Lost in translation

Ahhh I finally get to use that as a title for a blog post! I felt that it would happen sooner or later, but today was a classic example of something being completely misunderstood.

I was at the gym, and it was pretty packed. Old dudes, couple of grandmas, some housewives, and myself. The music they usually play at the gym is kinda what you'd find a mix CD of the top 25 or so pop songs. In fact, it is pretty damn similar to Feria's basement play list. So there I am, the only tall skinny white in the whole place, and this song comes on:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt9JtaHk2NY&feature=related

I cracked up. Here is a gym, full of people, and this song is just going and going. The young guy who works the counter is bobbing his head to the music. I considered telling him just exactly what was playing to the entire gym, but in the end I decided to keep it to myself.

Now I am not the only English speaking member at this gym, and the song could possibly offend someone less musically open minded. But in the end, this only shows that words and the meanings we transpose upon them are just products of our culture. The only reason this song shocked me is because I have grown up in a culture and society where those 5 words (well, for if you say it like Snoop) put to together hold a specific meaning that has been deemed unwholesome. Even if I had explained to the young worker at the gym exactly what the words meant, he would not truly be able to understand the impact that they hold. There is nothing like that in Japanese language Sure, I could say "君とやりたい", and the the basic implication of the sentence would remain intact. But the true feelings, thus true meaning of those words, will forever be lost in translation.


At least until my entire gym decides to live in an English speaking country for a couple years.






On another note: in roughly 7 weeks I will be back home in America. Ohhhh boy. I knew I was getting close, but it didn't really sink in until last night.

Three utterly random unrelated things led to this realization. An episode of glee, a short video online, and Mark Mahony (in case you live under a rock, Glee is that musical tv show that fox has been enjoying the success of recently. And in case you don't live in Tokyo, Mark Mahony is my friend in the CIEE study abroad program)>

But I digress. I was watching Glee, and episode which showcased a the villain of the show reading little red riding hood to her mentally challenged older sister. Halfway through the story, I got a skype message from mark, saying "we only have 7 weeks left". I paused glee to talk with him (yeah that's crazy man), and while waiting for him to say something else I put on a short video that popped up on break.com the other day. The video, was of US soldiers coming home from the war and surprising their kids, loved ones, etc. WELL let me tell you, that video, toppled with little red riding hood and the impending end of my time here in Japan just did it. With the first shocked face of an elementary student, I wept like a baby.


Just so you know, Mark never did say anything more besides "we only have 7 weeks left".


The heartwarming/breaking video of soldiers can be found here (just in case you need a good cry):

http://www.break.com/index/soldiers-coming-home.html

Its that time of the month!!!

SNOW! What is this craziness!? It is hard to believe that it has been warmer in Bennington, VT than it has been here in Tokyo. Cold winds, rain, and now (god forbid) snow. Enough of this, great 神様! March ended, and it seemed the weather was looking to be getting warmer and warmer. The cherry trees were beginning to bloom, and the whole baseball field was surrounded by white-pink. To any non-Japanese, a cherry tree blossom is no more than another pretty flower. However, the Japanese look forward to the two weeks of the year when all the tree in Japan are in full bloom. The blooming of Cherry Trees, or Sakura, are associated with the beginning of spring, school, the new fiscal year, and life itself (in case you didn't know the Japanese school year does not begin in September, but in April). The Japanese get together in groups and "picnic" underneath rows of sakura, drinking, eating, and generally being merry. This "picnic" is called Hanami (花見 はなみ）and literally translates as "Flower Watch". So what? We in America are famous for picnics! You may even claim we invented the picnic (you would be incredibly misguided in this thought however, as the invention of the picnic is attributed to England).




What makes Hanami so different from its western counterpart, I experienced first hand. During all this sakura blooming, there is a week before classes start called Freshman Week. During this week, all the clubs and circles try to recruit new students to join. Usually the pitch goes something like this:

"Hey you would you like to join _______ club? It's super-awesome!"

"Uh... maybe... I did do ______ in high school..."

"Cool! Then you should come to our Hanami we are doing today!!!"

"ok..."


Yes, we lure the new students in with a drinking party. The issue is that everyone, and I do mean everyone, are doing hanami. Clubs, circles, regular folks, etc. So to secure the ever important hanami spot, Myself and other 2nd year members of the baseball team (kohai) were asked (told) by the senpai to camp out to save our hanami place. We got to the row of trees next to school at around 6pm, spread out our tarp, and proceeded to drink. We had all night to just relax underneath the sakura, and they are beautiful at night too. In fact, some Japanese people prefer Night Hanami, called 夜桜. After a couple of hours I went back to my apartment real fast to talk with Marie on skype (leaving the other 6 guys at the spot). I grabbed a blanket on my way back, and to my dismay saw it had rained while I was talking with Marie, but everyone was still up at the hanami spot so I manned up and went back. Upon arrival to our humble tarp, I immediately felt something weird in the air. When I had left, everyone was smiling, laughing and drinking. Now, there is silence, one is sitting on the wet tarp, another is standing up looking at them, and the rest are all off to the side watching them. I could feel the tension dripping in the air, so instead of going "Hey guys!!" all cheerfully, I walked up to the four standing off to the side to hear what the hell had happened in the 35 minutes I had been gone. The story as I was told goes like this: A brought his new girl friend to the tarp after I left. B made an off hand comment about A being a "player". A was convinced that his girl friend had noticed the comment and was really upset about it. I had conveniently returned right as A was confronting B.

can you say 気まずい？

B apologized, and this made A even more upset, so much so that he ripped the umbrella away from B and pushed him down, holding his throat while POUNDING the ground next to his head. To complete the image, you must know that A weighs at least 200, most of which is muscle. B? poor guy weighs less than me.

We pulled them apart, and they went back to staring. Then to throat gripping and ground pounding, and back to apart, repeat. For what felt like HOURS. Must have been 10 minutes in reality until the enraged A was led away, and I took B back to my apartment.

Overall a wonderful night. The next day we recruited, and than drank, and did the same the next. It was an exhausting week of handing out fliers and drinking, and it was capped off with the CIEE trip to Kyoto; a one night, over-rushed excursion to a beautiful city. Got to see some pretty Sakura though!







When we came home we had two days until classes started. The first day? Rainy and cold. And thus has been the weather since.


ON another note, I am coming back to the USA!!!! For two weeks! Monday the 26th to May 4th!! I will be in Bennington from Wednesday the 28th until the 3rd of May! I am coming to see Marie's sr. dance show, and I can't wait to see what she has accomplished!!!!!


That is all for this month, see you next time!




P.S.

My friend and bartender Souta.

This is why I never update:

Yes, I actually have four other blogs, all of which I'm constantly updating, thus leaving this one going to waste...... or so I would have you believe. The truth is that I have been pretty busy, and possibly putting off the act of writing about everything that has gone on since school ended for the term.

Let's recap: Finals finished, I said goodbye to all my friends going home or traveling, and set about moving into my apartment full time. I was also preparing for my Mom and Marie's visit to Japan. They arrived jet-lagged and sick (poor Marie!) and we quickly went back to Yotsuya to rest up for the coming weeks.

That night I fed my mom yakitori, some of which was RAW CHICKEN!!! Yes, believe it or not, sashimi grade chicken is damn tasty, and not detrimental to your health (I actually thought it was sashimi, and ordered it thinking it was fish... sorry mom?)

Marie started to get better, and we went to Kamakura to explore the old temples and see the Giant Buddha (大仏). I took them to Shinjuku, Kabukicho, my favorite bar, and a cat cafe.

During my time in Osaka, I had become very indebted to two families there (my host fmaily, and the family that ran the small school I worked at), so we rode down to Osaka so I could show Marie and my mom the city and introduce them to the people who had made my life in Osaka so wonderful. Our first night in the city, we went to Chibo, an Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き） restaurant I love. It was very good, but I was starting to feel slightly feverish, and my stomach was bothering me. Ignoring the increasing calls of "YOU ARE GONNA GET SICK, BUDDY!" that was body was shouting at me, I took the ladies to Karaoke. It was my mom's first time in Karaoke box, and she sang quite a bit. By the time we left, I felt wretched, and for the rest of the night I was feverish and in pain. Luckily, the fever broke in the middle of the night (I woke up drenched in sweat, but otherwise feeling okay), but the stomach pain was still there, and throughout lunch with the family that runs the school, and dinner with my host family, my stomach was killing me. It didn't start feeling better until we got back to Tokyo, and by that time my mom only had a couple of days left. We had a nice final dinner, and did Print Club Photos (プリクラ）and the next morning I took my mom home.



I took Marie to Feria for Vday dinner and drinks, it was empty and very nice, but no dancing! On Sundays they only have the restaurant and the top bar open. Unfortunately, I never got Marie back there for some dancing, but I will make that up to her when I get back. Asides from Vday, I didn't really have any great plans, but I really wanted to take Marie somewhere special and uniquely Japanese before she went back home. Something we had talked about before was going to a Hot Spring (温泉） together, so we went to the JR travel office and booked a night at one of the most beautiful hot spring resorts I have ever seen. The place had private gazebos, with private baths, sauna, etc, and it was just awesome. The hardest part however, was the traditional Japanese breakfast. Have you ever tried eating a whole squid, crab, cooked fish, rice, and other assorted seafood at 8am in the morning? It's a test for the stomach of anyone who claims to love Japanese food. I will take my fish over-easy next time.


It was really tough watching Marie go through security and down the escalator at the airport. It was so incredible being able to share this country with her, and I got very used to her being with me in this environment. Now that she isn't here, everyday, no matter where I go, I am reminded of her, and homesickness is an even more occurring part of my everyday life. You really don't realize how much little things matter when you are so far from home. I feel like the life I have here is SO SO different from my life back home. Mostly alone, constantly playing baseball, as opposed to being with Marie and my friends from home and fire fighting. Not to say I don't have friends here, it's just different. I miss my old life...


Things have also been getting better here though, not all negative. Every day I spend with the baseball team I feel more accepted, and I feel like I am (however slowly) improving my ability on the field. I hope, that by the time I go home, I will have a very close group of Japanese friends, as well as a strong, accurate arm.


In less than a month classes are starting, so I am going to be pretty damn busy soon, and hopefully these last three months will fly by.

Kagaya Video!

Here is the video my buddy Mark took of our most bizarre journey to Kagaya

Basically, it is owned by this guy, and this is how he brought us the menus (drawn in crayon)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkKjarbO5eI&feature

Long time!!!

Well we are in finals week here at Jouchi. All I can say is I want to go back to "pretend" school at Bennington. No final tests, no ridiculous history instructors etc. I would rather write a final paper any day over taking a test. Regardless, it is still sad to see the semester come to an end, because this means all my friends who were only here for part of the year will be going home. I hope I'll get a chance to meet them again sometime. As for me, I will be in Tokyo for the long haul, staying for the whole spring break (until April 12th!!!). For the first weeks of break, my mom and Marie will be coming, and I get to take them around to all the places I've grown to love here in Tokyo. So excited!!!!! After they leave, Baseball starts up again, and I will be devoted to that for the rest of my break. ちょっと大変だけどね。

On another note, I've rented an apartment! It is right in Yotsuya and about 5 minutes from school. SO convenient! I even have my own Kotatsu! In case you don't know, Kotatsu are about the most wonderful creations ever conceived by the Japanese. Basically a table, attached to the underneath is a small heater, and there is a blanket attached to the table as to keep the heat inside. The dangour is that these tables are soooo comfterble, people sometimes fall asleep under them, only to awake hours later realizing that they have scooted all the way under the table so only their heads are out. This of course leads to colds, and a lack of doing home work or other tasks. Ahh, but nothing truly says "winter" in Japan like the kotatsu.

wacky adventure!!! OR: How to sleep well on trains!

Alas, the new year is almost done, and it is about time to welcome in the old. Or something like that.

Christmas is already behind me, and thank god. Quite the lonely one I must say. I wont go into to many details, I'll just say that eating Christmas dinner alone in McDonalds is not my ideal way to spend the holiday. However, I did have a fun night on the 26th (27th?) and quite the adventure.

I started out the day going to baseball practice with Ojihara and Tanaka. We were the only three that showed up, so after throwing the ball around and practicing our swings, we decided to clean the field and get lunch. They took me to this wicked good ramen place, in some back alley of Kabuchi-cho, where for 750 yen you can chose 1, 2, or all 4 heaping toppings of pork, veggies, garlic, and pork innards (?) to have with your already ginormous bowl of super thick ramen. Needless to say it was filling.

After that I met up with Gea and went with her to Micky Ds (I did not eat... just coffee). We wandered around Shinjuku and played UFO catchers (like those rip off claw games, but somehow more easy looking and harder to win) and then my all time favorite: Elevator Action Death Parade. We had some time to kill before Korey's bday celebration possibly house party extravaganza (lots of time since the time, place, and event itself were all still TBA), so we decided to have a drink at this classy lil joint called Kuimono Coconeel.

OH BOY, let me tell you. We got there at 5:45, the place had just opened so we were the first customers. I started out with Tanquery and Tonic, Gea with I don't even remember. While we were having our first drinks, and our food, the bartender (I have named him taro, for lack of actually asking him his name) was taking out these giant, square ice cubes (rubic cubed size) and shaving them into spheres. We finally found out what drink they were for when I asked for his recommendation, and got Earl Grey Liquor with a giant ice sphere in a rocks glass. Quite fantastic. Annnnnnyways,

More T&Ts, fancy drinks, Chocolate pies, and a couple hours later, our friend mark showed up and joined us before we eventually headed out to the now in progress house party. On the train there, Mark and I were comparing who had better headphones (to Lady Gaga, Poker Face, a classic) and I was taking mine off and putting his one and off and on and off and on and then we got to our stop and we got off and my vision was blurry and.... wait... where are my glasses? No where on my person... oh fuck a duck.

My glasses fell off while I was enthusiastically ripping and shoving head phones on my head, and were now on the Tokyo metro 10:55 train bound for god-knows-where. Yippee. Thus, slightly blind, quite buzzed, and very full from Ramen, Deserts and cheese platters, I stumbled off to the lost and found (to report my glasses) and then to Korey's.

11:00: arrive at Korery's (friend's) apt

11:15: get wrecked by Korey in beer pong

11:30: find kotatsu and crawl underneath

11:32: get away from kotatsu because the Japanese kid next to me is throwing up... on himself and kotatsu

From this point on I really stopped thinking about time, but I am pretty sure we were at Korey's until at least 12:30. Finally the guy who actually owned the house wanted us out, and we wanted to go out, so it was off to Roppongi to Club Ferrier (possible name of the club, because of the lack of glasses I didn't really pay attention to anything ten or more feet away from me).

The club was pretty fun, pretty basic for a club I suppose, danced around for quite awhile until one of us realized the 4th floor was deserted and we could move our entire gang up there for our own personal dance floor. We danced around some more, and suddenly it was 5:00 am and we were leaving. I don't really remember being tired until we got to the gyro place, and by the time it was 5:30 Mark and I stumbled to the trains.

It was most likely the worst train ride of my life. The goal was this: Depart: 5:35 Roppongi>>>Ueno>>>Home @ 6:31 - Total travel time 56 minutes (@ 730 yen)

What actually happened: Mark and I fell asleep on the train. We went an hour past Ueno.
(6:45)

Went back to Ueno (7:45) Mark and I go separate ways at this point. My train does not leave the station until 8:00. I fall asleep waiting for it to move. I wake up, an hour (give or take a couple min) past my stop, in the countryside. I swear I heard a cow moo when I got off the train. (now 9:30)

Finally get home, at 10:30. In summery: Total travel time Roppongi to my house: 5 hours.


I slept all day.


For any parental figures that may worry: 1.I found my glasses. They are probably cleaner than before I lost them.

2. I spent the day after recuperation at an aquarium. It was pretty and educational. I saw dolphins and a fish with a really long squiggly nose.

3. After that I have been at home with my host family (and manic 5 yr old host brother) doing my HW that is due after break.





OH and Happy New Years! I am going to Nikko for three days with the host fam.


see Nikko: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D,_Tochigi

<<>>

Title says it all folks. I've never been good at keeping a diary, journal, or any sort of blog. I just don't really wanna write on the darn thing unless the spirit moves me so to speak.

Anyways, over this past weekend our wonderful group of CIEE space cadets ventured down to the edge of Japan to visit Hiroshima and Miyajima. We left Tokyo at around 6:30ish on the infamous bullet train (日本語なら『新幹線』だな). Flying on the tracks at about 150mph, stopping at each stop for about a minute at the most, we reached Hiroshima at 10:30 (it would take 10 hours to drive). The following day we toured the Hiroshima peace museum and park, heard a talk from a professor about why the USA actually dropped the atomic bomb, and lastly we heard a first hand account from an atomic bomb survivor. Thanks to Middlebury Japanese Language School, I've had the privilege of hearing three such talks (now four) to date. Each account has been so different, and so moving in their own ways. You can look at pictures of Hiroshima, see the flattened houses and the inexplicable flatness of the devastation that took place. But when you hear first hand from someone who was there, someone who was burnt so bad her skin melted and was hanging off her arms, someone who watched her friends and family die, someone whose own father couldn't believe it was her because her face and body was so badly burnt, you forget about the need to drop the bomb. Nothing politically motivated can justify such a horrible, wicked thing. And you feel sick, that mankind can conceive of something filled with such viciousness.

But the sadness is replaced with an even deeper fear at the realization that the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are pebbles compared to what our country has now. Consider this:

People about 1 mile from the hypo center in Nagasaki were pretty much unaffected by the blast and subsequent radiation. However, if a Hydrogen bomb were to used on Washington D.C., the following fallout would result (depending on wind direction) in the entire eradication of the eastern seaboard. Goodbye NYC, Philly, Boston, etc. That is how much radiation would be released from one of these newer bombs.

I didn't really set forth to talk about this, I meant to talk more about our night after the tour of Hiroshima, and Miyajima the next day. But alas, the mind wanders.