A Hilarious Week
Oh, what a week to be without the blessed Internet available at my side. Hmm... I guess I could summarize the hilarity of the week with two short phrases; Ripped Pants and Cute Nipples.
The ripped pants story.
It was after a Judo practice where I was able to throw one of the sempai's twice, and they weren't pity throws. we were both tired, and he happened to make two mistakes I could capitalize on. Granted, he threw me like 15 times but still, I'm getting better. Anyway, back to the story of the ripped pants. We sit down to bow out and when the sensei sits, rippppp~! At first I thought it would be disrespectful to laugh, but then everybody cracked up, so it was tons of fun.
The cute nipples story.
So as some of you know, I take a class called "Japanese Culture". It's an elective, and one of the easiest classes I've ever had, It's all in Japanese, but all we do is talk about food and movies. So the other day we went to Kyoto for a Field Trip to a Traditional Candy making "factory". It's really just a shop, with an upstairs, where we were able to make some of our own candy (see video #3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCWQoHs3HBI). Making it was tons of fun, but eating wasn't so much. The momiji one was tasty, but the others weren't so. Afterwards, we had a choice to make; we could either return home, or go to a temple. Because later on that night there was a Halloween Party, most of us returned home. Also there's temples all over the place in Japan. I'm sure one day, I'll be walking down the street, trip, and fall right into one. Originally, I decided not to spend extra money to buy a costume, but one outfit in a store grabbed my attention so hard, I couldn't resist shelling out about $20 for it. So we went to the Party, it was in a bar that my friend Yonetani had rented out for 3 hours of free Karaoke. Right when we got to the bar, I changed into my costume and hilarity ensued (see movie #4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxlpybG5ZRQ). As for the cute nipples thing, Someone came up to me and told me that. When you see the video, you will understand how they knew what my nipples looked like.
Oh and to wrap up this laugh-fest. I saw a grandma on a motorcycle, and a grandpa walking his parrot this morning. Unfortunately, he didn't have a leash, that would have been the greatest thing ever if he did though.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A Weekend Of Firsts
As you can probably tell by the Title, my weekend was pretty interesting. First, let me list off the Firsts.
The First of my Firsts, was my First Matsuri. I'm not sure what the name of the Matsuri was, but It involved hauling a big Taiko drum over the city, and yelling "Yoyasa!" over, and over, and over. Most of the time, I was carrying the big wooden shrine with the Taiko inside, but for a little bit, near the end, I was able to climb inside and hit it myself (and no, Damon, I was not the first to hit it). That was fun and all, but the fun was about to become a little more interesting thanks to another First.
Before I tell you that story, I need a bit of a lead up. I didn't just go to this festival once that day. In the afternoon, I went with my host mother and her granddaughter. Well, since the kids want to do this, and they to bed early, they host a smaller festival in the morning. So every now and then they stop to give the kids snacks, Which was AWESOME! I got lemonade, freeze-pops, and Oreos! Then at the Adults festival, at night, we only had one break, where instead of Oreos, we got Fish Jerky, and instead of Lemonade we got Beer and Nihonshu (Rice Wine). The Fish jerky was pretty good, but the Nihonshu was terrible, I struggled to drink it all, and I still get bad tastes in my mouth when I think about it. Well, after that break we headed back. I figured everyone would lounge for a couple of seconds, then head back home. Nope. Instead This happened;
I discovered that the rule of this Matsuri was, No one leaves until ALL the Alcohol is gone. Luckily, there was no Nihonshu so I didn't have to put up with that, but there was a TON of beer. And boy was I lucky, because they are all so generous to always refill my cup first, and cheer me on (cuz you all know how much I love drinking beer...) So about 20 minutes later, the Alcohol is gone... and so am I.
First time being drunk in Japan. Not too bad. I was all alone, but Amagasaki isn't too busy of a place, so I was free to wander about the watchful eyes of the judgmental natives. The festival took place about 5 minutes from my house, but when I was drunk, somehow I thought I knew a shortcut back home. After wandering around for half an hour, I sobered up and walked into a beauty salon to ask where the seven eleven by my house is.
Now for my Second First. Anybody who has met me for 2 minutes knows of my Sports addiction. So boy was I happy when, after Judo Practice, I ran into Bill who happened to be going to The KanGaku football game. Because it was by random chance I ended up going, I didn't have my camera on me so those pictures will have to wait, until maybe I go to a home game and, just maybe, it wont be a complete blowout. In this game, The score ended up being 44-7 in favor of Kangaku. Kobe (the opposing team) scored their touchdown in the closing seconds, and Kangaku didn't even play their starters during the second half. Sound Familiar?
Third First: Ok so this one didn't really happen over the weekend. But I made my first trip to Takarazuka on Monday. Why? Because for one week, I will be living in a dorm. Main reasons why this sucks: 1) My train pass doesn't go to Takarazuka, so everyday, I will have to pay like 300 yen(about 3 dollars) to go to school. 2) This place does not seem to have the greatest Hygiene standards. 3) I will have to go out to find my breakfast. 4) No internet whatsoever. Main reasons this is good: 1) I decide when I eat dinner, so I can sleep after Judo if I want to. 2) I will finally have something other than buttered toast for breakfast. 3) I can do my own laundry which means, washing my Gi more than once a week. But now that I think of it, I don't have detergent... 4) No internet to distract me whatsoever.
The First of my Firsts, was my First Matsuri. I'm not sure what the name of the Matsuri was, but It involved hauling a big Taiko drum over the city, and yelling "Yoyasa!" over, and over, and over. Most of the time, I was carrying the big wooden shrine with the Taiko inside, but for a little bit, near the end, I was able to climb inside and hit it myself (and no, Damon, I was not the first to hit it). That was fun and all, but the fun was about to become a little more interesting thanks to another First.
Before I tell you that story, I need a bit of a lead up. I didn't just go to this festival once that day. In the afternoon, I went with my host mother and her granddaughter. Well, since the kids want to do this, and they to bed early, they host a smaller festival in the morning. So every now and then they stop to give the kids snacks, Which was AWESOME! I got lemonade, freeze-pops, and Oreos! Then at the Adults festival, at night, we only had one break, where instead of Oreos, we got Fish Jerky, and instead of Lemonade we got Beer and Nihonshu (Rice Wine). The Fish jerky was pretty good, but the Nihonshu was terrible, I struggled to drink it all, and I still get bad tastes in my mouth when I think about it. Well, after that break we headed back. I figured everyone would lounge for a couple of seconds, then head back home. Nope. Instead This happened;
I discovered that the rule of this Matsuri was, No one leaves until ALL the Alcohol is gone. Luckily, there was no Nihonshu so I didn't have to put up with that, but there was a TON of beer. And boy was I lucky, because they are all so generous to always refill my cup first, and cheer me on (cuz you all know how much I love drinking beer...) So about 20 minutes later, the Alcohol is gone... and so am I.
First time being drunk in Japan. Not too bad. I was all alone, but Amagasaki isn't too busy of a place, so I was free to wander about the watchful eyes of the judgmental natives. The festival took place about 5 minutes from my house, but when I was drunk, somehow I thought I knew a shortcut back home. After wandering around for half an hour, I sobered up and walked into a beauty salon to ask where the seven eleven by my house is.
Now for my Second First. Anybody who has met me for 2 minutes knows of my Sports addiction. So boy was I happy when, after Judo Practice, I ran into Bill who happened to be going to The KanGaku football game. Because it was by random chance I ended up going, I didn't have my camera on me so those pictures will have to wait, until maybe I go to a home game and, just maybe, it wont be a complete blowout. In this game, The score ended up being 44-7 in favor of Kangaku. Kobe (the opposing team) scored their touchdown in the closing seconds, and Kangaku didn't even play their starters during the second half. Sound Familiar?
Third First: Ok so this one didn't really happen over the weekend. But I made my first trip to Takarazuka on Monday. Why? Because for one week, I will be living in a dorm. Main reasons why this sucks: 1) My train pass doesn't go to Takarazuka, so everyday, I will have to pay like 300 yen(about 3 dollars) to go to school. 2) This place does not seem to have the greatest Hygiene standards. 3) I will have to go out to find my breakfast. 4) No internet whatsoever. Main reasons this is good: 1) I decide when I eat dinner, so I can sleep after Judo if I want to. 2) I will finally have something other than buttered toast for breakfast. 3) I can do my own laundry which means, washing my Gi more than once a week. But now that I think of it, I don't have detergent... 4) No internet to distract me whatsoever.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Finally Broke...
For the first time in maybe 3 years, I finally broke psychologically. I'm not talking about just being angry or sad, I mean like the point where you are just pushed too far, you can no longer hold back the tears or whatever. Just one event can't cause it, but it piles up until one thing that normally would be fine, or you could shrug off, pushes you over that threshold. Yah, that's what happened to me the other day. Well, I guess it all started piling up during the trip to the concert in Kyoto. I guess I still hadn't gotten over that frustration. Ever since then, my host mother has been seeming to speak a little faster than usual. I always ask her to slow down, which she will do sometimes, but any time I tell her that I don't understand a certain word, she just says, 「大丈夫」 "its okay" and the conversation seems to end. That's the second thing that's been piling up. I guess yesterday's events are what pushed me across that threshold from my usual carefree self to wanting to wrap my shirt over my fist and punch the door while 4 tears escaped from my eyes.
Well that morning had been fine, I woke up a late, but that's nothing. Judo has been really intense and I have needed to rest more lately. School was fine, only one class. Judo was awesome as usual, besides the fact that a lot of my big toe skin ripped off (it was pretty nasty, I had to cut off the bloody skin left dangling. little amount of blood, for you worriers). But when I got home, I instantly fell asleep. I ended up missing dinner, because all my host mother does to alert me its dinner time is yell from the floor below me, 「ご飯ですよ」 "Dinner time!" so at 8 o'clock, she knocks on my door, and when I open it up, she just started yelling things like, what are you doing? you missed dinner? why? I didn't appreciate the yelling like I was their son. I mean, it was the first time I had missed dinner since coming here. Dinner didn't get any better. As I sat down to eat, she continued to speak loudly and much faster than usual. I didn't understand a thing, and frankly, I didn't care. Eventually, she gave up, turned on the hot plate for the Yakisoba, and then went to take a shower. Apparently you're supposed to turn off the hot plate once in starts sizzling, but I didn't know that and it ended up burning. When she got out of the shower, and I told her I burnt it, she continued to yell at me, again, not understanding anything she was saying. At that point I could feel myself on the threshold. My cheeks started to get hot, my fists clenched, and my brain was going, "fuck, you don't need to take this shit, go up to your room now and just say you thought she said to", but I was able to chill my brain for a bit. She started talking to me about how I was quiet and she wanted to know more about me. So she asked me why I like to keep my door closed. I was thinking, ok, this could be a nice turnaround to what has been a terrible half-hour. So I told her, I like to feel completely alone when I'm studying or doing homework, which now that I think about it, isn't really fair to her because I spend so much time at school, I rarely am at home. But regardless, right after I said that she retorted with "No, you have to always keep your door open. If you are asleep, it's ok, but once you wake up, open. And, you cant go to sleep right away when you get back from school, you have to stay awake past dinner." The first one I'm okay with, the second one I don't want to comply with at all. Well, that ended up pushing me over the threshold. I really wanted to punch my bed, because that wouldn't do anything, but I didn't want to make any noise. So I just had to hold it in until Judo practice today, where I was able to work some of it out.
Oh, well, at least I'm going to have a week away from my host family, because my host mother is going to Spain, so I have to go to the dorm, and my host father is going to a hotel, I think. This doesn't make much sense though, because there is a 7 Eleven right across the street from us.
On a much lighter note; Another foreign student decided to join the Judo Club. His name is Chris and he's from Hawaii. He had his first practice the same day all this stuff had happened. He hadn't ever done Judo before, and he didn't look exactly like a natural. He's probably like 120 pounds and looks soft, but you know who that reminds me of before he started Judo? Me.
Well that morning had been fine, I woke up a late, but that's nothing. Judo has been really intense and I have needed to rest more lately. School was fine, only one class. Judo was awesome as usual, besides the fact that a lot of my big toe skin ripped off (it was pretty nasty, I had to cut off the bloody skin left dangling. little amount of blood, for you worriers). But when I got home, I instantly fell asleep. I ended up missing dinner, because all my host mother does to alert me its dinner time is yell from the floor below me, 「ご飯ですよ」 "Dinner time!" so at 8 o'clock, she knocks on my door, and when I open it up, she just started yelling things like, what are you doing? you missed dinner? why? I didn't appreciate the yelling like I was their son. I mean, it was the first time I had missed dinner since coming here. Dinner didn't get any better. As I sat down to eat, she continued to speak loudly and much faster than usual. I didn't understand a thing, and frankly, I didn't care. Eventually, she gave up, turned on the hot plate for the Yakisoba, and then went to take a shower. Apparently you're supposed to turn off the hot plate once in starts sizzling, but I didn't know that and it ended up burning. When she got out of the shower, and I told her I burnt it, she continued to yell at me, again, not understanding anything she was saying. At that point I could feel myself on the threshold. My cheeks started to get hot, my fists clenched, and my brain was going, "fuck, you don't need to take this shit, go up to your room now and just say you thought she said to", but I was able to chill my brain for a bit. She started talking to me about how I was quiet and she wanted to know more about me. So she asked me why I like to keep my door closed. I was thinking, ok, this could be a nice turnaround to what has been a terrible half-hour. So I told her, I like to feel completely alone when I'm studying or doing homework, which now that I think about it, isn't really fair to her because I spend so much time at school, I rarely am at home. But regardless, right after I said that she retorted with "No, you have to always keep your door open. If you are asleep, it's ok, but once you wake up, open. And, you cant go to sleep right away when you get back from school, you have to stay awake past dinner." The first one I'm okay with, the second one I don't want to comply with at all. Well, that ended up pushing me over the threshold. I really wanted to punch my bed, because that wouldn't do anything, but I didn't want to make any noise. So I just had to hold it in until Judo practice today, where I was able to work some of it out.
Oh, well, at least I'm going to have a week away from my host family, because my host mother is going to Spain, so I have to go to the dorm, and my host father is going to a hotel, I think. This doesn't make much sense though, because there is a 7 Eleven right across the street from us.
On a much lighter note; Another foreign student decided to join the Judo Club. His name is Chris and he's from Hawaii. He had his first practice the same day all this stuff had happened. He hadn't ever done Judo before, and he didn't look exactly like a natural. He's probably like 120 pounds and looks soft, but you know who that reminds me of before he started Judo? Me.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
最初の柔道れんしゅう
おひさしぶりですね。コンサートからたくさん書く物がありました。さいしょはお酒まつりです。いかなかった。雨がつよくふっていましたから一日中へやでべんきょうした。今母はショックで死にかけている。つまらない物のおわりです。今柔道をはなそう。見るだけのれんしゅうしてから、ぜんぶれんしゅうした。わああ、たいへんですよ。くびさえから出血した。さいしょはせんぱいとらんどうして、あとで先生とらんどうした。先生はくそ化け物ですよ。すぐにしゃしんをはってみます。
Its been a while. A lot has happened since the concert. Firstly, the festival. I didn’t go. Because it was raining too hard, I just stayed in my room all day and studied. Right now, my mom is dying from shock. Well, that’s the end of the boring stuff. Now let’s talk about Judo! After a practice where I only watched, I did an entire practice. OMG, it was tough like you have no idea. I even bled from the neck! First, I fought the Sempai (“captain” for you non-Japanese speaking folk), then later, I fought the Sensei. The Sensei is a F*CKING MONSTER! I’ll try to post up photos soon.
Its been a while. A lot has happened since the concert. Firstly, the festival. I didn’t go. Because it was raining too hard, I just stayed in my room all day and studied. Right now, my mom is dying from shock. Well, that’s the end of the boring stuff. Now let’s talk about Judo! After a practice where I only watched, I did an entire practice. OMG, it was tough like you have no idea. I even bled from the neck! First, I fought the Sempai (“captain” for you non-Japanese speaking folk), then later, I fought the Sensei. The Sensei is a F*CKING MONSTER! I’ll try to post up photos soon.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
おばあさんが全然分かりません
今日私とホーストママはコンサートに行った。クラッシクルがちょっと好きじゃないが私はいい日本のけいけんだったと思うんです。りょこうのさいしょの低い時になりました。さいしょは暑い車で二時間ぐらいうんてんした。私は暑い車があまりわるくないと思うがコンサートのあとでたくさんおばあさんとはなしてだれも全然分かりませんでした。いつもおばあさんの文は一つのことばだけに思うわれた。昼ごはんに行く時は失望しましたから、あまり話した。ねこが二ひきいますから、ちょっとうれしくなりました。全般今日はだめだった。じゃあ、ともかく明日はお酒まつりです。楽しみにします。
I Don't Understand Old Ladies at All
Today, I went to a concert with my host mother. I don't like classical music that much, but I thought it would be a good Japanese experience. It ended up becoming the first low point of my trip. Firstly, we drove for about 2 hours in a hot car. Now, a hot car isn't too bad, but after the concert, I talked with a bunch of older ladies, and I couldn't understand a thing they said. All of their sentences sounded like only one word. During lunch, because I was so frustrated, I barely spoke at all. There were two cats there, so that made me a little happy. Overall though, today was bad. Well, at least tomorrow is a festival. I'm looking forward to it.
I Don't Understand Old Ladies at All
Today, I went to a concert with my host mother. I don't like classical music that much, but I thought it would be a good Japanese experience. It ended up becoming the first low point of my trip. Firstly, we drove for about 2 hours in a hot car. Now, a hot car isn't too bad, but after the concert, I talked with a bunch of older ladies, and I couldn't understand a thing they said. All of their sentences sounded like only one word. During lunch, because I was so frustrated, I barely spoke at all. There were two cats there, so that made me a little happy. Overall though, today was bad. Well, at least tomorrow is a festival. I'm looking forward to it.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
大阪にはじめていった。
Kaji, whose name I shall not scream out loud in a crowd, took me to Osaka for the first time yesterday. It's a truly amazing place. The first thing we did was buy me some Under Armour for Judo (all the hardcore members wear some form of it). then he took me to this building which he thought had a Naruto shop in it. Well, he was wrong. It had a giant whale sculpture instead, but was also fascinating.
After Kaji realized that we were in the wrong place, he took me too the right one, which happened to be Yodobashi Kamera. He took me to the Jump store, which turned out to be meh. But I did get this awesome photo of me standing by Sadaharu (not Oh).
As we left Yodobashi Kamera, I noticed a sign that piqued my interest. So I had to have Kaji take me there. It was pretty much everything I hoped for from it, with the exception of not having THE hat. I am of course talking about The
Pokemon Center. It was a pretty boss place. I found out I am as tall as Dodrio while I was in there. I'm going to go back there often to battle people. I saw a bunch of people playing right outside.
Again, I don't know how much longer I am going to have a connection, so I will fill in the Japanese later. (don't know what word I'll use for "boss" though)
After Kaji realized that we were in the wrong place, he took me too the right one, which happened to be Yodobashi Kamera. He took me to the Jump store, which turned out to be meh. But I did get this awesome photo of me standing by Sadaharu (not Oh).
As we left Yodobashi Kamera, I noticed a sign that piqued my interest. So I had to have Kaji take me there. It was pretty much everything I hoped for from it, with the exception of not having THE hat. I am of course talking about The
Pokemon Center. It was a pretty boss place. I found out I am as tall as Dodrio while I was in there. I'm going to go back there often to battle people. I saw a bunch of people playing right outside.
Again, I don't know how much longer I am going to have a connection, so I will fill in the Japanese later. (don't know what word I'll use for "boss" though)
Oskar and Jared learn a new word: きんにくつう
For some reason I was blessed with an internet connection tonight, so I'm not going to spend a long time writing in Japanese, I may fill it in later, though. Well, it's time to tell you what きんにくつう means. For those of you who want the Kanji first before you give up completely, 筋肉痛. Thanks to Damon's friend (probably an asian) I now know the last Kanji, but all together it means Muscle-Pain, or soreness. I had my first day of training today with the Judo Team. Still haven't gotten my 着 but I was able to do the push-ups, sit-ups, and other strenthening exercises.
Some people, like, all of you except Haskins and the other Ryuugakusei, are wondering who Oskar is and why did he also learn the word. Oskar is a Ryuugakusei from Sweden. He joined the badminton club and also had a lot of soreness after his first day of training. He is also in Level 1, and we recently decided to only speak Japanese with each other. It's working out very well, because hardly any other Ryuugakusei speak to each other in Japanese.
Some people, like, all of you except Haskins and the other Ryuugakusei, are wondering who Oskar is and why did he also learn the word. Oskar is a Ryuugakusei from Sweden. He joined the badminton club and also had a lot of soreness after his first day of training. He is also in Level 1, and we recently decided to only speak Japanese with each other. It's working out very well, because hardly any other Ryuugakusei speak to each other in Japanese.
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