Four months in Japan
Monday, December 29, 2003
December 29, 2003 Monday night (Detroit)
Well I think this will be the last posting of my Four Months In Japan website. If you read along and followed my experiences, I hope you learned something from it and enjoyed vicariously traveling with me. I thought I’d keep up these journals for a week or so after I returned, but now that I’m back in Detroit I feel like I should be living my life rather than sharing it online.
I will give a few more impressions of what it’s like to come back to Detroit. The flight was brutally short, and I barely got to sleep when I had to change planes in Minneapolis. I took the opportunity there to have Burger King breakfast for the first time in months, and it was just as I remembered, and lived up to my low expectations. After arriving in Detroit I made a few more phone calls to figure out how to get a ride back and determine if I could live in my condo again. Since no one was around, I decided to take the Smart Bus back (local bus) for $1.75 rather than fork over $50 for a cab ride.
I went to the information booth to ask where the bus stop was, and found it was staffed by Wayne County cops. That felt odd, because my impression of them was that they didn’t know shit and were probably uneducated, like most cops (arrogant opinion, I know, but that’s my impression). So the one cop, this dumb looking football player type white guy starts to tell me to go to the main shuttle bus pickup area, but then his woman partner corrected him and reminded him that it was at a different terminal at the airport. I was thankful that she knew the correct answer, which was a surprise for a cop, since I didn’t think they’d be an information booth professional. But why would the airport put cops at an information booth? So then the football player looking cop proceeds to explain to me how to find the bus shelter at the other terminal, except he didn’t know the word for “bus shelter”. He described it as a little structure with the glass where you sit.
On the airport terminal shuttle bus, the nice lady driving explained to me where to find the bus stop. It was vaguely on some lower level by the taxis or something, and she described it as “by that clear bubble”. I was starting to realize that maybe I was dealing with a whole population of people that don’t have “bus shelter” in their vocabulary.
So anyway, I made it to the next terminal but couldn’t find the bus stop. I asked a taxi driver who was standing next to his cab where the bus stop was. He pointed over towards the end of the pick up area and said it was by “that booth with the clear glass”. Most glass is clear. These people really don’t know what a bus shelter looks like. No wonder I was having trouble finding it. Probably nobody at the entire fucking airport realized they have a name, "bus shelter," and should have signs directing people where to find such a thing. Welcome to Michigan. This is the type of thing that happens all the time here and just reinforces the fact that I really don’t fit in or identify with 90% of the population here.
On a positive note, I was able to move back into my condo right away, and coincidentally my renter moved out the day before. Everything is just as it was, albeit a little worse for wear. But it’s clean and tidy. Then my friend Jay came down from the suburbs and we went out for brunch at a local diner that I really missed a lot when I was in Japan. I got 4 strips of bacon, 2 eggs, hash browns, 3 dollar pancakes, and coffee. All for under $6. I love America. Then we went up to Borders in Royal Oak to spend some time and I then he dropped me off to get my Stealth back from Dennis, which was very well kept and had been driven only about 500 miles. So now I’m driving it again, and I like it! It’s quick and comfortable. And since I just lowered and completely rebuilt the suspension on it before leaving for Japan, there’s additional novelty driving it again.
I then went home and spent the next 3 hours reading the mail which had accumulated and sifting through a stack 1.5 feet high and trying to figure out bills. This ended up making me really sleepy so I crashed at 8PM, only to wake up at 4AM today. I got up and read more mail for the next 4 hours, and I still have 3 inches of magazines to read.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Sunday, December 28, 2003 (in a 757-300 somewhere over Washington state)
Yo, pass the Cour-Voi-Sie-E! Just wanted to say that. So I lucked out again and am riding first class back to Detroit on the red eye through Minneapolis. I love airmiles. I had one drink of the cognac and immediately dozed off, only to awaken 15 minutes after takeoff and now I’m wide awake. I think that’s because even though in Seattle it was 1:00 AM my body still feels like it’s 16 hours later on Japan time, so 5:00 PM. In other words, I just took my afternoon nap.
Oh, here the flight attendant comes through with snacks. I think I’ll have some peanuts. On second thought, I got some almonds and another Courvousier. Yo Ghetto liiiiife! Yeah, dog, you know I keeping it real. Where’s the Cristal, dough? De-am, bee-yotch.
So anyway, I’m really happy right now. The past few days have been a joy to me because it’s been good to be home and spending time with family. My little nephew Eric as gotten so big and he says the cutest things. Plus he just looks damn cute, too, and still has that Norwegian blonde kid hair (it’ll probably go – I lost mine by about age 4). Both my brother and his wife are half Norwegian, and so their kid is a handsome Scandinavian looking little tot. He’s going to make all the ladies swoon someday. Right now he’s just trying to learn how to talk, being age 2 ½ and all. He doesn’t like girls yet, but he likes trains and talks about them incessantly. In fact the word train seems to make up about 10% of his vocabulary.
Today I worked about 4 hours in the drizzling rain trying to fix my brother’s Neon’s overheating problem, and I only succeeding in narrowing it down to a problem in the fan circuit. What’s embarrassing about this is that I actually worked on the engineering of the 2000 Neon’s cooling system about 6 years ago, but I just can’t remember any of the electrical details. How could I? That was a long time ago. Anyhow, $30 later he at least has a new thermostat, upper radiator hose, and a license plate light bulb.
I was surprised to remember that I was taking the red eye tonight, because I thought I was leaving tomorrow morning at 6AM. Good thing I checked. That could have been a disaster. So tomorrow the disaster will be that I didn’t call my condo tenant to see if she’s moved out already and I can move back in, and I didn’t call the caretaker of my car to see if I can pick it up, and I didn’t figure out a ride home from the airport. I guess I’ll take the Smart Bus downtown and will be home about 6 hours after I land. No $50 cab rides for this unemployed person. I submit this as evidence that I have learned how to chill and not worry about stuff anymore. It will work out somehow, and I’m not going to stress about tomorrow when I can still enjoy today. So pass the Courvosier. See how it works?
Everyone is sleeping and I already ate the 5 packages of almonds I took (man, I love first class) so now I guess I should sleep. But instead I’m listening to songs (Fuel – Shimmer) and thinking about how good life’s going to be for me in Detroit when I go back. I have a new perspective on what’s important in life and I realize I was hopelessly off track before I quit my job in May. I was absolutely the right thing to do, and I am better for it. I’ve learned so much and experienced so many different things and met so many people. They say the purpose of traveling is to return home and see it for the first time. I truly believe I would have no perspective without traveling. Do you understand this? Travel some and you will.
Now I’m listening once again to Murray Head – One Night in Bangkok and thinking about my recent trip there. It was warm! What am I going to do in below freezing Detroit? I’m insane. Why would anybody voluntarily choose to live in such a shitty climate? Answer: money. I’m basically greedy. I would rather work in some freezing icebox for a few years and then go travel for a while with cash to spare. So that’s my plan. If I don’t find a new job right away, it’s back to Chrysler for a year or two and then I’m gonna do this again. Where next? Macchu Piccu, Peru is high on the list. I’d really love to live in Spain for about a year or more. I want to go back to Eastern Europe and see Warsaw, Poland. In the East, I want to go to Australia, and maybe New Zealand. India has always interested to me.
Let me know if you have any desire to go to any of these places! I need to convert more people into crazy traveling types like myself. Who knows, maybe when I get back to Detroit I might actually meet someone that I can share these dreams with and build a life together to realize these and more I’ve never considered before. I’d like that, but it hasn’t happened yet. Most people I meet there feel “stuck” in Detroit for one reason or another and have no desire to leave the place for any length of time. I can say that I’ve grown from who I was a few years ago, and my career is no longer the #1 priority in my life. It guides and shapes my decisions, for sure, but I will no longer sacrifice my soul for this system or for money. In the past, I’d sacrifice romantic interests (always outside Detroit) by never making the jump to any level of commitment that would require me to change my career plan. I now think of it as a lost opportunity brought on by a fear of change and fear of the unknown. But that’s life. Without being a fool sometimes, you never realize the best thing for you is to take that leap. Remind me I said I believe this the next time I really screw up by being too bold. I already learned my lesson “be careful what you wish for --- you might just get it”.
Detroit here I come! We’re gonna have a good time there. You’ll see.
Friday, December 26, 2003
Friday, December 26, 2003 (Seattle)
Contrary to what I was told to expect, I am finding it incredibly easy to be back in America. Nothing significant has changed, and it’s all so easy and effortless to do things here that it’s not an adjustment – it’s a relief. I just don’t have to think as hard anymore about communication. Buying car parts for my brother’s overheating Neon was no problem, having a conversation with the counter guy was easy; when I ordered fish & chips and chowder at Ivar’s I knew for sure I’d get what I asked for; when going to see Lord of the Rings 3 with my brother Pete and his wife’s father, Rob, there was no concern that I’d somehow screw it up and get the wrong movie or seat or make a scene. In short, man I love America! I did have a little trouble abiding by a few traffic laws, but it wasn’t from forgetting which side of the street to drive on but more from having not driven myself in 4 months.
I am occasionally thinking in Japanese, but it’s mostly for random expressions that are so much easier to say in Japanese, for example when you say “Totemo Oishkata” you express that you just ate food that was really good tasting and at the same time are giving a compliment to your host. To say the same thing in English, you’d have to say “thanks for cooking me delicious food”. How cumbersome. The difference between Japanese and English that makes Japanese sometimes a lot shorter is that Japanese is such a vague language that 50% of everything you mean goes unsaid and has to be implied by key words and phrases that are filled with unspoken meaning. At the same time, this is one reason living in Japan can be so tough: you aren’t allowed to express what you really think. You always have to use these set expressions that are the “right thing to say”, regardless of what your real feelings are. It’s a cultural thing. “Totemo Oishkata” literally means “was really tasty”, but all kinds of other meanings are inferred when you say that phrase. Japanese is all like that.
That explains some of those Japanese movies where the actor will say one word in Japanese and a whole sentence will appear in the subtitles. I always wondered about that. And the flip side is also true: when precise details are given (rather easily) in English, sometimes the Japanese dubbing will have the Japanese actor’s mouth continue moving for a few seconds after having spoken. One could argue that it’s just bad dubbing, but it could be just that the idea was much quicker and efficient when expressed in English.
Anyway, Pete and Rob are driving back to Canada tomorrow to drop Rob off, and he’s leaving his 2000 Dodge Caravan w/ 80K miles for Pete & Michele to buy for the bargain price of only $3500 or something ridiculously low like that. At that price, they can buy quite a few of the inevitable Chrysler transmission rebuilds. I’m going to fix the rest of the problems with their Neon, and then that’s it. Goodnight.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Well it's 10 till 10 in the morning and I'm about to catch the shuttle bus back to the airport. It's interesting to contrast the Japanese and Thai cultures now that I'm back. Japan is fully industrialized, and is a developed 1st world country. Thailand is not. It's really evident now that I'm back. The Japanese are hard working, and it could be because of the cold weather here. I'm not sure, but I think it's like the difference between NE US people and Floridians. Anyway, gotta go. Bus is leaving.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003, Christmas Eve (Narita, Japan)
So we caught our train and actually had a relatively good night’s sleep. As usual for me on moving things, I could sleep about two hours at a time. The sleeping car has the same kind of layout I saw this past summer in St. Louis at a train museum on a Pullman train car from the ‘20s. It’s not like the current US style or European style sleeping cars at all. It was like being transported back in time. The only thing missing were the cinders and coal smoke from a steam engine. We had diesel fumes to make up for it instead.
After waking up, Jeff and I went to the dining car while Rob slept. Rob had been having an earache all night and didn’t sleep until like 3AM when I gave him my aspirin. So we went and had breakfast and that was when my trouble began. After eating, I felt a bit nauseated but just chalked it up to moving constantly for a day. I was glad to finally get off the train. We then stored some bags at the train station and headed over to the Palace and some Wats (Buddhist Temples) for some sightseeing and to see the Reclining Buddah
By that time I was feeling incredibly tired and my stomach hurt like hell. Also Jeff was feeling a bit bad (not as bad though – he ate less of the eggs and ham) by then, and Rob’s ear was really bothering him. I’m glad we saw all the touristy sights in Bangkok, but it would have been a lot better with good health. We did get some good pictures. Finally we went to our hotel out by the airport where we crashed for a few hours. At that point, Rob decided he had to go to a hospital, since stuff was coming out of his ear, and he called the US Embassy to get a doctor referral. I was feeling ill myself and didn’t go along. After a few bites of food from the restaurant, I decided I’d had enough, and went back to the room. That was when my system was involuntarily cleaned, and I suddenly felt much better.
So we decided to go back downtown since this was our last night in Bangkok. Jeff wanted to do some shopping at Siam Square and I wanted to see the bars and clubs of Patpong again and maybe get a massage. I finally picked a place and got another Thai massage, but this one wasn’t quite as painful as the first one. They still press fingers into you till it hurts like hell, but maybe I was getting used to it. One interesting difference is that I swear I was walked on this time. Anyway, that was that for my 200 Bhat (like $4.50), and I felt like putty afterwards. After meeting Jeff back at the Hard Rock Café, we caught a taxi back to the hotel which ended up stopping 5 different times for help interpreting the little map card from the hotel. I guess the taxi driver hadn’t spent much time in that part of Bangkok. We ended up paying 240 Bhat for what should have been a 150 Bhat ride.
But that wasn’t as bad as Rob, whose taxi ride cost him 350 Bhat, so you know how much more confused his taxi driver was. Rob was given some antibiotics for his infected ear, and they cleaned out some fluid, all for $50. I guess most of the cost was for the drugs, and not the doctor visit. At least it turned out to be not too serious, but I bet the plane ride home for him won’t be fun. As for my health, the aftereffects of food poisoning still are kicking in and I’ve pretty much been sleeping all day and not feeling well.
I left Bangkok at 4:00 in the morning to catch my 6AM flight to Tokyo, while Rob and Jeff caught a later flight. I lucked out with 3 seats all to myself between an aisle and a window on the 747, so I sprawled out and took 3 blankets and 3 pillows and slept amazingly well for almost the entire 6.5 hour flight. I’m stupid for not picking a better flight back to the US – I could have made a connection in Tokyo and flown all the way back to Seattle today. But to do that would cost an extra $150 to change my ticket, so I stuck with my original plan and am at a Hostel near the airport. It’s actually a hotel, and I have my own room and bed and everything. After requesting dinner and breakfast, it’s costing me like $65 bucks, and I spent $10 to leave a single bag at the airport overnight. In 9 days in Thailand, I spent a total of $210 on food, drinks, trains, housing, and massages! Japan is such a rip off. I’m glad to get out of here tomorrow, and hopefully if I ever come back it’ll be on an expense account again.
Monday, December 22, 2003
Monday, December 22, 2003 (Phun Phin, 14 km from Surat Thani)
“Chyo Dee” means cheers and we just toasted our arrival at the train station after taking busses and boats and backs of pickup trucks for the last 6 hours to get here. The weather finally got nice today, and of course we had to leave. The ride back on the pickup was interesting and breathtaking, not to mention a little scary. We talked with some random German guy who had been living in Thailand for 2 years and traveling for the last 20. It’s always interesting to meet the societal dropouts. They’re always really happy! This guy just was completely positive and upbeat about living in tropical paradise, and he had some interesting comments on the “systems” in the US, Japan, and Germany. We made it into town with plenty of time to do some shopping and had some lunch.
Unfortunately, the keeper of our train tickets, Jeff, somehow managed to lose them. It might have been partially my fault, too, but I really don’t see how. I only had them for like 2 seconds after buying them and then I handed them to him for safekeeping. Strangely, the return boat and bus tickets were still there in the little ticket jacket. We bought new sleeper car tickets (not quite as good; they’re upper berths) for like 408 Bhat, all of $10 for the 12 hour train ride including a bed. I’d spend more than that in 45 minutes on a Japanese train.
So now we wait till our train leaves 3 hours later. I just had Pad Thai again, and it was quite tasty. Jeff got his Tom Kha Kai (coconut chicken soup) which I think he’s ordered about 4 different times. Dessert that was ordered was: pineapple fritters, banana fritters, and I ordered some tapioca stuff.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Sunday, 12/21/03, 9:00 PM, Ao Thong Nai Pan
Continuing my story about Friday, we passed what appeared to be Gilligan’s island, and then continued on to our island and got there about 5 hours later. The boat ride consisted of us trying to sleep, relax, or fend off the many hagglers trying to get us to take rooms at their hut villages. After reaching the island of Ko Phang Nam, we picked some random driver to take us to Ao Thang Nai Pan Yai. He had us wait for about an hour at a café while he tried to drum up more passengers, and while we were eating our lunch and having a drink, it started pouring down rain. The whole thing seemed a little shady, but his friend was a Brit that told us a lot of info about the island and what to expect. He was friends with this Thai guy that ran the truck. We were a little disappointed we didn’t pick a truck with one of the camper tops, because it looked like we were going to get soaked. Finally the torrential downpour subsided a bit and the guy indicated for us to go.
We climbed in back and were joined by two aussie chicks, an Austrian, and two Thais. We were relieved to find that the guy who recruited us to ride in the truck wasn’t driving, because at one point when we were eating our lunch he wandered by and was hiccupping while having sort of a wigged-out beady eyed stare. He might have been on drugs or alcohol.
The rain continued and soon Rob & Jeff’s umbrellas were blown into different shapes than they should be, while I was the light packer and just got wet. I didn’t even bring a jacket on this excursion, so I got soaked. We stopped about 5 different times before getting on to our desitnation. First was the post office, then a motorbike rental place, and then a steetside vendor where one of the people in the back of the truck bought some really tasty breaded fish chip things and shared then with us, then the gas station where I bought 3 beers for the ride, and some other place briefly. The two aussies had rented an off-road scooter thing, but apparently had some problems riding it up the muddy hills and had fallen of and gotten injured and burned. They were in good cheer about it, though.
Soon we were underway on the ridiculously steep and eroded road. We all got drenched, but it was warm and we had beers for the ride. Everyone was having a good time, and at one point a rooster ran across the road in front of the truck. I had to ask the question, “why did the chicken cross the road?” Everyone laughed. That was the mood we were in: drenched, sipping on beers, sitting in uncomfortably in the back of a dangerously overcrowded pickup truck, but we were in Thailand and it was warm and everyone was having a good time.
We arrived into town and were given the hard sell on another set of huts, but we stuck with our original plan and went to the same huts that my friends Dave and Michelle had gone to a few years ago. Ultimately we stayed at another set of huts, the Sandee huts, because they were only 150 and 250 Bhat, for huts without and with bathrooms, respectively. The same hut at Star Huts was 320 Bhat, and it only had a marginally better location. Our huts were awesome, with thatched roofs and a big mosquito net hanging above the bed like a tent. The floorboards had 1 inch gaps spacing them apart, so sweeping out sand was a breeze.
That night we ate food at Bio’s, an awesome restaurant that looked like Robinson Curusoe’s treehouse except this was built into a bunch of boulders. They played funky music (Karma Collection – Buy it!) that really set a good laid back vibe. I ordered Pad Thai again for the 3rd time since arriving in Thailand, and we sampled more Thai beers and split a little bottle of rum that was mixed, Thai style, with Red Bull and Coca Cola. A word on Thai Red Bull: it’s not the same as US red bull! It’s more potent and comes in small medicine bottles. It had some other interesting side effects, (ask me if you really want to know) but primarily it kept me from sleeping well all night. I’m pretty sure the stuff would be outlawed in the US. I’ve avoided drugs forever, and given that I’m probably job hunting soon again, I just kept ordering beers and finishing up the rum and coke. After that, we wandered along the beach and climbed on some rocks and went in for more food. I ordered Pad Thai and apparently I was really loud according to Rob, who told me the next day. I guess I might have had too many “Big Changs”. Then we went back to the hut and I passed out while Rob & Jeff watched videos on the laptop.
After a fitful sleep, I got up and we decided to go to the beach for a swim. On our way there, we found Rob in the café sipping coffee. So instead we ate breakfast and planned our day out. After some body surfing in the warm water, we headed out for a local waterfall. We wandered up the hill towards the waterfall, and ended up walking by what looked like someone’s garden and private house. They were selling pop though, so we purchased some and didn’t feel so guilty about walking through their yard.
The river and waterfall were really awesome. We wandered down above the falls and toward the main waterfalls. It was a multi-step falls with different pools. I went swimming in a few and managed not to get any leeches, thank god. The water was a little colder than the sea water, but still refreshing.
Then we wandered back and stopped at a restaurant where I ordered Pad Thai again and we drank a few beers. The Pad Thai was more spicy than the others I’d sampled, but very good. After the beers I was sleepy so I took a nap in the hut while Rob & Jeff checked e-mail at the relatively expensive internet place. When I woke, we went for more food and I ordered Pad Thai for the second time that day. Did I mention that I really like Phad Thai? It had long been a staple for me in Detroit, and I usually ate it once a week or so before going without it for the 4 months I was in Japan. Food wise, I’d say Pad Thai and Mexican food were the two cuisines I really missed in Japan, so I’ve been making up for it here.
After that, we wandered down the beach and stopped in for drinks at a bar where we saw the drug dealer guy, who was actually pretty cool. Then we went to some soccer bar where everyone was British and annoyed that we weren’t watching Arsenal vs. some shit that none of us Americans cared about. So we were loud and arguing with Rob about the definition of sports, because he kept maintaining that skiing isn’t always sport because it’s a leisure activity. Apparently he thought it was only a sport if some competition was involved. It was one of those arguments you just can’t win. Anyway, we then went back to Bios where we partied a bit with the aussie chicks and a few other locals. I was somehow drawn into several conversations about America with people that had never been there and had all kinds of negative things to say about my country. I really wanted to hear none of it, but I had to try and clarify some misconceptions. We talked about all kinds of things that at the time were annoying, because I was tired of arguing. Plus I was drunk.
Jeff was reclining on a cushion thing and falling asleep. I mentioned to Rob to wake his ass up, but an interesting thing happened. One of the fellow partiers basically called me out with something to the effect of: “why did you wake him up? Is that part of what you learned in Japan?” It was like I was bringing some kind of mentality to this island that says everything should be work and tiredness is not respected. I realize the truth of what this guy said, because Japanese and American cultures don’t respect the body and sleep and all the things that make for a healthy life. Sleep is too often subjugated to the bottom of all priorities, but I realize that’s not the best way to live. Still, cultural habits get pretty ingrained.
We ended up talking with John the drug dealer about the perception of truth and how you inherently know killing and lying are wrong. This is the type of conversation you have with people that regularly take mind-expanding drugs. I couldn’t win there either, and he kept drawing allusions to the killing done in Iraq by America and how it was always wrong, yadda, yadda, yadda. Anyway, he wasn’t too open to my point of view and it was annoying. I was glad when he finally left to go smoke up some more. At some point Jeff, who kept dozing off, finally left to go to sleep. Then I got into it with Lek, a Thai guy that discussed Japanese culture with us and explained how in WWII the Japanese that controlled Thailand all committed Hara Kiri when they found out the war was over. And somehow we started talking about the H-bomb that ended the war and found out his belief that someday soon America would feel the bomb on our own soil. He thought it was our karma. I respected his opinion, but don’t know if I believe the same thing. Only time will tell. So after this painful series of conversations, I finally retired for the night.
Sunday morning we all got up and went for breakfast. We then argued a bit about what to do – Rob wanted to move to another part of the island, but I basically wanted to stay. By the time we finished our coffees and breakfast, it was like 1:00 and we had missed the 10:00 check out time. Then we searched in vain for the train tickets, and we didn’t find them, so it looks like we’ll be riding in cheap coach seats again unless we miraculously can buy sleeping car space again. But it’s not looking likely. Oh well, there goes another $15. At least he still had all the boat and bus tickets.
After that, we went for some more food. I didn’t get Pad Thai for the first time, but had some really good Pad Se Eu. After more coffee and coca cola, and Rob & Jeff had some red bull, we went back and transferred pictures on the laptops. My camera is still broken, so all the pictures I’ll have are from Rob & Jeff now. Then we went swimming, and I nearly got sucked out to sea and was nearly in a lot of trouble. It was not a good experience. I had goggles on and was trying to body surf, but got in deeper water that was over my head and the waves were really big. I couldn’t catch any waves coming in because I didn’t have flippers, and instead all the outflow from the waves kept pulling me out. As I got further out, the waves were getting bigger and I began to get tired from treading water and having to dive under these huge waves. I could touch the ground about 20 % of the time after the waves passed by, but I was hit by a couple of unexpected waves and tossed a bit while I was trying to stand on the ground to rest in between swimming efforts. I finally started making a concerted effort to swim back in, drank a lot of seawater, and was tired as hell. And I’m a strong swimmer. Eventually I got close enough to Rob and some nearby girls swimming and called for them to help me. Basically I just needed someone to keep me from getting pulled out further again so I could catch my breath. I was very glad to get out of that in one piece.
I crawled out onto the beach exhausted, very grateful for the help, and laid down on the sand. One of the many stray dogs wandering around town walked down and started licking me in the face. Soon this dog started pawing me and wanting me to play with it, but I was exhausted. I had to shoo it away. So after I recovered a bit I went back in the water but I stayed close to shore and kept my feet on the sand. I have a new respect for the ocean. Soon it got dark and we went back to the huts to shower and relax a bit. So since then I’ve been typing on this computer. Now I’m hearing “Karma Collection” again from the restaurant up the hill, and we’re going to go eat again or drink or something. Laters.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
So we made it to the beach and survived our first night in tropical paradise. Yesterday started out after waking up naturally at the end of the 12 hour train ride with barely enough time to use the restroom before we pulled up at the station. Jeff was missing once again, and we contemplated what to do about his bag, when he and Sai-Chan walked up just in time from the dining car. We navigated ourselves off the train and past the rows of busses waiting outside. Rob wanted to jump on the first bus, which happened to look like it was built from the spare parts of many, many busses all at once. I laughed and continued walking to the rest of the buses to find the correct one, muttering “I’m not going to ride a bus like that”.
It turned out that the correct bus was actually a larger version of the same type of bus that appeared to be made from the spare parts of many, many busses all at once. My camera broke at that point, as it often does when the lens won’t retract, and so from then on I’ve not been able to take pictures. I’m mad about that, but there’s nothing I can do. Every other time, the camera has fixed itself. So we ride on this Jalopy for about a half hour until we get to the ferry. After a brief wait, we’re on the boat heading for the islands.
Okay, I’ll finish this later.
Friday, December 19, 2003
So I’m sitting here on the most ghetto ass train I’ve ever been on in my whole life. I’m a little bit “yoparai” (as they say in Japanese) and so my fingers don’t type quite as fast as I’d like them to. Today was a unique day. I’ll start with tonight’s events. First of all, we missed our train because we went to Siam Square and got massages after we drank coffee because Jeff didn’t want a massage where Rob & I went and instead he went to some other haircut place and got highlights (!?) because he really wanted his hair washed a second time after we all three got haircuts. So anyway, apparently he fell asleep at the salon and we ended up missing the train. Somehow destiny was involved here.
So we finally got back to the train station and changed our tickets to the next train, and we ended up here. Let me explain what this train is like. First of all, we didn’t get a sleeping berth because they were all filled up, so we’re riding in 2nd class coach seats. And they’re even the cheap 2nd class seats in a car that doesn’t have air conditioning because that would cost extra. All told, our 11 hour train ride cost us 380 bhat, which is like $10. I need to set the setting here. This train car has a bunch of blue vinyl covered seats that aren’t securely fastened to the floor such that every bump in the rails causes them to rock back and forth an inch. The windows are all left open, but there are metal grates that close down over them like curtains. The walls are a sort of rusty metal that’s been recently painted over in light green paint. I am not lying when I mention that a cockroach (large) was running through the cabin. I rolled up my pants legs ’80s style so they wouldn’t crawl up my leg while I was sleeping. I made friends with the people around, which were all Thais except for one Japanese guy, and we talked a little and the lady behind me, Sai Chan, talked to me about the good places to see at our destination. So anyway, I drank a couple of beers that I bought at the station along with the KFC weird chicken wrap thing with oyster sauce and then I drank another from the drink seller that was walking up and down the aisles, and finally I thought I should go to sleep for the night. Okay, now the story gets good.
About an hour later, I woke up because of all the noise coming from the rear of the car, and seeing how it was only like 11:00 I decided to get up and go hang out. Rob was visibly drunk, and Jeff was drinking a cup of beer with some of our fellow “train car-mates”. They were all sitting around on the floor of this really filthy train car, drinking Chang elephant beer and snacking on random snacks. Some were standing and leaning against the wall. They all seemed to understand Japanese a little better than English, so most of our conversations were in Japanese. Rob, who’s only studied Japanese for one year, was pretty much trashed so he was using a ton of Japanese and his confidence was very high. The conversations were very interesting, but I won’t go into the details.
I ended up sitting down next to a 23 year old girl and we made random small talk. She was sitting next to the train exit door and had it propped open. Because it’s still 80 degrees outside, the breeze and passing night scenery made for a nice experience. They had a bucket with several bottles of beer and were giving everyone cups of beer with ice cubes floating in it to keep it cold. About the same time, we stopped at a station and food vendors hopped on and walked up and down the aisles. Even after the train started moving, the vendors walked up and down and finally jumped off. I leaned out the open door only to see vendors jumping off the moving train several cars down. So our Thai friends bought some rice and stuff and some strange fruit that I had never seen before. I was a bit contorted sitting down on the floor, so after a few cups of beer, I decided to stand up again.
So as I was standing and talking to the Japanese guy and some of the Thai women, it occurs to me that Jeff was back in the end compartment of the train car again by the door where we were all sitting previously. However, this time a bunch of us were all standing in the sink/ washroom area opposite the bathrooms. Then, the next thing that happens is I look through the door opening to the end-compartment of the car and guess what I see? Didn’t think you could guess. Yep, as completely unexpected, Jeff was getting a blow job from Sai Chan in front of 2 or three of her friends that were still sitting in the end compartment of the car on the floor next to the open door where the scenery was rolling by at 35 miles per hour.
Okay, so this went on for like a half hour and all of us not getting blowjobs, which was like 85% of the group, were feeling really awkward and were seeing way more than we should have, both out of morbid curiosity and just plain inevitable peripheral vision, and they finally closed the door and her Thai friends joined us in the washroom area after leaving the end-compartment of the train, but the awkwardness was still there. I used my Japanese skills to explain that I’d never seen such a thing happen in such a public space. Basically anybody walking through the train would happen upon them. Anyway, so Jeff got his blow job and I think he then satisfied her in some way, although by that point I had relocated myself far from the door. By 12:30 everyone went to sleep, and now the party is all over. So that was our evening.
The day (before getting on the train) was unremarkable except we totally got tricked into taking a Tuk-Tuk to a travel agency that wasn’t run by the government as promised and was a total scam. We lugged baggage everywhere and spent a lot on taxis before we discovered that we could take the bus for 3.5 Bhat (about 10 cents). As mentioned, after we got our train tickets we went for massages.
I have a massive amount of tension in my neck and shoulders from Kendo, because I was always raising the shinai (bamboo sword thing) above my head using those back and shoulder muscles. Well, Rob and I went to this Thai massage parlour and paid 270 Bhat for a massage (about $8). It hurt like hell! Thai massage is one of those techniques where they essentially stab you with their fingers. Since I have permanent massive knots in my muscles, it really hurt to have them worked over. I could feel the muscles in my back and shoulders kind of snapping around under my skin as they were stabbed into submission by this big Thai massage lady. Then I was pulled into various contortions and basically kneaded. At several points I thought I was going to get kidney or other internal organ damage from the pressure put on those areas. Apparently, she was also working over my ribs and trying to separate them, and that might have been why it hurt like hell. Rob told me that afterwards, because I couldn’t contemplate how so much pain could be inflicted from a massage. I may have to get another before I go. Frankly though, I am not much into pain. However, the end result is worth it because my shoulders and back feel great now 8 hours later. I think I need some of this therapy to offset all the Kendo practice.
Okay, well how was that for an interesting day? It’s now 1:40 and this ghetto train is still moving. It won’t arrive until 7:30, and then we take some busses and ferries to the island. I’ll let you know how it goes. Later,
Steve
Thursday, December 18, 2003
I'm at the internet cafe now in Siam Square and was able to upload the last two days of posts. We had a bit of a misadventure this morning involving an unscrupulous guy and some Tuk-Tuk driver. Anyway, we managed to get our tickets to the beach and we're taking a slow 2nd class overnight train tonight arriving in the morning. By tomorrow this time, we should be on the beach. But now, we need to finish checking e-mails and go get a good and ridiculously inexpensive haircut. Laters.
It’s our 2nd morning in Bangkok, and we just finished eating breakfast down in the coffee shop that was included in our room. We got a triple room for 800 Bhat about $20 (vs 2200 at the airport hotel), in the middle of Chinatown. Right now we’re getting ready to head out to get haircuts and find a travel agency to get us to the beach.
Yesterday was eventful, so I’ll just list the highlights: Getting up at noon, wandering around a suburb of Bangkok and seeing lots of stray dogs and a Buddhist temple (wat), waiting for Rob & Jeff to pack up, ditching two heavy suitcases at the hotel, taking a taxi over to the river and learning key Thai phrases from the crazy taxi driver such as “Sawat dii” (hello) and “Khawp Khun Khrap” (thank you), paying 10 Bhat (25 cents) to take an hour and a half cruise towards downtown on the river and seeing the temple and life on the river with German tourists and orange-robed monks and uniformed Thai schoolboys, wandering the streets of ChinaTown with luggage looking for a hotel, going into some random dive restaurant and eating meatball soup with a pepsi for 3 people for 114 Bhat (about $2.80), finding our hotel, resting a bit, wandering the streets and narrow alleys of ChinaTown, eating Pad Thai at a restaurant and enjoying a Singa Thai beer, walking the streets to the entertainment district PatPang, buying street food including a bunch of 30 bananas for 20 Bhat and later giving the rest to some random taxi driver named Tim or Jim that accosted us and tried to get us to use, wanting to taste the porcupine-looking fruit which I think is called breadfruit after not reading that the sign said 130 Bhat not 30 Bhat and then bargaining with them for a smaller piece for 30 Bhat, then having the lady chase us down to hand us more fruit, not particularly liking the stuff and accidentally eating the sour inner core, walking the streets of PatPong and being harangued constantly by people trying to get us into their establishments that offered massage services and various “shows”, eating Mexican food at a restaurant and having a Blue Hawaii, all three of us buying Chinese style kung-fu jackets for 300 Bhat ($7.50), watching Rob and Jeff bargain for fake Diesel shirts and other random stuff, drinking Chung Thai beer at a roadside café and playing connect-four with the waitress, going into a club called “Lucifer” that was spinning Techno and had a hell motif complete with red devil faces that stare at you from the side and fake cave looking walls, going into the bathroom and seeing someone getting their back massaged while taking a piss, going to the urinal and getting an unexpected back and shoulder massage from the staff and being unable to pee and immediately leaving after having to tip, closing the place down at 2AM, wandering back looking for our taxi driver friend and when we didn’t find him taking a “tuk tuk” (3 wheeled open air taxi death trap that looks like those kiddie carnival rides with all the lights and chrome and colorful metallic paint) back to Chinatown for 40 Bhat, finally going to sleep at 3AM, then waking up to the sound of Bangkok traffic 6 hours later. Now it starts again! This is living…
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
I’m sitting on a 747 enroute to Bangkok as I type this, and I’m more than a little tired right now. Last night I took the night bus from Hikone to Tokyo with another fellow student, “Muriel-chan”. It was hot as an inferno on the bus, which was welcome for the first 5 minutes after we boarded it after the freezing cold dorm building, but soon it was unpleasant. I think I slept about 2 or 3 hours out of the 6.5 hour bus ride.
She and I arrived in Shinagawa on the outskirts of Tokyo around 6:00 in the morning, and after a few misadventures on the train system we met her friend Kiran from Nepal who lives in Tokyo around 7:00. He goes to school there for a business degree and also works part time a lot. Pretty cool guy. We first ended up hanging out at his small room for breakfast consisting of bread and a soft boiled egg. This was your traditional tiny Tokyo apartment, with Tatami mats you sit on (and are slept on at night after putting down a futon). It was interesting to see the type of place normal people live in.
So after eating the breakfast we headed out and stopped first at Akihabara, “Electric Town”, where I bought by digital camera 2 years ago. It’s supposedly the cheapest place to buy electronic goods in the world with the exception of Singapore, which is the #1 cheap place. Highlights were the $22,000 60-inch gas-plasma TV and a really cool portable projector for like $1100. Why get a big screen when you can get a projector like that? Anyway, I bought nothing since I’m nearly broke.
Then we walked to Ueno and saw all kinds of small stores and it had a kind of market bazaar feel. Muriel picked up a pair of shoes, and then from there we walked through Ueno park, ending at the Tokyo Art Museum (Hakubutsukan). By then it was 2:00, so we went back to Kiran’s place where they ate some Bento boxed lunches picked up along the way, and I ate the rice balls my roommate made the day before as I was leaving.
Then I ended up running really late to catch my flight, and had some mix-ups on the train (I got off at Narita, not Narita Airport). I’m gonna blame it all on my tiredness, because I kept dozing on the train and waking up with a start not knowing if I missed my stop or what. Anyway, I made it somehow with a little time to spare.
Now on the airplane I’ve been talking with the people sitting next to me. One of them has been to Thailand a lot and has given me a lot of tips. I will probably ditch one of my bags (or more) for the full 8 days at the first hotel tomorrow, because my baggage is ridiculously heavy. Plus, I apparently won’t need winter gloves, sweaters, a coat, or my 20 degree F sleeping bag. Not to mention all the textbooks, souvenirs, framed art objects, multiple pairs of shoes, camping gear, fake Armani suit from Korea, Japan guide books, class notes, and basically everything I have brought. Okay, gotta go. The flight attendant is offering drinks. Bye.
Monday, December 15, 2003
As I pack I’ve been listening to ColdPlay “God put a smile on your face”, and thinking about all the good times I’ve had here in Japan that are now coming to an end. I catch the 11:40 PM night bus to Tokyo, and then tomorrow it’s off to Thailand.
This afternoon I sent a lot of packages and gifts out and ended up paying $130 in postage, but I’m still trowing out all kinds of things, like clothes, and including my homework and old tests. Not just all the failed quizzes and tests from this fall, but almost all the homework and notes from my first year and a half of classes back in the States, although I am not sure why I carried all this literally halfway around the world. Now it looks like I’m going to be carrying lots of useless things to Thailand unless I can find some hotel or storage locker in which to ditch a suitcase or two.
In case I vanish without a trace and someone decides to start looking somewhere, I’m planning to catch flight NW0027 from Tokyo to Bangkok on Tuesday. The first night I’m staying at the Erawan Airport Hotel, 123 Moo 4, Sikan, Donmuang, Bangkok 10210 and the other two former JCMU students are Rob Chynoweth and Jeff Pierson. That’s our plan anyway.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
It's my last night in Hikone, so everything feels like it has some finality to it. Yesterday I ended up going to Karaoke at "Paru" one last night, and had fun as usual. It was me, Lexi, Andrea, Lisa, and Lexi's Mom who arrived a few days ago from America. She's pretty cool and relatively young at 43. We sang a lot of bad '80s rock. Highlights included Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", Eminem's "The real Slim Shady", the accidentally selected "Tokyo Deluxe" (okay, it was really Tokyo Dee-rux), Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", Technotronic's "Pump up the Jam".
Here are all the lyrics to "Pump up the Jam": Pump up the jam, pump it up, pump it, pump it pump it , yo pump it. While your feet are stompin. Look ahead the crowd is jumpin. Pump it up, a little more, get the party goin on the dance floor. Yeah, cuz that's where the party's at and you'll find out if you do that." And repeat about 42 times. Great song.
Today, I went with my roommate to see Nagahama Castle with the free ticket coupon I was given by my conversation partner. Then I came back and Jeff, Rob, and I searched the internet for a hotel in Bangkok where we will meet on Tuesday. Then I was invited to my roommate's family's house for dinner, where we at Shabu Shabu. I love that stuff! It's soooo good. You have no idea. If only it could be recreated in the US. But alas.
And the goodbyes continue as people head out slowly. Ritsuko just said goodbyes, but what's cool is that she'll be going to Michigan in May, so maybe we will meet up there. I feel like I owe her for all the times she drove me places. Saying goodbye is so sad!!!
Friday, December 12, 2003
Friday night. Final is done. Closing ceremony is done. Got my final grade in Japanese today: C- (one person got an A, 2 got A- minuses, the rest were lower). Tomorrow is my last Kendo practice, and I leave for Tokyo on Monday. Students have already left for airports and I probably won't see them again. Tonight I've mostly been copying 8 or 9 gigs of pictures and movie footage from various people before everyone heads off in different directions. It's a strange feeling, but one I've felt before.
I remember my Junior year at Carnegie Mellon when Seniors I knew were graduating, and it was a lonely feeling to realize that they were going off into the world and leaving the familiar confines of college, while I remained behind. It was no big deal for me, but at the same time I think it was sad for those leaving college. I remember a friend of mine who was sad to be leaving and he was going to miss the social aspect of college. Then, the next year, I was one of those graduating and I found it really easy to get the hell out. My plans were already figured out and I looked forward to the future, but it wasn't until years later that I missed college. But now, I find myself in the same boat as my friend was those many years ago. I am leaving a safe environment and am going to be back out in the real world, and life is going to be a lot more complicated again.
When you leave college, you are forced to change. In the real world, some people change and grow and continue to learn, but others get a job and stick with it. Job security becomes the priority and they fight change tooth and nail. Eventually change catches up with even the people that shunned it: a sickness, a death in the family, losing the job, maybe a new baby, maybe a marriage, maybe a divorce. Either way, it forces them to change. I just wonder if it ever gets easier to adjust.
I just have to remember the lesson I learned earlier this year in leaving DaimlerChrysler: have no fear. I know it will all somehow work out, and I need to just enjoy the present and not worry about the future. I can't control anything in the future; it's all out of my hands. And I'm going to Thailand next week, so I should be excited. I am, but I'm kind of dreading all the preparations I have to make and all the goodbyes. Who'd have thought having no responsibilities could be stressful? But I guess I just have different responsibilities, and it's probably just having to change and adapt that's causing me stress. Which is why I have to go with the flow, relax, and enjoy life. After all, I've got free time, I'm in Japan, and I have a lot of friends still here. And only 3 days left and JCMU will be history.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Okay, I've realized my blog posts have absolutely no plot and have become dry accounts of the boring details of my life. Well, this will all change starting now! I owe you, kind reader, an entertaining story, so I'll have to do my best. The problem is, most of the time my life can be pretty boring. Right now I'm at a period of transition and anticipation. I know I'm leaving Japan next week, and I also know I'm in for an adventure in Thailand. I also know I'm in for piles of snow and bills and no job when I go back to Michigan: i.e., reality. So I'm trying to enjoy these moments as best as I can without stressing about the difficulties that I know will appear in the near future. The future will worry for itself.
Lessee, today I decided not to study for my final listening comprehension exam tomorrow because IT MAKES NO FREAKIN DIFFERENCE. My purpose in coming here to Japan has already been fulfilled: I increased my language ability, and took the official Japanese Language Proficiency Exam to certify my ability. I am already getting a crappy grade and I have proven repeatedly that there's no hope of doing better, so I'm not going to bother. Instead, I watched the movie Donny Darko, and I recommend it. It got me thinking about plot and stories and such, since it's a very confusing story but it's cool to watch and try to follow. The ending leaved a little to be desired.
So after that I re-edited my Fuji Video and added in some clips from Baird-Miller san that were previously in the wrong movie format. But thanks to Adobe Premiere, I was able to convert them and now I've put the files into the movie, and re-did the audio with different songs. The only problem is that the movie is now 70 Megs large. I tried to tell the story a little better, by putting some plot development in, but I was a bit limited by the footage. I'll upload a smaller version to my website as soon as I delete some stuff.
Sunday, December 07, 2003
Just was watching some crazy Japanese postmodern movie up in the community TV room. I had to leave because it had this really disturbing character – some young woman that was completely irrational and schizophrenic or something that lived in abandoned Japanese factory and did things like flood the basement and huddle in a empty bathtub with red umbrellas everywhere was being filmed by some fictional documentary filmmaker that was really just an actor. Anyway, you just knew that she’d probably jump off a bridge at the end, and I just didn’t want to go there.
It was one of those really unpleasant to watch movies, and I don’t like movies that make me sad. I guess I empathize with characters like that and feel compassion for them. But I hate feeling like that, especially when the character is so stupid and obviously self destructive. What’s interesting to me about this movie is how it affected my emotions.
I read something the other day in Time magazine or Newsweek about how they’ve determined that people smile differently on either side of their faces. Apparently, the right side of your face is controlled by your left brain, the analytical side, and the left side of your smile is controlled by your right brain. The right brain is associated with creativity and emotion. This got me to thinking about something I’ve known about myself for a long time but never really knew why. When I talk, most of the time it’s out of the right side of my mouth. Yes, it’s very strange and I can talk using my whole mouth but I usually don’t. I never knew why.
So if you know me, you might have realized I’m incredibly analytical about everything, meaning I’m left-brain dominant. I also have a creative and emotional side, but I almost always stifle it with reasoning. I can talk myself out of any emotion, seriously. So this explains why I always talk out the right side of my mouth. If I’m genuinely happy or mad or enthusiastic or excited, then I might use my whole mouth to pronounce words. Told you it was strange. Which brings me back to the movie – I found that this schizo character was making me have these uncomfortable emotions, and suddenly I was pronouncing things with my whole mouth. It’s bizarre how the brain works. I guess I’m fundamentally an unbalanced person. My brain wants to analyze everything all the time.
But here I am, a Libra (astrological sign: a scale, or balance), who previously claimed to always strive to be balanced. Even though I tried to live my life balanced, I can see that the result is that I live from one extreme to the other. There’s no balance at all. And my thinking is all analytical and not emotional.
As one of my friends here told me, “You gotta stop analyzing everything. You’re always trying to put a value on everything you do and trying to maximize it. Just decide that the moment you’re in is the most fun you could have at that moment. Don’t analyze if something would make it better. And then enjoy it. If the moment makes you unhappy, then do something else.” So that’s why I walked out of the movie: despite the temptation to keep watching and analyze why the main character was so fucked up, I just walked out and now I feel much better, plus I got my thoughts written down. There I go again, evaluating the moment.
So today, I took the Japanese proficiency exam in Kyoto, which meant I had to get up ridiculously early to catch some trains and busses to the test taking place. It was at a University nearby the Kinkakuji temple (previously described back in September, as I recall).
Afterwards, I went to the #1 famous Zen rock garden in the world which was nearby, but it was so packed with people that I didn’t feel calm by looking at it. I just felt disturbed that so many people were looking at a large rectangle of raked gravel with the occasional rock and moss lump poking out. Maybe if I were alone and smoking crack the hallucinations would make it interesting. Sorry for the cynicism there. I was in a bad mood after the test, which by the way I did fine on because I took the easiest level. But tests are not fun.
After more wanderings around Kyoto, I caught a bus and a subway and then the train back to Hikone. Travel here can be inconvenient and slow at times, but at least I got to sleep some. Try doing that while driving!
Then I came back and tried to edit my movie of climbing Mt. Fuji again. Since I just gave a speech on Fuji, I thought I could maybe voiceover the movie with the speech. But I need to get a real microphone first. Using headphones as a microphone was resulting in a really quiet recording. At least I have a nice copy of Adobe Premiere now, that I paid $900 for *yeah right* but as far as you know I did. The benefits of having hacker friends. So far I don’t like the program, but I’m still learning how to use it. For that much money, I’m sure it’s very capable.
Friday, December 05, 2003
So, we had our final speeches today and that's over with. I think I'm gonna record the speech I gave and overlay it with the movie I made 2 months ago. It should be cool. Maybe I should do it now while I'm half drunk. I have given up drinking expensive Japanese beer ($2 FOR EACH CAN) and am now drinking some sake glasses that cost like $.95 for about 3 shots worth of sake. I feel nice and relaxed now. Tomorrow I take the Japanese proficiency test near Kyoto, so I've been drinking early in order to get over any potential hangover early. Everyone around here is celebrating the completion of our final speeches. The next thing to worry about for most of them is the final listening comprehension exam on Tuesday. I could care less, and am just excited about going to Thailand. I finally got a message from my friend Dave from grade school/ high school, and he told me all the great places to go in Thailand. It's going to be awesome. I expect to pay like $15 a day and live like a king. Unlike here in Japan.
Got my ticket to Bangkok. 9 days there! I feel sorry for all suckers that think life is about work. Let me tell you: it's not. Fuck work. There's plenty of time for that later. Carpe Diem. And I'm not saying that just because I'm a big slacker or drunk or both. I really mean it.
In case fellow gen-Xers are reading this, you should know that we all probably sound "old school" now. It's true. I realize I am thirty now, and I might have been in denial about it, but despite my efforts, I'm just not hip with the lingo. And probably "hip with the lingo" isn't even slightly cool to say anymore, not that it ever was. But various students are surprised that I'm all about One Night in Bangkok and they can't believe that I actually know that song, until they remember that I actually am 10 years older than them. I constantly laugh at myself and all of us here because our English is getting really poor.
And then I laughed at them for saying "hold the elevator, yo" thinking that "yo" was Japanese (which it is) and that putting it at the end of your sentence is Japanese (which it is). But apparently, everyone knows that yo goes at the end of English sentences now, which I thought was incorrect. I thought it should be at the beginning of sentences, like for example "Yo, hold the elevator" or "Yo, yo, yo, G, what up?". But I was chastised: Yo does go at the end of sentences now. Whod've thunk it. I think it's actually hilarious, because they think it's cool to use "old school" slang, but ask me in another 5 years when I'm really out of touch with today's youth. When I was their age, I never thought anybody was cool that used '70s slang. But actually I do know their slang, it's just that I get it mixed up with my "old school" slang. Dog, chill out yo.
So I'm gonna get plane tickets tonight. It'll cost me 35,000 air miles to go to Bangkok. I'm psyched (more old school slang). Two other students are flying a few hours before me on another airline (costing $330 to them). The beach is sounding really nice after all the work I've done lately. I wrote my final paper for the business class, and then the speech practice was today. Tomorrow (saturday, the bastads) is the real version in front of like 70 people . I am not looking forward to it, but I'm not stressed now because A) I don't care about my grade and B) I am going to Bangkok after finals in two weeks!. Yay.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
I'm going to make this quick because I've been typing for 5 hours straight already. Tomorrow my final paper in the Business class is due, so that's taken a lot of my mental energy. Right now I'm afraid the little can of heated super-sweet coffee from the vending machine feels like it's wearing off. So, yesterday I skipped all classes and it felt great. Gotta have your priorities. I worked a lot on this final paper that I think is pretty important. Since I have no chance at getting a good grade in the Japanese class, I might as well get a 4.0 in the Business class. Besides, I like the topic. I'm writing about the differences between Japanese and American automotive industries and their approaches and reactions to globalization.
This afternoon I went to Kendo practice after a 2 week hiatus due to my being sick two weeks ago and going to Korea last week. I wore the full armor suit again for the second time and was beaten over the head with the shinai. It doesn't hurt too much but it is kind of jarring and disorienting. It's hard not to flinch. So after that, it started to rain so I couldn't make the trip to get my camera dropped off to be fixed. I guess it's not going to happen this trip -- I should have done it back in October when I had no trips planned.
Speaking of trips, it looks like Bankok will the the choice, although I found out I can go to Hong Kong for 50,000 airmiles. It's tempting. Also, Shuu-san is going to do some hiking in Hokkaido, so that's tempting too. We'll see. Okay, later.
Monday, December 01, 2003
Ever since I got back from Korea yesterday and Rob talked to me about a quick trip being planned over Christmas break to either Hong Kong or Bangkok, I've had the song "One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head stuck in my head. But I think we're gonna go! How cool is that. It will cost $550 for plane tickets and hotel 8 days. We decided Hong Kong would be just shopping and I'd rather go someplace cheap. Bangkok will work out well because I officially have only about $600 in cash to last till I get back to the US, so I can charge this vacation package and conserve my cash. Plus, Thailand is ridiculously cheap and I shouldn't need much cash there. So as long as there are still spaces available, we're gonna go. So far we have 4 people seriously interested.
Here are the lyrics to One Night in Bangkok in case you don't know it. Just what is this song about? I wonder (so ka naa...). Or you could download it and sing along...
The complete lyrics are at this site
THE AMERICAN:
Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the city don't know that the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the chess world in a
Show with everything but Yul Brynner
Time flies - doesn't seem a minute
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it
All change - don't you know that when you
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue
It's Iceland... or the Philippines... or Hastings... or... or this place!
COMPANY:
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the god's a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me
...
COMPANY:
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me
I'm afraid that in about 4 months I'm going to look back nostalgically at my time in Japan, so for the record, I need to document the fact that I really really hate the Japanese language class here. Even though I studied periodically for five days and actually knew the material, class this morning basically sucked. They can't teach me shit. It really is bad, but there's only one more week so I am not too worried. But I just wanted to write down the fact that class sucks, even after a 5 day vacation, and that it won't change, and I better not look back fondly on it because it has no redeeming qualities. Except for the view out the classroom window. But that's about it.
