good conversation and good food
my computer is seriously on fire.. like its gonna explode at any minute. but that doesnt stop me!!! for i am invincible!!! and i must write my blog and listen to music no matter the consequences of the defective puter! man, i need to get the cd drive thing fixed. and buy an external hard drive. but that requires some use of Japanese and im scared.
to start off!
a story:
mawari ni hito bito ga iru
A long day, starting from 6am... it is now closing in on 11pm and im on the train. standing with one hand clutching that thing that hangs from the train's ceiling (what are they called!?) a leg bent, with all my weight on my right side. im tired and haven't the energy to support myself on both legs. my heavy, unsightly backpack rests in my other hand. in front of me sits a middle aged salaryman with legs spread wide open, clutching a book in both hands and staring intently at the characters lining the book from top to bottom, right to left, he reads. I glare at him, trying to send him negative vibes to make him realize he's actually taking up two seats. The guy next to him wears a beanie the same color as his hair; gold. hes young, and good looking so he can pull this off. His right hand holds his cell phone. He continues to mail someone until I reach my station. Behind me, there's a couple. The man holds "?" (one of those things people hold), while the woman innocently, weakly clutches to his free arm. He's dressed in a suit...another salaryman. The woman doesn't look like she came from anywhere specifically. For all anyone knows, she could've costed him that very day's worth of work. Contrary to that possibility, she makes sure to keep her eyes on him. My only guess is that they just finished drinking in Shibuya and now are on their way to his place to do what couples do. They either came from a drinking party or drank alone, but they definitely have some sort of relationship. I can tell by looking at how she looks at him. I've never seen a woman of her age give a man that look before. I've seen it in other girls my age. I'm young and that sort of look is pretty common. They face each other, smiling a little, with eyes that say the night has just begun. And when his eyes start to wander, when he appears to lose interest, when he yawns, she tugs at his arm and gives him a different facial expression, one unexpected and without meaning. the type of expression to fill gaps of nothingness in a helpless way to regain his attention. he half-asses the same expression back at her, keeps his eyes on her a moment, and a moment later returns his attention to something less exciting. while she plays with him, i hear a group of maybe three girls giggling about something i cant understand. all i catch is "natsukashii." the pitch of their voices solidifies the stereotype ive created for japanese women. .... "jiyugaoka" my stop. i do a 180 while brushing somewhat roughly against people, head for the door; always a space too small for me, yet somehow i make it out the door, down the stairs, out of the station. when i walk through a sea of people in japan, i thank my mom for making me play soccer when i was five. because of the soccer skills ive acquired from playing soccer for 13 years, i can dodge people; i can wind through people. and doing this is nothing out of the ordinary. its like a game and games are usually pretty enjoyable.
end of story.
but while walking home, i stopped at the conbini (convenient store) for nothing in particular. gluttony at its finest. i find a new drink, mango lassi! excited, i figure there's nothing better to buy than this mango lassi. after paying for it, i decide i must buy all the awesome drinks and snacks i can find at that conbini and take a picture for share-time. while sharing, i will confidentally say, "This is the reason why i love Japan!" then share-time will be over and everyone will want to come to Japan. But yeah, on the way to my home-stay house, a dog was running down the street. the first time i saw it, i thought to myself "Is that a cat??" then i saw it again. the dog was lost. i went over to where it was hiding in the narrow street, bent down, and called to the tiny pooch. not a cute dog and i didnt really want it to come to me, but i called "oide" nonetheless. as i was trying to coo the dog, a salaryman stopped aside me. he had seen the maigo pooch a moment ago. he said something like "do u know whos dog that is?" "no" he bent over as well and attempted to call the dog over. he said "abunai" and then "blah blah blah" im guessing he said something about how he saw the dog run earlier around the sreet. up the narrow rode, was an older couple. they were cleaning up their place. the old lady looks our way with trash in both hands and says, "kawaii" not realizing the dog is lost. she then walks towards us trash in hand to dispose of it on the side of the street. the dog darts away. the noise from the trash was enough. the dogs sudden dash for no-where-land surprised the lady, so she asked "blah blah" in which the salaryman replied "blah maigo blah" "maigo?! blah kawaisou!" and then i snuck away. this conversation was enough for me. if i had caught the dog (and i was close to catching it) my poor japanese skills would no longer be a secret and i would be nailed the gaijin i am. at least now i know how important dogs are in japan. if one is lost, everyone will know. then they will talk about it. as i slid away and headed home mango lassi in hand, i turned around to see if salaryman was still talking to old lady. they were. but i also saw a lady run after the dog. after seeing someone go so far as to RUN after the thing, everyone was allowed to feel relieved, thus continuing ones kaeri.
end of that story.
okay sooo for 2007/2008 i have plans. as time goes on i will no stop learning. it will never end. i do not want to just learn from the tv either. today i went to a club practice for dancing. so i danced from 630-9pm and it felt REALLY good. i love fun exercise!!! im glad im participating although i feel like im jama... especially since its DEREK'S THING. oh well... because of it, ive got hang out with really awesome people! called kay, naomi, and olivia! olivia isnt as crazy as naomi and kay... naomi is super crazy. kay is crazy too but not as crazy as naomi. ive never met people like naomi and kay before. naomi is half japanese... her mom is japanese and her dad is jewish. she was born in california. kay is full japanese and has dual citizenship. she was born in oregan. her dad is japanese and spent his life in japan while she lived with her mom in oregan. i forget if they have siblings. i know one of them does. naomi is 23, turning 24 this year. kay turns 21 in october. both of their bdays are in october? their lives are super interesting to me. im fascinated. they both can speak japanese, but it is limited. they get by tho. they are both nisei. i am yonsei. theyre second generation and im fourth, so were totally different in that respect. theyve got these indentifiable japanese roots while i have whatever hawaii gave me. ive never expected to feel this sort of connection with someone just because we have similar backgrounds. it feels really nice to have this big part of my life now in common with someone else my age and in a very similar situation. kay is going to waseda for the full 4 yrs after graduating highschool in oregan. it makes sense that she lives with her dad now. he owns some company here, so she has it good. naomi is only here for a year, but shes living with her mom. i think her parents divorced. they both arent very attracted to japanese boys, but are making an effort to see the light.. just like me! we are all attracted to halfies tho. ive never met so many half japanese people. i can usually tell when someone is half japanese. only after meeting people like me do i feel special being half, but i do wish i knew the language already. then id be an authentic halfy in japan. haha. ive decided i do want to change my name back. i wouldnt mind changing my middle name back too. maybe i can just use both?
today we all had practice together. after practice, i had dinner with kay at a family restaurant. we had pasta, french fries, karaage, gyoza, and an ichigo parfait for dessert. ive never clicked so well with someone before. im really amazed and feel really lucky to have met her. i almost feel like im in a relationship with her by saying "im not sure if she feels the same way" because she is just as open and free a spirit as i am. and those two qualities are big qualities, qualities that make making friends easier, lighter, and more fun. shes going to barcelona to study abroad for a year. as we were eating, we talked about food. i told her about an amazing restaurant i heard about somewhere called, el bulli. ive seen one of the books they put out. allegra, one of the cooks at medicine eastation, showed it to me. i sat and stared at those pictures for at least an hour. during that hour, i decided i MUST go to this restaurant no matter what. i dont care if it costs me a thousand dollars, IM THERE! and to my HUGE surprise as i revisit the el bulli website, i find that it is ONLY 2 HOURS AWAY FROM BARCELONA! and if this girl, kay, is for reals, then i am going to barcelona to visit her and we are going to this restaurant! were gonna sip on wine and let our tastebuds go on a ride of their lifetime! so if i go then ill leave between april and september because this place is only open within that time. reservations begin on january. ill make it happen. the only thing im worried about is whether or not my tastebuds/nose will be functional. i have to make some sort of goal, like... STOP THESE ALLERGIES! I WILL TASTE LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING. I WILL BE ABLE TO SMELL ALL SMELLS! yeah, something along those lines. this is life.
and now its time for sleep.
love,
katy
to start off!
a story:
mawari ni hito bito ga iru
A long day, starting from 6am... it is now closing in on 11pm and im on the train. standing with one hand clutching that thing that hangs from the train's ceiling (what are they called!?) a leg bent, with all my weight on my right side. im tired and haven't the energy to support myself on both legs. my heavy, unsightly backpack rests in my other hand. in front of me sits a middle aged salaryman with legs spread wide open, clutching a book in both hands and staring intently at the characters lining the book from top to bottom, right to left, he reads. I glare at him, trying to send him negative vibes to make him realize he's actually taking up two seats. The guy next to him wears a beanie the same color as his hair; gold. hes young, and good looking so he can pull this off. His right hand holds his cell phone. He continues to mail someone until I reach my station. Behind me, there's a couple. The man holds "?" (one of those things people hold), while the woman innocently, weakly clutches to his free arm. He's dressed in a suit...another salaryman. The woman doesn't look like she came from anywhere specifically. For all anyone knows, she could've costed him that very day's worth of work. Contrary to that possibility, she makes sure to keep her eyes on him. My only guess is that they just finished drinking in Shibuya and now are on their way to his place to do what couples do. They either came from a drinking party or drank alone, but they definitely have some sort of relationship. I can tell by looking at how she looks at him. I've never seen a woman of her age give a man that look before. I've seen it in other girls my age. I'm young and that sort of look is pretty common. They face each other, smiling a little, with eyes that say the night has just begun. And when his eyes start to wander, when he appears to lose interest, when he yawns, she tugs at his arm and gives him a different facial expression, one unexpected and without meaning. the type of expression to fill gaps of nothingness in a helpless way to regain his attention. he half-asses the same expression back at her, keeps his eyes on her a moment, and a moment later returns his attention to something less exciting. while she plays with him, i hear a group of maybe three girls giggling about something i cant understand. all i catch is "natsukashii." the pitch of their voices solidifies the stereotype ive created for japanese women. .... "jiyugaoka" my stop. i do a 180 while brushing somewhat roughly against people, head for the door; always a space too small for me, yet somehow i make it out the door, down the stairs, out of the station. when i walk through a sea of people in japan, i thank my mom for making me play soccer when i was five. because of the soccer skills ive acquired from playing soccer for 13 years, i can dodge people; i can wind through people. and doing this is nothing out of the ordinary. its like a game and games are usually pretty enjoyable.
end of story.
but while walking home, i stopped at the conbini (convenient store) for nothing in particular. gluttony at its finest. i find a new drink, mango lassi! excited, i figure there's nothing better to buy than this mango lassi. after paying for it, i decide i must buy all the awesome drinks and snacks i can find at that conbini and take a picture for share-time. while sharing, i will confidentally say, "This is the reason why i love Japan!" then share-time will be over and everyone will want to come to Japan. But yeah, on the way to my home-stay house, a dog was running down the street. the first time i saw it, i thought to myself "Is that a cat??" then i saw it again. the dog was lost. i went over to where it was hiding in the narrow street, bent down, and called to the tiny pooch. not a cute dog and i didnt really want it to come to me, but i called "oide" nonetheless. as i was trying to coo the dog, a salaryman stopped aside me. he had seen the maigo pooch a moment ago. he said something like "do u know whos dog that is?" "no" he bent over as well and attempted to call the dog over. he said "abunai" and then "blah blah blah" im guessing he said something about how he saw the dog run earlier around the sreet. up the narrow rode, was an older couple. they were cleaning up their place. the old lady looks our way with trash in both hands and says, "kawaii" not realizing the dog is lost. she then walks towards us trash in hand to dispose of it on the side of the street. the dog darts away. the noise from the trash was enough. the dogs sudden dash for no-where-land surprised the lady, so she asked "blah blah" in which the salaryman replied "blah maigo blah" "maigo?! blah kawaisou!" and then i snuck away. this conversation was enough for me. if i had caught the dog (and i was close to catching it) my poor japanese skills would no longer be a secret and i would be nailed the gaijin i am. at least now i know how important dogs are in japan. if one is lost, everyone will know. then they will talk about it. as i slid away and headed home mango lassi in hand, i turned around to see if salaryman was still talking to old lady. they were. but i also saw a lady run after the dog. after seeing someone go so far as to RUN after the thing, everyone was allowed to feel relieved, thus continuing ones kaeri.
end of that story.
okay sooo for 2007/2008 i have plans. as time goes on i will no stop learning. it will never end. i do not want to just learn from the tv either. today i went to a club practice for dancing. so i danced from 630-9pm and it felt REALLY good. i love fun exercise!!! im glad im participating although i feel like im jama... especially since its DEREK'S THING. oh well... because of it, ive got hang out with really awesome people! called kay, naomi, and olivia! olivia isnt as crazy as naomi and kay... naomi is super crazy. kay is crazy too but not as crazy as naomi. ive never met people like naomi and kay before. naomi is half japanese... her mom is japanese and her dad is jewish. she was born in california. kay is full japanese and has dual citizenship. she was born in oregan. her dad is japanese and spent his life in japan while she lived with her mom in oregan. i forget if they have siblings. i know one of them does. naomi is 23, turning 24 this year. kay turns 21 in october. both of their bdays are in october? their lives are super interesting to me. im fascinated. they both can speak japanese, but it is limited. they get by tho. they are both nisei. i am yonsei. theyre second generation and im fourth, so were totally different in that respect. theyve got these indentifiable japanese roots while i have whatever hawaii gave me. ive never expected to feel this sort of connection with someone just because we have similar backgrounds. it feels really nice to have this big part of my life now in common with someone else my age and in a very similar situation. kay is going to waseda for the full 4 yrs after graduating highschool in oregan. it makes sense that she lives with her dad now. he owns some company here, so she has it good. naomi is only here for a year, but shes living with her mom. i think her parents divorced. they both arent very attracted to japanese boys, but are making an effort to see the light.. just like me! we are all attracted to halfies tho. ive never met so many half japanese people. i can usually tell when someone is half japanese. only after meeting people like me do i feel special being half, but i do wish i knew the language already. then id be an authentic halfy in japan. haha. ive decided i do want to change my name back. i wouldnt mind changing my middle name back too. maybe i can just use both?
today we all had practice together. after practice, i had dinner with kay at a family restaurant. we had pasta, french fries, karaage, gyoza, and an ichigo parfait for dessert. ive never clicked so well with someone before. im really amazed and feel really lucky to have met her. i almost feel like im in a relationship with her by saying "im not sure if she feels the same way" because she is just as open and free a spirit as i am. and those two qualities are big qualities, qualities that make making friends easier, lighter, and more fun. shes going to barcelona to study abroad for a year. as we were eating, we talked about food. i told her about an amazing restaurant i heard about somewhere called, el bulli. ive seen one of the books they put out. allegra, one of the cooks at medicine eastation, showed it to me. i sat and stared at those pictures for at least an hour. during that hour, i decided i MUST go to this restaurant no matter what. i dont care if it costs me a thousand dollars, IM THERE! and to my HUGE surprise as i revisit the el bulli website, i find that it is ONLY 2 HOURS AWAY FROM BARCELONA! and if this girl, kay, is for reals, then i am going to barcelona to visit her and we are going to this restaurant! were gonna sip on wine and let our tastebuds go on a ride of their lifetime! so if i go then ill leave between april and september because this place is only open within that time. reservations begin on january. ill make it happen. the only thing im worried about is whether or not my tastebuds/nose will be functional. i have to make some sort of goal, like... STOP THESE ALLERGIES! I WILL TASTE LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING. I WILL BE ABLE TO SMELL ALL SMELLS! yeah, something along those lines. this is life.
and now its time for sleep.
love,
katy