"I don't pick fights I can't win"
So, I undeniably realize that I absolutely completely and utterly suck at speaking Japanese and kanji recognition. There's really nothing that gets your ass motivated like studying a language then going to the country and not being able to speak it. It's quite shameful at how amazingly poorly I'm doing, yet quite amusing at the same time.
I've also given up on uploading pictures for the time being. I've taken plenty though, so I'll have plenty to share when I get back.
Anyway, here's been the lowdown so far. I can't actually remember the order very well, since a lot has been going on, but here goes anyway:
7月11日
Had a lecture on Japanese food today - "What's Japanese about Japanese food?" - which I thought made Japanese food sound even less appealing, though I seemed to be the only one. Either way, it's all about presentation and stuff. Or something.
Wasn't feeling particularly adventurous today, so I stayed in and started playing Fire Emblem 8. You're right Chris, I really do like Ephraim, despite his name being "Ephraim" (this entry's title comes from one of his trademark lines).
7月12日
Went to the NHK broadcasting museum today. NHK is the equivilant to PBS and BBC. The museum trip was pretty uninteresting, but the role the media plays in terms of being a watchdog on politics is. Journalists here develop close ties with the people they report on, so they could potentially find out devistating information about a person, but not break the story due to guilt issues. Either way, it's very interesting.
7月13日
We got a chance to meet with representative おしま(Oshima) from あおもり(Aomori) prefecture from the House of Representatives, as well as visit the Diet building. While a good guy, おしま is clearly a politican. Either way, it was particularly cool. The diet building is quite the interesting building, since there's clearly a very "western" feel to it - it very much resembled British Parliament that way.
7月14日
Went to the studio ジブリ anime museum. (Studio Ghibli, think Mononoke, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service). Quite the bizarre place, as its more of a playground than an actual museum, but very interesting as well. Didn't allow for pictures though. Also got to see a small movie short there of トトロと猫バス(Totoro and the Catbus, I don't know what the official title was). The really sad part is that I understood about 97% of the entire movie.
7月15日
Visited the US Embassy today. It felt good being on home soil. But seriously, nothing really interesting to report here other than the amazingly bland reports that were offered. The more interesting story is when John (more about him later) decided that he did not need a security escort to go to the bathroom. Our badges said "ESCORT REQUIRED" in giant type on them. But he felt that he didn't need one to go to the bathroom. So when Dr. Welch told him that he couldn't go until later (in the middle of the presentation I should add), he went anyway.
The economic advisor-guy-person mused by saying that he hopes the Marines don't find him first. Both Art and I aspire to be this guy.
Anyway, this made Welch so furious that she scolded at him. Much to the surprise of everybody, he wound up arguing back, saying that he had a right to pee, then proceeded to ask our escort that if he was offended that he went to go pee. The guy is a winner.
Either way, that night was a "cultural exchange party" in which we got to hang out with Japanese students who were studying English. Everybody (including professors) got drunk, which was amazingly amsuing. Afterwards, we all (sans professors) went to a club and got even more shitfaced. We missed the last train, and had to take taxis home which was an adventure in itself!
Yes, even your humble updater here got drunk. I reserve myself for only drinking on special occasions (Dr. Kanatsu asked "Well isn't every day a special occasion?" after he got some booze in him), but I figured this was a special enough occasion to warrant it. And yeah, I got plastered. Not as bad as some, but I was definitely down there.
7月16日
Free day. Did nothing, since I was tired, had to do laundry, and five papers to write. None of which got accomplished, since I fell asleep after lunch.
I've decided that the western influence on Tokyo is a completely great thing, and should affect the entire country more than it has. The old styles and traditions of Tokyo I find are completely and utterly frustrating, though I definitely deal with them in stride. I also love the transit here - hooray for public railway systems!
I haven't nearly exposed myself to as much gaming, anime, and manga as I thought I would. I'm sure that'll change in the upcoming days though.
I'll probably post again one or two more times before we head off to Kyoto and other regions. I don't expect to be able to post at ALL when I get there, but we'll see. Until then, さようなら。
I've also given up on uploading pictures for the time being. I've taken plenty though, so I'll have plenty to share when I get back.
Anyway, here's been the lowdown so far. I can't actually remember the order very well, since a lot has been going on, but here goes anyway:
7月11日
Had a lecture on Japanese food today - "What's Japanese about Japanese food?" - which I thought made Japanese food sound even less appealing, though I seemed to be the only one. Either way, it's all about presentation and stuff. Or something.
Wasn't feeling particularly adventurous today, so I stayed in and started playing Fire Emblem 8. You're right Chris, I really do like Ephraim, despite his name being "Ephraim" (this entry's title comes from one of his trademark lines).
7月12日
Went to the NHK broadcasting museum today. NHK is the equivilant to PBS and BBC. The museum trip was pretty uninteresting, but the role the media plays in terms of being a watchdog on politics is. Journalists here develop close ties with the people they report on, so they could potentially find out devistating information about a person, but not break the story due to guilt issues. Either way, it's very interesting.
7月13日
We got a chance to meet with representative おしま(Oshima) from あおもり(Aomori) prefecture from the House of Representatives, as well as visit the Diet building. While a good guy, おしま is clearly a politican. Either way, it was particularly cool. The diet building is quite the interesting building, since there's clearly a very "western" feel to it - it very much resembled British Parliament that way.
7月14日
Went to the studio ジブリ anime museum. (Studio Ghibli, think Mononoke, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service). Quite the bizarre place, as its more of a playground than an actual museum, but very interesting as well. Didn't allow for pictures though. Also got to see a small movie short there of トトロと猫バス(Totoro and the Catbus, I don't know what the official title was). The really sad part is that I understood about 97% of the entire movie.
7月15日
Visited the US Embassy today. It felt good being on home soil. But seriously, nothing really interesting to report here other than the amazingly bland reports that were offered. The more interesting story is when John (more about him later) decided that he did not need a security escort to go to the bathroom. Our badges said "ESCORT REQUIRED" in giant type on them. But he felt that he didn't need one to go to the bathroom. So when Dr. Welch told him that he couldn't go until later (in the middle of the presentation I should add), he went anyway.
The economic advisor-guy-person mused by saying that he hopes the Marines don't find him first. Both Art and I aspire to be this guy.
Anyway, this made Welch so furious that she scolded at him. Much to the surprise of everybody, he wound up arguing back, saying that he had a right to pee, then proceeded to ask our escort that if he was offended that he went to go pee. The guy is a winner.
Either way, that night was a "cultural exchange party" in which we got to hang out with Japanese students who were studying English. Everybody (including professors) got drunk, which was amazingly amsuing. Afterwards, we all (sans professors) went to a club and got even more shitfaced. We missed the last train, and had to take taxis home which was an adventure in itself!
Yes, even your humble updater here got drunk. I reserve myself for only drinking on special occasions (Dr. Kanatsu asked "Well isn't every day a special occasion?" after he got some booze in him), but I figured this was a special enough occasion to warrant it. And yeah, I got plastered. Not as bad as some, but I was definitely down there.
7月16日
Free day. Did nothing, since I was tired, had to do laundry, and five papers to write. None of which got accomplished, since I fell asleep after lunch.
I've decided that the western influence on Tokyo is a completely great thing, and should affect the entire country more than it has. The old styles and traditions of Tokyo I find are completely and utterly frustrating, though I definitely deal with them in stride. I also love the transit here - hooray for public railway systems!
I haven't nearly exposed myself to as much gaming, anime, and manga as I thought I would. I'm sure that'll change in the upcoming days though.
I'll probably post again one or two more times before we head off to Kyoto and other regions. I don't expect to be able to post at ALL when I get there, but we'll see. Until then, さようなら。