… prev update cont…
May 30, 2003
Ok right after I posted the update below, the wind picked up and is rattling my balcony door. I opened it to see a lot of shit waving in the wind and the blue sky that was there earlier is now mostly covered with a big ugly cloud. It’s becoming… The Perfect Storm. If only George Clooney were here. He’d hold me in his manly, shit-acting arms.
My First Japanese Typhoon
It’s not even summer and a typhoon is heading in from the southwest. In Kyushu, they’re getting some rain and wind. In Osaka, where I am, the sky started out blue this morning but now it has grayed a bit. The wind isn’t strong but it makes its presence. It’s a welcome presence I must say because it’s quite hot today. It says on the news that the typhoon will be on top of Osaka tomorrow around noon. It’s kinda exciting but it’s only a level 4 typhoon. I think that makes it around “wuss wind” level. Cool now it says Kyushu is or will be getting 400-500mm or rain. That’s almost biblical! A lot of really small dogs and short ladies can drown with that level of water. Think about the small dogs!
I had my first Japanese lesson today too. Nothing too difficult today and I picked up a bit of vocabulary. And welcome back Dennis - dude you owe us a mega update about your rockstar days on your rockstar tour. I like that word, rockstar.
It seems the only people updating these days are Sunny and myself. Sunny, I’m glad that you’re updating but under the circumstances, I hope you’re doing ok and don’t let the Pacific Ocean get in the way of me talking to you. Damn the Pacific Ocean… damn it to hell I say. Oh yes, you need to put your webpage somewhere else. Angelfire has too many annoying popups!!!
Ok I’m off to vacuum and then commit xenocide in Master of Orion III. By the way, the game is FREE now on Amazon.com right now. And here I am stupidly buying it in stupid Akihabara in stupid Tokyo. It’s not the greatest game in the world but it has a lot of depth and flows much faster than previous conquer-the-galaxy games. I’m currently losing my power base to these asshole aliens called Cynoids - if you remember the Meklar, well, the Cynoids are like Meklar with a bit of flesh attached. I have about 7 heavily armed armadas heading their way right about now…
Business Ethics 101
May 28, 2003
While covering the Iraq war, a Japanese newspaper war correspondent picked up an object which he believed was ammunition that was no longer live. Unfortunately, it was still live and it exploded in an airport in Jordan, killing a Jordanian and injuring several others. While this incident has been judged accidental, the reporter is still being held in trial. The reporter’s employer, Mainichi Daily News, has come out publicly about this accident involving its employee. The president even made a visit to Jordan to express his regrets to the victim’s family and to the Jordanian King.
In my humble opinion, I think here is good business ethics wrapped up in a golden frame. The president of the newspaper made no attempts to distance the company and the poor reporter who now has to live with the taking of a man’s life. He even accepted responsibility and has punished many top executives when this accident was pretty much caused by that one reporter. He apparently has made no attempt to hide any sort of information. He went out of his way to accept the problem and has actively tried to find a solution. Many people would’ve made a scapegoat out of the reporter and pretend it never happened. If only more executives act more like this president. This story will go into my books.
Here’s the press release if you’re interested.
Simple Stimulants
May 23, 2003
It seems like I’m getting easier and easier to please these days. I went to my new Japanese teacher today. It wasn’t a lesson yet - just an interview of sorts and introduction. It’s been 7 months and here I am finally starting to take lessons. I felt pretty happy afterwards. I went to this little cafe called, and I quote, “Italian Tomato Cafe Jr.” I don’t know why it’s called junior but I’m pretty curious about the senior shop. Then I went to the 100 yen store and bought some small shit for my house, a new binder (B5 size… we don’t have those at home do we?) and some instant coffee and a block of cheddar cheese. Cheese is the new heroin.
So I got home and started cleaning up the mess I call home and finally got around to doing the laundry. It’s been two weeks since this place has been vacuumed and it’s looking kinda eoorrrllaauoirhg (that’s Japanese for “gross”). It’s amazing how satisfied I feel after getting chores done. It’s so simple, yet gratifying. Easy to do, yet, easy to put away for tomorrow. I have ten minutes before I gotta get downstairs and bring up the next load of clothes so I’m writing here.
As Dennis has said, it seems many people are having relationship problems. It’s sort of true on this side of the world. I’ve been hearing stories of X broke up with Y and so on. I guess that’s how things go. Once out of school, it’s a big change for everyone and sometimes relationships can’t cope with big changes. So if you are in a situation where a relationship is getting you down, well, you know, don’t be sad and stuff. Luckily (or not), me being in school or working changed nothing for Eri and I - the more important thing was me being closer. I have no idea how long I will be staying but I’m guessing for at least two years. Possibly more. I have no idea what to do with my life and being in Vancouver wouldn’t help either so I’m gonna spend some time here, learning the language, eating some damn fine cuisine, and doing the laundry.
If you or someone you know would like to acquire goods or some sort from Japan but have no contact, then send me an email. I’d gladly send it to you with only a 20% commission off the price. Free if you’re my friend in non-business transactions. Dennis, I think you’re in need of some tentacle porn aren’t you?
Yippy
May 21, 2003
Well I guess my streak of happy, fuzzy peach life has hit a bump. Everything was going very very well until now! Don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad, it’s just that my sister told me someone from a long time ago whom I used to know suddenly wants to contact me for reasons unknown. Should I be scared? Should I quickly hide the evidence? Should I eliminate any witnesses? Who knows. Well, not like that person can come and assassinate me easily. I am a very long distance away. Woohoo. Oceans can be kind sometimes. I’m curious though… what beckons after so many years of non-contact? If I suddenly dissappear off the face of the Earth… well, you all have a suspect now.
Seeya.
Strong SAD
May 19, 2003
I got back from Tokyo yesterday morning. The 4.5 day trip was absolutely fantastic. It might just be the best short trip I have ever taken. I saw a whole bunch of people I haven’t seen in ages and had barrels of blasts. That’s right! I didn’t just have a blast, I had a barrel of them. I won’t go into the details but here were some of the highlights:
I bumped into two students I met 3 years ago. They let me and my friend stay at their house and they totally took us around town. Thanks Tatsuya and Akiko!
I met almost all of the students from a program I worked on last summer. Some of them took us around and one of them organized this whole gianto drinking dinner deal with UNLIMITED alcohol (for a time limit). I honestly haven’t drank that much since Doug’s birthday last year. Thanks Masa!
I met a couple of old coworkers that I haven’t seen inawhile.
I bought Master of Orion 3 in English for relatively cheap.
I got to practice Japanese everyday and noticed that I knew more than the 11 words I previously thought was my vocabulary.
I unravelled the mystery of bullet trains. They’re not that impressive.
I stayed at a capsule hotel! If you don’t know what they are, well, they’re like a coffin with a blanket and a small tv (WITH FREE PORNO!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I was tempted by the highest beautiful women per capita in all the lands that I have roamed. Dude… seriously… dude.
Edit - 2005/09/22
Here are some pictures from that trip.
Strong Bad!
May 12, 2003
The latest update at HSR is awesome! Not only do we have a new Teen Girl Squad but we also have a cool SB clock that speaks! There’s also a message board but it’s not so interesting to me. The games on the board are kinda boring too. BUT there’s a new issue of Teen Girl Squad!
It’s my second week of earlies and I’m coping much better. I slept quite well last night despite working a late shift and sleeping 6 hours to work an early shift. This week is short for me as I’ll be heading over to Tokyo for almost a week on Wednesday with a friend to meet some other friends. It’s a big whole reunion deal. I’m stoked. I won’t be seeing Eri for more than a week though. This will probably be the last update before that. I’m gonna be camera crazy as long as my stupid digital camera holds and fuggin works. Always got my phone I guess.
Geez I really wanted to update but I am so not writing anything interesting right now. Just go over the HSR. It’s more fun.
Page 4
May 08, 2003
Page 4 is here. In case you were wondering, yes, the thumbnails were supposed to be really bad thumbnails. What’s the point of seeing the big picture if the thumb already gives away the best parts? I intentionally made shitty thumbnails that give no clues.
One Of The Best Things About This Place
Is that even sushi bought at a grocery store kicks the ass of many sushi restaurants back home! Mmm maguro…
The Smell of Sweat
May 06, 2003
You can tell by the title this update will be lovely.
Yes.
It is becoming quite hot.
It was 30 degrees two days ago.
That’s right. It was 30 degrees in early May. Vancouver barely hits 30 in the peak of summer and here I am in early May rolling around in sweat at night because I can’t sleep without a blanket over me. The people who have been here awhile tell me the worse is yet to come. Really? Oh that’s just great. My body is tuned and geared to battle cold weather. I wear shorts and t-shirts in winter. Well, I guess Vancouver winters were never lethal as they are in say, Siberia, but it does get chilly. Ok… the winters in Osaka are colder than Vancouver but that just proves my point - the weather is fucked
I am starting a new schedule with a late shift followed by four earlies. Earlies start at 7:30am so I wake up at 6:00am. That’s right. I’m waking up earlier than I did in highschool. What sort of drug persuaded me to do this you ask? Well, it was LOVE! This way, I get to see Eri more since she works a normal 9-5, Mon-Fri job. Furthermore, my old schedule motivated me to sleep at 4am and wake up at 12, sometimes 1pm - leaving me free time only from 11pm-4am. You can’t really do much at those hours. Now, I can see daylight after work, buy groceries on the way home, and take up things I wanted to do. I am planning to get a japanese teacher very soon. I’m juggling the idea of learning a martial art or teaching part time elsewhere to pick up some cash. I got lots more to do now and time to do it. It sure was hard trying to sleep early though. I slept about 2 hours and had a full schedule yesterday. Today was much easier. I think things are going to be good
Prior to this, I had my 2 weekends and got to hang out with Daniel from Vancouver for a couple of days. It was good to catch up on all the news from the ELI. I really miss that ol’ place. It really was an enjoyable place to be. I’ll be in Tokyo in about a week to hang out with some students from last summer too. It’ll be great. Oh yes, on May 15, a worldwide earthquake will kill us all! This is according to Panawave Laboratory, a cult as fucked as those dudes who thought there was a space ship hiding behind that Bopp comet. By the way, they think microwaves are evil and a Bearded Seal named Tama-chan is the cause of the cancer growing in the founders’ lunatic body.
SARS deathtoll: about 500. Annual worldwide death from the common cold: 250,000
I am in dire need of sleep.
This Must Be The Hardest Thing To Do
May 03, 2003
Cutting off your own arm to survive? That’s gotta take some heavy balls to do that.
