Hello! I'm back, but only for a brief moment today. I am getting my self into the writing mode for a ten page paper that's looming over my head. Other than that I have only one final exam to do on Wednesday. I'm almost completely done with school, and then off to Okinawa! Anyways, I wanted to let everyone know that I updated my blog (photos and posts), as well as had an awesome weekend in Totori prefecture. I saw: sand dunes, camels, the Sea of Japan, a port full of concrete jumping jacks, famous rock formations, the sunset from a bathhouse, Kobe port, and almost too much of Japan's road/countryside. It was excellent, but I'll let the pictures do the talking this time. Note the new header photo, where Maija and I are being stalked by a Japanese tourist. That is a funny story because there ended up being several camera wielding tourists in our faces. It was hilarious.
I really need to do this paper tonight though. Some strings must be pulled in order to get a mediocre grade in this class. Honestly, I can't wait for summer, it will be something else! Ok, check out the pictures, and read the rest of my "ketchup" post. Peace.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Let's Play Ketchup.
Ok, so it's been a month, oops. This comes with the territory of being abroad, I get busy, I get lazy. Today being the 13th of May, I will be home in less than a month. Wow; I have many mixed feelings about this. I feel like the past four months have just been a dream that I'm slowly waking from as my departure draws nearer. Slowly I am forgetting the details, the people, and the places of this dream in order to reintegrate with real life. It is only fair though, and I think I'll manage; but for the record it has been worth every second. As wonderful as it all is though, I feel my girlfriend, family, and friends are even more wonderful. Being away has helped me appreciate that which I hold dear to me all the more. Less than a month to go and I'm already biding my time.
It took until my last post for Japan to lose its appeal for me. Three months kept me sufficiently entertained, but now I have reached my limit. Gaidai got to me, not Japan but school. I feel trapped there, not just Gaidai, but academia too. I think I'm being played by the system and I don't like it one bit. I'm starting to think that it's not me who needs the system, it's the system that needs me. I have come to learn recently that I am a selective learner, not a information sponge. Even while learning Japanese if my mood about the material is not just right, nothing will enter my brain. Lately I've been reading and writing quite a bit, and it has distracted me from my studies somewhat. I have a million ideas floating in my head at all times. Every time one of them sounds good, I want to drop everything that I'm doing for the moment and pursue my thoughts. I think it is some latent form of ADD. Stress seems to affect its intensity too. Now that I know this though, I think I'll be ok. It's finals time and whether I like it or not, it will all soon be over.
Besides all this depressing jabber (I assure you I am not depressed though, just having a small crisis), I have done many things within the past month. I believe I left off somewhere between being rather pissed at Maija and happy about Osaka. Now I'm not quite so pissed at Maija (time does heal most things), and I still love Osaka. 4/20 surprised me with an awesome school festival in which Johnny and I helped our tennis club "Chupa Chups" recruit new members. The weather was beautiful, I saw some local bands play, and the Gaidai cheerleaders did some crazy back flipping stuff. The next two weeks were taken up by birthdays, Johnny's parents, laundry, a music festival, school (obviously), and GOLDEN WEEK.
Now that I am back on the Internet (how long I don't know), I think I'm ready to disclose a few details about said events. Post festival week included Maija (Tuesday) and Yuri's (Friday) birthday parties. Both equally entertaining and delicious. For Maija's party , myself and about twenty friends/aqqaintences rolled out to an izakaya near Hirakata station. Frankly it was the best food I've ever had the pleasure of eating at an izakaya. I was stuffed and filled to perfection that night, and thankfully not too drunk (it was a school night afterall). I can't say as much for the b-day girl though; old habits die hard (much like Bruce Willis). At least when 4AM rolled around there were no after parties in our apartment. Next there was Yuri's B-day to bring about a close to the week of birthdays, and it was great. We had makizushi, where you get to make your own sushi rolls. It was great, and we didn't even have to leave the apartment.
Birthday week done with, there was supposed to be time to enjoy traveling with Johnny's parents, but plans can fall through and so often they do. I ended up either not having the funds, or previous engagements got in the way. I missed my chance to see Hiroshima, the Umeharas, and Nara. It's okay though, because I was able to go to an amazing music festival in Osaka. The festival was called Nagisa music festival, and I went to it with my friends, Andrew, Kiara, and Cory. (Yes, there were two Cory's at this festival). It was awesome, many Japanese hippies, and a ton of good music. There was an awesome band I saw called 8OTTO, the drummer was also the lead singer. I respect any band that can pull that off; they had a great stage presence. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
Next came Golden Week(end), and I had a wonderful 4 day, weekend. I went to a flee market with Johnny and Yuri, got some laundry done, and saw one of Japan's most famous sites: Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion. It was great, golden, and full of humongous fishes. I went alone, and it was perfect weather. I looked around Kyoto's shotengai for a little while afterwards, and had an awesome okonomiyaki/yakisoba/onigiri dinner at a restaurant called "Mr. Young Man". I had the "Youngu Man Ranchi" which I thought was called unchi(shit) instead of ranchi(lunch). I had a good laugh with the waitress when my mistake was clarified. I really just thought the name was a funny pun on food.
The next two weeks marked the end of classes, and beginning of finals preparations. I had four tests, two written, and two oral. The tests went a variety of ways, some good and some bad. Anyways, I would like to give a shout out to Steve Longland, the Bundschuhs, and my MOM. Thank you for reading, I'm almost home!
It took until my last post for Japan to lose its appeal for me. Three months kept me sufficiently entertained, but now I have reached my limit. Gaidai got to me, not Japan but school. I feel trapped there, not just Gaidai, but academia too. I think I'm being played by the system and I don't like it one bit. I'm starting to think that it's not me who needs the system, it's the system that needs me. I have come to learn recently that I am a selective learner, not a information sponge. Even while learning Japanese if my mood about the material is not just right, nothing will enter my brain. Lately I've been reading and writing quite a bit, and it has distracted me from my studies somewhat. I have a million ideas floating in my head at all times. Every time one of them sounds good, I want to drop everything that I'm doing for the moment and pursue my thoughts. I think it is some latent form of ADD. Stress seems to affect its intensity too. Now that I know this though, I think I'll be ok. It's finals time and whether I like it or not, it will all soon be over.
Besides all this depressing jabber (I assure you I am not depressed though, just having a small crisis), I have done many things within the past month. I believe I left off somewhere between being rather pissed at Maija and happy about Osaka. Now I'm not quite so pissed at Maija (time does heal most things), and I still love Osaka. 4/20 surprised me with an awesome school festival in which Johnny and I helped our tennis club "Chupa Chups" recruit new members. The weather was beautiful, I saw some local bands play, and the Gaidai cheerleaders did some crazy back flipping stuff. The next two weeks were taken up by birthdays, Johnny's parents, laundry, a music festival, school (obviously), and GOLDEN WEEK.
Now that I am back on the Internet (how long I don't know), I think I'm ready to disclose a few details about said events. Post festival week included Maija (Tuesday) and Yuri's (Friday) birthday parties. Both equally entertaining and delicious. For Maija's party , myself and about twenty friends/aqqaintences rolled out to an izakaya near Hirakata station. Frankly it was the best food I've ever had the pleasure of eating at an izakaya. I was stuffed and filled to perfection that night, and thankfully not too drunk (it was a school night afterall). I can't say as much for the b-day girl though; old habits die hard (much like Bruce Willis). At least when 4AM rolled around there were no after parties in our apartment. Next there was Yuri's B-day to bring about a close to the week of birthdays, and it was great. We had makizushi, where you get to make your own sushi rolls. It was great, and we didn't even have to leave the apartment.
Birthday week done with, there was supposed to be time to enjoy traveling with Johnny's parents, but plans can fall through and so often they do. I ended up either not having the funds, or previous engagements got in the way. I missed my chance to see Hiroshima, the Umeharas, and Nara. It's okay though, because I was able to go to an amazing music festival in Osaka. The festival was called Nagisa music festival, and I went to it with my friends, Andrew, Kiara, and Cory. (Yes, there were two Cory's at this festival). It was awesome, many Japanese hippies, and a ton of good music. There was an awesome band I saw called 8OTTO, the drummer was also the lead singer. I respect any band that can pull that off; they had a great stage presence. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
Next came Golden Week(end), and I had a wonderful 4 day, weekend. I went to a flee market with Johnny and Yuri, got some laundry done, and saw one of Japan's most famous sites: Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion. It was great, golden, and full of humongous fishes. I went alone, and it was perfect weather. I looked around Kyoto's shotengai for a little while afterwards, and had an awesome okonomiyaki/yakisoba/onigiri dinner at a restaurant called "Mr. Young Man". I had the "Youngu Man Ranchi" which I thought was called unchi(shit) instead of ranchi(lunch). I had a good laugh with the waitress when my mistake was clarified. I really just thought the name was a funny pun on food.
The next two weeks marked the end of classes, and beginning of finals preparations. I had four tests, two written, and two oral. The tests went a variety of ways, some good and some bad. Anyways, I would like to give a shout out to Steve Longland, the Bundschuhs, and my MOM. Thank you for reading, I'm almost home!
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