Trump
So today was my first assesment on my independant study of games. My sensei was pretty impressed with my research thusfar. Because of the holiday last week, I've had two weeks to work on my independant study, I feel like I've used my time wisely.
At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to start with. Board Games or Card Games, and should I focus on a specific game, or just on the general terminology. At first I very half heartedly flipped through my rule books, and picked up terms out of the dictionary.
It wasn't until last thursday that it all started to really come together. I had a meeting with my Japanese Conversation partner, we talked a while, untill I broke out my Uno deck. We played Uno for a while, and had some back and forth over the rules. She played where if you play a draw 2 on a draw 2 then it passes to the person next to you. I think I've played that rule before, but I'd forgotten it. I tried to explain Killer Uno to here, that I learned from Dan, Jess, and Ben freshman year. She understood, but wanted to just play regular Uno.
While we played Uno I asked her a bunch of questions about how to say certain things. Hand, deck, play a card, draw a card. She said that there was no word for deck (I eventually found one). I also asked her what other card games she knew, not many was her reply, though she did know Trump. Which I've heard to be a very popular card game in Japan. So after Uno she taught me Trump, which is a very simple but fun game. So simple in fact that I figured I would be able to describe it using my limited Japanese. We really started having fun when Jessi and I taught Shoko Go Fish. We played probably 10 rounds of card games all told and I had ample motivation to work on my independant study.
I managed to come up with 20 vocab words, 5 grammar points, and I transcribed a set of rules for Trump in Japanese. It was great fun, I had to get a little creative, but when I showed Sensei he said most of it was spot on. There were a few points that he was able to help me on in terms of the conjugation of things, and explained to me two different grammar points.
I worked a lot with IF/THEN statements, but in Japanese there are two forms of IF/THEN, a stronger one and a weaker one. One means that the effect must follow the cause, where the other one is more like a suggestion.
If you throw a ball into the air, then it will fall down.
If you have a pair, then you can play it.
I'm actually very pleased with how it turned out. If you're at all interested I'll transcibe a post for it, but for now I'll just show some of the vocab I learned.
Card Terminology
Deck: やまふだ (yamafuda)
Hand: てふだ (tefuda)
Cards：カード (kaado)
Players：せんしゅ (senshu)
To shuffle cards: カードをきる (kaado o kiru)
To draw a card：カードをひきます (kaado o hiku)
To play a card: カードをだします (kaado o dasu)
To win：かちます (kachimasu)
To lose：まけます (makemasu)
Also
Killer Uno
Like regular Uno with 3 exceptions.
Zero Pass- When you play a zero everyone passes their hands in the dirrection of play.
Attrition -If you have a set of cards that are all the same color that add up to the number on the board you may play them together as though they were that card. They must be the same color as each other and the same color as the card on the board.
Stealing -If you have a card that matches the color and number of the card on the board (or you have cards that add up to the number on the board) you may play it even if it isn't your turn. After you do so the person next to you continues play.
Game Language across culture. Huzza!
-Mack
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Exertion
Physical Activity Yay
Yesterday I went back to the Hopping Runners club. I overdid it the last time I ran with them, because I was sore for a week afterward. This time, though, I decided to keep a steady pace within my own comfort zone. I met the runners outside of Komachi hall (the dorm) and we ran around the sports facillity across the street. I was a little disappointed to here we couldn't use any of the tracks there, because the sports complex is not actually part of the university. A club could pay to use the tracks, or any of the ammenities on the complex, but that'd have to be done well in advance. I can see why the hopping runners usually just run along the road. The run went well, I wasn't the fastest, but I'm not hurting nearly as bad as I was last time.
More physical activity
After the hopping runners, we had swing club, and I was already feeling sleepy. I needed chocolate, so I got a snickers.
Snickers
I'm usually pretty up for going anf trying new things while in Japan, but I've yet to find a candy bar as hardy as a Snickers bar, and the student store has them. They're a little smaller here in Japan. A bit more salty and significantly less caramel, but good nonetheless
Swing Dancing
With a Snickers devoured, I was ready for swing dancing. I've been really working on keeping my footwork on tempo. We worked on the basics and watched Matt and Ondene show off all over the dance floor. Watching them gives Jessi and I something to work towards. They're good, Matt is certainly a lot better than me, but not so good that Jessi and I couldn't be on par with them (or better) with some hard work.
All in all yesterday was a lot of fun, and I feel like I got some exercisise in.
-Mack
Yesterday I went back to the Hopping Runners club. I overdid it the last time I ran with them, because I was sore for a week afterward. This time, though, I decided to keep a steady pace within my own comfort zone. I met the runners outside of Komachi hall (the dorm) and we ran around the sports facillity across the street. I was a little disappointed to here we couldn't use any of the tracks there, because the sports complex is not actually part of the university. A club could pay to use the tracks, or any of the ammenities on the complex, but that'd have to be done well in advance. I can see why the hopping runners usually just run along the road. The run went well, I wasn't the fastest, but I'm not hurting nearly as bad as I was last time.
More physical activity
After the hopping runners, we had swing club, and I was already feeling sleepy. I needed chocolate, so I got a snickers.
Snickers
I'm usually pretty up for going anf trying new things while in Japan, but I've yet to find a candy bar as hardy as a Snickers bar, and the student store has them. They're a little smaller here in Japan. A bit more salty and significantly less caramel, but good nonetheless
Swing Dancing
With a Snickers devoured, I was ready for swing dancing. I've been really working on keeping my footwork on tempo. We worked on the basics and watched Matt and Ondene show off all over the dance floor. Watching them gives Jessi and I something to work towards. They're good, Matt is certainly a lot better than me, but not so good that Jessi and I couldn't be on par with them (or better) with some hard work.
All in all yesterday was a lot of fun, and I feel like I got some exercisise in.
-Mack
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Brief Estimation on Spending
Souvenires 35%
Food 30%
Transportation 20%
School Supplies Maintenence 15%
This is a very rough graph but represents fairly solidly my expenses thusfar in Japan. A few things have been suprising.
Food
I've only eaten of campus about six times, but that adds up rather quickly. Additionally, trips the grocery store have pushed that pecentage up. If you know me, having my second highest expenditure being food shouldn't be that suprising.
Souvenirs
Souvenirs is a little higher that expected, but I did decide to buy a new external hardrive. Additional I've got most of the specific souvnirs that I wanted for myself, and a few for other people already. Otherwise I think souvenirs is set about right.
Transporation
Transportation was a lot higher than I expected. Granted that has the bus trip between airports included. But a round trip bus to the mall is three dollars, and a round trip to Akita City is 8 dollars. Additionally, on an early school trip to Managa Soko there was a mild fiasco with a taxi cab and a bus that turned out a lot higher than expected. Note: If you come to northern Japan, commuter travel is a lot more difficult.
Exchanging Money
It didn't make it onto the graph but exchanging money has been quite costly. Using the basis of 100 yen to a dollar, exchanging money has cost about $65. Granted the dollar is really weak right now, but I've been looking for a place to exchange money that charges a flat fee as opposed to a percentage of what you take out. I havn't found one yet, but it has still been a little frustrating to see that much money fly out the window for no real good reason.
Laundry
I don't know if it's a Japanese thing, or just an AIU thing, but laundry costs a dollar per machine. So a dollar to wash and a dollar to dry, per load of laundry. The machines aren't very big either, nor powerful. Jessi and I have been doing laundry cooperativly, but for our normal laundry load together it costs about 6 dollars. 3 dollars to wash three loads, 2 dollars to dry, 1 dollar to re dry one of the loads.
The dryers are actually pretty weak. We put the whites in one machine and the colors, jeans, and towels in the other machine, but it never gets dry. In fact after two cycles they're still a little damp. So for this month we've spent about 16 dollars. Two big loads, and one smaller one.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The Fearsome Namahage
The Namahage
Yesterday, Jessi and I visited the Namahage Museum in Northern Akita.
Namahage are forest spirits of old legend. Once a year they come stomping across the snow, making a ruckus and letting lose wild cries of anger. They are most often either red or blue and look something like this.
Well not quite, those are our classmates trying on the costume.
However, Namahage come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The Namahage come once a year to every person's house to check to see if the children have been good. If the children have been bad, the Namahage take them away and eat them. As sort of an agreement to help appease the Namahage, the parents set out a meal of hospitality to the Namahage. If the Namahage find that you are inhospitable, they eat your children.
The Tradition
The Tradition of Namahage is that a member of a family, or more recently a local community of Namahage for hire, will stomp around the house once a year. Enter into the home, scare the jeepers out of the children. Do a Namahage stomp dance. Eat the food offered by the family. Scare the children some more and then stomp off into the wilderness.
We watch some video of this, which included a shot of a seven year old holding onto a post with three Namahage trying to pull him away by his legs. sometimes children would hide, and the namahage would go and find them. But after the video we were guided towards a small guest house in the woods. Where we sat and waited for a Namahage to appear.
Well after a while we did see some real Namahage.
They were pretty fierce, and they managed to find Jessi out of the crowd and get up real close to her. At which point she did her best to curl up in the fetal position inside of her camera.
Afterward they explained that they were just following the rules, and that if any children disobeyed the rules, they'd be back next year to eat them
Scary Sure, but they aren't always terrifying.
Hello Namahage
Stitchmahage
Overall it was a great trip, and I can't wait for the snow to fall and to hear the howls of the Namahage in the forest.
-Mack
Yesterday, Jessi and I visited the Namahage Museum in Northern Akita.
Namahage are forest spirits of old legend. Once a year they come stomping across the snow, making a ruckus and letting lose wild cries of anger. They are most often either red or blue and look something like this.
Well not quite, those are our classmates trying on the costume.
However, Namahage come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The Namahage come once a year to every person's house to check to see if the children have been good. If the children have been bad, the Namahage take them away and eat them. As sort of an agreement to help appease the Namahage, the parents set out a meal of hospitality to the Namahage. If the Namahage find that you are inhospitable, they eat your children.
The Tradition
The Tradition of Namahage is that a member of a family, or more recently a local community of Namahage for hire, will stomp around the house once a year. Enter into the home, scare the jeepers out of the children. Do a Namahage stomp dance. Eat the food offered by the family. Scare the children some more and then stomp off into the wilderness.
We watch some video of this, which included a shot of a seven year old holding onto a post with three Namahage trying to pull him away by his legs. sometimes children would hide, and the namahage would go and find them. But after the video we were guided towards a small guest house in the woods. Where we sat and waited for a Namahage to appear.
Well after a while we did see some real Namahage.
They were pretty fierce, and they managed to find Jessi out of the crowd and get up real close to her. At which point she did her best to curl up in the fetal position inside of her camera.
Afterward they explained that they were just following the rules, and that if any children disobeyed the rules, they'd be back next year to eat them
Scary Sure, but they aren't always terrifying.
Hello Namahage
Stitchmahage
Overall it was a great trip, and I can't wait for the snow to fall and to hear the howls of the Namahage in the forest.
-Mack
An Eventful Weekend
September 28th
And so we begin to mark the end of September, an act which for some reason has seemed extremely slow in coming. I nearly dissmissed a writing competition a week ago because the stories were due on the 30th.
Not only have I found time to write the story, but I feel like I've had more time than I can fill. Even with procrastination, video games, and sleeping, I find myself always thinking things are happening today when they are really happening tommarrow.
The old adage has proved opposite, time does not seem to fly while I'm having fun. Because I certainly have not been lacking in merryment. This weekend we performed our circus performance for a commercial advertising the event. It went very well, and there will be videos to follow. For the performance we made costumes in rough approximations of my sketches.
We met our host families, and they seem very nice. The host program will be a very rewarding endevour. Additionally, we visted the Namahage museum, I will have to spend a great deal more time explaining what namahage are later, but we were treated to quite a performance, which I got on video, and Jessi got on video.
But Mack, one might say, does this mean you've bought a new video camera of ultimate sparkliness. No actually, the video's were recorded on the old Zi6. After a week of laying dormant, the Zi6 seems to have regained some of it's composer. I decided to test it for a while to see how reliable the footage would be. A 3 minute clip is most often all I will need, so I decided to see how often it would record a 3 minute clip in a day. After 10 instances, it did not freeze up once. This is after I couldn't get it to record more than a minute of tape before the whole thing freezing and flipping out.
It would appear that the Zi6 requires a certain amount of rest, though I would be lying if I forgot to mention that it managed to fall from it's resting place onto the floor, on accident, and that my tests were prompted by this fall. So far it works better than ever, so I'm not one to criticize blessings.
The plan remains to have Kodak look at the thing when I return, and that I will buy my parents a spiffy nice japanese video camera. But now I can take video while I search for such a device, and thus make a slower, better informed decision on choices.
I also need to make a list of souvenir's I've bought thusfar. There are a few things I've yet to mention, but I have found many inexpensive trinkets that are especially shiny.
It's a good thing time is doing me this favor while in Japan, because I have many many things to do.
-Mack
And so we begin to mark the end of September, an act which for some reason has seemed extremely slow in coming. I nearly dissmissed a writing competition a week ago because the stories were due on the 30th.
Not only have I found time to write the story, but I feel like I've had more time than I can fill. Even with procrastination, video games, and sleeping, I find myself always thinking things are happening today when they are really happening tommarrow.
The old adage has proved opposite, time does not seem to fly while I'm having fun. Because I certainly have not been lacking in merryment. This weekend we performed our circus performance for a commercial advertising the event. It went very well, and there will be videos to follow. For the performance we made costumes in rough approximations of my sketches.
We met our host families, and they seem very nice. The host program will be a very rewarding endevour. Additionally, we visted the Namahage museum, I will have to spend a great deal more time explaining what namahage are later, but we were treated to quite a performance, which I got on video, and Jessi got on video.
But Mack, one might say, does this mean you've bought a new video camera of ultimate sparkliness. No actually, the video's were recorded on the old Zi6. After a week of laying dormant, the Zi6 seems to have regained some of it's composer. I decided to test it for a while to see how reliable the footage would be. A 3 minute clip is most often all I will need, so I decided to see how often it would record a 3 minute clip in a day. After 10 instances, it did not freeze up once. This is after I couldn't get it to record more than a minute of tape before the whole thing freezing and flipping out.
It would appear that the Zi6 requires a certain amount of rest, though I would be lying if I forgot to mention that it managed to fall from it's resting place onto the floor, on accident, and that my tests were prompted by this fall. So far it works better than ever, so I'm not one to criticize blessings.
The plan remains to have Kodak look at the thing when I return, and that I will buy my parents a spiffy nice japanese video camera. But now I can take video while I search for such a device, and thus make a slower, better informed decision on choices.
I also need to make a list of souvenir's I've bought thusfar. There are a few things I've yet to mention, but I have found many inexpensive trinkets that are especially shiny.
It's a good thing time is doing me this favor while in Japan, because I have many many things to do.
-Mack
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Wind Up Circus
A Performance
Early in October AIU will be hosting a small festival. Food stands, music, and performances for everyone. After my decision about juggling in Japan this seems to be an excellent chance to show juggling to my fellow student. I signed up immeadiately.
Well not immediately, there was some paperwork, an e-mail correspondance, a meeting, and some deliberation before it became official. Being the procrastinator that I am, Jessi and I showed up at the AIU festival meeting, without much of a clear idea of what we were doing, nor a name for ourselves.
The meeting was conducted all in Japanese, and Jessi and I were the only international students who decided to perform. We had some nice Japanese students explain several things to us in English. We had some vague ideas for an act, a juggling robot and a girl who likes to dance. . . When they asked for a name I decided "Wind-Up Circus" was a cool name and put it down. Guess we're committed to that idea then.
We have since developed the idea. A juggling robot (me) stands on stage. The idea of a japanese mecha comes to mind in terms of style. An akibo juggling robot. Another robot comes on stage, but this one looks more like a ballerina out of a music box (Jessi). The one on stage doesn't move, but the ballerina does. The ballerina goes up to the juggling robot and presses a button on it's arm. From there theres a sort of juggling dance duet. The juggling robot seems to execute a singular purpose, juggling, while the dancing robot tries to get it to dance with her.
(You can't see it, but a badge on my costume will say "Six of Nine")
The concept art I drew up, is a compromise on what we want and what we think we're capable of making. My outfit is coming along nicely, the piece on the arm is held together with velcro, and I'm sewing the fabric onto a blackshirt I bought recently for this purpose. The ribbons on Jessi's costume will probably fabric, and they'll probably be sewn on flat to her costume. If we can find more ribbon like material, her costume may improve. She'll also be wearing a plaid skirt, and various shades of color, I will be wearing black and a single shade of blue. I like the contrast we're working on here.
We're using a Zelda Ocaraina of Time song that's been remixed. It has a good mix of heavy techno, mechanical sounds, and clear trumpets and orchestral music. A video will appear on this blog after it's performed. We might film a little bit of it before hand as we're practicing it.
Heck we'll probably bring the act back to Ithaca with us, I am missing Circus a bit.
Should be awesome.
-Mack
Early in October AIU will be hosting a small festival. Food stands, music, and performances for everyone. After my decision about juggling in Japan this seems to be an excellent chance to show juggling to my fellow student. I signed up immeadiately.
Well not immediately, there was some paperwork, an e-mail correspondance, a meeting, and some deliberation before it became official. Being the procrastinator that I am, Jessi and I showed up at the AIU festival meeting, without much of a clear idea of what we were doing, nor a name for ourselves.
The meeting was conducted all in Japanese, and Jessi and I were the only international students who decided to perform. We had some nice Japanese students explain several things to us in English. We had some vague ideas for an act, a juggling robot and a girl who likes to dance. . . When they asked for a name I decided "Wind-Up Circus" was a cool name and put it down. Guess we're committed to that idea then.
We have since developed the idea. A juggling robot (me) stands on stage. The idea of a japanese mecha comes to mind in terms of style. An akibo juggling robot. Another robot comes on stage, but this one looks more like a ballerina out of a music box (Jessi). The one on stage doesn't move, but the ballerina does. The ballerina goes up to the juggling robot and presses a button on it's arm. From there theres a sort of juggling dance duet. The juggling robot seems to execute a singular purpose, juggling, while the dancing robot tries to get it to dance with her.
(You can't see it, but a badge on my costume will say "Six of Nine")The concept art I drew up, is a compromise on what we want and what we think we're capable of making. My outfit is coming along nicely, the piece on the arm is held together with velcro, and I'm sewing the fabric onto a blackshirt I bought recently for this purpose. The ribbons on Jessi's costume will probably fabric, and they'll probably be sewn on flat to her costume. If we can find more ribbon like material, her costume may improve. She'll also be wearing a plaid skirt, and various shades of color, I will be wearing black and a single shade of blue. I like the contrast we're working on here.
We're using a Zelda Ocaraina of Time song that's been remixed. It has a good mix of heavy techno, mechanical sounds, and clear trumpets and orchestral music. A video will appear on this blog after it's performed. We might film a little bit of it before hand as we're practicing it.
Heck we'll probably bring the act back to Ithaca with us, I am missing Circus a bit.
Should be awesome.
-Mack
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Tower of Sushi
Tonight we visited Kappa Sushi. For those unfamilliar with conveyor belt sushi . . .
it is truly a wonder of the world. Sushi, freshly made is sent around on a conveyor belt right next to your table. If you see something you like, you take it and eat it. Plates are color coded for price, the waitress tallies up the plates at the end of the meal.
I had seen this before. In fact there is one back in my hometown, what is new however is the sushi train. You see it on the top track. Each booth is outfitted with a touch screen, you use the screen to pick out some specialty sushi, moments later it comes flying out at you on this little train and stops. You take your sushi, and press a button to send it back.
The quantity of sushi makes the mind reel, and the price is particularly staggering. Unless otherwise noted, a plate of sushi costs a buck. The sizes vary, and some sushi costs more, but generally if you pay 11 dollars you eat no less than 10 plates of sushi.
This being my first sushi venture in Akita, I decided to eat until I was full.
-Shrimp Tempura
I started with an easy to eat sushi I knew I would like that would fill me up a bit. Very satisfying.
-Shako
For my second plate I demanded adventure. These grey/brown shrimp looking things did the trick. They tasted like salt water, and exploded with liquid. Baby lobster? Crawfish? I wasn't sure, later reserch shows it to be a "mantis shrimp".
-Potatoe Salad Cups
Delicious, simple, filling. I forgot to mention by the time we got there I was hungry.
-Fried Shrimp
Both Jessi and I pulled one of these off the conveyor, for fried shrimp they were huge.
-Maguro Puree
Red fish ground up with green onions on top.
-Hamburger
I find it strange we don't find more of this on sushi in the west. I saw beef on sushi and had to get it for the sheer novelty.
-Tuna
Raw fish on rice, mmm mmm good.
-Pudding Custard
By this time everyone else at the table had picked up at least one dessert off the conveyor belt. I decided to get a little for myself, as a midmeal sweet. Again only about a dollar.
-Tuna Salad
-Avocado Shrimp
It took me a while to read the katekana for Avocado, but once I figured it out, I wanted to try it. I had to tell my friend to grab it for me as it went by. The two pieces were stuck together so I ended up putting both of them in my mouth at once. It was an explosion of flavor.
-Unagi
I have since my last visit to Japan cultivated a taste for Eel. I decided that my final piece should be a big slab of eel sushi.
To finish things off I had a slice of chocolate cream cake. All in all an excellent beggining to my sushi experiance in Akita.
-Mack
it is truly a wonder of the world. Sushi, freshly made is sent around on a conveyor belt right next to your table. If you see something you like, you take it and eat it. Plates are color coded for price, the waitress tallies up the plates at the end of the meal.
I had seen this before. In fact there is one back in my hometown, what is new however is the sushi train. You see it on the top track. Each booth is outfitted with a touch screen, you use the screen to pick out some specialty sushi, moments later it comes flying out at you on this little train and stops. You take your sushi, and press a button to send it back.
The quantity of sushi makes the mind reel, and the price is particularly staggering. Unless otherwise noted, a plate of sushi costs a buck. The sizes vary, and some sushi costs more, but generally if you pay 11 dollars you eat no less than 10 plates of sushi.
This being my first sushi venture in Akita, I decided to eat until I was full.
-Shrimp TempuraI started with an easy to eat sushi I knew I would like that would fill me up a bit. Very satisfying.
-ShakoFor my second plate I demanded adventure. These grey/brown shrimp looking things did the trick. They tasted like salt water, and exploded with liquid. Baby lobster? Crawfish? I wasn't sure, later reserch shows it to be a "mantis shrimp".
-Potatoe Salad CupsDelicious, simple, filling. I forgot to mention by the time we got there I was hungry.
-Fried ShrimpBoth Jessi and I pulled one of these off the conveyor, for fried shrimp they were huge.
-Maguro PureeRed fish ground up with green onions on top.
-HamburgerI find it strange we don't find more of this on sushi in the west. I saw beef on sushi and had to get it for the sheer novelty.
-TunaRaw fish on rice, mmm mmm good.
-Pudding Custard
By this time everyone else at the table had picked up at least one dessert off the conveyor belt. I decided to get a little for myself, as a midmeal sweet. Again only about a dollar.
-Tuna Salad
-Avocado ShrimpIt took me a while to read the katekana for Avocado, but once I figured it out, I wanted to try it. I had to tell my friend to grab it for me as it went by. The two pieces were stuck together so I ended up putting both of them in my mouth at once. It was an explosion of flavor.
-Unagi
I have since my last visit to Japan cultivated a taste for Eel. I decided that my final piece should be a big slab of eel sushi.
To finish things off I had a slice of chocolate cream cake. All in all an excellent beggining to my sushi experiance in Akita.
-Mack
Juggling in Japan
Jyagalingu?
So one of my goals while in Japan is to spend a lot more time on Juggling. Being the president of ICircus last semmester was great and a lot of fun, but I spent a lot less time Juggling and a lot more time managing.
I have a lot of free time, and some idea's for new tricks and variations on old tricks. I'm working on doing under-the-leg and behind-the-back at the same time. It takes some finesse, but it's going quite well. Also a few new starting throws . . . I digress.
I have talked to a few people in Japan about juggling, and in highschool I remember asking Leech-sensei what the word for juggling was. Essentially the Japanese word for juggling is . . . juggling (or Jyagalingu). A borrowed word, for a borrowed concept apparently, because western style juggling was never developed in Japan, nor has it been popularized in Japan.
When I talk to people abot juggling they seem to understand the general concept that it is something Circus related, but they've only heard of it as a foreign concept and maybe seen someone on Television.
I found this interesting because there are a lot of Circus arts that are very popular in Japan, balancing, acrobatics, tumblings, flag-play, and even some poi are widely known throughout Japan, but not juggling. Especially perplexing because juggling is so popular in Russia and to a lesser extent China.
A Foreign Juggler in Tokyo recounts his time forming a club
This guy had a pretty interesting experiance.
Apparently there is a form of circus art that is like juggling, but it is a slightly obscure folk game called Otedama. Known specifically to be done by girls.
This makes it all the more important that I spend time Juggling while I'm in Japan and improve my skills. I remember seeing a juggler in middle school, and watching his antics really inspired me. It's a memory that is very muddled but I remember him saying that
"juggling is a great art, one moment you're a king" he loses control of one of the balls and it lands on his head, the kids watching him erupt with laughter, "the next your a fool, but no matter what your making people happy."
So one of my goals while in Japan is to spend a lot more time on Juggling. Being the president of ICircus last semmester was great and a lot of fun, but I spent a lot less time Juggling and a lot more time managing.
I have a lot of free time, and some idea's for new tricks and variations on old tricks. I'm working on doing under-the-leg and behind-the-back at the same time. It takes some finesse, but it's going quite well. Also a few new starting throws . . . I digress.
I have talked to a few people in Japan about juggling, and in highschool I remember asking Leech-sensei what the word for juggling was. Essentially the Japanese word for juggling is . . . juggling (or Jyagalingu). A borrowed word, for a borrowed concept apparently, because western style juggling was never developed in Japan, nor has it been popularized in Japan.
When I talk to people abot juggling they seem to understand the general concept that it is something Circus related, but they've only heard of it as a foreign concept and maybe seen someone on Television.
I found this interesting because there are a lot of Circus arts that are very popular in Japan, balancing, acrobatics, tumblings, flag-play, and even some poi are widely known throughout Japan, but not juggling. Especially perplexing because juggling is so popular in Russia and to a lesser extent China.
A Foreign Juggler in Tokyo recounts his time forming a club
This guy had a pretty interesting experiance.
Apparently there is a form of circus art that is like juggling, but it is a slightly obscure folk game called Otedama. Known specifically to be done by girls.
This makes it all the more important that I spend time Juggling while I'm in Japan and improve my skills. I remember seeing a juggler in middle school, and watching his antics really inspired me. It's a memory that is very muddled but I remember him saying that
"juggling is a great art, one moment you're a king" he loses control of one of the balls and it lands on his head, the kids watching him erupt with laughter, "the next your a fool, but no matter what your making people happy."
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Animexplosion
A List of Recently Acquired Anime
<Bubble Gum Crisis>
<Cutie Honey >
<Dirty Pair>
<Galactic Heroes >
<Gundam Z >
<Mysterious Cities of Gold >
<Nadia >
<Lodoss>
<Giant Robo>
My professor of Managa Mania invited anyone who wants free anime to come to his office, where he has compiled a huge database of anime episodes. I went without knowing quite what to ask for, so he started with some earlier anime, 70's and 80's, and with the promise that if I had space for it I could always come back for more.
It's 35 Gigs of Anime, I havevn't even figured out the number of hours of shows I now have on my harddrive. I recently bought a 500 gigabyte harddrive in anticipation of video space for my new video camera, but 500 gigabytes has plenty of room for anime as well. As I work my way through these series I will let you know how they are.
<Bubble Gum Crisis>
<Cutie Honey >
<Dirty Pair>
<Galactic Heroes >
<Gundam Z >
<Mysterious Cities of Gold >
<Nadia >
<Lodoss>
<Giant Robo>
My professor of Managa Mania invited anyone who wants free anime to come to his office, where he has compiled a huge database of anime episodes. I went without knowing quite what to ask for, so he started with some earlier anime, 70's and 80's, and with the promise that if I had space for it I could always come back for more.
It's 35 Gigs of Anime, I havevn't even figured out the number of hours of shows I now have on my harddrive. I recently bought a 500 gigabyte harddrive in anticipation of video space for my new video camera, but 500 gigabytes has plenty of room for anime as well. As I work my way through these series I will let you know how they are.
Japanese Conversation Friends
An Organized Friendship
There is a club on campus called "Japanese Conversation Friends" that both Jessi and I joined. I was a little unsure of how the club worked at first but it's actually quite simple. The ask you to fill out a little survey about yourself, and then they match you with a Japanese student at AIU with similar tastes. The goal is to help with immersion into Japanese language, as well as try and intergrate international students with the Japanese student populations.
I was a little trepadacious about getting assigned a "friend", but it's actually a great program. I put down the usual stuff, I like video games, I'm a writing major, etc etc etc. This past week we met our paired friends.
My partner's name is Shoko, she's from a prefecture near Tokyo (close to Saitama as well where I did my home-stay after Highschool). She's an only child, she has a cat, her favorite color is orange, she's a business major, and V for Vendetta is one of her favorite movies.
We met, talked about arranging a weekly meeting time, and met again last week. Thursday's at 9:00. At first our conversations were a little awkward, talking about plans for the weekend and whats your family like and all that jazz. We talked about traveling for a while. She has been to Italy before, as I have as well. The two of us share a strong passion for Italian food, and for a while talked about Tiramasu.
Tiramasu? / ちあらます?
Interestingly, she mentioned that she had no idea that Tiramasu was italian, until she came to Italy. She believed that it was a contemporary Japanese dessert. Given the availability of Tiramasu flavored products in Japan, or Tiramasu parfate cups at conveniance stores, it's actually easy to see how she was mistaken. I took a brief look at the history of Tiramasu, and apparently it was a big fad in Japan in the 70's. I have heard this before though that people believe Tiramasu to be Japanese.
At first glance it doesn't make sense though, coffee, rum, chocolate, and cake are the basis for Tiramasu, but none of them originate in Japan, nor are they particulalry popular. Apparently the confusion is linguistic in nature, Tiramasu apparently sounds like a Japanese word, enough for many people of the younger generation to just assume it's a Japanese dessert. Marketing has played off on this, so Tiramasu has actually been ingrained into the culture somewhat. Awesome! That means more for me!
I would definately say there is more Tiramasu in Japan than even in the United State.
Anyway I digress . . .
We also talked about colors, I know the basic colors in Japanese red, blue, yellow, purple, brown, white, black, green, etc, but I don't know any of the words for the more advanced colors like magenta, beige, turquoise, etc, or even what kinds of colors the japanese distinquish within their language. I taught her "turqouise" and she taught me "mizuiro". Literally, water color, mizuiro is light blue.
and continue to digress
An interesting note about colors in Japan. Some modern day words for colors are borrowed from english "orenji" "pinku" "gurei". However many words that are ethnically Japanese for colors are based on some specific object. The word for blue is litterally "sea" colored, and the word from brown is litterally "tea" colored.
Very interesting system, and it shows some cultural values in Japan due to what they find important enough and widely known enough to base colors off of.
Back to our Heroes
After talking about colors, Shoko's friend showed up, a girl who was from Saitama, more than that she had gone to Warabi Highschool, more than that she had gone to Warabi Highschool at the same time that I had visited it on my Japan trip 3 years ago.
It was kind of trippy, we talked a little about the uniforms there, and some of the stuff around the town. I still have a clip on my back pack that says Warabi Highschool on it. It was a pretty cool experiance.
They asked what level of Japanese I was in, I told them 102, and they seemed suprised. The girl from Saitama said something that suprised me though, she said that I "spoke pretty" or at least thats what I understood her as. She explained herself though and said that I had a very good accent, that when I spoke I sounded like I knew Japanese very well.
I took this as an upmost compliment, I may very well have done decently in 201 or struggled through 301, but I have forgotten so much that I'm still having some difficulty in 102 (though 80% of that trouble is with kanji). It's nice to know that I have been talking well enough to get a compliment like that. At times I'm undure if I'm even coherant. Though I admit my goal in coming to Japan is not primarily to improve my language skills, I will continue to work hard as hard as I can to improve my Japanese.
We then talked about movies, my conversation partner has a thing for Bruce Willis, and I plan to show her Hudson Hawk at some point. They said that they would love to help me with my independant study of Japanese Game Language, they're help will be invaluable. Both of them were freshman, and I'm sure their going through the huge crazy experiance that is the beggining of college life, but I was very thankful for their time, patience and support.
I continue to love my time here in Japan.
-Mack
There is a club on campus called "Japanese Conversation Friends" that both Jessi and I joined. I was a little unsure of how the club worked at first but it's actually quite simple. The ask you to fill out a little survey about yourself, and then they match you with a Japanese student at AIU with similar tastes. The goal is to help with immersion into Japanese language, as well as try and intergrate international students with the Japanese student populations.
I was a little trepadacious about getting assigned a "friend", but it's actually a great program. I put down the usual stuff, I like video games, I'm a writing major, etc etc etc. This past week we met our paired friends.
My partner's name is Shoko, she's from a prefecture near Tokyo (close to Saitama as well where I did my home-stay after Highschool). She's an only child, she has a cat, her favorite color is orange, she's a business major, and V for Vendetta is one of her favorite movies.
We met, talked about arranging a weekly meeting time, and met again last week. Thursday's at 9:00. At first our conversations were a little awkward, talking about plans for the weekend and whats your family like and all that jazz. We talked about traveling for a while. She has been to Italy before, as I have as well. The two of us share a strong passion for Italian food, and for a while talked about Tiramasu.
Tiramasu? / ちあらます?
Interestingly, she mentioned that she had no idea that Tiramasu was italian, until she came to Italy. She believed that it was a contemporary Japanese dessert. Given the availability of Tiramasu flavored products in Japan, or Tiramasu parfate cups at conveniance stores, it's actually easy to see how she was mistaken. I took a brief look at the history of Tiramasu, and apparently it was a big fad in Japan in the 70's. I have heard this before though that people believe Tiramasu to be Japanese.
At first glance it doesn't make sense though, coffee, rum, chocolate, and cake are the basis for Tiramasu, but none of them originate in Japan, nor are they particulalry popular. Apparently the confusion is linguistic in nature, Tiramasu apparently sounds like a Japanese word, enough for many people of the younger generation to just assume it's a Japanese dessert. Marketing has played off on this, so Tiramasu has actually been ingrained into the culture somewhat. Awesome! That means more for me!
I would definately say there is more Tiramasu in Japan than even in the United State.
Anyway I digress . . .
We also talked about colors, I know the basic colors in Japanese red, blue, yellow, purple, brown, white, black, green, etc, but I don't know any of the words for the more advanced colors like magenta, beige, turquoise, etc, or even what kinds of colors the japanese distinquish within their language. I taught her "turqouise" and she taught me "mizuiro". Literally, water color, mizuiro is light blue.
and continue to digress
An interesting note about colors in Japan. Some modern day words for colors are borrowed from english "orenji" "pinku" "gurei". However many words that are ethnically Japanese for colors are based on some specific object. The word for blue is litterally "sea" colored, and the word from brown is litterally "tea" colored.
Very interesting system, and it shows some cultural values in Japan due to what they find important enough and widely known enough to base colors off of.
Back to our Heroes
After talking about colors, Shoko's friend showed up, a girl who was from Saitama, more than that she had gone to Warabi Highschool, more than that she had gone to Warabi Highschool at the same time that I had visited it on my Japan trip 3 years ago.
It was kind of trippy, we talked a little about the uniforms there, and some of the stuff around the town. I still have a clip on my back pack that says Warabi Highschool on it. It was a pretty cool experiance.
They asked what level of Japanese I was in, I told them 102, and they seemed suprised. The girl from Saitama said something that suprised me though, she said that I "spoke pretty" or at least thats what I understood her as. She explained herself though and said that I had a very good accent, that when I spoke I sounded like I knew Japanese very well.
I took this as an upmost compliment, I may very well have done decently in 201 or struggled through 301, but I have forgotten so much that I'm still having some difficulty in 102 (though 80% of that trouble is with kanji). It's nice to know that I have been talking well enough to get a compliment like that. At times I'm undure if I'm even coherant. Though I admit my goal in coming to Japan is not primarily to improve my language skills, I will continue to work hard as hard as I can to improve my Japanese.
We then talked about movies, my conversation partner has a thing for Bruce Willis, and I plan to show her Hudson Hawk at some point. They said that they would love to help me with my independant study of Japanese Game Language, they're help will be invaluable. Both of them were freshman, and I'm sure their going through the huge crazy experiance that is the beggining of college life, but I was very thankful for their time, patience and support.
I continue to love my time here in Japan.
-Mack
Friday, September 18, 2009
Swing Dancing Club
Last Tuesday, Jessi and I joined our friends Matt and Ondene at the Swing Dancing Club. It was a two hour meeting and Jessi couldn't make the first hour, so I went alone. It was very typical of a club's first meeting. There was only me, Matt and Ondene. Which did not make for a very rousing dance session. We however discussed how to attain more members, apparently the club ran last semester and there was a girl who joined who was really good about kidnapping people.
Other than that there wasn't a whole lot done to round up members other than word of mouth, so said Matt. I have been a little disappointed that there hasn't been any sort of club rush event put on by the school, but I've been a little more disappointed in how little effort clubs have put into recruitment. Ondene put up posters, which is a really good start, but there's a lot more you can do. Anyway I digress.
We ended up recruiting some girls who were passng by to join us, they had never done swing before, so it was a good chance to start with the basics. The guys were sort of passed around, and a lot was done without a partner. They taught a style of swing that was different from both Jessi's and my style of swing dancing that they had learned from Ondene's mom. They called it west coast swing, but they did a whole lot of one handed tricks and a three step as opposed to my two step style. The tricks were basically the same though, except they used a lot of "tells"
A tell in swing dancing is some motion, hand movement, or eye contact that signals to a girl that your about to do a specific kind of trick. I never learned any tells, and I've seldom seen couples use the same kind of tells for similar tricks. The whole thing's a little confusing, so far I can't tell what anybodies really talking about in terms of different styles of swing.
Feel free to check it out though. http://www.swingcraze.com/ussds/other_swing_dance_styles.html
Later on though a few more people came, and Jessi came, we learned basic stuff and I got a good refreser/practice on how to keep to the beat while dancing. We're doing the same thing next tuesday. I'll see if I can't get video.
-Mack
Silver Week
Vacation
This coming week here in Japan is Silver Week, which means we get Monday, Tuesday, Wednessday off from school which makes for a 5 day weekend. Both Jessi and I will remain on campus, but we have a lot of cool stuff planned.
Also this will give me a chance to catch up with life and sleep. Today and Yesterday have been very eventful. Today particularly we visited the elementary school. So much fun. I've also joing a conversation club, and have been paird up with a Japanese student to talk with. I also received 35 gigabytes of Anime from my Manga Professor. There is a wave of clothe that is threatening to flood my room. We had a nice dinner in town, and in october Jessi and I will be putting on a Circus Performance at the festival.
Details at 11!
-Mack
This coming week here in Japan is Silver Week, which means we get Monday, Tuesday, Wednessday off from school which makes for a 5 day weekend. Both Jessi and I will remain on campus, but we have a lot of cool stuff planned.
Also this will give me a chance to catch up with life and sleep. Today and Yesterday have been very eventful. Today particularly we visited the elementary school. So much fun. I've also joing a conversation club, and have been paird up with a Japanese student to talk with. I also received 35 gigabytes of Anime from my Manga Professor. There is a wave of clothe that is threatening to flood my room. We had a nice dinner in town, and in october Jessi and I will be putting on a Circus Performance at the festival.
Details at 11!
-Mack
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Resolution of the Desklamp Deathray
On last week's episode . . .
I managed to burn a hole in my wall. Not my fault that the college supplied it's students with WMD class lighting, but I was still worried that I would have to pay to repair the damages. I was actually interested in installing a window, so that I could keep an eye on those neighbors who killed me.
So I went to the AIU administraion building, to admit that there was a problem. Honesty is the best policy, especially when it's not your fault. They weren't exactly reassuring but told me that they would send someone to take a look at it.
In half an hour a japanese worker came to the door, he had a wash cloth. He didn't speak any english, but took a look at the wall and rubbed the wash cloth on the gaping hole. He made a phone call, and talked for a while before giving me a wink, and flipped a strange switch on the lamp. I watched in horror as he went to turn it on.
But this time instead of destroying the wall, the light from the lamp rebuilt the wall
Apparently this sort of thing happens all the time, so the lamps have a switch for "destruction" as well as "construction". There was only a small mark remaining as a remnant of the original hole. I did my best to thank him and ask him if there was anything more I could do. I didn't understand what he said, so he wrote it down. I took it to the administration and they told me that there was no problem. They'd come in and clean up the remaining spot after I had left, and that I was not responsibile for any damages.
Truly a good day.
I managed to burn a hole in my wall. Not my fault that the college supplied it's students with WMD class lighting, but I was still worried that I would have to pay to repair the damages. I was actually interested in installing a window, so that I could keep an eye on those neighbors who killed me.
So I went to the AIU administraion building, to admit that there was a problem. Honesty is the best policy, especially when it's not your fault. They weren't exactly reassuring but told me that they would send someone to take a look at it.
In half an hour a japanese worker came to the door, he had a wash cloth. He didn't speak any english, but took a look at the wall and rubbed the wash cloth on the gaping hole. He made a phone call, and talked for a while before giving me a wink, and flipped a strange switch on the lamp. I watched in horror as he went to turn it on.
But this time instead of destroying the wall, the light from the lamp rebuilt the wall
Apparently this sort of thing happens all the time, so the lamps have a switch for "destruction" as well as "construction". There was only a small mark remaining as a remnant of the original hole. I did my best to thank him and ask him if there was anything more I could do. I didn't understand what he said, so he wrote it down. I took it to the administration and they told me that there was no problem. They'd come in and clean up the remaining spot after I had left, and that I was not responsibile for any damages.
Truly a good day.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Camera Problem
Bad News and Good News
Three weeks into my Japan trip and my delightful Zi6 camera has stopped working. I've tried several fixes, but my research into the problem shows that it's likely to be faulty hardware. I've contacted Kodak and they agree and are willing to fix the camera.
Option 1- Ship the camera to Kodak America, which takes about a week for $60, they fix it in 7 to 10 bussiness days, and they will only ship it to an American address, so another week for shipping back home, once it goes back home we spend another $60 dollars to ship it to Japan in about a week. So for $120 I can go a month without a camera. The camera cost $160.
Option 2- Ship the camera to Kodak Japan, they don't honor the warranty, I don't know anything else other than it will cost money. If it is cheap then I can probably get the camera back in a couple weeks. If it's expensive then there's no reason not to just go out an buy another camera.
Option 3- Go out and buy another camera. The easiest option, but I still want Kodak to make ammends for selling me damaged goods.
A word to others, the Zi6 is an awesome touristy camera, but be weary there are a handful of faulty ones out there. However, Kodak seems to be very helpful in resolving the issue, so their customer support is decent at least.
I will follow up with what I plan on doing with the camera.
-Mack
Three weeks into my Japan trip and my delightful Zi6 camera has stopped working. I've tried several fixes, but my research into the problem shows that it's likely to be faulty hardware. I've contacted Kodak and they agree and are willing to fix the camera.
Option 1- Ship the camera to Kodak America, which takes about a week for $60, they fix it in 7 to 10 bussiness days, and they will only ship it to an American address, so another week for shipping back home, once it goes back home we spend another $60 dollars to ship it to Japan in about a week. So for $120 I can go a month without a camera. The camera cost $160.
Option 2- Ship the camera to Kodak Japan, they don't honor the warranty, I don't know anything else other than it will cost money. If it is cheap then I can probably get the camera back in a couple weeks. If it's expensive then there's no reason not to just go out an buy another camera.
Option 3- Go out and buy another camera. The easiest option, but I still want Kodak to make ammends for selling me damaged goods.
A word to others, the Zi6 is an awesome touristy camera, but be weary there are a handful of faulty ones out there. However, Kodak seems to be very helpful in resolving the issue, so their customer support is decent at least.
I will follow up with what I plan on doing with the camera.
-Mack
Political Nonsense
Bureaucracy in Japan
Bureaucrat, the word is almost a swear in America. You can imagine a protestor or grandmother alike frowning and spit out the phrase, "Bureaucrats". Why is this one might wonder?
The American system of government has a long history of having politicians passing bills with nearly hidden addendems for things like . . . a bridge to nowhere in Alaska, monuments erected for no one in particular, and for giant pools filled with money for the rich to have parties act.
I exaggerate, but the modern political system is a mess because everyone is trying to get a slice of the American Budget Pie. Huge organizations erupt from the ground just to deal with all the pork barrel spending.
One would not expect similar practices to occur in Japan. Japan is the land of the cute, the small, and the efficient (or so we would believe). It would come to reason that Japan would have a small and efficient government.
I cannot speak as an expert, but I have been talking with some people who study this, but apparently the bureaucracy is just as bad in Japan as it is in America. Huge orgnization set up to deal with, what one can only assume is, political nonsense.
Again I cannot speak as an expert, but I have had experiances with the bureaucracy of AIU, and been told by many people that it is fairly standard across Japan. Often times dealing with the AIU's administration is like dealing with customer services over the phone. I have a basic question, but I have to go through 5 people and 3 departments to get an answer, and more often then not I find myself more bewildered than I was at the begining. Not to say that American Bureaucracy is any better, what I find surprising is that they are actually about the same.
Now there is one key difference between the two countries. American bureaucracy is fueled by greed. Call it capitalism if you must, I call it greed. Everyone is out to get as much as they possibly can at the expense of everyone else. You look after yourself and your constituents and screw the rest.
This sense of greed is not nearly as prevalent in Japan. Japan is a very socialist nation, (and, for fans of capitalism, this has had it's drawbacks) and social unity and equity are a much bigger deal than in the Good 'ole U S of A.
So why? Why if there is no sense of greed in Japanese politics (or much less of a sense of greed)
Fear.
Ok so I like the theatrical lets-look-at-the-dark-side-of-the-human-pysche thing, but there is some truth to it. As my friend on the airplane pointed out, the Japanese are a very shy people. You apply this to a national setting and you have a population with a deep seated fear of conflict.
As it was described to me. A bill is put on the table. A commitee is set up. The committee comes to a stalemate. Another committee is set up to solve the stalemate. The stalematesolving committee needs a pen to write down votes, so they need a buget. The budget is put to a committee. However one politician in this situation ends up signing the wrong document and the whole thing is thrown out due to technical errors.
Nobody's fault, nobody shot down anyone, everyone was polite, everyone was proper, it just happened that due to technical problems they will have to reconvene on the topic later.
I don't know which system I like less.
America: Screw You Screw You Screw You Nothing Gets Done Screaming
Japan: I'll have to get the manager, who will get their manager, which is me
Perhaps a little cynical, there is something to be said for competition and something to be said for cooperation, I think a balanced approach is what I'd like to see.
But then again we're talking about political nonsense.
-Mack
Bureaucrat, the word is almost a swear in America. You can imagine a protestor or grandmother alike frowning and spit out the phrase, "Bureaucrats". Why is this one might wonder?
The American system of government has a long history of having politicians passing bills with nearly hidden addendems for things like . . . a bridge to nowhere in Alaska, monuments erected for no one in particular, and for giant pools filled with money for the rich to have parties act.
I exaggerate, but the modern political system is a mess because everyone is trying to get a slice of the American Budget Pie. Huge organizations erupt from the ground just to deal with all the pork barrel spending.
One would not expect similar practices to occur in Japan. Japan is the land of the cute, the small, and the efficient (or so we would believe). It would come to reason that Japan would have a small and efficient government.
I cannot speak as an expert, but I have been talking with some people who study this, but apparently the bureaucracy is just as bad in Japan as it is in America. Huge orgnization set up to deal with, what one can only assume is, political nonsense.
Again I cannot speak as an expert, but I have had experiances with the bureaucracy of AIU, and been told by many people that it is fairly standard across Japan. Often times dealing with the AIU's administration is like dealing with customer services over the phone. I have a basic question, but I have to go through 5 people and 3 departments to get an answer, and more often then not I find myself more bewildered than I was at the begining. Not to say that American Bureaucracy is any better, what I find surprising is that they are actually about the same.
Now there is one key difference between the two countries. American bureaucracy is fueled by greed. Call it capitalism if you must, I call it greed. Everyone is out to get as much as they possibly can at the expense of everyone else. You look after yourself and your constituents and screw the rest.
This sense of greed is not nearly as prevalent in Japan. Japan is a very socialist nation, (and, for fans of capitalism, this has had it's drawbacks) and social unity and equity are a much bigger deal than in the Good 'ole U S of A.
So why? Why if there is no sense of greed in Japanese politics (or much less of a sense of greed)
Fear.
Ok so I like the theatrical lets-look-at-the-dark-side-of-the-human-pysche thing, but there is some truth to it. As my friend on the airplane pointed out, the Japanese are a very shy people. You apply this to a national setting and you have a population with a deep seated fear of conflict.
As it was described to me. A bill is put on the table. A commitee is set up. The committee comes to a stalemate. Another committee is set up to solve the stalemate. The stalematesolving committee needs a pen to write down votes, so they need a buget. The budget is put to a committee. However one politician in this situation ends up signing the wrong document and the whole thing is thrown out due to technical errors.
Nobody's fault, nobody shot down anyone, everyone was polite, everyone was proper, it just happened that due to technical problems they will have to reconvene on the topic later.
I don't know which system I like less.
America: Screw You Screw You Screw You Nothing Gets Done Screaming
Japan: I'll have to get the manager, who will get their manager, which is me
Perhaps a little cynical, there is something to be said for competition and something to be said for cooperation, I think a balanced approach is what I'd like to see.
But then again we're talking about political nonsense.
-Mack
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Death Ray Illumination
Word to the Wise at AIU
I have proceeded to burn a hole in my wall with my desk lamp. It was late and I decided I did not need to power of the sun to read my book by, so I turned my desk lamp towards the wall until I achieved optimal illumination.
Perhaps ten minutes went by before I smelled smoke. I looked up from my book to see my neighbors looking back at me through a hole in the wall. It appears that I had melted away the wall and decimated my fellow student's wardrobe. They pleaded with me to turn out the deathray as they would like to get some sleep.
I obliged them and apologized about the one student's wardrobe. This was quickly forgotten as we realized that AIU had supplied their students with deathrays instead of desklamps (only in Japan). We then decided to use the death rays to rob a few banks, and then proceeded to cut a swath of destruction between here and Tokyo. Eventually the cops chased us to the top of the Tokyo Tower. The view from up there was really something. Between the three of us though we began to argue who's fault it was that we were in this mess.
The two of them turned on me and shot me with their deathrays and I died.
It was the best day ever.
PS: Advice for fellow students. If you burn a whole in your wall with your desklamp and your neighbors tell you to turn it off. Instead you should vaporize them as they will only turn on you later.
PPS: Grumble grumble grumble now I have to pay for the damage done to the wall.
I have proceeded to burn a hole in my wall with my desk lamp. It was late and I decided I did not need to power of the sun to read my book by, so I turned my desk lamp towards the wall until I achieved optimal illumination.
Perhaps ten minutes went by before I smelled smoke. I looked up from my book to see my neighbors looking back at me through a hole in the wall. It appears that I had melted away the wall and decimated my fellow student's wardrobe. They pleaded with me to turn out the deathray as they would like to get some sleep.
I obliged them and apologized about the one student's wardrobe. This was quickly forgotten as we realized that AIU had supplied their students with deathrays instead of desklamps (only in Japan). We then decided to use the death rays to rob a few banks, and then proceeded to cut a swath of destruction between here and Tokyo. Eventually the cops chased us to the top of the Tokyo Tower. The view from up there was really something. Between the three of us though we began to argue who's fault it was that we were in this mess.
The two of them turned on me and shot me with their deathrays and I died.
It was the best day ever.
PS: Advice for fellow students. If you burn a whole in your wall with your desklamp and your neighbors tell you to turn it off. Instead you should vaporize them as they will only turn on you later.
PPS: Grumble grumble grumble now I have to pay for the damage done to the wall.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Dance Clubs at AIU
So Jessi and I both joined a club for Yatose! Which is a kind of Japanese folk dance. Last friday we joined them in a small welcoming party, about 5 students including us. The club leaders made some food and bought some drinks and we basically all got to know each other. It was a lot of fun. The group was really good about making sure we understood what was going on, and spoke a lot in English. I imagine it's excellent practice for them.
Yatose isn't a very technical dance, it's strength comes from being a simple dance done passionately. The leader, Juunko, told us how the dance is supposed to lift the spirits of the audience, and even bring some people on the stage afterwards to participate. She says that in Akita, there are a lot of very old and very young people, but many teenagers leave for school or just leave. Yatose is a way to revitalize a community that may be in dire need of some positive energy. Juunko seems to be an induvidual who really cares about her community, and she's done a lot to make sure that we feel welcome. We will do our best to help her in dance.
You'll see some video soon, our first performance is in two weeks.
Beyond Yatose, today is the first night of swing dance club. Put on by our friends Matt and Ondine. A half hour of teaching basics, and an hour of swing dancing, should be a whole lot of fun. Matt and Ondine have told us that it's a very social club, which is great since the ballroom dance club at Ithaca is a performance club. This will be an excellent change of pace.
-Mack
Yatose isn't a very technical dance, it's strength comes from being a simple dance done passionately. The leader, Juunko, told us how the dance is supposed to lift the spirits of the audience, and even bring some people on the stage afterwards to participate. She says that in Akita, there are a lot of very old and very young people, but many teenagers leave for school or just leave. Yatose is a way to revitalize a community that may be in dire need of some positive energy. Juunko seems to be an induvidual who really cares about her community, and she's done a lot to make sure that we feel welcome. We will do our best to help her in dance.
You'll see some video soon, our first performance is in two weeks.
Beyond Yatose, today is the first night of swing dance club. Put on by our friends Matt and Ondine. A half hour of teaching basics, and an hour of swing dancing, should be a whole lot of fun. Matt and Ondine have told us that it's a very social club, which is great since the ballroom dance club at Ithaca is a performance club. This will be an excellent change of pace.
-Mack
A brief look around Akita
To give you all a feeling of what the day to day view is like
The dining hall is pretty stark, but plenty of space and as much rice and soup as you like.
The student hall is where there are rooms for clubs to prctice, as well as a small student store.
Classrooms
The dining hall is pretty stark, but plenty of space and as much rice and soup as you like.
The student hall is where there are rooms for clubs to prctice, as well as a small student store.
Classrooms
Friday, September 11, 2009
Student Event Committee's Gathering Party 09
Last night was a very good night. Both Jessi and I had seen posters advertising a "Gathering Party" for a while, and we decided to attend the event. It was an excellent choice. Before the party we had some free time and not an awful lot to do, so went wandering. Our travels netted us a looked at the AIU Kanto team practcing. It's difficult to see in the dark, but these guys were balancing these huge poles on various parts of their body. The pole is made of bamboo and covered in lanterns. Very impressive.
-Video coming soon-
We also saw some girls in kimonos wandering around.
-Video coming soon-
We eventually figured out that they must be going to the party to set up. We decided to follow them. At first the party was slow and a little awkward. A bunch of people standing around to quiet music, and vaguely congregating to various area's to talk. However, as the auditorium began to fill up (the auditorium being on the fourth floor of the adminstration building, taking up the entire width of the building with windows on both sides) it became more interesting and fun. The MC's, one english, one japanese, we enthusiastic and started pulling people from the crowd to introduce themselves. Which got some laughs and applause.
We started with a weird icebreaker, where people formed groups, put your hands in the middle to form a human knot, and then you attempt to untangle it. It was fun, but we gave up after other groups finished before us. Then we were all treated to a dance performance by a group who moved like girls in a japanese music video. Small movements, a lot of turning, cool corresponding moves. I wasn't able to get my camera out fast enough.
Following the performance was another icebreaker game. The MC's did a hilarious job of setting up a tutorial with various volunteers. Two lines facing each other, you have 30 seconds to introduce yourself, then they yell out a number of steps you have to move right or left. This worked out, because for my Japanese 102 class, we had to interview a couple japanese students and keep track of their answers.
This was followed by another dance performance, by girls in maid costumes. See for yourself.
Hilarious. This was followed by pair bingo, where both people in the pair have to get bingo. My partner got bingo twice, but I never got there. Then there was an eating constest.
They ate soba, it was certainly a speed race. The girls in kimono's had cups of noodles, and as soon as a person finished a cup, they set down another one.
A singer followed up the eating constest, she sang three songs, two in Japanese, one in english. I had forgotten to dump other videos off of my Zi6 earlier, so I was beggining to run out of space.
The english song was "No One" by Alicia Keys. Her other songs were "Story" and "First Love". "First Love" is pretty popular, and Leech sensei made us sing it back in highschool.
After the singer was a hilarious game of "discerning qualities" a video was shown with two options and a question was asked, and you had to go to either one side of the room or the other to demonstrate which one you thought was the correct answer.
At first the questions were like "which is the more expensive intrument" and then they played two different flute tracks. Or they'd show two pictures and ask which one was taken by a professional photographer. After everyone had chosen, a short video was shown with the correct answer and a short hilarious comment.
As they went on, they proceeded to have a lot of "which is the native speaker" and you'd here two people saying the same thing. It was hilarious because they'd show both people afterwards, and the person who was the wrong answer would repeat it, followed by "TRICKY". Many laughs were had by all. they had three rounds, Jessi and I never made it that close to the end.
Fillaly they had a musical duet. "The Unpluggeds" they explained because there are two of them. "It may not be good english, but . . . who care." They were pretty good, they sang "What's going on."
It reminded me a lot of Ithaca, just the sort of folksy music duet, singing a mildly political song, but really jamming to it.
This was the end of the main program and was to be followed by a DJ and dance floor time. Suddenly the room exploded into hardcore rap and hip hop. Like immediate swearing and all that jazz. We decided to call it a night,and it was a great time all around.
-Mack
Scheduled Programming
Our second week in japan has been filled with offers and opportunities to. . . see the Japanese countryside, interact with the local people, eat at a variety of local restaurants, and experiance Japanese culture on a very personal level . . . in the future.
It has been a week filled with paper work and information gathering, but no actual trips. Orientations and information sessions, and schedules oh my . The future is looking pretty awesome, though I worry a little bit that it may be starting to fill up already. I'll give a brief table of contents for things to come: done in no particular order.
Shinibari Elementary School- Next week Jessi and I will be going through AIU's Community Outreach Program to visit an elementary school, where we will share our culture and our language with the small children. We've been told that for many children this will be the first time they've seen a foreigner face-to-face, and that it will be an important experiance for them. No pressure. I told COS (the community outreach services deptartment) that I could juggle, so they have asked me to perform for the little kids. I'm looking forward to it.
AIU Festival- A festival that the school is associated with that is put on in some sort of conjuction with the people of Akita. I'm not sure how it works, but it means booths serving food and people putting on performances. I don't think that I will try and start a booth of my own, but I will definately help out. I may put on a juggling act there too, but I havn't decided. It's in early october, I hope it doesn't conflict with other stuff.
Yotosuke Trip- Hosted by a club here at AIU, the goal is to corresspond with a Japanese conversation friend at the city of Yotosuke and have conversations with them so that you can improve your japanese and they can improve their english. We've filled out applications, but wont here back for a while.
The Archives Trip- For Introduction to Japanese Society Ashmore sensei takes sections of the class and brings them to a cultural artifact archive department in a very small city nearby. The goal is to see them, and then learn how to appropriately clean and catalogue them. Ashmore says that it's free labor for a noble cause in a small poor village. We we're supposed to go yesterday, but the bus broke down and we couldn't get there. So instead Ashmore has offered a trip in early October to. . .
Oga- Oga is an amazingly natural pennisala north of Akita. It has several museums, an aquarium, and an unobstructed view of the ocean. There is also a restaurant where they catch a bucket full of seafood for you in the morning and cook it for you for about 10 dollars US. My roommate has already been, and has been bugging me to go all week. He and his friends from Germany have international driver's licenses, and were able to rent a car somehow.
Hoppo Cho- This is another thing put on by the COS department. For several weekends over the semester kids in the program go to a variety of schools to be used as an example in english classes. The program has limited seats, and sadly I got in, but Jessi did not. She has urged me to go on anyway, and I will do my best to document the trip. Each visit is actually a paying gig, and by the end of the semmester I should have about $90 dollars extra in my pocket. I will use a chunk of it to buy Jessi something shiny and awesome.
Daisen- A program identical to Hoppo Cho, but in a diffent City, this one doesn't start until deeper in October, but they have three times the number of seats available. That way Jessi will get to have the same experiance. I don't know if it pays, but there are a variety of opportunities here at AIU to help the community and the community is more than happy to give a little bit back for those services.
Overall it's looking like both Jessi and I will get a lot of chances to experiance Japan beyond the touristy sections of the city, and certainly get off campus a lot. I will keep you all updated as soon as some of this stuff starts actually happening.
-Mack
It has been a week filled with paper work and information gathering, but no actual trips. Orientations and information sessions, and schedules oh my . The future is looking pretty awesome, though I worry a little bit that it may be starting to fill up already. I'll give a brief table of contents for things to come: done in no particular order.
Shinibari Elementary School- Next week Jessi and I will be going through AIU's Community Outreach Program to visit an elementary school, where we will share our culture and our language with the small children. We've been told that for many children this will be the first time they've seen a foreigner face-to-face, and that it will be an important experiance for them. No pressure. I told COS (the community outreach services deptartment) that I could juggle, so they have asked me to perform for the little kids. I'm looking forward to it.
AIU Festival- A festival that the school is associated with that is put on in some sort of conjuction with the people of Akita. I'm not sure how it works, but it means booths serving food and people putting on performances. I don't think that I will try and start a booth of my own, but I will definately help out. I may put on a juggling act there too, but I havn't decided. It's in early october, I hope it doesn't conflict with other stuff.
Yotosuke Trip- Hosted by a club here at AIU, the goal is to corresspond with a Japanese conversation friend at the city of Yotosuke and have conversations with them so that you can improve your japanese and they can improve their english. We've filled out applications, but wont here back for a while.
The Archives Trip- For Introduction to Japanese Society Ashmore sensei takes sections of the class and brings them to a cultural artifact archive department in a very small city nearby. The goal is to see them, and then learn how to appropriately clean and catalogue them. Ashmore says that it's free labor for a noble cause in a small poor village. We we're supposed to go yesterday, but the bus broke down and we couldn't get there. So instead Ashmore has offered a trip in early October to. . .
Oga- Oga is an amazingly natural pennisala north of Akita. It has several museums, an aquarium, and an unobstructed view of the ocean. There is also a restaurant where they catch a bucket full of seafood for you in the morning and cook it for you for about 10 dollars US. My roommate has already been, and has been bugging me to go all week. He and his friends from Germany have international driver's licenses, and were able to rent a car somehow.
Hoppo Cho- This is another thing put on by the COS department. For several weekends over the semester kids in the program go to a variety of schools to be used as an example in english classes. The program has limited seats, and sadly I got in, but Jessi did not. She has urged me to go on anyway, and I will do my best to document the trip. Each visit is actually a paying gig, and by the end of the semmester I should have about $90 dollars extra in my pocket. I will use a chunk of it to buy Jessi something shiny and awesome.
Daisen- A program identical to Hoppo Cho, but in a diffent City, this one doesn't start until deeper in October, but they have three times the number of seats available. That way Jessi will get to have the same experiance. I don't know if it pays, but there are a variety of opportunities here at AIU to help the community and the community is more than happy to give a little bit back for those services.
Overall it's looking like both Jessi and I will get a lot of chances to experiance Japan beyond the touristy sections of the city, and certainly get off campus a lot. I will keep you all updated as soon as some of this stuff starts actually happening.
-Mack
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Hopping Runners!
As I sit here to write this blog my legs pulse a little bit, they don't hurt so much anymore, but there is that twinge satisfaction that comes from a good workout. Today I entered the world of AIU clubs. I sent out a bevy of emails (bevy? bevie? am I using that right) to a variety of AIU clubs, Aikido, Karate, Shorinjikenpo (a martial art), Ecology and Environment, Yatose ( a kind of dance ), and finally the Hopping Runners.
"We are hopping runners! Our goal is very simple ^^ To be in good health! Let us improve our health by running!! If you are interested in hopping runners, please feel free to take part in. JOIN US!!! You will be always welcomed ^^ Thanks"
Easily the most intense bio of all the clubs on the club list we were given at the begginging of the year. I got an immediate e-mail back from the hopping runner guy telling me that I would be welcome, and that they were running at 5:00 today.
I showed up a little early, and for a while I was worried I wasn't in the right place. It hit five o clock and I didn't see any groups. I asked a couple people, in basic japanese if they knew about the club. One guy dirrected me to another guy, who dirrected me to another guy. He was wearing running shoes, so I approached him, and asked him in basic japanese if he knew who the hopping runners were. His response?
"Yeah, I'm a part of the club, I'm also from Seatle, so you don't need to speak in Japanese."
My bad, I'm not sure if the guy was angry with me for that. I'm not sure what level of irritation that would cause, being mistaken for a Japanese student while in Japan. We struck up a mildly awkward conversation, untill more people showed up.
I was introduced to a pair of students who pulled me over and said,
"Nice to meet you, my name is Ryuku, I am a nice guy." and the other guys said
"Hi, I am a nice guy too."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that, I have suspicians, but none that need mentioning. In anycase they were nice. The whole group came to about 12 students. We stretched a little bit, and the leader was very awkward about leading. He'd kinda say "Lets stretch" and some people would stretch and some people would move around. He'd say lets run, and run a little bit and then stop, and then run a little and then stop.
Once we got going though we hit a pretty good pace. We ran west towards the golf course, ran for about 25 minutes, and I was surprised I managed to hold my own. I was at the back of the front of the pack. So if it were a race I was in about 4th. We ran for a while, and I was huffing and puffing. It's been a long while since I've gone on a long jog. Walks and hikes I've done plenty recently, but definately not running.
We stopped right about when I was thinking about really cranking down my speed, not sure how far we were going. Everyone talked for a while, basic sort of "what do you study, where are you from" stuff. About 5 minutes of that and we were running back. One group shot out ahead really quick, I was at the head of the second group for a while. My legs felt like jelly but they didn't hurt. I knew if I could just keep a solid pace and not slow down I would at least get there in the middle of the pack. About ten minutes back and I could really feel my body telling me that it did not appreciate the sudden change of activity. I slowed down and a couple people passed me, I kept going and a couple more people passed me. The group that seperated early must have been bigger than I thought, because I glanced behind me and there were 3 people there. That was a sudden blow. I'm not a competitive person, but it's no fun coming in last. I was no longer trying to finish the race along with everyone else, I was suddenly trying to avoid coming in dead last. That was pretty much the breaking point for me. I jogged a little farther and could just see the AIU campus and I slowed to a bouncy walk. I wasn't going to strain myself for second to last. The last girl behind me came up level with me, she was panting a bit, and complained "tired" I agreed with her. It'd been a while, no shame in that, well maybe a little shame, but in any case I spent the last bit of the run talking to this girl Mayu. She was real nice, she told me her school plans, and I gave her my five minute life story.
We hit the end of the run where everyone was waiting. Fun, tiring, healthy. Twas a good time thanks to the Hopping Runners. Certainly made the hot bath worthwhile. They run again on Thursday, lets see if I do better, crumple like a paper cup, or avoid the group entirely.
O o o o
||\ |\ /| /|
|\ /| /| |\
whoosh
-Mack
"We are hopping runners! Our goal is very simple ^^ To be in good health! Let us improve our health by running!! If you are interested in hopping runners, please feel free to take part in. JOIN US!!! You will be always welcomed ^^ Thanks"
Easily the most intense bio of all the clubs on the club list we were given at the begginging of the year. I got an immediate e-mail back from the hopping runner guy telling me that I would be welcome, and that they were running at 5:00 today.
I showed up a little early, and for a while I was worried I wasn't in the right place. It hit five o clock and I didn't see any groups. I asked a couple people, in basic japanese if they knew about the club. One guy dirrected me to another guy, who dirrected me to another guy. He was wearing running shoes, so I approached him, and asked him in basic japanese if he knew who the hopping runners were. His response?
"Yeah, I'm a part of the club, I'm also from Seatle, so you don't need to speak in Japanese."
My bad, I'm not sure if the guy was angry with me for that. I'm not sure what level of irritation that would cause, being mistaken for a Japanese student while in Japan. We struck up a mildly awkward conversation, untill more people showed up.
I was introduced to a pair of students who pulled me over and said,
"Nice to meet you, my name is Ryuku, I am a nice guy." and the other guys said
"Hi, I am a nice guy too."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that, I have suspicians, but none that need mentioning. In anycase they were nice. The whole group came to about 12 students. We stretched a little bit, and the leader was very awkward about leading. He'd kinda say "Lets stretch" and some people would stretch and some people would move around. He'd say lets run, and run a little bit and then stop, and then run a little and then stop.
Once we got going though we hit a pretty good pace. We ran west towards the golf course, ran for about 25 minutes, and I was surprised I managed to hold my own. I was at the back of the front of the pack. So if it were a race I was in about 4th. We ran for a while, and I was huffing and puffing. It's been a long while since I've gone on a long jog. Walks and hikes I've done plenty recently, but definately not running.
We stopped right about when I was thinking about really cranking down my speed, not sure how far we were going. Everyone talked for a while, basic sort of "what do you study, where are you from" stuff. About 5 minutes of that and we were running back. One group shot out ahead really quick, I was at the head of the second group for a while. My legs felt like jelly but they didn't hurt. I knew if I could just keep a solid pace and not slow down I would at least get there in the middle of the pack. About ten minutes back and I could really feel my body telling me that it did not appreciate the sudden change of activity. I slowed down and a couple people passed me, I kept going and a couple more people passed me. The group that seperated early must have been bigger than I thought, because I glanced behind me and there were 3 people there. That was a sudden blow. I'm not a competitive person, but it's no fun coming in last. I was no longer trying to finish the race along with everyone else, I was suddenly trying to avoid coming in dead last. That was pretty much the breaking point for me. I jogged a little farther and could just see the AIU campus and I slowed to a bouncy walk. I wasn't going to strain myself for second to last. The last girl behind me came up level with me, she was panting a bit, and complained "tired" I agreed with her. It'd been a while, no shame in that, well maybe a little shame, but in any case I spent the last bit of the run talking to this girl Mayu. She was real nice, she told me her school plans, and I gave her my five minute life story.
We hit the end of the run where everyone was waiting. Fun, tiring, healthy. Twas a good time thanks to the Hopping Runners. Certainly made the hot bath worthwhile. They run again on Thursday, lets see if I do better, crumple like a paper cup, or avoid the group entirely.
O o o o
||\ |\ /| /|
|\ /| /| |\
whoosh
-Mack
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Adventure Hike Down to Manzoji Shrine
I decided some time ago that while in Japan, I want to spend a good deal of time wandering. I want to explore and see a whole bunch of Japan on foot. Which prompted me to look for a map.
I went to Administration and asked for a map of the area all around AIU. Ashmore-sensei said that such a traveler's map did exist. However, the people at the office were enable to locate that specific map, though if I wanted one of Akita City, I'd have had no problem.
Ever helpful, the man asked me what I was interested in looking at. Though I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I told him shrines or temples. A quick trip to Google Maps and this man found me "Manzoji" the biggest shrine in the area. He proceeded to outline the path there, and to explain the path.
Today I decided to make good on that trek, and did my best to invite a group of people to come with me. Unfortunately, I knew few who I thought would be interested and even fewer e-mail addresses. I put out 5 messages, and gave everyone 4 hours to respond or show up at the meeting place.
An additional hurdle to collecting people was that I could not tell them how far a walk it was. I had neglected to ask if there was a solid path, and if walking was a viable option. It could be anywhere from a mile to ten miles. I planned to walk an hour out, and an hour back. Not sure if I would even find the place in that time.
5:00 came around and I wasn't suprised when I didn't hear back from anyone. With Jessi feeling under the weather I decided to mark out on my own. I had no idea where I was going, no cell phone, and one package of cookies. I told Jessi if I wasn't back after seven, that she might want to start worrying, maybe a search party would be in order. But I was very confident that I would be there and back in plenty of time.
The path lay before me I wore a light backpack, and a whole country before me. I went with a song in my heart and a bounce in my step. I was cautious though, I knew that it would start getting dark by the time I was heading back, I decided to take photo's of landmarks every so often, so if I got lost, I could refer to the pictures if I got in trouble
I went down a very similar path that Nick and me had gone biking, I went down the same steep hill. Got a picture this time.
So far I was still in the familiar but I wanted to push farther this time, as well as see a traditional Japanese cultural location.
In half an hour things still looked familiar. In fact I found myself at a gas station that Nick and I had passed on our bike ride, it was as far North as we had gone. I had done a little research on Google maps before coming, nearest I could tell the shrine was in a town named Kawabetoshima, and the gas station was on the outskirts. I thought I saw the road that would lead me to the shrine, but I also saw a river, so I figured I would go to the river and then double back to the shrine. If I couldn't find the shrine I would know that I had gone at least to see the river.
I contemplated quietly the idea of rafting down this river to get to the Sea of Japan. Too many variables to be viable now, but I may look into that further. In anycase I doubled back to see if I could find this Manzoji Shrine, unfortunately despite passing where I thought it should be, I saw nothing but houses. So into the housing I went.
The houses seemed pretty nice, I assume this is a mid-income neighborhood, if not better. But around corners and through narrow streets I found no shrine. I had nearly given up, and turned back when I saw a sign.
I hadn't memorized the name of the shrine, but I did remember the Kanji for it, and the kanji for Shrine was on that sign. There was no walkway, I went over a drain, and through some mud, but my first view of the shrine was this arch.
It wasn't the Forbidden City, but it was a mysterious place. The sun was begging to set, and it seemed filled with a certain power. I bowed to the four points of the compass, and asked all spirits within the shrine to allow me safe passage. It was beautiful and quiet.
I'm not sure what this building was, but it was closed, and seemed to have hours posted, I'm not sure what lies within, but I intend to find out before I leave.
Before I came back to the University I was blessed with a bright red sunset over the rice fields of the area. In Akita International University the forest makes the sunset rather mild compared to the stunning sunsets back home. But here I was startled by how red the sun looked on the horizon.
I made my way back by way of the waning sunlight, and it was quite the uphill bug infested hike that I had heard about. When the sun goes down, the bugs come out en masse. Even then I was knocking on Jessi's door by 6:30.
Quite the hike, and a great adventure. I plan to extend my horizons and see what an true hour out and an hour back will get me. A little Sushi-ya after an hour's walk would be perfect. Untill then, I'll keep wandering.
-Mack
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