The Chrysanthemum Journal, Week 50
Hello friends, how are you all doing out there? Uh-huh...oh, really? Yeah, that's great. I know! Ha ha ha. But anyway, aren't you here to listen to me and not talk about yourself? Kind of selfish of you, don't you think? No, no, don't mention it. I forgive you. But as long as you're here, pull up a chair and have a cup of tea/joe.
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So as I mentioned in my previous note, one of my friends has come to visit for awhile, all the way from America. Of course, Japan just happens to be the final leg on his pan-Asian trip, which included Taiwan as well. One thing this has helped me to realize is that my room is not exactly as small as I had thought. I'd previously figured it would be impossible for two people to occupy a space this small, but we manage it quite well, even with Cory's ridiculously oversized suitcase. It seems that whereas I overcompensate on vacations by bringing too much money ($2,000 for 3 day trips? What *am* I thinking?) Cory overcompensates by bringing far more than he really needs. For example, he has more shirts in his suitcase than I have in my home closet (I didn't count the dress shirts at the school).
Of course, the very first thing that can cause a problem with a house guest is the expenses that can arise from it. For example, I need to provide entertainment, don't I? So, I ended up buying Soul Calibur IV. However, having never had company over for the purpose of playing vidja games, I also had to buy a brand new controller. The combo together cost me over $100, and the injury to my wallet only got worse when I threw in a copy of Call of Duty 4 to replace the one I'd given back to my student.
So, anyway, another thing that comes with having a house guest is the new and exotic experience every night, yah? And so, because of that, the two of us have been going to quite a few resturants in the area. Fortunately all of them are quite familiar to me, but I'm running out and may have to improvise soon, which could spell big trouble? Well, probably not, but you never know, because we are two wild and crazy guys. Of course, it's not limited just to dining options, but Katata is a little light on anything else. We have yetto actuall walk over the bridge over the lake, but we have done quite a bit of walking, albeit pretty much all at night, and we of course went to go and play my favorite Gundam game. And Gundam card builder, and some Guitar and Drum game whose name I forget.
It's great to have a personal servant here at the house, though. Why, Cory's perfect for doing laundry while I'm away, and going shopping if I need him to, and giving me money if I need it. Good job, Cory.
*I was also happy to hear that many of you out there in Rutgers-land, or those having eently graduted from that land, are enjoying my journals. Thanks for that! Always happy to hear a word from back home and, while I can't promise to respond on the spot, I always make an effort to keep in touch as much as possible.
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I still wonder if the police ever found Ed. He must be pretty crafty.
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One thing I forgot to mention in my last journal is that there as beenan increase in the ranks of those capable of handling the Chad Kebab. Or, well, perhaps I should say that there is one more person who can consume, as I'm not really sure "handle" is the appropriate term.
That's right, fans, Cory Ma has successfully passed the challenge!
The tally at this point has been raised to 4, excluding myself (* denotes someone who flinched):
1 - Unknown Woman* - The unknown woman finished the kebab in 20 minutes, before the Kebab challenge was firmly estblished, and even though she used to be spotted in the bar all the time, has not been seen since. We believe the spices may have taken her out.
2 - My mother* - Mother mostly made it through rather clean, but lost some points for needing lip balm halfway through in order to get rid of the burning sensation on her lips. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen! But since she did manage it, I can't deny her a place on the list. After all, if I let people drink during the consumption, why shouldn't I allow other tools?
3 - Takeshi, my co-worker - No problems whatsoever. Taakshi ate it about a fast as I do. Actually, a little faster since he doesn't have a cat's tongue (the Japanese way to say one has an aversion to hot - temperature-wise - foods), so hedidn't have to wait for it to cool down like I normally do.
4 - Cory* - Finally, Cory managed to wolf it down, but made a near-fatal error when he stopped halfway through to try and let it settle, despite my warnings that the spice is actually a time bomb and is just *waiting* for you to drop your guard.
So that makes two people from America who have attempted to try the Chad Kebab and succeeded. Don't let the numbers fool you, though. Many have tried and failed. In fact, the main reason I run the contest is simply to start conversation, letting people try the kebab and talking to them afterwards about the experience, followed by any other conversation which happens to cross their minds.
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As far as school-side things go, we're doing quite well, and are, as always, planning more and more activities. The busy Back-to-School season is coming up in just a bit, so we need to make sure that we have plenty of activities to intrigue new students. This month, it's a barbecue party. Perhaps a bowling party next month? Not quite sure, but I do need to break in the new lanes here.
Kind of nervous, though, as it seems our manager will be out of the school for a few days due to the Obon Festival. If I had to compare this festival to an American tradition, it would come closes to Halloween, and not because they put on costumes and go get candy. No, we're talking Samhain-ish stuff here. Basically, the boundaries between the world of the dead and the living get kind of fuzzy, and the dead are allowed to return to our world for a brief visit. So, during this time, a lot of families hold festivals for departed spirits and go to visit the graves of their ancestors. Fun stuff, yeah?
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As if one run-in with the police, I had yet another this weekend, though at least this time it was for mostly harmless reasons. Theonly thing that I was forced to sacrifice was a bit of sleep, though I ended up catcing up on quite a bit of that as it is.
Anyway, there I was, sleeping peacefully on my paper-thin-blanket-like-thing-that-serves-as-a-bed-in-this-country (seriously, I should probably get a new one at some point), when the doorbell rings, rousing m from my slumber. Normally, I would just usemy excuse of not being Japanese to turn people away at this point. I mean, who thinks they can disturb my sleep at 10:30! But looking through my monitor (yes, I have an electronic monitor that sows me who's at the door) was a man decked out in a police uniform. I'd just like to point out that it'd be almost impossible for anyone to fake being a Japanese policeman, considering they wear so many decorations it's like they work for TGI Friday's (I'd have said Bennigan's, but I hear they're gone).
So I tell him to keep his britches on (no, not literally), and throw on some britches of my own before hopping out to go and greet him. I forgot to serve him a cup of tea, but I was very thankful that he didn't beat me for forgetting this piece of courtesy. In fact, all he did was ask some questions. Apparently the police in Katata are often hard up for things to do, so they spend their time going to each and every apartment in the area and asking the residents questions about who they are, what they do, and about life in general. I gave not only my phone number and occupation, but ended up talking about my 5-year plans for the future, and stuff like that. And he wrote it all down in this huge book. All while profoundly apologizing for hving disturbed me from my rest.
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The only plan I'd originally had for Sunday was to head out for Kinokuniya, having determined that this was the place to pick up the application for the 2008 Japanese Language Proficiency Test. However, since the only Kinokuniya I know of, in Shiga, is in Otsu Parco. Since there's a theatre in the mall, I figured we might as well try and catch a flick. As luck would have it, Hamunaptra III (known as "The Mummy III" in what I sometimes refer to as The United States of America). I think eventually they'll have to change the series name over here, given that Hamunaptra hasn't appeared since the first movie, and this movie is set in a different part of th world entirely, as will the next.
So, according to the plan, we went to grab my application form from the bookstroe. Interesting thing about Kinokuniya. At one point, their major business focus was on lumber and charcoal. But apparently their main office in Tokyo was destroyed, and when theyopened up a new shop, they changed ther structure so that they'd be selling books instead. Um..quite a leap. Imagne that speech on the office floor. "Now I know that books are slightly more difficult to chop out of trees and pick out of caves,but lets try our best!" But hey, it works for them. In fact, if I recall, Kinokuniya has the largest bookstore in Australia and Singapore.
Also, the movie was great, though not having seen any previews myself, I was very surprised about wat happened to the O'Connel's wife between the movies! I was not prepared for an actress switch! And the woman has signed on for the next three Mummy films!
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Monday saw us making a rather long trip all the way up to Nagoya. We only had plans for one activity, that being to go to a certain art exhibition featuring Cory's favorite illustrator. Of course, the city is about 3 hours away from where I live, meaning we had to set out relatively early. Once we did arrive, though, I was introduced to a certain Indian restaurant. Cory had mentioned this place to me earlier as having had relatively spicy curry. He'd had the regular curry and was almost taken out by that alone. Apparently that experience had made him doubt that he could handle the Chad Kebab. "Ho ho," says I, "what can a mere curry dish do to me?" So we go in and order our food, me ordering the Level 3 curry (the highest). Lo and behold..well...it wasn't negligibly spicy, but I did manage to get through it. I think that due to the fact that it was mostly sauce and not much substance, it had more of an effect, but I woulda been able to have a second bowl, I'll betcha. Good stuff, none-the-less.
So we got to the place where the exhibition was being held and, upon trying to enter, were verbally shooed back by the staff, who offered no explanation aside from saying that the reason was written on a sign outside. So we go to read this sign, and neither of us understand but I notice a spot for a time to be entered, even though no one had filled anything in, so I figure it means we just have to wait. Cory pulls out the dictionary and starts tapping away, eventually discovering that the reason is the gallery is too crowded. Turns out that this artist is also popular for his hentai drawings (Japanese cartoon-styled pornography), but he does have other works which are not quite so bad. Those who have played Shining Tears or Shining Wind might recognize him as being the character designer (don't worry, the links are safe). Still, it was a little awkward standing outside with a bunch of promotional art featuring suggestive images. As that kind of thing is relatively common in Japan, I had no problems with the Japanese customers, but the foreigners were all staring at me! Gah! Turns out we had to wait because they were shooting a news segment inside, so once they cleared out, we were allowed in. The gallery was pretty small, and the pictures inside weren't nearly as suggestive as those outside. They were on sale, too. Only $2,500!
Anyway, once that little excursion was done with, we headed to Mandarake, a game/video/clothing/etc store featuring all things anime/manga/video game related. Found a copy of Tales of the Tempest for only $6, which just so happened to be the same price as all of their games for the original NES. The second floor was home to a number of awesome models, from super-tiny-sized to great bigguns. The third floor held all of the store's cosplay (costume play) gear, including wigs, outfits, accessories, etc, and also their doujin manga (comics). Doujin is a way to say a work, be it video game, manga, or anime that's produced by a fan of a certain series. Sometimes these can be rather famous, such as the Melty Blood fighting game, a douji video game based off of a visual novel called Tsukihime. But even smaller releases can garner quite a bit of popularity. However, a majority of doujin are pornographic in nature, so you have to be careful when shopping for them or you might get something you weren't expecting at all.
And then it was back home on another 3-hour train ride. Slept most of the way, played Phoenix Wright for the rest of it. Cory later discovered that the same artist was having an exhibition in Osaka at the same time, meaning we could have saved 1,000 yen and 2 hours. Hindsight is 20/20?
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There you have it, folks. Hope you enjoyed this week's segment. Look forward to the next one!
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So as I mentioned in my previous note, one of my friends has come to visit for awhile, all the way from America. Of course, Japan just happens to be the final leg on his pan-Asian trip, which included Taiwan as well. One thing this has helped me to realize is that my room is not exactly as small as I had thought. I'd previously figured it would be impossible for two people to occupy a space this small, but we manage it quite well, even with Cory's ridiculously oversized suitcase. It seems that whereas I overcompensate on vacations by bringing too much money ($2,000 for 3 day trips? What *am* I thinking?) Cory overcompensates by bringing far more than he really needs. For example, he has more shirts in his suitcase than I have in my home closet (I didn't count the dress shirts at the school).
Of course, the very first thing that can cause a problem with a house guest is the expenses that can arise from it. For example, I need to provide entertainment, don't I? So, I ended up buying Soul Calibur IV. However, having never had company over for the purpose of playing vidja games, I also had to buy a brand new controller. The combo together cost me over $100, and the injury to my wallet only got worse when I threw in a copy of Call of Duty 4 to replace the one I'd given back to my student.
So, anyway, another thing that comes with having a house guest is the new and exotic experience every night, yah? And so, because of that, the two of us have been going to quite a few resturants in the area. Fortunately all of them are quite familiar to me, but I'm running out and may have to improvise soon, which could spell big trouble? Well, probably not, but you never know, because we are two wild and crazy guys. Of course, it's not limited just to dining options, but Katata is a little light on anything else. We have yetto actuall walk over the bridge over the lake, but we have done quite a bit of walking, albeit pretty much all at night, and we of course went to go and play my favorite Gundam game. And Gundam card builder, and some Guitar and Drum game whose name I forget.
It's great to have a personal servant here at the house, though. Why, Cory's perfect for doing laundry while I'm away, and going shopping if I need him to, and giving me money if I need it. Good job, Cory.
*I was also happy to hear that many of you out there in Rutgers-land, or those having eently graduted from that land, are enjoying my journals. Thanks for that! Always happy to hear a word from back home and, while I can't promise to respond on the spot, I always make an effort to keep in touch as much as possible.
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I still wonder if the police ever found Ed. He must be pretty crafty.
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One thing I forgot to mention in my last journal is that there as beenan increase in the ranks of those capable of handling the Chad Kebab. Or, well, perhaps I should say that there is one more person who can consume, as I'm not really sure "handle" is the appropriate term.
That's right, fans, Cory Ma has successfully passed the challenge!
The tally at this point has been raised to 4, excluding myself (* denotes someone who flinched):
1 - Unknown Woman* - The unknown woman finished the kebab in 20 minutes, before the Kebab challenge was firmly estblished, and even though she used to be spotted in the bar all the time, has not been seen since. We believe the spices may have taken her out.
2 - My mother* - Mother mostly made it through rather clean, but lost some points for needing lip balm halfway through in order to get rid of the burning sensation on her lips. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen! But since she did manage it, I can't deny her a place on the list. After all, if I let people drink during the consumption, why shouldn't I allow other tools?
3 - Takeshi, my co-worker - No problems whatsoever. Taakshi ate it about a fast as I do. Actually, a little faster since he doesn't have a cat's tongue (the Japanese way to say one has an aversion to hot - temperature-wise - foods), so hedidn't have to wait for it to cool down like I normally do.
4 - Cory* - Finally, Cory managed to wolf it down, but made a near-fatal error when he stopped halfway through to try and let it settle, despite my warnings that the spice is actually a time bomb and is just *waiting* for you to drop your guard.
So that makes two people from America who have attempted to try the Chad Kebab and succeeded. Don't let the numbers fool you, though. Many have tried and failed. In fact, the main reason I run the contest is simply to start conversation, letting people try the kebab and talking to them afterwards about the experience, followed by any other conversation which happens to cross their minds.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
As far as school-side things go, we're doing quite well, and are, as always, planning more and more activities. The busy Back-to-School season is coming up in just a bit, so we need to make sure that we have plenty of activities to intrigue new students. This month, it's a barbecue party. Perhaps a bowling party next month? Not quite sure, but I do need to break in the new lanes here.
Kind of nervous, though, as it seems our manager will be out of the school for a few days due to the Obon Festival. If I had to compare this festival to an American tradition, it would come closes to Halloween, and not because they put on costumes and go get candy. No, we're talking Samhain-ish stuff here. Basically, the boundaries between the world of the dead and the living get kind of fuzzy, and the dead are allowed to return to our world for a brief visit. So, during this time, a lot of families hold festivals for departed spirits and go to visit the graves of their ancestors. Fun stuff, yeah?
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As if one run-in with the police, I had yet another this weekend, though at least this time it was for mostly harmless reasons. Theonly thing that I was forced to sacrifice was a bit of sleep, though I ended up catcing up on quite a bit of that as it is.
Anyway, there I was, sleeping peacefully on my paper-thin-blanket-like-thing-that-serves-as-a-bed-in-this-country (seriously, I should probably get a new one at some point), when the doorbell rings, rousing m from my slumber. Normally, I would just usemy excuse of not being Japanese to turn people away at this point. I mean, who thinks they can disturb my sleep at 10:30! But looking through my monitor (yes, I have an electronic monitor that sows me who's at the door) was a man decked out in a police uniform. I'd just like to point out that it'd be almost impossible for anyone to fake being a Japanese policeman, considering they wear so many decorations it's like they work for TGI Friday's (I'd have said Bennigan's, but I hear they're gone).
So I tell him to keep his britches on (no, not literally), and throw on some britches of my own before hopping out to go and greet him. I forgot to serve him a cup of tea, but I was very thankful that he didn't beat me for forgetting this piece of courtesy. In fact, all he did was ask some questions. Apparently the police in Katata are often hard up for things to do, so they spend their time going to each and every apartment in the area and asking the residents questions about who they are, what they do, and about life in general. I gave not only my phone number and occupation, but ended up talking about my 5-year plans for the future, and stuff like that. And he wrote it all down in this huge book. All while profoundly apologizing for hving disturbed me from my rest.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
The only plan I'd originally had for Sunday was to head out for Kinokuniya, having determined that this was the place to pick up the application for the 2008 Japanese Language Proficiency Test. However, since the only Kinokuniya I know of, in Shiga, is in Otsu Parco. Since there's a theatre in the mall, I figured we might as well try and catch a flick. As luck would have it, Hamunaptra III (known as "The Mummy III" in what I sometimes refer to as The United States of America). I think eventually they'll have to change the series name over here, given that Hamunaptra hasn't appeared since the first movie, and this movie is set in a different part of th world entirely, as will the next.
So, according to the plan, we went to grab my application form from the bookstroe. Interesting thing about Kinokuniya. At one point, their major business focus was on lumber and charcoal. But apparently their main office in Tokyo was destroyed, and when theyopened up a new shop, they changed ther structure so that they'd be selling books instead. Um..quite a leap. Imagne that speech on the office floor. "Now I know that books are slightly more difficult to chop out of trees and pick out of caves,but lets try our best!" But hey, it works for them. In fact, if I recall, Kinokuniya has the largest bookstore in Australia and Singapore.
Also, the movie was great, though not having seen any previews myself, I was very surprised about wat happened to the O'Connel's wife between the movies! I was not prepared for an actress switch! And the woman has signed on for the next three Mummy films!
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Monday saw us making a rather long trip all the way up to Nagoya. We only had plans for one activity, that being to go to a certain art exhibition featuring Cory's favorite illustrator. Of course, the city is about 3 hours away from where I live, meaning we had to set out relatively early. Once we did arrive, though, I was introduced to a certain Indian restaurant. Cory had mentioned this place to me earlier as having had relatively spicy curry. He'd had the regular curry and was almost taken out by that alone. Apparently that experience had made him doubt that he could handle the Chad Kebab. "Ho ho," says I, "what can a mere curry dish do to me?" So we go in and order our food, me ordering the Level 3 curry (the highest). Lo and behold..well...it wasn't negligibly spicy, but I did manage to get through it. I think that due to the fact that it was mostly sauce and not much substance, it had more of an effect, but I woulda been able to have a second bowl, I'll betcha. Good stuff, none-the-less.
So we got to the place where the exhibition was being held and, upon trying to enter, were verbally shooed back by the staff, who offered no explanation aside from saying that the reason was written on a sign outside. So we go to read this sign, and neither of us understand but I notice a spot for a time to be entered, even though no one had filled anything in, so I figure it means we just have to wait. Cory pulls out the dictionary and starts tapping away, eventually discovering that the reason is the gallery is too crowded. Turns out that this artist is also popular for his hentai drawings (Japanese cartoon-styled pornography), but he does have other works which are not quite so bad. Those who have played Shining Tears or Shining Wind might recognize him as being the character designer (don't worry, the links are safe). Still, it was a little awkward standing outside with a bunch of promotional art featuring suggestive images. As that kind of thing is relatively common in Japan, I had no problems with the Japanese customers, but the foreigners were all staring at me! Gah! Turns out we had to wait because they were shooting a news segment inside, so once they cleared out, we were allowed in. The gallery was pretty small, and the pictures inside weren't nearly as suggestive as those outside. They were on sale, too. Only $2,500!
Anyway, once that little excursion was done with, we headed to Mandarake, a game/video/clothing/etc store featuring all things anime/manga/video game related. Found a copy of Tales of the Tempest for only $6, which just so happened to be the same price as all of their games for the original NES. The second floor was home to a number of awesome models, from super-tiny-sized to great bigguns. The third floor held all of the store's cosplay (costume play) gear, including wigs, outfits, accessories, etc, and also their doujin manga (comics). Doujin is a way to say a work, be it video game, manga, or anime that's produced by a fan of a certain series. Sometimes these can be rather famous, such as the Melty Blood fighting game, a douji video game based off of a visual novel called Tsukihime. But even smaller releases can garner quite a bit of popularity. However, a majority of doujin are pornographic in nature, so you have to be careful when shopping for them or you might get something you weren't expecting at all.
And then it was back home on another 3-hour train ride. Slept most of the way, played Phoenix Wright for the rest of it. Cory later discovered that the same artist was having an exhibition in Osaka at the same time, meaning we could have saved 1,000 yen and 2 hours. Hindsight is 20/20?
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There you have it, folks. Hope you enjoyed this week's segment. Look forward to the next one!