Monthly Archives
Already : Hatachi Monthly Archives
I've finally found it Wednesday April 26
A few weekends ago, I had a "music sharing" party. Basically, I invited a few friends over, and we all sampled music that each person had, but the other people hadn't heard of. To give any more detail may be self-incriminating, so I will leave it at that.
The main point, anyway, is to mention the band Supercar. I think in Japanese it's actually supaakaa, but the point is is that they're the first Japanese band I've listened to that didn't make me want to run crying home to my beloved American/Aussie/British alternative rock music.
Malia, it's like a holy grail. They may not even be that good on a grand scale, but relatively speaking, I'm so impressed right now. Sometime I'll lay out in detail why most Japanese pop music is mind-numbingly terrible, but as for now I have to run to school.
Takao-san Sunday April 23
This past Saturday, myself and some of the Center students went to a nearby mountain and climbed it. Sure, there are existing trails, and the whole affair is actually quite painless; it's nothing like climbing Mount Fuji (which I plan on doing early this summer).
Ari-sensei also went with us, so we were using Japanese the whole day. This seemed to amuse the passersby, watching two clearly-American people converse in Japanese as if it were nothing... Hill and I were also accosted by an old man; he said "hello" to us at first in English, but he was taken aback when we spattered back at him in Japanese. He then muttered something borderline indecent about Hill, but luckily for that man's life, she didn't hear him. Dirty old men.
Ashley seemed to enjoy my story about the awkward car situation a few weeks ago, so I'll elaborate more on what came of that. The family and I actually got along on decent terms, and since their daughter Kayuri is twenty-two, she and I hit it off pretty well; we decided we needed to get our friends together to do karaoke. I invited her out (you know, it's like in the States, give-and-take; you get invited, next time you invite) with us to climb the mountain. The bad news is that I didn't tell her we weren't taking the cable car and that we were actually planning on hiking it. Oops. We almost killed her, I think. She said after the fact that she had a good time, and we both conked out on the train on the way home.
But seriously, folks. It's not a big mountain. Totally a "yes, I'm in Japan" feeling. A cable car? We don't need no stinkin' cable car. My legs may have been shaking from exhaustion on the way down, but I didn't need no stinkin' cable car. It took an hour to get up. Yeah. The pictures are in the most recent pictures, which is a new feature I added recently. If you haven't checked it out yet, now's the time.
Today I went to a symposium at Keio University. Keio is an "Ivy League" school in Japan; coincidentally, it's also very close to Michael's apartment. My former Japanese teacher Toyosawa-sensei invited me; it was about the the practice of history. I'm not studying history, and let me add on that it was all in high-level academic Japanese. I understood most of the words; I just couldn't assemble them fast enough to catch everything. To add on to that, the symposium was critiquing a book that I hadn't read regarding the practice of oral history among Australian aborigines. Enough said. The fact that I understood anything was enough to elate me.
I'll say three things about it: (1) I met up with an old teacher, that was neat. (2) I can see how far I have to go yet on Japanese, certainly, and (3) there was a girl there, and man. There was a girl. Mmm-hmm. It was a good thing she was sitting behind me and off to the side, because if I had noticed her sooner I wouldn't have paid attention at all. You know, she had those kinda-thick-frame black glasses -- not to nerdy, though. Just the right touch of "I can calculate the square root of 23 to seven digits in my head", but an equally severe dosage of "I know how to have fun". There was an afterparty at the end of the symposium, but I had previously figured it was only going to be a bunch of crusty professors (who were, by all means, also there), so I didn't RSVP. Doh. Whatever. I happen to know that right now Dream Girl is writing in her blog about the dreamy dude sitting to the front and left of her.
I tell you, though, that's going to be an interesting part of going back to the States. There were about one hundred people in that room today, and I am willing to bet that more than half of them noticed me -- guys, girls, whatever. People. "I wonder why he is here?", they might think. "He looks like he's listening. I wonder how much he understands", "Ew, gaijin". And the like.
It's apparent wherever I go that due to my looks alone, I get a thought or two from people. Good thought or bad thought aside, people are wasting their brain cycles on me (when they could be busy computing the square root of 23 to seven decimals). When I go back to the States, though, I'm just some guy again. In a way, I'm looking forward to being ignored again. In another way, it'll be harder to start conversations with people. As it stands now, I always have something to talk about when I meet new people: where I'm from, etc.
いろいろ Thursday April 20
木曜日は暖かかったけど、帰り道の逆風はものすごかった。
港南中央でなんか目にした。中学生のカップルが一緒に歩いていて、男の子は手で彼女のお尻を触ってたよう。昼間なのに。まあ、しょうがないよね、と思った。ところがもっと近づいたら、触るんじゃなくて、風が強く吹いてて、そこでスカートの中身が見えないようにスカートを抑えてた。日本はスケベーなオヤジばかりと思わせるほど制服のスカートが短い。
翌日その話を学校でしたら、間違っているところ分かった。そもそも長いけど、皆上から巻くことで短くする。脚が長く見えるように。
エミリはアボカド２個、トマト２個をパーティに持ってきて、guacamoleを作ってくれた。おいしかったし、チップスが残っているし、今週も作ろうと、思った。スーパーでアボカド２個、お茶、塩焼き用鮭２枚。レジの向こう側、ケーキ屋さんがある。そこに独りで立っている中高齢の女性が立った。疲れている、もう、我慢できない顔をしていた。苦しい生活をしてきた顔だった。生きがいもない顔だった。
話しかけたい気がしたけど、もちろんしなかった。アメリカだと絶対いう。ケーキがいらなくてもニコニコしながら注文。感情が人から人に移るわけだ。
どの程度まで僕はこの社会に属するか、分からない。外見のおかげで僕の存在を無視してくれる人は珍しい。今日、髪を刈ってもらって、知らない美容師は普通に話してくれた。いつもの「出身はどこ」じゃなくて。髪型の話から始まった。色々話したが、とても自然な感じだった。僕は目立たないお客さんの一人だけのように。素晴らしかった。
アパートでインターネットが出来たから今週毎日遅くまで時間をつぶしている。バカ、睡眠の方がいいんじゃん。
じゃ、おやすみ。
I knew it
I knew this wireless connection would have me screwing around on the Internet at home. I'm trying, though, to do that as productively as possible. There have been many improvements on this site I've been wanting to take care of, and tonight was just that opportunity. Considered going down to the bathhouse, but it started pouring out of nowhere, which is a clear sign you need to code instead.
The New Features
- A MoBlog. Yes, I've finally gotten on that train. I have a cell phone with a built-in camera, Internet and e-mail, so I'm surprised it took me this long to build a program to post e-mailed images. Hopefully, when I'm really busy and don't have time to update regularly, I'll at least be able to keep these images fresh and interesting. Note that since this panel is new, you may have to scroll down to the bottom right of this page and click "Reopen all panels..." to see it.
- Recent Pictures. There is a new link on the right labeled "View latest added". This will show you the most recent pictures, in chronologically descending order as I've added them. It's a lot easier than trying to navigate through all my different labyrinth-esque albums to see if I've added anything.
- New Color Schemes. Dad requested a Penn State theme, and I've added it. I thought it would only be right to do the Illini as well.
Let me know what you think!
Wireless Sunday April 16
When I first moved to my apartment, I scoured it for open wireless access points that I could use to hop online. Broadband Internet is more expensive in Japan (is anyone surprised?), and I really didn't have the $500 to fork over for a year's worth of access. I settled on using it at school, and considered my Internet-less home a santuary where I could actually get work done.
I had a party yesterday where we did some file sharing, so some people brought laptops. At one point, Tyler said to me, "You know you get wireless here, right?"
"Yeah, but they're all secured networks," I told him.
"No they're not?" he responds, showing me a working web browsing session.
Let's just say things have changed at 204 Prince Heights. Good morning.
Jigga what? Tuesday April 11
Last week, I finally got my hands on a much-needed book for my final research project (see previous post). Yesterday, I spent a few hours drinking coffee and studying at Denny's (which, if I haven't mentioned before, rule in Japan. Tasty food, clean, and free refills).
My plan was to accumulate the relevant sources from the bibliography and use those in my own research. Today, I went to the Yokohama Central Library to get some of those sources; they actually had more than half of them. At least, according to the computers, they had these books. I wouldn't really know, because I couldn't find a couple.
Wait, this is a library, right? Shouldn't I be able to find books easily if I know the call number? Not in Japan, or at least, not at the Yokohama Central Library. They only assign the first three digit sequence of the Dewey system, and then if they feel like it, they'll throw on one decimal place. People. It's not called the Dewey decimal system for nothing. Thank you. Use them.
I looked through three whole standard library-sized bookshelves (all 364.2) to find one book. All of the books are on the same subject, and thus have similar titles. To add to the eyestrain, they're all in Japanese. When I asked if there wasn't an easier way, the woman said, "nah, they're not in any order, so you just have to run your eyes over the bindings and find the one you're looking for". Like it was no big deal. I almost wanted to hand the name of the book over and say "you find it".
What should have taken twenty minutes took over an hour.
When I left the library, it was raining, so I couldn't ride home. The closest train station isn't near the subway, so I took the Keikyu line to Kamiooka and walked home in the rain. I left my umbrella in someone's car over the weekend; I haven't gotten it back yet. It was cold today, unlike the warm, sunny yesterday. I mean, I don't mean to whine, but I really have to hand it to you, Monday, you really did a number on me today. The highlight of today would be now, because it's that much closer to Tuesday.
Let's move on to something positive.
I met some new people on Saturday. When J-to-the-fourth were in from Chicago a few weeks ago, I took my rice cooker, some food, and whatnot to their apartment so they could save a little money on food. When I was hauling it all back, I'm not going to lie, it was a little rough with all of the bags, boxes, and all that. I had a backpack as well as full hands. It must have looked like I was moving or something.
So much so, actually, that the woman (who was old enough to be my mom) standing in the train next to me on the way back to Yokohama said something to be about it.
Now, if you're George and you're reading this, this isn't unusual. My Dad talks to everyone. It used to embarass me when we'd go to Milwaukee Brewers games when Nate and I were younger (Mike even came a few times, he brought a foreign language dictionary). We'd pull up to the gate for parking and Dad would address the attendant by the name on their tag. At the time, however old I was, it seemed so patronizing, so embarassing, so whatever.
Then after I moved out on my own in college, I found myself doing the same thing. It doesn't seem bad anymore, in fact, it seems more human. I'm on a long path to becoming my Dad, and I know I've said that before. I'm sure my mom bemoans this detail: "Oh no, not George... just what the world needs, another George...". And then my Dad's reading this right now, and he's doing that laugh that, when my mom hears it, makes her feign a stern attitude, as if Dad were a stinky dog who should be in trouble, but is too lovable to actually get mad at. "Heh heh heh". Anyway. So in the States, I talk to people all the time. I like meeting new people, and I like recognizing people's existence as humans around me. Especially when I interact with them (the supermarket, et al). Here, when I actually have something to say, I do it in Japanese too.
However, the commuter trains in Japan are some sort of no-mans-land where this is unacceptable, or at least, never done. No one talks to anyone they don't know. According to Jeremy, sure, the L in Chicago is similar; I'm not saying this is groundbreaking here, but it was unexpected when she said:
"Where are you from?"
Do I give her the Yokohama bit, or the Chicago bit, I consider for a moment before going with Yokohama. It's fun to answer that, because the opposite party is so clearly expecting the name of a Western country.
She obviously didn't get what she was looking for and rephrases asking where I'm originally from. I give in and answer Chicago. She asked if I was moving, or something like that, and I explained the circumstances I was currently in, and why I was transporting all that stuff. It was nice. She had just gotten back from Ireland. Politely I asked why, and she said she went for a dog show.
Well, now, we were on. So I take out my cell phone and show her pictures of Chance and Otto; tell her a little bit of Chance's story. She shows me pictures of her dogs. I tell her I miss dogs, and I see all these dachshunds all over and just want to pet each one.
(I miss you, Chance. I still think about you a lot, and wish I could be "hugged" by you one more time -- when you used to press your forehead against my neck.)
Anyway, so she asks where I live specifically, and it turns out that her younger brother lives right near by. She suggests I come by sometime. I joke that yeah, I'll walk their dogs for them (they have two minature schnauzers). She takes me seriously, and when we both get off at Yokohama station 20 minutes later, we're exchanging phone numbers and e-mails.
So, e-mails go back and forth between her and I, her and her brother, me and her brother, me and her brother's wife, and then it gets arranged that I'm going to go to a park with them on Saturday and walk the dogs. The woman I met on the train (the older sister), though, lives in Tokyo, so she's not going to come. Makes sense.
When I get picked up (which, mind you, I was not expecting such treatment from people I've never even met), it's not just the brother: it's the brother driving, his wife, their daughter, and both of their dogs. And I've never met any of them, and then here I am climbing in the car with them.
This was the beginning of my Saturday with the Fujiwara family. All of the details aren't that relevant or interesting to anyone Stateside, like where we ate and all that, but there were a few funny highlights.
- Literally, about five minutes after getting in the car, they are trying to engage me with the information they've heard about me from the older sister. "So we hear you have a girlfriend here," the wife ventures. "Well, I did," I respond, carefully trying to gauge the reactions of three people at once. The dogs seemed to be indifferent to this news, I had already won them over. I had yet to have the experience of explaining my breakup in Japanese, and I also elected to take the High Fidelity approach of "saying nice things about her, but hinting at a deep ocean of melancholy just below the surface."
- We went to a cafe after walking the dogs that allows dogs inside the cafe. How cool is that.
- When I got out of the car, I forgot my umbrella. See above.
Broke Thursday April 6
Listening: The Beta Band - Best Of
Reading: Women on the Verge: Japanese Women, Western Dreams
Feeling: productive
In case no one told you, The Beta Band has produced some of the best "get-work-done" music ever. I admit, I, too, only heard of them via High Fidelity, but I quickly hopped onto Audiogalaxy (this was 2000, mind you) and snagged a bunch of other tracks. Somehow, I had forgotten to rip my copy of "The Three EPs" to my computer before I left. Leslie saved me by sending me a Beta Band double-disc she somehow acquired from her former radio gig. We all know about the perks of working in radio.
The reason for this sudden productivity? I've realized the time I have remaining here at this school is precious, and I don't want to waste any of it. I've been the first one here and the last one to leave all week. Not that that's much different than normal; I'm usually the first one here anyway so I can read e-mail and write here, but you know. I feel like I'm getting more done.
Perfect timing, too. I find myself having a little less to do socially these days.
