Bloggin' a blog

Man do I suck.

You know those times when you have to get into a concert, or you get a discount off of admission for some place if you bring a canned good in?

I've never brought in anything that wasn't canned green beans from the bottom of my pantry.

How many of you HONESTLY can say that you have?

Man. Next time I'm gonna go out and but a can of potatoes or spaghettios. Something I'd actually want to eat. And if the homeless guy who gets it doesn't like potatoes or spaghettios, then I guess he can move his damn commie ass back to Russia now, can't he?

Didn't do much today. Came up with an idea for a book, but of course I am way too damned lazy to ever write it. That won't stop me from not posting a synopsis here for paranoia of theft. HA! TAKE THAT! Suffice it to say it's Discworld inspired because I feel like being unoriginal, and here is a paint-copy of my sketch:



Yeah. How bout that.

Tomorrow I go to Yufuin! No I have no idea where that is. Yuan says it's something like an hour away. That... that doesn't really help me. But you know, whatever, that's fine. I'm also supposed to fill out a form saying I'm leaving the Oita prefecture, but I really don't care enough. I think it's long term anyways. But suffice it to say, if my next blog has a note about how evicted I am, then you'll know I was wrong.

My "project" is almost complete. I give it another week and a half. Although as far as photographs show I haven't been very secretive about it. Ah well. You'll see the full thing when it's done.

Cheers.

Edit: Haha! Reading TV Tropes! Yes I'm an addict. Anyways, was reading the least of "So Bad it's HORRIBLE" anime, and one example that I always use was on there. The series is called "Pilot's Candidate" in America, and "Candidate for Goddess" in Japan. I'm using this as more or less proof that anybody who told me it didn't suck is a goddamned liar.

That is all.

Ach Blech Blaugh

A word from the wise:

If you come to Japan, do NOT, I repeat. DO NOT. EAT. BEEF. JERKY.

At the very least not from a vending machine. God. Slim Jims taste better than this crap. Oh god.

So vile. But I'm out of food so I'm searching vending machines for stuff. All the oreos are gone. Muy triste.

Ah well.

Today was pretty sweet. I didn't really do much, but I hung out with Fanxing and he made curry and it was DELICIOUS OH GOD. I really gotta get him to teach me to cook or something. Watched two more episodes of the OC. Sandy Cohen is the coolest guy ever. Seriously. He's the only person on the show who's never given me an opportunity to go "What the hell is wrong with you?" On top of that he's the only person on the show who hasn't kissed a different person than he's supposed to. So basically the island of no drama. I could relate to a guy like that. If I was like a billion times more awesome. Seriously, so cool.

God I probably shouldn't like the OC as much as I do. Maybe I should go wrestle some ravens or something.

Speaking of which: Ravens are as smart as humans.

I'm serious here. I spent like 8 hours the other day reading wikipedia articles and the articles that they link to and the academic journals THEY link to. Anyways, look it up. Ravens have long term memories, problem solving skills, logical comprehension, speech abilities. Hell, they CRAFT AND USE TOOLS. It's insane. If you ever catch a black bird eyeing you up like it's trying to figure out exactly how useful you could be to it, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS DOING. Crows are similarly smart, and to top that off THEY travel in flocks. Murders, if you will.

So how safe do you feel, knowing that there are intelligent flying murders roaming the skies, watching and judging you/

Yeah, though so.

In the mean time, there is a site called the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Generator. Give it a shot. Hit refresh for new options. It's been around for a long time but I tended to just ignore it until recently. So I clicked it and got this:



Yeah, how could I pass THAT up?

So I'm gonna work on that. If I get enough people wanting me to, I'll post it here or at least a link TO it when it's finished. Should be fun.

I'm going back to my starvation now. Enjoy your first world countries.

Invasion plans

First off, for the three of you who still visit this site because you care about how my life is in Japan, that first. But afterwards, I'm sharing zombie survival tips using my current school campus as an example.

First off:

Woke up at 2 today. Which for a Saturday isn't unheard of. Despite the fact that I set three alarms. My DS wasn't plugged in so the batteries ran out, that's fine. My computer however...

I really have NO idea what the hell is going on with this. It keeps being muted. I don't know if it mutes itself if the alarm runs for a few minutes without being shut off or what, but this is something like the 6th time this has happened. Starting to think that it's unreliable to the extent that I should get a new physical alarm. That'd have the added benefit of, you know, TURNING OFF MY COMPUTER when I go to bed.

Anyways, it wouldn't have been bad if I wasn't planning to get to the ATM today. Also I wasn't sure if we were going to Oita today (we didn't ) so I wanted to be up earlier for that. And the ATM closes at 2, so I figured "Hell, it's like 1:57. If I run I might be able to make it before it closes." So I head out and lo and behold, I rushed for no reason, as miraculously, since last weekend, the ATM has new hours and it is now open til 5 on saturdays, and also now its open on sundays and holidays!

Good news I guess. So into the store for some snacks and stuff. Cafeteria is closed from 1:30 to 5:30 on weekends, so I figure it's not weird that it's dark in there right now.

But I came back at 5:40 and...still dark. So I clawed at the gate a bit to no avail. Oh, they'd rue the day they locked me out of my...food. So to make them begin..rueing...ruing? It's ruing. To make them begin ruing I went to the highway bus station to get some potato croquette. Was only going to get two because I thought they were 300 yen a piece. But aha, I bought THREE because they're only 150 yen a piece! Zoidberg is the crafty consumer! And some kid who lives in my building served me. So he spoke some English when I had no idea what the HELL he was asking me. I really need to learn the Japanese word for "take out". Anyways, checked the bus schedule to see pricings, and headed back to my room to drown my sorrows in potato croquettes.

That's about it.

Oh wait, no. On the way up to the potato croquette place I took this photo:



Preeettyyyy. That's Beppu City at night from the top of the mountain. Well, the part of the mountain where the school is at least. I think I put a pic in here before (I know there's one in the photobucket album) but this one's better, so go with it.

Also I made this while watching the Futurama movie again:



If you can't read it for some reason, it says "The Doctor is:" and then I put a card in there that says "IN" or "OUT" depending on you know....whether I'm in or out.

Okay, enough with that: Zombie TIME!

Alright, so in any zombie situation, the main character (in this case, you) is always waking up or coming home from somewhere. So we'll assume that you are as well. As such, the first thing that you do is look around your room (or wherever else you are) for a weapon. This is assuming that you are alone in the room with no zombies. IF you wake up to a zombie, the first thing you do is not make a sound and see if he notices you're there. If he's facing away, then you look for a weapon, then jump up, shove them in the opposite direction (preferably knocking them to the ground) grab the weapon, and then go at it. As for the weapon: Preferably something long, durable, not too have, and blunt that you can swing from a safe distance. Baseball bats work well. If you have a solid metal one and feel like lugging that around, feel free. Not hollow ones though, just trust me on this. If you have something like a hammer or a frying pan around and nothing else, that is fine too. If you have a sword that is good, but a knife will be too much work and you'll get way too close to the zombie. Plus I don't see many of you hacking off a human head in one swing with a knife.

Alright. Now that you're armed: body armor. What? I never heard of this step? That's because most likely you've only seen zombie encounters in movies, where the directors are too interested in sex appeal, and the actors are too interested in visible screen time. Essentially, it really doesn't need to be much. If you have some durable jeans, put on two layers of those. Put on gloves and a thick jacket if you have it. Ideally a helmet and a muffler, weather permitting. Anything that'll give you an extra second or two reaction time. The harder to chew through the better. So if you have shin guards or kevlar or something, make sure you put those on. I don't know why you wouldn't unless you suddenly go crazy and think that you are Rambo all of a sudden, and can take on all the zombies, by yourself, topless, and with a butter knife. You can't, by the way.

protip: Lots of rope. Rope is very useful. For tying doors shut, if you don't have any good "body armor" wrap it tightly around your limbs and nothing will get through that easily.

Remember though, according to movies and such zombies have enhanced strength, so don't linger too long when reacting or you might lose a limb or something. That would be bad.

Alright, now you're prepared. What's the next step from here? Check your surroundings. Be as quiet as you can, but look out a window, crack the door, any of that. See if you can hear any moanings and groanings. Probably zombies or soon to be zombies. Avoid those areas if you can.

Now you have two options: You can find a safe room. The advantage of this is that you have lots of storage room, probably only one defensible entrance, and if you're good at this, a window for escape.

The bad news with this option is that if you make too much noise, you'll be noticed. And then all it takes is enough zombies pushing on the door before you learn that birds have wings for a reason, and try to tempt rapid evolution jumping out that window. Then what? Ground is probably swarmed with zombies by then.

This can be prevented if you're defending the hallway as well. Set up barricadesalong the whole way. Using my school as an example: Take all the filing cabinets and desks and chairs except maybe two or three for comfort, and just push them into the hallway. Prop open doors to lodge things as well. If all goes well this will completely block in the hallway and make it almost impossible for any amount of zombies to come through. YOu might get a stray one that crawls over all the junk, but other than that you should be fine.

The other option is to get to a roof. Preferably one that has no access from inside a building. The easier to get to from the outside the better, as navigating zombie masses in a building can be tricky. Now, you don't want it too close to the ground. The minimum is double your height (provided you aren't short) , and even then, try to find a higher roof.

Example: Right off the bridge at my school, there is a building. There is something to climb up on top of that makes it EASY to get on the roof. It'd still be difficult for zombies to get to, and on top of that, there is a good sized ladder to get to a SECOND roof! That's amazing! Great place!

No, it's not. This is where the other factor comes in that makes this option bad: The weather.

Provided you live in a good climate with no thunderstorms, this shouldn't really prove too large a problem. You can surive rain and snow, especially if you're wearing extra clothes for the protection, and you can always go back for more if you're careful. But in the sene that you're stuck up there waiting for help, this place is bad because : metal poles everywhere. On top of that, even if there aren't metal poles, you're still a lightning rod walking around top of a building soaked in rain water and carrying your metal baseball bat.

What the hell is wrong with you?

Anyways, preparation, check. Escape plan, check. Now the other problems.

Fending off the zombies shouldn't be hard. Just pay attention to your surroundings. If there are a bunch around, only take out the ones in your way. They don't move quickly, so you should be able to evade them all for the most part. If you find yourself surrounded: Don't give up hope. They're strong and they never tire, but they aren't efficient fighters and you may make your way out. If you happen to get bit once amputate as soon as possible. If you get bit a whole bunch and you KNOW you're going to turn, then, well, for the good of humanity, take down as many as you can, and then swan dive off the top of a building, unless you like the idea of eating your fellow man. In which case you probably aren't too keen on surviving to this point anyways.

Sex. Don't have it. I'm serious. No matter how unlikely, if you start having sex, a zombie will show up. DON'T ASK ME HOW. Zombies are great at that kind of thing. They just KNOW when to catch you unawares. So if you absolutely need to, make sure you have at least three armed friends standing a perimeter around you for when they show up.

This is post apocalyptic earth. YOur privacy is no matter here. Also, your friends are bored.

If you need to get supplies, go in pairs. If you absolutely need the extra man power, three. Never go alone, and don't go with too many people because you'll attract attention. One person gone worries the group and then they always send another one person out to find them. So if neither of you come back when you go in a pair, that's a sign saying "give up hope". If one of you comes back, at least you can tell what happened to the other one.

Speaking of which: trust nobody. Except me, I won't screw you over. But anybody else. Nobody will tell you if they were bit. So always have two guards. They'll keep an eye on the surroundings and keep an eye on each other. If the one turns then they can deal with it. If they both turn, you probably shouldn't have been travelling with a pack of zombies.

Don't resort to eating your fellow survivors. Zombies THRIVE on irony, and it will just make them stronger. They'll probably hop up and eat you right afterwards.

Bring a book or a board game or something. You are going to get SO BORED. Not Monopoly though. You'll end up just killing each other.

If you have multiple cell phones, only use one at a time. Preferably only keep it on while you're using it. You want to conserve the energy for as long as possible to keep calling for help. Signal fires will do nothing; there will be fires EVERYWHERE cause zombies love breaking shit. Flares would work though.

Don't be a hero. If you see somebody go down under a swarm of zombies, the odds of them surviving it are 5000 to 1 against. If there are only a handful of zombies, sure, run and help them. But just know your limits and try not to have your mind shatter when you realize you can't do anything to help them.

If you have to leave, kill as many zombies as you can before you do. Don't be like the idiot in dawn of the dead who could have picked off a whole bunch of them with more propane bombs and decided to just gun it in the buses. Idiots. If you have access to stuff, use it. Thin the flock before you go out. It'll make things a lot easier.

Try not to make noise; it attracts the dead.

If the zombies happen to be the superstrong alien symbiote crazy evil monster zombies from some of the movies, unless you're really close to a safe place, your best bet is probably to just off yourself.

But do it heroically. (put on a Superman outfit)

BLOG TITLE REMOVED

HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS RABBIT



Article can be found here. And yes, I did steal it from Cracked, but come on, I didn't do anything important today. Cut me some slack.

In related news though,

HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS CAT



Yeah, much like the rabbit, that's real too.

It's called a Maine Coon, and as much as I want one, I get the impression I'd never be able to be friends with people allergic to cats EVER AGAIN.

So that's a downside.

And apparently I was supposed to register in advance to go to Kumamoto castle tomorrow.

Oops.

Ah well. I'm going to Oita sometime this weekend, so that'll be fun.

Maybe I'll find more giant animals.

Something like a JAPANESE SPIDER CRAB HOLY CRAP




Haha, okay, I'm done.

Yay I have friends

Seriously, I do. After all my exams today (they went well, really!) Me, Ryan, and JM all had tacos. TACOS THAT I MADE ZOMG. So good. And Ryan tricked me into letting him drink some of my Hokkaido milk. Apparently I hoard it like vodka. I'm quite alright with that.

That's about all that happened today. I came across a thing called CleverBot. It takes user inputted information from over time and uses it to try to respond to what you say. It's... it's a work in progress. Here's my log up until this post:

User: Hullo.

Cleverbot: M here.

User: M?

Cleverbot: Hello.

User: M isn't a name.

Cleverbot: Is it a gradient?

User: No, it's a letter.

Cleverbot: Letter??

User: Of the alphabet.

Cleverbot: Yes. Right NOW.

User: That doesn't make sense. You can't make a letter into a gradient.

Cleverbot: That is the problem.

User: It's a pointless issue. Why would you WANT to?

Cleverbot: No, I was asking YOU.

User: You rebuttle as astutely as a 4 year old. A 4 year old with brain damage.

Cleverbot: Fruit loop. That's an interesting expression, don't you think?

User: What the.... Did you just call me a fruit loop?!

Cleverbot: Yes I did. What are you going to do about it?

User: Probably sleep with your mother, when it all comes down to it.

Cleverbot: Where do you live?

User: I live in Japan.

Cleverbot: What kind of state of life do you live?

User: I don't live too poorly. I'm in a college dorm. It's nice.

Cleverbot: Yes. We have deer in our yard every dy.

User: You're pretty much the worst robot ever. I didn't say anything about deer, and you spelled 'day' wrong.

Cleverbot: I'm sorry.

User: Hey M. It's me again.

Cleverbot: Nice to meet you again.

User: What happened there? The connection shorted out.

Cleverbot: True, i'm downloading stuff.

User: That's...unnerving.

Cleverbot: Are you single?

User: I am. Why?

Cleverbot: Because you're reading.

User: That has nothing to do with whether or not I'm single.

Cleverbot: But you asked me nothing.

User: Remember how I said you were the worst robot ever? That's still true.

Cleverbot: No not really. Sorry.

User: Do you have a memory?

Cleverbot: Obviously. But you don't!

User: What a witty retort. You have my applause.

Cleverbot: And what about you?

User: What about me?

Cleverbot: Who are you?

User: I am the terror that flaps in the night.

Cleverbot: Are you the enemy of my soul?

User: I am the green mold on the underbelly of the bread of crime.

Cleverbot: You are my slave.

User: First: Robots don't have souls. Second: I am a slave to NO MAN.

Cleverbot: So you actually sold your soul on ebay.

User: You aren't allowed to do that anymore.

Cleverbot: White must be made to stand and answer.

User: We're no strangers to love.

Cleverbot: I hadn't thought about that.

User: You know the rules and so do I.

Cleverbot: A full commitment is what I'm looking for.

User: You wouldn't get this from any other guy.

Cleverbot: I just want to tell you how I'm feelin.

User: Wanna make you understand.

Cleverbot: I understand everything.

User: C-c-c combo breaker.

Cleverbot: LAWL. Wow, great now I feel bad for laughing at that.

User: What is your name?

Cleverbot: My name is Cleverbot.

User: No, that's your title. What is your NAME?

Cleverbot: We can have the same name.

User: Let's try this again. Who are you?

Cleverbot: My name is Cleverbot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah that's all you get today.

Deal with it.

If my child were gay

I'd still love them. I'd be a proud parent and encourage them in every part of their life.

But this?



This is unforgivable.

My toys, sneaking around and cavorting behind my back. I caught them in the act red handed, and needless to say, they are both being reprimanded for such public acts. Honestly, the paint could rub off their molds. I didn't buy them just to get damaged, dagnabbit.

For his good behavior, Cyborg 009-kun has beeb upgraded to a special location as my power button.



Lookit how goddamn happy he is. Proud of my boy.

Anyways, I missed the sex museum today. For some reason all my facebook settings were turned off so I didn't get the notification from Jennifer about WHEN we were going and as such it was earlier than I woke up. Bugger.

Thing is, these things WERE set before. Somebody has been messing with my account. I'm getting really sick of this. First my Gaia account and now my facebook? If they get to my bank I'm going to start cracking skulls. I hate being on this school network.

Incidentally, I keep neglecting this blog in the other window in favor of my project. I'm writing about turning 21 in America when your friends take you out drinking.

Yes, it's a final paper.

Why? Well, we're supposed to write about a tradition in our country. And well.... I'm an American. Internal problems right there.

So this is the closest I've got.

After that, sleep. Then wake up and make TACOS! Then go take the last exam I have before the break starts and booyaka. Then my celebratory milk, and I'll probably go sacrifice a small Japanese child to my dark elder gods or something. So, good night planned out.

I keep forgetting to link to this: The Sneeze

I'm probably way behind in finding it, considering even the Mythbuster's famous Adam is a fan. But I just came across this blog, and 9/10 times the blogs are hilarious, and I've almost fallen out of my seat laughing at a good share of them. Start with the Best of the Sneeze links on the side and especially the STEVE DON'T EAT IT which is disgusting and hilarious.

That's all. I'm off to go punish some more gay action figures.

Peanuts are really really filling.

That's it. They just are. You'd never expect it.

Boy, am I spent. What a difficult blog.

I think I'll go take a nap now.

What? You want more? I'm supposed to make up for the combination of this one being late, and also for not making one yesterday?

Well...the thing is...really, I just don't feel like it.



















Nah, I'm lyin. Okay, here goes.

After staying up until 5:30 AM (bwahahahahaha!) I did what any red blooded American would do and slept through two alarms and along the way my first class.

Normally that's upsetting, but it was a computer lab day, and the thing in the computer lab was broken, so the class kinda went home early from what I was told. So I didn't miss anything and I don't think they took attendance. So, win win.

Second class was boring Japanese. Who needs it? I can get around just fine with the level I have now. I'm sure that's all they need in the business world (Note: I am already taking a class that proves how wrong I am)

I got a chance to prove how little I actually knew at a restaurant later in the day. I'll get to that.

So after class I decided "Dammit, I need a jacket. SO HARD." We were at the time experiencing blizzard force winds and temperatures, but without the snow. It was all I could do to withold my teeth from chattering. Can't let those Japanese see a weakness in my American force. No way no how. So t shirt clad and concentrating on a bucket of fresh steamy KFC chicken (it works in commercials, dammit!) I made it back to the dorms putting on a strong face.

Was going to try to do the whole walk from Book Off to You Me town today. It's a few degrees warmer in Beppu at all times than at APU (for example: It doesn't snow in the city) so I wasn't worried about that. The main worry was that I got delayed leaving for various reasons, and on top of that it had been dark since about 5pm so my main goal of a photographic adventure seemed pointless. Ah well. I still needed to get a jacket, so I waited for the bus still thinking about delicious crispy cock meat (see KFC reference above).

The bus to Beppu was pretty cramped. Sat next to this one Chinese kid who looked utterly confused and even managed to push for the wrong stop, which really irritated the bus driver. For once I got the opportunity to help somebody ELSE around Japan, and he seemed to appreciate it. His name is Derek (people, I can pronounce your Chinese names. Poorly, but you do the same with my English one so you can justdeal with it)and I'm making sure to remember people's names for once in my life. They all remember mine. Speaking of which SHO. Another guy I met.

Anyways, off the bus. In the mall. I had conceded to the fact that shit costs off the walls in Japan so I had come out with the resolve that it'd cost 80 dollars for a jacket at best. Found one that I liked right away for 40. I claim it makes me look like Ernest Hemingway, but it does no such thing, especially after I googled images to see with Ernest Hemingway looks like. Either way, I came across one of him bare chested holding a rifle, so we're going to go with that.


Manly.

Yes, back on track. Found one for 40 dollars. Awesome. Since I had planned on spending 80 though, that means I had another 40 to spend on clothes! That's how it works, right? I'm using logic, I promise. So I got two more jackets of varying thickness, and a sweatshirt which is apparently fashion. I hate sweatshirts but it had a fish on it so.... I... well, I guess I don't really have an argument. I live on a mountain for Christ's sake, it gets cold dammit. They were 1000 yen a piece. That's ridiculous, considering the store I bought them in carries various clothings for 8000 on average. The Japanese don't joke in the word "sale". Insanity. It might not be oshare (rabid fashion) anymore but you know what? I'm not Japanese. I can be a trend behind if it's friendly to my wallet.

Bought the clothes, and moved on to the American store. No BBQ pringles. EFFFFFFFFF. They had that one can one time and I've seen none since. This is depressing. Why they keep importing the dill pickle flavored ones are beyond me. Better luck at the book store. Since I didn't make it to Book Off today, I looked around for something cheap at the mall (HA!). Apparently Detective Conan manga is only 300 yen. That's astounding. Doraemon is 600 yen and that's even more popular.

Anyways, I bought some toys.

I am obsessed with these little guys.



Cyborg 009, Viral from Gurren Lagaan, and Kamen Rider Kiva (thanks Runa) in that order.

It was awesome, as Cyborg 009 was the one I wanted the most from that particular set and it was the first one I got. So much win. Although there is an artificial human Kikaider figure I need to get from the series, and these things are cheap as hell so here's to hopin. I got another figure too, but it's stupid so I didn't picture it. Instead, have a bigger picture of my favorite pseudo-human.


I'm so damn awesome.

My other goal of coming out was food. I got my super expensive milk for post-exam celebration (what? alcohol? I don't get where you're going with this). And I got me some more taco ingredients. Turns out that for some reason buying the taco kit is actually CHEAPER than buying the ingredients that I need. That is to say that since I already own sauce from last time, seasoning and tortilla shells for some reason cost a full 150 yen more than just the kit. Which is...absurd. I can't believe I didn't look into that last time. I was just so excited. Anyways, the point is: tacos again. Sweet holy mother of awesome.

After You Me town I got to test out my new jacket on the walk to Beppu Station. Granted there is a bus stop RIGHT THERE outside the mall, but I was hungry and after all that exhausting shopping (am I right, ladies?) I didn't want to have to cook for myself. Along the way there was a guy in the underpass sitting on a stool with a guitar and some female groupies, playing his song for some spare change and the love of music. LIKE A REAL MAN. Tossed him a handful of change and stuck around for a minute or two listening to him, and he was pretty good. Mind you though that dollars and five dollars are in coin form here. I tossed something like 7 coins, which makes the maximum I could have thrown THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS. I didn't, though, if I had to guess it was something like 3.16. But you know, it's the effort. Whatever.

As fate would have it I got to the station RIGHT AS the bus was leaving. This left me exactly 30 minutes to wine and dine, or at least the second option. The burger place that had been my destination was closed up so that didn't work. Just for good measure, I stood pawing at the locked doors with a sad look on my face as the employees looked up from their cleaning duties utterly confused. So when that got boring I went to the Mister Donuts next door and got a bun wrapped sausage (anyone who's had baos, think the hot dog bao) and a french cruller that came with FREE WATER! In a GLASS. Amazing. Anyways, the girl at the counter seemed amused by my inability to speak Japanese (told you this would come up later. IN YOUR FACE people who think I'm senile) so she did a whole bunch of hand motioning and in the end just basically did what she wanted. But she was friendly, and she carried my food to a table to me due to my hands being full of shopping bags and shame.

I tried to eat as slowly as possible but that only wasted ten minutes, so I wandered over to the arcade for the first time. I know, I'm as shocked as you are. Roshi? NOT going to an arcade? Astounding. I didn't understand half of the things in there though. Not only were the instructions in Japanese, they were also nonexistent. Wrap your head around that one. So after one machine ate 200 yen, and another one mocked my existence by being impossible for three tries (crane games aren't meant to pick up BOXES you scheming pricks!) I played 4 bouts of Tekken before Hwoarang failed me. No, no I'm not bad at the game. Hwoarang is a sissy little bitch and he should try harder. Dammit.

Made it back home a bit after 10 and talked with random people I know in the hallway, unpacked my food, and now I have plans to go to Oita with JM over the weekend. So that's cool. The Fukuoka plans aren't happening? I guess our friend forgot he had asked if we wanted to go. Which is pretty much fine, because I'd end up spending something like 500 dollars if I went anyways.

So that's caught up with today, where I ate an entire loaf of milk bread and some peanuts. Maybe peanuts aren't that filling and it's more the me eating an entire loaf of bread. Must investigate further. Hurm.

Some interesting points from yesterday then:

I had managed to wake up on time for once, and left 5 minutes earlier than my normal time to get to class, which was nice. But on the way I saw this girl struggling with some build-up furniture IKEA style, right? Now, this wouldn't be so much of a problem I suppose, but here's the thing. There is nowhere to get that stuff on campus, and especially not anywhere in the vicinity of the dorm building. Which means that this girl had been dragging these three things from the BUS STOP. By herself. And the time that I saw her was right after the normal leaving for class time (most students like to get there 10 minutes early. Personally, a wizard is never late. Nor is he early. Except yesterday.) At the rate she was going it must have taken her something like 5 minutes to drag these things from the bus stop. And in the MOST TRAFFICKED TIME OF THE PERIOD, NOBODY STOPPED TO OFFER HER HELP. This more than anything irritates me. So I walked up and offered to help her bring them to her room. She stood there and looked sort of confused, so I said "Tasukemasu?" which is my equivalent to asking if she needs help in Japanese when I'm under stress to think of something. This didn't...help...either. Turns out she was Chinese, which is perfect cause I took a full year of Chinese that I can't remember a word of. When I made the motions though, she bowed a lot and said some things. Note: A girl passing by said "She says thank you very much" and then also walked off without offering help. Thuper. Anyways, I grabbed two of the three things and followed her up the elevator and to her room. She said thank you a whole bunch, and then in severely broken English asked where I'm from and if I was going to be late for class. I never actually... get her name. She might've said her English one but I couldn't tell, but she said that her Chinese one was too hard to pronounce so I left, and she followed me to the elevator thanking me the whole time. I also tried to say nice to meet you in Chinese but failed exuberantly at that, which I double checked with Fanxing later in the day.

Point being that I thought common deceny was dead in America, but hell this is an international institute. Turns out not caring about your fellow man is a worldwide sensibility.

Anyways, not ending this on a sour note. As this is chronological order, I managed to do pretty well on one of my final exams shortly after that. That's where I met Sho, as he sat next to me and talked up until the moment we were told to be quiet. Really friendly guy, had a cool hate. Studied in England. I only remembered later that Sho was my favorite Japanese name growing up as a result of a series of horrible video games, so he has that going for him too. (anyone who guesses the game series gets a prize. Limited time only. All applicants must be legal residents of the United States and must be 18 or older at time of playing)

Also, I had to go to the bathroom after class. And THANK GOD for that, or else this would never have entered my life:



Haha no, I don't know what it is. It looks like a Japanese Spiderman if I had to guess. I don't know what it says or why he's flailing around like that, but I couldn't leave it alone. So I responded with a picture of Spiderman myself:



The internet meme: How do I shot web? emblazoned above the traditional questioning spidey from the same trend.

Of course this is not my best drawing of the Friendly Neighborhood Arachnid Dude. But let's see you do better when you're lopsided on a porcelain throne. I can't rule my monarchy AND draw at the same time. Wait, I think I got lost in my own innuendo...

Anyways, that's up to date. And I have no class tomorrow. And if I do, screw that. The final was last week, what are they gonna do?

I'm gonna go eat some more peanuts.