OFISU SUPESU

I'm back

2007-03-02T21:39:00.000+09:00

It's been a long time since I last posted and as Ray Ray pointed out, this is long overdue. It's been nearly two months since I really posted and a lot has gone on since then.

For the New Year vacation I trekked across the Northern portion of the country finally reaching my destination of Sapporo, Hokkaido. I rode JR regular trains and it took two and a half days. When we finally made it to Sapporo, on New Years Eve, I got so drunk that I woke up in police custody. Luckily they took me in because they were simply worried for me as I was all alone: my travel buddy left me to fend for myself and I failed.

I've been skiing and to Tokyo Disney Sea. I travelled to Osaka and met up with Mike. We had a spectacular night, the climax being when the two of us yelled out the Team America theme song in the middle of Triangle Park. I went to Kyoto and saw my host sister, ate Okonomiyaki, and had lunch with the Rotarians who let me stay in Japan three years ago.

This week I had two interpreting jobs. The first was for the company wide plastic molding meeting. I have never seen a plastic mold in my life so I really don't know how they expected me to understand any of the content. The meeting went by slowly, my translations went like, "the picture on the left is the old version and the picture on the right is the improved version...factory XYZ raised productivity by 30%." It was embarrassing but I did my best. Today I did my second interpreting job which I thought would be a complete failure. We went to the largest factory in my company (It was my first time going here) and I translated the factory tour. The plant was really cool, tons of robotic arms and crazy automated machines along side dies that could press metal at a force of 500 tons. There was one guy who would stick his hand under one of these dies to put the part in there...it makes me appreciate my desk job a lot more. The plant was really loud so we all wore headsets and the guy giving the tour talked into a microphone. I had my own microphone that I had to speak English into. From an accurate interpretation point of view, I have to say that I did much better than I did during the plastic molding meeting. The only thing that sucked was that I was focused more on the translations rather than the machines that I wanted to see.

It's been over a month

2007-01-29T20:36:00.000+09:00

It's been over a month since I've last posted. I got lazy and stopped writing. I'll try to write more. I'll write more later...no time.

Tomorrow I start my journey.

2006-12-27T23:38:00.000+09:00

Tomorrow I head out for Hokkaido. It's a shame that Vooodoo won't be joining us but hopefully another reunion isn't too far away. I'm riding the regular trains to Sapporo which will take a total of about 36 hours. On the way I plan on buying sake from Niigata at 5am and drinking it on the way up, hitting on the beautiful girls from Akita prefecture (said to be the most beautiful in Japan), reading whatever book I pick up in Shinjuku, listening to my Ipod, looking out the window, and sleeping.

We're slated to arrive in Hakodate, Hokkaido at around 10pm or so on Friday. We don't have a hotel yet but I'm still under 30 which means I'm still invincible...so I'm not too worried about that. Next night we arrive in Sapporo and hopefully we'll have the energy to get some famous Sapporo Ramen and hit up Suzukino, the nightlife district.

Our next couple of days aren't planned. Hopefully we'll go to the beer museum and find stuff to do around the area. Depending on prices and time, we're thinking about hitting the slopes.

The trip back isn't certain. There's a few ways to get back; however, I want to return via Sendai and Matsushima. I'm looking forward to seeing the Tohoku region and will be sure to report about it when I return before the 8th of January.

night out in Oizumi

2006-12-17T10:43:00.000+09:00

I went to a Brazilian bar last night and learned how to Samba dance. It was funny because all the Brazilians were giving me these weird looks. They all thought I was Brazilian and would speak to me in Portuguese. They were probably thinking, "who's this guy that can't dance?" as all of them knew how to do it.

It was fun though. I got drunk, learned two steps, met some Brazilian hotties, and saw a kick ass Capoeira show.

XENOPHOBIA

2006-12-09T12:33:00.000+09:00

So I joined a Japanese social networking site when I got here called MIXI. It's the Japanese version of myspace/facebook and it has a group function. The other day I stumbled upon a pretty great group. The title: 「外国人犯罪」被害者連絡会, in english: Foreign Criminals-Victims Discussion Forum. After reading some of the posts, nobody actually has stories of themselves being victimized and I joined it just to piss off the racists who started it. Here's some examples.

犯罪ではなくても、「こんな怖い外国人を見た」ですとか「外国人と接触して嫌な思いをした」または逆に「こんな面白くてヘンな外国人を見た」でも構いません。

-(your posts) don't only have to be about crimes, it's okay to post about seeing scary foreigners, bumping into a foreigner and feeling disgusted, or even seeing a funny or strange foreigner-
***********
しかし、確実に増加傾向にある脅威について大いに語って頂きたく思います。
However, I certainly want to hear about the threats of increasing foreign crime.

*************
黒人とぶつかった時の話…
Stories about bumping into black people.
街中で黒人とぶつかった知人は思わず謝まったそうな…。
Someone I know bumped into a black man on the street and automatically apologized.
ちなみにこの知人は空手の経験者で決して素人ではないが、それでも黒人の威圧感には圧倒されたのだろうか。
FYI, he has experience with Karate, so he could definately hold his own; however even then, black people are intimidating and he'd be probably get destroyed.
私も黒人と街中でぶつかったことがある。
I've also bumped into a black person on the street.
肩がぶつかった。
We knocked shoulders.
瞬間的に―、「因縁をつけてくるかな」と思ったが、黒人はまるで何事もなかったかのように、足早に歩いて行った。
For a moment I thought he was going to try and start something with me, but he didn't do anything and I picked up my pace and walked away.
彼ら黒人は体力的に自信があるのだろう。
Those blacks probably people have confidence in their physical ability.
様々な国籍・民族の人間が増えている中、黒人にはご用心あれ―。
Out of all kinds of nationalities increasing here, be careful of the blacks.
**************
The replies to the post above....
自分は、東京・福生駅で黒人にナンパされたことがある。もう、そのときには死ぬかと思いました。
とりあえず、バイクですぐに逃げたので事なきを得たのですが。
A black man tried hitting on me at Tokyo Fussa station. I thought I was going to be killed. I just got on my bike and booked it so nothing happened.

{there was another post with someone mentioning American soldiers}
....おっしゃるとおり、米軍関係者でした。しかも、いかついゲイのナンパなんて怖すぎます。
As you were saying, he was an American soldier. Moreover, it was rugged gay nampa and it was just too scary.
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知らない人、まして外国人に警戒するように教育するのは当然だと思います。
I think we have to educate (our children) to be cautious of strangers, especially foreigners.
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Since when is bumping into a black man a crime? Moreover, bumping into people in Japan is commonplace who gives a shit? I think the guy who claims to be hit on by homosexual soldier was probably mistaken. I bet the soldier was being civil and said something to the guy and he freaked out. Anyway, there's only 26 people in the group and one guy who does most of the postings. I'm not trying to say that all Japanese people think this way, I was just find it amusing to to see these people freak out about such minute things.

Great Article

2006-11-25T16:08:00.000+09:00

I found this article the other day and it was the first logical explaination of high prices in Japan.

No Turkey. . .

2006-11-24T17:52:00.000+09:00

I asked around the office where I could purchase turkey. I was laughed at, and I finally provided that henna gaijin entertainment they've been waiting for. Turkey in Japanese is shichi-men-cho (七面鳥) which means literally means seven-sided-bird. I have no clue where the name comes from, but I don't know if I would eat a bird known to have seven sides. Back home I ate turkey all the time, it's my favorite type of sandwich all while being a really healthy lean meat. That's one thing Americans have up on Japanese in terms of healthy food.

My friend in the next town was having a Thanksgiving dinner for a few of us gringos and I really wanted to have turkey but I gave up and bought beef. It was nice though, we all cooked a meal, drank wine, and chatted it up long after the wine was complete. It was nice because we all were displaced for our holiday yet we made the most of it, even though we opted out of the traditional food. The point of Thanksgiving isn't the turkey or mashed potatoes, it's being with the people you don't see very often and recognizing the good even in the midst of the bad. That's exactly what our group did. we are all relatively new here; moreover, none of us new eachother well. Each of us would have preferred to be with our families but for that night we became family and I think everyone went home happier than when they arrived.

On an another note, a bunch of the Viet Cong went back to the homeland a few weeks ago and I've had to share the kitchen with very few people. It's been nice being able to use the appliances and not having to wait for clean pans and chopsticks. All good things come to an end. Cliche but I don't know how else to describe the feeling I just had. I heard a lot of people walking up the stairs speaking jibberish. Laughing and yelling. It meant only one thing: The Viet Cong are back in full force and they're going to try and take the kitchen from me! Not under my watch. I know better this time, I'm their Sempai and if they piss me off I'll make them clean my nutsack.

(I have nothing against Vietnamese people...I do have issues with the ones who live in my dorm though. If they were Korean, Mexican, Croation, or American, I'd have the same issues)

Matsushima, ah Matsushima...

2006-11-20T17:38:00.000+09:00

That is the first line of a famous poem about Matsushima, one of the three most scenic views in Japan and where I spent my Saturday. I was invited by the sales department and it was a really good time. I kind of wish we weren't so rushed the whole time and I'd like to go back and be able to take my time.

Matsushima is a small town overlooking a bay that is dotted with tiny islands covered in pine trees. Matsu means pine tree, shima means island, thus we have pine tree islands. These islands scatter the water-some bigger than others, some more famous than others, but together they do provide a spectacular sight especially if it's a sunny, brisk autumn afternoon.

We left the parking lot at 6:30am and we went by a bus that was perfect for the 17 other travelers, our luggage, our snacks, and our coolers full of alcohol. Like the last bus ride I took, the guys were breaking out the beers as soon as they got on the bus but I had to refuse until around 8.

With all the drunks, we stopped a few too many times for bathroom breaks and arrived to Matsushima late. We missed the boat that we were scheduled to ride and decided to get lunch and take the next one. Lunch was amazing-being on a bay that is famous for its oysters and being in an area that is famous for seafood in general, everyone ordered oysters and kaizen-don(sashimi donburi). The oysters were huge, slippery and ugly but they were delicious. I ate fresh scallops, oysters, sashimi and I was content.

On the other hand, my fellow travelers' tastes weren't fulfilled with mere seafood they needed something else. What was it? Beef tongue. Near bye Sendai is famous in Japan for its beef tongue. Every Japanese city has at least one local delicacy that it claims to be the best in Japan. My town for instance claims it's sauce katsu is the best in the land. Osaka claims its Takoyaki to be better than anywhere else, and Hiroshima's okonomiyaki is famous all over the islands. But Beef Tongue? So random. Honestly, I've had beef tongue before and it's pretty good but I'd rather eat steak or prime rib. I just thought it was hilarious that these people were creaming their pants over something so obscure as cow tongue. Myself and a few others opted out of the beef tongue craze and went to see the castle ruins of Aoba castle. I was glad that I did it because there was a beautiful view of Sendai with some nice statues and monuments in the park.

Back to Matsushima-we took a little cruise boat around the bay and got to see a whole bunch of the islands. Every now and then the boat stopped so we could get better looks at certain islands which were said to be more beautiful or famous than the others. I didn't really care about this because the scenery as a whole is what makes it one of the 3 scenic views. The view wasn't the most awe inspiring thing in the world-the rocky mountains and some coastal views in Hawaii beat Matsushima in terms of awesomeness, but this
place's beauty was very subtle. It wasn't one view that made it one of the most scenic places in Japan but it was the experience. A single tree rising from the rock; the holes bored from thousands of years of weather wear; the hawk darting out of the woods to catch a fish; the fisherman in their boats; the oyster pastures spread out over the water-the list goes on but it were these small things that gave it beauty. It wasn't merely the islands but it was the spaces between them that made them inspiring. The serenity invoked from the autumn leaves dusting the mountains in the distance and the simple, pointless conversations with my companions made the hour spent on the water more than just walking around a tourist trap.

We made the ride back from Sendai that day and made it back to Kiryu by around 9pm. We still had a lot of snacks, beer, and chu hai left over so that was split up amongst us to take home. I'm actually enjoying one of those beers as I currently write this blog entry. I think a day in the Sendai area was enough but I wish I could have taken more time to walk around the cities of Matsushima and Sendai to get a feel for the local flavor a bit more. But, it was a good trip and hopefully I'll return during another season to get another experience.

Stupid

2006-11-13T19:10:00.000+09:00

Japanese people don't like their faces on television. It's annoying as hell when someone's getting interviewed and you have to stare at his shoulder or back. It's even more annoying when they blur everyone in a crowd so you can't see anything but the subject. And why the fuck do they all need their voices blurred out? It's not like they're all witnesses to a mafia killing and need to be fearful for their life. It's people who witnessed an accident or are affected by certain laws.

Anyway, I was staring at the back of this kid's head. He was a highschool student wearing one of those black military coats and the back of his collar was covered with snowflakes. Dandruff. Seriously it was pretty nasty.

It's 5:00 somewhere...Who gives a shit?

2006-11-07T21:38:00.000+09:00

My cell-phone alarm was ear-splitting as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. 7:00am on a Sunday isn't how I enjoy spending weekend mornings and I immediately fell asleep again. I woke up again at 7:30 because I new I had to be ready to leave in an hour. One of the members of my team at work was throwing a big barbecue party for a visiting member from our Shanghai office. I said that I would go, but that early on Sunday I awoke regretting my decision.

Another member of purchasing arrived at my dorm and took me to the place everyone was meeting. We all met at one of our warehouses and rode a bus to his house. At 9:30 am the bus took off and before I had my morning coffee I was taking pulls of nihonshu. Well not pulls, rather sips of the vile substance from a plastic cup. I have to say that I'm not a fan of Japanese sake; I'm willing to drink it if it's being served but I wouldn't buy a bottle of the stuff for myself-maybe I've only tried the bad stuff. Anyway, someone said that the ride would only be 20 minutes; however, four beers and that cup of sake later, we pulled over next to a pond so that myself and two others with weak bladders could pee. A teenager was fishing in the pond beside us and didn't think twice when three boisterous, obviously intoxicated men got off the bus and started draining their lizards at 10am. I have to give that kid props for keeping his cool. He's going to grow up to be a very good man. I know it. We stopped again 10 minutes later at a rest stop where I finished another beer and urinated outside because I couldn't figure out how to open the door of the men's room.

At around 11:30 I stumbled off the bus to find other members of my company at the barbecue, starting fires and hauling the food from the house and onto the grill. The day had started out great-I was drunk and soon to be fed piles upon piles of meat.

I figured we'd eat yakiniku and maybe a few other things, but I was very wrong. It seemed like every 10 minutes a new delicacy was being added to our feast-sashimi, oden, beef, and pork. Finally out came the venison-I found out my coworker is a hunter which made me respect him even more. I have a special place in my heart for gun touting Japanese men who live in the mountains and grow their own apples. That's right, he had about three apple trees and we all got to take our pick of fresh, ripe apples!

Back to the deer meat. I ate it raw, I ate it cooked, I ate whatever was put in front of me. I had forgotten that I liked venison so much! After the venison a plate was being passed around with a dark steamy plate of another beast. What was it this time? BEAR. No kidding, I ate bear. It was rather chewy and overcooked but the meat had an interesting flavor. I recommend trying it if you ever get the chance.

This entire time I was pounding the booze. Japanese sake, Chinese sake, Beer, Wine, Chu-hai, and anything else I could pour down my throat. The barbecue lasted until after we were out of food, but ended when we ran out of alcohol. When it became clear that there wasn't anymore, I got desperate and began searching the tables for unopened cans of beer and I found a can. I was very proud of myself and the other guests' eyes screamed envy at me. I laughed at them as I poured the brew down my throat.

For once I wasn't the only foreigner at one of these kinds of things-there were some Chinese people and some Thai people who spoke fluent Japanese. It was nice because people weren't constantly complementing my "arigatou's" and "hajimemashite's." One of the Thai girls was pretty cool and we ended up getting food with another one of her friends after the barbecue...more on that later.

I realized that I enjoy children a lot more when I've been drinking. This sounds horrible, but I feel after I loosen up I can earn their affection better than when I'm sober. I had a short conversation with a girl who was probably 12; it was probably her first time talking to a non-Asian but she didn't seem to care. She asked if she could shake my hand and I showed her how to shake hands with just enough squeeze. It was fun while it lasted; she left me after realizing that punching family members while they are drunk and passed out was more fun. I can't blame her and wish that my uncles would have been "that guy" at family Christmases. I'd probably have better relationships with them than I do today.

I fell asleep on the bus ride back and woke up in the parking lot with a hangover. It was 6pm. I got back to my dorm, drank some water and went back at it with my new found Thai friends. However, the place we went to deserves it's own separate post. To make a long story short we went to a new hip "English-fusion" cafe/bar. In reality it was a gaijin host club and I felt really awkward being there. All the waiters/bartenders eat and drink with the guests speaking English-they even played shuffleboard with us. They were nice enough but that's their job-to smile and nod and be friends with the all the guests. On the upside, they make stiff drinks and serve beer in large glasses. I may return for that reason alone...maybe the darts as well.

I was reminded this weekend of the joys of being totally hammed by noon and to sustain such a feeling until late in the evening. I may complain about life in Japan at times, but it is days like last Sunday that make me love this place. Coworkers, adults, and old men-acting like college students before a morning football game (only without the game of course).

World Series Champs and the Yule Tide Blues

2006-10-31T21:52:00.000+09:00

Last weekend my favorite baseball team won a very unexpected world series. During the playoffs and during the world series I had my work computer set at ESPN.com reloading the scoreboard checking the scores. Each time we won and got a little closer to winning, I got more and more excited until finally I sat at home on Saturday afternoon and watched the game cast. We won and I was happy.

I have been a Cardinals fan ever since I can remember. I was born in St. Louis but I have only lived there for a small portion of a part of my life I cannot remember. However, my mother is a St. Louis native and my father grew up a Cardinals fan. Moreover, my mom's side of the family are huge cards fans. Needless to say, even though I never really lived in St. Louis, the Cardinals spirit has surrounded me my entire life. As a child I received signed baseballs and other priceless memorabilia from family members as gifts. Those are gifts that I plan on passing on to my children and grandchildren as heirlooms as well (I may possibly sell them if I ever get addicted to drugs or something like that).

However, while this weekend was great it was rather sad in a way. I have waited my entire life to see my team win a world series, and the year they actually do (a year that nobody had even thought they would at that) I happen to be in a place with no cards fans. Even though I lived in Seattle the two years before coming to Japan, my cell phone had free long distance and I could call my family and friends back in Missouri to bank in celebration. I wasn't able to do that this time. Instead, I sat in my messy room watching a bunch of x's and o's on my computer screen while drinking canned lattes. The Cardinals won, I made lunch by myself, and returned to my empty room. Honestly, it was more fun keeping track of the world series and having the anticipation and hope that they would pull it off. Once they finally did pull it off I had nothing to look forward to.

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In other news, I made the decision to stay in Japan for the holidays. Honestly, I really wanted to go home, but the price of tickets, length of travel, and lack of holidays kept me in Japan. As much as I hate Japanese Christmas and wished they didn't celebrate it (they celebrate it weird) I wish the day meant a little more to them so I could have that time off to go home and see my family.

Now I have to figure out something to do for my week off. I really really really don't want to stay in Gunma prefecture the entire week, so I'm thinking about places to go and things to do. I have a few options right now but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to afford. Here's a list, after number one I really have no preference to which one I decide on.

1) Sapporo and Hokkaido. This would be ideal. Hokkaido is the only main island I have yet to visit. Moreover, I like spending the holidays in a cold climate and this would be perfect...lots of snow and cold beer. However, Hokkaido is pretty hard to get to when you're on a budget, especially around the New Years holiday when airline companies jack up their ticket prices. Looking at prices, I'd have to pay over 50,000 yen for a round trip airplane ticket. Probably not happening.

2) Kanazawa. I've heard and read a lot of good things about Kanazawa. I like going to old Japanese cities, temple hopping, and absorbing the local flavor. Kanazawa doesn't seem too expensive but I don't know if I'll be able to spend more than 2 days there without getting bored.

3) Kansai. The area of Japan where I used to live. A trip to Kansai would be spent visiting old friends and hanging out in Kyoto a lot. If I do go down to Kansai though I'm going to make sure to visit the Bridge of Heaven--one of the three most scenic views in Japan! it's a really long land bridge that penetrates the sea and is surrounded by pine trees. At the top of the mountain you look upside down, with your head between your legs and the view is supposed to be amazing. I can totally see some old monk hundreds of years ago telling Japanese travelers to do that just to give him some cheap laughs back at the temple with his buddies. Anyway, The issue with Kansai would be too much time and money.

4) Skiing. I'm not a very good skier but I enjoy it. Also, one of my host families goes skiing in Nagano every January and I don't live very far from Nagano right now. It's quite possible I'd be able to meet up with them in the mountains and ski for a couple of days. It would be nice too because they still treat me like their own child and would probably pay for my hotel, lift passes, dinner, and even drop me off some place where I can easily get back home from.

5)Asia. I haven't looked into this very much but I recognize it as an option. However, the airline companys would have to be retards if they didn't jack up their international flights during the New Year holiday. But, if it's cheap enough and I can get a visa in time I may go to China, Hong Kong, Thailand, or Malaysia.

6) Tokyo area. Maybe stay at a hostel in Tokyo for a night or two, head to Kamakura for a night, and then tour the Izu Peninsula. These are both places I have designated as weekend trips; but with 10 days off I could do it all. I want to see Kamakura for similar reasons that I want to see Kanazawa...it's an old historical Japanese city. This means that there will be lots of souvenir shops and chances to take my picture.

7) Mount Fuji. I don't know if you can climb it during this time of year but it's something I want to try. I know January is probably hell; but a lot of people climb Fuji san...to say you climbed it in the worst of the seasons may sound crazy, but I think it could be something to brag about.

Manga bringing cultural understanding to the world

2006-10-27T23:30:00.000+09:00

I had the TV on tonight and an English program with the host Pak kun came on, broadcasting a visit from a Japanese celebrity and a special on the popularity of manga in the United States and abroad. Pak kun is gaijin talent meaning he has obtained the trust of the Japanese public-speaking the language and thinking like a Japanese person-in other words he has become a tame gaijin. Tonight was another reason I have come to hate these gaijin TV personalities.

The story tonight was on Manga's popularity in the states, and they interviewed some Otaku from San Fransisco. They were the geekiest people I have ever seen-dressed like cartoon characters with greasy hair. Seriously a shower wouldn't hurt from time to time.

Japan is Japan, America is America. It's not going to change. While the Japanese people can take Pak kun's word that Manga is bringing our two countries together, I have another point of view, one that claims the opposite. Having taken two years of formal Japanese in college I can say I've come across exactly the types of people I saw being interviewed for this program. These are the types of people I cannot stand. They claim to have an interest in Japanese culture which was spawned by manga and anime and they expect people to take them seriously. I know that comics and cartoons are very popular here, but Japanese culture isn't a bunch of big blond haired men with spiky hair and petite submissive busty women. Japanese culture is not experienced through reading comic books as entertainment.

I have no academic proof to back this up, but I've seen enough people in my lifetime to say confidently that I am right. In college 1st and 2nd year Japanese classes are impossible to get into. It is one of the most popular foreign languages for undergraduates to study; however, by year 3 and 4 there are merely 2 classes for the entire university (my 4th year class consisted of less than 10 people one term). Why is this? Examining the types of people who take years 1 and 2, many fall into the group that likes manga and anime but wants to be able to understand them without translation. They take a year or two of Japanese and realize it's difficult and quit because it's not worth the work. I agree, I wouldn't have put in as much time as I had in getting to where I'm at with the mere goal of reading comic books. By my 4th year class there were only a few mangaphiles; however, they had other reasons to study Japanese than their counterparts. These people I can tolerate.

Back to the television show...Since I have had experiences with American Otaku this television show really got to me tonight. Most Japanese people don't have problems with Manga and Anime but they think Otaku are weird-just like they do in the states. What the Japanese people don't realize is just how weird these people are in the states. These people have horrible hygiene, don't have social lives, "boff", and believe that fictional cartoons and comic books give them an accurate look at Japan. So Pak Kun, exactly how are they practicing multiculturalism?

If anything they portray a fictional aspect to the country. It sounds great to think that comic books and cartoons will help us understand our differences but try giving an American diplomat an issue of "Gundam" or "Sailor Moon" and lets see how much closer our two nations' understandings get.

This was a slap in my face. I have put in a lot of time learning this language(4 years of high school, 2 years of college, and I'm currently in my second year living here). I get kind of pissed off when the sincere effort that I have made in trying to bridge cultural gaps is paralleled to a bunch of nerds jacking off to cartoons.

Weekend in Gunma

2006-10-22T19:33:00.000+09:00

This weekend started off great. Friday the Cardinals secured their spot in the World Series, and while nobody will be watching this series I sure as hell am happy for my team. It seems like every time they do well I'm somewhere where there aren't any fans. Oh well, I still represent. Oh yeah, they also won game one of the world series.

The Cardinals' situation already had my spirits high when I boarded the train bound for Ota. I was meeting my friend and coworker, Steve, to go to the Sanyo-Kobe Steel professional Rugby game. I were joined by Steve's wife and daughter and the three of us met a few of their friends. Sanyo had a few New Zealand players on its team and a lot of the people I was sitting with were the families of some of the Kiwi players and coaches. It's hard to concentrate on a game when you don't know the rules, it's even harder when there are a bunch of cute kids running around the stands playing. Needless to say I watched about half of the game, the little ones taking the other half of my attention.

Being 22 and hanging around this older crowd was different from what I'm used to. I don't have any friends who have kids. It took a lot for me to watch my language and use baby talk that afternoon and it felt awkward having conversations with adults who had settled down and were talking to me on the same level; in other words, we didn't have a lot in common. Anyway, Sanyo won and all were happy. After the game I got to meet some of the Kiwi players and they were all really nice. I felt important being associated with these professional atheletes' families.

After the game I went home and hung out for a little bit. I then got ready and headed out to Kiryu with two of the people in our group from earlier. This last weekend a few bars in Kiryu hosted a live music night with a bunch of bands and DJs and it was called Kiryu Music Fronts. It was a lot of fun and drinks were fairly reasonable. While some of the bands weren't very good, the atmosphere was great. Hopping from bar to bar, drinking gin and tonics, and listening to live music is something I enjoyed and I did it a lot last night.

I met some cool people from the area, mostly Ota, but they were all pretty nice. Most importantly I found a few spots that seem to have things going on at night, so on weekends I'll have places to go. All in all, I didn't get home until 5 am, had a pretty good drunk going, and didn't spend too much money. Time to get ready for another week of work.

More Osaka, feeling sorry for myself, fake priests, and teaching

2006-10-19T20:01:00.000+09:00

I'm currently writing without a specific point in mind. I just have a bunch of random thoughts going through my head and I want to spill them. I started teaching private English classes to an interpreter for my company this week, I was surprised by the size of my Internet bill, I've been reading about Caucasians who pose as priests for Japanese weddings, and I've still been thinking about Osaka a lot.

Maybe it's because I don't have any friends in the town I live in. Before leaving for Japan I was surrounded by people I called friends. I was part of a fraternity with some of the greatest people I have ever met. I lived with them, I ate with them, I worked with them and I drank with them. To come here and not have that is rather hard for me. One of the things I have a problem with is the fact that I came to this company and they offered no support for me--introducing me to this town and maybe some of the English teachers that live around here. I know it really isn't their responsibility, but I thought that I would at least have had an opportunity to meet other interns through JETRO. Nothing, they dropped me off at my dorm and said see you tomorrow at 8. So I get home from work, eat dinner, watch TV and browse the Internet until I fall asleep. Everyday.

I went to Osaka last weekend and got to see some of my good friends. It really meant a lot to me because it's not everyday that I get to see them. I didn't realize how much I value good people until now. Even though I didn't do anything extremely noteworthy with my friends in Osaka (we went drinking which is normally what I do with these guys) it was really different this time. For them it may have been just another two nights of drinking, but to me it was a lot more. It's pathetic, I know.

On Sunday I had lunch and coffee with my ex girlfriend which was really weird. I could tell she thought the same, but it didn't prevent us from having a really good time. As I was walking around Umeda with her everything seemed the same as the last time I lived there except the two of us were only friends. Before meeting with her I didn't have any thoughts of getting back together and I wanted to meet as friends and see how she was doing. But it was too nostalgic and I wanted something I couldn't have. I was plagued with memories and thoughts about her that I hadn't had in nearly two years. I thought that maybe if I was back in Osaka things would be the same as they were two years before, and that was one of the reasons that made leaving so hard.

The rational part of me says that that can't be. We all know the story of Jay Gatz trying to go back into the past and rekindle a lost love and we all know it killed him in the end. I know that I was only there for three days and three days isn't very much time. I was still in the shock that I was actually back after two years and the only memories that I could think of were those of two years past. I'm putting that weekend behind me, not forgetting about it, but I'm going to engage myself in new activities to make the thoughts less painful.

I received an email from someone in general affairs asking me to help one of the company's interpreters with English. I kind of wondered why an interpreter would need help with English but it made sense when I met him. He was fluent in Spanish, having lived in South America and Mexico for 18 years and writing Spanish grammar textbooks in Japanese. Being fluent in Spanish doesn't mean one is fluent in English too. I guess the people in my company don't realize that. It looks like they want to save money and when they found out that he could kind of speak English so they hired him for both. I'm not going to say anything because it's not my place, but I hope they learn when they actually use him to interpret technical English.

The guy is nice and he offered to pay me even though the company told him not to. That will be nice because it will allow me to spend more money on travelling. The guy is really nice and a lot more interesting than most of the middle aged Japanese men I work with. He's bummed around the world having visited about 70 countries and he isn't afraid of saying his opinions, making him a lot easier to have conversations with. There's just a few topics I try to stay away from...relationships for the most part. He started talking about his wife and how she left him. Then went on to his son and about how he's a failure. It got a little weird when he said he tried to find a girlfriend who was about my age at one time. As long as he doesn't talk about those things our sessions go great. I bring up grammar points and use example sentences and then he goes off on tangents related to the examples.

It worked out perfectly because the week I started doing classes with him was the same week that I received my cell phone bill and my Internet bill. Just so happens the Internet company decides to charge 12,000 yen for a router, an AC adapter for the router, an Ethernet cable, and some other phone cables cables. If I had known that I would have bought them myself and tried to pay less as an initial fee. Hindsight is 20-20.

So I ran into the other American at the company the other day and he told me about an easy way to make big money on weekends. Only it involves deceit and a Caucasian male to dress like a priest and wed a couple. Japanese people want to have Christian weddings even though they aren't Christian. Fair enough, there are plenty of non-Christians who get married in a church back home. I have no problems with this. However, after researching it a little I became kind of discouraged with the practice because these couples sometimes go to a bridal company under the impression that an actual man of the faith will wed them. In reality it's some English teacher who makes 12,000 yen a ceremony...with ceremonies lasting only 20 minutes these "priests" can do 5 or 6 ceremonies a day and rake in 60,000 yen with only an hour worth of work. I think it's a shame when a couple goes to get married under the impression that the priest who weds them is actually an English teacher doing this on the side to make booze money.

Those are my thoughts for the evening. I'll be back soon to post about where I want to travel in the upcoming months.

I miss Osaka!

2006-10-17T21:28:00.000+09:00

So this last weekend I made the 300+ kilometer journey to the second largest city in Japan, Osaka. I called Osaka home for close to a year when I was 19 years old, the year after I graduated high school and the year before I entered college. I attended a high school in the middle of the city and therefore pretty much stayed in the city all day.

Having returned to Japan, I knew I was going to go back to Osaka it was just a matter of time before I could take a day off work and come up with the funds neccessary to pay for the expensive trip. That day came last Friday when I arrived Osaka by night bus. My previous experiences with the night bus were not good-in the past I could never sleep and I would sit there in envy as the entire bus faded off into peaceful slumber. However, this time was different. I slept for about 6 of the total 9 hours-taking a little time to sleep in the beginning, waking up to use the bathroom, and waking up early in the morning. Either way it was nice arriving to Umeda withdecent sleep.

I went to Osaka for a number of reasons-to see my friends from the states, my old school, my host family, and my ex-girlfriend. All of those encounters made my trip back extremely wonderful and even two days after the fact, I'm depressed that I couldn't stay there for the rest of my time here.

I have gone to see friends in other cities before, but I never felt so good about those trips as I did with this one. It was my first time since returning in over two years. On top of that, the year I spent in Osaka was my first year out of the house and I believe I grew up a lot during that time.

The only way I can describe the feelings I had was that it felt like home. I stepped off the bus, walked into the busy Friday morning rush hour and felt like saying "tadaima".When I wasn't too hungover there was a constant smile on my face because the sights, the sounds, the smells all conjured wonderful memories for me. Even more so, seeing familiar faces and hearing familiar voices, some of which I hadn't seen or heard in what felt like ages made me even more grateful for participating in rotary youth exchange and for spending all the money I spent that weekend. I can sincerely say that every yen of the 50,000 I spent on the trip was worth it.

Even though parts of the city have changed a little, the warmth in the hearts of those who accepted me over the weekend hadn't changed at all. In fact, I think returning to the city and meeting some of these people cemented in me the fact that during my year I wasn't just a burden and that people truely cared about me. It was nice to see that kind of reciprication.

Even though I'm not Japanese, haven't lived here for a very long time, I can truely say that while I'm in Japan I will always have a home in Osaka. Not so much because of the city but because of the wonderful people I know who live there.

Gaijin invasion

2006-10-11T18:27:00.000+09:00

I found this on youtube. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlHHsjQ7D9Q

Japanese news

2006-10-09T21:57:00.001+09:00

I was recently requested to post about the Japanese news. I watched the evening broadcast and was inundated by reports on Shinzo Abe's latest diplomatic missions to China and South Korea as well as the confirmation that North Korea carried out a successful nuclear test. All this with an appreciating dollar and a falling yen in the background. I originally made this a single post; however, after viewing it I realized it was really long and should probably be broken into smaller posts.

Japan, China, South Korea, and Yasukuni Shrine

2006-10-09T21:56:00.002+09:00

One of the largest issues surrounding Japan is how its new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is going to strengthen relations with its Asian neighbors. Under Junichiro Koizumi, relations with China and S. Korea were destroyed with the PM's untimely visits to the controversial Yakusuni Shrine. The shrine is a memorial for its war dead: those who have died in wars defending Japan since the Tokugawa era until the modern day, including 12 class A war criminals from WW2. China and South Korea believe these visits encourage a militaristic Japan and support a revisionist view of its history. Koizumi and other conservatives claim it’s their personal right to pay homage to those patriots who died for their country-making references to Arlington National Cemetery and the like.

Honestly, I can see where both parties have strong points. I don't blame Japanese people for wanting to pay respect for its war dead and I can see why this bothers its Asian neighbors. The problem lays within the shrine itself and what it stands for; and the timing Japanese public officials choose for their visits. The shrine is a bastion for conservatives and reactionary nationalists, boasting a revisionist point of view on history-its history museum refutes Japan as the aggressor in world war two; rather it claims Japan was defending itself from western pressures. It claims the executions were illegal and that they died defending Japan from the conquering western powers. With this as a background, you can see why China and South Korea get pissed off when Japanese officials visit-China suffered the Nanjing massacre and thousands of South Korean women were displaced and forced into prostitution. So that is why China got mad when Koizumi decided to visit the shrine immediately returning from a diplomatic meeting in Beijing.

That’s the background of the whole diplomatic mess in a nutshell. Now that Abe is prime minister, SK and the PRC are optimistic for better relations; to me these countries don't dislike the Japanese people, they just want to be treated with respect. And so far Abe has done a pretty good job with this. This past weekend marked the first visit of a Japanese PM to Beijing since 2001 and the two parties, while not discussing anything too major, came out looking forward to a bright future. Similarly, Abe and SK president Roo Moo Hyun had a good meeting which ended with the two delivering a press conference praising each others' nations and provided promising outlooks.

These meetings were for show, the only thing these leaders discussed of value was the North Korean issue, but who already doesn't know these countries positions. We all know Japan is the harshest, S. Korea is kind of iffy, and China is the sole reason N. Korea still functions. It is also known that each of these countries will condemn the North if it carries out a test. So Abe got together with these leaders to confirm the need for 6 party talks, economic sanctions, blah blah. The real test for Japan will be whether or not Abe visits Yasukuni (I think it's a matter of when). A DPJ member questioned Abe on his views of Yasukuni (Abe is known to have visited it in the past and has yet to solidify his stance) Abe replied by saying that under Japanese law, the war criminals aren't real war criminals because their trials were held under foreign occupation. Kind of iffy if you ask me.

North Korea goes nuclear

2006-10-09T21:56:00.001+09:00

While Abe was in Seoul, word got out that S.Korea's crazy cousin in the North carried out a nuclear test. This didn't come to surprise to me, as of late Kim Jong Il hasn't cooperated with anything the international community has asked it to. It relies on China for its economic stability (kind of) and China hasn't been hard nosed with the Communist regime. The world now has a new nuclear country, at the hands of a crazy man. Japan holds a tough stance against North Korea along with the United States and S.K. It is unclear what Russia and China will do now. I believe that the resolution of this conflict lies in China's hands.

China has little economic interest in N. Korea (who does?). Sure a few countries do business with N. Korea but that little business is easily replaceable. China supports North Korea because it is a fellow comrade and to support the communist party. Of course this support is based soley on ideological and historical events which I don't think can hold up any longer. China's economy is growing and it doesn't look to be slowing down in the near future. This means that China is trading with countries it wouldn't have under chairman Mao. Does China really want to risk its economic prosperity over North Korea? No it doesn't. That’s why, if the situation in N. Korea becomes too volatile I believe China will abandon N. Korea and jump on the international bandwagon in sanctioning the nation.

Falling Yen=Stronger Dollar

2006-10-09T21:55:00.000+09:00

I could keep going on about Japan's news but I'm going to stop it with my analysis of the falling yen. While I am a student of economics and finance I haven't taken any classes that really covered currency markets. Therefore, while I don't know the ins and outs and the magical ways to get rich off this type of asset (yes currency is an asset) I do believe that, based on what I've read and what I know about finance in general, I can give a pretty decent analysis of why the yen is weaker than it was a few months ago.

If you've paid attention to this type of news like I have over the past month and a half, you would have noticed the dollar going up in value relative to the yen (and all other currencies). Last August the rate was around 115 yen to 1 USD and now according to the latest figures on yahoo finance, the rate is 119.06 yen to 1 USD. From the US's point of view the dollar is rising and from Japan's point of view the yen is falling. This is especially bad for me because I receive my money in terms of yen and when I go back to the states I'm going to suffer an economic loss due to currency risk.

Currency risk is the risk one undergoes when dealing with currencies from other countries. Because most currencies are floating currencies, their value relative to other currencies changes. To the currency trader, this risk is similar to any other traded asset like a stock- the price can rise or fall and lucky ones buy when it's low and sell when it's high. I face the same risk only it's slightly different.

Why should I care about the exchange rate since I don't see the prices of goods changing with the exchange rates? I really don't. I know I'm going to get about 130,000 yen a month and I can budget my expenses knowing confidently that the prices for food and my internet aren't going to fluctuate. However, I benefit from an appreciating dollar when I withdraw cash from my American bank account; Moreover, I benefit from a stronger yen when I go home and change my savings from yen to dollars. All in all, it's not that much money to me...but multiply what I deal with by 10 or 100 and it suddenly becomes looks like a lot more.

So why is the yen doing so badly against the dollar? Nobody knows the correct answer to this question. Like the stock market there are an infinite number of variables that change exchange rates. However, some of the major indicators are stock indices, economic data (GDP, unemployment, etc) and interest rates.

Looking at the S&P 500 index, which is probably the best overall indicator of business activity in the United States, you can see the average steadily rising over past three months. This means the aggregate level of stock prices have risen. Why do stock prices rise? because people are willing to throw down more cash for ownership in a company. Why are people willing to do this? Because the value of the companies are rising. Why are the values of the companies rising? Because the present value of future cash flows have risen. This means that forecasters (individual investors and analysts) see the companies as good investments which is a reflection of the investment choices a company takes-it chooses to take on investment opportunities(be it a new product line, bonds, mergers and acquisitions) that yield positive returns. That is how stock prices work in theory. Every bit of information affects the present value of a company's future cash flows and in result the company's stock prices are always changing.

The fact that businesses are becoming more valuable is a good economic indicator. It means that companies are investing their resources in new "positive NPV" projects. It is a good thing to buy stock in these American companies meaning it's a good thing to hold US dollars as the rate of return of investing these US dollars in US stocks is higher than investing them in other places. The American stock market is more attractive than the Nikkei right now-looking at the Nikkei 225 index over the past three months you see a line that has fallen and is rather flat. It makes sense for investors to invest their money in the United States over Japan because of this reason.

Economic data such as GDP, unemployment, inflation, etc. are also large players in the market for currencies as they are aggregate indicators of a country's growth. However, I'm not really going to go into these reasons because I don’t know much about them. haha.

Interest rates play another large role in determining exchange rates. When the FED raises the Fed Funds rate, banks subsequently raise the interest rates they charge to customers. The Fed changes rates as an effort to curb inflation and prevent recessions: rising rates in the prior condition and lowering rates in the latter. To fight against inflation the FED increases interest rates making it more expensive to take out loans making it harder for people to spend as much. Moreover, it becomes optimal to put money in these banks as the return on your money is higher.

Currently in the United States there is fear of inflation; consequently, the Fed has been raising interest rates. However, the equity markets aren't reflecting this. As I'm not a professional and I haven't been keeping up with the news, I'm not sure why this is-my only explanation would be that investors believe the interest rate increases aren't going to last.

This makes the dollar even stronger on the international scene-with higher interest rates and higher returns on its equity markets the dollar is looking pretty good. Investing in stocks will give you a higher return and the interest you earn on putting your money in the bank is also higher than it would be otherwise. This is especially apparent in Japan, where the government is trying to ward of deflation by keeping rates really low (less than 1%). This is why it's stupid to open a savings account in Japan right now-why put your money in an account yielding less than 1% when you can make around 4.5% in the United States?

Is the falling currency bad for Japan? Not necessarily, a too-strong yen was responsible for the bubble era that still has reaping effects on Japanese businesses. A weaker yen means that Japanese imports are cheaper to American businesses-the same yen price is paid in Japan; however the dollar prices that Americans are facing back home is less. It's really a win-win situation as more Japanese products are imported for a cheaper price in the states.

This also helps our trade deficit, as Japanese receive interest payments and coupon payments on US treasury Bonds (in dollars) they are more inclined to reinvest their cash in the American economy where they make higher returns. More foreign investment means more money for companies to employ Americans in expansionary efforts.

That’s my take on the news. It's a really long post and I apologize...I kind of got lost in the moment. peace. Glizz.

NHK

2006-10-06T12:34:00.000+09:00

I'm beginning to realize that I write more about the news then about myself. Maybe it's because my life isn't very interesting. The latest news article I read, found in the Japan times, was about NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.日本放送協会)going after people who haven't paid their subscription fees.

NHK is kind of like PBS only people watch it. It is a government run corporation (there's an oxymoron for you) that broadcasts the news and various television programs. However unlike PBS which takes donations, NHK requires its subscribers to pay a subscription each month of about $12. The fucked up part is that every television in Japan recieves NHK, thus making every owner of a TV a subscriber: even people who do not watch NHK.

>Before Japan developed, the government played a large role in its business sector; in effect, helping certain industries thrive while allowing others to fail. In the beginning this was an effective way to jump start its economy and help certain businesses obtain behemoth status. However, there are various other channels where people can get news and entertainment now: why make them pay for NHK?

>NHK has a pretty loyal viewing audience and it would only be natural for the company to earn its revenue in the same fair method all the other TV stations do: commercials. The current structure of NHK is a monopoly and while I'm not familiar with Japan's anti-trust laws, I do know they exsist.

Now, NHK is seeking the courts to prosecute non-payers whom it selects at random. In other words, they are trying to scare the people into paying. This sounds great to NHK, but they forgot to include a clause about what to do with the scoundrels who do not pay! Forking up $12 bucks a month is mandate from the government with no consequences to those who don't. To me it sounds like the law was written with the intention of one day aboloshing the subscription system.

To me, this sounds like NHK's last cry for help and I don't think the court is going to help it this time. NHK has been hit with scandals, ranging from bribery to arson amongst top employees and reporters, and it's revenues have been falling. Remember how NHK makes its money? Anyone owning a television pays for NHK; in theory it's revenue shouldn't be falling as fast as it. The answer my friends is that the natural market forces are prevailing inspite of government interactions: people won't pay for a product they don't want. Simple.

All I want is rice

2006-10-04T18:32:00.000+09:00

I read an article in a foreign paper the other day about a new musical directed by a North Korean defector, Jung Sung San. The play was extremely popular in South Korea and now the playwrite wants to take his work of art to the states with the hope that president Bush and other officials in Washington would go see it.

His play is called Yoduk Story and the man put up his own kidney as collateral to raise funds for the play. In my eyes, anyone with that much intensity is bound to create good art. I also wondered where there is a market for human kidneys; I'm pretty sure selling body parts is against the law in South Korea where the writer lives.

I would love to see this musical mostly because of the titles of two of the songs: "All I want is Rice" and "You are Just Like Germs." I also want to see it because it portrays what Jung went through in a North Korean prison camp: a look into what goes on there from an actual survivor. I also like what the man is doing. He was quoted, "my foremost goal is to send a message to Kim Jong Il from the political center of the world telling him to stop killing people." I agree with Mr. Jung, Kim is crazy and needs to stop killing people; I go out on a limb to say that most people in the world also agree with him. However, I find it hard to believe after years of attempts at diplomacy that a musical will have any kind of effect on Kim Jong Il. Anyway, I give Mr. Sung Kudos for fighting the good fight and following his dreams and aspirations.

*****
I just saw a thing on the news and it showed snippets from the play. It looks amazing. There were people getting whipped and lots of blood. Unfortunately president Bush was unable to watch.

Untitled

2006-10-04T12:44:00.000+09:00

It's been a while since I've blogged because I've been planning my trip to Osaka. In an effort to find the most economical way to get down there, and stay I have scoured the internet in search of cheap transportation and all I came up with was the night bus. I knew about it all along and didn't want to use it originally; however, when I saw that it would save me about 12,000 yen I decided that I was too poor to not use it.

I also decided that staying in a youth hostel would be my best option when I saw rates for single rooms at only 2200 yen. However, I'm staying near Tsutenkaku (Osaka Tower) in probably the filthiest neighborhood of the city. It's going to be fun.

I had an interesting weekend last week. It started with a call from my pal in Tokyo who said I should go to Tokyo on Saturday for dinner. I said I'd think about it and let him know the next day. So Saturday came and I decided to go to the city for dinner under the assumption that I would be able to crash on his floor if needs be.

Turns out he had plans with his girlfriend after dinner and that I had to go home, the only problem was that I missed the last train home. I decided I could do one of two things, stay at a capsule hotel or go out drinking alone in Roppongi. I decided to check out Roppongi and walked around a bit; however, being unfamiliar with the area, the bars, and being low on cash made me decide to check into a capsule hotel.

It was my first stay at a capsule hotel and while it wasn't much, it did provide me with a bed, shower, and company for only 3000 yen. I met a man probably a bit older than my father who called this hotel home and we talked about American food for about 25 minutes...he wasn't able to get over the fact that Americans don't eat cheeseburgers everyday. My breaks over at work and I have to get going.

2006-09-30T12:23:00.000+09:00

This week was great: I got hooked up to the internet at home, got my cracker card, opened a bank account, and bought a cell phone. Let me know if you want my phone number or keitai mail address. As for exciting things going on in me life, it's pretty much the same ol' same ol'. I'm excited because I get my first check in about a week and then I'm going to go to Osaka for about 3 days.

I work with a guy who is a little older than me and we go eat lunch together in the cafeteria everyday. He is extremely quiet, he talks in series of squeaks and whispers. Often, he doesn't really talk much. However, there are times when he just says the most crazy things. Yesterday out of no where, he asked me if I liked big tits...Of course I do, who doesn't? And he went on to talk about cleavage and how when you look out the windows at women in the summer, you can see some good cleavage. Thanks. He's also told me where to go for the best "special massages" and how he is going to Nagoya for special massages. My favorite was when he asked me if my door locked. I replied, "of course it locks," and he told me that since there were a lot of people from Southeast Asia I should be really careful and always lock my door. He said that they are from poor countries and would try to steal from me. I really didn't know what to say so I changed the subject. Fact of the matter is that I lock my door every time I leave my room...even if it's to just go to the bathroom.

Oretachi wa ofensive dakara sa!

2006-09-25T21:13:00.000+09:00

I finally got internet at my dorm!! But if anything could go wrong it does, the left shift key on my keyboard will no longer work...adjusting to right handed shifting is a pain in the ass. Also, if I miss a capital letter or type a semi-colon instead of a colon; forgive me, chances are I pressed shift but it didn't go down all the way.

Anway, I had the best weekend last week, it was possibly the best two days since I've been here. Another American who works in sales at my company invited me to go to the Tokyo Video Game Show with him and one of his friends. Originally I wasn't planning on doing much and a video game show wasn't what I had in mind for fun either; but, he offered to drive me (makuhari mesa in Chiba)so I thought to myself, "what the hell, I don't know anyone in the area anyway." So I went. Even though I'm not a gamer, the games there were pretty cool. I got to play tennis on the new ps3 and watch some hot model girls play the new Nintendo.

Speaking of hot model girls, they were all over the place decked out in Sega, Capcom, and Xbox clothing; basically it was an Otaku's dream. And did the Otakus come or what. Crowds of men with professional cameras gathered around these beauties snapping their pictures (I could tell that they weren't press because the press had special name tags). Then there were the cosplay people (nerds who dress like maids or their favorite video game/manga/anime character). There were some elaborate costumes and even some cross dressing going on. Pretty sweet stuff.

So the guys I went there with were a little older than me...30 and 31 and I felt a little strange at first, but they turned out to be really cool. One of them and I ended up going out drinking with some of his other friends in Ginza. We ended up skipping out on the all night party and went back to the one guy's place in Saitama where I slept. It was nice meeting people who were nice enough to let me tag along with them. Good people.

Thailand

2006-09-22T16:31:00.000+09:00

Two days ago, the general of the Thai military took control of the country through a bloodless coup. Businesses and schools around Bangkok and the military leader shut down international news stations on television. He has promised to return power to the people as soon as possible. Thailand's PM has been out of the country this entire time and will most likely step down. Should he return to Thailand, the military will arrest him under corruption charges. Already four members of his government have been detained and until a new election occurs, all political assemblies have been banned.

I wish I was living in Thailand right now. I look at pictures of people posing with next to tanks in downtown bangkok and I can't help but think how much cooler Thai politics are than American or Japanese politics. It sounds like the PM, Thaksin, had been pretty crooked, Based on what CNN had reported it seems like he was pretty crooked; but, what Asian government isn't corrupt? And the fact that the military intervened with the nation's political process makes it apparent that the country isn't ready to adopt democracy. Furthermore, as the general arranges for more democratic processes he is suspending peoples' fundamental rights until a sound democracy is created. I think it is extremely dissapointing that the country couldn't get rid of its leader through a natural process (which it was about to do in two months with another election).

Changes

2006-09-22T12:41:00.000+09:00

Immediately after I made my last post evertying changed. My supervisor gave me a bunch of things to translate which continued over the last few days. The jobs I have been doing lately are important because hardly anybody at the office has a decent command of English and there has been some problems occuring in our American offices. I went from staring into space into telling people to wait before I could help them.

Then, that night my internet kit arrived! But just as I expected, I wasn't able to connect to the internet. I have someone coming to my dorm room to find the problem. I already know what the problem is though, but the dorm manager doesn't believe me. The phone line that runs into my room is fucked up. That's the only explanation I have. I tried every possible way of fixing th problem myself and each time the same thing happens: the computer is unable to verify my IP address while the computer says that the modem is fine. Some professional is going to look at my computer, my phone line and come to the same conclusion and as me. I just hope that I can get that phone line fixed soon!

Oh yeah, the top three reasons to marry a foreign man according to television program:
3. Half-kids are cuter than full Japanese.
2. They do chores like cleaning and helping with the kids.
1. They aren't afraid to say, "I love you," to their wives.

Lets get CRUNKY

2006-09-20T12:34:00.002+09:00

For the last few weeks I have been given tasks. The importance of them remains questionable; however, it was work nontheless. For example, I was given lenghty documents to translate, and I scoured the network prices for products. However, this week I have been given hardly anything. Yesterday I did about 30 minutes worth of work and today I have browsed the internet for about two and a half hours.

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There is a woman in the general affairs dept. whose job is to look after my general affairs. She helped me move into my room and told me she would take care of my internet application. We met last week and I filled in the sections of the application regarding the model and O/S of my computer (she circled the portions of the application that I was supposed to fill out). I could have easily filled out the application myself, but didn't say anything because I wanted to view her actions as a favor rather than her not expecting me to comprehend the written Japanese on the application. So last Tuesday I was happy to have completed my internet application and was looking forward to a high speed connection at home. However, The application was sent to my department because this woman forgot that I had to sign the contract. I was pissed, the application was sent out a week later than I thought it was and that means I will have to wait another week until I can get online. I just want to know, in the year 2006 with the proliferation of high speed connections all over the world, why it takes three weeks to process my application? Furthermore, how can they get away with charging me $50 a month? I thought this was supposed to be one of the most technologically advanced country in the world.

Anyway, because I don't have internet at home, I pass the time by drinking beer, cooking, and watching television. I watch the news, the variety shows, and the occasional nightly drama. I watched part of a dramatized rendition of current prime minister (soon to retire though) Junichiro Koizumi. I watched it but it was hard to understand all the political lingo that was being thrown around. Speaking of politics, I randomly saw Taro Aso giving a speech in Tokyo last weekend. He is one of three people who are in the running to replace Koizumi.

On Saturday night, I watched the season finale of "My Boss, My Hero" which was about a 27 year old yakuza boss (Maki), who was tired of being called stupid, try to go back to high school (kind of like Billy Maddison). It brought back great memories of my experience in high school because the man was a lot like me: An outsider who immediately became a quazi-celebrity. While the kids didn't know the truth behind Maki until the end of the season, his abnormalalities and antics: impoliteness, and take no prisoners attitude was enough for his classmates and teachers to cling to. Even after they found out he was in the mob they forgave him of his sins and took him back into their circle. Pretty touching.

During a commercial break I saw an advertisement for a chocolate bar. What brand of chocolate you may be thinking, well the name of the candy is: CRUNKY. I nearly pissed my pants after hearing the name. I'm surprised Lil John hasn't found this awesome snack. So excited about this candy, I immediately put on my shoes and biked to the nearest conbini (convinience store) and bought one. The taste was marginal, but that was besides the point: I was getting crunky. Once I get a camera I'm going to take a picture of the box and post it.

Last night on television they had the most stupid moments on video (all of which came from overseas) and one of the stars made an apperance in their studio. Who was this great performer, and what made her so weird? Well her name was Busty Heart and had the biggest tits I have ever seen...pumpkin size. She made herself famous in Philidelphia by crushing cans with her enormous breasts. By crush, I mean she flattened the cans, a task I can only do when I stomp on them. She didn't crush just one, she crushed 10 tall boy cans in less than a minute. I think I'm in love.

Finally I saw a show where Bobby Oregon, a Nigerian celebrity who speaks Japanese, went to Thailand with a little boy and tried to milk wild animals. They tried tigers but that proved too difficult. However, they ended up getting the milk from and an elephant. With that milk they made soft serve ice cream. Both Bobby and the little boy claimed it tasted better than normal "soft-cream".