Sunday, February 28, 2010
Ooh!
Okay, I've got until September 2011 to finish reading the first two volumes of Murakami Haruki's 1Q84 before the English translation comes out! And maybe a little more time after that until the English translation for the not-yet-released third volume comes out.
Actually, after reading that long Muri and then the short Kinosaki Ni Te, written in 1917 Japanese, going through Murakami's book has been pretty easy. Especially since I've taken the approach of just looking up words when I need to, instead of making a vocabulary notebook along the way. So, I finished the second chapter, which I was on before I stopped, reading about 16 pages in two days, so I think I should be able to do this much sooner than September 2011.
Also, I've been getting more and more inspiration to write my own books. I have two in mind, now. Neat.
*Teasi - Sando (album)*
P.S. Harry Gamboa Jr. just released a book called "Rider" that sounds really, really interesting and I want to read it, but I kept my self-discipline and didn't order it over to Japan because it's going to be expensive to ship back to the U.S. and I don't want to interrupt my Murakami reading anymore anyways.
:)
Actually, after reading that long Muri and then the short Kinosaki Ni Te, written in 1917 Japanese, going through Murakami's book has been pretty easy. Especially since I've taken the approach of just looking up words when I need to, instead of making a vocabulary notebook along the way. So, I finished the second chapter, which I was on before I stopped, reading about 16 pages in two days, so I think I should be able to do this much sooner than September 2011.
Also, I've been getting more and more inspiration to write my own books. I have two in mind, now. Neat.
*Teasi - Sando (album)*
P.S. Harry Gamboa Jr. just released a book called "Rider" that sounds really, really interesting and I want to read it, but I kept my self-discipline and didn't order it over to Japan because it's going to be expensive to ship back to the U.S. and I don't want to interrupt my Murakami reading anymore anyways.
:)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Short Story
Oh my gosh, Shiga Naoya's Kinosaki Ni Te was really awesome, even though I didn't really understand the ending.
oh Beer
People keep asking me if I drink at home and then are surprised to hear that I don't drink at least one beer to relax before going to bed, so I thought I'd give it a try, but I just keep getting headaches in the morning.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Quotes
Quotes from old men who look after me
"Mexicans are really smart. Do you know why? Because they're relatively pure-blooded. Koreans are smart, right? Chinese are smart, right? Blacks are smart, Japanese are smart. It's because they're blood isn't mixed. When you start mixing blood, things get weird."
"The quality of Japanese people has gone down since the end of the war. There aren't very many good people in Japan anymore. There were a lot before the war, but now, there are very few good Japanese people."
"Japanese people are becoming stupider and stupider. They barely even read books anymore, and just read manga all the time now, even full-grown adults."
"Japanese are different than they used to be before the war. Just last week, a 2nd year middle school boy was almost killed by three 3rd year boys. They just started beating him up, and luckily someone came by and saved him. Everybody watches variety shows that just make fun of people, anyone who's heavyset, or small, or old. Kids watch these shows and come to school and just make fun of each other and put each other down. In Osaka, you hear about young people beating up and killing homeless people all the time. The Japanese have become a people who pick on those who are weaker than them."
"You know how young Japanese people all dye their hair brown now? It's because they wish they could be like Westerners."
"Mexican women are really beautiful. You know why? It's because they're all mixed-blood. People with mixed-blood are really good-looking."
"As a Japanese, it really makes you feel good to hear that someone decided to study Japanese not because they saw some anime and thought the girls in it were cute or something, but because they thought the language itself was beautiful."
"The thing about Japanese is that if one person starts doing something, everybody else will start doing it too, until the whole country is doing it. It's part of the way we are. There have been good cases of it, Japan took in a lot of good ideas from other countries that way, but there are also bad cases. Young women only started dying their hair brown and trying to look more Western about ten years ago. Before then, no one was doing that. But all it takes is for it to become popular with one small group of people and everyone else who sees them will think they should do it, too. That's why so many people in Japan dye their hair."
"Whenever I hear him speak English, it sounds so cool to me."
"That's because that's how Japanese have been raised to think since the war. That's MacArthur's doing."
"The girls here are close to what women used to be like in Japan."
"It might be bad for me to tell you after you've come all this way and studied Japanese so much, but you should study Chinese. The future is in China. Japan's just going to continue going downhill from here. Economically, that is. Culturally, it'll keep cultivating itself - that's what happens in harsh economic times."
"I'm looking forward to seeing where you go from here."
"Mexicans are really smart. Do you know why? Because they're relatively pure-blooded. Koreans are smart, right? Chinese are smart, right? Blacks are smart, Japanese are smart. It's because they're blood isn't mixed. When you start mixing blood, things get weird."
"The quality of Japanese people has gone down since the end of the war. There aren't very many good people in Japan anymore. There were a lot before the war, but now, there are very few good Japanese people."
"Japanese people are becoming stupider and stupider. They barely even read books anymore, and just read manga all the time now, even full-grown adults."
"Japanese are different than they used to be before the war. Just last week, a 2nd year middle school boy was almost killed by three 3rd year boys. They just started beating him up, and luckily someone came by and saved him. Everybody watches variety shows that just make fun of people, anyone who's heavyset, or small, or old. Kids watch these shows and come to school and just make fun of each other and put each other down. In Osaka, you hear about young people beating up and killing homeless people all the time. The Japanese have become a people who pick on those who are weaker than them."
"You know how young Japanese people all dye their hair brown now? It's because they wish they could be like Westerners."
"Mexican women are really beautiful. You know why? It's because they're all mixed-blood. People with mixed-blood are really good-looking."
"As a Japanese, it really makes you feel good to hear that someone decided to study Japanese not because they saw some anime and thought the girls in it were cute or something, but because they thought the language itself was beautiful."
"The thing about Japanese is that if one person starts doing something, everybody else will start doing it too, until the whole country is doing it. It's part of the way we are. There have been good cases of it, Japan took in a lot of good ideas from other countries that way, but there are also bad cases. Young women only started dying their hair brown and trying to look more Western about ten years ago. Before then, no one was doing that. But all it takes is for it to become popular with one small group of people and everyone else who sees them will think they should do it, too. That's why so many people in Japan dye their hair."
"Whenever I hear him speak English, it sounds so cool to me."
"That's because that's how Japanese have been raised to think since the war. That's MacArthur's doing."
"The girls here are close to what women used to be like in Japan."
"It might be bad for me to tell you after you've come all this way and studied Japanese so much, but you should study Chinese. The future is in China. Japan's just going to continue going downhill from here. Economically, that is. Culturally, it'll keep cultivating itself - that's what happens in harsh economic times."
"I'm looking forward to seeing where you go from here."
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Isn't It Crazy?
Isn't it crazy that I am listening to the new album by a Japanese experimental music group from Nagoya which I know of only because I met the original bassist in Bolivia two and a half years ago while I was doing college research and while she was taking a break from her band and life in Japan and traveling around Latin America?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Oh My!
Oh my! I've been out of the cooking game for too long! I forgot how fun and delicious it is! My return started with some salmon a few days ago. I felt simultaneous regret for willingly cooking meat for the fourth time and getting used to it, but at the same time excitement to try cooking fish for the first time (not including shrimp)! That was good, and I enjoyed two delicious rice and salmon breakfasts. I think the meat might have already been cooked or something though, cuz I pretty much just cooked it on the frying pan and it changed color without really changing consistency or going from semi-translucent to not. Tonight, though, I bought some definitely raw flatfish from the Tuesday super sale at the market! I put some onions and carrots in the frying pan cuz that's what I had around, slapped that fish on, and made the perfect mixture of shoyu (soy sauce), mirin (sweet cooking alcohol?), and dashi (Japanese stock) (by eye!!) in which to cook it all. I was a little taken back by how quickly the fish fell apart and I eventually gave up on keeping it in steak form. In the end, though, I got a delicious, fluffy combination of flatfish, carrots, and onions on a steaming bed of white rice with mixed in grains. Mmm, I scarfed that dinner down so fast. And it cost almost nothing! The fish was probably about 2 dollars, the carrots in bought a couple days ago for five for a dollar, and the onions, geez, I've had those for forever, haha. This boost in cooking at home comes from me not feeling like I have enough money to allow me luxuries like going out for dinner every night anymore, PLUS my new resolve to get out across this country while I'm still here and go see the place I've been longing to explore for a long time: Nagoya! I've got to save that money if I'm gonna make the most out of my trip there. We'll see what I can do! Here I come, future adventures in cooking and city-traveling!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Vacation
I suppose one way of looking at my lack of a real job is "forced vacation." And up to now, I've been forgetting the vacation part. I'm not going to get a job, but I will have a good month or two to do lots of interesting things. It's time to more fully enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Hey There Lonely Girl
Man, I teared up at the end of this. This song and the way he performs it is just so incredible. This is from only about two years ago, too! Eddie Holman sounds incredible, so perfect, so right on! And I love the way the song wraps itself up and then opens itself back up again for an even more emotional crescendo and finish! I think it's so cool, too, how Eddie Holman, when he finishes hitting that last high note, thanks whatever god or spirit has allowed him to channel that amazing energy into that heavenly sound. Oh man. This has got to be one of the greatest songs ever.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Smiled
Today, I continued my streak of being able to wake up early and got up at 8, two hours before my alarm was to go off! I made breakfast, cleaned up around the apartment, got dressed, and started with the things I had planned on doing since the night before. I went to go pay my water bill at the gas station next door, owned by the landlord of my apartment and recently under renovations which include the addition of a car wash! Then, I went to the bank and withdrew some money, mailed a postcard off, and got to the bus stop 14 minutes ahead of time to wait for the bus that would take me to my next destination...
Himeji! Yes, I was off to the nearby town, the nearest place you might actually call a "big city," to look at books! I had had the craving to surround myself with lots of interesting, cheap books and look through them thoroughly one at a time for the past week and it was about time I got out of my little town, so I was off! I fell asleep about halfway through the ride, then woke up when we were almost at the end. I got off at the second to last stop, because it leaves you off not at the train station but right in front of a huge 100 yen shop that connects to a massive used bookstore! I went straight inside, and headed right to the rows and rows of books and just dove right in.
I spent a pretty good amount of time there and boy was I happy I had come. There was a special deal going on for all the books that were re-priced at 100 yen (which was about half of them) which lowered their price to 50 yen at one and 100 yen for three! I was so excited, I felt like a little child a little bit. I also felt like a huge nerd because I was walking fast all over the whole store seeing if I could find any other 100 yen books. But I also felt like a thrifty nerd, because I thought of how fun it would be to play a game in which I try to get the best three books possible for only 100 yen.
Looking around, I had a chance encounter with my past when I noticed a lot of books by an author named Yamada Amy. Most of the books seemed like they had to do with her relationship with African-Americans. I looked her up in my phone (technology can be useful sometimes) and found out that she's a celebrated Japanese writer who feels really connected to African-American culture and writes a lot about it. Then, I remembered that I had read about her when I was writing my thesis senior year of college. The author of the article I was citing had used her work as evidence of the prevalent, condescending attitude in Japan toward blacks, calling Yamada's books more akin to racist pornography than the bold, taboo-defying work it was said to be. Looking at the titles of some of her books, such as Animal Logic and Make Me Sick, I could see what the author had meant. Nevertheless, if she's such a prominent writer in Japan today, and the books are already used and only 100 yen, I figured I would do well to find out what her work was like for myself. Plus, one of her most celebrated novels, like much of her work, isn't about African-Americans at all, but the youth in modern Japan, so I bought that one, too. Alright, I was set with two books, After-School Music and Bedtime Eyes.
The third book was a little harder to find - once I started actually looking for names, I lost momentum - but I ended up going with the only Oe Kenzaburo book in the store, Until the Savior is Punched: The Burning Tree, Part 1. This one didn't feel as good as the first two, mainly because it looked way harder to read taking into account the length and the complex, abstract, psychological topics Oe usually deals with. But I wanted to get a work of his, so I went with it. Maybe I'll read it one day. On my last search around the store, I found a little book called I Worked as an Office Lady for Ten Years, which looked like really interesting and funny light reading, so I got that, too. Yeah! Four books for 150 yen! That's $1.67 for all you U.S. people out there. Very nice!
I left the bookstore in a good mood, checking the 100 yen shop on the way out to see if they had any take-fumi (little pads you can step on to massage your feet and improve your circulation), but they didn't. So, I headed on down to the station, picking up a delicious and huge chicken sandwich for pretty cheap from a Brazilian food cart on the way. I had recently been inspired by a friend of mine who listens to language tapes whenever he drives and is constantly studying languages. I found, when I went for a ride with him, that I could understand his Chinese and Russian instructional tapes, even though they were based in Japanese, and got excited to try getting some tapes of my own to listen to while I'm doing other things. The bookstore at the station, bigger than the last one and only dealing in new items, had a few for the languages I was interested in (Korean and Filipino), but they were really expensive and not worth the money. While I was there, I also searched for anything else that would be good in my study of Japanese, but didn't find much. I left the store with nothing, but still had a hard time getting out, as I do often with bookstores - there's just so much to see.
After that, I went to a store called Mujirushi Ryouhin (or Muji, for short), which sells clothing and household goods store and was right below. I needed some pants. I found some great black levis, too, which then turned out to be a little over 4,000 yen, which was waayy over my price range, so nothing came of that. I found a cool long-sleeved shirt that was striped green and gray, but the neck was too low. I left and went to the underground shopping mall.
I decided I need a break right then and there!, so I went to a little bakery/cafe place where I got a yomogi-red bean bun and brought it to the register.
"That'll be 140 yen," said the girl at the register.
"Oh, and I'll have an iced milk, too, please," I added. I called the item by the name I've usually heard it called in these kinds of bakery/cafes, "aisu miruku." As I was finishing speaking, the girl, looking down, motioned up to the LCD screen where the price was written in green numbers. I paused for a second.
"An iced milk?" I asked again. She looked up. Her eyes were wide and she looked very confused.
"Um, do you have iced milk?" I tried again. She looked at me blankly. "Gyunyu?" I used the Japanese word for just milk this time. I laughed a little bit and smiled to ease her what seemed like combination of fear and anxiousness.
"Uhh...all the items we have are written here," the girl motioned geometric-softly up to her right, where there was a chalkboard with drinks written on them. She seemed at a total loss for what to do.
I looked up at the chalkboard, hoping I wasn't going to have to explain what an iced milk was, and found it second from the top: aisu miruku, iced milk. I pointed up and asked,
"Iced milk?"
She looked up and back down, looking even more bewildered than before. Her senpai, or older, employee had been standing next to her since the confusion began, and to her the girl said hesitantly,
"Iced milk?"
The older girl looked down and nodded, biting her lips. A smile was coming out of the corners.
"Okay!" the younger girl said. She snapped back into action, ringing up the order, and the older employee went to the back, called out,
"Iced milk!"
and began to prepare the drink. It was all ready before I even found a place to sit down. I relaxed, snacked on my meal, and looked over my new books excitedly, as the girls talked and laughed loudly behind me. They seemed to be the only employees working at the time, and it looked like they got along well. They both instantly seemed a lot younger as soon they were talking at ease amongst themselves.
After that, I went up a flight of stairs and outside to look for another used bookstore I had seen before on my trips to Himeji but never gone in. I hadn't been able to find it earlier today, but this time I went a little bit further and found it in a little alley! This place was amazing! From the entrance to the skinny staircase that led from the sidewalk up and across every single wall in the small little room, everything was lined with books! I got really excited in this place, too. I was moved all over the place, exclaiming to myself at all the neat books they had (the owner had moved downstairs to the next-door cafe he runs once I got up, leaving the place to only me!). I even found such familiar items as Condorito comic books, works on Nihilism (translated) (There was also a full Nietzsche set in German!), and a Rainbow Fish book! This place was beautiful, and I stayed in there just reveling in it for probably an hour at least. In one corner of the room, I found a beautiful big volume of a book on Latin America with lots of photographs and information for only 100 yen (marked down from 300)! I was tempted to buy it, but figured I didn't really need it, it would be cool if a Japanese person came in and found it and had their interest sparked by it (or something like that), and put it back. After a while another guy came in, and I, also thinking of how I'd been missed buses consecutively in order to stay longer in the store, left after a little bit.
Afterward, I went into the cafe next door and accidentally kicked over the owners wooden "We're Open" sign, which called him out of the cafe and prompted a "Sorry!" out of me. I went in and ordered a coffee. It was a little much, but I reasoned I was paying for the environment and that the money was going in a good direction. The cafe was in a similar state as the shop, lined completely on one wall with bookshelves that leaned like they were ready to fall over onto you but you knew (or figured) they wouldn't. I like that, the way some portions of bookshelves in used bookstores like this look like they're ready to tumble over, while others look as securely and immovably stuck in place as possible. I found out about a photography show that was going to be held in a gallery upstairs above the cafe next week, then I left.
I walked down a ways to a restaurant I like to go to when I'm out in the city and can find it. I ordered a salt-grilled sanma (pike or saury, a type of fish) set meal from the machine, but it gave me a ticket for curry rice. I didn't notice until it was too late, but upon thinking about it a bit I figured I would only bring it up if it was more expensive than what I had originally wanted (a flashing feeling to my life in the U.S.). It was about 200 yen cheaper, so I went with it. A blessing (or hint) from the heavens. I missed the bus I had been planning on taking so I could relax and eat, so after finishing dinner I went back to the first bookstore, which is also attached to a movie and music shop, and hung around for a while there. I was looking for "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird," that movie recently made in Korea, but I couldn't find it. I decided I wasn't going to miss another bus to keep looking so I booked it on down the main street, got and out of the bus station and to the bus one minute before it was set to leave. Good timing.
Entering the bus, the only seat open was the long one in the back, where a high school girl was sitting all the way to the right. I sat all the way to the left. On the way back, I hummed to myself, as I often do on these long bus rides back from the city, confident and comforted in knowing that my vocal vibrations would be drowned out to all others by the sounds of the bus's engines. Somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes into the ride, I fell asleep pretty hard, and then woke up 10 minutes before arrival. I felt nice and rested, but still tired and in that good groggy state. It had been a good day.
Himeji! Yes, I was off to the nearby town, the nearest place you might actually call a "big city," to look at books! I had had the craving to surround myself with lots of interesting, cheap books and look through them thoroughly one at a time for the past week and it was about time I got out of my little town, so I was off! I fell asleep about halfway through the ride, then woke up when we were almost at the end. I got off at the second to last stop, because it leaves you off not at the train station but right in front of a huge 100 yen shop that connects to a massive used bookstore! I went straight inside, and headed right to the rows and rows of books and just dove right in.
I spent a pretty good amount of time there and boy was I happy I had come. There was a special deal going on for all the books that were re-priced at 100 yen (which was about half of them) which lowered their price to 50 yen at one and 100 yen for three! I was so excited, I felt like a little child a little bit. I also felt like a huge nerd because I was walking fast all over the whole store seeing if I could find any other 100 yen books. But I also felt like a thrifty nerd, because I thought of how fun it would be to play a game in which I try to get the best three books possible for only 100 yen.
Looking around, I had a chance encounter with my past when I noticed a lot of books by an author named Yamada Amy. Most of the books seemed like they had to do with her relationship with African-Americans. I looked her up in my phone (technology can be useful sometimes) and found out that she's a celebrated Japanese writer who feels really connected to African-American culture and writes a lot about it. Then, I remembered that I had read about her when I was writing my thesis senior year of college. The author of the article I was citing had used her work as evidence of the prevalent, condescending attitude in Japan toward blacks, calling Yamada's books more akin to racist pornography than the bold, taboo-defying work it was said to be. Looking at the titles of some of her books, such as Animal Logic and Make Me Sick, I could see what the author had meant. Nevertheless, if she's such a prominent writer in Japan today, and the books are already used and only 100 yen, I figured I would do well to find out what her work was like for myself. Plus, one of her most celebrated novels, like much of her work, isn't about African-Americans at all, but the youth in modern Japan, so I bought that one, too. Alright, I was set with two books, After-School Music and Bedtime Eyes.
The third book was a little harder to find - once I started actually looking for names, I lost momentum - but I ended up going with the only Oe Kenzaburo book in the store, Until the Savior is Punched: The Burning Tree, Part 1. This one didn't feel as good as the first two, mainly because it looked way harder to read taking into account the length and the complex, abstract, psychological topics Oe usually deals with. But I wanted to get a work of his, so I went with it. Maybe I'll read it one day. On my last search around the store, I found a little book called I Worked as an Office Lady for Ten Years, which looked like really interesting and funny light reading, so I got that, too. Yeah! Four books for 150 yen! That's $1.67 for all you U.S. people out there. Very nice!
I left the bookstore in a good mood, checking the 100 yen shop on the way out to see if they had any take-fumi (little pads you can step on to massage your feet and improve your circulation), but they didn't. So, I headed on down to the station, picking up a delicious and huge chicken sandwich for pretty cheap from a Brazilian food cart on the way. I had recently been inspired by a friend of mine who listens to language tapes whenever he drives and is constantly studying languages. I found, when I went for a ride with him, that I could understand his Chinese and Russian instructional tapes, even though they were based in Japanese, and got excited to try getting some tapes of my own to listen to while I'm doing other things. The bookstore at the station, bigger than the last one and only dealing in new items, had a few for the languages I was interested in (Korean and Filipino), but they were really expensive and not worth the money. While I was there, I also searched for anything else that would be good in my study of Japanese, but didn't find much. I left the store with nothing, but still had a hard time getting out, as I do often with bookstores - there's just so much to see.
After that, I went to a store called Mujirushi Ryouhin (or Muji, for short), which sells clothing and household goods store and was right below. I needed some pants. I found some great black levis, too, which then turned out to be a little over 4,000 yen, which was waayy over my price range, so nothing came of that. I found a cool long-sleeved shirt that was striped green and gray, but the neck was too low. I left and went to the underground shopping mall.
I decided I need a break right then and there!, so I went to a little bakery/cafe place where I got a yomogi-red bean bun and brought it to the register.
"That'll be 140 yen," said the girl at the register.
"Oh, and I'll have an iced milk, too, please," I added. I called the item by the name I've usually heard it called in these kinds of bakery/cafes, "aisu miruku." As I was finishing speaking, the girl, looking down, motioned up to the LCD screen where the price was written in green numbers. I paused for a second.
"An iced milk?" I asked again. She looked up. Her eyes were wide and she looked very confused.
"Um, do you have iced milk?" I tried again. She looked at me blankly. "Gyunyu?" I used the Japanese word for just milk this time. I laughed a little bit and smiled to ease her what seemed like combination of fear and anxiousness.
"Uhh...all the items we have are written here," the girl motioned geometric-softly up to her right, where there was a chalkboard with drinks written on them. She seemed at a total loss for what to do.
I looked up at the chalkboard, hoping I wasn't going to have to explain what an iced milk was, and found it second from the top: aisu miruku, iced milk. I pointed up and asked,
"Iced milk?"
She looked up and back down, looking even more bewildered than before. Her senpai, or older, employee had been standing next to her since the confusion began, and to her the girl said hesitantly,
"Iced milk?"
The older girl looked down and nodded, biting her lips. A smile was coming out of the corners.
"Okay!" the younger girl said. She snapped back into action, ringing up the order, and the older employee went to the back, called out,
"Iced milk!"
and began to prepare the drink. It was all ready before I even found a place to sit down. I relaxed, snacked on my meal, and looked over my new books excitedly, as the girls talked and laughed loudly behind me. They seemed to be the only employees working at the time, and it looked like they got along well. They both instantly seemed a lot younger as soon they were talking at ease amongst themselves.
After that, I went up a flight of stairs and outside to look for another used bookstore I had seen before on my trips to Himeji but never gone in. I hadn't been able to find it earlier today, but this time I went a little bit further and found it in a little alley! This place was amazing! From the entrance to the skinny staircase that led from the sidewalk up and across every single wall in the small little room, everything was lined with books! I got really excited in this place, too. I was moved all over the place, exclaiming to myself at all the neat books they had (the owner had moved downstairs to the next-door cafe he runs once I got up, leaving the place to only me!). I even found such familiar items as Condorito comic books, works on Nihilism (translated) (There was also a full Nietzsche set in German!), and a Rainbow Fish book! This place was beautiful, and I stayed in there just reveling in it for probably an hour at least. In one corner of the room, I found a beautiful big volume of a book on Latin America with lots of photographs and information for only 100 yen (marked down from 300)! I was tempted to buy it, but figured I didn't really need it, it would be cool if a Japanese person came in and found it and had their interest sparked by it (or something like that), and put it back. After a while another guy came in, and I, also thinking of how I'd been missed buses consecutively in order to stay longer in the store, left after a little bit.
Afterward, I went into the cafe next door and accidentally kicked over the owners wooden "We're Open" sign, which called him out of the cafe and prompted a "Sorry!" out of me. I went in and ordered a coffee. It was a little much, but I reasoned I was paying for the environment and that the money was going in a good direction. The cafe was in a similar state as the shop, lined completely on one wall with bookshelves that leaned like they were ready to fall over onto you but you knew (or figured) they wouldn't. I like that, the way some portions of bookshelves in used bookstores like this look like they're ready to tumble over, while others look as securely and immovably stuck in place as possible. I found out about a photography show that was going to be held in a gallery upstairs above the cafe next week, then I left.
I walked down a ways to a restaurant I like to go to when I'm out in the city and can find it. I ordered a salt-grilled sanma (pike or saury, a type of fish) set meal from the machine, but it gave me a ticket for curry rice. I didn't notice until it was too late, but upon thinking about it a bit I figured I would only bring it up if it was more expensive than what I had originally wanted (a flashing feeling to my life in the U.S.). It was about 200 yen cheaper, so I went with it. A blessing (or hint) from the heavens. I missed the bus I had been planning on taking so I could relax and eat, so after finishing dinner I went back to the first bookstore, which is also attached to a movie and music shop, and hung around for a while there. I was looking for "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird," that movie recently made in Korea, but I couldn't find it. I decided I wasn't going to miss another bus to keep looking so I booked it on down the main street, got and out of the bus station and to the bus one minute before it was set to leave. Good timing.
Entering the bus, the only seat open was the long one in the back, where a high school girl was sitting all the way to the right. I sat all the way to the left. On the way back, I hummed to myself, as I often do on these long bus rides back from the city, confident and comforted in knowing that my vocal vibrations would be drowned out to all others by the sounds of the bus's engines. Somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes into the ride, I fell asleep pretty hard, and then woke up 10 minutes before arrival. I felt nice and rested, but still tired and in that good groggy state. It had been a good day.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Calling to request a new phone bill
After telling the operator on the other end my name, she asks,
"Gonin sama desuka?" (五人様ですか？ Are there five of you?)
I, not really understanding what she said nor why she would ask if there was five of us, but reasoning that she might think it's the family who lived here before me (it'd happened before with phone companies), say,
"Iya, hitori desu kedo..." (いや、一人ですけど・・・ No, there's just one of me...)
Suddenly a burst of natural, high-pitched laughter comes from the other end of the line,
"Iya, iya, sore janakute, honnin-sama desuka?" (いやいや、それじゃなくて、本人様ですか？ No, no, no, is this the customer speaking right now?)
OH! Hahahahaha! The burst turns into a flow of laughter as any of the nervousness or tenseness from me having a little bit of trouble ordering a replacement bill over the phone in Japanese melts away. We laugh together for quite a long, loud while. I feel like the two of us have achieved something very special and rare in (this) society - between two strangers, a sudden, instant sharing of an intimate experience, akin to that of two good friends. I tell her that yes, it is me, I am the customer. Hahaha, we keep laughing throughout the whole rest of the conversation to the very end. That was a unique feeling of connection with someone I don't even know, never saw face-to-face, and will most likely never meet again. Hahaha!
"Gonin sama desuka?" (五人様ですか？ Are there five of you?)
I, not really understanding what she said nor why she would ask if there was five of us, but reasoning that she might think it's the family who lived here before me (it'd happened before with phone companies), say,
"Iya, hitori desu kedo..." (いや、一人ですけど・・・ No, there's just one of me...)
Suddenly a burst of natural, high-pitched laughter comes from the other end of the line,
"Iya, iya, sore janakute, honnin-sama desuka?" (いやいや、それじゃなくて、本人様ですか？ No, no, no, is this the customer speaking right now?)
OH! Hahahahaha! The burst turns into a flow of laughter as any of the nervousness or tenseness from me having a little bit of trouble ordering a replacement bill over the phone in Japanese melts away. We laugh together for quite a long, loud while. I feel like the two of us have achieved something very special and rare in (this) society - between two strangers, a sudden, instant sharing of an intimate experience, akin to that of two good friends. I tell her that yes, it is me, I am the customer. Hahaha, we keep laughing throughout the whole rest of the conversation to the very end. That was a unique feeling of connection with someone I don't even know, never saw face-to-face, and will most likely never meet again. Hahaha!
Medicine
For some reason, I thought the kanpou (Chinese-style medicine) store nearby my house would be relatively inexpensive. It was not. Still, I got to consult with someone in a relaxed, private atmosphere without having to make an appointment, and I now I get to try out some new types of medicine I've never had before! I suppose there's no real point in going to the clinic down the block now, but maybe I'll give it a try and compare results.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
LA
I want to read and I want to go to Latin America again. I'll save the latter for later, though (unless you count L.A.).
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Wait Until Dark
Whoa, I just saw Wait Until Dark! That was awesome! The chauvinism was a little distracting but still, that movie had me going! Some of the images from that movie are going to stay stuck burned into my mind for a long time, I think. Very cool, I'm very glad I saw that. Good movie.
Modern People
People need to stop saying "modern" when they really mean Western and convenient.
Today was a good day. I made good money, had a good, fun English lesson, and spoke with my mentor.
Today was a good day. I made good money, had a good, fun English lesson, and spoke with my mentor.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Well ~ Tough
Well, if there's any good side to what I've been thinking of recently, it's that we are one tough people.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Ah Articulation
I articulated a feeling tonight which has an uncannily haunting presence in my life:
No matter what I do to contribute to the world being a better place, no matter how far we come beyond our colonial past and existence, no matter what, I will never be able to escape the painful, terrible history of colonialism, because I am a part of it. It is a part of me. I am a product of it.
This is pain at a level I have never experienced until I articulated it tonight.
I will have to get over this at sometime; I actually thought I had gotten over it already. Perhaps renewed interest in the subject brought renewed self-reflection and perception into these feelings. This might mean I'm going to have to deal with this in different ways across my whole life. I really wish I would not have to, though.
I wonder, though - why do I feel so drawn toward learning more about this? It captures my passion and interest so much, along with a desire to do something good for mankind, but at the same time, in certain moments it can fill and paralyze me with despair.
What are we supposed to do, as a human race?
No matter what I do to contribute to the world being a better place, no matter how far we come beyond our colonial past and existence, no matter what, I will never be able to escape the painful, terrible history of colonialism, because I am a part of it. It is a part of me. I am a product of it.
This is pain at a level I have never experienced until I articulated it tonight.
I will have to get over this at sometime; I actually thought I had gotten over it already. Perhaps renewed interest in the subject brought renewed self-reflection and perception into these feelings. This might mean I'm going to have to deal with this in different ways across my whole life. I really wish I would not have to, though.
I wonder, though - why do I feel so drawn toward learning more about this? It captures my passion and interest so much, along with a desire to do something good for mankind, but at the same time, in certain moments it can fill and paralyze me with despair.
What are we supposed to do, as a human race?
Westerns
(possible spoilers?)
Man, some of the Italian Westerns are pretty interesting to watch, and have some pretty good music, but damn the monumental racism just takes away from the experience so much. Extreme masculinity and white supremacy are such strong themes throughout some of these movies that it just waters down any cinematic grip the film has on you. I thought The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was bad, but man, For a Few Dollars More is just terrible. Every time I see a white guy in brown-face, which is a lot of times, it just kills the mood of the movie completely, and this time they even featured a "Chinese" guy for a moment. Nothing gets across the horrible, damaging feel of the movie across more clearly than the good old boy dialogue at the very end of the movie, right before Clint Eastwood goes driving off with a truckload of dead Mexicans. Man, I can honestly say I did not enjoy watching that movie, no matter how genius white fanboys claim it must be. Someone really needs to redo this genre. Way of the Gun may be the closest thing to a good Western-style movie that I can actually enjoy. And to think how much of U.S. culture and world views of the U.S. have been shaped by this movie phenomenon (interesting that it originates from outside the U.S. - does that point the way toward other possibilities?). A lot of work needs to be done.
Edit: Now that I think about it, Robert Rodriguez did do some good stuff that reshaped the genre to a degree.
Man, some of the Italian Westerns are pretty interesting to watch, and have some pretty good music, but damn the monumental racism just takes away from the experience so much. Extreme masculinity and white supremacy are such strong themes throughout some of these movies that it just waters down any cinematic grip the film has on you. I thought The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was bad, but man, For a Few Dollars More is just terrible. Every time I see a white guy in brown-face, which is a lot of times, it just kills the mood of the movie completely, and this time they even featured a "Chinese" guy for a moment. Nothing gets across the horrible, damaging feel of the movie across more clearly than the good old boy dialogue at the very end of the movie, right before Clint Eastwood goes driving off with a truckload of dead Mexicans. Man, I can honestly say I did not enjoy watching that movie, no matter how genius white fanboys claim it must be. Someone really needs to redo this genre. Way of the Gun may be the closest thing to a good Western-style movie that I can actually enjoy. And to think how much of U.S. culture and world views of the U.S. have been shaped by this movie phenomenon (interesting that it originates from outside the U.S. - does that point the way toward other possibilities?). A lot of work needs to be done.
Edit: Now that I think about it, Robert Rodriguez did do some good stuff that reshaped the genre to a degree.
One Way of Looking at Me/These Are All Songs I Like A Lot
My most-listened to songs:
ゆらゆら帝国～恋がしたい
Roy Orbison~Come Back to My Love
The Chiffons~I Have a Boyfriend
Roy Orbison~Blue Angel
Brenton Wood~Gimme Little Sign
Mariachi Los Camperos~La Malagueña
The Teen Kings~A True Love Goodbye
The Supremes~Stop! In the Name of Love
Deerhunter~Intro~Microcastle
Erik Satie~Trois Gnossiennes
Best Coast~The Sun Was High (So Was I)
Ibrahim Ferrer~Cienfuegos Tiene Su Guaguanco
Roy Orbison~Working For The Man
Violeta Parra~Run Run Se Fue Pal Norte
into more Deerhunter, Erik Satie, Violeta Parra, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Grizzly Bear (La Duchess Anne, in case you were wondering, such a good song!), and lastly me!
ゆらゆら帝国～恋がしたい
Roy Orbison~Come Back to My Love
The Chiffons~I Have a Boyfriend
Roy Orbison~Blue Angel
Brenton Wood~Gimme Little Sign
Mariachi Los Camperos~La Malagueña
The Teen Kings~A True Love Goodbye
The Supremes~Stop! In the Name of Love
Deerhunter~Intro~Microcastle
Erik Satie~Trois Gnossiennes
Best Coast~The Sun Was High (So Was I)
Ibrahim Ferrer~Cienfuegos Tiene Su Guaguanco
Roy Orbison~Working For The Man
Violeta Parra~Run Run Se Fue Pal Norte
into more Deerhunter, Erik Satie, Violeta Parra, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Grizzly Bear (La Duchess Anne, in case you were wondering, such a good song!), and lastly me!
Monday, February 1, 2010
wow
I've been living in Japan for a year and eight months. I've lived in Japan for two years and two months including study abroad only about three years ago. Remember when the biggest thing to worry about was that this study abroad program started all the way in July?
(Bros - Panda Bear)
(Bros - Panda Bear)
whoa
whoa, i've been drinking and just thought to myself about going home, "いいですよ、楽しいときはあるから、絶対、海外に行っても," which means, "It's okay, there'll be lots of fun times for you to have, even if you go abroad." Weeeirrrdddd..
(autumn sweater - i shot andy warhol - yo la tengo)
(autumn sweater - i shot andy warhol - yo la tengo)
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