The End is Near! Update...

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.

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!

I took out the trash today, and I'm on FIRE!

Do you really want to hear about my good day? It is not really that good, frankly I have been rather pissed. I was awoken twice last night by a drunken group of people that Maija brilliantly brought home at 4AM(Wednesday morning). Absolutely genius. My respect for her is non existent right now.I still went to my 9 o'clock class though, that's more than either Johnny or Maija can say. Other than having a drunken train wreck ruin my sleep, there are many things that I have to do and say.
I think this is the longest I have gone without posting all semester, and I apologize. Nice weather, school, and other fun/annoying things got in the way. I feel better now, but I always say that. Something always comes out of the blue to kick me in the ass. Today it was finding out I have a lesson test in my writing class...Tomorrow! Yesterday it was being 6 min late for class only to find my classmates passing back to the teacher the quiz that I knew nothing about. I was able to take it and do well (for not studying at all), but I kept thinking of how I overslept by 6 min and was late by 6 min. Too many things, everyday.
Lets see, things that have been going on in the previous two weeks... Well to start with Hanami (flower viewing) was a good time, both times I went. Both times I went to Kyoto, first to Kiyomizu Temple, then to a small park. All of the foreign exchange kids at Gaidai were going nuts about it. Some people even went up to 4 or 5 times! I didn't care that much.
Being rather sick until about 3 days ago, I was really limited in mobility around the Kansai area. Also reading One Piece for about an hour every day was taking time away from other more important things. Even while not being a total procrastinator many things aren't clicking. In school I am just having trouble paying attention to what is happening in classes. I think that I'm just burnt out on college in general, this happened in High School too. As much as I love Japan, I want the summertime to come. I will miss this place terribly though once I am gone, so I still try to have as much fun as possible.
Despite being a bit hung over from a poker party Saturday night, this past weekend was one such good time. I hung out with my friend Andrew the whole time. We exchanged music, bought incense/art supplies, and went to Osaka. Andrew has a lot of good music, and I am so happy that we exchanged. We have so much to give that it couldn't all be done in one sitting. Since Friday all I've been listening to is Post Rock, Indie, and Trance music. My favorites of his music so far include, Explosions in the Sky, and Broken Social Scene. Osaka was a very excellent time, I was able to take lots of pictures of architecture and many other things. Most of the pictures were of the graffiti I am researching though, so I only uploaded the most interesting ones. I'm very glad that we walked around the whole time because I became more acquainted with the city. I like Osaka a lot more than I used to, and now I cant wait to go back. I got some awesome orange shoelaces in the shotengai at Shinsaibashi, so now I have orange and blue shoes. Andrew got some new shoes so that he can play hacky sack. When we can we play together, but some evening rain ruined any prospects of us playing in Osaka city. I think my favorite part of the day was meeting the "Free Hugs" people on the bridge by the Glico man.

Now it is the first full week of classes for the entering Freshman, and the beginning of the new semester. Due to this all of the clubs set up tables to invite new members around 4 o'clock. I am joining the Archery club, and helping out with the Tennis club too. It seems like I'll be pretty busy with the club activities, but it should be a lot of fun. I can't wait to shoot stuff with arrows.

Weekend Update

Two days, two classes, two guys, two crazy field trips. My concept of taking it easy was destroyed by the amount of traveling that occurred this weekend. Friday, I was so tired that as soon as I got home I was immediately sucked into my futon. My travels hadn't even begun yet, and I was down and out for three hours. Mid terms destroyed my health and energy levels. School is a very hazardous institution where if one is not careful it can make you insane. Mixing school and real life is just deadly. There just isn't enough time in the day (or energy) for me to accomplish the things that I want to do. Everything in between just seems like a distraction. That said; as much of a distraction these field trips were, I am very glad that I chose to attend. To be completely linear and boring, I'll start off with Tenrikyo on Saturday.

As I roll out of bed at 11:30 I realize staying up until 4AM wasn't necessarily a good idea. I could not help it though, the nap was to blame. Well, that, reading, writing, and listening to music were also to blame. I was rested enough however to make the journey to the apparent creation site of ALL HUMANITY. Yes, that is what Tenrikyo is all about: a pillar in a shrine where humanity originated. The expression used for visitors of this site is: "Welcome Home," everybody's home that is. Ultimately this town was taken over by the believers to become what it is today. Most workers and followers of this faith walk around wearing Tenrikyo shirts. This gives off a slightly cultish image and feeling. This is one religion that has been compared to Mormonism, and involves a minute ammount of faith healing. Personally I would say that it beats the hell out of Mormonism though. There are only three prayers that pay homage to Oyasan, and it stays out of personal/marital relations (a very good idea). The shrine is pretty boss, and despite it's ancient look it is only about 160 years old (as is the religion). The most recent additions were added in the early 80's. No pictures were allowed inside though, and humanity's focal point was heavily guarded. All of the prayer rooms were huge though, at least a couple thousand tatami mats per section.

We spent a few hours within the shrine (a truly massive complex) taking the tour, then headed home. At our arrival in Hirakata-shi station, Johnny, Yuri, and I decided to go to dinner. We wanted tabehodai (all you can eat) and we found it for relatively cheap. The name of the place was Asian Days, and for about $15 we were able to eat three plates of meat and three plates of vegetables. It was the best meal I have had in a while, and I cant wait to go back.

Sunday we set out pretty early, 9:09AM in fact. My professor was dead set on making it to the convention in time to wait in the massive lines. 'Waiting in line is a big part of the experience,' we were told, and that it was. The crowd was so massive that we had to make a six person wide line and march to our designated spot of waiting. All the while, rain was attacking us. Much to my and everyone's dismay it was also a NO PHOTOS event. It rained the whole day through, making this Osaka experience a very wet and undocumented one.

To sum the convention up in a few words, it was very homo-erotic. Dojinshi are apparently widely consumed by women. Therefore a very large ratio of women:men, and another large ratio of gay:straight comics. I did my best to visually avoid being accosted by anything explicitly gay. A very difficult task in such a large place. For this being a very homo-erotic event, the women were the ones eating up the merchandise. This seemed very similar to the stereotype of men liking lesbian activities. With this in mind I'd assume that any single, self assured (straight) man, wouldn't have too much difficulty finding a dinner date. So, in other words dojinshi festival = good dating scene for you straight men out there.
I did find some stuff of value though. An excellent Doraemon spin off comic, really nice artwork, and all the free fliers I could get my hands on. Johnny and I spent about 3.5 hours wandering the three rooms then left out of sheer hunger and fatigue. Lunch was calling us, and it was Kaiten Zushi. Getting to the Sushi place was another adventure all together though.

After circling Umeda station a few times, we found the place. I was so tired and hungry when we got there that I almost burned my finger on the hot water dispenser. Almost, because the nice man sitting next to me at the bar grabbed my hand at a critical moment and said "Very hot." I was very thankful for this, as well as embarrassed. I felt like such a tourist, but wasn't. It was the people of Osaka who treated us like tourists. In Umeda, while Johnny and I were looking at a map, we were approached by a very eager station attendant. In our weekend state we played along, but in the sushi restaurant we did not. As soon as we walked in we were greeted in English, to our slight agitation. I was very thrown off by this, hence my absent minded hot water mishap. The next time I was treated like a tourist though, I busted out the Japanese. It was a good experience though, I gained some valuable foreign insight.


With my belly full of 10 plates worth of sushi, Johnny and I returned home as quickly as possible. Once home, I passed out on my futon much like Friday. Every thing else is a blur from then on. I am still sick. Still freaking sick, and I am waiting for the right moment to see a doctor. In the meantime I am resting as much as possible. School is good right now, and I have no major points of stress other than that. I am sick but happy.

Mid TERMS

All week I have been sick, sleep deprived, and studious. Although an excellent use of alliteration, not an excellent use of my time. One thing that has paid of is the amount of studying I've done. It is not an acceptable amount, but enough to give me that satisfied feeling when an exam is over.
Tuesday I had a reading test. I did well enough on it. However, the overwhelming thought that my reading teacher dislikes me was enough of a distraction to forget some of the easiest things possible. That is the only regret I have for all of my mid-terms thus far. What really counted were today and yesterday's test.
Over two days I had my midterm for Japanese speaking 4, Wednesday was an oral test, and today was my listening/grammar test. The oral test went amazingly well, my professor was very satisfied with my performance. It was honestly my first really good oral exam. My sensei said that she was worried I wouldn't do to well (since my last test grade was so bad), but was relieved to see I had made the effort to study. Today's second half of the exam went reasonably well. Granted I did not know some very important things, I was actually able to finish on time. I feel good about the whole thing in general, and hope that this will positively affect my final grade in that class.
I have a quiz in my next class, and it counts as a midterm. I am not well prepared for it, but I heard that the professor makes his questions easy. I hope I do alright. The class is Culture & Everyday Life in Japan. This weekend we are going on a field trip in that class. We are going to observe a dojinshi convention in Osaka, it will be very interesting. Tons and tons of awkward people interacting on a large scale. This will be Sunday. On Saturday, Johnny and I will be tagging along on another field trip in Yuri and Maija's religion class. (After note: The quiz was in fact easy.)
Tomorrow is my last mid-term (writing test), and my only class for the day. After this I intend to take it easy; well as easy as I can at least.

Tough Times, Good Times

I never did get to try fugu, or even eat at the intended sushi bar. I did go to Osaka, Den Den town, but it took Johnny and I a while to find it. We got off at the wrong stop, and wandered for a while. We went through Shinsaibashi's shotengai, and it was not stop shops among a river of people. We found the festival but only got to enjoy it for for about 15 minutes. We saw some authentic Japanese cos-players, and got caught up in the rush of a four lane street's worth of people squished into two sidewalks. Fun. The rest of break kinda sucked.
On Friday, I lost a good friend to suicide. I was in shock, she was one of the happiest people I know. My girlfriend broke the news to me about Katie, and we grieved together. It really helped being able to talk with her, it softened the blow a bit. As much as I want to be back with all my friends now to share the memories, it is impossible. I am on the far side of the globe, and so was Katie. She was abroad this semester in India, so the news hit close to my heart. We often confided in each other about the preparations, deadlines, stress, and excitement that coincide with study abroad. We were Craft Center buddies, CRC comrades, and abroad confidants.

Katie was the person who brought out the artist in me. She was the reason I felt comfortable expressing myself in the Craft Center. I spent a lot of time in there last semester, and I would often go in during her shifts to keep things interesting. Through Katie I became friends with others who worked there, especially her boss Paula. Katie would always play my musical requests, and we would rock out together. She was always willing to help anyone, regardless of what it was. She even taught me how to silk screen T-Shirts (her specialty). I remember Paula raving about how bummed she was to lose her best silk screener, and precious employee. I always stood behind Katie's desire to go abroad (for obvious reasons) and would explain to Paula that she would be back. I wish I wasn't wrong. I performed my first open mic in the Craft Center, with Katie and Adiva as MCs. When I realized my guitar was out of tune 1 min into my performance, I stopped and looked to her for help. Like the good friend she was, I got back on to the stage ASAP. Thanks to Katie, the Craft center was nothing but good times that I will never forget. I want to work there even more now, and carry on where she left off.

Last semester was also Katie's first semester as a full fledged CRC member, she lived, ate, slept, and breathed with us. Needless to say we all felt that she was a valued member of the group. Her presence was much appreciated. On Cabin Trip she was the resident photographer, and documented one of the best times of my life. Katie took the best photo my girlfriend and I have of us together, it is her's and our favorite. We spent a lot of time together that trip. We stayed up on the mountain long after everyone else returned to the cabin. While returning, seven of us merrily skipped together down the acess road. Katie was taking pictures the whole time and I love her for that. I will always have documentation of my happiest memory. I laughed my self to tears when Steph, Katie, and I were all skipping in unison. Truly an amazing moment. That same night Mollie, Ben, Katie and I snuck down to her car to listen to music. We blasted music, and Ben made a strobe light out of his flashlight. We all rocked out. I remember thinking about how we were the loudest thing for at least a mile. Some rowdy kids causing a disturbance in the middle of nowhere. Hands down the best Cabin Trip to date.

As I recall all the hellish worrying that ultimately brought me to Japan, Katie is there sitting next to me at the financial aid sessions, holding that huge tan mug with the earth foods sticker on it drinking her mint cocoa concoction. (That is another thing she taught me, how to make an awesome cocoa drink.) As deadlines approached I would confide in her about my financial situations, and her to me. We always shared the same excitement for the coming spring semester, we pumped each other up and it was good. One thing I was sure of was that we would both make it back in one piece, there were never any worries. Perhaps that is one flaw that was fatal. I will never know, too many "if"s.

A few days before her death I was looking at all of Katie's wonderful pictures on Facebook, recalling our good times and catching up on her progress in India. I was thinking about how awesome next semester would be. We would share our stories and have a blast. I can't express how much I already miss those times that now will never happen. Although we only became close during last semester, it was close enough for me to write all I did. We were close enough for me to want more of her friendship, and I am truly sorry it ends here. I thank Katie for being awesome, and making me cherish my friends all the more.
Here is me looking at you, one moment that only you and I shared. I remember it vividly, always.

In the Rain!

Wednesday, it is raining hard, all day Chupa Chups tennis was canceled, and I have yet again utilized the internet almost non-stop for 4hrs. The CIE lounge is quiet (thanks to spring break), but it is like my own glass prison. Today I have decided to convince my room mates to get the internet. My problem is that I don't have a computer. I am still toying with the idea, but it could have repercussions of turning our apartment into zombies. I am recalling when we first found out we had local TV stations. TV is a waste of time, and the internet eats your soul. We all have internet identities; significant or not, they own us just a little bit. I am taking time out of my day to write here, therefore internet=soul sucker.
I also spent a large chunk of time learning about Google Reader, and manga titles to check out while I'm here. I was able to add my entire Anthropology class' blogs to reader, as well as find Professor Seaman's blog. I turned a huge mess of information into something accessible and useful. I feel slightly accomplished. There are like ten other things I can think of that I should be doing though. Bummer.
I want to go into town to rent some music and movies. I also want to search for Satoshi Kon's World Apartment Horror. I saw it at the manga museum and I need to own it. I am a big fan of his works, and I hope to someday analyze them in depth. Up until now I have only written one paper about his Series: Paranoia Agent.
Tomorrow I will be going to Osaka. Den Den town, Shinsaibashi to be more specific. There is a Dojinshi festival thing going on from 1PM to 4PM. It should be a good time. I'm looking forward to exploring Shinsaibashi more. I hope to try Fugu (props to Ben Sherman), and go to a nice Kaiten Zushi bar that Johnny told me about. Friday, I really want to hit up Nara. The weather should be nicer then, and I want to see wild deer.
Now I'm thinking of food. I need to go home soon and make dinner! I'm going to make some bomb chicken stir fry rice. All I've had all day is a Kiwi, Corn Flakes, and 3 color Dango.
Cory Out.