Abroad or Two

Long Gone but not Forgotten

2010-05-22T05:07:00.003+09:00

Hey there avid reader type persons.

I keep getting e-mails letting me know that people still check the site, so I thought I should be responsible and upload the rest of the photos from my stay in Japan. There weren't too many, and some of them are from the airports when I got home, but they're added to the photobucket album, so anyone who is still reading this thing, or anyone that is new to the site, feel free to check them out.

Other than that, thanks for sticking around and putting up with me. Enjoy your stay.

If you like what you see, feel free to check out my other blog that never updates over at Walking the Box

Reflections

2009-08-20T15:43:00.002+09:00

I've been back stateside for a good, oh, two weeks-ish now. Figure I should post some reflections.

Japan seemed so alien when I arrived. I landed in an airport that was terribly hot and blindsided by people that spoke broken English who were attempting to help me locate my baggage, then given garbled instructions to take a thirty dollar bus to a location that would have a sign somewhere in the vicinity to help me get to my college. The vending machine was filled with strange drinks (and Coca Cola) and I was the only white person in visible distance. The ride up to campus was exhilarating, and the bustle on the campus grounds and in the dorms was fascinating and fast paced at first. It was a whole bunch of odd sensations all at once and I was overwhelmed and stayed that way for probably the first week or so there.

It was nice being in a place where I could get lost and remain just as content as if I were headed directly toward my destination. The canals and architecture continued fascinating me for some time and even continue to now to a certain extent. I would get lost in the city and wander around until I found a familiar landmark, and the whole time my senses would be bombarded with new sights, smells, sounds, sensations of all sorts. I was excited just to go to a convenience store and look around. I think lots of people feel this way when they're in a completely new surrounding.

Then the months began to drag on a bit. One location can only remain fascinating for so long. When it became repetitious in the schedule of going to classes, doing homework, going grocery shopping, going downtown for the weekend, drinking in a friends room, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, it became almost monotonous. The scenery was still beautiful and I cannot deny that the local area still had some allure to it, but the wow factor of it began to recede. It all became background. After a time, you're doing the same things you would back where you came from, simply in a different language. It's comforting but it the same time things become a bit, well, dull. Joining the onsen club (Senjinkai!) was good for that, as it allowed me to see the local area from a somewhat different perspective (onsen culture tends to cater really toward a Japanese view) but there is only so much that one can do when they're stationary for so long. Eventually you just run out of options.

Traveling was phenomenal. It rekindled what love I had for the country that I was in. The sites I saw reminded me if the history which was my main interest in the culture (surprise surprise, it's not cartoons and video games) and the shrines, temples, and historical areas I visited were beautiful, unique locales that I could never regret having the opportunity to visit. Nara is one of my favorite cities ever and I would go there again if I could. I got to experience a number of places and see plenty of sights, and yes I was in Tokyo. I did plenty of things that I set out to do, and more things I didn't know there were to do.

Unfortunately this made going back to Beppu seem so much more dull in comparison. In between my vacations was just filled with anticipation for the next time I'd be able to travel around.

Thank God I made friends with people to help me through that, though. There were plenty of individuals that made life in the area more bearable, and I hope that at least some of the friendships I've made will have chances to rekindle themselves at later points in life. I know I probably won't see most of the people I met again but I really do send my best wishes out to all of them. It was an international experience and we all benefited from it. We were enriched and enlightened and I wish everyone that I met is successful and happy in the rest of their days. And to those few that I'll meet again, I look forward to it.

And the food. I'll miss the food. I'll have to make it back to the Ramen Stadium someday.

I guess I'd have to say that Japan, as with most places, is probably somewhere better to visit than to live in. I'm of the belief that if you stay in one place too long then that place is just like everywhere else, but anywhere that you simply pass through retains a sort of magic in your mind's eye that doesn't fade with age.

That being said, I don't regret having lived in Japan at all. I regret not bringing more money along so that I would have had the opportunity to do even more things, but I am glad and thankful for the opportunity to have gone. It's something I'll carry with me forever. It was a learning experience in many more ways than the academic sense.

And this blog was enjoyable too, when I bothered to update, and when I bothered to put effort into it.

Thank you to everyone that read it. I sincerely hope that you were at least mildly entertained by the ramblings of a mad man that apparently has enough ego to fill a page about his life almost daily. You whom read this were a part of the journey too, so I hope I didn't make it too unbearable.

This journal is ending now, at least for the time being. The entire purpose of it was to chronicle my adventures in Japan. If I ever travel again (and I hope that I do) then I'll start it back up, ruining any effect that this farewell statement causes.

For the time being, if you care, I'll be arbitrarily updating at this link, so come along and walk the box.

It has an update schedule, but it should probably just be ignored. I mean, it's not like I ever stick to those things anyways.

--Roshi

Delays

2009-08-16T13:51:00.003+09:00

I am bad at this now that I'm back stateside. Lo siento, compadres.

Let's talk about the remainder of the trip.

I was pretty nervous about missing the flight the next morning, so I pretty much didn't sleep. I laid in bed with my eyes open all night and didn't move much, but I was at the most semi conscious. Which was good, because I was attempting to leave the country and I should try to be awake for that.

In the morning I took a taxi to the airport, and thank god I printed out my itinerary because there is no United terminal in Japan, apparently. I was flying through ANA and the cab driver took me directly there.

I cannot be the only person that snickers at their logo.

After waiting in no less than three separate lines to find out I was doing it wrong, an English speaking attendant came to help me out and show me which line I needed to go to. Actually, the entirety of everything that needed to be done was done in English. I was apparently overly anxious for no good reason.

Wait, no, I lied.

Every single one of my flights had an issue.

The first flight was delayed an hour. Then, on top of that, they switched the gate without notice and I was anxious about that. Then there was some pretty bad turbulence on the flight.

The second flight (from Narita to Chicago) was also delayed (only by a few minutes) but then I myself was detained in order to get randomly screened. Yes. The white guy in Japan was "randomly" screened. Wink. The other person getting out of the random screening area was also a foreigner. Just saying.

The flight itself was relatively pleasant for how long it was, and I was sitting next to a woman and her son from Taiwan that lived in Canada, so they were fun conversationalists as well, which was good. Although the kid was really excited that I knew about video games and cartoons. I never thought being a nerd would have a downside (other than being picked last in gym class and having bad luck with women). Although they did show Dragonball Evolution, which is an abomination of a movie if I ever saw one. Worth the money back right there.

The plane had continental breakfast in the form of an omelette, sausage, and hash browns. It was my first taste of AMERICA in a while and it was glorious. Gotta love microwaved breakfast meals.

The flight itself had a lot of turbulence and the seatbelt light was on the entire time. We were allowed to get up and use the bathroom, but were encouraged to remain seated with our seatbelts buckled pretty much the entirety of the rest of the time. Sort of... restrictive, in that sense. And unpleasant.

After landing I had a 5 hour layover in Chicago before heading back home. I was pretty much waived through customs for some reason, which was nice. I wandered around looking for some food, but all the food shops were past security for some reason so I just nabbed some junk food from a newsstand. Then I found the info desk because I heard there were DINOSAURS afoot! Well not really afoot, but there apparently is a brachiosaurus skeleton in the terminal, or at least a recreation. That was also past security.

So I went past security, again needing to be individually checked (I AM APPARENTLY VERY SUSPICIOUS) and then immediately found the skeleton. I was probably looking like a gigantic manchild, but I took a bunch of photos of it with a grin on my face. I am allowed to like dinosaurs. I am a grown man, and a grown man should know what he likes. And dinosaurs are one of those things.

Also pretzels, cause I went and got one of those.

I had plenty of time to kill and there wasn't really a general waiting room, so I sort of wandered. My flight wasn't even listed on the terminal yet being so far ahead of when I arrived, so I found out about a wheel of fortune that you could spin to possibly upgrade your ticket in the next terminal over. I headed there and spun it to win a bottle of water, because I have no actual luck. Then I played around on the moving walkways for a bit and went back to the main terminal to get some actual dinner.

Afterwards I checked the departure schedules again to find out that I was departing from the terminal that I had just left. Literally two gates away from the wheel of fortune. Ah ha... oy. Headed back there and basically waited around until my plane would leave.

Except it had problems refueling. So we were delayed half an hour before take off. And as a result had to wait another half hour in the queue before we could actually take off. And then we hit such bad turbulence that in flight service was cancelled. AND THEN because there was a storm going on we had to wait an extra twenty minutes after landing before they unloaded our baggage.

But I managed to land safe and alive, and in prime condition to forget blogging for a while. My friends met me at the airport and I was discombobulated from not sleeping for three days. I was having difficulty speaking fully in English or completely coherently and kept dipping in and out of consciousness.

But I'm glad to be home.

Oh! Woeful Neglect!

2009-08-14T14:09:00.002+09:00

Gack, I suck. I had intended to update this as soon as I landed. A combination of not having internet immediately, and visiting with people that I haven't seen in forever has delayed that. But, here it is now.

Leaving APU was full of quagmires and troubles. I had a bit more difficulty packing than I had thought I would, and needed to give away a bit more stuff than I had hoped to. Including my umbrella! I had named it Theodore, and it was a pleasant umbrella. It shall be missed. There were gifts and final goodbyes (I gave my neighbor a buffalo figurine, and he gave me a jade good luck bracelet. some kind of unequivalent exchange there, my bad). Also the security woman that checked me out was amusing. She hit her head and dropped stuff and was too short to reach the top of the dresser, so I helped her there. Also I hit my head on something so it was a whole bunch of "sumimasen. daijyoubu?" back and forth, and we were both covered in dust and mussed up hair and clothing by the end of it. Why madame, you're not supposed to act that way with your charges! Oh ho ho.

The way to the bus station was harsh and unforgiving. It was the hottest day we'd had that month and very humid, and the elevators were closed for repairs. Nobody stopped to help until a good halfway to the station, when a Roger from Papua New Guinea stopped and gave me a hand with my baggage. So if you meet him, help him out. I'm sure there's only a few Rogers from Papua New Guinea roaming around, and even if it's the wrong one I'm sure they're nice enough.

I was exhausted from lack of sleep the night before, and slept for most of the bus. There was some movie with I think Sandra Bullock and Al Pacino doing things, but I only caught a good 15 minutes of it in and out of drifting off and looking over my flight itinerary nervously. I also kept thinking about what movie they'd show on the way back to APU, and to make sure I got off at the right stop then not like last time, and I kept having to remind myself that I'm not going back to Beppu. It was a weird feeling.

Once in Fukuoka I dumped the hell out of my heavy baggage. Then I ran as far as I could from it and laughed maniacally to be rid of it. Or I went to go get lunch. Probably that one. One of my requirements for myself was to not eat McDonald's or any fast food while in Fukuoka, so after looking around and finding only expensive restaurants, udon, and takoyaki, I headed to McDonalds and broke that within 20 minutes. I was too hungry to care at the time. I then wasted some time in an arcade to play some games for the last time that we don't have stateside, namely Lord of Vermillion. Only to find out that my account had been cancelled due to lack of use. Buh. Guh. Zuh. FUH! Bah. That sucked and ended those plans, and I just went for a walk and visited some department stores. Wandered out to the Khaosan hostel in order to book a reservation for the next night. Afterward I took the train to Kido Nanzouin to see the world's largest sleeping Buddha! It was closed, but the surrounding area was still open so I wandered around there a bit and took some photos. It was really quite a beautiful area, and the people there were pleasant, which is weird for a town with a big tourist attraction. Most of the people I run into tend to be embittered by having to put up with noisy, irritating tourists all day. I would be too, but the tourist attraction I live next to doesn't really attract attention. After snapping some photos and getting bitten up by plenty of diseased local fauna, I headed back to Fukuoka. Then got some food and headed to the capsule hotel for that night (the hostel was booked all that night). Wikitravel said that the capsule hotel was cheap, but I was lied to! It was a good 50 dollars for my stay. There is a once per year membership fee on top of the room fee for the place.

All in all it was a pretty nice hotel. The rooms were spacious by capsule standards, and the service was friendly. The interior was fancy as well. They also offered in house sexual services on the cheap. 24 dollars, actually. I didn't oblige to sample them, but they were there all the same. I did however go to the roof onsen, which was nice but also not a real onsen, just an ofuro (the difference being that onsen are awesome and ofuro are crap). Still it was open air so that's always pleasant. Also there was a woman in the locker room. Most of the staff were women so it wasn't surprising that the floor attendant be one, but it was surprising that her desk was placed in clear sight of where I was naked. I made sure to keep my American shame covered at all times, which I'm assuming was much to her disappointment. Not that I have an ego, but I'd like to think that I was a pleasant change from the predominately 60 and above domestic customer base. If you're staring at wrinkly old Japanese butt all day, I presume anything is a welcome change.

It was good to get the bath in as Fukuoka was a good 5 degrees C hotter than Beppu had been, and humid to boot. I was sweating like a pig in summertime, and it was gross. To help with matters, the complementary outfits they provided were polyester and refused to breathe, so after the hot bath you just got sweaty again. Oy. Nice planning there. But it was made up for by the tv showing Casino Royale in English, so I was appreciative of that.

The next day I woke up early, then turned my alarm off and woke up late. Late being 10:30 which is still half an hour before check out, but I had wanted to go to the food court before I left and that didn't leave me the time. Ah well. I bet it was expensive anyways. Besides, I had ramen to go eat. I had been given the name of an Ichiran Ramen shoppe, and decided to go look for that. I found a brothel instead because I got lost. The man outside tried to get me to come in, and the prices WERE cheap, but when he asked if I was interested I told him "Yes. Interested in ramen". and he sent me on my way. Little did I know what I was in store for. At the end of the red light district that I had wandered into was Canal Town. This isn't a street of stores or a department building like most things labelled "town" are in Japan. No. It was a complex. A huge cluster of stores and entertainment venues, all inside one gigantic, interconnected structure. There were fountains, smaller canals running through the area, playpens, five stories, and a musical performance in the main central fountain. It was extravagant. After wandering around lost for a bit (and eating some Baskin Robbins) I found perfection in physical form. The fifth floor above the arcade was a place called the Ramen Stadium.

It was glorious.

In its second year, the Ramen Stadium takes competitors from all over Japan, each claiming to be the best ramen in the land. There were 8 stands in total, and a line outside each one. You purchase your ticket and stand in line until a seat opens up. There were souvenirs and everything, and the food was delicious. Easily the best I'd had there. It's a shame I didn't find out about it until my last day there.

Sigh.

Afterward I brought my luggage to the hostel I was staying at. It took half an hour to get to the 10 minute walk away hostel while carrying everything I had, and that was when I decided that maybe I should take a cab to the airport so that I don't end up late to my flight trying to make it there. I left my junk behind and went back out to do some last minute shopping.

After picking up some items that I had promised to people, I decided that it was entirely too hot out (it had raised two more degrees since the day prior) and just went to an internet cafe for three hours. Free drinks, air conditioning, and high speed internet. If I could live at one I would. After enough of that I headed back to the hostel and had some decent conversation with the other people hanging out there, including a girl that apparently went to APU as well that I managed to never meet. Fancy that.

The rest of the night was filled with charging all my electronics for the flight and attempting to get some sleep, which never happened because I was afraid I'd sleep through my flight.

My flight...

Well, I'll talk about that tomorrow. Long story short, I'm not flying United.

New Post!

2009-08-07T02:30:00.002+09:00

So hey.

Sitting here waiting for my laundry to finish so that I can finish packing up, and I figure that I should post another blog.

In a few hours (see: about 10) I'm going to be leaving campus for the last time. The plan is to take the bus to Fukuoka, and stay in Fukuoka for two days. The first day I'm going to TRY to get a hostel reservation, and most likely just inquire into the capsule hotel (which should be a fun bout of claustrophobia). Going to get some delicious ramen at the delicious ramen place, and then head out to some city whose name I forget for the day to look at a giant Buddha statue. Oooo. Then come back to Fukuoka and try not to get robbed, and go to sleep. The next day will be spent all in Fukuoka, and hopefully I'll get to climb the ACROS building this time (the huge building with the maze on it). Then probably just go to an arcade or something, I dunno. I need to buy omiyage still so that'll take up Saturday as well. If I eat McDonald's for any meal that isn't breakfast (cause come on, who ever gets to eat McDonald's breakfasts anyways?) then it'll be a waste of the last two days.

You also might not hear from me for the next few days. Unless I'm in an internet cafe for a night because I can't get a room, then I'll most probably be unable to access the internet until I'm back stateside.

So for that I'm sorry. However, I'll be blogging a few times when I get back. So keep checking until the end of next week.

After that, I'll be updating my other blog over at Walking the Box. I've had enough of the review junk, so it'll be just whatever I feel like. And then also occasional reviews. Hopefully somebody enjoys them, but for what it's worth if I get nothing but negative comments on it I'll cut those out. But for the most part just my idle musings, and if you've stuck around through all of this crap you might as well stop by there every once in a while.

Oh these halcyon days will be over soon. Here's hoping stuff at the airport goes alright.

Just Can't Shake It

2009-08-06T01:14:00.003+09:00

Or sing it, rather.

Today I went downtown for the second to last time in my second to last day in Beppu! Hurrah! Was lots of fun. Hung out with Kohei and Euan at a hotel onsen and karaoke.

The onsen was really really cool. We were on top of a hotel. Like, on the roof. I didn't know they made those even. And there was a nice, light rain going on as well, so it was a good mixed medium sitting in the hot onsen. It was a good view sitting there chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool while watching the beach, the bay, and the mountains. We were there a bit longer than I had a need, but considering it was an expensive onsen that we got into for free, I'm not going to be complaining.

Afterward was karaoke. For three hours. Yeah. But really, you haven't lived until you've heard your foreign friends butcher the execution of classic Western music. It's perfectly alright, though, cause I went up and butchered a few of their songs too (name Setsunarensa, Makafushigi Adventure, and Real Folk Blues). Proud of that. It ended up being a lot more fun than you'd expect three hours of karaoke to be, so hey why not.

Then we parted ways so I could get something to eat (you know, for the first time today. At 7pm.) and I chose ramen,like I usually do. So good. And then afterwards, Starbucks, which is insane to hear coming from me, I know. Wait, probably not that insane. I don't think I'm one of those corporate conspiracy types, I just really don't like coffee. However, they have this "lemon green tea frappuccino" there that I was debating not coming home because of, until it dawned on me that it tasted exactly like green tea SoBe.

When is the last time I had SoBe? When is the last time YOU had SoBe? They still make it, right?

One more thing to do when I come home.

Sunday.

FOUR DAYS, PEOPLE.

Wow.

Knock knock

2009-08-05T01:21:00.002+09:00

So I go to bed at 5 am, like I often do when I don't have classes. And I figure hey, I'll sleep in until noon, like I often do every day of the week. And my plans were foiled, as Japan and most schools often do.

It was about 10:30 and I got a knock on my door. Now normally, I can get that and go right back to sleep. In this case, however, it was the security office doing a room inspection before I left. Oh. Joy. So I had to stay up until they finished inspecting my room. Augh.

Today was more cleaning. That's basically all I've got left. I need to clean out my room, and ensure that it's ready for me to leave when I need to. Another two garbage bags full of junk left today, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be done with the rest of it. Then I think I'll pre-emptively pack everything I can (just to be on the safe side) and throw out/give away whatever is left. Should be...well... whatever the opposite of fun is.

To compensate for that un-fun, I'm going out with some friends that are mysteriously still on campus. And by that I mean Senjinkai members. Hurrah! We're going to an onsen tomorrow (Oh boy!) and then going to karaoke. It'll be the most Japanese day I've had in a long while. Should be...fun? We'll see. I haven't been to karaoke in forever, so I should enjoy singing off key to a crowd of people that don't understand what I'm saying anyways.

Hurrah!

U G L Y YOU AIN'T GOT NO ALIBI

2009-08-04T01:50:00.003+09:00

So today was cleaning day, because my room was hideous.

HIDEOUS.

I am not using that word lightly. I had three trash bags full of crap that I could throw out, and it took 15 minutes to vacuum the place clean. I can reach any part of the room in three steps. 15 minutes. Yeah. I found some candy (that was within the realm of edibility), some stickers I had forgotten about, some long expired very useful coupons, and bus tickets that I would have liked to know I had lying around before I bought some yesterday. Also an US 20 dollar bill, not sure where that came from, but hey, 20 dollars. Nice.

I had both hash browns and pizza today, and that was grand. Unfortunately I remembered after the pizza had been cooked that I also had bacon lying around, so I didn't get the chance to make bacon pizza. Sigh.

Everything does look a lot... less, now. Which is a good thing, because now it looks like my possessions will actually fit inside my luggage. I still have some more cleaning to do, but I made enough progress today that tomorrow should be a breeze. Go downtown with those free tickets I found and try to sell some of the stuff to Book OFF. Anything they don't want I'll just sell back/give to my friends.

Also hung out with Fanxing in the first time since... well... forever. The last time we hung out was in the lobby after Michael Jackson died (which I only remember because he kept asking me about the guy). So that was nice, I feel bad about not seeing him much this semester.

We watched Philadelphia. I'm one of those incompetents that never hears about apparently classic films that I should know about, so I went into this one blind. Oh... oh God..... I think I'm heartbroken now. Good movie.

And I'm outta soda. Maurice, fetch me another C.C. Lemon! Stat!

Chug a lug.

Apparently

2009-08-03T04:18:00.002+09:00

I'm trying to reset my internal clock to be on American time already. Seriously, sleep all day and be up all night? That sounds about right as an excuse.

So today (well, yesterday now I supposed) I woke up early so that my friend and I could go to the Kihokan. The Kihokan is the Beppu Sex Museum. We weere expecting it to be a legit museum, but it was in all honesty pretty raunchy.

So much so in fact, that I'm not posting the pictures here, or at least most of them. I'd have to set the blog to a mature filter. And because my mother checks the photobucket account frequently, I created an entirely alternate photobucket just to upload the pictures to, and I'll link that here.

Okay, so it's sort of a lie. There were some actual exhibits. There were plenty of idols, symbols, and statues that were worshipped in ancient times as sexual deities and for fertility and the like, and these were on display on the first floor. So there were statues of Buddha (Siddharta Gautama, not fat Buddha) making love to women, as well as just idols with oversized genitalia. Or, rocks in phallic shapes. PLENTY of those.

There was also a mini shrine with giant wooden dongs in it from the penis festival in Japan. Yes, that's a real thing. It's basically a celebration of fertility and sexuality, and they ride giant logs carved to look like penises through town, carried on the shoulders of their drunken fellows. Sounds like good fun. The mini shrine also had a tribute box and prayer incense, so I tossed a good 20 yen in there. You know, just to stay on the penis god's good side.

There were also old wood block art prints of depictions of sexual scenes, some of them more tasteful than others. The pride of the museum was a series of samurai and geisha that is apparently pretty old, so good for them.

That's pretty much where the actual museum related stuff ends. The rest of the exhibits were real dolls in sexy poses, a porn theater, a bucking saddle, a display where you can stick your hand into a hole and feel a fake breast, and things along those lines.

There was a real doll that was rigged up to appear like it was urinating for your viewing pleasure (you sick monsters), but that pales in my opinion to the wasx sculpture orgy scene of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The wicked witch had a penis for a nose, if you can't tell by the pictures. Yeah. . .

So after spending time there, we left. And directly across the way we found a pet shrine, with Buddha holding a cat and dog. For some reason. So I paid tribute to that, and we walked along to Sukiya to get some delicious gyuudon. It was really good. Like, really.

Anyways, that was the end of that. We came back soon after that and I was exhausted so I took a nap. And the nap turned into legit sleep, so I wound up waking up late. And now the blog is late here, hurrah!

Ah well.

The pictures for the sex museum can be found at this link and the pictures from Usuki will be up STILL later. Sorry for the delay.

Tomorrow is cleaning day, so no exciting blog, but I think I'll be going to karaoke and onsen the day after so... so that probably won't be exciting either really.

Ah well.

Usukieah

2009-08-02T00:49:00.002+09:00

No, YOU sucky. Oh wait that's not how it's pronounced, my bad.

So I ended up going to Usuki instead of Usa. I was told by google that it was cheaper, but I later found out by reading the prices at the station that it wasn't. Ah well.

The place was really nice. It's a very small town. Or rather, it's deceptively small. Every inch of it feels like a small town, but it's actually a pretty expansive building, just one with no buildings over two stories.

The city houses a plethora of stone Buddha statues, carved into the side of a mountain. Some of them are damaged, most of them are restored, but they're all still pretty cool. There is a main one that is about three times the size of all the other ones. The huge Buddha in Nara is still uncontested, but it's nice to see that other people gave it a shot as well, why not.

The city had a sort of odd atmosphere to it being a foreigner. Everybody stared at me. Everyone. There were white tourists I saw when I was coming into the city, but I'm pretty sure they hit the Buddha's and came back and that was the end of their stay there. I decided I'd walk back to the station. Well, rather less decided and more I missed the bus. Shut up.

It was a deceptively long walk. You couldn't tell by looking at the map. It illustrated two blocks, then a short block and a bridge. In actuality these were residential clumps, not blocks, so that short jog turned into a three hour long walk through the city. It was nice and I got to see some of the sights and run into people (people kept either greeting me or glaring at me like I was a trespasser) so that was interesting. Also go lost twice, in the aspect that I thought to myself "I'VE BEEN WALKING FOREVER. IF I TURN HERE I'LL GET THERE EVENTUALLY" and then needing to turn around 8 blocks into that attempt. Not so fun.

But the trip did end with some ice cream, and the train rides back were pleasant at least. I got some good pictures and some videos too (of rocks yay!) so I'll try to upload those tomorrow.

As for now, I am exhausted. I didn't sleep last night, and I half dozed off twice writing this. So pictures tomorrow, tonight sleep.

7 Things I Like About You (Japan)

2009-08-01T02:35:00.003+09:00

Part 2 of a two part series. In this shocking chapter, Mary Lou is discovered to be going steady with Fragnart, that bad orc raider from the other side of the tracks!

1. The food - Okay, well, not all of it. Japanese adaptations of Western food tends to be absolutely horrid. But there are Japanese dishes that are themselves fantastic that I'm going to miss. I'm the self-appointed Ramen King for a reason. I absolutely love the stuff, and I doubt that I'll be able to get anything as good back home. Tonkatsu is similarly delicious, as well as any type of curry or donburi. Takoyaki is alright if I must as well, and sashimi when I feel like it. But ramen reigns supreme.

2. Arcades - Stateside, you're hard pressed to find an arcade that isn't dead, or even one that doesn't exist attached to a movie theater or mini golf. They simply aren't profitable. Either that or people don't think they will be so they're not invested in. The arcade culture is thriving and alive in Japan. Kids will go after school to hang out there, and the hardcore elite will go there to battle each other. The prizes are great in the machines (but that much harder to win) and it's a great way to pass the time waiting for the bus or just for the hell of it. I'm going to miss my Lord of Vermillion when I come back.

3. Culture - By culture I mean more the cultural history, and the fact that it exists. You can find women walking around in kimonos, sumos touring the cities, random traditional festivals, shrines, regional food, and local folklore, pretty much anywhere in Japan that is smaller than Tokyo. It's really nice especially in the smaller towns, where you can get a feeling of a place that's evolved with its traditions over time. You're hard pressed to find that in the US. We don't have traditional garb, all our holidays are historic, not cultural, and all of our cultural history centers around trying to awkwardly honor those people that we've subjugated. Oh, and war.

4. Security - It's an odd sensation, not needing to worry about anything. I've had multiple friends lose multiple wallets, and they've all gotten them back completely intact, and one of them even had a note in it saying "I am sorry you lost your wallet. It must have been stressful looking for it and I hope having it returned puts you in good spirits". Seriously. And things just won't get stolen, either. If you leave a bag somewhere unattended then go to the bathroom and come out and it's missing, that's because somebody brought it to lost and found. Granted there is a large sexual harrassment problem in Japan, but at the very least it tends not to be rape. Oddly enough it tends to be highly, umm... flashing. Not sure what the big thing with that is, but I guess it's popular. There is some awkward touching in crowded areas, but in a lesser of two evils sense it's not being unconscious in an alleyway. Hell, it's happened to me, so, take that as you will. Maybe it really is just saying hello.

5. Television - The television is as awful as it is fantastic. 90 percent of the things on it are awful, awful game shows. Not even funny awful, just bad. But it's that 10 percent left that makes up for it. There are the animes for dorks like me, and I'm okay with admitting to that. But then there is the rare game/variety show that just makes all the other ones worthwhile. Like the woman that lived with a monkey for a month that was trained to slap her. Or "ESCAPE!", a show where a bunch of out of shape people are set loose in an enclosed section of Odaiba city while agents in suits chase them around, as the people try to find people in animal costumes that are similarly wandering around to retrieve objects from them so that they can complete the scavenger hunt. I don't even know how somebody arrives at that concept for a game show, but I'm glad that they did.

6. Did I mention ramen? I did? Oh... Alright, the landscape then. - Japan, for the most part, tends to be gorgeous. It's full of a stark contrast of climates. Beppu alone has palm trees, pine trees, and bamboo all coexisting in relatively the same areas. There tend to be mountains everywhere, streams and waterfalls on the sides of roads, interesting rock structures, and well preserved areas of forest near shrines. Even the cities tend to have interesting looking buildings to compensate for the otherwise lack of scenery. I'll miss riding the bus down the side of the mountain through the forests on the side of the cliff as I watch the city draw closer.

7. Engrish - I will never not love Engrish. The weird half attempts at speaking or writing English, with awkward translations and plenty of misspellings. It never. gets. old. Or maybe I'm just a juvenile for being able to laugh at seeing an "Erectronics" sign no matter how many times it comes up *snicker*. As an aside to that, there is also a weird hybridization of cultures. America tends to blend them all into AMERICAN culture. Japan kind of... accessorizes them. It'll take a kappa and add a sombrero and mustache on it for a Mexican restaurant, and this will be wedged in between a traditional Japanese restaurant and a fancy looking McDonald's that has Captain America emblazoned on it for no particular reason.

But wait, that's not all! A bonus that I forgot from yesterday.

7-2. Smoking - I hate, hate, HATE, the smoking culture here. It is an aspect of the culture itself. Pretty much everyone does it, and places where smoking is banned it's not really enforced. It's the reverse of the transition in the states. When we were transitioning and there were smaller and smaller partitions for smokers, it's the non-smokers that get packed away into the corner. Japan passed a Clean Air Health Act last year that aims to decrease public smoking, but for the most part it's essentially ineffective. It's cool to smoke here and people won't stop doing it, entirely for that reason. It's so ingrained that if you decline a cigarette from somebody they'll ask you when you quit instead of just figuring you don't smoke. And me whining here with my asthma. Cough. Wheeze. Hack.

And that's all, folks. This is Three Dog! live from the Capital Waste- right. Going to Usa tomorrow if things go according to plan. Hopefully I'll have some nice pics.

The 7 Things I Hate About You (Japan)

2009-07-31T01:37:00.002+09:00

/Intiate copout routine alpha gamma sigma.
/
/
/Hello world!

I figure I've only got a few days left here, so what isn't spent saying tearful goodbyes is spent packing and preparing to leave. When I do manage to travel I'll blog about that, but mostly it's just filler blog.

So here's a list of seven things that I just never managed to get over in my stay in Japan.

1. The ATMs close - This should be self explanatory, but I'll emphasize. The ATM's for the most part are only open from 8/10 am-6pm, depending on the company running it. On a busy day, or a day where you're just being too lazy, this can ensure that you never reach it in time. It also creates that dead period in the evening where there is no way to get money if you spend more than you intended, and it will leave you running around bored out of your mind unless your friends are generous enough to loan you some cash. This has happened enough times to be a severe irritant, and I think when I come home I'm only going to withdraw money at 1am for a whole month just to feel alive. Or something.

2. Walking - This is not in the sense that you need to walk anywhere. I don't mind that, and bicycles, trains, and buses are also an option so you don't need to walk everywhere if you don't feel like it. It's the fact that people here seem to have no sense of spatial awareness when they're navigating on foot. Cell phones are the most important aspect of the life of a Japanese teen, and they'll stand around blocking passageways as they send e-mails, take photos, or attach a string to it and pretend it's a yoyo. Anything to not move out of the way. There also seems to be no code of conduct for walking around. If you don't move out of the way people will actually just walk right into you and then give you a shocked look, instead of moving themselves. Then on the complete flipside of the coin they'll get upset waiting for you to cross their path and motion angrily as they stand in place. I've seen Japanese students push other students out of their path as they walk (especially guys pushing girls) and it's not a one time occurence. There is also the fact that the flow of traffic is different regionally all over Japan. In Tokyo it's on the left, but in the Kansai region it's on the right, and it switches wherever you go. So Japan being as small as it is, that ensures that there are tons of people from all over Japan all in the same places frequently, which obfuscates the flow of traffic wherever you are. Hurrah!

3. Irashaimase! - The politeness. UGH. This might just be a personal thing, but I cannot stand how "polite" everyone here is. It's a superficial business polite but it's everyone. Classmates are polite, teachers are polite, store and construction workers are polite, it's aggravating. It's almots a hivemind. People will shout "irashaimase!" (welcome) in unison the second you walk into a store, and every time you pass them. Clerks will apologize repeatedly for taking too long with whatever they're doing for you, despite the fact that this makes it take longer, or even if it didn't take long. It's such a cold, rote, etiquette that it gets under my skin. I've been telling people that I can't wait to get back to Buffalo where people will be rude to me.

4. Beauracracy - You know how you hate going to the DMV, because it takes forever, and by the time you get to the end of the line you find out that you filled out the forms wrong, and/or in the wrong order, and instead of just letting you correct it you need to start all over again? Well all of Japan is like that. For example, it took me four hours when I needed to get a cell phone. This involved them copying down my bank number, me paying for it, and them activating it. Which took four hours.

5. Amazing Gaijin Prowess! - Every time you do something that Japanese and/or other East Asian people do in their everyday lives, it absolutely floors them. You can use chopsticks? HOLY SHIT you must be some sort of gifted super child. You know how to say thank you in Japanese? The miracles never cease! Basically anything that you could learn from eating Asian food in America they wouldn't expect you to be capable of for some reason.

6. Oshare or death! - Fashion is the lifeblood of young Japanese people. The majority of them would rather be dead than not look good. This includes the men, or what would be men if there were any of them left in Japan. The day I saw a Japanese guy in a public restroom with a fold-out make-up and hair studio that he pulled from his studded leather man purse is the day I realized Japanese masculinity is an endangered concept. One of my friends was riding his motorbike to school in a sleeveless shirt, a light, open jacket, jean, and shoes with no socks in the middle of winter. I asked him why he didn't dress warmer cause he looked like he was freezing his balls off, and his response was that he wouldn't look cool then. GAH.

7. Japanese School - You've probably heard of cram schools. A school after school for those that want to excel. They have those in Japan, and it's a frequent occurence to attend them, probably to compensate for the lack of education in regular school. The fact that so many kids attend them just to pass their normal classes means either the standards are too high, or the teachers aren't teaching properly, and from my time here I can tell you it's definitely not the standards. Pretty much anything taught in class is done so directly from the textbook with no outside thought. Things are not explained in depth and sometimes they aren't explained at all. There is an emphasis on groupwork because Japan is a society based on the concept of teamwork. Unfortunately, the emphasis toward that prevents any actual learning progress from taking place in the classroom, so what you should have learned in class instead needs to be studied by yourself on your own time. But who would want to study more after you've already been in class for 6 hours and didn't learn anything, or in the case of cram school students that have been in class for 10 hours, now with double the homework load, in addition to studying what should have been covered in class. Pretty well off, isn't it?

And that's all she wrote. Tomorrow we'll see if I can scrounge up 7 things I liked.
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I don't want to set the world on fire

2009-07-30T03:09:00.002+09:00

I just want to start a flame in your heart.

So yes, past few days I have been absent from the blog. Apologies, but it was final exams and the first day of vacation, so it's been nice.

Aside from studying, taking exams, playing Fallout 3, and awkward last suppers with departing friends, not much has been going on worth mentioning.

I did, yesterday, hang out with a group of Japanese highschool girls. It's not as creepy as all that, I promise. My friends were leading a tour group and asked me to help them out and talk to them, because apparently they were on campus to practice their English. It was far more amusing than it should have been, because the three of us could say whatever we wanted as long as we said it at native spead and the girls had absolutely no idea what we said, but would nod and laugh at things regardless. Oh ho ho. Also we taught them LOVE AND PEACE , "Sugar Daddy", and my one friend tried to convince them that otakus are the coolest people in the world (otaku meaning super loser geeklings, for you uninitiated). Also they said my facial hair was "kakkoi (cool)" so I guess that's a good thing. And one of them asked me how often I need to shave. Apparently there is a word for razor that is "nori". Nori also means seaweed paper. So when she asked me I got really confused and thought she was asking if I applied seaweed paper to my face.

Oh language barriers. You are ever so amusing.

One of the guys on the floor wants us to go downtown as a last farewell tomorrow. I need to cancel my phone tomorrow so hopefully I somehow can meet up with them after that. Otherwise I'll end up missing out, and that would be upsetting.

After that, I think maybe this weekend I'll go to Yufuin with a friend or two if any are left. Then I plan on hitting the train station a couple of times and going as far as 500 yen will take me, just to see random cities for the hell of it. Then I'm pretty much out of time. I mean really, I have 7 days left in the city before I go to Fukuoka. So things are kind of rushed. Phooey on the semester lasting this long, but I guess if it had ended earlier I would have rushed home for Canal Fest like a fool.

Ah well, there's always next year's souvlaki.

Tabesugimashita...

2009-07-27T02:34:00.002+09:00

The barbecue was today!

It was a lot of fun.

We went to the train station at about noon and rode to Oita, from where Shingo picked us up and drove us to his parents' house. And there was a pile of food on the grill there for us. Also, the barbecue was apparently a small party. There were the three of us, Shingo's parents, his sister, and a few of his dad's friends and their wives.

The food was really good (aside from the arbitrary shellfish. Apparently it's expensive and I felt bad for not liking it, but not bad enough to eat more) but they kept insisting we ate more. And more. And more. My jaw hurt from chewing and my stomach was more than full, but they insisted "You can eat more. Your stomach only 1/3 full." I'm not sure what kind of alien logic they were running on, but it was definitely about 4/3 full at that point. And on top of that we had to politely not refuse dessert.

So basically, you go to a Japanese person's house, you're going to get fed. And there is absolutely no way out of it.

The people there were friendly and asked the usual set of questions. I also learned that dragonfly is tanbo and that the weather is unseasonably hot and wet so that's why there are so many of them all of a sudden. Also there is a Canon factory and a Toshiba factory in the city, which was apparently important to point out to me. Go figure.

Afterwards we got back to Beppu and the remnants of last night's festival (which I did not attend because it wasn't advertised on campus for some reason) were still around. Lots of people in traditional garb which is always exciting. The girls always look especially pretty in their kimonos, and I really wish I had a guy's yukata cause they look comfy. There were food vendors around still but that was about it aside from the fireworks later that night, but I've seen fireworks before and that's not big.

Besides, I still had this paper to finish!

So I came back, and finished my paper oh... not too long ago. So that's just barely done, and I submitted it online. Studying Japanese right now for the exam part 1 tomorrow, and the exam part 2 is the day after. Chances are that I'll skip a blog tomorrow to get some extra studying in, so here's your heads up.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm still digesting.

No blog today

2009-07-26T03:45:00.002+09:00

I'm busy writing my term paper. And even then, the excuse for no blog is late! As is my custom.

Instead enjoy these Vanessa Carlton lyrics. Or you know, you can close the page at this point.

Some people live in a house on the hill
And wish they were some place else
There's nobody there
When the evening is still
Secrets with no one to tell

Some I have known have a ship where they sleep with sounds of rocks on the coast
They sail over oceans five fathoms deep
But can't find what they want the most

Even now when I'm alone
I've always known with you
I am home

Some live in towns
Cardboard shack on concrete
All bluster and bustling life
They search for the color they can never quite see
Cause it's all white on white

Even now when I'm alone
I've always known with you
I am home
[repeat]

For me it's a glance and the smile on your face the touch of your hands,
And an honest embrace
For where I lay it's you I keep,
This changing world I fall asleep
With you all I know is I'm coming home,
Coming home

Milky Way

2009-07-25T01:51:00.002+09:00

It's sixty thousand trillion miles from one end to the other, you know.

Yeah, I'm listening to music from Animaniacs. Wanna make somethin of it?

So today was... weird. The last day of classes, woo. I showed up late because I couldn't find my textbook. I decided that I had left it in class the day before and would need to go to the security office in order to get it if somebody turned it in. Turns out one of the girls in the class saw that I left it behind and handed it to me when I walked in. Thank you Yoyo-san.

Also, the teacher was a callous wench today. She tossed my papers at me when she had stuff to hand back, refused to look at me or comment on my stuff (we were doing a board activity. AGAIN) and she didn't even call on me to answer anything (that part I kinda liked). Honestly, it's one thing for a kid to be rude to their teacher (which I wasn't. I disliked her but she's still my professor, ya know?) but there is something about being a professor that ensures that you act with a certain amount of dignity. Chrissakes woman.

Guess I should ace the final exam to show her up or something.

Also got a call from the guy running the job the other day. He can't pick us up so we need to take the train there. It's a fifteen dollar train ride. We're going to pick up our paychecks. The paycheck is only for 60 dollars. The train ride is 15 dollars each way.

Wow, how generous of them! Argh...

I also got bored of being on campus and went for a walk. And then I kept walking. And then decided to go walk down the mountain, cause I haven't done that since last semester.

So I walked.

And walked.

And walked...

And remembered how long of a walk it is.

And then I got attacked by a GIANT HORNET!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Then I ran the rest of the way down the mountain. Those things are huge, mate.

Also picked up enough groceries to last me til I leave so... that's covered.

Which is about 15 days from now, actually. So, hurrah!

Also as an aside: Sorry this blog hasn't been as exciting as it was at first. When I got here everything was fresh and new and wacky, but now that I've been here for a year things just... don't stand out as much. The scenery is still beautiful from campus, Japanese people still can't use English properly, and there are things at the store like banana protectors and breast enhancing juice drinks. But at this point I've shared enough strange foods and merchandises and complained about the brutality of 母 Nature. When unusual things crop up I try to put them in here but really . . . You live in one place long enough and it's the same as living in any other place long enough.

That's why I like traveling. Traveling allows you to see everything around you with fresh eyes. To the person that lives there that's just the am pm convenience store, but to you that's the am pm in Tokyo where you ate a pizza bun with your friends on the way back from Akihabara. That's not just some temple you pass every day on the way to work, that's a piece of culture foreign, unique, beautiful and interesting apart from the culture you come from.

I feel a need to make a distinction between "traveling" and "tourism" as well. A traveler sees everything around them. A tourist looks at them.

That's all I got for tonight. Thanks for keeping up with my crappy blog that never updated on time, was rarely interesting to read, but had some decent pictures.

Hold in there for a few more updates. The trip is almost over, and the best part is coming home, which is coming up. Countdown on the right.

Reverse the Polarity!

2009-07-24T01:00:00.002+09:00

Then shoot right through their shields!

Today was the second to last day of class, which means tomorrow is the last day. Which means that Monday and Tuesday are the final exams, which means I will be HAPPY FOREVER.

Except today's class was lame, as it was all "group competition" charades crap. Which is never fun in class. And then the teacher made us fill out these sort of "friendship cards" where we have to write (in Japanese) memories and well wishes toward our classmates. Individually. It's irritating because I am friends with a good one person in that class, and the teacher is going around and checking them to make sure we're writing enough. Augh.

I got in and wrote a bad review of the class and the teacher on the evaluation, and included in the additional comments section that APU needs to rethink it's curriculum, so that's about the best I can do.

Other than that! Played Fallout 3 until it crashed then realized the time. As a result, missed kitchen duty, but considering nobody actually, you know, came knocking on my door (Which is lame cause the person I had it with is my neighbor) and the RA's take responsibility to make sure you're there, and it's pretty much the last week of school... I'm really not all that concerned.

Also took down the pop can wall in my room. I passed it off as a decoration, and actually now that it's gone the room does feel a lot emptier, which is strange but I guess I'd grown accustomed to it being there. Ah well.

Not so much looking forward to class tomorrow, but not much you can do about that. Also need to spend Saturday writing the paper for my other class, but after all that I'll be done.

Then it's wasting time here, and heading to Fukuoka. Speaking of which I looked into booking a room and there are only availabilities for the second day I'm there. Debating either just staying in an internet cafe again, or taking the train to some random town and staying there for the night. I already put my moving out forms in, so all I know is I gotta be out by the 7th. Should be fun.

If anyone can think of anything Japanese to do before I leave the country, gimme a shout and I'll see what I can do about it.

Therapeutic Crushing

2009-07-23T00:22:00.003+09:00

Sorry about the lack of updates. Some such things put me into a mood foul enough to go destroy Tokyo.

You can't tell from this angle, but I'm actually on a saddle on his back.

Today was a goosfraba day.

Slept in late, which is always nice. Everyone like that.

Then I got me some lunch (Mmm-mm nanbread pizza) and hopped on the bus down to Kannawa. Found myself in the most expensive onsen that I could give (hint: They don't really get higher than 500 yen. So it's totally affordable) and was in there for a good while. I actually only intended to be in there for a good 20 minutes, but I couldn't bring a watch in with me. So I'd try counting it off in my head, but then I'd sort of drift off cause of the heat, start floating in the hot water and... and... then I'd lose track of where I was and start counting all over again. By the time I got out I had been in there for an extremely relaxing hour and a half by myself. Everything about me feels better and I wonder why I don't go to the onsen more often.

After that I walked across town to a tonkatsu restaurant, because I thought to myself "Kyle, you haven't had any real tonkatsu since you got here, just the crap in the cafeteria." and I knew I was right, so I figured I'd try it out. It was expensive, a good 1200 yen for a medium roast katsu with rice and miso soup. I could've gotten an almost unfinishable MEGA bowl of cheese gyuudon for 700 yen at Sukiya where I had almost stopped in (note: I normally get the 500 yen medium sized bowl, so yeah. . .) but it was really, REALLY good so I was glad I got it at least once before I left. Still, I'll stick to getting my katsu in curry form for the fact that it's cheaper that way (no I don't know why).

Because I wasn't done pampering myself I went to Baskin Robbins (although it's called 31 here) and got a fruit smoothie, then bought a new shirt at Uniqlo. Then I came home and got kitchen duty switched to tomorrow, cause I'm cool like that.

So all in all, a damn good day I'd say.

Since I haven't been updating, I might as well mention that this weekend was pretty good as well. Jason came in on Saturday and the first thing we did was bitch about the heat. Then I told him to meet us at the Daiso, figuring that he lived here for a good 6 months before, so he should know where it was. We went there looking for him and he was nowhere to be found, so I bought a candy filled samurai sword and we went looking for him. He was on the next block at McDonald's sitting in the window and told me I'm an idiot because there was no Daiso around there. Yeah... except for the one a block away. Smooth move, jackass (I hope you're reading this so you can relive it. AGAIN). So the ramen was delicious when we got around to eating it, and then at my insistence we went to go look at PUPPIES.

Believe it or not that was the smartest idea I've ever had.

At the place that they keep the puppies, we ran into people that we knew that were glad to see Jason while he was visiting, as well as Marcelo, whom contacted Sjors, whom was hanging out with some of his friends from Holland, whom we met up with, and then followed to Gusto and had dessert and hung out for a bit for the rest of the night.

It was pretty fun.

The following days Jason was here were spent distracting him from the paper that he needed to write by playing video games, and then playing more video games. Because what better thing to do with people that you haven't seen in months than sit in front of the idiot box beating each other up in virtual world, amirite?

Yaaaaaaaaay.

This is your Sunday Night Broadcast

2009-07-20T01:07:00.002+09:00

Clear skies and high temperatures for the rest of the week, possibly breaking into a thunderstorm the following weekend. Piles of work on the horizon with little to no breaks between them, followed by some brief exams coming in with the cold front the following week.

In local news, Roshi has been exhausted from work, but his friend visiting has been fun this weekend. However it's cut into study and homework time, so he's a bit agitated about that but at the same time relieved to be doing things.

More details at 11.

(By at 11 I mean tomorrow and probably sometime after noon like normal).

mini celebration

2009-07-18T00:32:00.002+09:00

Hey blog number 250! I like the number so I thought I'd point it out. This also goes to show how many I've missed. There are 365 days in a year, and I left on September 20th last year. September 20th is 64 days from now. So 250 plus 64 is 314. So essentially I'm....52 blogs short?

That can't be right. Someone check my math.

Ah well. . .

It seems as though the cafeteria has taken it upon itself to scrounge the backs of the freezer and sell us expired food. Nothing has tasted right from there this entire week, and I didn't buy enough food to last for the week (when tacos are your priority, nothing else matters) so that was more or less an unpleasant change of circumstances. Pacific Cafe still has decent stuff, but as tomorrow is el Sabado, I will have no mas, porque es closéd.

Jason IS coming in tomorrow. He arrives at 4:30 and then we're going to get ramen and wander around Beppu, so should be fun. I also have my part of the presentation due tomorrow night so... so really I should be working on that.

I think I'll go do that....

4 days of classes, 2 days of exams, and I'm done. Gonna be so nice.

SKITTLES TASTE THE RAINBOW

2009-07-17T00:54:00.002+09:00

You know, I have not had Skittles since I got here. I love Skittles. I wonder if I can find an import store that sells them...

Today was:
Class
Wander
Group work
Study
Blah.

The group work was mostly assigning roles for the presentation. I'm stuck doing everything Metal Gear Solid related, armed with having played the first game and using Wikipedia. So, this should be interesting. Also need to look into finishing up my own paper, so I should get that going too.

As far as class goes, the teacher moved the Kanji quiz from today to tomorrow, so I can't skip class and work on crap all day like I was planning to. B'awww.... ah well.

Plans might change this weekend as well. Jason apparently was a sick jerk and decided he might stay back in Kyoto and not come down til NEXT week. During exam week. When we'll all ignore him to study for finals.

So, you know, he's got this planned out pretty well.

I realized that I've been here a year and haven't sent postcards home. I think I should do that soon, and arrive at the same time as them. For novelty's sake more than anything. I like mail, but it's just so much effort...

Also selling my worldly possessions before I leave is proving harder than I thought. It'd be nice to have some money...

That's all. Back to ~~playing video games~~ studying.

GTFO

2009-07-16T00:41:00.003+09:00

Yaaaay pre departure guidance yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

It was boring.

I showed up late cause it was early on my day off, and I didn't miss anything. Then there was a good hour straight of nothing happening but them asking the students to come on stage and share their experiences. I tried to get out of it, but Sjors is a dick and called me up after him. So I announced on stage that Sjors was a dick, which was probably unprofessional but meh. The food was actually pretty good for once. They usually have the same three bland dishes at these events, but they had nanbread pizza and two types of kara age there, so that was really nice. Plus rolls, and I love rolls, and these were pretty good, so hey, nice.

I found out from it tha I need to pay my library fees or I don't get my transcripts sent back home. So I went and paid those off, which was an irritatingly complicated process that had more steps than "Give librarian the money". Come on Japan, really? Anyways that means I'll stop getting overdue notices for the book I took out in November, so that's good at least.

Going to the library also let me run into Bolor which was cool cause I haven't seen her in a while yay. She reiterated our discovery that the erotic performance theatre had closed down and asked to be invited on any other sexy excursions that we were planning, so if that happens then it happens. I still need to get to the sex museum, so maybe we can get that going on.

I also looked into Antarctica.

As in, getting a job there.

I know, that sounds crazy. But they need people down there in pretty much every position, so I figure it's something to look into for after I graduate. They got everything from maintenance staff, to researchers to writers. All of it has free room and board and transport, in exchange for the fact that weather conditions ensure that it's dangerous to go outside roughly 5-7 days a week, so that should be fun. But they also have hiking excursions and such so you don't get cabin fever, so that would be nice. And I love the ice and snow, and I don't mind cold weather (although I guess there is a difference between 'not minding' and -89 degrees F), so this could be a good idea for me. More info here if you're interested.

That really makes it sound like I'm growing up, thinking about my future and all that, doesn't it?

To assure you otherwise, I've also made plans for supervillainy and conquest.

This is a map of the claimed regions of Antarctica. It's actually nine different countries, but I overlapped the maps because I have that kind of time on my hands so why not?

The unclaimed portion is mine, or ours if you join my service. That's right, I'm going to establish a kingdom. We're going to go in on the short at the unclaimed side and trek in a bit. Survey the land, and find a nice area to set up fortifications, and preferably a modern day castle. From there we'll bring in military fortifications, and demand the surrender of the rest of the continent. The continent is inhabited primarily by researchers and tourist agencies, so the odds of them being heavily armed are slim to none. Should be slim pickins.

From that point on we'll use the continent as a base of operations and build technologies in an attempt to create something that would be capable of melting the majority of Antarctica, which would flood great portions of the continents. Unless the world submits to MY REIGN AND MY REIGN ALONE.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

And I probably jumped straight past the FBI watchlist and made it on the UN one.

Choice.

Wrench in the Plans

2009-07-15T01:19:00.002+09:00

Damn you everything else! Damn you to hell!

So I had intended to go downtown today after classes.

Then I remembered "OH CRAP WE HAVE THE GROUP PROJECT TO WORK ON TODAY" so I couldn't do that. So I figured I'd do that tomorrow.

BUT THEN I got an e-mail from Funaki-san reminding us about the mandatory pre-departure meeting tomorrow, so I can't skip that.

So I'll just go THURSDAY after classes.

BUT WAIT. At about 6:30 I get a call saying that the group meet up was cancelled and we're moving it to Thursday. But at this point the ATM is closed so I can't get money to go downtown, so I'm stuck on campus anyways. Today, tomorrow, and the day after. Hokay. Friday, maybe? Nah, we'll need that for more group work.

Alright, well at least I got Saturday to look forward to the hiking expedition!

But wait, there's more! Jason comes in this weekend, and he intends on hanging out with us for the weekend and then go apartment hunting during the weekdays while we're in classes. So hiking has been postponed another week or two!

I don't... I don't even know anymore....

But hey, friends coming to visit will be good at least, so that's something to look forward to in lieu of the canceled plans.

Was just kind of odd how hectic all that shifting was is all.

Also I pet a lizard today!

Prolly gonna get some sorta disease now... but it was cute and it was free. Because anybody that charges you to pet a lizard is either a monster or a sexual predator.

Thank you and good night.

You'll be too busy trying to get the image out of your head that you'll realize too late that that didn't make any sense.

Google Maps is useless in Japan

2009-07-14T01:29:00.002+09:00

I tried finding Ku-ta Ramen in google maps. I tried finding it in every variant spelling in both English and Japanese that I could think of. Never showed up.

Then I tried just searching for ramen in the same methods, and something came up in the NEXT CITY. So apparently Google maps doesn't like Japan.

HOWEVER, I did use it to find directions to Yufuin, and I can get there for a cheaper way than my friends told me. In fact, it only costs about 12 bucks to get there this way, as opposed to the 20 or so that my friends recommended. So I would like to go soon, possibly as soon as this Wednesday, we shall see.

My room is cleaner now, but there is still much to clean. There was also an infestation of ants that I took care of, and it was disgusting.

Also spent the day mostly doing homework, cause class starts again tomorrow. It feels so wrong. I finally had days off during what my body is telling me is summer vacation, and then I'm being disrupted from it again.

Ugh.

I can't wait til this is all over.

Also I'm in the mood for spaghetti, so I might end up making some of that. Bon apetite.

ERROR! ERROR!

2009-07-13T01:37:00.002+09:00

Okay, having troulbes with Blogger. It wasn't letting me create a new post, and just kept redirecting me to some page telling me that I should report some error.... So for once I have a reasonable excuse for being late with an update! Alright, yeah!

One thing I think I forgot to mention yesterday. I looked into the plane tickets with the other, allegedly cheaper flight agency. The ones that were supposed to be half the price as my current one. And basically it's a good thing I looked into it before jumping to conclusions, because it actually costs MORE than my current ticket and only gets me to TORONTO. So... that's out of the question. Apparently the Obon festival is going on at the same time and that's why the ticket prices are outrageous. Guess I should've tried leaving at the end of this month instead of the beginning of next month, but ah well. I get to hopefully do some last minute Japanese stuff before I leave this way.

Speaking of which, today was spent mostly lounging around eating cold pizza and making plans. I have plans for karaoke, and FINALLY to go hiking next weekend. We were going to go hiking today, but a combination of my being sore and sunburnt as well as the high probability for rain cancelled that.

Also, Jason is coming to visit next week, so that will be good too. I found out about a better Ku-ta Ramen shop, so hopefully I can figure out exactly where that is and we can get there.

I need to start buying some small trinkets as souvenirs when I get home. A surplus of them, really. For all the people that I'll run into that go "Hey, what did ya get me?" that I didn't plan on getting anything for so only have a piece of paper with "Good luck" written in Japanese on it or whatnot. Oh ho ho....

That's about it for tonight's broadcast. I'm off to eat more peanut butter and sip more grape juice.

Today is a Good Day to Die!

2009-07-12T01:38:00.002+09:00

Actually, can we take dying as an open action item? Move it up to next Tuesday? Maybe we just write it off the plans entirely.

So work was today. I stayed up all night for some reason so that I'd be ready to leave at 6:30 am. Turns out the departure was pushed back to 7:30 but for some reason I wasn't informed, and I totally could've gotten some sleep. Ah well.

The ride there was... kinda long, to say the least. Probably about 45 minutes to an hour in a car, so it's further than Saiki. The place was umm....Segashi Seki? Sagashi Saiki? I can't recall the name because I'm awful like that, but it was a nice little city from what we saw, and their 7-11 had delicious chicken.

We got there and wandered around the beach for a bit confused as to what to do. Met Shingo's dad who was the man in charge of the event (he's some public official and it was part of his reelection campaign) and he gave us wheat stalk(?) hats to wear and nametags. We ran into some kids that asked us in practiced English how we were doing today, and Keith mumbled a response that they seemed incapable of understanding (especially considering they looked at each other and asked what he said in Japanese) and I repeated that we were doing fine thank you, and they giggled and ran back off to the beach. Kids :|

There were huge spiders everywhere. Feel a need to point that out. A large hunting spider on top of the door to the changing room, spiders hanging from all the rafters of the beach structures, everywhere. Was kind of offsetting.

The events began soon enough. The two Americans were given assistants because we're pretty dumb (honestly, we are) and my girl basically took charge of taking attendance and smiling politely at me. I got to take care of all the dirty work, like trying to get some kid with severe ADD to stop yelling during the announcements, accepting various "gifts" from kids (a seashell, a ball of wet sand, a rock, and seaweed), and standing crotch deep in freezing cold water to be the tag point for the relay races. Oh boy.

After the games was a period of free swim, and there were jellyfish in the water. Seriously. A tentacle floated over near the shore, and there were a bunch swimming a bit away from where we were. Not cool. But, none of them actually came to us, and it was a nice time hanging out with the people I came with and all the kids.

Then food! We assisted in making curried rice from scratch using traditional methods (traditional curry. Yeah, okay Japan). Somehow the ADD kid was allowed to volunteer with working the fire, and my lovely assistant motioned that I should also go work the fire. So I pouted and walked over there, and spent a good thirty to forty minutes trying to talk the kid down from fanning the fire so strongly that ash and smoke flew everywhere (like my eyes and throat) and embers flew all over the ground. Eventually Sappho came over and helped trying to calm the kid down, but he just kept commenting how she was a girl and he didn't have to listen to her. So in what I assumed was a commanding Japanese voice I looked at him and went "YAMERO." essentially a direct command saying "You must stop." The kid seemed kinda shocked and did as he was told and quit misbehaving... in spurts... when my back wasn't turned. Really though it was better than he had been before, so it worked out.

I lost a round of janken (rock paper scissors) and as a result had to play a group round of the game with all the kids for prizes. SAISHO WA GUU! JANKENPON! And then the kids win prizes based on the fact that I pretty much chose rock every time. There was also some parent that tried to get in on the janken action, and I have no idea what that was all about.

That was pretty much the end of that. There was a semaphore performance and final closing things, and then we got changed and helped clean up a little. We got to keep the hats as gifts and were invited back for a barbecue later in the month, so that'll be good. The kids kept excitedly hanging around us a bit as well. The kids were awesome. I wish I had o- wait, no, dangerous thought path. Let's not go down that road...

The ride back was alright, but I was trying to keep up conversation with Keith while on the verge of passing out. Sappho did pass out. I had to stay awake for the group meeting in Beppu to work on our presentation though, so I managed to hold out for a bit.

I was in my room on the computer, and figured that lying back for a minute wouldn't be too all of a sudden Keith was knocking on my door and asking me why I wasn't ready yet and man how could you fall asleep? My bad. So I said I'd shower quick and meet them all at the station.

We got one cancellation and the other guy was 45 minutes late, so I was really the least of the problems anyways. We did what we could do with the project, and then went back to Lee's place to play some vidya games. I lost at Street Fighter so hard, but I only lost three rounds in Soul Caliber 4, in all the two hours we were playing it. Go me.

And I just realized I still haven't had much sleep. I got little sleep the day before because I needed to wake up early to get my homework done, and then I got no sleep last night, and a 45 minute nap today.

Gonna go do that now. ZzZzzz.

Late again

2009-07-11T04:30:00.001+09:00

Better late than never as has become custom.

I'm very tired. Been up all night reading the Metal Gear Solid wiki. This is for a project, so it's totally excusable, but I have work in two hours (WHAT) and I won't get to sleep before it. Then going to go work on the project afterwards. Augh.

Yesterday I went to Kannawa. I hadn't been there since last semester, so I didn't exactly know my way around.

As such, I got lost.

I got VERY lost.

Kannawa is still in Beppu, mind you, but it is entirely the other side of Beppu. The way I normally go is on one side of the mountain, and Kannawa is on the other side.

That said, somehow I re-emerged in Ishigaki, which is the area of Beppu I normally wander to. I don't know how it happened but it happened, and my legs hurt pretty bad from all that walking.

Kannawa either has less to do than I thought, or I just looked in the wrong direction. I found all the stuff I encountered last time I went, but I didn't have any coins which are needed to get into the onsen, so I was looking for a convenience store which got me lost.

I'm such a ditz sometimes.

After all that trouble I treated myself to a pizza. Apparently a medium is only 5 cm larger than a small but twice the cost. Logic!

Oh well, it was good enough and now I have some leftover in the fridge, which is nice when I don't feel like cooking.

Work should be fun if it's still on. It's POURING now, but the job is about 40 miles away, so should be a bit different weather there.

Class away from Class

2009-07-10T01:31:00.002+09:00

I completely forgot that there was classwork due at a specific time, and ended up waking up, going "OH CRAP" and rushing through it to submit it online. But I managed to do it, because I have a phD in horribleness. And I ended up missing the lunch block again because of it. Dang.

Spent the whole day on campus, so nothing exciting there. I was really hoping that people would start ignoring the policies by now, but nobody has. I'd be the first to try it out, but the fact that pretty much every infraction earns you an eviction serves as a pretty good deterrant from acting up.

I'll likely end up out tomorrow and Saturday. Tomorrow I want to go to Kannawa like I didn't today, and Saturday gotta work on the project and also go do the teaching activity in whichever city we're going to to do that. So, should be entertaining.

In the meantime I should really clean my room. It's not like I've got anything better to do, and I leave in 30 days. Should really get prepared.

Then again I didn't really pack to come here til the morning I left, so why break up tradition?

You'll never be a better kind

2009-07-09T02:01:00.002+09:00

If you don't leave the world behind.

So day three of quarantine went well. I woke up at 2 in the afternoon cause why not. Went to go pick up my Japanese homework from the spot the teacher dropped it off to, and was surprised to not have negative marks all over it for once (the teacher hates me. I am convinced of this. It could partially be because I refuse to use proper Japanese with her, but hey, whatever).

Then on an impromptu decision I ran full speed off campus and jumped off a bridge. There was a 40 foot plummet that was interrupted by a large conifer, and I broke my left arm, dislocated the shoulder, and sprained an ankle, but am otherwise fine. Was in the ER for a good 3 hours and the service was cold and professional like everything else here, but the seats are comfier than in the states. I've never had crutches before so that's kinda fun, but it's going to be a bitch when I have to get to the airport next month.

Not really, of course. I actually just took the bus downtown and wandered around for a bit. Got some gyuudon because I wanted it, but I should've got some ramen because I NEED it. I think I might go to Kannawa (the hot springs area of Beppu) tomorrow cause I've only done that like...two, three times. It's really for old people so I never bother going there, but I feel up for it, so it should be fun.

Also picked up some "merchandise" to trade for some "goods" back home. Meaning I got a figure as repayment for a friend buying me a game. The circle of nerd goes on.

And I was craving Lotteria for some reason, so I went out of my way to get some of that. Then I neeeded to question why I was craving it, because after all the MacDonard's and Mos Burger I've been having, it seemed like a lackluster greasy sausage. I mean, it doesn't even have ketchup on it. That's whack.

Came back early cause I ran out of money and just hung around eating crackers and playing DS, as I am wont to do. Also I bought more tankoban BECAUSE I AM ADDICTED OT THE LOW LOW PRICES. Seriously, if books were this cheap in the states I'd probably have enough to make furniture out of them by now.

Quarantine is still boring. I would very much like to have random things open on campus again.

Oh well.

Quarantine: Day 2

2009-07-08T00:56:00.002+09:00

So, the Quarantine continues.

There are two spots of good news. Number one is that the buses are running again, so we can go downtown, but they're running on the "Holiday Schedule" which means that it's limited, so that sucks. Also, off-campus students aren't allowed on campus, and I have a group presentation what needs working on, so that's inconvenient. But the other good news is that the semester will NOT be extended for longer than it would have been, so I'm still leaving at the same time (provided I'm not detained for exposure to swine flu). So that's good, at least.

This Saturday has the teaching job, so we'll see how well that works out with the quarantine going on. I hope we're not called off because of it.

Also recently I've been wandering the back streets of Beppu. I spent Friday and Saturday eveneings doing it. Friday was after I shipped the boxes home (ended up costing me a good 165 dollars) I wandered across town. Ended up restaurant hopping because of the inclement weather and my not being able to carry an umbrella down as well as the boxes, so that was unfortunate. The rain stopped eventually and I took a long walk behind the Beppu station. I found mostly small drug stores and a couple restaurants, but I also found out where the Beppu Stadium is, as well as the city's theme park, so that was interesting.

Saturday I took a walk more in the heart of Beppu where people live. It was... awkward, to say the least. The people there looked at me like I really did not belong. Their eyes said "We give you people the shopping district and the main road. Leave us here in peace." It was.....rather unpleasant.

I still plan to do more, though. Probably go for another walk tomorrow after doing some self study. We've been assigned doing it on our own from the Japanese teacher (we had an online session today and it didn't work out so well) and I'm confident that I'll learn it better than if I actually went to class. It's a good textbook, but my teacher is awful. Also just going to that class kind of sets me in a foul mood in the first place, so that doesn't help.

So that's what I've been up to, really. Sorry for not updating, I've had blog burnout recently. If it helps I didn't update Walking the Box at all either, but I never really do that in the first place.

Also, had some issue where apparently there is a service offering plane tickets for half the price of my original ticket. Need to contact them yet and see how much it actually would be and if it's worth it to go through the hassle of refunding my old ticket (sans 350 dollars, apparently) and then buying one of these.

We'll see.

For now, back to ~~Legally Blonde the Musical~~ benchpressing grizzly bears.

Freakin Swine Flu

2009-07-06T23:37:00.002+09:00

This just in: The swine flu is bullshit. Utter bullshit. It has killed no more people than any other strain of flu, it's just been hyped up by the media to take your attention away from the prisoner tortures or the Iraq war or the reptilians or whatever.

And as a result of the attention it's gotten, I have school off for the rest of this week. This is not reason for rejoicing, however.

They closed down the gym. They closed down the library. The closed down the baths, the dining hall and the lobby. Why they even closed off the stim stum on the trimminy tum tobby!

They've also quarantined us on campus. I mean this in the we aren't allowed to leave sense. The buses have stopped running, and some people are reporting that there are national guard forces guarding the bottom of the mountain to make sure none of the APU students leave (there is a military bunker down the road, so that's not as crazy as it sounds. Wait, it still is).

Christ on a cracker I am so pissed at this school right now.

I e-mailed someone in the office to find out how this affects the semester schedule. If I'm stuck here for a week longer than I need to be to finish classes that shouldn't be canceled anyways, reducing my summer vacation by another week (limiting it to two and a half weeks, effectively) and making me reschedule my ticket, I am going to kill something. I am going to kill a lot of somethings, starting with the island of Kyushu and we'll see where I stop.

So angry.

ALIENS

2009-07-04T23:25:00.001+09:00

Happy Independence Day!

Reverse Reverse!

2009-06-30T06:08:00.002+09:00

Bah! My sleep schedule is still screwed up but in a reverse way. It's probably good that i'm waking up early enough to get to class, but I hate passing out at like 11pm. That's little kid sleeping time, come on!

Ah well. At least it's kind of nice to use the birds as an alarm clock.

Really, sorry about the blog stuff lately. It's gotten wonky and now I can't remember what exactly to write about as a result of it. So that kinda sucks.

Lemme try to recall stuff.

I've got the box set up, and it fits the briefcase that I'm sending back. So I just gotta pack it and, if it's not raining, I go downtown today to ship it out. This has taken damn forever and I'm glad that it's finally coming to a close, and my room is going to be so clean/empty once I ship out all my books and the crap I bought here. Gonna be kinda weird, but also kinda nice I suppose. The only problem is the tape sealing the bottom of the box isn't very umm... sturdy. Gonna see if any of my friends have some duct tape before I actually send it.

My Gamespace class is great. I'm doing a project comparing the social communities in Final Fantasy XI and Team Fortress 2. What other class lets you do that, huh? It's awesome.

Japanese today we're doing an exchange activity, which involves not doing any actual work and instead just talking with Japanese students for a full period. I'm totally okay with that. Although it's not fair, because these kids have been studying English for like 8 years. They have about triple the study that we do, so we sound dumb in Japanese and they sound fine in English. Lame.

So class, downtown, eat me some delicious curry. Gonna be a good day.

Super Duper Late Update

2009-06-28T07:42:00.002+09:00

I fall'd asleep again, sorry. I think my sleep schedule is set up well now because I woke up at an appropriate hour for once, although I thought it was Monday and was freaking out about how I wouldn't get my homework done in time for class until I woke up a bit more, that was fun.

Yesterday was pretty actively good. Woke up early and read a fantastic comic over at Rice Boy so that was fun. Then I headed downtown and got some delicious Sukiya gyuudon which is always nice. Called up a friend and chatted a bit, then started my routine walking through town. Picked up some shorts that will double nicely as swim trunks for the teaching class I need to do, and played with some puppies in the store while I was at it (PUPPIES!). Stopped in an arcade and did my thing there, then went to You Me town to look for shoes.

AGAIN.

I was told there was a Uni Qlo there which is a good store that I like to visit when I'm out and about. You think I'd be more aware that a store I like was in my city but for some reason I never noticed it. This is made worse and worse when I explain that it is pretty much in between the hobby shop that I go to all the time and the food court. I... I really don't know how to excuse this. I don't know if I can. But I do know that I feel like a moron for never having noticed.

Anyways, picked up some sandals because they had no real shoes there, and I suppose these should tide me over well enough. The left shoe's sole is pretty much nonexistent at this point, so really, I just needed SOMETHING. Also picked up a dig dig shirt and an old Tekken shirt for 500 yen a piece both brand new, so that was welcome, as well as 4 generically plain shirts for 280 a piece. I noticed recently that I am sick of having worn the same shirts for roughly a year now, so I really wanted new crap. All the other shirts I bought in Japan so far have been long sleeved, as I got here in the fall, and it's a bit too hot for that now.

I also managed to pck up a new luggage case! This one is fantastic. It can fit my old luggage inside of it with room to spare. It's got a steel pull out handle, and two side grips, one on top and one on the side. It's got a large back pocket and two smaller front pockets, and then the main case. It also has RUBBER WHEELS which is a must have for me. After having two cases with plastic wheels that make a lot of noise that irritates me probably more than it does the people around me (it grates that pet peeve section of the brain) the rubber ones by comparison make almost no noise and roll easier on top of that. I tested it out on the way back home yesterday and it was pretty much everything I wanted. It has the added benefit of only having been 4000 yen, which is 2000 yen cheaper than every other model in the same size by the same brand. The only difference I could find is that it had the two smaller front pockets instead of the one larger one, and I'm fine with that for essentially a twenty dollar bargain.

And to top it all off I finally found a box that can fit the stuff I need to send home in it! That was exciting too.

But of course something bad, or at least awkward, needs to happen to counteract that. This homeless guy tugged on my empty box as I was heading to buy a milkshake. He sort of stared at me for a bit so I asked him what was up. He kind of made a noise and started rubbing his stomach. I'm all "I don't understand". So he just... he does it again. And looks at me HARDER. That's the only way I could describe it. His expression didn't change, he just kind of stared and it felt worse. So I took some change out of my pocket and asked "This?" and after a few seconds he held out his hands and walked over to the convenience store with it. It was horribly awkward and I felt kind of weird after it.

But then I bought a milkshake and all was good.

Also I got sick both ways on the bus. No idea why. I just felt awful. I think I haven't been riding it enough or something.

Nap attack

2009-06-27T01:04:00.002+09:00

I need to stop napping. I always go for longer than I intend to and that's never good.

So today was interesting.

Food in the caf was good. It's been Chinese week so there have been steamed dumplings available for cheap in the cafeteria, which is good cause those are always delicious. Class was as good as it normally was too.

I was hanging out in my room reading when I got a call. Turns out we needed to all of a sudden meet with the son of the guy that was hiring us to help with his English learning activity in Sogasa Saiki next month. We had no warning of this, and got called by the girl that hired us saying "He's on campus, go find him".

So that kind of was sucky and rushed.

The meeting was RIDICULOUSLY informal. The guy was slouched and kept referring to himself using "ore" which is basically treating us like we're bros. He kept trying to be friendly and ask us questions about America instead of bothering to talk to us about the job, and it was extremely awkward, especially when he kept asking Keith questions that would've gotten his ass kicked stateside (Keith is black, thise Shinbo Iida guy had zero tact). It was amusing in a horribly awkward sense, but at least it ended and we know what we need to do for next month.

Next month on the 11th, we need to be up and ready at 7am outside of AP House with swim trunks, a change of clothes, and a towel. We're going to the beach in Sagasa Saiki in order to play sports with the kids and teach them English in the process. It's during the Open Swimming Festival in the city, and we will also have to participate in a tradition of making donburi from scratch that involves washing the rice in the seawaters and using traditional methods of cooking and preparing it instead of doing it in a kitchen.

So, should be fun. And definitely a cultural thing to look forward to.

There is also a yukata festival coming up that I need to look into. I don't actually own a yukata, and they're expensive so...we'll see.

Peanut Butter

2009-06-25T01:50:00.003+09:00

I ran out of it again. Looks like I have to resort to my BACKUP BACON AND EGGS.

I think most people usually have it set up the other way around, but I really enjoy my peanut butter.

Today was a waste of a day. Mostly stayed on campus, studying a little (by study I mean read comics), snacking, cleaning my room, and fixing my computer up a bit. Has been running slow so I fixed it the hell up. Stupid computer, we're in the 21st century, there is no going backward now!

I feel drinking all of this C.C. Lemon may eventually prove fatal. All this citrus and vitamin C is going to eat through my body and leave me bed ridden with no insides. It will not be pretty.

I've got roughly 45 days left before I'm home, which is sort of nice and sort of anxiety inducing. I've gotta get rid of all my crap, sell off what I can't get send home and trash the rest, clean my room up, and prepare for the exams and final papers. The last day of classes is actually July 24, so I only have 4 weeks of that and then exams. That's going to go by a lot faster than I'd like it to, and there ain't much doin about that.

Jason is going to be visiting from Kyoto and we have some things planned here to surprise/scar him for life that I'll probably be polite enough not to share in this blog. And that's being fully aware that at one point in the blog I went into detail about the inner workings of a porn store that I visited with some friends.

Going to also try to do some stuff around Beppu that needs doing before then, as well as try to get to Yufuin another time, and hopefully Kumamoto. Mel wants me to come visit in Kanazawa, but that may be against both the time and financial budgetary restrictions, so we'll see.

It's gonna be busy.

Resolution

2009-06-24T00:08:00.002+09:00

The big personal problem has been dealt with. Not in a way that I would have liked, but in a way that is at least agreeable. So I should be less mopey now.

Now then, onto business!

Classes have been going decently well, although I forcedropped one because I didn't like the teacher at all. Doesn't affect my GPA at all so not a big loss, that. I am doing better in Japanese as well, at least when I get enough sleep the night before. Seriously, I have been tired for no good reason and constantly.

One of my classes is about video games, so that's sort of neat. I was conned into joining a group for the project when I wanted to do it by myself (see: a friend wrote my name down on his group and told me tough crap) which is turning out decently, except nobody in my group has played God of War and/or Heavenly Sword, which is what I wanted to compare for the project. Argh. Still, comparing the ideals of masculinity and femininity in Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid could be just as fun, right? We'll see.

We did go downtown to work on the project, though. To this place called "Sukiya" which is apparently delicious for "DELICIOUS AS HELL FOOD". Really, I am disappointed that I didn't know about this place sooner. It has cheese gyuudon which is delectable on all possible palates. So good, should have sent a poet....

In other news, I keep neglecting to mention that I added a countdown timer about 4 months ago. I'm assuming none of you have seen it because I didn't mention it, but it's been on the sidebar the whole time.

Just screwing with you, of course. Although I did add one, and it's right above my Twitter feed on the right side of the screen. Possibly riiiiight there? --->

Haha, probably not.

Anyways, if it doesn't work, let me know and I'll laugh at you because I don't know how to fix it and it works fine for me.

One more thing: My not bad luck charm is broken. I bought an "Avoiding bad luck" charm instead of a "good luck" charm because I figured they work better if you aren't greeding, and I'm fine with being content. I have had nothing but strings of bad luck since I got the thing, and today after showing it to someone my umbrella got stolen. During the rain.

I need to find a temple and get this thing reblessed or excorcised or something. Seriously.

That's all I can think of!

Gettin Crazy with the Cheese Whiz

2009-06-22T22:46:00.002+09:00

Still lots of bad things going on.

Not really in the mood to blog because of it, sorry.

Go read some other blogs:

Art of Manliness

The Sneeze

I Fight Robots

Another Day another Blog

2009-06-22T03:00:00.002+09:00

Another time of being late with it.

You all should just click on the RSS feed instead of expecting this to have anywhere close to an appropriate update schedule.

Let's do some more "Japanese etiquette" lessons.

- It is always appreciable for someone to alert you that you have been slacking off in the hygiene department. This is why a Japanese person may tell you directly that you have gotten fatter, you don't smell very good today, or that it has become obvious that you are balding and you might want to look into that.

- If you don't go drinking with someone when asked, that means you don't like them. You should generally accompany them even if you don't get anything as a show of good friendship. They may also be shocked if you tell them that you don't smoke, because everyone smokes in Japan. I mean, it's cool, right?

- If somebody takes the opportunity to bring you an English menu or attempt to respond to you in English, it's good manners to respond in kind to their accommodations, as responding in Japanese might make it seem as though they aren't doing well enough. Be prepared to understand what they say in English less than what they'd say in Japanese.

- Eat all the food that is given to you. Just do it.

- Being foreign you are at a weird impass. You sound like a girl if you speak in polite form, but if you speak in a more casual form then you are a rude foreigner that doesn't know their place.

- Trains are not made for talking on. Neither are buses. If you must speak, you must do it quietly. Also, turn off your cell phones. This rule is able to be ignored by punk kids that sit there flicking their lighters open and closed behind me repeatedly until I turn and glare at them with my foreign superpowers.

Bad news, bears

2009-06-21T01:41:00.002+09:00

So, there is some pretty bad crap going down right now. Rather not talk about it here.

So here's another list of random completely true facts about Japan:

- The ninja has been a long standing cultural icon in Japan. So esteemed is it that it has been incorporated into pay customs at restaurants. Most people will opt to wave for the waiter and pay for their meal, but you are free to make a mad dash out of the restaurant and see if you can out-ninja their restaurant ninjas.

Hint: You can't.

- Black ink is used to write everything. If you aren't writing with black ink, technically whatever is written does not exist. This can also be used as form of ridding yourself of unwanted children, by writing on them with blue or green ink and just ignoring them completely. It's okay, they're entirely invisible to everyone else.

- If you like a movie at a theater, you must remain entirely silent, before, during, and after the film. You are in fact not allowed to speak until you are out of ear shot of the viewing area. This is in respect to the movie.

- Tonkatsu, fried, breaded pork, is a meal that restaurants train pigs to cook for you themselves as a means of entertainment. The pigs are told that the meat is chicken.

- Video games and anime/cartoons are culturally adored in Japan. If you enjoy either of those things, be sure to tell every Japanese person that you meet, repeatedly, how much you love those things. They will be excited and impressed with your knowledge of Japan, and not at all creeped out by your oblivious foreign manchildness.

- If you bought clothes that didn't cost 300 dollars per outfit, then what you are wearing is worthless

- The hornets here are huge and will kill you

- Seriously

Bang bang

2009-06-19T00:30:00.002+09:00

So I didn't sleep last night again.

I got a sudden OCD tick at about 3 am to clean. So I cleaned my room a bit, and scrubbed clean my bathroom, and by the end of it I was too wide awake ot go to sleep, so I just stayed up and finished my homework and such. Not so bad, that, really.

The day went alongas most Thursdays do, except that I forgot it was Thursday until late in the day and ended up missing onsen club because of that. I was eating dinner and saw a poster for a club that looked interesting and thought "Man I hope they don't meet on the same day as senjinkai" and then recalled that it was Thursday and past the meeting time, and smacked myself on the head in private shame of my idiocy.

To cope with my forgetting to go to club I healed the wounds by going over to JM's and playing some Resident Evil 5. Heck yes co-op mode. Co-op veteran mode in a game I'd never played before. That didn't go so well. Apparently you're supposed to shoot the zombies, not knife them several times in hoping they'll die of boredom.

My bad...

The school store also has haribo gummy bears now, which are the delicious juicy ones they sell at the movie theaters in the golden box. So, so good. And on top of that the vending machine guy listened to my request and filled the vending machines with larger cans of beverages other than Pepsi! So now I can get me some C.C. Lemon in big can size and remain thirst-quenched for a much longer period of time. Go me and my American type whining to get things my way!

God Bless America.

Still no boxes. This is starting to get troublesome...

Today was Wednesday

2009-06-18T01:24:00.002+09:00

And I slept in. Yay!

I read a bit, watched some tv, showered, talked to people. Got some food. The usual. I've been deciding things with coin flips lately. That's probably a bad habit.

Did a questionnaire for a friend that was about my health and diet before APU and after APU. Was pretty interesting, and I have to admit that I eat much, MUCH healthier here in Japan. Partially because greens taste better here, and partially because I don't have much choice in what they put on my food. So there's that.

Also cleaned my room a bit and invited Fanxing over to watch some Family Guy. It stopped loading for some reason, so we had to watch the ONE episode that I have downloaded, which turned out better because he has a class first thing tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can get this crap working tomorrow.

I also still cannot find a large box. Japan doesn't seem to believe in boxes over a certain size, and I need to fit my briefacse and a bunch of books into one. This is making it difficult to ship things home, dammit. I did find a really nice luggage that I need to pick up that's surprisingly cheap. Although this'll be my third one, so considering how much all three of these have cost, I should've just gone for a big expensive one in the first place. There's probably a long standing lesson to be found in that revelation, but why bother.

I talked with a guy at the kebab cart the other day about Japanese teaching style, as well as my friend Max earlier today. The fact that other people are bringing up how awful it is leads me to believe that it's not just my procrastinating learning style that has a problem with it. This is good to know, as I'd hate to think anything like that was my fault, no matter how much it probably is. As an American, I prefer to heave the blame onto somebody else's shoulders as frequently as possible.

Also this may sound odd, but I am in love with a mechanical pencil. It's literally the greatest mechanical pencil (or as the Aussies call them, "pacer") that I've ever owned. Fits my grip perfectly, feeds the lead in a consistent, tight fashion, and somehow enchances my writing so that it's at a consistent thickness, instead of other mechanical pencils that tend to vary between thin and sloppy thick the longer you write with them. You know, like normal pencils do when you dull the tip. I'm buying like 10 of these things and shipping them home so that I can use them for the rest of forever. Maybe I'll get a whole bucket full and just distribute them to everyone.

Maybe... maybe I'm a bit too excited about it.

Old People are fun.

2009-06-17T02:43:00.002+09:00

So, I had class today, as I often do. And I skipped the first one again, as I often do. 0/3 so far. I should really go to the Friday one, cause I don't even know what is going on in that class. I'll probably show up for a test on things I've no knowledge of, should be fun.

Frankly I only bothered going to Japanese because there was a test. Then suddenly, after the test, we were told to go to the other classroom. So I realized there was a cultural exchange activity today that I forgot about, and was on the verge of walking out of there and just going back to my dorm when I decided against it. And for the better, really. The woman I got paired with was pretty cool, and friendly. We were the only triple group, so another American from my class was with me, which was helpful cause he had the questions sheet. I'm always shocked that my Japanese is better than I think it is when I actually bother speaking to people in the language. My accent is crap, but unless the person is an old lady from Kansai, they can understand me just fine. I told her about the stalactite cave tour in the mountains and she said she'd never heard of that before. Score one for the foreigner knowing more about the town than a resident!

Afterward, got me some delicious yakiniku from the yakiniku man, and discovered that I've been saying chicken wing wrong. It's tebasaki, not temasaki. I... I don't even know what I was saying, and I'm not sure I want to. People kept giving me weird looks when I asked for it. You may think I'm being silly, but the word for fish paste snacks and the word for nipples are only one syllable apart (the first chikuwa, the second chikubi) and my highschool Japanese teacher made that particular mistake. I'd hate to know what I've been doing.

Went down with the intention of grabbing a whole bunch of books to send home. And grab I did! I spent ￥3700 on a combination of books and comics (mostly comics) to send home that should keep me occupied and practice for years to come. I'll probably buy a couple more before I leave (looking for some cheaper copies of Toshokan Sensou) but I figure I can afford to put a few books along with my luggage. Hopefully I don't have too much. It'd be mostly clothes, a couple textbooks, my laptop, and souvenirs that I buy right before I leave, so I should be fine.

Got some food, hung out in Kitahama park, poked a butterfly, and then went to buy some peanut butter. I've been out for a while, and you should never be out of peanut butter. Why, it's uncivilized! Anyhoot, the arcade that closed down reopened. Or at least there's one in pretty much the same place. Except this one has no ventilation so walking in there is like standing in a smoke shack. Not too pleasant, and there is only one game in there worth playing, which is Tetris, and I already have that. So sorry arcade, but you get none of my money.

And then I hung out in the tatami room and played Team Fortress for a few hours. Which is why the update is late.

Again.

Like always.

Yankee-kun

2009-06-16T01:23:00.002+09:00

Ack, sorry it's late. I was reading. We'll pretend that it was homework that I was reading, and not some comic books. Why would I waste my time on such things when there is homework to be done, right?

So, in preparation for a test today, I had to read those 200 or so pages in the assignments I mentioned last night. And I stayed up all night so that I could finish that, and also some homework for another class.

Turns out the class I did that for did not take attendance, and postponed the quiz to Saturday. Which is...just peachy. So now I can't skip the Saturday class because there is a quiz. In addition to that I was exhausted and feeling sick, so I had to sleep through the next class in the day so that I didn't go there and just sleep in class (fell asleep 5 times in the first class. So... pretty bad).

Rest of the day was good though, so no harm no foul.

Forgot to mention this the other day, so I'll put it here. I was hanging out with a friend the other day, and a girl he knows asked us to do a sort of English teaching class sometime soon. It's next month, I think. Not exactly sure on the date. But it's a day where we go to the beach and hang out with kids and teach them English. And we get paid for it, so I volunteered twice as hard. This is pretty much what my job was back home, so I've got no problem with it.

And hey, I could use the money.

I'm staying on campus more these few weeks so that I can sort of preserve a bit of money. I really need to go downtown either tomorrow and/or Wednesday for last minute shopping on stuff and then shipping things home. Still haven't done that yet, and I need to get it done before it's too late.

Here's hoping it's not already.

A Short Break to Blog

2009-06-15T01:03:00.002+09:00

Has anyone ever had one of those classes that requires you to read two hundred pages of extremely boring psychological analysis? Cause apparently I have one of those. I've got about 30 pages left, and blogging right now is a welcome reprieve.

This past week of organizing classes was fun, considering I skipped all of them that weren't Japanese and cancelled one. It's a luxury you can afford during registration week, as none of the classes take attendance. So I took advantage of said luxury, and had an easy week of just Japanese.

Yesterday was the World Festival.

It is not something exciting.

We were made to believe that it was.

They advertised free food, games, and entertainment. What we got was awkardly put together small portions of food that ran out before you got your turn in line (each booth only had enough to feed 150 people, for the 400 or so students that showed up to the event. Also only 2 booths were open at a time).

The games room consisted of uno and some playing cards and a PS1 with no good games on it. We were about to go in when we saw people being hit on the face with pie, and decided we'd rather not be a part of that. There was also a massage room, but I've never been comfortable getting rubbed down by strangers, so I don't tend to be a customer at massage parlours or brothels.

Pretty much all the performances were bunk as well. There was one with a bunch of guys dressed as girls that involved some zombies rushing on stage and dancing to Thriller that was interesting, and another one called "Spirit Dance" that looked like a whole lot of fun with people just dancing and waving flags to crazy upbeat tribal music. I didn't even bother going to my floor's performance, which was some boy band wannabe dance performance where everyone was wearing very tight pants.

All in all the festival was a big disappointment, especially cause it even has a wikipedia page about it. Really? They usually delete unnecessary ones...

I gotta get back to this dumb reading assignment. I'll be back tomorrow night.

Same bat-time.

Same bat-place.

Kyoto Excursion Part the Third

2009-06-14T00:03:00.002+09:00

We figured we could wake up at the usual time and then head to Osaka and meet Mel at the aquarium. The usual wake up time is 10am, which is pretty much the earliest time that exists in the world. Anyone who claims to wake up earlier than that is a liar.

So those liars managed to be awake and ready and heading to the aquarium all in time to get there by 11. Which sort of ruined our half of the plan, so we took our time getting lunch and browsing game stores and such before heading to Osaka. Stopped by my hostel to drop my crap off, and started heading to inner Osaka before I got an e-mail from Mel,where we promptly made plans to meet up at Osaka station and then get ice creams.

It was a good plan. I like ice cream.

So that lasted for all of between 30 and 40 minutes. A short reunion, but I am not exactly lacking in exposure to Mel back in the states, so I didn't mind too badly.

Jason and I wandered around aimlessly for a few more hours, a good chunk of which was trying to find a garbage can. Japan has a severe lack of them. Tons of bottle disposals, but nothing for actual trash.

We also wound up playing on the moving walkways in the train station. Or rather, I played on them, and Jason followed at a distance shaking his head. He afterward commented on how I seem to view the world completely and entirely from a unique perspective from everybody else in the world. Not entirely sure it was meant as one, but I took it as a compliment, so it's a compliment. Then he put his finger on his nose and nodded his head and flew back up the chimney.

Or he got on a train and headed back to Kyoto.

Afterward I started wandering around looking for a movie theater. I found one, but didn't care to see anything they were showing, so moved on. Then I found a random street concert. I'm guessing these are common, and it had a decent crowd, but most people only stayed for one or two songs before moving along. I stayed for the majority of the set and bought their entire discography. It was only ￥２０００, so that really wasn't that bad. The band is called Fabled Number, which I have no idea what it means. Probably a number that nobody can count up to, and since everyone always counts up to 10 I'm guessing that it would be 11. Possibly 12, but that seems more mythical than fabled. Anywho, their website is over at fablednumber.net if you feel a need to check them out.

The next day was spent by my lonesome. I played some arcade games and got some food. Then after I had already eaten some Yoshinoya, I weeped at the Wendy's I came across. I couldn't ignore it, but I wasn't hungry anymore. So I got a frosty. Delicious, wonderful, chocolate frosty. It tasted exactly how it does in America, and for five in a half minutes I was home again.

I bothered to sit through another movie, because I don't get to do that often and it's something I enjoy, I don't need you judging me! Unfortunately I sat through Blood: The Last Vampire. It wasn't too bad, really, but the special effects were crap, or at least the cgi was. It was about mid 90's quality cgi, back when most people avoided using it in favor if the much more realistic animatronics. Really, they should start thinking that way again, cause animatronics are awesome.

I got panicky and headed for the ferry terminal immediately after the film. I figured it took me about 2 hours to get there last time, so I should do it again this time. Hey, turns out that now that I know how to navigate train system properly, and my foot was only bleeding a little this time, and I had less crap to carry... well I wound up with something like an hour left to kill. That was... that was pretty boring. I did find a weird shop or something with pretty much every action figure and prop ever created lodged inside of it (a few pics are in the photobucket). They had scale model Jurassic Park dinosaurs, Darth Vader masks, every Lupin III toy.... It was like my neighbor's old store but on a bigger scale.

Oh right, my neighbor used to own a collectible toy store. You... you probably wouldn't know that. I need to remember to point these things out.

Anyways, took the ferry ride back, which was pretty nice, but I didn't eat from the cafeteria this time. They had pretty much only a fish selection, and I was not in the mood for fish. I ended up getting a dumpling and nikuman set from the hot food machine and calling it quits after that.

Got back to Beppu at about 7 am, and had breakfast at McDonald's. I love hash browns. So, so much. If McDonald's started servind a hash brown value meal, where it was a double hash brown sandwich (made up of two hash browns in between two other hash browns) with a side of the BK mini hash browns, I would love it. Also, a glass of milk.

Ended up skipping the first class of the day so that I could do the homework I neglected for Japanese, and the rest as they say is history.

Now we're caught up! Oh wait, except I need to take tomorrow to recap everything that I neglected to talk about writing this.

Ha! Nice to have a buffer.

Kyoto Excursion Part the Second

2009-06-13T01:04:00.002+09:00

One thing that I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog: We totally went ot Mos Burger. There is a photo of one of the displays in the photo album, and it has a burger with a donut pattie. It reads "Delicious hole" in Japanese. To the less gutterminded of you (which should be none of you, if I know who reads this), that would be none of you. So I hope you find it amusing, you perverts.

We looked into more things to do in Kyoto. Aside from shrines, and the Tezuka museum (which I had no idea how to get to, and Jason didn't care about), there didn't seem to be much, although this is probably due more to our limited attempts at searching in exchange for watching Family Guy and DBZ Abridged than it is for a lack of things to do in Kyoto.

After being convinced to buy a PSP (oh god all my money) I in turn was convincing in getting us to go to Nara, the best place in Japan. No, you don't get to argue, it is really the greatest place.

We ran right to the deer enclosure and I bought some 鹿せんべい (deer crackers). The deer swarmed me the instand I bought them. They know what they want and how to get it, apparently.

Also, one of them bit me on the ass. According to a friend, I have now become a were-deer. I guess I need to start starring in Fallout Boy videos.

After plentiful deer shenanigans, we headed over to Todaiji, which is a very old and gorgeous temple with a very well tended lawn.

Also it houses the world's biggest Buddha.

Legend has it that if you can pass through the nostril of the Buddha, then you achieve enlightenment. Instead of allowing you to do this, there is a pillar with a hole the same size carved into it that you can attempt to crawl through. Neither Jason or I noticed this, so I ended up finding out about it after the fact.

Ah well, still cool. The whole building was great, actually, and there were interesting carvings aside form the Buddha statue. But the Buddha is absolutely huge. The photos I've captured don't even come close to showing you. You'd have to see it in person. Or at least find better photos.

Afterward I spotted a random udon/soba shop that I made us go to out of my hunger and desperation. I ordered udon despite not actually liking it, but I figured I'd give it another shot. It was pretty decent, but I still don't think anything beats ramen.

Afterward we went to a few more temples and a 5 story pagoda (the second tallest pagoda in Japan!), and then attempted to go to a grand temple that was closed by the time we reached it. It was also in a quite deserted area of the town, filled only with happy families, mostly in their homes, and very few tourists, aside from some girls we saw camped out playing badminton.

We headed back soon after. Or attempted. Jason is an idiot and got us on the wrong train, then we got off at a stop where we needed to wait 45 minutes for another train to stop by. What a jerk. Totally his fault and not mine for rushing us on the next train I saw just because it said express. Definitely not mine.

Somewhere in those past few days we ordered a pizza as well. It was from Dominoes, and tasted about as good as Dominoes ever tastes, but I introduced Jason to a mystical technique passed down through the ages called actually-reading-the-damn menu-fu. This allowed us to get a pizza for about ￥２１００ instead of for ￥３８００. Pretty big price gap there.

After Nara we went back and watched one of the Futurama movies, and called it a night. We made plans with Mel and her friend to meet up at the aquarium the next day, and had high hopes that they wouldn't leave before we woke up.

to be continued...

Kyoto Excursion Part the First

2009-06-12T00:45:00.002+09:00

So I just uploaded all the pictures from the trip. There are over four hundred new pictures. That is quite a bit of pictures, and I do not feel very much like going through all of them in order to post examples like I normally do. They are not difficult to navigate on a connection faster than mine, so if you read the blog posts first and then go through the pictures you should be able to realize what I'm talking about.

So here goes.

The trip began at about 5pm. The ferry does not leave until 6:50, but for some reason I got confused and panicky and ended up leaving an hour earlier than I intended to. This led to me walking around bored, drinking some ginger ale, and taking photos of the dock. Also looking at some tourist maps which show that there actually are things to do in Beppu, they are just on the outskirts of town and expensive to get to. Apparently we have a cave tour on one of the surrounding mountains, so that'd be kinda cool. Also had enough time to realize that I forgot my shampoo, my comb, and my Lord of Vermillion playing cards so... that sucked.

Anyways, the ferry was about the same as last time. Set myself up in my room, read a bit, ate dinner, you know, nothing special.

Oh, except for the fact that the most beautiful girl I've seen since coming to Japan was working on the ferry. I should have made progress towards making her my wife, but it apparently was just not fated. So I instead went back to my room and ate some ice cream, defeated before I could begin.

I took the first train down to Osaka and got some dirty looks from an old man who reminded me of a dragon. I'm guessing it was the first train out full of workers, and this guy didn't like getting crammed in somewhere with a dirty, unkempt foreigner. Actually, I was more observant about these things this trip, and people tend to stare at the foreigners in Osaka. Probably a bit in Kyoto too, but I was with Jason most of the time so I was a bit distracted by conversation. But I did see some other tourists walkig around when I was sitting in restaurants and such, and people just stared at them as they walked past. It is really awkward.

I set up my reservation for Sunday night in the hostel, and then played some arcade games and stopped in at La La to get me some Indian food that I love so much. On the way I walked around a bit, saw a backpack I wanted to buy before I left (that I forgot to pick up) and saw some cool restaurant statues and displays. Then I got lost.

My iPhone is truly not that reliable. Well, in a way it is. It gives you the most efficient, both costwise and timewise, way to get somewhere. So my iphone kept trying to lead me to an invisible bus stop that would carry me to the edge of Osaka to take another form of transportation from there to Osaka. Really all I wanted to do was go to JR station and take a train from there, but the iPhone wouldn't help me with that. I tried finding a JR station using it as well, and it led me to a car rental building. Sonuva....

I eventually found it and headed out a full two hours after I had intended to. I was cranky and tired from the excursion so I hopped on the express sonic train. The normal express is the same price, but this is the luxury express, and that costs an extra ￥６００ to ride. In Oita I can sort of gaijin smash my way into riding it for free, but the guy working the Osaka-Kyoto line spoke fluent English and wasn't having any of that. Dang. So the whole ride ended up costing me about ￥1500, which was a bit more than I intended spending...

It took about 40 minutes to get a hold of Jason when I did arrive at the station, and then another hour or so before he showed up. That sucked, but I did walk around the station a bit, and they had some Osamu Tezuka displays everywhere. Osamu Tezuka is the man who brought animation to Japan , inspired by Disney, way back when. His stuff is respectable in Japan along the same lines, and everyone knows who he is. Except Jason, who has been living in Kyoto for four or five months now. Way to go, guy.

We ate at Subway and went back to his modest apartment which he wouldn't let me take a picture of. He's quite private. As revenge, I proceeded to dump my crap all over the place. Or rather in a corner near the door, because I am a good guest.

We watched Family Guy and got McDonald's, which wasn't so bad. Then we slept. He bought a futon for me to sleep on. That is ridiculous. I told him I was fine with the floor, but apparently he's too nice for his own good. This was a Japanese futon of course, which is really just a bedroll, but still. Crazy.

The next day we went to his school, the other Ritsumeikan, and I hung out there while he was in class. Mostly just went to the cafeteria, the bathroom, and the school store, then walked around a bit litening to music and read some One Piece. I don't think I even took any pictures of the place, but it looks like a crowded college campus. It's also pretty irritating to navigate and it's easy to accidentally wander off the grounds.

Afterwards we went to some zen rock garden and shrine. It's apparently a world heritage site (Japan has a grand amount of those for some reason) and it was really peaceful and pretty, so that was really nice. I blessed myself at every damn fountain we came across, and Jason made fun of me for being superstitious. We'll see who's laughing when he gets pulled through the cracks in the walls of his apartment because he didn't take protective measures against the demons.

The next day we went to 金貨維持(Kinkaiji), which is the Golden Temple. Unfortunately the shots I got of it aren't that great because I used my iPhone for it, but holy wow it is beautiful. It's a shiny golden temple as the name says, with a bird ornamentation on top. It's been rebuilt a few times I think, but it's still really nice to look at, and as always with the shrines it's surrounded by beautiful scenery and a lake/pond/moat with a heron in it (There is ALWAYS a heron in the lake. Always. There is no avoiding it.)

Jason then had classes, so I stayed in his apartment for a couple of hours pretending to be a lawyer, by which I mean I played a bunch of Phoenix Wright on my DS because there was nothing else to do. When he got back we went to the movies.

Star Trek. is. AWESOME. Go see it now if you haven't. I don't care if you don't like the tv series, the movie is just great. Anyone who disagrees just hates fun. The movie theater also has the option of caramel corn, which I went with, and I wish all movie theaters in the states followed this example. The food is also pretty cheap on top of that, and the tickets were cheaper than normal for some unexplained reason. We weren't late enough for the late show discount, and the student discount only brings it to ￥１５００, but it only cost us ￥１０００, so that was a nice treat.

After that we got dinner, wasted like an hour in a book store while Jason tried fruitlessly to find good novels to read and just ended up buying comic books (I however wrote down the name of an interesting looking novel series, 図書館革命(Library Wars) to try to find at a used book store, so go me.

Then we watched more Family Guy, and I forced him to watch other things in addition to that. He's convinced Family Guy is the highest form of entertainment, and refuses to see the truth (because it's actually Futurama. Honestly).

Then sleep again.

to be continued...

It's Over!

2009-06-11T01:26:00.001+09:00

The hiatus that is.

I got back yesterday at about 7 am, got me some MacDonard's (I'm going to continue calling it that when I'm back in the states, just fyi) and went to class. Then I played Team Fortress 2 for forever, and went to sleep. The first day back was a welcome relaxation for my bleeding and sore feet.

Today was likewise restful, in that I slept in til about 1 which was also nice.

I fully intended to have some stuff up today, but it's taking longer than I thought. It took a full half hour to get all the contents off my camera (why does it have two storage folders?!) and I still haven't gotten the photos from my iPhone yet. So... that's to come. Gonna get everything uploaded tomorrow morning hopefully.

Then, like last time, I'll take the next three days to discuss the trip.

It's amazing, I had a week off from the blog and I'm still incredibly lazy.

Like some kind of superpower.

Hoodoo!

2009-06-02T01:46:00.002+09:00

Alright, so pictures of the church and the art house are up, as well as a few more shots of Beppu and APU. Told ya I'd put them up today.

Today was pretty uneventful. Got my ferry tickets, cleaned my room a bit, did some packing, played some video games. Prepared a bit for my exam tomorrow, but I don't even know what's going to be on it and each chapter was 100 pages long at least so... can't really read up all 14 chapters in any reasonable timeframe. Figure it'll just be general course questions and very few specifics, based on how the professor has run things the rest of the quarter.

Gotta wake up tomorrow morning and make breakfast and hand in an assignment, then go to the exam, get lunch, and pick up my work papers before running around the dorms panicking that I'm going to forget something, and then heading down to the ferry. Joy o joy o joy.

I really enjoy the ferry ride, for some reason, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow for that if nothing more. The luggage case I bought as a replacement for the one that broke is noticeable smaller, now that I'm packing it anew. It's only missing about 3 inches from the volume, but that makes enough difference apparently. If I find a bigger one for cheap I'll pick it up and sell this one off to someone in the dorms, hopefully.

Nothing planned for the trip, but I figure it shouldn't be hard to find stuff to do. Jason hasn't done ANYTHING since he moved to Kyoto, so he's up for pretty much everything. And I've got all day while he's in class to think of stuff, so, should work out.

Updates return Tuesday, so look forward to that. In the meantime, get a life.

In the name of the noodle, the broth, and the naruto. Ramen.

2009-06-01T03:18:00.002+09:00

So I was woken up early AGAIN by communist anthems blaring through the hallways. One of the Chinese kids was playing their music on full blast, and then singing louder than that. Granted it wasn't all that early today at about 10am, but I still wanted to sleep in. Stupid dorm setup being all inconvenient rabble rabble grouch bitch whine.....

The church that we went to is all the way across town. There's a perfectly good protestant church down the road from campus, but apparently since we're Roman Catholic we're supposed to go to the Catholic church. Come on, we all worship the same God, and I'm lazy and cheap. I wanna go to the closer one!

The service was kind of odd. The priest was Japanese and speaking in English, and kept going on about how God works through him to bring us closer together by speaking to us in our own language, even though half the people there were Phillipino, and most of the rest of them were Japanese, so it's really not any of their own language, just mine and a handful of people hanging out there like me. He also switched into Japanese a couple of times and shared some anecdotes. I was more paying attention to these kids that were harassing their parents. This one kid kept drooling everywhere and making weird noises, and this other kid was literally climbing on his dad, and at one point facehugged clung onto the poor guy's head. Pretty amusing, really.

Going today reminded me really that I just don't understand why people go to church every Sunday. This place had a nice sense of community to it I suppose, though. Everyone was friendly and they were in casual wear instead of rigid formal structures thta I was raised up in for church. So that was nice, although one girl was wearing pants that said "Sweet Fruit" right on the ass, so I think maybe that was taking the casual dress a bit far...

After the service we found an art house nearby and looked inside of that. One of the "artists" made us tweak these fake breasts that automatically take your picture when you tweak them hard enough. It was... awkward, but he was insistent. Walking through the rest of the house reminded me why I don't have so much faith in modern art either, but some of it was pretty interesting.

Ku-ta Ramen later like I predicted, and then plenty of shopping hijinks. I bought a sign for my door that says "Beware of Guard Dog" that narrowly won over a "caution, drunk drivers' sign that looked like an angry man kicking a car. Also found some cheetos, so kudos on that, me.

And after I got back I spent most of the evening up until this quite late update playing Team Fortress 2. Woo hoo. I'm gonna be gone for a week, I needed to stock up hours to prevent relapse. Or something. Shut up.

I took pictures of the church and the art place, and I'll put them up tomorrow cause I am too damn tired to care right now.

Tomorrow will be the last update til Monday most likely.

Not so According to Plan

2009-05-30T23:04:00.002+09:00

So, woke up this morning when I got a series of IM's and I had forgotten to turn the volume down before I went to bed. So I was drowsy and slow moving for a good while after that. Decided after a bit of that to call off my Yufuin trip for today, on account that the two remaining people that were willing to go decided they didn't want to anymore.

And hell, I wanted to see Star Trek anyways!

So on with that!

Went through the trouble of looking up a theater, finding a map, writing down the showtimes, everything. Was gonna make it out to the 6:40 showing, and I left at about 3:30 so I should have had plenty of time. The theater was right near the station after all, so I could go there whenever the need suited me!

Because I had so much time beforehand, I decided that I should eat for the first time today and stopped in at a McDonald's. After wasting enough time there I decided to head to the theater and at least grab the movie tickets. The website said it was on the 3rd floor of the Tokiwa building near the McDonald's, so I figured I'd head there.

I feel the need to point out here that Tokiwa are about as popular as Starbucks. There are two on every block. And they are department store/mall outlet type buildings, so that is a weird thing to have so many of. Anyways, I went to the right one as I recalled from the map, went to the third floor and... promptly began wandering confused through a bunch of bridal shops. A confused foreigner isn't too out of place in Japan, so nobody seemed to mind aside from myself, but I hurried out of there and went back to the station to talk to the Information lady and cry until I got my way.

And of course the information booth was closed for some reason. Aren't those things supposed to be open as late as the trains?

Anyways, thank God my phone has that GPS thing. so I searched for 映画館 and it brought up all the theaters in the area. Oh hey, there were THREE. I found Cineflex which was the one I was trying to get to, and headed back there. Turns out it was a building a block over and across the street from the Tokiwa I went to. Ah... okay, these things happen. Google Maps isn't the most reliable thing in the world.

So I headed over there. And looked at the "Now playing" posters in the display. And... all Japanese movies. All drama movies. And a Yakuza film. What? Where's Star Trek? Or at least an American movie. Checked my notepad against the theater info again and... turns out I was at Cineflex 5. I wanted 11. Well... crap. I had no idea how to get there, so I wandered around trying to hit the other 2 theaters. One more Japanese only drama theater, and another one playing some American movies but nothing I wanted to see (although Terminator 4 is headed there, yay). Time to hit the cell phone again (hurray phoneternet!)

There are two intermediate stops on the way to Oita Station. 東別府(East Beppu) and 西大分(West Oita). I've always been under the assumption that these are primarily for people that live in or near the edge of town, and that they are relatively void of any value outside of that.

I turns out that Cineflex 11 is about a 10 minute walk to the 3rd floor of the Tokiwa near the West Oita stop. Which made it about an hour bus ride from where I was at the time, or a half an hour wait for a train, a 5 minute train ride, and then a 10 minute walk to the theater. Either way, it was over the time that the movie began, and chances are it'd take me even longer to find the place. So I decided to just make the best out of being in Oita and began to wander around.

Found a bunch of bookstores (none had what I'm looking for) and various other stores in the shopping strips, but nothing worth looking at really. And I still can't find cheap/not ugly shoes in my size. So that's unfortunate. I hung out at the pirate ship for a bit, wandered through some of the public gardens, ate at a Yoshinoya, watched some anime that was set up in some store's lounge, and then headed back to Beppu and campus.

Oh, and I bought a mug.

Also worth noting, is that two Japanese girls asked me for help on the train, which I had just asked three attendants for help on to make sure that I was doing it right. So it's good to know that not only foreigners don't get these horrible setups. I think I now have at least a vague understanding of how the local train system is scheduled, but eventually somebody is going to need to explain to me why I leave from a different track every time.

Church is tomorrow. Should be... interesting. Apparently the Sunday mass is in English, so I suppose I'll have to confess. I'll be sure to commit the sin of gluttony by talking JM into going to Ku-ta Ramen and engorging ourselves afterward.

You know, just to be on the safe side.

Cruel Procedures

2009-05-30T00:43:00.003+09:00

The Japanese midterms finished up today. I will never understand why speaking for a speaking test is suddenly more difficult than going downtown and speaking with people. I guess it's just the atmosphere, but really, it's annoying that it's the case. The listening test apparently started 10 minutes earlier than I thought (which was 10 minutes earlier than class starts) so I didn't realize this until about the time class started and I walked in, noticed things were going on, and then checked my testing sheet. Thankfully the teacher had just been talking about procedure and not actually administering the test, so the fish sandwich I hastily choked down could rest easily knowing that it didn't cost me a grade.

The tests went pretty well I think, or better than I'd hoped at least. Everybody in the class was freaking out a bit, and you could tell by us all describing how catatonic we would be when our turn came about. I'm not sure if anybody else followed through with their stories but me, but if I'm anything I'm truthful. One of the questions on the speaking test was "At what times do you become nervous?" and
I answered with "Now".

I celebrated by buying my ferry ticket (finally!) and then going downtown. The ferry ticket is from Tuesday night until Tuesday Morning. Meaning I leave Tuesday night and arrive in Kansai Wednesday morning, and leave Monday night and arrive Tuesday morning. Yes, I'm skipping Monday classes, and no, I very do not care. I'm bitter about having a Tuesday exam still, so I'm taking a personal day.

Downtown I bought some more random series to look into: Eatman, Zetman, and Ubelblatt. I've heard of the first two before but never read, and the third one has pretty art and I judge plenty of books by their covers. I'm so excited to be starting so many series that I'll never be able to keep up with when I return to the states. Seems like a great movie, really.

I also went to CoCo Curry house for the first time in forever. I forgot how good non-campus curry was, as I haven't had any since I went to Osaka. Oh man. SO good. The first bite was pure heaven. I don't know why I don't eat there more often. Curry costs about the same as ramen, and both are less than McDonald's. I'm some kind of crazy fool.

I also picked up more in this capsule toy series I've been collecting. Hunting trophy figures. I'm not really into hunting, but these are really cool high detail animal mount figures and I just sorta like them. Except today I found out that there are rare ones that are just the skulls of the animals. Kinda.... creepy.

Tomorrow I go to Yufuin! Probably by myself. Out of everyone I asked, only three people were interested, and all of them have cancelled, or "blocked" as it's come to be called here. Which sucks so hard. But I really want to go, so I'm going. I'll take pictures, and hopefully I can get someone to come along last minute. But if not poo on them, it's awesome Roshi time.

Also have plans to go to church on Sunday. I don't know if anyone is aware of this, but I'm technically Roman Catholic, and at the very best generally Christian, but I don't do much about it. For some reason I have a hankerin' to go to church, which is weird cause I haven't been in 3 years. Maybe I'm going to die soon? Who knows. But it should be an experience.

The church. Not the dying.

Stuck in the 90's Again

2009-05-29T00:28:00.002+09:00

I've been listening to a crapload of 90's music lately. If there's anything that you think I've probably forgotten about, lemme know.

Midterms going pretty well so far. Japanese part 1 was today, and part 2 is tomorrow which includes the speaking test. Final Anthropology test was today as well which was decent, and the final exam is Tuesday.

Star Trek comes out this Friday, and I want to go to Yufuin on Saturday. Going to try to get people along for both events, but dagnabbit I'm going whether anyone else wants to or not.

I also finally found something on TV worth watching here. There's a show called Boss, which is more or less CSI but in Japanese and with better music, and a female lead. I don't actually watch CSI so maybe that matches the show as well, but the only reason I'm watching this is because it's better than pretty much everything else I've seen on TV here. Honestly, immediately following the program was one of those terrible game/talk shows where for some reason a bunch of Japanese guys were crawling around on the set and making cat noises. It was even more annoying than it sounds.

Anyways, if anyone is interested in reading up more or watching an episode of the show, Boss can be found here, so have fun with that.

Two more things:

If you haven't seen it, the new Sherlock Holmes movie trailer is out, and it looks awesome. I'm all for skipping Christmas to go see it.

Also, if you've ever heard of it, I remembered the internet animated series "Tomorrow's Nobodies" earlier today. Apparently they did a series of shorts called "David Forgets" and some of them are entertaining. Here's one of the better ones: David Forgets

On a related note, apparently Tootsie Roll has a contest going on for 50,000 dollars. I need to get myself a tootsie pop so I can attempt it and answer, but you can enter yourself. If you're not an avid Tootsie Pop fan that already knows about the contest, here's the link to guess how many licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.

MIdterms Thursday and Friday

2009-05-27T10:23:00.002+09:00

So if I don't update don't be surprised. Gonna be studyin me arse off.

Today/Yesterday was good. Class sucked, but I had good food and played some TF2 with JM. And then I walked to the highway bus station and ran into a bunch of people that I knew which was cool. And they were out of potatoe croquettes, so that was upsetting. But it turns out that chocolate bread is pretty good, so that was a nice replacement.

I need to buy my ferry ticket either today or tomorrow, so I should probably get on that.

I got nothin else for now, sorry. Midterms and my anthropology final are heavy on my mind.

Watch a funny clip with Patrick Stewart.

Surprisingly Good

2009-05-26T01:31:00.002+09:00

Today was a really good day and I'm not quite sure why. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I woke up feeling good, I made a good breakfast (in my opinion hash browns are always good), I even had fun in class. I hate class; I think I've made that quite evident.

Was so weird. I'm afraid that it'll happen again and I'll be genuinely cheerful, and that would be truly frightening.

One thing I need to mention. In less cheerful news, it turns out that I have an exam next week Tuesday. Which means that I can't leave for Kyoto this Friday like I intended, and my vacation is also cut down effectively by that many days. This blows. Quite royally, in fact. So I'm thinking of taking advantage of the fact that I'm stuck here this weekend to maybe take the train to Yufuin for an afternoon, and go to Oita and FIND THE MOVIE THEATER ALREADY SERIOUSLY NOW. Everything worth going to in Oita is located entirely on the opposite side of town, and since I'm unfamiliar with most of the city it's not so easy to navigate.

On another note, I just got done hanging out with Fanxing in the first time since umm... well, since before the semester break started. Him and I have been alternately busy whenever we've wanted to hang out together, so it just didn't happen. He showed me some pics from his trip to Beijing with his dad and we watched a movie. Never Back Down. It was entertaining, but not really that great. Somebody needs to provide me proof that there are highschools out there where everybody looks in their early 20's and all the kids are fight club enthusiasts.

Because that is the highschool that I should've gone to.

A Broken Chain

2009-05-25T00:38:00.002+09:00

You know how you can be having a pretty good day, where things are going well, just not that exciting? Everything sort of chains together throughout the day as just happening, not bad, but not fantastic, but at least all in the positive. Then something comes along and all of a sudden the whole day, and everything else after it, just seem broken? Yeah, this was like that.

Slept in late for the first time in a week, which was nice. It was really really really windy out today and my window was rattling, so that was irritating, but at least that means that it isn't hot. Got to the cafeteria and the donburi counter was out of service so I got some nice chicken tonkatsu no tamago toji, which is always good. And I decided to eat at the window, because I keep forgetting that the view from where I live is beautiful and I need to learn to appreciate it a bit more. I think I'm starting to do crap like that because I'm consciously aware of how close I am to coming home. Half the time it's a feeling of anxious joy, and the other half it's regret for not having time to do more.

Another thing in my mind is making sure my money doesn't burn out. I'm trying to cook for myself more to save money on food, and I decided to see if the internet in the lobby is fast enough to play games so I don't need to go downtown anymore. It is, actually, at certain intervals. Early in the day when everyone is in class it's at a good speed, and then again late at night when everyone's going to sleep. I was out there a bit earlier today, and I don't think I'm ever doing that again.

There are professors on campus that use the fact that it's international as a means of making their students do tons of research work by asking random students questions. I don't mind this, if I'm doing something that my attention can be taken off of, or if I'm just eating or walking around or something. But if you come up to me while I'm playing an online game, fast paced with guns ablaze, with my headphones on in addition to that, and you approach me from behind so you can see all of this occuring beforehand, and you interrupt me to do a math problem because you heard that Americans can't do math, at the very least have the common decency to present it in the form of a question instead of stating your facts and then tossing the paper on my keyboard. And if you do do it that way, don't be surprised if I pick up the closest object and shank you as hard as my spindly little girl strength will let me.

And if you don't have the language skills to perform the simple task of asking a favor, then please just leave me the hell alone.

Christ.

Tickets to Osaka will be bought tomorrow for my trip to Kyoto on the cheap. Arrangements have been worked out with Jason, and he is fretting like my grandmother over my sleeping arrangements and travel costs. Overall this trip should be much cheaper than last time on multiple accords. First being that I'm not staying in a hostel for more than a day (I wanna go back to the one in Osaka for a night while I'm in the area). Second, I'm not going to Tokyo this time, so that's an automatic 80 dollar ticket deducted from the price. Third, I bought a CRAPLOAD of junk last time, and I have an emulator for my DS now so I don't need to buy any games anymore either, so unless I see something that I really REALLY need to have, I shouldn't be buying all that much this time around. So most of the costs will go toward travel and food, and overall the trip should be nice and cheap. Just the way I like it.

Good People

2009-05-24T01:03:00.002+09:00

Today was a good people day. As in, I kept seeing good people everywhere. Old people on campus were helping each other, I saw some schoolkids helping each other with stuff, I went to the hobbyshop I normally go to where the guy was chatting up his regular customer, and I ate at Mos Burger where a mom was excited to be with her kids and do I Spy books with them. Which yes, the restaurant had Japanese I Spy and Where's Waldo? books. How awesome is that?

So yes, I went downtown, expressly to play me some video games because I am a nerd. Also picked up some more manga. I figured I'd be elitist for once and try to pick up something that nobody else knows of. One of those worked, I got some book called Puzzle that didn't turn up anything on Google. Then the other one I got, Dragon Sister, didn't turn up anything good. Apparently after the first volume it just plummets in quality, so I guess don't buy any more of this series.

In other news, I crashed my iPod. That's about the only way I can describe it. The system crashed and stopped working. It's working now because I'm awesome and I fixed it, but this just made me realize that putting all your tech in one device may not always be the best solution to moving toward the future, especially when said device doubles as a phone and a camera, which I was left without until I could get back to my computer. Also, my iPhone has 4 gigs of secret space being used on it, so if anyone knows what THAT is about, please tell me.

I got some more pizza from the store, different brand this time. Hopefully it's at least as average as the last one, though I have my doubts.

Also, tired, but I managed to blog on time. Go me.

Haha...haha...

2009-05-23T09:33:00.002+09:00

Okay, last time, I promise.

Classes went about the same as they always do, and lunch was surprisingly good for some reason. The weather was also nice and cool for a chance, considering it's been sweat drippingly hot lately (which is about 80 if you're me).

There is also a Bonsai display going on in front of the dorms. It's been there for like a week, but I keep forgetting to mention it. It's right next to the new sanitation stations. They have liquid sanitizer dispensers up front because of the swine flue that isn't in Oita. Ah, well, guess you can't be too careful. I still just go around touching everything though, so screw that noise.

On a more newsworthy note, I had a fee for a monthly payment. I don't... I don't pay monthly, I paid a lump sum at the beginning of the semester. So I went to go ask them about that in the dorm office. To which they replied "Actually you owe us 2100 dollars" and I was all "WHAT!?". I presented them with my bank book to which they were dumbfounded, because apparently they lost my payment. Yeah, that's right.

After about an hour to an hour and a half of trying to discuss this matter with a woman who for some reason refused to use English (all the people in the office speak at least moderate English as a part of their job requirement, so either she snuck through that somehow or it seemed like I understood her Japanese enough for her to continue that way) they basically said that since I had proof that I paid them, or at the very least that I sent two thousand dollars to them, they can't in good conscience make me send them another couple grand to make up for their oopsy. So it's probably lost in the system, and as far as the situation has progressed I don't need to pay.

Which is good, but it was a bit frightening at the time.

Also, talked to Jason about quarter break plans. I'll be going to Kyoto for a week (ish) and probably not be able to blog then. Be gone from about the 29th til the 7th. So, looking forward to that.

Let's do this, shall we?

2009-05-22T05:54:00.002+09:00

So, my sleeping schedule is still thrown out of whack. If this isn't up by noon, then check back at about 5 for the update.

There are tons of animals on campus all of a sudden. Maybe my memory is poor, but I don't remember all of them here before the winter hit. There are bugs everywhere, especially in my room (where they do not belong), cats on campus, someone brought a dog, more birds than usual (the bridge is filled with crows at all times) and generally smaller birds everywhere else. Really, I walk around and they just swoop at me. It's like an Alfred Hitchcock film.

Class is still boring, and I doubt that's going to change. It's almost as if I'm repenting for my sins for two hours a day at this point. But, I have the upcoming break to look forward to, so that should be good. Speaking of which, JM bought my extra tickets to Fukuoka off of me, so that's a free 4000円 right there, which is nice. Does anyone have problem seeing the yen symbol? Should I use ￥? Aw whatever.

I had every intent of going to Senjinkai for once, but it started raining. And then it started thundering. And then we got an announcement over the intercom that everyone whom is outside needs to come inside immediately, and we aren't allowed to leave until they announce to us again. Apparently thunderstorms are a bit more dangerous in the mountains, and in actuality are a bit scarier, but also pretty cool. VERY loud, they are. Hopefully the next one is a bit later at night so it's really dark out when it happens.

Debating going downtown after classes today. I still need to download some Family Guy for Fanxing, and that's hard to do on campus. Guess I should probably go then.

Hip hip hurrah.

Late Again and Again

2009-05-21T08:34:00.003+09:00

Sorry for this happening so much lately. I've been exhausted from trying to reroute my sleep schedule. I'm back on waking up early and falling asleep early, which is unforutunate, but in a more positive trend. At the same time this is making me sleep through the time I normally blog so.... that sucks. Anyways....

Yesterday was a great day. I woke up early and hung around on campus, playing some games, making breakfast, drawing a bit out of boredom. Then I remembered that I needed to hand in the work permissions application, so I went ahead and finally did that. They say it'll be in sometime after the first of next month, so I'll have that in and can try to get a bit of work after the mid semester break comes around.

I got in a full work out in the morning too, which was really nice because I haven't really gotten to that in a while. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that at all in here but I've been trying to do a bit of working out here on account that otherwise I'm just sitting on my ass at my desk all day. Really, desk, bed, and kitchen in a cycle. There is nothing to do on campus and very little within walking distance, so there isn't much of a point to leave the dorms. Although now that the weather is nicer I think I'm going to try walking down town. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half from what I've heard, so better make sure my iphone is charged else I want a really boring walk.

I went downtown and immediately negated the workout by going to McDonald's and an internet cafe. Go me! I've been meaning to get down to the internet cafe for a good week now and just haven't bothered with it (been looking for shoes instead) so it was good to get down there. Finished downloading Thor comics (all of them. I have all of them now. Boo ya.) and watched Hot Fuzz on ~~Mogulus~~ livestream. I can't believe that I hadn't seen that movie yet, it was hilarious. Also got around to playing TF2 which was always good. I can't remember how to add scripts in though, so I'm playing au natural. It's unfortunate that I'm still kicking ass to the top of the charts, because that means that I really need to find better servers or something.

After I got out of there I was hungry again. So, I figured I should get some ramen. The internet cafe is right next to Ku-ta Ramen which is the best ramen in the world, but I figure I need to diversify a bit. I was going to just be lazy and eat the stuff at You Me town again, but I passed the smelly ramen place and decided to stop there. Really this place smells. Or at least from the outside, cause it wasn't so bad inside, but the outside smells like raw sewage. Pretty sure it's supposed to, though. Tonkotsu ramen is made with pork bone and is supposed to smell rank, and it's said that the more awful it smells the better it tastes. And the place is Ooita Tonkotsu Ramen, so I guess it's living up to its namesake. The ramen was also damn cheap at only 500 yen for a good sized bowl, and it was pretty good. There were these weird possibly vegetables in it that I had no idea what exactly they were, but they were tasty. Unfortunately I didn't eat the seaweed paper, because I wasn't exactly sure how to go about that, and when it got down to it it was the only thing left in the bowl. Felt sort of bad, but I also feel like I don't really care.

Went to You Me town afterward to pick up some snacks and a One Piece figure (shut up) and to look at the shoes again to see if they've changed. I probably am going to be stuck buying an 80 dollar pair of shoes. They'd better last me for that much. I'm going to try Foot Park before anything though, and hopefully they've got cheapass shoes that I can pick up. The soles on mine are practically nonexistant and there is a small hold that you can poke through on one of them. I have a feeling we're going to hit a rainy season again, so probably a good idea to get some watertight foot coverings.

I was sort of in and out on the bus ride home, which was nice because it went faster. Got back to campus and fell asleep the second I sat down, then woke up a few hours later and took all the stuff out of my pockets and got my shoes and belt and glasses off so that I could sleep for real. And forgot to blog in the process.

Well, I'm better now, things should fare well tonight. Still though, the day was really enjoyable for having done most of that stuff alone (ran into someone I knew at McDonald's though) so I should try to get that going on more often. Hurrah.

Time Keeps on Slippin

2009-05-20T02:52:00.002+09:00

Into the future. And holy crap, apparently I have two weeks left in the quarter. Who would've thought? I am so close to the break, and closer still to coming home. I feel like everything is going by too fast and I'll never be able to get everything done.

I looked into Kumamoto bus tickets and those are 2700円　each way, and I already plan on getting to Kyoto which is going to be a 10800円 round trip ticket again. Still need to talk to Jason about that, though. Not sure where to find geisha yet, although I suppose I could ask at the tourism office. It seems like a weird thing to ask, but I guess I'm still tied back with the Western notion that geisha are prostitutes instead of performers. I'll get over that eventually.

JM and I are still going to hike the mountain one of these days, so probably after the break sometime. I need to start going to Oita more frequently, and I'm thinking of one day just picking a random city on the train route and going there to see what's what.

Debating if I should actually try to get a job, considering it'd take away from the time I have to do things, but I guess once or twice a week wouldn't take away from things too much. It'd make up for my bus fare, at least.

One thing I forgot to point out from the other day when we took the cab back. The city is a lot smaller than I thought. The buses take forever, but that's because they take routes that are a bit out of the way and stop once every two blocks. What amounts to a 40-45 minutes bus ride is essentially a 15 minute drive at the most. It shrunk the city so much in my head that I've basically been encouraged to get out of it more, so hopefully that's a bit more possible in the future.

I also need to work harder on my Onsen Master towel. I have umm... zero, stamps. Every time I've gone to the onsen I always forgot to bring my stamp booklet, and I'm not actually sure where to find it in my room at the moment. If I find it before I go downtown later then I'll bring it along and hopefully find an onsen to hop into (unlikely that I won't, there are like three on every block).

Overall, Japan suddenly became bigger, Beppu suddenly became smaller, and I'm out of time. Now to rush some enjoyment.

Like the Dumbest Person You Know

2009-05-19T00:11:00.002+09:00

So, the paint is wearing away on my glasses frames, right? Any normal person would just ignore this and possibly start thinking about buying new frames. Not me though, because I'm crafty. I had the genius idea to take my permanent marker and color in all the areas that were rubbed away. Thankfully my shaky hand didn't smear any on the lenses as far as I know, but considering I'm still letting it set for a few more minutes I guess I can't really tell yet. Here's hopin.

I had stayed up all night again, because that's what I'm all about lately. Was doing fine, doing real well, when I needed to finish up my homework. Now, my desk is cluttered and unusable, so I had to do my work on the bed. The bed where I can get comfortable, and most likely fall asleep. Which I did. But never fear, I didn't sleep through class this time! Just the first five minutes, and managed to get there with most of the class left. Teacher asked why I was late and I told her I came in from Beppu and missed the early bus, and that seemed to suffice.

I was planning to go downtown after class, but I decided against it. Two reasons: One, I had a bad feeling that I'd run into my teacher either on the bus, or downtown for some reason (it's happened with other teachers. Beppu is not very big, and everyone takes the same bus route) and she'd question why I was going down twice in one day. Also, by the time I was going to go down I'd end up taking the last bus back to campus when I wanted to come back, and I hate doing that cause it's always damn crowded. Silly reason, but I stick to it.

Anyways, because I should be doing stuff like this more often, quick Japanese lesson/commentary:

For those of you whom don't know, there are two types of Japanese "alphabets" plus the kanji (the complicated Chinese characters). One of the alphabets is for native Japanese words and the other is for foreign ones (or at least that's what they tell you, considering the line gets blurred to jigoku and back).

Of the foreign alphabet I've noticed 3 ways to localize things.

1) Direct translation (or closest capable). This is generally the most frequent one, but because it needs to be adjusted for Japanese pronunciation, generally it'll sound different. For example, gas pump would be ガソリンスタンド(gasolinstando-Gasoline Stand). Then there are the ones that just work, like ワイン(wine). Then there are ones that get butchered, like マクドナルド(makudonarudo - McDonald's)

2) Direct spelling change over. This completely disregards the way that the word is pronounced and will just translate the way the word is spelled instead. I've seen this mostly in electronics and some city names, but it pops up in other places too. Example for this would be ニュース（nyusu - news) where it's pronounce closer to noose than news.

3) Shortening. This changes the word beyond most recognition. Little kids learning English in Japan have been known to do this with English words the way that it's done in katakana, much to the bewilderment of their teachers. Examples would include エイアコン(eiakon - air conditioner) and レモコン(remokon - remote control).

My examples are terrible, but I'm still tired from my one hour of sleep and there are people yelling in the hallway for some reason. So that's the best yer gettin tonight.

Haha Oops

2009-05-18T01:08:00.003+09:00

Lost track of time there. One update fresh off the grill comin up.

Since it's Sunday, and I claim this as customary to provide myself content when I'm lazy, let's look into the referral info.

I've resigned myself to accepting that I will never stop getting hits for Maine Coon. It's just not going to happen. For more information about Maine, check out this informative and entertaining music video.

Another hit comes from a search for "chiizubagaa" and that brought about a comment from a fellow Japan traveler, whom assured me that my issues with trying to custom order my food are universal. Good to know that I'm not just incompetent. I've grown accustomed to that, but I like to be proven wrong.

So I had grand plans today. I woke up early and I was going to go downtown. Watched a couple episodes of One Piece and took a shower and was all ready to go down and get some ramen and do some shopping and maybe look for something cool to do while I'm down there. And then a typhoon hit and all of the buses and school services stopped. So... that really, really sucked.

There was also a movie tonight as with every Sunday. The announcement said that it wouldn't be in English or have subtitles so I stopped caring. When I went to the mini-coop later I saw a poster for it saying it was the Death Note movie. Well dang, I really wanted to see that, and by the time I saw the poster the movie had ended. Well poop.

Mother Nature and Murphy's Law are teaming up to hate on me.

Hit Parade La La La

2009-05-17T01:13:00.002+09:00

So, last night was the party at Hit Parade. Because I'm not sure I mentioned it or not, Hit Parade is a club/bar set up in the fashion of the American 60's. Kind of a strange thing to find in Japan (and strangely not uncommon), but it was cool. Also, don't let them find out that you're an APU student. Hurray justified prejudices!

We showed up a bit earlier than we were supposed to, but they let us in anyway. We got a seat and hung out for a bit waiting for people to arrive and got a good look at the decor. Nice open setting with a dance floor and pictures of old American celebrities all over the place. Our section had Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Judy Garland, Cary Grant and a few others that I can't recall. All the waiters had pompadours. It was fantastic.

The place was a tabehodai/nomihodai, so essentially "All you can eat all you can drink". Food was decent, with chicken, fish, french fries, and some Japanese stuff and spring rolls. Also, ice cream. The ice cream was pretty good.

There was a live band that played 25 minute sets then took a 15 minute break for the whole night. I'd hate to have that job. There were two guy leads and a girl who was pretty cute and wearing a go-go girl dress. The non-singing band members were dressed in identical suits with yellow and black blazers, and I totally wanted one. The lead guitarist was awesome. He had this kinda dazed happy look on his face the whole time like he was drunk out of his mind, and he would come out and rip these awesome solos while just standing there smiling and looking around like he wasn't sure entirely what was going on, and then just go back into the corner.

About halfway through the night, the guy who's party we were there celebrating actually left. Boooo. Who does that (other than a certain someone at a certain grad party. Oh snap). So that was a bit weird at first, but we quickly closed the gap and kept onward. We were a dual group, though, and the other half of our group was celebrating a different person's birthday. The girl got absolutely smashed and began stumbling around everywhere, and even fell on me at one point which was awkward. After about an hour of that she just passed out dead drunk for the next 4 hours or so. At about the same time the jerks on that side of the party got all rowdy and ended up getting our drinks cut off for the rest of the night, which is the main point of not saying you're an APU student because then they do that pre-emptively. So that absolutely sucked, cause it was 30 bucks to get in and on top of that I was really thirsty. Stupid Americans.

The band was good, and the ambience in the place was generally enjoyable. There were people on the dance floor that had to come there often or something, because they knew every dance move that the performers were doing and did them along with them. That was odd.

Made some friends, talked with some people, had a good time. The taxi finding process afterward was a bit awkward, but we managed. The birthday girl was placed "delicately" into a cab with her drunk ass self, and then we had to talk another girl who was too drunk to function into going back to campus, but it worked out in the end.

The place was really fun and I'd like to go back, but probably make sure that the people we're there with don't just suck overall.

Also: Technical difficulties. I tried uploading the photos, but it just is NOT WORKING. THey'll be up when I can get them to work.

Sweet Glory Lordy Almighty

2009-05-15T00:47:00.004+09:00

Apparently studying can be useful towards learning things. Somebody inform the presses.

On that note, even though I'm doing better in classes now that I'm actually attending them, Japanese still is increasingly unbearable. These things happen, being in Japan and all.

Apparently I had some photos on my iPhone. Let's look at those.

First up:

Look at this shirt. Look. at. this. shirt.

Is that not the worst shirt you've ever seen? I'm pretty sure the thing at the bottom is a pun using a kid's name, so this was made by a mother or grandmother I'd assume. Gifts are supposed to be an act of love. This was clearly part of a machiavellan scheme to get the kid to be so ostracised by the world that he'd never leave his mother's side. Pure evil genius.

This was just a cool car. Photo might be a bit blurred because the guy was walking up to it while I was taking the shot. This was right after checking Kumamoto prices, which are something like 35 dollars roundtrip if I checked right...hopefully.

This is McDonald's in Japanese. Double Quarter pounder, fries, and a coke. English writing galore. You can't see it in this photo, but the fries actually say "Golden Crispy Fries. We love to see you smile." There is virtually no difference between the layout except the fine print being in Japanese. Oh, also it tastes better here. I'll sort of miss food this cheap being this tasty.

Obligatory Pac-man shot

This was the best thing to happen to me all week. I bought this pizza on the assumption that it'd be better than the other pizzas I've bought form the store on the assumption that it didn't have corn or mayonnaise on it (dammit, Japan). I opted to bake it (we can do that apparently! There are tiny oven...things built into the stovetops. Almost nothing fits in them.) and this chose to be the best option available. This pizza wasn't quite delicious, but it was adequate. All other pizza that I've ingested here tastes like bile, so this was a very nice change of pace. Will by again, although it is sort of expensive. Maybe I'll make my own tiny pizza? Who knows.

Blog might be late tomorrow. Possibly non-existent. Going downtown to celebrate a friend's birthday, so I'll be back late.

Mexican Radio

2009-05-14T00:43:00.002+09:00

I am so sick of that song. It keeps coming up on my playlist. I used to like it, but come on. Enough is enough.

So, today I was supposed to go down to the post office. Like I've been meaning to do for the past two weeks. And I'm sure you're all expecting me to say that I slept in and I missed it and I just stayed on campus lounging around instead.

That'd be funnier, but for once it isn't true. Ha! I went to a different, CLOSER post office that apparently is open even later, but I still got there early enough to have gone to the other one, so I was on top of things this time. Was a nice change of pace.

So, I talked to the lady, and I had prepared some words for this. I had the word for "shipping by sea" and I asked if they were able to do that. Mel had told me that I'm probably being too cautious and that I could've probably just used ship and boat and been fine, but I wanted to do it right. So the woman looked at me confused for a moment and then I asked her if they could ship by boat, to which she went "Ah, Sea Mail!" Yeah... Sea Mail. So much for learning Japanese.

She gave me a chart for pricing for air, surface, and sea shipping. Shipping by sea is 3 times less than air mail. That is RIDICULOUS. Even so, 20 kilos is still a good 100 dollars. So I should probably try to keep it under that. Also, their predetermined box sizes are sort of small, so it'll probably cost an extra ten dollars to ship an irregular sized box. Even more reason to keep it lighter! But I need to get rid of all/most of my books/comics/toys/winter clothes and old luggage before I leave. Don't want all that crap hangin around when I need to get on the plane, no siree.

I also went to go to the hobby shop that I used to go to frequently but haven't made it to in months, at least since before the winter break. Turns out that they were closed today for inventory.

The odds....

Got me some KFC which has also been a while, and was going to get some ramen but I ended up going grocery shopping instead. Got some actual tasty looking pizza for once, we'll see how well that holds out, and some more hash browns. Also some instant ramen, Japanese style. It has a dip in it that you're supposed to cook an egg in? While the noodle block is boiling? We'll see how that works. The noodles are really thin though, and flat, and the flavour packet came pre-mixed so couldn't make them dry like I wanted to. Dang. Ah well, still tasty.

All in all, a good day. Although I did wake up late and I'm still finishing my homework. Yeah....

Sometimes a parrot talks!

2009-05-13T00:41:00.003+09:00

You know what Japan has a lot of? No, not crappy food. Okay, yes that, but not the answer I'm looking for. They have plenty of HUMIDITY.

It's so humid that my sweat is sweating. There is vague circulation in my room via the cracks in the door, but I can't keep the door open and listen to music so screw that noise. I'm debating if SCIENCE can help my by turning on the bathroom fan and trying to use that as circulation. I wish they'd just turn on the air conditioning already, don't want my laptop to crash again or anything.

Speaking of my music, check out this awesomely nerdy Winamp skin:

If anyone's interested, you can pick it up here at the official site.

Was exhausted from not sleeping last night (I hate the heat. SO. MUCH.) so I crashed after classes. It was very relaxing, but it also ensured that nothing got done. No classes tomorrow, so at least I'll have that to compensate, but I should probably do some tonight so I don't fall too far behind.

If I don't oversleep then tomorrow I will FINALLY make it to the post office. The event that I've been speaking of for two weeks now. Cause I'm on top of things.

Speaking of being on top of things, I forgot to transfer money into my checking account when I bought my plane ticket so it was overdrawn by 380 dollars. Only 60 of that is overdraft fees, but it's pretty much my own stupidity there so... what're ya gonna do. Ah well, I still got enough to survive the rest of the time here.

But feel free to send me bags of money, especially the kind with dollar signs printed right on them.

Good news, Everybody!

2009-05-12T00:59:00.002+09:00

Bad news!

Wait, no, it is good news. I found out that the one class that I've missed a whole bunch of classes in hasn't actually been taking attendance, so it's like I was actually there! Also, all the reading, films, and tests are online, so I really haven't missed anything if you get down to it. Also my nihongonese teacher is letting me do make up for the homework I missed there, so, also good.

And I had a kebab! That's not really out of the ordinary, but it's tasty and I figured I'd mention it.

Also made plans to watch some cartoons with Fanxing ('e wants to watch some Family Guy and Simpsons so I figured I'd download/ stream a couple episodes and we could do that) so that should be fun. Also, party this friday (::noisemakers::) so that'll be cool.

Have a friend knocking on my door tomorrow morning to make sure that I'm awake, so that's covered. I really need a bed that retracts into the wall when I wake up. Do they make those? They should. Best idea ever.

The air conditioning isn't on. They came through the dorms and tested them all to make sure they worked the other day, but then turned them off again for some reason. I supposed it's not that hot out (especially when I realize that I don't need to wear slippers anymore) but my laptop overheated earlier today, so that's upsetting. There is a slight possibility that this is due more to the fans in it being clogged with dust than to the actual heat, and the fact that it was extremely hot to an almost melting point in the fan area that went away almost instantly once I took my compressed air to it, but I feel like blaming the school for stuff and also I want my air conditioning, dangit.

I also found a toy in my bookshelf. Completely forgot about it.

I might go photographing this weekend, on account that the party will cost a lot of money (30 bucks? Augh) which is excusable for the unlimited food and drink they're offering (hard to come by here. Normal buffets are 15 bucks+ as is, and this one offers alcohol, so apparently that makes it cost more) so I need to find fun for the rest of the weekend that doesn't cost money.

And I haven't been to the lil waterfall area in a while, so should be fun.

Redundant Blog Title

2009-05-11T01:40:00.003+09:00

I was going to open with a joke that according to my auto-complete I have already used before. I have been at this gig so long that I'm running out of material.

Hoo-boy.

Today was another hang out on campus day, As I'm saving my bus tickets til Tuesday on account that going to the post office while it'd open is a good move.

You'd think that my plans to just hang around all day and do nothing had no chance of being ruined, but you'd somehow be wrong. That's how much the universe enjoys kicking me in the spleen.

Essentially, I had homework to do, and being an American and thus highly likely to be a procrastinator, I wait til the last possible moment to do my work. For that rare occasion, I waited til the day before instead of right before class like I normally do, and I went to log into blackboard to do the assignment (hurray online work!). For some reason, the site was down, and has been down all day, and is down right now! Luckily the teacher sent out an e-mail saying she was aware of it, but still, the one time I decided to do something right and I can't. Go figure.

Also I had cookies for dinner. I really need to go shopping.

And because I feel like reminding you of how long ago everything was, guess what you're getting?

200 Sbemails!

2009-05-10T01:51:00.002+09:00

I mean, 200 blog posts.

Man it has been a wild ride. To think that I update this almost every day, even if I don't have anything to say in it! And that at least a handful of you are here every day whether I update or not in order to read about my mundanity. That's super, that really is. Touching, would be a word.

At the 100 mark I ~~photoshopped~~ MS Painted a picture of Godzilla wearing a party hat with explosions.

At the 200 mark, I've created a second blog.

"Oh. Shit." you probably just said to yourself. "Now he'll never update on time ever again."

You're probably right about that, but it has little to nothing to do with having a second blog, and much more to do with the fact that I am lazy and easily distracted. Besides, the other blog will only update Tuesdays and Fridays for now. It's a review site (in a sense) so it shouldn't be stealing any of the lack of content from here, and most likely will be a better read.

If you only visit there and avoid this blog, I'll understand. I won't forgive you, no, but I'll understand.

To actually put some relevant content down in here, I did go downtown today, but not until about 6. Now, the ATMs on campus clase at 5:30, and the ones in the convenience stores tend to close umm.... later. I didn't know an exact time. But apparently the time is right before I show up, because they closed at that exact time. I literally walked in as the bank attendant was locking it up for the night. So that sort of put a damper on the evening.

I did get excited to see that the shoe store was opened, on account that I need new shoes. Unfortunately, they don't have any in my size, and on top of that the cheapest shoes they offer are about 80 dollars. Boy do I love having comically large feet. I tried the mall again and no luck there either, so I think that I've resigned myself to ordering some shoes online. Probably Japanese Amazon, so that I don't need to pay more than slightly exorbitant shipping fees.

I did look into the Kumamoto tickets while I was out, and if I managed to converse properly with the guy, then they'e about 12 dollars each way, which is surprisingly cheaper than I thought it would be, so that's good at least. Going to double check that sometime soon, and maybe it'll even be lower! Wouldn't that be nice.

I also need to get back into cooking. I was given a lovely potato recipe in an old comments section (did I mention this already?) so I gotta try that out, and I still need to try the other recipes I've got written down. I went out and bought a pot, so that should be helpful and I totally won't just use it to cook ramen noodles.

Totally...

Professional Nothing Doer

2009-05-09T00:40:00.002+09:00

That sounds like a pretty sweet gig, methinks. It may possibly be my dream job, but I know that that position will always be held by "Chick Sexer" (not what it sounds like. They're the people who check the gender of baby chickens for 'distribution' and then toss them down chutes into other piles of baby chicks. Totally awesome).

That's basically explaining today (exciting, I know). Was going to head downtown, but time got away from me as it is oft to do. I ended up eating in the Pacific Cafe and being waited on in English which is a rarity there, considering the only two people I've ever seen working there are these nice middle aged Japanese women. It was possibly a result of my being white, but not in the way that is directly because I'm white. I was asked what drink I wanted, and for some reason was drawing a blank so I glanced over at the beverage list, and must have looked like a slack jawed foreigner as I stared blankly at a list of roughly 4 drinks because the question was repeated in English, and that furthered the rest of the order in the language.

Luckily, this guy was a student, and not like some of the less intelligible conversationalists from downtown.

I hate the word intelligible. It seems negativised already, but then you get unintelligible. Telligible should be the positive form. Then again, I guess we'd have telligent, and you'd sound pretty unsmart thanks to that.

Not sure if the post office is open on Saturdays, but here's hopin. I'll just try to get down there early, and then the rest of the day should follow accordingly.

Dr Horrible

2009-05-08T00:15:00.002+09:00

My love affair with the movie Dr Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog is once again in full swing. My Captain Hammer shirt may be ruined, but my fandom is made anew. I came across the Commentary: The Musical tracks that somebody was nice enough to upload to Youtube, so I don't need to wait til I get back to the states and buy the DVD to hear them.

Of course, I'll still by the DVD, and probably watch it enough times for it to melt and cause the player to catch on fire.

Worth it.

In other news, the teacher yelled at me for missing classes. I didn't know... they could do that? In college at least. They're not supposed to care. But she seemed intent on hammering in the point that if I continue to miss classes (as if it is my plan to never attend class again) that I will fail, and that I missed assignments from being out (which, considering we're not allowed to hand in late work, which includes if we're out sick, seems redundant of her to mention). So all in all, I've missed three days total out of a semester long class thus far, and she is needlessly upset about it.

Oh well, guess I'll go master Japanese over the weekend to SHOW HER UP.

Tomorrow I'm going downtown to check on shipping prices for my junk (I've got a hefty package) and also check the ticket costs to go to Kumamoto. The couple people I've asked thus far seem intrigued by the idea, so hopefully I can build up a sizeable interest of people willing to spend 20 bucks to go to the zoo (I really wanna go to the zoo).

Also get me some ramen. Boo ya.

Tetrominos!

2009-05-07T01:09:00.002+09:00

That's what they call 'em. The Tetris pieces, of course. Which I just got done playing. Boo ya.

I had every intention of going downtown today, but then I thought "I should probably study. It's been a while since I studied." And really, I was just going down to play video games anyways. Then I remembered that I had a reason to go downtown, what with the not having gone to the post office yet. But I'd already resigned to not go down, so I hung out on campus.

Also I only studied for like, an hour, so that plan also fell through. Man I rock.

So I don't know if I actually mentioned it in my blog yet, but I bought a plane ticket home. I leave August 9th at 12:10 pm, and I arrive August 9th at 10:12 pm. I also have a 7 hour layover in Chicago (O'HARAAAAAAA! [shakes fist]). So, apparently I'm time travelling.

I'm also going to make sure that I see the Brachiosaurus skeleton that they have on display at the airport this time I go. I was too concerned with not having slept/first time flying ever/going out of the country other than Canada for the first time ever/needing food/ craziness to wander around the terminal too much last time, but now that I'm aware that there is such a skeleton, I will probably get
arrested for climbing on it.

Unfortunately, I am not the type whom remembers to check concert dates and such. So last night, two days after I purchased my plane ticket, I looked up the 2009 tour dates for the pillows. And saw that they're playing in Fukuoka. On August 9th. At 6:30 pm.

So 6 hours after I LEAVE THE COUNTRY, one of my favorite bands is going to be playing downtown from the place I just left from. Talk about poor planning. And since I got it through this weird student flights site I can't push the date ahead a day or anything so... I weep for my failure. I might try to intersect a concert date with my traveling to Kyoto dates later this semester, but it might prove difficult. Unfortunately all the bands go down to Fukuoka and back up to the mainland, so the odds of anyone even coming close enough to travel to are insignificant.

Le sigh ~

At least I'll always have my hash browns.

Haha wow

2009-05-06T01:22:00.002+09:00

So this is embarassing. I slept for 16 hours. SIXTEEN. That's almost a day. And as a result, missed bloging. Hoo boy. This is what I get for sucking at life, apparently.

Also missed a class or two, but that's less important.

Word to the wise: don't forget to set your alarm if you haven't slept in two days and are extremely exhausted. I know it seems like a good idea, but just don't do it.

So the kebab guy wasn't here yesterday, but the yakitori guy was here today. It was an inverse from last week, and one that I'm okay with. The yakitori guy (as well as the bread lady) leave me fulfilled for only about a dollar more than the kebab guy whom leaves me longing for more kebab.

I just went back and corrected that to say 'whom' instead of 'who'. How many bloggers do you know that spend the amount of time and effort to go back and correct things like that? And watch, I just typed all that while I was staring at my door because I heard a noise over there, so it's probably filled with tons of typos and junk that I'm gonna miss. Well, no time to check, got the future to head toward.

I may not be able to join Taekwondo Club. Apparently you need a gym membership, which is free, but they only give them out for the first two weeks of the semester. Which seems kind of.... well it is stupid. I will leave this country without understanding the rhyme and reason for the way that they do things. If I ever claim to, you should ready a stabbing implement for my arrival because I apparently have gone crazy, and the Roshi that you all knew and loved will have died.

Speaking of which, the noise at the door wasn't a zombie. Floor meeting slip. It's all cool.

Because I have nothing else really to say, I'll share some Awesome with you, or the Axis therein.

Have some Birdplane.

Maine Coons are a breed of very large cats.

2009-05-04T01:05:00.002+09:00

They also happen to be rather intelligent and have a variety of unique habits among the domesticated felines. That's about all I know on them, but you can do further reading on your own by clicking this link.

That should take care of that.

Oh right, what was that all about. Well, apparently I get like 12 hits a day from people clicking on the Maine Coon picture I posted like 3 months ago. I figured that I should indulge everyone coming here from that and at least direct them to Wikipedia, which is probably where they started their search from, to be honest.

So, for those of you who don't know, we're smack dab in the middle of Golden Week. You'd figure I would have mentioned it earlier, but shut up.

Anyways, Golden Day is basically a string of holidays starting with the Emperor's Birthday and ending with Children's Day. I'm too old to celebrate Children's Day, but I'm not too old to celebrate Golden Week, which you do by going places and buying stuff while it's discounted.

I was told that electronics were discounted a lot, but apparently 3-5% is a huge discount to my non-American friends here. Not enough to get me to buy crap I don't need. And that's saying something, cause I love buying crap I don't need.

I did buy a couple things I don't need, and was disappointed and confused when the woman at McDonald's told me that they didn't have quarter pounders left for the day. The fiends! So I went to the internet cafe for a few hours and watched some Zelda (Excuuuuuuse me, Princess) and attempted to order some delicious cheese toast only to find out it doesn't exist on the menu anymore (double fiends!). So I was contented with awful french fries and a sad, rainy bus ride home.

And now I'm tired and listening to loud music. That seems counterintuitive. Or whatever.

Yeah.

Oh wow

2009-05-03T00:24:00.003+09:00

Yeah, so I'm sorry.

I just looked at my album and apparently I really haven't uploaded any pics since the trip. Including not actually putting up the 花見(Cherry Blossom Viewing) pics. Wow.

I am really off my game.

So I just uploaded a bunch of pics (that may soon be reduced in number because I know my parents look at them) so get 'em while they're hot.

And since I didn't do much today, I think I'll talk about a few of them, as to have a not-rambling blog for once!

Here goes:

One of my favorite posters in Beppu. Sarcasm doesn't actually exist here, so nobody really knows the connection between that expression on the girl's face (it seems much more stoic in person) and the phrase "Nice Going". Priceless, Japan. Truly.

This is a park that they've been working on since I got here. Almost literally since I got here. About two weeks after I showed up they started digging the foundations, and they've been working on it through ~~winter~~ the cold fall and early spring, and only now have almost finished. They've got the concrete flower shelves, the sidewalks, and the benches in there, and are waiting til the grass finishes growing in before they put the finishing touches on and open the place up to the public. Should be nice. All you can do now is walk by, check the time on the huge clock, and write down the location of the strip club that is advertised on the side of the plot.

Puppies! Cause why not. I want a Yorkshire Terrier. Don't try to talk me out of it, you can't.

These pigeons were fighting. My iPhone doesn't record video, unfortunately, but it was hilarious.

Yeah, it gets REALLY foggy in the mountains.

And that's about it for now. Check out the cherry blossom pics and enjoy.

Where the Hell is Matt?

2009-05-02T01:07:00.003+09:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this guy before, but if I did, he warrants another mention.

Sometime before I left for Japan, I came across this Where the Hell is Matt? website. This guy got sponsored by Sprint to do whatever he wanted, essentially. Talk about an awesome break.

Well, he took the sponsorship and this silly dance that he does, and traveled the world with it. Then he spliced together all the clips, and made a short video showing him dancing with all the people.

It sounds like something dumb, but I implore you: watch it. Watch it in high quality. It's beautiful. That's really all you can say about it.

The guy also has some backpacking tips for anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps (insofar as the traveling goes). Some useful sites and some dos and don'ts for the trip. I really wanna do this someday, so don't be surprised if in a couple of summers I just up and go to Asia for a few months.

As for what I actually did today, well that's easy. I slept through classes. Again.

Hurrah! At the very least, I have a makeup test for the first test I missed due to the scheduling conflicts from the beginning of the semester on Monday, so that's
good news. And I didn't really miss much in class, so... that's good too.

If I go downtown tomorrow, I'm looking into how much Kumamoto tickets cost. I'd like to do a bit more traveling in the area, considering I feel like I haven't seen all that much of the island, despite being on this end and the opposite end (when I went to Fukuoka). So here's lookin to that.

Kumamoto has bears, by the way.

Bears for wrestling.

Edit: FUCK YOU BLOGGER. Seriously. I got an error message and spent about a minute retyping this before I checked to see if it auto saved. If you didn't have so many safeguards to protect us from how crappy your service is, then I'd hate you more. As it stands, I am conflicted.

I get distracted easily

2009-05-01T00:56:00.002+09:00

And when that occurs, accidents happen.

I was cooking hash browns, because I am a slave to the potato. Afterwards I went to go dump the oil into the sink so I could clean the pan. When I was doing that, one of the guys on the floor distracted me, and I instinctively turned on the water. For those of you who don't know (how are you still alive?) water and hot oil do not mix. So there was a violent explosion of hot oil that somehow missed me entirely (the other guy was far enough away to not be in danger). He kinda stared at me like "what the hell is wrong with you" and I didn't know how to explain "Dammit you distracted me and I followed routine and then this happened!" in Japanese.

Ah well, the hash browns came out great.

I also realized today that I have allergies. I've known that since forever, but they haven't affected me the entire time that I've been in Japan. Probably because the flowers just bloomed for the first time since I got here, and now all this pollen in the air is causing my face to leak in various gross manners. Hopefully I can make it through the season alive, what with my inability to purchase medicine here.

I know I haven't uploaded photos in a while. I've taken some, but uploading is an entirely different process. It's just a hassle, really. It's slow to take them from my digital camera, and then it's also slow to take them from my iphone (cause I have to deal with iTunes booting up). And then my internet here is awful, too, so it takes forever to upload them, not to mention that I resize them (most of the time) and that adds to the process.

I'll have some up by Saturday, promise.

In the meantime, here's some amusing videos:

Japanese censors loathe riceballs.

My life is not complete until I can pull this off.

Japan is really, really weird.

All according to plan

2009-04-30T00:02:00.004+09:00

Or the opposite of that.

Decided to go downtown today to go to the post office. Got all gussied up to do it too (meaning I shaved because I needed to do that anyways). The one minor detail I forgot was.... oh yeah, post offices close early.

Right.

I can't even excuse that one on being in Japan, they close the same time in America. So that was just me being dumb. Looks like I'll have to wait on the shipping stuff home number.

I was then planning to go to the internet cafe, because it'd cost less to hang out there than to go downtown and inevitably spend lots of money on shiny pretties that I don't really need whatsoever. Unfortunately, I submitted to the siren call of the Quarter Pounder meal and didn't have enough cash on me to go to the cafe, so I had to find an ATM.

When I found an ATM, it didn't work. I still am not quite sure what was wrong with it, other than that it kept spitting receipts at me and not giving me money. So I'll wager that it was either out of cash, or it smelled the American on me. Dirty prejudiced Japanese automated teller machine. We're people too!

So, to further convolute the plan, I needed to find yet another atm machine (THAT'S REDUNDANT). So I kept walking along until I found one.

Unfortunately, the next closest one was at the mall, the very place that I had been trying to avoid. I decided to just give in to fate and wander about for a bit. I ended up buying a new hat (a replacement for the one I wore all winter. Looks similar, but isn't so thick that I'm sweating to death in it). I also got a mounted bison head! It's a gashapon toy, but still, pretty neat. I got a ram before, but that sucked. Rams aren't cool. You ever met someone brag about killing a ram? It's not that hard.

Where was I? Right, the mall. I somehow remembered that I wanted to get some vitamins the other day, so I set out to do that. I spent about twenty minutes in the grocery area getting disappointed that I couldn't find any, until I bothered to look up far enough and see a sign that read in English "Pharmacy Area".

Oh.

So I headed over there to grab my spoils of victory (I can read English! Hurrah!). Not knowing exactly what I was missing from my diet of pringles, peanuts, ritz crackers, hash browns and Pepsi, I decided to grab some multivitamins to be on the safe side. In doing so I established the night to max out at spending roughly 3 times what I would have at the internet cafe.

Well, at least I got some exercise...or something.

Which was ruined when I remembered that I had a free milkshake coupon in my wallet and 25 minutes until the bus showed up.

On an unrelated note, my room, or at least my desk, is already messy again. Go figure. Nothing about 20 minutes of cleaning wouldn't solve for good but you know...

That's a whole 20 minutes of not doing nothing.

Meh.

Pikachu attack the horn!

2009-04-29T01:41:00.002+09:00

Today was a good day. Not for any particular reason, it just didn't suck. That qualifies as a good day in my book.

Also I had the first peanut butter sandwich since I got here. So great.

My room is about 95% clean now. Vaccuumed, the sheets are washed (still drying... covertly since we're not supposed to use the dryers after midnight) and I've thrown out the majority of the garbage. Now all I need to do is start going through all my stuff to see what I need to keep and what I can get rid of. Figure I should start getting prepared to send some stuff back home ahead of time. Mostly my winter clothes, books, and toys that I've amassed since I got here.

Blech. I don't think I cleaned my mug enough and I swallowed some dish soap.... god it's bubbly....

Where was I? Right, coming home. I need to get on the whole buying tickest thing. I already looked up prices, and I'd have to leave a few days earlier than I intended to get the cheapest flight. Which would be like, a day or two after exams end. So that's sort of rushing things... This is irritating and I'm not looking forward to it.

On a lighter note, I finally got around to e-mailing Toshinori-san. He's the guy who helped me out on the ferry. I've been meaning to contact him, but I just really don't feel my Japanese is good enough to be writing letters to people. I decided to stop pussying out and I sat down and wrote a short letter, thanked him for the food and the conversation, apologized for taking so long, mentioned that I'm doing well in school and that I hope that he and his family are doing well. Hopefully my letter is understandable and he's not upset that I took too long to write (even though he's Japanese so if he were upset I'd never find out).

Bleh, this tea is soapy.

I want to go downtown tomorrow, but I don't particularly have a reason to. If anyone has a suggestion that can excuse me to go down, by all means let me know, I'd love to hear it.

IN the mean time, I'm gonna keep eating crackers and soapy tea. Nom.

Cake in a cup!

2009-04-28T01:04:00.002+09:00

It's a cake in a cup! Try one today!

Actually don't, they're not very good. I just got done making one, and it's sort of plain and grossly bland. Might be able to spruce up the next one by adding some sugar or something, maybe cleaning out the mug better... but for now, not that spectacular. Also I accidentally wasted an egg making it, so I'm bitter about that (puny Japanese eggs crack too easily and it spilled over the counter instead of the mug).

Speaking of food, that's about all that went on today. You know, aside from class, which is an irritating part of my day to day.

I tried the peanut butter (on some crackers - boo ya) and it's actually decent. Well, about the level you'd expect from Skippy, but compared to the Japanese brands it's like salty heaven.

I also got the Merry's Kebabs guy's number! For the purpose that his kebabs are good, and he's only on campus once a week. So he said if I call his cell phone he can tell me where he's selling for the day if I want to stop by. Awesome. I think I'll do that with the yakitori salesman and the bread girl tomorrow as well. Delicious vendor food, whenever I want it! The power is at my fingertips! Ahahahaha!

Oh right, accomplishments. Well, I cleaned my room today. Or attempted to, rather. I spent about an hour and a half doing it, and I have a desk! It's amazing! It's ridiculous how much crap I had. I still need to finish cleaning, but I got tired of it. I have a lot of stuff that I really shouldn't, too. Receipts left over from when I first got here, expired coupons I intended to use, class evaluation forms. I found some candy that I never got around to opening. I also found some games I forgot I had, and some books that I bought that I never bothered opening because they got buried underneath everything. I had a Yotsuba volume not being read! That's almost blasphemous! Also, Phoenix Wright. So I'll probably remedy their not-being-read-itude by this weekend. I gotta get some boxes from the post office, too, so that I can start sending crap home. I need to see if I can find a box big enough to send my luggage bags home in, considering I bought new ones and I can't just throw out the ones I brought, considering they belong to my parents.

I doubt that they'd appreciate that.

It's weird to think that I'm going home in about four months. There's so much I still need to do here.

I decided yesterday that I want to go to a geisha house. Contrary to Western belief, geisha are not prostitutes. They're performers and entertainers. They mostly serve you drinks, sing, dance, play instruments, and provide idle chit-chat.

It's just one of those things I want to do. I've been in Japan and I haven't done much of the things that everyone thinks of about Japan. No geisha, no samurai, no ninjas, no sumo (well a little sumo). I've only eaten a little bit of sushi/sashimi, I haven't watched a Godzilla movie/attack, and I didn't even buy a Hello Kitty dildo!

I mean, really, I need to get on top of that.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Someone is wrong on the internet!

2009-04-27T02:47:00.002+09:00

And nothing in the world can make you angrier. Honestly.

Went downtown today because I could and I wanted to. I have every right! What are you, my mom? No, you aren't, shut up.

Anyways, it was nice because I got to have me a double quarter pounder with cheese. So, so good. It's the closest thing I'm able to get to an American burger here, so it's exciting. I'm still confused as to why the quarter pounder sandwiches are made with a better quality meat than the other ones, but I'm not one to question it (especially cause now I don't have to order those).

I managed to outwalk the rain, so apparently it was pretty slow rain. Really. It was there when I got off the bus, and then I walked down the road and it was gone. Then it caught up to me when I went to the 100 yen store, and then I outwalked it again. Odd.

Wound up on the other side of the station (dun dun dun) trying to find new game shops looking for a collectible edition game thing. I found one and it sucks, so not going back there anymore. Then I got lost, because I suck, and I wound up in the park in the pitch black hours of the night. That wasn't very fun.

I did make it back to the station in the end, and did some quick shopping. I was actually looking for some vitamins cause I sporadically care about my health, and then I saw it.

The holy grail!

It was so shiny. I mean, creamy.

I found a jar of Skippy peanut butter.

Oh peanut buttery goodness, how I've missed you so.

Now I'm sure I'm jinxing this. I haven't tried it yet, so it could be Skippy brand but Japanese recipe. Here's hoping it's edible.

Then again, it's a non-Peter Pan peanut butter in the first place. That's always iffy.

I also tried my hand at the Yahoo Auction (Like eBay, except eBay is a barren wasteland in Japan because EVERYBODY uses Yahoo for some reason. It's more popular than Google. I KNOW.) I'm not very good at it. Also, it can't take my credit card, and the yahoo system doesn't accept my bank transfers. So I can only bid on auctions that accept my mailing money to them.

Oh boy, this is fun! Especially when I find 4 or 5 things I want in one sitting before I realize the difficulty in this.

Why, Japan? Why hast thou forsaken me?

Late late late

2009-04-26T02:51:00.004+09:00

So I just realized that I should be blogging an hour earlier to keep up with the 12-noon update schedule I have (that most of you aren't even aware of anyways). My bad.

I figured I should stop drinking so much pop so I just grabbed a Calpis. Unfortunately, Calpis water is essentially condensed dehydrated yogurt powder mixed with water and is pretty much vile (but acceptably passable in the carbonated form) and I regret my decision and will probably go get a Pepsi after this is finished with to get the taste out of my mouth. Or I could make some tea, but really, I'd have to be NOT lazy to do that.

Not much going on today. Except FANXING CAME BACK YEAH ALRIGHT! So that was pretty cool. He brought my some Love Jelly.

No... no it's not what it sounds like. It's like a gummy candy and I think he got it from the airport gift shop on the way here. Still, nice to have him back. This means that you can all look forward to me making updates about watching the OC again.

I'm sure you can't wait.

Edit:

APPARENTLY there is a book called "The Ramen King and I" by a Mr. Andy Raskin. I have no idea who he is or what this book is about, but due to sharing my nomenclature I'm going to recommend it. So you should check it out if you get the chance.

Here's an Amazon link to it: The Ramen King and I

Nihongo Tabemasen

2009-04-25T02:54:00.002+09:00

Classes went well. I'm also making progress in developing my imaginary language, insomuch as I've established more grammar structure and made a pronunciation guide, so that's going swimmingly. After class I stopped in the library to see if I could get some Chinese textbooks to practice before going home. Turns out that they have "Introduction to ____" language books for everything BUT Chinese. Everything. Latin, Irish, Greek, Russian, Arabic, Swahili, etc. The Chinese textbooks they had were awful and had no actualy characters in them and was in a movie script pitch font. Irritating.

I did pick up the Irish one and try it out, and their writing system is absurd! Things aren't spelled in any way, shape, or form that is close to how they are pronounced. The language is beautiful, but I fear I may never know more than a word or two in it.

I had a nice afternoon of making hash browns (which I had to explain were in fact potato and not pot) and then watched some episodes of The Office. Then we went downtown intent on going to an all you can eat and drink place, but it was booked. So we just went to a bar and hung out there and ate and such.

I learned that the world only has 5 continents. North and South America are one continent, as are Europe and Asia. I tried to argue that the Panama Canal made North and South America separate at anything, which was rebuttled with "but you guys built that" to which I retorted "Because America is never wrong." I'm glad people understand that the whole "America is number one best country ever" schtick is a joke, otherwise I'd have the hurt put on me.

Back at the dorms we hung out in a friend's room for a good time more with everyone from the bar, playing games and doing magic tricks and making fun of JM for being old. So old....

Anyways, was good times overall.

In reference to the blog title: One of the guys in our party shared the story that if you get in trouble with the cops/security guard/teacher/whatever, just speak such offensively terrible Japanese that they let you go. If you want to say "I don't speak Japanese" then that would be "Nihongo hanasemasen." If you want to tell them in offensively possibly half retarded speech, say the above "Nihongo tabemasen." Why is this so stupid sounding?

Because it means "I don't eat Japanese."

Have fun with that.

Exact Change

2009-04-24T01:41:00.002+09:00

So I finally went about setting up the site in English. I don't know if I mentioned it, but my blogger page (from my perspective) has been in Japanese since... about the beginning. It's not that I was challenging myself using it (I wasn't, I know where all the buttons are) I was really just too lazy to change it back to English.

My Myspace is all in Japanese too, actually. I should get on that.

Today's class was just as boring as most of them are, and for some reason I was absolutely out of it. Not sure if I got enough sleep or something, probably relating to my waking up at 5 for no actual reason while I had class at two in the afternoon. I've screwed up my sleep schedule in the opposite direction apparently, and somehow I'm not upset over it. I've always wanted to be a morning person, if only for the fact that I enjoy not rushing things last minute (as far as my morning routine. Final papers are another thing entirely).

I also went to my first (their second) meeting of Senjinkai for this semester, so that was nice. Or would have been. There were only 5 people there when I showed up, and nobody else came. The officers had no idea where everyone was, and the meeting was kind of stilted as a result of nobody knowing what to do about it. Good news though is that apparently I learned more Japanese over the break than I thought, because I wasn't sitting there listening to them drabble on in their moonspeak about things that I couldn't care to understand. I actually got about 70% of what went on. Except for when they asked me questions directly. Funny how that works.

Afterwards I was thirsty, and I thought I needed something else from the school store so I headed there. Ah, right. I've been out of paper towels for like a month! So I check it out, they cost 126 yen. Dang, I didn't have much yen on me, so I should count to make sure that I have enough to get a drink as well. Drinks are 110 yen and.... I have another 110 yen. Exactly. I had exactly 236 yen on me, just coincidentally. I laughed to myself and went to the register. When the girl read the price I just plopped the handful of change on the counter and she gave me kind of a sideways look, like "what are you doing?". Then she spread it out in the pay tin and realized that it was exact change, looked even more confused, and then gave me my receipt. I felt accomplished afterward until I realized that even if I didn't have enough change to cover it I still had some yen on my Co-op card that could've been used in case.

Oh backup plans, you ruin all the funny.

Behold the Power that is

2009-04-23T01:19:00.002+09:00

There is a thing called Gaijin Smash.

I may have mentioned it before. It gets its namesake from a popular blog run by a guy teaching via the JET program in Japan. Gaijin is a shortened word for "foreigner".

The Gaijin Smash is a technique which, when deployed, allows a non-Japanese to manipulate a situation in their favor. This is done simply by being foreign. Basically, do not handle a situation the way a Japanese would. Japanese speech is filled with apologies and courtesies. If you go so far as to be, say, monotone and stoic, this can send some Japanese people into a fit of confusion because they don't know how to react to it.

Tonight I actively utilized this.

There is an event approaching called the World Fair. IT's not an actual World Fair, but simply a festival on campus, and it gets its name from our multicultural student base. Each floor is supposed to do some sort of presentation. Either you stage an event (maybe dance on stage or something) or you can run a food booth.

I, personally, do not want to be involved. I can't see a particular reason why this is a mandatory thing to participate in, and considering it sounds like a lot of work to get absolutely nothing done, I really don't care. So when my RA came to the door to tell me that the meeting was started I asked him just that. "Is it mandatory?" But I did so using that whole Gaijin Smash set of body language and tone of voice. He stopped looking directly at me, and didn't necessarily say it was mandatory, but instead described what would be going on there. So I said "Right then" and he looked a bit more concerned about my uncompromising nature, and sort of just walked away.

Roshi smash.

Did I feel bad? A little bit. Do I care? Not much.

I'm fine with participating in a cultural festival. If I'm doing it with a club or of my own volition, that's one thing. It is not something that I will be forced into.

So, crisis averted.

Why not take a crazy chance

2009-04-22T02:26:00.003+09:00

Cause I'm too lazy, that's why.

This semester is going really well so far. Classes are easy, people are friendly, the weather is hot (wait, that's not good), and the food is tasty. Overall, I'd say I'm enjoying things a lot more now than I was last semester.

I went downtown in search of some comics that I need to read the ends of. I found all the volumes except the ones I needed. That's so close to useful that it's more painful that it just misses the point. Even so, I got some classic stuff (Dr Slump and Lupin III) so that should be some good reading material to practice mah nihongor.

Stopped at McDonald's and I felt a need to share this sign with you all:

This is funny for a multitude of reasons.

1) We, as Americans (you wouldn't read this if you weren't) have had the Quarter pounder and Double Quarter Pounder sandwiches at McDonald's for generations. Everyone else is so backward.

2) You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France? A Royale with cheese.

Much like France, Japan runs on metric. The fact that they still call it a quarter pounder despite that being the equivalent to foreign gibberish amuses me to no end.

Either way, the Quarter Pounder has better meat in Japan (I don't know why) so I'm excited for that at least.

I spent the rest of my night making a video to run for animu club president back at UB, because I need a life and that won't help. It took forever because I decided to be a dork about it, but it turned out alright. Maybe I'll upload it to Youtube sometime.

Just like all the other videos I did, right?

Alright, Okayut

2009-04-20T22:53:00.003+09:00

I'm sorry!

I don't really have a good excuse for not updating, other then that I've been exhausted for the past week for God only knows why. Really, I haven't done much except for going to classes, but I've been passing out at like 9 or 10 at night and sleeping til 6. It's ridiculous and I hate it, and I'm trying to break out of that.

Incidentally, I do have some stuff to mention.

My new Japanese class kind of sucks, but it's easy so that's good. The book we're using is from a different line of books, and it is probably the best Japanese book ever, in that unlike every other textbook I've used, it isn't terrible. Really. It's not quite as good a resource as my Chinese textbooks were, but it's also a lot better than all the other Japanese ones that I've had. So I'm enjoying that. My anthropology class is fun too, what with my sitting there doodling pokemon in a notebook while my teacher rambles on about naked people on some island I've never heard of (kidding, it's actually a pretty fascinating class. But I do still draw in my notebook during it).

As for any news that involves you: There is a (likely) chance that I will not be going to Australia. I've only looked into one (1) airline, but if it's any indication then it actually costs MORE to take that than it would to fly from Japan. Which sucks, cause I really wanted to go to Australia. I'm still gonna try to see if I can get the tickets for cheap, but if not then I'll be coming home somewhere between the 4th and the 14th of August.

I went to Oita again yesterday, and there's still nothing to do there. So JM and I went back to Beppu and got some Kuta Ramen, cause that stuff is delicious. I know there is an arcade I need to go to in Oita, but I'm not exactly sure where it is, so that'll have to wait.

I also only have one 5 day long break over the rest of the semester. That sort of sucks, cause I was planning on travelling a bit again. I don't even have any three day weekends. We'll see how this pans out, but right now the forecast is irritating.

Not many more developments. Still need to look into work stuff (actually I was supposed to hand in the work papers today. I really need to start leaving myself memos or something) and still studying Japanese. I'm pretty sure that I've got enough funds to last me til I leave, especially if I buy my plane ticket in the next week and can budget after that. So I'm set for the rest of the trip, but it'd be nice to have some extra cash to burn.

Ah well. I'm still exhausted so I'll be on that. I'll try to keep awake more often to update.

Play with Fire

2009-04-16T22:58:00.001+09:00

Crud, I don't even like Hilary Duff. Or at least I didn't think I did. I definitely am not supposed to.

Really though, I cannot get enough of this song. I've listened to it at lest 10 times today. Ridiculous, I know.

It's cool, I rocked out to some Bowie afterward so I should be okay.

Today was an awkward day. Due to the whole me not actually changing my class schedule thing, I figured I could just go back to my first class like nothing happened. I walked in there and the professor was startled and told me to go talk to the academic advisor. So I did that and it took something like 15 minutes (or some other ridiculously long amount of time for someone to tell me that everything was fine) and then I went back to class. After class ended I was worried about my attendance grade considering I was in a different class for two days (technically) and convinced her to not count them as absences. However, because she had me go check in with the office at the start of class, apparently this took place during a quiz that I can't make up.

What?

Come one.

Ah well. Dinner was good and the bread lady was here with her snacks so I got me a choco muffin that was darn tasty. Always a plus.

And I'm exhausted because I've been awake since 4am due to trying to force shift my sleep schedule. Which is why I'm blogging early tonight.

Good night.

Augh People You are Dumb

2009-04-16T05:10:00.002+09:00

To anybody who just e-mailed the LIST SERV asking to be removed from the UB Micro mailing list: I hate you. Seriously. Learn2internet and don't fill up my inbox with 50 "UNSUBSCRIBE ME" messages.

Sorry for the lack of a real update today. I REALLY needed to adjust my sleep schedule, so I forced myself to just sleep long to reset it. It's good now, and at worst I'm going to want to go to sleep at about 10pm, which really isn't so bad now that I have classes (Although I don't want to).

Since I slept for a while and I forgot most of what I did yesterday lemme try and recap. UHhh..... sssstuuff.....

I DID hand in my report for my scholarship. And the certificate machine refused to read my card, so I had to special request one from an office worker who didn't speak English (the machine is in the Japanese student office. Woe is me) and that went surprisingly well. One of these days I'll encounter someone who says things I completely can't understand.

Oh wait I did that when I went to the post office last week. The guy said something to me and I just kind of stared at him like "What?". It might have been my address or the date the package arrived or something, but all that information was on the paper I gave him so I still would have cocked my head and stared at him. In addition to that, my package was second from the top and he looked at it about 9 times in between going to the back room to try and find it twice. Some little old lady behind me got fed up with waiting and went to a different post office and I felt bad.

Because it's been a while lemme check my hits:

I feel like I shouldn't post these referrals, because they're only going to bring in more of the same hits. Things like Doraemon and Maine Coon should bring you to plenty of other sites before mine. Then again, if I were to put out things like "Miley Cyrus sex scandal exposed!" I'd get my site hit meter way the hell up there, and maybe profit a couple of dollars.

That said, nothing really stuck out this time aside from those repeat searches for things that should bring you to other sites. I do get referral info from individuals that I can tell who you are.

That's right. I can track your every move.

Hip Pop Step Jump!

2009-04-15T01:41:00.002+09:00

Sakebi tee yatsu wa atsumarei!! Minna de bakushou! Bakusou!
Everybody say HOhoooo!! Hip Pop Step Jump!
Sawagi tee yatsu wa atsumarei!! Minna de bakushou! Bakusou!

I cannot get that out of my head. And I hope that now neither can you.

Turns out I can't switch to the class they want me to switch to because it's at the same time as another one of my classes, which happens to be the only class this semester I refuse to drop. So, that sucks. Also apparently the Academic Outreach Office closes at 4:30 and not 6.... man do I hate military time and my limited attention span.

I've been trying to live frugal the past few days, and I'm not very good at it. Oh sure, better than I was over the break, but I'm still spending in the way of 8-12 dollars a day, when before the break I was able to go on 3 dollars for a few days if need be. I figure after a week or two I'll ease back into poverty mode and be fine with it. For now, I'm not gonna be too upset, because this means I have more food.

Speaking of food I started thinking about American food today. I could really go for some Mighty Taco, or some Greek food, or dammit just some real pizza (Some places in Japan serve Italian pizza. Shut up Italy, real pizza doesn't have chunks of tomato isntead of sauce). I like my ramen and donburi, but it is going to be a welcoming experience to come home to pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes.

Yum.

First Day New Semester

2009-04-14T02:04:00.002+09:00

So, the first day was sort of.... confusing. Also disappointing.

They want to put me in Japanese IV instead of Intermediate. I'm not the only one, because apparently only like 3 of the students from the level last semester are going into Intermediate, which is sort of bull.

Ah well. I'm taking Japanese when I get back to America still anyways, so I guess I'm not really missing out on much classwise. Hopefully everything goes okay with the schedule shift, though, because I'm not the one taking care of it, and last semester they screwed up doing the same thing.

I met one of the other Chris's that are on campus and we went to the cafeteria, so that was cool. Guy has insane stories.

I have been assimilated into darker reaches of the internet. I fear that I will not return. Also playin a lot of ~~totally not Pokemon Platinum~~. I'm not sure why. It's fun though.

Oh god I'm 10 years old.

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-13T02:28:00.002+09:00

That's Japanese for "Happy Easter".

I didn't do much of anything today. I didn't wake up early enough to go to church (not that I intended to), I ate Japanese food, and I watched a movie. I thought about Easter once, so that should count for something. But then I took a nap.

Incidentally, you should watch the movie that I watched. It's only half an hour long, and it's called "Cat Soup". All three parts are up on Youtube if you search for it. The subtitles are in Spanish, but there is only about 6 lines in the whole movie, and 5/6 just are comments on things that you can clearly see happening on screen like "Un pescado!" = "A fish!" so you don't need to worry about it. IT's a surreal short film about a young cat who's sister gets sick and dies, so he runs after the devil and tries to take her soul back but ends up tearing it in half, so his sister comes back sort of braindead. They then travel into insanity to try to spark her other half back into existence.

I think. I really have no idea what went on, but it's a pretty good watch, so I say go for it.

Another show is "Axis Powers Hetalia" which is 5 minute shorts following anthropomorphized caricatures of Germany, Italy, and Japan on the route to World War II. It's umm.... hard to describe.

Oh, right, blatantly stereotyping. That's how to describe it.

But they make a small penis joke about Japan, so it's cool. All the episodes (with subtitles if you need that kind of thing) are on Veoh for anyone interested.

I also just got done talking to my mom for forever on the phone, so that was interesting. Talked about Japan and school and my sick grandpa, so it was sort of neat to get caught up. Along those lines, if anybody would DESPERATELY like me to call them, send me a message or something and I'll try to get a hold of you, and you can revel at the sound of my voice.

Ooo baby.

Surprise!

2009-04-12T01:28:00.003+09:00

There's a festival!

That's basically what happened. I woke up, played some video games and checked my e-mail, took a shower, then went to go get some food from the cafeteria. And then I saw that there was a festival going on.

Whaaaa?

There was a bazaar with mostly womens clothing and nothing interesting, a bunch of food (That was pretty good. Delicious fried wontons) and some live music. The bands weren't very good though, but I stayed for a bit anyways. Ran into some friends, talked to some people (A friend told me about some basketball tickets so I picked those up the other day, and we talked a bit about that. I got the wrong day I think, though, so I gotta go get me another one).

Oh, also there were people in costumes.

These guys were dancers for the one band and were dancing to the lyrics. Pretty amusing, but they seemed to do a lot of shooting each other and falling down.

Then there was also some Super Sentai (Power Rangers) characters running around. I tried to get a picture of them, but in Japan they insist on a picture with them, so I was literally manhandled into the photograph, my iPhone taken from my hands and given to an onlooker, and force to pose with the team.

I consider this my initation ceremony, and as such donned my sentai mask so that I can fit in with the team.

Engine Sentai GoOnger.

Do do doo doo do do doo doo do do doo doo do do do do.

2009-04-11T01:12:00.002+09:00

If you "doo do'd" that to the tune of Pirates of the Carribbean, you did it right.

First off a special thanks to the Slomba family for sending me a care package. I know you read this, so Chris you are one sexy beast. That's also for the ladies reading this. You know, so that they're aware.

There is popcorn, and candy, and deodorant (THANK GOD. I'm still irked they don't sell it here) and what I assumed to be dog treats, but was actually legitimate beef jerky, so that is pleasant as well. The deodorant isn't very tasty, but overall a nice thought.

This reminds me that I still need to send postcards out to everybody I know. I've been intending to do that since CHRISTMAS. I suck really hard.

While I was downtown getting the package, I stopped at the arcade, cause I'm a dork like that. Armed with my trusty facemask I was in full fighting force, and actually beat an arcade machine (Blazblue for anyone interested). Was awesome, I haven't done that since I got here. The games are intrinsically harder for some reason. When you win you get to.... play through the game again! Which I really didn't feel like doing, but I did anyways cause why not. I would've preferred to put my American initials all over that filthy Japanese machine, but nooooo, they don't have that option. Feh. Maybe I should go find a Pac Man game...

I also had the goal of eating some delicious ramen while I was out. That didn't happen. Well, I did eat some ramen, but it was awful. Word of advice: don't eat train station ramen. It tastes like how you think it would for the price. Really, it tasted like instant ramen but with more green onions in it. Even the meat in it tasted like the instant ramen package meat, and the eggs tasted...old. Or used. Which is a horrible thing to think about an egg. Either way, I will have to remedy this sometime this weekend, possibly by draggin someone to Ku-ta Ramen to get some delicious ramen.

I stayed up all night last night and came back and crashed (accidentally) on my bed almost immediately after returning from downtown. I forgot to take my ankle weights off, and that was weird. My legs felt heavy and a bit worn when I woke up, but overall they helped me remain immobile so it was a pretty restful sleep. Might look into this more. Plus it's like a workout in my sleep if I unconsciously try to struggle against it, and a workout that I'm not there for is the best kind.

They're boring, you see.

Haha! Babelfish!

2009-04-10T02:16:00.002+09:00

Today was the clean boring. I awoke exactly being applied around my room which spoke to the people of some person and we opened the assembly of the floor. Assembly of the floor continued rather than being proper because some, like 45 parts which are 30 minutes completely long. In addition as for those money was taken from our, (without warning that way our ends RA' As for s this " ) Then us to agree, being forced; World Festival" Thing. Perhaps, hambre.

Therefore, that' It is taken by s of month to worry, at least. And I' ve to be fair, just kind of in order, obtained the kitchen obligation of 1 days. We' Re-and having the barbecue which I see completely first enjoys and should is.

As for me speaking with the friend, we with respect to appearances possess falling, continuing three classes entirely, together. This should in three classes of falling, continuing entirely, the perfect opportunity because of me it fails, is.

I should share what, because it possesses, here' s my schedule:

Later days.

Easter is Sunday

2009-04-09T01:45:00.002+09:00

Haha... apparently I'm a worse Christian than I thought, because I didn't even realize that Easter is this weekend until today. That's... that's pretty bad. Not that I can do anything special here (I ain't cookin no ham for myself) and it's not like I go to church that frequently in the first place (wanna fight about it?) but maybe I'll call home or something.

Today's plans conflicted upon each other. I wanted to go downtown and sign up for classes. For some reason class registration didn't start til 4 in the afternoon, and I didn't want to go downtown only to come right back, so I'll have to do that tomorrow. Managed to get some decent classes in, though, so things are off to a good start.

People are also starting to come back from their countries now, so campus is a bit busier and generally less lonely. That's a nice change of pace.

I don't know if anybody noticed, but I was part of another blog for like a week and a half without actually publishing anything. So to The Bro if he comes by here: Sorry about all that. Thought it was for me but I thought wrong.

Have an amusing picture to end the blog on:

Home Cookin!

2009-04-08T01:57:00.003+09:00

Yeehaaaw!

I tried my hand at making something a bit more complicated than tacos today.

And by a bit more, I mean only the slightest bit.

But don't it look just delicious?

That is no ordinary grilled cheese sandwich. That is a grilled HAM and cheese sandwich. So that means it has ham in it. And cheese. And despite going into this not knowing how to cook it all in my tiny pan (my pan is really small) I persevered, and in the end was treated to quite a delectable dinner, instead of the ritz bitz crackers that are my more customary dining fare.

Also, I finally got around to signing up for classes today! American ones. My Japanese ones are tomorrow. I actually bothered signing up for Japanese 401 in America, so if all goes well here then that will just be an easy A! And if things go less well, then a more difficult B or B+. As for the other classes, Chinese 201 and three Linguistics courses, as well as a swift kick to the crotch from the Student Response Center. I asked them to sign me up for an English class, and apparently I need to contact the English department to get the exemption. So... this should be fun.

Tomorrow I need to get up early, sign up for classes, and then head down to the post office. And then maybe eat some McDonald's or something. Their cheesy tonkatsu sandwich is damn good.

Spring Cleaning

2009-04-07T01:41:00.001+09:00

Is what I did today!

That's not very exciting, I'm sorry. But I'm just a man! You can't expect me to fight dinosaurs every day! I get tired!

This semester (which starts on the 15th, I think) should be more exciting. I'm joining more clubs, and being less introverted (what? Roshi introverted? Madness!) so I should be getting out more often and doing more things.

Along those lines, I'm going downtown tomorrow, so I'm going to try to pick up some ingredients for some of the crazy-go-awesome recipes I need to try out. I shall chronicle the debacle in excruciating detail, right here for your viewing displeasure.

And I'm still working on that "Surprise" I mentioned last week. When I get it going I'll show you.

Should be more interesting than this.