My body this year has seemed to become more susceptible to bacteria. I'm not sure what it is, but this is the third time this year I've needed a set of antibiotics, and it's probably been different antibiotics each time. But yeah, yesterday when I was at school I suddenly got really, really sick: the fever that came to my head was so severe that I was close to fainting, and I had to get someone at the office to take me to the hospital again. (In Japan, if you need to see a doctor, you go to the local hospital. Hence, you don't say you're going to the doctor's, but you say you're going to the 病院 (byouin, hospital)) So I slept on and off for about 14 to 15 hours from early last night to about 10:30 AM today, and I haven't slept since. I have to be awake at some point, right? Well, I've been taking the medicine and it's worked, so I'm a little better now, but still this sucks. For one thing, I intended to get a halloween costume yesterday, and I can't do that today either, because my family would be very concerned if I went out at this time. So I'm staying here. Another thing is that I can't watch the video I was intending to watch yesterday or today for Japanese class, on which I have a quiz tomorrow. So if I come to class tomorrow, which I probably will (I recover pretty quickly), well, yeah. I'll email my teacher about that tonight. Dammit, if I could go out I could probably rent the video or buy it really cheap, really quickly.
The cause of me getting sick might have been food poisoning. I don't know what it was, anyway. It came on pretty fast and for no evident reason. I thought the doctor said it was food poisoning from the fish I ate last night, though, and that caused some unwelcome confusion with my host family again. Oh, joy.
So I'm hoping not to miss Halloween. I'm probably in no shape to go partying, though. We've got a whole weekend, furthermore: not including tomorrow, this should be three good days of rest (and getting a midterm paper, an unexpectedly low five to six pages, done). Let me tell you, though: this DOES make me miss home. In those four or five episodes of sleep I had last night, I dreamt myself being in various places all related to home. No specific memories, though. I did however remember some of them the instant I woke up, but I forgot them over the course of the day. It's kind of sad that I forgot them, and I don't mean "it's kind of sad" in the sense that "it's pathetic" but rather in that it is a little sad.
But I'm recovering. I do want to go back to Kyoto this weekend; it seems like it's been at least 2 weeks!
jeudi, octobre 30
samedi, octobre 25
Part 2 over, begin Part 3
I was gonna start a freewrite with this right after the post where I talked about Part 2 beginning and where I implied I would only separate my Japan story into two parts, but Part 2 ended pretty quickly, and I can't remember for what specific reason I was thinking that. So I'll extend Part 2 to today and call it a transitional period, or a transitional Part if you will. This is the end of Midterm Week 1. Midterm Week 0 was last week. Midterm Week 2 is next week (i.e. there's no gap).
From the above, you might think it's kind of odd the way I think about things. Well, you're right. But it works out somehow.
Today, after a 10 AM midterm and a pretty interesting 1 PM sosh class, I played a little frisbee and went to Ring with a really big group of people whose number changed pretty much every 5 minutes. I came back with my clothes (including my hat) totally smelling like tobacco, and also my bag. But I will never forget singing 恋のダンスサイト, 恋愛レボリューション２１, and 恋のブチアゲ♂天国 with a bunch of Japanese girls that all knew the songs AND the dances to them. I won't ever!!! forget how they shouted out all the parts that were shouted out by the original singers perfectly and how they actually managed to hit the pitches. And all of this while dancing it all out. I love Japan. People sing, and they actually try genuinely to sing (and they do well at it) and have a good time, and they don't even have to drink to do it. Why is this awkward in America? Why??? Ah well...
If I don't return to Japan next semester, karaoke will definitely be one of the things I miss the most. By the way, I have some of that stuff on video, including the end half of 恋のダンスサイト, which is really, really entertaining. What a long note. Anyway, I'll try to put it online.
I also sang 夏祭り by Whiteberry and A.D.D.P. by m-flo loves MONDAY満ちる. I pretty much went through the list of tracks that I knew. The one with the ♂ symbol in it I sang last time, and it figures that Trey (who was the only one also there last time) walked in while we were singing it, when he didn't even do karaoke at all this time and accordingly hardly came to the room. ANYWAY, I'm tired, zzz-y from all of this typing and stuff. I tried to shampoo my hair in the toiletry sink (it's not in the "bathroom", as the toilet's not there and neither is the bath, so I can't really call it the bathroom sink) but that didn't get rid of the rancid tobacco smell. It will probably affect my breathing negatively tomorrow. Wow, I wonder how fresh the air will smell when I get back to America!
America, where I will still long for Japan. But I can't imagine how some of these professors have stayed here for years and years (e.g. 20 years) and never gone back. How's that possible?
It's bedtime, g'night.
-Alex
From the above, you might think it's kind of odd the way I think about things. Well, you're right. But it works out somehow.
Today, after a 10 AM midterm and a pretty interesting 1 PM sosh class, I played a little frisbee and went to Ring with a really big group of people whose number changed pretty much every 5 minutes. I came back with my clothes (including my hat) totally smelling like tobacco, and also my bag. But I will never forget singing 恋のダンスサイト, 恋愛レボリューション２１, and 恋のブチアゲ♂天国 with a bunch of Japanese girls that all knew the songs AND the dances to them. I won't ever!!! forget how they shouted out all the parts that were shouted out by the original singers perfectly and how they actually managed to hit the pitches. And all of this while dancing it all out. I love Japan. People sing, and they actually try genuinely to sing (and they do well at it) and have a good time, and they don't even have to drink to do it. Why is this awkward in America? Why??? Ah well...
If I don't return to Japan next semester, karaoke will definitely be one of the things I miss the most. By the way, I have some of that stuff on video, including the end half of 恋のダンスサイト, which is really, really entertaining. What a long note. Anyway, I'll try to put it online.
I also sang 夏祭り by Whiteberry and A.D.D.P. by m-flo loves MONDAY満ちる. I pretty much went through the list of tracks that I knew. The one with the ♂ symbol in it I sang last time, and it figures that Trey (who was the only one also there last time) walked in while we were singing it, when he didn't even do karaoke at all this time and accordingly hardly came to the room. ANYWAY, I'm tired, zzz-y from all of this typing and stuff. I tried to shampoo my hair in the toiletry sink (it's not in the "bathroom", as the toilet's not there and neither is the bath, so I can't really call it the bathroom sink) but that didn't get rid of the rancid tobacco smell. It will probably affect my breathing negatively tomorrow. Wow, I wonder how fresh the air will smell when I get back to America!
America, where I will still long for Japan. But I can't imagine how some of these professors have stayed here for years and years (e.g. 20 years) and never gone back. How's that possible?
It's bedtime, g'night.
-Alex
mardi, octobre 21
1, 2, 3, green light!
Greg told me he isn't going to France, or at least I'm pretty sure that's what he said. So that leaves me two options:
1) Stay here or 2) Continue
If you look at it from another perspective, though, it looks like this:
1) Continue or 2) Game over
Funny how that works. Well, I have until basically Friday afternoon to decide for real whether I'll go to Japan or France next semester. In other words, do I say goodbye to Japan too soon, or do I say goodbye to France too soon?
I think I'm going to say bye-bye to Japan, which is the financially unwise move. Although the geniuses running our country with no real check from the people seem to think that as long as the Euro falls with us we're fine, I somehow don't see us falling more slowly than the Euro. Either way, what they're saying is highly shallow, and it's going to hurt me as well as anyone else studying abroad from the US this year, whether in Japan or in France. The thing is it's so easy to get good deals in Japan, and everything's good here. It's probably going to be even better if I get an apartment or a (tiny) house here by myself and have full control over the dust situation.
And I have friends here. Although I certainly hang out more with foreigners than with Japanese people here, that'll probably change. And still, a lot of the people I know will be staying for two semesters. In France, it's going to be a lot harder to meet people, particularly if they're French, because of the way the school system works there. Over here, the point of studying here is to meet Japanese people if you're not Japanese, and to meet foreigners if you are Japanese. Well, at least that's one of the big points. In France, though, I'll be taking classes in French with French people, and people generally go to and leave French classes with their friends. Hard to break through that.
Anyway, even blogging about this is taking away from my valuable Japan time, which is valuable regardless of whether I stay another semester. I thought about going to Fushimi-inari again today, because it's just that great, but yeah, I woke up late (no classes until 4 PM today!!!), and I'm blogging right now; oops. The question is whether I'll make that time even more precious or not.
I like how they force you to submit your decision on whether to stay during midterms week. I think they're trying to make people leave, haha, to clear up space for more people to come the next semester.
But I don't want to leave.
1) Stay here or 2) Continue
If you look at it from another perspective, though, it looks like this:
1) Continue or 2) Game over
Funny how that works. Well, I have until basically Friday afternoon to decide for real whether I'll go to Japan or France next semester. In other words, do I say goodbye to Japan too soon, or do I say goodbye to France too soon?
I think I'm going to say bye-bye to Japan, which is the financially unwise move. Although the geniuses running our country with no real check from the people seem to think that as long as the Euro falls with us we're fine, I somehow don't see us falling more slowly than the Euro. Either way, what they're saying is highly shallow, and it's going to hurt me as well as anyone else studying abroad from the US this year, whether in Japan or in France. The thing is it's so easy to get good deals in Japan, and everything's good here. It's probably going to be even better if I get an apartment or a (tiny) house here by myself and have full control over the dust situation.
And I have friends here. Although I certainly hang out more with foreigners than with Japanese people here, that'll probably change. And still, a lot of the people I know will be staying for two semesters. In France, it's going to be a lot harder to meet people, particularly if they're French, because of the way the school system works there. Over here, the point of studying here is to meet Japanese people if you're not Japanese, and to meet foreigners if you are Japanese. Well, at least that's one of the big points. In France, though, I'll be taking classes in French with French people, and people generally go to and leave French classes with their friends. Hard to break through that.
Anyway, even blogging about this is taking away from my valuable Japan time, which is valuable regardless of whether I stay another semester. I thought about going to Fushimi-inari again today, because it's just that great, but yeah, I woke up late (no classes until 4 PM today!!!), and I'm blogging right now; oops. The question is whether I'll make that time even more precious or not.
I like how they force you to submit your decision on whether to stay during midterms week. I think they're trying to make people leave, haha, to clear up space for more people to come the next semester.
But I don't want to leave.
samedi, octobre 18
Consider myself lucky
There are times when I'm so at peace here, and there are times when I'm so not. Unfortunately, the latter times hit unpredictably, and they usually have to do with allergies here at home. But tonight I was still at peace, even though that almost didn't remain through the night. Yes. I can control my 感動!
Today I went to school on a 4-2 night, which is basically when I get 4 hours of sleep, wake up due to allergies, and then get two more hours, instead of sleeping 8 all the way through. Then, frisbee from 2:20 to 4:50, a break, some more frisbee, dinner, and karaoke at this awesome place I had actually not been to yet called Ring. Ann and I sang みかん by モーニング娘。, and I introduced the guys (and gals) to 恋のぶちあげトランス or whatever the hell it's called by Maeken Trance Project. Also involved in the fun were songs like Everytime We Touch by Cascada, Across the Sea by Weezer (THANK YOU Colin for introducing me to that hilarious song), I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance (my fault), and several other tunes I really can't remember. We loved those songs! Or at least singing them. And by God, my voice will be gone in the morning.
After complications, we ended up all going to the Seminar Houses, and I ended up riding back and not really staying around there because, um, there aren't any bathroom facilities over there that are available to me. I'm not allowed in the Seminar Houses as a guest after 11 or 10 or whatever and I don't want to be thrown out of Japan because I was pissing in a bush. That would just be dumb. So I'm still here. Yay!
What's funny is, I did end up going to Starbucks Coffee and getting a decent blueberry muffin just before I headed home. The thing is, regular blueberry muffins in the U.S. are generally crap, because they end up putting too much artificial stuff and fat into it to try to make it taste better, when the effect is it tastes worse and you feel bad for eating it. Not here. Thank God for Japan.
And again, this is another one of those days where I can't imagine myself leaving here. And I'm not entirely convinced that I should. I've gotten over the minor and major crises that I've come across here so well, and I really haven't made a good, good Japanese friend yet that I keep in contact with fairly consistently and go out places with on weekends. There's frisbee, but outside of frisbee I barely see the Japanese people I know from there. We'll see how it goes later. It's hard to make friendships with people with whom communication is slower than usual, I think. Or maybe I'm just shy.
I think it's that. Time to get over my shyness. We'll see.
I noticed when I lifted my shirt up in the mirror of one of the school bathrooms to, well, check myself out (I'm somewhat vain), that I look paler than usual under there, under the shirt I mean. I really do wonder what's happened to my weight. I can't really be sure, but the size of my stomach hasn't changed relative to the size of other parts of my body. That is, it may not be the only thing that's shrinking. Oh, Japan. You really do have to shrink sometimes to adjust to this society.
I'm rambling. But what can I say? I'm satisfied. I really need to take a shower, though.
NAH.
Bed!
Alex
Today I went to school on a 4-2 night, which is basically when I get 4 hours of sleep, wake up due to allergies, and then get two more hours, instead of sleeping 8 all the way through. Then, frisbee from 2:20 to 4:50, a break, some more frisbee, dinner, and karaoke at this awesome place I had actually not been to yet called Ring. Ann and I sang みかん by モーニング娘。, and I introduced the guys (and gals) to 恋のぶちあげトランス or whatever the hell it's called by Maeken Trance Project. Also involved in the fun were songs like Everytime We Touch by Cascada, Across the Sea by Weezer (THANK YOU Colin for introducing me to that hilarious song), I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance (my fault), and several other tunes I really can't remember. We loved those songs! Or at least singing them. And by God, my voice will be gone in the morning.
After complications, we ended up all going to the Seminar Houses, and I ended up riding back and not really staying around there because, um, there aren't any bathroom facilities over there that are available to me. I'm not allowed in the Seminar Houses as a guest after 11 or 10 or whatever and I don't want to be thrown out of Japan because I was pissing in a bush. That would just be dumb. So I'm still here. Yay!
What's funny is, I did end up going to Starbucks Coffee and getting a decent blueberry muffin just before I headed home. The thing is, regular blueberry muffins in the U.S. are generally crap, because they end up putting too much artificial stuff and fat into it to try to make it taste better, when the effect is it tastes worse and you feel bad for eating it. Not here. Thank God for Japan.
And again, this is another one of those days where I can't imagine myself leaving here. And I'm not entirely convinced that I should. I've gotten over the minor and major crises that I've come across here so well, and I really haven't made a good, good Japanese friend yet that I keep in contact with fairly consistently and go out places with on weekends. There's frisbee, but outside of frisbee I barely see the Japanese people I know from there. We'll see how it goes later. It's hard to make friendships with people with whom communication is slower than usual, I think. Or maybe I'm just shy.
I think it's that. Time to get over my shyness. We'll see.
I noticed when I lifted my shirt up in the mirror of one of the school bathrooms to, well, check myself out (I'm somewhat vain), that I look paler than usual under there, under the shirt I mean. I really do wonder what's happened to my weight. I can't really be sure, but the size of my stomach hasn't changed relative to the size of other parts of my body. That is, it may not be the only thing that's shrinking. Oh, Japan. You really do have to shrink sometimes to adjust to this society.
I'm rambling. But what can I say? I'm satisfied. I really need to take a shower, though.
NAH.
Bed!
Alex
jeudi, octobre 16
Part 2 coming up.
I'm talking to two people on Facebook, and it's a pain clicking on the taskbar each time to switch language input. Anyone know a better way to do that?
I think it's time to note that the end of the first half, well, first big chunk of my Japan trip is coming near. I had my first midterm today, and the three other classes basically have two midterms each, so that'll all go *boom* on me.
I've been to several places, and I will certainly add more. Have I described them like people would on other travel blogs? No. I never claimed this blog was geared to that purpose. If you look at my title, what it means is "my strong feelings in Japan." Japan is merely the object of a preposition. And I will admit I didn't expect to come to Japan becoming completely a part of it, completely immersed in the society, completely distanced from my home. I don't think that would've been possible even had I tried really, really hard. But how do you do that? That's sort of something that just happens, and it certainly doesn't happen in only a semester.
Only a semester. Haha, I go back and forth thinking about whether I should stay or go. I could make some pretty good friendships here. You think Tufts is good for diversity and international representation? That's nothing compared to this place. I'm meeting so many wildly different people here, it's quite incredible. And yet, I don't think this place can contain me; or, rather, I'm not sure I want to let this place continue to contain me.
I'll revisit the legendary Japanese silence: I think I spoke about how so many of the professors at Gaidai are reputed to just ramble on forever, and I believe I blogged about how they seem to be trying to fill in the silence left by everyone else in Japan. It's profoundly silent here, and that doesn't fit with me. But maybe the silence is good just for now. Obviously, though, if you know me, you know that's not what I'm used to. I miss being obnoxious to Brian and Galen and listening to my music on my awesome desktop computer speakers while they tried to work or play computer games. I miss just randomly playing on pianos when I wanted to. Hell, I missed that when I was at Tufts! The pianos were so far away I couldn't gather the will necessary to get to them. The music has gone silent for awhile, but every wave needs a lull. We'll see.
There's a piano in the student-club building's lounge, and a couple of my friends here asked me to play on it; one of them had been playing on it and he wanted to see how I played. Now, normally, I'm modest, but I don't think I have EVER played piano better than I did right then, at least not in recent years. I really have got to get back to it. I think I was just fully relaxed and satisfied there. I have become more relaxed and satisfied over these last years, and Kansai certainly fits in that pattern. But I played the hardest part of that piece exactly how I wanted to, and it all flowed together so easily and so well. How come I can't make DDR steps like that anymore? Oh, well; I'll gladly trade my interest in making DDR steps to songs for getting reinterested in piano. However, I still want to play DDR, of course, haha.
I find it funny how my piano ability has, aside from the obviously important technique part, really grown and matured (according to my piano teacher, and I now think she's right and not just being encouraging), even though I have hardly at all practiced it over these last two and a half years that I've been at university. I get a decent amount in over the summers, but aside from that, it's not great. And by "decent," I mean by today's standards. Classical music, regrettably or not, is very much tied to the time period that produced it. And that time period was a lot more uneven than today's, of course. Wait, is that true outside of the context I gave it? Is it even true in that context?
You know that when I start asking questions it's time to end the blog post, or the freewrite in older, better terms. But never let freewrites end.
Good night!
Alex
I think it's time to note that the end of the first half, well, first big chunk of my Japan trip is coming near. I had my first midterm today, and the three other classes basically have two midterms each, so that'll all go *boom* on me.
I've been to several places, and I will certainly add more. Have I described them like people would on other travel blogs? No. I never claimed this blog was geared to that purpose. If you look at my title, what it means is "my strong feelings in Japan." Japan is merely the object of a preposition. And I will admit I didn't expect to come to Japan becoming completely a part of it, completely immersed in the society, completely distanced from my home. I don't think that would've been possible even had I tried really, really hard. But how do you do that? That's sort of something that just happens, and it certainly doesn't happen in only a semester.
Only a semester. Haha, I go back and forth thinking about whether I should stay or go. I could make some pretty good friendships here. You think Tufts is good for diversity and international representation? That's nothing compared to this place. I'm meeting so many wildly different people here, it's quite incredible. And yet, I don't think this place can contain me; or, rather, I'm not sure I want to let this place continue to contain me.
I'll revisit the legendary Japanese silence: I think I spoke about how so many of the professors at Gaidai are reputed to just ramble on forever, and I believe I blogged about how they seem to be trying to fill in the silence left by everyone else in Japan. It's profoundly silent here, and that doesn't fit with me. But maybe the silence is good just for now. Obviously, though, if you know me, you know that's not what I'm used to. I miss being obnoxious to Brian and Galen and listening to my music on my awesome desktop computer speakers while they tried to work or play computer games. I miss just randomly playing on pianos when I wanted to. Hell, I missed that when I was at Tufts! The pianos were so far away I couldn't gather the will necessary to get to them. The music has gone silent for awhile, but every wave needs a lull. We'll see.
There's a piano in the student-club building's lounge, and a couple of my friends here asked me to play on it; one of them had been playing on it and he wanted to see how I played. Now, normally, I'm modest, but I don't think I have EVER played piano better than I did right then, at least not in recent years. I really have got to get back to it. I think I was just fully relaxed and satisfied there. I have become more relaxed and satisfied over these last years, and Kansai certainly fits in that pattern. But I played the hardest part of that piece exactly how I wanted to, and it all flowed together so easily and so well. How come I can't make DDR steps like that anymore? Oh, well; I'll gladly trade my interest in making DDR steps to songs for getting reinterested in piano. However, I still want to play DDR, of course, haha.
I find it funny how my piano ability has, aside from the obviously important technique part, really grown and matured (according to my piano teacher, and I now think she's right and not just being encouraging), even though I have hardly at all practiced it over these last two and a half years that I've been at university. I get a decent amount in over the summers, but aside from that, it's not great. And by "decent," I mean by today's standards. Classical music, regrettably or not, is very much tied to the time period that produced it. And that time period was a lot more uneven than today's, of course. Wait, is that true outside of the context I gave it? Is it even true in that context?
You know that when I start asking questions it's time to end the blog post, or the freewrite in older, better terms. But never let freewrites end.
Good night!
Alex
mercredi, octobre 15
Titled
Okay, I feel better now, very much thanks to Justine hearing me out. As for the dust thing, if the need be, I will find a maverick way to rid my bed covers of dust. I'm planning on getting a lint remover. :)
Or something. And as for everything else that'd been stressing me out, that's all talked out now and it's fine. Now I have to cut my words short, because I've got a good amount of studying to do for the first time since this summer when I was doing math research.
Peace, holmes.
Or something. And as for everything else that'd been stressing me out, that's all talked out now and it's fine. Now I have to cut my words short, because I've got a good amount of studying to do for the first time since this summer when I was doing math research.
Peace, holmes.
mardi, octobre 14
Again.
This isn't good.
My host family doesn't understand that dust falls on bedsheets. How is this hard to understand? The fact that the futon cover is atop a mattress instead of on the floor does not mean it hasn't accumulated a shitload of dust since I've been here. And the fact that you're too afraid to stray from this principle of "we know we're right" and help me clean it (e.g. beat the dust out of it) is something I find really rude. Thanks, host family.
When (it's "when" now) I get to France I'm definitely not living with a host family. I've had enough of this. Here, they cook me meals and talk to me in Japanese every morning and every evening, and that's just about all the positive interaction I have with them. What was the point of this? I don't need it. I'm going to give this another week and if I get tired of the dust I am moving out or grilling the CIE office to tell me what a Japanese equivalent to Claritin or Alavert is. You know what? I don't feel like putting up with that either.
Oh, wait. There probably isn't enough room in the Seminar Houses for me to stay there. Whatever. Then I guess I'm staying here.
This isn't the only thing I'm frustrated about, but it's the final straw. I don't know what to do from here.
My host family doesn't understand that dust falls on bedsheets. How is this hard to understand? The fact that the futon cover is atop a mattress instead of on the floor does not mean it hasn't accumulated a shitload of dust since I've been here. And the fact that you're too afraid to stray from this principle of "we know we're right" and help me clean it (e.g. beat the dust out of it) is something I find really rude. Thanks, host family.
When (it's "when" now) I get to France I'm definitely not living with a host family. I've had enough of this. Here, they cook me meals and talk to me in Japanese every morning and every evening, and that's just about all the positive interaction I have with them. What was the point of this? I don't need it. I'm going to give this another week and if I get tired of the dust I am moving out or grilling the CIE office to tell me what a Japanese equivalent to Claritin or Alavert is. You know what? I don't feel like putting up with that either.
Oh, wait. There probably isn't enough room in the Seminar Houses for me to stay there. Whatever. Then I guess I'm staying here.
This isn't the only thing I'm frustrated about, but it's the final straw. I don't know what to do from here.
lundi, octobre 13
Can't... disconnect... and [something else I forgot]
A song completely pervasive to my head recently has been "Miss Independent" by Ne-Yo. What's the song like? In short, Ne-Yo fails again. This is yet another one of his songs that's catchy, but completely fails to meet its potential, with a bridge and a chorus that don't really go anywhere, and yet another instrumental track produced by StarGate, a Norwegian pair that manages to sound the same all the time. You know them from managing to release three huge similar-sounding hits in the USA in way too short of a span of time, considering how obvious it was that they produced the tracks: "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé, "Tattoo" by Jordin Sparks, and "With You" by Chris Brown. All masterpieces of mediocrity. That trifecta is my go-to example for how to characterize American music nowadays and explain why I'm disappointed in it.
And yet, I constantly go back to Ms. Independent in my head. She's just there; I don't know. And you know, sometimes it's those tracks I'm really disappointed in at first that I come to really cherish. This might be one of them. But listening to it on Youtube with headphones right now, I'm still a little disappointed. Maybe--maybe I turn it into something else entirely in my head, and that's what I enjoy hearing. Or maybe the repetition of the relatively ho-hum melodies is extremely satisfying for some reason, extremely relaxing? I don't know. Maybe I'm just addicted to going nowhere, since this song repeats and goes nowhere...
Let's speak about going nowhere.
In a lot of ways, I have become completely disconnected from the world I knew; that is, America. I've realized how much more I care about things like the principles of the American Revolution and the original Constitution of the United States than do people like, for instance, our President and the Congress which surrended its powers to him. I speak to my friends and family at home at most once a week, if once every two. In reality, those friends and family are separated too: Some are in Massachusetts, back where I was from (wow, "was from"; I'm still from there, but you'd use the past tense for this in Japanese, and in fact it's gone to this reality in my head, perhaps), but the rest are separated all over the country, and let's not forget about Canada too. They're in Missouri, Oklahoma (actually, a couple of my aunts and one of my uncles went with my grandmother to visit my uncle down there this week), British Columbia, New York, North Carolina, and Western Massachusetts might as well be considered a separate state altogether. But if we gauge the potential for feeling separated from one's friends and family by the distance separated, and we call that a sort of potential energy, well, it shows that the amount of potential energy I have means I better not fall. Ahh, if
you're not much for physics you won't get that.
But there's a part of me that wants to disconnect and see what happens. I mean, that's what studying abroad is all about, right?
I don't think I've done that yet. I've gone back to frisbee, I've hardly hung out with Japanese people I know, and I've gone back to fearing my next midterm, even though it doesn't affect my GPA. And I've gone back to listening to American music. Headphones can't make the effect than a car stereo can make on your mind. But yeah, I'm back to American substitutes, just like some people go to sugar-free things that should never have ever been sugar-free.
The amount of energy I (don't, as you'd say in French) have is rather low. I don't know why biking takes so much out of me. Also, either my hamstring or my hip flexor is just waiting for an opportunity to go bust on me, and I'm really scared of what would happen if it does. There have been a few times at frisbee where I've feared turning on my right leg because of what it could do to whatever the hell part it is up there that isn't doing so great. And yes, I will admit I haven't the slightest clue about anatomy, so the terminology I just used might have been a little out of place. Well, picture whatever the correct thing is being out of place. There you go.
At least "Here I Am" by Rick Ross has been a relatively adequate song lately to groove to and to reinvent in my mind. Every superwoman needs a superman-- here I am!!! Even though Rick rhymes "financial aid" with "financial aid" and "mom" with "mom," it's still a great song, and Nelly helps it out a lot. Hmm, the scary thing about listening to headphones is not hearing your host family when they're calling for you and being surprised when they open the door; that'd be an oops. Hasn't happened.
We went to Osaka today to see this Sky Tower thing and Shinsaibashi, which was absolutely amazing. They had a haircut place there for only 1000 yen!! That's amazing in this country! But by 7:00 I was so tired I could not function. I went somewhat バナナ (banana) in my head for the remainder of the trip, so I was very anti-me and felt bad for that. I needed either dinner or an intense sugar overdose. Actually, it's the sugar that I really need to intake much more than I currently do. And fruits. Fruits.
I saw this shirt a month and a half ago that said this:
WEEKEND PASSION
SELECT THE FRUIT
Yeah, I need that kind of fruit too.
And yet, I constantly go back to Ms. Independent in my head. She's just there; I don't know. And you know, sometimes it's those tracks I'm really disappointed in at first that I come to really cherish. This might be one of them. But listening to it on Youtube with headphones right now, I'm still a little disappointed. Maybe--maybe I turn it into something else entirely in my head, and that's what I enjoy hearing. Or maybe the repetition of the relatively ho-hum melodies is extremely satisfying for some reason, extremely relaxing? I don't know. Maybe I'm just addicted to going nowhere, since this song repeats and goes nowhere...
Let's speak about going nowhere.
In a lot of ways, I have become completely disconnected from the world I knew; that is, America. I've realized how much more I care about things like the principles of the American Revolution and the original Constitution of the United States than do people like, for instance, our President and the Congress which surrended its powers to him. I speak to my friends and family at home at most once a week, if once every two. In reality, those friends and family are separated too: Some are in Massachusetts, back where I was from (wow, "was from"; I'm still from there, but you'd use the past tense for this in Japanese, and in fact it's gone to this reality in my head, perhaps), but the rest are separated all over the country, and let's not forget about Canada too. They're in Missouri, Oklahoma (actually, a couple of my aunts and one of my uncles went with my grandmother to visit my uncle down there this week), British Columbia, New York, North Carolina, and Western Massachusetts might as well be considered a separate state altogether. But if we gauge the potential for feeling separated from one's friends and family by the distance separated, and we call that a sort of potential energy, well, it shows that the amount of potential energy I have means I better not fall. Ahh, if
you're not much for physics you won't get that.
But there's a part of me that wants to disconnect and see what happens. I mean, that's what studying abroad is all about, right?
I don't think I've done that yet. I've gone back to frisbee, I've hardly hung out with Japanese people I know, and I've gone back to fearing my next midterm, even though it doesn't affect my GPA. And I've gone back to listening to American music. Headphones can't make the effect than a car stereo can make on your mind. But yeah, I'm back to American substitutes, just like some people go to sugar-free things that should never have ever been sugar-free.
The amount of energy I (don't, as you'd say in French) have is rather low. I don't know why biking takes so much out of me. Also, either my hamstring or my hip flexor is just waiting for an opportunity to go bust on me, and I'm really scared of what would happen if it does. There have been a few times at frisbee where I've feared turning on my right leg because of what it could do to whatever the hell part it is up there that isn't doing so great. And yes, I will admit I haven't the slightest clue about anatomy, so the terminology I just used might have been a little out of place. Well, picture whatever the correct thing is being out of place. There you go.
At least "Here I Am" by Rick Ross has been a relatively adequate song lately to groove to and to reinvent in my mind. Every superwoman needs a superman-- here I am!!! Even though Rick rhymes "financial aid" with "financial aid" and "mom" with "mom," it's still a great song, and Nelly helps it out a lot. Hmm, the scary thing about listening to headphones is not hearing your host family when they're calling for you and being surprised when they open the door; that'd be an oops. Hasn't happened.
We went to Osaka today to see this Sky Tower thing and Shinsaibashi, which was absolutely amazing. They had a haircut place there for only 1000 yen!! That's amazing in this country! But by 7:00 I was so tired I could not function. I went somewhat バナナ (banana) in my head for the remainder of the trip, so I was very anti-me and felt bad for that. I needed either dinner or an intense sugar overdose. Actually, it's the sugar that I really need to intake much more than I currently do. And fruits. Fruits.
I saw this shirt a month and a half ago that said this:
Yeah, I need that kind of fruit too.
samedi, octobre 11
My 絶対たぶん fight to get Claritin in Japan
I, awake, can't imagine I'm leaving this place. But that's what I do every night.
That's what my subconscious does to me while I sleep. Last night, I dreamed I was back home again, but the details I've forgotten. All I know is that it felt like it was too early and that I should've extended my stay. The night before that, I dreamt I had lost 20 pounds after having come back to Japan. (That, sirs and mesdames, would've made me 116 pounds or so. For the layman that's 52 kg, about.) But after that the focus was more on me being back home. I skip Vancouver in my dream and go directly to Boston, or rather to my hometown; no, it's actually some faraway land that just isn't Japan. And I thought this was faraway enough.
Should I stay another semester? I really shouldn't. But when you're having such a good time, and living such a good life (I knock on wood as I say this), can you imagine it otherwise?
Tonight, I met a guy whose name was Yuuta. He wore a cap that said "Fuck The World" and sang a song called "Million Films" by コブクロ. A group of high-school or college girls walking by burst out into a part of the song as he strummed it out on his guitar. It was pretty clear that he was partially playing to get stress out of his system, but he was still doing a good job of making a pretty song out of it. After he was done, I biked over from the somewhat distant spot where I'd been listening and complimented him on his performance. I told him よかったですね and 上手ですね and asked him what the song and artist were. My main intention, though, was to try to find out how or whether I could get a chance to hear the girl with the amazing voice sing again. He'd been playing in the same spot. Unfortunately, he didn't know the girl, but he was aware of two girls that sing where he does, so that means I do have a chance of hearing her again. Oh God, please. That would make my day, whatever day it happens to be. And, recalling that it was either a Saturday or a long-weekend Sunday night that I saw her, I'll try to ride there on such nights again.
Now that I think of it, she's the only girl I can recall seeing performing in the whole area downtown. Most of the musicians there are guys. Yuuta, like that girl, didn't have a basket for people to throw money in either.
Sigh. It's so good here. When I say "here," you can't forget about time. There's no time like college time, so when you think about actually working in Japan later in life, well, it looks more and more difficult to see this experience being possible to relive. And why not stay here and make it longer? I've got some good friends here, and a few of the closest ones are staying the whole year. Wow; I almost ended that sentence with "as well." What's going on?
As for the title, I can go over that stuff later, but this is the stuff that has just come to the top of my mind. For sure I don't want to try to "max out" my experience by living on the edge, getting less sleep than I should and trying to do everything and go everywhere and party and drink too much. I shouldn't try to "max out" the moderation, however. And by "moderation" I mean trying to live a moderate lifestyle that has both some of the crazy and some of the safety. Pardon the Engrish; actually, no. That's exactly what I mean. I don't want to have to constantly correct my situation here like I would with grammar in my sentences. Part of me wants to just let things play out the way they are, and that's how I've learned to roll, and that's why most of this experience has been so easy for me. I try to fix a few mistakes, and I realize that some mistakes can just be left mistakes and I go on. That's how you communicate in a language when you're not fluent in it. Unfortunately, I am fluent in English, so leaving sentences uncorrected like that would ordinarily bug and distract me from thoughts more important. But not tonight.
Tonight I want to try to sleep easy. Again. That is, I want to try again. At least with sleep you get so many chances to get it right. Ah, sleep. Oh, and I did sleep easy last night.
Time to let the thoughts float... perhaps tomorrow (today) I will talk about my trip to Kyoto... or my 絶対たぶん fight to get Claritin (or its equivalent) in Japan...
Also, today, I saw a shirt that said "I DON'T MISSING YOU" with a tiger on it. It was a hilarious shirt, but I decided it wouldn't look good on me (especially not in the lounge at school with Japanese people that would understand that the shirt is bad English and I'm making fun of it by wearing it) so I didn't buy it. I probably should've, and I might do that if I go back there. Shit, why didn't I take a picture?
Never mind. Next time. Until then, I don't missing you. (じょうだん。[translation: it's a joke.])
That's what my subconscious does to me while I sleep. Last night, I dreamed I was back home again, but the details I've forgotten. All I know is that it felt like it was too early and that I should've extended my stay. The night before that, I dreamt I had lost 20 pounds after having come back to Japan. (That, sirs and mesdames, would've made me 116 pounds or so. For the layman that's 52 kg, about.) But after that the focus was more on me being back home. I skip Vancouver in my dream and go directly to Boston, or rather to my hometown; no, it's actually some faraway land that just isn't Japan. And I thought this was faraway enough.
Should I stay another semester? I really shouldn't. But when you're having such a good time, and living such a good life (I knock on wood as I say this), can you imagine it otherwise?
Tonight, I met a guy whose name was Yuuta. He wore a cap that said "Fuck The World" and sang a song called "Million Films" by コブクロ. A group of high-school or college girls walking by burst out into a part of the song as he strummed it out on his guitar. It was pretty clear that he was partially playing to get stress out of his system, but he was still doing a good job of making a pretty song out of it. After he was done, I biked over from the somewhat distant spot where I'd been listening and complimented him on his performance. I told him よかったですね and 上手ですね and asked him what the song and artist were. My main intention, though, was to try to find out how or whether I could get a chance to hear the girl with the amazing voice sing again. He'd been playing in the same spot. Unfortunately, he didn't know the girl, but he was aware of two girls that sing where he does, so that means I do have a chance of hearing her again. Oh God, please. That would make my day, whatever day it happens to be. And, recalling that it was either a Saturday or a long-weekend Sunday night that I saw her, I'll try to ride there on such nights again.
Now that I think of it, she's the only girl I can recall seeing performing in the whole area downtown. Most of the musicians there are guys. Yuuta, like that girl, didn't have a basket for people to throw money in either.
Sigh. It's so good here. When I say "here," you can't forget about time. There's no time like college time, so when you think about actually working in Japan later in life, well, it looks more and more difficult to see this experience being possible to relive. And why not stay here and make it longer? I've got some good friends here, and a few of the closest ones are staying the whole year. Wow; I almost ended that sentence with "as well." What's going on?
As for the title, I can go over that stuff later, but this is the stuff that has just come to the top of my mind. For sure I don't want to try to "max out" my experience by living on the edge, getting less sleep than I should and trying to do everything and go everywhere and party and drink too much. I shouldn't try to "max out" the moderation, however. And by "moderation" I mean trying to live a moderate lifestyle that has both some of the crazy and some of the safety. Pardon the Engrish; actually, no. That's exactly what I mean. I don't want to have to constantly correct my situation here like I would with grammar in my sentences. Part of me wants to just let things play out the way they are, and that's how I've learned to roll, and that's why most of this experience has been so easy for me. I try to fix a few mistakes, and I realize that some mistakes can just be left mistakes and I go on. That's how you communicate in a language when you're not fluent in it. Unfortunately, I am fluent in English, so leaving sentences uncorrected like that would ordinarily bug and distract me from thoughts more important. But not tonight.
Tonight I want to try to sleep easy. Again. That is, I want to try again. At least with sleep you get so many chances to get it right. Ah, sleep. Oh, and I did sleep easy last night.
Time to let the thoughts float... perhaps tomorrow (today) I will talk about my trip to Kyoto... or my 絶対たぶん fight to get Claritin (or its equivalent) in Japan...
Also, today, I saw a shirt that said "I DON'T MISSING YOU" with a tiger on it. It was a hilarious shirt, but I decided it wouldn't look good on me (especially not in the lounge at school with Japanese people that would understand that the shirt is bad English and I'm making fun of it by wearing it) so I didn't buy it. I probably should've, and I might do that if I go back there. Shit, why didn't I take a picture?
Never mind. Next time. Until then, I don't missing you. (じょうだん。[translation: it's a joke.])
lundi, octobre 6
Encore une fois
Il y a parfois des temps où il faut s'arrêter et se faire récupérer. This was one of those times. I have an embarrassing amount of tissues in my room and I'm smuggling them out, so to speak, of my room, and throwing them out in the trash bins on campus. The reason for this is that I fear that if I asked my family to throw it out, I'd have to sort through it for plastic and reassure them that it was all 100% "burnable waste." This is obviously not something I want to deal with. Besides, the amount of tissues is staggering even for a 外人（がいじん = gaijin = foreigner).
Yes, I was pretty sick, but only for about three days. I would be fully recovered now except that now my room is full of tissue dust and ragweed dust, the latter of which I am quite allergic to. I'm getting an allergy test tomorrow, gladly.
Yesterday, I went to see a show at the Takarazuka Revue. Takarazuka is famous for being an all-female performance group that caters mainly to married Japanese women who are totally disconnected from their unromantic and always-working husbands. It suffices to say that the performance was not good.
First of all, they choose one person to be the Big Star, who has the lead male role in basically every show. It seems like they choose that star based on how pretty the person is and not based on how much they actually might sound like a man, because she was trying way too hard to sound like one. It wasn't right for her voice, and the whole thing was just totally awkward, especially because I was still kind of sick and wanted to blow my nose, which is rude in public.
The responses by the audience seemed mechanical. Frighteningly mechanical. I don't understand how everyone knew to start clapping on a fast quarter beat the instant this one song began (and they didn't do this for every song either!). There might have been a lot of people seeing this show for the eighth time. Also, I feel like the amount of clapping didn't actually depend on how good the performance was, because I felt that there were some performances that merited more of an applause than the others, but that got a markedly short applause. I feel like in America this is different--you know when something deserves more applause. Also, there was no wild cheering or whistling or "WOO"-ing, despite that Takarazuka is famous for its die-hard fans that go to great lengths to work for their beloved stars.
The performances weren't spectacular either. I missed a lot, at least in the first play, due to not understanding a lot of what was being said. Nonetheless, it's obvious that this wouldn't appeal to me at all anyway. According to my host mother, the rest of my 時代(jidai, generation) doesn't really get it either. The dancing could be a lot more interesting, especially; the entire second part, entitled "Dancing for You," was all song-and-dance, with more of the latter than the former. Apparently when this troupe performed in London, the critics tore it apart, and I can see why. It just has a very, very specific target audience, and the more that Japan starts to shift into a society where both spouses work, the more its audience is going to dwindle.
The day before was much more fun. I went to this place called 伏見稲荷大社(ふしみいなりたいしゃ, fushimi-inari taisha) with a couple of girls (represent Lou from Tufts!!), and because we went rather late, we were there for sunset and the early, dark evening. That was the most beautiful thing in the world. Fushimi-inari is connu (famous) for its obnoxious amount of orange gates; well, its obnoxiously beautiful amount of orange gates. They are everywhere, and this being a Shinto shrine, it's open twenty-four hours. There are tons of family shrines everywhere; it's rather unbelievable.
There was one point at which I was walking through the woods, and I half-anticipated, as the sun kept sinking in the Eastern sky, that I would suddenly come to find myself in the middle of the Forest in Graafschap, Michigan, or whatever it was called, and then I would find myself behind that huge sandy slope, and then I'd climb it, and find myself in the bowl dune again... and then the beach... on Lake Michigan..
Everything was possible in that moment. And as I continued to walk through that enormous shrine, whose paths winded their way up and along a mountain, the scents and incenses evoked a thousand memories from far away, and I could live them all again, right then and there. I think I'm going again.
Is it better to be home and not be able to relive memories from the past, or to be away and relive them? That was the question I think all of my literature classes asked me last year. I always gave the first answer. But sometimes the second answer, as a vacation, is incredible.
I just had a flash of somewhere I've been before. Where was it? It came from the song I'm listening to. Perhaps it's Sunday River, in Maine. It might've been Whistler, too. Yes, I think it was Whistler.
All those memories are all the same, though, in all their perfection. "Memories that keeps me warm inside [sic]." Thank you, silly dance song that I'm listening to, for helping me out there.
"You are the summer of my life..."
Yes, I was pretty sick, but only for about three days. I would be fully recovered now except that now my room is full of tissue dust and ragweed dust, the latter of which I am quite allergic to. I'm getting an allergy test tomorrow, gladly.
Yesterday, I went to see a show at the Takarazuka Revue. Takarazuka is famous for being an all-female performance group that caters mainly to married Japanese women who are totally disconnected from their unromantic and always-working husbands. It suffices to say that the performance was not good.
First of all, they choose one person to be the Big Star, who has the lead male role in basically every show. It seems like they choose that star based on how pretty the person is and not based on how much they actually might sound like a man, because she was trying way too hard to sound like one. It wasn't right for her voice, and the whole thing was just totally awkward, especially because I was still kind of sick and wanted to blow my nose, which is rude in public.
The responses by the audience seemed mechanical. Frighteningly mechanical. I don't understand how everyone knew to start clapping on a fast quarter beat the instant this one song began (and they didn't do this for every song either!). There might have been a lot of people seeing this show for the eighth time. Also, I feel like the amount of clapping didn't actually depend on how good the performance was, because I felt that there were some performances that merited more of an applause than the others, but that got a markedly short applause. I feel like in America this is different--you know when something deserves more applause. Also, there was no wild cheering or whistling or "WOO"-ing, despite that Takarazuka is famous for its die-hard fans that go to great lengths to work for their beloved stars.
The performances weren't spectacular either. I missed a lot, at least in the first play, due to not understanding a lot of what was being said. Nonetheless, it's obvious that this wouldn't appeal to me at all anyway. According to my host mother, the rest of my 時代(jidai, generation) doesn't really get it either. The dancing could be a lot more interesting, especially; the entire second part, entitled "Dancing for You," was all song-and-dance, with more of the latter than the former. Apparently when this troupe performed in London, the critics tore it apart, and I can see why. It just has a very, very specific target audience, and the more that Japan starts to shift into a society where both spouses work, the more its audience is going to dwindle.
The day before was much more fun. I went to this place called 伏見稲荷大社(ふしみいなりたいしゃ, fushimi-inari taisha) with a couple of girls (represent Lou from Tufts!!), and because we went rather late, we were there for sunset and the early, dark evening. That was the most beautiful thing in the world. Fushimi-inari is connu (famous) for its obnoxious amount of orange gates; well, its obnoxiously beautiful amount of orange gates. They are everywhere, and this being a Shinto shrine, it's open twenty-four hours. There are tons of family shrines everywhere; it's rather unbelievable.
There was one point at which I was walking through the woods, and I half-anticipated, as the sun kept sinking in the Eastern sky, that I would suddenly come to find myself in the middle of the Forest in Graafschap, Michigan, or whatever it was called, and then I would find myself behind that huge sandy slope, and then I'd climb it, and find myself in the bowl dune again... and then the beach... on Lake Michigan..
Everything was possible in that moment. And as I continued to walk through that enormous shrine, whose paths winded their way up and along a mountain, the scents and incenses evoked a thousand memories from far away, and I could live them all again, right then and there. I think I'm going again.
Is it better to be home and not be able to relive memories from the past, or to be away and relive them? That was the question I think all of my literature classes asked me last year. I always gave the first answer. But sometimes the second answer, as a vacation, is incredible.
I just had a flash of somewhere I've been before. Where was it? It came from the song I'm listening to. Perhaps it's Sunday River, in Maine. It might've been Whistler, too. Yes, I think it was Whistler.
All those memories are all the same, though, in all their perfection. "Memories that keeps me warm inside [sic]." Thank you, silly dance song that I'm listening to, for helping me out there.
"You are the summer of my life..."
jeudi, octobre 2
September ended, you woke me up and I need to sleep
"The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, & what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of Massachusetts? And can history produce an instance of rebellion so honourably conducted? I say nothing of its motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion." -Thomas Jefferson, letter to William S. Smith, sent from Paris, Nov. 13, 1787.
Shays's Rebellion-- a rebellion against messy taxes and the debt that these guys had to pay off as a consequence. And where did it happen? M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S know what that means man
I read the article for that rebellion on Wikipedia, which seemed to focus too much on the idea that the federal government was too weak. The main focus should've been how messy the taxing was, and how people who fought for the nation couldn't live because they were being taxed way too much to pay for the debt incurred by the war. Sam Adams, forgetting what he'd fought for in the first place, drew up the Riot Act, which eventually got passed, suspending habeas corpus. How's that for too many beers?
Apply this story to the bailout bill that just got passed by the Senate, whose name, by the way, is H.R. 1424: The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. I, in Japan, feel somewhat like Jefferson did over in France, and I'm waiting for the (hopefully and most likely nonviolent) rebellion that'll slap the government in the face.
I would like to apologize to Ann for shoving this stuff in her face yesterday. I was kind of emphatic about it, and I shouldn't have ranted. Also, I made two blog post rants about the government and got too tired, of ranting and of not sleeping, to post them, and I'll add "thankfully" to that. Thankfully, because they really don't have anything to do with this blog, except now I have something productive to say.
I was asked whether I was homesick today by a Japanese girl who was doing a survey assignment for her class, and I said, somewhat but not completely emphatically, "No." She didn't ask me whether I was sick, which I most clearly was. This is my first cold in Japan, and it showed up about a week ago but went away temporarily. But now it's back. It smells like the U.S. bailout. In fact, this bailout is one of the things weighing heavily on my mind recently. There are other things on my mind, but only subconsciously; I don't know what they are. But the bailout I have on my mind consciously. Furthermore, I have not yet requested my absentee ballot. I will do so as fast as possible, since it might perhaps relieve the underground stress I have over the future of our nation as a result.
Enough of that. I'm sick now, and why? I'm not sure. I felt pretty healthy after playing some pretty good frisbee yesterday, but when I came back, I definitely knew I was sick. However, I can name two other people who are also sick. Still, I feel kinda weak seeing as how very few other people are sick, and it's not great being sick seeing as blowing your nose in public はだめなそうだ。(I heard it's rude to blow your nose in public.) I'm managing, and I'm about to go to bed, since 9:30 has been a really great time to go to bed.
But let me let you in on something. I'm listening to a song called "Want You Bad" by the Offspring. I don't think I've even thought of this song in so long, but there's a reason it came to my head recently. Could I be more obvious?
My nose is stuffed. I can't think anymore. I hope I'll be able to go to karaoke tomorrow night, to Kyoto Saturday night, and to Takarazuka Sunday night. But all may fail.
Sometimes, life needs more breaks, though. Wake me up when October ends.
And I'm spent.
Alex
Shays's Rebellion-- a rebellion against messy taxes and the debt that these guys had to pay off as a consequence. And where did it happen? M-A-S-S-A-C-H-U-S-E-T-T-S know what that means man
I read the article for that rebellion on Wikipedia, which seemed to focus too much on the idea that the federal government was too weak. The main focus should've been how messy the taxing was, and how people who fought for the nation couldn't live because they were being taxed way too much to pay for the debt incurred by the war. Sam Adams, forgetting what he'd fought for in the first place, drew up the Riot Act, which eventually got passed, suspending habeas corpus. How's that for too many beers?
Apply this story to the bailout bill that just got passed by the Senate, whose name, by the way, is H.R. 1424: The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. I, in Japan, feel somewhat like Jefferson did over in France, and I'm waiting for the (hopefully and most likely nonviolent) rebellion that'll slap the government in the face.
I would like to apologize to Ann for shoving this stuff in her face yesterday. I was kind of emphatic about it, and I shouldn't have ranted. Also, I made two blog post rants about the government and got too tired, of ranting and of not sleeping, to post them, and I'll add "thankfully" to that. Thankfully, because they really don't have anything to do with this blog, except now I have something productive to say.
I was asked whether I was homesick today by a Japanese girl who was doing a survey assignment for her class, and I said, somewhat but not completely emphatically, "No." She didn't ask me whether I was sick, which I most clearly was. This is my first cold in Japan, and it showed up about a week ago but went away temporarily. But now it's back. It smells like the U.S. bailout. In fact, this bailout is one of the things weighing heavily on my mind recently. There are other things on my mind, but only subconsciously; I don't know what they are. But the bailout I have on my mind consciously. Furthermore, I have not yet requested my absentee ballot. I will do so as fast as possible, since it might perhaps relieve the underground stress I have over the future of our nation as a result.
Enough of that. I'm sick now, and why? I'm not sure. I felt pretty healthy after playing some pretty good frisbee yesterday, but when I came back, I definitely knew I was sick. However, I can name two other people who are also sick. Still, I feel kinda weak seeing as how very few other people are sick, and it's not great being sick seeing as blowing your nose in public はだめなそうだ。(I heard it's rude to blow your nose in public.) I'm managing, and I'm about to go to bed, since 9:30 has been a really great time to go to bed.
But let me let you in on something. I'm listening to a song called "Want You Bad" by the Offspring. I don't think I've even thought of this song in so long, but there's a reason it came to my head recently. Could I be more obvious?
My nose is stuffed. I can't think anymore. I hope I'll be able to go to karaoke tomorrow night, to Kyoto Saturday night, and to Takarazuka Sunday night. But all may fail.
Sometimes, life needs more breaks, though. Wake me up when October ends.
And I'm spent.
Alex
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