Cannonball

Not that it has anything to do with this post, but you might as well listen to this as you read the post.



Good hook, huh? You can't tell by the lyrics, the song is apparently about the Marquis de Sade (hence, it has nothing to do with this post.)

As some of you know, I was in a pretty bad way over the summer. I guess mostly I was trying to prepare myself for getting ripped out of my normal life and having to start over in a country where I can't even read the street signs (assuming they had street signs. What's up with that, Japan?) There were other reasons, of course, that those of you who know me well understand. Even though I've been here a whole month I still feel very out of place. I felt like I was standing on a diving board, looking at the water. On Tuesday I decided to jump in.

I can't explain what exactly changed; I guess I'm tired of feeling weird (not that the feeling has gone away.) Or maybe my PMS is fucking me over (as always.) But my advice to anyone who's studying abroad next semester is: don't be afraid to get your toes wet! Are any of you who are studying (or have studied abroad) feeling the same way? Or is it different because you're in a dorm surrounded by Americans?

A rundown of my week since I last posted:

Thursday -- I made a new friend! She's from LA and has read some of the same obscure comics that Ceci and I love. Her host dad told her to take some friends with her and meet him at an izakaya (traditional Japanese bar) for dinner. He was a jolly sort -- he and his wife run a restaurant in the first floor of their home. He's traveled to Australia and speaks a little bit of English, and they've hosted many students from Nanzan before. He also invited a woman he met with one of his past students. While in America it would be strange for a 60-year-old man and a (really hot) 29-year-old woman to hang out, I didn't get any weird vibes from the experience. Sexual repression is such a non-issue here (as in, it's not even acknoweldged that such a thing exists) that associations like this just don't seem strange (at least to me.) Take Shall We Dance (the Japanese version, not the creepy Richard Gere one) as an example.

So on the way back from the bar, Dad is quite drunk and takes us down the street with all the hostess club. At first I thought, "Why are all these women wearing kimonos and what are they waiting for? ...oh." Apparently you pick your pro by paying for a bouquet of flowers (a very expensive one), giving it to your lady, and going off. Because buying flowers for a lady isn't illegal, right? Dad plucked a flower from one of the bouquets and started chatting with one of the women. I don't think he was propositioning her; I think he was just saying hello. Fun fact: I also saw a transvestite selling himself!

Even better fact: I wasn't drunk but I was definitely "loose". I got home at 10:00 (maybe 10:30), fell into bed, and took a test the next morning. It was the best score I've gotten so far...maybe I should do this before all of my tests...

Friday -- Hung out with my (at the time) one Japanese friend for the afternoon. It was pissing rain and "Mom" had to take me to the ward office to pick up my "Gaijin" registration card, so Yukiko came along. Yukiko lived in England for six years and has the best accent EVER. After we took care of business we wandered around a mall in Sakae and hit up the local Starbucks. When I got home I watched Peter Jackson's King Kong with "Dad". Incidentally, worst movie ever. Don't watch it. Especially if you don't want to dream about giant wolves attacking you and your host sister at your grandparents' summer home. Just saying.

Saturday -- This past weekend was Nagoya Matsuri -- or the Nagoya Festival (every town has one.) A bunch of us got together to see the (more Western-style) parade. Just as we got out of the train station, the volunteers unrolled some seating mats and ushered us to the front so we could get a good view of the proceedings. Unfortunately, since I was sitting, I could *not* get a good picture of anything. However, there were mini re-enactments of the three important battles that unified Japan under what eventually became the Tokugawa shogunate, since Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nobunaga, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi all came from the Nagoya area. Also, according to the parade, Portuguese people are blonde. After the parade ended we went and had us some matsuri food - I had this thing that was a basically a ham and cheese crepe with okonomiyaki toppings -- heaven in my mouth. After that there was a taiko concert for IES students. Take the awesomeness of the Blue Man Group, then take the awesomeness of taiko drumming, mix them together, and that was the band we saw.

Afterwards we happened to pass by the Naka ward office. A bunch of highschool kids were spontaneous breakdancing in the courtyard, so we of course sat and watched while pounding down some chuhai (a fruity cocktail conveniently sold in cans!) According to my host mom, this is pretty common. The kids like to use the windows as mirrors.

Sunday -- I went on a picnic with my host family! It was some little park (maintained by Lions Rotary Club, of all things) by a river. "Sis" and I took the dogs to the water; unfortunately, Coco jumped in! The water was amazingly cold and I've never felt smoother sand. Thanks, volcanos. I'll post pics once I ask my host family if I can put pictures of them online.

Monday -- It started pissing rain. And after the 80-degree weekend, I did not enjoy the 20-degree temperature drop. I guess that's why so many Japanese people have a bug up their ass about getting sick. I met with two of my Japanese classmates for a group presentation in English. Our topic is the social foment of the 1920s (more on Japanese people and Communism later!) After we were done I had to wait for my bus, so one of the girls stayed and chatted with me. Turns out she likes manga and Bones but is not an otaku (pretty rare in Japan) so we're totes gonna hang out sometime.

Tuesday -- Since I didn't get into the Japanese-language class I wanted, I decided to challenge myself by auditing a Japanese-only course about the relationship between France and Japan (which, incidentally, is not nearly as important as the professor wants us to think). This professor talks ridiculously fast -- even the Japanese students can't understand her. I've decided to use the time for some personal art study (i.e., doodling) since I can get the gist of the lecture and don't have to turn any work in. She ended a half hour early, so I stayed and hung out with the students who have been helping me and the French kid in the class with the lectures. Since he hardly speaks English and speaks less Japanese than I do, the Japanese students have to translate from English into either Japanese or French for him.

Today -- We looked for a cat cafe (which is exactly what it sounds like. Don't believe what you've heard -- Japanese ideas of sanitation are much more "relaxed" than ours.) Couldn't find it. Went to a Turkish restaurant with an awesome-looking menu. And none of it was served for lunch. Walked 20 minutes in the rain to the art museum. It was about to close. Talked about the Bodies exhibit with my host mom and sister -- they didn't really understand what I meant when I said that the bodies are actually Chinese prisoners' bodies, not donors.

Tomorrow we have no morning classes because of the typhoon. I can hear the wind rushing past my window -- I'm glad I'm not outside. Hopefully it'll continue to be crappy until just after 11:00 AM so my afternoon classes will be cancelled, too.

Also, I think I'll start posting whenever I have time, and then do a big post on Wednesday. That way there isn't this giant clusterfuck you've just read. Don't forget to read the article below this -- the Japan Times published a piece about giant Japanese bugs right after I posted my first article! Also, don't forget to remind me to talk about Japanese people and Communism. Oh. My. God.