JAPAN

Today's the last day of winter break, so I'm just milling about the dorm, doing laundry and chatting it up with friends back home. I don't have much to report, really, though I am planning to do a post on the New Year's festivities I participated in thanks to a friend of mine and his very kind family.

Speaking of which, Happy New Years! I hope your year-end/year-beginning festivities were lively!

And I've decided to try and keep a Twitter account going for at least as long as I'm in Japan. I discovered a fairly easy way to send in "tweets" (updates) from my cellphone, so I'm hoping that during my day-to-day stuff I'll remember to take a few seconds and send out an update if I'm doing something neat. If you want to follow me, check out my account here: http://twitter.com/MasterKale.

P.S. Technical problems totally destroyed all the Japanese I'd typed up, so no translation this post :(

P.S. コンピューターの問題があったから、全部の打った日本語はなくならせられた。だから、翻訳がない ：（

I went to ComiKet yesterday with a couple of friends. ComiKet, or Comic Market, is an annual convention that gives fledgling doujinshi artists a chance to get their work out to the general public. In the 33 years since it's inception, ComiKet attendance has grown from an estimated 600 people to approximately half-a-million. The rare, one-time-only prints of comics, some from well-known artists, that are offered each year contribute to these growing numbers.

昨日、私は二人の友達とコミケットに行きました。毎年、コミケット、つまりコミックマーケット、は二回に起こります。コミケットでは、作者の乳臭者が他の人に新しい同人誌を売ります。最初の大会から、参加する人は五十万人ぐらいになりました。毎年、稀で売られる同人誌は contribute to these growing numbers.

The trek to the convention center started at 3:15am. After waking up, showering, and eating, I met up with Darrik and Justin at Musashi-Sakai Station to catch the 4:37am train to Shinjuku. From Shinjuku, we took the Yamanote Line to Oosaki Station, and from there the Rinkai Line to Kokusai-Tenjijo Station.

昨日の旅行は3時15分ごろに始まりました。私は起きて、シャワーを浴びて、朝ご飯を食べて、武蔵境駅にデリクとジャスッテンに会いに行きました。4時37分に私たちは最初の中央線の電車に新宿まで乗りました。新宿で、大崎駅に行く山手線の電車に乗り換えました。大崎駅から国際展示所駅まで臨海線の電車に乗りました。

My first taste of the madness that was ComiKet was at Kokusai-Tenjijo Station. The three of us arrived at Kokusai-Tenjijo Station around 6:15 or so and stepped off the train into a writhing mass of people! As hundreds of people tried to squeeze through a few ticket gates, the obvious bottleneck that formed forced everyone close together and to move as one entity; it was impossible to go anywhere but forward with an ever-expanding group of people pushing you from behind!

6時15分に国際展示所駅で、私はコミケットのような可笑しい事を始めて見ました！電車を降りたら、いっぱいように人がいるグループに入りました！五百や六百ぐらい人は少し改札口に通ってみている間、the bottleneckはみなさんを一生に行かせました！私は後ろに行きたくても、本当にできませんでした！

After Kokusai-Tenjijo Station, we ran off to wait at the Tokyo Big Site convention center parking lot. The lot had been converted into a staging area for the massive number of people who showed up early to secure a spot in line. By the time we'd were settled in group B7, sometime around 6:45am or so, 14 other groups of people had already been established (with approximately 150 people per group)! The gates of the convention center didn't open until 10:00am, so Darrik, Justin, and I killed time listening to music or playing games on either a DS or a PSP.

国際展示所駅の後で、私たちは東京ビッグサイトのstaging area待ちに走りました。東京ビッグサイトの駐車場はみんなの参加する人が開く時まで座れるように、staging areaになられました。6時45分ごろに、私たちがＢ７のグループに入った時までに、他のもう来た人はクループを14つもう作ってしまいました！全部のグループは150人くらいがいました。コミケットの門10時に開いたから、デリクとジャスッテンと私はＤＳやＰＳＰのゲームをやりました。

At around 9:30am, everyone was herded into the convention center to await the opening of the first day of ComiKet. At 10:00am, the gates opened, and people made mad dashes off to the various booths to wait in line for limited edition wall scrolls or doujinshi. The three of us casually made our way through the convention center, walking up and down the rows and stopping whenever we saw something interesting.

9時半ごろに、みんなさんは東京ビッグサイトの中に連れて行きました。門が開くようになったら、たくさん人はいろいろな所に限定版の掛け軸や同人誌を買いにmade mad dashes。私たちは3人で見歩きました。

I'm not a huge fan of doujins, but all things considered, it was a lot of fun. I picked up a few...interesting...doujin, though I also scored a step-by-step guide to building a mecha-themed robot out of Legos, some awesome Evangelion stickers, and other assorted baubles. I spent more money than I'd like to admit (around $40), but I did come to Japan to experience the culture, however strange it may look to my gaijin eyes!

私は同人誌が好き嫌いじゃないのに、コミケットの経験は絶対面白かったです！私はたくさん物を買いました。少しエッチのような同人誌が、Ｌｅｇｏのメッカロボットの作り方の本と、エヴァンゲリオンのシールと、色々な物とそれです。私は使いたいお金を以上使ったけけれども、日本の経験するために日本に来ましたよ！たｔよyo,

I don't know why it is, but cheeseburgers at Japanese McDonalds are quite good! I was so used to the one-level-above-cardboard cheeseburgers at American McD's that my first bite of one here was almost a shock to my system! The meat actually has a taste, something I'd place in the soy-sauce-salty range of flavors. It's not overwhelming, either, and two of them make a damned fine lunch in my opinion. Unsurprisingly, everything else about the burgers is the same, from the bun to the pickles to those finely-diced onions that I've never been a fan of; it makes these cheeseburgers not only nostalgic, but tasty to boot!

どうしてかどうか分からないけれども、日本のマックドナルドのチーズバーガーすごいおいしい！アメリカのマックのチーズバーガーの味はダンボールのよう な味だと思う。だから、私は日本のマックの最初のチーズバーガを食べたら、びっくりした！バーガーの肉は味があって、しょうゆのような味だと思った。誰かは 二つのこのチーズバーガーを食べるといいご飯だよね！しかも、色々な日本のマックのバーガーのことはアメリカのマックのバーガーと同じだ。漬物とかバンとかオ ニオンとか、全部のバーガーに入れられることが同じだと思う。だから、ここのマックのチーズバーガーはなつかしで、おいしい。

I've picked up a part-time job recently. ICU has four gates into the campus, two of which have info boxes that are manned by members of either men's dorms. My dorm, First Men's Dorm (1MD), handles the West gate, so a couple times a week I got and sit in the box for two and a half hours and polish off some homework. It doesn't pay much, ¥800 an hour, but with the current state of the economy back home and the ever rising power of the Yen (or decreasing strength of the US Dollar), I can't afford to live solely off the money I pull from my bank account back home. This'll also give me some spending money with which to buy things for the my family and friends back home!

最近、私はアルバイトを見つけた。国際基督教大学では四つの門がある。二つの門の小屋には男子寮生が入っている。私の寮、つまり第一男子寮、は西門の責任がある。毎週二回で二時間半に、私は西門の小屋に入って、宿題をする。時給は800円なのでよくない。だけど、ドルが弱くなったので、私のアメリカの口座から引き出すお金だけで私は住めない。しかも、私の家族と友達は私に日本のおみやげをもらわれる！

It's been raining all day...this weather is as weird as California's. At least in California it doesn't get as cold. Here, the temperatures are routinely in the single-digits Celsius (right now it's ~7C outside, ~48F), and it's only going to get colder and December marches on. Thankfully, the heaters in the dorm were turned on weeks ago, and I've learned how to bundle up to not freeze to death when I go outside!

今日雨が降っちゃた。冬の天気は私の出身のような天気だ。でもカリフォニアでは天気がより寒くない。今、気温は七度ぐらい。新年に来ていながら、天気がもっと寒くなって来ている。でも、私の部屋のラジエーターが一ヶ月ぐらいの前から点けてあるし、凍え死ねないように出かけるとたくさん服を着るのを覚えた！

The second week of Winter quarter is going well. Fall quarter went quite well, as I received a B in my Japanese language course and an A in my Contemporary Japanese Culture class. I'm taking three classes this quarter, and this quarter's Japanese class (J4) is quite exciting because it focuses on teaching us a lot of Kanji and vocabulary, as well as some of the more nuanced grammar that requires a solid grasp of the basic stuff learned in Japanese 2 and 3. I'm also taking a Religion in Japan course and a course on Asian International Relations. Exciting stuff!

冬学期はよかっただね！秋学期の成績もよかった。日本語の授業、つまりJ3、でBをつけたし、日本の（）同時代の文化の授業でAをつけたから！今学期のJ4の授業がたくさん漢字と言葉を覚えられて、もっと難しくても面白い文保を覚えられるので、この授業は本当に興奮させる！今学期で日本の宗教とアジア国際関係も私につけられる。楽しみよ！

My Japanese continues to improve. I've made quite a lot of progress in the five months since I took my first stepped off the plane at Narita. I know enough grammar to maintain surprisingly high-level conversations with friends and teachers, and my knowledge of kanji continues to expand; I always get a kick out of being able to read kanji and recognize their reading and meaning! I still have a long way to with kanji and vocabulary, though, but I keep learning new things every day, so I'm sure that in six more months' time I'll have improved even more.

私の日本語が上手になってきている。日本に来てから、習った文保で私は友達と先生と普通の会話できるようになったし、毎日新しい漢字を習う。漢字を読めて意味が分かったら、私はうれしくなる！でも、私はまだ日本語を勉強している。アメリカに帰るまで、私の日本語がもっと得意になられるようだ。

See you next time, folks!

じゃ、また今度！

P.S.: This article was written five days ago, but caroling practice and translation prevented me from getting it up earlier. If you're reading this and wondering why I said it was raining today, there's your reason!

So yes, I've put this off to for WAY to long. I was finally able to upload the pictures of my summer vacation escapades about a week ago, so I did and now hey, here's a nifty post to go with it!

Summer Vacation (Reader's Digest Version):

Week 1

The first of two weeks of summer vacation began with a rendezvous with EER. The two of us met up at Musashi-Sakai, the train station closest to ICU. Though he'd already been vacationing for two weeks beforehand, he was eager to get a personal tour from someone who'd been there for two months!

We covered a lot of ground in this one week, the most notable of the locales being the world-famous Mount Fuji, as well as the Rukigien Temple in Bunkyou, Tokyo.

Mount Fuji
Was COLD. The four of us who climbed (myself, EER, and two of my friends) decided that we wanted to see sunrise from the top of the mountain, so we began our ascent from the 5th station (located around the middle of the mountain) at 9pm.

Shivering and fatigued, we reached the top of the mountain at approximately 4:20am. The sunrise we saw that morning was almost too beautiful for words, and even these pictures don't do it complete justice:

(I'm convinced that the last photo above was the inspiration for the first Final Fantasy airship sequence.)

The descent down the mountain was very windy and dusty. Thousands of people shuffling their feet down a loose-gravel series of switchbacks left all of us covered in dirt.

The climb is definitely something you should do at least once in your life...

And then never, ever again.

Rikugien Temple
Towards the end of the first week, EER and I popped on over to this garden temple located in Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo. A rather drastic change of pace from our earlier antics on the tallest mountain in Japan, this temple was constructed in 1702 and maintained by shogunate during the Tokugawa period. In 1938, the garden was donated to the Japanese government, who continues to maintain it to this day.

EER headed back to his homeland at the end of the week, leaving me on my own to begin week two of my summer vacation.

Week 2

I started my second week of break on a 13-hour-long bus ride to Fukuoka, the next island of Japan to the south west of Tokyo. At Hakata, I met a friend and fellow ICU student, Akito, who lives in nearby Munakata (gallery link).

I stayed at my friend's house for a couple days. I had a chance to practice my newly-gained Japanese with his mom who knew basically no English. I also saw Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, the newest Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and several others) film that swept Japan by storm. Despite being a children's movie, the Japanese was a little too much for me, so I ended up sitting through the movie and enjoying the visuals!

On the last day of my time in Fukuoka, I happened to meet Moriyama Naotarou, a famous Japanese musician. He was walking around the park during part of a local television program's filming. Apparently it's a rare thing to see him in-person, so I felt a bit special afterwards; how many other foreigners can say they've seen a famous Japanese musician in person?

That's him on the right, facing the camera. The host of the TV program is the guy in the red wig and fishnet t-shirt. Anyway, Naotarou did an accoustic rendition of his famous song, "Sakura".

After my time in Fukuoka, Akito and I headed back to Tokyo, stopping at Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka. There are a TON of pictures, so I think I'll just link you to the galleries and let you guys poke through them. Here's a brief write-up of each place:

Hiroshima - Saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, the one building in a couple kilometer radius to survive the atomic bomb dropped on it during World War II. The nearby museum was very interesting, detailing at great length the effects of the blast and showing off the effects of the bomb on both people and inanimate objects.

Kyoto - Temples. Lots and lots of temples. This is a good place to go if you're into the history of Japan, since there are so many historic sites that have been preserved for several hundred years.

Osaka - Described as "Bizzaro-Tokyo" by one of Akito's friends who we met up with during our trip. I tried some takoyaki, a dumpling with a bit of octopus in the middle; I'm not a big fan of the food, but Osaka is famous for this dish so I figured I'd try some. It was actually pretty good!

Akito and I made it back to Tokyo in one piece, and I moved into my dorm room a couple days later, signalling the end of my two week summer vacation.

I saw a hell of a lot of Japan in these two weeks, and learned some things along the way, too. As gruelling as the overnight bus rides (yes, that's plural) were, and the lack of sleep in general, I couldn't have thought of a better way of spend my summer vacation!

This time, I will try to stick with the facts some more. But please don't hold a grudge against me if there's a magical unicorn riding out of this story somewhere, this may have actually happened!

So, I left off at the part where I had secured a plan for the upcoming week. It was someone else's plan, but I really only cared about not having to arrange something myself. The nighttrain took us to Sapporo, which is somewhat northern in Japan:

In Sapporo, Elizabeth had 'something to take care of', so I wandered the streets for a bit before we met up again at the train station. This was the first time I was given some facetowel with commercials on it. The city itself was not very interesting (a few skyscrapers), but I found out that the word 'Chuo' means 'center'. So at least I learned SOMETHING there.

Back at the train station I saw somebody vacuum cleaning the stairs in the station, which I found so strange that I made a picture. She noticed and really really wanted to take a picture of me too, socially I couldn't refuse so I now have a picture of myself on the train station:

I seem a bit uncomfortable in this picture, but trust me, I'm ok ;)

As you might be able to tell from the picture, I am standing in front of the train to Wakkanai, which is where the next part of the way was heading. At this point it was about 13:30 and I had not eaten since I had left Tokyo Ueno last night at 19:00. Unaware that this new train trip would take another FIVE hours, I did not eat anything in Sapporo as well.

When the train left, I was quite hungry and could have done with a nice meal of spare-ribs, luckily, on the plane from Amsterdam to Rome, there was this friendly steward that gave me two packages of smoked almonds, a coke and a small bottle of wine. The coke and wine were already gone at that point, but I took out a package of nuts and enjoyed them very much.

Meanwhile, I was also evicted from the carriage where Elizabeth was sitting, as she bought a ticket and I did not. In Japan, apparently you can buy tickets for 'reserved seats'. I had a Japan Rail Pass, which allowed me to go anywhere anytime as long as I sat in the 'non-reserved seats'. I moved carriages and tried to get some sleep (which I didn't get in the night train).

The surrounding terrain reminded me a bit of Luxembourg, with the lakes, rivers and forests. Quite the contrast from Tokyo.

Five hours later we found ourselves in Wakkenai and made for the Youth hostel there, the guide said it was easy to find but the guide appeared to be wrong. Until we found it. I'll correct the guide on this point: It is easy to find, IF you know what to look for. The youth hostel was on top of a nearby hill, and has a green roof with the hostelling international logo.

The hotel rooms were quite ok, I might have gotten a private room by accident, however I was very glad that there was nobody else sleeping in my room. Snoring. Breathing. I'm always very easily annoyed by that ;)

The bed had been prepared as if it were mid-winter, in the guest book I read that someone was there while the country was completely snowed under, so maybe they only have one set of bedgear:

I tried some dried squid tentacles in Wakkanai, a delicacy that kids love, according to Elizabeth. Unfortunately I did not like it at all and gave the rest to Elizabeth.

The next day we continued our trip by taking a train to the central station of Wakkanai and from there we went to the Ferry station. The ticket machines only spoke Japanese, so buying tickets took us quite some time. The staff was quite helpful though and helped us get the tickets we wanted.

In the waiting area, there were some massage chairs, which I had never used before. They were quite interesting and it was a very nice experience to be massaged when also having an awesome view over the sea:

From there the views only get better and better. We boarded the ferry to Rebun, which is an island a bit to the east of Wakkanai, if you take a look at the map I posted above there is a pushpin at Rebun Taki (waterfall).

On the ferry there were no chairs, only 'seating areas' where people would sit on the ground together. I think the passenger capacity of such a ferry is higher than any European one, because people will not sit next to eachother on benches. On the ground however, nobody really seems to care (maybe it's the Japanese, and not the ground sitting though).

Arriving in Rebun, we were welcomed by a flag waving man screaming 'MOMOIWAAAAAAA' and some more Japanese that I didn't understand (obviously). As our Youth Hostel was called Momoiwa, we talked to him and he told us to go to a truck that was stand-by to bring us to Momoiwa. At the truck there was another person trying to tell us stuff, unfortunately he did not speak much English.

We gathered that he was offering to either take us to the youth hostel by truck in an hour or so, or that we could walk over Flower road. We chose to walk flower road (I dislike waiting anyway) and the man gave us a very ill-detailed map of the island and how we should walk. The directions pretty much said 'walk to the other side of the island by going left somewhere off the main road'.

Leaving our backpacks in the truck, we walked for ten minutes. Elizabeth then didn't trust that we were going the right way anymore, so we asked some old lady if she knew where Flower Road was. She didn't understand what we were saying, so she ran off (pretty literally). This further discouraged Elizabeth and she went back to the truck to take that to the hostel. I decided to ask some other guy that was standing around a few metres further down the road.

After some serious language issues, I think we came to an agreement and he drove me to flower road. When I asked him whether this was indeed flower road, he apparently understood that I wanted to go somewhere else and started driving something further and stopped at the next branch in the road. This branch however was taking a right, and since my only relatively reliable source of information said that I had to take a LEFT, I did not trust this new road.

Then I spoke the magic words 'Momo-iwa', glad that he finally understood SOMETHING I was saying, he took me all the way to Momoiwa youth hostel :D

He dropped me at some shack right next to the ocean, that did not really look like a youth hostel from the outside, but it was. OH IT WAS.

Once inside, I was shown around by the one person there that spoke a sort of English, although he insisted that every meal was a 'supper'. A small price to pay for staying in this awesome place. Inside I was making acquaintances with a little girl that was not afraid of the white man. Then, suddenly, everybody got up and took some instrument. The girl told me that when 'they' came in, I should scream 'OKEARI NASAI' (Welcome home, as I learned later) and make as much noise as possible.

Needless to say, when the doors to the youth hostel opened to the back opening of the truck everybody in the truck (including Elizabeth) was taken completely by surprise by the screaming and battering of instruments.

After the noise died down and the procedure of registering new guests had been completed (which included a completely mad introduction from the 'supper' guy) there was a time in which there wasn't much to do, so I just lied down in the main hall.

After 'supper', some Japanese guy overheard me saying that I was from the Netherlands and informed me that he also was from the Netherlands. He did not speak Dutch anymore, but that's to be expected if you're out of the country for 10 years :)

He asked me whether I would be joining the 8 hour hiking trip of love and peace. How could I refuse something like that, there was a meeting that night to explain what you should bring and how much everything would cost.

We were to be woken up at 4:30 AM, have breakfast at 5 and start walking at 6. From the top of the island back to the youth hostel, this would be about 35 km (~23 mi) of walking. Going uphill, downhill and everything in between.

After the meeting it was time for sundown, which is apparently accompanied by a ritual in momoiwa. Elizabeth was sitting outside, I was inside waiting for a good opportunity to take a picture (profile shot!). But suddenly, everyone stormed outside and sung the song goodbye. It appears that it is a well-known song, because everybody was able to sing with it.

I was very confused, but happy to be there. As a parting gift I'll show you the following picture that I took that night:

I'll be posting more later ... probably ... Hope you enjoyed reading, leave comments! :)

Once upon a time in a village unbeknownst to anyone outside of the Netherlands there was a guy called EER. On MSN he had a digital friend named 'Master_Kale', this friend decided he wanted to study abroad for some time in this fictional country named 'Japan'.

Being a kidder, EER decided to say - kiddingly - that he would visit this fictional country Japan, and when he was there visit his digital friend. Much to EER's surprise, there were actually companies selling flight tickets to this fictional country. To see what would happen, EER bought a return ticket to Japan and set out to the national airport Schiphol.

Via a one pretty looking lady dressed in blue he found out where to board and two days later (one day was spent in this other place from ancient history: ROME) he arrived dirty as hell and with a lack of sleep in Tokyo. The magical land of the tales of yore actually DID exist. Would this 'Master_Kale', the powerful wizard exist as well?

The answer can be found by reading on.

EER travelled from Tokyo Narita to Tokyo Central station, he was told that he could only use standing places with his travel for free (tm) Japan Rail Pass. He did not care, because he was tired. A mostly orange-coloured journey later, he found himself at Musashi Sakai, the railwaystation Kale told him to go. From there, he would take a bus to ICU where he would meet Kale of legend. IF he would have been smart enough to actually take a bus, he was not however. And he walked on through the abysmal rain. The rain decided it was not wet enough, and more rain followed. After an half hour long struggle, he finally arrived at ICU. Soaked. Tired. FILTHY.

This is unacceptable in the land of the Rising Sun, and after initial greeting of the Master_Kale, EER was required to take a refreshing shower. He left some powerful Roman artifacts with Master_Kale and then set out for another journey, to his first hotel. A capsule inn it was.

If you don't know what a capsule inn is, it is a 3ftx3ftx8ft room in which you can sleep. They also have excellent bathing facilities, but EER did not know about those and only wanted to sleep anyway.

The very next day, Kale was back in his lair and EER journeyed onward to the northernmost reaches of the realm. He heard people speaking about a night train where you could sleep that would take people to the north.

His intuition told him to take the night train, because then he would not have to arrange accomodation when he arrives in the North. And no sooner than he had spoken this, he had decided that it was so. And so it was that EER walked around in Tokyo Ueno for a full day, visiting the national museum, a temple and the park before boarding the night train.

On the night train, he was convicted to share a single train cabin with another European. Intrigued by this exceptional whiteness, the conversation started. Another European joined and a Japanese man that apparently spoke English was in the same cabin. Everyone shared stories and laughed, the European girl spoke of her planned adventures; hearing of these, EER decided that joining in on those adventures would make more sense than planning his own. As he had not planned for the possibility that Japan would actually exist.

And so, it happened that EER joined forces with Elisabeth for a few days to start out on a journey he would probably never forget.

They're done! All of the photos from my summer escapades and Tokyo Game Show are shrunk down and branded, but wouldn't you know it? Maintenance on the dorm internet a couple weeks ago locked down the internet, and as a result I can't upload anything to the webserver (nor use Steam or Pidgin). I'm going to talk to the people in charge of the dorm internet tomorrow and see what they can do to fix this problem.

Meanwhile, I'm on the horn with EER right now, and he's agreed to do a post about his exciting three-week vacation here. Stay tuned for that!

EDIT: Alright, Dell made good on their word, and I'm typing this from the comfort of my own laptop. As I mentioned earlier, the pictures from my summer trip are almost done, and I've got some pictures from a certain game show that's held once a year in Japan that I'll throw up as well.

In the meantime, maybe I'll get EER in here to post about his time in Japan. I'm certain it'd be more exciting than waiting for me to get around to posting again!

Someone from Dell is coming over tomorrow to pick up my laptop. According to the rep I talked to today, it'll take approximately two weeks to get my laptop backlight fixed (does it really take that long to fix a backlight...?). In the meantime, I'll be going online from time to time at the library, but otherwise I'll be offline until I get my rig back.

Apologies for the lack of any really interesting news. I'm about 85% done with resizing the photos from summer, so once my laptop gets repaired, I'll finish those up and post them online.

Damn, two weeks without my laptop? That's rough...I guess I'll keep myself busy by fighting back the suddenly rising urge to pick up a netbook in the meantime.

Sorry, guys, but today's update will be delayed for an indeterminate amount of time. Today, while finishing up the last of the cropping of my vacation photos, the backlight on my laptop died. The screen looks black, but I can barely make out anything that's a light/white color and I was able to remote in, so I know it isn't anything more serious than the backlight. A quick chat with a Dell Small Business service rep later, and I was given a case number and the number of the international support center in Japan (for people in the US who are travelling abroad).

Unfortunately, today's a national holiday (scroll down to "Autumnal equinox"), so I have to wait until tomorrow to get a hold of them for help. Factor in a potential shipment of my unit to a Dell repair center, and I could be looking at a week or so of downtime...god, I really hope that's not the case.

Sorry folks, I really am. I was so looking forward to getting back on track with Unleashed Creativity, but it looks like that'll have to wait. Here's hoping I won't have to pay an arm and a leg to get my laptop fixed...!

STATUS UPDATE: I've figured out that if I keep the backlight turned to the lowest setting, the inverter won't overload, and I can still use my computer. I'll be calling Dell Japan tomorrow to continue the repair process, and I'll try to keep you all updated as things develop!

It's time to get this blog back on track. I want to do a big image dump of my two weeks of vacation, but before I do I have to go through ~500 vacation pictures and pick the best ones out. I'll go through as many of them as I can tonight and tomorrow, resize and watermark them, then upload them along side a new post by Monday afternoon.

After the image dump, I'll try to get some kind of regular posting schedule going, perhaps Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday/Sunday due to my current class lineup. Whatever the case may be, I have lots of interesting things coming up and I'm kind of getting tired of feeling guilty for not posting anything in a month and a half.

More to come.

Lets see, my last post was on...christ, July 10th? I'm quite terrible at this whole journalism business. I do have good news, though! I've just completed a six-week long whirlwind trip through an intensive language program, and after my two week trip around Japan, I should be able to follow my thrice-a-week posting schedule that I'd set up over a month ago!

I've got a ton of packing to do tonight. I have to move out by tomorrow at noon, but fortunately I can keep some stuff here in the Global House dorm (my home for the past six weeks). For the next 14 days I'll be living out of a hiking backpack...that should be fun!

I'll be meeting up with EER tomorrow, and we'll spend the next week touring around Tokyo. Once he heads home, I'll take a bus to Hiroshima and meet up with another friend of mine, Akito; we'll spend some time in Hiroshima and Kyoto while working our way back east to Tokyo. It should be quite a lot of fun, and I'll take lots and lots of pictures. I'll throw up all the pictures along with a giant "summer vacation" synopsis when I get back!

Those of you who've stuck around, wish me luck, and I'll see you all in two weeks!

Sorry for the lack of an interesting post. This Intensive Language Program is really kicking my butt. When I'm not in class, I'm taking care of a few bureaucratic things, and then moving on to the several hours of homework I have to take care of before the next day. This weekend could not come fast enough.

I have a chapter test tomorrow, but afterwards I plan on going out with some friends and painting the town various shades of crimson. I won't party too hardy, though; I've got a bike to buy and a cellphone plan to sign up for on Saturday, so that'll be exciting!

I have a few interesting article topics in mind. I'll get one of them up before Sunday, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, here's a cute video of a kid and his first friend.

Code Monkey wanted to see a picture of the Chibi Han Solo I picked up at Akihabara on Sunday, so here you guys go:

Click to Embiggen

Not a whole lot has happened recently, other than an in-dorm bike raffle that I didn't win...it's ok, apparently I can pick up a single-speed for ~$70, so I'll probably go get one in a week or so, once I get tired of taking the bus/walking everywhere.

I'll leave you guys with a link to the most recent set of photos I uploaded. Enjoy!

In keeping with my promise to have a post up by Sunday, here's a giant picture dump from my last four days in Japan:

Day 0 - Flight to Japan

People can tell you that 9 hours on a plane is terribly long, but I am of the opinion that you have no idea how horrible it is until you experience it for yourself. I killed the time with a bit of studying, napping, and Castlevania. I met a couple cool people, including this guy:

I didn't catch his name, but I did find out that he was a Buddhist minister on a business trip to his organization's headquarters. I had a chance to throw some questions his way, mainly involving what I should I do to get a hold of my friend in Meguro once I landed. Long story short, he gave me a phone card with about 500Y on it! He told me that when he was young and travelled around, there were a lot of complete strangers who helped him along; he merely wanted to pass along the good will.

Narita Airpot proved to be little hassle. I was in and out of Customs in about five minutes, had my luggage shipped off to ICU in 15 minutes, and managed to secure a ticket to a station near my friend's house in about 25 minutes. The Japanese I knew was just enough to get by, though I'll admit I received some help from some English-speaking attendants.

The subway was quick and efficient, and I soon found my way to Sengakuji station, where I joined up with Aki, a friend I'd made back in Riverside who was studying abroad in America last year. I'd arrived a day early to ensure that I'd be in town early enough to make check-in at ICU, so I was very fortunate that he let me stay at his house for the night.

I met Aki's family that night, too. They were all very nice and welcoming, and I used the opportunity to practice my Japanese with his parents and sister. They told me that I'm welcome at their place any time, so I think I'll go back and visit with them again in a month or two when my Japanese ability has improved!

Day 1 - Meguro, Toyko Tower, Mitaka

 
"Everyone is watching you!!"

Aki lives in Meguro, so I had a chance to walk around a more suburban neighborhood, poking around back alleys and lightly-travelled footpaths. It was really nice, very laid back and peaceful. I think it helped that I walked around after most people had left for work or school, as it let me move around without arousing suspicions as to why a gaijin (外人) was wandering around. By the way, don't piss off the crows in Japan; I'm not speaking from personal experience, but I've heard that they're very social, don't easily forget the faces of people who wrong them, and will antagonize anyone who wronged them. Just a heads up.

Aki's mom (refered to as Hara-san for simplicity's sake) offered to help me find my way to ICU, but first she decided to take me to Shiba-koen (芝公園) to see Tokyo Tower (東京タワー)! I had a lot of fun there, taking pictures of the various areas around Tokyo and just being a typical tourist.

I eventually made my way to ICU, meeting up with a couple of friends along the way. After registration, Robbie (one of the aforementioned friends) and I made our way to Musashi-sakai (武蔵境駅) and wandered around the nearby department store, Itoyokado. Did you know that 7-11's in the US are subsidiaries of Seven & I Holdings, a Japanese-based company? The 7-11 logo is more prominent in Japan than in the States and was plastered all over the outside of the store.

Day 2 - Mitaka

Yesterday was the placement test (which I did horribly on), a Welcome to ICU lunch banquet (with some REALLY great food!), and a safety orientation for UC students. After all of that, a friend and I walked from ICU to Musashi-sakai station. The walk there was supposed to be 45-minutes long, and we were successful in making the trek in about that much time. It was a rather uneventful trip, to be honest.

After THAT, we came back and I went to a party with most of the people in Global House, the dorm I'm staying in the for the next six weeks. We all got a drinking game of "Never Have I Ever..." going, and it lasted about two hours! I don't drink, so I had fun getting everyone who was drinking to drink more by saying that I'd never consumed alcohol...some of them were a little soar about that.

And that was Day 2.

Day 3 - Akihabara

I went to Akihabara today, and man was it a lot of fun! Derik, the guy I went to Musashi-sakai with, and I took the train there, met up with Tomo (a friend of Derik's) and walked all around for about five straight hours. I picked up a pair of really good headphones with an unexpected "gomennasai" discount (more about that in a future "Culture in Japan" post), a chibi Han Solo figurine, and a Super Famicom copy of Chrono Trigger.

Time's short, so I'll wrap up today with this: Akihabara is a REALLY fun place if you're a hardcore otaku who regularly partakes in viewing erotic movies, manga, and figurines. There were a lot of regular, non-erotic manga and anime, but twice as much smut. The part that blew me away the most was that some of it was viewable just by walking past a store! I wasn't in the least offended, rather I was more surprised that no one made an effort to be discrete about the fact that they partook in or dealt in animated pornography.

Some of that stuff was completely ridiculous, though; just imagine overfilled, beachball-sized, flesh-colored water balloons strapped to girls' chests, and you'll have an idea of how crazy some of that stuff gets.

And that was my first four days in Japan. Look for a new post tomorrow. And if there is anything you guys want me to take pictures of / explain about the culture / whatever, let me know and I'll throw it on the existing list of topics for future posts that I've created just from my day-to-day experiences!

おやすみなさい！

I just wanted to give you all a quick heads up: I made it to Japan in one piece and already have quite a story to tell! Unfortunately, you'll all have to wait until tomorrow to read about it. I just moved into the dorm I'll be staying in for the next six weeks, and I still have to unpack. Tack on the fact that I'm dead tired and have a dorm orientation in a half hour, and I you can probably see why I haven't posted anything.

Speaking of posting, I'm thinking of doing a Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule. I can't imagine myself having the willpower nor the time to post everyday, so I think it would be better to keep it to every-other-weekday. How does that sound to you guys?

Also, all posts are timestamp'd in JST. Just an FYI.

Look for something tomorrow evening-ish, and if not then, Sunday for sure! Pictures, too ;D

Alright, guys, lets do this...MAAAAATTHEEEEEEEW MIIIIIIIILLEEEEEER!

I'm all packed and ready to go, my plane leaves in three and a half hours, and I'm chowin' down on some strawberry applesauce. Fuck yeah!

I'll be off and on planes for the next 18 hours, so you probably won't see another post from me for the next day or two. There won't be a lot to write about until I arrive in Japan, so I'll take some pictures of Narita Airport when I arrive and throw them up when I can.

A new chapter is being written in the Tome of the Miller. When you hear the tone, turn the page.

*ding*

Oh man, this is really happening, isn't it? By 8:00am tomorrow, I'll be boarding a plane and beginning my trip across the Pacific. It's taken a lot to get to this point, and I passed the point of no return a LONG time ago; there's no turning back now.

Would I turn back now, if I was given the chance? Nah, not a chance. Going to Japan has been a dream of mine for the last eight or nine years, so I'd be a fool to chicken out now. Besides, I think this will be a good opportunity to see what kind of stuff I'm made of. Will I be overwhelmed by my first couple days and totally freak out? Anything's possible, I suppose, but I think I've got enough self control to go in and get what I need to get done done.

For now, I'll just keep packing and mentally preparing myself for one hell of a life experience.

Wish me luck!