Stumbleina: June 2006

RaNdOm ^o^

Recent Happenings...

-I seem to be putting off the process of leaving with a vengence. I haven't booked my ticket yet and I'm making a very half-arsed attempt at packing. sabishiku naru ne...

-I am witnessing my gaijin leaving freinds get past point the point of caring when being polite to the j-folk. It's hilarious.
missionary women: "Why did you come to Japan?"
Neal: "Well I heard that ninjas were still around and I had to see for myself."
Gold.

-I am loving the OC Season 3. Marissa is turning into a crackwhore! haha. Does anyoe else think that surfer dude Johnny is fit as?! (wouldn't kick woodchuck or whatever his name is out of bed either-mmm greasy!)

-Everyone should go to see baseball in Japan-you don't have to understand or even watch the game, its just a great oppertunity to get drunk cheaply in the sun in the afternoon and chant wildly ^_^

Huzzah!

marco being coy(to the cute seller)and me calling him a coy-carp (hiroshimas baseball team are the Hiroshima Carps). hahaha. i thought this was the funniest thing anyone ever said at the time.

Warts and All

Seenas a certain Mr Wilkinson has pointed out that a somewhat clean version of events is often portrayed on my blog, I've decided that before I leave, I will come clean about the seedier side of my adventures in Japan:
Coming soon... adventures in dating a small fry yakuza, bruises you cant explain to your students, having a female stalker and when props are needed in I Have Never.
Why do these things only seem to happen to me?!?

Things I Will Miss about Japan #10-Feeling Like I'm really Doing Something Worthwhile

This weekend was top fun from start to finish: Curi-chan's bday brought yukattas, way too much beer and dangerous liasons, camping was lovely and jazzed uo by the formation of a dance troop followed by onsen and great Japanese food with lots of fab freinds. ^_^
I am often aware that I have a very enjoyable life here. It's not always easy, but it is often rewarding and I feel like I'm really living.

Getting all dressed up J style

Happy bday Chris! nonde nonde...ect

no j-boy is safe from me and sarah..haha

new and old pals

nutters!

"its like we're back to the stone age!"

I don't know where I got the idea that I don't like the outdoors...

.....

Sparkle Motion Woods! (guess whose idea it was...)

Some (more) random photos of late...

Wouldn't everyone look better if they wore clip on bear ears all the time?

Lu is not impressed with the selection of j-porn at the local love hotel

i took this picture of a weird bondage doll and it came out with evil eyes! kowaii ne!

Images of Mad Japan

The Shortcut to Sincerity

Recently me and Marko realised that if you put your cheeks together in photos, it looks like you're the bestest mates in the world, like ever!

Heres the photographic evidence...

And it works even better if you open your mouth!

Things I Will Miss about Japan #9- Speciality Food

I love the fact that Japan has special types of food for each place you visit. They're often delicious and at least interesting. It makes trips more fun as you know you have to try the local delicacy-if only because everyone will ask you about it later! Not only is this food beautifully presented and individually wrapped, its also sometimes seasonal and often culturally significant.
My time here in Japan I have visited Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kurakawa, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Yakushima, Tokushima, Ehime, Matsuyama, Oita, Saga, Kagoshima and Tottori- phew! (Not to mention all over the 'guch) And I've enjoyed trying their different specialities-even if they were gross (not really a fan of any of the sweet bean paste stuff) It's forced me to broaden my pallette (who knew I would love takoyaki-octopus balls!)
Above is a picture of famous Japanese local specialities depicted through the meduim of cartoon cats.

Open minded?

You Are 68% Open Minded

You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

I think my openminded-ness (is that a word?) has at least doubled since i've come to Japan. A lot of prejudices and conceptions I had before have been inverted, or altered, at least explored. (even secret nasty ones I wouldn't ever admit to having)

Things I Will Miss about Japan #8--Singing Japanese songs at Karaoke! (or trying to...)

Through J-pals and the sheer frequency of my visits to Sound Street Yanai, I have (somewhat) been able to sing the following songs. They're cheesy, silly, nonsensical and brilliant
I had a vague idea to what the lyrics were about but the full tranlsation on these videos blew my mind!

Koda Kumi: Cutie Honey

Morning Musume: Love Machine

Orange Range-Hana (flower)

"Dark", "War" and "Cabbage"...

I had some interesting lessons today where the third year students at my base school wrote poems. They never fail to crack me up when they do this kind of creative writing but it was also quite a disturbing insight into a 14 year old Japanese students phyche.^.^
Some were simple and strangely cutting. I think Erin said it best when she commented that some of the most touching things she'd ever heard were written by japanese students as they cut through the wordiness of the native speaker to express the heart of the matter:

Today
Good Weather
Get Up
Good

Clouds
The white
And the grey
Floating in the sky
Mystery

Dream
Noone knows
was drowned in dream
Calmy

Some were a bit baffling...

Cabbage
Out of
Blue worm comes
"pi pi" father warm
Cute

Some were slightly disturbing...

Dark
Broken mind
Sad hard afraid
Fear from dark of
Fearful

Some were really quite moving...

War
I fear
Children baby elderly
Nucleur dissapear flame scream
Cry

and this is my personal favourite...

Toilet
Bad smelling
Giving wiping washing
I feel very good
Wonderful

Things I Will Miss about Japan #7- Living Close to a (beautiful) Coast!

"Blackie" mmm grey and dingy

When I was little we my family used to have weekend trips to Blackpool. The name kind of gives it away. Its good British seaside fun-littered with sex shops and hen/stag parties, overpriced food, tacky souveneers and grime. You're frankly a mentalist to go in the sea, not only beacuse its freezing all year but also beacuse its MINGING full of oil and waste and god knows what else...

Oshima-mmm gorgeus!
So one of the things I love about Japan is its beautiful coastline. The beaches are clean and pretty against the rocks and mountains-not a syringe in sight!