Accomplishments

Things I've accomplished today, my 2nd to last full day in Japan:
-gave a presentation about my traineeship
-finally cut my hair
-found PAUL'S BOUTIQUE on vinyl
-got a ring stuck on my finger, so instead of tearing my skin, I purchased it
-had far too many energy drinks with drinks, and coffee during the day; now I'm in pain and incredibly jittery

Now I can't stop shaking, there's no way I can sleep, and so I think I'll start packing. Or run a few kilometers at 2 in the morning.

Meandering

Things are wrapping up, and becoming really busy for my last week. I'm still exhausted from going out on a last night, with painfully early work today; so my listing of events and nonsense are justified.

I have this problem with leaving glasses at a table with something still inside of them. Even water at restaurants, I always have to finish it before I can leave, or I feel wasteful. This is not a good quality when you go out with your company for a farewell party, where they order you unlimited drinks. I blame Cheuck entirely for me not being able to leave a drink half full. When you're with 50 other coworkers, that all want to order you their favorite drink, I'm left with a wall of glasses surrounding my plates, all barely touched. When it's time for everyone to leave for the next place, I'm left with too much to drink, and not enough time. And this is the problem. It gets temporarily resolved by me finishing them quickly, but that only compounds the problem since the next place we are going to is, ofcourse, a bar.

We arrive at this Snack Bar, and snack bars are places you pay an inflated price for drinks, and to have two or three middle aged women pour you drinks and flirt with you. They did have actual snacks, too, although I think that was just a coincidence. After being accosted by the most drunk of the hostesses, she became far too "handsy" for my comfort. While she was making the rounds and molesting people, I moved behind the bar and barricaded myself between the company's chairman and the less-drunk, but more importantly, less "handsy" hostess.

Sunday was spent napping in a rec center while everyone else from AIESEC was sitting through meetings. Followed by going out to yet another izakaya. I get clingy and never want to go home after going out, so a few of us head to...another izakaya. We eventually are forced to leave, and judgment tells me that it's a good idea to catch the last train home to try and sleep for a few hours. This also involves a 4 km walk in the cold since no more buses are running this late.

Odd things that I discovered, in Japan, the term "smart" has nothing to do with intelligence, but instead means being horribly skinny and tall. It's also been pointed out that I am apparently very proud at how long my legs are, although I'm not clear on how that conclusion was reached.

I can get through most conversations by nodding and making affirmative grunting sounds, as was the case this morning when some elderly lady made small talk with me at the bus stop. This isn't the normal old lady that I talk to, but was an ancient lady. She went on about how small the roads used to be before the war, and how everything's changed. I really wish I could have understood more, but it was 7am, and I am unable to comprehend much that early, regardless of what language it's in.

Only a week left, with the goals to:
-get naked in a public bath
-hug everyone I meet (excluding at the bath)
-try to take more pictures
-finally learn how to play hanafuda
-convince Seko to get a tattoo

I think they're all doable.

Late Nite Visits

I've gotten a fair share of odd people at my door, and always after 9pm. It's not that late, I'm just not used to people I don't know showing up at my door after dark. So tonight, the doorbell rings, and I assumed it was a friend that was going to show up a couple days ago...but didn't...anyway, I assume it was a mistranslation.

I open the door to find two women standing there, and my gianormous presence fills the doorway. I duck to see who it is. I had also changed into clothes to go running in (I CAN FINALLY GO RUNNING AGAIN!), which consists of an undershirt and shorts; ideal running clothes; not ideal clothing for standing in the cold trying to understand what strangers are saying to you.

After the normal shock and awe that occurs once people realize that a non-Japanese person can live in Japan, as well as speak a little of the language, they start their speech. Oh yes, they are a religious sect, and are trying their best to explain it to me. In Japanese.

Now, I'm not too bad with the language. I can easily get around. I don't really have problems dealing with clients in Japanese. Even if I don't understand entirely what is being said, I catch atleast some of it, and can respond accordingly.

Not in the case with religious vocabulary, apparently.

The conversation starts off with them asking if I'm happy, and that I can be happy by meditating with them. They then offer to show me, and it will only take 5 minutes. I have never felt unsafe in this country. Ever. But people that go door to door, asking if they can come in and meditate with you, just doesn't sit well with me. I feign misunderstanding, and decline. I'm sure they weren't going to loot my apartment and all the vast treasures found inside, but I also don't want people I don't know coming into my tiny apartment and sharing happiness with me by passing the divine light through their palm and into mine.

I then get asked what country I'm from, and, like always, answering "American" opens doors to all sorts of questions about stereotypes. They assume I'm Catholic, which I'm quick to correct by explaining that I am nondenominational. This fails horribly, since I'm not familiar with the Japanese term for "Nondenominational," so I explain that I'm Christian, but not Catholic. I guess I said something wrong, because I picked up on the words "hate" and "other gods." Or maybe I didn't say anything wrong.

Try explaining the concept of having your own, personal religious beliefs, but are still able to respect other peoples' and cultures'. Ok, now do it in another language.

Disproving their fear that all American Christians would immediately get angry and violent, we chat about what I'm doing in Japan. I'm still mildly curious what they were referring to when they asked if I was happy, and if I wanted to become happy by meditating with one of the ladies, so I ask if they can write down the name of their sect. They do, and apologetically give me a huge pamphlet, in mostly Japanese, and try to explain the pamphlet as best they can. I thank them, they point out that I'm probably cold, I agree, and they leave.

I vaguely remember studying this religion in one of my Japanese religion courses, but there were so many New Religions that we covered over a short period of time, I had to use wikipedia to help me. Apparently, Johrei is "a method of channeling divine light into the body of a patient through the palm of the administrator. To do this, the administrator holds his/her hand about a foot away from the area to which the spiritual power is purported to be directed."

Thanks wiki!

Top 3

With nothing but busy work to do, I spent all day thinking about my 3 favorite albums. I really needed to pass the time.


3: Explosions In The Sky - How Strange, Innocence

This album is perfect for anything from sleeping, to driving, to boiling vegetables for a late-night meal; after forgetting to eat anything during the day. It's such an incredibly well made album, and I still find myself coming back to it. Their later albums are good, but none are nearly as consistently amazing. It provides really good afternoon napping music, and let me explain. Napping is an artform. And choosing the proper music for afternoon naps is equally important. If you choose something too soft, you'll not want to wake up later (why I can't nap to Blue States anymore). Something too loud, well, it's just hard to feel rested after sleeping to Fall Of Troy. Something without lyrics is ideal, too, although I've tried sleeping to Godspeed!, and just ended up with nightmares. This album finds a perfect blend.


2: The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas

I just happened upon this album, and the lo-fi-ness(?) off it adds soo much to the tone of the entire disc. As a lover of folk-music, but despiser of country music, this album hits the perfect mix of pure folk. Folk-ish. For the record, I'm not folk expert, but I know what I like, and this album is it. I'm not particularly attentive to lyrics, but more to the overall style and flow of music, although I find myself picking up phrases in songs that astound me. Good driving music, not bad walking music, PERFECT Japanese-countryside-train-riding music.


1: The Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes Reissue

If you have ever ridden in a car with me, in which I was driving, the chances of you hearing this album is extremely high. I bought it 5 years ago, and the only time it has ever left my car was when I was loaning it to someone, or when I drove my car into 3 feet of water, and had to get a new car. Now, this doesn't mean it's ALWAYS in the cd player, but it is often enough. I bought the cd on a whim; it was on sale, it was a double cd, and I may have possibly heard a song of their's previously; I wasn't sure. Easily the greatest piece of recorded media ever created. And the passion behind the songs is so strong, that it's tangible. Three guys are so unhappy and angry, that they just grabbed whatever instruments they had, and played angry rock. Oddly enough, these instruments are a crappy guitar, a mariachi bass, and a homemade drum. But their anger transfers so well through the acoustic instruments, that there is this sense of discontent the vibrates with the strings. A punk band, stuck with acoustic instruments.

Honorable Mentions:
Kings Of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud and Riot On An Empty Street
I really don't distinguish between the two albums, and if it wasn't for Versus, I would simply recommend all of the albums. Unfortunately, Versus exists, which completely ruins the entire mood of their discography. "The Build-Up" is proof that Muses exist. Great rainy day, reading a book and staying inside music.

The Willowz - Are Coming and Talk In Circles
Again, I don't distinguish between the two. It's lo-fi garage at some of its best. Perfect walking around downtown and subway music.

Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing
I found this on vinyl first, and was amazed, but restrained to enjoy it only in my apartment. I later was able to put it in digital format, which increases my enjoyment of the album. There's a bit of a setup behind recreating my perfect listening situation:
1) Ride a night bus from Nagoya to Tokyo, that arrives 2 hours early and drops you off in Shinjuku at 4:30 am.
2) Grab some bad coffee at a gas station, then search for a locker to store you luggage, all the while enjoying the eerie quiet of 5 am Tokyo.
3) When the trains start running, catch a train to Yoyogi, where you search for a really hidden art store, all the while recognizing graffiti artists' work.
4) Grab two more cups of coffee with some toast, then wander Yoyogi Park at 7 am.
5) Listen to Bad Timing while walking along the gravel path of Yoyogi Park; jittery from the cold and not sleeping all night and 3 cups of coffee.

It's a bit of work to recreate, but it's worth it.

Golden Week (So Far)

Golden Week is a series of holidays organized so that people get about a week off work. Not in my case, though. Monday is a holiday, then Thursday and Friday are both holidays. So I had work for two days in the middle of the week, which seems odd.

After the concert on Sunday, Monday was spent...I'm not sure. I don't think I did much that day. Maybe just hung around the apartment area. Probably. Tuesday I went to work, and didn't accomplish anything since I hadn't brought my laptop with me. Tuesday night, we had a going away party for Diana, the trainee from Canada, so right after work, Caitlin and I left to go to Nagoya City University. We ate a lot, I drank a lot, and it was all around great fun. I nursed the idea of continuing to eat and drink, and the only person that was as adamant about it as I was, was George, the trainee from the UK. So we say our goodbyes/convince people to meet with us at the bar, and Caitlin and I start to follow George's friend to, what I thought, was the bar. After walking quite a distance, we realize that he's going to the station, not the bar. A 30 minute wandering walk later, as well as multiple phone calls to find out where everyone is, we finally get back to the campus. We start towards the bar, when I suddenly decide that I am pretty tired. So instead, we came back home. At this point, I had also decided that I had no interest in going to work the next day, so I slept in.

On Wednesday, Caitlin left Nagoya for Kyoto. I don't remember accomplishing much that day, either. I rented Children of Men, which was ok. I guess.

Thursday morning, I woke up early so that I could get ready, go to the atm to withdraw money, grab some coffee, and be at Nagoya station by 10 to meet people to go to Hamamatsu. Instead, what actually happened, was I woke up, got ready, went to the convenience store, and couldn't withdraw any money. Frustrated, I left for the station to try the atm's there from other banks. None of them worked. I finally had to borrow money for train fare, while I sent out emails to everyone I knew, trying to find out why I couldn't get any money.

We arrive in Hamamatsu, where we try more atms, without success. After a call to the bank, I find out that I can only use my atm card at very specific places for the next few days, because of the holiday. One such place being a convenience store. So now we alter the plan to finding this specific convenience store. We do, but they don't have an atm. An hour later, we finally find a proper atm, and I restock myself with money. We then go to the kite festival.

It was a lot of fun. Drunk people flying and retrieving giant kites; food and music everywhere; local beers. Tired, we went to catch the bus back to the station, but the line was incredibly long. Not feeling too keen on standing in line for two hours, I suggest we go to the beach. So we walked around the beach for a while, eat ice cream, and eventually catch the bus back. I had planned on staying in an internet cafe for the night, since I had wanted to see the area some more. This changed after walking around the city all morning, and not finding anything of particular interest. So we left for Nagoya that evening.

Not one to enjoy going home at a sensible hour, I spent the train ride emailing people if they wanted to get together that night. Which we do. A $240 bar tab later, we meet some people at a karaoke bar, then head to a new bar. Having already resigned to stay out for the rest of the night, and convincing those with me to do the same, we sat around talking for most of the night. I eventually started falling asleep, which entails hugging the nearest person to me and using them as a crutch to support my head. At about 3:30, we decide to walk the few kilometers back to someone's apartment, and sleep there until the first trains start. I sleep on Seko's floor until 8, when I return home to shower, and sleep for the rest of the morning.

Caitlin was supposed to return on Friday afternoon, but without her having access to a cellphone or often available internet, it was hard to find out exactly when. I had an appointment at 5 that I had to go to, and by 4, I hadn't heard anything. Not wanting to have her locked out of the apartment, and only with one key, I stuck the key in an envelope, and taped it in the mail slot; disguising it as mail, although taping it so it didn't actually fall all the way through the slot and into my apartment. I get a call from a payphone at about 6, luckily before we started, and explain the key situation. I hurry home afterwards to find that the key hadn't slipped into the apartment, and that everything worked out. Curry and Little Miss Sunshine for all.

International atms are really hard to find, and with the holiday, the few that exist, are usually closed. Caitlin needed to access her bank in the US, so we spent the morning looking up where the closest international atm was. Ofcourse, it's a bus and subway ride away, so after coffee, we go to Sakae. We find it, do some record/toy/dirt cheap clothes store shopping, and meet with Seko for dinner.

All in all, not a bad Golden Week. I still haven't been to a public bath yet, which has been one of my goals this trip. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get naked in front of strangers before I leave in a few weeks.