2004.11.23

quick note for anyone who cares (i just ate a snickers), on the package is this:

おなかがすいたらスニッカーズバー
″ナッツぎっしり確かな満足″

onaka ga suitara sunikka-zu ba-
"nattsu gisshiri tashika na manzoku"

which means roughly
If you're hungry, Snickers Bar!
"nuts packed to certain satisfaction"

ok i'm going to bed (it's just hit the 24th in the morning...)

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2004.11.24

something i need to post...i just heard a chinese guy behind me whose brother studied in america...his brother said that americans believe that asians are inferior...since when did this happen? just thought i should post this...apparently some southern chinese are getting the wrong idea from some bad representatives of america, and then spreading the lies abroad...frightening, huh? also, i heard no positive aspects about america there...just about how we're bad people...i would have argued, but 1)his english is not good, so it wouldn't have mattered, and 2)all it would have done in his mind is prove his point about how we're "pushy" and "believe asians to be inferior" but of course, this guy is nice, and i consider him my friend -- i think that's an important point to make, that this guy is not some 'evil chinaman' or whatever some american might read my post and think...he's a nice guy whose gotten the wrong image about america...there are a lot of people like this, not bad people, just misinformed people...and many americans aren't doing anything to help the image...

ok just got outta my first class, time to post

2004.11.21

well i should go ahead and type in what happened since last last (2 weekends ago) saturday (since i had crashed and lost what i had typed, i couldn't post it, and now i have time -- a weekend w/o lots of field trips hehehe ^_^)

so on saturday i went with my japanese culture class to kita-kamakura and kamakura (the same place, but different train stops, so i make a distinction) to see 3 shrines...it was the weekend of Shichi-Go-San (七五三 -- means 7-5-3), a holiday celebrating the 7th and 3rd bdays of girls, and the 5th bday of guys...so you take your kids to shrines to pray for their health and success...so we got to see little kids in kimono

the first place we went to was a temple (which makes it buddhist) we went to was engaku-ji (円覚寺) in kita-kamakura (north kamakura) which was built in honor of the mongolian and japanese soldiers who had died in the mongolian invasion and in honor of the founder's idol back in china -- Mugaku Sogen (don't worry, there is no test coming up at the end of the blog entry, i just am adding a little background from pamphlets i received from the shrines)...there was a lot of wood buildings at this one...i took a lot of pictures, and i put some of them up last week

the second place we went to a shrine (which makes it shintoist) called Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, where we even got to see a shinto wedding, too! it was pretty neato and there is where we got to take the pictures of the kids in kimono -- i put a couple up

the third place we went was Hokukuji and it was very quiet (and a loooong walk) and it had a beatiful bamboo forest...it was built to commemorate the grandfather of the first of Ashikaga shoguns (again, no history quiz coming up)...soon all the people who went are going to exchange pictures, and once we do, i'm going to put some online for everyone

now on SUNDAY (the part many people envy me for) i went to the Ghibli Museum (yes, studio ghibli, the people who made princess mononoke もののけ姫　and sen to chihiro no kamikakushi　千と千尋の神隠し) and MAN DID THAT PLACE RETURN ME TO MY CHILDHOOD!!!!! i think it was more powerful than Disneyworld -- but then again, that could be because now i am an adult and am more susceptible to the magic than before)...i mean doors that are as high as my hips and i had to crawl under just to continue looking at stuff!!! and spires you have to climb up to get to more of the museum...wow...i spent about 4 hours there maybe...it was awesome!!! and i got to see this 20 min film called Koro's Stroll/Big Adventure?? (my translation of コロの大散歩 which literally means "Koro's Big Walk" but doesn't have a nice ring to it like big adventure...one of the perils facing translators...do you literally translate stuff? or do you change the cultural references like this to make it more palatable and make more sense to your translation's readers???) and anyways it was really cool and my entrance ticket was literally part of a filmstrip from Neko no Ongaeshi (猫の恩返し -- Return of the Cat) which is a great movie to watch late at night...you will just laugh and laugh at the off-the-wall sight gags...MAN it's hilarious...me and kuan watched it during the summer at like 2 am and we were like :D forEVER!

so yeah that was saturday...

so wednesday (haven't put the pictures up yet) i was invited to one of the exchange students who is staying with a host family's house and i for the first time felt like i was back home..not cuz the people there were great friends or anything, but because i was my old self, playing off other people's sayings to make jokes, etc, and OH MY GOD DID IT FEEL GOOD TO BE BACK!!! i didn't feel hindered by japanese the whole party...it ROCKED!!!

so yeah i need to put pics up from that...if i'm smart, i'll put the pics up first and then post this entry, so that way this entry will sit at the top of the page and people will see the entry BEFORE they see the pics...so yeah...i hope i remember to do that...^_^

so yeah, off to study or whatnot, while listening to the grooves of Ben Folds (thanks, gf!) and Sogabe Keiichi (曽我部恵一)

2004-11-22

OK POSTING NOW BEFORE I CAN LOSE THIS MAGNIFICENT WORK OF AN ENTRY!!!

i just had the quick urge to post this, when i really should be typing away what happened this weekend and wednesday, and posting pictures and explaining others...

but all this crap about software patents...maybe i should actually write it all out sometime
all the problems it produces, all the stuff software patents are putting the industry, and -- if i may be so bold -- putting the future of the human race through, is very much frightening...

when i go to law school, i may specialize in constitutional or patent law...

fact:
patents were intended, in the framing of the constitution, to give
(a)the creator incentive to create (he gets a legal monopoly)
(b)other people the power to innovate further (that monopoly i mentioned...well it's for a LIMITED TIME ONLY))

so patents in that way VERY much help society by encouraging innovation

now, we come to how patents are now:

fact:
companies are being formed, and all these companies do, is buy patents...BUY PATENTS from other companies...so people who CONTRIBUTED NOTHING TO SOCIETY will make money off these patents
one more fact:
there are patents on software, and on BUSINESS METHODS like amazon's one-click shopping...you click on a button, you get the item purchased...THIS IS PATENTED!!! but people like microsoft are allowed to use that idea by allowing amazon to use some of their patents...it's a trade-off
so, we have established companies holding patents, and using them to sue other companies, and the only people who are innovating are these large, powerful corporations...

therefore, and here's where i poop my pants,
if individuals innovate, they are VERY likely to be sued...so i am, as an individual, encouraged not to innovate under threat (which is very real) of being sued...check out linux (being sued, also highly innovative), sun (being sued by KODAK!!, highly innovative -- hello, JAVA!!), i could go on and on..

ok so that rant (full of logical holes i'm too lazy to actually plug up) leads to what i see myself as...i am on the brink of entering law school..hopefully a quite good one...i am very interested in patent and constitutional law...america is going to hell in a handbasket over intellectual property and no one realizes it...

it needs fixing...am i the one to do it?

end of post.

i got this film strip from "neko no ongaeshi" for free with my entrance fee

a sign telling me 300m to ghibli, as you can read ^_^

the iron giant??

a spire you get to climb

me at the entrance, with totoro!

entrance, it literally says "mitaka forest ghibli museum" -- the pixar exhibit was going on, as obviated by the sign at the upper right

San from Princess Mononoke -- a paperweight

a shinto wedding ceremony

LOADS of alcohol

a pretty bridge i thought

a boy with an ultraman mask, coming from a religious thing?! how much does that rock... (yes i dressed like yogi bear for christmas church service)

walking towards hachimangu shrine in kamakura for 7-5-3 day

me at the first shrine

graveyard

pond

pretty nature

buddha within that compound..

a different building within that compound

another pic

the first shrine we went to..this is the entrance

cool drawing of north and south america ne?

looks like a shrine's fire hydrant alright!

yasser arafat is dead

i'll maybe post some words later...i'll think about it tonight...

turn your head sideways, and look at me with my hat on!

BANANA

some wine that i tried, with the small glass i used

the food...doesn't it look so tasty?

nagi-chan enjoying her food

tomomi and ken-chan...her bday too today!

tinsel (kira kira) for the bday party

present from nagi-chan...it's me and her and a huge cake with strawberries on top...thanks, nagi-chan!

japanese toilet blog entry

A blog on japanese toilets ^_^

僕の誕生日とか -- my birthday, etc.

interesting fact:

tamago (卵 or 玉子 which i found out today is an あて語 -- 'atego', or a word ppl are like 'hey that makes sense let's write it that way!), which means 'egg' is composed, as you can see, of two kanji...the meanings are 'ball/gem/jewel' and 'child'...isn't that neat? a 'ball child'...long live the atego!

second thing:

i was at a video store a coupla days ago, and i picked up a pamphlet/flyer for the upcoming release of harry potter and the prizoner of azkaban, only it is in japanese...i just found it lying around, and since i'm done studying kanji for the night (test over 36 new kanji tomorrow -- if i score an A, i'll up it to 48 and never up it from there!)

so the pamphlet has a picture of harry looking all pubescent and pissed -- typical new-teen -- and hermione to the right and ron to the left...hermy lookin sure of herself, and ron looking scared about something...there's hogwarts and buckbeak in the background, and there's a werewolf's (dementor's?) hand by ron, marauder's map and wand in harry's hands (omg 'ryoute' just popped into my head -- 'both hands' in japanese), and a poster of sirius black (the 'have you seen this wizard' one) behind them, too...anyways, enough of the description (i'll see if i can find a pic online somewhere) and on with the translations...

so it says at the top

ハリー・ポッターとアズカバンの囚人
'hari- potta-
to azukaban no shuujin'
of course, this means 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'

next comes

僕らは、変わる。
'bokura wa, kawaru.'
'we will change' but perhaps it sounds better as 'we have changed' in english??

12.17
ON VIDEO & DVD

OMG I WONDER WHAT THAT MEANS!!11!1!

ＤＶＤ特別版２枚組み（ハリーウッドブラザス）
DVD TOKUBETSUHAN 2MAIGUMI (Warner Brothers sign with hari-uddo burazasu)
希望小売価格２，９８０円（税込３，１２９円）
KIBOU-KOURIKAKAKU 2,980 yen (ZEIKOMI 3,129 yen)
DVD Special Edition 2 Disc Set (Warner Brothers sign with Hollywood Brothers under it?!?!?! is WB called Hollywood Brothers in Japan?!?!) Retail Price Asked For 2,980 yen (with tax it's 3,129 yen)

ＶＩＤＥＯ字幕スーパー版 / 日本語吹替版
VIDEO JIMAKU su-pa-HAN / NIHONGO-FU(KI)KA(E)BAN
Video Subtitled Super Version / Japanese Dubbed Version
i put the parenthesis because the 'e' and 'ki' technically aren't written, only implied ^_^ ah great japanese language for ya! ^_^

then same thing with asked retail price of 1980 yen for vhs, 2079 with tax (japanese sales tax is 5% flat)

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2004.10.11

well yesterday i turned 21, so i drank a small glass (i DO mean small! check the picture) of orange-pineapple wine...

i got pair of adidas bags from my hostmother

it was my hostmother's daughter-in-law's (the one next door) birthday yesterday too (how eerie) so we had a joint party...sashimi (i've had it twice now...forgot to write about it the first time -- no taste whatsoever! oh yeah...it's raw, in case you don't know japanese cuisine)

it was fun...and then after the party, i went back to my room to study a bit for my vocab quiz today (did well on it i think...A hopefully...) and then my gf called, so i talked to her...this was 1115 or so my time in the pm...then i went back upstairs, listened to some music and studied, then fell asleep...

so now here i am posting this entry in the morning...:)

canada dry ginger ale, i've settled into japanese life???

view from my veranda...not much to see, ne?

all 18 volumes of kimagure orange road...cost around 20 dollars for the whole series...the most worth-it purchase book-wise i have made in quite some time

present to my gf, still in its bag so she can't come here and find out what it is...this was a nice bag

2004.11.05

well interesting things happened today...i went to university festival for a little bit, there was music, but i didn't hang around long cuz i wanted to go shopping for my gf's bday present...i think i have some good ideas now...also, the PROOF that i have settled into japanese life will be coming in a picture soon...(hint: has something to do with Subway)

on my way back by bus i saw this dude with the funniest engrish shirt ever...all black gothicishesque shirt (gothicishesque?? ^_^) saying "DESTRUCTION" and all this stuff about evil etc, but the best part was:

"evil comes from the human's bottom" OMGROTFLOL

i just kept laughing on the bus, and this kid sitting next to me was kinda confused why i was laughing, God it was so funny

i think i'll be getting internet at my house real soon...me and my hostmother went to look at technology and internet stuff at a store that just opened up today...

also, after i had stepped out of Disk Union in machida this TOTARRY DRUNK guy just looks at me and goes (HIM in english, ME in japanese!):
him: 'oh...canadian?'
me: 'no, american'
him: 'oh american! i'm studying english right now...i have a friend in canada'
me: 'oh really?'
him: 'God i'm so wasted *makes slurping noises* *waves around a HUGE bottle of alcohol*

him: 'thanks for talking with me
me: 'take care of yourself!'


keep in mind, HE spoke english ^_^ and there was only drunken accent, no drunken japanese accent at all...i was pretty impressed, but wanted to get some subway to eat, so i didn't chat anymore...plus it's not so fun to talk to drunk people i guess ^_^

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2004.11.06

well i've been studying practically all day for my kanji test...well, no i was doing laundry too...i've only been studying kanji 3 or so hours...i think i'm going to do well...2/3 done with my self-chosen assignment of 36 kanji...doesn't really sound like a lot, i know...i actually think i could push one more chapter a week w/o totally ruining my social life -- which i might add is not really much of a social life anyways -- but i'll wait til after this test to see...i don't want to spend more than 15 hours a week studying kanji, but if i can get around 50 kanji a week...well then, i'll get somewhere around HOLY CRAP I JUST COUNTED HOW MANY I"LL KNOW BY APRIL (beginning of spring semester) HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP I"LL KNOW AROUND FIFTEEN-HUNDRED!!! HOLY CRAP!!! wow..i feel really great now...my calculation is actually a little UNDER the correct number cuz my calculation was:

nov,dec,jan,feb,mar = 5 months (underestimated)
4 weeks / month (underestimated)
kanji a week = 50 (a leeeeetle overestimated -- actually 48)

5x4x50 = 1000!!!

how many do i know? well...i actually prolly know 800, but i started at around 500 in the book, so i'll do 1000 more...1500! with a few later on that i know that are way advanced (like the kanji for 'who' -- 'dare' is not even one of the jouyou kanji -- the ~2000 kanji you need to know to be literate) so yeah...WHEE...hopefully i'll be a shoe-in for at LEAST level five...if i know 1500 kanji! that entails knowing minimum 2 words that use each kanji...but i will know much more by then...i hope...cuz if i know that many, i'm going to be reading the newspaper and books quite easily by then...^_^ WOW talk about great! i'm DEFINITELY pushing myself to 4 chapters of kanji a week (12 each chapter)!!!!!!!!

anything to give me more japanese power!!!

----

2004.10.07

well now it's sunday, i had a good sleep, and today is a GREAT day!!! perfect weather!!! so my laundry will actually DRY today! (oh yeah, we hang dry everything since my hostmother doesn't have a dryer!!)

i have a flyer for a performance of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park which is know in japanese as Hadashi de Sanpo (A Barefoot Stroll)...i'm going to assume it wasn't literally translated because to English speakers (americans??) being 'barefoot in the park' evokes strong memories, and perhaps 'hadashi de sanpo' does the same...cuz it's not like 'barefoot in the park' is a phrase simon came up with out of nowhere...

and because i know my gf reads these entries, i'll go ahead and put: "i think i found something nice for her bday...i slept on the idea, and am going to buy it today or monday -- whenever i get to machida' ^_^ hehehe!!!

also i found a cool checkered shirt in machida so i bought it...it was on sale, so i did..plus it's going to get cold and i need more long sleeved shirts...i only really have sweater-type shirts...which get hot when you're inside!!! *whew* talk about lack of forethought about the long-sleeved shirt stuff!

oh yeah, while cleaning up, i came across my post office receipt from mailing my absentee ballot...yea verily do i love mine country...260 yen (2.50 USD approx)

[later in the day]

well some post office guy showed up with a letter for my hostmother, but she wasn't here, so i handled talking to him by myself...it was nice...he needed a stamp from her (hanko) but she's not here, and i'm not related to her...so i was like she'll be back later, etc, and he was like ok, thanks

i feel good about my japanese again ^_^

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2004.11.08

well i have internet access for a coupla minutes, so i'll go ahead and post this...school is back in session tuesday (tomorrow) so i'll resume normalcy i hope...

well i got back from class today, and i saw 3 pieces of mail for me, and one in particular was from Sony...

so now i know they're from my gf...i'll wait until she calls me tonight to open them...*can't wait*

so apparently Sgt. Jenkins was sentenced to 30 days in jail, and was dishonorably discharged today...in a 6 HOUR TRIAL! anyways, he admitted to deserting to N. Korea...he's like three hundred years old now...what was the point? he claims to have deserted to save himself (makes sense)

---

i opened it...voila!!! the 3 ben folds EPs and the bens' EP!! so yeah, offa super d, which i hadn't heard AT ALL yet, the great 2 songs so far are 'get your hands off my woman' -- jazz + blues big time hardcore bass line running with the lyrics (heavily falsettoed and harmonized ^_^)

GET YOUR HANDS OFFA MY WOMAN, MOTHAFU**A

can't beat that for a surprise right there! and ya can't beat his jazzy solo in the middle of the song...it'll make you brown your pants with amazement

also, 'them that gots' a cover of ray charles' song is GOLDEN offa this CD!!!

i'm getting down to the last pair of shoes
can't even win the nickel bet
because them that's got are them that gets and
i ain't seen nothin yet

* i see folks with fine cars and fancy clothes
that's why they're called the smarter set
cuz they managed to get what them that's got's supposed to get
and i ain't seen nothin yet

them that gots is them that gets
is something i can't see
you gotta get something
'fore you can get somethin
how you get the first is still a mystery to me

*

i ain't seen nothin yet
i ain't seen nothin yet

so thank you to the person who got me the CDs, MY GF!!! WHEEE!!

also she gave me SOOO MUCH CANDY AND CRISPS FROM ENGLAND!!!

and a great card!!! WHEE!!!

i am going shopping this weekend for her bday present too...but what to get i don't know, and even if i did, i would not post it!!!

ok peace out

*sigh* more talk of 'north korea please rejoin the nuclear non-proliferation treaty'
more talk of 'iran please cease your nuclear research'

WHY? I AM VERY VERY VERY MAD AT THESE PEOPLE (UN INCLUDED)

people claim:
iran and north korea may use weapons against other countries

well holy sheeeeat, why aren't people saying 'us, please destroy your nuclear weapons'?!?

fact: the us HAS attacked another country this year and the previous and the previous
fact: north korea and iran haven't

if the us has the right to nuclear weapons, why don't iran and north korea??? because they're 'more evil'??? according to whom? the un? AFGHANISTAN? or the us?

ps i'm an american citizen...i'm just sick of all this crap about how only western countries have the right to do nuclear research...us definitely isn't doing anything GOOD with our research...where's our nuclear power plants that we could run our house on for a year for PENNIES?!?! it's too dangerous you say? what about all the wildlife we've killed with oil?!?

i dunno...i'll back off, as i can't seem to find much info on the net right now, and i'm gettin kinda tiiiiired ^_^

however, on an interesting note, how often does the us media report things like this? the family of a suicide bomber condemning the militants? EXCELLENT! but why doesn't the us mention this? the link is to the BBC...could it maybe be because the media wants us to see the middle east as a bunch of evil people??? (granted, they condemned the militants because the bomber was 16..they 'should have sent an adult who understands the meaning of his deeds' *groans*)

but i digress, as this blog is supposed to be more about my experiences in japan than it is supposed to be a political platform...i just REALLY had to vent this time!

viewpoints? comments? flames?

is wanted by me

absentee ballot for victoria+natl election

2004.10.30

day before halloween...nothing planned...sucks...i guess that's one holiday i've always celebrated that i'm not going to get to this year...it's raining today, so i'm not even going to machida to get a pumpkin to carve...sucks...

yes...it's raining again...after a week of great weather (a little cold, but hey that's fine compared to rain), it rains once the weekend starts...at least i can stay inside and work on whatever, reading harry potter in japanese perhaps, while listening to louis black's "White Album" comedy routine (50 minutes of hilariousness):

(paraphrased)
'i hate boston, cuz i was there last year, and in four days i experienced five seasons...it was 60, it was 30 it was 80, then it was TWELVE! then on the fifth day, there was lightning, rain and snow AT THE SAME TIME! and i wasn't on drugs! i heard thunder, and i looked outside...and there's an expectation...and it's NOT snow with lightning BeHIIIND it'

'they don't even write about that kind of weather IN THE BIBLE...and i think that after a prophet wiped the *** out of his *** he's write about it!'

*laughs again*

'nyquil's got the best thing on it's packaging that i've ever read: 180 proof!'

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2004.10.31

it's halloween...130 am...i'm about to go to bed, after munching a bit of the candy i got from my mom in the mail...make myself feel better about having nothing halloweeny on halloween other than a mask..i'll have to put it on in the morning and take a picture before shaving, etc...

but now, to candy then to bed!

11pm

well i helped out at Kamimizo Church (kamimizokyoukai) today at their bazaar (how bizarre -- pun intended -- that it would be on halloween!)...this is the church that my hostmother goes to...the people were nice to me, and despite getting very tired walking around and whatnot all day, i enjoyed myself...also, I RODE IN A CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A MONTH!!! my hostmother's sister-in-law came in from yokohama (which i learned to write in kanji today, too) and we went in her car to the church...

humm...i just noticed...it's now 12 and it started raining again...i guess God really wanted that bazaar to happen, cuz it rained, stopped last night, the bazaar happened, and now it's just started raining again...*sigh*...

it's the next morning...well i'm gonna go ahead and post this now...