person would want to ban it. And then I read the news on Wednesday, about Newt Gingrich wants to restrict freedom of speech. He thinks the government should be able to shut down websites that may be used by 'terrorists'. It's just like Bradbury's book, which was written over 50 years now and is still extremely relevant. The scariest parts... this is coming from a man who is thinking of running for president... and a poll on MSNBC has 31% of the people agreeing with him!
To a more lighter topic... people in Leader, Saskatchewan are protesting the horrible conditions of their roads by creating a calendar that has them posing nude in potholes. Since that story speaks for itself, I have nothing more to say on the matter.
Next, the hiccups. I have them.
In Monday's meeting I heard the phrase Bisuta numerous times, which I think translates to Vista. This scares me. MS Vista comes out today, so maybe they were discussing the conversion from XP to Vista. Why is this scary? Well, the reason I can use Japanese XP is because I know English XP so well. I know nothing about Vista, so navigating options, menus, etc in Japanese may be trixy.
All I can say is that it better be possible to move the Start bar onto the right side of the screen. If not, expect a large rant. And yes, I'm aware that probably less than 0.001% of the population have their Start bar on the right side.
Finally, Kansai Invasion. I suppose I have to blog about it. But it'll be brief, don't worry.
First off, it was a blast, people came to Kansai from Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Nagoya and Fukui. 20+ people total involved in the events this weekend.
So I'll start up where I left off... Thursday night consisted of an all nighter at JJs... doing everything from basketball to pool to karaoke to DDR vs Boon Hau, it was a blast. I even got to sing Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)! Me and Keith even discovered the Super Famicom (SNES) and spent a few hours playing Super Donkey Kong (Country). Oh the memories, and we still knew where the secrets were. Only got halfway through world 5 before going to bed, but we'll be back to finish it! And then I got 2 hours of sleep in a hammock.
Friday, I went with Keith, Kevin, and Victor to Universal Studios Japan. It was just like walking back into the US (United States, not Universal Studios... though i suppose both would be applicable)! Except of course, for all the Japanese people. The rides were all the same (except in Japanese) with two additions, Jaws and Spiderman. Spiderman was done quite well, half ride, half 3D movie. Lineups were huge compared to the last time I went to US Hollywood (when lineups were about 5-10 minutes). 60-90 minutes per ride usually. We went to Namba for a bit afterwards, since Keith had time to kill before meeting up with his friend, then it was off to Nara for Anton's party.
Party was fun, loud, and full of alcohol. Thanks and sorry to Anton, who had to apologize to the neighbours for all the noise we made. I watched the drinking games from my futon throne, and we watched Neil on Cool! Japan, a Japanese TV show which follows gaijin around to see what they think of Japan. Cool to see Neil on it. Amusing videos of Jen were recorded, cake landed on the ground but was recovered according to the five second rule, Neil succumbed to the effects of eating eel liver combined with too much alcohol, and I slept in my private bed in Anton's closet.
Not a lot of sleep again, 4h max, and then off to the Arashiyama Monkey Park. "None of us is as dumb as all of us" applies here, when the group is too large, trying to get everyone both together and moving is next to impossible. Monkey park was the same as last time, only Boon Hau and Clement learned firsthand why not to stare at the monkeys. And we got to see the feeding this time. And the fall leaves were very cool. However, combine the fact that this is the best time of year to go, plus it being a long weekend, it was very busy. The train ride back to Kyoto was brutal, the worst I've seen it yet in Japan. Kinda like during the Stampede on the C-Train.
Well, after 6 hours of sleep in 3 days, I decided to skip clubbing, I went home and went to bed. Others went to temple light up and clubbing, but I was too tired. My Kansai Invasion ended there, with a relaxing Sunday at the gym and downtown.
Part I ends here. Please insert DISC 2.
"Ah, here's the problem. Somebody evidently left the rat faucet on down here!"
A blog of two parts, each one different as black and white, as night and day, as Captain Planet and the Abominable Snowman!
I'm sure you can tell which kind of part this is already.
Our first story of the day: Ice Cream Man! The Entertainer was playing in my office and now the darned thing is stuck in my head.
Next, we move to Western Canada, specifically the prairies, where it is very cold. -30 and lower in Calgary this week, and lots of snow. Makes me glad I'm here. Except of course, my kitchen, showers, and washroom are not heated. Which makes for chilly trips to the washroom in the morning. Not as bad as riding the C-Train or snow shovelling... yet...
From there, a more serious topic, I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 on Tuesday, which is a very good book by the way, I don't know why any sane person would want to ban it. And then I read the news on Wednesday, about Newt Gingrich wants to restrict freedom of speech. He thinks the government should be able to shut down websites that may be used by 'terrorists'. It's just like Bradbury's book, which was written over 50 years now and is still extremely relevant. The scariest parts... this is coming from a man who is thinking of running for president... and a poll on MSNBC has 31% of the people agreeing with him!
To a more lighter topic... people in Leader, Saskatchewan are protesting the horrible conditions of their roads by creating a calendar that has them posing nude in potholes. Since that story speaks for itself, I have nothing more to say on the matter.
Next, the hiccups. I have them.
In Monday's meeting I heard the phrase Bisuta numerous times, which I think translates to Vista. This scares me. MS Vista comes out today, so maybe they were discussing the conversion from XP to Vista. Why is this scary? Well, the reason I can use Japanese XP is because I know English XP so well. I know nothing about Vista, so navigating options, menus, etc in Japanese may be trixy.
All I can say is that it better be possible to move the Start bar onto the right side of the screen. If not, expect a large rant. And yes, I'm aware that probably less than 0.001% of the population have their Start bar on the right side.
Finally, Kansai Invasion. I suppose I have to blog about it. But it'll be brief, don't worry.
First off, it was a blast, people came to Kansai from Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Nagoya and Fukui. 20+ people total involved in the events this weekend.
So I'll start up where I left off... Thursday night consisted of an all nighter at JJs... doing everything from basketball to pool to karaoke to DDR vs Boon Hau, it was a blast. I even got to sing Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)! Me and Keith even discovered the Super Famicom (SNES) and spent a few hours playing Super Donkey Kong (Country). Oh the memories, and we still knew where the secrets were. Only got halfway through world 5 before going to bed, but we'll be back to finish it! And then I got 2 hours of sleep in a hammock.
Friday, I went with Keith, Kevin, and Victor to Universal Studios Japan. It was just like walking back into the US (United States, not Universal Studios... though i suppose both would be applicable)! Except of course, for all the Japanese people. The rides were all the same (except in Japanese) with two additions, Jaws and Spiderman. Spiderman was done quite well, half ride, half 3D movie. Lineups were huge compared to the last time I went to US Hollywood (when lineups were about 5-10 minutes). 60-90 minutes per ride usually. We went to Namba for a bit afterwards, since Keith had time to kill before meeting up with his friend, then it was off to Nara for Anton's party.
Party was fun, loud, and full of alcohol. Thanks and sorry to Anton, who had to apologize to the neighbours for all the noise we made. I watched the drinking games from my futon throne, and we watched Neil on Cool! Japan, a Japanese TV show which follows gaijin around to see what they think of Japan. Cool to see Neil on it. Amusing videos of Jen were recorded, cake landed on the ground but was recovered according to the five second rule, Neil succumbed to the effects of eating eel liver combined with too much alcohol, and I slept in my private bed in Anton's closet.
Not a lot of sleep again, 4h max, and then off to the Arashiyama Monkey Park. "None of us is as dumb as all of us" applies here, when the group is too large, trying to get everyone both together and moving is next to impossible. Monkey park was the same as last time, only Boon Hau and Clement learned firsthand why not to stare at the monkeys. And we got to see the feeding this time. And the fall leaves were very cool. However, combine the fact that this is the best time of year to go, plus it being a long weekend, it was very busy. The train ride back to Kyoto was brutal, the worst I've seen it yet in Japan. Kinda like during the Stampede on the C-Train.
Well, after 6 hours of sleep in 3 days, I decided to skip clubbing, I went home and went to bed. Others went to temple light up and clubbing, but I was too tired. My Kansai Invasion ended there, with a relaxing Sunday at the gym and downtown.
Part I ends here. Please insert DISC 2.
Open Door’s an Invitation! Gotta Jump While the Door’s Open!
I was just guessing, At numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, Science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh when I rush to the start
Running in circles, Chasing our tails
Coming back as we are
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
I’m going back to the start
- "The Scientist", Coldplay
"Falling's easy, you just fall. Jumping requires strength of will.
"You should really try the jumping, it's the greatest feeling in the world"
- Dead Like Me
As I have mentioned before, work isn't going so well. I don't really know why I'm here. To make the company look good I suppose. Or maybe I'm supposed to teach English? Or de-culture shock my coworkers? But it's difficult for me, since I'm shy, and the lack of language makes me feel even shyer. I'd feel like it's my fault, I was foolish to go to Japan without a larger grasp on the language, but my company specifically wanted someone with very little Japanese in the first place.
So that leads me here, right now. Sitting in my office with very little work to do. Too much time on my hands, and nothing to spend it on. I know some people would like this kind of job, but I'd rather have too much work to do than barely any at all. Feeling productive makes me happy. When I look to the future, I don't see four months of steady work ahead. In place of work I predict more emailing and reading news on the internets. Same with when I'm at my dorm... winter is depressing, and besides gym, dinner, and pushups, there's a lot of time to fill up every night. I see a long road stretched out in front of me, barren at the moment, and it's my job to fill it, make it easier to walk down.
So what do I do with all the empty time ahead? What do I fill it with? Well, I've had a lot of time to think at work, and there's a few things I'd really like to do.
Well, to start, I've been reading a lot since I came to Japan. (Re)Reading both of Douglas Adams' series, especially his miscellaneous writings at the beginning of the Salmon of Doubt, I was blown away. Followed that up with the amazing Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, Asimov's "The Last Question", and the numerous other stories and books, made me think, wow, I want to write too! Or maybe I could draw. I've wanted to draw for years, I've gotten books out of the library, tried some little sketches, but never really sat down and tried to draw.
At my dorm I have time on my hands, why not make some music? I never leave home without my iPod, and my music is usually on when I'm at home. I even sleep with music on! I have music software on my computer, and I had a keyboard in Canada, and rarely used it.
So why don't I? Fear I guess... the thing I like least about myself is my lack of self confidence. Fear of failure, of not being good enough.
The best example is myself in Japan. I don't like trying to talk to people in Japanese because I think I'll just embarrass myself. I want to wait until I learn more Japanese so I'll be able to speak better... unfortunately, the best way to learn is through practice. I'm currently procrastinating sending out my resume because I'm afraid it's not good enough. I always seem to sit on the sidelines, learning the theory, studying the language, reading the rules, instead of getting out there and playing the game.
"If you've been putting off a jump... just putting it off... sometimes the subtle things are what make you take the plunge."
Why am I writing this? Well, probably because of work. Work's given me a lot of time to think, and all these things are things I really want to do, if only I can just stop worrying about the outcome and just doing them! And maybe by writing this will give me some resolve, will push me forward. Life's too short to live on the sidelines!
All the times I did take a risk, did what I really wanted to do, I haven't regretted it. Applying to Japan was one of the best choices I've ever made. Even a few months ago, deciding to join the gym and going every day was a big step, and I'm incredibly glad I made it.
I'm going to start writing a short story this week, maybe I'll post my results on my blog when (if ever) I finish it... and if it's no good, I'll just try again! I'm also buying something this weekend that will make me happy, I'll put a photo of it up on Monday.
"The best thing about cliffs is jumping!"
"I'm not much for jumping. I'm not much for landing either."
"You don't have to worry about where you land..."
"A leap of faith?"
I want to be a Jumper.
I was just guessing, At numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, Science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh when I rush to the start
Running in circles, Chasing our tails
Coming back as we are
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
I’m going back to the start
- "The Scientist", Coldplay
"Falling's easy, you just fall. Jumping requires strength of will.
"You should really try the jumping, it's the greatest feeling in the world"
- Dead Like Me
As I have mentioned before, work isn't going so well. I don't really know why I'm here. To make the company look good I suppose. Or maybe I'm supposed to teach English? Or de-culture shock my coworkers? But it's difficult for me, since I'm shy, and the lack of language makes me feel even shyer. I'd feel like it's my fault, I was foolish to go to Japan without a larger grasp on the language, but my company specifically wanted someone with very little Japanese in the first place.
So that leads me here, right now. Sitting in my office with very little work to do. Too much time on my hands, and nothing to spend it on. I know some people would like this kind of job, but I'd rather have too much work to do than barely any at all. Feeling productive makes me happy. When I look to the future, I don't see four months of steady work ahead. In place of work I predict more emailing and reading news on the internets. Same with when I'm at my dorm... winter is depressing, and besides gym, dinner, and pushups, there's a lot of time to fill up every night. I see a long road stretched out in front of me, barren at the moment, and it's my job to fill it, make it easier to walk down.
So what do I do with all the empty time ahead? What do I fill it with? Well, I've had a lot of time to think at work, and there's a few things I'd really like to do.
Well, to start, I've been reading a lot since I came to Japan. (Re)Reading both of Douglas Adams' series, especially his miscellaneous writings at the beginning of the Salmon of Doubt, I was blown away. Followed that up with the amazing Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, Asimov's "The Last Question", and the numerous other stories and books, made me think, wow, I want to write too! Or maybe I could draw. I've wanted to draw for years, I've gotten books out of the library, tried some little sketches, but never really sat down and tried to draw.
At my dorm I have time on my hands, why not make some music? I never leave home without my iPod, and my music is usually on when I'm at home. I even sleep with music on! I have music software on my computer, and I had a keyboard in Canada, and rarely used it.
So why don't I? Fear I guess... the thing I like least about myself is my lack of self confidence. Fear of failure, of not being good enough.
The best example is myself in Japan. I don't like trying to talk to people in Japanese because I think I'll just embarrass myself. I want to wait until I learn more Japanese so I'll be able to speak better... unfortunately, the best way to learn is through practice. I'm currently procrastinating sending out my resume because I'm afraid it's not good enough. I always seem to sit on the sidelines, learning the theory, studying the language, reading the rules, instead of getting out there and playing the game.
"If you've been putting off a jump... just putting it off... sometimes the subtle things are what make you take the plunge."
Why am I writing this? Well, probably because of work. Work's given me a lot of time to think, and all these things are things I really want to do, if only I can just stop worrying about the outcome and just doing them! And maybe by writing this will give me some resolve, will push me forward. Life's too short to live on the sidelines!
All the times I did take a risk, did what I really wanted to do, I haven't regretted it. Applying to Japan was one of the best choices I've ever made. Even a few months ago, deciding to join the gym and going every day was a big step, and I'm incredibly glad I made it.
I'm going to start writing a short story this week, maybe I'll post my results on my blog when (if ever) I finish it... and if it's no good, I'll just try again! I'm also buying something this weekend that will make me happy, I'll put a photo of it up on Monday.
"The best thing about cliffs is jumping!"
"I'm not much for jumping. I'm not much for landing either."
"You don't have to worry about where you land..."
"A leap of faith?"
I want to be a Jumper.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Link
When Brett came to Japan, he chose a new name.
He thought it'd be fun, just like a Nintendo game.
He called himself Link, to impress all the hoes,
Then went to the store, to buy some new clothes.
Things were different here, there was no doubt at all.
He was tired of being called, skinny and small.
So he started to eat, much much more food,
And others would join him, while he bathed in the nude.
The thing about Link, which most of us know,
He's a little bit off, he's not one with the flow.
So what has Link learned, in all his time here?
How to live on his own, and drink lots of beer.
- Keith
Before Kansai Invasion, I went to Anton's with Keith and Tongxin, and met up with Billy and Vincent there... Tongxin thought it would be fun if we all wrote anonymous letters to each other (written in advance), saying, well, whatever we wanted... her original idea was to have it kinda sentimental, since she was going to be leaving Japan and probably wouldn't see us all together for a long time. And Keith wrote me a poem!
That night (Wednesday) was fun, we played a game kinda like Broken Telephone mixed with pictionary. One person would write a caption, then the next person would draw the picture of it, and hide the caption, next person would write a new caption, cover the picture, and so on...
Conan the Barbarian does indeed protect his Jam Jars.
More on Kansai Invasion to come... including all nighter at JJs, Universal Studios Japan, Party at Anton's, and CJP invasion of the Monkey Park! But I'm a little tired, and still have to write my weekly report for last week, and my resume, and study for Japanese, and make second dinner, and finish cleaning my room, and eventually get to bed.
When Brett came to Japan, he chose a new name.
He thought it'd be fun, just like a Nintendo game.
He called himself Link, to impress all the hoes,
Then went to the store, to buy some new clothes.
Things were different here, there was no doubt at all.
He was tired of being called, skinny and small.
So he started to eat, much much more food,
And others would join him, while he bathed in the nude.
The thing about Link, which most of us know,
He's a little bit off, he's not one with the flow.
So what has Link learned, in all his time here?
How to live on his own, and drink lots of beer.
- Keith
Before Kansai Invasion, I went to Anton's with Keith and Tongxin, and met up with Billy and Vincent there... Tongxin thought it would be fun if we all wrote anonymous letters to each other (written in advance), saying, well, whatever we wanted... her original idea was to have it kinda sentimental, since she was going to be leaving Japan and probably wouldn't see us all together for a long time. And Keith wrote me a poem!
That night (Wednesday) was fun, we played a game kinda like Broken Telephone mixed with pictionary. One person would write a caption, then the next person would draw the picture of it, and hide the caption, next person would write a new caption, cover the picture, and so on...
Conan the Barbarian does indeed protect his Jam Jars.
More on Kansai Invasion to come... including all nighter at JJs, Universal Studios Japan, Party at Anton's, and CJP invasion of the Monkey Park! But I'm a little tired, and still have to write my weekly report for last week, and my resume, and study for Japanese, and make second dinner, and finish cleaning my room, and eventually get to bed.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Trifle Not with Tired Tigers.
We make plans for big times
Get bogged down, distracted
We make plans for good times
All neon, all surface
Mmmm Propaganda comment spam.
I'm happy to report more sanity returning to this planet called Earth. If only slightly. OJ Simpson's book and TV special, "If I Did It", which he writes hypothetically how he would have committed the murders he was tried for, was cancelled. I don't think there's much more to say except phew.
There's also a new guy in my section at work. I came in late to his introduction meeting because nobody told me about it! Yamada-san realized I wasn't there after it had started and came to fetch me ><. But any change is good, maybe he'll know a bit of English or want to learn or something. Or not, which is more likely. But I shall see. His welcoming party is on Dec 1. Bad news and good news from one of my fave bands. The drummer of Bloc Party has a collapsed lung and they had to cancel their US/Canada tour. ><. However, good news for me, I just found out they're gonna be playing in Osaka in March!! I can't wait! On a Tuesday unfortunately, but anyone else interested in going? Now if only Arcade Fire would come...
Gah, when I have a lot to write about in my blog, I have no time to write it, and when I have nothing to write about, I produce an entry a day. Hurray, You're So Vain is playing! :P Anyway, I should have a decent, interesting blog for next week, but unfortunately for the CJPers, so will everyone else haha. Ah well.
You meet a zmobie in the Spooky Forest.
"Need brains," says the zmobie, "not fertilizer. Gaaaaaah."
He gives you some fertilizer.
We make plans for big times
Get bogged down, distracted
We make plans for good times
All neon, all surface
Mmmm Propaganda comment spam.
I'm happy to report more sanity returning to this planet called Earth. If only slightly. OJ Simpson's book and TV special, "If I Did It", which he writes hypothetically how he would have committed the murders he was tried for, was cancelled. I don't think there's much more to say except phew.
There's also a new guy in my section at work. I came in late to his introduction meeting because nobody told me about it! Yamada-san realized I wasn't there after it had started and came to fetch me ><. But any change is good, maybe he'll know a bit of English or want to learn or something. Or not, which is more likely. But I shall see. His welcoming party is on Dec 1. Bad news and good news from one of my fave bands. The drummer of Bloc Party has a collapsed lung and they had to cancel their US/Canada tour. ><. However, good news for me, I just found out they're gonna be playing in Osaka in March!! I can't wait! On a Tuesday unfortunately, but anyone else interested in going? Now if only Arcade Fire would come...
Gah, when I have a lot to write about in my blog, I have no time to write it, and when I have nothing to write about, I produce an entry a day. Hurray, You're So Vain is playing! :P Anyway, I should have a decent, interesting blog for next week, but unfortunately for the CJPers, so will everyone else haha. Ah well.
You meet a zmobie in the Spooky Forest.
"Need brains," says the zmobie, "not fertilizer. Gaaaaaah."
He gives you some fertilizer.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Life's a Lot More Fun When You're Not Responsible for Your Actions
"You have done well so far, my friend. You have almost earned access to the Shadowy Store in our back room. In order to do this, you must complete another challenge:
"Steal your own pants, without alerting yourself to your presence..."
You sneak up behind yourself and remove your pants before you realize what's going on.
Fun and excitement abounds this weekend, where I went to JJs and Nippombashi, and almost needed a protective cup for Boon Hau's runaway cue ball playing pool.
I have preliminary plans for New Years made, involving me going south to the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, taking a trip by ferry, 6h of local trains per day, bathing with monkeys in Beppu, and partying in Fukuoka. Should be fun! I can't wait to have a private hotel room with private showers oooo. And yet a big tourist attraction in the area are the onsens... o.O
And 2 weeks till JLPT test... certain failure makes me not too worried, though I should probably consider cramming soon. Unfortunately next weekend involves an invasion of Kansai, so there's 4 days gone ><. But I only need 60% to pass. This means I need to know 48% of the info, then guess on the other 52% to pass. Or if I can eliminate 2 out of 4 answers for the questions I don't know, I only need to know 20% of the info! I have too much time on my hands at work. I should use it to study. I want a Wii. As scheduled in my calendar, I am indeed jealous of my friends' Wii's back home. It's not fair, they're all playing Zelda, as the adventurer Link, and I'm all the way over here in Japan, adventuring as Link... Hey, wait a minute! I think I got the better deal! If only work were more of an adventure... "You cannot pass me:
Pudgy caucasian ninja,
I will stop you cold"
Face turns green like Spring,
fat ninja doubles over.
Bye, procreation.
"You have done well so far, my friend. You have almost earned access to the Shadowy Store in our back room. In order to do this, you must complete another challenge:
"Steal your own pants, without alerting yourself to your presence..."
You sneak up behind yourself and remove your pants before you realize what's going on.
Fun and excitement abounds this weekend, where I went to JJs and Nippombashi, and almost needed a protective cup for Boon Hau's runaway cue ball playing pool.
I have preliminary plans for New Years made, involving me going south to the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, taking a trip by ferry, 6h of local trains per day, bathing with monkeys in Beppu, and partying in Fukuoka. Should be fun! I can't wait to have a private hotel room with private showers oooo. And yet a big tourist attraction in the area are the onsens... o.O
And 2 weeks till JLPT test... certain failure makes me not too worried, though I should probably consider cramming soon. Unfortunately next weekend involves an invasion of Kansai, so there's 4 days gone ><. But I only need 60% to pass. This means I need to know 48% of the info, then guess on the other 52% to pass. Or if I can eliminate 2 out of 4 answers for the questions I don't know, I only need to know 20% of the info! I have too much time on my hands at work. I should use it to study. I want a Wii. As scheduled in my calendar, I am indeed jealous of my friends' Wii's back home. It's not fair, they're all playing Zelda, as the adventurer Link, and I'm all the way over here in Japan, adventuring as Link... Hey, wait a minute! I think I got the better deal! If only work were more of an adventure... "You cannot pass me:
Pudgy caucasian ninja,
I will stop you cold"
Face turns green like Spring,
fat ninja doubles over.
Bye, procreation.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The Only Skills I Have the Patience to Learn are Those that Have No Real Application in Life
"You come to a point in the forest where three paths diverge.
The left branch looks pretty normal -- the trees surrounding it are healthy, the path is well-lit, and furry woodland creatures scamper along it, just waiting to get eaten by some larger but equally furry predator.
The trees around the middle branch look as though they've been burned, the earth is scorched (though not by tiny robotic tanks, you're guessing,) and you catch the occasional glimpse of flashing lights from the distant recesses of the path.
The third branch is dark. Really dark. Really, really dark, come to think of it. You can't see anything at all past the entrance.
All of the paths look equally well-traveled, so you're not gonna be able to rely on poetry for advice in this case."
No good news to discuss today, just sitting around planning my trip for New Years. I have 5 cities I'll need to build igloos in. I hope there's enough snow.
The left branch looks pretty normal -- the trees surrounding it are healthy, the path is well-lit, and furry woodland creatures scamper along it, just waiting to get eaten by some larger but equally furry predator.
The trees around the middle branch look as though they've been burned, the earth is scorched (though not by tiny robotic tanks, you're guessing,) and you catch the occasional glimpse of flashing lights from the distant recesses of the path.
The third branch is dark. Really dark. Really, really dark, come to think of it. You can't see anything at all past the entrance.
All of the paths look equally well-traveled, so you're not gonna be able to rely on poetry for advice in this case."
No good news to discuss today, just sitting around planning my trip for New Years. I have 5 cities I'll need to build igloos in. I hope there's enough snow.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
True Friends are Hard to Come By...I Need More Money.
"In the Sleazy Back Alley, you are attacked by a big creepy spider. He promises not to kill you, but you're not sure you believe him."
What? Another post already? Yeah, they'll be frequent for the next few weeks, I'm apparently going to be overly bored at work. And blogging also benefits the poor bored readers of my blog. (Boon-hau I had donuts for breakfast.) In a second attempt to discard the infinite supply of boredom, I have decided to continue my quest, as a Disco Bandit, to free King Ralph, who has been imprismed in a prism by the Naughty Sorceress. Knob Goblins, fear my moxie!!!
Ahem, I'm talking about the online game, Kingdom of Loathing. By turning pictures off in IE, the game is quite inconspicuous at work, yet still makes me laugh. I'm considering chronicling my adventures on my blog, as I did today. Unfortunately my level 9 Seal Clubber was deleted from the server, so I'm startin from scratch.
New developments in the World of Hyrule? Not many. I have a cold. And nothing to do at work. That makes for long days. I shall probably skip the gym tonight unfortunately.
One good event yesterday, my friend Hugh from Calgary came to visit me! Well, he's doing a tour of Asia, and was in the Kyoto area. So I got to meet him for dinner, we went to the isakaya near Kyoto Station with the owner who likes Anton. It was great to see a familiar face! Too bad he wasn't here on a weekend, but it was still nice. I'd like to be here on holiday, I'm a little jealous of him.
Fun and excitement approaches this coming weekend. I see myself... well... sleeping in! I can think of nothing better! No other plans yet, but maybe everything will change. Unfortunately the power goes out in my dorm on Saturday afternoon, so no bathroom, no heat, no nothing! I better go do something that afternoon.
I shall also attempt to make up a haiku every post, to entertain and/or annoy my readers. Today's is a classic, written by me of course:
My mom told me "No!"
"Don't stick beans inside your ears!"
But I didn't hear...
And a Limerick, not written by me, but I think it's awesome anyway.
A vampire, ancient and mean
Tries to polish you to a high sheen
But you, being tougher
Slay the vampire buffer
A pun on which no one's too keen.
What? Another post already? Yeah, they'll be frequent for the next few weeks, I'm apparently going to be overly bored at work. And blogging also benefits the poor bored readers of my blog. (Boon-hau I had donuts for breakfast.) In a second attempt to discard the infinite supply of boredom, I have decided to continue my quest, as a Disco Bandit, to free King Ralph, who has been imprismed in a prism by the Naughty Sorceress. Knob Goblins, fear my moxie!!!
Ahem, I'm talking about the online game, Kingdom of Loathing. By turning pictures off in IE, the game is quite inconspicuous at work, yet still makes me laugh. I'm considering chronicling my adventures on my blog, as I did today. Unfortunately my level 9 Seal Clubber was deleted from the server, so I'm startin from scratch.
New developments in the World of Hyrule? Not many. I have a cold. And nothing to do at work. That makes for long days. I shall probably skip the gym tonight unfortunately.
One good event yesterday, my friend Hugh from Calgary came to visit me! Well, he's doing a tour of Asia, and was in the Kyoto area. So I got to meet him for dinner, we went to the isakaya near Kyoto Station with the owner who likes Anton. It was great to see a familiar face! Too bad he wasn't here on a weekend, but it was still nice. I'd like to be here on holiday, I'm a little jealous of him.
Fun and excitement approaches this coming weekend. I see myself... well... sleeping in! I can think of nothing better! No other plans yet, but maybe everything will change. Unfortunately the power goes out in my dorm on Saturday afternoon, so no bathroom, no heat, no nothing! I better go do something that afternoon.
I shall also attempt to make up a haiku every post, to entertain and/or annoy my readers. Today's is a classic, written by me of course:
My mom told me "No!"
"Don't stick beans inside your ears!"
But I didn't hear...
And a Limerick, not written by me, but I think it's awesome anyway.
A vampire, ancient and mean
Tries to polish you to a high sheen
But you, being tougher
Slay the vampire buffer
A pun on which no one's too keen.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
If Mom and Dad Cared About Me at All, They'd Buy Me Some Infra-Red Nighttime Vision Goggles
Now I know this is a very stressful season ahead. I mean, there's only 42 days left until Christmas, and I know every one of you is frantically searching for the perfect gift to get me!
I don't blame you for being worried. Choosing the perfect gift could make a world of difference! But I've come to offer you a hand. I've found an excellent candidate for the "perfect gift". But unfortunately I only need (and will only accept) a few of these, so you better hurry and get me one before everyone else does!
Intelligent Clothing
This shirt plays guitar. Air guitar to be exact. If you play air guitar while wearing this shirt, it will actually play what you're trying to play. One arm chooses the chord you wanna play, and the other arm plays it!
The shirt has electronic sensors woven into the fabric, and the movements you make are sent to a nearby computer which analyzes and plays em for you. You can jump around, play it over your head, whatever you want!
The shirt is white, however, and is subject to stains, which is why I'm willing to accept more than one. But after shirt number 5 comes in the mail, you better find another idea for the perfect present for yours truly.
That is all.
Er, wait... that is just the beginning! I have to write aboot ATR President and Dr Fish!
On Saturday I went with Anton and Rie to Anton's company's president's BBQ. Since I'm trying to keep this short, I'll only write the important points.
The President had to come fetch us when we got lost in his neighbourhood.
He wore a dirty straw hat and rubber boots.
There was basically a jungle in his backyard.
That's pretty much it, we had fried steak, and fried veggies, and BBQ banana. Some of Anton's other coworkers were there too, so we talked to them. And Anton and I went exploring/photographing.
Sunday involved a trip to Spa World, feeding Dr. Fish, and getting a wedgie.
Spa World - A resort dedicated to what most North Americans would see as an act of personal hygiene. There's 2 main bathing floors, one with an Asian theme, one with a Europe theme, one per gender and they switch every month. And there's a dozen rooms with different baths, showers, saunas, etc.
The Asian theme had rooms for Egypt, Japan, Persia, India, etc... Some baths were freezing cold, others super hot, some with jets in them, some outside, and all are full of naked Japanese men.
Interesting points: One sauna had a bowl of salt in the middle, you are supposed to take some salt and rub it all over your body. I don't get it. There's also a decent water park (swim trunks required) on the top floor with two decent water slides. We were nearly out of time so we didn't go on, and the water slides are an extra 300Y per ride anyway.
"Look! A fishy has chosen me as her perch. She's so beautiful. There's another one, and another. It's a whole flock. They like me. They're nuzzling my flesh with their noses. Now they're... they're... Aaaaaaaah!"
There is also a part of Spa World dedicated to Dr. Fish. Dr. Fish involves taking off your socks, rolling up your pants, and sticking your feet in a pool of fish-filled water. Then the fish come and nibble at your skin, eating away all the dirt/germs/dead skin. My feet musta been very dirty, they really liked me! I wonder if my feet smelled fishy after... pictures on my webalbum.
We attempted to find a gaijin hangout near Tennoji called Tin's Hall, famous for its hamburgers apparently, and after 20 min of walking we did manage to locate it. Oddly enough we found one of Anton's coworkers on his cell outside the place... small world. Then we found out there was a charity party, which meant 1000Y cover, and we were a little short on cash. So we went to Denny's.
As for the wedgie part... well, for the first time in probably 7 years, I have outgrown my jeans. It was a very proud and painful day. So yesterday I checked the scale at the gym, which put me at 129 pounds! That's 12 pounds up since I arrived in Japan! And there was much rejoicing.
1 hour till lunch. 5.25 hours of work left today. 28.5 hours of work left this week. /sigh. Thank goodness next week is a 3 day week.
I don't blame you for being worried. Choosing the perfect gift could make a world of difference! But I've come to offer you a hand. I've found an excellent candidate for the "perfect gift". But unfortunately I only need (and will only accept) a few of these, so you better hurry and get me one before everyone else does!
Intelligent Clothing
This shirt plays guitar. Air guitar to be exact. If you play air guitar while wearing this shirt, it will actually play what you're trying to play. One arm chooses the chord you wanna play, and the other arm plays it!
The shirt has electronic sensors woven into the fabric, and the movements you make are sent to a nearby computer which analyzes and plays em for you. You can jump around, play it over your head, whatever you want!
The shirt is white, however, and is subject to stains, which is why I'm willing to accept more than one. But after shirt number 5 comes in the mail, you better find another idea for the perfect present for yours truly.
That is all.
Er, wait... that is just the beginning! I have to write aboot ATR President and Dr Fish!
On Saturday I went with Anton and Rie to Anton's company's president's BBQ. Since I'm trying to keep this short, I'll only write the important points.
The President had to come fetch us when we got lost in his neighbourhood.
He wore a dirty straw hat and rubber boots.
There was basically a jungle in his backyard.
That's pretty much it, we had fried steak, and fried veggies, and BBQ banana. Some of Anton's other coworkers were there too, so we talked to them. And Anton and I went exploring/photographing.
Sunday involved a trip to Spa World, feeding Dr. Fish, and getting a wedgie.
Spa World - A resort dedicated to what most North Americans would see as an act of personal hygiene. There's 2 main bathing floors, one with an Asian theme, one with a Europe theme, one per gender and they switch every month. And there's a dozen rooms with different baths, showers, saunas, etc.
The Asian theme had rooms for Egypt, Japan, Persia, India, etc... Some baths were freezing cold, others super hot, some with jets in them, some outside, and all are full of naked Japanese men.
Interesting points: One sauna had a bowl of salt in the middle, you are supposed to take some salt and rub it all over your body. I don't get it. There's also a decent water park (swim trunks required) on the top floor with two decent water slides. We were nearly out of time so we didn't go on, and the water slides are an extra 300Y per ride anyway.
"Look! A fishy has chosen me as her perch. She's so beautiful. There's another one, and another. It's a whole flock. They like me. They're nuzzling my flesh with their noses. Now they're... they're... Aaaaaaaah!"
There is also a part of Spa World dedicated to Dr. Fish. Dr. Fish involves taking off your socks, rolling up your pants, and sticking your feet in a pool of fish-filled water. Then the fish come and nibble at your skin, eating away all the dirt/germs/dead skin. My feet musta been very dirty, they really liked me! I wonder if my feet smelled fishy after... pictures on my webalbum.
We attempted to find a gaijin hangout near Tennoji called Tin's Hall, famous for its hamburgers apparently, and after 20 min of walking we did manage to locate it. Oddly enough we found one of Anton's coworkers on his cell outside the place... small world. Then we found out there was a charity party, which meant 1000Y cover, and we were a little short on cash. So we went to Denny's.
As for the wedgie part... well, for the first time in probably 7 years, I have outgrown my jeans. It was a very proud and painful day. So yesterday I checked the scale at the gym, which put me at 129 pounds! That's 12 pounds up since I arrived in Japan! And there was much rejoicing.
1 hour till lunch. 5.25 hours of work left today. 28.5 hours of work left this week. /sigh. Thank goodness next week is a 3 day week.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Let's Agree to Respect Each Others' Views, No Matter How Wrong Yours May Be
"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass...
"... And then you see it. White shores... and beyond. A far green country, under a swift sunrise."
"Well, that isn't so bad."
"No... no it isn't."
- Tolkien
My little rant for today... I found out my work schedule for next year. It turns out that my New Year's holiday stretches from Dec 29 to January 4. This is all well and good, although I still need to plan what to do (besides construct my igloo)... However...
I will never understand Japanese business. The holiday ends on the 4th, a Thursday, then we have to work on the Friday AND Saturday, then we get the Sunday AND Monday off. So they could have given us a nine day vacation and made us work Sunday... aah well.
In addition, I haven't had much to do this week. My boss has barely been around, and the assignments I'm working on require the work of other people first. Which means I've been following the election, coding AI for my robotank, and learning about cacti.
I went to the Fire Festival at Fushimi-Inari on Wednesday night. We missed the fire ritual at 2pm, but there was one part that started at 6. Unfortunately, big dud, there's no way to describe it except incredibly boring. Then we heard shouting/chanting nearby, decided to check it out, it had to be more exciting than what we were watching. Only once we started looking for it, we couldn't hear it anymore, aarrgh. So we left and got all you can eat yakiniku.
PS3 comes out tomorrow apparently! I should go check out the lineups tonight, see how crazy they are! The price of it seems a bit excessive for me (though I guess I could sell it... for millions of yen!), and besides, I don't want one till FFXIII comes out! I have my priorities! And I'm kinda a geek... ><
And Dems victorious... barely... in the US. As Dan Rather would say, the race was "As ugly as a hog lagoon after a bachelor party." Now we'll see if any changes are made, but Rumsfeld gone is probably a good start. The most important news story of the day, which was on the front page of MSNBC... Why not to insert a firecracker into your rectum and light it. It's a worse idea than designing a bra that can be transformed into a shopping bag. Aah, the news is so entertaining at work. And people wonder why I don't drink...
Beware, the French-Chinese are trying to take over Hawaii. That is all.
"... And then you see it. White shores... and beyond. A far green country, under a swift sunrise."
"Well, that isn't so bad."
"No... no it isn't."
- Tolkien
My little rant for today... I found out my work schedule for next year. It turns out that my New Year's holiday stretches from Dec 29 to January 4. This is all well and good, although I still need to plan what to do (besides construct my igloo)... However...
I will never understand Japanese business. The holiday ends on the 4th, a Thursday, then we have to work on the Friday AND Saturday, then we get the Sunday AND Monday off. So they could have given us a nine day vacation and made us work Sunday... aah well.
In addition, I haven't had much to do this week. My boss has barely been around, and the assignments I'm working on require the work of other people first. Which means I've been following the election, coding AI for my robotank, and learning about cacti.
I went to the Fire Festival at Fushimi-Inari on Wednesday night. We missed the fire ritual at 2pm, but there was one part that started at 6. Unfortunately, big dud, there's no way to describe it except incredibly boring. Then we heard shouting/chanting nearby, decided to check it out, it had to be more exciting than what we were watching. Only once we started looking for it, we couldn't hear it anymore, aarrgh. So we left and got all you can eat yakiniku.
PS3 comes out tomorrow apparently! I should go check out the lineups tonight, see how crazy they are! The price of it seems a bit excessive for me (though I guess I could sell it... for millions of yen!), and besides, I don't want one till FFXIII comes out! I have my priorities! And I'm kinda a geek... ><
And Dems victorious... barely... in the US. As Dan Rather would say, the race was "As ugly as a hog lagoon after a bachelor party." Now we'll see if any changes are made, but Rumsfeld gone is probably a good start. The most important news story of the day, which was on the front page of MSNBC... Why not to insert a firecracker into your rectum and light it. It's a worse idea than designing a bra that can be transformed into a shopping bag. Aah, the news is so entertaining at work. And people wonder why I don't drink...
Beware, the French-Chinese are trying to take over Hawaii. That is all.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Live and Don't Learn, That's Us
Well, I'm not sure why I'm writing another blog, other than because Clem told me to. He is apparently bored. However, he didn't give me a topic to write about, so I told him I'd write about cacti.
Soo... cacti: They live in the desert. They have spikes.
Actually, to be fair, cacti are a lot more interesting than just that... for example, they are extremely well suited for their environment, living in areas that most other plants could not survive in. Wikipedia also writes about how the prickly pear was introduced in Australia to be used as an agricultural fence, but spread out of control and has since rendered 40,000 sq. km. of farmland unusable. This isn't the case in South America, where a native moth's larvae feeds on the pear, controlling its population. But when the same moth was accidently introduced north of where it's usually found, it caused havoc to the local vegetation.
Why am I writing this? Mostly because I told Clem I would, the topic of cacti was chosen randomly by myself. But also because it shows how cool life and the ecosystem is. It's so balanced that even a small change (like a moth) can cause big consequences. This is a rather literal example of the butterfly effect ><. Or as despair.com puts it, "When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles." I was telling Byron the other day, for those that don't know, despair.com actually has trademarked the frownie... :-(. See, I would have just broke copyright law, but I have purchased a supply of Frownies from the despair.com store. This is true, look it up. It's finally November 7, at least here. And I'm sure you all know what that means. In less than 24 hours (make that 24 days) we'll find out the results of one very important election. Either way, with the Diebold voting machines and new voting rules and restrictions, the vote and likely recount(s) could get mighty messy.
I receive my first visitor from Canada next week, my friend is doing a long tour of Southeast Asia. Unfortunately he's gonna be in Kyoto during the work week, but hopefully I'll still get to see him.
JLPT is coming up soon, 26 days. Hard to find time to study still, and last minute panic hasn't sunk in. But it doesn't really matter how I do, I took the test to motivate me to study, and it has, so victory is mine. However, I got a reasonable shot of passing. Keith and I know our Kanji quite well, and I know a fair bit of vocab and grammar. And I only need 60% to pass.
Work's a bit boring, killing time by developing AI for a programming game. As well as looking for good companies to apply for summer internships to. Anyone have any suggestions for either of these?
Well... back to studying!
Soo... cacti: They live in the desert. They have spikes.
Actually, to be fair, cacti are a lot more interesting than just that... for example, they are extremely well suited for their environment, living in areas that most other plants could not survive in. Wikipedia also writes about how the prickly pear was introduced in Australia to be used as an agricultural fence, but spread out of control and has since rendered 40,000 sq. km. of farmland unusable. This isn't the case in South America, where a native moth's larvae feeds on the pear, controlling its population. But when the same moth was accidently introduced north of where it's usually found, it caused havoc to the local vegetation.
Why am I writing this? Mostly because I told Clem I would, the topic of cacti was chosen randomly by myself. But also because it shows how cool life and the ecosystem is. It's so balanced that even a small change (like a moth) can cause big consequences. This is a rather literal example of the butterfly effect ><. Or as despair.com puts it, "When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles." I was telling Byron the other day, for those that don't know, despair.com actually has trademarked the frownie... :-(. See, I would have just broke copyright law, but I have purchased a supply of Frownies from the despair.com store. This is true, look it up. It's finally November 7, at least here. And I'm sure you all know what that means. In less than 24 hours (make that 24 days) we'll find out the results of one very important election. Either way, with the Diebold voting machines and new voting rules and restrictions, the vote and likely recount(s) could get mighty messy.
I receive my first visitor from Canada next week, my friend is doing a long tour of Southeast Asia. Unfortunately he's gonna be in Kyoto during the work week, but hopefully I'll still get to see him.
JLPT is coming up soon, 26 days. Hard to find time to study still, and last minute panic hasn't sunk in. But it doesn't really matter how I do, I took the test to motivate me to study, and it has, so victory is mine. However, I got a reasonable shot of passing. Keith and I know our Kanji quite well, and I know a fair bit of vocab and grammar. And I only need 60% to pass.
Work's a bit boring, killing time by developing AI for a programming game. As well as looking for good companies to apply for summer internships to. Anyone have any suggestions for either of these?
Well... back to studying!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Even If Lives DID Hang in the Balance, It Would Depend on Whose They Were!
Last weekend I went to Rie’s (Anton’s Friend) University, the Osaka University for the Arts, for the school’s festival. And I know what you’re thinking… ("A festival run by Fine Arts Students?! Uh oh!") and you’d be correct. So after a 2 hour journey we arrive at the festival in time to get harassed by food vendors!
Oh, I should mention "we" being myself, Anton, and Rie of course, but also Boon-hau, Philo (one of Anton’s coworkers) and her parents.
Actually, half the festival seemed to be made up of food vendors. Everything from hot dogs to yakisoba to bubble tea, and more. Other vendors too, selling used clothes/cds, some selling items that they had crafted themselves.
It was rather interesting, many of the students were dressed up. Besides the numerous male students dressed as schoolgirls or in Chinese style dresses, there was a girl with eggs on her head, an cardboard samurai, a guy dressed up in a chicken costume meant for a 6 year old, and Darth Vader advertising donuts.
The first show we saw was the martial arts performance. They started off with a little skit about guys possessed by evil magical pantyhose they wore on their heads, and the good guys had to use their karate skillz to exorcise the stockings. Then each group performed a routine, some involving demonstrations of throws, or breaking boards (two good ones), and one that appeared to be dancing with sticks.
Next we went to a taiko drum/dance performance which was outdoors on the main stage. They were both very good. All the guy performers had multicolored hair, and some had facepaint, which is expected for arts students. At the very last move of the dancing, the guy at the front in the very center of the stage split his pants, quite visibly, right down the middle! Talent… you couldn’t have planned that better. Then our bad karma earned by laughing at/with the guy resulted in us being dragged onstage (not just us, lots of people) to dance with them ><. Of our group, only Boon-hau showed any signs of coordination. It was amusing.
Next were some ninja-themed stage performances. They probably would have been more entertaining if I had been able to understand the plot, but what kenya do? Besides learn Japanese of course (I’m workin on it!!!)
Wow, that bird’s a good fisherman! The cormorant I’m watching just caught a 4 inch long fish and is trying to force it down it’s throat without dropping it… Mine! Mine!
I’m sitting next to the river downtown writing this, it’s a very nice spot for just hanging out. But maybe for not much longer, it’s getting rather cool.
Didn’t do much this weekend, went to the gym all three days, studied, played vid games with a friend back home, and started writing my resume and cover letters, yay! Gotta start applying for summer jobs soon.
In other news, peanut butter has been acquired. This is good news.
There’s also a girl that lives a few houses down from my dorm (no, this story is not going where you think it is…). She’s about 8 years old and she has her own unicycle! I see her practicing on my way back from the grocery store occasionally… I don’t think I could ever ride one of those, too many directions to fall in.
Officially half done my internship now. I’ve been here 161 days! And 5 months, or 146 days to go till I’m back in Canada. I hear planning is underway on my welcome home party, there’s gonna be ducks, clowns and balloon animals! I can’t wait!
Oh, I should mention "we" being myself, Anton, and Rie of course, but also Boon-hau, Philo (one of Anton’s coworkers) and her parents.
Actually, half the festival seemed to be made up of food vendors. Everything from hot dogs to yakisoba to bubble tea, and more. Other vendors too, selling used clothes/cds, some selling items that they had crafted themselves.
It was rather interesting, many of the students were dressed up. Besides the numerous male students dressed as schoolgirls or in Chinese style dresses, there was a girl with eggs on her head, an cardboard samurai, a guy dressed up in a chicken costume meant for a 6 year old, and Darth Vader advertising donuts.
The first show we saw was the martial arts performance. They started off with a little skit about guys possessed by evil magical pantyhose they wore on their heads, and the good guys had to use their karate skillz to exorcise the stockings. Then each group performed a routine, some involving demonstrations of throws, or breaking boards (two good ones), and one that appeared to be dancing with sticks.
Next we went to a taiko drum/dance performance which was outdoors on the main stage. They were both very good. All the guy performers had multicolored hair, and some had facepaint, which is expected for arts students. At the very last move of the dancing, the guy at the front in the very center of the stage split his pants, quite visibly, right down the middle! Talent… you couldn’t have planned that better. Then our bad karma earned by laughing at/with the guy resulted in us being dragged onstage (not just us, lots of people) to dance with them ><. Of our group, only Boon-hau showed any signs of coordination. It was amusing.
Next were some ninja-themed stage performances. They probably would have been more entertaining if I had been able to understand the plot, but what kenya do? Besides learn Japanese of course (I’m workin on it!!!)
Wow, that bird’s a good fisherman! The cormorant I’m watching just caught a 4 inch long fish and is trying to force it down it’s throat without dropping it… Mine! Mine!
I’m sitting next to the river downtown writing this, it’s a very nice spot for just hanging out. But maybe for not much longer, it’s getting rather cool.
Didn’t do much this weekend, went to the gym all three days, studied, played vid games with a friend back home, and started writing my resume and cover letters, yay! Gotta start applying for summer jobs soon.
In other news, peanut butter has been acquired. This is good news.
There’s also a girl that lives a few houses down from my dorm (no, this story is not going where you think it is…). She’s about 8 years old and she has her own unicycle! I see her practicing on my way back from the grocery store occasionally… I don’t think I could ever ride one of those, too many directions to fall in.
Officially half done my internship now. I’ve been here 161 days! And 5 months, or 146 days to go till I’m back in Canada. I hear planning is underway on my welcome home party, there’s gonna be ducks, clowns and balloon animals! I can’t wait!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Your Simian Countenance Suggests a Heritage Unusually Rich in Species Diversity
Like delicate lace, so the threads intertwine,
Oh, gossamer web of wond'rous design!
Such beauty and grace wild nature produces...
Ughh, look at that spider suck out that bug's juices!
- Sir Calvin
Well, just a short little blog today methinks, to inform you all of yet another incident involving my powers of attracting older men.
Having nothing to do, I went to the gym all by me onesies, savvy? The first incident occurred while I was doing flys on the bench... sitting up and resting on the bench between the 2nd and 3rd set, an older guy with gray hair sits down on the other end of the bench and starts doing arm curls! How rude! According to Dave, some Japanese people treat foreigners as if they don't exist. Not the funnest experience, but what kenya do?
Moving on to legs, I start my leg press sets and a different older gray haired man goes on the leg press machine next to me. After I finish, I move onto leg extensions, and a few seconds later, the same guy is beside me on the chest press machine. Once I finish, I move back to the benches, and a minute or two later, guess who's on the bench beside me... that's right, I'm being stalked by old men in the gym. Should I be flattered? Or running?
In other news. I am still without peanut butter. This is important. Peanut butter is good.
I have also been the first one to claim the landmark 1000th post on the CJP forum. Boon-hau claims that by deleting one of his posts and reposting means he gets the achievement. I think this should be construed as cheating, and should not be tolerated.
Anyway, there'll be a longer post up in a day or 2. It has to do with how fine arts students are crazy everywhere, and should be quite entertaining of a blog. For a sneak peak, check out my webalbum at http://picasaweb.google.com/keidan.link.
Long weekend ahoy, 2 hours to go! Mmm 3 days to sleep in and do whatever I want!
Awwwk! Wind in 'is sails!
Oh, gossamer web of wond'rous design!
Such beauty and grace wild nature produces...
Ughh, look at that spider suck out that bug's juices!
- Sir Calvin
Well, just a short little blog today methinks, to inform you all of yet another incident involving my powers of attracting older men.
Having nothing to do, I went to the gym all by me onesies, savvy? The first incident occurred while I was doing flys on the bench... sitting up and resting on the bench between the 2nd and 3rd set, an older guy with gray hair sits down on the other end of the bench and starts doing arm curls! How rude! According to Dave, some Japanese people treat foreigners as if they don't exist. Not the funnest experience, but what kenya do?
Moving on to legs, I start my leg press sets and a different older gray haired man goes on the leg press machine next to me. After I finish, I move onto leg extensions, and a few seconds later, the same guy is beside me on the chest press machine. Once I finish, I move back to the benches, and a minute or two later, guess who's on the bench beside me... that's right, I'm being stalked by old men in the gym. Should I be flattered? Or running?
In other news. I am still without peanut butter. This is important. Peanut butter is good.
I have also been the first one to claim the landmark 1000th post on the CJP forum. Boon-hau claims that by deleting one of his posts and reposting means he gets the achievement. I think this should be construed as cheating, and should not be tolerated.
Anyway, there'll be a longer post up in a day or 2. It has to do with how fine arts students are crazy everywhere, and should be quite entertaining of a blog. For a sneak peak, check out my webalbum at http://picasaweb.google.com/keidan.link.
Long weekend ahoy, 2 hours to go! Mmm 3 days to sleep in and do whatever I want!
Awwwk! Wind in 'is sails!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Monkeys!!!
Been waiting to use that title ever since I found out there was a monkey park!
Once again I'm late on the blog, my sincerest apologies. Busy busy, what with studying, weekend activities, going to the gym...
Week and a half ago I went to the World Dental Show in Yokohama. The trip by shinkansen was of course covered by the company, which is by far the best way to travel. The show was interesting/gross. I got to see the different products my company and its competitors make, which was good. There's some fancy dental equipment that my dentist sure doesn't have. Panoramic X-rays machines that create a 3-D image on the computer, some very hi tech dental chairs, very cool stuff. One display showed off their product using Asimo! Which was neato! Of course some displays were a little gross, with videos of some very invasive dental operations... mmm... Having no place to stay in Tokyo, I just headed home afterwards...
That week Tuesday, I went with Dave to the Arashiyama Monkey Park! Monkeys! The monkeys aren't caged, they can go wherever they want! At the top you can go inside the house/cage and buy bananas/apples/peanuts and feed the monkeys from inside.
The park was excellent, but I hear it's even better in the fall (it's not fall here yet) when the leaves change... good thing I plan to go back with the CJP gang!
After the monkey park we went downtown, Dave showed me some cool stores I had overlooked... clothing stores, foreign food stores, anime stores, you know... stores! This of course means that I found peanut butter. This is good for two reasons. It tastes good. It's very fattening. In fact, since I bought the peanut butter, I've gained another 2 pounds! Coincidence? Probably, since the PB container's only 350g, but it helped.
This weekend I went down to Wakayama again for some JJs and wakeboarding action! The Wakayama JJs has basketball and soccer on the roof, unfortunately it's pretty run down, one hoop was torn off, the other is bent. Also played some vid games and pool. On Saturday me and Keith went with two girls from his work wakeboarding... in the river... in October. My history on boarding... never skateboarded, never snowboarded, and have no balance! And wakeboarding I went last summer, managed to get up my first time, and fell over promptly 2 seconds later. But this time I managed to get up and stay up for a while. No tricks though... but that can come later. Keith was really good! Jumps, turns, etc... showoff! Pictures of monkeys and wakeboarding on my webalbum.
That brings the total water sports count to 7! Wakeboarding, surfing, windsurfing, kayaking, scuba diving, skimboarding, and snorkeling! That's more activities than the nine years I spent in Calgary... too bad we didn't go rafting here too.
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied...
Illuminate the "No"s on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
I will follow you into the dark...
On the weekend I had a strange dream... it was the apocalypse and everyone died and heaven got full... so everyone got sent to hell! Which of course meant big lineups and crowding down there... The weird thing was that it was in the style of the Simpsons, it was as if a Treehouse of Horror episode was being broadcast to my head while I was asleep. If this ever becomes a real Simpsons episode, let this be evidence that I am indeed psychic.
Edit: South Park Already Did It
Since it's been years and years since I've seen the South Park movie, I forgot that Kenny gets rejected from Heaven since the population has reached maximum (1500 souls)... However there was no apocalypse, or rioting in hell, so it could still happen.
Once again I'm late on the blog, my sincerest apologies. Busy busy, what with studying, weekend activities, going to the gym...
Week and a half ago I went to the World Dental Show in Yokohama. The trip by shinkansen was of course covered by the company, which is by far the best way to travel. The show was interesting/gross. I got to see the different products my company and its competitors make, which was good. There's some fancy dental equipment that my dentist sure doesn't have. Panoramic X-rays machines that create a 3-D image on the computer, some very hi tech dental chairs, very cool stuff. One display showed off their product using Asimo! Which was neato! Of course some displays were a little gross, with videos of some very invasive dental operations... mmm... Having no place to stay in Tokyo, I just headed home afterwards...
That week Tuesday, I went with Dave to the Arashiyama Monkey Park! Monkeys! The monkeys aren't caged, they can go wherever they want! At the top you can go inside the house/cage and buy bananas/apples/peanuts and feed the monkeys from inside.
The park was excellent, but I hear it's even better in the fall (it's not fall here yet) when the leaves change... good thing I plan to go back with the CJP gang!
After the monkey park we went downtown, Dave showed me some cool stores I had overlooked... clothing stores, foreign food stores, anime stores, you know... stores! This of course means that I found peanut butter. This is good for two reasons. It tastes good. It's very fattening. In fact, since I bought the peanut butter, I've gained another 2 pounds! Coincidence? Probably, since the PB container's only 350g, but it helped.
This weekend I went down to Wakayama again for some JJs and wakeboarding action! The Wakayama JJs has basketball and soccer on the roof, unfortunately it's pretty run down, one hoop was torn off, the other is bent. Also played some vid games and pool. On Saturday me and Keith went with two girls from his work wakeboarding... in the river... in October. My history on boarding... never skateboarded, never snowboarded, and have no balance! And wakeboarding I went last summer, managed to get up my first time, and fell over promptly 2 seconds later. But this time I managed to get up and stay up for a while. No tricks though... but that can come later. Keith was really good! Jumps, turns, etc... showoff! Pictures of monkeys and wakeboarding on my webalbum.
That brings the total water sports count to 7! Wakeboarding, surfing, windsurfing, kayaking, scuba diving, skimboarding, and snorkeling! That's more activities than the nine years I spent in Calgary... too bad we didn't go rafting here too.
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied...
Illuminate the "No"s on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
I will follow you into the dark...
On the weekend I had a strange dream... it was the apocalypse and everyone died and heaven got full... so everyone got sent to hell! Which of course meant big lineups and crowding down there... The weird thing was that it was in the style of the Simpsons, it was as if a Treehouse of Horror episode was being broadcast to my head while I was asleep. If this ever becomes a real Simpsons episode, let this be evidence that I am indeed psychic.
Edit: South Park Already Did It
Since it's been years and years since I've seen the South Park movie, I forgot that Kenny gets rejected from Heaven since the population has reached maximum (1500 souls)... However there was no apocalypse, or rioting in hell, so it could still happen.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Well, I Couldn't Figure Out this Subtraction Problem, So I put "Atlanta, Georgia"
What? Another blog? Yeah, been researching some random things online today, andI feel it is my duty to share these facts and bits of advice with you.
Interesting Fact:
Young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees.
Advice:
You will need to know the difference between Friday and a fried egg. It's quite a simple difference, but an important one. Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken. Like most things, of course, it isn't quite that simple. The fried egg isn't properly a fried egg until it's been put in a frying pan and fried. This is something you wouldn't do to a Friday, of course, though you might do it on a Friday. You can also fry eggs on a Thursday, if you like, or on a cooker. It's all rather complicated, but it makes a kind of sense if you think about it for a while.
- Douglas Adams
Advice 2:
Capital Letters are always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to.
Something to Think About:
Anything that happens happens.
Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen causes something else to happen.
And anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again.
Although not necessarily in chronological order.
Why Calgary is Better Than Edmonton:
Smarter Criminals
Next time I'll teach you the difference between a blizzard and a lizard... stay tuned.
Interesting Fact:
Young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees.
Advice:
You will need to know the difference between Friday and a fried egg. It's quite a simple difference, but an important one. Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken. Like most things, of course, it isn't quite that simple. The fried egg isn't properly a fried egg until it's been put in a frying pan and fried. This is something you wouldn't do to a Friday, of course, though you might do it on a Friday. You can also fry eggs on a Thursday, if you like, or on a cooker. It's all rather complicated, but it makes a kind of sense if you think about it for a while.
- Douglas Adams
Advice 2:
Capital Letters are always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to.
Something to Think About:
Anything that happens happens.
Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen causes something else to happen.
And anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again.
Although not necessarily in chronological order.
Why Calgary is Better Than Edmonton:
Smarter Criminals
Next time I'll teach you the difference between a blizzard and a lizard... stay tuned.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Scientific Progress goes "Boink"?
If it can be broke, then it can be fixed.
If it can be fused, then it can be split.
It's all under control...
First, I should thank those who read my last blog and left me comments. I didn't think anyone would read the blog, let alone like it, so it made me very happy to see all the comments on there.
Over the past 4 months I've noticed something weird in Japan. I'll call it the Doppelganger Effect. Basically, some people in Japan that I've seen, or met, or even work with look (and act) very similar to people i knew back in Canada. One OL here, I keep thinking of her by the name of my friend's sister, who she looks exactly like. I'm always concerned I'll call her by the wrong name by accident. And one person I met looked like an Asian version of a friend in Calgary, and even had the same first name o.O.
If it was one or two people I could understand, but I can think of at least 6 occurrences... does anyone else get this effect or am I weird/hallucinating?
I wonder if the duplicates have ethicators with built-in moral compromise spectral release phantasmatron:
"Strictly speaking, I'm not Calvin. I'm the physical manifestation of Calvin's good side."
"If that were true, you'd be a lot smaller."
In other news... wow, guess I'm over a week behind in blogging... so I'll keep it short... Last weekend I did nothing on Friday. It was nice. On Saturday I went to a picnic in Nara with Anton and his friends/co-workers. It was nice. We ate food, played soccer/frisbee, talked, had fun. I impressed Anton with my artistic ability by drawing him a sign to protect him from bugs while he was napping. The picture is on my webalbum, along with other pictures from the past two weeks.
Anton and his friend Rie came along with me to JJs, where we met up with Boon-hau, Keith, and Byron. JJs is a wonderful place. At 105-en every 15 minutes ($4/hr) you have unlimited access to the video games, bowling, billiards, karaoke, basketball, ping pong, and lots more. That night most of our time was spent at karaoke, but we also played on a big blow up, cylinder shaped tube, that we'd run over each other with. Poor Keith forgot to remove any personal items before riding in the tube, and died. Oops, I mean, his camera broke ><. Which was unfortunate.
If it can be lost, then it can be won.
If it can be touched, then it can be turned.
All you need is time...
Headed towards Boon-Hau's place, where we were staying for the night, and stopped at a family restaurant along the way. Uneventful, cept when the forces of karma kicked Byron in the butt... Self serve drinks, so while we all ordered water, Byron got a glass of pop without paying for it, and promptly spilt it on his white shirt ><.
Sunday we woke up early to... rainy weather! On Ninja Day! Gah. 2 hour trip to Iga-Ueno, then an hour wait for the train to Uenoshi. We actually got there early, before the transfer train left. However, we were too busy taking pictures of the lovely pink train that we didn't realize it was the train we needed to be on. So we watched it leave the station without us. Haha.
Ninja village was interesting, we saw a ninja house, with all the trap doors and secret passages, and a museum showcasing various tools and clothes the ninja used. The highlight was the Ninja Show, where they performed stunts and demonstrations of the ninja weapons onstage. Afterwards you could pay to try your hand at throwing shuriken at a target too.
Following this was a long period of souvenir shopping, followed by the costume museum, which was interesting, but a little small and not very exciting. Ninja village was good to see, but maybe a bit too touristy. On the way home we stopped at a Brazillian restaurant... which was odd, because all the menus were in Portugese, and even the waiter didn't know what each item was. We needed the waiter to translate the menu into Japanese for us haha. Very interesting.
A sense of purpose and a sense of skill.
A sense of function but a disregard.
We will not be the first...
An exciting workweek, where I worked on another side project which resulted in a pretty, multicolored excel file that took me all week to make. Link's soldering skill increases by +0.5! Link's soldering skill reaches level 2.
The long weekend involved Byron's 2 month late welcoming party, but even though the party was for Byron, I had to give a short speech anyways, in Japanese, because nobody there knew me. Dave was tired cause I gave him Dead Like Me (Awesome tv show) to watch and he stayed up most of the night working through it.
On Saturday I went to Danjiri Matsuri in Kishiwada, with Keith, Tongxin, Rie, Jen, and some of Keith's coworkers. It was very cool, they have floats like at Gion Matsuri, only people ride on top of them, and then they are pulled as fast as possible around sharp corners. There have been a few deaths caused by this festival in the past, but thanks to my amazing agility and balance (and the fact that I was far back from the action) I survived. There were quite a few people out to see the events, it was rather busy. Went back to JJs after, and met up with Tyson and Boon-hau. Tyson is tall. This makes him good at 3v3 basketball. His team won. Grrr...
You said you were going to conquer new frontiers.
Go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast.
Keith and I attempted to go surfing on Saturday, expecting big waves since it was so windy. No go... the smallest waves we had ever seen there... so we went back, and took the bus to the windsurfing beach instead, rented 2 boards and wetsuits. Only, because the wind was so strong and the water so choppy, it was much more difficult this time. Not to mention the water was freezing... we didn't stay too long.
It makes me sad to admit it, but summertime is gone, and it may be years beforeI have the opportunity to surf again...
Spent the rest of Saturday studying Kanji with Keith, with a few breaks to watch Fullmetal Alchemist, which is an awesome anime. Or rather, I spent Saturday watching FMA with a few breaks to study Kanji.
Now it's already Wednesday, and more plans for the weekend than I can keep track of (or fit in)... everything from clubbing to stalking to poker to dental expo to Kobe steak eating... shouldbe fun no matter what I do.
By the way, Alfred followed me home...
We promised the world we'd tame it...
What were we hoping for?
We will not be the last...
- Kele Okereke ("Pioneers" - Bloc Party)
If it can be fused, then it can be split.
It's all under control...
First, I should thank those who read my last blog and left me comments. I didn't think anyone would read the blog, let alone like it, so it made me very happy to see all the comments on there.
Over the past 4 months I've noticed something weird in Japan. I'll call it the Doppelganger Effect. Basically, some people in Japan that I've seen, or met, or even work with look (and act) very similar to people i knew back in Canada. One OL here, I keep thinking of her by the name of my friend's sister, who she looks exactly like. I'm always concerned I'll call her by the wrong name by accident. And one person I met looked like an Asian version of a friend in Calgary, and even had the same first name o.O.
If it was one or two people I could understand, but I can think of at least 6 occurrences... does anyone else get this effect or am I weird/hallucinating?
I wonder if the duplicates have ethicators with built-in moral compromise spectral release phantasmatron:
"Strictly speaking, I'm not Calvin. I'm the physical manifestation of Calvin's good side."
"If that were true, you'd be a lot smaller."
In other news... wow, guess I'm over a week behind in blogging... so I'll keep it short... Last weekend I did nothing on Friday. It was nice. On Saturday I went to a picnic in Nara with Anton and his friends/co-workers. It was nice. We ate food, played soccer/frisbee, talked, had fun. I impressed Anton with my artistic ability by drawing him a sign to protect him from bugs while he was napping. The picture is on my webalbum, along with other pictures from the past two weeks.
Anton and his friend Rie came along with me to JJs, where we met up with Boon-hau, Keith, and Byron. JJs is a wonderful place. At 105-en every 15 minutes ($4/hr) you have unlimited access to the video games, bowling, billiards, karaoke, basketball, ping pong, and lots more. That night most of our time was spent at karaoke, but we also played on a big blow up, cylinder shaped tube, that we'd run over each other with. Poor Keith forgot to remove any personal items before riding in the tube, and died. Oops, I mean, his camera broke ><. Which was unfortunate.
If it can be lost, then it can be won.
If it can be touched, then it can be turned.
All you need is time...
Headed towards Boon-Hau's place, where we were staying for the night, and stopped at a family restaurant along the way. Uneventful, cept when the forces of karma kicked Byron in the butt... Self serve drinks, so while we all ordered water, Byron got a glass of pop without paying for it, and promptly spilt it on his white shirt ><.
Sunday we woke up early to... rainy weather! On Ninja Day! Gah. 2 hour trip to Iga-Ueno, then an hour wait for the train to Uenoshi. We actually got there early, before the transfer train left. However, we were too busy taking pictures of the lovely pink train that we didn't realize it was the train we needed to be on. So we watched it leave the station without us. Haha.
Ninja village was interesting, we saw a ninja house, with all the trap doors and secret passages, and a museum showcasing various tools and clothes the ninja used. The highlight was the Ninja Show, where they performed stunts and demonstrations of the ninja weapons onstage. Afterwards you could pay to try your hand at throwing shuriken at a target too.
Following this was a long period of souvenir shopping, followed by the costume museum, which was interesting, but a little small and not very exciting. Ninja village was good to see, but maybe a bit too touristy. On the way home we stopped at a Brazillian restaurant... which was odd, because all the menus were in Portugese, and even the waiter didn't know what each item was. We needed the waiter to translate the menu into Japanese for us haha. Very interesting.
A sense of purpose and a sense of skill.
A sense of function but a disregard.
We will not be the first...
An exciting workweek, where I worked on another side project which resulted in a pretty, multicolored excel file that took me all week to make. Link's soldering skill increases by +0.5! Link's soldering skill reaches level 2.
The long weekend involved Byron's 2 month late welcoming party, but even though the party was for Byron, I had to give a short speech anyways, in Japanese, because nobody there knew me. Dave was tired cause I gave him Dead Like Me (Awesome tv show) to watch and he stayed up most of the night working through it.
On Saturday I went to Danjiri Matsuri in Kishiwada, with Keith, Tongxin, Rie, Jen, and some of Keith's coworkers. It was very cool, they have floats like at Gion Matsuri, only people ride on top of them, and then they are pulled as fast as possible around sharp corners. There have been a few deaths caused by this festival in the past, but thanks to my amazing agility and balance (and the fact that I was far back from the action) I survived. There were quite a few people out to see the events, it was rather busy. Went back to JJs after, and met up with Tyson and Boon-hau. Tyson is tall. This makes him good at 3v3 basketball. His team won. Grrr...
You said you were going to conquer new frontiers.
Go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast.
Keith and I attempted to go surfing on Saturday, expecting big waves since it was so windy. No go... the smallest waves we had ever seen there... so we went back, and took the bus to the windsurfing beach instead, rented 2 boards and wetsuits. Only, because the wind was so strong and the water so choppy, it was much more difficult this time. Not to mention the water was freezing... we didn't stay too long.
It makes me sad to admit it, but summertime is gone, and it may be years beforeI have the opportunity to surf again...
Spent the rest of Saturday studying Kanji with Keith, with a few breaks to watch Fullmetal Alchemist, which is an awesome anime. Or rather, I spent Saturday watching FMA with a few breaks to study Kanji.
Now it's already Wednesday, and more plans for the weekend than I can keep track of (or fit in)... everything from clubbing to stalking to poker to dental expo to Kobe steak eating... shouldbe fun no matter what I do.
By the way, Alfred followed me home...
We promised the world we'd tame it...
What were we hoping for?
We will not be the last...
- Kele Okereke ("Pioneers" - Bloc Party)
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Always New Depths
Summertime has come and gone, all used up with wishful thinking
Get sussed up, get cynical, in this world there are no second chances
Crawling round on all fours, curl yourself into a circle
I will tear myself apart, if you promise to paint me
As a work of art...
- Kele Okereke
A lot of the other CJP members have been doing some reflecting on their Japan and university experience, asking themselves a few questions… "Why am I here?" and "Is this what/where I’m supposed to be?" So I figured I would give it a shot at answering the questions for myself…
So first off, why Japan?
My interest in Japan probably started around junior high school. I remember studying Japan in my social studies class, with Mr. Abrams, who, besides being insane, was a very good teacher. He went on stress leave for a few months at one point, but that seemed to be normal in my school. My science teacher actually had a bottle of hard liquor in her desk, and the substitute that replaced her when she went on stress leave was driven crazy by the students himself. ("That was my favorite shell!!! /cries")
But besides all that, I actually really enjoyed learning about Japan, the history and culture. It was so much more interesting than all the months we spent learning about Canadian history, because Japan is much older and is so much cooler. Canada is young and kinda boring.
Around the same time I read a book that really got me interested in Japan. Oddly enough the book was a humor book, "Dave Barry Does Japan" (I’ve mentioned/quoted it before), basically describing the culture of Japan from a typical western perspective. And while the book made me laugh a lot, and made me want to go to Japan just to see some of the funny stuff, I also really related about what the author said about the people. How even if they couldn’t speak English, they would try to help you as best they could; how people would welcome you into their stores and actually want your business; how people would show kindness and respect to each other at all times; and how silence can be golden, and it’s ok to sit in quiet.
That last part was very important to me… not only was I very shy in junior high, but grade 7 was my first year in Calgary. I had no close friends, and I was stuck in the one class that had all the loudest, rowdiest kids in my grade. So learning about Japan and reading Dave Barry’s book really made me want to go there.
My interest in Japan steadily grew, first from the great company of Squaresoft, then from all the other cool technology I read about from all the hi-tech Japanese companies. I considered Japan to be cool, with its history of samurai and ninja, its current culture with the crazy teenagers, bright lights, and high tech gizmos in Tokyo, and the calm, peaceful setting and rich culture of Kyoto. And I knew it would be a place I would travel to lots once I was able to.
So that’s why I chose Japan, but is only part of the reason why I came here. Did I find what I was looking for here? Well, I’ll discuss that a little later.
I guess the second question people are asking is whether they should have gone into engineering in the first place.
When I was in high school I knew I was going to university, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to take. I was good in math and science, took the AP classes. I still don’t know why I took bio, I hated bio, but the people in the class made it so much fun. But in university, what could I go into? Business? Heck no, I couldn’t sell, manage, or market anything. Med school? Never liked bio, and hated the dissections especially. Science or math? It was my original choice, but I couldn’t picture myself stuck in a lab for 50 years. So by default, I went into engineering. It combined math and science with some design and creativity, I figured it would be perfect for me.
What do I think now? To be honest, some parts of university scared me off of the field. Design class in first year was supposed to prepare us for what being an engineer would be like. This was scary because we were given very dumb projects, with very dumb group members (The only good group I had was for the dumbest of the projects… speed skating crash mats). For our Engineers Without Borders assignment, we had to design a waste management system for an extremely poor region in Africa, and my group members came up with the idea of indoor plumbing. The second semester project of building a speed skating robot was done completely by myself, with only one of the other three group members showing up for only one very short meeting. Was real engineering going to be like this? I hope not… I figure if you manage to get through all four years, you should at least have some knowledge and motivation, but it’s something I won’t know till I’m there.
The other thing that I found out is that eventually engineers shift from the design and building part of things to management. I know many people are looking forward to this aspect, but it scares me actually. I’m not a manager or a leader, and doubt I ever will be. I hate telling people what to do or how to do it. But there’s hope I guess, I do have choices… Woz was founder of a major computer company (Apple) and he still stays behind the scenes, and does the more hands-on, design work, and is one of the most important people in that company.
So was engineering the right choice? Besides these concerns, engineering seems to have been the best choice for me. It’ll get me a good job when I graduate, it’s interesting, and it combines all the things I enjoy. Besides the bad professors (probably the majority), I quite like most of the material I’m studying. And not only was it a good choice for me, but I think I made a difference to other people too. I helped many of my fellow engineers out with homework and studying in my first year especially. And also, would I be here now, living by myself in a country halfway around the world, if I didn’t go into engineering? Unlikely…
Hopefully my concerns about the engineering field will be dealt with once I graduate, and so I won’t worry about that until the time comes.
And now the question, why am I here?
This one’s difficult. I’m sure all you CJP’ers get the same question I do, "Why did you come to Japan?" all the time. And it’s difficult because the real reason I came to Japan is never the reason I say I did.
I’ll start by explaining how I got here… At the end of my second year at university, while looking up the internship program on my school’s website, I saw a tiny link at the bottom of one page about some sort of Co-op Japan Program. I couldn’t believe it… wow, a chance to go to Japan for my internship!? I knew at the start of third year I’d have to look into it, but didn’t seriously think I could ever get a job.
I met with the co-op coordinators in September of my third year to discuss the program. I was the first one to show interest. He told me I’d have to go through the UBC to get all the information and apply and everything, but he would hold a meeting with a past CJP student to describe the program. An email was sent out to the other engg students, and about 20 showed up to the meeting. It was quite informative, but most of it I had known about from my own research. At the end of the meeting, only 3-4 people said they were seriously interested. I was surprised actually… a once in a lifetime opportunity like this and so few wanting to go?
So I did most of the work myself, applications, signing up for night classes in Japanese (brutal in the middle of winter in Calgary… staying at school till 9pm and then goin home in the freezing cold). I think I was the only one from my school to apply. Many of my friends were quite surprised, they thought it was just an idea, that I wouldn’t really go through with it. I still wasn’t very optimistic about getting a job, I figured competition must be very fierce.
When I got the phone call from Jenny at the UBC in December I was in shock… I was actually going to go to Japan for my internship!
"I always had an interest in Japan, and the culture is fascinating. In Canada we don’t have the history and culture that Japan has. I thought it would be really neat living and working here" is along the lines of what I say to people when they ask why I came to Japan, and the reasons I say it are twofold. Number one, obviously, is as a compliment to their country, but number two is that it’s hard to explain the real reason why I’m here. Not that the reason above is untrue, it’s very true. It’s a good reason that I came to Japan. But it’s not THE reason.
Then there’s the fact that it’s good for my future. "Any internship is great experience. Useful for finding a job in the future, and great hands on experience, and it gives a chance to relate what you learn in school to the real world. And then having international work experience as well as a foreign language looks even better on a resume. When I get out of school I should have no trouble finding a job, especially in Calgary." Once again, a reason, but not THE reason.
The reason I came to Japan was a little more selfish. I came to Japan for me, for self-discovery and self-improvement. I wanted to experience new things and challenge myself in ways I haven’t before.
Back in Calgary, before I came to Japan, I was a very shy guy (more than now). Not able to talk to strangers at all, and even around my friends, in a group, I’d sit in the back, listening more than talking. I was a picky eater, not liking to try new things, not really liking to eat at all, cept for my sugar cravings while playing poker. As a result, I was (and am) quite thin, and my friends would always bug me about how young I looked. Looking young, thin, shy, geeky, the smart guy, doesn’t do a lot for your self esteem.
I’ve never been very good at making or keeping friends either. I keep in touch with one person from my elementary school now, and two people from junior high, but even in Calgary talking with them was mostly through MSN. My current friends in Calgary I’ve only known since grade 11. But just before I left Calgary, most of my friends were dating, and the ones who weren’t were partying in Europe. So there weren’t many reasons to stay, and lots of reasons to go to Japan. I was hoping that my adventure would open my eyes a bit, and it certainly has.
So how has Japan affected me? Well I have a lot more independence than I did back home. In Calgary I didn’t even live in my parent’s basement, I lived on the main level. >< Now I live by myself, and have learned to cook and clean (kinda), but also follow my own rules, sleeping, goin to work, payin the bills, etc.
Public nudity scared the crap outta me back home. And what better way to adjust than to be forced right into it hours after stepping off the plane.
My confidence has improved… the fact that I am by myself, halfway round the world from where I’ve been all my life, in a country I’ve never been to, where I can’t speak the language, will do that to you. I’ve joined the gym, and with my own cooking I’ve gained 8 pounds since I’ve been here. I have new friends to think I’m crazy. I’ve impressed myself with my ability to try new foods, such as cow stomach and horse sashimi. Public nudity and communal baths don’t even phase me anymore.
Probably the biggest example of my confidence is right here… I’m actually writing my real thoughts and posting them on the internet. I rarely open up to anybody, most people only see my outer, crazy side. So maybe this post will let you know a little more about me.
Though there’s still more I’d like to work on, I’ve changed and grown a lot by being here.
Did I find what I was looking for here, culture wise? Well, maybe it’s too early to tell…
The one thing that is still extremely difficult is talking to strangers. Starting a conversation with someone I don’t know still terrifies me, but that may be due to the language barrier too. Hopefully I will improve my Japanese and be able to talk to people more easily.
Because of this language barrier too, it’s hard to experience life in Japan. I tend to be more of an observer than a participant, like I am in groups back home. I get to see the culture of Japan, but it’s difficult for me to get involved, to see what people are like. Once again, maybe when my Japanese improves…
As for the "Stages of Adjustment" that people are supposed to go through when they arrive in Japan, I never went through the typical stages: "Excitement, confusion, frustration, depression, homesickness, and acceptance" (thanks Boon Hau). I remember I had one stage on the airplane, fear and doubt… what would the people at the company be like? What would the dorm be like? Will I be able to eat the food? Will I have to talk all in Japanese? Are my language skills good enough?
And then I went right into acceptance. Having a random stranger on the train invite you to a public bath will do that to you. Not that I haven’t been confused (trust me, I have), frustrated, depressed, and homesick, I have, but just for a short time period, maybe a couple hours of homesickness every once in a while, not in a stage. I was rather prepared for the Japanese culture. I had read a lot of travel guides and culture guides about Japan before coming here, I knew pretty much what to expect. Maybe I read too much? I’m sure a lot of stuff would have been more shocking and funny (like the onsen cleaning ladies or the greasers in Yoyogi) if I hadn’t been expecting them.
I guess the final question would be "What now?"
Well, I have plenty to do while I’m in Japan. I gotta learn language first so that there’s no excuse not to get involved in Japanese culture. I gotta keep going to the gym, and gaining weight, and getting my confidence up. I gotta make friends with more Japanese people and maybe talk to some random strangers myself.
Once I get back to Canada, the main thing is to find myself a summer job. Maybe, since I can’t do a traditional interview anyway, I’ll start looking for jobs outside of Calgary and have a fun exciting summer. Then it’s back to school for fourth year. After that, I really don’t know what I’ll get into. And I’m not really concerned about that. There’s so many choices out there, I’m sure I’ll find the one that’s right for me.
* In 25 posts this is my first "serious" one. Sorry if you didn’t find it as entertaining, but please let me know what you think – leave me a comment.
Get sussed up, get cynical, in this world there are no second chances
Crawling round on all fours, curl yourself into a circle
I will tear myself apart, if you promise to paint me
As a work of art...
- Kele Okereke
A lot of the other CJP members have been doing some reflecting on their Japan and university experience, asking themselves a few questions… "Why am I here?" and "Is this what/where I’m supposed to be?" So I figured I would give it a shot at answering the questions for myself…
So first off, why Japan?
My interest in Japan probably started around junior high school. I remember studying Japan in my social studies class, with Mr. Abrams, who, besides being insane, was a very good teacher. He went on stress leave for a few months at one point, but that seemed to be normal in my school. My science teacher actually had a bottle of hard liquor in her desk, and the substitute that replaced her when she went on stress leave was driven crazy by the students himself. ("That was my favorite shell!!! /cries")
But besides all that, I actually really enjoyed learning about Japan, the history and culture. It was so much more interesting than all the months we spent learning about Canadian history, because Japan is much older and is so much cooler. Canada is young and kinda boring.
Around the same time I read a book that really got me interested in Japan. Oddly enough the book was a humor book, "Dave Barry Does Japan" (I’ve mentioned/quoted it before), basically describing the culture of Japan from a typical western perspective. And while the book made me laugh a lot, and made me want to go to Japan just to see some of the funny stuff, I also really related about what the author said about the people. How even if they couldn’t speak English, they would try to help you as best they could; how people would welcome you into their stores and actually want your business; how people would show kindness and respect to each other at all times; and how silence can be golden, and it’s ok to sit in quiet.
That last part was very important to me… not only was I very shy in junior high, but grade 7 was my first year in Calgary. I had no close friends, and I was stuck in the one class that had all the loudest, rowdiest kids in my grade. So learning about Japan and reading Dave Barry’s book really made me want to go there.
My interest in Japan steadily grew, first from the great company of Squaresoft, then from all the other cool technology I read about from all the hi-tech Japanese companies. I considered Japan to be cool, with its history of samurai and ninja, its current culture with the crazy teenagers, bright lights, and high tech gizmos in Tokyo, and the calm, peaceful setting and rich culture of Kyoto. And I knew it would be a place I would travel to lots once I was able to.
So that’s why I chose Japan, but is only part of the reason why I came here. Did I find what I was looking for here? Well, I’ll discuss that a little later.
I guess the second question people are asking is whether they should have gone into engineering in the first place.
When I was in high school I knew I was going to university, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to take. I was good in math and science, took the AP classes. I still don’t know why I took bio, I hated bio, but the people in the class made it so much fun. But in university, what could I go into? Business? Heck no, I couldn’t sell, manage, or market anything. Med school? Never liked bio, and hated the dissections especially. Science or math? It was my original choice, but I couldn’t picture myself stuck in a lab for 50 years. So by default, I went into engineering. It combined math and science with some design and creativity, I figured it would be perfect for me.
What do I think now? To be honest, some parts of university scared me off of the field. Design class in first year was supposed to prepare us for what being an engineer would be like. This was scary because we were given very dumb projects, with very dumb group members (The only good group I had was for the dumbest of the projects… speed skating crash mats). For our Engineers Without Borders assignment, we had to design a waste management system for an extremely poor region in Africa, and my group members came up with the idea of indoor plumbing. The second semester project of building a speed skating robot was done completely by myself, with only one of the other three group members showing up for only one very short meeting. Was real engineering going to be like this? I hope not… I figure if you manage to get through all four years, you should at least have some knowledge and motivation, but it’s something I won’t know till I’m there.
The other thing that I found out is that eventually engineers shift from the design and building part of things to management. I know many people are looking forward to this aspect, but it scares me actually. I’m not a manager or a leader, and doubt I ever will be. I hate telling people what to do or how to do it. But there’s hope I guess, I do have choices… Woz was founder of a major computer company (Apple) and he still stays behind the scenes, and does the more hands-on, design work, and is one of the most important people in that company.
So was engineering the right choice? Besides these concerns, engineering seems to have been the best choice for me. It’ll get me a good job when I graduate, it’s interesting, and it combines all the things I enjoy. Besides the bad professors (probably the majority), I quite like most of the material I’m studying. And not only was it a good choice for me, but I think I made a difference to other people too. I helped many of my fellow engineers out with homework and studying in my first year especially. And also, would I be here now, living by myself in a country halfway around the world, if I didn’t go into engineering? Unlikely…
Hopefully my concerns about the engineering field will be dealt with once I graduate, and so I won’t worry about that until the time comes.
And now the question, why am I here?
This one’s difficult. I’m sure all you CJP’ers get the same question I do, "Why did you come to Japan?" all the time. And it’s difficult because the real reason I came to Japan is never the reason I say I did.
I’ll start by explaining how I got here… At the end of my second year at university, while looking up the internship program on my school’s website, I saw a tiny link at the bottom of one page about some sort of Co-op Japan Program. I couldn’t believe it… wow, a chance to go to Japan for my internship!? I knew at the start of third year I’d have to look into it, but didn’t seriously think I could ever get a job.
I met with the co-op coordinators in September of my third year to discuss the program. I was the first one to show interest. He told me I’d have to go through the UBC to get all the information and apply and everything, but he would hold a meeting with a past CJP student to describe the program. An email was sent out to the other engg students, and about 20 showed up to the meeting. It was quite informative, but most of it I had known about from my own research. At the end of the meeting, only 3-4 people said they were seriously interested. I was surprised actually… a once in a lifetime opportunity like this and so few wanting to go?
So I did most of the work myself, applications, signing up for night classes in Japanese (brutal in the middle of winter in Calgary… staying at school till 9pm and then goin home in the freezing cold). I think I was the only one from my school to apply. Many of my friends were quite surprised, they thought it was just an idea, that I wouldn’t really go through with it. I still wasn’t very optimistic about getting a job, I figured competition must be very fierce.
When I got the phone call from Jenny at the UBC in December I was in shock… I was actually going to go to Japan for my internship!
"I always had an interest in Japan, and the culture is fascinating. In Canada we don’t have the history and culture that Japan has. I thought it would be really neat living and working here" is along the lines of what I say to people when they ask why I came to Japan, and the reasons I say it are twofold. Number one, obviously, is as a compliment to their country, but number two is that it’s hard to explain the real reason why I’m here. Not that the reason above is untrue, it’s very true. It’s a good reason that I came to Japan. But it’s not THE reason.
Then there’s the fact that it’s good for my future. "Any internship is great experience. Useful for finding a job in the future, and great hands on experience, and it gives a chance to relate what you learn in school to the real world. And then having international work experience as well as a foreign language looks even better on a resume. When I get out of school I should have no trouble finding a job, especially in Calgary." Once again, a reason, but not THE reason.
The reason I came to Japan was a little more selfish. I came to Japan for me, for self-discovery and self-improvement. I wanted to experience new things and challenge myself in ways I haven’t before.
Back in Calgary, before I came to Japan, I was a very shy guy (more than now). Not able to talk to strangers at all, and even around my friends, in a group, I’d sit in the back, listening more than talking. I was a picky eater, not liking to try new things, not really liking to eat at all, cept for my sugar cravings while playing poker. As a result, I was (and am) quite thin, and my friends would always bug me about how young I looked. Looking young, thin, shy, geeky, the smart guy, doesn’t do a lot for your self esteem.
I’ve never been very good at making or keeping friends either. I keep in touch with one person from my elementary school now, and two people from junior high, but even in Calgary talking with them was mostly through MSN. My current friends in Calgary I’ve only known since grade 11. But just before I left Calgary, most of my friends were dating, and the ones who weren’t were partying in Europe. So there weren’t many reasons to stay, and lots of reasons to go to Japan. I was hoping that my adventure would open my eyes a bit, and it certainly has.
So how has Japan affected me? Well I have a lot more independence than I did back home. In Calgary I didn’t even live in my parent’s basement, I lived on the main level. >< Now I live by myself, and have learned to cook and clean (kinda), but also follow my own rules, sleeping, goin to work, payin the bills, etc.
Public nudity scared the crap outta me back home. And what better way to adjust than to be forced right into it hours after stepping off the plane.
My confidence has improved… the fact that I am by myself, halfway round the world from where I’ve been all my life, in a country I’ve never been to, where I can’t speak the language, will do that to you. I’ve joined the gym, and with my own cooking I’ve gained 8 pounds since I’ve been here. I have new friends to think I’m crazy. I’ve impressed myself with my ability to try new foods, such as cow stomach and horse sashimi. Public nudity and communal baths don’t even phase me anymore.
Probably the biggest example of my confidence is right here… I’m actually writing my real thoughts and posting them on the internet. I rarely open up to anybody, most people only see my outer, crazy side. So maybe this post will let you know a little more about me.
Though there’s still more I’d like to work on, I’ve changed and grown a lot by being here.
Did I find what I was looking for here, culture wise? Well, maybe it’s too early to tell…
The one thing that is still extremely difficult is talking to strangers. Starting a conversation with someone I don’t know still terrifies me, but that may be due to the language barrier too. Hopefully I will improve my Japanese and be able to talk to people more easily.
Because of this language barrier too, it’s hard to experience life in Japan. I tend to be more of an observer than a participant, like I am in groups back home. I get to see the culture of Japan, but it’s difficult for me to get involved, to see what people are like. Once again, maybe when my Japanese improves…
As for the "Stages of Adjustment" that people are supposed to go through when they arrive in Japan, I never went through the typical stages: "Excitement, confusion, frustration, depression, homesickness, and acceptance" (thanks Boon Hau). I remember I had one stage on the airplane, fear and doubt… what would the people at the company be like? What would the dorm be like? Will I be able to eat the food? Will I have to talk all in Japanese? Are my language skills good enough?
And then I went right into acceptance. Having a random stranger on the train invite you to a public bath will do that to you. Not that I haven’t been confused (trust me, I have), frustrated, depressed, and homesick, I have, but just for a short time period, maybe a couple hours of homesickness every once in a while, not in a stage. I was rather prepared for the Japanese culture. I had read a lot of travel guides and culture guides about Japan before coming here, I knew pretty much what to expect. Maybe I read too much? I’m sure a lot of stuff would have been more shocking and funny (like the onsen cleaning ladies or the greasers in Yoyogi) if I hadn’t been expecting them.
I guess the final question would be "What now?"
Well, I have plenty to do while I’m in Japan. I gotta learn language first so that there’s no excuse not to get involved in Japanese culture. I gotta keep going to the gym, and gaining weight, and getting my confidence up. I gotta make friends with more Japanese people and maybe talk to some random strangers myself.
Once I get back to Canada, the main thing is to find myself a summer job. Maybe, since I can’t do a traditional interview anyway, I’ll start looking for jobs outside of Calgary and have a fun exciting summer. Then it’s back to school for fourth year. After that, I really don’t know what I’ll get into. And I’m not really concerned about that. There’s so many choices out there, I’m sure I’ll find the one that’s right for me.
* In 25 posts this is my first "serious" one. Sorry if you didn’t find it as entertaining, but please let me know what you think – leave me a comment.
Friday, September 29, 2006
In the Battle Between You and the World, Bet On the World
Wow, so many people blogging while they're supposed to be working... so i will too!
I have a new pet. He (or she) doesn't have a name yet. It's about a centimeter long, has 8 legs, and is yellow and black. It has been hanging around my desk for over a week, sometimes resting on my keyboard, sometimes jumping onto the wall and crawling around. It's quite talented, being able to jump a good 6 inches, and its fangs look rather sharp. I'm not exactly sure what to do with him yet. I don't want to put him down, he appears rather healthy and well, and so the ethics of that may be questionable. And I can't really take him outside and release him into the wild without looking partly psychotic to my fellow coworkers. So for now he is my pet, and I like him a lot. I think I shall name him Alfred, since Mr. Molina's characters have had multiple bad experiences dealing with large arachnids.
I shall name him Alfred, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Alfred.
I have a new pet. He (or she) doesn't have a name yet. It's about a centimeter long, has 8 legs, and is yellow and black. It has been hanging around my desk for over a week, sometimes resting on my keyboard, sometimes jumping onto the wall and crawling around. It's quite talented, being able to jump a good 6 inches, and its fangs look rather sharp. I'm not exactly sure what to do with him yet. I don't want to put him down, he appears rather healthy and well, and so the ethics of that may be questionable. And I can't really take him outside and release him into the wild without looking partly psychotic to my fellow coworkers. So for now he is my pet, and I like him a lot. I think I shall name him Alfred, since Mr. Molina's characters have had multiple bad experiences dealing with large arachnids.
I shall name him Alfred, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Alfred.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
MY Words Speak Louder Than Actions!
After the internet café and another trip to the sento, we went for lunch at Lotteria Burger. Interesting to note is that inside the restaurant was a sign saying "Please use the rest room". Also interesting to note was the lack of restroom in the restaurant.
We went to Yoyogi Park next. On Sundays, Yoyogi plays host to Japanese… er, I’d say indie but that’d be an insult to indie music… bands of all different genres. One band, LooVee, looked as if they belonged on American Bandstand back in the 50’s. Matching red costumes, lots of brass, 2 girl singers and a male lead. At one point, the lead singer removed one of the guitarist’s pants, which was very nice of him. I guess that doesn’t happen on Bandstand too often.
Another band was very punk. The guitarist was pantless to begin with, making things easier, and the lead "singer" enjoyed shouting while writhing in pain apparently on the sidewalk. There were two somewhat decent bands though, and my favorite was a single guy jammin’ on the drums alone while waitin for his band members to show up.
Me, Keith and Mark played some hacky sack in the park while listening to a band play the same 5-second beat on the African drums, over and over, for half an hour. Boon Hau, Tyson, and Byron were exploring the park, and when we met up with them, they had joined a ukulele troupe. They even tought me how to play (I sucked) and gave us drinks, it was quite fun.
Next we went to Harajuku. I won’t try to describe it, because the pics here speak for themselves.
For the last part of our trip we met up with Clem and Neil and went to a Maid Café in Akihabara. Basically at this café, the waitresses are dressed up in maid costumes. Not revealing costumes or anything, quite covered up actually. For a fee you can do stuff with the maids.
No, not that kinda stuff… For 800-en you can play a PS2 fighting game against the maid, and you get your picture with the maid "if" you win. Or you can order a song or dance (500-en) which a maid will perform on the stage.
When not playing with the maid, the screen on stage keeps repeating a minute long video of a maid making coffee, then washing the cup, then making coffee, then washing the cup…
At the center table were some hardcore otaku. I will rely on the power of the human imagination and only state a few facts:
They were dressed up as anime characters.
The anime characters were female.
They had magic wands, hand puppets, and anime porn on their cell phones.
They sang and danced (and had all routines memorized) along with the maids.
This appears to be rather common for maid cafes (at least in Akihabara).
We left after one drink (600-en), and went to get food. After a quick meal and a game of DDR and House of the Dead 4, we headed back to Tokyo Station. Tyson bought what were apparently "Fried Dolls" as omiyage… which brought back haunting images from the previous day.
The journey back on the night bus was almost as fun as the journey there, but it was nice to go home and sleep after. In all, very fun trip, the Kansai Invasion was a success, thanks to Keith for his planning work.
This weekend (Sept 22-24) I met up with Anton at Kyoto Station to retrieve my pants (I left my pants at Anton’s when he had Jen’s welcoming party… because somebody spilt alcohol all over them), and to watch a high school dance performance at the station. Rather busy, and rather impressive actually, it was cool to see. Each school had a group of performers and a different dance, maybe I’ll be able to get some pictures off of Anton later and put em up on my webalbum.
Then it was off to Wakayama, where I met up with Keith, Boon-Hau and Tongxin. We stayed up till 4:30 playing cards, slapping each other, and eating excessive amounts of junk food, then on Saturday we went skimboarding <-- Video Link! I also had a sumo fight against Boon Hau on the beach (I lost of course) and we practiced our nunchaku skills, and frisbee skills, and swimming skills (you know! Skills!). We attempted a group study session for the JLPT test, then headed home.
Ja…
We went to Yoyogi Park next. On Sundays, Yoyogi plays host to Japanese… er, I’d say indie but that’d be an insult to indie music… bands of all different genres. One band, LooVee, looked as if they belonged on American Bandstand back in the 50’s. Matching red costumes, lots of brass, 2 girl singers and a male lead. At one point, the lead singer removed one of the guitarist’s pants, which was very nice of him. I guess that doesn’t happen on Bandstand too often.
Another band was very punk. The guitarist was pantless to begin with, making things easier, and the lead "singer" enjoyed shouting while writhing in pain apparently on the sidewalk. There were two somewhat decent bands though, and my favorite was a single guy jammin’ on the drums alone while waitin for his band members to show up.
Me, Keith and Mark played some hacky sack in the park while listening to a band play the same 5-second beat on the African drums, over and over, for half an hour. Boon Hau, Tyson, and Byron were exploring the park, and when we met up with them, they had joined a ukulele troupe. They even tought me how to play (I sucked) and gave us drinks, it was quite fun.
Next we went to Harajuku. I won’t try to describe it, because the pics here speak for themselves.
For the last part of our trip we met up with Clem and Neil and went to a Maid Café in Akihabara. Basically at this café, the waitresses are dressed up in maid costumes. Not revealing costumes or anything, quite covered up actually. For a fee you can do stuff with the maids.
No, not that kinda stuff… For 800-en you can play a PS2 fighting game against the maid, and you get your picture with the maid "if" you win. Or you can order a song or dance (500-en) which a maid will perform on the stage.
When not playing with the maid, the screen on stage keeps repeating a minute long video of a maid making coffee, then washing the cup, then making coffee, then washing the cup…
At the center table were some hardcore otaku. I will rely on the power of the human imagination and only state a few facts:
They were dressed up as anime characters.
The anime characters were female.
They had magic wands, hand puppets, and anime porn on their cell phones.
They sang and danced (and had all routines memorized) along with the maids.
This appears to be rather common for maid cafes (at least in Akihabara).
We left after one drink (600-en), and went to get food. After a quick meal and a game of DDR and House of the Dead 4, we headed back to Tokyo Station. Tyson bought what were apparently "Fried Dolls" as omiyage… which brought back haunting images from the previous day.
The journey back on the night bus was almost as fun as the journey there, but it was nice to go home and sleep after. In all, very fun trip, the Kansai Invasion was a success, thanks to Keith for his planning work.
This weekend (Sept 22-24) I met up with Anton at Kyoto Station to retrieve my pants (I left my pants at Anton’s when he had Jen’s welcoming party… because somebody spilt alcohol all over them), and to watch a high school dance performance at the station. Rather busy, and rather impressive actually, it was cool to see. Each school had a group of performers and a different dance, maybe I’ll be able to get some pictures off of Anton later and put em up on my webalbum.
Then it was off to Wakayama, where I met up with Keith, Boon-Hau and Tongxin. We stayed up till 4:30 playing cards, slapping each other, and eating excessive amounts of junk food, then on Saturday we went skimboarding <-- Video Link! I also had a sumo fight against Boon Hau on the beach (I lost of course) and we practiced our nunchaku skills, and frisbee skills, and swimming skills (you know! Skills!). We attempted a group study session for the JLPT test, then headed home.
Ja…
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
That Which Does Not Kill Me Postpones the Inevitable
The hardest part isn’t finding what we need to be
It’s being content with who we are.
Stay who you are…
- Kris Roe (The Ataris)
Well, been a while since I blogged, and so much to say, and so little time to say it. If my blog runs too long and you get bored, well, that’s your own fault, cause this blog is pure awesomeness!!!
Primary Objective: Kansai Invasion of Tokyo
Mission Status: Complete!
Yep, that’s right, most of the Kansai gang, specifically myself, Keith, Tyson, Boon-Hau, and Byron, went down to Tokyo to see SUUUMOOO!!! Woohoo!!!
As you can gather, it was a good time (for the most part).
Mission Details:
On Friday night we took the night bus to Tokyo. This is not the best way to get to Tokyo. The best way to get to Tokyo is to already be there. If that fails, airplane would be a good (but expensive way to go), then Shinkansen, then maybe local trains during the day, then the second last choice would be night bus. Teleportation would be the worst way to go, since it is slightly hazardous:
"I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Maggie’s heart away
And I got Sidney’s leg."
Flying (not in an airplane) would be a good choice too, which is done by, of course, throwing yourself to the ground and missing. Of course, this takes a lot of practice, and tends to hurt if you fail to miss the ground.
Night bus is pretty brutal. It’s about a 10 hour trip, with limited leg room, squishy cramped seats, and stops every couple hours. For the first while, Keith and Boon-Hau studied kanji, Tyson read Hemingway aloud to us, ("’Good luck old man’. ‘Good luck’ said the old man"), boy that man could write nasty run on sentences and even run on paragraphs. I was reading a Ray Bradbury book, very interesting book, managed to finish it too. Which means after I finish Catcher in the Rye, I’ll have only 4 more books to read. Better save some money for a trip to the bookstore. I’ve been reading a lot more since I got here, a lot of classic books (1984), as well as some weirder books (The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul), all of them have been very interesting so far. Educational too.
Back on topic, got to Tokyo station at some super early hour in the morning, like 7:30. Went straight to the Sumo Arena to buy tickets, about 20 bucks for seats in the very back row. But better than spending a couple hundred on front row seats. Then we headed to O-Daiba, an island connected by bridge to Tokyo.
In O-Daiba we went to Sega Joypolis, which is half arcade, half ride simulations, half actual rides. Which adds up to 1.5x Fun! Well, that extra half is actually fear and creepiness… we went into the House of the Living Dolls…
Basically we walk through a completely dark hallway, and get to a room with a female mannequin at the head of the table. All five of us sit down around the table, put on the headphones, and the room goes pitch black. Then we hear (in Japanese) the story of an old woman who wants to revive her dead granddaughter by using hair, and eyes, and a heart from the Kansai crew members. With all the gory sound effects that the gouging of eyes and heart removal would create. Needless to say, when the granddaughter is revived she turns out to be evil, and goes crazy removing even more organs, and eventually a spirit tells us to pray to a doll on the table, and the demon is killed, and somehow we’re still alive, and the lights turn back on, and there’s bloody handprints all over the table. It was actually very creepy, the sound effects were done very well. I scared the pants off of Tyson by poking him in the dark haha. Sorry man.
Because the rides were not designed for too many people, and lasted a long time, lineups became excessive, 20-40 min so we decided to leave, and headed for the Toyota Showroom.
Lots of cool stuff there, some futuristic vehicles, cars that could navigate themselves along a roadway, and a robot that could play the trumpet! Stayed there for a while, taking pictures and seeing the displays, then we headed back to the Sumo Arena.
Sumo was quite interesting. Basically, before every bout there’s a long ritual, involving facing each other, stomping your legs, throwing salt, wiping yourself with the towel in the corner, repeat a few times, then try to push your opponent out of the ring. The actual fight only lasts a few seconds normally. Sometimes it takes a bit longer when the wrestlers are even matched, in which case they may try to swing or throw their opponent out of the ring.
To make things a little more interesting, we placed small bets on each of the matches, choosing a wrestler basically at random, depending on how big they were and the color of their thong. Cause it’s hard to bet on a wrestler with a pink thong. We ended up staying for about 3 hours total, got some good pictures, some of us got a little sleep, and some of us forfeiting a couple bucks due to his wrestlers constantly losing, grrr!
Not having a hotel or anything the night before, we stopped at a sento (public bath) after sumo to clean ourselves up. Not much I care to describe really, basically a standard sento. They had free toothbrushes that have toothpaste inside the bristles, which was handy. Oh yeah, there were cameras in the change rooms o.O. And probably the weirdest, there were women (employees) wandering around the all male baths, with all the guys in their birthday suits. I was prepared for this but it’s still very weird. They also allowed people to drink beer in the baths.
We met up with Clement, Neil, Leon, and Leon’s friend Mark, and went for dinner at a kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place in Shinjuku, then got harassed by people on the way back to the station trying to get us to go to various strip clubs/hostess bars. One guy, Charles told us that he’d give us a special deal, since it was his birthday. He even had "proof" it was his birthday, he had a picture of his birthday cake on his phone! He must have been telling the truth!
Headed to Roppongi, with Gaspanic #1 being our first stop. I should probably mention to the people that don’t know, nightclubs aren’t really my thing. That’s probably because I’m not much of a drinker. Nightclubs sober are pretty brutal.
"There isn’t any night club in the world you can sit in for a long time unless you can at least buy some liquor and get drunk. Or unless you’re with some girl that really knocks you out." – Holden Caulfield
Gaspanic #1 was very crowded, and too many guys compared to girls. I got tired of it pretty quickly, and went to MacD’s for a break and to get some food, till the others called me to tell me they got bored of that club too. So I met with them and we decided to find a better club.
The first club we try, none other than Gaspanic #2! Which was much worse than the first one. We stayed maybe 15 minutes. So we continued exploring. Nearly every club has a guy outside (usually a black guy), trying to convince you to go into their club. Some will even follow you down the street. Japanese women will try to get you to go into the massage places too, and will chase you down the street. It’s a very weird place.
We tried sending in scouts to see if a particular club was good or not. This wasn’t an effective method, because the scouts wouldn’t come back out and we’d all have to go in and fetch them. The music in the clubs was mixed, one club had the Macarena playing, but mostly hip hop music. I heard only a few good songs the whole night, Santana and Fatboy Slim. One club in particular was quite creepy. We went down there because the guy outside offered us free shots, but all got creeped out one by one and snuck out before the guy could see us leave. Byron and Tyson stayed for the shots, which they thought were non-alcoholic, of course :P.
In the end (being 4am) we gave up looking for a good club, went to MacD’s for an hour till the trains started running, then us Kansai crew and Mark went to an internet café to get a few hours’ sleep.
So to recap, awake since Friday morning, 3 hours (bad) sleep on a night bus Friday night, and 4 hours (bad) sleep in an internet café on Saturday night, and a long but exciting day ahead of us… but an entertaining trip so far!
Gotta study now, part 2 in Tokyo 2: Kansai Invasion should be up soon.
It’s being content with who we are.
Stay who you are…
- Kris Roe (The Ataris)
Well, been a while since I blogged, and so much to say, and so little time to say it. If my blog runs too long and you get bored, well, that’s your own fault, cause this blog is pure awesomeness!!!
Primary Objective: Kansai Invasion of Tokyo
Mission Status: Complete!
Yep, that’s right, most of the Kansai gang, specifically myself, Keith, Tyson, Boon-Hau, and Byron, went down to Tokyo to see SUUUMOOO!!! Woohoo!!!
As you can gather, it was a good time (for the most part).
Mission Details:
On Friday night we took the night bus to Tokyo. This is not the best way to get to Tokyo. The best way to get to Tokyo is to already be there. If that fails, airplane would be a good (but expensive way to go), then Shinkansen, then maybe local trains during the day, then the second last choice would be night bus. Teleportation would be the worst way to go, since it is slightly hazardous:
"I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Maggie’s heart away
And I got Sidney’s leg."
Flying (not in an airplane) would be a good choice too, which is done by, of course, throwing yourself to the ground and missing. Of course, this takes a lot of practice, and tends to hurt if you fail to miss the ground.
Night bus is pretty brutal. It’s about a 10 hour trip, with limited leg room, squishy cramped seats, and stops every couple hours. For the first while, Keith and Boon-Hau studied kanji, Tyson read Hemingway aloud to us, ("’Good luck old man’. ‘Good luck’ said the old man"), boy that man could write nasty run on sentences and even run on paragraphs. I was reading a Ray Bradbury book, very interesting book, managed to finish it too. Which means after I finish Catcher in the Rye, I’ll have only 4 more books to read. Better save some money for a trip to the bookstore. I’ve been reading a lot more since I got here, a lot of classic books (1984), as well as some weirder books (The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul), all of them have been very interesting so far. Educational too.
Back on topic, got to Tokyo station at some super early hour in the morning, like 7:30. Went straight to the Sumo Arena to buy tickets, about 20 bucks for seats in the very back row. But better than spending a couple hundred on front row seats. Then we headed to O-Daiba, an island connected by bridge to Tokyo.
In O-Daiba we went to Sega Joypolis, which is half arcade, half ride simulations, half actual rides. Which adds up to 1.5x Fun! Well, that extra half is actually fear and creepiness… we went into the House of the Living Dolls…
Basically we walk through a completely dark hallway, and get to a room with a female mannequin at the head of the table. All five of us sit down around the table, put on the headphones, and the room goes pitch black. Then we hear (in Japanese) the story of an old woman who wants to revive her dead granddaughter by using hair, and eyes, and a heart from the Kansai crew members. With all the gory sound effects that the gouging of eyes and heart removal would create. Needless to say, when the granddaughter is revived she turns out to be evil, and goes crazy removing even more organs, and eventually a spirit tells us to pray to a doll on the table, and the demon is killed, and somehow we’re still alive, and the lights turn back on, and there’s bloody handprints all over the table. It was actually very creepy, the sound effects were done very well. I scared the pants off of Tyson by poking him in the dark haha. Sorry man.
Because the rides were not designed for too many people, and lasted a long time, lineups became excessive, 20-40 min so we decided to leave, and headed for the Toyota Showroom.
Lots of cool stuff there, some futuristic vehicles, cars that could navigate themselves along a roadway, and a robot that could play the trumpet! Stayed there for a while, taking pictures and seeing the displays, then we headed back to the Sumo Arena.
Sumo was quite interesting. Basically, before every bout there’s a long ritual, involving facing each other, stomping your legs, throwing salt, wiping yourself with the towel in the corner, repeat a few times, then try to push your opponent out of the ring. The actual fight only lasts a few seconds normally. Sometimes it takes a bit longer when the wrestlers are even matched, in which case they may try to swing or throw their opponent out of the ring.
To make things a little more interesting, we placed small bets on each of the matches, choosing a wrestler basically at random, depending on how big they were and the color of their thong. Cause it’s hard to bet on a wrestler with a pink thong. We ended up staying for about 3 hours total, got some good pictures, some of us got a little sleep, and some of us forfeiting a couple bucks due to his wrestlers constantly losing, grrr!
Not having a hotel or anything the night before, we stopped at a sento (public bath) after sumo to clean ourselves up. Not much I care to describe really, basically a standard sento. They had free toothbrushes that have toothpaste inside the bristles, which was handy. Oh yeah, there were cameras in the change rooms o.O. And probably the weirdest, there were women (employees) wandering around the all male baths, with all the guys in their birthday suits. I was prepared for this but it’s still very weird. They also allowed people to drink beer in the baths.
We met up with Clement, Neil, Leon, and Leon’s friend Mark, and went for dinner at a kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place in Shinjuku, then got harassed by people on the way back to the station trying to get us to go to various strip clubs/hostess bars. One guy, Charles told us that he’d give us a special deal, since it was his birthday. He even had "proof" it was his birthday, he had a picture of his birthday cake on his phone! He must have been telling the truth!
Headed to Roppongi, with Gaspanic #1 being our first stop. I should probably mention to the people that don’t know, nightclubs aren’t really my thing. That’s probably because I’m not much of a drinker. Nightclubs sober are pretty brutal.
"There isn’t any night club in the world you can sit in for a long time unless you can at least buy some liquor and get drunk. Or unless you’re with some girl that really knocks you out." – Holden Caulfield
Gaspanic #1 was very crowded, and too many guys compared to girls. I got tired of it pretty quickly, and went to MacD’s for a break and to get some food, till the others called me to tell me they got bored of that club too. So I met with them and we decided to find a better club.
The first club we try, none other than Gaspanic #2! Which was much worse than the first one. We stayed maybe 15 minutes. So we continued exploring. Nearly every club has a guy outside (usually a black guy), trying to convince you to go into their club. Some will even follow you down the street. Japanese women will try to get you to go into the massage places too, and will chase you down the street. It’s a very weird place.
We tried sending in scouts to see if a particular club was good or not. This wasn’t an effective method, because the scouts wouldn’t come back out and we’d all have to go in and fetch them. The music in the clubs was mixed, one club had the Macarena playing, but mostly hip hop music. I heard only a few good songs the whole night, Santana and Fatboy Slim. One club in particular was quite creepy. We went down there because the guy outside offered us free shots, but all got creeped out one by one and snuck out before the guy could see us leave. Byron and Tyson stayed for the shots, which they thought were non-alcoholic, of course :P.
In the end (being 4am) we gave up looking for a good club, went to MacD’s for an hour till the trains started running, then us Kansai crew and Mark went to an internet café to get a few hours’ sleep.
So to recap, awake since Friday morning, 3 hours (bad) sleep on a night bus Friday night, and 4 hours (bad) sleep in an internet café on Saturday night, and a long but exciting day ahead of us… but an entertaining trip so far!
Gotta study now, part 2 in Tokyo 2: Kansai Invasion should be up soon.
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