Kitsune Udon

38 hours without sleep hurts

2009-12-30T10:32:00.002-05:00

No abroad trip is complete without getting home. So now that I've had time to recover, I'll talk about why it is a bad idea to travel around Christmas.
Monday morning, my host family left for school and work, and I took care of my last chores. I mailed my boxes (which cost $140 for non-express, one-month shipping), cleaned my room, double-checked everything, put the key in the mailbox and took off (bye, demon doggies!). When you carry luggage onto a bus, people look at you funny. But they also look at you as a tourist who's going home, so it wasn't so bad. I took a train to Kyobashi, changed to Tennoji, and then switched to Kansai Airport, arriving at about 1:00, with five hours to spare, plenty of time to check in and get food.
That was the easy part. From there things got worse. Much worse.
I waited until 3:00, which was the check-in time, and got my tickets, but was told that due to a bird strike warning, the plane was being delayed till 10:30. This meant I was going to miss my connecting flight in San Fransisco, so I had to be re-routed through Phoenix. So I waited. Then they told us that it wasn't a warning, that the bird strike had already happened, the plane was too damaged to fly, and the flight was canceled. While the airline made other arrangements, they put up all of us in a five-star hotel. Not bad. It's probably the only one I'll ever stay in in my life. And it let me get some sleep. But now I was waiting for a trip that I didn't know when would occur. All I could do was wait. And that leads to stress.
Luckily, I got a new flight the next night at 10:30, during which I managed to get no sleep. Then I had to layover in San Fransisco for 12 hours, staying awake the whole time to make sure no one stole my bags. I flew to Chicago (first class, which was nice) waited two hours for the next flight while having to listen to CNN (I hate this country's news system, it has nothing relevant to say unless it can bash politicians), then flew to Charlotte (first class again).
I have never skipped sleep. Even if I stay up all night, I go right to sleep afterwards. I've never pulled an all-nighter to study, because having the energy to take exams is better than knowing everything and being dead. Having been awake for 34 hours, I was feeling sick. So sick that I couldn't sleep in the car on the way home, because I probably would have thrown up. Then I passed through that weird state where you're so tired you don't feel it. I had lunch, jumped in bed, and crashed. Which, I believe, is an accurate term.
It's been one week since then. My biorhythm is mostly adapted back to Eastern time, but still has a few quirks to work out. My packages, which cost oh-so-much, won't be here until mid- to late-January. And I go back to school in a little over a week. But it's good to be back, and be where the chips are.
Om nom nom.

The Homestretch

2009-12-20T05:39:00.002-05:00

Well, this is it. It's been a long 4 months of hard schoolwork and evil spellcheck, but tomorrow is the last day (spellcheck actually says that 'spellcheck' isn't a word, but refuses to acknowledge that when you go to correct it). I just cooked Zuppa Toscana for my host family again (this time remembering the milk), and Momo devoured four bowls and Tatsuki three. Hideo just left for work, so I've said my goodbyes to him. Now I just have to clean my room, pack my spare clothes for tomorrow, and mail off my last boxes. Then it's off to the airport, and home. And if the current snowfall, which is even being reported here, is any indication, I might be moving from a house with no central heating to a house without power for central heating. But at least my bed has more blankets.
I didn't get to go to Nara after all, because I needed to get the last of the souvenirs and pack. So no deer for me. Maybe next time. I spent all of today lounging in front of the stove/heater playing Pokemon. Whenever a commercial for the 7th season 24 dvd set came on, I turned around before the second beep had time to sound, which got me some weird looks, but I can't not turn around when I hear that. I should be all rested up now for tomorrow. I'll need it too, for a 30+ hour day. And flying East is harder than West, so I might be dead tired by the time I get into Charlotte. On the plus side, at least I'm not in the 1500's, on a ship. Then I really would be dead before I got to Charlotte (not to mention dead already :)
In the time it took to type this, the kids devoured even more of the soup. I'm glad I could give them a good meal before I left.

2009-12-18T09:31:00.002-05:00

These last few days, I have taken more pictures than in my entire life. My camera is tired, my feet are dead, and my hands are cold. Yet it's really fun to walk all around Hirakata now that I don't have any schoolwork to worry about. All I have left are some last souvenirs and then packing. I can't wait for this weekend to be over.
Yesterday was the koto club's last party of the semester. Since the student from Turkey is vegetarian, we went to a different restaurant than the all-you-can-eat meat grill. It turned out to be one of the worst restaurants I've ever been in. There were only two staff, and they brought out three big plates of food for eleven of us, one course at a time. But the timing between courses went from 30-45 minutes. It wasn't even particularly special, certainly not worth waiting for. That's why I am so happy that karaoke bars have food. We sang and ate for four hours (or I did, at any rate), form 11:30 pm to 3:30 am. One of the senpai's boyfriend came, and he knew the anime songs that I'm fond of so we sang lots of duets (Code Geass ftw :) But, since the trains stop running at midnight, I had to walk three stations down to get back home. I finally flopped down on my bed at exactly 5:00, and passed out, only to get up at 11:00 and run around some more. What I wouldn't give for a body that can handle coffee.

Observations:
I have only seen two cases of dyed hair in my time here. Both were old ladies, one with vivid purple and the other with dark pink, neither with much hair to begin with, and both looking like they were homeless wrecks. I initially thought that students were all dying their hair, but dark orange is actually a very common hair color in the Kansai region.
In order to recycle your bike, you first have to go and cancel your registration with the shop you bought it from. That's like having to go inform your car dealer from 10 years ago for permission to scrap your car because it died on you. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
Mailing stuff overseas is really, really expensive.
Apparently, there is no such thing here as a no smoking section. People will light up right next to me regardless of where we are without a second thought. I feel like a certain Python chef...

2009-12-15T09:46:00.002-05:00

It's over, it's done, I've gotten all of my schoolwork out of the way. All that's left is turning in my last Anime report (which was a waste of time, school board), and I can concentrate on Christmas shopping and souvenirs. And then try and ship them all back home in time for Christmas (I am learning how to send postcards, mail, and packages all for the first time in a country that doesn't speak english, woo hoo!). Which means I should try and get the presents shipped of by tomorrow if I want to get them in a week. Who knows, though, they might beat me home. I also want to try to go to Nara before I leave, and see the herds of deer that practically own the city.
Yesterday, I got the second blister in my life, which was the first blood blister in my life. This has taught me that if one ever forgets to bring tsume, it is a very, very bad idea to try practicing the koto anyways, even for ten minutes. Since the blood that accumalates becomes a toxin, I cut away the skin and drained it, the result being a wound that looks like it will never heal even though it probably will. I never fully appreciated how thick the outer layer of skin is. Trying to write for my final, let alone use chopsticks, is pretty difficult when you can't use the tip of your thumb. Who knew?
I can't believe I've only had two boxes of pocky over here. For shame.

2009-12-11T01:09:00.002-05:00

I just got done with the hectic part of my day. First I had to write a composition for Reading, which we weren't told the topic of until it started. It turned out to be fairly easy though. Then, I had my 'job interview' for Speaking, which was apparently because everyone in the class really want's to work for Seattle's Best Coffee. I couldn't concentrate beforehand, and started daydreaming about being in a martial arts tournament (I have no control over what I daydream). That actually got me pumped up, and I went in there with a 'beat my teacher into submission' mode. Which I didn't actually do, but I was in good form the whole way through, even though I made mistakes. I guess that's my best way of doing these things.
After that I went to Shinsaibashi for lunch, because I craved cheese (I checked, there is absolutely no cheese in normal grocery stores), and pizza delivers. After that, I headed up to Umeda to do some quick Christmas shopping, and now I'm back at campus with an hour before my very last class. After this, it's just two finals and a paper for Anime (which has a really stupid topic, but was forced on us by the school board).
Wednesday's exam went pretty good. I had to read a random passage from out out of our textbook readings. I'm just glad it wasn't from Ch. 16, that Doreamon passage is hard. Yesterday I finished the Religion exam in 15 minutes, took 20 to turn in my bank card and cancel my account, and then found my test in my mailbox graded and with my grade for the class. I got an A, no surprise there, I had absolutely no worries about that class.

Observations:
My host family finaly broke down and splurged for a heater, which takes up a good chunk of space in the living room. And in Japan, cold air rises, warm air sinks. The downstairs stays nice and toasty, while the upstairs, with my room included, feels absolutely no effect.
On the subway, I saw an add for a smoke detector, something Japan severely lacks. But it was called iRobot. Big Mistake

2009-12-08T09:25:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is part 1 of 3 for my Reading final. Although I say that, it only counts for 10%. I really wish it was more, because this is going to be the easiest part. Friday's not looking to friendly from this side of it, but at least I only have three classes between now and then, one of which is my Religion final. That, I am not worried about at all.
With barely under two weeks to go, my homestay situation is at an all-time low. We hit off decently, but since they have stuff to do on the weekdays and had stuff to do on the weekends, they suggested I make friends and hang out with them while having a normal college life. One, all the social groups were established before the plane landed. The only socializing I get is in koto club and language classroom dialogues (and internet). Two, I don't even know what normal is, much less how to act like 'everyone else'. So I kept a respectful distance when they were busy, which somehow became interpreted as "I don't want to interact". Then I missed my chance to rectify that in early October. So for the past two months not a day has past where I haven't had to worry about how I act, lest I do something to upset my host mother and get kicked out or shut off entirely (which would really suck now, with exams and the return flight coming up). I know it's not all my host family's fault, but it's not entirely my own either. I wish there was some way to rectify things now, but I'd honestly be happy just with pacifying any hostilities. I hope they're counting the days too. At least that should take their minds off our relations. In short-Homestays are for they outgoing, not the silent types. Orientation really should have included that. I think I'd have given my spot to someone else.
On the plus side, I have gotten to see daily family interactions and how a nuclear family operates here. If I can just make it back home without any bombs going off, that should make it worthwhile.

Observations:
Right now, the biggest idol in Japan is animated. This does not mean she is from an Anime. It's actually a sprite from a music game that shows you your choices. Somehow, the character made it big and is now on everything from notebooks to cosplay to sleeping pillows. Coming in at a close second is Axis Powers Hetalia.
If you want to find something, get lost and then give up. Then try to get back to the start, and you'll get lost and find what you were looking for. Especially if you're carrying something heavy and are tired by the time you get there.

2009-12-06T09:38:00.003-05:00

Wow, this has turned into and every other other day kinda post, huh?
Thursday saw the advancement of hell into my now seemingly hell-free life. Yeah, like no one saw that coming. Monday I have a Speaking test and koto, Tuesday I have part of Speaking's final exam oral and koto, Wednesday I have part Reading's final exam oral, Thursday I have to study like crazy, and Friday I've got the second part for Speaking's oral and Reanding's writing composition final. Then the next Monday I have my final Reading final and a koto concert, and Tuesday is my final Speaking final. Oh, and I still have to do Christmas shopping, mail stuff back home, sell my bike back to the shop, drop by the immigration office, make sure a copy of my transcript gets sent back to App, finish up my study abroad paperwork, close my bank account, and finish getting souvenirs. No pressure, right?
Friday was my last kanji test (spell check, I know you're trying to help, but kanji is a real word), and then an easy afternoon. To bad I couldn't bring any textbooks that would let me study something!
This weekend went by really fast, mainly because I tried to get as much work as possible while not really wanting to do any. My Anime paper is finished though. Well, mostly. I'm in no mood to think up an opening and closing right now, but it's not due till Wednesday. At least the final paper for that class can wait until I'm done with everything else.
Only nine days of madness left, and fourteen more until I'm home.

Observations:
The Japanese are French. The other day I saw an interesting sandwich made out of a hot dog bun and croquettes with lettuce, ketchup and cheese. I thought it would be interesting (and I wanted cheese) so I tried it. The croquettes were fish. Fish, cheese and ketchup. And you know what was hidden oh so carefully underneath the lettuce? Butter. Why?

2009-12-02T09:39:00.002-05:00

After yesterday and today, my life got a whole lot simpler. Firstly, my Religion's teacher told me that no one has written about religious symbolism in manga, and that she's heard of an interesting title called 'Inuyasha'. Score. I cranked out four pages of that in no time at all. Seeing as how that really takes the place of any sort of final for that class, one exam down :) (on a related note, Inuyasha: Final Act has been airing for a while now, in both Japan and the U.S. at the same time)
Today was my skit presentation. For my partner and I's roles, we were office workers, so we both wore our suits to school. And besides my hair and backpack-being-carried-by-someone-in-a-suit, I actually got less looks from people than usual. Until I got on campus, that is. My partner actually bought her's here, and a pretty good one, from a secondhand shop for five bucks. Wow. Our performance went very well, we got a lot of laughs from the class (which we were going for, I swear!), and everyone was pretty impressed, so I'd say we did good.
Today I reacquainted myself with a little obsession of mine called Sudoku. Next thing I know, a few hours have passed and I'm ten puzzles in. I have got to buy another book for the plane ride home (only twenty more days, and then CHIPS, OM NOM NOM!!).

Observations:
One of my classmates in Anime, upon finding the chance, opened up into a rant about capitalism (he's from latin america). I know Consumerism isn't really the same thing, but it seemed he was attacking all the U.S. students in the room, which for some reason ticked me off. Probably because I hate any kind of label put on me. It's startling, though, to meet someone attacking your country using just one word. Kinda stupid, too.
As soon as it's time to christmas shop, one's schedule will be filled directly proportional to the number of gifts that need buying.

2009-11-29T07:52:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-11-24T09:33:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-22T08:55:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-11-18T09:22:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-11-15T09:11:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-11-09T09:06:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-07T09:20:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-11-05T05:24:00.005-05:00

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

2009-11-03T08:06:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-11-01T09:01:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-10-30T09:55:00.001-04:00

Early this morning, Hideo-san's father passed away. If you can, please take a moment of silence.

2009-10-28T09:54:00.002-04:00

The writing test wasn't as difficult as I thought, but then I studied for about five hours for this thing. What it was was long; about six pages worth of stuff to translate, fill in, and answer, and all in 50 minutes. Luckily, and I hate to say this, because I couldn't answer three questions I was able to finish on time. No one, and I mean no one, who took it knew what the stupid word for 'to place an order' was(it's chuumonsuru).
The koto teacher instructed us on how to play the difficult new song the internationals were given, but only the first page. Not only have I gotten through all five pages, however, but I can do it at least three times faster than she has us go. I may be awesome, or completely insensitive to Japanese music tradition. Either way, I'm good to go for the festival in three weeks.
Today was not a good day. That had nothing to do with anything at all, and was not due in any part to an outside stimulus. It was just one of the days where I want to kill everyone I see(sadly, this is not an expression or exaggeration). Good thing it calmed down before I got home huh? What did lighten my mood was learning about France and Scientology. If you haven't heard, just go to wikipedia's first page and get ready to shout hurray.

2009-10-26T10:23:00.002-04:00

So, today I had my Reading/Writing paper midterm, and I definitely made up for any points I missed with the interview. Tomorrow I have the Speaking paper midterm, where I am expecting the very opposite to happen. What could be worse? Well, it could be raining harder. When it rains here, the barely flowing rivers (all of which have concrete embankments) rise at least two feet. I would have hated to live here centuries ago in the rainy season.
When it's not raining, the weather tends to stay at an oh-so-disgusting 70 or so. Where's the fall weather!? This is not what I expect from October in the Northern Hemisphere. Although, maybe Japan also falls under the influence of the Halloween phenomenon; on that night, it's always warm enough, and if it rains it holds off until later in the night. I can't be the only one whose noticed this, can I?
Today I tried to get vending machine ramen, but it just ate my money. So I paid again and got 1 cup. The next guy got 2. He looked confused, and left the extra there, but later must have changed his mind and came back to get it. I took it and put it away before he got back, though. I didn't feel like trying to overcome a language barrier just to explain why it was mine by rights.
Spell check says that 'ramen' isn't a word. Whoever typed up this word bank has got to have been the lamest college student ever.

Barbie is a Boddhisatva; Buddha uses the Giga Drill Breaker?!

2009-10-24T08:42:00.002-04:00

Well, the first part of my exams are over and done with. I was really nervous and could have done better in reading/writing, but could have done worse in speaking. Afterwards, I beat the game Golden Sun: The Lost Age, something I've been trying to do for years. All in all, not a bad day.
Today I went to see a movie called The Rebirth of Buddha, because I was able to get a free ticket. It was put out by the Happy Science religious organization, which is like Japan's very own Scientology. I didn't go for the message (since I couldn't understand the dialog anyway), I went to see what kinds of animation techniques they would use for propaganda. Happy Science has their own political party, and in the last election they actually ran a candidate for every possible seat. They didn't win a single one though, so this movie came out at a good time for them, now it can chase away all the rest of their support. But it wasn't nearly as good as Scientology's cartoon (the South Park episode :)
The leader of this new religion thinks he's Buddha, and in the movie he is Buddha. He uses spiritual powers to open the hearts of the people in order to battle evil spirits from hell, aliens, and a rival religious organization controlling them all (which is very obviously Sokka Gakkai). When he defeats the final boss, he jumps onto (combines) with a magical elephant he summoned and pierces the evil adversary with light from his arm (see, it's the Giga Drill Breaker!). Then dozens of naked barbies descend from heaven and turn his power into a giant bodhi tree.
Put lightly, the movie sucked. But it did open my eyes to one thing-the Japanese have a religion that can combat the evil forces of Zenu! Maybe they can wipe each other out...

Observations:
One of the bats likes me. Maybe I should reclaim my childhood title as King of the Bats...
Here's a list of everything I've eaten on campus so far: rice, curry, curry with pork, udon, curry udon, zaru udon, shio ramen, tamagoyaki, karage-don, miso soup, pineapple, grapefruit, chips, chocolate, melon pan, choco-melon pan, chocolate/milk-roll, churros, doughnuts,cream tarts, cup ramen, ice cream, and McDonalds. The list of what I eat at my home-stay is way longer.

2009-10-22T10:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was very decent, for a change; I didn't get aggravated in Japanese class once. For lunch, I had what will probably go on my Top 10 Strange Food Combinations list-curry udon. It is exactly like it sounds, noodles in broth with curry sauce poured in. For a country of spice wimps, it was amazing. It was hot, hotter even than cajun sausage sandwiches, and easily the messiest thing I have ever tried to eat with chopsticks (even the Japanese acknowledge how messy it is). In Anime class we watched Millennium Actress, which has amazing visuals. Every scene is set up to be able to transition into a completely different scene without disrupting flow. And in Sign Language, I got to play telephone. It's not easy when the person before you doesn't understand half of what's being signed, and then you have to make something out of whatever.
Today I slept late. Since there was no class for me in the morning, I didn't have to get up on time. But others did, because half my classmates had the first part of their mid-term exam today. I have two tomorrow, so today was study-like-crazy time. I have to be able to read a randomly selected passage (not hard), and hold a full-keigo conversation with my Kansai-ben, mile-a-minute-speaking teacher (very hard). And then on Monday and Tuesday I've got the written exams. I need more sleep -_-

Observations:
Japan might not be the land for me if my teacher isn't acting stereotypical in his skits. In every boss/worker skit, a worker is supposed to roll over to anything the boss says, even if it is totally unreasonable and too troublesome for the worker (like helping his boss move, driving him to the station because he's tired to drive himself, obey his every whim, etc.). Even though it's just pretend, I have to hold myself back from lashing out-physically. I've got pride, and I just can and will not bend over backwards like that. Respect for superiors has its limits.
Real dogs come out at night. Neighborhood cats hide all the time. And turtles live in public ponds. If I see the herons wearing top hats, I'll just skip the next few steps and commit myself.
I heard this a while ago: "I've got to study for a test." "A test in one of your classes?" No, stupid, to get his pilot's licence. Heeeere's your sign.

2009-10-19T21:06:00.003-04:00

Sunday was the best day I've had over here. The local elementary school was having its fall Sports' Day, and I went with another family and their host student, Sora (lucky him, Sky translates directly into Japanese). So I got to see a traditional school festival that all schools in Japan have, which fits into my interests. I participated in one event, which was trying to toss bean bags into a tiny 12-foot-high basket. My hand-eye coordination sucks, so I couldn't get a single one in. Most of the events were some form of relay. I guess in order to have over twenty wide participation events there's no choice but to put running in most of them. There were four overall teams, separated by which area families lived in in relation to the school. There were some government officials that came and gave speeches at the opening and closing ceremonies, but I was glad to see that they were paid almost no attention :) Just because politics are more prominent here doesn't mean that people have to care about it.
After the morning events we got some bentos and left instead of waiting for the afternoon ones. This family like to drive, and we went up into the mountains (real mountains this time) north of Kyoto to Biwako, or Lake Biwa. I had heard of this lake outside of anime references because it's famous as the largest lake in Japan. From the shore, though, it looked pretty tiny. That was because a bridge in the distance was cleverly disguised to appear as the other bank. It is actually gigantic, I've only seen lake Pontchartrain as bigger. There was a large mountain to the west that looked like a nice two hour hike, but I knew we couldn't do that (this couple is elderly).
We did however, get to drive up it. And it was not, like thought, a simple mountain. It was none other than Hiei-zan, the legendary mountain of the origins of Japanese Buddhism. And it had only looked average because of the distance I was from it. This thing was huge! Even with the elevation differences, I bet it easily beats the height on the Appalachian mountains. The whole thing was like a bunch of mountains had gotten together and just piled on top of one another, because it extended farther than Asheville's city limits (which are deceptively large). The sides were lush with forest and as steep as the Pyrenees, and they just kept going up and up. At the first outlook I looked north and saw the second peak easily towering over the one I was on, and I was only 1/4 the way up then. In looked like a scene out of a Miyazaki film.
In case you haven't guessed, I love mountains.
Yesterday was a slap back to earth. With two tests and midterms coming up, there's just no way I'm going to be able to go to that festival on Thursday. I did all of my Japanese homework yesterday, just to be able to have enough time to study everything for Friday. This put me in a bad mood, which only compounded when my new tsume carved ridges into my fingers. And I really want to kill one of the dogs. I mean really kill. I've always held that animals are just as intelligent as humans, but now I've revised that to some animals. That little rat-thing is the very epitome of everything negative about canines, and it's not housetrained despite being with this family for over three years. Everytime it barks I want to kick it across the street.
I've got two months of this left, and I just can't see how it's all going to be filled up. We've only got two more chapters in the Genki book, and those will be gone in 2-3 weeks. What after that? Intensive review? We could sure use it.

Observations:
Everywhere I look, someone has a t-shirt with engrish on it. According to one: Garden Mosters-die by their own swordi dig their shoes they are like a child
What is it with bats and my hair? There's a colony living near me, and this isn't the first time I've had run-ins with one.
Apparently, it's just the middle-of-nowhere towns and big cities that are ugly. Once you get up by mountains, the small towns are really beautiful (I guess the same could be said of our cities).

2009-10-17T09:52:00.002-04:00

This coming week is going to be fun. Monday is a two-chapter Kanji test. Monday and Tuesday evenings are Koto, while Wednesday is sign language. Thursday I want to go see an all-night matsuri that is supposed to be one of the most authentic in Japan, but Friday morning I have parts of midterms for both Japanese classes. Whoop-de-f---ing-doo.
Today I went to Hiroshima, waking up at six just to make it to the meeting place on time. And I have a new opinion of Shinkansens now: just because they can go super fast, doesn't mean that they will. The ones I rode couldn't have been doing over 100mph. But they are really convenient; if I hadn't gotten off at Shin-Osaka coming back, I could have ridden all the way to Tokyo on the same line.
I hope this doesn't spoil anything for anyone, but Japanese cities could hardly be said to be beautiful. They look grey, cold, and dirty most of the time, and the only actual nice places to be are either historic sites or temples/shrines. Even downtown Kyoto truly looks like this. That said, Hiroshima Peace Park is probably the prettiest place I have seen thus far, even better than Kiyomizu-dera. It feels like being in the middle of the Audubon Zoo, the trees are tall and twisty, and the ground alternates between dirt and grass in a nice way. The things on the ground were a let-down, though. Everything was ridiculously spaced apart, it made all the memorials seem diminished in importance.
You might have seen the before/after areal pictures of when there were buildings and then there were none. Those images do not do it justice. This year was the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Peace Park as well as the submission of a photo collection by a famous Japanese photographer from Hiroshima who documented the aftermath and the city's reconstruction. So his special collection was on display, with one enlarged, side-by-side panning of the epicenter. I was so horrified I couldn't move. I looked like something out of the dust bowl, dirt and rubble were everywhere but it was all laid out completely flat. It was as if a giant hand had just brushed over the surface of the ground and everything was just swept away. I also saw a shadow. They're starting to fade, but you can still easily make them out.
I also got to visit Hiroshima castle. The real one was destroyed in the blast, but it was reconstructed only three years later (some priorities...). On the third floor there was a weapons and armor exhibit, showing what had been saved in the castle's collection. And among them was a treasure beyond treasures: a Muramasa. It was only a tanto, and it was just the blade without the handle, but that thing must be worth more than the castle itself. That's probably why the guard was there, to stop anyone from stealing it (but who watches the watch?). It's a shame they don't allow photography in Japanese historic sites. It's like the board of tourism is afraid they'll lose money because people will just look at pictures instead. That may be true, but how else can you advertise and get new visitors?
If you ever come to Japan, you should try Mos Burger. It's like their version of a McDonald, because it's the symbol of a Japanese hamburger. The strange thing was, the ground beef is mixed with basil. It was really neat. After that I tried some hot cakes (that's what they call them here, so I will go with it, but I absolutely refuse to call them anything other than pancakes back home). And, like every kind of bread that's supposed to be its own meal, it was sweet. Even without the syrup. Bleagh (hah, try correcting that word, spell check!)

Observations:
The Kansai region is actually pretty flat I bet a long time ago it was just like a still version of those needle toys that lets you make impressions in it. Then the gods probably smacked it a few times and there you go: instant giant, strange, maze-like arranged mountains. It's like living in a maze where the path between hedges is wide, and the exit is adrift in space. They're everywhere, but only where the ground isn't already flat. It looks very primal.

Skip Angry, go stright to Smash

2009-10-15T10:08:00.003-04:00

This week has kept me busier than I have been since orientation week. The last two days I had no time after classes to do any homework, so I had to do it all between classes. And at night, I worked on my report for Anime class (why is spell check telling me anime isn't a word, if this keeps happening I'm going to learn to hack in Google and rewrite all their word processing software, argh it pisses me off!) So essentially, I had no time to do anything fun for the first time in years, and I learned that I don't react well to such a thing. Kudos to my parents for lasting as long as they have, but I would have self-destructed long ago if I were them.
On a brighter note, since I did get all my work for the week finished yesterday, I've gone on an anime binge (that's it, spell check DIES!) and the new Dragon Ball Z remake is frankly awesome. Gone are all the four-episode-power-ups-with-no-actual-action sequences. No longer are there fillers turning a 104-max episode show into over 400. If you're a fan of the original series, you have got to watch this. Only twenty-seven episodes and it's already well into the Namek arc.
Missing a lesson in sign language really makes a difference. Since most of the class is conducted in silence, I have no idea what new signs are until I can use the old ones as reference. Japanese class is kinda like that now, too; either I get everything or look like a complete fool. I've bought a phrase book to supplement class Japanese with street Japanese, and already I love it. This would be because it comes with a menu guide that has kana and kanji, so now I can actually know what lots of places have to offer (this includes the cafeteria).
Midterms are coming up here, and I'm hearing stories about blonds having breakdowns because they can't keep up with their language studies. On some level, I'd really like to sympathize, but they're blonds so I just can't stop laughing. Also, if I hear one more ignorant person whining about how ridiculous 'can-ji' is, I'm gonna lose it. If you don't like it and won't put in the effort, then just go home already!
Sorry for the rant (it felt good, though). Next time I'll be calmer.

Observations:
Breast/condom ice cream. Don't ask.
Supposedly, every school in Japan is supposed to have the same bell soundtrack for starting and ending classes. I like that the local high-school has unusual tastes; they play Yesterday instead :)
Remember the epic, two-note piece used for Lord of the Rings trailers? Forklifts seem to come in those two-note varieties as well. If I could just get ahold of some...

2009-10-12T06:52:00.003-04:00

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.

Tyfoons and Banana Curry

2009-10-07T10:42:00.002-04:00

I've had my suspicions, and it seems I was right about all this rain. It's tyfoon season over here. Right now Tyfoon #18 is blowing up from Kyushu, and the wind and rain is pretty strong. There's a chance that classes will be canceled tomorrow if this keeps up.
Yesterday was another koto lesson; this time, us international students got to receive instruction as well. I was really happy when, out of everyone, I was the only person who didn't have to fix anything about my playing. I also payed for fitted tsume (picks), which I should get next time the teacher comes. It was a bit expensive, but then again, the picks are made from ivory.
Today marked the beginning of a new era; let it be known to all that I now have access to my meal stipend! Daa da da daaah! I've got about ten dollars a day for lunch and snacks, and this will really help me out, since all this rain is making me shell out about that much just for transportation to and from class.
We were supposed to watch Pom Poko in Anime class today, but a dvd mix-up had us watching Mononoke-hime instead. Not that I'm complaining about getting to see my favorite movie, but it did make class run over. I missed this week's sign language meeting, so I went to go try some new snacks to make up for it.
Traveling Abroad Rule #2: I tested this in France, and I've confirmed it here-bbq chips are your friends. Also, Meiji chocolate's not bad, either.
Dinner was something I never would have imagined, although looking at Indian culture, I probably should have realized this was possible: banana curry. It really is a surprise when you bite into potato only to realize that it's not potato. But it wasn't bad.

Observations:
There are a lot of street dancers at Kansai Gaidai. And I mean a lot. After classes are over and done with, every part of campus with an overhead roof is packed with people practicing until at least 8 o'clock. And they take it very seriously, too, so I just can't put them in the same category as those annoying show-offs back home.
Osaka is apparently the headquarters for Japan's biggest store for otaku products. In other words, I have landed right in the middle of anime heaven.

I went, I saw, I ate it-now ask how much it costs

2009-10-05T09:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was one big fulfilment of my desire for pizza. I took the train to Kyobashi station on the very fringes of Osaka (apparently Hirakata is in an area referred to as Osaka, and not the city proper itself, kinda like Manhattan isn't really NYC). From there, I had fun (LIES!) learning all about the subway system, which I used to get to Shinsaibashi, sort of the shopping/corporate business section of the city. I had read that Shakey's, the recommended pizza place, was closed for renovations, but there was another famous one called Slices six blocks from the station. Guess what happened next...
After failing to find anything, I walked back to the station and then headed in the opposite direction. Not one block away I found a proclaimed Italian restaurant that had pizza. I rushed up to the third floor (hey, it was a fast elevator) and proceeded to stare at the menu, hating katakana. There are easily over 50 times the number of kanji as katakana, and I truly believe it would be just that more easier to memorize all of them as opposed to these stupid loan word characters. Luckily, Europe taught me all about Maurgarita pizzas. I got one of those, which redefined the meaning of small; I could have easily held two-thirds of it in my hands! But it what almost exactly what I asked for-sauce, cheese, and one whole basil leaf on each slice (?)-so I was happy, if not full.
Then I walked into a tunnel carved through several buildings that served as a kind of mall, where I found another restaurant with pizza. But this time, it was real food. Pepperoni is called salami over here (can't believe I needed a picture to figure that out) and is exactly the same as back home. The only reason I didn't finish the whole thing in two minutes was because I had to pick off slices of onion. I swear, the person who created onion must have thought "let's make a vegetable that no one wants as a topping but is so transparent they can't pick all of it off". But the Japanese word for onion is tamanegi, so next time I'll just say "tamanegi ga nai kudasai" and all will be well.
Right after I left I found where Shakey's is. And it wasn't closed. It's just finished renovations and is celebrating it's first anniversary. The place is actually pretty easy to spot; just look for the line of over one hundred people wrapped around it waiting to get in. I think I'll stick with the other place until things cool down.
One of the good things about rain is that fall weather has now come in earnest. It is finally cool enough for me to wear long sleeves again. Yay! (short sleeves=hate) I've signed up to go on the Hiroshima trip in two Saturdays from now. With a group discount Shinkansen ticket I had to pay 7,430 yen (roughly $74.30). I don't get a discount for coming back, though, and taking seven hours using local trains instead of the 1 hour 40 minute Shinkansen would only save me ten bucks. And they say America's the capitalist giant...

2009-10-03T09:27:00.003-04:00

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, no rain, no rain, then repeat. That's what the cycle over here looks like, with the no rain parts on the weekends. This sucks; I'm getting tired of riding the train to class all the time when I have an alternative that doesn't cost anything.
It turns out that there is an awful lot to Grave of the Fireflies that I never got before, not the least of which is the pun with the title. Hotaru has two kanji- one means firefly, and the other is like 'that which shines in the darkness'. The movie is based on a book a man wrote from his experiences during the firebombing. He actually had two sisters, one real and one adopted, who he watched die after all three were orphaned. Surprisingly, the book and the movie were made to examine the relationships between people during chaotic times, and weren't made with a single thought towards the morality of war, or the fighting that took place. When looking at it from a sociological perspective instead of a normal movie-viewing one, it really is well made and quite informative.
Today I went to three places in Kyoto. The first was Fushimi-Inari, so I could get that quail. And I got what I asked for; it was a complete bird, simply plucked and grilled. I had to look at its dead face the whole time, and could only think one thing: 'This would be excellent if not for the bones!' I also bought some travel chopsticks and carrying case. These chopsticks were carved especially to assist with eating ramen :)
Then I went to Kiyomizu, probably the most famous Buddhist shrine in Japan. While we have the phrase 'All roads lead to Rome' to mention how roads can always bring us back together (and why do we do that, exactly, it doesn't make a bit of sense) they have over here the phrase 'to set out from Kiyomizu/to leap from the Stage of Kiyomizu', which refers to starting a journey. I got to stand up on the Stage, which is a giant terrace about 20-30 feet above the ground. It has actually been documented that no one who has fallen from the Stage has ever died as a result. There is also a fountain with three founts. While the monks maintain that the only virtue received from drinking any of the three is longevity, urban interpretations have been around for centuries. The one I know goes longevity, wisdom, and luck in love. Of course, I drank from the middle one (I know what my priorities are). I bought a cup for 200 yen to use, and I'm bringing it back home with me. Before I left, I finally got to try some mitarashi dango, which was on my 'eat in Japan' list. I wonder if anyone remembers Smacks, a cereal from about fourteen years ago with a frog mascot. They were almost exactly like that, except with a stronger taste. They were delicious, but I found out later that they sadly don't agree with me.
My last stop was Gion. While I couldn't find the temple with the world-famous bell (maybe it was just a place with the same name), I did come across a giant statue of Kannon, the bodhisattva of mercy. Now, I've seen giant buddha statues before. I seen pictures of the biggest buddist statue in the world which is somewhere around Vietnam, I think, so in retrospect this one wasn't so big. But that biggest one is literally one piece carved out of the side of a jungle mountain. So I never would have thought that this three story statue would be able to sit on top of a one story building! Honestly, it looked like it could crush the thing at any moment. The best part about walking to and from that temple was that in a shopping district the loudspeakers were alternating between Beatles music being played on piano, and polka. What the hell?
Tonight I had my first experience with shellfish. I don't think it counts, though, since the Japanese really don't have a sense for cooking (Ever had fries with pepper on them? The Japanese think that's about as spicy as a human can tolerate).

Observations:
Senbei might be rice crackers, but they don't have to taste anything like rice. The one's I'm munching right now are more like giant fortune cookies.
When I had quail and dango, they brought out what I thought might have been barley tea. It was iced coffee flavored like bittersweet chocolate. Eww.
Japanese television is bad for your health. There are so many shows about dangerous and stupid stunts that I feel as if I need to lie down after seeing them (sitting on a pile of balancing chairs while the front two legs of the bottom one are hanging off the edge of a mile-high cliff, for example).

2009-10-01T09:46:00.002-04:00

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. And never when when it would get in my way. Just enough to make it unsafe to ride my bike. The rain over here is so depressing. Now compound that with Grave of the Fireflies, which I watched in class yesterday. Utter defeat.
When I was browsing so blogs from former students, trying to pin down that anime shop, I learned that in Shinbabashi there is an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant (GOD, I want pizza so bad!). The blog was written by a New Yorker, so that should vouch for the food. Saturday or Sunday I'll head over and try it. Don't know which day 'cause I gotta go back for that quail, too :)
Today Hideo-san's father was moved into a hospital for the elderly. He has cancer and apparently it just took a turn for the worse. I was told he doesn't have much time to live, but the Japanese don't go through denial as nearly as much as we do, so I'm not sure just how long is 'not long'.
Tonight I had one of the foods I had been dreading most of all (not a singing village). While not as 'corn-happy' as the U.S., the Japanese certainly have invented strange way of using it as soups and porridges. Think beef stew, only there's less meat altogether then what makes up five of my fingers, and the broth is 100% corn paste. Eww. Not for the faint of heart, or humans for that matter.

2009-09-29T09:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the first session of the Soukyokubu (koto) Club. Three hours really drags on when a lot of what you're doing is just waiting. Besides me, there are eight other international students, four of whom are guys, and the club currently has six Japanese members, all girls. There simply aren't enough kotos for everyone to practice at once. Of course, I've tried out the instrument before, so I registered instead at the beginning of the session. During that time, the others took long turns at practicing the beginner melody 'Sakura', an children's' melody that everyone in Japan knows. I didn't get a chance to play until almost the very end. Practice ends at 7:30 so, with sign language as well, half the week I'm getting home pretty late.
Today was the same story. Since I had the most recent turn the day before, I let others go before me. But the person I was waiting behind acted like she didn't notice and hogged all the time to herself. I swear, if I knew German, I would have given her a talking to (i.e. cussed her ears off). Practice time was cut in half today because on Tuesdays a teacher comes to help the Japanese members. So from 6:00 to 7:30 I sat seiza style and just watched them practice. I've never been good at sitting still, I'm a figiter, and seiza was probably invented by some monk as a way to pass the time laughing at his students. You position your legs in just such a way that they can't fall asleep and you still feel pain.
Thank heavens for Final Fantasy. It means that I have something to keep me occupied in the long stretches between classes. I've already worked out which classrooms are free when, so I get a nice quiet room to myself for a few hours (which means I can actually listen to the dialog). The campus is packed now that the regular students are back. The other two cafeterias are open now, too, so I'm systematically trying out anything that looks good.
It's been raining during classes all week so far; this means that at any time when I am walking to and from the train station the weather is fine! If I tried to ride my bike, though, I'd get poured on right away, I just know it.

One Month Down

2009-09-27T08:48:00.002-04:00

It's already been one month since I came to this country on the complete opposite of the world. Time sure flies.
Today my Religions class went to Fushimi Inari Jinja, one of the principle and oldest shrines in Japan dedicated to the god Inari. The strange thing is, people tend to personalize their relationships with this deity, so there are about as many different Inari as there are worshipers, fulling roles from the traditional keeper of rice and wealth to the newer healing of ails and bringing good luck to exam takers. The shrine was really just an amalgamation of little shrines all over the mountain where the grounds stood, and we walked all over. Halfway up almost everyone was panting and dragging their feet. Heheh, lowlanders :)
Amazingly, where we Americans would have developed as much as we could, most of the mountain is untouched. There's just the shrines dotted around the mountain and small paths leading around them. But the torii flanking the paths are anything but small. Towering over us, they were packed as closely as possible, every path having at least half protection from the rest of outside. And each one was dedicated, at about 100,000 to 500,000 U.S. dollars each, by companies or individuals seeking the blessings of Inari. One path had over seven from the same person. Talk about devotion!
Inari shrines all have statues of foxes, because while no one can agree on the form Inari takes, they can all agree that the god's servants are foxes. And Kyoto used to have lots of foxes that lived on temple grounds. They may be scarce nowadays, but now there are cats. Cats! The first cats I see in Japan are on a sacred mountain! Looks they they know good real estate when they see it. And they were all so friendly, too, lying down in the middle of paths and small walls to be petted.
On thing that makes temples over here completely different from western temples is the fact that it's normal for shops to operate on the grounds. There are tea and rest shops all along the mountain trails, and souvenir stands by the temple main. I bought an awesome black kimono and a small fox stuffed animal that I've named Daigoro. Sadly, ATMs are closed on Sundays ('the hell?!). If they weren't, I would have gone back to campus, gotten some more money, and headed right back, because one small restaurant near the station was selling BBQ quail! One of the creatures on my 'list of things I've got to try eating' slipped through my grasp because of banking business hours. Damn it.

2009-09-26T09:36:00.002-04:00

I heard that there was a store called Animate somewhere down near the Hirakata-shi station that sells anime goods, like models, figurines, and good luck charms with anime characters on them. Well, I looked all over twice, and asked some police, but I couldn't find it. What a waste of an afternoon.
This evening I finished Nausicaa. Boy, if you ever want feel confused, doomed, insignificant, or hopeful, then read this series. It says a lot, but not really anything at all.
I saw what is most probably the most awesome game show ever, and I have to recount it all. It was like The Running Man, an old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where convicts have to run through a giant maze-like arena while avoiding gladiators with super-weapons in an effort to win their freedom. Except this time around there was no killing, so it looked fun. Fifteen contestants started at the entrance to USJ near the Hunters, basically the ones who tag you and your out. They were dressed to look like agents in The Matrix, and even acted like it, not once changing their facial expressions or saying a word, even while running. Each contestant had a map of the park and a cell phone to contact other players with.
There were four Hunters, and they started the game in cages, with fifteen different chains run through a box in front of them. The contestants went one by one to pull a chain, and if it wasn't the right one that that person would get a head start to run into the park and hide. Only the first two managed that, though; the third contestant let them out, and everyone ran, scattering in different directions. And the Hunters were fast. I know I'm one of the faster people at Appalachian when going full out, but I'd be hard pressed to outrun these guys.
The game timer lasted for one hour and thirty minutes, with various breaks and missions at certain times. Also, the reward money went up by 100 yen every second, the last person to be caught getting whatever the amount is at that time. At 1:25:00, the first mission started, which was to disable seven spotlights in order around the park within fifteen minutes. For each left on after that time, an additional Hunter would join the game. Five of the lights were turned off. After that, there was a break as the eleven survivors played a giant Jenga game. On the blocks were things that could change the game, and the same person, twice in a row, got a blocks removing Hunters, dropping their numbers back to four. Also a coincidence, she was the first to be tagged out in the next round :)
This all took place at night, and the break continued until morning, when the clock resumed. The second mission, from 1:00:00 to 0:45:00, was for two people to get to the Jaws ride and at the same time throw two switches that would slam down a gate barring passage to and from that ride. The ride itself takes fifteen minutes, and there were fifteen Hunters riding on it. If they got through, there's no way anyone could have lasted till the end. One woman managed to get there and hide, but no on showed up until it was almost too late. The Hunters actually got of the boat and were walking up to the exit (guess they couldn't run until the time limit expired) when some guy finally came running. They closed the gate with three seconds to spare, literally in the Hunters faces. It was so thrilling!
Next there were boxes placed around the waterfront area, one of which held a special key card. At this point only eight were left; the rest had to wait inside a giant cage in the park until the end. But the card would activate a wheel of chance thing that would let one of them back in the game. Sadly, it was the youngest guy who got freed, and almost immediately he walked right into a Hunter and got tagged again...
0:25:00 to 0:15:00 was something to do with the parade. It came along it's normal route, advancing slowly toward a set of sensors (I feel I must point out that there was no one else in the park during this game). Again, two people had to turn off the sensors, this time with key cards everyone had been given from the start. By this time, almost everyone had formed into groups of two, and were constantly calling each other to know their positions. A stupid move, of course, because of the ring tones. The guy who up until then had been doing the best was called by his partner right when a Hunter was walking by. Only when he didn't die was I reminded that this wasn't a movie. It was that cool!
Sadly (not!), the mission failed. But instead of more Hunters came the Legmen, ninjas on leg stilts that ran around (literally) from high vantage looking for the players and then whistling shrilly to call in Hunters when they found someone. This was the hardest time of all, and only three were left. In the end, it was only the wimpiest-looking guy who evading them, like the whole thing was some Hollywood setup. But his last few minutes were intense. He was found twice, and each time barely managed to get away and under cover again. Because the last mission wasn't completed he didn't get the 100,000 yen bonus that came with it, but if he had he would have won 1,000,000 yen! That's ten thousand dollars! We could drop shows like Jeopardy any day to make way for this cheaper kind, and it would be better! I really want to try my hand at playing, it's like Mission Capture the Flag.

2009-09-25T11:31:00.003-04:00

On the advice of my anime teacher, I rushed to the library after class before anyone else could get there and checked out all of the Nausicaa manga. And it is not even close to the same as the movie. For one thing, Miyazaki-sama didn't finish writing the manga for at least another ten years after the movie was released, so the ending had to be constructed hastily and remains one of his biggest regrets. Also, in 1984 he had no idea what direction the story would take, so the whole production was kinda cut-and-paste. The real story definitely shows his background as someone from a family that built WWII fighter planes, and I get the feeling that much of Kazan, my first and still favorite manga, derived most of its inspiration from Nausicaa. Reading it is more like a study than just enjoyment.
Tonight I went for a walk that wound up taking almost two hours. It wasn't that I got lost and incapable of finding my way back, I just had no clue how to get from the house to the supermarket I wanted to get to. Since Japanese roads existed all over before the idea came around to base them on a grid system, the old roads were just paved over, and so getting from one place to another is largely a matter of patience, and hopefully a car as well.

Observations:
Whoever said that the Japanese are small must have been a math major, because that is just a statistic. The U.S. just happens to have a higher tall-to-average ratio then Japan. Sure, I've seen short old ladies, but the majority of Japanese seem to be slightly taller than our average. And the guys on the baseball team tower over me; they're taller that the monster football players my high school had!
Light-up shoes are a thing of the past. Introducing the new Noise-maker Shoe! Squeaks when you walk! Squeaks when you step on them! And 100% guaranteed usable by the family dog once they get worn out! (now for sale with the oh-so-popular Skirt that Plays Music When You Move in It :)

2009-09-24T09:24:00.002-04:00

I am pretty sure that my Religions of Japan teacher is a feminist. I was surprised to find that a teacher with this mindset bothered me, although not for the obvious reasons. I've got no problem with feminists; what they believe is their own right and their own business. But it's very discouraging trying to read the text she gave us, which she herself wrote. When normally referring to individuals, the teacher uses the pronoun 'she'. But when referring to someone of ill repute, this is replaced with the pronoun 'he'. I don't care if you think less of men, just use consistency in your language! Geez! It's hard enough to read monotonous pages without having sentence structure suddenly altered, confusing me and probably everyone else (figures-I complain about grammar instead of beliefs. That's what studying language does to you).
I've caught up with grammar and vocab for Japanese, but it's the title of the course, Speaking, that is giving me trouble. Up till now, I've only had three native speakers to talk to, and they spoke Kanto-ben. Kansai-ben is much harder to comprehend, and the professor talks at ten miles a minute. I can get most of what he says, but we're expected to speak that fast too. It's impossible to get that good in just three more months!

Observations:
Well, the Japanese seem to outstrip us in everything, so smoking shouldn't come as a surprise. They've taken it up to the next level: electric cigarettes. You have electric filters that you attach to the inside of the box, which can be plugged into the wall to be charged. The part with the tobacco comes separately, but I suppose in the long run it would be cheaper. Just attach the two together, and a little light at the end will emulate embers when you take a puff. I'm not sure whether to be dumbfounded or just disgusted (I'll stick with dumbfounded for now, it fits the gaijin image).

2009-09-23T09:26:00.002-04:00

Another slow day, with some interesting foods. Zaru udon, and zaru soba as well, are noodles that are just served plain and cold, and you dip them in soy sauce before slurping them up (in Japan, slurping is actually kinda polite, as it shows you are enjoying your food). I had some of that for lunch, but dinner was way weirder. Takoyaki is one of Osaka's delicacies, and the other is Okonomiyaki, a type of cabbage pancake with as many different toppings and fillings as there are cultures and sub-cultures. The things I could identify were the cabbage (nothing hard there), bacon, onion, and some tentacles from either octopus or squid, I couldn't tell. And when you get tentacles, you know it. There isn't a single thing done to them when cooked (if they were...) that tries to hide the fact that you're eating a limb that has just recently been hacked off and served. They looked so fresh I was afraid they would start moving.

Observations:
Baseball is huge over here. In terms of percent of population watching at any given time Japan beats the U.S. hands down. Hideo-san watches it every time he can, even getting ESPN to watch American little league.
I saw what I can only assume was a televised Baptist sermon, but it was more like a concert. They were singing some kind of jazz-rock hybrid and the priest started synchronized dancing with one of the singers, who started using a hamster voice. I felt it better to just not ask.

2009-09-22T09:18:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was catch-up day for food. I had nothing to do anyway, and no one was around, so I went to the mall, where I learned the proper way to store a bike in a parking garage. Apparently, most of the spots are taken by people who are renting them. For one-time use, you pay like 150, get a slip of paper wrapped around your handlebars, and then go to a small lot on the floor area between the first and second floors.
It turns out that the mall is just as much inside as it is outside. One one side of the street is the courtyard, mall proper, train station, bus transit station, car parking, and half of the restaurants. On the other side are the other half, bike parking, and Babies-R-Us. On the first floor of the mall, there is a supermarket, electronics stores, general clothing, and numerous small food shops, like a bakery where you get a tray of breads and pastries and then sit and eat. There was also a store about the size of Dillard's completely dedicated to cakes, chocolates and candies. In the supermarket I actually found some bags of Doritos. But they were dinky, and some unheard-of Taco flavor. It may have had a picture of tacos on it, but I also know that the Japanese love to make a pun with that word and taco meaning octopus over here, so I opted not to go for it. The second and third floors were kitchen supplies, bath shops, music stores, and clothing stores that specialized in certain things, like hair accessories or kimonos.
For lunch I tried some KFC. Now, the last time I had some back home, I almost passed out from a pain-queasiness hybrid, but since nothing but bread and fruit is the same over here I felt it should be ok. Man, the Japanese have NO since of chicken. The closest thing to what it tasted like would be the old style McDonald's' chicken fingers, except with a starchy tasting, flaky crust. But I didn't get nauseous, so I'd give it an ok. Then for dessert I had some kind of coffee/chocolate doughnut. What is it with foreigners and hiding stuff inside of bread where you least expect it?! There was whipped cream (which I hate) hidden, not inside the doughnut, but in the hole in the middle. How do you hide something there?! Honestly!!
Before I rode home I stopped in a book store, and had I been able to read fluently, I would still be there. Specifically in the manga section. Then I bought a loaf of bread and spent the remainder of the day just lounging and munching. Then came dinner, then I tried two new ice cream bars from the convenience store. the chocolate was kinda too sweet, like Hershey's, and the other must have been cookie dough, nothing else could have tasted like that except mango, and the Japanese always color code fruit flavors. I figure all that food should have made up for most of what I've missed.
Today was just a bleah kinda day, nothing really much happened. Hideo-san brought home takoyaki for lunch, that was fun, having to turn down kindness. I've got just one more day, then I can get back to my normal routine, long breaks over here are kinda dull. I'll have to look up some places to travel to on the off days.

2009-09-20T09:16:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the wait! Here's the last four days.
Thursday:
Nothing (sorry, but it's true!).
Friday:
Here's what happens on Wednesdays and Fridays. My morning classes end at noon, and I've got one afternoon class at 4:00. I went the the library and read the otaku-culture-based manga series they had with the rest of their otaku collection, and then did my homework for Silver Week, a national five-day holiday stretching through next Wednesday. This left me with forty-five minutes left with nothing to do but sit next to the door of my classroom and wait. Maybe next time I'll bring my DS, I've only got two books left.
After class, which was watching Nausicaa while looking for instances of how this one shoujo character is supposed to be different from any other, I went down to a meeting some students had organized to talk about going to Universal Studios Japan the next day. I figured if I kept going with out with groups I could eventually find some people to hang out with.
I am getting really sick of these rats (i.e. the dogs). One isn't really a rat, he's sort of like my hair cutter's dog with a sock fetish, but the other one definitely fits under the International Common Sense 'Not a Dog' Category.
Saturday:
I went with a group of nine others, four Japanese and five foreigners, to USJ. And man is it different from what I expected. It wasn't so much an amusement park as it was a theme park. There were probably ten rides in the place max, and then lots of attractions, stores, and shows. I know the Asheville mall used to have a Hello Kitty store, but it was a far cry from what they've got over here. It's worse than just an obsession, it's like an idol.
Being in another country might have been responsible, but I decided to give roller coasters another try. Yeah, I know, right? I must have been out of my mind. For anyone who doesn't know of my history with roller coasters, here it is. The first one I ever rode, when I was seven, was a very old model and very, very loud. Ever since I was little I've had a giant fear of noises that loud, so I wasn't exactly sold on the ride afterwards (more like weeping in fright). Still, I associated that new fright with only big coasters, and the next time went on one that was low to the ground and even went through a tunnel at one point. My dad went with me, he sat next to me, and he was definitely higher than me, but somehow that tunnel managed to break and hit ME in the head. After that I tried a kiddy coaster, which jerked so violently I got bruised all over. And after that I waited many years (until a couple years ago) to try again. I thought maybe a hanging coaster, where your legs dangle and it's more like riding in a giant swing, would be fine. WRONG. Picture in your head your hand sweeping over smooth marble. Now hold the feeling of that in your head. That is what transpired between my foot and a support beam. Had I been slouching just a little more, I would not have that foot anymore. This is why I was insane to try riding a roller coaster over here (I probably can get a certificate to prove it, too). I knew that it wouldn't cure me of any fears, assuming I came out safe (or alive, at this rate), but it would at least get me away from avoiding my fears. All in all, it was kinda enjoyable. Except for that initial fall. I timed others later, it only takes about six seconds. It felt like twenty. I would have no problem sky diving. I'm not afraid of falling; I love it, actually. Just not when I'm strapped into a giant metal bullet intent on dragging me down with it. When the ride was over, I got up, walked over to a shelf/trash can, put my arms down to steady myself, and lost the use of my legs. I will try again, one of these days. Just not right away.
There wasn't much to do, but the lines were long so excess time wasn't a problem. There was a Spider-Man 3-D ride, and a Back to the Future one too. Now those are what 3-D effects are supposed to be used for. The rides were simple, and kinda cheesy, but really fun. For dinner we went to a bar-b-q place. There were metal frying sheets right on the table, and the waiters brought the food and then left. It is up to the customers to cook (or ruin) their food however they please. I managed to fiddle my way through some conversation, and I think I might have some people to hang out with later.
Today:
The Open Campus event for prospective students was today, so I went and checked it out after a bento lunch with furikake rice, tamagoyaki (sweetened scrambled egg rolls), chicken and a little sausage carved into an octopus. There is an anime god, and he is benevolent.
But when I got to campus I had another lunch anyway. I wasn't really hungry, but I wasn't really satisfied either. That's the thing about Japanese food-it's cooked for you to eat, not feast on. Even the snacks are so empty I may as well eat rice. Which I do :) I know I've loved ramen for over a decade, but the curry here is actually better than the ramen I can get. Half of it is the taste. The other half is that even though one plate by itself can't really constitute as a meal for me, it somehow gives out this promising feeling that eating enough would make one full, and that's something I desperately need.
I went by the store too, and in the corner is a little bakery section like in The Fresh Market. And they have batards. From now on I think I'll go there for snack food, bread has always worked :)

Headlights can be your friend

2009-09-16T09:27:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was gray, gloomy, and full of melons. I am referring of course to the fact that melon-flavored foods and drinks are something of a gimmick over here, much like saying some food is 'Cajun-spicy' will grab people's attention. In the bakery by the station, I found some melon pan (bread), now practically iconocised with its much-important role in the aforementioned anime Shakugan no Shana. It really didn't taste like melon at all, although the main character upholds that if it did, it would be blasphemy; instead it's like a sweet bread. During the break, I read another, even more famous icon of popular Japanese literature, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This is probably the most popular book series ever to have been adapted into anime, which then successfully invaded every single corner of the globe with die-hard fans. Even if you don't like anime, you should look this one up if only for the WTF hilarity that ensues. While I read this, I had a melon soda.
There was no club yesterday either, it seems vacation for college students doesn't end until the 28th. So I had time to go downtown to the city office to get my immigration stuff taken care of. It wasn't really too difficult, I just followed everything from the example sheet the university gave me, making sure to put it in all caps, and handed it in with my pictures. Then I got a receipt telling me when to come back (mid October).
Today was the replacement test for the Reading and Writing class, and I can say with absolute conviction that I aced it! There was not a single thing on there that I was unable to do. Go me :)
The methods and meaning of anime class is, just like its name suggests, focused on the methods used to produce animation and the meaning behind the style and other, more subtle features. Think Professor Carp with anime.
On Wednesdays from 6-7:00 there is a Japanese Sign Language group. Since I figured that fits into the area of bodily communication that Professor McGary emphasizes, I went to their first meeting. I can now do a few rudimentary signs in JSL (yes, there are individual ways of signing within each country, and yes, they do count as languages). One reason the communications professor, who is also my advisor, set up the class is to see how foreign students react to learning another Japanese language with a completely different grammar system as compared to native Japanese speakers. This is absolutely fascinating to me, and I felt enthralled in learning a language that uses body language only.
Today was the first time that I have ridden my bike after it has gotten dark. My bike has a light on it, but I've never really known how effective they can be, my only knowledge of them coming from the Simpson's episode where Bart discovered a comet (and who would take that seriously?). My initial impression was that they are worthless. The lights illuminating my way home go in this order of strength- car headlights, building lights, street lights, vending machines, and finally my bike. However, the last part is on a walking trail by a river that has no other sources of light; I quickly came to an appreciation for the meager 5 feet of illumination I had.

Observations:
In order to adapt more easily to Japan, I found it helpful to have something basic and home-like to fall back on. I currently am in love with ice cream cones. The flavor is so basic, so universal (France had them, too), that it has taken up the role of my comfort food. I can get some from a vending machine on campus, of buy some from the convenient store 30 seconds from the house. I've tried to have some everyday, it's so good.
I have only seen one commercial that tries using sex to sell a product, and it was for ramen. What does that say about my tastes?
Apparently, there are places where I need to say pas du mayonnaise. I had a chicken-rice bowl, but before I could realize what was going on, the server smothered in in mayonnaise and turned to the next person in line. Can anyone (Zach) say Murphy's Law?

2009-09-14T09:35:00.002-04:00

Today, so many things went wrong, but the things I'm interested in mostly went right. Weird.
I didn't get a letter or anything saying I failed my re-take exam, and I got to stay for the class period while others were missing, so I guess this means I passed. That was a load off my mind, until we dove right into an explanation on transitive verbs in complete Japanese, instead of english from the textbook. Man was that confusing.
I spent much of my day in the library, reading a book about what anime fans apparently need know. I also found and borrowed (and finished) an english copy of Shakugan no Shana, the first book in a super-famous series that went on to be adapted into one of my favorite anime. If you're a fan of Bleach, you gotta watch this series, in many ways it's better :)
Tho koto club, for whatever reason, didn't meet up today. And I forgot to bring along my two I.D. photos I had returned, so I couldn't go to the city registrar. The forecast has rain all through Thursday, so I can't take my bike; this means my next chance to go won't be until Thursday after class ends. If they don't close before 3:30, I should make it in time.
I had some Sapporo Ichiban for lunch today, and it is not the same. I know I was expecting that, but it still could have been better. Even the vending machine ramen tastes better (although that actually tastes pretty good). Afterwards I had a burger from McDonald's. Unlike France, I don't have to say everything I don't want seperately, like pas du burre, and pas du mayonnaise, I can just say 'plain' and they understand. The burger was pretty bland, but there was just some sort of primal joy about being able to take a big bite out of something. In a culture where even finger food is prepared against that kind out eating habit, the only other thing I've had like that have been apples, but they just aren't the same as meat.
Tonight I watched part of a French cop movie with Japanese subtitles. By using both languages to fill in gaps, I could follow about 1/4 of what the dialogue was. Which really didn't add up to anything, but hey, it was an action flick, just watching it lets one get the gist.

2009-09-13T06:39:00.002-04:00

Friday was the first day I rode my bike. That meant the universe was going to break me in the hard way. It takes about ten minutes to get from my host family's house to the university, and much of it is uphill, so when I'm tired and going back it's an easier ride. However, I wasn't technically allowed to park my bike in the campus lot without a permit sticker. So as soon as I arrived, I went and bought the ticket that I have to turn in with the application. However, the application also required that I have a copy of the bicycle registration paper, which I just happened to leave back at the house (definitely the universe at work). So, after my first two classes, with the four hour break I had, I rode all the way back (I'm out of shape right now, so I was tired and hot by this point), and then ride back up the hills. My legs felt like lead, but at least I didn't have to ride back a third time.
I had my second language placement test, which could have gone better, but also could have gone worse. I suppose I'll find out the results tomorrow.
Yesterday I decided to go out and take the pictures I have so far neglected to take. It started raining early in the afternoon, so I took the time to explore the library (which has books on otaku culture :P), but it closed before the rain stopped. Which didn't really matter in the long run, since it didn't stop raining at all. I've seen some people riding around with umbrellas in one hand (which is illegal), so I gave it a try (when in Rome...). After one minute I gave up and will never do that again. I need to find a rain suit, preferably one that covers my backpack and all the stuff in it as well.
Today was a hardcore gaming session. Not only did I spend most of the day playing a game, but Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver came out over here today, and Tatsuki's been paying as well, while Momo played some kind of sim game. I got to cook tonight's dinner, which was a big success. I made Zuppa Tuscana, and while it wasn't quite the same as usual since I didn't have exactly the same ingredients or any measuring tools, it turned out pretty well. The kids have already asked for me to cook it again, and everyone had seconds.
Tomorrow I'm going to go to the city office to apply for my long-term visa. The student ones that are how international students get over here are only good for 90 days, so we have to get this second one in order to stay throughout the semester.

Observations
Americans say kids nowadays are being raised by TV, but that's nothing next to Japanese kids. The TVs here (there are two, both in the family room) are almost always on, and Momo watches regardless of whether or not it's a kid's program.
In the U.S. there are epic razor blade commercials. In Japan, there are epic coffee commercials with flames and Godzilla as a mascot.
Since Smack ramen is no more, I switched to Sapporo Ichiban. Just yesterday, I saw a commercial for it, something that never would have happened back home. It made me pretty happy.
All of my observations this time have been about TV, haven't they?

Something Strange about the Weather

2009-09-10T08:10:00.002-04:00

It is no longer unbearable over here. I can't tell if it got ever so slightly cooler, or if the humidity dropped, but something changed. I woke up this morning with that feeling. Apparently, so did the Japanese, because whatever happened has signaled the arrival of fall (or AUTUMN, if you live in the tundra and have to be picky about it...).
Today I got a bike. It was used, the frame's a little large, and it takes some handling, but it only cost $70, so I'm not complaining. That's about 9~10 days commuting fare, so it pays itself off really fast. You have got to buy one if you live over here without a car.
The dogs still bark when I show up, but after a minute they are all over me. Musashi wants to jump on and off my lap over and over, and Kojiro tries to make love to my sock. Let me make this clear-not my foot, not even me in particular, but my sock. It is a dog with a sock fetish.
Tomorrow is the second exam. If I pass it, I don't have to move down a level. But it covers two chapters, that I never studied, so I spent all day and most of the evening doing the practice pages from the workbook. For any prospective exchange students, the class setup looks like this:
A-H 1- Genki I ch. 1 through 9
A-H 2- Genki I and II ch. 10 through 17
A-H 3- Genki II ch. 18 through 23
Yamamoto-sensei only goes up to ch. 15 at the end of the Advanced classes, so anyone from that level, like me, will have to study a little.
I remember thinking that I would adapt to Japanese food even if it killed me. Well, it's not going to be that difficult, really. Even the food that I don't like (except takoyaki and mayonnaise, so far) isn't difficult to handle. I still don't like it, but I can eat it. Some of my homestay meals really surprise me. Like tonight, we had boiled/grilled chicken (the chicken here doesn't taste a thing like in the U.S.) in some tomato sauce that was like marinara with cheese on top, a hot fruit soup with melon and something resembling banana but hard and, like always, rice :) Finally, a foreign food custom I don't have to shy away from.

2009-09-09T09:16:00.002-04:00

Nothing much to report today, so it's time for a:
Train Lesson
Before riding a train, you have to buy a ticket that corresponds to how far you want to go. Each station is usually lumped together with at least one other by distance away from your current location, and the farther away that group of stations is, the more it costs to get to one of them. The price starts at 150 yen and with each new grouping goes up by 50 yen. After you purchase your ticket, you insert it arrow first (there is a little illustration) into a slot as you walk through a barrier. You have to keep walking, because your ticket will pop up at the other end pretty quickly. Keep hold of it!
Now, not every train will stop at the station you want, or even the one you are waiting at, even if it passes through there. So, once on the platform consult a map. It will show different colored lines with circles under the names of stations. The color represents the type of train, whether express or local, etc. The circles represent stops. If one line does not have a circle under the name of a station, that means that it doesn't stop there. Also, when a line ends, that means that is as far as that particular train goes. Don't worry if you have to get off of on train and board another, you don't have to go buy another ticket.
So now you have taken the train to your destination and are moving off the platform to the exit. Take your ticket out and feed it through the slot again. A computer (I guess) will calculate the value of the distance between where you started and where you are getting out (maybe when, too, I don't know if tickets expire). If you paid the correct amount, then it keeps your ticket and you can walk on through without any problems. But if you didn't pay enough, then doors will swing out to block your way and security will come. The barriers might be motion sensored, too, so if you lose your ticket you can go talk to the employee on duty to see about purchasing a new one while still inside the station. Need I bother warning against trying to jump through?
It's an expensive but highly efficient method of mass-transport. I pay 200 yen to get from Kuzuha, where I am staying, to Goten-yama, where the university is. I wish the States had something like this.
Regarding buses, they are efficient and timely like the trains, but they are also as expensive and don't go as far or as fast. 210 yen (about $2.10 U.S.) a ride is really tough.

Observations:
I was doing my homework while sort of watching a show where people did famous impressions. I looked up suddenly though when I heard something I wasn't expecting for another four months, and certainly not here-24 music. I saw a Jack Bauer look-alike doing the "Drop your weapon and get down on the ground!" line. That was almost as surprising as the fact that he did this without raising his voice in the slightest. What are they watching over here??
Melon soda tastes like lime jello, but liquid. It's sooooo weird...
I still have not seen a single cat. I can't fathom that there aren't any in this area, there's gotta be a cat lover somewhere...

2009-09-08T09:17:00.002-04:00

Today was the first day of classes for me. Although I placed into the third speaking class for now, it seems like it is going to be really difficult. Since the class is entirely in Japanese, except when going over grammar, it's not too different from Appalachian, but Miyauchi-sensei (meow-chi) speaks very fast, using Japanese speech mannerisms and words that I don't understand yet. Also, since it seems that Japanese has at least 2.5 times the amount of vocabulary of english, some of which are the same words but determined by the situation, I am once again afraid of being sent down a level. The written class seems more intensive as well, but easier. It will cover kanji that I know almost all of, having studied them in Genki II, but this time will be a more comprehensive study of the construction of compositions and essays. Religion of Japan seems like it will be really fun, since instead of sticking to one religion and going in-depth, I can get my fill with a broad overview of everything that is currently at the forefront of people's minds.
It turns out that there are more than nine clubs, but only those nine were represented yesterday. Sadly, the travel club conflicts with my schedule (and so does the mountain climbing club, dang it!), I am going to go with the shoukyoubu club, which is about playing the koto, a traditional thirteen-stringed instrument played while sitting. Although traditionally for women, there have been men beginning to play, and one other guy has also already asked to join. I was given a quick overview of how the instrument works, and it's kinda like a harp. Although I won't have time to get too good, getting passed beginner level should be easier than violin's :)
Almost every time I walk downstairs, the dogs start barking at me. I wonder how long it will take for my appearance to stop startling them. Today was Hideo-san's birthday, he turned thirty-nine. Him and Kaori-san went out to visit his father while I watched the kids. Tatsuki has Pokemon Platinum, so I showed him my copy and he was ecstatic. He immediately asked for help beating the second gym leader (I wish I knew how to convey that you have to fight other trainers and not just gym leaders to get stronger) because he kept losing. So I traded one of my level fifty legendaries, which as expected didn't listen to a word he said and lost against a pathetic level twenty-two. So instead I brought his Pokemon over into my game and quick-leveled them. Ten minutes later, he's beaten her and is losing to the third gym leader. Haven't kids here ever heard of training?!
Miso soup is not at all like I thought it would be. It's kinda like a fish-broth porridge, and yellow. Rice at every dinner is a wonderful thing. Breakfast was awesome. I had toast with strawberry jam, and the toast was just right. Apparently Japanese toasters do not have turnny bits that lie, or if they do they are malfunctioning quite badly. Showers, however, do.

2009-09-07T08:56:00.002-04:00

Nothing much to post today. I didn't have any classes, but I went to campus anyway to check out the clubs that were being shown. Surprisingly, there really aren't that many, only about nine or so. I think that I might go with the Travel Club, who go from local areas around Kansai to deep in the mountains.
My host family is really busy during the weekday evenings, so they said it would be good if I could make some friends soon to hang out with instead of being at home by myself, bored. The problem with that is, I don't exactly know how to do that. When I made friends at Appalachian, I was just dragged into the group and everything worked out. But over here, Not only is everyone busy themselves, but it seems that groups were already established during the plane flight. I don't know anyone, really, so I can't rely on introduction into any group. Maybe class or a club would fix that.
I saw a program on tsuzumebachi, the Japanese wasp. The biggest in the world. And that claim was not exaggerated. Remember when I blogged about the size of that cicada, and how it was half the size of my hand (and I have big hands)? Well, these things are bigger. It showed normal yellow jackets flying around them, and they weren't even as big as the tsuzumebachi's heads! I'm starting to think even Australia might be safer than here.

Day 1: Meeting

2009-09-06T08:08:00.004-04:00

Today I left the Seminar House for the last time. I had forgotten to take any pictures of the room and building while I was there, but one of my roommates was still sleeping, so I wasn't able to take any before I left. Oh well, maybe another opportunity will present itself later.
I met with my host family at 3:00 in the afternoon, and man was I nervous. The father, Hideo, is 38, and has two jobs as an office worker, one of which takes place late on weeknights. The mother, Kaori, is two years older and works part-time. They have two children, a boy named Tatsuki who is 8 and turns 9 in November, and Momoji (Momo for short) who is 6. Though I was told that none of them speak english, Kaori-san can speak it quite well, and is far more proficient at it than I am at Japanese.
After our meeting, where a Kansai Gaidai office worker helped translate as we worked our way through the various things to know, I left with then to pick up my stuff at the Seminar House and then went to their home. In Japan, it is not mandatory that vehicles have seat belts, and the back seat of their van, which is actually pretty big, doesn't have any at all. But it can electronically fold down to become a large bed for the children to sprawl out on. If the traffic regulations here were only a little stricter, I think I would take that kind of setup any day.
Tatsuki is interested in baseball and does judo, while Momo does synchronized dancing. I got to watch home videos of both of these. The family has two chihuahua/poodle mix brothers, though I don't think they are from the same litter. Kojiro has short curly brown hair and is pretty fair tempered, but he always wants to be held in some way that not even he is sure of. And Musashi has long white hair with brown and black splotches, and barks whenever I move. He doesn't get along well with strangers. Surprisingly, these two aren't named after the two most well-known swordsmen in Japanese history, Miamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro, But after pokemon's Team Rocket duo Musashi (Jesse) and Kojiro (James).
For dinner, we went out to get sushi. This time all of the food was the same price, and the plates were colored yellow if they had wasabi and white if they did not. Needless to say, I only found this out after it was too late. When we arrived, Momo took my arm and had me sit down with her. After she noticed that I have nose hair, however (I guess the Japanese don't), she began to roll up balls of napkin, stick them up her nose and blow them out while singing some little song about gaijin :)
My room is very nice. It has a glass-plated desk with compartments on the side, a bedside drawer that all my clothes fit into, and a number of small items and manga from the last two foreign students this family has hosted. Right now the bookshelf is really empty, but I bet I can fix that.
It takes about forty-five minutes to get to campus using the bus and train, but only about twenty is I ride a bike. They don't have one that I can borrow sadly, but they said I am welcome to buy one. A used bicycle costs around fifty dollars here, while a new one only costs around one hundred. I definitely need to see about getting one.

2009-09-05T09:18:00.002-04:00

Today was my last time trying to get to the ramen shop. And I give up. I went to the correct place this time, and looked all over. It just doesn't exit. Or maybe, like my mom said, it's like the Room of Requirement but in reverse, and I can only see it when I'm full.
I got lost again today. Funny how that's the best way to learn your way around a town. Still, in a town where I have now seen banana trees growing, it's not exactly the best place to get lost outside for long periods of time.
I meet with my host family tomorrow afternoon. This is my last night in the Seminar House, so I've already packed away everything I own and gotten it ready. The family is a father, mother, brother, younger sister, and two dogs. More info to follow.

2009-09-04T08:37:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the second-to-last day of orientation. I didn't have anything to do until the middle of the afternoon, so I went in search of that ramen shop again. Well, not only did I not find it, I overshot the general area entirely and wound up in the next town (Osaka goes many towns inside a city, and many cities to make up Osaka). This time, however, I did find food I could eat. I went into a normal dining restaurant, by myself, and managed to make it all the way through food and the check without any problems. Go me!
The problem came after this (what, you didn't think I was in the clear, did you?). I tried to get back by a different and shorter route, completely ignoring whatever Murphy might have to say on the subject of shortcuts. As it so happens, I got abysmally lost and just barely managed to catch myself in time to not overshoot Hirakata entirely. But I didn't have time to rest when I got back to the Seminar House. I barely had time to change into my suit (where is that belt, I still haven't found it), which was composed in all black with long sleeves, and then walked for twenty minutes in 80+ heat. Ow.
From 3:00-4:45 there were opening speeches from distinguished members and guests of the university, one of which was entirely in Japanese. And I understood it! I now know that if I ever support the Tokyo Giants and not the Hanshin Tigers, I can expect to be murdered. After the speeches was a buffet, but maybe it would be more accurate to call it an all-you-can-eat five-course meal. Which it was. There were salads, sandwiches, soups, udon, sushi, cooked meats, sweets, ice cream, wraps, and tiny, tiny little bowels of soft-serve with flavor-corresponding jelly on top. I had a green tea flavored one, but in retrospect that was a very bad idea. It could have been a little bowl of wasabi, and I never would have known until it was too late.
After I finished, I tried to wind down by going through the gardens on campus. What happened next I will never forget as long as I live. I found a little tiny building to sit in, under the shade, away from everything else, and sat and looked at the garden and fountain pond. And it was enough. I don't know any other way to describe it. It was enough. The peace I felt sitting there was absolute. That must be what solders are always looking for when they come back from war. It must be what Buddhists look for. Not for a place where there is something special, just a place where it is enough to be there. It's hard to convey. If I could sit there and just look at the garden for the rest of my life, I would neither need nor want for anything else. It wasn't particularly gorgeous or anything, but it was enough.
Sadly, the spell lifted as soon as I left, and I doubt it will ever work again, but I will keep going to that spot, nevertheless.
Today, I went to a small outlying town in Kyoto called Uji with one other American and two Japanese girls who were assigned as our guides. And they couldn't speak a world of english. It was so cool to talk to them, making mistakes all the time, and trying to keep up with everything they were saying in normal Japanese. Needless to say, I failed miserably, but it was still a lot of fun.
We took a train (two, actually) and I got to learn how the train system works. I also learned where that damned station close to the ramen shop is, and next time I will succeed in getting there. Uji is the place where the events from Genjimonogatari (or The Tale of Genji) take place. It is also supposedly where the whole thing was written and illustrated, and there was a statue of the author next to the city's famous bridge, supposedly over 1,000 years old and one of the oldest in Japan (although there were undoubtedly renovations done along the way) We visited the otera (temple) of the town, which is a World Heritage site. As we walked through the museum along side it, I noticed that the Shinto bell that I wear on my backpack didn't ring except when in the room with a Nationally Treasured bell. That. Was. Amazing.
We ate dinner before coming back. One of the girls who was our guide was actually from that town, and she recommended a sushi restaurant. I shall now describe said shop in detail so that other Japan lovers can shake their fists at me in envy. The food was all located on a conveyor belt that wound by the seating area. As whatever you wanted passed, you simply took it off of the conveyor and start eating. The price of each dish was dependent on the color of the plates, which were color-coded to show what was expensive and what was cheap. The kind i tried were: one with salmon, one that was egg stuffed with rice, one with sardine that practically was the entire fish sitting on rice, one with a fish I couldn't identify but garnished with ginger, onion and green onion, and one that looked like it had just been caught and fried minutes ago, which was the most delicious. The other guy got one with squid, but it was also filled with natto, and you're not allowed to put a plate back on the conveyor. To his credit, he did try it, and then he did swallow it. I expect he'll get a standing ovation whenever he tells that story at dinner parties. One girl kept getting rolls with filled tiny orange balls which looked liked caviar, but were actually little shellfish. And the other started with one filled with corn (?). As the night drew in dessert started being sent down, and I tried a cheese cake that lived up to its name (it was actually the consistency of a cake and not sticky). As expected, the focal taste was sweetness.
The guide who lived in Uji left us after that, and the other girl had to ride the train farther than us, so me and the other American got out and started walking back to the Seminar Houses. As I paused to consult our map, an elderly lady on a bike stopped and asked where we were trying to go, and then escorted us through the winding suburbs. Along the way she stopped and showed us the local jinja (shrine), and we went inside and did the rituals for prayer like she showed us. She didn't speak any engligh, but was very patient and kind to us, to the extent that she even passed by her own house to continue walking with us. She said that our Japanese was very good and was delightful to talk to. Arigatou, Keiko-san.
Observations
Forklifts and other heavy machinery don't make loud beeping noises whenever they move around, instead they play carnival music (I kid you not).
Pigeons are called Ha-to. Whether it's because they are endearing or taste better that way remains to be seen...
I saw some people deep asleep on the train. But when we got to their stop, they woke right up and got off!

2009-09-02T08:49:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the wait! Two days ago I was too tired to post anything. Yesterday I didn't have internet. So today's post is catch-up.
Monday was the first day of orientation. I did the usual stuff, payments, language program walkthroughs, and campus tours. And then came the single most frightening thing of my entire life. I couldn't withdraw funds.
Looking back, it seems such a small problem, since it got resolved so easily, but picture this: You are in the most expensive country on earth and alone. You have already used up most of what you brought with you because you were told you would be able to withdraw from the campus ATM, but now you can't. The bank account you set up with the school won't be active for a month, you don't have enough to get back to the airport and get home, and food, laundry, and soon textbook charges are encroaching upon you. Panic sets in, and you are now at the mercy of the world at large, which is so big that it doesn't have to care about you.
The only thing I could do was keep on trying to find an ATM that accepted my cards. When I asked the people at the dormitory, they not only told me where I might try, but lent me a bike and took me to those places.
Let me say this about Japanese bicycles: awesome (original, Edde Izzard endorsed definition). They are the most simple design I have ever seen, and yet nothing else I have ever ridden could hope to compare. They look flimsy, but they're not. They have one gear, but they work better than any multi-geared mountain or sports bike. And the road system is designed to accommodate them. You have to ride to see for yourself how wonderful it is.
Anyway, after trying a few convenience stores, I managed to get some money inside a 7-11 (go figure). Also, I recently learned how to open the door to the second ATM on campus, a device that was partly the cause of my distress. Some doors have a black plastic thing hanging on them. To open the door, don't push up or down, or sideways, or try to turn it or pull the door open manually, just push the damn thing in!
Yesterday I was rested and refreshed enough to obsessively worry about something else: my language class placement exam. I had restudied every chapter, every page of what I had gone over in two years of class for this. I think I did horribly. The test came in sections, which corresponded roughly to about one section per unit in the Genki series textbooks. It turns out that where I got in two years was the prescribed place to be for that many years of study (Good job, Sensei!). So I took parts A, B, and C of the test, which should have in it material I am able to tackle and have already progressed through. The problem was, it didn't. There was stuff in there that I have never seen before, that I know for a fact was never covered in all my time taking Japanese. And yet, here was this unknown grammar, inserting itself in as it pleased and making a fool out of me, since I had to leave large portions blank in a section I should have had no problem with. And the worst part is, if I place back down in the second class, I'll just be learning from the textbook again, and not whatever it was they randomly threw in there. So frustrating...
Today, nothing major as far as orientation was concerned. I did, however, come across the most awesome vending machine in existence, conveniently located right next to one of the cafeterias. It had ramen, soba, and udon. What you do is this: buy the cup of what you want, open it, slide it into a cubby on the side, and press a button to dispense hot water. Wait three minutes and eat! As simple as that. I tried the ramen for lunch and the udon for dinner, both were good but the ramen was better :)
Observations
In less than one week, I have heard almost every type of cicada noise that I ever heard in anime. It really is all over the place. And the cicada's are huge! One flew right by me and it was half as big as my hand!
The amount of study I have gone through is nowhere near good enough to get by. Forget speaking passibly, I usually have to rely on charity from someone else to help me find the right thing to say.
I am attracted to Japanese females. Whether or not the ones I thought were hot are of an appropriate age will require further investigation (I can't tell! Please don't be a lollita complex!).
When dealing with the Japanese, they are polite and helpful. When just walking passed them on the street, they look at you as if you are something that just isn't supposed to be there.
On the hill behind the city, which I guess leads up to the mountains, are lines of transformers, red and white and peppering the landscape. Images of such a thing were not exaggerated.

That's all for this time. I will try and post the next journal sooner, I don't want to turn this into a 'whenever I feel like it' blog.

Make the Heat Go Away

2009-08-30T07:48:00.004-04:00

Japan.
Land of the Rising Sun.
That's not because of where the date starts internationally though, because Russia wins beginning of day prize.
And it's not that Japan has forgotten to tell us foreigners that term is no longer accurate.
It's because the sun rises, and then stays up in the sky burning the earth like a giant spotlight.
IT IS HOT.
Yesterday I arrived at Kansai International Airport (KIX) at two in the morning our time and three in the afternoon Osaka time. I spent more than half the flight studying and didn't manage to get any sleep. Eleven hours sitting still kinda has that effect on your rest. I got to the dorm where I'll be staying for orientation at 6:00, spent one hour trying to get the internet to work, failed, and spent one more hour reading through the orientation manual before going on the neighborhood tour. Now, this was about 27 hours from the time I woke up, so all I wanted was to collapse on the futon and pass out. But it was either go on the tour now or at seven the next morning, and I sure as hell wasn't going to wake up again that soon. So I trekked along, almost lost consciousness once or twice(not exaggerating) , got back, and THEN passed out.
Today was not catch up on sleep day, though. It was Let's Try and Find Something to Eat Before Starving to Death day. The university food services do not operate on Sundays, so I had to venture out to test my luck with my first taste of Japanese food.
Japan Rule #1- if someone gives you a map with directions to a place they say is close by, leave an hour ahead of time. Because it isn't.
After walking a couple of miles, I was sufficiently lost. All the signs around the shops had combinations of kanji I couldn't read, or katakana, which is even harder and could be loan words from any language on earth or just made up. Search me. Also, It is impossible to comprehend a Japanese map because the only streets on it are ones that have places you want and ones that get you to those first streets. Japanese streets don't have names. Or numbers. Also, main streets don't have to be big. I got halfway to where I was trying to get (I only found this out hours later after careful consultation of the map) before giving up and getting lost looking for anything, ANYTHING else to eat. I couldn't find any restaurants but did find an out of the way Takoyaki (octopus ball) shop. I have always wanted to try this, because in anime it always looks so good....to put it mildly, takoyaki has a stronger taste than snot, and less consistency. So much for lunch.
After another hour of walking (no wonder there's a vending machine on every corner, they need them just to keep going, I mean, New Orleans isn't this hot) I managed to un-lose myself and get back to the dorm. I was hot, sweaty, and hadn't eaten in 24 hours. AC on, snacks out, wallowing in self-pity start. After an hour and a half of this (the AC with food bit, mind you) I tried once again, but went in the other direction, where I knew that even if I failed to find a restaurant, there were still the stores I had gone to see the night before. Well, again I couldn't find anything, but in the process of getting lost again wound up at a supermarket. Trust me, in Japan any building wider than two car lengths is a big deal. I bought a bunch of fruit, some toriniku (chicken :)) and a giant bottle of water (did I mention the dorms only have water in vending machines?), hussled back to my room while munching and apple, and haven't left since. I've finished looking through all the paperwork and understand how to do it when they tell me to do so, and know all the rules and regulations. I have food, water, and AC (as southern car salesmen say, 'Darlin, ya gotta have air"). Now I just rest until tomorrow, when I know I shall once again feel insignificant and alone.

Rule(Law) #2(1)- food is directly proportional to the quality of one's mood.

2009-08-27T21:39:00.002-04:00

This is it, my last night in the U.S. We've checked into a Homewood Suites five minutes away from the Charlotte N.C. airport. I've got an early day ahead of me; I wake up at 4:45 and check in at the airport at around 5:30 tomorrow. First, I fly to San Francisco, layover for two hours, then fly strait to Osaka. By the time I get there, it will be 3:00 pm Saturday their time, and 2:00 am Saturday our time. Then I've still got to stay awake for at least five more hours, re-adjust my eating schedule, and check into the university (sigh).
Today has been something that I just can't describe properly as a 'day'. I woke up, packed, and then just wasted time doing whatever non-committal activities I could (I didn't want to start anything that would take too much involvement. That's basically what I did until dinner, and then we piled into the car and drove over here. See? Not really a full day of activities.
Assuming that neither plane crashes tomorrow, there will be more posts once I land in Japan (and maybe one in San Fran if I can manage). But for now, it's good night, because I'll need all the sleep I can get.