Nakatsu Joe... get it?
Contents:
Prelude
Day 1
Day 2 Preview: No Pants
Day 2: Famicom Dojo
Day 3: Nakatsu Joe
Day 3 (2006/05/28): Nakatsu Joe
This was the day for cultural experiences. Technically, a lot of the Famicom disk stuff I talked about happened on this day, because I didn't pick up a working Famicom until after church.
Which was terribly interesting, by the way.
Vinnk goes to a Catholic church in Nakatsu. I think maybe 1% of the entire Japanese population is Christian of some variety or another (and I'm to understand that quite a few of these are in Nagasaki, where I went to school for four months). So seeing this cross-breed of cultures was quite very unusual. Vinnk gives out free lessons to the church kids -- who are absolutely adorable, by the way -- including his "daughter". Think of it like a game of telephone, or one of those emails with pictures and a totally bogus (but plausible) description. I can see why he is a teacher.
We went to see the Nakatsu Castle (or, as they say in Japanese 中津城, or "Nakatsu-jou"), which is really just a reconstructed keep in the center of the castle grounds. Nakatsu used to be a samurai town, defended by waterways and watchtowers. It's also a port town, and if a ship came over the horizon that wasn't supposed to be there, it'd be taken down very quickly.
We ran into Joe's relatives from the Philippines, who just so happened to be visiting the castle that day; he is one of the JET English teachers, I believe. "What's in Nakatsu?" Kevin asked me as he would ask someone who didn't think it was a good tourist destination, "well, have you seen our Nakatsu Joe?"
It wasn't until later in the evening that I understood this joke, partly because when I hear words I visualize them differently (especially when I know they're in different languages), but mostly because he would refer to the place as the English "Nakatsu Castle". In fact, perhaps the only reason I realized the connection a few hours later instead of a few days later was because he did say "Nakatsu-jou" a couple of times.
Yeah, I'm dumb.
The day ended with testing out disk games and watching DVDs. If none of you has seen Wonder Falls yet, I highly recommend it. Wonderful acting, cutting dialogue, and a lead who can deliver the most innocuous lines with a punch I didn't know was possible.
And it's friggin' weird as hell.
~Sean
[Gallery] 2006 - Kyushu - Nakatsu-jou
Prelude
Day 1
Day 2 Preview: No Pants
Day 2: Famicom Dojo
Day 3: Nakatsu Joe
Day 3 (2006/05/28): Nakatsu Joe
This was the day for cultural experiences. Technically, a lot of the Famicom disk stuff I talked about happened on this day, because I didn't pick up a working Famicom until after church.
Which was terribly interesting, by the way.
Vinnk goes to a Catholic church in Nakatsu. I think maybe 1% of the entire Japanese population is Christian of some variety or another (and I'm to understand that quite a few of these are in Nagasaki, where I went to school for four months). So seeing this cross-breed of cultures was quite very unusual. Vinnk gives out free lessons to the church kids -- who are absolutely adorable, by the way -- including his "daughter". Think of it like a game of telephone, or one of those emails with pictures and a totally bogus (but plausible) description. I can see why he is a teacher.
We went to see the Nakatsu Castle (or, as they say in Japanese 中津城, or "Nakatsu-jou"), which is really just a reconstructed keep in the center of the castle grounds. Nakatsu used to be a samurai town, defended by waterways and watchtowers. It's also a port town, and if a ship came over the horizon that wasn't supposed to be there, it'd be taken down very quickly.
We ran into Joe's relatives from the Philippines, who just so happened to be visiting the castle that day; he is one of the JET English teachers, I believe. "What's in Nakatsu?" Kevin asked me as he would ask someone who didn't think it was a good tourist destination, "well, have you seen our Nakatsu Joe?"
It wasn't until later in the evening that I understood this joke, partly because when I hear words I visualize them differently (especially when I know they're in different languages), but mostly because he would refer to the place as the English "Nakatsu Castle". In fact, perhaps the only reason I realized the connection a few hours later instead of a few days later was because he did say "Nakatsu-jou" a couple of times.
Yeah, I'm dumb.
The day ended with testing out disk games and watching DVDs. If none of you has seen Wonder Falls yet, I highly recommend it. Wonderful acting, cutting dialogue, and a lead who can deliver the most innocuous lines with a punch I didn't know was possible.
And it's friggin' weird as hell.
~Sean
[Gallery] 2006 - Kyushu - Nakatsu-jou