Archive for May, 2006
May 30, 2006 at 10:49 am · Filed under Experiences
So maybe not 500…but I forgot to mention…on Saturday night I was waiting for my train in Shinjuku (translation: busy) station around 11pm. This older man was throwing a fit with one of the rail staff members. I have no clue what the fit was about but he was yelling and flailing his arms and the uniformed rail staff member was trying to control the situation very very quietly. Eventually another staff member came to help and the two of them tried to drag this man away…I don`t think they succeeded but he eventually did calm down.
What was more interesting about this though, was when my attention when from this man making a scene, to the 100 or so people standing at the next platform watching this scene. The magnitude of the audience just amazed me.
Here…if you yell…many people will hear.
PS. MacBook for work arrived today. Joy!
May 30, 2006 at 10:06 am · Filed under Art, Experiences
It is almost midnight and I can’t get to sleep. My room gets stuffy so I like to sleep with the window open but tonight there are scooters and/or motorcycles driving by every five minutes. The worst is when they have to stop at the closest intersection and then when the light turns green the rev rev reeev roars throughout the neighborhood. This is like, some kind of sign as just today I was emailing the girls about my love for men on scooters. I don’t know what that sign is exactly…but it is a sign I say.
Or maybe I can’t sleep because of my late afternoon coffee and too much Tetris and Japanese vocabulary on the brain. Well, whatever. At least waffles is getting some attention now. I have been totally neglecting my powerbook. Since waffles cannot connect to other computers at work, it stays home mostly. I wonder if (s)he is aware of my mac mini use…or even worse…my PC use. I will have to find a wifi spot somewhere so that I can liven this baby up on the weekends. For now, its only connection to the outside world is through a USB stick.
Okay enough of that now. I will talk about my weekend. On Saturday I went to a concert with a friend from work. The concert started just before 1pm and four bands composed of other NTT people (and maybe some not-NTT people) played. They were actually really good. That sounds like I didn’t expect that they would be good but that’s not it. I figured they would be good…but they were really good. Like, given this is just a pastime for many of the band members, the parts were surprisingly tight. The first band played ska/jazz, the second played g’n’r style hard rock, the third was just two girls and one guitar, somewhat folksy maybe (?), and the forth (and I know one of the guys in this one) was a KISS cover band. Yes, makeup and all. They were pretty sweet. It was a little weird being in this club on a Saturday afternoon. I left early to go to my Japanese lesson and I expected to leave feeling a little drunk and it being dark outside but then I remembered that it was only 3pm and I hadn’t a drop of alcohol in there.
The Japanese lesson was good. I think I am progressing. Although I get that constant frustration of I think I am learning a lot but I am still not conversational because there is SO MUCH more to learn. I guess you need to start somewhere.
After the lesson I had plans to go check out an art party in Tokyo. You know the operation I talked about in my last post…well this was part 1. That and I stumbled upon this dude’s work online and I liked it so even if my operation failed, there would still be a good outcome to checking the place out.
So I went to this small bar/gallery in the Asagaya area (a few stations away from Shinjuku). I arrived quite early so there were no other people there yet but this gave me a chance to meet the artist, chomp chomp, and chat with him a little. He is originally from the states and came to Japan a year and some ago I think. I think that’s one of the reasons why I really liked what I saw of his work…there is that element of “foreigner in foreign land” but with much subtlety. It is not screaming look at me look at what I am experiencing here I am putting it in this drawing and can you see can you see? (Wow, I just have to say that there is this cat outside right now and it is meowing like a machine…it almost sounds like a cat meow recording). It is more like, if I took a book of his illustrations back to Canada with me, I could look at them and think..heh…yeah…I remember.
More people came shortly after – mostly other foreigners but there were a few people from Japan. Really great people! Have further inspired me to just get OVER myself and my comfort zone and go and meet people. As a conclusion to that, I think that next weekend I will be joining a few (I almost spelled that fiew…maybe finally getting tired) of them on a scavenger hunt around Shibuya. I think it will be fun!! Sadly I couldn’t stay too long as I had to catch that last train. Yeah, I don’t get this no night train business. It is possible that I might sleep a few nights in train stations this year.
Saturday was my weekend. Sunday I stayed home (日曜日はどこも行きませんでした) studied that a lot, and did some cleaning. I have a lot that I want to do this week so I imagine it will go by fast (like all of the others) and then it will be next weekend again. Ahhh…it has already been two months here…only 10 more to go and soo much to do. So sleep now!!!
May 29, 2006 at 12:45 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This weekend I completed phase I of operation meet people and successfully too!
Operation background: I am one to fall back on doing things on my own. Even if I feel utterly lonely, and actually especially when I feel utterly lonely, I feel safer if I accept being on my own rather than changing the situation. It’s my comfort zone and maybe even a source of pride (ack! I hate saying that but it is true) that I can be independent and capable and detached. But you know what…it sucks doing things alone all the time…especially adventures in foreign lands. I felt myself slipping into I will a the loner mode and was like NO! not this time. Of course, the people I have met here through work are super friendly and there are many upcoming activities that I have been invited to. Still…I am only here for a year, I want to pack an abnormal amount of excitement in that year and I feel that the way to do that is by meeting as many people as possible. This feeling probably stems from me knowing that this goal or desire is the only one that will really challenge and test me. Sure, new countries are exciting with their process and signs and systems and food and formalities and customs but I think that the most valuable things you can take home in the end are the connections that you made with people.
Actually, I am going to end with that and I will write again later today or tomorrow about what I did this weekend. I think that thought was enough of a post for me. That and lunch hour is almost over. Later.
May 26, 2006 at 6:57 pm · Filed under Mundane
To make up for my photo laziness I finally changed my camera batteries and set out to document a mundane, but important aspect of my life in Japan. I’m not going to repeat everything I have written here so please, click on the picture below and get a photo tour of my daily morning walk to the bus stop. If you are unfamiliar with flickr, please just click on the first picture (top left) in the set to get to its page (with description) and from there, you can navigate through pictures in the order they were taken (use the next/previous box to the right).
Getting on the bus and the 20 minute ride to work is a whole other adventure but I won’t get into that here. It is almost the end of my Friday at work and I am looking forward to this weekend. More on that Monday ; )
May 23, 2006 at 6:02 pm · Filed under I'm a Nerd
I call it “Where`s Jesus? Can you see it??”
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