One hectic week down and out of the way. I've almost gotten all of my script for Tuesday done, and finished the homework I have until then, so now its just a matter of more practice and smoothing out the edges.
This week went by pretty fast, but that's probably because I kept myself busy. There are only two more weeks of regular classes, and then the week of exams. The only foreseeable problem is finding a religious ceremony or service to write a report on. I tried going to a party I was invited to on Friday, where I knew there would be students from a church and I could ask to tag along, but that was a major fail. I wandered around Umeda for an hour and a half lost and only found that I hate big cities. So that's a big 'to do' right now. Luckily, I don't have to turn it in until the end of the semester, so I figure I'll look for something this week and go next weekend.
This weekend, Carl, my host family's first student, and his friend and fellow JET colleague came to visit again for Tatsuki's birthday party. This was mainly focused around the evening, since they arrived at 6:30 and left this morning at 10:30. The kids simply adore him. If only I could overcome the language barrier, I know I could be like that too. Oh, well, motivation for the future. We also celebrated (hah!) Musashi's second birthday by giving him and Kojiro their own little cakes. Shame they weren't spiked with sleeping pills, the stupid mutt barks nonstop at any visitor that so much as breathes.
Yesterday I went to visit Tenri with my Religions' class. Tenrikyo has its headquarters there, surrounding a site they consider to be the place God created human beings. All in all, a pretty peaceful religion. I wish we could have such ideals about harmony and respect practiced all around in Western religions. There aren't a whole lot of Japanese who are religious (so don't believe anthropologists when they tell you otherwise, they're working with the Western view of 'religious'), but when people do practice they truly believe. Of course, that could turn into a bad thing (Aum Shinrikyo).

Observations:
I give up trying to follow Japanese weather. It just doesn't follow any patterns that a human should be able to distinguish (which may account for the weather forecasts...). The chaos theory is probably the best rational for what the temperature is going to be tomorrow.
Although it seems kind of late, the autumn colors have finally come out. Or maybe the word 'exploded' would be more accurate. The trees are leafing all at once, but they also put out some of the most vibrant reds and oranges I have ever seen. It's like a final display before winter, going out with a bang.
Japan's mountains are HUGE.
Here's my interpretation of a commercial I saw-Is that a skirt, oh my god that's a skirt, I can't believe she's actually wearing a skirt, my life has been leading up to staring wildly at this skirt, OH GOD THE SKIRT, buy this car!!-and end. I don't think I exaggerated at all.

I am NOT a KITTY!

Yesterday was party day for the koto club. At 1:00 we all got together and went to a karaoke bar. It was my first time in such a place, so thank god there were other gaijin to explain exactly how the whole thing worked. There was a huge book filled with alphabetically-ranked, hiragana-ordered song lists (ask a friend if that didn't make sense), and after you find the code for the song you want you input it into a touch pad and it will add that song to the que. Luckily for me, there was a section for just anime songs, so I did have stuff to sing after all. We led off as a group in singing the Lucky Star opening theme, and we wrapped it up with Sakura, the song we had to sing and play for the culture festival. I can easily say I did better this time around :)
After that we went to an all-you-can-eat (tabehoudai) yakitori bar. For 1,800 yen, you get unlimited everything for two hours. Since meat is expensive in Japan, this is actually a great deal. I chowed down on enough rice, meat, and ice cream to last me one day's worth of meals, which worked out since I didn't have a proper lunch anyways. The fun part is that you have to grill everything yourself. There are stoves built into the tables, and waitresses bring you platters of raw meat. The Japanese members seemed concerned that we weren't cooking our meat all the way to well done, but when americans have control we know what we like.
Today I had my computer composition where I had to type an essay in Japanese, and then I had my third out of four tests for Speaking, which went fairly well. In koto practice, I got two new songs to play, and one of them is from Totoro! (and there was much rejoicing...)

Observations:
We went to an arcade after all the things yesterday, and I tried out the taiko game. Any culture that will use anime songs in common life things is good with me.
The Japanese, when abroad, find it hard to deal with the fact that many cultures have what they call a 'lack of respect for personal space'. This is coming from people who will touch you anywhere on the head when talking about something not serious, or pet you when you look sad. Just what are they basing the criteria for 'personal space' as?

My Hectic Culture Festival

Somehow, I managed to finish the script before Friday, so I had nothing to worry about during the cultural festival. Which during the first day, before being open to the general public, was more like a food fair. I tried fried bread crusts with honey, yakitori, potato with dango syrup, apple cinnamon crepes, fried ice cream, yakisoba, and roasted pork. The ice cream was the best; hot doughnut on the outside, cold ice cream inside. It was one of the strangest tastes I've ever had.
All yesterday and today, koto club members wore kimono while playing and serving tea to the guests who came to listen. Somehow, whether I was relegated or just gravitated to it, I wound up it charge of making the tea. Which is pretty hectic when over twenty people come in at once, you only have two tea machines, one of them is empty and the other spitting boiling water everywhere, you've run out of refill water and cups, and you can only make one cup at a time. I eventually fell back into fast-food mode, something I never wanted to do, and it all turned out fine. Except for that one guy. There's always one who gets pissed because not everything is to his liking, and I want to beat those kinds of people. In this case, because he didn't get tea (a tiny, paper cup filled with cheap tea, and not made by a cute girl), he essentially threw a "hissy fit". What a child.
The playing itself didn't go to well on the first day. Since I've never actually had (note, 'had') to sing in front of people before, never mind play an instrument at the same time, I made quite a few mistakes. But today went a lot better, probably because I got burned a few times and used up all the day's bad luck. The international students only got to play our first song, though. Even after a month and a half of practicing the second song, we weren't going to get to play because not everyone could do all of it. We were told that we would do it at the festival in spring, but that didn't seem fair to those of us who could play it now but wouldn't be here next semester. So I got us together and petitioned to play it once, at the very end of the day. The others agreed, and we got to do what we had worked hard for. And we got the biggest applause, too.
Wearing a kimono formally is pretty strange for a guy from a western background. You don't wear pants or a shirt underneath, so it's like putting on a nightdress, a robe, and an overcoat and then going out shopping. It just didn't feel normal. And the shoes hurt like hell. My feet are so sore right now I don't want to move. Of course, it was still cool. And it kept me warm, too, that was surprising. But, outside of the performance room, every Japanese person looked at me like I was deranged. Like, 'What's a foreigner doing wearing our traditional clothes?' Studying in an entirely alien culture really gives a feeling for how our minorities must have it.

On to of homework and needing to study for exams coming up in a few weeks, I now have a report to write so I can type it in class on Tuesday, a skit to write (having to match schedules with my partner) for Tuesday and then practice for for early December, write the two last papers for Anime, find time to go to a religious ceremony and write about that, prepare and perform for the cultural festival, and still attend class. And this morning that last one wasn't possible. And commuting takes time, too. This week sucks, but if I can finish four of those things by Monday night, I'll be free once again. Until the exams I need to study for. Damn.
Today, after printing out a (previous) report to hand in, I had a three minutes where I didn't have to rush like mad to something else. Since I was already on a computer, I looked up 'Cajun' on Uncyclopedia. I liked :)
The weather just took a temperature plunge again, but I'll be surprised if it lasts the week. Normally, as soon as everyone takes the hint and wears warmer clothes, it goes back to nice and sunny.

Observations:
Japan has its own version of valley girls. They end every sentence with "na", which I guess is their version of 'like' or 'such as'. And they cough like they are a stuffed animal trying to pretend it just sneezed, which does nothing to help when you need to cough. I found they are just as satisfying to be annoyed at as our own variety.
If you ever have a conversation with a Japanese in his own country, you will always be asked "What Japanese food do you like?" I don't know what the big deal is, though. Although it looks like there are endless varieties under the sun, it's actually like american food. Pretty limited range. What exactly am I being asked to choose from? It's like someone from an Italian restaurant asking "Which single ingredient in this establishment does Sir enjoy the most?"
Tabi are socks. Tabi are bought by themselves. Tabi cost about $30.

Sorry I haven't posted all week. So, to recap, I'll have to start with Tuesday. There's this one guy in my Reading class that I just can't stand. Every class he has to use Level 4 or higher skills to have a conversation with the teacher whenever she says anything that could be the topic of one. If he's so good, he should go to the next level class and stop wasting time for the rest of us.
Due to weird circumstances, this week was only my third time getting to practice koto with the teacher. And it went too slow. I've almost memorized the whole second song, which was really difficult to start out, and can go at least 2.5 times as fast as we were playing then. Because it was so slow, I actually made my first mistake in front of her, which, although one note, required three minutes of correcting. So I asked her if next time we can play at a speed me and the other two good internationals can properly do (they also thought it was way too slow).
Wednesday was another of those national holidays (all together, they probably add up to fall break...). So I slept in, finished my homework for Friday, and then went to go buy some CD's from Mandarage, along with more Gurren Lagann goodness. I got one with collection each of Bleach and Code Geass, which has the best storyline ending I've ever seen. When I got back home, however, I realized-my computer doesn't have a CD drive! So I'm stuck for another month with nothing but to stare at the boxes, longingly :(
Thursday I rediscovered Uncyclopedia. This could or could not be a good thing. I'll let you look it up yourself.
Friday was decent in both language classes, which is rare; I had a test in Reading, so no sucking up comments from wonder-boy, and I read ahead for Speaking, so I understood even when the Teacher Assistant started teaching something we weren't scheduled for yet. In Anime we watched Ghost in the Shell: Innocence; I swear, Mamoru Oshii just does not understand Masamune's work. He made the entire movie a research project on the human psyche and completely ignored the social issues of cyborg-ization.
Yesterday was the beginning of my re-education. My Japanese sucks, is terrible, and I can't retain much after one lesson from the way my teachers here go about things. So I'm doing an intensive studying, right from the very beginning. Right now, I'm copying out all of the Kanji lists in the Genki textbooks, word by work and stroke by stroke. Next I'll do all the vocabulary from every chapter, even what isn't in the lists. And then I'm going to do every single exercise while drilling daily in every kanji and vocab. until I can remember it all. So far, I've covered 101 kanji out of 300-something, it takes so long to do just ten.
Today was my attempt at writing a paper about metamorphosis in the movie Millennium Actress. That is probably the one aspect of animation that is hardest for me to grasp. I'll smooth it out tomorrow.
Musashi has a shock collar now. For anyone who had a twinge of sympathy just now, let me tell you this: I would never authorize such a thing for use on any animal, but it's obvious you've never met this monstrosity. If I ever get all encompassing power (working on it, I promise!), I will wipe Chihuahua mixes out of existence...then spiders. But devil-rats come first. The song can stay, though.

Observations:
There must be something going on in Hirakata city right now, because the stations and malls are filling up with punks (Japan's equivalent of our ever-present jocks, except a fashion statement for the youth) and yakuza. I can tell that they're yakuza because of the way they act. This is probably the only time a stereotype will perfectly fit every single person in a said group. If you've seen any movie with yakuza in it, well, that really is how every single one of them act's. Sorry if this might offend anyone who knows some, but these people (not the punks) are scum, and I will never retract that opinion of them. These are the types of people who would endorse Hitler nowadays, and they should all be locked up for the rest of their lives.
If you never see me again, you'll know why.

So, Sunday. Could have used some better communication. I waited on the platform of Hirakashi station from 9, the time I thought was the meeting, till 10:12, when I got pissed and just left on my own. The meeting was actually at 10, and in front of the station. So while everyone else managed to be guided to the shop, I had to find one on my own. Today, however, that turned out to be a good thing. While they all went to a second-hand shop (which really doesn't diminish a kimono's beauty at all), I found a tiny store selling new kimonos. It cost just 50 yen short of 20,000 ($200), but it is formal and the Japanese equivalent of an every-day-man's suit, and can be worn at formal Japanese functions. I've got the whole works; undershirt kimono, outer kimono, overshirt jacket, and obi (belt). Sadly, no traditional tabi or geta (socks and sandals) in Japan are made in my size. The downside is, the secondhand shop seems to have pretty kimonos, while mine is a little bland (like an every-day-man suit). So Wednesday, which is another national holiday, I'm thinking of going back to spend some birthday money on a piece I can wear around the house all the time, like Fruit's Basket's Shigure.
I memorized the script I made for my presentation, but that all went out the window when I got up in front of the class. Hopefully it won't impact my grade too severely, I still managed to do okay. I should spend more time speaking in front of groups, or at least pretending to.
Here's a link that should brighten up anyone's day. God, I miss cats-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvo-g_JvURI&feature=related

Observations:
Proof that Japanese animators are crazy and unbalanced lies with this Psyduck-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xhZa4252TE

Whatever happened, the cold isn't here anymore. It stayed freezing for two days and then shot up to the mid-60's. So all of my winter fantasies were quickly dashed. On the plus side, it means I don't have to go shopping for gloves. I can never find any I'm comfortable wearing, anyway.
Yesterday was my 21 birthday, and I must be one of the few Americans in recent history to not celebrate by drinking alcohol. I'm just not into that. What I did do was stuff myself with as much food as I pleased (pizza, pasta, ice cream, and bread), and then bought Pokemon Heart Gold. Video games were the initial reason I began to study Japanese anyway, and since I'm so used to Pokemon it should be a good chance to study. Also, I wanted it :) I didn't have time, but later I'm going to Mandarage to get some more anime goodness. Not feeling like an adult at all, probably because I've never thought of myself as anything but 'me', and with luck it will stay that way. I have no interest in slipping into the grown-up 'that's-the-way-life-is' mentality. It seems boring. My last post was how I respond to boredom.
Today I had absolutely no free time because I had to go take pictures all over Kyoto (from 10 to 5) and then reteach myself powerpoint and make my slides for the presentation. Tomorrow I'm going back early with some koto members to buy a full kimono for the culture festival, then coming right back and writing the script. Monday I have to do all of my computer work for class, and for next Wednesday write a Carp-like paper for Anime. Oh, yeah, and I need to finish making a class schedule for next semester from a full ocean and continent away. Busy, busy.
I did great on my Writing and Religion midterms. This didn't make my day, though, because I got my Speaking score at the same time. An 82 (77 before grade curve) is a passing grade, but I can't accept falling to such a pathetic level. Teachers here really take off for every little mistake, nitpicking their way through tests. After I get this next hectic week out of the way, I'm going to have to study whenever I can.
Sorry, Zack; I went back, but it was only a 1940's art shop drawing in customers by waving the Union Jack outside. Guess it's not just the English language that's used as a marketing gimmick.

Observations:
Kyoto will, at all times, have at least one school tour group in every town. And each one will be comprised mostly of girls.
Japan is, undoubtedly, a dog country. There are however, very few actual dogs. There are a lot of fakes, i.e. rats, instead. Cats are almost non-existent.
It was hot, so I wrapped my jacket around my waist so I wouldn't have to wear it. Everyone looked at me like I was insane, which is a much different look from 'strange gaijin'.
Cat-girls exist. Or used to. A koto member's host mother, who is 65 years old for goodness sake, ends almost every one of her sentences with "nya". If she was young, I could understand it, but someone two generations removed trying to act like a twenty-year-old Japanese otaku's dream girl is wrong.

A Little Guide...

I was bored, so I typed up this little guide. Leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

What to do in the event of an emergency
Step 1: If the emergency in any way involves food, opossums or a pair of rubber leggings, than skip straight to step 9.
Step 2: Depending on the severity of the situation, there are several different things that are commonly attempted in order to solve it; for instance, discovering the root of the problem, getting revenge, trying to back-trace the signal, panicking, etc. These are all wrong. In any emergency, the first thing that must be done is counting up to mox. Without the clear and Buddha-like mind that arises from counting to mox, there is little hope for any resolution, and one's death can quickly be expected in a matter of micro-seconds.
Step 3: Having counted to mox once, do it again. For insurance. Now.
Step 4: Eliminate all who stand in the way of yourself and a hasty exit. This typically includes all close friends and family, a neighbor's cat, twelve-dollar bills, any member of the clergy wearing shoes, and Dan Aykroyd. Do not be afraid of having to travel long distances to accomplish this. After all, when was the last time someone survived an earthquake without killing Dan Aykroyd?
Step 5: Picture in your mind what it is you wish to accomplish. Keep the image still in your mind, and release all of your worries and hesitation. Pay no attention to the man behind you taking your wallet; he is just a side effect of the first stage of enlightenment. Besides, he needs it more than you do. Warning!! This step will be absolutely inefficient against volcanic eruptions. In the unlikely event that you are caught in such a disaster, try giving the man your car keys. Tip your hat as well. A little politeness goes a long way.
Step 6: Run.
Step 7: Faster!!
Step 8: Too late. An opossum in drag has just shoved some kind of goulash down your throat. Getting sleeeepyyyyyyyy...
Step 9: You wake up in a dark room covered in moss and cobwebs. The stench of decay emanates from the walls, and water slowly trickles down from the ceiling in a maddening drip-drip sort of way. From deeper in the darkness you hear someone attacking with Magic Missile. You want to die, but don't worry; this is just another hallucination. Also, here's your wallet back.
Step 10: Now that the basics have been covered, we can move on to the next important part-what action does your specific emergency call for? Just as there are innumerable numbers of emergencies, there are innumerable ways of solving them. The problem that arises is that not every solution goes well with every emergency. Knocking over the paint will hardly help load that cannon faster. Unless it's magic paint. But the author of this guide didn't get where he is today by relying on magic paint! No, he did it through his own hard effort! He didn't bother with stupid guides like this! Figure something out for yourself!
Step 11: Forget your idea. It wasn't very good, anyway. Try magic paint.
Step 12: Now that you have failed to even acquire magic paint, could you please start listening to what I have to say, hmm? If you keep branching out on your own, there's really no point in continuing this, is there? Anyway, let's just say the emergency is that your house is on fire. That's always what it is. And if it isn't, everything causes fire eventually. Earthquakes, meteor impacts, hurricanes, everything. Except for opossums. For that, go back to step 6, rinse and repeat. That way, the opossum won't be on fire. Unlike your house. The trick now is moving the fire off of your house and onto your neighbor's house. This may seem like a much too vigorous martial art practice to attempt all at once, but be at ease. It is actually quite simple and you will always know when you have succeeded.
And there you have it! Problem solved! But what's this? The police have arrived and are trying to arrest you for your bravery. Show them your sincerity by giving them some of your fire. Everyone loves fire.

In memory of the opossum, who had it coming.

Cold and Loving It

Now that Halloween is over, the temperature went from pleasant mid-60's to lower 40's and 30's; and that's during the daytime :) Even though the weather reports claim that it's in the mid-50's, I've got a sweater and jacket that say otherwise. The real reason families claim to be so close is because they have to all stay under the kotatsu, because there's no central heating. Right now, it's kinda hard to type 'cause my fingers are a little numb. It's wonderful (now if only I had some more blankets...Robbin?).
Today was a National Holiday, so the school was closed. And I mean that literally. A wall runs around the whole campus, and all the gates were shut tight. Since I couldn't get lunch there, I decided to get some while taking more photos for my project. At Kyobashi, there's a two-story plaza next to the subway that has a bunch of restaurants I've been wanting to try out. I went into one that seemed to be a grill-type place and had grilled steak (YAY!!), chilled tofu (after the first three bites, bleagh), miso soup, and rice. And it was steak cooked western style. Oh, man, how I've missed that. And to top it all off, the new FMA Brotherhood ending song started playing!
Right now my host family is in a kind of depression, which I completely understand, and just haven't been in any mood to cook. They go out to eat (I'm staying behind so as not to intrude on their grief), which has left me to fend for myself the past few days. Convenience store food isn't that bad, but I wouldn't want to live off it for a long period of time. I've been trying out the onigiri (rice balls), which GOD ONLY KNOWS WHY have to always have carrot hidden somewhere. I haven't managed to find any more breast/condom ice cream, though. I want to take a picture of that. The Western World needs proof.
Observations:
The Japanese can be just as sick as Americans when it comes to infomercial ideas. I saw an ad for a smoothie mix that is made out of cabbage, some random fruit, bell pepper, and peas. Even V8 looks good after that.
In Yodoyabashi, there is a shop dedicated to England. I was pressed for time and couldn't stop, but I plan to go back. I've heard England has a higher status than America over here, it'd be cool to actually see what they think.

Right now I've got a project for Speaking where I have to act as a reporter and report some issue relevant to international students. So I decided, since I want to sight-see anyway, to do a presentation on all the stops on the Keihan line's limited express train (this has the least amount out of all the trains, 12 in total from the middle of Osaka to the far edge of Kyoto). It's going to be like a sightseer's guide. I got most of Osaka out of the way yesterday, ending with Osaka castle, built by the Tokugawa clan before they took over the shogunate. As far as castles go, it was actually pretty small land-wise, but you can clearly see it even from the skyscrapers. And the wall is made of big stones. BIG stones. Stones that easily beat my house in size. I don't know what the British are so hyped up about, Stonehenge has nothing on this place!
Today I couldn't go and take pictures because of rain. I had the house to myself because the grandfather's funeral was today, but I wound up going out anyway. I think the reason I sometimes get murderous rages is because I'm sitting still too long, so I'm going to try to keep myself in some sort of motion (whether physical or emotional). On the note of rain, I hate my umbrella. It's small, it's convenient for short walks, and it doesn't keep my legs dry at all. So I bought a real umbrella, which cost a real 3,000 yen. The prices can manage to stay that high because the only other option is a little tiny one. I've said this before, but Japan really knows how capitalism works.