Final "To Do" List

When I got here I made a list of stuff I wanted to complete while i was here. I'm pretty pleased with the amount of mad shit I've done in the last 20 months.^o^ This, roughly,was my list:

-Go to watch Sumo (done in fukuoka, much shouty fun)
-Mail in Japanese (done several hundred of times, probably badly)
-Learn all the level 3 kanji (pretty much done^_^)
-Try shodo (done and enjoyed in a class last year)
-Dressed as a maiko (done with my pals in kyoto. i'll spare you the photos. pretty fun though)
-Party in Tokyo (done and done)
-Visit Shikoku and Kyushu (yep. both fab trips)
-Go to a mixed onsen (done in kurakawa. of course i had a peek)
-Get drunk on sake only (done, bloody nasty hangover)
-Try natto (done. seriously ming)
-Wear a yukatta (done to the party last year-bring on the next!)
-Read some manga (done with the help of a dictionary/japanese person!)
-Visit other Asian countries (does korea count?)
-Sing Japanese songs at karaoke (done...again badly. I'm not being modest)
-Go skinny dipping in the Japanese sea (done on Oshima last summer)
-Try Japanese pottery (done in hagi last year...my bowl was pretty pants)
-Pull a Japanese boy (its not that hard)
-Stay in a love hotel (don't get excited...unrelated to the previous one-it was with sarah!haha)
-Go to Universal Studios (sooo much fun)
-See a Japanese band live (done many times at summer sonic. madness.)
-Go to a tea ceremony (done...zzz)
-Be able to read all the menu (done more or less I reckon)
-Have sushi/sashimi for breakfast (done. as bad as it is any other time of the day)

************************************************************

I will leave this crazy island I've come to call home in about 3 months. In the meantime I hope to accomplish the following:

-Stay in a Capsule Hotel.
-Wear a yukatta to a summer festival
-Play Pachinko
-Eat Fugu (surely i owe it to yamaguchi ken)
-Climb Mt.Fuji (!)
-Host another Gotcha party
-Get good references for future jobs (surely Japanese people are the ideal people to give you a perfect reference!)
-Try a curry donut
-Go to some sort of comic/manga event
-Go to Okinawa (hmm looking unlikely)

Any more suggestions please suggest!! onegai shimasu!

Things I Will Miss about Japan #5 RICE!!

If you would have told me that I would become enthusiastic about rice before I came to Japan or even a year ago then I would have chocked in disbelief. I mean I've always enjoyed it as an accompanyment but I've always thought of it as the filler, what you havewith your delicious meat dish or whatever. When I first arrived in Japan I wasn't too keen on the starchy, sticky, short grain rice here. It was soo plain and stodgy. And they seemed to give you it by the bucketload. I missed flavoursome long grained basmatic rice. O_o I also found it bloody ridiculous that a lot of japanese people say their favourite food is rice. I felt like this was like saying your favourite food was air. God I can waffle on a lot about rice. It's important here! They've brainwashed me!
As I've been here for about 20 months and have eaten rice at least once every day I now have to admit that...I LOVE RICE! I even crave it. How Japanese am I!?I love the smell of it freshly cooked and its the main thing I look forward to in school lunch. And its not just me! Loz has admitted similar affiliation!
Another thing thats makes Japanese rice mint is that its impossible to f*ck up when cooking. I even burned it recently and it was still yum-mmm bibinba!
I will surely get withdrawl symptoms like a junkie for crack when I leave this place! Eek my soul will suffer! I even like onigiri (rice in seaweed you can buy everywhere as a snack) although I'm not as nihonjin as Smac who craves it even when drunk (give me a kebab anyday)

Some "interesting" facts about RICE:
-Some Japanese car companies are named after rice! Toyota means "bountiful rice field" and Honda means "the main rice field" (right alex...?)
-Rice is a staple food for over half the planet.
-In Japanese folklore, legend has it that soaking rice before cooking it releases life energy, and the person who eats the rice will have a more powerful soul.(maybe this explains why they shovel it into their mouths as if theres no tomorrow)
-There are about 120,000 varieties of rice known to exist.
-Rice is the only cereal Japan is self-sufficient in.
-The average Japanese consumer pays an average of five times more for rice than the average U.S. consumer.
-At various times in Japanese society,rice was an instrument of trade, functioning as hard currency. Rice measured the wealth of the daimyo (lord) and provided payment for samurai.
-Throughout the almost 4,000 7-Eleven stores in Japan, fast food sales figures show rice snacks continuing to outpace bread snacks.

And for those who don't live in Japan:
-A lot of people have rice for breakfast (mental)
-The smallest packet of rice in the supermarkets are usually about 2kg. They make you eat more rice!!
-The word for cooked rice is "gohan" and this also has the general meaning of meal.
-"Mochi" is pounded rice made into a cake. Its weird and sticky and people love it here. I draw the line there.

RICE: It's More Than Just a Food

What Temprement are You?

You Have a Choleric Temperament

You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things. Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life. You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon. Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall. You're an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults. Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion. A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior.

What Temperment Are You?

Things I Will Miss about Japan #4 Anime/Logo Characters!

This is such a post close to my heart I feel a list coming on...

1. Warumono (from the Aronzo series)

Sinister. funny. uses interesting japanese instead of weird english.

2. Hello Kitty

The classic choice.You can seriously get her on anything.(pens, stickers, condoms...)
3. Rirakuma


Love the "bothered?" expression.He looks stoned and is always drooling and surrounded by tissues (!) arf
4. Gloomy Bear

Bloody brilliant. you get him out of the box...he slaughters you. a nice anicdote to all the sickly cute stuff like dogs in make up (!)
5. Doraemon

Another classic choice. I actually read this manga a bit and its mental.
He's a bloody robot cat from the future! Whats not to like?!
6.Kuromi

I love the whole goth/cute thing here. like skulls with pink bows on them.

Who's your favourite?!

Note:On the Culture of かわい(cute):
"Cuteness is not just a fad in the fashion cycle of Japanese pop culture; it is more of a ‘standard’ aesthetic of everyday life” (McVeigh)
I'll ignore the implications in japanese society that basically state that you have to be dumb and infant like to fit into this whole ideal of aesthetics (and indeed femininity) and just enjoy the variety for the next few months ^_^
This is a really interesting site about japanese fashion as cultural commentary:
The Fruits of J fashion:Reading resistance on the Streets of Harajuku

"I like it!"

We asked the staff of Big Echo to come and join our party. I don't think anyone expected them to take it so seriously! It was nuts, they took full advantage of our nomihodai and eventually abandoned their jobs alltogether! The night ended with the dude who downs his pint sharpish getting his knob out and walking down the street with his pants down his ankles. Ah Tokyo...

私の趣味(My Hobby)

Everyone bullsh*ts on job applications right? Its pretty much a given. They're expecting to hear "I am commited, professional and motivated." If you told the truth, ie "I will abuse this position for all its worth, make an art out of sciving, and not really give a rats arse." They would'nt appreciate your honesty. I worked in the Human Resources Dept of a hotel once and one applicant wrote "Cos the DS made me." under the question "Why are you applying for this job?" *snigger* Needless to say he didn't get an interview.
When it comes to the "Interests and Hobbies" bit you can really excell yourself in the gentle art of stretching the truth so thin it would slip through a door crack. Thinking about it for a job I'm applying for now, I realised I only really have one consistant hobby. (I don't think obsessing over dirty indie bands really counts) I've been upholding this particular passtime for about 8 or 9 years. I put a lot of money and effort into it. I try my damnest to enourage others to partake. In my humble opinion, its the best hobby a girl can have.
Can you guess what it is?

Rock the Vote!!

this is just a reminder to my fellow yamaguchian JETS-if you havent already, please nominate for the zenzen awards! why its a postively electric extravaganze of judegement! ^_^ and it will be all the more fun if more people participate. so far we've received about 25 nomination forms...we need more!!
you can find the original email in the yahoo group-send your form to
votezenzen@hotmail.com
or i'll hunt you down and sing smap songs in your ear!!

Tottori Sand Dunes

So its spring break and you're bored. you fancy seeing some of Japan. Whats the solution? road trip!!






















This was so worth 7 hours driving!^_^

Obligatory sakura photos

the alphabet according to my music player

tagged by angela...X X X

So apparently I have to go through my media player and put down the first band for every letter without just choosing the coolest one. thats fine as all my music is damn cool ^_~ (even if its in an ironic way)

A- Art Brut
B- Be Your Own Pet
C- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
D- Dandy Warhols
E- Elastica
F- French kicks
G- Graham Coxon
H- Hot Hot Heat
I- Idlewild
J- Junior Senior
K- Kaiser Chiefs
L- Lostprophets
M- Mike and the Mechanics (ok that is slightly embarrasing)
N- No Doubt
O- Oasis
P- Panic!At the Disco
Q- Queens of the Stone Age
R- Razorlight
S- Sparks
T- Test Icicles
U- Used
V- Violent Femmes
W- White Rose Movement
X- XTC
Y- yeah yeah yeahs
Z- Zebrahead

My name is...?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name)
Dave Nishiushiro

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on mother's side first name, favorite candy)
Irene Boost

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your last name)
K Ro

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite animal, name of high school maskot)
Detective Penguin ???

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Elizabeth Ashton (now thats got a ring to it!)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name)
Robbes Pip

7. JEDI NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards
htebazile kciwseb

8. PORN STAR NAME: (middle name, street you lived on)
Elizabeth Capesthorne

9. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, last product advertised that you remember on TV (or favorite) )
Pink Pocky

tagging- Lauren, Cindi, Matt, Dan and Angela ^_^

frenimies

The Ultimate Friend Survey
Girls
Whose your best friend?:	flowka (^_^)
Most outgoing?:	all the buggers! ...prob sarah or tash
Funniest?:	paul/keith/chris
Most caring?:	lauren
Friendliest?:	nat/simbo
Most trustworthy?:	caz
Who do you tell everything to?:	nat/sam
Who do you look up to the most?:	marco-he's wise!
Loudest?:	steph-an image of her yelling "oishisooo!!!" from a car window at an old man sticks in my mind!
Most annoying?:	my brother chris. although he's annoying in a funny way
Smartest?:	emma in an evil genius pretending to be dizzy way ^_~ and paul who actually has a massive brain
Prettiest?:	liz w, angela and mark b are all super purdey but all my pals are hot
Sluttiest?:	hughesy ^_~
Gangsterest?:	essex dave-he has bandanas
Best house?:	nat-mint view from her HK one and I've heard the Oz one is cool too
Best clothes?:	lucy. mint tights.
Nicest?:	in the pure, kind sense of nice, Holly
Craziest?:	"crazy aiji" in japan. clues in the name
Daredevil?:	tibetan dave will do anything for 50p
Nerdiest?:	my j-freind kayo studies waay too much
Most musical?:	pat
Most athletic?:	keith, master of spacker footie
Most dramatic?:	never a dull moment with charlie
Best singer?:	lauren "and all that jazz" campy
Worst singer?:	hmm after that purple rain fiasco marco!
Most embarrassing?:	i usually embarrass them...
Coolest family?:	keiko
Most boring?:	they can all go on a bit. joking! i dont have boring friends!
Whose your second best friend?:	pip (^_^)
Take this survey | Find more surveys You've been totally Bzoink*d

Off Our Tits on Tokyo!

For most people, Tokyo brings images of neon madness, urban sprawl, crazy fashion, getting cattle herded into trains, seedy used knicker pantie machines and high class hotels.Generally its thought of as a manic kitschy paradise/hell. deshou? Well I'd like to say I saw the real Tokyo and theres much more ot it. But that would be bollocks!Tokyo is bloody mental! Its madder than a imaginery friend convention! Theres more people crowding round a coffee machine at 4 am in harajuku than have been in Yanai-ever!The neon is brighter than the sun! The people mostly are dressed like members of Kiss on crack! The clubs are...you get the picture. I did not sleep before 5am every night. I did not stop my hands shaking until I'd had a beer the following day. I did, however, have a stonkingly good time! I'm blaming it all on Keith and Nick....



And the mad Tokyo people of course...Harajuku was everything I expected-mega cute gothy teens hanging out attempting to look nonchalant when they'd obviously spent hours getting ready...




















Evidence:My Uni freind Stevie has been there over 10 months and he's got way more mental...








One particularly memorable night will go down in history as the most fun karaoke ever or the night we got the staff of big echo into a lot of trouble...












After this 4 day binge we headed to the Mount Fuji area to dry out. The cute little ryokan, clear air and tranquil walks were like vix vapour rub on my partied out limbs...












Something to tick off the list of things to do in Japan-we hitched! Its soo easy and safe here! ^_^







It was a fabulous 6 days away. But now I need to lie down in the recovary position for at least 12 hours. This nations capital-off its tits.