Sean's Japan Blog

Catch up post again. I should be doing papers...

2007-07-13T17:05:00.001+09:00

Well people, I'm swamped with work I don't wanna do right now... time for the distractions! Blog time!
here's what I have due:
July 17: Movie for film class due (we are screwed more about our inevitable failure later)
July 18: Japanese final exam, Kanji exam, women's studies final paper due
July 19: Grammar Exam
July 20: Reading exam
July 23: Religion Final Paper due

July 25-26 Visit Host family father Ichikawa-san during his business trip to Tokyo
July 27-31 Visit Yokohama family, the Ishii's.

August 1: GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!
(plane from Narita Airport to home!!!!!!!!1111oneone)

After all this is said and done, I got a post to do; what I did May - now.

May: Visited Ichikawa's for a wedding of on of their family members.
June: My solo trip to Akihabara
July: Visited the Ichikawa's in Shizuoka, trip by Shinkansen bullet train

I'll cover those next post.
For now... I need to get busy. VERY VERY BUSY.
Expect a post after the 24th, then again when I'm back!
I'll tell you all my final thoughts about Japan. For now... time to get crackin'.

broke my electronic dictionary =(

2007-05-10T23:37:00.000+09:00

Read the title... yup.
I was struck with the tragedy this morning. I accidently hit my knee on the outside of my Canon Wordtank G55 and... the screen on the other side of where my knee hit cracked. I hit the back of it, and the screen cracked. Flimsy.
But... now I'm doomed. I bet my parents are really upset I broke such an expensive gift... and now I'm without an advanced language translator in a foriegn land. Sure I still have my DS Lite with Kanji Sonomama DS: Rakubiki Jiten, but... its mostly only good for looking up kanji. Now I have to carry my bulky dictionary everywhere.

Well, how about we move onto some better news.

After class, I decided to drown my sorrows by joining a few friends on a raid to Shakey's Pizza. We each on average ate a whole large pizza for only 2000 yen each. Mm... it was good.
After that we went to Capcom plaza, and I had my first good luck of the day by winning some little plush Baby Marios. Hm, they would make good mini-gifts.

I had to edit this video too thanks to Danny swearing at the beginning. I mean, jeez, my 15 year old sister presumably reads my blog. And... maybe a few other young'uns.
EDIT: Um... looks like the sound didn't work anyway. Huh.

Nintendo and emu (emu as in emulator, not a mispelling of emo) freaks rejoice... I have been playing Super Metroid on my DS. Yup. A Super Nintendo game on my Nintendo DS. Check out this video. It isn't perfect though, the emulator is still in production. I recently beat it... 98% completion with a time of 2 hours 49 minutes. I'm playing it again even faster, going for that 100%.

Tools used: emulator software called SNEmulDS, my R4 Revolution card with a 1 gig micro sd card, and my DS Lite.
Now if only I could get Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 (called 3 in America) to work... that would be teh awesome. Yes, teh. Cause "the awesome" doesn't exist. Well, I guess same for teh...

May 5th '07 Part 2: Children's Day

2007-05-06T16:05:00.000+09:00

I remember it like it was only yesterday...
Which means with my memory I don't remember it very well.
I'm writing this a day late.
Well, after the whole WiFi quest, I returned to TUFS, then almost immediately back out to the train station to go to Fuchu to visit the Children's Day festival.
While in America we have... Cinqo de Mayo... or something... Japan has Children's Day. Dolls in display cases are set up... and... they fly carp flags called koinobori... and every major temple has tons of festival stuff set up. Here's my photos...

photobucket link: Here.

Portable shrines? What?	Monkish-dude.
Lotsa masks. I should buy one.	Stalls everywhere. LOTS of stalls.
Another one of my nice sun shots.	They were carrying some kind of... casket?
Giant Taiko drums!	Really old tree.
LOTS o' people.	Mmm... Takoyaki. Fried batter veggie balls with chunks of octopus in them. I like 'em.

May 5th '07 Part 1: The Quest for Wifi

2007-05-05T20:53:00.001+09:00

The events this morning have caused me to want to create my own super rant blog. You can see that here. My first post there is about Nintendo's magical online abilities. (/sarcasm)
Anyway, this morning was spent looking for a place I can get online with my Nintendo DS. According to Freespot.com, there are numerous free Wifi hotspots that are even compatible with the Nintendo DS all over Japan. The website showed 4 in my area. I picked the one that looked closest, and me and a friend set out on a zany whildwind adventure through the rural Fuchuu city. Our destination: Freespot user Tokyo West Hotel.
The Hotel was located in an area called Shiraitodai. So... naturally, our first thought was to head for Shiraitodai station.
BOY were we wrong.
The magically unhelpful thing was... we had an address. Its address was:
Shiraitodai 6-12-8
...get it?
The Japanese adress system is explained in my rant blog, here. Check there later.
Well, we were to all sorts of places. We had to head for area 6... which... god darn, was RIGHT near a different station we use, Tobitakyu. We ended up going to Tobitakyu after an hour of walking... when it only takes 20 minutes from TUFS to walk there directly. Wow. So... we look around... and later found out we were walking the wrong way the whole time. We were so confused about the adress system... ok, theres Shiraitodai 6-42 over there, and Shiraitodai 6-20 over there, and behind us theres Tobitakyu 2-30 over there, oh and to the right is Shiraitodai 3-25 over there... THERE WAS NO ORDER! We were lost around the Shira-Tobi area for about say 2 hours.
In our wanderings, he took some interesting pictures... I like the kids playing in the empty trash cage...

So... after asking directions for like the 3rd time... we... find it. We actually found the hotel. And it was only a 10 minute walk from TUFS! WE SPENT 3 AND A HALF HOURS LOOKING FOR A PLACE THAT WAS 10 MINUTES AWAY!!!

Exhale... inhale... exhale...

So we checked it out. FREE. WORKING. WiFi. Every floor. I could use it outside the door, in the lobby, outside on the steel stairs... and thats what we did! We took an elevator for the top floor, sat out on the stairs, and chilled. The Wifi worked on my DS. But my laptop's network card is acting all funky, I couldn't get it to work. =(. But it SHOULD HAVE worked. Just gotta fix it.
We didn't go on the roof... on a full clear day we'll try and see if we can see Mt. Fuji.

It was kinda scary sitting on the stairs... didn't wanna loiter in the lobby... but it was peaceful. Nothing but the wind and the city and... a 10 story drop below us.

Pics:

So... any of you out there play your DS online? Wanna share friend codes? Send me an email of which games you play and we'll share friend codes.
So after all this, we geared up for the Fuchu City Children's day festival! Next Entry!

Sleep? What was that again?

2007-04-20T06:07:00.000+09:00

Ok people. So I'm starting new classes for spring, and got some classes picked for Albany for fall, too. So far, classes now range from... rediculously easy to... Japanese.

More about them after I get my final picks done by the 24th.

Anyway... anyone know that state of being called sleep? I've been having trouble with that recently. Lately I haven't been sleeping well and I've been feeling depressed. I found out that I have been feeling depressed because... I haven't been sleeping well. It was a vicious cycle. Yesterday after class I was so depressed I din't wanna do anything and I just napped. Then I got up at 4. One hour later it was bright and I didn't realize what was going on... till I realized it was A.M. and I slept all night. Wow.
I feel a little better. Still a little groggy, still a little sleepy, still a little 'meh'... but... better. I think. I'll find out.

Um... what else...
New friend, who is also my new tutor. More news later.

Well, I have class soon. More entries another time. [yawn]

edit: I keep thinking about trying "Adsense"... just basically puts google text ads on my blog. I looked at it a bit, and it looks like they only send checks. I would try it if they used Paypal, but I don't really have a concrete address right now to have checks sent to... does it really work? Is it safe? ZOMG Identity theft! Hope not...
Heh. Nothing would beat hitting the library after lunch and before class and racking up clicks on multiple computers to pay for that day's lunch. =D
Or I can just find a real job.

HOST FAMILY STAY!!!!

2007-04-05T23:05:00.000+09:00

The GREAT BIG POST OF BLOG!
Episode 1: Host Family visits March 23-April 5, 2007, Yokohama and Shizuoka.
The following gigantic post was gradually written over the course of the above time period. Why not blog it all into one gigantic post???
I only linked some pictures here. If you want the rest, at each picture area I left a link to the correct photo bucket folder. If you are a friend of mine who doesn’t have my photo bucket guest password , let me know and I’ll send it. Sorry complete strangers!
So here it is. A big ol’ chunk of Blog. Sounds like some kinda gelatinous monster. Here it is none the less…

EDIT: To be convenient, here's all the photo bucket links here...
Ishii Family of Yokohama;
Aquarium: Here.
Zoo: Here.
Family, house, restaurant: Here.
If you know me you know the password! If you don't know it yet, ask!

Ichikawa Family of Shizuoka;
General pictures: Here.
Sakura Festival: Here.

March 23, 21:18

Hello Everyone!
It is now Host-Family time!
As of April 23rd, I am here in Yokohama with the Ishii family.
After spending about 3 hours blindly riding trains (and miraculously taking the right route!) I made it.
The mom picked me up, I came to the house, we went to a lunch with the brothers...
Hayato and Hikaru grew. I felt bad because I couldn't tell them apart at first.
Also... I helped Hayato walk their dog Miruku later. Wow, what an adventure. First of all, I didn't know dogs had to walk around half a town to do all their business. Second, they are speedy energetic little buggers.

The Wii. They have a Wii. Only multiplayer game they have right now is Wii Sports... but it eth awesome.
The Wiimote isn't hard to use as I thought. Of course your first golf putt and bowling ball toss will be laughs. But don't let that discourage you, the mote is really easy to learn after a minute of playing. You a stones throw from learning the Wiimote. Or at least a baseball throw.

Well, they liked my gifts, we had a nice dinner, and we watched something about high buildings and pandas on TV. Jurassic Park 3 is on right now. In Japanese, of course.

My typing might be bothering them while the movie is on, so time to go.

today’s pictures: dinner

March 24, 9:43pm

So, I slept on my own futon near the two brothers. It wasn't.... that bad. They didn't snore... but... there is just one thing about Hayato (14 now) I wanna be picky about.
Hayato rolls in his sleep. Like... onto me.
Somehow I had fallen asleep on my stomach, by some miracle. Around 4 am I woke up feeling something heavy on my back. Hayato.
It wasn't so bad. He woke up after like 10 minutes, moved, apologized, and fell back to sleep. Pretty fast. I wish I could fall asleep fast. It wasn't so bad though. During those 10 minutes, I thought that it could have been worse. There was this one time I went to Maine with my friend Ed. (last name withheld from "he-might-sit-on-me" reasons) Me and Ed shared a bed in a motel. He rolls in his sleep too. And he rolled on me. And he weighs twice as much as me.
The solution was simply waiting out for the next roll off and sleeping on the floor.
The problem last night? Futons are already on the floor.
Well, remembering the Ed-experience made Hayato feel like a feather, so I was ok until he got off.
Well, nothing against you Hayato, you didn't mean it.
Although, Ed? Hit the gym already. Your friend, Sean.

Rough night over, today’s agenda was:
1-Visit Nagai-sensei with Momoe. (A teacher I visited here 3 years ago)
2-Shopping with Momoe and her friend at Yokohama.
3-Volounteer English teaching at the place the Ishii mom works at.

1) Woulda been nice if he gave us a phone number or something. Even nicer if he went out to get his own phone then give us a number. Rant aside, Nagai is a nice gai. Er, guy. It was nice talking to him again, and he gave me a gift of little figure sets of Japanese food. Some may not see the point of little toy figures of food, but I liked it very much. 1, Its 1/something scaled figures of food that is foreign to me, which is cool to look at and 2, they would be kick-butt with my anime figure collection.

Also happens to be he's head of or coach of the baseball team here. Picture below.
I felt bad I didn't get him anything, but he'll be coming to TUFS in June and I have one Rhode Island lighthouse figure left... we have a winner folks.

2) Momoe the Ishii sister (I think she’s 19 now) took me and her friend shopping in a Yokohama mall. She tested my Japanese by making me try to pick out the train tickets I needed. A couple things I got are below.

3) Volunteer English teaching! Yup. I'm not exactly sure what job Ishii-mom has, but its some kinda office place and... they have English classes at night for middle school students. And who was a special gust teacher for those loud little rapscallions? 3 guesses.
It wasn't so bad. Wish there was an easy way to calm kids down. Am I speaking for all parents and teachers right now?

I'm a little nervous about the family letting Miruku (the dog) into the tatami dining room while I'm in it because of my allergies. But, its very windy and rainy out. As long as he doesn't run up and start licking my face... ain't he cute. Picture below.

I wonder how long I can make blog entries on my lappy before the battery goes out... I haven't used the power here yet.

Hm... figure skating is on. Ah ha, that skater just fell on her butt! And... Japan won a game of soccer against Peru today. Yeah. It was on live.

67% battery life remaining after just writing this and the last entry... stupid American laptop battery. I only have to charge my Japanese cell phone battery like every other solar eclipse.
10:13pm. Oh yeah, pictures...

march 25, 9:55 pm

Luckily, Hayato didn't roll on me last night. Slept a little better.

Before anything today, I watched a new episode of the anime One Piece with Hayato. Or... wanted to at least. I came in halfway and just as it started getting good, the news interrupted with news about an earthquake in mid-northern Japan. Now, my Japanese isn't perfect, but I didn't hear about anyone dieing. According to later news, it looks like only an airport transfer shuttle got slightly damaged and stopped, but everyone inside was ok. Our show got interrupted from something that wasn't even that bad. Damn...

So... today's agenda was visiting an Aquarium! A few pictures are below. For a full collection, go here to this link and stick in my guest password to enter. (friends of mine who don't know it yet, ask)

The place was nice. Lots of fish and other aquatic entities.

And for dinner? A 'Nabe' dinner! Nabe means pot. For a Nabe dinner, you stick raw mean and uncooked veggies and noodles in a big pot and it cooks while you eat, waiting for the next serving to be done. It was awesome, tasted great. It had pork, mushrooms, lettuce, noodles, chikuwa (not sure what that is yet) and tofu. Maybe something else I missed, but ate anyway.

Before and after dinner, me, Hayato and Hikaru played with Beyblades. Yeah, Beyblades. They're actually kinda fun. I think we were kinda loud throwing them around and laughing, so we didn't play that long. It was only after about 10 Beyblade related injuries that we stopped.

Also, the whole family was introduced to my hiccup problems. Yeah. In case you don't know, I get hiccups every day. EVERY DAY. Even more often than I cough or sneeze. Do I have some kind of physical or even mental disease???

What else today... dunno. I'm tired. Ooh... 40% battery left on the laptop. Maybe I should charge it soon...

Photobucket link to this event: Here.
Picture range: all.

March 26 10:57AM
Dunno... maybe I should have woken up earlier... or later... there's no one here right now...
Hikaru and Hayato are still asleep upstairs... I guess the parents went to work and Momoe and Yuki are MIA as usual. They're older, maybe they go to a college or live somewhere else or something.

I'm stealing their power right now to fuel up my laptop. I'm sure if I asked they would happily even plug it in for me... but I like being sneaky.

There's food on the table covered up... can I eat it? It's all cold. Do I know how to use a Japanese microwave? Is this food meant for me? I missed breakfast, so I missed the chance to eat. I'll just... wait for the brothers to wake up and see what they do...

Ok. Anytime guys. Wake up, start uncovering that food and get the Wii or TV on. C'mon. Anybody? Hikaru? Hayato? Wii? Breakfast? Anyone?
-11:02am

-11:00pm
It's 12 hours later and I'm bloggin' again. So, Hayato woke up first and made some chahan (Chinese fried rice) and Hikaru woke and we ate some food and I better put a period somewhere before I get a run on sentence. Better. Anyway, we played some Winning 11 and One Piece on their ps2, and more Beyblade later.

Later I accompanied Hikaru and the mom to the hospital. Hikaru had hurt his leg before, but now its better. It was during this trip I realize how narrow a road could be. If a road is really narrow in America, room for only 1 car, it's a one way road, right?
Not necessarily in Japan!
There was this one road, we waited for someone to pass down, we went through, and people were waiting for us to get through on the other side. Jeez! Everyone drives safer and slower in Japan, but the roads are just so narrow!

Well, dinner and bath is done. We're watching this show where everyone mimics famous people, most of it is singing. I wish I knew all the references... and the language.

I have seen some Japanese commercials of some American products and companies. Some look silly or make less sense, but some I have seen are Pentene body soap, Dove soap, Axe, and Aflac. As well as car commercials, and some other stuff. But the majority of Japanese commercials are weird... I can't really describe them.
Here’s one I kept seeing over and over and over. It’s just so stupid.

Whatever. I'm tired. I'm goin' to bed fools.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 10:30 am

You know those dreams you have when you think they're real and horrible stuff is happening... and you feel pain and sadness... and you think its real??? Yeah, not a great way to start the day. Let's just say I had trouble sleeping last night.

Well, right now I'm waiting for the brothers to wake up so it will be ok for me to have breakfast. Knowing them they might be out till noon...
-10:32am

9:12PM
So... today was just food and games. T'was ok. Um... I also watched the Japanese dub of Home Alone 1 with the brothers. The mom showed me a place nearby I can shop at. But I will only be here a few more days. So I did a little shopping there, bought a couple gifts and souvenirs.
We just finished dinner and we're watching international swimming competitions on TV.
I'm not sure exactly what I want to do right now. Part of me wants to get back to college and get ready for class and see my friends. Another part of me wants to stay here forever. And another part of me just wants to jump on a table and start doing the tango and Macarena simultaneously. And I don't even know how to do a tango. I'm in quite a fix. -9:19 pm.

Wednesday March 28, 2007. 8:30 am

There's been something on the news for a couple days about a 22 year old woman from England who has died in Japan... I'm guessing murder.
Kinda makes us other foreigners a little... well... unassured.

going to a zoo today... gotta go...

11:15 pm
And we went!
It was pretty cool. I took a lot of pictures. Some good. Some bad.

Before I show you guys any pictures, I just gotta talk about the bathtub. The past couple days I have been thinking the water was too hot. Today, the water was too cold. I think I preferred it at 42 degrees C though... I didn't know how to turn it up...

Anyway. Picture time...

Photobucket link: Here.

Thursday, March 29, 2007. 12:42 pm

Damn, it is SO nice out! I would like to call this day my first great day of spring of 2007! 20 degrees Celsius, (that’s around 70 F, you American n00b) the wind is blowing a gentle breeze, flowers are starting to bloom, it's only just a little cloudy... it's perfect here in Yokohama right now.

What a day to throw in some complaints, eh? I should be praising stuff on a day like this, like the mom's cooking, but I want to get this off my chest...

I would like to rant about cleanliness here. First, toilets.
Upstairs is one of them "traditional" toilets, basically equivalent to a hole in the ground. This is the toilet you have to squat over, and is famous all around Japan. While we Americans prefer to be "on the throne" or "on the can", the Japanese prefer to be over it. Right...
But it's ok. Downstairs we have one of those "evolved" toilets. Now by evolved I don't mean western style. I'm not that cruel to say that. It is western style, but it's one of those plug in the wall toilets with a heated seat.
Yep. For some odd reason, the western toilet in this house has a heated seat. I... do not understand why... I'll let you ponder this on your own. Yes, by 'evolved' I mean, 'you have to plug it in'.
In all the fancy places, western toilets are always super fancy and have to be plugged in. Whether it's a heated seat, or a 'squirt water at your butt to wipe' system, or an mp3 player (I am NOT making that up) Japanese toilets need electricity. Now, as advanced as their technology is, what about the slight chance of say... a power outage? Will it still flush? When mankind enters an era where even their toilets need power, I get a little concerned.
I kind of don't like the idea of an electronic whose main focus is using water. It just... doesn't mix in my book. Whatever happened to the toilet's main use... flushing? I don't need it to do anything else. There are just... things that don't need extra features. Shall I start sticking plasma TVs on apples? Or add cellphone-mp3-video capabilities to your house's front steps? Don't forget GPS on your pants and shampoo bottle.
Also... I don't need a toilet to wash my butt. I can wipe it myself, thank you very much.
Speaking of washing, lets drag us back to the house's toilets.
Now, in Japanese tradition, the toilet room and the room with the bath are separate. You have the toilet room over here, and the bath-room (note the -) over there. Now, in keeping up with this tradition, there is no sink in the toilet room. Or even hand soap, or even a bottle of hand sanitizer. After visits to the local John (slightly lower amount of visits here due to the 10 servings of rice with meals) I walk to the other side of the house to the bath-room to wash there.
Well... I suppose there is a 'sink' in the toilet room. In an effort to be cute and conservative, when you flush the toilet, there is a little 'sink' on top that pours new water down. That water goes down the sink hole to be used as toilet water. You can put your hands in the water that comes out... it's not used... yet. Still kind of a gross thought though. I'll just hope no one is bathing and use the bath-room sink, which by some miracle has hand soap.

By the way... they warned me about Japanese bathrooms sometimes not having toilet paper and that you might have to bring your own. Not to worry. I haven't seen a bathroom yet without a tp stock. (though there are about 500 free tissue-pack-with-advertisement giving people on every block in Japan, so keep a pack of free tissues in your pocket at all times, just in case)
The problem is soap. A lot of bathrooms just don't have soap. Not even a broken soap dispenser waiting to be stolen by some kid or thrown away... there just isn't any.

You know... you would think that the people that are so obsessive about cleanliness and taking your shoes off while in houses... and make you fully clean yourself before even touching a bathtub... would... you know... actually care about general hand cleanliness at all??? I can't find a pocket bottle of Purell-like hand sanitizer ANYWHERE. And I also can't find hygienic things like... Hydrogen Peroxide or Rubbing Alcohol. Do Japanese people never cut themselves?
And being so obsessive about dirty bodies and feet... do they not give a damn what they touch? And not having soap in a place with toilets... how in tradition is that sanitary???

Someone get me a bottle of hand soap. Stat.

Anyway... did I mention it's nice out? Check out these photos of around the house while I wash my hands. And yes, they have vending machines in front of their house... they're everywhere!

Saturday, March 31, 2007, 10:29 pm

Yeah... watching the 3rd Harry Potter movie in Japanese...
Looks like I missed a day. It's ok, nuthin' much happened.
I found out that they have wireless internet here. I started uploading some pictures, but I'll only finish everything when I get back.
Wireless internet... for computers AND the DS! Hayato has a DS with Jump Ultimate Stars and Metroid Prime Hunters. I also gave him my Japanese Tetris DS as a gift. When I get back, I'm buying my own DS WIFI card and sending him all my friend codes.
And to my sister... find your freakin' Mario Kart DS game already. I mean, jeez!
The Sakura are blooming! I caught one. But not just a petal. A flower. Oh yeah. Here are a couple shots taken at night below. My camera has one powerful flash.
Any of my loyal readers here play a DS online here? Anyone? Online? DS? Anybody? How about you over there? Yes, you with the tenuous grasp on life and the world around you! How about you?
oh yeah, and before I forget, today was restaurant day! I took... just the mom and a brother to a restaurant. And paid for it! I felt so grown up being the only person to look at and pay a bill. Yeah. Um, not that I am a kid all the time... cause I'm not. Anyway, everyone else was either busy or out somewhere. The buggers.
Tomorrow I leave... I haven't grasped that yet but I head for Shizuoka tomorrow. But... I like it here. Gotta go sometime... I'll feel emotional and sad about it tomorrow. I'm enjoying the time I got now.
Yeah here are the Sakura and restaurant pix. Enjoy.
One final note: laaaaa!!!!! -10:47pm

And some photos of everyone…

And the whole folder: Here. And yes, they have vending machines in front of their house!

Sunday, April 1, 2007. 9:45 PM

I would first like to say that I have decided to stop studying Japanese and instead take up a business baking and selling tiny breads.

I would like to announce next that that was a poor shot at an April Fools joke.

I would like to say next that I actually meant it. Bread is a good time for me.

Then, I would like to say that I was joking. Again about meaning it.

Finally, I just wanna say bread is a good time for everybody.

ANYWAY!

I bid the Ishii family a (temporary!) farewell. They want me to visit again. And visit I shall before I leave August 1.

2 hours on the Shinkansen later, I am here in Shizuoka. Everyone is all happy to see me, even the Avatars of Energy. Sorry, I meant the kids.

I brought some western-like toys such as a slinky, a top, a yoyo, some Styrofoam planes that fly a couple times till you bend the wing clean off, and sadly ignored, an Ultraman figure set I thought they would love. We're talking about a seven year old boy (Hiroki) and a 4 (Kanon) and 5 (Katone) year old girls. The Ultraman figure was sadly ignored. The biggest hit was the slinky actually, after I showed them how it worked on the stairs. Hiroki disappeared into my Gameboy Color when he found it in my bag. Who knew Dr. Mario could keep a kid occupied that long?

Well, we ate at a soba restaurant, which was quite good, and did a little grocery shopping.

I'm really tired though. There's an Arnold Swartzeneger movie on right now, Collateral Damage, which is, naturally, dubbed into Japanese. It doesn't feel right... where is his trademark Russian accent? After he's done Governating for CA, he should learn every language in the world so he could do his own dubbing. Maybe.

What the heck am I typing? I must be really tired.

Before I forget, it looks like I am invited to a wedding in May. In the 3 generations here, children, parents, and grandparents, one of the grandparents' daughters is getting married, and it looks like I'm attending. I don't mind. I haven't been to a Japanese wedding before. I gave them my congratulations and promised to come. It will be on a Sunday, but I woulda skipped class if it was on a weekday anyway.

Oh, and chew on the first couple pix... aren't they cute. I'm going to bed now... gotta restore my energy to play with the little monsters again tomorrow.

Only had my Cell Phone today…

Monday, April 2, 2007. 5:39 pm

Kids are a handful. They're playful, energetic, and don't stop. This is great the first 5 minutes. Then we older people get tired.

Wow, 2 of the 3 kids have Nintendo DS's. The DS is a great goings-on. It involves a lot less energy.

So... sushi place for lunch! The kind of place where you take stuff off the conveyor belts and pay per plate after you're done.
I had octopus sushi, shrimp sushi, tuna sushi, egg sushi...
Octopus isn't bad. It's squid I hate.

2 complaints: food seems to come out really slow. Also... they should be ashamed of their "cheesecake" dessert, which is barely even a cheesecake and more of a 'vaguely cheese flavored cake'. Japan... has... NO concept of the word sweet! Its despicable! Where there should be sugar, they make up for in salt! How... JUST HOW DO THEY DO IT!? How do they keep their health... and sanity... with no sugar and %2000 of their daily salt allowance in one meal?

I mean it. A lot of stuff I've eaten here that is supposed to be classified as a "sweet" just wasn't... sweet.
So far, all ice cream ingested has been satisfactory. So far...
The day I find a salty or bitter ice cream cone will be the saddest day of my life.

So... what else... should I be trusting a 4 year old girl with my DS Lite? It looks like she hasn’t broken it yet...

So... what else is going on. Oh, also checked out the host father's (technically the grandfather of the family) car part laser cutting company. He's the president of a company that uses lasers to cut parts for cars. I was watching the lasers at work... pretty cool.

After that I... walked with the mother of the kids to pick up one of the kids at the preschool across the street. That's where... I played with some kids. Boy was I tired out after and needed my inhaler.
Ah, the world is fun until you're on the ground drained of energy and wheezing your lungs out.

SUSHI!

Link: see Ichikawa folder link below at last day entry. Photo range: first 2 rows.

-6:03 pm

Tuesday, April 3, 2007.. 5:32 pm

Bunch of stuff today! Strawberries! Almost kinda Mt. Fuji! Sushi. A haircut! And... your face! OOHHH!!!!

Um, yeah. Anyway, first on the agenda was breakfast. Toast and a fried egg. Yum. Later, after showing off my magical stick a balloon to the ceiling with static electricity powers, (which I lost later today from the haircut) was a trip was an all you can stomach and pick yourself strawberry gorging. Yum. Pics below.
After, we went to a seafood market street... which had a sushi restaurant. Food was good there. I kind of played with my afterfood a little. My creation: Ebi-kani-man. (aka, Shrimp-crab Man)
We went up to some mountains and saw a nice view of Shizuoka. But it was cloudy and we couldn't see the great Fuji. For shame.
I also got a haircut today. I... think it looks a little silly... how about you?

Link: see Ichikawa folder link below at last day entry. Photo range: rows 3 through 6.

-5:38pm

Wednesday, April 4, 2007. 11:45 pm

My thoughts are a little scattered from a long day and sleepiness. Let me just organize ‘em quick...
events untold yesterday: karaoke.
Today: melon farm, Okazaki Park's Sakura festival, soccer game.
So last night I drank. Orange juice. You were expecting something else? I subjected some of my host family and a karaoke bar owner to my singing. And then I changed a light bulb. Well, 2 light bulbs. As a favor. The owner was a friend of the family and needed a little help. I was the only tall person there. By comparison anyway. My dad towers over me but I'm like a giant here...

And then today. First on the agenda was toast with jam bought at the strawberry farm yesterday, a whole fish, (damn bones tried to kill me) and... eggs with hot dogs in them...?

After a hearty breakfast, we went to a melon farm, owned by more of the family. The grandfather's sister's family. I had said big family before, but they are all over the place. Not that I'm complaining. The melon they served was delish, and I was given some as a souvenir. Flipping sweet.

The pictures should speak for themselves at Okazaki Park's Sakura Festival. Pretty... I had eaten too much food and was kinda sleepy... I kept wanting to lay down under a Sakura tree and sleep as petals fell like snow...

And a soccer game. A $8000 dollar soccer game. I'm not kidding. Being the president of a big company, father/grandfather Ichikawa has moola enough to rent 4 reserved and well placed seats to every game in the city's stadium for one year, 800,000 yen for that year. Just wow.

Numbers aside, I really didn't think I would like it at first. Sports are all slow, with their waiting and taking turns batting and replays and commercial breaks... but then I saw the light. This isn't TV. It's a soccer stadium. There's no replays or commercials, just some billboards. The action is right there in front of you, only meters down, and you are there when the foul balls come though. I almost caught a free ball thrown in before the game and a foul ball hit to my right. And when you yell 'go!', you're with hundreds of other people yelling with you. And the athletes hear it. Made me realize I was there, I was immersed, and it was a little fun.

Its past midnight now. I am leaving for Tokyo today. I really wish I can get that guy to stop spending money on me, but father/grandfather Ichikawa bought me multiple come and return Shinkansen tickets... for going back today, the wedding, and just visiting again when it gets warmer to go boating. I'm not gonna argue, I'll take 'em, and I'll be back. So says... the Oniichan.

See below for link of all the general pictures.
Here is me with some melons. Mm…

Here is a link to all the Sakura Festival pics: Here.

And here’s a few of those pics now.

Sleep time. -12:05 am

Thursday, April 5. 7:12 pm

Its over. By Shinkansen then local trains, I'm back in TUFS. But what has ended here shall renew again. Both families enjoyed my trips there, and both said they wanted me to come back and meant it. Super rich Father Ichikawa bought me some Shinkansen tickets good until August. very nice of him, and I will be visiting them again. Why let those tickets go to waste? And Yokohama is only a $10 trip from where I am. The Ishii family is practically next door.

Below is some farewell pictures. How about a link to the whole Shizuoka trip while we are at it:
Link: Here.

Ladies and gents, thanks for your time, and I hope next time you enjoy a sandwich, you eat it heartily. Why? Dunno. Guess I just want a sandwich.

The big catchup post part 3: Other Wild and Crazy (not really) Stuff B: All the rest

2007-03-01T17:33:00.000+09:00

to be done

The big catchup post part 3: Other Wild and Crazy (not really) Stuff A: Games

2007-03-01T17:07:00.000+09:00

OTHER STUFF

Karaoke! The fire drill! Shopping! Cooking! Anime Figures! O RLY Chocolate!
Um.... pictures up when I feel like it. I'll get to it tomorrow.
So you have to wait.
Nya nya.

Games Post

What would I do without games? Sure there's traveling and learning and all that great experience stuff... but what do you do in the mean time? Sit and twiddle your thumbs?
No, you play games!
What better way to spend your extra time than playing a game in a language you're studying! (or even one in your language!)

Current MMORPG

Ghost Online

(insert picture)

You've probably seen Maple Story, a 2d rpg. Ghost Online is a lot like Maple Story, but... you're basically a guy out of Dragon Ball Z. You can run fast, high jump, weild a sword or shurikens, fire chi blasts... but you can't make breakfast. For shame.
The game is still new and there's not much to do yet. But running around and high jumping in an MMORPG is pretty cool. Give it a try.

Other Games

Wild Arms (Japanese) PSX... but playing on my computer. ...what? I own 2 Ps1's and 2 Ps2's... I just don't have them with me! Its legal!!!

(insert picture already!)

I played it before in english, now again in Japanese. I kinda forgot the story, but oh well. One of the first RPG's that came out on PSX, and one of the best.

Halo 2 - Japanese, Xbox.... but playing on my friend's 360

So I bought an Xbox in Japan and brought it back to America during my break... but I recently found Halo 2.
Basicaly one of the good shooters for Xbox... a console of nothing really but shooters.
Also, I heard that the XBox 360 isn't fully backwards compatible... what the hell is up with that? Luckily Halo 2 worked... with some slowdown. Ps3 was backwards compatible, Wii is everything compatible... come on Microsoft, quit bein' a B****! I hope Bill Gates gets a blue screen on his way to heaven when he dies.

Also, on weird thing. The game is Japanese, but it has an almost full english version in it. With english subtitles, even. But the humans and aliens(!) SPEAK Japanese! Freaky.

Magic Knight Rayearth - Japanese, Sega Saturn

For the last time, even if its got female leads, it doesn't mean its a girl game. Come on, I'm having fun with it.

Panzer Dragoon - Japanese, Sega Saturn

Heck yeah. Its like a shooter. But you ride a dragon. Its cool.

Shining Force 3 - Japanese, Sega Saturn BUT playing this one on my computer. It wont save on my saturn

Good game for Saturn. Wish I knew what was goin on.

Tales of The Tempest - Japanese, DS

I just started it, but its a new game in Japan, wasn't released in America, and there's no gamefaqs as of yet. Maybe I should write the Gamefaq for it. Maybe. I just basically finished translating the first dialogue.

Other game stuff

Elecom Playstation Controller to USB adapter

I bought this in Akihabara. Allows me to plug my PS1 controller into my computer. Great for emulationa and MMORPGs. Heck yeah!

R4 Revolution DS

So yeah... I bought a rom card for my DS. It uses Micro SD memory. Meaning you load roms on the Micro Sd card and it plugs into the R4 which is the size of a DS game. It just plugs into the DS like any game and works.
These things are legal to have... like emulators. But the roms are illegal. So yeah... um... of course I don't download roms! I'm homebrew games all the way Nintendo!
(whew, think they bought it?)
So yeah... anyone looking for a rom card for their DS, if you can find some cheap micro Sd memory, the R4 works really well in my case. Just don't use it as a music player. It is by far NOT an iPod replacement.

iPod Shuffle

Not a game, but I got it for Christmas and I like it. Sure it has no screen, but it can play songs I put in in order as I choose on my computer, or I can random it. I can navigate it quite well switching between random and straight to find the song I like. It has an invincible battery life (it just doesn't die!) and is small and sturdy. 1 gig is perfect for it too.
Not many people know this, but it can also be used to store files on! Its basically a 1 gig usb file storage card that plays music! I usually keep it half full of music in case I need to move a big file.

(there are currently no photographs for anything. I'll edit them in soon)

The big catchup post part 2: Love and mostly Loss

2007-03-01T17:04:00.000+09:00

Ah... Nigatsu... the second month... February. How I hate it so.

So what if it was Exam month. I did fine on the exams. Passed em all. Passed with flying colors on most of 'em. (My listening and grammar tests left a little to be desired)
Exams weren't the problem.

Who knows why February has only 28 days... but I'm glad it's the shortest.
It's that one day that always ruins me. The 14th.
Now, I have never had a girlfriend. Ever. You can imagine how my Feb. 14's are like. 20 Feb 14's have passed for me. And all of them sucked.

There was this girl I liked. We will call her S-san. (san meaning Mr or Ms in Japanese). Now, S-san and I liked to meet on Tuesdays to play DS games and eat lunch.
When I came back from Vacation, I got her a chrismas present. Manga she liked, a hello kitty calender, a nice cat mug... a couple things. She liked them. Especially the lego star wars pen. She liked the cheapest thing I gave her. Go figure.
I kept trying to meet with her on Tuesday. She started coming late.
Then not at all. She ignored my mails. She finally answered one saying she was busy with exams.

On Valentines Day I sent her a mail saying I liked her.

In not even 5 minutes after she replied. She said she knew I might have liked her, but was shy and avoiding me. And because we are just friends, she couldn't imagine it as anything more, and she apologized.

May I also say on Valentines Day in Japan, girls feel obligated to buy stuff for guys. Anyone who matter to them.
I recieved nothing. Nothing but an apology for not liking me.

Its amazing how I can only be friends with girls who either already have boyfriends or live far from me. How does it happen?
All my avid readers... like all 5 of you. I'm a nice guy, right?
Then how come I can't even get one girl to like me?

...oh well.

Closing statement: if you suffer from any of the following symptoms:
-human
-young adult/late teen aged
-single
and
-female (no exceptions)
ask your doctor if 'Sean' is right for you!

...damn that was terrible. No wonder I'm still single...

The big catchup post part 1: Coming back

2007-03-01T16:59:00.000+09:00

So... sup.
Yeah, if you dust all the cobwebs off, you will see my blog is still alive. Barely. I had to unfreeze it, use those heart shocker things, and give it cpr. It wasn't pretty. I made sure to use mouthwash after too. Also, I'm ditching the Japanese. Sorry.

So... two entire months unblogged. Where was I? What did I do? Where in the world WAS Carmen Sandiego?
A tragic (not really) tale. Love and loss. (Mostly loss.) A fake fire drill and earthquake. Exams. O RLY chocolate. And scary karaoke. Pronounced kah-rah-oh-kay. Say it right, you stupid American..
Ladies and gentlemen... here are the two months you never thought you would see. Fasten your seat belts, and please turn off all explosives during the film.

January

Where the hell was I in Janurary? for the first 9 days of it I was home. Home sweet home in Providence, Rhode Island. (Or as my Japanese alien ID said: Phode Island, but that's another story)

I remember I wanted to write a blog while I was on the plane. I saw lots of stuff. Clouds, mostly. But I looked down and saw the vast pacific ocean. The mountains of northeastern Russia. The coastline of Alaska and Japan. The Rocky mountains of America.
And those babies wouldnt shut up for any of it. Forget putting kids through school and college and raising them well... the freakin baby stage must be the hardest part.They do nothing but cry! Freakin babies. I know I was a baby once. I'm sure I was an annoying crybaby then. I bet you were too. So there. No wonder my SUNY Albany roommate eats babies...

Ok, enough about babies.

I got back to Japan ok. It was easier getting back alone cause I knew the railways from trip one. I also hung on to my luggage and managed not to lose it on the way back. But I lost it on the trip up, costing me time looking for it. Yes, I found it.

What else happened in January... uh... dam, I forgot.

to be edited with pictures to jog my memory...

pack n shop

2006-12-17T22:30:00.000+09:00

今から、英語と日本語でブロッグを書きます！
日本で友達に見せたいです。そして、ぼくは練習できます。
Starting from now, I wil be writing my blog in Japanese and English. I want to show this blog to my friends in Japan. That, and I can practice Japanese as I do it.

On my with my post! (English speakers: If you see lots of weird symbols on this page, its Japanese. Your computer can't see it. Not like you can read it anyway, so don't worry.)

Holy crap! There's only a week till Christmas!
Holy crap! I didn't go shopping yet!
HOLY CRAP! The stores are packed!!!

Today, I went to Fuchuu and checked out the Toys R Us there. It was very crowded... lots of people. I am so glad I am not claustrophibic...
So I find some stuff for some people... but I couldn't find anything I wanted to get. For Toys R Us... they didn't really have toy sections. In the Japanese Toys R Us... the boy area is mostly dominated by robots. Power Ranger robots. Ultraman robots. Entire shelves of Gundam kits. Tons and tons of them. I found one little section with action figures. I'm sorry I could not find you a Sesshou-maru figure, mom. =(

Also, I know XBox did very bad in Japan but... is there ANY place where I can get some Japanese Xbox games? Even used game stores didn't have any! Can I just please get Halo 2, Fable, and Star Wars, Knights of the Old Rebublic... maybe even Morrowind... in Japanese??? Jeez... I bought a cheap Xbox... but I can't find any games for it!

クソ！来週はクリスマスです！
クソ！もうクリスマスの買い物をしませんでした！
クソ！店は込んでいます！

今日、府中へ行きました。そこで、TOYS R USに　行きました。とても込んでいました。ぼくはせまくて込んでいる所に行けます。。。よかった。
買いたい物がみつけられませんでした。日本のTOYS R USでたくさんロボットの玩具があります。たくさんテレビのセンタイのロボットの玩具がありました。そして、たくさんガンダムがありました。あまりフィギュアの玩具がみつけられませんでした。ごめんね、お母さん、セッショウマルの玩具がつけられませんでした。>.<

そして。。。日本でXBOXはあまり売りませんでしたが。。。どうしてぜんぜんXBOXのゲームがみつけられませんか？ゼンゼン！日本語でHalo2, Fable, Star Wars: Kights of the Old Republic と Morrowind を買いたいです。。。
まったく。。。安いXBOXを買いましたが。。。ゲームがみつけられません！！！

I then did some small shopping at other places and came back. Then I started packing.
It was not an easy task.

See that book with Doraemon on it? Look right and look down. That is the Xbox's box. I put most of the presents in there. It just fits. I bought a lot of manga too... The manga you see I bought for myself. Manga I bought for other people is under the box.

See that green bag? My Xbox is in it. It just fits. It freakin weighs as much as my luggage bag!!! Seems like it.

後で、いろいろ買い物をしました。そして、りょうへ帰りました。そして、荷物を準備しました。

見て。そのXBOXの箱にお土産を入れました。ちょっと合います。そして、たくさんマンガを買いましたね。

あの緑のかばんの中に。。。XBOXです！XBOXはとても大きくて重いです。とても重いです！荷物のようです。

Well... other than shopping, there's other things I want to talk about that I don't really get.

First of all... the Japanese railway system.

Look at that station. Look at it! Looks big, right? Looks important, right?
Forget it. This is a small station. You will not see its name on big maps. Only on a small local one.
Its hard to find stations like this. Unless you know where they are.
How can stations next to Japan's biggest foriegn exchange student college not be named on largescale station maps???

ほかの問題があります。ちょっと分かりません。

あの駅に見て。大きいと思いますか？たいせつだとおもいますか？
じつは。。。小さい駅です。大きい地図でこの駅が見られません。ローカルの小さい地図だけで見らっれます。
小さい駅を捜すのがむずかしいです！
この駅はぼくの大学に近いです！どうして大切じゃありませんか？どうして大きい地図で見られませんか？

Another gripe. Taxis.
First, lemme explain Kyaku-sama. Kyaku is Japanese for customer. Sama is honoriffic. In Japan, the Kyaku-sama is more important than anything. You must do your best to fufill your Kyaku-sama's needs. If he wants a bacon double cheeseburger with only 3 pickles, you WILL give him a bacon double cheeseburger with only 3 pickles. If your Kyaku-sama needs to get to the station at exactly 12:37 and 55 seconds... you know the drill.
Taxi drivers are ruthless! They will drive through even if your ok to walk light is green. If you are crossing the street and a taxi is coming by... run. They will not slow down.

Right now, I have come to believe that Taxis, not Godzilla, are the scariest things in Japan. If the emperor sends an army of ninja against you, you're dead. But if you are faced by an army of taxis full of impatient Kyaku-samas... run. Run for your ill-be-gotten life. You are more than dead. Japanese Taxis may be the only force on earth more lethal than ninjas.

Beware the taxis...

そして。。。　日本のタクシー。
日本で、「客さま」はトテモ大切です。できるだけお客さまを手伝います。客さまは大きくてつけものが三つのハンバーガーが欲しいですか？あげなければいけません。そして、タクシーで、客さまは「１２：３７につく」と。。。。その時を間に合わなければいけません！
そして、日本のタクシーはあぶないです！ぼくは緑の歩けるのライトがありましたが。。。タクシーが通りました！早すぎました！事故がありませんでしたが。。。こわかったです。日本のタクシーはぜんぜん遅くなりません。

今、ぼくは日本で、一番こわい物はタクシーと思います。タクシーのほうがゴジラよりこわいです。忍者のアーミーと戦うは。。。こわいです。でも。。。タクシーのアーミーと戦うはとてもとてもこわいです。。。タクシーのほうが忍者より強いです。

タクシーをご注意下さい。。。

A Girl Who Is A Friend

2006-12-16T22:51:00.000+09:00

Today couldn't have been better.
I all started with a girl who invited me to go to a soccer game with her today. Everything was going hunky-dorey until I realized...
I am in the middle of the great Tokyo Station. There must be like 100 train terminals here. Ok, maybe 30. I don't understand the maps written in Kanji here. I'm low on time. My Cell Phone's batteries just died. I think my Sandisk MP3 player just kicked the bucket. I'm lost. I think I just wet my pants.

I am not exagerting except for that last part... though I wouldn't be suprised if I did. I was lost without use of a phone. I didn't see any payphones, but even if I did, I didn't have any numbers written down. I was in a huge mix of bad preperation and bad luck. Yes, its true... fate was even cruel in taking away my $50 Sandisk Mp3 Player. It just stopped playing...

But I didn't panic. I kept fighting. I asked for directions and used the best Japanese I could. I learned the names of the stations in kanji on the fly.

I come to Urawa Misono station, nearby where a big soccer game is happening. I run around and do not see her. I run to the mall and frantically search for any freakin thing that will get my cell phone on. I throw down 880 yen for an attachable battery pack with 15 minutes before the game and call her.

After about 5 minutes of fighting the language barrier and running to a quieter place outside, I learn that she never went to the game because she couldn't contact me and meet up with me.

Great. Just great. I'm tired, out of breath, haven't eaten, and I'm on the other side of Tokyo. And I cost her her visit to the game because she couldn't reach me. I feel like the most horrible jerk and most unlucky person in the world.

But it seriously wasn't all that bad.

See?
Introducing my new friend, Saiko.

After several more station hops (and staring at unknown city kanji at several stations trying to figure out their names) I arrive in Omiya. There, I meet up with Saiko and she shows me to her Shinto Temple.
A very sureal place... I'm sorry I didn't take a picture. I'll get one next time I'm there. I think I will be back. =)
After we apologize to eachother how we each cost eachother that game (honestly it was my fault... but I'm sure she thinks the opposite) she first shows me her sister and a friend practicing for their Koto performance.

Beautiful, eh?

After that, I was shown the art of Johrei.
Blatently stolen from Wikipedia is the definition:
According to followers of Mokichi Okada, Johrei is a method of channeling divine light into the body of a patient through the palm of the administrator. To do this, the administrator holds his/her hand about a foot away from the area to which the spiritual power is purported to be directed.

So at Saiko's temple I learn about Johrei in a smashing video in British English. Saiko also performed Johrei on me. Being the Baka Gaijin as I am, I can't say for sure that it worked... but my brain did feel a little tingly and it felt good.

After that, refer to first picture. Me, Saiko, her sisters and brother and mother all went out to a family restaraunt. We had a good time.
But the night rolled on and time flew. Before long I was on a train (actually, several trains) bound back for campus.

I would say as my first time out with a girl (who isn't my already taken tutor or a family member) it was pretty nice. Even if I was with other people the whole time. It was still nice. I also met some new people at the temple, I was polite and bowed, and I think they liked me.

Now if I can just get over the frelling language barrier this would go a lot smoother.

I Can('t) Cook!!!

2006-12-16T21:03:00.000+09:00

It was horrible. I wonder if I gained enough experience points to level up...

Its too much

2006-12-12T21:43:00.000+09:00

Zero free time... lots of studying... poor cooking and eating...
using enough time to sleep but not falling asleep... my head is killing me...
Its exam week. There's been lots of work... 2 exams down, 2 to go.
I have been so busy the last 2 weeks its not even funny.

I can't wait to go home.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to study for a kanji test right after 2 days of exams. For the EXACT SAME CLASS.

More later. Maybe I'll make a post this weekend.

1945 Joyo Kanji

2006-12-03T17:52:00.001+09:00

One thousand, nine hundred, and forty five.
This is the number of Kanji an average Japanese highschooler knows.
This is the number of Kanji officially limited to normal Japanese printing, such as newspapers.
This is the number of Kanji you need to know to be acceptably literate in Japan.
They don't look so tough.
Sigh...
Well, its time for one of those "Super Sean Great Time Consuming Crazy Projects"! (copyright)
I read somewhere that it is recomended to have a flash card for each Kanji, having 20 sets of 100 flash cards, and reviewing one set regularily. Right now I have about 30 done. Only 1915 to go.
Of course, I can be cheap and buy them. If cheap is the word. Freakin' expensive. I'd rather make my own and learn as I make them.
I will feel sooo good when I hit the 1000 mark. That will be when I know I can finish them. I'll try making 100 a day and see how that goes.

I discovered a program called Wakan. It works really good, and translates between English, Japanese, and Chinese. Great Kanji lookup too.
Japanese students can also check out JWPce, a Word Processor that types in English and Japanese, and has a built in Dictionary and Kanji lookup.

On a final note, I messed up dinner today. I was supposed to cook 600 grams of pasta and messed it all up and burned the pan. Everyone I was cooking for got angry and I felt really bad... Danny saved some of it by frying it, but the fact still remained that I failed...
I have GOT to learn how to cook.

Misato's Play and My Thanksgiving Dinner

2006-11-23T18:41:00.000+09:00

Today in the festival a couple plays went on in the class building auditorium and bands played outside.
Come to think of it... I should have taken a pic of the bands playing. Heh... sorry...My tutor, Misato, told me she was part of a play, so I went to see it.

The whole thing was in Polish with really fast Japanese subtitles on electronic screens.
I took a pic of the performance, then joined the actors in picture taking afterward.

And then... I went back to my dorm for Thanksgiving dinner.

Man... I went all out!!! A can of corn, 2 scrambled eggs, a pan of pasta, a can of fruit, a carrot, a mikan orange... and potato chips! ...

I miss home so bad...
Happy Thanksgiving.

Karaoke Night

2006-11-23T13:33:00.000+09:00

More accurately titled: Sean Can't Sing Night.

I found a few I can do... a Fullmetal Alchemist opening, a couple One Piece songs, and the first Inuyasha opening. Oh wait, I forgot to put the word "barely" in that last sentance.
Still better than some of the other people I went with. The English dudes sang American songs, and then there were a few Chinese people with us who sang Japanese songs... much better than I did.

As soon as I can get Windows Movie Maker running again, I'll throw up a video of me doing Inuyasha: Change the World, here. But for now all you get is one photo taken with what little room I had on the camera. Enjoy!

Will edit in video soon... as soon as I can decrease its size and convert it to a WMA.

School festival

2006-11-22T16:34:00.000+09:00

I'm too lazy to throw in each individual picture so...
SLIDESHOW!!!

Ok, just found that those pics aren't clickable...

I have got to find a way to insert images better.

And a short movie...

There's another... but I am having fatal problems with Windows Movie Maker... I can't export WMVs without this stupid piece of **** of a program crashing.
Just wait for it.

So like... the festival was ok. Pretty lively. Lots of people. Not really sure what I can say about it.

Stay tuned for... Sean's first Karaoke night! To be chronicaled shortly.

Japanese TV

2006-11-16T23:47:00.000+09:00

The Japanese sure seem to have their own brand of humor...
Here are some clips collected from all around.

Watch a show where you can't laugh.

A prank in a Japanese sauna. (keep watching till the end!)

Say this tongue twister, or else...

And finally,
The Japanese police fight Darth Vader.

Enjoy!

PS I fixed all my codecs and plugins for Firefox. No more IE for me.
Anyone still using Intercrap Explorer should make the change.

Fuji-san

2006-11-15T13:14:00.000+09:00

So like, bunch of stuff for this post.

1. My Fuji
On a day with perfect weather you can see Mt Fuji from my college. I couldn't really see it, I'm gonna try to get a good shot of it every day.

Left: picture try 1. Right: Picture try 2. I need to get a good shot!

2. Fruit
I never realized how much I miss fruit. Fruit is wicked expensive in Japan. I spent 550 yen and got 4 big apples... but Japan only imports the best... they were awesome. I want more, but they're so expensive...
I kinda think back to the olden days... mom would buy a ton of fruit for the fridge and I barely touched it. I feel kinda bad now... Just thinking of all those apples, oranges, and bananas we never finished. I never knew how good I had it...
Kids, eat your fruit and veggies. And be thankful for them.

3. Nintendo DS
My Nintendo DS, named "Tacospin" (long story) has had its ups and downs...
On the downside, I was very stupid with it and dropped it flat down on some concrete... it's fine except for that crack in the plastic the screen connection part... I just have to be really careful with it from now on...
On the plus side, I've made some friends with it. I was playing one day, and this girl named Saiko comes up with her DS and invites me to a game... then her and her friends kicked my butt at Tetris.
So now every week we go out for lunch and play games on our time before our Tuesday class. Its pretty cool. I also gave her and her friend some American souveniers, and she gave me a nice keychain from her trip to China. She saw how clumsy I am with losing stuff and gave me her DS game case... so nice of her. More to come on this story later.

4. The Festival
Next week is the school festival! I'll let you know how that goes.

5. ?
There is no number 5.

6. Pasta
Why the **** did I buy like 10 bags of dollar store pasta!? Sure its cheap food stuffs but... it gets old real fast!!!

I can shop!

2006-11-06T16:32:00.001+09:00

I was bored after class today... and I ran out of body wash and shampoo... and I was kinda hungry... so...
I went out for a while alone to the surrounding area to do a little shopping.
Thus far, I had done most of my shopping with my two fellow students from SUNY... but I felt kinda better doing it by myself. I could go at my own pace, take as much time as I want, and not feel hurried. So, I got this stuff all by myself.
Doesn't feel like much for 2000 yen... the cleaner cost the most.

To answer my dad's Kirin question a little, I dunno if they make beer, but they made that green tea I'm drinking.
Check out the brand name of the shampoo... Naive... I hope that shampoo knows whats its doing.
Couldn't find any body wash at all... at least bar soap should work.
See those packs of tomato sauce and curry? They're awesome. Just boil the pack for 3-5 minutes and boom, a good topping for anything. Like tomato sauce on rice and beef curry on spaghetti. Or... the other way around...
Look at that apple! Its huge. That's a 158 yen apple. It BETTER taste like I bought it for 158 yen.
And of course... I bought melon bread. What can I say. I love the stuff.

Melon Bread

2006-11-04T17:47:00.000+09:00

Here I am writing this post AGAIN! Gawd, I hate the B.S.O.D. sooo much.
Where to start... again...
First off, my new blue screen of death. Can anyone look at it and tell me what it means?
New as in I've had a different one that pops up whenever I played a game called MapleStory. This new one just happens every now and then.
And um...
I discovered a new anime I liked called Shakugan no Shana. I really enjoyed it, and watched all 24 episodes in a matter of days... then looked online for the soundtrack, manga, desktops, and winamp skins. I had very little luck on the manga.
Which brings me to the topic of this blog: Melon Bread. Actually called Meron Pan in Japanese. (Pan is either French or Portugese for bread) The main character of that anime liked melon bread, and it looked good, so I decided to try it. See next paragraph.
Last night was supposed to be some kind of party at the dining hall, but it was cancelled because the music was too loud. It was Friday night too, no school the day after or anything! I had skipped lunch and dinner so I could eat there...
Disapointed and hungry, I stopped by the nearby convenience store and bought some food. Some of it I'm not buying again... the soba and rice ball I picked were too spicy or salty... but it was then I decided to try meron pan. It... was really good.
The edge is crispy, but not too crispy. The inside is soft, and the bread is sweet... but not too sweet. And sometimes its made with just a little melon essence. I realy liked it, and I think I have found my new addiction. And its only 100 yen... cheaper and more filling than rice balls.
So yeah... I found myself buying it 3 times today while we were out. I better be careful not to get sick of it. When I leave Japan in July... I know one of the things I'm going to miss is melon bread.

Well... enough obsessing about Melon bread.
Today we went to Harujuku... which wasn't too interesting except for its one big (crowded!!!) shopping street. Sorry I didn't get a picture of that, couldn't see antything with all the people there anyway. Our trip to Harujuku was pretty much uneventful and we kept getting lost. Plus it looked just... too city-like to interest me. It's all city and... not much else.

Anyway.
PICTURE TIME!


Mmmm.... lunch.	A lot (but not all) restaraunts in Japan display their menus outside, sometimes in the form of fake food.

HEY!HEY!HEY!

2006-10-30T21:26:00.001+09:00

Ok.
I thought American TV was weird.
Japanese TV is... how you say it... random. My two fellow stuents from SUNY were watching one of our few cable channels and I joined in. Apparently "HEY!HEY!HEY!" is one of the best programs on right now. It's... odd.
When they're not inviting in famous bands and singing idols and having goofy conversations with them... they just have goofy conversations. From what I an remember from today's show, they had this singer guy meet one of his biggest fans, and they got him to kiss her though a sheet of thin plastic. (meaning lips never touched) Then they were interviewing the band that that the opening for Death Note... and talked about... buying 1000 bananas or somethieng. Then they had this famous female singer eat expensive beef and shark fin soup with a famous comedian... right after they showed embarrasing footage of the singer singing when she was 12... (much to her dismay)

And... then they play some clips of music videos... interviewed someone else... said some silly stuff.. and uh... that's all I got.
I gotta see if I can track down any of those goofy commercials... they're just... random!

Here's a clip of a HEY!HEY!HEY! show. Just look around on youtube.

Not that I can see this movie on Firefox anyway... stupid messed up plugins. Oh, I can see it on Internet Explorer just fine... but my I.E. is acting "special". As in, it likes to load 0-3 pages then be unresponsive so I have to ctrl+alt+delete it. Jeez... almost tempted to make my own browser.

Good advice

2006-10-29T18:01:00.000+09:00

Advice tip of the day:
NEVER shave while chewing gum. It just... doesn't work.
...ouch.

ANYWAY...
"Roma" (frind of mine and faithful anonymous comment maker) showed me this new game online called SupaSupa. It plays a lot like a 3D Gunbound... its pretty sweet actually. Albiet difficult. Just google it... playsupa.com or something.
And, as usual, its Korean. Like, every online game comes from Korea. They got Maplestory and Gunbound and Flyff and Ragnarok... while we in the USA have Runescape. OOOHHHH.... Runescape.

Figured out the main dictionary in Kanji Sonomama Jiten. But... sometimes its hard to draw the kanji in on the touch screen... every now and then it comes up with something totally different. You have to get stroke order and placement right...

Trying to play Jump Superstars and... I'm lost. I better check for help on Gamefaqs.
Oh yeah! The original DDR... its pretty crappy. Only 11 songs, low customization for difficulty, and you have to watch long unskippable credits in the main mode after doing 3 songs. Wow. DDR has come a long way.
The used mat the game came with sucks. I almost don't want to take it back to America with me.

I studied with Misato again today. I'm getting better at Kanji! Really. I am. Maybe...

I'm having super mega issues with Quicktime. I had a lower version installed so embeded streamable movies would play. Then I was helping "Roma" with her Japanese hw and I needed to see the movie she was doing her hw on... so I needed Quicktime 7. Ok, I could view that movie. Now, nothing else is working. Youtube, or anything on Myspace... forget it. Now theres nothing but a picture of a big fat stupid broken Q in place of the movie files. "Derr, I'm Quicktime, and I automatically take over playing all your streamable media. Derr... oh wait, I dunno how. DERRRRR!"
I then uninstalled Quicktime 7. That didn't help either.
I tried installing the latest K-lite codec pack. That didn't help either.
Jeez, I hate this. I just want my old plugins back.
Bottom line: Quicktime sucks.
Well, I gotta go. While I'm gone, stare at this: *

EDIT
Runescape is actually from the UK. So sue me.

Same Day post #2

2006-10-28T19:39:00.000+09:00

Couldn't edit the last entry for some reason.
Anyway...

I got them!
And cheaper than I woulda got em online!
I'm talkin' about the 2 games from last blog. I'm slowly figuring out Jiten and JSS is sweet.

I actually managed to make myself pasta for dinner. I... am amazing.
Oh yeah. Pics and movies. I had problems with this post for a while. Here's everything now.

I have no idea what message this shirt is conveying. I'm not really sure if I'm insulted or not reading it.(The blue text is hard to read. It says: If I let you score will you go home)

Hey sis! Want me to get you that Hello Kitty Game Boy Color, complete with Hello Kitty game, for 1000 yen? Hurry and let me know before "someone buys it"! (And by that I mean taken off display because its incredibly lame)

Video of Musashisakai. We went to this restaraunt for lunch. It was pretty good. I got a bowl of pork and lettuce (and onions) for 500 yen, along with rice, miso soup, and water! Mmm... water.
Musashi Sakai Video

And... Kichijouji.

No title for you! Oh wait...

2006-10-28T11:55:00.001+09:00

Mom says her wisdom of the day is: "People who fart in glass houses.... shouldn't fart."
Um... ok. I'll leave you people to intepret that on your own.

Change of plan. Misato called rescheduling todays tutor lesson tomorrow.
(PS I still havent figured out if its called Kikijouji or Kichijouji... signs everywhere contradict eachother...)
So I'll be going and getting Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten and Jump Superstars myself.
Kanji Jiten is a Kanji and Japanese/English Dictionary that is tons cheaper than buying an electronic dictionary itself. It costs like... $30 where I'm getting it. Sure I have an electronic dictionary that my parents gave me... I use it every day in class. But on Jiten, you can draw in Kanji (complex Chinese characters used in Japanese... and Chinese) and look them up on the DS's touch screen!
Jump Superstars is the best game ever made that wasn't released in the states. Maybe. It's really good, and I want it.
Both games are in Kikijouji.

Yesterday at Fuchuu I finally got my ID card and went shopping at a 100 yen store. I finally have my own pot and spatula now! Hehe... those eggs and other future food I may buy won't know what cooked 'em!
I also bought like 10 bags of pasta. 100 yen for 500 grams of pasta is pretty cheap. Now I just hope they'll taste ok.

Going to Kichijoiji soon! Those games (and any other cool PS1 game I find for 100 yen I may want) will be mine!!!!

EDIT:
I got them!
And cheaper than I woulda got em online!
I actually managed to make myself pasta for dinner. I... am amazing.
Oh yeah. See next post for pics and movies.

NO SMORKING!

2006-10-27T08:38:00.001+09:00

Just some engrish from my dorm's elevator for you guys...
Enjoy.

Maybe if I'm up to it I'll make a real post later.

EDIT:
****ing Amazon.
Apparently Amazon.co.jp doesn't know how to package a game and send it to someone in 2 weeks.
I'm tired of waiting. Its cheaper to buy it in Kichijouji anyway. I cancelled the order.

ANYWAY...
I finally got my ID at Fuchuu city hall today. While I was there I decided to try some Takoyaki again. This time I didn't put the mayo on... it was actually pretty good! I gotta buy some each time I'm in Fuchuu and fill up my points card.... each time without the mayo!
Want some Fuchuu pictures?

The city hall..

Outside of a nearby temple...

A street

And a movie!

Oohh! Death Note 4 just finished downloading! Gotta go!
(note to self: ease up on the bandwidth...)

I don't get it

2006-10-21T21:29:00.002+09:00

I don't get it.
American Drama movies.
My friends from SUNY invited me to watch a movie with them on their laptop: The Departed.
I think I slept through half the movie. I had no idea what was going on. 75% you would see just some people talking... and 75% of their sentences were full of swears... which made up 50% of the movie.
The other 50% was... either people standing around talking more or dieing. Of course it had an original Shakespearan ending... everyone dies.
They enjoyed it... but... I didn't get it.

Well, we got my 100 yen grill working! Its great.

Mmm... chicken.

Also... I'm trying to figure out how to play my Sega Saturn. There are 2 nearby lounges with TV's... which you can't use if someone else is using it. It'd be nice if I could connect it to my laptop somehow. But, sadly, all my laptop has is a S-video... (wait for it...) output. An S-video output. Great. I know they make VGA boxes to connect to like a monitor... but I have a laptop.

Do they make VGA boxes for USB ports? That would rock so much. I wanna get my Saturn on my laptop somehow. Or maybe find a Sega Saturn emulator. I can legally use one now because I own a Saturn. Wait, can I?

Cheapy cheapy cheapy!!!

2006-10-20T13:42:00.000+09:00

Bazaars... they are so... bizarre.
Corny jokes aside, I found some cool stuff for only 100 yen each.
Check out this stuff I got!

5 items per customer, 100 yen each. 500 yen for a small bookbag, a suit jacket, a plate, a cd, and a mini grill!!!
I needed a suit jacket, and this one is just fine. Its not as good as the one I forgot at home, but is exponentially cheaper.
The plate? Yeah. I needed a plate. Wish I coulda bought more.
I can use the small bookbag for days I only have one class, or if I'm going on a small trip.
Listening to the CD right now... sounds very... generic. Anyone ever heard of the Japanese singer Anri? Oh well, 100 yen isn't so bad for it... was just looking at the original 3000 yen price on the back...
And the grill. No idea how it works, or even IF it works. Danny is gonna look at it for me.
So yeah, I got cheap stuff. Whee!

EDIT:

HOLY CRAP!

Holy holy holy crap.
LOOK at what I got!
FOR ONLY 3000 YEN!
Thats... around 25 dollars...

Yup. A Sega Saturn. Came with a bunch of free games too!
And, I can play it on that big widescreen TV in the lounge!
After buying that in Musashi Sakai, we went again to Kikijouji and I bought the memory card for 980 yen (about the cost as all the games combined) and a few more games for a grand total of 500 yen.
Here is a list of some of the games I got ... please keep in mind these were all bundled together...
Evangalion
Nights into Dreams
Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars)
Culdcept
Grandia
Slayers Royal (A (crappy looking!) Slayers game, apparently)
Also, that Langrisser 3 game on the bottom left kinda looks like Growlanser... maybe the same artist. You can't see it from the photo, but it's got a really cool 3-D lenticular cover!
And there were a few other games I can't read or recognize...
Grand total: 3500 yen: System plus 15 games... then 980 yen for memory card... which will hopefully work
I've never even had a Saturn before...
I know I have a couple classics in here, such as Nights. Your input would be great, I would like to know about any other Sega Saturn classics I should get my hands on!
I bought the Saturn at this manga/video game store in Musashi Sakai. They have cheap games and manga there... I bought the Japanese first 5 volumes of Excel Saga for only 400 yen! There was tons of other manga in there... I could barely find anything!
Searching for souveniers is hard... I'm trying to find things my friends know about. I DID find these Lupin III keychains for my parents though. They didn't have Lupin and Jigen, just Fujiko and Goemon.

Wait.

Wait. Wait.

How am I gonna get all this back to America???

Oh well.
I think I saw Sould Calibur at the store, but I was pressed for time and had to go. I read in an EGM or PSM once about a beautiful 2-D fully drawn action game, but I forgot its name. I'm also on the lookout for Record of Lodoss War...
I'll let you know how the Saturn turns out! Please recomend any games I should get! I could probably find them here for less than 500 yen!!!

Bank Account at Last

2006-10-19T21:24:00.002+09:00

Today is the the only day I could meet up with Misato... it was Sports Festival Day with Osaka University. As I walk outside, I see tons of people on the field playing sports.
Geh!? Carp! I didn't take a picture!...oh well.
ANYWAY... the bank. Because of the festival, there were no classes, and Misato took all three of us students from SUNY to Musashi-sakai bank. She helped me make an accout and helped the other two exchange USD for yen.
I deposited all $3000 of travellers checks in the account. Now that I think back... I should have asked my dad how much I should have deposited...Well, I have an account in America and one in Japan now.
After the bank, they went shopping for rugs and I ate lunch with Misato.
I was asking Misato about blowing your nose in Japan. Apparently some people find it rude, some don't. Also, quickly and quietly blowing your nose to the side is ok too. Japan is freaky about some things... There are some things that you normally do in America that you just have to be conscience of in Japan.
Yeah... leave me alone with a girl for lunch and I make conversations about blowing noses. I just realized that. Darn I'm smooth. Not.
Seriously, we talk a lot about vocabulary and stuff and compare cultures. The nose thing was the only silly thing I asked her today.

After all this... confusion happened. Next stop was... Asakusa was it? I dunno. I ran into Robyn, a dude from Canada. I was talking to him about where we were going, and the train flew by. Oops.

Who's up for some Musashi-Sakai and restaraunt photos?

In an answer to my last blog, check out one of my nutrition answers... look at all those vitamins!
Also, check out that praying Mantis! Awesome, eh?

Also! Today's ENGRISH!!!

And of course, today's movie.

Anyone ever hear about the Japanese manga and now anime Death Note? A bored student finds a book that if he write's someone's name in... they die. He starts killing criminals and the world's smartest detetive goes after him. Once again, I give a horrible explanation, but its really interesting. Just check it out on youtube.

Remember that stack of manga I bought at Kikijouji? I've been trying to read Full Metal Alchemist volume 8 in Japanese. It's hard! I'm trying to figure out what everyone means when they talk... lotsa speech variations I haven't learned in a textbook yet. I decided to buy the Japanese 8 because I read the first 7 at home in America. I have to learn a lot more Japanese speech before I can read it. Lots of plain form and plain form varaitions everywhere...

Oh... anyone who is a fan of the Nintendo DS game Pheonix Wright, which I am thinking of picking up, can try out this. Have fun! Hehe.
Post some of your favorite made ones as comments!

InfoBlog 1: Gaijin's Guide on How to Live on 500 Yen a Day

2006-10-18T23:54:00.000+09:00

Nothing much exciting is happening right now, so rather than blog about sitting in a classroom for 3 hours, looking for my pants, and doing hw, I decided to do my first info blog: How to Live on 500 yen a day.
First of all... let me give you an idea about how much yen is worth...

Going by train to a nearby station... ~170 yen
Bunch of grapes: 300 yen
Going by train to another part of the city: ~500 yen
A quarter gallon of milk or 10 eggs: ~200 yen
5 kilogram bag if uncooked rice: 1800 yen
2 gallon jug of cold green tea: 200 yen
average vending machine prices: 100 yen- 150 yen (120 yen for a bottle of coke)
That look on your face when you realiized you JUST cashed your last traveller's check: priceless.

New video game release: 4000-6000 yen
rice cooker: 6,000 yen (cheap and sucky)- 20,000 yen (average)
Weekly Shonen Jump: 230 yen

From my experience, it is important to have 2 meals a day...
1. A well rounded, balanced, nutritional meal. Cheapest stuff possible, but must be good quality (as in, not rotting) preferably lunch.
2. Cheapest, most filling meal possible. Preferably dinner.

For 1, I eat at the dining hall. It costs me 400 yen to fill up on rice, salad, chicken, a couple various vegatables, and noodles.
Sometimes I still feel a little hungry afterward. At this point, drink at least 4 cups of water. (2-3 tall glasses) its important to stay hydrated, and you may not want drinks out of your faucet.
For anyone who can cook, try rice, beans, carrots, a few lumps of meat, mushrooms... I dunno, anything you can whip up. Stir fry is easy. Keep your lunches varied and nutritional.
Living solely on instant noodles is BAD. Its cheaper, but not worth getting sick and depriving your body of nutrients.

Meal one is your expensive meal. Meal 2? Easy. Pasta. Easy to cook, you can't mess it up. It's cheap, it's filling, it's wood. It's pasta, it's pasta, it's better than bad, it's good!
(Sorry everyone, I felt like I just HAD to throw in the Log reference here)
ANYWAY. Yeah, pasta. Mostly just to fill you up. This is important. If you've had enough nutrition in a day, no need to eat any more expensive food that day. A cheap filler is all you need. Pasta is it. It costs about 100 yen here for 300 grams of pasta... thats 2 servings. They make sauce packets here too for 100 yen each... boil the packets in water and pour on the sauce... mmm... I eat those a lot.

Food to avoid:

-"Instant (insert food here)"
Do your best to avoid instant food. "Oh, its easy and quick to make!" Yeah... it is. "Ohh, I ate instant ramen every day for lunch for a month. I think my heart stopped." Yup. Need I say more?

-Food only made in your country:
Some foods you may be sooo used to you'll find that you are buying them in a foriegn country. Prices can radically change. Milk... bread... for example. Milk and bread aren't so big here. They're more expensive. Ritz crackers? Expensive import... try some rice crackers instead. Hamburger? Try fish now. Just adapt and build your range of taste.

-"The hundred yen shop":
Yes. Hundred yen shops are awesome in Japan and they kick 12 kinds of American dollar store butt. But... they do have 100 yen pasta and ramen... but is that stuff the only stuff you're going to buy???

-"Ice cream" (and other favorite treats)
ohh... man... I LOVE ice cream. But I only recently realized how expensive it is. 200 yen for that small of a cone? Jeez... it will be impossible to even eat a cone every week. Prices add up in the long run... limit your treats, but don't absolutely deny them. Ice cream is my anti-depressant, I won't eat it every day, but you bet I'm still going out for it.

-The same thing over and over:
I'm starting to feel sick of pasta... bleh...

Now, a couple questions I have so far on Japanese food...
First of all: milk and eggs. Starting with milk. I don't see milk... anywhere. Most (but not all!) convenience stores have milk in 190-200 yen quarter gallons. And... no one buys it. Or it seems that way. By the low quantities of milk I've seen sold in stores, I would think Japanese only buy milk for cooking. Where do they get their calcium? Or they just don't??? Also... the Japanese don't seem to have a concept of the word "gallon". At supermarkets, that 2 liter of green tea... is the only big thing there. everything else is... a liter at most. Like milk. You can't buy ANYTHING in bulk in Japan except rice.
Then... eggs. Japanese seem to LOVE eggs. They mix raw eggs into things. They throw hard boiled eggs in Ramen. They put a fried egg on a serving of chow mein. Isn't part of the Japanese religion buddhist? Can buddists eat eggs? I dunno. By how I see Japanese eat... they eat like at least 1 egg a day. But no milk???

Also, rice. How can someone have rice with every meal??? You know what rice does? Clogs up the ol' number 2 as I call it. I will not eat rice every meal. Once every other day seems right.

Another issue I have with Japanese food is... salt. Sodium. Ramen is full of it. And in homecooked meals I always see pickled vegatables and fish. And miso soup. Miso with almost every meal. And soy sauce is a very commonly used sauce in japan (and is salty). How can these people ingest so much sodium and still be alive?

And... there's ginger and wasabi... but that's a more personal dislike because I hate spicy food.

That's about all I got right now. Just some bottom lines: spending too little is just as bad as spending too much. Don't undereat, but remember nutrition. A treat once in a while is great, but don't go buying ice cream every day. Eat as much as you need, never overeat. Drink only as much milk as you need for calcium. Lay off instant noodles.

Oh man... I could sure go for a chocolate milkshake with a half gallon of oreo ice cream right about now... with chicken pot pie for dinner right before that... with baked and buttered dinner rolls... corn on the cob... a stuffed turkey... creamy gravy... mashed potatoes... cranberry sauce... and... um. I think I shouldn't blog my daydreaming. I better go sleep.

Mm... Frosted Flakes... Honey Bunches of Oats... I miss cereal too...

First Boring Blog

2006-10-16T23:01:00.000+09:00

Nothing much happened today.
Question, is it worth blogging if I have nothing interesting to say? I want to blog everyday but... oh well.
Looking at my wallet again... 1200 yen???? How do I use up my money so fast???
Well... all the big neseccity shopping is over. I just have to worry about food now...
Here's a couple shots from shopping earlier... 5 kilogram bag of rice, 1800 yen. Similar ones cost like 2800 yen. This is the one I picked cause it was cheaper. (That, and it had a cute kimono girl on it...)
Note to self. Senbei rice crackers are a little spicy.
Doing Japanese hw right now. This is kinda hard... wait, the answers are in the back of the book??? (glance, glance)... SCHWING! Done.
...what?

Akihabara

2006-10-15T23:05:00.000+09:00

My computer crashed before I published so now I have to rewrite this...
So anyway. Akihabara. Or Akiba for short. The center of electronics of Tokyo.
After being awoken at the crack of noon, I joined a group of about 12 other foriegn students on a trip to Akiba.
Geh, I'm really tired and I forgot what I wrote the first time through...
Oh yeah. We ate at this ramen place, checked out Akiba Plaza, did some sightseeing and shopping, ate a light dinner, and went back. I also FINALLY got a memory stick for my camera. I can start taking more pictures and make longer videos. =)
I'll just paste all the pictures and explain each one as I go, I can't remember the whole day at once right now.
First few shots of the city.

Akiba Plaza! Lots of stuff going on here. Check out the Disgaea booth with the guys with the Prinny hats. Dood!

I also want to point out the ramen I had for lunch. It was one of those restaraunts where you buy the ticket for the food you want and hand it to the cooks when you sit down. Just struck me as different, if not odd. Makes it easier and faster that way though, no need for a register and cooks to handle dirty money.

How about some more city shots?

Two last things... such as the smallest iron I've ever seen... and a pretty scary UFO catcher... it had... dancing hampsters or something...

Youtube was being stupid, so here's the other 2 videos I made today.
Click here to watch 'Akihabara-Street'
I woulda made more, but my camera's batteries died again. A nice new memory card and no batteries! And... no stores seem to sell 1.2 volt batteries... just 1.5. Can someone in America pick up a AA battery and tell me its voltage please? I wonder if 1.5 is the normal rate, cause my rechargeables are 1.2 volt. I just wanna know if 1.2 volts and 1.5 volts are really so different. Could my camera handle it?

The second video.
Click here to watch 'Razor-Advertising'
I'd like to point out something here. In Japan, they are VERY big on advertising. In this video, you can see some people back there trying to sell BrAun electric razor products. Many people in Japanese cities try to advertise their store outside. Repeadedly. Loudly. And never giving up. How do they do it?
Besides the outside yellers, there are 2 other kinds of advertisement I've seen. In Shinjuku, there was a guy on every block trying to foist you with a menu of a nearby restaraunt. In almost every place I've been to, its a common sight to see a girl in a maid dress or something passing out tissue packs with advertisements on them. I've seen tissue girls at TUFS University bookstore too! As I said... adverstising is EVERYWHERE. I think half my bag is filled with stuff I bought, the other half free tissues, pamphlets, magazines, and advertisement cards. On our way to Akiba Plaza, nealy everyone tried to stuff a Plaza Event Book in our hands. They didn't seem to mind the fact that I was already holding one.
Ugh... just killed a bug. Nice. I hope that's not a roach. Better clean it up with my free tissues!

One last thing before I go. Ultra Jump. A montly manga my dad ordered for me in America from Japan. I FINALLY found an issue in Akiba. It costs 550 yen to get there by train... will I have to go there every month to get it? Not worth it. Maybe I can make a subscription here... dunno... I only found volume 10. Did I have 9 at home?
I'm goin to bed. Night!

Kikijouji

2006-10-14T21:39:00.001+09:00

Wallet... empty... stomach... rumbling...
But my two fellow friends from SUNY found out something. "Hey. There's an ATM in nearby Kikijouji that uses American International Check cards." That made my day. We were on our way to Kikijouji.
Much better than Shinjuku in my opinion. Less crowds. A little less "city". Temples. Shopping streets. It was nice.
First, we stopped by an ATM, and I stuck in my Soveriegn Bank card. Yay! 20,000 yen! I hope my account back home is ok...
We do a little sightseeing and shopping. I found this store with really cheap manga! You know, stuff you would pay 7.99 for in America? Unused, unopened, 200-300 yen manga. Genious. I picked up a One Piece, Doraemon, Zatchbell, Naruto, a Hunter X Hunter, a Doctor Slump, a Full Metal Alchemist and I bought a Death Note somewhere else. I also found this weird cat Manga called Neko Panchi (Cat Punch) that I'll give to Katie. It looks like a Shonen Jump with cat and human stories similar to 'What's Michael?'.
For lunch, I had vitamin water, a Lipton Lemone with a silly freebie Hello Kitty toy of Hello Kitty in a bunny suit, (for Katie... I guess) and a package of what appeared to be sweet dough balls with a sweet syrupy sauce on them. On a stick. My friends each took a bite and said it was way to sweet for them. I had no idea what they were talking about and continued to devour the rest. Then I started feeling sick and realized what they were talking about after the last dough ball.
We also popped by this game store. Had really expensive new stuff. Had REALLY CHEAP old stuff! We picked up a couple PS1 games for like... 100 yen each. I found a couple Dreamcast games I wanted. (Don't worry... we can play them... just not... fully legally... shh!!!) I was thinking of buying a japanese DS game there, but I already ordered 2 games online and didn't wanna plop down yet another 4000 yen.
We came back and... oh boy! Pasta for dinner. I didn't eat very well today... still hungry. Dining hall won't be open tomorrow... better go see what I can get at the markets nearby.
Good news.... my internet seems ok now. Cheers!
Ok, picture time!

Here are some pics from around the first part of the city we came to.

Capcom Plaza: an arcade with the works: Gundam shooting games, Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master) Dance Dance Revolution, and tons of UFO cathers. (crane games) I played a round of DDR myself. 200 yen a play? 25 games = price of game... ever think of that? People waste TONS of money at the arcades... arcade games should be cheaper.

Some more shots around the city. I swear, Starbucks are EVERYWHERE. I mean, you can't even sneeze without seeing a Starbucks nearby. Also, dig my first real engrish find and the Hello Kitty guitar in that guitar store!

There were a couple temples scattered throughout the city... if only Shinjuku did as well. would have been a nice change of pace there...
Strangely, a temple just around the corner feels right somehow. I don't know, I can't explain it. But it gives an air of serenity.
kinda redundant how you can see a skyscraper in the background of one of my temple shots though!
And there's a fire station. Yeah. Totally goes with temples. Yup.

This is Danny's car. Yeah. One can dream. We just saw it in a driveway.

Check out this bookstore! Cheap manga! WOOG!

Also... this is a joke within my family. There is a reason why that game is really cheap. I just saw this and KNEW I had to take a pic.
To everyone clueless, my parents had purchased an anime called Moeyo Ken. It was drawn by Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha... but she obviously didn't write the plot for Meoyo Ken. The anime was horrible! Poor Takahashi had to be blackmailed or something to get her to draw for that wretched series.
This is that anime's game. Must be just as bad.

お酒を飲みません。 I do not drink Alcohol.

2006-10-13T20:29:00.000+09:00

Ugh. Party. Bad idea. I did not enjoy myself. At all.
I may as well have spent that 500 yen on lunch.
At least there was food there...
And people. Lots of people. And music. Very LOUD music. And drinks. Lots of drinks.
There were all these Japanese people coming up and talking to me, asking what did I study and where did I come from. I didn't mind it too much, it was nice talking with new people, but I kept saying the same things over and over. My name is Sean. I am from America. I studied Japanese for 2 years at a college in New York. Japanese is my major. Douzo Yoroshiku.
Blech. See? Gets mundane.
People also kept inviting me to drink with them. I just politely refused the drink but still talked with them.
Eventually it became too much for me. I snuck out a little before it ended. Too much noise. Too lively. Too much music. Parties just aren't my thing.
You may be asking right now: Jeez Sean. You're a loser, you don't seem very sociable, don't know how to enjoy yourself, and what do you have against drinking???
Yes. Its true. I dislike large social events. (IE parties) My head aches. I feel uncomfortable. I feel like I don't belong there. At least sitting in a corner alone grabs some attention and people step out to talk to me and ask how I'm doing.
As for drinking? Forget it. I have SEEN drunks. It's... its scary. To not be yourself and run the risk of doing something stupid and unforgiveable... drunk driving as an extreme example, and well... random stupid stuff I don't want to think of... I don't ever want to experience it. So why not have just one drink? It doesn't work that way. You have one drink. Your brain loosens up. You decide to have one more. You slowly lose yourself and continue drinking till you aren't thinking right anymore. How do I know this could happen to me? I have a very low will. As in, I can't resist the temptation of say... only eating one potato chip. It's impossible. You can't eat only one chip. My mind is like that.
Even one drink would destroy me, since it would become more. Don't try to convince me. It's futile. The second I'm convinced is the second I lose my mind. I'm never going to drink. Never. Ever.
C'mon... just one. You know you wanna...
Oh sure... except NO.
C'mon, you're Irish! It's in your blood!
That is a stupid discrimination. EVERYONE drinks! EVERYONE!! Just not me.
You suck.
If you wanna criticize me, get in line, buddy.

Meet The Characters

2006-10-13T13:47:00.001+09:00

So, like! My internet is working right now! WOO!
Temporarily. Maybe.
Watch me download an email or something and destroy all my bandwitdh...
Anyway, our Japanese class thats 3 hours a day, 5 days a week has 2 alternating teachers. I met the 2nd teacher today... the kanji teacher! Sweet! So what if he... doesn't know any English at all... he rocks. So far.
So like today is some of party at the dining hall that everyone is going to. Gonna cost me 500 yen though...
I'll edit the blog later and tell you how it goes.
Edit: see the post after this. I decided it should stand alone.

A friend mailed me and said I didn't introduce my blog and friends very well. So... here we go!!!

First: my blog. I am a Ryuugakusei, a foriegn exchange student. I lived in RI, went to SUNY Albany in NY, majored in Japanese, and applied to study abroad. Now I'm daily recording my experiences in a blog. Yup. That's. About it. Now for some friends I met!

Danny and Corey
Danny (left) and Corey (not left) and I are the only people from SUNY Albany (or even America, for that matter!) who are ISEP students at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies this year. Seriously. The only americans. We've seen some Italian, French, Spanish, English, and Cadadian people... but we're the only Americans.
They're both really tech savvy, and well... know how to hack at video games, much to my dismay.
They are also drinkers. They keep trying to get me to drink, but forget it. Ain't happening!
Like me, they both studied Japanese for 2 years at SUNY and we have about equal skills. I may be able to talk in Japanese a little better than them, but they have taken Chinese before and are much better with Kanji than me.
They enjoy calling me weird names like Seen and... Sean Nicholas?

Kiyo
Corey's tutor, Kiyo. He's a cool guy. He has shown us around a couple places like Shinjuku. He has pretty good English too.

Misato Kadoi
My tutor. Misato studies Polish as a foriegn language. She has helped me around a lot, like getting from the airport, choosing my cell phone, and showing me to the city hall. Misato is a really helpful person.
She doesn't have a picture. She doesn't like getting her picture taken.

Asuka
A friend of Misato's. She went with us to a couple places. She studies Polish with Misato.

Buddha, Ninjin, and Tacospin
Three vital components of my room. Ninjin is a very comfortable blanket I bought on sale for only 1600 yen. (Ninjin is Japanese for carrot.) See the little carrots on it? Yeah. That's where it gets its name from. I am SO smart.
Tacospin is my Nintendo DS. It got its name from a squirrel my grandmother used to feed. The squirrel ate taco shells and spun them as he ate them. My grandmother says me tapping the buttons on the DS sounds like the squirrel eating the taco.
Buddha provides 17 essential vitamins and minerals and is part of this complete state of zen. Zen Flakes: filling and existant! (maybe)

Starting classes

2006-10-12T23:24:00.002+09:00

Oops.
Yeah. It happened.
I didn't watch my wallet.
Not even 2000 yen of pocket money left. That 33000 yen disapeared really fast.
After food, train tickets, textbooks, Pocky, and a half eaten candy bar.
The bank? Yeah... we have to go. We are ALL out of money. Pocket money. Sure we gots travellers checks and stuff... but we can't get to a bank. Even if we did, we wouldn't have any idea what to do without a bilingualist's help.
Our tutors have full classes while the bank is open for its weekday 5 hours. Ugh.
BUT! Kiyo might have free time tomorrow. Schwing!

Well, money aside, today was my first couple classes. The 200 teacher we had was really quiet.. I was right in front of her and I couldn't hear her.
Later we went to this Kanji class. Dude only spoke Japanese, but he was awesome. He started explaining Kanji radicals and things and comminicated in ways we (or at least I) understood. I liked it.
So far Japanese is carved in stone. 9-12 EVERY weekday. I'm not sure what other classes I'll be taking yet... but definietly that kanji class.

Danny keeps calling me wierd names like "Sean Nickleson" or something. I dunno. Does that sound cool, or just plain silly?

I'm starting to give up on my internet connection. It was miraculously alive long enough earlier for me to watch the first subbed episode of Death Note on Youtube. I highly reccomend Death Note, its a really interesting series.

I'm thinking of hanging my ethernet cord. Maybe its the cord. Maybe its my modem/router. Maybe its my IP being blocked by the school firewall for being... "not as irresponsible as usual" with the internet. I downloaded a lot of stuff on MuTorrent... maybe? I should test my connection with another cord and maybe another port.

Ok! Here is me seeing if I can stay connected for 5 seconds to post my blog! If you can see this, I did it!
VOIP!!!
EDIT: It took me HOURS to get to the edit page! HOURS!!!! Here's hoping the connection doesn't die during posting.
(hooray for notepad...)

opening ceremonies

2006-10-11T15:26:00.001+09:00

So like, here I am writing my blog on notepad... waiting for the swear-in page to load. What is up with my internet connection? It keeps dieing. Sometimes disabling then enabling my network connection helps... but sometimes it doesn't. Like now. How did I even get this blog up? Everyone else's internet is fine!
Misato and Kiyo stopped by today to ask us if we wanted to go to dinner with them at the dining hall. I wanted to show them my blog then, but noooo my connection died. Feh.
Today was opening ceremony. First we had to dress up nice in shoes and dress shirts and ties. It sucked. I hate dressing up. Sure, I accept that sometimes its nessacary and its good to look nice. But they can't make dress clothes any less comfortable. And those dress shoes... I hate them so much.
After a boring or maybe just non-understandable-by-baka-gaijin like me in Japanese by the TUFS president, we went to another ceremony at our dorm building. A bunch of important people like... cut this ribbon or something. Cause the dorm building was new. Yeah. But there was free food after. Well worth the price of choking myself with a tie for! Maybe... I had to loosen it so I could swallow.
I'm hopefully going to the bank with Misato on monday morning. Cause she doesn't get out of class until after the bank closes at 3. Um. Ok. Whatever happened to Japanese customer convenience. What kind of bank is only open 5 hours on weekdays only. Slackers.
Class shcedules are... confusing. Some classes are only one day a week... others several times a day. Do I go to both level 200 classes tomorrow? Or was I placed in 300? How many credits am I taking exactly? Why is the schedule in Japanese? Which classes are in English? Why are my friends saying that one of the classes they pre-visited had a teacher who had to use English, Japanese AND Chinese to explain something? (not 'or'... "and") Why is the dining hall never open when I want it to be? Why are the bugs here so loud? Why, at all the entrance ceremonies I've been too, there were only Ryuugakusei (foriegn students) but the people there only spoke in Japanese? Did I miss anything? where are my pants?

Tomorrow I start Japanese class. Apparantly. I think I do... I'm gonna look for my pants too.

Oh, and anyone on an IM or something trying to contact me... my internet is about as lively as a post-squirrel on the interstate during rush hour.
... what horrible imagery. Sorry squirrel...
Also, I'm glad I brought computer controllers and Ragnarok Battle Offline. Friends love it.
I know. In a foreign country and just playing video games... I AM getting out more and seeing new people. I am. I may not enjoy half the places I go to, but I am getting out more.
That's it for now. Catch you on the flip side. Like a pancake.
Oh. What am I doing. PICS! Here's hoping my upload worked!

Kiyo looks cool in shades, eh?

Placement exam

2006-10-10T23:57:00.001+09:00

Ok, so for the first night (last night) I didn't write a blog. I was just too tired.
Today was the placement exam for Japanese. The stuff I knew? Easy. That super hard stuff? Impossible. My two friends from SUNY scored for the 200 level, but mine was confusing. 200/300? So which one am I in?

tired... tomorrow is the entrance ceremony... must dress up nice. Need sleep...

Sorry my blog isn't interesting. I'm going to the nearest bank with Misato tomorrow to get my bank account after orientation. Need to do a little more shopping too. Perhaps I'll see something interesting.

Hiccups

2006-10-08T19:34:00.000+09:00

I've been getting hiccups. Everyday. At least once a day. Is it a physical problem???
Coming up soon is class picking, the placement test, and lots of paperwork. Sigh...

My internet keeps hiccupping as well. Like, every five minutes I have to disable my connection then enable or restart to stay connected. I couldn't even talk to my dad earlier.

Yesterday was supposedly the brightest full moon of the year. Did you see it?

Oh! I actually cooked some pasta and sauce and had a real meal! ... Well... by "I", I really mean Danny cooked it. Hehe.

I bought some more stuff: pasta, curry sauces, ritz crackers, and my second favorite anti-depressant. This stuff will keep me alive come exam time. That's right, my anti depressant is oreos. My number one anti-depressant? Oreo ice cream!

Finally got around to uploading those pictures in the last blog. Check em out.
Also, here are some shots from around the campus, and a movie of the store we went you have to have flash and java installed and allowed to see it!

I like this one. With the sun. Yeah.

Pocky... its not just for breakfast anymore.

2006-10-07T11:16:00.001+09:00

Mmm... pocky for breakfast... the dining hall wasnt open yet... i wonder when it opens.
To be edited later, I'm going with everyone later to Shinjuku later to an ALL YOU CAN STOMACH pizza place!!! That and... they wanna get drunk. I'm being designated train ticket buyer. More on this later! (-edit, we couldnt find the pizza place)
For now, here's some Pocky.

I started taking pictures of the campus. 4 pictures later, the batteries die. Great... Here they are finally.

So anyway, me, my two friends from SUNY, and Kiyo take a couple trains out to Shinjuku for the day.
...
About halfway through the trip I remembered that it was the city my dad warned me about.
There were quite a few... not very well hidden male adult places in one part of the city. I'm not talking about bathrooms. Go put 2 and 2 together yourself.

But we had an ok day. We met a few friends of Kiyo's. Seiko and 3 exchange students from India. I am so sorry that I forgot their names...
We found a nice place to eat. Once again I couldn't read the menu. But we ordered Okonomiyaki. It was really good! But I forgot to take a picture... I only remembered my phone had a camera when the Chow Mein came.

So we walk around for a bit, look at some stores, then it got late and the guys from India went home.
Then I made the mistake of going with everyone to: a bar.
It was loud. Crowded. Noisy. People were smoking, yelling, swearing, drinking, but enjoying theirselves.
In comparison I was a wallflower. I got a headache from the whole thing.
They drank different alcoholic beverages. I just had some water. They kept trying to presure me to drink some. My answer was always no. I just don't want to drink.

And because they spent so much time drinking stuff, it got too late and the some of the trains closed, and we had to walk back halfway after one train.
Actually... it wasn't their fault. We spent a little extra time seeing Seiko off because she had a telecomunication probem or something with her friend. I just like blaming them for everything anyway.

Walking back wasn't... so bad. We walked for like an hour hugging the railroad tracks. We stopped at a store and bought a snack, I picked up a Shonen Jump. I haven't found ANY Ultra Jumps yet! Could they be subscription only???

I'll upload the pics from Shinjuku off my phone tomorrow. I may look like I had a good time in the pics, but I didn't. I purposely did not take any pictures at the bar because I did not want to remember it.

I don't want to ever go back to Shinjuku again.

BUT! Its not all bad. I spent a day out at a new place with some friends, and at least dinner was great! I actually broadened my horizons by going to Shinjuku. At least I tried. Plus it beats sittin in a dorm all day. Even if I never go back, I came, I saw, I heard, I ended this blog with crappy camera photos.

(come back later for photos, I'm goin to bed!!!)
(-EDIT: Here they are!)

Broke my Umbrella

2006-10-06T23:23:00.001+09:00

Its still very rainy out. And windy. So windy, my umbrella broke. I'll have to get a new one.
Today was orientation. The orientators talked in mostly Japanese... I only understood a little. We received a huge stack of books and papers to fill out. Ugh. The books are half english half Japanese... but all the important papers to fill out are in Japanese. Ugh.
I ate at the cafeteria. VERY busy around lunchtime. Costs about 600 yen for a decently sized meal. The food was decent. Kinda wish I ate more.

I hanged out with my SUNY friends and Kiyo for a while. Tomorrow we're going to go sightseeing around Tokyo and eating at an all you can eat pizza place. They want to go for the all you can drink alcoholic drinks though... I think I'll just have water. They say I'm missing out. On what? Drunken stupors and hangovers? I'll pass, thanks. Besides, someone has to be designated driver. Or... in this case... um... designated... train station checker? Cause they're going to be to drunk to make sure they're getting off at the right station... or something?

I'm going with that one until I make up a better excuse for not drinking. What? I just don't want to.

Pics of around TUFS soon! As soon as it stops raining!!!

Mm... Udon

2006-10-05T18:57:00.000+09:00

That huge bowl of instant udon for lunch was a bad idea. The first few bites tasted good... but I started feeling a little sick as I finished it. I couldn't eat it all.
No more instant food! I need some nutrition. I gotta learn how to cook!!! X_X

I met with Misato again and she took me to the city hall. Luckily, we remembered my passport this time. I got some paperwork done, and the health insurance stuff... and got some temporary ID papers. We then went to a cell phone store and I picked out a (relatively) cheap cell phone. Why do cellphones nowadays have to have everything? Tv tuners, email, cameras, etc etc... its all unnecessary. I just wanted a bare bones plain one... but these days? Forget it. I got the cheapest one with english that I could. I think its gonna cost 2000 yen a month. It had a built in camera. Whoopee...

While we waited for the cell phone to be activated, me and Misato went to a coffee shop. All I had was some tea. I wasn't hungry then, but I should have eaten something. I wasn't hungry until we got back... I just had a rice ball... I'm not going to be able to live on instant noodles and rice balls...

Misato gave me her number and I saw Kiyo and got his number too. I tried sending Misato an email with my phone (took me forever to figure out how to input the word "hi") but it didn't work. I just can't figure out the stupid thing. I'm not sure how the camera works either. But... at least... its a phone. And I can call people with it. That's all that matters.

No pictures today! It was cold and rainy. I didn't want to take photos when it was rainy. Maybe tomorrow!

What? You want any picture at all? Fine. Here's a rice ball.

EDIT
Note to self. Must remember this. Down the street from TUFS is Tobitakyuu Eki. (eki=station) from 飛田給(Tobitakyuu) I go to 府中(Fuchuu), where they have shopping malls, Toys R Us, that Coffee shop, the cell phone shop, that Takoyaki stand, and 府中市役所(Fuchuu Shiyakusho) (city hall). Costs 130 yen per train ride. Must... remember.

Forgetful Foriegner

2006-10-04T22:27:00.001+09:00

So Misato takes me all the way to the city hall to register for my ID. And guess what? We forgot to bring my passport.
Sigh... we have to go again tomorrow.
We met up with Asuka, and later Danny, Corey, and their tutor, Kyo. We do a little shopping at a 100 yen shop and I got a bunch of stuff. Mostly cleaning stuff. Nothing fancy, yet.
Misato went to her nighttime job at a convenience store and the rest of us ate at a restaraunt. Here are some pics from the restaraunt below.
Tomorrow, its back to City Hall, with my passport. Then I can get a phone and a bank account.

Restaraunt pics!!!

Dinner and a movie:

finally in Japan

2006-10-03T19:21:00.000+09:00

Wake up at 2. AM. Catch a plane at 6AM in Boston, MA. Arrive in JFK, NY, and wait 3 hours before taking one last flight.

14 hours later...

Whee! Its Japan. Yes. There's Japanese people and signs and stuff everywhere.
So I got off the plane ok, got my luggage, and met Misato outside. We take a few busses and trains and finally arrive here. We had a few conversations of half english/half japanese (her english was about as good as my Japanese, it was tricky) and we arrive at TUFS around 7pm.

I was shown around, and learned some of the ins and outs of the dorm building. In Japanese of course. I didn't understand wrd for word what they said, but I got the gist of it.
There's all kinds of cool stuff in the dorm building, a mini gym, computer room, tv room, a kitchen, etc etc. Theres a shower and laundry room nearby. One washer and dryer and 2 showers for all male residents in one floor. I think theres like 10 rooms on this floor.

My room consists of a mini burner/stove, a sink, a mini toilet room, a fridge (not sure if it works yet) a lamp, a desk, lotsa shelves, and a matress. Hm... awkward... no blankets. Just a fitted sheet I brought.

On the plane, they had mini blankets and pillows. By some odd reason, I stole the pillow on my seat by sneaking it in my carry on bag. But I already had a better pillow packed. Why didn't I steal the blanket instead...

Hey. They didn't say you could take em, they they didn't say you couldn't!

Anyway, no trip is perfect. Of course I had my setbacks. One was always losing track of where my tickets and passport were. I never lost them. They were just in another pocket.
I think I forgot my suitjacket. Heh... I think I left it on the couch...
There were 2 casualties.
One: my retainer case. After having my braces taken off years ago, I still have to wear these dumb retainer things every night. I had them in my mouth on the plane and sat on and broke my case. Der...
So later in my dorm, I'm looking through my stuff, mumbling that I needed a case. Well, prayers can be answered in the harshest ways. One of the stupidly expensive Yankee Candles I brought as a souvenier for someone broke. Not the candle, but the glass around it. Oh how fun it is to clean up broken glass!!!
I'm throwing the glass out, but not the candle. I spent too much on that.
Oh, about the retainer case? The top part, the plastic part, the candle topper... made a great case. I just popped em in and placed a lid on. Whoopdee doo da.

Well, I hope thats the last of my worries here. Its 7:30 PM in Japan right now... and... Im really TIRED. My parents told me to call when I got here, but I havent had access to a phone. Think I'll just buy some SKYPE credit and use my computer to call them from here.
Skype is a mostly free internet to phone or internet chat program. Call to/from Japan at 2 cents a minute? Sweet. Its 6:30 AM in Eastern America now. I'll call them before I go to bed.
In case no one knows, I can't sleep in moving vehicles. That incluses planes... I have just gone 28 hours with little to no sleep after a 4-hour-sleep night. I'm tired!

Tomorrow, Misato is bringing me to the Tokyo Town Hall to... get me registed as a temporary resident or something.

I'm calling my parents and going to bed. At least I have a sheet and pillow. I'll get a blanket tomorrow...

Ouch, I hurt my finger in that glass... luckily no blood.
Oyasumi nasai... (that means good night)

Testing HTML

2006-09-25T06:07:00.000+09:00

Not much time left.
I went over my Grandparents' house in Middletown, RI over the weekend, and did some souvenier shopping in Newport. I got a couple things like mini lighthouses and t-shirts for people I hope to meet. Hopefully I can visit my host families sometime too...

I decided to use this post to test HTML in blogging. So here is a picture of Newport:

End blog!

Getting Ready

2006-09-25T04:12:00.000+09:00

I am recreating my account. It seems I was having problems signing in because I was using the Beta. I had to create a normal account to join in other bloggers, such as my Japanese teacher.

Right now, I have 2 "blogger friends" my Japanese teacher's blog is http://mmorimura.blogspot.com/ which is a message board for Japanese students Japanese 4 and up, and
cyrunner.blogspot.com is my father's traditional RPG blog.

Here is my only entry from my old blog, copied over:

********************
So, I decided to start a blog of my trip a month before I start. I've just gotten my new laptop to do it on too.
Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Sean Maloney. I live in Rhode Island. I studied Japanese at Classical High School for 4 years under Morimura-sensei.
I then went to the State University At Albany in New York. (SUNY at Albany)
I studied courses 102, 201, and 202 under Mano-sensei.
That was my first 2 years of college. Now, for my 3rd, I am studying abroad!
I will be going to Tokyo University of Foriegn Studies.
I am going to study there from October 3rd - July 31. 2006-2007.
Then is on more year at SUNY... then I intend to go on the Jet Programme after I graduate.

Thats all my plans, now a little about me.
If you are reading this, you are probably either a friend of mine I told my blog about, or you are one of my teachers, family, or just someone browsing blogs. So except for that last person, you probably already know me, so I don't need to talk about myself much.

I'll just say that ever since I decided to try out Japanese in High School, I have never regretted it. I am so happy it was available, and Morimura-sensei was a great teacher. I was happy to continue with Mano-sensei as well.
Now I hope that someday I will be a succesful teacher in Japan, or a Bussiness translator. Maybe both. I shall find out as my life goes on...

Once I get to Japan, I intend to Blog here everyday. I don't want to forget a single experience.
My next update will be the day before I leave, and then the day I'm there! I can't wait to go!

So ends this blog.
-Sean Maloney
August 30th, 2006
still In the US...