This weekend, my host's family's first host student, Carl, came to visit them with two of his old Kansai Gaidai friends, Dianna and Cash. Man, I with I could have the same relationship with the kids that he has. Put simply, those three are just cool; they communicate well enough, they all have jobs with the JET program, and they're easily sociable (the trait I envy the most). They also relate with the parents better than I do. What do I need to do to be like that?
I bought the Shinkansen ticket I'll need to get back from Hiroshima next Saturday. It was really hard to find the ticket booth, though. There's a little store underneath the Hirakata-shi station that looks more like a retirement/clinic sign-up than a travel agency. I've got a reservation for 6:37 pm, so I'll get a morning and evening ride on the fastest commercial transportation vehicle in the world. They should put up one of these across the Pacific; then, getting back and forth would only take at most eight hours instead of eleven.
Yesterday I was mistaken for Jesus. This isn't anything new; in high school it was always said I was John Lennon with my glasses on and Jesus with them off. But this time it was different. A woman stopped my in the convenience store to tell me my hair looked very pretty. Then when I thanked her, she made the sign of the cross. I'm not sure I like people treating me as a god. Unless it's Tatsuki when he sees me eating apples, he calls me Ryuk and I'd be quite happy to be a shinigami.
Today was a day off nationally, while schools played it off as 'Sports' Day'. So, aside from sleeping in and working on a paper, I went to Umeda to look for an otaku store my teacher pointed me to. It is every american fan's paradise; they've got manga, anime, CDs, DVDs, video games, trading cards, novels on tape, towels, pillows, figurines, doujins, model kits, masks, and cosplay. Three whole stories of it. And all the while music from various anime is being played and I can hum/sing along to almost every song! The only reason I'm not still there is I ran out of money to spend. I got a five-piece Gurren Lagann figurine set and two Code Geass model kits, which may have been a mistake: I've got no idea how to do the paint job on the pieces. I also tried on Code Geass' Leleuch's emperor outfit from the final episode. I was able to get it on, but I couldn't zip up the back of the shirt because of my broad shoulders. Also, the sleeves were too small. That was the largest size they had, so I had to abandon my cosplay dreams as quickly as they had come (no Beelzeneuf puppet, either). The weird thing is, though, the pants were an almost perfect fit. What kind of person is that costume outfitted for!?
I am now taking orders for various Japanese goods. Simply send me a request for some type of item, and I'll reply with a list of all the things I can find in that range and their prices, with no mock-ups. Just leave a message under a blog from here on with contact info, and I'll get back to you. Be warned, though-If I receive any complaints of people getting unrelated e-mails or spam, I will terminate this service.
Observations:
Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop music has been added to almost any show that involves visiting or exploring new and exotic places. It's really frustrating, because I keep looking around at the sound of music I know only to find it's some guy in a ramen shop in Tokyo, or a documentary about a submarine crew.
I've been to Shakeys' now, and I can say it's not really impressive. Sure, it's all-you-can-eat, but the food's just average. That other pizza restaurant practically next door is way better (if the onion is left off :)
I have finally seen a real dog (as opposed to all these rat-mutts Japanese seem to adore as cute [they're not]). I was higher than my knees, pure white, and had fur that was at least a foot long covering its entire body, except the nose. Nice to know someone here appreciates a real animal.