September 29, 2006
Shikoku Summer Henro Pictures UP: FINALLY!
Hey everyone! Sorry it took so gosh darn long to get these pictures up. Anyway. Enjoy! Someday in the far future, I will put up my journal entries from the month-long pilgrimage around Shikoku (plus trip to Mt. Koya), and maybe even making a informational site about the walk for all those people who want to do the 88 temple walk in Japan, but don't speak Japanese.
I really learned a lot from the trip, but especially that helping people is a great path to happiness.
I'm back in America now, looking for a job. I'll keep you updated when anything happens, or I take a lot of photos. Keep in touch!
Posted by Emarrific at 02:43 AM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2006
四国しゅっぱ～つ Blast off! to Shikoku
今週の木曜日（７月２７日）に四国へ出発します。一ヶ月間多分インターネットは使えないので、九月まで待てられない連絡は私の携帯かＰＣメールに送ってください。
This week Thursday (July 27), I will be starting a pilgrimage in Shikoku which will take one month. If you have something to tell me that can't wait until September, please write to me at my cell phone email or my PC email address.
実は今回は春に始まった巡礼の続きです。
I'm actually continuing and hopefully finishing the pilgrimage which I started in the spring.
あまり準備は出来ておりません。弘法大師と四国の優しい人人々に負かすしかありませんね。頑張ります。もしお寺で祈って欲しいことがあれば私に伝えても良いですよ。まあ、お坊さんじゃないから一番効果的じゃないかも知りませんが、よろしければ。。。
I haven't really prepared much. I guess I will have to rely upon Kobo Daishi (the patron saint of the pilgrimage) and the kind Shikoku people to make it through. I will do my best. If you have something you'd like me to prey about for you at the temples, let me know. I might not get as effective results as a bona fide monk but... You know what I mean.
携帯から写真とブログをこっちに送れるように設定しました。なぜか暇があったら写真と短文を送ります。自分のＰＣから離れてる間、コメントは出来ません。すみません。（残念ながらスパムコメントが少し多くなりました。）
I have set it up so I can post cell phone pictures and short blogs from my cell phone. If I take a cool cell phone picture or have lots of free time for some reason, I will post something up. I won't have comments on while I'm gone so I don't have to deal with spammy comments.
Take care!
Posted by Emarrific at 03:41 PM
July 14, 2006
3:30 am and good-byes
Patching air mattresses, sorting garbage, packing, posting on MySpace... these are the ways in which I spend 3:30 in the morning. Can't seem to sleep... coffee, alcohol and sleep debt are duking it out in my head for domination. That means I'm hot, wired, sweaty and exhausted at the same time, and can't sleep. Must.. stop... drinking... coffee.
So, only one week until I leave the apartment which I have called home for the last two years. This apartment has been absolutely fantastic: in a pretty new building, well-maintained, with room to have people come over and watch movies, eat burritos, and spend the night (eh hem.. mom). It has hardwood floors and a gas stove, is near the train station, and is in spitting distance from Vie de France... what more could a girl ask for? Well, actually, a good clothes dryer or more clothes hanging space would have been nice. The deck was puny and I could only properly hang and dry a small load at a time. (This doesn't mean I didn't try to hang huge loads all the time!) Still, I will miss this place and all the memories tied up in it.
In two weeks, I will also be leaving friends, co-workers, students and relatives to finish the pilgrimage in Shikoku and then go back to my furusato (home town) across the ocean where Steve, my mom and a few friends are awaiting.
It really hasn't struck me with the finality of 13 o'clock that this is absolutely it... I won't be able to call my great friends up anymore for a quick meal, coffee, a day on the beach, a clubbing night, a movie night, a trip to a sumo basho, a hike in Tanzawa, a trip to the exorbitant Japanese movie theaters, a stroll around Tokyo, a picnic in Yoyogi, a bitch session, a surprise birthday party and so forth. I will miss (in alpha order and not comprehensive, I'll just have to add later as I remember and as time allows):
Althea with her c-mails and phone calls, crazy social, volunteer, working and traveling schedule (does this woman NOT do anything?!), can-o-whoop-ass, kind ear, sage advice and super high powered networking skills.
Andrew, my partner in crime at work and as PAs, who graciously let me invade his social/clubbing life, listened to me babble endlessly, never failed to point out my oddities or English failures in hilarious fashion, one of the most punctual people (until recently) and super blog writer extraordinaire who updates frequently with the best content. Not to mention funky, fashionable, most photographed for a magazine randomly on the street, generous, practical, no-nonsense, professional and diplomatic.
Antje, with her excellent vignettes, conversation topics, dedication to MySpace, hiking skillz and cool news items. Not to mention her on-top-of-it-ness. Who is going to be my piece of East Berlin back home? I ask you!
Daisuke, with his super booty poppin' and dancing skills, Mariah Carey imitation skills, caring (if easily bruised) nature, energetic/sleepy, never a dull moment, not afraid to show how he feels, I'm gonna miss ya!
Frances, with her sassy manner, hugs, boob poking, and sharp tongue (can slice right through a tomato!) Also quite "on top" of things as well. :P Keep that healthy yoga glow and good luck with your future teaching career! You'll be a great addition to public ed.
Francis, with his unique Quebecois humor and well-meaning-ness (is that a word?)
Iain, the most genuinely nice guy who has a way of listening and pay attention to each person so lovingly it's quite amazing.
Ingrid and Chris, because they really go to the beat of their own drummer and will make a most radical married couple. They put on great pot-lucks and one-yen-poker nights, and I am sad I couldn't make more of their events.
Maimi, with her funky and brightly colored fashion and music, gourmet/gourmand and social traits, awesome video editing capabilities, sass and super human neighbor powers. (Just to name a few awesome things about her.)
Noel, always toting a computer and several other gismos, with his biting humor and fun victim attitude which no party is complete without!
Paul and Mika, because they are just they cutest couple... Paul the rough Irishman always down for a dirty joke and sharing his Jameson. Mika being probably the only super cute person I have met who wasn't putting on an act but was genuinely cute and sweet. Wish I could be here next year to meet their new baby and see their wedding.
Shauna, my most {exercise/martial arts/manga/starbucks mocha frappachino/pearl tea/movie popcorn with butter/davis} addicted friend who was always down for a movie and any of the things mentioned above. (Luckily she doesn't live too far from my hometown, so I'll get to see her after I go back!) Also, she's got mad "getting hit by a truck in Japan" skillz.
And many more... I'm sure I'm forgetting important people!
In addition, I won't get to see my carefully disinterested, unmotivated, yet surprisingly restless high school kids, who despite their fear/hatred of English, encouraged me and went along with my half-baked ideas. I won't get to see my awesome relatives anymore (who have helped me out a ton and treated me to lots of dinners) and my co-workers, who have tried their absolute best, given their limited schedules, to talk to me, help me out, and explain what I often found to be a baffling and utterly alien education system/schedule. The Japanese schools system was probably my biggest culture shock living in Japan!
Well, I think it's time to post this and either get some more winks or do some more packing. It's been a blur of going away parties and social events, so I haven't gotten as much done as I should! Shocking, I know.
Posted by Emarrific at 04:40 AM | Comments (2)
April 16, 2006
Kobe Gourmet Trip
I have no shame. I continue to use this blog as the middle man between you, me and my Flickr photo site. :D
Posted by Emarrific at 12:46 AM | Comments (1)
March 19, 2006
Oigawa Steam Locomotive Trip Pictures
New old pictures up from a trip I took in January with S. You can find out what the trip was all about by looking at the set and picture descriptions. Enjoy!
Posted by Emarrific at 12:21 AM | Comments (3)
February 06, 2006
Walk about on the beach
Yesterday, I decided I just needed to walk and walk until all my cares melted away. I walked about two stations' worth down the beach... about four hours. I brought my camera of course and took pictures of whatever struck my fancy: graffiti, stray cats, dumpy looking things, clouds, shadows, snow... even pink hearted underwear! Afterwards, we warmed up with Ramen Bu Bu and an hour and a half in a bath house. The bath house was really something. There was a silk bath, a cold bath, an electric current bath (didn't go in that), salt steam room, mist steam room, dry sauna, outdoor waterfall (it felt like I was being beat up), lay down sauna rooms... etc. etc. I can't even list it all. Then I went home and slept for 11 hours. It was great.
Winter had beguiled me into forgetting how good these walks are for the soul. I need to do this every weekend to beat the winter, last-six-months-of-work blues.
冬の為、気がちょっと落ちてたので、浜辺で長い散歩をしました。心にいいですね。勿論わたしのカメラを一緒に持ってきました。
Posted by Emarrific at 12:38 AM | Comments (2)
February 01, 2006
Big apple of Japan
I saw this apple yesterday and I just had to buy it! It was 250 yen (about 2.50 US dollars), but it was just so perfect and beautiful. It's huge though. It took me 45 minutes to eat this sucker!
I am really going to miss the fruit when I leave.
Posted by Emarrific at 07:50 AM | Comments (3)
January 24, 2006
Today's news, big and small
This weekend I turned on my TV for the first time in ages, and what do I see on every channel? HORIE, HORIE and HORIE. This whole country is obsessed with the scandal involving the internet startup Livedoor and it's iconic leader, Takafumi Horie, or affectionally know to the Japanese public as Horiemon.
News shows feature the story every hour. There are variety talk shows with famous actors, comedians and "talents" explaining or chiming in their opinion on the whole matter. There are specials to explain the whole scandal. There was even a moment last night when news helicoptors were following the van that was taking Horie back to police headquarters. You couldn't even see into the car, but the announcer kept us updated with such useful comments like "the car is still in front of the house" or "the car is moving". I was having flash backs to the OJ Simpson trial coverage.
Why is it such a big deal? Well, in the last year, Horie has become a virtual icon for moving Japanese business into the 21st century. He was a CEO who tried to bunk the establishment by adopting agressive business tactics to build his start-up (such as hostile takeovers), trying to bid against established companies for a baseball team, and wearing T-shirts instead of button-up shirts.
All of this stuff (which is really quite regular stuff in most other countries) has earned Horie lots of air-time in Japan on talk shows, comedy shows, news talk programs and so forth. He even was backed by Koizumi's party when he ran for a local political office last year! Lots of people bought Livedoor stocks and saw him as a sort of business hero.
Which is why I think it is such a big blow to the Japanese public that his company might have done some fraudulent dealings. You can see more details here, here and here.
In other news today, a Japanese nurse got 3 years and 8 months for REMOVING the nails of six female patients in her hospital (shivers), you can now age fine wine by zapping it with a machine (I am very excited about this development!), and Australia recruits! for workers (wanna live down under?).
Posted by Emarrific at 02:18 PM | Comments (1)
January 16, 2006
Posting Picture Madness
I posted hundreds of pictures last night and more will be coming in the days to come. I'm on a roll, baby! So, check it out periodically over the next week if you:
1. Have a computer
2. Have a pulse
昨日の夜、多数の写真をアップロードしましたし、今週はもっともっとアップロードします。もしコンピューターと脈があれば、是非みてください。
Posted by Emarrific at 07:30 AM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2005
Halloween Test in Loralei with 2 Men
日本語バージョンは下にあります。
This past Saturday, I went to the local JET Halloween Party. It was sparsely attended because a bunch of wimps called in sick or were doing more "exciting" things. People dressed as power rangers, the maid in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Laura Croft, "myself", high schoolers, Cabaret, and otaku. I wore my panda suit. Actually, I wore my panda suit for three days in a row. My panda suit is great. It's the closest thing to the real experience of being a stuffed animal that us lowly human beings can experience. Activities included karaoke (including a stunning rendition of Cabaret by a Cabaret character), "trick or treating" into brown envelopes, eating, drinking, and some semi-retarded attempts at drinking games. I did find out some great black mail info on some attendees through a game of "I never ever", including who had had sex in their parents bed. (Shivers)
This last Sunday I took a practice JLPT 1 test and got a passing score. It relieves me to know that I have actually have a chance of passing this test. So I don't have to keep on branding grammer patterns onto my forehead while hanging upside down over a bed of upturned nails. What a relief! I still have to study though.
Last night watched a Japanese WW2 submarine movie called "Lorelei". It is an avert armeggedon kind of movie. It's a war movie. There is also a witch who is a human radar. And now I know the Japanese words for submarine and destroyer. (潜水艦sensuikan and 駆逐艦kuchikukan if you were curious)
Today at work, we showed some English teachers a picture of me with a male co-worker. We asked them, "What objects are in this picture?" One teacher responded with, "Two men." Ha ha ha.
先週末の土曜日に、地元のＪＥＴ会のハローウィンパーティを参加しました。あまりにドタキャンが多い過ぎてたので、出席者が少なかったです。パワーレンジャーやメイドさんやローラクロフトや“わたし”や高校生（多かったね）やキャバレーやお宅のコスチュームが現れていました。わたしはパンダスーツでした。パンダスーツに入るとまるで「自分はぬいぐるみだ！」て言う気持ちになります。
パーティでは次の行為を行いました：カラオケ、茶色封筒に"trick or treat"でお菓子を集まったり、飲んだり、食べたり…数を使った酒飲みゲーム（英語ではdrinking gamesと呼びますが、日本語では何でしょう？）も試してみたがやっぱり私たちに取って難しすぎたです。これで英語の先生ですかよ？
土曜日は能力試験１級の模擬試験を受けました。合格できました。（八十パーセントをとりました。）ちょっとホッとしました。でも文字語彙の部分では珍しく知ってる漢字がありまして、本番試験の文字語彙部分はそう甘くないと思います。やっぱりこれから勉強をしなければなりません。（特に文法を中心に）
昨夜「ローレライ」という第二次戦争の潜水艦の映画を見ました。日本に向いてるハルマゲドンを防ぐ潜水艦についてです。魔女も出てきます。駆逐艦も出てきます。まあまあ面白い映画でしたし、新しい単語も覚えました。（潜水艦、駆逐艦、特攻等）
今日教育センターでわたしと同僚の写真を研修員に見せて、「この写真には何が入ってますか？」と聞いたら「男の人二人」と誰かが答えました。同僚は男の人なんですけど…あの時のわたしの髪の毛はあまりに短すぎて、女の人とは認められていなかったかもしりません。
Posted by Emarrific at 02:17 PM | Comments (6)
September 30, 2005
Brushes with Fame
Who would've thunk? I went to school with a star.
The other day, I ran across a former college classmate on Friendster. I remember that he was in my college's Blue Grass Club, was in some drama productions, took some Mandarin Chinese classes, took voice lessons from the same lady that I studied with, and, if memory serves me right, was in some cheesy acapella group. Normal, normal. I knew he was starting a pop star career in Taiwan, and I saw his first album in China when I was studying abroad. Still, he wasn't that big or anything, so I didn't think that much of it.
Running into his Friendster profile raised my curiousity, though. So I did a little google search to see what this guy had been up to. Woah. In the last five years, the guy has really been topping the cheesy Chinese pop charts. This year he even won "Best Male Artist" at the Chinese Music Awards. I also noticed that he had been in several movies, including "Legends of Tekken" and a recent entry to the Berlin Film Festival. He even released an album in Japan.
Holy sh*t! What the heck have I been doing since college?
Check out him and his cheesy (yet virally catchy) pop music here:
Hip Hoppy yet still very Poppy "Fang Kai Ni de Shin" Music Video
Too bad I didn't try to force myself to hang out with the guy when he was a budding Taiwanese pop star. Then I could be kicking it high style with my famous friend and his famous friends in Taiwan. Now I'll never meet Faye Wong and Zhou Hua Jian! Why can't I be more superficial and force myself to network more effectively?
Why did I even bother going to college? It was wasted on me!
Posted by Emarrific at 11:28 AM | Comments (4)
July 27, 2005
Guilty Pleasures
So, yeah, I have a, uh, terrible weakness for the self help section of the bookstore and yeah, so, um... I bought one today. It's called Finding Your Own NORTH STAR: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live. There, I said it! Are you happy now?
Before you breakdown in giggles, I will let you know that I have your address and fully intend to use it to kick your ass.
Right, so on that note, what guilty pleasures have you partaken in lately?
Posted by Emarrific at 09:55 PM | Comments (3)
Two things made me ridiculously happy today
First of all, I have my very own silver spray-painted statue guy at Fujisawa station! You know, the ones that move when you put money in their bucket? Yeah. I put 100 yen in, and he like moved like a robot while making some pretty convincing hydraulic robot noises.
That made me ridiculously happy for some reason.
Second of all, self karaoke is good, just like (I imagine) self love is. It can be really fun to just sit there and sing whatever songs you want, one after another, without having to worry about whether it's too slow or boring or irritating or unknown or whatever. Of course, karaoke, like sex, can be much more exciting with more people, but the logistics can get pretty hairy sometimes, so sometimes it's nice just to go solo.
Anyway, these two things caused me to be so violently happy that I was dancing on the railway platform while listening to the fast jazzy beats of Ego Wrappin' on my i-audio player. I didn't even bother to look around to see how people were reacting.. I imagine they were just trying to pretend like I wasn't doing anything. He he.
What are two things that made you ridiculously happy recently?
Posted by Emarrific at 09:43 PM | Comments (2)
July 24, 2005
Coffee and Monjya-yaki
Today I came to the following conclusions:
Coffee is evil, or tries to be evil, like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers, but it can never really fully realize it's evil potential and sometimes ends up doing something good. Like now I am updating my blog, while watching "The Girl Next Door", after having taken care of some important emailing. And I brushed my teeth and flossed.
Kindness comes in many forms, including the edible. Today it came in the form of free monjya-yaki, a kind of gooey/crispy batter filled with cabbage and various veggies and meats cooked on a big griddle. I went to a restaurant and this really kind owner lady started talking with my Japanese American friend and found out that she had never enjoyed monjya-yaki. She came right out with a big (free) bowl of monjya-yaki and cooked it in the proper way and showed us how to eat it so it was yummy. Wow. I love random acts of kindness. I need to do more of that in my life because it's just such a wonderful thing, and I don't think I've been doing enough for the world lately.
What (random) acts of kindness have you done lately?
Posted by Emarrific at 01:37 AM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
Japanese Customer Service
I just realized that the cardboard tubes of my used-up toilet paper rolls have "まいどありがとうございます" or "Thank you for your continuing patronage" printed on them. I can't really think of any other place where the toilet paper tubes thank their customers.
Posted by Emarrific at 11:12 PM | Comments (2)
May 30, 2005
Hardo Gay!
Hey folks! Just when I thought I should dispair, throw in the towel, return to the States and start accomplishing things and earning gobs of money, I was halted at the door by something so spectacular it made my day. Something so wonderfully wrong it would never make it on the ninny conservative TV stations of the US. Something so utterly awesome, I may just have to stay here another year.
Hardo Gay Cooking! フ〜！
Imagine this: This man running into a playground with a bunch of kids and saying "I am Hardo Gay! I am Hardo Gay! Gay Gay Gay Gay!" while thrusting his pelvis Elvis style in the faces of the kids. Can this get anymore wrong and wonderful? Meanwhile, the kids are practically falling over themselves with laughter.
Here are some image stills from the beginning of the show!
Hardo Gay Cooking! Image Stills!
Actually, our man Raymoan is actually here on a humanitarian mission, to help the kids get over their food phobias. So, one kid who hates green bell peppers and seaweed becomes his victim. First he just does his little elvis dance while saying "I'm Hardo Gay! I'm Hardo Gay! You will like green bellpeppers!" and then tries to feed it to him. That doesn't work, so he moves on to cooking. He stir-fries the green bellpeppers in peanut butter (to get rid of the strong bell pepper taste) and then makes a sushi roll out of it. Will the kid eat it?
Hardo Gay Cooking (Last Part) (AVI file... I highly suggest you download it instead of trying to watch it off of my site, as speed will be incredibly slow!)
AND... Here are some other videos of Hardo GAY!!! Doesn't it just make you want to throw down everything and move out to this god-forsaken country?! (All in Windows Media Player format)
Hardo Gay Taxi
Hardo Gay Solves the Sakura Blossom Party Garbage Problem!
Hardo Gay Ramen, Part 1
Hardo Gay Ramen, Part 2
Posted by Emarrific at 07:12 PM | Comments (2)
May 26, 2005
Beach and Moan
I was going to rant on and on about how depressed I am about how I can't get any satisfaction from my job (unchallenging and impossible at the same time) and how I've been going nowhere fast doing nothing except watching rental videos of the lowest class and eating craploads of food. But I won't because I'm over it. Is it that non-swimming time of month or what? I mean who's fault is it anyways?
Anyways, I bitched with my friends about it all night while watching the great film classic "Psycho Beach Party". By the way, you need to watch this movie, if only for the opening credits (great booby shaking to "Los Straightjackets") and the line, "A lot of meat but only one potato."
Also, if you haven't seen "Aquatic Life" yet, WATCH IT! It is breeelllliant! Well, maybe it's just me. It's like Jacque Cousteau and Royal Tennenbaums smashed together, except better.
Tomorrow will sit around all day feeling sorry for myself because I'm getting paid to do very little. What is wrong with me? Why can't I just go with the flow?!! Why can't people (like me) just be happy with what they have???! Or just shut up? Or find a solution?
At the very least, I will get a chance to learn more Japanese and finish the first book of Tezuka Osamu's "Phoenix" comic series. So yeah!
Posted by Emarrific at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
April 28, 2005
Garbage Confrontation Styles
Last night I was talking to a friend outside my building, when some lady came with a bunch of cardboard boxes and put them in the building's garbage area, which is clearly a violation of code 15.3.7 of the garbage law. Basically, the front of my building is full of illegally dumped garbage that sits around unpicked up by the garbageman FOREVER because either the dumpers are IGONORANT FOOLS who cannot figure out the right place and right time to put out their garbage, or they just a bunch of LAZY BUMS!
Needless to say, I confronted the Lady.
"This isn't the reclying dumping area," I say severly.
"Yes," she deadpans as she keeps on putting her cardboard boxes down.
"This isn't the recycling dumping area," I repeat.
"Yes. This is burnable, isn't it?" she intones and then huffs off into the building, probably to bitch to her boyfriend about this annoying foreigner who accosted her about the garbage.
Doh! Not only do I feel stupid, I feel mean and want to apologize, but I have no idea which apartment she lives in. Oh hindsight I could've been more diplomatic like "I'm not sure, but aren't cardboard boxes recyclable?" Then I would snivel and lick her high heeled shoes.
Well, it's always good to have a few neighborly enemies.
Still, cardboard boxes are recylable, and I think I would've had a good case if I had had the will to take her to the neighborhood garbage courts. I'm anxious to see whether the garbagemen will take the carboard boxes as "burnable" or if they will leave them there to rot forever and ever, like the rest of the shite in front of my building. If they leave them there, I will feel vindicated and the next time I see her, I will point to her cardboard boxes and say, "HA! I WAS RIGHT!"
Because I'm just that mature.
(For those of you unfamiliar with irony, please realize that I employed it heavily in the above phrases.)
Posted by Emarrific at 07:47 AM | Comments (1)
April 02, 2005
Kanamara Festival
Kanamara Festival (fondly known as the "penis festival" by foreigners) was kind of dumpy little festival with a kind of gay/alternative sexuality kind of spunk. It had a "we're doing this to be weird" feel to it.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed seeing a whole shrine, festival and parade dedicated to big penis... eh hem... fertility. But it didn't have a very mystical hushed feel... solemn Shinto priests in white robes with big black daimyo hats carrying huge but abstract wooden phalluses while chanting "namu abu dabutsu" (Shut up, I know that's Buddhist, but WHADEVAH) Instead it was more like a bunch of drunken tourists (like myself) laughing about all the giant penis replicas, cross dressers and penis/pussy goods being sold at the puny flea market. It felt kind of... forced.
On a more positive note, I got a chance to exercise my right to drink in public open spaces. No "Closed Container" laws here! So, I had a great time hanging with friends, drinking and snapping lots of pictures and movies of friends and penises.
Posted by Emarrific at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2005
Pitagora Switch
Getting Influenza type-B has it's benefits. The prime of them being Japanese daytime TV! In the morning, there are the great Japanese children's shows. The award for most visually appealing show is a children's show called "Pitagora Switch". I'm not sure what "Pitagora" means. It features a comendy duo called "Rahmens", which are two totally deadpan, skinny guys in suits. Yes, they are totally deadpan and wear suits on the kids show too! This show features elaborate chain reaction setups, theater of the ten lines (wherein ten lines go on a mini adventure), TV John (that is sort of shaped like a dog), Dictionary Man, Father Switch (wherein a kid pushes a hiragana letter on a box and the dad does a pantomine of a word or phrase that starts with that hiragana letter), and lastly but not leastly ALGORITHM DANCE! Algorithm dance is wonderful. The two deadpan guys in suits do this strange exercise dance. Everytime they have a different set of people perform with them. Last time it was maiko (geisha apprentices). I've seen sumo wrestlers before.
Posted by Emarrific at 07:17 AM | Comments (2)
January 22, 2005
Short-haired Emarrific-ster
I got my hair cut like Kyoko Yamaguchi, famous daughter of Animal Hamaguchi. Animal Hamaguchi is that lovable judo coach who yells really loud as a way of intimidating his daughters opponents, building up moral and also getting a few laughs. He's bald. But she'sn not. She's got short hair.
In any case, I asked the lady to cut it like her hair, but she didn't quite believe me and so she cut my hair in the style of a female mullet... a fashion trend in Japanese hairstyles these days. Maybe if I were anorexic I could get away with the rat tail look, but no, not I. So, after a bit of emotional shock and anger, I went back and got the back shortened. Here is a picture of the rattails. You can see my current haircut in the bowling pictures.
Posted by Emarrific at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2005
Fukubukuro and Sales!
or... I'm not a shopaholic, really!
As I mentioned in an earlier entry, fukubukuro (fortune bags) are an annual Japanese New Year's tradition. Stores put a bunch of junk that they haven't been able to sell into a bag and sell them for depply discounted prices. The catch is that you don't know exactly what you are going to get.
Or... that's the way it used to be. Now-a-days, convenience is the rule. At almost every store there are samples of what will be in the bag (with a bit of variation.) The bags are also marked with sizes if they are full of clothes. So, the only "surprise" now is in finding out what color or flavor the contents will be.
They can be a great deal, however. For instance, I got a bag full of Nike breathable winter sports wear for about 10,000 yen (approx. 100 USD); normally it would cost nearly 25,000 yen (approx. 250 USD). True, some of the colors are funky, but then again, I don't really care how I look when I work out. I'm not a jogging fashion show, afterall.
I also got a fukubukuro at Body Shop, filled with body shampoos, refreshing sprays, foot refreshers, and a loofa stick all for about 2100 yen. The only catch is that most of the stuff is in strange flavors: brazil nut, melon seed, peppermint and vanilla. Luckily I don't know anyone who will be sniffing or licking my feet anytime soon. At least, I don't think so....
In addition, a lot of stores were having sales; most of last year's goods were 50% off. The first few days of the new yaer is an awesome time to shop in Japan and get deals. For a stingy lass like myself, it was time to go crazy. I'm just bummed that the bookstores I frequent didn't seem to be having the same tremendous sales that the rest of the shopping world were having. Sigh. Bad news for the book-o-phile.
I'll be posting some pictures of the fukubukuro booty whenever I stop being so lazy. Don't hold your breath.
Posted by Emarrific at 02:49 PM | Comments (2)
December 30, 2004
Travelling in style courtesy of mom
Yeah, baby. Not only are shinkansen (bullet train) fast, they are fat luxurious. You need to check out my photo blog.
I just came back from a whirlwind tour of Kyushu (the southernmost island of japan, except for the Okinawan ones) with my mom. In short, we went to Fukuoka-city, Kikuchi hot springs (about an hour and half from Kumamoto city by bus) and Nagasaki-city. I am currently putting up descriptions for all the photos so I'm not going to detail every single thing here. However, I will mention some highlights:
Tall and delicious yuzu juice drink for only 180 yen (about 2 USD) in Fukuoka: I mean, it's honkin' huge compared to the drinks I get in my corner of Japan and it's cheap! I'd have to pay like 500 yen (5 bucks) for the same thing in Yokohama or Tokyo.
Beautiful temples in the heart of Fukuoka City: I took lots of pictures. I really liked the statues with the spaceship bibs on and the fish in the pot. I don't know why, but I love temples and I love taking pictures of temples. Not that I'm good at it or anything.
4 km walk with Mom: Wow! That's something along the lines of Starbucks suddenly deciding to stop serving coffee. Not that I drink coffee. Anyways, it was good to get outdoors (didn't do that enough this trip) and also get mom to enjoy some exercise. Sheesh! I've met few people who are so against walking around and generally exercising. Maybe I keep strange company, though.
Chanpon Ramen Museum and restaurant: Chanpon ramen is a famous regional dish in Nagasaki. There is actually a whole chain in Japan called "Nagasaki Chanpon Ringer Hut" which features this delectable dish. It is basically a hodge-podge of different ingredients, such as kamaboko (fish cake), cabbage, green onions, shrimp, bean sprouts, etc. etc. Chanpon basically means "mish-mash", so I think there is a lot of variation on what goes in the champon ramen. Anyways, it's cool that they had a whole museum dedicated to it.
Castella Cake Temple: I actually didn't make it in, but isn't that cool? I can't wait to go back to Nagasaki so I can check out what it's all about. Has anyone been?
Boyz-2-Men Wanna-Be's trio (sorry, dont' know their real name) in Nagasaki: I'm working on getting the video up, but until then, let's just say it was "special" to sit down for a calm live and get Boyz-2-Men blasted at you. Not that they were bad singers... actually they were quite good. I just don't have a lot of love for Da Boyz, I was in a super cranky mood, and my MOM was there. "I'll make love to you," indeed!
There's more, I'm sure, but I'll have to update later when I remember.
Posted by Emarrific at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2004
Enoshima Kitties!
Recently I went to Enoshima and was pleasantly surprised by all the kitties inhabiting the island. Take a look at my photo album here! Emarrific's photo albums
Posted by Emarrific at 08:35 AM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2004
Juxtapositional Linquizzical Prepositional Torture
Today, it was my greatest please to challenge/vainly attempt the highest level (level one) of the JLPT, otherwise known as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It was actually a bit of a stretch to imagine passing this test when I signed up three months ago, but I thought the challenge would be fun. Then, about 3 weeks ago, I took my first practice test and was so demoralized by the result that I stopped studying. I know, this was a terribly silly time to take the practice test (I should've taken one at the beginning of study and then regularly thereafter) but you know what they say... the past is 20/20 but the future is a bit murky.
The test is divided into three sections. I have listed them below with my thoughts on each:
1. Kanji and Vocabulary
I am so laughably bad at this section. I probably would just barely pass this section in the level below- level two. For some reason the kanji and vocabulary just won't stick in my head! In any case, I have devised a master plan to deal with this embarrassing situation. I will read a newspaper everyday, a magazine a week, and a book a month. It sounds good on paper, although reading for three hours a day seems a bit ambitious. But I like to think BIG BIG BIG! I don't settle for mediocre dreams. I like BIG DREAMS and BIG FAILURES!
Moving on....
2. Listening Comprehension
This section is so easy, I blush to mention it. It's like the developing country of the JLPT sections in terms of difficulty. My theory is that the Japanese people who made this test learned foreign languages using the grammar-translation method, a method which left them unable to understand language in real-time. As a result, maybe they figured learners of Japanese would also have learned in the same way, which would explain the draconian kanji, vocab, reading and grammar sections in juxtaposition with the comparatively easy listening comprehension section.
Anyways, I never have to study for this section. It will be the section which will pull my score out of the depths of the 40th percentile range.
3. Reading comprehension and grammar
On the practice test, the reading passages were so hard that I had to sit down with a dictionary and grammar book and puzzle together the meaning of these passages over a span of several hours. However, on this year's test, the reading comprehension featured words and kanji that I know, which is amazing, considering how few I know! So, there is a better than 5% chance that I could pass.
The grammar section also was not as bad as the practice test, but still, I had to do a lot of educated and not-so-educated guessing.
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I will find out the results in February. If I pass, it will be a sort of rite of passage... that I have finally come to a point where I have mastered Japanese to a reasonable degree. For years I have thought that if I passed the JLPT level one, I would have arrived. Or so I thought. There is some controversy in my mind about whether this test really signifies a high degree of fluency in the language. It does signify a high fluency in recognizing kanji, vocabulary, grammar and, to some extent, reading patterns. It doesn't say much about your listening comprehension level. Nor does it test your ability to actually produce language. I don't ever have to utter a sentence or write anything. This is a very important part of language usage, and I don't know if I can say that I am truly a master until I can do these things to a reasonable extent.
Still, if I do pass by some insane fluke, I will be happy to move on to the ultimate test, the test which will show that I can be a functional *producer* of the Japanese language. Then and only then, will I (possibly) be satisfied. Any suggestions on what should constitute this test or tests would be welcome. :D
Posted by Emarrific at 11:30 PM | Comments (2)
November 28, 2004
Welcome to my thing on the world wide whochamacallit
The most irregularly updated thing of terrible and intensity, you will laughing, crying and be sleep. Enjoy my loved family and friends I make this wonderful for you enjoy. Now fix English after much Japanese public school. :D
Well, at long last, after holding your breath for 4 months, I have finally started a thing and it has one entry! Woo hoo! You may have to hold your breath a lot longer for entry number two. In the meanwhile, I plan to play with fonts, fiddle with colors, twiddle my toes, think about uploading photos (but not actually doing so), ponder interesting idea-ma-bobs for articles for my thing, and generally cause you to loose hair 37 years earlier than originally scheduled by the great secretary in the sky.
BUT your wait will be rewarded (in 6 years time). You will be able to witness and behold great feats of not-finishing and procrastination, soggy wit and bad humor, and the occasional flash of brilliance which I so deem it fitting to bestow up this thing, and so forth etc. etc. and so on. Right.
If you are a friend or family and I've sent you an email and you've stumbled across this and you wonder what HAS he/she/it been doing with his/her/its self these past few (insert whatever time period)?.... (gasp!) I will illuminate you with my exciting exploits of the past few months.
I have arrived in Japan and am living fairly near to that great city, Tokyo. I teach English (ha!) to kids at average and slightly below average high schools, special needs schools and the occasional super-duper-these-kids-speak-better-English-than-me high schools. (That may be a slight overexaggeration.) I will be talking more about my days at school later, so I won't taint your mind now with sweeping generalizations.
I feel very lucky to have been given this opportunity, no gaff. I'm serious. I am getting paid to meet kids and teachers, go travel around my prefecture, try my hand at teaching (mostly fun games, really), and generally get a down-at-the-ground view of what Japan is about. Well, the more developed part near Tokyo, that is. :D People seem pretty civilized and the pay is good. So, hey, I'm happy as a little fishy poo.
Christmas is coming (it's been heralded in Japan since sometime in October) so it's time to get down and get those fun Christmas English lessons planned. Since I meet my kids very rarely (maybe one every two or three weeks), my first Christmas lesson will be this week. I am thinking something along the lines of a Christmas fair: six stations with different Christmas related activities using one or more of the four language skills. Those would be reading, writing, speaking and listening. I think I'm going to do the following stations: write your own Christmas/hannuka/etc. card, watch a Xmas movie clip and fill in the blanks in the dialogue, learn a xmas song, do a Xmas dialogue with me, xmas quiz and xmas around the world display and puzzle. Wish me luck. I have a lot of research and preparation I will need to do in the next couple of days. Aiiga!
Well, I think I've babbled enough for now. It is getting late, and I fear for my wakefulness tomorrow should I not slepeth right now. Ditto for my English abilities!
Posted by Emarrific at 12:23 PM | Comments (4)